bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Arbitration Clauses in Third Party Beneficiary Contracts  Who May and Who Must Arbitrate?
Authors: Meier Andrea , Setz Anna Lea 
Published: April 2022

In a third party beneficiary contract, two parties stipulate that performance is to be rendered to a third party. If a third party beneficiary contract contains an arbitration clause, a number of questions arise, e.g. who has the right to invoke the arbitration clause and who is under an obligation to do so. After a brief introduction to third party beneficiary contracts, this article discusses the pertinent issues on the basis of different scenarios before addressing the concern that third party beneficiary concepts could be abused as a means for unduly extending the arbitration agreement to third parties. According to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court and the prevailing view among legal scholars, the third party beneficiary to a genuine third party beneficiary contract has a right to invoke the contract’s arbitration clause, as it is annexed to the right to demand performance as an ancillary right. In the authors’ view, one should rather examine whether it was the intention of the parties to the contract to enter into an arbitration agreement with the third party beneficiary, an intention which generally has to be affirmed. A different question is whether the third party is also under an obligation to invoke the arbitration clause. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court has not yet decided this issue. In the authors’ view, such an obligation exists as a rule. Promisor and promise are free to subject the right they stipulate in favor of a third party to conditions, including the condition that the third party submit to the arbitration clause for disputes in connection with the third party beneficiary right. As a consequence, the third party can only make use of the right if it also accepts the arbitration clause.
Document Production: New Findings on an Old Issue
Authors: Marghitola Reto 
Published: April 2022

The current framework for evidentiary proceedings in international arbitration is marked by one set of rules, the IBA Rules, and conflicting interpretations of these rules. Contrary to the views of many commentaries, there is no abstract rule of what is sufficient to identify a document or a category of documents. Similarly, no technical rules exist for drawing adverse inferences. A successful document production strategy requires an early analysis which allows parties accurately to select its party-appointed arbitrator and to influence the establishment of the procedural rules. For this purpose, the suggested model clause for arbitration proceedings between parties expecting civil law proceedings may be used.
Observation of the bile canaliculi of <i>Puntius javanicus</i> liver affected by copper
Authors: Sabullah Mohd Khalizan , Shukor Mohd Yunus , Gansau Azlan Jualang , Gunasekaran Baskaran , Shamaan Nor Aripin , Sulaiman Mohd Rosni 
Published: April 2022

Investigation on in vivo effects of copper (Cu) on the ultrastructure of P. JavanicusÂ liver was carried out using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The addition of sublethal concentration of 5 mg/L of Cu caused abnormalities on the bile canaliculi (BC) including dilation and elongation compared to control and at lower concentrations of copper with a normal round shape form. Findings from this study support an alternative histological assessment of the effects of Cu concentration on P. Javanicus liver.
Growth Mathematical Modelling of the Effect of Cyanide on Pseudomonas putida (Naun-16)
Authors: Abdulrasheed Mansur , Hussein Ibrahim I. , Ahmad Ibrahim , Namadina Murtala M , Muhammad Fatima , Ibrahim Salihu 
Published: April 2022

Gold mining companies have been known to use cyanide to extract gold from minerals. The indiscriminate use of cyanide presents a major issue in the environment. The used of linearisation methods using natural logarithm transformation is inaccurate, even though is standard and can just give an estimated value for the sole parameter measured; the specific growth rate. In this study, various cyanide concentrations ranging from 0 - 350 mg/L was used. Seven different mathematical models such as such as modified Logistics, modified Gompertz, modified Richards, modified Schnute, Baranyi-Roberts, Von Bertalanffy and most recent Huang were used to get values for the above constants or parameters from bacterial growth Pseudomonas putida on cyanide. The best model was found to be modified Logistics with the lowest AICc and RMSE value. The modified Logistics parameters such as Ymax (bacterial growth upper asymptote), Î» (lag time), Âµmax (maximum specific bacterial growth rate) and A or Y0 (bacterial growth lower asymptote) were found to be 2.41 (95% confidence interval of 2.37 - 2.45), -3.16 (95% confidence interval of -4.64 to -1.68) and 0.12 (95% confidence interval of 0.11 to 0.13). This is the first report of growth mathematical modelling of the effect of cyanide on Pseudomonas Putida (Naun-16).
Evaluation of Several Mathematical Models for Fitting the Growth and Kinetics of the Catechol-degrading Candida parapsilopsis: Part 2
Authors: Halmi Mohd Izuan Effendi , Y. Shukor M. , Shukor Mohd Yunus Abd 
Published: April 2022

Kinetic equations, which describe the activity of an enzyme or a microorganism on a particular substrate, are crucial in understanding many phenomena in biotechnological processes. They allow the mathematical prediction of growth parameters important for identifying key parameters for controlling growth. We remodelled the published work of Rigo et al. (2010) using several more growth kinetic models such as Monod, Haldane, Teissier, Andrews and Noack, Hinshelwood, Moser, Aiba, Webb (Edward), Yano and Koga, Han and Levenspiel and Luong and evaluated the accuracy of the fitted model using statistical analysis such as Root Mean Square (RMSE), adjusted Coefficient of Determination (R2), corrected Akaike Information Criterion (AICc), Bias Factor and Accuracy Factor The accuracy and statistical analysis of the eleven kinetic models used shows that only the Haldane, Teissier, Moser, Aiba, Webb (Edward), Yano and Koga, and Luong could fit the data with the best model was Haldane with low values for RMSE and AICc, highest adjusted R2 values, and with Bias Factor and Accuracy Factor nearest to unity (1.0). The calculated value for the Haldane constants maximal degradation rate, half saturation constant and half inhibition constant symbolized by Î¼max, Ks and Ki, were 0.462 hr-1, 112.21 mg/L and 211.34 mg/L, respectively. The true umax value occurs where the gradient for the slope is zero and in this case the value was approximately 0.188 h-1 at 155 mg/L catechol. The results indicate that the exhaustive use of mathematical models on available published results could gleam new optimal models that can provide new knowledge on the way toxicsubstance inhibit growth rate in microbes.
The Growth of Paracoccus sp. SKG on Acetonitrile is Best Modelled using the Buchanan Three Phase Model
Authors: Ahmad S.A. , Shukor M.S. , Masdor N.A. , Shamaan N.A. , Roslan M.A.H. 
Published: April 2022

Organonitriles are carcinogenic and mutagenic. Bioremediation of acetonitrile, an organonitrile, has been touted as a more economical and feasible method compared to physical and chemical approaches. In this work, we model the growth of growth of Paracoccus sp. SKG on acetonitrile from published literature to obtain vital growth constants. These growth constants can only be accurately obtained from mathematical modelling of the growth curves using various available primary models such as logistic, Gompertz, Richards, Schnute, Baranyi-Roberts, Von Bertalanffy, Buchanan three-phase and more recently Huang models. The Buchanan three-phase model was chosen as the best model based on statistical tests such as root-mean-square error (RMSE), adjusted coefficient of determination (R2), bias factor (BF), accuracy factor (AF) andcorrected AICc (Akaike Information Criterion). Novel constants obtained from the modelling exercise would be useful for further secondary modelling implicating the effect of media conditions and other factors on the growth of this bacterium on acetonitrile.
Predictive Mathematical Modelling of the Total Number of COVID-19 Cases for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Aisami Abubakar , Shukor Mohd Yunus Abd 
Published: April 2022

Throughout this article, we discuss different development models such as Von Bertalanffy, Baranyi-Roberts, Morgan-Mercer-Flodin (MMF), modified Richards, modified Gompertz, modified Logistics and Huang throughout fitting and evaluating the COVID-19 disease pattern in the context of the cumulative number of SARS-CoV-2 infection cases in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as of July 15th, 2020. The MMF model with the biggest adjusted R2 and the lowest RMSE values established to be the best. The Accuracy, as well as the Bias Factors, are found to have values close to unity (1.0). The parameters generated from the MMF model include the maximum growth rate (log) of 0.03 (95% CI from 0.030 to 0.036), curve constant (d) that affects the inflection point of 1.100 (95% CI from 1.029 to 1.171) and the highest possible number of cases (ymax) of 2,485,187 (95% CI from 1,468,970 to 4,204,419). The MMF model projected that COVID-19 will end in about 567 days (95% CI of 483 to 714) days from 15th of July 2020 centred on the lower bound of the 95% CI from the calculated maximum number of total cases (ymax). The MMF assumed that the total number of cases for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia on 15 August and 15 September 2020 would be 384,258 (95 per cent CI from 368,567 to 400,618) and 508,412 (95 per cent CI from 482,797 to 535,387) respectively. The predictive ability of the model used in this study is an effective instrument for epidemiologists to track and assess the severity of COVID-19 in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia over the coming months. Nevertheless, like any other model, due to the unpredictability of the COVID-19 situation locally and globally, these values must be taken with caution.
Evaluation of different methods for total DNA extraction from sago pith residue
Authors: Zulkharnain Azham , Sidek Norhafizah , Husaini Awang Ahmad Sallehin 
Published: April 2022

Direct extraction of DNA from the environment has become major importance for molecular analyses for the study of microbial communities in soil and other decomposing agrowaste. The presence of humic substances in Sago pith residue not only results in low DNA quality but also can lead to PCR amplification inhibition which may hinder most molecular studies. Many of the published protocols have been found to be unsuitable to obtained high amount of yield and low of humic acids contamination. This study presents the evaluation of three different methods for extracting total DNA from Sago pith residue. The methods evaluated were enzymatic lysis, glass bead homogenization and freeze-thaw treatment. Each method were evaluated by 260/280 nm absorbance ratio for protein contamination, 260/230 nm absorbance ratio for other contaminants and PCR amplification for molecular work suitability. Among the three methods, freeze-thaw treatment provided the highest yield of DNA, 5.06Â±0.01 Î¼g/g of Sago pith residue. Nevertheless, all three methods resulted in poor DNA quality which could be used for PCR amplification. Additional steps of agarose electrophoresis and silica column purification were found to be effective for increasing the quality of the extracted DNA and were validated by positive PCR amplifications.
Effect of Soil pH on Composition and Abundance of Nitrite-oxidising Bacteria
Authors: Abdulrasheed Mansur , Ibrahim Hussein I , Maigari Fatima Umar , Umar Ahmed F , Ibrahim Salihu 
Published: April 2022

Nitrification, the microbial oxidation of ammonia to nitrate (NO3-) via nitrite (NO2-) is a vital process in the biogeochemical nitrogen cycle and is performed by two distinct functional groups; ammonia oxidisers [comprised of ammonia oxidising bacteria (AOB) and ammonia oxidising archaea (AOA)] and nitrite oxidising bacteria. Autotrophic nitrification is said to occur in acidic soils, even though most laboratory cultures of isolated ammonia and nitrite oxidising bacteria fail to grow below neutral pH. Published studies revealed that soil pH is a major driver for determining the distribution and abundance of AOB and AOA. To determine whether distinct populations of nitrite oxidising bacteria within the lineages of Nitrospira and Nitrobacter are adapted to a particular range of pH as observed in ammonia oxidising organisms, the community structure of Nitrospira-like and Nitrobacter-like NOB were determined across a pH gradient (4.5 â€“ 7.5) by amplifying nitrite oxidoreductase (nxrA) and 16S rRNA genes followed by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE). The community structure of both Nitrospira and Nitrobacter changed with soil pH, with distinct populations observed in acidic and neutral soils. The abundance of Nitrospira-like 16S rRNA and Nitrobacter-like nxrA gene copies contrasted across the pH gradient. Nitrobacter-like nxrA gene abundance decreased with increasing soil pH, whereas Nitrospira-like 16S rRNA gene abundance increased with increasing pH. Nitrification activity of both Nitrospira-like and Nitrobacter-like NOB in acidic and neutral pH soil was investigated in a microcosm experiment incubated at 30 oC for 21 days, with high rates of nitrification observed in both soils. Findings indicated that abundance and distributions of soil NOB is influence by soil pH.
Public private partnerships in the Netherlands: a love that’s here to stay
Authors: Reynaers Anne-Marie 
Published: April 2022

Publiek-private samenwerking in Nederland: a love that’s here to stay
Public-private partnerships (PPS) are often used by public procurers. This article evaluates the application of PPS in the Netherlands by reflecting on the findings on a recently published report “Learning from 15 years DBFM-projects at the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management” (or “Leren van 15 jaar DBFM-projecten bij RWS” in Dutch).
Nonlocal Operator Method for Solving Partial Differential Equations: State-of-the-Art Review and Future Perspectives
Authors: Zhang Yongzheng , Ren Huilong , Rabczuk Timon 
Published: April 2022

The nonlocal operator method (NOM) is based on nonlocal theory and employs nonlocal operators of integral form to replace the local partial differential operators. NOM naturally bridges models of different length scales and enables also the natural solution of problems with continuous to discontinuous solutions as they occur in the case of material failure. It also provides a natural framework for complex multifield problems. It is based on a variational principle or weighted residual method and only requires the definition of associated energy potential. As the NOM does not require any shape functions as ’traditional methods’ such as FEM, IGA or meshfree methods, its implementation is significantly simplified. It has been successfully applied to the solution of several partial differential equations (PDEs). This paper aims to provide a comprehensive description of the NOM together with a review of its major applications for the solution of PDEs for challenging engineering problems. Finally, we give some potential future research direction in the area of methods based on nonlocal operators.This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium provided the original work is properly cited.
Dermatofibrosarcoma: report of a case with complete response to imatinib and conservative surgery during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Steffen Rafael Martins , Pacheco Arthur Fernandes , Teixeira Gabriela Camilo , Santos Bruna Alejandra Orellana , Fulfaro Marina Quaglio Oinegue , Koga Ketleen , Ferreira Amanda Fonseca Nunes , Cotaet James , Zveibil Deborah Krutman , Zapata Rafael Ricardo da Silva Miranda 
Published: April 2022

ABSTRACTDermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is an extremely rare and potentially aggressive soft tissue tumor. Around 85 to 90% of DFSP cases are low-grade tumors, while the fibrosarcomatous variant (DFSP-FS) is associated with medium and high-grade neoplasms. DFSP affects more young adults, in their 30s; however, it can be present in all ages. It has a high potential for locoregional dissemination and recurrence, directly related to tumor size. In the present study, a case of dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans with local recurrence after surgical treatment will be reported, subsequently treated with imatinib and a new surgical approach, with no new recurrences so far. The effectiveness of imatinib is noted in a deep, infiltrative and relapsed DFSP, in which upfront surgery would cause significant functional and cosmetic damage. Imatinib allowed an important clinical improvement for the patient, with tumor reduction in the initial weeks of treatment.
Disability Levels and Associated Factors of Functional Dependence among Stroke Survivors in South-South, Nigeria
Authors: Inumanye N. Ojule , Uchenna Daniel-Amadi 
Published: April 2022

Background: Cerebral Stroke remains a public health problem impacting a wide range of human functionality. It continues to be a leading cause of adulthood disability world-wide. This study aimed to identify disability levels and factors associated with functional dependence among survivors of stroke in south-south, Nigeria.
Material and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to recruit stroke survivors receiving physiotherapy from two tertiary hospitals in South-south Nigeria. The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) was used to identify disability levels. Data was analysed using student ANOVA and Pearson correlational coefficient analysis, with significance set at P=0.05.
Results: Significant difference in disability levels occurred across the age (p <0.001) and marital status (p <0.001) of the respondents. From the analysis of variance (ANOVA) in Table 3, The co-morbidities - diabetes and hypertension were significantly associated with higher disability (diabetes F= 4.80(P <0.030); hypertension F = 22.41(P <0.001)), Having a previous stroke (F=8.08(P <0.005) and the type of stroke- haemorrhagic (F= 12.28; P <0.001) were associated with higher disability levels. Higher disability levels were associated with all aspects of the at-home care.
Conclusion: The results of this study demonstrate that advancing age, a previous stroke, type of stroke (hemorrhagic) and the presence of co-morbidities of hypertension and diabetes presented with statistically significant higher disability levels among our patients.
Therapeutic Evaluation of Selected Herbal Supplements on Thyroid Hormones of Cyanide – Induced Hyperthyroidism in Female Albino Rats
Authors: Onuoha B. N. C. , Elekima I. , Tamuno-Emine D. G. , Nwachuku E. O. 
Published: April 2022

Aim: To evaluate the therapeutic effect of some herbal supplements on thyroid hormones of cyanide – induced hyperthyroidism in Female Albino Rats.
Study Design: Experimental study.
Place and Duration of Study: Department of Animal and Environmental Biology, Rivers State University, Rivers State University Teaching Hospital and Department of Pharmacology, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, between July and September, 2020.
Methodology: 150 female albino rats were used for this study. The rats were divided into ten groups of fifteen rats each: group A-negative control, group B-positive control, group C- orthodox drug (propranolol), group D-herbal supplement (motherwort), group E-bugleweed, group F-Garcinia kola, group G-propranolol and bugleweed, group H-propranolol and motherwort, group I-propranolol and Garcinia kola, and group J-bugleweed and motherwort. Hyperthyroidism was induced in groups B to J by the oral administration of 2.4 mg/kg of potassium hexacyanoferrate III salt and given every two days to sustain the induction. The rats were treated with the drug, supplements and seed extract for 14, 30 and 60 days. On the 15th, 31st, and 61th days after overnight fast, the rats were anesthetized with chloroform and sacrificed through cardiac puncture. 5ml of blood samples was put into plain bottles for the analysis of thyroid hormones. The thyroid function (triiodothyronine -T3, thyroxine -T4, and thyroid stimulating hormone -TSH) were analyzed using the ELISA technique. GraphPad Prism 5.6. was used to analyze the data and mean values were considered statistically significant at P< .05.
Results: The results showed that there were significant increases (p<.01) in the levels of T3 and T4 and decreases in TSH levels for days 14, 30 and 60 of the experiment after rats were exposed to cyanide. Treatment with the herbal products at some points significantly reduced T3 andT4 levels, while TSH levels were significantly increased. The combination therapies used in this study did not offer significantly different therapeutic advantage over the individual therapies.
Conclusion: Cyanide exposure in rats caused hyperthyroidism, but administration of some herbal supplements ameliorated the effect of cyanide, therefore, more studies on these supplements are suggested.
Application of Chemically and Physically Synthesized Metal Nanoparticles to Staphylococcus aureus
Authors: Alshehri Mohammed Ali 
Published: April 2022

The infections caused by S. aureus have emerged as a grave challenge to human health worldwide. Further, conventional antibiotic therapies for S. aureus-mediated infections are gradually becoming ineffective due to the emergence of drug-resistant strains like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). In search of alternative novel therapeutic strategies against S. aureus, the use of metal nanoparticles is proliferating. Among different synthesis methods of metal nanoparticles, chemical and physical methods are the most common. Despite reports of metal nanoparticles' efficacy against drug-resistant S. aureus strains, contemporary reports that the bacteria can evolve resistance to nanoparticles are a significant source of concern. There is also the issue of metal nanoparticle toxicity, which affects a variety of organisms. The clinical translatability of published research conclusions is another major hurdle in nanotherapeutics research. More research is needed to make nanoparticle-based treatments a viable and long-term therapy for infections caused by S. aureus. The present review provides an overview of the therapeutic application of physicochemically synthesized nanoparticles (electron beam, mechanical grinding, milling, spray pyrolysis, vapour phase synthesis, electrolysis, photochemical, solutions and gels, wound healing, anticancer, antioxidant, biosensing, cosmetics, antimicrobial, human health care and water treatment) of various metals (transition metals, post-transition metals, alkaline earth metals, rare earth metals, etc.) against various S. aureus strains.