bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Investigating the prevalence of diabetic complications in overweight/obese patients: a study in a tertiary hospital in Malaysia
Authors: Shaharuddin Shazwani , Thuraisingam Shobna , Daud Noorul Aimi , Shafie Sarah Diyana , Krishnan Sunanthiny , Kow Chia Siang , Appalasamy Jamuna Rani , Ramachandram Dinesh Sangarran 
Published: September 2022

Abstract
Background
In Malaysia, although diabetes accounts for more than 70% of all deaths, it is unclear how it relates to BMI and diabetic complications. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of obesity and diabetic complications among diabetic patients in Malaysia.

Materials and methods
A cross-sectional study using an existing clinical registry was performed from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 at Hospital Serdang, Malaysia. Adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus had their medical records examined for disease complications, as reported by the patient at first contact with the DMTAC pharmacist.

Results
The study comprised a total of 495 participants with an average HbA1c of 10.5%. About 91% (n = 451) of the 495 patients were obese/overweight. Around 37.8% (n = 187) of diabetic patients are between the ages of 50 and 59, and 59% (n = 292) have had diabetes for less than 10 years. A total of 8.5% (n = 42) and 9.7% (n = 48) consume alcohol and smoke, respectively. Around 29.9% (n = 148) had one other comorbidity (hypertension or dyslipidemia), and 63.4% (n = 314) had two comorbidities. Regarding the prevalence of complications, there were 18.9% (n = 94) who had myocardial infarction, 11.1% (n = 55) who had stroke, and 9% (n = 45) who had CKD. Age (adjusted OR = 1.03; 95% CI 1.00 to 1.07; p = 0.041) and hypertension (adjusted OR = 4.06; 95% CI 1.21 to 13.60; p = 0.023) were significantly related with the prevalence of complications in patients with diabetes.

Conclusion
In our study, a BMI of more than 23 kg/m2 (obese/overweight) does not seem to be associated with the prevalence of complications. Age and hypertension, on the other hand, appear to be strong risk predictors of the incidence of complications. With the understanding of the recent outlook on diabetes, it is recommended that public education on the targeted population should be encouraged to negate these complications.
Scope for feed-in tariff in a hydro-rich energy market−a case of Bhutan
Authors: Dukpa Andu 
Published: September 2022

AbstractTo promote the use of renewable energy (RE), several types of RE policies have been implemented globally. Among these, feed-in tariff (FiT) is one of the most accepted mechanisms of pricing policy. However, choosing the best policy for a market with a high RE penetration is a challenge. A case of Bhutan is considered in this paper as the source of electrical energy is predominantly hydropower. Additionally, a generous subsidy is provided by the government to keep the electricity tariff to a minimum. Recently, there has been an increase in the advocacy and motivation for other forms of RE sources (RES) to supplement hydropower and increase energy security in Bhutan. Bhutan aims to achieve a total of 20 MW of non-hydro RES by 2025 as per the RE policy of Bhutan. However, Bhutan still does not have an RE pricing policy, and therefore, there is a need to institute a suitable pricing mechanism to accommodate the penetration of the planned non-hydro RES. This paper discusses the challenges in introducing FiT for non-hydro RES in an electricity market dominated by hydropower in Bhutan. Subsequently, recommendations are made in the wake of subsidised electricity tariff, which is the lowest in the region at 0.0171 USD/kWh for low voltage customers. FiTs for solar photovoltaic based on different categories of customers have been computed and proposed.
Resilience and Wellbeing Strategies for Pandemic Fatigue in Times of Covid-19
Authors: Zarowsky Zachary , Rashid Tayyab 
Published: September 2022

Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic is truly one of the greatest collective health crises in history which have altered our life and living. For years, people have felt fatigued from following public health directives such as social distancing, wearing masks, washing hands frequently, and working or studying remotely without in-person interactions. In this paper, we explore strategies for resilience and wellbeing which can mitigate pandemic-caused stress and behavioural fatigue. We start with individual level strategies including reworking stress appraisals, the importance of psychological flexibility, reducing loneliness through adaptive online platform use, optimizing familial relationships when living in close quarters for a prolonged period, reducing symptoms of burnout and using adaptive distractions, using specific evidence-based resilience strategies. We discuss specific considerations which tap on our shared identities and shared responsibilities which can enhance a sense of community, especially for individuals from marginalized backgrounds and how suicide risks can be minimized.
Influence of sodium-based activators and water content on the fresh and hardened properties of metakaolin geopolymers
Authors: Segura Isabel Pol , Jensen Peter Arendt , Damø Anne Juul , Ranjbar Navid , Jensen Lars Skaarup , Canut Mariana 
Published: September 2022

AbstractSeveral studies explore optimal molar oxide ratios for metakaolin geopolymer production. However, there is not a consensus on the optimal mix, and within similar range large differences in compressive strength are reported, and consequently in the overall performance. Hence, the present work selects a specific molar oxide ratio that leads to strengths above 30 MPa (SiO2/Al2O3 ratio of 3.19, a Na2O/Al2O3 of 1.00, and a water-to-solids ratio of 0.52), and investigates the individual effect of the sodium-based activators (NaOH and Na2SiO3) and the water content on fresh and hardened properties of metakaolin geopolymers. The tested properties include the rheology, setting time, mass loss, shrinkage, density and compressive strength. The test results show that an increase of water content (water-to-solids > 0.52) and increase of NaOH (Na2O/Al2O3 > 1.03) have the largest impact, showing a detrimental effect on both fresh and hardened properties. Moreover, the best results are obtained when using molar ratios of SiO2/Al2O3 at 3.14, Na2O/Al2O3 at 0.97 and a water-to-solids ratio of 0.51, which is within the range of optimum molar ratios from previous studies. The tests are further supplemented by Thermogravimetric analysis/Differential scanning calorimetry (TGA/DSC), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD).
Optimizing compressive strength of sand treated with MICP using response surface methodology
Authors: Erdmann N. , de Payrebrune K. M. , Ulber R. , Strieth D. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractIn the present study, the optimization of the microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) to produce biosandstone regarding the compressive strength is shown. For the biosandstone production, quartz sand was treated sequentially with the ureolytic microorganism Sporosarcina pasteurii (ATCC 11859) and a reagent containing urea and calcium chloride. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to investigate the influence of urea concentration, calcium chloride concentration and the volume of cell suspension on the compressive strength of produced biosandstone. A central composite design (CCD) was employed, and the resulting experimental data applied to a quadratic model. The statistical significance of the model was verified by experimental data (R2 = 0.9305). Optimized values for the concentration of urea and calcium chloride were 1492 mM and 1391 mM. For the volume of cell suspension during treatment 7.47 mL was determined as the optimum. Specimen treated under these conditions achieved a compressive strength of 1877 ± 240 kPa. This is an improvement of 144% over specimen treated with a reagent that is commonly used in literature (1000 mM urea/1000 mM CaCl2). This protocol allows for a more efficient production of biosandstone in future research regarding MICP.
A Multicriteria Analysis of Life Satisfaction: Assessing Trust and Distance Effects
Authors: Daskalopoulou Irene , Karakitsiou Athanasia , Malliou Christina 
Published: September 2022

AbstractSustainable societies require that a diverse set of risks (e.g. socio-economic, environmental, political and cultural) that intervene with peoples’ wellbeing levels are systematically addressed. Here we focus on life satisfaction and the social cohesion effects driven from the perceptions of others in contemporary societies. We postulate that perceptions of risk as drawn from ‘otherness’ are dependent upon citizens’ evaluations of trust in key societal institutions and their perceptions of civic (socio-economic and cultural) distance. Trust is a risk mitigation factor whereas distance exacerbates perceptions of exposure to various risk parameters. This constitutes a complex policy intervention challenge suggesting that the use of decision-making tools that are able to handle a large set of information is appropriate. To that extent, we propose the use of a hybrid TOPSIS-Entropy multicriteria technique and test our trust and distance risk effects hypotheses using case study data for Greece. After controlling for the socio-demographic and economic profile of respondents, we provide support for the role of trust in institutions and feelings of distance as determinants of life satisfaction. Important policy level implications are derived on the basis of these findings. Improvements in life satisfaction might be seen as policy interventions that aim at improving civil society institutions. Interventions might involve formal and/or informal institutions that affect both objective (e.g. safety/crime) and subjective (e.g. feelings of safety/disorder) quality of life judgements.
The Elephant in the Room: The Implications of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) proliferation in Kenya for Archiving and Historical Research
Authors: Musandu Phoebe 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThis paper analyzes the implications of ICT for the preservation of publicly owned digital records in Kenya. It examines both efforts to digitize traditional records and the issue of the preservation of born digital records. The study finds that there is a considerable lag between the rate at which the Kenyan government is digitizing its operations and that at which it is developing and implementing protocols and systems for preserving digitally born records. This will impact both historical research and national heritage in future.
Successes and challenges of the Home-grown School Feeding Program in Sidama Region, Southern Ethiopia: a qualitative study
Authors: Desalegn Tsion A. , Gebremedhin Samson , Stoecker Barbara J. 
Published: September 2022

Abstract
The Home-grown School Feeding Program (HG-SFP) is a model designed to provide school meals to students using foods sourced from local markets. HG-SFP recently has been incorporated as one of the strategies of educational development in Ethiopia aiming to address hunger and food insecurity problems of school children. Yet, evaluation of the successes and challenges of the program has been limited evaluated. The purpose of the present study was to explore the successes and challenges of the SFP in Sidama Region, Southern Ethiopia. This exploratory qualitative study collected data from eight schools targeted for HG-SFP through key informant interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs). A total of sixteen FGDs and twenty-one in-depth interviews were conducted. Purposive sampling was used to include study participants based on their potential relevance in delivering in-depth information. The findings of the present study showed that HG-SFP was successful in improving class attendance and academic performance of school children. In addition, the program had a contribution in saving the parents’ money and time as a result of the food provided. With regard to SFP challenges, lack of permanent clean water provision, delay in ration delivery, poor-quality food provision, inadequate amount of food allocated for the academic year, lack of necessary infrastructure for the program, and lack of training in sanitation and hygiene for cooks were among the major challenges identified. Therefore, program challenges need high-level attention in order to make the school feeding program more successful in Sidama Region, Ethiopia.
‘Its name is Awetasc’: devices and the everyday life of people with physical disability in Ethiopia
Authors: De Silva Virginia 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThis article aims to shed light on the institutions involved in spreading a ‘culture of rehabilitation’ and distributing devices (crutches, wheelchairs and protheses) in Tigray, where rehabilitation is strictly bound to the development agenda and to the ‘modernization’ of the country. Moreover, it questions the ways in which people, in practice, deal with such devices: in some cases, they are perceived as useful; in others, they are considered as something requiring a hard process of adjustment and marking a bodily difference. How is the ‘deviced’ body experienced? Are there some ‘techniques of the body’ that resist the biopolitical devices imposed by the culture of rehabilitation? I answer these questions through evidence collected during ethnographic fieldwork carried out between October 2014 and August 2015 in the regional state of Tigray, Ethiopia.
Long-Term Change in Conflict Attitudes: A Dynamic Perspective
Authors: Yakter Alon , Harsgor Liran 
Published: September 2022

AbstractA large literature examines how citizens in violent conflicts react to the conflict's events, particularly violent escalations. Nevertheless, the temporal nature of these attitudinal changes remains under-studied. We suggest that popular reactions to greater violence are typically immediate but brief, indicating short-term emotional responses to physical threats. Over the longer term, however, public opinion is more commonly shaped by non-violent events signaling the adversary's perceived intentions, reflecting slower but deeper belief-updating processes. We support this argument using dynamic analyses of comprehensive monthly data from Israel spanning two full decades (2001–20). Rather than violence levels, we find that long-term changes in Jewish attitudes on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict follow non-violent events implying Palestinian preferences, particularly failed negotiations and out-group leadership changes. Our findings underscore the importance of public opinion's temporal dynamics and show that non-violent events, which are often overlooked in the literature, play a prominent role in shaping long-term attitudes in conflictual contexts.
Navigation for multi-humanoid using MFO-aided reinforcement learning approach
Authors: Kashyap Abhishek Kumar , Parhi Dayal R. , Kumar Vikas 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe given article emphasizes the development and modeling of a hybrid navigational controller to optimize the path length and time taken. The proposed navigational controller is developed by hybridizing the metaheuristic moth–flame optimization (MFO) approach and the reinforcement learning (RL) approach. Input parameters like obstacle and target locations are fed to the MFO controller that implements a proper navigational direction selection. It forwards to the RL controller, which exercises further refinement of the output turning angle around obstacles. The collaboration of the global MFO approach with the local-based RL approach helps to optimize the path traversed by the humanoid robot in an unknown environment. The major breakthrough in this article is the utilization of humanoid robots for navigation purposes between various checkpoints. The humanoid robots are placed in a cluttered environment and assigned specific target positions to complete the assigned tasks. In the case of a multi-humanoid robot system, to avoid self-collision, it requires a Petri-Net controller to be configured in the navigation system to prevent deadlock situations and enhance the smooth completion of tasks without inter-collision among the humanoid robots. Simulations and real-time experiments are undertaken using different controllers involving single- and multi-humanoid robot systems. The robustness of the proposed controller is also validated in dynamic environment. Comparisons are carried with an established navigational controller in a similar environmental setup, which proves the proposed hybrid controller to be robust and efficient.
Control in a Norwegian grammar maze
Authors: Larsen Tori , Johansson Christer 
Published: September 2022

AbstractCoreference processing of Control constructions and their pronoun-containing counterparts can be studied experimentally using priming or interference paradigms. We replicate findings in a priming study on non-finite Control constructions in Norwegian (Larsen & Johansson, 2020) and contrast them with their finite counterparts using interference effects in a grammatical maze (G-maze) design. We asked participants to read sentences word-by-word and to select the grammatically correct continuation from two options. When the ungrammatical option was a potential antecedent from within the sentence, we predicted interference, i.e., longer reaction times compared to an unrelated baseline. We observed a trend towards significant interference effects when a participant was presented with either of the potential noun phrase (NP) antecedents of PRO in competition with the infinitive marker (test position zero) during the processing of a Control sentence. This indicates reactivation of potential antecedents at the infinitive marker, and a reactivation position (PRO) near or at the infinitive marker. We also observed significant differences between Control constructions and their pronoun counterparts. A significant interference effect was recorded for Subject Pronoun constructions when either potential NP antecedent of the pronoun was presented in competition with the pronoun itself. A similar trend was recorded for Object Pronoun sentences.
‘This has not been done because it was not made any one's business to do it.’ Conserving Hyderabad city's Hussain Sagar tank in the late nineteenth century
Authors: Cohen Benjamin B. 
Published: September 2022

AbstractThe ability to capture, store and distribute water safely is fundamental to the health of urban and rural settlements alike. This is true for Hyderabad city, located in India's semi-arid Deccan region. I argue that an exegesis of the nineteenth-century conservation plans for Hyderabad's large, built water reservoir, Hussain Sagar, reveal multiple hydrosocial processes at work: class structures related to proximity and use of the lake's water; health concerns triggered by the water's ebb and flow; and enforcement challenges related to issues of shared governance. This article shows how conservation of a scarce resource brought together princely and colonial officials (often parsed along historiographical lines) to address a shared concern within an urban context. Such urban environmental co-operation offers a new princely urban perspective on the binaries of princely–colonial and/or ruler–ruled.
Consumption of foods with the Keyhole front-of-pack nutrition label: potential impact on energy and nutrient intakes of Swedish adolescents
Authors: Wanselius Julia , Larsson Christel , Berg Christina , Öhrvik Veronica , Lindroos Anna Karin , Lissner Lauren 
Published: September 2022

AbstractObjective:The Keyhole is an internationally recognised front-of-pack nutrition label, guiding consumers to healthier food options. It indicates products in accordance with specific criteria for dietary fats, sugars, fibres, salt and wholegrains. The objective of this study was to simulate the potential impact of the Keyhole on adolescents’ energy and nutrient intakes by modelling a shift from reported food intakes to foods meeting the Keyhole criteria.Design:Self-reported dietary intake data were derived from a cross-sectional survey. Multiple replacement scenarios were calculated, where foods meeting the Keyhole criteria replaced reported non-compliant foods with varying proportions of replacement.Setting:Dietary survey ‘Riksmaten Adolescents 2016–2017’ in schools across Sweden.Participants:A nationally representative sample of 3099 adolescents in school years 5, 8 and 11 (55 % girls).Results:Overall, replacement with foods meeting the Keyhole criteria led to more adolescents meeting nutrition recommendations. Largest median intake improvements were seen for wholegrains (+196 %), SFA (-13 %), PUFA (+17 %) and fibres (+15 %). Smallest improvements were seen for free sugars (-3 %) and salt (-2 %), partly explained by the ineligibility of main food sources of free sugars for the Keyhole, and non-inclusion of ready meals that are often high in salt. Most micronutrient intakes were stable or improved. Unintentional effects included decreases in vitamin A, MUFA and energy intakes. Largest potential improvements in fat and fibre sources were observed in the youngest age group.Conclusions:A shift to Keyhole alternatives for everyday foods would improve adolescents’ nutrient intakes, even with smaller exchanges.
Smutgrass (Sporobolus indicus) control in bahiagrass is improved with applications of herbicide and fertilizer
Authors: Shay Nicholas J. , Baxter Lisa L. , Basinger Nicholas T. , Schwartz Brian M. , Belcher Jason 
Published: September 2022

AbstractSmutgrass is an invasive weed species that can quickly outcompete bahiagrass because of its aggressive growth, prolific seed production, and rhizomatous nature. Total renovation of bahiagrass pastures or hayfields is generally not a feasible or economically viable option for most producers. Therefore, controlling the continual spread of smutgrass will require an integrated weed management (IWM) plan that incorporates multiple strategies. The objective of this study was to test the interactions of herbicides and fertilizers on smutgrass control in bahiagrass and determine the most efficacious and economical IWM plan for low-input bahiagrass systems. This research was conducted on a mixture of ‘Tifton 9’ and ‘Pensacola’ bahiagrass at the Alapaha Beef Station in Alapaha, GA. The study design was a randomized complete block with a three-by-four factorial treatment arrangement with six replications. Fertility treatments included 56 kg N ha–1 (ammonium nitrate, 34% N) + 56 kg K2O ha–1, 56 kg N ha–1, and an unfertilized control. Smutgrass was reduced to <15% ground coverage when a postemergent herbicide was applied. The addition of a preemergent herbicide and/or fertilizer further reduced the coverage of smutgrass (P < 0.01). As smutgrass declined, the bahiagrass ground coverage increased; other vegetation and dead material did not differ by treatment. Generally, herbage accumulation and crude protein were only affected following the second N application (P < 0.01). Treatments that included preemergent (indaziflam) and postemergent (hexazinone) herbicides in addition to N and K2O resulted in an improved bahiagrass stand as timely weed suppression removed competition, while fertilizer provided essential nutrients for optimum growth to fill in the gaps. Combining herbicide and fertilizer is a more economical option for producers when compared to a complete bahiagrass renovation.