bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Biological activities of extracts and compounds from Thai Kae-Lae (Maclura cochinchinensis (Lour.) Corner)
Authors: Rueankham Lapamas , Panyajai Pawaret , Saiai Aroonchai , Rungrojsakul Methee , Tima Singkome , Chiampanichayakul Sawitree , Yeerong Kankanit , Somwongin Suvimol , Chaiyana Wantida , Dejkriengkraikul Pornngarm , Okonogi Siriporn , Katekunlaphan Trinnakorn , Anuchapreeda Songyot
Published: June 2023

Background and aims

The purpose of this study was to investigate the biological properties of Kae-Lae (Maclura cochinchinensis(Lour.) Corner), a traditional medicinal plant used in Ayurvedic recipes in Thailand. To achieve this objective, heartwood samples were collected from 12 sources across Thailand. Fractional extracts (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol) and the dominant compounds (morin, resveratrol, and quercetin) were examined for their abilities on cytotoxicity, antioxidant, anti-inflammation, and antileukaemic activity (Wilms’ tumour 1 protein was used as a well-known biomarker for leukaemic cell proliferation).

Methods

The study used MTT to assess cytotoxicity in leukaemic cells (K562, EoL-1, and KG-1a). Antioxidant activities were evaluated using ABTS, DPPH, and FRAP assays. The anti-inflammatory activity was investigated by detecting IL-2, TNF-α, and NO using appropriate detection kits. Wilms’ tumour 1 protein expression was measured by Western blotting to determine the anti-leukaemic activity. The inhibition of cell migration was also analyzed to confirm anticancer progression.

Results

Among the tested extract fraction, ethyl acetate No. 001 displayed strong cytotoxicity specifically in EoL-1 cells, whilen-hexane No. 008 demonstrated this effect in three cell lines. Resveratrol, on the other hand, displayed cytotoxicity in all the tested cells. Additionally, the three major compounds, morin, resveratrol, and quercetin, exhibited significant antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. In particular, resveratrol demonstrated a noteworthy decreased Wilms’ tumour 1 protein expression and a reduction in cell proliferation across all cells. Moreover, ethyl acetate No. 001, morin, and resveratrol effectively inhibited MCF-7 cell migration. None of these compounds showed any impact on red blood cell haemolysis.

Conclusion

Based on these findings, it can be concluded that Kae-Lae has promising chemotherapeutic potential against leukaemic cells, with fractional extracts (ethyl acetate andn-hexane) and resveratrol exhibiting the most potent cytotoxic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cell migration activities.
Unani Tibb practitioners’ perceptions and attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care in Unani Tibb practice in South Africa
Authors: Hoosen Mujeeb , Roman Nicolette Vanessa , Mthembu Thuli Godfrey , Naseer Mursaleen
Published: June 2023

Background

Unani Tibb is an Arabic term which means Greek medicine. It is an ancient holistic medical system based on the healing theories of Hippocrates, Galen and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Despite this, spirituality and spiritual care practices are deficient in the clinical setting.

Methods

This cross-sectional descriptive study was used to describe Unani Tibb practitioners’ perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care in South Africa. A demographic form, Spiritual Care-Giving Scale, Spiritual and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Spirituality in Unani Tibb Scale were used to collect data.

Results

A response rate of 64.7% (n = 44 out of 68) was achieved. Positive perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care were recorded for Unani Tibb practitioners. The spiritual needs of their patients were considered vital towards enhancing the Unani Tibb treatment approach. Spirituality and spiritual care were regarded as fundamental to Unani Tibb therapy. However, most practitioners agreed that adequate training in spirituality and spiritual care was lacking and future training initiatives were imperative for Unani Tibb clinical practice in South Africa.

Conclusion

The findings of this study recommends further research in this field by means of qualitative and mixed methods approaches to provide a deeper understanding to this phenomenon. Clear guidelines on spirituality and spiritual care for Unani Tibb clinical practice are essential to ensure the integrity of the holistic approach required by the profession.
Validation of the accident and emergency experience questionnaire: a cross-sectional survey
Authors: Wong Eliza Lai-Yi , Cheung Annie Wai-Ling , Qiu Hong , Ma Jonathan Chun-Hei , Yeoh Eng-Kiong
Published: June 2023

Background

Patient feedback is an important way for healthcare providers to understand patient experience and improve the quality of care effectively and facilitate patient-centered care in the healthcare system. This study aimed to suggest a validated instrument by evaluating the psychometric properties of the Accident and Emergency Experience Questionnaire (AEEQ) for measuring patient experience in the accident and emergency department (AED) service among the adult Chinese population.

Methods

Attendances aged 18 or above from all public hospitals with AEDs during 16–30 June 2016 were targeted and a cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted using AEEQ. Preliminary AEEQ consisted of 92 items, including 53 core evaluative items and 19 informative items, and the other 20 items covered socio-demographics, self-perceived health status, and free open-ended comments on AED service. Psychometric properties of the evaluative items were evaluated for practicability, content and structure validity, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability in this study.

Results

A total of 512 patients were recruited with a response rate of 54% and a mean age of 53.2 years old. The exploratory factor analysis suggested removing 7 items due to weak factor loadings and high cross-loading and then leaving 46 items grouped into 5 dimensions, which were care and treatment (14 items), environment and facilities (16 items), information on medication and danger signals (5 items), clinical investigation (3 items), and overall impression (8 items) to represent patient experience on AED service. The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were high with Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and Spearman’s correlation coefficient of the suggested scale of 0.845 and 0.838, respectively.

Conclusion

The AEEQ is a valid and reliable instrument to evaluate the AED service which helps to build the engagement platform for promoting patient-centered care between patients and frontline healthcare professionals and improving healthcare quality in the future.
Severe congenital neutropenia due to G6PC3 deficiency: early and delayed phenotype of a patient
Authors: Moradian Negar , Zoghi Samaneh , Rayzan Elham , Seyedpour Simin , Jimenez Heredia Raul , Boztug Kaan , Rezaei Nima
Published: June 2023

Background

Severe Congenital Neutropenia type 4 (SCN4), is a rare autosomal recessive condition, due to mutations in the G6PC3 gene. The phenotype comprises neutropenia of variable severity and accompanying anomalies.

Case presentation

We report a male patient with confirmed G6PC3 deficiency presented with recurrent bacterial infections and multi-systemic complications. Our case was the first with a novel homozygous frameshift mutation in G6PC3. The patient demonstrated large platelets on his peripheral blood smear which is a rare presentation of this disease.

Conclusion

As SCN4 patients could be easily missed, it is recommended to consider G6PC3 mutation for any case of congenital, unexplained neutropenia.
Emotional neglect and parents’ adverse childhood events
Authors: Ylitervo Laura , Veijola Juha , Halt Anu-Helmi
Published: June 2023

Introduction

Emotional neglect means that the child’s emotional and developmental needs are not fulfilled by the parents or other caregivers. Adverse childhood events (ACEs) are a risk factor for mental health problems and impaired parenting skills. The objective here was to examine whether parents’ ACEs increase the child’s risk of experiencing emotional neglect.

Methods

The participants in the present study were members of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1986 (NFBC1986). Emotional neglect experiences were measured in 190 members of this cohort by means of the Trauma and Distress Scale (TADS), and ACEs in both parents were measured with a specific questionnaire. A linear regression model was used to examine the association between parents’ ACEs and the children’s emotional neglect scores.

Results

The children’s mean emotional neglect score was 8.11 on a scale from 5 to 25. There was no significant difference between males (mean 8.01) and females (mean 8.19). Only father’s ACEs were associated with child’s emotional neglect score. In the linear regression model, the children’s emotional neglect scores increased by 0.3 points for father’s ACE.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that father’s ACEs may increase the child’s risk of experiencing emotional neglect. It seems that childhood adversities are transferred from parents to children, but larger samples would be needed to confirm these findings.
Opportunities and challenges of self-binding directives: A comparison of empirical research with stakeholders in three European countries
Authors: Scholten Matthé , Efkemann Simone A. , Faissner Mirjam , Finke Marleen , Gather Jakov , Gergel Tania , Gieselmann Astrid , van der Ham Lia , Juckel Georg , van Melle Laura , Owen Gareth , Potthoff Sarah , Stephenson Lucy A. , Szmukler George , Vellinga Astrid , Vollmann Jochen , Voskes Yolande , Werning Anna , Widdershoven Guy
Published: June 2023

Background

Self-binding directives (SBDs) are psychiatric advance directives that include a clause in which mental health service users consent in advance to involuntary hospital admission and treatment under specified conditions. Medical ethicists and legal scholars identified various potential benefits of SBDs but have also raised ethical concerns. Until recently, little was known about the views of stakeholders on the opportunities and challenges of SBDs.

Aims

This article aims to foster an international exchange on SBDs by comparing recent empirical findings on stakeholders’ views on the opportunities and challenges of SBDs from Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.

Method

Comparisons between the empirical findings were drawn using a structured expert consensus process.

Results

Findings converged on many points. Perceived opportunities of SBDs include promotion of autonomy, avoidance of personally defined harms, early intervention, reduction of admission duration, improvement of the therapeutic relationship, involvement of persons of trust, avoidance of involuntary hospital admission, addressing trauma, destigmatization of involuntary treatment, increase of professionals’ confidence, and relief for proxy decision-makers. Perceived challenges include lack of awareness and knowledge, lack of support, undue influence, inaccessibility during crisis, lack of cross-agency coordination, problems of interpretation, difficulties in capacity assessment, restricted therapeutic flexibility, scarce resources, disappointment due to noncompliance, and outdated content. Stakeholders tended to focus on practical challenges and did not often raise fundamental ethical concerns.

Conclusions

Stakeholders tend to see the implementation of SBDs as ethically desirable, provided that the associated challenges are addressed.
Trifluridine/tipiracil (FTD/TPI) in extensively pre-treated metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) patients: Evaluation of prognostic subgroups of the TALLISUR study.
Authors: Karthaus Meinolf , Weiss Lena , Riera-Knorrenschild Jorge , Kretzschmar Albrecht , Welslau Manfred , Vehling-Kaiser Ursula , Pelz Henning , Ettrich Thomas Jens , Held Swantje , Kehrmann Linde , Hess Juergen , Reislaender Timo , Heinemann Volker
Published: June 2023

3556

Background: Compared to placebo, FTD/TPI significantly improved overall survival (OS) in patients (pts) with pre-treated mCRC in the pivotal phase III RECOURSE trial. Subgroup analyses indicated that all subgroups benefitted from FTD/TPI. Of note, FTD/TPI prolonged survival even more in pts ≥ 65 years old. To evaluate these observations with data from daily clinical practice, we performed a subgroup analysis of the TALLISUR study. Methods: In this prospective, multi-center, German, open-label, phase IV study, pts with extensively pre-treated mCRC chose between best supportive care (BSC) or oral FTD/TPI (35 mg/m2 bid on days 1 – 5 and 8 – 12 of each 28-day cycle). Duration of treatment and OS were analyzed for various subgroups. Based on a post-hoc analysis of the RECOURSE trial, 3 subgroups were defined according to: best, good and poor prognostic characteristics (BPC, GPC, PPC). Pts with < 3 metastatic sites at inclusion and ≥ 18 months from diagnosis to inclusion were considered to have GPC. GPC pts without liver metastasis at inclusion were considered to have BPC. All remaining pts were considered to have PPC. Results: Of 195 eligible pts, 186 pts chose treatment with FTD/TPI, while 9 pts decided to receive BSC only. Median OS was 6.9 (95% CI 6.1 – 8.3) months. Mean duration of treatment with FTD/TPI was 14.6 (range 0.1 – 102.7) weeks. Results of the subgroup analysis are summarized in the table. Pts ≥ 65 years old presented a longer median OS (7.2 vs 6.2 months). Conclusions: When given the choice between treatment and BSC in late-stage CRC, the vast majority of pts opted for treatment. Low metastatic burden and indolent disease were factors of good prognosis for FTD/TPI therapy regarding OS. Independent of baseline characteristics such as age, sidedness, and time of onset of metastases, virtually all pts benefitted from therapy with FTD/TPI. Albeit not statistically significant, elderly pts tend to have improved survival with FTD/TPI, consistent with results from RECOURSE. Clinical trial registration number: EudraCT No 2017-000292-83 . [Table: see text]
“Mine from ’33; Yours from ’41”
Authors: Glaser Amelia M.
Published: June 2023

At many points in modern history, Ukrainian identity has been bound up with the Ukrainian language, Ukrainian forms of Christianity, and specific collective experiences of trauma as Ukrainians. This sense of national identity was particularly felt in the immediate post-Soviet period; for although Soviet nationalities policy attempted to eradicate dangerous forms of nationalism and ethnic prejudice, these policies often had the reverse effect, creating a heightened sense of competition between individual ethnic groups, which persisted into the post-1991 reconstruction of East European borders. In the wake of the 2013–14 Euromaidan protests, poets in Ukraine have sought to correct the failures of both Soviet nationalities policy and post-Soviet Ukrainian national-identity formation by weaving Jewish, Ukrainian, and Crimean Tatar histories of collective trauma into their writing. This article focuses on the recent work of the poet Marianna Kiyanovska, whose attempt to bridge seemingly irreconcilable histories can be read as part of what scholars have identified as a recent shift from viewing Ukrainian identity as an ethnic category to a civic one. Reading Kiyanovska in the context of other recent Ukrainian poems and songs, the author argues that this “civic turn” in Ukrainian identity formation is both a direct response to conversations taking place about the meaning of the Maidan, and part of a global conversation about privilege, erasure, and culpability.
Milton Friedman and Exchange Rates: History and Controversies
Authors: Edwards Sebastian
Published: June 2023

This article investigates how Milton Friedman's views on exchange rates in emerging nations evolved through time. Early on he supported flexible exchange rates for most less developed countries. He endorsed several forms of flexibility, including auctions and the “crawling peg.” Starting in the early 1970s, he favored a system characterized by fixed rates and no central banks. From that point on he argued that while flexible rates were the preferred option for advanced nations, they were the second-best solution for (most) developing countries. This article helps elucidate Friedman's views on the use of pegged exchange rates during stabilization programs (Chile and Israel) and on exchange rates in socialist countries (China and Yugoslavia).
Cameralism in Practice and Prussian Industrialization Policies
Authors: Zhao Xuan
Published: June 2023

This article argues that Prussian industrialization policies implemented by Peter Beuth and Christian Rother from 1820 to 1848 worked as a kind of cameralism in practice. This argument is supported by two main points: first, Beuth, the primary Prussian industrialization promoter, was a cameralist who, having been trained in cameral sciences at university, tried to apply what he was taught to his industrial policy; second, Beuth's and Rother's industrialization policies accorded with the cameralist way of thinking in creating and promoting new manufacturing industries. Their ideologies were especially similar to that of J. H. G. Justi, the epitome of eighteenth-century cameralism. This article tries to challenge the “disordered police state” interpretation of cameralism and argues that, in contrast to such critical assessments, the economic strategy of cameralism could be interpreted as “the ride of Pegasus.”
Provincializing Trans Studies
Authors: Sharma Shiv Datt
Published: June 2023

In this short essay, the author calls for a provincialization of trans studies by rethinking the framework of the liberal humanist ontological self as the given basis for understanding trans experience. Briefly describing the neglect of non-Western epistemologies and practices in canonical trans studies in the United States, the author argues that turning our attention to these modes of selfhood, identity, and embodiment, such as conceived within hijra cultures in India, would be useful in lending productive directions for future work within the field. The author suggests that this work should be undertaken not with the sole purpose of expanding the geographic contours of the field, but in the spirit of destabilizing and de-essentializing what the signifier trans itself represents.
Crystal Labeija, Femme Queens, and the Future of Black Trans Studies
Authors: Ultra Omni Victor
Published: June 2023

This short essay springs from the question, Why has trans studies sustained a silence around Black elders in general, and Black femme queens in particular? The author reflects on the interventions of current scholars in Black trans studies and their import to the historicization of the house/ball culture or house-structured ballroom scene. Through a Black feminist imperative, this essay calls on trans studies to refuse the necropolitical logics that assume all the progenitors of the ballroom scene have died. In revisiting the rich cultural archive of the house-structured ballroom scene, such as the 1982 film T.V. Transvestite, this article reminds the reader that Black trans studies remains an archeological project.
Program for a Transgender Existentialism
Authors: Haulotte Penelope
Published: June 2023

Trans theory is characterized in part by the apparent tension between discursive analyses of cisgender society and phenomenological descriptions of trans experiences. While traditional inquiry into the history of philosophy proposes an interminable opposition between phenomenology and discourse analysis, Henry Rubin's alternative suggestion is that within the domain of trans studies these methods are complementary. Discourse analysis and phenomenology converge in trans studies because they are submitted to the same ethical and political imperative: the systematic development of the trans archive. Both discourse analysis and phenomenology as methods in trans studies are directed toward the development of a genuinely trans history, perspective, and theory, with special methodological consideration of the way that this perspective is misunderstood or obscured by dominant frameworks within cisgender society. In what follows, the author provides a brief reconstruction of two major interventions in trans phenomenology, demonstrating that each is carefully concerned with distinctly archival considerations. The author further argues that each project remains unfinished because of an incomplete bracketing of medicalized cisgender concepts. The article then proposes a brief alternative program aimed at the full suspension of cisgender categories that the author calls transgender existentialism.
Trans* Poetics in Translation
Authors: Rose Liz
Published: June 2023

In their poem “I, Monster Mine” (“Yo monstruo mío”) Argentine activist and self-proclaimed trans* sudaca artist Susy Shock demands the right to be “whatever my pinche desire fucking feels like.” By centering desire, Shock's poem echoes contemporary feminist theorizing in Argentina and calls into question the construction of normative human subjects via the semantic claim to the word monster, yet evades recourse to global North theories of trans* subjectivity.
Chapter Five: Farewell to the God of Plague
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

In the light of biopolitical production, socialist China's medical practice was marked by a heavy reliance on the creativity of the masses and a rejection of the technical bureaucracy. The anti-epidemic campaign exemplified a popular and grassroots medicine for the people and by the people. In films Withered Trees Meet Spring and Spring Sprouts, the political mobilization of the peasantry, the raising of political consciousness, and mass participation in the prevention of diseases project a vision of healthcare for the people. The biomedical movement targeted an increasingly privileged health program skewed in favor of elites and urbanites and divorced from the wellbeing of ordinary people. The medicine of the “barefoot doctor” entails the ecological understanding of the human body in sync with nature and is rooted in affective labor in healing the rifts between humans and nature.
Chapter Six: Dignity and Misery of Labor
Authors: Wang Ban
Published: June 2023

In the post-socialist and market reform era, the power of the market and the developmental imperatives are creating metabolic rifts between humans and nature, between producers and the land. The film The Piano in a Factory tells a story of the working class trying to rekindle, amid new alienations, past pride and solidarity. Chinese documentary films have proven an effective medium in critiquing ecological rifts and disasters, staging a stringent critique against eco-destructive economic trends. Against a visual landscape dominated by billboards, glamorous stars, and images, documentary filmmakers expose the conditions of alienated labor and the environmental and human costs of unfettered development.
A Sports Medicine Clinician’s Guide to the Diagnosis and Management of Distal Clavicular Osteolysis
Authors: Singh Mani , Soo Hoo Jennifer
Published: June 2023

Weightlifting associated shoulder injuries have seen a dramatic rise in the last 20 years. Distal clavicular osteolysis, coined weightlifter's shoulder, is one such condition caused by repetitive microtrauma to the distal clavicle with subsequent, painful development of bony erosions and resorption of the distal clavicle. Diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of this condition can be challenging. In this article, we highlight evidence-based clinical recommendations for the diagnosis and management of distal clavicular osteolysis, including specific considerations for atraumatic and posttraumatic etiologies, to help clinicians better care for their patients. Activity modification and rehabilitation are the mainstays of the initial treatment. Adjuvant treatments, such as injections or surgery, may be required in refractory cases or in certain patient populations. Early recognition and treatment of weightlifter's shoulder is essential to prevent progression to acromioclavicular joint pathology or instability and to allow for continued participation in sport-specific activities.
Acute Thumb Metacarpophalangeal Joint Ulnar Collateral Ligament Injury: Diagnosis, Management, and Return to Sports Considerations
Authors: Robinson David M. , Kakar Sanjeev , Jelsing Elena
Published: June 2023

Thumb metacarpophalangeal joint ulnar collateral ligament injuries are common in athletes and range from mild sprains to complete retracted tears. The typical injury mechanism of a valgus force directed onto an abducted or extended thumb is frequently seen in certain sporting activities, such as skiing, football, and baseball. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging are excellent imaging supplements to the clinical evaluation for diagnosis confirmation. Positive treatment outcomes have been demonstrated when these injuries are appropriately managed both nonoperatively and surgically. When deciding on a treatment plan, it is paramount to take the athlete's injury severity and sport-specific factors into account. The aim of this review is to summarize the sport epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment options, and return to play considerations for athletes who sustain an acute thumb metacarpophalangeal joint ulnar collateral ligament injury.
Η εικόνα του Άλλου στη σύγχρονη ελληνική και αραβική πεζογραφία
Authors: Αμπντελαζίζ Μοχάμεντ
Published: June 2023

Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή έχει ως αντικείμενο τον ιδιαίτερο τρόπο παρουσίασης της εικόνας του Άλλου στη σύγχρονη ελληνική και αραβική πεζογραφία, και επικεντρώνεται στο παράδειγμα των Εβραίων. Τα εξαγόμενα συμπεράσματα συμβάλλουν στην κατανόηση όχι μόνο του ανοίκειου στοιχείου, αλλά και του οικείου, καθώς το ένα βρίσκεται σε άμεση εξάρτηση με το άλλο. Εξετάζεται ο γόνιμος διάλογος που προκύπτει βάσει του δίπολου ταυτότητα-ετερότητα, μέσα από τη λογοτεχνική μορφοποίησή του στην πεζογραφία. Η συνεξέταση του ζητήματος σε δύο διαφορετικές λογοτεχνικές παραδόσεις, τη νεοελληνική και την αραβική, καθεμία με τις δικές της συμβάσεις και αναφορές, εξασφαλίζει τη σφαιρική τεκμηρίωσή του. Ο κοινός άξονας αναφοράς ως προς την εικόνα του Εβραίου, θα φωτιστεί ποικιλότροπα με την χρήση αρμόδιων ερμηνευτικών εργαλείων και μεθόδων. Εξάλλου, η εβραϊκή παράδοση αποτελεί σπουδαίο κεφάλαιο της ιστορίας και των δυο πολιτισμών, έναν κοινό Άλλον.
Μαθηματική μοντελοποίηση των αναπτυσσόμενων τάσεων και της επαγόμενης κόπωσης στα τοιχώματα καμπύλου σωλήνα με εφαρμογή των εξισώσεων Navier-Stokes
Authors: Καραχάλιου Μαρίνα
Published: June 2023

Η παρούσα εργασία έχει ως κίνητρο τη μελέτη της συμπεριφοράς της ανιούσας αορτής από τη μηχανική πλευρά. Η αορτή είναι ο πρώτος αγωγός που δέχεται το αίμα της καρδιάς υπό πίεση για να το προωθήσει στα διάφορα σημεία του σώματος. Απαραίτητη προϋπόθεση είναι η ελαστικότητα των τοιχωμάτων της. Η αντοχή της αορτής σε τάσεις είναι αρκετά μεγάλη και ελαττώνεται με την ηλικία. Οι ασκούμενες τάσεις αποδίδονται ως ένα βαθμό από τον νόμο του Laplace. Ο νόμος αυτός αναφέρεται σε ευθύγραμμο σωλήνα, επομένως δεν περιλαμβάνει την καμπυλότητα της αορτής, λόγω της οποίας οι τάσεις στα τοιχώματα είναι μεγαλύτερες από τις ασκούμενες. Και ενώ υπολογίζει τάσεις μικρότερες από το όριο αντοχής των τοιχωμάτων, εντούτοις το τοίχωμα ρήγνυται. Με την προσθήκη όρων, οι οποίοι δικαιολογούνται από την μεταβολή της ορμής του αίματος λόγω καμπυλότητας εξηγούνται οι περιπτώσεις αστοχίας του τοιχώματος που παρέμεναν ανεξήγητες. Η γήρανση της αορτής συνεπάγεται ελάττωση της ελαστικότητάς της και της αντοχής της σε καταπονήσεις. Θεωρώντας την αορτή ως σύνθετο ελαστικό μέσο με μεταβλητό μέτρο ελαστικότητας και με βάση κλινικά δεδομένα, περιγράφουμε την ελαστική συμπεριφορά της με τον χρόνο και προτείνουμε μια εξίσωση , που υπολογίζει την ηλικία της αορτής και την διαχωρίζει από την ηλικία του ατόμου και ταυτόχρονα δίνει τη μέγιστη διάρκεια ζωής της αορτής.
SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF RATIONAL CHOICE OF THERMAL INSULATION MATERIAL AND ITS GEOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS
Authors: Kutepova Lyubov I. , Markova Tatyana D. , Skachkova Elena G.
Published: June 2023

In engineering, the phenomenon of heat transfer through cylindrical walls and various shells formed by the rotation of flat figures around a fixed axis is often used. Such structural elements are widely used in condensers of steam turbine installations, in the details of the flow part of gas turbines, rocket and aircraft engines. The article describes the solution of the problem of rational choice of thermal insulation material and its geometric characteristics when using thermal insulation to reduce heat losses from cylindrical surfaces. The results of the calculation of the thermal insulation of the pipe are presented graphically. The performed analysis allows us to formulate a generalized conclusion: a rational choice of insulation is possible only if an increase in its thickness is accompanied by an increase in the thermal resistance of the entire model.
IMPROVEMENT OF THE ANALYTICAL METHOD FOR CALCULATING THE AVAILABLE THROUGHPUT WITH THE USE OF SIMULATION TOOLS
Authors: Pokrovskaya O. D. , Marchenko M. A. , Kukushkina Ya. V.
Published: June 2023

Background. The problem of this work is to optimize the currently used methods for calculating the available bandwidth based on analytical calculations by building a simulation model in the AnyLogic software package. Most scientists are working on the issues of laying the traffic schedule without taking into account the complex of issues related to predictive modeling and improving the accuracy of calculating the available capacity.

Materials and/or methods: simulation modeling, economic and mathematical modeling, AnyLogic software package, methods of general systems theory, logistics.

Results. In the course of the work, an abstract model of a railway line was developed and built that simulates the movement of trains according to the specified traffic parameters. The results of the study can be used in the dispatching centers of transportation management of JSC “Russian Railways” in order to optimize the analysis of the subject of the completed work of the railway landfill of the road.

Conclusion. The paper considers and proposes a method for calculating the available capacity on a railway line based on existing analytical formulas and the use of simulation modeling tools in order to adjust them and calculate the value of the simulation modeling coefficient proposed in the work.
OPTIMIZATION OF FIXED ASSETS INVENTORY BY CREATING A TELEGRAM BOT
Authors: Nasibulin Ruslan O. , Safonova Ekaterina A. , Abdullin Danil M. , Gareeva Gulnara A.
Published: June 2023

This article is about the optimization of fixed assets inventory by means of Telegram bot. The feature of the systems which are realized with the help of bots is the ease of use and minimization of resources spent on software storage, which greatly simplifies the interaction with the system. One of today’s popular platforms for deploying bots is the Telegram messenger.

Purpose – create a tool for inventory of fixed assets, interaction with the database, creation of reports in Excel format and carrying out stock-taking with the help of QR code recognition.

Method or methodology of the work. The article considers the method that implements the inventory of fixed assets and carrying out an inventory. For the implementation it is used: the SQLite database and the programming language Python.

Result: developed a unique tool that implements the functions of adding, storing and interacting with the data of fixed assets.

Scope of the results: object data stored in the database is reasonable to use for inventory and monitoring the current balance of fixed assets.
“Read it for restoratives”: Pericles and the Romance of Whiteness
Authors: Ndiaye Noémie
Published: June 2023

This essay reads Pericles (1608) through the lens of early modern critical whiteness studies. Tracing how the play reworks the colour-coding of its medieval source text along new racial lines, this essay sees Pericles’s melancholia as an allegory of the always incomplete condition of whiteness. It then shows how Pericles uses the erotic mechanics of romance to pursue his quest for whiteness. Ultimately, the essay underlines the relevance of Pericles’s quest to Shakespeare’s cultural moment before discussing the voices of resistance to the project of whiteness embedded within the play, and the uses of that play for our own times.
The Erotics of Salvage
Authors: Yargo John
Published: June 2023

In the aftermath of the storm in The Tempest, as Miranda suffers vicariously with the shipwrecked passengers, Prospero imposes meaning onto the environmental catastrophe. Imbricating maritime salvage, physical saving, and theological salvation, Prospero insists on a temporality of supersession in which catastrophe allows one political order to displace an older, corrupt paradigm. But the act of salvaging deepens Miranda’s erotic attachment to Ferdinand and complicates the social affiliations of the island. Alternately, Caliban, inverting the erotics of salvage, dramatizes how racialized perception saturates experiential encounters with the storm.
Fear and Trembling: Performing the Protestant Conscience in Thomas Middleton’s The Lady’s Tragedy
Authors: Snyder Jillian
Published: June 2023

With its glorified ghost, godly avenger, and idolatrous Tyrant, Thomas Middleton’s The Lady’s Tragedy appears to offer a thinly veiled allegory of Protestant triumphalism. Little attention has been paid, however, to how its characters do — or do not — respond to the play’s many crises of conscience. This essay sets Middleton’s tragedy against English Protestant understandings of the trembling body and vexed conscience. It demonstrates that while the play’s multiple instances of trembling seem to unsettle its Protestant triumphalism, its special effects, intended to provoke audience trembling, might nevertheless deepen playgoers’ attachment to the Protestant cause.
Amateur Theatre at the Early Modern Inns of Court? The Implications of a Performance Copy of Jonson’s 1640 Folio
Authors: Harrison Tom , Loxley James
Published: June 2023

This article discusses a recently rediscovered copy of Ben Jonson's 1640 Workes that contains seventeenth-century annotations to Epicene that suggest preparations for performance. We trace the folio copy’s provenance with the Powell family in Nanteos, Wales, and consider the possibility that it may have been annotated when in the possession of Sir Thomas Powell, a lawyer and judge who spent much of his life in London. We argue that the annotated play-text can be connected to four other playbooks by William Shakespeare and James Shirley that have been previously associated with seventeenth-century amateur theatricals, and that the new evidence provided by the Jonson text points plausibly to a practice of amateur performance at and around Gray's Inn in the middle of the century.
Shelby Richardson, ed. The Witch of Edmonton by Thomas Dekker, John Ford, and William Rowley. Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2021. Pp 162.
Authors: Wright Laura
Published: June 2023

Review of Shelby Richardson, ed. The Witch of Edmonton by Laura Jayne Wright.
Jeremy Lopez, ed. The Routledge Anthology of Early Modern Drama. London and New York: Routledge, 2020. Pp. 1138.
Authors: Smith Emma
Published: June 2023

This is a review of Jeremy Lopez, ed. The Routledge Anthology of Early Modern Drama.
W.B. Worthen. Shakespeare, Technicity, Theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020. Pp 271.
Authors: Trotter Marie
Published: June 2023

Review of "Shakespeare, Technicity, Theatre" by W.B. Worthen
Carol Mejia LaPerle, ed. Race and Affect in Early Modern English Literature. Tempe: Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies Press, 2022. Pp 221.
Authors: Britton Dennis
Published: June 2023

Review of Race and Affect in Early Modern English Literature edited by Carol Mejia LaPerle
Eleanor Rycroft. Facial Hair and the Performance of Early Modern Masculinity. London and New York: Routledge, 2019. Pp. 198.
Authors: Carson Rob
Published: June 2023

Review of Facial Hair and the Performance of Early Modern Masculinity by Eleanor Rycroft.
Erbium-ytterbium codoped thin-film lithium niobate integrated waveguide amplifier with 27 dB internal net gain
Authors: Zhang Zhihao , Li Shanming , Gao Renhong , Zhang Haisu , Lin Jintian , Fang Zhiwei , Wu Rongbo , Wang Min , Wang Zhenhua , Hang Yin , Cheng Ya
Published: June 2023

Photonic integrated waveguide amplifier fabricated on erbium-ytterbium (Er-Yb) co-doped thin-film lithium niobate (TFLN) has been investigated in this work. A small-signal internal net gain of 27 dB is achieved at the signal wavelength of 1532nm in the fabricated Er-Yb TFLN-waveguide amplifier pumped by the diode laser at ~980nm. Experimental characterizations reveal the advantage of waveguide fabrication by the photolithography assisted chemo-mechanical etching (PLACE) technique, and also the benefit from Yb-sensitized-Er in promoting the gain performance. The demonstrated high-gain chip-scale TFLN-amplifier is promising to be interfaced with established lithium niobate integrated devices, greatly extending the spectrum of TFLN photonic applications.
Mapping evidence on cryptococcal antigen infection among HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa- A scoping review protocol
Authors: Dlamini Khululiwe , Moetlhoa Boitumelo , Turner Astrid , Maluleke Kuhlula , Mashamba-Thompson Tivani
Published: June 2023

Introduction

Infections of the central nervous system are a considerable basis of mortality in people living with HIV, with progression to cryptococcal meningitis documented at around 15% of HIV-associated mortality globally, with nearly three-quarters occurring in the sub-Saharan Africa. Discoveries from previous studies prelude to the mortality of cryptococcal antigen positive, which persisted to be elevated than in cryptococcal antigen negative persons. One feasible interpretation of this could be due to undiagnosed cryptococcus. Laboratory investigations identify cryptococcal disease prior to cryptococcal meningitis progression. Point-of-care testing has high sensitivity and specificity as seen with the cryptococcal antigen lateral flow assay screening to expedite treatment. The aim of the study is to map and translate evidence on cryptococcal antigen infection among HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa.

Methodology

The proposed scoping review will be conducted using guidelines proposed by Arksey and O’Malley methodological framework and Levac et al. advanced method. It will be guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis for Scoping Reviews. A comprehensive literature search of studies published from the first relevant publication to 2022 will be conducted on multiple electronic databases. Additional sources (grey literature) will also be searched. The search strategy will be generated and implemented by the principal investigator with assistance from a subject specialist, and an information specialist. Two reviewers will screen eligible studies. The screening will be guided by an inclusion and exclusion criteria. The mixed methods appraisal tool version 2018 will be used to appraise the quality of the empirical studies.

Discussion

The proposed scoping review will map and translate evidence on cryptococcal antigen infection among HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa. Synthesising and sharing recent evidence in this area has potential to help guide future research and interventions aimed at improving the management of cryptococcal antigen infection among HIV-infected persons in sub-Saharan Africa and other high HIV- burdened settings.
Two decades of change in sea star abundance at a subtidal site in Puget Sound, Washington
Authors: Casendino Helen R. , McElroy Katherine N. , Sorel Mark H. , Quinn Thomas P. , Wood Chelsea L.
Published: June 2023

Long-term datasets can reveal otherwise undetectable ecological trends, illuminating the historical context of contemporary ecosystem states. We used two decades (1997–2019) of scientific trawling data from a subtidal, benthic site in Puget Sound, Washington, USA to test for gradual trends and sudden shifts in total sea star abundance across 11 species. We specifically assessed whether this community responded to the sea star wasting disease (SSWD) epizootic, which began in 2013. We sampled at depths of 10, 25, 50 and 70 m near Port Madison, WA, and obtained long-term water temperature data. To account for species-level differences in SSWD susceptibility, we divided our sea star abundance data into two categories, depending on the extent to which the species is susceptible to SSWD, then conducted parallel analyses for high-susceptibility and moderate-susceptibility species. The abundance of high-susceptibility sea stars declined in 2014 across depths. In contrast, the abundance of moderate-susceptibility species trended downward throughout the years at the deepest depths– 50 and 70 m–and suddenly declined in 2006 across depths. Water temperature was positively correlated with the abundance of moderate-susceptibility species, and uncorrelated with high-susceptibility sea star abundance. The reported emergence of SSWD in Washington State in the summer of 2014 provides a plausible explanation for the subsequent decline in abundance of high-susceptibility species. However, no long-term stressors or mortality events affecting sea stars were reported in Washington State prior to these years, leaving the declines we observed in moderate-susceptibility species preceding the 2013–2015 SSWD epizootic unexplained. These results suggest that the subtidal sea star community in Port Madison is dynamic, and emphasizes the value of long-term datasets for evaluating patterns of change.
Inverted U-shaped relationships between bone mineral density and VCTE-quantified degree of hepatic steatosis in adolescents: Evidence from the NHANES
Authors: He Shengmao , Zhang Yun , Tan Caixia , Tan Wenfu , Yin Bingliang
Published: June 2023

Introduction

There may be inaccuracies in hepatic steatosis in past research assessing the relationship between bone metabolism and liver steatosis. The goal of the current research was to look at the associations between bone mineral density (BMD) and the hepatic steatosis and fibrosis as detected by vibration-controlled transient elastography (VCTE) in teenagers in the United States.

Methods

Weighted multiple linear regression models and smoothed curve fitting were used to investigate the association between BMD and the degree of hepatic steatosis and fibrosis in adolescents.

Results

In 829 adolescents aged 12–19 years we found a negative association between total BMD and CAP (controlled attenuation parameter) [-32.46 (-58.98, -9.05)] and a significant positive association between lumbar BMD and LSM (liver stiffness measurement) [1.35 (0.19, 2.51)]. The inverted U-shaped relationships were founded between total BMD, lumbar BMD, pelvis BMD, and CAP with inflection points of 221.22 dB/m, 219.88 dB/m, and 216.02 dB/m, respectively.

Conclusions

In adolescents, higher BMD is significantly associated with lower levels of hepatic steatosis and higher levels of liver stiffness.
The effect of objective structured clinical examinations for nursing students
Authors: Ha Eun-Ho , Lim Eunju
Published: June 2023

Twenty core nursing skills have been identified by the Korean Accreditation Board of Nursing Education. Proficiency in these skills is essential for all nursing professions, and many educational strategies exist to develop these skills in nursing students, including the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE). To date, no study on the effects of the OSCE on nursing education has been published. Therefore, we evaluated the effects of the OSCE on the core nursing skills of 207 pre-licensure nursing students in Korea. We measured the nursing students’ confidence, skills, and knowledge acquisition and retention. A one-way analysis of variance and Fisher’s least significant difference were used for data analysis. Among the four nursing areas (fall, transfusion, pre-operative, and post-operative), students demonstrated the highest confidence level scores in pre-operative nursing. On the OSCE, students scored the highest in transfusion nursing. Significant differences were found between prior knowledge, knowledge acquisition, and retention. Our findings confirm that the OSCE, after lectures and core nursing skill practice, improved the retention of nursing students’ knowledge. Therefore, this program can positively influence nursing students’ knowledge level, and implementing the OSCE can strengthen students’ clinical competency.
Influences of glyphosate residues and different concentrate feed proportions in dairy cow rations during early gestation on performance, blood parameters, functional properties and DNA damage of blood cells in cows and their offspring
Authors: Heymann Ann-Katrin , Schnabel Karina , Billenkamp Fabian , Bühler Susanne , Frahm Jana , Kersten Susanne , von Soosten Dirk , Meyer Ulrich , Dänicke Sven
Published: June 2023

Maternal exposure to various stimuli can influence pre- and postnatal development of the offspring. This potential has been discussed for glyphosate (GLY), active substance in some non-selective herbicides. Accordingly, present study investigated putative effects of GLY residues in rations on cows and their offspring. Dams received either GLY-contaminated (GLY groups) or control (CON groups) rations combined with low (LC groups) or high (HC groups) concentrate feed proportions (CFP) for 16 weeks during mid- and late lactation and early gestation (59±4 days at beginning of GLY exposure; mean±SE). During this feeding trial, average daily GLY exposures of dams were 1.2 (CONLC), 1.1 (CONHC), 112.5 (GLYLC) and 130.3 (GLYHC) μg/kg body weight/d. After a depletion period (107±4 days; mean±SE) and calving, blood samples of dams and their calves were collected (5–345 min after birth) before calves were fed colostrum and analyzed for hematological and clinical-chemical traits, redox parameters, functional properties of leukocytes and DNA damage in leukocytes. No evidence for malformations of newborn calves could be collected. At parturition, most analyzed blood parameters were not affected by dietary treatment of dams during gestation. Significant GLY effects were observed for some traits, e.g. blood non-esterified fatty acids (NEFA) in calves. These deviations of GLY groups from CON groups likely resulted from strong time-dependent responses of NEFA levels within the first 105 minutes after birth and before colostrum intake (Spearman´s rank correlation R = 0.76, p<0.001). Additionally, significant GLY effects did not result in differences in measures that were beyond normally observed ranges questioning a pathological relevance. In summary, no evidence for teratogenic or other clear effects of GLY or CFP on analyzed parameters of dams and their newborn calves could be collected under applied conditions. However, detailed studies including GLY exposure during late and complete gestation period would be needed to rule out teratogenic effects.
Path-enhanced graph convolutional networks for node classification without features
Authors: Jiao Qingju , Zhao Peige , Zhang Hanjin , Han Yahong , Liu Guoying
Published: June 2023

Most current graph neural networks (GNNs) are designed from the view of methodology and rarely consider the inherent characters of graph. Although the inherent characters may impact the performance of GNNs, very few methods are proposed to resolve the issue. In this work, we mainly focus on improving the performance of graph convolutional networks (GCNs) on the graphs without node features. In order to resolve the issue, we propose a method calledt-hopGCN to describet-hopneighbors by the shortest path between two nodes, then the adjacency matrix oft-hopneighbors as features to perform node classification. Experimental results show thatt-hopGCN can significantly improve the performance of node classification in the graphs without node features. More importantly, adding the adjacency matrix oft-hopneighbors can improve the performance of existing popular GNNs on node classification.