bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Contemporary Administrative Codes to Identify Pulmonary Vein Isolation Procedures for Atrial Fibrillation
Authors: Ferro Enrico G. , Reynolds Matthew R. , Xu Jiaman , Song Yang , Cohen David J. , Wadhera Rishi K. , d'Avila Andre , Zimetbaum Peter J. , Yeh Robert W. , Kramer Daniel B.
Published: January 2025

Background

Use of pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) to treat atrial fibrillation continues to increase. Despite great interest in leveraging administrative data for real‐world analyses, contemporary procedural codes for identifying PVI have not been evaluated.

Methods and Results

In this observational retrospective cohort study, inpatient PVIs were identified among US Medicare fee‐for‐service beneficiaries using Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 93656 in Carrier Line Files. Each patient was matched with their claims from Medicare Provider Analysis and Review to compare CPT with
International Classification of Diseases
,
Tenth Revision
,
Procedure Coding System
(
ICD‐10‐PCS
) claims submitted by health care facilities to bill for PVIs. We performed the reverse for commonly matched
ICD‐10‐PCS
codes, to identify corresponding CPT‐billed procedures. Finally, we reviewed institutional cases for additional comparison of CPT and
ICD‐10‐PCS
assignation for PVI. We identified 25 617 inpatient PVIs from January 2017 to December 2021, of which 18 165 (71%) were linked to Medicare Provider Analysis and Review. Of these, 16 672 (92%) were billed as
ICD‐10‐PCS
02583ZZ: “Destruction of Conduction Mechanism, Percutaneous Approach.” The reverse process yielded heterogeneous results: among 75 003 procedures billed as
ICD‐10‐PCS
02583ZZ, only 15 691 (21%) matched with CPT 93656 (PVI), as several other unrelated procedures were billed under this
ICD‐10‐PCS
code. Institutional case review confirmed the greater specificity of CPT codes.

Conclusions

The
ICD‐10‐PCS
code associated with CPT‐billed PVI procedures actually referred to ablation of the atrioventricular junction. Yet this
ICD‐10‐PCS
code also matched with a wide range of other procedures distinct from PVI. We conclude that
ICD‐10‐PCS
codes alone are not sensitive nor specific for identifying PVI in claims and cannot be reliably used in isolation for health services research on this important procedure.
Eliciting and Improving the Causal Reasoning Abilities of Large Language Models with Conditional Statements
Authors: Liu Xiao , Yin Da , Zhang Chen , Zhao Dongyan , Feng Yansong
Published: January 2025

Causal reasoning, the ability to identify cause-and-effect relationships, is crucial in human thinking. Although large language models (LLMs) succeed in many NLP tasks, it is still challenging for them to conduct complex causal reasoning like abductive reasoning and counterfactual reasoning. Complex causal structures are rarely expressed explicitly in the text, which could make learning them challenging for LLMs. Given the fact that programming code may express causal relations more often and explicitly with conditional statements like if, we want to explore whether large language models of code (Code-LLMs) acquire better causal reasoning abilities, and whether code prompts better describe the causal structure than text prompts. Our experiments show that compared to general-purpose LLMs like Llama-2 and GPT-3, Code-LLMs like CodeLlama and Codex are significantly better in causal reasoning. Code prompts not only work well for Code-LLMs, but also help improve the performance of most general-purpose LLMs. To understand why code prompts are effective, we intervene on the prompts from different aspects, and discover that the programming structure is crucial in code prompt design, while models are more robust towards format perturbations.We further explore whether exposing models with more code with conditional statements aids in enhancing causal reasoning abilities. We finetune LLMs on such code corpus, and find their performance improves when prompted with either code prompts or text prompts.
Main Sequence of Human Luminance-evoked Pupil Dynamics
Authors: Coutinho Jonathan D. , Huang Jeff , Lefèvre Philippe , Blohm Gunnar , Munoz Douglas P.
Published: January 2025

Pupil responses are commonly used to provide insight into visual perception, autonomic control, cognition, and various brain disorders. However, making inferences from pupil data can be complicated by nonlinearities in pupil dynamics and variability within and across individuals, which challenge the assumptions of linearity or group-level homogeneity required for common analysis methods. In this study, we evaluated luminance evoked pupil dynamics in young healthy adults (n = 10, M:F = 5:5, age 19–25 years) by identifying nonlinearities, variability, and conserved relationships across individuals to improve the ability to make inferences from pupil data. We found a nonlinear relationship between final pupil diameter and luminance, linearized by considering the logarithm of luminance. Peak diameter change and peak velocity were nonlinear functions of log-luminance for constriction but not dilation responses. Across participants, curve fit parameters characterizing pupil responses as a function of luminance were highly variable, yet there was an across-participant linear correlation between overall pupil size and pupil gain (i.e., diameter change per unit log-luminance change). In terms of within-participant trial-by-trial variability, participants showed greater variability in final pupil size compared with constriction peak diameter change as a function of log-luminance. Despite the variability in stimulus–response metrics within and across participants, we found that all participants showed a highly stereotyped “main sequence” relationship between peak diameter change and peak velocity (independent of luminance). The main sequence relationship can be used to inform models of the neural control of pupil dynamics and as an empirical analysis tool to evaluate variability and abnormalities in pupil behavior.
Quantifying Scavenging Efficiencies of Different Aerosol Species and Size-Resolved Volume Concentrations in Tropical Convective Clouds over the West Pacific
Authors: Hilario Miguel Ricardo A. , Barth Mary , Bennett Ryan , Crosbie Ewan , DiGangi Joshua P. , Diskin Glenn S. , Lorenzo Genevieve Rose , Rutledge Steven , Martin Melissa Yang , Ziemba Luke , Sorooshian Armin
Published: January 2025

In-cloud aerosol scavenging remains a large source of model uncertainty, affecting capabilities to capture the aerosol lifetime and impacts on air quality and climate. While past work quantified aerosol scavenging efficiencies (SEs) in midlatitude mixed-phase deep convection, SEs are less well known for shallower convection. We used aircraft data over the tropical west Pacific to calculate SEs for three marine cumuli of different top heights (3–7 km MSL) using a simple entrainment model and measurements of the cloud outflow and nearby clear air. Across cases, efficient scavenging was observed for sulfate (>86%) and black carbon (70%–80%), while organic aerosols (53%–60%) and nitrate (61.5%) were moderately scavenged. Ammonium had a wide SE range (53%–87%). SEs of aerosol volume concentration showed near-total removal of aerosols with diameters greater than 100 nm (>92%) and inefficient removal for aerosols with diameters less than 100 nm (30%–50%), associated with the preferential activation and removal of larger particles. Mass-based SEs did not differ substantially between tropical cumuli and midlatitude deep convection, attributed to the negligible mass activated at higher supersaturations. The efficient scavenging of black carbon (BC) can be explained by an enhanced hygroscopic fraction of BC based on model results from the Community Earth System Model, version 2 (CESM2), Community Atmosphere Model with Chemistry, suggesting the internal mixing of BC with more soluble species during long-range transport through the marine atmosphere. The estimates of BC SEs provide direct evidence of substantial BC removal in convection as inferred by previous work and should motivate improvements in chemical transport models.

Significance Statement

The scavenging (removal) of aerosols is critical for estimating the lifetime of aerosols and their impact on air quality and climate; however, scavenging efficiency remains uncertain in global models especially for shallow convection. To address this uncertainty, we calculated aerosol scavenging efficiencies in tropical marine cumuli for different aerosol species, including sulfate and black carbon. We find that scavenging efficiencies depend on aerosol composition, size, and to a lesser extent, cloud-top height. The efficient removal of black carbon is explained by high hygroscopic fractions based on a model, related to the mixing of black carbon with more soluble species during transport. The reported scavenging efficiencies can be implemented into chemical transport models to improve model estimates of aerosol removal.
Standardising lipid testing and reporting in the United Kingdom; a joint statement by HEART UK and The Association for Laboratory Medicine
Authors: Kenkre Julia S , Mazaheri Tina , Neely R Dermot G , Soran Handrean , Datta Dev , Penson Peter , Downie Paul , Yates Alexandra M , Hayden Katharine , Patel Mayur , Cegla Jaimini
Published: January 2025

Atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease remains a major cause of premature death in the United Kingdom. Lipid testing is a key tool used to assess cardiovascular risk and guide clinical management decisions. There are currently no national guidelines to provide evidence-based recommendations on lipid testing and reporting for UK laboratories and clinicians. Here we present consensus guidance, following a review of published evidence by a multidisciplinary group of UK experts across a range of laboratory and clinical services. Recommendations include the composition of a standard lipid profile; indications for, and composition of, an enhanced lipid profile including apolipoprotein B and lipoprotein (a); use of the Sampson-NIH calculation for LDL-c estimation and guidance on when to flag abnormal results. This consensus guidance on lipid testing and reporting in the United Kingdom has been endorsed by HEART UK and The Association for Laboratory Medicine.
Assessment of factors influencing suicidal thoughts and attempts among population in Mosul
Authors: Al-Sammak Najlaa Ibrahim , Al-hamdany Abear Faris
Published: January 2025

Background:

Suicide is one of the leading causes of death worldwide especially in low- middle-income areas as Mosul City. It exposed to wars and various stressors for decades that directly affecting populations’ stability, psych and daily life.

Aim:

we aim to explore suicidal thoughts and attempts rates and their influencing risk factors.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was performed among 652 individuals in Mosul along ten months period since March 2023. The questionnaire was distributed among them by using convenient sampling technique. According to PHQ-9 and ASQ, the sample was divided into three groups: normal people (396), suicidal thoughts (166), and suicidal attempts (90). Chi-square, Fishers’ exact, and independent t-tests were used for significant association between variables.

Results:

One quarter (25.46%) of population had suicidal thoughts and 13.8% attempted suicide. Among the risk factors were female sex, low education, low social class, big family size, sedative drug use, introverted personality, poor family and personal relationships, bullying, severe depression, and chronic diseases ( p-values 0.031 – <0.001).

Conclusions:

Suicidal thoughts and attempts were present in high levels in Mosul City compared with other regions in the world. This should be addressed carefully while implanting national preventive and social welfare services.
Earth to Ashes: Cultural Transformations in the Cremation Rites of Modern and Contemporary South Korea
Authors: Jeong Ilyeong
Published: January 2025

Under Japanese rule in 1912, cremation was legalized in Korea, marking a shift from a strictly prohibited practice to an accepted funeral option. Initially viewed as a Japanese custom, cremation gradually transformed into a “civilized” choice, a perspective pushed by Japanese colonial authorities and some Korean modernizers. However, this narrative overlooks the gradual acceptance of cremation among Koreans. In the post-war era, cremation saw renewed popularity, steadily increasing from the late 1990s, with rates surpassing 90% by 2021. This shift reflects the influence of capitalistic values, framing cremation as a practical option due to its efficiency, economic benefits. This paper examines the evolution of cremation in Korea and how it symbolizes changing attitudes toward death from the 20th century to today.
The Grief of Older Parents Over the Loss of a Child: A Scoping Review
Authors: Bahrevar Vali , Khankeh Hamidreza , Morowatisharifabad Mohammad Ali , Foroughan Mahshid , Rashedi Vahid
Published: January 2025

Aging brings physical, psychological, and social changes, often accompanied by significant life events like the death of a loved one. One of the most devastating losses is the death of a child, which profoundly impacts older parents. This scoping review examines 47 studies on the effects of such grief, highlighting increased death anxiety, elevated mortality risk, psychological distress, and the role of social isolation in intensifying grief. Cultural factors, including stigma, further complicate the mourning process. The findings reveal that prolonged grief, social withdrawal, and declining health are common among bereaved older parents. These results underscore the urgent need for tailored interventions and support networks to mitigate the psychological and social consequences of this profound loss. Addressing this critical issue can improve the well-being of older parents, making it a vital area for further research and intervention.
Modeling and analysis of yarn catenary in 3D spherical braiding
Authors: Meng Zhuo , Li Shiyi , Li Qiyang , Zhang Yujing , Sun Yize
Published: January 2025

3D braiding technology is a crucial approach for the low-cost and rapid production of composite materials. However, the length of the fiber catenary changes during the braiding process. To keep the yarn tension stable, it is necessary to retract and release the yarn. Defects in the preform caused by unstable tension during this process occur frequently in 3D braiding. A 3D spherical braiding machine is proposed in this paper to solve this problem. A general model of guide slider trajectory in the track is proposed to describe the spatial motion of the carrier. The nonlinear mapping relationship between carrier motion and fiber catenary length is established. The track models of spherical and cylindrical braiding machines are established, respectively. The spatial position of the carrier outlet serves as the boundary condition to analyze the dynamic change principle of fiber catenary. Finally, experiments are conducted using a 3D spherical braiding machine and a cylindrical braiding machine of YunLu Composite and KUKA robot. The model is reliable and the error is mainly caused by the offset of the fell point due to the interaction force between the yarns and the clearance in machines. The fluctuating speed of the catenary can be reduced by 43.2% and the storage capacity of the carrier is reduced by 51.8%. The proposed spherical braiding machine has great application potential for higher precision and lower wear braiding of important structural components.
Colombia, COVID-19, and the Colonial Trap: Reflections on the Politics of Knowledge Production
Authors: Rolston Bill , Ní Aoláin Fionnuala , Wright Claire
Published: January 2025

The COVID-19 pandemic has made historical and contemporary colonial relationships between and within states more fraught. This complexity is apparent within the research process itself, adding a new dimension to debates on positionality and the politics of knowledge production. Drawing on critical approaches to International Relations, and in dialogue with an emerging literature on the implications of the pandemic for knowledge decolonization, we reflect on our experience as scholars from the UK/Ireland researching colonial legacy and Transitional Justice in Colombia. The aim of this autoethnographic article is to suggest how the COVID-19 pandemic affected inequalities between researchers based in Europe and participants in Latin America. Our findings are mixed. While Covid-related funding cuts undermined equity within relationships, the virtual field offered an opportunity to cultivate cooperation between researcher and participant and re-think issues of ethics, voice, and the research agenda itself. Finally, El Maestro Covid taught us valuable lessons on the colonial trap inherent in our endeavors.
Autonomous Strategies of Migrant Resistance to the Pandemic’s Repercussions
Authors: Liberona Concha Nanette , Corona Ramírez Marioly , Doña-Reveco Cristián
Published: January 2025

This article addresses the economic and political repercussions of the pandemic on the migrant populations in Iquique, Chile, comparing the experiences of Bolivian and Venezuelan migrants. We assess the forms of resistance they developed to survive the economic, social, and health crises associated with the COVID-19 Pandemic, which each group confronted in a different manner. We approached this from the viewpoint of the autonomy of migration and conducted participant observations and in-depth interviews with people of both nationalities using the framework of collaborative ethnography. In addition, we systematized and categorized relevant press articles to contextualize and trace the evolution of the pandemic and its impact on these populations. The research reveals the racism in what the press included and omitted, particularly with regard to the forms of resistance carried out by migrants, which appear to be the only way of confronting precarity and abandonment.

En este artículo se abordan las repercusiones económicas y políticas de la pandemia en la población migrante en Iquique, Chile, comparando las experiencias de las poblaciones boliviana y venezolana. Interesa valorar las resistencias que surgieron para sobrevivir a la crisis económica, social y sanitaria asociada con la pandemia de COVID-19, que han enfrentado ambos grupos de diferente manera, a partir del enfoque de la autonomía de las migraciones. Se realizaron observaciones participante y entrevistas en profundidad a personas de ambas nacionalidades, en el marco de una etnografía colaborativa. Además, se sistematizaron y categorizaron artículos de prensa relacionados con la pandemia para contextualizar, demostrar su evolución e impacto en estas poblaciones. Ese análisis permite identificar el racismo de lo que la prensa expone y omite, particularmente las resistencias migrantes que aparecen como única forma de enfrentar la precariedad y el abandono.
Global scaled consensus in finite-time for variable-order multi-agent systems with discontinuous inherent dynamics and switching topologies
Authors: Peng Xiao , Wu Huaiqin
Published: January 2025

This paper investigates the global asymptotic scaled consensus and global finite-time scaled consensus for variable-order multi-agent systems with discontinuous inherent dynamics and switching topologies. Via the switched distributed control schemes, sufficient scaled consensus criteria of multi-agent systems are established. As for global finite-time scaled consensus, the settling time for the consensus of multi-agent systems is explicitly evaluated, which is related to fractional-order derivative, control parameters, and average dwell time. Two simulation examples and one comparison are presented to imply the efficacy of the proposed control strategies.
The Political Consequences of Work: An Integrative Review
Authors: Selenko Eva , Schilbach Miriam , Brieger Steven A. , Van Hootegem Anahí , De Witte Hans
Published: January 2025

Work experiences and political participation outside work are intrinsically linked. Management scholars have acknowledged the role that organizations play in shaping political behavior from a firm-level perspective, but the specific working conditions and how they translate into employee political participation and attitudes outside work remain poorly understood. This paper offers an interdisciplinary review of the empirical literature from the past 25 years across the management and political science disciplines. It examines how individual work-related experiences (broadly categorized into job content, working environment, employment characteristics, and social relations at work) relate to political engagement outside of work: political participation, political attitudes, political trust, and political values. The results show that enabling work experiences (e.g., more skill use, autonomy, higher income, more social interactions) and experiences that caused grievances (e.g., more job or financial insecurity) were both related to more political participation but differed in their effect on political trust and regarding political attitudes on economic and cultural issues. We also review the main theoretical explanations and consolidate contradictions. Finally, we propose a future research agenda, calling for the expansion of theoretical lenses, a focus on individual-level explanatory mechanisms, and more multilevel research.
Cultural Entrepreneurship and Field Dynamics: Narrative strategies for distinctive identities in unsettled fields
Authors: Lo Verso Andrea Carlo
Published: January 2025

This paper analyses how cultural entrepreneurs populating an unsettled organizational field may construct their identities as the field evolves. While extant studies in cultural entrepreneurship have recognized the importance of context, they mostly operationalize it as a stable source of standards. By adopting a field perspective, the present study instead offers a dynamic contextualization of cultural entrepreneurship. Applying computational and interpretative text-analytical methods to the empirical setting of the emerging Italian drone field, the results indicate that cultural entrepreneurs may follow different strategies to construct a distinctive identity narrative under specific field formation processes. The paper contributes to the literature by providing a model of cultural entrepreneurship under field-level change conditions. This model, by spotlighting unsettled fields’ evolving semantic dimensions, demonstrates how cultural entrepreneurs may be able to construct distinctive identities even when their field’s meaning system is far from stable, and the criteria to evaluate a venture’s legitimacy are still being developed.
Network analysis of mental health literacy: beliefs, recognition and attitudes towards depression and schizophrenia in Ghana / Un análisis de redes sobre la alfabetización en salud mental: creencias, reconocimiento y actitudes hacia la depresión y la esquizofrenia en Ghana
Authors: Adu Peter
Published: January 2025

Internationally, research on mental health literacy (MHL) is increasing. However, the complex interplay between MHL components is not fully understood due to methodological limitations. We aimed to investigate the reciprocal links between beliefs, recognition ability and attitudes towards depression and schizophrenia in Ghana using the novel network analysis approach. A total of 410 participants from the general population of Ghana were included in a vignette-based study focusing on the Western concepts of depression and schizophrenia. Participants provided their impressions of a hypothetical person described in a vignette depicting either the Western concept of depression or schizophrenia symptoms. They then completed a set of validated MHL instruments, along with providing demographic information. Our findings indicated that spiritual causal attribution was the most influential variable in the network model for depression, whereas personal stigma emerged as the variable with the greatest impact in the model for schizophrenia. There was a reciprocal link between personal stigma and psychosocial causal attributions across the mental disorders and religiosity was positively linked to seeking professional help for these disorders. There was a bidirectional link between help-seeking preferences and causal attributions across the two disorders. Spiritual causal attributions were inversely related to professional help-seeking for both disorders. These findings emphasize the intricate interconnections between beliefs and attitudes towards depression and schizophrenia. Uncovering cultural and belief systems that are not explicitly expressed, as well as addressing stigma and incorporating the Western nosology of mental disorders, could promote mental well-being.
Pelvic venous disorders (PeVD) are not well represented in obstetrics and gynaecology journals
Authors: Whiteley Mark S , Imran Hannah A
Published: January 2025

Background

Pelvic venous disorders (PeVD), previously “Pelvic congestion syndrome (PCS)” is usually defined as a female health problem. However, it is our impression that gynaecologists rarely recognise this condition, and most of the research interest appears to be by vascular and venous surgeons, and radiologists. The aim of this study was to investigate if there was evidence to support this view.

Methods

An online search of the PubMed® database was performed using the search terms “pelvic congestion”, “PCS”, “pelvic venous disorders” and “PeVD”, filtered for relevance to “pelvic veins”. Articles were collected from 2013 to 2024 and analysed for which type of journal they appeared in (obstetrics and/or gynaecology, radiology, vascular, venous, angiology, other) and what sort of article each was (original article, review, case report).

Results

We found 281 articles published for PCS and 38 articles for PeVD, a total of 319 overall. There was a general increase in articles over the time course. However, 33.2% appeared in vascular and venous journals, 20.4% in radiology journals and only 11.3% in obstetric and/or gynaecology journals. There was no indication that the percentage of articles on PCS/PeVD was increasing in the female health journals over the time studied.

Conclusion

PeVD/PCS is under represented in obstetrics and/or gynaecology journals. Most articles appear in vascular and venous journals. This gives rise to concern that women suffering from pelvic pain due to PeVD/PCS tend to consult gynaecologists, rather than vascular and venous specialists who are more actively involved in researching the condition.
Shared autonomy policy fine-tuning and alignment for robotic tasks
Authors: Yousefi Ehsan , Chen Mo , Sharf Inna
Published: January 2025

In this paper, we present a comprehensive shared autonomy framework for human-in-the-loop policy fine-tuning and alignment. Our framework integrates policy adapting algorithms on a multi-agent system foundation tailored for human-robot interaction and decision-making arbitration. This strategy is intended for complex, task-oriented robotic tasks that require cognitive-level human-robot interactions. We design short- and long-horizon fine-tuning algorithms to adapt a policy to different operating conditions and human agents. This is accomplished using Bayesian analysis and custom deep reinforcement learning techniques, through various interaction channels strategically placed at different operational points of the system. To showcase the effectiveness of our algorithms, as well as the strength of our framework, we conduct a human user study involving operation of a laboratory robot in a sequence of high-level pick-and-place tasks. The experiments of the study are designed to demonstrate the interplay between different design elements of our framework, such as, interaction channels and multi-horizon fine-tuning algorithms. By laying out careful hypotheses, we employ objective and subjective metrics to measure the effects of shared autonomy design elements on both the system performance and human user satisfaction. Our human user study reveals significant results related to the complex interplay between shared autonomy design elements, the behavior of the algorithms, and core decision-making and arbitration formulation.
Making expert advice public in a time of emergency: Independent SAGE and the contestation of science during the Covid pandemic in the UK
Authors: Marres Noortje , Valderrama Barragán Matías
Published: January 2025

This article presents a situational analysis of the expert advice offered by Independent SAGE, a group of scientists that formed in May 2020 in the UK to provide advice on the Covid response. Based on interviews with the group’s members and partners, we argue that through its interventions Indie SAGE demonstrated an important alternative approach to linking science and politics in a time of emergency. They showed that the only way to ensure that policy and decision-making on Covid-19 was grounded in knowledge was by making expert advice public. Indie SAGE’s decision to ‘go public’ was a response to the political situation in the UK, one in which scientific advice, in particular public health expertise, was being ignored, sidelined and contested as such. We identify four rationales for making expert advice public: openness, calling out, translation, and responsive engagement. We describe associated modes of intervention that Indie SAGE adopted in relation to different critical situations of Covid-19. Distinctive about their advice, we argue, is its prioritization of situational adequacy. Much of it was explicitly oriented towards addressing practical and existential challenges experienced by particular social groups, professions and everyday publics. We argue that this way of making science public in an ‘ontological’ register acquires critical importance in a political situation like the UK Covid response, which was marked not just by disagreements about science but growing contestation of science as such. In this respect, our study holds a wider lesson for the understanding of the role of evidence in public politics. To advocate for evidence-based governance, as Indie SAGE did, is not necessarily to endorse a post-political vision of government. When science is contested in a time of emergency, making evidence public becomes a key means for responding to the demands of situations. It is not only pragmatic but a critical accomplishment.
High Rate of Return to Sport for Athletes Undergoing Articular Cartilage Restoration Procedures for the Knee: A Systematic Review of Contemporary Studies
Authors: Kunze Kyle N. , Mazzucco Michael , Thomas Zach , Uzzo Robert , Rodeo Scott A. , Warren Russell F. , Wickiewicz Thomas L. , Williams Riley J.
Published: January 2025

Background:

Continued advancements in cartilage surgery and an accumulating body of evidence warrants a contemporary synthesis of return to sport (RTS) outcomes to provide updated prognostic data and to better understand treatment response.

Purpose:

To perform an updated systematic review of RTS in athletes after knee cartilage restoration surgery.

Study Design:

Systematic review; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

PubMed, OVID/Medline, and Cochrane databases were queried in October 2023 for studies reporting any RTS outcome after knee cartilage restoration surgery. Meta-analyses with inverse-variance proportion and DerSimonian-Laird random-effects estimators were applied to quantify overall RTS. Comparative proportional subgroup meta-analyses with relative odds ratios (ORs) were constructed to quantify (1) the influence of the procedure on RTS and (2) RTS ability (lower vs same/greater level of play) based on procedure, competition level, and specific sport.

Results:

A total of 52 studies (n = 2387) were included. The overall pooled RTS was 80.3% (95% CI, 73.3%-86.5%). Matrix-assisted chondrocyte implantation (MACI) (OR, 2.15) and osteochondral autograft transplantation system (OATS) (OR, 1.83) demonstrated the highest likelihoods of RTS at the same/greater level, while microfracture (MF) (OR, 0.78) was the only treatment demonstrating a higher likelihood of RTS at a lower level. The fastest mean RTS was observed after OATS (6.6 ± 2.6 months). Professional athletes demonstrated an OR of 1.01 for RTS at the same/greater level, whereas recreational/amateur athletes demonstrated an OR of 1.63; however, all professional athletes underwent MF, and recreational/amateur athletes who underwent MF demonstrated lower likelihoods of RTS (OR, 0.78), indicating a consistent association between MF and low RTS propensity. Basketball players demonstrated the lowest likelihood of RTS at the same/greater level (OR, 1.1), while American football and soccer were associated with high likelihoods of RTS (OR, 3 and 2.4, respectively) across all procedure types.

Conclusion:

Cartilage restoration allows for high overall RTS, with OATS and MACI conferring the greatest propensity for RTS, while OATS allowed for the fastest RTS. Undergoing MF was associated with consistently poor RTS ability. This study identified several important associations between the level of RTS and clinically relevant factors when discussing RTS, with recreational/amateur athletes, soccer players, and American football players demonstrating a higher relative propensity to RTS.
Self-Perceptions of Aging and Physical Activity in Older Adults with Arthritis: Impact of General Health
Authors: Lieber Sarah B. , Moxley Jerad , Mandl Lisa A. , Reid M. Carrington , Czaja Sara J.
Published: January 2025

How negative self-perceptions of aging relate to physical activity (PA) in older adults with arthritis is unclear. We examined whether general health mediated the relationship between Awareness of Age-Related change (AARC) losses and PA. We analyzed baseline data from a randomized controlled trial of a PA intervention for adults ≥60 years who self-reported PA, AARC, general health, pain, and social support. We evaluated point-biserial correlations between PA and other factors in participants with self-reported arthritis and developed a mediation model incorporating AARC losses, general health, and PA. We observed significant correlations between PA and general health, social support, and AARC losses in this physically active sample. General health mediated the effect of AARC losses on PA. While negative self-perceptions of aging were associated with less PA in older adults with arthritis, their impact was attenuated by general health. PA interventions for this population may benefit by targeting perceived general health.
Feasibility and Usage of a Virtual Assistant Device in Cognitively Impaired Homebound Older Adults
Authors: Nunez Matthew , Patel Prisha , Ulin Lindsey , Kian Leslie , Cominsky Martin , Burnett Jason , Lee Jessica L.
Published: January 2025

Social technology in older adults can improve self-rated health; however, there can also be difficulties using it. Our study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptance of virtual assistant device (VAD) use in cognitively impaired homebound older adults. 52 newly referred Meals on Wheels clients aged 60 and older were recruited for a three-phase study: 6 weeks of meals alone (control), followed by 6 weeks of meals+Alexa Echo Show 8 (AES8) basic usage, and lastly 6 weeks of meals+AES8 advanced usage. Technology acceptance with the AES8 was significantly higher by the end of the study and participants anecdotally enjoyed playing music, setting reminders, and accessing spiritual content. There were also associations with improvements in memory, depression, and gait speed, despite no specific health programming. Thus, we believe use of VADs for cognitively impaired homebound older adults have future potential to benefit their cognitive and physical health. ClinicalTrials.gov ID: NCT04581317. Impact Statement: We certify that this work is novel because we were able to highlight improvements in the feasibility of use of a voice-activated virtual assistant device, technology acceptance, and some health indicators for underserved, cognitively impaired homebound older adults.
The Development of a Coaching Model: Challenges and Implications for Intervention Research
Authors: Wexler Jade , Shelton Alexandra , Swanson Elizabeth , Payne S. Blair , Sayers Robin , Johnston Tara , Hogan Erin K. , Stark Kristabel
Published: January 2025

Instructional coaching is one way to support teachers’ implementation of evidence-based practices, but gaps exist in knowledge about effective coaching interventions to support teacher learning at the secondary level. In this article, we first introduce an adaptive intervention model (AIM) for coaching, AIM Coaching, a coaching model designed for middle school instructional leaders to use to support teachers as they implement evidence-based literacy instructional practices across a Tier 1 school-wide literacy model. We also describe the theory of change that guided our work, a description of the accompanying professional development instructional leaders received, and the literacy practices that are linked to the Model for the purpose of this work. Second, we describe the challenges we encountered and decisions we made during the development process, solutions that addressed those challenges, and implications of those solutions.
Financial development and regional bank instability in the United States: An analysis of bank balance sheet structures
Authors: Cheng Pu
Published: January 2025

This article demonstrates that financial development in the United States has heightened the vulnerability of both sides of regional banks’ balance sheets to financial market fluctuations, drawing on the concept of financial circulation of bank deposits. It first argues that financial development provides diversified short-term investment channels for non-financial sectors to manage their liquid asset holdings. Since banks intermediate money circulation, changes in liquid asset portfolios inevitably result in sudden inflows and outflows of deposits to these banks. These deposit flows are highly clustered during specific financial phases and are subject to financial volatilities rather than local business cycles, making regional banks’ liabilities volatile with market fluctuations. Second, to mitigate increased deposit instability, regional banks hold a higher proportion of marketable securities to manage liquidity. But the mark-to-market nature of security prices further puts potential instability on the asset side of banks’ balance sheets. Extremely, the sudden volatility in the financial markets could simultaneously cause deposit flights and choke off refinancing capability, causing a bank run.
Awareness Over Knowledge: An Exploratory Study on a Refugee Crisis Game
Authors: Szatkowska Weronika , Ćwil Małgorzata , Wardaszko Marcin
Published: January 2025

Background

Migration crises, caused by conflicts, climate change, or economic decline, have been major drivers of social transitions in recent years, leading to significant changes in attitudes and policies toward refugees and migrants. In this context, serious games have emerged as a powerful tool for promoting awareness and understanding of the challenges faced by refugees.

Objectives

In this paper, we present the quantitative outcomes of a research project The People: a serious game to represent the complexity of the migration crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border. In the research, we explored how playing a serious game has impacted the affective, cognitive, and behavioural components of attitudes of 69 participants in light of the perception of the humanitarian crisis.

Methods

In the game, participants took on roles of migration crisis zone residents. We designed a quasi-experiment with pre-post surveys and observations of participants’ behaviour. We conducted statistical tests to confirm the effect of the simulation game on the attitudes towards asylum seekers and residents at the Polish-Belarusian border – at least at the declarative level.

Results

The game has improved participants’ willingness to mitigate the refugee crisis as well as the level of positive attitudes towards refugees – and knowledge regarding the situation of the inhabitants of the border area. Interestingly, the improved knowledge of refugees’ situation was not statistically significant, so despite the limited familiarity with refugees’ perspectives, the newly gained social awareness and comprehension of the migration crisis reinforced positive attitudes and agency for social change.

Limitations and further research

The participants were mostly from big cities and top high schools. Playing the game in rural areas, or among students without an interest in education could impact the outcomes. Creating a control group and expanding the sample is recommended to verify the role of the game per se as a transformative means.
A phase-field approach for transient thermal stress analysis of cracked and porous S-FGM rotating micro-blade under the combined effect of thermally induced vibrations and various mechanical loads
Authors: Pandey Shashank
Published: January 2025

The present work is an attempt to develop a simple and accurate finite element formulation for the transient thermal stress analysis of a size-dependent cracked and porous S-FGM rotating micro-blade under the combined action of thermally induced vibrations and bending due to various mechanical loads using modified coupled stress theory in conjunction with the Phase-field theory and first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The bending due to the application of mechanical load is superimposed with bending due to thermally induced vibrations developed due to the application of cooling thermal shock load to study the resulting time-dependent thermal stress behaviour of a cracked and porous FGM micro-blade. For the practical analysis, a rotating cracked and porous S-FGM micro-blade is taken. The upper metallic layer made of stainless steel (SUS304) is subjected to cooling thermal shock and mechanical load, whereas the lower ceramic layer is made of carbon steel (AISI 1020), and is maintained at room temperature. Hamilton’s principle along with the Newmark average acceleration method is used to obtain the transient displacement from which the time-dependent thermal stresses are obtained. A wide range of parametric studies are carried out to investigate the combined effect of cooling thermal shock and mechanical loads, crack angle, crack depth, material scale ratio and rotational velocity on the transient thermal stress analysis of a size-dependent cracked and porous S-FGM rotating micro-blade.
Equitable futures: Afrofuturism’s critical world-building potential for management education
Authors: Rodriguez-Alfonso Mauricio , Alcaraz Jose M. , Carrillo Cortina Valeria , Hassler-Forest Dan
Published: January 2025

How can management education integrate Afrofuturism’s critical world-building practices to challenge oppression and (inter-related) identity-shaping categories, such as gender and race? In this article, we introduce the intellectual, cultural, and aesthetic movement of Afrofuturism as a vehicle to foster emancipatory learning. We posit that Afrofuturism mobilizes world-building inspired by Afrocentric perspectives that are of particular value for management learners to: (a) interrogate in an intersectional way multiple identity-shaping sources of oppression, (b) experiment with non-linear approaches to time that offer an ingenious lens to examine identity issues, and (c) to capitalize on the emotional connections and rich multi-modal learning offered by transmedia storytelling. Our work advances the agenda of critical management educators by offering a radical proposal for learners to address existing systemic inequalities and re-imaginative alternative organizational, emancipatory futures.
Social media influencers as catalysts for transforming risk perception, crafting destination image, and elevating culinary tourism in Iran
Authors: Babalou Yasmin , Maleki Amirhossein , Gibson Heather
Published: January 2025

The impact of Social Media Influencers (SMIs) on tourists’ behaviors and perceptions is growing. This study examines a food tourism marketing campaign by analyzing 52,700 online comments on YouTube and Instagram in response to videos by two SMIs about culinary tourism in Iran. Using frequency content analysis of text and sentiment analysis of emojis, along with insights from an interview with a tour guide who accompanied the SMIs, the study explores how SMIs shape audience perceptions. Grounded in two-step flow theory and social cognitive theory, the findings reveal that SMIs, as credible intermediaries, can positively influence destination and food images through a combination of entertaining and informative content. While influencer marketing helps mitigate some negative effects of broadcast media portrayals, its impact on broader risk perceptions, such as religious, societal, or political concerns, remains limited. These findings contribute to the literature on risk management and destination image by highlighting the role of SMIs in shaping specific aspects of destination perception. The theoretical and managerial implications provide guidance for scholars and practitioners on effectively leveraging influencer marketing to affect travel-related perceptions.
Dutch translation and validation of the Stanford Gender-Related Variables for Health Research questionnaire: Associations with lifestyle and mental health
Authors: Mommersteeg Paula MC , Kupper Nina , Klinge Ineke , van Valkengoed Irene
Published: January 2025

This study aimed to validate the Dutch version of the Stanford Gender-Related Variables for Health Research (GVHR) questionnaire and explore sex differences in lifestyle factors, mental health, and health status. In 2021, 569 Dutch participants (54% women, 45% men, aged 20–80) completed the survey. Sex-stratified analyses examined associations with lifestyle (obesity, smoking, alcohol use, physical activity), mental health (depression, anxiety, stress), and overall health status. A seven-factor model best fit the data, revealing significant gendered differences. Women reported higher caregiver strain, discrimination, and emotional intelligence, while men reported more social support and risk-taking. In women findings were more pronounced, and caregiving strain was linked to psychological distress, whereas emotional intelligence and social support were protective. For men, gender discrimination was associated with smoking, depression, anxiety, stress, and poorer health status. The GVHR effectively assesses gender-related behaviors in Dutch samples, though further validation is needed in more diverse populations.
Creating ‘relational leeway’ for implicit activism: Taiwanese lesbians’ coming out experiences and identity management within families
Authors: Chen Jung
Published: January 2025

This article explores lesbians’ coming out strategies in Taiwan, focusing on their identity management and interactions with families. The data came from in-depth interviews with females who self-identified as lesbians. This article centres on lesbians’ everyday lives and how their coming-out decisions were intertwined with familial relationships and goes beyond the dichotomous Western coming-out discourse. I demonstrate ‘hiding’, ‘passing’, ‘unmasking’, and ‘sharing’ strategies lesbians employed to navigate expressing identities and maintaining relationships. I argue that lesbians created diverse identity managements as temporal space for future reconciliation with families and ‘relational leeway’ as ‘implicit activism’ that contributes to future social changes.