bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Morphology-based investigation of differences between spoken and written isiZulu
Authors:   CSIR, Marais Laurette , Wilken Ilana ,   CSIR
Published: March 2022

Research attempting to describe and quantify the differences between spoken and written language has been done for languages such as English, but not for isiZulu. In this paper, we present a quantitative investigation into such differences by considering the morphology of tokens in a transcribed spoken isiZulu corpus and a written isiZulu corpus. We use morpheme tags as a proxy for features that typically differ between spoken and written language, and calculate relative differences of the occurrence of specific morpheme tags from analyses produced by ZulMorph, a finite-state morphological analyser for isiZulu. This analysis presents information that could inform the development of voice-enabled computer applications for isiZulu.
Finding topic boundaries in literary text
Authors:   North-West University, Heyns Nuette , van Zaanen Menno
Published: March 2022

When performing a distant reading analysis of large amounts of literary texts, we would like to be able to automatically identify the high level structure or story lines of these texts. Story lines are not always linear, but contain transitions, such as flashbacks or changes of scenery. To identify these transitions, we propose a system that aims to identify a boundary describing such a transition. First, we split the text in short snippets. Next, topics are assigned to each of the snippets using LDA, a topic modelling approach. Based on this sequence of LDA topics, potential transition boundaries between snippets are identified. Potential transitions occur between snippets with the smallest intersection of the LDA topics that occur on either side of the potential transition. If multiple potential transitions are available, the system selects one at random. To evaluate this system, we apply it to the concatenation of two texts such that the real boundary is known. We provide results of this system with respect to a random baseline and an oracle system that always selects the best transition when more than one possible transition is available. The system consistently outperforms the baseline. Future work will focus on extending this system to allow for the identification of multiple transitions.
NLAPOST2021 1st Shared Task on Part-of-Speech Tagging for Nguni Languages
Authors:   Göttingen Centre for Digital Humanities (GCDH), Georg-August Universität Göttingen, Pannach Franziska , Meyer Francois ,   University of Cape Town, Jembere Edgar ,   University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, Dlamini Sibonelo Zamokuhle
Published: March 2022

Parts of Speech Tagging (POS Tagging) is a process of assigning labels to each word in text, to indicate its lexical category based on the context it appears in. The POS tagging problem is considered a mostly solved problem in languages with a lot of NLP resources such as English. However, this problem is still an open problem for languages with less NLP resources such as the Nguni languages. This is owing to unavailability of large amounts of labelled data to train POS tagging models. The rich morphological structure and the agglutinative nature of these languages make the POS tagging problem more challenging when compared to a language like English. With this in mind, we have organised a challenge for training POS Tagging models on a limited amount of data for four Nguni languages: isiZulu, siSwati, isiNdebele, and isiXhosa.
Development of linguistically annotated parallel language resources for four South African languages
Authors: Gaustad Tanja , Puttkammer Martin
Published: March 2022

For this project, we collected and annotated data to develop language resources for the four official South African Nguni languages written with a conjunctive orthography. The data for these four languages is parallel to allow for comparative (computational) linguistic studies. The corpora have been annotated for three types of linguistic information (morphology, part-of-speech and lemma). The article focuses on the annotation procedure, design choices that were made along the way as well as the quality control steps used. Hopefully this description will give some guidance for similar projects on under-resourced languages in the future.
Investigating the feasibility of harvesting broadcast speech data to develop resources for South African languages
Authors: Badenhorst Jaco , de Wet Febe
Published: March 2022

Sufficient target language data remains an important factor in the development of automatic speech recognition (ASR) systems. For instance, the substantial improvement in acoustic modelling that deep architectures have recently achieved for well-resourced languages requires vast amounts of speech data. Moreover, the acoustic models in state-of-the-art ASR systems that generalise well across different domains are usually trained on various corpora, not just one or two. Diverse corpora containing hundreds of hours of speech data are not available for resource limited languages. In this paper, we investigate the feasibility of creating additional speech resources for the official languages of South Africa by employing a semi-automatic data harvesting procedure. Factorised time-delay neural network models were used to generate phone-level transcriptions of speech data harvested from different domains.
Training Cross-Lingual embeddings for Setswana and Sepedi
Authors: Makgatho Mack , Marivate Vukosi , Sefara Tshephisho , Wagner Valencia
Published: March 2022

How can we transfer semantic information between two low-resourced African languages? With one language having more resources than the other? The problem is that African languages still lag in the advances of Natural Language Processing techniques, one reason being the lack of representative data, having a technique that can transfer information between languages can help mitigate against the data problem. This paper trains Setswana and Sepedi monolingual word vectors and uses VecMap to create cross-lingual embeddings for Setswana-Sepedi since cross-lingual embeddings can be used as a method of transferring semantic information from rich to low-resourced languages. Word embeddings are word vectors that represent words as continuous floating numbers where semantically similar words are mapped to nearby points in n-dimensional space. Each point captures the meaning of a word with semantically similar words having similar vector values near the point. The vectors are captured in a manner that, words used in a similar context will be mapped very close to each other on a vector space. The geometric relations between words can be understood by determining the cosine distance between word vectors. The idea of word embeddings is based on the distribution hypothesis that states, semantically similar words are distributed in similar contexts (Harris, 1954). The monolingaul embeddings can be used to do cross-lingaul transfer thus improving one language from another. Cross-lingual embeddings leverages monolingual embeddings by learning a shared vector space for two separately trained monolingual vectors such that words with similar meaning are represented by similar vectors. In this work we investigate cross-lingual embeddings for Setswana-Sepedi monolingual word vector. We use the unsupervised cross lingual embeddings in VecMap to train the Setswana-Sepedi cross-language word embeddings. We evaluate the quality of the Setswana-Sepedi cross-lingual word representation using a semantic evaluation task. For the semantic similarity task, we translated the WordSim and SimLex tasks into Setswana and Sepedi. We release this dataset as part of this work for other researchers. We evaluate the intrinsic quality of the embeddings to determine if there is improvement in the semantic representation of the word embeddings.
Wordsmith Tools as an Enabler for Text Analysis
Authors: Mabuya Rooweither
Published: March 2022

The process of intellectualization has been characterized as a planned process of accelerating the growth and development of South Africa’s indigenous languages to enhance their effective interface with modern developments, theories and concepts (Finlayson & Madiba, 2002). Corpora are used to develop empirical knowledge about language. A corpus is a collection of naturally occurring texts derived from real life language use in either written or spoken form (cf. Sinclair, 1991). These texts are then processed, stored and accessed by means of computers for use in developing electronic resources of a language. It is thus an important resource in the development of isiZulu Human Language Technologies. Thus, specialized corpora were created for this study and were used as the basis to enquire into the sensitive use of isiZulu with reference to language phenomenon isiHlonipho. Corpus linguistics provides a more objective view of language than introspection, intuition and anecdotes. This study profited from the use of the WordSmith Tools version 6 software program suite, which allowed the researcher to use different programs simultaneously to analyse data.
PENGARUH PENGGUNAAN FILTER PADA KNALPOT SEPEDA MOTOR UNTUK MENGURANGI TINGKAT EMISI GAS BUANG KENDARAAN
Authors: Sari Novita , Hardianto Dani , Suraharta Made , Hermawan Bobby Agung
Published: March 2022

Emisi gas buang kendaraan bermotor merupakan faktor penyebab polusi udara yang paling dominan, terutama di kotakota besar. Emisi gas buang yang dihasilkan oleh kendaraan bermotor ini mengakibatkan polusi udara sekitar 70-80 persen. Dari data Badan Pusat Statistik pada tahun 2017, proporsi sepeda motor sebesar 86% dari total jenis kendaraan, 12% mobil penumpangg dan 2% Bis. Usaha untuk menanggulangi bertambahnya bahan polutan yaitu dengan menggunakan filter gas buang pada semua kendaraan bermotor. Penggunaan filter gas buang kendaraan bermotor di Indonesia belum begitu banyak karena masih terbatas pada mobil penumpaang sedangkan proporsi sepeda motor di jalan tertinggidibandingkan kendaraan lainnya. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian laboratorium dengan metode kuantitatif, dimana analisis data yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini untuk mencari berapa besar pengaruh penggunaan filter pada knalpot kendaraan untuk mengurangi tingkat emisi gas buang sepeda motor. Untuk mengetahui nilai emisi gas buang sepeda motor, alat yang digunakan adalah gas analyzer. Bahan filter yang digunakan adalah zeolite dengan variasi ketebalan 5cm, 10cm dan 13cm, filter ini dipasang pada klanpot kendaraan.Dari analisis rata-rata nilai HC dan CO, filter dengan ketebalan 10 cm lebih efektif dibandingkan dengan filter dengan ketebalan 5 cm dan 13 cm, dengan nilai penurunan rata-rata kadar CO sebesar 33% dan HC sebesar 44%.
Perencanaan Angkutan Feeder Yang Melayani Brt Koridor 2 (Nusadua-Bandara)
Authors: Suraharta I Made , Ananda Adelin Feblika , A Dessy Angga
Published: March 2022

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah menganalisis perencanaan angkutan feeder yang melayani BRT Koridor 2 (Nusadua-Bandara). Penelitian ini menggunakan jenis penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan analisis deskriptif. Data dalam penelitian ini berjenis data primer dan data sekunder. Metode analisis data dalam penelitian ini menggunakan metode analisis permintaan, analisis pemilihan rute, analisis armada, dan analisis BOK. Berdasarkan analisis data dalam penelitian, maka dapat disimpulkan bahwa: 1) Berdasarkan hasil survei wawancara, diketahui bahwa jumlah permintaan untuk angkutan feeder adalah 66 responden untuk permintaan aktual dan 458 untuk permintaan potensial. Pergerakan yang ditimbulkan oleh responden yang paling tinggi berasal dari zona 6, dimana tata guna lahan pada zona tersebut merupakan kawasan wisata dan pusat pendidikan; 2) Rute rencana untuk pengoperasian angkutan feeder di Kuta Selatan dibagi menjadi 3 rute dengan pelayanan rute yang berbeda; 3) Jumlah armada yang dibutuhkan pada tiap rute: Permintaan Potensial yaitu: a) Rute 1 jumlah kebutuhan armada 2 kendaraan, b) Rute 2 jumlah kebutuhan armada 1 kendaraan, dan c) Rute 3 jumlah kebutuhan armada 4 kendaraan; dan 4) Tarif usulan yang sesuai untuk angkutan feeder: a) Rute 1 dengan tarif sebesar Rp. 5.500,-; b) Rute 2 dengan tarif sebesar Rp. 4.000,-; dan c) Rute 3 dengan tarif sebesar Rp. 7.000,-.
Penerapan Rute Aman Selamat Sekolah di Kawasan Pendidikan Kota Balikpapan
Authors: Hidayat Budiharso , Sambada Ananta Dwi , Fauzi Fauzi
Published: March 2022

Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk menganalisis penerapan rute aman selamat sekolah di kawasan pendidikan kota Balikpapan. Penelitian ini menggunakan jenis penelitian kualitatif dengan pendekatan analisis deskriptif. Data dalam penelitian ini berjenis data primer dan data sekunder. Pada kajian ini peneliti mengambil populasi masing-masing dari 4 sekolah di kawasan pendidikan. Dalam mengambil sampel peneliti menggunakan rumus Slovin dengan tingkat kepercayaan 90%.  Berdasarkan hasil analisis, dapat disimpulkan bahwa 1) Kawasan Rute Aman Selamat Sekolah (RASS) mencakup 4 sekolah yaitu  SD 001 Balikpapan, SMPN 12 Balikpapan, SMPN 1 Balikpapan, SMAN 1 Balikpapan; 2) Fasilitas rute pejalan kaki dan desainnya mencakup lebar trotoar pada jalan KP Tendean, jalan Wilyopuspoyudho, Jalam Arsh. Moh, Jalan Milino, Jalan Brigjen Ery Supardjan, Jalan Tanjung Pura, Jalan Telagasari, Jalan Telagasari Dalam, Jalan RE Martadinata. Adapun fasilitas penyebrangan terdapat pada Jalan KP Tendean; 3) Fasilitas angkutan umum mencakup mendesain halte untuk lokasi eksisting; dan 4) Fasilitas drop zone/pick up point diterapkan agar memberikan rasa aman bagi siswa yang diantar jemput dan tidak mengganggu aktivitas lau lintas sekitar
Manajemen dan Rekayasa Lalu Lintas pada Jalan Bunga Raya-Raden Patah Kota Batam
Authors: Rahayu Puput Famela , Nomin Nomin , Sari Novita
Published: March 2022

Ruas jalan Bunga Raya-Raden Patah merupakan jalan yang menghubungkan antara pusat-pusat kegiatan utama perkantoran dan perdagangan yang berada di Kota Batam. Ruas jalan tersebut juga merupakan jalan satu-satunya yang menghubungkan dua pusat kegiatan utama di Kota Batam sehingga akan berdampak pada kinerja lalu lintas. Dengan adanya masalah ini perlu adanya pengkajian ulang untuk meningkatkan kinerja lalu lintas di ruas Bunga Raya-Raden Patah Kota Batam. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk meningkatkan kinerja lalu lintas (ruas, simpang dan jaringan) dan merumuskan konsep Manajemen dan Rekayasa Lalu Lintas di daerah lintas pada Jalan Bunga Raya-Raden Patah Kota Batam. Metode penelitian yang digunakan adalah dengan menganalisa pembebanan jaringan pada sistem jaringan jalan di wilayah studi dengan menggunakan bantuan software Vissim. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa kinerja lalu lintas pada Jalan Bunga Raya-Raden Patah Kota Batam memiliki nilai tundaan rata-rata 109 detik, dengan kecepatan jaringan 37 km/jam, total jarak perjalanan 12,90 km dan total waktu yang dibutuhkan 1.254 detik. Setelah dilakukan usulan penanganan Manajemen dan Rekayasa Lalu lintas dalam mengatasi permasalahan lalu lintas tersebut terdapat 2 rekomendasi penangananan yang dilakukan yaitu; 1) melakukan peningkatan kapasitas ruas dan memperbaiki waktu apill di simpang indomobil dan simpang baloi; dan 2) melakukan peningkatan ruas, memperbaiki waktu apill di simpang indomobil dan simpang baloi, menutup fasilitas putar balik arah di ruas yos sudarso 1 dan bunga raya 1, melakukan perekayasaan simpang prioritas di simpang polsek lubuk baja dengan membuka median pada ruas bunga raya 1 serta merubah fase apill di simpang baloi.
ANALISIS FAKTOR YANG BERPENGARUH TERHADAP PEMILIHAN RUTE JALAN TOL BALI MANDARA
Authors: Susanto Adi , Punia Dewa Putu , Salim Santausa Purnama , Pangaribuan Juliaman , Subekti Fery , Yudhanta Ricko
Published: March 2022

Sebelum adanya jalan tol Bali Mandara ,By-passNgurah Rai merupakan satu-satunya jalan arteri primer yang menghubungkan arus lalu lintas orang dan barang dari Bandara Ngurah Rai menuju Nusa Dua. Lalu lintas pada jalan ini masih tercampur dan banyak hambatan samping berupa kawasan komersial yang menurunkan tingkat pelayanan, kenyamanan dan keamanan lalu lintas yang melewati rute tersebut. Kondisi lalu lintas pada jalan tersebut bisa dikatakan buruk dengan tingkat pelayanan jalannya antara D sampai dengan F baik pada ruas-ruas jalan By-passNgurah Rai dari/ke arah kawasan Nusa Dua maupun dari/ke arah kota Denpasar (Darmendra, 2014), pada kondisi seperti itu akan memerlukan waktu lebih lama untuk melintasinya. Keadaan tersebut jelas menjadi penghambat perkembangan aktivitas ekonomi dan sosial seperti pendistribusian orang dan barang di wilayah Bali Selatan.Dibangunnya jalan tol Bali Mandara bertujuan untukmemberikan alternatif pelayanan dan dapat meningkatkan tingkat pelayanan (level of service) jalan By-passNgurah Rai atau setidaknya mengembalikan fungsi serta kedudukan semula pada ruas jalan tersebut. Dengan análisis pemilihan rute diharapkan dapat menjadi referensi untuk mengurangi beban lalu lintas pada jalan By-passNgurah Rai.
UPAYA PENINGKATAN KESELAMATAN LALU LINTAS DI RUAS JALAN NGAWI-MANTINGAN KABUPATEN NGAWI
Authors: Azizah Fitri Lutfiah , Lesmana Handa , Fitrianingsih Aryanti
Published: March 2022

Keselamatan Lalu Lintas merupakan salah satu bagian yang penting dalam rekayasa lalu lintas untuk mencapai tujuan teknik lalu lintas yang aman, nyaman, dan ekonomis. Kecelakaan lalu lintas merupakan salah satu penyebab kematian tebesar di Indonesia. Frekuensi kecelakaan lalu lintas yang akhir-akhir ini cenderung meningkat, bukan saja disebabkan oleh faktor manusia (human error) yang selama ini diperkirakan sebagai faktor yang paling mempengaruhi penyebab kecelakaan dilihat dari kondisi prasarana jalannya. Dalam kecelakaan yang terjadi di jalan Ngawi-Mantingan kendaraan yang lebih banyak terlibat adalah kendaraan barang dengan motor. Jalan Ngawi-Mantingan ini merupakan akses yang cukup padat karena di dominasi oleh pergerakan antar kota pada daerah yang dilalui jalur utama Surabaya-Yogyakarta dan daerah yang dilalui jalur alternatif antar kota. Karena posisi geografis Ngawi jalan Ngawi-Mantingan ini merupakan jalur lintas angkutan barang dari Propinsi Jawa Tengah menuju Propinsi Jawa Timur maupun sebaliknya. Untuk mengurangi tingginya angka kecelakaan dan rendahnya keselamatan pada jalan Ngawi-Mantingan maka dilakukan inspeksi keselamatan jalan dengan memperhatikan faktor-faktor apa saja yang mempengaruhi kecelakaan di jalan tersebut. Kegiatan inpeksi tersebut bertujuan untuk mengetahui Road Safety Management salah satunya maka perlu di lakukan upaya peningkatan keselamatan yang setidaknya dapat meminimalisir ataupun mencegah terjadinya kecelakaan lalu lintas terjadi lagi.
PENGARUH PEMBANGUNAN JALAN LINGKAR (JALAN SUDIRMAN – PROF. HAMKA) TERHADAP KINERJA JARINGAN JALAN DI KABUPATEN PASAMAN BARAT
Authors: Darmadi Dewa Putu Wawan , Hermawan I Made Arka , Cahyono Ujang
Published: March 2022

Pembangunan Jalan Lingkar (Jalan Sudirman – Prof. Hamka) di Kabupaten Pasaman Barat bertujuan untuk mengantisipasi penurunan tingkat pelayanan dan mengurangi volume lalu lintas di ruas jalan arteri primer yang menjadi satu-satunya akses masuk menuju Seimpang Empat, yang juga merupakan jalur akses vital bagi perekonomian dan rantai pasok. Dengan adanya jalan lingkar ini diharapkan perjalanan menerus yang melewati Kabupaten Pasaman Barat yang saat ini melewati jalan arteri primer di perkotaan beralih ke jalan Lingkar (Jalan Sudirman – Prof. Hamka). Metode yang digunakan dalam mengevaluasi kinerja jaringan jalan yaitu dengan membandingkan kinerja jalan pada saat sebelum dilakukan pembangunan jalan lingkar (do nothing) dengan kinerja jalan pada saat setelah dilakukan pembangunan jalan lingkar (do something), setelah dilakukan perbandingan maka akan dianalisis sejauh mana pengaruh pembangunan jalan lingkar (Jalan Sudirman – Prof. Hamka) terhadap jaringan jalan di wilayah tersebut baik eksisting maupun di masa mendatang. Pada tahun rencana setelah jalan lingkar (Jalan Sudirman – Prof. Hamka) dibangun kinerja jaringan di Kabupaten Pasaman Barat meningkat menjadi 51 km/jam dari sebelumnya 47 km/jam pada tahun 2022. Pada tahun 2027 , kecepatan meningkat dari 39 km/jam menjadi 46 km/jam. Kinerja ruas Jalan Sudirman juga meningkat dari v/c rasio 0,92 menjadi 0,45 serta kecepatan dari 40 km/jam menjadi 70 km/jam pada tahun 2022. Tahun 2027, Jalan Sudirman mengalami peningkatan dari v/c rasio 1,01 menjadi 0,63 dan kecepatan dari 38 km/jam menjadi 60 km/jam. Adanya pembangunan jalan lingkar baik pada tahun 2022 maupun 2027 akan meningkatkan kinerja jaringan dan kinerja ruas di wilayah studi.
KONEKTIVITAS ANGKUTAN KERETA API DENGAN ANGKUTAN JALAN ( STUDI KASUS : STASIUN CIBITUNG, BEKASI )
Authors: Subarto Subarto , C Gloria Novita , Subastian Jamal , Sastrodiyoto Abadi
Published: March 2022

Angkutan kereta Api sebagai bagian penting dari sistim angkutan umum di Indonesia dan merupakan salah satu elemen dari sistem transportasi perkotaan yang memegang peran yang sangat penting bagi suatu daerah atau wilayah. Salah satu indikator dari wilayah yang dapat ditandai, antara lain dengan melihat kondisi sistem transportasi khususnya angkutan umumnya. Di samping itu, rute angkutan umum yang baik harus dapat dapat menjangkau seluruh wilayah dan memenuhi kepentingan beberapa pihak terkait seperti penumpang (user), pengelola (operator) dan pemerintah (regulator), namun agar lebih optimal  angkutan KA harus didukung oleh peyanan angkutan angkutan umum berbasis jalan sehingga tercipta konektivitas antara berbagai jenis pelayanan.
SOLUSI PENANGANAN PENUMPUKAN PENUMPANG STASIUN DURI AKIBAT PENGOPERASIAN KA BANDARA
Authors: Drajat Bambang , Nomin Nomin , Arista Eka , Hosang J.R.C , Widyanto Utut
Published: March 2022

Pada saat ini kereta bandara pola pengoperasiannya memiliki frekuensi 18 kereta pulang pergi  perharinya, dan dalam proses operasinya kereta bandara ini transit di stasiun Duri untuk melakukan perpindahan masinis dikarenakan track layout stasiun Duri tidak memungkinkan untuk kereta bandara berjalan langsung menuju stasiun antara Batu Ceper maupun stasiun akhir Stasiun Bandara. Dari proses transit di stasiun Duri ini terdapat masalah penumpukan penumpang kereta api Commuter Line, karena para penumpang Commuter Line baik yang bertujuan ke stasiun Angke maupun stasiun Tanah Abang ketika ingin berpindah kereta harus berjalan dari peron yang berada di ujung menuju ke peron yang baik berada di tengah maupun diujung yang lain. Selain masalah penumpukan penumpang juga terdapat masalah lebar peron guna menampung penumpang ketika menunggu kereta, karena selain ada kekurangan dari segi kenyamanan penumpang, sisi keselamatan penumpang pun kurang terjaga serta frekuensi perjalanan berkurang sehingga waku tunggu kereta bertambah lama.
Przyczyny powstawania karuzel podatkowych oraz
metody przeciwdziałania stosowane przez organy
Krajowej Administracji Skarbowej
Authors: Szymanek Paweł
Published: March 2022

Podstawowym problemem prawa podatkowego jest funkcjonowanie karuzel podatkowych. Temu procederowi
sprzyja rejestracja podmiotów na obszarze właściwości różnych organów Krajowej Administracji Skarbowej (KAS),
niewystarczająca liczba kontroli dokumentów papierowych, a także brak automatycznego, informatycznego sposobu
otrzymywania przez organy KAS wszystkich danych księgowych. Celem szybszego wykrywania karuzel
podatkowych wprowadzono wspólną bazę danych oraz obowiązek wysyłania JPK_VAT. W artykule przeanalizowano
wymienione usprawnienia i postawiono dwie tezy:
1) wspólna baza danych o podatnikach nie jest prawidłowo wykorzystywana, co skutkuje możliwością dalszego
funkcjonowania karuzel podatkowych;
2) informacje przekazywane przez podatników w formie JPK_VAT nie obejmują wszystkich danych, w tym o
przedmiocie sprzedaży, co utrudnia znalezienie powiązań między podmiotami tworzącymi karuzelę podatkową
lub prowadzi do niewłaściwego typowania jej funkcjonowania.
Microbiome-metabolomics analysis of the effects of decreasing dietary crude protein content on goat rumen mictobiota and metabolites
Authors: Zhu Wen , Liu Tianwei , Deng Jian , Wei Cong Cong , Zhang Zi Jun , Wang Di Ming , Chen Xing Yong
Published: March 2022

Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of decreasing dietary crude protein content on rumen fermentation, mictobiota, and metabolites in goats.Methods: In an 84-day feeding trial, a total of twelve male Anhui white goat kids with initial body weight 15.9±1.13 kg were selected and randomly classified into two groups, feeding a normal crude protein diet (14.8% CP, NCP) or a low crude protein diet (12.0% CP, LCP). At the end of the experimental trial (on day 84), six animals were randomly selected from each group and were slaughtered to collect rumen fluid samples for the analysis of rumen fermentation parameters, microbiome, and metabolome.Results: The concentrations of ammonia-nitrogen, total volatile fatty acid, acetate, and propionate were decreased (p<0.05) in the LCP group in comparison with those in the NCP group. The abundances of genera Prevotella, Campylobacter, Synergistetes, and TG5, which were associated with nitrogen metabolism, were lower (p<0.05) in the LCP group compared with those in the NCP group. The levels of 78 metabolites (74 decreased, 4 increased) in the rumen fluid were altered (p<0.05) by the treatment. Most of the ruminal metabolites that showed decreased levels in the LCP group were substrates for microbial protein synthesis. Metabolic pathway analysis showed that vitamin B6 metabolism was significantly different (p<0.05) in rumen fluid between the two treatments.Conclusion: Decreased dietary protein level inhibited rumen fermentation through microbiome and metabolome shifts in goat kids. These results enhance our understanding of ruminal bacteria and metabolites of goat fed a low protein diet.
Effects of quercetin and coated sodium butyrate dietary supplementation in diquat-challenged pullets
Authors: Zhou Ning , Tian Yong , Liu Wenchao , Tu Bingjiang , Gu Tiantian , Xu Wenwu , Zou Kang , Lu Lizhi
Published: March 2022

Objective: This study was designed to investigate the hypothesis that dietary quercetin (QUE) and coated sodium butyrate (SB) supplementation alleviate oxidative stress in the small intestine of diquat (DIQ)-challenged pullets.Methods: A total of 200 13-week-old pullets were divided into four groups: the control group (CON), the DIQ group, the QUE group, and the coated SB group, and injected intraperitoneally with either saline (CON) or diquat (DIQ, QUE, and SB) to induce oxidative stress on day 0.Results: On the first day, the malondialdehyde and superoxide dismutase (SOD) concentrations in the SB group were significantly different from those in the DIQ and QUE groups (p<0.05), and dietary supplementation with SB increased serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX) levels compared with the DIQ group (p<0.05). Quercetin and SB increased the levels of CLAUDIN-1 and zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) in the jejunum. On the tenth day of treatment, QUE attenuated the decrease in GSH-PX levels compared to those of the CON group (p<0.05), while SB increased SOD, GSH-PX, and total antioxidant capacity levels compared to those of the DIQ group. Nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (NRF2) and heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) mRNA levels in the QUE and SB groups increased (p<0.05) and CLAUDIN-1 mRNA levels in the QUE and SB groups were upregulated compared to those in the DIQ group ileum tissue.Conclusion: Supplementation of QUE and SB demonstrated the ability to relieve oxidative stress in pullets post DIQ-injection with a time-dependent manner and QUE and SB may be potential antioxidant additives for relieving oxidative stress and protecting the intestinal barrier of pullets.
Genome-wide association study for frozen-thawed sperm motility in stallions across various horse breeds
Authors: Nikitkina Elena V. , Dementieva Natalia V. , Shcherbakov Yuri S. , Atroshchenko Mikhail M. , Kudinov Andrei A. , Samoylov Oleg I. , Pozovnikova Marina V. , Dysin Artem P. , Krutikova Anna A. , Musidray Artem A. , Mitrofanova Olga V. , Plemyashov Kirill V. , Griffin Darren K. , Romanov Michael N.
Published: March 2022

Objective: The semen quality of stallions including sperm motility is an important target of selection as it has a high level of individual variability. However, effects of the molecular architecture of the genome on the mechanisms of sperm formation and their preservation after thawing have been poorly investigated. Here, we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) for the sperm motility of cryopreserved semen in stallions of various breeds.Methods: Semen samples were collected from the stallions of 23 horse breeds. The following semen characteristics were examined: progressive motility (PM), progressive motility after freezing (FPM), and the difference between PM and FPM. The respective DNA samples from these stallions were genotyped using Axiom Equine Genotyping Array.Results: We performed a GWAS search for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers and potential genes related to motility properties of frozen-thawed semen in the stallions of various breeds. As a result of the GWAS analysis, two SNP markers, rs1141327473 and rs1149048772, were identified that were associated with preservation of the frozen-thawed stallion sperm motility, the relevant putative candidate genes being NME/NM23 family member 8 (NME8), olfactory receptor family 2 subfamily AP member 1 (OR2AP1), and olfactory receptor family 6 subfamily C member 4 (OR6C4). Potential implications of effects of these genes on sperm motility are herein discussed.Conclusion: The GWAS results enabled us to localize novel SNPs and candidate genes for sperm motility in stallions. Implications of the study for horse breeding and genetics are a better understanding of genomic regions and candidate genes underlying stallion sperm quality, and improvement in horse reproduction and breeding techniques. The identified markers and genes for sperm cryotolerance and the respective genomic regions are promising candidates for further studying the biological processes in the formation and function of the stallion reproductive system.
Cloning, Expression and Purification of Full-length Recombinant Ecarin and Comparing Its Expression and Function with Its Truncated Form
Authors: Jafari Zohreh , Bandehpour Mojgan , Gheflat Shivasadat , Mohammadi Nasrin , Kazemi Bahram
Published: March 2022

: Ecarin is a metalloproteinase found in snake venom (SVMP) with an important role in coagulation and control of hemostasis. It can specifically produce active-thrombin from prethrombin-2 and does not differentiate between normal and abnormal prothrombin. It is used in diagnostic tests and to evaluate the treatment process of many diseases. There are many drawbacks associated with separating these compounds from snake venom. Therefore, in this study, full-length recombinant Ecarin (r-Ecarin) was cloned, expressed, and purified in eukaryotic host cells. To determine the most effective form of the enzyme, r-Ecarin was compared with the recombinant truncated form, which has only the metalloprotease domain of the protein (r-Ecamet) in terms of function and expression. Briefly, A DNA construct composed of sequence-encoding Ecarin was designed and cloned into pCAGGS expression vector and, subsequently, expressed in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. To identify the enzymatic activity of expressed protein, a bioactivity assay was performed. Blood coagulation time and expression levels of r-Ecarin and r-Ecamet proteins were compared. Also, a histopathological assessment was carried out on the liver of mice treated with these proteins. Comparison of r-Ecarin and r-Ecamet expression pattern demonstrated that full-length Ecarin expression has at least 2-fold higher expression in eukaryotic cells. Determination of r-Ecarin function proved that this protein is capable of prothrombin cleavage and producing thrombin. Comparison of PT test results between the r-Ecarin and r-Ecamet showed that there is a significant difference in the activity of the two enzymes and the full-length protein coagulates the blood in less time.
Gutenberg Galaksisinden Meta Evrenine: Üçüncü Kuşak İnternet, Web 3.0
Authors: ARVAS İbrahim Sena
Published: March 2022

Birinci kuşak internet olarak anılan Web 1.0’ın tek yönlü iletişim ortamı kısa sürede yerini Web 2.0’ın etkileşimli dairesel iletişimine bırakmıştır. Araştırmacıların birçoğu Web 2.0 üzerinde geliştirilen Semantik webin internetin yeni kuşağı olacağını ileri sürmüşlerdir. Ancak 2008 yılında, paranın aracısız transferi arayışının sonucu olarak ortaya çıkan blokzinciri ağı, internetin tüm geçmiş kuşaklarını unutturacak gelişmelerin habercisi olmuştur. Bitcoin’in mucidi Nakamoto’nun “peer to peer network” çalışması ile World Wide Web’in mucidi Berners-Lee’nin “mind to mind” hayali arasında gizli bibliyografik bir bağ kurulabilir. Nitekim Web 3.0 ile ilgili gelişmeleri bu bağlamın üzerinde ele almanın tutarlı olacağı anlaşılmaktadır. Bilgisayarların birbirine bağlanması ve veri transferi için bir merkezin varlığına olan ihtiyacı ortadan kaldıran blokzinciri ağı, beraberinde internetin yeni enstrümanlarının doğuşuna da zemin hazırlamıştır. Meta evreni projeleri de bunların en bilinenlerindendir. Meta evreni projelerinin ileride blok zinciri ağı üzerine taşınması söz konusu projeleri merkeziyetsiz bir yapıya büründürecektir. Bu durumda mevcut büyük teknoloji şirketlerinin ve sosyal medya platformlarının yüz milyarlarca Dolarlık gelirlerinden olma ihtimalleri de bulunmaktadır. Şu sıralar deneme aşamasında olan meta evreninde varlık gösterme çabalarının birçoğu da şüphesiz elenecektir. Bunların başında gerçek dünyanın kopyasını meta evrenine taşıyarak insanlara, gerçek dünyada başkalarına ait olan yerleri pazarlama kurnazlığı gelmektedir. Bu durum tanınmış Türk dolandırıcı Sülün Osman’ın İstanbul Boğaz Köprüsünü satma hikayesini çağrıştırmaktadır. Meta evreni kuşkusuz özgün ve gerçek dünyanın ötesinde olmalıdır.
Two-Percenters
Authors: Erick CJ ,   After Dinner Conversation
Published: March 2022

What is the value in having only a portion of the population be exceptional? What if everyone could be exceptional, would anyone really be? In this work of philosophical short fiction, 2% of the population have a genetic makeup that allows them to be enhanced. The intelligent are very intelligent, the beautiful, like Greek gods. Because of their enhanced abilities, they run the world. An enhanced “Social” meets up with an enhanced “Rational” to tell him about a newly discovered drug that would allow the other 98% of the world to be able to be enhanced as well, but it would cause the 2% to regress to average, or worse. The Rational takes the vial and releases it into the world. The Social kills herself.
Venom In The Cloud Forest
Authors: Quevedo Katherine ,   After Dinner Conversation
Published: March 2022

How important is the person who controls the stories of the past? What happens when that person changes community stories to meet his needs? In this work of philosophical fantasy short fiction, Acoti is shot with a poison dart while in the forest. With much effort, his friend takes him to Cuadelo, the community medicine man. Acoti is suspicious because he had previously spoken out to the elders that the community petroglyphs seemed to always agree with Cuadelo. Cuadelo confesses to Acoti that he is the one who poisoned him and says he will only cure Acoti if he goes before the elders to confess he was wrong in accusing Cuadelo. Acoti agrees, and is cured, but not before grabbing Cuadelo’s magic wand. Now cured, Acoti goes before the elders and shows that Cuadelo has been using his magic wand to change the petroglyphs (and their community stories) so they always agree with his opinions.
Economic Knowledge and Power
Authors: Koshovets Olga B. ,   Institute of Philosophy, Russian Academy of Sciences
Published: March 2022

The main claim of the study is that technocratic public administration based on knowledge as a key element of power, significantly affects the idea of what is objective and what is objectivity. I explore how scientific objectivity as part of a scientific ethos has been evolving on the example of economic knowledge. A key institutional feature of economic knowledge is that it includes in fact two relatively autonomous epistemic cultures: academic one, connected to the production of knowledge in academia and expert-administrative one developing in public and corporate governance systems. The peculiarity of knowledge demanded and functioning in public administration is instrumentality (a possibility to be transformed into technology) and an exeptional focus on quantification. As a result ‘governing by number’ becomes a key social technology and at the same time numbers seem to embody objectivity. I show that economic knowledge in public administration involves an inevitable and deepening ontological gap with ‘objective reality’. The state needs not true but effective knowledge: the task of administrating does not presuppose a realistic representation of the administrated object, but rather seeks to simplify it, to plan it, or even to construct. Thus, unlike scientific knowledge, the objectivity of knowledge in administrative practices has almost nothing to do with the object (in sense of truthfulness, representation). Meanwhile, ongoing need for academic economic knowledge to be used into the state administration and its further development in a fundamentally alien sphere leads to a significant deformation of scientific ethos, which is a crucial regulatory element in the scientific knowledge production. Erosion affects both aspects of objectivity as an ontological principle and as an ‘epistemic virtue’. Against this background, objectivity as an ‘epistemic virtue’ has been transformed into the ‘technique of distancing’ and the principle of technical impersonality, which imply eventually the replacement of the ‘knowledge self’ by a technical system.
Chronic Pain, Mere-Differences, and Disability Variantism
Authors: Nadelhoffer Thomas ,   Philosophy Documentation Center
Published: March 2022

While some philosophers believe disabilities constitute a “bad-difference,” others think they constitute a “mere-difference” (Barnes 2016). On this latter view, while disabilities may create certain hardships, having a disability is not bad in itself. I argue that chronic pain problematizes this disability-neutral view. In doing so, I first survey the literature on chronic pain (§1). Then, I argue that Barnes’s mere-difference view cannot adequately accommodate the lived experiences of many people who suffer from chronic pain (§2). Next, I consider two ways Barnes might respond and I explain why these responses are not workable (§3). Finally, I conclude with a brief discussion of disability variantism, the view that just as some disabilities can be neutral or even positive for some individuals, other disabilities like chronic pain can understandably make some people’s lives miserable not because society has failed them but simply because some conditions can openly conflict with well-being (§4).
But I’ve Got My Own Life to Live
Authors: Koltonski Daniel ,   Department of Philosophy, Florida State University
Published: March 2022

The dominant response to Peter Singer’s defense of an extremely demanding duty of aid argues that an affluent person’s duty of aid is limited by her moral entitlement to live her own life. This paper argues that this entitlement provides a basis not for limiting an affluent person’s duty of aid but rather for the claim that she too is wronged by a world marked by widespread desperate need; and the wrong she suffers is a distinctive one: the activation of a duty of aid so demanding that it dominates her life, crowding out her own valuable projects and involvements.
Ethnography in Translation Studies: an object and a research metho­dology
Authors: Buzelin Hélène
Published: March 2022

Based on a review of the literature on ethnography produced by translation scholars over the past twenty years, this contribution explores how translation studies [TS] has appropriat­ed this concept, first as a way to solve translation problems (with Eugene Nida), then as an object (within the cultural turn) and more recently as a research methodology to document and analyze translation and interpreting events in context. The author shows how, in the early seventies, both cultural anthropology and TS saw a change in paradigm that brought the two disciplines closer at the surface level (as the metaphor of culture as a text gained grounds), but that draw them very much apart from an epistemological viewpoint. Indeed, while ethnography was undertaking an interpretive turn, TS chose to define itself as an em­pirical discipline based on systematic and objective observation; this positivistic bias in early TS could partly explain its late adoption of ethnography as a research methodology. This liter­ary review finally reminds us of the many dichotomies out of which TS has grown and struc­tured itself — text vs context; translation vs. interpretation; experiential vs. scientific know­ledge, hermeneutics vs. empiricism, to name but a few — and suggest the need for an inter­pretive move within the discipline.
Toil, Passion, Serendipity, Money, and Marketing: a Fresh Look at Agents of Translation
Authors: Milton John
Published: March 2022

Drawing initially on the “Introduction” to Agents of Translation (Milton & Bandia 2009) and my work on Monteiro Lobato (Milton 2010, 2019), this article presents a number of the elements of the agency of translation such as patronage, habitus, and gatekeeping. Agents are also involved in an Actor Network, and they may act as ambassadors for the author or school they are attempting to introduce. The study then summarizes the work I have done on the Brazilian editor, author, and translator, José Bento de Monteiro Lobato. It then introduces two new studies, the first on Benjamin Moser, the translator and editor of the Brazilian novelist, Clarice Lispector, and the second on Liz Calder, former owner of the Bloomsbury Press, and the originator of FLIP, the annual literary festival held in the historic coastal town of Paraty, in the state of Rio de Janeiro.
Antiepileptic magnesium effect
Authors: Stanojević Marija , Lopičić Srđan , Spasić Svetolik , Nedeljkov Vladimir , Prostran Milica
Published: March 2022

Magnesium is a bioessential mineral. Magnesium ion is an important regulator of multiple ion channels' function. Magnesium has many neuroactive effects at cellular, network and whole body level. Magnesium shows stabilizing effects on electrophysiological properties and electrical activity of nerve cells and suppresses pathophysiological neuronal hyperexcitability. Magnesium deficiency has epileptogenic effect and its recompense - antiepileptic potential. Anticonvulsive action of MgSO4 infusions is clinically best known for the control of eclamptic convulsions. Under experimental conditions Mg2+ also exerts inhibitory effect on animal models of nonsynaptic epileptiform activity. Perspectives of future translational research on magnesium in epileptology point to potential benefit from magnesium therapy for better seizure control in refractory epilepsy.
Predictors of unfavourable tuberculosis treatment outcome in Bilene District, Gaza Province, Mozambique: A retrospective analysis, 2016 - 2019
Authors:   General Medicine/Paediatrics Department, Centro de Saúde de Macia, Gaza, Mozambique, Osório D , Munyangaju I ,   Tinpswalo Association – Vincentian Association to Fight AIDS and TB, Gaza, Mozambique, Nacarapa E ,   Tinpswalo Association – Vincentian Association to Fight AIDS and TB, Gaza, Mozambique; Internal Medicine Department, Carmelo Hospital, Gaza, Mozambique, Nhangave A-V ,   Gaza Provincial Research Nucleus, Provincial Health Directorate, Mozambique, Ramos-Rincon J-M ,   Internal Medicine Department, General University Hospital of Alicante and University Miguel Hernandez de Elche, Alicante, Spain
Published: March 2022

Background. Tuberculosis (TB) is a serious public health problem and remains one of the leading causes of death from an infectious agent globally. Mozambique is one of 30 countries considered to have a high TB burden. Objectives. To describe the clinical characteristics of TB in children and adults in Bilene District in Gaza Province, Mozambique, over 43 months and to assess determinants of unfavourable treatment outcomes. Methods. This retrospective cohort study took place from 1 January 2016 to 31 July 2019 in Bilene District, Gaza. We included patients in the TB register at the Centro de Saúde de Macia TB unit with available data on final treatment outcome. Predictors of unfavourable outcomes were determined using multivariable logistic regression models. Results. A total of 3 012 TB-infected patients were registered in the TB unit of the Macia health facility during the study period: 358 (11.9%) were children (<14 years), 1 522 (50.5%) were male, and 2 581 (85.7%) were new TB cases. No bacteriological test was performed at diagnosis in 1 250 patients (41.5%). Treatment was successful in 2 863 patients (95.1%), with better outcomes in children than in adults (98.0% v. 94.6%; p=0.005). Although mortality (n=97; 3.2%) was low in both groups, the proportion who died was lower in children compared with adults (1.4% v. 3.5%; p=0.035). Multivariable logistic regression analysis showed that unfavourable outcomes were more likely in men compared with women (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.48; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.04 - 2.12; p=0.029), in patients with recurrent TB infection compared with newly infected patients (aOR 1.63; 95% CI 1.05 - 2.50; p=0.027), and in patients co-infected with TB and HIV compared with HIV-negative TB-infected patients (aOR 2.17; 95% CI 1.43 - 3.29; p<0.001). The factor conferring the most risk for an unfavourable outcome was positive microbiological sputum results (aOR 5.27; 95% CI 3.25 - 8.54; p<0.001). Conclusions. Factors independently associated with an unfavourable TB treatment outcome were male sex, recurrent TB infection, having positive microbiology, and co-infection with HIV. It remains crucial to improve data quality and adherence to TB screening and diagnostic algorithms.
Curatorship applications: The role of neuropsychology
Authors:   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Stellenbosch University and Stikland Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa, Rice K L , Hendricks M L ,   Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Stellenbosch University and Stikland Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa
Published: March 2022

This article highlights ethical issues that may arise in the relationship between curatorship applications and neuropsychology. In South Africa (SA), curatorship applications for the elderly diagnosed with dementia require substantiation from two medical professionals, one of whom should be a practising psychiatrist deemed competent to provide this. Concurrently, there is often a request for a psychologist to conduct a neuropsychological assessment and to produce a relevant report. The process may result in ethical issues at various stages of the assessment. The balance between protecting the patient’s rights v. freedom of autonomy becomes a central issue. Psychiatrists and psychologists are cautioned to adhere to best practices throughout the assessment, maintaining a critical and reflective stance. The limitations of cognitive assessment as a predictor of functionality should be considered. Furthermore, neuropsychological training in SA differs across institutions, resulting in variable practitioner competency. ‘Competency’ itself is an ambiguous legal term that may be interpreted variably. This article outlines the definitions and requirements of the curatorship process, as well as the role and limitations of neuropsychology, with emphasis on the ethical dilemmas that may arise.