bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Morning Transition of the Coupled Vegetation Canopy and Atmospheric Boundary Layer Turbulence according to the Wind Intensity
Authors: Dupont Sylvain , Irvine Mark R. , Bidot Caroline
Published: April 2024

Turbulence in canopy plays a crucial role in biosphere–atmosphere exchanges. Traditionally, canopy turbulence has been analyzed under stationary conditions based on atmospheric thermal stability, disregarding the time of the day and the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) depth, although recent studies have suggested that daytime canopy turbulence might be influenced by ABL-scale motions. The morning transition offers an intriguing period when the ABL grows and when an increasing influence of large-scale motions on canopy turbulence might be anticipated. Using large-eddy simulations resolving both canopy and ABL turbulence, we investigate here how the turbulence and exchanges at the canopy top change along the morning transition according to the wind intensity. Under significant wind, simulations show that canopy turbulence and exchanges are dominated by mixing-layer-type motions whose characteristics remain constant during the morning transition even though ABL-scale motions imprint on the canopy’s instantaneous velocity fields as the ABL grows. Under low wind, the canopy turbulence is dominated by plumes, whose horizontal sizes extend with the ABL, while their vertical sizes reach a limit before the morning transition ends. In the early morning, canopy-top exchanges are influenced by sources from both the canopy top and the ABL entrainment zone, explaining some of the dissimilarity in turbulent transport between scalars, apart from the differences in the location of canopy scalar sources. When reaching the residual layer, the ABL grows quicker, with intense water vapor and carbon dioxide exchanges, dominated by large-scale motions penetrating deep within the canopy, releasing into the atmosphere the nocturnal accumulated carbon dioxide.
Forecasting Hourly Wildfire Risk: Enhancing Fire Danger Assessment Using Numerical Weather Prediction
Authors: Rodell Christopher , Howard Rosie , Jain Piyush , Moisseeva Nadya , Chui Timothy , Stull Roland
Published: April 2024

Wildfire agencies use fire danger rating systems (FDRSs) to deploy resources and issue public safety measures. The most widely used FDRS is the Canadian fire weather index (FWI) system, which uses weather inputs to estimate the potential for wildfires to start and spread. Current FWI forecasts provide a daily numerical value, representing potential fire severity at an assumed midafternoon time for peak fire activity. This assumption, based on typical diurnal weather patterns, is not always valid. To address this, we developed an hourly FWI (HFWI) system using numerical weather prediction. We validate HFWI against the traditional daily FWI (DFWI) by comparing HFWI forecasts with observation-derived DFWI values from 917 surface fire weather stations in western North America. Results indicate strong correlations between forecasted HFWI and the observation-derived DFWI. A positive mean bias in the daily maximum values of HFWI compared to the traditional DFWI suggests that HFWI can better capture severe fire weather variations regardless of when they occur. We confirm this by comparing HFWI with hourly fire radiative power (FRP) satellite observations for nine wildfire case studies in Canada and the United States. We demonstrate HFWI’s ability to forecast shifts in fire danger timing, especially during intensified fire activity in the late evening and early morning hours, while allowing for multiple periods of increased fire danger per day—a contrast to the conventional DFWI. This research highlights the HFWI system’s value in improving fire danger assessments and predictions, hopefully enhancing wildfire management, especially during atypical fire behavior.
Unbalanced Industrialisation and Geographic Peculiarities:  A Study of India?
Authors: Majeed Mehak , Mushtaq Saeed Owais
Published: April 2024

The inter-regional disparity in economic indicators in India has increased by a considerable amount over the years. The current study is an attempt to highlight the inter-state industrialisation disparities in India. The study, based on the theoretic exposition of new economic geography, argues that the initial geographical (historical) advantage to the southern part of India has locked in industrial activities in that region (core), depriving the northern (periphery) regions of the similar benefits. Based on the Annual Survey of Industries data, the study validates that the southern regions are geographically advantageous in India and are better industrialised than the geographically disadvantaged northern regions. The study points towards the negligence of the union government in acknowledging and intervening into the industrialisation and developmental divides rampant in the latter regions. The study concludes by laying grounds open for the furtherance in the recognition of economic geography as one of the fundamental determinants of inter-regional inequalities across India, demanding immediate policy attention.

JEL Codes: J61, O14
Land Grabbing and Development: The Case of Ethiopia
Authors: Marzocchi Giulia , Arribas Cámara Javier
Published: April 2024

Since African decolonization and independence, foreign land acquisitions for agriculture have surged in Sub-Saharan Africa, notably transforming agricultural production. This “land grabbing” phenomenon is particularly pronounced in the Horn of Africa, especially Ethiopia. This study assesses the impact of land grabbing on Ethiopia’s development, targeting economic, environmental, and quality of life dimensions. Development is viewed as multifaceted, spanning beyond merely economic aspects. The research delves into the land-grabbing phenomenon in Sub-Saharan Africa and Ethiopia, focusing on policy and legal frameworks for large-scale commercial agriculture. It then explores the effects of large-scale land acquisition on Ethiopia’s development in terms of economy, environment, and quality of life. The analysis reveals that land grabbing profoundly affects Ethiopia’s development. Although some economic benefits exist, the negatives like environmental degradation and food insecurity greatly outweigh the positives. Consequently, the study advises prioritizing alternatives and strategies favoring Ethiopia’s economic development and people’s well-being.
Dynamic responses and interactive failure mechanisms of carbon fiber composite face sheets/double-layer corrugated core sandwich structures under low-velocity impacts loading
Authors: Wang Hangyan , Guo Jiayou , Zhang Guangguang , Zhou Shuiting , Ouyang Liange
Published: April 2024

A single-layer and double-layer corrugated core sandwich structure consisting of carbon fibre–reinforced polymer (CFRP) panels and aluminium alloy core layers was designed. Numerical simulations were carried out in HyperMesh/LsDyna, and the simulation results of single-layer and double-layer corrugated sandwich structure were compared with the experimental results to verify the reliability of the proposed numerical model. Compared with the results of single-layer and double-layer corrugated sandwich structure, the superiority of a double-layer corrugated sandwich structure in anti-collision performance is verified. Considering the effects of impact energy and impact position on impact force, energy absorption capacity, and failure mode, a series of low-velocity impact finite element simulations was carried out. It was found that the main failure mode of composite laminates included fibre damage, matrix damage and delamination, and core buckling. At the same impact position, the higher the impact energy, the greater the initial slopes of the contact force-time and absorbed energy-time curves, the higher the peak force, and the larger the energy absorption capacity. Under the same impact energy, when the impactor hit the wave crest of the sandwich structure, the damage to the structure was small; however, the maximum impact force on the structure was large (∼8 kN).
Grave Preaching: Homiletical Violence in the Face of Grief
Authors: Johnson Carlton D.
Published: April 2024

The myth of the African American's ability to separate ourselves from our pain was born amidst the unprecedented violence and innumerable deaths of the Transatlantic Slave trade. It continued throughout the three centuries of enslavement of people of African descent in America. In America, there is still a societal, as well as medical, expectation, that African Americans avoid deep acknowledgment of trauma, grief, and mourning. In an ecology of massive and ongoing health disparities (resulting in death) and sustained violence against African Americans, some African American preachers, and the churches they pastor, abide treatment of grief as a matter that should be given limited attention and moved beyond quickly. A combination of historical research and qualitative ethnography was used to identify past and present-day practices. A series of in-person interviews provided revelations as well as affirmation of the impact of these preaching and pastoral practices. Among African Americans interviewed and studied who experience preaching and the type of pastoral care that supports “a theology of expedient mourning,” many shared that their church did not provide the space and support needed to adequately grieve their losses. My research revealed how the notion of truncated bereavement has influenced harsher realities beyond the walls of the church, even to the hallways of corporate America. A modified proclamation about the importance of adequate support during individual as well as communal grief and mourning is needed for survivors to (re)consider the African American church a place of refuge and healing.
Journalistic and reception mechanisms of remote threat domestication: EU asylum seekers in Israeli media
Authors: Lissitsa Sabina , Aharoni Matan , Kushnirovich Nonna
Published: April 2024

The current study reveals the mechanisms used by both media and news consumers for domesticating distant threatening events. To this end, the study applies thematic analysis to textual and visual content presented in media items (Study 1) and media content reception from the perspective of news consumers (Study 2). Study 1 sample included 209 Israeli media items in Hebrew, covering asylum seekers in Europe from 2014 to 2019. Study 2 is based on semi-structured interviews with 30 Jewish Israeli heavy news consumers. The study was inspired by framing, priming, and media reception theories. The findings revealed the following threat domestication processes: (1) double selection of threatening narratives by media gatekeepers and the audience; (2) simplification of the media narratives to basic “good vs. bad” stories for easy comprehension and extension by news consumers; (3) creation and reception of both immediate threat (violence and crime) and deferred threat (deterministic processes); and (4) generation of a wide range of emotions and emotional processing through double victimhood. The audience actively adds to the domestication of the content through extended hegemonic and negotiated readings, thus finally shaping the framing so that it comes closer to the local contexts and communicates with the consumers’ lives and perceptions.
Communal factors in rater severity and consistency over time in high-stakes oral assessment
Authors: Neittaanmäki Reeta , Lamprianou Iasonas
Published: April 2024

This article focuses on rater severity and consistency and their relation to major changes in the rating system in a high-stakes testing context. The study is based on longitudinal data collected from 2009 to 2019 from the second language (L2) Finnish speaking subtest in the National Certificates of Language Proficiency in Finland. We investigated whether rater severity and consistency changed over that period and whether the changes could be explained by major changes in the rating system, such as the change of lead examiner, the modus of rating and training (on-site or remote), and the composition of the rater group. The data consisted of 45 rating sessions with 104 raters and 59,899 examinees and were analysed using the many-facet Rasch model and generalized linear mixed models. The analyses indicated that raters as a group became somewhat more lenient over time. In addition, the results showed that the rater community and its practices, the lead examiners, and the modus of rating and training can influence rating behaviour. Finally, we elaborate on implications for both research and practice.
Decolonising and the Aesthetic Turn in International Studies: Border Thinking, Co-creation and Voice
Authors: Ní Mhurchú Aoileann
Published: April 2024

The aesthetic turn (AT) in International Studies stresses the ongoing task of marshalling non-western insights to better explore the agency of the globally marginalised in discourses about representability. Decolonial literature also calls specifically for more understanding of relationality and co-creativity underpinning agency and voice in global politics. Building on this decolonialising challenge, this article embeds a focus on ‘ordinary language use’ within a ‘decolonial orientation’ to open up complexities around the politics of representability. It specifically employs the concept of ‘border thinking’ by Walter Mignolo; and centres struggles in language by Gloria Anzaldúa as well as in the vernacular language ‘Verlan’ (as used by working-class racially marginalised people in France) to think ‘from’ the border. Highlighting how language works across (not just within) different registers and forms, the categories of ‘non-standard’ and ‘standard’, ‘domination’ and ‘resistance’ are destabilised. This provides the basis for re-centring Othered voices within a more relational co-creative ontology, by making the entanglement of discipline and resistance a space to think modernity from, rather than a space of interruption into modernity.

Décolonisation et tournant esthétique dans les études internationales : pensée frontalière, co-création et voix
Rendering development investible: The anti-politics machine and the financialisation of development
Authors: Taggart Jack , Power Marcus
Published: April 2024

We critically engage with the so-called ‘Financialisation of Development’ and argue that such is neither automatic nor inexorable. We review and extend a body of recent research that underscores the extensive ‘work’ required by ‘big D’ Development actors to render target contexts legible, attractive, and amenable to private finance and investment. We introduce the framework of ‘rendering (Development) investible’ to help us unpack the attendant governmental rationality of Development institutions and professionals in the current financialised conjuncture. We reveal the drivers and primary characteristics of this rationality and we discuss its significant, yet unintended, consequences for Development thought and practice.
Repowering feasibility of Indian wind energy sector: A case study
Authors: Anil Bindu Aswin , Thampatty KC Sindhu
Published: April 2024

Repowering wind farms entails upgrading or replacing old turbines with more efficient, capable, and profitable ones. This technique has the potential to boost energy production, improve grid integration, and lower operational costs. Repowering also makes use of the most recent breakthroughs in wind energy technology, ensuring that wind farms stay economically viable and contribute to the growth of renewable energy. The majority of the wind farms that are located in India were constructed in early 2000, and their capacity ratings range from 200 kW to 800 kW. The lifespans of these wind farms have finally come to an end. Repowering wind farms is a viable alternative in these regions due to the significant wind capacity that exists there. In order to find the wind potential in the site wind resource assessment is needed. This paper proposes a repowering scheme for the existing wind farm located in Kayathar, Tamil Nadu. The reduction in power loss due to the wake effect in the existing wind farm is analyzed using WAsP software and repowering scheme is proposed to increase the Annual Energy Production (AEP), Capacity Utilisation Factor (CUF). The Wind Atlas Analysis and Application Program (WAsP) is utilized in order to carry out the site’s wind resource evaluation. After the wind resource assessment, individual turbine wake loss is identified, and the viability of repowering the wind farm by raising the hub height of high wake-affected turbines was investigated. Another repowering study is also carried out by installing high-capacity turbines in place of the existing turbines.
Enhancing pressure control of low-friction pneumatic actuator with eddy current damper via valve dead-zone compensation
Authors: Chen Bin , Liu Wei , Wang Yujie , Zhang Kai , Feng Kai
Published: April 2024

This article addresses the high-performance pressure control of a pneumatic actuator that incorporates an air-bearing piston and an eddy current damper (ECD). After optimizing the pneumatic actuator, achieving precise pressure control relies on maintaining an accurate and stable airflow through the control valve. A terminal sliding mode adaptive control method (TSMAC) is proposed, proficiently integrating considerations for dead zone nonlinearities in the proportional valve and the effects of unmodeled disturbances in the pneumatic actuator. Using the opening area of the proportional valve as the input to the pneumatic system greatly simplifies the control process and reduces the workload required for valve parameter calibration. The Lyapunov-based stability analysis demonstrates that excellent asymptotic output tracking can be achieved with low steady-state error simply by knowing the boundaries of the valve opening area. The control effect of the proposed control strategy is compared with an adaptive backstepping sliding mode control method based on a linearly fitted proportional valve model on an established constant pressure control test bench. Experimental results under various loads and operating conditions illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
Comparative performance evaluation and economic assessment between traditional and vibration assisted EDM during machining of Inconel 718
Authors: Panda Diptiranjan , Sahu Santosh Kumar , Das Sudhansu Ranjan
Published: April 2024

Nickel based superalloy, Inconel 718 offers extensive applications in aerospace and gas turbine industries because of its outstanding properties, enabling high performance in various critical components. Despite the wide application of electric discharge machining (EDM) for difficult-to-cut conductive materials, the process becomes less productive due to unstable arcing and inadequate debris flushing during machining, leading to reduced operational efficiency. This research focuses on comparative performance evaluation and economic assessment between conventional-EDM and vibration assisted EDM (VA-EDM) while machining Inconel 718 with copper electrode. The workpiece was excited to vibrate with low frequency by employing unbalanced mass attached in a rotary motor with the aim of enhancing EDM performance. Material removal rate MRR, surface integrity (surface crack density SCD, surface roughness Ra, white (recast) layer thickness WLT) and tool wear rate TWR are analyzed to determine machining performance in comprehensive analysis. The results of the performance comparison show that vibration assisted is superior to the conventional-EDM process concerning enhanced material removal rate, and surface morphology with minimum surface crack density, tool wear rate and white layer thickness. The mean value ratios for Ra EDM/ Ra VA-EDM, TWR EDM/ TWR VA-EDM, WLT EDM/ WLT VA-EDM, and SCD EDM/ SCD VA-EDM are 1.35, 1.52, 1.21, and 1.74, respectively. Additionally, the surface integrity was enhanced using vibration-assisted EDM because it (a) increases the plasma flushing efficiency and the gap pressure gradient; (b) raises the energy of electrically charged plasma particles; (c) increases the effective flow of dielectric in the gap; (d) minimizes the number of ineffective pulses (short-circuiting and arching) on the surface; and (e) improves the dielectric flushing conditions in sparking gap. According to the findings, the overall machining expenditure per part under VA-EDM in Indian rupees (INR) 534 is lowered by 8% than expenditure under conventional-EDM (INR 576.60). The outcomes of this research have the potential to benefit numerous industries that deal with difficult-to-cut materials.
Hybrid model predictive control for vehicle trajectory tracking with integrated attitude adjustment
Authors: Yang Renzheng , Yao Jialing
Published: April 2024

This paper presents a vehicle trajectory tracking method that integrates attitude adjustment. The method utilizes the asymmetric adjustment of the damping of the adjustable damping shock absorber to lift the left and right vehicle body and carry out the attitude adjustment of the vehicle. Additionally, it actively tilts toward the inside of the curve during turning. In order to address the nonlinear constraints of damping asymmetry regulation and the mixed logic relationship between suspension asymmetry damping switching and left and right body lifting during body attitude regulation, a mixed logic dynamic system (MLD) for vehicle attitude adjustment is established. Subsequently, the vehicle trajectory tracking controller is designed using the hybrid model predictive control theory (HMPC), which integrates active steering control and attitude adjustment. The optimal control problem of hybrid systems is transformed into a hybrid integer quadratic programming problem and solved through finite time domain rolling optimization. The effectiveness of the proposed integrated controller is confirmed through Simulink simulation. Compared with pure tracking control and roll tracking control with zero roll angle as the control target, this controller demonstrates its ability to effectively track the reference trajectory and enhance the vehicle’s dynamic performance.
Design of two-degree-of-freedom position tracking controller for hypergravity unidirectional airborne shaking table
Authors: Yang Zhu , Xie Haibo
Published: April 2024

Hypergravity centrifugal shaking table is widely used in the field of civil engineering and is considered to be the most effective means to study geotechnical earthquake disaster effect in the world today. Here, the structure of hypergravity centrifugal shaking table system is briefly introduced, and then the necessity and difficulty of the precise control of the position ring of the airborne shaking table in the hypergravity centrifugal shaking table are explained. On this premise, the system modeling and analysis of the unidirectional airborne shaking table with hypergravity are carried out in this paper. A new two-degree-of-freedom controller of the unidirectional airborne shaking table with hypergravity is designed by combining the [Formula: see text] control and an improved internal model control (IIMC) strategy, and the designed two-degree-of-freedom controller is experimentally verified. The experimental results show that compared with the traditional PID control strategy and the single [Formula: see text] control strategy, the two-degree-of-freedom controller designed in this paper can make the position loop control of the unidirectional airborne shaking table with hypergravity have higher control accuracy and anti-interference ability.
Contesting colonial beachheads: Settler colonial (in)security professionals and Indigenous peoples’ energy infrastructure
Authors: Midzain-Gobin Liam , McEvoy Joshua K
Published: April 2024

In April 2020, the British Columbia Utilities Commission released the Final Report of its Indigenous Utilities Regulation Inquiry. The Inquiry was tasked with determining the regulatory environment for Indigenous utility providers across the Canadian province. We analyse the Inquiry as a colonial encounter between Indigenous nations and the settler state, arguing that technical bodies like the Commission represent a sort of security professional working to depoliticize the reproduction of settler sovereignty, highlighting the operations of non-traditional security professionals in settler colonial contexts. Through the Inquiry, security comes through providing certainty for existing energy infrastructure and institutions as ‘colonial beachheads’, legitimizing the settler colonial political-economic order. However, the Inquiry also demonstrates that such processes offer opportunities for Indigenous nations to contest that order. Indeed, Indigenous nations used the Inquiry to both contest the legitimization of settler sovereignty and accumulation, and press for the capacity to build their own infrastructure and institutions, thereby enacting their decision-making authority. We explore this tension in the context of the contemporary reconciliation discourse, finding the Inquiry’s final recommendations represent an attempt to reify settler sovereignty, while also deepening settler insecurity through the possibilities opened for greater Indigenous self-determination.
A Study on the Economic Evaluation of End-stage Renal Disease Treatment: Kidney Transplantation Versus Haemodialysis
Authors: Trivedi Neera , Sodani P. R.
Published: April 2024

A significant health problem affecting thousands of people worldwide is end-stage renal disease (ESRD). Haemodialysis and kidney transplantation are the two main forms of treatment. Despite the fact that kidney transplantation is a more effective and affordable treatment option, many ESRD patients still undergo haemodialysis due to a variety of reasons, including a lack of opportunity for transplantation, financial limitations and a lack of available donors. By examining the cost and quality of life connected with kidney transplantation and haemodialysis, this research aims to contribute to the economic assessment of ESRD treatments. A total of 268 recipients of kidney transplants and 225 patients receiving haemodialysis made up the study’s sample size. It was carried out at Medanta – The Medicity in Gurugram, Haryana. Haemodialysis costs ₹550,000 per year, while the average expense for a kidney transplant is ₹880,000. However, a straightforward projection indicates that in about 20 months, the cost of haemodialysis patients will equal that of transplant patients. In terms of life satisfaction, kidney transplant recipients reported higher levels of general fulfilment with healthcare services than haemodialysis patients. With a ratio of 1.6:1.75 in terms of expenses versus quality of life (QoL), transplantation of kidneys was found to be more advantageous.
Effect of Immediate Kangaroo Mother Care on Pain in Sick Low Birth Weight Neonates During Heel Prick in Mother–Newborn Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Baijnathan Ivanshi , Arya Sugandha
Published: April 2024

Introduction: In the Mother-Newborn Intensive Care Unit(M–NICU), sick, low birth weight(LBW) neonates are cared for along with their mothers with facilities of level-II newborn care and postnatal care for mothers. Babies weighing 1–1.8 kg are admitted and Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is started after birth without waiting for stabilization. This is immediate Kangaroo Mother Care (iKMC). There are studies on analgesic effect of KMC, but no studies on analgesic effect of iKMC in sick neonates; therefore, the present study was planned.

Aims and objectives: To compare pain score and recovery time from pain following heel prick in sick LBW neonates weighing 1–1.8 kg in iKMC and under radiant warmer.

Materials and methods: In the M-NICU, neonates are in iKMC for 12–18 hours. If iKMC is not possible, the baby is placed under radiant-warmer. LBW neonates are screened for hypoglycemia at 2, 6, 12, 24, 48-hour intervals by heel prick. Pain scoring was done by the Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) score and the recovery time (time for heart rate to return to baseline) noted following heel prick in iKMC and under radiant warmer.

Results: 75 babies enrolled, 150 episodes of glucose estimation in iKMC and 150 in radiant warmer included. Mean(SD) baby weight(Kg) was 1512.93(171.10). Mean(SD) gestational age(Weeks) was 33.77(2.54). In the iKMC group, mean pain score(SD) was 7.59(2.27) and median(IQR) was 8.00(2.75). In the radiant warmer group, mean pain score(SD) was 14.41(2.04) and median(IQR) was 15.00(3.00). Mean recovery time(seconds)(SD) was 33.3(20.22) in the iKMC group and 92.43(49.68) in the radiant warmer group. The difference was statistically significant( P = <0.001).

Conclusion: In sick LBW neonates, painful procedures must be done in KMC, whenever possible.
Phytochemical Characterization and Anticancer Screening of Cladophora goensis and Cladophora glomerata Extracts
Authors: Sundaramoorthy Sharanya , Dakshinamoorthy Anusha , L. V. K. S. Bhaskar
Published: April 2024

Background

Cladophora goensis and Cladophora glomerata has been widely identified in the Indian Oceans. Marine algae have been identified as potential pharmacological agents useful in the treatment of diabetes, hypertension, infections, and cancers.

Objectives

The present study aimed to evaluate the phytochemicals in C. goensis and C. glomerata using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS), and to study the molecular interactions with cancer-related proteins using molecular docking techniques.

Materials and methods

GC-MS analysis was done using electron impact ionization at 70eV and the data was evaluated using total ion count for compound identification and quantification. AutoDock 4.0 version was used for the molecular docking analysis.

Results

The methanolic extracts of algae when subjected to GC-MS analysis, 19 compounds from C. goensis and 11 phytocompounds from C. glomerata were identified. The significant molecular interactions of phytochemicals of C. goensis (6-nitro-3 H-quinazolin-4-one, Isoquinoline, 1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-7-methoxy-2-methyl-8-(phenyl methoxy) and 9-Decen-1-ol, pentafluropropionate) and C. glomerata (phytol, palmitic acid, and octadec-9-enoic acid) against human epidermal growth factor receptor (4WRG), poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase-1 (4UND), human estrogen receptor alpha ligand-binding domain (3ERT), human peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha ligand-binding domain (3VI8), and human topoisomerase (1EJ9) have been demonstrated.

Conclusion

The phytochemicals of methanolic extracts of C. goensis and C. glomerata showed potential interactions with cancer-related proteins.
The active underbelly of developmentalism: The power of the state in the twenty-first century
Authors: Wylde Christopher
Published: April 2024

Industrial policy has become one of the buzzwords of state interventionism in the political economy of states. Continuity and change in social contracts, the increasing complexity of multi-level governance in the world economy, and the need for greater degrees of co-ordination and greater amounts of capital in key industrial sectors all require a reinvigorated understanding of the state and of state power. This article seeks to develop such an understanding of one state form: the Developmental State. Through an analysis of the Argentine development experience under Nestor Kirchner (2003-07), this article will reveal the need to develop sophisticated understandings of the state and associated concepts of capacity and autonomy to fully grasp its role in the development process, with a particular focus on industrial policy. Such examination will draw attention to the changing nature of industrial policy, and how this is linked to changes in the state as a result of pressures from below (changing constellation of social forces) and from above (changing nature of global forces).
Medical education and creative writing: Poetry and how it can assist trainees in developing psychiatric formulation skills
Authors: Kumar Varun
Published: April 2024

Objective

To reflect on the importance of teaching formulation skills in psychiatry training and explore how creative writing, particularly writing poetry, can help achieve this goal.

Conclusions

It is vital that formulation skills are embedded throughout psychiatry training. Formulations have an artistic element, and writing poetry can help foster a capacity for curiosity that can assist trainees in developing these skills.
Reading Spanish Prosody: The Role of Word Reading and Syntactic Knowledge
Authors: Rodriquez Cristina , Gutiérrez Nuria , Seoane Rocío C. , González Desirée , de León Sara C.
Published: April 2024

This study examined the interrelationships among and combined effects of word reading skills and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody in fifth-grade monolingual Spanish-speaking students. We used Spanish standardized tests to assess the participants ( n = 169, 79 girls) on word and pseudoword reading skills, syntactic knowledge, and reading prosody. The results revealed significant relationships among these factors and reading prosody. Word reading emerged as a pivotal predictor, whereas syntactic knowledge, although playing a smaller role compared to word reading, was linked to improvements in expression, phrasing, and the reduction of ungrammatical pauses. We also found a non-significant interaction between the independent effects of word reading and syntactic knowledge on reading prosody. The study suggests the potential benefits of integrating explicit syntactic instruction into reading curricula and intervention programs to support the development of reading prosody in Spanish.
Abdominal Organ Transplantation: Noteworthy Literature in 2023
Authors: Katayama Akira , Maffucci Patrick , Domanski Alex , Wang Ryan , Sakai Tetsuro
Published: April 2024

This review highlights noteworthy literature published in 2023 and pertinent to anesthesiologists and critical care physicians caring for patients undergoing abdominal organ transplantation. We feature 9 studies from 593 peer-reviewed papers on pancreatic transplantation, 3 from 194 on intestinal transplantation, and 28 from over 4513 on kidney transplantation. The liver transplantation section includes a special focus on 20 studies from 5666 clinical trial publications. We explore a broad range of topics, including donor management, perioperative recipient management, and innovative pharmacologic and mechanical interventions tested for the improvement of patient and graft outcomes and survival.
Revolutionary Enclosures (Until the Apricots)
Authors: Puar Jasbir K.
Published: April 2024

Jasbir K. Puar and Dima Srouji build upon their respective work in architecture, visual art and decolonial theory to produce a collaborative examination of colonial pathologies for Sharjah Art Biennial 15, 2023. Srouji’s architecture and art practice encompass a variety of mediums that allow her to explore notions of heritage and public space in Palestine and the region. Puar is a writer and scholar whose current work focuses on settler colonial violence, disability and debility in Palestine. Their collaborative installations integrate understandings of space and planning with the contemporary politics of resistance in the context of Palestine and the surrounding region.

At Sharjah Art Biennial 15, Puar and Srouji present ‘Revolutionary Enclosures (Until the Apricots)’ (2023), a series of household items that respond to the material conditions of lockdown, interweaving the artists’ experiences of COVID-19 quarantine in Palestine and their memories of the Second Intifada (2000–2005), a major Palestinian uprising against Israel. The project reframes everyday objects emblematic of the trauma of enclosure for Palestinians as transformative matter and reservoirs of affective practices of resilience, community and caregiving: hoarded cans of tuna form the constituent parts of a radiator signifying warmth; resin apricots evoke the exchange of sustenance among neighbours; shrapnel becomes decorative wallpaper motifs; a stairwell used as shelter from air raids transforms into a communal reading space. Exploring the collective rhythms and materialities of these conditions, Srouji and Puar conjure the everyday making and remaking of the commons through and against the constraints of siege and containment.

The conversation published here took place between March and September 2023, and thus predates the latest phase in the catastrophic violence that has historically defined Israel’s relationship to Palestine and the Palestinians. Triggered by an unprecedented and shocking attack by Hamas on 7 October, Israel’s genocidal military campaign in Gaza is not an anomaly, but in line with and part and parcel of the systematic ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians and the Apartheid system that the settler colonial state of Israel has relied on for its sustenance since 1948. The questions asked here by Maasri and Toukan, as well as the artworks discussed by Jasbir and Srouji, probe aspects of this very condition that has brought us to the unabashed genocidal violence we are now all witness to today.
Loneliness in medicine and relational ethics: A phenomenology of the physician-patient relationship
Authors: Han John D , Frush Benjamin W , Malone Jay R
Published: April 2024

Loneliness in medicine is a serious problem not just for patients, for whom illness is intrinsically isolating, but also for physicians in the contemporary condition of medicine. We explore this problem by investigating the ideal physician-patient relationship, whose analogy with friendship has held enduring normative appeal. Drawing from Talbot Brewer and Nir Ben-Moshe, we argue that this appeal lies in a dynamic form of companionship incompatible with static models of friendship-like physician-patient relationships: a mutual refinement of embodied virtue that draws both persons together. The ideal physician-patient relationship has a dialectical character that fosters each member's improvement of phenomenologically recognizing and embodying moral virtues. A key component of this dynamic is a commitment to the common goal of the patient's health, realized through joint interactivities and conversations over time. The physician's presence to the patient's suffering—understood best as an alienating phenomenological condition for the patient—orients and discloses possibilities for virtuous caregiving by structuring the meanings of the goals, conversations, and joint narrative constitutive of their relationship. Presence to suffering, paradoxically, is perhaps an important prerequisite for this dynamic partnership. These activities dialectically build an interpretive horizon of understanding through which moral goods and character refinement—in and for the other—may become revealed for both persons in their shared being-in-the-world. This analysis of suffering, mood, and revealing of (possible) moral goods has implications for addressing the modern problem of loneliness for patients and physicians, who are increasingly inhibited from building flourishing relationships with each other.
Association between dietary folate intake and severe abdominal aorta calcification in adults: A cross-sectional analysis of the national health and nutrition examination survey
Authors: Zhang Kai , Chen Jianguo , Chen Bowen , Han Yu , Cai Tianyi , Zhao JiaYu , Gu ZhaoXuan , Gao Min , Hou Zhengyan , Yu Xiaoqi , Gu FangMing , Gao Yafang , Hu Rui , Xie Jinyu , Liu Tianzhou , Cui Dan , Li Bo
Published: April 2024

Background

Prior studies have established a connection between folate intake and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Abdominal aortic calcification (AAC) has been introduced as a good predictor of CVD events, but no previous study has investigated the relationship between dietary folate intake and severe AAC. Therefore, the study aims to explore the association between dietary folate intake and severe AAC in the United States (US) middle-aged and elderly population.

Methods

This study employed cross-sectional data from the 2013-2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) to examine the relationship between dietary folate intake and severe AAC. Two 24-h dietary recall interviews were conducted to assess dietary folate intake and its sources, while a DXA scan was used to determine the AAC score. To analyze the association between dietary folate intake and severe AAC, a multivariable logistic regression model was applied, and a subgroup analysis was performed.

Results

Our analysis utilized data from 2640 participants aged 40 years and above, including 288 individuals diagnosed with severe AAC. After adjusting for confounding factors, we observed an inverted L-shaped association between folate intake and severe AAC. Upon further adjustment for specific confounding factors and covariates, the multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the second, third, and fourth quartiles of folate intake, using the first quartile as the reference, were as follows: 1.24 (0.86-1.79), 0.86 (0.58-1.27), and 0.63 (0.41-0.97), respectively. Subgroup analysis results were consistent with the logistic regression models, indicating concordant findings. Moreover, no significant interaction was observed in the subgroup analyses.

Conclusions

The study findings suggest an inverted L-shaped association between dietary folate intake and severe AAC. However, additional prospective investigations are necessary to explore the impact of dietary folate intake on severe AAC in patients.
Test and analysis of the flexural performance of sandwich insulation wall panels with textile-reinforced engineered cementitious composites in wythes after hot rain cycles
Authors: Li Yushan , Yin Shiping , Feng Linli
Published: April 2024

A sandwich insulation wall panel is a novel composite wall that integrates load bearing, thermal insulation and decoration. Most of the wall materials of sandwich insulation wall panels are made of ordinary concrete or lightweight concrete, which causes the wall panels to be too thick and heavy, and there are problems associated with poor durability and high energy consumption. Textile-reinforced engineered cementitious composite (TRE) materials have excellent mechanical properties, toughness and durability. Therefore, a type of sandwich insulation wall panel (SIWP) was constructed using textile-reinforced engineered cementitious composites (TRE) as the inner and outer wythes. Its good crack control ability and tensile performance can compensate for the brittle cracking and shedding of ordinary concrete sandwich insulation wall panels. Through a four-point bending test, the bending performance of the TRE sandwich insulation wall panel (TRE-SIWP) was analyzed from three aspects: failure mode, load-midspan deflection curve and ductility. The research variables included the number of hot rain cycles, the thickness of the TRE wythes, the hot rain environment, the thermal insulation layer type and thickness, and the number of heating-freezing cycles. The results show the that hot-rain cycles had the least effect on the specimen with a rock wool board, and they caused more damage to the TRE wythes than they did to the insulation board. Increasing the thickness of the insulation layer and TRE width could improve the flexural bearing capacity and stiffness of the TRE-SIWPs.
Working Within and Outside the System: Why and When Survivors Seek Help After Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Mendoza Maria Paula , Rochford Elle
Published: April 2024

This paper explores the experiences of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) who seek help or avoid help from both within and outside the criminal legal system (CLS). Data derived from 22 interviews reveal four types of help-seeking experiences: (1) addressing harm (2) increasing harm (3) mandating participation and (4) avoiding participation. These types reflect the interactions between the CLS and vulnerable populations who frequently mistrust the CLS but are compelled to interact with it. This typology uncovers the complex realities of survivors’ contact with the CLS and suggests less harmful alternatives as desired by the participants in our sample.
Health and Wellness Coaching Can Improve Usage of Positive Airway Pressure Therapy in Participants With Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Obesity
Authors: Alencar Michelle , Sauls Rachel , Johnson Kelly , Thakkar Shreya , Carmona Anthony , Morse Aaron , Nakka Sirish
Published: April 2024

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been tied to chronic conditions, such as obesity. Although continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device is an effective treatment, device discomfort impacts treatment adherence. Health and wellness coaching (HWC) can increase weight loss (WL) and adherence across other treatment types. This study aims to determine whether participants undergoing an HWC program improve CPAP device usage and WL compared to control group (CG). Participants were randomly selected to participate in the HWC group in conjunction with standard care. The HWC participants were gender, age, weight, CPAP usage (e.g., hours, days), and race matched to CG participants receiving standard care only. Variables collected include demographics (i.e., age, gender), CPAP device usage, and weight across four time points (baseline, 3-, 6-, and 9-months). Paired samples t-test and Pearson’s coefficient correlation were conducted to determine how outcomes differ between groups. Of 232 participants studied, those in the HWC group significantly increased CPAP usage over time ( P < .001) vs CG (6.5 ± 1.8, and 5.0 ± 2.3 hours, respectively). The HWC group had significantly more weight loss (11.0 ± 14.5 lbs.) than CG (5.7 ± 16.1 lbs.) across the 9-month timeline ( P < .001). This study provides evidence that HWC can improve CPAP adherence and weight loss.
Comprehensive management of challenging recurrent aortoiliac and lower extremity occlusive disease with simultaneous modified-covered endovascular reconstruction of the aortic bifurcation, inferior mesenteric artery snorkel, and lower extremity bypass
Authors: Li Wei , Santana Dixon , Phillips Cooper
Published: April 2024

Objectives

Despite recent advancements in endovascular technology and proven durability of open surgeries, managing extensive aortoiliac occlusive disease (AIOD) with concurrent severe lower extremity (LE) arterial occlusion remains a formidable challenge. This paper introduces a comprehensive approach to addressing recurrent AIOD and LE occlusive diseases by employing modified-CERAB, inferior mesenteric artery (IMA) snorkel, and LE bypass in a challenging case.

Methods

A 56-year-old male patient presented with subacute bilateral lower extremity rest pain with dry gangrene in the left great toe and a complex medical history. His history included a hostile abdomen stemming from past ischemic bowel episodes and multiple bowel resections through laparotomies. Furthermore, the patient had a persistent left ventricular thrombus (LVT), stage-2 chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes, and was currently experiencing bilateral LE rest pain and dry gangrene in the left great toe, accompanied by severe dermatitis in both LEs.

Results

He successfully underwent modified-CERAB with a concurrent snorkel technique for IMA preservation, along with an LE bypass to resolve bilateral LE critical ischemia.

Conclusion

This comprehensive management approach, combining simultaneous modified-CERAB, IMA snorkel, and LE bypass, provides an effective alternative for addressing complex AIOD and LE occlusive disease patients with hostile abdomen.