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Purpose. The prevalence and severity of respiratory disorders are very high among coal miners as continuous exposure of workers in such an environment leads to accumulation of dust in the lungs. This study was designed to assess the prevalence of lung function impairment and to determine whether there is any correlation between dust exposure duration and lung function indices. Materials. Two hundred and thirty underground coal dust-exposed workers and 130 age-matched non-exposed workers were recruited from an underground mine in West Bengal, India. A spirometry test was performed for lung function and also basic information on personnel's dust exposure, smoking and respiratory morbidity was collected. Student's t test, Pearson's correlation coefficient (r), uncorrected Pearson's χ2 test and Fischer's exact test were performed for statistical analysis. Results. Lung function indices were significantly (p < 0.050) impaired between the exposed (43.91%) and non-exposed (23.85%) groups. In addition, highly significant decrements in the pulmonary volumes of exposed subjects were also noted. Furthermore, a high negative correlation was observed between spirometric results and exposure time in the exposed group compared with the non-exposed group. Conclusion. This study suggested a positive relationship between exposure time and lung function deterioration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Co1–xTix (x = 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7) thin films were prepared on Si (100) substrate using DC-magnetron sputtering deposition technique. A structural phase transition occurs from hexagonal to cubic crystal structure when the Ti composition is above 30 percentage. The thickness of the films obtained from X-ray Reflectivity data is about 30 nm. The average particle size of the CoTi thin films was calculated using the Atomic Force Microscopy image. The Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect measurements suggest that only Co0.7Ti0.3 thin film exhibits soft magnetic behaviour whereas the other thin films have no magnetic properties because of small grain size and reduction of inter-grain exchange interaction. Co0.7Ti0.3 thin film has twofold magnetic anisotropy. The angle-dependent coercivity (Hc) is numerically fitted with a two-phase model of magnetization reversal, which confirms the presence of magnetic anisotropy. The magnetization reversal occurs via coherent rotation of spins along the hard axis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The importance of providing multi satellite-based chlorophyll-a in an ocean model for accurate representation of penetrative shortwave radiation is demonstrated in this study using Modular Ocean Model. It questions the traditional usage of chlorophyll-a climatology in models. The model sensitivity experiments Chl_IA (with interannually varying multi satellite-based chlorophyll-a) and Chl_Clim (with chlorophyll-a climatology) during 1998–2016 reveals the importance of using the interannual chlorophyll. The maximum difference between the two chlorophyll-a products is found during the peak phase of strong El Niño (January-March 1998 and 2016) in the Niño1 + 2 region, allowing 5–11 W m−2 more shortwave radiation to penetrate below 25 m in Chl_IA, effectively warming the subsurface temperature and cooling the sea surface temperature (SST) by ~0.4°C in the Niño1 + 2 region. The reduction in SST bias (warm) by 0.5°C, deepening of mixed layer and isothermal layer, enhancement of upwelling, reduction of upper ocean stability with realistic distribution of upper ocean heat content are some of the major improvements in Chl_IA. The interannual chlorophyll-a variability in fact rectifies the warm (cold) bias in surface (subsurface) temperature commonly found in ocean models especially in the eastern Pacific region during the peak phase of strong El Niño. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Growth mindset plays an important role in students' motivation for learning. Students who believe that their abilities are malleable are more likely to set mastery goals and to persist when encountering difficulties. Design-based makerspace – or a makerspace structured with design-based learning components – has many features known to improve growth mindset. The present study examined how growth mindset of 3rd–6th grade students developed over 2 years in a design-based makerspace course. Growth modeling was used to examine trajectories of students' growth mindset as well as its two associative factors – self-efficacy and creative mindset. Results showed that students' growth mindset initially decreased slightly in the first year, but significantly improved during the intervening period and remained high throughout the second year. Students with higher creative mindset showed more adaptive growth mindset trends. Our study contributes to an understanding about how makerspace experiences may contribute to growth mindset development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cobalt-iron thin film was deposited on rotating silicon (100) substrate using the DC-magnetron sputtering deposition unit. The structure is examined by Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction and results reveal that the sample has a bcc crystal structure with lattice constant 2.65 Å. The X-ray Reflectivity data analysis confirms that the thickness of the thin film alloy is about 33 nm. The Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis confirms the presence of 30.56% of cobalt and 69.44% of iron in cobalt-iron thin film. The study of magnetic properties by Magneto-Optic Kerr Effect technique suggests that sample exhibits soft magnetic behavior. The M–H loop study shows that the coercive field decreases with the increase of rotation of the substrate which may be due to reduced grain size or crystal orientation. The study of remanence magnetization (Mr/Ms) confirms that the sample has a twofold magnetic structure and cubic magnetic anisotropy. The occurrence of the magnetization reversal in the sample is due to the formation of the ripples and change in the contrast in the color of domain images along the easy axis and through coherent rotation of spins along the hard axis. This confirms that the sample has uniaxial nature and found very useful applications in the magnetic sensors, memory storage devices and spintronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the early hours of this new decade were greeted by a devastating bushfire in Australia, killing over one billion wildlife, destroying ecologically significant landscapes, and producing toxic air quality in Australia's two largest cities, Australia's Commonwealth Government continued governing without a credible climate policy. In the same cruel twist, housing policy can enable futures or extinguish livelihoods. To move beyond a critical practice, ignited when triggered by an exceptional event, towards something that might give new shape to the institutions that support practice, may require from planners new ways of performing our practice (see Chapman, this issue), as well as new ways I of thinking from i our practice and alternative ways of I being in i practice. Domestic students with existing support networks retreated to the family home, while others queued at government welfare offices seeking financial support, as international students lined up on University campuses and elsewhere for food. It outlined troubling behaviour, amounting to a "criticism of government policy" and "advocacy for public housing". [Extracted from the article]

Adenosine deaminases that act on RNA (ADARs) are present in all animals and function to both bind double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and catalyze the deamination of adenosine (A) to inosine (I). As inosine is a biological mimic of guanosine, deamination by ADARs changes the genetic information in the RNA sequence and is commonly referred to as RNA editing. Millions of A-to-I editing events have been reported for metazoan transcriptomes, indicating that RNA editing is a widespread mechanism used to generate molecular and phenotypic diversity. Loss of ADARs results in lethality in mice and behavioral phenotypes in worm and fly model systems. Furthermore, alterations in RNA editing occur in over 35 human pathologies, including several neurological disorders, metabolic diseases, and cancers. In this review, a basic introduction to ADAR structure and target recognition will be provided before summarizing how ADARs affect the fate of cellular RNAs and how researchers are using this knowledge to engineer ADARs for personalized medicine. In addition, we will highlight the important roles of ADARs and RNA editing in innate immunity and cancer biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of customer segmentation, customer acquisition and retention, and customer behavior on entrepreneurial productivity and quality of the startup enterprises in Mexico. These enterprises tend to gain higher market share by implementing customer-centric approach through various variables such as demand stimulation, promoting their brand in ambidextrous market segments, product referrals, and cognitive variables such as psychodynamics, anthropomorphic attitude, and repeat buying behavior. Information gathered from 308 respondents was admitted to data analysis process. In all, information from 88% of the respondents was considered for data analysis. In view of the findings discussed in the study, it can be stated that the customer-centric approach of startup enterprises leads to anthropomorphic orientation among customers who are oriented toward technology and innovation. Startup enterprises encourage these customers to actively interact on digital platforms and inter-personal forums to promote a positive word-of-mouth leading to an increase in the purchase intentions by the potential customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The town of Elmina in Cape Coast, Ghana, is usually associated with the Elmina Castle as a key site within UNESCO's Slave Route project, whereby tourism becomes the vehicle for remembering and mourning the memorial consequences of the Atlantic slave trade. Abutting the tourist-oriented Castle, however, is a crumbling yet lived-in urban space, in whose town planning and architecture we see evidence of another shaping force: creolization as the occluded other to slavery and colonialism within the story of Western Africa. Moreover, the town is also home to the Elmina Java Museum, which memorializes Elmina's links to the Indian Ocean world, especially as invested in the textiles that moved between Africa and Asia during different phases of world history. Through this variegated postcolonial space of Elmina, I excavate sedimented histories of transoceanic creolization that connect the continent to both Atlantic and Indian Oceans. From this reading of Elmina through the lens of a transoceanic creolized past and its relationship to the present, I prise open the contours of postcolonial spatiality to propose for it a genealogy both radically compromised and promisingly porous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India has an intricate nexus of groundwater irrigation, energy and climate. Subsidized electricity supply has led to unregulated groundwater pumping, causing a decrease in groundwater level and increase in carbon emissions. This complex nexus necessitates estimation of carbon emissions from groundwater irrigation. The study uses actual pumping data on 20.5 million groundwater structures from the Fifth Minor Irrigation Census (reference year 2013–14) to estimate carbon emissions. The estimates show that groundwater irrigation emits 45.3–62.3 MMT of carbon annually, contributing 8–11% of India's total carbon emission. This analysis shows deep tubewells have a huge carbon footprint, and their growing number is a serious environmental concern. Spatial analysis reveals India's western and peninsular region, which houses 85% of the country's over-exploited groundwater blocks, contributes most to carbon emission. Moreover, this region hosts 27 districts which are groundwater–energy–climate nexus hotspots, together accounting for 34% of carbon emissions from groundwater irrigation. Comparison with the previous estimate reveals that carbon emission from groundwater irrigation nearly doubled between 2000 and 2013. Findings of this study are vital to the discourse on the increasing environmental costs of groundwater pumping in the country and will contribute to carbon emission mitigation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Poor postnatal weight gain has been associated with low serum IGF-1, a key factor in the pathogenesis of retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Aim: To investigate an association between relative weight gain (RWG) and severe ROP in very low-birthweight (VLBW) Thai infants. Methods: The medical records of VLBW infants who were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit in Chiang Mai University Hospital from June 2014 to December 2016 and screened for ROP were reviewed. RWG and total calorie intake (TCI) in the 2nd, 4rth and 6th week of age were calculated and those with no ROP/mild ROP and severe ROP requiring laser treatment were compared. Results: The study included 139 VLBW infants, 24 (17.3%) of whom had ROP requiring laser treatment. Infants with severe ROP requiring laser treatment had a lower median birthweight (840 vs 1,195 g, p < 0.001) and median gestational age (GA) (27 vs 30 wk, p < 0.001) than those with no ROP/mild ROP. When RWG and TCI were compared, the infants with severe ROP requiring laser treatment had a lower RWG at the 2nd (p < 0.01) and 4th weeks of age (p < 0.05) and had a lower TCI at the 2nd week of age (p < 0.001) than those with no ROP/mild ROP. Multivariate logistic analysis demonstrated that GA <29.5 w (p < 0.01), hypotension (p < 0.05), RWG <2.9 g/kg/d (p < 0.05) and TCI <98.5 kcal/kg/day (p < 0.001) at the 2nd week of age were independent risk factors for severe ROP requiring laser treatment. Conclusions: Poor weight gain and low calorie intake at the 2nd week of age were associated with severe ROP requiring laser treatment in VLBW infants. Monitoring weight gain and calorie intake during this period are essential and may improve the outcome of ROP. Abbreviations: BPD, bronchopulmonary dysplasia; IVH, intraventricular haemorrhage; NEC, necrotising enterocolitis; PDA, patent ductus arteriosus; PRC, packed red cells; PVL, periventricular leucomalacia; RDS, respiratory distress syndrome; ROP, retinopathy of prematurity; RWG, relative weight gain; SGA, small for gestational age; TCI, total calorie intake; VLBW, very low birthweight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes the impact of leadership, employee-engagement, market-oriented approach, and co-creation on the business design of the SUEs in Mexico. This study aims at presenting new insights on effect of leadership on employee engagement and transformation of marketing strategies through co-creation, identification of minimum viable segment and improving organizational design to achieve market competitiveness. The information of 364 respondents was admitted to the data analysis process. In all, information of 91% of respondents was considered for data analysis. In view of the findings discussed in the study, it can be stated that SUEs tend to develop effective entrepreneurial leadership that is based on family-based-firms organizational design. Co-design and co-creation of products and services are the attributes of SUEs that lead to an increase in organizational performance. Effective leadership in SUEs play a significant role in developing market-oriented strategies within the niche markets by catering the needs of consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a methodology that I term 'embodied philology', I trace a genealogy of mazaa as an understanding of enjoyment calibrated through the indices of taste and time. Using this genealogy to mark out an 'alegropolitics', or a politics of happiness, I extract its political potential in two ways: first, by assessing it through scholarship on the archive, repertoire, and what Spanish calls sabor, and, second, by applying these ideas, gleaned largely through scholarship from Latin America, to the assessment of Bollywood's masala repertoire and film star Govinda's role therein. Govinda's subscription to a Bhojpuri performativity leads me to relocate mazaa within a decolonising agenda for pleasure formed through transnational and cross-border communities united by an embodied memory of collective enjoyment. A vignette from the 2018–19 Kochi-Muziris Biennale allows me to demonstrate how such memory may be activated to transform the present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines quadrille dancing in the Caribbean and the Mascarene archipelagos to theorize creolization as cultural process. Through close reading of French, Creole, and English sources, fieldwork, and attentiveness to the pleasures of social dance, I analyze the creolized quadrille as a balancing act between choreogenesis, or the emergence of new segments within the quadrille's multi-part structure, and their fractal incorporation within that structure. An incompatibility with the logic of the market results, which, over the longue durée, is balanced by the creolized quadrille's postcolonial memorialization within a festival economy, even as the commercialization of creolized partner dances became its circum-Atlantic legacy. The transoceanic frame of my argumentation reveals convergences as well as divergences between the Indian and Atlantic Ocean worlds that connect Europe and its (post)colonies. The creolized quadrille then emerges as a transoceanic leisure form that demonstrates creolization as an economic and cultural force within global modernity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This introduction to a curated volume of original essays on African-heritage partner dances presents their shared kinetic features as performative social practices arising from creolising processes in the Atlantic world. The expressive dimension of these creolised dances, particularly their dependence on the connection between two dancers, enables them to function as the embodied memory of and resistance to the racialized and gendered violence of the plantation, which, as the essays demonstrate through a range of interdisciplinary approaches, shape experiences of leisure, self-fashioning, and collective joy within the cities of the Atlantic rim and beyond. These structural and affective similarities between the dances examined in the volume, which include maxixe, lindy hop, tango, kizomba, salsa, and their predecessor, the creolised quadrille, confirm a circum-Atlantic entanglement of creolised expressive culture, the global spread of which is explicated through the theoretical concepts of kinetoscapes, alegropolitics, affiliative afromodernity, and fabulousness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The #MeToo movement, which engulfed much of India's news and entertainment industry in October 2018, was projected by many as a watershed moment for Indian journalism. Driven largely through social media activism, it created significant public discourse and outcry, leading to the "outing" and resignation of many journalists. This paper explores the perception of #MeTooIndia in regional and national newsrooms. Drawing on Manuel Castells's ideas of networked social movement, we consider the origins of #MeTooIndia, including its mediation on private and social networks. We then draw on 257 semi-structured interviews with journalists working in 14 languages across India to explore the "cause" of the campaign—the prevalence of sexual harassment and sexual violence in workspaces—before turning our attention to the impact, or potential for impact, that journalists saw in it. We find most journalists felt the movement was "good", but did not think it influenced their environment or newswork in any meaningful manner. Regional journalists expressed more pessimism about the #MeTooIndia, men more so than women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Herein, a hydrophobic polyfluoroacrylate adhered cotton fabric having a smart affair with water under oil, is developed using a simple surfactant-assisted polymerization technique commonly known as admicellar polymerization of low surface energy trifluoroethyl acrylate monomer. The hydrophobicity of the treated substrates was determined by the contact angle. The results show that the cotton fabric became hydrophobic. The surface investigation conducted by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) provided distinctive features of the untreated and treated fabric samples. The elementary analysis was also carried out on the substrate through energy dispersive X-ray to confirm the presence of hydrophobic groups. In addition to this, the hydrophobic cotton fabric shows excellent durability against home laundering and simple adhesive peel testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A family of lifetime distributions is considered which covers many distributions as its special cases. Two measures of reliability are studied, and. Assuming the availability of some prior information on the parameter of interest, shrinkage estimators are developed for the powers of the scale parameter and reliability functions based on records. These proposed estimators are compared with the maximum likelihood estimators and uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimators of the parametric functions in terms of their relative efficiency. We establish that all the proposed estimators outperform the usual estimators as the true value of parameters approaches their hypothesized value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the modulatory effect of ethanolic extract of Alocasia indica tuber (EEAIT) against γ-irradiation induced ovarian and uterine toxicity. Extract preparation was done by 80% hydro-ethanol using Soxhlet apparatus. EEAIT was administered to female Swiss albino mice (n = 5) daily (200 and 400 mg/kg body weight/d) for 7 days before γ-irradiation exposure (2.9 Gy). FSH, LH, estrogen, progesterone, cytokine levels, and oxidative stress parameters were measured after 24 hours of γ-irradiation. Histology, folliculogenesis, viability of granulosa cells, ROS measurement by flow cytometry, western blot of P450scc, P45017A1, 3β HSD and SF 1 were also performed. In addition, fertility status was assessed by fecundability and fecundity. The results showed that EEAIT exhibit a strong radioprotective activity by reducing the oxidative stress and thereby restored the ovarian and uterine alterations. EEAIT also improved the abnormality in follicle development, restored altered gonadal hormones and cytokines levels, increase the fertility status, reducing ROS level of granulosa cells with increasing granulosa cells viability and steroidogenic enzyme activity as compared to control. So EEAIT showed a radioprotective effect on γ-irradiation induced ovarian and uterine damage. Our results suggested that Alocasia indica tuber can be a potential radioprotector to prevent female infertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is characterized by insufficient insulin secretion by the pancreatic beta cells and insulin resistance in liver, skeletal muscle, and white adipose tissue. Adipose tissue plays a major role in glucose homeostasis and lipid metabolism. Dietary antioxidants such as resveratrol and mangiferin may offer some protection against the early stage of diabetes mellitus. Therefore, an attempt has been made to investigate the effects of resveratrol and mangiferin on biochemical parameters and molecular mechanism of PPARγ and FALDH gene expression in adipose tissue of streptozotocin- (STZ-) nicotinamide- (NA-) induced diabetic rats. Albino Wister rats were randomly divided into five groups: control rats (Group 1), diabetic control rats (Group 2), diabetic rats given resveratrol (40 mg/kg body weight per day; Group 3), diabetic rats given mangiferin (40 mg/kg body weight per day; Group 4), diabetic rats given glibenclamide (0.6 mg/kg body weight per day; Group 5). Serum biochemical parameters—total cholesterol (TC), total triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), urea, and uric acid were analyzed. We found that the oral administration of resveratrol and mangiferin to STZ-NA-induced diabetic rats for 30 days showed the significant protective effect on all the biochemical parameters. A significant reduction in blood glucose and HbA1c levels was observed in rats treated with 40 mg/kg body weight per day of resveratrol or mangiferin. Moreover, both these antioxidants showed significant enhancement of PPARγ and FALDH gene expression in rat adipose tissue compared to control rats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Double-resonance excitation of molecular nitrogen, N2, via selected rotational levels of the , v′ = 0 state has been used to probe the first two bands in the new Ogawa series [M. Ogawa, Can. J. Phys. 42, 1087 (1964)], which lie above the first ionisation threshold of the molecule. These bands are rotationally unresolved in room-temperature and jet-cooled absorption spectra, but the double-resonance technique allows a rotational analysis and first confirmation of the assignment as transitions to n = 4 members of the (A2Πu)ndπ, v Rydberg series. In principle, the probe transition from the , v = 0 level to these Rydberg states corresponds to a two-electron transition, and this aspect of the results is explored. Finally, velocity map imaging allows a determination of the photoelectron branching fractions and angular distributions, providing insight into the electronic autoionisation dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem, autoimmune inflammatory disease which can affect any organ, including the gastrointestinal tract. Lupus enteritis is one of the manifestations of gastrointestinal involvement in SLE patients. However, it is exceedingly rare that lupus enteritis is the sole initial presentation of SLE. A 12-year-old Thai girl who had had recurrent abdominal pain for 2 months with no other signs of SLE on initial presentation is described. A single-balloon enteroscopy demonstrated segmental erythema of the proximal and mid-jejunum. Histopathology demonstrated active enteritis and submucosal vasculitis. On the basis of evidence of intestinal vasculitis, autoimmune profiles were performed; the results supported the possibility of SLE. She subsequently developed leucopenia, lymphopenia and an oral ulcer, leading to a robust diagnosis of SLE. Her clinical condition improved dramatically with prednisolone. Even though lupus enteritis is rare, it can be the initial presentation of SLE. In young adolescent girls with recurrent abdominal pain, the possibility of lupus enteritis should be borne in mind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating prevalence of coal workers pneumoconiosis is considered as a serious occupational health problem. This cross-sectional study was designed to determine the prevalence of lung function impairment of underground coal miners in West Bengal, India. A total of 230 underground coal dust-exposed subjects and 130 nonexposed subjects were examined for lung function test and also information on sociodemographic characteristics, addiction, respiratory morbidity, personnel protective equipment and dust exposure were collected. Lung function impairment was significantly higher in exposed group than nonexposed group and personnel dust exposure level were exceeded above the NIOSH recommended level. In addition, respiratory ailments were found to be higher in exposed group than the nonexposed group. So, this study has established the need for an advanced understanding of the quantifiable and measurable remedies for protection of lung disorder of coal mine workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines the dance practice of the Lisbon-based artiste Kwenda Lima (born 1977 at Sal, Cabo Verde), as manifested on three levels: the pedagogy of the Luso-African social dance, kizomba; a form of dance therapy, which he calls 'Kaizen dance'; and the choreography of 'Afro-contemporary' dance. Through the interplay of these levels Lima responds to the specific characteristics of Lusophone (post)colonialism as well as the general problems of modernity involving time, work, and materialism. These responses are shaped by the post-imperial urban space of Lisbon, the transnational world of social dance, as well as his personal networks linking Cabo Verde, continental West Africa, and Europe. Moreover, Lima's dance incorporates references to Cabo Verde's history of creolization and various non-Lusophone postcolonial cultural influences. An affiliative afromodernity is generated, which reconfigures the relationship between race, authenticity, and appropriation while decolonizing time through dance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre company, founded by American choreographer and activist Alvin Ailey, which toured Brazil in 1963, allowing Ailey to encounter Afro-Brazilian culture as manifested in dance, music and spirituality. Explored is activist and dramaturge Solano Trindade's gift to Ailey, a dossier of handwritten, typewritten and printed texts. Other topics discussed include how their is a lack of research on Ailey's Brazil tour of 1963 and details on Ailey's Afro-Brazilian encounter.

This study examined land use conflicts between three villages and Phu Kao – Phu Phan Kham National Park in northeast Thailand that resulted from its access and utilization during 2013–2015. The source of conflict is usufruct rights, a government entitlement program designed to honor villagers who lived on the land before it was established as a national park or forest reserve. Ironically, designation of protected areas is not a safeguard for biodiversity. A complex set of rules and regulations control access to resources, but compliance is subject to government oversight and economic pressure to improve quality of life. Granting usufruct rights may reduce certain land use conflicts, but they fail to address agricultural expansion inside park and forest boundaries. For example, agricultural encroachment in this protected area increased by 13.1% during the study period, mainly through cassava plantings. Cassava requires a small amount of maintenance and has a high market value since it is being promoted as an energy crop by the Thai government. A variety of management strategies are needed for sustainable forestry, such as regular forest patrols, reduction of agricultural-based income, and community-based initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As social media becomes increasingly popular, human subjects researchers are able to use these platforms to locate, track, and communicate with study participants, thereby increasing participant retention and the generalizability and validity of research. The use of social media; however, raises novel ethical and regulatory issues that have received limited attention in the literature and federal regulations. We review research ethics and regulations and outline the implications for maintaining participant privacy, respecting participant autonomy, and promoting researcher transparency when using social media to locate and track participants. We offer a rubric that can be used in future studies to determine ethical and regulation-consistent use of social media platforms and illustrate the rubric using our study team's experience with Facebook. We also offer recommendations for both researchers and institutional review boards that emphasize the importance of well-described procedures for social media use as part of informed consent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The short-lived geopolitical entity, East Pakistan (1947-71), left a deep impact on its successor state, Bangladesh, through the networks of intellectual kinship it enabled for its young elites who subsequently became Bangladesh's nation-builders. Drawing on memory studies and literary critical reading methods, I examine the testimonies of nine such elites interviewed by the 'Bengali Intellectuals Oral History Project' (BIOHP), alongside their writings published before and after the creation of Bangladesh. This first sustained account of East Pakistan's intellectual legacy thus also illustrates how a post-colonial intellectual history may be extracted from oral histories as the private and inchoate domain of memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article serves as an epilogue to the special issue curated by Claire Bénit-Gbaffou and Sarah Charlton with a focus on state power and the concept of informality. In my reflection, I examine the specificity of statecraft in the context of postcolonial government. In particular, I analyse political potency as a relationship between the state and subaltern subjects. Also at stake in this paper is the question of comparative and transnational analysis. In what ways can concepts generated through the study of processes of urban informality in India speak to the production of illegality and the reproduction of rule in South Africa? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two water-soluble zinc(II) complexes of b-cyclodextrin-based Schiff bases, viz., mono-6-deoxy-6-(4-(5-chloro-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-3,4-diaminotolune)-β-cyclodextrin (4a) and mono-6-deoxy-6-(4-(5-nitro-2-hydroxybenzylideneamino)-3,4-diaminotolune)-β-cyclodextrin (4b) have been synthesized and characterized by different analytical and spectroscopic techniques. These Zn(II) complexes were analyzed for their possible activity against oxidative stress through various biochemical methods. A detailed antioxidant profile directly associated with inflammation related carcinogenesis and several oxidative stress related disorders have been prepared with a motive to evaluate the free radical scavenging activities of the synthesized complexes. The immune cell cytotoxic properties (through MTT assay) and in vitro assay for the evaluation of their antioxidant activities against hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide, singlet oxygen, peroxynitrate and hydrogen peroxide, etc. were investigated. Obtained results clearly demonstrated the role of reactive oxygen species in various phases of oxidative stress related diseases; thus, the antioxidant and free radical scavenging capacities of the two synthesized Zn(II) complexes seem to stand in support of their beneficial effects and novelty for the immune system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new Schiff base ligand, H2L, and its Zn(II) complex were prepared and characterized by different analytical and spectroscopic techniques. The elemental analysis results suggest the stoichiometry of the complex to be 1:1. The molar conductance study shows the non-electrolytic nature of the complex. Infrared spectra reveal that the metal ion is coordinated in tetradentate fashion which was further confirmed by NMR study. The synthesized complex was found to interact with CT-DNA quite efficiently. The DNA binding study of the complex was explored by UV-vis and viscosity measurement. Fluorescence titration studies and the experimental results suggest that the complex might bind to DNA via an intercalative mode. The in silico target prediction and molecular docking experiments confirm that, apart from high interaction potentiality with nucleotides, the complex has possible implications in carcinogenesis, too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration of chromosomes during mitosis is mediated primarily by kinesins that bind to the chromosomes and move along the microtubules, exerting pulling and pushing forces on the centrosomes. We report that a DNA replication protein, Sld5, localizes to the centrosomes, resisting the microtubular pulling forces experienced during chromosome congression. In the absence of Sld5, centriolar satellites, which normally cluster around the centrosomes, are dissipated throughout the cytoplasm, resulting in the loss of their known function of recruiting the centrosomal protein, pericentrin. We observed that Sld5-deficient centrosomes lacking pericentrin were unable to endure the CENP-E- and Kid-mediated microtubular forces that converge on the centrosomes during chromosome congression, resulting in monocentriolar and acentriolar spindle poles. The minus-end-directed kinesin-14 motor protein, HSET, sustains the traction forces that mediate centrosomal fragmentation in Sld5-depleted cells. Thus, we report that a DNA replication protein has an as yet unknown function of ensuring spindle pole resistance to traction forces exerted during chromosome congression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two families of distributions are considered that cover a large number of probability distributions useful in investigations involving reliability studies and survival analyses. The problem of bounded risk point estimation of the parameter and hazard rate function of the two families of distribution is handled. Motivated by Mukhopadhyay and Pepe (2006), Roughani and Mahmoudi (2015), and Mahmoudi and Lalehzari (2017), two-stage procedures are developed based on the maximum likelihood estimator (MLE) as well as uniformly minimum variance unbiased estimator (UMVUE). The estimation problem based on the minimum mean square estimator (MMSE) is also considered. We establish that the MMSE of the parameter and hazard rate provides a smaller risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using of biosurfactant producing microorganisms for pipeline cleaning, bioremediation, enhanced oil recovery, etc. is a much soughed approach of petroleum industry. Although, many alternatives are available to serve these purposes, being ecofriendly and economic, microbial application is considered superior than most of the alternatives. This paper presents a comprehensive study on effectiveness of bacterial strain isolated from oil contaminated soil sample of Lakwa oilfield for required purposes. Its temperature sustainability and surfactant production capability was studied. Further characteristics of the produced biosurfactant were assessed through Emulsification Index measurement, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectra, Drop Collapse Test, Contact Angle and Viscosity measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionsTo estimate demand for medication abortion (MAB) among North Carolina (NC) college students and describe access to nearest clinics offering MAB to each campus.We calculated demand using 2019-2020 campus demographics and NC abortion statistics. We used a mystery client technique to gather MAB cost and appointment wait times at the closest clinics and calculated travel distances and times.We estimated that 2,517 NC students seek MAB annually. Twenty-one clinics were closest to NC’s 111 colleges and universities, including five in neighboring states. Mean cost was $450, with an average wait time of six days to appointment. The average round-trip travel distance was 58 miles and time to the nearest clinic was 84 min by car.Many NC college students likely obtain MAB every year and face high costs, long wait times and distances to care, which has likely worsened after the overturning of Roe v. Wade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer education and brand knowledge have emerged as the dynamic tool in the complex marketplace today that actively stimulate the cognitive behavior of consumers toward developing purchase intentions and buying decisions. The general objective of this study is to critically review the previous studies on the role of brand literacy, transfer and perceptions of knowledge, purchase intention, shopping ambiance and customer satisfaction, and illustrate the consumer decision making process induced by the above factors. The literature review reveals that brand education plays significant role as a driver of decision making among consumers, which not only empowers consumers in developing perceptions on the brand but also helps the companies on brand co-designing and knowledge dissemination process. Consumer literacy and brand knowledge helps the consumers in assessing the brand value, competitive advantage, and operational efficiency of the brand toward building purchase intentions. The effects of the increasing levels of customer expertise in the marketplace today is seen as the outcome of consumer education and perceived brand knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Molecular assembly has become a promising strategy for designing new polydentate ligands. But very often such ligands and their complexes are sparingly soluble in aqueous phase due to their intrinsic hydrophobic character. Pd(II) complexes are good homogeneous catalysts but their poor solubility in aqueous phase may limit their catalytic efficacy in the universal green solvent water. However, solubility related challenges especially in aqueous phase can be mitigated through the formation of inclusion complexes by exploiting the hydrophobic nature of the β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) cavity. Hence, an ionic liquid ChCD (1) was synthesized from β-CD and Choline bromide (ChBr). Next a supramolecular N, N′, O-tridentate ligand 1⊂2 (3) was synthesized by the inclusion of 2,6-diaminopyridine (2) in the hydrophobic β-CD cavity of the ionic liquid ChCD (1) and was well characterized by elemental analysis, UV-visible, FTIR, 1H NMR spectroscopy, etc. The stoichiometry of the inclusion complex 1⊂2 (3) was found to be 1:1 based on UV-visible spectrophotometric study. A new air stable, highly water soluble Pd2+-complex [κ3-N, N′, O-Pd(1⊂2)H2O]OAc (4) was then synthesized from the supramolecular ligand (3) with 1:1 stoichiometry and used as a catalyst for Suzuki cross-coupling reactions in water at ambient temperature with good to excellent yields. The catalyst can be removed and recycled. Additionally, the use of non-toxic solvent water makes the methodology green, sustainable, and economically viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Calotropis procera and Calotropis gigantea are medicinal plant having therapeutic value. The leaf extracts of C. procera have been investigated, its pharmacological actions in detail and leaf extracts of C. gigantea were not studied till date. The objective of present work was to find the bioactive constituents present in the ethanolic leaf extract of C. procera and C. gigantea to evaluate their antibacterial and anifungal activities. The major phytochemical groups in C. procera ethanolic leaf extracts were fatty acid ethyl ester (21.36%), palmitic acid ester (10.24%), linoleic acid (7.43%) and amino acid (8.10%) respectively, whereas ethanolic leaf extracts of C. gigantea contain palmitic acid (46.01%), diterpene (26.53%), triterpene (17.39%), linoleic acid (5.13%) as the major phytochemical groups. Ethanol extract of C. procera leaves showed the highest inhibition (11 mm) against Escherichia coli, while ethanolic extract of C. gigantea leaves inhibited Klebsiella (20 mm). These findings will use in new directions in pharmacological investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses various reports within the issue on topics including Afropolitan aesthetics, literary representations of Afropolitan subjectivities and writing and self-identification.

We analyse profitability dynamics in a large emerging economy, India, over the two-and-a-half decades since economic liberalisation began in earnest. We find that the average rate at which Indian firms reverted to normal profitability increased significantly, particularly for firms earning supernormal profits. In contrast, firms earning below-normal profitability have been marked by little reversion to normal. Inducing underperforming firms to improve their profitability is of great policy importance. The pattern in profitability dynamics of Indian firms in the early years was consistent with a polarised long-run profitability distribution. The polarisation tendency was reversed in later years, but the projected long-run profitability distribution has a substantial underperforming tail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses quantitative methodologies and usage of cultural lens to understand ethical beliefs and practices among mental health practitioners across different contexts. Topics discussed include involvement of family in therapeutic decisions, conflicts in value while working on sexuality issues, and personal and cultural values impacting the perceptions.

The Teaching for Transformative Experience in Science (TTES) model has shown to be a useful tool to generate learning and engagement in science. We investigated the effectiveness of TTES for facilitating transformative experience (TE), learning, the development of topic interest and transfer of course concepts to other courses employing a quasi-experimental design. Our goal was to determine the effectiveness of TTES compared to an alternative teaching method in a course designed for academically at-risk undergraduate students. Specifically, we explored the impact of TTES for teaching about motivation in a college success course. The results showed that TTES generated TE outside of the biological sciences, increased learning, developed student interest and facilitated self-reported transfer to other courses. The findings have important implications for facilitating learning and motivation in academically at-risk college students, which may subsequently impact college student retention and academic success. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The curriculum, Hot Wheels Speedometry (Mattel, El Segundo, CA, USA), was designed to align with the Next Generation Science Standards for science and the Common Core State Standards for mathematics. Our objective was to develop, implement, and evaluate the impact of this integrated science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum on students' knowledge, interest, and engagement. The authors conducted the study in a district where students were predominantly from communities under-represented in STEM fields. The findings indicate that student individual interest developed. Furthermore, students demonstrated affective, behavioral, and cognitive engagement along their progression of interest development. The study shows promise for the development of interest and engagement in under-represented groups through the use of an integrated STEM curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

CTCF-mediated chromatin interactions influence organization and function of mammalian genome in diverse ways. We analyzed the interactions among CTCF binding sites (CBS) at the murine TCRb locus to discern the role of CTCFmediated interactions in the regulation of transcription and VDJ recombination. Chromosome conformation capture analysis revealed thymocyte-specific long-range intrachromosomal interactions among various CBS across the locus that were relevant for defining the limit of the enhancer Eb-regulated recombination center (RC) and for facilitating the spatial proximity of TCRb variable (V) gene segments to the RC. Ectopic CTCF binding in the RC region, effected via genetic manipulation, altered CBS-directed chromatin loops, interfered with RC establishment, and reduced the spatial proximity of the RC with Trbv segments. Changes in chromatin loop organization by ectopic CTCF binding were relatively modest but influenced transcription and VDJ recombination dramatically. Besides revealing the importance of CTCF-mediated chromatin organization for TCRb regulation, the observed chromatin loops were consistent with the emerging idea that CBS orientations influence chromatin loop organization and underscored the importance of CBS orientations for defining chromatin architecture that supports VDJ recombination. Further, our study suggests that in addition to mediating long-range chromatin interactions, CTCF influences intricate configuration of chromatin loops that govern functional interactions between elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]