bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internet of Things (IoT) Based Automated Calamity Avoidance System for Railway Sectors
Authors: Ranjith A. , Vijayaragavan S. P.
Published: March 2021

Tanzania is the regional gateway for a number of landlocked neighboring countries. Zambia, Burundi, Malawi, Congo, Rwanda and Uganda all rely to certain extent on the countries transport network, linking them to the global network. Railways are found to be the most effective transport
system in Tanzania after-road transport system and it is Critical to long-haul freight along the main transport corridors of Tanzania. Most of the operations at Tanzania Railway Sector are manual system. For instance closing and opening of the gates are not automatic resulting in calamities
and delays in the train’s advent. An innovative method to enhance railway safety measures is proposed in this Paper. This research paper proposes mechanisms which operate automatically without any 600073 intervention. Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to increase different features
of the rail system. Automation of railways can transform the current legacy approaches and help decrease the railway related accidents considerably. Many challenges are underscored and dealt with in the proposed research. To summate, this paper aims at enhancing rail safety, minimizing accidents
at unmanned level crossings, introducing smart railway gates, preventing calamity, and incorporating digital transformation through the use of IoT.
An Extensive Review on Machine Learning and Deep Learning Based Cervical Cancer Diagnosis and Classification Models
Authors: Suguna C. , Balamurugan S. P.
Published: March 2021

Cervical cancer is a commonly occurring deadliest disease among women, which needs earlier diagnosis to reduce the prevalence. Pap-smear is considered as a widely employed technique to screen and diagnose cervical cancer. Since classical manual screening techniques are inefficient in
the identification of cervical cancer, several research works have been started to develop automated machine learning (ML) and deep learning (DL) tools for cervical cancer diagnosis. This paper surveys the recent works made on cervical cancer diagnosis and classification. The recently presently
ML and DL models for cervical cancer diagnosis and classification has been reviewed in detail. Besides, segmentation techniques developed for cervical cancer diagnosis also surveyed. At the end of the survey, a brief comparative study has been carried out to identify the significance of the
reviewed methods.
Swarm Based Intelligent Transportation Systems Using Internet of Things in Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network
Authors: Rajasekar R. , Sivakumar P.
Published: March 2021

The increasing current advancement of digital technology is completely based on Internet of Things (IoT). The IoT is used to facilitate smart city traffic congestion through Vehicular Ad-Hoc Network (VANET). In the Smart city, multiplying the number of vehicles has brought focus on road safety precautions and communication between vehicles. It is a precise time to concentrate on the new advancement of modern applications and its related services towards the vehicular environments. The Manual traffic systems are not sufficient for the increasing modernization of the city. The VANET is a spontaneous Ad-Hoc network formed over vehicles wandering on the road. In this research work states that the overview of various IoT based routing methodologies and challenges towards the VANET routing through intelligent optimization. The Swarm based intelligent algorithms for Vehicular Ad-Hoc networks deals with latency, data throughput, data delivery cost and data delivery ratio of the intelligent system. Swarm intelligent algorithms are used for optimization of intelligent transport system. It is a collective behavioral system of nature inspired ant/bee activity.
Formulation of Liposomes Containing Royal Jelly and Their Quality Assessment
Authors: Perminaite Kristina , Maria Fadda Anna , Sinico Chiara , Ramanauskiene Kristina
Published: March 2021

Royal jelly, a gelatinuous consistency bee product produced and secreted by the hypopharyngeal and mandibular glands of worker honeybees, is beneficial in the treatment of dermatological conditions, likely through its content of the fatty acid 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid (10-HDA). However,
10-HAD poorly penetrates into skin. Thus, in this work, we produced royal jelly incorporated liposomes with the aim of increasing skin penetration of 10-HDA. Lipid nanocarriers were prepared by the thin lipid-film hydration method. Size and polydispersity index of the nanocarrier particles,
and their stability over 30 days were measured. The effects of royal jelly and 10-HDA liposomal formulations on the viability of immortalized human keratinocyte cells were tested with the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The skin penetration of 10-HDA from
liposomal formulations and royal jelly solution was studied in vitro with Franz type vertical diffusion cells using porcine skin as limiting membrane. As result, small liposomes were achieved, and the efficacy of the obtained nanoformulations was examined by means of in vitro
cell assays with a HaCaT immortalized human keratinocyte cell culture line. Finally, the skin penetration experiments showed that liposomal incorporation greatly increased 10-HDA penetration into skin layers.
Formulation of a Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System of Buckwheat Flavonoids and Evaluation of Its Antimicrobial Activity
Authors: Zhao Zhi-Juan , Cui Xiao-Dong , Ma Xiao-Li , Wang Zhuan-Hua
Published: March 2021

This study was aimed at constructing a self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system of buckwheat flavonoids and evaluating its antimicrobial activity. The construction of the nanoemulsion followed a pseudo-ternary phase diagram, and its particle properties (particle size, zeta potential,
and surface morphology) and physicochemical parameters (turbidity, surface tension, pH value, conductivity, encapsulation efficiency, and stability) were evaluated. The antimicrobial potential of buckwheat flavonoids nanoemulsion was determined against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli,
and Candida albicans and compared to the buckwheat flavonoids suspension. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC) exhibited that the antimicrobial activity of the nanoemulsions and suspension increased while enhancing the drug concentration,
and the antimicrobial activity of nanoemulsion was significantly higher than that of the suspension against those three bacteria. Agar disc diffusion test demonstrated that the inhibition zone diameter of the suspension was about 50% of the nanoemulsion against three bacteria. The time killing
assay indicated that the IC50 of the nanoemulsion was significantly lower than that of the suspension. These results indicate that nanoemulsion is a promising drug delivery system, which can improve the antimicrobial activity of buckwheat flavonoids.
MnO2/rGO Nanocomposites as a Supercapacitor Electrode Material
Authors: Rai Sadhna , Bhujel Rabina , Khadka Meghna , Chetry Rudra lal , Prasad Swain Bibhu , Biswas Joydeep , Tiwari Archana
Published: March 2021

MnO2 nanoparticles were incorporated in reduced graphene oxide (rGO) sheets employing an in-situ, one-step and eco-friendly method. The X-ray diffraction result shows that MnO2 nanoparticles encapsulation increases the interlayer spacing of rGO. The UV-Vis,
FTIR, X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopic studies show that MnO2 nanoparticles are well intercalated within reduced graphene oxide sheets. The electrochemical studies were executed in 0.5 M aqueous sulphuric acid. The maximum ‘specific capacitance’ value for
MnO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite was 152.5 F/g at 0.05 V/s. The MnO2/reduced graphene oxide (MnO2/rGO) nanocomposite sample displayed an excellent charge retention capacity of 92% after 1000 cycles.
Hierarchical Core–Shell Fe3O4@mSiO2@Chitosan Nanoparticles for pH-Responsive Drug Delivery
Authors: Zhang Ning , Jia Chengzheng , Ma Xingyue , Li Jinfeng , Wang Shige , Yue Bingbing , Huang Mingxian
Published: March 2021

Hierarchical nanoparticles are of great interest because they possess unique physicochemical properties and multiple functionalities, providing a wealth of possibilities for various applications. In this work, we have developed a well-designed method to prepare hierarchical magnetic
nanoparticles Fe3O4@mSiO2@CS by integrating a solvothermal method for synthesizing the Fe3O4 core, a dualtemplating micelle system for preparing a layer of mesoporous silica (mSiO2) shell, and a silane coupling method via γ-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane
for binding a chitosan (CS) layer on the silica surface. The porous hierarchical nanoparticles were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic light scattering nanoparticle
size analyzer, and specific surface area and pore size analyzer. The loading capacity and the release behavior of the as-prepared nanoparticles for doxorubicin hydrochloride were studied, and it was found that the drug release rate was faster at pH 6.0 than at pH 7.4, revealing the pH-responsive
property of the nanoparticles.
Enhanced Photodetection in Glancing Angle Deposited One-Dimensional In2O3 Nanorod Array
Authors: Nath Amitabha , Raman Rahul , Robindro Singh Laishram , Sarkar Mitra Barun
Published: March 2021

Glancing angle deposition (GLAD) oriented electron beam (e-beam) evaporation process has been employed to develop 1D In2O3 nanorod array over n-Si substrate. The morphology of as-deposited In2O3 thin film (∼70 nm) and GLAD 1D In2O3
nanorod array (∼400 nm) were explored using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) analysis. The structural analysis were perceived by high-resolution X-ray diffraction (HRXRD)
and atomic force microscopy (AFM) techniques. The clampdown of ∼4.4 fold photoluminescence (PL) emission intensity was observed for In2O3 nanorod array. Metallization were done to measure the current (I)–voltage (V) characteristics for n-Si/In2O3
thin film and n-Si/In2O3 nanorod devices. The In2O3 nanorod device displayed ∼2.2 fold enhancement in current conduction at −4.6 V and an averagely ∼1.1 fold augmentation in photosensitivity were also observed. The photoresponsivity
of ∼28 μA/W, maximum specific detectivity of ∼9.9×107 Jones and low NEP of ∼4.5×10−12 W/√Hz was achieved for the In2O3 nanorod-based photodetectors. The maximum ∼2.5 fold high detectivity and ∼2.4
fold low noise equivalent power (NEP) were perceived for the 1D In2O3 nanorod array detector as compared to the bare In2O3 thin film detector.
Why Trump Lost and How? A Rhetorical Explanation
Authors: Hart Roderick P.
Published: March 2021

Discovering why the 2020 election turned out as it did will, given the complexities of American politics, take considerable time. Discovering how Trump lost and how Biden won will take longer. This article presents an initial foray in the latter direction by subjecting the rhetoric of the campaign to computerized language analysis via the DICTION program. In doing so, this study is the most recent outgrowth of the Campaign Mapping Project, begun at the University of Texas in Austin in 1995 and designed to produce comparative rhetorical data about presidential campaigns from 1948 to the present. The argument being made here is that Donald Trump lost the election by making excessive use of what Richard Hofstadter calls the Paranoid Style. In addition, Trump made exaggerated claims about abstract and unprovable conspiracies, all of which seemed derivative to voters worried about their health and their jobs in 2020. Joe Biden, in contrast, stressed Commonality—the need for shared purpose during a dangerous and dispiriting time. Biden also spoke directly of and to the people, thereby taking a page out of Trump’s own 2016 playbook. In many ways, Donald Trump’s self-preoccupations made him blind to the needs of the electorate, a habit that developed over the course of his presidency and that ultimately cost him his job.
Perpetration and Victimization of Emotional Abuse and Controlling Behaviors in a Sample of Batterer Intervention Program’s Participants: An Analysis of Stressors and Risk Factors
Authors: Solinas-Saunders Monica
Published: March 2021

The study employs a sample of 584 men and women referred to a multisite BIP and investigates IPV risk factors and stressors. The study also identifies unique risk factors and stressors in association with both IPV perpetration and IPV victimization. The findings show that women in the sample were more likely than men to report IPV victimization but the difference between the two groups is only marginally significant. Criminal thinking shows the most robust findings and is significantly associated with both IPV perpetration and IPV victimization. Mental health problems are consistently associated with both IPV perpetration and IPV victimization. The study’s findings are particularly relevant for the design and implementation of BIP that address participants’ needs based on gender.
Not Even Trying to Change the World: Why Do Elite Management Journals Ignore the Major Problems Facing Humanity?
Authors: Harley Bill , Fleming Peter
Published: March 2021

Social scientists have long been concerned with using their research to make the world a better place and there are frequently calls within the management studies community for research which does so. In this essay, we consider the extent to which such concerns and calls are reflected in what is published in elite management journals. We coded approximately 5,500 articles published in “top-tier” management journals between 2008 and 2018 and found that only 2.8% of articles critically addressed global “grand challenges”—such as inequality, climate change, racism, and gender discrimination. This essay explores the possible reasons why. We reject the explanation that management academics are uninterested in major problems facing the world. Our argument instead focuses on the relationship between business school practices and journal norms. We term this the business school/elite journal gridlock. To break the gridlock, a number of changes are recommended.
Bisphenol A Exposure Disrupts Enamel Formation via EZH2-Mediated H3K27me3
Authors: Li H. , Cui D. , Zheng L. , Zhou Y. , Gan L. , Liu Y. , Pan Y. , Zhou X. , Wan M.
Published: March 2021

Enamel formation is a serial and complex biological process, during which related genes are expressed progressively in a spatiotemporal manner. This process is vulnerable to environmental cues, resulting in developmental defects of enamel (DDE). However, how environmental factors are biologically integrated during enamel formation is still poorly understood. Here, we investigated the mechanism of DDE elicited by a model endocrine-disrupting chemical, bisphenol A (BPA), in mouse incisors. We show that BPA exposure leads to DDE in mouse incisors, as well as excessive proliferation in dental epithelial stem/progenitor cells. Western blotting, chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing, and immunofluorescence staining revealed that this effect was accompanied by upregulation of a repressive mark, H3K27me3, in the labial cervical loop of mouse incisors. Perturbation of H3K27me3 methyltransferase EZH2 repressed the level of H3K27me3 and partially attenuated the excessive proliferation in dental epithelial stem/progenitor cells and DDE induced by BPA exposure. Overall, our results demonstrate the essential role of repressive histone modification H3K27me3 in DDE elicited by exposure to an endocrine-disrupting chemical.
ORAOV1-B Promotes OSCC Metastasis via the NF-κB-TNFα Loop
Authors: Luo X. , Jiang Y. , Chen F. , Wei Z. , Qiu Y. , Xu H. , Tian G. , Gong W. , Yuan Y. , Feng H. , Zhong L. , Ji N. , Xu X. , Sun C. , Li T. , Li J. , Feng X. , Deng P. , Zeng X. , Zhou M. , Zhou Y. , Dan H. , Jiang L. , Chen Q.
Published: March 2021

Metastasis, a powerful prognostic indicator of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC), is chiefly responsible for poor cancer outcomes. Despite an increasing number of studies examining the mechanisms underlying poor outcomes, the development of potent strategies is hindered by insufficient characterization of the crucial regulators. Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have recently been gaining interest as significant modulators of OSCC metastasis; however, the detailed mechanisms underlying lncRNA-mediated OSCC metastasis remain relatively uncharacterized. Here, we identified a novel alternative splice variant of oral cancer overexpressed 1 ( ORAOV1), named as ORAOV1-B, which was subsequently validated as an lncRNA and correlated with OSCC lymph node metastasis; significantly increased invasion and migration were observed in ORAOV1-B–overexpressing OSCC cells. RNA pulldown and mass spectrometry identified Hsp90 as a direct target of ORAOV1-B, and cDNA microarrays suggested TNFα as a potential downstream target of ORAOV1-B. ORAOV1-B was shown to directly bind to and stabilize Hsp90, which maintains the function of client proteins, receptor-interaction protein, and IκB kinase beta, thus activating the NF-κB pathway and inducing TNFα. Additionally, TNFα reciprocally enhanced p-NF-κB-p65 and the downstream epithelial-mesenchymal transition. ORAOV1-B effects were reversed by a TNFα inhibitor, demonstrating that TNFα is essential for ORAOV1-B–regulated metastatic ability. Consistent epithelial-mesenchymal transition in the ORAOV1-B group was demonstrated via an orthotopic model. In the metastatic model, ORAOV1-B significantly contributed to OSCC-related lung metastasis. In summary, the novel splice variant ORAOV1-B is an lncRNA, which significantly potentiates OSCC invasion and metastasis by binding to Hsp90 and activating the NF-κB-TNFα loop. These findings demonstrate the versatile role of ORAOV1 family members and the significance of genes located within 11q13 in promoting OSCC. ORAOV1-B might serve as an attractive OSCC metastasis intervention target.
Event-triggered consensus control of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems under denial-of-service attacks
Authors: Shang Yu , Liu Cheng-Lin , Cao Ke-Cai
Published: March 2021

This paper investigates the event-triggered consensus problem of second-order nonlinear multi-agent systems subject to denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, which make the communication network unable to provide normal services. Considering a general class of DoS attack with limited duration, a novel distributed event-triggered consensus protocol accompanied with first-order hold is adopted to guarantee the globally bounded consensus convergence under directed network topology. Based on the linear matrix inequality approach and Lyapunov stability method, consensus converging properties are analysed and sufficient criteria are obtained. Furthermore, Zeno-free triggering of our proposed protocol is demonstrated. Finally, a numerical simulation is given to show the effectiveness of our theoretical results.
Observer-based adaptive control of robot manipulators using reinforcement learning and the Fourier series expansion
Authors: Khodamipour Gholamreza , Khorashadizadeh Saeed , Farshad Mohsen
Published: March 2021

Designing observer-controller structures for nonlinear system with unknown dynamics such as robotic systems is among popular research fields in control engineering. The novelty of this paper is in presenting an observer-based model-free controller for robot manipulators using reinforcement learning (RL). The proposed controller calculates the desired motor voltages that fulfil a satisfactory tracking performance. Moreover, the uncertainties and nonlinearities in the observer model and RL controller are estimated and compensated for by using the Fourier series expansion. Simulation results and comparison with the previous related works (extended state observer and radial basis function neural networks) indicate the satisfactory performance of the proposed method.
Molar ratios of dietary phytate to minerals and iron status of female residential students in University of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Authors: Sultana Marjia , Hasan Towhid , Shaheen Nazma
Published: March 2021

Background:

Female undergraduate students may undergo many health implications due to the transition from secondary to undergraduate level.

Aim:

The study was aimed to assess molar ratios of phytate to minerals (calcium, zinc, and iron) in the diets, and to measure the iron status of resident female students at Dhaka University.

Methods:

In total, 180 female students between 18–26 years of age from 3 dormitories of Dhaka University were selected for the study. Dietary intake information was collected over three consecutive days. Multiple-Pass 24-hour recall. Blood hemoglobin and serum ferritin levels were analyzed for sub-sample (20 participants from each dormitory).

Results:

The mean dietary intake of phytate, calcium, zinc, and iron were estimated at 347.11, 181.04, 6.59, and 7.14 mg/day, and hemoglobin and serum ferritin at 11.34 g/dl, and 18.48 ng/ml, respectively. The respective molar ratios of phytate: calcium, phytate: zinc, phytate: iron and phytate × calcium: zinc were 0.13, 5.27, 4.20, and 21.26 in the diet of the respondents. The prevalence of anemia, iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia among the respondents was found to be 51.7%, 48.4%, and 28.3%, respectively. Linear regression analysis showed that only zinc intake had positive association with hemoglobin, while iron and zinc intake had a significant positive, and phytate:iron molar ratio had a significant negative association with serum ferritin concentration ( p < 0.05). After adjusting all significant determinants of serum ferritin, no predictors have found significant.

Conclusions:

Larger and more specific research is needed to clearly understand the mechanism behind anemia and iron deficiency among female residential students.
The associations between vision level and early hand use in children aged 6–36 months with visual impairment: A cross-sectional, historical case note review
Authors: Smyth Julia , Richardson Jim , Salt Alison
Published: March 2021

Vision level varies within the population of children born with visual impairment (VI). Children with profound visual impairment (PVI – with light awareness at best) are more developmentally vulnerable than peers born with typical sight or those with severe visual impairment (SVI – basic form vision). Many children with VI are dependent on their hand skills to support their development. However, the impact of vision level on the development of hand use is poorly understood. The aim of the study was to describe the associations between vision level and early hand use in children between 6 and 36 months of age with SVI and PVI. A historical case note review, including video footage of 19 children with SVI ([Formula: see text] = 19 months) and 12 children with PVI ([Formula: see text] = 16 months), was completed. Hand use was observed while the children completed the Reynell-Zinkin Scales. Observations were recorded using a data collection tool designed for the study. The tool included a checklist of developmentally appropriate hand skills expected to emerge in the first 3 years of life. The observer marked each skill as present, absent or emerging in the video clips. Children with SVI used 80.2% (95% confidence interval [CI] = [75.0, 87.5]) of the hand skills under observation. Those with PVI used 57.1% (95% CI = [46.4, 67.9]) of these skills. Vision level and hand use were positively correlated: rs  = .564 (95% CI = [.263, .765]), p < .01. This correlation was stronger than the association between developmental level and hand use: r  = .364 (95% CI = [.012, .636]), p < .05. Furthermore, 15.8% (95% CI = [0.0, 31.6]) of the children with SVI and 66.7% (95% CI = [41.7, 91.7]) with PVI showed some reluctance to touch objects ( p < .05) by withdrawing their hands actively from items offered to them. Vision level and developmental level influenced hand use; however, vision level appeared to have the greater impact. Interventions that are tailored to promote hand use according to vision level have the potential to improve functional participation.
User Involvement in the Design and Development of Patient Decision Aids and Other Personal Health Tools: A Systematic Review
Authors: Vaisson Gratianne , Provencher Thierry , Dugas Michèle , Trottier Marie-Ève , Chipenda Dansokho Selma , Colquhoun Heather , Fagerlin Angela , Giguere Anik M. C. , Hakim Hina , Haslett Lynne , Hoffman Aubri S. , Ivers Noah M. , Julien Anne-Sophie , Légaré France , Renaud Jean-Sébastien , Stacey Dawn , Volk Robert J. , Witteman Holly O.
Published: March 2021

Background

When designing and developing patient decision aids, guidelines recommend involving patients and stakeholders. There are myriad ways to do this. We aimed to describe how such involvement occurs by synthesizing reports of patient decision aid design and development within a user-centered design framework and to provide context by synthesizing reports of user-centered design applied to other personal health tools.

Methods

We included articles describing at least one development step of 1) a patient decision aid, 2) user- or human-centered design of another personal health tool, or 3) evaluation of these. We organized data within a user-centered design framework comprising 3 elements in iterative cycles: understanding users, developing/refining prototype, and observing users.

Results

We included 607 articles describing 325 patient decision aid projects and 65 other personal health tool projects. Fifty percent of patient decision aid projects reported involving users in at least 1 step for understanding users, 35% in at least 1 step for developing/refining the prototype, and 84% in at least 1 step for observing users’ interaction with the prototype. In comparison, other personal health tool projects reported 91%, 49%, and 92%, respectively. A total of 74% of patient decision aid projects and 92% of other personal health tool projects reported iterative processes, both with a median of 3 iterative cycles. Preliminary evaluations such as usability or feasibility testing were reported in 66% of patient decision aid projects and 89% of other personal health tool projects.

Conclusions

By synthesizing design and development practices, we offer evidence-based portraits of user involvement. Those wishing to further align patient decision aid design and development with user-centered design methods could involve users earlier, design and develop iteratively, and report processes in greater detail.
Connecting Smallholders’ Marketplace Decisions to Agricultural Market Reform Policy in India – An Empirical Exploration
Authors: Argade Aashish , Laha Arnab Kumar , Jaiswal Anand Kumar
Published: March 2021

Governments in developing countries have attempted to reform inefficient agricultural markets through direct interventions, market-oriented approaches, and institutional mechanisms, with one of the aims being improving the lot of smallholder farmers. However, such interventions often fell short of yielding desired results, perhaps because broad macro objectives failed to take into account micro-level processes. This study examines smallholder farmers’ market selection decisions and attempts to establish if these have a bearing on legislative goals of agricultural marketing reforms. Analysis of survey data using binary logistic regression, reveals that farmers choose between two prominent marketplaces – APMC and farm gate – on the basis of factors such as perishability of produce, quality testing infrastructure at the marketplace, and services provided by buyers such as grading and sorting or transportation. Findings are reinforced by an extended part of the study where farmers ranked assumptive marketplace scenarios developed by incorporating different marketplace features. Results demonstrate the possibility of enabling systemic changes in agricultural markets by catering to grassroots decision mechanisms. Implications for policy and relevant players engaged in agricultural markets are discussed.
Developing a theoretical framework for exploring the institutional responses to the Athena SWAN Charter in higher education institutions—A feminist institutionalist perspective
Authors: O’Mullane Monica
Published: March 2021

Why does the institutional response of higher education institutions to a ‘potentially institutionally transformative’ gender equality programme such as the Athena SWAN (AS) Charter matter? If a higher education institution seeks and attains the AS award, then the institutional response would be to embed the Charter’s action plans thoroughly without resistance or variation across higher education institutional contexts? These are the initial and broader reflective questions underpinning and inspiring this article. The reality is that the Athena SWAN Charter actions and commitments are not simply installed into the technical rules and procedures of higher education institutions, resulting in the organisational and cultural change it seeks. It is argued in this article that applying a feminist institutionalist lens, which deals with the exchange between formal and informal rules, norms and practices, and the roles played by actors working with the rules – the micro-foundations of gendered institutions – will inform our understanding of how a change programme such as Athena SWAN can instil institutional change- if any change. This article details a theoretical framework, drawing from the FI perspective, which will be applied to an empirical study exploring the institutional responses of higher education institutions to the Athena SWAN process in Ireland.
Does Carotid Artery Tortuosity Play a Role in Stroke?
Authors: Saba Luca , Sanfilippo Roberto , Suri Jasjit S. , Cademartiri Filippo , Corrias Giuseppe , Mannelli Lorenzo , Zucca Serena , Senis Ignazio , Montisci Roberto , Wintermark Max
Published: March 2021

Purpose:

To explore the association between carotid artery length and tortuosity, and the occurrence of stroke.

Material and Methods:

In this retrospective study, IRB approved, 411 consecutive patients (males: 245; median age: 56 ± 12 years, age range: 21-93 years) with anterior circulation ischemic stroke were included. Only patients that underwent CTA within 7 days were considered and stroke caused by cardiac embolism and thoracic aorta embolism were excluded. For each patient, both carotid arteries were considered, and the ICA, CCA-ICA length and tortuosity were calculated. Inter-observer analysis was quantified with the Bland-Altman test. Mann-Whitney test and logistic regression analysis were also calculated to test the association between length and tortuosity with the occurrence of stroke.

Results:

In the final analysis, 166 patients (males: 72; median age: 54 ± 12 years, age range: 24-89 years) with anterior circulation ischemic stroke that were admitted to our hospital between February 2008 and December 2013 were included. The results showed a good concordance for the length of the vessels with a mean variation of 0.7% and 0.5% for CCA-ICA and ICA length respectively an for the tortuosity with a mean variation of 0.2% and -0.4% for CCA-ICA and ICA respectively. The analysis shows a statistically significant association between the tortuosity index of the ICA and CCA-ICA sides with stroke ( P value = 0.0001 in both cases) and these findings were confirmed also with the logistic regression analysis.

Conclusion:

Results of this study suggest that tortuosity index is associated with the presence of stroke whereas the length of the carotid arteries does not play a significant role.
Argatroban Anticoagulation for Adult Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation: A Systematic Review
Authors: Geli Janos , Capoccia Massimo , Maybauer Dirk M. , Maybauer Marc O.
Published: March 2021

Background:

Heparin is the widely used anti-coagulation strategy for patients on extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO). Nevertheless, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) and acquired anti-thrombin (AT) deficiency preclude the use of heparin requiring utilization of an alternative anticoagulant agent. Direct thrombin inhibitors are being proposed as potential alternatives with argatroban as one of the main agents. We aimed to review the evidence with regard to safety and efficacy of argatroban as a potential definitive alternative to heparin in the adult patient population undergoing ECMO support.

Methods:

A web-based systematic literature search was performed in Medline (PubMed) and Embase from inception until June 18, 2020.

Results:

The search identified 13 publications relevant to the target (4 cohort studies and 9 case series). Case reports and case series with less than 3 cases were not included in the qualitative synthesis. The aggregate number of argatroban treated patients on ECMO was n = 307. In the majority of studies argatroban was used as a continuous infusion without loading dose. Starting doses on ECMO varied between 0.05 and 2 μg/kg/min and were titrated to achieve the chosen therapeutic target range. The activated partial thormboplastin time (aPTT) was the anticoagulation parameter used for monitoring purposes in most studies, whereas some utilized the activated clotting time (ACT). Optimal therapeutic targets varied between 43-70 and 60-100 seconds for aPTT and between 150-210 and 180-230 seconds for ACT. Bleeding and thromboembolic complication rates were comparable to patients treated with unfractionated heparin (UFH).

Conclusions:

Argatroban infusion rates and anticoagulation target ranges showed substantial variations. The rational for divergent dosing and monitoring approaches are discussed in this paper. Argatroban appears to be a potential alternative to UFH in patients requiring ECMO. To definitively establish its safety, efficacy and ideal dosing strategy, larger prospective studies on well-defined patient populations are warranted.
Age dependence of brachial cuff-based ambulatory PWV in end-stage kidney disease patients undergoing long-term peritoneal dialysis
Authors: Vaios Vasilios , Georgianos Panagiotis I , Vareta Georgia , Divanis Dimitrios , Dounousi Evangelia , Eleftheriadis Theodoros , Papagianni Aikaterini , Zebekakis Pantelis E , Liakopoulos Vassilios
Published: March 2021

Background:

The newly introduced device Mobil-O-Graph (IEM, Stolberg, Germany) combines brachial cuff oscillometry and pulse wave analysis, enabling the determination of pulse wave velocity (PWV) via complex mathematic algorithms during 24-h ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM). However, the determinants of oscillometric PWV in the end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) population remain poorly understood.

Methods:

In this study, 81 ESKD patients undergoing long-term peritoneal dialysis underwent 24-h ABPM with the Mobil-O-Graph device. The association of 24-h oscillometric PWV with several demographic, clinical and haemodynamic parameters was explored using linear regression analysis.

Results:

In univariate analysis, among 21 risk factors, 24-h PWV exhibited a positive relationship with age, body mass index, overhydration assessed via bioimpedance spectroscopy, diabetic status, history of dyslipidaemia and coronary heart disease, and it had a negative relationship with female sex and 24-h heart rate. In stepwise multivariate analysis, age ( β: 0.883), 24-h systolic blood pressure (BP) ( β: 0.217) and 24-h heart rate ( β: −0.083) were the only three factors that remained as independent determinants of 24-h PWV (adjusted R 2 = 0.929). These associations were not modified when all 21 risk factors were analysed conjointly or when the model included only variables shown to be significant in univariate comparisons.

Conclusion:

The present study shows that age together with simultaneously assessed oscillometric BP and heart rate are the major determinants of Mobil-O-Graph-derived PWV, explaining >90% of the total variation of this marker. This age dependence of oscillometric PWV limits the validity of this marker to detect the premature vascular ageing, a unique characteristic of vascular remodelling in ESKD.
Investigation on flow field and heat transfer characteristics of film cooling with different swirling directions for coolant flow
Authors: Zhang Jian , Zheng Qun , Yue Guoqiang , Jiang Yuting
Published: March 2021

In this paper, a hexagonal prism inlet chamber is used to form a swirling flow for the film cooling, and three kinds of compound angle of film hole ( γ = 10°, 20°, 30°) with clockwise swirling or counterclockwise swirling are used for numerical simulation studies. The influence of different compound angles of film hole and the swirling directions for the film cooling effectiveness are obtained. The results show that the film cooling effectiveness and spanwise cooling coverage range of the clockwise swirling or counterclockwise swirling flow both are low when the compound angle of film hole is 10°. With the increasing compound angle of film hole, the kidney shaped vortex of film hole exit gradually weakens until it disappears, which reduces the entrainment effect by the coolant jet. So that the spanwise coverage range of two swirling modes is obviously improved. When the compound angle of film hole is 30° compared to 10°, the average spanwise film cooling effectiveness of clockwise swirling and counterclockwise swirling are increased by about 133.75 and 212.6%, respectively. The average spanwise film cooling effectiveness on the downstream of film hole for counterclockwise swirling is increased by about 140% compared with clockwise swirling.
School nurses’ engagement and care ethics in promoting adolescent health
Authors: Hilli Yvonne , Pedersen Gunnel
Published: March 2021

Background:

The school is a key environment for establishing good health habits among pupils. School nurses play a prominent role in health promotion, since they meet with every single adolescent.

Research aim:

To describe care ethics in the context of school nurses’ health-promoting activities among adolescents in secondary schools.

Research design:

An explorative descriptive methodology in which semi-structured interviews were used to collect data and content analysis was performed.

Participants and research context:

Data were collected from eight school nurses in a municipality in Western Sweden.

Ethical considerations:

This study was conducted according to the ethical principles of the Swedish Research Council (2011), and the written informed consent of the participants was obtained.

Findings/discussion:

A caring relation, based on care ethics, is the basis for successful health-promoting activities among adolescents. The school nurses show strong engagement in and commitment to caring for and caring about adolescents by being attentive and listening to their expressed feelings and needs, both spoken and unspoken. Furthermore, the school nurses have a deep sense of responsibility in supporting and empowering adolescents to trust their own capabilities. To enhance health and well-being, school nurses emphasize low-threshold counselling, flexibility, openness, early intervention and continuity, as well as good collaboration with the health team at school and with parents.

Conclusion:

Strengthening person-centred healthcare can provide adolescents with the recognition and support they need to grow into healthy adults. For successful health promotion, all aspects of the ethics of care should be considered as part of an integrated whole based on the integrity of care.
Subnational Enterprise: Militarized Mothering, Women’s Entrepreneurial Labour and Generational Dynamics in the Gorkhaland Struggle
Authors: Sen Debarati
Published: March 2021

This article posits that gendered militarized labour, women’s everyday entrepreneurialism and political mobilizations around subnational autonomy are intricately linked. To understand the relationship between these entities, one needs to zero in on the generational dynamics of women’s collective engagement in upholding the martial identity of Gorkhas, and the consequences of such preoccupation on the legibility of Gorkha subjects vis-à-vis the Indian state. To locate the specificity of women’s collective engagements with Gorkhaland, I propose a de-essentialized intersectional perspective in drawing up my framework of ‘subnational enterprise’. I draw from Black Feminist scholarship on the nuances of mothering and community work, strains of Feminist International Relations perspectives that attend to the invisibility of gendered labour in situations of conflict, and the emerging feminist work on entrepreneurialism which emphasize its socio-psychological aspects. My framework of subnational enterprise draws on 16 years of longitudinal ethnographic work in urban and rural areas of Darjeeling, and in this piece, I draw on life history interviews as well as unstructured interviews with men and women in Darjeeling. I advocate for grounded explorations of the relationship between militarization, discourses of belonging and gender identity to explain how right and left agendas jostle within a regional autonomy movement.
Institutional Quality and Trade Flow: Empirical Evidence from Malaysia and Other OIC Member Countries in Africa
Authors: Yusuf Hammed Agboola , Afolabi Luqman Olanrewaju , Shittu Waliu Olawale , Gold Kafilah Lola , Muhammad Murtala
Published: March 2021

This article examines the impact of institutional quality on bilateral trade flow between Malaysia and selected 25 African Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) member countries. Four institutional qualities were selected from World Governance Indicators with other trade predictors from the period from 1985 to 2016. Using gravity model of trade and Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood estimation method (PPML) technique, the results confirm that government effectiveness, regulatory quality and political stability have an adverse effect on bilateral trade flow among the OIC countries in Africa. On the other hand, these institutional quality variables were considered as a strength for Malaysian economic growth. Therefore, better institutional quality reforms are needed among OIC member countries in Africa in order to accelerate trade, economic growth and development in their region.
Fear of Sexual Harassment and Its Impact on Safety Perceptions in Transit Environments: A Global Perspective
Authors: Ceccato Vania , Loukaitou-Sideris Anastasia
Published: March 2021

This study reports variation in safety perceptions in transit environments, based on samples of university students in 18 cities on six continents who responded to an identical 45-question survey ( N= 13,323 university students). We explore potential links between students’ fears and sexual victimization and conclude that sexual harassment affects their behavior and mobility. Student mobility was affected by avoidance strategies prompting some transit riders to travel at particular times, on travel routes and settings that are deemed especially risky, or even avoiding using transit completely. Findings highlight the importance of city–country contexts for transit safety.
Learning About Learning in Tourism: Indigenous Guide Perspectives on Their Personal and Professional Development
Authors: Albrecht Julia N. , Moscardo Gianna , Dwyer Trisha
Published: March 2021

This empirically based article examines guides’ knowledge and skills acquisition. Using two cultural tourism attractions in New Zealand as field sites, the focus is on guides in cultural tourism contexts. Twenty-one semistructured in-depth interviews with guides and managers were conducted and analyzed using a social constructivist perspective. This article is thus among the first to add the voices of (Indigenous) guides to the discussions of guide knowledge acquisition and learning. The relevance of previous personal experience of guides, conceptualized as informal experiential (practice-based) learning and lifelong learning, is identified as critical in guided tour content selection and delivery, as well as in engagement with participants of a guided tour experience. Implications address power relationships, ownership of information and stories, and credibility of a message in (Indigenous) cultural tourism; the need to focus on recruitment of guides, and a call for perceiving guides as humans with a sophisticated, demanding, interpersonal role.
The identification of multi-hazard situations in elementary school
Authors: Widowati Evi , Istiono Wahyudi , Sutomo Adi Heru
Published: March 2021

This study aimed to identify various hazard risks which are related to children in schools. This study used a quantitative descriptive design. The sampling technique used was four stage stratified random sampling, with 329 elementary schools as the sample. The results identified various dangerous situations which are related to children and schools ranging from infectious diseases, natural disasters, violence against children and the dangers due to the absence of adequate safety at school. Dangers from natural disasters which could be identified were earthquake, volcano, flood, hurricane landslide, and drought as well as potential biological hazards such as contagion and caterpillar outbreak. Additionally, the dangers related to violence against children were fighting, extortion, physical violence, psychological violence, sexual violence, bullying, and stealing. Related to safety aspects at schools, there were dangerous situations caused by the activities of the children themselves which caused injuries, or other technical causes, such as fire, falling buildings/falling trees, food poisoning, and infectious diseases.
Introduction: A Xi change in policy?
Authors: Breslin Shaun , Zhongqi Pan
Published: March 2021

Have China’s international relations changed fundamentally under Xi Jinping? Or is it rather a matter of heading in the same direction as before, but with a considerable increase in pace accompanied by a greater confidence in outlining where this journey is taking China (and as a consequence, the world as well)? This introduction outlines some of the collective conclusions of the special issue as a whole, and in explaining the rationale for constructing it, pays tribute to John Peterson’s contribution and support.
Physicomechanical and design characteristics of surface high-entropy alloys
Authors: Rusinov Peter , Blednova Zhesfina
Published: March 2021

We investigated the phase composition of high-entropy shape memory alloys CoCuTiZrHf, NiCoTiZrHf, NiCuTiZrHf, ZrCuNiCoTi, TiNiZrHfCoCu after HVOF, thermomechanical treatment and thermal cycling.

We have also developed criteria for calculating the energy capacity, enthalpy, entropy, theoretical strength of high-entropy alloys, taking into account the chemical composition and structural-phase state according to the results of X-ray phase analysis. We proposed a criterion for assessing the damageability of high-entropy alloys. The article describes calculations of energy consumption, entropy, enthalpy, theoretical strength of high-entropy alloys CoCuTiZrHf, NiCoTiZrHf, NiCuTiZrHf, ZrCuNiCoTi, TiNiZrHfCoCu both after HVOF and after thermomechanical treatment.

After full-scale mechanical tests of surface-modified layers of high-entropy materials for bending with rotation, we obtained experimental values of cyclic durability and plotted fatigue curves. The calculated assessment of the cyclic durability was carried out according to the developed mathematical criteria. We calculated the damageability of high-entropy alloys and constructed the graphical curves of the dependence of the damageability on the cyclic life.