bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Efficacy and safety of ixekizumab versus adalimumab in patients with active psoriatic arthritis and moderate-to-severe psoriasis: 52-week results from the randomised SPIRIT-H2H trial
Authors: Reich Kristian , Kristensen Lars Erik , Smith Saxon D. , Rich Phoebe , Sapin Christophe , Liu Leage Soyi , McKenzie Robert , Schuster Christopher , Riedl Elisabeth , Gooderham Melinda
Published: May 2022

Introduction: The randomised, open-label, assessor-blinded, parallel-group SPIRIT-H2H trial (NCT03151551) demonstrated superiority of ixekizumab over adalimumab in simultaneously achieving improvement in joint symptoms (American College of Rheumatology [ACR]50) and clearance of skin lesions (Psoriasis Area and Severity Index [PASI]100) in biologic-naïve patients with active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and plaque psoriasis (PsO) at Week 24. Additionally, this higher efficacy of ixekizumab versus adalimumab was maintained through Week 52.

Objective: This analysis aimed to investigate the efficacy and safety of ixekizumab and adalimumab in the subgroup of patients with PsA and moderate-to-severe PsO through W52.

Methods: Efficacy and safety outcomes were analysed in patients with PsA and moderate-to-severe PsO (PASI ≥12, Body Surface Area ≥10%, static Physician Global Assessment ≥3) through W52. Categorical and continuous outcomes were analysed using logistic regression models and mixed model for repeated measures, respectively.

Results: More ixekizumab- versus adalimumab-treated patients simultaneously achieved PASI100 and ACR50 at W24 (40.8% versus 17.6%, p=0.015) and W52 (38.8% versus 17.6%, p=0.026). Likewise, more ixekizumab- versus adalimumab-treated patients achieved PASI100 (59.2% versus 25.5%, p=0.001) and PASI90 (81.6% versus 60.8%, p=0.028) through W52, and nail PsO clearance at W24. Joint symptom improvements were comparable between treatment groups. No new safety findings were reported.

Conclusions: Ixekizumab had higher efficacy than adalimumab in simultaneous achievement of ACR50 and PASI100 at W24 and W52 in patients with PsA and moderate-to-severe PsO. Ixekizumab-treated patients also showed higher response rates for nail PsO clearance and for reporting minimal or no impact on quality of life at Week 24.
Association of Flame-Retardant Clothing with Mycosis Fungoides: A Retrospective Analysis
Authors: Park Katherine , Ramachandran Vignesh , Tran Jessica , Joshi Tejas , Garg Naveen , Duvic Madeleine
Published: May 2022

Background: Mycosis fungoides (MF), the most prevalent form of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL), has been associated with a variety of environmental and occupational exposures. Flame-retardant clothing (FRC), in contrast to flame-resistant clothing (FrC), is chemically treated and may constitute a previously unrecognized occupational hazard.

Objective: To report an association between FRC and MF.

Methods: After encountering several young male patients whose onset of MF coincided with the occupational use of FRC and occupation as fire fighters, we did a retrospective search. Additional biopsy proven MF patients with use of FRC were identified by the EPIC electronic medical record using the search terms “CTCL, mycosis fungoides, flame, and flame-retardant.”

Results: Eight MF patients, all males, ranging in age from 31 years to 64 years (median age, 35 years) with exposure to FRC were identified. MF remission was noted in three patients who discontinued FRC use and in one patient who used a cotton undershirt barrier, while disease persistence was noted in one patient who continued to use FRC.  

Conclusions: FRC appears to be associated with development of MF through chronic antigen stimulation. Use of FRC is an occupational hazard for fire fighters. Any patient whose MF coincides with use of FRC should avoid further exposure through avoidance or switching to clothing made from inherently flame-resistant fibers.
Phylogenetic placement of Carrhotus Thorell, 1891 with three new species from Sri Lanka (Araneae: Salticidae)
Authors: Satkunanathan Abira , Benjamin Suresh P.
Published: May 2022

The Sri Lankan species of the genus Carrhotus Thorell,1891 have remained taxonomically unrevised. The present study reviews all species of the genus in the island. Here we describe and diagnose three new species: Carrhotus albosetosus sp. nov. (♀), C. atratus sp. nov. (♂♀) and C. lobatus sp. nov. (♂). Further, C. silanthi Caleb, 2020 is reported in Sri Lanka for the first time. Carrhotus taprobanicus Simon, 1902 and C. viduus (C.L. Koch, 1846) are redescribed based on material from Sri Lanka. A key to the Carrhotus species in Sri Lanka is given.
The Demotic and Hieratic Papyri in the Suzuki Collection of Tokai University, Japan
Authors: Jasnow Richard , Manning J. G. , Yamahana Kyoto , Krutsch Myriam
Published: May 2022

This volume publishes, for the first time, approximately fifty late Egyptian texts from the Suzuki collection held at Tokai University, Japan. The project is a result of a five-year collaboration between Tokai University, Yale University, Johns Hopkins University, The University of Michigan, and the Staatliche Museum zu Berlin. Professor Suzuki formed his collection in the early 1960s when he was based in Cairo. The bulk of the collection, now housed in the Department of Asian Civilization, School of Letters at Tokai University as part of the Ancient Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection (AENET), consists of early demotic texts. There is also one Third Intermediate period hieratic text concerned with temple land, and a few small Greek fragments from the Byzantine period. The texts published here present an interesting range of document types and examples of demotic handwriting, and a few surprises. Among the more intriguing pieces are a fine word list and a new mythological narrative.
A Review on Graph Neural Network Methods in Financial Applications
Authors: Wang Jianian , Zhang Sheng , Xiao Yanghua , Song Rui
Published: May 2022

With multiple components and relations, financial data are often presented as graph data, since it could represent both the individual features and the complicated relations. Due to the complexity and volatility of the financial market, the graph constructed on the financial data is often heterogeneous or time-varying, which imposes challenges on modeling technology. Among the graph modeling technologies, graph neural network (GNN) models are able to handle the complex graph structure and achieve great performance and thus could be used to solve financial tasks. In this work, we provide a comprehensive review of GNN models in recent financial context. We first categorize the commonly-used financial graphs and summarize the feature processing step for each node. Then we summarize the GNN methodology for each graph type, application in each area, and propose some potential research areas.
The Ittifaq-el-Muslimin Party in the Russian Political System of the Early twentieth Century: Religious Aspects of Tatar Liberalism
Authors: Piatrovich Ihar'
Published: May 2022

The subject of this article is the activity of the political party "Ittifaq-el-Muslimin" - a Muslim liberal party, the majority of whose members consisted of representatives of the Tatar population of Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century. Tatar liberalism, in whose ideology the question of religion occupied one of their main places, was formed in 1905 - 1906. Its formation is connected with the holding of illegal All-Russian Muslim congresses. Sadri Maksudi, Yusuf Akchura, Gayah Ishaki and M. Bigi were at the origins of this congress. The Ittifaq-el-Muslimin party was formed at the III illegal All-Russian Muslim Congress on the basis of the previously formed All-Russian Muslim Union. This article is devoted to the activities of the Muslim Liberal Party and the consideration of the role of state-confessional relation. The main contribution of the author to the study lies in the revealing of the history and the role of the religio in the ideology and activities of national-religious liberal political parties in Russia at the beginning of the twentieth century on the example of the Ittifaq-el-Muslimin party. In addition, the activity of the party is considered in the context of the all-Russian party system of 1905 - 1917. As a result of the research, the author came to the following conclusions. Despite the official legal consolidation of the concept of freedom of conscience, the Orthodox Church continued to maintain its dominant position. At the same time, representatives of other faiths (in particular, Old Believers and Muslims) were granted the right to freely preach their own religious beliefs, create public associations, freely carry out educational activities, and take part in the political life of Russia. The transformation of state-confessional relations is considered on the example of the formation of the Muslim liberal Party and its activities in the system of political relations of the Russian Empire at the beginning of the twentieth century.
Gradient almost Para-Ricci-like Solitons on Para-Sasaki-like Riemannian Pi-manifolds
Authors: Manev Hristo
Published: May 2022

Gradient almost para-Ricci-like solitons on para-Sasaki-like Riemannian Π-manifolds are studied. It is proved that these objects have constant soliton coefficients. For the soliton under study is shown that the corresponding scalar curvatures of the considered both metrics are equal and constant and its Ricci tensor is a constant multiple of the vertical component. Explicit example of a 3-dimensional para-Sasaki-like Riemannian Π-manifold is provided in support of the proved assertions.
Dark Energy is Dark Matter below Absolute Zero in Black Holes
Authors: Tsekov Roumen
Published: May 2022

It is proven that the Clapeyron–Mendeleev equation, originally discovered for gases with large entropy, describes the state of dark matter/energy due to the enormous self-gravitation. It is shown that the dark matter exists as compact cold neutrino stars at positive temperature with size twice the Schwarzschild radius. In contrast, the dark energy is dark matter at temperature below the absolute zero, which is locked entirely in black holes, where the pressure is negative as required for the Universe intrinsic expansion. The derived dark phase diagram predicts negative critical temperatures for the Big Bang and the Big Rip of black holes.
Investigation of the Gyrotropy in the Spectral Region of the Absorption "Shoulder" of the Oxide Crystal Bi12SiO20
Authors: Dimov Todor , Iliev Iliya , Hristova Antonina
Published: May 2022

This paper presents the research of the gyrotropy of a pure Bi$$_{12}$$SiO$$_{20}$$ (BSO) and doped Bi$$_{12}$$SiO$$_{20}$$:Al (BSO:Al) crystals in the spectral region of ``absorption shoulder'' using measurements of the spectra of the natural optical rotation, the magneto-optical rotation and the optical spectroscopy. It is shown that the difference in the absorption of the BSO and BSO:Al crystals is related to the presence of two types of defects in the crystals BSO:Al – impurities $$\rm Al_{Si}^{3+}$$ in $$\rm[Al_{Si}^{3+}O_4]$$ and $$\rm Bi_{Si}^{3+}$$ in $$\rm[Bi_{Si}^{3+}O_4]$$. A ``red-shift'' of the optical rotation spectrum of BSO:Al crystals has also been observed relative to the optical rotation spectrum of BSO crystals.
Spectral Properties of Copper(II) bis-monensinate
Authors: Pantcheva Ivayla , Stamboliyska Radoslava , Nedzhib Ahmed , Dorkov Petar
Published: May 2022

The polyether ionophorous antibiotic monensic acid A (MonH.H2O) reacts with copper(II) ions in the presence of a weak base (Et4NOH) to form mononuclear coordination species of composition [Cu(Mon)2(H2O)2]. The complexation process in solution was studied by synchrotron radiation circular dichroism (SRCD). The isolated complex was characterized using infrared spectroscopy (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR). The copper ion is placed in an octahedral environment composed of two deprotonated antibiotic monoanions and two water molecules. The monensinates are cis-oriented with respect to the metal(II) centre, acting bidentately through a monodentate carboxylate function and a hydroxyl group, both placed at the opposite ends of the ligand structure. The copper(II) cations do not enter the hydrophilic cavity of monensin. Instead it is occupied by water molecules which complete the octahedral inner coordination sphere of the complex and stabilize the “head-to-tail” chelates of the antibiotic by intramolecular hydrogen bonds.
In situ and Ex situ Investigations on Breeding Systems and Pollination of Sideritis Scardica Griseb. (Lamiaceae) in Bulgaria
Authors: Valchev Hristo , Kozuharova Ekaterina
Published: May 2022

Sideritis scardica is a short living perennial herb. This Balkan endemic grows in the higher parts of the mountains of Bulgaria, Albania, Greece, and Republic of North Macedonia. It is an endangered species and medicinally valuable plant. S. scardica has been successfully cultivated lately in Bulgaria and propagated by seed. This study presents preliminary in situ and ex situ data on the factors that control the seed production of S. scardica. Investigations were conducted in six study sites (three in situ and two ex situ) in the Rhodopes and one ex situ study site in the foothills of Pirin Mt in 2008 and 2019. The field experiments with enclosed flowers revealed that spontaneous self-pollination does not occur and insect pollen vectors are necessary. The pollinators of S. scardica were polylectic insects such as bumblebees (both in situ and ex situ) and honeybees (only on the big ex situ cultivated fields). Flowers were visited mostly for nectar as a reward and the pollen baskets were filled mainly by the pollen adhered on the pollinators’ body. The protection of wild populations of this plant species as well as its successful cultivation depends on the protection of its pollinators.
Species Status of Ragworm Populations (Nereididae: Tylorrhynchus Sp.) Exploited as a Human Specialty Based on Their Molecular Analyses in the Northern Coast of Vietnam
Authors: Manh Vu Quang , Ha Thi Nguyen , Phommavongsa Sakkouna , My Tra Ha , Hien Thu Lai
Published: May 2022

In the traditional culinary culture of Vietnam, the ragworms (Nereididae) are an ancient and well-known delicacy (Chả rươi in Vietnamese) of great nutritional and economic value. In order to determine their species status, distribution, and sustainable control, a comparative molecular genetic analysis was carried out in 2018--2019. It comprised of ragworm populations along the northern coast including Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Hai Duong, Thai Binh and Nam Dinh, 20.0, 14.5, 34.0, 26.0 and 17.0 km from the sea, respectively. We found that all of them belong to one and the same species named Tylorrhynchus heterochaetus (Quatrefages, 1866). The ragworm in the Tu Ky area of Hai Duong province has the farthest distribution in the mainland, and was among the ragworm groups with the largest morphological measurements. Salinity and inland environmental conditions are likely factors influencing the morphological development of ragworm populations in this area. This may be the reason Tu Ky ragworms have been labelled a specialty dish in Vietnam dating back to ancient history.
An Improved Seventh Order Hermite WENO Scheme for Hyperbolic Conservation Laws
Authors: Zahran Yousef , Abdalla Amr
Published: May 2022

A seventh order Hermite weighted essentially non-oscillatory (HWENO) scheme [1] has been used successfully to solve hyperbolic conservation laws. However, the scheme could not achieve the optimal order of accuracy at critical points. In this paper, we propose a new central seventh order HWENO scheme. It involves seventh order HWENO reconstruction [1] and the central-upwind flux [2, 3]. For the ideal weights we used the central procedure presented in [4] and for nonlinear weights we extend the strategy proposed in [5, 6]. For time integration, the seventh order linear strong-stability-preserving Runge–Kutta (ℓSSPRK) scheme is used. The resulting scheme combines the advantages of both the improved and Hermite central schemes, e.g., compactness, improving the convergence and accuracy at critical points, decreasing the dissipation near discontinuities especially for long time evolution problems; it is simple to implement and attains seventh order accuracy. Many numerical tests are presented to validate the performance of the proposed scheme.
Oxidized Lipids Control Lipid Order and Phospholipase A2 Activity in Model Membranes
Authors: Yordanova Vesela , Hazarosova Rusina , Vitkova Victoria , Kostadinova Aneliya , Angelova Miglena , Momchilova Albena , Krastev Plamen , Staneva Galya
Published: May 2022

Oxidative stress is an important etiologic factor in the pathogenesis of various diseases. The formation of oxidized phospholipid species in vivo induces membrane remodelling with direct pathological implications with a prominent inflammatory component. Secretory phospholipases A2 (sPLA2) are involved in the regulation of inflammation and immune response. Their activity is highly dependent on the lipid membrane composition, structure and organization. In this work, we studied the impact of oxidized phosphatidylcholines (OxPCs) on the membrane lipid order and the sPLA2 activity. The effects of two of the most physiologically active OxPCs, 1-palmitoyl-2-(5′-oxo-valeroyl)-sn-glycero- 3-phosphocholine (POVPC) and 1-palmitoyl-2-glutaroyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine (PGPC) were compared using 1-palmitoyl-2-oleoyl-sn-glycero- 3-phosphocholine (POPC) vesicles. Both OxPCs reduce the membrane lipid order and sPLA2 activity at physiological temperature. Moreover, these changes depend on the chemical nature of the oxidized chains.
C-Reactive Protein/Albumin Ratio in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Authors: Caliskan Zeynep , Hacioglu Yalcin , Bulut Nurgul , Dincer Yildiz
Published: May 2022

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is an inflammatory condition. C-reactive protein (CRP) is a well-known inflammatory marker for demonstrating systemic inflammation in T2DM. We aimed to compare the diagnostic value of CRP and C-reactive protein to albumin ratio (CAR) in discriminating T2DM patients and healthy controls and to investigate the association of CAR and glycemic control markers. This cross-sectional retrospective study included 173 T2DM patients and 104 healthy control subjects. Serum albumin and CRP levels were measured with spectrophotometric and nephelometric methods, respectively. CAR was calculated by dividing CRP level by albumin level. The median (interquartile range, IQR) CAR in the T2DM patients was significantly higher than those in the controls (0.15 (0.26) vs. 0.06 (0.20), p = 0.002, respectively). In receiver operating characteristics curve analysis (ROC), CAR > 0.0653 had 77.21% sensitivity and 52.44% specificity in discriminating T2DM. The area under ROC curve for CAR was 0.623 (95% CI =0.544–0.701, p=0.002), which was similar to CRP. A positive correlation was found between CAR and body mass index, fasting blood glucose and HbA1c levels. As a result, CAR demonstrated poor sensitivity and specificity for discriminating T2DM patients from healthy subjects and it has little diagnostic utility in diabetes.
A Low-Profile Hollow Waveguide Slot Array Antenna with Full-Corporate Feeding Network at K-Band
Authors: Yamaç Y. E. , Çalışkan A. , Türk A. S. , Kızılay A.
Published: May 2022

A hollow waveguide slot array antenna with a total of 338x106.5x28.9 mm3 is proposed as a sensor for radar applications at K-band. The proposed antenna consists of a radiating slot plate with 8x32 slots, a middle plate with 64 cavities and apertures, and a full-corporate-feeding network. The antenna is fabricated with these three parts in which the sub-array feeding technique is employed. The proposed antenna is designed for millimeter-wave short-range radar applications. For this purpose, the antenna radiates and achieves reasonable gain values between 23.72–25.30 GHz frequencies with 6.45% bandwidth. The measurement directivity is 32.1 dBi, and the realized gain of the antenna is measured as 30.83 dBi at 24.5 GHz center frequency with 74.8% total efficiency. The antenna achieves high gain and efficiency with straightforward fabrication. Although there are some fabrication errors and connector losses, antenna measurements are obtained sufficiently consistent with simulations.
An Efficient Approximate Method for Scattering Response from Infinite Arrays of Nonlinearly Loaded Antenna in the Frequency Domain
Authors: Ostadzadeh S. R. , Salehi M. , Jafari B.
Published: May 2022

In this paper, different arrangements of infinite arrays of nonlinearly loaded antennas are analyzed in the frequency domain by an efficient approximate method and compared with the exact one which are respectively based on the nonlinear current and harmonic balance techniques. In one hand, although the exact method is suitable for strongly nonlinear load, it is suffering from gradient operation and initial guess in the iteration process especially under multi-tone excitations. On the other hand, although the approximate method is very efficient, it is limited to weakly nonlinear loads and low-valued incident waves. Finally, acceptable ranges for application of the approximate method versus different parameters such as nonlinearity effect of the load and the magnitude of incident wave are extracted.
Assessment of the readiness of restorations manufactured by CAD/CAM in terms of marginal fit (Part I)
Authors: Mounajjed Radek , Taylor Thomas , Hamadah Omar , Voborná Iva , Al-akkad Marwan
Published: May 2022

Background

The master cast is the gold standard for the control and eventual adjustment of restorations produced by conventional procedures. Some digital workflow bypasses the master cast and relies completely on the precision of the CAD/CAM restoration.

Aim

To examine the reproducibility of the margins of CAD/CAM restorations generated from a single digital scan. Also, to check the readiness of these restorations for delivery directly after fabrication without adjustment on a master cast and thereby eliminate the need for the master cast.

Methods

A total of 18 metal substructures made from cobalt chrome alloy were fabricated utilizing a single STL file. The circumference was divided into eight zones. The vertical marginal discrepancy (VMD) was measured at each zone of each metal substructure, with optical microscopy at ×200 magnification.

Results

Measurements of vertical marginal discrepancy were in a range of (−94: 300) with a mean of 62 ± 60 μm. A one-way ANOVA test revealed that the mean VMD is significantly different among the 18 substructures (F17, 1,134 = 63.948, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Although all the received substructures were fabricated from the same scan file, they were not identical and varied widely, and they were going outside the acceptable range in some zones. Within the limitations of this study, the marginal fit can be improved by extraoral adjustments on the master cast. Thus, skipping the master cast deprives the dentist of delivering a restoration of higher quality.
Dynamics and prediction of genetic gains through selection indices in (Allium cepa L.) genotypes
Authors:   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici Brazil, Vasconcelos Segundo Vanessa Cláudia , Innecco Renato ,   Universidade Federal do Ceará, Campus do Pici Brazil, André de Freitas Joelson ,   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Monte Carmelo Brazil, Mascarenhas Maciel Gabriel Mascarenhas Maciel ,   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Glória Brazil, Queiroz Luz José Magno ,   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Umuarama Braz, Oliveira Nogueira Ana Paula ,   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus Monte Carmelo Brazil, Miranda Peixoto Joicy Vitória ,   Universidade Federal de Uberlândia, Campus - Monte Carmelo Brazil
Published: May 2022

The greatest challenge in onion breeding programs is achieving gains from plant selection in an efficient manner. Selection indices are already in use for many species but are rare in onion. The aim of this study was to characterize the gain from selection in onion germplasm through nonparametric indices. To bring about this dynamic, four experiments were conducted with different sets of genotypes. Several agronomic characteristics were evaluated. Estimates of gains and selection of genotypes were obtained from the selection index based on rank sum, from the genotype-ideotype distance index, and from the multiplicative index. To test the efficiency of the indices used, the coefficient of coincidence was calculated. The total gains from selection were greater through use of the multiplicative index, with values of 31.84% for the advanced lines and 37.4% for the segregating genotypes. It was possible to select superior onion lines in each experiment. The coefficients of coincidence, all with values greater than 0.5, confirmed that the indices provided a margin of safety in the selection of superior genotypes.
Developing a Land Suitability Model for Cereals in the Algerian Sahara Using GIS and Hierarchical Multicriteria Analysis
Authors:   Scientific and Technical Research Centre for Arid Areas (CRSTRA) Algeria, Naima Koull , Helimi Samia ,   Scientific and Technical Research Centre for Arid Areas (CRSTRA) Algeria, Mihoub Adil ,   Scientific and Technical Research Centre for Arid Areas (CRSTRA) Algeria, Mokhtari Sakher ,   Scientific and Technical Research Centre for Arid Areas (CRSTRA) Algeria, Elhafed Kherraze Mohamed ,   Scientific and Technical Research Centre for Arid Areas (CRSTRA) Algeria, Amir Aouissi Hani ,   Scientific and Technical Research Center on Arid Regions (CRSTRA) Algeria
Published: May 2022

Determining land suitability is a preliminary procedure to define and determine land fitness for a given type of production. A suitability analysis performed with inadequate methods will not guarantee a successful or significant process. The current attempt to consider new strategies and techniques for the Algerian agricultural systems comes as a part of a process of reflection that aims to understand the land resource planning process for agriculture, specifically in Ouargla, Algeria. The aim of the study is also to present a process that is based on the use of geographic information systems (GIS) and hierarchical multicriteria analysis; this process has demonstrated its relevance to the understanding of complex spatial problems. The suggested approach provides an information reference for the construction of soil suitability maps for cereals in N’Goussa at Ouargla. Farming factors, such as the slope, soil characteristics, electrical and road networks, and land occupation, were integrated into the soil suitability map for cereals by using the geographic information system. Multiplying the weighted coefficients linked to these factors allows for a global land suitability map. The obtained results allow for the prioritization of the sites into four classes: high suitability, moderate suitability, low suitability and unsuitability. In fact, 60.06% of the total area is moderately suitable for cereals.
Comparative Analysis of Ki-67 in Different Scoring Patterns and its Association with other Prognostic Markers of Breast Carcinoma
Authors: Buch Archana , Naik Mukta , Chandanwale Shirish , Rathod Hetal , Paul Barnali , Gore Charusheela
Published: May 2022

Introduction: Immunohistochemical evaluation of Ki-67 is widely used for estimation of tumour proliferation in breast cancer. Till date, no specific method or a cut-off point for Ki-67 exists. Aim: To perform a comparative analysis between different scoring patterns and mean Ki-67 value and association of mean Ki-67 with other prognostic markers like tumour size, lymph node status, tumour stage and grade and different molecular subtypes of breast cancer. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Dr. D.Y Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Pune, Maharashtra, India, between August 2019 to August 2021. Total of 50 new diagnosed cases of breast cancer were studied for the histologic type, grade and stage of the tumour. Immunohistochemistry for Oestrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), Human Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor 2 (HER2) and Ki-67 was performed. Association of Ki-67 with other prognostic markers like tumour size, lymph node status, tumour stage and grade and different molecular subtypes of breast cancer was evaluated by expressing Ki-67 as a continuous variable (mean±SD) and also by dividing Ki-67 into different scoring patterns (I: ≤14%, >14%, II: ≤15%, 16- 30%, >30% and III: <20%, 20-50%, ≥50%). Statistical tests like Kruskal-Wallis test (mean Ki-67 with tumour size, tumour grade and molecular subtypes), Mann-Whitney Rank Sum Test (mean Ki-67 with lymph node status) and Analysis of variance (ANOVA) (mean Ki-67 with staging) respectively. Results: Out of 50 patients, 40 (80%) were older than 50-yearold. Twenty six (52%) cases affected the left breast. A total of 49 (98%) were diagnosed as Invasive Ductal Carcinoma (IDC). Among them 26 (52%) cases were of grade III and 25 (50%) cases were of Luminal A. Mean Ki-67 and molecular subtypes of breast cancer had statistically significant association (p= 0.002). No association was found between mean Ki-67 and tumour size (p=0.608), lymph node status (p=0.506) stage (p=0.979) and grade (p=0.095) of the tumour. Although scoring pattern I and III had no remarkable findings. Notably, scoring pattern II showed higher tumour sizes, lymph node positivity, higher stage and grade and basal-like tumours demonstrated a higher Ki-67 index. Conclusion: Evaluation of Ki-67 as a continuous variable yielded significant association with other prognostic markers of breast cancer. There was no single “best” scoring pattern identified. A direct association of Ki-67 was found with molecular subtypes of breast cancer.
A One Man Army- TrueNat Testing for the Identification of COVID-19 in Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
Authors: Tuli Lekha , Patawa Rohit
Published: May 2022

Introduction: The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the entire world. The need of timely detection of the virus has been of prime importance and the efforts to develop sensitive, specific, rapid, portable and cost effective diagnostic methods promoted the indigenous development of TrueNat testing for viral load in COVID-19 detection which had been previously designed for detection of Tuberculosis and other infectious organisms. Aim: To see the importance of TrueNat testing among symptomatic and asymptomatic cases in different age groups and gender. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study conducted in the Department of Microbiology, Autonomous State Medical College and SNM Hospital, Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, from June 2020 - May 2021, a total of 4,659 samples were collected from patients (Influenza Like Illness (ILI), Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI), symptomatic, asymptomatic, those seeking hospitalisation, emergency), contacts and travellers and were subjected to testing by TrueNat (Molbio Quattro). The cases were divided into group A of patients who presented with symptoms ≤7 days; group B of patients who presented with signs and symptoms >7 days and group C comprised of asymptomatic patients. The symptoms of patients were associated with the Cycle threshold (Ct) values of the Envelope (E) gene and the RNAdependent RNA polymerase gene (RdRp) gene. The Chi-square test was done to test the statistical significance of association of symptomatic patients with the outcome of the test. Results: The maximum number of positive cases was found in the age group 20-39 years (p-value <0.05). The least positivity was found in the higher (80 years) and lower (below 9 years) age groups. The positivity rates had no significant impact on the gender. The percentage positivity as detected by Truenat testing was 3.3% and maximum positive patients were found in the group having symptoms <7 days (p<0.05). On association of the Ct values of E gene and RdRp gene with the symptoms it was found that 28.1% and 27.2% of the patients were in the high Ct value group. Conclusion: TrueNat was found to be a portable and easy to perform test which did not require special laboratory set up. The use of Viral Lysis Medium (VLM) reduced the time of RNA extraction which not only rendered it safer to perform but expedited the results.
Preparation and Quality Evaluation of Biscuits from Mango Seed Kernel-Acha Flour Blends
Authors: Gambo Ibrahim Abdul-Alim , Adekunle Ayo Jerome , Sarah Bessong
Published: May 2022

Production and quality evaluation of biscuits from mango seed kernel-Acha flour blend were studied. The biscuits were formulated with 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 50% of mango seed kernel (magnifera indica) flour with acha flour. The biscuits were prepared from the flour blends with other ingredient (fat, salt, baking powder and sugar) and evaluated for chemical composition, physical and sensory properties. The moisture, ash, protein and carbohydrate content decreased from 14.79-9.03, 2.37-2.17, 16.85-15.5 and 58.08-56.70, while the fat and fibre content increased from 5.67-8.99 and 0.40-0.90 respectively with increased in the level of mango seed kernel flour addition. Minerals and vitamins content result indicated increasing level of potassium, magnesium, vitamin A and vitamin K (256.31-486.43, 11.26-12.35, 0.01-0.07 and 0.02-0.51mg/g) respectively with increased in mango seed kernel flour. While decreased level of calcium and vitamin C were 1.10-0.66 and 1.65-1.27 with increased mango seed kernel flour addition. Physical properties result indicated a decreased in the weight, height diameters, thickness and break strength 24.95-21.90, 3.15 - 2.85, 5.25 - 4.85, 1.15 - 0.75 and 1.45-0.30 respectively, spread ratio and volume 5.25-6.25 and 21.66-22.91 of the biscuit sample increased with increased in mango seed kernel flour addition. In sensory evaluation, biscuits containing 10% mango kernel flour had the highest sensory score for all sensory attribute. The biscuit blends were generally accepted up to 15% but most preferred and accepted blend biscuits is that of the 100% acha and 100% wheat flour. The mango seed kernel incorporation had significant effect and could contribute to the improvement of the flour blend biscuits.
Functional and Nutritional Properties of Various Flour Blends of Arrowroot Starch and wheat Flour
Authors: Damak Aaron Mutlong Amak , Akubor Peter Isah , Ariahu Charles Chukwuma , Okereke Goodluck Obioma
Published: May 2022

Flour blends of arrowroot starch and wheat flour were developed in the ratios of 100:0, 0:100, 10:90, 20:80, 30:70, 40:60, 50:50, and 60:40. These flour blends were investigated for their functional and nutritional properties to determine their potentials for utilizations in a variety of wheat flour-based products. The range of values of the results obtained were for: bulk density (0.37 – 0.91 g/cm3), foaming capacity (21.20 – 82.00%), foaming stability (20.80 – 80.00%), emulsion capacity (18.27 – 54.85 %), emulsion stability (12.39 – 60.29%), water absorption capacity (101.41 - 106.77%), oil absorption capacity (94.70 – 107.80%), least gelation capacity (6.00 – 10.00%), protein (6.5 – 11.28%), ash (1.37 – 3.60%), moisture (4.30 – 10.50%), fat (1.63 – 4.60%), crude fibre (2.60 – 4.20%), carbohydrate (69.70 – 78.81%), vitamin C (0.70 – 2.80 mg/100g), vitamin A (0.00 – 0.66 mg/100g), zinc (1.6 – 3.3 mg/100g), iron (0.3 – 1.2 mg/100g), copper (2.6 – 5.0 mg/100g), sodium (10.4 – 43.0 mg/100g), potassium (16.2 – 74.6 mg/100g), calcium (5.2 – 33.2 mg/100g), magnesium (4.9 – 13.6 mg/100g) and phosphorus (45.0 – 317 mg/100g). Bulk density, foaming capacity, foaming stability, emulsion capacity, emulsion stability and least gelation capacity of the flour blends decreased as the incorporation of arrowroot starch increased, while the water absorption capacity of the flour blends increased as the concentration of the arrowroot starch increased. Protein, carbohydrate, vitamin C, vitamin A, sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium and phosphorus contents of the flour blends decreased as the substitution with arrowroot starch increased; whereas ash, moisture, fat, crude fibre, zinc, iron and copper contents increased with increased substitution. These results obtained highlighted the potentials of arrowroot starch in substituting wheat flour in wheat flour based products.
Constraints Related to Production and Marketing of Freshwater Fish Rohu (Labeo rohita) in Cuttack District of Odisha
Authors: Samal Biswajit , Kumar Sanjay , Singh Vikas
Published: May 2022

Aquaculture can be considered as a rapidly growing sector in many Indian states including Odisha. The impressive overall upward trend in fish production is likely to continue in future years as there are plenty of unutilized or underutilized fishery resources in the state. In spite of the growing popularity of aquaculture in the state, fish farmers have been experiencing financial, social and technical constraints in fish farming and in marketing practices. Cuttack district of Odisha was selected for the study.98 respondents from 4 villages were selected based on the population of the villages. The present study was conducted in the year 2021-2022 years.This paper examines the constraints faced by the fish farmers while producing and marketing of the freshwater fish Rohu (Labeo rohita) which reveals that damage due to natural calamities in production and frequent price fluctuations in marketing are the major constraints expressed by the farmers.
Factors Affecting the Completion of Mathematics Homework in a Middle Secondary School in Bhutan
Authors: Wangchuk Karma , Dorji Karma
Published: May 2022

Studies have identified some of the key factors affecting the completion of homework in the process of learning in schools. Schools and teachers often struggle motivating the school children in completing their homework at a stipulated time. This study was aimed at investigating some of the factors affecting the completion of home work by the students in Bhutan in mathematics. This study employed quantitative methodology and administered survey questionnaire among 79 students from classes VII to X randomly in one of the Middle Secondary Schools in Bhutan. Majority of the students (n=68, 96%) reported that they were too tired to work on their assignment after a hectic day’s schedule followed by (n=66, 83.5%) lack of parental care. The study concludes that students are either overloaded or lacked motivation given no parental care. The study recommends proper planning of school activities and encourage active parental involvement in motivating students to complete their homework. Further studies involving larger number of students and schools in Bhutan would help formulate better homework management policy in motivating the school children in completing their homework for better learning.
Quadruple Cropping Patterns in Bangladesh: Scope and Limitations
Authors: Biswas Jatish C. , Saha Abhijit , Shahidullah S. M. , Maniruzzaman M. , Haque M. M. , Hossain M. S.
Published: May 2022

Growing crops in a piece of land influence soil fertility depending on adopted management practices and intensity of cropping. Farmers in many cases do not use balanced fertilizers because of socio-economic conditions and thus nutrient mining is inevitable. We hypothesize that soil degradation is likely along with reduced crop productivity in future with researcher proposed four crops production packages. Semi-structured questionnaire, and IDRISI3.2 were used for data collection and mapping, respectively. Net quadruple cropped areas were about 7.09%. Soil fertility scores of those areas were 40–50 and above 50, covering about 4.56% and 3.66%, respectively of the net cropped areas indicating medium fertility status. Apparent nutrient balances for nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, calcium, magnesium and silicon were negative with researcher's introduced cropping patterns and fertilizer management compared to existing patterns. Zinc with all introduced cropping patterns and boron with Potato–Boro–T Aus–T Aman pattern are increasing but other micro nutrients are diminishing. Phosphorus and Sulfur build ups are taking place under farmer's practice in Mustard–Boro–T Aman, Potato–Boro–T Aman and Boro–Fallow–T Aman patterns. Zinc build up is taking place under farmer's managed cropping patterns; but iron, copper, boron, molybdenum and chloride are deteriorating from the soils. These indicate that growing four crops in a year with existing fertilizer recommendations are not sustainable in terms of soil fertility. Adoption of such intensive crop culture by the majority of the farmers is unlikely except in some sporadic areas having market driven economy of vegetable cultivation.
Agro-morphological Characterization and Genetic Diversity in a Mini Core Collection of Aromatic Rice (Oryza sativa L.)
Authors: Akhtar Rumana , Iqbal Adil , Jana Monoranjan , Dasgupta Tapash
Published: May 2022

Aromatic rice is a special kind of rice known in the World. 20 genotypes of aromatic rice were evaluated at the Agricultural Experimental Farm of University of Calcutta situated in Baruipur, West Bengal to characterize and estimate Genetic Diversity in mini core collection of Aromatic Rice (Oryza sativa L.). Research work has so far been done mainly on Basmati rices giving less importance to the improvement of small and medium grain indigenous aromatic rice genotypes. West Bengal, is a rich source of small and medium grain aromatic rice germplasms with excellent grain quality parameters including aroma. Therefore, enough scope is there for improve these small and medium grain scented germplasms by bringing them in breeding programme with the varieties having desirable traits especially high yield and aroma. In this study, A close relation was maintained by Phenotypic coefficients of variation (PCV) with Genotypic coefficient of variation(GCV) for all the traits though PCV exhibited a bit higher value, this indicates low G×E interaction. Additive gene action was prominent for the traits like plant height, panicle length, number of filled grains per plant and 1000 grain weight. A correlation study showed that grain yield per plant was positive and significantly correlated with panicles per plant and total number of filled grains per plant, emphasizing on these traits help in increasing the grain yield of aromatic rice. Manhattan cluster analysis revealed two distinct clusters i.e. Cluster I(A and B) and Cluster II(A and B), on the basis of the agro-morphological traits taken. Cluster II has the maximum genotypes i.e., 15 and 5 genotypes in Cluster I. The investigation concludes that the total number of filled grains per plant and panicle length influences grain yield. Path analysis revealed that total number of filled grains per plant, panicles per plant and 1000 grain weight directly effects grain yield per plant.
Elicitation of Tuberose Concrete, Deliberation of Recovery and Qualitative Examination from Agave amica L. cv Arka Prajwal
Authors: Lydia J. , Kannan M. , Aruna P. , Jeyakumar P. , Vetrivelkaalai P.
Published: May 2022

The objective of the study aimed the flower yield and concrete yield of Agave amica L. The different treatments was imposed for the study and the concrete recovery percentage was compared with all the treatments in which marigold was imposed as intercrop and also with the control without intercropping. The flowers were extracted with the solvent namely hexane.  The maximum concrete recovery was recorded in the treatment T1 (0.171 % and 0.157 %), followed by T2 (0.167 % and 0.145 %) and the minimum recovery of the concrete was found in T6 (0.104 % and 0.103 %) in the first year and second year. The shelf life in the treatment T1 (5.53 days) recorded maximum number of days and the minimum was found with T6 (4.63 days). The maximum vase life of tuberose was observed in T1 (6.92 days) and the minimum was registered by T6 (5.41 days).
Climate Change Resilience and Adaptation Strategies in Ecologically Fragile Urban Mining Communities: A Review of Existing Research and Practice
Authors: Hakwendenda Phanuel Chuka
Published: May 2022

The growing concern about the changing climate and the need to document its observed impacts have resulted into advances in climate change adaptation practices globally. Despite being among the world’s most vulnerable regions, urban mining communities have diverse resources and contribute significantly to the quality of urban climate. The location of urban communities near mining activities has not only attracted urban development in most cities but has also provided these communities with a good opportunity for sustainable ways of living. However, most research on mines seem to have focused on impacts of mining on the environment with little focus on communities’ climate change adaptation responses. This review paper attempts to address this inadequacy in research by exploring factors that increase urban communities’ resilience and the adaptation strategies they use. The study used an evidence-review strategy involving the collection of information from peer-reviewed articles, books, and reports. A total of 213 documents, which included 122 articles, 60 reports, 31 books and gray literature, were identified with the help of Google Scholar and Web of Science search engines. First, the review paper observes that although the concepts of resilience and adaptive capacity are extensively explored, their meanings still remain unclear due to their multiple interpretations. Second, there seems to be very little consensus on factors that lead to increased resilience and the parameters that should be used to measure progress in becoming more resilient due to multiple interpretations of the resilience concept. Third, very few studies seem to have been conducted to assess progress in becoming more resilient in most urban mining communities. Fourth, there also seems to be a challenge in designing vulnerability and resilience assessment frameworks that are procedurally robust, context-specific and appropriate for decision-making related to adaptation action. This study recommends a need to conduct more comprehensive studies which clearly explore factors that increase resilience and adaptive capacity and those that suggest clear policy options for urban mining communities to supplement the rather limited body of literature in this area.
Unsteady MHD Flow of a Fluid past a Rotating Semi-infinite Plate with Inclined Magnetic Field
Authors: Karimi Samuel Macharia
Published: May 2022

This paper investigates unsteady two-dimensional MHD flow past a rotating semi-infinite plate with an inclined magnetic field with viscous dissipation, Ohmic and Joule heating. The fluid is assumed to be electrically conducting. The governing non-linear partial differential equations for mass, momentum, energy, concentration and magnetic field are transformed into a couple system by using appropriate dimensionless parameters and quantities. The coupled systems are then coded in MATLAB and solved simultaneously using the Gauss Seidel iteration technique. Various flow parameters and quantities are varied and their effects on velocity, temperature, and concentration profiles are investigated and discussed. It is observed that the transient velocity profiles increase with the increment of the Prandtl number, Grashof number, Hall parameter and Eckert number, while they decrease with the increase of the angle of inclination of the magnetic field and Hartman number. The temperature profiles rise with increasing the Grashof number, Hall parameter, Eckert number and Joule heating parameter while they decrease with increasing the Prandtl number, angle of inclination of magnetic field and Hartman number. The concentration profiles decline with increasing the Schmidt number and, the magnetic induction profiles decrease with increasing the magnetic Reynolds number and angle of inclination. The concept behind MHD is that the magnetic field induces current in a moving conductive fluid, which in turn generates a force on the fluid. This research is of great interest in applications such as MHD boats, pumps and magnetic material processing.