bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The nature and operations of African migrant informal enterprises in the Mandeni Local Municipality, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa
Authors: Fortunate Gumede Nondumiso , Moyo Inocent 
Published: December 2023

This study investigated the nature and operations of African migrant informal enterprises in Mandeni municipality. The study utilised a qualitative approach with an exploratory research design. The participants were sampled using the purposive sampling and the semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from research participants who were African migrant informal enterprise owners. Thematic analysis was employed as a tool for data analysis. The study established that African migrants own different informal enterprises in which they sell a variety of goods and most African migrants do not start businesses out of their own free will, rather, they do so in response to a lack of other alternatives, which makes starting a business appear to be the only possible option. These enterprises vary in size, scale, and operations.
Loading of the Hip and Knee During Swimming
Authors: Zhou Sijia , Bender Alwina , Kutzner Ines , Dymke Jörn , Maleitzke Tazio , Perka Carsten , Duda Georg N. , Winkler Tobias , Damm Philipp 
Published: December 2023

Background:
Swimming is commonly recommended as postoperative rehabilitation following total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). So far, in vivo hip and knee joint loads during swimming remain undescribed.

Methods:
In vivo hip and knee joint loads were measured in 6 patients who underwent THA and 5 patients who underwent TKA with instrumented joint implants. Joint loads, including the resultant joint contact force (FRes), torsional moment around the femoral shaft axis or the tibial axis (MTors), bending moment at the middle of the femoral neck (MBend), torsional moment around the femoral neck axis (MTne), and medial force ratio (MFR) in the knee, were measured during breaststroke swimming at 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 m/s and the breaststroke and crawl kicks at 0.5 and 1.0 m/s.

Results:
The ranges of the median maximal FRes were 157% to 193% of body weight for the hip and 93% to 145% of body weight for the knee during breaststroke swimming. Greater maxima of FRes (hip and knee), MTors (hip and knee), MBend (hip), and MTne (hip) were observed with higher breaststroke swimming velocities, but significance was only identified between 0.5 and 0.6 m/s in FRes (p = 0.028), MTors (p = 0.028), and MBend (p = 0.028) and between 0.5 and 0.7 m/s in FRes (p = 0.045) in hips. No difference was found in maximal MFR between different breaststroke swimming velocities. The maximal FRes was significantly positively correlated with the breaststroke swimming velocity (hip: r = 0.541; p < 0.05; and knee: r = 0.414; p < 0.001). The maximal FRes (hip and knee) and moments (hip) were higher in the crawl kick than in the breaststroke kick, and a significant difference was recognized in FRes Max for the hip: median, 179% versus 118% of body weight (p = 0.028) for 0.5 m/s and 166% versus 133% of body weight (p = 0.028) for 1.0 m/s.

Conclusions:
Swimming is a safe and low-impact activity, particularly recommended for patients who undergo THA or TKA. Hip and knee joint loads are greater with higher swimming velocities and can be influenced by swimming styles. Nevertheless, concrete suggestions to patients who undergo arthroplasty on swimming should involve individual considerations.

Level of Evidence:
Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
Insights from the Analysis of Ancient and Modern DNAs with Population-specific SNPs
Authors: Shi Gang 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Studies of ancient and modern DNAs have substantially improved our understanding of the early history of human populations. Despite the advancement of whole-genome sequencing technologies, present studies of ancient DNAs (aDNAs) are largely based on a panel of preselected genomic variants; thus, valuable genetic information in aDNAs is not being fully explored. In this work, we analyze genotype data from 19 ancient and 16 modern high-coverage shotgun human genomes. We used modern populations from the 1000 Genomes Project and the Human Genome Diversity Project as reference populations and selected SNPs that were polymorphic in one reference population and monomorphic in the others. With the population-specific SNPs, we conducted ancestral spectrum analyses on the 19 aDNAs and the 16 modern DNAs to determine their coancestries with the modern reference populations. We show that ancestral spectrum analyses effectively reveal the genetic affinity between aDNAs and modern populations, which is also true for modern DNAs. Regarding the 11 aDNAs with normal transition to transversion ratios, the results agree with previous analyses. The other 8 aDNAs with excessive transition to transversion ratios revealed ancestral spectra indicative of a high level of DNA damage that cannot be fully explained by postmortem cytosine deamination. Additional biochemistry or bioinformatics treatments seem necessary for the meaningful study of such aDNAs.
Electric polarization near vortices in the extended Kitaev model
Authors: Egger Reinhold , Freitas Lucas , Bauer Tim , Pereira Rodrigo 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
We formulate a Majorana mean-field theory for the extended J-K-Gamma Kitaev model in a magnetic Zeeman field of arbitrary direction, and apply it for studying spatially inhomogeneous states harboring vortices. This mean-field theory is exact in the pure Kitaev limit and captures the essential physics throughout the Kitaev spin liquid phase. We determine the charge profile around vortices and the corresponding quadrupole tensor. The quadrupole-quadrupole interaction between distant vortices is shown to be either repulsive or attractive, depending on parameters. We predict that electrically biased scanning probe tips enable the creation of vortices at preselected positions.
Our results open new perspectives for the electric manipulation of Ising anyons in Kitaev spin liquids.
Differential expression of death receptors, their ligands and adaptors as molecular signatures of neuropathologies in a mouse model of prion disease
Authors: Giri Ranjit Kumar 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

Background Prion diseases are transmissible and fatal neurodegenerative diseases characterized by accumulation of a misfolded form of a host-encoded protein (PrPSc), astrocytosis, microgliosis, spongiosis, and extensive neuron loss. Elevated levels of cell membrane associated PrPScprotein and inflammatory cytokines hint towards the activation of death receptor (DR) pathway/s in prion diseases. However, it is unclear whether prion disease is associated with the alteration of all major death receptors, their ligands and adaptors. Methods C57BL/6J mice were infected with RML scrapie mouse prion strain. Progression of prion disease was evaluated by observing clinical symptoms like motor deficits. Key neuropathologies like PrPScaccumulation and astrocytosis were evaluated by brain blot, western blot and immunofluorohistochemical analysis. To examine the expression of proteins involved in DR pathways, all major death receptors (TNFR1, Fas, DR3, DR5, DR6, p75NTR), their ligands (TNFα, FasL, TL1A, TRAIL and NGF), and adaptors (TRADD, FADD, TRAF2 and RIPK1) were studied by western blot analysis. Glycosylation of DRs was studied by PNGase F treatment followed by western blot analysis. Results Prion infected mice developed motor deficits like plastic tail, frequent circling, hind limb twitching and neuropathologies like prion protein accumulation and astrocytosis similar to other prion diseases. The prion-diseased mice brains exhibit significant increased expression of TNFR1, Fas and p75NTR but reduced ectodomain shedding of TNFR1 and Fas. Results show reduced expression of DR3 and DR5. All DR ligands like TNFα, TL1A, TRAIL, FasL and PrPScexhibit increased expression except NGF. DR adaptors like TRADD and TRAF2 that primarily regulate pro-survival pathways show reduced expression whereas, FADD expression remained unchanged. The results from RIPK1 demonstrate its increased expression and proteolysis in mouse prion disease. Conclusions The findings from the present study provide evidence towards the involvement of DR3, DR5, DR6, TL1A, TRAIL, TRADD, TRAF2, FADD and RIPK1 for the first time, along with a mechanistic insight into the significance of differential expression of these death receptor factors towards neuropathologies like neurodegeneration, astrocytosis and microgliosis seen in prion diseases.
Clinical prognosis of adult moyamoya disease patients after direct bypass surgery
Authors: Qian Yun , Hu Zongmin , Cui Yu , Zou Ting-ting , Zhao Peng 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Background
This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the patency of the bridging vessels and the improvement of postoperative neurological function, so as to enable the prediction of the influence on vascular bypass before operation and to guide the selection of surgical strategies.
Methods
We used Logistic regression analysis to determine if the following factors were related to the patency of the bypass: age, sex, smoking history, drinking, diabetes, hypertension, history of pre-operation cerebral infarction, transient ischemic attack (TIA), clinical classification of moyamoya disease (MMD), clinical manifestations, preoperative modified Rankin Scale mRS score, and Suzuki staging (operative side, non-operative side, and posterior circulation involvement). Base on this, we can explore the related factors affecting the vascular patency and prognosis. The symptom improvement data at discharge, 6 months after discharge and 2 years after discharge after bypass surgery in adult patients with MMD disease through outpatient or telephone follow-up were collected. The postoperative neurological function through mRS score was evaluated. After that, the linear mixed effect model was used to analyze the effects of related factors on the changes of mRS score.
Results
There is a significant difference between hypertension history and indirect bridging angiogenesis in the grade of direct bridging angiogenesis (P < 0.05). Logistic regression analysis further confirmed that hypertension (OR:0.24, 95% CI: 0.10–0.56) was a risk factor affecting direct bridge angiogenesis after operation. Compared with grade 0 of direct bridge vessels, grade II vascular patency was related to the decrease of indirect angiogenesis (OR:0.14, 95% CI:0.03–0.64), but the results of trend test showed that indirect bridge angiogenesis decreased with the increase of grade (P = 0.030). The follow-up data (250 cases) were processed by linear mixed effect model. The study found that despite the risk of intracranial hemorrhage in patients with hyperperfusion, the neurological function recovered relatively quickly; The neurological function of patients with cerebral infarction after operation is generally poor, but the recovery speed is relatively fast, and the prognosis is still worse than that of patients without cerebral infarction.
Conclusions
Patients with hypertension are prone to direct bridge vascular occlusion after operation; Direct bridge angiogenesis after operation is better, which will inhibit indirect bridge angiogenesis. Patients with high perfusion after operation have large blood flow. Although they have the risk of bleeding, their neurological function recovers relatively quickly; Although the recovery rate of patients with postoperative cerebral infarction is relatively fast, the prognosis is still poor.
VTA projections to M1 are essential for reorganization of layer 2-3 network dynamics underlying motor learning
Authors: Schiller Jackie , Ghanayim Amir , Benisty Hadas , Cohen-Rimon Avigail , Schwartz Sivan , Talmon Ronen 
Published: December 2023

Abstract

The primary motor cortex (M1) is crucial for motor skill learning. Previous studies demonstrated that skill acquisition requires dopaminergic VTA (ventral-tegmental area) signaling in M1, however little is known regarding the effect of these inputs at the neuronal and network levels. Using dexterity task, calcium imaging, chemogenetic silencing, and geometric data analysis, we demonstrate VTA-dependent reorganization of M1 layer 2–3 during motor learning. While average activity and average functional connectivity of layer 2–3 network remain stable during learning, the activity kinetics, the correlational configuration of functional connectivity, and average connectivity strength of layer 2–3 neurons gradually transform towards an expert configuration. In addition, task success-failure outcome signaling gradually emerges. Silencing VTA dopaminergic inputs to M1 during learning, prevents all these changes. Our findings demonstrate dopaminergic VTA-dependent formation of outcome signaling and new connectivity configuration of the layer 2–3 network, supporting reorganization of the M1 network for storing new motor skills.
Diverse Utility of Cu Doped Zinc Sulfide/Iron Oxide Nanocomposites: Reusability, Adsorptive Properties, and Photocatalytic Efficacy in the Wastewater Purification
Authors: Kalantari Shirin , Shokuhfar Ali 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
The global water crisis is a growing concern, with water pollution from organic dyes being a significant issue. Photocatalysis has emerged as a sustainable and renewable method for removing organic pollutants from wastewater. The study synthesized innovative (2.5, 5 and 10wt.%) Cu doped zinc sulfide/iron oxide nanocomposites using a sonochemical method, which have versatile applications in adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants in wastewater. The nanocomposites underwent comprehensive characterization using powder x-ray diffraction, fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, photoluminescence spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, field emission scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy and Mott-Schottky analysis. The synthesized samples demonstrate strong adsorption ability to remove RhB and MB dyes. Afterward, we evaluated their capability to degrade Rhodamine B (RhB) dye under UV light exposure. The greatest photocatalytic efficiency was noticed when employing a UV-C lamp in combination with the 10wt.%Cu doped ZnS/Fe3O4 nanocomposite as photocatalyst (98.8% degradation after 60 min irradiation). Furthermore, 10wt.% Cu doped ZnS/Fe3O4 showed good recyclability, with a degradation rate of 89% even after five cycles. Consequently, prepared samples have outstanding photocatalytic activity and can be used as useful adsorbents in water purification.
Ellagic acid modulates Na+, H+ exchanger activity, Na+, K+ ATPases, and Ca2+ ATPases membrane transporters in tert-butyl hydroperoxide-induced oxidative stress during aging in humans
Authors: . Deepika , Dakal Tikam Chand , . Richa , Maurya Pawan Kumar 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Ellagic acid (EA), a dimer of gallic acid is mainly present in pomegranates and berries possessing health-promoting benefits via its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. We have evaluated the in vitro activity of EA on Na+, H+ exchanger (NHE), Na+, K+ ATPases, and Ca2+ ATPases activity in the control and tert-butyl hydroperoxide (t-BHP)-induced oxidative stress in erythrocytes of human subjects of both the sexes (n = 92). The young age group comprised human subjects between 18–35 years (n = 37), the middle group comprised human subjects between 36–60 years (n = 30), and the old group comprised subjects above 60 years of age (n = 25) age groups. We observe that with respect to their respective controls, the NHE activity increases in young, middle, and old age groups. Inducing stress via t-BHP increases the activity of NHE in all the age groups significantly (p < 0.001) with their respective control. EA administration further decreases NHE activity. Erythrocyte membrane Na+, K+ ATPase, and Ca2+ ATPase activity decreased significantly (p < 0.001) in middle and old human subjects as compared to the younger ones in the control samples. A significant decrease (p < 0.001) in the activity of Na+, K+ ATPase, and Ca2+ ATPase in t-BHP induced erythrocytes membrane was observed as compared to their respective control in all the age groups. Upon treatment of these erythrocyte membranes with EA increases the activity of membrane-bound enzymes significantly. The study provides insight into the protective health benefits of EA by the modulation of membrane transporters.
Carrier Blocking Layer Analysis for High Integral Confinement Factor of AlGaN-based Deep-Ultraviolet Light-Emitting Diode
Authors: Aman Mohammad Amirul Hairol , Noorden Ahmad Fakhrurrazi Ahmad , Daud Suzairi , Danial Wan Hazman 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
The deep-ultraviolet light-emitting diode (DUV-LED) has been applied in various fields such as the medical sector, plant lighting, UV curing, sensing, and sterilization. Alas, the issue of low internal quantum efficiency (IQE) due to the defects in the epitaxial layer has become an obstacle in developing and improving the performance of the DUV-LED. In this regard, the electron blocking layer (EBL) and hole blocking layer (HBL) is one of the means to obtain DUV-LED with high IQE. The EBL main purposes are to block the overflow of carriers and improve the carrier confinement in the active region, hence enhance the radiative recombination of the DUV-LED. Employing the blocking layers via controlled-polarization offers significant advantage to the DUV-LED. Two structures of AlGaN-based DUV-LED emitting UVB wavelength spectrum were simulated and investigated, (1) LED A (reference LED) with the absence of EBL and HBL, and (2) LED B with the presence of EBL and HBL. The numerical analysis covers the optoelectronics performance parameters of the chips such as band diagram, carrier concentrations, radiative recombination rates, luminescence spectrum and IQE. A novel approach for quantifying the confinement ability called the integral confinement factor (ICF) is introduced to analyze the carrier for the blocking layers. It is found that with the presence of EBL and HBL in the DUV-LED structure, the luminescence intensity and IQE have been amplified by 16% and 50% compared to the reference LED, respectively.
One stage bilateral total hip arthroplasty with direct anterior approach and fast-track protocols: a prospective study on the first 38 patients.
Authors: Vavalle Giovanni , Monteleone Gaetano , Martinelli Andrea , Fortunato Francesco , Piccolo Giuseppe 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Background: Simultaneous bilateral total hip arthroplasty could represent a reasonable option in patients affected by end-stage bilateral arthritis of the hip. One-stage bilateral total hip arthroplasty (1-SBTHA) includes a single hospital stay, a shorter rehabilitation time, and decreased management costs per patient. However, there are concerns regarding the possible increase of intraoperative e postoperative complications. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the advantages associated with the direct anterior approach (DAA) in combination with the application of Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) pathway, could ensure the efficacy and safety of simultaneous bilateral total hip arthroplasty (THA).
Materials and Method: A prospective single centre clinical study was conducted on 38 patients (25 men and 13 women) who underwent one-stage bilateral THA through the DAA between May 2019 and April 2023 at our institution. The mean age was 61.8 years (range 50 to 74 years) and the mean last follow-up was 6 months (range 5 to 7 months). Hospital length of stay, surgical time, blood transfusions and complications were documented. Functional outcomes and pain were assessed using Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), Oxford Hip Score (OHS), Forgotten Joint Score (FJS) and Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NRS).
Results: The mean hospital length of stay was 6.4 days (range 5 to 10 days), and the mean surgery time was 145.1 minutes (range 90 to 185 minutes). Mean blood Hb levels were 14.5 ± 1.1 g/dL before the surgery and 10.4 ± 1.0 g/dL 72 hours after the surgery. Only 8 patients (21 %) received a unit of allogenic blood transfusion. No perioperative deaths were recorded. No thromboembolism or other systemic complications occurred.
The functional and pain scores improved statistically from preoperatively to the last follow-up.
Conclusions: Our results suggest that simultaneous bilateral THA performed using a tissue-sparing approach (DAA) and a fast-track pathway for optimisation of perioperative management with multidisciplinary approaches, can be considered a safe and effective method of treatment in well selected patients with severe bilateral hip arthritis
Strong electron-phonon coupling and predicted high superconducting transition temperature of MXenesrevealed in 2H-Mo2N under biaxial stress
Authors: Kotmool Komsilp , Tsuppayakorn-aek Prutthipong , Bovornratanaraks Thiti , Kaewmaraya Thanayut , Sakdanuphab Rachsak , Sakulkalavek Aparporn , Ahuja Rajeev , Luo Wei 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
Superconducting Mo-based MXenes have been intensively investigated due to their superior Tc values compared with other MXenes. This work reports the unexpectedly strong electron-phonon coupling (EPC) and the highest Tc record (≈ 38 K) among the MXenes revealed in the 2H-Mo2N under biaxial stress. At first, its excellent mechanical properties are demonstrated with an ideal strength of 37 GPa and elastic modulus of 438 GPa. We found that the nature of covalent bonding between the Natoms contributes to the extraordinary stiffness and elasticity of 2H-Mo2N compared with the 1T counterpart. Subsequently, EPC and corresponding Tc are elucidated upon the dynamically stable strain range. For strain-free 2H-Mo2N, the EPC constant(λ) and Tc are 1.3 and 22.7 K, respectively. This Tc is significantly higher than those of 2H-Mo2C (4.3 K), 1T-Mo2N (16.8 K), and other pristine MXenes. The material exhibits substantial improvement in λ and Tc when subjected to compressive and tensile stresses. The obvious strong EPC with λ over 2.0 occurs at strains of -4%, -2.5%, and 5%, yielding Tc’s of 37.8, 35.4, and 28.9 K, respectively. Our findings suggest that the strain-dependent feature and energy levels of electronic bands play an essential role in enhancing EPC. Moreover, the stronger EPC in Mo2N compared with Mo2C is clarified based on lattice vibrations. Therefore, this work paves a practical approach for designing 2D superconducting materials using tuning atomic recipes and strain-dependent engineering.
Near Optimal Algorithm for Fault Tolerant Distance Oracle and Single Source Replacement Path problem
Authors: Dey Dipan , Gupta Manoj 
Published: December 2023

Abstract
In a graph G with fixed source s, we design a distance oracle that can answer the following query: QU(s,t,e) -- find the length of the shortest path from the source s to any destination vertex t while avoiding any edge e. We design a deterministic algorithm that builds such an oracle in $\Tilde{O}(m\sqrt n)$ time\footnote{$\Tilde{O}$ hides poly$\log n$ factor} \footnote{A preliminary version of this article appeared in the Proceedings of 30th Annual European Symposium on Algorithms (ESA 2022), 5-9 September 2022, Potsdam, Germany \cite{DeyGupta} }. Our oracle uses $\Tilde{O}(n\sqrt n)$ space and can answer queries in $\Tilde{O}(1)$ time. Our oracle is an improvement of the work of Bil\'{o} et al. (ESA 2021) in the preprocessing time, which constructs the first deterministic oracle for this problem in $\Tilde{O}(m\sqrt n+n^2)$ time.
Using our distance oracle, we also solve the single source replacement path problem (SSRP problem).Chechik and Cohen (SODA 2019) designed a randomised combinatorial algorithm to solve the $\SSR$ problem. The running time of their algorithm is $\Tilde{O}(m\sqrt n + |R|)$ time, where R is the output set of the SSRP problem in G. Our SSRP algorithm is optimal (upto polylogarithmic factor) as there is a conditional lower bound of $\Omega(m\sqrt n)$ for any combinatorial algorithm that solves this problem.