bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
DNA Methylation Patterns of Glucocorticoid Pathway Genes in Preterm Birth Among Black Women
Authors: Nowak Alexandra L. , Anderson Cindy M. , Ford Jodi L. , Mackos Amy , Ohm Joyce , Saadat Nadia , Tan Alai , Zhao Yihong , Misra Dawn P. , Giurgescu Carmen
Published: May 2022

Preterm birth (PTB; <37 weeks gestation) rates have increased for 5 of the last 6 consecutive years in the United States. These rates are particularly alarming for U.S. non-Hispanic Black women who give birth prematurely at 1.5 times the rate of non-Hispanic White women. Previous research suggests that psychological stress is associated with PTB in Black women. However, the biological pathways by which stress alters birth timing are not clear. We examined DNA methylation (DNAm) in peripheral blood leukocytes in 6 glucocorticoid, stress-related genes in 44 (22 PTB; 22 term birth) pregnant Black women. Four cytosine-phosphate-guanine (CpG) sites were identified as differentially methylated ( p < 0.05) between women with PTB and women with term births. The ability to identify stress-related biological markers that are associated with PTB among Black women would provide a critical step toward decreasing the PTB disparity among these women. Future studies should include larger sample sizes and gene expression analyses of the stress-related biological pathways to PTB.
Optical coherence tomography angiography as predictor of visual outcomes in retinal vein occlusion treated with antiangiogenic therapy
Authors: Mejía María Elisa , Ríos Hernán A. , Rosenstiehl Shirley , Rodríguez Francisco J.
Published: May 2022

Purpose

Evaluate optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) features in retinal vein occlusions (RVO) associated with visual outcomes after anti-VEGF.

Methods

Analytical observational study performed in eyes with macular edema secondary to RVO treated with anti-VEGF, with at least 6 months of follow-up. Bradley et al. classification of macular ischemia was used. Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate associations between final best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and OCT-A.

Results

A total of 62 eyes, 61 subjects, mean age of 70 ± 12,6 years were included. Median follow up time 21,2 months (IQR 24.8), 53,2% had central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and 46,8% branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Median BCVA pre-treatment was 0,84 logMAR (IQR 0,83) and post-treatment 0,47 logMAR (IQR 0,52). BCVA improved at the end of follow-up (p = 0,01), as well as central retinal thickness (CRT) (p = 0,02). Regarding capillary densities (CD), there was a decrease for both plexus, Superficial CD (p = 0,01) and Deep CD (p = 0,01), being more involved the superficial plexus. The lower the capillary density in both plexus, the worse BCVA, Superficial CD (r − 0,27, p = 0,03) and Deep CD (r − 0,29, p = 0,02). Media FAZ pre-treatment was 0,30 mm2 (IQR 0,23), with enlargement to 0,37 mm2 (IQR 0,32) (p = 0,01) post-treatment. Preservation of External Limiting Membrane/ Ellipsoid Zone (ELM/EZ) was seen in 60% of subjects (n = 37). The majority had grade 3 macular ischemia. Variables that best explain visual results were, baseline visual acuity (p = 0,01), pre-treatment CRT (p = 0,02) and pretreatment foveal superficial CD (p = 0,02).

Conclusions

Variables that best explain final vision after anti-VEGF were baseline visual acuity, CRT and foveal superficial CD.
Examination of corneal microstructure in the quiescent phase of vernal keratoconjunctivitis using in vivo confocal microscopy
Authors: Csorba Anita , Maneschg Otto Alexander , Resch Miklós Dénes , Nagy Zoltán Zsolt
Published: May 2022

Introduction

This study investigated the morphological characteristics of corneal microstructure in the quiescent phase of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC).

Methods

Twenty patients with quiescent VKC and 25 healthy subjects were included. In vivo confocal microscopy (IVCM) of the central cornea was performed. Cellular density of each layer and the morphology of subbasal nerve plexus (SBNP) was analysed. Langerhans cell density (LCD), morphology (LCM), and field area (LCF) were also examined.

Results

No differences were found either in cell densities nor in SBNP morphology ( p > 0.05). LCD, LCM and LCF were significantly higher in the VKC group ( p = 0.005, p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The severity of papillary hypertrophy had a significant impact on LCD, LCM and LCF (β-coefficient: 19.541, p < 0.001; β-coefficient: 0.283, p < 0.001 and β-coefficient: 595.255, p < 0.001, respectively).

Discussion

In quiescent VKC, LCD, LCM, and LCF were increased, and they were associated with the severity of papillary hypertrophy. Alterations of Langerhans cells indicate a subclinical inflammatory process without ocular symptoms.
A Retrospective Observational Cohort Study of Periprosthetic Hip Infection Treated by one-stage Method Including Cases With Bone Graft Reconstruction
Authors: Unfried Ricardo Issler , Krause Luciana Maria Fontanari , Cezimbra Helen Minussi , Pacheco Liliane Souto , Larangeira João Alberto , Ribeiro Tiango Aguiar
Published: May 2022

Purpose:

Prosthetic joint infection (PJI) is a devastating complication that can affect hip arthroplasty. Its treatment is extremely difficult, and issues regarding the optimal treatment remain unanswered. This study intended to show the effectiveness of the one-stage treatment of PJI.

Materials and Methods:

A retrospective observational cohort study performed from July 2014- August 2018. All patients with suspected PJI were included. Major and minor criteria developed by the International Consensus on Periprosthetic Joint Infection (ICPJI) was used to define infection. Laboratory tests and image exams were performed, and all patients were followed for at least 2 years.

Outcomes:

Success rate (2018 ICPJI definition to success) in treatment of PJI using one-stage revision method. Clinical and functional outcomes defined by Harris Hip Score (HHS).

Results:

Thirty-one patients were screened and 18 analyzed. 69.85 ± 9.76 years was the mean age. Mean follow-up time was 63.84 ± 18.55 months. Ten patients had acetabular defects and required bone graft reconstruction. Sixteen patients were classified as Tier 1, 1 as Tier 3D, and as 1 Tier 3E. Almost 90% of patients submitted to one-stage revision with acetabulum graft reconstruction were free of infection. The overall infection survival rate was 78.31±6.34 months. Candida albicans and sinus tract were statistically significant in univariate Cox’s analysis. The predictor of one-stage revision surgery failure that remained final Cox’s regression model was C. albicans (hazard ratio [HR]: 4.47).

Conclusion:

Treatment through one-stage revision surgery associated with 6 months of antimicrobial is a viable option with acceptable results even when bone graft reconstruction is necessary. C. albicans was a strong predictor of failure in this cohort.
“Must know Photoshop”: proprietary skills and media jobs in Australia
Authors: Keith Sarah , Collins Stephen
Published: May 2022

Over the last two decades, media and associated creative disciplines have moved increasingly towards digital and online production. This shift has seen proprietary software companies clamouring for market share by proclaiming their product as ‘industry standard’ ( Keith et al., 2021 ). These discourses of professionalism implicitly suggest that proficiency in particular software leads to improved employment outcomes. In turn, many higher education institutions have co-opted this branding message, embedding specific software in their marketing materials. To this end, this research aims to unpack the notion of proprietary software as ‘industry standard’, by undertaking a quantitative survey of media job advertisements. It also aims more broadly to determine what constitutes a ‘media job’ in today’s labour market.
Willing and action
Authors: Marková Ivana
Published: May 2022

Why did Hannah Arendt, in her book on The Life of the Mind, select thinking, willing and judging as the basic faculties of the mind in preference to some others which might be equally plausible? Why did she conceptualise these three faculties as autonomous, each being an activity with its own features, self-motivation and self-determination? If willing is necessarily bound with freedom, what does it indicate about the constraints of freedom in political actions? In this article, I am addressing these questions and attempting to explore them in relation to political psychology. In contrast to Arendt’s perspective, one can discern different forms of willing in political actions, such as those between minorities and majorities, in single individuals and in masses where willing is often displayed as a ‘collective will’.
Special Issue Introduction: Politicizing agency in digital play after humanism
Authors: Chia Aleena , Ruffino Paolo
Published: May 2022

Although digital games offer pleasures of causal clarity – and moral order – much remains unresolved in their texts, paratexts, and practices. The worldly coherence and agential harmony of digital games are not innocent. They cultivate modes of subjectivity in game culture that vindicate masculinist, colonial, and extractivist ways of being in the world. At the same time, games are used by developers, players, and streamers to wrestle with the limits and complicities of human agency, where stories find no closure and things do not add up. This special issue begins at these rough edges and loose ends to examine the ruptures and residues of agency as a liberal humanist ideology that is crystallized and critiqued by digital play and game making. Drawing from critical posthumanism’s problematization of agency, the articles collected here explore digital play’s mediation of heroism and authoritarianism, contagion and ableism, automatism and creativity. These critical explorations signal a shift in conceptualizations of agency away from agency as a quality afforded in the closed circuit of game and player by building on understandings of play as assemblages co-constituted by players, platforms, and institutions. Instead of agentic qualities, these articles collectively emphasize the plurality of ‘agentic modalities’ that are unevenly interwoven from player interpretations, platform infrastructures, game designs, and developer software tools. This issue’s focus on agency’s modalities instead of substance contributes to the ongoing shift in games research away from the analysis of structural properties of game systems. Instead, this special issue presents contextualized case studies that foreground performances of livability through modalities at and beyond the margins of the agentic frame. Our contribution to these debates lies in this special issue’s collective critique of this agentic frame and its liberal humanism by grounding posthuman theorizations vis-à-vis positionalities of race, class, gender, sexuality, and ability.
Social workers’ challenges in working with deaf bedouin service users
Authors: Alhuzail Nuzha Allassad , Levinger Miriam
Published: May 2022

Arab-Bedouins, a minority in Israel, have a higher incidence of deafness than that reported for other populations. They also have a high incidence of familial deafness, which poses lifelong challenges to the family and requires an intensive array of treatment and familial organization, as well as the use of many, varied sociomedical and rehabilitative services. Most of Israel’s Arab-Bedouins live in the Negev desert region, where the social context of deaf people is particularly challenging. The reasons include the very limited access to information and services within the community and a lack of transportation nearby. This study of 18 social workers who provide services to deaf Arab-Bedouins used a qualitative methodology in the phenomenological tradition—underlying which is the attempt to understand the experience of the participants and the challenges they face—and thematic analysis.

Findings

We found challenges in two main areas: the unique characteristics of the recipients and the social and communal ramifications of deafness. Service users of different age groups and genders had unique problems. The social workers’ lack of sign language was the main obstacle to assessing problems, proposing solutions, and maintaining contact, and it made them feel inadequate.

Applications

The article suggests that implementing the person-in-environment (PIE) approach, including interventions of policy practices, may contribute to more effective coping by social workers with the professional challenges in the two selected areas. This principle is applicable to work with deaf members of any minority.
On the disappearance and presence of the Slovene-speaking minority in Carinthia (Austria): Insights into the use of language and ethnic affiliation in leisure time from a practice-theoretical perspective
Authors: Kolb Jonas
Published: May 2022

For many decades, the question of setting up bilingual place-name signs accompanied the ethnic conflict between the German-speaking majority and the autochthonous Slovene-speaking minority in Carinthia (Austria). On the 10th anniversary of the 2011 compromise concerning the dispute about place-name signs, this article takes a closer look at the characterization of ethnic relations in Carinthia in the past few decades. According to a practice–theoretical empirical approach, the key to understanding this ethnic minority is the disappearance of the Slovene language. This article examines the manifold strategies used by young people to perform Carinthian Slovenian identity during leisure time in the context of, or apart from, cultural associations. With these strategies, adolescents actively try to react to the threatened disappearance of their language as they advocate for its preservation and ensure its enduring presence. The central role of the symbolic dimension of Slovenian language usage is striking. The social cohesion of the Slovene-speaking population must therefore be understood as performative ethnicity.
Why not anarchism?
Authors: Brennan Jason , Freiman Christopher
Published: May 2022

Recent debates over ideal theory have reinvigorated interest in the question of anarchy. Would a perfectly just society need—or even permit—a state? Ideal anarchists such as Jason Brennan, G.A. Cohen, Christopher Freiman, and Jacob Levy argue that strict compliance with justice obviates the need for a state. Ideal statists such as David Estlund, Gregory Kavka, and John Rawls think that coercive political institutions serve indispensable functions even in ideal conditions. This paper defends ideal anarchism. Our argument begins by describing a camping trip inspired by Cohen that illustrates why an anarchist form of cooperation is more intrinsically desirable than the statist alternative. After detailing Rawls's ideal theory and Estlund's “nonconcessive” moral theory, we argue—contrary to Rawls, Estlund, and Kavka—that large-scale societies without moral imperfection do not need a state.
Wither the plurality of decolonising the curriculum? Safe spaces and identitarian politics in the arts and humanities classroom
Authors: Mendes Ana , Lau Lisa
Published: May 2022

Contributing to the debate on decolonising the curriculum, this reflective article questions: What does a safe space in a decolonised classroom mean? For whom is it safe? And at what cost? Must we redraw the parameters of ‘safe’? Prompted by a real-life ‘n-word incident’ in the classroom, this article unpacks the collision of decolonising the curriculum to continue making teaching and learning more pluriversal and inclusive, with the enactment of the ‘wounded attachments’ of identitarian politics and the playing of ‘Privilege or Oppression Olympics’. Using snippets from British parody and satire on decolonising the university, we query how far wokeness in a university setting can become political correctness taken to extremes that threaten decolonising efforts. In its concluding reflections, the article makes tentative recommendations for setting up safe spaces, away from self-silencing or censoring, and backing away from contention and provocation in the classroom.
Precise damage shaping in self-sensing composites using electrical impedance tomography and genetic algorithms
Authors: Hassan Hashim , Tallman Tyler N
Published: May 2022

Fiber-reinforced composites with nanofiller-modified polymer matrices have immense potential to improve the safety of high-risk engineering structures. These materials are intrinsically self-sensing because their electrical conductivity is affected by deformations and damage. This property, known as piezoresistivity, has been extensively leveraged for conductivity-based damage detection via electrical resistance change methods and tomographic imaging techniques such as electrical impedance tomography (EIT). Although these techniques are very effective at detecting the presence of damage, they suffer from an inability to provide precise information about damage shape, size, or mechanism. This is particularly detrimental for laminated composites which can suffer from complex failure modes, such as delaminations, that are difficult to detect. To that end, we herein propose a new technique for precisely determining damage shape and size in self-sensing composites. Our technique makes use of a genetic algorithm (GA) integrated with realistic physics-based damage models to recover precise damage shape from conductivity changes imaged via EIT. We experimentally validate this technique on carbon nanofiber (CNF)-modified glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates by considering two specific damage mechanisms: through-holes (as a function of number, size, and location) and impact-induced delaminations (as a function of impact energy). Our results show that this novel technique can accurately reconstruct multiple through-holes with radii as small as 1.19 mm and delaminations caused by low velocity impacts. The reconstructed delamination shapes and sizes were shown to be in much better agreement with the actual delaminations observed using optical microscopy than is achievable by traditional EIT alone. These findings illustrate that coupling piezoresistivity with conductivity-based spatial imaging techniques and physics-based inversion strategies can enable damage shaping capabilities in self-sensing composite structures.
Engaging the values beneath communication in treatment disputes in the intensive care unit
Authors: Seago John
Published: May 2022

Disputes over life-sustaining treatment between clinicians and patients or their surrogates are common in the intensive care unit and expected to increase in America because of an aging population, shifts in medical training, and trends in popular opinions on end-of-life decisions. Clinicians struggle to effectively communicate the recommendation that withdrawing life-sustaining treatment is appropriate when the burdens of treatment outweigh the benefits. This view seems foreign and unimaginable to surrogates like family members with deeply held values motivate them to insist “everything be done” as long as the patient can be physiologically kept alive. For over three decades now, clinicians and bioethicists have sought preventative ethical and policy solutions to avoid or resolve these treatment disputes, including efforts to improve the communication between medical professionals and surrogates. Looking at the history of proposed solutions shows that giving providers more and better communication and negotiation tools may be inadequate on its own. However, better communication has the potential to unearth the motivations and deeper values of the disagreeing parties so that differing perspectives can be recognized and common ground can be established. The latest emphasize on communication has the potential to succeed where other historical solutions have failed. If bioethics is going to successfully analyze and remedy these disputes, the values motivating these views, even ones outside the bioethical consensus, must be acknowledged and respected. In short, better communication will not avoid or resolve life-sustaining treatment disputes in the intensive care unit unless the deeper ethical convictions of the disagreeing parties are recognized and engaged.
Efficacy and Safety of Absorb Everolimus-Eluting Bioresorbable Vascular Scaffold in Peripheral Artery Disease: A Single-Arm Meta-Analysis
Authors: Fan Weijian , Tan Jinyun , Li Lingyu , Feng Boxuan , Shi Weihao , Pei Jia , Yuan Guangyin , Yu Bo
Published: May 2022

Purpose:

This study aimed to evaluate the benefits and risks of patients with peripheral artery disease (PAD) treated with Absorb everolimus-eluting bioresorbable vascular scaffold (BVS) by analyzing all the published studies on the clinical characteristics of patients with PAD.

Materials and Methods:

PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Library were searched for relevant studies. Efficacy, safety, and basic characteristics were analyzed.

Results:

Four studies were included in meta-analysis, including a total number of 155 patients with PAD. The pooled overall primary patency, freedom from target lesion revascularization (TLR), symptom resolution, and wound healing were 90%, 96%, 94%, and 86%, respectively. The pooled perioperative complication and all-cause mortality were 4% and 9%, respectively. Preoperative total occlusion was detected in 43 of 192 lesions (22%). The mean lesion length was 27.26 mm. In terms of comorbidities, the pooled percentage of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease history, and smoking were 65%, 74%, 49%, 43%, 20%, and 57%, respectively.

Conclusion:

Among these studies, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus were the most common comorbidities in patients with PAD. The Absorb everolimus-eluting BVS was safe and showed the favorable clinical outcomes in both patency and TLR, especially in infrapopliteal disease with heavy calcification. The conclusions of this meta-analysis still needed to be verified by more relevant studies with more careful design, more rigorous execution, and larger sample size.
Measuring and modeling the effect of density and pile height on sound absorption of double base Persian rug
Authors: Ardekani Touba , Alamdar Yazdi Aliasghar , Vadood Morteza , Garai Massimo
Published: May 2022

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of density and pile height on sound absorption coefficient in Double Base Persian (DBP) rug and possibility of prediction the acoustic behavior of DBP rug using the mathematical model. For this aim, in the first step, three double base rug samples were produced at different base densities (2, 4, and 6 warp yarn/cm) and the sound absorption coefficient of samples was measured with Impedance tube in two thicknesses (15 & 13 mm) to study the pile height effect. Moreover, the sound absorption of the double base zone was also measured by shaving off the pile from the double base rug samples. Three rug samples at different base densities were produced with very thin warp and weft yarns to avoid the base effect in this sample. Besides, the macroscopic empirical model (Johnson–Champoux–Allard (JCA)) was implemented on obtained data. The results showed that the sound absorption of the double base rug samples increases with increasing the pile height and base density. The role of the base zone in the sound absorption of the rug is bolder than the pile zone. What leads to improve the rug sound absorption by increasing density is increasing the sound absorption of base zone and the pile density changes do not play a major role in increasing the rug sound absorption. In addition, by assuming DBP rugs as a two-layer porous (pile + base zone) absorber, JCA model shows a good consistency with experimental data.
Conversations With My Son: A Poetic Autoethnography of Black Mothering Experiences
Authors: Woodruffe Anjuliet G.
Published: May 2022

In this essay, I engage with and extend the work of Black feminist scholars and poets Audre Lorde, June Jordan, Patricia Hill Collins, and Patricia Williams by examining the ways that Black mothers use anger to make sense of their lives amid the continuous law enforcement sanctioned killing of Black men by White police. Using poetry, I interweave with the Black feminist voices of the past and present to reconstruct a narrative about Black mothering and Black boyhood amid the spirit murders in communities of color in the United States. I use a conversation with my 5-year-old son as the genesis of this intellectual stimulation to construct a poetic autoethnography of Black mothering experiences as a generative rescripting of Black lives. This work is an impassioned, critical, and necessary mode of inquiry that speaks about the daily realities of Black mothers raising Black sons in America.
Immunotherapeutic Significance of a Prognostic Alternative Splicing Signature in Bladder Cancer
Authors: Chen Jiang , Liao Yangjie , Li Rui , Luo Mingjiang , Wu Guanlin , Tan Ruirong , Xiao Zhihong
Published: May 2022

Objectives: Bladder cancer is the fourth most common malignancy in men in the United States. Aberrant alternative splicing (AS) events are involved in the carcinogenesis, but the association between AS and bladder cancer remains unclear. This study aimed to construct an AS-based prognostic signature and elucidate the role of the tumor immune microenvironment (TIME) and the response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy in bladder cancer. Methods: Univariate Cox regression analysis was performed to detect prognosis-related AS events. The least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and multivariate Cox analyses were employed to build prognostic signatures. Kaplan–Meier survival analysis, multivariate Cox regression analysis, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were conducted to validate the prognostic signatures. Then, the Estimation of Stromal and Immune cells in MAlignant Tumor tissues using Expression data (ESTIMATE) and tumor immune estimation resource (TIMER) databases were searched and the single-sample gene set enrichment analysis (ssGSEA) algorithm and CIBERSORT method were performed to uncover the context of TIME in bladder cancer. The Tumor Immune Dysfunction and Exclusion (TIDE) web tool and pRRophetic algorithm were used to predict the response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Finally, we constructed a correlation network between splicing factors (SFs) and survival-related AS events. Results: A total of 4684 AS events were significantly associated with overall survival in patients with bladder cancer. Eight prognostic signatures of bladder cancer were established, and a clinical survival prediction model was built. In addition, the consolidated prognostic signature was closely related to immune infiltration and the response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy. Furthermore, the correlation identified EIF3A, DDX21, SDE2, TNPO1, and RNF40 as hub SFs, and function analysis found ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis is correlated most significantly with survival-associated AS events. Conclusion: Our findings highlight the prognostic value of AS for patients with bladder cancer and reveal pivotal players of AS events in the context of TIME and the response to immunotherapy and chemotherapy, which may be important for patient management and treatment.
An experiment in tactical wargaming with platforms enabled by artificial intelligence
Authors: Tarraf Danielle C , Gilmore J Michael , Barnett D Sean , Boston Scott , Frelinger David R , Gonzales Daniel , Hou Alexander C , Whitehead Peter
Published: May 2022

In this report, researchers experimented with how postulated artificial intelligence/machine learning (AI/ML) capabilities could be incorporated into a wargame. We modified and augmented the rules and engagement statistics used in a commercial tabletop wargame to enable (1) remotely operated and fully autonomous combat vehicles and (2) vehicles with AI/ML-enabled situational awareness to show how the two types of vehicles would perform in company-level engagement between Blue (US) and Red (Russian) forces. The augmented rules and statistics we developed for this wargame were based in part on the US Army’s evolving plans for developing and fielding robotic and AI/ML-enabled weapon and other systems. However, we also portrayed combat vehicles with the capability to autonomously detect, identify, and engage targets without human intervention, which the Army does not presently envision. The rules we developed sought to realistically portray the capabilities and limitations of AI/ML-enabled systems, including their vulnerability to selected enemy countermeasures, such as jamming. Future work could improve the realism of both the gameplay and representation of AI/ML-enabled systems, thereby providing useful information to the acquisition and operational communities in the US Department of Defense.
Why do We Play? Towards a Comprehensive Player Typology
Authors: Fritz Benjamin , Stöckl Stefan
Published: May 2022

The video games industry has been growing constantly for the past several decades, but there is no empirically validated industry standard for measuring motivation of play. Although there have been a number of player typologies, they display sizable deviations in the player types described, many of which are insufficiently supported by validation studies. The literature thus far lacks an attempt to test these deviations by bringing differences in the specifics on the same scale. A survey ( n = 1090) across 440 different games using an 80-item questionnaire found eleven motivations of play: Social, Social Competition, Challenge, Escapism, Role-Playing, Power Fantasy, Creation, Exploration, Completion, Griefing, and Competitive Team-Play. These results map onto some established types, add some new ones that are not as embedded in the literature, and re-contextualize others such as immersion which, while highly present in the literature, were not found to be distinct motivations of play.
Approach to tortuous vena saphena magna with insufficiency: Foam scleroterapy
Authors: Karacalilar Mehmet , Kutas Huseyin B
Published: May 2022

Objective

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of foam sclerotherapy in the treatment of tortuous Great Saphenous Vein (GSV) insufficiency.

Methods

In this prospective non-randomized study 62 patients with tortuous GSV insufficiency were included. All patients were delivered sclerosant agent in the form of foam into the GSV through a cannula above the knee level. Characteristics of patients, diameter of veins, reflux grades, Venous Clinical Severity Score (VCSS) and Clinical, Etiological, Anatomical, Pathological (CEAP) scores, concentration of sclerosant agent, complications and follow-up results were recorded.

Results

Foam sclerotheraphy was performed with 100% technical success in all patients at operative room. There were no allergic reactions or neurological complications during and after the operations. Ecchymosis was the most common complication with 37.1% frequency. . VCSS scores significantly decreased from 6.43% to 2.53%, during follow-up from initial admission to sixth months, respectively ( P<0.05).In the first month parameters, successful occlusion rate was 88.7%, whereas its rate was 82.3% in sixth month. Recanalization rate significantly increased from 11.3% to 17.7% during follow-up from first to sixth months, respectively ( P<0.05).

Conclusions

Due to its low complication rate, low cost, acceptable total occlusion rate and reproducibility; Foam sclerotherapy can be considered a reliable treatment for patients with tortuous GSV insufficiency.
An introduction to spillover effects in cluster randomized trials with noncompliance
Authors: Keele Luke , Kang Hyunseung
Published: May 2022

In some cluster randomized trials, subjects may not comply with their assigned treatment status. Such treatment noncompliance can create opportunities for spillover effects within clusters. Little research has focused on what can be learned in such context. This article provides a non-technical review of recent work on the complications that arise in cluster randomized trials where some units within treated clusters do not comply with treatment but the treatment spillovers over to these units. We motivate concepts using a hypothetical vaccine cluster randomized trial. We review that standard instrumental variable methods cannot recover the complier average causal effect in the presence of these spillovers. In fact, we review that without additional assumptions, little can be learned about compliance effects or spillover effects. We discuss one additional assumption that allows for bounds on a key causal effect. We also outline an estimator for these bounds.
Young people with intellectual disability and the internet: Challenges and opportunities in qualitative research
Authors: Borgström Åsa
Published: May 2022

Conducting qualitative research on young people with intellectual disability and the Internet poses methodological challenges as well as opportunities. Based on memos from a qualitative study, this article focuses on identified gaps related to the challenges of informed consent, access to Internet arenas and using stimulus materials. Opportunities, in terms of flexibility and relationships, are discussed and problematized. The discussion shows that researchers may need to move out of their comfort zone and try nonconventional methods of data collection. It is important to be creative and innovative but also to look after the rights and interests of participants. Furthermore, take a non-directive approach and assume young people with intellectual disability to be experts on their own lives. Finally, the power imbalance between a researcher and participant should be considered and the researcher should ask him-/herself which perspective he/she wishes to present or ‘whose side are we on?’
Searching for meaning: Local scene semantics guide attention during natural visual search in scenes
Authors: Peacock Candace E , Singh Praveena , Hayes Taylor R , Rehrig Gwendolyn , Henderson John M
Published: May 2022

Models of visual search in scenes include image salience as a source of attentional guidance. However, because scene meaning is correlated with image salience, it could be that the salience predictor in these models is driven by meaning. To test this proposal, we generated meaning maps that represented the spatial distribution of semantic informativeness in scenes, and salience maps which represented the spatial distribution of conspicuous image features and tested their influence on fixation densities from two object search tasks in real-world scenes. The results showed that meaning accounted for significantly greater variance in fixation densities than image salience, both overall and in early attention across both studies. Here, meaning explained 58% and 63% of the theoretical ceiling of variance in attention across both studies, respectively. Furthermore, both studies demonstrated that fast initial saccades were not more likely to be directed to higher salience regions than slower initial saccades, and initial saccades of all latencies were directed to regions containing higher meaning than salience. Together, these results demonstrated that even though meaning was task-neutral, the visual system still selected meaningful over salient scene regions for attention during search.
The impact of frailty on death, discharge destination and modelling accuracy in patients receiving organ support on the intensive care unit
Authors: Georgiou Andy , Turner Nicholas , Serrano Ruiz Alfredo , Wadman Harry , Saunsbury Emma , Laver Stephen , Maybin Rob
Published: May 2022

Background

This study aims to identify any effect of frailty in altering the risk of death or poor outcome already associated with receipt of organ support on ICU. It also aims to assess the performance of mortality prediction models in frail patients.

Methods

All admissions to a single ICU over 1-year were prospectively allocated a Clinical Frailty Score (CFS). Logistic regression analysis was used to investigate the effect of frailty on death or poor outcome (death/discharge to a medical facility). Logistic regression analysis, area under the Receiver Operator Curve (AUROC) and Brier scores were used to investigate the ability of two mortality prediction models, ICNARC and APACHE II, to predict mortality in frail patients.

Results

Of 849 patients, 700 (82%) patients were not frail, and 149 (18%) were frail. Frailty was associated with a stepwise increase in the odds of death or poor outcome (OR for each point rise of CFS = 1.23 ([1.03–1.47]; p = .024) and 1.32 ([1.17–1.48]; p = <.001) respectively). Renal support conferred the greatest odds of death and poor outcome, followed by respiratory support, then cardiovascular support (which increased the odds of death but not poor outcome). Frailty did not modify the odds already associated with organ support. The mortality prediction models were not modified by frailty (AUROC p = .220 and .437 respectively). Inclusion of frailty into both models improved their accuracy.

Conclusions

Frailty was associated with increased odds of death and poor outcome, but did not modify the risk already associated with organ support. Inclusion of frailty improved mortality prediction models.
Relationships between throwing mechanics and shoulder anterior force in high school and professional baseball pitchers
Authors: Manzi Joseph E , Nicholson Allen , Dowling Brittany , Black Grant G , Krichevsky Spencer , Quan Theodore , Moran Jay , Kunze Kyle N , Dines Joshua S
Published: May 2022

Background

Excessive shoulder anterior force has been implicated in pathology of the rotator cuff in little league and professional baseball pitchers; in particular, anterior laxity, posterior stiffness, and glenohumeral joint impingement. Distinctly characterized motions associated with excessive shoulder anterior force remain poorly understood.

Methods

High school and professional pitchers were instructed to throw fastballs while being evaluated with 3D motion capture (480 Hz). A supplementary random forest model was designed and implemented to identify the most important features for regressing to shoulder anterior force, with subsequent standardized regression coefficients to quantify directionality.

Results

130 high school pitchers (16.3 ± 1.2 yrs; 179.9 ± 7.7 cm; 74.5 ± 12.0 kg) and 322 professionals (21.9 ± 2.1 yrs; 189.7 ± 5.7 cm; 94.8 ± 9.5 kg) were included. Random forest models determined nearly all the variance for professional pitchers (R2 = 0.96), and less than half for high school pitchers (R2 = 0.41). Important predictors of shoulder anterior force in high school pitchers included: trunk flexion at maximum shoulder external rotation (MER) (X.IncMSE = 2.4, β = −0.23, p < 0.001), shoulder external rotation at ball release (BR)(X.IncMSE = 1.7, β = −0.34, p < 0.001), and shoulder abduction at BR (X.IncMSE = 3.1, β = 0.17, p < 0.001). In professional pitchers, shoulder horizontal adduction at foot contact (FC) was the highest predictor (X.IncMSE = 13.9, β = 0.50, p < 0.001), followed by shoulder external rotation at FC (X.IncMSE = 3.6, β = 0.26, p < 0.001), and maximum elbow extension velocity (X.IncMSE = 8.5, β = 0.19, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

A random forest model successfully selected a subset of features that accounted for the majority of variance in shoulder anterior force for professional pitchers; however, less than half of the variance was accounted for in high school pitchers. Temporal and kinematic movements at the shoulder were prominent predictors of shoulder anterior force for both groups.

Clinical relevance

: Our statistical model successfully identified a combination of features with the ability to adequately explain the majority of variance in anterior shoulder force among high school and professional pitchers. To minimize shoulder anterior force, high school pitchers should emphasize decreased shoulder abduction at BR, while professionals can decrease shoulder horizontal adduction at FC.
Supporting infants and toddlers in low socio-economic early childhood settings in Australia
Authors: Davis Belinda , Dunn Rosemary
Published: May 2022

Research shows that high quality programs can support positive outcomes for all children, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. Little research has examined the perspectives of directors working with infants and toddlers in families who are experiencing low socio-economic status (SES) in early childhood settings. This qualitative research addresses this gap by exploring directors’ understandings of inclusion relating to the needs of low SES children under 3 years and their families in the ECEC context. Qvortrup and Qvortrup’s (2018) lens of inclusion was used to analyse (a) the conceptualisation of inclusion held by the directors interviewed for this project and (b) what aspects of inclusion directors were able to influence. Findings showed that directors’ understandings were multidimensional, involving a combination of professional and contextual concerns. This paper discusses implications for working with infants and toddlers from low SES families.
Brute Force Governance: Public Approval Despite Policy Failure During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the Philippines
Authors: Thompson Mark R.
Published: May 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed enormous governance deficits globally. Several populist strongmen practiced “medical populism” – ignoring scientific advice, proffering denials, and blaming others. More technocratic leaders recognised its severity, implementing strict lockdowns. But some failed to adopt more flexible restrictions once testing improved due to local enforcement difficulties, termed “blunt force regulation.” Although neither a pandemic denialist nor an obtuse technocrat, Philippine president Rodrigo R. Duterte's response combined aspects of both approaches with blame shifting and one-size-fits-all lockdowns while also securitising the crisis. Utilising methods developed during his bloody “war on drugs,” Duterte imposed a heavily militarised approach, scapegoated supposedly disobedient Filipinos ( pasaway) and bullied local politicians. While the Philippines has been among the worst pandemic performers globally, Duterte's approval ratings remained robust. It is argued “brute force governance” undermined the dynamics of accountability, enabling him to win public approval despite policy failure.
A New Digital Point-of-Care Tool With Advanced Blood Glucose Measuring Technology
Authors: Gessler Simon , Porsch Ulrich , Klonoff David C. , Marquant Michael
Published: May 2022

cobas® pulse is a point-of-care blood glucose (BG) measuring system for multiple-patient use in professional healthcare settings. The system provides advances in connectivity and BG measuring technology, and has multiple fail-safes to improve accuracy and reduce the risk of user error. Flavin adenine dinucleotide-dependent glucose dehydrogenase on the working electrode catalyzes oxidation of β-D-glucose in the blood sample. A redox mediator/electron acceptor, on both the working and the counter electrode, facilitates diffusion of electrons in proportion to the glucose concentration and compensates for the effects of potential interfering agents. During development, >1 million test strip measurements were performed using >8000 test scenarios to refine the algorithm model. No clinically relevant interference was identified with extreme variations in blood properties and drugs in whole blood samples.
Analyzing the Layout of Long-Term Care Facilities: A Psycho-Spatial Approach
Authors: Rom Yifat , Palgi Yuval , Isaacson Michal
Published: May 2022

When planning long-term care facilities (LTCFs), architects strive to design buildings that support high well-being (WB) levels for those who live and work in them. To achieve this goal, architects must understand what defines WB in old age and how these qualities can be achieved through the designed physical layout. This task must be achieved while tackling additional challenges, such as considering the official planning guidelines, codes, and additional requests given by the client. During the planning process, architects use their subjective impressions by visiting similar institutions, their personal experience as architects, and their subjective assumptions on what residents and caregivers may consider desirable. Once built, there are a lack of methodological ways to evaluate an existing LTCF unit’s plan as a supportive tool for higher levels of WB. The current study aims to create a methodological tool to analyze LTCF units’ layout, giving scores to each plan based on five aspects of WB that they support. In our article, we demonstrate this methodology’s application on 40 plans of LTCFs, demonstrating its effectiveness. We believe that the approach presented in this article will contribute to furthering the quality of planning of LTCFs benefiting residents and caregivers alike.
The Physiological Effects of Face Masks During Exercise Worn Due to COVID-19: A Systematic Review
Authors: Asín-Izquierdo Iván , Ruiz-Ranz Eva , Arévalo-Baeza Marta
Published: May 2022

Context:

Use of face masks in sport has been a particularly complex issue during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objectives:

A systematic review to examine the physiological effects the different types of masks have on healthy adults when doing physical exercise.

Data sources:

PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Scopus, and Litcovid were searched up to March 20, 2021, following the PRISMA model. Articles published in the last 5 years with healthy adults.

Study Selection:

A total of 633 studies related to the use of masks during physical exercise were found, of which 8 articles met the criteria to be included.

Study Design:

Systematic review.

Level of Evidence:

Level 2.

Data Extraction:

The search process and the review of the articles were carried out by independent expert researchers. The risk of bias and the methodological quality of the different studies included in the systematic review were calculated following the Cochrane criteria using an adaptation for random cross-studies. Once the information was properly structured, the results were extracted, and the findings of the study analyzed.

Results:

There were significant changes in the following physiological variables when engaging in physical exercise using masks: 25% in the heart rate and dyspnea, 37.5% in the rating of perceived exertion, 50% in the pulmonary variables, and 37.5% in discomfort. The oxygen saturation, blood pressure, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, and the concentration of blood lactate did not present any significant effect in this study.

Conclusion:

The usage of masks by a healthy adult population during the performance of physical exercise has shown minimal effects with regard to physiological, cardiorespiratory, and perceived responses. Some symptoms can be dyspnea, effort perceived, or discomfort, among others. These findings indicate that the use of masks is not harmful to individuals’ health. It does not present any significant detrimental effect on physical performance or risk to their well-being. However, further experiments are required to corroborate the findings of this review.