bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Can You Write a History?
Authors: Rascaroli Laura
Published: June 2024

This chapter understands Siopis’s films as a form of cine-writing. The interest that moves it is not purely formal, however, for the cine-writing in her films is in no way independent of the stories they construct; it is a mode of writing beyond the book, born of the task of telling history otherwise. Combining found footage with sound and subtitles, her films tell untold or censored histories that are markedly alternative. They speak to auto/biographical concerns and to instances of colonialism, war, apartheid, migration, globalization, and ecological crisis, being at the same time the bearers of intense aesthetic/affective experiences beyond the historical and distinctive art objects in dialogue with a number of experimental traditions. Working through what the chapter terms her paragrammatical, scripto-visual film language, the discussion circles in particular around the unspeakable subject produced by Siopis’s work; this seen as a distinctive and compelling form of post-medium, intermedial film-thought.
Anybody Can
Authors: Twidle Hedley
Published: June 2024

This chapter explores the soundworld of Penny Siopis’s film works, taking its cue from her engagement with the life and music of August Musarurwa in Welcome Visitors! As a saxophonist and bandleader in 1950s Bulawayo (then in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe), Musarurwa wrote “Skokiaan,” a hit record subsequently covered by Louis Armstrong. By tracing the transnational, transcultural saga of this African/American pop song (and also Armstrong’s travels in Ghana, Congo, and Rhodesia), the chapter explores how Siopis unsettles the idea of a soundtrack. Rather than providing an underscore that confirms and guides a single emotional response, the sound channel in her films blurs any notion of an appropriate affective register; it also poses the question of what to do with the sentiment and nostalgia that music can automatically, perhaps fraudulently, release. With detours via Turkish and Greek folksongs, Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man, and the life of Demitrios Tsafendas, the conclusion is that the sonic texture of Siopis’s films amplifies the strangeness of the past and its subjects rather than rendering them too easily audible or knowable.
Tentacular Narration
Authors: Whitley Zoé
Published: June 2024

Penny Siopis awakens dormant images, coaxing forth a reincarnation of materials and matter. In the latter, she sees potential images, especially in her work with ink and glue, alchemically interacting with their strangeness, their plasticity, which offers an alternative vocabulary to formalism. Siopis draws Donna Haraway’s notion of tentacularity, “life lived along lines,” into her art as she thinks through the senses. The artist forges techniques to make theory tangible and emotional, as in her installation Tentacular Time, which emphasizes flexible and anamorphous forms of thought. She conveys the stickiness of her media and uses this to create material appendages that reach out like suckers, affixing themselves to us and transcending the imposed structures and strictures of genre.
Kinetic Worlds
Authors: Chiya Sinazo
Published: June 2024

The chapter demonstrates that She Breathes Water is an intervention on environmental violence that theorizes routes to a co-imagined, shareable future. Penny Siopis’s signature “de-mastering” strategies are deployed to invite an engagement with the monstrous nobuman, imagining what it might mean to go beyond merely witnessing slow violence. I expand on how this film highlights the limits of form while also calling attention to process and materiality, as is often the case in Siopis’s paintings. The film’s preference for suggestion rather than depiction is iterative on the visual, audio, and textual tracks. I trace the meanings engendered by the specific arrangements of the found, a hybridized soundtrack of water rushing over different surfaces, punctuated by Franz Schubert’s “Ave Maria” and subtitles that approximate verse. I demonstrate that the artist’s interventions on de-mastering exist on three planes in this film: in the stitching together of scale and form, in granting editorial control to the monstrous nobuman, and in anchoring the film through women’s anger.
Διερεύνηση των πρακτικών εκπαιδευτικού προγραμματισμού και υποστήριξη της επαγγελματικής μάθησης των νηπιαγωγών
Authors: Βέλκου Κυριακή
Published: June 2024

Σκοπός της παρούσας διδακτορικής διατριβής είναι η διερεύνηση των πρακτικών εκπαιδευτικού προγραμματισμού στην προσχολική εκπαίδευση αλλά και η μελέτη της αποτελεσματικότητας των στρατηγικών και της διαδικασίας υποστήριξης της επαγγελματικής μάθησης των εκπαιδευτικών στη διερεύνηση, τον προβληματισμό και την τεκμηρίωση ενός σχεδίου δράσης ως προϋπόθεσης ενός συμμετοχικού προγραμματισμού. Η συγκεκριμένη έρευνα υιοθετεί τη μεθοδολογία της συνεργατικής έρευνας-δράσης, με δεκαπέντε νηπιαγωγούς, που διήρκεσε ένα χρόνο και συμπεριέλαβε ατομικές συνεντεύξεις με τις νηπιαγωγούς στην αρχή και το τέλος της έρευνας-δράσης, ανάλυση αρχείου πρότερων προγραμματισμών των σχολείων τους, ατομικές και ομαδικές συναντήσεις, ανάλυση της νοηματοδότησης και επανεξέτασης των ζητημάτων τους στο πεδίο του προγραμματισμού και μελέτη της αξιολόγησης του σχεδιασμού των δράσεων τους. Αξιοποιήθηκε η θεματική ανάλυση τόσο για να καταγραφεί το αρχικό προφίλ των συμμετεχουσών στην έρευνα κατά την έναρξη της έρευνας-δράσης όσο και οι αλλαγές στις πεποιθήσεις και στις πρακτικές των νηπιαγωγών κατά τη διάρκεια και στο τέλος της υποστήριξής τους. Η ανάλυση των αποτελεσμάτων έδειξε ότι οι πεποιθήσεις και οι πρακτικές των νηπιαγωγών σχετικά με τον εκπαιδευτικό τους προγραμματισμό επηρεάζονται από τις πεποιθήσεις που διατηρούν για το δικό τους ρόλο, το ρόλο των παιδιών και των γονέων στη διαδικασία σχεδιασμού του. Ειδικότερα, διαπιστώθηκε ότι οι κυρίαρχες πεποιθήσεις τους συνδέονταν με το ρόλο αφενός του αποδέκτη υλοποίησης των αποφάσεων του θεσμικού και νομικού πλαισίου στον εκπαιδευτικό τους προγραμματισμό και αφετέρου με εκείνον που κυριαρχεί στις αποφάσεις που λαμβάνονται κατά τη διαδικασία του, χωρίς να ενεργοποιεί τη συμμετοχή των παιδιών και των γονέων στη διαμόρφωση αυτών των αποφάσεων. Παρόλα αυτά, τόσο οι πεποιθήσεις όσο και οι πρακτικές των νηπιαγωγών που συμμετείχαν στην έρευνα-δράση μετασχηματίστηκαν μέσω της υποστήριξης τους σε θεωρητικό, ερευνητικό και στοχαστικό επίπεδο. Στην έρευνα παρουσιάζονται οι διαδικασίες υποστήριξης των εκπαιδευτικών και οι σταδιακές μετατοπίσεις των πεποιθήσεων και πρακτικών τους σε σχέση με τον εκπαιδευτικό προγραμματισμό ως αποτέλεσμα μιας κριτικής επίγνωσης, της διερεύνησης του εκπαιδευτικού πλαισίου, της θεωρητικής υποστήριξης και του ατομικού και συλλογικού αναστοχασμού όπως αυτά προέκυψαν μέσα τη συμμετοχή τους στην έρευνα-δράση. Τα αποτελέσματα της παρούσας έρευνας συζητιούνται στο πλαίσιο της επαγγελματικής μάθησης των εκπαιδευτικών με σκοπό να τροφοδοτήσουν τη γνώση εκπαιδευτών εκπαιδευτικών για τις διαδικασίες υποστήριξης διαδικασιών που ενισχύουν την επανατοποθέτηση των εκπαιδευτικών και το μετασχηματισμό των εκπαιδευτικών τους πρακτικών με διερευνητικό, κριτικό αναστοχαστικό και συμμετοχικό προσανατολισμό, αλλά και την ανάληψη νέων δράσεων.
Design of robotic traverses on the Archytas Dome on the Moon
Authors: Lovell Lewis , Adriani Isabella C. , Nodjoumi Giacomo , Suarez-Valencia Javier E. , Le Corre Daniel , Heward Anita , Rossi Angelo Pio , Cox Nick L. J.
Published: June 2024

Background In recent years, we have seen renewed efforts to study and explore the Moon; modern techniques like machine learning can be important in this context, especially in recognising and classifying the lunar surface. The EXPLORE Machine Learning Lunar Data Challenge was a public initiative during the last quarter of 2022. Its objective was to encourage participants to apply machine learning techniques to identify potential hazards for a planetary mission and to design a robotic traverse for exploring the lunar surface. Methods The lunar region targeted by the challenge was the Archytas Dome in Mare Frigoris, a location with a varied geology and a potential zone for future exploration. We provided training datasets of craters and boulders to the participants, who used them to complete the three steps of the challenge: creating a model that detects these landforms, applying these models to the Archytas Dome region, and computing a traverse for optimal exploration of the zone. In this paper, we showcase the results and considerations of the team that won the challenge. The first step was to enhance the training data by generating new labels and resizing the existing ones. The original and the improved dataset were then used to train four iterations of a neural network model. Results The model with the enhanced dataset yielded the best scores when applied to the Archytas Domes zone (75.46\%). Finally, the traverse was calculated using proximity analysis while avoiding steep slopes and dangerous landforms. Conclusions We found that the variations between tasks and the different approaches necessary to solve them turned out to be the major difficulty of the challenge, as it required backgrounds in both remote sensing and computer sciences. This was reflected in the low participation and the multidisciplinary of the members of the winning team.
Fish availability, market conditions, and livelihood status of traders in a dry fish market in northern Bangladesh
Authors: Hossain Md. Foysul , Rahman Md. Mosiur , Trường Nguyễn Phạm Đan , Chakroborty Koushik , Majumdar Bhaskar Chandra
Published: June 2024

This study was conducted in a dry fish market (Saidpur City dry fish market) in northern Bangladesh from January 2023 to June 2023 to evaluate the marketing status, price variation of available dry fish species, and livelihood status of dry fish traders. A mixed-methods approach was used in this research, utilizing both qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys. Findings revealed that there were 17 different types of dry fish along with 5 types of semi-fermented and salted fish products in the market. The average price of dry fish in the market ranged from 3.67 to 4.59 USD/kg. Surma was the most expensive fish available in the Saidpur city dry fish market (4.59-9.17 USD/kg) while Baspata was the cheapest. The livelihood status of dry fish traders was found to be closely linked to market conditions. Their income levels varied significantly depending on the location and size of the market. It was found that 48% of the traders earned 1.83 to 4.59 USD/day, ¬ while 44% of retailers earned 4.59 to 9.17 USD per day. Only 8% of the traders had a daily income above 9.17 USD. In the present study, it was observed that 62% of retailers did not take any loans, while others borrowed from banks and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). About 58.33% of retailers did not have any alternative source of income and more than 50% of dry fish traders could not pass the primary level of education. This study identified both opportunities and challenges for the dry fish market. The major constraints faced by dry fish traders were a lack of credit facilities followed by high transportation costs and inadequate storage facilities.
Wielowarstwowość polskiej frazematyki gwarowej
Authors: Rak Maciej
Published: June 2024

The aim of the article is to look at Polish dialectal phrases through the prism of its origin. Therefore, the issues discussed here fall within the study of motivational phraseology. The resources of Polish dialectal phrasematics allow us to distinguish four layers: 1) Proto-Slavic (most often motivated by the beliefs and rituals of ancient Slavs), 2) Christian (motivated by the Bible and also Christian religious behavior), 3) referring to observations of the surrounding world, 4) perpetuating the folk vision of the world and man. The research proposed in the article allows us to place the Polish dialectal phrasematics in a broader context – the general Slavic one.
Frazematyka gwarowa jako wykładnik stylizacyjny w literaturze pięknej (na przykładzie prozy Stanisława Młodożeńca i Wincentego Burka)
Authors: Miśkiewicz Marzena
Published: June 2024

The article discusses the issue of dialectal phrasematics as a stylistic exponent in belles-lettres. This issue has not been sufficiently researched yet. Józefa Kobylińska drew attention to this in 1976. This article does not exhaust this problem either. The author analyzed about 200 phrases excerpted from the volumes Droga przez wieś by Wincenty Burek (1935) and Opowiadania by Stanisław Młodożeniec (1976). Both writers represent the Polish folk movement of the interwar period. They both come from villages near Sandomierz. The first part of the article discusses the types of excerpted phrases according to Stanisław Skorupka’s classification. The second part discusses the relationship between literary phrases and dialectal phrases. The division into canonical phrases and phraseological innovations was used. In the third part, the author hypothesizes that some connections represent differential phrases from the writers’ home villages. In the last part, the author considers, using examples, what stylistic functions dialect phrases can perform in belles-lettres.
Na Przeliwki chodzu tylko dla rozrywki. Nietypowe frazemy gwarowe gminy Rzewnie
Authors: Radziszewska Olga
Published: June 2024

The article extensively delves into the exploration of distinctive dialectal expressions within the Rzewnie municipality, situated in Mazowsze Dalsze. Drawing on insights gathered through dialectological interviews with a group of twenty informants in the year 2019, the study systematically dissects various linguistic elements. It meticulously examines phrases featuring toponymic components, those incorporating ethnonyms, expressions elucidating aspects of appearance, daily life, as well as the intricate realms of the axiological system and calendar proverbs. The findings underscore the linguistic tapestry of the Rzewnie municipality, positioning it as a captivating terrain for scholarly inquiry. Within this linguistic landscape, numerous hitherto unrecorded linguistic entities emerge, characterized by a lexicon rich in nuance and distinctive dialectal traits that are emblematic of this particular region. The article thus paints a vivid portrait of the linguistic intricacies inherent in the vernacular of Rzewnie, showcasing its unique linguistic contributions and regional idiosyncrasies.
Overdiagnosis and Undertesting for Infectious Diseases
Authors: Dai Tinglong , Singh Shubhranshu
Published: June 2024

Motivated by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, this paper models how laboratories’ diagnostic-testing practice interacts with health policy, which can lead to both overdiagnosis and undertesting.
Robustness to Dependency in Influence Maximization
Authors: Chen Louis L. , Lim Chee Chin , Padmanabhan Divya , Natarajan Karthik
Published: June 2024

In this paper, we pursue a correlation-robust study of the influence maximization problem. Departing from the classic independent cascade model, we study a diffusion process adversarially adapted to the choice of seed set. More precisely, rather than the independent coupling of known individual edge probabilities, we now evaluate a seed set’s expected influence under all possible correlations, specifically, the one that presents the worst case. We find that the worst case expected influence can be efficiently computed, its NP-hard optimization done approximately [Formula: see text] with greedy construction, and we provide complete, efficient characterizations of the adversarial coupling, the random graph, and the random number of influenced nodes. But, most importantly, upon mixing the independent cascade with the worst case, we attain a tunable and more comprehensive model better suited for real-world diffusion phenomena than the independent cascade alone and without increased computational complexity. Extensions to the correlation-robust study of risk follow along with numerical experiments on network data sets with demonstration of how our models can be tuned.

This paper was accepted by George Shanthikumar, data science.

Funding: This work was supported by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research (Mathematical Optimization Program) under the grant: “Optimal Decision Making under Tight Performance Requirements in Adversarial and Uncertain Environments: Insight from Rockafellian Functions”.

Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2021.03445 .
Staff induction 2: the role of the kidney care leader
Authors: Ellis Peter , Abbott Jane
Published: June 2024

Peter Ellis takes us through the importance of moral courage in great leaders
Does timely reporting of preoperative CT scans influence outcomes for patients following emergency laparotomy?
Authors: Ikram S , Mirtorabi N , Ali D , Aain H , Naumann DN , Dilworth M
Published: June 2024

Introduction

Timely preoperative computed tomography (CT) scans are important for patients requiring emergency laparotomy. United Kingdom guidelines state that a CT scan should be reported within 1h for ‘critical’ patients (will alter management at the time) and within 12h for ‘urgent’ patients (will alter management but not necessarily that day).

Methods

An observational study included patients who were added to the National Emergency Laparotomy Audit (NELA) at a National Health Service trust from 2014 to 2021. The association of compliance with timings guidance and mortality was investigated. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine the odds ratio of adherence to guidelines according to age, gender, night time admission, American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) score, NELA mortality risk and category of scan. Further models determined the influence of adherence to guidelines on mortality, also adjusted for these variables.

Results

There were 1,299 patients (48% ‘critical’ and 52% ‘urgent’ CT scans). Only 360/1,299 (28%) of scans were undertaken with adherence to the timing guidelines. Critical scans were less likely to adhere to guidelines. Although univariable analysis suggested that adherence to guidelines was associated with reduced mortality, this was not the case in the multivariable model: only age, ASA and NELA mortality risk remained significantly associated with mortality.

Conclusions

A minority of patients met the recommended preoperative CT report timings, and this was less likely for scans designated ‘critical’. This did not appear to affect mortality when adjusted for key variables of risk. This illustrates the phenomenon of guideline adherence appearing to affect patient outcomes as a product of selection bias rather than causality.
Young caregivers and COVID-19: a care-full approach through (post-)qualitative enquiry
Authors: Linares-Roake Julia Beatrice , Breen Andrea V. , Chalmers Heather , Martin Stephanie
Published: June 2024

This article engages with transcript data from a larger longitudinal study of young carers’ experiences during COVID-19. We carefully engage with the transcripts of three young carers to think with the messiness of care in ways that extend beyond dyadic caregiver and care receiver categorization. Our work adopts Lonkila’s notion of ‘care-full’ research practices, which acknowledges multidirectional and complex care across the research apparatus. Pulling from multiple theoretical approaches, including feminist care ethics, critical disability studies and critical posthumanism, we follow the tendrils of care and think with the ways in which care may be affective, productive, confusing and oppressive.
“So Good a Bad Book”: Russell’s History of Western Philosophy , Part I
Authors: Willis Kirk
Published: June 2024

Abstract: Of Bertrand Russell’s three score books, his History of Western Philosophy is perhaps the best known. A publishing sensation from the moment of its publication in America in October 1945 and in Britain a year later, the book remains in print 80 years on. Curiously, however, the History has received inadequate scholarly attention. In particular, what has not been seriously examined are the reasons for this remarkable and unexpected success—why this immensely long book, which few contemporaries and even fewer modern students have bothered to read cover to cover, came to sell tens of thousands of copies in paper-rationed Britain and America. This paper seeks to answer that question by examining in Part i the book’s genesis, sources, composition, purposes (both avowed and latent), and in Part ii its critical reception in both Britain and the us, and continued reputation among scholars and laymen alike. A tract for its desperately troubled times, it spoke to a world fearful of totalitarianism, starving for liberal rebirth, and yearning for reasons to believe in progress, optimism, and reason, A History ofWestern Philosophy , for all its flaws and inadequacies, provided a source of solace, understanding, and hope to its readers then and now.
Active-compensation of systematic error for the 1000 mm aperture flat interferometer
Authors: Xu Ningyan , Gao Zhishan , Yuan Qun , Guo Zhenyan , Zhu Dan
Published: June 2024

Large-aperture elements would induce unnegligible systematic errors due to material inhomogeneity, manufacturing or gravity, that are difficult to correct in an extreme large aperture flat interferometer and result in reference wavefront distortion. We propose an active-compensation method for systematic errors by employing a deformable mirror into the interferometer to modulate reference wavefront. A mapping relationship between sag of the deformable mirror and reference wavefront error is derived by theory of matrix optics, and two interferometer optical paths are designed for whether the deformable mirror is located at the pupil or not. The algorithm for calculating and controlling the sag of a deformable mirror can eliminate the need for the deformable mirror to be positioned at the pupil in order to achieve controllable modulation of the wavefront. This algorithm has been validated through the intentional introduction of systematic errors into the 1000 mm aperture flat interferometer for effective compensation. Moreover, the optimization algorithm in Ansys Zemax is utilized to calculate the optimal solution for surface shape of the deformable mirror, treating it as a nominal value. The algorithm error is on the order of 10−6 mm, falling within the acceptable tolerance range for the deformable mirror's surface shape.
Deep learning reconstruction algorithm for frequency-resolved optical gating
Authors: Zeng Yuanhang , He Zijian , Guo Xinhua , Zhu Guangzhi , Zhu Xiao
Published: June 2024

In general, delay operation is the most time-consuming stage in frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) technology, which limits the use of FROG for high-speed measurement of ultrashort laser pulses. In this work, we propose and demonstrate the reconstruction of ultrashort optical pulses by employing the sequence-to-sequence (Seq2Seq) model with attention, theoretically. To our knowledge, this is the first deep learning framework capable of accurately reconstructing ultrashort pulses using very partial spectrograms. The root mean squared error (RMSE) of the pulse amplitude reconstruction and phase reconstruction on the overall test dataset are 9.5 × 10−4 and 0.20, respectively. Compared with the classic FROG recovery algorithm based on two-dimensional phase retrieval algorithms, the use of our model can shorten the spectral measurement time to 1/8 of the original time or even less. Meanwhile, the time required for pulse reconstruction using our model is roughly 0.2 s. To our knowledge, the pulse reconstruction speed of our model exceeds all current iteration-based FROG recovery algorithms. We believe that this study can greatly facilitate the use of FROG for high-speed measurements of ultrashort pulses.
Single-shot lensless masked imaging with enhanced self-calibrated phase retrieval
Authors: Zheng Shenghao , Xu Fannuo , Guo Cheng
Published: June 2024

Single-shot lensless imaging with a binary amplitude mask enables a low-cost and miniaturized configuration for wave field recovery. However, the mask only allows a part of the wave field to be captured, and thus the inverse decoding process becomes a highly ill-posed problem. Here we propose an enhanced self-calibrated phase retrieval (eSCPR) method to realize single-shot joint recovery of mask distribution and the sample’s wavefront. In our method, a sparse regularized phase retrieval (SrPR) algorithm is designed to calibrate the mask distribution. Then, a denoising regularized phase retrieval (DrPR) algorithm is constructed to reconstruct the wavefront of the sample. Compared to conventional single-shot methods, our method shows robust and flexible image recovery. Experimental results of different samples are given to demonstrate the superiority of our method.
An algorithm to build synthetic temporal contact networks based on close-proximity interactions data
Authors: Duval Audrey , Leclerc Quentin J. , Guillemot Didier , Temime Laura , Opatowski Lulla
Published: June 2024

Small populations (e.g., hospitals, schools or workplaces) are characterised by high contact heterogeneity and stochasticity affecting pathogen transmission dynamics. Empirical individual contact data provide unprecedented information to characterize such heterogeneity and are increasingly available, but are usually collected over a limited period, and can suffer from observation bias. We propose an algorithm to stochastically reconstruct realistic temporal networks from individual contact data in healthcare settings (HCS) and test this approach using real data previously collected in a long-term care facility (LTCF). Our algorithm generates full networks from recorded close-proximity interactions, using hourly inter-individual contact rates and information on individuals’ wards, the categories of staff involved in contacts, and the frequency of recurring contacts. It also provides data augmentation by reconstructing contacts for days when some individuals are present in the HCS without having contacts recorded in the empirical data. Recording bias is formalized through an observation model, to allow direct comparison between the augmented and observed networks. We validate our algorithm using data collected during the i-Bird study, and compare the empirical and reconstructed networks. The algorithm was substantially more accurate to reproduce network characteristics than random graphs. The reconstructed networks reproduced well the assortativity by ward (first–third quartiles observed: 0.54–0.64; synthetic: 0.52–0.64) and the hourly staff and patient contact patterns. Importantly, the observed temporal correlation was also well reproduced (0.39–0.50 vs 0.37–0.44), indicating that our algorithm could recreate a realistic temporal structure. The algorithm consistently recreated unobserved contacts to generate full reconstructed networks for the LTCF. To conclude, we propose an approach to generate realistic temporal contact networks and reconstruct unobserved contacts from summary statistics computed using individual-level interaction networks. This could be applied and extended to generate contact networks to other HCS using limited empirical data, to subsequently inform individual-based epidemic models.
Improving experiences of neglected tropical diseases of the skin: Mixed methods formative research for development of a complex intervention in Atwima Mponua District, Ghana
Authors: Okyere Daniel , Ocloo Edmond Kwaku , Owusu Lucy , Amoako Yaw Ampem , Tuwor Ruth Dede , Koka Eric , Novignon Jacob , Asante-Poku Adwoa , Siam Ishaque Mintah , Afreh Emmanuel Kyei , Agbanyo Abigail , Akuffo Richard Adjei , Gyabaah Solomon , Oppong Michael Ntiamoah , Halliday Katherine E. , Simpson Hope , Timothy Joseph , Marks Michael , Zuurmond Maria , Walker Stephen L. , Pullan Rachel L. , Ahorlu Collins Stephen , Phillips Richard Odame , Yeboah-Manu Dorothy , Pitt Catherine , Palmer Jennifer ,   SHARP collaboration
Published: June 2024

Integrated approaches to managing co-endemic neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) of the skin within primary healthcare services are complex and require tailoring to local contexts. We describe formative research in Atwima Mponua District in Ghana’s Ashanti Region designed to inform the development of a sustainable intervention to improve access to skin NTD care. We employed a convergent, parallel, mixed-methods design, collecting data from February 2021 to February 2022. We quantitatively assessed service readiness using a standardised checklist and reviewed outpatient department registers and condition-specific case records in all government health facilities in the district. Alongside a review of policy documents, we conducted 49 interviews and 7 focus group discussions with purposively selected affected persons, caregivers, community members, health workers, and policy-makers to understand skin NTD care-seeking practices and the policy landscape. Outside the district hospital, skin NTD reporting rates in the surveyed facilities were low; supply chains for skin NTD diagnostics, consumables, and medicines had gaps; and health worker knowledge of skin NTDs was limited. Affected people described fragmented care, provided mostly by hospitals (often outside the district) or traditional healers, resulting in challenges obtaining timely diagnosis and treatment and high care-seeking costs. Affected people experienced stigma, although the extent to which stigma influenced care-seeking behaviour was unclear. National actors were more optimistic than district-level actors about local resource availability for skin NTD care and were sceptical of including traditional healers in interventions. Our findings indicate that improvement of the care cascade for affected individuals to reduce the clinical, economic, and psychosocial impact of skin NTDs is likely to require a complementary set of interventions. These findings have informed the design of a strategy to support high-quality, integrated, decentralised care for skin NTDs in Atwima Mponua, which will be assessed through a multidisciplinary evaluation.
Challenges faced by adolescent girls on menstrual hygiene management: School-based study, Siha, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania
Authors: Method Andrew , Hassan Johari , Assenga Odilia , Kamugisha Placidia , Kawishe Theresia , Luchagura Frank , Msaka Peter , Singu Milka , Bintabara Deogratius
Published: June 2024

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) has received increasing attention as a public health issue globally. Governments and stakeholders have started to engage communities to address barriers and challenges faced by adolescents in and out of school. This study, conducted in Siha District, northern Tanzania, responds to the call for evidence sensitive to local barriers and challenges to inform successful strategies in MHM. Institutional-based cross-sectional study which involved 400 school girls aged 10 to 19 years old who attained menarche were randomly selected in four secondary and advanced level government schools from September 2019 to January 2020. Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analysis were employed. A P-value less than 0.05 was used to declare statistical significance. Among all the girls who participated in the study 30% reported missing school due to menstruation while 56% of the girls reported using toilets as changing places at school. The use of reusable sanitary material was 52% compared with non-reusable materials which was 48%. In urban areas, 34.5% of students reported missing school due to menstruation compared to 25% who reported in rural areas. The findings show that school absenteeism among adolescent girls during menstruation is significantly associated with a headache (Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 3.3 (95% CI:1.32–8.23)) and abdominal waist pain (AOR = 8.50 (95% CI: 6.27–15.56)), lack of changing rooms in school (AOR = 5.85 (95% CI: 4.82–7.93)). In addition, the high cost of sanitary pads was mentioned as one of the main reasons for students not using sanitary pads. This study calls for promoting MHM-friendly practices in schools to create a supportive and conducive learning environment for adolescent girls. Ongoing infrastructure improvements such as the construction of classrooms and toilets in schools should include the construction of proper changing places to reduce the number of adolescent girls who miss school due to menstruation.
FaceTouch: Detecting hand-to-face touch with supervised contrastive learning to assist in tracing infectious diseases
Authors: Ibrahim Mohamed R. , Lyons Terry
Published: June 2024

Through our respiratory system, many viruses and diseases frequently spread and pass from one person to another. Covid-19 served as an example of how crucial it is to track down and cut back on contacts to stop its spread. There is a clear gap in finding automatic methods that can detect hand-to-face contact in complex urban scenes or indoors. In this paper, we introduce a computer vision framework, called FaceTouch, based on deep learning. It comprises deep sub-models to detect humans and analyse their actions. FaceTouch seeks to detect hand-to-face touches in the wild, such as through video chats, bus footage, or CCTV feeds. Despite partial occlusion of faces, the introduced system learns to detect face touches from the RGB representation of a given scene by utilising the representation of the body gestures such as arm movement. This has been demonstrated to be useful in complex urban scenarios beyond simply identifying hand movement and its closeness to faces. Relying on Supervised Contrastive Learning, the introduced model is trained on our collected dataset, given the absence of other benchmark datasets. The framework shows a strong validation in unseen datasets which opens the door for potential deployment.
Difference in TMPRSS2 usage by Delta and Omicron variants of SARS-CoV-2: Implication for a sudden increase among children
Authors: Kakee Sosuke , Kanai Kyosuke , Tsuneki-Tokunaga Akeno , Okuno Keisuke , Namba Noriyuki , Tomita Katsuyuki , Chikumi Hiroki , Kageyama Seiji
Published: June 2024

It has been postulated from a combination of evidence that a sudden increase in COVID-19 cases among pediatric patients after onset of the Omicron wave was attributed to a reduced requirement for TMPRSS2-mediated entry in pediatric airways with lower expression levels of TMPRSS2. Epidemic strains were isolated from the indigenous population in an area, and the levels of TMPRSS2 required for Delta and Omicron variants were assessed. As a result, Delta variants proliferated fully in cultures of TMPRSS2-positive Vero cells but not in TMPRSS2-negative Vero cell culture (350-fold, Delta vs 9.6-fold, Omicron). There was no obvious age-dependent selection of Omicron strains affected by the TMPRSS2 (9.6-fold, Adults vs. 12-fold, Children). A phylogenetic tree was generated and Blast searches (up to 100 references) for the spread of strains in the study area showed that each strain had almost identical homology (>99.5%) with foreign isolates, although indigenous strains had obvious differences from each other. This suggested that the differences had been present abroad for a long period. Therefore, the lower requirement for TMPRSS2 by Omicron strains might be applicable to epidemic strains globally. In conclusion, the property of TMPRSS2-independent cleavage makes Omicron proliferate with ease and allows epidemics among children with fewer TMPRSS2 on epithelial surfaces of the respiratory organs.
Stress and sleep deprivation-related biomarkers in saliva in patients with retinitis pigmentosa
Authors: Mateos-Olivares Milagros , Pastor-Idoate Salvador , Martín-Vallejo Javier , García-Vazquez Cristina , Pastor José Carlos , Usategui-Martín Ricardo , Sobas Eva María
Published: June 2024

Purpose

Patients with Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) commonly experience sleep-related issues and are susceptible to stress. Moreover, variatiaons in their vision are often linked to anxiety, stress and drowsiness, indicating that stress and sleep deprivation lead to a decline in vision, and vision improves when both are mitigated. The objective of this study was to investigate the utility of salivary biomarkers as biochemical indicators of anxiety and sleep deprivation in RP patients.

Methods

Seventy-eight RP patients and 34 healthy controls were included in this observational study. Anxiety and sleep-quality questionnaires, a complete ophthalmological exam for severity grading and, the collection of salivary samples from participants were assessed for participants. The activity of biomarkers was estimated by ELISA, and statistical analysis was performed to determine associations between the parameters. Associations between underlying psychological factors, grade of disease severity, and biomarkers activity were also examined.

Results

Fifty-two (67%) of patients had a severe RP, and 26 (33%) had a mild-moderate grade. Fifty-eight (58,9%) patients reported severe levels of anxiety and 18 (23.,1%) a high level. Forty-six (59%) patients obtained pathological values in sleep-quality questionaries and 43 (55.1%) in sleepiness.

Patients with RP exhibited significant differences in testosterone, cortisol, sTNFαRII, sIgA and melatonin as compared to controls and patients with a mild-moderate and advanced stage of disease showed greater differences. In covariate analysis, patients with a severe anxiety level also showed greater differences in mean salivary cortisol, sTNFαRII and melatonin and male patients showed lower IgA levels than female.

Conclusions

The present findings suggest that salivary biomarkers could be suitable non-invasive biochemical markers for the objective assessment of sleep deprivation and anxiety in RP patients. Further research is needed to characterize the effects of untreated negative psychological states and sleep deprivation on increased variability of vision and disease progression, if any.
Assessment of knowledge, attitudes, and practices among community pharmacists in Lahore regarding antibiotic dispensing without prescription: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Nabeel Muhammad , Ali Khubaib , Sarwar Muhammad Rehan , Waheed Imran
Published: June 2024

Objectives

The irrational dispensing practices are responsible for antibiotic abuse and the spread of antibiotic resistance. Thus, the present study aims to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of community pharmacists (CPs) regarding dispensing antibiotics without prescription (DAwP).

Method

A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted between March 1, 2023, and March 31, 2023, in community pharmacy settings of Lahore, Pakistan. A self-administered and pretested questionnaire was used for the data collection. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors associated with the practices of community pharmacists. Data were analyzed using SPSS (version 26) and MS Office (2016).

Results

Among 359 respondents, many strongly agreed/agreed with the statements "DAwP is contributing to the development of antimicrobial resistance" (83%, n = 298) and "Antibiotic resistance has become a public health issue" (81.9%, n = 249). Overall, most of the community pharmacists claimed that the unwillingness of patients to visit physicians for non-serious infections (75.2%, n = 270) and good knowledge of pharmacists about the use of antibiotics (51%, n = 183) were the most common reasons attributable to dispensing of antibiotics without prescription. Cephalosporin (n = 260, 72.4%), penicillin (n = 254, 70.8%), and tetracyclines (n = 170, 47.4%) were the most commonly dispensed classes of antibiotics without prescription due to cold, flu and diarrhea. Most community pharmacists never/sometimes warn patients about the potential side effects of medicines (79.1%, n = 284). Logistic regression analysis revealed that community pharmacists 31–40 years of age (OR = 0.568, 95%CI = 0.348–0.927, p-value = 0.024) were significantly less associated with poor practices of dispensing antibiotics without prescription (DAwP) while those who were ’Managers’ (OR = 4.222, 95%CI = 2.542–7.011, p-value = <0.001), had 3–5 years of experience (OR = 2.241, 95%CI = 1.183–4.243, p-value = 0.013), dispensed ≤25 antibiotics per day (OR = 12.375, 95%CI = 5.177–29.583, p-value = <0.001), were more likely to be associated with poor practices of dispensing of antibiotics without prescription.

Conclusion

The community pharmacists had adequate knowledge, positive attitudes, and poor practices towards DAwP. Demographical factors such as age, job status, and work experience were the determinants of community pharmacists’ practices towards dispensing antibiotics without prescription (DAwP). Hence, a multifaceted approach, including educational interventions, is needed to reduce the dispensing of antibiotics without prescription (DAwP).
Indigenous language learning in higher education in Ghana: Exploring students’ behavioral intentions using an extended theory of planned behavior
Authors: Nyamekye Ernest
Published: June 2024

This study investigated the predictors of indigenous language learning from an empirical and theoretical perspective. A quantitative approach was employed to explore the issue using an extended version of Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behavior that incorporates linguistic insecurity in measuring students’ language learning intentions. A total of 180 first-year undergraduate students in the Department of Arts Education and the Department of Ghanaian Languages and Linguistics participated in the study. Using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM), measurement and structural models were evaluated. The results indicated that students’ attitudes (behavioral beliefs), subjective norms, language learning efficacy, and students’ sense of linguistic insecurity significantly predicted their intentions to study indigenous languages. The exogenous variables accounted for 47.8% of the variance in students’ intentions to study indigenous languages in higher education. The strongest predictor of intention was subjective norms (β = 0.399; p<0.01), followed by students’ sense of linguistic insecurity (β = -0.254; p<0.01), perceived language learning efficacy (β = 0.169; p = 0.013), and language attitude (β = 0.144; p = 0.045). These results underscore the need for concerned stakeholders to foster positive attitudes and address linguistic insecurity to enhance learners’ development of positive behavioral intentions toward indigenous language learning.
A reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay for quick detection of tomato mosaic virus
Authors: Kirasi Phostine M. , Ateka Elijah M. , Avedi Edith K. , Yegon Hillary K. , Wanjala Bramwel W. , Pappu Hanu R.
Published: June 2024

Tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), an economically important virus that affects a wide range of crops, is highly contagious, and its transmission is mediated by mechanical means, and through contaminated seeds or planting materials, making its management challenging. To contain its wide distribution, early and accurate detection of infection is required. A survey was conducted between January and May, 2023 in major tomato growing counties in Kenya, namely, Baringo, Kajiado, Kirinyaga and Laikipia, to establish ToMV disease incidence and to collect samples for optimization of the reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification assay (RT-LAMP) assay. A RT-LAMP assay, utilizing primers targeting the coat protein, was developed and evaluated for its performance. The method was able to detect ToMV in tomato samples within 4:45 minutes, had a 1,000-fold higher sensitivity than conventional reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method and was specific to ToMV. Furthermore, the practical applicability of the assay was assessed using tomato samples and other solanaecous plants. The assay was able to detect the virus in 14 tomato leaf samples collected from the field, compared to 11 samples detected by RT-PCR, further supporting the greater sensitivity of the assay. To make the assay more amenable for on-site ToMV detection, a quick-extraction method based on alkaline polyethylene glycol buffer was evaluated, which permitted the direct detection of the target virus from crude leaf extracts. Due to its high sensitivity, specificity and rapidity, the RT-LAMP method could be valuable for field surveys and quarantine inspections towards a robust management of ToMV infections.
The efficacy of machine learning models in lung cancer risk prediction with explainability
Authors: Pathan Refat Khan , Shorna Israt Jahan , Hossain Md. Sayem , Khandaker Mayeen Uddin , Almohammed Huda I. , Hamd Zuhal Y.
Published: June 2024

Among many types of cancers, to date, lung cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers around the world. Many researchers, scientists, doctors, and people from other fields continuously contribute to this subject regarding early prediction and diagnosis. One of the significant problems in prediction is the black-box nature of machine learning models. Though the detection rate is comparatively satisfactory, people have yet to learn how a model came to that decision, causing trust issues among patients and healthcare workers. This work uses multiple machine learning models on a numerical dataset of lung cancer-relevant parameters and compares performance and accuracy. After comparison, each model has been explained using different methods. The main contribution of this research is to give logical explanations of why the model reached a particular decision to achieve trust. This research has also been compared with a previous study that worked with a similar dataset and took expert opinions regarding their proposed model. We also showed that our research achieved better results than their proposed model and specialist opinion using hyperparameter tuning, having an improved accuracy of almost 100% in all four models.
Early-stage health technology assessment of fractional flow reserve coronary computed tomography versus standard diagnostics in patients with stable chest pain in The Netherlands
Authors: Boot Iris W. A. , Planken R. Nils , den Hartog Alexander W. , Vrijhoef Hubertus J. M.
Published: June 2024

Objectives

The aim of this early-stage Health Technology Assessment (HTA) was to assess the difference in healthcare costs and effects of fractional flow reserve derived from coronary computed tomography (FFRct) compared to standard diagnostics in patients with stable chest pain in The Netherlands.

Methods

A decision-tree model was developed to assess the difference in total costs from the hospital perspective, probability of correct diagnoses, and risk of major adverse cardiovascular events at one year follow-up. One-way sensitivity analyses were conducted to determine the main drivers of the cost difference between the strategies. A threshold analysis on the added price of FFRct analysis (computational analysis only) was conducted.

Results

The mean one-year costs were €2,680 per patient for FFRct and €2,915 per patient for standard diagnostics. The one-year probability of correct diagnoses was 0.78 and 0.61, and the probability of major adverse cardiovascular events was 1.92x10-5 and 0.01, respectively. The probability and costs of revascularization and the specificity of coronary computed tomography angiography had the greatest effect on the difference in costs between the strategies. The added price of FFRct analysis should be below €935 per patient to be considered the least costly option.

Conclusions

The early-stage HTA findings suggest that FFRct may reduce total healthcare spending, probability of incorrect diagnoses, and major adverse cardiovascular events compared to current diagnostics for patients with stable chest pain in the Dutch healthcare setting over one year. Future cost-effectiveness studies should determine a value-based pricing for FFRct and quantify the economic value of the anticipated therapeutic impact.