bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The quality of systematic reviews/meta‐analyses assessing the effects of ankle–foot orthosis on clinical outcomes in stroke patients: A methodological systematic review
Authors: Shahabi Saeed , Mojgani Parviz , Lankarani Kamran Bagheri , Jalali Maryam
Published: March 2023

Background and Aims

Given the importance of systematic reviews (SRs) for practitioners, researchers, and policymakers, it is essential to assess them to ensure robust methodology and reliable results before applying them. The purpose of this methodological study was to assess the methodological and reporting quality of recently published SRs and/or meta‐analyses (MAs) evaluating the effects of ankle–foot orthoses (AFOs) on clinical outcomes in stroke survivors.

Methods

PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, ProQuest, CENTRAL, REHABDATA, and PEDro were searched. The research team applied A Measurement Tool to Assess Systematic Reviews 2 (AMSTAR‐2) tool and Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses (PRISMA) checklist for evaluating the reporting and methodological quality, respectively, and the ROBIS tool was used to evaluate the risk of bias (RoB) in the included reviews. The quality of the evidence was also judged using the (Grades of Recommendation, Assessment, Development and Evaluation) GRADE method.

Results

In final, 14 SRs/MAs met inclusion criteria. Evaluation of methodological quality using the AMSTAR‐2 tool demonstrated that the overall quality of included reviews was mostly “critically low” or “low,” except for two studies that were “high.” In addition, the findings showed that the mean score of the reporting quality of the included reviews based on the PRISMA criteria was 24.9, down from 42. In accordance with the overall evaluation applying the ROBIS tool, 14.3% of the review studies were evaluated as high RoB, 64.3% were evaluated as unclear RoB, and 21.4% were evaluated as low RoB. Regarding the level of evidence quality, the GRADE results indicated that the evidence quality of the included reviews was unsatisfactory.

Conclusion

This study showed that although the reporting quality of recently published SR/MAs evaluating the clinical effects of AFOs in stroke survivors was moderate, the methodological quality of almost all reviews was suboptimal. Therefore, reviewers must consider a number of criteria in designing, conducting, and reporting their studies to move toward transparent and conclusive results.
Medication therapy problems assessment within medication history objective structured clinical examinations using standardized patients versus peer actors
Authors: Boylan Paul M. , Skrepnek Grant H. , Neely Stephen
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Standardized patients (SPs) are actors who role‐play patients in objective structured clinical examinations (OSCEs). Potential benefits of using SPs may include standardized learning experiences and realistic emulations. Use of SPs on academic performance remains unreported.

Objective

To compare students' identification of medication therapy problems (MTPs) in medication history OSCEs utilizing SPs versus those utilizing student peer actors.

Methods

This single‐center historical cohort study included two cohorts of third‐year student pharmacists in a capstone course in spring 2019 and 2021. One cohort had peers acting as patients and another interacted with SPs. Students completed two OSCEs and were assessed by faculty using a performance‐based rubric. Outcomes included students' identification of MTPs defined per Pharmacy Quality Alliance Frameworks, OSCE performance, levels of MTP management, and questionnaire item responses.

Results

One‐hundred forty‐three subjects were enrolled: 86 in the peer and 57 in the SP cohorts. Baseline characteristics between cohorts were similar across age, overall grade point average, and composite Pharmacy College Admission Test score. Fewer students in the SP cohort identified MTPs versus the peer actor cohort on both OSCEs (52.6% vs. 89.7%, p < 0.001, and 64.9% vs. 88.2%, p = 0.001), and OSCE grades were significantly lower in the SP cohort (76.0% vs. 81.5%, p = 0.01, and 76.5% vs. 89.0%, p < 0.001). Medication therapy problem management was significantly different between the cohorts across both OSCEs (p < 0.05). Students responded to questionnaire items by agreeing SPs were effective and improved the OSCEs.

Conclusion

Use of SPs in medication history OSCEs was associated with significant decreases in students' identification of MTPs and lower OSCE grades. Continued research is warranted to assess factors associated with differences in performance and to provide recommendations optimizing SP and peer actor roles.
MicroRNA‐143‐3p ameliorates collagen‐induced arthritis by polarizing naive CD4+T cells into Treg cells
Authors: Shen Mei‐Yu , Jiang Bao‐Ping , Zhang Ming‐Fei , Wang Xiang , Zhu Hong , Gu Zhen‐Ning , Zhou Xue‐Ping , Lu Yan , Zhou Ling‐Ling
Published: March 2023

Background

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a persistent and systemic autoimmunity disease. The abnormal differentiation of Treg cells is important in pathogenesis. Despite previous studies showed that microRNAs (miRNAs, miR) are pivotal modulators of Treg cells, the effect of miRNAs on Treg cell differentiation and function is not clear. Our study wants to reveal the relationship of miR‐143‐3p with the differentiative ability and biofunction of Treg cells during the development of RA.

Methods

The Expressing level of miR‐143‐3p and cell factor generation in peripheral blood (PB) of RA sufferers were identified by ELISA or RT‐qPCR. The roles of miR‐143‐3p in Treg cell differentiation were studied via ShRNA/lentivirus transfection. Male DBA/1 J mice were separated into control, model, control mimics, and miR‐143‐3p mimics groups to analyze the anti‐arthritis efficacy, the differentiative ability of Treg cells, and the expression level of miR‐143‐3p.

Results

Our team discovered that the Expressing level of miR‐143‐3p was related to RA disease activities in a negative manner, and remarkably related to antiinflammation cell factor IL‐10. In vitro, the expression of miR‐143‐3p in the CD4+T cells upregulated the percentage of CD4+CD25+Fxop3+ cells (Tregs) and forkhead box protein 3 (Foxp3) mRNA expression. Evidently, miR‐143‐3p mimic intervention considerably upregulated the content of Treg cells in vivo, validly avoided CIA progression, and remarkably suppressed the inflammatory events of joints in mice.

Conclusion

Our findings indicated that miR‐143‐3p could ameliorate CIA through polarizing naive CD4+T cells into Treg cells, which may be a novel strategy to treat autoimmune diseases such as RA.
Inhibition of iron chelate degradation in liquid redox desulfurization by nanoscale MnO2 through H2O2 decomposition
Authors: Wang Jianhong , Jing Yuhe
Published: March 2023

BACKGROUND

Significant operating costs incurred in the liquid‐phase oxidation process using iron chelate catalytic solution (e.g. LO‐CAT) due to degradation and eventual loss of the iron chelate is a serious deficiency. Hydroxyl radicals formed in the Fenton reaction of ferrous chelate with H2O2, generated during the regeneration of the ferrous chelate with air, are responsible for iron chelate degradation. Although iron chelate degradation may be slowed down or inhibited by the catalytic decomposition of H2O2 into O2 and H2O, what is not yet clear is the impact of H2O2 decomposition by MnO2 on iron chelate degradation. In this work, the effects of H2O2 concentration, MnO2 concentration, oxygen as well as the initial pH value on iron chelate degradation in alkaline Fenton system of Fe2+‐EDTA/H2O2 (where EDTA is ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) were studied.

RESULTS

Results showed that the percentage degradation of Fe‐EDTA increased with H2O2 concentration and decreased with H2O2 decomposition. In contrast to commercial MnO2, nanoscale MnO2 had much excellent catalytic activity on the decomposition of H2O2; thus 60 mmol L−1 nanoscale MnO2 inhibited Fe‐EDTA degradation by up to 82%. Furthermore, the inhibition in Fe‐EDTA degradation by H2O2 decomposition on nanoscale MnO2 was independent of pH from 6.0 to 8.5, and was related to oxygen concentration.

CONCLUSION

Nanoscale MnO2 can effectively inhibit the iron chelate degradation in LO‐CAT, and the significant operational costs associated with iron chelate degradation will be reduced by H2O2 decomposition on recyclable nanoscale MnO2 catalysts. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry (SCI).
Associations among psychosis, mood, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress symptoms: A network analysis
Authors: Astill Wright Laurence , McElroy Eoin , Barawi Kali , Roberts Neil P , Simon Natalie , Zammit Stanley , Bisson Jonathan I
Published: March 2023

The associations among psychotic experiences (i.e., hallucinations and delusions), trauma exposure, and posttraumatic stress symptoms are complex and multidirectional. Using network analysis to understand how psychotic experiences and symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) relate to one another may identify new interventional targets to treat comorbidity and its underlying pathological processes. This study aimed to use network analysis to examine the associations among psychotic experiences; negative symptoms of psychosis; and symptoms of PTSD, anxiety, and depression. In this population‐based cohort study, 4,472 participants (36.7% male) were assessed for psychotic experiences, negative symptoms of psychosis, PTSD, anxiety, and depression at age 23 (M= 23.86 years,SD= 0.520) or 24 years (M= 24.03,SD= 0.848). Associations among symptoms were assessed via network analysis. Exploratory graph analysis identified three clusters of densely connected symptoms within the overall network: psychotic experiences; PTSD symptoms; and depressive and anxiety symptoms and negative symptoms of psychosis. Psychotic experiences had the strongest associations with other symptoms in the network, and symptoms of anxiety played a key role in bridging psychotic experiences, symptoms of PTSD, and depressive symptoms. Consistent with the stress reactivity and affective models for psychotic experiences, the results suggest that symptoms of anxiety and emotional distress (e.g., hyperarousal, panic) may have a key role in the development and maintenance of psychotic experiences and symptoms of PTSD. Targeting these symptoms may ameliorate symptom burden transdiagnostically.
Averaging principle for stochastic quasi‐geostrophic flow equation with a fast oscillation
Authors: Chen Guanggan , Wang Pin
Published: March 2023

This work is focused on the quasi‐geostrophic flow equation with a fast oscillation governed by a stochastic reaction–diffusion equation. It derives the well‐posedness of the slow–fast system, in which the fast component is ergodic and the slow component is tight. Applying the averaging principle, it is further proved that there exists a limit process, with respect to the singular perturbing parameter ε, where the fast component is averaged out. Moreover, the slow component of the slow–fast system converges to the solution of the averaged equation in some strong sense as ε tends to zero.
H∞‐optimal observer design for systems with multiple delays in states, inputs and outputs: A PIE approach
Authors: Wu Shuangshuang , Peet Matthew M. , Sun Fuchun , Hua Changchun
Published: March 2023

This article investigates the ‐optimal estimation problem of a class of linear system with delays in states, disturbance input, and outputs. The estimator uses an extended Luenberger estimator format which estimates both the present and history states. The estimator is designed using an equivalent Partial Integral Equation (PIE) representation of the coupled nominal system. The advantage of the resulting PIE representation is compact and delay free—obviating the need for commonly used bounding technique such as integral inequalities which typically introduces conservatism into the resulting optimization problem. The ‐optimal estimator synthesis problem is then reformulated as a Linear Partial Inequality (LPI)—a form of convex optimization using operator variables and inequlities. Such LPI‐based optimization problems can be solved using semidefinite programming via the PIETOOLS toolbox in Matlab. Compared with previous work, the proposed method simplifies the analysis and computation process and resulting in observers which are non‐conservtism to 4 decimal places when compared with Pad‐based ODE observer design methodologies. Numerical examples and simulation results are given to illustrate the effectiveness and scalability of the proposed approach.
The Passport as a Medium of Movement
Authors: Lehmuskallio Asko , Haara Paula
Published: March 2023

Passports are integral for bodies to move across borders and enable decisions on who is allowed to pass through ports and who has to stay within specific jurisdictional areas. In the nineteenth century, passport documents were still mainly letters of reference, indicating the importance of the issuer. Only later, and increasingly since the First World War, they also became a means of identification. Today, identification in electronic form is key for passport development, which is why centralised and widely standardised registers such as the Finnish Population Information System have become obligatory points of passage for passport development. In this paper, based on empirical research in Finnish archives, museums and among passport developers, we identify four regimes within the history of Finnish passports that all rely on distinct modes of cooperation among applicants, issuers, registers and border officials. While in the nineteenth century passport holders had significant agency in negotiating who they were at border crossings, slowly but surely the ability for a physical body to speak for itself has diminished. Instead, over time, centralised registers were built, which need to be continually updated before any changes in passport documentation can be made. Today, the body is read and deciphered, increasingly with automated means, and the results need to match the information found in electronic form. The passport, as a medium of movement, is only temporarily stabilized for a limited period of time. It is continually modified and developed as the infrastructures for supporting and inhibiting human movement change. Different passport regimes are therefore tied to different modes of cooperation, and only their description allows us to gain an understanding of passports as a medium of movement.
High energy resummed predictions for the production of a Higgs boson with at least one jet
Authors: Andersen Jeppe R. , Hassan Hitham , Maier Andreas , Paltrinieri Jérémy , Papaefstathiou Andreas , Smillie Jennifer M.
Published: March 2023

Abstract

We present all-order predictions for Higgs boson production plus at least one jet which are accurate to leading logarithm in $$ \hat{s}/{\left|{p}_{\perp}\right|}^2 $$

s
̂

/

p
⊥

2

. Our calculation includes full top and bottom quark mass dependence at all orders in the logarithmic part, and to highest available order in the tree-level matching. The calculation is implemented in the framework of High Energy Jets (HEJ). This is the first cross section calculated with log($$ \hat{s} $$

s
̂

) resummation and matched to fixed order for a process requiring just one jet, and our results also extend the region of resummation for processes with two jets or more. This is possible because the resummation is performed explicitly in phase space. We compare the results of our new calculation to LHC data and to next-to-leading order predictions and find a numerically significant impact of the logarithmic corrections in the shape of key distributions, which remains after normalisation of the cross section.
Sustainable groundwater development in the coastal Tra Vinh province in Vietnam under saltwater intrusion and climate change
Authors: Van Tuc Dang , Zhou Yangxiao , Stigter Tibor Y. , Van Tuan Pham , Hong Hai Dao , Uyen Thanh Dong , Tran Vuong Bui
Published: March 2023

Three-dimensional transient groundwater flow and saltwater transport models were constructed to assess the impacts of groundwater abstraction and climate change on the coastal aquifer of Tra Vinh province (Vietnam). The groundwater flow model was calibrated with groundwater levels (2007–2016) measured in 13 observation wells. The saltwater transport model was compared with the spatial distribution of total dissolved solids. Model performance was evaluated by comparing observed and simulated groundwater levels. The projected rainfalls from two climate models (MIROC5 and CRISO Mk3.6) were subsequently used to simulate possible effects of climate changes. The simulation revealed that groundwater is currently depleted due to overabstraction. Towards the future, groundwater storage will continue to be depleted with the current abstraction regime, further worsening in the north due to saltwater intrusion from inland trapped saltwater and on the coast due to seawater intrusion. Notwithstanding, the impact from climate change may be limited, with the computed groundwater recharge from the two climate models revealing no significant change from 2017 to 2066. Three feasible mitigation scenarios were analyzed: (1) reduced groundwater abstraction by 25, 35 and 50%, (2) increased groundwater recharge by 1.5 and 2 times in the sand dunes through managed aquifer recharge (reduced abstraction will stop groundwater-level decline, while increased recharge will restore depleted storage), and (3) combining 50% abstraction reduction and 1.5 times recharge increase in sand dune areas. The results show that combined interventions of reducing abstraction and increasing recharge are necessary for sustainable groundwater resources development in Tra Vinh province.
Vergleich der Wirksamkeit der anterioren thalamischen Stimulation in einer europäischen Registerstudie mit Zulassungsdaten
Authors: Imbach L. , Kaufmann E. , Schulze-Bonhage A.
Published: March 2023

Hintergrund

Neben den Zulassungsdaten der SANTE-Studie sind seit Kurzem auch die Ergebnisse der MORE-Registerstudie zur anterioren Thalamusstimulation (ANT-DBS) verfügbar.

Fragestellung

In welchen Aspekten unterscheiden sich die Daten der Zulassungs- und Registerstudie zur ANT-DBS?

Methoden

Es wurde ein literaturbasierter Vergleich der 2‑Jahres-Outcomes der prospektiven, randomisierten SANTE-Studie an 110 Patienten und des prospektiven, nicht randomisierten MORE-Registers von 170 Patienten vorgenommen. Die Daten wurden analysiert hinsichtlich Patientenselektion, perioperativem Vorgehen, Stimulationseinstellung, therapeutischen Effekten und Sicherheitsaspekten.

Ergebnisse

Die mediane 2‑Jahres-Anfallsfrequenzreduktionsrate bleibt in der europäischen MORE-Studie deutlich hinter den Ergebnissen der SANTE-Studie (33 % vs. 56 %) zurück. Auch in der Subgruppe von Temporallappenepilepsien war die Anfallsreduktion mit 33 % nicht höher. Kognitiv beeinträchtige Patienten hatten mit einer medianen Anfallsreduktion von 26 % tendenziell ein schlechteres Outcome als Patienten mit normaler Kognition (36 % mediane Anfallsfrequenzreduktion). Zwischen MORE- und SANTE-Studie bestanden einige Unterschiede in der Patientenselektion und Methodik. So wurden in der SANTE-Studie prozentual mehr Patienten mit unifokaler Epilepsie (p = 0,007) mit temporalem Anfallsursprung (p = 0,0005) und häufigeren fokal zu bilateral tonisch-klonischen Anfällen (p = 0,02) eingeschlossen und Patienten mit Intelligenzminderung exkludiert (p < 0,0001). In der MORE-Studie wurde nicht nur trans-, sondern teils auch extraventrikulär implantiert, wobei die erzielten therapeutischen Effekte von der Expertise des behandelnden Zentrums abhängig waren. Die Stimulationsparameter und beobachteten Nebenwirkungen waren in beiden Studien vergleichbar.

Schlussfolgerung

Die Registerdaten bestätigen die sichere und effektive Anwendung der ANT-DBS bei pharmakoresistenter Epilepsie. Sie reflektieren den klinischen Alltag der ANT-DBS-Therapie, wobei die Ergebnisse hinter der Zulassungsstudie zurückbleiben, sich aber im Bereich alternativer Neurostimulationsverfahren für Epilepsie bewegen. Mögliche Erklärungsansätze für die beobachteten Unterschiede liegen v. a. in den differenten Patientenkollektiven und den unterschiedlichen Implantationsmethoden.
Neurostimulation und Schlaf bei Epilepsie
Authors: Voges Berthold , Imbach Lukas
Published: March 2023

Hintergrund

Chronische Schlafstörung verschlechtert den Therapieerfolg bei Epilepsie. Beide in Europa zugelassenen epileptologischen Stimulationsverfahren können als Nebenwirkung Schlafstörung induzieren.

Ziel der Arbeit

Information über potenzielle Interaktionen zwischen Tiefer Hirnstimulation (THS) („deep brain stimulation“, DBS) am anterioren Nukleus des Thalamus (ANT) und Schlaf bzw. zwischen Vagusnervstimulation (VNS) und Schlaf, und über die Möglichkeiten damit etwaig verbundene Störungen und Komplikationen zu vermeiden.

Material und Methoden

Wir geben einen Überblick über die aktuelle Literatur, mit Darstellung eigener klinischer Erfahrungen und Erkenntnisse für Diagnostik und Therapie aus zwei Epilepsiezentren mit Kohorten an Patienten mit epileptologischer Neurostimulaton.

Ergebnisse

Bei der ANT-DBS und auch bei der VNS lassen sich stimulationskorrelierte, wahrscheinlich dosisabhängige Schlafstörungen nachweisen. Als Grund hierfür wird bei der DBS eine akzidentielle Mitstimulation des „ascending reticular arousal system“ gemutmaßt, bei der VNS einerseits ein indirekter Effekt über Induktion von schlafbezogenen Atemstörungen und andererseits ein direkter Effekt durch Stimulation noradenderger und dopaminerger, Arousal-induzierender Systeme in Pons und Mittelhirn. Eine Absenkung der Stimulationsstärken, Veränderungen der Stimulationsparameter und Lokalisation der aktiven Stimulation werden – zwecks Abhilfe – bei der DBS diskutiert. Bei VNS-induzierter Schlafstörung kann eine nächtliche Absenkung der Stimulation („Bilevel-Therapie“) angeboten werden.

Schlussfolgerung

Bei derzeit noch spärlicher Datenlage scheint eine Optimierung der Therapieschemata bei VNS und THS wichtig, um nicht deren potenzielle antikonvulsive Effekte durch Induktion von Schlaffragmentierung zu antagonisieren.
Second Birth Fertility in Germany: Social Class, Gender, and the Role of Economic Uncertainty
Authors: Kreyenfeld Michaela , Konietzka Dirk , Lambert Philippe , Ramos Vincent Jerald
Published: March 2023

Building on a thick strand of the literature on the determinants of higher-order births, this study uses a gender and class perspective to analyse second birth progression rates in Germany. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel from 1990 to 2020, individuals are classified based on their occupation into: upper service, lower service, skilled manual/higher-grade routine nonmanual, and semi-/unskilled manual/lower-grade routine nonmanual classes. Results highlight the “economic advantage” of men and women in service classes who experience strongly elevated second birth rates. Finally, we demonstrate that upward career mobility post-first birth is associated with higher second birth rates, particularly among men.
The Role of Gender Differences in Partnering and Re-partnering for Gender Differences in Completed Fertility
Authors: Andersson Linus
Published: March 2023

Individuals increasingly enter a series of relationships during their reproductive years. As births in higher-order unions increase, fertility becomes partially contingent on re-partnering. Previous research suggests that men re-partner at higher rates than women. This study analyzes whether gender differences in partnering and re-partnering influence gender differences in cohort fertility. We use Finnish register data on all births, marriages, and cohabitations between the ages of 18 and 47 over four full birth cohorts. The gender differences in cohort fertility rate are decomposed into components due to birth rate differences and a compositional component owing to gender differences in the share partnered and re-partnered. We observe no impact of “re-partnering premium” on male fertility. Men have marginally higher re-partnering rates at older ages, when birth rates are low, whereas women have higher rates of partnering and re-partnering at prime childbearing ages. This compositional effect drives a “partnering” advantage for female fertility. This connection between gender differences in partnering and cohort fertility is true across educational levels.
Die Geschichtlichkeit des Geistes, materialistisch verstanden
Authors: Menke Christoph
Published: March 2023

Die Idee der Geistesgeschichte war ein idealistisches Programm. Die Kritik dieses Programms hinterlässt uns aber die Aufgabe, die Geschichtlichkeit des Geistes zu denken: Es gibt keine Geschichte ohne den Geist. Diese These verlangt eine materialistische Erläuterung.
The persistence of Geist in the Geisteswissenschaften
Authors: Nicholls Angus
Published: March 2023

This article examines Erich Rothacker’s theorisations of the Geisteswissenschaften and of Geistesgeschichte across a range of his writings from the 1920s until the 1960s. It poses the question as to whether these writings help us to understand culture, including literary culture, in the digital age.
Machine Ethics and Cognitive Robotics
Authors: Narayanan Ajit
Published: March 2023

Purpose of Review

There is much debate in machine ethics about the most appropriate way to introduce ethical reasoning capabilities into robots and other intelligent autonomous machines (IAMs). The main problem is that hardwiring intelligent and cognitive robots with commands not to cause harm or damage is not consistent with the notions of autonomy and intelligence. Also, such hardwiring does not leave robots with any course of action if they encounter situations for which they are not programmed or where some harm is caused no matter what course of action is taken.

Recent Findings

Recent developments in intelligent autonomous vehicle standards have led to the identification of different levels of autonomy than can be usefully applied to different levels of cognitive robotics. In particular, the introduction of ethical reasoning capability can add levels of autonomy not previously envisaged but which may be necessary if fully autonomous robots are to be trustworthy. But research into how to give IAMs an ethical reasoning capability is a relatively under-explored area in artificial intelligence and robotics. This review covers previous research approaches involving case-based reasoning, artificial neural networks, constraint satisfaction, category theory, abductive logic, inductive logic, and fuzzy logic.

This paper reviews what is currently known about machine ethics and the way that cognitive robots as well as IAMs in general can be provided with an ethical reasoning capability. A new type of metric-based ethics appropriate for robots and IAMs may be required to replace our current concept of ethical reasoning being largely qualitative in nature.
Are older adults living in compact development more active? – Evidence from 36 diverse regions of the United States
Authors: Tian Guang , Kalantari Hannaneh Abdollahzadeh , Ewing Reid
Published: March 2023

With the population of older adults growing globally, this study asks the question: are older adults living in compact developments more active than those living in sprawling developments? Older adults can be deemed more active if they travel more in total or travel more by non-auto travel modes (such as walking, transit). By analyzing disaggregated data from 36 regions of the United States, this study finds that older adults living in compact neighborhoods do not travel more in total but travel more by walking and public transportation than those living in sprawling neighborhoods. In addition, older adults travel less, are more auto-dependent, and make more home-based-nonwork trips, compared to younger adults. Older adults with lower income travel less than those with higher income. Older adults living in compact neighborhoods with the lowest income level generate the highest number of transit trips. It is important for planners and policy makers to not only create built environments that support older adults’ travel needs, but also to avoid social inequity.
Energy levels, lifetimes, and transition probabilities for Sr XXXII
Authors: Attia S. M.
Published: March 2023

The fully relativistic multiconfiguration Dirac–Hartree–Fock (MCDHF) approach was used to calculate the excitation energies and lifetimes for the lowest 272 levels that belonging to the $$2{s}^{2}2{p}^{3}$$

2

s

2

2

p

3

, $$2s2{p}^{4}$$

2
s
2

p

4

, $$2{p}^{5}$$

2

p

5

, $$2{s}^{2}2{p}^{2}3l$$

2

s

2

2

p

2

3
l

, $$2s2{p}^{3}3l$$

2
s
2

p

3

3
l

, and $$2{p}^{4}3l$$

2

p

4

3
l

($$l=s, p, d$$

l
=
s
,
p
,
d

) configurations for N-like strontium, Sr XXXII, as well as the wavelengths, weighted oscillator strengths, transition probabilities, and line strengths for the electric dipole (E1), electric quadrupole (E2), magnetic dipole (M1), and magnetic quadrupole (M2) transitions among these levels. The Breit-interaction (BI), and quantum electrodynamics (QED) corrections have been incorporated into the computations. In order to assess the uncertainties of the current calculations, comparisons with available data, and the results from the largest MCDHF layers have all performed.
Categorizing people in the German life sciences: a systematic literature review of classifications of human diversity
Authors: Bartram Isabelle , Schnieder Laura , Ellebrecht Nils , Ruland Florian , Plümecke Tino , zur Nieden Andrea
Published: March 2023

The use of human diversity classifications such as race, ethnicity, ancestry, or migration background entails a range of scientific as well as social consequences, and careful application of such terms is therefore vital. In this article, we present results from a systematic literature review and subsequent quantitative content analysis of 546 life science papers from German research institutes. We are concerned specifically with racial, ethnic, migration- and ancestry-related classifications used in such papers. Our aim is to capture a snapshot of the classification practices currently applied to the categorization of humans across various disciplines and fields in a specific national context that remains under-researched. The review (a) substantiates results from earlier studies that point to heterogeneity, inconsistency, and vagueness of human classifications used in the life sciences, and (b) confirms the expected specificity of German scientific discourse, where the term “race” is used comparatively rarely. Our findings stress the need for German researchers to partake in the ongoing international debate on the practice of human classification in the life sciences to advance the international and interdisciplinary transferability of scientific results and, first and foremost, to avoid unintended effects such as overgeneralization, racialization, and stigmatization.
Exploring pandemic preparedness in higher education: lessons learnt from students’ lived experiences during a critical time
Authors: Abi Jumaa Jinan , Catena Rodolfo , Brown Elliot , Sanyang Saikou , Tridico Alessandro , Weaver Dawn
Published: March 2023

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a marked impact on educational disruption and progression of students. Linked to this, studies have demonstrated increases in depression, anxiety, and stress, with long-term outcomes yet to be understood. Students in Higher Education (HE) were at particular risk due to circumstances such as financial stress from job loss, shifting to online learning and uncertainties about the future, with many international students isolated from social support networks. This study explored lived experiences of determinants for academic disruption in HE students during the COVID-19 pandemic across Germany and the UK.

Methods

The study used qualitative secondary data collected from extension and mitigation claim forms from 2019 until 2021 from a university with campuses in the UK and Germany. A phenomenological perspective was utilised to draw out experiences and insights into determinants for mitigation from students to enhance our understanding of real problems encountered during a period of crisis. Thematic data analysis was used to create themes of influence for mitigation of assessments.

Results

Themes identified pre and during the COVID-19 pandemic included; pre-COVID: work-related commitments; bereavement; illness of a family member; mental and physical health issues; natural disasters, during 2020/21, themes created were; COVID-19 social impacts; workplace and financial demands; psychological distress; physical illness, with subthemes evolving such as family responsibilities; and caring for others; furlough and its financial impacts; heavy workload for frontline health care workers; mental health impacts; physical abuse and crime, COVID-19 physical symptoms.

Conclusion

We suggest an Integrated ‘Determinants of Wellbeing Framework’ for supporting HE students during critical times such as a pandemic. Our suggested framework was adapted from determining health inequalities and the concept of the ‘flourishing student’ that maps the relationship between the student, their environment and well-being. It is hoped the framework will serve to inform future theories around disruption to student progression and to explore the relevant impact on educational outcomes in HE thus assisting in appropriate support planning.
Study on the variables reflecting the action of interest groups. The case of Greek economy
Authors: Papadakis Haris , Atsalakis George S. , Zopounidis Constantin
Published: March 2023

In literature there are many studies considering the action of interest groups in several countries’ societies and economies. In order to study the effect of special interest groups in the economy of each country, a multitude of variables have been used by researchers. After an extended bibliographic research in the recording of the economy affecting variables that have been used, this research presents a methodology for the selection of those which better represent the action of interest groups in the economy of Greece. The methodology used is based on Principal Component Analysis and therefore on the correlation tests needed. In this way it can be concluded which variables can be more advantageous in future research.
A network GVAR model for analyzing maritime transport demand: evidence from freight relationships among Greek ports
Authors: Giannika Hara , Milioti Christina , Michaelides Panayotis G. , Konstantakis Konstantinos N.
Published: March 2023

The aim of this study is to analyze the freight relationships between three major mainland Greek ports (Piraeus, Thessaloniki and Volos), based on containers’ transportation. The methodology used is the Global Vector Autoregressive (GVAR) model. The empirical analysis is based on time series data spanning the period January 1998–December 2012. The most important finding is that a shock in one port doesn’t have, in general, a significant impact on any other port and the corresponding effects settle down relatively quickly, usually in less than two months.
Deep vein thrombosis in early pregnancy: A retrospective study
Authors: Zhang Chen , Zhang Xuemin , Liu Guoli
Published: March 2023

Objective

To investigate the clinical characteristics, management, and prognosis of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) during early pregnancy.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective study among women with DVT during their first trimester of pregnancy who were admitted to the obstetrics department of Peking University People's Hospital between March 2008 and May 2021.We analyzed clinical data of eight patients, including their general condition, obstetric characteristics, diagnosis, treatment, and gestational outcomes.

Results

Risk factors for DVT in the first trimester included personal history of DVT, thrombophilia and immune diseases, and DVT was more likely to affect the left leg. The main manifestation of DVT was pain or swelling of the affected limbs. D-dimer levels after anticoagulant treatment showed a downward trend compared with those before treatment (P ​= ​0.09), while D-dimer levels increased significantly after delivery compared with those before delivery (P ​= ​0.03). All the patients started on low-molecular-weight heparin (LMWH) therapy after a diagnosis of DVT. Temporary inferior vena cava (IVC) filters were implanted in 3 patients with mixed thrombosis before delivery, but were removed after the operation. Except for 1 case with thrombophilia who refused treatment, others underwent anticoagulation therapy from 6 weeks to 1 year postpartum. Seven patients achieved a successful delivery with live births.

Conclusion

During early pregnancy, DVT was more common in women with maternal risk factors. More cases of venous thromboembolism (VTE) were observed in the left leg. For women with a high risk of DVT, medical intervention, early identification, accurate diagnosis and precise treatment during early pregnancy should be promoted.
First-Time Parenting Journeys
Authors: Riggs Damien W. , Bartholomaeus Clare
Published: March 2023

All too often heterosexual first-time parents are treated as the unmarked norm within research on reproduction. First-Time Parenting Journeys maps out what it means to be situated within the norm, while providing a critical account of how social norms about parenthood shape, regulate, and potentially delimit experiences of new parenthood for heterosexual couples. Based on qualitative longitudinal research, this book tells the story of journeys to parenthood, highlighting the impact of gender norms, moral claims, emotion work, and generativity. While drawing on Australian data, the critical conceptual framework has broader applicability across Western contexts in terms of understanding normative family structures and parenting practices. By focusing on expectations about, and the reality of, new parenthood, it explicates the ways in which institutionalised norms about parenthood are internalised and explores what this can tell us about the broader contours of parenthood discourses.
The Dominicans in the British Isles and Beyond
Authors: Finn Richard
Published: March 2023

The history of the Dominicans in the British Isles is a rich and fascinating one. Eight centuries have passed since the Friars Preachers landed on England's shores. Yet no book charting the history of the English Province has appeared for close on a hundred years. Richard Finn now sets right this neglect. He guides the reader engagingly and authoritatively through the medieval, early modern and contemporary periods: from the arrival of the first Black Friars – and the Province's 1221 foundation by Gilbert de Fresnay – to Dominican missions to the Caribbean and Southern Africa and seismic changes in church and society after Vatican II. He discusses the Province's medieval resilience and sudden Reformation collapse; attempts in the 1650s to restore it; its Babylonian Exile in the Low Countries; its virtual disappearance in the nineteenth century; and its unlikely modern revival. This is an essential work for medievalists, theologians and historians alike.
Women and Print Culture in Post-Independence Buenos Aires
Authors: Macintyre Iona
Published: March 2023

A challenge to traditional male-centred accounts of the book world in 1820s' Buenos Aires.
Base heating and stage separation of launch vehicles
Authors: Rathakrishnan E.
Published: March 2023

This paper presents the results of the experimental study carried out to address the issues of base heating and smooth separation of the stage of launch vehicles. The pressure at the base of a convergent-divergent circular nozzle, from which Mach 1.8 jet emanates, attached to an annular shroud of larger area is controlled by providing air vents on the shroud. On the shroud, vent holes were made at different azimuthal locations, to entrain the surrounding air mass at a higher pressure, pa, to increase the low-pressure, pb, at the base region, caused by the suction creating large-scale vortices formed owing to the sudden expansion of the jet emerging from the nozzle into the shroud. For different number and size of the vents on the shroud, the base pressure was measured. This measurement was done at five levels of overexpansion of the nozzle in the range from –64% to –58%. It is found that increase in vent area results in increase of base pressure, up to some limiting level of the area. Also, the increase of base pressure for the case of vents closer to the nozzle exit is found to be marginally more than the increase caused by vents at distances away from the nozzle exit. Increase of base pressure can be regarded as an advantage not only from base heating point of view but also from the point of view of deflection of the plume to the shroud wall for uniform melting of the pyro layer bonding the stages of the launch vehicle, leading to a smooth separation of the launch vehicle stages.
The Australian Centaur State and the Post-Pandemic Economic Recovery
Authors: Papadopoulos Angelika , O’Keeffe Patrick
Published: March 2023

This article uses Loïc Wacquant’s concept of the centaur state to analyse symbolic framings of the meaning and future of work in the Australian policy response to COVID-19 in 2020. In contrast with historical conceptualisations anchored in rights and social security, contemporary Australian social welfare policy discourse is dominated by political representations of the imperative to work. For people currently outside of the labour market, self-reliance through paid work is a primary objective of social security policy. In 2020, economic impacts of national lockdowns were ameliorated by large transfers from the state to businesses and individuals. Concurrent announcements of plans for a ‘business-led’ post-pandemic economic recovery centred the message that the meaning of work lies in its individual and social utility. Prior to the pandemic, transformation of the modes of organisation of work had already brought into question normative claims about the meaning of work, and what is comprehended by the term ‘job’. Analysis of key ‘economic recovery’ policy initiatives illustrates that they combined considerable corporate welfare with a construction of job seekers as having unrealistic expectations of meaningful work, for which there could be no room in the institutional machinery driving economic recovery. In the policy trajectory of the Australian centaur state, the future of work for people currently unemployed is to serve as a resource to fuel the business-led recovery.
Mid- to Late Holocene geomorphodynamics in a long-term settled mountain catchment in the Pergamon micro-region, western Turkey
Authors: Yang Xun , Becker Fabian , Nykamp Moritz , Ludwig Bernhard , Doğan Mehmet , Doğan Turhan , Knitter Daniel , Schütt Brigitta
Published: March 2023

From 300 BC to AD 300, the city of Pergamon underwent a profound transformation that impacted the rural settlement patterns and the concomitant geomorphodynamics. We present a geoarchaeological study in a long-term settled catchment in the Pergamon micro-region to disentangle the Holocene geomorphodynamics and triggering factors, for example, climate change and human activity. The analyses of eight radiocarbon-dated sediment profiles from the Tekkedere alluvial fan and its catchment indicate four principal sedimentation phases. Phase 1 (ca. 6.2 to 5–4 ka) is dominated by the floodplain aggradation of the receiving Bakırçay River, which is followed by the formation of floodplain soils (phase 2). Substantial geomorphodynamic changes occurred around 4 ka (phase 3), when the edge of the floodplain was buried by fan sediments of the tributary Tekkedere creek. This is attributed to supraregional aridization and rapid climate change events, superimposed by the onset of local human activities. Repeated cycles of coarse- and fine-textured fan sediments with age inversions after ca. 3.8 ka and valley infills younger than 1300 yr BP indicate the strong erosion and redeposition of sediments in phase 4. These increased geomorphodynamics may coincide with the changing settlement pattern and thus reflect human–environment interactions.
By Myself but Not Alone. Agency, Creativity and Extended Musical Historicity
Authors: SCHIAVIO ANDREA , RYAN KEVIN , MORAN NIKKI , VAN DER SCHYFF DYLAN , GALLAGHER SHAUN
Published: March 2023

In this paper we offer a preliminary framework that highlights the relational nature of solo music-making, and its associated capacity to influence the constellation of habits and experiences one develops through acts of musicking. To do so, we introduce the notion of extended musical historicity and suggest that when novice and expert performers engage in individual musical practices, they often rely on an extended sense of agency which permeates their musical experience and shapes their creative outcomes. To support this view, we report on an exploratory, qualitative study conducted with novice and expert music performers. This was designed to elicit a range of responses, beliefs, experiences and meanings concerning the main categories of agency and creativity. Our data provide rich descriptions of solitary musical practices by both novice and expert performers, and reveal ways in which these experiences involve social contingencies that appear to generate or transform creative musical activity. We argue that recognition of the interactive components of individual musicking may shed new light on the cognition of solo and joint music performance, and should inspire the development of novel conceptual and empirical tools for future research and theory.
Round Table: A ‘Musical League of Nations’? Music Institutions and the Politics of Internationalism between the Wars
Authors: COLLINS SARAH , KELLY BARBARA L. , TUNBRIDGE LAURA
Published: March 2023

This round table grew out of two gatherings in 2018–19 that endeavoured to bring musicologists into dialogue with recent revisions in the history of international relations.1 Our specific focus was the interwar period, more often discussed in terms of nationalism – or perhaps at best transnationalism – than within the context of internationalism, a principle that lay behind the foundation of elite governmental organizations such as the League of Nations, the United Nations, the World Health Organization, the International Labour Organization and others. As the historians Glenda Sluga and Patricia Clavin have shown, the construction of objects of global governance by these organizations ran alongside a broader sweep of non-governmental groupings that forwarded the interests of indigenous, working-class, anti-colonialist, anti-slavery and feminist causes.2 What role or roles did music play in these contexts? The case studies that follow illustrate the far-reaching implications of internationalist policies for musical institutions, groups and individuals.
Machinery arrangements for small Vtol transport aircraft
Authors: MacPhail D. C. , Jackson A. S. , Moore E. S.
Published: March 2023

Aircraft plying between urban and outlying communities usually enjoy a runway with noise restrictions at the urban end and perhaps little to land on at the other end, but with no objection to noisy operation. The existence of this situation in northern Canada persuaded the National Research Council to embark — some thirty years ago — on an investigation of powered lift possibilities, with strong support from the trunk and regional airlines, the charter and helicopter operators, and various manufacturers.

From a number of generic lift-propulsion arrangements examined in greater or lesser detail, a selection are described here in increasing order of what the certifying authorities call “damage tolerance” or reduced dependence on “critical parts”. Freedom from demands for hovering endurance and quietness, combined with emphasis on small aircraft, offered encouragement to attack what is otherwise a very difficult task. Of the alternatives, only one, which incorporated transverse axis fans and the light weight gas turbines now available, emerged as a potentially satisfactory choice for small rugged transport aircraft.

The project was discontinued because of pressure of other work, but is recounted here in case others may discern wider market possibilities. A small Vtol aircraft should, if successful, be a useful precursor to sophisticated airliners capable of taking off and landing without a run.