Related Areas Research Articles

Characteristics of the qualification of exceeding authority or official authority by a military official personal by subjective characters

The relevance of the research topic is due to the need to improve the legal regulation of the activities of military personnel in the context of the modern political, social and military situation, which requires careful consideration of issues related to their compliance with the law and the preservation of law and order. The main purpose of the study is to analyze and clarify the criteria for the legal qualification of exceeding the power or official authority of a military official on subjective grounds. Within the framework of this analysis, subjective signs of exceeding power or official authority are considered, in particular, awareness of the socially dangerous nature of the committed actions, the compliance of these actions with regulatory and legal acts, the consequences of violations and their connection with the official position. The study also considers the possibility of the emergence of an ideal set of criminal composition in case of committing several offenses in one act. The obtained conclusions will contribute to clarifying the qualification of offenses and understanding the ratio of illegal actions of a military official and their consequences. The methodological basis of the research is based on the analysis of normative legal acts, law enforcement and jurisprudential analysis, as well as on the analysis of judicial practice. The use of these methods allows for a detailed analysis of issues related to the legal qualification of the criminal offense provided for in Art. 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine. The results of the study can be useful for legislators, law enforcement agencies, military groups and judicial authorities. They will help to improve the legal regulation of the activities of military officials, ensuring the preservation of law and order and legality in this area of legal relations. The practical significance of this study also lies in the correct application of the norms of criminal legislation during the investigation of the abuse of power or official authority by a military official. In the conclusions, it is proposed to supplement Art. 426-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Revival of Islam Post-Soviet Period in Kyrgyzstan

The relationship between national and religious in state building, the concept of secularism and democracy in the conditions of the Muslim majority are analyzed. The growing influence of Islam on many areas of social and political relations was a completely natural consequence of the collapse of the USSR and the ideology of atheism. The democratic path of development of Kyrgyzstan, relative freedom of religion, and the opening of borders create conditions where Islam not only returns the role it lost in society over 70 years, but also embraces new spheres of influence in which its impact cannot be ignored. -

The COVID-19 pandemic and the development of global health law: managing crises or achieving structural changes?

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a global crisis with multiple causes, effects and consequences going beyond its immediate health impact. On the one hand, environmental drivers may have facilitated the spillover of the virus to humans, while on the other the pandemic has affected most areas of international relations and revealed a troubling lack of equity and solidarity within and among countries. However, what was the real crisis? Framing COVID-19 as a health crisis brought the negotiation of a new pandemic agreement into WHO as a crisis measure to fill the gaps left by the International Health Regulations and reduce the risk of future pandemics. International law has been defined as a “discipline of crisis”, evolving through responses to violent shocks, and COVID-19 seems to confirm this view. However, international law has also been shaped by a counternarrative highlighting the structural causes of crises and addressing them rather than the symptoms. This historical tension has negatively affected the negotiation of the pandemic agreement, with Global South countries moving beyond a crisis approach and demanding “equity” through structural changes to the pharmaceutical market, support for self-reliance in pharmaceutical manufacturing and guarantees of financing. This fault line also has consequences for global health law in general, in particular because the scarcity of dedicated global health instruments and the limited mandate of WHO questions what issues can be regulated through that organization and which will require the interplay of different institutions and regimes, pointing to regime complexity as the appropriate conceptual tool to undertake that analysis.

School Public Relations: An Essential Tool for Fostering Effective Communication and Administration in Educational Institutions

In the dynamic landscape of educational institutions effective communication and administration are fundamental elements that underpin the success and sustainability of the educational process and school public relations play a catalytic role in facilitating these processes. As a multifaceted tool, this paper provides a comprehensive insight into school public relations for promoting transparency, building community relationships, and enhancing administrative effectiveness in educational settings. By drawing upon the fundamental principles, strategies, and best practices of school public relations, this study seeks to bring to light its significance in fostering positive stakeholder engagement, managing crises, and achieving organizational goals. Through case studies, theoretical frameworks, and practical insights, the paper examines the various areas of school public relations and its impact on educational administration. Recommendations were made for school administrators, educators, and communication professionals to leverage school public relations as a strategic asset in its pivotal role in enhancing administrative processes and the effective functioning of educational institutions. The paper concluded that school public relations is indispensable in the educational institution. By prioritizing communication excellence, ethical conduct, and stakeholders’ relationships, educational institutions can unlock the full benefits of school public relations as a tool for fostering effective communication and administration.

International Legal Regulation of Activities of States in the Great Mediterranean Region

INTRODUCTION. In modern international and domestic maritime law, regional fragmentation of legal regulation is becoming more and more noticeable, which, in turn, objectifies and actualizes the formation of complex arrays of legal norms, united by the consistency of the political and legal positions of the contracting states that have national interests in the relevant water area, primarily-coastal states extending their state sovereignty to certain areas of maritime space. In this context, the Greater Mediterranean region should be considered as one of the most important in the world merchant shipping and naval support of international peace and security, as a basin that optimally connects the Atlantic and Indian Oceans from the point of view of logistics, which requires the formation of an appropriate scientific and methodological basis for full implementation of the fundamental principle of international cooperation in the maritime policy of the states of the region.MATERIALS AND METHODS. To substantiate the expediency of singling out the Greater Mediterranean as an independent object of legal regulation, general and special international legal treaties, the domestic legislation of the Mediterranean states, as well as political and legal documents indicating the existence of certain disputes and situations around certain zones of the Mediterranean water area, primarily – in the Eastern Mediterranean region. To obtain reliable and substantiated results of the study, methods of scientific knowledge were used: formal-legal, logical, historical-legal, system-structural analysis. Thus, the formal legal method made it possible to clarify the content and meaning of international legal treaties concluded at different times and aimed at regulating public relations in the maritime sphere. The logical method made it possible to substantiate the need for comprehensive international cooperation of the coastal states of the Greater Mediterranean. With the help of the historical and legal method, an overview was made of both the world, Soviet and Russian practice of applying the norms of domestic and international law on issues related to ensuring international law and order in the Greater Mediterranean region. The logical method made it possible to build the necessary connections and patterns of development of international legal regulation in the Greater Mediterranean region in the general context of ongoing universal and regional political and legal processes and transformations. Using the method of system-structural analysis, it was possible to display a holistic picture of law-making and law enforcement of the Mediterranean states, aimed at the formation of unified principles and norms for the exercise of the sovereign rights of coastal states.RESEARCH RESULTS. International maritime merchant shipping seems to be a very complex area of public relations with a large number of entities that have different legal status and, accordingly, are related to each other in a very different way.DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. This work is devoted to the study of the main trends in the development of the Greater Mediterranean region in terms of formulating key international legal guidelines and rules of conduct for its constituent states. The object of the study is the legal relations carried out in the maritime spaces of the Greater Mediterranean as one of the key regions, which, along with its economic and political significance, is an integral zone for the implementation of the national interests of the Russian Federation, extending to the entire World Ocean.

Modern Challenges of Adjusting the Effectiveness of the Application of Laws (on the Example of Tax and Legal Regulation)

The relevance of the research topic is determined by the current state of social relations. It is notedthat the analysis of modern social relations cannot be carried out outside the boundaries of significantchallenges that require not only their understanding, but also consideration in the relevant reform measures.The most important challenges today are the following: Russia's war with Ukraine; European integrationprocesses that characterize modern trends in Ukrainian development; digitization of all aspects of public life.Given the problems associated with this, the article defines both objective reasons that affect tax relations, aswell as requirements that are subjective in nature.The purpose of the article is to highlight problematic aspects of the state of modern legal regulation.Attention is focused on the fact that war, European integration and digitalization are among the mostinfluential factors in this aspect. It is clear that they cannot fail to influence the traditional legal means thatguarantee the effectiveness of tax legislation. These aspects are the subject of analysis.Traditional methods of scientific knowledge are used in the research, thanks to which a systematicidea is formed about the reasons for adjusting legal means of influence on tax relations. The characteristicsof the influence of martial law on tax regulation are carried out depending on the stages. The beginning ofthe first is associated with 2014, while the second - with 2022. Despite common features (narrowing of theterritories where Ukrainian jurisdiction exists, reduction of the tax base and tax-paying taxpayers, etc.),differences in the content of these stages have been singled out. European integration processes, whichreflect the movement of Ukraine towards the European community, provide for the adjustment of the natureand content of tax legislation in the following directions: a) adaptation of the current tax legislation ofUkraine to European requirements; b) consideration of European prescriptions at the stage of developmentof zocono projects; c) achieving a balance of acts of the national legislation system.Three areas of relations, which most fundamentally affect the legal status of tax regulation, havebeen studied. The prospects of tax changes depending on the state of war, the prospects of the impact ofharmonization of EU legislation and national legislation, the need to take into account the processes ofdigitalization of tax relations are considered.On the basis of the conducted research, conclusions were made and recommendations were maderegarding the harmonization of the prescriptions of both exclusively tax norms and tax norms on the borderwith other industry regulations. Adjustment of the current set of legislative norms determines the importanceof a systematic approach to the turnover of virtual assets. The formation of a generalized, systematicapproach to these relations is fundamentally important. In order to achieve such a state, it is very importantto supplement the private law means of regulating the circulation of virtual assets with effective tools ofpublic and legal influence (taxation, supervision, public control). The study analyzes the substantive factorsof the regulation of such relations proposed by the two draft laws.

AI IR: Charting International Relations in the Age of Artificial Intelligence

Abstract Over the past decade, rapid progress in artificial intelligence (AI) has transformed a range of areas, from medicine to strategic games and communication technologies, from art and culture to everyday office work. It would be naïve to assume that this evolution does not permeate and alter international affairs. Building on, and solidifying, a thriving yet still fragmented emerging literature on “AI IR,” this forum gathers several critical diagnoses of the way AI technologies impact on various areas of international relations. Introducing new concepts and charting emerging empirical realities, contributors explore how AI advances, such as autonomous lethal systems, synthetic imagery and text, or intelligent systems, are already creating new landscapes of violent and nonviolent international interactions. Yet, behind their distinct takes, contributions together stress the need to correctly locate and evaluate specific sites of AI impact, thus offering a nuanced appraisal scrutinizing grand declarations of an “AI revolution” in global politics.

Legal Regulation of Inheritance of Non-Fungible Tokens

The development of digital technologies permeates almost all areas of public relations. At the same time, certain areas remain more conservative, and legal regulation also lags behind the pace of general digitalization. This situation is especially clearly visible in the field of inheritance of digital assets. The subject of this article is to explore the opportunities and risks associated with inheriting NFTs. The purpose of the article is to determine algorithms for inheriting NFTs in the context of insufficient legal regulation of this procedure in the Russian Federation. The work uses methods of both empirical (analysis and synthesis, induction and deduction, systematization) and theoretical (methods of constructing and studying the object of study and methods of constructing and justifying theoretical knowledge) levels. When transferring a token, a unique record is transferred, and the previous owner of the NFT loses the token after it is transferred. This makes NFTs similar to material objects and necessitates separate legal regulation of the rights associated with NFTs. An NFT is inherited, not a digital object such as art. The main problem with inheriting NFTs is that these objects are intangible. They cannot be physically materialized, stored, for example, in a safe deposit box, or transferred physically. Therefore, if the owners do not have specific heirs, it will even be difficult to include NFT in the inheritance or find out about the token. Inheriting an NFT requires that the will name the NFT and include an explanation of where the NFT is held. The testator’s password must also be available. There may be problems associated with the compulsory share in the inheritance, related both to access and to the assessment and dynamically changing value of the NFT. Also, the valuation of the NFT will influence the amount of the state fee for issuing a certificate of inheritance. The practical implementation of NFT inheritance is facilitated by the development of appropriate digital technologies that optimize procedural aspects.

On the Content of the Principle of Balance Public – Private Interests

The article substantiates the interrelation of the non-positivistic legal system based on consideration of the inherent in the law aspiration to justice, with the necessity of highlighting the principle of balance of public and private interests. The results of the main comprehensive scientific research in the fi eld that are based on the consideration of public and private interests balance as a basic legal idea as well as the necessity of its implementation in constitutional and international justice are highlighted. The author concluded that there is constitutional and legal basis for distinguishing the balance of public and private interests as a general legal principle, as well as general approaches to its content in both legal theory and sectoral legal sciences. In order to eliminate the difference in terminology used (balance of interests, ratability, proportionality, balance of constitutional values), it is proposed to use the phrase «balance of public and private interests». In the author’s view, the use of such terminology underlines that the principle under consideration is primarily addressed to the legislator and allows to focus on the objectives for the achievement of which legal regulation is established in certain areas of public relations. Other terms are used mostly in relation to the implementation of this principle in constitutional justice. The dualistic principle to determine the content of the principle of balancing public and private interests is proposed. Firstly, the principle under consideration is about the duty of the legislator and the court to use the necessary and sufficient means to ensure a fair relationship between different interests in establishing legal regulation and resolving disputes. The second approach has instrumental significance and is related to the implementation of this principle within the framework of constitutional proceedings on the basis of proportionality and balance of constitutional values.

Autonomy of Generative AI Digital Platforms in Regulating Relations with Users

The impact of the phenomenon of digital platforms on public relations can be explained, inter alia, by the fact that platform operators are beginning to compete with states for the right to set rules for users, which include almost all participants in civil turnover, inventive and creative industries, consumers of content, etc. Conditional privatization of the regulatory impact on public relations, based on the example of analyzing the rules of generative artificial intelligence platforms for creating various kinds of content, urges the State to respond. With regard to the legal regulation of digital platforms, it seems possible to build such a multi-level system of regulation of public relations that can be based on both general principles of law and codified norms. The developing discussion around the concept of the digital code of the Russian Federation allows us to formulate approaches to identify those areas of relations in the digital environment that are subject to state regulation in regulatory legal acts, as well as those that can be regulated at the level of "soft law" and within the framework of contracts between platform operators and users.

Adaptation and growth performance of different bamboo species in Dryland areas of Northern Ethiopia

Bamboos are among the large perennial grasses that are renowned for their remarkable vigor and quick development. However, the amount of bamboo available in natural settings is decreasing as a result of shifting agriculture, overexploitation, and forest fires. Furthermore, there is little genetic diversity in our country because just two species are found in a small number of agroecological zones. This makes it difficult to guarantee a steady supply of bamboo, despite its benefits to the environment and economy. Thus, the goal of this study was to evaluate the adaptability and growth performance of four bamboo species: Oxytenanthera abyssinica (A.Rich.) Munro, Phyllostachys edulis (Carrière) J Houz, Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. ex J.C. Wendl, and B-ambusa bambos (L) Voss'. The study was carried out at the Mekelle Agricultural Research Center compound for four years, from 2020 to 2023. Three replications of a strict RCBD design were used in the experiment. There were four plants each plot, for a total of 48 plants, and there was a three-meter gap between each plant and plot. A range of growth indicators, including new shoot emergence, culm diameter, internode length, culm height, and survival rate, were measured at three-month intervals in order to monitor changes among the species. B. bambos, B. vulgaris, and O. abyssinica showed no problems with survival or adaptation in the research locations, with the exception of small growth variances. Significant changes (p≤ 0.05) in the treatment parameters were shown by the statistical analysis. O. abyssinica displayed a noticeably greater quantity of freshly emerging bamboo shoots in comparison to other bamboo species. Conversely, P. edulis showed the lowest growth metrics in terms of internode length, culm height, culm diameter, and survival rate. P. edulis, B. vulgaris, O. abyssinica, and B. bambos had survival rates of 16.67 percent, 66.67 percent, 75 percent, and 91.67 percent, respectively. It is noteworthy that seasonal differences have a substantial impact on the height of culms and the growth of newly emergent shoots. B. vulgaris, B. bambos, and O. abyssinica all showed good growth and survival rates. As a result, it is advised to highlight and promote these species in related agroecological areas, as this can benefit multiple stakeholders’ livelihoods and economies.

Событийная онтологическая модель экономических отношений

The paper examines the issue of the development of ontologies in the economic domain. The essential role of ontologies in the digitalization of the economy is determined. The author considers the origin of ontologies in philosophy and the transition of ontologies from philosophy to computer science. The paper shows the growth of semantic content and the range of applications of ontologies as they develop. Ontologies in computer science have grown from the tasks of forming a thesaurus to the issues of forming semantic models of subject areas, which makes them close, in terms of generality and depth of approach, to philosophical ontologies. Currently, there are a sufficient number of successful examples of the use of information ontologies, nevertheless, these achievements are disproportionately less than the potential inherent in ontologies. In addition, there is a decrease in interest in ontologies and the number of studies. To determine the reasons for this, the concepts underlying the formation of ontologies are considered. The most promising set of concepts for the formation of ontology in the economic subject field is proposed. It is determined that one of the reasons for the insufficient development of ontologies is the insufficient elaboration of the concepts of ‘economic cell’ and ‘event’ as the basis for reflecting economic processes. The concept of ‘events’ is formulated, which corresponds to the dynamic approach in the formation of ontologies. It is proposed to consider an event in the subject area of economic relations as a change in the values of observed attributes (OMECVA). According to the OMECVA concept, events are primary in cognition and in reflecting the subject area. The informational reflection of objects is considered as a cluster of signs and their meanings in structure, space and time. Three types of events are distinguished: events in the subject area, events of cognition of changes in the subject area and events that change the model of cognition. As a starting point for the development of a promising ontology of economic processes, it is proposed to use accounting as a widespread information system that forms the bulk of economic information. It is proposed to consider a triplet as an economic cell: an economic entity, a type of economic and legal relations, an economic object. Each of these elements is an economic category and a feature in the context of which economic events are characterized.

Міжнародно-правове регулювання окремих питань трудової міграції

The fact of widespread labor migration is proved not only among the population of Ukraine, but also among the world community as a whole. The main reasons for the movement of the working-age population in the context of globalisation processes are identified. The main aspects of the need for a unified model of compliance of national legislation with international standards are identified. It is proved that the unanimity of legal regulation of the labor migration process would help to eliminate contradictions between the provisions of legal systems of different states. The list of international documents which define the fundamental concepts of regulation of the area of public relations under study is outlined in the article.

CHINA-US STRATEGIC COMPETITION AND ITS IMPACTS ON AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION: AN ANALYSIS OF PAKISTAN AND UKRAINE

This article aims to examine the China-US strategic competition and its impacts on agricultural cooperation between the two powers. Over the past two decades, China`s comprehensive influence across the world has challenged the US hegemony that it has held for three decades. The US perceives China`s persistent economic growth and diplomatic influence as the main challenge to its supremacy in the world. The strategic competition between the two powers has also resulted in a trade war in recent years. China has been one of the top trading partners for the past two decades. Since, the early 2000s, China has been one of the main countries for the US for its agriculture exports. In the same way, the US remains to be an important destination for Chinese agricultural exports. The China-US strategic game not only caused a consequential distraction to the agricultural trade, but it also had direct negative impacts on the economies of the two countries. This article finds that agriculture is a key area of China-US trade relations and that the strategic competition between the two powers has direct implications for the agricultural sector. The findings of this research also revealed that the US-China trade war has hindered agriculture cooperation, and has implications for Ukraine and Pakistan as well.

Evaluation of the high-energy flood of mid-July 2021 as a morphologic driver in the anthropogenically developed Ahr Valley, Germany, in interaction with infrastructures

BackgroundThis study explores morphologic changes in the Ahr River, Germany, caused by the high-energy flood in mid-July 2021. This study aims to assess the flood's significance as a morphological driver using the Lateral Mobility Index (LMI), as well as the impact of infrastructure on morphodynamics in terms of the formation of mud deposits and stagnant water pools, considering three focus areas of about 1 to 5 km river length. The three focus areas cover differences in the valley morphology as well as near natural and anthropogenically affected sections.ResultsThe LMI is derived from orthophotos from 1998 to 2022, and based on the surface area of the old and the new channel. It describes the sum of new and abandoned channel area in relation to the previous channel area. For the 2021 high-energy event, an increased LMI suggests an increasing change in river course and morphology. Post-flood, the LMI in focus areas 1 (furthest upstream, LMI of 1.5) and 3 (at the Rhine confluence, LMI of 3.2) surpasses the historic LMI by a factor of about 3. Focus area 3 exhibits the highest activity, while focus area 2 (LMI between 0.25 and 0.70) the lowest. The area of mud deposits and stagnant water pools increased immediately after the flood, especially in focus area 3. Over the following months, initial post-flood mud deposits not only washed away but also rebuilt to some degree later on.ConclusionsThe LMI enabled to quantitatively identify a rare and significant morphological disruption in the Ahr River’s lateral development in three focus areas, and thus, serves as additional proof that the flood of mid-July 2021 was a high-energy event impacting the local river geomorphology. Infrastructure impacted the formation of mud deposits and stagnant water zones during and after the flood, with additional influence from factors such as driftwood and valley width. The data suggested a phase of resuspension of sediments after the flood, likely due to cleanup and ad hoc river management, highlighting the need for continued river monitoring.

Unraveling motion in proteins by combining NMR relaxometry and molecular dynamics simulations: A case study on ubiquitin.

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) relaxation experiments shine light onto the dynamics of molecular systems in the picosecond to millisecond timescales. As these methods cannot provide an atomically resolved view of the motion of atoms, functional groups, or domains giving rise to such signals, relaxation techniques have been combined with molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to obtain mechanistic descriptions and gain insights into the functional role of side chain or domain motion. In this work, we present a comparison of five computational methods that permit the joint analysis of MD simulations and NMR relaxation experiments. We discuss their relative strengths and areas of applicability and demonstrate how they may be utilized to interpret the dynamics in MD simulations with the small protein ubiquitin as a test system. We focus on the aliphatic side chains given the rigidity of the backbone of this protein. We find encouraging agreement between experiment, Markov state models built in the χ1/χ2 rotamer space of isoleucine residues, explicit rotamer jump models, and a decomposition of the motion using ROMANCE. These methods allow us to ascribe the dynamics to specific rotamer jumps. Simulations with eight different combinations of force field and water model highlight how the different metrics may be employed to pinpoint force field deficiencies. Furthermore, the presented comparison offers a perspective on the utility of NMR relaxation to serve as validation data for the prediction of kinetics by state-of-the-art biomolecular force fields.

Interactions between krill and its predators in the western Ross Sea

Krill is a fundamental resource in the pelagic food web of the Ross Sea, constituting an important link between primary production and top predators. A series of Italian research voyages to the Ross Sea from 1994 to 2016 have contributed to our understanding of the dynamics of krill populations inhabiting the Ross Sea. Only the surveys in 1994 and 2004 reported information on krill’s predators through visual census data, and 2004 data were not object of publication until now. Analyzing Euphausia superba and Euphausia crystallorophias abundance spatial distribution in the study area in relation to the distribution of its key natural predators have shown a significant relationship between the spatial distribution of minke whales’ abundance and the density of E. superba biomass, indicating a classical predator-prey interaction. Moreover, krill biomass density data in the water column were analyzed together with the main environmental data from CTD samplings. The analysis of krill density data in relation to environmental factors throughout the water column revealed a significant relation between E. superba abundance and salinity, a result that may be linked to the presence of ice melting effects improving environment productivity conditions.

Profiling Bilateral Skills in High-Performance Male and Female Gaelic Footballers

Background: Bilateral skill in sport refers to an individual’s ability to successfully perform sporting actions with both sides of the body. Two scarcely researched areas in relation to bilateral skills are the effects of opposition proximity on skill execution and bilateral skill in high-performance female athletes. Methods: All skill executions (hand pass, kick pass, hop, solo and shot) during 121 games (76 male, 45 female) were coded using Nacsport, with the participants including male and female tier 1 (n = 181, 134) and Tier 2 (n = 238, 115) adult, high performance Gaelic football players. Irrespective of tier or gender, Gaelic football players relied upon their dominant side for the majority of skill executions. Results: No consistent differences existed between tiers and genders in relation to dominant side use, but top tier male players were generally less reliant on the dominant limb than all female players. In general, top tier male players performed more successfully than the other three tiers. Most skills were executed under low opponent proximity, limiting the requirement to use the non-dominant limb. Conclusions: These findings illustrate the demands of Gaelic football in relation to bilateral skill and identify key questions for future research.

GROWTH PERFORMANCE, CARCASS TRAITS, MEAT QUALITY AND HISTOCHEMICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSCLE FIBERS IN MEXICAN HAIRLESS FINISHING PIGS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ORGANIC COPPER

<p><strong>Background:</strong> Pork meat is related to cardiovascular diseases, due to its high content of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol. But it has been shown that dietary supplementation of pigs with organic minerals benefits growth qualities and improves carcass and meat quality characteristics. <strong>Objective:</strong> The objective was to evaluate the effect of Cu proteinate supplementation of finishing Mexican Hairless pigs (MHP) on growth, carcass characteristics, meat quality and muscle fiber composition. <strong>Methodology:</strong> Twenty-eight castrated male MHP (62±5.2 kg BW) were randomly assigned to four levels of Cu in the diet (0, 75, 150, and 225 mg kg<sup>-1</sup> DM) for 46 d. The DMI, DWG, FC and FE were measured. At the end of fattening, the pigs were slaughtered and the characteristics of the carcass were evaluated. Tissue samples of <em>Longissiumus thoracis</em> (LT) were obtained and muscle fibers, pH, color, temperature and drip loss were evaluated. <strong>Results:</strong> The DMI was reduced linearly (<em>P</em>≤0.05) as Cu level supplementation increased in the diet. Growth performance was modified quadratically as Cu level supplementation was increased in the diet, as well as the highest DWG and the lowest FC values were found in barrows supplemented with 75 mg Cu kg<sup>-1</sup> DM. Pigs supplemented with 75 and 150 mg Cu kg<sup>-1</sup> DM had the highest (<em>P≤</em>0.05) CW and LEA compared with the other treatments. BFT and DL decreased linearly (<em>P</em>≤0.05) as Cu supplementation increased in the diet. The Cu supplementation affected (<em>P</em>≤0.05) the color index <em>b</em> and <em>h</em> after 48h. The Cu affected (<em>P≤</em>0.05) the number, composition and relative area of the type I, IIA and BII fibers of the LT. <strong>Implications: </strong>Organic Cu supplementation in the diet of Mexican Hairless pigs benefits growth efficiency, carcass yield and backfat reduction; however, its effect on content, FA profile, and oxidative stability of IF meat should be analyzed. <strong>Conclusions:</strong> It is concluded that Cu supplementation effected quadratically the values of Final BW, DWG, CW and LEA, and linearly Cu affected the values of DMI, FC, CCD, BFT, DL, pH, the color index <em>b</em> and <em>h</em> after 48h; treatments with Cu also influenced linearly or quadratically the number, composition and relative area of the type I, IIA and BII fibers of the LT post slaughter muscle metabolism and it may influence the parameters of quality of meat in finishing Mexican Hairless pigs. The production of MHP meat in an intensive fattening system is profitable and can be improved with the inclusion of Cu proteinate in the diet. </p>

Association of Relative Left Ventricular Outflow Tract Area and Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement Related Paravalvular Leak

BackgroundPost-transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), paravalvular leak (PVL) is a quality metric associated with worse clinical outcomes. Transcatheter heart valve (THV) sizing is based primarily on the systolic annular size without regard to the left ventricular outflow tract (LVOT), which also lies within the THV landing zone. We hypothesized that LVOT size relative to the annulus is associated with post-TAVR PVL. MethodsData from consecutive patients undergoing TAVR in a single high-volume center from January 2018 to March 2019 were used. Pre-TAVR data from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) were collected. Relative LVOT area was defined as LVOT area/annular area during systole. Logistic regression analysis was used to evaluate association with post-TAVR mild or greater PVL by transthoracic echocardiography before discharge. ResultsAmong 293 patients (median age, 81.1 years; female, 49.5%; White, 88.0%), 81.6% received SAPIEN 3 and 18.4% received CoreValve THV models. Aortic valve morphology was bicuspid in 10.9% of patients. Prevalence of mild or greater PVL was 23.5% (mild in 20.1%). Relative LVOT area had a significant inverse association such that the odds of mild or greater PVL decreased significantly with every 1% increase in relative LVOT area (adjusted odds ratio, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.93-0.98; P = .002). There was no interaction between the type of implanted valve and the relative LVOT area. Patients in the highest relative LVOT tertile had significantly lower odds of mild or greater PVL (adjusted odds ratio, 0.42; 95% CI, 0.21-0.87; P = .018 vs first tertile). ConclusionsIn patients undergoing TAVR with the newer generation of THV (SAPIEN 3 and CoreValve models), a relatively narrower LVOT area vs annular area was independently associated with increased odds of mild or greater PVL before discharge.