bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Maternal dietary pattern and its association with birthweight in Northern Ethiopia: A hospital‐based cross‐sectional study
Authors: Weldegebriel Selamawit Gebreyohannes , Beyene Selemawit Asfaw , Tela Freweini Gebrearegay , Gufue Zenawi Hagos , Hailu Helen Teweldebrhan
Published: April 2023

Birthweight is a useful public health measure of maternal health, nutrition, healthcare delivery, and child morbidity and mortality. Previous research did not focus on dietary patterns but rather on a single or a few foods or nutrients. This study aimed to assess the maternal dietary pattern and its association with birthweight in northern Ethiopia. A hospital‐based cross‐sectional study was conducted among 373 pregnant mothers in their third trimester of pregnancy who came to attend their routine antenatal care service. The food frequency questionnaire was collected from the previous week, and the birthweight data were collected from the medical records after delivery. Three maternal dietary patterns were identified; dietary pattern includes eggs, milk, milk products, and certain fruits and roots. Dietary pattern 2 includes certain vegetables, green leafy vegetables, vitamin A‐rich vegetables, pulses such as beans, peas, and chickpeas, and drinks like coffee, tea, and soda. Dietary pattern 3 includes meat, nuts, and grains such as teff, corn, wheat, and white flour. Dietary pattern 1 (β = 52.45, p = .03) and dietary pattern 2 (β = 66.76, p = .01), residency (β = 287.08, p < .001), a mid‐upper‐arm circumference of 21–23 cm (β = 187.10, p = .02), a mid‐upper‐arm circumference of >23 cm (β = 272, p = .01), and gestational age at delivery (β = 12.58, p = .004) were the factors significantly associated with increased birthweight. The maternal dietary pattern has a significant association with birthweight. The focus should be given to maternal dietary patterns to prevent suboptimal and high birthweight.
Malignant Melanoma: Differential Diagnosis of the Pigmented Lesion
Authors: Perez Ileana R. , Fenske Neil A. , Brozena Stephen J.
Published: April 2023

Familiarity with the clinical signs of malignant melanoma can result in earlier recognition and thus potentially decrease both patient morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, several cutaneous tumors, both benign and malignant, have clinical similarities to this neoplasm, often making the correct diagnosis difficult.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the clinical characteristics of the different types of malignant melanoma and those lesions that mimic this ominous malignancy. Furthermore, diagnostic clues to help delineate between these various pigmented lesions are provided.
Identification of Lymphatic Drainage Basins in Patients With Cutaneous Melanoma
Authors: Norman James , Wells Karen , Kearney Robert , Cruse C. Wayne , Berman Claudia , Reintgen Douglas
Published: April 2023

Lymphoscintigraphy has been shown to be of assistance in predicting lymphatic basins at risk for the development of metastatic disease in patients with cutaneous malignant melanoma. To further establish the efficacy of this method, 212 patients presenting to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute at the University of South Florida with primary melanoma of the head, neck, and trunk have been studied. All patients had clinical stage 1 or 2 melanoma and were candidates for elective lymph node dissection. Drainage patterns identified by lymphoscintigraphy were compared to those predicted by historical anatomical guidelines and were found to be discordant in 63% of patients with tumors of the head and neck, and in 32% of those with primary lesions located on the trunk. Operative intervention was changed because of these findings in 47% of all patients, with 19% undergoing dissection of nonclassical lymph node basins. An additional 28% did not have a node dissection because of failure of the scintigram to demonstrate a predominant drainage basin or the demonstration of multiple drainage sites. After a mean follow‐up of 2.8 years, there have been no recurrences in basins not positive by lymphoscintigraphy. The lymphatic drainage from cutaneous melanoma of the head, neck, and trunk cannot be reliably predicted by clinical judgment or classic anatomic guidelines, and lymphoscintigraphy is indicated in these patients prior to elective lymph node dissection.
Inflammation and hypertension: Underlying mechanisms and emerging understandings
Authors: Aboukhater Diana , Morad Bassel , Nasrallah Nadim , Nasser Suzanne A. , Sahebkar Amirhossein , Kobeissy Firas , Boudaka Ammar , Eid Ali H.
Published: April 2023

Hypertension remains a major contributor to cardiovascular disease (CVD), a leading cause of global death. One of the major insults that drive increased blood pressure is inflammation. While it is the body's defensive response against some homeostatic imbalances, inflammation, when dysregulated, can be very deleterious. In this review, we highlight and discuss the causative relationship between inflammation and hypertension. We critically discuss how the interplay between inflammation and reactive oxygen species evokes endothelial damage and dysfunction, ultimately leading to narrowing and stiffness of blood vessels. This, along with phenotypic switching of the vascular smooth muscle cells and the abnormal increase in extracellular matrix deposition further exacerbates arterial stiffness and noncompliance. We also discuss how hyperhomocysteinemia and microRNA act as links between inflammation and hypertension. The premises we discuss suggest that the blue‐sky scenarios for targeting the underlying mechanisms of hypertension necessitate further research.
Effects of synthetic acid rain and organic and inorganic acids on survival and CaCO3 piercing stylets in tardigrades
Authors: Massa Edoardo , Rebecchi Lorena , Guidetti Roberto
Published: April 2023

Long‐term environment acidifications due to decrease pH of the rainwaters affect both soils and water bodies. The organisms most likely to be affected by acid rain are the ones that possess vital organs made of calcium carbonate; among them are tardigrades, presenting aragonite piercing stylets in feeding apparatuses. A positive relationship between acidic rainfall and loss of tardigrades diversity has been already shown, but there is lack of knowledge of its lethal and sublethal effects. This study quantifies the effects of the acute exposure of three eutardigrade, Acutuncus antarcticus, Hypsibius exemplaris, and Macrobiotus cf. hufelandi, to synthetic acid rains and to organic and inorganic acids (hydrochloric, acetic, sulfuric, and nitric acids) naturally occurring in the environment. The cumulative proportion of dead animals in respect of exposition time was fitted to cumulative Weibull Distribution using a Bayesian framework. At the end of the experiments, animals were observed to investigate damages to their piercing stylets. Besides, stylets were finely morphologically described with Scanning Electron Microscopy. This study shows that acid rains and the other tested acids negatively affect tardigrades accordingly with pH, time of exposure, and tardigrade species. Freshwater species show a better resistance to acidity than the moss dwelling species, which can better acclimate over the time to low pH. The stylets resulted unaltered in almost all of the alive specimens. The results suggest that the tested tardigrades taxa have the ability to buffer the environmental proton change and the negative effect on their populations could be counteracted.
Associations of habitual glucosamine use with SARS‐CoV‐2 infection and hospital admission and death with COVID‐19: Evidence from a large population based cohort study
Authors: Meng Meijun , Wu Yanjun , Sha Weihong , Zeng Ruijie , Luo Dongling , Jiang Rui , Wu Huihuan , Zhuo Zewei , Yang Qi , Li Jingwei , Leung Felix W. , Duan Chongyang , Feng Yuliang , Chen Hao
Published: April 2023

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic has led to a fundamental number of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Glucosamine was indicated to help prevent and control RNA virus infection preclinically, while its potential therapeutic effects on COVID‐19‐related outcomes are largely unknown. To assess the association of habitual glucosamine use with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) infection, hospital admission, and mortality with COVID‐19 in a large population based cohort. Participants from UK Biobank were reinvited between June and September 2021 to have SARS‐CoV‐2 antibody testing. The associations between glucosamine use and the risk of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection were estimated by logistic regression. Hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for COVID‐19‐related outcomes were calculated using COX proportional hazards model. Furthermore, we carried out propensity‐score matching (PSM) and stratified analyses. At baseline, 42 673 (20.7%) of the 205 704 participants reported as habitual glucosamine users. During median follow‐up of 1.67 years, there were 15 299 cases of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection, 4214 cases of COVID‐19 hospital admission, and 1141 cases of COVID‐19 mortality. The fully adjusted odds ratio of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection with glucosamine use was 0.96 (95% CI: 0.92–1.01). The fully adjusted HR were 0.80 (95% CI: 0.74–0.87) for hospital admission, and 0.81 (95% CI: 0.69–0.95) for mortality. The logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard analyses after PSM yielded consistent results. Our study demonstrated that habitual glucosamine use is associated with reduced risks of hospital admission and death with COVID‐19, but not the incidence of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.
Perturbations by lower order terms do not destroy the global hypoellipticity of certain systems of pseudodifferential operators defined on torus
Authors: Ferra Igor Ambo , Petronilho Gerson
Published: April 2023

We introduce a new class of smooth pseudodifferential operators on the torus whose calculus allows us to show that global hypoellipticity with a finite loss of derivatives of certain systems of pseudodifferential operators is stable under perturbations by lower order systems of pseudodifferential operators whose order depends on the loss of derivatives. We also present some applications.
Necessary and sufficient conditions for mean‐square bounded consensus of multiagent systems with additive noise
Authors: Luo Mei , Wang JinRong , O'Regan Donal
Published: April 2023

Motivated from the mean‐square bounded consensus (MSBD) problem of multiagent systems (MASs) with additive noise, this paper studies the joint influence of the agent dynamic structure and communication topology on the consensus. The necessary condition of MSBD is given under the output‐based consensus protocol, which is also sufficient under some mild conditions. Furthermore, the upper consensus bound is given via the solution of the Lyapunov equation. Finally, simulation results are provided to illustrate the theoretical results.
Can neurological soft signs and neurocognitive deficits serve as a combined endophenotype for Han Chinese with bipolar disorder?
Authors: Feng Yingying , Song Jia , Lin Guorong , Qian Hong , Feng Li , Wang Zongqin , Wen Juan , Wang Chengchen , Wang Jiayuan , Li Peifu , Gao Zuohui , Wang Xiaoli , Hu Xiaohua
Published: April 2023

Background

Bipolar disorder's (BD) potential endophenotypes include neurological soft signs (NSS) and neurocognitive disorders (ND). Few research, meanwhile, has coupled NSS and ND as combined endophenotypes of BD.

Object

This study intends to investigate NSS and ND and compare their differences in euthymic patients with bipolar disorder (EBP), their unaffected first‐degree relatives (FDR), and healthy controls (HC). Additionally, search for potential endophenotypic subprojects of NSS and ND and construct and verify a composite endophenotypic.

Methods

The subjects were all Han Chinese and consisted of 86 EBP, 81 FDR, and 81HC. Cambridge Neurological Inventory and MATRICSTM Consensus Cognitive Battery tested NSS and ND independently.

Results

All three groups displayed a trapezoidal distribution of NSS levels and cognitive abnormalities, with EBP having the most severe NSS levels and cognitive deficits, followed by FDR and HC. Among them, motor coordination in NSS and Information processing speed (IPS), Verbal learning (VL), and Working memory (WM) in neurocognitive function are consistent with the traits of the endophenotype of BD. The accuracy in differentiating EBP and HC or FDRs and HC was higher when these items were combined as predictor factors than in differentiating EBP and FDR.

Conclusion

These results provide more evidence that motor coordination, IPS, VL, and WM may be internal characteristics of bipolar disease. When these characteristics are combined into a complex endophenotype, it may be possible to distinguish BD patients and high‐risk groups from normal populations.
Cumulus‐oocyte complexes from sows show differences in lipid metabolism compared to cumulus‐oocyte complexes from prepubertal gilts during in vitro maturation
Authors: Silva Thainara C. F. , Dode Margot A. N. , Braga Thiago F. , Marques Mariana G. , Vargas Luna Nascimento , de Faria Otávio Augusto Costa , de Souza Andressa P. , Albring Daniela , Caetano Alexandre R. , Franco Maurício M.
Published: April 2023

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of donor age on lipid metabolism during in vitro maturation (IVM) of pigs cumulus‐oocyte complexes (COCs). We evaluated transcript levels of genes, the percentage of ooplasm occupied by lipid droplets (LD) and evaluated DNA methylation in COCs from sows and prepubertal gilts. Transcript levels of six genes (ACACA, ACSS2, FASN, FABP3, SLC27A4, PLIN2), which were analyzed in cumulus cells (CCs), increased after 44 h of IVM in the sow group. In the gilt group, only FASN expression increased, while NR3C1 expression decreased after IVM. The measurement of LD in oocytes showed an accumulation of lipids in sow oocytes during IVM, while gilt oocytes showed a decrease in LD. FABP3 and NR3C1 methylation patterns exhibited a demethylation pattern in CCs and oocytes from gilts and sows and showed statistical differences between groups. CCs from sows had a better capacity to change transcription levels of the major genes involved in lipid metabolism during IVM than CCs from gilts. This difference may be involved in accumulation of lipids, acquisition of competence, and maturation of enclosed oocytes. Our results contribute to a better understanding of mechanisms involved in lipid metabolism and acquisition of competence in porcine COCs.
Reflexivity in nonprofit management research: A reflection on the role of self as researcher
Authors: Akingbola Kunle , Brunt Carol
Published: April 2023

Drawing on three diverse case studies, the research note illustrates the use of reflexivity as an advantageous research strategy and its implications for nonprofit management and leadership research. Reflexivity is both a product and a process, that highlights a mutuality between researcher and participants in creating collaborative knowledge through intentional information exchange. For nonprofit organizations, reflexivity offers a research method that extends the sector's community‐based participatory approach. On the surface, nonprofit organizations are comfortable with diverse research methodologies. The multifaceted systems, interactions and processes that characterize nonprofit organizations require researchers to incorporate standard methodologies alongside more complex dimensions of participants' lived experiences. This paper highlights why reflexivity is a viable social constructivist research method relevant to the nonprofit management research collaborative approach.
Prediction of physiological state, cognition, sensory function, and biomarkers for frailty in patients aged 55 years or more with schizophrenia
Authors: Tsai Hsiao‐Chi , Wu Li‐Hui , Chang Shu‐Fang
Published: April 2023

Aim

We explored the performance of demographic characteristics, physiological state, cognitive function, sensory function, and biomarkers when used as predictors of frailty for patients with schizophrenia.

Design

A cross‐sectional study design was adopted.

Methods

Demographic data and data on physiological state, cognitive function, sensory function, biochemical indices, and frailty status of patients with schizophrenia were collected. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, a chi‐square test, one‐factor analysis of variance, and logistic regression.

Results

The results revealed that frailty was prevalent among patients with lower educational attainment, longer hospital stay, higher skeletal muscle mass, higher basal metabolic rate, lower cognitive function, the use of tranquillisers and sleeping pills, and the use of assistive equipment as well as having fallen in the past year. In addition, cognitive function (p < 0.05), use of a wheelchair (p < 0.05), and use of an assistive walker (p < 0.001) were used as predictors of frailty condition of patients with schizophrenia.

Patient Contribution

Patients with schizophrenia have higher risk of having complications than patients with other chronic illnesses. Therefore, medical staff should regularly assess the levels of frailty risk to help patients with schizophrenia.
Synthetic polymers as bone engineering scaffold
Authors: Javid‐Naderi Mohammad Javad , Behravan Javad , Karimi‐Hajishohreh Negar , Toosi Shirin
Published: April 2023

Damage or loss of the bone tissue leads to mobility decline contributing to one of the major issues of human well‐being. Tissue engineering is used to recover fractures and damaged parts of the bone tissue. Various biomaterials and scaffolds have been evaluated for regeneration of hard tissues, however, polymers are the most frequently required biomaterials for the improvement of synthetic bone scaffolds due to their suitable mechanical properties and similar degradation rates to the proteins in hard and soft tissues. Synthetic polymeric materials in bone replacement have several advantages because their physical characteristics can be designed according to their application and their composition can be changed easily. On the other hand, the high adaptability, tenability, and biocompatibility of synthetic materials have received considerable acceptance in the field of tissue engineering. This article presents an update on materials for the fabrication of scaffolds in bone tissue engineering; in addition, we provide information of different kinds of scaffolds and their application usage for hard tissue regeneration.
An equivalent RBDO method under the hybrid of fuzzy and interval variables in the worst case
Authors: Zhang Xiaoqiang , Gao Huiying , Zheng Bo , Jiang Hao , Tan Deqiang
Published: April 2023

In the reliability‐based design optimization (RBDO) problems of structures or systems, only a single type of variable involving is rare, and most of time are hybrid variables. Random variables are often used to describe uncertainty, and these random variables can usually be described by certain probability distributions. However, in practice, the probability distributions of some random variables are difficult or even impossible to be obtained, or the obtained probability distributions may be inaccurate, and can only be roughly described by fuzzy values or intervals. Therefore, this paper is committed to solving RBDO problems under the hybrid of fuzzy variables and interval variables. Firstly, the RBDO model of the structure under the hybrid variables is established. Secondly, the fuzzy variables are transformed to random variables according to entropy invariance. Finally, RBDO is carried out based on sequential single‐loop method in the worst case. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method.
Conceptualising Indigenous Law
Authors: Kearney Amanda , Bradley John , Dodd Vincent , Norman a-Marrngawi Dinah , Timothy a-Muluwamara Mavis , Dimanyurru Graham Friday , a-Karrakayny Annie
Published: April 2023

Law is the most immersive of concepts in an Indigenous cultural context. It is a nuanced schema for human existence, and goes beyond a system of justice or governance as might be the conventional and western understanding of law, to shape and give meaning to all aspects of life. Indigenous Law provides the logic and rationale for life, as inclusive of ancestral and creator beings, humans and non-humans, the place world and all types of natural phenomena. Law instates the relations between all emplaced elements and beings.

This opening chapter serves to establish the context and scene for a sensitive and respectful discussion of Indigenous Law, acknowledging the varied language that is used around the world to describe and analyse different iterations of Indigenous Laws, ranging from Law, customary law, knowledge, tradition, religion and spiritualism.
Testimonies of Yanyuwa Law and Kincentric Order
Authors: Kearney Amanda , Bradley John , Dodd Vincent , Norman a-Marrngawi Dinah , Timothy a-Muluwamara Mavis , Dimanyurru Graham Friday , a-Karrakayny Annie
Published: April 2023

In this chapter we present a demonstration of Indigenous Law in practice at a local level, a detailed account of an oral testimony given by Yanyuwa elder Old Arthur Narnungawurruwurru (Old Arthur). This example demonstrates how key individuals within the Yanyuwa community would come together to make collectively agreed-upon decisions, in alignment with the practice and continuation of Law. The story as outlined in this chapter was shared with one of the authors (Bradley) by Old Arthur himself, at the request of his niece, and co-author Annie a-Karrakayny, a senior Yanyuwa Law woman. The testimony relates to matters of the Dreaming, kinship, succession, land and sea rights and political decision-making processes. In the first part of this chapter, we present this account of Law piece by piece, first in Yanyuwa language and then in translated English.

This chapter shows the many ways in which Law has complexity. This is a vision of Indigenous cultures and their Laws as highly adept at accommodating, resisting and negotiating internal pressures, but even more so the external pressures that distinguish settler colonial and Indigenous relations.
Introduction: The Myth of Protection
Authors: Spitka Timea
Published: April 2023

Traditional notions of security have focused on the protection of the state or ethno-religious groups. To what extent does national or group security provide protection for all civilians? To what extent is the international community responsible for protection of civilians? International protection norms namely Responsibility to Protect (R2P) have given precedence to human security and civilian protection over state sovereignty. Although human security is part of today’s discourse and has evolved into an international norm, it has not been operationalized into protection of civilians in a divisive context. This introductory chapter examines the dichotomies of national and international protection related to civilian vulnerabilities, including war atrocities, apartheid and exploitation. It examines the protection of civilians in a single conflict-ridden case; Israel/Palestine, to illuminate on the gaps in the current analysis of security and protection. The chapter analyses Israeli, Palestinian and international security strategies as they apply to the protection of civilians. Examining protection versus national security strategies, this study reveals some of the realities and myths about national and international protection within contested spaces.
Children as Victims and Activists in the Israeli/Palestinian Conflict
Authors: Spitka Timea
Published: April 2023

Palestinian and Israeli children and teenagers play centre stage in the conflict as victims, activists, perpetrators of violence and as tools used in national propaganda campaigns. This chapter focuses on the national protection principles and practices of Palestinian and Israeli children and teenagers. Teenagers are commonly caught up in national campaigns, trained in using weapons, exploited for risky activism, vigilantism and acts of terror. Palestinian children and teens, particularly those living in Gaza, East Jerusalem and West Bank are not only vulnerable during escalations but are subject to exploitation, detentions and severe security measures. This chapter explores the safety and well-being of children and teens under the Israeli and Palestinian authorities.
Inclusive Protection: Gender and Resilience
Authors: Spitka Timea
Published: April 2023

Despite the appearance of gender sensitivity and the efforts of NGO’s and INGO’s, gendered human security remains superficial without true inclusive participation in peace process, security efforts, with marginal impact on the protection of the most vulnerable populations particularly in Gaza, East Jerusalem and the West Bank. This chapter analyses the implementation of UNSC Resolution 1325 and causes behind the absence of operationalization of priorities of Women, Peace and Security (WPS) within the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Focusing on gender, this chapter examines the gaps in the operationalization of protection norms under Israeli, Palestinian and international authority and provides a potential roadmap for inclusive protection.
Merleau-Ponty and Standpoint Theory
Authors: Harrison Rebecca
Published: April 2023

Over the course of its history, feminist standpoint theory has encountered a number of problems which reveal divisions among its supporters over certain fundamental philosophical commitments. This chapter sketches a phenomenological account of perception that can begin to address these problems, drawn largely from Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s Phenomenology of Perception. Merleau-Ponty can help us resolve these issues by providing an account of perspectival perception wherein a multiplicity of different perceptual standpoints all nonetheless put us in touch with a single external world, and in which some standpoints may be better than others when it comes to accessing certain features of this world. For Merleau-Ponty, the proliferation of standpoints need not lead us into an unacceptably relativistic framework, as long as we are able to conceive of each of these standpoints as giving whoever occupies it access to some particular aspect of a singular, real, shared world.
The Life and Afterlife of Phenomenology in Archaeological Theory and Practice
Authors: Moyes Holley
Published: April 2023

In 1994, Christopher Tilley published his treatise, A Phenomenology of Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments, that stimulated what has been referred to as the phenomenological “moment” in archaeology. Invoking Heideggerian phenomenology and following Merleau-Ponty, Tilley’s methods met with harsh criticism among many in the archaeological community. To some, Tilley’s hyper-interpretive methods lacked rigor and had the problem of imposing one’s own feelings and observations onto the people of the past without considering the cultural contexts and symbolic meanings imbued in past perceptions of landscapes. Tilley’s work leans heavily on embodiment, taking a humanistic approach that relies on the investigator’s own perceptions as the central source of data used for archaeological interpretation. Despite heavy criticism, his work prompted numerous revisions of his ideas and generated more nuanced approaches. Under criticism, explicitly phenomenological approaches soon gave way to the “Archaeology of the Senses,” which rests heavily on idealist approaches and the role of memory in sensorial experience. Still, the instigator’s own embodied experience with an emphasis on self-reflexivity remains the most important tool for interpretation. Though this is rarely made explicit in sensory studies, it is the underlying assumption in archeological reconstructions, virtual reality simulations, and thick descriptive narratives, all methods employed in these works. The question is, can a more rigorous methodology be developed that legitimizes the use of self as a tool for archaeological interpretations without being construed as ahistorical, homogenizing, or as a Western modernist universalism? Can we hope to understand the life experiences of people from the past using the only available tool at our disposal—ourselves? Cognitive science offers us a way forward in creating a more grounded phenomenological approach.
Anthropological Phenomenology and the Eventive Ground
Authors: Stephan Christopher , Throop C. Jason
Published: April 2023

This chapter theorizes the phenomenological potential of anthropology through an examination of what we will call the “eventive ground” of ethnographic knowledge. Though anthropologists and phenomenologists have reacted to one another’s work, including the now famous early correspondence between Husserl and Levy Bruhl (see Sato, 2014; Throop, 2018), it has only been over the past few decades that some anthropologists began to distinguish a genre of a distinctively ‘phenomenological anthropology’ (Desjarlais & Throop, 2011; Katz & Csordas, 2003; Ram & Houston, 2015). Anthropologists have applied and extended phenomenological theory in several respects. By attending to the cultural and social contexts—the conditions of possibility—within which phenomena variously disclose themselves, anthropologists have significantly contributed to research in intersubjectivity and genetic phenomenology. Likewise, anthropologists have frequently drawn from and contributed to the phenomenology of perception, the senses, self-experience, embodiment, emotion, affect, mood, politics, and ethics.
Bibliometric Analysis of the Phenomenology Literature
Authors: Contreras Kallens Pablo , Yoshimi Jeff
Published: April 2023

More has been written about phenomenology than could possibly be read in a single person’s lifetime, or even in several lifetimes. Despite its unwieldy size, this vast “horizon” of literary output has a tractable structure. We leverage the tools of bibliometrics to study the structure of the phenomenology literature, and test several hypotheses about it. We create an author-wise co-citation network, a graph of nodes and connections, where each node corresponds to an author who has written a document with the word “Phenomenology” in it, and where two nodes are connected if the corresponding authors have cited each other. By applying clustering algorithms and other techniques to this network, certain structural features of the field emerge. The main areas of research since 1970 conform fairly well to an intuitive understanding of the literature, though there are some surprises.
Heideggerian Phenomenology
Authors: Zangeneh Hakhamanesh
Published: April 2023

Was Heidegger a phenomenologist? Can his work be considered phenomenological? Can he be affiliated with phenomenology in some way beyond biographical contingencies? The answer to these questions is neither obvious nor uncontroversial. In the following, I propose to address these questions by starting from a typology of the literature on Heidegger. My hope is that with such an overview it will become easier to identify a specifically phenomenological (as opposed to hermeneutical, deconstructionist, etc.) development in and of his work.
Archery Rites: Remaking Confucian Rites
Authors: Kenderdine Sarah , Hibberd Lily , Shaw Jeffrey , Chang Tsong-Zung , Hou Yumeng
Published: April 2023

Ritual archery has a long and vital history in Chinese civilization. This chapter examines the current reenactment and digital reconstruction of the specific tradition of the Archery Rites embedded in the Confucian tradition, ritual practice and cosmology ofli, which suffered major decline in the twentieth century with modern China’s political upheaval and social shifts. In recent decades, scholars and practitioners in China have sought to revive the lost art of the Archery Rites. The most significant endeavor to date is the “Re-Making of Confucian Rites (RCR),” a major reenactment project based on the renewed philological study of theBook of Etiquette and Rites(Yili), which describes rituals recorded by disciples of Confucius in fifth century BCE. The RCR project is forging the fundamental means to reconstruct and build new archives for the embodied knowledge systems of Confucian rites, through the coupling of reenactment with advanced digital documentation forms, in conjunction with novel interactive and immersive media art experiences for their affective transmission. The approaches arising from this work are building a foundation for the renewed scholarship and societal practice of the Archery Rites, as well as a cohesive framework to address the challenges facing the wider revival of intangible cultural heritage in China today.
On a Recent Conjecture by Z. Van Herstraeten and N. J. Cerf for the Quantum Wigner Entropy
Authors: Dias Nuno Costa , Prata João Nuno
Published: April 2023

We address a recent conjecture stated by Z. Van Herstraeten and N. J. Cerf. They claim that the Shannon entropy for positive Wigner functions is bounded below by a positive constant, which can be attained only by Gaussian pure states. We introduce an alternative definition of entropy for all absolutely integrable Wigner functions, which is the Shannon entropy for positive Wigner functions. Moreover, we are able to prove, in arbitrary dimension, that this entropy is indeed bounded below by a positive constant, which is not very distant from the constant suggested by Van Herstraeten and Cerf. We also prove an analogous result for another conjecture stated by the same authors for the Rényi entropy of positive Wigner functions. As a by-product we prove a new inequality for the radar-ambiguity function (and for the Wigner distribution) which is reminiscent of Lieb’s inequalities.
Continuous K-theory and cohomology of rigid spaces
Authors: Dahlhausen Christian
Published: April 2023

We establish a connection between continuous K-theory and integral cohomology of rigid spaces. Given a rigid analytic space over a complete discretely valued field, its continuous K-groups vanish in degrees below the negative of the dimension. Likewise, the cohomology groups vanish in degrees above the dimension. The main result provides the existence of an isomorphism between the lowest possibly non-vanishing continuous K-group and the highest possibly non-vanishing cohomology group with integral coefficients. A key role in the proof is played by a comparison between cohomology groups of an admissible Zariski-Riemann space with respect to different topologies; namely, the rh-topology which is related to K-theory as well as the Zariski topology whereon the cohomology groups in question rely.
Evolutionary Aspects of Selenium Binding Protein (SBP)
Authors: Dervisi Irene , Valassakis Chrysanthi , Koletti Aikaterini , Kouvelis Vassilis N. , Flemetakis Emmanouil , Ouzounis Christos A. , Roussis Andreas
Published: April 2023

Selenium-binding proteins represent a ubiquitous protein family and recently SBP1 was described as a new stress response regulator in plants. SBP1 has been characterized as a methanethiol oxidase, however its exact role remains unclear. Moreover, in mammals, it is involved in the regulation of anti-carcinogenic growth and progression as well as reduction/oxidation modulation and detoxification. In this work, we delineate the functional potential of certain motifs of SBP in the context of evolutionary relationships. The phylogenetic profiling approach revealed the absence of SBP in the fungi phylum as well as in most non eukaryotic organisms. The phylogenetic tree also indicates the differentiation and evolution of characteristic SBP motifs. Main evolutionary events concern the CSSC motif for which Acidobacteria, Fungi and Archaea carry modifications. Moreover, the CC motif is harbored by some bacteria and remains conserved in Plants, while modified to CxxC in Animals. Thus, the characteristic sequence motifs of SBPs mainly appeared in Archaea and Bacteria and retained in Animals and Plants. Our results demonstrate the emergence of SBP from bacteria and most likely as a methanethiol oxidase.
Accuracy of non-medical and medical individuals in identifying cerebral cortical abnormality from three-dimensional printed models of magnetic resonance images in children with hypoxic ischemic injury
Authors: Chacko Anith , Venkatakrishna Shyam Sunder B. , Schoeman Sean , Andronikou Savvas
Published: April 2023

Effective communication of imaging findings in term hypoxic ischemic injury to family members, non-radiologist colleagues and members of the legal profession can be extremely challenging through text-based radiology reports. Utilization of three-dimensional (D) printed models, where the actual findings of the brain can be communicated via tactile perception, is a potential solution which has not yet been tested in practice. We aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of different groups, comprising trained radiologists, non-radiologist physicians and non-physicians, in the detection of gross disease of the cerebral cortex from 3-D printed brain models derived from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of children. Ten MRI scans in children of varying ages with either watershed pattern hypoxic ischemic injury (cortical injury) or basal-ganglia-thalamus hypoxic ischemic injury pattern with limited perirolandic cortical abnormalities and 2 normal MRI scans were post processed and 3-D printed. In total, 71 participants reviewed the 12 models and were required to indicate only the brain models that they felt were abnormal (with a moderate to high degree of degree of confidence). The 71 participants included in the study were 38 laypeople (54%), 17 radiographic technologists (24%), 6 nurses (8%), 5 general radiologists (7%), 4 non-radiologist physicians— 3 pediatricians and 1 neurologist (6%) and 1 emergency medical services staff (1%). The sensitivity and specificity for detecting the abnormal brains of the 71 participants were calculated. Radiologists showed the highest sensitivity (72%) and specificity (70%). Non-radiologist physicians had a sensitivity of 67.5% and a specificity of 75%. Nurses had a sensitivity of 70% and a specificity of 41.7%. Laypeople (non-medical trained) had a sensitivity of 56.1% and a specificity of 55.3%. Radiologists’ high sensitivity and specificity of 72% and 70%, respectively, validates the accuracy of the 3-D-printed models in reproducing abnormalities from MRI scans. The non-radiologist physicians also had a high sensitivity and specificity. Laypeople, without any prior training or guidance in looking at the models, had a sensitivity of 56.1% and a specificity of 55.3%. These results show the potential for use of the 3-D printed brains as an alternate form of communication for conveying the pathological findings of hypoxic ischemic injury of the brain to laypeople.
Prevalence and risk factors of depressive symptoms in children and adolescents with juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Authors: Roemer Johanna , Klein Ariane , Horneff Gerd
Published: April 2023

Depression is a serious disorder disproportionately affecting people with chronic diseases, yet, to date is rarely recognized comorbidity in pediatric rheumatology clinical routine care. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depressive symptoms and depression in children with Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) and to identify associations to risk factors. Depressive symptoms were assessed using the Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI)-Fast Screen Questionnaire validated for ages 13 and older and confirmed by the BDI or Hamilton Depression Scale. A cross-sectional analysis of 148 patients attending the rheumatology outpatient clinic of the Asklepios Children’s Hospital Sankt Augustin between January 2018 and May 2019 was performed. Possible associations between routinely assessed parameters of disease activity and treatment were analysed. 148 JIA patients (71.5% female), median age 14.7 years, were included. The prevalence for depressive symptoms was 13% and for depression 9.5%, of which 71.4% were newly identified with depression. Significant associations with depressive symptoms included rheumatoid factor negative polyarthritis, higher pain scores, functional limitations, higher disease activity, decreased general well-being, higher number of medications taken and not being in remission. In addition, poor treatment response (persistent pain despite therapy) and failure to achieve minimal activity/remission of disease despite intensified therapy with biologics correlated significantly with depressive symptoms. Depressive symptoms are an important comorbidity in JIA. Early recognition and treatment of psychological distress is essential to prevent deterioration in quality of life and long-term prognosis. Consequently, treat-to-target principles should include mental health as a therapeutic goal.
Superposition of AC-DBD plasma actuator outputs for three-dimensional disturbance production in shear flows
Authors: Kurelek John W. , Kotsonis Marios , Yarusevych Serhiy
Published: April 2023

This investigation explores the utility of Alternating Current, Dielectric Barrier Discharge (AC-DBD) plasma actuators for producing three-dimensional disturbances of a desired spanwise wavelength via superposition. The technique utilizes two pairs of exposed and covered electrodes on a single dielectric layer arranged in streamwise succession. Two-dimensional forcing is achieved through operation of the upstream, spanwise uniform electrode pair, while three-dimensional forcing at a prescribed spanwise wavelength is attained by operating both electrode pairs simultaneously, with the downstream actuator spanwise modulating the upstream, two-dimensional output. The ability to produce disturbances of different spanwise wavelengths but with equal streamwise wavelength, frequency and total momentum is established through a combined characterization effort that considers quiescent and in-flow conditions. A demonstration of the technique in an exemplary wall-bounded shear flow, a laminar separation bubble, is provided, revealing spanwise wavelength dependent disturbance growth in the flow that could be exploited for performance gains in future flow control endeavours.

Graphical abstract
How consequences of colorectal cancer treatment are managed: a qualitative study of stakeholder experiences about supportive care and current practices
Authors: Rutherford Claudia , Ju Angela , Kim Bora , Wiltink Lisette , Acret Louise , White Kate
Published: April 2023

Purpose

Colorectal cancer (CRC) survivors experience treatment-effects such as symptoms and functional impairments. There is limited evidence about how these are managed and what services or supports are available in the community. We aimed to identify current practice and available supports for managing consequences of treatment from clinician and CRC survivor perspectives.

Methods

This qualitative study, informed by an interpretivist constructionist paradigm, included semi-structured interviews. Clinicians with experience of treating CRC patients and adult CRC survivors were recruited across Australia. Interviews explored experiences about problems experienced after CRC treatment and how these were managed. Data collection and analysis, using thematic analysis, was iterative whereby emergent themes during analysis were incorporated into subsequent interviews.

Results

We interviewed 16 clinicians and 18 survivors. Survivors experienced a range of consequences of treatment amendable to support including allied health, information, and self-management. Barriers to support access included clinicians’ worry about patient out-of-pocket expenses, long waitlists, lack of awareness about existing supports, and perception no therapeutic options were available. Healthcare professionals with expertise in CRC were often difficult to identify outside of cancer settings. Survivorship care could be improved with individualised timely information and identification of pathways to access healthcare providers with expertise in managing consequences of CRC treatment within primary care.

Conclusions

To improve CRC survivor lives posttreatment, routine assessment of consequences of treatment, individualised care planning involving relevant healthcare professionals, access to supportive care when needed, and improved information provision and engagement of a range of health professionals in follow-up care are needed.
Between ambitions and actions: how citizens navigate the entrepreneurial process of co-producing sustainable urban food futures
Authors: van der Gaast Koen , Jansma Jan Eelco , Wertheim-Heck Sigrid
Published: April 2023

Cities increasingly envision sustainable future food systems. The realization of such futures is often understood from a planning perspective, leaving the role of entrepreneurship out of scope. The city of Almere in the Netherlands provides a telling example. In the neighborhood Almere Oosterwold, residents must use 50% of their plot for urban agriculture. The municipality formulated an ambition that over time, 10% off all food consumed in Almere must be produced in Oosterwold. In this study, we assume the development of urban agriculture in Oosterwold is an entrepreneurial process, i.e. a creative (re)organization that is ongoing and intervenes in daily life. To understand how this entrepreneurial process helps to realize sustainable food futures, this paper explores what futures for urban agriculture residents of Oosterwold prefer and deem possible and how these futures are organized in the present. We use futuring to explore possible and preferable images of the future, and to backcast those images to the present day. Our findings show residents have different perspectives of the future. Furthermore, they are capable in formulating specific actions to obtain the futures they prefer, but have trouble committing to the actions themselves. We argue this is the result of a temporal dissonance, a myopia where residents have trouble looking beyond their own situation. It shows imagined futures must fit with the lived experiences of citizens in order to be realized. We conclude that urban food futures need planning and entrepreneurship to be realized since they are complementary social processes.
A Review of the Use of Carbon Nanostructures and Other Reducing Agents During Auto-reduction for Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis and Other Applications
Authors: Ncube Selusiwe , Moyo Mahluli
Published: April 2023

Fischer–Tropsch Synthesis (FTS) is an important process in the production of liquid fuels in the energy sector, due to its flexibility for use with other technologies that can produce carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen. Catalysts have found substantial use in FTS to improve the process efficiency. However, the use of conventional FTS catalyst reduction techniques using (hydrogen (H2), CO and syngas) to activate the metal precursor has been accompanied by strong metal-support interactions. Such limitations have driven the quest for better technologies to ensure FTS catalysis reaches its full capacity. In this article, we review the activation techniques used, with emphasis on the contemporary auto-reduction technique, which has revealed energy-saving merits. Auto-reduction has the advantage of reducing the number of steps involved in catalyst preparation prior to FTS as well as eliminating costly reducing agents such as H2, CO and syngas. Auto-reduction in this article refers to the reduction of the metal precursor using a carbon support. We firstly provide a comprehensive review of the traditional reducing agents, followed by a review of the contemporary auto-reduction technique. A comparison of the conventional FTS catalyst reduction and auto-reduction techniques is provided to allow for a fundamental understanding of the merits and demerits of both techniques. The different types of nanostructured carbon materials used in aiding auto-reduction for the FTS process are reviewed.

Graphical Abstract