bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Pharmacovigilance‐based drug repurposing: The search for inverse signals via OpenVigil identifies putative drugs against viral respiratory infections
Authors: Böhm Ruwen , Bulin Claudia , Waetzig Vicki , Cascorbi Ingolf , Klein Hans‐Joachim , Herdegen Thomas
Published: April 2021

Aims

Pharmacovigilance data are primarily used to identify adverse drug reactions by screening for disproportionate reporting, i.e. more reports of certain combinations of adverse events and drugs than expected. However, scanning for associations of drugs and adverse events that occur less frequently than expected provides hypotheses for drug repurposing, i.e. a known drug could be therapeutically beneficial for a new indication such as the coronavirus disease (COVID‐19). As coronavirus‐related adverse events are scarce in pharmacovigilance data prior to 2020, we searched for drugs suitable against similar viral diseases.

Methods

In this observational, retrospective, pharmacovigilance study, drugs associated with viral respiratory tract infections and/or diseases caused by RNA‐viruses, which are phylogenetically similar to SARS‐CoV‐2, were extracted from the US FAERS pharmacovigilance data 2004Q1 to 2020Q2 using OpenVigil 2.1‐MedDRA17, filtered for significant inverse associations (reporting odds ratio <1 and adjusted P < .05), checked for implausibility (e.g. only topically) or clinical infeasibility (e.g. strong cytotoxic effects), and categorised by their World Health Organization Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification code.

Results

A total of 126 drugs were identified. Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical clustering of the manually curated list of 112 candidate drugs revealed female sex hormones, antidiabetics, neuropharmacological sigma‐receptor modulators, peptidase inhibitors, antiviral drugs, nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists and tyrosine kinase inhibitors as putatively antiviral.

Conclusion

Scanning for inverse signals in pharmacovigilance data provides new hypotheses for drug repurposing, theoretically for all indications. Concerning the treatment of viral respiratory infections, there are affirmative data for some candidate drugs; the remaining proposed candidate drugs without already known antiviral mechanism of action should stimulate further exploration.
Semiparametric estimation of structural nested mean models with irregularly spaced longitudinal observations
Authors: Yang Shu
Published: April 2021

Structural nested mean models (SNMMs) are useful for causal inference of treatment effects in longitudinal observational studies. Most existing works assume that the data are collected at prefixed time points for all subjects, which, however, may be restrictive in practice. To deal with irregularly spaced observations, we assume a class of continuous‐time SNMMs and a martingale condition of no unmeasured confounding (NUC) to identify the causal parameters. We develop the semiparametric efficiency theory and locally efficient estimators for continuous‐time SNMMs. This task is nontrivial due to the restrictions from the NUC assumption imposed on the SNMM parameter. In the presence of ignorable censoring, we show that the complete‐case estimator is optimal among a class of weighting estimators including the inverse probability of censoring weighting estimator, and it achieves a double robustness feature in that it is consistent if at least one of the models for the potential outcome mean function and the treatment process is correctly specified. The new framework allows us to conduct causal analysis respecting the underlying continuous‐time nature of data processes. The simulation study shows that the proposed estimator outperforms existing approaches. We estimate the effect of time to initiate highly active antiretroviral therapy on the CD4 count at year 2 from the observational Acute Infection and Early Disease Research Program database.
Developing an early childhood oral health impact–specific health‐state classification system for a new preference‐based instrument, the ECOHIS‐4D
Authors: Kularatna Sanjeewa , Amilani Uttara , Senanayake Sameera , Tonmukayakul Utsana , Jamieson Lisa , Arrow Peter
Published: April 2021

Objectives

Most of the paediatric quality‐of‐life instruments in oral health research are not preference‐based measures, thus cannot be used in economic evaluations. The Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS) is one such instrument which assesses oral health impact on children's quality of life among three‐ to five‐year‐olds. With increasing demands for more resource allocation in oral health care, there is a need for an outcome metric which can be used as the outcome in economic evaluations. The aim of this study was to develop a preference‐based, health‐state classification system from the existing ECOHIS instrument.

Methods

The 13‐item ECOHIS instrument was applied to the carers of 280 preschoolers who participated in a clinical trial in metropolitan Perth, Western Australia. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to assess the dimensionality of the ECOHIS. Rasch analysis was used to eliminate and select items per determined dimensions and to reduce the number of response options for each item, because six levels were not amenable to valuation. The final classification system was determined through a combination of psychometric and expert advice.

Results

Items loaded on to four dimensions with the factor analysis. Using Rasch analysis, three items were selected from the first dimension (child functional and psychological impact) and one item from the second dimension (child social interaction impact). None were selected from the third dimension (parental distress and family function impact) as it is not an appropriate proxy method of measuring the level of impact on a child. The final classification system has four dimensions with three levels in each, and so it has been named the ECOHIS‐4D.

Conclusions

The ECOHIS‐4D classification system is a new preference‐based instrument derived from the existing ECOHIS instrument. Future valuation studies will develop a utility value set for the health states defined by this classification system, and this will guide economic evaluations related to oral health interventions.
Fear of nature, fear of self, fear of society: Psychic defense mechanisms in Adorno's theory of culture and experience
Authors: Hedrick Todd
Published: April 2021

This paper argues that the diagnostic import of Adorno's culture industry writings lie in their psychoanalytically rooted claim that contemporary culture is losing its ability to negate and reconfigure experience, due to the modern subject's instrumentalized relationship to culture. Adorno uses psychoanalytic ideas—namely, modified and historicized versions of Freud's theory of the instincts, ego formation, the reality principle, and the superego—to show that changes in the social organization of the psyche, which track the transition from myth to enlightenment, put the ego in a precarious position, torn between a primal fear of nature that drives it to submit to society, and internalized fear of its own internal nature, as well as of losing itself in society. This explains how culture becomes a resource capable of being mobilized by the ego's defense mechanisms of identification and introjection to shore up its own sense of solidity, thereby negating culture's potential for transcendence or transformation. This paper concludes with a coda that suggests that, while rejecting Adorno's metacritique of the reason is not sufficient grounds for rejecting the culture industry, critical theorists like Habermas and Honneth may have other tools at their disposal for contesting its conclusions.
Evaluation of the use of an endotracheal tube as a novel method of short‐term haemostasis in post‐operative paranasal sinus surgery in three horses
Authors: Melly V. , Baia P.
Published: April 2021

This case series describes placement of an endotracheal tube (ETT) with an air‐inflated cuff within surgically created sinonasal windows as a technique of post‐operative haemostasis. A frontonasal bone flap and a sinonasal window were performed routinely in three standing horses with paranasal sinus disease. In Case 1, the fistula was initially gauze packed, which controlled haemorrhage until concerns of gauze dislodgement necessitated removal 8 h post‐operatively. Severe haemorrhage ensued, requiring emergency passage of an ETT and cuff inflation for control. In Cases 2 and 3, the ETT was placed electively intraoperatively for post‐operative haemostasis. The ETT was easy to use in the standing horse and no discomfort or complications were recorded. It adequately controlled haemorrhage post‐operatively by application of controlled pressure to the nasal and sinus vasculature. ETT cuff placement and inflation over surgically created sinonasal windows has the potential to provide simple and reliable haemostasis following standing sinus‐flap surgery without the reported complications of conventionally used methods.
Microbial helpers allow cyanobacteria to thrive in ferruginous waters
Authors: Szeinbaum Nadia , Toporek Yael J. , Reinhard Christopher T. , Glass Jennifer B.
Published: April 2021

The Great Oxidation Event (GOE) was a rapid accumulation of oxygen in the atmosphere as a result of the photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria. This accumulation reflected the pervasiveness of O2 on the planet's surface, indicating that cyanobacteria had become ecologically successful in Archean oceans. Micromolar concentrations of Fe2+ in Archean oceans would have reacted with hydrogen peroxide, a byproduct of oxygenic photosynthesis, to produce hydroxyl radicals, which cause cellular damage. Yet, cyanobacteria colonized Archean oceans extensively enough to oxygenate the atmosphere, which likely required protection mechanisms against the negative impacts of hydroxyl radical production in Fe2+‐rich seas. We identify several factors that could have acted to protect early cyanobacteria from the impacts of hydroxyl radical production and hypothesize that microbial cooperation may have played an important role in protecting cyanobacteria from Fe2+ toxicity before the GOE. We found that several strains of facultative anaerobic heterotrophic bacteria (Shewanella) with ROS defence mechanisms increase the fitness of cyanobacteria (Synechococcus) in ferruginous waters. Shewanella species with manganese transporters provided the most protection. Our results suggest that a tightly regulated response to prevent Fe2+ toxicity could have been important for the colonization of ancient ferruginous oceans, particularly in the presence of high manganese concentrations and may expand the upper bound for tolerable Fe2+ concentrations for cyanobacteria.
Pridopidine reduces mutant huntingtin‐induced endoplasmic reticulum stress by modulation of the Sigma‐1 receptor
Authors: Shenkman Marina , Geva Michal , Gershoni‐Emek Noga , Hayden Michael R. , Lederkremer Gerardo Z.
Published: April 2021

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER)‐localized Sigma‐1 receptor (S1R) is neuroprotective in models of neurodegenerative diseases, among them Huntington disease (HD). Recent clinical trials in HD patients and preclinical studies in cellular and mouse HD models suggest a therapeutic potential for the high‐affinity S1R agonist pridopidine. However, the molecular mechanisms of the cytoprotective effect are unclear. We have previously reported strong induction of ER stress by toxic mutant huntingtin (mHtt) oligomers, which is reduced upon sequestration of these mHtt oligomers into large aggregates. Here, we show that pridopidine significantly ameliorates mHtt‐induced ER stress in cellular HD models, starting at low nanomolar concentrations. Pridopidine reduced the levels of markers of the three branches of the unfolded protein response (UPR), showing the strongest effects on the PKR‐like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK) branch. The effect is S1R‐dependent, as it is abolished in cells expressing mHtt in which the S1R was deleted using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. mHtt increased the level of the detergent‐insoluble fraction of S1R, suggesting a compensatory cellular mechanism that responds to increased ER stress. Pridopidine further enhanced the levels of insoluble S1R, suggesting the stabilization of activated S1R oligomers. These S1R oligomeric species appeared in ER‐localized patches, and not in the mitochondria‐associated membranes nor the ER‐derived quality control compartment. The colocalization of S1R with the chaperone BiP was significantly reduced by mHtt, and pridopidine restored this colocalization to normal, unstressed levels. Pridopidine increased toxic oligomeric mHtt recruitment into less toxic large sodium dodecyl sulfate‐insoluble aggregates, suggesting that this in turn reduces ER stress and cytotoxicity.

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Exploring the Impact of Shame on Health‐Related Quality of Life in Older Individuals
Authors: Mantzoukas Stefanos , Kotrotsiou Stiliani , Mentis Manolis , Paschou Athina , Diamantopoulos Epaminondas , Kotrotsiou Evangelia , Gouva Mary
Published: April 2021

Purpose

To explore the relationship between shame, ageing, physical disease, and quality of life in Greek older people.

Design and Methods

A cross‐sectional design using a stratified random cluster sample of older adults from Open Care Centers for the Elderly in the region of Epirus, Greece. Data were collected using (a) the Short Form‐36 Health Survey, (b) the Other As Shamer Scale, and (c) the Experience of Shame Scale. Data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Results

Internal shame was positively correlated with external shame (Pearson's r(177) =, p < .01), with negative effect on the mental component in both men and women (effect on women bW = ‐0.173, pW = .004, effect on men bM = ‐0.138, p​M = .047), b = path analysis beta coefficient and with a significant negative effect on the physical health component for men. External shame was found to have a significant negative effect on women's mental health (b = ‐0.266, p = .002) and a nonsignificant effect on the physical health component. Age was negatively related with the physical health component in both groups (bW = ‐0.392, pW = .002 and bM = ‐0.384, pM = .003), while the presence of a bodily disease corresponded with a lower physical health component score for men (b = ‐4.267, p = .033).

Conclusion

Shame in older individuals is present in both sexes. Older males suffering from a physical disease displayed a greater decline of the health‐related quality of life on physical health components, leading to greater internal shame. Older females suffering from a physical disease displayed a greater decline of health‐related quality of life on mental health components, leading to greater external shame.

Clinical Relevance

These results indicate the need for developing assessment and care plans for older individuals that incorporate in them the concept of shame as a factor in dealing with and adapting to physical disease.
Supportive encounters during pregnancy and the postnatal period: An ethnographic study of care experiences of parents in a vulnerable position
Authors: Frederiksen Marianne Stistrup , Schmied Virginia , Overgaard Charlotte
Published: April 2021

Background

Pregnant women and partners with psychological and/or social challenges are exposed to adverse health outcomes. It is therefore recommended that they receive targeted maternity care services. The relationship between parents and professionals is key to help parents engage with services and experience them as supportive. However, more knowledge is needed on parents’ care experiences during encounters with professionals to further understand when and how these are experienced as supportive.

Objectives

This study aimed at identifying the key elements of supportive care practices by exploring how parents in vulnerable positions experience their relationship and encounters with the professionals involved in their pregnancy and postnatal care.

Design

Ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in a Danish municipality, including 50 semi‐structured interviews with parents and 51 field visits during parent‐professional encounters, including informal interviews and participant observation. Using a purposive recruitment strategy, 26 women and 13 men were recruited, who varied in age, socioeconomic background and vulnerability factors. COREQ reporting guidelines were used.

Results

The analysis identified five themes: (a) Having a voice: Feeling listened to, (b) Being met with empathy: Feeling understood, (c) Worthy of attention: Feeling taken seriously, (d) On equal terms: Feeling like a normal family and (e) Moving in the right direction: Feeling reassured.

Conclusion

Positive care experiences facilitate engagement with services and professionals as this contribute to parents feeling included, respected and safe. Conversely, negative care experiences leave parents feeling excluded, judged and anxious, potentially reinforcing and adding to existing feelings of anxiety and stigma. This requires that professionals have good communication skills and are able to approach parents in an open and non‐judgmental way.

Relevance to clinical practice

Understanding the significance of supportive care practices is paramount for health visitors, midwives and other professionals involved in providing for parents in vulnerable positions during pregnancy and the postnatal period.
Workaholism, presenteeism, work–family conflicts and personal and work outcomes: Testing a moderated mediation model
Authors: Gillet Nicolas , Austin Stéphanie , Fernet Claude , Sandrin Emilie , Lorho Fanny , Brault Stéphanie , Becker Margaux , Aubouin Bonnaventure Julia
Published: April 2021

Aims and objectives

While research suggests that nurses who experience work–family conflicts (WFC) are less satisfied and perform less well, these negative outcomes may be more important for some nurses. This study proposes a mediated moderation model wherein the interaction between two individual characteristics, workaholism and presenteeism, relates to family life satisfaction and work performance with WFC mediating these relationships.

Background

Because a limited number of nursing studies have examined the potential outcomes of workaholism and presenteeism, we extend past research to address the question of how workaholism and presenteeism affect nurses’ functioning.

Design

We used a cross‐sectional questionnaire survey design to test our hypotheses. STROBE guidelines for cross‐sectional research were followed in designing and reporting this study.

Methods

A total of 419 nurses completed measures of workaholism, presenteeism, WFC, family life satisfaction and work performance.

Results

Results revealed that the relationships between workaholism and outcomes (family life satisfaction and work performance) through WFC were stronger among nurses characterised by high levels of presenteeism.

Conclusions

These results revealed that high presenteeism may exacerbate the negative relationships of workaholism to family life satisfaction and work performance through WFC.

Relevance to clinical practice

Healthcare organisations and managers should consider addressing work environment factors in their efforts to reduce the negative outcomes (e.g., low family satisfaction and work performance) of nurses’ workaholism, presenteeism and WFC.
Does participation in extended immersive ward‐based simulation improve the preparedness of undergraduate bachelor’s degree nursing students to be ready for clinical practice as a registered nurse? An integrative literature review
Authors: Davies Hugh , Sundin Deborah , Robinson Suzanne , Jacob Elisabeth
Published: April 2021

Aims and objectives

To determine if extended immersive ward‐based simulation programmes improve the preparedness of undergraduate bachelor's degree nursing students to be ward ready for professional practice as a registered nurse.

Background

The practice readiness of new graduate nurses to enter the workforce continues to raise concern among educators and industry. Often the transition period is a vulnerable time when the reality of clinical practice bears little resemblance of their experiences as a student. Simulation of a busy ward offers the opportunity for pre‐registered nurses to practise a variety of situations they are likely to encounter once qualified in a safe and supportive learning environment.

Methods

The review considered studies that investigated the experiences and learning outcomes of nursing students following participation in extended immersive ward‐based simulation. Databases searched included CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline and Scopus. Two reviewers independently assessed retrieved studies that matched inclusion criteria using standardised critical appraisal instruments. Reporting of review followed PRISMA checklist.

Results

Fourteen studies met the inclusion criteria. The majority of studies used a quasi‐experimental mixed methods approach (10). Programme evaluations focused on self‐reporting in learning satisfaction and student perceptions of performance. Six studies used a pre‐ and post‐test design to compare the after effect on preparedness for professional practice. Two studies investigated student learning between simulated experiences and experiences gained during clinical placements.

Conclusion

Learning satisfaction was high among students who participated in programmes that incorporated extended immersive ward‐based simulation experiences. Students are able to practise what they need to know and on what will be expected of them in professional practice. Evidence on whether these programmes make a difference in workplace performance, and retention of graduate nurses is yet to be established.

Relevance to clinical practice

Extended immersive ward‐based simulation allows educators the opportunity to meet the perceived needs of students in preparation for professional practice.
Clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of uterine serous carcinoma: A SEER program analysis of 1016 cases
Authors: Han Ying , Liu Chongdong
Published: April 2021

Aim

To identify the clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of uterine serous carcinoma (USC) and the prognostic factors influencing survival.

Methods

The retrospective, population‐based cohort study enrolled patients with USC diagnosed between 2001 and 2015 for the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. Kaplan–Meier analysis was performed to identify survival outcomes, multivariable Cox regression models were used to determine the risk factors influencing the disease‐specific survival (DSS) and overall survival (OS).

Results

A total of 1016 patients with USC from the SEER database were enrolled. The median age at diagnosis was 65 years. The 5‐year OS was 48.5%, and the 5‐year DSS rates were 58.0%, respectively. In the univariate analyses, AJCC stage, SEER summary stage, number of lymph nodes resected, and adjuvant therapy were significant predictors for OS and DSS, while grade, was significant only for OS. Multivariate Cox regression models demonstrated that poor grade, stage III/IV, distant disease, the number of lymph nodes resected being <4 and no adjuvant treatment were independent risk factors for poor OS, while stage III/IV, regional or distant disease, the number of lymph nodes <4 and no adjuvant treatment were independent risk factors for poor DSS. Multivariate Cox regression models also identified that chemotherapy and combination therapies were the independent risk factors for improved OS and DSS of early‐stage USC.

Conclusion

USC had a relatively poor prognosis compared with endometriod carcinoma. Moreover, advanced stage and fewer lymph nodes resected were independent negative prognostic factors for survival, while adjuvant therapy was significant for improved survival.
A response surface analysis investigation of the effects of (mis)alignment between interpersonal values and efficacies on interpersonal problems
Authors: Kehl Madeline , Edershile Elizabeth A. , Hopwood Christopher J. , Wright Aidan G. C.
Published: April 2021

Objective

In this study we examined whether discrepancies between interpersonal values and interpersonal efficacies are associated with distress, and provide a framework through which similar questions regarding intrapersonal alignment may be investigated.

Method

Using interpersonal circumplex scales, we assessed interpersonal values and efficacies in two large samples (undergraduate N = 1,453, community N = 1,099) and used response surface analysis to model the alignment of these variables and their association with interpersonal distress.

Results

We found that there were significant positive relationships between larger mismatches and greater distress. We also found that extremity in both matches and mismatches predicted more distress. At a more specific level, people who valued warmth but reported low efficacy for warm behavior reported problems related to being too cold to others.

Conclusion

This study highlights the value of elaborating within‐person discrepancies across personality levels, provides a model for doing so organized around the interpersonal circumplex, and specifies connections between value‐efficacy discrepancies and interpersonal distress.
College students in the western world are becoming less emotionally intelligent: A cross‐temporal meta‐analysis of trait emotional intelligence
Authors: Khan Mahreen , Minbashian Amirali , MacCann Carolyn
Published: April 2021

Objective

Over the last two decades, Western society has undergone a marked cultural transformation characterized by rising individualism. Concurrently, the digital landscape has transformed through the rise of social media and smartphones. These factors have previously been implicated in changing individuals' attitudes, behavior, and interpersonal interactions. We investigated whether these societal changes have coincided with changes in trait emotional intelligence (EI) over the last 17 years in Western university students.

Method

We examined this question using a cross‐temporal meta‐analysis (k = 70; N = 16,917).

Results

There was no change in overall trait EI; however, the trait EI domains “well‐being,” “self‐control,” and “emotionality” demonstrated significant decreases with time, after controlling for gender composition and between‐country differences.

Conclusion

We discuss these findings in relation to how they contribute to our understanding of trait EI, and how they add to the literature on how Western society is changing with time.
Unfair police treatment and sleep problems among a national sample of adults
Authors: Testa Alexander , Jackson Dylan B. , Semenza Daniel
Published: April 2021

The current study examines the associations between unfair police treatment and sleep quantity and quality among a nationally representative sample of adults from Wave V (years 2016–2018) of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (N = 12,057). Furthermore, considering the documented negative associations between unjust police treatment and both physical and psychological wellbeing, we investigate whether this relationship is attenuated by aspects of general health and depressive symptoms. Findings demonstrate that personal experience with unfair police treatment corresponds to worse sleep among adults, including sleeping fewer hours (especially 6 or fewer hours) and reporting more frequent trouble sleeping. This association was found to partially operate through depressive symptoms and general health. These findings suggest that strategies are needed among public health practitioners and law enforcement to mitigate the adverse health impacts of unfair police treatment.
Infant diurnal cortisol predicts sleep
Authors: Tuladhar Charu T. , Schwartz Sophie , St. John Ashley M. , Meyer Jerrold S. , Tarullo Amanda R.
Published: April 2021

The sleep–wake system is immature at birth and develops in parallel with the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis, a biological stress system of which the end product is cortisol. Perturbations in one system during infancy can maladaptively influence the maturation of the other system, leading to lasting sleep and cortisol system dysregulation and heightening the risk of enduring health problems. To better understand the early interplay between these systems, we examined whether actigraphy‐derived measures of night‐time sleep duration and onset were associated with cumulative exposure to cortisol, indexed by hair cortisol concentration, in 12‐month‐old children. Overall, early sleep onset predicted lower hair cortisol above and beyond sleep duration, family income and chaos experienced at home. Furthermore, both sleep and cortisol levels vary day to day, and temporal dependencies between daily sleep and cortisol regulation are not well understood. Thus, we assessed how the sleep characteristics on a particular evening related to salivary cortisol levels the following day and how daytime and evening cortisol related to the sleep characteristics on the same night. Lower total exposure to cortisol on a particular day was related to longer night‐time sleep duration the same night, but not sleep onset. Lower salivary cortisol levels on a given evening related to earlier sleep onset the same night, but not to night‐time sleep duration. Sleep duration and onset on a given night were unrelated to total cortisol exposure the following day. Findings suggest that in early development, the day‐to‐day relation between sleep and cortisol is not bidirectional, but more driven by diurnal cortisol.
Computer‐guided core needle biopsy of the jaws: A technical report
Authors: Stolbizer Federico , Galván Padilla Israel , Drago Agustín Adolfo
Published: April 2021

Objective

The aim of the present work is to communicate the use of cone beam‐computed tomography (CBCT) and digital surgery planning software for the fabrication of high‐precision surgical guides to perform core needle biopsy of intraosseous lesions in the jaws.

Methods

Digital preoperative surgical planning software originally designed for dental implant surgery and CBCT images were used to fabricate a patient‐specific stereolithographic surgical guide to perform a core needle biopsy of a mixed osteolytic lesion in the mandible in a 20‐year‐old patient. The core needle biopsy was performed in an outpatient setting under local anaesthesia.

Results

The surgical guide for core needle biopsy fabricated using CBCT images and dental implant software allowed obtaining a tissue sample of an intraosseous lesion, while providing control of the positioning, angulation, and depth of the needle, and minimizing the risk of damaging neighboring structures.

Conclusions

CBCT and digital preoperative surgical planning software are useful to fabricate high precision surgical guides to perform core needle biopsy, and they allow correcting errors and solving problems that may arise during the surgery. It is necessary to perform the procedure on a cohort of patients in order to validate the method.
The positive environmental impact of virtual isotretinoin management
Authors: Lee Justin , Yousaf Ahmed , Jenkins Samantha , Zaki Mohammed Tamim , Napier Cecelia , Abdul‐Aziz Omar I. , Zinn Zachary
Published: April 2021

Background/Objectives

Other medical specialties have studied how their practices influence the environment, but environmental impact studies in the field of dermatology remain limited. With respect to dermatology, vehicle emissions by patients traveling to and from appointments are an important factor influencing climate change. This study was undertaken to determine the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by managing isotretinoin virtually at West Virginia University Hospital.

Methods

A retrospective cross‐sectional study was conducted during the COVID‐19 outbreak from March 25 to December 1, 2020, where travel data were acquired and converted to emission data.

Results

5,137 kg of GHG emissions in CO2 equivalents were prevented by managing isotretinoin virtually during the study period. 49 400 kg of GHG emissions in CO2 equivalents would be prevented annually. This is the emission load released when 24 690 kg of coal are burned.

Conclusions

Environmental impact studies in the field of dermatology remain limited. GHG emissions were significantly reduced by virtually managing isotretinoin at a single institution. The practice of dermatology could reduce its carbon footprint by managing isotretinoin virtually, even in non‐pandemic periods. Given that isotretinoin management represents a small percentage of the overall carbon footprint associated with dermatology, dermatologists should identify other conditions amenable to virtual medicine to produce greater environmental impact.
Topical corticosteroid use for atopic dermatitis in the pediatric emergency department
Authors: Wang Jason F. , Young Trevor K. , Melnick Laura E. , Orlow Seth J. , Oza Vikash S.
Published: April 2021

Background/objectives

To investigate the evaluation and management of atopic dermatitis (AD) in the pediatric emergency department (PED).

Methods

This retrospective chart review was performed at the PED of a single institution and examined data from 2012 to 2017. Of 335 visits from patients 18 years and younger coded for AD, 167 visits with documented findings that supported a diagnosis of AD according to guidelines from the American Academy of Dermatology were included.

Results

The mean age of presentation was 6.3 years (standard deviation [SD]: 5.9). Of 11 patients with multiple visits, the mean between‐visit interval was 31 days (SD: 41). Topical corticosteroids (TCSs) were not prescribed or recommended in 63/167 visits. In an additional 46/167 visits, over‐the‐counter topical hydrocortisone was recommended. Of prescribed TCS, the mean TCS class was 5.5 (SD: 1.9). 61/104 recommended or prescribed TCSs were weak (Class 7), the most likely used class (P < .001). Dermatology consultation was requested in 14/167 visits and was associated with higher rates of TCS prescriptions (13/14 vs 91/153, P = .018), a higher mean class of TCS prescribed (3.1 vs 5.9, P < .001), higher prescription rates of systemic antibiotics (8/14 vs 10/153, P < .001), and higher recommendation rates for emollient usage (10/14 vs 46/153, P = .005).

Conclusions

Most patients presenting to the PED for AD were either not prescribed a TCS or were prescribed a weak TCS, often one that is over‐the‐counter. While there may be a variety of explanations for these findings, it is possible they reveal a practice gap regarding AD management in the PED.
The applicability of the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide among community‐dwelling older persons
Authors: Shim Yuhwa , Choe Kwisoon , Kim Ki‐Sook , Kim Ji‐su , Ha Jeongmin
Published: April 2021

Introduction

This study examined the application of the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide to community‐dwelling older persons in South Korea.

Methods

A cross‐sectional study design was used. The data were collected by surveying 200 older persons (117 female, 83 male) aged over 65 years at welfare centers for older persons. The Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire, the Suicidal Ideation Scale, and the Acquired Capability for Suicide Scale were used to assess participants' thwarted belongingness, perceived burdensomeness, suicidal ideation, attempts, and the capability for suicide. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the fitness of a model based on the interpersonal–psychological theory of suicide. This theory described that perceived burdensomeness and thwarted belongingness lead to suicidal ideation, which is transformed into suicide attempts through an acquired capability for suicide.

Results

Perceived burdensomeness was significantly associated with suicidal ideation among older persons, whereas thwarted belongingness was not. Furthermore, suicidal ideation influenced suicide attempts. The acquired capability for suicide moderated the relationship between suicidal ideation and suicide attempts.

Conclusions

To prevent suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among older persons, it is important to prevent them from feeling that they are a burden.
Physical fitness spurts in childhood: A study in boys
Authors: Pereira Sara , Garbeloto Fernando , Guimarães Eduardo , Santos Carla , Baxter‐Jones Adam , Tani Go , Freitas Duarte , Bustamante Alcibíades , Katzmarzyk Peter T. , Maia José
Published: April 2021

This study aimed to (1) estimate age‐at‐mid‐growth spurt (age‐at‐MGS) in Portuguese boys from two different regions—the Azores islands and Viana do Castelo, and (2) identify spurts in a variety of physical fitness (PF) components aligned by age‐at‐MGS in the two samples. A total of 176 (Azores, n = 91; Viana do Castelo, n = 85) boys aged 6 years old were followed annually to 10 years of age. Age‐at‐MGS and spurts in PF components (speed, explosive muscular strength, abdominal muscular strength, agility, and flexibility) were identified for each sample. The timing and intensities of the spurts were estimated using a non‐smooth mathematical procedure. In Azorean boys, age‐at‐MGS occurred at 7.8 years (6.99 cm y−1), whereas in Viana do Castelo it occurred at 7.9 years (6.20 cm y−1). Spurt in speed was attained 12 months after the MGS in both samples (0.53 and 0.35 cm y−1 in Azores and Viana do Castelo, respectively), whereas spurts in explosive muscular strength and flexibility occurred 12 months before the MGS and at the MGS (Azores: 21.59 and 5.52 cm y−1 and Viana do Castelo: 14.12 and 2.5 cm y−1, respectively). Agility and abdominal muscular strength peaked between 0 and 12 months after the MGS (Viana do Castelo: 0.37 m s−1 y−1 and 6.71 reps y−1 and Azores: 0.28 m s−1 y−1 and 19.36 reps y−1, respectively). Results indicate that developmental spurts in explosive strength and flexibility occur before, or are coincident with, the mid‐growth spurt in height, whereas spurts in speed, agility, and abdominal muscular strength occur after, or coincident with, the mid‐growth spurt in height.
Belonging and its frames: Rural employers' boundary construction concerning immigrant employees
Authors: Enbuska Marja , Lähdesmäki Merja , Suutari Timo
Published: April 2021

Rural employers can be significant actors in defining who is welcomed to the local community and under which conditions. Despite their importance, however, the role of rural employers in the belonging process of immigrant employees is not widely known. In this study, we focused on the discursive boundaries that rural employers (re)produce when speaking about immigrant employees. The empirical data of our study consists of 35 interviews in small and medium‐sized enterprises. We identified three frames within which employers’ carry out boundary work. These frames are dealing with work ethics, workplace rules and local community. We argue that belonging was constructed in these frames ambiguously, and highlight immigrants’ hard‐working attitude, cultural discretion and local stability. We also found that the idea of belonging was not built solely on immigrants’ adaptation but that conventional boundaries were also flexible.
Socio‐spatial strategies of school selection in a free parental choice context
Authors: Boterman Willem R.
Published: April 2021

The geography of education literature has demonstrated remarkable similarities in school choice strategies across different educational and spatial contexts. The literature finds that school choice strategies of the middle classes rely on deploying different forms of capital (economic, social, and cultural). At the same time, it is evident that the specific geography and institutional idiosyncrasies of the educational landscape are navigated in locally specific ways that are not just classed but also strongly intersect with ethnicity/race. In most contexts moving house plays a central role in school choice. However, residential relocation as part of school choice strategies is highly contingent on national and local regulations of school allocation and enrolment. Investigating the case of the metropolitan area of Amsterdam, this paper uses longitudinal individual, geo‐coded register data to study the socio‐spatial school choice strategies of an entire cohort of first‐born children (2012) in a free‐school choice landscape. Employing an analysis of the interconnections of residential relocation and school choice, this paper uses multinomial logit models to assess how school is differentiated by social class and migration background and how it is related to residential (re)location. It finds that school choice strategies are differentiated by both class and ethnicity, but also very strongly depend on residential context. Remarkably, the paper finds that while a substantial number of highly educated, high‐income parents move and enrol their children in homogeneous middle‐class schools, a majority of households do not move and hence navigate the school landscape in which they find themselves. It suggests that school choice policies indeed reduce the need for residential relocation, but at the same time are conducive to school segregation.
Bacteriophage therapy for challenging bacterial infections: achievements, limitations and prospects for future clinical use by veterinary dermatologists
Authors: Squires Richard Adrian
Published: April 2021

Background

Bacteriophages were discovered just over 100 years ago and have been used to treat bacterial infections in animals since the 1920s. The antimicrobial resistance crisis has led to a new surge of interest in the use of bacteriophage therapy as an alternative or supplement to antimicrobial therapy in humans and other animals.

Objectives

To describe the nature of bacteriophages and provide a critical review and update on the clinical use of bacteriophages in the treatment of challenging bacterial infections, with an emphasis on companion animal veterinary applications.

Methods and materials

The scientific literature on the subject was critically evaluated. Findings from the most pertinent papers have been presented in summary form and critiqued.

Results

Over the last 20 years there has been a considerable increase in the volume and quality of publications dealing with bacteriophage therapy. Some recent papers build on excellent work published in the 1980s and describe promising veterinary applications. Challenges related particularly to the registration and approval of phage remedies will need to be overcome before phage therapy can become a mainstream tool for use in veterinary settings. Considerably more research, particularly controlled clinical trials, needs to be done.

Conclusions and clinical importance

Bacteriophage therapy is one of the most promising approaches to tackling the looming antimicrobial resistance crisis, yet substantial regulatory challenges will need to be overcome before it enters widespread use. Phage therapy also may, in the future, improve the management of challenging bacterial infections that are not necessarily multidrug‐resistant.
Prediction of Stock Market Index Using a Hybrid Technique of Artificial Neural Networks and Particle Swarm Optimization
Authors: Ghashami Farnaz , Kamyar Kamyar , Riazi S. Ali
Published: April 2021

In this paper we examine the ability of Artificial Neural Network methods (ANN) for predicting the stock market index. We first conduct an ANN analysis and then optimize the ANN model using Particle Swarm Optimization algorithm (PSO) to improve the prediction accuracy. In terms of data, we use NASDAQ index which is one of the most widely followed indices in the United States. Empirical results show that by determining the optimal set of biases and weights using PSO, we can augment the accuracy of the ANN model for this stock market data set.
Asymmetric Effects of Real Exchange Rate on Trade Balance in Cote d’Ivoire: Evidence from Nonlinear ARDL Approach
Authors: KEHO Yaya
Published: April 2021

This paper analyses the effects of real exchange rate on the trade balance in Cote d’Ivoire using times series from 1975 to 2017. Although many studies have investigated this issue, most of them assume that this relationship is symmetric. This paper relaxes this assumption employing the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model by Shin, Yu and Greenwood-Nimmo (2014). The results show that trade balance responds stronger to negative shocks in real exchange rate than to positive ones in the long-run, while the short-run response of trade balance is symmetric.
Analytical and Experimental Studies on Wear in Spur Gear Running in Dry Condition
Authors: Sudhagar S. , Bhaskara Rao Lokavarapu
Published: April 2021

This study was performed to measure the extent of wear of unlubricated spur gears on the involute tooth. Contacts that roll and slide normally undergo wear. When material removal occurs due to surface wear from the gear profile, the surface pressure in the gear profile is redistributed. A mathematical model for predicting wear and wear pattern in spur gear has been developed. The prediction is based on wear-rate equation, load shared by the tooth in single-pair contact zone and double-pair contact zone. The distribution of the contact pressure was determined using the Hertzian cylindrical contact theory. For determining the sliding distance of the gears, the two-point observation method (TPOM) was used. Sliding distance at pitch point of gear and pinion was zero, because theoretically at pitch point, both zero sliding and pure rolling occur. The pin on the wear test method was used to obtain the wear-rate on the material and simplified to the time of measurement on the gear wear. Taguchi's method for the design of the experiment was used, which significantly reduced experimental time with less experiment.
Modulators of Change-of-Direction Economy After Repeated Sprints in Elite Soccer Players
Authors: Dolci Filippo , Kilding Andrew E. , Spiteri Tania , Chivers Paola , Piggott Ben , Maiorana Andrew , Hart Nicolas H.
Published: April 2021

Purpose: To investigate the acute effect of repeated-sprint activity (RSA) on change-of-direction economy (assessed using shuttle running economy [SRE]) in soccer players and explore neuromuscular and cardiorespiratory characteristics that may modulate this effect. Methods: Eleven young elite male soccer players (18.5 [1.4] y old) were tested on 2 different days during a 2-week period in their preseason. On day 1, lower-body stiffness, power and force were assessed via countermovement jumps, followed by an incremental treadmill test to exhaustion to measure maximal aerobic capacity. On day 2, 2 SRE tests were performed before and after a repeated-sprint protocol with heart rate, minute ventilation, and blood lactate measured. Results: Pooled group analysis indicated no significant changes for SRE following RSA due to variability in individual responses, with a potentiation or impairment effect of up to 4.5% evident across soccer players. The SRE responses to RSA were significantly and largely correlated to players’ lower-body stiffness (r = .670; P = .024), and moderately (but not significantly) correlated to players’ force production (r = −.455; P = .237) and blood lactate after RSA (r = .327; P = .326). Conclusions: In summary, SRE response to RSA in elite male soccer players appears to be highly individual. Higher lower-body stiffness appears as a relevant physical contributor to preserve or improve SRE following RSA.