bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimal income taxes
Authors: Lüthy Herbert , Chovanec Michal
Published: January 2023

We define a new mathematical function that is an adaptation of a welfare function consistent with the premises of classical welfare. This function is innovative in that it enables us to specifically identify income tax functions that optimally balance the objectives of justice and efficiency in an economy. The new welfare function combines gross national product as an expression of economic performance with the Gini coefficient as a measure of its distributive justice. Afterwards we concentrate on the application of the new welfare function to the design of tax regimes and discuss the question of how to optimize income taxes. On the basis of our data, we discover interesting solutions. To find these, we compute optimal values of the welfare function under constraints of negative tax incentives; in the present case, tax avoidance.
Apropos of “Speciesist bias in AI: how AI applications perpetuate discrimination and unfair outcomes against animals”
Authors: Arandjelović Ognjen
Published: January 2023

The present comment concerns a recent AI & Ethics article which purports to report evidence of speciesist bias in various popular computer vision (CV) and natural language processing (NLP) machine learning models described in the literature. I examine the authors’ analysis and show it, ironically, to be prejudicial, often being founded on poorly conceived assumptions and suffering from fallacious and insufficiently rigorous reasoning, its appeal in large part relying on the extant consensus in the community.
The ethical agency of AI developers
Authors: Griffin Tricia A. , Green Brian Patrick , Welie Jos V. M.
Published: January 2023

Public and academic discourse about the ethics of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data science has largely focused on the algorithms and the companies deploying them. Little attention has been paid to the ethical agency of the developers. This study is the first of its kind that centers developers in the ethical environment. Semi-structured interviews with 40 developers about the ethics of being a developer revealed more than 20 themes, 3 of which are the subject of this paper: ethics in the occupational ecosystem, developer ethical agency, and the characteristics of an ethical developer. These themes reveal significant gaps between how developers perceive themselves and the reality of their work experiences. Their ethical agency is likewise variable. They have some authority to intervene for ethical reasons in systems they work on, but they often do not realize just how many ethical decisions they make. Nonetheless, this study reveals a growing ethical wisdom in this community, one that needs to be surfaced and nurtured by engaging with developers.
Carnivals of Ruin
Authors: McTighe Trish
Published: January 2023

Beckett's work is somewhat out of step with the logic of commemoration and celebration. Festival, with its association with celebration, spectacle, and publicity, would not seem the ideal vehicle for Beckett's work. Yet that work has become highly festivalised, and the incongruities between it and festival forms provide a useful basis from which to examine both Beckett as festivalised commodity and festivals themselves. Festivalising Beckett in Ireland might be characterised as a way of bringing him back home, as well as a way of returning him to the canonical fold - he showed little interest in either during his later years, it need hardly be added. This Element examines Beckett's dissidence in the face of these imperatives of nation, home and the canon, utilising Beckett's work in festival contexts to highlight in the negative the nature of the festival form and to critique the festivalisation of culture.
Building Borders and “No Borders”: Infrastructural Politics as Imagination
Authors: Ticktin Miriam
Published: January 2023

Since 2015 when migration across the Mediterranean was declared a “crisis” in Europe, the language of crisis and invasion has persisted, structuring conversations and political imaginations. This has led many to argue for the strict closure of borders and the deportation of migrants or “people on the move,”1 and to a deepening set of racisms within borders. But this “crisis” has also led to a less publicized, opposing struggle against borders, in the service of a more egalitarian world. I argue that in order to really understand how borders are being regulated or unregulated, we need to look not only at the international legal realm, but also at infrastructural politics.2 In this Essay, I will discuss two different terrains of infrastructural struggle over migration and borders: the first is about border walls, which are built to close off resources and partition the world into haves and have nots; the second is an infrastructure of collective living, where people-on-the-move are occupying abandoned spaces and working against borders and private property. I suggest that it is important to attend to the infrastructural dimensions of migration and border regimes, as they can produce and regularize exclusion and conceal it from the conventional field of political discussion and legal contestation. At the same time, new infrastructures can prefigure better, more equitable worlds.
Bacteriuria in older adults triggers confusion in healthcare providers: A mindful pause to treat the worry
Authors: Amenta Eva M. , Jump Robin L.P. , Trautner Barbara W.
Published: January 2023

The evidence base for refraining from screening for or treating asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in older adults is strong, but both practices remain prevalent. Clinical confusion over how to respond to a change from baseline, when to order a urinalysis and urine culture, and what to do with a positive urine culture fuels unnecessary antibiotic use for ASB. If the provider can take a mindful pause to apply evidenced-based assessment tools, the resulting increased clarity in how to manage the situation can reduce overtreatment of ASB.
Going local: Evaluating guideline adherence and appropriateness of antibiotic prescribing in patients with febrile neutropenia at an academic teaching hospital
Authors: Liu Rachel , Gitman Melissa R. , Morris Andrew M. , So Miranda
Published: January 2023

Background:

Febrile neutropenia (FN) is a medical emergency with significant morbidity and mortality for oncology patients, requiring comprehensive workup and timely antibiotic administration. We evaluated concordance with locally developed FN guidelines and outcomes of cancer patients admitted to general internal medicine at an academic teaching hospital.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective observational cohort study of patients admitted between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017, for FN. Patients were classified as having low-risk or high-risk FN according to their malignancy and chemotherapy. Primary outcome was the proportion of patients receiving guideline-concordant antibiotics within 48 hours of admission to general internal medicine. Secondary outcomes were the proportion of patients in whom empirical antibiotics were active against pathogens isolated, rate of antibiotic-associated adverse events, and in-hospital mortality. We used logistic regression to model relationship between FN risk and guideline-concordant antibiotics.

Results:

Among 100 patients included, 34 (34%) were low-risk FN and 66 (66%) were high-risk. Proportion of guideline-concordant empirical antibiotics was significantly lower among low-risk FN patients than high-risk patients: 12 (35%) of 34 versus 47 (71%) of 66 (P = .001). Empirical antibiotics were active against 17 (94%) of 18 isolated pathogens. The mortality rate was 3%, and 16% of patients experienced antibiotic-associated adverse events. Hematological malignancy and infectious diseases–trained physician involvement were associated with guideline-concordant prescribing, with adjusted odds ratios of 3.76 (95% CI, 1.46–9.70; P = .006) and 3.71 (95% CI, 1.49–9.23; P = .005), respectively.

Conclusions:

Guideline concordance was low compared to published reports. Factors influencing appropriate antimicrobial prescribing in patients with FN warrant further exploration.
Clinical impact of a multiplex rapid diagnostic pneumonia panel in critically ill patients
Authors: Esplund Jayda N. , Taylor Alex D. , Stone Tyler J. , Palavecino Elizabeth L. , Kilic Abdullah , Luther Vera P. , Ohl Christopher A. , Beardsley James R.
Published: January 2023

Objective:

To evaluate the clinical impact of the BioFire FilmArray Pneumonia Panel (PNA panel) in critically ill patients.

Design:

Single-center, preintervention and postintervention retrospective cohort study.

Setting:

Tertiary-care academic medical center.

Patients:

Adult ICU patients.

Methods:

Patients with quantitative bacterial cultures obtained by bronchoalveolar lavage or tracheal aspirate either before (January–March 2021, preintervention period) or after (January–March 2022, postintervention period) implementation of the PNA panel were randomly screened until 25 patients per study month (75 in each cohort) who met the study criteria were included. Antibiotic use from the day of culture collection through day 5 was compared.

Results:

The primary outcome of median time to first antibiotic change based on microbiologic data was 50 hours before the intervention versus 21 hours after the intervention (P = .0006). Also, 56 postintervention regimens (75%) were eligible for change based on PNA panel results; actual change occurred in 30 regimens (54%). Median antibiotic days of therapy (DOTs) were 8 before the intervention versus 6 after the intervention (P = .07). For the patients with antibiotic changes made based on PNA panel results, the median time to first antibiotic change was 10 hours. For patients who were initially on inadequate therapy, time to adequate therapy was 67 hours before the intervention versus 37 hours after the intervention (P = .27).

Conclusions:

The PNA panel was associated with decreased time to first antibiotic change and fewer antibiotic DOTs. Its impact may have been larger if a higher percentage of potential antibiotic changes had been implemented. The PNA panel is a promising tool to enhance antibiotic stewardship.
Dogs functionally respond to and use emotional information from human expressions
Authors: Albuquerque Natalia , Resende Briseida
Published: January 2023

Emotions are critical for humans, not only feeling and expressing them, but also reading the emotional expressions of others. For a long time, this ability was thought to be exclusive to people; however, there is now evidence that other animals also rely on emotion perception to guide their behaviour and to adjust their actions in such way as to guarantee success in their social groups. This is the case for domestic dogs, who have tremendously complex abilities to perceive the emotional expressions not only of their conspecifics but also of human beings. In this paper we discuss dogs’ capacities to read human emotions. More than perception, though, are dogs able to use this emotional information in a functional way? Does reading emotional expressions allow them to live functional social lives? Dogs can respond functionally to emotional expressions and can use the emotional information they obtain from others during problem-solving, that is, acquiring information from faces and body postures allows them to make decisions. Here, we tackle questions related to the abilities of responding to and using emotional information from human expressions in a functional way and discuss how far dogs can go when reading our emotions.
The stability of inviscid Beltrami flow between parallel free-slip impermeable boundaries
Authors: Dritschel David , Frey Matthias
Published: January 2023

We present a family of exact inviscid three-dimensional Beltrami flows in a horizontally periodic domain lying between two parallel free-slip boundaries. Significantly, these flows are not stress free: the horizontal vorticity varies on each boundary. Using direct numerical simulations (employing horizontal hyperdiffusion only for numerical stability), we find that the largest-scale member of the family is unstable and breaks down into anisotropic turbulence, with relatively large horizontal vorticity at and near each boundary, and associated surface frontal features. We conjecture that all members of the family are similarly unstable. The free-slip boundaries play an important role in the late stages of the instability by constraining the deformation of vortex lines near the boundaries. This study appears to be the first to consider the role of boundary horizontal vorticity in an inviscid context.
Enhanced extreme wave statistics of irregular waves due to accelerating following current over a submerged bar
Authors: Zhang Jie , Ma Yuxiang , Tan Ting , Dong Guohai , Benoit Michel
Published: January 2023

We present experimental results of irregular long-crested waves propagating over a submerged trapezoidal bar with the presence of a background current in a wave flume. We investigate the non-equilibrium phenomenon (NEP) induced by significant changes of water depth and mean horizontal flow velocity as wave trains pass over the bar. Using skewness and kurtosis as proxies, we show evidence that an accelerating following current could increase the sea-state non-Gaussianity and enhance both the magnitude and spatial extent of the NEP. We also find that below a ‘saturation relative water depth’

$k_p h_2 \approx 0.5$

(

$k_p$

being the peak wavenumber in the shallow area of depth

$h_2$

), although the NEP manifests, the decrease of the relative water depth does not further enhance the maximum skewness and kurtosis over the bar crest. This work highlights the nonlinear physics according to which a following current could provoke higher freak wave risk in coastal areas where modulation instability plays an insignificant role.
Turbidity currents propagating down an inclined slope: particle auto-suspension
Authors: Xie Jiafeng , Hu Peng , Zhu Chenlin , Yu Zhaosheng , Pähtz Thomas
Published: January 2023

The turbidity current (TC), a ubiquitous fluid–particle coupled phenomenon in the natural environment and engineering, can transport over long distances on an inclined terrain due to the suspension mechanism. A large-eddy simulation and discrete element method coupled model is employed to simulate the particle-laden gravity currents over the inclined slope in order to investigate the auto-suspension mechanism from a Lagrangian perspective. The particle Reynolds number in our TC simulation is$0.01\sim 0.1$and the slope angle is$1/20 \sim 1/5$. The influences of initial particle concentration and terrain slope on the particle flow regimes, particle movement patterns, fluid–particle interactions, energy budget and auto-suspension index are explored. The results indicate that the auto-suspension particles predominantly appear near the current head and their number increases and then decreases during the current evolution, which is positively correlated with the coherent structures around the head. When the turbidity current propagates downstream, the average particle Reynolds number of the auto-suspension particles remains basically unchanged, and is higher than that of other transported particles. The average particle Reynolds number of the transported particles exhibits a negative correlation with the Reynolds number of the current. Furthermore, the increase in particle concentration will enhance the particle velocity, which allows the turbidity current to advance faster and improves the perpendicular support, thereby increasing the turbidity current auto-suspension capacity. Increasing slope angle will result in a slightly larger front velocity, while the effect of that on the total force is insignificant.
The high-speed submerged hydrofoil
Authors: Marshall J.S. , Johnson E.R.
Published: January 2023

This paper gives, in the limit of large Froude number, a closed-form, analytical solution for steady, two-dimensional, inviscid, free-surface attached flow over a submerged planar hydrofoil for arbitrary angles of attack and depths of submergence. The doubly connected flow domain is conformally mapped to a concentric annulus in an auxiliary plane. The complex flow potential and its derivative, the complex velocity, are obtained in the auxiliary plane by considering their form at known special points in the flow, and the required conformal mapping is determined by explicit integration. The four real solution parameters are determined as the simultaneous roots of four real nonlinear algebraic equations arising from the flow normalisation. The explicit form allows accurate evaluation of various flow quantities, including the lift on the foil, and these are related to the large-Froude-number results in recent numerical solutions.
Approximate streamsurfaces for flow visualization
Authors: Katsanoulis Stergios , Kogelbauer Florian , Kaundinya Roshan , Ault Jesse , Haller George
Published: January 2023

Instantaneous features of three-dimensional velocity fields are most directly visualized via streamsurfaces. It is generally unclear, however, which streamsurfaces one should pick for this purpose, given that infinitely many such surfaces pass through each point of the flow domain. Exceptions to this rule are vector fields with a non-degenerate first integral whose level surfaces globally define a continuous, one-parameter family of streamsurfaces. While generic vector fields have no first integrals, their vortical regions may admit local first integrals over a discrete set of streamtubes, as Hamiltonian systems are known to do over Cantor sets of invariant tori. Here we introduce a method to construct such first integrals approximately from velocity data, and show that their level sets indeed frame vortical features of the velocity field in examples in which those features are known from Lagrangian analysis. Moreover, we test our method in numerical datasets, including a flow inside a V-junction and a turbulent channel flow. For the latter, we propound an algorithm to pin down the most salient barriers to momentum transport up to a given scale providing a way out of the occlusion conundrum that typically accompanies other vortex visualization methods.
Associations between self-reported symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 and dietary supplement use over the previous year during the first pandemic wave
Authors: Ellis Amy , Bui Chuong , Ferguson Christine , Azarmanesh Deniz , Park Han-A
Published: January 2023

During the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, symptoms of infection varied widely among adults younger than 60 years. This cross-sectional investigation of adults ages 18–59 years explored associations between SARS-CoV-2 symptomatology and supplementation of micronutrients involved in immune function, such as multivitamins, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin E and zinc. Between August and December 2020, an online survey was completed by 287 respondents, averaging 33⋅3 ± 10⋅5 years, who recovered from SARS-CoV-2 infection within the previous 4 months. In regression models, intake of supplements over the previous year was not protective against number of symptoms or symptom severity. Despite higher rates of supplementation over the previous year, smokers experienced more symptoms and greater symptom severity than non-smokers. Micronutrient supplementation did not protect young adults from experiencing symptoms of SARS-CoV-2, but our results suggest that smoking cessation may be a more effective modifiable lifestyle factor.
Pharmaceutical patent law and policy in Africa: a survey of selected SADC member states
Authors: Mercurio Bryan , Adekola Tolulope Anthony , Tsega Chimdessa Fekadu
Published: January 2023

The paper surveys the intellectual property (IP) laws of seven Southern African Development Community countries to better understand the nature, scope, and depth of their patent laws with particular focus on their utilisation of TRIPS flexibilities to facilitate pharmaceutical access. The selected countries – Botswana, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe – represent a mix of both major and modest economies. While the current literature contains widespread assertions on the impact and effect of TRIPS on access to medicines in these countries and less-developed countries in general, this paper finds that the countries lack explicit and workable provisions implementing key TRIPS flexibilities. Hence, available TRIPS flexibilities have not been well utilised and it is often the complicated and unworkable domestic framework – rather than TRIPS – which becomes the stumbling block to pharmaceutical access. Another major finding is that patents may not be a major impediment in the region given that few patents and even fewer pharmaceutical patents are filed. The paper argues that since the surveyed countries are mainly net IP importers with similar developmental contexts and aspirations, the best approach would be to fully take advantage of existing flexibilities and more aggressively leverage policy space to engender access to cheaper medicines.
Recalibration of Predicted Probabilities Using the “Logit Shift”: Why Does It Work, and When Can It Be Expected to Work Well?
Authors: Rosenman Evan T. R. , McCartan Cory , Olivella Santiago
Published: January 2023

The output of predictive models is routinely recalibrated by reconciling low-level predictions with known quantities defined at higher levels of aggregation. For example, models predicting vote probabilities at the individual level in U.S. elections can be adjusted so that their aggregation matches the observed vote totals in each county, thus producing better-calibrated predictions. In this research note, we provide theoretical grounding for one of the most commonly used recalibration strategies, known colloquially as the “logit shift.” Typically cast as a heuristic adjustment strategy (whereby a constant correction on the logit scale is found, such that aggregated predictions match target totals), we show that the logit shift offers a fast and accurate approximation to a principled, but computationally impractical adjustment strategy: computing the posterior prediction probabilities, conditional on the observed totals. After deriving analytical bounds on the quality of the approximation, we illustrate its accuracy using Monte Carlo simulations. We also discuss scenarios in which the logit shift is less effective at recalibrating predictions: when the target totals are defined only for highly heterogeneous populations, and when the original predictions correctly capture the mean of true individual probabilities, but fail to capture the shape of their distribution.
When Correlation Is Not Enough: Validating Populism Scores from Supervised Machine-Learning Models
Authors: Jankowski Michael , Huber Robert A.
Published: January 2023

Despite the ongoing success of populist parties in many parts of the world, we lack comprehensive information about parties’ level of populism over time. A recent contribution to Political Analysis by Di Cocco and Monechi (DCM) suggests that this research gap can be closed by predicting parties’ populism scores from their election manifestos using supervised machine learning. In this paper, we provide a detailed discussion of the suggested approach. Building on recent debates about the validation of machine-learning models, we argue that the validity checks provided in DCM’s paper are insufficient. We conduct a series of additional validity checks and empirically demonstrate that the approach is not suitable for deriving populism scores from texts. We conclude that measuring populism over time and between countries remains an immense challenge for empirical research. More generally, our paper illustrates the importance of more comprehensive validations of supervised machine-learning models.
Contagion, Confounding, and Causality: Confronting the Three C’s of Observational Political Networks Research
Authors: Uppala Medha , Desmarais Bruce A.
Published: January 2023

Contagion across various types of connections is a central process in the study of many political phenomena (e.g., democratization, civil conflict, and voter turnout). Over the last decade, the methodological literature addressing the challenges in causally identifying contagion in networks has exploded. In one of the foundational works in this literature, Shalizi and Thomas (2011, Sociological Methods and Research 40, 211–239.) propose a permutation test for contagion in longitudinal network data that is not confounded by selection (e.g., homophily). We illustrate the properties of this test via simulation. We assess its statistical power under various conditions of the data, including the nature of the contagion, the structure of the network through which contagion occurs, and the number of time periods included in the data. We then apply this test to an example domain that is commonly considered in the context of observational research on contagion—the international spread of democracy. We find evidence of international contagion of democracy. We conclude with a discussion of the practical applicability of the Shalizi and Thomas test to the study of contagion in political networks.
Black Roma: Afro-Romani Connections in Early Modern Drama (and Beyond)
Authors: Ndiaye Noémie
Published: January 2023

This essay brings to light a hitherto unnoticed network of Afro-Romani connections in later seventeenth-century French and English drama, and it construes that network as conceptual and ethical genealogy for the bonds that exist today between Black studies and the fledgling field of critical Romani studies. By close reading Molière's “Les fourberies de Scapin” (1671) and its 1677 adaptation by Edward Ravenscroft, among other objects, through the lens of critical race theory, this essay shows how theatrical culture across the Channel reckoned with the similar positionings of enslaved Roma and sub-Saharan Africans within the logic of early modern white supremacy.
Sectarian Competition and the Market Provision of Human Capital
Authors: Xiong Heyu , Zhao Yiling
Published: January 2023

We study the role of denominational competition in the expansion of higher education in the nineteenth-century United States. We document that nearly all colleges established in this period were affiliated with a Christian denomination. Empirical analysis reveals a robust positive relationship between the denominational fragmentation of the county and the number of colleges established. We take several steps to rule out competing explanations and also highlight the causal channel by utilizing two historical case studies. We conclude by estimating a model of school choice and showing that students exhibited strong preferences to attend same-denominational colleges in terms of willingness-to-pay and willingness-to-travel. Therefore, we argue that religious diversity softened the extent of tuition competition between institutions and precipitated an “excess” entry of schools.
Transdiagnostic treatment of depression and anxiety: a meta-analysis
Authors: Cuijpers Pim , Miguel Clara , Ciharova Marketa , Ebert David , Harrer Mathias , Karyotaki Eirini
Published: January 2023

Background

In the past 10 years an increasing number of randomised trials have examined the effects of transdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety. We conducted the first comprehensive meta-analysis of the outcomes of this emerging field.

Methods

We used the searches in PubMed, PsychINFO, Embase and the Cochrane library of an existing database of randomised trials of psychological interventions for depression to identify studies comparing a transdiagnostic treatment of patients with depression or anxiety with a control group (deadline 1 January 2022). We conducted random-effects meta-analyses and examined the effects on depression and anxiety at the short and longer term.

Results

We included 45 randomised controlled trials with 51 comparisons between a psychotherapy and a control group and 5530 participants. Thirty-five (78%) studies were conducted in the last 10 years. The overall effect size was g = 0.54 (95% CI 0.40–0.69; NNT = 5.87), with high heterogeneity (I2 = 78; 95% CI 71–83), and a broad PI (−0.31–1.39). The effects remained significant in a series of sensitivity analyses, including exclusion of outliers, adjustment for publication bias, for studies with low risk of bias, and in multilevel analyses. The results were comparable for depression and anxiety separately. At 6 months after randomisation the main effects were still significant, but not at 12 months, although the number of studies was small.

Conclusions

Transdiagnostic treatments of patients with depression or anxiety are increasingly examined and are probably effective at the short term.
“Me? At this age?”: A narrative analysis of older South Asian Muslim immigrant women’s subjectivity-formations in migration arrangements
Authors: Syed Manaal
Published: January 2023

Critical and feminist ageing scholarship has drawn attention to how dominant discourses of ageing negatively impact older women's identities and social lives. While research intersecting migration and ageing has broadly focused on older immigrants' settlement experiences, very little is known about the discursive influences over older immigrant women's sense of agency and social relations. To address this knowledge gap, this study explores the subjectivity-formations of older South Asian Muslim women engaged in transnational migration. Narrative and discourse analysis principles were used to conduct and analyse life story-based interviews with 15 South Asian Muslim older women who recently migrated to Toronto, Canada. Findings indicate that participant subjectivity-formations are shaped by: (a) discourses of ageing; (b) socio-cultural–religious discourses; and (c) discourses of transnational migration. In response, participants engaged in dynamic strategies including conforming, negotiating, creating alternative narratives and/or resisting these discourses to organise their lives. These findings reinforce the continued need to trace the governmentality of structural conditions over ageing migrant women's lives and their responsive strategies to manage these impacts.
Social networks and social support of older immigrants in Aotearoa New Zealand
Authors: Szabó Ágnes , Stephens Christine , Alpass Fiona
Published: January 2023

Immigrants commonly report difficulties with developing social connections post-transition, which can lead to social isolation as they age. Understanding what factors promote/hinder the social integration of immigrants is an important public health objective. We tested the public health model of social integration of Berkman et al. in a sample of older immigrants. This model calls for considering both the social conditions in which social networks are embedded (upstream influences) and the levels of social support offered by different types of networks (downstream influences). First, we derived an empirical typology of social networks of older immigrants. Next, we tested associations of social networks with upstream and downstream influences. Data came from the New Zealand Health, Work and Retirement Study. The sample included 568 older adults (54% male) who immigrated as adults (mean length of stay = 28.5 years, standard deviation = 12.5). Latent profile analysis was employed on responses to the Practitioner Assessment of Network Type to identify social networks. Associations with upstream and downstream correlates were tested using logistic and multiple regression. Four network configurations emerged: ‘private-restricted’ (43.4%), ‘family-dependent’ (35.8%), ‘locally integrated’ (10.9%) and ‘wider community-based’ (9%). Having shorter length of residence and individualistic cultural background was predictive of being in a restricted network (private-restricted, family-dependent). Being in a restricted network was associated with lower levels of social support. Network type interacted with partner status: having a partner buffered the negative impact of having a restricted network on social support. Although restricted networks are common among older immigrants, they do not necessarily result in compromised social support. While we may see differences across countries regarding the impact of specific upstream and downstream influences, our findings highlight that both contextual and individual-level resources need to be considered alongside network structure to promote social integration of immigrants as they age.
Predicting L2-Spanish fluency from L1-English fluency and L2 proficiency: A conceptual replication
Authors: Pérez Castillejo Susana , Urzua-Parra Katherine
Published: January 2023

This study conceptually replicated Huensch and Tracy-Ventura’s (2017) analysis of the relationship between L1 and L2 utterance fluency with adult L1-English learners of Spanish. Data from 88 participants were analyzed to explore the proportion of the variance in L2 fluency measures that can be attributed to the corresponding L1 measures, and the relative weights of L1 fluency and L2 proficiency as predictors of L2 fluency. This study applied the same fluency and proficiency constructs and operationalizations as the original study, but differed in task type and learners’ L2 proficiency. Results were most similar for speed and repair frequency, and for silent pause duration. Findings concerning silent and filled pause frequency differed. Combined, the studies show that some L1-L2 fluency relationships are relatively stable across proficiency levels, task type, and learning context.
From Cold War Geopolitics to the Crisis of Global Capitalism: The History of Chinese Wireless Network Infrastructures (1987–2020)
Authors: Chen Jianqing
Published: January 2023

This paper explores the genesis and growth of the current Chinese wireless network infrastructures by pulling together the historical threads of two telecommunications infrastructures: first, the development of the first-tier inter-provincial optical backbone, the “Eight Vertical and Eight Horizontal Fibre-optic Grid,” in the late 1980s and 1990s; and second, the deployment of two broadband-access cellular networks, the third-generation (3G) cellular networks in 2008 and the fourth-generation (4G) networks from 2013 to now, which constitute the wireless network's edges. I insert the development of Chinese wireless networks since the 1980s into the interconnected global technological environment, contextualizing the infrastructure deployment in the history of Sino-American technological cooperation and competition, traversing the final decade of the Cold War era (the 1980s), the dual global expansion of economic neoliberalism and informational technology since the 1990s and the crisis of global capitalism since 2008. This historical inquiry reconciles two historical (meta-)narratives that are not always compatible with each other – the Chinese narratives grounded on the overarching concept of Chinese post-socialism, and the narratives in Western discourses that often evoke Cold War/post-Cold War dialectics. This paper examines the global distribution of wireless network infrastructures on the basis of commercialization, technology transfers and trades of techno-commodities across borders, challenging the reduced depiction of the Chinese wireless network as an extension, or an exception, to the West-centred techno-capitalist system.
A review and evaluation of study design considerations for omega-3 fatty acid supplementation trials in physically trained participants
Authors: Anthony Ryan , Macartney Michael J. , Heileson Jeffery L. , McLennan Peter L. , Peoples Gregory E.
Published: January 2023

Long-chain omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (LC n-3 PUFA) supplements, rich in eicosapentaenoic acid and/or docosahexaenoic acid, are increasingly being recommended within athletic institutions. However, the wide range of doses, durations and study designs implemented across trials makes it difficult to provide clear recommendations. The importance of study design characteristics in LC n-3 PUFA trials has been detailed in cardiovascular disease research, and these considerations may guide LC n-3 PUFA study design in healthy cohorts. This systematic review examined the quality of studies and study design considerations used in evaluating the evidence for LC n-3 PUFA improving performance in physically trained adults. SCOPUS, PubMed and Web of Science electronic databases were searched to identify studies that supplemented LC n-3 PUFA in physically trained participants. Forty-six (n = 46) studies met inclusion. Most studies used a randomised control design. Risk of bias, assessed using the design-appropriate Cochrane Collaboration tool, revealed that studies had a predominant judgment of ‘some concerns’, ‘high risk’ or ‘moderate risk’ in randomised controlled, randomised crossover or non-randomised studies, respectively. A custom five-point quality assessment scale demonstrated that no study satisfied all recommendations for LC n-3 PUFA study design. This review has highlighted that the disparate range of study designs is likely contributing to the inconclusive state of outcomes pertaining to LC n-3 PUFA as a potential ergogenic aid. Further research must adequately account for the specific LC n-3 PUFA study design considerations, underpinned by a clear hypothesis, to achieve evidence-based dose, duration and composition recommendations for physically trained individuals.
Effects of myo-inositol plus folic acid on ovarian morphology and oocyte quality in PCOS mouse model
Authors: Haghighi Maryam , Mehdizadeh Mehdi , Amjadi Fatemehsadat , Zandieh Zahra , Najafi Mohammad , Artimani Tayebe , Mohammadi Fatemeh , Mehdizadeh Rana
Published: January 2023

Although the role of myo-inositol (MYO) in promoting the oocyte quality of PCOS patients has been documented in human studies; the cellular effects of this supplement on oocytes have not been directly examined due to ethical limitations. In the first phase of this study, MYO dosimetry was carried out simultaneously with the PCOS model development. An effective dose was obtained following the assessment of fasting insulin and testosterone levels using ELISA and ovarian morphology appraisal by histopathology. In the second phase, following the continuous administration of the effective dose of MYO and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), cellular evaluation was performed. The quality of oocytes from superovulation was analyzed by examining maturity and normal morphology percentage using a stereomicroscope, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione (GSH) levels using fluorometry, and ATP count evaluation using ELISA. The results revealed that, among the four different MYO concentrations, the 0.36 mg/g dose compared with the DHEA group reduced testosterone levels and large atretic antral follicles (LAtAnF) diameter. This dose also increased the corpus luteum count and the granulosa:theca (G/T)layer thickness ratio in antral follicles. Furthermore, this dose increased mature oocytes and normal morphology percentage, ATP count, and GSH levels; however, it decreased ROS levels in mature oocytes. Our findings provide the grounds for further cellular and molecular studies on the PCOS mouse model, suggesting that the improvement in mitochondrial function and its antioxidant properties is probably one of the mechanisms by which MYO increases oocyte quality.
Morphometric indices of native sheep breeds of the Himalayan region of India using multivariate principal component analysis
Authors: Khan Nusrat Nabi , Ganai Nazir A. , Ahmad Tavsief , Shanaz Syed , Majid Ruksana , Mir Mohsin Ayoub , Ahmad Shiekh Firdous
Published: January 2023

This study was performed to analyze the morphometric traits and indices in 3000 animals of five registered sheep breeds in the Himalayan region under a multivariate approach. Data were recorded under field conditions with equal coverage of the five breeds, viz., Karnah, Gurez, Poonchi, Bakerwal and Changthangi on body length (BL), height at withers (HW), chest girth (CG), ear length (EL), and tail length (TL). Furthermore, four derived traits (indices) were studied, which included an index of body frame (IBF), an index of thorax development (ITD), a Baron–Crevat index (BCI), and an index of body weight (IBW). Multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) was undertaken on nine morphometric traits. Kaiser’s criterion was used to reduce the number of principal components for further analysis and interpretation. The adequacy of sampling was evaluated using Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity. The mean BL ranged from 52.15 (Changthangi) to 71.13 (Gurez). The estimates of HW, CG, EL and TL were highest in Gurez (63.49), Bakerwal (84.82), Bakerwal (7.26), and Karnah (8.18) breeds, respectively. Among the derived traits, the highest IBF was observed in the Gurez breed with an estimate of 112.22. Upon multivariate PCA on the dataset, the first four principal components were able to explain 92.117% of the total variance. The KMO test, Bartlett’s test of sphericity and estimated communalities showed the appropriateness of PCA on the evaluated traits. Four eigenvalues were greater than one and were extracted for further analysis. Morphometric traits were highly correlated, except for EL and TL that showed lower correlation estimates with other traits. The Changthangi population showed the lowest estimates of BL, HW, CG and rectangular body frame. The present study ascertained important morphometric traits/indices that can help in developing selection criteria and formulating sustainable breeding and conservation plans vis-à-vis the unique sheep breeds of the temperate Himalayas.
An unusual case of pulmonary atresia with ventricular septal defect and multiple major aortopulmonary collateral arteries: undiagnosed until adulthood
Authors: Topcu Feyza Sönmez , Simsek Baran , Ozyuksel Arda
Published: January 2023

Pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect with major aortopulmonary collateral arteries is an extremely complex, heterogeneous, and rare anomaly. This group of patients may not be able to survive until adulthood without any interventions or treatment. Although surgical management of patients diagnosed in newborn, infant, or early childhood is clear, treatment of patients diagnosed in adulthood still remains a significant problem. The pre-operative clinical status, imaging methods, and operative findings might be helpful for planning the most appropriate management. Herein, we report a unique case of pulmonary atresia and ventricular septal defect with major aortopulmonary collateral arteries who remained asymptomatic until the age of 18 years.
The interface of explicit and implicit second-language knowledge: A longitudinal study
Authors: Kim Kathy MinHye , Godfroid Aline
Published: January 2023

The aim of our study was to examine the longitudinal associations between two forms of second language (L2) knowledge (i.e., explicit and implicit knowledge) and the activity types that facilitate different processing mechanisms (i.e., form- and meaning-focused processing). L2 English speakers completed two tests of explicit knowledge (untimed written grammaticality judgment test and metalinguistic knowledge test) and three tests of implicit knowledge (timed written grammaticality judgment test, oral production, and elicited imitation) at the beginning and the end of a semester of university-level study. To track engagement in the activity types, participants completed self-reported language exposure logs across five days throughout the semester. The results from an autoregressive cross-lag analysis suggest L2 explicit and implicit knowledge influenced each other reciprocally over time. Neither activity type predicted knowledge development. We conclude that language acquisition is a developmental process typified by a dynamic, synergistic interface between explicit and implicit knowledge.
Occupational therapy services in primary care: a scoping review
Authors: Donnelly Catherine , Leclair Leanne , Hand Carri , Wener Pamela , Letts Lori
Published: January 2023

Aim:

To examine and describe the current evidence about occupational therapy services in primary care.

Background:

Interprofessional primary care teams have been introduced to support the changing demographics and provide more comprehensive and coordinated care. Occupational therapists have the opportunity to play an important role in this expanding area of practice. To do so, occupational therapists must develop roles built on evidence and a clear understanding of the care delivery context.

Methods:

A scoping review was conducted based on the scientific and grey literature. Studies that described or examined the occupational therapy role with clients (individuals, groups, communities, populations) of all ages, conditions or occupational issues in a primary care context and that presented or referred to an occupational therapist working in a primary care setting were included. Studies were excluded if they were not in English or French. The Canadian Model of Occupational Performance and Engagement was used to chart the data.

Findings:

129 articles were identified, with 62 non-research and 67 research-focussed articles. A total of 268 assessments and 868 interventions were identified. The top interventions offered by occupational therapists were referring to/advocating for/coordinating/linking to and navigating community services (n= 36 articles), chronic disease management (n= 34 articles)/self-management education (n= 28 articles), health promotion (n= 30 articles) and falls prevention (n= 27 articles). The predominant focus in the literature is on adult and older adult populations.
Factors associated with distress and the impact of distress on acute health-care service utilization among patients diagnosed with breast and gynecological cancers
Authors: Lim Sut Yee , Ke Yu , Mok Natalie Kah-Mun , Tan Yung Ying , Neo Patricia Soek Hui , Chan Alexandre , Yang Grace Meijuan
Published: January 2023

Objectives

Patients with cancer often have unmet needs (e.g., physical, psychosocial, and emotional) during their cancer journey, putting them at risk for distress. This study aimed to identify factors associated with distress and to investigate the association between distress and acute health-care services utilization in a cohort of breast and gynecological cancer patients across different survivorship stages.

Methods

This was a retrospective cohort study of patients who visited National Cancer Centre Singapore between September 2019 and July 2020. Distress was evaluated using the self-reported Distress Thermometer and Problem List, with a distress thermometer score ≥4 signifying high distress. Data were extracted from electronic medical records. Multivariable logistic regression was used to identify demographic or clinical variables associated with distress and estimate the odds of emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations within 30 days of distress screening, adjusted for covariates.

Results

Of the 1386 patients included in the analysis, 510 (36.8%) reported high distress on their first distress screening. Variables associated with high distress included younger age, presence of psychiatric diagnosis, poorer Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status, and shorter duration from cancer diagnosis to distress screening. Patients with high distress were associated with higher odds of ED visits (adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 2.25, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.14–4.43) and hospitalizations (adjusted OR = 2.11, 95% CI: 1.27–3.50) within 30 days of distress screening.

Significance of results

Self-reported high distress was associated with higher odds of increased acute health-care services utilization (ED visits and hospitalizations) in patients with breast and gynecological cancer. Identifying the subgroups at risk of high distress could trigger early interventions that reduce unplanned health-care services utilization and possibly health-care costs.