bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The current state of academic librarians’ continuing professional development and the roles of continuing professional development providers in Thailand
Authors: Sacchanand Chutima , Wimolsittichai Nilobon , Kankonsue Orapan , Pattanakiatpong Wararak
Published: April 2024

This research explored the current state of the continuing professional development of Thai academic librarians and the roles of continuing professional development providers, employing a mixed-methods approach. An online questionnaire was completed by 243 Thai academic librarians and in-depth interviews were conducted with 20 library directors and deputy directors. The quantitative data was analysed using descriptive analysis, while the qualitative data was examined through thematic analysis. The research found that academic librarians recognized the importance of participating in continuing professional development activities and exhibited a preference for online continuing professional development, with ‘in-house’ providers and academic library networks assuming significant roles. The study recommends focusing on information technology skills and English proficiency. Concise and dynamic guidance is offered for academic libraries and continuing professional development providers to reshape continuing professional development activities to post-pandemic dynamics, based on academic librarians’ needs, and align their offerings with contemporary academic library challenges and trends, better suiting Thailand’s evolving educational context.
Memory and amnesia in the archival practices of national library and information associations
Authors: Black Alistair
Published: April 2024

National library and information associations are in essence meta-memory organizations. Yet the efforts of associations to secure their own history and protect their corporate memory for the future, especially in terms of safeguarding their internal archives, appear patchy. The ideas of the French historian Pierre Nora are examined, particularly his concept of lieux de mémoire (“sites of memory”), alongside associated concepts of invented tradition and heritage, which can be seen to intersect with the memorializing proclivities of national associations. Evidence is presented from a modest 2008 study of the archival policies of national library and information associations worldwide, reported by IFLA’s Library History Section. It is important to revisit this study because little publicity was given to it at the time; also, it provides a context for a recent case study undertaken by the author of the archival practices of the UK’s Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals.
Mechanical enhancement of natural-fiber-reinforced composites modified with recycled thermoset composite fillers
Authors: Cao Dongyang
Published: April 2024

Synthetic-fiber-reinforced thermoset composites pose a significant threat of environmental pollution owing to their nonbiodegradable nature. To address this issue, it is essential to establish an adequate recycling strategy to reduce composite waste. In this study, we prepared flax-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites and modified a liquid thermoplastic resin (Elium 188 O) with recycled thermoset composite fillers. The introduction of 15% silane-treated fillers into the polymer matrix resulted in a substantial increase in the energy release rate and fracture toughness at the fracture initiation stage in modes I and II. Specifically, compared with the unmodified matrix, the energy release rate and fracture toughness were enhanced by 44.8% and 42.8% (for mode I) and 40.5% and 85.4% (for mode II), respectively. Similarly, the flexural strength and modulus increased by 25.1% and 34.8%, respectively. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of thermoplastic composites will deteriorate significantly because of the low bonding strength between virgin and recycled materials. However, the flax-fiber-reinforced composites with a 15% silane-treated filler-modified polymer matrix maintained Young’s modulus and tensile strength of 89.9% and 91.2%, respectively, after 20 cycles of recycling. Overall, the strategy of inducing chemical-treated powdered composite wastes is a sufficient and low-labor-cost method to mitigate environmental pollution and improve the sustainability of recycled composite structures.
Evidence Map of Non-Pharmacological Dementia Care Partner Interventions Implemented in the US: Gaps and Impact Opportunities
Authors: Baker Zachary G. , Dellapina Maria , Gustavson Allison M. , Sefcik Justine S. , Koeuth Sokha , Gaugler Joseph E. , Van Haitsma Kimberly , Gitlin Laura N.
Published: April 2024

There are 200+ tested interventions for care partners (family, friends, and fictive kin) of people living with dementia (PLWD). But these interventions do not systematically cover relevant settings. Nor do these interventions affect all relevant outcomes that matter to people and healthcare systems. We present an evidence map of settings and outcomes from translated interventions to identify gaps. Of 190 studies identified, 31 unique interventions were retained in the evidence map. Identified setting gaps included studies set solely in hospitals/medical centers or set in multiple settings. Identified outcome gaps included interventions that improved care partner beliefs about providing care, care partner negative coping strategies, PLWD resources (e.g., social support), and PLWD coping strategies. Armed with an understanding of present gaps, we call on researchers to fill the identified gaps to ensure systematic coverage of settings and evaluation of outcomes that matter to people and healthcare systems.
Toward Person-Focused Assessment and Understanding the Human Need to Be Perfect: Commentary and Introduction to the Third Special Issue on Perfectionism
Authors: Flett Gordon L. , Hewitt Paul L.
Published: April 2024

In the current introductory article, we discuss the importance of balancing the variable-centered research in the perfectionism field with a person-focused approach. We examine the utility of a person-centered approach in assessment, research, and theory and the need to revisit overlooked themes central to understanding people who are extreme perfectionists. Our analysis focuses on addressing the core unaddressed issue of why perfectionists as unique individuals absolutely need to be perfect. We describe measures to assess individual differences in this need to be perfect and themes reflecting the need to be perfect that require investigation. The papers in this third special issue on perfectionism are then introduced and considered as examples of the merits of a broad approach that goes beyond trait perfectionism to also include perfectionistic self-presentation and the cognitive experience of perfectionism. We conclude by examining how certain variable-centered studies described in the current special issue yield insights about perfectionists as people when individuals are considered from a person-focused perspective.
Castro’s victory: An assessment of New York Times coverage of the 1959 Cuban Revolution
Authors: Bhayroo Shenid
Published: April 2024

This research applies framing theory and basic quantitative content methods to analyze the New York Times coverage of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, in order to examine assertions that New York Times stories contributed to Fidel Castro’s victory. Specifically, the study analyzes datelines, bylines, types of sources and story framing in all the stories about Cuba published on the front page of the New York Times between January 1, 1957, and December 31, 1962. The findings of this research contest long-held claims that the New York Times stories, in particular those written by reporter Herbert L. Matthews, contributed to the success of the Cuban Revolution. Matthews’s three-part front-page scoop in 1957 introduced Castro and the bearded Cuban revolutionaries to the world, but his stories and subsequent New York Times coverage are unlikely to have been decisive in Castro’s overthrow of the Batista regime. This study argues instead that the New York Times coverage of the 1959 Cuban Revolution was written through an aspirational lens, much like the stories about other major political revolutions written by U.S. foreign correspondents, and that stories played an important inter-media agenda-setting role, as evident from the many news organizations that covered the revolution after Matthews’ scoop.
Impact of Delirium Onset and Duration on Mortality in Patients With Cancer Admitted to the ICU
Authors: Tao Jing , Seier Kenneth P. , Chawla Sanjay , Tan Kay See , Wheeler Amanda , Sanzone Joanna , Marasigan-Stone Carina B. , Simondac Justina-Sheila S. , Pascual Analin V. , Kostelecky Natalie T. , Voigt Louis P.
Published: April 2024

Background

Little is known on the effects of delirium onset and duration on outcome in critically ill patients with cancer.

Objectives

To determine the impact of delirium onset and duration on intensive care unit (ICU) and hospital mortality and length of stay (LOS) in patients with cancer.

Methods

Of the 915 ICU patients admitted in 2018, 371 were included for analysis after excluding for terminal disease, <24-h ICU stay, lack of active cancer and delirium. Delirium was defined as early if onset was within 2 days of ICU admission, late if onset was on day 3 or later, short if duration was 2 days or less, and long if duration was 3 days or longer. Patients were placed into 4 combination groups: early-short, early-long, late-short, and late-long delirium. Multivariate analysis controlling for sex, age, metastatic disease, and predelirium hospital LOS was performed to determine ICU and hospital mortality and LOS. Exploratory analysis of long-term survival was also performed. Restricted cubic splines were performed to confirm the use of 2 days to distinguish between early versus late onset and short versus long duration.

Results

A total of 32.9% (n = 122) patients had early-short, 39.1% (n = 145) early-long, 16.2% (n = 60) late-short, and 11.9% (n = 44) late-long delirium. Late-long delirium was independently associated with increased ICU (OR 4.45, CI 1.92-10.30; P < .001) and hospital (OR 2.91, CI 1.37-6.19; P = .005) mortality and longer ICU (OR 1.97, CI 1.58-2.47; P < .001) LOS compared to early-short delirium. Early delirium had better overall survival at 18 months than late delirium. Long-term survival further improved when delirium duration was 2 days or less. Prediction heatmaps confirm the use of a 2-day cutoff.

Conclusion

Late delirium, especially with long duration, significantly worsens outcome in ICU patients with cancer and should be considered a harbinger of poor overall condition.
Pilot Study on the Impact of Early Subcutaneous Basal Insulin Administration in Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Authors: Murray Danielle S. , Gilbert Brian W. , Cox Tessa R.
Published: April 2024

Purpose/Background: Recent studies have shown improved outcomes with the initiation of earlier subcutaneous (SQ) basal insulin. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of early SQ basal insulin administration on hospital length of stay in patients with mild to moderate diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Methods: This was a retrospective, single-center study from a large community teaching hospital that included patients 18 years or older with mild to moderate DKA, identified using ICD-10 codes, who received intravenous (IV) insulin. Patients who received SQ basal insulin prior to a documented anion gap ≤12 mmol/L were considered to have received early SQ basal insulin and were compared to patients who received SQ basal insulin after closure of their anion gap (AG). The primary outcome was hospital length of stay. Secondary outcomes included intensive care unit length of stay, duration of IV insulin, time to anion gap closure, and incidences of rebound hyperglycemia. Safety outcomes included incidences of hypoglycemia, and hypokalemia. Results: Of 301 patients screened, 108 patients were included in the final analysis. Forty patients received early SQ basal insulin and 68 did not. Median hospital length of stay in the nonearly group was 71 h, compared to 62 h in the early group ( P = .57). Secondary and safety outcomes were similar between groups. Conclusions: In this study, there was no statistically significant difference in length of stay in patients that received early SQ basal insulin. Larger trials are needed to determine the significance of earlier SQ basal insulin in DKA.
Machinability of wood-plastic composites from the CNC milling process using the Box-Behnken design and response surface methodology for building applications
Authors: Homkhiew Chatree , Cheewawuttipong Watthanaphon , Srivabut Chainarong , Boonchouytan Worapong , Rawangwong Surasit
Published: April 2024

This research investigated the optimization of CNC milling parameters on hardness and surface roughness properties resulting from variations in speed (220, 470, and 720 rpm), feed rate (200, 300, and 400 mm/min), and depth of cut (3, 5, and 7 mm) based on experimental design. This study aimed to evaluate the effects and relation of milling parameters using different end mill diameters (8 and 12 mm) for machining wood-plastic composites (WPCs). All of the experimental runs were determined by the Box-Behnken design and optimized using the response surface methodology. The findings from this study revealed that the main milling parameters significantly affected the hardness, average roughness ( Ra), and mean peak-to-valley height ( Rz) of the WPCs. Increasing the speed in a range from 220 to 720 rpm resulted in higher hardness values. On the other hand, the Ra and Rz was decreased. Additionally, this experimental result is different from the morphological structure and surface observation. It was seen that the CNC milling conditions using high speed at 720 rpm displayed smooth surfaces, which resulted in visible evenness on the WPC surfaces. Finally, numerical optimization is a good technique for the experimental results and the predicted values. The predicted conditions for the CNC milling process using end mill diameters of 8 and 12 mm included a speed of 720 rpm, a feed rate of 300 mm/min, and a depth of cut of 3 mm with the best desirability of 0.973 (97.30%). These conditions were verified in the response models and confirmed the optimal values from observed values for the variables included in the models. Also, these optimal conditions for the CNC milling parameters can be used on other types of WPCs with melting points of plastic higher than 180°C.
The Re-mediation of Legacy and New Media on Twitter: A Six-Language Comparison of the European Social Media Discourse on Migration
Authors: Farjam Mike , Dutceac Segesten Anamaria
Published: April 2024

Scholarly literature has demonstrated that hybridity transforms both legacy and new media, but that this change is not even. We treat social media platforms as arenas of remediation, where users share and add their own context to information produced by both media subtypes and compare social media conversations about migration in six European languages that include links to either traditional or new media during 2015–2019. We use a mix of computational and statistical methods to analyze 3.5 million (re)tweets and 500,000 links shared within them. We identify the main differences in agenda setting power, function, and tone present within tweets that include links to legacy or new media. Our results show that discourses are similar across languages but clearly different when remediating legacy and new media. Trust in legacy media is correlated with higher proportion of shared links from legacy media and reversely related to the proportion of shared links from new media sources. Considering the volume and timing of the remediated content, we conclude that legacy media retains its agenda setting power. New media linked content tends to cover migration in association to subjects such as Islam or terrorism and to express strong critical opinions against migrants/refugees. The language used is more toxic than in legacy media linked content. The tweets remediating legacy media articles covered topics like domestic or European politics, causes of refugee arrivals and procedures to give them protection. Thus, legacy and new media remediated content differs in both tone and function: toxicity is low and factuality high for content linking to legacy media, with the reverse being true for new media remediations.
Pain Assessment Following Opioid Administration in Aneurysmal Subarachnoid Hemorrhage Associated Headache
Authors: Bui Van T. , Pfeifer Carolyn , Snelgrove Dan K. , Neyens Ron R.
Published: April 2024

Background: Headache is a debilitating complication following an aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH). Despite its impact on morbidity and quality of life, limited evidence characterizes the effectiveness of opioids. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate opioid associated reduction in pain scores in patients with aSAH-associated headache. Methods: This is a retrospective study of adult patients with an aSAH, Hunt and Hess grades I – III, admitted to a neurosciences intensive care unit. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to characterize headache treatment strategies and opioid associated reduction in pain scores. Results: Opioids were used in up to 97.6% of patients for the management of aSAH-associated headache. Median reduction in pain after opioid administration was −1 (IQR: -3-0). Correlation between opioid dose and change in pain scores was negligible (rs = .01). Overall, 68.8% of patients were discharged on an opioid analgesic with predictive factors being severe headache (OR 2.52; 1.04 – 6.14) and oral morphine milligram equivalents ≥60 mg per day during the hospital stay (OR 3.02; 1.22 – 7.47). Conclusions: Opioids were associated with a small reduction in pain when assessed via the NRS. An increased opioid dose did not correlate with a greater reduction in assessed pain scores. A high percentage of patients remained on opioids throughout hospitalization and were eventually discharged on an opioid. The impact of discharge opioid prescriptions and risk of opioid persistence creates a cause for concern. It is imperative that we seek improved pain management strategies for aSAH-associated headache.
CONfidence: Developing an app to promote bladder and bowel health
Authors: Cotterill Nikki , Schroeder Knut
Published: April 2024

The CONfidence app was developed to address an unmet need for access to self-help advice and information for bladder and bowel incontinence. The app was developed by the Bladder and Bowel CONfidence Health Integration Team and Expert Self Care and this paper describes the evolution of this innovation to empower patients and the public with bladder and bowel leakage. The app is intended to provide a proactive approach to continence promotion and not replace formal healthcare. Crucial steps were identified to ensuring this resource was accessible and understandable for the intended audience including: input from national clinical experts and individuals with lived experience to co-produce content, clear definition of scope, technical expertise in app development, clear language avoiding jargon or medical terms, credibility assurance and a strategic plan for dissemination. The app is free to download and will remain so to ensure evidence-based continence advice can be in the palm of all with a smartphone. The CONfidence app has been downloaded approaching 7000 times and is in use in 10 countries. A continual effort is required to share this resource as disclosure of these symptoms is shrouded in secrecy and many people could benefit from its content.
Mechanism Exploration on the Immunoregulation of Allogeneic Heart Transplantation Rejection in Rats With Exosome miRNA and Proteins From Overexpressed IDO1 BMSCs
Authors: Zheng Rui , Wu Xinxin , Li Si , Chen Xinhao , Yan Dan , He Jigang
Published: April 2024

Immunoregulation and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) play pivotal roles in the rejection of allogeneic organ transplantation. This study aims to elucidate the immune-related functional mechanisms of exosomes (Exos) derived from bone marrow–derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) overexpressing IDO1 in the context of allogeneic heart transplantation (HTx) rejection. A rat model of allogeneic HTx was established. Exos were extracted after transfection with oe-IDO1 and oe-NC from rat BMSCs. Exos were administered via the caudal vein for treatment. The survival of rats was analyzed, and reverse transcription qualitative PCR (RT-qPCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were employed to detect the expression of related genes. Histopathological examination was conducted using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining, and flow cytometry was utilized to analyze T-cell apoptosis. Proteomics and RNA-seq analyses were performed on Exos. The data were subjected to functional enrichment analysis using the R language. A protein interaction network was constructed using the STRING database, and miRWalk, TargetScan, and miRDB databases predicted the target genes, differentially expressed miRNAs, and transcription factors (TFs). Exos from BMSCs overexpressing IDO1 prolonged the survival time of rats undergoing allogeneic HTx. These Exos reduced inflammatory cell infiltration, mitigated myocardial damage, induced CD4 T-cell apoptosis, and alleviated transplantation rejection. The correlation between Exos from BMSCs overexpressing IDO1 and immune regulation was profound. Notably, 13 immune-related differential proteins (Anxa1, Anxa2, C3, Ctsb, Hp, Il1rap, Ntn1, Ptx3, Thbs1, Hspa1b, Vegfc, Dcn, and Ptpn11) and 10 significantly different miRNAs were identified. Finally, six key immune proteins related to IDO1 were identified through common enrichment pathways, including Thbs1, Dcn, Ptpn11, Hspa1b, Il1rap, and Vegfc. Thirteen TFs of IDO1-related key miRNAs were obtained, and a TF-miRNA-mRNA-proteins regulatory network was constructed. Exosome miRNA derived from BMSCs overexpressing IDO1 may influence T-cell activation and regulate HTx rejection by interacting with mRNA.
Does Environmental Degradation and Renewable Energy Consumption Influence Health Outcomes? Evidence from Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Kur Keghter Kelvin
Published: April 2024

Recently, health-related issues have been attributed to some environmental factors and practices in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). These factors have further increased the high mortality rate despite increased spending on health. This study investigates the impact of environmental degradation and renewable energy consumption on the health outcomes of the population in the region. The study used a panel of 45 SSA countries from 2000 to 2019 and employed the generalized method of moments (GMM) and pooled mean group (PMG) regression analysis system. The findings reveal that increased environmental degradation in the form of CO2 emissions exposes people to health hazards, thus reducing their life expectancy. Renewable energy consumption, on the other hand, is a major contributor to the increase in life expectancy. The study recommends adopting the appropriate energy mix to reduce the consumption of non-renewable energy.
Homicide and Mental Disorders—Perpetrators’ Prior Contacts With Psychiatric Services
Authors: Selin Klara Hradilova , Shannon David
Published: April 2024

This study examines diagnosed mental health disorders among nearly 800 perpetrators of homicide in Sweden between 2005 and 2017. The analysis is based on information from in- and outpatient registers, which has been linked to crime data on homicide. The results show that four out of the 10 homicide perpetrators had been in contact with psychiatric services during the year prior to the crime. It is about seven times more common for a perpetrator of homicide, irrespective of sex, to have been in contact with psychiatric services during the year prior to the crime than it is for someone in the general population to have such contacts in the course of a calendar year. The prevalence of different psychiatric disorders among homicide perpetrators follows the same pattern as that observed in the general population although at higher levels. In both populations, substance abuse, depression, and anxiety disorders dominate. However, the overrepresentation of substance abuse—especially multi-substance abuse—and personality disorders is particularly high among the perpetrators. Perpetrators of family-related homicide had particularly frequent contacts with psychiatric services prior to the crime. Female perpetrators had been treated for psychiatric disorders more often than men, which may reflect not only actual differences in levels of psychiatric ill-health but also differences in the propensity to seek treatment.
Perinatal Bereavement Photography: A Mixed-Methods Study on Posttraumatic Growth in Parents
Authors: Vivekananda Kitty , McDowell Chiara , Knipe Kayleigh
Published: April 2024

Perinatal death is a devastating loss for parents, often exacerbated by the lack of social support. There is accumulating evidence that perinatal bereavement photography is a valuable memory-making tool to support parents experiencing perinatal loss. However, very few studies have examined posttraumatic growth (PTG) concerning perinatal loss and bereavement photography. This mixed-methods study aims to investigate predictors of PTG for parents using bereavement photography. The sample consisted of 489 parents in Australia and New Zealand using professional perinatal bereavement photography. Quantitative data were gathered through an anonymous online survey. Qualitative data were gathered from 36 parents through recorded semistructured interviews. Quantitative results indicate that engagement with and sharing photographs within a supportive environment and having a spiritual orientation were significant predictors of PTG. The overarching theme of Meaning making was constructed through reflexive thematic analysis of qualitative interview data. Participants reported bereavement photography as humanizing the loss of their baby and wanting their baby's death to have meaning through legacy making and parents having increased compassion for other parents. Bereavement photos provide a tangible means for parental grief to be validated and facilitates ongoing meaning making from the loss.
Cleft Summit 2022: The Impact of a Unified Voice
Authors: Vyas Raj M. , Najjar Wassim , Losee Joseph E. , Kummer Ann W. , Hamdan Usama S. ,   The Cleft Summit 2022 Consortium
Published: April 2024

Objective

The inaugural Cleft Summit aimed to unite experts and foster interdisciplinary collaboration, seeking a collective understanding of velopharyngeal insufficiency (VPI) management.

Design

An interactive debate and conversation between a multidisciplinary cleft care team on VPI management

Setting

A two-hour discussion within a four-day comprehensive cleft care workshop (CCCW).

Participants

Thirty-two global leaders from various cleft disciplines

Interventions

Cleft Summit that allows for meaningful interdisciplinary collaboration and knowledge exchange.

Main Outcome Measures

Ability to reach consensus on a unified statement for VPI management.

Results

Participants agreed that a patient with significant VPI and a dynamic velum should first receive a surgery that lengthens the velum to optimize patient outcome. A global, multicenter prospective study should be done to test this hypothesis.

Conclusion

The 1st Cleft Summit successfully distilled global expertise into actionable best-practice guidelines through iterative discussions, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration and paving the way for a transformative multi-center prospective study on VPI care.
A method based on DWRNet and MGAU for RUL prediction of bearing with few samples
Authors: Yu Xiaoxia , Zhang Zhigang , Tang Baoping , Zhao Minghang , Xiang Zhaowei , Wang Xuecheng , Wang Xiaohai
Published: April 2024

Accurately predicting the remaining useful life (RUL) of a bearing is crucial in the prognostics and reliability management of machinery. Owing to the cost of wind power operation and maintenance and commercial barriers, collecting early failure samples of gearbox bearings is costly. Accordingly, the prediction of the RUL of bearings with few samples remains a challenging problem. To address this challenge, a two-stage method based on DWRNet and MGAU is proposed to predict the RUL of bearings with few samples. First, a bearing’s health indicator (HI) is constructed using a dynamic weighted residual network (DWRNet), which utilizes a dynamic weighted residual block to fully extract the fault feature of the bearing. Then, a meta-gated adaptive unit (MGAU) neural network is implemented to predict RUL of bearings with few samples via a gated adaptive unit and multi-task learning. Finally, the prediction ability of the proposed method is verified using a dataset of bearings.
Effects of interference fit variation on dynamic characteristics of full ceramic ball bearing rotor system
Authors: Gao Liuwang , Zhang Ke , Wang Zhan , Zhang Liqi
Published: April 2024

Bearing fit is one of the key aspects in determining the performance of FCBB (full ceramic ball bearing), which affects FCBB internal contact condition and support stiffness. In this paper, the interference fit value variations of FCBB induced by the centrifugal displacement and thermal deformation is calculated, the mapping relationship between interference fit and internal clearance is established, and the influence of preload and interference fit value on the dynamic characteristics of FCBB is discussed in detail. Finally, the vibration experiment of FCBB is verified by ABLT-9 bearing life testing machine. The research shows that interference fit value is the main factor affecting internal clearance. The increase of internal clearance will reduce the bearing radial stiffness and increase the non-uniformity of load distribution, while the preload will weaken the influence of internal clearance on radial stiffness and load distribution. The results provide a theoretical basis for improving the FCBB’s service performance and optimizing their assembly parameters.
A comparative review of Aphexda and Mozobil for mobilization prior to stem cell collection
Authors: Dietz Lauren , Marini Jessica , Hashmi Hamza , McGann Mary
Published: April 2024

High-dose chemotherapy followed by autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation is the standard of care for eligible patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma leading to prolonged progression free and overall survival. Successful engraftment following hematopoietic stem cell infusion requires adequate stem cell doses. Current mobilization regimens include granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) with or without plerixafor. Motixafortide is a recently approved agent that can be used in combination with G-CSF for mobilization. In the absence of any head-to-head trials comparing the two products, this article aims to outline the similarities and differences of these two agents. Though moxitafortide has a more favorable pharmacokinetic profile in comparison to plerixafor, in clinical trials, the agents demonstrated similar efficacy. In addition, the use of motixafortide in clinical practice may be limited by product cost as well as administration and monitoring requirements.
Advancing Qualitative Meta-Studies (QMS): Current Practices and Reflective Guidelines for Synthesizing Qualitative Research
Authors: Habersang Stefanie , Reihlen Markus
Published: April 2024

Qualitative meta-studies (QMS) have emerged as a promising methodology for synthesizing qualitative research within organization and management studies. However, despite considerable progress, increasingly fragmented applications of QMS impede the advancement of the methodology. To address this issue, we review and analyze the expanding body of QMS in organization and management studies. We propose a framework that encompasses the core decisions and methodological choices in the formal QMS protocol as well as the reflective—yet often implicit—meta-practices essential for deriving meaningful results from QMS. Based on our analysis, we develop two guidelines to help researchers reflectively align formal methodological choices with the intended purpose of the QMS, which can be either confirmatory or exploratory.
Simulating Virtual Organizations for Research: A Comparative Empirical Evaluation of Text-Based, Video, and Virtual Reality Video Vignettes
Authors: van Zelderen Anand P. A. , Masters-Waage Theodore C. , Dries Nicky , Menges Jochen I. , Sanchez Diana R.
Published: April 2024

Due to recent technological developments, vignette studies that have traditionally been done in text or video formats can now be done in immersive formats using virtual reality—but are such virtual reality video vignettes superior to traditional vignettes? To address this question, we examine participants’ experiences within a fictitious organization by comparing their responses to a relevant and particularly sensitive organizational phenomenon presented either through written text, a video recording, or a virtual reality experience. The results indicate that participants prefer more immersive methods, and that these increase their attention to critical study details. Moreover, this augments the effect sizes of several measured employee reactions—particularly those with high emotional content—suggesting that virtual reality technology offers a promising avenue for developing ecologically valid vignette studies to measure employee affect. To facilitate and expediate the use of virtual reality video vignettes in organizational research, we provide organizational scholars with a step-by-step instructional guide to develop immersive vignette studies.
Point Redemption in Loyalty Programs: The Role of Customer Relationship Characteristics and Their Implications for Service Providers
Authors: Li Chen , Swaminathan Srinivasan , Kim Junhee
Published: April 2024

Customer–firm relationship affects firm performance, and loyalty programs are a popular tool to enhance this relationship in service industries. An essential measure of a loyalty program’s effectiveness is its members’ point redemption behavior. Customers engage more with the firm when they periodically redeem points. However, current studies find that customers tend to stockpile rather than redeem points. In this research, the authors investigate the relationships between customer relationship characteristics in loyalty programs (i.e., purchase depth, purchase breadth, purchase recency, redemption depth, redemption breadth, and redemption recency) and customers’ point redemption behavior. The empirical analyses show that customers with higher purchase depth and redemption recency are more likely to redeem points. However, customers with higher purchase breadth, purchase recency, redemption depth, and redemption breadth are less likely to redeem points. In addition, once deciding to redeem, customers with higher purchase breadth and purchase recency will redeem more points. The results imply that managers should motivate point redemptions among customers who purchase a lot from the firm but are concentrated on their purchases and redemptions. The findings also indicate that point redemption is a valuable tool to regain customers who are drifting away from the firm.
The Water Drinking Provocation Test- an aid to decision making in the management of OHT and POAG
Authors: Lele Alpana , Pal Shabari , Goel Upsham
Published: April 2024

Purpose

To study response to water drinking provocation in primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), ocular hypertensives and glaucoma suspects and establish the role of water drinking provocation test (WDPT) as a relevant supplementary tool in glaucoma management.

Materials and methods

319 eyes of 161 patients were included in the study after retrospectively analyzing hospital records of patients who underwent WDPT. The patients were categorized into Group A (POAG on treatment), Group B (treatment-naïve POAG), Group C (Ocular hypertensives), Group D (glaucoma suspects). All patients were asked to drink 1 liter of water within 5 min and intraocular pressures (IOP) were recorded after 20 and 30 min of water intake. The baseline, peak and IOP fluctuation were analysed. A fluctuation of ≥ 5 mm Hg was considered positive response.

Results

19 eyes were categorized as Group A, 58 as Group B, 96 and 146 eyes as groups C and D respectively. Baseline IOP in different groups differed significantly. Mean peak IOP was higher in Groups B and C, followed by Groups A and D. Mean IOP fluctuation differed significantly across groups being maximum in Group A (7.0 ± 2.5) and minimum in Group D (4.8 ± 2.9). Positive WDPT response was seen in 89.5% eyes in Group A, 77.6% of those in Group B, 55.2% and 48.6% in Groups C and D respectively. The baseline IOP had a significant positive correlation with the peak IOP across all groups.

Conclusion

The WDPT is an inexpensive practical tool which serves as an invaluable aid in glaucoma management.
Effects of altered sensory feedback on piano performance errors: An exploratory study
Authors: Nunes-Silva Marília , Salomé Gleidiane , Gonçalves Fernando Lopes , Braun Janzen Thenille , Zendel Benjamin Rich
Published: April 2024

Music performance is an intensive sensorimotor task that involves the generation of mental representations of musical information that are actively accessed, maintained, and manipulated according to the demands of the performance. Internal representations and external information interact through feedback and feedforward processes that adjust the musician’s motor behavior to optimize a musical performance. This study aimed to examine the relationship between altered sensory feedback and performance errors. Seventeen experienced pianists aged between 33 and 54 years performed Hanon Exercise N°1 from memory under four different conditions: (1) normal (normal sensory feedback); (2) closed fallboard (altered haptic and auditory feedback); (3) blindfolded (altered visual feedback); and (4) combined (blindfolded and closed fallboard; altered haptic, auditory, and visual feedback). Performance errors were quantified based on a video analysis of the performances. Results indicated that compared with normal performance, participants made significantly more note errors in the blindfolded condition and more bar-adding errors per trial in the closed fallboard condition. The comparison between the normal condition and the three altered sensory feedback conditions revealed the impact of altering sensory feedback in musical performance. These findings are discussed in the context of music learning.
Wear behaviour of aluminium-based hybrid composites processed by equal channel angular pressing
Authors: Sharath BN , Madhu P , Verma Akarsh
Published: April 2024

In the present investigation, a systematic experimental wear study at room temperature on Al2618 and reinforced Al2618 in the solutionized state, and after each pass of equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) was taken up to obtain a fundamental understanding of the wear behaviour and generate reference data on wear properties. The authors prepared a hybrid composite using Al2618 with boron carbide (5 wt.%) and graphite (5 wt.%) by the stir casting process. Solution treated cylindrical specimens of Al2618 and reinforced Al2618 were subjected to four passes of ECAP through a 120° die at room temperature using the processing route (BC). From the results point of view, microhardness measurements were carried out at room temperature on the specimens from the solutionized work piece before and after each pass of ECAP. Scanning electron microscope and X-ray diffraction techniques were used to conduct the microstructural studies. After three passes through both routes, the microstructure showed elongated grains with many dislocations; and after four passes, the microstructure depicted nearly equiaxed grains. Sub micrometre sized grains were produced after three passes of ECAP. Moreover, there was a monotonic increase in the hardness values with an increase in the number of passes. Finally, we reported that there was an improvement in the wear resistance of Al2618 and reinforced Al2618 subjected to ECAP process. This scrutiny may accelerate the applications of aluminium alloys in the industrial sector.
Navigating the information environment about the Ukraine war
Authors: Corbu Nicoleta , Udrea Georgiana , Buturoiu Raluca , Negrea-Busuioc Elena
Published: April 2024

The concern about misinformation in the public space has become more worrisome during the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. In this context, we investigate what make people correctly recognize accurate information and detect misinformation about the war at the beginning of the conflict in Romania, a bordering country. By means of a national survey ( N = 1006) conducted in April-May 2022, we looked for predictors of people’s capacity of navigating the information environment about the conflict. Data was gathered via an online panel conducted by Kantar as part of a cross-country project implemented in 19 countries. Findings show that people are relatively good at discerning between correct and misleading statements about the war. Prior negative attitudes about the Ukraine invasion, the level of concern about the war, not having a conspiracy mindset, self-perceived media literacy, and the extent to which people believe fact-checks to be effective in fighting misinformation are all predictors of the accuracy of misinformation detection of the respondents. These results offer insights into how ideologically based/motivated misinformation could be countered in a war crisis context, in a country bordering the conflict.
The (un)controlled body: A grounded theory analysis to conceptualise stigma for women with gestational diabetes mellitus
Authors: Benton Madeleine , Hotung Natasha , Bird Jessica , Ismail Khalida , Silverio Sergio A
Published: April 2024

Health-related stigma is associated with adverse outcomes including depression, stress and reduced engagement in health behaviours which are particularly harmful in pregnancy and the postpartum. Women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) report negative psychosocial experiences and may be at risk of stigma related to the condition. We aimed to understand women’s experiences of GDM-specific stigma. Individual interviews were conducted with n = 53 women living in the UK with a current or past (within 4 years) GDM. Grounded theory methodology was used to analyse the data. Four themes were identified: (1) Preconceptions and misconceptions; (2) Locating, regaining, and negotiating agency; (3) Tension about and resisting the dominant discourse of stigma; and (4) Reclaiming control over the body. GDM-specific stigma was diverse and far reaching and may have broader implications for perinatal mental health and postnatal wellbeing. It is pertinent to investigate possible prospective associations between GDM-specific stigma, and biomedical and mental health outcomes.
Supporting physical activity adoption through recommender system technology: A pilot study
Authors: Agans Jennifer P , Ma Fenglong , Schade Serena , Sciamanna Christopher
Published: April 2024

We tested the potential for recommender system technology to provide personalized physical activity (PA) suggestions for inactive young adults with high bodyweight. We developed a recommender system using data from the 2017 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System and assessed interest in using the system among 47 young adults (mean age = 23.0 years; 63.4% female; 65.0% White; mean BMI = 29.4). Eleven of these participants (mean age = 23.6 years; 90.9% female, 63.6% White; average BMI = 28.5) also received a PA recommendation and a follow-up interview. Approximately half of the survey participants were willing to use the recommender system, and participants interested in the recommender system differed from those unwilling to try the system (e.g., more likely to be female, worse self-perceived health). Furthermore, eight of the 11 interviewees tried the PA recommended to them, but had mixed reviews of the system’s accuracy. Although our recommender system requires improvements, such systems have promise for supporting PA adoption.
Automated instance segmentation of asphalt pavement patches based on deep learning
Authors: He Anzheng , Zhang Allen A , Xu Xinyi , Ding Yue , Zhang Hang , Dong Zishuo
Published: April 2024

The location and pixel-level information of the patch are all critical data for the quantitative evaluation of pavement conditions. However, obtaining both parch location and pixel-level information simultaneously is a challenge in intelligent pavement patch surveys. This paper proposes a deep-learning-based patch instance segmentation network (PISNet) that employs you only look once (YOLO)v5 as the baseline and adds a semantic segmentation branch to provide an effective solution for this challenge. The proposed PISNet replaces the original backbone CSPDarknet53 and neck of YOLOv5 with a novel feature extractor named symmetrical pyramid network (SPN). The proposed SPN aims at repeating fusion and transfer of shallow semantic features and deep spatial localization features in the order of “FPN-PAN-FPN” such that the multi-scale semantic expression and localization ability of the feature map could be enhanced. Moreover, a modified feature selection module is also incorporated into the SPN as a skip connection to aggregate more spatial details of the feature map while suppressing redundant features. Experimental results show that compared with Mask region convolutional neural network (R-CNN), You only look at coefficients (YOLACT), YOLACT++, EfficientDet, Fully convolutional one stage object detector (FCOS), You only look once version 5m (YOLOv5m), U-Net, DeepLabv3+, and High resolution network-object contextual representations (HRNet-OCR), the proposed PISNet has the best detection performance. Meanwhile, the proposed PISNet achieves superior accuracy/frames per second trade-offs compared to Mask R-CNN, YOLACT, and YOLACT++. Particularly, the proposed PISNet has certain promising potential in supporting pavement patch detection in real-time scenarios and potentially degraded pavement patch detection. Moreover, the proposed PISNet can yield superior segmentation results compared with Mask R-CNN, YOLACT, YOLACT++, U-Net, HRNet-OCR, and DeepLabv3+ on public CRACK500 datasets. Code has been made available at: https://github.com/716HAZ/PISNet .
Prevalence, Disclosure, and Help Seeking in Black and Asian Male Survivors of Sexual Violence in the United Kingdom: A Rapid Review
Authors: Widanaralalage B. Kennath , Jennings Stacey , Dando Coral , Mackenzie Jay-Marie
Published: April 2024

Sexual violence against men has been significantly overlooked, and under-researched, with minimal attention paid to the influence of culture and ethnicity on survivors’ experiences of abuse. This rapid review examines prevalence, disclosure, help-seeking, and criminal justice experiences of Black and Asian male survivors in the United Kingdom. Eight empirical studies published since 2003 involving Black and Asian sexual violence survivors were included through comprehensive database searches, including gray literature and reference lists. Findings suggest prevalence data underestimate the true extent of victimization in ethnic minority groups in the United Kingdom. Barriers to disclosure and help-seeking were associated with specific cultural factors unique to Black and Asian male experiences, as revealed by three qualitative studies. However, accessing and reporting to the criminal justice system remains largely unexplored for Black and Asian male survivors. Methodological limitations within existing studies emphasize the urgent need for substantial, high-quality research that addresses issues with inconsistent definitions, measurements, and lack of ethnic-specific approaches across prevalence, disclosure, help-seeking, and criminal justice experiences. Culturally informed professional training emerges as a critical requirement to sensitively address the unique challenges faced by ethnic minority male survivors. Additionally, targeted outreach initiatives hold the potential to engage minority male survivors more effectively. A collaborative, system-wide approach is vital to bring to the forefront the overlooked experiences of ethnic minority males, thereby promoting an environment of support, understanding, and recovery.