bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can Whistleblowers Root Out Public Expenditure Fraud? Evidence from Medicare
Authors: Leder-Luis Jetson
Published: June 2023

This paper analyzes private anti-fraud enforcement under the False Claims Act, which compensates whistleblowers for litigating against healthcare providers who overbill the US government. I conduct several case studies of successful whistleblower lawsuits concerning Medicare fraud, pairing new legal data with large samples of Medicare claims. I estimate that deterrence from $1.9 billion in whistleblower settlements generated Medicare cost savings of nearly $19 billion, while imposing low costs on the government. These results suggest private enforcement is a cost-effective way to combat public expenditure fraud.
Jarīr and al-Farazdaq’s Naqāʾiḍ Performance
Authors: Jorgensen Cory
Published: June 2023

This article considers the flytings poetry (naqāʾiḍ) of Jarīr and al-Farazdaq (both d. circa 728 CE), which they performed over a period of decades in Basra, Iraq. Described as more entertaining than earlier (pre-Islamic) naqāʾiḍ, why the duo performed this “entertaining” poetry remains a question. I argue that the poets’ goal was to “win” the lampooning contest by amusing their audience. The result is a body of poetry that defended their reputation as performers. Here I analyze passages from Jarīr and al-Farazdaq’s naqāʾiḍ corpus that illustrate how the poets performed an entertaining lampoon for their audience. Central to the discussion is an analogy of their poetry with the modern lampoon genre known as “the Dozens,” which further elucidates the performative aspects of this poetic corpus.
Shifting Centres of Christian Vitality
Authors: Tsekpoe Christian
Published: June 2023

This article highlights for African Pentecostal Christianity some implications of the current shift in the centre of Christian vitality to the south, as well as the rapid growth of Pentecostalism. Through a qualitative analysis of the activities of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement in Africa, the article explores the implications of the two phenomena for Pentecostal-Charismatic theological education in Africa as well as African Pentecostal-Charismatic leadership. The article concludes by inviting both scholars and practitioners of Pentecostal-Charismatic mission in Africa to take advantage of the opportunities and at the same time confront the challenges facing Pentecostal mission on the continent.
“Ghosts of Missionaries”
Authors: Liutkevičius Eugenijus
Published: June 2023

From the late 1980s, foreign—primarily American—missionaries started to travel to Ukraine in large numbers. This article is concerned with the impact of American Baptist missionaries and how their influence was perceived locally in 2016, the time of my fieldwork. When I set out to conduct my fieldwork research among Baptist believers in Lviv, I was surprised that local believers denied the impact of foreign missionaries on their communities and worship style. Moreover, many local Baptist churchgoers I met claimed they had never encountered an American missionary and insisted that foreign missionaries had not played any significant role in the development and transformation of Ukrainian Baptism. In this article, I present the data from the fieldwork and analyze the Ukrainian Baptists’ reasons for minimizing the influence through the perspective of religioscapes, and glocalization as the dialectic process between homogeneity and heterogeneity.
Commentary—A High Seas Treaty on the Horizon: Progress and Prospects for the Intergovernmental Conference
Authors: Wright Glen , Cremers Klaudija , Rochette Julien
Published: June 2023

After more than a decade of discussions, States at the United Nations are nearing agreement on a new international legally binding instrument for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity in marine areas beyond national jurisdiction. The instrument would resolve longstanding questions over the use of marine genetic resources, put in place a process for the des-ignation of marine protected areas, strengthen the framework for environ-mental impact assessment, and enhance capacity building and technology transfer. At the fifth meeting of the Intergovernmental Conference in Au-gust 2022, delegations showed significantly more flexibility and made con-siderable progress towards consensus. Many issues nonetheless remained unresolved and the meeting ultimately could not deliver the clean text needed to negotiate the final trade-offs. This short commentary reviews the progress made, identifies key outstanding issues, and highlights the next steps in the process to finalize the high seas treaty.
Can the World’s Biggest Climate Change Case Help to Save the Ocean?
Authors: Janki Melinda
Published: June 2023

This article examines the first climate change constitutional case in the English-speaking Caribbean. The case challenges the oil and gas buildout offshore Guyana, a new frontier for petroleum. This may be the biggest climate change case to date based on the amount of greenhouse gas pollu-tion at stake or on the amount of potential liability arising from harm to the ocean. The article locates the case in current climate litigation. However, it characterizes the problem as greenhouse gas pollution and not climate change, which it treats as a symptom. The case raises interesting questions about the court’s obligation to take into account international law in deter-mining the scope of the State’s constitutional duty to citizens for a healthy environment. It also flags the difficulty of applying international law to determine the climate obligations of a carbon sink. The case is ongoing.
Canada’s Response to Mi’kmaq Aboriginal and Treaty Fishing Rights: Reconciliation or Legal Colonial Oppression?
Authors: Francis Rosalie
Published: June 2023

In 1999, the Supreme Court of Canada affirmed that the Treaties of 1760–1761 provided the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqey, and Passamaquoddy Indige-nous peoples with the right to fish to earn a moderate livelihood. Today, 23 years later, such treaty rights remain unimplemented by Canada. This situ-ation has created significant conflict and violence for Indigenous people who attempt to exercise such rights. This article examines the various rea-sons why such rights have remained unimplemented by Canada, and con-siders Canada’s legislative and policy responses to such rights under the scope of their statutory authority, the common law and Canada’s legal du-ties owed to Aboriginal peoples.
Legal Aspects of the Kanal İstanbul from the Perspective of Its Unique Features
Authors: Yilmaz Hatice Kubra Ecemis
Published: June 2023

Canals, defined as artificial waterways, are built with the aim of providing shorter transit time, cheaper and safer maritime trade. However, in order for constructed canals to be used effectively, it is important to determine their legal status according to their features. The fact that Kanal İstanbul is planning to build parallel to the Bosphorus, which is the natural waterway, ensures that Kanal İstanbul has its own unique features due to its location. Considering the importance of the Turkish Straits, the Kanal İstanbul, could be convenient for transportation and freight and be a convenient waterway for world trade. In order to ensure the effective use of the Kanal İstanbul, its legal status must be established. This article discusses the legal statuses of the Suez, Panama, and Corinth Canals, which have changed over time, and the legal status of the Turkish Straits, which has evolved over history and continues today under the Montreux Convention. In this context, the possible legal statuses that can be applied to the Kanal İstanbul are exam-ined.
The Palaearctic types of Chrysididae (Insecta, Hymenoptera) deposited in the Linsenmaier collection. Part 4. Elampini: genus Omalus Panzer, 1801
Authors: ROSA PAOLO , HEIM RENÉ , BERNASCONI MARCO VALERIO
Published: June 2023

An illustrated catalogue of the Palaearctic types of species and subspecies described by Walter Linsenmaier in Omalus Panzer, 1801 is given. Linsenmaier described 16 species and subspecies of Omalus; most of the primary types are deposited in the collection at the Natur-Museum in Luzern, Switzerland, with the exception of four holotypes which are deposited at the Natural History Museum in London, UK; Nationalparkzentrum in Zernez, Switzerland; Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule in Zurich, Switzerland; and Museo de Naturaleza y Arqueologia in St. Cruz de Tenerife, Spain. A list of the species described and pictures of 13 primary and secondary types are presented. A synthesis of his classification is given, with comments and comparison to modern classification.
An updated checklist of the hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) of Slovenia
Authors: KOČIĆ ANJA , VUJIĆ ANTE , TOT TAMARA , MILOSAVLJEVIĆ MARINA JANKOVIĆ , GROOT MAARTEN DE
Published: June 2023

This paper is an updated checklist of the hoverflies of Slovenia. Since the last checklist of 274 species published by de Groot & Govedič in 2008, a large number of additional specimens have been collected and studied. In the present study, 42 species are reported for the first time for the Slovenian hoverfly fauna. Sphegina sublatifrons Vujić, 1990 is deleted from the Slovenian list. In total, 362 species from 77 genera are reported. According to the IUCN European Red List of Hoverflies, 29 species are classified as Endangered, 9 as Vulnerable, 19 as Near Threatened, 302 as Least Concern and 3 as Data Deficient. The distribution of species per region in Slovenia is presented. With 243 species, Upper Carniola hosts the largest number of registered species, followed by Central Slovenia (233 spp.), Gorizia (230 spp.), Savinja and Littoral Inner-Carniola (both with 173 spp.), Coastal-Karst (133 spp.), Southeast Slovenia (71 spp.), Drava (60 spp.), Carinthia (56 spp.), Lower Sava (52 spp.), Mura (47 spp.) and Central Sava (8 spp.). A significant increase in the number of new records has been noted in recent decades, and the possible reasons for this trend are also discussed here.
On fourteen species of Euochin Prószyński, 2018 from China (Araneae: Salticidae: Euophryini)
Authors: WANG WEIHANG , ZHANG JUNXIA
Published: June 2023

Twelve new species of the jumping spider genus Euochin Prószyński, 2018 from southern China are described: Euochin bethunei sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. buziji sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. dongpo sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. extraculum sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. lingyi sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. nanjiabawa sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. nu sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. shenjun sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. tianhe sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. wanlessi sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. yangmei sp. nov. (♂ ♀), E. zegangi sp. nov. (♂ ♀). Two new combinations are proposed: Euochin bamianshanensis (Liu, Wang & Peng, 2020) comb. nov. and Euochin longyangensis (Lei & Peng, 2012) comb. nov. (both transferred from Euophrys C. L. Koch, 1834, with redescription and revision of male and female pairing provided for the latter). Diagnostic illustrations and photographs are provided.
3. Up, Down, Stop, Go, and Everything In Between
Authors: Sienkiewicz Holly , Beideman Jenn , LeBron Beatriz , Lewis Shanielia , Morrison Emma , Rivera Lydia , Faticone Dina
Published: June 2023

Located in Rochester, New York, USA, Common Ground Health advocates for safe and accessible play for all children. Since 2015, residents have led a grassroots campaign convening neighbourhood associations, block clubs, churches, community organizations, and nonprofits to build and advance an equitable play-based agenda. Covid-19 amplified the importance of play as families navigated the ill effects of having children abruptly cut off from peers and social networks. Early in the pandemic, Common Ground worked to ensure that children had access to unstructured play. Together, we assembled and distributed play kits, partnered with the city to support Covid-friendly programming and infrastructure that prioritizes unstructured resident-driven play (e.g. toy libraries, bringing recreational programming and staff to non-traditional spaces, and play streets), and coordinated community resources to share with families during the pandemic. We distributed a total of 6500 play kits tailored for outdoor play at thirty-two different locations within Rochester. Resident leaders worked alongside hundreds of students and families in the Rochester City School District to better understand how the pandemic has impacted playful learning and together created a vision for playful learning as a means of mitigating the negative effects that Covid-19 has had on students. Common Ground catalyzed residents across the city to re-conceptualize traditional notions of play while continuing to advocate for safe and accessible play for all. Covid-19 elevated the importance of this work as residents advocate for play as a mechanism to facilitate healing and promote resilience in children during a time of chronic uncertainty.
4. ‘Let Them Play’
Authors: O’Dwyer Maria , Hannan Carmel , Neville Patricia
Published: June 2023

The Republic of Ireland has undergone a process of profound social change since the 1990s. This process of ‘accelerated modernization’ has transformed all aspects of personal and political life including, but not limited to, successive cycles of economic boom (Celtic Tiger economy 1994-2007) and bust (recession 2008 on), changing demographic trends based on inward and outward migration, the growing divide between rural and urban areas, lower fertility rates and the rise of working mothers and the issue of affordable childcare. These changes have impacted on the ludic landscape of Irish children. At one level, play has become transformed into a signifier of social mobility and affluence, with structured, supervised indoor play being deemed to be more socially desirable to unstructured outdoor play. Further class distinctions about play are encoded on the sports field. Irish national sports such as hurling, Gaelic football and camogie, traditionally seen as rural pastimes, are increasingly seen as ways to foster a sense of community for children and their families in the densely populated eastern part of the country. Interestingly, there has been little critical engagement with the ‘play divide’ in the Irish context. This book chapter takes the ‘play divide’ concept to interrogate the status of children’s play in a Covid-19 Ireland from a child-centric perspective. Using data from the national ‘Growing Up in Ireland’ study survey we will explore how the disruptions caused by Covid-19 and the ‘rediscovery’ of the health benefits of outdoor, green play provide us with an opportunity to draw out the classist nature of play in Ireland and contemplate its future direction.
6. Playworkers’ Experiences, Children’s Rights and Covid-19
Authors: Terada Mitsunari , Ermilova Mariia , Shimamura Hitoshi
Published: June 2023

This chapter investigates the Covid-19 experiences of Kodomo Yume Park, a facility aimed at safeguarding children's rights and providing a safe environment for children from different backgrounds. It was established in Kawasaki City in 2003 in accordance with Japan’s first local ordinance on children’s rights, an interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. Admirably, during the pandemic, Kodomo Yume Park remained open amidst the restrictions, even when public schools were closed and Japanese people strictly adhered to the ‘stay-at-home’ policy. Four topics emerged from qualitative interviews with playworkers and managers, including controversial feelings regarding performing a ‘facilitator’s’ role when people have to keep apart from each other. Proclaimed as ‘the last resort’, the location became a target for leisure among Tokyo suburbia, putting at risk security and disrupting the usual culture of an adventure playground. Departing from Yume Park’s participatory management style, we investigate how the child’s right to play was realized and balanced during the pandemic-related restrictions and how children, playworkers, and park managers perceived the situation and made decisions accordingly in response to the rapidly changing Covid-19 agenda.
15. Happy Yardi Gras! Playing with Carnival in New Orleans during the Covid-19 Pandemic
Authors: Radice Martha
Published: June 2023

Carnival season in New Orleans is a playful time. People of all ages play with words as they come up with themes for floats, costumes and throws (small gifts thrown to spectators). They play with materials and crafting skills as they make these items. They play with personas, roles and hedonic pleasures as they participate in the parades and parties that culminate in Mardi Gras day. With the 2021 parades cancelled, New Orleanians set about re-imagining carnival for pandemic times, playing with its structures to be able to celebrate at a safe distance. The idea that most captured their imaginations was the Krewe of House Floats, a Twitter joke that accidentally inspired thousands of households to decorate their homes as parade floats. Drawing on anthropological and geographical approaches to play and ethnographic fieldwork conducted over seven carnival seasons, I analyze the continuities and ruptures of playful carnival practices that were manifest in the creations and testimonies of people who participated in this phenomenon, also dubbed ‘Yardi Gras’. Like regular carnival, the house floats reflected uneven access to resources, materials, and know-how. Unlike regular carnival, they featured less satire and more whimsy, and often paid tribute to beloved local cultural icons. They also resituated carnival in domestic and neighbourhood space and sociality, temporarily reversing a trend toward centralization, and were a product of pandemic-specific temporality. Because carnival is re-made every year through improvisation and responsiveness to current events, resourcefulness and creativity are built into its social structure. I argue that this is what enabled its playful reconfiguration.
17. Techno-Mischief
Authors: Beresin Anna
Published: June 2023

Here we have a micro analysis of a recorded online playdate between two families with children who live across the street from each other, during lockdown in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The playdate appears chaotic but upon detailed examination reflects many classic motifs in children’s playground lore, revealing cultural sophistication and subtle negotiation. The chapter utilizes tools of folklore study and sociolinguistics, and connects to the literature on the playful trickster.
19. Art in the Streets
Authors: Shirey Heather
Published: June 2023

Drawing on photographic documentation of street art, contextual analysis and artist interviews, this essay examines the work of two prolific street artists: The Velvet Bandit, a wheatpaste artist in the Bay Area (California, USA) and SudaLove, a muralist working in Khartoum (Sudan). Both The Velvet Bandit and SudaLove create artistic interventions in the street as a means of engaging with Covid-19 in a manner that is light and playful but also serious and political. As is typical of street art, their work is highly accessible, using simple visual language. At the same time, each piece requires deeper contextual knowledge to understand the underlying political and social significance.
Conclusion
Authors: Beresin Anna , Bishop Julia
Published: June 2023

The conclusion inverts the book’s title and examines Covid in a play frame, presenting Brian Sutton-Smith’s concept of dialudics, the conflation of ludic (Latin for ‘play’) and dialectic or dialogic. Each chapter’s theme is re-examined through the lens of dialudics, pointing to the many paradoxes of play and how play offers a vessel for containing opposites, particularly in complex times like this one.
Corruption and Voter Turnout: Evidence From Second Generation Americans
Authors: Simmons Joel W.
Published: June 2023

When studying corruption’s consequences for voter turnout, reverse causality hinders identification; corruption may affect turnout, but an engaged citizenry may also improve governance. However, because good instruments are hard to find, most studies do not adjust for the issue. Here, I surmount the endogeneity problem by predicting turnout among second generation Americans with the level of corruption in their ancestral country. The core intuition is that the best predictors of turnout—education, income, and civic duty—are endogenous to corruption, internationally mobile, and reproduced inter-generationally. Thus, corruption in one country can affect turnout among the American-born children of the country’s émigrés. However, because turnout in US elections does not affect corruption in the ancestral country, there is no threat of reverse causality. Estimating the model with data from the Current Population Survey and the Varieties of Democracy Project reveals a statistically robust, substantively sizable negative effect of corruption on turnout.
A Review on the Cognitive Neural Mechanisms of Anaphor Processing During Language Comprehension
Authors: Zhang Qian , Chang Ruo-Han , Wang Zhen-Dong
Published: June 2023

Anaphora is an essential means of maintaining textual coherence, the phenomenon of replacing one word or phrase in the preceding part of a discourse with another. At least two crucial stages are involved in anaphor processing: bonding and resolution. The links between the anaphor and potential antecedents are established in the former stage, which would be evaluated and integrated into the latter stage. We reviewed relevant event-related potential (ERP) studies that examined the time course of anaphor processing and neural oscillation studies that explored energy changes in alpha, theta, and gamma frequency bands, which were associated with attention, working memory retrieval, and integration, respectively. The existing neuroimaging studies revealed the involvement of language processing networks and the Theory of Mind (ToM). Further research should explore the neural correlates and the effects of potential factors on anaphor processing, which could help gain a more comprehensive picture from multiple perspectives.
Do New Firms Boost Local Innovation? Evidence From Turkey
Authors: Karahasan Burhan Can
Published: June 2023

New firms have been regarded as one of the key elements for local development. Existing studies focus on the direct impact of new firms via labour markets and job creation. However, the impact of new firms on regional innovation is less investigated. Our analyses are conducted for a developing country, Turkey. Findings of the study show that new firms are crucial for the regional differences in innovation. Results are robust to spatial dependence, an alternative firm formation measure, various regional controls and endogeneity issues. Additionally, impact of the new firms is spatially non-homogenous reminding the ineffectiveness of one-size-fits-all type policies.
Iterative Pilot Testing of the POWR Intervention: Online Training to Support Paraeducator Implementation of Augmentative and Alternative Communication Strategies
Authors: Douglas Sarah N. , Bowles Ryan , Plavnick Joshua , Sun Tiantian , Dunkel-Jackson Sarah M. , Bagawan Atikah
Published: June 2023

The development of communication is a fundamental part of early childhood. Yet many students with disabilities require supports such as augmentative and alternative communication to develop communication skills. Teachers and paraeducators play key roles in supporting communication for these students, but often lack effective and accessible training options that include relevant content, active engagement, and application with individualized coaching. To meet this need, we engaged in iterative development, revision, and testing of the POWR Training System, an online training and coaching program for teachers and their paraeducators. As part of a multi-year, federally funded grant, this iterative process was informed by feedback from educators and experts as well as by outcomes for paraeducators, a teacher, and children in a series of nonconcurrent single case studies. A description of the iterative process, outcomes for paraeducators, a teacher, and children as well as feedback related to the program are described. Future research directions are discussed.
Clinical and Radiological Outcomes of Arthroscopic Superior Capsular Reconstruction Versus Primary Rotator Cuff Repair in Massive Rotator Cuff Tears: A Propensity Score–Matched Study
Authors: Lee Jun-Bum , Kholinne Erica , Ben Hui , So Sang-Pil , Alsaqri Hood , Lee Hyun June , Koh Kyoung Hwan , Jeon In-Ho
Published: June 2023

Background:

Arthroscopic superior capsular reconstruction (aSCR) has emerged as a treatment option for managing massive rotator cuff tears (MRCTs) given the unpredictable results after an arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (aRCR). Yet, few comparative studies of aSCR and aRCR have been conducted.

Purpose:

To compare the clinical and radiological outcomes between aRCR and aSCR in patients with MRCT.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

A total of 163 cases of MRCT from 2010 to 2020 with follow-up ≥2 years were retrospectively reviewed. Among them, 102 had aRCR and 61 had aSCR using fascia lata autograft. Propensity score matching was used to select controls matched for age, sex, diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis, preoperative American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation score, Constant score, pain visual analog scale (pVAS) score, range of motion (ROM), tear size, global fatty degeneration index, and acromiohumeral distance (AHD). Last, 33 cases in each group were selected after propensity score matching. Radiological assessment was conducted using serial postoperative magnetic resonance imaging. Pre- and postoperative findings—including American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons, pVAS, Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation, and Constant scores and ROM—were assessed to compare clinical outcomes. For radiological outcomes, global fatty degeneration index, AHD, and healing rate were evaluated. Healing failure was defined as Sugaya classification IV or V in the aRCR group, as compared with a full-thickness tear of the graft in the aSCR group, which corresponded to Sugaya classification IV or V.

Results:

Postoperative clinical outcomes were significantly improved at the final follow-up in both groups. In the aSCR group, postoperative forward flexion, pVAS, and AHD were significantly improved as compared with the aRCR group (mean, 161° vs 148° [ P = .02]; 1.03 vs 1.64 [ P = .047]; 7.00 vs 5.23 mm [ P < .001], respectively). The healing rate was 20 of 33 (60.6%) for aRCR and 29 of 33 (87.9%) for aSCR ( P = .022).

Conclusion:

aSCR and aRCR are effective and reliable treatment options for MRCT. However, when compared with aRCR, aSCR showed improved clinical outcomes, including pVAS score, postoperative ROM, and favorable radiological findings, including AHD and a higher healing rate.
Use and Effectiveness of Physical Therapy After Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement
Authors: Kaplan Daniel J. , Larson Jordan H. , Fenn Thomas W. , Allahabadi Sachin , Malloy Philip , Nho Shane J.
Published: June 2023

Background:

Limited literature exists regarding how postoperative physical therapy (PT) may affect outcomes in patients with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) undergoing hip arthroscopy. Additionally, it is unknown how PT measures relate to traditional orthopaedic patient-reported outcomes (PROs).

Purpose:

To evaluate how the duration of PT may correlate with outcomes in patients with FAIS using both the Lower Extremity Functional Scale (LEFS) and standard orthopaedic PRO measures.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Patients from a single institution who underwent primary hip arthroscopy for FAIS between 2013 and 2016 were identified. Patients with a minimum 2-year follow-up and fully documented PT notes were included and stratified into 3 cohorts based on timing of PT discharge: 0 to 3 months, 3 to 6 months, and 6 to 12 months. Predictive regression models were developed to analyze the rate of improvement (ROI) in LEFS score as it relates to (1) postoperative day (POD) and (2) postoperative PT session number. Two-year PROs were collected, correlated with LEFS scores, and compared among cohorts.

Results:

A total of 95 patients were included (mean ± SD age, 34.6 ± 11.7 years; range, 14-55 years). Mean LEFS scores increased significantly from the initial score at 6 weeks, 3 months, and the time of PT discharge ( P < .01 for all). The predicted ROI in LEFS score was 3.39% per PT session for sessions 0 to 13, 1.43% for sessions 14 to 27, and 0.37% for sessions 28 to 40. Patients who underwent 3 to 6 months of PT had significantly better Hip Outcome Score (HOS) relative to the 0- to 3-month cohort and significantly better visual analog scale (VAS) scores for satisfaction relative to the 6- to 12-month cohort. The predicted ROI in LEFS score was 0.96% per day from POD 0 to 45, 0.22% from POD 46 to 139, and 0.03% after POD 139. Moderate correlations were seen between LEFS score at the time of discharge and all 2-year PROs as follows: HOS Activities of Daily Living subscale ( r = 0.488), HOS Sports-Specific subscale ( r = 0.500), modified Harris Hip Score ( r = 0.465), 12-item International Hip Outcome Tool ( r = 0.494), VAS pain score ( r = −0.346), and VAS satisfaction score ( r = 0.459).

Conclusion:

Patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for FAIS derived substantial benefit from each PT visit during their first 13 PT sessions and then a smaller, yet still meaningful benefit from sessions 13 through 27. After session 40, or approximately 4.5 to 5 months, patients no longer benefited from additional PT sessions. Based on PRO scores, patients discharged from PT between 3 and 6 months had the best 2-year outcomes. LEFS score had moderate correlation with orthopaedic PRO scores.
Relationship of Missed Statin Therapy and 10-Year Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease Risk Score to Retear Rate After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair
Authors: Lee Sanghyeon , Lee Narea , Shin Sang-Jin
Published: June 2023

Background:

There is no practical consensus on managing cholesterol in patients with rotator cuff repair despite hyperlipidemia and statin therapy being well-known factors in rotator cuff healing. The 10-year atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score is a commonly used guideline to determine statin administration for hyperlipidemia.

Purpose:

To identify the relationship between retear and preoperative factors, including 10-year ASCVD risk score and statin administration status, and to compare clinical outcomes and retear rates between patients who are taking and not taking statins.

Study Design:

Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

This study enrolled 182 patients with a symptomatic full-thickness rotator cuff tear who underwent arthroscopic repair. Serum lipid profile, 10-year ASCVD risk score, statin eligibility, and statin administration status were assessed. Patients were categorized into 2 groups based on magnetic resonance imaging to evaluate cuff integrity at postoperative 6 months: a healed group and a retear group. Radiographic and intraoperative factors related to retear were analyzed. Multiple regression analysis was performed to evaluate factors related to rotator cuff retear. For the subgroup analysis, patients eligible for statin therapy were divided into 2 subgroups according to administration status.

Results:

There were 149 (81.9%) patients in the healed group and 33 (18.1%) in the retear group. In the multiple regression analysis, missed statin therapy, 10-year ASCVD risk score, and fatty infiltration of the infraspinatus muscle were the independent factors related to retear. The cutoff value for 10-year ASCVD risk score was 11.85%, with a sensitivity of 0.75 and a specificity of 0.62. In the subgroup analysis of 104 patients eligible for statin therapy, 66 (63.5%; group 1) received statin therapy and 38 (36.5%; group 2) missed it. Group 2 showed a significantly higher retear rate than group 1 (36.8% vs 13.6%; P = .006).

Conclusion:

Missed statin therapy, 10-year ASCVD risk score, and fatty infiltration of the infraspinatus were the independent factors associated with rotator cuff retear. Patients who missed statin therapy showed a higher retear rate than patients receiving statin therapy. Optimal statin therapy for patients who undergo arthroscopic rotator cuff repair might improve repair integrity.
Effective Modalities of Periodontitis Induction in Rat Model
Authors: Khuda Fazle , Baharin Badiah , Anuar Nur Najmi Mohamad , Satimin Bellen Sharon Fred , Nasruddin Nurrul Shaqinah
Published: June 2023

Induction of periodontal disease using the rat model is the preferred model for human periodontal disease studies that are related to gene expression, mechanisms of inflammatory regulation, microbial and host responses, resolution, and the healing process. There are 3 methods that are frequently used to induce periodontal disease, which are: ligature application, oral bacterial inoculation, and the lipopolysaccharide injection technique. In the ligature model, sterile non-absorbable sutures or orthodontic wires are widely used to induce local irritation and bacterial plaque accumulation. Secondly, mono and mixed cultures of periodontal bacteria are inoculated orally by gavage or topical application. Lastly, lipopolysaccharide extracted from pathogenic bacteria can be directly injected into the gingival sulcus to induce inflammation and stimulate osteoclastogenesis and alveolar bone loss. Among these methods, ligature application induces inflammation and alveolar bone resorption more promptly compared to other methods. This review will provide an overview of the main induction methods in experimental periodontal disease, with their advantages and disadvantages.
Harm Hypervigilance in Public Reactions to Scientific Evidence
Authors: Clark Cory J. , Graso Maja , Redstone Ilana , Tetlock Philip E.
Published: June 2023

Two preregistered studies from two different platforms with representative U.S. adult samples ( N = 1,865) tested the harm-hypervigilance hypothesis in risk assessments of controversial behavioral science. As expected, across six sets of scientific findings, people consistently overestimated others’ harmful reactions (medium to large average effect sizes) and underestimated helpful ones, even when incentivized for accuracy. Additional analyses found that (a) harm overestimations were associated with support for censoring science, (b) people who were more offended by scientific findings reported greater difficulty understanding them, and (c) evidence was moderately consistent for an association between more conservative ideology and harm overestimations. These findings are particularly relevant because journals have begun evaluating potential downstream harms of scientific findings. We discuss implications of our work and invite scholars to develop rigorous tests of (a) the social pressures that lead science astray and (b) the actual costs and benefits of publishing or not publishing potentially controversial conclusions.
Understanding Government-Funded Doctoral Students’ Non-Degree International Exchange Experiences: Evidence from China
Authors: Xu Xing , Huang He
Published: June 2023

China has actively internationalized its doctoral education by funding students to study abroad via the China Scholarship Council. Nevertheless, little is known about the scholarship recipients’ perceptions of their study sojourn, especially those on short-term exchange programs. Based on 100 visiting doctoral students’ study reports, the study employed a sentiment analysis and was guided by the ecological system theory to untangle how this cohort affectively evaluated academic and non-academic dimensions of the study sojourn as a multi-layered ecological system. Via a computer-based SKEP analysis, the study contributes new objective insights regarding the perceived nature of an overseas sojourn, which is predominantly positive. In particular, it reveals positive perceptions regarding the funder and institutional prestige, indicating that the recipients’ increasing national pride may be harnessed as a soft pulling force for nation-building. This paper ends by offering implications that may potentially benefit doctoral education in China and other countries.
Clinical Profile, Treatment, and Prognosis of Left Ventricular Thrombus in Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Authors: Huang Liyan , Zhao Xuemei , Wang Jing , Liang Lin , Tian Pengchao , Chen Yuyi , Zhai Mei , Huang Yan , Zhou Qiong , Xin Anran , Zhang Yuhui , Zhang Jian
Published: June 2023

Despite the emerging prevalence of left ventricular (LV) thrombus in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM), clinical characteristics, management, and disease prognosis are poorly studied. We aim to assess the efficacy/safety profile of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) compared to warfarin by evaluating thrombus evolution, risk for stroke and systemic embolism (SSE), heart failure (HF) rehospitalization, all-cause mortality, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACEs), and determine the impact of thrombus evolution on adverse events. We performed a historical cohort study of patients with a primary diagnosis of DCM and LV thrombus. Relationships between anticoagulants and thrombus resolution were analyzed with the Kaplan-Meier method and Cox regression. Associations between longitudinal thrombus evolution and adverse event hazard were measured with joint modeling. Among 122 patients included, 58.0% were prescribed warfarin, and 42.0% DOACs. Complete thrombus resolution at 90-day-after-index and 180-day-after-index was observed in 93 and 111 patients, with no difference in cumulative resolution between DOACs and warfarin. During a median follow-up of 12.5 months, MACE, all-cause death, SSE, and HF rehospitalization occurred in 42.6%, 27.9%, 4.1%, and 13.9% of patients, comparable in warfarin and DOACs groups. Thrombus persistence was associated with a higher risk of HF rehospitalization. Thrombus progression was associated with poor prognosis, with per unit increment in square-root-transformed thrombus-area resulting in a 1.0691-fold increase in MACE risk and a 1.0546-fold increase in death risk. This study suggests that in DCM patients with LV thrombus, DOACs were comparable to warfarin in thrombus resolution and safety profile. Thrombus persistence or progression was associated with an increased risk of HF rehospitalization, MACE, and mortality.
Regulation of fructose levels on carbon flow and metabolites in yeast during food fermentation
Authors: Xie Dongdong , Lei Yanan , Sun Yingqi , Li Xing , Zheng Jiaxin
Published: June 2023

In this study, the effects of fructose levels on yeast growth, metabolic pathways and products, and redox status were investigated by simulated dough medium. The results showed that yeast was subjected to oxidative stress and damage under both sugar-free and high-fructose conditions. Yeast has a strong ability to metabolize pentose phosphate, trehalose, and tricarboxylic acid under sugar-free conditions. In the high fructose environment, yeast preferentially produced trehalose and glycerol in the early stage and gradually increased the metabolism of pentose phosphate in the later stage. Compared with the low fructose concentration, yeast had stronger pentose phosphate and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA) metabolism to ensure nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content in higher fructose levels. Therefore, sugar-free and high fructose levels affected the growth of yeast cells and yeast responded to fructose levels by regulating the metabolic carbon flow of glycolysis, pentose phosphate, trehalose, and TCA.
Do Emotional Intelligence and Academic Persistence Mitigate the Relationship Between Lecturer-Initiated Incivility and Emotional Exhaustion?
Authors: Ndukaihe Izuchukwu L. G. , Ogbonnaya Chisom E. , Arinze Nwadiogo C. , Ugwu Fabian O.
Published: June 2023

Supervisor, co-worker, and customer-initiated incivility in the services industry dominate the literature. Incivility studies in academic institutions are beginning to emerge and students’ initiated incivility has taken the center stage, whereas studies on lecturer-initiated incivility are lacking. This study, therefore, seeks to find out the direct and interactive roles of lecturer-initiated incivility, emotional intelligence, and academic persistence on emotional exhaustion among undergraduates. Data were collected from undergraduate students ( N = 254) across Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Nigeria. Moderation analyses showed that both emotional intelligence and academic persistence moderated the relationship between lecturer-initiated incivility and emotional exhaustion. Findings of the study imply that emotional intelligence and academic persistence of students help alleviate emotional exhaustion.
Long- and short-term outcomes of balloon dilation for benign choledochojejunal anastomotic stricture using balloon endoscopy-assisted ERCP: a multi-center retrospective cohort study
Authors: Iwasa Yuhei , Iwashita Takuji , Iwata Keisuke , Uemura Shinya , Okuno Mitsuru , Tezuka Ryuichi , Senju Akihiko , Mukai Tsuyoshi , Shimizu Masahito
Published: June 2023

Background

Benign choledochojejunal anastomotic stricture (CJS) is a common complication of pancreaticoduodenectomy and choledochojejunostomy. CJS is generally treated with balloon dilation, using balloon endoscopy-assisted endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (BE-ERCP); however, its long- and short-term outcomes have not been fully evaluated. Therefore, we evaluated the treatment outcomes of balloon dilation with BE-ERCP for CJS.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed 40 patients who had undergone balloon dilation with BE-ERCP for CJS between January 2009 and December 2022. The primary outcomes were technical and clinical success, and adverse event rates of balloon dilation using BE-ERCP for CJS. The secondary outcomes were long-term treatment outcomes for CJS recurrence, and evaluation of risk factors for recurrence.

Result

Technical and clinical success rates were 93% (37/40) and 100% (37/37), respectively. CJS recurrence occurred in 32% (20/37). No procedure-related adverse events were observed. The significant risk factors of CJS after balloon dilation were its early occurrence after surgery (unit hazard ratio [HR] for month, 0.87; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.76–0.99; p-value = 0.04) and residual waist during balloon dilation (HR, 5.46; 95% CI, 1.18–25.1; p-value = 0.03). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis of time from surgery to balloon dilation revealed an area under the curve of 0.80 (95% CI, 0.65–0.94) and the cut-off value was 13.2 months.

Conclusion

Treatment of CJS with balloon dilation was effective, although CJS recurrence occurred in one-third of the patients. The risk factors for recurrence were early occurrence of CJS after surgery and remaining waist circumference during balloon dilation.
Epidemiology, antifungal susceptibility, risk factors, and mortality of persistent candidemia in adult patients in China: a 6-year multicenter retrospective study
Authors: Li Yanping , Gu Chenghong , Yang Yuling , Ding Yinhuan , Ye Caihong , Tang Min , Liu Jinbo , Zeng Zhangrui
Published: June 2023

Background

Data on persistent candidemia (PC), a recognized complication of candidemia, are lacking in China. This study aimed to investigate the clinical characteristics and risk factors for the mortality of PC among adults in China.

Methods

This 6-year retrospective study analyzed the prevalence, species distribution, antifungal susceptibility, risk factors, and patient mortality of PC among adults in three regional tertiary teaching hospitals in China from 2016 to 2021. We collected electronic laboratory records data of PC and non-PC patients and used the Student test or Mann–Whitney U test for a retrospective study. Logistic regression was used to identify risk factors associated with persistent candidemia.

Results

The definition of PC was fulfilled by 36 patients (13.7%, 36/263). The mean age of the patients was 59.9 years (60 years for patients with PC; 59.8 years for those with non-PC; P > 0.05) and 131 (60.1%) were men [16 with PC (44.4%), 115 with non-PC (63.2%), P < 0.05]. The mean annual incidence was 0.15/1000 admissions (including PC 0.03/1000 admissions vs. non-PC 0.12/1000 admissions, P < 0.05). Candida parapsilosis (14/36, 38.9%) and Candida albicans (81/182, 44.5%) were the predominant pathogens in patients with PC and non-PC, respectively. Most isolates were susceptible to flucytosine (99.0%) and amphotericin B (99.5%), and the activity of antifungal agents against Candida species was not statistically significantly different between patients with PC and non-PC (P > 0.05). The 30-day mortality rate was 20.2% (16.7% with PC vs. 20.9% with non-PC, P > 0.05). Multivariable regression analysis showed that use of broad-spectrum antibiotics (odds ratio (OR), 5.925; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.886–18.616, P = 0.002), fluconazole (OR, 3.389; 95% CI, 1.302–8.820, P = 0.012) and C. parapsilosis infection (OR, 6.143; 95% CI, 2.093–18.031, P = 0.001) were independent predictors of PC, sex (male) (OR, 0.199; 95% CI, 0.077–0.518, P = 0.001) was the protective factor for PC. Respiratory dysfunction (OR, 5.763; 95% CI, 1.592–20.864, P = 0.008) and length of hospital stay(OR, 0.925; 95% CI, 0.880–0.973, P = 0.002) were independent predictors of 30-day mortality in patients with non-PC. C. tropicalis bloodstream infection (OR, 12.642; 95% CI, 1.059–150.951; P = 0.045) was an independent predictor of 30-day mortality in patients with PC.

Conclusions

The epidemiological data of patients with PC and non-PC were different in the distribution of Candida species, the mean annual incidence and independent predictors of 30-day mortality. Flucytosine and amphotericin B could be used as first-choice drugs in the presence of PC infections.
Resolution of an insidious and migratory Mycobacterium tuberculosis-associated secondary organizing pneumonia: a case report and literature review
Authors: Huang Li-Li , Wang Chun , Liu Ying , Gu Xiao-Yan , Wang Wei-Xiao , Chen Wei , Hu Chun-Mei
Published: June 2023

Background

Organizing pneumonia (OP) is a rare interstitial lung disease. Secondary organizing pneumonia (SOP) caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) is extremely rare. Migratory MTB-associated SOP is more deceptive and dangerous. When insidious tuberculosis (TB) is not recognized, SOP would be misdiagnosed as cryptogenic organizing pneumonia (COP). Use of steroid hormone alone leads to the progression of TB foci or even death. Clues of distinguishing atypical TB at the background of OP is urgently needed.

Case presentation

A 56-year-old female patient was hospitalized into the local hospital because of cough and expectoration for more than half a month. Her medical history and family history showed no relation to TB or other lung diseases. Community-acquired pneumonia was diagnosed and anti-infection therapy was initialized but invalid. The patient suffered from continuous weigh loss. More puzzling, the lesions were migratory based on the chest computed tomography (CT) images. The patient was then transferred to our hospital. The immunological indexes of infection in blood and pathogenic tests in sputum and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid were negative. The percutaneous lung puncture biopsy and pathological observation confirmed OP, but without granulomatous lesions. Additionally, pathogen detection of the punctured lung tissues by metagenomics next generation sequencing test (mNGS) were all negative. COP was highly suspected. Fortunately, the targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) detected MTB in the punctured lung tissues and MTB-associated SOP was definitely diagnosed. The combined therapy of anti-TB and prednisone was administrated. After treatment for 10 days, the partial lesions were significantly resorbed and the patient was discharged. In the follow-up of half a year, the patient was healthy.

Conclusions

It is difficult to distinguish SOP from COP in clinical practice. Diagnosis of COP must be very cautious. Transient small nodules and cavities in the early lung image are a clue to consider TB, even though all pathogen tests are negative. tNGS is also a powerful tool to detect pathogen, ensuring prompt diagnosis of TB-related SOP. For clinicians in TB high burden countries, we encourage them to keep TB in mind before making a final diagnosis of COP.