bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Crosswalk between the PROMIS physical function CAT and PROMIS upper extremity CAT v1.2 in a hand surgery population
Authors: Rogers Miranda J. , Daryoush Joshua R. , Zhang Chong , Cizik Amy , Presson Angela P. , Kazmers Nikolas H.
Published: May 2024

Background

There is no gold standard patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) in hand surgery. As a result, a diverse array of PROM instruments have been utilized across centers over time. Lack of score interchangeability limits the ability to compare or conglomerate scores when new instruments are introduced. Our aim was to develop a linkage for the PROMIS UE CAT v1.2 and PROMIS PF CAT scores and develop crosswalk tables for interconversion between these PROMs.

Methods

Retrospective review was conducted to identify adult (≥ 18y) patients seen by orthopaedic hand surgeons at a single academic tertiary care hospital who had completed PROMIS UE CAT v1.2 and PROMIS PF CAT score at the same visit. For those with multiple visits, only one randomly selected visit was included in the analyses. Pearson’s correlation was calculated to determine the linear relationship between the scores. Linkage from PF to UE was performed utilizing several commonly utilized equating models (identity, mean, linear, equipercentile and circle-arc methods). The performance of the models was assessed using intraclass correlation (ICC) between observed PROMIS UE CAT v1.2 and estimated PROMIS UE CAT v1.2 scores generated using the model as well as Root Mean Square Error (RMSE). The model chosen as the ‘best’ was further assessed for population invariance using root expected mean squared difference (REMSD) where < 0.08 were considered good.

Results

Of 10,081 included patients, mean age was 48.3 (SD = 17.0), and 54% were female (5,477/10,081). Mean UE CAT v1.2 and PF CAT scores were 37 (SD = 9.8) and 46 (SD = 10.0), respectively. There was a strong correlation between the scores (Pearson correlation r = 0.70). All methods performed acceptably (ICC ≥ 0.66 and RMSE < = 7.52 for all). The equipercentile method had the highest ICC (ICC = 0.70 (95% CI 0.69–0.71)) while the mean and circle arc methods had the lowest RMSE. The circle arc method is the most reliable with the smallest standard error and has satisfactory population invariance across age group (REMSD 0.065) and sex (REMSD 0.036).

Conclusions

Crosswalk tables to be used for bidirectional conversion between scores were created.

Level of evidence

: III.
High fat diet increases the severity of collagen-induced arthritis in mice by altering the gut microbial community
Authors: Zhang Yang , Zhang Jie , Liu Yantong , Ren Shuang , Tao Ning , Meng Fanyan , Cao Qi , Liu Ruoshi
Published: May 2024

Objectives

Research has demonstrated that obesity may be associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). In addition, gut microbiota and its metabolites contribute to the occurrence and development of RA and obesity. However, the mechanism by which obesity affects RA remains unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether gut microbiota and their metabolites alter the effects of high fat diet (HFD) on the severity of collagen-induced arthritis (CIA) in mice.

Methods

Briefly, mice were divided into normal group (N), CIA model group (C), HFD group (T), and HFD CIA group (CT). Hematoxylin and Eosin staining(HE) and Safranin O-fast green staining were conducted, and levels of blood lipid and inflammatory cytokines were measured. 16S rDNA sequencing technique and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics were performed to explore changes in the microbiota structure to further reveal the pathomechanism of HFD on CIA.

Results

HFD aggravated the severity of CIA in mice. The CT group had the highest proportion of microbial abundance of Blautia, Oscillibacter, Ruminiclostridium-9, and Lachnospiraceae UCG 006 at the genus level, but had a lower proportion of Alistipes. Additionally, the fecal metabolic phenotype of the combined CT group shows significant changes, with differential metabolites enriched in 9 metabolic pathways, including primary bile acid biosynthesis, arginine biosynthesis, sphingolipid metabolism, purine metabolism, linoleic acid metabolism, oxytocin signaling pathway, aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and sphingolipid signaling pathway. Correlation analysis revealed that some of the altered gut microbiota genera were strongly correlated with changes in fecal metabolites, total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), and inflammatory cytokine levels.

Conclusions

This study shows that HFD may aggravate inflammatory reaction in CIA mice by altering the gut microbiota and metabolic pathways.
Enhancing Early-Stage Breast Cancer Survivorship: Evidence-Based Strategies, Surveillance Testing, and Imaging Guidelines
Authors: Elliott Mitchell J. , Shen Sherry , Lam Diana L. , Brown Thelma , Lawson Marissa B. , Iyengar Neil M. , Cescon David W.
Published: May 2024

Addressing the challenges of survivorship necessitates a comprehensive, patient-centered approach, focusing on mitigating risk through lifestyle modification, identifying distant recurrence, and optimization of breast imaging. This article will discuss the current and emerging clinical strategies for the survivorship period, advocating a multidisciplinary and comprehensive approach. In this manner, early-stage breast cancer survivors are empowered to navigate their journey with enhanced knowledge, facilitating a transition to life beyond cancer.
Prevalence of Preferences for End-of-Life Place of Care and Death Among Patients With Cancer in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Donkor Andrew , Adotey Prince Nyansah , Ofori Esther Oparebea , Ayitey Jennifer Akyen , Ferguson Caleb , Luckett Tim , Vanderpuye Verna , Osei–Bonsu Ernest Baawuah , Phelan Caroline , Hunt Katherine
Published: May 2024

PURPOSE

There is limited information on preferences for place of care and death among patients with cancer in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The aim was to report the prevalence and determinants of preferences for end-of-life place of care and death among patients with cancer in LMICs and identify concordance between the preferred and actual place of death.

METHODS

Systematic review and meta-analysis guided by Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses was conducted. Four electronic databases were searched to identify studies of any design that reported on the preferred and actual place of care and death of patients with cancer in LMICs. A random-effects meta-analysis estimated pooled prevalences, with 95% CI, with subgroup analyses for region and risk of bias.

RESULTS

Thirteen studies were included. Of 3,837 patients with cancer, 62% (95% CI, 49 to 75) preferred to die at home; however, the prevalence of actual home death was 37% (95% CI, 13 to 60). Subgroup analyses found that preferences for home as place of death varied from 55% (95% CI, 41 to 69) for Asia to 64% (95% CI, 57 to 71) for South America and 72% (95% CI, 48 to 97) for Africa. The concordance between the preferred and actual place of death was 48% (95% CI, 41 to 55) for South Africa and 92% (95% CI, 88 to 95) for Malaysia. Factors associated with an increased likelihood of preferred home death included performance status and patients with breast cancer.

CONCLUSION

There is very little literature from LMICs on the preferences for end-of-life place of care and death among patients with cancer. Rigorous research is needed to help understand how preferences of patients with cancer change during their journey through cancer.
Epistemological Foundations of Transmarxism
Authors: Adamson Alex
Published: May 2024

This article outlines the epistemological foundations of transmarxism through a decolonial Marxist humanism taking up groundwork laid in Transgender Marxism (2021) by Nathaniel Dickson as a starting point. The transmarxist critique of alienated life via the continued subjection of trans people to an arbitrary and finite set of external determinations coincides with hi[r]storical materialism and a decolonial humanist critique of racial capitalism. While there are many debates around various forms of humanism, this article takes the position that a decolonial Marxist humanism does not have to put forward a problematically sexist, racist, or anthropocentric understanding of the human to say that there is nothing proper to the human other than impropriety. As argued in the latter half of the article, the historical and conceptual relations binding revolutionary Marxist humanism to the theory and praxis of autonomous queer, trans, and feminist struggles found in the work of Sylvia Wynter, Wages Due Lesbians, and the concept of hi[r]storical materialism are critical to ending colonial capitalist imperialism, fighting fascism, and revealing the limitations of liberal inclusion as a long-term solution to antitrans violence.
“Other and More”: Indian Ocean Literature and the Archipelagic Discourse of the Caribbean
Authors: Gorman-DaRif Meghan
Published: May 2024

In his 1992 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Derek Walcott imagines the broken vase and the subsequent reassemblage of its “African and Asiatic” fragments as a metaphor for Caribbean art forms, especially poetry. His vision of the particular archipelagic form of art that is invested in remaking from fragments, while specific to the Caribbean, is also visible in writing from other archipelagic spaces in the Indian Ocean. This article connects the Caribbean concept of the archipelago to the Indian Ocean through an analysis of the way Yvonne Adhiambo Owuor's The Dragonfly Sea (2018) and Amitav Ghosh's The Hungry Tide (2005) each present the littoral island spaces of the Indian Ocean. These texts construct alternatives to the possessive ontology of global capital through their articulation of the unique ontology and aesthetics of the Indian Ocean archipelago, borne out of the specificity of the littoral and its association with permeability, symbiosis, and a “back and forth” mirroring the tides themselves. The article argues that while Owuor's novel, like Walcott, is invested in the ontology and aesthetics of the archipelago as transformative and resistant, Ghosh's novel can be read with Braithwaite's concept of tidalectics as well as Glissant's creolization, to similarly depict the ontology and aesthetics of the archipelago as emerging out of fluidity and change rather than linearity or stasis.
Mesenchymal Wnts are required for morphogenetic movements of calvarial osteoblasts during apical expansion
Authors: Polsani Nikaya , Yung Theodora , Thomas Evan , Phung-Rojas Melissa , Gupta Isha , Denker Julie , Lau Kimberly , Feng Xiaotian , Ibarra Beatriz , Hopyan Sevan , Atit Radhika P.
Published: May 2024

Apical expansion of calvarial osteoblast progenitors from the cranial mesenchyme (CM) above the eye is integral to calvarial growth and enclosure of the brain. The cellular behaviors and signals underlying the morphogenetic process of calvarial expansion are unknown. Time-lapse light-sheet imaging of mouse embryos revealed calvarial progenitors intercalate in 3D in the CM above the eye, and exhibit protrusive and crawling activity more apically. CM cells express non-canonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) core components and calvarial osteoblasts are bidirectionally polarized. We found non-canonical ligand Wnt5a−/− mutants have less dynamic cell rearrangements and protrusive activity. Loss of CM-restricted Wntless (CM-Wls), a gene required for secretion of all Wnt ligands, led to diminished apical expansion of Osx+ calvarial osteoblasts in the frontal bone primordia in a non-cell autonomous manner without perturbing proliferation or survival. Calvarial osteoblast polarization, progressive cell elongation and enrichment for actin along the baso-apical axis were dependent on CM-Wnts. Thus, CM-Wnts regulate cellular behaviors during calvarial morphogenesis for efficient apical expansion of calvarial osteoblasts. These findings also offer potential insights into the etiologies of calvarial dysplasias.
Molecular and morphological evidence for a new seed-destroying smut fungus, Microbotryum graecum on Stellaria media from Greece
Authors:   Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Denchev Teodor T. , Denchev Cvetomir M. ,   Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Begerow Dominik ,   Universität Hamburg, Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology, Organismic Botany and Mycology, Kemler Martin ,   Universität Hamburg, Institute of Plant Science and Microbiology, Organismic Botany and Mycology
Published: May 2024

The group of seed-destroying Microbotryum species on caryophyllaceous hosts includes ten species, among which only M. alsines, on Stellaria nitens from USA, is known on Stellaria. Recently, a specimen of Stellaria media from Greece, infected by a seed-destroying Microbotryum species, was found in a phanerogam herbarium. Based on distinct morphology and phylogenetic evidence, this fungus was considered to represent an unknown species which is described and illustrated as Microbotryum graecum. It can be distinguished from M. alsines by having smaller spores, fewer meshes per spore diameter, a different spore ornamentation, wider meshes, and higher spore wall muri.
Investigation of hepatitis B virus mutations associated with immune escape and drug resistance in human immunodeficiency virus-infected patients
Authors: Modise Lorato , Sithebe Nomathamsanqa , Mufhandu Hazel
Published: May 2024

Background Co-infection of hepatitis B virus (HBV) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has an impact on high HBV replication and progression to liver cancer. These may lead to cross-resistance of drugs due to therapeutic pressure or liver toxicity. These require continuous monitoring of HBV variants for better diagnosis and treatment strategies. Methods Convenience sampling was used to collect fifty archival sera from Inkosi Albert Luthuli Central Hospital. The Sera were subjected to HBsAg screening using ELISA, DNA extraction, PCR amplification, Sanger sequencing, phylogenetic and mutation analysis. A correlation test was performed to measure the association between polymerase and surface mutations. Results Of the 50 samples, 86% (N= 43/50) were HBsAg positive; 82% (N=41/50) PCR positive and 92% (N=38/41) sequenced. The HBV sequences showed similarity to genotype A (73% [N=19/26]) and (24% [N=7/26]) as genotypes B, C, D, E, F, and G. Prevalence of the mutations in the Surface region was (47% [N=18/38]); including diagnostic failure (K122R and T143S) and vaccines escape mutations (P127T, G145R, S207N, Y200T, E164D, Y206H and L209V). The mutations in the RT was at (36% [N=14/38]) with drug resistance mutations (DRM) at (50% [7/14]). Mutations showed resistance to lamivudine (LMV) at (35% [5/14]), telbivudine (LdT) at (29% [4/14]), (14% [2/14]) for entecavir (ETV) and (21% [3/14]) for adefovir (ADV). One sample had a combination of L180M, M204V, S202K, and M250I mutations. There was no statistical significance between S and RT mutations at P>0.005 and the statistical correlation between RT and SHB mutations was weak at 0.877. Conclusions Our findings highlight the prevalence of HBV genotype A in HIV-infected patients in South Africa. We provide evidence of mutations linked to immune evasion and drug resistance. Mutations have no statistical significance but can have clinical Implication on the diagnosis and treatment of HBV in HBV/HIV co-infected individuals.
Exploring our relationship with nature: A modified-Delphi study protocol
Authors: Murphy Cassandra , MacIntyre Tadhg , Gallagher Elaine
Published: May 2024

Background A vital element to understanding the the health and wellbeing of both humans and the environment is human-nature interactions. The biophilia hypothesis is referred to when discussing these interactions. This hypothesis suggests that due to evolution, humans have an innate urge to seek out nature. The concept of nature connectedness was developed from this hypothesis and is rooted in the belief that human identity and nature can be intertwined. This research aims to explore the intricate details of how an individual builds this connection in a meaningful way. Methods This is done using a modified Delphi method. A Delphi study in its typical form aims to gather the consensus of a group of experts in a specific area of interest. This modified Delphi aims to break down the barrier between the public and the experts by creating a second category of participants referred to as our ‘expanded experts.’ Expand experts are described as individuals with lived experience of being connected to nature in the everyday. This category comprises of artists, city planners, activists and many more. This allows for a much more inclusive and real-world exploration of experiences. The participants will first take part in a semi-structured interview process to investigate their experiences of connecting with nature. Following a hybrid thematic analysis with both deductive and indictive coding will be applied to the interviews. These themes will be shared with participants for them to weigh the importance of the theme to the construct to allow a deeper understanding of our interactions with nature. Results The results of this project will contribute to and shape the development of a state-of-the-art nature-connectedness scale. Furthermore, understanding how nature connectedness fits into our modern world will allow for more appropriate nature-based interventions for urban residents and beyond.
DETECTION OF DEER IN IMAGES TO ACCOUNT POPULATIONS BY COMPUTER VISION METHODS
Authors: Tereshchenko Sergei N. , Osipov Alexander L. , Moiseeva Ekaterina D.
Published: May 2024

Purpose. Recognition of deer individuals by their graphic images based on convolutional neural network models.
Research methods and materials. The material for the research was marked images of deer in different habitats, published in the public domain. Research methods: theory of design and development of artificial intelligence systems; image augmentation for computer vision tasks; hyperparameter tuning algorithms for training neural network models.
Results. Conservation of the deer population is one of the important goals in ecology and agriculture. The control of the number of individuals affects the conservation of rare species of deer, and supports the production volumes on farms. For example, such a control method may be the detection of deer individuals in photographs. To accurately determine and count the number of deer, you can use a tool such as a neural network.
We used deep learning methods for convolutional neural networks, as well as the concept of “transfer learning”. On the basis of the Faster R-CNN Resnet50 network, a neural network was trained, which allows, with an accuracy of 0.91, to determine individual individuals in the images using the F1-score metric with a threshold value of 0.6 (coincidence of the area of the predicted markup and the actual one) with an accuracy of 0.91.
Conclusion. To solve the problem of deer detection, a data set has been prepared, including more than 30 thousand images, with markings of individual individuals. The marking of each individual included the coordinates of the bounding rectangle in the image. Based on this information, a neural network model was developed and trained using software tools to solve the problem of detecting deer objects in images. The experiments carried out showed that the accuracy of detection with augmentation in accordance with the F1-score indicator with a threshold value of 0.6 on the training sample was 0.96, and on the test sample was 0.91.
Clinical case of gout in combination with metabolic syndrome in a young patient
Authors: Rapcun M.
Published: May 2024

A clinical case of gout in a 28-year-old patient in combination with metabolic syndrome is presented. The need for a comprehensive examination of a patient with this pathology to exclude underdiagnosis and optimal choice of therapy has been demonstrated. The importance of identifying concomitant pathology and conducting hypouricemic therapy to exclude cardiovascular complications in the future is shown.
ASSESSMENT OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF YOUNG MASTON IN THE CONSERVATIVE TREATMENT OF FIBROCYSTIC MASTOPATHY IN WOMEN OF REPRODUCTIVE AGE
Authors: Guseynov Arif , D'yakov M.
Published: May 2024

The paper presents modern approaches to drug therapy for the most common pathology of the mammary glands – fibrocystic mastopathy.
The most effective method of conservative treatment of fibrocystic mastopathy in patients of reproductive age is herbal medicine using drugs with anti-estrogenic effects.
The indications were determined and the pharmacological action and effectiveness of the drug Mladomaston were assessed. It has been shown that with a 3-month course of administration, the drug provides sufficient effectiveness, expressed primarily in the reduction of pain in the mammary glands and the severity of proliferative processes in the mammary gland tissue.
The high effectiveness of young maston allows us to recommend the drug for wider clinical use in the conservative treatment of fibrocystic mastopathy.
The practical absence of side effects is an additional argument in favor of including young maston in the complex therapy of fibrocystic mastopathy.
The effectiveness of IL-17 and TNF-α inhibitors in the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis
Authors: Dvornikova O.
Published: May 2024

6 clinical cases of ankylosing spondylitis in male patients of average working age were considered. Patients had non-axial and extra-skeletal manifestations of ankylosing spondylitis, varying disease duration and adherence to therapy. The effectiveness of the use of two groups of genetically engineered biological drugs has been analyzed and evaluated.
El Acuerdo de Escazú y el derecho de acceso a la justicia ambiental como elementos centrales en la construcción de una ciudadanía ambiental global
Authors: Valencia Hernández Javier Gonzaga
Published: May 2024

Con este capítulo se pretende aportar desde lo filosófico, lo político, lo social y lo jurídico elementos teóricos para el desarrollo del derecho de acceso a la justicia ambiental como uno de los pilares del Acuerdo Regional sobre el Acceso a la Información, la Participación Pública y el Acceso a la Justicia en Asuntos Ambientales en América Latina y el Caribe (Acuerdo de Escazú) que contribuirá a la defensa y protección del medio ambiente por parte de los ciudadanos y las organizaciones sociales comprometidas con sus territorios. Igualmente se abordará el compromiso ciudadano con el ejercicio de los instrumentos del acceso a la justicia ambiental como una de las emergencias de la nueva ciudadanía ambiental global comprometida con la sostenibilidad y la vida en el planeta.
El ambiente no tiene derechos
Authors: Rueda Mauricio
Published: May 2024

El objetivo de este artículo es cuestionar el fundamento jurídico y el sentido práctico de este reconocimiento que tímida y progresivamente han hecho las altas cortes a través de algunos de sus pronunciamientos recientes. En el escenario de polarización que caracteriza los debates ambientales, existe el temor de que ese cuestionamiento quiera ser interpretado como una afrenta contra el mismo ambiente y sus evidentes necesidades de protección. Sobre esta base, el objetivo propuesto solo podrá entenderse alcanzado, si al mismo tiempo logra poner en evidencia que no es a través de la titularidad de derechos que el ambiente tendrá mayores garantías de protección.
Pago por servicios ambientales en Colombia. La alternativa costo-efectiva de conservación
Authors: Ramos Franco Albaluz , Herrera Carrascal Giovanni José
Published: May 2024

El presente artículo académico pretende recopilar el desarrollo jurídico normativo, doctrinal y jurisprudencial que existe respecto al pago por servicios ambientales (PSA) en Colombia, realizando un análisis sobre sus fortalezas y debilidades.
Who Lends Before Banking Crises? Evidence from the International Syndicated Loan Market
Authors: Giannetti Mariassunta , Jang YeeJin
Published: May 2024

Existing studies assume that all lenders have similar incentives to take on risks during different phases of the lending cycle. We show that foreign lenders and low market share lenders extend more credit in comparison with other lenders during lending booms leading to banking crises but not during other credit expansions. These less established lenders also shorten loan maturity and increase the amount of credit they extend to riskier borrowers without asking for collateral or imposing covenants and higher interest rates. Our results suggest that foreign lenders and low market share lenders contribute disproportionately to credit misallocation and risk accumulation in precrisis periods.

This paper was accepted by Victoria Ivashina, finance.

Funding: M. Giannetti acknowledges financial support from the Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation [P16-0328] and Jan Wallanders och Tom Hedelius stiftelse [P20-0127].

Supplemental Material: The internet appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.03505 .
Post-discharge surgical site infection surveillance using patient smartphones: a single-centre experience in cardiac surgery
Authors: Rochon Melissa , Tanner Judith , Cariaga Karen , Ingusan Sean Derick , Jawarchan Angila , Morais Carlos , Odattil Bella , Dizon Ron
Published: May 2024

Background/Aims

Surgical site infections following cardiac surgery pose significant risks and financial burdens to both patients and healthcare systems. This study aimed to explore the implementation and outcomes of a novel surgical wound monitoring system using patient smartphones for post-discharge surveillance.

Methods

The study was conducted at a London-based cardiothoracic tertiary referral centre, where 1358 patients undergoing cardiac surgery between January 2021 and March 2023 were enrolled onto the surgical wound monitoring system. Data were collected from the National Cardiac Audit Programme dataset, the monitoring system and Hospital Episode Statistics data. Comparisons between patients who did or did not respond to surveillance requests were performed. A nested confirmatory analysis assessed antibiotics reported by patients through the digital route compared with antibiotics given by GPs or in outpatients.

Results

The overall response rate for surgical wound monitoring using patient smartphones was 86.6%. Patients who were female, from areas of higher deprivation and lived closer to the hospital were less likely to engage with surgical wound monitoring. Although not statistically significant, the current study suggests that patients with surgical site infections who used smartphones for surgical wound monitoring were less likely to be re-admitted or have further surgery and had shorter readmission stays. The accuracy of antibiotic use for surgical site infections using the surgical wound monitoring system was 96.5%.

Conclusions

This study underscores the potential of digital technologies, particularly smartphones, in efficient and accurate post-surgical monitoring. The findings suggest that the use of digital monitoring systems may improve patient outcomes, with potential for wider system-level benefits.
Managing incontinence-associated dermatitis in the community: an overview
Authors: Ramadan Francesca
Published: May 2024

Incontinence-associated dermatitis (IAD) is often treated a hygienic challenge, rather than a serious condition with potentially life-threatening consequences. More appropriate education on the management strategies specific to IAD is required, in order for personalised and effective care that reflects the critical nature of this condition to be provided. Francesca Ramadan provides an overview of the key elements of best practice in IAD management and treatment.
Managing venous leg ulceration: variance and variety
Authors: Jones Joanna
Published: May 2024

Frameworks of care have been developed to enhance and standardise care for those with venous leg ulcers. Community nurses are faced with an array of frameworks and guidance documents on which to base their care. This article outlines and discusses variations in the information provided within the body of evidence relating to the care of venous leg ulcers. It is based on the findings of ongoing study for a PhD thesis.
Quality of life case series review: wound bed preparation from a UK perspective
Authors: Bhatt Priti
Published: May 2024

Previous studies have reported that polyhexamethylene biguanide (PHMB) and betaine solution and gels remove biofilm, improve wound healing and reduce infection rates. Quality of life (QoL) outcomes are not commonly reported on when it comes to wound care. This review aims to summarise QoL data from a cohort of case studies previously published on chronic lower limb ulcers using PHMB products (Prontosan® Solution, Prontosan® Wound Gel X and Prontosan® Debridement Pad). Here, we report on and review a total of 38 case studies describing 56 wounds. From these 38 case studies, 36 reported that all the wounds involved had either healed or improved by the end of their respective study period. QoL themes explore malodour, slough, and exudate, pain, mobility, hair growth, antibiotic intake, return to work, social life and mood. This case series demonstrates that treatment with Prontosan® products improves many QoL outcomes for patients with non-healing wounds.
A study of the low-protein diet in delaying the course of chronic kidney disease
Authors: Du Huifang , Dai Xiaojing
Published: May 2024

A low-protein diet (LPD) has become an important way to delay the progression of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and to delay the need for dialysis. A review of the literature reveals the low-protein diet’s influence on the course of chronic kidney disease. An artificial low-protein food, wheat starch, for example, can not only increase the high-quality protein intake ratio, but can ensure adequate energy intake on a low-protein diet while meeting the nutritional needs of the body, effectively reducing the burden on the damaged kidneys. The purpose of this review is to provide a reference for the clinical implementation of diet and nutrition therapy in patients with chronic kidney disease.
A new record of Coelichneumon rufofemoratus (Cameron, 1903) (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) from Eastern Himalayas, with a checklist of all the species of the genus from the Oriental region
Authors: YANG XIA , HUANG ZHI-PANG , CUI LIANG-WEI , DAL POS DAVIDE , RESHCHIKOV ALEXEY , XIAO WEN
Published: May 2024

Coelichneumon rufofemoratus (Cameron, 1903) of the Darwin wasp subfamily Ichneumoninae, previously known from Indian and Burmese Himalayas, is newly recorded from Yunnan, China, and a complete history of the name with nomenclatural notes is provided. A complete checklist of the species of Coelichneumon for the Oriental region is also presented.
Building the Fatigue Curve Fuzzy Intervals by the Censored Information and Tomography Images
Authors: Gadolina Irina V. , Sergeevich Maidanov Igor
Published: May 2024

Fatigue curves of materials are very important and useful in engineering practice. A problem in the application of fuzzy set theory arises from the availability of qualitative (non-numerical), imprecise, and incomplete information. Such information is often obtained from fatigue test data. We use computed tomography (CT) to study the extent of damage to censored samples. Censored samples are samples that were excluded from testing when they reached base test criteria. A fuzzy regression model was developed taking into account linguistic variables. Linguistic variables determine the status of the samples (censored or damaged). Considering the fuzzy dependent variable in the regression model, the coefficients of the regression equation were also transformed into fuzzy variables. The fuzzy dependent variable is the time before the destruction of the censored sample. After examining the images of the defects, the degree of damage is estimated using expert judgment. The model uses the fuzzy method, from different from the classical statistical interval for a given stress amplitude on the fatigue curve, to estimate the probabilistic service life interval. To illustrate the construction of a fuzzy interval, a fuzzy fatigue curve of a polymer composite with a fuzzy interval is shown.
China's Puzzling Participation in the UN Peacekeeping Operations in Haiti
Authors: Chen Jing
Published: May 2024

Abstract: This article argues that positive US-China relations enabled China in 2004 to diversify its strategy toward Haiti, a staunch supporter of Taiwan, by contributing its first-ever Formed Police Unit (FPU) to the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). The organizational readiness of the China Peacekeeping Police Training Center (CPPTC) also played a large role in shaping this development. With the contribution of its FPUs, China intended to influence Haiti and reset bilateral relations. However, the limited training capacity of CPPTC meant that China could only contribute one FPU at a time—even though contributing more FPUs would have strengthened its influence on Haiti even more. When US-China relations turned negative and Zhou Yongkang, the chief patron of the Chinese police, lost power in 2012, China terminated its participation.
Indigenous Ministry Training and Governance in the Anglican and United Churches of Canada, 1970s–1980s
Authors: Beninger Carling
Published: May 2024

Abstract: Throughout the 1960s, the Anglican and United Churches of Canada, influenced by global secularization, international theology trends, and their declining role in the Indian residential school system, sought to examine their Indigenous-church policies and shift away from assimilation and paternalism and toward supporting Indigenous leadership. This article explores two outcomes of their reforms: the creation of (1) specialized Indigenous ministry training and (2) Indigenous-driven church governance structures. Meaningful reforms that extended beyond performative measures, although slow, difficult, and resisted by some, were spearheaded by Indigenous church leaders who fought to have their voices heard and effect change. Their efforts laid the groundwork for future Anglican and United Church Indigenization and reconciliation processes. Abstract: Au cours des années 1960, les Églises anglicane et unie du Canada, influencées par la sécularisation mondiale, les tendances théologiques internationales et le déclin de leur rôle dans le système des pensionnats pour Autochtones, ont cherché à examiner leurs politiques relatives à la présence des populations amérindiennes en leur sein, et à s'éloigner de l'assimilation et du paternalisme pour soutenir le leadership de ces dernières. Cet article se penche sur deux résultats de ces réformes : la création (1) d'une formation autochtone spécialisée au ministère pastoral et (2) des structures de gouvernance ecclésiale dirigées par des Autochtones. Bien que lentes, difficiles et contestées par certains, des réformes significatives allant au-delà de mesures purement exécutoires ont été menées par des responsables autochtones qui se sont mobilisés pour faire entendre leur voix et obtenir des changements. Leurs efforts ont permis de jeter les bases des processus ultérieurs d'indigénisation et de réconciliation de l'Église anglicane et de l'Église unie.
From "Criminal Citizens" to "Traitors": The Last of the Kurdish Bandits in Modern Turkey, 1950–1970
Authors: Özcan Ahmet
Published: May 2024

Abstract: The mass banditry that emerged in Turkey's Kurdish regions between 1950 and 1970 was labelled a "national problem" in state discourse. Banditry and bandits were thus an integral part of the Turkish nation-state building process and the politico-moral economy of the region. Turkish state policies with regard to banditry, after the transformation of bandits from "criminal citizens" into "traitors" in state discourse, culminated in massive military operations to disarm and suppress the peoples of these regions. This last period of Kurdish banditry, the result of the destabilization of traditional Kurdish society, was a source of political contention between the state elite and Kurdish communities. Abstract: Le banditisme de masse qui a émergé dans les régions kurdes de la Turquie entre 1950 et 1970 a été qualifié de « problème national » dans le discours de l'État. Par conséquent, ce phénomène et les bandits faisaient partie intégrante du processus de construction de l'État-nation turc et de l'économie politico-morale de la région. Les politiques de l'État en matière de brigandage, après avoir fait passer les bandits du statut de « citoyens criminels » à celui de « traîtres » dans son discours, ont culminé avec des opérations militaires de grande envergure visant à désarmer et à opprimer les populations de ces régions. Cette dernière période de brigandage, résultat de la déstabilisation de la société kurde traditionnelle, a été une source de contentieux politique entre l'élite étatique et les communautés kurdes.
Bordering a War: Transnational Volunteers to the American Civil War from the Eastern Townships
Authors: Jenson Jane
Published: May 2024

Abstract: Transnational volunteering during the Civil War by soldiers born in British North America (BNA) continues to intrigue Canadians. Nonetheless, distinguishing between those who crossed the border to enlist and the many BNA-born soldiers already living in the United States has proven difficult. With a new database of volunteers who left the Eastern Townships to enlist in Vermont, this article assesses three propositions drawn from historians' work. It refutes the idea that transnational volunteers were primarily mercenary, enlisting late when bounties were high. It partially confirms the proposition that enlistment was an immigration strategy. The third proposition that transnational volunteering was a borderland practice of those with close ties of family or religious practice to the United States holds for these border crossers. Abstract: L'enrôlement des volontaires transnationaux en provenance de l'Amérique du Nord britannique (ANB) pendant la guerre de Sécession américaine suscite toujours l'intérêt des Canadiens. Néanmoins, il s'avère difficile de faire la distinction entre ceux qui ont traversé la frontière pour s'engager et les nombreux soldats nés en ANB qui vivaient déjà aux États-Unis. À partir d'une nouvelle base de données sur les volontaires qui ont quitté les Cantons-de-l'Est pour s'enrôler au Vermont, cet article évalue trois propositions tirées de travaux antérieurs réalisés par des historiens. Il réfute l'idée que les engagés volontaires transnationaux étaient principalement des mercenaires, arrivant tardivement lorsque les primes étaient élevées. L'analyse confirme en partie la proposition selon laquelle l'engagement était une stratégie d'émigration. La troisième proposition, à savoir que le volontariat transnational était une pratique frontalière de ceux qui avaient des liens familiaux ou religieux étroits avec les États-Unis, est valable pour ces volontaires transnationaux.
Parent Education and Adolescent Health Outcomes: The Potential Role of Adolescent Academic Intention
Authors: Chen Sabrina , Nita Abigail , Coble Chanelle , Ortiz Robin , Leong Carol Duh
Published: May 2024

Abstract: Parental educational attainment significantly shapes child socioeconomic status, potentially influencing various aspects of adolescent health. This study aimed to uncover the relationships between parental education and self-reported adolescent health outcomes, including overall health, mental well-being, and body mass index (BMI). Analyzing data from 1,448 participants in the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study, we identified notable associations. Our findings revealed that higher maternal and paternal education correlated with reduced odds of adolescent obesity. Furthermore, increased adolescent academic intention was associated with better overall and mental health in adolescents. Notably, it also played a mediating role in lowering adolescent BMI, thereby potentially explaining the association between parent education and adolescent BMI category (overweight vs. obese). These findings emphasize the significant impact of both parent education and adolescent academic intention on adolescent health. Future research should explore interventions leveraging academic intention to positively influence the health trajectory of adolescents.
The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program: Thirty Years of Addressing Health Disparities
Authors: Cheever Laura W. , Rich Josiah , Adashi Eli Y.
Published: May 2024

Abstract: The Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program is a unique federal program to provide HIV care, treatment, and support services for people living with HIV in the United States. Through the distinctive structure of the program that allows for addressing both medical needs and some of the social determinants of health that can pose barriers to accessing care, the program has been instrumental in improving outcomes for people with HIV with documented improvement in HIV viral suppression and decreased disparities in that outcome over the past decade. To reach the goal of ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S., the program must expand services to people with HIV who are not regularly engaged in medical care.
Gentile Land Ownership in the Land of Israel: The Palestinian Talmud in Light of Biblical Models and Roman Law
Authors: Mazeh Hanan
Published: May 2024

Abstract: This paper examines a key passage in the Palestinian Talmud (the Yerushalmi), on mGit 4.8, that presents a salient discussion about the halakhic meaning of gentile ownership of lands in the land of Israel. Two theoretical moves are evident within the amoraic effort to define it. The first is an innovative turn, achieved through a creative reading of Leviticus 25, that interprets Jubilee law as a model by which gentile possession of the Land is portrayed as a lamentable yet temporary form of partial ownership, similar to enslaved Jews in gentile hands, until returning to Jewish control. The second is a conceptual deliberation on select legal categories of ownership, most notably the concept of ususfructus , which may be seen in light of their centrality in Roman property law, especially given the key role that such designations hold in Roman construction of hierarchies and space. I suggest viewing the rabbinic use of these categories as a subversive strategy, either as an adaptation to the Roman definition of Italic land or in opposition to Roman perceptions of provincial lands, that is, in dialogue with the very Roman notions of space and control over subordinate populations that the rabbis themselves were confronting in the land of Israel. This sugya thus provides a unique view of how these Palestinian rabbis perceived the Roman presence in their land and their mindset as a conquered community and, in a broader sense, a valuable source for better understanding provincial perspectives under the Roman Empire.
Infanticide, Orientalism, and British Law in Mandate Palestine
Authors: Harif Hanan
Published: May 2024

Abstract: In the summer of 1939, the Jewish community in mandatory Palestine was rocked by a terrible case of infanticide: a father was charged in the British Mandatory court with murder, having buried his five-day-old infant son alive. Unlike other crimes of homicide that were discussed in court, in this case the intervention of a scholar after the final verdict had been handed down changed the court’s decision altogether. This paper shows how a forgotten story can serve as a case study for the wider cultural, social, and legal contexts in which it took place. Using an interdisciplinary examination of a specific case, the paper explores the power relations and cultural negotiations between Jewish inhabitants and British officials in Palestine, as well as among Jews of different origins and backgrounds and also within British legal system itself. This examination uncovers the role of European-Jewish orientalists in mediating between British authorities and Mizrahi Jews by making efficient use of the changing attitudes of imperial legal high officials toward the colonial subjects. It underlines a unique trait of Jewish academic orientalism: integrating into a Jewish-national society involved previously unfamiliar duties that had to do with the overall Zionist social initiative.
Yankev Glatshteyn and the Threat of Yiddish Joy
Authors: Yudkoff Sunny S.
Published: May 2024

Abstract: The following article investigates the topos of joy across the work of modernist Yiddish poet Yankev Glatshteyn, from its earliest iterations in his 1929 collection Kredos (Credo) to his 1961 volume Di freyd fun yidishn vort (The joy of the Yiddish word). Although read frequently as a poet of mourning, Glatshteyn’s oeuvre evinces a decades-long interest in the politics and poetics of Yiddish freyd . As this article demonstrates, the Yiddish word freyd indexes the poet’s anger with the universalizing legacies of the Enlightenment and their iterations in Soviet communism and National Socialism. Glatshteyn contends that to engage joy is to find oneself yoked to promises that overdetermine aesthetic form and erase ideological independence. Drawing on the language of Soviet Yiddish allegiance, he argues that to experience freyd is to exist in shpan (in harness) to words and ideas that are not one’s own. In dialogue with critical studies of joy, this article tracks how freyd emerges in Glatshteyn’s work as a deleterious affective state that threatens to dissolve the Yiddish poetic self.
Bending Time: Remembrance, Bereavement, and (Missing) Personal Photographs
Authors: Hamer Felicity T. C.
Published: May 2024

Abstract: Visual and linguistic embellishments—such as storytelling, physical additions of tactile components, juxtapositions, and recontextualizations—enact transformations upon important photographs. The resulting photography-based objects tell a fuller story not only of the individuals shown, but also of those who cared for them. This article considers the narrative dynamics at play in remembrance and bereavement processes associated with personal photographs—from physical prints to contemporary digital images—giving focused attention to the ways absence is mediated through visual media in contexts of loss and the complex and imaginative temporalities embedded in these mediation processes.
'Ther was som epistel hem bitwene': Love Letters and Love Lyrics in Troilus and Criseyde , and The Canterbury Tales
Authors: Niebrzydowski Sue
Published: May 2024

Abstract: Love letters and love lyrics are a staple of medieval romance literature. These unsolicited, secret declarations of desire are one method by which a would-be lover, usually male, declares his love, loyalty, and service to a recipient who may be unaware of the sender's feelings or, at worst, his very existence. Sending a love letter was a hazardous undertaking since the proffered indenture of service might be rejected outright. Despite this jeopardy, giving love letters and verses is motivated by some degree of hope, however remote, and in this the chaucerian lovers examined in this essay are no exception. Focusing on chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde , and Troilus's fellow love-letter and lyric authors, Damyan and Absolon from The Canterbury Tales , this essay explores chaucer's use of love letters and lyrics as a rhetorical strategy in the game of courtly love, and the consequences of the recipient's reaction. chaucer shows us male would-be lovers who are rejected outright and even for those who do succeed in persuading their lady of their sincerity no lasting relationship is established. This essay places chaucer's literary representation of the suffering brought about through sending and receiving love letters and love lyrics in dialogue with the impact of love missives as recorded in manuscripts that circulated in the households of the wealthy.