bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Social prescribing for individuals with mental health problems: An ethnographic study exploring the mechanisms of action through which community groups support psychosocial well-being
Authors: Aughterson Henry , Fancourt Daisy , Chatterjee Helen , Burton Alexandra
Published: March 2024

Background Social prescribing involves connecting individuals to community groups and activities, often to support their mental health and well-being. It has received increasing support in recent years across the NHS. There is a strong evidence base for the benefits of different types of community activities, including exercise groups, arts groups and nature interventions, on mental health outcomes, however, less is known about how these groups impact mental health and well-being. This study explores through what individual-level mechanisms (the ‘how’) these groups support psychosocial well-being. Methods An ethnographic study was conducted over 12-months to explore key shared, individual-level mechanisms across 4 social prescribing community groups: football, singing, gardening and reading. This study focused mostly on those with severe mental illness, whereas previously most social prescribing studies have focused on mild to moderate mental health problems. To frame the findings, a ‘multi-level theoretical framework of mechanisms of action’ of leisure activities was used. Results Key shared psychological mechanisms were: increased self-confidence and self-esteem, increased purpose/meaning, increased sense of achievement, experience of pleasure; social mechanisms included: increased social support, formation of friendships and reduced loneliness, enhanced sense of community and belonging; behavioural mechanisms were: increased independence and openness to experience, reduction in addictive behaviours and building healthier habits, increased work-seeking behaviour, and provision of structure & routine. Conclusions It is hoped that the findings of this study can help referring professionals increase their understanding of exactly how such groups support individuals’ mental health, thus enhancing referring practices.
The genome sequence of the yellow-legged black legionnaire, Beris chalybata (Forster, 1771)
Authors: Crowley Liam M. , Akinmusola Ruth Y. ,   University of Oxford and Wytham Woods Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: March 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Beris chalybata (the yellow-legged black legionnaire; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Stratiomyidae). The genome sequence is 541.9 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 6 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the X and Y sex chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 16.8 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 17,511 protein coding genes.
The genome sequence of the Orchid Beetle, Dascillus cervinus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Authors: Spilling Chris , Sivell Olga , Kusy Dominik ,   Natural History Museum Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: March 2024

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Dascillus cervinus (the Orchid Beetle; Arthropoda; Insecta; Coleoptera; Dascillidae). The genome sequence is 282.7 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 9 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the X and Y sex chromosomes. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 20.66 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 15,761 protein coding genes.
Sprawozdanie z konferencji „Toruńskie Spotkania z Prawem Handlowym. Spotkanie trzecie” (Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika, Toruń, 10 marca 2023 r.)
Authors: Sikorska-Lewandowska Aleksandra , Kłoda Mariusz Tomasz , Moszyńska Anna
Published: March 2024

Dnia 10 marca 2023 r. odbyło się trzecie spotkanie w ramach cyklicznie organizowanej Ogólnopolskiej Konferencji Naukowej pn. „Toruńskie Spotkania z Prawem Handlowym”. Jej organizatorem była Katedra Prawa Handlowego, Morskiego i Postępowania Cywilnego Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu. Tematyka konferencji obejmowała najnowsze zmiany w prawie spółek handlowych oraz zagadnienia dotyczące sporów sądowych na tle kredytów denominowanych.
A retórica amena de Alexandre de Gusmão (1629-1724, SJ)
Authors: Silva Isabel Scremin da
Published: March 2024

Este artigo propõe uma investigação acerca da concepção de retórica para Alexandre de Gusmão (1629- 1724), padre que atuou à frente da Companhia de Jesus na América Portuguesa entre os séculos XVII e XVIII. Servirão de matéria a este artigo alguns dos escritos do jesuíta, conforme análise de passagens em que define sua noção de estilo, atrelada a virtudes teológicas e a efeitos letrados de humildade, simplicidade, sinceridade e verdade, conceituados em oposição a excessos elocutórios de “retórica humana”. Veremos que Gusmão, embora visasse a objetivos instrutivos, usava de retórica amena e deleitosa para promover o entendimento da doutrina católica pós-tridentina além-mar.
O universo da linguagem: sobre a língua e as línguas, de Aldo Bizzocchi
Authors: Castro Jonathas de Cerqueira
Published: March 2024

Resenha do livro:
BIZZOCCHI, Aldo. O universo da linguagem: sobre a língua e as línguas. São Paulo: Contexto, 2021.
A negociação de objetos de discurso em interação digital polêmica no Twitter
Authors: Rocha Francisco Felipe de Oliveira , Bezerra Lidiane de Morais Diógenes
Published: March 2024

Este trabalho objetiva investigar de que forma os interlocutores negociam os objetos de discurso ou referen­tes numa interação digital polêmica via Twitter. O corpus constitui-se das respostas de usuários da referida rede social a um tweet do perfil da Folha de S. Paulo que veicula uma notícia sobre o uso da linguagem neutra pelo governo Lula. Para alcançar o objetivo pretendido, valemo-nos das contribuições teóricas de alguns autores, entre os quais: Amossy (2020), Cavalcante et al. (2020) e Macedo (2018), para abordar as bases te­óricas da Teoria da Argumentação no Discurso e de sua interface com a Linguística Textual; Amossy (2017), para tratar da modalidade polêmica de argumentação; e Mondada e Dubois (2003), Custódio Filho (2011) e Cavalcante, Custódio Filho e Brito (2014), para discutir o fenômeno da referenciação. Nossa análise revelou que a configuração da modalidade polêmica passa diretamente pelo modo como os interlocutores negociam conflituosamente os referentes mais salientes na interação. Confirmou-se, assim, a proficuidade da interface entre Linguística Textual e Teoria da Argumentação no Discurso.
A mentoria na formação docente: negociando sentidos na Prática como Componente Curricular (PCC)
Authors: Roschel Nunes Elaine
Published: March 2024

O objetivo deste artigo é revisitar a proposta de mentoria na formação inicial de professoras/es de línguas com vistas a incentivar a Criatividade Local, como um entre-espaço contingente e dinâmico de negociação de sentidos entre condições locais e demandas globais (NUNES, 2022). Para investigar como um programa de mentoria contribui para a percepção desse entrelugar e do valor das práticas locais, foram propostas ativida­des de saída a campo em um curso que tem como eixo a prática como componente curricular (PCC). Como suporte teórico, entrelaçam-se a Psicologia da Criatividade, a Psicologia Humanista, as premissas da agência pedagógica no modelo KARDS de Kumaravadivelu (2012), além de estudos acerca do papel da mentoria na formação inicial de professoras/es, envolvendo perspectivas decoloniais e interculturais. Os resultados deste processo são comparados com o panorama da tese, considerando a extensão da proposta de mentoria, o tempo e a disponibilidade para sua realização na disciplina. A análise dos resultados revela a emergência de espaços dialógicos de negociação e criação para a práxis pedagógica, além de apontar para a necessidade de lidar com os desconfortos provocados pelos deslocamentos a partir de perspectivas críticas e decoloniais.
A complexa miscelânea da criação
Authors: Quintiliano Deise , Stanke Roberta
Published: March 2024

Apresentação à Matraga 61.
TURISMO E ECONOMIA CRIATIVA
Authors: Poli Karina
Published: March 2024

Esse texto é parte do resultado de um trabalho didático desenvolvido junto com os alunos de graduação do curso de Turismo da Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro, onde se pretendeu analisar quatro espaços culturais da cidade do Rio de Janeiro: Fundição Progresso, Fábrica Bhering, Circo Voador e Muhcab, para estudar a relação entre políticas públicas, participação social, espaços culturais e as centralidades territoriais culturais e turísticas.
Improving care for patients with multiple long-term conditions admitted to hospital: challenges and potential solutions
Authors: McDonald Claire , Cooper Rachel , Sayer Avan A , Witham Miles D
Published: March 2024

Increasing numbers of people live with multiple long-term conditions. These people are more likely to be admitted to hospital, experience adverse outcomes and receive poorer quality care than those with a single condition. Hospitals remain organised around a model of single-organ, disease-specific care which is not equipped to meet the needs of people living with multiple long-term conditions. This article considers these challenges and explores potential solutions. These include different service models to provide holistic, multidisciplinary inpatient and outpatient care across specialty boundaries, training a workforce to deliver high-quality hospital care for people living with multiple long-term conditions, and developing technological, financial and cultural enablers of change. Considerably more research is required to fully appreciate the shared risk factors, underlying mechanisms, patterns and consequences of multiple long-term conditions. This is essential to design and deliver better structures and processes of hospital care for people living with multiple long-term conditions.
A HISTÓRIA DA CIÊNCIA NA EDUCAÇÃO CIENTÍFICA: UMA REVISÃO DE LITERATURA
Authors: De Oliveira Rodrigues Gustavo Matheus , Rodrigues Junior Edmundo , Pereira de Oliveira Paulo José
Published: March 2024

A abordagem da história da ciência na educação científica tem se mostrado um campo de pesquisa com cada vez mais espaço e importância, dadas suas potencialidades no aprimoramento do ensino de ciências. Por esta razão, este artigo apresenta o resultado de uma revisão de literatura, entre jan de 2010 e abril de 2020 que consiste em identificar e analisar os artigos que tratam especificamente de propostas para aproximar o conhecimento gerado por trabalhos de pesquisadores de história da ciência no ensino, com os professores de ciências. A pesquisa, de cunho qualitativo foi realizada buscando termos específicos em um conjunto de periódicos selecionados pela abrangência e classificação do novo qualis capes 2019. Foram criadas categorias de análise e, por meio da técnica de análise do conteúdo, os artigos foram agrupados e analisados. A categoria obtida reuniu trabalhos relacionados à natureza da ciência e a evolução dos conceitos de física. As implicações didáticas da natureza da ciência parece ser um ponto de convergência interessante entre os teóricos.
O PAPEL DOS SERES EXTREMÓFILOS NO ENTENDIMENTO DA ORIGEM DA VIDA, E SUA INFLUÊNCIA PARA O DESENVOLVIMENTO DA VIDA EXTRATERRESTRE NA TERRA
Authors: P. de Almeida Ronaldo , Nogueira Melo da Rosa Marcia , Fernandes de Fernandes Iranderly , Fernandes Martin Vera Aparecida
Published: March 2024

A vida surgiu neste planeta há 3,8 bilhões de anos atrás, mas até hoje o homem vem levantando hipóteses sobre esse aparecimento ter acontecido fora da Terra. O presente artigo se propõe a discutir algumas das evidências que colocam em foco as teorias de origem da vida como sendo extraterrestre, bem como analisa algumas das consequências das possibilidades de um encontro entre formas de vida interplanetárias. Na primeira parte, é feita uma introdução sobre o tema, destacando o papel dos seres extremófilos na compreensão da origem da vida na Terra ou fora dela. Na segunda parte, é feita uma breve revisão sobre a Teoria da Panspermia, ampliando a de como seria a relação entre seres terrestres e extraterrestres. Por fim, é apresentada considerações próprias que defendem a visão dos autores, deixando claro a noção de que este estudo é mais um instrumento que fomenta o debate sobre esse tema tão complexo.
Korean Unification: A Pandora’s Box of Northeast Asia?
Authors: Kang C.S. Eliot
Published: March 2024

Abstract: In recent years, the concern about North Korea’s nuclear weapons potential has dominated the discussion of peace and security in Northeast Asia. However, in the long run, the more interesting topic may be how the reunification of Korea will affect the stability of that region. Given the glacial pace of reforms in North Korea, the possibility of North Korean collapse and the subsequent reunification of the Korean peninsula under South Korean terms is very real. Such an outcome could trigger a wholesale restructuring of security relations among major powers that have vital interests in the region. Indeed, the reemergence of united Korea could prove disruptive and force a fundamental realignment of power throughout the Asia Pacific as reunified Korea pursues various options (including nuclear armed-neutrality) to ensure its survival. Though the continuing economic integration of the region and various cooperative security measures may mitigate conflict, Korean reunification can only complicate the management of emerging multipolarity in that part of the world.
De-Bureaucratization of Politics: Hong Kong as a Case Study
Authors: Lam Jermain T.M.
Published: March 2024

Abstract: This article aims to examine the changing relationship between bureaucrats and politicians and to explore the implications of their relationship for the politics of transition in Hong Kong. The dynamic relationship between politics and administration is reversing from the “bureaucratization of politics” to the greater separation of politics and administration. Mutual distrust, tension, and an incongruence of values between the politicians and the bureaucrats characterize their relationship. This kind of incongruent relationship between bureaucrats and politicians would be detrimental to the maintenance of prosperity and the stability of Hong Kong during the political transition from a British colony to a Chinese Special Administrative Region.
Going South: Global Restructuring and Garment Production in Three East Asian Cases
Authors: Smith David A.
Published: March 2024

Abstract: The textile and garment industries are extremely interesting cases of global economic restructuring. This paper illustrates the factors promoting the shift of apparel production— and other light industries—away from core and semiperipheral regions in the world-economy, illuminates some of the complexities and nuances of that process, and discusses the implications of this for the regional division of labor in East Asia. The story begins in South Korea, where apparel manufacturing, which grew rapidly during the 1970s and 1980s, faces an uncertain future in the 1990s, due to escalating wages and severe labor shortages. This forces Korean garment makers to seek “offshore” production sites. Southeast Asia, along with Central America and the Caribbean, became attractive targets for Korean apparel investment. In the 1980s, Indonesia, with its cheap and abundant labor and a state eager to welcome foreign investment, was a powerful magnet for garmerit capital from Korean and the other Asian NICs. Despite some recent wage pressure and labor unrest, this country—along with China—seems well-positioned to continue as a major global “sourcing” area. More recently, Vietnam, with a nominally Communist regime pushing a policy of “market liberalization” and gradually improving relations with its old enemy the United States, appears poised to become a big player in world apparel production. Garment manufacturers from South Korea and elsewhere have begun to set up factories in Vietnam to take advantage of the country’s large, industrious, and extremely cheap labor force. Dealing with a rapidly changing global apparel production and marketing system presents special challenges to the states, local capital, and workers throughout this region.
Campaign Strategy of Interest Groups in Korea: The Case of the 14th Presidential Election
Authors: Lee Chung-Hee
Published: March 2024

Abstract: Through the process of democratization after the mid- 1980s, the various interests which had not been expressed under the rule of authoritarian government are being expressed actively by interest groups. Active participation in the election process is one of their important methods to influence the political process for their interests. The purpose of this paper is to examine how major Korean interest groups established and carried out their strategies to express their interests throughout the 14th presidential election, and to explore their effectiveness. As expected, only a few limited interest groups established strategic ends and systematically worked to accomplish them during the 14th presidential election. Their election strategies remain at the infant stage compared with that of the interest groups in advanced countries. However, Korean interest groups have potential to play an active and systematic role in coming elections, considering the internal and external factors effecting interest group politics. Interest groups in Korea should overcome their allergic attitudes toward political activities and recognize that the election is a good chance to express interests. At the same time, other political actors should encompass the interest groups’ normal activities including activities for the election. It is essential to establish permanent communication channels between the interest groups and other political actors.
The Politics of Nonpolitical Cooperation between South and North Korea
Authors: Yu Chong Son
Published: March 2024

Abstract: The article critically examines the possibilities and limitations of nonpolitical exchanges for the purpose of South-North Korean reconciliation. Proponents of “Korean unification through nonpolitical means” have always referred to functionalist theories of international integration for theoretical justification of their argument. The article discusses whether recent experiences of international integration can satisfactorily be explained in terms of functionalism, and what kinds of “non-functional” preconditions should be met for functionalism to work among nations. Then, the effectiveness of nonpolitical exchange between the two Koreas is reviewed and evaluated as a vehicle of Korean rapprochement. The argument here is that inter-Korean nonpolitical cooperation can never be separated from the politics of the rivalry. Korean reconciliation will require direct political discussions to settle “political” issues, rather than functional and nonpolitical cooperation alone. In Korea as in Europe and elsewhere, it is politics among nations that determines the fate of international functional cooperation, and not the other way around.
Economic Hardships, Political Opportunity Structure and Challenging Actions: A Time Series Analysis of South Korean Industrial Disputes, 1979–1991
Authors: Park MiKyoung Kim
Published: March 2024

Abstract: This paper uses South Korean industrial disputes to test the relationship between collective actions, and workers’ perceived economic hardships and macro-political opportunity structures. The findings of time series analyses suggest that none of the economic variables are relevant in explaining labor protests, while only a small number of the government s repressive tactics are statistically significant. On the other hand, most of the government s facilitative tactics are highly significant in explaining people’s collective actions. This test results can be a manifestation of the “rising political expectation” on the part of populace in a non-western authoritarian political setting.
The ASEANization of Regional Order in East Asia: A Failed Endeavor?
Authors: Haacke Jürgen
Published: March 2024

Abstract: This article explores the extent to which the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has succeeded in winning assent for its proposed principles and norms for interstate conduct, and recognition as an equal pole in an emerging regional order. The basic argument is that notwithstanding substantial evidence of ASEAN’s central role in key regional institutions and parallels between the ASEAN experience and those of other multilateral regional organizations, one cannot assume the ASEANization of East Asia’s regional order to be entrenched or irreversible. To demonstrate this, the article examines the challenges to the ASEANization of regional order in the security realm as posed by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States. Beijing has largely responded positively to ASEAN’s policy of engagement as regards confidence-building measures, but has been ambiguous about the extent to which it adheres to ASEAN’s normative framework in the pursuit of Chinese policy objectives in the South China Sea. By contrast, Washington squarely challenges the ASEAN framework. Concerning ASEAN’s struggle for recognition, neither China nor the United States appears prepared to accept ASEAN’s centrality or even equality in other than formal terms in the future regional security architecture, since such status runs counter to the two powers’ own identity claims and security interests.
Social and Political Dimensions of National Security in Korea, 1948–1999
Authors: Lim Hyun-Chin , Kim Byungki
Published: March 2024

Abstract: This paper emphasizes the need for change in Korea’s national security strategy to meet the challenges of the era of globalization. Up to now, we have conceived national security in terms of our relationship with North Korea, resulting in military defense and politically centered concepts of security. It is argued that national security can be enhanced under democracy. This is because the state’s accountability will be more developed as a result of transparency, mutual interaction with the public and the solidification of the collective responsibility for Korea’s national security. Thus, we firmly believe that national security will become more secure when the ruling elite will have acquired greater legitimacy through political stabilization and social integration. In this context the current regime, which has peacefully inherited power horizontally, must focus its national security policy not only on military, but also social and political issues. The concept of national security is not nebulous and nor should it be taken as such. We also understand national security as an organic instrument for protecting, preserving and enhancing the national interest. In this respect, we emphasize the holistic nature of our national security problematique. As we enter the Twenty-first century, we must approach our national security from a bilateral, regional and global perspective, transcending our traditional sight anchored in the immediate affairs of the Korean peninsula. If we were to approach our national security as mentioned above—through the multidimensional prism of national defense, political stability, social integration, economic growth, cultural adaptation and environmental protection—Korea will be able to enhance its national interest in holistic terms.
A Community-Based Participatory Approach in Applying the Sociocultural Resilience Model in U.S–Mexico Border Communities
Authors: Ingram Maia , Wilkinson-Lee Ada M. , Mantina Namoonga M. , Velasco Maria , Coronado Gloria , Gallegos Mark , Carvajal Scott C.
Published: March 2024

Abstract: Background: Behavioral models play a key role in identifying pathways to better health and provide a foundation for health promotion interventions. However, behavioral models based in epidemiological research may be limited in relevance and utility in practice. Objectives: We describe a participatory approach within a community-based participatory research partnership for integrating epidemiological and community perspectives into the application of the sociocultural resilience model (SRM). The SRM posits that cultural processes have a symbiotic relationship with health-promoting social processes, which contribute to the health advantages among Mexicanorigin and other Latinx populations. Methods: Community action board members engaged with academic partners to interpret and apply the SRM to a community-clinical linkages intervention implemented in the context of three U.S.–Mexico border communities. In a two-day workshop, partners engaged in a series of iterative discussions to reach common definitions and measures for SRM constructs. Results: Partners described daily cultural processes as the food they eat, how they communicate, and a collectivist approach to getting things done. For intervention activities, the partners opted for intergenerational storytelling, sharing of food, and artistic forms of expression. Partners included measures of cultural nuances such as border identity and the complexities that often arise from navigating bicultural norms. Conclusions: Collaborative approaches within community-based participatory research partnerships can facilitate the adaptation and measurement of conceptual health behavior models in community practice.
The Madness of Mold: Ecogothic in Nathaniel
Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables
Authors: Myers Joshua
Published: March 2024

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s description of a New England mansion in The House
of the Seven Gables (1851) relies on well-established gothic tropes that ghost certain environmental incidents and characters’ reactions to them. In turn, natural encroachment
on human structures seems an otherworldly and unlikely phenomenon. This rhetorical
move eases tension in stories where buildings symbolize U.S. success at mastering the
landscape but also reveals architecture’s constant vulnerability to outdoor elements.
This article examines Hawthorne’s depictions of decay to argue that widespread and
resilient fungi, most usually mold, underscore human anxieties about the environment lurking amid portrayals of gothic structures like the famed seven-gabled house.
Conditions of rot suggest the impermanence of buildings and, by extension, the limits
of conquering the natural world, exhibiting an ecological reality that appears less
troubling when represented through ghastly but impossible incidents. In Hawthorne’s
novel, the haunting presence of fungal forms in materials, both inside the house and in
the surrounding area, suggests failed ambitions and a passing socioeconomic status, so
that the story transforms decay into spectral manifestation. An ecogothic reading thus
highlights how sometimes unseen biological realities, such as conditions for fungal
growth, enhance supernatural and existential horrors while also distracting from
concerns about nature’s long-term damaging of human structures like houses. Like the
mold it studies, this essay treats the psychology of domestic spaces (a major Hawthornean theme) as permeable by showing that the novel’s gloomy atmosphere, ghostly
hauntings, alleged curses, and other fantastical events are enhanced by the presence of
a veiled ecological catalyst.
On the Economies of Brown Salvation: Impoverishment, Assimilationist Imaginaries, and Dominant-Caste Capture
Authors: Shankar Arjun
Published: March 2024

Abstract: This essay tackles the ontological distinctiveness of brown/ness by locating it within the (neo)colonially emplaced "economies of salvation." Although it is an underacknowledged aspect of the coloniality of power, colonial racial capitalism actually required an economy of salvation that demarcated racialized and gendered difference and hierarchy along the savior–saved binary. The essay elaborates on three ways that the economies of salvation structure the multivalent racial politics of brown/ness for dominant-caste Indians, both on the subcontinent and in its diaspora: (1) as impoverishment, (2) as assimilability, and (3) as (caste) capture. The "as" evinces the degree to which these three dimensions constitute the ontopoetic state that is brown/ness, producing some of its multivalent and contradictory affective intimacies.
Multiple instance learning framework can facilitate explainability in murmur detection
Authors: Rohr Maurice , Müller Benedikt , Dill Sebastian , Güney Gökhan , Hoog Antink Christoph
Published: March 2024

Objective

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for a high fatality rate worldwide. Heart murmurs can be detected from phonocardiograms (PCGs) and may indicate CVDs. Still, they are often overlooked as their detection and correct clinical interpretation require expert skills. In this work, we aim to predict the presence of murmurs and clinical outcomes from multiple PCG recordings employing an explainable multitask model.

Approach

Our approach consists of a two-stage multitask model. In the first stage, we predict the murmur presence in single PCGs using a multiple instance learning (MIL) framework. MIL also allows us to derive sample-wise classifications (i.e. murmur locations) while only needing one annotation per recording (“weak label”) during training. In the second stage, we fuse explainable hand-crafted features with features from a pooling-based artificial neural network (PANN) derived from the MIL framework. Finally, we predict the presence of murmurs and the clinical outcome for a single patient based on multiple recordings using a simple feed-forward neural network.

Main results

We show qualitatively and quantitatively that the MIL approach yields useful features and can be used to detect murmurs on multiple time instances and may thus guide a practitioner through PCGs. We analyze the second stage of the model in terms of murmur classification and clinical outcome. We achieved a weighted accuracy of 0.714 and an outcome cost of 13612 when using the PANN model and demographic features on the CirCor dataset (hidden test set of the George B. Moody PhysioNet challenge 2022, team “Heart2Beat”, rank 12 / 40).

Significance

To the best of our knowledge, we are the first to demonstrate the usefulness of MIL in PCG classification. Also, we showcase how the explainability of the model can be analyzed quantitatively, thus avoiding confirmation bias inherent to many post-hoc methods. Finally, our overall results demonstrate the merit of employing MIL combined with handcrafted features for the generation of explainable features as well as for a competitive classification performance.
Leveraging qualitative approaches to guide sustainable international research collaborations
Authors: Vandermause Roxanne , Kryah Rachel , Bertram Julie , Stewart Hannah L. , Ean Nil , Bruce Steven , Carrico Adam W. , Mannarino Julie A. , Paul Robert H.
Published: March 2024

Qualitative research approaches were used to launch an international research collaboration between the U. S. and Cambodia. Cambodian officials requested assistance in learning qualitative approaches to complement the research skills of Cambodian mental health providers. This article provides a description of how U. S. researchers responded to that request and engaged with Cambodian psychiatrists to explore mental health needs and interventions in both countries and initiate a sustainable relationship. The early focus on qualitative research methodologies may be an avenue that mitigates some of the challenges that can characterize international research. In this study, early communications involved developing a plan to teach qualitative methods while also collecting and analyzing data in both countries that would address the mental health concerns experienced by respective care providers. A case study exemplar was embedded with a scripted focus group guide to collect data from U. S. focus groups, then share with Cambodian psychiatrists. Components of hermeneutic phenomenological interviewing and descriptive content analysis were used to simultaneously teach and enact the research methods, gather data in both countries to analyze, and inspire participants to replicate the methods in their ongoing work. Cambodian psychiatrists were able to demonstrate competence in facilitating focus groups after being participant-observers. Researcher/practitioners from both U. S. and Cambodian teams gained new understandings about the mental health needs of their patients. The mutual engagement of a research focus is an effective way to establish cross-cultural relationships. The challenges of staying with stable teams over times remain, but the content shared and learned in a participatory structure yields understandings that cross cultural boundaries. Anticipated and unexpected challenges may be offset by an intention of reciprocity and mutual engagement. The use of qualitative methodologies, early and repeatedly, can facilitate relational understanding.
Barriers and facilitators to the delivery of age-friendly health services in Primary Health Care centres in southwest, Nigeria: A qualitative study
Authors: Ogunyemi Adedoyin O. , Balogun Mobolanle R. , Ojo Adedayo E. , Welch Sarah B. , Onasanya Oluwatosin O. , Yesufu Victoria O. , Omotayo Abisola T. , Hirschhorn Lisa R.
Published: March 2024

Background

With the rapid growth of Nigeria’s older population, it has become important to establish age-friendly healthcare systems that support care for older people. This study aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to the delivery of age-friendly health services from the perspectives of primary healthcare managers in Lagos State, Nigeria.

Method

We conducted 13 key informant interviews including medical officers of health, principal officers of the (Primary Health Care) PHC Board and board members at the state level. Using a grounded theory approach, qualitative data analysis was initially done by rapid thematic analysis followed by constant comparative analysis using Dedoose software to create a codebook. Three teams of two coders each blind-coded the interviews, resolved coding discrepancies, and reviewed excerpts by code to extract themes.

Results

The main barriers to the delivery of age-friendly services included the lack of recognition of older adults as a priority population group; absence of PHC policies targeted to serve older adults specifically; limited training in care of older adults; lack of dedicated funding for care services for older adults and data disaggregated by age to drive decision-making. Key facilitators included an acknowledged mission of the PHCs to provide services for all ages; opportunities for the enhancement of older adult care; availability of a new building template that supports facility design which is more age-friendly; access to basic health care funds; and a positive attitude towards capacity building for existing workforce.

Conclusion

While we identified a number of challenges, these offer opportunities to strengthen and prioritize services for older adults in PHCs and build on existing facilitators. Work is needed to identify and test interventions to overcome these challenges and improve the responsiveness of the PHC system to older adults through the delivery of age-friendly health services in PHCs in Lagos, Nigeria.
CRISPR-Cas9-guided amplification-free genomic diagnosis for familial hypercholesterolemia using nanopore sequencing
Authors: Xu Sijia , Shiomi Hiroki , Yamashita Yugo , Koyama Satoshi , Horie Takahiro , Baba Osamu , Kimura Masahiro , Nakashima Yasuhiro , Sowa Naoya , Hasegawa Koji , Suzuki Ayako , Suzuki Yutaka , Kimura Takeshi , Ono Koh
Published: March 2024

Familial hypercholesterolemia is an inherited disorder that remains underdiagnosed. Conventional genetic testing methods such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) or target PCR are based on the amplification process. Due to the efficiency limits of polymerase and ligase enzymes, these methods usually target short regions and do not detect large mutations straightforwardly. This study combined the long-read nanopore sequencing and CRISPR-Cas9 system to sequence the target DNA molecules without amplification. We originally designed and optimized the CRISPR-RNA panel to target the low-density lipoprotein receptor gene (LDLR) and proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 gene (PCSK9) from human genomic DNA followed by nanopore sequencing. The average coverages for LDLR and PCSK9 were 106× and 420×, versus 1.2× for the background genome. Among them, continuous reads were 52x and 307x, respectively, and spanned the entire length of LDLR and PCSK9. We identified pathogenic mutations in both coding and splicing donor regions in LDLR. We also detected an 11,029 bp large deletion in another case. Furthermore, using continuous long reads generated from the benchmark experiment, we demonstrated how a false-positive 670 bp deletion caused by PCR amplification errors was easily eliminated.
The potential use of mass timber in mid-to high-rise construction and the associated carbon benefits in the United States
Authors: Nepal Prakash , Prestemon Jeffrey P. , Ganguly Indroneil , Kumar Vaibhav , Bergman Richard D. , Poudyal Neelam C.
Published: March 2024

Nonresidential and mid- to high-rise multifamily residential structures in the United States currently use little wood per unit floor area installed, because earlier building codes lacked provisions for structural wood use in those types of buildings. However, revisions to the International Building Code allow for increased wood use in the form of mass timber, as structural and fire safety concerns have been addressed through new science-based design standards and through newly specified construction materials and measures. This study used multiple models to describe alternative futures for new construction, mass timber adoption rates, and the associated carbon benefits in higher than three-story buildings in the United States. The use of mass timber, in place of traditional constructions (i.e., structures dominated by concrete and steel), in projected new higher than three-story buildings was shown to provide combined carbon benefits (i.e., global warming mitigation benefits), including avoided embodied carbon emissions due to the substitution of non-wood alternatives and additional biogenic carbon storage in mass timber materials, of between 9.9 and 16.5 million t CO2e/yr spanning 50 years, 2020 to 2070. These carbon benefits equate to 12% to 20% of the total U.S. harvested wood products carbon storage for 2020. Future research is needed to understand how greater mass timber adoption leads to changes in forest product markets, land use, and total forest sector carbon.
Comparative analysis of gender disparity in academic positions based on U.S. region and STEM discipline
Authors: Galvin Danielle J. , Anderson Susan C. , Marolf Chelsi J. , Schneider Nikole G. , Liebl Andrea L.
Published: March 2024

Despite a move toward gender parity in the United States (U.S.) workforce, a large gender gap persists in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM); this is particularly true for academic (i.e., instructor and tenure track) STEM positions. This gap increases as women advance through the traditional steps of academia, with the highest degree of gender disparity in tenured positions. As policies, politics, and culture, which all contribute to gender equity across the world, vary across regions in the United States, we expect that the gender gap in STEM might also vary across geographic regions. Here, we evaluated over 20,000 instructor and tenure track positions in university STEM departments across the U.S. to evaluate whether and how the geographic region of a university might determine its proportion of women in STEM academic positions. Similar to previous research, regardless of geographic region, more men were employed in both tenure track and instructor positions across STEM fields. However, variation existed regionally within the U.S., with the Mountain region employing the lowest proportion of women in tenure track positions and the East North Central and Pacific regions employing the greatest proportion. We expect this regional variation could be caused by differences in state and local policies, regional representation, and mentorship, resulting in inconsistent support for women, leading to differences in work environments, hiring, and job retention rates across the country. A better understanding of which geographic areas within the U.S. have more equal distributions of women in the STEM field will help us to identify the specific mechanisms that facilitate more equal and inclusive opportunities for women and other underrepresented groups across all levels of STEM academia.
Integrating microbial abundance time series with fermentation dynamics of the rumen microbiome via mathematical modelling
Authors: Davoudkhani Mohsen , Rubino Francesco , Creevey Christopher J. , Ahvenjärvi Seppo , Bayat Ali R. , Tapio Ilma , Belanche Alejandro , Muñoz-Tamayo Rafael
Published: March 2024

The rumen represents a dynamic microbial ecosystem where fermentation metabolites and microbial concentrations change over time in response to dietary changes. The integration of microbial genomic knowledge and dynamic modelling can enhance our system-level understanding of rumen ecosystem’s function. However, such an integration between dynamic models and rumen microbiota data is lacking. The objective of this work was to integrate rumen microbiota time series determined by 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing into a dynamic modelling framework to link microbial data to the dynamics of the volatile fatty acids (VFA) production during fermentation. For that, we used the theory of state observers to develop a model that estimates the dynamics of VFA from the data of microbial functional proxies associated with the specific production of each VFA. We determined the microbial proxies using CowPi to infer the functional potential of the rumen microbiota and extrapolate their functional modules from KEGG (Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes). The approach was challenged using data from an in vitro RUSITEC experiment and from an in vivo experiment with four cows. The model performance was evaluated by the coefficient of variation of the root mean square error (CRMSE). For the in vitro case study, the mean CVRMSE were 9.8% for acetate, 14% for butyrate and 14.5% for propionate. For the in vivo case study, the mean CVRMSE were 16.4% for acetate, 15.8% for butyrate and 19.8% for propionate. The mean CVRMSE for the VFA molar fractions were 3.1% for acetate, 3.8% for butyrate and 8.9% for propionate. Ours results show the promising application of state observers integrated with microbiota time series data for predicting rumen microbial metabolism.
The relationship between gender discrimination and wellbeing in middle-aged and older women
Authors: Hackett Ruth A. , Hunter Myra S. , Jackson Sarah E.
Published: March 2024

Background

Emerging evidence suggests that perceived gender discrimination negatively impacts mental wellbeing in young women.

Purpose

This study explored whether a similar relationship exists in middle-aged and older women.

Methods

A total of 3081 women (aged ≥52 years) from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing provided data on perceived gender discrimination in 2010/11. Depressive symptoms, loneliness, quality of life and life satisfaction were assessed in 2010/11 and in 2016/17.

Results

Perceived gender discrimination was reported by 282 (9.2%) participants. Cross-sectionally, women who perceived gender discrimination reported more depressive symptoms (β = 0.34, 95% CI 0.11 to 0.57) and had higher loneliness scores (β = 0.14, 95% CI 0.08 to 0.20) than women who did not perceive gender discrimination. They also reported significantly lower quality of life (β = −2.50, 95% CI −3.49 to −1.51) and life satisfaction (β = −1.07, 95% CI −1.81 to −0.33). Prospectively, perceived gender discrimination was associated with greater loneliness scores (β = 0.08, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.14), as well as lower ratings of quality of life (β = −0.98, 95% CI −0.09 to −1.86), and life satisfaction (β = −1.04, 95% CI −0.34 to −1.74), independent of baseline values.

Conclusions

Middle-aged and older women who perceive gender discrimination report poorer mental wellbeing than those who do not perceive discrimination. Further, this type of discrimination may be predictive of declining mental wellbeing over time. These findings highlight the need for interventions to target gender-based discrimination to improve the wellbeing of women at mid- and older age.
Causal effect of porphyria biomarkers on alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma through Mendelian Randomization
Authors: Yang Xiaoyu , Wang Shuomin , Sun Chen , Xia Yunhong
Published: March 2024

Purpose

According to some cohort studies, an association exists between acute intermittent porphyria (AIP) and liver cancer. However, establishing a definitive causal relationship between porphyria and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains challenging. Prexisting studies regarding porphyria biomarkers and alcohol-related hepatocellular carcinoma (AR-HCC) make possible an entry point. In this study, we aimed to investigate the causal relationships between biomarkers of two types of porphyria, AIP and congenital erythropoietic porphyria (CEP), and AR-HCC.

Methods

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) associated with porphobilinogen deaminase (PBGD) and uroporphyrinogen-III synthase (UROS), along with outcome data on AR-HCC, were extracted from public genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The GWAS data were then used to explore the potential causal relationships via a two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis. The effect estimates were calculated using the random-effect inverse-variance-weighted (IVW) method. Additionally, the Cochrane’s Q test, MR-Egger test, and leave-one-out analysis were conducted to detect heterogeneity and pleiotropy in the MR results.

Results

Using the IVW method as the primary causal effects model in the MR analyses, we found that both PBGD (effect estimate = 1.51; 95% CI, from 1.08 to 2.11, p = 0.016) and UROS (effect estimate = 1.53; 95% CI, from 1.08 to 2.18, p = 0.018) have a significant causal effect on AR-HCC.

Conclusion

Our findings revealed a causal effect of both PBGD and UROS on AR-HCC, suggesting that both AIP and CEP have a causal association with AR-HCC.
The Men Who Would Be King, Jon Tonks (Photographs) and Christopher Lord (Text) (2021)
Authors: Lindstrom Lamont
Published: March 2024

Review of: The Men Who Would be King, Jon Tonks (Photographs) and Christopher Lord (Text) (2021)

Stockport: Dewi Lewis Publishing, 200 pp.,

ISBN 978 1 91130 643 6 (hbk), £39.00
Hundertwasser in New Zealand: The Art of Creating Paradise, Andreas J. Hirsch (2022), Translated by Uta Hoffmann
Authors: Bell Leonard
Published: March 2024

Review of: Hundertwasser in New Zealand: The Art of Creating Paradise, Andreas J. Hirsch (2022), Translated by Uta Hoffmann

Auckland: Oratia Books, 240 pp.,

ISBN 978 1 99004 214 0 (hbk), NZ$70.00