bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Risk management technologies in the development of social activity of the youth
Authors:   Saratov State University, Arendachuk Irina V. , Klenova Milena A. ,   Saratov State University
Published: October 2022

The article presents the results of the study aimed at justifying the possibility to use risk management technologies in working with young people in order to support their social activity. The study hypothesis is based on the assumption that modern risk management technologies, which are interdisciplinary in nature, can be used when working with young people, contributing to the formation and development of constructive forms of their social activity. Research methods: subject-categorical analysis; analysis of theoretical and empirical research on the problems of young people’s social activity and risk management in various spheres of social life. The study proposes an interdisciplinary approach in order to determine the main vectors of the risk management directions in the development of social activity of an individual. The research indicates the main zones and sources of young people’s risks that are associated with manifestation of various forms of social activity in modern conditions of Russian society. Technologies of risk analysis, assessment and management are analyzed in relation to the problem of social activity of young people. The authors consider the applied aspects of implementing these technologies when working with young people using the example of civic, and educational and developmental activity. The study shows that methods, forms and the structure of risk management are universal and can be used in risk management in the social activity development.
Specific features of forecasting in professional education
Authors:   Saratov State University, Maksimova Elena A.
Published: October 2022

The relevance of the study is determined by the need of pedagogical theory and practice in prognostic research in order to reveal the prospects and risks of the professional school development programmes. The purpose of the study is to determine the specific character of professional education as an object of forecasting. The author notes that professional education is a synergetic system, which is characterized by the following features: disequilibrium, nonlinearity, variability and probability of development. The provisions of the social forecasting methodology of A.S. Akhiezer are interpreted in the study. The article also shows that professional education has static, intensive and destructive types of reproduction. Different approaches to forecasting are compared: the one based on mutually exclusive oppositions (such as optimistic and pessimistic development options) and the other based on complementary scenarios. The author shows that binary oppositions in making forecasts are unproductive, whereas considering the possibility of several potential scenarios, and determining their prospects and risks are expedient. Further, the study identifies three potential growth points for the system determined by possible bifurcation situations in the development of professional education and three corresponding scenarios for further development: organizational, technological, and subjective. The organizational scenario implies the spread of regional educational associations and it is strategically aimed at reducing the difference in the level of socio-economic development of central and peripheral regions. The technological scenario is associated with the spread of digital educational platforms, virtual laboratories and simulators. It is aimed at individualizing students’ educational trajectories. The subjective scenario is characterised by the change in the axiology of professional education, by the consolidation of the environmental protection (in the broadest sense) of the professional activity. The author draws the conclusion that specific features of forecasting in professional education are determined by the characteristics of a synergetic system, its anthropocentric nature and the increasing role of the methodology of environmentally-centred professional activity.
Integration processes in the education system
Authors:   Saratov State University, Shintyapina Yulia S.
Published: October 2022

The relevance of studying integration processes in the education system is determined by new requirements for the educational environment, which serve as the basis for the further development of the entire system of education. Optimization of integration processes in the education system is specified by their realization principles, which entail “controlled self-organization” of integrated structures in the interests of “the man, society, state”. The purpose of the study is to search for and to justify the methods and means of optimizing integration processes in the education system. The article defines a set of methodological principles. Implementation of this set of principles makes it possible to optimize the processes of integration of the educational subjects and the educational environment as a whole. It includes the systemic, integration, synergetic and acmeological approaches. The study specifies the content and peculiarities of these approaches, presents research data analysis in the context of the issues under discussion. One of the most important results of integration processes in the system of education is the development of the personality and of the person’s role in the “increase” of educational, and also social capital as a significant resource of social development.
Sens ofiary. Próba interpretacji znaczenia poświęcenia w filozofii Jana Patočki
Authors: Walicki Jakub
Published: October 2022

W artykule staram się zrekonstruować i zbadać przyczyny, które skłoniły Patočkę do silnej ekspozycji problemu poświęcenia w swojej myśli filozoficznej. Aby to zrobić, naświetlam relację pomiędzy poświęceniem, sensem życia oraz trzeba platońskim ideami dobra, piękna i prawy, rozpatrując poświęcenie jako idealne narzędzie ich ucieleśnienia. Na koniec przekonuję, że natura poświęcenia jest głęboko wieloznaczna i wszystkie badania, które jej dotyczą, powinny uwzględniać jego negatywne aspekty.
Posthumanizm jako ideologia i perspektywa badawcza
Authors: Bogusławski Marcin M.
Published: October 2022

Celem mojego artykułu jest próba pokazania, że posthumanizm jest ideologią, która znajduje swoje przedłużenie w perspektywie badawczej nazywanej posthumanistyką. Stosowane przeze mnie pojęcie ideologii nie jest nacechowane negatywnie. Ideologia jest nieodłącznym elementem towarzyszącym życiu społecznemu, a jej iluzoryczny charakter oznacza w gruncie rzeczy tyle, że służy ona człowiekowi jako narzędzie orientowania się w świecie. Ideologia zdaje również sprawę z aktualnych wyzwań, przed którymi stoi społeczeństwo oraz ze sprzeczności, które związane są z tymi problemami. Sprzeczność obecna w posthumanizmie polega w mojej ocenie na tym, że pryncypialnie wyklucza on wszelkie formy humanizmu/antropocentryzmu, ale w praktyce nie może uciec od jakiejś postaci humanizmu i antropocentryzmu. Są one niezbędne, by oddać sprawiedliwość światom innych gatunków zwierząt, uzasadnić porządek etyczny bliski posthumanistom czy móc posługiwać się pojęciem sprawczości.
A Stieglerianesque Critique of Transhumanism: On Narratives and Neganthropocene
Authors: Mróz Adrian
Published: October 2022

While drawing from the philosophy of Bernard Stiegler throughout the paper, I commence by highlighting Zoltan Istvan’s representation of transhumanism in the light of its role in politics. I continue by elaborating on the notion of the promise of eternal life. After that I differentiate between subjects that are proper for philosophy (such as the mind or whether life is worth living) and science (measurable and replicable). The arguments mostly concern mind-uploading and at the same time I elaborate on a simple critique of mind-body dualism, which is one of the key imagined orders exploitable by technologies in the narratives of transhumanism present in popular culture. This is reframed as a problem of action. The focus of this article is on the claim that certain transhumanisms are dangerous forms of Neo-Darwinism. It comes from a critical assessment of capital and the exploitation of bodies through market forces. Entropy is a process of growing disorder, while neganthropy is an anthropological struggle against exploitation, not only of bodies, but of all ecosystems of the Earth. The arguments of Stiegler from a collection of lectures are recapitulated, and his claims are presented through the prism of transhuman narrative, with a particular focus on Christian Salmon's position in the book Storytelling: Bewitching the Modern Mind.
Enterotoxigenic Genes of Staphylococcus aureus Isolated from Raw Milk and Milk Products in Mizoram, India
Authors: Paul D. , Motina E. , Deka D. , Das R.
Published: October 2022

Background: Staphylococcal food poisoning (SFP) is one of the most common food-borne diseases worldwide resulting from the contamination of food by preformed S. aureus enterotoxins and milk is considered to be a major source of SFP. This study aimed at the PCR based detection of S. aureus and its enterotoxigenic genes in raw milk and milk products. Methods: A total of 300 samples of raw milk and milk products were collected randomly from Aizawl district of Mizoram and were subjected to phenotypic and genotypic (nuc gene) detection of S. aureus and subsequent detection of enterotoxigenic genes namely, sea, seb, sec and sed in S. aureus isolates. Result: A proportion of 30.67% S. aureus isolates were found to be positive for species specific nuc gene and 28.26%, 2.17%, 4.34% and 5.43% S. aureus strains were positive for sea, seb, sec and sed genes, respectively. Most contamination of raw milk was observed with S. aureus harbouring highest proportion of sea gene. Combination of two enterotoxigenic genes, sea with another gene, was also possessed by the S. aureus isolates from milk and milk products.
Influence of Bioinoculants on Growth and Yield of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) under Field Condition
Authors: Prathima M.N. , Muthuraju R. , Krishna T.V. , Nalini B.S.
Published: October 2022

Background: Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) an important and commonly grown kharif pulse crop in India for vegetable, grain, forage and green manuring. Considering the adverse effects of chemical fertilizers, bio-inoculants should be encouraged as natural nutrient source. Methods: Three indigenous bio-inoculants viz., Rhizobium sp., Bacillus megaterium and Glomus mosseae were evaluated in a field experiment which was conducted during kharif season 2020 to study the influence of bioinoculants on growth and yield of cowpea. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design (RCBD) with ten treatments replicated thrice. Result: The application of microbial consortia significantly influenced the number of pods bearing branches, number of nodules, fresh weight of nodules, chlorophyll content, plant nitrogen and phosphorus content and microbial activities in the cowpea rhizosphere. The present study concluded that combined application of bio-inoculants (Rhizobium, PSB, AM fungi) can save 25 per cent of recommended dose of fertilizer by sustaining the crop yield and improving the soil health.
Trajetória de vida: uma investigação no arquivo pessoal do arquiteto Jorge Caron
Authors: Saba Ruggiero Amanda , Migliati Yasmin Natália
Published: October 2022

O artigo apresenta uma reflexão sobre o processo de pesquisa e digitalização do Arquivo Jorge Caron, que está sob a salvaguarda da Biblioteca do Instituto de Arquitetura e Urbanismo da Universidade de São Paulo (IAU-USP) e foi financiado pelo Programa Unificado de Bolsas (PUB-USP). O Arquiteto educador Jorge Caron (1936-2000) convicto do potencial abrangente e transformador da sua profissão, reuniu importantes inovações para o campo social, construtivo e estético em sua trajetória profissional, legado materializado nas pranchas, desenhos, croquis, objetos e textos produzidos ao longo de sua carreira, reunidos no acervo. Conhecido por seu perfil polivalente – arquiteto, designer, cenógrafo, artista plástico, educador – Caron, assim como outros arquitetos da geração pós-Brasília, teve produção ampla e significativa, em conjunto de obras arquitetônicas e legado intelectual ainda pouco estudados. Organizar e ampliar o acesso ao acervo, por meio do reconhecimento dos materiais representativos da sua extensa produção, bem como digitalizar seu acervo, são práticas com desafios constantes, cuja finalidade amplia o debate historiográfico, valoriza arquivos pessoais e seu acesso público. Como objeto de extroversão deste trabalho, apresenta-se como horizonte a criação de uma exposição, promovendo a valorização de sua memória e das ações de salvaguarda e conservação dos acervos de arquitetura.
Bairros como elementos de estruturação urbana em Goiânia
Authors: Pantaleão Resende Sandra Catharinne
Published: October 2022

O presente artigo apresenta uma leitura histórico-morfológica de Goiânia a partir de fontes documentais, com destaque ao decreto-lei nº 574 de 1947 e da constatação da estruturação urbana da cidade por um mosaico urbanístico – seu atual Centro Expandido. Depreende-se, dessa análise, a estrutura urbana, as dinâmicas e as principais transformações que aludem não apenas à ocupação do território, mas à atuação político-institucional e econômico-fundiária, deslocando o "desejo" do ideário moderno em seu DNA para um projeto empreendedor imobiliário, a partir do parcelamento de glebas rurais, incorporadas às áreas urbanas e suburbanas, notadamente a partir dos anos 1950. O estudo desses bairros, numa perspectiva histórica, possibilita compreender os dois eixos sobre os quais eles foram implantados somados àqueles aprovados até 1951. Busca-se, a partir desses bairros, constatar a formação de um eixo leste-oeste de alcance urbano regional e outro, no sentido norte-sul, articulado à ocupação intraurbana em que as relações socioespaciais constituem uma outra cidade.
Values Education in Turkish Textbooks in Primary Education
Authors: Demirgüneş Sercan , Özcan Emrah
Published: October 2022

Texts are indispensable tools used in a language teaching environment. They help students learn both implicitly and explicitly. This learning activity guides the future of the student. The individualization processes of memories that are combined together with qualified texts would be shorter and more qualified. There are many affective approaches and cognitive approaches in curriculum because raising individuals with adopted basic human values is a universal phenomenon that takes place in all the education programs. In today’s teaching processes, along with data mining, opinion mining is also included in educational processes. Equipping the input in students’ memories with positive poles (the literature used polar), in terms of value load, will directly lead to the observation of the positive affective behaviours in students. The learning outcomes under the title of education values in native language programs are basically a product of value load mining. This paper focuses on classifying the value loads of the words in the reading texts in the primary education of 7th and 8th grade Turkish textbooks as positive/neutral/negative. The study also attempts to determine the positive/neutral/negative value loads that the textbooks try to convey to the students. This study is a qualitative study and is structured with a document review method. Rapid Miner and MS Excel programs were used to acquire data, which was described in the context of value load that is transferred. With the results obtained, it can be concluded that, at the word level, the textbooks try to convey positive and negative values that are approximately the same ratio without using a certain systematic approach that would consider adjusting the text content for the grade levels.
Acil Serviste Kritik Hasta Yakınlarının Gereksinimlerinin Belirlenmesi
Authors: KARAVELİ ÇAKIR Selda , KUKUL GÜVEN Fatma Mutlu
Published: October 2022

Bu araştırma, acil servise başvuran kritik hasta yakınlarının ihtiyaçlarını belirlemek amacı ile yapılmıştır. Tanımlayıcı ve kesitsel türde olan araştırma bir eğitim araştırma hastanesinin acil servisinde 1 Ocak- 30 Mayıs 2022 tarihleri arasında 290 kritik hasta yakını ile gerçekleştirildi. Araştırmanın verileri araştırmacılar tarafından hazırlanan kişisel bilgi formu ve acil serviste kritik hasta yakınlarının gereksinimlerini saptama ölçeği ile yüz yüze görüşme tekniği kullanılarak toplanmıştır. Kritik hasta yakınlarının ihtiyaç sıralamasında aile üyeleri ile iletişimin (3,75±0,39) ön planda olduğu, bunu aile üyelerinin acil servisteki bakıma katılması (3,57±0,45), aile üyelerinin desteklenme süreci (3,48±0,51) ve konfor beklentisi (3,38±0,63) izlemiştir. Ölçek toplam puanı 3,56±0,42 olarak belirlenmiştir. Acil servisteki kritik hasta yakınlarının ihtiyaçlarının insanların temel ihtiyaçları ile uyumlu olduğu görülmektedir. Acil serviste kritik hasta yakını olan bireylerin gereksinimlerinin belirlenmesi, hasta yakınlarının bakımın bir parçası olarak ele alınması, hasta bakımına dahil olmalarının sağlanması ve hasta yakınlarına destek sağlanması ile sağlık bakım hizmetlerinin kalitesi ve hasta yakınlarının memnuniyeti artırılabilir
"Escucha mi breve relación". Puesta en escena del relato en la literatura dramática áurea española y novohispana
Authors:   Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Instituto de Investigaciones Filológicas, Gopar Osorio Emiliano
Published: October 2022

La relación es un discurso narrativo que se encuentra en la mayor parte del teatro áureo, donde los personajes asumen una actitud diferente de la que representan durante el diálogo: el receptor permanecerá momentáneamente dispuesto a oír el relato, aunque ello implique una disminución de la atención que brinda a lo que pasa a su alrededor. Por su parte, el personaje emisor iniciará una representación particular para transmitir el relato a sus oyentes. Ofrecer una relación es un acto dramático, no una suspensión de la acción. En el transcurso de esta exposición se nota que cualitativamente no hay gran diferencia entre las obras novohispanas y las españolas, como sí lo hay cuantitativamente.
The relationship of language and speech as a subject of pedagogical linguistics
Authors: Denisov Yuri N. , Sharandin Anatoly L.
Published: October 2022

Pedagogical linguistics is considered as a direction of modern Russian studies, in which a special aspect of systematic language learning is implemented, taking into account the specifics of the teaching function. The allocation of this aspect is due to the different tasks of the educational and scientific description of the language. The subject of pedagogical linguistics is the interaction of a teacher and a student in the process of mastering the theoretical and practical foundations of lan-guage as an object of reality. The theoretical justification of the opposition of language and speech is presented, the main differences between them are considered. The school material of Russian phonetics is analyzed from the point of view of the implementation of this opposition. His analysis shows the insufficiency and inconsistency of taking into account the relationship of language and speech as interrelated, but not identical phenomena in the school study of phonetics. The conceptual and practical necessity of including the concept of phoneme as a linguistic unit in its relation to the background (sound) in the school textbook is substantiated as a speech unit. The language and speech aspects, being not identical, assume each other, revealing unity: the speech aspect allows you to see the language in its functional form, which is represented in communication (human speech activity). It is proved that a consistent and systematic theoretical presentation of the material on the relationship of language and speech in relation to phoneme and sound allows us to comprehend more fully and consistently the practice of transcribing and phonetic parsing of a word.
Intertextuality as a means of expression in the discourse of social advertising
Authors: Anisimova Tatyana V. , Chubay Svetlana A.
Published: October 2022

We describe the forms of intertextuality that are active in the discourse of social advertising. The purpose of work is to establish the types of use of borrowed texts, as well as the ratio of verbal and visual borrowings. The material is 4000 posters of environmental themes, collected from various media banks on the Internet using a continuous sampling method. We conclude that the most frequent form of borrowing is reminiscence (61.5 % of the total number of intertextual inclusions). Here the visual and verbal components are in relative balance: the idea is expressed in words, and the image acts as an illustration and/or eye-stopper. In second place in terms of the number of examples is a citation (28.4 %). Rational (borrowings from legislative acts, scientific works, statements of recognized experts and other official sources) and emotional (statements of famous writers, cultural figures, artists, athletes, etc., containing metaphorical and evaluative elements) are distinguished here. When using this form, verbal quoting predominates. The third position is occupied by allusions (10.1 % of the total number of borrowings). Here, the main burden most often falls on the image, which should evoke associations with the prototext.
Maternal Obesity and Gut Microbiota Are Associated With Fetal Brain Development
Authors: Basak Sanjay , Das Ranjit Kumar , Banerjee Antara , Paul Sujoy , Pathak Surajit , Duttaroy Asim K.
Published: October 2022

Obesity in pregnancy induces metabolic syndrome, low-grade inflammation, altered endocrine factors, placental function, and the maternal gut microbiome. All these factors impact fetal growth and development, including brain development. The lipid metabolic transporters of the maternal-fetal-placental unit are dysregulated in obesity. Consequently, the transport of essential long-chain PUFAs for fetal brain development is disturbed. The mother’s gut microbiota is vital in maintaining postnatal energy homeostasis and maternal-fetal immune competence. Obesity during pregnancy changes the gut microbiota, affecting fetal brain development. Obesity and a high-fat diet in pregnancy can induce placental and intrauterine inflammation and thus influence the neurodevelopmental outcomes of the offspring. Several epidemiological studies observed an association between maternal obesity and adverse neurodevelopment. This review discusses the effects of maternal obesity and gut microbiota on fetal neurodevelopment outcomes. In addition, the possible mechanisms of the impacts of obesity and gut microbiota on fetal brain development are discussed.
Predictive Optimal Control of Hybrid Line Haul Trucks
Authors: Pramanik Sourav , Anwar Sohel
Published: October 2022

Fuel consumption, subsequent emissions and safe operation of class 8 vehicles are of prime importance in recent days. It is imperative that the vehicle operates in its true optimal operating region given a variety of constraints such as road grade, load, gear shifts, Battery State of charge (for hybrid vehicles), etc. In this paper a research study is conducted to evaluate the fuel economy and subsequent emission benefits when applying predictive control to a mild hybrid line haul truck. The problem is solved using a combination of dynamic programming with back tracking and model predictive control. The specific fuel saving features that are studied in this work are dynamic cruise control, gear shifts, vehicle coasting and torque management. These features are evaluated predictively as compared to a reactive behavior. The predictive behavior of these features are a function of road grade. The result and analysis shows significant improvement in fuel savings along with NOx benefits. Out of the control features dynamic cruise (predictive) control and dynamic coasting showed the most benefits while predictive gear shifts and torque management (by power splitting between battery and engine) for this architecture did not show fuel benefits but provided other benefits in terms of powertrain efficiency.
Ensemble of Networks for Multilabel Classification
Authors: Nanni Loris , Trambaiollo Luca , Brahnam Sheryl , Guo Xiang , Woolsey Chancellor
Published: October 2022

Multilabel learning goes beyond standard supervised learning models by associating a sample with more than one class label. Among the many techniques developed in the last decade to handle multilabel learning best approaches are those harnessing the power of ensembles and deep learners. This work proposes merging both methods by combining a set of gated recurrent units, temporal convolutional neural networks, and long short-term memory networks trained with variants of the Adam optimization approach. We examine many Adam variants, each fundamentally based on the difference between present and past gradients, with step size adjusted for each parameter. We also combine Incorporating Multiple Clustering Centers and a bootstrap-aggregated decision trees ensemble, which is shown to further boost classification performance. In addition, we provide an ablation study for assessing the performance improvement that each module of our ensemble produces. Multiple experiments on a large set of datasets representing a wide variety of multilabel tasks demonstrate the robustness of our best ensemble, which is shown to outperform the state-of-the-art. The MATLAB code for generating the best ensembles in the experimental section will be made available at https://github.com/LorisNanni.
Zumwalt, Holloway, and the Soviet Navy Threat: Leadership in a Time of Strategic, Social, and Cultural Change
Authors: Kuehn John T.
Published: October 2022

This article examines the strategic challenges faced by Admirals Elmo Zumwalt and James Holloway as chiefs of naval operations in the 1970s. Zumwalt’s charter was to reform the U.S. Navy, but it included a charge to address Navy strategy in the face of a growing Soviet maritime threat. He succeeded, but his successor, Admiral Holloway, who is less known, provided much needed stability for the fleet in the wake of Zumwalt’s reforms. Holloway continued to refine the ideas of Zumwalt and Admiral Stansfield Turner that eventually became the maritime strategy of the 1980s. The challenges they overcame provide insights for similar challenges today.
Allies through Thick and Thin: U.S. Navy Strategic Communication, 1986-1994, in Transatlantic Context
Authors: Matlack Jon-Wyatt
Published: October 2022

From 1986 to 1994, U.S. Navy declassified strategy documents necessarily shifted in both form and function as the Cold War ended. However, this transition also evidenced a diminished inclusion of allied navies in the Navy’s strategic conceptions. Departing from the global deterrence in the maritime strategy and pivoting toward the power projection in “. . . From the Sea,” an aloofness to alliances emerged. Reflecting on this period through the example of Germany, U.S. naval strategy will be shown to be made more “whole” when it more overtly accounts for allied naval partnership.
An Adaptive Sinusoidal Disturbance Strategy Sparrow Search Algorithm and Its Application
Authors: Zheng Feng , Liu Gang
Published: October 2022

Aiming at the problems of slow convergence speed, insufficient optimization accuracy and easy to fall into local optimum in the sparrow search algorithm, this paper proposes an adaptive sinusoidal disturbance strategy sparrow search algorithm (ASDSSA). Firstly, the initial population quality of the algorithm is improved by fusing cubic chaos mapping and perturbation compensation factors; secondly, the sinusoidal disturbance strategy is introduced to update the position of the discoverers to improve the information exchange ability of the population and the global search performance of the algorithm; finally, the adaptive Cauchy mutation strategy is used to improve the ability of the algorithm to jump out of the local optimal solution. Through the optimization experiments on eight benchmark functions and CEC2017 test functions, as well as the Wilcoxon rank-sum test and time complexity analysis, the results show that the improved algorithm has better optimization performance and convergence efficiency. Further, the improved algorithm is applied to optimize the parameters of the long short term memory network (LSTM) model for passenger flow prediction on selected metro passenger flow datasets. The effectiveness and feasibility of the improved algorithm are verified by experiments.
Stability analysis of CO2 gas shielded welding short-circuit transition process based on GMAW dynamic model
Authors: Zhao Yifan , Wang Ying , Meng Lingkun , Song Baiyu , Liu Ruitao , Zhao Jin
Published: October 2022

Based on the arc phase and short-circuit phase and their relationship, the paper considers the changes of the extension length of the welding wire, the arc length, liquid bridge resistance and mass of liquid bridge, combines the improved "mass-spring" model with the loop model of welding power system, puts forward the critical judgment condition of droplet transition, and establishes a more accurate dynamic model for describing the short-circuit transition process. Through the dynamic model, the short-circuit transition frequency, welding current and voltage, contact droplet and residual droplet equivalent radius (including mean and statistical distribution) and the dynamic changes of droplet equivalent radius at different wire feeding speeds were calculated and analyzed, and compared with the experimental results, they were in good agreement. The dynamic changes of droplet displacement, velocity, welding wire extension length and liquid bridge shape are discussed. The results show that the fluctuations of droplet displacement, velocity, and extension length of welding wire is the smallest at the optimal arc point, and the smaller the radius of curvature of the initial liquid bridge is, the better the stability of short-circuit transition is.
The Agreement among Syringing, Dacryocystography, and Dacryoendoscopy in Lacrimal Duct Obstruction
Authors: Nakamura Jutaro , Kamao Tomoyuki , Mitani Arisa , Mizuki Nobuhisa , Shiraishi Atsushi
Published: October 2022

Aims: To investigate the agreement of diagnostic findings in syringing, dacryocystography (DCG), and dacryoendoscopy in the obstruction of the lacrimal drainage system (LDS) obstruction.
Methods: We retrospectively examined 113 patients (211 LDS) who underwent syringing, DCG, and dacryoendoscopy to preoperatively evaluate LDS obstruction. Obstruction was compared by classifying the obstruction grade and site into three levels, respectively. The diagnostic agreement between examinations was assessed by determining the weighted kappa value.
Results: A total of 25 male (49 LDS) and 88 female patients (162 LDS) were included in this study. Obstruction was observed in 77.4%, 60.0%, and 81.3% of LDS by syringing, DCG, and dacryoendoscopy, respectively. Regarding the agreement in obstruction grade, Cohen’s kappa value for DCG and dacryoendoscopy was 0.65 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.56–0.74). DCG diagnosed as patent in 38.4% of all LDS, whereas 47.9% of them showed partial or complete obstruction by dacryoendoscopy. Meanwhile, DCG and dacryoendoscopy showed consistency in the obstruction site in 77.9% of LDS. When discrepancies were observed between syringing and dacryoendoscopy to detect the obstruction site, the combination of syringing and DCG reached dacryoendoscopy findings at the 99% level.
Conclusions: “Substantial” agreements were found among the three examinations in diagnosing LDS obstruction grade and site. Then, the highest agreement was observed between syringing and dacryoendoscopy in determining the obstruction site (κ = 0.7). The lowest agreements were observed between syringing and DCG in diagnosing the obstruction grade and site (κ = 0.55 for both).
Betulin and its Derivatives Reduce Inflammation and COX-2 Activity in Macrophages
Authors: Szlasa Wojciech , Ślusarczyk Sylwester , Nawrot-Hadzik Izabela , Abel Renata , Zalesińska Aleksandra , Szewczyk Anna , Sauer Natalia , Preissner Robert , Saczko Jolanta , Drąg Marcin , Poręba Marcin , Daczewska Małgorzata , Kulbacka Julita , Drąg-Zalesińska Małgorzata
Published: October 2022

Betulin is a heavily studied natural compound for its use as an anticancer or pro-regenerative agent. The structural similarity of betulin to steroids gives rise to the idea, that the substance may as well act as an anti-inflammatory drug. This study is the first to describe the anti-inflammatory properties of betulinic acid, betulin, and its derivatives with amino acids - 1,4-diaminebutane (Dab), 1,3-diaminepropane (Dap), Ornithine (Orn), and Lysine (Lys) on murine macrophages from lymphoma site. The compounds were compared to dexamethasone.
To establish the response of the macrophages to the natural compounds, we tested the viability as well as sensitivity to the inflammatory signaling (IFNγR). IL-6 secretory properties and HSP-70 content in the cells were examined. Further, we characterized the effects of compounds on the inhibition of COX-2 activity both in the enzymatic assays and molecular docking studies. Then, the changes in COX-2 expression after betulin treatment were assessed.
Betulin and betulinic acid are the low-cytotoxicity compounds with the highest potential to decrease inflammation via reduced IL-6 secretion. To some extent, they induce the reorganization of IFNγR with nearly no effect on COX-2 activity. Conversely, Bet-Orn and Bet-Lys are highly cytotoxic and induce the aggregation of IFNγR. Besides, Bet-Lys reduces the activity of COX-2 to a higher degree than dexamethasone. Bet-Orn is the only one to increase the HSP-70 content in the macrophages. In case of IL-6 reduction, all compounds were more potent than dexamethasone.
Fano Resonant Optical coatings platform for Full Gamut and High Purity Structural Colors
Authors: Guo Chunlei , ElKabbash Mohamed , Hoffman Nathaniel , Lininger Andrew , Jalil Sohail , Letsou Theodore , Hinczewski Michael , Strangi Giuseppe
Published: October 2022

Structural coloring is a photostable and environmentally friendly coloring approach that harnesses optical interference and Nanophotonic resonances to obtain colors with a range of applications including display technologies, colorful solar panels, steganography, décor, data storage, and anticounterfeiting measures. We show that optical coatings exhibiting the photonic Fano Resonance present an ideal platform for structural coloring- they provide full color access, high color purity, high brightness, controlled iridescence, and scalable manufacturing. We show that an additional oxide film deposited on Fano resonant optical coatings (FROCs) increases the color purity (up to 97%) and color gamut coverage range (> 99% coverage of the sRGB and Adobe color spaces). For coloring applications that do not require high spatial resolution, FROCs have a significant advantage over existing structural coloring schemes.
Exploration of key genes combining with immune infiltration level and tumor mutational burden in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Ren Haozhen , Zhang Lu , Shi Xiaolei , Xu Chen-Zhuo
Published: October 2022

Background: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the second most common cancer-associated cause of death globally. It is thus vital that the novel diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers associated with early-stage HCC be identified. Keratin 17 (KRT17) has previously been reported to be associated with certain cancer types. However, its relationship with HCC remains to be defined.
Methods: The expression of KRT17 in the TCGA LIHC database and in 44 pairs of samples collected from patients with HCC was assessed using qRT-PCR, WB, and IHC. The prognostic relevance of KRT17 was assessed using Kaplan–Meir curves. The important cancer- and KRT17-related biological processes were defined through gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA). The functional link between KRT17 expression and tumor cell proliferation/survival was assessed using flow cytometry, colony formation assay, CCK-8 assay, and subcutaneous tumor model approaches. Protein–protein interaction (PPI) networks and analyses of immune cell infiltration were also employed to define the signaling pathways associated with KRT17 expression in HCC.
Results: HCC tissue samples exhibited increased KRT17 mRNA and protein expression that was predictive of poorer patient survival (P <0.001). GSEA and functional experiments revealed that KRT17 functioned as a regulator of HCC. PPI network analyses also revealed that KRT17 expression was linked to immune cell infiltration and activation in patients with HCC.
Conclusions: We found that increased KRT17 levels were associated with poorer survival, more aggressive disease, and altered immune cell infiltration in patients suffering from HCC. KRT17 may function as an oncogene and a prognostic biomarker in this cancer type.
Joint Resource Allocation Algorithm for D2D Communication in 5G Wireless Networks
Authors: Gopal Malle , T Velmurugan
Published: October 2022

Device-to-device (D2D) communication is one of the most emerging technologyies for improving spectrum efficiency and Data rate requirements in 5G wireless networks. It also reduces the offload traffic rate in advanced network communications employing wireless methods. In the present work, a Kuhn-Munkres-based joint uplink-downlink resource allocation approach (AKMJUDRA) is presented for obtaining optimized throughput for the network. This is at the time of considering the D2D users’ Quality of Service as well as cellular users (CUs). To be specific, the method in the proposal is allowing the device users for reusing the resource provisions of CUs during either downlink or uplink. Formulation of optimizing problems is done as a mixed integer non-linear programming language generally called NP-hard (Non-Polynomial time hardness). The issue is addressed in a couple of different stages. The first stage is assigning Sub Channel (SC) and the second stage is Power Allocation (PA). Finally, the results are compared with the existing Joint Uplink Downlink Resource Allocation (JUDRA) techniques. This verifies the performance of the SC assignment and PA with network throughput, maximum transmission power and distance as primary parameters. The Proposed AKMJUDRA approach is a convergence of an optimal solution in polynomial time.
Preparedness of newly qualified dentists in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alsoghier Abdullah , Ali Kamran
Published: October 2022

Purpose: To evaluate the self-reported preparedness for the dental practice amongst new dental graduates in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Methods: Purposive sampling techniques were used to invite newly qualified dental graduates in Riyadh Saudi Arabia to self-evaluate their preparedness for practise by providing responses to the Dental Undergraduate preparedness assessment scale (DU-PAS).
Results: The data highlighted several weakness amongst the participants. Of the 82 participants, less than 40% of participants were able independently to prescribe medications, assess orthodontics needs and perform endodontic treatment on multirooted teeth. In addition, more than 65% indicated low preparedness scores for evaluating new dental materials and products, interpreting new research findings and behavioural management of children. The DU-PAS presented an excellent reliability coefficient (α = 0.93).
Conclusion: Periodic and longitudinal evaluations of dental students can help identify gaps in knowledge and skills and offer opportunities to address the learning needs of future dentists. Early recognition of weaknesses in future graduates allows dental educators to take appropriate remedial measures. A tailored approach may be used to address the learning needs of individual students through structured feedback, encouraging reflective practice, and providing additional training to help students consolidate their clinical skills.
Prerogative on Women Health: A Qualitative Study on Feminine Hygiene Practices in India
Authors: Shukla Smriti , Sanjeev Rinku
Published: October 2022

Background:
Feminine research has shown a growing trend in the past decades, yet there has been limited empirical research on how gynaecologists observe the awareness of feminine hygiene among females. Gynaecologists play an important role in advising and diagnosing such Feminine Hygiene Practices. This study aims to investigate gynaecologists' perspectives on existing female awareness and essential feminine hygiene practices that females should maintain during menstruation.
Methods:
This study used a qualitative approach for comprehending feminine hygiene practices that critically affect female menstruation health. The research was conducted through in-depth interviews with experienced health professionals in obstetrics and gynaecology. Fifteen qualified gynaecologists purposively selected from both rural and urban areas. We focused on Albert Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT), which he later applied in the health promotion context.
Results:
This study provides an empirical basis for various aspects of feminine hygiene from the perspective of gynaecologists. Although the results also depict contradictory responses from gynaecologists about the benefits of using feminine hygiene products, this study emphasized the comparative opinion of menstrual cups and tampons against sanitary napkins. The following five themes emerged from the responses: feminine hygiene and women's health, lack of awareness, ignorance of hygiene practices, delay in treatment, and reluctance to accept menstrual cups and tampons.
Conclusions:
This study provides an empirical basis for various aspects of feminine hygiene from the perspective of gynaecologists. Increased investment in making the rural female population aware of the importance of feminine hygiene is needed. Awareness of menstrual cups and tampons for health professionals and common female population is essential as these products can be the future of menstrual hygiene.
An optimal protective ventilation strategy in lung resection surgery: A prospective, single- center, 3-arm randomized controlled trial
Authors: Min Se-Hee , Yoon Susie , Choe Hyun Woo , Seo Jeong-Hwa , Bahk Jae-Hyon
Published: October 2022

To establish an optimal strategy for one-lung ventilation (OLV), we compared 3 ventilation strategies for avoiding postoperative pulmonary complications (PPCs). Eighty-seven patients requiring OLV for elective thoracic surgery were enrolled and allocated to 3 groups according to ventilation strategies: VT of 4 ml kg-1 of predicted body weight (PBW) (n=29, low volume [LV] group); VT of 6 ml kg-1 of PBW (n=29, medium volume [MV] group); and VT of 8 ml kg-1 of PBW (n=29, high volume [HV] group). All groups were ventilated at PEEP of 5 cmH2O. The primary outcomes included the incidence of PPCs, defined as PaO2/FiO2<300 mmHg, and/or newly developed lung lesions, including infiltration and atelectasis, within 3 days postoperatively. The MV group showed the lowest incidence of PPCs among the LV, MV, and HV groups (12/26 [30.8%] vs 8/29 [20.5%] vs 19/27 [48.7%], P=0.006, respectively). The LV and MV groups revealed significantly higher PaO2/FiO2 ratio than the HV group 6 hours after surgery (P=0.024 and P=0.016, respectively). There were no differences in ventilator-induced lung lesions among the 3 groups. During OLV, protective ventilation at VT of 6 ml kg-1 with PEEP of 5 cmH2O may attain higher postoperative PaO2/FiO2 ratio and lower incidence of PPCs.
Registry number of ClnicalTrials.gov: NCT03234621
Soil zinc fertilisation does not increase maize yields but improves nutritional quality
Authors: Eynde Elise Van , Breure Mirjam , Chikowo Regis , Njoroge Samuel , Comans Rob N.J. , Hoffland Ellis
Published: October 2022

AIMS
Fertilisation of crops with zinc (Zn) is considered important to enhance agricultural productivity and combat human deficiencies in sub-Saharan Africa. However, it is unclear on which soils Zn fertilisation can lead to higher yields and increased grain Zn concentrations. This study aimed to find soil properties that predict where soil Zn is limiting maize yields and grain Zn concentrations, and where these respond positively to Zn fertilisation.
METHODS
Zinc omission trials were set up at multiple farm locations in Kenya (n=5), Zambia (n=4) and Zimbabwe (n=10). Grain yields and tissue Zn concentrations were analysed from plots with a full fertiliser treatment as compared to plots where Zn was omitted.
RESULTS
Zinc uptake (R2 = 0.35) and grain Zn concentrations (R2=0.26) on the plots without Zn fertiliser could be related to a limited extend to soil Zn measured in extractions that measure labile Zn. A positive maize yield response to soil Zn fertilisation was found at only two out of nineteen locations, despite soil Zn levels below previously derived critical concentrations at most locations. Soil properties nor plant concentrations were able to explain maize yield response to Zn fertilisation. However, a positive response in Zn uptake and grain Zn concentrations to Zn fertilisation was found at the majority of sites.
CONCLUSIONS
We conclude that soil Zn fertilisation can increase maize grain Zn concentrations, especially in soils with low pH and organic carbon content. Predicting a yield response to Zn fertilisation based on soil properties remains a challenge.
Machine Learning Predictive Performance Evaluation of Conventional and Fuzzy Radiomics in Clinical Cancer Imaging Cohorts
Authors: Grahovac Marko , Spielvogel Clemens , Krajnc Denis , Ecsedi Boglarka , Traub-Weidinger Tatjana , Rasul Sazan , Kluge Kilian , Zhao Meixin , Li Xiang , Hacker Marcus , Haug Alexander , Papp Laszlo
Published: October 2022

Background
Hybrid imaging became an instrumental part of medical imaging, particularly cancer imaging processes in clinical routine. To date, several radiomic and machine learning studies investigated the feasibility of in vivo tumor characterization with variable outcomes. This study aims to investigate the effect of recently proposed fuzzy radiomics and compare its predictive performance to conventional radiomics in cancer imaging cohorts. In addition, lesion vs. lesion + surrounding fuzzy and conventional radiomic analysis was conducted.
Methods
Previously published 11C Methionine (MET) positron emission tomography (PET) glioma, 18F-FDG PET/computed tomography (CT) lung and 68GA-PSMA-11 PET/magneto-resonance imaging (MRI) prostate cancer retrospective cohorts were included in the analysis to predict their respective clinical end-points. Four delineation methods including manually-defined reference binary (Ref-B), its smoothed, fuzzified version (Ref-F), as well as extended binary (Ext-B) and its fuzzified version (Ext-F) were incorporated to extract imaging biomarker standardization initiative (IBSI)-conform radiomic features from each cohort. Machine learning for the four delineation approaches was performed utilizing a Monte Carlo cross-validation scheme to estimate the predictive performance of the four delineation methods.
Results
Reference fuzzy (Ref-F) delineation outperformed its binary delineation (Ref-B) counterpart in all cohorts within a volume range of 938–354987 mm3 with relative cross-validation area under the receiver operator characteristics curve (AUC) of + 0.07–0.11. Across all lesions, the highest performance difference was observed by the Ref-F delineation in the prostate cohort (AUC: 0.84 vs. 0.79–0.80). In addition, fuzzy radiomics decreased feature redundancy by approx. 20%.
Conclusions
Fuzzy radiomics has the potential to increase predictive performance particularly in small lesion sizes compared to conventional binary radiomics in PET. We hypothesize that this effect is due to the ability of fuzzy radiomics to model partial volume effects and delineation uncertainties at small lesion boundaries. In addition, we consider that the lower redundancy of fuzzy radiomic features supports the identification of imaging biomarkers in future studies. Future studies shall consider systematically analyzing lesions and their surroundings with fuzzy and binary radiomics.