bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
ТОКСИКОЛОГІЧНІ ВЛАСТИВОСТІ КАРБОНОВИХ НАНОТРУБОК
Authors: Летняк Н. Я.
Published: March 2022

Вступ. У статті проаналізовано наявні літературні дані щодо основних властивостей вуглецевих нанотрубок як одного з найважливіших наноматеріалів. Вуглецеві нанотрубки мають унікальні механічні, електро- і теплопровідні властивості, їх широко використовують у наукових дослідженнях, промисловості та медицині. Нанотехнології на сьогодні є найбільш перспективним у розвитку світової науки напрямком. Наноматеріали стали причиною справжнього прориву в багатьох галузях і проникають у всі сфери нашого життя. Одним із пріоритетних видів наноматеріалів є вуглецеві нанотрубки. Це мультифункціо­нальні матеріали, які активно досліджують у зв’язку з їх унікальними фізико-хімічними властивостями. Вони існують у різноманітних формах та можуть бути хімічно модифіковані функціональними групами біомолекул. Нанотрубки є перспективним наноматеріалом для використання в медицині завдяки надзвичайно високому рівню біосумісності їх із кров’ю, кістками, хрящами і м’якими тканинами. Їх можна використовувати для створення штучних серцевих клапанів, діагностики і терапії ракових захворювань, а також для транспортування протеїнів, антигенів, генів, вакцин та лікарських речовин у клітину. Акцентовано увагу на тому, що вуглецеві нанотрубки відкривають нові можливості для біологічного та медичного застосування: візуалізація молекулярних, клітинних і тканинних структур; створення біосенсорів і електродів на їх основі; цільова доставка різноманітних речовин; променева і фототермічна терапія. З повсякденним зростанням темпів використання наноматеріалів усе менше уваги приділяють можливим негативним впливам наночастинок на безпеку навколишнього середовища та на здоров’я людей у цілому. Малий розмір, специфічна структура, велика площа поверхні, хімічний склад насторожують щодо можливого токсичного впливу на організм людини. Залежно від шляху введення в організм та дози вуглецеві нанотрубки є потенційно небезпечними для нього. Зважаючи на це, виникає необхідність у вивченні їх токсикологічних властивостей.

Мета дослідження – проаналізувати сучасні літературні джерела щодо особливостей токсикологічного впливу вуглецевих нанотрубок.

Висновки. Наявна на сьогодні незначна кількість досліджень у цьому напрямку вказує на те, що наноматеріали можуть бути токсичними. Тому перспективи широкого застосування зумовлюють необхідність продовження досліджень особливостей їх впливу на здоров’я людини.
Upregulation of Endothelial DKK1 (Dickkopf 1) Promotes the Development of Pulmonary Hypertension Through the Sp1 (Specificity Protein 1)/SHMT2 (Serine Hydroxymethyltransferase 2) Pathway
Authors: Wang Qianqian , Tian Jingjing , Li Xuan , Liu Xiaolin , Zheng Tengfei , Zhao Yachao , Li Xiao , Zhong Hongyu , Liu Dongdong , Zhang Wencheng , Zhang Meng , Li Mengmeng , Zhang Mei
Published: March 2022

Background:

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a cancer-like proliferative disease, which has no curative treatment options. The dysfunction of pulmonary artery endothelial cells plays a key role in PH. DKK1 (Dickkopf 1) is a secretory glycoprotein that exerts proproliferative effects on tumor cells. In the present study, we aimed to identify the role and underlying mechanism of DKK1 in the development of PH, which still remain unclear.

Methods and Results:

We found endothelial DKK1 expression was upregulated in serum and lung tissues obtained from patients with PH, mice with hypoxia-induced PH, and human pulmonary artery endothelial cells cultured under hypoxic conditions. Endothelium-specific DKK1-knockout (DKK1
ECKO
) mice significantly ameliorated hypoxia+Sugen5416 and hypoxia-induced PH. More importantly, neutralizing anti-DKK1 antibody treatment significantly attenuated established hypoxia+Sugen5416 PH. Results of proteome analysis of control and DKK1-knockdown human pulmonary artery endothelial cells identified a significantly differentially expressed protein, SHMT2 (serine hydroxymethyltransferase 2), a key metabolic enzyme in one-carbon metabolism, as a novel DKK1 target. DKK1 knockdown in human pulmonary artery endothelial cells cultured under hypoxic conditions decreased the cellular NADPH/NADP+ ratio, increased reactive oxygen species levels and the extent of mitochondrial DNA damage, and inhibited mitochondrial membrane hyperpolarization. In the context of this altered redox defense and mitochondrial disorder, DKK1 induced a proproliferative and antiapoptotic phenotype in endothelial cells. Furthermore, we confirmed that DKK1 regulated SHMT2 transcription through the AKT–Sp1 (specificity protein 1) signaling axis.

Conclusions:

Our data provide robust evidence and molecular explanations for the associations between DKK1, redox defense, mitochondrial disorders, and PH and reveal a novel target for PH treatment.
Adolescent Blood Pressure and the Risk for Early Kidney Damage in Young Adulthood
Authors: Tsur Avishai M. , Akavian Inbal , Derazne Estela , Tzur Dorit , Vivante Asaf , Grossman Ehud , Rotem Ran S. , Fishman Boris , Afek Arnon , Coresh Josef , Chodick Gabriel , Twig Gilad
Published: March 2022

Background:

Recent guidelines classified blood pressure above 130/80 mm Hg as hypertension. However, outcome data were lacking.

Objective:

To determine the association between blood pressure in adolescence and the risk for early kidney damage in young adulthood.

Methods:

In this nationwide cohort study, we included 629 168 adolescents aged 16 to 20 who underwent medical examinations before mandatory military service in Israel. We excluded 30 466 adolescents with kidney pathology, hypertension, or missing blood pressure or anthropometric data at study entry. Blood pressure measurements at study entry were categorized according to the Clinical Practice Guideline for Screening and Management of High Blood Pressure in Children and Adolescents: group A (<120/<80 mm Hg; Reference group), group B (120/<80–129/<80 mm Hg), group C (130/80–139/89 mm Hg), and group D (≥140/90 mm Hg). Early kidney damage in young adulthood was defined as albuminuria of ≥30 mg/g with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 60 mL/(min·1.73 m
2
) or over.

Results:

Of 598 702 adolescents (54% men), 2004 (0.3%) developed early kidney damage during a mean follow-up of 15.1 (7.2) years. The adjusted hazard ratios for early kidney damage in blood pressure group C were 1.17 (1.03–1.32) and 1.51 (1.22–1.86) among adolescents with lean (body mass index <85th percentile) and high body mass index (body mass index ≥85th percentile), respectively. Corresponding hazard ratios for kidney disease in group D were 1.49 (1.15–1.93) and 1.79 (1.35–2.38) among adolescents with lean and high body mass index, respectively.

Conclusions:

Blood pressure of ≥130/80 mm Hg was associated with early kidney damage in young adulthood, especially in adolescents with overweight and obesity.
Pilot Study on the Intercalibration of a Categorisation System for
FAIRer Digital Objects Related to Sensitive Data in the Life
Sciences
Authors: Ohmann Christian , David Romain , Abadia Mónica Cano , Bietrix Florence , Boiten Jan-Willem , Canham Steve , Chiusano Maria Luisa , Dastrù Walter , Laroquette Arnaud , Longo Dario , Mayrhofer Michaela Theresia , Panagiotopoulou Maria , Richard Audrey , Verde Pablo Emilio
Published: March 2022

Sharing sensitive data is a specific challenge for research infrastructures in the field of life sciences. For that reason a toolbox has been developed, providing resources for researchers who wish to share and use sensitive data, to support the workflows for handling these kinds of digital objects. Common and community approved annotations are required to be compliant with FAIR principles (Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, Reusability). The toolbox makes use of a tagging (categorisation) system, allowing consistent labelling and categorisation of digital objects, in terms relevant to data sharing tasks and activities. A pilot study was performed within the Horizon 2020 project EOSC-Life, in which 2 experts from 6 life sciences research infrastructures were recruited to independently assign tags to the same set of 10 to 25 resources related to sensitive data management and data sharing (in total 110). Summary statistics of agreement and observer variation per research infrastructure are provided. The pilot study has shown that experts were able to attribute tags but in most cases with a considerable observer variation between experts. In the context of CWFR (Canonical Workflow Frameworks for Research), this indicates the necessity for careful definition, evaluation and validation of parameters and processes related to workflow descriptions. The results from this pilot study were used to tackle this issue by revising the categorisation system and providing an updated version.
Contemporary issues of languaging, participation and ways-of-being
Authors: Bagga-Gupta Sangeeta
Published: March 2022

This paper introduces the theme of Languaging, Diversity and Democracy. Contemporary issues of participation and ways-of-being and positions the 12 individual papers that constitute the 2022 double special issue of Bandung: Journal of the Global South. Its interest lies in contributing to knowledge that is relevant for contemporary human challenges related to issues of mobility, digitalization, and communication in and across different geopolitical regions across the planet and across virtual-physical spaces. Raising concerns regarding universalizing tendencies of special issues (and collected volumes generally), and based on the premise that what kind of knowledge matters is tied up with the issue of whose knowledge and in what named-language this knowledge matters, this paper raises critical queries that focus on the narrators positionality and gaze, the composition of scholarly narratives, the flow of narratives, what vocabularies circulate in frontline scholarship, including the organization of special issues, etc. Drawing attention to the universalizing Euro/America-centrism that shapes what counts as knowledge, the paper draws attention to the taken-for-grantedness of what counts as international languages of publishing which eclipses alternative epistemologies, ways-of-thinking and ways-of-being. It argues that by taking such issues as inspiration in the curation and editing of this double special issue, participatory processes and ways-of-being enabled a contribution to the doing of democracy and diversity in the scholarly enterprise. Such work of democratizing academic publication work calls for unlearning to learn that is closely related to the theme explored in the double special issue. Aligning with analogue-digital languaging in contemporary existence, the paper also traces the journey of how this double special issue has come into being.
Resisting Commodification: Subverting the Power of the Global Tech Companies
Authors: Bäcke Maria
Published: March 2022

In our digitised world, information and communication technologies (ict s) are used everywhere. In schools all over the world the well-known, easy-to-use, and highly affordable Google Education is used, but is this a safe and sustainable solution? A number of services online are free in terms of users not having to pay any money for their usage, but many companies, of which Google is one, instead make their money from the exploitation of what is labelled non-personal user data, Big Data, which is harvested from the users of their free services. This type of data mining or data harvesting can be used for other purposes as well, such as for intelligence reasons, where a foreign power may capitalise on user data from another country, but it may also be to control a country’s own population. Asymmetrical power distribution is inevitable and, drawing on Deleuze and Guattari’s theories of power and subversion, my aim is to increase the awareness of the non-monetary costs involved in the choice of ict s and highlight ways to shift the inherent hierarchic power. A text analysis, based on policy documents and articles focusing on online privacy, data harvesting and user commodification, studies how legislators, journalists, as well as governmental and other organisations negotiate and sometimes subvert the hierarchic power of the global tech companies in order to protect privacy, integrity and democracy as well as the profit margin of companies. The paper highlights the need for legislation and education, an enhanced ict literacy, in the field.
Leader and follower: Towards the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s two interactional categories to describe learning situations?
Authors: Lefebvre Augustin
Published: March 2022

This paper offers a critique of learning viewed solely through the categories of formal Vs. informal education as used by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (oecd). This critique is based on the perspectives of ethnomethodology, conversation analysis and sociocultural theory. It considers that any learning consists of the construction of a common object between participants. I examine two possible organizations of interaction as participants construct their learning objects in situations that are glossed as second language learning. In the first case, the activity is led by the teacher, in the second case, by the learner. The article shows that this difference in the organization of social interaction has consequences on the organization of a proximal zone of development and therefore has consequences for learning opportunities. In conclusion, the article proposes to add to the typologies of learning, the interactional categories of leader and follower in order to specify the roles of the teacher and learner in a large number of learning situations.
Development and Validation of Instrument for Operative Competency Assessment in Selective Neck Dissection
Authors: Dowling Eric , Larson David , Carlson Matthew L. , Price Daniel L.
Published: March 2022

Background:

Instruments to assess surgical skills have been validated for several key indicator procedures in otolaryngology. Selective neck dissection is a core procedure for which trainees must integrate knowledge of complex head and neck anatomy with technical surgical skills. An instrument for assessment of surgical performance in selective neck dissection has not been previously developed. The objective of the current study is to develop and validate an instrument for assessing surgical competency for level II-IV selective neck dissection.

Design:

A Delphi working group comprised of 23 fellowship trained head and neck surgeons from 17 institutions was assembled. The modified Delphi method encompassed a 3-step process, including 2 anonymous voting rounds to successively refine individual items and establish levels of consensus. Thresholds for achieving strong consensus, at >80% agreement, were determined a priori. The resulting instrument was subsequently validated in a prospective cohort of 17 resident surgeons, spanning postgraduate year 1 to 5 training experience. Participants were asked to perform a level II-IV selective neck dissection on fresh-frozen cadaveric specimens. Performance was scored by 2 independent, blinded observers using the devised instrument and construct validity was assessed.

Results:

Through the modified Delphi process a final list of 30 items, considered to be the most essential items for achieving the goals of a level II-IV selective neck dissection, was developed. Construct validity was supported by a positive association between instrument scores compared to both resident postgraduate year level and number of head and neck rotations completed.

Conclusion:

The development and validation of a novel instrument for assessment of surgical competency in level II-IV selective neck dissection, a key indicator case in otolaryngology, is described. This new instrument may be used to provide objective feedback on overall and task-specific competency to identify surgical deficiencies and offer granular feedback to enhance surgical training.
Predictors of Access to Gifted Education: What Makes for a Successful School?
Authors: Peters Scott J. , Carter James S.
Published: March 2022

A wide research base has documented the disproportional enrollment in K-12 special education and gifted and talented services across racial and socioeconomic lines. This study extends that knowledge base by integrating multiple population-level datasets to better understand predictors of access to and enrollment in gifted and talented services and tested whether these variables remained predictive after controlling for state mandate to provide services, average district achievement, and average school achievement. Results showed that states varied, with some serving 20% of their students as gifted and others serving 0%. Similarly, within-district income segregation, income-related achievement gaps, and parental education were dominant predictors of a school offering gifted and talented services and the size of the population served, even after controlling for achievement and the presence of a state mandate. These findings suggest that gifted and talented programs are often made available based on school or community demographics rather than the needs of the students.
Vaccination rates against COVID-19 in patients with severe mental illness attending community mental health services in rural Greece
Authors: Peritogiannis Vaios , Drakatos Ioannis , Gioti Panagiota , Garbi Aikaterini
Published: March 2022

Background:

Patients with severe mental illness (SMI) may be at increased risk for COVID-19-related severe morbidity and mortality. There is limited research on the vaccination rates against COVID-19 in patients with SMI.

Aims:

The objective of the present study is to explore vaccination rates and co-relations in patients with SMI, attending community mental health services, namely the Mobile Mental Health Units (MMHUs) in rural Greece.

Method:

All treatment engaged patients with SMI (schizophrenia-spectrum or bipolar disorder) with two MMHUs (MMHU of Kefalonia, Zakynthos and Ithaca, [MMHU KZI] and MMHU of the prefectures of Ioannina and Thesprotia [MMHU I-T]) in rural Greece were enrolled prospectively over a six-month period. The MMHU I-T had adopted a more proactive approach to patients’ vaccination, by informing patients and caregivers for its benefits.

Results:

Data were analyzed for 197 patients with SMI. The overall vaccination rate was 68.5% and did not differ from the respective rates in the general population. There were no differences in vaccination rates among patients attending the two MMHUs, nor among patients with different diagnoses (schizophrenia spectrum disorders or bipolar disorder). Vaccination was not associated with gender, educational level, history of alcohol and substance abuse, illness duration, or number of previous hospitalizations, whereas the effect size of age was moderate. In more than half non-vaccinated patients the refusal to get vaccinated was associated with fears and concerns as well as false beliefs that are encountered in the general population.

Conclusion:

In the present sample of treatment-engaged rural patients vaccination rates against COVID-19 appear to be satisfactory. There were no differences in vaccination rates with regard to the interventions that were applied to enhance vaccination. It seems that other forms of intervention should be applied to reluctant patients to modify their attitudes toward vaccination.
Street Traders and the Law: A Test of Vendors’ Encounters With Bribery and Extortion of Task Force Officials in Lagos State, Nigeria
Authors: Adisa Waziri B. , Ayobade Adebowale , Shittu Ayodele
Published: March 2022

This article interrogates street traders’ encounters with the bribery and extortion by task force officials in Lagos State, Nigeria, using a mixed method of social research survey, in-depth interview and observation. The study found that poverty ( p = 0.000), gender ( p = 0.001), location ( p = 0.009), employment status ( p = 0.003), family pressure ( p = 0.008) and payment of remittance ( p = 0.000) are significant predictors of willingness to bribe task force officials ( p < 0.001). It also established that traders, who perceived the street trading law of Lagos as a deterrent law, tended to bribe task force officials in order to escape justice.
The Long Arm of Prospective Childhood Income for Mature Adult Health in the United States
Authors: Brady David , Guerra Christian , Kohler Ulrich , Link Bruce
Published: March 2022

Pioneering scholarship links retrospective childhood conditions to mature adult health. We distinctively provide critical evidence with prospective state-of-the-art measures of parent income observed multiple times during childhood in the 1970s to 1990s. Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we analyze six health outcomes (self-rated health, heart attack, stroke, life-threatening chronic conditions, non-life-threatening chronic conditions, and psychological distress) among 40- to 65-year-olds. Parent relative income rank has statistically and substantively significant relationships with five of six outcomes. The relationships with heart attack, stroke, and life-threatening chronic conditions are particularly strong. Parent income rank performs slightly better than alternative prospective and retrospective measures. At the same time, we provide novel validation on which retrospective measures (i.e., father’s education) perform almost as well as prospective measures. Furthermore, we inform several perennial debates about how relative versus absolute income and other measures of socioeconomic status and social class influence health.
State weakness and support for ethnic violence in Southern Kyrgyzstan
Authors: Ash Konstantin
Published: March 2022

Does state weakness increase support for ethnic violence? This study proposes individuals who feel insecure due to state weakness are more likely to support interethnic violence conditional on exposure to chauvinist messaging. Support for interethnic violence is evaluated through a survey experiment in Southern Kyrgyzstan. The results show random assignment of chauvinist nationalist rhetoric only induces support for interethnic violence among respondents who trust informal non-state actors from their ethnic group to provide them security. The findings suggest state weakness leads individuals to view their ethnic group as an alternative provider of security and that when primed by chauvinist rhetoric, these individuals become more supportive of violence on their group’s behalf. A case study of the 2010 riots in the Southern Kyrgyz city of Osh illustrates how underlying support for violence may escalate to actual violence as a result of state breakdown, examining events in the months after the Kyrgyz state lost authority following the April 2010 revolution. Jointly, the survey findings and case study illustrate pathways for violence in ethnically divided low-capacity environments and potential drawbacks from protest-oriented revolutions.
Windows of repression: Using COVID-19 policies against political dissidents?
Authors: Barceló Joan , Kubinec Robert , Cheng Cindy , Rahn Tiril Høye , Messerschmidt Luca
Published: March 2022

What explains the great variation in the adoption, timing, and duration of government policies made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? In this article, we explore whether government incentives to repress domestic dissidents influence their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. We argue that COVID-19 containment policies are observationally equivalent to those that abusive governments use to limit domestic dissent – that is, policies that restrict citizens’ freedom of movement. This creates an opportunity for abusive governments to engage in repressive behavior without countervailing pressure from citizens and the international community. Following this logic, we expect abusive governments to be more likely to adopt restrictive policies, adopt them earlier in the course of the pandemic, and take longer to relax restrictions. Empirically, we find that governments that have recently engaged in state violence against civilians or abused citizens’ human rights were about 10% more likely to enact lockdown and curfew policies. Compared to less repressive countries, these policies were implemented approximately 48 days earlier in the pandemic and kept in place for approximately 23 days longer. Overall, our results advance our understanding of how the repressiveness of state institutions can shape policy responses to a global health crisis.
COVID-19, state capacity, and political violence by non-state actors
Authors: Koehnlein Britt , Koren Ore
Published: March 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has constrained the ability of states across the world to govern and control their territories. As the state reduces its activities, space opens for violent non-state actors working for and against the state to fill the vacuum. Highlighting this trend, the present study evaluates the effects of COVID-19 and pandemics more broadly on attacks by non-state actors. Our theory emphasizes the incentives of both rebels and pro-government non-state actors (PGNs) to increase their attack frequency as disease spreads and the state retracts its governance activities to preserve resources needed elsewhere. In the first case, we highlight how the pandemic allows rebels to reduce asymmetries of power with respect to the military and establish themselves as a viable government alternative. In the second case, PGNs, which provide an alternative to militaries, are deployed to these contested spaces to thwart or pre-empt rebellion during the pandemic. Employing daily-level data on the annual change in armed conflict and COVID-19 cases across 127 countries between 1 January 2020 and 15 June 2020, we test both claims using an econometric identification strategy. We do not find clear evidence that COVID-19 led to a higher frequency of rebel attacks, suggesting that these groups prefer to bolster their standing using nonviolent means, or avoid fighting and preserve their resources. In contrast, we find that the frequency of PGN attacks has increased with COVID-19 prevalence compared with last year. Case studies of insurgent and PGN activity in Afghanistan and Nigeria lend additional support to these results, illustrating some underlying mechanisms. Our findings explore overlooked challenges that pandemics and other disasters pose to conflict mitigation and the role PGNs play in these contexts.
Disaster diplomacy: The intricate links between disaster and conflict
Authors: Reinhardt Gina Yannitell , Lutmar Carmela
Published: March 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has drawn worldwide attention to the difficulties inherent in managing disasters. Scholars across disciplines have been forced to consider the impact disasters have on interstate relations, state resilience, patterns of violence and hostility, and the vulnerabilities that condition conflict. This special issue offers new insights to help disentangle the relationship between disasters, conflict, and cooperation, by adhering to a three-pronged theoretical framework. First, all pieces in this issue are underpinned by a unified understanding of disasters as endogenous social phenomena. Second, we acknowledge that disasters occur as processes rather than discrete events. Finally, we explore the possibility that disasters and conflict are co-determined by a common set of factors. The articles herein were chosen not only because they advance academic thought about the disaster–conflict nexus, but also because of their potential to advance the practical impact of this line of research on the global conflict and disaster landscape. We highlight the relevance of this special issue for further work investigating the effects of conflict on disasters and the relationship between the hazards cycle process and patterns of violence and hostility, as well as the implications of adopting this suggested framework for policymaking and data collection.
Black Men’s Experiences of Colourism in the UK
Authors: Phoenix Aisha , Craddock Nadia
Published: March 2022

Colourism – skin shade prejudice – is a social justice issue for People of Colour globally. Yet, there has been no major sociological study that explores colourism in the UK. Addressing this gap, we draw on nine in-depth qualitative interviews with Black and Mixed-Race heterosexual men living in England that formed part of a larger study of colourism. Using reflexive thematic analysis through an intersectional feminist lens, we argue that colourism is gendered. We found that Black men both experience colourism and perpetuate it by teasing male peers and favouring women with light skin. Our analysis generated three themes: (1) navigating colourism as part of growing up; (2) skin shade paradoxes for Black and Mixed-Race men; and (3) colourism and desirability through the Black male gaze. This research provides a nuanced exploration of colourism from Black and Mixed-Race men’s perspectives. It underscores the significance of colourism in the UK.
Fast detection of cotton content in silk/cotton textiles by handheld near-infrared spectroscopy: a performance comparison of four different instruments
Authors: Yang Shuo , Zhao Zi-niu , Yan Hui , Siesler Heinz W.
Published: March 2022

Its extraordinary chemical and physical properties have made silk one of the most versatile and comfortable fiber fabrics for a multiplicity of customers and industrial applications. However, this development has led to fraud and adulteration attempts for a multitude of consumer goods. In these respects, the potential and increasing affordability of handheld near-infrared (NIR) spectrometers makes them an attractive tool for customers to fight these evils efficiently. In this work, the rapid quantitative analysis of the purity level of silk adulterated with cotton by four different handheld NIR instruments, the NeoSpectra Scanner, Viavi MicroNIR 1700, Spectral Engines NR 2.0-W, and SenoCorder Solid, and their detection performances were compared with a benchtop NIR instrument (Thermo Antaris II). With these instruments, samples with 0–100% (w/w) cotton content were measured, spectral pretreatment methods were performed, and partial least squares calibration models were developed. The results showed that while the root mean square error values of approximately 1.9%(w/w) cotton were obtained with the benchtop instrument, the corresponding values for the handheld instruments varied in the range from 2.5% to 4.0%(w/w) cotton. Generally, a large signal-to-noise ratio and an extended available wavelength/wavenumber range had a beneficial effect on the prediction performance of the developed calibration model. Notwithstanding the diversity of instrumental parameters of the tested instruments, it can be concluded that all handheld spectrometers under investigation qualified as suitable tools for the detection of cotton adulterations in silk materials.
A Multifaceted Portrait of Students’ Connectedness to Urban Schools
Authors: Strijbos Jetske , Engels Nadine
Published: March 2022

In this study, as part of an intervention program in which students and their teachers participated in a school development project, we examined students’ perceptions of connectedness to their urban school. A photovoice method was employed to map out the multiple emotions associated with the school connectedness experienced by 61 students from four Brussels’ schools. Five different but simultaneously occurring emotional themes were revealed: togetherness, respect, success, readiness for learning, and pride. Moreover, students articulated the drivers that positively affect each of these emotional themes. Together, they provide guidance for creating a fertile ground for democratic practice in urban schools.
Moving Beyond Individual-Level Explanations: Exploring the Contextual Correlates of Mass Murder
Authors: Fridel Emma E.
Published: March 2022

Due to the rarity of mass murder, scholars have focused almost exclusively on its individual-level risk factors, assuming that structural characteristics play a negligible role in the etiology of this infrequent but impactful crime. This study explores whether local structural factors influence the incidence rate of mass murder and its logical comparison group, homicide. Using information from a novel mass killing database as well as the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR), two-level count regression models examine the county- and state-level factors that predict the number of mass murder ( N = 549) and homicide incidents ( N = 274,399) in 3,143 U.S. counties from 2000 to 2018. Results indicate that mass murder is more likely to occur in disadvantaged and racially/ethnically heterogeneous areas, similar to homicide in general. Future research should examine both perpetrators and their environments instead of assuming that mass murders are exclusively driven by individual-level factors.
Prevalence and predictors of staff victimization of students in Kosovo
Authors: Arënliu Aliriza , Benbenishty Rami , Kelmendi Kaltrina , Duraku Zamira Hyseni , Konjufca Jon , Astor Ron Avi
Published: March 2022

Student victimization by school staff members has important potential consequences for students’ academic achievement and physical and psychological outcomes. Several studies have shown that such victimization exists in multiple contexts and there is considerable variation in prevalence among contexts. This study examined the prevalence of student victimization in public schools by staff members and its relationships with other school-related factors in the context of Kosovo. The sample was designed to represent all students from Grades 6–9 in 13 of Kosovo's 38 municipalities. The sample consisted of 12,040 students from 100 schools, 49.2% of whom were female. They were equally divided between Grades 6 to 9. Overall, more than a quarter of the students reported that a staff member victimized them in the last month. The least prevalent victimization type was sexual—touched or tried to touch you in a sexual manner (2.3%). The most prevalent physical behavior was slapping (15.8%); 12.7% reported being offended or humiliated by a staff member and 8.3% indicated that a staff member cursed them. Boys were victimized significantly more than girls for all types of victimization. The strongest predictors of staff victimization of students were students’ involvement in peer-to-peer victimization and risky behaviors, which were correlated with school climate. Future research should examine each type of staff victimization of students (emotional, physical, sexual) separately and test comprehensive models that include multiple predictors, including contextual and school-level variables and staff characteristics.
Standard Errors of Kernel Equating: Accounting for Bandwidth Estimation
Authors: Marcq Kseniia , Andersson Björn
Published: March 2022

In standardized testing, equating is used to ensure comparability of test scores across multiple test administrations. One equipercentile observed-score equating method is kernel equating, where an essential step is to obtain continuous approximations to the discrete score distributions by applying a kernel with a smoothing bandwidth parameter. When estimating the bandwidth, additional variability is introduced which is currently not accounted for when calculating the standard errors of equating. This poses a threat to the accuracy of the standard errors of equating. In this study, the asymptotic variance of the bandwidth parameter estimator is derived and a modified method for calculating the standard error of equating that accounts for the bandwidth estimation variability is introduced for the equivalent groups design. A simulation study is used to verify the derivations and confirm the accuracy of the modified method across several sample sizes and test lengths as compared to the existing method and the Monte Carlo standard error of equating estimates. The results show that the modified standard errors of equating are accurate under the considered conditions. Furthermore, the modified and the existing methods produce similar results which suggest that the bandwidth variability impact on the standard error of equating is minimal.
‘A powerful, spiritual, win-win situation’: commercial authenticity in professional birth photography
Authors: Ribak Rivka , Leshnick Anat
Published: March 2022

Against a background of occlusion and medicalized portrayals, the emergent practice of birth photography allows women to see and to depict birth from their own perspective. Thus the delivery room, the digital camera, and the direct encounter between the artisan and her client enable exploring the possibility of alternative depictions in a neoliberal economy, and the significance of professionalism in a field dominated by expert amateurs. Drawing upon interviews with photographers and clients, our analysis highlights three tensions underlying birth photography as a documentary and entrepreneurial pursuit: the formulaic depiction of an extraordinary event; the exposure of an intimate experience; and the commercialization of the sacred. We find that in terms of content, birth photographs present restrained, conventional depictions, suitable for both the family album and the photographers’ social media portfolios. In terms of practice, although desired by their clients, birth photographers’ work is unstable and they must constantly invest in relational labor that balances intimacy and publicness, friending and advertising. We propose the notion of commercial authenticity to capture this contradictory amalgam of disciplined realism, edited documentation, and professional closeness that both clients and photographers expect, produce, and regard as appropriate in the context of artisanal photography.
Local fiction series: the value of European Public Service Media (1990–2020)
Authors: Navarro Celina , García-Muñoz Núria , Delgado Matilde
Published: March 2022

This paper investigates the role of European Public Service Media (PSM) in the commissioning and scheduling of local series over the past three decades. With a comparative approach between the main European television markets (Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Italy and Spain), the schedules of 30 seasons of 25 general-interest channels have been analysed to explore how the changes in the markets have altered the role of public channels as promoters of domestic fiction and local culture. The study shows a clear division along a Northern European axis with a large, uninterrupted commissioning of locally produced fiction, while Southern European public corporations have had a lower, more erratic approach. Despite this difference, all European PSM organisations analysed have maintained and increased the volume of local series titles during the last decade despite the appearance of portfolio DTT channels and transnational SVOD services, in contrast to commercial corporations.
Micro foaming performance of scCO2-aid glutaraldehyde/hexametaphosphate/thermoplastic starch foams modified by alkali treatment and montmorillonite nano-platelets
Authors: Wang Ke , Huang Ya-qiong , Cheng Xiao-han , Yeh Jen-taut
Published: March 2022

The micro foaming performance, moisture resistance and dynamic viscosity of scCO2-aid glutaraldehyde/hexametaphosphate/thermoplastic tapioca starch (GA/SHMP/TOS) foams were considerably improved by proper NaOH treatment. The expansion ratio, resilience rate, dynamic viscosity values of these NaOH modified foams improved to a maximum, as the time for NaOH treatment approached a proper value. The dynamic viscosity, expansion ratio and resilience rate of the scCO2-aid GA/SHMP/TOS foams modified using 110 atm scCO2-pressure, the proper alkali treatment time, SHMP loading and varying montmorillonite (MMT) loadings improved further, as their MMT loadings approached a proper value of 2.5 part per hundred parts of tapioca starch (PHTOS). Relatively large dynamic viscosity (7.1x104 Pa·s), extremely large expansion ratio (∼75), cell density (1.1x109 cells/cm3) and/or resilience rate (∼80%) were acquired for the scCO2-aid GA/SHMP/TOS/MMT foam modified using the proper alkali treatment time and MMT loading. Thermal analyses results showed that crystallization onset temperatures and crystallization rates of scCO2-aid GA/SHMP/TOS/MMT foams modified using the proper alkali treatment time and varying MMT loadings improved to a highest value by adding 2.5 PHTOS of MMT nano-platelets. Possible reasons accounting for the considerably improved micro foaming performance of scCO2-aid GA/SHMP/TOS/MMT foams modified using the proper alkali treatment time and MMT loading are proposed in this study.
Reconsider the triangle: Effects of birth parents’ communicative practices on Chinese hidden children’s identification with family of origin
Authors: Xiong Hui , Dai Zehui , Xie Yinxue
Published: March 2022

Employing the theoretical approach of discourse dependence, the present study investigates the effects of birth parents’ communicative practices upon Chinese hidden children’s identification with family of origin before and after family reunification. Semi-structured interviews with 10 hidden children presented a birth parent-centered triangle of communication among birth parents, hidden children, and foster caregivers. The birth parents’ open communication with hidden children and foster caregivers, display of affections, along with the representation of family membership, affected hidden children’s birth family identification. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Biometric system for protecting information and improving service delivery: The case of a developing country's social security and pension organisation
Authors: Owusu-Oware Emmanuel , Effah John
Published: March 2022

The conception of biometric systems as a means of securing sensitive information and enhancing service delivery remains under-researched. To address this knowledge gap, we explore the case of a public-sector social security and pension organisation in Ghana using a qualitative interpretative study approach and the information security model of confidentiality-integrity-availability as an analytical lens. The study's findings indicate that integrating and using biometric identification and authentication as part of delivering social security and pension services can protect availability, confidentiality, and integrity of information. The findings further show that the use of a biometric system for social security and pension information security can contribute to reducing service turnaround time and vulnerability to fraudulent manipulation of benefits payments. The study provides implications for research, practice, and policy. For research, the paper opens up biometric systems’ study from the perspective of information security and service improvement. For practice and policy, the study demonstrates the importance of aligning biometric systems’ deployment and use with domain application requirements.
The Effectiveness of Exercise Interventions to Improve Gait and Balance in Individuals with Lower Limb Amputations: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis
Authors: Abou Libak , Fliflet Alexander , Zhao Luqi , Du Yiting , Rice Laura
Published: March 2022

Objective

To investigate the effectiveness of exercise interventions to improve gait and balance in individuals with lower limb amputations.

Methods

A systematic search was conducted on the PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SPORTDiscuss, and CINAHL databases until January 2022. Only randomized control trials that evaluated adults (>18 years old) with lower limb amputations and compared any exercise intervention with a traditional prosthetic training were included in the study. Two independent researchers screened articles for inclusion, extracted data, and evaluated the methodological quality of the trials. Findings were summarized and meta-analysis was conducted.

Results

Fifteen randomized clinical trials with 594 participants were included in the study and 12 in quantitative synthesis. Meta-analysis indicates that exercise interventions significantly improved walking distance measured with the 2-Minute Walking Test compared to traditional training (mean difference-MD: 8.38, 95% CI: 2.54−14.23; P < 0.01). Gait speed performance also significantly improved after exercise interventions compared to traditional training (MD: 0.10, 95% CI, 0.03−0.16, P <0.01). Meta-analysis of exercise interventions compared to traditional training on the Locomotor Capabilities Index, Timed Up and Go, and Activities-specific Balance Confidence did not show a statistically significant difference (P > 0.05). However, the qualitative analysis demonstrated significant improvement in balance performance after different exercise interventions and traditional training. The studies demonstrated overall good methodological quality.

Conclusion

Specific exercise interventions are more effective than traditional prosthetic training to improve walking speed and walking distance among people with lower limb amputation. Findings on balance outcomes are inconsistent and deserve further exploration.
“El camino por recorrer”: Parent Perspectives on Early Autism Intervention in Mexico
Authors: Hampton Lauren H. , Herrera-Carrillo Francisco Eugenio , Vargas Londono Fabiola , Villarreal Enrique G. , Martínez Cueto Ana Paula
Published: March 2022

Parents of children on the autism spectrum are important members of their child’s early intervention team, yet there are multiple barriers to translating evidence-based parent-mediated interventions in Mexico. We examined early intervention needs in the Mexican population and compared these needs to those of the Latinx Spanish-speaking population in the United States. A total of 242 parents in Mexico and the United States responded to our survey. Results indicate that few parents in Mexico receive parent training during early intervention, parents in Mexico are less likely than Latinx parents in the United States to report speech-language services, and most parents across both groups reported that they wished that they had more tools to support development and address challenging behavior. Responses to open-ended survey questions were coded qualitatively for themes and subthemes. We provide four recommendations for adapting early interventions in Mexico and discuss implications for future research and practice.
Police Chiefs, Organizational Justice, and Body-Worn Cameras: A Key to Releasing Video Footage
Authors: Bromberg Daniel E.
Published: March 2022

This study addresses a missing link in the organizational justice literature—a police chief's trust in their officers. Most organizational and procedural justice studies examine these concepts from an officer's perspective, but fail to capture how leaders perceive their officers. Trust, however, is a relational concept, which implies there might be effects of a leader's trust in their officers. This study addresses if a police chief's level of trust in officers will affect their behavior as related to the release of body-worn camera footage. Body-worn cameras have been adopted across the United States and all over the world. However, if the footage they capture is rarely shared, cameras impact will be minimal. The findings suggest that if a chief has higher levels of trust in their officers, then the chief's willingness to release footage is increased, potentially leading to an improved relationship between law enforcement and communities.