bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Virtual horizons: Enhancing rehabilitation of neuromuscular diseases through virtual reality and gamification
Authors: Calderone Andrea , Latella Desirèe , De Luca Rosaria , Gangemi Antonio , Impellizzeri Federica , de Pasquale Paolo , Corallo Francesco , Manuli Alfredo , Quartarone Angelo , Portaro Simona , Calabrò Rocco Salvatore
Published: January 2025

Background

Neuromuscular diseases (NMDs) encompass a diverse range of disorders that impair muscle function, often leading to progressive weakness and loss of independence.

Objective

This systematic review aims to synthesize research on how virtual reality (VR) and gamified rehabilitation approaches enhance patient engagement and outcomes, ultimately reshaping rehabilitation practices for individuals with NMDs.

Methods

Studies were identified from an online search of PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases with a search time range from 2014 to 2024. This review has been registered on Open OSF (n) RCNHE.

Results

Robotics, VR, and biofeedback, in turn, enriched by gamification, represent the improvement of motor function, motivation, and psychosocial well-being within rehabilitation concerning NMDs. Using emerging technologies seems promising to improve engagement, delay functional decline, and enhance quality of life.

Conclusions

This systematic review identified that VR and gamification provide the potential to enhance rehabilitation outcomes in patients suffering from NMDs. The future will doubtless have more subjects included and optimization of interventions to best personalize treatments, hence best practice recommendations can be made towards wider clinical implementations.
Identifying outcome domains to establish a core outcome set for progressive pulmonary fibrosis: a scoping review
Authors: Delameillieure Anouk , Somogyi Vivien , Schenk Silja , Toreyin Nur , Stenzel Nikola , Van Bulck Liesbet , Breuls Sofie , Kreuter Michael , Wuyts Wim A. , Mogulkoc Nesrin , Boyd Jeanette , Jones Steve , Galvin Liam , Dobbels Fabienne
Published: January 2025

Introduction

People with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and other forms of progressive pulmonary fibrosis (PPF) have a high symptom burden and a poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Despite efforts to offer specialised treatment, clinical care for these patients remains suboptimal and several nonmedical needs remain unaddressed. Developing a core outcome set (COS) can help to identify a minimum set of agreed-upon outcomes that should be measured and acted-upon in clinical care.

Aim

As a first step towards developing a COS for IPF/PPF, we aimed to identify outcome domains investigated in IPF/PPF research.

Methods

Conducted within the COCOS-IPF (Co-designing a Core Outcome Set for and with patients with IPF) project, this scoping review follows Joanna Briggs Institute methodology and PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines to search PubMed, Embase and Web of Science for quantitative, qualitative and mixed-methods papers. We extracted each paper's outcomes verbatim and classified them using the COMET (Core Outcome Measures in Effectiveness Trials) taxonomy. Then, the research team structured outcomes or concepts with similar meanings inductively into outcome domains.

Results

We included 428 papers, extracting 1685 outcomes. Most outcomes (n=1340) were identified in quantitative sources, which we could classify in 64 outcome domains, with the main domains being “all-cause survival” (n=237), “lung function” (n=164) and “exercise capacity” (n=99). Qualitative sources identified 51 outcome domains, with the most frequent being “capability to do activities you enjoy” (n=31), “anxiety, worry and fear” (n=26) and “dealing with disease progression” (n=25).

Conclusions

The identified outcomes, spanning diverse domains, highlight the complexity of patient experiences and can form the basis to develop a COS for IPF/PPF clinical care, as well as future research.
Patient satisfaction with radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag localization compared with wire localization for nonpalpable breast lesions: the RFID trial
Authors: Pete Raphaël , Pinard Céleste , Sirodot Fanny , Molnar Ioana , Dressaire Margot , Ginzac Angeline , Abrial Catherine , Durando Xavier , Tekath Marielle
Published: January 2025

Background

Most breast cancers are detected at an early stage in which case conservative surgery is indicated. An accurate preoperative localization technique is essential for conservative surgery of non-palpable breast lesions. Currently, the gold standard technique is wire localization (WL). However, this technique has well-known drawbacks. Several wire-free techniques have been developed to overcome these drawbacks; one technique is localisation by Radiofrequency Identification (RFID). The purpose of this clinical trial was to assess the superiority of RFID tags (HOLOGIC) in terms of patient satisfaction, over wire localization of non-palpable breast lesions.

Methods

This was a single-centre, prospective, controlled and non-interventional trial. Patients were followed from their inclusion at the time of the preoperative consultation to the postoperative consultation, one month after surgery. Data on anxiety and satisfaction was collected from patients and clinicians using questionnaires, and clinical data was collected from the medical files. The primary outcome was the patients’ satisfaction scores, assessed using a visual analogue scale.

Results

Eighty patients were sequentially enrolled in two groups: the wire group (n = 40) and the RFID group (n = 40). One patient from the RFID group was excluded from the analysis because of a substantial migration during deployment. On a 10-point Visual Analogue Scale, the patients’ median satisfaction score was 9.8 (IQR = 1.32) for the wire group and 10 (IQR = 0.07) for the RFID group (p < 0.001). A reduction in pain between device insertion and surgery was observed in the RFID group (p = 0.009). The median placement time was shorter in the RFID group (15 min, IQR = 6) than in the wire group (20 min, IQR = 30) (p = 0.01).

Conclusion

Our results show a statistically significant difference in median patient satisfaction score with the localization of non-palpable breast cancer lesions using RFID tags compared to the use of the WL. Although our results did not show clinically significant outcomes in terms of satisfaction, RFID tags are a reliable alternative to WL and simplify the organization of patients’ healthcare trajectories.

Trial registration

ClinicalTrials.gov ID; NCT04750889 registered on February 11, 2021. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT04750889?term=rfid&draw=2&rank=1
Perceptions of cervical screening uptake amongst South Asian women in Ontario, Canada: a concept mapping study
Authors: Devotta Kimberly , Lofters Aisha , Bender Jacqueline , O’Campo Patricia
Published: January 2025

Background

Regular cervical screening can significantly reduce the onset and prevalence of cervical cancer. In Ontario, Canada, South Asian women have the lowest rates of cervical cancer screening among major ethnic groups in the province.

Methods

Using an innovative and participant-driven method called Concept Mapping (CM), we set out to understand how the lives and experiences of South Asian women living in Ontario shape their decisions around getting screened for cervical cancer. We engaged over 70 South Asian women and people who serve them in healthcare and community, to drive the CM process.

Results

Participants brainstormed 45 unique and distinct statements. Through sorting and map interpretation, participants identified and interpreted 6 clusters amongst the statements: (1) Personal beliefs and misconceptions around cervical cancer; (2) Education and knowledge issues around cervical cancer; (3) Cultural beliefs and influences specific to sexual health; (4) Barriers to prioritizing uptake of cervical screening; (5) System/ infrastructure gaps or inadequacies; and (6) Lack of comfort and supportive relationships in healthcare. Additional analysis shows us the interrelationships between the ideas. Statements within the clusters about education and knowledge issues around cervical cancer, personal beliefs and misconceptions, as well as cultural beliefs and influences specific to sexual health are viewed as distinct beliefs with clear effects on the uptake of cervical screening. More complex interrelationships are seen with the cluster of statements about barriers to prioritizing uptake of cervical screening.

Conclusions

As Ontario and many other jurisdictions around the world seek to strengthen cervical screening efforts in line with national and international goals to eliminate cervical cancer by 2040, it is critical to address underscreening. This CM study recognizes the value of engaging those most impacted by an issue, to identify and prioritize how and where to intervene to address low rates of cervical screening. To address underscreening we need to design multi-level interventions that address the identified ideas and the interrelationships among them.
Radiography may not be accurate in assessing acute ankle sprains in children
Authors: Li Xiongtao , Shen Xiantao , Wang Si , Sun Jie , Liu Zhaoting
Published: January 2025

Background

Acute ankle sprains are among the most common injuries in children and are often associated with chondral avulsion fractures and ligament injuries. However, radiography may not be sufficiently accurate for assessing cartilage and ligament injuries in children. The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the necessity of radiography in the diagnosis of acute ankle sprains in children. The secondary purpose was to assess whether ultrasonography can effectively improve the diagnostic accuracy of acute ankle sprains in children.

Methods

We collected medical data from 78 children with acute ankle sprains who underwent both radiological and ultrasound examinations, 59 of whom also had ankle MRI results. The agreement between the radiographic and ultrasonographic findings in these 78 patients was assessed via Cohen’s kappa and McNemar tests. Using MRI results as the gold standard, the sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of radiography and ultrasonography were evaluated for the 59 patients who had MRI results. Cohen’s kappa and McNemar’s tests were also utilized to assess the reliability of radiography and ultrasonography in comparison to MRI.

Results

Among the 78 children with acute ankle sprains, 29 did not show fractures on radiological examination, but fractures were detected via ultrasound examination. Among these 29 fractures, 20 were chondral avulsion fractures of the distal fibula, and 9 were avulsion fractures of the lateral talus process. The agreement between radiography and ultrasonography was fair (Kappa = 0.250), and the difference was statistically significant (P < 0.001). Using MRI as the gold standard, radiography resulted in 17 false-negative cases for lateral ankle fractures, with a sensitivity of only 47%. Ultrasonography produced only one false-negative case, achieving a sensitivity of 97%. Ultrasonography showed substantial agreement with MRI (Kappa = 0.797), whereas radiography showed fair agreement with MRI (Kappa = 0.384).

Conclusions

Acute ankle sprains in children frequently result in a high incidence of chondral avulsion fractures. However, radiography may be inadequate for accurately diagnosing these fractures. Reliance on radiography alone may lead to a substantial number of false-negative cases. Compared with radiography, ultrasonography is highly accurate in the diagnosis of chondral avulsion fractures and ligament injuries in children. We believe that ultrasonography, as a noninvasive, radiation-free, and cost-effective dynamic diagnostic method, is particularly suitable for the early diagnosis of acute ankle sprains in children.

Level of evidence

Level III; Diagnostic Study.
Cost-effectiveness of watchful waiting versus immediate emergency department transfer after epinephrine autoinjector use in Canada
Authors: Yin Yiwei , Shoshan Moshe Ben , Shaker Marcus , Greenhawt Matthew , Johnson Kate M.
Published: January 2025

Background

Until recently, immediate emergency department (ED) transfer after food-related anaphylactic reactions was recommended regardless of symptom resolution following use of an epinephrine autoinjector (EAI). We evaluated the cost-effectiveness of delayed ED transfer after EAI use in non-medical settings (watchful waiting) compared to immediate ED transfer among pediatric patients with food allergies in Canada.

Methods

We developed a probabilistic Markov model of individuals starting at age of one year who are at risk of severe food-related allergic reactions requiring epinephrine. We evaluated medical costs (in 2022 Canadian dollars) and quality-adjusted life years (QALY) of each strategy over a 20-year horizon. In the base case, we assumed a tenfold increase in food allergy fatality for patients under watchful waiting, which we increased to 100- to 1,000-fold in sensitivity analysis. The analysis was conducted from the Canadian healthcare system perspective with a 1.5% annual discount rate and a willingness-to-pay (WTP) threshold of $50,000 per QALY.

Results

Immediate ED transfer following EAI use resulted in a decreased risk of food allergy fatality of 9.2 × 10− 5 over 20 years, which is equivalent to < 1 fatality per 200,000 patient-years. Watchful waiting resulted in cost savings of $1,157 per patient and a QALY loss of 7.28 × 10− 4; an incremental cost per QALY saved of $1,589,854. The incremental cost per death prevented with immediate ED transfer was $12,586,613. Watchful waiting remained cost-effective in all sensitivity and scenario analyses, except under extreme increases in fatality risk of 500-fold and 1,000-fold.

Conclusions

Watchful waiting for symptom re-occurrence following EAI administration in non-medical settings is cost-effective.
Construction and validation of an overconfidence scale in investment decisions
Authors: Costa Daniel Fonseca , Soares Cláudia Cardoso , de Melo Moreira Bruno César , Tonelli Adriano Olímpio
Published: January 2025

Existing studies that directly measure the three types of overconfidence—overprecision, overplacement, and overestimation—are largely exploratory, highlighting the need for further confirmatory research to establish robust overconfidence measures. Moreover, there is no comprehensive instrument for analyzing these types of overconfidence in the context of investment decisions. To address these gaps, the present study aims to develop and validate a scale for assessing overconfidence in investment decisions, considering its three forms. The research involved 380 Brazilian participants and employed confirmatory factor analysis and standard multivariate validation methods. The scale, based on a theoretical framework of the three types of overconfidence, consisted of 30 questions (10 for each type) designed to measure the degree of overconfidence in investment decision-making. The scale demonstrated acceptable factor loadings and internal and external validity, indicating its suitability for evaluating overconfidence in investment decisions. The standardized factor loadings showed p values < 0.01 for all factors. The average variance extracted was above 0.5, and the composite reliability exceeded 0.7 for all three constructs analyzed. These results support the convergent validity of the proposed measurement model. In this way, the developed scale fills a gap in the literature by providing a valid tool to assess overconfidence in investment decision-making, which can be practically applied by financial market participants, such as investors, fund managers, and financial professionals. This instrument enables more informed and personalized investment decisions, mitigates the risks of bias in decision-making, and contributes to a more efficient and resilient financial market.
Gastrointestinal Bile Salt Concentrations in Healthy Adults Under Fasted and Fed Conditions: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis for Mechanistic Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic (PBPK) Modelling
Authors: Santos Laura G. Al-Amiry , Musther Helen , Bala Neeru , Deferm Neel , Patel Gaurangkumar , Brouwers Joachim , Turner David B.
Published: January 2025

Bile salts are biosurfactants released into the intestinal lumen which play an important role in the solubilisation of fats and certain drugs. Their concentrations vary along the gastrointestinal tract (GIT). This is significant for implementation in physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling to mechanistically capture drug absorption. The aims of this meta-analysis were to collate all appropriate data on intestinal bile salt concentrations in healthy adults across all GIT segments in fasted and fed states for the purpose of PBPK modelling. Terms relating to bile composition were searched in PubMed and Google Scholar from inception to May 2024. Selected studies included aspirated intestinal fluid collected via gastric tubes or colonoscopy. Results showed high variability across studies and a time-dependency for the fed state. Data were rich for the duodenum, which showed a two-fold increase for the fed state versus the fasted state within multiple studies. Peaks and troughs in bile salt concentrations along the GIT were observed for both fasted and fed states, likely due to segmental water absorption differences. The highest between subject variability was observed for the duodenum in the fasted and fed state and the fed proximal jejunum, distal ileum, and colon. The findings from this meta-analysis can be used for the purpose of PBPK modelling to capture segmental drug solubilisation and absorption in fasted and fed states. However, data are lacking under different fed conditions, especially following low-fat meals, so the impact of different fat content associated with different meals on bile salt concentrations cannot be discerned.

Graphical Abstract

Gastrointestinal bile salt concentrations in healthy subjects

A meta-analysis has been conducted to collate fasted and fed gastrointestinal bile salt concentrations in healthy subjects for the purpose of physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modelling within the Simcyp and other PBPK simulators. Values are presented as weighted means with coefficient of variability for each segment. These data will help improve mechanistic models of oral drug absorption.
The Association of the Coronavirus Disease-2019 Pandemic With Disparities in Maternal Outcomes
Authors: Glance Laurent G. , Joynt Maddox Karen E. , Christopher Glantz J. , Chandrasekar Eeshwar K. , Shippey Ernie , Wissler Richard N. , Stone Patricia W. , Shang Jingjing , Kundu Anjana , Dick Andrew W.
Published: January 2025

BACKGROUND:

In the United States, Black and Hispanic patients have substantially worse maternal outcomes than non-Hispanic White patients. The goals of this study were to evaluate the association between the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and maternal outcomes, and whether Black and Hispanic patients were disproportionately affected by the pandemic compared to White patients.

METHODS:

Multivariable logistic regression was used to examine in the United States the association between maternal outcomes (severe maternal morbidity, mortality, failure-to-rescue, and cesarean delivery) and the weekly hospital proportion of COVID-19 patients, and the interaction between race, ethnicity, payer status, and the hospital COVID-19 burden using US national data from the Vizient Clinical Database between 2017 and 2022.

RESULTS:

Among 2484,895 admissions for delivery, 457,992 (18.4%) were non-Hispanic Black (hereafter referred to as Black), 537,867 (21.7% were Hispanic), and 1489,036 (59.9%) were non-Hispanic White (hereafter referred to as White); mean (standard deviation [SD]) age, 29.9 (5.8). Mortality (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 2.72; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.28–5.8; P = .01) and failure-to-rescue (AOR, 2.89; 95% CI, 1.36–6.13, P = .01), increased during weeks with a COVID-19 burden of 10.1% to 20.0%, while rates of severe maternal morbidity and cesarean delivery were unchanged. Compared to White patients, Black and Hispanic patients had higher rates of severe maternal morbidity ([Black: OR, 1.97; 95% CI, 1.85–2.11, P < .001]; [Hispanic: OR, 1.37;95% CI, 1.28–1.48, P < .001]), mortality ([Black: OR, 1.92; 95% CI, 1.29–2.86, P < .001]; [Hispanic: OR, 1.51;95% CI, 1.01–2.24, P = .04]), and cesarean delivery ([Black: OR, 1.58; 95% CI, 1.54–1.63, P < .001]; [Hispanic: OR, 1.09;95% CI, 1.05–1.13, P < .001]), but not failure-to-rescue. Except for Black patients without insurance (1.3% of the patients), the pandemic was not associated with increases in maternal disparities. Odds of mortality (AOR, 1.96; 95% CI, 1.22–3.16, P = .01) and failure-to-rescue (AOR, 3.67; 95% CI, 1.67–8.07, P = .001) increased 2.0 and 3.7-fold, respectively, in Black patients without insurance compared to White patients with private insurance for each 10% increase in the weekly hospital COVID-19 burden.

CONCLUSIONS:

In this national study of 2.5 million deliveries in the United States, the COVID-19 pandemic was associated with increases in maternal mortality and failure-to-rescue but not in severe maternal morbidity or cesarean deliveries. While the pandemic did not exacerbate disparities for Black and Hispanic patients with private or Medicaid insurance, uninsured Black patients experienced greater increases in mortality and failure-to-rescue compared to insured White patients.
Clinical correlation of p16 expression with lymphatic invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in oropharyngeal carcinomas
Authors: Jawahar Vaishak , Sreeram Saraswathy , Kini Jyoti , Banerjee Sourjya , M S Athiyamaan , Sunny Johan , Krishna Abhishek , Srinivas Challapalli , Lobo Dilson , Simon Paul , Sai Bharat
Published: January 2025

Background/Aim To examine the clinical correlation of p16 expression with Epithelial–Mesenchymal Transition (EMT) markers and lymphatic invasion in OPSCC patients in terms of clinical status at presentation, subsequent progression, and survival. Methods Tissue blocks of biopsy-proven Oropharyngeal Squamous Cell Carcinoma were subjected to Immunohistochemistry (IHC) for evaluating the expression of p16, e-cadherin, vimentin and podoplanin. This expression pattern was correlated with the demographic details, treatment response and survival patterns. Results 60 patients were finally available for evaluation in this study. Prevalence of HPV infection in our study was found to be 11.7%. E-cadherin expression was found in all HPV-associated patients whereas vimentin was not expressed in any of these. 71.4% patients had low Podoplanin expression and 85.7% had low lymphatic vessel count. Among the HPV- associated patients, 85.8% had T3-T4 stage, 100% had N2-N3 disease and 95% had stage IV disease. It was also found that p16-positive patients had significantly higher 1-year Overall survival (OS) (80%, p=0.045), higher 1-year Progression-free survival (PFS) (60%) and higher 1-year Locoregional recurrence-free survival (LRRFS) (75%) when compared to p16-negative patients. Conclusion Prevalence of HPV infection was found to be similar to that of previous studies conducted in India. As previous literature suggests, the HPV-positive patients in our study presented with advanced nodal disease at presentation and thereby, an advanced overall stage. Further follow-up of these patients including their treatment details, determination of possible prognostic markers, and evaluation of their survival parameters can be done which can help in modifying the existing treatment modalities as HPV-associated OPSCC are known to have better prognosis according to literature.
Morphology And Morphometry of Human External Ear with Its Significance in Sex Determination and Stature Estimation in South Indian Population - An Observational Study
Authors: Acharya Shwetha , Gupta Chandni , Palimar Vikram , Guruprasad Kalthur Sneha , Adhikari Purnima
Published: January 2025

Background The human ear is unique to individuals, and ear prints, like fingerprints, are discrete enough to distinguish identical twins. Therefore, the external ear could be used to identify both living and deceased individuals. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the stature and sexual dimorphism of the external ear using various morphometric parameters and morphological features for forensic identification. Methods This study included 40 participants (20 males and 20 females). Participants were between the age of 18-25yrs. Measurements were taken with the subject’s head in the Frankfort horizontal plane. 18 measurements were taken like ear length and width, lobule height and width, concha length and width, tragus length, morphological ear length, helical mastoid distal length, thickness of ear lobe, auricular inclination angle, antihelical take off angle, concha mastoid angle, auricular index, lobular index, concha index, ear attachment length index and conchal bowl depth on external ear were taken and the morphological features like shape of ear, ear lobe, darwin’s tubercle and ear tragus, attachment of ear lobe and form of helix of both the right and left ears were noted. A digital Vernier caliper was used to measure all parameters. The angles were measured using a goniometer. Normal distribution was verified using the Shapiro–Wilk test. For normally distributed parameters, an independent t-test was used, and for non-normally distributed parameters, the Mann-Whitney U test was used to compare sexes. To compare the right and left parameters, independent t-tests (for normally distributed data) and Mann-Whitney U tests (for non-normally distributed data) were applied. Sex determination and stature estimation were performed using logistic regression analysis. Results In males and females, the most common shape was oval, and the ear lobe was free. The most common shape of the ear lobe in males was arched, while in females, it was triangular. In males and females, the most common form of the helix was the concave marginal. In males, the most common shape of the tragus was round, whereas in females, it was long. In males and females, the most common shape of Darwin’s tubercle was enlarged. It was seen that the right lobe width showed perfect separation, indicating its potential as an extremely reliable predictor. It was noted that in females, the strongest correlation with height was with the ear inclination angle on both sides. Conclusion The results of this study can help forensic anthropologists identify the sex and stature of a person from various ear measurements.
Alternative dispute resolution
Authors: Knyazev Dmitriy
Published: January 2025

The issues of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) have become relevant in legal science and practice, due to the desire to optimize conflict resolution in the field of civil law relations. The textbook is designed to expand, deepen and better assimilate knowledge in the field of ADR. It contains information about social conflict, negotiations in the settlement of a legal conflict, mediation, arbitration and other forms of ADR.
Prepared for the study of the discipline "Alternative Dispute Resolution" ("Alternative dispute resolution methods") on the basis of regulatory legal acts as of April 1, 2024.
Meets the requirements of the federal state educational standards of higher education of the latest generation (in the field of training 40.03.01 "Jurisprudence", in the specialty 40.05.04 "Judicial and prosecutorial activities", in the field of training 40.04.01 "Jurisprudence").
For university students and graduate students, as well as anyone who seeks to acquire knowledge in the field of effective resolution of legal conflicts without going to court.
Indonesian migrant live-in care workers in rural Taiwan: Making friendships, kinships, and creating social capital overseas
Authors: Guritno Danur Condro , Aryo Rakhmundia
Published: January 2025

Taiwan serves as a main destination for Indonesian females seeking work as migrant live-in care workers. However, being a migrant worker requires efforts to face challenges and difficulties overseas to achieve family well-being. One of them is utilizing social capital. Studies on social capital among migrants tend to be unisex, with a limited focus on women as the main actors. Therefore, it is crucial to examine how these women create and utilize their social capital to fulfill their needs. This paper examines the form of social capital of Indonesian migrant live-in care workers (LCWs) in Taiwan, highlighting their unique characteristics, given the specific nature of their job roles. Using a phenomenological approach, the study involves in-depth research and direct data collection. Data analysis follows a structured process including data reduction, display, verification, and conclusion. This essay finds a new structure in social capital and migration by positioning women as the main actors. It shows that LCWs primarily rely on bonding social capital, forming strong, exclusive friendships often based on geographical proximity, characterized by long-distance and close-distance patterns. Participation in social groups such as pengajian does not enhance LCWs' social capital, resulting in weak ties within bridging social capital. Additionally, LCWs tend to develop stronger relations with their employers, enabling them to access various resources through linking social capital, which differs from bonding and bridging social capital. This essay concludes that LCWs in Taiwan predominantly utilize bonding and linking social capital to achieve their migration expectations.
Applying EXCEL in Preparing Financial Statements of the Central Bengkulu Village Owned Enterprises
Authors: Saiful Saiful , Nikmah Nikmah
Published: January 2025

Background: The objective of this community service is to improve the ability of BUMDes in preparing financial statements by applying excel.
Contribution: The application of excel in the preparation of financial statements will contribute greatly to improve the quality of financial statements presented by BUMDes and have an impact on the effectiveness of decision making which ultimately supports the progress of these BUMDes.
Method: The method for this community service are providing counseling on the importance of BUMDes financial reporting quality, provide counseling on effective identification on BUMDes transaction, provide technical guidance on the preparation of BUMDes financial statements using the Excel program, and discussion and Q&A on completely financial statement of BUMDes
Results: BUMDes Damar Limo tourist trains and batik production as main business. Transactions that occur in these BUMdes include receipt of capital deposits, purchases of vehicles, equipment, raw materials, merchandise inventory, and supplies, payment of salaries and other costs, and revenue generation. The reports that must be presented include the income statement, statement of financial position, and statement of BUMdes health.
Conclusion: The implementation of the Excel Accounting has an impact on presenting higher quality financial statements and managing BUMDes efficiently and professionally
Global education policy movement: evolving contexts and research approaches
Authors: Edwards D. Brent , Verger Antoni , McKenzie Marcia , Takayama Keita
Published: January 2025

The literature on education policy movement – that is, the diffusion, transfer and translation of education policy globally – has continued to expand. This expanding research on policy movement has built on established approaches, while also reflecting the development of new approaches or the combination of existing ones. However, the underlying theoretical perspectives and the foundational assumptions of policy movement scholarship frequently remain implicit and insufficiently elaborated. This chapter responds by characterizing four related yet distinct orientations to understanding and studying education policy movement: cross-scalar approaches, discourse-centered approaches, policy mobilities approaches and decolonial approaches. The approaches discussed within and across these groups are distinguished in terms of their theoretical and methodological features. However, before presenting these approaches, the chapter first situates education policy movement within the broader phenomenon of globalization. This section explains how the political, economic and cultural dimensions of globalization affect education systems around the world and encourage or impede education policy movement. It is also attentive to how the features of globalization continue to evolve and, indeed, how globalization is experiencing a backlash along all three dimensions (political, economic and cultural). This discussion thus describes the “context of contexts” in which – and in reaction to which – scholarship on education policy movement itself continues to develop. The conclusions emphasize, first, that emerging approaches to education policy movement reflect eclecticism and, second, that the boundaries between different approaches to researching policy movement are now less clearly defined than before. The conclusions furthermore recognize the contributions and complementarities of different approaches, while also calling on scholars to strive for theoretical clarity, to move beyond descriptive studies and to engage with a range of theoretical perspectives in order to see and explain policy movement in new ways and to achieve more nuanced understandings of policy movement phenomena.
School accountability policies moving across scales: a comparative case study in decentralized educational systems
Authors: Termes Andreu , Pagès Marcel
Published: January 2025

Chapter abstract School accountability reforms are being disseminated worldwide, although their adoption is not a homogeneous process – they are “selectively adopted” in diverse education systems and are locally vernacularized. Much attention has been paid to the role of international organizations in these processes, but less is known about the role of subnational spaces of government and their relationships with the national and international levels. This chapter explores the selective adoption and uses of accountability policy solutions in two regions of two different decentralized countries (Minas Gerais, Brazil and Madrid, Spain) to provide a multiscalar comparison of two accountability policy reforms. Methodologically, we conducted a multiple-case study with a comparative perspective based on qualitative semi-structured interviews with key informants (n=53). Based on the Cultural Political Economy (CPE) approach, the results of our research suggest that the decentralized nature of federal and quasi-federal states facilitated the adoption of standardized tests, whereas the administrative traditions acted as a hindering factor for the retention of accountability approaches. We argue that the administrative traditions and the institutional architecture of the state are key mediating factors to better understand how global reforms are adapted in different settings. The chapter identifies five dynamics of policy trajectories of accountability reforms in decentralized education systems: regional competition, ideological confrontation, subnational vernacularization, horizontal emulation and multiscalar policy interdependence.
Policy mobilities are more than global policy movement: concepts and methodologies in education policy research
Authors: Lewis Steven , Gulson Kalervo N. , McKenzie Marcia
Published: January 2025

In this chapter, we focus on policy mobilities as a broad term that captures work identifying and conceptualizing how policy moves through multiple and diffuse means, including nonscalar modalities. We seek to highlight aspects of the continuing conceptual development of policy mobilities studies in education, and specifically those relating to the notion of topology. We use topological thinking to dig a little deeper into the intellectual lineages of the concepts that make up policy mobilities scholarship, including (i) networks, (ii) place, (iii) time and (iv) assemblage thinking. Next, we outline examples of the emerging empirical work that uses these policy mobilities concepts and approaches in the study of education policy. In addressing these two aims, we draw attention to concepts in policy mobilities and the methodological possibilities they might afford us, as well as the potential limitations of such approaches.
A complex global governance of education: multiscalar social and emotional learning policy making in Lebanon
Authors: Jeong Jisun , Engel Laura
Published: January 2025

This chapter focuses on the complex processes and underlying mechanisms in the formation of Lebanon’s national social and emotional learning (SEL) policies since the Syrian refugee influx in 2011. Drawing conceptually on education policy mobilities and the cultural political economy of education, the primary focus is on following SEL as an example of globally mobile education policy ideas and policy frameworks. Empirically, we draw on two primary data sources generated in a larger comparative case study: policy document analysis and 26 semi-structured interviews with transnational‒national actors and four national policy makers, conducted virtually from September 2020 to June 2021. The findings illustrate how the US-originated SEL discourses and approaches have become deterritorialized and globally mobile as a global policy solution by interactions across the transnational policy actors, networks, events, and the shifting technological and topological apparatus arising across multiple scales. Identifying policy actors across multiple scales and studying the key drivers of their engagement illuminate the topologies of the global aid architecture. Although the national SEL policy-making processes in Lebanon were perceived to epitomize collaboration among actors on multiple levels, the roles undertaken by transnational‒national actors and national policy makers in those processes are reflective of highly unequal power dynamics.
“Global” as co-construction: a sociomaterial analysis of policy movement
Authors: Nishimura-Sahi Oshie , Piattoeva Nelli
Published: January 2025

This chapter illustrates the application of actor-network theory (ANT) to the study of policy movement through the case of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), which has significantly influenced language learning, teaching and assessment in Europe and beyond. We call into question the binary vision of global/local by showing how the CEFR was co-constructed by multiple actors and how actors’ identities shifted and were made through the transfer of the CEFR. We also examine how multiple ontologies of the CEFR – as a technical standard enabling test score alignment and as an ideology of plurilingualism promoting cultural and linguistic diversity – were performed in practices of different actors, which first strengthened and then undermined a Japanese reform project oriented to the CEFR. We conclude the chapter with a discussion on how ANT facilitates the development of policy movement research by moving beyond the convergence/divergence debate and encouraging researchers to explore relationality and heterogeneity in the so-called “global” education policies.
PISA and the constitution of East Asia as a counter-reference society: a decolonial intervention
Authors: Takayama Keita
Published: January 2025

This chapter examines the dismissive characterization of East Asian Programme for International Student Achievement (PISA) success – or its constitution as a negative reference society – in Australian media coverage and in international education research. The Australian case is used to critically engage with the existing scholarship on policy learning/referencing, reference societies and projection in the field of comparative and international education. By bringing to the fore the constitutive roles of racialization and colonial difference in the discursive constitution of East Asian education, I expose the limits of the current conceptualization of East Asia as a negative reference society, in particular its exclusive focus on the role of stereotyping in the negative framing. I argue that the discussion of East Asian education as a negative reference society must be placed within a long and global history of colonial difference and racialization of Asians in Eurocentric imaginaries.
Doing complex intimacy in the later life of Chinese gay men in Hong Kong
Authors: 李文偉‎ Barry Lee , Kong 江紹祺‎ Travis S.K.
Published: January 2025

Situated in the ‘doing intimacy’ literature, which examines intimate lives as a set of everyday practices, this chapter investigates the intimate experiences of older (aged 60+) Chinese gay men in Hong Kong based on their life stories collected since 2008. Their stories are illuminated by diverse models (and sub-models) of ‘being single’ and in a ‘long-term couple/committed relationship’. These older men’s narratives of sex, love and ageing bodies reveal intimacy to be primarily affected by heteronormative culture intersecting with homonormativity and ageism embedded within the Confucian cultural context. The chapter concludes that there are many ways of doing intimacy among older Chinese gay men, but that their same-sex intimate lives have always remained ‘closeted’, confined by the notions of heteronormativity, homonormativity and ageism, thus inhibiting the process of ‘successful’ ageing both inside and outside the gay community.
Deep within the eye of the beheld: exploring hidden accounts of intimacy in the lives of older Indian women in urban Malaysia
Authors: Param Sally Anne
Published: January 2025

Using Muted Group Theory, derived from Marxist-feminism, this chapter explores the taboo discourse on sex and intimacy among older Indian women in urban Malaysia. As background, the chapter draws on historical events that explain the process of how this diasporic Indian community is now part of a fast-growing urban community in globalising Malaysia. Using in-depth interviews and reflexivity, the daughters of these older women are the research participants who share their mothers’ ideas on sex and intimacy. There is a deliberate attempt to go beyond what is deemed normative for these older Indian females within the societal trajectories of their community. Othered accounts that may have remained hidden or silenced under the hegemony of masculine control are probed. It is hoped that these older women’s voices on sex and intimacy will dare to contradict and talk back to Indian socio-cultural viewpoints that wrongfully portray female subordination.
From age of despair to window of opportunity? Reframing women’s sexuality in later life in the Middle East and North Africa
Authors: Feki Shereen El , Hajri Selma
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores a largely overlooked area within a taboo topic: older women’s sexuality in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Focusing on research on menopause in Tunisia, Turkey and Iran, the chapter highlights historically rooted patriarchal constraints on women’s sexuality within the region (often based on selective interpretations of Islam) and, simultaneously, how (some) women are beginning to speak out, especially in the newer in-between spaces of social media, on a range of related and ‘controversial’ issues connected with sexuality. Research shows a similar range of responses to menopause in the three countries varying according to older women’s class and education, from those reflecting traditional framings of loss (of fertility, attractiveness and desire) to those expressing liberation from fear of conception (or even unsatisfying sex), which can reflect feminist articulations of women’s pleasure. Even in the former narrative, sexual loss can be compensated by increased value and authority accorded older women. However, health services in MENA, dominated by reductionist ideas of menopause as dysfunction, remain poorly equipped to support older (menopausal) women, and require a sea-change – including better education of both physicians and patients and greater involvement of male partners – in order to address their patients’ sexual and emotional needs.
Lost voices of Partition: carrying gender, nation and femininity across the life course
Authors: Ali Nafhesa
Published: January 2025

Indicating a more intragenerational (within a life course) interrogation of ageing sexuality, this chapter draws mainly on interviews with 16 South Asian women, aged 60–87, and using decolonial analysis and Black Feminism, it explores the subtle ‘interconnections of how socio-historic events’, that is, the nationalist violence implicated in the Partition of India, ‘magnified the sexualisation of the female body’. It shows how experience of Partition resonates much later in the life course and continues to shape age-inflected, gendered, ethno-religious and transnational forms of intimate self-expression that can encompass older South Asian female migrants to Britain positively claiming desexualised status. This involves (some) older South Asian women reclaiming their body-selves, and symbolises a challenge to the hegemonic Western idea that desexualisation in later life, especially for women, represents a loss of attractiveness and value.
Reflections: themes and issues emerging from the volume
Authors: Harley Debra A. , Ghisyawan Krystal Nandini , Shah Shanon , Simpson Paul
Published: January 2025

This chapter re-examines themes and issues from contributors in this volume against the backdrop of geographical and cultural rigidity of views of sexuality and intimacy. The themes are accounts characterising perceptions, experiences, feelings, emotions and values of participants in research inquiries of this volume about sexuality across age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation and culture of majority world people from intergenerational and intragenerational perspectives. It reflects on the impact of marginalisation on personhood. Last, the chapter offers introspection for future research on ageing and intimacy.
This man-made world
Authors: Oakley Ann
Published: January 2025

This chapter ties together various themes about house design, efficiency and economics in a story about how the domestic science movement developed in the period from around 1910 to the 1930s. A more housewife-centred approach to house planning; the transfer to household work of efficiency principles originally developed in industry; an economic analysis with productive housework at its centre; and the reimagining of housework as a collective enterprise all formed the backdrop to the university career of domestic science. However, none, for various reasons, had an enduring impact on the world of everyday housework.
Lectures for ladies
Authors: Oakley Ann
Published: January 2025

This chapter explores the beginnings of household science as a topic in secondary and higher education through the case study of King’s College of Household and Social Science, which became an independent part of the University of London in 1928. The College began as ‘lecture for ladies’ taught by staff from King’s College in Kensington in the 1870s. Responding to women’s desire for access to higher education, these lectures developed into King’s College for Women before specialising in household science.
Transatlantic experiments
Authors: Oakley Ann
Published: January 2025

This chapter follows the journey of household science in several universities in the United States, including Chicago, Illinois and California, in the early twentieth century. It shows how clever and persistent women household scientists were able to make progress establishing their subject as a legitimate part of university work. The development of household science in Chicago closely paralleled its career in London and for a time ‘sanitary science’ had its own place in the study of society. But the dominance of the theoretical sociology pursued by men at the University of Chicago ensured that household science became an ‘applied’ science allied to social work.