bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Convergent and criterion validity of PROMIS anxiety measures relative to six legacy measures and a structured diagnostic interview for anxiety in cancer patients
Authors: Clover Kerrie , Lambert Sylvie D. , Oldmeadow Christopher , Britton Benjamin , Mitchell Alex J. , Carter Gregory , King Madeleine T.
Published: July 2022

Background

Detecting anxiety in oncology patients is important, requiring valid yet brief measures. One increasingly popular approach is the Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS); however, its validity is not well established in oncology. We assessed the convergent and criterion validity of PROMIS anxiety measures in an oncology sample.

Methods

132 oncology/haematology outpatients completed the PROMIS Anxiety Computer Adaptive Test (PROMIS-A-CAT) and the 7 item (original) PROMIS Anxiety Short Form (PROMIS-A-SF) along with six well-established measures: Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale-Anxiety (HADS-A); Generalised Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7); Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-Anxiety (DASS-A) and Stress (DASS-S); Distress Thermometer (DT) and PSYCH-6. Correlations, area under the curve (AUC) and diagnostic accuracy statistics were calculated with Structured Clinical Interview as the reference standard.

Results

Both PROMIS measures correlated with all legacy measures at p < .001 (Rho = .56–.83). AUCs (> .80) were good for both PROMIS measures and comparable to or better than all legacy measures. At the recommended mild cut-point (55), PROMIS-A-SF had sensitivity (.67) comparable to or better than all the legacy measures, whereas PROMIS-A-CAT sensitivity (.59) was lower than GAD-7 (.67) and HADS-A (.62), but comparable to PSYCH-6 and higher than DASS-A, DASS-S and DT. Sensitivity for both was .79. A reduced cut-point of 51 on both PROMIS measures improved sensitivity (.83–.84) although specificity was only adequate (.61–.62).

Conclusions

The convergent and criterion validity of the PROMIS anxiety measures in cancer populations was confirmed as equivalent, but not superior to, established measures (GAD-7 and HADS-A). The PROMIS-A-CAT did not demonstrate clear advantages over PROMIS-A-SF.
Growth assessment in down syndrome after cardiac surgery
Authors: Nasser Bana Agha , Abdulrahman Mesned , Qwaee Abdullah A. L. , Alakhfash Ali , Mohamad Tageldein , Kabbani Mohamed S. , Alseedi Usama , Obedien Baraa , Chrit Abdulaziz
Published: July 2022

Objective

To assess the effect of cardiac surgery on growth catch-up of Down syndrome (DS) children with failure to thrive (FTT) and congenital heart disease (CHD) and investigate other causes of FTT in DS children.

Method

We conducted a retrospective observational study in tertiary cardiac center from 2015 to 2018. We included all cases of DS diagnosed with CHD and FTT who completed a 1-year follow-up after cardiac surgery. We divided the cases into two groups; “normalize group” includes children who normalized their growth parameters and “underweight group” includes those who remained in FTT category during the follow-up period. We compared both groups for multiple risk factors.

Result

Most of DS had FTT upon surgery. Fifty percent of cases completed 1-year follow-up including 29 (60%) in the normalized group and 19 (40%) in underweight group. Within 6 months post-surgery, the normalized group though did not reach yet normalization of growth parameters, demonstrated statically significant improvement in weight for age, weight Z-score in compared to underweight group.

Within 12 months post-surgery, the normalized group achieved normalization of growth parameters and continue to show more statistically significant differences in growth parameters.

Both groups had comparable post-operation course. Univariate analysis of possible peri-operative risk factors showed no difference between both groups except for presence of untreated subclinical hypothyroidism in 58% of the underweight group versus 17% in control group (p = 0.005).

Conclusion

FTT in DS patient is multifactorial which needs thorough investigation and work up by multidisciplinary team. Cardiac surgery may not guarantee the improvement of growth parameters.
Wilson’s disease clinic at the Assiut Liver Center in Egypt: a real well-established step on the way
Authors: Aboalam Hani Sayed , Hassan Marwa Khalaf , El-domiaty Nada , Ibrahim Nagat Faisal , Ali Anwar M. , Hassan Wesam , Abu El Wafa Esam Ghanem , Elsaghier Ashraf , Hetta Helal F. , Elbadry Mohamed , El-Kassas Mohamed
Published: July 2022

Wilson’s disease (WD) is a rare genetic disorder of copper metabolism that results in dysfunction of copper excretion into bile leading to its accumulation in the liver, brain, cornea, and kidney. Only a few epidemiological studies about WD have been carried out, with limited available data about the disease. The most common liver disease in Egypt is viral hepatitis, which masks other liver diseases, especially in adults. This review describes the establishment of the first specialized WD clinic in the Assiut Liver Center, Upper Egypt. This multidisciplinary clinic comprises stakeholders working in WD management from different specialties, including hepatologists, pediatric hepatologists, neuropsychiatrists, dieticians, radiologists, pathologists, and ophthalmologists. Over 2 years since the launch of the WD clinic in February 2020, a total of 64 WD suspected cases were referred to our center. The WD clinic at the Assiut Liver Center is a step to provide an integrated service for neglected diseases like WD. Besides the provided integrated services for WD patients, a family screening program is applied with satisfying results.
Spatial and social interaction in medieval Algerian mosques: a morphological analysis using space syntax
Authors: Redjem Meriem , Mazouz Said
Published: July 2022

Medieval mosques in Algeria represent an important architectural heritage that deserves to be identified, studied and preserved. Considering the period spanning the 7th to 15th centuries, this study investigated medieval mosques in Algeria, spatially and socially, to identify the architectural genotype and to establish whether such mosques present the same topological model that governs their spatial properties. This study adopted a new approach to spatial analysis of mosques that could be applied to improve understanding of other religious buildings. Space syntax as an architectural analysis tool can be used as a qualitative method for drawing justified graphs and comparing them visually and quantitatively, calculating syntactic measures and integrating visibility graph analysis to identify spatial types, reveal architectural genotypes and explain social logic. The findings demonstrate how space syntax with topological analysis and syntactic measures could be used to provide new understanding for architects, students and all those interested in heritage, architecture and design, by uncovering hidden structures and revealing the social logic embodied in the spatial configurations of mosques.
The Devil Finds Use
Authors: Callender Brandon S.
Published: July 2022

Beginning with James Baldwin’s critique of The Exorcist in The Devil Finds Work (1976) and ending with campy allusions to the film in the works of three contemporary black gay authors, this article argues that the aesthetics of possession helps articulate queer forms of desire that blur the lines between agency and passivity. Deploying José Esteban Muñoz’s theory of disidentification, it shows how black and queer subjects disruptively locate themselves in the horror genre by drawing on their racial affinities with the genre. The first section proposes that the most prevalent claim in black horror studies today—that black life is more frightening than the supernatural—actually originates with Baldwin’s 1976 rebuke of the film. By disidentifying with horror, Baldwin shifts attention away from paranormal evils and onto a more horrifying normative world. Sketching enthusiastic alternatives to Baldwin, the latter half of this article examines idiosyncratic attachments to the film that are routed through the demonic. By disidentifying with the possessed child, the narrators of Larry Duplechan’s Eight Days a Week (1985) and Blackbird (1986), James Earl Hardy’s B-Boy Blues (1994), and G. Winston James’s Shaming the Devil (2009) all articulate fraught performances of desire.
The Prion as Nature’s Undead
Authors: Powers Kathleen
Published: July 2022

The prion is a self-replicating protein that infects the central nervous system. This essay applies Georges Canguilhem’s criterion for life, biological normativity, to the prion for the purpose of arguing that the existence of the prion within living systems requires attention to how biological matter uses space. Without the involvement of DNA, the prion protein is physically capable of transforming nonprion proteins into prion proteins—a capacity afforded by the specific characteristics of the energy landscape it propagates within, which in turn is determined by the specific arrangement of atoms in its molecular architecture. Like a hammer that is a mirror, the prion compresses and folds surrounding proteins, making its environment identical to itself. This essay studies how information exchange occurs for the prion for the purpose of arguing for a philosophy of biology premised on the analysis of space with attention to form over the analysis of language with attention to genetic code.
Mathematical analysis of interactions between a layered medium and a distribution of point sources
Authors: Καλογερόπουλος Ανδρέας
Published: July 2022

Το πρόβλημα διέγερσης ενός πολυστρωματικού μέσου από μια αυθαίρετη κατανομή (ακουστικών) σημειακών πηγών ή (ηλεκτρικών / μαγνητικών) διπόλων αποτελεί το βασικό αντικείμενο αυτής της διατριβής. Το προτεινόμενο μαθηματικό μοντέλο βασίστηκε στην τοπολογία της κατανομής των πηγών καθώς και στο πλήθος τους. Μέσω αυτής της προσέγγισης, αποδείχθηκαν Νόμοι Διατήρησης της Ενέργειας, οι οποίοι συνδέουν ευθέως την καθολική διατομή σκέδασης με την ενεργό ροή (πραγματικό μέρος των διανυσμάτων ροής) στο εσωτερικό των διεγειρόντων στρωμάτων. Επιπλέον, η Λαγκραντζιανή πυκνότητα στο μέσο διάδοσης (εξωτερικό) και τον σκεδαστή συνδέθηκε άμεσα με την άεργο ισχύ στα διεγείροντα στρώματα. Η εισαγωγή των εννοιών των Διατομών Αλληλεπίδρασης και των Ροών Αλληλεπίδρασης, βοήθησε στην ποσοτικοποίηση της ενέργειας και της ροής που οφείλεται στην αλληλεπίδραση μεταξύ των εμπλεκόμενων πεδίων. Συγκεκριμένα, αποδείχθηκαν οπτικά θεωρήματα που συνδέουν τις Διατομές Αλληλεπίδρασης με τα q-μερικά πεδία, ενώ αποδείχθηκε ότι τα εν λόγω θεωρήματα, αποτελούν γενίκευση του Γενικού Θεωρήματος Σκέδασης. Με χρήση κατάλληλων τεχνικών Συναρτησιακής Ανάλυσης, αποδείχθηκαν φυσικά φράγματα για το ποσοστό των Διατομών Αλληλεπίδρασης επί της καθολικής διατομής σκέδασης και για το πλήθος των πηγών που διεγείρουν τον σκεδαστή και των διεγειρόντων στρωμάτων του σκεδαστή. Μέσω ανάλυσης των εμπλεκόμενων διανυσμάτων ροής, συσχετίστηκαν οι Ροές Αλληλεπίδρασης με τις Διατομές Αλληλεπίδρασης και τα q-μερικά πεδία. Η ακριβής, αναλυτική λύση του ευθέος προβλήματος σκέδασης για την σφαιρική γεωμετρία επιτυγχάνεται μέσω μιας μεθόδου καθολικής υπέρθεσης, η οποία συνδυάζει στοιχεία των μεθόδων Sommerfeld, T-Matrix και των συναρτήσεων Green. Μέσω κατάλληλης υλοποίησης σε προγραμματιστικό περιβάλλον της ακριβούς λύσης του ευθέος προβλήματος για τη σφαιρική γεωμετρία, διενεργείται εκτενής παραμετρική ανάλυση που εξετάζει την συμπεριφορά των ενεργειακών ποσοτήτων σε σύγκριση με τις μεταβολές των γεωμετρικών χαρακτηριστικών των σκεδαστών, των φυσικών τους παραμέτρων καθώς του πλήθους ή/και της τοπολογίας των πηγών/διπόλων που διεγείρουν τον σκεδαστή. Τέλος, η συμπεριφορά των εμπλεκόμενων πεδίων ερευνάται περαιτέρω στη λεγόμενη ζώνη χαμηλών συχνοτήτων. Με χρήση εργαλείων και τεχνικών Ασυμπτωτικής Ανάλυσης, η μορφή των τύπων για αυτήν την κατηγορία προβλημάτων απλοποιείται και μια πληθώρα αντιστρόφων προβλημάτων διατυπώνεται και επιλύεται αναλυτικά.
The Methodology of Using the Capabilities of the Microsoft Power Point Program for the Formation of Digital Cartographic Skills of Students in the Study of Geography
Authors: Shul'gina Ol'ga , Mihaylenko N.
Published: July 2022

The article highlights the role of geography in the digitalization of education through the development of digital cartographic culture. The approaches to the formation of digital cartographic skills are specified by the example of using the capabilities of the Microsoft Power Point program. The choice of this program for mass use in order to introduce students to the creation and design of cartographic works is justified. Methodological recommendations for mapping using the Microsoft Power Point program are given and described step by step. These recommendations became the basis for the creation of an elective course "Computer Cartography" for pre-professional engineering and IT classes at the State Budgetary Educational Institution of Moscow "School No. 1517". The results of the testing of this course are shown in the figures. The described methodological recommendations will be useful to participants of the educational process interested in the formation of digital cartographic skills of students not only when studying.
„O sztuce cukrowej”, czyli dlaczego piętnastowieczni aptekarze włoscy wytwarzali słodycze?
Authors: Hryszko Rafał
Published: July 2022

“ON SUGAR ART”; OR, WHY DID FIFTEENTH CENTURY ITALIAN PHARMACISTS MAKE CANDY?

This article looks at the production of candy by late mediaeval Italian pharmacists. The author discusses the roots of candy production and shows its development was connected to the use of medical products based on honey, sugar, spices and fruits. For many centuries such products were treated as medicines and only at the end of the Middle Ages did people start to perceive them as candy. Pharmacists from Italian nations, known as speziari, were central to the process. They had access to a range of spices imported from the Orient, know-how and experience inherited from their ancestors and their own acquired skills. In effect, they started producing candy on the base of existing, sweet medical products. The richest and most helpful source for the study of the candy production is De artificium zuchari, the thirteenth chapter of Lumen apothecariorum, a work by the fifteenth-century Piedmont physicist and pharmacist, Quirico de Augustis.
The Real Effects of Implicit Government Guarantee: Evidence from Chinese State-Owned Enterprise Defaults
Authors: Jin Shuang , Wang Wei , Zhang Zilong
Published: July 2022

We study the effects of implicit government guarantee (IGG) on Chinese state-owned enterprises (SOEs). We find that SOEs reduce their investments by 2.4% of book assets, on average, relative to matched non-SOEs after the first SOE default in China’s onshore bond markets in 2015. The investment reduction concentrates among SOEs that are financially constrained, yet SOEs financed by large state banks are hardly affected. Bondholders require more stringent default protection in newly issued SOE bonds. We also find that the investment reduction is more pronounced for SOEs with severe agency problems and that SOEs experienced more positive market reactions to acquisition announcements after 2015. Our results suggest that the reduction in IGG has confounding effects on Chinese firms. Although the weakening of IGG may help mitigate overinvestment, it exacerbates financial constraints of those with limited access to alternative sources of financing.

This paper was accepted by Lucas Schmid, finance.

Funding: Z. Zhang acknowledges the funding support by Research Grants Council of Hong Kong [Project 11503318].

Supplemental Material: The data files and online appendix are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4483 .
Herding in Probabilistic Forecasts
Authors: Jia Yanwei , Keppo Jussi , Satopää Ville
Published: July 2022

Decision makers often ask experts to forecast a future state. Experts, however, can be biased. In the economics and psychology literature, one extensively studied behavioral bias is called herding. Under strong levels of herding, disclosure of public information may lower forecasting accuracy. This result, however, is derived only for point forecasts. In this paper, we consider experts’ probabilistic forecasts under herding, find a closed-form expression for the first two moments of a unique equilibrium forecast, and show that the experts report too similar locations and inflate the variance of their forecasts because of herding. Furthermore, we show that the negative externality of public information no longer holds. In addition to reacting to new information as expected, probabilistic forecasts contain more information about the experts’ full beliefs and interpersonal structure. This facilitates model estimation. To this end, we consider a one-shot setting with one forecast per expert and show that our model is identifiable up to an infinite number of solutions based on point forecasts but up to two solutions based on probabilistic forecasts. We then provide a Bayesian estimation procedure for these two solutions and apply it to economic forecasting data collected by the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. We find that, on average, the experts invest around 19% of their efforts into making similar forecasts. The level of herding shows an increasing trend from 1999 to 2007 but drops sharply during the financial crisis of 2007–2009 and then rises again until 2019.

This paper was accepted by Yan Chen, behavioral economics and decision analysis.

Supplemental Material: The electronic companion and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4487 .
Transportation Labor Cost Reduction via Vehicle Platooning: Alternative Models and Solution Methods
Authors: Caballero William N. , Jaehn Florian , Lunday Brian J.
Published: July 2022

The advent of automated and semiautomated driving technologies is prompting a reevaluation of the benefits of truck platooning. Whereas the effect of truck platooning on fuel costs is relatively well studied, automated driving enables further cost reductions in the form of labor savings that has, heretofore, been sparingly investigated. The degree to which such savings can be realized depends upon myriad factors. Foremost among them are driver payment policies and platoon formation procedures. Automated driving technology reduces the demands on a platoon’s follower vehicles, which, in turn, justifies modified driver compensation structures. However, reductions in labor expenditures are often limited by load characteristics that inhibit platoon formation. Therefore, this research sets forth a suite of related truck platooning problems that correspond to alternative assumptions about unloaded-truck compensation and shipment temporal flexibility. The computational complexities of these problem variants are examined, [Formula: see text]-hardness is proved for the suite, and other useful mathematical properties are derived. Extensive empirical testing using the U.S. highway system explores the effect of network topology, commerce flow, and platooning labor savings on each problem’s optimal solution, tractability, and other related metrics. Multiple heuristics are also designed and tested for larger-scale instances. In so doing, this research not only explores the effects of varied factors on platooning labor costs but it also provides practical means to identify high-quality, labor-cost-reducing routes.
Rhythm as a Dynamic Basis Functional System of Any Activity (Pedagogical, in Particular)
Authors:   State Universtity of Physical Culture and Sport Republica Moldova, Aftimichuk Olha
Published: July 2022

Each functional system has its own individual specific rhythm of activity, closely linked to the rhythms of activity of other functional systems interconnected with it, which provide adaptive results useful for the body by their self-regulatory activity. In accordance with the theory of functional systems, the deviation of one or another result of the activity of functional systems from the level that determines the normal life of the organism is itself the reason for the mobilization of all components of the functional systems components to return the changed result to the level that determines the optimal course of life processes. Rhythm organizes human activity, makes it more productive, rational. When teaching labor and sports movements, the process of assimilation of the correct rhythm of a motor action plays an important role, since it determines the optimal version of the execution of the movement, which manifests itself in a reduction in the process of its automation, as a result of which the physical strength and nervous energy of a person are saved. Professional pedagogical activity, like any other activity, is a process, as it involves some kind of movement/development in the relationship between the teacher and students. And since every process is carried out in a certain rhythmic expression, then pedagogical activity has its own rhythmic construction. Violation of the rhythm of the flow of any activity, at best, implies some kind of disorganization, at worst, it will contribute to the cessation of this activity. So, if the established rhythm of the teacher's didactic actions is violated by any distraction from the educational process, then there will be some kind of malfunction that can contribute to the global disorganization of the lesson, the end of which will be the termination of the educational process.
A Case Report of Closed Reduction of Anterior Transolecranon Fracture Dislocation of Elbow in a Pediatric Patient
Authors: Tomer Divya , Bartakke Girishchandra , Deokate Pravin
Published: July 2022

Introduction:Anterior transolecranon fracture dislocation of the elbow is rarely found in pediatric patients, with very few cases reported till now, and very less literature available on its management. Case Report:We hereby present a rare case of trauma to the left elbow in a 9-year-old female child who sustained anterior transolecranon dislocation without neurovascular deficit. Such fracture dislocations are managed usually by surgical methods with or without osteosynthesis. However, we present a report of closed reduction of the condition with good clinical outcomes. Conclusion:Closed reduction can be a safe method of treatment of anterior dislocation of the elbow if no neurovascular deficit is present. This case report aims to highlight this possible treatment method which in itself is unusual for this uncommon pediatric injury. Keywords: Anterior dislocation, pediatric elbow dislocation, transolecranon dislocation.
Rare Combination of Distal Tibial Physeal Injury (Salter–Harris Type IV) with Sagittal Plane Fracture of Talus Body: A Case Report
Authors: Bhatia Nishant , Goel Akash , Dabas Vineet , Yadav Akash
Published: July 2022

Introduction: Distal tibial physeal fractures and talus fractures are rare injuries in children and adolescents. Even rare is a combination of these two fractures. Axial compression is an accepted mechanism of injury in talus fractures with position of foot at the point of impact determining the extended patterns. A concomitant medial malleolus fracture suggests a supinated foot at the time of impact. Case Presentation:We report a case of a 13-year-old girl child who sustained a Type IV Salter–Harris injury of distal tibial physis along with a displaced vertical (sagittal) type fracture of the talus body. The uniqueness in our case was that the talar body fracture was a vertical type and that too displaced in the same line along with medial malleolus fragment. Open reduction of both the fractures was done through anteromedial approach followed by minimal fixation with K-wires. Good results were observed at 1 year following the surgery. Conclusion: Injuries of this nature are very uncommon and even more unusual in pediatric age group. This case report emphasizes the importance of having a high suspicion of uncommon fracture patterns in pediatric age group. Early and prompt diagnosis should be made using CT/MRI as a lot of these injuries may go unnoticed on plain radiographs. Keywords: Distal tibial physeal injury, Salter–Harris IV, Sagittal fracture of talus, talar body fracture, vertical fracture.
Suppression of crosstalk in coding CDWL by active FOV modulation with a deformable mirror
Authors: Wu Yunbin , Zhang Yunpeng , Yuan Jinlong , Shu Zhifeng , Dong Jingjing , Li Manyi , Zhao Lijie , Xia Haiyun
Published: July 2022

Coding technology provides new ideas for spatial resolution enhancement of coherent Doppler wind lidar (CDWL). To improve the performance of coding CDWL for ultra-fine-wind field detection, the crosstalk between neighboring laser pulses is analyzed in theory. The strong backscattered signal from aerosols in near field region will interfere with the weak atmospheric signal, making the accuracy of Doppler shift estimation deteriorate seriously. Considering the formation mechanism of crosstalk, a solution based on adaptive field of view (FOV) modulation is proposed to suppress the crosstalk which is validated by numerical simulation and experiment. Dynamic range of the backscatter intensity is controlled from 10 dB to 2 dB within the distance of 50 m to 300 m, thus the crosstalk is accordingly suppressed.
Promoting positive parenting and mental wellbeing in Hong Kong Chinese parents: A pilot cluster randomised controlled trial
Authors: Sun Yuying , Wang Man Ping , Chan Christian S. , Lo Daphne L. O. , Wan Alice N. T. , Lam Tai Hing , Ho Sai Yin
Published: July 2022

Objective

Effective and brief positive parenting interventions could be adopted widely, but evidence is limited. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a positive parenting programme in Hong Kong Chinese parents.

Methods

We conducted a pilot cluster randomised controlled trial in 2017 in 144 Hong Kong Chinese parents (84.7% women, mean age 42.5 [SD 5.87] years) of school-age children (mean age 10.9 [2.8] years) in 4 family service centres (clusters). The intervention included two 2-hour interactive talks (4 hours in total). The contents covered skills of giving praise, showing appreciation and playing enjoyable family games. The control group was offered the intervention after all the data were collected. Praise, appreciation and enjoyment related behaviours were measured as primary outcomes at baseline, 1 month and 3 months. The secondary outcomes were subjective happiness, wellbeing, personal health and happiness, family health, family happiness and harmony, and family relationship. After the completion of all assessments, five focus group discussions with the parents and four individual in-depth interviews with community service providers were conducted to explore their experiences.

Results

Compared with the control group (n = 69), the intervention group (n = 75) showed greater positive changes in appreciation and enjoyment at 3 months with small effect sizes (d = 0.42 and 0.32, respectively), and greater improvements in the secondary outcomes at 3 months with small effect sizes (d: 0.29–0.48). In the focus groups, the parents reported more praise to their children, better temper control, more focus on their children’s strengths and better family relationships. According to the service providers, most of the parents enjoyed the activities.

Conclusions

The brief intervention in community settings with the engagement of community service providers has shown preliminary effectiveness in promoting positive parenting and mental wellbeing of Hong Kong Chinese parents.

Trial registration

The authors confirm that all ongoing and related trials for this intervention are registered. The study reported in this manuscript is registered as clinical trial at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03282071. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03282071.
‘More than just numbers on a page?’ A qualitative exploration of the use of data collection and feedback in youth mental health services
Authors: Hamilton Craig , Filia Kate , Lloyd Sian , Prober Sophie , Duncan Eilidh
Published: July 2022

Objectives

This study aimed to explore current data collection and feedback practice, in the form of monitoring and evaluation, among youth mental health (YMH) services and healthcare commissioners; and to identify barriers and enablers to this practice.

Design

Qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted via Zoom videoconferencing software. Data collection and analysis were informed by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Data were deductively coded to the 14 domains of the TDF and inductively coded to generate belief statements.

Setting

Healthcare commissioning organisations and YMH services in Australia.

Participants

Twenty staff from healthcare commissioning organisations and twenty staff from YMH services.

Results

The umbrella behaviour ‘monitoring and evaluation’ (ME) can be sub-divided into 10 specific sub-behaviours (e.g. planning and preparing, providing technical assistance, reviewing and interpreting data) performed by healthcare commissioners and YMH services. One hundred belief statements relating to individual, social, or environmental barriers and enablers were generated. Both participant groups articulated a desire to improve the use of ME for quality improvement and had particular interest in understanding the experiences of young people and families. Identified enablers included services and commissioners working in partnership, data literacy (including the ability to set appropriate performance indicators), relational skills, and provision of meaningful feedback. Barriers included data that did not adequately depict service performance, problems with data processes and tools, and the significant burden that data collection places on YMH services with the limited resources they have to do it.

Conclusions

Importantly, this study illustrated that the use of ME could be improved. YMH services, healthcare commissioners should collaborate on ME plans and meaningfully involve young people and families where possible. Targets, performance indicators, and outcome measures should explicitly link to YMH service quality improvement; and ME plans should include qualitative data. Streamlined data collection processes will reduce unnecessary burden, and YMH services should have the capability to interrogate their own data and generate reports. Healthcare commissioners should also ensure that they provide meaningful feedback to their commissioned services, and local and national organisations collecting youth mental health data should facilitate the sharing of this data. The results of the study should be used to design theory-informed strategies to improve ME use.
Belt and road initiative as a catalyst of infrastructure development: Assessment of resident’s perception and attitude towards China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
Authors: Mahmood Shahid , Ali Ghaffar , Menhas Rashid , Sabir Muazzam
Published: July 2022

The Chinese Government commenced the One Belt One Road (OBOR) project in 2013 for the multidimensional development to restore the historical Silk Road paradigms. The Economic Corridor provides networks and connections based on two geographical territories. The China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is one of them, a chunk of the Silk Road Economic Belt’s economic corridors. CPEC would be an economic game-changer for Pakistan. It will generate businesses, minimize poverty, generate employment opportunities, and improve local communities’ health and education. However, it is more lucrative for the Chinese economy because CPEC is a safe, cheapest, and shortest route for importing energy rather than other routes. The present study investigates the social, infrastructural, and tourism effects of CPEC through the mediation role of rural development and knowledge sharing, including income, employment, business, land-use change variables, and CPEC adoptability for a local community in Pakistan. This study is based on four different regions of Gilgit Baltistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh in Pakistan. The study incorporates the collected data from the respondents living on the CPEC routes via face-to-face interviews from citizens (cities, villages, and towns). Besides, the study applied univariate and Structural Equation Model techniques to draw the results. The study results reveal that CPEC plays a significant role in Pakistan’s socio-economic and rural development. This mega project’s expectations might bring positive changes in infrastructure development, energy sector, and social development projects in Pakistan. The Results also indicated that CPEC would link rural areas to urban areas, which would offer development opportunities for rural regions to achieve sustainable development.
Association between delayed initiation of treatment indications and survival in patients with cervical cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis protocol
Authors: Shimels Tariku , Gashaw Biruck , Gedif Teferi
Published: July 2022

Background

Cervical cancer is a growing public health problem globally. Despite the availability of management options, the progression of the disease as a function of waiting time may challenge the effort to attain a desired outcome. There is a conflicting report on the role of waiting time to initiate an appropriate treatment in improving patients’ survival.

Objective

This review aims to evaluate the association between delayed time to initiate any treatment indication with survival in patients with cervical cancer.

Methods

An internet-based literature search will be performed using text words, MESH terms and truncated words in databases, namely MEDLINE, Cochrane CENTRAL, EMBASE, Web of Science and Scopus. Grey literature searches in Google Scholar, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations (NDLTD) and Dissertations and Theses Global will be made. All articles published until 30th of December 2021 on human subjects will be searched without a language restriction. Studies which fulfil the inclusion criteria will be screened in full reading, selected, appraised and assessed for methodological quality by two independent reviewers. Data on participants, study methods, interventions, and outcomes will be abstracted. Included studies will be pooled for meta-analysis. Microsoft-Excel and R packages will be employed to carry out the statistical analysis. Heterogeneity will be assessed using Cochrane Q statistic, Tau2, and I2. Results will be reported as a function of 4-week delay in treatment initiation and the corresponding hazard ratio (HR) at 95% confidence interval. Statistical significance will be considered at P<0.05.

Trial registration

PROSPERO registration number: CRD42022299689.
Which interventions may improve bracing compliance in adolescent idiopathic scoliosis? A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Li Xue , Huo Zhaohua , Hu Zongshan , Lam Tsz Ping , Cheng Jack Chun Yiu , Chung Vincent Chi-ho , Yip Benjamin Hon Kei
Published: July 2022

This review aimed to systematically review and meta-analyze the effects of interventions in improving bracing compliance among adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS) patients. Eight databases were searched from their inception to April 2022. The eligibility criteria included controlled studies that used any type of intervention to enhance bracing compliance in braced AIS patients. Two researchers independently screened articles and extracted data based on the PICO (participant, intervention, comparator, and outcome) framework. Quality appraisal of included studies was performed using GRADE (overall assessment), and the risk of bias was assessed with Cochrane RoB Tool 2 for randomized controlled trials (RCT) and ROBINS-I for non-RCT studies. The primary outcome was bracing compliance and secondary outcomes included Cobb Angle and measurements for quality of life. Six eligible studies involving 523 participants were included. All studies were evaluated as low or very low quality with a high risk of bias. Four types of interventions were identified, including sensor monitoring (n = 2, RCTs), auto-adjusted brace (n = 1, RCT), more intensive or collaborated medical care (n = 2), and psychosocial intervention (n = 1). A meta-analysis of 215 patients from the three RCTs suggested that the compliance-enhancing intervention group had 2.92 more bracing hours per day than the usual care control (95%CI [1.12, 4.72], P = 0.001). In subgroup analysis, sensor monitoring significantly improved bracing wearing quantity compared to usual care (3.47 hours/day, 95%CI [1.48, 5.47], P = 0.001), while other aforementioned interventions did not show a significant superiority. Compliance-enhancing interventions may be favorable in preventing curve progression and promoting quality of life, but the improvements cannot be clarified according to limited evidence. In conclusion, although the results of this study suggested that sensor monitoring may be the most promising approach, limited high-quality evidence precludes reliable conclusions. Future well-designed RCTs are required to confirm the actual benefit of compliance-improving interventions in clinical practice.
Reflections on Peruvian Textile Traditions: A Living Heritage exhibit
Authors: Vidalon Astrid
Published: July 2022

The purpose of the exhibit Peruvian Textile Traditions: A Living Heritage was to showcase Peruvian dress and textile arts by conveying their significance and associated meanings to two ethnic groups in Peru: the Quechua people from the Andes Mountains and the Shipibo-Conibo from the Amazon rainforest. Textiles and dress have played uniquely important political, social and religious roles over thousands of years and continue to communicate and produce meanings through fibre, cloth and garments. The exhibit featured nineteen handmade textiles and six Peruvian ethnic dress ensembles, organized into three main vignettes: dresses, Andean and Shipibo-Conibo textiles. While exploring the exhibit’s content and cultural legacy, this article also reflects on the importance of showcasing diverse cultural heritage as a way to build more inclusive universities, communities and museum spaces.
Food Design Small: Reflections on Food, Design and Language, Sonja Stummerer and Martin Hablesreiter (2020)
Authors: Eidler Mariana
Published: July 2022

Review of: Food Design Small: Reflections on Food, Design and Language, Sonja Stummerer and Martin Hablesreiter (2020)

Berlin and Boston, MA: Walter de Gruyter GmbH, 223 pp., p/bk, £30.50

ISBN 1866-248X 978-3-11-067975-5
Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock & Roll, Lenny Kaye (2021)
Authors: Loydell Rupert
Published: July 2022

Review of: Lightning Striking: Ten Transformative Moments in Rock & Roll, Lenny Kaye (2021)

London: White Rabbit, 965 pp.,

ISBN 978-1-47461-5-105, e-book, GBP £20
Competing sounds? Podcasting and popular music
Authors: Jones Ellis , Morris Jeremy
Published: July 2022

Podcasts and popular music are different kinds of sonic media, but they are increasingly in direct competition for our listening time within the ‘audio market’. Audio platforms like Spotify, Apple and Google host both podcasts and music (and other audio media) so their distribution decisions and infrastructure have a significant impact on musicians, podcasters, record labels, podcast networks and other industrial entities. Despite this convergence, podcasting studies and popular music studies have not regularly been put in conversation; podcast studies has drawn primarily on radio studies, and overlap between this work and popular music studies has to date been minimal. Our introduction to this Special Issue on popular music and podcasts suggests that framing music and podcasts as ‘competing sounds’ permits new contributions to several important areas of media study, including platformization, creative labour, media representation and the role of sonic media in everyday life.
Banging tunes in the basement: Finding online community in COVID-19 lockdown
Authors: Wolfenden Helen , Sercombe Howard , Renzo Adrian
Published: July 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unique restrictions on human sociability. In response, exceptional initiatives using a range of existing technologies and platforms have emerged to mitigate lockdown isolation. Basement Traxx, a kind of hybrid DJ set streamed from a Glasgow basement, was one of these initiatives. As the lockdown was extended, it became a virtual gathering space, with unexpectedly powerful impacts on its audience. This research seeks to define and describe this phenomenon. In this study, we find new permutations of engagement in space, in time and in presence. We find expressions of joy in the show’s particular sociability. In the isolation of lockdown, here is an experience in which participants felt affirmed, validated and re-constituted as subjects and actors. In their response, we find an enthusiastic push-back in favour of communal musical spaces and against a political economy of music that has pressed relentlessly towards isolation, individuation and commodification.
The Impact of Gender on the Use of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality in Students with ASD
Authors: López-Belmonte Jesús , Moreno-Guerrero Antonio-José , Marín-Marín José-Antonio , Lampropoulos Georgios
Published: July 2022

Today’s education is in the process of transformation as a consequence of the inclusion of educational technology in learning spaces. Among the most prominent technologies is augmented and virtual reality. These emerging technologies have reflected great educational potential in different contexts. The study's objective is focused on knowing the influence of gender in the application of augmented and virtual reality in students with ASD. They have been considered in various dimensions such as motivation, attention, communication, autonomy, and learning outcomes. A quantitative research methodology has been used through a descriptive and correlational non-experimental design to achieve this objective. 46 Spanish students with ASD participated in the study. The data were collected through a questionnaire. The results reveal differences in motivation, attention, and communication based on gender. However, in terms of autonomy and in learning outcomes, gender does not suppose any conditioner. The work culminates with various theoretical and practical implications.
Buglossoides glandulosa – a priority name for B. czernjajevii (Boraginaceae)
Authors: Ovczinnikova Svetlana V. , Korolyuk Andrey Yu.
Published: July 2022

As a result of field research, revising the collections stored in the MW, NSK, NS, TK Herbaria, as well as in the international database Jstor, and acquaintance with protologues, the species Buglossoides glandulosa was identified on the territory of the Lower Volga region and the North Caucasus. It is shown that B. glandulosa is a priority name for B. czernjajevii, a species reliably known from of Ukraine and Moldova, and reported from a few localities in the south of the European part of Russia. The morphological and ecological-coenotic features of B. glandulosa and its differences from the closely related species B. arvensis and B. tenuiflora are discussed. The diagnostic characters of the species are given in the table and in the figure. For all species, a nomenclature citation is provided, information on type specimens, ecological features and general range, lists of studied specimens are cited. The map shows new localities of B. glandulosa in the Lower Volga region and in the North Caucasus.
Amerikai-török bilaterális kapcsolatok a regionális biztonsági komplexumok elméletének tükrében = American-Turkish bilateral relations in the light of the theory of regional security complexes
Authors:   , Varga Esztella
Published: July 2022

A dolgozat célja elemezni az amerikai-török kétoldalú kapcsolatok alakulását a 21. század elején (a török AKP-kormányok alatti időszakban), és meghatározni a bilaterális viszonyokat alakító tényezőket, regionális és globális aktorokat, érdekeket. Rendkívül fontos megvizsgálni a NATO két legnagyobb hadseregével rendelkező két állam, az Egyesült Államok és Törökország kapcsolatát, ugyanis a regionális fókusz erősödésével Törökország egyre nagyobb szerepet játszhat, míg az USA a helyét keresi Trump elnöksége után.
Transcriptomic and Cellular Content Analysis of Colorectal Cancer by Combining Multiple Independent Cohorts
Authors: Kothalawala William Jayasekara , Győrffy Balázs
Published: July 2022

INTRODUCTION:

By linking cellular content and molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer (CRC), we aim to uncover novel features useful for targeted therapy. Our first goal was to evaluate gene expression alterations linked to CRC pathogenesis, and then, we aimed to evaluate the cellular composition differences between normal colon mucosa and tumor and between different colon cancer molecular subtypes.

METHODS:

We collected microarray and RNA sequencing data of patients with CRC from the Genome Expression Omnibus and The Cancer Genome Atlas. We combined all cases and performed quantile normalization. Genes with a fold change of >2 were further investigated. We used xCell for cellular decomposition and CMScaller for molecular subtyping. For statistical analyses, the Kruskal-Wallis H test and Mann-Whitney U tests were performed with Bonferroni correction.

RESULTS:

We established an integrated database of normal colon and CRC using transcriptomic data of 1,082 samples. By using this data set, we identified genes showing the highest differential expression in colon tumors. The top genes were linked to calcium signaling, matrix metalloproteinases, and transcription factors. When compared with normal samples, CD4+ memory T cells, CD8+ naive T cells, CD8+ T cells, Th1 cells, Th2 cells, and regulatory T cells were enriched in tumor tissues. The ImmuneScore was decreased in tumor samples compared with normal samples. The CMS1 and CMS4 molecular subtypes were the most immunogenic, with the highest ImmuneScore but also high infiltration by CD8+ T cells, Th1 cells, and Th2 cells in CMS1 and B-cell subtypes and CD8+ T cells in CMS4.

DISCUSSION:

Our analysis uncovers features enabling advanced treatment selection and the development of novel therapies in CRC.
Equidad laboral de género para el crecimiento y desarrollo de América Latina
Authors: Pérez  Rivas Natali Yormeri , Miranda Delgado Rafael Gustavo
Published: July 2022

El objetivo de la investigación es analizar la importancia de la reducción de la brecha laboral por motivos de género para potenciar el crecimiento y desarrollo económico de América Latina. Para realizar la cuantificación de la relación entre las variables de la investigación, se realizó un modelo de regresión lineal múltiple empleando el método de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios. En la investigación se afirma que los resultados obtenidos por medio del modelo estimado para el periodo 1990-2019 revelan que la hipótesis de la reducción de la brecha en el mercado laboral por motivos de género para potenciar el crecimiento y desarrollo económico de la región está sustentada por información estadística.
En torno al hipotético Iberolux
Authors: Portero Lameiro José Domingo , Lara Martínez Laura
Published: July 2022

Las primeras décadas del siglo XIX fueron muy dañinas para las economías ibéricas. En síntesis, las ocupaciones napoleónicas en España y Portugal provocaron la expulsión de sus respectivos monarcas, circunstancias que fueron aprovechadas por muchas de las colonias hispanas y lusas para independizarse y convertirse en Estados independientes. Consecuentemente, los ingresos disminuyeron drásticamente, porque se perdió parte del mercado tradicional de algunos productos peninsulares. En este contexto, parece razonable que dadas las ventajas del Zollverein alemán, se pretendiera un sucedáneo para la península ibérica. Sin embargo, no se logró un consenso. Posteriormente, en 1986, con la incorporación simultánea de España y Portugal a la Comunidad Económica Europea se impulsó una mayor cooperación ibérica. Afortunadamente, España y Portugal comparten acuerdos económicos que los convierten en socios preferentes. Si bien es cierto, la referida cooperación ibérica podría optimizarse, tomando como ejemplo el Benelux, que en nuestro caso se denominaría Iberolux.