bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
“Almost entirely a medical war”: The South African Medical Corps in East Africa, 1940–1941
Authors: van der Waag Ian 
Published: June 2023

Abstract
The first major theatre of operations during the Second World War in which South African forces fought was East Africa. Key to the South African role in the campaign was the formation of the 1st sa Infantry Division in 1940. A range of medical units were under command. Using a ‘bottom-up’ view, this article – using a range of personal accounts, which complement richly veined material at the Department of Defence Archives in Pretoria – examines the service they rendered against the backdrop of the policy framework and theatre challenges. It reveals the connection medical personnel experienced between the motives that animated other South African men and women to volunteer for wartime service – travel, adventure, patriotism – and their professional ambitions regarding the growth of medical science in the fluid and varied conditions of a modern war. Sometimes the learning curve was steep; progress depended on good leadership and innovation of practice under often-extreme circumstances. But, as this article contends, they adapted to local conditions, trained on the job, and gained experience and battle-hardiness as the campaign progressed. Steady improvement and the growing size and sophistication of the Allied medical deployment led to remarkably few admissions – and fewer fatalities – from preventable illnesses and diseases as well as improving practice in the treatment and evacuation of patients from vast operational areas characterised by exterior lines and rapidly lengthening supply lines.
Emotional Profiles of Anxiety, Depression, and Stress: Differences in School Anxiety
Authors: Vicent María , Suriá Raquel , Gonzálvez Carolina , Aparicio-Flores María del Pilar , Sanmartín Ricardo , García-Fernández José Manuel 
Published: June 2023

Introduction This study aims to confirm the existence of profiles according to the combinations of anxiety, depression, and stress, and looks to examine the differences between profiles according to the mean scores obtained in school anxiety. Methods A total of 1,234 Spanish students at the secondary education level with an age range of 13–16 years old ( M = 14.52; SD = 1.24) participated in the study by completing the abbreviated version of the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21) and the School Anxiety Inventory. Results The results showed positive, statistically significant, and moderate-sized correlations between all the variables analyzed. The Latent Profile Analysis identified four distinct profiles of depression, anxiety, and stress: Low DAS, Moderate DAS, High DAS, and Very High DAS. The results of the MANOVA showed statistically significant differences between these profiles regarding the school anxiety dimensions, with the profiles Very High DAS and Low DAS being the ones that reported, respectively, the highest and lowest levels in all the school anxiety components. Post hoc analyses revealed significant differences for the large part of profile comparisons, with there being large and moderate differences observed in the majority of cases ( d = .30 and 1.66). Conclusions The results show the importance of considering social anxiety as a construct that is strongly associated with emotional problems such as depression, anxiety, and stress when developing effective actions to detect them and intervene with adolescents.
Civic Engagement and Resisting “Docile Bodies” in Postsecondary Education
Authors: Stewart D-L 
Published: June 2023

Background/Context: Robust civic engagement by young adults supports the aims of a democratic society, as well as college- and university-espoused commitments to the public good. Civic engagement also benefits students themselves. Although voting participation among young adults has shown modest increases from 2016 to 2020, work remains to be done to help youth become more engaged in civics. Postsecondary education has the tools to support this engagement among college students. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: Postsecondary education has long sought to support young adults to participate in democratic society, despite the current dominance of a neoliberal focus on career and socioeconomic mobility outcomes. A realignment of goal-setting is necessary to recognize the need to do more than produce “docile bodies” for a neoliberal and capitalist labor market. Yet, colleges and universities struggle to center equity goals that would support radical democratic engagement. Research Design: This article is a philosophical analysis of the intersection of civic education, democracy, and equity in the postsecondary curriculum. Conclusions/Recommendations: The article concludes with four policy recommendations: (1) access to federal and state funding for postsecondary institutions for civic engagement initiatives; (2) support for the freedom to learn and the freedom to teach material grounded in equity principles, including critical race theory; (3) assessing civic education as a core learning outcome through collaborations between postsecondary education and government initiatives; and (4) protecting the methods by which young adults in college can participate in the electoral process.
Centering Youth of Color Activism and Knowledge in the Critical Race Theory Debates
Authors: Boveda Leah , Boveda Mildred 
Published: June 2023

Background/Context: Leah Boveda, a sophomore at Brown University, collaborated with her mother—Mildred Boveda, an intersectional studies scholar situated in special education and teacher education—to make sense of her high school community activism in Arizona. They retrace how Leah’s experiences eventually shaped her understandings of and participation in adult-centered conversations about critical race theory bans. This daughter–mother authorial team offers lessons learned from Leah’s youth mobilizations and how they may inform education research about youth activists of color. Research Design: Using an intersectionally conscious, collaborative approach and a daughtering analytical framing, the authors revisited Leah’s high school youth activism. In addition to their memories, they returned to written documents, such as a 2019 interview between Leah and a correspondent at The New York Times, her notes from a 5-minute speech presented at a CRT summit, and shared files for a panel presentation that Leah gave as an assistant “faculty” member for the July 2021 CRT Summer School. The authors consider how Leah’s youth mobilization may inform how adults—whether educators, researchers, or policymakers—engage youths of color in the CRT debates. Conclusions/Recommendations: The authors analyzed how the adults Leah collaborated with engaged youth voice, including at events where student perspectives about CRT bans were invited. In her daughtering role, Leah both appreciated and pushed the nurturing adults in her life. The authorial team unveils how youth activists of color must deal with not only racialized oppression, but also the pressure to achieve proximity to adults in order to be heard and respected.
The histamine system and cognitive function: An in vivo H3 receptor PET imaging study in healthy volunteers and patients with schizophrenia
Authors: Arumuham Atheeshaan , Nour Matthew M , Veronese Mattia , Onwordi Ellis Chika , Rabiner Eugenii A , Howes Oliver D 
Published: June 2023

Background: The histamine-3 receptor (H3R) is an auto- and heteroreceptor that inhibits the release of histamine and other neurotransmitters. Post-mortem evidence has found altered H3R expression in patients with psychotic disorders, which may underlie cognitive impairment associated with schizophrenia (CIAS). Aims: We used positron emission tomography (PET) imaging to compare brain uptake of an H3R selective tracer between patients with schizophrenia and matched controls (healthy individuals). Regions of interest included the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) and striatum. We explored correlations between tracer uptake and symptoms, including cognitive domains. Methods: A total of 12 patients and 12 matched controls were recruited to the study and were assessed with psychiatric and cognitive rating scales. They received a PET scan using the H3R-specific radioligand [11C]MK-8278 to determine H3R availability. Results: There was no statistically significant difference in tracer uptake between patients and controls in the DLPFC ( t19 = 0.79, p = 0.44) or striatum (t21 = 1.18, p = 0.25). An exploratory analysis found evidence for lower volume of distribution in the left cuneus (pFWE-corrected = 0.01). DLPFC tracer uptake was strongly correlated with cognition in controls (trail making test (TMT) A: r = 0.77, p = 0.006; TMT B: rho = 0.74, p = 0.01), but not in patients (TMT A: r = −0.18, p = 0.62; TMT B: rho = −0.06, p = 0.81). Conclusions: These findings indicate H3R in the DLPFC might play a role in executive function and this is disrupted in schizophrenia in the absence of major alterations in H3R availability as assessed using a selective radiotracer for H3R. This provides further evidence for the role of H3R in CIAS.
Architecting oxidized alginate methacrylate hydrogels with tunable characteristics by altering the sequence of the cross-linking steps, methacrylation reaction time, and polymer concentration
Authors: Jalali Kandeloos A , Bastani S , Mashayekhan S 
Published: June 2023

In this study, biodegradable oxidized methacrylated alginate (OMA) hydrogels with controllable mechanical properties were engineered. An ionic and photo cross-linking combination was employed to fabricate dual cross-linked hydrogels. By altering the degree of methacrylation and polymer concentration, hydrogels with an elastic modulus of 4.85 ± 0.13 to 21.02 ± 0.91 kPa, controllable swelling, and degradation kinetics, and cross-link density in the range of 1.0 × 10−5 to 6.5 × 10−5 mol/cm3 were obtained. Moreover, evaluating the effect of cross-linking sequence on the hydrogels’ mechanical properties demonstrated that in comparison to the hydrogels fabricated by ionic cross-linking followed by photo-polymerization, hydrogels produced by photo-polymerization followed by ionic cross-linking retain a stiffer gel network with more compact structure. Cytocompatibility examination was performed via MTT assay against L929 fibroblasts, and all the hydrogel samples demonstrated high cell viability (>80%). The findings demonstrate the significant effect of the sequence of cross-linking as a novel tool to tune the OMA hydrogel’s final properties which can serve as a useful platform for tissue engineering applications.
The impact of short-wave effects on deterioration of track geometry
Authors: Loidolt Markus , Marschnig Stefan 
Published: June 2023

Short wavelength rail defects or short-wave effects of rail have a significant influence on the system behaviour of railways. The influence of additional dynamic loads due to short-wave effects on component wear and the general quality behaviour of track is shown by several research papers. However, the described effect cannot yet be quantified comprehensively. This paper attempts to fill this gap. With the help of extensive data analysis, we can show that short-wave effects lead to a track geometry that is up to 50% worse than on average. Furthermore, we show examples illustrating the influence of untreated welded joints on the development of isolated defects of the track geometry. A detailed in-depth analysis of sections with different boundary conditions finally shows that short-wave effects have a significant influence on track geometry if the amplitude of the effect exceeds 0.15 mm. This value can be recommended as a threshold value in Austria and as a reference value in other countries.
Feto-maternal outcomes of pregnancies in women with SLE: Experience from a tertiary care center of Asia
Authors: Dur-e-Shahwar  , Tanwir Tabeer , Raza Amir , Riaz Mehmood , Malik Ayesha , Ilyas Shehla 
Published: June 2023

Objective We aim to quantify the risk of maternal and fetal complications in patients with SLE in order to identify the impact of SLE on pregnancy and of pregnancy on SLE. Methods This retrospective record review study was conducted in Aga khan university hospital, Karachi, from Jan 1998 to Dec 2019. All pregnant patients with SLE diagnosed and delivered during this time were included in the study. Categorical variables were analyzed by using chi-square test and fisher exact test. Whereas quantitative point estimate was estimated as mean and SD. We matched the data and computed crude odds ratio of pre-eclamptic patients with respect to age of conception, gravida, and body mass index in both case and control group. Results The SLE disease activity was monitored during pregnancy under SLEDAI-2K Scoring system. The patients with mild (25.6%) and moderate (25.6%) disease activity were prevalent and most antenatal patients (51.7%) had flare up in third trimester. Adverse maternal outcomes include pre-eclampsia (28.8%), eclampsia (3.2%), cesarean section (57.6%), and thrombocytopenia (9.6%), whereas perinatal outcomes includes intrauterine growth retardation (24%), preterm birth <34 weeks (19.2%) and <37 weeks (63.2%), APGAR Score < 7 at 1 min (5.6%), and neonatal death (5.6%) found to be statistically significant in between two groups There were more high-risk patients (42) with positive IgG (88%), IgM (83.3%), and lupus anticoagulant (33.3%) as compared to low-risk APS group. Conclusion Planned pregnancy and less severe disease flares during pregnancy is associated with more favorable feto-maternal outcomes.
A mechanical, thermal and electrical properties study of novel vulcanised blends of poly(epichlorohydrin) elastomer with polyaniline dodecylbenzenesulfonate
Authors: Bakhtiarian Elaheh , Foot Peter JS 
Published: June 2023

With good mechanical and thermal properties, elastomers having appreciable electrical conductivity may potentially be developed as smart materials for applications such as strain sensors, artificial muscles or flexible biosensors. With such applications in mind, the purpose of this study was to investigate the structure-properties relationships of new vulcanised blends of a poly (epichlorohydrin) elastomer (PECH) and electrically-conducting polyaniline dodecylbenzenesulfonate salt (PAni.DBSA). PAni.DBSA, synthesised by a published method, was blended with PECH and vulcanised with a commercial sulfur cross-linking agent in an internal mixer. The morphological, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties were examined as a function of the amount of PAni.DBSA in the blends. The electrical conductivities increased with the proportion of polyaniline, showing a low percolation threshold of about 1 wt. % (1.07 vol %) PAni.DBSA (from about 10−12 to 10−10 S cm−1), and a second stage of percolation around 5 wt.%, ultimately reaching around 3 × 10−8 S cm−1. The results from microscopy and other techniques indicated that a mixture of micro- and nano-sized PAni.DBSA particles was dispersed in the elastomer matrix at compositions above 5 wt. % PAni.DBSA. The infrared spectra of vulcanised PECH-PAni.DBSA blends showed features of the pure polymers, with some notable peak shifts due to intermolecular interactions between the constituents. Thermal properties of the conductive blends were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The thermal stabilities of the blends were strongly dependent on the ratio of PAni.DBSA to PECH, and the two components inhibited the thermal decomposition of each other. The elastomer’s glass transition temperature (Tg) was determined by thermomechanical analysis (TMA); each blend showed only one such transition, at temperatures that increased monotonically with the proportion of PAni.DBSA present, indicating a significant degree of molecular interaction between the two polymers.
How does Subcontracting Affect the Performance of the Informal Enterprise? Source of Advancement or Exploitation?
Authors: Ghosh Soumen , Mitra Srija 
Published: June 2023

In recent times, both developing and developed countries have witnessed the existence of the informal economy along with its formal counterpart, and India is not an exception. The informal sector is significant to the Indian economy in terms of its contribution to GDP and employment generation. Therefore, evaluating the performance of this sector is important in terms of the growth of the Indian economy for further policy formulation. This study is purported to examine the performance of the informal enterprises in the Indian economy. The performance of informal enterprises is examined across a variety of factors, including ownership type, location, sector, enterprise type, and so on, to get a more complete picture. In addition, it is also analysing the determining factors of informal firm performance, paying particular attention to the outsourcing or subcontracting of the informal firms in all the subsegments. The study has used ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to examine the determining factors. For the empirical analysis, it has used National Sample Survey 73rd Round (2015–2016) microdata on unincorporated non-agricultural enterprises. The results show that urban informal enterprises are performing well compared to their rural counterparts, though inter and intra-sectoral heterogeneity has been observed across ownership type, location, sector, and enterprise type. It is also noticed that formal–informal interlinkage in terms of subcontracting is mostly exploitative in nature, with only a tiny portion of the informal enterprises benefiting from it. Subcontracting has a negative impact on the performance of rural enterprises, but it has a mixed effect on the performance of urban informal firms.
Percutaneous Partial Bone Excision in the Management of Diabetic Toe Osteomyelitis
Authors: Moosa Sameh R. , Allan Ali H. , Younes Amr N. , Bakri Faris G. , Younes Nidal A. 
Published: June 2023

Background: Diabetic foot osteomyelitis affecting the toes is associated with several complications including amputation. Management is variable and include medical therapy alone or coupled with surgery. Removal of infected tissues is a common therapeutic option. However, limited source data are available. This study determines the outcome and complications of percutaneous partial bone excision (PPBE) of infected bone among diabetic patients with toe osteomyelitis. Methods: This is an uncontrolled experimental prospective study in diabetic patients who underwent PPBE of infected pieces of bone for toe osteomyelitis in the outpatient setting at a single foot clinic. All participants were followed up until the occurrence of wound healing or amputation. Results: Forty-seven patients (mean ± SD age was 62.8 ± 11.6 years) participated. Forty-four patients (93.6%) had complete healing and 3 (6.4%) required toe amputation. The mean (±SD) wound healing time was 11 (±4.6) (range, 7-22) weeks. Diabetes mellitus type 1 and younger age were significantly associated with increased risk for amputation. Conclusion: PPBE of infected toes in diabetic patients can be performed successfully and safely in the outpatient clinic. It can also improve healing and avoids inpatient stay. Level of Evidence: Level II, prospective cohort study.
Leveraging School and University Partnerships to Provide Accelerated English Language Arts Instruction to Gifted and High Potential Middle School Learners
Authors: Boyle Colleen S. , Carpenter Ashley Y. 
Published: June 2023

Project OCCAMS is an accelerated English language arts curriculum and delivery model for high ability middle school learners. This program was initially developed in a research-practitioner partnership with two universities and a state department of education. Over 6 years, it was implemented in Columbus City Schools, Ohio’s largest urban school district, through careful collaboration with the district’s gifted department and other district teams responsible for day-to-day school operations. This article explores strategies for establishing and sustaining partnerships among organizations, both externally and internally, to develop innovative programs to benefit gifted students, such as those developed during Project OCCAMS.
Adverse Childhood Experiences and Tobacco Use Patterns Among Adults in the United States: Exploring sex differences
Authors: Osibogun Olatokunbo , Erinoso Olufemi , Li Wei , Kalan Mohammad Ebrahimi , Bursac Zoran , Osibogun Akin 
Published: June 2023

Objective Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which refer to childhood traumatic events, have been identified as risk factors for tobacco use in adulthood. However, studies are limited on the effect of sex on the association of ACEs with e-cigarettes and dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes. This study explored sex differences in the association of ACEs with e-cigarettes, cigarettes, and dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes among adults in the United States. Methods This was a cross-sectional analysis of data from adults aged ≥18 years in the 2020 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System ( N = 62,768). ACEs, the independent variable, was a composite score assessed from 11 questions (with responses yes—1 or no/never—0) related to childhood emotional abuse, physical abuse, sexual abuse, and household dysfunction and categorized as 0 (reference), 1, 2, 3, or ≥4. The dependent variable, tobacco use patterns, included nonuse (reference), e-cigarette only, cigarette only, and dual use of e-cigarettes and cigarettes. Multinomial logistic regression was performed to test the interaction between sex and ACEs while controlling for potential confounders. Results Although we found no statistically significant interaction by sex, a greater number of ACEs were associated with higher odds of the different tobacco use patterns among females and males, with varying strengths of associations. Specifically, females who reported ≥4 ACEs compared with none had higher odds of e-cigarette (aOR [95% CI]: 3.58 [1.49–8.63]), cigarette (2.57 [1.72–3.83]) and dual use (3.25 [1.79–5.91]) relative to nonuse. Males with ≥4 ACEs had higher odds of cigarette (1.75 [1.15–2.65]) and dual use (7.64 [3.95–14.79]). Conclusion Our findings underscore the importance of developing appropriate, tailored trauma-informed intervention strategies for females and males. It is also important to consider ACEs in designing tobacco-specific preventive programs to curb initiation and promote cessation among U.S. adults.