bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A systematic integrative review of cognitive biases in consumer health information seeking: emerging perspective of behavioral information research
Authors: Chen Tsangyao
Published: December 2020

Purpose

With the growing interest in behavioral health and medical decision-making, this systematic integrative review aims to understand research on cognitive biases in the context of consumer health information seeking and where future research opportunities may reside.

Design/methodology/approach

Following a systematic review protocol, 40 empirical research articles, out of 1,127 journal research papers from 12 academic databases, from 1995 to 2019, are included for review.

Findings

The study of cognitive biases in consumer health information seeking is a nascent and fast-growing phenomenon, with variety in publication venues and research methods. Among the 16 biases investigated, optimistic bias and confirmation bias have attracted most attention (46.9%). Researchers are most interested in specific disease/illness (35%) and the health factors of consumer products (17.5%). For theoretical presence, about one-third of the reviewed articles have cited behavioral economist Daniel Kahneman, although most of the references are the early works of Kahneman.

Research limitations/implications

As an emerging research area, there exists plenty of cognitive biases to be investigated in the context of health information seeking. In the meantime, the adoption of more recent theoretical insights such as nudge for debiasing may enrich this research area. Health communication scientists may find incorporating the behavioral decision research framework enriches the disciplinary inquiry of health information seeking, while information scientists could use it to commence the cognitive turn of information science evolution.

Originality/value

Through evidence-based understanding, this review shows the potential research directions that health communication scientists and information scientists could contribute to optimize health decisions through the adoption of behavioral decision research framework.
The long-term effects of digital literacy programs for disadvantaged populations: analyzing participants’ perceptions
Authors: Lev-On Azi , Steinfeld Nili , Abu-Kishk Hama , Pearl Naim Sigal
Published: December 2020

Purpose

This study aims to examine the long-term effects of an Israeli digital literacy government program for disadvantaged populations, as they are perceived by participants of the program one year after completing the course.

Design/methodology/approach

Participants in the program were interviewed about the effects of participating in the program, their experiences and satisfaction, in retrospect, a year after they completed the program.

Findings

The main reasons for joining the program included cognitive motivations, mainly interest to become familiar with internet applications, followed by employment aspiration. Positive benefits from participation included accumulated knowledge, confidence in using technology, empowerment and enhanced sense of self-efficacy. Interviewees also reported that as they could not practice or communicate with instructors once they completed the program, a significant portion of the accumulated gains faded.

Social implications

Social and practical implications: Digital technologies constitute key infrastructure to facilitate public participation, as well as for gaining social, political and economic capital. Therefore, there is a significant social value in reducing digital inequality by increasing digital literacy of disadvantaged populations, i.e. citizens with low socioeconomic status and low digital literacy. This study sheds light on the benefits gained from such programs, as perceived by past participants.

Originality/value

While previous studies evaluating digital literacy programs focus on specific technical improvements and short-term gains, this study investigates the long-term effects and shortcomings of the program as perceived by participants.
The impact of operational stickiness on product quality: product diversification moderation
Authors: Lin Yu , Zhang Shuaishuai , Shi Yingjie
Published: December 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of operational stickiness on product quality. Particularly, it analyzes the moderating effect of product diversification on the relationship between operational stickiness and product quality of exporting firms from China.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a sample of 3,567 exporting firms between 2002 and 2012 in China, this paper develops a fixed effect model to demonstrate the nonlinear relationship between operational stickiness and product quality.

Findings

Results show that operational stickiness has an inverted U-shaped impact on product quality, while inventory stickiness, property, plant and equipment (PPE) stickiness and labor stickiness are used to measure operational stickiness. Furthermore, the impact of operational stickiness on product quality is found to be moderated by product diversification.

Practical implications

Managers can achieve an optimal level of product quality by adjusting the level of operational stickiness. Firms with excessive operational stickiness should appropriately reduce the degree of stickiness to improve product quality. Besides, managers who focus on product quality should be cautious in adopting the product diversification strategy and be wary of the loss of product quality this strategy may cause.

Originality/value

This paper is the first study that has empirically validated the inverted U-shaped relationship between operational stickiness and product quality, and confirmed the moderating effect of product diversification on the relationship between operational stickiness and product quality. It provides a new idea to improve product quality by operational management.
E-biomedical: a positive prospect to monitor human healthcare system using blockchain technology
Authors: Jeet Rubal , Kang Sandeep Singh
Published: December 2020

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to eliminate the problems like modification of data related to patient without patient’s consent, management of patient's profile and any type of miscommunication between the specialist.

Design/methodology/approach

A novel approach is designed to overcome the problem of disease overlapping. To this end, Blockchain technology is utilized due to its numerous benefits.

Findings

The simulation of the model is done in R-studio, and the results are determined for the difficulty level in terms of time taken to create specific block. The outcome showed the effectiveness of the proposed Blockchain technology.

Originality/value

The approach discussed in this article is a novel approach that shows the effectiveness of Blockchain technology with modification of patients’ data without his/her will, management of patient profile with latest data, and elimination of any type of miscommunication between the specialists.
Macroeconomic policies and sustainable employment yields in sub‐Saharan Africa
Authors: Adegboye Abidemi C.
Published: December 2020

The impact of macroeconomic policies on employment yields from output growth in sub‐Saharan African countries is examined in this study. Data for 37 countries are used for the period 1991–2016 and sustainable employment yields are obtained by comparing employment elasticities for own‐account (vulnerable) and employers (formal) groups. The two‐stage least squares method is used to estimate employment elasticities for the panel datasets for three sub‐periods (1991–1999, 2000–2009, 2010–2016), and the feasible generalised least squares method is used to estimate the effects of policies on employment elasticities based on a pooled dataset for the three sub‐periods. Policy efforts are shown to be more effective if moved towards more flexible and targeted tax regimes, more rigid labour markets, and liberalised trade. On the other hand, investment and industrial policies do not appear to exert unidirectional effects on employment, especially given wide variations in government sizes and relative shares of domestic/foreign investment among the countries. There is also evidence that policy influences are more practicable with more formal employment groups. Patterns of macroeconomic policy directions are therefore critical to their effectiveness as labour market adjustment tools in the region.
Simultaneous determination of 10 new psychoactive piperazine derivatives in urine using ultrasound‐assisted low‐density solvent dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction combined with gas chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry
Authors: Zhu Binling , Meng Liang , Cao Jie , Yang Wenrong , Conlan Xavier A.
Published: December 2020

With the rapid development of synthetic drugs, novel piperazine derivatives, as an increasingly important class of new psychoactive substances (NPS), have attracted global attention owing to their increasing demand in the illicit drug market. In this study, ten piperazine derivatives were analyzed in urine samples after pre‐treatment with ultrasound‐assisted low‐density solvent dispersive liquid‐liquid microextraction (UA‐LDS‐DLLME) combined with gas chromatography‐tandem mass spectrometry (GC‐MS/MS). This simple approach involved the use of urine samples (1 mL) adjusted to pH 12, which was added to 100 µL of n‐hexane and subjected to ultrasonication for 3 min to completely disperse the sample in the n‐hexane solution. The resulting turbid suspension was centrifuged at 10,000 rpm for 3 min, and the supernatant was extracted and analyzed using GC‐MS/MS. Under the optimized conditions presented in this study, the linear relationship between the analytes was good within 10–1500 ng/mL, and the correlation coefficient (r) was between .9914 and .9983. The limit of detection (LOD) was 0.3–2 ng/mL (S/N = 3), and the lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was 10 ng/mL (S/N = 10) with the recovery of the analytes of interest from the spiked samples being 76.3%–93.3%. This method has been used to analyze real‐world samples; our study shows that the UA‐LDS‐DLLME approach can be used for rapid analysis while consuming minimal solvent for the simultaneous determination of a range of analytes. This method has the potential for use in clinical analyses and forensic toxicology.
Firm‐level political risk and Shari’ah compliance: equity capital cost and payouts policy
Authors: Karimov Jamshid , Balli Faruk , Ozer‐Balli Hatice , de Bruin Anne
Published: December 2020

Using a novel Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) firm‐level political risk index as a measurement for political risk corporations face, we examine the impact of firm‐level political risk on the cost of equity capital (COE) and dividend payouts policy of firms. The paper aims to shed light on adaptation implications of Shari’ah compliance (SC) on firms exposed to firm‐level political risk. We analyse if adoption of Shari’ah compliance requirements (SCR) mitigates firm‐level political risk and impacts the cost of equity and dividend policy. Our benchmark results show that a 1 percent increase in exposure to political risk contributes to a rise in the COE by 0.1 percent and in dividend payout by 5 percent. We find that SC eventually leads to a fall in the COE and in dividend payouts, despite exposure of the firm to political risk. Our findings have important policy implications that are relevant to Shari’ah‐compliant equities and beyond.
Ultrasound‐guided foam sclerotherapy for primary small saphenous vein insufficiency
Authors: Wu ZhouPeng , Ma Yukui
Published: December 2020

Background

We performed this single‐centre prospective study, aimed to analyse the safety and efficacy of ultrasound‐guided foam sclerotherapy for primary isolated small saphenous vein (SSV) insufficiency.

Methods

From June 2017 to June 2019, patients with primary SSV insufficiency and receiving ultrasound‐guided foam sclerotherapy were included in this study. The collected data included demographics of patients, clinical treatment results, occlusion rate and the patient's venous clinical severity score (VCSS) before and after surgery at 6‐month follow‐up.

Results

A total of 26 patients (14 women and 12 men) underwent ultrasound‐guided sclerotherapy in 26 lower limbs, and were followed up at 1 week, 1 month and 6 months after surgery. Short‐term complications included two severe pain during injection, one with vasovagal syncope, four with hyperpigmentation and two phlebitis. During 6‐month follow‐up, 22 were found to have complete thrombosis, and four showed partial thrombosis. There was a clear inverse relationship between SSV occlusion and SSV diameter (r = −0.502, P < 0.05), and pre‐operative VCSS evaluation (r = −0.598, P < 0.05). At the same time, there was a weak inverse relationship between SSV occlusion and the volume of foam used (r = −0.357, P < 0.05). The pre‐procedural VCSS score was 8.42 ± 3.25 and the post‐procedural VCSS score was 7.16 ± 3.14. Deep vein thrombosis, nerve injury and other important complications did not occur.

Conclusions

This study shows that ultrasound‐guided foam sclerotherapy is a safe and effective method for symptomatic SSV insufficiency, with less adverse reactions and better effects.
Surgical management of pancreatic trauma in Australia
Authors: Aldridge Oscar , Leang Yit J. , Soon David S. C. , Smith Marty , Fitzgerald Mark , Pilgrim Charles
Published: December 2020

Background

Pancreatic trauma is rare and complex. Non‐operative management of pancreatic injuries is often appropriate, and when surgical intervention is required there may be a choice between resectional or more conservative approaches. This is especially true for distal injuries. Operative management of proximal pancreatic injuries is extremely challenging and has less room for conservatism. We sought to characterize the surgical treatment of pancreatic injuries, comparing outcomes for those undergoing formal resection (FR) versus those undergoing more conservative surgical treatment. Our hypothesis was that ‘biting the bullet’ and resecting is not associated with worse outcomes than less invasive approaches.

Methods

All patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic injuries between June 2001 and June 2019 at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne were included. Outcome measures including length of stay, return to theatre, total parenteral nutrition use, pancreatic fistula, intra‐abdominal infection and mortality were compared between patients undergoing FR and those undergoing non‐resectional procedures.

Results

Of nearly 60 000 trauma presentations, 194 patients sustained pancreatic injury and 51 underwent surgical intervention. Over 70% were secondary to blunt trauma. There were 27 FR and 22 non‐resectional procedures. No major outcome differences were detected. FR was not associated with worse outcomes.

Conclusion

In distal injuries, where there is doubt regarding parenchymal viability or ductal integrity, FR can safely be performed with non‐inferior outcomes to more conservative surgery. Patients with high‐grade proximal injuries will usually have multiple other injuries and require resuscitation, temporization and staged reconstruction.
Green bonds in the emerging multilateral development banks: A (sufficient) alternative to catalysing private capital?
Authors: Pereira Mariana Yante B.
Published: December 2020

The article aims at discussing the rise of the green bonds in the context of the multilateral development banks, by problematizing their threats and potentialities to be an alternative to the existing financing system within the sustainable development agenda. It scrutinises the development rhetoric behind the emergence of multilateral development banks in the Global South, specifically in the Asian context, and attempts to foster alternatives to the Bretton Woods institutions. The two largest initiatives in that sense – the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank – started in Asia and also target countries in the region, giving the growing influence of China and the enhancement of interregional cooperation through the BRICS countries, currently led by China, India and Russia. The paper argues that there is limited scope for the promised innovations in both project assessment and the role of private capital, given the prioritisation of infrastructure as the premise to achieving the right to development among emerging and least‐developed economies. The research departed from the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the projects funded by the New Development Bank and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, from their inception until 2018, considering the approach that such institutions have taken to the social and environmental standards from their normative framework.
Longitudinal evaluation of the frequency of sexual intercourse and sexual activity in patients after nerve‐sparing robot‐assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy
Authors: Inoue Shogo , Hayashi Testutaro , Teishima Jun , Matsubara Akio
Published: December 2020

Objective

To evaluate the frequency of sexual intercourse and sexual activity of patients after nerve‐sparing (NS) robot‐assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RARP).

Patients and Methods

We prospectively obtained 2‐years longitudinal Expanded Prostate Cancer Index Composite (EPIC) and Sexual Health Inventory for Men (SHIM) score data from 99 patients. We classified the frequency of sexual intercourse and sexual activity as ‘none’, ‘less than once a week’, ‘about once a week’, ‘several times a week’, and ‘daily’.

Results

The percentages of patients who took part in sexual activity before and at 3, 6, 9, 12, 18, and 24 months after NS RARP were 55.6%, 27.9%, 38.8%, 42.5%, 44.4%, 41.7%, and 42.1%, respectively. The percentages of patients who took part in sexual intercourse before and at 3, 6, 9, and 12, 18, and 24 months after NS RARP were 41.4%, 9.0%, 13.3%, 16.3%, 16.7%, 22.2%, and 23.7%, respectively. Preoperative sexual status was classified into two groups: those who had sexual intercourse or those who only had sexual activity except sexual intercourse. Sexual function (SF) was investigated longitudinally using the EPIC and SHIM data between the two groups. The SHIM data showed an improvement in SF in the sexual intercourse group, but did not do so in the sexual activity except sexual intercourse group. On the other hand, SF in the EPIC data might reflect the postoperative improvement of SF in the sexual activity except sexual intercourse group.

Conclusion

There was a large discrepancy between the percentages of patients taking part in sexual intercourse and sexual activity; therefore, surveys of postoperative SF are recommended to include not only sexual intercourse but also sexual activity.
How the Global Pandemic Intensifies Vulnerabilities for Colombia's Women Social Leaders
Authors: Zulver Julia
Published: December 2020

Women social leaders in Colombia say that the biggest danger posed by the global pandemic comes not from contracting the virus, but rather from non‐state armed groups taking advantage of the quarantine to violently pursue social and territorial control. This article details three phenomena that highlight how existing vulnerabilities for women social leaders have been sharpened by the global pandemic: (a) women's community work increases while state and institutional support decrease; (b) armed groups' ability to target violence increases while women's ability to self‐protect decreased; and (c) armed groups' ability to act with impunity is increasing as access to justice is limited.
COVID‐19 Has Exposed How ‘The Other Half’ (Still) Lives
Authors: Gil Magdalena , Undurraga Eduardo A.
Published: December 2020

Socioeconomic factors are heavily shaping the COVID‐19 pandemic in South America. Consequently, societies are now facing the stark effects of lockdown, while largely failing to stop the epidemic. In Chile, this has been amplified by decision‐makers who have overlooked critical socio‐spatial aspects of the epidemic. Precarious living conditions, together with spatial segregation and unstable domestic economies, help explain why mitigation strategies remain unsuccessful. The article also explores how political frameworks for approaching these issues may change because of the pandemic.
Necropolitics in the Jungle: COVID‐19 and the Marginalisation of Brazil's Forest Peoples
Authors: Russo Lopes Gabriela , Bastos Lima Mairon G
Published: December 2020

COVID‐19 has been particularly damaging to already vulnerable social groups, such as forest peoples. In Brazil, indigenous, Afro‐Brazilian quilombolas and other racialised communities have suffered disproportionately under Bolsonaro's hands‐off policy during the pandemic. We argue that, far from happenstance, this policy fits into a form of necropolitics towards forest peoples. Drawing from Achille Mbembe's seminal work, this article analyses how underlying (and sometimes overt) racism, cultural depredation, and government‐supported deforestation constitute an assault now catalysed by the pandemic. Understanding forest peoples' disproportionate deaths in perspective is critical for addressing their growing vulnerability and the broader politics currently at play.
COVID‐19 and the Limitations of Official Responses to Gender‐Based Violence in Latin America: Evidence from Ecuador
Authors: Carvajal Andrea Espinoza
Published: December 2020

As the COVID‐19 lockdowns were implemented, Latin American countries raced to announce plans to address gender‐based violence in response to the increase in reports of intrafamily abuse. However, states' interventions had limited results. This article explores the Ecuadorian case. The Andean country's emergency strategy was based on reporting violence via the 911 emergency number, a plan that failed to consider that women quarantined with their aggressors would not have the opportunity to make the call. This article lays bare the extent of the gap between policy and practice in gender mainstreaming and the acute consequences of this during the pandemic.
Cuba's Response to COVID‐19: What Underlies its Apparent Success?
Authors: Samuels Fiona
Published: December 2020

Over the last few months extremely positive accounts have been circulating of Cuba's role and approach in the COVID‐19 response, both nationally and internationally. A universal healthcare system with family doctors and nurses providing door‐to‐door services, as well as the swift introduction of measures to control movement have been some of the factors underlying this relative success. However, this success hides the disadvantageous social reality facing the majority of Cubans, including differential access to services, a health system that is struggling and limited choice and freedoms.
Vulnerable Women in a Pandemic: Paid Domestic Workers and COVID‐19 in Peru
Authors: Pérez Leda M. , Gandolfi Andrea
Published: December 2020

Paid domestic workers (PDWs) in Peru, who are predominantly women, are one of the most vulnerable labour sectors in the country. We argue that an important factor explaining this is linked to national legislation that grants only partial rights to the sector, thus maintaining inferior labour conditions for such workers. Here we share our analysis of a survey of 314 PDWs, conducted between April and May 2020, confirming that PDWs in Peru are highly unprotected, particularly during the COVID pandemic, in which there has been a lack of comprehensive social protection schemes.
Covid‐19 Pandemic, Social Mitigation and Taxation: The Open Veins of Inequality in Latin America
Authors: Cimini Fernanda , Julião Nayara , de Souza Aline , Cabral Núbia
Published: December 2020

The pandemic of Covid‐19 has exposed the veins of inequality in Latin America. With a socioeconomic disaster looming, social emergency policies seemed inevitable. Yet while governments argue over the continuity of such policies and whether the fiscal rules in place should be respected, no sustainable response has come out. This essay problematises whether the pandemic could represent a critical juncture to forge ahead with political narratives that highlight tax exemptions and privileges enjoyed by the rich. We analyse the mitigation measures adopted by Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Uruguay and their repercussions on the debate surrounding progressive tax reforms to fund social schemes.
Evaluation of the performance of various machine learning methods on the discrimination of the active compounds
Authors: Shamsara Jamal
Published: December 2020

Machine learning (ML) method performances, including deep learning (DL) on a diverse set with or without feature selection (FS), were evaluated. The superior performance of DL on small sets has not been approved previously. On the other hand, the available sets for the newly identified targets usually are limited in terms of size. It was explored whether the FS, hyperparameters search, and using ensemble model are able to improve the ML and DL performance on the small sets. The QSAR classifier models were developed using K‐nearest (KN) neighbors, DL, random forest (RF), naïve Bayesian (NB) classification, support vector machine (SVM), and logistic regression (LR). Generally, the best individual performers were DL and SVM. The LR had a similar performance to the DL and SVM on the small subsets. The nested cross‐validation method was able to include different feature vectors in combination with different ML methods to generate an ensemble model for the datasets with similar performance to the best performers. The general performance for the baseline NB model was Matthews correlation coefficient = 0.356, and it was improved to around 0.66 and 0.63 by NB assisted FS with subsequent SVM/DL classification and an ensemble model, respectively.
IQSEC2 disorder: A new disease entity or a Rett spectrum continuum?
Authors: Lopergolo Diego , Privitera Flavia , Castello Giuseppe , Lo Rizzo Caterina , Mencarelli Maria Antonietta , Pinto Anna Maria , Ariani Francesca , Currò Aurora , Lamacchia Vittoria , Canitano Roberto , Vaghi Elisabetta , Ferrarini Alessandra , Baltodano Gerardo Mejia , Lederer Damien , Van Maldergem Lionel , Serrano Mercedes , Pineda Mercè , Fons‐Estupina Maria Del Carmen , Van Esch Hilde , Breckpot Jeroen , Kumps Candy , Callewaert Bert , Mueller Sabrina , Ramelli Gian Paolo , Armstrong Judith , Renieri Alessandra , Mari Francesca
Published: December 2020

IQSEC2 mutations are associated with IQSEC2‐related intellectual disability (ID). Phenotypic spectrum has been better defined in the last few years by the increasing number of reported cases although the genotype–phenotype relationship for IQSEC2 remains overall complex. As for IQSEC2‐related ID a wide phenotypic diversity has been described in Rett syndrome (RTT). Several patients harboring IQSEC2 mutations present with clinical symptoms similar to RTT and some cases meet most of the criteria for classic RTT. With the aim of establishing a genotype–phenotype correlation, we collected data of 16 patients harboring IQSEC2 point mutations (15 of them previously unreported) and of five novel patients carrying CNVs encompassing IQSEC2. Most of our patients surprisingly shared a moderate‐to‐mild phenotype. The similarities in the clinical course between our mild cases and patients with milder forms of atypical RTT reinforce the hypothesis that also IQSEC2 mutated patients may lay under the wide clinical spectrum of RTT and thus IQSEC2 should be considered in the differential diagnosis. Our data confirm that position, type of variant and gender are crucial for IQSEC2‐associated phenotype delineation.
Mixture‐based clustering for count data using approximated Fisher Scoring and Minorization–Maximization approaches
Authors: Bregu Ornela , Zamzami Nuha , Bouguila Nizar
Published: December 2020

The multinomial distribution has been widely used to model count data. To increase clustering efficiency, we use an approximation to the Fisher scoring algorithm, which is more robust regarding the choice of initial parameter values. Then, we use a novel approach to estimate the optimal number of components, based on minimum message length criterion. Moreover, we consider a generalization of the multinomial model obtained by introducing the Dirichlet as prior, yielding the Dirichlet Compound Multinomial (DCM). Even though DCM can address the burstiness phenomenon of count data, the presence of Gamma function in its density function usually leads to undesired complications. In this article, we use two alternative representations of DCM distribution to perform clustering based on finite mixture models, where the mixture parameters are estimated using the minorization–maximization framework. To evaluate and compare the performance of our proposed models, we have considered three challenging real‐world applications that involve high‐dimensional count vectors, namely, sentiment analysis, facial expression recognition, and human action recognition. The results show that the proposed algorithms increase the clustering efficiency of their respective models remarkably, and the best results are achieved by the second parametrization of DCM, which can accommodate over‐dispersed count data.
Successful in situ supplementary feeding leads to the independence of orphaned cheetah cubs
Authors: Warmenhove Carmen , Canning Gregory , Davidson‐Phillips Samuel , van der Merwe Vincent , Burger André , Davidson‐Phillips Phillipa , Naude Vincent N.
Published: December 2020

Orphaned cheetah cubs are typically removed from the wild and placed in captive facilities limiting their rehabilitation potential and conservation value. After three orphaned cubs (±7.5 months) were discovered on Welgevonden Game Reserve, South Africa, they were fed in situ approximately every 5 days for 9 months. Supplementary feeding was reduced as the cubs began hunting and ceased when considered fully independent (16.5 months). This approach provides an alternative strategy for the management of orphaned cheetah.
Pigmented purpuric dermatosis: Ten years of experience in a tertiary hospital and awareness of mycosis fungoides in differential diagnosis
Authors: Çaytemel Ceyda , Baykut Başak , Ağırgöl Şenay , Caf Nazlı , Demir Filiz Topaloğlu , Türkoğlu Zafer , Uzuner Esen Gül
Published: December 2020

Background

Pigmented purpuric dermatoses (PPD) can clinically mimic many diseases. Histopathology provides a definitive diagnosis. The aim of the study is to reveal the features of patients with PPD and to determine the disease frequency in the differential diagnosis, especially mycosis fungoides (MF).

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed records of patients with PPD admitted to our hospital from January 2010 to May 2019. We studied the histopathological features of 127 patients, and performed pattern analysis on cases with a confirmed histopathologic diagnosis of PPD. Among the cases presenting with clinical features of PPD, but displaying different histopathological diagnoses, we focused on MF and tried to clarify the features of PPD‐like MF.

Results

Overall, 389 patients were admitted to our hospital with PPD symptoms. Of them, 262 patients were diagnosed clinically and a histopathological examination was performed in 127 patients. Of 127, 87 were diagnosed with PPD, and in the remaining 40, non‐specific features (9.4%), vasculitis (6.2%), pityriasis rosea (4.7%), MF (3.9%), suspected‐MF (1.5%), and other dermatoses (%5.5) were detected. The biopsy findings of two patients showed PPD, but during follow‐up, the diagnosis of MF was established.

Conclusions

MF should be included in the differential diagnosis of PPD cases presenting with longstanding and widespread involvement.
Comparing Apples to Apples: Estimating Consistent Partial Effects of Preferential Economic Integration Agreements
Authors: Egger Peter H. , Tarlea Filip
Published: December 2020

The dominant paradigm of the estimation of causal partial effects of preferential economic integration agreements (PEIAs) on trade costs and trade flows is to rely on a selection on observables, with propensity‐score matching being the leading example. Conditional on some score of joint determinants of PEIAs and trade flows, causal partial effects of PEIAs on trade are obtained from a simple conditional mean comparison of trade between members and non‐members. Key for this approach to obtain consistent estimates is that the score used to form comparison groups is balanced: similarity of country pairs in the PEIA propensity core means similarity in all the observables. Otherwise, the effects may be biased, misascribing effects of differences in individual observables to PEIA membership. We employ a remedy for this bias through entropy balancing, demonstrate that there is an upward bias of PEIA effects on trade flows from lack of covariate balancing, and quantify the bias of the effects.
Biomarkers for central nervous system injury in cerebrospinal fluid are elevated in COVID‐19 and associated with neurological symptoms and disease severity
Authors: Virhammar Johan , Nääs Anja , Fällmar David , Cunningham Janet L. , Klang Andrea , Ashton Nicholas J. , Jackmann Sven , Westman Gabriel , Frithiof Robert , Blennow Kaj , Zetterberg Henrik , Kumlien Eva , Rostami Elham
Published: December 2020

Background and purpose

Neurological symptoms have been frequently reported in hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19), and biomarkers of central nervous system (CNS) injury are reported to be increased in plasma but not extensively studied in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). This study examined CSF for biomarkers of CNS injury and other pathology in relation to neurological symptoms and disease severity in patients with neurological manifestations of COVID‐19.

Methods

Nineteen patients with neurological symptoms and mild to critical COVID‐19 were prospectively included. Extensive analysis of CSF, including measurement of biomarkers of CNS injury (neurofilament light chain [NfL] protein, glial fibrillary acidic protein [GFAp], and total tau), was performed and compared to neurological features and disease severity.

Results

Neurological symptoms included altered mental status (42%), headache (42%), and central (21%) and peripheral weakness (32%). Two patients demonstrated minor pleocytosis, and four patients had increased immunoglobulin G levels in CSF. Neuronal autoantibody testing using commercial tests was negative in all patients. Increased CSF levels of NfL protein, total tau, and GFAp were seen in 63%, 37%, and 16% of patients, respectively. Increased NfL protein correlated with disease severity, time in intensive care, and level of consciousness. NfL protein in CSF was higher in patients with central neurological symptoms.

Conclusions

Although limited by the small sample size, our data suggest that levels of NfL protein, GFAp, and total tau in CSF are commonly elevated in patients with COVID‐19 with neurological symptoms. This is in contrast to the standard CSF workup where pathological findings are scarce. NfL protein, in particular, is associated with central neurological symptoms and disease severity.
Head‐to‐head comparison of amplified plasmonic exosome Aβ42 platform and single‐molecule array immunoassay in a memory clinic cohort
Authors: Tanaka Tomotaka , Ruifen Joyce Chong , Nai Ying‐Hwey , Tan Chin Hong , Lim Carine Z. J. , Zhang Yan , Stephenson Mary C. , Hilal Saima , Saridin Francis N. , Gyanwali Bibek , Villaraza Steven , Robins Edward G. , Ihara Masafumi , Schöll Michael , Zetterberg Henrik , Blennow Kaj , Ashton Nicholas J. , Shao Huilin , Reilhac Anthonin , Chen Christopher
Published: December 2020

Background and purpose

Various blood biomarkers reflecting brain amyloid‐β (Aβ) load have recently been proposed with promising results. However, to date, no comparative study amongst blood biomarkers has been reported. Our objective was to examine the diagnostic performance and cost effectiveness of three blood biomarkers on the same cohort.

Methods

Using the same cohort (n = 68), the performances of the single‐molecule array (Simoa) Aβ40, Aβ42, Aβ42/Aβ40 and the amplified plasmonic exosome (APEX) Aβ42 blood biomarkers were compared using amyloid positron emission tomography (PET) as the reference standard. The extent to which these blood tests can reduce the recruitment cost of clinical trials was also determined by identifying amyloid positive (Aβ+) participants.

Results

Compared to Simoa biomarkers, APEX‐Aβ42 showed significantly higher correlations with amyloid PET retention values and excellent diagnostic performance (sensitivity 100%, specificity 93.3%, area under the curve 0.995). When utilized for clinical trial recruitment, our simulation showed that pre‐screening with blood biomarkers followed by a confirmatory amyloid PET imaging would roughly half the cost (56.8% reduction for APEX‐Aβ42 and 48.6% for Simoa‐Aβ42/Aβ40) compared to the situation where only PET imaging is used. Moreover, with 100% sensitivity, APEX‐Aβ42 pre‐screening does not increase the required number of initial participants.

Conclusions

With its high diagnostic performance, APEX is an ideal candidate for Aβ+ subject identification, monitoring and primary care screening, and could efficiently enrich clinical trials with Aβ+ participants whilst halving recruitment costs.
Who Gets to Define Success? Listening to Stories of How People Value Firefox to Redefine Metrics and Revive a Decommissioned Product
Authors: PETRIE GEMMA , DAVIDSON JENNIFER
Published: December 2020

Challenging measures of scale is possible through listening to stories of how people value a product, and envisioning ways to measure success beyond typical metrics like Monthly Active Use (MAU) or Daily Active Use (DAU).

Understanding what people value is somewhat complex for a product like Firefox because people might use Firefox every day without thinking much about it. In this case study, we detail how we used Futures Thinking and participatory design methods to elicit stories of how people value Firefox.

This case study demonstrates that a relatively small number of meaningful ethnographic insights can be powerful enough to influence business strategy. By creating the space for listening to stories and encouraging stakeholder involvement, we were able to make the case to save one of our mobile browsers, Firefox Focus, despite its lack of scale.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Surveillance
Authors: FAULKNER SUSAN
Published: December 2020

When a man rang our doorbell late at night and claimed that his teenage daughter was in our house, but she wasn't, my husband and I considered getting a doorbell cam. With camera surveillance and facial recognition becoming more commonplace, we wanted a privileged view of our surroundings, and a sense of control over what was happening on our doorstep. But, while we wanted the doorbell cam to see our late‐night visitor if he ever came back, we knew it would also see us coming and going, and living our lives. We put the thought of a camera aside, but a few weeks later another uninvited guest knocked on our door. The coronavirus arrived in the US with a vengeance, and suddenly everybody we saw was a possible carrier of contagion. My husband and I, the people who had rejected a little doorbell cam as being too invasive of our privacy, started daydreaming about living in a country like Korea where our privacy and independence would be tested, but where our interdependence as humans would be understood. Where knowledge of everyone's comings and goings was a matter of life and death, and where we would know enough about the public health crisis around us to do something useful about it.
Ten People Thick: Design for Change
Authors: WITTENOOM SUE
Published: December 2020

An exploration of scale in the built environment. Looking first at the graphic scale of building documentation ‐ each layer with its own purpose and logic, being absolutely clear to reduce risk. And then considering architecture at human scale ‐ how design thinking becomes a scaffold for organisational change. It explores how to engage with people in a visioning process, how existing environments shape world views, and how those conversations “scale up” from the individual, through the group, to form the aspirations for one new building, a multi‐faith setting in Western Sydney that needs to find a new way to integrate Islamic and Christian theologies.
The Rollercoaster: How to Go from Global to Local and Back Again—The Case of a Walking Drive Model in Paris
Authors: MORIER MARC‐ANTOINE
Published: December 2020

The act of shopping for food is a very local experience, yet large food retail chains have built their business on homogenizing and standardizing the experience. In this article, we mobilize an ethnographic study carried out in 2018 for a food distributor regarding a new model of online retail pick‐up. The goal of the project was to understand how a new method for food shopping could be scaled across different types of neighbourhoods. We created a scale model that incorporates both individual shopping practices and the demographics of the neighbourhood; using ethnographic methods as the basic unit. Using concepts from gentrification, we also contextualize our insights within the changing dynamics of a neighbourhood—because places are not static entities. We discuss how the scale model could be used to duplicate results from one neighbourhood to another and the reception of our work by the client.
Humanizing Scale
Authors: Purser Bec , Rantavuo Heli , Romagosa Frank
Published: December 2020

In this session, we challenge assumptions of scale and explore what happens when we reject the notion that bigger is better and instead redefine scale to serve human values rather than corporate demands. How can scale be reconceptualized to address and meet community and human needs, first and foremost? We explore not only what scale is, but what should be scaled.
One Small Step for Ethnography, One Giant Leap for Banking and Insurance
Authors: ROTH JENNIFER , KLUCKHOHN SARA
Published: December 2020

In this presentation we argue that in many regulated industries such as banking, finance, and insurance, a post qualitative vs. quantitative world is not yet a reality. In such an environment, advanced analytics could be likened to being in its teenage years, while behavioral research is still in its infancy. Big data primarily drives our metrics, but in such a highly digitized and individualized culture, we know that ethnography is the missing piece of the puzzle. This means that as social scientists we must be the loudest (and sometimes lone) voice calling to leverage employees who are trained in these skill sets and incorporate these methods into our work. Slow and steady wins the race and our wins look different when compared with companies that already have been convinced of the value and don't have to do as much work to incorporate them into existing analysis. We have found that becoming EPIC members has been a turning point for our own growth mindset. Our industries are still primarily relationship‐based, and for those analysts new to regulated industries, EPIC is the ideal community to help propel the legitimization of a permanent place for qualitative methods in our data‐driven, highly regulated industry.
Transcending Time and Space
Authors: Cesafsky Laura , Ekberg Kat , Hanover Evan , Matter Scott
Published: December 2020

In this session we consider how ethnography and ethnographers journey across scales. We'll consider how ethnography (and ethnographers) can escape the present to explore futures, and examine different ways of dealing with distance.
The City as Organization: Ethnography for Alternative Futures
Authors: SHADE JORDAN , WUERTZ HAL
Published: December 2020

In this case study we use ethnographic outcomes from the study of the employee population of IBM, to inform new experiences for improving civic engagement in the resident population of Austin, Texas. In doing so, we experiment with a technique in speculative ethnography that uses research insights from a variant population with a variant challenge for in‐depth explorations of a possible future. We demonstrate, first, that while in speculative thinking big ideas can be imagined, transposing ethnography enables a richer exploration of possible futures, and thus, further depth in ideas. And second, that by combining speculative thinking with existing ethnography, researchers and design teams can unearth bold experiments and jump start a design process that drives quicker learnings and impact in new contexts.
Post‐Human Scale
Authors: Cesafsky Laura , Ekberg Kat , Hanover Evan , Matter Scott
Published: December 2020

In this session we examine the interfaces of humans, software, data, and machines. We'll consider how ethnography helps us understand beyond the human scale, how we need to adapt our practices to explore these relationships, and how ethnographic insights can be fed back into the more‐than‐human systems we build.
Software Quality and Its Entanglements in Practice
Authors: PRIOR JULIA , LEANEY JOHN
Published: December 2020

Effective software quality assurance in large‐scale, complex software systems is one of the most vexed issues in software engineering, and, it is becoming ever more challenging. Software quality and its assurance is part of software development practice, a messy, complicated and constantly shifting human endeavor.

What emerged from our immersive study in a large Australian software development company is that software quality in practice is inextricably entangled with the phenomena of productivity, time, infrastructure and human practice. This ethnographic insight — made visible to the organization and its developers via the rich picture and the concept of entanglements— built their trust in our work and expertise. This led to us being invited to work with the software development teams on areas for change and improvement and moving to a participatory and leading role in organizational change.
Scaling Research
Authors: Cesafsky Laura , Ekberg Kat , Hanover Evan , Matter Scott
Published: December 2020

In this session we'll play with scale in multiple senses. We'll look at value and evaluation, sample size and team size, and consider how the impact of ethnography scales in different ways.
Beyond User Needs: A Meaning‐Oriented Approach to Recommender Systems
Authors: HAJDAKOVA IVETA , MCDONALD DEB , KAROL SOHIT
Published: December 2020

This contribution is a case study of Spotify, a popular music streaming app, which uses automated recommendations to provide a better user experience to its listeners. Automated recommender systems have mostly been built around understanding user needs and user goals. Our case study presents a meaning‐oriented approach aimed at understanding what users regard as meaningful and how an automated recommender system can forge meaning and offer experiences that help develop existing connections to music and generate new ones.

Following the meaning‐oriented approach inspired by Lucien Karpik (2010), we were able to better understand how different audience segments engage with music and experience music as meaningful. We identified 2 cultural engagement models that listeners use to relate to music: (1) musical engagement during which music is the focus of the experience; and (2) non‐musical engagement, during which the listener is the focus of the experience. Each engagement model uses different types of cognitive and evaluative aids, which we refer to as cues and proof points, to derive meaning from listening experiences. We also identified nine distinct types of experiences of meaning defined by distinct types of cues and proof points.

The proposed approach is applicable to the study and innovation of experience‐led digital platforms and recommender systems.
Empathy Writ Small & Large
Authors: Agafonoff Nick , Ferris Lindsay , Steager Tabitha , Taylor Erin
Published: December 2020

Ethnography as a tool to evoke empathy is often denoted as a good in itself. How might the process of building empathy at scale work for (or even against!) the impact of ethnography in organizations?