bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Soft Power
Authors: Hewitson Mark
Published: November 2024

Western Europe became a security community in the post-war era, not by establishing common security structures or institutions, as contemporary theorists expected, but primarily through a progressive marginalization of mutual security concerns in favour of other issues. Although Jean Monnet looked back in his memoirs on security as one of the main reasons for the founding of the European Communities, this objective only became relevant over the longer term. ‘Twenty-five years ago, the urge to have done with our violent past left us no choice but to advance towards a common goal,’ he wrote in 1976: ‘What was decided on then is still just as vital; and now it is part of the everyday of our lives.’ In fact, the period of which Monnet was writing (the late 1940s and early 1950s) was characterized by a level of insecurity—the Soviet threat, the menace of Communism at home, the German question—that could only be dealt with by the United States as a superpower. The prospect of a Soviet intervention provoked strong responses and helped to define ‘the identity of what was first of all a Western or North Atlantic community’ (Ole Waever), leaving European identity naturally secondary and instrumental in relation to that of the ‘West’. Likewise, in this period, the dominant answer to the German question within Germany and among American and European countries was one of ‘Einbindung’ into NATO as well as (what became) the EU, in that order.
Trade Blocs
Authors: Hewitson Mark
Published: November 2024

The list of economic benefits of political union remains a long one, including the opening of markets and dismantling of monopolies, a reduction in the complexity of national standards and regulations as a result of harmonization, the building of common infrastructure and transport, economies of scale and the pursuit of comparative advantage in a larger market, and the removal of discriminatory laws. The psychological effect of making the foreign more accessible and familiar has been matched by actual market integration: more than 70 per cent of exports from EU members go to other member states, which is a far higher percentage than among contiguous economies in other trade areas. Although the EU has not produced large, innovative companies such as Apple, Google, and Amazon, with its tally of twelve comparing unfavourably with fifty-one big new firms in the US and forty-six in emerging markets between 1950 and 2000, it has gained an increased share of the world’s largest corporations. Citizens and consumers were more likely to base their judgements on the range and price of products, job security, public services, and environmental cooperation, all of which proved easier in a single market. Sixty-seven per cent of respondents in twelve member states avowed that membership of the EU had benefited their economies, even at the height of the eurozone crisis in the summer of 2011. Yet how much difference did the European Community and EU make and how much political integration was necessary? This chapter re-examines the relationship between such institutional integration and economic convergence, which has underpinned the European project from the start.
Living Europe
Authors: Hewitson Mark
Published: November 2024

Historians have been keen to provide proofs of convergence. ‘Is a European society emerging before our very eyes?’ asked Hartmut Kaelble in 1987: ‘Does it have different structures and ways of life from industrial societies in America and Asia?’ His conclusion was that there had been social convergence, beyond the economic integration of markets and a political integration of institutions, in eight respects: the history of the family, patterns of employment, big business, social mobility and education, social equality and inequality, urbanization, the welfare state and labour conflict. By 2009, Kaelble was more cautious, admitting that he lacked adequate empirical research, with some trends reinforcing and others undermining identification with European norms and lifestyles. What could still be said was, first, that there remained significant instances of social integration in important fields such as work, health, migration, education, urban life, social welfare programmes, and media; second, European lifestyles have become increasingly internationalized since the 1950s and 1960s, with more consumer goods imported from other European countries rather than the United States or East Asia and with more citizens travelling, studying, working, marrying, and retiring elsewhere in Europe; and, third, the representation of other European countries has changed, given the gradual erosion of citizens’ experiences and memories of war. For the French historian René Girault, it has proved possible on this basis to distinguish between a Europe vécue (norms, lifestyles, solidarity), Europe pensée (debates about Europe) and Europe voulue (European institutions in the future).
Member States
Authors: Hewitson Mark
Published: November 2024

Although the ways in which European governments have combined have always been complicated, with the formation of loose groupings and a distinction between large and small states, they have become more varied and complex over time, as the European Community and EU have grown from six members to twenty-eight and as their competencies have increased. Despite repeatedly expressed fears of German ascendancy or, even, hegemony, the FRG has only 18.5% of the EU’s population (2020), 22% of its nominal GDP and, until 2014 (when QMV was tied to population and a majority of member states), 8.5% of the vote in the European Council. Notwithstanding the spread of qualified majority voting and co-decision (involving a veto for the European Parliament) to a wider range of policy areas, there is less chance of proponents of supranationality in a single state or group of states imposing their will on others. The governments of large and medium-sized member states have, in any event, usually been eager to retain critical powers and competencies in the main fields of policy-making.
Endgames in the New Millennium
Authors: Croissant Aurel , Eschenauer-Engler Tanja , Kuehn David
Published: November 2024

Chapter 6 analyzes twelve endgames that occurred between the 2000 “Bulldozer Revolution” in Serbia and the 2014 uprising in Burkina Faso and include the so-called “color revolutions” in Eastern Europe and Central Asia as well as the mass protests during the so called “Arab Spring” of 2010–2011. Comparative and case study analyses of the six instances of repression affirm that military loyalty hinges on the dictator’s ability to offer material spoils and political privileges, and to employ politicized promotion and recruitment processes. In Serbia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tunisia in contrast, military leaders did not benefit from the continued existence of the incumbent regime and sided with the opposition. While the endgame coups in Egypt (2011 and 2013) were prompted by threats to the military’s extensive institutional interests, the takeover in Burkina Faso (2014) allowed the previously marginalized military to oust an unpopular president and strengthen their position.
Introduction
Authors: De Souza Rebecca
Published: November 2024

The introduction introduces the unique story of the infantes and Mudarra, a medieval narrative set in the tenth-century borderland between the Umayyad Caliphate of Cordoba and the County of Castile, and it sets out its singularity versus other medieval fictions: it is a story of Castilian colonial weakness versus a socioeconomically dominant and morally superior al-Andalus. Memories of Colonisation studies rewritings of this story as a contested cultural memory, the rewriting of which in later periods complicates notions of Castilian superiority at the seat of empire. It delineates the book’s theoretical framework grounded in memory studies and postcolonial studies, as by returning to and reworking the colonial situation of tenth-century Iberia, these works ultimately produce a kind of postcolonial melancholia for an imperial power in various stages of growth and decline that recalls a time when it was dominated. As an examination of Spanish literary neomedievalism, this book also explores how this serves as a productive, prescient discourse of cultural memory through which chroniclers, poets, playwrights, and authors from the thirteenth to the nineteenth century can question the inevitability of Christian-Castilian colonial hegemony by invoking a narrative of Christian Castile’s own subjugation by a superior Umayyad Caliphate. It also draws on theories of melancholy and historical memory, including those developed by Giorgio Agamben and Walter Benjamin, to uncover how each text exposes the task of creating memory in the present and thereby challenges the notion of a stable, incontestable past for Castile and Spain.
Remembering Borderlands in Border Texts
Authors: De Souza Rebecca
Published: November 2024

This chapter offers a poetic interlude that temporarily breaks the diachronic trajectory of this study. It demonstrates competing discourses on medieval Iberia in the sixteenth century by contrasting the exclusionary politics of contemporary chronicles to romances or ballads which reached a mass public in pliegos sueltos and cancioneros thanks to the printing press. These poems fixate on the fluidity of medieval interpersonal and geographic frontiers in their narrations of cross-border cooperation and Mudarra’s revenge. They thereby remind their audiences of the benefits of medieval Iberia’s fluid geographic and religio-racial boundaries at a time when Spain’s internal borders were being erased and its external borders were expanding and contracting through colonial networks in the Americas and the Mediterranean. Like the chronicles, romances explore how border crossings function geographically and interpersonally, but unlike them they depart from metahistoriography and instead embody the notion of the border in their poetic structure. Three early modern poems are then contrasted to a Ladino romansa from 1950s New York, which forgets medieval Iberia and instead sings of the Sephardic diaspora’s immediate history in the Ottoman Empire. It thereby challenges prior critical assumptions that it has anything to do with this story or its medieval precedent; instead of a reflection of Castilian disempowerment in light of Andalusi colonial domination, it depicts a vague, likely Ottoman, borderland in which an uncertain narrative voice works through the forgetting of the diaspora’s more distant Iberian history.
Considering the Coloniality of the Liberal Script
Authors: Kerner Ina
Published: November 2024

This chapter deals with the way in which European modernity, and the West more generally, are reflected upon in the field of post- and decolonial theories, which generally question those representations of the European/Western tradition of thought and politics that only focus on their positive aspects, but differ greatly with regard to the way in which they frame and formulate their critique of this tradition. Three major positions in this field are discussed. They are characterized by the rejection of Western modernity (Walter Mignolo), by a deconstruction of core texts and principles of the European Enlightenment (Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak), and by attempts at a renewal and hence a radicalization of some of its core normative claims, particularly humanism (Achille Mbembe). The chapter’s conclusion connects these positions to the notion of the liberal script and suggests how they help us understand aspects of the coloniality of this script.
Modernity, Empire, Progress
Authors: Paulin-Booth Alexandra
Published: November 2024

This chapter uses the lens of temporality to explore the emergence of the “liberal script” at the beginning of the 19th century. In particular, it employs an intellectual history methodology and focuses on the work of liberal intellectuals such as Alexis de Tocqueville in France and Rammohan Roy in India. Responding to the sense that time was accelerating, thinkers all over the globe responded to the onslaught of modernity by turning to liberal ideas. Despite having been used to call colonization into question, liberalism became increasingly intertwined with empire as ideas about progress and “civilization” in contrast to “backwardness” became more rigid and racialized. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates how exploring ideas about time can offer a new perspective on liberal thought.
The Rule of Law in the Liberal Script
Authors: Kumm Mattias
Published: November 2024

The commitment to the rule of law as an ideal is central to the liberal script, yet its meaning remains contested. Those contestations relate both to the distinctive point of the ideal and the more concrete features it requires. The point of the ideal, this chapter argues, is not only to highlight the virtues of laws formalities, but to articulate the conditions that must be met in order for law to actually have the authority it claims to have. What those conditions are is also disputed. It is possible to distinguish between classical and neoliberal interpretations, republican interpretations and constitutionalist interpretations of the rule of law, with the last having the strongest arguments on its side.
Global Liberalism and Women’s Rights
Authors: Lerch Julia C. , Ramirez Francisco O.
Published: November 2024

Throughout the 20th century the status of women changed globally, with women acquiring greater citizenship rights and later human rights. This transformation reflected the liberal valorization of women as individuals, but also the socialist emphasis on women as a collective to be emancipated. In the post-World War II era, and especially after the Soviet Union collapsed, liberal models of gender equality became dominant worldwide. Today, they are under duress, often as part of broader challenges to liberal democracies. We here consider the relationships between liberalism and women’s rights and outline possible implications of anti-liberal challenges. We first reflect on liberal and socialist bases for gender equality, overlapping in some but in tension in other realms. Next, we delineate how a global liberal culture—increasingly dominant post-Cold War—framed and prioritized women’s rights. Lastly, we assess challenges arising from anti-liberal contestations and consider which women’s rights are likely most vulnerable.
Durability and Disruption
Authors: Freeden Michael
Published: November 2024

An assessment of salient and implicit themes throughout the volume. Among them are liberalism’s morphological fluidity and its continuously negotiable boundaries, as well as its temporal and spatial diversity. Liberalism’s contestations emerge not only from external critics condemning its colonial and imperial impact, but also from internal reforming tendencies aiming at modernizing it and expanding its social conscience. It has been distorted by exaggerated dichotomies between the “West” and the “non-West” that underplay its subtle nuances. The importance of liberalism’s complementary individualist and communal aspects is emphasized. It also displays a recent shift away from abstract and depersonalized universalism toward a concrete inclusivity aimed at specified groups. Finally, insights into temporality now identify different speeds of liberal change within its conceptual components alongside the stochastic discontinuity and rupture of liberal narratives.
Contesting Austerity
Authors: Goldmann Matthias
Published: November 2024

The dominant understanding of the role of human rights in the context of austerity induced by sovereign debt crises has shifted markedly over time. It reflects, and may have influenced, the genealogies of human rights law in the postwar era. Four different paradigms emerge at crucial turning points. During the 1970s, the decade preceding the debt crisis of the 1980s, the idea of austerity as a response to debt crises was contested by the basic (human) needs approach and by the proposal of a New International Economic Order. Then, the debt crisis beginning in the 1980s silenced, rather than provoked, any form of human rights-based critique. When the Iron Curtain fell, conditionalities in relation to debt restructurings became rather intrusive. This led civil society to articulate its critique of austerity in terms of human rights. The impact of austerity on the European periphery led to much human rights litigation, but a number of structural obstacles prevented its success. Instead, the crisis aftermath saw enormous progress in the political recognition of human rights as relevant standards for austerity. While this genealogy shows the contingency of human rights discourse in relation to austerity, it reveals its potential for challenging economic expertise and enhancing social progress.
Thanks for Nothing
Authors: Wolfinger Nicholas H. , McKeever Matthew
Published: November 2024

In 1980, single-mother families were five times as likely as two-parent families to be poor. Forty years later, single-mother families are still five times as likely to be poor. How can this be given the vast increases in education and employment achieved by American women over the past four decades? This book provides some answers. The authors undertake a deep dive into the economics of single motherhood with almost 40 years of data from two large national surveys, the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) and the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth’s (NLSY) 1979 cohort. They find that the mystery of single mother’s economic stagnation can be explained by changes in the kind of women most likely to become single mothers. In 1980, most single mothers were divorced women; 40 years later, the majority are mothers who gave birth out of wedlock. On paper, divorced women look a lot like their married contemporaries, but with one income instead of two. Never-married mothers are a completely different population. They have less education, work less, and receive lower economic returns to their educational credentials when they do work. They’re also far more likely to themselves have grown up in underprivileged families. These findings accord with a scholarly tradition that dates back to the publication of the 1965 Moynihan Report. Moynihan, the authors aver, raised public awareness of single parenthood as a matter of public interest, and also pointed the way to a better public policy.
Introduction
Authors: Wolfinger Nicholas H. , McKeever Matthew
Published: November 2024

This chapter establishes that single motherhood is relevant to academic studies of inequality, and chronicles how official thinking about single mothers has evolved in the U.S., especially over the past four decades. Many studies have missed the mark in consequential ways, most notably scholarship on teenaged motherhood and on the effects of the landmark welfare reform legislation of 1996. The authors describe their approach to single motherhood, and how it motivates subsequent chapters of the book.
Who Are These Mothers?
Authors: Wolfinger Nicholas H. , McKeever Matthew
Published: November 2024

This chapter presents data from 39 annual waves of the Current Population Survey (CPS), collected between 1980 and 2018, to explore the changing social, economic, and demographic attributes of mothers. Female CPS participants with minor children at home are divided into three categories: married mothers, divorced mothers, and never-married mothers. The authors show how mothers’ attributes have changed since 1980. Among the attributes considered: mother’s age at first birth, family size, education, whether mothers are working and the kinds of jobs they hold, income, nonmarital cohabitation, co-residence with a mother’s own parents, and race/ethnicity. The results show that the attributes of all mothers have changed since 1980, but the trends vary by marital status and have key implications for income.
Counting Change
Authors: Wolfinger Nicholas H. , McKeever Matthew
Published: November 2024

The goal of this chapter is to conduct multivariate analysis to show how the individual and family attributes described in Chapter 2 affect family income. Results based on median regression models show that married mothers are in a class of their own and increasingly enjoy advantages that go far beyond just the presence of a second income. The authors show that married mothers benefit more from human capital and that these benefits have grown larger since 1980. On the other end of the spectrum, never-married mothers fare the worst. Even when they have jobs and four-year college degrees, they’re less successful at converting these attributes into income.
Rapid and visual detection of Pyricularia oryzae using coupled recombinase polymerase amplification-lateral flow dipstick assay
Authors: Du Yan , Yang Jun , Qi Zhongqiang , Yu Junjie , Zhang Rongsheng , Yu Mina , Cao Huijuan , Song Tianqiao , Pan Xiayan , Wang Shuchen , Xiong Qin , Liu Yongfeng
Published: November 2024

Rice blast, caused by Pyricularia oryzae, is one of the most destructive fungal diseases in rice, severely impacting rice production worldwide every year. Rapid, accurate and visual detection of P. oryzae is essential for more effective prevention and control. In this study, we developed a recombinase polymerase amplification-lateral flow dipstick (RPA-LFD) assay to detect P. oryzae. Species-specific RPA primer pairs and probe were designed based on target gene MGG_15975. The optimized reaction temperature and time were set at 37 °C and 25 min, respectively. Specificity analysis showed that the assay could specifically detect P. oryzae isolates from rice, whereas other fungal species or Pyricularia species from grasses were not detected. Additionally, this assay demonstrated highly sensitivity, capable of detecting as low as 10-2 ng/µL of P. oryzae genomic DNA, which was found to be 100 times more sensitive than conventional PCR. Furthermore, using this assay, P. oryzae was effectively detected in diseased leaves in rice fields, and could also be identified at an early stage of infection before obvious lesions appeared in artificially inoculated rice seedlings. Therefore, the RPA-LFD assay developed in our study for the detection of P. oryzae is rapid, highly sensitive and efficient, which has the potential application for early diagnosis of P. oryzae infection in rice fields.
Acute psychosis
Authors: Fowler Leanne H. , Jackson-Burns Shantell
Published: November 2024

Mental illnesses are the leading causes of disability worldwide. Psychotic disorders occur in about 3% of people in the general population during their lifetimes. Patients experiencing acute psychosis need a medical provider who is capable of differentiating among medical, drug-induced, and psychiatric causes of the presentation to initiate the most appropriate management plan. This article focuses on the role of the acute care NP in medical clearance evaluations and initial management of adult patients experiencing acute psychosis in acute care settings.
Addressing the mental health needs of patients with cancer and their families during survivorship
Authors: Wade Catherine S. , Duncan Cameron
Published: November 2024

Diagnosis with cancer can be a shocking, life-altering, and traumatic experience for both the affected patient and their family, which may include immediate or extended family, significant others, and caregivers. Living with or surviving cancer can negatively impact the patient and their family members individually, and it can also result in negative effects on the patient-family dyad. In the US alone, the American Cancer Society anticipates approximately 2 million new cases of cancer in 2024; moreover, as many as 25% to 30% of cancer survivors experience anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder. Although healthcare providers are often pressed for time during routine initial and follow-up appointments, exploration of the person with cancer's journey through the disease course must be a priority and a collaborative effort. Prompt identification of mental health disorders, including substance use disorders, in people with cancer and their family members is essential to the well-being of the dyad. Many primary care providers provide both primary care services and survivorship care, such as posttreatment preexisting and secondary cancer surveillance, to cancer survivors. Primary care NPs are therefore well positioned to screen, assess, and treat mental health conditions in the cancer survivor and their family. The primary care NP also may have a greater opportunity to interface with patients' family members, thereby promoting healthier families and societies.
Contemporary Trends in Cardiac Surgical Care for Trisomy 13 and 18 Patients Admitted to Hospitals in the United States
Authors: Greenberg Jason W. , Kulshrestha Kevin , Ramineni Aadhyasri , Winlaw David S. , Lehenbauer David G. , Zafar Farhan , Cooper David S. , Morales David L.S.
Published: November 2024

(Abstracted from J Pediatr 2024;268:113955)

Trisomy 13 (T13) and trisomy 18 (T18) are genetic conditions that are associated with fetal malformations, including congenital heart disease (CHD). Historically, patients with T13 or T18 and CHD were primarily treated with palliative care due to low survival rates, and a diagnosis of T13 or T18 was considered a contraindication to cardiac surgery.
Fertility-Sparing Surgery for Stage I Epithelial Ovarian Cancer
Authors: Song Bonnie B. , Anderson Zachary S. , Masjedi Aaron D. , Lee Matthew W. , Mandelbaum Rachel S. , Klar Maximilian , Roman Lynda D. , Wright Jason D. , Matsuo Koji
Published: November 2024

(Abstracted from Obstet Gynecol 2024;144:68–78)

Fertility preservation is an important aspect of the treatment of this disease in younger women. Previous research has provided ample evidence for fertility-sparing surgery in nonepithelial ovarian tumors, but there are few data for epithelial ovarian cancer in this context.
Preparing Nurses to Support the Family During Resuscitation
Authors: Powers Kelly , Duncan Jaclyn M. , Twibell K. Renee
Published: November 2024

Background

The family support person role during resuscitation is complex and requires role preparation; however, there is a lack of guidance on preparing nurses for this crucial role.

Objectives

To examine how critical care nurses prepared for the role of supporting families during resuscitation and their perceptions of the preparation needed to fulfill this role.

Method

An exploratory-descriptive qualitative design guided the study. Individual, semistructured interviews with 16 critical care nurses yielded data for thematic analysis. All participants had been in the family support person role.

Results

Three themes emerged: who should perform the family support person role, why role preparation is important, and how to prepare for the role. The themes captured participants’ views about identifying and preparing individuals to support families during resuscitation.

Discussion

Nurses are the ideal health care team member to support families during resuscitation. However, participants felt unprepared for this role, especially for communicating with families. Education and experience are important to prepare nurses to effectively enact the role to ensure positive outcomes for family members.
Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement for Aortic Valve Stenosis Case Report
Authors: Bump Jamie , Tennyson Carolina
Published: November 2024

This case report details the interdisciplinary care provided to a 48-year-old male patient with severe aortic valve stenosis who underwent transcatheter aortic valve replacement in a community hospital setting. Focus is placed on the interdisciplinary team model demonstrated in the care of this patient, including interventional cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery from the outpatient to the inpatient setting. The use of decision-making tools, including the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Risk Calculator, and a collaborative, shared decision-making approach will be discussed. The care and evaluation of the patient will be presented and compared with the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines.
Persistent leukopenia secondary to SARS-CoV-2 infection: a case report
Authors: Alghawe Fatima , Hodaifa Yara , Btrush Sana , Hamsho Suaad , Ghazal Afraa , Kudsi Maysoun , Suliman Ameen
Published: November 2024

Introduction and importance:

Leukopenia is a condition in which a person has few white blood cells. It should not be considered a disease in itself, but rather a sign of a disease that needs to be further investigated. Leukopenia is a rare complication and is not commonly seen in patients with COVID-19 disease. Here, we report a case of leukopenia in a previously immunocompetent female patient with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Case presentation:

A 31-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with complaints of fever, fatigue, and dyspnea with a dry cough of 10 days’ duration. Initial laboratory investigations revealed leukopenia. She was diagnosed with severe COVID-19 disease with leukopenia and admitted to intensive care. After 3 years of infection, she is doing well with persistent leukopenia.

Clinical discussion:

Various hematological abnormalities have been reported in COVID-19 disease, including lymphopenia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, and hypercoagulability. Possible causes of leukopenia include nutritional deficiencies, megaloblastic anemia, hypersplenism, malignancies, radiotherapy, chemotherapy-induced bone marrow toxicity, connective tissue diseases, and immunosuppressive drugs.

Conclusion:

Leukopenia is a rare complication of COVID-19 disease. We report a case of this manifestation associated with a disease likely caused by bone marrow suppression that persisted for 3 years.
Mutagenicity, DNA Repair Gene Polymorphism, and Differentially Expressed Plasma Protein Fractions Among Textile Dyeing Workers
Authors: Al-Wehedy Adel , Eldegla Heba , Hazem Noha M. , Kamel Emily A. , El-Hadidy Nada M. , Sehsah Radwa
Published: November 2024

Objectives

This study aimed to assess mutagenicity biomarkers among Egyptian textile dyeing workers, their alteration with gene polymorphism, and the changes in plasma proteins’ expression.

Methods

Using a detailed questionnaire, a comparative cross-sectional study was conducted on 212 workers (106 textile dyeing-exposed group and 106 control group). CBMN-Cyt assay, ERCC2 gene polymorphism, and plasma protein fractions were analyzed in workers’ blood samples.

Results

Textile dye workers had significantly higher mutagenicity biomarkers than the control group. Mutant ERCC2 genotypes, dye exposure, exposure period, and formaldehyde levels significantly predicted mutagenicity biomarkers’ levels. Dye-exposed workers also showed significant changes in plasma protein fractions.

Conclusions

Textile dyeing workers, particularly susceptible genotypes, are at mutagenic risk and have significant changes in plasma protein fractions. Those changes are usually the first detectable response to toxic exposures and can be useful as exposure biomarkers.
Occupational Factors Influencing Turnover Intention in Working Women With Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms
Authors: Jung Joo Hee , Lee Yu Min , Lee Jongin , Kim Hyoung-Ryoul , Cho Hyun A , Kang Mo-Yeol
Published: November 2024

Objective

This study aimed to identify the occupational factors that influence turnover intention among working women with lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS).

Methods

This cross-sectional study targeted 410 working women with LUTS from a 2022 survey. Occupational characteristics, including working hours, shift work, bathroom accessibility, sitting time, musculoskeletal strain, job stress, and emotional labor, were assessed through a structured self-reported questionnaire using validated tools. Multiple logistic regression was applied to analyze the association of these factors with turnover intention.

Results

Women who worked >52 hours per week had an odds ratio of 2.02 for turnover intention compared to those who worked fewer hours. Higher job stress and emotional labor scores also were associated with increased turnover intention.

Conclusions

Women with LUTS have higher turnover intention due to vulnerability to long hours, job stress, and emotional labor.
Impact of Family Cohabitation Status and Work-From-Home on Sleep Problems Among Japanese Workers During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Fujii Rintaro , Okawara Makoto , Matsugaki Ryutaro , Odagami Kiminori , Hino Ayako , Tateishi Seiichiro , Tsuji Mayumi , Yoshimura Reiji , Matsuda Shinya , Fujino Yoshihisa ,   for the CORoNaWork Project
Published: November 2024

Objective

This cross-sectional study examined the impact of family cohabitation status and work-from-home (WFH) on sleep during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

An online survey of 27,036 Japanese workers assessed WFH frequency, family cohabitation, and trouble sleeping to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for sleep problems from December 22 to 26, 2020.

Results

In multivariate analysis, WFH had no significant benefit for trouble sleeping ≥3 months. Interactions were observed between WFH and cohabitation with elementary school children (OR = 1.26, P = 0.049 for trouble sleeping ≥3 months) and with family members in need of care (OR = 1.39, P = 0.013 for trouble sleeping ≥3 days/week; OR = 1.37, P = 0.02 for trouble sleeping ≥3 months).

Conclusions

The study suggests that the sleep disadvantage during the pandemic may have resulted from WFH with specific cohabitation.
Effects of the Maternal Work Environment on Psychological Distress During Pregnancy
Authors: Kobayashi Sumitaka , Saijo Yasuaki , Itoh Mariko , Tamura Naomi , Tojo Maki , Iwata Hiroyoshi , Yamaguchi Takeshi , Ito Yoshiya , Kishi Reiko ,   The Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS) Group
Published: November 2024

Objectives

As part of the “Japan Environment and Children's Study (JECS),” a national prospective birth cohort study, we examined the association between the maternal work environment and psychological distress during pregnancy in Japan.

Methods

Employing a cross-sectional design, we analyzed data from 42,797 participants, originally collected between 2011 and 2014. Associations between the maternal work environment and psychological distress (Kessler 6) were examined using generalized estimation equation models adjusted for confounding factors.

Results

Pregnant women who worked ≥51 hours/week had a 1.19-fold higher odds ratio (OR) of psychological distress than those who worked 36 to 40 hours/week (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 1.07–1.32). Pregnant women who worked ≥5 days/month of shift work had a 1.11-fold higher OR of psychological distress than those who worked 0 days/month (1.00–1.24).

Conclusions

We observed an association between the maternal work environment and psychological distress during pregnancy.
Video Assessment of the Frequency and Evaluations of Head Collision Events During the 2022 World Cup
Authors: Dean Robert S. , Farley Kevin X. , Colemen Jacob , Van Wagoner Colin , Guettler Joseph H. , Bicos James , Acker William
Published: November 2024

Objectives:

To describe the incidence, characteristics, and assessment of head collision events in the 2022 world cup, and to compare these findings with published data from prior world cups.

Setting:

Video footage of the 2022 world cup.

Participants:

2022 world cup participants.

Interventions:

Four reviewers identified head collision events through review of video footage of the 2022 world cup.

Main Outcome Measures:

The length of each assessment, duration of player removal from game, and duration of game stoppage were recorded. These findings were compared with previous work on the 2018 world cup that evaluated these same variables.

Results:

Intotal, 147 head collision events were identified (2.30 per game). There were 123 players that had 2 or more signs of a concussion, of which 105 (85.4%) were evaluated and 35 (28.5%) were evaluated by medical personnel. There were 4 players who were removed from the game for suspected head injury. When the data from the 2018 world cup were compared with those from the 2022 world cup, duration of time stopped for evaluation was the only variable that was significantly different.

Conclusions:

The results of this study suggest that progress has been made to properly evaluate and recognize concussions; however, further attention is clearly still required to ensure the health and safety of international soccer players.
Examination of Sex Differences in Energy Availability, Disordered Eating, and Compulsive Exercise Among Male and Female Adolescent Athletes
Authors: Armento Aubrey M. , Brna Madison , Seehusen Corrine , McCarthy Amanda , VanBaak Karin D. , Howell David R.
Published: November 2024

Objective:

The primary aim of this study was to examine sex differences in energy availability (EA) and its relationships with disordered eating, compulsive exercise, and body mass index (BMI) among adolescent athletes.

Design:

Cross-sectional study.

Setting:

University hospital pediatric sports medicine center.

Participants:

Sixty-four participants (61% female) of ages 13 to 18 years, actively participating in at least 1 organized sport.

Main Independent Variable:

Participant sex.

Main Outcome Measures:

Average 7-day EA (kcal/kg FFM/d; calculated using participant-recorded dietary intake and exercise expenditure from a wrist-worn heart rate/activity monitor), Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDE-Q) score (range 0–6), Compulsive Exercise Test (CET) score (range 0–25), and age- and sex-adjusted BMI percentile.

Results:

There were no significant sex differences in EA (females: 40.37 ± 12.17 kcal/kg FFM/d; males: 35.99 ± 12.43 kcal/kg FFM/d; P = 0.29), EDE-Q (females: 0.68 ± 0.70; males: 0.68 ± 0.83; P = 0.99), or CET scores (females: 11.07 ± 0.44; males: 10.73 ± 0.63; P = 0.66). There were low and insignificant negative correlations between EA and EDE-Q and CET scores for female athletes (EDE-Q: r = −0.22, P = 0.18; CET: r = −0.21, P = 0.09) and male athletes (EDE-Q: r = −0.09, P = 0.66; CET: r = −0.35, P = 0.08). EA and BMI-for-age percentile were inversely correlated in both male (r = −0.451, P = 0.009) and female (r = −0.37, P = 0.02) participants.

Conclusions:

In our sample of adolescent athletes, lower EA occurred in the absence of notable disordered eating or compulsive exercise behaviors, suggesting unintentional underfueling (and/or underreporting of energy intake), without significant sex differences. Low BMI can be an imperfect surrogate marker for low EA. These findings inform risk factors and screening practices for low EA among adolescent athletes.
Predictive value of thyroglobulin after radioiodine therapy for excellent response to treatment in postoperative thyroid cancer
Authors: Zhu Yuan , Yang Xiaoying , Liu Zhao , Zhang Qinghua , Li Zhiyong , Hou Xiancun , Zhu Hui
Published: November 2024

Objective

This study aimed to assess the usefulness of thyroglobulin (Tg) after radioiodine (RAI) therapy in predicting excellent response (ER) to therapy in postoperative differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC).

Methods

A retrospective observational study was conducted on postoperative DTC patients who underwent RAI from August 2018 to December 2022. Various factors were analyzed to predict ER to treatment. This involved Tg under stimulation (sTg) before RAI, Tg immediately (imTg) 112 h post-RAI and imTg/sTg(rTg). Based on the efficacy of RAI, patients were categorized into two groups: ER and non-ER (NER). Univariate logistic analysis was utilized to compare parameters between the two groups, followed by binary logistic regression analysis on factors associated with ER. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were employed to evaluate the sensitivity, specificity, and optimal diagnostic cutoff points for parameters affecting ER.

Results

The analysis included 45 ER patients and 56 NER patients. Statistical significance was found in the binary logistic regression analysis for the number of lymph nodes in the lateral cervical region (P = 0.016), sTg (P = 0.021), and rTg (P ≤ 0.001) concerning ER. ROC curve analysis revealed that the rTg area under the curve was 0.845, with an optimal cutoff value of 11.78, sensitivity of 82.6%, and specificity of 74.5%.

Conclusion

Post-RAI therapy, significant value is demonstrated by rTg with high sensitivity and specificity. This provides a foundation for the evaluation and decisions about DTC treatment in advance.
Nondiabetic Fetal Macrosomia: Causes, Outcomes, and Clinical Management
Authors: Bair Courtney A. , Cate Jennifer , Chu Allison , Kuller Jeffrey A. , Dotters-Katz Sarah K.
Published: November 2024

Importance

Fetal macrosomia (FM) is common in clinical practice and carries increased risk of adverse maternal and neonatal health outcomes. Maternal diabetes mellitus (DM) is a well-known cause of macrosomia with significant research and guidelines focusing on macrosomia in this population. Less is known about causes, prevention, and clinical management for suspected FM in individuals without diabetes.

Objective

The objective of this review is to describe the risk factors associated with nondiabetic FM, review risks associated with macrosomia in pregnancy, and potential treatment considerations for this condition.

Evidence Acquisition

Original research articles, review articles, and guidelines on macrosomia were reviewed.

Results

Risk factors for macrosomia in patients without DM include previous delivery of an infant with macrosomia, excessive pregnancy weight gain, and obesity. Maternal complications of FM include higher rates of cesarean delivery, postpartum hemorrhage, and vaginal laceration. Fetal complications include shoulder dystocia, decreased Apgar scores, and increased risk of childhood obesity. Exercise during pregnancy has been shown to reduce the risk of FM. Induction of labor prior to 39 weeks is not recommended in the setting of suspected macrosomia as there is a lack of adequate evidence to support that this decreases adverse neonatal or maternal outcomes. In addition, elective cesarean delivery for suspected macrosomia is not recommended to be considered unless estimated fetal weight is greater than 5000 g in the absence of DM.

Conclusions and Relevance

Delivery of an infant with macrosomia in patients without DM has increased maternal and fetal risks. Predicting infants who will meet criteria for macrosomia is challenging. More research is needed to identify ways to accurately estimate fetal weight, interventions to prevent macrosomia, and additional ways to mitigate risk in patients without DM who have suspected FM.

Target Audience

Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians.

Learning Objectives

After completing this activity, the learner will be better able to explain risk factors for nondiabetic FM; describe fetal and maternal consequences of nondiabetic FM; and discuss management for patients with suspected macrosomia in the absence of diabetes.
Treatment of Obesity Before, During, and After Pregnancy: Time for Obstetricians to Get Involved
Authors: Gustafson Deborah , Al-Sayyed Farah , Minkoff Howard
Published: November 2024

Importance

Obesity is a major public health concern that is associated with serious health risks and consequences for people who want to be, are, or have been pregnant.

Objective

We will describe the implications and consequences of obesity, and describe the factors fueling obesity’s escalating prevalence. We will describe new treatment approaches including glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, which may be an effective strategy for achieving weight loss and for improving the health of people who have been, are, or want to be pregnant.

Evidence Acquisition

Existing literature on obesity consequences, treatment options, and pregnancy implications was reviewed through a PubMed search

Results

Obesity has dire pregnancy-related health consequences and leads to multiple barriers to healthcare. Traditional interventions related to diet and exercise have fallen short, and newer medical therapies are emerging.

Relevance

The periods before, during, and after pregnancy are crucial to mitigate potential morbidities of pregnancy pre, peri, and post. Obstetricians have a unique opportunity to tackle the problem of obesity at those times.

Target Audience

Obstetricians and gynecologists, family physicians.

Learning Objectives

After completing this activity, the learner will be better able to identify health consequences associated with obesity before, during, and after pregnancy including maternal and fetal complications; discuss the factors contributing to the escalating prevalence of obesity in the United States; and explain therapeutic options and their efficacy in treating individuals with obesity who have been, are, or may become pregnant.
Likelihood of Primary Cesarean Section Following Induction of Labor in Singleton Cephalic Pregnancies at Term, Compared With Expectant Management: An Australian Population-Based, Historical Cohort Study
Authors: Hu Yanan , Homer Caroline S.E. , Ellwood David , Slavin Valerie , Vogel Joshua P. , Enticott Joanne , Callander Emily J.
Published: November 2024

(Abstracted from Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand 2024;103:946–954)

In high-income countries, there has been an increase in both induction of labor (IOL) and cesarean delivery (CD) in individuals with term pregnancies. On average, the rate of IOL has increased from 20% to 30% from 1990 to 2019, and the rate of CD has increased from 12% to 27% from 1990 to 2018.
A Rare Case of Eosinophilic Myocarditis Described With 18F-FDG PET/CT
Authors: Peslier Hugo , Metrard Gilles , Malmare Bianca-Angela , Bailly Matthieu
Published: November 2024

Late-stage eosinophilic myocarditis (or Löffler endocarditis) is known to occur in patients with hypereosinophilic syndrome and can cause restrictive cardiomyopathy. Eosinophilic myocarditis is an acute life-threatening inflammatory disease of the heart that can be associated with cancer. We report a case of a 70-year-old White woman, previously treated for diffuse large B-cell lymphoma in remission, admitted for acute dyspnea with a 1-year history of hypereosinophilia. 18F-FDG PET/CT revealed endocardial uptake consistent with MRI gadolinium enhancement, suggesting left ventricular wall inflammation.
Post–Liver Transplant Outcomes: A Comparative Study of 6 Predictive Models
Authors: Kaltenmeier Christof , Ashwat Eishan , Liu Hao , Elias Charbel , Rahman Amaan , Mail-Anthony Jason , Neckermann Isabel , Dharmayan Stalin , Crane Andrew , Packiaraj Godwin , Ayloo Subhashini , Ganoza Armando , Gunabushanam Vikraman , Molinari Michele
Published: November 2024

Background.

We compared the performance of the Liver Transplant Risk Score (LTRS) with the survival outcomes following liver transplantation (SOFT), pretransplant SOFT (P-SOFT), Balance of Risk Score (BAR), donor-age and model for end-stage liver disease (D-MELD), and Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network Risk Prediction Score (ORPS) for the prediction of 90-d mortality, 1-y mortality, and 5-y survival after first-time liver transplantation (LT).

Methods.

A retrospective analysis of the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients was conducted using data collected between 2002 and 2021.

Results.

A total of 82 696 adult LT recipients with a median age of 56 y were included. The area under the curve for 90-d mortality were 0.61, 0.66, 0.65, 0.61, 0.58, and 0.56 for the LTRS, SOFT, P-SOFT, BAR, D-MELD, and ORPS, respectively (all pairwise comparisons: P < 0.05). The area under the curve for 1-y mortality were 0.60, 0.63, 0.62, 0.59, 0.60, 0.57, and 0.59 for the LTRS, SOFT, P-SOFT, BAR, D-MELD, and ORPS, respectively (all pairwise comparisons: P < 0.05). The c-statistics for 5-y survival were not statistically significant among the models. For 90-d mortality, 1-y mortality, and 5-y survival, the correlation coefficients between the LTRS and P-SOFT (the 2 models requiring only preoperative parameters) were 0.90. 0.91, and 0.81, respectively (P < 0.01).

Conclusions.

None of the predictive models demonstrated sufficient precision to reliably identify LT recipients who died within 90 d and 1 y after LT. However, all models exhibited strong capabilities in perioperative risk stratification. Notably, the P-SOFT and LTRS models, the 2 models that can be calculated using only preoperative data, proved to be valuable tools for identifying candidates at a significant risk of poor outcomes.