bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Survival Status and Predictors of Mortality Among Patients Admitted to Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Selected Tertiary Care Hospitals in Ethiopia: A Prospective Observational Study
Authors: Bacha Amente Jorise , Gadisa Diriba Alemayehu , Gudeta Mesay Dechasa , Beressa Tamirat Bekele , Negera Getandale Zeleke
Published: May 2023

Background:

Advances in pediatric intensive care have dramatically improved the prognosis for critically ill patients. The study aimed to determine the survival status and predictors of mortality among patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit at selected tertiary care hospitals in Ethiopia.

Methods:

A health facility-based prospective observational study from October 2020 to May 30, 2021, was conducted in a selected tertiary care hospital in Ethiopia. Kaplan Meier was used to compare patient survival experiences and Cox regression was used to identify independent predictors of ICU mortality. The hazard ratio was used as a measure of the strength of the association, and a P-value of <.05 was considered to declare statistical significance.

Results:

Of 206 study participants, 59 (28.6%) patients died during follow-up time, and the incidence of mortality was 3.6 deaths per 100 person-day observation (95% CI: 2.04-5.04 deaths per 100 person-days). Respiratory failure 19 (32.2%) was the commonest cause of death followed by septic shock 11(18.6). In-ICU complications (AHR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.02, 4.42; P = .04), sepsis diagnosis (AHR: 2.43; 95% CI: 1.24, 4.78; P = .01), GCS < 8 (AHR: 1.96; 95% CI: 1.12, 3.43; P = .02), use of sedative drugs (AHR: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.16, 4.95; P = .02) were linked with increased risk of in-ICU mortality. In contrast, the use of mechanical ventilation was associated with decreased mortality (AHR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.21, 0.92; P = .03).

Conclusion:

The study found a high incidence of in-ICU mortality among admitted pediatric patients in selected Ethiopian tertiary care hospitals. In-ICU complications, sepsis diagnosis, GCS < 8, and patient use of sedative drugs were independent predictors of in-ICU mortality. Prudent follow-up is warranted for those patients with the aforementioned risk factors.
Imagining Life Beyond a Crisis: A Four Quadrant Model to Conceptualize Possible Futures
Authors: Power Séamus A , Schaeffer Merlin , Heisig Jan P , Udsen Rebecca , Ordóñez-Bueso Liisalotte , Morton Thomas
Published: May 2023

In this article we report evidence from a series of semi-structured interviews with a broad sample of people living in Denmark ( n = 21), about their perspectives on the future during the first months of the global Covid-19 pandemic. The thematic and discursive analyses, based on an abductive ontology, illustrate imaginings of the future along two vectors: individual to collective and descriptive to moral. On a descriptive and individual level, people imagined getting through the pandemic on a myopic day-by-day basis; on a descriptive and collective level, people imagined changes to work and socializing. Their future was bound and curtailed by their immediate present. On a moral and individual level, respondents were less detailed in their reports, but some vowed to change their behaviors. On a moral and collective level, respondents reported what the world should be like and discussed changes to environmental behaviors such as traveling, commuting, and work. The model suggests the domain of individual moral imaginings is the most difficult domain for people to imagine beyond the practicalities of their everyday lives. The implications of this model for comprehending imaginations of the future are discussed.
Optimising the prescribing of drugs that may cause dependency: An evidence and gap map of systematic reviews
Authors: Shaw Liz , Nunns Michael , Briscoe Simon , Garside Ruth , Turner Malcolm , Melendez-Torres GJ , Lawal Hassanat M , Coon Jo Thompson
Published: May 2023

Objectives

We set out to map the quantitative and qualitative systematic review evidence available to inform the optimal prescribing of drugs that can cause dependency (benzodiazepines, opioids, non-benzodiazepine hypnotics, gabapentinoids and antidepressants). We also consider how this evidence can be used to inform decision-making in the patient care pathway for each type of medication.

Methods

Eight bibliographic databases were searched for the period 2010 to 2020. All included reviews were initially appraised using four items from the Collaboration for Environmental Evidence Synthesis Assessment Tool, with reviews that scored well on all items proceeding to full quality appraisal. Key characteristics of the reviews were tabulated, and each review was incorporated into an evidence and gap map based on a patient care pathway. The care pathway was based upon an amalgamation of existing NICE guidelines and feedback from clinical and patient stakeholders.

Results

We identified 80 relevant reviews and displayed them in an evidence and gap map. The evidence included in these reviews was predominantly of low overall quality. Areas where systematic reviews have been conducted include barriers and facilitators to the deprescribing of drugs that may cause dependency, although we identified little evidence exploring the experiences or evaluations of specific interventions to promote deprescribing. All medications of interest, apart from gabapentinoids, were included in at least one review.

Conclusions

The evidence and gap map provides an interactive resource to support (i) policy developers and service commissioners to use evidence in the development and delivery of services for people receiving a prescription of drugs that may cause dependency, where withdrawal of medication may be appropriate, (ii) the clinical decision-making of prescribers and (iii) the commissioning of further research. The map can also be used to inform the commissioning of further systematic reviews. To address the concerns regarding the quality of the existing evidence based raised in this report, future reviews should be conducted according to best-practice guidelines. Systematic reviews focusing on evaluating interventions to promote deprescribing would be particularly beneficial, as would reviews focusing on addressing the paucity of evidence regarding the deprescription of gabapentinoids.
Social well-being and problematic school absence among Danish adolescents: A nationwide cross-sectional study
Authors: Lindholdt Louise , Svendsen Katrine , Rothausen Kathrine W. , Bech Bodil H.
Published: May 2023

Aim:

Adolescents’ well-being and school absence are important factors for public health. The aim of this study was to examine the association between social well-being and problematic school absence among Danish adolescents in the ninth grade, as well as to examine potential sex differences, using a large cohort of adolescents.

Methods:

In this cross-sectional study, information on social well-being was obtained from the yearly Danish National Well-being Questionnaire mandatory in compulsory school. Data on school absence was obtained from the Ministry of Children and Education. The study population comprised 203,570 adolescents in the school years 2014/2015 to 2019/2020. The association between social well-being and problematic school-absence was analysed using logistic regression. A stratified analysis was made to investigate potential sex differences.

Results:

A total of 17,555 (9.16%) adolescents had problematic school absence, defined as >10% illegal absence and/or sickness absence in the ninth grade. Adolescents with low social well-being had higher odds for having problematic school absence compared with adolescents with high social well-being, adjusted odds ratio=2.22 (95% confidence interval 2.10–2.34). When stratifying for sex, the association was strongest for girls. The results remained after adjustment for parents’ educational level and family structure.

Conclusions:

Associations between adolescents’ social well-being and problematic school absence were found, where girls had the strongest association. These findings might provide knowledge about social well-being as an important factor for problematic school absence, while underlining the importance of early focus and prevention, which is of importance for both the adolescents and society.
Contemporary Twin Block appliance wear protocols: A survey of UK orthodontists
Authors: Ong Queenie , Anwar Hamza , El-Angbawi Ahmed
Published: May 2023

Objective:

This study was undertaken to determine contemporary trends in the use of the Twin Block appliance among UK orthodontists, including the wear time currently prescribed. In addition, the study explored if there had been any change in wear time prescribed, considering recent research evidence proposing part-time wear.

Design:

Cross-sectional, online survey.

Participants:

Members of the British Orthodontic Society (BOS).

Methods:

The questionnaire was emailed to all BOS members in November 2021 and hosted on the QualtricsXM platform. The questionnaire was piloted for content validity and tested for reliability.

Results:

A response rate of 19% was attained. Nearly all (n = 244, 99%) participants used the Twin Block, and 90% (n = 218) prescribed full-time wear including/excluding eating. Although the majority (n = 168, 69%) had not made changes to their wear time prescriptions, nearly one-third (n = 75, 31%) had. Those who reported a change in their prescriptions currently prescribe less wear time than before, and commonly quoted ‘research evidence’ as the reason. A wide range in success rates (41%–100%) was reported, with patient compliance as the main reason for treatment discontinuation.

Conclusion:

The Twin Block is a popular functional appliance among orthodontists in the UK, originally designed by Clark to be worn full time to maximise functional forces applied to the dentition. However, this wear regime may place considerable strain on patient compliance. Most participants prescribed full-time Twin Block wear excluding eating. Approximately one-third of orthodontists made changes to their wear time prescriptions during their practising career, and currently instruct less wear time than before.
Off track or on point? Side comments in focus groups with teens
Authors: Sheppard Lindsay C , Raby Rebecca
Published: May 2023

Side comments and conversations in focus groups can pose challenges for facilitators. Rather than seeing side comments as problematic behavior or “failed” data, we argue that they can add to and deepen analyses. Drawing on focus group data with grade nine students from a study on early work, in this methodological paper we discuss three patterns. First, side comments have highlighted where participants required clarification, and illustrated their views and questions about the research process. Second, side comments added new data to our analysis, including personal reflections, connections to others’ comments, and information about participants’ uncertainties about the research topics. Third, these comments offered insight into peer relations and dynamics, including participants’ reflections on age, and how they deployed gender relations in their discussions. Provided that their use fits within established ethical protocols, we argue that there is a place for attention to side comments, especially in focus group research with young people where adult-teen hierarchies and peer dynamics might lead young people to engage more with peers than directly respond to researchers’ questions.
Challenging methodologies: Deploying liberatory epistemologies to unlock creative research practices
Authors: Milián Bernal Dalia
Published: May 2023

Departing from the methodological story of my doctoral research and deploying feminist, postcolonial, and decolonial epistemologies, this article explores the double connotation of the phrase ‘challenging methodologies’. On the one hand, the article reviews the process of my doctoral research, the challenges I faced, and how these oriented my methodological decisions. On the other hand, it examines the three methodologies I chose – grounded theory, online research, and narrative inquiry – to understand how they originated to challenge unjust canonical research processes that undermine different ways of generating knowledge and reinforce epistemic silencing. By exploring ‘challenging methodologies’, the article invites (novice) researchers to contest unjust research processes and embark on their own creative, albeit challenging, methodological paths.
Achieving co-presence when together and apart: Hybrid engagements and multi-modal collaborative research with urban indigenous youth
Authors: Horn Philipp , Casagrande Olivia
Published: May 2023

This article reflects on collaborative research carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic involving indigenous youth co-investigators from different urban settings in Bolivia and a UK- and Bolivia-based research coordination team. Unlike previous studies that highlight the potential of generating a shared co-presence via virtual engagements and digital methods when face-to-face interactions seem less desirable, this article offers a more cautious account. We question the existence of a shared co-presence and, instead, posit co-presence as fragmented and not necessarily mutual, requiring careful engagement with power imbalances, distinct socio-economic and space-time positionings, and diverse priorities around knowledge generation among team members. These considerations led us to iteratively configure a hybrid research approach that combines synchronous and asynchronous virtual and face-to-face interactions with multi-modal methods. We demonstrate how this approach enabled us to generate a sense of co-presence in a context where collaborator access to a shared space-time was limited, differentiated, or displaced.
Literary allusion in sociological analysis: Mass Observation mantelpiece reports as epic and drama
Authors: Hurdley Rachel
Published: May 2023

This paper experiments with the use of literary analysis for the interpretation of participants’ writing. The dataset comprises 56 ‘Reports’ in response to a 2019 Mass Observation Directive. Mass Observation is a British archive. Its aim is to record everyday life through correspondents’ responses to thrice-yearly Directives. The paper contributes to lyrical sociology with its development of ‘textural’ analysis. The 2019 Directive asked volunteers to submit reports on what was on their mantelpieces and also about their treasured objects. I found this writing highly allusive of two literary works: Tom Stoppard's play Arcadia, and the ‘Catalogue of Ships’ in Homer's ancient Greek epic poem, the Iliad. This led me not only to review the earlier reports but also to consider how literature can enrich the interpretation of participants’ writing. In conclusion, I argue that following up allusive ‘hunches’ can result in fruitful literary analysis, as a ‘textural’ approach to sociological method.
Peri-urban planning: A landscape perspective
Authors: Tan Jiangdi , Gu Kai , Zheng Youxu
Published: May 2023

The management of peri-urban development has emerged as a new context of contemporary urban planning. Its dynamic and diverse nature presents major challenges and opportunities for urban sustainability. However, a more integrated framework for peri-urban planning has been progressing slowly. An examination of the epistemology of the landscape concept reveals three salient aspects of landscape relevant to multiple domains of peri-urban planning – the unifying, morphogenetic and socialised. Although landscape research has translated into peri-urban management, its full potential has yet to be realised. Among the three landscape dimensions, morphogenesis is relatively neglected. By foregrounding morphogenesis, the three epistemological orientations of landscape can be rebalanced and reintegrated to form the basis of a new planning framework for more continuous, harmonious and sustainable peri-urban development.
Letter to Editor Regarding “Mean Platelet Volume-to-Lymphocyte Ratio is a Biomarker of 1-Year Mortality in Patients With Diabetic Foot Infections”
Authors: Beyan Cengiz , Beyan Esin
Published: May 2023

We read with great interest the prospective observational study of Aragón-Sánchez et al. They reported that the increase in the mean platelet volume (MPV) to lymphocyte ratio (MPVLR) value is a biomarker accompanying 1-year mortality in patients with a diabetic foot infection. We explained why the MPV value and associated MPVLR value may not be a prognostic biomarker of mortality in patients with diabetic foot infections.
Dobbs Versus Jackson: Epilepsy, Reproductive Health, and Abortion
Authors: Weatherspoon Sarah , Davis Anne , Keezer Mark , Zutshi Deepti , Pack Alison
Published: May 2023

On June 24, 2022, Dobbs vs Jackson Women’s Health Organization was decided by the Supreme Court effectively overturning the former precedent of Roe v. Wade. This ruling has direct consequences for the care of persons with epilepsy of childbearing potential. Now more than ever we need to provide informed and comprehensive care to our patients with epilepsy who are particularly vulnerable to the impact of this legislation on their reproductive decision-making. Important areas to understand include (1) the current state of affairs on abortion in the United States; (2) contraception options, their effectiveness, and interactions with anti-seizure medications (ASM); (3) teratogenic effects and adverse neurocognitive outcomes of ASMs; (4) folic acid supplementation; (5) the effect on perinatal and pediatric care; and (6) unique issues related to people of color.
Start Low and Go Slow: The General Principle of Managing Older Adults With Epilepsy Finds Robust Support From Frailty
Authors: Punia Vineet
Published: May 2023

[Box: see text]
An Improved AlexNet Model and Cepstral Coefficient-Based Classification of Autism Using EEG
Authors: Menaka R. , Karthik R. , Saranya S. , Niranjan M. , Kabilan S.
Published: May 2023

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that cannot be completely cured, but early intervention during childhood can improve outcomes. Identifying autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has relied on subjective detection methods that involve questionnaires, medical professionals, and therapists and are subject to observer variability. The need for early diagnosis and the limitations of subjective detection methods has led researchers to explore machine learning-based approaches, such as Random Forests, K-Nearest Neighbors, Naive Bayes, and Support Vector Machines, to predict ASD meltdowns. In recent years, deep learning techniques have gained traction for early ASD detection. This study evaluates the performance of various deep learning networks, including AlexNet, VGG16, and ResNet50, using 5 cepstral coefficient features for ASD detection. The main contributions of this study are the utilization of Cepstral Coefficients in the processing stage to construct spectrograms and the modification of the AlexNet architecture for precise classification. Experimental observations indicate that the AlexNet with Linear Frequency Cepstral Coefficients (LFCC) yields the highest accuracy of 85.1%, while a customized AlexNet with LFCC achieves 90% accuracy.
Creative, Technical, Entrepreneurial: Formative Tensions in Game Development Higher Education
Authors: Keogh Brendan , Hardwick Taylor
Published: May 2023

Higher education (HE) has become a common pathway into game development careers. Previous research with students and educators has shown how game development HE exemplifies a “creative industries” approach that seemingly marries technical and creative skills, professionalism and passion, and individualistic entrepreneurism and interdisciplinary collaboration. However, little research has considered the varied institutional contexts such students and educators find themselves entrenched in. In this article, we argue that game development HE does not simply marry the technical and creative but is instead torn between different disciplinary cultures, ideologies, and aims. Drawing from data on 119 game development HE programs in Australia, we show that while game development HE is consistently positioned as a pathway toward student employability, just what skills and identities are emphasized as crucial for such employability varies pending on the program's institutional context—ultimately showing that combining creativity and technology is neither a straightforward nor neutral process.
Development of de Quervain Tenosynovitis After Distal Radius Fracture
Authors: Carroll Thomas John , Caraet Brianna , Madsen Norman , Wilbur Danielle
Published: May 2023

Background:

We sought to determine the risk factors for the development of de Quervain tenosynovitis after distal radius fractures. Our hypothesis is that longer periods of immobilization and higher-energy fracture patterns will correlate with the development of de Quervain tenosynovitis.

Methods:

This is a 10-year retrospective study of 1451 consecutive patients with distal radius fractures presenting to a large academic institution. The incidence and relative risk of de Quervain tenosynovitis within 1 year of sustaining a distal radius fracture were analyzed.

Results:

In total, 41 patients developed posttraumatic de Quervain tenosynovitis at an average time of 6.5 months. In the operative cohort, the incidence was 2.2%, and that of the nonoperative group was 3.8%. Among all affected patients, 78% admitted to strenuous, overuse activities or careers. Compared with the unaffected cohort, the de Quervain tenosynovitis group was more likely to be female and black with similar age and body mass index. The traumatic cohort was less likely to respond to corticosteroid injections. A separate extensor pollicis brevis (EPB) sheath was noted in all patients requiring surgical release.

Conclusions:

Patients with a nonoperative distal radius fracture were 4.2 times more likely to develop de Quervain’s than the general population, and those treated operatively were 2.4 times more likely. These patients were more likely to be female, black, and engage in strenuous overuse activities or careers. They demonstrated higher-energy fracture patterns and worse response to corticosteroid injections, more frequently requiring surgical decompression. Among those requiring surgery, patients were 2.5 times more likely to have a separate EPB sheath than those with atraumatic Quervain’s.
Surgical Management of Dupuytren Disease: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-analyses
Authors: Nann Silas , Kovoor Joshua , Fowler James , Kieu James , Gupta Aashray , Hewitt Joseph , Ovenden Christopher , Edwards Suzanne , Bacchi Stephen , Jacobsen Jonathan Henry W. , Harries Richard , Maddern Guy
Published: May 2023

Background:

Dupuytren disease is a common fibroproliferative disease that affects the palmar fascia of the hands. Currently, there is limited consensus regarding the optimal therapy for this condition, with treatment decisions based largely on surgeon preference. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine which treatments are the most effective for Dupuytren disease.

Method:

A systematic review and network meta-analyses were conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses 2020 guidelines. Medline, EMBASE, and Web of Science were searched for randomized trials comparing treatments for Dupuytren disease in adults. Eligible treatments included open limited fasciectomy, collagenase injection, and percutaneous needle fasciotomy. Study selection, data extraction, and quality appraisal were performed in duplicate. The methodological quality was evaluated with the Cochrane risk-of-bias critical appraisal tool.

Results:

Eleven randomized clinical trials were included in this study. At short-term (1-12 weeks) and long-term (2-5 years) time points, fasciectomy improved contracture release more than collagenase and needle fasciotomy as inferred by a lower total passive extension deficit. However, there was no difference between the groups regarding the best possible outcome at any time point. Fasciectomy was also superior in terms of recurrence and patient satisfaction compared with collagenase and needle fasciotomy, but only at later time points. There was no difference in skin damage–related and nerve damage–related complications following fasciectomy compared with other modalities. Risk of bias was generally moderate.

Conclusions:

Fasciectomy provides superior long-term advantages in terms of patient outcomes when compared with collagenase and needle fasciotomy. Larger trials with better blinding of outcome assessors are needed in the future.
Manawataki Fatu Fatu for ACCESS (Māori and Pacific Hearts in Unison for Achieving Cardiovascular Care in Equity StudieS). Protocol for a Mixed Methods Programme of Research
Authors: Grey Corina , Brewer Karen Marie , Ameratunga Shanthi , Selak Vanessa , Hanchard Sandra , Dicker Bridget , Paynter Janine , Taueetia-Su’a Tua , Winter-Smith Julie , Newport Rochelle , Tane Taria , Harwood Matire Louise Ngarongoa
Published: May 2023

Māori and Pacific peoples in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) face significant inequities in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, hospitalisations and management rates, compared with non-Māori, non-Pacific peoples. These inequities are intimately linked to factors such as colonisation and the intergenerational impacts of systemic racism. This is the protocol for Manawataki Fatu Fatu for ACCESS (Māori and Pacific hearts in unison for Achieving Cardiovascular Care in Equity StudieS), a mixed-methods programme of research, combining kaupapa Māori and Pacific research methodologies (i.e. incorporating the knowledges, skills and values of Māori and Pacific peoples). In this Māori and Pacific led research programme, we will use qualitative and quantitative methodologies to identify evidence-practice gaps along the healthcare continuum that can be addressed to improve heart health outcomes for Māori and Pacific people in NZ.

The programme is built on three foundation projects: (i) the assessment and management of CVD risk in primary care; (ii) pre-hospital delays in accessing care following an acute cardiac event in the community; and (iii) post-discharge and long-term management of heart failure. There are three phases. Phase 1 aims to systematically document research, completed or underway, about equitable access to evidence-based heart health care. We will establish a national collaboration of equity-focused heart health researchers and providers, and undertake systematic reviews relating to the three foundation projects. In Phase 2, we will undertake qualitative and quantitative research in the three foundational projects, to identify interventions to increase access to heart health care that have most potential to improve Māori and Pacific health outcomes and achieve equity. The quantitative and qualitative studies will be undertaken in parallel and will inform each other. Phase 3 will use findings from Phases 1 and 2 to create a Quality-Improvement-Equity Roadmap to inform interventions to improve Māori and Pacific people’s access to evidence-based CVD care.
Uncovering the cognitive mechanisms underlying the gaze cueing effect
Authors: Alister Manikya , McKay Kate T , Sewell David K , Evans Nathan J
Published: May 2023

The gaze cueing effect is the tendency for people to respond faster to targets appearing at locations gazed at by others, compared with locations gazed away from by others. The effect is robust, widely studied, and is an influential finding within social cognition. Formal evidence accumulation models provide the dominant theoretical account of the cognitive processes underlying speeded decision-making, but they have rarely been applied to social cognition research. In this study, using a combination of individual-level and hierarchical computational modelling techniques, we applied evidence accumulation models to gaze cueing data (three data sets total, N = 171, 139,001 trials) for the first time to assess the relative capacity that an attentional orienting mechanism and information processing mechanisms have for explaining the gaze cueing effect. We found that most participants were best described by the attentional orienting mechanism, such that response times were slower at gazed away from locations because they had to reorient to the target before they could process the cue. However, we found evidence for individual differences, whereby the models suggested that some gaze cueing effects were driven by a short allocation of information processing resources to the gazed at location, allowing for a brief period where orienting and processing could occur in parallel. There was exceptionally little evidence to suggest any sustained reallocation of information processing resources neither at the group nor individual level. We discuss how this individual variability might represent credible individual differences in the cognitive mechanisms that subserve behaviourally observed gaze cueing effects.
New in, old out: Does learning a new language make you forget previously learned foreign languages?
Authors: Mickan Anne , Slesareva Ekaterina , McQueen James M , Lemhöfer Kristin
Published: May 2023

Anecdotal evidence suggests that learning a new foreign language (FL) makes you forget previously learned FLs. To seek empirical evidence for this claim, we tested whether learning words in a previously unknown L3 hampers subsequent retrieval of their L2 translation equivalents. In two experiments, Dutch native speakers with knowledge of English (L2), but not Spanish (L3), first completed an English vocabulary test, based on which 46 participant-specific, known English words were chosen. Half of those were then learned in Spanish. Finally, participants’ memory for all 46 English words was probed again in a picture naming task. In Experiment 1, all tests took place within one session. In Experiment 2, we separated the English pre-test from Spanish learning by a day and manipulated the timing of the English post-test (immediately after learning vs. 1 day later). By separating the post-test from Spanish learning, we asked whether consolidation of the new Spanish words would increase their interference strength. We found significant main effects of interference in naming latencies and accuracy: Participants speeded up less and were less accurate to recall words in English for which they had learned Spanish translations, compared with words for which they had not. Consolidation time did not significantly affect these interference effects. Thus, learning a new language indeed comes at the cost of subsequent retrieval ability in other FLs. Such interference effects set in immediately after learning and do not need time to emerge, even when the other FL has been known for a long time.
The stability of the deadlift three repetition maximum
Authors: Guppy Stuart N , Nagatani Tsuyoshi , Poon Wayne C K , Kendall Kristina L , Lake Jason P , Haff G Gregory
Published: May 2023

This study investigated the stability of three repetition maximum (3RM) strength during the deadlift. Eleven participants performed four testing sessions comprising a one repetition maximum test and 3RM tests separated by 48 h. Preparedness was assessed before each testing session using countermovement jumps and by measuring barbell velocity during each set of deadlifts. Trivial statistically significant differences were determined for the 3RM between T1 and both T2 ( p = 0.012; ES [95% CI] = −0.1 [−0.58, 0.41]) and T3 ( p = 0.027; ES [95% CI] = −0.09 [−0.57, −0.43]). No significant differences were noted between T2 and T3 ( p = 0.595; ES [95% CI] = 0.01 [−0.49, 0.50]). No significant differences in jump height ( p = 0.071), time-to-take-off ( p = 0.862), eccentric displacement ( p = 0.209), or mean force during any countermovement jump sub-phase were found between each session ( p = 0.529–0.913). Small differences in barbell mean velocity were found between both T1–T2 (effect size statistics (ES) = −0.21–0.27) and T2–T3 (ES = 0.31–0.48), while trivial differences were found at others. Therefore, 3RM deadlift strength appears stable enough over a microcycle to continue using traditionally recommended heavy/light programming strategies.
Practices of strength and conditioning coaches across Chinese high-performance sports
Authors: Zhong Yuming , Weldon Anthony , Bishop Chris , Li Yongming
Published: May 2023

This study used an online survey to investigate the practices and perspectives of strength and conditioning coaches (SCCs) across different high-performance sports in China. The survey comprised of the following sections: (a) background information, (b) muscular strength and power, (c) speed, (d) endurance, (e) plyometrics, (f) flexibility, (g) physical testing, (h) technology use, and (i) programming. In total, 93 SCCs from 44 high-performance sports across 25 provinces/municipalities participated in this study (age 31.5 ± 6.9 yrs, experience as a SCC 5.5 ± 4.4 yrs). Periodization strategies were used by 97% of SCCs. Clean and derivatives (37%) were deemed the most important exercises for strength and power development. Heart rate (85%) and repetition maximum (72%) were the most used methods for determining set loads in endurance and strength training, respectively. Box drills (91%) were the most prescribed plyometric exercise and dynamic stretching (91%) was the most prescribed flexibility exercise. All SCCs physically tested their athletes and 95% frequently used technology-based equipment. For open-ended questions, 30% of SCCs would change their programs by improving monitoring, testing, equipment, and facilities. Thirty-nine percent of SCCs believed digitization and monitoring will be prominent future trends. The results indicated that most practices of SCCs in Chinese high-performance sports were dissimilar to those of SCCs in other countries. SCCs generally prescribe training according to the needs of sports. However, the interferences of many external factors also affected the scientific nature of training prescription.
Multi-objective optimal maintenance strategy considering imperfect preventive maintenance: A case study on railway VOBC
Authors: Peng Cong , Shangguan Wei , Cai Baigen , Chen Bin
Published: May 2023

Preventive maintenance procedures for systems are designed to improve long-term operating performance and reduce maintenance costs. This paper attempts to seek a trade-off between system reliability and maintenance costs and explores the optimal multi-objective maintenance strategy applicable to different field situations. We first provide an overview of the problem and analyze the impacts of varying different maintenance activities on reliability. Then, a mathematical model of reliability losses and maintenance costs is defined and derived, which will be used to construct a multi-objective maintenance strategy. In this research, the PSO-SA stochastic optimization algorithm is proposed to discover the Pareto frontier to find the optimal preventive maintenance threshold and inspection interval that minimizes reliability loss and maintenance costs. Finally, a case study is performed with railway VOBC as an illustration. The analysis results illustrate that the proposed multi-objective maintenance strategy can satisfy the preferences of various decision-makers. It is suitable for different maintenance needs and can support the development of on-site maintenance strategies.
Management of patients with brain metastases from NSCLC without a genetic driver alteration: upfront radiotherapy or immunotherapy?
Authors: Merkin Ross D. , Chiang Veronica L. , Goldberg Sarah B.
Published: May 2023

Lung cancer is the second most common cancer and the most common cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Brain metastases (BM) are detected in 21% of patients with lung cancer at the time of diagnosis and are the sole metastatic site in 35% of patients with stage IV disease. The best upfront therapy for non-small-cell lung cancer depends on both tumor programmed death 1 ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression and the presence or absence of a targetable genetic alteration in genes such as epidermal growth factor receptor and anaplastic lymphoma kinase. In the absence of a targetable genetic alteration, options include chemotherapy, immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), and ICI combined with chemotherapy. Upfront local therapy followed by systemic therapy is the current standard of care for the management of BM, and may include whole brain radiotherapy, stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), or craniotomy for surgical resection followed by consolidative SRS. This paradigm is effective in achieving local control, but it remains unclear if this approach is necessary for every patient. Prospective and retrospective data suggest that ICIs with or without chemotherapy can have activity against BM; however, appropriately selecting patients who are able to safely forgo local therapy and start an ICI-based treatment remains a challenge. To be considered for upfront ICI-based therapy, a patient should be free of neurologic symptoms, lesions should be small and not located in a critical region of the central nervous system, if corticosteroids are indicated the requirement should be low (prednisone 10 mg/d or less), and PD-L1 expression should be high. The decision to proceed with upfront ICI without local therapy to BM should be made in a multidisciplinary fashion and patients should undergo frequent surveillance imaging so that salvage local therapy can be administered when necessary. Prospective clinical trials are needed to validate this approach before it can be widely adopted.
Role of imaging for eligibility and safety of a-NGF clinical trials
Authors: Roemer Frank W. , Hochberg Marc C. , Carrino John A. , Kompel Andrew J. , Diaz Luis , Hayashi Daichi , Crema Michel D. , Guermazi Ali
Published: May 2023

Nerve growth factor (a-NGF) inhibitors have been developed for pain treatment including symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) and have proven analgesic efficacy and improvement in functional outcomes in patients with OA. However, despite initial promising data, a-NGF clinical trials focusing on OA treatment had been suspended in 2010. Reasons were based on concerns regarding accelerated OA progression but were resumed in 2015 including detailed safety mitigation based on imaging. In 2021, an FDA advisory committee voted against approving tanezumab (one of the a-NGF compounds being evaluated) and declared that the risk evaluation and mitigation strategy was not sufficient to mitigate potential safety risks. Future clinical trials evaluating the efficacy of a-NGF or comparable molecules will need to define strict eligibility criteria and will have to include strategies to monitor safety closely. While disease-modifying effects are not the focus of a-NGF treatments, imaging plays an important role to evaluate eligibility of potential participants and to monitor safety during the course of these studies. Aim is to identify subjects with on-going safety findings at the time of inclusion, define those potential participants that are at increased risk for accelerated OA progression and to withdraw subjects from on-going studies in a timely fashion that exhibit imaging-confirmed structural safety events such as rapid progressive OA. OA efficacy- and a-NGF studies apply imaging for different purposes. In OA efficacy trials image acquisition and evaluation aims at maximizing sensitivity in order to capture structural effects between treated and non-treated participants in longitudinal fashion. In contrast, the aim of imaging in a-NGF trials is to enable detection of structural tissue alterations that either increase the risk of a negative outcome (eligibility) or may result in termination of treatment (safety).
Preventive Effect of 1-Methoxylespeflorin G11 on Nitrite Release in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Glial Cells
Authors: Paing Yunn Me Me , Valencia McNeil , Cho Namki , Lee Sung Hoon
Published: May 2023

Neuroinflammation is a critical factor in the onset and progression of various brain disorders. Upon exposure to inflammatory stimuli, glial cells become activated, releasing excessive proinflammatory mediators that exacerbate neuropathological conditions. Nitric oxide contributes to neuroinflammation, neurotoxicity, and neuronal death, making its regulation in activated glial cells essential for treating neuroinflammation. Lespedeza bicolor, a traditional medicine used for fever, cough, and nephritis treatment, has a neuroprotective effect attributed to the pterocarpan 1-methoxylespeflorin G11 (MLG), as identified in our previous study. This study examines the protective role of MLG in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated glial cells. We found that MLG treatment attenuated LPS-induced nitrite release by downregulating inducible nitric oxide synthase expression in astrocytes. Additionally, MLG impeded LPS-induced nuclear translocation of the p65 subunit of nuclear factor-kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells (NF-κB) and decreased LPS-induced phosphorylation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK). The MLG demonstrated similar inhibitory effects on nitrite release and p65 nuclear translocation in microglial cells. Molecular docking analyses unveiled the potential binding mode of MLG to ERK. Collectively, our results indicate that MLG may possess therapeutic potential in treating neuroinflammatory diseases by suppressing nitrite release in glial cells.
Rotator Cuff Injuries in the Pediatric Population: A Retrospective Review of Patient Characteristics and Treatment at a Single Center
Authors: Harwood Kathleen L. , Oganezova Karina , Orellana Kevin J. , Ashe Katherine , Williams Brendan A. , Horneff John G.
Published: May 2023

Background:

As youth participation in contact and overhead sports has increased in recent decades, so has the occurrence of injuries of the shoulder. Rotator cuff injury (RCI) is an infrequent shoulder pathology in pediatric patients and its description in the literature has been scarce. A greater understanding of RCI characteristics and treatment outcomes in children and adolescents would improve our understanding of this pathology and help to better guide clinical decision-making.

Hypothesis:

To identify pediatric patients with magnetic resonance imaging-confirmed RCI treated at a single center to summarize injury characteristics, treatment, and outcomes. It was hypothesized that injuries would occur predominantly in overhead throwing athletes and would demonstrate good outcomes among both operatively and nonoperatively treated patients.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Level of Evidence:

Level 4.

Methods:

A retrospective review of pediatric patients (<18 years old) diagnosed with and treated for an RCI between January 1, 2011 and January 31, 2021. Patient demographics, injury mechanism and type, treatment, and outcomes were collected. Descriptive statistics were performed. Bivariate testing was used to compare operatively and nonoperatively treated cohorts.

Results:

A total of 52 pediatric patients treated for a rotator cuff avulsion, partial tear, or complete tear were identified. Mean age was 15 years and 67% of patients were male. Injuries were related most commonly to participation in throwing sports. Operative management occurred in 23% of patients, while 77% were managed nonoperatively. Treatment cohorts differed based on tear type, with all complete tears being managed operatively ( P < 0.01). Associated shoulder pathology was common, with the most frequent finding being anterior shoulder instability pathology. Return to play was longer for operatively managed patients (7.1 vs 4.5 months; P < 0.01).

Conclusion:

The present study expands the limited data available regarding RCIs in pediatric patients. Most injuries are associated with sports and involve the supraspinatus tendon. RCIs were associated with good outcomes and low rates of reinjury in patients managed both nonoperative and operatively. RCI should be considered in throwing athletes with shoulder pain, even in skeletally immature patients.

Clinical Relevance:

This retrospective study fills the hole in the literature by detailing the patterns associated with RCI characteristics and treatment outcomes. In contrast to studies of adult RCIs, our results suggest that outcomes are good regardless of treatment type.
School Nurses Can Reduce Firearm Injuries and Deaths
Authors: Combe Laurie G. , Cogan Robin
Published: May 2023

The increasing incidents of school shootings in recent years have resulted in America’s students, teachers, and staff feeling vulnerable. The most effective approach to creating safe and supportive school environments requires a comprehensive, coordinated effort including school-wide, district-wide, and community-wide strategies. School nurses, healthcare partners embedded in school communities, can guide these efforts. This article reviews data on school located gun violence through a public health lens, as well as outlines a framework for levels of prevention, including downstream, midstream, and upstream strategies. Finally, the article includes evidence-based examples, models, and tools for each level of prevention.
Toward critical demography 2.0
Authors: Ortega Arnisson Andre C
Published: May 2023

This paper reviews critical demography, revisiting its initial invocation as a paradigm focusing on the interweaving of power relations and demographic outcomes. Building on earlier critiques about demography's proclivity to positivist epistemology, I contribute to the initial proposition by framing demography as a power-knowledge, exposing the politics of demographic knowledge production. While critical demography remains marginal in demography, interdisciplinary demographers from allied fields have provided important contributions. Given the contemporary moment characterized by social and ecological upheavals, I argue for a recalibration—Critical Demography 2.0—which seriously reflects on the “critical” and works toward emancipatory politics, addressing issues of social justice and plight of marginalized populations. In moving forward, I argue for the need to think of praxis (demography for marginalized populations), epistemological diversity (mixed methods, critical quantification, and interdisciplinarity), and sustained engagement on critical themes. Critical geographers can offer an important role in recalibrating critical demography, by our emphasis on spatial politics and spatial justice, critical quantification, and community-engaged countermapping.
Chinese young people’s diverse experiences with heterosexual romantic relationships in various high school contexts
Authors: Liu Chong , Zhu Yan
Published: May 2023

Young people’s heterosexual romantic relationships is often a popular topic in youth studies and sexuality education. However, the importance of class and educational stratification and the institutional influence is rarely mentioned. Through this article, considering the differentiated expectation of young people in different high school categories and the discussion about sexuality education, young people are understanding and experiencing heterosexual romantic relationships beyond their individual level. Drawing on the fieldwork with 28 student participants and 7 schoolteachers in total at an academic high school and a vocational high school in Tianjin, China, this article unearths young people’s considerations, decisions, and doubts concerning their experiences of heterosexual romantic relationships. It argues that young people’s perceptions and experiences of heterosexual romantic relationships are highly diverse and complex. It calls for the awareness of intersectional factors, such as social class and gender, in the process of understanding such diversity and complexity.