bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Antimicrobial cellulose hydrogels against gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria
Authors: Miño Karla , Pérez Antonela , Iza-García Tamia Xaymara , Cabascango Dayanna Gabriela , Gordillo Catalina , Gordillo Andrea , Vispo Nelson , Machado António , Zamora-Ledezma Camilo , Alexis Frank 
Published: February 2024

The development of hydrogels has a significant impact in fields such as tissue engineering and biomedical devices. The present study tests different cellulose particles extracted from plants to produce hydrogels and identify if these particles and hydrogels have antimicrobial properties. Nine cellulose particles from Ecuadoran biodiversity were obtained using an established chemical extraction protocol, characterized using known techniques, and evaluated for bacterial growth in-vitro. In addition, two particles of nine were selected to perform bacterial growth rates and bacterial adhesion assays. The bacterial growth rates with cellulose F1 and F53 were similar to the positive control (with antibiotic) with both Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 and TG1 strains. However, the results showed that the bacterial growth rate with seven of the nine cellulose particles was lower than the negative control (without antibiotics) suggesting antifouling properties. Based on the results using cellulose particles and hydrogels with antifouling properties, we prepared a plant extract to test the bactericide properties against Gram-positive (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923) and Gram-negative (E. coli ATCC 25922) bacteria, evidencing the highest inhibitory effect at 40 and 60 mg/mL against S. aureus and E. coli, respectively. Lastly, we encapsulated the bactericide plant extract into the anti-fouling hydrogel. The results demonstrated that the combination of antifouling and bactericide properties could be an alternative approach for surface-modified cellulosic materials applications in the future.
Clean and sustainable environment problems in forested areas related to recreational activities: case of Lithuania and Turkey
Authors: Atalay Ahmet , Perkumiene Dalia , Aleinikovas Marius , Škėma Mindaugas 
Published: February 2024

IntroductionWith the acceleration of social life, people's interest and demand for forestry recreation activities is increasing. However, with this increase, it is inevitable that negative environmental effects will occur. Particularly mass participation poses an important risk for environmental sustainability. In this context, the aim of this study is to determine the recreational activities organized in forest areas in Turkey and Lithuania, the environmental effects of these activities and the precautions to be taken.MethodsIn Turkey and Lithuania, interviews were conducted to determine the attitudes of experts involved in recreational activity processes towards a clean environment and environmental sustainability. A semi-structured interview form was used in the interviews with forest operators and other experts. The sample group of the research consists of 17 experts from Turkey and Lithuania.ResultsAccording to the results of the research, recreational activities are organized in forest areas in both countries, but the most important problem related to these activities is waste production. In addition, there is also damage to the natural environment. Although there are legal regulations in both countries, there are no definite results in solving environmental problems.ConclusionsIt can be said that necessary measures such as raising awareness of people and ecological education should be taken in order to ensure the right of individuals to live in a safe and clean environment and at the same time to ensure sustainability in forest areas. as the improvement of legal regulation.
The influence of cardiorespiratory fitness level on the relationship between work rates at the aerobic threshold (AerT) and the point of maximal fat oxidation (Fatmax) in untrained adults
Authors: Pühringer Martin , Ring-Dimitriou Susanne 
Published: February 2024

IntroductionIn this study, we investigated the impact of cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), quantified as peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak), on the relationship between work rates (WR) at the aerobic threshold (AerT) and the point of maximal fat oxidation rate (Fatmax).MethodsA total of 761 untrained adults aged 41–68 completed a one-minute incremental exercise test on a cycle ergometer, using breath-by-breath gas analysis to determine VO2peak, AerT, and Fatmax. AerT was determined using automatic and visual detection methods, and Fatmax was determined using indirect calorimetry. Participants were categorized into CRF-groups: low (&lt;25th percentile), medium (≥25th percentile and &lt;75th percentile), and high (≥75th percentile).ResultsFatmax was found at 43 ± 7% WRpeak, 37% ± 6% WRpeak and 35% ± 7% WRpeak in the low, medium, and high CRF-groups, respectively. In contrast, AerT was located at significantly higher relative work rates: 51% ± 8% WRpeak, 47% ± 10% WRpeak, and 47% ± 11% WRpeak in the respective CRF-groups. There was a weak agreement between Fatmax and AerT [intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) = .19, p &lt; .001], and the ICC decreased from .35 to .12 to .13, while the mean bias ±95% limits of agreement increased from 8% ± 14% WRpeak to 8% ± 19% WRpeak to 12% ± 44% WRpeak from CRF-low to CRF-medium to CRF-high. The mean difference between Fatmax and AerT was significantly different among the CRF subgroups: 8% ± 7% WRpeak vs. 10% ± 10% WRpeak vs. 12% ± 11% WRpeak in low, medium, and high CRF-groups, respectively. Nonetheless, multiple regression analysis revealed only a weak positive correlation between the difference in relative work rates (% WRpeak) between Fatmax and AerT (dependent variable) and the predictor variables CRF and sex, both identified as significant (R = .19, p &lt; .001).ConclusionOur study confirms substantial differences in exercise intensities between Fatmax and AerT in untrained adults (10% ± 19% WRpeak, ranging from −14% to 53% WRpeak). Importantly, this difference remains relatively consistent across varying CRF levels, emphasizing the distinct nature of Fatmax and AerT, with CRF playing a limited role in influencing their relationship in our study's untrained adults.
Latex vascular injection as method for enhanced neurosurgical training and skills
Authors: Pérez-Cruz Julio C. , Macías-Duvignau Mario A. , Reyes-Soto Gervith , Gasca-González Oscar O. , Baldoncini Matias , Miranda-Solís Franklin , Delgado-Reyes Luis , Ovalles Carlos , Catillo-Rangel Carlos , Goncharov Evgeniy , Nurmukhametov Renat , Lawton Michael T. , Montemurro Nicola , Encarnacion Ramirez Manuel De Jesus 
Published: February 2024

BackgroundTridimensional medical knowledge of human anatomy is a key step in the undergraduate and postgraduate medical education, especially in surgical fields. Training simulation before real surgical procedures is necessary to develop clinical competences and to minimize surgical complications.MethodsLatex injection of vascular system in brain and in head-neck segment is made after washing out of the vascular system and fixation of the specimen before and after latex injection.ResultsUsing this latex injection technique, the vascular system of 90% of brains and 80% of head-neck segments are well-perfused. Latex-injected vessels maintain real appearance compared to silicone, and more flexible vessels compared to resins. Besides, latex makes possible a better perfusion of small vessels.ConclusionsLatex vascular injection technique of the brain and head-neck segment is a simulation model for neurosurgical training based on real experiencing to improve surgical skills and surgical results.
Vitamina D: Una terapia coadyuvante en el manejo de covid-19
Authors: Yanez-Chicaiza Edith Yesenia , Galarza-Galarza Cinthia Katherine 
Published: February 2024

Objetivo: determinar como la Vit-D actúa a nivel de sistema inmunológico reduciendo el riesgo de gravedad por COVID-19. Método: Descriptivo observacional. Resultados y conclusiones: El papel defensivo de la Vit-D frente a infecciones relacionadas con el sistema respiratorio se demuestra en ensayos clínicos. Se sugiere la administración de suplementos para mantener los niveles óptimos de circulación en el cuerpo. Existen evidencias de una asociación significativa entre la insuficiencia/deficiencia de Vit-D y la susceptibilidad al COVID-19 y su gravedad. Por tanto, se sugiere tomar un suplemento de Vit-D para mantener una concentración sérica mayor a 30 ng/mL para reducir el riesgo de infección por SARS-CoV-2 y sus consecuencias.
2D Animation Character Design for Sang Penunggu Bulan Folk Tales from West Java
Authors: Allison Andy , Fuad Ahmad 
Published: February 2024

Indonesia is rich in folklore from various provinces. One of these provinces is the province of West Java which is rich in folklore. However, among the folklore in the province of West Java, the fairy tale Nyi Anteh Sang Penunggu Bulan is still little known to the wider public, especially children. Folklore of Sang Penunggu Bulan should be introduced to children from an early age. Folklore characters do show compassion which is useful as a means of education and introspection in children. For example, the character Nyi Anteh has a very good personality. All the goodness contained in the character of Nyi Anteh can be presented to children in an interesting way thanks to information technology. One information technology that is currently developing rapidly and is able to attract the attention and interaction of people who see it is the field of 2D animation. The research method used is descriptive by collecting data through literature to describe the pre-production, production, and post-production stages. With animation, things that are difficult to express in words will become simple and easy to understand when listening to animated video content. Therefore, it is necessary to design a 2D animated character for Nyi Anteh that can convey the personality and traits inherent in Nyi Anteh through her facial expressions and body movements, so that she can be a role model for good behavior for children to follow every day.
ANALISIS PENGENDALIAN INTERNAL PADA PT X
Authors: Isvi Mustari Mugiono  , Sulfitri Virna 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Pengendalian internal merupakan suatu cara untuk mengarahkan, mengawasi, dan mengukur sumber daya suatu organisasi dan berperan penting untuk mencegah, mendeteksi penggelapan (fraud) dan melindungi sumber daya organisasi. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian kualitatif deskriptif yang bertujuan untuk menganalisa pengendalian internal pada PT X. Penelitian ini menggunakan hasil wawancara mendalam terhadap pimpinan perusahaan, manajer perusahaan, dan karyawan PT. X. Dengan adanya sistem pengendalian intern yang efektif pada PT. X yang diterapkan akan menjamin terselenggaranya pancatatan yang layak, serta mencegah penyalah gunanaan oleh bagian yang tidak berwenang, sehingga operasional perusahaan dapat berjalan dengan lancar.
The importance of integrated STEM learning in chemistry lesson: Perspectives from high school and vocational school chemistry teachers
Authors: Fitriyana Nur , Wiyarsi Antuni , Pratomo Heru , Marfuatun Marfuatun 
Published: February 2024

Different goals of high schools and vocational schools in Indonesia become the main factor causing the distinction of preparedness of chemistry teachers in using the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) approach in their teaching. Yet the High School Chemistry Teachers (HSCT) and Vocational School Chemistry Teachers (VSCT) need to have positive perceptions about STEM since it offers students meaningful chemistry learning. Through an explorative survey method, this research investigated in-service chemistry teachers' perspectives toward the implementation of STEM in high school and vocational schools of chemistry. A number of 131 in-service chemistry teachers (82 HSCT and 49 VSCT) from Yogyakarta, Indonesia, voluntarily participated in this research through a saturated sampling technique. Perception Scale on STEM (PC-STEM) consisting of 54 closed-ended questions and seven open-ended questions were used as the data collection tools. The data were analysed following content analysis using interpretive coding, descriptive statistics, and the one-way MANOVA test. The findings showed that HSCTs' and VSCTs' perspectives toward STEM fall into the good category. Thus, integrated STEM learning is potential to be used in chemistry lessons at high school and vocational school. However, there were no statistically significant differences in HSCT and VSCT perceptions about the implementation of STEM in chemistry learning. Unfortunately, despite their perception being good, both groups of teachers signified a poor experience in applying STEM in their chemistry lessons. Therefore, teachers' professional development program about STEM is needed for chemistry teachers to implement STEM-based chemistry learning.
EFFECT AND MECHANISM OF CHINA’S PREFABRICATED BUILDING POLICIES TO PROMOTE PATENT OUTPUT WITH CARBON-NEUTRALITY AS A TARGET
Authors: Wang Layin , Zhang Jinrong , Lei Xin , Yang Bozheng 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT
Unlike cast-in-place buildings, prefabricated buildings can conserve energy and reduce pollution, diminish damage to the environment caused by construction projects, drive greening of the construction industry, and promote carbon neutrality. The prefabricated construction industry is highly developed in China. This study analyzes prefabricated building policies and patents in Chinese provinces from 2011 to 2020 and systematically discusses the impact mechanism of supply-oriented, environment-oriented, and demand-oriented prefabricated building policies on patent output from static and dynamic perspectives. Correlations between policies and patent output were analyzed in the spatiotemporal dimension from a static perspective. A system dynamics model was used to investigate the causal relationship between the enterprise, university research, and government subsystems. Simulations were conducted to determine the sensitivity of policies in different dimensions to evaluate the impact of different policy categories and dynamics on patent output. The results: (1) policies are significantly and positively spatiotemporally correlated with patent output; (2) patent output increases over time, the positive effect is enhanced when policy implementation is strengthened; and (3) the effects of different dimensional policies on patent output differ across different periods. Overall, the effect of demand-oriented policies was the most significant, followed by environment- and supply-oriented policies. Before 2020, the effects of environment- and supply-oriented policies were equivalent, but the promotional effects of supply-oriented policies became more prominent after that, and (4) sub-policies contributing to dimensional policies vary. Fiscal and financial, science and technology, and public procurement sub-policies are critical in supply-, environment-, and demand-oriented policies, respectively. The findings can contribute to a virtuous cycle of prefabricated building policies and patent output systems, and provide information to accelerate sustainable, green industrialized development of the prefabricated construction industry in China.
ASYMMETRIC FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF GLULAM BEAMS BASED ON BAMBOO-INSPIRED FUNCTIONALLY GRADED STRUCTURE FOR HIGH BENDING LOAD APPLICATIONS
Authors: Ramful Raviduth 
Published: February 2024

ABSTRACT
Natural materials are being further processed into functionally engineered products to reduce their natural variability and enhance their performance for use in construction, given their noteworthy recyclability, availability and sustainability traits. To date, the mechanical strengths of natural and engineered wood products are limited by their inherent micromechanical characteristics which are outclassed by homogeneous materials like steel and concrete. This study proposes a less process-intensive technique to improve the strength of engineered wood products by considering glulam based on a bio-inspired functionally graded structure. The finite element method was considered to investigate the effects of the functionally graded arrangement on the asymmetric flexural deformation and on the underlying fracture mechanisms in glulam beams. The numerical results showed that the functionally graded arrangements across the cross-section led to an improvement in the bending strength and consequently enhanced the resistance to transverse crack propagation. In the functionally graded glulam beam, the stiffer layers at the bottom were found to promote the onset for longitudinal crack initiation. Moreover, transverse cracks tended to propagate sideways in an orthogonal direction in the beam layers with a high longitudinal to transverse stiffness ratio whereby the tangential normal stress was a maximum. The improvement in performance, which resulted from a shift of the neutral axis and redistribution of stress within the glulam beams, was attributed to the degree of graded arrangement across their cross-section besides the orthotropic characteristics of their individual layers. Key findings of this study could be useful to further develop high-strength engineered wood products based on bio-inspired solutions to replace conventional materials in the construction industry for improved sustainability.
Distribution des pratiques mégalithiques actuelles et subactuelles et dynamique du peuplement dans le Faro au nord du Cameroun durant ces deux derniers siècles
Authors: Mezop Temgoua-Noumissing Alice Lucie 
Published: February 2024

Au Faro dans le Nord-Cameroun, le mégalithisme apparaît sur des restes visiblement récents de villages modernes et se poursuit bien de nos jours. Mais ce patrimoine reste encore largement sous-exploité et menacé de destruction. Notre étude vise à analyser la distribution des pratiques mégalithiques actuelles et subactuelles et montrer en quoi les résultats d’une telle démarche peuvent éclairer concrètement l’histoire des strates de peuplement et des interactions humaines dans le Faro. Grâce à la variété des approches, on découvre au-delà d’une apparente uniformité, l’existence de deux spécificités stylistiques géographiques : la rive ouest marquée par des pierres dressées associées à des poteaux en bois et la rive est caractérisée par des cercles constitués de monolithes et de meules. Ces deux grandes tendances culturelles, singularisent ces territoires, mais s’interpénètrent à la fois suffisamment pour attester de l’existence d’un fond culturel commun à l’ensemble de la région.
Trypanosoma brucei Invariant Surface Glycoprotein 75 Is an Immunoglobulin Fc Receptor Inhibiting Complement Activation and Antibody-Mediated Cellular Phagocytosis
Authors: Mikkelsen Jakob Hauge , Stødkilde Kristian , Jensen Maria Pauladòttir , Hansen Annette Gudmann , Wu Qi , Lorentzen Josefine , Graversen Jonas Heilskov , Andersen Gregers Rom , Fenton Robert Andrew , Etzerodt Anders , Thiel Steffen , Andersen Christian Brix Folsted 
Published: February 2024

Abstract
Various subspecies of the unicellular parasite Trypanosoma brucei cause sleeping sickness, a neglected tropical disease affecting millions of individuals and domestic animals. Immune evasion mechanisms play a pivotal role in parasite survival within the host and enable the parasite to establish a chronic infection. In particular, the rapid switching of variant surface glycoproteins covering a large proportion of the parasite’s surface enables the parasite to avoid clearance by the adaptive immune system of the host. In this article, we present the crystal structure and discover an immune-evasive function of the extracellular region of the T. brucei invariant surface gp75 (ISG75). Structural analysis determined that the ISG75 ectodomain is organized as a globular head domain and a long slender coiled-coil domain. Subsequent ligand screening and binding analysis determined that the head domain of ISG75 confers interaction with the Fc region of all subclasses of human IgG. Importantly, the ISG75–IgG interaction strongly inhibits both activation of the classical complement pathway and Ab-dependent cellular phagocytosis by competing with C1q and host cell FcγR CD32. Our data reveal a novel immune evasion mechanism of T. brucei, with ISG75 able to inactivate the activities of Abs recognizing the parasite surface proteins.
Knowledge, practice, and challenges of diabetes foot care among patients at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Osunde Rosemary Ngozi , Olorunfemi Olaolorunpo 
Published: February 2024

Abstract

Background:
Foot ulcer is a common complication of diabetes and the most devastating component of diabetes progression that is associated with high morbidity and mortality.

Aims:
The aim of this study was to assess the knowledge, practice, and challenges of diabetes foot care among patients with diabetes mellitus.

Materials and methods:
This descriptive cross-sectional study assessed knowledge and practice of foot care among type I and type II patients with diabetes attending the University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire with a reliability of 0.880. SPSS version 22 was used to analyze the data.

Results:
The findings revealed that there is good knowledge of foot care, among 110 (50.0%) of the diabetic patients, while the practice of foot care was found to be poor among diabetic patients. It also shows the factor that statistically predicts the development of foot ulcers to include combined diet + oral medications + insulin treatment regimen (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 0.181, P = 0.016, confidence interval [CI] = 0.045–0.728), history of renal conditions (AOR = 0.115, P = 0.036, CI = 0.015–0.871), not receiving foot care education (AOR = 116.098, P < 0.001, CI = 12.497–1078.554), and receiving foot care education from nurses (AOR = 0.022, P = 0.001, CI = 0.002–0.216). Furthermore, 201 (91.4%) diabetes patients reported fatigue from completing the same task repeatedly, and 198 (90.0%) reported forgetfulness as obstacles to practicing foot care.

Conclusion:
When creating DM Patients future care plans, nurses and other health-care administrators must take into account the difficulties and predicting factors related to the practice of diabetes foot care.