bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Goal Orientation for Fair Machine Learning Algorithms
Authors: Xu Heng , Zhang Nan
Published: February 2024

A key challenge facing the use of machine learning (ML) in organizational selection settings (e.g., the processing of loan or job applications) is the potential bias against (racial and gender) minorities. To address this challenge, a rich literature of Fairness-Aware ML (FAML) algorithms has emerged, attempting to ameliorate biases while maintaining the predictive accuracy of ML algorithms. Almost all existing FAML algorithms define their optimization goals according to a selection task, meaning that ML outputs are assumed to be the final selection outcome. In practice, though, ML outputs are rarely used as-is. In personnel selection, for example, ML often serves a support role to human resource managers, allowing them to more easily exclude unqualified applicants. This effectively assigns to ML a screening rather than a selection task. It might be tempting to treat selection and screening as two variations of the same task that differ only quantitatively on the admission rate. This paper, however, reveals a qualitative difference between the two in terms of fairness. Specifically, we demonstrate through conceptual development and mathematical analysis that miscategorizing a screening task as a selection one could not only degrade final selection quality but also result in fairness problems such as selection biases within the minority group. After validating our findings with experimental studies on simulated and real-world data, we discuss several business and policy implications, highlighting the need for firms and policymakers to properly categorize the task assigned to ML in assessing and correcting algorithmic biases.
An Investigation into Demographic Disparities in Emergency Department Disposition Decisions
Authors: Cheng Qian , Argon Nilay T , Evans Christopher S , Lin Peter , Linthicum Benjamin , Liu Yufeng , Mehrotra Abhishek , Patel Mehul D , Ziya Serhan
Published: February 2024

We investigate the presence of health disparities in emergency department (ED) disposition decisions and if crowding levels might have an exacerbating role. Using data from a large, academic ED, we find statistically significant associations between ED disposition decisions and patient sex, race, as well as ethnicity, with male, Caucasian, and non-Hispanic patients being more likely to be admitted to the hospital compared with, respectively, female, African-American, and Hispanic patients. In line with earlier findings in other studies, we find that longer waiting times, suggesting higher levels of ED crowding, is associated with higher rates of admission. Moreover, longer ED wait times modified sex differences, suggesting that the disposition disparity in female patients might be exacerbated when the ED is more crowded.
Seeking and Exploiting Synergies Among the UN Sustainability Development Goals: Research Opportunities for Operations Management
Authors: Sodhi ManMohan S , Tang Christopher S
Published: February 2024

In 2015, the United Nations (UN) countries signed up to achieve 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) for people, planet, prosperity, peace, and partnership by 2030. However, the trend of progress toward achieving these goals indicates that none of the 17 goals may be achieved by 2030 globally. We first provide La foundation for operations management (OM) researchers to help shape the interventions for countries and companies to help achieve the SDGs by (1) identifying the synergies among the SDGs so that interventions can impact multiple SDGs positively and (2) linking some of the extant OM research with the synergies among the various SDGs. This way, researchers can understand the complexity of the challenges ahead and build on the OM literature to influence the interventions of governments and organizations to maximize the attainment of the SDGs. We also list some research opportunities to help OM researchers develop research agendas.
In Pursuit of Impact: How Psychological Contract Research Can Make the Work-World a Better Place
Authors: Kraak Johannes M. , Hansen Samantha D. , Griep Yannick , Bhattacharya Sudeshna , Bojovic Neva , Diehl Marjo-Riitta , Evans Kayla , Fenneman Jesse , Ishaque Memon Iqra , Fortin Marion , Lau Annica , Lee Hugh , Lee Junghyun , Lub Xander , Meyer Ines , Ohana Marc , Peters Pascale , Rousseau Denise M. , Schalk René , Searle Rosalind H. , Sherman Ultan , Tekleab Amanuel
Published: February 2024

This paper is the result of the collective work undertaken by a group of Psychological Contract (PC) and Sustainability scholars from around the world, following the 2023 Bi-Annual PC Small Group Conference (Kedge Business School, Bordeaux, France). As part of the conference, scholars engaged in a workshop designed to generate expert guidance on how to aid the PC field to be better aligned with the needs of practice, and thus, impact the creation and maintenance of high-quality and sustainable exchange processes at work. In accordance with accreditation bodies for higher education, research impact is not limited to academic papers alone but also includes practitioners, policymakers, and students in its scope. This paper therefore incorporates elements from an impact measurement tool for higher education in management so as to explore how PC scholars can bolster the beneficial influence of PC knowledge on employment relationships through different stakeholders and means. Accordingly, our proposals for the pursuit of PC impact are organized in three parts: (1) research, (2) practice and society, and (3) students. Further, this paper contributes to the emerging debate on sustainable PCs by developing a construct definition and integrating PCs with an ‘ethics of care’ perspective.
Collaborative Creative Engagements as Drivers for Re-imagining Classrooms and Pedagogies
Authors: Tacuri Natalie , Carter Mindy R. , Shuman Layal , Harris Daniel X. , Blomkwist Christopher
Published: February 2024

This paper presents a study examining how pre-service teachers understand and experience the limit(s) of classroom creativity in a Canadian higher education class. Participants first completed a modified version of the Harris Creativity Audit to assess their preliminary understandings of creativity policies and practices, as well as perceptions of the value and feasibility of incorporating creativity into their own teaching. The survey results informed the content of a two-part workshop where participants utilized participatory design and sketch modeling to further explore their understanding of classroom creativity. Data analysis resulted in three themes: (a) the impact of physical space; (b) assessing creativity and assessing in creative ways; (c) challenging the educational system. This study is part of a multisite Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council–funded project that aims to explore creativity in higher education to empower educators and students to develop creative agency through creative ecologies and collaborative assessment.
Building Bridges: Visual Search Meets Action Control via Inter-Trial Sequence Effects
Authors: Lamy Dominique , Frings Christian , Liesefeld Heinrich R.
Published: February 2024

What we have attended to in the past, as well as the stimulus context associated with past motor responses, have a strong impact on our current behavior. These influences have been investigated through inter-trial priming effects in visual search and sequence effects in action control, respectively. These two research fields are strongly complementary at the theoretical level and show striking similarities in their experimental-task structure, analyses, and results. Yet, they have developed largely separately. Here, we claim that such fragmentation impedes progress in these two research strands and highlight the potential benefits of intensifying crosstalk between visual search and action control in future research by exploiting the existing structural similarities with regard to sequence effects. We first discuss the main phenomena and theoretical explanations in each field, while emphasizing the similarities and differences between them. Then, we illustrate how the two fields could integrate each other’s insights—namely, how visual-search research could draw on the action-control literature to clarify the role of retrieval in selection and how action-control research could draw on the visual-search literature to explain response-related processes in more complex environments. We argue that combining the two research traditions is necessary for a coherent account of search-for-action behavior.
Understanding populist far-right anti-immigration and anti-gender stances beyond the paradigm of gender as ‘a symbolic glue’: Giorgia Meloni’s modern motherhood, neo-Catholicism, and reproductive racism
Authors: Indelicato Maria Elena , Magalhães Lopes Maíra
Published: February 2024

Building on theoretical framings in critical race and queer studies, this article focuses on the first female prime minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni, as an entry point to examining the current alignment between far-right populism, anti-gender movements, and White supremacist conspiracy theories in Europe. First, considering the contradictions that female leaders of far-right populist parties seem to negotiate, this article compares Meloni’s communication strategies and political interventions to those of her counterparts in Europe. Second, employing the concept of ‘productive racism’, the article examines Meloni’s birth rate agenda and related ambivalent stance towards ‘migrant’ women. In so doing, this article first demonstrates how existing theoretical frames, developed to examine current entanglements between feminist, anti-gender, and anti-immigration discourses, fall short of explaining why ‘gender’ can be used to ‘stick’ ‘migrant’ and queer subjects together, characterising both as threats to the sexual order of Europe. Even when ‘migrant’ women are depicted as hopeless victims, populist far-right leaders appraise them as either aberrant or otherwise deficient mothers. The article concludes by urging scholars of far-right populism, migration, and religion and their intersections with gender, to adopt race as a primary category of analysis and, therefore, consider that it is race that makes gender ‘stick’ as the common enemy of disparate political actors.
Failure of bamlanivimab with selection of E484K mutation in an allogeneic stem cell transplant recipient with nosocomial SARS-CoV-2 infection
Authors: Boussen Inès , Salmona Maud , Sicre De Fontbrune Flore , Xhaard Aliénor , De Castro Nathalie , Delaugerre Constance , Chaix Marie-Laure , Molina Jean-Michel
Published: February 2024

We report the case of an allogeneic stem cell transplant recipient with nosocomial acquisition of SARS-CoV-2 infection who received antispike neutralizing monoclonal antibody bamlanivimab 2 days after diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection but progressed to severe COVID-19 pneumonia and died with the selection of E484K/Q resistance mutations to bamlanivimab.
Empowering EFL learners through cognitive apprenticeship: A pathway to success in IELTS speaking proficiency
Authors: Ostovar-Namaghi Seyyed Ali , Morady Moghaddam Mostafa , Veysmorady Kosar
Published: February 2024

This study investigates the impact of cognitive apprenticeship on the speaking proficiency of English as a foreign language (EFL) learners. The study follows a randomized pre-test–post-test control group design, with an experimental group receiving instruction based on cognitive apprenticeship principles and a control group receiving conventional instruction. Sixty intermediate Iranian EFL learners participated in this study. The participants’ speaking proficiency was assessed using the Preliminary English Test (PET) and two IELTS speaking tests. Trained examiners evaluated the participants’ performance on the basis of established speaking proficiency criteria. The results indicate that the experimental group, which received instruction following cognitive apprenticeship principles, outperformed the control group in terms of speaking proficiency. The experimental group demonstrated significant improvement from pre-test to immediate and delayed post-tests in terms of IELTS speaking proficiency ( t (29) = −7.57 and −6.97, p = .000), with a large effect size (eta squared = −1.7 and −1.3). This study contributes to the understanding of effective language instruction and highlights that cognitive apprenticeship can be a valuable approach to enhance speaking skills in EFL learners. The interactive and learner-centered nature of cognitive apprenticeship promotes active engagement, autonomy, and meaningful language use. The findings have implications for language educators in creating dynamic and learner-centered learning environments that promote speaking proficiency.
‘Hearts’ and ‘minds’: Illustrating identity tensions of people living and working through marketising policy change of allied health disability services in Australia
Authors: Foley Kristen , Attrill Stacie , Brebner Chris
Published: February 2024

Service-based caring sectors like disability are increasingly being operated via market logic, including shifts towards personalised funding. These shifts must be brought to life in/through people already located in relation to ideas and values that underpin historical policies. Our manuscript examines how identities are re/shaped in relation to marketised policy change and explores how identity change unfolds (or not) during periods of transition: situated within the transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme executed in Australia as a major disability funding reform. Our qualitative dataset involves interview and focus group data collected with service recipients/carers ( n = 28), providers/managers ( n = 17) and advocates ( n = 2) during shift from government- to personally-controlled funding of allied health services for people with disability in Australia (2017–2020). We used layered sociological inference to develop and interrogate processes of tension and identity change amidst lived experience(s) of policy change. Our analysis elucidates how various identities were encouraged, desired, resisted and constrained in relation to the policy transition. We bring together sub-themes from analysis of recipient/carer data (getting value-for-money; critiquing service quality; and experiencing system shortfalls) and manager/provider data (learning to transact; the call to care; and structural frictions in/and identity transitions) to interpret that recipients/carers are Feeling (like) the dollar sign and that managers/providers are Troubling profits. In both cases ‘hearts’ and ‘minds’ are perceived to be diametrically opposed and symbolic in/against processes of marketisation. We synthesise our data into an illustrative framework that facilitates understanding of how this perception of opposed ‘hearts’ and ‘minds’ seems to constrain the identity transitions encouraged by personalised funding, and explore ways in which desired identities might be supported amidst marketising policy transition.
“Fight like hell”: Projected moral polarisation predicts anticipated conflict and the perceived responsibility to overturn an election loss
Authors: Crimston Charlie R. , Jetten Jolanda , Selvanathan Hema Preya
Published: February 2024

Losing an election can be a huge blow. As a result, most elections are associated with a mixture of trepidation and optimism (outgroup vs. ingroup political party winning, respectively). However, we propose that levels of anxiety and future dread in the context of an election are enhanced when society is characterised by deep intergroup divisions and morally charged polarisation. Across two studies spanning two national elections (the 2020 U.S. presidential election and the 2021 Dutch general election; N = 1,079), we examined support for the prediction that projected moral polarisation in the aftermath of an election would be associated with enhanced perceived negative consequences of losing that election (i.e., an outgroup political party winning power). We consistently found that projected moral polarisation when anticipating an election loss predicted enhanced anxiety concerning the future state of society (collective angst), higher perceived likelihood of civil war, and a stronger perceived obligation to fight to overturn the results of the election. Moreover, this association was mediated by the perceived breakdown of leadership in society. The current findings have important implications for understanding the societal and political consequences of moral polarisation, including the potential for enhanced intergroup conflict and threats to democracy.
Why, how and to whom is the European Union signalling in the Indo-Pacific? Understanding the European Union’s strategy in the Indo-Pacific in the epicentre of multipolar competition
Authors: van Willigen Niels , Blarel Nicolas
Published: February 2024

In September 2021, the European Union officially launched its Indo-Pacific strategy. Its announcement raised a series of questions over the nature, objectives, and audience of the European Union’s strategic communication. In addition, there were some doubts over whether the European Union could credibly and effectively signal as an autonomous actor in a distant geopolitical region. This article aims to address these questions by building on theoretical insights from the foreign policy signalling literature. This article offers an analysis of the European Union’s Indo-Pacific strategy and related documents, as well as its follow-up presence and actions in the region since 2021. We conclude that the European Union deliberately opted for ambiguous signalling in a context of heightened audience heterogeneity. Furthermore, the European Union has both used its signalling strategy to position itself as a credible alternative to the United States and China, but also to mobilise and coordinate member states’ actions in this pivotal region.
Supporting and challenging hate in an online discussion of a controversial refugee policy
Authors: Goodman Simon , Locke Abigail
Published: February 2024

Online hate is a serious problem affecting a range of minoritised people. Existing theories suggest that poor behaviour online is due to anonymity but fail to explore how such discussions unfold. This is where a discursive and rhetorical psychological approach is appropriate as it offers a micro-level analysis. In this research paper, a discursive/rhetorical approach is applied to an online debate about a controversial refugee policy in the UK containing 586 comments, to address the question: How are arguably hateful arguments, or those challenging hateful arguments, supported and challenged in the context of an internet discussion about a controversial refugee policy? Analysis demonstrated that support for posts is shown to come in the form of additional points to bolster existing ones. Opposition to posts took the form of simple rejections and counterpoints, sometimes taking a three-part structure of (a) simple rejection, (b) counterpoint and (c) upgrade, but also included insults, ridiculing and name calling. Discursive and rhetorical analyses have been shown to have potential to understand online behaviour offering more detail than relying on anonymity to explain controversial and hateful speech.
Strategy for vertical deformation of railway bridge monitoring using polarimetric ground-based real aperture radar system
Authors: Zou Lilong , Nico Giovanni , Alani Amir Morteza , Sato Motoyuki
Published: February 2024

The health monitoring of infrastructure is vital for ensuring the safety and structural integrity of bridges. Recently, ground-based real aperture radar (GB-RAR) systems have been successfully utilized in the dynamic and static monitoring of bridges. In this study, a comprehensive and innovative approach is presented to monitor the vertical deformation of a long-span metallic railway bridge and a reinforced concrete Shinkansen bridge in Japan using a polarimetric GB-RAR system. Distinct from conventional signal processing procedures, the proposed method omits the coherent scatterer selection step. Instead, polarization analysis is employed to evaluate the properties of scatterers and identify those corresponding to bridge sections requiring monitoring, while considering the structural characteristics of the bridge. Simultaneously, the signal-to-noise ratio for monitoring is enhanced by combining co-polarization responses from scatterers. Furthermore, the radar look angle is determined by accounting for the spatial configuration of the survey and the polarization orientation angle. Lastly, vertical deformation is assessed by projecting line of sight deformation in the vertical direction. The findings reveal the dynamic responses of the two bridges under diverse loading conditions, which include the transit of a low-speed train and a high-speed Shinkansen bullet train. The results demonstrate that the polarimetric GB-RAR interferometry technique, coupled with the developed algorithms, can be effectively applied to monitor any type of bridge with unparalleled spatial and temporal resolutions.
Educational evaluation as a rhythmical policy phenomenon
Authors: Löf Catini Kerstin , Westman Susanne , Alerby Eva
Published: February 2024

Public pressure on evaluation has influenced educational projects and national evaluation systems for many decades. This article extends the ongoing discussions in the field, offering a problematising exploration of evaluation as an educational policy phenomenon, thinking with the notion of rhythm in the analysis. Approaching educational evaluation with the notion of rhythm has, for us, implied a philosophical exploration of the dynamics between evaluation and education, drawing on the writings of Henri Lefebvre and Anna L. Tsing. Rolling of chairs between computers, with the policy documents spread out on a table alongside the original philosophical texts, in a material sense, placed us, as researchers, in an embodied analytical process between human and non-human agency. The turns and returns, back and forth, between policy, philosophy, and previous research enabled unexpected frictions to emerge and prompted us to view issues central to evaluation in surprisingly new ways. ‘Striving towards goals and orientations’, ‘goal-in-between’, ‘striving-in-between’, and ‘results of and for results’ are with inspiration from Anna L. Tsing presented as a rush of troubled stories.
Parallel Enrollments: Associations Between College Student Satisfaction and Performance
Authors: Loder Alexander Karl Ferdinand , Brandweiner Amani Colleen , Maia de Oliveira Wood Guilherme
Published: February 2024

Austria is a country without college tuition fees, also allowing students to enroll in an unlimited number of programs simultaneously. Based on minimum ECTS requirements to keep enrollments valid, student performance is central. This study explores associations between student satisfaction and performance in the setting of parallel enrollments. Two hundred and thirteen students filled in a questionnaire, merging answers with performance parameters from the university's database. Multivariate regression analyses with performance as outcome and satisfaction measures as predictors were conducted on the levels: (1) unfiltered dataset, (2) one enrollment, and (3) 2 + enrollments. Performance satisfaction explained variance of grade point average and the number of failed exams on levels 1 and 2. Course satisfaction and the wish to continue studying were strongly associated with grade point average in nonprioritized programs of students with more than one enrollment. University systems worldwide could benefit from parallel programs, possibly preventing immediate dropout of unsatisfied students.
Make Room for VR: Constructing Domestic Space and Accessibility in Virtual Reality Headset Tutorials
Authors: Gilmore James N. , Blair Browning W.
Published: February 2024

This article analyzes how the Meta Quest virtual reality headset’s implementation requires one’s domestic space to be rearranged to accommodate for its use. Analyzing tutorials, help videos, and advertisements for Quest, we demonstrate how its production of space relies on classist and ableist biases which presume easy access to an open play grid and user mobility. We additionally draw from user-generated videos on YouTube which show additional ways “VR rooms” are tied to socioeconomic status as well as videos which are focused on making VR more accessible for users with mobility or neurocognitive differences. We situate these videos within media studies research on emergent technologies’ domestication, and how the process of “making space for” and accommodating emergent media technology continues to rely on assumptions about the identities of normal and ideal users.
A Goldmine of Big Ideas
Authors: Abrutyn Seth
Published: February 2024

Seth Abrutyn interviews marquee author and podcaster Malcolm Gladwell about social science and the importance of storytelling.
Green Card Soldiers
Authors: Aptekar Sofya
Published: February 2024

Citizenship, which proves harder-than-advertised to achieve through enlistment, may come second to the “poverty draft” in drawing immigrants into the U.S. military, but it matters for immigrants’ service and the lives they lead afterward.
An Australian Uproar Over CRT
Authors: Al-Natour Ryan
Published: February 2024

A look into the arrival of narratives that critique critical race theory on Australian shores shows that the fears motivating the political clamor are nothing new. Indeed, the effort to keep Whiteness at the curricular core attempts to bulwark settler-colonialist logics.
Is COVID-19 Mortality “Like the Flu”? A Cumulative Death Rates Comparison
Authors: Himmelstern Jessie , Wrigley-Field Elizabeth
Published: February 2024

Jessie Himmelstern and Elizabeth Wrigley-Field on a misleading benchmark.
Race and Changing Perceptions of Crime and Drug Addiction in the U.S.
Authors: Byron Reginald A.
Published: February 2024

Reginald A. Byron on patterns and policy preferences.
The Complex China Story
Authors: Ma Yingyi
Published: February 2024

Yingyi Ma on the Contentious Public Sphere and The Currency of Truth.
The Point of Public Intellectuals
Authors: Kennedy Michael D.
Published: February 2024

Michael D. Kennedy on contributing to a culture of critical discourse.
Using an Online Platform for Conducting Face-To-Face Interviews
Authors: Wakelin Karen J. , McAra-Couper Judith , Fleming Tania
Published: February 2024

Semi-structured interviews are useful for exploring participants experiences, understandings, and opinions on a particular issue. Traditionally, interviews have taken place in-person however, because of in-person restrictions with Covid-19, and with the changing landscape of online connection, opportunities have arisen for how to conduct interviews using an online platform. The purpose of this article is to highlight the first author’s experiences with using an online platform to conduct face-to-face interviews and the valuable contribution that online interviewing could offer as a valid research tool that differs to that of in-person face-to-face interviews. Online semi-structured interviews were conducted with fourteen midwives and five pregnant people from New Zealand using Microsoft Teams. Interviews were videorecorded and conducted as part of a larger mixed methods multiphase study to explore participants experiences with how they use communication technology to connect with one another. The interviews took place between September 2022 – May 2023. Two key areas which highlight the benefits and challenges with online interviews were identified. These were around the potential to ‘capture the essence of the person’ and through the flexibility of the technology in enabling FTF connections. Challenges were also noted around connectivity issues. Videorecording online interviews offered an ability to capture the ‘essence of the person’ through visual and auditory cues. These same cues were shown to assist with lipreading when transcribing inaudible words which can assist in the analysis of data. There were disruptions to some interviews due to interviewing taking place in the person’s home and connectivity issues, however, these were felt to be minimal. Online interviewing should not be considered a ‘poor relation’ to in-person face-to-face interviews, but instead, a valuable option that contributes towards the growing body of knowledge around online interviewing as a valid research tool that is different from face-to-face.
A study on the actual heat leak of a cryogenic vessel during storage
Authors: Li Zhengqing , Wang Xiaojun , Yang Shengsheng , Han Xianhu , Cai Yuhong
Published: February 2024

In the traditional method, as the loss product and gas are considered to be saturated, the heat leak of a cryogenic vessel is the latent heat of loss product. However, the temperature of loss product and gas exceeds the saturated temperature as measured in tests. Therefore, a portion of the heat leak is absorbed by the loss product when it diffuses into the gas phase of a cryogenic vessel in the storage process. In this study, the energy equations of the gas and liquid are established in cryogenic vessels during storage to investigate the actual heat leak of a cryogenic vessel in a storage process by considering the temperature distribution of the gas. Then, an experiment was conducted to demonstrate that the actual heat leak of a cryogenic vessel contains not only the latent heat but also the enthalpy change of the loss product, which is produced as it diffused into the gas phase. The results showed that the enthalpy change increased as the liquid level decreased and was critical for determining the actual heat leak in cryogenic vessels in the storage process, with a ratio of approximately 12% to the latent heat when the liquid level ratio is 85%.
Total hip arthroplasty in patients with common pediatric hip orthopedic pathology
Authors: De Salvo Sara , Sacco Ricardo , Mainard Nicolas , Lucenti Ludovico , Sapienza Marco , Dimeglio Alain , Andreacchio Antonio , Canavese Federico
Published: February 2024

Purpose:

Literature regarding total hip arthroplasty for pediatric hip diseases is scarce. This review aims to portray the various orthopedic conditions of childhood that can lead to significant impairment of the hip joint and, ultimately, to total hip arthroplasty in adolescence and adulthood.

Methods:

In total, 61 out of 3666 articles were selected according to (1) the diagnosis of one of the 12 pediatric hip pathologies (Legg–Perthes–Calvé disease, developmental dysplasia of the hip, slipped capital femoral epiphysis, neuromuscular hip dysplasia, post-traumatic avascular necrosis of the proximal femur, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, achondroplasia, spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia, mucopolysaccharidosis, mucolipidosis, hip infections, and tumors) that required total hip arthroplasty; (2) minimum follow-up of 16 months; (3) assessed outcome with a clinical or radiologic score; (4) Methodological Items for Non-Randomized Studies quality score of 9 or higher. The following information for each pathology was retrieved: mean age at total hip arthroplasty, reason for total hip arthroplasty, type of total hip arthroplasty, surgical technique, mean follow-up, and outcomes.

Results:

Overall, the mean age at total hip arthroplasty for pediatric hip disease is in the sixth and seventh decade, except for tumors and skeletal dysplasias. The reason for performing total hip arthroplasty is often osteoarthrosis and abnormal anatomy. Prosthesis types change based on patient’s conditions and technological advances; custom-made implants are used for tumors, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, and skeletal dysplasias; for other diseases, the most frequent are modular cementless implants. Outcomes are generally good, and all studies portray functional and pain improvements.

Conclusion:

Total hip arthroplasty is performed more frequently than in the past in patients with pediatric hip pathologies; it enhances patients’ quality of life by reducing pain and improving function. However, revision rate in these patients is not negligible.
Optimizing calibration of modern skeletal maturity systems
Authors: Furdock Ryan J , Moyal Andrew J , Benedick Alexander , Lin Feng-Chang , Hao Yajing , Cooperman Daniel R , Sanders James O , Liu Raymond W
Published: February 2024

Purpose:

Greulich and Pyle is the most used system to estimate skeletal maturity but has significant drawbacks, prompting the development of newer skeletal maturity systems, such as the modified Fels skeletal maturity systems based on knee radiographs. To create a new skeletal maturity system, an outcome variable, termed a “skeletal maturity standard,” must be selected for calibration of the system. Peak height velocity and 90% of final height are both considered reasonable skeletal maturity standards for skeletal maturity system development. We sought to answer two questions: (1) Does a skeletal maturity system developed using 90% of final height estimate skeletal age as well as it would if it was instead developed using peak height velocity? (2) Does a skeletal maturity system developed using 90% of final height perform as well in lower extremity length prediction as it would if it was instead developed using peak height velocity?

Methods:

The modified Fels knee skeletal maturity system was recalibrated based on 90% of final height and peak height velocity skeletal maturity standards. These models were applied to 133 serially obtained, peripubertal antero-posterior knee radiographs collected from 38 subjects. Each model was used to estimate the skeletal age of each radiograph. Skeletal age estimates were also used to predict each patient’s ultimate femoral and tibial length using the White–Menelaus method.

Results:

The skeletal maturity system calibrated with 90% of final height produced more accurate skeletal age estimates than the same skeletal maturity system calibrated with peak height velocity (p < 0.05). The 90% of final height and peak height velocity models made similar femoral and tibial length predictions (p > 0.05).

Conclusion:

Using the 90% of final height skeletal maturity standard allows for simpler skeletal maturity system development than peak height velocity with potentially more accuracy.
Post-abortion contraceptive utilization and associated factors among women who attended abortion services: A health facility cross-sectional study
Authors: Shiferaw Birhanu Melaku , Kokeb Lealm Netsanet , Bantie Getasew Mulat , Workie Hailemariam Mekonnen
Published: February 2024

Background: Post-abortion contraceptive utilization prevents unintended pregnancies, reduces the number of abortions, and lowers the morbidity and mortality related to obstetric complications. It plays a central role in improving maternal health and reducing child mortality. However, many women are suffering from unintended pregnancy and its complications after abortion care. Hence, the main objective of this study was to determine the magnitude of post-abortion contraceptive utilization and its associated factors in Bahir Dar City. Methods: Health-facility-based cross-sectional study was conducted in Bahir Dar city health facilities from April 1 to May 30, 2018. A systematic random sampling technique was used to select 354 eligible study participants. A pre-tested semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. Data entry was done using Epi Data version 3.7 software and analyzed by SPSS v23 software. Descriptive statistics were done based on the nature of the data. A simple logistic regression model was used to identify the association and strength of exploratory variables and the outcome variables. Associations were announced at a 95% confidence interval and p-value <0.05 with adjusted odds ratio. Model fitness was checked by the Hosmer–Lemeshow goodness of fit test for logistic regression. Results: In this study, 348 aborted participants were involved with a mean age of 24.37 (±5.73) years. About 40% of the participants were not currently married and 12.9% were unable to read and write. The magnitude of post-abortion contraceptive utilization was 65.8%. The number of alive children (adjusted odds ratio: 7.0, 95% confidence interval: 1.54, 31.95), lower income (adjusted odds ratio: 0.14, 95% confidence interval: 0.03, 0.60), and (adjusted odds ratio: 0.11, 95% confidence interval: 0.02, 0.46), primary school education (adjusted odds ratio: 0.18, 95% confidence interval: 0.03, 0.97), and currently unemployed (adjusted odds ratio: 0.23, 95% confidence interval: 0.06, 0.85) were significantly associated with the post-abortion contraceptive utilization. Conclusion: The level of post-abortion contraceptive utilization is low as per the national plan. The number of alive children, lower income, lower education, and currently unemployed were the identified factors affecting post-abortion contraceptive utilization. Therefore, a collaborative effort is needed among stakeholders to increase the utilization and avoid factors that prevent the utilization of post-abortion contraceptive utilization.
Sociodemographic and health systems determinants of antiretroviral therapy adherence among human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients in the Volta Region of Ghana: A multi-centre study
Authors: Tarkang Elvis Enowbeyang , Manu Emmanuel , Aku Fortress Yayra , Anaman-Torgbor Judith , Khuzwayo Nelisiwe
Published: February 2024

Objectives:

Optimal adherence to antiretroviral therapy is required for viral load suppression. This study investigated the sociodemographic (age, sex, marital status, level of education, monthly income, settlement type, distance to the antiretroviral therapy-providing site, ethnicity) and health system (antiretroviral therapy-providing site) determinants of antiretroviral therapy adherence among human immunodeficiency virus-positive patients in the Volta Region, Ghana.

Methods:

A cross-section design was adopted, collecting data from 1729 human immunodeficiency virus patients and analysing them using STATA version 17 at level 0.05.

Results:

Antiretroviral therapy adherence was poor (51.2%). Being divorced (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.65), widow (AOR = 0.58), cohabiting (AOR = 0.22), Ewe (AOR = 3.7), Ga/Dangbe (AOR = 2.27), living in a rural area (AOR = 1.54) and an urban area (AOR = 0.64), having a monthly income of GH₵1000 or less (AOR = 3.21), covering a distance of 51 km and above to the antiretroviral therapy centre (AOR = 1.79), receiving antiretroviral therapy from Ketu South Municipal Hospital (AOR = 0.09), Hohoe Municipal Hospital (AOR = 0.03), Ho Municipal Hospital (AOR = 0.02) and Ho Teaching Hospital (AOR = 0.09) were the determinants of antiretroviral therapy adherence.

Conclusion:

Antiretroviral therapy adherence was low. Interventions to improve antiretroviral therapy adherence should target these significant determinants.
A case report of terbinafine-induced acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis in a striking photodistributed pattern
Authors: Lange Charles D , Madden Laura , Parker Eva Rawlings
Published: February 2024

Acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis is a rare severe cutaneous adverse reaction that classically presents in intertriginous or flexural areas and subsequently spreads diffusely across the trunk and extremities. To date, few cases of acute generalized exanthematous pustulosis arising in a photodistributed pattern are documented. Herein, we describe the second known case of photodistributed generalized exanthematous pustulosis arising in association with oral terbinafine use, providing a summary of the previously documented cases along with exploration of the potential pathophysiological mechanisms for this cutaneous reaction.
Management of pemphigoid vegetans with mycophenolate mofetil: A case report
Authors: Mathieu Audrey , Chababi-Atallah Myrna , Allard-Chamard Hugues , Fernandes Carolina Lucena
Published: February 2024

Pemphigoid vegetans is a rare variant of bullous pemphigoid. Only 13 cases have been documented in the medical literature. The lesions clinically resemble pemphigus vegetans, but the histology is consistent with bullous pemphigoid. We present the case of a 63-year-old woman with painful vesicular and vegetative lesions progressing for 4 months. Histopathology showed a dermal-epidermal cleavage, epidermal acanthosis and an eosinophilic infiltrate. Direct immunofluorescence showed linear deposition of IgG and IgA at the junctional level. The diagnosis of pemphigoid vegetans was retained and successfully treated with oral corticosteroid, dapsone and mycophenolate mofetil.
Cystic duct disimpaction for acute cholecystitis in the high-risk cholecystectomy patient: Case report
Authors: Iqbal Humzah , Sohal Aalam , Aburayyan Kanana , Hans Bandhul , Yang Juliana
Published: February 2024

Acute cholecystitis is a common cause of Emergency Department presentation and hospital admission. It is usually treated with early surgical removal of the gallbladder; however, some patients may not be fit to undergo the procedure due to critical illness or comorbidities. In these patients, options are limited. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography interventions in this population are not well-studied. We present a case of a high-risk 59 year old female patient with a history of end-stage renal disease, heart failure, hypertension, pulmonary hypertension, and type 2 diabetes who presented with acute cholecystitis. She was successfully treated with cystic duct disimpaction without stenting, and continues to do well post-procedure with complete resolution of symptoms and abnormal lab findings.
Positioning head tilt observed in two cats with myasthenia gravis
Authors: Tamura Shinji , Nakamoto Yuya , Sozu Yasuhiro , Tamura Yumiko
Published: February 2024

Case series summary

A 1-year-old castrated male domestic shorthair cat was suspected with myasthenia gravis (MG) based on neurological examination, complete blood count (CBC), serum biochemistry, radiography and electrophysiological examination. In addition, a 9-year-old spayed female domestic shorthair cat was diagnosed with MG based on neurological examination, CBC, serum biochemistry, radiography, ultrasonography and increased acetylcholine receptor antibody titre. Positioning head tilt (PHT) was observed at the time of diagnosis in both cats.

Relevance and novel information

Although the pathophysiology of PHT in cats is not fully understood, the mechanism for PHT in cats with MG may be similar to that of cats with hypokalaemic myopathy, supporting our hypothesis that muscle spindle dysfunction causes PHT.
Sequencing conversational turns in peer interactions: An integrated approach for evidence-based conversational agent for just-in-time nicotine cravings intervention
Authors: Singh Tavleen , Truong Michael , Roberts Kirk , Myneni Sahiti
Published: February 2024

Background

Risky health behaviors place an enormous toll on public health systems. While relapse prevention support is integrated with most behavior modification programs, the results are suboptimal. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) applications provide us with unique opportunities to develop just-in-time adaptive behavior change solutions.

Methods

In this study, we present an innovative framework, grounded in behavioral theory, and enhanced with social media sequencing and communications scenario builder to architect a conversational agent (CA) specialized in the prevention of relapses in the context of tobacco cessation. We modeled peer interaction data (n = 1000) using the taxonomy of behavior change techniques (BCTs) and speech act (SA) theory to uncover the socio-behavioral and linguistic context embedded within the online social discourse. Further, we uncovered the sequential patterns of BCTs and SAs from social conversations (n = 339,067). We utilized grounded theory-based techniques for extracting the scenarios that best describe individuals’ needs and mapped them into the architecture of the virtual CA.

Results

The frequently occurring sequential patterns for BCTs were comparison of behavior and feedback and monitoring; for SAs were directive and assertion. Five cravings-related scenarios describing users’ needs as they deal with nicotine cravings were identified along with the kinds of behavior change constructs that are being elicited within those scenarios.

Conclusions

AI-led virtual CAs focusing on behavior change need to employ data-driven and theory-linked approaches to address issues related to engagement, sustainability, and acceptance. The sequential patterns of theory and intent manifestations need to be considered when developing effective behavior change CAs.
A review on application and complications associated with Reamer Irrigator Aspirator (RIA) and RIA2 in autologous bone graft harvest
Authors: Kuen Wong Chi , Kay Lau Janice Chi , Yiu Shen Wan
Published: February 2024

Background and Literature Review: The Reamer-Irrigator-Aspirator (RIA) and RIA2 system have been gaining popularity for their application in autologous bone graft harvest, followed by intramedullary canal clearance and nail fixation in the past two decades. However, there have been only few studies on the use of newer RIA2 system. Current literature suggests that the prevalence of complications associated with RIA system varied from 0.7% to 11.9%. Among those complications, cortex perforation is the most commonly reported, followed by cardiopulmonary complications, wound infection, low energy fracture, and RIA device failure. In this study, we also illustrated a rare complication of device failure—breakage of reamer head with metallic debris retention in RIA2. Illustrative Case: The RIA2 system was used for autologous bone graft harvest in a young overweight man with significant tibial bone defect. During the harvest procedure, the reamer head broke in the femoral canal. There were retained metallic prongs inside the canal, which were retrieved and removed by different devices. Conclusion: The usage, efficacy, and safety of RIA and RIA2 system are deemed promising with proper indication, patient selection, and judicious surgical technique. Broken reamer head with retained metal debris is a rarely reported complication in RIA2 system. Mechanical, implant and patient factors possibly contribute to this complication. Preventive recommendations are also discussed in this study.
An exploration of private college students’ perceptions of the concept of ethical behaviour in academic work in China
Authors: Chen Lin , Saharuddin Norzihani , Muhamad Mohd Mokhtar
Published: February 2024

In China, unethical behaviour in academic work is regarded as a severe problem in higher education that has the potential to stifle the growth of creativity and innovation. However, research on ethical behaviour in academic work is still uncommon in private colleges, particularly from the perspective of undergraduate students. As a result, the purpose of this qualitative study is to explore Chinese private college students’ perceptions of the concept of ethical behaviour in academic work. Bandura’s social cognitive theory examined and analysed students’ perceptions and perspectives on ethical behaviour in academic work. To assess participants’ perceptions, one-on-one semi-structured interview, focus group discussion, and reflection in narrative story writing were conducted. The study sample consisted of five participants from three private colleges in three cities in China. According to the content analysis findings, Chinese private college students’ perspectives of the concept of ethical behaviour in academic work are social and professional academic ethics and academic malpractices. Meanwhile, Chinese private college students’ perspectives of the concept of ethical behaviour in academic work are academic misconduct and academic professional standards. The results have practical significance for helping private college students overcome ethical behaviour problems in academic work.