bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assessing the State of English Departments in Lebanon
Authors:   The Lebanese University, Lebanon., Yazigy Rula
Published: August 2023

Some studies in the United States (such as Schalin 2015 a & b; Bunch 2010, 2013; Bailey and Butler 2003) reported that the number of students studying English as their major has declined. It is significant to see whether the Lebanese context where English is a foreign language is comparable. All universities in Lebanon offer degrees in English language and literature and expect graduates to become teachers of English. The paper aims at finding out whether English departments at universities in Lebanon are at the risk of witnessing a serious decline, and to what extent is English as a major chosen by high school students. Data were collected to find out recent enrollment in four English departments and high school students’ opinions about choosing teaching English as a career. The results are presented and compared to those in the review of literature and recommendations are made.
COFFEE PRODUCT MARKETING ASSISTANCE TO BABADAN MERAPI COFFEE SMEs
Authors: Damar Irsyad Ustadz  , Nur Alfianto Achmad , Achmad Labib
Published: August 2023

Most MSMEs in rural areas utilize and increase the value of local raw materials to produce a product. Utilization of local raw materials as superior products for SMEs in Magelang Regency, such as in the Dukun District, more precisely in Paten Dusun Babadan 2. One of the SMEs that utilizes local raw materials is Arabica coffee bean processing. Products produced from these raw materials can also be quite a lot. However, good marketing has yet to support the amount of product produced. This is due to the need for more marketing personnel and the absence of a food product brand. Based on this, the servant assists the MSMEs in marketing strategies. The method used is ABCD Asset-based research. In assisting marketing activities, servants provide training on using social media as a marketing tool and making product labels or brands that become the identity of Arabica coffee bean processing products in Babadan village.
Jamaican Sound Systems and Knowledge Systems: Practice-Based Research (PBR) in Popular Culture
Authors: Henriques Julian , D'Aquino Brian
Published: August 2023

Working with popular street cultures in the Global South offers scope for practice-based research (PBR) to go beyond its application with creative practitioners in the galleries and theatres of the Global North. We start from an account of a “reasoning session” with reggae sound system owners, selectors, and engineers staged as a PBR event in Kingston, Jamaica. Such popular music cultures across the Global South have their own specialist apparatus for playing recorded music and—most important for a PBR investigation—their own embodied, situated, and tacit knowledge systems. These include the sophisticated arts of selecting music, tuning up a sound system, and the value of the culture for the communities from which they originate, as well as strategies for current challenges, such as police harassment and lack of government recognition or support. Accessing such grassroots knowledge systems requires not only a good rapport with local practitioners but also close cooperation with their own organizations and with local university researchers. Such PBR also demands sharing research findings—for example, by screening the documentary film we made of the reasoning session for its participant. It is concluded that practitioners’ ways of knowing as revealed by PBR can help challenge conventional ideas about the nature of knowledge itself.
The history of the study of acute appendicitis from antiquity to the present day.
Authors: Krylov Nikolai Nikolaevich
Published: July 2023

The author dwells in detail on the search in the medical literature of the nineteenth - twenty-first centuries for various options for describing the anatomy, physiology and pathological physiology of the appendix, as well as its acute inflammation, complicated course, the spectrum of principles of its treatment, as well as their outcomes from antiquity to the present day. At the same time, the emphasis is placed on the study of foreign literature reviews and the search for primary sources of priority works to identify historical facts described in previously unquoted works and unknown to domestic specialists, in order to familiarize domestic specialists in the history of medical science with important details of the formation of general surgery.There is a two-hundred-year period between the anatomical description of the appendix and the recognition that it is the appendix that is the focus of acute inflammatory disease in the lower right quadrant of the abdomen. This truth was not widely recognized until the publication of R. Fitz's work 120 years later. The disease of acute appendicitis has a social character and, apparently, influenced the course of history. A comparative analysis of the possibilities of treatment of acute appendicitis and their results allowed us to establish five stages in the history of the study of acute appendicitis
Spin-dependent scattering induced by surface states in spin-degenerate nodal-line semimetal
Authors: Liu Li-Shuo , Chen Wei ,   National Laboratory of Solid State Microstructures and Collaborative Innovation Center of Advanced Microstructures, School of Physics, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Published: August 2023

The topological nodal-line semimetal is characterized by the conduction band and valence band of electrons crossing along a one-dimensional line or closed loop in reciprocal space, with each nodal line carrying Π Berry phase. According to bulk-boundary correspondence, there exist drumheadlike surface states with weak dispersion at the boundary of system, surrounded by the projection of nodal loops onto the surface Brillouin zone. In most of nodal-line semimetals, the spin orbit coupling effect is weak, leading to the absence of a spin configuration for surface states under the single-particle picture. However, the featured weak dispersion of drumheadlike surface states enhances the electron-electron interaction effect, which triggers out ferromagnetic instability and causes spin splitting in the surface state. In this work, spin-dependent scattering caused by ferromagnetic surface states in spin-degenerate nodal-line semimetals is considered. It is found that both spin-splitting drumheadlike surface states can lead to resonant spin-flipped reflection. This physical process is reflected in a double-peak structure in the spin conductance spectrum. Specifically, we deal with the scattering problem induced by surface states in normal metal and nodal-line semimetal heterojunctions by using the scattering matrix and the Green’s functions theory, respectively, and obtain consistent conclusions. The result points out that spin-degenerate nodal-line semimetal surface states can still lead to spin-dependent transport, which provides a new perspective for the detection and potential application of spintronics in nodal-line semimetals.
Structural design of dual carrier multiplication avalanche photodiodes on InP substrate
Authors: Zhao Hua-Liang , Peng Hong-Ling , Zhou Xu-Yan , Zhang Jian-Xin , Niu Bo-Wen , Shang Xiao , Wang Tian-Cai , Cao Peng ,   School of Physics and Physical Engineering, Qufu Normal University, Qufu 273165, China,   Weifang Academy of Advanced Opto-Electronic Circuits, Weifang 261071, China,   Institute of Semiconductors, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China,   School of Physics and Optoelectronic Engineering, Shandong University of Technology, Zibo 255049, China,   School of Physics and Electronic Information, Weifang University, Weifang 261061, China
Published: August 2023

Avalanche photodiodes are widely used in various fields, such as optical communication and laser radar, because of their high multiplication. In order to adapt to very weak signal detection applications, devices are required to have higher gain values. The existing avalanche photodiodes generally use single carrier multiplication mode of operation, its multiplication effect is limited. In this paper is designed an InP/In0.53Ga0.47As/In0.52Al0.48As avalanche photodiode structure with electrons and holes jointly involved in multiplication. In this structure, In0.53Ga0.47As material is used for the absorption layer, InP material is used for the hole multiplication layer, In0.52Al0.48As is used for the electron multiplication layer, and the two multiplication layers are distributed on the upper side and lower side of the absorber layer. Under the reverse bias, the photogenerated electrons and the absorber-layer generated holes can enter into the respective multiplier layers in different directions and create the avalanche multiplication effect, so that the carriers are fully utilized. This structure and the conventional single multiplication layer structure are simulated by Silvaco TCAD software. Comparing the single InP multiplication layer structure with the single In0.52Al0.48As multiplication layer structure, the gain value of the double multiplication layer structure at 95% breakdown voltage is about 2.3 times and about 2 times of the former two, respectively, and the device has a larger gain value because both carriers are involved in multiplication in both multiplication layers at the same time. The structure has a dark current of 1.5 nA at 95% breakdown voltage, which does not increase in comparison with the single multiplication layer structure, owing to the effective control of the electric field inside the structure by multiple charge layers. Therefore, this structure is expected to improve the detection sensitivity of the system.
The average value of a certain number-theoretic function over the primes
Authors:   Department of Mathematics, Florida State University, Rubin Louis
Published: August 2023

We consider functions $F:\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}\rightarrow\mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$ for which there exists a positive integer $n$ such that two conditions hold: $F(p)$ divides $n$ for every prime $p$, and for each divisor $d$ of $n$ and every prime $p$, we have that $d$ divides $F(p)$ iff $d$ divides $F(p \mod d)$. Following an approach of Khrennikov and Nilsson, we employ the prime number theorem for arithmetic progressions to derive an expression for the average value of such an $F$ over all primes $p$, recovering a theorem of these authors as a special case. As an application, we compute the average number of $r$-periodic points of a multivariate power map defined on a product $Z_{f_1(p)}\times\cdots\times Z_{f_m(p)}$ of cyclic groups, where $f_i(t)$ is a polynomial.
Investigating the composition and recruitment of the mycobacterial ImuA′–ImuB–DnaE2 mutasome
Authors: Gessner Sophia , Martin Zela Alexandria-Mae , Reiche Michael A , Santos Joana A , Dinkele Ryan , Ramudzuli Atondaho , Dhar Neeraj , de Wet Timothy J , Anoosheh Saber , Lang Dirk M , Aaron Jesse , Chew Teng-Leong , Herrmann Jennifer , Müller Rolf , McKinney John D , Woodgate Roger , Mizrahi Valerie , Venclovas Česlovas , Lamers Meindert H , Warner Digby F
Published: August 2023

A DNA damage-inducible mutagenic gene cassette has been implicated in the emergence of drug resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis during anti-tuberculosis (TB) chemotherapy. However, the molecular composition and operation of the encoded ‘mycobacterial mutasome’ – minimally comprising DnaE2 polymerase and ImuA′ and ImuB accessory proteins – remain elusive. Following exposure of mycobacteria to DNA damaging agents, we observe that DnaE2 and ImuB co-localize with the DNA polymerase III β subunit (β clamp) in distinct intracellular foci. Notably, genetic inactivation of the mutasome in an imuBAAAAGG mutant containing a disrupted β clamp-binding motif abolishes ImuB–β clamp focus formation, a phenotype recapitulated pharmacologically by treating bacilli with griselimycin and in biochemical assays in which this β clamp-binding antibiotic collapses pre-formed ImuB–β clamp complexes. These observations establish the essentiality of the ImuB–β clamp interaction for mutagenic DNA repair in mycobacteria, identifying the mutasome as target for adjunctive therapeutics designed to protect anti-TB drugs against emerging resistance.
Vitamin D induces SIRT1 activation through K610 deacetylation in colon cancer
Authors: García-Martínez José Manuel , Chocarro-Calvo Ana , Martínez-Useros Javier , Fernández-Aceñero María Jesús , Fiuza M Carmen , Cáceres-Rentero José , De la Vieja Antonio , Barbáchano Antonio , Muñoz Alberto , Larriba María Jesús , García-Jiménez Custodia
Published: August 2023

Posttranslational modifications of epigenetic modifiers provide a flexible and timely mechanism for rapid adaptations to the dynamic environment of cancer cells. SIRT1 is an NAD+-dependent epigenetic modifier whose activity is classically associated with healthy aging and longevity, but its function in cancer is not well understood. Here, we reveal that 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3, calcitriol), the active metabolite of vitamin D (VD), promotes SIRT1 activation through auto-deacetylation in human colon carcinoma cells, and identify lysine 610 as an essential driver of SIRT1 activity. Remarkably, our data show that the post-translational control of SIRT1 activity mediates the antiproliferative action of 1,25(OH)2D3. This effect is reproduced by the SIRT1 activator SRT1720, suggesting that SIRT1 activators may offer new therapeutic possibilities for colon cancer patients who are VD deficient or unresponsive. Moreover, this might be extrapolated to inflammation and other VD deficiency-associated and highly prevalent diseases in which SIRT1 plays a prominent role.
Plasma extracellular vesicle synaptic proteins as biomarkers of clinical progression in patients with Parkinson’s disease: A follow-up study
Authors: Hong Chien-Tai , Chung Chen-Chih , Yu Ruan-Ching , Chan Lung
Published: August 2023

Synaptic dysfunction plays a key role in Parkinson’s disease (PD), and plasma extracellular vesicle (EV) synaptic proteins are emerging as biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases. This study assessed the efficacy of plasma EV synaptic proteins as biomarkers in PD and their association with disease progression. In total, 144 participants were enrolled, including 101 people with PD (PwP) and 43 healthy controls (HCs). The changes in plasma EV synaptic protein levels between baseline and 1-year follow-up did not differ significantly in both PwP and HCs. In PwP, the changes in plasma EV synaptic protein levels were significantly associated with the changes in unified PD rating scale (UPDRS) part II and III scores. Moreover, PwP with elevated levels (first quartile) of any one plasma EV synaptic proteins (synaptosome-associated protein 25, growth-associated protein 43 or synaptotagmin-1) had significantly greater disease progression in UPDRS part II score and the postural instability and gait disturbance subscore in UPDRS part III than did the other PwP after adjustment for age, sex, and disease duration. These results indicate the promising potential of plasma EV synaptic proteins as clinical biomarkers of disease progression in PD. However, a longer follow-up period is warranted to confirm their role as prognostic biomarkers.
Autotrophic growth of E. coli is achieved by a small number of genetic changes
Authors: Ben-Nissan Roee , Milshtein Eliya , Pahl Vanessa , de Pins Benoit , Jona Ghil , Levi Dikla , Yung Hadas , Nir Noga , Ezra Dolev , Gleizer Shmuel , Link Hannes , Noor Elad , Milo Ron
Published: August 2023

Synthetic autotrophy is a promising avenue to sustainable bioproduction from CO
2
. Here, we use iterative laboratory evolution to generate genetically diverse autotrophic strains. We identify that just three mutations are sufficient for
E. coli
to grow autotrophically, when introduced alongside non-native energy (formate dehydrogenase) and carbon-fixing (Rubisco, phosphoribulokinase, carbonic anhydrase) modules. The mutated genes are involved in glycolysis (
pgi
), central-carbon regulation (
crp
), and RNA transcription (
rpoB
). The
pgi
mutation reduces the enzyme activity, thereby stabilising the carbon-fixing cycle by capping a major branching flux. The other two mutations increase the ratio of NADH/NAD
+
- the cycle’s electron-donor. This study demonstrates the malleability of metabolism and evolution’s capacity to switch trophic modes on laboratory time-scales and could facilitate transforming other heterotrophic organisms into autotrophs.
Tracing the history of cell types
Authors: Grausgruber Antonia , Revilla-i-Domingo Roger
Published: August 2023

A study of sea urchin and sea star larvae paves the way for understanding how cell types evolve and give rise to novel morphologies.
Comportamento dos custos de produção frente ao valor percebido pelo cliente: uma análise a partir da teoria da agência
Authors: Severino Isabel Tassiane Alves , Carvalho Francisval de Melo
Published: August 2023

O conflito de agência e a assimetria de informações podem estar presentes no processo de formação de preços. Essa situação possibilita o aumento injustificável nos preços dos produtos, já que muitas vezes o aumento nos preços de mercado não é explicado por variações dos custos de produção, dos impostos, de inflação, dentre outros. Neste estudo, analisa-se o comportamento dos preços dos alimentos frente aos custos de produção, por meio de uma análise de regressão linear múltipla. Com um estudo empírico com informações do setor alimentício brasileiro, os resultados mostram que os preços dos alimentos, em alguns momentos, são assimétricos aos custos de produção. O que evidencia que a assimetria de informações provoca o poder de mercado das empresas no curto prazo.  Este estudo contribui para a ampliação do conhecimento sobre o processo de formação de preços dos alimentos no Brasil. E contribui também para formulação de políticas públicas para evitar abusos na formação de preços e controle da inflação de alimentos.
El comportamiento organizacional: una reflexión en el contexto de instituciones públicas y privadas en el Ecuador
Authors: Vera Marie Lía Velásquez , Zambrano Gema Viviana Carvajal , Quintero Frank Ángel Lemoine
Published: August 2023

Ecuador entre sus objetivos de gobernabilidad pretende identificar las funciones que cumplen las instituciones públicas y privadas del sistema financiero del país y que a través de ellas se lleva a cabo el proceso de asignación eficiente de recursos a los agentes económicos con la finalidad de fomentar la inversión productiva y el desarrollo económico y social. El objetivo del presente estudio es desarrollar una reflexión que involucre el comportamiento organizacional a nivel de actividad comercial tanto para el sector público como privado observando que ambas desde su perspectiva trabajan para auxiliar el mejor desenvolvimiento a nivel de actividad y a mejores niveles de comportamiento organizacionales que contribuyan al logro de obtener indicadores de eficiencia y eficacia altamente competitivo que generen impactos que aporten al desarrollo económico del país. Se determinó según cifras estadísticas recopiladas y de acuerdo a la constante contribución de productos científicos en función del comportamiento organizacional que desde la perspectiva del comportamiento organizacional ha concurrido a la mejora continua de la calidad del sector público y privado del país.
Nível de alfabetização financeira de acadêmicos do Bacharelado Interdisciplinar em Ciência e Tecnologia (BICT) de uma universidade pública federal
Authors: De Araújo João Vitor Barros , Brito José de Arimatéia de Aquino , Dos Santos Gisélia Brito , Da Silva Jorge Cleber Pereira
Published: August 2023

A temática da alfabetização financeira tornou-se, nos últimos anos, relevante tanto para os governos quanto para a literatura acadêmica devido boa parte da população não possuir as habilidades necessárias para se tomar boas decisões financeiras e nem mesmo um bom controle dos seus próprios recursos monetários. Entende-se a alfabetização financeira como a forma pela qual os indivíduos empregam o conhecimento apropriado de como usar, aplicar, controlar e administrar seus recursos. Este artigo analisa o nível de alfabetização financeira de acadêmicos do Bacharelado Interdisciplinar em Ciência e Tecnologia (BICT) da Universidade Federal do Maranhão – Campus de Balsas, a partir dos seus antecedentes (atitude financeira, comportamento financeiro e significado do dinheiro). Trata-se de uma pesquisa quantitativa, descritiva transversal, do tipo survey. Para a coleta de dados foi realizada a aplicação de questionário de forma online por meio do Software Google Forms aplicado a 205 respondentes, acadêmicos do BICT da UFMA – Campus Balsas. Para a análise dos dados foram utilizadas técnicas de análise multivariadas (média, desvio padrão, variância, correlação de Pearson e teste de confiabilidade). Os resultados mostram que os costructos Atitude financeira e Conhecimento financeiro apresentaram uma maior dispersão entre as respostas, enquanto que o constructo de Significado do dinheiro apresentou uma maior correlação de Pearson e maior confiabilidade de escala. Conclui-se a partir disso que os acadêmicos do BICT estabelecem significados para o dinheiro, entretanto apresentam baixo nível de conhecimento financeiro, fato este que impacta diretamente na atitude financeira e no comportamento financeiro de cada um.
O turismo no governo de Jair Bolsonaro
Authors: Lopes Mariana Manzano , Panosso Netto Alexandre
Published: August 2023

O objetivo deste estudo é analisar a influência dos discursos de Jair Bolsonaro nas políticas públicas de turismo no Brasil, durante o seu governo. O corpus contemplou discursos do ex-presidente sobre turismo e documentos oficiais dos anos de 2019 e 2020. Os discursos foram analisados por meio do modelo da Semiótica Francesa. O estudo revelou que Bolsonaro construiu seus discursos e projetos políticos sobre turismo a partir da perspectiva do “eu” e as propostas por ele defendidas refletiram seus desejos, gostos pessoais, posicionamentos ideológicos e seus hobbies. Também evidenciou que o turismo é, na construção discursiva de Bolsonaro, uma figura que contribui para a construção temática da desregulação, em especial a ambiental. Também apurou que o ex-presidente manipulava seus eleitores e apoiadores, pedindo poder, manifestado em apoio e aderência para pôr em prática seus projetos. Em adição, revelou-se que o ex-presidente utilizava o recurso da polarização, reafirmando a retórica do “nós contra eles”. Assim, a principal contribuição desta pesquisa foi compreender como os valores ideológicos do bolsonarismo operam, por meio dos seus discursos, o que nos permite compreender as prioridades e as direções que este governo tomou com relação ao turismo.
Respeito à marca de destino turístico por meio da Teoria Lovemarks
Authors: Barbosa José William de Queiroz , Ferreira Lissa Valéria Fernandes
Published: August 2023

O objetivo da presente pesquisa é entender a percepção dos turistas sobre o respeito à marca do destino turístico Natal-RN a partir das dimensões da Teoria Lovemarks. O estudo, de caráter quantitativo descritivo, se propôs a testar um modelo teórico com base nas dimensões da Teoria Lovemarks, sendo elas: confiança, reputação, performance e respeito à marca. Os dados foram coletados por meio de um survey online criado na plataforma Google Forms, que obteve 285 respostas válidas. As análises foram feitas com auxílio dos softwares IBM SPSS Statistics versão 22 e SmartPLS 3. Os resultados mostraram que todas as hipóteses da pesquisa foram suportadas, validando a aplicação da Teoria Lovemarks em destino turístico. Sobre o construto 'respeito à marca', os achados do estudo indicaram maior relação dele com a dimensão 'confiança' (coeficiente estrutural = 0,481). As variáveis latentes ‘confiança’, ‘reputação’ e ‘performance’ explicam 60,10% do respeito à marca em âmbito de destino turístico. Do ponto de vista teórico, o estudo contribui fornecendo subsídios para que o modelo proposto seja replicado em outros destinos. Em termos gerenciais, a pesquisa sugere ações para desenvolver uma gestão de marca de destino pautada na oferta de elementos que garantam uma experiência positiva do viajante no local.
Supplementary Material of "Challenges and perspectives of movement ecology research in Brazil"
Authors: Alves-Eigenheer Milene , Brandão Niebuhr Bernardo Brandão , de Faria Oshima Julia Emi , Zukeran Kanda Claudia , Leal Ramos Danielle , Da Silveira Natália Stefanini , Honda Laura Kyoko , Kerches-Rogeri Patrícia , Pereira de Souza Salzano Lígia , Bitencourt Moraes André Luiz , Mokross Karl Stephan , Ribeiro Milton Cezar
Published: August 2023

Challenges and perspectives of movement ecology research in Brazil. Table SM1: I Movement Ecology Brazil Workshop (I MEB): Responses to online questionnaire survey about participant´s research group, the main challenges in their studies and other information reflecting important aspects of movement ecology research in Brazil; Table SM2: Literature on Movement Ecology in Brazil subjet, published from 1993 to 2015; Table SM3: Literature on Movement Ecology in Brazil subjet, published from 2016 to 2022.
Patrones y controles regionales de la fragmentación de pastizales naturales en Uruguay
Authors: Mello Ana Laura , Lezama Felipe , Baeza Santiago
Published: August 2023

El reemplazo y fragmentación de ecosistemas debido a los procesos de expansión e intensificación agrícola son las mayores amenazas a la biodiversidad y servicios ecosistémicos en las Américas. En Uruguay los pastizales son los ecosistemas más transformados, pero su fragmentación ha sido escasamente estudiada. El objetivo de este trabajo fue caracterizar la fragmentación en las principales regiones de pastizales de Uruguay, identificar los sitios más fragmentados, y los controles que explican dicha fragmentación. A partir de mapas de coberturas del suelo se calcularon cinco métricas de fragmentación y se desarrollaron modelos de regresión lineal múltiple para analizar la relación entre la fragmentación y un conjunto de variables ambientales y antrópicas. La proporción de pastizales varió entre 40 a 75.8% en función de la región, y el grado de fragmentación difirió entre éstas. Las regiones con mayor proporción de pastizales presentaron mayores tamaños efectivos de malla y tamaños promedio de parches. El número y los factores que controlan la fragmentación también variaron entre regiones. Los modelos de regresión lineal múltiple muestran que entre un 36 y un 46% de la variabilidad en la fragmentación puede ser explicada por un conjunto de factores asociados con el establecimiento de cultivos agrícolas y forestales. Estos resultados aportan información clave para el diseño de políticas de conservación de pastizales en Uruguay.
Role of Ki-67 in Carcinoma Breast as Predictive Marker of Pathological Response to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy: A Cross-sectional Study
Authors: Vinie Mathew Mary , Anjit Unnikrishnan , Jose Lovely
Published: August 2023

Introduction: Breast carcinoma is the most common invasive cancer in female gender. Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy (NAC) helps to achieve resectability. The pathological response to NAC is classified as a pathological Complete Response (pCR), pathological Partial Response (pPR) and pathological No Response (pNR). Aim: To evaluate the role of Ki-67 as a predictive marker of pathological response and to find the optimum percentage of Ki-67 positivity that can be associated with pCR. Materials and Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted in the Department of Pathology, Government Medical College Thrissur, Kerala, India, between March 2021 and January 2022, which involved 50 breast carcinoma patients. Fifty patients who had undergone mastectomy post-NAC were selected. Ki-67 immunohistochemical staining was done on the initial trucut biopsy sample of the patients. Post-NAC mastectomy specimens were evaluated for tumour clearance. Association of Ki-67 score with pathological response in the mastectomy specimen was studied. Percentage cut-off for Ki67 in initial trucut biopsy of breast, that could effectively predict pCR in the post-NAC mastectomy specimens was derived by Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Results: Total 50 cases of breast cancer were studied with mean±Standard Deviation (SD) age of 53.3±10.3 years. Eight (16%) out of 50 patients had achieved pCR while, 18 out of 50 patients (36%) showed pPR and 24 out 50 patients (48%) had pNR. Significant association between Ki-67 score and pathological response (p-value=0.03) was found. Optimal percentage cut-off for Ki-67 that could predict pCR was found to be 40% (p-value=0.023). Conclusion: Ki-67 can be used as an independent predictive marker of pathological response in patients undergoing NAC. Ki67 value of more than 40% shows strong association with pCR.
Comparing the Suitable Different Protein Level and Economically Viable Feed for Tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) Reared in Glass Tank at Bangladesh
Authors: Hossen Md. Shanoer , Siddika Sadia , Choudhury Shanchita Zaman , Bir Joyanta
Published: August 2023

Aims: Nile tilapia is one of the most consumable and economical fish species in Bangladesh, traditionally co-cultured by sharing with prawn, shrimp and Indian major carp. In tilapia monoculture, suitable protein level in the diet is crucial for better growth of the fish as well as being economically viable. Addressing this aspect, here in this experiment we tried to adopt suitable and economically sustainable feed for better tilapia growth and production.

Place and Duration of Study: The experiment was carried out for 75 days in the wet laboratory of FMRT discipline of Khulna University.

Methodology: Three available commercial feed with protein percentages of 32.5% (T1), 35% (T2) and 28% (T3) were fed to the juvenile tilapia (mean weight 0.31g) under the laboratory condition. Fish were nursed in rectangular glass aquaria tank (volume 25L) with each three replications for 75 days at the stocking density of 25fry/tank to determine the effect of these feed on growth of tilapia fry.

Results: After 75 days culture period the final weight of tilapia under treatment T1 (4.68±0.28) were significantly (p<0.05) higher than treatment T2 (4.01±0.19) and T3 (3.26±0.39). Similarly, the highest SGR was found in T1 followed by T2 and T3, however no significant difference observed among the treatments. FCR was significantly different among the treatment, where the lowest FCR was found in T1 and higher at T3. In contrary, PER was opposite to FCR values, higher in T1 and lower in T3. Again, significant different were observed in protein, lipid and ash content of tilapia among the three treatments. Water quality parameters were found at suitable farming ranges throughout the experimental period.

Conclusion: The finding of this experiment suggested that 32.5% protein enriched feed can be suitable for the better growth of tilapia.
A New Dagum-Cauchy{Exponential} Distribution
Authors: Archibong M. E. , Uwaeme O. R.
Published: August 2023

This study proposed a four-parameter continuous distribution, called the Dagum-Cauchy{Exponential} Distribution (DCED) for modelling financial time series returns using the generalized family of Cauchy distribution by Alzaatreh et al. [1]. Some structural properties of this new distribution such as quantile function, reliability measures and hazard function, and order statistics are obtained. The method of maximum likelihood estimation was proposed in estimating its parameters. Finally, the distribution was used to model some financial datasets adequately.
Linkages between Soil Acidity, Soil Plant Nutrients and Land Use on Ferralsols in Central Uganda
Authors: Kollie W. S. , Byalebeka J. , Basamba T. A. , Adukpo D. C. , Eneku J. P.
Published: August 2023

A study to examine the linkages between soil acidity, soil plant nutrients and land use on Ferralsols was carried out on smallholder farms in Central Uganda. The objective of the study was to assess the effect of soil pH on soil plant nutrient availability under the current land use. The study was carried out in Mpigi, Masaka, Wakiso, Mukono and Mubende districts representing Central Uganda. Soil samples were randomly collected from Coffee, Banana, soybean, common bean, maize and virgin fields in the five districts and the pH and plant nutrient analyzed accordingly. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) showed significant difference (p<0.01) on soil nitrogen, Calcium (p< 0.05) and Magnesium (p< 0.05). When treatment was assessed, the study showed significant difference (p< 0.01) on potassium. Besides, the study also showed high concentrations of Manganese (Mn) and Iron (Fe) in addition to very high sand and low silt and clay contents. The current land use for coffee production in Masaka district recorded the lowest soil pH (4.4) followed by annual fields (pH 4.60) in Mpigi. The highest soil pH (5.7) was recorded in banana fields in Mubende. The study also recorded very low to low N, P and K. Generally, the study observed rapid soil fertility decline in smallholder farms in the region.
Indian National Education Policy: The Knowledge and Understanding of Secondary School Teachers in West Tripura District
Authors: Das Ratan Kumar , Ratna Sandip
Published: August 2023

The quality of a nation depends on the quality of its people and the quality of education the people receive. Education is the main structure of the country’s socio-economic development. The development of society and the education system are closely related. A demographic and modern welfare state has considered the responsibility of spreading education as a national task because democracy is based on the development of the education of the people of a country. Different countries provide different education based on tradition and culture and adopt different stages of school and college education to be effective.

India’s National Education Policy (NEP 2020), approved by the Indian Union Cabinet on July 29, 2020 based on the recommendations of an expert committee headed by Dr. Kasthuriranjan, former Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). It replaced the National Policy on Education of 1986. The aim of the policy was to create an education system rooted in Indian values that would directly contribute to the transformation of India by providing quality education to all, thus making India a global educational power.

The current study is conducted in West Tripura District High Schol to analyze the perception of NEP -2020 among teachers. This study will help to increase awareness of NEP-2020 among secondary school teachers and provide teachers NEP 2020 awareness program accordingly for its successful implementation.
Photothermal Fabric Based on In Situ Growth of CuO@Cu Fractal Dendrite Fiber for Personal Thermal Management
Authors: Yang Yuxin , Zeng Haoyue , Zhou Huang , Wang Daiyi , Wu Yujian , Li Luxin , Chen Jiaqi , Wang Pan , Yuan Ping , Li Ying , Feng Wei , Huang Yanyan
Published: July 2023

Advanced personal thermal management fabrics are being developed to realize improved human body thermal comfort and effectively regulate heat exchange between the human body and surroundings. Fiber‐based thermal management fabrics are directly worn on soft and curved multiple curvature human body. Herein, a flexible photothermal fiber based on copper fractal dendrites with abundant CuO nanowires is designed. Well‐aligned Cu fractal dendrite fiber is electrodeposited template freely via a low‐cost and scalable process in an aqueous solution. Then, flexible CuO@Cu fractal dendritic photothermal fiber is fabricated by direct in situ oxidation and calcination of Cu fractal dendrites. Furthermore, the CuO@Cu fractal dendritic photothermal fiber can be woven into photothermal fabric by the traditional jacquard embroidery process. The temperature of photothermal fabric can be adjusted within the range of 35–65 °C by adjusting the number of photothermal fibers, which can be achieved with comfortable wearing of human thermal management and hot compress of hyperthermia to relieve local pain. Therefore, the Cu fractal dendrites have shown considerable potential for promoting the photothermal conversion of flexible personal thermal management.
Defect Driven Opto‐Critical Phases Tuned for All‐Solar Utilization
Authors: Jeem Melbert , Hayano Ayaka , Miyashita Hiroto , Nishimura Mahiro , Fukuroi Kohei , Lin Hsueh‐I , Zhang Lihua , Watanabe Seiichi
Published: July 2023

Materials imbued with uniformly dispersed, photo‐responsive nanoparticles are instrumental in sustainable energy and photonic applications. Conventional methods, however, constrain their all‐solar response. An innovative alternative is proposed: submerged photo‐synthesis of crystallites (SPsC). It is shown that strategic doping with copper and oxygen vacancies can induce opto‐critical phases from the nonstoichiometric tungstic acids (WO3·H2O). These opto‐critical phases enable a dynamic equilibrium shift in lattice defect stabilization, facilitating an unprecedented a whole solar wavelength response. This response manifests as photothermal, photo‐assisted water evaporation, and photo‐electrochemical characteristics. Harnessing all‐solar energy, this one‐pot SPsC strategy may steer the design and development of advanced oxide materials, enhancing functionality across diverse application domains.
Perovskite Smart Windows: The Light Manipulator in Energy‐Efficient Buildings
Authors: Liu Sai , Du Yuwei , Zhang Rui , He Huanfeng , Pan Aiqiang , Ho Tsz Chung , Zhu Yihao , Li Yang , Yip Hin‐Lap , Jen Alex K.Y. , Tso Chi Yan
Published: July 2023

Uncontrolled sunlight entering through windows contributes to substantial heating and cooling demands in buildings, which leads to high energy consumption from the buildings. Recently, perovskite smart windows have emerged as innovative energy‐saving technologies, offering the potential to adaptively control indoor solar heat gain through their impressive sunlight modulation capabilities. Moreover, harnessing the high‐efficiency photovoltaic properties of perovskite materials, these windows have the potential to generate power, thereby realizing more advanced windows with combined light modulation and energy harvesting capabilities. This review summarizes the recent advancements in various chromic perovskite materials for achieving light modulation, focusing on both perovskite structures and underlying switching mechanisms. The discussion also encompasses device engineering strategies for smart windows, including the improvement of their optical and transition performance, durability, combination with electricity generation, and the evaluation of their energy‐saving performance in building applications. Furthermore, the challenges and opportunities associated with perovskite smart windows are explicated, aimed at stimulating more academic research and advancing their pragmatic implementation for building energy efficiency and sustainability.
Effect of starch content and ultrasonic pretreatment on gelling properties of myofibrillar protein from Lateolabrax japonicus
Authors: Hu Yanyu , Chen Xu , Cai Xixi , Zheng Yunfang , Wang Shaoyun
Published: July 2023

To investigate the protein–starch interactions in myofibrillar protein gels under the ultrasonic pretreatment, the effect of cassava starch content and ultrasonic pretreatment on gelling properties of myofibrillar protein from Lateolabrax japonicus was studied. For the myofibrillar protein–starch (MPS) solutions, the turbidity and elastic modulus increased when the starch content increased from 0% to 8%. For the MPS gels, the hardness, chewiness, gumminess, and water holding capacity increased with the starch content, whereas the cooking loss and whiteness decreased. Starch incorporation promoted the conversion of free water to immobilized water and bound water. The active sulfhydryl content decreased with the starch content, whereas the hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interaction content increased. Fine network structure containing pores at uniform size was formed in the MPS gel at an increased starch content, as shown in the scanning electron microscope images. When the ultrasonic pretreatment was introduced, the elastic modulus of MPS solutions and hardness, chewiness, gumminess, hydrophobic interaction, β‐sheet content, and microstructural compactness of the MPS gels increased, whereas the turbidity of the MPS solutions and cooking loss, whiteness, free water content, active sulfhydryl content, and random coil content of the MPS gels decreased. The MPS gel containing 8% of starch and subjected to ultrasonic pretreatment showed the highest hardness, chewiness, and gumminess of 220, 150, and 160 g, while the lowest cooking loss of 2.5% among all samples. Therefore, the gelling properties of myofibrillar protein from L. japonicus could be enhanced by the starch incorporation, ultrasonic pretreatment, and their synergistic effect.
Distinct neurophysiology during nonword repetition in logopenic and non‐fluent variants of primary progressive aphasia
Authors: Hinkley Leighton B. N. , Thompson Megan , Miller Zachary A. , Borghesani Valentina , Mizuiri Danielle , Shwe Wendy , Licata Abigail , Ninomiya Seigo , Lauricella Michael , Mandelli Maria Luisa , Miller Bruce L. , Houde John , Gorno‐Tempini Maria Luisa , Nagarajan Srikantan S.
Published: July 2023

Overlapping clinical presentations in primary progressive aphasia (PPA) variants present challenges for diagnosis and understanding pathophysiology, particularly in the early stages of the disease when behavioral (speech) symptoms are not clearly evident. Divergent atrophy patterns (temporoparietal degeneration in logopenic variant lvPPA, frontal degeneration in nonfluent variant nfvPPA) can partially account for differential speech production errors in the two groups in the later stages of the disease. While the existing dogma states that neurodegeneration is the root cause of compromised behavior and cortical activity in PPA, the extent to which neurophysiological signatures of speech dysfunction manifest independent of their divergent atrophy patterns remain unknown. We test the hypothesis that nonword deficits in lvPPA and nfvPPA arise from distinct patterns of neural oscillations that are unrelated to atrophy. We use a novel structure–function imaging approach integrating magnetoencephalographic imaging of neural oscillations during a non‐word repetition task with voxel‐based morphometry‐derived measures of gray matter volume to isolate neural oscillation abnormalities independent of atrophy. We find reduced beta band neural activity in left temporal regions associated with the late stages of auditory encoding unique to patients with lvPPA and reduced high‐gamma neural activity over left frontal regions associated with the early stages of motor preparation in patients with nfvPPA. Neither of these patterns of reduced cortical oscillations was explained by cortical atrophy in our statistical model. These findings highlight the importance of structure–function imaging in revealing neurophysiological sequelae in early stages of dementia when neither structural atrophy nor behavioral deficits are clinically distinct.
Bloody noise: The impact of blood‐flow artifacts on registration
Authors: Lewis John D. , Fonov Vladimir S. , Collins D. Louis
Published: July 2023

Blood‐flow artifacts present a serious challenge for most, if not all, volumetric analytical approaches. We utilize T1‐weighted data with prominent blood‐flow artifacts from the Autism Brain Imaging Data Exchange (ABIDE) multisite agglomerative dataset to assess the impact that such blood‐flow artifacts have on registration of T1‐weighted data to a template. We use a heuristic approach to identify the blood‐flow artifacts in these data; we use the resulting blood masks to turn the underlying voxels to the intensity of the cerebro‐spinal fluid, thus mimicking the effect of blood suppression. We then register both the original data and the deblooded data to a common T1‐weighted template, and compare the quality of those registrations to the template in terms of similarity to the template. The registrations to the template based on the deblooded data yield significantly higher similarity values compared with those based on the original data. Additionally, we measure the nonlinear deformations needed to transform the data from the position achieved by registering the original data to the template to the position achieved by registering the deblooded data to the template. The results indicate that blood‐flow artifacts may seriously impact data processing that depends on registration to a template, that is, most all data processing.
Predictive value of radiomics analysis of enhanced CT for three‐tiered microvascular invasion grading in hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Zheng Xin , Xu Yun‐Jun , Huang Jingcheng , Cai Shengxian , Wang Wanwan
Published: July 2023

Background

Microvascular invasion (MVI) is a major risk factor, for recurrence and metastasis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after radical surgery and liver transplantation. However, its diagnosis depends on the pathological examination of the resected specimen after surgery; therefore, predicting MVI before surgery is necessary to provide reference value for clinical treatment. Meanwhile, predicting only the existence of MVI is not enough, as it ignores the degree, quantity, and distribution of MVI and may lead to MVI‐positive patients suffering due to inappropriate treatment. Although some studies have involved M2 (high risk of MVI), majority have adopted the binary classification method or have not included radiomics.

Purpose

To develop three‐class classification models for predicting the grade of MVI of HCC by combining enhanced computed tomography radiomics features with clinical risk factors.

Methods

The data of 166 patients with HCC confirmed by surgery and pathology were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were divided into the training (116 cases) and test (50 cases) groups at a ratio of 7:3. Of them, 69 cases were MVI positive in the training group, including 45 cases in the low‐risk group (M1) and 24 cases in the high‐risk group (M2), and 47 cases were MVI negative (M0). In the training group, the optimal subset features were obtained through feature selection, and the arterial phase radiomics model, portal venous phase radiomics model, delayed phase radiomics model, three‐phase radiomics model, clinical imaging model, and combined model were developed using Linear Support Vector Classification. The test group was used for validation, and the efficacy of each model was evaluated through the receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC).

Results

The clinical imaging features of MVI included alpha‐fetoprotein, tumor size, tumor margin, peritumoral enhancement, intratumoral artery, and low‐density halo. The area under the curve (AUC) of the ROC values of the clinical imaging model for M0, M1, and M2 were 0.831, 0.701, and 0.847, respectively, in the training group and 0.782, 0.534, and 0.785, respectively, in the test group. After combined radiomics analyis, the AUC values for M0, M1, and M2 in the test group were 0.818, 0.688, and 0.867, respectively. The difference between the clinical imaging model and the combined model was statistically significant (p = 0.029).

Conclusion

The clinical imaging model and radiomics model developed in this study had a specific predictive value for HCC MVI grading, which can provide precise reference value for preoperative clinical diagnosis and treatment. The combined application of the two models had a high predictive efficacy.