bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spatial Form in Henrietta Rose-Innes
Authors: Riach Graham K.
Published: May 2024

Chapter 5 reads Henrietta Rose-Innes’s short story collection Homing (2010), arguing that it sustains a productively unresolved tension between the aesthetic demands of the short story’s spatial form and the spatially segregated post-apartheid nation. The chapter outlines why the land- and cityscape are crucial to understanding contemporary South Africa, and discusses how South African literature has responded to these spatial concerns. It then proposes an expanded concept of Joseph Frank’s theory of spatial form, in which divergent understandings of literary space are put into dialogue, before looking in detail at how these factors play out in Rose-Innes’s work. The three stories analysed tack between the dehistoricising tendencies of spatial form and the historicised contexts in which the stories take place.
Conclusion
Authors: Riach Graham K.
Published: May 2024

The Conclusion compares how each author has worked with, developed, and altered the possibilities of the short story form in the years after apartheid. Their short stories have made substantial contributions to South African literature, and to the global development of the form. The Conclusion returns to the possibilities that form and genre offer to postcolonial studies. It reflects on how strategies of engaged writing, the negotiation of the past, the imbrication of class and race, and the politics of place appear in short narratives, as they are imagined through the short story’s preference for discontinuity, aporia, ellipsis, and spatial form. Further, it explores the expansion of creative writing programmes in South African universities, a development that has shaped and will surely continue to shape the generic contours of the short story in years to come.
Introduction
Authors: Bonner Christopher T.
Published: May 2024

The introduction to Cold War Negritude situates the principal figures studied in the book within the intellectual and political context of the global Cold War. At the same time, it introduces the argument that reading these French Caribbean authors through a Cold War lens expands our understanding of Antillean writing by elucidating the geopolitical imaginary that informed these authors’ writings and connecting them to a broader network of literary and intellectual currents across the Cold War “worlds.” Offering a broad historical and critical overview, it makes the case that understanding these writers as Cold War writers allows us to view radical Antillean authors not only as critics of colonialism, but also as active participants in a debate within the global left about the politics of literature.
Poetry of the Césaire–Soviet Split
Authors: Bonner Christopher T.
Published: May 2024

This chapter explores the impact of Aimé Césaire’s 1956 split with the French Communist Party upon his poetics. Although the “Lettre à Maurice Thorez” is rightly celebrated for its denunciation of Stalinism and its call to Third World progressives to “invent our own route,” Césaire’s poetry of this same period offers a significant melancholic counterpoint to the “Lettre à Maurice Thorez.” This argument is premised on the understanding that Césaire’s split from communism was not only a new beginning, but also a loss, both an occasion for mourning a sign of the defeat of left aspirations. Césaire’s poetry of this period thinks from and through this loss, using the tools of poetry to map the geopolitical structures and ideological currents of the global Cold War. The main object of analysis is Ferrements (1960), a collection of poems that Césaire wrote at the same time that he was reevaluating his PCF alignment. Ferrements tends to be viewed either as reflecting Césaire’s disillusionment with radical politics or as a turn away from surrealism. This chapter argues for viewing it instead as a locus of Césaire’s political thought in a time of ideological disorientation.
Engineer of the Haitian Soul
Authors: Bonner Christopher T.
Published: May 2024

This chapter examines Jacques Stephen Alexis’ socialist aesthetics. Alexis remained aligned communism, seeing it as the best chance at emancipation for the majority of the world’s population, and viewed literary aesthetics as a political choice between (socialist) realism and (liberal capitalist) modernism. Alexis chose realism, and worked creatively within the constraints of this choice. The chapter provides a systematic account of the socialist aesthetics that he develops throughout his oeuvre—Compère Général Soleil (1955) to Romancéro aux étoiles (1960)—as a series of iterative experiments aiming to produce a socialist realism with Haitian characteristics. Although Alexis broadly embraced socialist realist aesthetics, he understood it as prescribing an approach to writing rather than as dictating narrow formal parameters. The chapter’s close readings examine in detail how Alexis’ experiments in Haitian socialist realism (what he called “marvelous realism”) freely combined elements from Soviet, Maoist, and Western Marxist literary tendencies.
Transgenic Soy in Argentina: Arts of the Toxic Zone
Authors: Figueroa Sebastián
Published: May 2024

This chapter surveys key aesthetic and thematic concerns about transgenic soy in Argentina. It opens with a history of soy and its development into a world-historical resource, before moving on to examine its place in Argentine economic history, where the bean has now displaced cattle as the country’s chief export. Through an analysis of two contemporary noir novels set in and around soy plantations – María Inés Krimer’s Noxa and Samanta Schweblin’s Distancia de rescate [Fever Dream] – the chapter argues that a primary concern of Argentine literary engagements with soy is to reveal the invisibility of the health crisis caused by pesticide spraying in the country’s rural areas, especially on women.
Tommy Caldwell’s The Push
Authors: Hall Martin
Published: May 2024

This chapter aims specifical to interrogate perceptions of risk as they adapt and adjust in relation to experience and, in particular, mediation. In exploring the phenomenological success of a film like Free Solo, it is arguably the edgework in this ‘death-defying’ film which has brought it the previously unseen success and indeed the ‘cultural significance’ that has distinguished it from other climbing films. Peter Donnelly has even defined one of the fundamental characteristics of climbing as ‘the maintenance of a tension balance between difficulty and risk’ (2003: 294) but does acknowledge that all the major controversies in climbing have been ‘concerned with maintaining this tension balance’ (296). Stephen Lyng has defined much of the key work in this area such as when he suggested that ‘the voluntary pursuit of activities that involve a high potential for death, serious physical injury, or psychic harm – activities that I have termed as edgework – has acquired special cultural significance in the contemporary western world’ (Lyng, 2008: 107).
Transforming the Dirtbag Label in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge
Authors: Maples James , Bradley Michael
Published: May 2024

In this chapter, the authors examine climbers’ place in rural economies and local resident perceptions of climber identities in those economies.
Steve Roper’s history of Camp 4 and other mountaineering texts explore how lifestyle climbers (often called ‘dirtbags’) scrimp on costs to extend their climbing opportunities. This lifestyle remains in the climbing community’s ethos even as the label becomes dated. Recent studies by Maples and Bradley in several states indicate that climbers today are a valued source of economic impact in rural communities. In parts of Central Appalachia, climbers are now recognized as a sustainable form of economic growth which supports transitioning away from resource extraction.
This study summarizes the extant literature on the economic impact of climbing with a focus on rural areas alongside archival data and interviews with persons in rural climbing areas. The authors explore how perceptions of lifestyle climbers has shaped climbers’ economic expenditures and role in local economies. The authors prevent evidence from their work in Kentucky how changing local perceptions can also increase economic impacts. The chapter concludes with strategies for climbing communities to work with local residents in increasing access to existing and future climbing areas.
Julie Tullis
Authors: Hall Jenny
Published: May 2024

Julie Tullis was a formidable mountaineer and the world’s first female high-altitude mountaineering filmmaker, forming the “highest film team in the world” (Tullis, 1987, p. 6), with accomplished mountaineer and filmmaker Kurt Diemberger. Together they produced a roster of awarding winning films that covered the first French and Austrian expeditions to the Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat (8126m) in 1982 and 1985. Tullis and Diemberger also filmed the 1983 Italian ascent of K2 (8611m) in the Himalayas and made their first summit attempt of the mountain. Despite failing, it sealed Tullis’s love of K2 as her “mountain of mountains” (Tullis, 1987, p. 199).
Julie Tullis’s autobiography offers a different understanding of the world of high-altitude mountaineering by exploring her experiences of successfully navigating this gendered environment. The emotional labour of managing power-laden politics has offered appreciation of the tactics that women mountaineers in this period adopted to survive the social battleground of high-altitude adventure spaces. Julie’s approach to managing this through her modest, emotional, empathetic and spiritual writings offers new insight into the mountain memoir as a genre of emotional and sensory storytelling beyond the cultural ideology of heroic mountaineering.
The Representation of Play in Joe Simpson’s Touching the Void and Paratexts
Authors: Holman Anna
Published: May 2024

Drawing on an embodied phenomenological approach, this chapter analyzes how Simpson’s Touching the Void memoire and its paratexts create mountains of the mind through the different mediums of literature, film, and drama. In so doing, the chapter argues, the phenomenological mountain, the actual mountain and the mountain that holds space for future mountain narratives, is performed on the mountaineer’s body itself. In Simpson’s memoire, he and his partner Simon Yates experience the mountain through Simpson’s bodily sensations, most prominently when Simpson falls and breaks his leg. Their descent down the mountain becomes written on Simpson’s body through each excruciating jolt to his broken leg, and through Yates’ increasingly frostbitten hands as he tries to lower Simpson off the mountain. Macdonald’s film and Greig’s drama play with the spatial and temporal properties of the mountain as experienced through Simpson, Yates, and the other characters’ bodies. How the mountain performs itself onto the body reveals not only how different mediums create and perpetuate ways of imagining mountains, but also how readers and audience members can experience the mountain itself.
Politics: Local and Irish
Authors: Busteed Mervyn
Published: May 2024

Examines how the Conservative party established a century of political hegemony in Liverpool by crafting a cross-class appeal fusing Protestantism, patriotism and municipal welfarism with a political leadership style of inclusive patrician folksiness. Details how the Order worked with the party at election times, expecting in return robust measures against all forms of Catholicism in return, and how angry disappointment led to formation of the breakaway Protestant Reformer’s Church and Protestant Party in 1903. Explains how historic ties with Ireland mobilised fervent opposition to Irish home rule and an enduring interest in Northern Ireland after 1920, demonstrated in social links and hosting of refugees in 1971
Beyond Alterity: Contemporary Indian Fiction and the Neoliberal Script
Authors: Jaising Shakti
Published: May 2024

Beyond Alterity contests a core tendency in postcolonial studies as well as emerging critiques of neoliberalism—to assume that nations of the Global South are categorically distinct from their counterparts in the North and that they provide an alternative, or even an antidote, to the competitive and individualistic cultures of the advanced capitalist world. Through a textured analysis of cultural production from contemporary India, Shakti Jaising argues that neoliberal capitalism has produced significant continuities in class dynamics and subjective experience across the North-South divide—continuities that are at least as worthy of our consideration as differences arising from colonialism and its aftereffects. The book engages with a variety of cultural texts, while focusing on widely circulating Indian English-language novels and their film adaptations that demonstrate the growing currency of a neoliberal “script,” or much-repeated ideational sequence extoling values like privatization and deregulation as conduits to both personal growth and national development, including freedom from poverty. With their potent enactments of individual and national maturation, contemporary Indian novels and films offer striking illustrations of the imaginative means by which the neoliberal script proliferates, even as economic precarity and inequality worsen in India, much like elsewhere in the world. Whereas the Indian English novel is often treated as an exemplar of resistance from the formerly colonized world, Beyond Alterity shows how this genre’s contemporary examples instead encapsulate the challenges of disentangling literature from the all-pervasive logics and narratives of neoliberalism.
Undercity Fiction and the Crisis of Urbanization
Authors: Jaising Shakti
Published: May 2024

Chapter 4 explores the role of popular fiction from Southern nations like India in reaffirming the neoliberal script for a global audience. It closely examines Indian writer Vikas Swarup’s 2005 novel, Q&A together with its Oscar-winning adaptation, Slumdog Millionaire (Dir. Danny Boyle, 2009), and alongside Brazilian writer Paulo Lins’s 1997 novel Cidade de Deus as well as its acclaimed 2002 film version (Dir. Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund). The chapter thereby outlines features of “undercity” fiction, whose narratives of escape from horrifying urban poverty have elicited significant public controversy as well as commercial success in the neoliberal period. The widely celebrated filmic adaptations bring into particular relief the contradictions of this genre—that while contesting the erasure of the urban poor also risks reinforcing the notion that there is no alternative to the neoliberalization of cities like Mumbai and Rio de Janeiro.
Introduction
Authors: Gould Thomas , Tan Ian
Published: May 2024

The introduction discusses how studies of Wallace Stevens have, from the beginning, intersected with developments in the field of literary theory, starting with the overlaps between the ‘theory explosion’ of the 1960s and canonical critical readings of Stevens. Through a reading of Stevens’s own poem ‘Theory’, from his first collection Harmonium, the introduction considers how theoretical readings of Stevens offer limitless ways of lending his poems new identities in new contexts as the very definition of theory.
Stevens, Adorno and the Worldly Poetics of Lyric Unworlding
Authors: Tavlin Zachary
Published: May 2024

This chapter considers how the Frankfurt School philosopher’s Theodor Adorno’s writings on lyric poetry and society might be brought to bear upon Wallace Stevens’s poetry and its flirtations with political commentary, especially in the wartime political poem ‘Owl’s Clover’. The chapter stages an encounter between Marxian aesthetic criticism and the political dimensions of Stevens’ poetry, specifically through thinking generic questions around lyricism and lyric history. Through novel engagements with lyric theory and lyric history, the chapter argues that poems are political to the extent that they alter the terms of representation that we test reality with.
Wider Than the Sky
Authors: Mudgett Kathryn
Published: May 2024

This chapter brings together a variety of philosophical and neuroscientific perspectives to consider how Stevens’ poems and essays present what he calls reality – or the ‘cosmos’ – as radically dynamic and changeable and always in a state of flux. The chapter shifts from the early 20th century philosophy of Henri Bergson, to modernist aesthetics, and most significantly to the philosophy of mind of the biologist Gerald Edelman, in order to situate the thought of Stevens within a shifting historical context. Through this engagement with science, and close readings of a range of poems that take in Stevens’ whole career, the chapter argues for shared forms of power among scientific knowledge and poetic knowledge.
Aquaporins: Multifunctional Players in Plant Growth, Development and Stress Responses
Authors: Hewawitharanage Hasini , Sarvananda Letchuman
Published: May 2024

Aquaporins are small membrane proteins belonging to the group of Major Intrinsic proteins (MIPs) that facilitate the transport of water and small molecules across biological membranes. They were initially identified as water channels and later it has become clear that they also play important roles in several other physiological processes in plants. Plants have different types of aquaporins in terms of their location, gating properties, and solute specificity and can mainly divide into four major subfamilies. They are tonoplast intrinsic proteins (TIPs), nodulin26-like intrinsic proteins (NIPs), plasma membrane intrinsic proteins (PIPs), and the small basic intrinsic proteins (SIPs). All these aquaporins play a variety of physiological activities at all stages of plant growth and development. Also, they are believed to play a significant part in the plant’s defense mechanisms against biotic and abiotic stresses. This review comprehensively addresses the roles of diverse aquaporin homologs in growth and development and their response to different environmental factors.
The Coherence between Innovative Teaching Methods and Formative Assessment in Higher Education
Authors: Vass Vilmos
Published: May 2024

Under the umbrella of VUCA-world and growing international competition, the human factors are playing more important role in higher education [9], [18]. Innovative teaching methods and formative assessment are significant transformational part of this process [24]. No doubt, teaching and learning methodology and assessment has strong coherency [19]. This presentation focuses on the relationship between innovative teaching methods and formative assessment. In the first part of the presentation, the philosophical phenomena of this process comes from John Dewey ‘learning by doing’ principle [8]. Thus, innovative teaching methods have strong impact of different types of interactions and broader meaning of learning, especially problem-, project- and inquiry-based learning [15]. Formative assessment focuses on following students’ progression and continuous feedback changing feedback culture in the teaching and learning process [29], [30]. Obviously, there are strong coherence between innovative teaching methods and formative assessment. In the second part of the presentation, the case study from Budapest Metropolitan University gives evidences to this required relationship giving best practices on innovation and formative assessment. Finally, at the end of the presentation, opened conclusion has dilemmas and questions.
What Drives Student Engagement?
Authors: Toma Roxana , Berge Matthew
Published: May 2024

Cultivating a sense of community can be difficult in online education. We build on the work of Redmond et al. [9] and their proposal of an Online Engagement Framework for Higher Education to investigate online course designs and pedagogies that are likely to foster increased perceptions of social capital, confidence, and resilience in the learning process among students. Our research builds on the student-engagement themes proposed by Redmond et al.: cognitive, behavioral, collaborative, and emotional engagement; these forms of engagement can be facilitated by online course design and pedagogy. These types of engagement, in turn, help foster students’ social engagement, which, as a manifestation of social capital, is linked to better learning outcomes, increased confidence, and resilience in the online learning process. Following a comprehensive literature review that draws on concepts from the community of inquiry and community of practice frameworks, we propose a new model—a Community Engagement Framework for Online Education. With this model, we aim to identify the elements of online course design and pedagogy that correlate with increased student social engagement and, therefore, increased students’ social capital. Our model is more theoretically complex and analytically sound than previous proposals, rendering applicability through testing with real-world data. Future studies can use this model to survey online students and cross-validate it using path analysis and structural equation modeling. Future research can also survey online instructors to identify practical uses of our proposed engagement constructs.
A Comprehensive Analysis of Nvidia's Technological Innovations, Market Strategies, and Future Prospects
Authors: Wang John , Hsu Jeffrey , Qin Zhaoqiong
Published: May 2024

The article provides an in-depth analysis of Nvidia's technological evolution and its profound impact on Machine Learning, Big Data, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on a global scale. Nvidia has emerged as a trailblazer, reshaping computational capabilities, and establishing itself as a prominent player in a fiercely competitive landscape. The examination meticulously scrutinizes the role of Nvidia's graphics processing unit (GPU) technologies in spearheading a transformative computing revolution, emphasizing the collaborative prowess inherent in Nvidia's developer ecosystem. The analysis extends to the dynamics of GPU innovation, its disruptive influence on the market, and the robust innovation engine ingrained within Nvidia's culture of calculated risk-taking. Internal and external factors contributing to Nvidia's remarkable success, and its consequential industry dominance are thoroughly investigated. Special attention is directed towards Nvidia's strategic development, technological advancements, influence on the industry, global footprint, and anticipated future implications.
Big Data Analytics and Culture
Authors: Lawson-Body Assion , Illia Abdou , Lawson-Body Laurence , Rouibah Kamel , Akalin Gurkan , Tamandja Eric Matofam
Published: May 2024

The existing big data analytics measures were developed without considering the cultural dimensions of developing countries. This research aims to develop and validate measures for big data Vs and cultural big data analytics and study their impacts on the developing countries' big data value proposition. Following MacKenzie's and Shiau and Huang's scale development procedures, data was collected twice from individuals in a developing country to refine the scale and reexamine its properties. PLS methods were used to study the impacts of big data Vs and cultural big data analytics on the value proposition. The findings revealed that big data analytics snobbism and conformism positively impact big data value proposition. Similarly, big data volume, velocity, and variety positively impact the value proposition. Paradoxically, big data veracity and variability do not significantly affect the value proposition. Surprisingly, big data analytics fatalism negatively impacts the value proposition. Theoretical and practical contributions were offered.
PALEOPARASITOLOGICAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE STUDY ON ANCIENT INFECTIONS OF HOMINIDS AND OTHER VERTEBRATES IN BRAZIL: A REVIEW
Authors: Carmo Gustavo Macêdo do , Lima Sueli de Souza , Araújo-Júnior Hermínio Ismael de , Pereira Felipe Bisaggio
Published: May 2024

Paleoparasitology is an interdisciplinary science that studies the parasitic infections in the past, using fossils and subfossils recovered from archeological and paleontological lithostratigraphic units. During the 20th and 21st centuries, it has improved the biological knowledge on helminths and protozoans, as well as provided numerous sociocultural insights into the past civilizations. Here, we present an updated review of the paleoparasitological contributions to the analyses of ancient infections in vertebrate remains recovered from different regions of Brazil. Since its emergence, the Paleoparasitology has been important to a multidisciplinary knowledge related to sociocultural aspects of the American Pre-Columbian civilizations and may provide an important ecological, evolutionary, and biogeographical understanding of parasites of vertebrates other than humans throughout the geological time. The present data compilation suggests a prominent role in the scientific community assumed by paleoparasitological approaches, since they have been contributing to a better understanding of helminth and protozoan distribution in South America, during the Phanerozoic eon and consolidating the Paleoparasitology as a global science. Keywords: Coprolite, mummy, helminth, protozoa.
The impact of family doctor contract services on the utilization of and satisfaction with primary health care among Chinese residents: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Wang Shuo , Cheng Feng , Xu Junfang
Published: May 2024

ABSTRACT

Introduction:

Family doctor contract service (FDCS) is a vital part of China’s primary health care system. This study aims to explore whether contracting with FDCS affects residents’ utilization of and satisfaction with primary health care.

Methods:

A structured questionnaire was employed to collect data in January 2022. The questionnaire mainly included the following three parts: the social-demographic characteristics, health-related information, and utilization of and satisfaction with primary health care. Propensity score matching (PSM) was used to adjust for social-demographic differences between participants who contracted with a family doctor and those who did not. For the matched population, we used the Chi-square test to examine the differences in the utilization of and satisfaction with primary health care between contracted and non-contracted participants. Moreover, multiple logistic regression and linear regression were used to explore the influencing factors of the utilization of and satisfaction with primary health care.

Results:

A total of 10,850 people were investigated and 10,419 participants were incorporated into the data analysis. After matching, there were no significant differences in most of the matching variables between the contracted and non-contracted groups (P > 0.05). The utilization rate was significantly higher among the contracted population than of the non-contracted (96.3% vs 92.6%, P < 0.001). The quality of services (e.g., good service attitude, high medical level, and a trusted family doctor) was more likely to be cited as the main reasons for the contracted people to utilize primary health care than for the non-contracted. The contracted people were also significantly more satisfied than the non-contracted in all terms of satisfaction. Moreover, people who contracted with a family doctor were more likely to use primary health care with OR = 1.979 (95% CI, 1.511–2.593).

Conclusion:

The contracted people were more likely to utilize and be satisfied with primary health care than the non-contracted. In addition, the contracted people tended to use primary health care because of the quality of services rather than because of the close distance or short waiting time. Therefore, it is important to further promote the high quality of FDCS to ensure residents’ sense of gain and improve their satisfaction.
The Effects of Creatine Monohydrate and Conjugated Linoleic Acid on Growth Performance and Fiber Type, Fiber-related Genes and Metabolic Enzymes in the Tilapia Muscle
Authors: Ruan Zhide , Ge Wei , He Zhichan , Pan Chuanyan , Luo Xu , Lv Min , Bi Xianda , Ma Huawei
Published: May 2024

We analyzed the effects of creatine monohydrate (CMH) and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) on muscle fiber type, related genes, metabolic enzymes, and growth performance in tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus). The addition of CMH and CLA in the basal feed significantly reduced the daily intake of tilapia, indicating that CMH and CLA had positive effects on improving the tilapia feed conversion rate. CMH up-regulated the relative mRNA expressions of MyHC I, IIa/IIb in the tilapia muscle. The activities of oxidases (SDH, MDH), AMPK, and the mRNA expression levels of PGC-1α, MEF2C, and GLUT4 were increased but those of MyHC IIx and LDH activity were decreased. CLA increased the proportion of oxidative muscle fibers in tilapia muscle while enhancing the activities of MDH, SDH, and AMPK and increasing mRNA expressions of PGC-1α and GLUT4. However, it decreased the proportion of glycolytic muscle fiber types and LDH activity. CMH and CLA could activate the AMPK activity in the muscle, further up-regulating the gene expression in the AMPK pathway, enhancing oxidative metabolic ability, and transforming the muscle fiber type. The study provides a strategy for improving the quality of future tilapia culture by regulating muscle fiber type transformation through CMH and CLA supplementation.
Effects of Microplastics on the Activity of Digestive-, Antioxidative- and Immune-related Enzymes in Soiny Mullet (Liza haematocheila Temminck & Schlegel, 1845) Larvae
Authors: Zhang Yingying , Zhang Shengyuan , Sun Ke , Zhang Qihuan , Wangkahart Eakapol , Wang Zisheng , Sui Yanming , Qi Zhitao
Published: May 2024

Microplastics (MPs), novel pollutants in the water environment, can cause damage to fish, especially to fish larvae. However, the effects of MPs on fish in estuarine areas with high levels of MPs pollution are unknown. In this study, a 14-day exposure test was conducted to analyze the effects of MPs on soiny mullet larvae by measuring the activities of digestive enzymes, antioxidant enzymes, and immune enzymes in soiny mullet larvae after exposure to MPs of different particle sizes (0.5 μm, 0.1mg/L; 6 μm, 0.1mg/L).Results showed that MPs exposure significantly decreased the activities of pepsin (PPS), alpha-amylase (α-AMS), catalase (CAT), and superoxide dismutase (SOD), and significantly increased the activities of acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP), among which the PPS, CAT, SOD, ACP, and ALP were more sensitive to exposure to small particle size MPs (0.5 μm).Overall, exposure to MPs reduced digestion, destroyed the antioxidant system, and triggered an immune response in soiny mullet larvae, especially the small particles of MPs (0.5 μm). The results provide basis for understanding the detriment of microplastic in fish.
Are Middle-Aged and Older Adult Users of Physical Activity Monitoring Systems More Physically Active and at a Lower Risk of Locomotive Syndrome? A Cross-Sectional Web-Based Online Survey
Authors: Makizako Hyuma , Akaida Shoma , Shiratsuchi Daijo , Tateishi Mana
Published: May 2024

Background: Physical inactivity is a risk factor for locomotive syndromes and functional limitations in middle-aged and older adults. Therefore, strategies to promote physical activity should be considered. This study investigated whether users of physical activity monitors were more physically active and exhibited a lower risk of locomotive syndrome, compared with non-users. Methods: We analyzed data from 742 Japanese adults aged 60–79 years. The participants were surveyed for their use of physical activity monitors in their daily lives. We also assessed the prevalence of locomotive syndrome. Results: We observed significantly higher physical activity levels in users compared with non-users. Moreover, the use of a physical activity monitor was significantly associated with decreased odds of locomotive syndrome (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]=0.48). Significantly lower risk of locomotive syndrome were observed in individuals who had used a monitor for >2 years (aOR=0.42) or had set a personal step goal (aOR=0.32). Conclusion: Physical activity monitoring may increase engagement in physical activity-associated behavior. Therefore, monitoring could serve as a useful tool to promote physical health in middle-aged and older adults.
Hem-o-lok clip migration to duodenal bulb post-cholecystectomy: A case report
Authors: Liu Hong-Yan , Yin Ai-Hong , Wei Zhi
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Hem-o-lok clips are typically used to control the cystic duct and vessels during laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) and common bile duct exploration for stones in the bile duct and gallbladder. Here, we report a unique example of Hem-o-lok clip movement towards the duodenal bulb after LC, appearing as a submucosal tumor (SMT). Additionally, we provide initial evidence of gradual and evolving endoscopic manifestations of Hem-o-lok clip migration to the duodenal bulb wall and review the available literature.

CASE SUMMARY

A 72-year-old man underwent LC for gallstones, and Hem-o-lok clips were used to ligate both the cystic duct and cystic artery. Esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) 2 years later revealed an SMT-like lesion in the duodenal bulb. Due to the symptomatology, the clinical examination did not reveal any major abnormalities, and the patient was followed up as an outpatient. A repeat EGD performed 5 months later revealed an SMT-like lesion in the duodenal bulb with raised edges and a central depression. A third EGD was conducted, during which a Hem-o-lok clip was discovered connected to the front side of the duodenum. The clip was extracted easily using biopsy forceps, and no complications occurred. Two months after the fourth EGD, the scar was surrounded by normal mucosa.

CONCLUSION

Clinicians should be aware of potential post-LC complications. Hem-o-lok clips should be removed if symptomatic.
Deer antler stem cell niche: An interesting perspective
Authors: Cavallini Claudia , Olivi Elena , Tassinari Riccardo , Zannini Chiara , Ragazzini Gregorio , Marcuzzi Martina , Taglioli Valentina , Ventura Carlo
Published: May 2024

In recent years, there has been considerable exploration into methods aimed at enhancing the regenerative capacity of transplanted and/or tissue-resident cells. Biomaterials, in particular, have garnered significant interest for their potential to serve as natural scaffolds for cells. In this editorial, we provide commentary on the study by Wang et al , in a recently published issue of World J Stem Cells , which investigates the use of a decellularized xenogeneic extracellular matrix (ECM) derived from antler stem cells for repairing osteochondral defects in rat knee joints. Our focus lies specifically on the crucial role of biological scaffolds as a strategy for augmenting stem cell potential and regenerative capabilities, thanks to the establishment of a favorable microenvironment (niche). Stem cell differentiation heavily depends on exposure to intrinsic properties of the ECM, including its chemical and protein composition, as well as the mechanical forces it can generate. Collectively, these physicochemical cues contribute to a bio-instructive signaling environment that offers tissue-specific guidance for achieving effective repair and regeneration. The interest in mechanobiology, often conceptualized as a form of “structural memory”, is steadily gaining more validation and momentum, especially in light of findings such as these.
Effects of interleukin-10 treated macrophages on bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells via signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 pathway
Authors: Lyu Meng-Hao , Bian Ce , Dou Yi-Ping , Gao Kang , Xu Jun-Ji , Ma Pan
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Alveolar bone defects caused by inflammation are an urgent issue in oral implant surgery that must be solved. Regulating the various phenotypes of macrophages to enhance the inflammatory environment can significantly affect the progression of diseases and tissue engineering repair process.

AIM

To assess the influence of interleukin-10 (IL-10) on the osteogenic differentiation of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) following their interaction with macrophages in an inflammatory environment.

METHODS

IL-10 modulates the differentiation of peritoneal macrophages in Wistar rats in an inflammatory environment. In this study, we investigated its impact on the proliferation, migration, and osteogenesis of BMSCs. The expression levels of signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) and its activated form, phosphorylated-STAT3, were examined in IL-10-stimulated macrophages. Subsequently, a specific STAT3 signaling inhibitor was used to impede STAT3 signal activation to further investigate the role of STAT3 signaling.

RESULTS

IL-10-stimulated macrophages underwent polarization to the M2 type through substitution, and these M2 macrophages actively facilitated the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. Mechanistically, STAT3 signaling plays a crucial role in the process by which IL-10 influences macrophages. Specifically, IL-10 stimulated the activation of the STAT3 signaling pathway and reduced the macrophage inflammatory response, as evidenced by its diminished impact on the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs.

CONCLUSION

Stimulating macrophages with IL-10 proved effective in improving the inflammatory environment and promoting the osteogenic differentiation of BMSCs. The IL-10/STAT3 signaling pathway has emerged as a key regulator in the macrophage-mediated control of BMSCs’ osteogenic differentiation.
Efficacy and tolerability of chitin-glucan combined with simethicone (GASTRAP® DIRECT) in irritable bowel syndrome: A prospective, open-label, multicenter study
Authors: Talbodec Nathalie , Le Roy Pauline , Fournier Peggy , Lesage Benoit , Lepoutre Elodie , Castex François , Godchaux Jean Michel , Vandeville Lionel , Bismuth Benjamin , Lesage Xavier , Bayart Pauline , Genin Michael , Rousseaux Christel , Maquet Veronique , Modica Salvatore , Desreumaux Pierre , Valibouze Caroline
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), defined according to the Rome IV diagnostic criteria, is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by recurrent abdominal pain related to altered bowel habits. First-line recommended treatments are limited to combining drugs targeting predominant symptoms, particularly pain (antispasmodics), constipation (laxatives), and diarrhea (loperamide), yielding only a limited therapeutic gain. GASTRAP® DIRECT is a class IIa medical formulation composed of a combination of chitin-glucan and simethicone indicated for the symptomatic treatment of gas-related gastrointestinal disorders by combining different mechanisms of action.

AIM

To evaluate the efficacy, tolerability, and safety of 4-week GASTRAP® DIRECT treatment in patients with IBS.

METHODS

In this prospective, multicenter, open-label trial, 120 patients with IBS received three sticks of GASTRAP® DIRECT (1.5 g/d of chitin-glucan and 0.75 mg/d of simethicone) per day for 4 weeks. The primary endpoint was the responder rate, defined as the number of patients whose abdominal pain score decreased by ≥ 30% from baseline to week (W) 4. The analysis was performed using the per-protocol set. Cardinal symptoms, impact of global symptoms on daily life, change in stool consistency, and improvement in defecatory disorders were evaluated.

RESULTS

Overall, 100 patients were evaluated. At W4, 67% (95%CI: 57-75) showed improvement in abdominal pain (score: 5.8 ± 2.4 vs 2.9 ± 2.0, P < 0.0001). Similar improvements were observed for bloating [8.0 ± 1.7 vs 4.7 ± 2.9, P < 0.0001; 60% (95%CI: 50-70) responders], abdominal distension [7.2 ± 2.1 vs 4.4 ± 3.1, P < 0.0001; 53% (95%CI: 43-63) responders], and impact of global symptoms on daily life [7.1 ± 2.0 vs 4.6 ± 2.9, P < 0.0001; 54% (95%CI: 44-64) responders]. Stool consistency improved in most patients (90% and 57% for patients with liquid and hard stools, respectively). Overall, 42% of patients with defecatory disorders reported very much/considerable improvements by W2. No severe adverse event occurred, and tolerability was rated “good” or “very good” by 93% of patients.

CONCLUSION

GASTRAP® DIRECT is safe and well tolerated, alleviating IBS symptoms rapidly in 2 weeks. This open-label study suggests that the combination of chitin-glucan and simethicone could be beneficial in patients with IBS.
Corporate accountability for climate change and natural environment in Nigeria: Trends, limitations and future directions
Authors: Olawuyi Mary Toluwalase
Published: May 2024

One of the contemporary problems in the business and human rights debate is the obligations of business enterprises to reduce and redress the adverse effects of their operations on the environment. In Nigeria, despite the existence of various regulations and monitoring institutions, environmental pollution caused by the activities of business enterprises persists. The impact of climate change and environmental damage on sustainable development in Nigeria can no longer be ignored as our common future is becoming critically dependent on making the condition of the environment and human lives our top priorities. There is need for a stringent legal framework on business and human rights in Nigeria, accelerated implementation of the National Action plan on business and human right, a committed implementation of existing regulations on environmental protection, strict enforcement of laws and proper awareness that will ensure responsible business practices by business enterprises in all key sectors in Nigeria. This study examines the concept of corporate accountability in Nigeria. It identifies the inadequacies of existing national laws on corporate accountability for environmental protection, and proffer solutions to these gaps.
Factors affecting the performance of the Village Land Councils in managing land use conflicts between farmers and pastoralists
Authors: Homera Juma Zuberi , Kunkuta Gustav , Mollel Henry
Published: May 2024

The current study evaluated the variables influencing Village Land Councils' (VLC) ability to resolve land disputes before they are twisting out of their control. Pastoralists would often transhumance, taking their herds far from their villages in search of pastures and water, and sometimes they would let their animals to graze on agricultural fields. The Tanzanian government was prompted to divide village holdings into sections designated for farmers and livestock keepers to resolve the tensions between farmers and pastoralists to prevent ongoing conflicts. Key informant interviews and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data. NVivo software 14 was used to  evaluate the qualitative data. The results indicate that the low literacy rates of their members, the absence of VLC capacity building, the  absence of a chain of command in the conflict mediation and resolution process, biased choices, and corruption all contributed to the  village land councils' limited ability to mitigate land conflicts. As a result, in defiance of the Village Land Act of 1999's instructions,  communities arraign land disputes in public courts. It is found that village land councils, which were intended to hold reconciliation  sessions and serve as village tribunals for reconciliation at the village level, have not succeeded in achieving the goals set forth,  notwithstanding the limitations of the Village Land Act. The report suggests that the Village Land Act be reviewed, that VLC members'  capability be increased, that secondary education be made a requirement for council participation, and that corruption be eliminated.
No smoke without fire: Recreational cannabis use among South Sudanese youth
Authors: Adwok Nyakomi
Published: May 2024

No abstract.
Incidence and Severity of Bacterial Wilt Disease on Three Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Varieties in Central Uganda.
Authors: Mugisa Immaculate , Molly Allen , Aool Winfred , Muyinda Monica , Gafabusa Robinah , Atim Jackie , Kabanyoro Ruth , Sseruwu Godfrey , Akello Beatrice
Published: May 2024

This study was aimed at evaluating three eggplant varieties for response to bacterial wilt disease, to guide recommendations to farmers in central Uganda. Experiments were conducted at four sites under field conditions in 2016 and 2017 in central Uganda during three planting seasons. Two commercial eggplant varieties, namely, “Black beauty” and “Long purple”, were tested alongside one newly introduced variety, the “Thai long green”. Data was collected on disease incidence, severity and fruit yield. Analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences in disease incidence, severity, and fruit yield across seasons, varieties and sites. The “Thai long green” variety proved to be a superior in terms of bacterial wilt resistance, showing the lowest levels of mean disease severity (1.5) and incidence (14%). The long purple variety was the most susceptible. “Thai long green” also attained highest average yields (14.86 t/ha), fruit weight per plant (1.2 kg) and fruit number per plant (9), across all locations for the three seasons. Therefore, we recommend promotion of the “Thai long green” variety in the region.
Extravasated contrast volumetric assessment on computed tomography angiography in gastrointestinal bleeding: A useful predictor of positive angiographic findings
Authors: Cacioppa Laura Maria , Floridi Chiara , Bruno Alessandra , Rossini Nicolò , Valeri Tommaso , Borgheresi Alessandra , Inchingolo Riccardo , Cortese Francesco , Novelli Giacomo , Felicioli Alessandro , Torresi Mario , Boscarato Pietro , Ottaviani Letizia , Giovagnoni Andrea
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Gastrointestinal bleeding (GIB) is a severe and potentially life-threatening condition, especially in cases of delayed treatment. Computed tomography angiography (CTA) plays a pivotal role in the early identification of upper and lower GIB and in the prompt treatment of the haemorrhage.

AIM

To determine whether a volumetric estimation of the extravasated contrast at CTA in GIB may be a predictor of subsequent positive angiographic findings.

METHODS

In this retrospective single-centre study, 35 patients (22 men; median age 69 years; range 16-92 years) admitted to our institution for active GIB detected at CTA and further submitted to catheter angiography between January 2018 and February 2022 were enrolled. Twenty-three (65.7%) patients underwent endoscopy before CTA. Bleeding volumetry was evaluated in both arterial and venous phases via a semi-automated dedicated software. Bleeding rate was obtained from volume change between the two phases and standardised for unit time. Patients were divided into two groups, according to the angiographic signs and their concordance with CTA.

RESULTS

Upper bleeding accounted for 42.9% and lower GIB for 57.1%. Mean haemoglobin value at the admission was 7.7 g/dL. A concordance between positive CTA and direct angiographic bleeding signs was found in 19 (54.3%) cases. Despite no significant differences in terms of bleeding volume in the arterial phase (0.55 mL vs 0.33 mL, P = 0.35), a statistically significant volume increase in the venous phase was identified in the group of patients with positive angiography (2.06 mL vs 0.9 mL, P = 0.02). In the latter patient group, a significant increase in bleeding rate was also detected (2.18 mL/min vs 0.19 mL/min, P = 0.02).

CONCLUSION

In GIB of any origin, extravasated contrast volumetric analysis at CTA could be a predictor of positive angiography and may help in avoiding further unnecessary procedures.
IE *-kʷe ‘and; if’ in Slavic languages
Authors: Ostrowski Norbert
Published: May 2024

The article examines the origin and functional development of the Slavic conjunction ače ‘if; although’ (OPol. acz). The marker of the protasis in conditional clauses was the enclitic *-če, which continues the function of IE *-kʷe ‘and; if’. Thus, Sl. *-če ‘if’ is an archaism and may be compared with corresponding forms in Indo- ranian, Hittite, and Latin. The concessive ače ‘although’ evolved from conditional concessive clauses. The proposed interpretation also sheds light on the genesis of OCz. leč ‘if only’.