Search results for: body image concern

Authors: BoSheng Liu

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The research goal is to re-image a locally-sourced waste product as abuilding material. The author aims to contribute to the compressed stabilized earth block (CSEB) by investigating the promising role of dredged material as an alternative building ingredient in the production of bricks and tiles. Dredged material comes from the sediment deposited near the shore or downstream, where the water current velocity decreases. This sediment needs to be dredged to provide water transportation; thus, there are mounds of the dredged material stored at bay. It is the interest of this research to reduce the filtered un-organic soil in the production of CSEB and replace it with locally dredged material from the Atchafalaya River in Morgan City, Louisiana. Technology and mechanical innovations have evolved the traditional adobe production method, which mixes the soil and natural fiber into molded bricks, into chemically stabilized CSEB made by compressing the clay mixture and stabilizer in a compression chamber with particular loads. In the case of dredged material CSEB (DM-CSEB), cement plays an essential role as the bending agent contributing to the unit strength while sustaining the filtered un-organic soil. Each DM-CSEB unit is made in a compression chamber with 580 PSI (i.e., 4 MPa) force. The research studied the cement content from 5% to 10% along with the range of dredged material mixtures, which differed from 20% to 80%. The material mixture content affected the DM-CSEB's strength and workability during and after its compression. Results indicated two optimal workabilities of the mixture: 27% fine clay content and 63% dredged material with 10% cement, or 28% fine clay content, and 67% dredged material with 5% cement. The final product of DM-CSEB emitted between 10 to 13 times fewer carbon emissions compared to the conventional fired masonry structure. DM-CSEB satisfied the strength requirement given by the ASTM C62 and ASTM C34 standards for construction material. One of the final evaluations tested and validated the material performance by designing and constructing an architectural, conical tile-vault prototype that was 28" by 40" by 24." The vault utilized a computational form-finding approach to generate the form's geometry, which optimized the correlation between the vault geometry and structural load distribution. A series of scaffolding was deployed to create the framework for the tile-vault construction. The final tile-vault structure was made from 2 layers of DM-CSEB tiles jointed by mortar, and the construction of the structure used over 110 tiles. The tile-vault prototype was capable of carrying over 400 lbs of live loads, which further demonstrated the dredged material feasibility as a construction material. The presented case study of Dredged Material Compressed Stabilized Earth Block (DM-CSEB) provides the first impression of dredged material in the clayey mixture process, structural performance, and construction practice. Overall, the approach of integrating dredged material in building material can be feasible, regionally sourced, cost-effective, and environment-friendly.

Keywords: dredged material, compressed stabilized earth block, tile-vault, regionally sourced, environment-friendly

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Authors: Ahlad Neti, Elisa Arch, Martha Hall

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Studies have shown that individuals who use Ankle-Foot-Orthoses (AFOs) have a high level of dissatisfaction regarding their current AFOs. Studies point to the focus on technical design with little attention given to the user perspective as a source of AFO designs that leave users dissatisfied. To design a new AFO that satisfies users and thereby improves their quality of life, the reasons for their dissatisfaction and their wants and needs for an improved AFO design must be identified. There has been little research into the user perspective on AFO use and desired improvements, so the relationship between AFO design and satisfaction in daily use must be assessed to develop appropriate metrics and constraints prior to designing a novel AFO. To assess the user perspective on AFO design, structured interviews were conducted with 7 individuals (average age of 64.29±8.81 years) who use AFOs. All interviews were transcribed and coded to identify common themes using Grounded Theory Method in NVivo 12. Qualitative analysis of these results identified sources of user dissatisfaction such as heaviness, bulk, and uncomfortable material and overall needs and wants for an AFO. Beyond the user perspective, certain objective factors must be considered in the construction of metrics and constraints to ensure that the AFO fulfills its medical purpose. These more objective metrics are rooted in a common medical device market and technical standards. Given the large body of research concerning these standards, these objective metrics and constraints were derived through a literature review. Through these two methods, a comprehensive list of metrics and constraints accounting for both the user perspective on AFO design and the AFO’s medical purpose was compiled. These metrics and constraints will establish the framework for designing a new AFO that carries out its medical purpose while also improving the user experience. The metrics can be categorized into several overarching areas for AFO improvement. Categories of user perspective related metrics include comfort, discreteness, aesthetics, ease of use, and compatibility with clothing. Categories of medical purpose related metrics include biomechanical functionality, durability, and affordability. These metrics were used to guide an iterative prototyping process. Six concepts were ideated and compared using system-level analysis. From these six concepts, two concepts – the piano wire model and the segmented model – were selected to move forward into prototyping. Evaluation of non-functional prototypes of the piano wire and segmented models determined that the piano wire model better fulfilled the metrics by offering increased stability, longer durability, fewer points for failure, and a strong enough core component to allow a sock to cover over the AFO while maintaining the overall structure. As such, the piano wire AFO has moved forward into the functional prototyping phase, and healthy subject testing is being designed and recruited to conduct design validation and verification.

Keywords: ankle-foot orthotic, assistive technology, human centered design, medical devices

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Authors: Aikaterini Tavoulari, Mike Richardson

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Objective: This abstract presents a multisensory participatory design project, inspired by a deafblind PhD student's ambition to climb Mount Everest. The project aims to explore accessible routes for filmmaking and video content creation, catering to the needs of individuals with hearing and sight loss. By engaging participants from the Southwest area of England, recruited through multiple networks, the project seeks to gather qualitative data and insights to inform the development of inclusive media practices. Design: It will be a community-based participatory research design. The workshop will feature various stations that stimulate different senses, such as scent, touch, sight, hearing as well as movement. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with these multisensory experiences, providing valuable feedback on their effectiveness and potential for enhancing accessibility in filmmaking and video content. Methods: Brief semi-structured interviews will be conducted to collect qualitative data, allowing participants to share their perspectives, challenges, and suggestions for improvement. The participatory design approach emphasizes the importance of involving the target audience in the creative process. By actively engaging individuals with hearing and sight loss, the project aims to ensure that their needs and preferences are central to the development of accessible filmmaking techniques and video content. This collaborative effort seeks to bridge the gap between content creators and diverse audiences, fostering a more inclusive media landscape. Results: The findings from this study will contribute to the growing body of research on accessible filmmaking and video content creation. Via inductive thematic analysis of the qualitative data collected through interviews and observations, the researchers aim to identify key themes, challenges, and opportunities for creating engaging and inclusive media experiences for deafblind audiences. The insights will inform the development of best practices and guidelines for accessible filmmaking, empowering content creators to produce more inclusive and immersive video content. Conclusion: The abstract targets the hybrid International Conference for Disability and Diversity in Canada (January 2025), as this platform provides an excellent opportunity to share the outcomes of the project with a global audience of researchers, practitioners, and advocates working towards inclusivity and accessibility in various disability domains. By presenting this research at the conference in person, the authors aim to contribute to the ongoing discourse on disability and diversity, highlighting the importance of multisensory experiences and participatory design in creating accessible media content for the deafblind community and the community with sensory impairments more broadly.

Keywords: vision impairment, hearing impairment, deafblindness, accessibility, filmmaking

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Authors: Almira Sharafeeva

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In the Soviet Union of the 1930s, motherhood was seen as a natural need of women. The masculine Bolshevik state did not see the emancipated woman as free from her maternal burden. In order to support the idea of "joyful motherhood," a medical discourse on the anesthesia of childbirth emerges. In March 1935 at the IX Congress of obstetricians and gynecologists the People's Commissar of Public Health of the RSFSR G.N. Kaminsky raised the issue of anesthesia of childbirth. It was also from that year that medical, literary and artistic editions with enviable frequency began to publish articles, studies devoted to the issue, the goal - to anesthetize all childbirths in the USSR - was proclaimed. These publications were often filled with anti-German and anti-capitalist propaganda, through which the advantages of socialism over Capitalism and Nazism were demonstrated. At congresses, in journals, and at institute meetings, doctors' discussions around obstetric anesthesia were accompanied by discussions of shortening the duration of the childbirth process, the prevention and prevention of disease, the admission of nurses to the procedure, and the proper behavior of women during the childbirth process. With the help of articles from medical periodicals of the 1930s., brochures, as well as documents from the funds of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the USSR (TsGANTD SPb) and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the NKZ USSR (GARF) in this paper we will show, how the advantages of the Soviet system and the socialist way of life were constructed through the problem of childbirth pain relief, and we will also show how childbirth pain relief in the USSR was related to the foreign policy situation and how projects of labor pain relief were related to the anti-abortion policy of the state. This study also attempts to answer the question of why anesthesia of childbirth in the USSR did not become widespread and how, through this medical procedure, the Soviet authorities tried to take control of a female function (childbirth) that was not available to men. Considering this subject from the perspective of gender studies and the social history of medicine, it is productive to use the term "biopolitics. Michel Foucault and Antonio Negri, wrote that biopolitics takes under its wing the control and management of hygiene, nutrition, fertility, sexuality, contraception. The central issue of biopolitics is population reproduction. It includes strategies for intervening in collective existence in the name of life and health, ways of subjectivation by which individuals are forced to work on themselves. The Soviet state, through intervention in the reproductive lives of its citizens, sought to realize its goals of population growth, which was necessary to demonstrate the benefits of living in the Soviet Union and to train a pool of builders of socialism. The woman's body was seen as the object over which the socialist experiment of reproductive policy was being conducted.

Keywords: labor anesthesia, biopolitics of stalinism, childbirth pain relief, reproductive policy

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Authors: Rajkumar Ghosh, Ananya Mukhopadhyay

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This scientific paper presents a thorough investigation into the integration of roof-mounted photovoltaic (PV) array systems and home rooftop rainwater collection systems in a remote community in Himachal Pradesh, India, with the goal of optimum utilization of natural resources for attaining sustainable living conditions by 2030. The study looks into the technical feasibility, environmental benefits, and socioeconomic impacts of this integrated method, emphasizing its ability to handle energy and water concerns in remote rural regions. This comprehensive method not only provides a sustainable source of electricity but also ensures a steady supply of clean water, promoting resilience and improving the quality of life for the village's residents. This research highlights the potential of such integrated systems in supporting sustainable conditions in rural areas through a combination of technical feasibility studies, economic analysis, and community interaction. There would be 20690 villages and 1.48 million homes (23.79% annual growth rate) in Himachal Pradesh if all residential buildings in the state had roof-mounted photovoltaic arrays to capture solar energy for power generation. The energy produced is utilized to power homes, lessening dependency on traditional fossil fuels. The same residential buildings housed domestic rooftop rainwater collection systems. Rainwater runoff from rooftops is collected and stored in tanks for use in a number of residential purposes, such as drinking, cooking, and irrigation. The gathered rainfall enhances the region's limited groundwater resources, easing the strain on local wells and aquifers. Although Himachal Pradesh of India is a Power state, the PV arrays have reduced the reliance of village on grid power and diesel generators by providing a steady source of electricity. Rooftop rainwater gathering has not only increased residential water supply but it has also lessened the burden on local groundwater resources. This helps to replenish groundwater and offers a more sustainable water supply for the town. The neighbourhood has saved money by utilizing renewable energy and rainwater gathering. Furthermore, lower fossil fuel consumption reduces greenhouse gas emissions, which helps to mitigate the effects of climate change. The integrated strategy of installing grid connected rooftop photovoltaic arrays and home rooftop rainwater collecting systems in Himachal Pradesh rural community demonstrates a feasible model for sustainable development. According to “Swaran Jayanti Energy Policy of Himachal Pradesh”, Himachal Pradesh is planned 10 GW from rooftop mode from Solar Power. Government of India provides 40% subsidy on solar panel of 1-3 kw and subsidy of Rs 6,000 per kw per year to encourage domestic consumers of Himachal Pradesh. This effort solves energy and water concerns, improves economic well-being, and helps to conserve the environment. Such integrated systems can serve as a model for sustainable development in rural areas not only in Himachal Pradesh, but also in other parts of the world where resource scarcity is a major concern. Long-term performance and scalability of such integrated systems should be the focus of future study. Efforts should also be made to duplicate this approach in other rural areas and examine its socioeconomic and environmental implications over time.

Keywords: renewable energy, photovoltaic arrays, rainwater harvesting, sustainability, rural development, Himachal Pradesh, India

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Authors: Azzah Aldeghather, Sara Alkhodair

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In the modern urban planning and architecture landscape, with western ideologies and styles becoming the mainstay of experience and definitions globally, the Islamic world requires a methodology that defines its expression, which transcends cultural, societal, and national styles. This paper will propose a methodology as an objective system to define, evaluate and apply traditional Islamic knowledge to Islamic urban planning and architecture, providing the Islamic world with a system to manifest its approach to design. The methodology is expressed as Four Pillars which are based on traditional meanings of Arab words roughly translated as Pillar One: The Principles (Al Mabade’), Pillar Two: The Foundations (Al Asas), Pillar Three: The Purpose (Al Ghaya), Pillar Four: Presence (Al Hadara). Pillar One: (The Principles) expresses the unification (Tawheed) pillar of Islam: “There is no God but God” and is comprised of seven principles listed as: 1. Human values (Qiyam Al Insan), 2. Universal language as sacred geometry, 3. Fortitude© and Benefitability©, 4. Balance and Integration: conjoining the opposites, 5. Man, time, and place, 6. Body, mind, spirit, and essence, 7. Unity of design expression to achieve unity, harmony, and security in design. Pillar Two: The Foundations is based on two foundations: “Muhammad is the Prophet of God” and his relationship to the renaming of Medina City as a prototypical city or place, which defines a center space for collection conjoined by an analysis of the Medina Charter as a base for the humanistic design. Pillar Three: The Purpose (Al Ghaya) is comprised of four criteria: The naming of the design as a title, the intention of the design as an end goal, the reasoning behind the design, and the priorities of expression. Pillar Four: Presence (Al Hadara) is usually translated as a civilization; in Arabic, the root of Hadara is to be present. This has five primary definitions utilized to express the act of design: Wisdom (Hikma) as a philosophical concept, Identity (Hawiya) of the form, and Dialogue (Hiwar), which are the requirements of the project vis-a-vis what the designer wishes to convey, Expression (Al Ta’abeer) the designer wishes to apply, and Resources (Mawarid) available. The Proposal will provide examples, where applicable, of past and present designs that exemplify the manifestation of the Pillars. The proposed methodology endeavors to return Islamic urban planning and architecture design to its a priori position as a leading design expression adaptable to any place, time, and cultural expression while providing a base for analysis that transcends the concept of style and external form as a definition and expresses the singularity of the esoteric “Spiritual” aspects in a rational, principled, and logical manner clearly addressed in Islam’s essence.

Keywords: Islamic architecture, Islamic design, Islamic urban planning, principles of Islamic design

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Authors: C. A. Sharma, Birendra P. Singh

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We recovered 40 well preserved ribbon-shaped, meandering specimens of S. ningqiangensis from the Earthy Dolomite Member (Krol Group) and calcareous siltstone beds of the Earthy Siltstone Member (Tal Group) showing closely spaced annulations that lacked branching. The beginning and terminal points are indistinguishable. In certain cases, individual specimens are characterized by irregular, low-angle to high-angle sinuosity. It has been variously described as body fossil, ichnofossil and algae. Detailed study of this enigmatic fossil is needed to resolve the long standing controversy regarding its phylogenetic and stratigraphic placements, which will be an important contribution to the evolutionary history of metazoans. S. ningqiangensis has been known from the late Neoproterozoic (Ediacaran) of southern and central China (Sichuan, Shaanxi, Quinghai and Guizhou provinces and Ningxia Hui Autonomous region), Siberian platform and across Pc/C Boundary from latest Neoprterozoic to earliest Cambrian of northern India. Shaanxilithes is considered an Ediacaran organism that spans the Precambrian–Cambrian boundary, an interval marked by significant taphonomic and ecological transformations that include not only innovation but also probable extinction. All the past well constrained finds of S. ningqiangensis are restricted to Ediacaran age. However, due to the new recoveries of the fossil from Nigalidhar Syncline, the stratigraphic status of S. ningqiangensis-bearing Earthy Siltstone Member of the Shaliyan Formation of the Tal Group (Cambrian) is rendered uncertain, though the overlying Chert Member in the adjoining Korgai Syncline has yielded definite early Cambrian acritarchs. The moot question is whether the Earthy Siltstone Member represents an Ediacaran or an early Cambrian age?. It would be interesting to find if Shaanxilithes, so far known from Ediacaran sequences, could it transgress to the early Cambrian or in simple words could it withstand the Pc/C Boundary event? GC-MS data shows the S. ningqiangensis structure is formed by hydrocarbon organic compounds which are filled with inorganic elements filler like silica, Calcium, phosphorus etc. The S. ningqiangensis structure is a mixture of organic compounds of high molecular weight, containing several saturated rings with hydrocarbon chains having an occasional isolated carbon-carbon double bond and also containing, in addition, to small amounts of nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen. Data also revealed that the presence of nitrogen which would be either in the form of peptide chains means amide/amine or chemical form i.e. nitrates/nitrites etc. The formula weight and the weight ratio of C/H shows that it would be expected for algae derived organics, since algae produce fatty acids as well as other hydrocarbons such as cartenoids.

Keywords: GC-MS Analysis, lesser himalaya, Pc/C Boundary, shaanxilithes

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Authors: Basma Hussein Abdelaziz Hassan, Kareem Kamel, Philobater Bahgat Adly Awad, Karim Fahmy

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Background: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric band was one of the most applied and common bariatric procedures in the last 8 years. However; the failure rate was very high, reaching approximately 60% of the patients not achieving the desired weight loss. Most patients sought another revisional surgery. In which, we compared two of the most common weight loss surgeries performed nowadays: the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and laparoscopic one- anastomosis gastric bypass. Objective: To compare the weight loss and postoperative outcomes among patients undergoing conversion laparoscopic one-anastomosis gastric bypass (cOAGB) and laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy (cSG) after a failed laparoscopic adjustable gastric band (LAGB). Patients and Methods: A prospective cohort study was conducted from June 2020 to June 2022 at a single medical center, which included 77 patients undergoing single-stage conversion to (cOAGB) vs (cSG). Patients were reassessed for weight loss, comorbidities remission, and post-operative complications at 6, 12, and 18 months. Results: There were 77 patients with failed LAGB in our study. Group (I) was 43 patients who underwent cOAGB and Group (II) was 34 patients who underwent cSG. The mean age of the cOAGB group was 38.58. While in the cSG group, the mean age was 39.47 (p=0.389). Of the 77 patients, 10 (12.99%) were males and 67 (87.01%) were females. Regarding Body mass index (BMI), in the cOAGB group the mean BMI was 41.06 and in the cSG group the mean BMI was 40.5 (p=0.042). The two groups were compared postoperative in relation to EBWL%, BMI, and the co-morbidities remission within 18 months follow-up. The BMI was calculated post-operative at three visits. After 6 months of follow-up, the mean BMI in the cOAGB group was 34.34, and the cSG group was 35.47 (p=0.229). In 12-month follow-up, the mean BMI in the cOAGB group was 32.69 and the cSG group was 33.79 (p=0.2). Finally, the mean BMI after 18 months of follow-up in the cOAGB group was 30.02, and in the cSG group was 31.79 (p=0.001). Both groups had no statistically significant values at 6 and 12 months follow-up with p-values of 0.229, and 0.2 respectively. However, patients who underwent cOAGB after 18 months of follow-up achieved lower BMI than those who underwent cSG with a statistically significant p-value of 0.005. Regarding EBWL% there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. After 6 months of follow-up, the mean EBWL% in the cOAGB group was 35.9% and the cSG group was 33.14%. In the 12-month follow-up, the EBWL % mean in the cOAGB group was 52.35 and the cSG group was 48.76 (p=0.045). Finally, the mean EBWL % after 18 months of follow-up in the cOAGB group was 62.06 ±8.68 and in the cSG group was 55.58 ±10.87 (p=0.005). Regarding comorbidities remission; Diabetes mellitus remission was found in 22 (88%) patients in the cOAGB group and 10 (71.4%) patients in the cSG group with (p= 0.225). Hypertension remission was found in 20 (80%) patients in the cOAGB group and 14 (82.4%) patients in the cSG group with (p=1). In addition, dyslipidemia remission was found in 27(87%) patients in cOAGB group and 17(70%) patients in the cSG group with (p=0.18). Finally, GERD remission was found in about 15 (88.2%) patients in the cOAGB group and 6 (60%) patients in the cSG group with (p=0.47). There are no statistically significant differences between the two groups in the post-operative data outcomes. Conclusion: This study suggests that the conversion of LAGB to either cOAGB or cSG could be feasibly performed in a single-stage operation. cOAGB had a significant difference as regards the weight loss results than cSG among the mid-term follow-up. However, there is no significant difference in the postoperative complications and the resolution of the co-morbidities. Therefore, cOAGB could provide a reliable alternative but needs to be substantiated in future long-term studies.

Keywords: laparoscopic, gastric banding, one-anastomosis gastric bypass, Sleeve gastrectomy, revisional surgery, weight loss

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Authors: Mirjana Dokmanovic

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The main topic of this paper is the analysis of the presence of gender stereotypes in the media content in the Republic of Serbia with respect to the state commitments to eliminate discrimination against women. The research methodology included the analysis of the media content of six daily newspapers and two magazines on the date of 28 December 2015 and the analysis of the reality TV show programs in 2015 from gender perspective. The methods of the research has also included a desk research and a qualitative analysis of the available data, statistics, policy papers, studies, and reports produced by the government, the Ministry of Culture and Information, the Regulatory Body for Electronic Media, the Press Council, the associations of media professionals, the independent human rights bodies, and civil society organizations (CSOs). As a State Signatory to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Republic of Serbia has adopted numerous measures in this field, including the Law on Equality between Sexes and the national gender equality strategies. Special attention has been paid to eliminating gender stereotypes and prejudices in the media content and portraying of women. This practice has been forbidden by the Law on Electronic Media, the Law on Public Information and Media, the Law on Public Service Broadcasting and the Bylaw on the Protection of Human Rights in the Provision of Media Services. Despite these commitments, there has not been achieved progress regarding eliminating gender stereotypes in the media content. The research indicates that the media perpetuate traditional gender roles and patriarchal patterns. Female politicians, entrepreneurs, academics, scientists, and engineers have been very rarely portrayed in the media. On the other side, women are in their focus as celebrities, singers, and actresses. Women are underrepresented in the pages related to politics and economy, while they are mostly present in the cover stories related to show-business, health care, family and household matters. Women are three times more than men identified on the basis of their family status, as mothers, wives, daughters, etc. Hate speech, misogyny, and violence against women are often present in the reality TV shows. The abuse of women and their bodies in advertising is still widely present. The cases of domestic violence are still presented with sensationalism, although there has been achieved progress in portraying victims of domestic violence with respect and dignity. The issues related to gender equality and the position of the vulnerable groups of women, such as Roma women or rural women, are not visible in the media. This research, as well as warnings of women’s CSOs and independent human rights bodies, indicates the necessity to implement legal and policy measures in this field consistently and with due diligence. The aim of the paper is to contribute eliminating gender stereotypes in the media content and advancing gender equality.

Keywords: discrimination against women, gender roles, gender stereotypes, media, misogyny, portraying women in the media, prejudices against women, Republic of Serbia

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Authors: Eun-Seop Kim, Eun-Ha Jang, Rana R. Kim, Sae-Byul Jang

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Objective: Preterm labor is the most common antecedent of preterm birth(PTB), which is characterized by regular uterine contraction before 37 weeks of pregnancy and cervical change. In acute preterm labor, tocolytics are administered as the first-line medication to suppress uterine contractions but rarely delay pregnancy to 37 weeks of gestation. On the other hand, according to the Korean Traditional Medicine, PTB is caused by the deficiency of Qi and unnecessary energy in the body of the mother. The aim of this study was to demonstrate the benefit of Traditional Korean Medicine as an adjuvant therapy in management of early uterine contractions and the prevention of PTB. Methods: It is a case report of a 38-year-old woman (0-0-6-0) hospitalized for irregular uterine contractions and cervical change at 33+3/7 weeks of gestation. Past history includes chemical pregnancies achieved by Artificial Rroductive Technology(ART), one stillbirth (at 7 weeks) and a laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis. After seven trials of IVF and articificial insemination, she had succeeded in conception via in-vitro fertilization (IVF) with help of Traditional Korean Medicine (TKM) treatments. Due to irregular uterine contractions and cervical changes, 2 TKM were prescribed: Gami-Dangguisan, and Antae-eum, known to nourish blood and clear away heat. 120ml of Gami-Dangguisan was given twice a day monring and evening along with same amount of Antae-eum once a day from 31 August 2013 to 28 November 2013. Tocolytics (Ritodrine) was administered as a first aid for maintenance of pregnancy. Information regarding progress until the delivery was collected during the patient’s visit. Results: On admission, the cervix of 15mm in length and cervical os with 0.5cm-dilated were observed via ultrasonography. 50% cervical effacement was also detected in physical examination. Tocolysis had been temporarily maintained. As a supportive therapy, TKM herbal preparations(gami-dangguisan and Antae-eum) were concomitantly given. As of 34+2/7 weeks of gestation, however intermittent uterine contractions appeared (5-12min) on cardiotocography and vaginal bleeding was also smeared at 34+3/7 weeks. However, enhanced tocolytics and continuous administration of herbal medicine sustained the pregnancy to term. At 37+2/7 weeks, no sign of labor with restored cervical length was confirmed. The woman gave a term birth to a healthy infant via vaginal delivery at 39+3/7 gestational weeks. Conclusions: This is the first successful case report about a preter labor patient administered with conventional tocolytic agents as well as TKM herbal decoctions, delaying delivery to term. This case deserves attention considering it is rare to maintain gestation to term only with tocolytic intervention. Our report implies the potential of herbal medicine as an adjuvant therapy for preterm labor treatment. Further studies are needed to assess the safety and efficacy of TKM herbal medicine as a therapeutic alternative for curing preterm birth.

Keywords: preterm labor, traditional Korean medicine, herbal medicine, integrative treatment, complementary and alternative medicine

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Authors: Gehan ElAkabawy

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Background: Diabetes mellitus causes severe deteriorations of almost all the organs and systems of the body, as well as significant damage to the oral cavity. The oral changes are mainly related to salivary glands dysfunction characterized by hyposalivation and xerostomia, which significantly reduce diabetic patients’ quality of life. Human dental pulp stem cells represent a promising source for cell-based therapies, owing to their easy, minimally invasive surgical access, and high proliferative capacity. It was reported that the trophic support mediated by dental pulp stem cells can rescue the functional and structural alterations of damaged salivary glands. However, potential differentiation and paracrine effects of human dental pulp stem cells in diabetic-induced parotid gland damage have not been previously investigated. Our study aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of intravenous transplantation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) on parotid gland injury in a rat model of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. Methods: Thirty Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly categorised into three groups: control, diabetic (STZ), and transplanted (STZ+hDPSCs). hDPSCs or vehicle was injected into the tail vein 7 days after STZ injection. The fasting blood glucose levels were monitored weekly. A glucose tolerance test was performed, and the parotid gland weight, salivary flow rate, oxidative stress indices, parotid gland histology, and caspase-3, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) expression in parotid tissues were assessed 28 days post-transplantation. Results: Transplantation of hDPSCs downregulated blood glucose, improved the salivary flow rate, and reduced oxidative stress. The cells migrated to, survived, and differentiated into acinar, ductal, and myoepithelial cells in the STZ-injured parotid gland. Moreover, they downregulated the expression of caspase-3 and upregulated the expression of VEGF and PCNA, likely exerting pro-angiogenetic and antiapoptotic effects and promoting endogenous regeneration. In addition, the transplanted cells enhanced the parotid nitric oxide (NO) -tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4) pathway. Conclusions: Our results show that hDPSCs can migrate to and survive within the STZ-injured parotid gland, where they prevent its functional and morphological damage by restoring normal glucose levels, differentiating into parotid cell populations, and stimulating paracrine-mediated regeneration. Thus, hDPSCs may have therapeutic potential in the treatment of diabetes-induced parotid gland injury.

Keywords: dental pulp stem cells, diabetes, streptozotocin, parotid gland

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Authors: Sandra Young

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The biodiversity literature is vast and heterogeneous. In today’s data age, numbers of data integration and standardisation initiatives aim to facilitate simultaneous access to all the literature across biodiversity domains for research and forecasting purposes. Ontologies are being used increasingly to organise this information, but the rationalisation intrinsic to ontologies can hit obstacles when faced with the intrinsic fluidity and inconsistency found in the domains comprising biodiversity. Essentially the problem is a conceptual one: biological taxonomies are formed on the basis of specific, physical specimens yet nomenclatural rules are used to provide labels to describe these physical objects. These labels are ambiguous representations of the physical specimen. An example of this is with the genus Melpomene, the scientific nomenclatural representation of a genus of ferns, but also for a genus of spiders. The physical specimens for each of these are vastly different, but they have been assigned the same nomenclatural reference. While there is much research into the conceptual stability of the taxonomic concept versus the nomenclature used, to the best of our knowledge as yet no research has looked empirically at the literature to see the conceptual plurality or singularity of the use of these species’ names, the linguistic representation of a physical entity. Language itself uses words as symbols to represent real world concepts, whether physical entities or otherwise, and as such lexicography has a well-founded history in the conceptual mapping of words in context for dictionary making. This makes it an ideal candidate to explore this problem. The lexicographic approach uses corpus-based analysis to look at word use in context, with a specific focus on collocated word frequencies (the frequencies of words used in specific grammatical and collocational contexts). It allows for inconsistencies and contradictions in the source data and in fact includes these in the word characterisation so that 100% of the available evidence is counted. Corpus analysis is indeed suggested as one of the ways to identify concepts for ontology building, because of its ability to look empirically at data and show patterns in language usage, which can indicate conceptual ideas which go beyond words themselves. In this sense it could potentially be used to identify if the hierarchical structures present within the empirical body of literature match those which have been identified in ontologies created to represent them. The first stages of this research have revealed a hierarchical structure that becomes apparent in the biodiversity literature when annotating scientific species’ names, common names and more general names as classes, which will be the focus of this paper. The next step in the research is focusing on a larger corpus in which specific words can be analysed and then compared with existing ontological structures looking at the same material, to evaluate the methods by means of an alternative perspective. This research aims to provide evidence as to the validity of the current methods in knowledge representation for biological entities, and also shed light on the way that scientific nomenclature is used within the literature.

Keywords: ontology, biodiversity, lexicography, knowledge representation, corpus linguistics

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Authors: Amrisha Pandey

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Indian constitution has distributed the powers to govern and legislate between the centre and the state governments based on the list of subject-matter provided in the seventh schedule. By that schedule, the states are authorized to regulate the water resource within their territory. However, the centre/union government is authorized to regulate the inter-state water disputes. The powers entrusted to the union government mainly deals with the sharing of river water which flows through the territory of two or more states. For that purpose, a provision enumerated in Article 262 of the Constitution of India which empowers the parliament to resolve any such inter-state river water dispute. Therefore, the parliament has enacted the - ‘Inter-State River Water Dispute Tribunal, Act’, which allows the central/union government to constitute the tribunal for the adjudication of the disputes and expressly bars the jurisdiction of the judiciary in the concerned matter. This arrangement was intended to resolve the dispute using political or diplomatic means, without deliberately interfering with the sovereign power of the states to govern the water resource. The situation in present context is complicated and sensitive. Due to the change in climatic conditions; increasing demand for the limited resource; and the advanced understanding of the freshwater cycle, which is missing from the existing legal regime. The obsolete legal and political tools, the existing legislative mechanism and the institutional units do not seem to accommodate the rising challenge to regulate the resource. Therefore, resulting in the rise of the politicization of the inter-state water disputes. Against this background, this paper will investigate the inter-state river water dispute in India and will critically analyze the ability of the existing constitutional, and institutional units involved in the task. Moreover, the competence of the tribunal as the adjudicating body in present context will be analyzed using the long ongoing inter-state water dispute in India – The Cauvery Water Dispute, as the case study. To conduct the task undertaken in this paper the doctrinal methodology of the research is adopted. The disputes will also be investigated through the lens of sovereignty, which is accorded to the states using the theory of ‘separation of power’ and the ‘grant of internal sovereignty’, to its federal units of governance. The issue of sovereignty in this paper is discussed in two ways: 1) as the responsibility of the state - to govern the resource; and 2) as the obligation of the state - to govern the resource, arising from the sovereign power of the state. Furthermore, the duality of the sovereign power coexists in this analysis; the overall sovereign authority of the nation-state, and the internal sovereignty of the states as its federal units of governance. As a result, this investigation will propose institutional, legislative and judicial reforms. Additionally, it will suggest certain amendments to the existing constitutional provisions in order to avoid the contradictions in their scope and meaning in the light of the advanced hydrological understanding.

Keywords: constitution of India, federalism, inter-state river water dispute tribunal of India, sovereignty

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Authors: Ting Lu, Ya-Ru Diao, Fei Fan, Ye Xue, Lei Shi, Xian-e Tang, Meng-jun Zhan, Zhen-hua Deng

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Accurate adult age estimation (AAE) is a significant and challenging task in forensic and archeology fields. Attempts have been made to explore optimal adult age metrics, and the rib is considered a potential age marker. The traditional way is to extract age-related features designed by experts from macroscopic or radiological images followed by classification or regression analysis. Those results still have not met the high-level requirements for practice, and the limitation of using feature design and manual extraction methods is loss of information since the features are likely not designed explicitly for extracting information relevant to age. Deep learning (DL) has recently garnered much interest in imaging learning and computer vision. It enables learning features that are important without a prior bias or hypothesis and could be supportive of AAE. This study aimed to develop DL models for AAE based on CT images and compare their performance to the manual visual scoring method. Chest CT data were reconstructed using volume rendering (VR). Retrospective data of 2500 patients aged 20.00-69.99 years were obtained between December 2019 and September 2021. Five-fold cross-validation was performed, and datasets were randomly split into training and validation sets in a 4:1 ratio for each fold. Before feeding the inputs into networks, all images were augmented with random rotation and vertical flip, normalized, and resized to 224×224 pixels. ResNeXt was chosen as the DL baseline due to its advantages of higher efficiency and accuracy in image classification. Mean absolute error (MAE) was the primary parameter. Independent data from 100 patients acquired between March and April 2022 were used as a test set. The manual method completely followed the prior study, which reported the lowest MAEs (5.31 in males and 6.72 in females) among similar studies. CT data and VR images were used. The radiation density of the first costal cartilage was recorded using CT data on the workstation. The osseous and calcified projections of the 1 to 7 costal cartilages were scored based on VR images using an eight-stage staging technique. According to the results of the prior study, the optimal models were the decision tree regression model in males and the stepwise multiple linear regression equation in females. Predicted ages of the test set were calculated separately using different models by sex. A total of 2600 patients (training and validation sets, mean age=45.19 years±14.20 [SD]; test set, mean age=46.57±9.66) were evaluated in this study. Of ResNeXt model training, MAEs were obtained with 3.95 in males and 3.65 in females. Based on the test set, DL achieved MAEs of 4.05 in males and 4.54 in females, which were far better than the MAEs of 8.90 and 6.42 respectively, for the manual method. Those results showed that the DL of the ResNeXt model outperformed the manual method in AAE based on CT reconstruction of the costal cartilage and the developed system may be a supportive tool for AAE.

Keywords: forensic anthropology, age determination by the skeleton, costal cartilage, CT, deep learning

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Authors: Ngoc Thao Linh Dang

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Urban waterfront redevelopment is a global phenomenon, and thousands of schemes are being carried out in large metropoles, medium-sized cities, and even small towns all over the world. This opportunity brings the city back to the river and rediscovers waterfront revitalization as a unique opportunity for cities to reconnect with their unique historical and cultural image. The redevelopment can encourage economic investments, serve as a social platform for public interactions, and allow dwellers to express their rights to the city. Many coastal cities have effectively transformed the perception of their waterfront area through years of redevelopment initiatives, having been neglected for over a century. However, this process has never been easy due to the particular complexity of the space: local culture, history, and market-led development. Moreover, municipal governments work out the balance of diverse stakeholder interests, especially when repurposing high-profile and redundant spaces that form the core of urban economic investment while also accommodating the present and future generations in sustainable environments. Urban critics consistently grapple with the effectiveness of the planning process on the new waterfront, where public spaces are criticized for presenting a lack of opportunities for actual public participation due to privatization and authoritarian governance while no longer doing what they are ‘meant to’: all arise in reaction to the perceived failure of these places to meet expectations. The planning culture and the decision-making context determine the level of public involvement in the planning process; however, in the context of competing market forces and commercial interests dominating cities’ planning agendas, planning for public space in urban waterfronts tends to be for economic gain rather than supporting residents' social needs. These newly pleasing settings satisfied the cluster of middle-class individuals, new communities living along the waterfront, and tourists. A trend of public participatory exclusion is primarily determined by the nature of the planning being undertaken and the decision-making context in which it is embedded. Starting from this context, the research investigates the influence of planning on waterfront regeneration and the role of participation in this process. The research aims to look specifically at the characteristics of the planning process of the waterfront in Da Nang and its impact on the regeneration of the place to regain the city’s historical value and enhance local cultural identity and images. Vietnam runs a top-down planning system where municipal governments have control or power over what happens in their city following the approved planning from the national government. The community has never been excluded from development; however, their participation is still marginalized. In order to ensure social equality, a proposed approach called "bottom-up" should be considered and implemented alongside the traditional "top-down" process and provide a balance of perspectives, as it allows for the voices of the most underprivileged social group involved in a planning project to be heard, rather than ignored. The research provides new insights into the influence of the planning process on the waterfront regeneration in the context of Da Nang.

Keywords: planning process, public participation, top-down planning, waterfront regeneration

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Authors: Volodymyr Rombakh

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This article was written to substantiate the possibility of detecting the precursors of catastrophic destruction of a structure or device and stopping operation before it. Damage to solids results from breaking the bond between atoms, which requires energy. Modern theories of strength and fracture assume that such energy is due to stress. However, in a letter to W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) dated December 18, 1856, J.C. Maxwell provided evidence that elastic energy cannot destroy solids. He proposed an equation for estimating a deformable body's energy, equal to the sum of two energies. Due to symmetrical compression, the first term does not change, but the second term is distortion without compression. Both types of energy are represented in the equation as a quadratic function of strain, but Maxwell repeatedly wrote that it is not stress but strain. Furthermore, he notes that the nature of the energy causing the distortion is unknown to him. An article devoted to theories of elasticity was published in 1850. Maxwell tried to express mechanical properties with the help of optics, which became possible only after the creation of quantum mechanics. However, Maxwell's work on elasticity is not cited in the theories of strength and fracture. The authors of these theories and their associates are still trying to describe the phenomena they observe based on classical mechanics. The study of Faraday's experiments, Maxwell's and Rutherford's ideas, made it possible to discover a previously unknown area of electromagnetic radiation. The properties of photons emitted in this reaction are fundamentally different from those of photons emitted in nuclear reactions and are caused by the transition of electrons in an atom. The photons released during all processes in the universe, including from plants and organs in natural conditions; their penetrating power in metal is millions of times greater than that of one of the gamma rays. However, they are not non-invasive. This apparent contradiction is because the chaotic motion of protons is accompanied by the chaotic radiation of photons in time and space. Such photons are not coherent. The energy of a solitary photon is insufficient to break the bond between atoms, one of the stages of which is ionization. The photographs registered the rail deformation by 113 cars, while the Gaiger Counter did not. The author's studies show that the cause of damage to a solid is the breakage of bonds between a finite number of atoms due to the stimulated emission of metastable atoms. The guarantee of the reliability of the structure is the ratio of the energy dissipation rate to the energy accumulation rate, but not the strength, which is not a physical parameter since it cannot be measured or calculated. The possibility of continuous control of this ratio is due to the spontaneous emission of photons by metastable atoms. The article presents calculation examples of the destruction of energy and photographs due to the action of photons emitted during the atomic-proton reaction.

Keywords: atomic-proton reaction, precursors of man-made disasters, strain, stress

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Authors: Jiaying Zhang, Xin Mu, Chang Ni, Jeff L. Zhang

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Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) non-invasively assesses tissue elastic properties, such as shear modulus, by measuring tissue’s displacement in response to mechanical waves. The estimated metrics on tissue elasticity or stiffness have been shown to be valuable for monitoring physiologic or pathophysiologic status of tissue, such as a tumor or fatty liver. To quantify tissue shear modulus from MRE-acquired displacements (essentially an inverse problem), multiple approaches have been proposed, including Local Frequency Estimation (LFE) and Direct Inversion (DI). However, one common problem with these methods is that the estimates are severely noise-sensitive due to either the inverse-problem nature or noise propagation in the pixel-by-pixel process. With the advent of deep learning (DL) and its promise in solving inverse problems, a few groups in the field of MRE have explored the feasibility of using DL methods for quantifying shear modulus from MRE data. Most of the groups chose to use real MRE data for DL model training and to cut training images into smaller patches, which enriches feature characteristics of training data but inevitably increases computation time and results in outcomes with patched patterns. In this study, simulated wave images generated by Finite Differential Time Domain (FDTD) simulation are used for network training, and U-Net is used to extract features from each training image without cutting it into patches. The use of simulated data for model training has the flexibility of customizing training datasets to match specific applications. The proposed method aimed to estimate tissue shear modulus from MRE data with high robustness to noise and high model-training efficiency. Specifically, a set of 3000 maps of shear modulus (with a range of 1 kPa to 15 kPa) containing randomly positioned objects were simulated, and their corresponding wave images were generated. The two types of data were fed into the training of a U-Net model as its output and input, respectively. For an independently simulated set of 1000 images, the performance of the proposed method against DI and LFE was compared by the relative errors (root mean square error or RMSE divided by averaged shear modulus) between the true shear modulus map and the estimated ones. The results showed that the estimated shear modulus by the proposed method achieved a relative error of 4.91%±0.66%, substantially lower than 78.20%±1.11% by LFE. Using simulated data, the proposed method significantly outperformed LFE and DI in resilience to increasing noise levels and in resolving fine changes of shear modulus. The feasibility of the proposed method was also tested on MRE data acquired from phantoms and from human calf muscles, resulting in maps of shear modulus with low noise. In future work, the method’s performance on phantom and its repeatability on human data will be tested in a more quantitative manner. In conclusion, the proposed method showed much promise in quantifying tissue shear modulus from MRE with high robustness and efficiency.

Keywords: deep learning, magnetic resonance elastography, magnetic resonance imaging, shear modulus estimation

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Authors: Matthias Leitner, Gernot Pottlacher

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Experimental determination of critical point data like critical temperature, critical pressure, critical volume and critical compressibility of high-melting metals such as niobium is very rare due to the outstanding experimental difficulties in reaching the necessary extreme temperature and pressure regimes. Experimental techniques to achieve such extreme conditions could be diamond anvil devices, two stage gas guns or metal samples hit by explosively accelerated flyers. Electrical pulse-heating under increased pressures would be another choice. This technique heats thin wire samples of 0.5 mm diameter and 40 mm length from room temperature to melting and then further to the end of the stable phase, the spinodal line, within several microseconds. When crossing the spinodal line, the sample explodes and reaches the gaseous phase. In our laboratory, pulse-heating experiments can be performed under variation of the ambient pressure from 1 to 5000 bar and allow a direct determination of critical point data for low-melting, but not for high-melting metals. However, the critical point also can be estimated by extrapolating the liquid phase density according to theoretical models. A reasonable prerequisite for the extrapolation is the existence of data that cover as much as possible of the liquid phase and at the same time exhibit small uncertainties. Ohmic pulse-heating was therefore applied to determine thermal volume expansion, and from that density of niobium over the entire liquid phase. As a first step, experiments under ambient pressure were performed. The second step will be to perform experiments under high-pressure conditions. During the heating process, shadow images of the expanding sample wire were captured at a frame rate of 4 × 105 fps to monitor the radial expansion as a function of time. Simultaneously, the sample radiance was measured with a pyrometer operating at a mean effective wavelength of 652 nm. To increase the accuracy of temperature deduction, spectral emittance in the liquid phase is also taken into account. Due to the high heating rates of about 2 × 108 K/s, longitudinal expansion of the wire is inhibited which implies an increased radial expansion. As a consequence, measuring the temperature dependent radial expansion is sufficient to deduce density as a function of temperature. This is accomplished by evaluating the full widths at half maximum of the cup-shaped intensity profiles that are calculated from each shadow image of the expanding wire. Relating these diameters to the diameter obtained before the pulse-heating start, the temperature dependent volume expansion is calculated. With the help of the known room-temperature density, volume expansion is then converted into density data. The so-obtained liquid density behavior is compared to existing literature data and provides another independent source of experimental data. In this work, the newly determined off-critical liquid phase density was in a second step utilized as input data for the estimation of niobium’s critical point. The approach used, heuristically takes into account the crossover from mean field to Ising behavior, as well as the non-linearity of the phase diagram’s diameter.

Keywords: critical point data, density, liquid metals, niobium, ohmic pulse-heating, volume expansion

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Authors: Aniruddha Mitra, Abbas Rashidi, Shane Lewis, Jefferson Doehling, Alexis Pawlak, Jacob Schwartz, Imaobong Ekpo, Atin Adhikari

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Working or living close to demolition sites can increase risks of dust-related health problems. Demolition of concrete buildings may produce crystalline silica dust, which can be associated with a broad range of respiratory diseases including silicosis and lung cancers. Previous studies demonstrated significant associations between demolition dust exposure and increase in the incidence of mesothelioma or asbestos cancer. Dust is a generic term used for minute solid particles of typically <500 µm in diameter. Dust particles in demolition sites vary in a wide range of sizes. Larger particles tend to settle down from the air. On the other hand, the smaller and lighter solid particles remain dispersed in the air for a long period and pose sustained exposure risks. Submicron ultrafine particles and nanoparticles are respirable deeper into our alveoli beyond our body’s natural respiratory cleaning mechanisms such as cilia and mucous membranes and are likely to be retained in the lower airways. To our knowledge, how various demolition tasks release nanoparticles are largely unknown and previous studies mostly focused on course dust, PM2.5, and PM10. General belief is that the dust generated during demolition tasks are mostly large particles formed through crushing, grinding, or sawing of various concrete and wooden structures. Therefore, little consideration has been given to the generated submicron ultrafine and nanoparticles and their exposure levels. These data are, however, critically important because recent laboratory studies have demonstrated cytotoxicity of nanoparticles on lung epithelial cells. The above-described knowledge gaps were addressed in this study by a novel newly developed nanoparticle monitor, which was used for nanoparticle monitoring at two adjacent indoor and outdoor building demolition sites in southern Georgia. Nanoparticle levels were measured (n = 10) by TSI NanoScan SMPS Model 3910 at four different distances (5, 10, 15, and 30 m) from the work location as well as in control sites. Temperature and relative humidity levels were recorded. Indoor demolition works included acetylene torch, masonry drilling, ceiling panel removal, and other miscellaneous tasks. Whereas, outdoor demolition works included acetylene torch and skid-steer loader use to remove a HVAC system. Concentration ranges of nanoparticles of 13 particle sizes at the indoor demolition site were: 11.5 nm: 63 – 1054/cm³; 15.4 nm: 170 – 1690/cm³; 20.5 nm: 321 – 730/cm³; 27.4 nm: 740 – 3255/cm³; 36.5 nm: 1,220 – 17,828/cm³; 48.7 nm: 1,993 – 40,465/cm³; 64.9 nm: 2,848 – 58,910/cm³; 86.6 nm: 3,722 – 62,040/cm³; 115.5 nm: 3,732 – 46,786/cm³; 154 nm: 3,022 – 21,506/cm³; 205.4 nm: 12 – 15,482/cm³; 273.8 nm: Keywords: demolition dust, industrial hygiene, aerosol, occupational exposure

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Authors: Paola Millare, Nelinda Catherine Pangilinan

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Background and Aim: Cervical cancer is the most commonly diagnosed gynecological malignancy during pregnancy. Owing to the rarity of the disease, and the complexity of all factors that have to be taken into consideration, standardization of treatment is very difficult. Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy among women. The treatment of cancer during pregnancy is most challenging in the case of cervical cancer, since the pregnant uterus itself is affected. This report aims to present a case of cervical cancer in a pregnant woman and how to manage this case and several issues accompanied with it. Methods: This is a case of a 28 year-old, Gravida 4 Para 2 (1111), who presented with watery to mucoid, whitish, non-foul smelling and increasing in amount. Internal examination revealed normal external genitalia, parous outlet, cervix was transformed into a fungating mass measuring 5x4 cm, with left parametrial involvement, body of uterus was enlarged to 24 weeks size, no adnexal mass or tenderness. She had cervical punch biopsy, which revealed, adenocarcinoma, well-differentiated cervical tissue. Standard management for cases with stage 2B cervical carcinoma was to start radiation or radical hysterectomy. In the case of patients diagnosed with cervical cancer and currently pregnant, these kind of management will result to fetal loss. The patient still declined the said management and opted to delay the treatment and wait for her baby to reach at least term and proceed to cesarean section as route of delivery. Results: The patient underwent an elective cesarean section at 37th weeks age of gestation, with an outcome of a term, live baby boy APGAR score 7,9 birthweight 2600 grams. One month postpartum, the patient followed up and completed radiotherapy, chemotherapy and brachytherapy. She was advised to go back after 6 months for monitoring. On her last check up, an internal examination was done which revealed normal external genitalia, vagina admits 2 fingers with ease, there is a palpable fungating mass at the cervix measuring 2x2 cm. A repeat gynecologic oncologic ultrasound was done revealing cervical mass, endophytic, grade 1 color score with stromal invasion 35% post radiation reactive lymph nodes with intact paracolpium, pericervical, and parametrial involvement. The patient was then advised to undergo pelvic boost and for close monitoring of the cervical mass. Conclusion: Cervical cancer in pregnancy is rare but is a dilemma for women and their physicians. Treatment should be multidisciplinary and individualized following careful counseling. In this case, the treatment was clearly on the side of preventing the progression of cervical cancer while she is pregnant, however due to ethical reasons, the management deviates on the right of the patient to decide for her own health and her unborn child. The collaborative collection of data relating to treatment and outcome is strongly encouraged.

Keywords: cancer, cervical, ethical, pregnancy

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Authors: Binder Hans

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Cancer is no longer seen as solely a genetic disease where genetic defects such as mutations and copy number variations affect gene regulation and eventually lead to aberrant cell functioning which can be monitored by transcriptome analysis. It has become obvious that epigenetic alterations represent a further important layer of (de-)regulation of gene activity. For example, aberrant DNA methylation is a hallmark of many cancer types, and methylation patterns were successfully used to subtype cancer heterogeneity. Hence, unraveling the interplay between different omics levels such as genome, transcriptome and epigenome is inevitable for a mechanistic understanding of molecular deregulation causing complex diseases such as cancer. This objective requires powerful downstream integrative bioinformatics methods as an essential prerequisite to discover the whole genome mutational, transcriptome and epigenome landscapes of cancer specimen and to discover cancer genesis, progression and heterogeneity. Basic challenges and tasks arise ‘beyond sequencing’ because of the big size of the data, their complexity, the need to search for hidden structures in the data, for knowledge mining to discover biological function and also systems biology conceptual models to deduce developmental interrelations between different cancer states. These tasks are tightly related to cancer biology as an (epi-)genetic disease giving rise to aberrant genomic regulation under micro-environmental control and clonal evolution which leads to heterogeneous cellular states. Machine learning algorithms such as self organizing maps (SOM) represent one interesting option to tackle these bioinformatics tasks. The SOMmethod enables recognizing complex patterns in large-scale data generated by highthroughput omics technologies. It portrays molecular phenotypes by generating individualized, easy to interpret images of the data landscape in combination with comprehensive analysis options. Our image-based, reductionist machine learning methods provide one interesting perspective how to deal with massive data in the discovery of complex diseases, gliomas, melanomas and colon cancer on molecular level. As an important new challenge, we address the combined portrayal of different omics data such as genome-wide genomic, transcriptomic and methylomic ones. The integrative-omics portrayal approach is based on the joint training of the data and it provides separate personalized data portraits for each patient and data type which can be analyzed by visual inspection as one option. The new method enables an integrative genome-wide view on the omics data types and the underlying regulatory modes. It is applied to high and low-grade gliomas and to melanomas where it disentangles transversal and longitudinal molecular heterogeneity in terms of distinct molecular subtypes and progression paths with prognostic impact.

Keywords: integrative bioinformatics, machine learning, molecular mechanisms of cancer, gliomas and melanomas

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Authors: Isaiah Ifeanyichukwu Agbo

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Human speech is capable of serving many purposes. Power and control are not always exercised overtly by linguistic acts, but maybe enacted and exercised in the myriad of taken-for-granted actions of everyday life. Domination, power control, discrimination and mind control exist in human speech and may lead to asymmetrical power relations. In discourse, there are persuasive and manipulative linguistic acts that serve to establish solidarity and identification with the 'we group' and polarize with the 'they group'. Political discourse is crafted to defend and promote the problematic narrative of outright controversial events in a nation’s history thereby sustaining domination, marginalization, manipulation, inequalities and injustices, often without the dominated and marginalized group being aware of them. They are designed and positioned to serve the political and social needs of the producers. Political crisis speeches in Nigeria, just like in other countries concentrate on positive self-image, de-legitimization of political opponents, reframing accusation to one’s advantage, redefining problematic terms and adopting reversal strategy. In most cases, the people are ignorant of the hidden ideological positions encoded in the text. Few researches have been conducted adopting the frameworks of critical discourse analysis and systemic functional linguistics to investigate this situation in the political crisis speeches in Nigeria. In this paper, we focus attention on the analyses of the linguistic, semantic, and ideological elements in selected political crisis speeches in Nigeria to investigate if they create and sustain unequal power relations and manipulative tendencies from the perspectives of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL). Critical Discourse Analysis unpacks both opaque and transparent structural relationships of power dominance, power relations and control as manifested in language. Critical discourse analysis emerged from a critical theory of language study which sees the use of language as a form of social practice where social relations are reproduced or contested and different interests are served. Systemic function linguistics relates the structure of texts to their function. Fairclough’s model of CDA and Halliday’s systemic functional approach to language study are adopted in this paper. This paper probes into language use that perpetuates inequalities. This study demystifies the hidden implicature of the selected political crisis speeches and reveals the existence of information that is not made explicit in what the political actors actually say. The analysis further reveals the ideological configurations present in the texts. These ideological standpoints are the basis for naturalizing implicit ideologies and hegemonic influence in the texts. The analyses of the texts further uncovered the linguistic and discursive strategies deployed by text producers to manipulate the unsuspecting members of the public both mentally and conceptually in order to enact, sustain and maintain unhealthy power relations at crisis times in the Nigerian political history.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, language, political crisis, power relations, systemic functional linguistics

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Authors: Aleksandra Zieminska-Stolarska, Ireneusz Zbicinski

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Introduction: The objective of the present work was to develop and validate a 3D CFD numerical model for simulating flow through 17 kilometers long dam reservoir of a complex bathymetry. In contrast to flowing waters, dam reservoirs were not emphasized in the early years of water quality modeling, as this issue has never been the major focus of urban development. Starting in the 1970s, however, it was recognized that natural and man-made lakes are equal, if not more important than estuaries and rivers from a recreational standpoint. The Sulejow Reservoir (Central Poland) was selected as the study area as representative of many lowland dam reservoirs and due availability of a large database of the ecological, hydrological and morphological parameters of the lake. Method: 3D, 2-phase and 1-phase CFD models were analysed to determine hydrodynamics in the Sulejow Reservoir. Development of 3D, 2-phase CFD model of flow requires a construction of mesh with millions of elements and overcome serious convergence problems. As 1-phase CFD model of flow in relation to 2-phase CFD model excludes from the simulations the dynamics of waves only, which should not change significantly water flow pattern for the case of lowland, dam reservoirs. In 1-phase CFD model, the phases (water-air) are separated by a plate which allows calculations of one phase (water) flow only. As the wind affects velocity of flow, to take into account the effect of the wind on hydrodynamics in 1-phase CFD model, the plate must move with speed and direction equal to the speed and direction of the upper water layer. To determine the velocity at which the plate will move on the water surface and interacts with the underlying layers of water and apply this value in 1-phase CFD model, the 2D, 2-phase model was elaborated. Result: Model was verified on the basis of the extensive flow measurements (StreamPro ADCP, USA). Excellent agreement (an average error less than 10%) between computed and measured velocity profiles was found. As a result of work, the following main conclusions can be presented: •The results indicate that the flow field in the Sulejow Reservoir is transient in nature, with swirl flows in the lower part of the lake. Recirculating zones, with the size of even half kilometer, may increase water retention time in this region •The results of simulations confirm the pronounced effect of the wind on the development of the water circulation zones in the reservoir which might affect the accumulation of nutrients in the epilimnion layer and result e.g. in the algae bloom. Conclusion: The resulting model is accurate and the methodology develop in the frame of this work can be applied to all types of storage reservoir configurations, characteristics, and hydrodynamics conditions. Large recirculating zones in the lake which increase water retention time and might affect the accumulation of nutrients were detected. Accurate CFD model of hydrodynamics in large water body could help in the development of forecast of water quality, especially in terms of eutrophication and water management of the big water bodies.

Keywords: CFD, mathematical modelling, dam reservoirs, hydrodynamics

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Authors: Doriane Delafosse, Dominique Fontvieille

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Background: Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) generally display significant efficacy in virus retention yet, are sometimes highly variable, partly in relation to large fluctuating loads at the head of the plant and partly because of episodic dysfunctions in some treatment processes. The problem is especially sensitive when human enteric viruses, such as human Noroviruses Genogroup I or Adenoviruses, are in concern: their release downstream WWTP, in environments often interconnected to recreational areas, may be very harmful to human communities even at low concentrations. It points out the importance of WWTP permanent monitoring from which their internal treatment processes could be adjusted. One way to adjust primary treatments is to add coagulants and flocculants to sewage ahead settling tanks to improve decantation. In this work, sludge produced by three coagulants (two organics, one mineral), four flocculants (three cationic, one anionic), and their combinations were studied for their efficacy in human enteric virus retention. Sewage samples were coming from a WWTP in the vicinity of the laboratory. All experiments were performed three times and in triplicates in laboratory pilots, using Murine Norovirus (MNV-1), a surrogate of human Norovirus, as an internal control (spiking). Viruses were quantified by (RT-)qPCR after nucleic acid extraction from both treated water and sediment. Results: Low values of sludge virus retention (from 4 to 8% of the initial sewage concentration) were observed with each cationic organic flocculant added to wastewater and no coagulant. The largest part of the virus load was detected in the treated water (48 to 90%). However, it was not counterbalancing the amount of the introduced virus (MNV-1). The results pertained to two types of cationic flocculants, branched and linear, and in the last case, to two percentages of cations. Results were quite similar to the association of a linear cationic organic coagulant and an anionic flocculant, though suggesting that differences between water and sludges would sometimes be related to virus size or virus origins (autochthonous/allochthonous). FeCl₃, as a mineral coagulant associated with an anionic flocculant, significantly increased both auto- and allochthonous virus retention in the sediments (15 to 34%). Accordingly, virus load in treated water was lower (14 to 48%) but with a total that still does not reach the amount of the introduced virus (MNV-1). It also appeared that the virus retrieval in a bare 0.1M NaCl suspension varied rather strongly according to the FeCl₃ concentration, suggesting an inhibiting effect on the molecular analysis used to detect the virus. Finally, no viruses were detected in both phases (sediment and water) with the combination branched cationic coagulant-linear anionic flocculant, which was later demonstrated as an effect, here also, of polymers on the virus detection-molecular analysis. Conclusions: The combination of FeCl₃-anionic flocculant gave its highest performance to the decantation-based virus removal process. However, large unbalanced values in spiking experiments were observed, suggesting that polymers cast additional obstacles to both elution buffer and lysis buffer on their way to reach the virus. The situation was probably even worse with autochthonous viruses already embedded into sewage's particulate matter. Polymers and FeCl₃ also appeared to interfere in some steps of molecular analyses. More attention should be paid to such impediments wherever chemical additives are considered to be used to enhance WWTP processes. Acknowledgments: This research was supported by the ABIOLAB laboratory (Montbonnot Saint-Martin, France) and by the ASPOSAN association. Field experiments were possible thanks to the Grand Chambéry WWTP authorities (Chambéry, France).

Keywords: flocculants-coagulants, polymers, enteric viruses, wastewater sedimentation treatment plant

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Authors: U. E. Mochalova, A. V. Demeneva, Shilkin A. G., J. Yu. Artiushina

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Objective. In medical ophthalmology OCT has been actively used in the last decade. It is a modern non-invasive method of high-precision hardware examination, which gives a detailed cross-sectional image of eye tissues structure with a high level of resolution, which provides in vivo morphological information at the microscopic level about corneal tissue, structures of the anterior segment, retina and optic nerve. The purpose of this study was to explore the possibility of using the OCT technology in complex ophthalmological examination in dogs and cats, to characterize the revealed pathological structural changes in corneal tissue in cats and dogs with some of the most common corneal diseases. Procedures. Optical coherence tomography of the cornea was performed in 112 animals: 68 dogs and 44 cats. In total, 224 eyes were examined. Pathologies of the organ of vision included: dystrophy and degeneration of the cornea, endothelial corneal dystrophy, dry eye syndrome, chronic superficial vascular keratitis, pigmented keratitis, corneal erosion, ulcerative stromal keratitis, corneal sequestration, chronic glaucoma and also postoperative period after performed keratoplasty. When performing OCT, we used certified medical devices: "Huvitz HOCT-1/1F», «Optovue iVue 80» and "SOCT Copernicus Revo (60)". Results. The results of a clinical study on the use of optical coherence tomography (OCT)of the cornea in cats and dogs, performed by the authors of the article in the complex diagnosis of keratopathies of variousorigins: endothelial corneal dystrophy, pigmented keratitis, chronic keratoconjunctivitis, chronic herpetic keratitis, ulcerative keratitis, traumatic corneal damage, sequestration of the cornea of cats, chronic keratitis, complicating the course of glaucoma. The characteristics of the OCT scans are givencorneas of cats and dogs that do not have corneal pathologies. OCT scans of various corneal pathologies in dogs and cats with a description of the revealed pathological changes are presented. Of great clinical interest are the data obtained during OCT of the cornea of animals undergoing keratoplasty operations using various forms of grafts. Conclusions. OCT makes it possible to assess the thickness and pathological structural changes of the corneal surface epithelium, corneal stroma and descemet membrane. We can measure them, determine the exact localization, and record pathological changes. Clinical observation of the dynamics of the pathological process in the cornea using OCT makes it possible to evaluate the effectiveness of drug treatment. In case of negative dynamics of corneal disease, it is necessary to determine the indications for surgical treatment (to assess the thickness of the cornea, the localization of its thinning zones, to characterize the depth and area of pathological changes). According to the OCT of the cornea, it is possible to choose the optimal surgical treatment for the patient, the technique and depth of optically constructive surgery (penetrating or anterior lamellar keratoplasty).; determine the depth and diameter of the planned microsurgical trepanation of corneal tissue, which will ensure good adaptation of the edges of the donor material.

Keywords: optical coherence tomography, corneal sequestration, optical coherence tomography of the cornea, corneal transplantation, cat, dog

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Authors: Oli Sophie Meredith, Jacquelyn Osborne, Sarah Verdon, Jane Frawley

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PROJECT OVERVIEW AND BACKGROUND: Over one million Australians are affected by ADHD at an economic and social cost of over $20 billion per annum. Despite health outcomes being significantly worse compared with men, women have historically been overlooked in ADHD diagnosis and treatment. While research suggests physical activity and other non-prescription options can help with ADHD symptoms, the frontline response to ADHD remains expensive stimulant medications that can have adverse side effects. By interviewing women with ADHD, this research will examine women’s self-directed approaches to managing symptoms, including alternatives to prescription medications. It will investigate barriers and affordances to potentially helpful approaches and identify any concerning strategies pursued in lieu of diagnosis. SIGNIFICANCE AND INNOVATION: Despite the economic and societal impact of ADHD on women, research investigating how women manage their symptoms is scant. This project is significant because although women’s ADHD symptoms are markedly different to those of men, mainstream treatment has been based on the experiences of men. Further, it is thought that in developing nuanced coping strategies, women may have masked their symptoms. Thus, this project will highlight strategies which women deem effective in ‘thriving’ rather than just ‘hiding’. By investigating the health service use, self-care and physical activity of women with ADHD, this research aligns with a priority research areas as identified by the November 2023 senate ADHD inquiry report. APPROACH AND METHODS: Semi-structured interviews will be conducted with up to 20 women with ADHD. Interviews will be conducted in person and online to capture experience across rural and metropolitan Australia. Participants will be recruited in partnership with the peak representative body, ADHD Australia. The research will use an intersectional framework, and data will be analysed thematically. This project is led by an interdisciplinary and cross-institutional team of women with ADHD. Reflexive interviewing skills will be employed to help interviewees feel more comfortable disclosing their experiences, especially where they share common ground ENGAGEMENT, IMPACT AND BENEFIT: This research will benefit women with ADHD by increasing knowledge of strategies and alternative treatments to prescription medications, reducing the social and economic burden of ADHD on Australia and on individuals. It will also benefit women by identifying risks involved with some self-directed approaches in lieu of medical advice. The project has an accessible impact plan to directly benefit end-users, which includes the development of a podcast and a PDF resource translating findings. The resources will reach a wide audience through ADHD Australia’s extensive national networks. We will collaborate with Charles Sturt’s Accessibility and Inclusion Division of Safety, Security and Well-being to create a targeted resource for students with ADHD.

Keywords: ADHD, women's health, self-directed strategies, health service use, physical activity, public health

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Authors: Geraldine G. Granados Vazquez

Abstract:

Every human being is exposed to the risk of dying; wherein some of them are more susceptible than others depending on the cause. Therefore, the cause could be the hazard to die that a group or individual has, making this irreversible damage the condition of vulnerability. Risk is a dynamic concept; which means that it depends on the environmental, social, economic and political conditions. Thus vulnerability may only be evaluated in terms of relative parameters. This research is focusing specifically on building a model that evaluate the risk or propensity of death in past urban societies in connection with the everyday life of individuals, considering that death can be a consequence of two coexisting issues: hazard and the deterioration of the resistance to destruction. One of the most important discussions in bioarchaeology refers to health and life conditions in ancient groups; the researchers are looking for more flexible models that evaluate these topics. In that way, this research proposes a theoretical-methodological model that assess the vulnerability of death in past urban groups. This model pretends to be useful to evaluate the risk of death, considering their sociohistorical context, and their intrinsic biological features. This theoretical and methodological model, propose four areas to assess vulnerability. The first three areas use statistical methods or quantitative analysis. While the last and fourth area, which corresponds to the embodiment, is based on qualitative analysis. The four areas and their techniques proposed are a) Demographic dynamics. From the distribution of age at the time of death, the analysis of mortality will be performed using life tables. From here, four aspects may be inferred: population structure, fertility, mortality-survival, and productivity-migration, b) Frailty. Selective mortality and heterogeneity in frailty can be assessed through the relationship between characteristics and the age at death. There are two indicators used in contemporary populations to evaluate stress: height and linear enamel hypoplasias. Height estimates may account for the individual’s nutrition and health history in specific groups; while enamel hypoplasias are an account of the individual’s first years of life, c) Inequality. Space reflects various sectors of society, also in ancient cities. In general terms, the spatial analysis uses measures of association to show the relationship between frail variables and space, d) Embodiment. The story of everyone leaves some evidence on the body, even in the bones. That led us to think about the dynamic individual's relations in terms of time and space; consequently, the micro analysis of persons will assess vulnerability from the everyday life, where the symbolic meaning also plays a major role. In sum, using some Mesoamerica examples, as study cases, this research demonstrates that not only the intrinsic characteristics related to the age and sex of individuals are conducive to vulnerability, but also the social and historical context that determines their state of frailty before death. An attenuating factor for past groups is that some basic aspects –such as the role they played in everyday life– escape our comprehension, and are still under discussion.

Keywords: bioarchaeology, frailty, Mesoamerica, vulnerability

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Authors: Angela O. Ugwu, Sunday Ocheni

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Background: Cancer-associated thrombosis (CAT) is a cause of morbidity and mortality among cancer patients. Several risk factors for developing venous thromboembolism (VTE) also coexist with cancer patients, such as chemotherapy and immobilization, thus contributing to the higher risk of VTE in cancer patients when compared to non-cancer patients. This study aimed to determine if there is any correlation between levels of some inflammatory cytokines/haematological parameters and Khorana scores of newly diagnosed chemotherapy naïve ambulatory cancer patients (CNACP). Methods: This was a cross-sectional analytical study carried out from June 2021 to May 2022. Eligible newly diagnosed cancer patients 18 years and above (case group) were enrolled consecutively from the adult Oncology Clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku/Ozalla (UNTH). The control group was blood donors at UNTH Ituku/Ozalla, Enugu blood bank, and healthy members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN), UNTH Chapter. Blood samples collected from the participants were assayed for IL-6, TNF-Alpha, and haematological parameters such as haemoglobin, white blood cell count (WBC), and platelet count. Data were entered into an Excel worksheet and were then analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) computer software version 21.0 for windows. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 200 participants (100 cases and 100 controls) were included in the study. The overall mean age of the participants was 47.42 ±15.1 (range 20-76). The sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups, including age, sex, educational level, body mass index (BMI), and occupation, were similar (P > 0.05). Following One Way ANOVA, there were significant differences between the mean levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (p = 0.036) and tumor necrotic factor-α (TNF-α) (p = 0.001) in the three Khorana score groups of the case group. Pearson’s correlation analysis showed a significant positive correlation between the Khorana scores and IL-6 (r=0.28, p = 0.031), TNF-α (r= 0.254, p= 0.011), and PLR (r= 0.240, p=0.016). The mean serum levels of IL-6 were significantly higher in CNACP than in the healthy controls [8.98 (8-12) pg/ml vs. 8.43 (2-10) pg/ml, P=0.0005]. There were also significant differences in the mean levels of the haemoglobin (Hb) level (P < 0.001)); white blood cell (WBC) count ((P < 0.001), and platelet (PL) count (P = 0.005) between the two groups of participants. Conclusion: There is a significant positive correlation between the serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, and PLR and the Khorana scores of CNACP. The mean serum levels of IL-6, TNF-α, PLR, WBC, and PL count were significantly higher in CNACP than in the healthy controls. Ambulatory cancer patients with high-risk Khorana scores may benefit from anti-inflammatory drugs because of the positive correlation with inflammatory cytokines. Recommendations: Ambulatory cancer patients with 2 Khorana scores may benefit from thromboprophylaxis since they have higher Khorana scores. A multicenter study with a heterogeneous population and larger sample size is recommended in the future to further elucidate the relationship between IL-6, TNF-α, PLR, and the Khorana scores among cancer patients in the Nigerian population.

Keywords: thromboprophylaxis, cancer, Khorana scores, inflammatory cytokines, haematological parameters

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Authors: Olga Kruzhkova, Irina Vorobyeva, Roman Porozov

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Vandalism is a common phenomenon, but its definition is still not clearly defined. In the public sense, vandalism is the blatant cases of pogroms in cemeteries, destruction of public places (regardless of whether these actions are authorized), damage to significant objects of culture and history (monuments, religious buildings). From a legal point of view, only such an act can be called vandalism, which is aimed at 'desecrating buildings or other structures, damaging property on public transport or in other public places'. The key here is the notion of public property that is being damaged. In addition, the principal is the semantics of messages, expressed in a kind of sign system (drawing, inscription, symbol), which initially threatens public order, the calmness of citizens, public morality. Because of this, the legal qualification of vandalism doesn’t include a sufficiently wide layer of environmental destructions that are common in modern urban space (graffiti and other damage to private property, broken shop windows, damage to entrances and elevator cabins), which in ordinary consciousness are seen as obvious facts of vandalism. At the same time, the understanding of vandalism from the position of psychology implies an appeal to the question of the limits of the activity of the subject of vandalism and his motivational basis. Also recently, the discourse on the positive meaning of some forms of vandalism (graffiti, street-art, etc.) has been activated. But there is no discussion of the role and significance of vandalism in public and individual life, although, like any socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon, vandalism is not groundless and meaningless. Our aim of the study was to identify and describe the functions of vandalism as a socio-cultural and socio-psychological phenomenon of the life of the urban community, as well as personal determinants of its manifestations. The study was conducted in the spatial environment of the Russian megalopolis (Ekaterinburg) by photographing visual results of vandal acts (6217 photos) with subsequent trace-assessment and image content analysis, as well as diagnostics of personal characteristics and motivational basis of vandal activity of possible subjects of vandalism among youth. The results of the study allowed to identify the functions of vandalism at the socio-environmental and individual-subjective levels. The socio-environmental functions of vandalism include the signaling function, the function of preparing of social changes, the constructing function, and the function of managing public moods. The demonstrative-protest function, the response function, the refund function, and the self-expression function are assigned to the individual-subjective functions of vandalism. A two-dimensional model of vandal functions has been formed, where functions are distributed in the spaces 'construction reconstruction', 'emotional regulation/moral regulation'. It is noted that any function of vandal activity at the individual level becomes a kind of marker of 'points of tension' at the social and environmental level. Acknowledgment: The research was supported financially by Russian Science Foundation, (Project No. 17-18-01278).

Keywords: destruction, urban environment, vandal behavior, vandalism, vandalism functions

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Authors: Gary J. Pickering, Sarah Lucas, Catherine E. Klodnicki, Nicole J. Gaudette

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Two taste pheno types that are of interest in the study of habitual diet-related risk factors and disease are 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) responsiveness and thermal tasting. Individuals differ considerable in how intensely they experience the bitterness of PROP, which is partially explained by three major single nucleotide polymorphisms associated with the TAS2R38 gene. Importantly, this variable responsiveness is a useful proxy for general taste responsiveness, and links to diet-related disease risk, including body mass index, in some studies. Thermal tasting - a newly discovered taste phenotype independent of PROP responsiveness - refers to the capacity of many individuals to perceive phantom tastes in response to lingual thermal stimulation, and is linked with TRPM5 channels. Thermal tasters (TTs) also experience oral sensations more intensely than thermal non-tasters (TnTs), and this was shown to associate with differences in self-reported food preferences in a previous survey from our lab. Here we report on two related studies, where we sought to determine whether PROP responsiveness and thermal tasting would associate with perceptual differences in the oral sensations elicited by sampled energy-dense foods, and whether in turn this would influence liking. We hypothesized that hyper-tasters (thermal tasters and individuals who experience PROP intensely) would (a) rate sweet and high-fat foods more intensely than hypo-tasters, and (b) would differ from hypo-tasters in liking scores. (Liking has been proposed recently as a more accurate measure of actual food consumption). In Study 1, a range of energy-dense foods and beverages, including table cream and chocolate, was assessed by 25 TTs and 19 TnTs. Ratings of oral sensation intensity and overall liking were obtained using gVAS and gDOL scales, respectively. TTs and TnTs did not differ significantly in intensity ratings for most stimuli (ANOVA). In a 2nd study, 44 female participants sampled 22 foods and beverages, assessing them for intensity of oral sensations (gVAS) and overall liking (9-point hedonic scale). TTs (n=23) rated their overall liking of creaminess and milk products lower than did TnTs (n=21), and liked milk chocolate less. PROP responsiveness was negatively correlated with liking of food and beverages belonging to the sweet or sensory food grouping. No other differences in intensity or liking scores between hyper- and hypo-tasters were found. Taken overall, our results are somewhat unexpected, lending only modest support to the hypothesis that these taste phenotypes associate with energy-dense food liking and consumption through differences in the oral sensations they elicit. Reasons for this lack of concordance with expectations and some prior literature are discussed, and suggestions for future research are advanced.

Keywords: taste phenotypes, sensory evaluation, PROP, thermal tasting, diet-related health risk

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