bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Turning toward or away from God: COVID-19 and changes in religious devotion
Authors: Leonhardt Nathan D. , Fahmi Sarah , Stellar Jennifer E. , Impett Emily A.
Published: March 2023

Major stressors can influence religiosity, making some people more religious, while making others less religious. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we conducted a mixed-method study with a nationally representative sample of religiously affiliated American adults (N= 685) to assess group differences between those who decreased, stayed the same, or increased in their religious devotion. In quantitative analyses we evaluated differences on sociodemographic variables, religious behaviors, individual differences, prosocial emotions, well-being, and COVID-19 attitudes and behaviors. Of most note, those who changed (i.e., increased or decreased) in religious devotion were more likely than those with no change in devotion to experience high levels of stress and threat related to COVID-19, but only those who increased in religious devotion had the highest dispositional prosocial emotions (i.e., gratitude and awe). Further, those who changed in religious devotion were more likely to report searching for meaning than those with no change, but only those who increased were more likely to report actual presence of meaning. Qualitative analyses revealed that those who increased in religious devotion reported increasing personal worship, the need for a higher power, and uncertainty in life as reasons for their increase in religious devotion; those who decreased reported being unable to communally worship, a lack of commitment or priority, and challenges making it hard to believe in God as reasons for their decrease in religious devotion. The findings help identify how COVID-19 has affected religious devotion, and how religion might be used as a coping mechanism during a major life stressor.
Induction of fetal hemoglobin: Lentiviral shRNA knockdown of HBS1L in β0-thalassemia/HbE erythroid cells
Authors: Chumchuen Sukanya , Sripichai Orapan , Jearawiriyapaisarn Natee , Fucharoen Suthat , Peerapittayamongkol Chayanon
Published: March 2023

Imbalanced globin chain output contributes to thalassemia pathophysiology. Hence, induction of fetal hemoglobin in β-thalassemia and other β-hemoglobinopathies are of continuing interest for therapeutic approaches. Genome-wide association studies have identified three common genetic loci: namely β-globin (HBB), an intergenic region between MYB and HBS1L, and BCL11A underlying quantitative fetal hemoglobin production. Here, we report that knockdown of HBS1L (all known variants) using shRNA in early erythroblast obtained from β0-thalassemia/HbE patients triggers an upregulation of γ-globin mRNA 1.69 folds. There is modest perturbation of red cell differentiation assessed by flow cytometry and morphology studies. The levels of α- and β-globin mRNAs are relatively unaltered. Knockdown of HBS1L also increases the percentage of fetal hemoglobin around 16.7 folds when compared to non-targeting shRNA. Targeting HBS1L is attractive because of the potent induction of fetal hemoglobin and the modest effect on cell differentiation.
Retrospective study of more than 5 million emergency admissions to hospitals in England: Epidemiology and outcomes for people with dementia
Authors: Reeves David , Holland Fiona , Morbey Hazel , Hann Mark , Ahmed Faraz , Davies Linda , Keady John , Leroi Iracema , Reilly Siobhan
Published: March 2023

Introduction

People living with dementia (PwD) admitted in emergency to an acute hospital may be at higher risk of inappropriate care and poorer outcomes including longer hospitalisations and higher risk of emergency re-admission or death. Since 2009 numerous national and local initiatives in England have sought to improve hospital care for PwD. We compared outcomes of emergency admissions for cohorts of patients aged 65+ with and without dementia at three points in time.

Methods

We analysed emergency admissions (EAs) from the Hospital Episodes Statistics datasets for England 2010/11, 2012/13 and 2016/17. Dementia upon admission was based on a diagnosis in the patient’s hospital records within the last five years. Outcomes were length of hospital stays (LoS), long stays (> = 15 days), emergency re-admissions (ERAs) and death in hospital or within 30 days post-discharge. A wide range of covariates were taken into account, including patient demographics, pre-existing health and reasons for admission. Hierarchical multivariable regression analysis, applied separately for males and females, estimated group differences adjusted for covariates.

Results

We included 178 acute hospitals and 5,580,106 EAs, of which 356,992 (13.9%) were male PwD and 561,349 (18.6%) female PwD. Uncontrolled differences in outcomes between the patient groups were substantial but were considerably reduced after control for covariates. Covariate-adjusted differences in LoS were similar at all time-points and in 2016/17 were 17% (95%CI 15%-18%) and 12% (10%-14%) longer for male and female PwD respectively compared to patients without dementia. Adjusted excess risk of an ERA for PwD reduced over time to 17% (15%-18%) for males and 17% (16%-19%) for females, but principally due to increased ERA rates amongst patients without dementia. Adjusted overall mortality was 30% to 40% higher for PwD of both sexes throughout the time-period; however, adjusted in-hospital rates of mortality differed only slightly between the patient groups, whereas PwD had around double the risk of dying within 30 days of being discharged.

Conclusion

Over the six-year period, covariate-adjusted hospital LoS, ERA rates and in-hospital mortality rates for PwD were only slightly elevated compared to similar patients without dementia and remaining differences potentially reflect uncontrolled confounding. PwD however, were around twice as likely to die shortly after discharge, the reasons for which require further investigation. Despite being widely used for service evaluation, LoS, ERA and mortality may lack sensitivity to changes in hospital care and support to PwD.
Adverse health correlates of intimate partner violence against older women: Mining electronic health records
Authors: Yılmaz Serhan , Gunay Erkan , Lee Da Hee , Whiting Kathleen , Silver Kristin , Koyuturk Mehmet , Karakurt Gunnur
Published: March 2023

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is often studied as a problem that predominantly affects younger women. However, studies show that older women are also frequently victims of abuse even though the physical effects of abuse are harder to detect. In this study, we mined the electronic health records (EHR) available through IBM Explorys to identify health correlates of IPV that are specific to older women. Our analyses suggested that diagnostic terms that are co-morbid with IPV in older women are dominated by substance abuse and associated toxicities. When we considered differential co-morbidity, i.e., terms that are significantly more associated with IPV in older women compared to younger women, we identified terms spanning mental health issues, musculoskeletal issues, neoplasms, and disorders of various organ systems including skin, ears, nose and throat. Our findings provide pointers for further investigation in understanding the health effects of IPV among older women, as well as potential markers that can be used for screening IPV.
Neighbourhood effects on educational attainment. What matters more: Exposure to poverty or exposure to affluence?
Authors: Troost Agata A. , van Ham Maarten , Manley David J.
Published: March 2023

Neighbourhood effects studies typically investigate the negative effects on individual outcomes of living in areas with concentrated poverty. The literature rarely pays attention to the potential beneficial effects of living in areas with concentrated affluence. This poverty paradigm might hinder our understanding of spatial context effects. Our paper uses individual geocoded data from the Netherlands to compare the effects of exposure to neighbourhood affluence and poverty on educational attainment within the same statistical models. Using bespoke neighbourhoods, we create individual neighbourhood histories which allow us to distinguish exposure effects from early childhood and adolescence. We follow an entire cohort born in 1995 and we measure their educational level in 2018. The results show that, in the Netherlands, neighbourhood affluence has a stronger effect on educational attainment than neighbourhood poverty for all the time periods studied. Additionally, interactions with parental education indicate that children with higher educated parents are not affected by neighbourhood poverty. These results highlight the need for more studies on the effects of concentrated affluence and can inspire anti-segregation policies.
Non-invasive regional cerebral blood flow quantification in the 123I-IMP autoradiography using artificial neural network
Authors: Kaga Tetsuro , Kato Hiroki , Imai Toyohiro , Ando Tomohiro , Noda Yoshifumi , Miura Takayuki , Enomoto Yukiko , Hyodo Fuminori , Iwama Toru , Matsuo Masayuki
Published: March 2023

Purpose

Regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) quantification using 123I-N-isopropyl-p-iodoamphetamine (123I-IMP) requires an invasive, one-time-only arterial blood sampling for measuring the 123I-IMP arterial blood radioactivity concentration (Ca10). The purpose of this study was to estimate Ca10 by machine learning (ML) using artificial neural network (ANN) regression analysis and consequently calculating rCBF and cerebral vascular reactivity (CVR) in the dual-table autoradiography (DTARG) method.

Materials and methods

This retrospective study included 294 patients who underwent rCBF measurements through the 123I-IMP DTARG. In the ML, the objective variable was defined by the measured Ca10, whereas the explanatory variables included 28 numeric parameters, such as patient characteristic values, total injection 123I-IMP radiation dose, cross-calibration factor, and the distribution of 123I-IMP count in the first scan. ML was performed with training (n = 235) and testing (n = 59) sets. Ca10 was estimated in testing set by our proposing model. Alternatively, the estimated Ca10 was also calculated via the conventional method. Subsequently, rCBF and CVR were calculated using estimated Ca10. Pearson’s correlation coefficient (r-value) for the goodness of fit and the Bland–Altman analysis for assessing the potential agreement and bias were performed between the measured and estimated values.

Results

The r-value of Ca10 estimated by our proposed model was higher compared with the conventional method (0.81 and 0.66, respectively). In the Bland–Altman analysis, mean differences of 4.7 (95% limits of agreement (LoA): −18–27) and 4.1 (95% LoA: −35–43) were observed using proposed model and the conventional method, respectively. The r-values of rCBF at rest, rCBF after the acetazolamide challenge, and CVR calculated using the Ca10 estimated by our proposed model were 0.83, 0.80 and 0.95, respectively.

Conclusion

Our proposed ANN-based model could accurately estimate the Ca10, rCBF, and CVR in DTARG. These results would enable non-invasive rCBF quantification in DTARG.
Spatial heterogeneity ensures long-term stability in vegetation and Fritillaria meleagris flowering in Uppsala Kungsäng, a semi-natural meadow
Authors: Hytteborn Håkan , Carlsson Bengt Å. , Svensson Brita M. , Zhang Liquan , Rydin Håkan
Published: March 2023

Semi-natural grasslands are becoming increasingly rare, and their vegetation may be affected by environmental changes and altered management. At Kungsängen Nature Reserve, a wet to mesic semi-natural meadow near Uppsala, Sweden, we analysed long-term changes in the vegetation using data from 1940, 1982, 1995 and 2016. We also analysed the spatial and temporal dynamics in the Fritillaria meleagris population based on countings of flowering individuals in 1938, 1981–1988 and 2016–2021. Between 1940 and 1982 the wet part of the meadow became wetter, which led to an increased cover of Carex acuta and pushed the main area of flowering of F. meleagris up towards the mesic part. Annual variation in the flowering propensity of F. meleagris (in May) was affected by temperature and precipitation in the phenological phases of growth and bud initiation (June in the previous year), shoot development (September in the previous year) and initiation of flowering (March–April). However, the response to weather was in opposite directions in the wet and mesic parts of the meadow, and the flowering population showed large year-to-year variation but no long-term trend. Variation in management (poorly documented) led to changes in different parts of the meadow, but the overall composition of the vegetation, species richness and diversity changed little after 1982. Species richness and species composition of the meadow vegetation, and the long-term stability of the F. meleagris population are maintained by the variation in wetness, highlighting the importance of spatial heterogeneity as an insurance against biodiversity loss in semi-natural grasslands and nature reserves generally.
Crime generators or social capital organizations? Examining the effects of places of worship on neighborhood crime
Authors: Wo James C.
Published: March 2023

Places of worship (POW) have traditionally been argued to have crime-reducing effects in neighborhoods because of their ability to produce social capital. Yet, the evidence for this proposition is surprisingly weak. Consequently, an alternative proposition, rooted in environmental criminology, suggests that POW might unintentionally operate as crime generators in neighborhoods insofar as they induce foot traffic and undermine guardianship and social control capabilities. Because of these competing propositions in combination with the limited number of studies on this topic, we conduct a block group analysis of crime, places of worship, well-established criminogenic facilities, and sociodemographic characteristics in Washington, DC. We estimate negative binomial regression models of both violent and property crime and find strong evidence for only one of the propositions, with the effects of POW being relatively strong in comparison to other predictors in the models. The implications of these findings for criminology, urban studies, and public policy are discussed.
Prevention, Cessation, or harm reduction: Heterogeneous effects of an intimate partner violence prevention program in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
Authors: Gurbuz Cuneo Alev , Vaillant Julia , Koussoubé Estelle , Pierotti Rachael S. , Falb Kathryn , Kabeya Rocky
Published: March 2023

Introduction

The Engaging Men through Accountable Practice (EMAP) program is a series of facilitated group discussions for men in the Democratic Republic of the Congo that sought to reduce intimate-partner violence and transform gender relations. While a previous analysis found null impacts on women’s experience of past-year intimate-partner violence (IPV), these average results obscure important heterogeneity. The study objective is to analyze the effects of EMAP on subgroups of couples based on their initial levels of IPV.

Methods

We use two rounds of data (baseline and endline) collected from adult men (n = 1387) and their female partners (n = 1220) as part of a two-armed, matched-pair, cluster randomized controlled trial conducted between 2016 and 2018 in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Loss to follow up was low as 97% of male and 96% of female baseline respondents were retained at endline. We define subgroups of couples based on their baseline reports of physical and sexual IPV using two different methods: i) subgroups determined by binary indicators of violence at baseline, and ii) Latent Class Analysis (LCA).

Results

We find that the EMAP program led to a statistically significant decrease both in the probability and severity of physical IPV among women who experienced high physical and moderate sexual violence at baseline. We also find a decrease in the severity of physical IPV (significant at the 10% level) among women who experienced both high physical and high sexual IPV at baseline. Findings indicate that the EMAP program was more effective at reducing IPV perpetration among men who were the most physically violent at baseline.

Conclusion

These results suggest that men who perpetrate violence against their female partners with greater severity than average may be inspired to reduce their use of violence through participatory discussion with less violent men. In contexts of endemic violence, programs like EMAP can lead to a meaningful short-term reduction in harm to women, perhaps even without transforming prevailing norms about male superiority or the acceptability of IPV.

Trial registration

Trial registration number: NCT02765139.
The role of FIBCD1 in response to Aspergillus fumigatus in lung epithelial cells
Authors: Bhattacharya Shreya , Maupin Alec Jacob , Schlosser Anders Grønnegaard , Füchtbauer Ernst-Martin , Gloria Yamel Cardona , Weber Alexander N. R. , Holmskov Uffe , Moeller Jesper Bonnet , Templeton Steven P.
Published: March 2023

Chitin, a polysaccharide, is ubiquitously found in nature and has been known to be an active immunogen in mammals, and interacts with Toll-like, mannose and glucan receptors, to induce cytokine and chemokine secretions. FIBCD1 is a tetrameric type II transmembrane endocytic vertebrate receptor that binds chitin, is found in human lung epithelium and modulates lung epithelial inflammatory responses to A. fumigatus cell wall polysaccharides. We previously reported the detrimental role of FIBCD1 in a murine model of pulmonary invasive aspergillosis. However, the effect that chitin and chitin-containing A. fumigatus conidia exerts on lung epithelium following exposure through FIBCD1 is not yet fully explored. Using both in vitro and in vivo strategies, we examined how lung and lung epithelial gene expression are modified after exposure to fungal conidia or chitin fragments in the presence or absence of FIBCD1. FIBCD1 expression was associated with a decrease in inflammatory cytokines with increasing size of chitin (dimer-oligomer). Thus, our results demonstrate that FIBCD1 expression modulates cytokine and chemokine expression in response to A. fumigatus conidia that is modified by the presence of chitin particles.
Zoom behavior during visual search modulates pupil diameter and reflects adaptive control states
Authors: Brunyé Tad T. , Drew Trafton , Kerr Kathleen F. , Shucard Hannah , Powell Kate , Weaver Donald L. , Elmore Joann G.
Published: March 2023

Adaptive gain theory proposes that the dynamic shifts between exploration and exploitation control states are modulated by the locus coeruleus-norepinephrine system and reflected in tonic and phasic pupil diameter. This study tested predictions of this theory in the context of a societally important visual search task: the review and interpretation of digital whole slide images of breast biopsies by physicians (pathologists). As these medical images are searched, pathologists encounter difficult visual features and intermittently zoom in to examine features of interest. We propose that tonic and phasic pupil diameter changes during image review may correspond to perceived difficulty and dynamic shifts between exploration and exploitation control states. To examine this possibility, we monitored visual search behavior and tonic and phasic pupil diameter while pathologists (N = 89) interpreted 14 digital images of breast biopsy tissue (1,246 total images reviewed). After viewing the images, pathologists provided a diagnosis and rated the level of difficulty of the image. Analyses of tonic pupil diameter examined whether pupil dilation was associated with pathologists’ difficulty ratings, diagnostic accuracy, and experience level. To examine phasic pupil diameter, we parsed continuous visual search data into discrete zoom-in and zoom-out events, including shifts from low to high magnification (e.g., 1× to 10×) and the reverse. Analyses examined whether zoom-in and zoom-out events were associated with phasic pupil diameter change. Results demonstrated that tonic pupil diameter was associated with image difficulty ratings and zoom level, and phasic pupil diameter showed constriction upon zoom-in events, and dilation immediately preceding a zoom-out event. Results are interpreted in the context of adaptive gain theory, information gain theory, and the monitoring and assessment of physicians’ diagnostic interpretive processes.
Risk assessment of methanol storage tank fire accident using hybrid FTA-SPA
Authors: Ramezanifar Ehsan , Gholamizadeh Kamran , Mohammadfam Iraj , Mirzaei Aliabadi Mostafa
Published: March 2023

Fire accidents in storage tanks are of great importance due to the difficulty in extinguishing and ease of spread to nearby products. This study aimed to introduce a framework based on FTA-based Set Pair Analysis (SPA) established via experts’ elicitation to identify and assess the risk of storage tank fire. In the quantitative FTA of a system, sufficient data are only sometimes available to calculate the failure probability of the system appertains to study. Thus, the obtained result of the SPA added new value to the Basic Events (BEs) and estimated top event. To illustrate the applicability of the proposed approach, a fault tree of the methanol storage tank fire is performed and analyzed BEs. According to the obtained results, the fire accident was computed by 48 BEs, and the occurrence probability value of the top event was estimated 2.58E-1/year. In addition, the most crucial paths that led to the fire accident are listed in this study. The proposed approach established in the present study can assist decision-makers in determining where to take preventative or appropriate action on the storage tank system. Moreover, it can be adjusted for various systems with limited manipulation.
Low-level voluntary input enhances corticospinal excitability during ankle dorsiflexion neuromuscular electrical stimulation in healthy young adults
Authors: Yamaguchi Akiko , Sasaki Atsushi , Popovic Milos R. , Milosevic Matija , Nakazawa Kimitaka
Published: March 2023

Previous evidence indicated that interventions with combined neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) and voluntary muscle contractions could have superior effects on corticospinal excitability when the produced total force is larger than each single intervention. However, it is unclear whether the superior effects exist when the produced force is matched between the interventions. Ten able-bodied individuals performed three intervention sessions on separate days: (i) NMES–tibialis anterior (TA) stimulation; (ii) NMES+VOL–TA stimulation combined with voluntary ankle dorsiflexion; (iii) VOL–voluntary ankle dorsiflexion. Each intervention was exerted at the same total output of 20% of maximal force and applied intermittently (5 s ON / 19 s OFF) for 16 min. Motor evoked potentials (MEP) of the right TA and soleus muscles and maximum motor response (Mmax) of the common peroneal nerve were assessed: before, during, and for 30 min after each intervention. Additionally, the ankle dorsiflexion force-matching task was evaluated before and after each intervention. Consequently, the TA MEP/Mmax during NMES+VOL and VOL sessions were significantly facilitated immediately after the interventions started until the interventions were over. Compared to NMES, larger facilitation was observed during NMES+VOL and VOL sessions, but no difference was found between them. Motor control was not affected by any interventions. Although superior combined effects were not shown compared to voluntary contractions alone, low-level voluntary contractions combined with NMES resulted in facilitated corticospinal excitability compared to NMES alone. This suggests that the voluntary drive could improve the effects of NMES even during low-level contractions, even if motor control is not affected.
Maternity care clinician inclusion in Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations
Authors: Cooper Michael I. , Attanasio Laura B. , Geissler Kimberley H.
Published: March 2023

Background

Medicaid Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) are increasingly common, but the network breadth for maternity care is not well described. The inclusion of maternity care clinicians in Medicaid ACOs has significant implications for access to care for pregnant people, who are disproportionately insured by Medicaid.

Purpose

To address this, we evaluate obstetrician-gynecologists (OB/GYN), maternal-fetal medicine specialists (MFM), certified nurse midwives (CNM), and acute care hospital inclusion in Massachusetts Medicaid ACOs.

Methodology/Approach

Using publicly available provider directories for Massachusetts Medicaid ACOs (n = 16) from December 2020 –January 2021, we quantify obstetrician-gynecologists, maternal-fetal medicine specialists, CNMs, and acute care hospital with obstetric department inclusion in each Medicaid ACO. We compare maternity care provider and acute care hospital inclusion across and within ACO type. For Accountable Care Partnership Plans, we compare maternity care clinician and acute care hospital inclusion to ACO enrollment.

Results

Primary Care ACO plans include 1185 OB/GYNs, 51 MFMs, and 100% of Massachusetts acute care hospitals, but CNMs were not easily identifiable in the directories. Across Accountable Care Partnership Plans, a mean of 305 OB/GYNs (median: 97; range: 15–812), 15 MFMs (Median: 8; range: 0–50), 85 CNMs (median: 29; range: 0–197), and half of Massachusetts acute care hospitals (median: 23.81%; range: 10%-100%) were included.

Conclusion and practice implications

Substantial differences exist in maternity care clinician inclusion across and within ACO types. Characterizing the quality of included maternity care clinicians and hospitals across ACOs is an important target of future research. Highlighting maternal healthcare as a key area of focus for Medicaid ACOs–including equitable access to high-quality obstetric providers–will be important to improving maternal health outcomes.
The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on overall well-being of practicing lawyers
Authors: Fore Michael , Stevenson Erin
Published: March 2023

Every day lawyers provide counsel and advocacy to individuals, groups, and businesses in a multitude of settings. From court room to board room, attorneys are relied upon to guide their clients through difficult situations. In doing this, attorneys all too often internalize the stresses of those that they help. The legal system has long been considered a stressful occupation. This stressful environment was further taxed by the wider societal disruptions in 2020 as we dealt with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the illness itself, the pandemic forced widespread court closures and made it more difficult to communicate with clients. Based upon a survey of the membership of the Kentucky Bar Association, this paper considers the impact of the pandemic on attorney wellness in a variety of categories. These results demonstrated marked negative impacts on a variety of wellness measures which may result in significant reductions in service provision and efficacy for the people who need legal services. The pandemic made the practice of law harder and more stressful. Attorneys suffered increased incidence of substance abuse, alcohol consumption, and stress during the pandemic. These results were generally worse among those practicing in the areas of criminal law. In light of these adverse psychological effects facing attorneys, the authors argue the need for increased mental health support resources for attorneys, as well as establishing clear steps to raise awareness among the legal community about the importance of mental health and personal wellness.
See yourself through these hands: The moving body as a portal to spirit possession. Working with ancient ritual technologies to create portraits of spirits, gods and mythic beings
Authors: Elders Red K.
Published: March 2023

My creative, somatic and spiritual praxis combines the deep somatic trance work of authentic movement with ancient ritual technologies such as those found in the 2000-year-old Greek Magical Papyri. This article describes these embodied processes in and with wild nature places to facilitate visionary states which are recorded through poetic writings, and subsequently expressed in highly detailed drawings of ancient gods and mythic beings. I explore the nature of creative inspiration, not only in my own writings and drawings but in others’ artistic endeavours, that leads me to consider whether what is present in any great work of art is an indwelling animate force; a spirit or god. Working with this question, I am compelled deeper into this intersection of movement, creativity and spirituality, and from there, my life seems to become illuminated from within. Even as we all move through increasingly difficult times, we must continue to let ourselves be danced by something greater; especially for all those who cannot. We must continually open the seams to allow the movement of some vast majesty that we may never comprehend. Then we ourselves become a living work of art. As such, our lives become a ritual offering of beauty.
African communication matrix: The influence of the secular on the church in Nigeria
Authors: Ngonso Blessed Frederick , Egielewa Peter Eshioke
Published: March 2023

African communication is an age-long dissemination system. Its continuous existence in the ever-growing Nigerian society is of interest to so many communication scholars. This study was conducted to ascertain what channels of the African communication system still exist and how these influence the religious setting in Africa using Nigeria as a case study. A survey method was adopted to investigate the problem in the two traditional kingdoms of Uzairue and Auchi, both in Edo state. A set of questionnaires were designed to elicit responses from the Christian respondents, and interviews were also conducted with chiefs of two selected traditional communities of Iyamho and Auchi. The secularization theory was used to explain the topic. The findings of this study reveal that African communication channels, particularly the talking drum, pot drum and wooden drum, are commonly used in rural settings and these have crept into the religious (Christian) settings where they are used as instruments of praise, worship and choir presentations. This study is aimed at providing useful information for the teaching of African communication systems in the departments of communication and media studies in Nigerian universities, in particular, and Africa in general. It will also help Africans appreciate the value of African communication instruments in the modern world as well as traditional African communication channels used in churches. This study recommends that further research should be conducted to ascertain why there is a decline in the use of African communication instruments.
New media and re-bargaining patriarchy in Kenyan families
Authors: Nielsen Poul Erik , Chebii Stella Jerop
Published: March 2023

This article aims to empirically analyse and theoretically reflect on how the appropriation of new information and communication technologies in everyday life interrelates with continuous renegotiations of contemporary social and family relations in Kenya. Various changes in the locally specific communication ecologies in Kenya occur simultaneously with similar important societal changes related to migration, wage labour, marketization and increased access to education. Consequently, people’s basic living conditions in everyday life have changed in terms of connectivity, knowledge, power, time and space, with traditional family relations being challenged, re-bargained and re-established in a complex synthesis between continuity and change. Taking theoretical reflections on patriarchy, power and communication ecologies as its point of departure, the article conducts empirical analyses grounded in semi-structured ethnographic interviews and observations. The article presents an account of how the new diverse communication ecologies interrelate with continuous negotiations of family relations in a re-bargaining of patriarchy.
Prometheus in the Iraqi alley: Muḥammad Khuḍayyir’s twenty-first century adab
Authors: Caiani Fabio , Cobham Catherine
Published: March 2023

The Iraqi writer Muḥammad Khuḍayyir has in recent years published numerous fictional sketches and articles online. One of the factors that has led to this late flurry of production has been the perilous state of Iraqi culture, especially after 2003. Khuḍayyir has reacted to the threats to the Iraqi cultural memory by writing articles in which he pays imaginative homage to the writers of previous generations (like Mahdī ʿĪsā al-Ṣaqr). The imagery Khuḍayyir uses in his articles is a crucial part of the innovative way in which he tries to preserve a ‘memory of literature’. However, in his fictional sketches, Khuḍayyir evokes a poetics of fire which expresses his scepticism as to whether a recovery of the literature of the past can have real purchase in the current Iraqi cultural landscape. Khuḍayyir’s use of the internet to disseminate his cultural narratives confirms the ambivalent cultural space he chooses to inhabit.
Art, community and social media in Maysaloun Faraj’s contemporary work
Authors: Faraj Maysaloun , Mustafa Shakir
Published: March 2023

In this joint work, a central argument is that responses to art – such as commentary on paintings – construct narratives that run parallel to these artistic works. The commentaries are not ‘attached’ to the works, and although much of their appeal is due to being inspired by the artworks, they still retain degrees of autonomy and independence. The select paintings by Maysaloun Faraj and the commentary on these paintings by Shakir Mustafa will examine ways of narrativizing art to reflect on the urge to create, receive, interpret and circulate cultural products. What makes such an urge even more telling is the environment in which it emerges. The paintings that inspired commentary appeared on a group Facebook site dedicated to making home a subject for drawings and paintings during the COVID-19 shutdown. In its various physical and metaphorical facets, home thus becomes a locale for scrutinizing issues of belonging to a certain place and the possibilities of creating communal connections beyond that space. Central to our inquiry is investigating the impact of generating and disseminating cultural works in a public domain and at a globally stressful time. That these works are by individuals of Iraqi descent living in the United Kingdom and the United States is significant in showing the nature and extent of discursive dialogues involving multiple cultural backgrounds. Negotiating a culture of origin that is specifically Iraqi in fluid and global settings such as those of the current pandemic will certainly problematize notions of origins and belonging. It becomes difficult at times to draw lines between components of identity, and at times like these, cultural analysis flourishes. In our paintings and commentary, we seek to reflect on the dynamics of belonging and departures, specifically when they occur in a global and communal experience that defies borders.
Shi’i-inherited trauma: Iraqi frames of grief in Zā’iyyat al-wajd (‘Ode to passion’) by ʿAbd ʿAun al-Rauḍān
Authors: Milich Stephan
Published: March 2023

After the fall of the Baathist regime in 2003, Iraqi authors were able to address past experiences of loss, death and suffering in a more explicit manner than before. An outstanding literary attempt of coming to terms with destruction and loss is the novel Zā’iyyat al-wajd (‘Ode to passion’) by the late Iraqi writer, translator and anthologist ʿAbd ʿAun al-Rauḍān (1939–2016), published in 2004. Deeply entwined in this anti-war novel are the acts of mourning loved ones and the making of passionate pleas against the horrendous and meaningless destruction of war. In my reading of this author’s last novel, I pay special attention to past and present traumas experienced by the narrator and how they relate to the violent history of contemporary Iraq. Moreover, I explore the role of religious tradition, family life, more intimate and private forms of mourning and storytelling for coping with life in a still precarious present.
Assyrians in Modern Iraq: Negotiating Political and Cultural Space, Alda Benjamin (2022)
Authors: Khoury Dina Rizk
Published: March 2023

Review of: Assyrians in Modern Iraq: Negotiating Political and Cultural Space, Alda Benjamin (2022)

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 258 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-10883-879-5, h/bk, $99.99
OPTIMIZATION OF LATERITE ORE GRINDING PROCESS USING BALL MILL WITH RESPONSE SURFACE METHOD
Authors: Prameswara Gyan , Tyassena Flaviana Yohanala Prista , Amin Idi , Hatimah Husnul
Published: March 2023

Dependence and interaction between several operating conditions that affect the grinding process using a ball mill such as the number of balls, grinding duration, and rotational speed on particle size at 80% product mass (P80) and mineral liberation have been obtained in this study using a CCD (central composite design) of response surface method (RSM). The grinding process was carried out in a cylindrical ball mill with a diameter and length of 18.6 cm and 21.5 cm, respectively, as well as a steel ball with a diameter of 2.5 cm and a weight of 100 grams/ball. The optimum data for the grinding process was obtained with the smallest response value of P80. It was known that the number of balls and grinding duration have a significant effect on the reduction of the P80 value in the sample. The model that can describe the influence of process variables on the P80 value was obtained with good accuracy. The character of the mineral content of the sample was observed with the X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) pattern and the elemental concentration. Minerals that have a smaller hardness scale are easier to liberate and more exposed. The P80 value of the initial material was 1560.89 µm, while at the optimum condition the P80 grinding process was reduced to 513.29 µm.
ANODIZING-ELECTRODEPOSITION HYBRID COATING BY USING ELECTROLITE SOLUTION AND ZIRCONIUM OXIDE ON THE SURFACE MAGNESIUM AZ31B
Authors: Erryani Aprilia , Elvira Bunga Rani , Nurbaiti Syifa Ranggoyani , Syahiddah Amalia , Mujahidah Hafsah , Thaha Yudi Nugraha , Budi Esmar
Published: March 2023

In this study, sodium silicate was synthesized and the characterization of zirconia which was used as a suspension solution for the anodization and electrodeposition processes. The results of the synthesis using FTIR showed the success of making Na2SiO3 with the appearance of absorption from functional groups such as: silanol (Si-OH) and siloxane (Si-O-Si) groups. From the SEM data, it is known that each batch contains elements of oxygen, sodium and silicon, this indicates that Na2SiO3 was successfully synthesized without any detectable impurities. Calcination results using SEM showed that each batch was dominated by zircon elements, but the highest zircon content in batch 3 was 88.81%. XRD data shows that ZrO2 (Monoclinic) dominates, in batch 1 and batch 3 there is Cl2 from ZrOCl. Therefore, the ZrO2 used without the calcination process is in batch 3. Anodizing and Electrodeposition processes are carried out in 3 ways, namely: a. Anodizing, b. Two steps (Anodizing-Electrodeposition, c. One step hybrid (Anodizing and Electrodeposition) with the addition of Al2O3 and Na2O7SiO3 elements to the electrolyte. The surface of magnesium after being coated looks pale white line. SEM data shows that all three methods are coated and contain elements of O, Na, Mg, Zr, Si, K, and in method c. Al is found. The three samples also showed that the sanding process was not optimal and the Zr particles were not evenly distributed on the surface.
Global dynamics on a class of age-infection structured cholera model with immigration
Authors: Jiang Xin , Zhang Ran
Published: March 2023

This paper is concerned with a class of age-structured cholera model with general infection rates. We first explore the existence and uniqueness, dissipativeness and persistence of the solutions, and the existence of the global attractor by verifying the asymptotical smoothness of the orbits. We then give mathematical analysis on the existence and local stability of the positive equilibrium. Based on the preparation, we further investigate the global behavior of the cholera infection model. Corresponding numerical simulations have been presented. Our results improve and generalize some known results on cholera models.
Temporospatial characteristics of wild boar rooting damage in maize
fields
Authors: Tari Tamás , Horváth Attila
Published: March 2023

Damage caused by wildlife species in agricultural areas has
increased in recent decades in Hungary. This trend is causing significant
problems between wildlife managers and farmers. Big game species (wild
boar, red deer and fallow deer) damage agricultural crops through their
feeding and movement.  In maize fields, rooting damage by wild boar after
sowing is a major concern. Several factors can influence the occurrence of
damage, and we wanted to evaluate these in our study. The study was carried
out in Győr-Moson-Sopron county, north-western Hungary, on a 6000 ha
hunting area for two years. The forest cover is approximately 20%, and the
wild boar harvesting averaged 118 individuals in the two years of the
study.. The maize fields were visited periodically after sowing. We
measured the maximum distance of the rooting damage from the field edges in
every 20 m, and we measured the length of the damaged edges as well. We
also surveyed the crop in adjacent fields. We recorded the position of the
hunting stands and the number of hunting occasions and hours spent hunting.
These were used to determine the spatial and temporal patterns of rooting
damage, as well as the effects of hunting pressure and the impact of
adjacent areas.
Analysis of game damage on the basis of judiciary documents in Nógrád
County between 2015 and 2019
Authors: Zemplényi Levente , Katona Krisztán
Published: March 2023

The common use of habitats by people and game species has been
causing conflicts for a long time. With the intensification of agriculture,
the level of agricultural damage has also increased. In many cases farmers
and game managers try to solve their related disagreements in court, often
unsuccessfully. The aim of our research was to find out the reasons for
these difficulties and to show possible solutions. We studied 55 judiciary
documents in three courts in Nógrád County. Red deer was involved in 42
cases of damages (76%), wild boar 33 (60%), roe deer 21 (38%) and mouflon 3
(5%), caused mainly in maize (23,64%), forest, sunflower (12,73% for both)
and grassland (5,45%). Proceedings lasted for 13,65 months on average;
their median was 8 months. The average claim of farmers was 1 514 610 HUF,
its median was 783 000 HUF. At the end of the suits, farmers received the
whole compensation in 8 cases (14,55%) and they got part of the relief on
ten occasions (18,18%). Suits were ceased 14 times (25,45%) and no
compensation was paid in 23 cases (41,82%). Ignorance of law and
unprofessional expertise of farmers negatively influenced the judicial
proceedings. Both farmers and game managers should be informed about the
exact steps of the procedure for solving these long-lasting conflicts.
The effect of toxic elements on the microanatomy of the leaves of the
Salix alba L.
Authors: Tóth Csilla , Vincze György , Irinyiné Oláh Katalin , Uri Zsuzsanna , Vigh Szabolcs , Simon László
Published: March 2023

The effects of a heavy metal containing wastewater sediment on two
cultivars of white willow were investigated in a pot experiment. Our aim
was to examine the effect of toxic elements on the microanatomical
parameters of the leaves of the tested plant. We examined the following
parameters: stomatic density, stoma width and length, lamina thickness,
adaxial and abaxial epidermis thickness, mesophyll thickness, palisad and
spongy parenchyma thickness, main vein width and length. The experiment had
the following results: with the presence of toxic elements, the thickness
of the lamina increased, within this, there was a significant growth in the
thickness of the spongy parenchyma.  The width and the length of the main
vein decreased, so did the extent of the xylem cavities. The extent of the
collenchymal stock of the leaf venation increased. The number of stomas
increased, but the size of the stomas decreased. As a result of toxic
element contamination, the number of Ca-oxalate crystals increased within
the leaf mesophyll.
Impact of heavy metal polluted wastewater sediment on element content
and enzyme activity of Sudan grass
Authors: Vincze György , Uri Zsuzsanna , Tóth Csilla , Irinyiné Oláh Katalin , Vigh Szabolcs , Simon László
Published: March 2023

Growth chamber pot experiment was set up with two varieties of Sudan
grass. Plants were grown in uncontaminated (control) topsoil of the former
wastewater settling pond from Debrecen, which was amended with 10% (m/m) of
wastewater sediment (P: 5125; Fe: 22756, Pb: 287; Cr: 1027; Zn: 888 mg/kg).
The elemental composition of soil and shoots of plants and activities of
some enzymes in leaves were measured. It can be concluded that the roots
and shoots of plant individuals of both varieties consistently took up
higher concentrations of each of the elements from the medium "enriched"
with wastewater sediment. The elevated element concentrations were found in
some cases in the roots, and in other cases in the leaves (K: ~2000 (soil)
- ~13000 (root) - ~30000 (shoot) mg/kg; Cr: ~330 (soil) - ~3,30 (root) -
~0,189 (shoot) mg/kg). The excessive accumulation of toxic elements was not
observed. The activities of four enzymes were measured in the leaves of
plants (glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase, G6PDH; isocitrate-dehydrogenase,
ICDH; peroxidase, POX; catalase, CAT). The enzyme activities of POX
increased meanwhile that of CAT decreased significantly, in spite of slight
differences. As a trend, the specific activity for G6PDH increased by 26%
(GK Csaba) and 36% (Akklimat), while values for ICDH became higher by 28%
(GK Csaba) and 41.5% (Akklimat), for the two varieties studied,
respectively. The latter results were not statistically supported.
In vitro propagation results ofSorbus aria'Gran Sasso'
Authors: Ördögh Máté
Published: March 2023

Sorbuses are deciduous trees or shrubs belong to the family Rosaceae, mainly use them as ornamental or medicinal, fruit plant. In this work, in vitro sterile culture of Sorbus aria ‘Gran Sasso’ was established on half-strength Murashige and Skoog (MS, 1962) basal medium, and examined its shoot and root productions. The ideal cytokinin concentration and type for in vitro shoot development (with more than five shoot per plant specimen) were 0.4 and 0.8 mg/l BA or BAR, lower dosages or other cytokinins (especially KIN) was not effective, however, KIN resulted the longest and widest leaves. After a short (48-hour) period of root stimulation on an induction medium containing 15 mg/l IBA auxin, the hormone-free medium containing 0.75 g/l activated charcoal proved to be the best, but even in this case, it was not possible to achieve a rooting rate better than 36.7%. Silver nitrate was not resulted rooting in every doses, although higher concentrations (2 and 5 mg/l) decreased average shoot number and effectively increased shoots’ length and leaf sizes.