bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Manipulation of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) and Transforming Growth Factor Beta-1(TGFβ-1) towards viral induced liver cancer pathogenesis
Authors: Badshah Yasmin , Shabbir Maria , Khan Khushbukhat , Fatima Maha , Majoka Iqra , Aslam Laiba , Munawar Huda
Published: October 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common liver malignancy. Early diagnosis of HCC has always been challenging. This study aims to assess the pathogenicity and the prevalence of IL-6 -174G/C (rs1800795) and TGFβ-1 +29C/T (rs1800470) polymorphisms in HCV-infected HCC patients. Experimental strategies are integrated with computational approaches to analyse the pathogenicity of the TGFβ-1 +29C/T and IL-6–174 G/C polymorphisms in HCV-induced HCC. AliBaba2 was used to predict the effect of IL-6–174 G/C on transcription factor binding site in IL-6 gene. Structural changes in the mutant TGFβ-1 structure were determined through project HOPE. To assess the polymorphic prevalence of IL-6 -174G/C and TGFβ-1 +29C/T genotypes in HCC and control subjects, amplification refractory mutation system PCR (ARMS-PCR) was performed on 213 HCC and 216 control samples. GraphPad Prism version 8.0 was used for the statistical analysis of the results. In-silico analysis revealed the regulatory nature of both IL-6 -174G/C and TGFβ-1 +29C/T polymorphisms. ARMS-PCR results revealed that the individuals carrying TT genotype for TGFβ-1 gene have an increased risk of developing HCC (p<0.0001, OR = 5.403, RR = 2.062) as compared to individuals with CT and CC genotype. Similarly, GC genotype carriers for IL-6 gene exhibit an increased risk of HCC susceptibility (p<0.0001, OR = 2.276, RR = 1.512) as compared to the people carrying the GG genotype. Genotype TT of TGFβ-1 gene and genotype GC of IL-6 gene are found to be associated with HCV-induced HCC. IL-6 polymorphism may alter its transcription that leads to its pathogenicity. TGFβ-1 polymorphism may alter protein structure stability.
Educating Dancers with Dignity, Respect and Care
Authors:   Arizona State University, Jackson Naomi
Published: October 2022

This chapter looks more closely at the legacy of abusive and unfair situations in dance training and what we can learn from the discipline of ethics. It traces how authoritarian, disciplinary methods rooted in the eighteenth century fused with early twentieth-century ideas about genius to lead to the predominant pedagogical trends of the last century. The chapter then considers how a sophisticated consideration of moral bads can help to bring greater nuance to our understanding of the destructive behaviours in traditional dance education, as well as how deontological and virtue theories can aid in building a more humane approach. Treating dancers with greater respect, dignity and care in all aspects of dance education and then during their professional careers: this is the goal.
Ethics and Critiquing Dance
Authors:   Arizona State University, Jackson Naomi
Published: October 2022

Chapter 5 considers important ethical issues involved when critically assessing dance. These include responsibility, truth, honesty, fairness, respect and care. The first part of the chapter provides some historical context and focuses on these issues in relation to traditional written dance criticism of live performances, with some reference to verbal critiques of dancing in televised game shows and informal feedback sessions. The second part more closely considers the place of ethical considerations in the critique and the nature of ‘ethical criticism’ in dance. In other words, when and why might critics include an ethical component in their interpretation and evaluation of dance? The reader is encouraged to both celebrate, as well as recognize some serious limitations with, conventional modes of dance critique, and cultivate approaches that treat those involved in the critical process with dignity, care and compassion.
Ethical Issues in the Presenting World of Dance
Authors:   Arizona State University, Jackson Naomi
Published: October 2022

Chapter 6 considers the ethical dimensions of presenting as it primarily relates to live concert dance considered ‘contemporary’ and ‘experimental’ within the United States. It considers key historical, cultural and economic forces that influence presenters of dance and how these especially impact equity and fairness, often negatively, and in a manner that in certain ways is beyond the control of any one organization or individual. The author also addresses other ethical issues related to the integrated and mutually dependent nature of the field, centering on responsibility and trust. Dance presenters constantly weigh the perspectives of multiple stakeholders such as artists, audiences, patrons, funders and boards of directors. This makes ethical concerns around honesty, transparency, openness, responsiveness and empathy particularly relevant. In this chapter relational ethics and care ethics are emphasized as beneficial for making the presenting field more humane.
L’Aventure ambiguë: La folie spirituelle, la réalité philosophique et l’interprétation erronée
Authors: Ogbodo Ngozi Kris , Yong Marinus Samoh , Modum Paul Egbuna
Published: October 2022

Hamidou Kane’s first novel, The Ambiguous Adventure, has been subjected to a plethora of criticism since its publication in 1960 thanks to the historical-political situation during the creation of this masterpiece. The judgements of some critics such as Albert Gérard are erroneous because they believe, wrongly, that the novelist’s sympathy lies on the side of the western system. It is worth denouncing the excess of snobbery of a critic who claims to dictate to the novelist how he should have written his novel. It should be noted that Kane’s work is not a celebration of the benefits of colonialism. Rather, it is a profound analysis of the anguish caused by the harmful effects of a foreign system on the traditional life of Africa. More than sixty years after the publication of this masterpiece, the feelings evoked and the themes addressed are still very relevant. This article criticizes Gerald’s point of view while proposing another in relation to the author’s intention. To achieve this goal, the analysis will be based not only on our own conviction, but also on the views of other critics.
‘C’est à ce prix que vous mangez du sucre en Europe’: Decolonizing plantationocene visualities in Amalia Ramanankirahina’s Le grand couvert
Authors: Matheron Aurélie
Published: October 2022

This article explores how the installation Le grand couvert by Malagasy artist Amalia Ramanankirahina intersects colonial plantations and a French Parisian orchard to decolonize contemporary French ecological thinking. As this article explores how French rural ecologies are embedded within a wider variety of environments and their violent plantationocenic histories, it argues that Le grand couvert performs ‘aesthetic marronage’, a form of fugitivity that breaks through ‘traditional’ plantation visual cultures – ones that freeze plantations into a space of leisure and exoticism, albeit a violent one. Tracing the contours of the material, economic and ecological, ‘legacies’ of the plantationocene in and across contemporary France and its overseas territories, this article ultimately demonstrates how Le grand couvert helps interrogate what Stephanie Posthumus has called ‘ecological dwelling’, the evolving processes of bodies in and with space. While Posthumus understands ecological dwelling primarily along urban/rural paradigms, Ramanankirahina’s decolonial work injects new perspectives on this concept. In Le grand couvert, the plantation bleeds into the colonial space of a former rural space now known as a banlieue. At the intersection of the plantation and the banlieue, aesthetic marronage reveals the tensions of dwelling ecologically in sites that racially and economically restrict one’s subjective formation.
Reconfiguring Senegalese filmmakers as Griots: Identity, migration and authorship practice
Authors: Kayır Oğuz
Published: October 2022

This article aims to designate the notion of ‘Griot’ – the oral transmitter of history in West African cultures to the eclectic filmmakers from the post-independence period of Francophone Senegal who utilized film as an instrument to reassemble their nation’s lost image and carve an independent national identity that seeks liberation from the remnants of French imperial rule. Figuratively performing as Griots in the postcolonial film corpus, directors Ousmane Sembéne, Djibril Diop Mambéty and Mati Diop fabricated an original filmic language that represents the cultural milieu of Senegal after the French colonialism. In these directorial endeavours, the incorporation of narration elements plays a pivotal role in simultaneously manufacturing the agencies of Senegalese people and accelerating the continuum of decolonization in the country’s visual domain. Including the historical framework of Senegal’s cinema and illustrating the analogy between Griots and these filmmakers, this research will take a closer look at the corresponding postcolonial narratives of Ousmane Sembéne’s La Noire de… (1966), Djibril Diop Mambéty’s Touki Bouki (1973) and Mati Diop’s Atlantics (2019) in an effort to unravel their tumultuous identity politics, critiques of (neo)colonialism and filmmakers’ role as national raconteurs.
Decolonizing fashion [studies] as process
Authors: Cheang Sarah , Rabine Leslie , Sandhu Arti
Published: October 2022

In this Special Issue, we explore decolonizing fashion studies not as a destination but as non-linear process, ever revised, re-evaluated, revisited and relived. Situated within a space of self-questioning, the authors in this Special Issue embrace unresolved contradictions and unresolvable paradoxes inherent to the very being of fashion. They are participants, aware that there is no pure pre-colonial space to return to, no ‘authentic’ pre-colonial dress to resuscitate, accept the multiple means to liberation that emerge through layered/interconnected/tangled histories. In pieces about India, Nigeria, Senegal, Argentina, the United Kingdom and the United States, contributors demonstrate that oftentimes decolonial efforts reinscribe the very power relations they seek to dismantle as a seemingly inescapable condition of capitalist modernity. Yet these conflicted efforts make valuable contributions to social justice. Turning these problems into our theme, we see incompleteness as a path forward rather than an impasse. This introductory essay examines the unanswerable questions that ‘process’ or ‘being in process’ creates. Reflecting critically on the processes of academic publishing as well, we explore giving equal weight to unconventional, open-ended and situated analysis, as well as performative modes of storytelling, illustration and videography, as a strategy toward a future path in fashion studies.
Milan–London–New York–Pompeya: Genios Pobres (Poor Geniuses) in Buenos Aires at the end of the 1980s
Authors: Lucena Daniela
Published: October 2022

From the end of the last 1976 military dictatorship, the Buenos Aires underground scene comprised of a web of aesthetic experiences that challenged the conventional ways of dominant culture. Intermeshing art, bodies and politics in an unprecedented and radical way, the artists involved in this scene in the 1980s created relational practices, joyful moments and venues for cultural production. At the end of the decade, young artists and designers of Genios Pobres (Poor Geniuses) gave rise to innovative productions between art, fashion and design. Drawing from interviews with several members of Genios Pobres, this text follows some experiences of the group, with the intention of recovering a compelling yet hardly explored chapter of Argentinian cultural history.
A fashionable wedding in Dakar, Senegal
Authors: Rabine Leslie W.
Published: October 2022

A young bride and groom, Zeynab Dieng (25) and Abdoulaye Ly (28), asked me to photograph their Muslim/Peulh wedding festivities in Dakar, Senegal. Dakarois wedding celebrations centre around the bride, who demonstrates her dignity and savoir faire as a new matron by appearing in a succession of fashionable outfits. Within the Senegalese fashion system, these outfits fall into the style categories labelled ‘ethnic’, ‘pan-African’ and ‘European’. Among the many Senegalese weddings that I have attended and photographed, the wedding of Abdoulaye and Zeynab was startlingly original in its fashions and its rituals. Abdoulaye, Zeynab and their siblings performed a ceremony of freedom on their own terms. My study addresses interwoven processes of colonization/decolonization. The first concerns my own far-from-complete process of attempting to decolonize my mind and practice. The second process concerns the refusing-to-die colonial dichotomy of ‘tradition’ and ‘modernity’ with respect to fashion and weddings. Instead of applying colonial labels to the fashions and the wedding, I try to see these through the lens of the Dakarois youth imaginary. How do Zeynab, Abdoulaye and their contemporaries interpret the decolonizing/neo-colonizing forces they navigate in creating fashions and in shaping their own lives?
Reseña de Tempestad en el tiempo de las luces
Authors: Gómez Urdáñez José Luis
Published: October 2022

Reseña de: Enrique Giménez López, Tempestad en el tiempo de las luces. La extinción de la Compañía de Jesús, Madrid, Cátedra, 2022, 552 pp. ISBN: 978-84-376-4462-2.
Alterity, Recognition and Performance: The Queer and the Animal in Makeda Silvera’s “Caribbean Chameleon”
Authors: Cuadrado-Payeras Lidia María
Published: October 2022

This article explores notions of performativity in the story “Caribbean Chameleon,” published in Makeda Silvera’s collection Her Head a Village (1994). The story emphasises problems of performing with regards to the categories of race and gender as they pertain to the lived experience of Anglo-Caribbean migrants in Canada, a country which, in spite of its ostensible positive engagement with difference, is nevertheless still systemically hostile to migrants. Being able to adequately “perform” race or gender in a non-threatening way for the system becomes imperative for migrants, which the story highlights framing its critique of racial profiling within the conventions of the stage. This opens the door to examining the types of performativity with which “Caribbean Chameleon” engages. In this article, I discuss how notions of performance, performing and performativity interact with representations of queerness and animality, which provide and constitute modes of alterity that intersect with questions of race, gender, and (un)belonging that are raised in the story.
“Usable Paradoxical Space”: Negotiating Captivity and the Gaze in Michelle Mohabeer’s film Blu in You
Authors: Smyth Heather
Published: October 2022

To this special issue of Canada and Beyond on “Caribbean Canadian” cultural production, this article offers a reappraisal of spectacular violence in the legacy of Sarah Baartman, as explored by Guyanese Canadian filmmaker Michelle Mohabeer. Mohabeer’s film Blu in You confronts the racist, heteronormative violences that underpin Western modernity, in particular objectification of the gaze over racialized Black and queer women, in the process situating queer Caribbean Canadian women as Baartman’s resistant inheritors. This paper seeks strategies for addressing the limitations imposed on queer critical race critique by inherited and flawed systems of knowledge. In particular, it explores the paradoxes that arise in addressing the legacies of Sarah Baartman using visual art. I use Mohabeer’s film and its references to Baartman and captivity, routed through feminist critical race critique, to propose ways of imagining liberatory epistemologies within compromised contexts, the critical inhabitation of delimited positions, and the exercise of transformative agency within restricted zones.
Writing the Queer Caribbean / Canada / Beyond – A Conversation with H. Nigel Thomas
Authors: Corridon Linzey
Published: October 2022

H. Nigel Thomas is the writer of twelve books and a retired professor of American literature at Laval University. Born and raised in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, he moved to Montréal in 1968. Nigel’s illustrious career includes short stories, poems and articles that have appeared in multiple journals and anthologies. His novels Spirits in the Dark and No Safeguards were shortlisted for the Quebec Writers Federation Hugh MacLennan Fiction Prize. Des vies Cassées (the translation of Lives: Whole and Otherwise) was shortlisted for le Prix Carbet des Lycéens. In this interview, Linzey Corridon explores queerness in the Caribbean Canadian diaspora, intergenerational queer subjectivities, multiculturalism, audience reception, publishing, and circulation in the Caribbean.
From Paris and Rome to Quebec - Reading Fanon in Radical Montreal Intellectual Circles of the 1960s
Authors: Obszyński Michał
Published: October 2022

The aim of this article is to trace the socio-political context in which Frantz Fanon’s thought reached left-wing French and English-speaking intellectuals in Montreal between 1950 and 1970, and to analyze the reception of the theses of the author of The Wretched of the Earth in the discourse of these circles on culture and art, especially literature. The reading of Fanon’s main concepts becomes here the object of a certain cultural-political interpretation, in which strategies of adaptation or even appropriation make it possible to inscribe Fanon’s work in the Franco-Quebecois independence struggle in the era of the Quiet Revolution or to link the identity aspirations of the Quebec Black minority with the demands of the Black Power movement as well as the worldwide anti-imperialist movement. In these different contexts, literature has its own distinct tasks, inextricably linked to the aspirations of the societies within which it is produced. From defending the language of the dominated to creating a new vision of the world and of man, through direct involvement in political affairs: the writer, according to Fanon interpreted in Quebec, becomes one of the central figures of the revolutionary struggle.
Quality of scientific activity as a determinant of socio-economic development
Authors: Didenko Iryna , Valaskova Katarina , Artyukhov Artem , Lyeonov Serhiy , Vasa László
Published: October 2022

The purpose of this work is to identify the functional links between key indicators of scientific activity and socio-economic development and to check whether the quality of scientific activity and the dynamics of innovative development are the key determinants of socio-economic progress. Following the chosen methodology, the paper forms an array of input data that characterizes the level of scientific and innovative activity, economic and social development. The principal component method is used to identify the most relevant indicators from each group and to introduce three latent variables that denote each group separately. A system of simultaneous structural equations is obtained as a result of establishing functional relationships between manifest and latent variables and building a structural model. In addition, the paper determines two clusters of the studied countries to confirm the obtained results through structural modelling. The study is conducted for 35 European countries based on 33 indicators, which characterize the quality of scientific activity, economic and social development during 2014-2020. The obtained system of structural equations confirms the hypothesis regarding the importance of scientific activity quality in terms of ensuring the socio-economic development of the country.
Socially responsible consumption: Between social welfare and degrowth
Authors: Baranowski Mariusz , Kopnina Helen
Published: October 2022

The main objective of this study is to characterize socially responsible consumption (SRC) through the lens of social welfare and degrowth proposals. The central research questions are (i) whether SRC can contribute to the realization of the foundations of a degrowth society and (ii) whether SRC fits into the critique of the economic growth paradigm. These are essential questions because SRC is often treated as an “invention” of affluent societies that seek more sophisticated methods of consumption (such as conspicuous, green, and ethical consumption) due to the prevailing cultural system. We challenge this viewpoint by drawing on studies from the intersection of social and environmental sciences. For this purpose, Talcott Parsons’ extended AGIL paradigm is introduced, referred to as AGIL+DE, as is our proposal of nature-based social welfare. Although this study is preliminary, its task is to develop new interpretative possibilities for the sociology of degrowth and innovative approaches to consumption in particular. The results suggest a change of approach in the study of the consumption phenomenon from the side of redefined social welfare, with a focus on moderate (SRC) and more radical (degrowth) solutions respecting the environmental impact. This change of approach to consumption requires rethinking and incorporating new empirical indicators.
Renewable energy technologies in households: Challenges and low carbon energy transition justice
Authors: Streimikiene Dalia
Published: October 2022

uropean Union (EU) has set the target of achieving carbon neutral society by 2050. The main way to ensure low carbon energy transition is to accelerate the penetration of renewables in households. However, there are many economic, social, technical, and behavioural barriers to this. In addition, the technologies for renewable energy generation are not affordable for low income households which are experiencing energy poverty and energy affordability problems. The paper critically analyses the barriers and state policies and measures for the support of renewable energy micro generation technologies in households. Based on the conducted analysis, the paper discusses the best ways to combat energy poverty and transition to low carbon energy in the EU. The main findings of the paper indicate that developing well-targeted policy measures for support of renewable energy technologies and energy renovation would be more beneficial than paying energy bills of low-income vulnerable population. Such policies would also help to solve the problem of just low carbon energy transition, as currently the vulnerable population are facing greater economic, social, behavioural, infrastructure and other barriers to using renewable energy in their homes.
A study on employee experience with shift work
Authors: Skýpalová Renata , Šikýř Martin , Urban Roman
Published: October 2022

Shift work has become necessary for many industries operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, affecting individual workers and their overall well-being. Based on a survey of 1049 shift workers of various industries, ages, and genders from all fourteen regions of the Czech Republic, the paper analyzes their experience with different shift work rosters to determine individually perceived advantages and disadvantages of shift work and discuss perspective ways of improving shift workers' well-being. The findings confirm the importance of effective and efficient shift work planning and organizing to achieve demanded work productivity, desired work-life balance and overall well-being of shift workers. The analysis confirmed a hypothesis that the preference for work shifts depends on the age of shift workers. Individually perceived negative impacts of shift work included physical fatigue, sleep disorders, or depression. These could be limited by more flexible shift work scheduling to harmonize work shifts with personal matters whenever possible and thus support shift workers' work-life balance and well-being.
Agricultural revenue in Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland: An application of the LMDI decomposition
Authors: Eidukaitis Simonas , Balezentis Tomas
Published: October 2022

This paper analyses the trends and sources of change in agricultural revenue for the new European Union (EU) member states, namely Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. These countries still lag behind the old EU member states in terms of profitability, productivity, and farm size. Thus, assessment of the patterns in agricultural revenue changes in these countries may provide evidence for reasonable policy making. The period covered is 2011-2019. The analysis is carried out for selected agricultural products (wheat, milk, poultry, potatoes). The logarithmic mean Divisia index is applied for the decomposition. The results indicate that the effects of scale, productivity, and price change varied across the countries and products. Therefore, dedicated policy measures and pathways are needed for each particular context.
Innovations and liquidity risks: Evidence from commercial banks in Vietnam
Authors: Tran Oanh Kim Thi , Duong Khoa Dang , Nguyen Nhi Ngoc Thanh
Published: October 2022

Our study examines the relationship between innovations and liquidity risk of 37 commercial banks in Vietnam over 2010 – 2020. We employ the Ordinary Least Squares and dynamic system Generalized Method Moments to analyze a sample of 349 annual observations. Our findings show that innovations help commercial banks to reduce liquidity risk. For instance, commercial banks with mobile banking applications have a 0.24% higher liquidity than those without. Moreover, one percentage increase in training and development expenses generates additional 0.1451% liquidity. The impact of mobile banking applications is robust even if we employ alternative risk proxies such as RROA and Loan Loss Provision. Our study recommends that banks should develop mobile banking applications, and improve workforce and service quality via training and development programs.
Flora of East Asia and its genesis
Authors: Kamelin Rudolf V.
Published: October 2022

East Asia is a very integral region, the East Asian sub-kingdom of the Holarctic, in which two large areas stand out: the Sino-Himalayan and Sino-Japanese. The flora of East Asia is rich and unique. About 25 000 species of vascular plants grow in this area. There are about 23 endemic families and over 350 endemic genera. The number of endemic species is about 15 000. In East Asia, there are modern centers of diversity for many plants, but there are also many relict groups that have survived in this territory from past richly developed types.
Type specimens of Potentilla (Rosaceae) stored in the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute (LE). Part 2. Taxa described from Kazakhstan and Middle Asia
Authors: Kechaykin Aleksey A. , Sheludyakova Maria B. , Müller Franck , Wagner Sara , Raenko Larisa M. , Dorofeyev Vladimir I. , Shmakov Alexandr
Published: October 2022

An information about 410 type and original specimens of taxa (65 published names) described as part of the genus Potentilla L. based on collections from Central Asia and Kazakhstan and stored in the Herbarium of the Komarov Botanical Institute RAS (LE) is provided. Considering data from other collections (DR, PR, MW, TK, JE, KFTA, KW, L, M, MO and P), the total amount of type material presented in the article is 509 samples. They include 33 lectotypes (27 in LE), 19 isolectotypes (8 in LE), 24 holotypes (23 in LE), 23 isotypes (20 in LE), 76 paratypes (75 in LE), 133 syntypes (91 in LE), and 203 specimens (168 in LE) which belong to original material (“original specimens”). The lectotypes of the names of 25 taxa (P. algida, P. approximata, P. biflora var. stenopetala, P. bifurca var. canescens, P. desertorum, P. desertorum var. arnavatensis, P. fedtschenkoana, P. fedtschenkoana var. digitata, P. flabellata, P. fruticosa var. angustifolia, P. hololeuca var. calvescens and var. subtrijuga, P. komaroviana, P. lipskyana, P. malacotricha, P. multifida var. nubigena, P. nivea var. cano-tomentosa, P. schrenkiana, P. sibirica, P. soongorica, P. soongorica var. viridescens, P. tephroleuca, P. transcaspia, P. turczaninowiana, P. turgaica) are designated in this work. The images of type specimens of P. ferganensis and P. × jakovlevii, local endemics of Asia, known only from locus classicus, which were not collected after the original description, are presented.
New species of Corydalis DC. (Fumariaceae) from Tajikistan
Authors: Mikhailova Marina A. , Sochivko Andrey V.
Published: October 2022

A new species, Corydalis yazgulemica Mikhailova et Sochivko (sect. Strictae (Fedde) Wendelbo), is described from Tajikistan, Western Pamirs, Yazgulem range. The species differs from C. rarissima Mikhailova by linear (not elliptic) capsules and shorter pedicels, from C. bucharica Popov – by smaller plant size, reticulate seeds and rocky habitat.
A menedzsment szerepe az innovatív vállalatok sikerében
Authors: Ónodi Annamária , Répáczki Rita
Published: October 2022

Nemzetközi összehasonlításban a magyarországi vállalatok innovációs teljesítménye gyenge. Bár a szerzők magyarországi feldolgozóipari vállalatok körében végzett kérdőíves felmérésének eredménye alapján kimutatható az ellátási láncban elfoglalt pozíció innovációs teljesítményre gyakorolt hatása, az innovációhoz való viszonyulást nem elsősorban ez határozza meg. Az ellátási lánc alján is találtak olyan vállalatokat, melyek az innovációt a vállalat sikerének tekintették, csak alacsonyabb arányban, mint a többi vállalat. A vállalatvezetők innovációra való nyitottsága és a sikeres vállalati innováció között szignifikáns kapcsolatot tártak fel. A vezető attitűdje meghatározó az olyan stratégiai kérdésekkel kapcsolatban, mint az innováció. Ha a vezető számára az innováció nem releváns, nem értékes, nem fogja támogatni azokat a kezdeményezéseket, amelyek innovációt eredményeznének. Ezzel magyarázható, hogy ahol a vezető innovációs attitűdje alacsony, azok a vállalatok kevés innovációs eredményt tudtak felmutatni. A vezetők innovációra való nyitottsága egyrészt függ a személyiségjellemzőktől, másrészt fejleszthető tudatosan és célirányosan. A fejlesztésben fontos szerepet tölthetnek be a vezetőképzések, vezetői coachingfolyamatok.
Value Engineering of Beam, Column and Slab (Case: Library Building of Bengkalis)
Authors: Natalia Monika , Mirani Zulfira , Syahputra Jufrinal
Published: October 2022

Cost construction must be planned efficiently and optimally. Value Engineering is planned approach with the aim of identifying and streamlining unnecessary costs with functional limitations and work quality (Firda, 2018). In reality, structural work using concrete estimated to over design, overcost (Apriani, 2020). This research was Bengkalis Public Library project. This building consists of 3 floors with an area of 2250 m2. The structure of beams, columns and slabs reinforced concrete. Dimensions of column 40x40 cm, main beam dimensions 40x60 cm, joist beam dimensions 25x40 cm, roof beam dimensions 30x50 cm, and slabs 15 cm with D10-100. Cost of reinforced concrete Rp. 4.297.170.000,00. In value engineering, the conversion of reinforced concrete to profile steel, cost of profile steel Rp. 4.089.619.000,00. it is obtained that the column uses WF 250.250.11.11, WF 400.200.7.11 main beam, WF 200.150.6.9 joist beam and WF 250.125.6.9 roof beam and floor slabs are converted to flourdack plate using 0.75 thickness bondack mm with wiremesh reinforcement M10-150. Cost ratio reinforced concrete and steel profiles is Rp. 207,551,000, -. Steel profiles is 5.075% cheaper than reinforced concrete structures.
Core Area Housing Redevelopment in sub-Sahara Africa: Example of Ile-Ife, Nigeria
Authors: Yoade Adewale , Olatunji S A
Published: October 2022

In most nations of the third world, the large proportion of the cities are plagued with different multi dimmentional urban growth challenges. The problem of the central city slum and the required solution has some socioeconomic, technical, administrative and socio-cultural considerations. It is in this regard that this paper has attempted an examination of the housing redevelopment in Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Data for this study were derived through the use of questionnaire administered on 476 houses samples of household heass selected using systematic random sampling. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were utilized for this study. Findings established that the majority of the buildings was built more than 30 years ago in the study area. Also, the study revealed that most of the respondents earned less than #15,000 (less than $30) monthly while only few earned more than #15,000. The paper concluded that in urban renewal endeavors, there is need for planners to take into consideration the various socioeconomic and socio-cultural encumbrances if affected people will be meaningfully catered for.
Characterization of phytochemicals by GC-MS, in-vitro biological assays and micronutrient analysis by ICP-MS of Prunus domestica L. seeds
Authors: Kishan Kishan , Rishi Kumar Shukla , Abha Shukla , Sahil Kumar
Published: October 2022

In the present study, Prunus domestica L. (plum) seeds were used as the source of the oil component. To extract the oil, Soxhlet extraction using two different solvents petroleum ether and diethyl ether were used in increasing the order of polarity. GC-MS analysis of the obtained oil component was carried out and revealed the identification of 33 and 34 compounds in PE and DEE fractions respectively. 13-Docosenamide, (Z)- was the most abundant compound in PE fraction while the 2nd most abundant compound in DEE fraction. Hexadecanoic acid, 2-hydroxy-1-(hydroxymethyl)ethyl ester was the most abundant compound in DEE fraction. The oil components were further assessed for in-vitro biological assays namely antidiabetic assay, antioxidant assay and antibacterial assay. ICP-MS analysis for the quantification of 12 different metals (K, Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Cr, Zn, Ni, Cu, As, Pb, Se) was also carried out. K was the major element in all the tested elements. Lead, arsenic and selenium were present below the limit of quantification (BLQ). Therefore, the current study through the light on therapeutic aspects of the oil components of P. domestica seeds.
MicroRNA-6838-5p suppresses the self-renewal and metastasis of human liver cancer stem cells through downregulating CBX4 expression and inactivating ERK signaling
Authors: Dou Zhimin , Lu Fei , Hu Jinjing , Wang Haiping , Li Bin , Li Xun
Published: October 2022

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary human liver malignancy with high mortality. Liver cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been demonstrated to contribute to the recurrence, metastasis and drug resistance of liver cancer. Human HCC cohort analysis indicated that the epigenetic regulator polycomb chromobox homologue 4 (CBX4) was overexpressed in human HCC. Moreover, we found that CBX4 expression was significantly higher in CD44+ CD133+ Hep3B CSCs. Functionally, we demonstrated that CBX4 regulated cell proliferation, self-renewal, and metastasis ability of Hep3B CSCs. Bioinformatics analysis predicted that CBX4 was a direct target of microRNA-6838-5p (miR-6838-5p), which was further confirmed by luciferase reporter assay. MiR-6838-6p was down-regulated in HCC tumors and overexpression of miR-6838-5p attenuated the malignant traits of human liver CSCs in vitro. In addition, we found that miR-6838-5p/CBX4 axis modulates the biological properties of human liver CSCs via regulating ERK signaling. Overexpression of miR-6838-5p suppressed Hep3B xenograft tumor growth in vivo, while CBX4 overexpression abrogated the suppression effect, restored the angiogenesis, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), and ERK signaling in Hep3B tumor. In summary, our findings suggest that miR-6838-5p/CBX4 axis regulates liver tumor development and metastasis, which could be utilized as potential therapeutic target for HCC treatment.
Influence of Plasma Power and Oxygen-Containing Process Gases in Active Screen Plasma Nitrocarburizing with Carbon Solid Source*
Authors: Böcker J. , Puth A. , Pipa A. V. , Helden J.-P. H. van , Röpcke J. , Biermann H. , Dalke A.
Published: October 2022

Plasma nitrocarburizing by means of active screen technology using an active screen made of carbon fiber-reinforced carbon was carried out by varying the power at the active screen and using oxygen-containing fresh gas components (O2, CO2) in the N2:H2 plasma using the example of the quenched and tempered steel AISI 4140 (42CrMo4). The investigations focused on the analysis of the process gas by means of laser absorption spectroscopy, the evaluation of the produced compound layers with regard to structure and phase composition, as well as the resulting properties. It was shown that by varying the process gas atmosphere, the structural composition of the compound layer and the concentration profiles of nitrogen and carbon can be specifically influenced. The high concentrations of carbon-containing compounds in the process gas resulted in complete suppression of γ’-Fe4N formation, but cementite was detected in the lower part of the compound layer. The addition of oxygen-containing fresh gases and the resulting change in process gas composition suppressed cementite formation. The results suggest that, in particular, high powers at the carbon active screen and the simultaneous addition of oxygen-containing gases results in the generation of nitrogen-rich, single-phase ε-compound layers.
On the penetration efficiency of ceramic fragments through steel targets
Authors: Wang Weizhan , Tian Peng , Lu Wenjie , Meng Fangao , Chen Zhigang , Zhao Taiyong
Published: October 2022

The penetration efficiency of novel ceramic fragments should be investigated, and their weapon damage effectiveness must be evaluated. In this study, the efficiency of ceramic fragments in penetrating steel targets were analyzed through ballistic impact tests and numerical simulations. The penetration patterns of these ceramic fragments through steel targets indicate significant perforation. It was deduced that the thicker the steel target, the greater the ability of ZrO2 ceramic fragments to penetrate. Results indicate that the thicker the steel target, the greater the ability of ZrO2 ceramic fragments to expand their perforation, while that of Al2O3 ceramic fragments is reduced as the thickness of the steel target is increased. In addition, the number of projectiles triggered by the perforation of the two ceramic fragments behind the targets decreases as the thickness of the steel target increases. Thus, the higher the impact velocity, the larger the perforation diameter of the ceramic fragments, and the larger the number of projectiles behind the target. Under the same impact velocity, the penetration ability of a ZrO2 ceramic fragment on steel targets was better than that of an Al2O3 ceramic fragment, and the number of projectiles behind the target was greater.
The Conquests of Adrianople by the Turks: Reflections on the Ottoman Expansion in Thrace
Authors: Budak Samet
Published: October 2022

This article is an attempt to construct a new approach to and narrative of early Ottoman conquests in Thrace in the 1360s and 1370s. It argues that the so-called second capital of the Ottomans, Adrianople (Edirne), was conquered three times through a detailed evaluation of known, neglected, or unknow sources. The second conquest was almost certainly by frontier lords who conquered the city for their own interests. At the same time, the article challenges the unilinear rise paradigm within the Ottoman studies. It showcases that, in the given period, the political arena between Ottomans, Byzantines, and other Turkish lords was open to various contingencies and dominated through constant negotiations among various parties. The practices of conquest, loss, and reconquest by those various parties determined the color of struggles not only in the case of Adrianople but also various other Thracian towns. The article finally sheds light on the role of a suppressed group of frontier lords who had their own political claims and agenda, betimes contrary to the Ottoman center. In the final analysis, this is an attempt to understand how new historical reconstructions may open up ways to conceptualize the political and social nature of the region in this period.
Zinā and Gender (In)Equality in Ismāʿīlī Druze Law
Authors: Halawi Wissam H.
Published: October 2022

In the 5th/11th century in Cairo, Imam Ḥamza, the founder of the Druze faith, abrogated the entire substantive laws, including the Islamic one. And yet, four centuries later, Druze jurists in the mountainous regions of Syria developed their own legal doctrine. This essay explores the evolution of Druzism from an esoteric doctrine according to the Ismāʿīlī vision to a madhhab (doctrinal school of law) using the prism of gender (in)equality. Through a close reading of the Imam’s epistles in the Ḥikma (i.e., the Druze canon of scripture) and Druze law treatises from the 9th/15th century, I show how premodern Druze jurists were influenced particularly by Shāfiʿī and Mālikī law. Although they remained faithful to the strict gender equality articulated in their sacred book, Druze jurists established a gender hierarchy in marriage and permitted wife beating based on Q 4:34. They however expounded an original doctrine of zinā (adultery): despite their construction of femininity as inferior and irrational, and their assumption of women’s intellectual deficiency, Druze jurists considered nonconsensual marriage as well as nonconsensual sex in marriage to be crimes of zinā. I argue that Druze jurists developed rules that enforced sexual equality but simultaneously conformed to their patriarchal vision of society to maintain the social cohesion of their religious community, clans, and extended families, all of which provided local networks for informal conflict resolution.
“Personal Opinion” in Qurʾānic Exegesis: Medieval Debates and Interpretations of

al-Tafsīr bi-l-Raʾy
Authors: Kulinich Alena
Published: October 2022

This article explores the long-contested question about the role of individual judgement vis-à-vis the authority of tradition in the interpretation of the Qurʾān. It focuses on the notion of al-tafsīr bi-l-raʾy – interpretation of the Qurʾān by “personal opinion” – and offers an insight into medieval Muslim debates over the legitimacy of this type of exegesis, its alleged prophetic disapproval, and the scope and conditions of its use. Based on the Sunnī tafsīr works from the 3rd/9th to the 6th/12th centuries, the article examines how in the course of these debates Muslim authors negotiated the meaning of al-tafsīr bi-l-raʾy. Against the view that it encompassed any interpretation beyond tradition-based tafsīr, their reinterpretations of the term implied that philological, juridical, and Ṣūfī tafsīr could not be categorized as al-tafsīr bi-l-raʾy, thereby narrowing the meaning of this concept and broadening the scope of legitimate exegesis and interpretative authorities in Sunnī tafsīr tradition.
Surgical tips and techniques to avoid complications of thyroid surgery
Authors: Stefanou Christos K , Papathanakos Georgios , Stefanou Stefanos K , Tepelenis Kostas , Kitsouli Aikaterini , Barbouti Alexandra , Tsoumanis Periklis , Kanavaros Panagiotis , Kitsoulis Panagiotis
Published: October 2022

Objectives

Surgery of the thyroid takes place in a body part with complicated anatomy and several vital physiologic functions. Thyroidectomy is rarely associated with mortality but can be followed by significant complications, (i.e. hypoparathyroidism, hemorrhage, upper airway obstruction, laryngeal nerve injuries and thyrotoxic storm). This review aims to indicate surgical tips and techniques to sustain a low level of complications.

Content

MEDLINE database (PubMed) platform was used as a search engine and the articles related to the topic were selected using the keywords combination “thyroid surgery and complications”.

Summary and Outlook

The most common complication of total thyroidectomy with an occurrence ranging between 0.5 and 65% is hypoparathyroidism. Damage to recurrent laryngeal nerves can be temporary or permanent, unilateral or bilateral; bilateral lesion is associated with severe episodes of breathlessness. Thus, intraoperative monitoring of nerve function is essential to prevent damage. Ιn addition, hematoma formation can lead to breathing difficulties due to airway obstruction; preventive hemostasis during surgery is essential. The surgeon must have a complete anatomical understanding of not only the normal anatomy of the central visceral compartment of the neck, but also the common variations of the laryngeal nerves and parathyroid glands in order to keep the complication rate at a very low level.
Towards a hybrid user interface for the visual exploration of large biomolecular networks using virtual reality
Authors: Aichem Michael , Klein Karsten , Czauderna Tobias , Garkov Dimitar , Zhao Jinxin , Li Jian , Schreiber Falk
Published: October 2022

Biomolecular networks, including genome-scale metabolic models (GSMMs), assemble the knowledge regarding the biological processes that happen inside specific organisms in a way that allows for analysis, simulation, and exploration. With the increasing availability of genome annotations and the development of powerful reconstruction tools, biomolecular networks continue to grow ever larger. While visual exploration can facilitate the understanding of such networks, the network sizes represent a major challenge for current visualisation systems. Building on promising results from the area of immersive analytics, which among others deals with the potential of immersive visualisation for data analysis, we present a concept for a hybrid user interface that combines a classical desktop environment with a virtual reality environment for the visual exploration of large biomolecular networks and corresponding data. We present system requirements and design considerations, describe a resulting concept, an envisioned technical realisation, and a systems biology usage scenario. Finally, we discuss remaining challenges.
Physical and mechanical properties of Acacia mangium plywood after sanding treatment
Authors: Palle I. , Zen W. L. , Mohd Yunus A. A. , Gilbert M. S. , Abd Ghani M. A.
Published: October 2022

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of sanding treatment on Acacia mangium plywood panel properties. Three layered A. mangium plywood panels were produced from sanded veneer using three different grit sizes: S180, S240 and S320, from medium to ultrafine respectively, with one non-sanded panel as control. Melamine urea formaldehyde resin was unvaryingly used as binder. The outturn of the sanding treatment was observed through a set of evaluations which includes the contact angle test for surface properties, shear strength and static bending for the mechanical properties, and thickness swelling and water absorption rate for the physical properties and dimensional stability. The study shows that almost all of the properties exhibit significant differences at p ≤ 0.05 except for the density and shear test. From the results, the modulus of elasticity of plywood decreases with the increase of grit sizes but shows no significant difference with the control and S240 samples. The S180 samples notably shows an impressive mechanical property with the highest modulus of rupture, albeit the lowest dimensional stability. Nonetheless, the result of this study indicated that the sanding treatment shows a notable increase in the physical, mechanical and dimensional stability of the panel, with the S180 medium grit proving to be adequate and best in improving the plywood panels. As excessive smoothness may negatively affect the wettability itself due to the production of uneven surface and the development of loose fiber that compromises the adherence of the MUF and veneer, the higher grits negatively impacted its treatment on the surface.