bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Chronic Abdominal Pain in General Practice
Authors: Sabo Cristina Maria , Grad Simona , Dumitrascu Dan L.
Published: March 2021

Background and Summary: Chronic abdominal pain is a challenging complaint for both primary care providers and gastroenterologists alike, due to a broad differential diagnosis and sometimes extensive and negative workup. In the absence of red flag features that herald more acute conditions, the majority of patients with chronic abdominal pain have a benign cause or a functional disorder (e.g., irritable bowel syndrome). The costs associated with a diagnostic workup are an expensive burden to health care. A systematic approach for evaluating patients and initiating a management plan are recommended in the primary care setting. Undiagnosed abdominal pain should be investigated starting with a detailed history and physical examination. Diagnostic investigations should be limited and adapted according to the clinical features, the alarm symptoms, and the symptom severity. This review will focus on the diagnostic tools which general practitioners utilize in the evaluation of chronic abdominal pain. Key Messages: The primary role of the general practitioner is to differentiate an organic disease from a functional one, to refer to a specialist, or to provide treatment for the underlying cause of pain. The functional disorders should be considered after the organic pathology has been confidently excluded. Once a diagnosis of functional pain is established, repetitive testing is not recommended and the patient should be referred to receive psychological support (e.g., cognitive therapy) associated with available pharmacological therapeutic options.
Optical Coherence Tomography Assessment in Patients Treated With Rotational Atherectomy Versus Modified Balloons
Authors: Hemetsberger Rayyan , Gori Tommaso , Toelg Ralph , Byrne Robert , Allali Abdelhakim , El-Mawardy Mohamed , Rheude Tobias , Weissner Melissa , Sulimov Dmitriy S. , Robinson Derek R. , Richardt Gert , Abdel-Wahab Mohamed
Published: March 2021

Background:

Percutaneous intervention of calcified coronary lesions often requires lesion preparation with either balloon dilatation or atherectomy. We sought to evaluate the impact of lesion preparation strategy on stent expansion following preparation of severely calcified coronary lesions with modified (cutting/scoring) balloons (MB) versus rotational atherectomy (RA) and to evaluate the impact of calcium burden as assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) on acute stent performance.

Methods:

In the PREPARE-CALC trial (Comparison of Strategies to Prepare Severely Calcified Coronary Lesions), 200 patients with severely calcified coronary lesions were randomly assigned to receive either lesion preparation with MB or RA. In 122 patients, OCT was performed before lesion preparation and at the end of the procedure. The principal end point of this OCT sub-analysis was stent expansion as assessed by OCT. The key secondary end points included stent asymmetry and eccentricity.

Results:

The maximal calcific arc (257.5±96.7° versus 248.7±82.1°,
P
=0.59), thickness (1.34±0.29 versus 1.32±0.27 mm,
P
=0.76), and length of calcification (21.1±9.7 versus 24.0±10.9 mm,
P
=0.12) did not differ between the MB versus RA group. Lesion preparation with MB versus RA lead to comparable stent expansion (73.5±13.3% versus 73.1±12.2%, respectively,
P
=0.85). The use of RA did not have a significant impact on stent asymmetry or eccentricity compared with the use of MB. Length of calcified plaque appeared to be increased in patients with stent underexpansion, while thickness of calcified plaque was increased in patients with stent asymmetry. Target lesion revascularization at 9 months was 3.3% when MB was used and 1.6% when RA was performed (
P
=0.62).

Conclusions:

In this OCT sub-analysis from the PREPARE-CALC trial, calcified plaque length was increased in patients with stent underexpansion, while its thickness was higher in patients with stent asymmetry, with no impact of the lesion preparation strategy.

Registration:

URL:
https://www.clinicaltrials.gov
; Unique identifier: NCT02502851.
Inhibition of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK)-Activated Protein Kinase 2 (MK2) is Protective in Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Shafiq Mohammad , Jagavelu Kumaravelu , Iqbal Hina , Yadav Pankaj , Chanda Debabrata , Verma Neeraj Kumar , Ghosh Jimut Kanti , Gaestel Matthias , Hanif Kashif
Published: March 2021

Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK)-Activated Protein Kinase 2 (MK2), downstream to p38MAPK (p38mitogen-activated protein kinase), regulates cellular inflammation and proliferation. So far, the role of MK2 has been studied in many cardiovascular diseases, but it remains unexplored in pulmonary hypertension (PH). Therefore, to investigate the role of MK2 in the PH pathogenesis, human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells were exposed to hypoxia (1% O
2
) for 72 hours, and MK2 was inhibited by siRNA. We observed significantly increased MK2 expression, inflammatory cytokines, proliferation, mitochondrial dysfunction, and apoptosis resistance in hypoxic human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells, which were reversed by treatment with MK2 siRNA. For in vivo studies, male Sprague Dawley rats were treated with monocrotaline (60 mg/kg, SC, once) to induce PH. To inhibit MK2, a peptide MMI-0100 (40 μg/kg, IP daily, 5 weeks for preventive and 3 weeks for curative study) was administered. MMI-0100 treatment decreased right ventricle pressure and hypertrophy, hallmarks of PH, in both preventive and curative study. MMI-0100-treated rats showed better cardiac functions as revealed by 2-dimensional echocardiography study. Furthermore, MMI-0100 reversed pulmonary vascular remodeling and improved pulmonary vascular relaxation in monocrotaline-treated rats. Finally, the above results were confirmed in MK2 knockout mice. MK2 knockout mice, received 600 mg/kg monocrotaline, subcutaneous weekly for 5 weeks, failed to develop PH and showed no increase in right ventricle pressure and hypertrophy. This study, therefore, proved that MK2 is involved in PH, and its inhibition may be a novel target for PH treatment.
Aging Immune System in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Sykes Gina P. , Kamtchum-Tatuene Joseph , Falcione Sarina , Zehnder Sarah , Munsterman Danielle , Stamova Boryana , Ander Bradley P. , Sharp Frank R. , Jickling Glen
Published: March 2021

Background and Purpose:

With advancing age, alterations occur to the immune system, including an increase in inflammation (inflammaging) and a reduced ability to respond to new immune challenges. The role of an aging immune system in patients with ischemic stroke remains unclear, although age is an important determinant of stroke risk and outcome. This study assessed the aging immune system in patients with acute ischemic stroke by differences in leukocyte gene expression in relationship to age.

Methods:

Peripheral blood RNA from 2 cohorts with acute ischemic stroke was measured by whole-genome microarray, and genes associated with advancing age were identified (false discovery rate-corrected
P
<0.05, partial correlation coefficient <|0.3|). Genes were characterized by pathway analysis and compared with age-associated genes from nonstroke studies (n=3974).

Results:

There were 166 genes associated with age in cohort 1 (derivation cohort, n=94). Sixty-nine of these age-associated genes were verified in cohort 2 (validation cohort, n=79). Identified genes included a decrease in
CR2
,
CD27
,
CCR7
, and
NT5E
. Genes were associated with altered B-cell receptor signaling, lymphocyte proliferation, and leukocyte homeostasis. Forty-three of the 69 age-associated genes in stroke were also associated with age in nonstroke studies.

Conclusions:

A relationship between leukocyte gene expression and age in patients with ischemic stroke was identified. The changes include alterations to the adaptive humoral immune system, which may influence age-related stroke risk and outcome.
Socioeconomic and Marital-Status Inequalities in Longevity: Adult Mortality in Transylvania, 1850–1914
Authors: Holom Elena Crinela , Hărăguş Mihaela , Bolovan Ioan
Published: March 2021

Analysis of data derived from the Historical Population Database of Transylvania for the period 1850 to 1914 confirms that social classes in localities undergoing industrialization were subject to inequalities in adult mortality and that, starting in the 1880s, adults with agricultural and semiskilled occupations had a greater likelihood of living longer. Marriage had a protective effect for men, though not for women, regardless of time and place. Between 1850 and 1880, adult mortality suffered the influence of multiple environmental and epidemiological crises, whereas between 1881 and 1914, differences in longevity were attributable mainly to economic development and its associated activities. After the 1880s, the survival prospects of both men and women improved.
Discovering the Xinyimin in Jakarta: New Chinese Migrants from the prc
Authors: Lin Ping
Published: March 2021

The Belt and Road Initiative (bri) has encouraged many prc nationals to move to Indonesia as (informal) entrepreneurs, firm managers, expatriates, petty traders, migrant laborers, or to accompany family members. It is likely that hundreds of thousands of prc nationals have regularly stayed in Indonesia since between 2000 and 2017. This pilot study found that most new Chinese migrants (xinyimin) were middle- or lower-class people from rural areas in the prc. With limited knowledge and capital, it was difficult for them to achieve a stable and affluent life in the major cities of the prc. However, by moving to Jakarta, their limited assets had greater value because of the development gap between Indonesia and the prc. Most such migrants to Indonesia obtain more promising career opportunities, achieve higher socioeconomic status, and enjoy comfortable lives. Those from coastal prc tend to be managers of large firms; those from the inner regions of the country tend to be petty traders, self-employed, labor migrants, or are hired as local staff. The former are more likely to be conservative with respect to Indonesian society and to align themselves with the prc discourse on the bri; the latter are more responsive to Indonesian society. In general, the fewer resources migrants have in the prc, the more likely they are to settle in Indonesia.
Three new goatfishes of the genus Upeneus from the Eastern Indian Ocean and Western Pacific, with an updated taxonomic account for U. itoui
(Mullidae: japonicus-species group)
Authors: UIBLEIN FRANZ , MOTOMURA HIROYUKI
Published: March 2021

Coastal marine fish diversity from E India and Indonesia to S Japan is still insufficiently investigated. Of the 42 species of goatfishes (Mullidae) recorded from this area, 12 were described only since 2010 and ten of those belong to the genus Upeneus. During a recent review of species of Upeneus of the so-called japonicus-species group (characterized by seven dorsal-fin spines), 13 specimens that had been previously identified as U. guttatus from Indonesia and Vietnam were found to be distinct, representing possibly two undescribed species. These specimens were studied together with 20 U. itoui from S Japan, a rather similar species, and a yet unidentified congeneric from S Japan. In total 41 morphometric, 10 meristic and several colour characters were examined and detailed comparisons with a large data set from all 14 japonicus-group species conducted. Three new species, U. dimipavlov n. sp. from Nha Trang, S-central Vietnam, U. elongatus n. sp. from Tanega-shima Island, Kagoshima, S Japan and U. willwhite n. sp. from Lombok, S Indonesia are described and an updated account for U. itoui is provided. Among these four featured species, U. elongatus is the most different, having more gill rakers, the shallowest head and body and distinct colour patterns on caudal and dorsal fins. Upeneus dimipavlov differs from the remaining two species in having a more rounded and less laterally compressed body with a wider caudal peduncle and no conspicuous mid-lateral body stripe in fresh fish. Upeneus willwhite differs from U. itoui in deeper head, larger eyes, longer upper jaw and barbels and oblique bars on the lower caudal-fin lobe which do not cross the entire lobe. Additional comparisons of each of the four featured species with all other japonicus-group species and U. heterospinus were conducted providing evidence for distinction and differential diagnosis. Unvouchered in-situ photographs of four goatfish specimens from the Central Philippines that resemble U. elongatus in caudal- and dorsal-fin colour patterns are presented. The need for further sampling and associated taxonomic investigations as prerequisites for appropriate assessment of ecological and conservation parameters such as diversity, distribution and rarity is emphasized in the discussion.
Potential Socioeconomic and Environmental Benefits and Beneficiaries of UAS Atmospheric Profiles from a 3D Mesonet
Authors: Fiebrich Christopher A. , Ziolkowska Jadwiga R. , Chilson Phillip B. , Pillar-Little Elizabeth A.
Published: March 2021

In recent years, technological developments in engineering and meteorology have provided the opportunity to introduce innovative extensions to traditional surface mesonets through the application of uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS). This new approach of measuring vertical profiles of weather variables by means of UAS in the atmospheric boundary layer, in addition to surface stations, has been termed a 3D mesonet. Technological innovations of a potential 3D mesonet have recently been described in the literature. However, a broader question remains about potential socioeconomic and environmental benefits and beneficiaries of this new extension. Given that the concept of a 3D mesonet is a new idea, studies about socioeconomic and environmental advantages of this network (as compared with traditional mesonets) do not appear to exist in the peer-reviewed literature. This paper aims to fill this gap by providing a first perspective on potential benefits and ripple effects of a 3D mesonet, addressing both the added value and prevented losses in specific sectoral applications and for different groups. A better understanding of qualitative economic aspects related to a 3D mesonet can facilitate future developments of this technology for more cost-effective applications and to mitigate environmental challenges in more efficient ways.
Is the bottom line reached? An exploration of supervisor bottom-line mentality, team performance avoidance goal orientation and team performance
Authors: Lin Yuying , Yang Mengxi , Quade Matthew J , Chen Wansi
Published: March 2021

How do supervisors who treat the bottom line as more important than anything else influence team success? Drawing from social information processing theory, we explore how and when supervisor bottom-line mentality (i.e. an exclusive focus on bottom-line outcomes at the expense of other priorities) exerts influence on the bottom-line itself, in the form of team performance. We argue that a supervisor’s bottom-line mentality provides significant social cues for the team that securing bottom-line objectives is of sole importance, which stimulates team performance avoidance goal orientation, and thus decreases team performance. Further, we argue performing tension (i.e. tension between contradictory needs, demands, and goals), serving as team members’ mutual perception of the confusing environment, will strengthen the indirect negative relationship between supervisor bottom-line mentality and team performance through team performance avoidance goal orientation. We conduct a path analysis using data from 258 teams in a Chinese food-chain company, which provides support for our hypotheses. Overall, our findings suggest that supervisor’s exclusive focus on the bottom-line can serve to impede team performance. Theoretical contributions and practical implications are discussed.
The Edge of Water: Preaching Sovereignty in Rising Tides
Authors: Matsen Neal Jerusha
Published: March 2021

This analysis of two Fijian Methodist sermons responding to climate catastrophe argues for the significance of preaching that emerges from displaced and occupied communities, particularly for Christianities shaped by Western colonialism. Not only do these testimonies call the Western church to repentance, they challenge the West’s over-eager cooption of “place” as a theological project. In their proclamation of ontological alternatives to Western political and epistemological sovereignties, these sermons call listeners—and preachers—to a radical relationality with the world and with God.
Self-possession and the crisis of the post-colony in Achebe’s A Man of the People
Authors: Lynn Thomas Jay
Published: March 2021

Chinua Achebe’s fourth novel, A Man of the People, portrays a wider range of significant female figures than any other fictional narrative by Achebe. The leading female characters defy literary marginalization because the text humanizes their personal predicaments and validates their choices. As a result, their collective voice is as important to the novel’s themes as the male voice expressed through the two protagonists, Odili Samalu and Chief Nanga. Achebe’s novel suggests that its unnamed post-independent African nation will not fulfil its potential without the tangible evolution of women’s self-ownership and leadership roles. What unifies the roles of leading female characters in the novel, such as Eunice, Mama, Elsie, and Edna, is their ability to seize possession, financially and emotionally, of fundamental elements of their own lives. The opposition between women’s aspirations in A Man of the People and the daunting familial and communal restrictions imposed on women mirrors colonial and postcolonial pressures placed on the newly independent African nation. While the nation may have transitioned politically from a colonial entity to an independent state, the female population is pressured to remain dependent and subject to the norms of patriarchy, a far more primal colonial order than that of Western capitalist domination. Even in the post-independence context, most women exist in a state of collective vassalage: they play subordinate and dependent roles in a post-colony stratified by (among other things) gender. In this context, one of A Man of the People’s notable achievements is to dramatize women’s fashioning of independent economic and social realities despite structures that sustain female subjugation. The novel’s theme of female self-possession is shared in the work of two Igbo and Nigerian-born female authors, Flora Nwapa and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Additional West African authors are considered as well.
Structure Altering Effects of a Multicomponent Reading Intervention: An Application of the Direct and Inferential Mediation (DIME) Model of Reading Comprehension in Upper Elementary Grades
Authors: Ahmed Yusra , Miciak Jeremy , Taylor W. Pat , Francis David J.
Published: March 2021

We evaluate the direct and inferential mediation (DIME) model for reading comprehension with a sample of struggling readers in Grades 3 to 5 ( N = 364) in the context of a large-scale randomized controlled trial (RCT) investigating two theoretically distinct reading interventions (text processing + foundational skills [ n = 117] or text processing only [ n = 120]) and a control condition ( n = 127). We investigate whether the intervention affects not just reading comprehension levels, but also how variables within the reading system interrelate. This approach allows the focus to shift from intervention as influencing a change in reading comprehension status to a complex set of processes. We fit structural equation models (SEMs) to evaluate the DIME model at baseline and a change model that included reading comprehension and word reading at posttest. There were no significant mean differences between groups in reading comprehension. However, significant differences emerged on the direct and indirect effects of background knowledge, vocabulary, word reading, strategies, and inferencing on comprehension across grade levels and treatment conditions. Related to treatment groups, background knowledge, vocabulary, and inferencing were significantly related to comprehension at posttest for students who received text processing and/or foundational skills interventions. The results have implications for the direct instruction of higher-order reading skills in the context of multicomponent interventions.
Demo-economic Modeling: Review and Prospects
Authors: Batey Peter W. J. , Hewings Geoffrey J. D.
Published: March 2021

This paper focuses on progress in achieving greater integration between demographic and economic components in system-wide modeling. It underlines the importance of Czamanski’s Baltimore model as well as other influential research based on the two-sector economic base model, before proceeding to review more complex, spatially-disaggregated economy-wide models. The subsequent work of Ledent, Schinnar and others is presented as the foundation for some important initiatives that centered on the Batey-Madden model and its derivatives. Attention is directed to some recent advances in the Batey-Madden model and subsequent work addressing household heterogeneity in the context of income formation and distribution associated with contributions by Miyazawa. The paper explores some avenues for integration of activity analysis and household disaggregation based on income, age or skill endowments to enhance the understanding of the role that households play in the economy.
‘The real power must be in the base’ – Decentralised collective intellectual leadership in the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City
Authors: Bonfert Bernd
Published: March 2021

The ongoing commodification of housing and urban space in Europe has led to the formation of a burgeoning housing movement, consisting of large anti-eviction networks in Southern Europe, as well as tenants’ unions and right-to-the-city networks in Central and Northern Europe. These different forms of housing activism have become increasingly connected at the transnational level, primarily due to the work of the ‘European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City’. Consisting of activist groups from over 20 different countries, this coalition facilitates mutual exchange, organises collective campaigns and has begun engaging in institutional advocacy at the European Union level. It steadily expands in size and tactical repertoire, aiming to develop a more unified transnational strategy for attaining affordable and self-determined living space across Europe. Drawing on the writings of Antonio Gramsci, this article makes the case that the ‘European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City’ increasingly performs the function of a ‘collective intellectual’ that organises a transnational struggle against neoliberal hegemony. Based on qualitative analyses of documents, interviews and field notes, it demonstrates that the ‘European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City’ exhibits a counter-hegemonic perspective that opposes neoliberal capitalism as a whole and manages to facilitate mutual solidarity across different activist communities explicitly on the basis of class struggle. At the same time, instead of organising a democratic centralist political project the ‘European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City’ pursues a more decentralised approach to collective intellectual leadership that prioritises domestic struggles, yet also lacks a cohesive long-term strategy.
Geofencing to Enable Differentiated Road User Charging
Authors: Arnesen Petter , Seter Hanne , Tveit Ørjan , Bjerke Mats Myhrvold
Published: March 2021

Tolling normally has a dual purpose in Norway. Its first goal is to finance a project or an improvment in the transport services offered in an area, for instance extend public transport services. The second goal is to change travel behavior, encouraging drivers of private cars to use other more environmentally friendly modes. Today, this tolling system is based on fixed points on the road network which are not necessarily able to record all road usage evenly. Within the GeoSUM (Geofencing for Smart Urban Mobility) research project, a distance and fuel differentiated road user charging scheme has been piloted. Instead of fixed point tolling, this system enables the driver to perceive that the cost is directly related to how much gasoline or electricity is used on the road network. The key technology for this system is geofencing, and the pilot results show that the proposed system did indeed increase the amount electricity used for driving inside the geofence zones, reducing in turn the amount of fossil-based fuel used.
The biomechanical study of cervical spine: A Finite Element Analysis
Authors: Manickam Pechimuthu Susai , Roy Sandipan
Published: March 2021

The biomechanical study helps us to understand the mechanics of the human cervical spine. A three dimensional Finite Element (FE) model for C3 to C6 level was developed using computed tomography (CT) scan data to study the mechanical behaviour of the cervical spine. A moment of 1 Nm was applied at the top of C3 vertebral end plate and all degrees of freedom of bottom end plate of C6 were constrained. The physiological motion of the cervical spine was validated using published experimental and FE analysis results. The von Mises stress distribution across the intervertebral disc was calculated along with range of motion. It was observed that the predicted results of functional spine units using FE analysis replicate the real behaviour of the cervical spine.
Predictors of Effort–Reward Imbalance Among Employees Providing Three Types of Long-Term Care Services in Japan: Implications for Employee Well-Being
Authors: Honda Ayumi , Fauth Elizabeth B. , Liu Yin , Honda Sumihisa
Published: March 2021

The purpose of this study was to identify predictive factors of effort–reward imbalance (ERI) among employees in multiple long-term care settings in Japan. This cross-sectional study by convenience sampling included 944 participants providing three types of long-term care: home-based ( n = 201), community-based ( n = 128), and institutional ( n = 615). Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with self-reported ERI. Low job satisfaction, being a care manager, holding a position of department head, working long hours, and having family-related stress were the common factors associated with ERI in employees across all three types of long-term care setting. Long-term care providers should consider the needs of care recipients and their family, as well as the needs of care employees, maximizing rewards so that turnover can be reduced and the diversity of individual work–family needs can be accommodated across multiple forms of long-term care settings.
Does personality predict responses to the COVID-19 crisis? Evidence from a prospective large-scale study
Authors: Rammstedt Beatrice , Lechner Clemens M , Weiß Bernd
Published: March 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly disrupted people’s daily routines and infused their lives with considerable insecurity and uncertainty. However, individuals’ responses to the pandemic vary widely. The present study investigates the role of personality traits for key aspects of people’s responses to the COVID-19 crisis. In a prospective design using a large-scale panel study ( N = 2217) that represents the heterogeneity of the adult population in Germany, we examined whether Big Five domains and facets measured prior to the pandemic predicted individuals’ responses to the pandemic in terms of: (a) perceptions of infection risks; (b) behavioral changes to prevent infection; (c) beliefs in the effectiveness of policy measures to combat the further spread of coronavirus; and (d) trust in relevant policymakers and institutions regarding the handling of coronavirus. Results revealed that personality explained only a small portion (between 0.6% and 3.8%) of the variance in the four outcomes. Nonetheless, several Big Five domains and facets had at least small-to-moderate, and theoretically plausible, associations with the outcomes. Overall, Agreeableness and its Trust facet showed the most robust associations with the four outcomes. Most trait–outcome associations were also robust to controlling for three possible confounders (sex, age, and risk-group membership).
“We Do This at Dancing Rabbit”: Recruitment and Collective Identity Processes in the Ecovillage
Authors: Rubin Zach
Published: March 2021

This article outlines the various ways members of an intentional community erect barriers to entry in their village and lifestyle, and how they use boundary maintenance tactics to both protect their own personal spheres as well as the integrity of their mission and vision. Members of Dancing Rabbit Ecovillage (“DR”) seek to create an alternative model for a more just and sustainable world. They face twin challenges in seeking to expand that model through recruitment to their community and retaining the integrity of their unique lifestyle that makes it possible and enjoyable. DR utilizes processes of recruitment and retention to construct and defend a collective identity based in accommodating for personal and political concerns, one characterized specifically by the values of egalitarianism and environmentalism as focal points for their shared lifestyle. Yet they also erect barriers to keep out potential recruits who may compromise that identity.
Wonder-inspired leadership: Cultivating ethical and phenomenon-led healthcare
Authors: Hansen Finn Th , Jørgensen Lene Bastrup
Published: March 2021

Three forms of leadership are frequently identified as prerequisites to the re-humanization of the healthcare system: ‘authentic leadership’, ‘mindful leadership’ and ‘ethical leadership’. In different ways and to varying extents, these approaches all focus on person- or human-centred caring. In a phenomenological action research project at a Danish hospital, the nurses experienced and then described how developing a conscious sense of wonder enhanced their ability to hear, to get in resonance with the existential in their meetings with patients and relatives, and to respond ethically. This ability was fostered through so-called Wonder Labs in which the notion of ‘phenomenon-led care’ evolved, which called for ‘slow thinking’ and ‘slow wondrous listening’. For the 10 nurses involved, it proved challenging to find the necessary serenity and space for this slow and wonder-based practice. This article critiques and examines, from a theoretical perspective, the kind of leadership that is needed to encourage this wonder-based approach to nursing, and it suggests a new type of leadership that is itself inspired by wonder and is guided by 10 tangible elements.
Revisiting the Shift in Youth Labour Market vis-à-vis the Economic Development in India
Authors: Bisht Nitin , Pattanaik Falguni
Published: March 2021

The significance of youth in the economic development of a nation is well comprehended, while the role of economic transformation in ensuring a successful School-to-Work transition for the younger generation has remained a solemn challenge, especially for the developing countries. Therefore, the objective of this study is to understand School-to-Work transition among the younger generation, considering key indicators of the Indian labour market during the post-reforms period. The findings implicate specific enigmatic changes in the labour market—despite decent economic growth, the declining labour force participation, declining employment and increasing unemployment across gender and sector persist as a significant challenge to a thriving School-to-Work transition for the younger population of the country. Youth—being the prospective human capital—remains highly vulnerable in the Indian labour market, and prospects for their transition in the labour market are skimpy and shrinking, while the challenges remain multidimensional.
“I Had to Make Them Feel at Ease”: Narrative Accounts of How Women With Breast Cancer Navigate Social Support
Authors: Wright Jaime D. , Kroenke Candyce H. , Kwan Marilyn L. , Kushi Lawrence H.
Published: March 2021

Social scientific studies of social support predominantly focus on the positive associations between social support and emotional well-being. The negative aspects of social support have received much less attention. We conducted semi-structured interviews of women with breast cancer ( n = 47) to examine the emotional strain associated with social support and how recipients navigate it in ways that protect themselves and their relationships. Based on our analysis of narratives of women’s lived experiences of breast cancer, we found that social support can be perceived negatively and associated with experiences of emotional strain. Interviewees engaged in strategies of avoidance, information control, and cognitive reframing to minimize emotional strain. We applied the concept of emotion work to understand the complexity of emotional strain in this context. The findings highlight the difficulties of social support from a recipient’s perspective and emphasize the importance of perception and agency in navigating this experience.
Yarning as an Interview Method for Non-Indigenous Clinicians and Health Researchers
Authors: Byrne Amy-Louise , McLellan Sandy , Willis Eileen , Curnow Venessa , Harvey Clare , Brown Janie , Hegney Desley
Published: March 2021

In this article, we discuss the origins, epistemology, and forms of Yarning as derived from the literature, and its use in research and clinical contexts. Drawing on three Yarns, the article addresses the extent to which non-Indigenous researchers and clinicians rightfully use and adapt this information-gathering method, or alternatively, may engage in yet another form of what can be described as post-colonialist behavior. Furthermore, we argue that while non-Indigenous researchers can use Yarning as an interview technique, this does not necessarily mean they engage in Indigenous methodologies. As we note, respectfully interviewing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can be a challenge for non-Indigenous researchers. The difficulties go beyond differences in language to reveal radically different expectations about how relationships shape information giving. Yarning as a method for addressing cross-cultural clinical and research differences goes some way to ameliorating these barriers, but also highlights the post-colonial tensions.
All Hands on Deck: Sustaining Improved Hand Hygiene Compliance in the Operating Room
Authors: Bezpalko Orysia , Ponnala Siddarth , Won James C.
Published: March 2021

Hand hygiene is an essential component of infection prevention in the health care setting. Despite diligent efforts, clinicians can be susceptible to hand hygiene misses in fast-paced, complex environments such as the operating room due to systemic factors such as the physical environment, workflow, and sporadic interactions with other personnel. Through the use of human factors and resilience engineering concepts, work-as-done were studied to identify barriers to hand hygiene compliance in the operating rooms of a pediatric hospital in an urban area. The saliency, effort, expectancy, value model was applied to design a multifaceted intervention that resulted in a sustained 95% hand hygiene compliance.
State-Level Influences on Community-Level Municipal Sustainable Energy Policies
Authors: Farmer Jayce L.
Published: March 2021

State and local governments engage each other in a broad set of complicated interdependent relationships. Yet, there is limited research on what these multilevel governance relationships mean for community-focused sustainability. This study applies a transaction cost federalism framework to examine the hierarchical influences of state fiscal support and policy actions on municipal commitments to sustainability at the community-level. An analysis of U.S. cities reveals that state investments in energy programs encourage municipal efforts for incentivized energy efficiency initiatives for local taxpayers. Larger percentages of state funding directed to energy programs lead to stronger municipal commitments to incentivized sustainability programs such as individual grants, direct loans, and tax incentives. The results suggest that stable and supportive multilevel governance systems are key for reducing political transaction costs inherent within vertical systems driven by coercive authority. These findings produce theoretical and practical implications for understanding community-level sustainability within the face of “contested federalism.”
A novel missense TGFBI variant p.(Ser591Phe) in a Finnish family with variant lattice corneal dystrophy
Authors: Jaakkola Aino Maaria , Järventausta Petri J , Järvinen Reetta-Stiina , Repo Pauliina , Kivelä Tero T , Turunen Joni A
Published: March 2021

Introduction:

We describe the phenotype of a variant lattice corneal dystrophy (LCD) potentially caused by a novel variant c.1772C>T p.(Ser591Phe) in exon 13 of the transforming growth factor beta-induced (TGFBI) gene.

Case report:

The proband, a 71-year-old woman referred because of bilateral LCD, first seen at the age of 65 years, with recent progressive symptoms, underwent a clinical ophthalmological examination, anterior segment optical coherence tomography and confocal microscopy. Additionally, three siblings and three children were examined. The identified TGFBI variant was screened in six family members using Sanger sequencing. A corneal dystrophy gene screen was performed for the proband. Translucent subepithelial irregularities and central to midperipheral stubby branching corneal stromal lattice lines, asymmetric between the right and the left eye, were visible and resulted in mild deterioration of vision in one eye. Genetic testing revealed a novel variant c.1772C>T in TGFBI, leading to the amino acid change p.(Ser591Phe). One daughter carried the same variant but had only thick stromal nerve fibres at the age of 49 years. The other family members neither had corneal abnormalities nor carried the variant. No keratoplasty is yet planned for the proband.

Conclusions:

We classify the novel variant in TGFBI as possibly pathogenic, potentially causing the late-onset, asymmetric variant LCD. Our findings add to the growing number of TGFBI variants associated with a spectrum of phenotypes of variant LCD.
Gender role encapsulation as resistance to patriarchy: Women politicians’ work and gender equality in India
Authors: Patel Taran , Romani Laurence , Oberoi Poonam , Ramasamy Chandra
Published: March 2021

Why has the gender-based reservation system not succeeded in achieving gender equality in Indian politics? Both token theory and critical mass theory posit that equilibrating number of representatives from both genders will achieve gender equality. In India, this led to the reservation system for women in politics in 1993 and an increase in women representation, in some Indian states up to 50%. Yet, we argue, these women face role encapsulation in their double minority position. Inspired by interpretivist ethnographic methods, this study investigates everyday work of women politicians (village council presidents) in Tamil Nadu. We show that in their work context, women politicians are in token positions and this contributes to understanding the modest results met with the reservation system. Simultaneously, the study points to how women use their role encapsulation within the traditional family structure to serve their political ambitions despite patriarchy. We draw attention to individual resistance, more precisely, insubordination and everyday resistance, to stress how some of these women politician are challenging patriarchy. This contributes to enriching our understanding of the forms of assimilation in token theory: for a token who experiences a double deviance, role entrapment is not as limiting as previous studies have assumed. We also argue that everyday acts of resistance can be carried out precisely through the enactment of role encapsulation and that some women reach change through this subject position, rather than in opposition to it.
Utilising Mood Boards as an Image Elicitation Tool in Qualitative Research
Authors: Spawforth-Jones Simon
Published: March 2021

The use of image elicitation methods has been recognised in qualitative research for some time; however, the use of mood boards to prompt participant discussion is currently an under-researched area. This article explores the use of mood boards as a data collection method in qualitative research. Used in design disciplines mood boards allow designers to interpret and communicate complex or abstract aspects of a design brief. In this study, I utilise mood boards as being part creative visual method and part image elicitation device. The use of mood boards is explained here in the context of a research project exploring masculinity and men’s reflexivity. In this article, I consider the benefits of utilising this method in researching reflexivity and gender before offering a critical appraisal of this method and inviting others to explore how mood boards might enhance research projects involving elicitation.
Locked and lonely? A longitudinal assessment of loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Norway
Authors: Hansen Thomas , Nilsen Thomas S. , Yu Baeksan , Knapstad Marit , Skogen Jens Christoffer , Vedaa Øystein , Nes Ragnhild Bang
Published: March 2021

Aims:

There are concerns that lockdown measures taken during the current COVID-19 pandemic lead to a rise in loneliness, especially in vulnerable groups. We explore trends in loneliness before and during the pandemic and differences across population subgroups.

Methods:

Data were collected via online questionnaires in June 2020 and four to eight months prior in two Norwegian counties ( N=10,740; 54% women; age 19–92 years). Baseline data come from the Norwegian Counties Public Health Survey (participation rate 46%, of which 59% took part in a COVID-19 follow-up study).

Results:

Overall loneliness was stable or falling during the lockdown. However, some subgroups, single individuals and older women, reported slightly increased loneliness during lockdown. Interestingly, individuals with low social support and high levels of psychological distress and loneliness before the pandemic experienced decreasing loneliness during the pandemic.

Conclusions:

Although data limitations preclude strong conclusions, our findings suggest that, overall, Norwegians seem to have managed the lockdown without alarming increases in loneliness. It is important to provide support and to continue investigating the psychological impact of the pandemic over time and across regions differentially affected by the pandemic.
Perceived stress among adolescents as a marker for future mental disorders: A prospective cohort study
Authors: Lindholdt Louise , Labriola Merete , Andersen Johan H. , Kjeldsen Mette-Marie Z. , Obel Carsten , Lund Thomas
Published: March 2021

Aim:

The mental health problems of adolescents are important in relation to their future health and life course. The aim of this study was to investigate perceived stress in adolescence as a marker for later mental disorders.

Methods:

The data consisted of a combination of questionnaire and register data for 11,929 adolescents. Perceived stress was measured using Cohen’s Perceived Stress Scale divided into low, moderate and high perceived stress. Mental disorder was identified using the ICD-10 codes for Mental and Behavioural Disorders classified into whether the adolescents were diagnosed or not. Logistic regression was used to examine the prospective association between perceived stress and mental disorders during about 12 months of follow-up, including the adolescents self-rated health, sex and parental education.

Results:

In total, 247 adolescents (2.1%) were diagnosed with a mental disorder during follow-up. The perceived stress of the adolescents was associated with mental disorders, yielding two-fold higher odds of developing a mental disorder for adolescents reporting moderate perceived stress and six-fold higher odds among adolescents reporting high perceived stress in the adjusted model.

Conclusions:

Adolescents with high levels of perceived stress were more likely to develop a mental disorder. Interventions to reduce perceived stress among adolescents could therefore potentially help to identify groups at high risk for later mental disorders.
Collision-free kinematics for hyper-redundant manipulators in dynamic scenes using optimal velocity obstacles
Authors: Zhao Liangliang , Jiang Zainan , Sun Yongjun , Zhao Jingdong , Liu Hong
Published: March 2021

Hyper-redundant manipulators have been widely used in the complex and cluttered environment for achieving various kinds of tasks. In this article, we present two contributions. First, we provide a novel algorithm of relating forward and backward reaching inverse kinematic algorithm to velocity obstacles. Our optimization-based algorithm simultaneously handles the task space constraints, the joint limit constraints, and the collision-free constraints for hyper-redundant manipulators based on the generalized framework. Second, we present an extension of our inverse kinematic algorithm to collision avoidance for the hyper-redundant manipulators, where the workspaces may have different types of obstacles. We highlight the performance of our algorithm on hyper-redundant manipulators with various degrees of freedom. The results show that our algorithm has made full use of dexterity of hyper-redundant manipulators in complex environments, enhancing the performance and increasing the flexibility.
Factors affecting the performance of ventilation cavities in highly insulated assemblies
Authors: Viljanen Klaus , Lü Xiaoshu , Puttonen Jari
Published: March 2021

The article presents experimental studies of typical Finnish highly insulated (HI) envelopes with thermal resistance values ( R value) for the wall and roof inside the ventilation cavity between 7.7 and 8.1 m2K/W and 13 m2K/W, respectively. The conditions in the ventilation cavities were studied by using typical and increased R values for the exterior part of the cavity, which were 0.18 m2K/W and 1.57 m2K/W in the walls, and 0.13 m2K/W and 2.13 m2K/W for the roof. With higher exterior R values of 1.57 m2K/W and 2.13 m2K/W, the cavity temperature increased only after closing the inlet gap of the cavities. If the cavity inlet was closed, the restriction of the outlet gap from 20–25 mm to 10 mm had no significant effect on the temperatures. A closed ventilation inlet resulted in increased absolute humidity in the cavity, which indicates that the restriction of cavity ventilation should be made with care to avoid impairing the drying-out ability. The computational analysis showed that the optimal air change rates in the wall and roof cavities of HI structures were 4–40 1/h and 20 1/h, respectively. The conventional 22-mm-thick wood cladding enables safe cavity conditions in HI walls if the vapor barrier is vapor tight and other moisture sources are low. A lower heat flux and additional heat loss caused by cloudless sky at night support the observation that HI roofs have a higher moisture risk. In HI roofs, a conventional exterior R value of 0.13 m2K/W should at least be increased to the range of 0.3–0.4 m2K/W, which is achieved, for example, by a 20-mm-thick mineral wool board under the roofing. The use of mold-resistant materials in the ventilation cavity is recommended to mitigate the possible ramifications of the moisture behavior of HI roofs.