bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Small survivors: description of two new species of Acanthocinini (Coleoptera, Cerambycidae, Lamiinae) from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul
Authors: NASCIMENTO FRANCISCO ERIBERTO DE L. , SANTOS-SILVA ANTONIO , FLECHTMANN CARLOS ALBERTO HECTOR
Published: June 2021

Due to intense human activities in the last decades, many native areas of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul were devastated to make way for agriculture and livestock. While necessary for the country’s economy, these changes threaten endemic species, including those that have not yet been described. The identification of new species contributes to conservation policies, and here we described two new species from the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul: Urgleptes monnei and U. nutrix. Additionally, Atrypanius lineatocollis (Bates, 1863) is newly recorded for Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul.
Electro-Magnetic Wave Absorbing Properties Study of Nano-Composites Based on Fe3O4
Authors: Jin Yihan , Luo Xi , Zhang Jinglin , Yu Yipeng , An Jing , Zhang Jianfu , Zhao Dongliang , Gao Kewei
Published: June 2021

Chemical coprecipitation method, hydrothermal method and micro-emulsion method were adopted to prepare pure Fe3O4 (X1) magnetic nano-particles, reduced graphene oxide-Fe3O4 (X2) binary composites and reduced graphene oxide-Fe3O4-polyaniline
(X3) ternary composites. The morphology, structure and magnetic performance were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and vibration sample magnetism (VSM). The result of TEM showed that Fe3O4 nano-particles
distributed uniformly on the surface of graphene and PANI matrix and the mean size was bout 13~14 nm. The electromagnetic data was tested by vector network analyzer demonstrating that the minnimum reflection loss (RLmin) value of X3 was -53.94 dB at 16.1 GHz with 1.5 mm thickness
and 3.82 GHz (14.18~18 GHz) absorbing bandwidth (RL-10 dB). Compared with pure magnetic Fe3O4 powders and rGO-Fe3O4 binary composites, the rGO-Fe3O4-PANI ternary composites were conduced to a great reinforce of
the electro-magnetic wave absorbing properties and absorbing bandwidth.
Preparation of Snake Neurotoxin Nanocapsules and the Analgesic Mechanism of P38 Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase Signal Pathway Combining Snake Neurotoxin Nanocapsules with Gabapentin
Authors: Yin Fengting , Li Xiaokun , Zhang Weili
Published: June 2021

This study aimed to explore the analgesic effect of snake neurotoxin combined with gabapentin (Gab) on neuropathic pain in rats with chronic compression injury (CCI) of the sciatic nerve based on the nanotechnology. Firstly, various solutions were prepared to obtain the inner water
phase, the oil phase, the outer water phase, and the dilution phase. Poly(lactic-co-glycolic) Acid (PLGA) and polyethylene glycol-poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PEG-PLGA) were added to the prepared oil phase solution to obtain the PLGA snake neurotoxin nanocapsule and PEG-PLGA snake neurotoxin
nanocapsule, respectively. After the nanocapsules were obtained, a rat CCI model was further modelled, and the reactive oxygen species (ROS) content in the rat brain tissue was analyzed and tested by the kit, and the optimal physical conditions for preparing the nanocapsules were tested. In
order to test the effect of nanocapsules on the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, the rats were divided into Control group, Sham group, CCI group, Gabapentin (Gab) group, and PEG-PLGA snake neurotoxin nanocapsule + Gab group. The rats in different groups were given
abdominal injections to compare relevant indicators of signal pathway. In the experiment, neuropathic pain was related to changes in ROS content, and snake neurotoxin nanocapsules could reduce the ROS content; PLGA snake neurotoxin nanocapsules and PEG-PLGA snake neurotoxin nanocapsules had
encapsulation efficiencys of 24.7% and 22.8% and drug loading of 3.28% and 3.02%, respectively, and the particle sizes of prepared nanocapsules were 760 nm~1,150 nm. Besides, the phase transition temperature of about 50 °C and the light time of 1 h can accelerate the release of nanocapsules
to the greatest extent; and the snake neurotoxin could inhibit the activation of p38 MAPK signaling pathway so as to play the analgesic effects on neuropathic pain.
Radar-Based Comparison of Thunderstorm Outflow Boundary Speeds versus Peak Wind Gusts from Automated Stations
Authors: Sherburn Keith D. , Bunkers Matthew J. , Mose Angela J.
Published: June 2021

Straight-line winds are arguably the most challenging element considered by operational forecasters when issuing severe thunderstorm warnings. Determining the potential maximum surface wind gust prior to an observed, measured gust is very difficult. This work builds upon prior research that quantified a relationship between the observed outflow boundary speed and corresponding measured wind gusts. Whereas this prior study was limited to a 30-case dataset over eastern Colorado, the current study comprises 943 cases across the contiguous United States and encompasses all times of day, seasons, and regions while representing various convective modes and associated near-storm environments. The wind gust ratios (WGRs), or the ratio between a measured wind gust and the associated outflow boundary speed, had a nationwide median of 1.44, mean of 1.68, 25th percentile of 1.19, and 75th percentile of 1.91. WGRs varied considerably by region, season, time of day, convective mode, near-storm environment, and outflow boundary speed. WGRs tended to be higher in the plains, Intermountain West, and southern coastal regions, lower in the cool season and during the morning and overnight, and lower in linear convective modes relative to supercell and disorganized modes. Environments with stronger mean winds and low- to midlevel shear vector magnitudes tended to have lower WGRs, whereas those with steeper low-level lapse rates and other thermodynamic characteristics favorable for momentum transfer and evaporative cooling tended to have higher WGRs. As outflow boundary speed increases, WGRs—and their variability—decrease. Applying these findings may help operational meteorologists to provide more accurate severe thunderstorm warnings.
Emergent Political Norms in Local State–Private Enterprise Relations during China’s Big Push for Poverty Reduction
Authors: Fang Lijie , Li Bingqin , Cliff Tom
Published: June 2021

In 2014, the Chinese government adopted a version of the controversial Big Push approach to poverty reduction, and augmented this once-discredited developmental narrative by enlisting very large private enterprises to operate in the poorest regions. Not without controversies, this approach and the resources associated with it has created new state-large business relations in China. This article studies four large enterprises and examines why they participated in poverty reduction, the resulting state–business relations and the outcomes of poverty reduction. The field research was conducted in 2018 through in depth interviews with company management and site visits. The findings show that the local state became collaborators of big businesses that were endorsed by the central government. Whether these relationships become formalised will depend on the future direction of poverty reduction. This research contributes to the literature on how state–business relations may initiate economic growth.
The Chinese Economy From the Underside: Funny Money and Institutional Transformation in the Xi Jinping Era
Authors: Cliff Tom
Published: June 2021

This special issue of American Behavioral Scientist examines the irregular transactions and informal institutions that constitute the essential underside of the Chinese economy. Contributors with a range of disciplinary backgrounds explore shadow banking, social welfare and rural development by private enterprise, NGO financing, the credit/debt cycle of informal international trade, and offshore investment by Chinese state-owned enterprises. The question posed by all contributors is as follows: How, in China through the 2010s, do irregular or nonlegal financial transactions influence political authority? Institutions, the rules and norms by which we live, are found to be key. This “Introduction” sketches the conceptual links between money, rules, and ruling in the context of the heightened authoritarianism and institutional formalization of the 2010s—the Xi Jinping era.
Metastasectomy for Stage IVA Colon Cancer: Does the Type of Treating Institution Make a Difference?
Authors: Kang Shinho T. , Moran Ryan , Hussain Lala , Guend Hamza , Dunki-Jacobs Erik M. , Lee David Y.
Published: June 2021

Treatment of metastatic colon cancer has evolved over time. More evidence has been emerging in recent years supporting metastasectomy in selected patients. We sought to elucidate whether the type of institution—community, comprehensive community, academic/research, and integrated cancer network—would have an effect on patient outcome, specifically those colon cancer patients with isolated liver metastasis. This retrospective cohort study queried the National Cancer Database (NCDB) from 2010 to 2014 for patients who were 18 years of age or older with stage IVA colon cancer with isolated liver metastasis. We then performed uni- and multivariate analyses comparing patients based on such factors as age, tumor characteristics, primary tumor location, rate of chemotherapy, and type of treating institution. Patients who came from regions of higher income, receiving chemotherapy, and presenting to an academic/research hospital were more likely to undergo metastasectomy. Median survival was longest at academic/community hospitals at 22.4 months, 6 to 7 months longer than the other three types of institutions. Factors positively affecting survival included receiving chemotherapy, presenting to an academic/research institution, and undergoing metastasectomy, all at P < .05. In our study, the rate of metastasectomy was more than double at academic/research institutions for those with stage IVA colon cancer with isolated liver metastasis. Prior studies have quoted a mere 4.1% synchronous colon resection and metastasectomy. Our findings suggest that we should maintain multidisciplinary approach to this complex disease process and that perhaps it is time for us to consider regionalization of care in treating metastatic colon cancer.
Diversity in Scientific Discovery
Authors: Qureshi Alia P. , Stain Steven C. , Solomon Naveenraj L.
Published: June 2021

Presented here is a brief discussion on the imperative need and thoughtful approaches to embracing diversity, equity and inclusion within scientific enquiry.
Who Gains from Services FDI—Host or Home Economies? An Analysis of Disaggregated Services FDI Inflows and Outflows of 24 European Economies
Authors: Doytch Nadia
Published: June 2021

This study focuses on a sample of 24 European economies to examine the spillovers from disaggregated services foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic growth. We study the impact of 20 disaggregated services FDI inflows and outflows, respectively, on their host and home country services sector and overall growth. We find that both financial services and business services FDI are beneficial for growth in both host and home countries. Financial services FDI works though financial holding companies and home countries benefit especially from investment in foreign banks, which provides access to credit. Business services FDI works though management holding companies and home countries benefit, especially from investment in computer activities, which provides access to specialised human capital and high-value knowledge assets. The positive spillovers to home countries provide evidence for arguing against protectionism.

JEL Codes: F2, F21, F43
Book review: Oreskes, Naomi, & Conway, Eric M. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming
Authors: Nanda Samar
Published: June 2021

Oreskes, Naomi, & Conway, Eric M. Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2011 (Reprint), 368 pp., ₹1,526 (Paperback). ISBN 978-16-081-9394-3.
Analysis of long-term temperature monitoring of multiple wind turbines
Authors: Wang Xian , Zhao Qian-cheng , Yang Xue-bing , Zeng Bing
Published: June 2021

The historical temperature data logged in the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system contains a wealth of information that can assist with the performance optimization of wind turbines (WTs). However, mining and using these long-term data is difficult and time-consuming due to their complexity, volume, etc. In this study, we tracked and analyzed the 5-year trends of major SCADA temperature rise variables in relation to the active power of four WTs in a real wind farm. To uncover useful information, an extended version of the bins method, which calculates the standard deviation (SD) as well as the average, is proposed and adopted. The implications of the analysis for engineering practice are discussed from multiple perspectives. The research results demonstrate a change in the patterns of the main temperature rise variables in a real wind farm, completeness of the monitoring of the WT internal temperature state, influence of wind turbine aging on temperature signals, a correlation between different measurement points, and a correlation between signals from different years. The knowledge gained from this research provides a reference for the development of more practical and comprehensive condition monitoring systems and methods, as well as better operation maintenance strategies.
Artificial Intelligence and Ethics in Dentistry: A Scoping Review
Authors: Mörch C.M. , Atsu S. , Cai W. , Li X. , Madathil S.A. , Liu X. , Mai V. , Tamimi F. , Dilhac M.A. , Ducret M.
Published: June 2021

Dentistry increasingly integrates artificial intelligence (AI) to help improve the current state of clinical dental practice. However, this revolutionary technological field raises various complex ethical challenges. The objective of this systematic scoping review is to document the current uses of AI in dentistry and the ethical concerns or challenges they imply. Three health care databases (MEDLINE [PubMed], SciVerse Scopus, and Cochrane Library) and 2 computer science databases (ArXiv, IEEE Xplore) were searched. After identifying 1,553 records, the documents were filtered, and a full-text screening was performed. In total, 178 studies were retained and analyzed by 8 researchers specialized in dentistry, AI, and ethics. The team used Covidence for data extraction and Dedoose for the identification of ethics-related information. PRISMA guidelines were followed. Among the included studies, 130 (73.0%) studies were published after 2016, and 93 (52.2%) were published in journals specialized in computer sciences. The technologies used were neural learning techniques for 75 (42.1%), traditional learning techniques for 76 (42.7%), or a combination of several technologies for 20 (11.2%). Overall, 7 countries contributed to 109 (61.2%) studies. A total of 53 different applications of AI in dentistry were identified, involving most dental specialties. The use of initial data sets for internal validation was reported in 152 (85.4%) studies. Forty-five ethical issues (related to the use AI in dentistry) were reported in 22 (12.4%) studies around 6 principles: prudence (10 times), equity (8), privacy (8), responsibility (6), democratic participation (4), and solidarity (4). The ratio of studies mentioning AI-related ethical issues has remained similar in the past years, showing that there is no increasing interest in the field of dentistry on this topic. This study confirms the growing presence of AI in dentistry and highlights a current lack of information on the ethical challenges surrounding its use. In addition, the scarcity of studies sharing their code could prevent future replications. The authors formulate recommendations to contribute to a more responsible use of AI technologies in dentistry.
Adolescent Hookah Pipe Use: Exploring the Role of Basic Psychological Needs and Motivation
Authors: Kader Zainab , Crutzen Rik , Roman Nicolette Vanessa
Published: June 2021

Background: Adolescent hookah pipe use is on the rise despite it being a public health concern. Several studies focus on the external determinants of adolescent hookah pipe use but research focusing on the internal factors motivating adolescents to smoke the hookah pipe is sparse. Objective: Drawing on self-determination theory, a contemporary theory of human motivation, this study aimed to explore the basic psychological needs (BPN) and motivation of adolescent hookah pipe users and nonusers in an attempt to explore whether satisfaction or frustration of needs contributes to hookah pipe use. Method: Thirty adolescents, aged 13 to 19 years, participated in the qualitative study using one-on-one semistructured interviews. Each interview was audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed. Results: This study revealed that satisfaction or frustration of BPN, particularly competence and relatedness influences adolescents’ decision to smoke or not smoke the hookah pipe. Hookah pipe users experience more needs frustration compared to hookah pipe nonusers. Furthermore, hookah pipe users are more extrinsically motivated to smoke, whereas hookah pipe nonusers are intrinsically motivated not to smoke. Conclusion: The internal factors associated with adolescent hookah pipe use is a relatively new perspective.
Living Conditions and Social Distancing Barriers in India
Authors: Deb Surajit
Published: June 2021

The tenth part of the Social Change Indicators series gives an account on the living conditions that work as barriers against social distancing in different states of India. This segment especially focusses on aspects such as the percentage of households (rural and urban) that own a house, the percentage share of nuclear households (rural and urban), the mean number of persons sleeping per room in households, the percentage of households (rural and urban) in which cooking is done in a separate room, the percentage of households (rural and urban) in which water is not treated prior to drinking, the percentage of households (rural and urban) with an improved non-sharable sanitation facility and the proportion of households living in slums.
Being Muslim the Chhipa way: Caste identity as Islamic identity in a low-caste Indian Muslim community
Authors: Bellamy Carla
Published: June 2021

This article adds to the emergent picture of caste practices among Indian Muslim communities through a focus on caste-based discourses and practices in the contemporary OBC Muslim Chhipa community (OBC, short for ‘Other Backward Class’, is an Indian-government designation). The article examines Muslim Chhipa origin stories, marriage practices and language strategies and shows the ways in which these phenomena—and attitudes about them—allow Muslim Chhipas to articulate and enact strategies of upward mobility and respectability. Central to these strategies is the idea of ‘Islam’, though not in its expected guise as a religion of equality. The article also shows that Islam plays a different but ultimately complementary role in intra-Chhipa relations, allowing for continued caste pride. However, the upward mobility achieved by some suggests that caste practices and beliefs in Muslim communities remain linked to pan-South Asian notions of purity and pollution and, as such, perpetuate discrimination against dalit Muslims.
What the COVID-19 Pandemic Teaches About the essential Practices of Community Corrections and Supervision
Authors: Schwalbe Craig S. J. , Koetzle Deborah
Published: June 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic occurred in the midst of a reform movement in probation and parole supervision in the United States. Because social distancing orders created significant disruptions in probation and parole, the pandemic provides an opportunity to explore the innovative ways that probation and parole officers adjusted their supervision strategies with clients. We surveyed probation and parole officers in the United States ( N = 1,054; 65% female, 66% probation) in May–June 2020 about the supervision strategies they used with people on their caseloads before and immediately after the pandemic’s onset. Data indicate that overall rates of contact did not change, but that in-person contacts were replaced with remote communication strategies. Client access to electronic communication platforms, especially video conferencing, facilitated more frequent contact and more reliance on behavioral tactics and treatment-oriented case management approaches in the post-COVID period. Results reveal the potential role for video conferencing as an integral element of probation and parole reform.
Applying High Leverage Practices to Increase Active Engagement and On-task Behavior of Students with Intellectual Disabilities during Literacy Activities
Authors: Horn Channon K. , Ackerman Kera B. , Hitch Elena J.
Published: June 2021

The high leverage practices of promoting active student engagement and using assistive and instructional technology can be implemented simultaneously in resource settings. The purpose of the study was to compare two commonly used methods of engagement, hand-raising and digital response cards, to determine their effect on students’ active engagement, on-task behavior, and reading comprehension. An ABAB design was used to evaluate the effects among high school students with intellectual disabilities during reading lessons. The results indicated there was a positive correlation associated with digital response cards on the level of active engagement, on-task behavior and skill acquisition as evidenced by whole group means.
Expertise Diversity, Informal Leadership Hierarchy, and Team Knowledge Creation: A study of pharmaceutical research collaborations
Authors: He Vivianna Fang , von Krogh Georg , Sirén Charlotta
Published: June 2021

Knowledge creation increasingly requires experts from diverse domains to collaborate in teams, yet the effect of expertise diversity on team knowledge creation is inconclusive. We focus on task uncertainty and informal leadership hierarchies – the disparity in team members’ engagement in leadership activities (task- and relationship-oriented) – to answer the questions when and why expertise diversity may hinder team knowledge creation. We develop a model in which informal leadership hierarchy mediates the conditional indirect effect of the team’s expertise diversity on its knowledge creation under different levels of task uncertainty. We test this moderated mediation model using multi-source data from self-managing project teams comprising collaborators from a pharmaceutical company and its research partners. We find that when task uncertainty is low, the indirect effect of expertise diversity on team knowledge creation is positive, whereas when task uncertainty is high, it is negative. This conditional indirect effect occurs via task-oriented but not relationship-oriented leadership hierarchy. Our findings provide insights into the mechanisms and boundary conditions for expertise diversity to hinder, rather than facilitate, knowledge creation in collaborations.
Precarity, Hospitality, and the Becoming of a Subject That Matters: A Study of Syrian Refugees in Lebanese Tented Settlements
Authors: Hultin Lotta , Introna Lucas D. , Göransson Markus Balázs , Mähring Magnus
Published: June 2021

How is it possible to gain a sense that you have a voice and that your life matters when you have lost everything and live your life as a ‘displaced person’ in extreme precarity? We explore this question by examining the mundane everyday organizing practices of Syrian refugees living in tented settlements in Lebanon. Contrasting traditional empirical settings within organization studies where an already placed and mattering subject can be assumed, our context provides an opportunity to reveal how relations of recognition and mattering become constituted, and how subjects in precarious settings become enacted as such. Specifically, drawing on theories on the relational enactment of self and other, we show how material-discursive boundary-making and invitational practices – organizing a home, cooking and eating, and organizing a digital ‘home’ – function to enact relational host/guest subject positions. We also disclose how these guest/host relationalities create the conditions of possibility for the enactment of a subject that matters, and for the despair enacted in everyday precarious life to transform into ‘undefeated despair’.
‘Civilized Dispossession’: Corporate accumulation at the dawn of modern capitalism
Authors: Van Lent Wim , Islam Gazi , Chowdhury Imran
Published: June 2021

Critical scholarship views corporate accumulation – a fundamental driver of capitalism – as inherently dispossessive, involving violence and expropriation. However, dispossession also involves practices of legitimation that are related to coercive violence in complex ways. We examine the roles of dispossession and legitimation practices as constitutive of corporate accumulation. Specifically, we analyse how dispossession is connected to the appropriation of legitimacy as a symbolic resource which justifies and enables violence and expropriation. Taking an historical perspective, we examine a paradigmatic case of corporate accumulation: the Dutch East India Company’s monopolization of spices on the Banda Islands (1599–1621). In this process, the Dutch moved from (1) initial instances of legitimation to (2) legitimation to enforce Dutch–Bandanese agreements, to (3) legitimation to enable dispossession of the Bandanese, to finally (4) wholesale dispossession of the Bandanese. These four phases reflect a mechanism that we call ‘civilized dispossession’, which describes the escalating three-way interplay between Dutch practices of dispossession and legitimation and Bandanese resistance, and which was driven by institutional experimentation and multi-level institutional work. Integrating institutional and critical perspectives, the notion of ‘civilized dispossession’ provides a novel theorization of corporate accumulation, elucidating the mechanisms by which corporations promote the diffusion of capitalism.
Sartre’s imaginary and the problem of whiteness
Authors: Stoneman Betty Jean
Published: June 2021

Jean-Paul Sartre’s failures in Black Orpheus have been widely and rightly explicated by a number of theorists, most notably Frantz Fanon and Aimé Césaire. Sartre has rightly been criticized for imposing a white gaze onto his reading of colonized African poetry. It would seem that his work offers us no tools for anti-racist work today. For this article, I read his failures in the text alongside his work in The Imaginary and Being and Nothingness to argue that we can learn from his failures and that his failures do offer us conceptual tools for anti-racist work today. I argue that Sartre’s main contribution ought to be understood as a provocation to white people. He is provoking white people to confront how whiteness works in their imaginary. The imaginary is nothing but what one puts into it, and what one puts into it is imbued with the historical, social and cultural. The image is imbued with the individual’s experiences within a historical, social and cultural situation. If this is the case, then the confrontation with and critique of the image is a political act. In confronting and critiquing the image, one is confronting and critiquing the situation in which the image emerges. The hope is that in doing so, white people could transcend the facticity of their whiteness in particular situations for the better, which in turn would have positive consequences for the larger sociopolitical situation.
Use of Both Fluoro-Jade B and Hematoxylin and Eosin to Detect Cell Death in the Juvenile Rat Brain Exposed to NMDA-Receptor Antagonists or GABA-Receptor Agonists in Safety Assessment
Authors: Picut Catherine A. , Mendes Odete R. , Weil David S. , Davis Sarah , Swanson Cynthia
Published: June 2021

Administration of pediatric anesthetics with N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA)-receptor antagonist and/or γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) agonist activities may result in neuronal degeneration and/or neuronal cell death in neonatal rats. Evaluating pediatric drug candidates for this potential neurotoxicity is often part of overall preclinical new drug development strategy. This specialized assessment may require dosing neonatal rats at postnatal day 7 at the peak of the brain growth spurt and evaluating brain tissue 24 to 48 hours following dosing. The need to identify methods to aid in the accurate and reproducible detection of lesions associated with this type of neurotoxic profile is paramount for meeting the changing needs of neuropathology assessment and addressing emerging challenges in the neuroscience field. We document the use of Fluoro-Jade B (FJB) staining, to be used in conjunction with standard hematoxylin and eosin staining, to detect acute neurodegeneration and neuronal cell death that can be caused by some NMDA-receptor antagonists and/or GABA agonists in the neonatal rat brain. The FJB staining is simple, specific, and sensitive and can be performed on brain specimens from the same cohort of animals utilized for standard neurotoxicity assessment, thus satisfying animal welfare recommendations with no effect on achievement of scientific and regulatory goals.
Tympanic Membrane Perforation After Intratympanic Steroid Injection: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis
Authors: Kim Young Ho , Lee Doh Young , Lee Dong‐Han , Oh Sohee
Published: June 2021

Objective

We investigated the incidence of tympanic membrane (TM) perforations induced after intratympanic steroid injection (ITSI) in patients with sudden sensorineural hearing loss (SSNHL) through a systematic review and meta‐analysis.

Data Sources

PubMed, Embase, and MEDLINE.

Review Methods

Primary database searches were performed, and 1901 records were identified. After removal of 1802 articles through abstract screening, the remaining 99 full‐text journals were assessed for eligibility to be included in the study. Fifty‐eight studies that used either ventilation tubing (VT) or tympanocentesis (TC) for ITSI were selected for analysis. The subjects were divided into VT and TC groups. The rate of TM perforation after ITSI in 2 groups, sites of ITSI, needle gauge, and influence on residual hearing were investigated.

Results

The cohorts comprised patients who underwent VT (n = 257, 9.6%) and TC (n = 2415, 90.4%). The proportion of TM perforation after ITSI in each group was 0.073 (95% CI, 0.0469‐0.1113) and 0.010 (95% CI, 0.0045‐0.0215), respectively, which suggested that the VT group showed a significantly higher TM perforation rate than the TC group (P<. 001). In the subgroup analyses, there was no significant difference in the odds ratio for the rate of TM perforation according to the injection site and needle gauge for TC. The proportion of surgical repair showed no significant difference between the 2 groups.

Conclusion

ITSI via VT may have a significantly higher risk of TM perforation than ITSI via TC, although those are relatively small overall. ITSI should be performed in the direction to minimize possible adverse effects.
Safeguarding in Australia’s new disability markets: Frontline workers’ perspectives
Authors: Cortis Natasha , Van Toorn Georgia
Published: June 2021

Despite significant efforts to end it, violence, abuse and neglect continue to contribute to preventable harms and deaths among people using disability services. To explore why these harms persist and what is needed to prevent them, we examine the safety-related attitudes and practices among frontline staff delivering services in the context of an individualized funding scheme, Australia’s National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). Analysis of survey data (n=2341) showed almost half of frontline disability workers were aware of harms affecting clients in the past year, and three in five felt their employers’ safety and incident reporting protocols were inadequate. Workers’ accounts of barriers to performing their safeguarding roles underline how government’s meta-regulatory approach is enabling provider organizations to prioritise financial concerns and tolerate high safety risks. We argue that advancing the rights of people with disability to be safe from harm whilst engaged in social services requires changes in their external regulatory environments and in structures of power between workers and managers, so that policy, funding and regulatory settings enable appropriate local safety practices to flourish.
Exploring parents’ experiences: Parent-focused intervention groups for communication needs
Authors: Moseley Harris Barbara
Published: June 2021

Perceptions of a convenience sample of 10 parents (one father, nine mothers) who had completed one or more group-based, parent-focused interventions for their children’s communication needs were explored during semi-structured interviews. Nine different intervention groups (EarlyBird programmes, early communication skills training, or Makaton training) were discussed. Inductive and grounded theory approaches were used during thematic analysis to focus on parents’ priorities. Themes identified were: (1) intervention purposes, including initial session purposes; (2) groups as supportive/safe spaces; (3) personal change (behaviours and self-perception); (4) challenges of groups; (5) costs and benefits, including emotional costs. Parents supported previously reported findings about changes in knowledge, understanding, and perception of their role. Parents provided insights into how changes occurred, including helpful processes and professional strategies. They described emotional impacts of parent-focused intervention, particularly parental guilt. Participants perceived peer groups as contributing safe spaces and opportunities, but also challenges. Two parents experienced reduced benefits due to significant individual differences relating to their child’s more complex needs. Participants confirmed some speech and language therapists’ (SLTs’) perceptions about how interventions work and challenged others. Key findings were that (1) parents’ experiences during intervention facilitate personal change; (2) parents experience personal costs and benefits of intervention; (3) peer groups contribute to intervention effectiveness. These findings indicated that parents experience significant personal impacts from parent-focused intervention groups, and that groups provide a specific intervention type that differs from individual input. Clinical implications are that professionals need awareness of impacts on parents to support effective intervention and avoid harm; peer groups can facilitate learning and parental agency; dissimilarity to peers can make group intervention inappropriate. Study limitations included fewer perspectives from parents of children with primary communication needs. Further exploration of interventions’ emotional impacts, how group processes support parental confidence and agency, and effects of individual differences on suitability of group intervention are suggested.
The effect of bibliotherapy on the development of self-efficacy of women with disabled children
Authors: Öztemiz Semanur , Tekindal Melike
Published: June 2021

The aim of this study is to reveal the effect of the bibliotherapy technique on the development of general self-efficacy of women with disabled children. The specific objective of the study is to draw attention to bibliotherapy as a method in the library and information science area. The research was conducted with 18 volunteers from 80 mothers of disabled children who received service from ZİÇEV (Mentally Handicapped Education and Protection Foundation) in the 2019-2020 academic year. Group work and the general self-efficacy scale was used to collect data. In the research, 2x2 mixed design (experiment – control – pre-test – post-test) was conducted. The self-efficacy level of the women was chosen as the dependent variable while the independent variable was bibliotherapy activity. 9 women were assigned to the experimental group and the other 9 were the control group. The bibliotherapy program, designed by the researcher, was in six sessions. Each session took 2 hours. The general self-efficacy scale was conducted again at the last session. Statistically significant results were observed between the experimental and control groups. The results of the study showed that bibliotherapy increased the self-efficacy of women with disabled children. The research drew attention to the importance of bibliotherapy in the process of tackling the low self-efficacy levels of women with disabled children. It is expected that the study will contribute to the literature by encouraging interdisciplinary research based on bibliotherapy.
“TikTok Is My Life and Snapchat Is My Ventricle”: A Mixed-Methods Study on the Role of Online Communication Tools for Friendships in Early Adolescents
Authors: Mittmann Gloria , Woodcock Kate , Dörfler Sylvia , Krammer Ina , Pollak Isabella , Schrank Beate
Published: June 2021

Early adolescents are frequent users of online communication tools (OCTs). Yet, we have limited knowledge about how OCTs influence this population and their friendships. We sought opinions of 938 Austrian early adolescents on the role of OCTs for their friendships via a questionnaire and 207 focus groups. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the focus groups. We found that despite the emergence of some online-specific aggression, OCTs are perceived as beneficial for friendships. Early adolescents use online spaces naturally and differentiate little between online and offline communication. Only when it comes to high levels of intimacy, early adolescents also need an offline setting to fulfill their communication need. Online communication tools, especially newer forms such as online gaming, can surpass a mere communicative function and provide a space for building and maintaining friendships. In the future, OCTs should be considered as a tool to facilitate positive development in early adolescents.
Undernutrition when young and the risk of poor renal function in adulthood in women with diabetes in Shanghai, China
Authors: Qin Qiaojing , Chang Kaili , Wu Qing , Fan Weifeng , Gu Yong , Niu Jianying , Liu Xueguang
Published: June 2021

Objective

To evaluate the effect of undernutrition when young on the risk of poor renal function in adulthood in women with diabetes mellitus.

Methods

We studied diabetic women born between 1921 and 1958 who were exposed to the 1959-to-1962 Chinese famine when they were 0 to 37 years old. Exposure age was classified as young adulthood (18 to 37 years), adolescence (10 to 17 years), or childhood (0 to 9 years). The Adolescence group, which was provided with the largest amount of food during the famine, was used as the control group, and variance and binary logistic regression analyses were performed.

Results

The prevalences of low estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) in the Childhood, Adolescence, and Young adulthood groups were 5.26%, 22.39%, and 79.24%, respectively. The risk of low eGFR for the Young adulthood group (odds ratio [OR] 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.10, 2.48), but not for the Childhood group (OR 1.10, 95% CI 0.68, 1.78), was higher than that for the Adolescence group after adjustment for potential confounders.

Conclusions

Undernutrition during young adulthood significantly increases the risk of renal dysfunction in adult women with diabetes. Therefore, the nutrition of less affluent young women should be improved.
Subacute combined degeneration of the spinal cord concurrent with acute pulmonary embolism: a case report
Authors: Pang Xinyuan , Hao Yulei , Ma Lushun , Zhuo La , Liu Lu , Feng Jiachun
Published: June 2021

A 58-year-old male vegetarian presented with progressive numbness and weakness in the lower extremities. Laboratory examinations showed reduced vitamin B12 level with megaloblastic anaemia. Spinal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed hyperintensity within the posterior and lateral columns on T2-weighted imaging. The diagnosis of subacute combined degeneration (SCD) of the spinal cord was established. Unexpectedly, the patient developed transitory syncope on the second day after hospitalization. The diagnostic computed tomography pulmonary angiography (CTPA) confirmed multiple small pulmonary emboli. An isolated significantly elevated level of homocysteine (117.1 µmol/l) was documented when screening for hypercoagulable markers. Except for a long-term vegetarian diet, no other risk factors for hyperhomocysteinaemia (such as a family history of homocysteinuria) was found. The severity of the hyperhomocysteinaemia found in this current patient was unusual for patients with an insufficient intake of vitamin B12. In SCD patients, elevated homocysteine may increase the risk of thrombosis, which may exacerbate existing problems. Knowing the risk factors should help physicians choose appropriate diagnostic and therapeutic strategies.
Self-consciousness and depression in precocious pubertal children
Authors: Huang Hongyu , Liu Lili , Su Shaoyu , Xie Dandan
Published: June 2021

Objective

To explore self-consciousness and depression in children with precocious puberty (PP) and analyse its effect on children of both sexes.

Methods

Sixty children with PP and 60 non-PP children matched for sex and age participated in the study. Children were assessed using the Birleson Depression Self-Rating Scale for Children and the Piers–Harris Children’s Self-Concept Scale.

Results

There were significant differences in physical appearance and attributes, anxiety, happiness and satisfaction between PP children and non-PP children. PP children had significantly higher depression than non-PP children. In the PP group, girls were significantly more prone to anxiety and unhappiness than boys. Conclusion: There were sex differences in the effect of PP on children’s self-consciousness, and girls were more prone to anxiety and unhappiness. More attention should be paid to improving the physical and mental health of children with PP.
The Americanization of Karen Refugee Youth: Exploring Attitudes Toward and Use of Methamphetamine
Authors: Cooley Brooke N. , Sample Lisa L. , Rolf Karen , Garman Julie D.
Published: June 2021

Drug use among refugee populations is a concerning trend in many urban American cities. For instance, Omaha, Nebraska is home to an estimated 7,000 refugees from Myanmar, with at least 75% of those being Karen refugees. The purpose of this paper is to explore methamphetamine use among Karen adolescents in Omaha and to examine whether Karen youth bring their drug use habits with them from refugee camps or if they learn about drugs from their American peers. Two focus groups of Karen youth and two focus groups of Karen parents were conducted to examine methamphetamine use among this population. Findings suggest, like most youth, the Karen children were reluctant to disclose their own use of drugs, but they did see the use of methamphetamine and other drugs in their schools. It appears drug use among the Karen youth is acquired during the “Americanization” of these children in Omaha schools.
The Prediction of Youth Recidivism in a Spanish Roma Population by the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI)
Authors: Gomis-Pomares Aitana , Villanueva Lidón , Adrián Juan E.
Published: June 2021

Despite the increasing interest in the accuracy of youth risk assessment tools, the amount of research with ethnic minorities remains relatively modest. For this reason, the main goal of this study was to assess the predictive validity and disparate impact of the Youth Level of Service/Case Management Inventory (YLS/CMI) in a Spanish ethnic minority. The participants consisted of 88 Roma youth offenders and 135 non-Roma youth offenders, aged between 14 and 17 years old. Their risk of recidivism was assessed by means of the YLS/CMI Inventory and their recidivism rate was obtained from the Juvenile Justice Department. Results showed that the Inventory presented slightly lower predictive validity for the Roma group. Moreover, Roma juveniles presented higher risk scores and lower strength scores than non-Roma juveniles. These results supported the idea that professionals must therefore be aware of these cultural differences in predictive validity and the existent potentiality for disparate impact.
The influence of strain rate on the cavitation time and deformation of an underwater impulsively rectangular plate
Authors: Ramezannejad Azarboni Habib , Darvizeh Abolfazl
Published: June 2021

The effect of strain rate on the cavitation time and elastoplastic deformation of steel rectangular plate subjected to underwater explosion load is analytically and numerically investigated in this study. At the cavitation time, the total pressure of the explosion is eliminated so that the cavitation time plays a significant role in the elastoplastic deformation of underwater explosive forming of plate. Taking into account the strain rate effect, the Cowper-Symond constitutive equation of mild steel is employed. Exact linear solution using the Eigen function and numerical linear and nonlinear solution using finite difference method (FDM) of dynamic response of impulsively plate is obtained. Implementing the linear work hardening, the stress, strain, displacement, and velocity in any steps of loading are calculated. The time of cavitation can be recognized in elastic or plastic regimes by applying the Cowper-Symond constitutive equation. Considering the strain rate influence, the effects of charge mass and standoff are investigated to occur of cavitation and time dependent deflection and velocity of a rectangular plate.
SAVE score with lactate modification predicts in-hospital mortality in patients with ongoing cardiac arrest during VA-ECMO cannulation
Authors: Santore Lee Ann , Schurr James W , Noubani Mohammad , Rabenstein Andrew , Dhundale Kathleen , Bilfinger Thomas V , McLarty Allison J , Seifert Frank C
Published: June 2021

The survival after veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation score and its lactate modification predict in-hospital mortality in patients based on pre-extracorporeal membrane oxygenation variables. Cardiac arrest history is a significant variable in these scores; however, patients with ongoing cardiac arrest during cannulation were excluded from these models. The goal of this study is to validate the survival after veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation score with a lactate modification among patients with ongoing cardiac arrest. In our study, the survival after veno-arterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation score predicted mortality in all patients, but did so with higher discrimination among ongoing cardiac arrest patients with a lactate modification.
A Graphical Exposition of the Profit Maximizing Two-Part Tariff
Authors: Chen Frederick
Published: June 2021

This note presents a simple graphical approach for deriving the profit maximizing two-part tariff when there are two types of consumers in the market. The exposition covers both the case in which a monopoly can offer only one two-part tariff plan and the case in which the monopoly can offer two different plans.

JEL Classification: D4
Are Theories Politically Flexible?
Authors: Brandmayr Federico
Published: June 2021

Social theories are politically flexible if people use them to support opposite political claims. But is this even possible? And what kind of theories have such a property? Moving beyond epistemological debates about neutrality and value-leadenness, this article defends an empirical approach to the study of flexible and rigid political uses of social theories. I identify two main sources of flexibility: endogenous properties of theories, notably their generality, ambiguity, and neutrality, and exogenous features of the contexts in which they are used and of the individuals who use them, notably differences in political and epistemic culture.