bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Performance Analysis of Dual-Beam Free Space Optical Communication Link under Dust and Rain Conditions
Authors: Yasir Sultan Mahmood , Abas Naeem , Rauf Shoaib , Saleem Muhammad Shoaib , Haider Aun
Published: August 2022

Free space optical (FSO) communication has become an enduring and well-established communication technology in the last few decades with several advantages of high data rate, enormous bandwidth, low power consumption, transportable technology without right of way, and inherently secure line of a sight communication system. The invisible, intensity-modulated signal of light propagated through the air and detected on the receiver side experiences attenuation because of uneven distribution of rain droplets, suspended dust aerosol particles, and the droplet size distribution of fog particles in atmospheric layer degrade performance of FSO communication link. The ever-increasing demand for high data rate has quest for an innovative research for a communication link. In this paper, the performance of a dual-beam FSO communication link is evaluated under rain and dust as attenuation conditions. The system parameters, such as link distance transmitted and received power, link distance, diameter of transmitter and receiver aperture, and divergence angle, are optimized for a metropolitan FSO communication link. Dual-beam FSO communication signal propagated through an estimated attenuation level at 30 dBm transmitted power for link distance up to 2.5 km. The optical power splitter and power combiners are used in the simulation to estimate different channel parameters without the MIMO technique. The information signal of the 10 Gbps data rate is internally modulated using the NRZ generator, externally modulated by the Mach-Zehnder, and an optical signal transmitted through a dual-beam optical spectrum frequency of 193.1 THz using power splitter technique apart from each other. A comprehensive analysis is performed to design and assess robust optical communication systems through efficiency parameters such as received power, optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR), bit error rate (BER), and Q-factors. Results show that received optical power is a weather-dependent variable that shows a decreasing pattern as weather attenuation increases. Likewise, Q-factor and OSNR show similar decreasing trend with introduction of rain and dust as attenuator; however, BER increases in presence of attenuation.
A Method of Selecting Optimal Control Nodes for WSNs Based on C-Means Clustering Algorithm
Authors: Fang Na , Wang Xiaojing
Published: August 2022

The wireless sensor networks (WSNs) require an optimal selection of control nodes for improving the operational performance of the overall network. The data are increasing day by day, and it is difficult to a handle huge amount of data. For speedy transmission of data, it is mandatory to deploy sophisticated methods for improving the operations of WSNs. There are many methods proposed by the researchers to improve the operations of WSNs, but the data are increasing and more methods are needed to be explored to handle the operations of WSNs to smoothly handle a huge amount of data. To cater to this need, this research is proposing a method of selecting optimal control nodes for WSNs based on the C-means clustering algorithm (CCA). The CCA is improved by the weighting mechanism in the cluster, and the remaining energy of the node is taken into account. If the node energy is more as compared to the average energy in the cluster in each round, it will have the chance to serve as the cluster head node (CHN) and the adaptive assignment of CHN is made according to the generated cluster size by WSN. Every node possesses the probability of becoming a CHN to save the energy utilization of the node and to obtain the optimal control for node selection in WSN. The experimental results reveal that the coverage rate of WSN is improved after applying the proposed method. The network energy utilization is optimized, which effectively prolongs the lifetime of WSN and improves the overall network output including throughput, energy consumption rate, and data transmission rate.
Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula Jian Pi Tiao Gan Yin Reduces Obesity in Mice by Modulating the Gut Microbiota and Fecal Metabolism
Authors: Dong Wenchao , Mao Yulin , Xiang Zhenhua , Zhu Jingyu , Wang Haixia , Wang Aiju , Jiang Meifang , Gu Yuming
Published: August 2022

The current study employed the high-fat diet (HFD) induced murine model to assess the relationship between the effect of Jian Pi Tiao Gan Yin (JPTGY) and the alterations of gut microbiota and fecal metabolism. C57BL/6 mice were used to establish an animal model of obesity via HFD induce. Serum biochemical indicators of lipid metabolism were used to evaluate the pharmacodynamics of JPTGY in obese mice. Bacterial communities and metabolites in the feces specimens from the controls, the Group HFD, and the JPTGY-exposed corpulency group were studied by 16s rDNA genetic sequence in combination with liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) based untargeted fecal metabolomics techniques. Results revealed that JPTGY significantly decreased the levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C). Moreover, JPTGY could up-regulate the abundance and diversity of fecal microbiota, which was characterized by the higher phylum of proteobacteria. Consistently, at the genus levels, JPTGY supplementation induced enrichments in Lachnospiraceae NK4A136 group, Oscillibacter, Turicibacter, Clostridium sensu stricto 1, and Intestinimonas, which were intimately related to 14 pivotal fecal metabolins in respond to JPTGY therapy were determined. What is more, metabolomics further analyses show that the therapeutic effect of JPTGY for obesity involves linoleic acid (LA) metabolism paths, alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) metabolism paths, glycerophospholipid metabolism paths, arachidonic acid (AA) metabolism paths, and pyrimidine metabolism paths, which implied the potential mechanism of JPTGY in treating obesity. It was concluded that the linking of corpulency phenotypes with intestinal flora and fecal metabolins unveils the latent causal link of JPTGY in the treatment of hyperlipidemia and obesity.
Molecular Determinants of Peritoneal Dissemination in Gastric Adenocarcinoma
Authors: Mari Valentina , Angerilli Valentina , Munari Giada , Scarpa Marco , Bao Quoc Riccardo , Pucciarelli Salvatore , Fassan Matteo , Spolverato Gaya
Published: August 2022

Background: Peritoneal dissemination represents a poor prognostic indicator in gastric cancer. Despite a comprehensive molecular characterization of this disease, no peritoneal dissemination-specific signature has been identified, limiting the tailoring of the surgical and oncological treatments. In this review, we outline the available literature focusing on the role of the different molecular pathways involved in the acquisition of peritoneal metastatic dissemination. Summary: According to our results, several molecular determinants are associated with peritoneal carcinomatosis and are involved in several cellular and molecular carcinogenetic processes. However, a comprehensive understanding of the complex molecular landscape of gastric carcinosis is still lacking. Key Messages: More efforts should be made toward the integration of molecular and histologic data to perform a risk prediction assessment of peritoneal dissemination based on molecular profiling and histological evaluation.
Protein Profiling of Orthosiphon stamineus Embryogenic Callus using Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Tandem-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)
Authors:   Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia, Mamat Dayangku , Rahmat Zaidah ,   Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia, Chai Tsun ,   2 Department of Chemical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia,   Centre for Biodiversity Research, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Kampar, Perak, Malaysia, Manan Fazilah ,   Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310, Skudai, Johor, Malaysia
Published: August 2022

Orthosiphon stamineus is one of the most prominent medicinal herbs widely grown in Southeast Asia. Propagation of O. stamineus using tissue culture technique helps to rapidly produce samples for research purposes, increase the production of secondary metabolites and is considered as one of the strategies in plant genetic improvement. Despite vast information on O. stamineus pharmacological properties, the protein profile of this species is currently underexplored. In the present study, proteins expressed in embryogenic callus developed from O. stamineus leaves in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with 1-naphthaleneacetic acid (NAA) and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) were identified via Liquid chromatography- tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The presence of embryogenic callus was confirmed with microscope observation and Evan Blue assay. Using this proteomic approach, we identified peptides that represent 22 proteins localized to different cell compartments and involved in various biological and metabolic functions in plants. This finding is useful to improve our understanding of protein functions, thus their future applications could be further explored. Keywords: Embryogenic, Callus, Herb, Orthosiphon stamineus, Proteins
Effect of Acute Toxicity of Commercial Organophosphate Insecticide Based on Chlorpyrifos on Fejervarya limnocharis Tadpoles (Anura: Dicroglossidae)
Authors:   Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, Indonesia, Ramadani Shima , Marhendra Agung , Wiadnya Dewa ,   Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Science, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, Indonesia, Kurniawan Nia ,   Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang 65145, Indonesia
Published: August 2022

Organophosphate pesticides, especially chlorpyrifos, are one of the most widely used insecticides in agriculture, but their toxicity and potential sensitivity effects on Anura, especially Fejervarya limnocharis are still unknown. The purpose of this investigation is to study F. limnocharis (Anura: Dicroglossidae) tadpole sensitivity to lethal (survivability) and sublethal effects (morphological alterations and swimming activity) of chlorpyrifos in Dursban 200EC commercial formula under acute exposure. An acute toxicity test was carried out on ten tadpoles (Gosner 25) in each repetition. The sample was obtained from artificial reproduction by injecting the Trial Batch 2000 IU hCG by Kings Lab. The acute toxicity testing consisted of three replicates with a chlorpyrifos concentration of 0; 0.4; 0.8; 1; 2; 4; and 8 µg/L. Physico-chemical parameters, mortality, morphological, and swimming alterations of each concentration were observed at 24th, 48th, 72nd, and 96th hours. The LC50 of chlorpyrifos for F. limnocharis tadpoles was 2.86 µg/L. The percentage of survivability F. limnocharis tadpoles decreased after exposure to chlorpyrifos above 1µg/L, while morphological alterations were observed in 2 µg/L and 4 µg/L after 48th hours exposure, and the swimming alterations have occurred at 24th hours in 1; 2; 4 and 8 µg/L. Morphological alterations were observed including asymmetrical body shape, edema, and abnormal tail shape. Based on the LC50 value, commercial chlorpyrifos has high-level toxicity on F. limnocharis tadpoles.Keywords: Acute, Chlorpyrifos, Dursban 200 EC, Fejervarya limnocharis, Tadpoles
In Silico Molecular Characterization of a Putative Haloacid Dehalogenase Type II from Genomic of Mesorhizobium loti Strain TONO
Authors:   Lecturer at Kabul University, Zakary Sefatullah , Mashal Hamida ,   Department of Botany, Faculty of Biology, Kabul University, 1006 Dehbori, Kabul, Afghanistan, Osmani Abdul ,   Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biology, Kabul University, 1006 Dehbori, Kabul, Afghanistan, Oyewus Habeebat ,   Department of Biochemistry, School of Science and Computer Studies, Federal Polytechnic Ado Ekiti, Ado Ekiti PMB 5351, Ekiti State, Nigeria, Huyop Fahrul ,   Department of Biosciences, Faculty of Science, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, 81310 UTM, Johor Bahru, Malaysia, Nasim Muzhgan ,   Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Malaysia Japan International Institute of Technology, University Technology Malaysia, 50100 UTM, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Published: August 2022

Halogenated organic compounds are found as waste in the biosphere and can causenumerous dilemmas because of their toxicity and persistence in the environment. Theyplay a major role in the quality of life of both, human beings and other living organisms. Degradation of these compounds by microorganisms is significant to reduce recalcitrant and cost. Thus, in the current study, an in-silico approach was used for homology modelling and docking assessment of a newly identified DehLt4, type IIdehalogenase to predict its ability to degrade selected haloalkanoic acids and haloacetates. The study aimed to establish the catalytic tendencies of the enzyme to optimallydegrade the selected halogenated haloacids. The refined modelled structure of DehLt4using GROMACS 5.1.2 software revealed satisfactory scores of ERRAT (94.73%),Verify3D (90.83%) and PROCHECK (99.05 %) assessments. Active site predictionby blind docking and multiple sequence alignment indicated the catalytic triads forDehLt4 were Asp9-Lys149-Asn175. Both L-2-chloropropionic acid (L-2-CP) and trichloroacetate (TCA) docked with DehLt4 exhibited binding energy of -3.9 kcal/mol.However, the binding energy for D-2-chloropropionic acid (D-2-CP) and monochloroacetate (MCA) was -3.8 kcal/mol and -3.1 kcal/mol, respectively. Thus, the findingsof the study successfully identified the catalytic important residues of DehLt4 for possible pollutant degradation. The in-silico study as such has a good potential for characterization of newly identified dehalogenases based on basic molecular structure andfunctions analysis.Keywords: Dehalogenase, Haloacid dehalogenase, Mesorhizobium loti strain TONO,Protein structure
Genetic Differentiation of Brown Planthopper Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) Populations in Asia
Authors:   Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Brawijaya University, Yanuwiadi Bagyo , Grahadi Rahmat ,   Department of Biology, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, Brawijaya University
Published: August 2022

Brown Planthopper is one of the economically important rice pests that cause several crop failures in Asian countries. Unfortunately, Brown Planthopper could migrate to neighboring countries to generate interpopulation breeding, thus further increasing the gene flow and spreading insecticide resistance. This research aimed to understand the genetic differentiation of Brown Planthopper among all Asian populations. This study used two COI sequences from Malang, Indonesia, and 25 sequences from GenBank to analyze the genetic structure with phylogenetic tree and haplotype network. The uncorrected pairwise distance result showed that the Brown Planthopper population in Asia has a relatively low genetic distance. We also found that the Brown Planthopper population was clustered based on the geographical region of South Asia, East Asia-Mainland South East Asia, and Indonesia. Thus, we concluded that the migration of Brown Planthopper was limited to East Asia and Mainland South East Asia only. Further studies are needed to confirm the migration route of Brown Planthopper in South Asia and Southeast AsiaKeywords: BPH, Genetic differentiation, Haplotype network, Phylogenetic
Agencias infantiles en la escuela
Authors: Fatyass Rocio
Published: August 2022

(analítico)Se abordan prácticas de agencia de niñas y niños de clases populares en una escuela primaria en Villa María, Córdoba, Argentina. Desde un método etnográfico, el problema de investigación se vincula con la agencia infantil en contextos escolares. El interrogante refiere a cuáles son las modalidades que asumen las prácticas de agencia infantil, según cómo niñas y niños resisten a los ordenamientos temporales y espaciales en la escuela, resignifican miradas y clasificaciones de las docentes y disputan por la distribución de recursos materiales. Los resultados señalan que niñas y niños producen diversos procesos de agencia desde discursos e interacciones intergeneracionales que se tejen en la cotidianidad escolar. Estas prácticas no son instrumentales ni en todos los casos reflexivas, más bien están socialmente incorporadas.
Palabras clave:  Infancias; escuela; agencia; autoridad adulta; desigualdad.
ÜNİVERSİTE ÖĞRENCİLERİNİN HAYATLARINI ANLAMLANDIRMADA İŞSİZLİK KAYGISI, KARİYER HEDEFİ VE KİŞİSEL GELİŞİM DEĞİŞKENLERİNİN ROLÜ
Authors: AKYÜZ Ahmet Mutlu , DURMUŞ İbrahim
Published: August 2022

Araştırma amacı çerçevesinde üniversite öğrencilerinin işsizlik kaygıları, kariyer hedefleri ve kişisel gelişimlerinin hayatlarını anlamlandırması üzerindeki olası etkileri araştırılmaktadır. Araştırmanın verileri üniversitelerde eğitim gören 456 öğrenciden elektronik anket yöntemi ile toplanmıştır. Bulgular doğrudan etkiler açısından, öğrencilerin kariyer hedefinin hayatı anlamlandırmalarını ve kişisel gelişimlerini artırmıştır. Öğrencilerin kişisel gelişimleri hayatı anlamlandırmayı artırmıştır. Öğrencilerin işsizlik kaygısı hem hayatlarını anlamlandırmayı hem de kariyer hedeflerini artırmıştır. Aracı etkiler açısından, işsizlik kaygısı ile hayatı anlamlandırma ilişkisinde kariyer hedefi ara değişken olarak rol oynamıştır. Öğrencilerin kariyer hedefi ile hayatlarını anlamlandırma ilişkisinde kişisel gelişim ara değişken olarak rol oynamıştır. Öğrencilerin işsizlik kaygısı ile hayatı anlamlandırma ilişkisinde kariyer hedefi ve kişisel gelişim düzeyi ara değişken olarak rol oynamıştır. Öğrencilerin işsizlik kaygısı ile kişisel gelişim ilişkisinde kariyer hedefi ara değişken olarak rol oynamıştır.
Colletotrichum juglandis sp. nov. (Ascomycota: Glomerellaceae) associated with walnut leaf spot in China
Authors: WEI XIN , YANG SHU QI , JIANG ZHI GANG , CUI MENG JIAO , DENG JIAN XIN , ZHANG YI
Published: August 2022

Colletotrichum species are destructive pathogens, saprobes and endophytes on various plant hosts. However, the species occurring on walnut remains largely unresolved. Walnut leaf spot occurred seriously in orchards of Xingshan County, Hubei Province in China. To determine Colletotrichum spp. associated with Juglans regia, 22 isolates were obtained from the diseased leaf samples collected during 2019 and 2020. Seven isolates were further selected as representatives based on morphology and phylogeny using ITS, GAPDH, CHS-1 and ACT gene regions. The results revealed that the isolates belonged to two phylogenetic species complexes, C. gloeosporioides species complex (CGSC) comprising C. gloeosporioides and C. kahawae, and C. acutatum species complex (CASC) including C. nymphaeae, C. godetiae, C. fioriniae and a new species, namely Colletotrichum juglandis sp. nov.. Among them, C. kahawae was firstly reported from walnut.
Themistoclesia diminuta (Ericaceae: Vaccinieae), a new mortiño and blueberry relative from Colombia
Authors: PEDRAZA-PEÑALOSA PAOLA
Published: August 2022

Themistoclesia diminuta, a new species of Ericaceae tribe Vaccinieae from western Colombia, is here described, discussed, and illustrated. It stands out among other Themistoclesia because of its subsessile flowers, pedicel articulate with calyx and obscure short pale green corollas with purple lobes.
Vallidation of Mallotocarpon (Euphorbiaceae)
Authors: DESHMUKH UMAKANT BHOOPATI
Published: August 2022

N/A
The bark and ambrosia beetles of Bhutan (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae and Platypodinae): a synopsis with three new species of Scolytinae
Authors: BEAVER ROGER A. , SMITH SARAH M.
Published: August 2022

The present state of knowledge of the bark and ambrosia beetles of Bhutan is summarised as a basis for future studies of the fauna, and its economic importance in forestry, timber production and crop tree plantations. We describe three new species of Scolytinae: Cyclorhipidion druk Smith & Beaver, Euwallacea insolitus Smith & Beaver, and Xylosandrus geduensis Smith & Beaver. Thirty-four species of Scolytinae, and 13 species of Platypodinae are now known to occur in Bhutan, of which 14 species of Scolytinae, including the three new species, and four species of Platypodinae, are recorded for the first time. A checklist of the fauna is provided, with information on local and world distribution, host trees and biology, and taxonomy.
Science, religion, and nonreligion: Engaging subdisciplines to move further beyond mythbusting
Authors: Catto Rebecca , Riley James , Elsdon-Baker Fern , Jones Stephen H. , Leicht Carola
Published: August 2022

Within the last 20 years sociological research on science and religion has provided new insights that challenge myths regarding conflicts between science and religion. Gaps in pre-existing work have been identified resulting in major shifts in the field. In particular, research has employed more mixed methods, widened its scope to become more international, and expanded to include nonreligion. Building upon these developments and critiques, this chiefly conceptual article explores a way to move forward by combining three fields of research in a novel way: the sociology of religion, the sociology of nonreligion, and the Public Understanding of Science (PUS). These subfields all touch on relevant and interrelated topics. Sociology of religion contributes to parceling out aspects of belief, identity, and practice; focuses on lived experience along with positionality, normative commitments, and culture. The sociology of nonreligion draws more detailed attention to the association between science and secularism. Finally, including research on PUS provides resources for understanding trust in, and engagement with science dialogically, as well as lessons for effective public engagement.
Adolescent Ruthlessness and the Transitioning Of The Analyst’s Mind
Authors: Gozlan Oren
Published: August 2022

Features of ruthlessness may come into play in the encounter between adolescents who come into the therapeutic space with clear and precise demands to be supported through their gender transition. Winnicott’s concept of ruthlessness, extended from the infant-mother matrix to the emotional situation of the clinic, allows a consideration of the conditions under which the analyst can think about adolescent demands. These conditions involve the desire of both patient and analyst for certitude and the analyst’s urgency to respond, as well as the adolescent’s contradictory desires to both destroy and create gender. The work of Sally Swartz, who brought to Winnicott’s conception a notion of ruthlessness in protest, helps us consider the qualities of ruthlessness in constituting gender. A snippet of work with a nonbinary patient shows how questions of gender cannot be understood apart from the intersubjective transferential field. Tying ruthlessness to the enigma of desire illuminates the emotional situation of the clinical encounter between the nonbinary or trans patient and the analyst, a situation that is also libidinal. An analytic move from the question of gender identity to the realm of an emotional situation allows the analyst to meet adolescent ruthlessness. This meeting is an ethical attempt to understand the other, but also reveals one’s resistance to giving up something in order to understand.
Manager, coach and sports club participant perceptions of health promotion
Authors: Van Hoye Aurelie , Johnson Stacey , Lemonnier Fabienne , Crochet Laurianne , Maso Freddy , Lecoarer Tiphaine , Rostan Florence , Tezier Benjamin , Vuillemin Anne
Published: August 2022

Objectives:

Sports clubs’ investment in health promotion (HP) has so far been limited, and efforts to understand where gaps exist in implementation are few and far between. This mixed-method study analysed managers’, coaches’ and sports participants’ perceptions of HP in a single sports club.

Design:

A mixed-method cross sectional design was used.

Setting:

The goal was to assess HP perceptions at the macro (club), meso (managers) and micro (coaches) levels with respect to four key health determinants.

Method:

Quantitative data were collected from 237 participants using e-PROSCeSS questionnaires. Qualitative data collection included two meetings with managers and a focus group with sports club participants. Data analysis took place by means of a hybrid thematic analysis informed by the health promoting sports club (HPSC) model.

Results:

Similar answer patterns among managers, coaches and sports club participants illustrated that social and environmental determinants scored higher than organisational and economic determinants, which was consistent with qualitative findings. Only one significant difference was found between managers and sports club participants – for organisational determinants at the macro level. In others words, all club actors agreed that sports clubs needed to invest in HP policy and funding, and not only acknowledge that HP is an integral outcome of sports participation. Gender differences in HP perceptions were identified, while being a volunteer compared to a non-volunteer did not make any significant difference.

Conclusion:

Study findings raise questions about how best to implement and evaluate sports club HP, especially in relation to policies and resources. This is essential to understand the interactions between macro, meso and micro level health determinants and the temporal implications of implementing a HPSC’s approach.
Contrasting perspectives: Belief in national superiority in relation to countries’ performance
Authors: Fabrykant Marharyta , Magun Vladimir
Published: August 2022

This article examines cross-country differences in the strength of individuals’ belief that their country is better than most others and the dependence of this belief on their country’s performance in various spheres. The research design consists of a series of multilevel ordinal logistic regression models estimated using the data of the most recent thematic wave of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP)—National Identity module. Our research finds that these effects are mostly nonlinear U-shaped: people from both high- and low-performing countries express a strong belief in their country’s superiority, while people from average-performing countries do not. These findings suggest a bifurcated nature of belief in national superiority—an interplay between a grounded estimation of a country’s actual achievements and the social norms and individual motivations that prescribe holding one’s own country in high esteem regardless of its actual performance. These norms are found to be the strongest in underperforming countries, while in average- and high-performing countries, people making these evaluations are under weaker normative pressure and therefore more attuned to country achievements. As a result, the weakest belief in national superiority is found not in underperforming, but in average-performing countries. The latter also have the highest diversity on this belief, probably because different segments of the population compare their country’s performance against different benchmarks.
Building Trust Through Action Learning in An Uncertain Transorganizational Context
Authors: Worley Christopher G. , Loftis Sally , Scheepers Caren , Nichols Hannah , Parcells Christine
Published: August 2022

This research explored how action learning contributed to the development of trust in a temporary transorganizational system during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. In a world fragmented by digitalization, social upheaval, ethnocentric development policies, and global pandemics, trust among people, companies, and governments has eroded. The interdependencies within our society demand collaborative efforts that must not only address the challenges of fragmentation that makes task achievement difficult, but the uncertainty that comes with a lack of trust. This was the challenge for two universities on different continents and their stakeholders: to create a cross-cultural, temporary transorganizational (TS) system at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and deliver on the educational objectives of a master’s-level Organization Development (OD) practicum. The cyclical rhythms of action learning and trust building before and during the practicum contributed to its outcomes of collective knowledge creation and high performance in an uncertain time. Using theories of trust formation and action learning, the authors identified how action learning and trust cycles worked together in a TS system to foster collaboration.
Teacher Agency in Creating a Translingual Space in Nepal’s Multilingual English-Medium Schools
Authors: Phyak Prem , Sah Pramod K , Ghimire Nani Babu , Lama Anju
Published: August 2022

This paper focuses on teacher agency in creating a ‘translanguaging space’ in Nepal’s multilingual public schools. Drawing on the ethnographic data from two public schools, we discuss how teachers can resist a monolingual ideology of an English as a medium of instruction policy to ensure students’ participation in classroom activities. The findings of the study reveal that teachers create a translanguaging space to counter the official English-only monolingual ideology and draw on students’ home languages to address their learning needs and their own pedagogic challenges. By using students’ home languages in teaching both the content and English language subjects, the teachers in this study demonstrate a transformative agency to create a multilingual classroom space where students feel safe to use their existing language abilities and epistemologies in learning process. The findings of the study imply that policymakers need to build on teachers’ multilingual agency and their critical ideological awareness to develop pedagogical approaches that recognize students’ diverse linguistic identities and learning needs.
The Legacy of Redlining: A Spatial Dynamics Perspective
Authors: Rey Sergio Joseph , Knaap Elijah
Published: August 2022

This paper investigates the long-term impacts of the federal Home Owners’ Loan Corporation (HOLC) mortgage risk assessment maps on the spatial dynamics of recent income and racial distributions in California metropolitan areas over the 1990-2010 period. We combine historical HOLC boundaries with modern Census tract data and apply recently developed methods of spatial distribution dynamics to examine if legacy impacts are reflected in recent urban dynamics. Cities with HOLC assessments are found to have higher levels of isolation segregation than the non-HOLC group, but no difference in unevenness segregation between the two groups of cities are found. We find no difference in income or racial and ethnic distributional dynamics between the two groups of cities over the period. At the intra-urban scale, we find that the intersectionality of residing in a C or D graded tract that is also a low-income tract falls predominately upon the minority populations in these eight HOLC cities. Our findings indicate that neighborhoods with poor housing markets and high minority concentrations rarely experience a dramatic change in either their racial and ethnic or socioeconomic compositions—and that negative externalities (e.g. lower home prices and greater segregation levels) emanate from these neighborhoods, with inertia spilling over into nearby zones.
Node classifications with DjCaNE: Disjoint content and network embedding
Authors: Fazaeli Mohsen , Momtazi Saeedeh
Published: August 2022

Machine learning approaches have become a crucial tool in graph analysis. Despite the accurate results of the existing approaches, most of them are not scalable enough to be used in real-world problems. Networks provide two different kinds of information, nodes contents and nodes relations (network structure). Training deep graph neural networks (GNN) over large-scale graphs is challenging due to the limitation of the message passing framework. Graph Convolutional Networks (GCN) work on all node neighbours at once. Furthermore, it is usual to transform node features with a deep neural network before the GC operation. Therefore, the deep transform operation may apply up to hundreds of times for each target node which is heavy computation and hard to batch. This paper presents an abstract framework with two embedding components, the first component embeds node relations, and the second one embeds node contents. The model makes predictions by aggregating these embeddings through a combination component. The presented approach limits the deep transform only to the target node and uses random walk-based embedding instead of the GC operator to reduce the cost. The main goal of the proposed approach is to provide a light framework for the task. To this aim, node relations are embedded based on node neighbourhood structure by a biased variant of the DeepWalk model, called GuidedWalk, and an autoencoder embeds node contents. The experimental results on three well-known datasets show the superiority of the proposed model compared to the state-of-the-art GraphSAGE and TADW models with less computational complexity. On the Citeseer, Cora, and PubMed datasets, the model has achieved 3.23%, 0.88%, and 7.63% improvement in Macro-F1 and 3.25%, 0.7%, and 6.34% improvement in Micro-F1, respectively. Although GNNs are state-of-the-art models, considering node content is their main advantage. This paper shows that even a simple integration of node content to available random walk-based methods improves their performance up to GCNs without increasing the complexity.
Evaluating Research Efficiency in Indonesian Higher Education Institution
Authors: Dimyati Muhammad , Hermanu Adhi Indra
Published: August 2022

The Indonesian government has evaluated the research performance of universities, whose measurement process is projected into resources, management, outputs, and revenues to determine the provision of incentives, grants, and program funding to universities. However, efficiency calculations have shown that the outputs and competition-based incentives that drive scientific productivity are more complex. The most competitive systems must also be the most productive when considering resources. This study aimed to analyze the research efficiency in the Indonesian higher education system. The efficiency was analyzed by maximizing the 13 product outputs from the research budget and university staff. The result was then compared with the existing performance measurement analysis. Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) was used to evaluate the efficiency based on the data of 47 universities in the Mandiri cluster and 144 in the Utama cluster for the 2014–2018 period. These findings showed that about 68% of universities have an efficiency value of 1 for the Mandiri group, almost 40% in the Utama group, and 41% for the two groups combined. Additionally, this study compared the efficiency analysis and the impact of the performance evaluation. The comparison showed that adding efficiency or productivity factors in the performance evaluation assessment produced a more accurate result.
The Impact of Reformed Theological Seminary, Mkar: The Unfinished Agenda on Public Theology
Authors: Tachin Philip
Published: August 2022

Theological education has been very critical to the qualitative growth of the church. This reality finds its expression in the establishment and development of the Reformed Theological Seminary Mkar. The Universal Reformed Christian Church which founded the Seminary has benefitted from the depths of the Reformed theological knowledge that it has impacted church leaders. This theological education has been largely responsible for the transformation of the Tiv society. However, as the society keeps growing with fresh challenges, it has become necessary that the Seminary reflects on its new intellectual role in shaping the cultural, social, spiritual and political contexts. It is on this note that the question of public theology has become expedient for the Seminary to consider its inclusion in its curriculum. This research argues the significance of public theology as the new insight that it seeks to break the boundaries of Christian theology from the private life of the believer to the all-encompassing issues in human society. This is premised on the view that God holds the both private and public spheres accountable to himself.
Lasting impact of relationships on caregiving difficulties, burden, and rewards
Authors: Huo Meng , Kim Kyungmin
Published: August 2022

A burgeoning literature considers caregiving in a relationship context and examines how the quality of caregivers’ relationships with care recipients influences their own appraisals of caregiving. Yet, extant research has mostly relied on cross-sectional data and utilized a unidimensional approach to examining relationship quality. This study extended prior research by examining (a) how positive and negative relationship qualities are associated with changes in caregiving appraisals over time, and (b) whether these associations vary by care recipients’ age and disabilities. We examined a longitudinal cohort of caregivers ( N = 1,453, Mage = 62.11) from the National Study of Caregiving (wave 1: 2015, wave 2: 2017), in which caregivers rated positive and negative qualities of their relationships with care recipients aged 65+ ( N = 1,047, Mage = 82.89), and reported on difficulties, burden, and rewards while serving as caregivers. Path analyses revealed that negative relationship quality at wave 1 was associated with increased difficulties and burden of caregiving over time, whereas positive relationship quality at wave 1 was associated with increased caregiver rewards. The associations between relationship qualities and caregiving difficulties as well as rewards varied depending on care recipients’ age and disabilities. Having negative relationships with care recipients was only associated with increased difficulties for caregivers who had younger care recipients, whereas having positive relationships was only linked to increased rewards for those with older care recipients. We also found that positive relationships were significantly associated with increased rewards in caregivers whose care recipients had fewer disabilities. This study refines our understanding of the role relationship quality plays in caregiving and highlights the lasting effects of relationships with care recipients on caregivers’ appraisals. Findings may help identify caregivers at greater risk for negative outcomes and suggest incorporation of relationship therapies in interventions to facilitate affection and attenuate conflicts in caregiving relationships.
Metastatic thoracic and lumbar intramedullary and extramedullary Ewing’s sarcoma: a rare case report and literature review
Authors: Mousavi Seyed Reza , Farrokhi Majid Reza , Eghbal Keyvan , Dehghanian Amirreza , Rezvani Alireza , Ghaffarpasand Fariborz
Published: August 2022

Ewing sarcoma (ES) is a highly aggressive bone and soft tissue tumor that occurs mainly in young children and adolescents and is associated with primary and metastatic disease. Intramedullary ES (either primary or secondary) is rare, and the ideal management remains inconclusive. We herein report intramedullary and extramedullary metastatic ES in a single patient. A 46-year-old woman was referred to our outpatient clinic from the oncology clinic with progressive paraparesis and paresthesia for 1 week prior to presentation. She had developed left clavicular ES 2 years earlier for which surgery and chemoradiotherapy had been performed. At the present evaluation, she was diagnosed with intramedullary thoracic and lumbar extradural masses. Thoracic surgery was performed, and a biopsy of the lesion was obtained. The diagnosis of ES was confirmed histopathologically, and she underwent adjuvant chemotherapy. Her neurological status did not improve after surgery, and she underwent rehabilitation and physical therapy. The lumbar lesion resolved with chemotherapy. Metastasis of ES to the spinal cord, especially intramedullary lesions, is extremely rare, and there is no standard management guideline. However, surgical decompression and adjuvant chemotherapy are the main treatments in these cases.
Two important factors affecting the prognosis of patients treated with sorafenib followed by regorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma
Authors: Li Ning , Zheng Hongxia , Yu Qingtan , Chen Fei , Su Xiaoqing , Qiu Xuan
Published: August 2022

Objective

To investigate the effects of hand–foot syndrome (HFS) and fatigue on disease progression and survival in patients treated with sorafenib followed by regorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods

A retrospective analysis of patients with advanced hepatocellular carcinoma treated with sorafenib in our hospital from 1 October 2018 to 31 October 2021 was performed, and clinical and pathological data and follow-up results were obtained. Patients were divided into groups according to the severity of HFS and fatigue. Survival analysis among the groups was performed using the Kaplan–Meier method, continuous variables were analyzed using the t-test, and factors associated with survival were evaluated using multivariate Cox regression analysis.

Results

The study included 150 men and 23 women with a mean age of 60.77 years (range: 40–85 years). The median overall survival (OS), progression-free survival (PFS), and time to tumor progression (TTP) increased with increasing severity of HFS. Conversely, the median OS, PFS, and TTP decreased with increasing severity of fatigue

Conclusion

HFS and fatigue were independent risk factors affecting TTP, PFS, and OS among patients treated with sorafenib followed by regorafenib for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
Exploring the perspectives of ‘young adults’ (18–24) who have been in formal care and their experiences of attending a socially prescribed community allotment gardening group
Authors: Moore Emma J , Thew Miranda
Published: August 2022

Introduction:

Young adults who have experienced periods of time being ‘in care’ are one of the most socially deprived populations within society, with their needs largely unmet and often not fully understood. Despite the significant attempts to invest in community-based ‘social prescribing’ interventions to address such health inequalities, there is a dearth of understanding regarding how such occupation-based community groups are experienced by this particular population. This UK based qualitative study aimed to explore the experiences of young adult ‘Care Leavers’ regarding their participation in a socially prescribed community gardening group.

Method:

Semi-structured online interviews were conducted with six young care leavers aged between 18 and 24 years who regularly participated in a community gardening group. Interviews were recorded transcribed verbatim and analysed Braun and Clarke’s Thematic Analysis process by two researchers to maximise validity.

Findings:

Four key themes emerged: ‘Social belonging and connection’, ‘A safe space’, ‘Sense of achievement from active engagement’ and ‘The facilitatory aspects of nature’. The findings suggested nature-based co-occupation within a local group, enhanced social capital, self-identity and wellbeing.

Conclusion:

This study supports the emerging scope of using community occupation-based interventions with young adult ‘Care Leavers’ and offers an insight into their particular needs.
A “Human Rights” of our own? Chinese and Turkish Encounters with a Western Concept
Authors: Üngör Çağdaş
Published: August 2022

This article aims to compare the Turkish and Chinese reception of the “human rights” term, which enjoyed wide currency across the globe after the end of the Cold War. During the 1990s, as the global human rights discourse was embraced by dissidents in Turkey and China, the state elites remained skeptical of this concept, which was often perceived as a tool of Western imperialism. Unlike nationalists, Muslim and Confucianist conservatives saw some merit in the term “human rights” and discussed ways to appropriate it in their local contexts. In China and Turkey, “human rights” was often instrumental in promoting collective identities during the 1990s. Although the term's original emphasis on the individual somewhat disappeared in these countries, its embrace by various groups demonstrates that “human rights” discourse resonates with non-Western audiences.
Polylactic acid/polycaprolactone bionanocomposites containing zinc oxide nanoparticles: Structure, characterization and cytotoxicity assay
Authors: Babaei Amir , Haji Abdolrasouli Mehdi , Rostami Amir
Published: August 2022

In the present study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) were synthesized by a hydrothermal method followed by the fabrication of polylactic acid/polycaprolactone blend (PLA/PCL, 80/20 wt/wt) at various loadings of ZnO-NPs (2, 4, and 6 wt%) via melt mixing. FTIR and XRD patterns confirmed that the ZnO-NPs were successfully synthesized. The ZnO-NPs with an average diameter of about 46–73 nm were observed by the FESEM analysis. The effect of ZnO-NPs on morphological, thermal, UV absorption, mechanical, photochemical degradation, rheological and cell viability properties of PLA/PCL blend were investigated. FESEM micrographs of bionanocomposites demonstrated that polycaprolactone was dispersed as a droplet to the Polylactic acid matrix phase. DSC analysis showed that the addition of ZnO-NPs increased the degree of crystallinity and melting temperature of the PLA. Mechanical assessment of the bionanocomposites reveals that the addition of 2, 4 and 6 wt.% of ZnO-NPs into the blend sample leads to increase in the tensile modulus by about 5.4, 11 and 24%. The MTT assay results implied that cell viability of the both filled and unfilled samples is greater than 90% indicating their biocompatibility to the fibroblast cells. It is observed that the melt linear viscoelastic properties of the prepared bionanocomposites are under control of LA/PCL chain degradation and hydrodynamic nanoparticles interaction.
Preparation and characterization of a low viscosity epoxy resin derived from m-divinylbenzene
Authors: Wu Xiankun , Xu Chang-an , Lu Mangeng , Zheng Xiaole , Zhan Yingjie , Chen Bifang , Wang Kunxin , Meng Huifa
Published: August 2022

To explore thermal and mechanical properties of epoxy material, difunctional aromatic epoxy--divinylbenzene dioxide (DVBDO) had been synthesized by epoxidizing divinylbenzene, using the metal acetylacetone compound grafted Fe3O4 particles as the catalyst. The catalyet had high conversion and epoxy selectivity and could be recyclable. Then the polymerization of DVBDO with different diamine curing agents were reported. The structure and viscosity of DVBDO were firstly characterized. Because it had low molecular weight and viscosity, DVBDO had excellent liquidity and formability. Subsequently to clarify the properties of epoxy thermosets, experiments to determine thermal and mechanical performances were carried out, such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermal gravimetric (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) and tensile test. It could be observed that the thermoset polymers using DVBDO as epoxy matrix had excellent thermal (Tg was about 201°C) and mechanical properties (tensile strength was 131.99Mpa). Possibly considering that this kind of thermoset polymers had higher rigidity and crosslink density. In conclusion, a new type of one-component liquid epoxy encapsulant material with low viscosity, good filling fluidity, strong heat resistance and excellent storage performance had been developed.