bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Thyroid Transcription Factor‐1: Structure, Expression, Function and Its Relationship with Disease
Authors: Guan Lian , Zhao Xu , Tang Lin , Chen Jing , Zhao Juanjuan , Guo Mengmeng , Chen Chao , Zhou Ya , Xu Lin
Published: September 2021

Thyroid transcription factor‐1 (TTF‐1/NKx2.1) is a member of the NKx2 tissue‐specific transcription factor family, which is expressed in thyroid follicle, parathyroid gland, alveolar epithelium, and diencephalon which originated from ectoderm, and participates in the differentiation, development, and functional maintenance of the above organs. Recent studies have shown that the abnormal expression of TTF‐1 is closely related to the occurrence of a variety of human diseases and can be used as a potential new target for the diagnosis and treatment of related diseases. In this article, in order to strengthen the systematic understanding of TTF‐1 and promote the progress of related research, we reviewed the structure, expression regulation, biological functions of TTF‐1, and its role in the occurrence and development of human‐related clinical diseases. Meanwhile, we prospect the future research direction of TTF‐1, which might ultimately contribute to the understanding of the pathogenesis of related clinical diseases and the development of new prevention and treatment strategies.
Successful Surgical Intervention of Strangulated Ileus with a Simple Cut of the External Iliac Vein without Vein Reconstruction
Authors: Hishikawa Takanori , Oura Shoji , Tomita Masafumi
Published: September 2021

A 67-year-old woman with epigastralgia was referred to our hospital. The patient had undergone hysterectomy, bilateral oophorectomy, omentectomy, and radical pelvic and para-aortic lymph node dissection for her ovarian cancer 6 years before. Despite the gastrointestinal decompression therapy under the presumed diagnosis of adhesive ileus, computed tomography scans taken 3 days after the onset of epigastralgia showed marked dilatation of the small intestine and an oval high-density mass, that is, thrombi, in the right femoral vein. Aggravation of ileus with the thrombi in the femoral vein made us to treat the patient with surgery. Intraoperative findings showed that the terminal ileum was strangulated by a gap between the exposed right external iliac vein and artery presumably formed by pelvic lymph node dissection. Distal ileum strangulated by the gap, however, showed no ischemic change with no surgically available peritoneum left around the external iliac vein. To prevent the pulmonary embolism and the recurrence of this type of ileus due to both the thrombi and the persistent gap, we released the strangulated ileum with a simple cut of the external iliac vein without vein reconstruction. The patient recovered uneventfully and was discharged on the 13th day after operation. The patient has been well with nominal right leg edema. In this situation, that is, internal hernia caused by external iliac vessels with thrombi in the femoral vein and no leg edema, a simple cut of the external iliac vein without vein reconstruction is a feasible treatment option.
Vaduvur and Sitheri lakes, Tamil Nadu, India: conservation and management perspective
Authors: Gokula V. , Ananth Raj P.
Published: September 2021

Wetlands are declining globally.  Hence, it is reasonable to assume that most existing wetlands are impacted to some degree by human land-use that in turn caused population declines in many wetland-dependent taxa.  The National Wetland Atlas has classified Tamil Nadu as a wetland-rich state as they occupy 6.92% of geographic area.  However, studies on wetlands are limited in Tamil Nadu.  Hence, an attempt was made to identify the threats to the Vaduvur and Sitheri lakes and their associated fauna.  In total, 118 species of birds belonging to 87 genera, 48 families and 18 orders in Vaduvur Lake and 87 species of birds belonging to 71 genera, 48 families and 16 orders in Sitheri Lake were recorded.  A total of 28 zooplankton species were recorded in both the lakes comprising 14 species of rotifers, six species of cladocerans, five species of copepods, two species of ostracods, and one species of protozoa.  A total of 15 species of fishes were identified from the sellers who catch fishes from the Sitheri Lake.  The physico-chemical parameters of water varied according to the seasonal fluctuations in rainfall pattern.  In general, wetland management for waterbirds of these two lakes should focus on providing suitable nesting habitats and available food resources for dependant avifauna.  Management of invertebrates, amphibians, and fishes in these two lakes is one technique that can be used to provide foraging opportunities for waterbirds.  An integrated approach and increased co-operation would result in the rational use of this freshwater resource leading to improved standards of living around this lake.
Reinstating reptiles: from clueless creatures to esteemed models of cognitive biology
Authors: De Meester Gilles , Baeckens Simon
Published: September 2021

Non-avian reptiles have long been neglect in cognitive science due to their reputation as slow and inflexible learners, but fortunately, this archaic view on reptile cognition is changing rapidly. The last two decades have witnessed a renewed interest in the cognitive capacities of reptiles, and more ecologically relevant protocols have been designed to measure such abilities. Now, we appreciate that reptiles possess an impressive set of cognitive skills, including problem-solving abilities, fast and flexible learning, quantity discrimination, and even social learning. This special issue highlights current research on reptiles in cognitive biology and showcases the diversity of research questions that can be answered by using reptiles as study model. Here, we briefly address (the key results of) the contributing articles and their role in the endeavour for total inclusion of reptiles in cognitive biological research, which is instrumental for our understanding of the evolution of animal cognition. We also discuss and illustrate the promising potential of reptiles as model organisms in various areas of cognitive research.
Visual displays in a nocturnal rhacophorid frog (Buergeria japonica)
Authors: Anderson Nigel K. , Legett Henry D. , Aihara Ikkyu , Bernal Ximena E.
Published: September 2021

We report a visual display, leg-stretching, in the nocturnal Ryukyu Kajika frog (Buergeria japonica) on Iriomote Island in southern Okinawa, Japan. This visual display is produced by males before, during, or after a vocalization and involves the extension of one or both hindlimbs outwards at substrate level. Leg-stretches in this species are performed during male-male agonistic interactions in choruses, and almost exclusively in concert with aggressive vocalizations. These observations are one of the first reports of visual displays for the Rhacophoridae family and provide insights into why visual displays evolve in frogs, especially in nocturnal species. We discuss our observations in the context of underlying mechanisms and selective pressures driving the evolution of anuran visual displays.
Teaching, social, and cognitive presences and their relations to students’ characteristics and academic performance in blended learning courses in a Tanzanian University
Authors: Almasi Mustapha , Zhu Chang , Machumu Haruni
Published: September 2021

This study examines teaching, social, and cognitive presences in relation to students’ academic performance in blended learning courses in a Tanzanian university. The study involved 353 students and examined several aspects of blended learning including face-to-face lectures, online and offline group assignments, online feedback, discussions, and online messaging via Moodle. A community of inquiry survey was used to measure students’ perceptions of teaching, social, and cognitive presences. Performance scores consisted of students’ coursework and final examination grades. The results showed no statistically significant differences in the reported scores of teaching, cognitive, and social presences based on gender and age groups. Students with more advanced ICT skills reported higher teaching, social, and cognitive presences. Reported teaching presence was significantly different among the blended learning courses. Teaching, social, and cognitive presences showed a positive correlation with each other. The conclusion shows that although positively correlated, social and cognitive presences were not predictors of students’ performance; however, ICT skills were important in the studied courses.
Living Labs and designed serendipity: collaboratively discovering the UDUBSit & Mfunzi emerging platforms
Authors: Grove Wouter
Published: September 2021

Recent investigations into the paradoxical notion of designed serendipity position the concept within the research fields of design science, creativity and to a lesser extent digital innovation. In this study we contribute to the work on designed serendipity by analysing the role of the Living Labs methodology in facilitating and enabling serendipity. We specifically investigate that role within the context of two Higher Education cases within an African context. The two cases describe the development of emerging digital platforms co-created within their respective contexts. The UDUBSit mobile application (developed at the University of the Western Cape, South Africa) and Mfunzi mobile application (developed at Mzumbe University, Tanzania) are analysed to determine the extent to which the Living Labs approach enabled observable instances of designed serendipity. This study presents a brief analysis of the causal mechanisms and contextual factors that combine to create designed serendipity within the context of the cases evaluated and within platform design. The study links these causes back to Living Labs as a design methodology.
Thinking Across Hemispheres: Further notes on Oversights and Blind Spots in Disciplinary African Studies
Authors: Lalu Premesh
Published: September 2021

In the midst of ever-hardening nationalist sentiment across the world, the humanities may need to recall its long history of thinking across hemispheres. In such balkanised times, we may have to rethink the work that a hermeneutics of suspicion performs for a critical humanities as well as how Africa is bound to particular configurations of area studies that emerge out of the geopolitical distributions of knowledge during the Cold War. To the extent that we might develop a history of a critical humanities across hemispheres, this paper asks what it might mean to return to a concept of freedom formed through a sustained effort at reckoning with the worldliness specific to the anti-colonial struggles in Africa. There, a critical humanities may discover the sources of a creative work in which Africa is not merely bound to the binary of blind spots and oversights, but functions as that supplement which gives itself over to a liveable future.
Africa: A Political Economy of Continued Crisis
Authors: Bush Ray
Published: September 2021

This article deepens critique of the Africa rising trope and the policies promoted by neo liberals to promote development on the continent. It revisits the economic growth literature and it shows how the weakly formulated views about African growth are merely self serving of limited, mostly western, investment interests that remain centred on extractive economies rather than helping to promote sustainable structural transformation with added value that can be retained in Africa. There have always been periods of economic growth in Africa but opportunities for this to be sustained do not lie with greater integration with the world economy. Instead they lie with, among other things, local political and economic struggles in Africa for greater democratic control of capital accumulation.
La Littérature Musicale Congolaise: La Fête Des Mots
Authors: Yoka Lye M.
Published: September 2021

Il existe bon nombre d’écrits sur la musique congolaise moderne, notamment sur le plan de l’histoire et de la sociologie. Mais pas d’écrits spécialisés sur la litteralité des textes des chansons en termes stylistique, parémiologique et thématique. Il faudrait en plus prendre en compte les survivances tenaces des traditions orales avec cette culture épicée de l’ “éristique” qui est l’art de la dispute et de la palabre, assorti des artifices de la satire et de circonlocutions plus ou moins subversives.Finalement ce que les critiques “puristes” considèrent comme “paralittérature” (terme passablement dépréciatif!) c’est de la littérature en bonne et due forme.
Recreation of Oral Poetic Genres in Selected Yorùbá Home-Video Films
Authors: Bolarinwa Abidemi
Published: September 2021

The Yorùbá film as audio-visual literature is thought of as one of the most educative components building society. “Modernization” and responses to global change brought about the Yorùbá films which are an offshoot of the Yorùbá Travelling Theatre Movement. The indigenous theatre practitioners who are versatile in practicing the oral poetic genre and have successfully emerged as producers, directors and film-script writers employ and recreate oral poetic genres by adding feelings, beliefs and knowledge they had acquired in the past. This paper attempts a descriptive analysis of five purposively-selected Yorùbá video films by using the sociological approach: Ẹfúnsetán Aníwúrà; Basọ̀run Gáà, Ogun Àgbẹ́kọ̀ya, Ogun Ìdàhọ̀mì and Ọ̀rànmíyàn; which are replete with instances of ingenious recreations of Yorùbá oral poetic genres. The analysis is conducted with a view to elucidating the attempts of Yorùbá home-video scriptwriters in recreating and reconstructing their experiences. The analyses of the selected Yorùbá home-video films reveal that the Yorùbá home-video script writers make artistic use of Yorùbá oral genres in their films through the creative exploitation of proverbs, songs, chants and mythical allusions. The allusions to myths in the selected films suggest that Yorùbá home-video films share apparent inter-textual links with Yorùbá oral poetry. The study concludes that Yorùbá home-video scriptwriters deploy oral poetic genres in their films as one of the ways in which the artistic experiences of the Yorùbá people can resonate.
New Media, Old Artistry: The Adaptation of Yorùbá Folktale Narrative Strategies in Video Films
Authors: Taiwo Adekemi Agnes
Published: September 2021

The argument of this study is that Yorùbá people continue to keep alive and sustain their society’s oral folkloric tradition and verbal art despite the changes undergone by Yorùbá folktales that have passed into written form and other (new) media. Verbal arts educate, reflect and promote culture, as well as, their well-known capacity to instil moral decency in a young audience. This paper explores the adaptation of Yorùbá folkloric form in film. The audience memory is reawakened through the conservation and propagation of folktale into drama form in the film, Ijàpá and Àjàntálá. Ìjàpá (tortoise) is well known for its trickish behaviour and nature while Àjàntálá is also known for his vicious behaviour. Their character was worn into human beings (artiste) to teach society moral lessons. These Yorùbá movies Ìjàpá and Àjàntálá were adapted from Yorùbá folktales to examine issues and themes that are germane to contemporary society. Ìjàpá was produced in 2011 while Àjàntálá was produced in 2015. The theory of intertextuality which is the way books, songs, films are linked or associated to one another is adopted for the research.
Une Mémoire Méconnue : Témoignages sur des Attaques de 2006 en Zone Rurale en République Centrafricaine
Authors: Roulon-Doko Paulette
Published: September 2021

L’analyse d’une dizaine de récits de pillage de 2006 survenus dans une zone rurale de l’ouest de la RCA permet de comprendre comment chaque personne a vécu les événements et les réactions individuelles. Ce qui ressort de ces récits est l’expression de la peur, mais aussi une sorte d’audace qui montre la volonté de résistance des peuples et, enfin, la garantie de pouvoir compter sur l’aide de leurs ancêtres. Cette compilation de récits représente la mémoire des événements tels qu'ils se transmettent dans cette culture de tradition orale.
‘Salimu’: From Memory to Literary Narrative in Twentieth-Century Manding Culture
Authors: Tamari Tal
Published: September 2021

This essay explores the creation of new literary narratives, many inspired by true incidents, from the late nineteenth century to the present, among Manding- (specifically Maninka-) speakers in Mali and Guinea. It simultaneously queries the relationships between Manding and Western literary categories, showing that the traits typically associated with African ‘epics’ – including poetic language, alternation of sung and recited passages to continuous instrumental accompaniment, and multi-generic qualities – characterise some (but not all) examples of several distinct Manding literary categories (fasa, tariku and maana); furthermore, these traits appear in narratives of various lengths, centred on sentimental as well as heroic themes. It then focuses on the stories and songs inspired by the apparently contradictory personality of Salimou Haidara (ca. 1930-1991), an eccentric who claimed sharifian descent. A performance by Amadou Kouyaté and Jekoriya Doumbia, a bard couple based in the village of Dabadou near Kankan (Guinea), is transcribed, translated, and analysed.
Memorializing a Legendary Figure: Bayajidda the Prince of Bagdad in Hausa Land
Authors: Liman Abubakar Aliyu
Published: September 2021

This paper examines the various ways in which the Bayajidda legend is memorialized. In its current manifestations, the legend can be seen as an important agency for the remembrance of the past in the context of rapid socio-historical change in Africa, under the influence of modernity, technology and globalization. The analysis begins by highlighting the interface between folklore and history in everyday cultural practices in postcolonial northern Nigeria. The signposts that give a coherent structure to the paper include the chronicles of the Bayajidda legend, the essential oral version circulating in its different forms in Hausa society. Over the years, reference to the legend of Bayajidda has always been made through the use of different modes of cultural expression such as song, dramatic performance, film and other forms of narration. This range has served the political and ideological interests of the dominant power elite who are consistently alluding to the Bayajidda legend. The survival of the essential oral narrative therefore depends solely on a strategy of alluding to the legend in its various guises, including the form of museum artifacts, drama, films and musical songs. However, the paper explores each of the specific historical periods from the pre-colonial down to the colonial and postcolonial epochs with a view to highlighting how specific forms of the legend are deployed by hegemonic structures for the purposes of legitimation.
History and Dramatic Imagination in Ahmed Yerima’s Attahiru
Authors: Liman Rasheedah
Published: September 2021

The thematic concerns of some dramatic creations among postcolonial African playwrights often bear witness to moments of ideological encounter between the colonizer and the colonized. The dramatic space also serves as an avenue where the encounter is revisited, reassessed, or challenged. In this way, Attahiru, a play by Ahmed Yerima introduces a new perspective that insists on the presentation of a version of history that is different from the dominant position of colonial power. On the one hand, colonial accounts portrayed Sultan Attahiru, the Sultan of the Sokoto Caliphate during the late 19th century, as an element of destabilization and a threat to the power and order established by the British colonialists, particularly in the northern protectorate. On the other hand, through narrative technique, Ahmed Yerima illustrates political resistance and the discourses of tradition and modernity, conflicts of religion and culture and the question of identity and power. The historical figure Attahiru is revived as a resistance fighter, a religious figure, a revolutionary leader who is sensitive to power and the demands of his people. However, the major problem arising from a comparison between the historical figure of Attahiru and the dramatic character remains that of the credibility of their representations. The question then is, can narrative technique in a dramatic text give credence to a dramatic character, represented in the synchronic present over the historic one that is constructed by a method aspiring to be objective and rigorous? This paper attempts to answer this question through the textual analysis of the play text against the backdrop of various historical accounts.
Modern Breeding Approaches for Durable Resistance Against the Parasitic Plant Striga
Authors: Runo Steven
Published: September 2021

Crop losses caused by parasitic plants of the genus Striga pose a great danger to the livelihoods of millions of smallholder farmers in Africa. The parasite attaches to host crops and siphons nutrients leading to severe retardation and crop death. Controlling Striga is difficult because of the parasite’s ability to produce large amounts of seeds that can remain dormant in the soil for decades – only germinating in response to chemical cues (strigolactones) from the host. In recent years, breeding crops for host-based resistance has been prioritized. However, such programs have not taken into account Striga’s ability to overcome host resistance. As a result, introduced resistance fails because of increased Striga virulence (infection severity). This article reviews technologies for a new paradigm in Striga resistance breeding that incorporates host resistance breeding with well-informed knowledge of parasite resistance in order to ensure durability of resistance.
Review of Trachysphaera Heller, 1858 (Diplopoda: Glomerida: Glomeridae) in Serbia, with taxonomic notes on the genus
Authors: ANTIĆ DRAGAN , ŠEVIĆ MIRKO , MACEK OLIVER , AKKARI NESRINE
Published: September 2021

The glomerid genus Trachysphaera Heller, 1858 in Serbia is revised, based on recently collected specimens and historical material. Six species are presently recorded from Serbia, viz., Trachysphaera corcyraea (Verhoeff, 1900), T. cristangula (Attems, 1943), T. schmidtii Heller, 1858, and T. similicostata (Radu & Ceuca, 1951), all new to the fauna of the country, as well as T. costata (Waga, 1857a) and T. lobotarsus (Attems, 1943). All of these species are richly illustrated and mapped. To verify the identity of some species, historical material from the Natural History Museum in Vienna, including syntypes, is also studied, and two lectotypes have been designated. Some misidentifications from the literature have been corrected. Trachysphaera acutula (Latzel, 1884) syn. n., T. cultrifera (Verhoeff, 1906) syn. n. and T. multiclavigera (Verhoeff, 1898) syn. n. are all considered as junior subjective synonyms of T. schmidtii. Trachysphaera attemsi Golovatch, 1976 syn. n. is transferred from the list of synonyms of T. costata to the list of synonyms of T. corcyraea. One species, T. similicostata, is resurrected from synonymy. Relationships between some congeners and the taxonomic problems within the genus are briefly discussed.
New distributional, biological and taxonomic information on the genus Eulophinusia Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae)
Authors: HANSSON CHRISTER , HALLWACHS WINNIE , JANZEN DANIEL H.
Published: September 2021

The genus Eulophinusia Girault (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), previously known from Australia and India, is newly recorded from the Americas (Canada, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic). The morphological diagnosis of the genus is enhanced through the discovery of an unnoticed and unique feature - an intricate jigsaw-like microsculptural pattern on the mesoscutellum. The new species described here, Eulophinusia andreamezae Hansson, is a hyperparasitoid. The majority of the Costa Rican specimens of this species were reared from pupae of Hypomicrogaster largus Valerio (Braconidae: Microgastrinae) that had parasitized a caterpillar of Anadasmus Janzen11 (Lepidoptera: Depressariidae) feeding on Ocotea insularis (Lauraceae).
Variations of Tropical Lapse Rates in Climate Models and their Implications for Upper Tropospheric Warming
Authors: Keil P. , Schmidt H. , Stevens B. , Bao J.
Published: September 2021

The vertical temperature structure in the tropics is primarily set by convection and therefore follows a moist adiabat to first order. However, tropical upper tropospheric temperatures differ among climate models and observations, as atmospheric convection remains poorly understood. Here, we quantify the variations in tropical lapse rates in CMIP6 models and explore reasons for these variations. We find that differences in surface temperatures weighted by the regions of strongest convection cannot explain these variations and therefore we hypothesise that the representation of convection itself and associated small scale processes are responsible. We reproduce these variations in perturbed physics experiments with the global atmospheric model ICON-A, in which we vary autoconversion and entrainment parameters. For smaller autoconversion values, additional freezing enthalpy from the cloud water that is not precipitated warms the upper troposphere. Smaller entrainment rates also lead to a warmer upper troposphere, as convection and thus latent heating reaches higher. Furthermore, we show that according to most radiosonde datasets all CMIP6 AMIP simulations overestimate recent upper tropospheric warming. Additionally, all radiosonde datasets agree that climate models on average overestimate the amount of upper tropospheric warming for a given lower tropospheric warming. We demonstrate that increased entrainment rates reduce this overestimation, likely because of the reduction of latent heat release in the upper troposphere. Our results suggest that imperfect convection parameterisations are responsible for a considerable part of the variations in tropical lapse rates and also part of the overestimation of warming compared to the observations.
An Assessment of Climate Feedbacks in Observations and Climate Models Using Different Energy Balance Frameworks
Authors: Chao Li-Wei , Dessler Andrew E.
Published: September 2021

This study evaluates the performance of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP) phase 5 and phase 6 models by comparing feedbacks in models to those inferred from observations. Overall, we find no systematic disagreements between the feedbacks in the model ensembles and feedbacks inferred from observations, although there is a wide range in the ability of individual models to reproduce the observations. In particular, 40 of 52 models have best estimates that fall within the uncertainty of the observed total feedback. We quantify two sources of uncertainty in the model ensembles: (1) the structural difference, due to the differences in model parameterizations, and (2) the unforced pattern effect, due to unforced variability, and find that both are important when comparing to an 18-year observational data set. We perform the comparison using two energy balance frameworks: the traditional energy balance framework, in which it is assumed that changes in energy balance are controlled by changes in global average surface temperatures, and an alternative framework that assumes the changes in energy balance are controlled by tropical atmospheric temperatures. We find that the alternative framework provides a more robust way of comparing the models to observations, with both smaller structural differences and smaller unforced pattern effect. However, when considering the relation of feedbacks in response to interannual variability and long-term warming, the traditional framework has advantages. There are no great differences between the CMIP5 and CMIP6 ensembles’ ability to reproduce the observed feedbacks.
Sensing the Arctic: Situational awareness and the future of northern security
Authors: Johnson Benjamin T.
Published: September 2021

This article considers the role of surveillance within security concerns related to the Arctic in Canada and North America. More pointedly, it examines how surveillance contributes towards situational awareness and the current emphasis on technological research and development to meet current and future security requirements. The article argues that Canada’s focus on surveillance within the Arctic offers a flexible strategy that navigates the complex and evolving security environment in addition to the political and fiscal realities of our time. However, the article warns that emphasizing the role of novel technology within strategic considerations risks undermining sound policymaking as the potential for new technology to transform defensive capabilities remains speculative. The article illustrates this approach to security by analyzing Canada’s Arctic surveillance capabilities and goals under the All Domain Situational Awareness (ADSA) program. Further, it links Canada’s efforts to North American defence by theoretically examining the role of surveillance in the Strategic Homeland Integrated Ecosystem for Layered Defence (SHIELD) concept and the recent NORAD/USNORTHCOM strategic outlook.
Surviving on the margins: Volunteers’ agency to survive poverty and vulnerability in Zimbabwe
Authors: Kabonga Itai , Zvokuomba Kwashirai
Published: September 2021

This ethnographic study, as part of a broader study of volunteerism and social development in the Chegutu district, Zimbabwe, explores the agency of volunteers to survive in a context of socio-economic challenges. Volunteers in Zimbabwe are operating in a context characterised by socio-economic challenges. They are living on the margins. The situation is exacerbated by non-governmental organisations’ non-payment of stipends or the inadequacy of the stipends that are eventually paid. Using their agency, volunteers are involved in Internal Savings and Lending Schemes, group-based income-generating activities, multiple affiliations, grocery initiatives, accumulation of social capital, and building networks and relationships to survive.
The Spirit of Resurrection in Romans 8 and Its Jewish Correspondences
Authors: Kowalski Marcin
Published: September 2021

This article studies the role and identity of the Spirit of resurrection in Rom. 8. First, possible references to the Spirit of resurrection in the OT and Jewish literature of the Second Temple period are explored. Next, the argumentation of Rom. 8 is analysed, where the apostle links the Spirit of resurrection with the work of Christ (Rom. 8.1-4, 10-11), describes its function of making believers resemble the Son (Rom. 8.5-6, 9-11, 14-17) and shows it as sustaining hope for the legacy of glory with the Firstborn (Rom. 8.18-30). The Spirit of resurrection is argued to be a specifically Pauline idea which differs both from the OT and from the Jewish literature of the Second Temple period.
The historical and the transhistorical in Marx’s dialectical method
Authors: Keikhaee Aidin
Published: September 2021

This essay revisits the question of alterations in Marx’s view of method from the 1857 “Introduction” to Capital. In the wake of the belated upsurge of interest in Marx’s notebooks of 1857–8, posthumously published as the Grundrisse, a dominant interpretation has been developed in Marx scholarship which characterizes the method of the “Introduction” as an ascent from the (transhistorical) abstract to the (historical) concrete and, upon such characterization, stresses the mature Marx’s departure from it. Rereading the 1857 “Introduction” with an emphasis on the theoretical import of its examples, I argue, against this interpretation, that although this text does not provide a fully worked-out account of method, it nevertheless offers invaluable insights into some of the central methodological problems with which Marx was concerned and in response to which his dialectical method was developed. In particular, I highlight what could be called Marx’s critical historicist approach to the categories and argue that this approach, together with his specific understanding of the process of the reproduction of the concrete in thought, constitute the lasting pillars of Marx’s dialectical method, in the 1857 “Introduction” as well as in Capital. Finally, in a concluding section, I re-examine the methodological status of the commodity and argue that the post-1857 emergence of the commodity as Marx’s favourite starting point does not represent a fundamental change, or a reversal, in his view of method.
Book review: Imre Bangha (Ed.) Tagore. Beyond His Language
Authors: Choudhuri Salmoli
Published: September 2021

Imre Bangha (Ed.) Tagore. Beyond His Language (New Delhi: Primus Books, 2017), xiii + 230 pp.
The impact of del Nido cardioplegia solution on blood morphology parameters
Authors: Sanetra Krzysztof , Domaradzki Wojciech , Cisowski Marek , Shrestha Rajesh , Białek Krzysztof , Bochenek Andrzej , Jankowska-Sanetra Justyna , Paweł Buszman Piotr , Gerber Witold
Published: September 2021

Background:

Crystalloid cardioplegic solutions are believed to reduce hemoglobin significantly and increase the transfusion rate. However, recent reports indicate that the del Nido cardioplegia may preserve blood morphology parameters.

Methods:

In “The del Nido versus cold blood cardioplegia in aortic valve Replacement” trial patients undergoing aortic valve replacement were randomized into the del Nido (DN) or cold blood cardioplegia (CB) group. For the subanalysis, patients who underwent blood transfusions were excluded from the study. Red blood cell (RBC) count, hemoglobin, white blood cell (WBC) count and platelet (PLT) count were measured before the surgery, 24-, 48-, and 96 hours postoperatively. Furthermore, percental variation in first-last measure was compared in groups. In addition, indexed normalized ratio (INR) and activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT) were compared preoperatively and 24 hours after the surgery.

Results:

Eighteen (24%) patients from the del Nido group and 22 (29.3%) patients from the CB group received blood product transfusions (p = 0.560) and were excluded from further analysis. As such, 57 patients remained in DN group and 53 patients remained in CB group. No difference was found in RBC, hemoglobin, WBC, and platelet count in time intervals. Percental variation in first-last measure revealed higher fall in RBC (p = 0.0024) and hemoglobin (p = 0.0028) in the CB group. No difference was shown in preoperative and 24-hour postoperative INR and aPTT.

Conclusions:

The del Nido cardioplegia does not decrease blood morphology parameters when compared to cold blood cardioplegia and may be used alternatively regardless of bleeding and coagulopathy risk.
Establishment of a prognostic model for patients with sepsis based on SOFA: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Liu Hui , Zhang Luming , Xu Fengshuo , Li Shaojin , Wang Zichen , Han Didi , Zhang Feng , Lyu Jun , Yin Haiyan
Published: September 2021

Objective

To construct a nomogram based on the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) that is more accurate in predicting 30-, 60-, and 90-day mortality risk in patients with sepsis.

Methods

Data from patients with sepsis were retrospectively collected from the Medical Information Mart for Intensive Care (MIMIC) database. Included patients were randomly divided into training and validation cohorts. Variables were selected using a backward stepwise selection method with Cox regression, then used to construct a prognostic nomogram. The nomogram was compared with the SOFA model using the concordance index (C-index), area under the time-dependent receiver operating characteristics curve (AUC), net reclassification improvement (NRI), integrated discrimination improvement (IDI), calibration plotting, and decision-curve analysis (DCA).

Results

A total of 5240 patients were included in the study. Patient’s age, SOFA score, metastatic cancer, SpO2, lactate, body temperature, albumin, and red blood cell distribution width were included in the nomogram. The C-index, AUC, NRI, IDI, and DCA of the nomogram showed that it performs better than the SOFA alone.

Conclusion

A nomogram was established that performed better than the SOFA in predicting 30-, 60-, and 90-day mortality risk in patients with sepsis.
Conceptualizing and Studying Characteristics, Units, and Fits of Persons and Environments: A Coherent Synthesis
Authors: Kandler Christian , Rauthmann John F.
Published: September 2021

Based on a perspective on personality coherence as the extent to which personality-relevant characteristics are differentiated and integrated within a person in his or her environment, we propose a synthesis that builds on and harmonizes existing and partly conflicting theories, methodological approaches, and empirical findings. This understanding of personality coherence needs clear definitions of person and environment characteristics. We define traits as characteristics of the person, adaptations as characteristics of the person-in-contexts, and states as characteristics of the person-in-situations. Thus, our synthesis involves concepts of environments and person-environment units. Next, we provide testable criteria to differentiate characteristics of persons from characteristics of person-environment units and to identify dispositional traits for a narrow-sense perspective on personality coherence. We raise awareness of the importance of fit between (profiles of) person and environment characteristics for an understanding of the integrated uniqueness of persons in their environments. We outline implications of this broader perspective on personality coherence for personality development, self-regulation, social integration, well-being, and psychological interventions. Lastly, we conclude that the analysis of an individual’s uniqueness and personality differences requires information about how well-defined, well-differentiated, well-integrated, and well-operationalized person(ality) variables are actually expressed in, or interact and transact with, the individual environment.
Reading and analysing short story collections: An empirical study of readers' interpretation process of Benni's Il bar sotto il mare
Authors: De Vooght Edward , Nemegeer Guylian
Published: September 2021

This article confronts the theoretical tenets of reader-oriented short story collection theory and its implications for a literary analysis of Benni’s Il bar sotto il mare (1987) with the results of an empirical study of 12 readers. Through free recall tasks and open questions, we collected their recall of stories, specific passages, recurring topics and general interpretation to assess the processes of reticulation (i.e. searching for recurring elements in stories) and modification (i.e. modifying initial hypotheses based on the identification of new elements) advanced by Audet (2014). This confrontation revealed noticeably disagreeing results. Our findings suggest that flesh-and-blood readers adopt a more straightforward and intuitive approach when reading and interpreting collections as they are subject to a strong primacy effect, privilege personal appreciation of specific stories and passages, and rely on a disinclination to alter initial interpretative hypotheses. The findings pave the way for further investigation into the readers of SSCs.
Is there a role for tapered topical dose steroidal treatment for dry eye disease? A randomized, pilot study
Authors: Barabino Stefano , Montaldo Elisa , Mingari Maria Cristina , Mazzotta Cosimo , Giuffrida Sebastiano , Rolando Maurizio
Published: September 2021

Purpose:

To evaluate the effect of tapered doses of loteprednol-etabonate in dry eye disease patients.

Materials and methods:

Dry eye and treatment outcomes were assessed by Schirmer I test, tear BUT, lissamine green conjunctival staining, fluorescein corneal staining, and HLA-DR expression on conjunctival cells. Patients received either loteprednol-etabonate 0.5% twice daily for 14 days tapered to once daily for 14 days, and then twice weekly for 28 days ( n = 10), or NaCl 0.9%.

Results:

A significant decrease of ocular surface inflammation and improvement of symptoms was recorded in the study group compared with controls at days 14 and 56. Change from baseline in HLA-DR expression in CD45+ conjunctival cells was significantly higher in treated patients at day 14. Intraocular pressure and best corrected visual acuity were preserved in all treated eyes.

Conclusions:

Tapered doses of loteprednol etabonate 0.5% suspension controlled ocular surface inflammation, improving dry eye symptoms.
Analysis of six cancer patients with persistent left superior vena cava identified during central venous access device placement via an intracavitary electrocardiogram
Authors: Wang Xinpeng , Yang Yong , Dong Jing , Wang Xiaozheng , Zheng Yuanyuan , Chen Jie , Shen Yanfen , Wang Hongzhi
Published: September 2021

Persistent left superior vena cava (PLSVC) is a rare congenital anomaly. PLSVC can be associated with clinically significant atrial septal defect (ASD) or ventricular septal defect (VSD). It is usually asymptomatic and accidentally detected during invasive procedures or imaging examinations. However, whether central venous access device (CVAD) can be placed and used in patients with PLSVC is controversial. A total of six patients were diagnosed with PLSVC and confirmed by chest CT among 3391 cancer patients who underwent CVAD placement via intracavitary electrocardiogram (IC-EKG) at the Venous Access Center (VAC) from May 2019 to December 2020. The CVADs (peripherally inserted central catheter in four patients and Ports in two patients) of these six patients were left in PLSVC. We analyzed changes in the P-wave in the IC-EKG during CVAD placement and the characteristics of the body surface electrocardiogram in these patients and discussed the catheter tip position in PLSVC. All six patients showed negative P-waves in lead II via IC-EKG from the beginning of catheterization: four patients showed negative P-waves and two showed biphasic P-waves in the body surface electrocardiogram (lead III) before catheterization. CVAD function was normal and no obvious complications were observed during the treatment of these patients. The total retention time of CVADs was 1537 days. For patients with a negative P-wave in lead II via IC-EKG during catheterization, especially in those with a negative or biphasic P-wave in lead III of the body surface electrocardiogram, PLSVC should be considered. CVAD insertion in patients with type I PLSVC is safe under certain conditions, with the proper tip position in the middle to lower part of PLSVC.
Living together: An integrated acculturation–contact strategy to promote ethnic harmony between young British Muslims and Anglo-Britons
Authors: Abu-Rayya Hisham M. , Brown Rupert
Published: September 2021

Acculturation theorists have proposed that minority and majority members’ endorsement of the cultural integration orientation should positively impact their mutual intergroup relations. To examine this claim, the study develops and experimentally tests a vicarious intercultural contact strategy designed to promote integration endorsement among a sample of 379 British youths (aged between 18 and 21 years), of whom 172 were British Muslims and 207 were White British. In line with theoretical expectations, results revealed that integration attained through vicarious contact, relative to a control condition, reduced respondents’ negative emotions, increased their positive emotions and inclusion of the other in the self (IOS), and improved their outgroup attitudes. These effects were only present in the Muslim group. Integration effects on outgroup attitude outcomes were mediated by intergroup emotions and IOS. We discuss the theoretical and practical implications of these findings.
Burning out in emotional capitalism: Appropriation of ganqing and renqing in the Chinese platform economy
Authors: Tang Ling
Published: September 2021

Based on a three-year digital ethnography as an educational consultant on the Chinese digital platform X, I use guanxi, enduring interpersonal relationships, to explain how people voluntarily work to the extent of burning out. Drawing on literature about emotion and work in precarious labour, and especially the discussion on emotional capitalism, I demonstrate that it is not because of the lack of social connections that people engage in auto-exploitation and burning out, as Han Byung-chul argues, but precisely because of shared values and the emotions people develop for each other that people commit more to work. Complementing research on digital economic tribes, I argue that guanxi could serve as an analytical framework to decipher the buyer–seller relationship on platforms. In particular, I use two guanxi-related concepts ganqing (emotional attachments) and renqing (norms of interpersonal relationship) to explain why I worked voluntarily and obligatorily for the students I met via X.
Research on a small sample fault diagnosis method for a high-pressure common rail system
Authors: Li Liangyu , Tiexiong Su , Ma Fukang , Pu Yu
Published: September 2021

In the fault diagnosis of high-pressure common rail diesel engines, it is often necessary to face the problem of insufficient diagnostic training samples due to the high cost of obtaining fault samples or the difficulty of obtaining fault samples, resulting in the inability to diagnose the fault state. To solve the above problem, this paper proposes a small-sample fault diagnosis method for a high-pressure common rail system using a small-sample learning method based on data augmentation and a fault diagnosis method based on a GA_BP neural network. The data synthesis of the training set using Least Squares Generative Adversarial Networks (LSGANs) improves the quality and diversity of the synthesized data. The correct diagnosis rate can reach 100% for the small sample set, and the iteration speed increases by 109% compared with the original BP neural network by initializing the BP neural network with an improved genetic algorithm. The experimental results show that the present fault diagnosis method generates higher quality and more diverse synthetic data, as well as a higher correct rate and faster iteration speed for the fault diagnosis model when solving small sample fault diagnosis problems. Additionally, the overall fault diagnosis correct rate can reach 98.3%.
Inferior vena caval aneurysm diagnosed in context of trauma
Authors: Bahi Morwan , Taumoepeau Lupe
Published: September 2021

Inferior vena cava (IVC) aneurysms remain rare vascular entities that carry significant morbidity and potential mortality. Given the paucity of literature on this clinical entity, there is no consensus regarding management guidelines, and it is important to continue to add to the current literature body. In this report, we describe the case of a 64-year-old male diagnosed with a type III IVC aneurysm. Here, we describe this clinical presentation and discuss our management of this aneurysm in the context of the wider, yet limited literature body.