bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Toward Improved Short-Term Forecasting for Lake Victoria Basin. Part I: A Radar-Based Convective Mode Analysis
Authors: del Moral Méndez Anna , Weckwerth Tammy M. , Roberts Rita D. , Wilson James W.
Published: October 2023

East African countries benefit economically from the largest freshwater lake in Africa: Lake Victoria (LV). Around 30 million people live along its coastline, and 5.4 million people subsist on its fishing industry. However, more than 1000 fishermen die annually by high-wave conditions often produced by severe convective wind phenomena, which marks this lake one of the deadliest places in the world for hazardous weather impacts. The World Meteorological Organization launched the 3-yr High Impact Weather Lake System (HIGHWAY) project, with the main objective to reduce loss of lives and economic goods in the lake basin and improve the resilience of the local communities. The project conducted a field campaign in 2019 aiming to provide forecasters with high-resolution observations and to study the storm life cycle over the lake basin. The research discussed here used the S-band polarimetric Tanzania radar from the field campaign to investigate the diurnal cycle of the convective mode over the lake. We classified the lake storms occurring during the two wet seasons into six different convective modes and present their diurnal evolution, organization, and main radar-based attributes, thereby extending the knowledge of convection on the lake. The result is the creation of a “convection catalog for Lake Victoria,” using the operational forecast lake sectors, and defining the exact times for the different timeslots resulting from the HIGHWAY project for the marine forecast. This will inform methods to improve the marine operational forecasts for Lake Victoria, and to provide the basis for new standard operation procedures (SOP) for severe weather surveillance and warning.

Significance Statement

In this work we use new radar data over Lake Victoria, Africa, to study convective mode organization and its diurnal cycle over the lake. This work is of particular importance due to the numerous hazardous weather events and related accidents on the lake, including capsized boats, plane crashes, floods, and hailstorms on the shore settlements, that are responsible for a high annual fatality toll. Results of our analyses provide updated information for operational marine forecasts using relevant time segments and sectors of the lake to improve nowcasting operations in Lake Victoria.
Community Awareness and Restitution of Isanzu Ancestors’ Human Remains from the University of Göttingen Collections to Mkalama District, Tanzania
Authors: Chami Maximilian Felix , Simba Alma , Stoecker Holger
Published: October 2023

This paper investigates the restitution of Tanzanian human remains from colonial contexts in the Anthropological Collection at the University of Göttingen, Germany. This collection contains 66 human remains from Tanzania whereby 22 of them are from the Isanzu ethnic group. This paper focuses on the Isanzu human remains from Mkalama District in Singida Region and examines the circumstances of acquisition and their historical background. This interdisciplinary research combines methodological approaches from critical historical provenance research and cultural anthropology to study the Isanzu remains. We include investigation of the Isanzu ethnic group's awareness, emotions, opinions, and concerns over the restitution of their Ancestors’ remains back to the community. This paper proposes a plan for best practices in restitution and urges that wisdom, agreement, and negotiation results of Isanzu stakeholders should be taken into account to bring the restitution process of Isanzu's Ancestors to fruition.
A Pilot Study: Free Flap Atrophy in Tongue Reconstruction Using 3D Volumetric Analysis
Authors: Gewirtz Jordan I. , Zhao Songzhu , Brock Guy , Luttrull Michael D. , Sethuraman Shruthi , Kang Stephen Y. , VanKoevering Kyle K. , Seim Nolan B.
Published: October 2023

Objective:

To identify factors influencing volume change in non-osseous oral free flap reconstruction using postoperative cross-sectional imaging and 3-dimensional segmentation of the free flap’s muscular and adipose tissue content.

Methods:

Oral tongue free flap reconstruction cases (2014-2019) were reviewed with inclusion of patients with 3 postoperative, cross-sectional imaging studies with 1 within 6 months, 1 within 1 year, and 1 that spanned 2 years post-reconstruction. Exclusion criteria included recurrence, significant dental artifact, bony reconstruction, and flap failure. Demographics, risk factors, and surgical/clinical treatments were identified. Flap volumes were measured using Materialise MIMICS.

Results:

Twenty-two patients met strict inclusion criteria. Four flaps were anterolateral thighs and 18 radial forearms. Median percent volume loss greater than 2 years post-reconstruction was 53.2% overall, 58.1% for radial forearms, and 45.4% for ALTs (21.4% for adipose tissue and 57.4% for muscular tissue). Univariate analysis revealed glossectomy amount was associated with percent volume loss ( P = .0417). Each successive postoperative month, the flap decreased by 1.54% ( P < .0001). Checking for the interaction effect, the percent of flap loss across time was different for glossectomy amount ( P = .0093), obesity status ( P = .0431), and base of tongue involvement ( P = .0472).

Conclusion:

Glossectomy type, and thus flap size, is a positive predictor for flap atrophy. Obesity and base of tongue involvement are negative predictors for flap atrophy. The amount of tissue loss may differ from classical teachings with median atrophy 53.2% greater than 2 years post-reconstruction.
Application of Infrared and Near-Infrared Microspectroscopy to Microplastic Human Exposure Measurements
Authors: Wright Stephanie , Levermore Joseph , Ishikawa Yukari
Published: October 2023

Microplastic pollution is a global issue for the environment and human health. The potential for human exposure to microplastic through drinking water, dust, food, and air raises concern, since experimental in vitro and in vivo toxicology studies suggest there is a level of hazard associated with high microplastic concentrations. However, to infer the likelihood of hazards manifesting in the human population, a robust understanding of exposure concentrations is needed. Infrared and near-infrared microspectroscopies have routinely been used to analyze microplastic in different exposure matrices (air, dust, food, and water), with technological advances coupling multivariate and machine learning algorithms to spectral data. This focal point article will highlight the application of infrared and Raman modes of spectroscopy to detect, characterize, and quantify microplastic particles, with a focus on human exposure to microplastic. Methodologies and state-of-the-art approaches will be reported and potential confounding variables and challenges in microplastic analysis discussed. The article provides an up-to-date review of the literature on microplastic exposure measurement using (near) infrared spectroscopies as an analytical tool, highlighting the recent advances in this rapidly advancing field.
Austerity-driven policification: Neoliberalisation, schools and the police in Britain
Authors: Laub Malte Michael
Published: October 2023

This article argues that as a consequence of austerity, police in England and Wales have taken over important roles in welfare and social policy institutions. This renders those institutions more coercive, punitive and exclusionary, and normalises a police worldview in those institutions. This process of what I call austerity-driven policification can be observed specifically well in the increasing numbers of police officers integrated into schools most affected by austerity. Such ‘transinstitutional policing’ in Britain is triggered by contradictory post-global financial crisis austerity measures, but reliant upon a long, racialised history of authoritarian neoliberalisation. Cuts to public spending in the 2010s reduced state institutions’ capacities to provide for vulnerable people, who were further criminalised and whose rights to support and solidarity were further delegitimised by a radicalisation of the framing of welfare recipients as undeserving, social housing estates as drug-infested gang territories, and schools in deprived areas, and Black pupils in particular, as dangerous. Police, while subjected to austerity measures also, functioned as an institution of last resort, supplementing and replacing incapacitated state institutions, while also being presented as an appropriate institution to address problems increasingly understood to be of a criminal rather than educational nature. This article suggests that austerity-driven policification is an intensification of longer-term trends toward a larger role for police in the neoliberal era. It shows the racial and authoritarian nature of neoliberalisation, and its messy realisation.
“On the trail of the mercy bullet”: Pain, scientific showmanship, and the early history of animal tranquilizing, c. 1912–1932
Authors: Uys Mia
Published: October 2023

In June 1928, Captain Barnett W. Harris, an amateur naturalist from Indiana, arrived in Zululand to experiment on wild animals with his invention – the mercy bullet. This “bullet”consisted of a hypodermic needle filled with anesthetic drugs that could render an animal unconscious – an early model of what is now known as the tranquilizer gun. The history of this gun typically begins with Colin Murdoch, a New Zealand pharmacist and veterinarian, who patented the invention in 1959. While largely absent in the archives, through tracing popular science publications and press, this article exposes a longer history of animal tranquilizers from an unlikely source. Tracing Harris’s story allows this article to speak to different historical discourses that influenced his rise as a celebrated inventor, and later to his disappearance from the scientific arena. This article argues that debates about pain relief (for both humans and nonhuman animals) and developments in military technology at the turn of the twentieth century resulted in experiments with narcotic bullets, a precursor to this “mercy bullet moment.” While hailed across the press as the man who might transform animal capturing into a humane practice, the workings of Harris’s bullet remained ambiguous. Despite this, he promoted his invention through several lecture series and radio presentations to the American public in the 1930s, where elements of scientific showmanship can be observed. Overall, Harris’s omission from the history of animal tranquilizing demonstrates the multiple contingencies that define a moment of scientific “success” – or, in this case, push some into relative obscurity.
Prognostic Factors Affecting Hearing in Otitis Media With ANCA-Associated Vasculitis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Li Chen , Xie Mengyao , Wu Zhiyuan , Wang Shu , Han Zhijin , Tang Qi , Xue Ruoyan , Zhang Yongli , Yang Hua
Published: October 2023

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical studies describing the possible prognostic factors affecting hearing outcomes in Otitis media with antineutrophil cytoplasmic antibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (OMAAV) patients. To provide guidance for clinical work, avoiding profound irreversible hearing loss affecting patients’ lives. Methods: A literature search was performed in PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science to identify English articles published before December 1, 2022. After screening the articles, the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale (NOS) was used to assess the risk of bias of the extracted literature, and studies with high quality (score > 6) were included. Results: Four studies were included: 1 was a retrospective cohort study, and 3 were case–control studies. We performed a meta-analysis of 4 factors: facial palsy, hypertrophic pachymeningitis, ANCA-negative status, and the period from onset to diagnosis. The results showed that there was a significant association between facial palsy [odds ratio (OR) 1.51; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.07-2.15; I2 = 0%; P = .02], hypertrophic pachymeningitis (OR 1.73; 95% CI 1.18-2.53; I2 = 24%; P = .005), ANCA negativity (OR 1.75; 95% CI 1.11-2.77; I2 = 33; P = .02), and poor hearing prognosis in OMAAV patients. However, the period from onset to diagnosis (SEM ± SD 2.54; 95% CI −1.56 to 6.64; I2 = 98%; P = .22) of OMAAV was not significantly associated with poor hearing outcomes. Conclusion: We found that OMAAV patients with facial palsy, hypertrophic pachymeningitis, and ANCA negativity have a significant association with poor hearing prognosis, which provides diagnosis and treatment guidance in protecting patients’ hearing.
Synchronous online instrumental music teaching in cross-cultural learning contexts
Authors: Løkke Jakobsen Marianne , Hebert David G , Ørngreen Rikke
Published: October 2023

This scoping review addresses two questions: (1) How can previous research inform approaches to synchronous online instrumental music teaching for cross-cultural learning in the field of Western classical music? and (2) What does the corpus of existing studies suggest about Chinese student experiences with western instrumental pedagogy and synchronous online teaching? Based on a systematic examination of 100+ articles from refereed journals in English across the past two decades, the review reveals cultural differences in autonomy and student-centeredness in classical instrument pedagogy traditions. In China, new pragmatic concepts appear as Confucian-Dewey fusion approaches and a distinctive music pedagogy tradition influenced by Russian and Germanic traditions and Chinese philosophy. The review also found that synchronous online instrumental music teaching can be efficient despite technical issues and latency, and the format may enhance forms of dialogue between students and teachers. The review shows little research on intercultural aspects of synchronous online musical instrument teaching, particularly addressing interaction and communication between students and teachers. Moreover, there is a widespread need for competence development for effectively approaching the diversity of music teaching and learning cultures worldwide in the online learning environment.
Hepatic ultrastructural alterations induced by copper oxide nanoparticles: In vivo electron microscopy study
Authors: Jarrar Qais , Almansour Mansour , Jarrar Bashir , Al-Doaiss Amin , Shati Ali
Published: October 2023

Copper oxide nanomaterials (CuO NPs) have been widely utilized in many fields, including antibacterial materials, anti-tumor, osteoporosis treatments, imaging, drug delivery, cosmetics, lubricants for metallic coating, the food industry, and electronics. Little is known about the potential risk to human health and ecosystems. The present work was conducted to investigate the ultrastructural changes induced by 20 ± 5 nm CuO NPs in hepatic tissues. Adult healthy male Wister albino rats were exposed to 36 intraperitoneal (ip) injections of 25 nm CuO NPs (2 mg/kg bw). Liver biopsies from all rats under study were processed for transmission electron microscopy (TEM) processing and examination for hepatic ultrastructural alterations. The hepatic tissue of rats exposed to repeated administrations of CuO NPs exhibited the following ultrastructural alterations: extensive mitochondrial damage in the form of swelling, crystolysis and matrix lysis, formation of phagocytized bodies and myelin multilayer figures, lysosomal hyperplasia, cytoplasmic degeneration and vacuolation, fat globules precipitation, chromatin clumping, and nuclear envelope irregularity. The findings indicated that CuO NPs interact with the hepatic tissue components and could induce alterations in the hepatocytes with the mitochondria as the main target organelles of copper nanomaterials. More work is recommended for better understanding the pathogenesis of CuO NPs.
Compensation of friction and stick-slip uncertainties in trajectory tracking control of servo DC machines considering actuation constraints
Authors: Ebrahimi MM , Homaeinezhad MR
Published: October 2023

Nowadays, electric motors are common in many precision instrument industries that require high-precision control. If a suitable model of a servo system is available, accurate results can be obtained using a model-based control algorithm. The DC motor is one of the most widely used systems in precision industries, for which a high-precision controller can be designed using its mathematical model with feedback on position and velocity. In such systems and other rotating systems, it is necessary to consider friction in the control system design. Friction enters the system in the form of resistant force or torque in both static and kinetic states, which causes uncertainty in the dynamic modeling of the system, the stick-slip phenomenon, and creates a deadzone in the actuation system. In this article, considering a switching dynamic model for different states of a system subject to friction which has a saturation limit on the control input and an actuation system dependent on the angular velocity feedback, first, the stable reaching laws in two modes of position control and velocity control for different dynamic model switch modes are defined. Then, the control input that forces the tracking error to follow the corresponding reaching law for each control mode is calculated. In the next step, according to the limitations of the actuation system, such as saturation and deadzone, using the filtering mechanism and optimal search for each control mode, the desired values are filtered and it is guaranteed that the control input will be chosen within the allowed range. Finally, using the optimal switching mode selection mechanism, the optimal control mode is selected and the voltage is calculated as the next step input.
A “Gendered Analysis” into the Latent Cultural and Social Determinants of Undernutrition and Malnutrition: A Study in Purulia District of West Bengal
Authors: Bhattacharya Priyadarshini
Published: October 2023

While the issue of malnutrition, it is fully established, has a robust biomedical base, which calls forth action that intervenes at the nutritional (intake) level, experiences on field, backed by research underscore the structural determinants of malnutrition. Latent cultural and social forces which are less visible but nevertheless obdurate may also push people towards the condition of undernutrition, particularly intergenerational undernutrition, as these find expression in gendered food ideologies handed down effortlessly, in the ‘doing of family’ and kinship. These gendered food ideologies provide cultural sanction to existing dietary practices of young girls, pregnant women, lactating mothers and infants through preferences, prescriptions, proscriptions and food aversions, that may position women in a structurally disadvantageous location, with grave ramifications for them and their children. The period of pregnancy and lactation for the mother, and the first two years of the child’s life have been found to be a special nutritional challenge, with localized cultural perceptions often leading to inappropriate eating practices on account of biases and culturally entrenched belief systems. Food has social meanings and deep association with questions of identity such as caste, community, gender, age. Any nutritional intervention must therefore take into account not only local narratives built around food and the ‘substance,’ but the structural position and power dynamics of those who consume it.
Finances of Gram Panchayats in West Bengal: Disparities and Determinants
Authors: Chattopadhyay Seemantini
Published: October 2023

Acknowledging the importance of fiscal decentralisation, this paper evaluates the fiscal performances of all the Gram Panchayats (GPs) in Birbhum and North 24 Parganas of West Bengal and identifies the determinants of disparities in their fiscal performances. Our analysis reveals that smaller GPs generate greater own source revenues per person, receive higher grants per person and spend more per person. Several factors including demographic characteristics, socio-economic characteristics and geographical locations shape the needs and priorities of the GPs and, therefore, are important for explaining the variations in their fiscal performances. The regression results reveal that willingness to pay taxes is greater among literate people and also the incidence of expenditure is significantly higher for GPs with higher literacy rates. The proportion of agricultural labour and concentration of scheduled caste/scheduled tribes population in the GPs show a negative impact on the collection of own source revenue and also on per capita expenditure but a positive impact on the grants and transfers received from higher levels of governments.
The Bone Cement Hypercoagulation Syndrome: Pathophysiology, Mortality, and Prevention
Authors: Dahl Ola E. , Pripp Are Hugo , Jaradeh Mark , Fareed Jawed
Published: October 2023

Since Charnley introduced acrylic cement to seal metallic hip prostheses in the 1950s, reports of perioperative fatal cardiorespiratory and vascular dysfunctions have been published. Studies on humans and animals have shown neurogenic stimulation and substantial local and systemic activation of coagulation are caused by surgical bone marrow damage and chemical cell destruction by toxic monomeric methyl methacrylate from the implanted cement and other tissue-released substances. Venous blood-borne cell fragments and conjugates of activated cells from the surgical site are sequestered and trapped in the pulmonary microcirculation. A substantial hypercoagulation occurs in the lung circulation. Hypercoagulable blood is passed over to the arterial side and may cause vessel obliteration and organ damage. This process may affect the brain, heart, and kidneys and, through the release of vasoactive substances, introduce hemodynamic imbalances that can lead to fatal outcomes in susceptible populations such as elderly patients with hip fractures. The main underlying pathophysiologic processes leading to these occasionally devastating outcomes are a substantial activation of coagulation and cell destruction caused by the toxic substance released by curing bone cement and several vasoactive substances.
Effective properties of multi-laminated micropolar composites with Fibonacci and random structures
Authors: Espinosa-Almeyda Yoanh , Guinovart-Sanjuán David , Rodríguez-Ramos Reinaldo , Camacho-Montes Héctor , Rodríguez-Bermúdez Panters
Published: October 2023

In this work, the two-scale asymptotic homogenization method (AHM) is developed to describe the effective behavior of multi-laminated elastic micropolar composites with Fibonacci and random structure under perfect contact conditions at the interfaces. The local problem statements over the periodic cell [Formula: see text] are presented, and the corresponding effective stiffness and torque properties are reported. The transversal cross-section of the periodic cell [Formula: see text] is characterized by a laminated structure where the pattern for the layers follows two distinct configurations: (a) a Fibonacci arrangement, and (b) a random sequence focused on the probabilistic binomial function. The non-null effective properties of multi-laminated Cosserat elastic composites with isotropic centro-symmetric constituents are listed. Numerical results for multi-laminated elastic micropolar composites with both types of structures and centro-symmetric isotropic constituents are illustrated and discussed. The overall effective behavior for both cases converges to specific effective values of periodic structures as the number of layers increases.
Demographics, clinical findings and diagnoses of cranial thoracic myelopathies (T1–T6 vertebrae) in cats
Authors: Benito Benito Miguel , Lopes Bruno A , José-López Roberto , Ives Edward J , Gutierrez-Quintana Rodrigo , Freeman Paul , Sánchez-Masián Daniel
Published: October 2023

Objectives

The aim of the study was to describe the patient demographics, clinicopathological features and presumptive or final diagnoses in cats with myelopathies between the T1 and T6 vertebrae.

Methods

This retrospective multicentre case study enrolled cases between 2015 and 2022 that were diagnosed with myelopathies between the T1 and T6 vertebrae as the primary cause for the presenting clinical signs.

Results

A total of 21 cases matched the inclusion criteria, 13 males (11 castrated and 2 entire) and 8 spayed females (median age 93 months; range 5–192). Most of the cases presented with a chronic and progressive history (76% and 86%, respectively), with a median duration of 29 days (range 1–2880). At the time of presentation, 90% of the cases were localised to the T3–L3 spinal cord segments based on neurological examination. The most common underlying pathology was neoplasia (42.9%), followed by inflammatory (24%), anomalous (19%), degenerative (9.5%) and vascular (4.8%) disorders. The most common location was T3–T4 (29%), followed by T2–T3 and T5–T6 (19% each). The cutaneous trunci reflex was normal in 86% of the cases and most of the cases (71%) did not show spinal discomfort upon admission.

Conclusions and relevance

Neoplasia was the most common cause of cranial thoracic myelopathy in this study. The lack of pathognomonic clinical signs for this specific region highlights the importance of assessing the entire thoracolumbar region up to and including at least the T1 vertebra when investigating cases with signs consistent with a T3–L3 myelopathy.
A human rights approach to climate litigation before the ECOWAS court
Authors: Adigun Muyiwa
Published: October 2023

Climate change can be litigated through tort, common law, statute/policy, public trust doctrine or human rights among others. While climate change litigation appears to have developed in states of the Global North, its use is still relatively recent in states of the Global South. Nor has it been seriously considered from the perspective of international tribunals from the Global South. Therefore, this study examines a human rights approach to climate change litigation in the Economic Community of West African States Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court). This study finds that there are some developments in certain jurisdictions which make a human rights approach promising in terms of locus standi, justiciability, causation and separation of powers and that they can be related to the jurisprudence of the ECOWAS Court. It also finds that the doctrine of exhaustion of local remedies does not apply to the ECOWAS Court. Based on these findings, it is argued that a human rights approach can be successfully deployed to litigate climate change before the ECOWAS Court and that it can wake up West African States from their lethargy in terms of policy on, and treatment of, climate issues. The study concludes that individuals and NGOs may adopt a human rights approach before the ECOWAS Court to influence policy change and/or state behaviour in West African States.
Are we all influencers now? Feminist activists discuss the distinction between being an activist and an influencer
Authors: Scharff Christina
Published: October 2023

Drawing on thirty qualitative in-depth interviews with a diverse group of feminist activists who are mainly active online, this article analyses how research participants construct and portray ‘activists’ and ‘influencers’. One theme that emerged from the data is the commercial orientation of influencers, the monetisation of their activities online and how this differs from activist pursuits. Activism, by contrast, was constructed as focused on making social change, and not driven by commercial interests. This article argues that the research participants’ discussion of the differences between ‘influencer’ and ‘activist’, and the attribution of monetisation to influencers, underplays the ways in which market logics help to structure contemporary forms of activism that take place in the digital economy. Second, the article places the investment in forms of activism that are uncompromised by commercial pursuits in the wider context of feminised and exclusionary cultures of perfection. Lastly, the article reflects on common constructions of influencing as a feminised as well as trivial pursuit and cautions against accounts that uncritically present influencing as trivial in contrast to activism, which is considered more serious.
Children’s voices: Inclusive early childhood placemaking with children
Authors: Watson Karen , Newman Linda
Published: October 2023

Young children in many parts of the world are spending more time in formal education and care settings. As children have the right to be heard on matters that affect them, their views about the early childhood environments they inhabit, need to be included in the process of placemaking. Early childhood environments have the potential to shape a child’s identity, sense of belonging and inclusion. This research sought children’s ideas about their early childhood setting, with the view to informing the design of a new inclusive centre. Researching with children aged three-to-five, from a low socio-economic ethnically diverse suburb, multi-modal data were generated in three phases: child-led photo-taking tours; photo elicited interviews; and interview elicited drawing. Findings showed a preference for the outdoors, along with places for hiding, safety, cleanliness and authentic rather than ‘fake’ resources.
Sensory modulation interventions for adults with mental illness: A scoping review
Authors: Kandlur Nayantara R , Fernandes Ashmica Claire , Gerard Suzanna Rupal , Rajiv Shruthi , Quadros Shalini
Published: October 2023

Introduction

Sensory Modulation Interventions (SMI) assist people with mental illnesses to regulate emotional and physiological arousal. We aimed to conduct a scoping review to identify the study designs, geographical distribution, modality/regimen, barriers and facilitators in using SMI for individuals with mental illnesses.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted using Arksey and O'Malley’s framework with studies published on SMI from January 2010 to November 2020.

Results

17 articles were found to be relevant. One was a case-control study, qualitative ( N = 3), mixed-method ( N = 3), and case studies ( N = 3), and the rest were pilot interventional studies ( N = 8). The duration of sessions ranged from 2 to 30 minutes for 2 days to 3 years. The facilitators in using SMI were of being cost-effective and easily adaptable. Barriers were in terms of maintenance of sensory items. Sensory modulation based items related to proprioception, vestibular and tactile were the frequently used in the SMI based interventions used in the included studies.

Conclusions

SMI as an occupational therapy intervention for individuals with mental illnesses is evolving and more robust studies in the future are recommended.
Teachers’ professional space for decision-making when planning: The cases of Finland, Norway, and the United States
Authors: Afdal Hilde Wagsas , Maaranen Katriina
Published: October 2023

This article explores how teachers in Finland, Norway, and the United States reflect on their professional space for decision-making when planning. Various planning activities are at the core of teaching practice, and contextual factors are also at play. Teachers’ reflections on decision-making when planning might therefore be expected to vary. Hence, this study explores in what ways the opportunities to make decisions for planning may vary across the three country contexts. Using “professional space” as an analytical lens, the analysis shows, firstly, that teachers’ opportunities to make decisions about planning take place in a multidimensional space between professional autonomy and external control. Secondly, teachers’ opportunities to make decisions about planning are contextually situated in time and space.
Duration of dual-antiplatelet therapy after stent-assisted coil for unruptured intracranial aneurysm: A nationwide cohort study
Authors: Baik Minyoul , Jeon Jimin , Heo Seok-jae , Yoo Joonsang , Kim Jinkwon
Published: October 2023

Background:

Stent-assisted coil (SAC) is increasingly used to treat unruptured intracranial aneurysm (UIA). However, the optimal duration of dual-antiplatelet therapy (DAPT) after SAC insertion remains unknown.

Aim:

To assess the time-dependent effect of DAPT on the risk of ischemic and hemorrhagic complications after SAC.

Methods:

This is a retrospective cohort study among patients with UIA treated with SAC using the nationwide health claims database in South Korea between 2009 and 2020. Multivariate Cox regression analysis was used, which included the use of DAPT as a time-dependent variable. The effect of DAPT was investigated for each period of “within 90 days,” “91 to 180 days,” “181 to 365 days,” and “366 to 730 days” after SAC. The primary outcome was a composite of ischemic stroke and major bleeding in each period within two years after SAC.

Results:

Of the 15,918 patients, mean age at SAC was 57.6 ± 10.8 years, and 3815 (24.0%) were men. The proportion of patients on DAPT was 79.4% at 90 days, 58.3% at 180 days, and 28.9% at 1 year after SAC. During the 2 years after SAC, the primary composite outcome occurred in 356 patients (2.2%). DAPT significantly reduced the primary composite outcome within 90 days after SAC (adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 0.44; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.28–0.69; p < 0.001); however, this was not the case after 90 days (all p > 0.05). DAPT reduced ischemic stroke risk within 90 days (aHR, 0.31; 95% CI 0.18–0.54; p < 0.001), and 91 to 180 days after SAC (aHR 0.40; 95% CI 0.18–0.88; p = 0.022); however, after 180 days, DAPT was no longer beneficial.

Conclusions:

In patients with UIA treated with SAC, 3 months of DAPT was associated with a decreased risk of the composite of ischemic and hemorrhagic complications.
Pretrained back propagation based adaptive resonance theory network for adaptive learning
Authors: Zhang Caixia , Jiang Cong , Xu Qingyang
Published: October 2023

The deep convolutional neural network performs well in current computer vision tasks. However, most of these models are trained on an aforehand complete dataset. New application scenario data sets should be added to the original training data set for model retraining when application scenarios change significantly. When the scenario changes only slightly, the transfer learning can be used for network training by a small data set of new scenarios to adapt it to the new scenario. In actual application, we hope that our model has bio-like intelligence and can adaptively learn new knowledge. This paper proposes a pretrained adaptive resonance network (PAN) based on the CNN and an intra-node back propagation ART network, which can adaptively learn new knowledge using prior information. The PAN network explores the difference between the new data and the stored information and learns this difference to realize the adaptive growth of the network. The model is testified on the MNIST and Omniglot data set, which show the effectiveness of PAN in adaptive incremental learning and its competitive classification accuracy.
A tourist, not a god: Mike Davis, radical geographer
Authors: Nevins Joseph
Published: October 2023

Mike Davis (1946–2022) was a leftist intellectual and activist, in addition to a prolific author on myriad subjects. His major writings focused on topics that included power relations and inequality in US cities, particularly in Southern California: the history of the car bomb; the ties between climate change, empire, and famine in the late 19th and early 20th centuries; the explosive growth of shantytowns in the global South; and the political ecology of global pandemics. Trained as a historian, Davis, in many of his works, heavily engaged geographical scholarship, both human and biophysical. While he is perhaps best known for his outsized contributions to urban geography, he also had a major impact on radical geography. Herein, I explore Davis's contributions to three areas of concern to radical geographers: cultural geography, political ecology, and borders and territoriality. In doing so, I focus primarily on four of his books: City of Quartz, Ecology of Fear, Late Victorian Holocausts, and The Monster Enters. In the end, I consider Davis's ethics and implicit critique of modernity, as well as his geographies of justice and hope.
Congenital hyperreninemic hypoaldosteronism: A case report
Authors: Yupanqui Maria Elvira , Schrader-Florez Camila , López-Ramírez Sofía , Valenzuela-Vallejo Laura , Perez-Barreto Andrés , Céspedes Salazar Camila , Forero Ronderos Catalina , Durán Ventura Paola
Published: October 2023

Congenital hypoaldosteronism is a rare autosomal recessive or dominant endocrinopathy with variable penetrance, secondary to primary defects in aldosterone synthesis that could lead to hypovolemia, hyponatremia, hyperkalemia, failure to thrive, microcephaly, seizures, neurodevelopmental delay, or hearing loss. We present the case of a Colombian patient with congenital hypoaldosteronism, who owns two variants in the CPY11B2 gene, and a heterozygous pathogenic variant for nonclassical congenital adrenal hyperplasia. However, the patient missed follow-up and treatment for 6 years. At the age of 7 years, he resumed medical follow-up with laboratory findings of hyperreninemia and hypoaldosteronism, as well as clinical findings of strabismus, left mixed hyperacusis, and pathological short stature (−4.3 SD). Therefore, a trial of fludrocortisone therapy was started with subsequent improvement in renin levels, weight gain, and growth velocity. After 10 months of the start of the medication, he presented hypertension. There is no literature about the late treatment of this condition for pathological short stature.
Routine health information system utilization and associated factors among health professionals in public health facilities in Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia: A cross-sectional study
Authors: Mekuria Samuel , Adem Hassen Abdi , Ayele Behailu Hawulte , Musa Ibsa , Enyew Daniel Berhanie
Published: October 2023

Background

Using reliable evidence from routine health information system (RHIS) over time is a vital aid to improve health outcome, tackling disparities, enhancing efficiency, and encouraging innovation. In Ethiopia, utilization of routine health data for improving the performance and quality of care was not well-studied in grassroot health facilities.

Objective

This study was conducted to determine the level of RHIS utilization and associated factors among health professionals in public health facilities of Dire Dawa, eastern Ethiopia.

Methods

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 378 health professionals from June 10 to July 20, 2020. Self-administered pretested-structured questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants. Data were entered using EpiData 3.1 and analyzed using Stata 16.0. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the basic characteristics of the participants, and multivariable logistic regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with RHIS utilization. Adjusted odds ratio (AOR) (95% CI) was used to report association and significance declared at a P-value <0.05.

Results

Good RHIS utilization among health professionals was 57.7% (95% CI: 52.6%, 62.6%). Good organizational support (AOR = 3.91, 95% CI: 2.01, 7.61), low perceived complexity of RHIS formats (AOR = 2.20, 95% CI: 1.23, 3.97), good self-efficacy (AOR = 2.52, 95% CI: 1.25, 5.10), and good decision-making autonomy (AOR = 3.97, 95% CI: 2.12, 7.43) were important factors associated with good RHIS utilization.

Conclusions

The level of good RHIS utilization among health professionals was low. Lack of self-confidence and empowerment, complexity of RHIS formats, and poor organizational support were significantly reducing RHIS utilization. Therefore, improving self-efficacy and decision-making capacity of health professionals through comprehensive training, empowerment, and organizational support would be essential.
Cut-off value of the eHEALS score as a measure of eHealth skills among rural residents in Gansu, China
Authors: Zhu Yang , Wang Xiaohui , You Xinyi , Zhao Hongmei , Guo Yawei , Cao Wangnan , Xin Meiqi , Li Jinghua
Published: October 2023

Background

In this study, our aim was to quantify eHealth literacy and determine a cut-off value for eHEALS scores that signifies adequate eHealth literacy among rural residents in Gansu, China.

Methods

This cross-sectional investigation encompassed 18 rural areas across three cities—Lanzhou, Wuwei, and Dingxi—in Gansu. A total of 451 residents were recruited and underwent evaluations for both eHealth literacy and eHealth skills, utilizing the eHEALS and self-constructed tasks, respectively. A receiving operator characteristic curve was plotted with eHealth skills as the dependent variable and eHealth literacy levels as the independent variable, aiming to determine a cut-off value for eHEALS indicating adequate eHealth literacy and evaluate its predictive capacity.

Results

Among the 451 respondents, 10.9% did not possess a personal electronic device with Internet access, while 6.4% owned but had never used them. Within the remaining 373 residents, the mean eHealth literacy score was 25.85 (SD:10.93), item scores ranged from 3.12 (SD:1.45) to 3.42 (SD:1.60). Completion rates for three eHealth skills varied from 39.1% to 59.8%. The cut-off value was 29.5 determined by the Youden index. The area under the receiver operating curve was 0.829, with a sensitivity of 86.7%, and a specificity of 66.8%.

Conclusions

Our findings emphasized that eHealth literacy among rural residents remains at a low level. Moreover, we identified a cut-off value of 29.5 for eHEALS scores that signifies adequate eHealth literacy within this demographic.
Patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of direct-to-consumer teledermatology for finasteride treatment in male androgenetic alopecia: A cross-sectional study
Authors: von Büren Johannes , Hansen Inga , Kött Julian , Schröder Florian , Veneroso Juliana , Schneider Stefan W. , Abeck Finn
Published: October 2023

Objective

The use of direct-to-consumer (DTC) teledermatology platforms has increased, particularly for androgenetic alopecia (AGA). However, little is known about the efficacy and safety of these platforms. This study aimed to investigate the patient-reported treatment outcomes and safety of DTC teledermatology for the finasteride treatment of male AGA.

Methods

This retrospective, cross-sectional study used data from a German DTC platform for finasteride treatment between December 2021 and January 2023. Patient-reported outcomes were collected through voluntary follow-up questionnaires provided to the patients six weeks after the first prescription to assess treatment outcomes and safety.

Results

Data collection included 2269 patients. Of all patients who answered the follow-up questionnaire ( n = 191), 79% (150 out of 191) self-reported positive changes in hair appearance, and 59% (113 out of 191) reported an improvement in self-esteem under treatment. Patients with self-reported positive changes in hair appearance were more likely to report improved self-esteem ( P < 0.0001). Treatment-related adverse events occurred in 12% (22 out of 191) of the patients. Full treatment adherence was reported in 87% (167 out of 191) of patients.

Conclusion

From the patient's perspective, DTC teledermatology has the potential to improve hair appearance and self-esteem. Our results suggest that it may be an effective and safe treatment option for men with AGA, justifying low-threshold access. However, treatment-related adverse events should be closely monitored during follow-up. Further studies are required to evaluate the long-term effects of the DTC teledermatology treatment. By collecting real-world data, teledermatology platforms could be useful beyond their primary focus and could play an important role in the context of future research.
Metaphor, Materialism, Metropolis
Authors: Wyly Elvin , Wilson David
Published: October 2023

Cities are physical, material concentrations of people and structures, but they are also ongoing conversations of intergenerational negotiation, communication, competition, conflict, and cooperation. Recently, Emma Colven, Renee Tapp, Delik Hudalah, Dallas Rogers, and Christopher Silver have offered valuable critical contributions to this dialogue in urban research, evaluating the utility and limitations of a new metaphor, Dracula Urbanism, for understanding the inequalities of today's transnational real-estate growth machines. In this essay, we pursue an extended meditation inspired by some of the most valuable insights offered by Colven, Tapp, Hudalah, Rogers, and Silver. Dracula Urbanism is a fascinating yet fearful story of technologically accelerated reproduction of inequality and urban competition. Uneven yet insistently transnationalizing real estate states rely on, and reproduce, recombinant legitimations of diaspora and nativism, capital and consciousness, property and personhood, ancestry and amortization.
A positive association of serum CCN5/WISP2 levels with the risk of developing gestational diabetes mellitus: a case–control study
Authors: Hamdan Alshganbee Mohammed Farhan , Nabatchian Fariba , Farrokhi Vida , Fadaei Reza , Moradi Nariman , Afrisham Reza
Published: October 2023

Introduction

CCN5/WISP2 is prominently manifest in adipose tissue and has been linked to the pathogenesis of obesity, diabetes, and insulin resistance. However, discrepancies exist in previous studies, and little is known about its association with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). The current investigation is designed to examine the correlation of WISP2 with risk factors in GDM patients in comparison to healthy pregnant women for the first time.

Methods

This case–control study measured serum levels of CCN5, TNF-α, IL-6, adiponectin, and fasting insulin using ELISA kits in 88 GDM patients and 88 pregnant women.

Results

The GDM group had remarkably higher serum levels of CCN5 (379.41 ± 83.078 ng/ml) compared to controls (212.02 ± 77.935 ng/ml). In a similar vein, it was observed that patients diagnosed with GDM exhibited elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-6 and TNF-α; while conversely, adiponectin levels were found to be significantly lower than those observed in the control group (P < 0.0001). In women with GDM, a positive and significant correlation was observed between CCN5 and BMI, FBG, insulin, HOMA-IR, as well as IL-6 and TNF-α levels. In the adjusted model, the risk of GDM was significantly increased with elevated serum CCN5 level.

Conclusion

Our research indicates a noteworthy and affirmative correlation between the levels of CCN5 in the serum and the risk of developing GDM, along with its associated risk factors such as BMI, insulin resistance index, FBG, and inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α and IL-6). These findings suggest that CCN5 could potentially play a role in the etiology of GDM.