bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Factors associated with financial risk due to health spending in Argentina
Authors: Virdis Juan Marcelo , Elorza María Eugenia , Delbianco Fernando
Published: June 2024

This article aims to assess the association between household demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and catastrophic health expenditure (CHE) in Argentina during 2017–2018. CHE was estimated as the proportion of household consumption capacity (using both income and total consumption in separate estimations) allocated for Out-of-Pocket (OOP) health expenditure. For assessing the determinants, we estimated a generalized ordered logit model using different intensities of CHE (10%, 15%, 20% and 25%) as the ordinal dependent variable, and socioeconomic, demographic and geographical variables as explanatory factors. We found that having members older than 65 years and with long-term difficulties increased the likelihood of incurring CHE. Additionally, having an economically inactive household head was identified as a factor that increases this probability. However, the research did not yield consistent results regarding the relationship between public and private health insurance and consumption capacity. Our results, along with the robustness checks, suggest that the magnitude of the coefficients for the household head characteristics could be exaggerated in studies that overlook the attributes of other household members. In addition, these results emphasize the significance of accounting for long-term difficulties and indicate that omitting this factor could overestimate the impact of members aged over 65.
Employing deep learning for predicting the thermal properties of water and nano-encapsulated phase change material
Authors: Xu Saihua , Basem Ali , Al-Asadi Hasan A , Chaturvedi Rishabh , Daminova Gulrux , Fouad Yasser , Jasim Dheyaa J , Alhoee Javid
Published: June 2024

The field of thermal engineering is undergoing a transformative revolution through the application of artificial intelligence (AI). In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) with a genetic algorithm is employed as a powerful tool to accurately predict the thermophysical properties of nano-encapsulated phase change material (NEPCM) suspensions. The NEPCM consists of water as the base fluid, with the shell and core materials represented by sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) and n-eicosane, respectively. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the ANN model in successfully predicting dynamic viscosity, density, and shear stress using only two input parameters. However, it is worth noting that the model exhibits slightly weaker performance in predicting thermal conductivity. These findings contribute to the growing body of knowledge in AI-assisted thermal engineering and highlight the potential for enhanced prediction of NEPCM properties. Future research should focus on improving the accuracy of thermal conductivity predictions and exploring additional input parameters to further enhance the model's performance.
The Efficacy of Onion Extract on the Prevention or Treatment of Scars: A Systematic Review
Authors: Won Paul , Choe Deborah , Abu-Ghazaleh Joshua , Bernabe Rendell , Gillenwater T Justin
Published: June 2024

Scars are common and debilitating outcomes of burn injury, with no current consensus regarding the gold standard in scar management. Noninvasive interventions such as silicone gels are popular adjuvant treatments due to ease of application. Onion extract (OE) has been proposed as a potential scar treatment modality due to its antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. A systematic search of the literature was conducted using PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane for articles published between January 2000 and December 2021. Inclusion criteria were studies (1) involved OE gel or OE treatment and (2) those assessing scar prevention or treatment outcomes. Patient and physician reported scar outcomes after treatment and adverse effects were recorded. A total of 21 articles were included in the final review. Five studies found statistically significant improvements in overall scores and individual Vancouver Scar Scale components in the OE treatment group compared to the silicone groups. Several studies found that combined treatment of OE with other topical treatment modalities such as triamcinolone or silicone gel produced significant improvements in scar symptoms. In this review, reported adverse effects were minimal, often consisting of self-resolving pruritus, irritation, and erythema. This review supports OE’s potential utility in scar prevention and treatment. Most studies reported minimal adverse events with OE application and significant benefits in specific scar characteristics. Further research is needed to investigate scar outcomes after treatment with OE with larger sample sizes and a follow-up period greater than a year.
International student applications in the UK after Brexit
Authors: Amuedo-Dorantes Catalina , Romiti Agnese
Published: June 2024

On 23 June 2016, the people of the UK voted to leave the European Union. This article examines how Brexit impacted international student applications. Using administrative data along with a difference-in-differences approach, we find that Brexit curtailed the growth rate of international student applications by 7 per cent even before tuition fees had changed, ultimately lowering enrolment as well. The impact is larger for applications to pursue STEM studies, as well as for those from countries with worse employment prospects and weaker economies, hinting on students’ ability to stay long-term in the UK as an important pull factor.
Galaxy group-associated distances to very high energy gamma-ray emitting BL Lacs KUV 00311−1938 and S2 0109+22
Authors: Koljonen Karri I I , Lindfors Elina , Nilsson Kari , Heinämäki Pekka , Kotilainen Jari
Published: June 2024

Blazars constitute the most numerous source class in the known extragalactic population of very high energy (VHE) gamma-ray sources. However, determining their redshifts is often challenging due to weak or non-existent emission lines in their spectra. This study focuses on two BL Lacs, KUV 00311−1938 and S2 0109+22, where previous attempts at redshift determination have faced difficulties. By combining spectroscopic observations with photometric redshift estimates, we tentatively assign a redshift of $z=0.634$ to KUV 00311−1938 and a likely redshift of $z=0.49$ to S2 0109+22. Establishing redshift estimates for high-redshift blazars is crucial for understanding extragalactic VHE gamma-ray sources and their interactions with the surrounding Universe.
The dark energy survey: detection of weak lensing magnification of supernovae and constraints on dark matter haloes
Authors: Shah P , Davis T M , Bacon D , Brout D , Frieman J , Galbany L , Kessler R , Lahav O , Lee J , Lidman C , Nichol R C , Sako M , Sánchez B O , Scolnic D , Sullivan M , Vincenzi M , Wiseman P , Allam S , Abbott T M C , Aguena M , Alves O , Andrade-Oliveira F , Annis J , Bechtol K , Bertin E , Bocquet S , Brooks D , Rosell A Carnero , Carretero J , Castander F J , da Costa L N , Pereira M E S , Diehl H T , Doel P , Doux C , Everett S , Ferrero I , Flaugher B , Friedel D , Gatti M , Gruen D , Gruendl R A , Gutierrez G , Hinton S R , Hollowood D L , Honscheid K , Huterer D , James D J , Kuehn K , Lee S , Marshall J L , Mena-Fernández J , Miquel R , Myles J , Ogando R L C , Palmese A , Pieres A , Roodman A , Sanchez E , Sevilla-Noarbe I , Smith M , Soares-Santos M , Suchyta E , Swanson M E C , Tarle G , Weaverdyck N ,   DES Collaboration
Published: June 2024

The residuals of the distance moduli of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) relative to a Hubble diagram fit contain information about the inhomogeneity of the Universe, due to weak lensing magnification by foreground matter. By correlating the residuals of the Dark Energy Survey Year 5 SN Ia sample (DES-SN5YR) with extragalactic foregrounds from the DES Y3 Gold catalogue, we detect the presence of lensing at $6.0 \sigma$ significance. This is the first detection with a significance level above $5\sigma$. Constraints on the effective mass-to-light ratios and radial profiles of dark matter haloes surrounding individual galaxies are also obtained. We show that the scatter of SNe Ia around the Hubble diagram is reduced by modifying the standardization of the distance moduli to include an easily calculable de-lensing (i.e. environmental) term. We use the de-lensed distance moduli to recompute cosmological parameters derived from SN Ia, finding in Flat wcold dark matter a difference of $\Delta \Omega _{\rm M} = +0.036$ and $\Delta w = -0.056$ compared to the unmodified distance moduli, a change of $\sim 0.3\sigma$. We argue that our modelling of SN Ia lensing will lower systematics on future surveys with higher statistical power. We use the observed dispersion of lensing in DES-SN5YR to constrain $\sigma _8$, but caution that the fit is sensitive to uncertainties at small scales. Nevertheless, our detection of SN Ia lensing opens a new pathway to study matter inhomogeneity that complements galaxy–galaxy lensing surveys and has unrelated systematics.
CRISPR-Cas9 for selective targeting of somatic mutations in pancreatic cancers
Authors: Teh Selina Shiqing K , Bowland Kirsten , Halper-Stromberg Eitan , Kotwal Akhil , Bennett Alexis , Skaist Alyza , Tang Jacqueline , Cai Fidel , Macoretta Antonella , Liang Hong , Kamiyama Hirohiko , Wheelan Sarah , Lin Ming-Tseh , Hruban Ralph H , Hung Chien-Fu , Goldstein Michael , Scharpf Robert B , Roberts Nicholas J , Eshleman James R
Published: June 2024

Somatic mutations are desirable targets for selective elimination of cancer, yet most are found within noncoding regions. We have adapted the CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing tool as a novel, cancer-specific killing strategy by targeting the subset of somatic mutations that create protospacer adjacent motifs (PAMs), which have evolutionally allowed bacterial cells to distinguish between self and non-self DNA for Cas9-induced double strand breaks. Whole genome sequencing (WGS) of paired tumor minus normal (T-N) samples from three pancreatic cancer patients (Panc480, Panc504, and Panc1002) showed an average of 417 somatic PAMs per tumor produced from single base substitutions. Further analyses of 591 paired T-N samples from The International Cancer Genome Consortium found medians of ∼455 somatic PAMs per tumor in pancreatic, ∼2800 in lung, and ∼3200 in esophageal cancer cohorts. Finally, we demonstrated 69–99% selective cell death of three targeted pancreatic cancer cell lines using 4–9 sgRNAs designed using the somatic PAM discovery approach. We also showed no off-target activity from these tumor-specific sgRNAs in either the patient's normal cells or an irrelevant cancer using WGS. This study demonstrates the potential of CRISPR-Cas9 as a novel and selective anti-cancer strategy, and supports the genetic targeting of adult cancers.
Is Hope a Secular Virtue?
Authors: Han-Pile Béatrice , Stern Robert
Published: June 2024

This chapter critically examines the case against hope as a secular virtue, which is based on three main claims: hope is not good for its possessor; it does not stand between two vices; and it cannot be cultivated and exercised. Each of these claims is rejected, so that hope is treated as a virtue after all. In response to the first claim, a distinction is drawn between hope and unwarranted optimism, so that the abilities of the skilled hoper mean that they will avoid the damaging gullibility that Plato and others have associated with hope. In response to the second claim, it is argued that hope stands between the vices of unwarranted optimism and despair. Finally, against the third claim, it is argued that while hope is not a matter of direct or indirect control, it is a matter of aspirational control that is neither active nor passive, but medio-passive.
How Darwin Brought Evolution and Ecology Together
Authors: Wills Christopher
Published: June 2024

We think of Darwin as the originator of the concept that natural selection, acting on individuals, is a primary cause of evolutionary change. But he also observed much, and thought deeply, about the role of ecosystem diversity in evolution. Here we trace the development of his ideas about the influence of entire ecosystems on the evolution of the individual species that make them up. During and after the voyage of the Beagle, he came to the realization that multiple interactions among species would take different courses in otherwise similar ecosystems. This would drive the ecosystems in different directions, producing the adaptive radiations that he saw in the different islands of the Galápagos. After setting the scene with this story of his seminal discoveries, we trace the early development of the field of ecology, and show how and why it was slow to adopt an evolutionary viewpoint.
Tough Questions From the Chief of Medical Biostatistics
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

The author describes the further development of the Vermont Longitudinal Study, including the acquisition of Takamaru Ashikaga, the chief of medical biostatistics at the University of Vermont. The author details how, although she had taken an undergraduate course in statistics, she still had a lot to learn about the language of statistics, dealing with mixed-method design, using multiple strategies with punch cards, and reading computer printouts. Ashikaga made certain that the study’s data were double coded to reduce errors and then direct coded. The study’s research team also used code books and a master categorical clumping of variables across instrument batteries to analyze get a handle on the 2600 variables in their data. The author goes on to describe her taking more graduate courses in statistics.
“I Don’t Believe a Word She Just Said!”
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

The author describes how she started out her graduate and research life being excoriated by a visiting eminent psychiatrist from Harvard and how she survived much more criticism occurring across the next 30 years of her career. She recalls how she had to learn to better present data after two major fiascos, due mainly to equipment failures and ignorance, one at the National Institute of Mental Health in front of my funding chiefs, and one in front of the then president of the American Psychiatric Association, John Talbot. The author also recounts how important it was for her to learn about belief systems and how deeply entrenched they are and how to deal with them. She ended up at Yale University, working with John Strauss and becoming a Bush Fellow in Public Policy under Edward Zigler. Finally, her career led her to become a real clinician working at Yale’s Connecticut Mental Health Center.
Did Rediagnosis for Contemporary Schizophrenia Make a Difference in the Rates of Improvement and Recovery?
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

The author describes the criticism of other researchers because she had not applied the new DSM-III diagnostic criteria to participants in the Vermont Longitudinal Study. These criticisms were based on the belief that every patient in the study who became better was actually in the affective disorders category, given the vagaries of early diagnostic strategies. Despite lack of funding from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), Strauss and Breier accomplished a rediagnostic effort, with interrater trials included. The study’s results were finally published as lead double articles with an unusual editorial from Ron Mandersheid at the NIMH that spoke about how the findings should change care in the community system. Findings barely moved the needle in psychiatry with most all patients still listed as chronic across all diagnostic manuals.
World Programs
Authors: Harding Courtenay M.
Published: June 2024

Part Five concludes the book with two chapters providing many examples of recent programs in the United States and worldwide. Many have been working toward providing care closer to that of Vermont’s original rehabilitation program, with further elaboration. The author describes visiting most of the programs described. They have been developed in Italy, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Bogotá, Colombia, Britain, Melbourne, and Sidney. They target giving back power to patients and their families, acknowledging that they have ideas about what helps to reclaim each life and how to work together with staff as a real team. These include well-known programs such as the Trieste program, need adapted treatment, open dialogue, the Parachute Project, Soteria Bern, accompanied rehabilitation, Fungrata, the Hearing Voices movement, EPPIC, and a few more contributions from social psychiatry. These programs are only recently being adapted to US populations.
Consuming Whiteness/Disciplining Desire
Authors: Lim Gene
Published: June 2024

An individual’s sensitization to the ebbs and flows of sexual racism within intimate life often coincides with an “it’s coming from inside the house” moment. This is the realization that the racial organization of sexual desirability which unjustly disadvantages persons of color within intimate life simultaneously exerts a profound influence on one’s own preferences. The attempts to reform one’s sexual desires into more racially egalitarian configurations that this revelation prompts form a crucial—and even necessary—form of resistance against sexual racism but are largely understudied by existing scholarship. This chapter examines how a group of queer Asian men—a demographic conceptualized within both public and scholarly discourses as the perennial subject of sexually racist treatment—navigate and negotiate the rehabilitation of their racialized sexual preferences. In doing so, it traces the messy, meandering, and circuitous trajectory of such undertakings, and ponders the conditions required for them to meaningfully succeed.
Traversals
Authors: Benadon Fernando
Published: June 2024

This chapter analyzes musical phrases as goal-directed traversals linking two points in time. Supported by the proportional correspondence (studied in Chapter 4) between swing ratios and various speeds, the analyses blur the distinction between the concepts of tuplet, note value, tempo, and polymeter. Each example does this differently: with a series of speed shifts joining 6/4 and 12/8 (drummer “Spanky” McCurdy), an extended polymeter based on swing values (pianist Egberto Gismonti), offbeat triplets (vocalist Merrill Garbus), an evolving sweep of the slow-fast continuum of note values (guitarist John Scofield), and speed modulations from a baseline tempo that is 1.17 faster than the band’s (organist Shirley Scott).
Shifting Accents
Authors: Benadon Fernando
Published: June 2024

Much of the book’s content thus far concerns variation through some form of accentuation. This chapter addresses accentual variation from three angles. The first section looks at displacement: the shifting of a note, group of notes, or entire phrase from one position in the measure to another. While grids often play a role in displacement, the examples serve as reminders that notes are more than movable pieces on a metric gameboard. The second section turns to cyclical rhythms comprising mixed binary and ternary groupings. Though routinely associated with so-called non-isochronous meters, these groupings are also present in meters such as `* and 4$. The chapter closes with an analysis of “Them Man Are Dead” by grime MCs Jme and Big Zuu, gathering together concepts from this and earlier chapters.
Normative World
Authors: Brafman Yonatan Y.
Published: June 2024

This section provides an orienting discussion to practical justification and recent Jewish thought. It explains the connections between the philosophical project of the reasons for the commandments (ta‘amei ha-mitzvot) and justification, and between the commandment’s legal implementation (pesak halakhah) and jurisprudence. It surveys the distinction between foundationalist and non-foundationalist accounts of justification, and then assesses the adoption of the latter in recent Jewish thought. Taking Daniel Rynhold’s approach as an example, it argues that it neglects the normative claim of the commandments and relies on a deficient conception of practical reason. The proper object for philosophical inquiry is not the rational permissibility of Jewish practices but the commandments’ normative claim. This motivates a reexamination of the thought of twentieth-century Jewish thinkers who, while rejecting practical reason, proposed alternative sources of normativity for the commandments.
Normative God
Authors: Brafman Yonatan Y.
Published: June 2024

This chapter examines Eliezer Berkovits’s teleological philosophy of halakhah (Jewish law) in view of moral philosophy and legal theory. It shows how Berkovits justifies the commandments as a means for realizing righteousness in the world and how he operationalizes this purpose in jurisprudential principles that guide the commandments’ implementation. Even as Berkovits affirms the value of righteousness, he argues that it is only obligatory because it is commanded by God. This modified divine command theory is compared to Robert Merrihew Adam’s influential position. Its expression in Berkovits’s jurisprudence is also situated relative to natural law, inclusive positivist, and post-positivist legal theories. The chapter argues that Berkovits struggles in his aim to balance heteronomy and autonomy and to preserve a role for the commandments as commands. These problems point to his deficient conception of reason and view of authority.
South-South Transformations in Practice
Authors: Hönke Jana , Cezne Eric , Yang Yifan
Published: June 2024

The conclusion summarizes the key arguments and findings of the book. It argues, first, that to research the multiple practices—and hence globalities—emerging from Africa’s South-South infrastructural frontiers, it is essential to understand the transformations of contemporary international relations. Across the chapters and three intersecting themes—Beyond Models, Contestations, and Everyday Entanglements—it shows, second, that it is necessary to move beyond thinking in (travelling) models and to instead follow relations and practices, and to develop a relational understanding of multiple globalities. The chapter also demonstrates, third, the importance of African agency, differences, and changes in the domestic contexts of Global South countries, and continuities of postcolonial hierarchies in making and transforming governance practices in South-South relations. After highlighting methodological contributions and challenges, the conclusion lastly discusses implications of some fundamental transformations of our time—climate change and energy transformations, the outbreak and lasting effects of Covid-19, the Russo-Ukrainian war, and the growing geoeconomic rivalry between the United States and China—for Africa’s infrastructure globalities. It concludes with proposing possible future research directions on global infrastructures and multiple, transforming governance practices amid these challenges and a changing world order.
Going Tactile
Authors: Edwards Terra
Published: June 2024

Going Tactile is an ethnographic exploration of life in DeafBlind communities in the United States during a time when political efforts were shifting away from gaining access to visual worlds and toward the discovery of new, tactile worlds. In the years leading up to this moment, the goal was to obtain resources that could be used to pay for sighted interpreters. Unlike interpreters who translate from one language to another, these interpreters were trained to give DeafBlind people access to the immediate environment by describing it. In the early 2010s, DeafBlind leaders intervened, arguing that descriptions of the world are no substitute for the world itself. They advanced the radical claim that hearing and vision are not necessary for things like joining or leaving a conversation, observing others, or being with them in silence. They called their effort the “protactile movement.” As this movement took root in practices and institutions, DeafBlind people who had once faced existential collapse due to excessive social constraints on touch found themselves in a vivid, intelligible world, replete with possible paths forward. Drawing on 30 months of anthropological fieldwork with DeafBlind artists, intellectuals, political leaders, and community members involved in the protactile movement, this book asks: When the world is collapsing around you, and existence is at stake, how can language be of use, where are its limits, and how can we understand the forms of meaning that lie beyond it?
Expertise as Perspectives in Dialogue
Authors: Larkin Michael , Bortolotti Lisa , Lim Michele
Published: June 2024

In this chapter we examine the notion of expertise by experience, with reference to mental health research, discussing some of the objections commonly raised against its legitimacy. Expertise is built upon knowledge or experience, but it arises from extensive efforts in seeking to understand something. We start by observing how the capacity for providing expert insight can be facilitated, by choosing to create environments and relationships in which different perspectives are heard and understood. We argue that the best way to characterise the integration of different forms of expertise is to describe the process as a case of perspectives in dialogue. Co-design and co-production approaches encourage perspective taking and use group processes and facilitation to support community consensus building. It is through such collaborative and relational processes that common objections against the legitimacy of expertise by experience can be addressed.
Moral Expertise and Socratic AI
Authors: Gordon Emma C.
Published: June 2024

A central research question in social epistemology concerns the nature of expertise, and the related question of how expertise in various domains (epistemic, moral, etc.) is to be identified. Entirely apart from this debate, recent research in bioethics considers whether and to what extent cognitive scaffolding via the use of artificial intelligence might be a viable non-pharmaceutical form of moral enhancement. A particularly promising version of this strategy takes the form of ‘Socratic AI’—viz., an ‘artificial intelligence (AI) assistant’ that engages in Socratic dialogue with users to assist in ethical reasoning non-prescriptively. My aim will be to connect these disparate strands of work in order to investigate whether Socratic-AI assisted moral enhancement is compatible with manifesting genuine moral expertise, and how the capacity of Socratic AI to improve moral reasoning might influence our criteria for identifying moral experts.
Public Expertise and Ignorance
Authors: Pritchard Duncan
Published: June 2024

One of the roles of public expertise is to spread useful knowledge throughout society. In this way, public expertise can combat ignorance. Crucially, however, it is also explained how a surprising central role of public expertise is often to manufacture the very ignorance that is being combatted. This is because there is more to ignorance than simply the absence of knowledge, as ignorance more specifically concerns lacking the knowledge that one should have. In this way, ignorance is never normatively neutral (in the manner that mere lack of knowledge can be). What expert-led public information does is thus create a reasonable expectation that one should know certain important truths, and hence ensures that those who remain unaware of them are now ignorant of them. Ignorance must thus often be manufactured by public experts before those same experts can combat it.
The Standard Picture
Authors: Thorstad David
Published: June 2024

This chapter introduces the Standard Picture of rationality dominant in many areas of social science and formal philosophy. On the Standard Picture, rationality is captured by requirements of consistency exemplified by logic, probability theory, and decision theory. Empirical findings suggest that humans regularly violate Standard Picture requirements in behavior and cognition. We can react to these findings in two ways. We can blame the agent, retaining the Standard Picture as a normative theory and holding that humans often think and act irrationally. Or we can blame the theory and hold that many observed Standard Picture violations are not straightforward irrationalities, but rather signs that the Standard Picture is incorrect or incomplete. I suggest that in many cases we should blame the theory.
Bounded rationality
Authors: Thorstad David
Published: June 2024

This chapter characterizes the bounded tradition using a collection of five claims. First, bounds matter: theories of rationality should say explicitly and in detail how our most important bounds bear on rational cognition. Second, theories of rationality should be process-focused, concentrating on norms governing processes of inquiry rather than the judgments and decisions that result. Third, rationality is often heuristic, using only a subset of available information and processing that information frugally. Fourth, the rationality of cognition is ecological, or environment-relative. And fifth, the right account of rationality should vindicate the rationality of many Standard Picture violations.
Emerging Issues in Debt Sustainability of SNGs in India
Authors: Dwivedi Hari Krishna
Published: June 2024

This chapter looks at the various emerging issues that are relevant in a discussion on debt sustainability of the subnational governments (SNGs) in India. These include the end of GST compensation from June 2022, the rising contingent liabilities of the SNGs that account for almost 24 per cent of GDP, the large losses that still plague the state DISCOMs, the rising inefficient subsidies which have seen double-digit growth in 2019–20 and 2020–21, the poor fiscal performance of the state-level public enterprises, the high inflation and associated high bond yield, and most importantly the decline in share of tax devolution. Over the years, the percentage of central GTR devolved to states has declined from 35% in 2015–16 to 30% in 2020–21. All these challenges if not addressed in a timely manner, may further worsen the already debt-stressed situation of SNGs.
How Can SNGs in India Avoid Debt Crises?
Authors: Dwivedi Hari Krishna
Published: June 2024

This chapter attempts to provide useable recommendations for policymakers at the central and state levels to ensure states’ fiscal health . These measures are both at the revenue front and the expenditure front. Some of the measures include improving collections from Goods and Services Tax (GST) through better compliance and expanding GST coverage in future by including commodities which are outside the purview of the GST; and increasing collections from state excise, stamp duty and registration fees, and motor vehicle taxes. Moreover, the states can consider steps to augment their non-tax revenues, strengthening the municipal finances, curtailing inefficient subsidies, reducing losses from state power distribution companies, their state-level public enterprises, and leverage innovative sources of revenue, all of which are discussed in detail in this chapter.
The Dispositional Account of Emotional Expression
Authors: Rowson Rebecca
Published: June 2024

I propose that accounts of emotional expression can be divided into primary and secondary quality accounts. Primary quality accounts of expression take behaviour to express emotion only if certain perceiver-independent facts about the behaviour or behaving subject obtain. I argue that views of this kind get the extension of expression wrong. I argue instead that behaviour expresses emotion just in case it is disposed to appear to express emotion to standard observers under standard conditions.
First FASEB conference in Africa—The 2023 FASEB conference on Imaging Cellular and Chromosome Dynamics held on August 27–30, 2023 in Accra, Ghana
Authors: Agbleke Michael , Shaban Haitham , Broker Thomas R. , Agbleke Andrews Akwasi
Published: June 2024

Access to scientific meetings and conferences is limited in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMIC). Efforts are being implemented to rectify this issue through short workshops, seminars, and conferences. Sena Institute of Technology (SIT), a nonprofit research institute based in Ghana, is one such organization championing this initiative. Through a partnership with the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), SIT hosted the first FASEB conference in Africa from August 27–30, 2023 in Ghana. The 3‐day conference brought together scientists specialized in imaging, genetics, and cell biology from across the globe to discuss the theme “Imaging Cellular and Chromosome Dynamics.” The Ghanaian Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) and the Ghana Tourism Authority (GTA) provided local support to the meeting. At the end of the conference, participants recommended continuing engagement and the organization of more such meetings on the African continent.
Dyslexia Articles Unboxed: Analyzing Their Readability Level
Authors: Matsuura Yusuke , Jaeah Chung
Published: June 2024

Objective:

Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with fluent word recognition, decoding, or spelling, and it has been linked to family history. Given the impact of dyslexia on broad academic activities and well-being, ensuring that information about dyslexia is accessible to affected children and their families is vital. This study aims to assess the readability levels of dyslexia-related websites, with the hypothesis that such websites should be written at an appropriate readability level to accommodate those who may also have reading challenges.

Methods:

This study analyzes the readability of 50 web articles on dyslexia using 6 readability formulas: Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Gunning Fog Score, Simple Measure of Gobbledygook (SMOG) Index, Coleman Liau Index, and Automated Readability Index. The search term “What is dyslexia” was used on Google. Each article was analyzed using the online calculation website WebFX. The readability goal for these websites was set at fifth grade, a level recommended for patients with reading challenges.

Results:

The study found that among the 50 websites, the lowest median readability score was 11.8 (corresponding to a 12th-grade level) on the SMOG Index, while the highest scores were 15.5 on both the Gunning Fog Score and the Coleman Liau Index (indicative of college-level readability). Almost none of the websites had scores below a fifth-grade level.

Conclusion:

Most websites related to dyslexia are too complex. Tools such as readability metrics and sentence restructuring by AI can help make the information more accessible and understandable to the stakeholders.
Patients with cervical spondylotic myelopathy and dependency in activities of daily living during hospitalization—descriptive and correlational study
Authors: Sousa Salomé Sobral , Andrade Maria João , Fernandes Carla Sílvia , Barbeiro Sara Rodrigues , Taveira Vanessa , Martins Maria Manuela Martins
Published: June 2024

Background and Aim:

Cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) causes progressive spinal cord compression and consequent functional decline. Surgical decompression is considered effective in halting disease progression, producing improvements in neurological prognosis. During hospitalization, several conditions may alter these patients' dependency levels. This study aimed to describe patients with CSM and their evolution regarding dependence in activities of daily living (ADL), from hospital admission to discharge.

Methods and Materials:

Descriptive and correlational study based on document analysis.

Results:

Included 96 files of patients with CSM who were admitted to Neurosurgery Department. The sample was 58.3% men, with a mean age of 64.4 years. Of the participants, 96.9% had surgery, mainly an anterior cervical approach. Hygiene was the ADL involving most dependence, both at admission (39.6%) and at discharge (71.9%). Worsening of dependence levels in ADLs was found at the midterm evaluation (mean 13.34; SD 5.59) and at discharge (mean 11.59; SD 5.28) in relation to the functional condition at admission (mean 9.77; SD 6.06). Gender was not associated with any differences, but age and days of hospitalization were associated with variations in participants' dependency levels (P<.05).

Conclusion:

The level of dependence on ADLs increased during the hospitalization of patients with CSM.
Development and validation of a clinical decision tool for preoperative micropapillary and solid pattern lung adenocarcinoma of CT ≤2 cm
Authors: Gao Zhen , Liu Shang , Xiao Han , Li Meng , Ren Wan-gang , Fen Zhen , Xu Lin , Peng Zhong-min
Published: June 2024

Background:

Micropapillary (MP) and solid (S) pattern adenocarcinoma are highly malignant subtypes of lung adenocarcinoma. In today’s era of increasingly conservative surgery for small lung cancer, effective preoperative identification of these subtypes is greatly important for surgical planning and the long-term survival of patients.

Methods:

For this retrospective study, the presence of MP and/or S was evaluated in 2167 consecutive patients who underwent surgical resection for clinical stage IA1-2 lung adenocarcinoma. MP and/or S pattern-positive patients and negative-pattern patients were matched at a ratio of 1:3. The Lasso regression model was used for data dimension reduction and imaging signature building. Multivariate logistic regression was used to establish the predictive model, presented as an imaging nomogram. The performance of the nomogram was assessed based on calibration, identification, and clinical usefulness, and internal and external validation of the model was conducted.

Results:

The proportion of solid components (PSC), Sphericity, entropy, Shape, bronchial honeycomb, nodule shape, sex, and smoking were independent factors in the prediction model of MP and/or S lung adenocarcinoma. The model showed good discrimination with an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.85. DCA demonstrated that the model could achieve good benefits for patients. Restricted cubic spline analysis suggested a significant increase in the proportion of MP and/or S from 11 to 48% when the PSC value was 68%.

Conclusion:

Small MP and/or S adenocarcinoma can be effectively identified preoperatively by their typical three-dimensional and 2D imaging features.
Economic Analysis of Cochlear Implants in Adults With Bilateral Severe-to-Profound Hearing Loss. A Systematic Review of the Literature
Authors: Tena-García Beatriz , Barrientos-Trigo Sergio , Escudero-Carretero María José , Sánchez-Gómez Serafín
Published: June 2024

Objective

To determine the cost-effectiveness or cost-utility of cochlear implants (CI) in adults with severe to profound bilateral hearing loss.

Databases Reviewed

PubMed (Medline), The Cochrane Library, Embase via Elsevier, EBSCOhost CINAHL, and Scopus.

Methods

The study included adult participants with severe to profound bilateral neurosensory hearing loss. The analysis encompassed quality of life improvements, costs, cost-effectiveness, cost-utility, cost-benefit, quality-adjusted life year (QALY), incremental cost-effectiveness ratio (ICER), and incremental cost-utility ratio (ICUR). Systematic reviews, meta-analyses, case series, and prospective or retrospective cohort studies published in English between 2010 and 2023 were retrieved. Exclusion criteria included incomplete studies, abstracts, clinical cases, editorials, letters, studies involving pediatric populations, single-side deafness, methodology research, noneconomic aspects of CI, mixed child and adult data, and studies published before 2010. The risk of bias was assessed following the criteria outlined in Appendix I of the economic evaluation's quality assessment as per the NICE Guideline Development Method.

Results

Ten articles met the criteria and were included in the qualitative synthesis. One study conducted a prospective cost-utility analyses, one carried out a cost-benefit analyses, one was a randomized controlled clinical trial focusing on cost-utility, and another was a clinical trial addressing cost-effectiveness. Six studies employed Markov models, and one study utilized uniquely the Monte Carlo method. None quantified the economic impact of improved hearing on cognitive function.

Conclusions

The heterogeneity of sources impacted data quality. Unilateral and sequential bilateral CI appeared to be cost-effective when compared with bilateral hearing aids or nontechnological support. When properly indicated, simultaneous bilateral CIs are cost-effective compared to no interventions and to unilateral cochlear implantation through differential discounting or variations from the base cases, especially with a life expectancy of 5–10 years or longer.
Higher inpatient mortality following percutaneous coronary intervention in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease
Authors: Movahed Mohammad Reza , Aghdasi Sina , Shanmugasundaram Madhan , Hashemzadeh Mehrtash
Published: June 2024

Background

Advanced chronic kidney disease (ACKD) is common in patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and is associated with adverse outcomes. These patients are often excluded from revascularization studies. The goal of this study was to evaluate the impact of ACKD in patients undergoing PCI.

Methods

We analyzed the national inpatient sample database to compare the inpatient mortality rate for ACKD patients [chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage 3 and above] who underwent PCI between 2006 and 2011 to patients without ACKD. Specific ICD-9 CM codes were used to identify these patients.

Results

A total of 1 826 536 PCIs were performed during the study period, of which 113 018 (6.2%) were patients with advanced CKD. The age-adjusted inpatient mortality rates were significantly higher in the ACKD group in all years studied compared to the no CKD group. For the first year studied in 2006, the age-adjusted mortality rate for patients undergoing PCI was 149 per 100 000 vs. 48 per 100 000 in patients without ACKD (P < 0001). In the last year studied in 2011, age-adjusted mortality was 124.1 per 100 000 vs. 40.4 per 100 000 in patients with no ACKD, (P < 0.0001). The presence of ACKD remained independently associated with higher mortality despite multivariate adjustment (odds ratio: 1.32, confidence interval: 1.27–1.36, P < 0.001).

Conclusion

ACKD is independently associated with higher mortality in patients undergoing PCI. Therefore, PCI in these patients should be performed with more caution.
Cultural adaptation and validation in Italian of the Seated Postural Control Measure for Adults 2.0
Authors: Berardi Anna , Simeon Rachele , Ricciardi Maria , Tofani Marco , Lucia Barbara , Aghilarre Federica , Gagnon Brigitte , Giuliani Silvia , Galeoto Giovanni
Published: June 2024

Objective:

The aim of this study was to assess the cultural adaptation and validation in Italian of the Seated Postural Control Measure for Adults 2.0 (SPCMA 2.0).

Methods:

The original scale was translated and culturally adapted from French to Italian using the “Translation and Cultural Adaptation of Patient Reported Outcomes Measures—Principles of Good Practice” guidelines. Its internal consistency and test-retest reliability were examined. Its concurrent validity was evaluated using Pearson correlation coefficients with the Italian version of the Wheelchair use Confidence Scale and Wheelchair Skills Test 4.2.

Results:

Fifty-nine people were evaluated and re-evaluated after 48 h. Most of the items and subscale totals were stable in the 2 evaluations as they reported an intraclass correlation coefficient value of >0.77. The test-retest analysis of the dynamic evaluation was performed on the same patients 48 h apart. The analysis for construct validity showed statistically significant correlations with Wheelchair use Confidence Scale and Wheelchair Skills Test 4.2.

Conclusions:

Seated Postural Control Measure for Adults 2.0 is one of the few tools that allow researchers to perform a quantitative and standardized posture assessment in a cost-effective and time-saving way. Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that it is an easy-to-administer scale and requires readily available tools. The limitations of this study highlighted above and the need to use quantitative and qualitative tools in clinical practice imply the need to conduct future studies.
Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Resident Indigent Care Clinic Optimization by Improving “No-Show” Rates
Authors: Bilezikian Jordan A. , Kimmel Robert M. , Thurston Todd E.
Published: June 2024

Absenteeism among clinical patients is a significant source of inefficiency in the modern American health care system. Routine absenteeism limits access to care for indigent patients, thus providing additional strain on the health care system and timely administration of care.

This quality improvement project set out to quantify, understand, and potentially reduce patient absenteeism in our weekly plastic and reconstructive surgery resident indigent care clinic. One year prior to our study was retrospectively reviewed to determine a baseline rate of absenteeism (no shows). The daily and monthly no-show percentages were calculated. Then, three consecutive 2-month Plan, Do, Study, Act (PDSA) cycles were performed and data were recorded.

The initial year analysis demonstrated an average no-show rate of 25%. The first PDSA cycle attempted to ascertain factors contributing to absenteeism and to get patients rescheduled. The rate of clinical absenteeism was 27% over this period compared with a rate of 18% in the control period. During this period, we discovered a limitation of our institution's electronic medical record (EMR). Rescheduled patients were removed from the original schedule and were not counted as a missed appointment even though the opportunity for care was missed. The second PDSA cycle attempted to collect raw data while trying to understand the EMR error and rescheduling process. During this period, there was a 33% no-show rate compared with 27% in the control period. The third PDSA cycle attempted again to establish factors contributing to clinical absenteeism with a better understanding of the limitations of our EMR. A 33% no-show rate during this cycle was recorded compared with 22% in the control period. After three PDSA cycles were completed, our clinic had an average no-show rate of 31% compared with 25% during the same months in the previous year.

This project brought to realization that our data were initially skewed by our ignorance of an EMR flaw that did not track patients who either canceled or rescheduled their appointments. We also learned that there is a certain subset of patients who are not able to be contacted and who do not follow up.