bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Challenges in Establishing a Relevant Model of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome in Rats – A Mini Review
Authors: Dejana Rakic , Nikola Jovic , Marija Bicanin Ilic , Aleksandra Dimitrijevic , Ognjen Djordjevic , Tatjana Vulovic , Kristina Andric , Vladimir Jakovljevic , Jovana Joksimovic Jovic 
Published: December 2021

Abstract
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most com-mon female endocrinopathy and one of the leading causes of in-fertility. However, the exact etiopathogenetic mechanisms are not discovered yet, while therapeutic strategies in PCOS commonly rely on symptomatic rather than curative. Regarding reasonable ethical limitations in human population, animal experimental studies can provide better insights into mechanisms underlying etiopathogenesis of PCOS, as well as investigations of different therapeutic strategies. Rodent models for PCOS are very useful for experimental studies due to their great genetic similarities with human genome, short reproductive and life span, feasible gener-ating of genetically adapted animals, and convenient and acces-sible use. To our knowledge, androgens (dehydroepiandroste-rone, testosterone propionate, 5a-dihydrotestosterone), as well as estradiol valerate, represent the most frequently used hormones for PCOS modeling. Furthermore, the administration of antipro-gesterone or letrozole has been reported as effective for PCOS induction. In our review, the presented PCOS models were ac-complished by the administration of different hormones or drugs and alterations of environment. The main focus of this review was to summarize the alterations in ovarian morphology, hypotha-lamic-pituitary-ovarian axis, and hormone levels across above-mentioned protocols for postnatal PCOS modeling in rats.
Ectopic thyroid tissue in lateral cervical lymph nodes: a case report
Authors: Hutsebaut Laurens , Van Den Heede Klaas , Meert Vanessa , Brusselaers Nele , Van Slycke Sam 
Published: December 2021

Background:
Ectopic thyroid tissue is a rare condition, especially when present inside lateral cervical lymph nodes. Only two similar cases have been reported.

Case Presentation:
A case of ectopic thyroid tissue in the lymph nodes of the lateral neck in a 34-year-old woman is reported, leading to a challenging differential diagnosis between micropapillary thyroid cancer with skip metastases or recurrent ectopic thyroid tissue. As a definitive diagnosis could not be made based on imaging or cytology, a diagnostic hemithyroidectomy was performed in combination with a total lateral neck dissection to avoid future ectopic thyroid tissue recurrence.

Conclusion:
The presence of ectopic thyroid tissue in the lateral neck is rare, especially when present within the lymph nodes themselves. Important differential diagnosis with a thyroid malignancy must be made. Benign causes, such as ectopic thyroid tissue, are diagnoses by exclusion.
Understanding consumers’ addiction to online mobile games and in apps purchase intention: Players stickiness as the mediation
Authors: Silaban Pantas H , Silalahi Andri Dayarana K. , Octoyuda Edgar 
Published: December 2021

Research on consumer behavior, particularly on online mobile games, is an emerging topic that must be more deeply explored. As a relatively new topic, the approach and discussion of consumer behavior based on the online mobile games environment challenge researchers to describe it in a theoretical study. This research investigates the user's addiction to online mobile games (OMG) in apps purchase intention through a stickiness mediation variable. The samples were determined by using purposive random sampling, which consisted of gamers or people who were playing online mobile games and ever purchase a games feature. Therefore, a total of 439 responses were collected through an online survey. This research employs SmartPLS 2.0 to test both measurement and structural models. The results showed that the addiction to online mobile games influenced app purchase intention, and stickiness also mediated the relationship between addiction to online mobile games and app purchase intention. The contribution of this research emphasizing that the addiction to online mobile games had become a behavior that created stickiness and intention is also discussed in this research.
Metodología de muestreo de suelos con fines de análisis químico para la detección de metales pesados
Authors: Astonitas Carrasco Liz Jhoana , Pariente Elí , Milla Pino Manuel Emilio 
Published: December 2021

<p>Una metodología adecuada de muestreo es crucial para determinar si un sitio está contamina­do o no, y si la magnitud de la contaminación requiere una intervención para proteger la salud humana y la integridad de los ecosistemas. Por lo tanto, las muestras recolectadas para los análisis deben ser relevantes y verdaderamente representativas, siendo el aspecto más crítico de un programa de muestreo. El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo establecer una metodología de muestreo de suelos agrícolas para el análisis de metales. Esta propuesta metodológica de muestreo consta de cinco etapas: Muestreo preliminar del área de estudio, cuya finalidad es detectar homogeneidad o heterogeneidad en sus características fisicoquímicas del suelo; muestreo definitivo del área de estudio, el mismo que consta de una segmentación, estratificación del área de estudio y distribución de puntos de muestreo; Plan de muestreo; recolección de muestras y análisis de las muestras. </p>
Mitos pada Iklan Thailand “Vizer Cctv: Homeless Blind Truth”
Authors: Mahamu Suhila , Indira Dian , Soemantri Ypsi Soeria , Ardiati Riza Lupi 
Published: December 2021

Iklan berbahasa Thailand “Vizer CCTV: Homeless Blind Truth” sarat berisi pesan moral, yang disebut oleh tokoh semiotik Roland Barthes dengan mitos. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengkaji makna denotasi, konotasi dan mitos yang terkandung dalam iklan“VizerCCTV: Homeless Blind Truth”. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian pustaka dan metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kualitatif deskriptif. Adapun metode penyediaan data yang digunakan peneliti adalah metode simak dengan mengakses data dari Youtub. Berdasarkan teori semiotik Barthes, dikaji makna denotasi, konotasi, kemudian mitos yang terkandung dalam iklan “VizerCCTV: Homeless Blind Truth”. Berdasarkan hasil penelitian,iklan “VizerCCTV: Homeless Blind Truth” terdapat 9 adegan yang terkandung makna denotasi dan konotasi yang berbentuk tertampil gambar dan audio. Mitos yang terkandung dalam iklan agar kita tidak mudah berprasangka buruk kepada orang lain.
Neuroprotective effects of adipose‐derived stem cells on ferrous sulfate‐induced neurotoxicity
Authors: Wu Qian , Pan Chao , Hu Yang , Li Gaigai , Chen Shiling , Jing Jie , Yang Jingfei , Tang Zhouping 
Published: December 2021

Background: Ferrous ion, a degradation product of hematomas, induces inflammatory reactions and other secondary injuries after intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH). Our study aimed to investigate the specific neuroprotective mechanism of adipose‐derived stem cells (ADSCs) on ferrous ion‐induced neural injury in vitro. Methods: ADSCs were co‐cultured with primary cortical neurons in a transwell system treated with ferrous sulfate to generate an in vitro ICH model. ADSCs and cortical neurons were cultured in the upper and lower chambers, respectively. Neuron apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. The levels of insulin‐like growth factor‐1 (IGF‐1), malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide synthase (NOS) activity in neuron culture medium were detected with commercial kits. In neurons, protein expression in phosphatidylinositol‐3‐kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (Akt) signaling pathway, nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2)/heme oxygenase‐1 (HO‐1) signaling pathway and apoptosis‐related proteins were detected by western blot. Results: ADSCs attenuated neural apoptosis, reduced MDA levels and NOS activity induced by ferrous sulfate. In neurons, IGF‐1 was increased, as were p‐PI3K, p‐Akt, Nrf2, HO‐1, and Bcl‐2 while cleaved caspase 3 was down‐regulated. Conclusions: ADSCs exert neuroprotective effects against ferrous iron‐induced neuronal damage by secreting IGF‐1 and increasing the levels of Akt‐dependent Nrf2/ARE signaling pathway.
Exploring the Livelihoods of Internally Displaced Persons in Kachin State, Myanmar
Authors:   , Lazum Htu Tawng 
Published: December 2021

<p>The issue of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) is a global crisis yet little research has been focused on the issue of the livelihoods of IDPs. Providing short-term emergency assistance is not enough when the period of displacement becomes permanent or longer than expected. IDPs need long-term solutions in order to resume a normal life. Pursuing appropriate livelihoods in urban areas is a big challenge yet constructing potential livelihoods is fundamental to achieving decent living not only for short-term situations but also for the long run. The lack of access to livelihoods is one of the most serious obstacles to durable solutions for IDPs, and long-term livelihood strategies are needed to lay the foundation for future development. This study explores Kachin IDPs in Myanmar and their livelihood strategies and activities in urban camps by applying qualitative methods, the study focuses on how IDPs have been building their livelihoods during their displacement and who has been involved in supporting their livelihoods. This research also seeks insight into the effectiveness and sustainability of those livelihood activities and other potential strategies. Results show that most livelihood activities are supported by both local and international humanitarian and development agencies and are mainly undertaken through local organisations. Agriculture and livestock rearing are preferred livelihoods of IDPs although getting appropriate land is challenging in urban areas. Income-generating programmes such as food processing, carpentry and bamboo handicrafts are also popular and successful activities. Moreover, tailoring, brick making, and pig rearing are also effective and helpful livelihoods for individuals. Those who are involved in livelihood support activities receive benefits and advantages for their family and daily needs while the majority of IDPs are working in day labouring. Respondents believe current livelihood activities can become sustainable as long as they maintain the quality of the products. Some IDPs have adapted to the city environment quite well by applying their capacity and the skills they learnt from humanitarian organisations. Supporting livelihood strategies may not resolve the problems of IDPs, however, it is an effective partial solution.</p>
The Pacific Reset: A Retroliberal Analysis
Authors:   , McDowall Thomas 
Published: December 2021

<p>The interaction and relationships between stakeholders, international trends, history and politics, inform the shape and sequencing of development policy. The Pacific Reset policy initiative of the Sixth Labour Government is an example of how such interactions not only impact, but contribute to understandings on development policy. Despite being a recent policy announcement, the Pacific Reset was understood as being informed by the factors listed above and is a geopolitically motivated statement of capability in the region. The last decade of development thinking has shifted towards a model of economic growth, defined by ‘shared prosperity’ and development tied to national interest. Marking a distinct aid regime, retroliberalism offers the theoretical rigour to this research. In analysing the understandings of the Pacific Reset through such a lens, the Pacific Reset loosely aligns with the tenets of retroliberalism. Although it was found that rhetoric surrounding the Pacific Reset marks New Zealand’s divergence from typical retroliberal, and current global development discourses. Using critical discourse analysis of rhetoric surrounding the announcement, and early stages of the Pacific Reset, together with a thematic analysis of eight interviews, this thesis examines the understandings of the Pacific Reset as communicated by members of the New Zealand development community. It assesses the factors involved in the policy’s formation, and its impact on Pacific-focused development activities, before discussing the extent retroliberalism can interpret the Pacific Reset. This research found the Pacific Reset to be an amalgam of policies, modalities, and structures of earlier New Zealand development policy. Historical patterns of development assistance, personalities and style of engagement, and path dependence in policy were found to impact the Pacific Reset. Participants understood the policy as merely a shift in rhetoric and a geopolitical statement of renewed engagement in the Pacific. This thesis collates these responses to analyse the understandings on, and the impact of the Pacific Reset on New Zealand development activities, and to offer an empirical base for further research on the policy.</p>
Water Supply for Tongatapu; Past, Present and Future.
Authors:   , Tufui Lopeti 
Published: December 2021

<p>This thesis presents an investigation of the sustainability of the freshwater aquifer (groundwater) at Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga. Water balance modelling is applied to meteorological data to estimate freshwater recharge at a daily resolution for the period 1980-2018. These results demonstrate a very close coupling between recharge and precipitation but also the critical role played by the ENSO cycle in modulating the supply of freshwater on Tongatapu. They also show that previous water balance modelling for the island, conducted at a monthly resolution, has tended to underestimate the rate of recharge by ~8%. Historical groundwater extraction rates for Tongatapu are also calculated by compiling monitoring data from operational pumping stations across the island. This shows that extraction rates have increased progressively over the past 50 years and approximately doubled in the last 10 years, as a consequence of increased demand from agriculture, tourism and population growth. Although the freshwater resource appears to be sustainable overall at current rates of supply and demand, there have been sustained periods of zero recharge, notably during strong El Nino events in winter (the dry season). Climate model projections of future rainfall show that Tonga is situated in a region of great uncertainty, due to shortcomings in our knowledge of how the inability of the models to capture the ENSO cycle will respond to anthropogenic warming, and but moreover, climate models are currently unable to simulate the precise correct positioning of the South Pacific Convergence Zone which strongly influences the amount and seasonal distribution of regional rainfall. Nevertheless, this study also conducted predictive water balance modelling for Tongatapu for the end of the 21st century using the current CMIP5 climate projections for the region under a medium (scenarios RCP4.5) and high (RCP8.5) emissions scenario, in both cases showing substantial reductions in freshwater recharge rates compared to the present. These results raise serious concerns for the future sustainability of Tonga’s freshwater resource, especially if extraction rates continue to increase and salination of the aquifer increases as is highly likely due to sea level rise. Although Tonga can do little to influence the global climate change mitigation effort, this research highlights the importance of addressing currently resolvable infrastructural problems in water supply and reticulation.</p>
ElasticWISP: Energy-Proportional WISP Backhaul Networks
Authors:   , Cameron Duncan 
Published: December 2021

<p>The provision of rural broadband infrastructure is a challenge for network operators across the globe, irrespective of their size. Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) have shown that the small-scale deployment of wireless broadband infrastructure is a viable alternative to relying on cellular network providers for remote coverage. However, WISPs must often resort to using off-grid renewable energy sources such as solar energy for powering network sites, often resulting in undesirable, low-performance backhaul radios being used between sites out of concern for excessive energy consumption. The challenges of managing performant wireless backhaul networks in respect to energy constraints at remote, off-grid sites informs the need for energy-proportional design. Backhaul radios typically used by WISPs are not energy-proportional, meaning they use a consistent amount of energy, irrespective of wireless link utilisation. Using data from a real WISP network, diurnal traffic patterns show that WISP networks could benefit from energy-proportional design, without having to sacrifice performance. To encourage the development of high-performance, energy-proportional WISP backhaul networks, ElasticWISP, an optimisation architecture that reduces network-wide backhaul energy consumption while satisfying the user-demand for traffic, is introduced. ElasticWISP dynamically controls the configuration of backhaul radios based on bandwidth demands and the network-wide energy consumption of these radios. Through simulations driven by real WISP topology and data traffic, results show that ElasticWISP can offer energy savings of approximately 65% when WISP operators follow the proposed backhaul design methodology. Finally, a lightweight Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based traffic engineering scheme, based on Segment Routing, is proposed. The implementation, named Segment Routing over MPLS (SR-MPLS), keeps traffic engineering path-state within each packet, meaning per-flow state is only held at SR-MPLS ingress routers. The lightweight approach of SR-MPLS also eliminates the otherwise necessary network-wide label flooding of traditional Segment Routing, making it ideal for bandwidth-sensitive wireless backhaul networks. Evaluation of SR-MPLS shows that it can perform as well as – and sometimes better than – competitor schemes.</p>
Mapping Memory: Myth, History, and Liminality in Harlem and the Bronx
Authors:   , Laidler David 
Published: December 2021

<p>The relationship between notions of ‘history’ and ‘myth’ is a familiar dilemma within the field of historiography. As this thesis will seek to demonstrate, myth – defined here as evaluative representations of the past to suit demands of the present – is virtually indistinguishable from history, insofar as both are constructed from the same raw materials: subjective remembrances. Through an examination of mythical representations of physical places, this thesis will present a model to explain how myth is constructed, thereby emphasising the intimate and problematic relationship between the aforementioned categories. In short, myth making occurs when memories travel through liminal space from one individual to the next, with said liminal points allowing for degradation and transmutation. The further along one is in the chain, the more one is dependent on myth. Through electing to focus on two such locales that have been of particular interest to me – Harlem during the jazz age and The Bronx during the origins of hip hop – I was able to adopt an auto-ethnographic perspective, gaining insight into the extent to which my understanding was dependent on a series of compounding representations. Further, these areas also draw attention to how such representation can broaden or localise, depending on the myth and the purpose of its invocation. In different contexts and different historical narratives, different areas within New York City have been subjected to the same process, which can account for the pervasive idea of ‘New York’ that continues to circulate.</p>
From syndromes to symptoms: Advancing our understanding of mental disorders
Authors:   , Clack Samuel 
Published: December 2021

<p>Traditionally, psychiatric syndromes have formed the primary target of explanation in psychopathology research. However, these syndromes have been significantly criticised for their conceptual weakness and lack of validity. Ultimately, this limits our ability to create valid explanations of these categories; if the target is invalid then our explanations will suffer as a consequence. Using depression as extended example, this doctoral thesis explores the theoretical and methodological challenges associated with classifying and explaining mental disorders, and develops an alternative explanatory approach and associated methodology for advancing our understanding of mental disorders – the Phenomena Detection Method (PDM; Clack & Ward, 2020; Ward & Clack, 2019). This theoretical thesis begins by evaluating the current approaches to defining, classifying, and explaining mental disorders like depression, and explores the methodological and theoretical challenges with building theories of them. Next, in moving forward, I argue that the explanatory target in psychopathology research should shift from arbitrary syndromes to the central symptoms and signs of mental disorders. By conceptualising the symptoms of a disorder as clinical phenomena, and by adopting epistemic model pluralism as an explanatory strategy, we can build multi-faceted explanations of the processes and factors that constitute a disorder’s core symptoms. This core theoretical and methodological work is then followed by the development of the PDM. Unique in the field of psychopathology, the PDM links different phases of the inquiry process to provide a methodology for conceptualising the symptoms of psychopathology and for constructing multi-level models of the pathological processes that comprise them. Next, I apply the PDM to the two core symptoms of depression – ¬anhedonia and depressed mood – as an illustrative example of the advantages of this approach. This includes providing a more secure relationship between the pathology of depression and its phenotypic presentation, as well as greater insight into the relationship between underlying biological and psychological processes, and behavioural dysfunction. Next, I evaluate the PDM in comparison to existing metatheoretical approaches in the field and make some suggestions for future development. Finally, I conclude with a summary of the main contributions of this thesis. Considering the issues with current diagnostic categories, simply continuing to build explanations of syndromes is not a fruitful way forward. Rather, the complexity of mental disorders suggests we need to represent their key psychopathological phenomena or symptoms at different levels or aspects using multiple models. This thesis provides the metatheoretical and methodological foundations for this to successfully occur.</p>