bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors affecting college freshmen's YouTube acceptance for learning purposes
Authors: Harper Lindsey M. , Joo Soohyung , Kim Youngseek
Published: June 2023

Purpose

There are a variety of benefits associated with the use of YouTube for learning purposes, such as YouTube is a free open-access tool students can use to facilitate their learning. This study investigates whether an attitudinal factor (i.e. perceived usefulness) and the factor's antecedents, resource quality factors (i.e. credibility, currency, coverage and relevance), normative factor (i.e. subjective norm) and control factor (i.e. perceived ease of use) all affect college freshmen's behavioral intentions to use YouTube for academic learning purposes.

Design/methodology/approach

This research employs the theory of planned behavior (TPB) to explore the attitudinal, normative and control factors associated with college freshmen's behavioral intentions to use YouTube for academic learning. After developing a quantitative survey given to 182 college freshmen in a Southeastern institution in the United States of America, structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to examine the seven hypotheses and the research constructs.

Findings

The results indicate that attitudinal factor (i.e. perceived usefulness) and its antecedents, resource quality factors (i.e. currency, coverage and relevance) and normative factor (i.e. subjective norm) have a statistically significant effect on college freshmen's intentions to use YouTube for academic learning purposes.

Research limitations/implications

This study suggests that individual motivations (i.e. perceived usefulness and subjective norm) and resource quality factors (i.e. currency, coverage and relevance) play into college freshmen's decisions to use YouTube for learning purposes, while other research indicates that the system or application itself factors into students' decisions to use technology for learning.

Practical implications

This study suggests that college freshmen are more likely to use YouTube for academic learning purposes when the freshmen hold favorable attitudes about the platform and when the freshmen believe the freshmen's peers are also using YouTube to supplement in-class learning.

Originality/value

This is an initial study that focuses on college freshmen's behavioral intentions to use YouTube for academic learning purposes. This research demonstrates the roles that peers as well as resource quality factors play in students' decisions to use specific technology to enhance the students' learning.
Knowledge and skills gap of graduates entry-level: perception of logistics and supply chain managers in Oman
Authors: Al Harrasi Nasser , Salah El Din Mohamed , Reason Masengu , Al Balushi Badriya , Al Habsi Jouhara
Published: June 2023

Purpose

The study provides an evaluation of the knowledge and skills importance covered in the degree of Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LSCM) as well as the knowledge and skills gap of graduates entry-level.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used both descriptive and exploratory research designs. The study adopted a self-administered questionnaire. The sample size is 41 logistics industry mid-managers of six organizations selected from the main operators of Sohar Port in Oman.

Findings

The findings reveal that logistics professionals agree on the importance of all the learner attributes, knowledge and cognitive skills, and general competencies identified in a university degree with a major in LSCM. Furthermore, the results identified moderate levels of gaps in five knowledge areas and six soft and hard skills of graduates at the entry level.

Research limitations/implications

Further research can be built on this study findings by evaluating the perception of logistics and supply chain industry professionals in different global contexts and investigate the effectiveness of different training and educational programs in enhancing the knowledge and skills of logistics professionals in various regions.

Practical implications

This study may extend beyond Oman and have important implications for LSCM practices in other developing countries. Universities' management in developing countries can use this study findings to identify the key skills required by entry-level logistics professionals and incorporate them into their curricula to better prepare graduates for the workforce. In addition, the skills identified in our study, such as decision-making skills, managing stress, negotiation skills and critical thinking, are relevant to logistics professionals in other developing countries with similar socio-economic and industry characteristics.

Originality/value

Unlike the prior studies that focused on the mismatch between educational degrees and job requirements without considering study specializations and industry, this paper lays a nuanced understanding of the knowledge and skills gap associated with entry-level graduates of the logistics and supply chain industry. As such, the paper offers inputs for the LSCM academic degree related to knowledge and skills needed by logistics and supply chain industry.
Novel biallelic variants in DNAH1 cause multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella with favorable outcomes of fertility after ICSI in Han Chinese males
Authors: Long Shunhua , Fu Longlong , Ma Jing , Yu Haibing , Tang Xiangrong , Hu Tingwenyi , Han Wei , Liu Weiwei , Liao Haiyuan , Fu Tao , Huang Guoning , Lu Wenhong , Lin Tingting
Published: June 2023

Background

Multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella is an idiopathic asthenoteratozoospermia characterized by absent, short, coiled, angulation, and irregular‐caliber flagella. Genetic variants of DNAH1 gene have been identified as a causative factor of multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella and intracytoplasmic sperm injection is an available strategy for infertile males with dynein axonemal heavy chain 1 defects to conceive.

Objectives

To identify novel variants and candidate mutant hotspots of DNAH1 gene related to multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella and male infertility in humans.

Materials and methods

The DNAH1 variants were identified by whole exome sequencing and confirmed with Sanger sequencing. Papanicolaou staining, scanning and transmission electron microscopy, and immunostaining were performed to investigate the morphological and ultrastructural characteristics of spermatozoa. Intracytoplasmic sperm injection was applied for the assisted reproductive therapy of males harboring biallelic DNAH1 variants.

Results

We identified 18 different DNAH1 variants in 11 unrelated families, including nine missense variants (p.A2564T, p.T3657R, p.G1862R, p.L2296P, p.T4041I, p.L611P, p.A913D, p.R1932Q, p.R2356W) and nine loss‐of‐function variants (c.2301‐1G>T, p.Q1518*, p.R1702*, p.D2845Mfs*2, p.P3909Rfs*33, p.Q4040Dfs*33, p.Q4058*, p.E4060Pfs*61, p.V4071Cfs*54). A total of 66.7% (12/18) of the identified variants were novel. Morphological analysis based on Papanicolaou staining and scanning electron microscopy demonstrated the typical multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella characteristics of dynein axonemal heavy chain 1‐deficient spermatozoa. Immunostaining further revealed the absence of inner dynein arms but not outer dynein arms, which induced a general ultrastructural disorganization, such as the loss of central pair and mis‐localization of the microtubule doublets and outer dense fibers. To date, seven affected couples have accepted the intracytoplasmic sperm injection treatment, and three of them have given birth to five healthy babies.

Discussion and conclusion

These findings further expand the variant spectrum of DNAH1 gene related to multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella and male infertility in humans, thus providing new information for the molecular diagnosis of asthenoteratozoospermia. The favorable fertility outcomes of intracytoplasmic sperm injection will facilitate the genetic counseling and clinical treatment of infertile males with multiple morphological abnormalities of sperm flagella in the future.
Epidemic dynamics and spatial segregation driven by cognitive diffusion and nonlinear incidence
Authors: Liu Guodong , Wang Hao , Zhang Xiaoyan
Published: June 2023

We propose susceptible‐infected‐susceptible epidemic reaction–diffusion models with cognitive movement and nonlinear incidence in a spatially heterogeneous environment. The cognitive dispersal term takes either random diffusion or symmetric diffusion. Building upon the ‐estimates of positive solutions under , we state the asymptotic dynamics for , . The numerical results reveal spatial segregation of susceptible and infected populations: (a) the heterogeneous random diffusion can segregate the population and reduce the infection fraction significantly; (b) the segregation phenomenon disappears as the ratio approaches one from below; (c) the disease‐free region strengthens the segregation induced by heterogeneous random diffusion; (d) the segregation governed by random diffusion is more sensitive to the incidence mechanism; (e) the distribution of steady states driven by symmetric diffusion is always similar to that by homogeneous diffusion.
Do carbon farming practices build bioavailable nitrogen pools?
Authors: Mattila Tuomas J. , Girz Andrei I. , Pihlatie Mari
Published: June 2023

Agricultural soils contain large amounts of nitrogen (N), but only a small fraction is readily available to plants. Despite several methods developed to estimate the bioavailability of N, there is no consensus on which extraction methods to use, and which N pools are critically important. In this study, we measured six soil N pools from 20 farms, which were part of a multi‐year soil carbon sequestration on‐farm experiment (Carbon action, 2019–2023). The aim was to quantify the N pools and to evaluate if farming practices that aim to build soil carbon pools, also build bioavailable N pools. We also aimed to test if the smaller and rapidly changing N pools could serve as an indicator for the slower change in soil organic matter. The measured N pools decreased in size, when moving from total N (7700 ± 1500 kg/ha) to slowly cycling (Illinois Soil Nitrogen Test ISNT‐N: 1063 ± 220 kg/ha, autoclave citrate‐extracted ACE protein N: 633 ± 440 kg/ha), water‐soluble organic N (50 ± 17 kg/ha), potentially mineralizable N (33 ± 13 kg/ha) and finally readily plant available inorganic pools (nitrate and ammonium, total: 14 ± 8 kg/ha). In total, the measured pools covered only 18%–44% of total N, indicating a large unidentified N pool, which is either tightly bound to soil mineral fraction and not easily extractable or is bound to undecomposed plant residues and not hydrolysed by the methods. Of the large N pools (ISNT‐N, ACE protein and unidentified residual N), clay, carbon (C) and C:Clay ratios explained most of the variability (R2 = .90–.93), leaving a minor part of the variation to the management effect. A pairwise comparison of carbon farming and control plots concluded that farming practices had a small (3%–5%) but statistically significant (p < .05) effect on soil total N and ISNT‐N pools, and a moderate and significant effect (18%, p < .01) on potentially mineralizable N. The large variation in protein N, water‐soluble organic N and inorganic N reduced statistical significance, although individual C sequestration practices had large effects (−30% to +50%). In conclusion, carbon sequestration practices can build both slowly cycling N pools (ISNT) and increase the mineralisation rate of these pools to release plant available forms, resulting in an additional benefit to agriculture through reduced fertilizer application needs.
Evaluation of two nephrocystostomy techniques for ureteral bypass in cats
Authors: Hardie Robert J. , Schmiedt Chad W. , Gendron Karine P. , Rissi Daniel
Published: June 2023

Objective

To describe two techniques for nephrocystostomy (NCT) in cats.

Study design

Experimental study.

Animals

Twelve, adult, purpose‐bred, cats.

Methods

A simple NCT (n = 3) or bladder cuff NCT (n = 9) was performed in the right or left kidneys. For simple NCT, an 8F catheter was placed through the caudal pole into the renal pelvis and the bladder was sutured around the catheter. For bladder cuff NCT, a 6 mm defect was removed from the caudal pole and a cuff of bladder mucosa was advanced and sutured into the renal pelvis. A 10F catheter was placed through the defect into the renal pelvis and the bladder wall was sutured around the catheter. Catheters were removed 41–118 days post‐surgery. Computed tomography (CT) was performed 25 days after catheter removal for the simple NCT and 30 (n = 6) and 90 (n = 3) days after catheter removal for bladder cuff NCT. Histological evaluation of the nephrocystostomy site was performed.

Results

All simple NCTs became obstructed after catheter removal. All bladder cuff NCTs were patent, and CT revealed contrast flow into the bladder. Hematuria, clot‐associated urethral obstruction, catheter dislodgement, and bladder infection occurred variably after surgery. Histological findings consisted of smooth epithelialization of the NCT and degenerative changes in the caudal pole of the kidney.

Conclusion

Bladder cuff NCT was feasible in normal cats and remained patent for 90 days. Methods to limit nephrostomy track hemorrhage should be investigated. Degenerative changes may be related to vascular impairment from the bladder cuff sutures.

Clinical significance

Complete ureteral bypass was possible in cats using only native tissues.
Dissipative dynamics in quantum key distribution
Authors: Salatino L. , Mariani L. , Attanasio C. , Pagano S. , Citro R.
Published: June 2023

Using the IBM Quantum Experience platform, we simulate the dissipative dynamics in the BB84 quantum key distribution protocol. We employ the Jaynes–Cummings model to simulate the attenuation in an optical fiber during the information transmission process and calculate the quantum bit error rate (QBER). The results of QBER as a function of the distance give a satisfactory agreement with experimental data when the system is in a Markovian regime.
Cerebral Autoregulation Status in Relation to Brain Injury on Electroencephalogram and Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Children Following Cardiac Surgery
Authors: Zou Minghui , Yu Linyang , Lin Rouyi , Feng Jinqing , Zhang Mingjie , Ning Shuyao , Cui Yanqin , Li Jianbin , Li Lijuan , Ma Li , Huang Guodong , Wang Huaizhen , Chen Xinxin , Li Jia
Published: June 2023

Background

Disturbed cerebral autoregulation has been reported in children with congenital heart disease before and during cardiopulmonary bypass surgery, but not after. We sought to characterize the cerebral autoregulation status in the early postoperative period in relation to perioperative variables and brain injuries.

Methods and Results

A prospective and observational study was conducted in 80 patients in the first 48 hours following cardiac surgery. Cerebral oximetry/pressure index (COPI) was retrospectively calculated as a moving linear correlation coefficient between mean arterial blood pressure and cerebral oxygen saturation. Disturbed autoregulation was defined as COPI >0.3. Correlations of COPI with demographic and perioperative variables as well as brain injuries on electroencephalogram and magnetic resonance imaging and early outcomes were analyzed. Thirty‐six (45%) patients had periods of abnormal COPI for 7.81 hours (3.38 hours) either at hypotension (median <45 mm Hg) or hypertension (median >90 mm Hg) or both. Overall, COPI became significantly lower over time, suggesting improved autoregulatory status during the 48 postoperative hours. All of the demographic and perioperative variables were significantly associated with COPI, which in turn was associated with the degree of brain injuries and early outcomes.

Conclusions

Children with congenital heart disease following cardiac surgery often have disturbed autoregulation. Cerebral autoregulation is at least partly the underlying mechanism of brain injury in those children. Careful clinical management to manipulate the related and modifiable factors, particularly arterial blood pressure, may help to maintain adequate cerebral perfusion and reduce brain injury early after cardiopulmonary bypass surgery. Further studies are warranted to determine the significance of impaired cerebral autoregulation in relation to long‐term neurodevelopment outcomes.
Sex‐Specific Cerebral Blood Flow Alterations in Youth Operated for Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Easson Kaitlyn , Gilbert Guillaume , Gauthier Claudine , Rohlicek Charles V. , Saint‐Martin Christine , Brossard‐Racine Marie
Published: June 2023

Background

Lower cerebral blood flow (CBF) has previously been documented preoperatively in neonates with congenital heart disease (CHD). However, it remains unclear if these CBF deficits persist over the life span of CHD survivors following heart surgery. When exploring this question, it is critical to consider the sex differences in CBF that emerge during adolescence. Therefore, this study aimed to compare global and regional CBF between postpubertal youth with CHD and healthy peers and examine if such alterations are related to sex.

Methods and Results

Youth aged 16 to 24 years who underwent open heart surgery for complex CHD during infancy and age‐ and sex‐matched controls completed brain magnetic resonance imaging, including T1‐weighted and pseudo‐continuous arterial spin labeling acquisitions. Global gray matter CBF and regional CBF in 9 bilateral gray matter regions were quantified for each participant. Compared with female controls (N=27), female participants with CHD (N=25) presented with lower global and regional CBF. In contrast, there were no differences in CBF between male controls (N=18) and males with CHD (N=17). Concurrently, female controls had higher global and regional CBF compared with male controls, with no differences in CBF between female and male participants with CHD. CBF was lower in individuals with a Fontan circulation.

Conclusions

This study provides evidence of altered CBF in postpubertal female participants with CHD despite undergoing surgical intervention during infancy. Alterations to CBF could have implications for later cognitive decline, neurodegeneration, and cerebrovascular disease in women with CHD.
Challenge in Predicting Persistence to P2Y12 Inhibitors: A Perspective From the ARTEMIS Trial
Authors: Rymer Jennifer A. , Wegermann Zachary K. , Kaltenbach Lisa A. , Webb Laura E. , Peterson Eric D. , Wang Tracy Y.
Published: June 2023

Background

Premature discontinuation of P2Y12 inhibitor therapy has been associated with adverse cardiac events, which might be preventable by improving medication persistence. Current risk models have limited ability to predict patients at risk of P2Y12 inhibitor nonpersistence.

Methods and Results

ARTEMIS (Affordability and Real‐World Antiplatelet Treatment Effectiveness after Myocardial Infarction Study) was a randomized, controlled trial testing the impact of a copayment assistance intervention on P2Y12 inhibitor persistence and outcomes. Among 6212 patients post myocardial infarction with a planned 1‐year course of P2Y12 inhibitor therapy, nonpersistence was defined as a gap in P2Y12 inhibitor filled >30 days by pharmacy fill data. We developed a predictive model for 1‐year P2Y12 inhibitor nonpersistence among patients randomized to usual care. P2Y12 inhibitor nonpersistence rates were 23.8% (95% CI, 22.7%–24.8%) at 30 days and 47.9% (46.6%–49.1%) at 1 year; the majority of these patients had in‐hospital percutaneous coronary intervention. Patients who received the copayment assistance intervention had nonpersistence rates of 22.0% (20.7%–23.3%) at 30 days and 45.3% (43.8%–46.9%) at 1 year. A 53‐variable multivariable model predicting 1‐year persistence had a C‐index of 0.63 (optimism‐corrected C‐index 0.58). Model discrimination did not improve with inclusion of patient‐reported perceptions about disease, medication‐taking beliefs, and prior medication‐filling behavior in addition to demographic and medical history data (C‐index 0.62).

Conclusions

Despite addition of patient‐reported variables, models predicting persistence with P2Y12 inhibitor therapy performed poorly, thereby suggesting the need for continued patient and clinician education on the importance of P2Y12 inhibitor therapy after acute myocardial infarction.

Registration

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT02406677.
Identifying Patients at High Risk of Left Atrial Appendage Thrombus Before Cardioversion: The CLOTS‐AF Score
Authors: Segan Louise , Nanayakkara Shane , Spear Ella , Shirwaiker Anita , Chieng David , Prabhu Sandeep , Sugumar Hariharan , Ling Liang‐Han , Kaye David M. , Kalman Jonathan M. , Voskoboinik Aleksandr , Kistler Peter M.
Published: June 2023

Background

Transesophageal echocardiography–guided direct cardioversion is recommended in patients who are inadequately anticoagulated due to perceived risk of left atrial appendage thrombus (LAAT); however, LAAT risk factors remain poorly defined.

Methods and Results

We evaluated clinical and transthoracic echocardiographic parameters to predict LAAT risk in consecutive patients with atrial fibrillation (AF)/atrial flutter undergoing transesophageal echocardiography before cardioversion between 2002 and 2022. Regression analysis identified predictors of LAAT, combined to create the novel CLOTS‐AF risk score (comprising clinical and echocardiographic LAAT predictors), which was developed in the derivation cohort (70%) and validated in the remaining 30%. A total of 1001 patients (mean age, 62±13 years; 25% women; left ventricular ejection fraction, 49.8±14%) underwent transesophageal echocardiography, with LAAT identified in 140 of 1001 patients (14%) and dense spontaneous echo contrast precluding cardioversion in a further 75 patients (7.5%). AF duration, AF rhythm, creatinine, stroke, diabetes, and echocardiographic parameters were univariate LAAT predictors; age, female sex, body mass index, anticoagulant type, and duration were not (all
P
>0.05). CHADS
2
VASc, though significant on univariate analysis (
P
<0.001), was not significant after adjustment (
P
=0.12). The novel CLOTS‐AF risk model comprised significant multivariable predictors categorized and weighted according to clinically relevant thresholds (Creatinine >1.5 mg/dL, Left ventricular ejection fraction <50%, Overload (left atrial volume index >34 mL/m
2
), Tricuspid Annular Plane Systolic Excursion (TAPSE) <17 mm, Stroke, and AF rhythm). The unweighted risk model had excellent predictive performance with an area under the curve of 0.820 (95% CI, 0.752–0.887). The weighted CLOTS‐AF risk score maintained good predictive performance (AUC, 0.780) with an accuracy of 72%.

Conclusions

The incidence of LAAT or dense spontaneous echo contrast precluding cardioversion in patients with AF who are inadequately anticoagulated is 21%. Clinical and noninvasive echocardiographic parameters may identify patients at increased risk of LAAT better managed with a suitable period of anticoagulation before undertaking cardioversion.
The Shape of the Asiascape: Ten Years of Digital Asia Research
Authors: Schneider Florian
Published: June 2023

This article reviews a decade of research, published in the journal Asiascape: Digital Asia (DIAS), that explored the question of how digital technologies and their usage have shaped – and have been shaped by – societies, politics, and economies across the Asian region. It discusses the kind of scholarship that DIAS has published, and on which topics, before giving an overview of the contributions that form this anniversary issue. The article concludes by offering thoughts on the future of digital Asia research.
‘I’m Not an Alien. I’m a Digital Ethnographer’: Doing Online Research with China’s Social Media
Authors: Kefala Christina
Published: June 2023

After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, digital ethnography became an important methodological tool for researchers. In my case, I shifted my research from China to digital China, and I engaged with China’s social media as my research field. But what are the challenges for an ethnographer in conducting research into China’s digital space and networks from afar? And how do China’s social media platforms mediate the formation of relationships with potential participants? Based on two years of online research, integrated with literature on autoethnography, China’s social media platforms, and performativity, this article describes China’s digital domain and explains how social media platforms mediate ethnographic research. Autoethnography facilitated this research on a critical notion of digital China in which institutional regulation contributes to the transformation and production of digital ethnography.
Uneven Coverage and Blank Spaces: Bringing the State Back In
Authors: Creemers Rogier
Published: June 2023

Studies on digital Asia tend to cluster around certain interrelated core strands, which has led other topics to be largely overlooked, one of which is the state. Scholars neglect the state to their detriment. First, the article shows that the state is not a monolith but, rather, a venue for contesting and debating different concerns, in which various interests collide and various actors seek to gain influence. Second, the article claims that, to a significant degree, the state can create and shape the landscape within which other actors conduct their affairs. It does not do so in a vacuum but often in response to particular mobilized social and economic concerns. This contribution mostly focuses on China, but its findings – as the concluding section discusses – also apply to other countries in Asia and worldwide.
Reality Decoupling: Rumours, Disinformation, and Studying the Politics of Truth in Digital Asia
Authors: Schneider Florian
Published: June 2023

This article explores what conflicts over information and meaning-making in digital Asia can tell us about politics in advanced networked societies, using examples from East Asia. It interprets the construction and spread of unverified information as part of near-ubiquitous political practices that threaten to lead to a decoupling of realities. The article makes the case that digital Asia is a crucial site for researching such practices: Asian societies are characterized by a long-standing engagement with rumours, and they also maintain highly developed digital infrastructures across diverse socio-political and economic environments. To explore the relevance of rumours and conspiracy theories in such contexts, the article suggests a three-step research agenda that analyzes the anatomy of rumours, traces their genealogy across complex socio-technical systems, and assesses their pathology – that is, the way in which they are products of, and in turn produce, power in translocal networks.
This Is Her Game: Indian Video Games and Gender
Authors: Zeiler Xenia
Published: June 2023

This article aims to contribute to academic discussions about mediatization and gender in general and video games and gender in particular. More specifically, it advances these themes in the regional context of India, which is understudied to date. The study of video games and gaming as related to India is still an emerging field, and research on games and gender in India is largely amiss to date. This article discusses portrayals of women and girls in two exemplary Indian video games, and it briefly touches on the public reactions to these games. The article briefly introduces Indian video games and their study and discusses the exemplary games Missing: A Game for a Cause (2016), developed to create awareness about the abduction and trafficking of girls, and Raji: An Ancient Epic (2020), which showcases a strong female main character and her journey.
The Geopolitical Shaping of Digital ID in Asia: Ten Years of Digital Asia
Authors: Hicks Jacqueline
Published: June 2023

This article draws attention to a missing dimension in the analysis of digital ID: its geopolitical shaping. After a brief reflection on theory in digital Asia, it presents the most common approach to digital ID as involving judgments about its positive and negative impacts and potential regulatory fixes. While recognizing the utility of this approach, the article presents a complementary framing of digital ID systems focused not on their effects, but on the influences that shape them. It argues that in many Asian countries in the global South, digital ID systems can be influenced by a combination of: technological struggle between the US and China; a desire to open new markets for digital service companies; and the development potential of economic and financial inclusion. After revealing the intellectual roots of the ‘geopolitical shaping’ frame in three adjacent literatures, it concludes by pointing the way to new avenues of empirical enquiry.
The Far Right and the Dissemination of COVID-19-Related Disinformation and Conspiracy Narratives in Japan: the Metapolitics of Kobayashi Yoshinori
Authors: Poppe Stevie , Havenstein Linda , Schäfer Fabian
Published: June 2023

The initial lack of scientific consensus regarding COVID-19 and public controversies concerning implemented countermeasures have created fertile soil for the circulation of disinformation and conspiracy narratives. Applying a mixed-methods discourse analysis, we examine the use of typical rhetorical strategies and metaphors of conspiracy narratives and disinformation, and we study overlaps with discursive strategies of the New Right in Japan. Our discourse analysis uses a qualitative and a quantitative approach. The former ranges from bestselling publications by the contribution of historical revisionist manga author Kobayashi Yoshinori to the propagation of COVID-19 – related conspiracy narratives and disinformation. The latter analyzes data collected from Amazon’s review section, through which we explore narrative reach and reader reception.
Pseudosperma pamukkalense (Inocybaceae: Agaricomycetes), a new species from Turkey
Authors: KAYGUSUZ OĞUZHAN , BANDINI DITTE , KNUDSEN HENNING , TÜRKEKUL İBRAHIM
Published: June 2023

A new species, Pseudosperma pamukkalense, discovered in Pinus nigra subsp. pallasiana forests is described from the Mediterranean climate zone of south-western Turkey. The novel species is recognized by the presence of pale straw to brownish yellowish pileus, mingled with reddish-brownish streaks with age, smooth to finely innately fibrillose pileus surface, whitish stipe with mainly cylindrical to clavate caulocystidia, large subphaseoliform basidiospores, and mostly narrowly to broadly clavate cheilocystidia. The description of the new species is based on morphological characters, and illustrations, line drawings and comparisons with allied species are provided. A molecular phylogenetic analysis of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) and the nuclear 28S rRNA gene (nrLSU) regions supported the taxonomic recognition of the new species which was on a separate branch within the genus Pseudosperma.
Hemidactylus paucifasciatus (Squamata: Gekkonidae), a new species of large-bodied, tuberculate gecko from Northern Odisha, India
Authors: MOHAPATRA PRATYUSH P. , AGARWAL ISHAN , MOHALIK RAKESH KUMAR , DUTTA SUSHIL K. , KHANDEKAR AKSHAY
Published: June 2023

A new Hemidactylus belonging to the H. prashadi group is described herein, based on a series of four specimens from the Chota Nagpur Plateau in northern Odisha. Hemidactylus paucifasciatus sp. nov. can be diagnosed from regional congeners by its large body size (SVL up to 117.7 mm), the number of dorsal tubercle rows at mid-body, three or four bands on the dorsum, the number of enlarged tubercles in paravertebral rows, the number of femoral pores and poreless scales separating the left and right series on the femoral-precloacal row in males, and the number of ventral scales across the belly at mid-body. A mitochondrial phylogeny demonstrates that the new species is nested within the H. triedrus complex of the northern clade within the H. prashadi group, with 16.2–16.5 % pairwise divergence in ND2 sequence data from members of the H. triedrus complex and > 21 % from other members of the prashadi group. Hemidactylus paucifasciatus sp. nov. is the first endemic gecko to be described from the Chota Nagpur Plateau.
A new species of the genus Pseudocrangonyx (Crustacea: Amphipoda: Pseudocrangonyctidae) from subterranean waters of Japan
Authors: SHINTANI AKI , UMEMURA SHINYA , NAKANO TAKAFUMI , TOMIKAWA KO
Published: June 2023

A new species of pseudocrangonyctid amphipod, Pseudocrangonyx asuwaensis, is described from subterranean water in a quarry on Mt. Asuwa “Nanatsuo-guchi”, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Pseudocrangonyx asuwaensis sp. nov. differs from its congeners in various morphological features, such as head without eyes, relative length of antennae 1, female antenna 2 without calceoli, length ratio of mandibular palp articles, setal numbers on maxillae 1 and 2 inner plates, absence of sternal gills, armature of urosomite 1, and shape of telson. Molecular phylogenetic analyses suggest that P. asuwaensis sp. nov. is clustered with P. komaii Tomikawa & Nakano, 2018, Pseudocrangonyx sp. 7 and Pseudocrangonyx sp. 8, and was the first of these species to diverge.
Decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis at the intrathecal catheter insertion site during intrathecal baclofen therapy: a case report
Authors: Takagi Yasutaka , Yamada Hiroshi , Ebara Hidehumi , Hayashi Hiroyuki , Inatani Hiroyuki , Toyooka Kazu , Mori Akari , Kitano Yoshiyuki , Nakanami Aki , Kagechika Kenji , Yahata Tetsutaro , Tsuchiya Hiroyuki
Published: June 2023

Background

Intrathecal baclofen therapy can substantially improve symptoms in most patients with severe spasticity due to traumatic spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, or cerebral paresis. To the best of our knowledge, decompression surgeries at the intrathecal catheter insertion site in patients with a preexisting intrathecal pump for drug delivery have not been reported.

Case presentation

We report the case of a 61-year-old Japanese man with lumbar spinal stenosis who underwent intrathecal baclofen therapy. We performed decompression for lumbar spinal stenosis at the intrathecal catheter insertion site during intrathecal baclofen therapy. The yellow ligament was removed by partial resection of the lamina under a microscope to avoid damage to the intrathecal catheter. The dura mater was distended. No obvious cerebrospinal fluid leakage was observed. Postoperatively, lumbar spinal stenosis symptoms improved, and spasticity remained well controlled with intrathecal baclofen therapy.

Conclusions

This is the first reported case of lumbar spinal stenosis decompression at an intrathecal catheter insertion site during intrathecal baclofen therapy. Preoperative preparation is necessary, as the intrathecal catheter may be replaced during surgery. We performed surgery without removing or replacing the intrathecal catheter, taking care not to damage the spinal cord by migrating the intrathecal catheter.
Associations of state or trait dissociation with severity of psychopathology in young people with borderline personality disorder
Authors: Salmon Ashleigh P. , Nicol Katie , Kaess Michael , Jovev Martina , Betts Jennifer K. , Chanen Andrew M.
Published: June 2023

Background

State and trait dissociation are associated with borderline personality disorder (BPD) severity and severity of commonly co-occurring mental health symptoms. Although these distinct constructs do not consistently co-occur in experimental settings, they are frequently reported as the same construct, namely dissociation. This study aimed to investigate the co-occurrence of state and trait dissociation among young people with BPD and to examine whether state or trait dissociation were associated with symptom severity in this population.

Methods

State dissociation was induced using a stressful behavioural task in a clinical sample of 51 young people (aged 15–25 years) with three or more BPD features. Diagnoses, state and trait dissociation, BPD severity and severity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive, and stress symptoms were assessed by self-report or research interview.

Results

A chi-square test of independence showed a strong association between state and trait dissociation. Bonferroni corrected t-tests showed that state dissociation was significantly associated with PTSD symptom severity and likely associated with BPD severity and severity of depressive and stress symptoms. Trait dissociation was not associated with symptom severity or severity of BPD features.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the need to distinguish between state and trait dissociation in personality disorder research. They suggest that state dissociation might be an indicator of higher severity of psychopathology in young people with BPD.
CLOTHING ACCORDING TO SOCIAL CLASSES IN THE MUGHAL EMPIRE: A STUDY BASED ON AKBARNAMA MINIATURES
Authors: KILINÇ Nurgul , NASIR Ezza
Published: June 2023

Abstract: Clothing and accessories were used by the people to articulate the tremendous social and cultural richness of the civilization. Mughal Emperor Akbar’s biography ‘Akbar Nama’ (1595) is taken into account to understand the relationship between social status and clothing. A qualitative research method was used to identify the social roles and their honour, power, and status shown through their attires. The literature and the miniatures are studied parallelly to find out the details such as important figures and events illustrated in the miniatures, and later purposively selected figures were meticulously examined, putting forward their outer, and inner garments, headgear, shoes, accessories, and embellishments. The fabrics, materials, and colours are also taken into account as they are used according to the norms and conventions. Emperors, royals, governors, army men, servers, and entertainers figures show a transformation in their dress according to their profession, education level, religion, and economic social positioning. By examining the social and symbolic roles of clothing, we can gain insight into antiquity, and the purpose of the inscribed literature and miniatures.
Pain sensitivity after Roux-en-Y gastric bypass – associations with chronic abdominal pain and psychosocial aspects
Authors: Blom-Høgestøl Ingvild K. , Aasbrenn Martin , Kvalem Ingela L. , Eribe Inger , Kristinsson Jon A. , Mala Tom
Published: June 2023

Objectives

The aims of this study were to investigate modifications in pain sensitivity after RYGB and to explore associations between pain sensitivity and weight loss, chronic abdominal pain, total body pain, anxiety, depression, and pain catastrophizing.

Methods

In total, 163 patients with obesity were examined with a cold pressor test for pain sensitivity before and two years after RYGB. Two aspects of pain sensitivity were registered: Pain intensity (numeric rating scale, range 0–10) and pain tolerance (seconds). Associations between pain sensitivity and the explanatory variables were assessed with linear regression.

Results

Two years after RYGB the pain intensity increased (mean ± SD 0.64 ± 1.9 score units, p<0.001). Pain tolerance decreased (7.2 ± 32.4 s, p=0.005). A larger reduction in body mass index was associated with increased pain intensity, β=−0.090 (95 % CI −0.15 to −0.031, p=0.003), and decreased pain tolerance β=1.1 (95 % CI 0.95 to 2.2, p=0.03). Before surgery, participants with chronic abdominal pain reported 1.2 ± 0.5 higher pain intensity (p=0.02) and had 19.2 ± 9.3 s lower pain tolerance (p=0.04) than those without abdominal pain. No differences in pain sensitivity were observed between participants who did or did not develop chronic abdominal pain after RYGB. Pain sensitivity was associated with symptoms of anxiety but not with pain catastrophizing, depression or bodily pain.

Conclusions

The pain sensitivity increased after RYGB and was associated with larger weight loss and anxiety symptoms. Changes in pain sensitivity were not associated with development of chronic abdominal pain after RYGB in our study.
Resistances from a Stubborn Past
Authors: Freedman Stuart
Published: June 2023

Eels, pie, mash, and liquor is the traditional but largely forgotten food of the cockney, London working class. This paper examines the ingredients, rituals, and culture in one of the few remaining shops that serve a historical dish that is a living gustatory link with a hyper-local, early capitalist past and a gastro-nationalist present. The work takes as its starting point a sensory ethnographic investigation that interrogates a partially hidden world of performative, nostalgic memorialization in one of the very few de facto proletarian spaces within a city of neoliberal modernity. The spaces are, I argue, a negotiation with, and a micro-resistance to, the hegemonic culture memorialized within a largely insular, conservative cockney culture infused with a local patriotism. It further examines a food culture coded through ideas of respectability and manners, and via the concept of a “classed” body, the notion of sensation, disgust, and impurity that condense time and memory around the metaphor of the eel as cockney.
Nostalgia and the Protection of White Supremacy at a Public Farmers’ Market
Authors: Babb Angela , Betz Megan , Pahk Sang-hyoun , Smith Isis
Published: June 2023

In 2019, an organic produce vendor in a Bloomington, Indiana, farmers’ market was exposed as an active member of the violent white supremacist organization Identity Evropa, sparking national conversation about the whiteness of local food and local controversy over the vendor’s continued inclusion in the market. Activist groups and community members argued for the vendor’s removal from the market at public meetings and protested the vendor’s stand throughout the remainder of the season. Remarkably, official policy and much of public sentiment resolved on the side of the white supremacist vendor, while activists were arrested and silenced. Drawing on discourse analysis and participant observation, this article addresses three related dynamics. First, we highlight the resonances between the nostalgic rhetoric of local food and aspects of white nationalist ideology to explain why white supremacists in general might see farmers’ markets as an appropriate site to further their racial project. Second, we illustrate how overlapping themes including motherhood, community membership, and organic links between people and land operated to shield the white supremacist vendor from public scrutiny. Finally, we show how parallel rhetoric was deployed against activists who objected to the presence of white supremacists in the market, so the activists became the identified source of disruption and exclusionary violence.
The Color of Devotion
Authors: Daniels Kyrah Malika
Published: June 2023

This study of race and religion examines the largest population converting to Haitian Vodou in the United States today: blan—foreigners. This article investigates the experiences of white western foreigners, who remain vastly understudied as devotees of “immigrant religions.” As with many conversion narratives, white Americans report becoming initiates into Vodou to deepen divine connections, restore health, develop spiritual sensibility, and establish community. Drawing from ethnographic fieldwork conducted in New England with white American devotees of United States Vodou temples, I explore westerners’ feelings of belonging in the lakou, or ritual kinship system. I explore the tension between white practitioners’ power and privilege and their desire to forge meaningful new spiritual communities, as the development of religious race consciousness for white initiates is not always a linear process. Ultimately, this work illuminates how foreign devotees must cultivate both religious maturity and racial consciousness as they work to acquire “religious citizenship” in Haitian Vodou, a Pan-Africanist tradition that requires all devotees to be dedicated advocates of Black liberation.
Physical properties of nanocrystaline PbS synthesized by electrolytic method
Authors: Kapush O.А. , Mazur N.V. , Lysytsya A.V. , Moroz M.V. , Nechyporuk B.D. , Rudyk B.P. , Dzhagan V.M. , Valakh M.Ya. , Yukhymchuk V.O.
Published: June 2023

The possibility of obtaining nanocrystaline lead sulfide by an electrolytic method using lead electrodes is demonstrated, and the influence of temperature on the synthesis process is investigated. Based on the results of X-ray diffraction studies, the chemical and phase composition of the obtained samples is determined, as well as the parameters of the unit cell of the crystals lattice. The size of the nanocrystallites and the magnitude of residual mechanical strain in them is determined using the methods of Debye-Scherrer and Williamson-Hall. The results of X-ray diffraction are in agreement with the results of the Raman scattering on phonons.
Addressing the water footprint concept: A demonstrable strategy for papermaking industry
Authors: Shen Jing , Qian Xueren
Published: June 2023

Since the introduction of the water footprint concept in 2002, in the context of humankind’s ever-increasing awareness of the valuable global freshwater resources, it has received more and more attention. The application of this relatively new concept has been expected to provide ecological and environmental benefits. For the water-intensive papermaking industry, it seems that water footprint needs to be addressed. The water footprint of cellulosic paper can be divided into three components, including its green water footprint, blue water footprint, and grey water footprint, which may be accounted for by considering the individual contributions of wood or non-wood materials, pulp production processes, effluent discharge to the receiving water bodies, process chemicals and additives, energy consumption, etc. In the literature, the accounting of water footprint during the whole production chain of cellulosic paper is already available, and relevant research findings can provide useful insights into the application of the concept; however, further development of the accounting methodologies is much needed, so that the quantitative and qualitative evaluation of water footprint can be internationally recognized, certified, and standardized. Although there are ongoing or upcoming debates and challenges associated with the concept, its application to papermaking industry may be expected to provide various encouraging possibilities and impacts.
Application of a pseudo-kinetic generalized severity model to the concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis of pinewood and aspenwood
Authors: Janga Kando K. , Øyaas Karin , Hertzberg Terje , Moe Størker T.
Published: June 2023

The yield of monosaccharides after two-stage concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis of softwood (Scots pine) and hardwood (trembling aspen) was modeled using a generalized severity parameter with a time-independent rate constant. The severity parameter, which combines the major operating variables acid concentration, temperature, and reaction time in the decrystallization stage into a single reaction ordinate, was successfully used to describe monosaccharide yields after a standardized hydrolysis stage. Conversion of cellulose to glucose demanded a higher severity to reach maximum glucose yields than the conversion of hemicelluloses to their respective monosaccharides, and the conversion of pine demanded a higher severity to obtain maximum monosaccharide yields as compared to aspen. The results indicate that the generalized severity parameter can be a useful tool for the prediction of sugar yields in a two-stage concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis process.