bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mismatch Negativity as an Index of Auditory Short-Term Plasticity: Associations with Cortisol, Inflammation, and Gray Matter Volume in Youth at Clinical High Risk for Psychosis
Authors: Hamilton Holly K. , Roach Brian J. , Bachman Peter M. , Belger Aysenil , Carrión Ricardo E. , Duncan Erica , Johannesen Jason K. , Light Gregory A. , Niznikiewicz Margaret A. , Addington Jean , Bearden Carrie E. , Cadenhead Kristin S. , Cornblatt Barbara A. , Perkins Diana O. , Tsuang Ming T. , Walker Elaine F. , Woods Scott W. , Cannon Tyrone D. , Mathalon Daniel H.
Published: November 2024

Mismatch negativity (MMN) event-related potential (ERP) component reduction, indexing N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent auditory echoic memory and short-term plasticity, is a well-established biomarker of schizophrenia that is sensitive to psychosis risk among individuals at clinical high-risk (CHR-P). Based on the NMDAR-hypofunction model of schizophrenia, NMDAR-dependent plasticity is predicted to contribute to aberrant neurodevelopmental processes involved in the pathogenesis of schizophrenia during late adolescence or young adulthood, including gray matter loss. Moreover, stress and inflammation disrupt plasticity. Therefore, using data collected during the 8-center North American Prodrome Longitudinal Study (NAPLS-2), we explored relationships between MMN amplitudes and salivary cortisol, gray matter volumes, and inflammatory cytokines. Participants included 303 CHR-P individuals with baseline electroencephalography (EEG) data recorded during an MMN paradigm as well as structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and salivary cortisol, of which a subsample (n = 57) also completed blood draws. More deficient MMN amplitudes were associated with greater salivary cortisol and pro-inflammatory cytokine levels in future CHR-Converters, but not among those who did not convert to psychosis within the next two years. More deficient MMN amplitude was also associated with smaller total gray matter volume across participants regardless of future clinical outcomes, and with subcortical gray matter volumes among future CHR-Converters only. These findings are consistent with the theory that deficient NMDAR-dependent plasticity results in an overabundance of weak synapses that are subject to over-pruning during psychosis onset, contributing to gray matter loss. Further, MMN plasticity mechanisms may interact with stress, cortisol, and neuroinflammatory processes, representing a proximal influence of psychosis.
Educational leadership for social transformation: An inclusive approach for schools as places of belonging
Authors: Massiah Alicia , Shotte Gertrude , Rowe Viola , Minott Ceceile
Published: November 2024

Education is the medium through which society can be transformed to ensure we live in a world free from discrimination and exclusion, where human beings coexist peacefully. One of UNESCO’s sustainable developmental goals is quality education that is inclusive and equitable. ‘Education for all’ and ‘places of belonging’ are therefore imperatives for educators if this goal is to be realised. This paper reports on selected educational leaders’ views on implementing inclusive approaches in teaching-learning activities. A qualitative approach was employed to collect data from 242 educational leaders from Caribbean Visionary Educators across 25 countries. Most respondents see inclusive education as beneficial. Others view it as a theoretical construct that increases workload. Lack of resources, infrastructure, administrative support and professional learning are viewed as barriers to inclusive education practices. There appears to be some incongruity between educators’ professional learning in inclusive education and their ability to implement inclusive education practices. Respondents revealed that despite receiving professional learning in inclusive education, their current level of training has inadequately prepared them to teach in an inclusive environment. Therefore, an inclusive approach requires educators to be prepared to teach all learners regardless of their challenges, and learners must become active participants in their schooling. The paper, therefore, concludes that it is necessary for leaders to operate in a transformative mode to promote inclusive education. This action should make schools become places of belonging that will benefit all learners.
On the question of Islam and the more-than-world city
Authors: Anshary Farhan
Published: November 2024

This further engagement is organised into two parts. In the first part, I clarify that my emphasis on ‘what is Islam’ in my previous commentary should not be read as an obstacle to the inquiry of ‘how’ and ‘why’. Instead, it should be an invitation to rethink how to do ‘how’ and ‘why’ research and decolonisation. In the second part, I think through the concept of more-than-world city coined by Sidaway and highlight some points that geographers ‘outside the project’ should consider when thinking with a different metaphysical commitment.
MLAU-Net: Deep supervised attention and hybrid loss strategies for enhanced segmentation of low-resolution kidney ultrasound
Authors: Khan Rashid , Zaman Asim , Chen Chao , Xiao Chuda , Zhong Wen , Liu Yang , Hassan Haseeb , Su Liyilei , Xie Weiguo , Kang Yan , Huang Bingding
Published: November 2024

Objective

The precise segmentation of kidneys from a 2D ultrasound (US) image is crucial for diagnosing and monitoring kidney diseases. However, achieving detailed segmentation is difficult due to US images’ low signal-to-noise ratio and low-contrast object boundaries.

Methods

This paper presents an approach called deep supervised attention with multi-loss functions (MLAU-Net) for US segmentation. The MLAU-Net model combines the benefits of attention mechanisms and deep supervision to improve segmentation accuracy. The attention mechanism allows the model to selectively focus on relevant regions of the kidney and ignore irrelevant background information, while the deep supervision captures the high-dimensional structure of the kidney in US images.

Results

We conducted experiments on two datasets to evaluate the MLAU-Net model's performance. The Wuerzburg Dynamic Kidney Ultrasound (WD-KUS) dataset with annotation contained kidney US images from 176 patients split into training and testing sets totaling 44,880. The Open Kidney Dataset’s second dataset has over 500 B-mode abdominal US images. The proposed approach achieved the highest dice, accuracy, specificity, Hausdorff distance (HD95), recall, and Average Symmetric Surface Distance (ASSD) scores of 90.2%, 98.26%, 98.93%, 8.90 mm, 91.78%, and 2.87 mm, respectively, upon testing and comparison with state-of-the-art U-Net series segmentation frameworks, which demonstrates the potential clinical value of our work.

Conclusion

The proposed MLAU-Net model has the potential to be applied to other medical image segmentation tasks that face similar challenges of low signal-to-noise ratios and low-contrast object boundaries.
ChatGPT utilization within the building blocks of the healthcare services: A mixed-methods study
Authors: Shojaei Payam , Khosravi Mohsen , Jafari Yalda , Mahmoudi Amir Hossein , Hassanipourmahani Hadis
Published: November 2024

Introduction

ChatGPT, as an AI tool, has been introduced in healthcare for various purposes. The objective of the study was to investigate the principal benefits of ChatGPT utilization in healthcare services and to identify potential domains for its expansion within the building blocks of the healthcare industry.

Methods

A comprehensive three-phase study was conducted employing mixed methods. The initial phase comprised a systematic review and thematic analysis of the data. In the subsequent phases, a questionnaire, developed based on the findings from the first phase, was distributed to a sample of eight experts. The objective was to prioritize the benefits and potential expansion domains of ChatGPT in healthcare building blocks, utilizing gray SWARA (Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) and gray MABAC (Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison), respectively.

Results

The systematic review yielded 74 studies. A thematic analysis of the data from these studies identified 11 unique themes. In the second phase, employing the gray SWARA method, clinical decision-making (weight: 0.135), medical diagnosis (weight: 0.098), medical procedures (weight: 0.070), and patient-centered care (weight: 0.053) emerged as the most significant benefit of ChatGPT in the healthcare sector. Subsequently, it was determined that ChatGPT demonstrated the highest level of usefulness in the information and infrastructure, information and communication technologies blocks.

Conclusion

The study concluded that, despite the significant benefits of ChatGPT in the clinical domains of healthcare, it exhibits a more pronounced potential for growth within the informational domains of the healthcare industry's building blocks, rather than within the domains of intervention and clinical services.
Translation and Cross-cultural Adaptation of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow Score Into Japanese and Comparison of Visual Analog Scale and 10-Point Scale Formats
Authors: Ishigaki Tomonobu , Yokota Hirotake , Akuzawa Hiroshi , Akiho-Toyoda Noriko , Ushiro Keisuke , Ebihara Yuki , Tanaka Shigeharu , Wada Tadashi , Jigami Hirofumi , Matsumoto Hisashi , Ito Yu , Kikumoto Takanori , Matsuura Yuiko , Hirabayashi Ryo , Sekine Chie , Yamamoto Noriaki , Omori Go , Edama Mutsuaki
Published: November 2024

Background:

The Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic shoulder and elbow score (KJOC) is sensitive enough to detect subtle changes in the functional level of the shoulder or elbow in overhead athletes. However, a Japanese version of the KJOC is not yet available. Moreover, the original KJOC uses a visual analog scale (VAS) assessment format that requires a print version so that users can add a check mark along a horizontal line. The KJOC can be completed using online tools such as Google Forms if a 10-point scale format can be used with comparable results.

Purposes:

To (1) translate and cross-culturally adapt the KJOC into Japanese (KJOC-J) and assess its validity and (2) evaluate the correlation between a standard VAS format and a 10-point scale format (KJOC-J10).

Study Design:

Cohort study (Diagnosis); Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

In total, 318 athletes participated in the validation study, 255 in the test-retest reliability study for the KJOC-J, and 273 in the validation study for the KJOC-J10. Internal consistency was evaluated using the Cronbach alpha. Validity was evaluated by calculating the correlation between the KJOC-J and the Disability of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH). Test-retest reliability was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The validity of the KJOC-J10 was evaluated by calculating the correlation between the KJOC-J10 and KJOC-J.

Results:

The Cronbach alpha was 0.914, indicating good internal consistency. The KJOC-J was moderately correlated with the DASH ( r = −0.581; P < .001) and had good test-retest reliability (ICC, 0.874). A strong correlation was found between the KJOC-J and KJOC-J10 ( r = 0.846; P < .001).

Conclusion:

The study results demonstrated good internal consistency, validity, and reliability for the KJOC-J, indicating that it is a valid assessment tool for shoulder and elbow functions in Japanese overhead athletes. Moreover, a strong correlation was found between the VAS and 10-point formats of the KJOC-J.
Effects of Booking Horizon Reduction on Cancellation Rates: An Experimental Analysis in Pediatric Outpatient Care
Authors: Ravenscroft Benjamin , Abouee Mehrizi Hossein , Wylie-Toal Brendan
Published: November 2024

Background. The time between booking an appointment and the appointment taking place, known as lead time, has been identified as a predictor of cancellation and no-show probability in health care settings. Understanding the impact of reducing permissible lead times, that is, the booking horizon, at a policy level in an outpatient care setting is important when mitigating costly cancellation and no-show rates. Few studies have researched this in an observational or experimental setting. Methods. We leveraged longitudinal observational data from an outpatient pediatric rehabilitation organization in Ontario, Canada, consisting of 73,482 visits between June 2021 and October 2023. This organization reduced its booking horizon at the policy level from 12 to 4 wk in February 2023. Using 2 interrupted time-series approaches, we estimated the change in level, slope, and variance of the weekly combined last-minute cancellation and no-show rate associated with the policy change. Results. It is estimated that reducing the booking horizon is associated with an absolute reduction in the weekly rate of last-minute cancellations and no-shows of 1.02% to 1.85% (a relative reduction of 8.07%–15.70%). Furthermore, the variance dropped by 48.18%. Conclusion. Reducing the appointment booking horizon is associated with a significant reduction in the rate and variance of costly last-minute cancellations and no-shows. The reduced variance can also help enable effective usage of strategies such as overbooking for organizations seeking further approaches to mitigating the negative effects of no-shows.

Highlights

This study uses interrupted time-series approaches to assess the effects of reducing the appointment booking horizon at a policy level on last-minute cancellations and no-shows in a pediatric outpatient care setting. Reducing the permissible booking horizon from up to 3 mo to up to 4 wk is associated with a significant reduction in the rate of last-minute cancellations and no-shows. The shortened booking horizon policy is associated with a significant drop in the variance of last-minute cancellations and no-show rates, which is valuable in settings where overbooking occurs.
The Professional Guest: conceptualizing home visits in palliative care settings
Authors: Sabar Ron , Halevi Hochwald Inbal , Weiss Moran , Yakov Gila
Published: November 2024

Background:

Home-based palliative care is a growing trend, necessitating a deeper understanding of the unique challenges faced by professional staff members in this setting. The shift to home-based care has been driven by advances in technology, changing demographics, and a move toward more patient-centered approaches. As a care setting, the home environment offers distinct characteristics, presenting both advantages and drawbacks for patients and healthcare providers.

Objectives:

This study aims to explore the experiences and perceptions of professional staff members providing palliative care in patients’ homes.

Design:

A qualitative descriptive study.

Methods:

Qualitative study with 36 home-based hospice professionals using questionnaires and interviews. Thematic analysis identified key themes in staff experiences and challenges.

Results:

The central theme of “The Professional Guest” highlights the hybrid identity and boundary role professional staff members must navigate, being both medical professionals and guests in the patient’s domain. Four sub-themes emerged: (1) Observing and Applying, emphasizing the conscious scanning of the home environment to build trust and tailor care plans; (2) Asking for Permission, respecting the patient’s territory and adapting to their norms; (3) Expecting the Unexpected, maintaining flexibility and improvising in unfamiliar situations; and (4) Preparing the Ground for Your Absence, equipping patients and families with comprehensive self-care guidance during professional staff members’ absences.

Conclusion:

The “Professional Guest” phenomenon captures the complexities of providing care in patient’s homes, necessitating a delicate balance between professionalism and personal vulnerability. Specialized training programs and policies should be developed to support professional staff members in navigating this hybrid identity and effectively negotiating the boundaries between professional and personal spheres.
Insights into the role of hexa-bacterial consortium for bioremediation of soil contaminated with chlorantraniliprole
Authors: Fahmy Mohamed A. , Salem Samir H. , El-Fattah Hassan I. Abd , Akl Behairy A. , Fayez Mohamed , Maher Mohamed , Aioub Ahmed A. A. , Sitohy Mahmoud
Published: November 2024

This study evaluates the efficacy of discrete bacterial consortia in bioremediating sandy loamy soil deliberately contaminated with 20 mg/kg of chlorantraniliprole (CAP). It monitors alterations in total bacterial populations and CO2 emissions, tracking residual CAP levels through UV scanning and HPLC analysis. Six active bacterial degraders (four Bacillus strains (B. subtilis subsp. subtilis AZFS3, B. pumilus AZFS5, B. mojavensis AZFS15, and B. paramycoides AZFS18), one Alcaligenes strain (A. aquatilis KZFS11), and one Pseudomonas strain (P. aeruginosa KZFS4)) were used in single or combined preparations and grown on trypticase soy broth for 24 h at 30 °C before preparing the inoculants and adjusting the bacterial cell count to 107 CFU/dwt g soil. The bacterial consortia were added to the CAP-contaminated soil and incubated for 20 days at 30 °C. The di-, tetra-, and hexa-bacterial consortia recorded the highest levels of viable bacteria, reaching their peak after 3 to 11 days of incubation. Then, they declined to the minimum levels at the end of the 20 days, which coincided with their complete removal of CAP from the soil. At the end of the incubation period (20 days), the CAP was mainly biodegraded, scoring biodegradation rates of 90.05%, 93.65%, and 98.65% for T3, T4, and T5, respectively. This concurred with the highest average CO2 production. Based on the results of the HPLC analysis, the hexa-bacterial consortium T5 demonstrated the highest rate of CAP biodegradation (99.33%) after a 20-day incubation period, resulting in the lowest residual level of CAP in the soil (0.67%). Bioinformatic analysis predicted that the CAP biodegradation pathway reached CO2 and H2O. Under optimized conditions, the hexa-bacteria consortium is the most effective CAP biodegraded and is recommended as an eco-friendly treatment for eliminating CAP pollution in the field.
The HADRIAN novel human–machine interface prototype for automated driving: safety and impact assessment
Authors: Sekadakis Marios , Kallidoni Marianthi , Katrakazas Christos , Trösterer Sandra , Marx Cyril , Moertl Peter , Yannis George
Published: November 2024

The current paper was performed within the HADRIAN project and focuses on exploring the effects of innovative Human–Machine Interface (HMI) prototypes on safety, driving performance, and driver perceptions. Employing driving simulator experiments and questionnaires, this study investigates whether HADRIAN innovative HMI enhances safety and receives positive evaluations from drivers. Specifically, the research centers on a driving simulator experiment that evaluates novel HMI prototypes designed to improve automated driving at SAE Levels 2 or 3. To facilitate HMI assessment, a tailored safety and impact assessment methodology was developed using unique Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). To benchmark and generate a total score for the HADRIAN HMI, data envelopment analysis was deployed based on the aforementioned KPIs. The findings shed light on the influence of HADRIAN HMI innovations on safety and perceived impact when compared to a baseline “state-of-the-art” HMI. Subsequently, a comprehensive discussion unfolds, highlighting the key KPIs that contributed significantly to the safety and perceived impact scores. This method and its outcomes can serve as a valuable resource for other HMI stakeholders, enabling them to employ similar human-centered assessment methodologies to assess the safety and perceived impact of potential HMI configurations.
Electrical resistivity tomography inversion combining deep variational autoencoder and stochastic adaptive sampling
Authors: Pereira João Lino , Azevedo Leonardo
Published: November 2024

Geophysical methods, such as electrical resistivity tomography (ERT), can be used to image near-surface electrical resistivity, as field measurements depend on subsurface porosity, water saturation, and fluid salinity. ERT has been widely applied to investigate mineral and groundwater resources and in archaeological, environmental, and engineering studies. The prediction of subsurface electrical conductivity from ERT data requires solving a geophysical inverse problem. For near-surface characterization studies, this is often accomplished with deterministic inverse methods. These methods linearize the problem around an initial solution, and their smoothness depends on an imposed a priori spatial regularization term. Depending on this parameterization, these methodologies might struggle to capture the natural variability of the subsurface. Moreover, deterministic solutions have limited capabilities for uncertainty assessment. In contrast, stochastic inverse methods can assess uncertainties by predicting multiple model realizations that fit the recorded ERT data similarly. However, they are often more computationally expensive than deterministic solutions. Deep-learning algorithms based on deep generative models have been used to reparameterize model and data spaces into low-dimensional domains and efficiently solve geophysical inverse problems. However, within this context, uncertainty assessment is challenging. We develop a deep convolutional variational autoencoder (VAE) coupled with stochastic adaptive optimization to perform stochastic ERT inversion. Geostatistical simulations of electrical resistivity are used as the training data set of the VAE. After training, the VAE generates electrical resistivity models that reproduce the statistics and spatial continuity patterns of the training data set. Then, the VAE latent space is iteratively perturbed and updated with adaptive stochastic sampling based on the misfit between observed and predicted ERT data. Our methodology is illustrated in 2D synthetic and real data sets to assess the ability of our method to predict reliable electrical resistivity models while generating multiple possible scenarios for uncertainty assessment.
Enhancing detection of small earthquake events from the 2017 Mw 6.5 Botswana earthquake using crosscorrelation back-projection analysis
Authors: Guo Xuebao , Yu Youqiang , Huang Hui , Yang Lei , Sun Muchen , Zhang Guohong
Published: November 2024

On 3 April 2017, an Mw 6.5 earthquake occurred in central Botswana, situated inside the southern African plate. However, in a region with sparse station coverage such as Botswana, the earthquake catalog is usually largely incomplete at smaller magnitudes. Here, we develop a modified back-projection method using a correlation characteristic function, which represents energy similarity and mitigates interference due to waveform complexity in regional seismic networks, aiming to enhance the detection of small seismic events. The energy-related characteristic function exhibits robust detections for low signal-to-noise ratio (S/N) data, a capability not achievable by traditional arrival-time picking methods. Detection reliability is ensured through a dual search constraint, optimizing the effective signal count, considering nearby epicentral station signals, and accounting for seismic events clustering, which involves discarding seismic events from regions with infrequent earthquake occurrences. A total of 365 events (magnitude completeness of approximately M 2), approximately four times more than the catalog obtained by other methods, have been detected within seven days after the Botswana mainshock. Most are low S/N events that are not localized by traditional methods. The resulting earthquake sequence occurred on at least three northwest–southeast fault strands between the Kaapvaal Craton and the Limpopo Belt. Our results, when combined with other geophysical data, suggest that the Botswana earthquake mainly results from the difference in intraplate basal dragging forces at various tectonic regions driven by clockwise plate motions, which would generate extensional strains along the weak edges of rigid blocks.
Long-Term Cerebellar Consequences of Post-traumatic Brain Injury Assessed by MRI With Diffusion Tensor Imaging
Authors: Delmotte Pierre-Romain , Perret Liaudet Bérenger , Torkomian Gregory , Unrung Jean , Cassereau Didier , Debarle Clara , Mathon Bertrand , Perlbarg Vincent , Puybasset Louis , Degos Vincent , Jacquens Alice
Published: November 2024

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

Post-traumatic brain injury (TBI) lesions, which combine brain atrophy and white matter injuries, can lead to progressive post-traumatic encephalopathy. However, the specific involvement of the cerebellum, which participates in cognitive, executive, and sensory functions, has been little studied. The aim of this work was to explore the long-term cerebellar consequences of severe TBI.

METHODS:

In this retrospective study, patients included were hospitalized for a severe TBI and reassessed after discharge with a clinical examination and a MRI with diffusion tensor imaging. Patients were compared with a population of healthy volunteers. For a subgroup of this cohort, we analyzed the evolution of late post-TBI lesions on MRI up to 10 years after TBI.

RESULTS:

Ninety-seven patients reassessed 5 [3; 6] years after the TBI were included. Volume loss was revealed in the whole cerebellum (P = .01) and especially in the anterior lobe (P < .005) with a decrease in grey matter volume (P = 6.10−3). The mean diffusivity was increased in 4 cerebellar areas which are the right lower, right upper, left lower, and left upper cerebellar peduncles while the fractional anisotropy was decreased in all studied areas (P < 10−3). The longitudinal analysis (n = 17 patients) showed no progression of MRI lesions beyond the acute phase.

CONCLUSION:

This work shows that even if direct cerebellar damage is rare, long-term post-TBI cerebellar lesions can be observed. Therefore, clinical correlates of cerebellar lesions should be considered more systematically.
Racial and Socioeconomic Disparities in Traumatic Brain Injury Outcomes: Insights From a Nationwide Analysis
Authors: Lai Hongyin , Ahmad Hunza , Mubashir Talha , Oduguwa Emmanuella , Balogh Julius , West Kelly , Chaudhry Rabail A. , Williams George W. , Maroufy Vahed
Published: November 2024

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES:

To examine the effects of racial and socioeconomic disparities on clinical outcomes: in-hospital mortality, discharge dispositions, and hospital length of stay (LOS) among patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) stratified by race and socioeconomic status (SES).

METHODS:

We conducted a retrospective analysis by analyzing the 1995-2015 Nationwide Inpatient Sample database. Adjusted logistic regressions and multinomial logistic regression models with and without propensity score matching were applied to investigate the effects of disparities on clinical outcomes.

RESULTS:

African American and Hispanic patients with TBI had a lower risk of in-hospital mortality, longer hospital LOS, and lower likelihood of being discharged to rehabilitation compared with White patients. The TBI patients with poor SES (pSES) had lower in-hospital mortality and were more likely to leave against medical advice compared with non-pSES TBI patients.

CONCLUSION:

Racial and socioeconomic disparities had significant influences on in-hospital mortality, discharge dispositions, and hospital LOS among the TBI population. Our study observed pSES TBI patients had a lower likelihood of in-hospital mortality than non-pSES patients, which may be partially attributed to the fact that most of the pSES TBI patients were hospitalized in urban teaching hospitals and hospitals with large bed size. In effect, our data suggest that the Social Safety Net of the United States is effective in preventing mortality in patients with TBI.
THE INFLUENCE OF SIDE FRICTION ON TRAFFIC ON FATIMA AL-ZAHRA STREET IN KARBALA: CAUSES, RESULTS AND SOLUTIONS
Authors: Khudhair Hayder Salman , Konoplev Vladimir N. , Al-Jameel Hamid A.E.
Published: November 2024

Side friction is considered one of the main reasons for reducing the efficiency of traffic in urban streets and is caused by a number of factors, such as parking vehicles on the side of the road, pedestrians crossing in places not intended for them, vehicles entering the main road from secondary roads and leaving it on secondary roads, etc. The scientific novelty of this work lies in the fact that for the first time, as far as we know, it provides a statistical description of the influence of Side friction factors on traffic efficiency on Fatima Al-Zahra Street in Karbala, as well as on the classification of roads. The results of the study showed that side friction is responsible for significantly reducing the operating efficiency of the studied road, as well as reducing the road classification.
Purpose: determination the effect of side friction on the efficiency of traffic on Fatima Zahra Street in Karbala and to determine the optimal solutions to improve the efficiency of traffic on this street.
Methodology. In this work, both experimental methods of data collection and statistical methods of their processing were used.
Results of the study have shown that Side friction is responsible for a decrease in the operational efficiency of the studied road by an amount in the range of 62.16-86.3%, as well as a decrease in the road classification from I or II to IV.
Practical implications. It is recommended to apply the results obtained from the Karbala Traffic Management Department.
Collective Individuality: Dante’s Moral Philosophical and Psychological Message in Paradise XXXI
Authors: Balducci Marino Alberto
Published: November 2024

This is a philosophical-moral study on the concept of altruistic happiness, through a hermeneutic analysis of a fundamental episode of the Divine Comedy. The symbol of the White Rose, contemplated by Dante in Paradise XXXI, represents the communion of saints, that is, of those who can experience in their psyche the extinction of desire in full joy. The kingdom of heaven is seen by the pilgrim poet as a beautiful flower with many petals. Its value is in the whole, the flower, but also in its individual parts, the petals. The salvation of the soul is therefore linked to altruism, to denying ourselves for our neighbors, in the name of a collective good. However, the poet shows us that every human individuality is precious, and the paradisiacal abolition of egoism is not the destruction of the uniqueness of the soul but the fulfillment of the self. Inside hell, which is described by Dante like an emblem of selfishness, Beatrice appears as a divine creature, ready to save her beloved poet. This means that Christianity starts the process of human salvation from the lowest material depth of the universe. Consequently, the low is not the opposite of the high: since there is also a high within that low. The individual, if purified from selfishness, becomes in the kingdom of heaven the independent and complementary mirror of a universal joy, a collective joy. Dante, deeply linked to Franciscanism, defends the Mariological concept of ‘Immaculate Conception’ and, in the Divine Comedy, offers us a philosophical-moral message that translates the profound meaning of this same theological idea into secular terms. The solitude of the individual matter that forms the body of every man is only apparent. We are not alone. There is another invisible, silent, very pure reality that has sunk into this matter of ours and into consciousness. This reality can save mankind and bring every person back into joyful wholeness.
THE IMPACT OF UNIVERSITY COOPERATION WITH THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF QUALITY ASSURANCE IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Authors: Kiełbasiński Wojciech , Horajski Michał , Odrzygóźdź Cezary , Szczepkowski Jakub
Published: November 2024

Purpose: Verification of the models of cooperation between entities in the higher education sector and representatives of the socio-economic environment.
Methodology/approach: As part of the conducted research, 100 randomly selected reports of the Polish Accreditation Committee were analyzed in the context of the assessment of criterion 6 regarding cooperation with the socio-economic environment in the process of educating students, considering public and private entities. A desk research analysis was also conducted to attempt to verify the impact of the internationalization aspect on the level of cooperation between representatives of the world of science and business.
Findings: Different types of Polish universities cooperate with the socio-economic environment to a different extent. Public universities care less about cooperation with the socio-economic environment than non-public universities.
Originality/value: The topics discussed in this paper allow to fill the research gap related to the impact of cooperation with the socio-economic environment on the quality assurance both in the national and European context. Recommendations presented by the authors can be implemented both in Polish and European universities as signposts aimed at improving the quality and intensity of cooperation with the socio-economic environment.
SOCIAL INNOVATIONS IMPLEMENTED BY HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS AS ELEMENTS OF PROCESS OF TEACHING ACCREDITATION AND RESEARCH ASSESSMENT IN POLAND IN THE EUROPEAN CONTEXT
Authors: Kola Anna Maria
Published: November 2024

Innowacje są istotnym czynnikiem rozwoju społecznego, realizowanym nie tylko przez sektor przedsiębiorstw, ale także sektor prywatny, publiczny czy organizacji pozarządowych. Organizacje i instytucje funkcjonujące w gospodarce, w tym uczelnie wyższe, których działalność sytuuje się pomiędzy poszczególnymi obszarami, tworzą własne, typowe i oryginalne innowacje, by m.in. zwiększać efektywność pracy i transparentność oraz podnosić poziom podmiotowości czy sprawczości pracowników. Stają się one częścią statutowej działalności uczelni (rozumianą jako trzecia misja), lokowaną w sferze dwóch głównych zadań, tj. kształcenie oraz prowadzenie badań naukowych. W artykule przytoczone i omówione zostały definicje innowacji społecznych, jak również zaproponowano nową, dedykowaną uczelniom wyższym, korzystną z punktu widzenia procesów akredytacyjnych oraz parametryzacyjnych. W tekście ponadto przeanalizowano dobre praktyki w zakresie współpracy z otoczeniem społeczno-gospodarczym, które mogą być zdefiniowane jako innowacje społeczne.
TOWARDS FAIR DIVISION OF BENEFITS FROM PATENT RIGHTS: REMUNERATION FOR EMPLOYEE-INVENTOR IN POLISH LEGAL SYSTEM AND IN COMPARATIVE CONTEXT
Authors: Krupa-Lipińska Katarzyna
Published: November 2024

Remuneration for the employee-inventor is the key element to stimulate the development both in business and academic units for the beneficiary of the whole society. The first element that should be taken into consideration in the given analysis is to whom right to obtain patent belong and later - in case the right to patent belong to employer - whether and how employee-inventor should be remunerated. Both of those problems are differently set in different jurisdictions. Polish law adhere to the systems which by statute prescribes right to obtain patent in case of employee inventions to employer and also by statue guarantee remuneration for employee-inventor both in business and academic environment. The conclusion of the article is that despite of the fact that the statutory provisions are reasonably and fairly constructed there in certain elements they are vague and left  much space for the internal regulation of economic entities and higher educational institutions, which at the end of the day might change the overall assessment and work better for those entities than for the employees.
FUTURE OF THE EUROPEAN AND EURO-ATLANTIC INTEGRATION OF UKRAINE
Authors: Poshedin Oleh
Published: November 2024

The study’s purpose was to examine the objectives of European and Euro-Atlantic integration defined in Ukraine’s strategic documents and Annual National Programs under the auspices of the NATO-Ukraine Commission and to demonstrate the impact of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine on European and Euro-Atlantic integration policy. The article uses the method of document analysis to identify phrases and terms that characterise tasks of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine in the strategic documents since the beginning of 2020.This article delves into the strategic documents of Ukraine, which serve as the guiding principles for its European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The EU and NATO documents defining their relations with third countries and Ukraine are studied in particular. The impact of the Russian military invasion of Ukraine launched in February 2022 on European and Euro-Atlantic integration policies is analysed. Due to the methods of synthesis, the processed material is summarised and the final conclusions of the article regarding the future of European and Euro-Atlantic integration of Ukraine are drawn. It was concluded that the success of European integration will depend on the determination of the Ukrainian government to carry out the necessary reforms. Regarding Euro-Atlantic integration, the prospects for NATO membership will be considered solely upon the conclusion of the Russian Federation’s war against Ukraine. The paper aspires to be a part of the effort to fill the existing void in the scientific output on the realism of the tasks set by the Ukrainian authorities in the field of European and Euro-Atlantic integration before the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as well as the assessment of Ukrainian prospects for membership in the EU and NATO after 2022.
STATE OF RUSSIAN OPPOSITION IN TIMES OF WAR IN UKRAINE
Authors: Szeląg Paulina , Wasiuta Olga
Published: November 2024

The main aim of the article is to analyse the concept of the Russian opposition before and after the outbreak of war in Ukranie. We establish how and why the Russian opposition has been changing in the last decades.
The article is divided into three parts. In the first part a phenomenon of the Rusian opposition is showed. The second part is the analysis of the evolution of the Russian opposition since 1990s. The third part presents the composition of the Russian opposition in 2022 and its reaction to the war in Ukraine.
We hypothesize that Putin’s regime has been constantly combating and weakening opposition in Russia in recent years. As a result, in modern Russia systemic opposition is no longer exist and non-systemic one is fragmented, chaotic and almost entirely outside the Russian Federation. What is more, the outbreak of war in Ukraine, has no impact on strengthening Russian opposition and creating cooperation between its main factions and the oppositionists do not speak with one voice. The article consists of the diagnosis of contemporary Russian opposition, showing its structure and pointing out its weaknesses.
The article is based on desk research, historical method, institutional approach, comparative analysis.
INTER-CONNECTEDNESS BETWEEN DEVELOPED AND VISEGRAD STOCK MARKETS DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC AND RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR
Authors: Pruchnicka-Grabias Izabela , Żebrowska-Suchodolska Dorota
Published: November 2024

Purpose: The study checks relations between different developed and Visegrad stock markets and mainly concentrates on the analysis of the American market influence (reflected by S&P500) on other stock markets. It examines the influence of crisis situations such as Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war on the strength of the linkage between markets.
Methodology/approach: The study of changes in the dependence of stock market indices over 2018 – 2023 is conducted using rolling windows for the Pearson correlation coefficient. The similarity strength of indices is indicated using the DTW measure. The influence of the S&P500 index on other stock indices is examined by the Granger causality.
Findings: We show that both the Covid-19 pandemic and the war increased the linkage between stock markets, although for the latter this rule refers only to markets that are geographically close to the conflict zone. The research also shows that the American stock exchanges are the most strongly interconnected. Another important notice is that crises decrease the similarity of shapes between stock exchanges represented by market indices. Moreover, greater similarity between stock exchanges leads to lower volatility in correlations over time.
Originality/value: The paper adds value in three aspects. The first one is that it examines changes in relations between indices, both in their correlations and their similarities strength during Covid-19 pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war – recent crisis situations. Contrary to the previous literature which is rather concentrated on the Covid-19 pandemic and its influence on stock markets, we show that such events that are not global also influence relations between stock markets close to the conflict zone. The second one is combining in one paper connections between both different indices from developed countries and Visegrad countries. The third one is using DTW method rarely used for financial time series analysis to examine shapes similarity between S&P500 index and so many stock markets, both from developed and Visegrad countries in one paper.
Frazeologizm – nieoczywista jednostka języka
Authors: Pajdzińska Anna
Published: November 2024

THE NON-OBVIOUS NATURE OF PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS
The need to identify and study phraseological units was only recognised relatively recently. They are characterised by an asymmetry between the expression aspect and the content aspect: being combinations of words in the formal sense, phraseological units are semantic wholes. In effect, there is a complex network of interdependencies between the grammatical, semantic, and functional properties of their elements, as well as of the entire units, which renders them theoretically interesting and distinct from lexemes. They are important in communication but can be difficult to speakers: in order to use them well, one has to know their internal syntactic arrangement, the degree of their discontinuity in utterances, their variability, contextual adaptability and influence on context, as well as their functions in actual use.
Zanikanie odmiany liczebników głównych jako przykład zmian we fleksji nominalnej współczesnej polszczyzny
Authors: Kurek Halina
Published: November 2024

DISAPPEARANCE OF PRINCIPAL NUMERALS AS AN EXAMPLE OF LINGUISTIC CHANGES IN THE NOMINAL INFLECTION IN CONTEMPORARY POLISH
Based on the example of principal numerals, the author of the article discusses the changes that have been taking place in Polish nominal inflection at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries. As a result of the simplification of numerals, by taking over the functions of collective and ordinal numerals by principal numerals, both in official and colloquial Polish, the phenomenon of a significant increase in the occurrence of principal numerals is noticed. At the same time, the increasing tendency to move away from inflection means that, in multiword principal numerals, none of the parts is inflected. This trend is also extending to single-word numerals. As a result, the simplification of the system of grammatical cases of principal numerals is heading towards their being indeclinable, or, more precisely, towards the introduction of the nominative form in place of objective case forms.
Język polski w krajobrazie językowym Ostrawy
Authors: Muryc Jiří
Published: November 2024

THE POLISH LANGUAGE IN THE LINGUISTIC LANDSCAPE OF OSTRAVA
The purpose of this text is to present several aspects of language landscape research using the example of public places in Ostrava – the third largest city in the Czech Republic with historical and still (to some extent) close ties with Poland. The Polish language in Ostrava’s linguistic landscape was analysed from a synchronic perspective using the author’s own field research, conducted in 2023–2024. The subject of the research were inscriptions (but also various types of voice messages and audio announcements of an informative or persuasive nature) in Polish found in public spaces in Ostrava and recorded by the author of this text in the form of photographs and recordings. In order to collect material for description and analysis, all signs in Polish on the outside of buildings, exceptionally also in their interiors (e. g. in the foyer, lobby) were photographed, virtually all over Ostrava. Linguistic signs appearing in Ostrava’s urban space were analysed in accordance with the methodology adopted in linguistic landscape studies, and were divided into monolingual, polyphonic and mixed ones, as well as into signs of public or private character.
Gwarowe dopowiedzenie juści / a juści jako przykład leksykalizacji dawnych struktur składniowych
Authors: Sikora Kazimierz
Published: November 2024

THE DIALECTAL APPOSITION (COMPLEMENT) “JUŚCI/A JUŚCI” AS AN EXAMPLE OF LEXICALIZATION OF OLD SYNTACTIC STRUCTURES
A significant part of the Old Polish heritage in terms of lexis typical of spoken language, confirming the primary nature of Old Polish, has irretrievably disappeared in modern Polish, which has been shaped under the overwhelming influence of writing and patterns of indirect communication. This generally known fact is confirmed by Krystyna Kleszczowa’s research (Kleszczowa 2015; Kleszczowa, Szczepanek 2014) on the genesis of particles and the contents of the “Dictionary of Forgotten Functional Expressions” (Pawelec 2015). In this situation, the researcher can turn to dialects which often better preserve lexical mementos of past ages. This is also the case with the dialectal affirmative complement (and particle) juści/a juści. The author of the presentation attempts to establish the genesis, semantic structure and categorical value of this unit, which shows functional similarity to the standard Polish expressions: a jakże, oczywiście, właśnie, no pewnie, etc.
Palatalizacje słowiańskie i koncepcja ich praałtajskiego pochodzenia
Authors: Stachowski Marek
Published: November 2024

SLAVIC PALATALIZATION AND THE IDEA OF ITS PROTO-ALTAIC ORIGIN
Roman Jakobson was the first to suggest that the palatalization process in Slavic was a result of Altaic influence. He did not define the term “Altaic” or the place and time of the alleged Altaic-Slavic contact. Nevertheless, his idea, although primarily politically motivated, was accepted by some linguists and remains accepted even today. This author has already challenged it in English (Stachowski 2020, 2024), and now does so again in Polish.
Customer Voice on Two-Sided Platforms: The Effect of Surge Pricing on Customer Complaints
Authors: Xu Linli , Wei Yanhao “Max” , Zhu Yi
Published: November 2024

Two-sided platforms (e.g., ride-sharing, freelance labor, and lodging) match customers and service providers. Customers can voice their satisfaction level through review/rating systems, which the platforms use to monitor and screen service providers. However, customers may misdirect complaints about platform-level features toward individual service providers. We examine the extent and consequences of this issue in the context of a large ride-sharing platform. We focus on surge pricing as the platform-level feature. Our findings are as follows. First, for an average trip, surge pricing makes it 1.13 times more likely for the driver to receive a complaint (either a low rating or a formal complaint). Second, complaints negatively impact a driver’s future income. Surge-induced complaints offset about 23% of a driver’s immediate gain from the surged fare. Third, after the platform adopted a policy to cap the magnitude of surge prices, the effect of surge on customer complaints reduced. The policy also led to more usage of the platform. The results suggest a close interaction between the pricing and review systems on ride-sharing platforms. More broadly, they point to the importance for online two-sided platforms to identify and address customer complaints about platform-level features that may have been misdirected to service providers.

This paper was accepted by Eric Anderson, marketing.

Funding: Y. Zhu acknowledges financial support from 3M [Nontenured Faculty Grant].

Supplemental Material: The data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.4992 .