bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Inequalities in the demand and unmet need for contraception among women in four regions of Ethiopia
Authors: Wasiyhun Tigist Shumet , Geda Nigatu Regassa 
Published: September 2024

Background
Unmet need for family planning is a major cause of unwanted pregnancies, which may contribute to the death of mothers and children. The aim of this study is to examine inequalities in the demand and unmet need for contraception among women in four regions (i.e., Afar, Benishangul-Gumzu, Gambela and Somali regions) of Ethiopia.

Methods
The study utilized data from the 2016 Ethiopian Demographic Health Survey (EDHS), collected from 3,343 women of reproductive age 15–49 years situated in these study regions. Multilevel binary and multivariable logistic regression analysis, concentration index, and multivariate decomposition analysis were employed.

Results
The study revealed that women’s employment status, education level, household wealth index, total number of children ever born, and husband’s working status had a statistically significant association with the demand for contraception. Furthermore, women’s educational level, household size, wealth index and husband’s working status had statistically significant association with unmet need for contraception. The results of the concentration index indicated that illiteracy among respondents (56%), being in the richest economic status/ wealth index (41%) and non-working status of respondents (21%) contributed substantially to the inequality in the demand for contraception use. Illiteracy of the husband (197%) and the household size less than or equal to five (184%) contributed positively, but illiteracy of respondent (-249%) and unemployment status of respondents (-119%) contributed negatively to the existing inequality in unmet need for contraception.

Conclusion
The findings of this study highlight the presence of unacceptably high inequality in the demand and unmet need for contraception among women in the four study regions. Policymakers should give due attention to reducing existing socio-economic inequality to address the high unmet need for family planning and increase demand for contraception in these regions. The study strongly recommends implementing multidimensional and multisectoral approaches, which will significantly reduce inequalities in the outcome variables.
Analysis of Obstacles For Mangosteen Agro-Industry Revitalization In Karacak Agropolitan Area, Indonesia: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach
Authors: Oryzanti Parwa , Wardah Wardah , Setiawan Marwan , Purnamasari Riska Ayu , Kusumawaty Rini , Purwaningsih Ratna , Rustiadi Ernan 
Published: September 2024

<p>This study aims to identify and propose solutions to the obstacles faced in the study of Karacak Agropolitan Revitalization based on Mangosteen agroindustry in Bogor Regency as outlined in a structural model. The revitalization of agro-industry-based agropolitan areas is studied through science, technology, and innovation which are then formulated and analyzed with the Interpretive Structural Modeling Method. Primary data were collected through expert-based surveys and questionnaires from seven relevant and representative government agencies to formulate policy studies. This research resulted in a study of 9 sub-elements of constraints and found 1 key sub-element, arrange hierarchically based on its importance. At the most critical level, we identified the government's political will towards agro-industrial development incentives and disincentive programs in agropolitan areas. This study recommends the government start an integrated agropolitan area revitalization program by utilizing local biological resources. The systems model approach will facilitate sustainable development at the village level, promoting inclusive economic growth and resilience.</p><p> </p>Keywords: Agropolitan, Barriers, Interpretive Structure Modeling, Mangosteen Agroindustry.
The Role of Plasmalogen Lipids in Synaptic Assembly and Function: Implications for Neurodegenerative Processes
Authors: Sadilova Anna , Gane Iwan , Edwards Maisie , Guntan Ilke , Angelini Roberto 
Published: September 2024

This research aims to reveal fundamental mechanisms of neurodegenerative disorders by studying the consequences of disrupted lipid homeostasis in neurons by means of functional synapse assays and protein expression analyses. In neurodegeneration, the physiology of synapses is altered. Here, plasmalogen lipids are abundant and their peculiar conical shape makes them ideal in supporting vesicle fusion. In addition, plasmalogen levels decrease with pathological progression in Alzheimer’s disease. Since current evidence is correlative, we aim to provide tools to directly test whether plasmalogens support synaptic transmission for normal neuronal cell function. Specifically, we seek to prove that plasmalogens are required for synapse function and later explore their potential for neuro-regenerative supplementation therapies.
My work includes western blot and ICC/IF detection of markers of mature neurons (NeuN, B3-tubulin) alongside established synaptic and vesicular markers (Synaptophysin1, PSD95, SV2, VAChT), as well as live cell vesicular stains. Wet-lab assays were performed on otherwise untreated differentiated cells alongside differentiated cells genetically silenced by using shRNA for plasmalogen biosynthetic enzyme FAR1. Specifically, I have modulated plasmalogen levels in differentiated human SH-SY5Y cells and ReNcell VM as they embody convenient models for developing assays and monitoring synapse assembly. This work will be complemented with lipidomic analyses and will be soon translated to relevant iPSC-derived neurons.
The data from lipidomic and synaptic assays were normally distributed. Comparison of multiple groups (n=18) at one timepoint (e.g., normal vs plasmalogen-deficient) used one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni correction (GraphPad Software).
Malakoplakia in a Transplanted Liver
Authors: Ansari Zaid , Ahmad Akram , Bejarano Pablo A. , Pinna Antonio , Zervos Xaralambos 
Published: September 2024

ABSTRACT
Malakoplakia is a rare acquired histiocytic disorder first described in the urinary bladder. There have been 8 cases reported involving the liver, and this is the first reported case of malakoplakia involving an adult transplanted liver. We report a 63-year-old man with a medical history of orthotopic liver transplantation who presented with fever, chills, and abdominal pain. Imaging found confluent microabscesses in the right lobe of the liver that persisted despite prolonged antibiotics. He was taken to the operating room for a segment 6 hepatectomy of the abscess. Histologically, the inflammatory process showed malakoplakia.
Learning human actions from complex manipulation tasks and their transfer to robots in the circular factory
Authors: Zaremski Manuel , Handwerker Blanca , Dreher Christian R. G. , Leven Fabian , Schneider David , Roitberg Alina , Stiefelhagen Rainer , Neumann Gerhard , Heizmann Michael , Asfour Tamim , Deml Barbara 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
Process automation is essential to establish an economically viable circular factory in high-wage locations. This involves using autonomous production technologies, such as robots, to disassemble, reprocess, and reassemble used products with unknown conditions into the original or a new generation of products. This is a complex and highly dynamic issue that involves a high degree of uncertainty. To adapt robots to these conditions, learning from humans is necessary. Humans are the most flexible resource in the circular factory and they can adapt their knowledge and skills to new tasks and changing conditions. This paper presents an interdisciplinary research framework for learning human action knowledge from complex manipulation tasks through human observation and demonstration. The acquired knowledge will be described in a machine-executable form and will be transferred to industrial automation execution by robots in a circular factory. There are two primary research objectives. First, we investigate the multi-modal capture of human behavior and the description of human action knowledge. Second, the reproduction and generalization of learned actions, such as disassembly and assembly actions on robots is studied.
Enabling the vision of a perpetual innovative product – predicting function fulfillment of new product generations in a circular factory
Authors: Grauberger Patric , Dörr Matthias , Lanza Gisela , Kaiser Jan-Philipp , Albers Albert , Düser Tobias , Tusch Leonard , Seidler Moritz , Dietrich Stefan , Schulze Volker , Matthiesen Sven 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
The need for sustainability is driving the transition from linear to circular production. Customers, driven by the desire for innovation, prefer new products with the latest cutting-edge functions and design. The problem is that used products from older product generations are hence less attractive, leading to a limited market for remanufactured products and generating less revenue than their new counterparts. Therefore, this research addresses the problem of reprocessing and technologically updating used products into the newest product generation. To address this problem of reprocessing and technological updating with a Circular Factory, the product’s function fulfillment must be predicted in different situations in a Circular Factory. Three key challenges in which the function fulfillment must be predicted are identified as: Analysis and Diagnostics of Used Products and Subsystems, Prediction for Pairing and Reprocess of the Embodiment and Design for Circular Factory. A model-based approach is presented to address these three key challenges by predicting product function fulfillment to enable cross-generational use of subsystems and components. Five different types of models are proposed: A Functional Model, a Reliability Model and a Reference Architecture Model at the high level of general product modeling, as well as a Digital Twin of an object instance and a Tolerance Scheme at the level of individual instances. A theoretical case study shows the possible application in a Circular Factory using the example of an angle grinder. However, it’s essential to acknowledge that substantial work is needed for the enhancement or development of these models before practical application. Successful application of these models allows the Circular Factory not only to maintain but also to increase the value of reprocessed products to enable offering on the primary market and contribute to the vision of realizing a perpetual innovative product.
On generalized concise words
Authors: Delizia Costantino , Gaeta Michele , Monetta Carmine 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
The study of verbal subgroups within a group is well known for being an effective tool to obtain structural information about a group.
Therefore, conditions that allow the classification of words in a free group are of paramount importance.
One of the most studied problems is to establish which words are concise, where a word 𝑤 is said to be concise if the verbal subgroup

w
⁢

(
G
)

w(G)

is finite in each group 𝐺 in which 𝑤 takes only a finite number of values.
The purpose of this article is to present some results, in which a hierarchy among words is introduced, generalizing the concept of concise word.
Asymmetric and Threshold Effect of Military Expenditure on Economic Growth: Insight from an Emerging Market
Authors: Dada James Temitope , Sharimakin Akinwumi , Al-Faryan Mamdouh Abdulaziz Saleh , Tabash Mosab I. , Adeiza Adams 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This study aims to investigate the asymmetric effect of military expenditure on economic growth in Nigeria. Furthermore, it determines the threshold level of military expenditure that spurs or hinders economic growth in Nigeria. To achieve the study’s objectives, the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) and dynamic threshold autoregressive (TAR) techniques are applied as estimation techniques to data from 1981 to 2020. The findings from the study show that (1) positive shocks in military expenditure negatively impact economic growth in the short run, while the effect turns positive in the long run. (2) Negative military expenditure shocks negatively influenced economic growth in Nigeria in both periods. (3) The result from the threshold regression found a threshold value of 0.579 for military expenditure. Based on these findings, policymakers must consider the inherent tendency of asymmetry and nonlinearity in military expenditure when formulating policies related to government spending.
Casualization of work, free riding and institutional distrust: Explaining social protection preferences of platform workers in Germany
Authors: Beckmann Fabian , Hoose Fabian , Obereiner Lara , Topal Serkan 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
The social protection of platform workers is widely recognized as a major political challenge but remains vastly understudied. The few existing investigations focus on social protection coverage and the employment status of platform workers, while their social protection preferences remain a black box to date. In this article, we investigate the social protection preferences of platform workers using a mixed methods design based on an online survey (n = 719) and qualitative in-depth interviews (n = 20) with self-employed platform workers in Germany. While the quantitative data indicate that the vast majority of respondents reject compulsory social insurance contributions for platform workers and favour self-employment over dependent employment, the qualitative interviews reveal three main types of explanations for this regulation aversion in different segments of platform work: The casualization of work in the platform economy, free riding on protection derived from ‘regular’ employment and distrust in established welfare state institutions. Against this background, we discuss challenges for social policies aiming at improving social protection for platform workers.
African Entrepreneurship in urban colonial Zimbabwe: The case of Highfield, 1953–1965
Authors: Chambwe Tawanda V. , Gwande Victor M. 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This paper examines the importance of Highfield to the African entrepreneurship history of colonial Zimbabwe, then known as Southern Rhodesia. The Southern Rhodesia colonial state established the township of Highfield in its capital city, Salisbury (now Harare), in 1936 as part of its spatial and racial segregation policy. The policy made Africans temporary residents in the urban areas. However, the post-Second World War industrial growth forced the colonial state to revisit its stance on African urbanisation. Seen as critical for the expanding manufacturing sector, African labour now had to be accommodated in the urban areas, which triggered the colonial state to expand the township of Highfield in 1956. That very year, enterprising Africans responded by taking up the expanded township’s entrepreneurial opportunities. This response and the subsequent evolution of African entrepreneurship in Highfield township are the focus of this paper. The paper provides a historical kaleidoscope of Highfield as a place of African entrepreneurship, which thus far has been occluded and separated from the dominant literature on the township’s role in the rise of African nationalism and anti-colonial struggles. Highfield emerged as a cultural milieu hosting an African Renaissance in food, fashion and lifestyle inspired by a mix of modernity and indigenous ethos. Thus, the paper argues that Highfield was the entrepreneurial centre of various businesses and startups. These colourful stories of African entrepreneurship are gleaned from handwritten business stand applications by African traders, archival documents, and newspapers in piecing together an urban history of African entrepreneurship in the township of Highfield in colonial Zimbabwe.
Cocoa Transfer Agreements, moneylenders, public letter writers and the rise of business elites in South West Nigeria, 1986–2000
Authors: Ajiola Felix Oludare 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
This paper focuses on the subject of the cocoa transfer agreements and the transformation of rural agrarian livelihoods in the cocoa belt of South West Nigeria under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The paper maps the trajectory and career of three dominant agricultural entrepreneurs in the cocoa produce trade in South West Nigeria during the 20th century. The paper demonstrates that while the cocoa business in Nigeria has received considerable scholarly attention, the impact of moneylenders, public letter writers (PLWs) and cocoa transfer agreements on cocoa business, rural livelihoods and entrepreneurship in the aftermath of SAP is yet to be fully investigated. Analysing the accumulative strategies and contributions of Emmanuel Akintan, Isaac Adegbuyi Akingboye and Rufus Orosundafosi to rural capital formation, the paper highlights the impacts of liberalisation policies on African rural businesses in the aftermath of SAP. The paper combines primary sources, such as oral interviews, personal observation and ethnography, with information collected from the archives, newspapers, diaries, and extant literature to analyse the dynamics of rural accumulation in the cocoa producing South West Nigeria during the 20th century. The paper argues that the acquisition of wealth and the thin line between standard procedures and clandestine deals stimulated accusations of dispossession of peasant farmers by the capitalist moneylenders and merchants in the post-SAP era.
The state and the development of business organisations in Benin, ca. 1440–1897
Authors: Ojo Idahosa Osagie 
Published: September 2024

Abstract
The focus of this paper is on business organisations in Benin and their interplay with the state from the era of Oba Ewuare up to the fall of the Kingdom in 1897. The paper analyses economic nationalism in the kingdom and the roles in the protection and development of identified business groups during the period. Knowledge of business organisations in pre-British Benin and their relationship with the state, which aided their development between ca. 1440 and 1897 is a vacuum in the study of African business organisations and will be useful in understanding economic nationalism from an African perspective. The study adopts the historical method and requires a multidisciplinary approach for interpretation and reliability. As such, both primary and secondary sources were utilised, and the findings confirm that several business organisations in manufacturing, trading and in large scale crop farming existed. The work provides insights into the entrepreneurs, composition and operations of these businesses. The findings also reveal how trading and industrial activities were controlled and what implications this had for the development of these businesses and the state. The work shows in addition how these businesses benefited from the security and licences granted by the state as well as how the state used these businesses to mount up economic power and political stability.
Toxicologic Profile and Anti-Nociceptive Effect of Two Semi-Synthetic Triterpene Derivatives from Combretum Leprosum in Mice
Authors: Passos Maria Juliane , Chaves Hellíada V. , Barbosa Francisco G. , Mafezoli Jair , Silva-Filho Carlos J. A. , Capistrano André Luiz de O. , Freire Jordânia M. O. , de Souza Nayara A. , Júnior Manoel V. N. , dos Reis Tiago S. , Costa José Jackson do N. , Pereira Karuza Maria A. , de Souza Tamiris de Fátima G. , Rabelo Liviane Maria A. , de Alencar Nylane Maria N. , de Moraes Maria Elisabete A. , Braz Helyson Lucas B. , Goes Paula , Bezerra Mirna Marques 
Published: September 2024

Abstract

Background and aim: Combretum leprosum Mart. serves as a medicinal plant in traditional Brazilian medicine. The beneficial effects of C. leprosum Mart. are attributed to the triterpene, 3β,6β,16β-trihydroxylup-20(29)-ene (CL-1). Herein we evaluate the toxicity of two semi-synthetic derivatives from CL-1 (CL-P2 and CL-P2A) in vitro and in vivo, and determine the efficacy in zymosan-induced writhing response and the putative mechanism of action.

Experimental procedure: Toxicity prediction was assessed using the PROTOX-II and ADMETlab 2.0 prediction tools, and SMILES codes for structure identification. In vitro cytotoxicity of the derivatives was tested using the sulforhodamine B assay in L929 and HaCaT cells at 24, 48, and 72 h. Mice received (oral gavage) CL-P2 or CL-P2A (10 mg/kg/d) for 14 days in in vivo toxicity assays. Blood samples and organs (stomach, liver, and kidneys) were collected for AST/ALT level determination and H&E staining, respectively. The anti-nociceptive effect of CL-P2 and CL-P2A (0.1, 1, or 10 mg/kg) was evaluated in the zymosan-induced writhing response. The peritoneal exudate was collected to determine myeloperoxidase (MPO) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, and nitrite concentration.

Results: CL-P-2 and CL-P2A derivatives exhibited low cytotoxicity and did not change body mass, AST/ALT levels, or organ weight. The histopathologic analysis did not reveal significant changes in organs. Both derivatives inhibited the writhing response in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, both derivatives failed to reduce MPO activity. However, CL-P2A increased SOD activity and CL-P2 decreased nitrite/nitrate levels.

Conclusion: CL-P2 and CL-P2A were shown to exhibit anti-nociceptive effects without toxicity. Our data suggest that CL-P2 and CL-P2A efficacy is mediated, at least in part, via antioxidant activity by modulating nitrite/nitrate levels and SOD activity, respectively.