bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Urinary bisphenol A in women with polycystic ovary syndrome – a possible suppressive effect on steroidogenesis?
Authors: Lazúrová Zora , Figurová Jana , Hubková Beáta , Mašlanková Jana , Lazúrová Ivica 
Published: June 2021

Abstract

Objectives
There is a growing evidence indicating an impact of endocrine distrupting chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA) on human reproduction. Its higher levels in serum or urine have been documented in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), however the relationship to ovarian steroidogenesis remains unclear.

Aim of the study was to compare urinary BPA (U-BPA) concentrations among PCOS women and control group. Second aim was to assess the relationship of U-BPA to ovarian steroidogenesis in the group with PCOS.

Methods
Eighty six Caucasian women (age 28.5 ± 5.1 years) diagnosed with PCOS and 32 controls of age 24.9 ± 4.4 years were included in the study. Fasting blood samples were analyzed for biochemical parameters and steroid hormones. U-BPA was measured in the morning urine sample using high pressure liquid chromatography.

Results
PCOS women had significantly higher U-BPA as compared with control group (p=0.0001). Those with high levels of U-BPA (U-BPA ≥2.14 ug/g creatinine) demonstrated higher serum insulin (p=0.029) and HOMA IR (p=0.037), lower serum estrone (p=0.05), estradiol (p=0.0126), FSH (p=0.0056), and FAI (p=0.0088), as compared with low-BPA group (U- BPA <2.14 ug/g creatinine). In PCOS women, U-BPA positively correlated with age (p=0.0026; R2=0.17), negatively with estradiol (p=0.0001, R2=0.5), testosterone (p=0.0078, R2=0.15), free-testosterone (p=0.0094, R2=0.12) and FAI (p=0.0003, R2=0.32), respectively.

Conclusions
PCOS women have significantly higher U-BPA concentrations than healthy controls. U-BPA positively correlates with age and negatively with ovarian steroid hormones suggesting a possible suppressive effect of bisphenol A on ovarian steroidogenesis.
Evolution of reduction process from tungsten oxide to ultrafine tungsten powder via hydrogen
Authors: Wang Yue , Long Ben Fu , Liu Chun Yu , Lin Gao An 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Herein, the evolution of reduction process of ultrafine tungsten powder in industrial conditions was investigated. The transition process of morphology and composition was examined via SEM, XRD, and calcination experiments. The results show that the reduction sequence of WO2.9 was WO2.9 → WO2.72 → WO2 → W on the surface, but WO2.9 → WO2 → W inside the oxide particles. With the aid of chemical vapor transport of WO
x
(OH)
y
, surface morphology transformed into rod-like, star-shaped cracking, floret, irregularly fibrous structure, and finally, spherical tungsten particles.
Non-isothermal blade coating analysis of viscous fluid with temperature-dependent viscosity using lubrication approximation theory
Authors: Khaliq Sabeeh , Abbas Zaheer 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Blade coating process is studied in a nonisothermal analysis of viscous fluid with temperature-dependent viscosity by employing both plane and exponential coaters. The governing expressions are nondimensionalized and simplified under the assumption of lubrication approximation theory. Then, perturbative technique is used to find the solution for velocity, pressure, temperature distribution, and coating thickness. The influence of dimensionless parameter ε, Graetz number Gz, and normalized coating thickness γ on the velocity, maximum pressure, temperature distribution, and pressure gradient is portrayed through graphs, whereas load and coating thickness variations reported in a tabular manner. It is found that maximum pressure, coating thickness, and blade load decreases for temperature variations in viscosity, which leads to improved efficiency of blade coating process and life of the moving substrate.
Distant time, distant gesture: speech and gesture correlate to express temporal distance
Authors: Alcaraz Carrión Daniel , Valenzuela Javier 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
This study investigates whether there is a relation between the semantics of linguistic expressions that indicate temporal distance and the spatial properties of their co-speech gestures. To this date, research on time gestures has focused on features such as gesture axis, direction, and shape. Here we focus on a gesture property that has been overlooked so far: the distance of the gesture in relation to the body. To achieve this, we investigate two types of temporal linguistic expressions are addressed: proximal (e.g., near future, near past) and distal (e.g., distant past, distant future). Data was obtained through the NewsScape library, a multimodal corpus of television news. A total of 121 co-speech gestures were collected and divided into the two categories. The gestures were later annotated in terms of gesture space and classified in three categories: (i) center, (ii) periphery, and (iii) extreme periphery. Our results suggest that gesture and language are coherent in the expression of temporal distance: when speakers locate an event far from them, they tend to gesture further from their body; similarly, when locating an event close to them, they gesture closer to their body. These results thus reveal how co-speech gestures also reflect a space-time mapping in the dimension of distance.
The Short Story, the New Weird, and the Literary Market
Authors: Zähringer Raphael 
Published: June 2021

AbstractThe short story is commonly – and very productively – treated in the spirit of critical terms such as marginality and liminality. Quite surprisingly, though, New Weird Fiction, which postulates similar interests in, e.g., formal and aesthetic innovation as well as literary ambition, is primarily associated with the novel. The underlying lack of interest in the New Weird Short Story in both popular culture and academic work is scrutinised in this article. In a first step, it will survey the short story as a liminal form, both formally and aesthetically, and contextualize it by drawing upon the state of the literary market in the twenty-first century. The contribution’s main argument is that the short story has always either been considered to be too ‘popular’ or too ‘literary’ in order to contest the novel as the prevalent literary form. Step two will perform a similar move regarding Weird Fiction, thus highlighting the parallels between the short and the Weird, and the need for more academic attention dedicated to the New Weird short story.
The Long and the Short of It: Approaching the (Un-)Representable in China Miéville’s “The Tain” (2002) and “The Condition of New Death” (2014)
Authors: Reinfandt Christoph 
Published: June 2021

AbstractHow can the genre of the short story accommodate the ‘inflationary tendency’ of weird fiction (Carl Freedman)? This article will trace how a very long and a very short story by China Miéville establish their respective weird elements in order to function as ‘placeholders for the unrepresentable’ (China Miéville). As will be shown, “The Tain” frames the weird in an elaborate and intricatenarrativeconstruction which is clearlyliterarywhile “The Condition of New Death” is basicallyexpositoryand partly relies on thenon-literarygenre conventions of the academic report and the manifesto. In both instances, however, there is a reflexive turn which insists on the text itself not only in its representational but also in its performative (telling stories, writing) and material (print, paper, screen) dimensions as a constitutive part of what makes reality real for human beings. The article concludes with a brief placing of the New Weird short story in the wider field of (post-)modern(ist) literature and fiction and in the conceptual shift from deconstruction to more recent theoretical approaches like Actor-Network-Theory and the New Materialisms.
Formation of Ultrafine Single-Variant Martensite from Prior Ferrite + Cementite Microstructure and Its Mechanical Properties
Authors: Torizuka Shiro , Oya Ryusuke , Prasad Kartik , Ito Atsushi 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
In the present investigation, changes in the single-variant martensite structure of 0.1%C-2%Si-5%Mn steel with a decrease in the prior austenite grain size have been investigated. While prior austenite grain size in the range of 150 to 24 µm led to the formation of martensite with a multi-packet and multi-block structure, a single packet and multi-block martensite structure formed from the prior austenite grain size of about 7 µm. Furthermore, the prior austenite grain size of about 2 µm led to the formation of a single-variant (single-block) martensite structure. This microstructural analysis indicates that the critical prior austenite grain size to form martensite with a single-variant structure is about 2 µm. The tensile strength (TS, 1,490 MPa), uniform elongation (UEL, 7.1 %), and total elongation (TEL, 14.2 %) of the single-variant martensite was found to be higher than that of the multi-packet multi-block martensite (TS = 1,270 MPa, UEL = 6.2 %, and TEL = 13.6 %). The improvement in the mechanical properties of the single-variant martensite was attributed to enhancement in its strain-hardening rate as a result of change in the structure from the multivariant to the single variant.
The effects of a four weeks combined resistance training programme on cricket bowling velocity
Authors: Taliep Mogammad Sharhidd , Maker Rifqah 
Published: June 2021

Background: Despite the importance of resistance training for cricket pace bowlers, there is limited research displaying meaningful improvements in ball release velocity following resistance training.
Objectives: The study aimed at investigating the effects of a four weeks combined resistance training programme on ball release velocity in club cricket pace bowlers.
Methods: Eighteen adult male club level pace bowlers were allocated into a combined resistance training (CRT) group or a traditional cricket training (TR) group. The CRT group (n=9) performed two training sessions a week for four weeks, consisting of a combination of core and lower body strength exercises, plyometric exercises, and weighted implement training. The TR group (n=9) did no resistance training and only bowled with regular weighted cricket balls. Pre- testing/post-testing variables were ball release velocity, bowling accuracy, and upper and lower body neuromuscular performance.
Results: The CRT group significantly increased their ball release velocity by six percent (5.1 km·h-1), effect size (ES) =0.65, p<0.001) after four weeks of training, while there was no significant difference in the TR group (0.00 km·h-1, ES=0.0, p=0.674). There was no statistically significant difference in the bowling accuracy and lower body neuromuscular performance for both groups and the upper body neuromuscular performance for the CRT group.
Conclusion: This study provides evidence of a combined resistance training programme that can be used to improve bowling velocity in cricket pace bowlers. This increase in ball velocity was not related to any of the neuromuscular performance variables measured.
A clinical audit of hysteroscopy in a tertiary care teaching. What challenges did we face?
Authors: Mundkur Anjali , Adiga Prashanth K. , Kumar Pratap 
Published: June 2021

Background: The aim of the study was to evaluate indications, operative findings and complications in patients undergoing hysteroscopy.Methods: The data of all patients who underwent hysteroscopy in the department of obstetrics and gynecology in a tertiary care teaching hospital were included retrospectively from November 2017 to October 2018.Results: There were 59 patients who had hysteroscopy for various indications. Twelve patients and forty-seven patients were subjected to diagnostic and operative hysteroscopy respectively. Indications for diagnostic hysteroscopy were for postmenopausal bleed (3), carcinoma of the breast on tamoxifen with bleeding PV (3), recurrent implantation failure (6). Operative hysteroscopy was performed for endometrial polyp (30), myomectomy (9), septal resection (7), copper T removal (1). Complications of hysteroscopy were: media efflux and poor visualization in 10 (17%), minor hemorrhage (9) 15.1%, perforation 2 (3.3%). Minor hemorrhage was managed with tranexamic acid. The perforation in two patients happened during the dilatation of the cervix with metal dilators.Conclusions: One of the major challenges encountered was the efflux of the distension media due to excessive cervical dilatation, which did not provide satisfactory hysteroscopic view. Another complication was perforation during cervical dilatation using Hegars dilator. Use of misoprostol and the use of small sheath hysteroscopes have minimized the need for cervical dilatation.
Comparison of the surgical and post-operative outcomes between single incision laparoscopic appendicectomy (cross triangulation method) with normal conventional laparoscopic appendicectomy
Authors: Paulraj Pratheep Samraj Rajendran , Chirayil Kiran Kailas , Bellasindhi Renuka Jayakumar , Oli Punitha Thetraravu , Mathew Mohith , Jomy Anish 
Published: June 2021

Background: The usual multiport conventional laparoscopic surgeries (appendicectomy) are now being replaced by single incision laparoscopic surgeries (appendicectomy).In our study various aspects of SILS in comparison with the multiport conventional laparoscopic appendicectomy such as incision site pain, duration of surgery, morbidity and instruments used are discussed, duration of surgery, morbidity and instruments used are discussed.Methods: A single blinded randomized control trial was done on patients presenting with acute appendicitis. Pain numerical scale, use of analgesics, time to return to routine activities, hospital re-admission, complication like port site infection, hernia, intra operative complications rates, conversion rates and duration of surgery were evaluated. Various statistics of pain and other parameters are studied and evaluated. The mean operation time, mean recovery time, post-operative pain were statistically analysed using unpaired t-test. Results: Mean operating time was 44.16 minutes for SILS and 26.88 minutes for laparoscopic appendicectomy. The mean operative pain in scale of 1 to 4 was 1.40 and 0.40 for SILS and for laparoscopic appendicenctomy respectively making SILS more pain free and comfortable for the patient. The mean post-operative recovery time was 3.12 days for SILS and 7.88 days for laparoscopic appendicenctomy giving SILS patients more rapid recovery and resumption of work. Conclusions: SILS offers better cosmetic outcome, lesser post-operative pain and shorter duration of hospital stay compared to classical 3 port conventional laparoscopic surgery but at the expense of time. Operative difficulties along with time constraint need to be overcome by the surgeon.
IMRAN KHAN’S EFFECTIVE SPEECHES CONCERNING COVID-19 FUNDRAISING: A CRITICAL DISCOURSE ANALYSIS
Authors: Zafran Fareha , Afzal Hanan , Iqbal Zafar , Shahzad Khurram , Niaz Maria 
Published: June 2021

Purpose: The primary purpose of the present study is to analyze the speeches of PM Imran, which he delivered to persuade the economic organizations and masses for fundraising on the first and 4th April, respectively.
Method: The research is qualitative and analytical. The primary data was collected from the speeches and telethons on two well-known news channels of Pakistan. Theoretical/secondary data have been collected from various online sources. The data were analyzed employing Fairclough’s 3D model—Textual, at the first step, processing, at the second step, and finally the social implication(s).
Main Findings: The textual analysis suggests that the Prime Minister deliberately focuses on the lower class—‘people’ of Pakistan. Therefore, he persuaded the local individuals and the international organizations; more, he also conquered the minds of Pakistani ex-pats living in foreign and convinced them to send aids and foreign remittances. These speeches also immediately affected and motivated the local non-profit services organizations and masses to help others throughout the pandemic. Hence, the public figure (celebrities or characters) also promoted the idea of Prime Minister).
Application of the Study: The study suggests the techniques for the speakers how they would manage to make balanced speeches under challenging times. Various linguistic techniques are employed and tested adopting from the other researchers, which may also be helpful for future researchers. Hence, general social individuals would also find the cultural referents for the economic fundraising techniques utilizing the linguistic technique; for instance, Imran Khan successfully employed these to collect the funds for hospitals, universities, and the state.
The Originality of the Study: According to the researchers' best knowledge, the study is innovative as no such type of study was conducted in the context, i.e., the context speeches relevant to fundraising. This research argues that a parliamentary system is a more desirable and efficient system of government than others. This research explains the differences between both these systems. Both the houses of these parliaments provide different services that require separate investigation and throw further light on the subject.
A study of landscape painting development – Past, present and future perspectives
Authors: Sanad Reham , Baomar Zainab Salim Aqil Alhadi 
Published: June 2021

This study is focused on landscape paintings’ characteristics throughout history. It starts with primitive cave paintings passed through the ancient civilisations, then followed by the main art movements and styles and ends with the contemporary style landscape paintings. Future prospects and expectations for landscape representations were also considered. It was found that landscape representation has been the focus for most artists because of its link to their normal lives. In the primitive caves, illustrations of plants and animals were found covering caves’ walls. Landscape backgrounds were used in the ancient Egyptian civilisation and lost its significance in the Greece style to reappear with the Roman artists with special concern and perspective. The Renaissance era witnessed more progress in landscape paintings’ subjects and perspective. Baroque paintings initiated the focus on independent landscape paintings to be crystalised in the Romantic paintings and later on in the impressionists’ art works using distinctive painting techniques. The modernists approved landscape topic in their paintings to apply their unique techniques, whereas the contemporary landscape paintings have adopted abstract and free methods in employing various materials and colours. It is obvious that the landscape subject has been employed throughout all stages of art history because it is the key segment of their environment and life not only because of its aesthetic values. Realistic landscape representation in visual art and design is expected to progress in abundance in the near and far future as many people due to the pandemic circumstances have been deprived from naturally experiencing landscapes causing mental and health difficulties.

Keywords: Prehistoric period, ancient civilisations, Renaissance, Baroque, romantic.
O EMPREGO DA MEDICINA TRADICIONAL NO SUS EM UMA CIDADE DA AMAZÔNIA LEGAL
Authors: Trevisan Márcio , Seibert Carla Simone , dos Santos Márcio Galdino 
Published: June 2021

O emprego das plantas medicinais associado às práticas populares pode auxiliar a Atenção Primária de Saúde no planejamento das linhas de cuidado. Este trabalho levantou o conhecimento dos profissionais de saúde e de usuários das Unidades de Saúde em Palmas/TO, por meio de formulário eletrônico, sobre a utilização de plantas medicinais para uso geral e em acidentes com serpentes. Dentro dos resultados constatou-se que a efetivação das políticas integrativas que envolvem a medicina tradicional ainda não estão consolidadas. Percebeu-se que existe reconhecimento sobre a importância da medicina tradicional, mas com discreta utilização pelos profissionais de saúde. Por outro lado, foi evidente o uso cotidiano das plantas medicinas pela comunidade, inclusive reconhecendo opções antiofídicas tradicionais como a erva tipi, a batata de tiú, o óleo de buriti e o araticum. Hábitos que parecem estar vinculados ao conjunto de diversos costumes e não como influência de uma prática cultural em particular. Assim, pelos resultados obtidos, conclui-se que existe a possibilidade de ampliar as ações integrativas associadas a medicina tradicional na Atenção Primária de Saúde, favorecendo hábitos populares e costumes, valorizando a biodiversidade e fortalecendo vínculos com a comunidade para auxiliar na ampliação da autonomia do usuário no cuidado da saúde
Channel block of the astrocyte network connections accounting for the dynamical transition of epileptic seizures
Authors: Li Jiajia , Song Jian , Tan Ning , Cao Chenglong , Du Mengmeng , Xu Shengjun , Wu Ying 
Published: June 2021

Abstract
Epilepsy has been found to be modulated by the astrocyte systems in experiments, and tremendous modeling studies have unveiled the roles of astrocyte cellular functions such as the calcium and potassium channels in the epileptic seizures. However, little attention has been paid to the structure changes of astrocytes in the epileptic seizures in the scale of networks. This paper first constructs a neuron-astrocyte network model to explain the experimental observation that astrocytes mainly induce epilepsy by blocking the channels of the astrocyte gap junction in the network scale. Such model is used to discuss potential seizure induction process in the network by changing the connection intensity of the astrocyte gap junction. The simulation results show that a decrease of the gap junction intensity changes the firing pattern of the population of neurons from slow periodical firing to high-frequency epileptic seizures, featuring epileptic patterns of depolarization blocks. This further verifies that epileptic seizures are experimentally induced via the channel block of the astrocyte gap junctions. Because of the heterogeneous structure of the real neuron-astrocyte network, the effect of changing astrocyte network structures on the seizure activities is then studied in two typical network structures: the regular neighboring connection and the random connection. The results show that an increase of the number of regular connections of the regular neighboring astrocyte network could inhibit the induction and spread of the epileptic seizures. The epileptic inhibition can be achieved similarly by increasing the connection probability of the random astrocyte network. These findings further provide evidence for the experimental phenomena of the protective response of gliosis to epilepsy with increasing gap junctions. Above all, the simulation results suggest a potential pathway of epilepsy treatment by targeting the astrocyte gap junctions.