bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Oral PI3Kδ Inhibitor Linperlisib for the Treatment of Relapsed and/or Refractory Follicular Lymphoma: A Phase II, Single-Arm, Open-Label Clinical Trial
Authors: Wang Tingyu , Sun Xiuhua , Qiu Lihua , Su Hang , Cao Junning , Li Zhiming , Song Yuqin , Zhang Li , Li Dengju , Wu Huijing , Zhang Wei , Li Junmin , Zhou Keshu , Zhou Hui , Yang Yu , Li Zhifeng , Cen Hong , Cai Zhen , Zhang Zhihui , Fu Weijun , Jin Jie , Li Fei , Wu Weixin , Gu Xuekui , Zhu Weiliang , Liu Lihong , Li Zengjun , Yi Shuhua , Bao Hanying , Xu Zusheng , Qiu Lugui
Published: February 2023

Purpose:

To investigate the efficacy and safety of the novel orally active PI3Kδ inhibitor in relapsed and/or refractory patients with follicular lymphoma (FL) who had received at least two prior systemic treatments.

Patients and Methods:

Histologically confirmed relapsed and/or refractory patients with FL with disease progression after receiving second-line or greater systemic therapy were enrolled. Linperlisib was administered at 80 mg every day, orally in a 28-day cycle until disease progression or intolerable toxicity occurred. The primary outcome for the study was the objective response rate (ORR), with secondary outcomes including the duration of response (DOR), progression-free survival (PFS), overall survival (OS), disease control rate, and drug safety profile.

Results:

Of 114 screened relapsed and/or refractory patients with FL, 84 were enrolled in the full analysis set (FAS). The ORR of the 84 FAS patients was 79.8% [95% confidence interval (CI), 69.6–87.8, 67 patients], with 13 patients (15.5%) achieving a complete response and 54 patients (64.3%) with a partial response. The median DOR was 12.3 months (95% CI, 9.3–15.9). The median PFS was 13.4 months (95% CI, 11.1–16.7). The 12-month OS rate was 91.4% (95% CI, 82.7–95.8) and a median OS not reached by 42 months. The most frequent (>3%) treatment-related adverse events Grade ≥3 were infectious pneumonia (19.0%), neutropenia (15.5%), decreased lymphocyte count (4.8%), decreased leukocyte count (4.8%), increased lipase (3.6%), decreased platelet count (3.6%), hypertriglyceridemia (3.6%), and interstitial lung disease (3.6%).

Conclusions:

Linperlisib demonstrated compelling clinical activity and manageable tolerability for relapsed and/or refractory patients with FL who had received at least two prior systemic therapies.
Incomplete Intestinal Metaplasia Is Rare in Autoimmune Gastritis
Authors: Genta Robert M. , Turner Kevin O. , Robiou Cristian , Singhal Anuradha , Rugge Massimo
Published: February 2023

Background: Incomplete intestinal metaplasia (IM) is reportedly associated with higher gastric cancer (GC) risk than its complete variant. AGA Guidelines recommend including IM subtyping in routine pathology reports. This study assesses the prevalence of complete versus incomplete IM in gastric conditions with different GC risks. Methods: IM subtyping (complete vs. incomplete) and grading (IM extension: G1: ≤30%; G2: >30%) were assessed in 386 patients with IM + ve gastric biopsy sets that included both antral and oxyntic samples. Cases were categorized as: (a) IM foci in otherwise normal mucosa (n = 59); (b) Helicobacter pylori gastritis (n = 138); (c) reactive gastropathy (141); and (d) autoimmune atrophic gastritis (AIG, n = 48). Odds ratios (OR) and their 95% CI were used in comparing the prevalence of incomplete IM and the correlation between subtype and IM extension. Results: Incomplete IM was present in 37.7% of patients with H. pylori gastritis, 8.3% of those with AIG 5.0% of those with reactive gastropathy, and none of those with otherwise normal mucosa. Incomplete IM was strongly associated with more extensive (G2-IM) mucosal intestinalization (OR = 6.69; 95% CI = 2.77–9.40). Conclusion: Incomplete IM is significantly more prevalent in conditions (H. pylori gastritis) known to carry a higher risk of GC and is strongly associated with its extension. The low prevalence of incomplete IM in AIG (8.3%) and reactive gastropathy (5.2%) is in keeping with the low GC risk associated with these conditions.
Internal Limiting Membrane Peeling or Inverted Flap Technique Combined with Air Tamponade in the Treatment of Macular Holes in High Myopia
Authors: Zhang Ke , Yang Xiaohan , Qi Biying , Wu Xijin , Wang Xinbo , Liu Wu
Published: February 2023

Purpose: The aim of this study was to analyze the anatomical and visual outcomes after internal limiting membrane (ILM) peeling or ILM flap insertion in highly myopic macular holes (HMMHs) and try to compare these two surgical techniques in large HMMHs. Methods: This is a retrospective, consecutive series study of patients with HMMH undergone vitrectomy from September 2016 to January 2021. We observed the outcomes of the HMMHs with ILM peeling and ILM flap insertion, respectively. Binary logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve were used to analyze the relationship between the minimum linear diameter (MLD) of macular hole and the initial closure rate in ILM peeling group. Finally, we compared the surgical outcomes between these two surgical techniques in large HMMHs. Results: There were 69 HMMHs using ILM peeling with a mean MLD of 423.55 ± 190.99 µm and 33 HMMHs using ILM flap insertion with a mean MLD of 600.79 ± 187.85 µm. The initial type I closure rate was 86.9% (60/69) and 81.8% (27/33), respectively. MLD had a good correlation with the initial closure rate in HMMHs with ILM peeling (p = 0.046). The large HMMH (MLD >461.5 μm obtained by ROC curve) was present in 26 eyes with each surgical technique, and there was no significant difference of baseline characteristics between them. In large HMMHs, the initial closure rate of ILM peeling was 73.0% and that of ILM flap insertion was 84.6% (p = 0.499). Postoperative best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) improved significantly in both groups (p < 0.001), and the BCVA at last follow-up was better in closed large HMMHs with ILM peeling (p = 0.034). Conclusion: In HMMHs with ILM peeling, the initial closure rate was decreased when MLD >461.5 μm. ILM peeling may obtain better functional prognosis in eyes with closed large macular holes compared with ILM flap insertion.
New Cerebral Microbleeds After Catheter‐Based Structural Heart Interventions: An Exploratory Analysis
Authors: Braemswig Tim Bastian , Kusserow Madeleine , Bellmann Barbara , Beckhoff Frederik , Reinthaler Markus , von Rennenberg Regina , Erdur Hebun , Scheitz Jan F. , Galinovic Ivana , Villringer Kersten , Leistner David M. , Audebert Heinrich J. , Endres Matthias , Landmesser Ulf , Haeusler Karl Georg , Fiebach Jochen B. , Lauten Alexander , Rillig Andreas , Nolte Christian H.
Published: February 2023

Background

Cerebral microbleeds (CMBs) are increasingly recognized as “covert” brain lesions indicating increased risk of future neurological events. However, data on CMBs in patients undergoing catheter‐based structural heart interventions are scarce. Therefore, we assessed occurrence and predictors of new CMBs in patients undergoing catheter‐based left atrial appendage closure and percutaneous mitral valve repair using the MitraClip System.

Methods and Results

We conducted an exploratory analysis using data derived from 2 prospective, observational studies. Eligible patients underwent cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (3 Tesla) examinations and cognitive tests (using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment) before and after catheter‐based left atrial appendage closure and percutaneous mitral valve repair. Forty‐seven patients (53% men; median age, 77 years) were included. New CMBs occurred in 17 of 47 patients (36%) following catheter‐based structural heart interventions. Occurrences of new CMBs did not differ significantly between patients undergoing catheter‐based left atrial appendage closure and percutaneous mitral valve repair (7/25 versus 10/22;
P
=0.348). In univariable analysis, longer procedure time was significantly associated with new CMBs. Adjustment for heparin attenuated this association (adjusted odds ratio [per 30 minutes]: 1.77 [95% CI, 0.92–3.83];
P
=0.090).

Conclusions

New CMBs occur in approximately one‐third of patients after catheter‐based left atrial appendage closure and percutaneous mitral valve repair using the MitraClip System. Our data suggest that longer duration of the procedure may be a risk factor for new CMBs. Future studies in larger populations are needed to further investigate their clinical relevance.

Clinical Trial Registration

German Clinical Trials Register: DRKS00010300 (
https://drks.de/search/en/trial/DRKS00010300
);
ClinicalTrials.gov
: NCT03104556 (
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03104556?term=NCT03104556&draw=2&rank=1
).
Frequency and Type of Outpatient Visits for Patients With Cardiovascular Ambulatory‐Care Sensitive Conditions During the COVID‐19 Pandemic and Subsequent Outcomes: A Retrospective Cohort Study
Authors: McAlister Finlay A. , Hsu Zoe , Dong Yuan , Tsuyuki Ross T. , van Walraven Carl , Bakal Jeffrey A.
Published: February 2023

Background

Because the impact of changes in how outpatient care was delivered during the COVID‐19 pandemic is uncertain, we designed this study to examine the frequency and type of outpatient visits between March 1, 2019 to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic) and from March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021 (pandemic) and specifically compared outcomes after virtual versus in‐person outpatient visits during the pandemic.

Methods and Results

Population‐based retrospective cohort study of all 3.8 million adults in Alberta, Canada. We examined all physician visits and 30‐ and 90‐day outcomes, with a focus on those adults with the cardiovascular ambulatory‐care sensitive conditions heart failure, hypertension, and diabetes. Our primary outcome was emergency department visit or hospitalization, evaluated using survival analysis accounting for competing risk of death. Although in‐person outpatient visits decreased by 38.9% in the year after March 1, 2020 (10 142 184 versus 16 592 599 in the prior year), the introduction of virtual visits (7 152 147; 41.4% of total) meant that total outpatient visits increased by 4.1% in the first year of the pandemic for Albertan adults. Outpatient visit frequency (albeit 41.4% virtual, 58.6% in‐person) and prescribing patterns were stable in the first year after pandemic onset for patients with the cardiovascular ambulatory‐care sensitive conditions we examined, but laboratory test frequency declined by 20% (serum creatinine) to 47% (glycosylated hemoglobin). In the first year of the pandemic, virtual outpatient visits were associated with fewer subsequent emergency department visits or hospitalizations (compared with in‐person visits) for patients with heart failure (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 0.90 [95% CI, 0.85–0.96] at 30 days and 0.96 [95% CI, 0.92–1.00] at 90 days), hypertension (aHR, 0.88 [95% CI, 0.85–0.91] and 0.93 [95% CI, 0.91–0.95] at 30 and 90 days), or diabetes (aHR, 0.90 [95% CI, 0.87–0.93] and 0.93 [95% CI, 0.91–0.95] at 30 and 90 days).

Conclusions

The adoption and rapid uptake of virtual outpatient care during the COVID‐19 pandemic did not negatively impact frequency of follow‐up, prescribing, or short‐term outcomes, and could have potentially positively impacted some of these for adults with heart failure, diabetes, or hypertension in a setting where there was an active reimbursement policy for virtual visits. Given declines in laboratory monitoring and screening activities, further research is needed to evaluate whether long‐term outcomes will differ.
Hierarchy of Intra- and Cross-modal Redundancy Gains in Visuo-tactile Search: Evidence from the Posterior Contralateral Negativity
Authors: Nasemann Jan , Töllner Thomas , Müller Hermann J. , Shi Zhuanghua
Published: February 2023

Redundant combination of target features from separable dimensions can expedite visual search. The dimension-weighting account explains these “redundancy gains” by assuming that the attention-guiding priority map integrates the feature-contrast signals generated by targets within the respective dimensions. The present study investigated whether this hierarchical architecture is sufficient to explain the gains accruing from redundant targets defined by features in different modalities, or whether an additional level of modality-specific priority coding is necessary, as postulated by the modality-weighting account (MWA). To address this, we had observers perform a visuo-tactile search task in which targets popped out by a visual feature (color or shape) or a tactile feature (vibro-tactile frequency) as well as any combination of these features. The RT gains turned out larger for visuo-tactile versus visual redundant targets, as predicted by the MWA. In addition, we analyzed two lateralized event-related EEG components: the posterior (PCN) and central (CCN) contralateral negativities, which are associated with visual and tactile attentional selection, respectively. The CCN proved to be a stable somatosensory component, unaffected by cross-modal redundancies. In contrast, the PCN was sensitive to cross-modal redundancies, evidenced by earlier onsets and higher amplitudes, which could not be explained by linear superposition of the earlier CCN onto the later PCN. Moreover, linear mixed-effect modeling of the PCN amplitude and timing parameters accounted for approximately 25% of the behavioral RT variance. Together, these behavioral and PCN effects support the hierarchy of priority-signal computation assumed by the MWA.
Ambiguous Variations in Tropical Latent Heat Flux since the Years around 1998
Authors: Zhang Rongwang , Guo Weihao , Wang Xin , Wang Chunzai
Published: February 2023

The tropical latent heat flux (LHF) has experienced a significant increase under the background of global warming in the past four decades. However, since the years around 1998, the long-term LHF variations in the tropics have been found to be quite different in various flux products. Three different trends in the LHF, climbing, near zero, and declining, are suggested by five widely used flux products, which hinders our knowledge of the actual LHF variations. Although there are buoy observations in the tropics, these observations are hard to use to evaluate flux products as they have been assimilated and/or used as benchmarks in the flux data production. This study aims to identify credible long-term LHF variations since 1998. A linear model decomposing the LHF variations into contributions from sea surface wind U and air–sea humidity differences is first applied. The linear model results show that the LHF variations have been more positively connected to U variations since 1998. Evidence from in situ and remote sensing observations is subsequently employed to identify how U has varied recently. Both Global Tropical Moored Buoy Array (GTMBA) buoy observations (from 82 buoys) and a multisensor merged satellite product support a slightly downward trend in U in the last two decades. Such a weakening of U is not conducive to oceanic evaporation and leads to a reduced LHF. Consequently, a declining LHF under a weakening U since the emergence of the global warming “hiatus” in approximately 1998 might be more convincing in the sense of data accuracy and physical consistency.

Significance Statement

The latent heat flux acts as the language of air–sea interactions. This study aims to examine how the tropical latent heat flux has changed since the emergence of the global warming slowdown in approximately 1998. The most striking finding is that the long-term variations in the tropical latent heat flux are fairly inconsistent in several widely used flux products in the last two decades. The sea surface wind variation is found to be the primary contributor to the latent heat flux variation after 1998. Observational evidence from buoy and remote sensing data is hence employed to clarify the actual sea surface wind and the latent heat flux variations.
Postprocessing of NWP Precipitation Forecasts Using Deep Learning
Authors: Rojas-Campos Adrian , Wittenbrink Martin , Nieters Pascal , Schaffernicht Erik J. , Keller Jan D. , Pipa Gordon
Published: February 2023

This study analyzes the potential of deep learning using probabilistic artificial neural networks (ANNs) for postprocessing ensemble precipitation forecasts at four observation locations. We split the precipitation forecast problem into two tasks: estimating the probability of precipitation and predicting the hourly precipitation. We then compare the performance with classical statistical postprocessing (logistical regression and GLM). ANNs show a higher performance at three of the four stations for estimating the probability of precipitation and at all stations for predicting the hourly precipitation. Further, two more general ANN models are trained using the merged data from all four stations. These general ANNs exhibit an increase in performance compared to the station-specific ANNs at most stations. However, they show a significant decay in performance at one of the stations at estimating the hourly precipitation. The general models seem capable of learning meaningful interactions in the data and generalizing these to improve the performance at other sites, which also causes the loss of local information at one station. Thus, this study indicates the potential of deep learning in weather forecasting workflows.
It's not all about the peers: Reintroducing school context to the school segregation literature
Authors: Borgen Solveig T
Published: February 2023

This paper investigates the effect of attending immigrant-dense schools on student outcomes, which consists of the joint effect of immigrant peers and school context. The sorting of students into schools is not random, and a large immigrant peer effect literature uses school fixed effects to eliminate selection bias. However, keeping schools fixed also eliminates the effect of the school context and is accordingly unsuited to estimate the total effect of attending immigrant-dense schools. By using both a value-added approach and by drawing on application data to manage selection bias, this paper demonstrates that attending immigrant-dense upper secondary schools in Norway increases student dropout, even though a school fixed effects model indicates no detectable immigrant peer effects. These findings suggest that immigrant-dense schools affect students in other ways than through mere peer exposure, and that research on the consequences of school segregation should take into account the effect of both school context and peers.
Indigenous social work with older persons: An international perspective
Authors: Bhangyi Venesio Bwambale
Published: February 2023

As social work gains strength as a global profession, indigenous social work has emerged within the growing calls to decolonize the profession and offers an alternative worldview. This article uses a systematic literature review to engage with the application of this indigenous social work paradigm in practice with older persons from an international perspective. Using the knowledge mobilization perspective, it examines the current state of knowledge on indigenous social work and draws implications for practice with older persons. It concludes by advocating for a political stance to practice rooted in indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing.
Social Networks of COVID-19 in South Korea
Authors: Yum Seungil
Published: February 2023

This study explores social networks of COVID-19 in South Korea according to a multitude of geographical scales, regions, and topics. This study finds that key players play a different role in social networks according to the national level, regional level, and topic level. For example, politicians play the most important role in communications of COVID-19 in the South Korea networks, whereas no politicians exert a significant impact on the Shincheonji networks. Second, newspaper and politicians exert a strong impact on social networks for COVID 19. Among 40 key players for COVID 19, newspapers have the highest proportion (35%), followed by politicians (25%), broadcasts (17.5%), institutes for government (10%), online platforms (7.5%), and others (5%). Third, key players have different characteristics in the cluster analyses. For example, all politicians except one politician belong to the largest group in the South Korea networks, while the top 10 players in other social networks do not belong to the largest group. The results show that governments and policymakers should analyze social networks based on geographical scales, regions, and topics and understand the characteristics of key players in communication networks.
Exiling Karl Marx from Karl Marx Square: The Political Lives of a Leipzig Monument before and after 1989
Authors: Demshuk Andrew
Published: February 2023

Across the world, the ‘difficult heritage’ of discredited monuments has prompted pitched disputation. This article explores the fraught origins and fate of Leipzig's Karl Marx monument. From its unveiling in 1974, it was one of the East Bloc's most controversial landmarks, as it stood on the site of an intact Gothic church dynamited in May 1968 in the face of East Germany's largest mass protest between the 1953 Uprising and 1989 Revolution. Enthroned on Leipzig's central Karl Marx Square as an ideological triumph, the post-communist expulsion of Marx to a remote courtyard evolved out of a selective, contingent process, wherein asymmetrical power relations culminated in ‘events’ when the monument acquired an ideological charge. From a myriad of potential destinies, the decision to exile (rather than retain or destroy) Marx's effigy can only be deciphered by unpacking the layered symbolic messages players ascribed to the evolving aesthetics at its initial location before and after 1989. Informing disputes about landmarks from Ukraine to the American South, the rise and fall of Leipzig's Marx monument exemplifies how and why a metal object can become a lightning rod for controversy, as well as how its re-exhibition can facilitate discussions about trauma, guilt, and redemption.
Stretching the Peace: The Role of Kundalini Yoga in the Lives of Young People in Alexandra, South Africa
Authors: Kahkonen Sauli , da Silva Raquel
Published: February 2023

The purpose of this exploratory study is to underline the importance of a humanistic approach to peace studies against a scenario characterized by the failings and weaknesses of the liberal peacebuilding agenda. To do so, we employ a transrational peace research framework to investigate whether Kundalini yoga can be used as a peacebuilding tool by analyzing its role in the lives of young people living in an Alexandra township, in South Africa. We conducted semistructured interviews with yoga instructors, surveyed yogis online, and analyzed three annual reports of Yoga4Alex, an organization that provides young people in Alexandra with tools for a better life through Kundalini yoga (and other programs). The main findings of this study demonstrate that practicing Kundalini yoga plays a vital role in the yogis’ lives in Alexandra, creating a space where peace can grow. Many respondents consider that yoga creates a community that offers them support and mental well-being. Moreover, yoga practice helps to develop tools they can use for personal transformation, contributing to the creation of a new identity and offering a nonviolent alternative for everyday life. This study provides reflections for both research and practice.
Dental Utilization in a Pediatric Emergency Department and Urgent Care Centers Before, During, and After Shutdown of a Pediatric Dental Clinic During the COVID-19 Pandemic, 2019-2021
Authors: Whyte Fadra , Chan Wai-Yin , Silverstein Donna-Kritz , Conrad Heather , Lee Begem
Published: February 2023

Objectives:

Limited data are available on how the closure of pediatric dental clinics because of the COVID-19 pandemic affected hospital pediatric emergency department (ED) visits in the United States. We evaluated changes in dental-related visits at a pediatric ED and associated urgent care centers (UCCs) after the shutdown of a large pediatric dental clinic because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods:

We conducted a single-center retrospective medical record review of 811 patients aged 0 to 17 years who presented to a pediatric ED or associated UCC at Rady Children’s Hospital–San Diego for dental-related concerns from March 19, 2019, through January 17, 2021. Patients were classified into 3 periods: before shutdown, during shutdown, and after shutdown. We collected data on demographic characteristics; International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision codes; dental diagnosis; treatment; and COVID-19 test results. We compared the frequency and proportion of patients seen for dental-related concerns, dental diagnosis, and treatment during the 3 periods.

Results:

The proportion of dental-related concerns in the ED doubled during the shutdown (0.7%) and was 1.5 times higher after the shutdown (0.6%) compared with before the shutdown (0.4%; P < .001). Significantly more patients were seen in EDs than in UCCs during and after the shutdown than before the shutdown ( P = .005). During and after the shutdown, admission to the hospital for antibiotic treatment increased significantly to 6.5% and 7.9%, respectively, compared with before the shutdown (2.8%; P = .022), and nonaerosolized procedures and ED/UCC discharge increased to 13.4% and 9.3%, respectively, compared with before the shutdown (6.2%; P = .015).

Conclusions:

Mitigating future closures of dental offices is important given the shifted burden of dental care to the ED.
Health Care Access and Lived Experience of American Indian/Alaska Native Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ Participants in the Pride and Connectedness Survey, 2020
Authors: Hoover Ashley , Jeffries Itai , Thomas Morgan , Leston Jessica
Published: February 2023

Objective:

To better understand health experiences among Two Spirit and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer and questioning (LGBTQ+) American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people, we examined experiences with access to health care of 223 AI/AN Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ people.

Methods:

Participants of the Pride and Connectedness 2020 survey, conducted through the Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board, were asked about barriers to seeking and accessing care through a 10-question scale. We compared cisgender and gender-diverse participant demographic and scale responses to explore potential differences based on gender identity using the Pearson χ2 test of independence and ordinal logistic regression, respectively.

Results:

Both cisgender and gender-diverse participants experienced at least some difficulties accessing health care. Finances, lack of psychologists/other mental health support, and lack of psychological support groups for Two Spirit and LGBTQ+ communities were the top 3 barriers to care experienced by all participants (84%, 82%, and 80%, respectively). Compared with cisgender participants, gender-diverse participants were more likely to report difficulties accessing care for nearly all questions on the 10-question scale and nearly 3 times more likely to report fear of being mistreated within the health care system based on their gender identity (adjusted odds ratio = 2.9; 95% CI, 1.8-4.9; P < .001).

Conclusions:

Increased access to mental health services and improved health care provider training that focuses on culturally relevant and gender-affirming practices would benefit the health and well-being of AI/AN people who identify as Two Spirit and LGBTQ+.
Machine Learning and Postcolonial Critique: Homologous Challenges to Sociological Notions of Human Agency
Authors: Borch Christian
Published: February 2023

This article discusses two seemingly unrelated but homologous challenges to established sociological thinking, namely machine learning technologies and postcolonial critique. Both of these confront conventional human-centric sociological notions. Where the rise of machine learning should prompt sociologists to take the agency of nonhuman systems seriously, postcolonial critique challenges the idea of Eurocentric human agency. I discuss whether this dual agency challenge can be addressed through Latour’s actor-network theory and Luhmann’s sociological systems theory – both of which explicitly aim to transcend classical human-centric approaches. I argue that Latour’s work can align with postcolonial sociology. However, despite broadening the notion of agency, his actor-network concept remains strongly human-centric. It merely expands the range of actors with which humans engage rather than analysing interactions among nonhuman actants, such as machine learning systems. In contrast, such interactions can be understood through Luhmann’s theorisation, which, however, can be subjected to postcolonial critique.
Reviving Metapersonal Charisma in Max Weber
Authors: Barisione Mauro
Published: February 2023

More than a century after Max Weber’s Vocation Lectures, the idea of charisma is still commonly associated with a leader’s personal qualities. This personalistic and—as I argue—simplistic understanding of the Weberian theory of charisma was perpetuated, especially in leadership studies, during the twentieth century by political scientists, social psychologists, and sociologists. Generally overlooked is the fact that the Weberian notion of charisma comprises diverse and fundamental metapersonal meanings that transcend individual qualities and revolve, among other things, around a specific combination of public positions, temporal contexts, and collective expectations. After framing the ambivalence of the concept of charisma within more fundamental and fertile ambivalences of Max Weber’s epistemological approach, this article demonstrates that metapersonal understandings of charisma actually prevailed in Weber’s writings prior to his late—and pedagogical— Vocation Lectures and series of newspaper articles. In the final part, I deduce from Weber’s writings a repertoire of metapersonal forms of charisma in politics, and I conclude that, when contemporary political leaders seek to activate such charismatic processes in order to pursue essentially charismatic forms of legitimation, important implications can arise regarding the unstable balance among liberal democracies, populisms, and authoritarianisms.
Comparing COVID-19 vaccine passports attitudes across countries by analysing Reddit comments
Authors: Yurtsever Muhammet Mücahit Enes , Shiraz Muhammad , Ekinci Ekin , Eken Süleyman
Published: February 2023

Topic mining and sentiment polarity analysis together can adequately represent the topics and attitudes of users. The goal of this article is to use Reddit’s location-based subreddits to look at country-level differences in attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccine passports. We used sentiment analysis and latent topic modelling on textual data obtained from 18 Reddit communities concentrating on COVID-19 vaccine passports from 1 January 2021 to 28 February 2022 to study COVID-19 vaccine passports–related discussion on Reddit. To discover changes in sentiment and latent topics, 11,168 comments were aggregated and examined by month. The number of comments on postings from country-specific subreddits was positively proportional to the number of new COVID-19 cases reported each day. The more subjective expressions and positive/negative interpretations occurred after July 2021. Communities indicated more positive sentiment than negative sentiment towards vaccine passports–related topics, according to polarity analysis. Topic modelling found that community members were concerned about a variety of concerns related to their socioeconomic status. Throughout the topic modelling, keywords suggesting people’s privacy concerns and acceptance of various COVID-19 control methods were found. The use of public opinion and topic modelling to analyse vaccine passports could help with important global health informatics concerns associated with their socioeconomic status.
AIRank: An algorithm on evaluating the academic influence of papers based on heterogeneous academic network
Authors: Wang Mingyang , Zhang Xinyue , Zhong Hongwei , Wang Dailin
Published: February 2023

Evaluation of papers’ academic influence is a hot issue in the field of scientific research management. Academic big data provides a data treasure with the coexistence of different types of academic entities, which can be used to evaluate academic influence from a more macro and comprehensive perspective. Based on academic big data, a heterogeneous academic network composed of links within and between three types of academic entities (authors, papers and venues) is constructed. In addition, a new academic influence ranking algorithm, AIRank, is proposed to evaluate papers’ academic influence. Different from the existing academic influence ranking algorithms, AIRank has made innovations in the following two aspects. (1) AIRank distinguishes the influence transmission intensity between different node pairs. Different from the strategy of evenly distributing influence among different node pairs, AIRank quantifies the intensity of influence transmission between node pairs based on investigating the citation emotional attribute, semantic similarity and academic quality differences between node pairs. Based on the intensity characteristics, AIRank realises the distribution and transmission of influence among different node pairs. (2) AIRank incorporates the influence transmission from heterogeneous neighbours in evaluating papers’ influence. According to the academic influence of author nodes and venue nodes, AIRank fine-tunes the iteration formula of paper influence to obtain the ranking of papers under the joint influence of homogeneous and heterogeneous neighbours. Experimental results show that, compared with the ranking results based on citation frequency and PageRank algorithm, AIRank algorithm can produce more differentiated and reasonable academic influence ranking results.
Remarriage in Thailand: A Study of Emerging Trends, Correlates, and Implications for Women's Well-Being
Authors: Pothisiri Wiraporn , Teerawichitchainan Bussarawan , Kaewbuadee Nitchakarn
Published: February 2023

Thailand’s marriage system has been undergoing a significant transformation. Past research has often focused on the declining marriage rates, delays in marital timing, and the rise in marital dissolution. Much less attention is paid to remarriage trends and consequences. Addressing this pertinent gap, we analyze multiple nationally representative surveys to examine recent trends, correlates, and potential implications of remarriage among Thai reproductive-age women. Our results indicate that remarriage is commonplace in Thailand, and that birth cohort, educational attainment, residence location, age at first marriage, and children from a previous marriage are significantly associated with the likelihood to remarry. We find that Thai women tend to have additional children after remarriage. While research elsewhere suggests the positive effect of remarriage on health and life satisfaction, this is not evident in Thailand. Women whose remarriage has ended reported significantly lower life satisfaction than those who did not remarry.
Gender Bargaining Within Matriliny in Kerala
Authors: Lekha N.B.
Published: February 2023

This article presents ethnographic evidence to illustrate how Nayar women in Kerala from three different generations encounter the interplay of changed gender and property relations and seek to balance their relationships, expectations and entitlements within their natal and affinal families. Directly experiencing the dynamic intersection of property, gender and culture as well as legal and socio-cultural change, these women are seen to bargain, often quite consciously, over power and resources, including property, within patterns of matriliny that exist in a wider society influenced by dominant patriarchal norms. The article suggests that this is not as unique to Kerala as is often claimed. It makes a case, therefore, for further research on how South Asian women in the twenty-first century remain torn between matriliny and patriliny, the natal family and the husband’s family, and have to engage in multiple balancing acts to secure their rights.
Book Review: Megha Anwer and Anupama Arora (Eds), Bollywood’s New Woman: Liberalisation, Liberation, and Contested Bodies
Authors: Sinha Priyam
Published: February 2023

Megha Anwer and Anupama Arora (Eds), Bollywood’s New Woman: Liberalisation, Liberation, and Contested Bodies (New Brunswick, NJ and London: Rutgers University Press, 2021), vi + 213 pp.
Book Review: Patrick Inglis, Narrow Fairways: Getting By & Falling Behind in the New India
Authors: Menski Werner
Published: February 2023

Patrick Inglis, Narrow Fairways: Getting By & Falling Behind in the New India (New York: Oxford University Press, 2019), xvi + 301 pp.
Non-visual teaching skills and strategies orientation and mobility instructors who are blind use to ensure the safety of the students with visual impairment
Authors: Griffin-Shirley Nora , Bozeman Laura , Okungu Phoebe , Nguyen The , Ihenagwam Chinomso
Published: February 2023

In this qualitative study, three participants were observed and recorded while teaching in a variety of environments. The purpose of this study was to confirm the findings of the interviews and to learn more about these non-visual teaching skills and strategies. Using an observation checklist, the research team met on a weekly basis to view and code the recordings from January to April 2022. Member checks were completed by all participants via Zoom meetings. The participants were three males who were visually impaired employed at rehabilitation centers for individuals with low vision/blindness. Four themes emerged from the analysis of the observation data: auditory monitoring, tactile monitoring, instructor positioning, and Structured Discovery Cane Travel (SDCT®). The results of this study demonstrate the connection between the current study and the previous three studies completed by the research team. It is evident that the participants engaged in different strategies to monitor safety and promote independent travel for their students. Non-visual skills were an important component for SDCT that all participants utilized. The findings of this study can be used by university faculty from orientation and mobility (O&M) personnel preparation programs as a resource when they have students with visual impairment in blindfold/simulation cane courses. This research also supported faculty to identify best teaching practices among all programs and to integrate these practices into their curricula to strengthen their programs. For success in life, teachers of students with visual impairment and O&M instructors need to promote self-advocacy.
Impact of compounded drugs on the caregivers’ burden of home therapy management in pediatric palliative care: A descriptive study
Authors: Burlo Francesca , Zanon Davide , Passone Eva , Toniutti Maristella , Ponis Giuliano , Barbi Egidio , Taucar Valentina , De Zen Lucia
Published: February 2023

Background:

Children with medical complexity need complex assistance, that considerably affects caregivers’ quality of life. They often need multiple medications, with a consequent relevant risk of errors or poor compliance. Galenic (or compounded) drugs are blended in the pharmacy’s laboratory worldwide according to different rules and tailoring the patient’s needs. While their use may sometimes simplify these therapies, little is known about parents’ attitude about this issue.

Aim:

This study aimed at investigating the complexity of the daily therapy management and exploring the parents’ opinions about galenic compounds.

Design:

Parents were interviewed by using a structured questionnaire.

Setting:

Children followed by the Pediatric Palliative Care Network in Friuli Venezia Giulia, Italy, were included from November 2021 to April 2022. Those diagnosed with malignancies were excluded, since therapies are mainly administered through a central venous catheter.

Results:

Thirty-four parents were interviewed. Fourteen patients took drugs orally, one via nasogastric tube (NGT), 18 via gastrostomy, and one orally + NGT. The mean number of drugs taken every day was six (2–14), in mean 10 (3–18) administrations, that overall required a mean of 44 (8–180) minutes to be delivered. Twenty-eight parents used galenic compounds, and 24 reported relevant advantages, because of a ready-to-use and safe formulation.

Conclusions:

The therapy management of children with medical complexity relies on parents. Galenic compounds may improve both patients’ and caregivers’ quality of life, either in terms of shorter time of administration or smaller risk of errors. Therefore, their use should be encouraged worldwide, according to the different reference rules.
Communication in the context of glioblastoma treatment: A qualitative study of what matters most to patients, caregivers and health care professionals
Authors: Boele Florien W , Butler Sean , Nicklin Emma , Bulbeck Helen , Pointon Lucy , Short Susan C , Murray Louise
Published: February 2023

Background:

Patients with glioblastoma have a poor prognosis and treatment is palliative in nature from diagnosis. It is therefore critical that the benefits and burdens of treatments are clearly discussed with patients and caregivers.

Aim:

To explore experiences and preferences around glioblastoma treatment communication in patients, family caregivers and healthcare professionals.

Design:

Qualitative design. A thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews.

Setting/participants:

A total of 15 adult patients with glioblastoma, 13 caregivers and 5 healthcare professionals were recruited from Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

Results:

Four themes were identified: (1) Communication practice and preferences. Risks and side-effects of anti-tumour treatments were explained clearly, with information layered and repeated. Treatment was often understood to be ‘the only option’. Understanding the impact of side-effects could be enhanced, alongside information about support services. (2) What matters most. Patients/caregivers valued being well-supported by a trusted treatment team, feeling involved, having control and quality of life. Healthcare professionals similarly highlighted trust, maintaining independence and emotional support as key. (3) Decision-making. With limited treatment options, trust and control are crucial in decision-making. Patients ultimately prefer to follow healthcare professional advice but want to be involved, consider alternatives and voice what matters to them. (4) Impact of COVID-19. During the pandemic, greater efforts to maintain good communication were necessary. Negative impacts of COVID-19 were limited, caregivers appeared most disadvantaged by pandemic-related restrictions.

Conclusions:

In glioblastoma treatment communication, where prognosis is poor and treatmentwill not result in cure, building trusting relationships, maintaining a sense of control and being well-informed are identified as critical.
A sampling and learning framework to prove motion planning infeasibility
Authors: Li Sihui , Dantam Neil T.
Published: February 2023

We present a learning-based approach to prove infeasibility of kinematic motion planning problems. Sampling-based motion planners are effective in high-dimensional spaces but are only probabilistically complete. Consequently, these planners cannot provide a definite answer if no plan exists, which is important for high-level scenarios, such as task-motion planning. We apply data generated during multi-directional sampling-based planning (such as PRM) to a machine learning approach to construct an infeasibility proof. An infeasibility proof is a closed manifold in the obstacle region of the configuration space that separates the start and goal into disconnected components of the free configuration space. We train the manifold using common machine learning techniques and then triangulate the manifold into a polytope to prove containment in the obstacle region. Under assumptions about the hyper-parameters and robustness of configuration space optimization, the output is either an infeasibility proof or a motion plan in the limit. We demonstrate proof construction for up to 4-DOF configuration spaces. A large part of the algorithm is parallelizable, which offers potential to address higher dimensional configuration spaces.
DNA methylation status of interspersed repetitive sequences in patients with migraine
Authors: Kraveishvili Nino , Kvaratskhelia Eka , Surmava Sandro , Kvintradze Merab , Zarandia Maia , Gorgiladze Tinatin , Abzianidze Elene
Published: February 2023

Objective

To analyse the methylation status of the Long Interspersed Nuclear Element-1 (LINE-1) and Short Interspersed Nuclear Element Alu (Alu) of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with migraine compared with healthy control subjects.

Methods

This case–control study recruited patients with migraine without aura and age-matched healthy control subjects. PBMCs were purified from peripheral blood samples. Methylation levels and patterns of LINE-1 and Alu sequences were evaluated using combined bisulfite restriction analysis-interspersed repetitive sequences polymerase chain reaction.

Results

A total of 84 patients with migraine and 82 age-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. High levels of unmethylated cytosines in both the LINE-1 and Alu repetitive elements were observed in the migraine group compared with the control subjects. In addition, a significant difference was detected in the methylation level of LINE-1 between TT and CC genotype groups of the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase gene.

Conclusions

These results suggest that analysis of epigenetic biomarkers in PBMCs may help to identify patients at a higher risk of migraine development.
Laparoscopic approach in the treatment of splenic angiolipomatous hamartoma: the first report of a case
Authors: Milosavljevic Vladimir M. , Tadic Boris S. , Grubor Nikola M. , Mitrovic Milica D. , Ceranic Miljan S. , Toskovic Borislav L. , Terzic Tatjana T.
Published: February 2023

Angiolipomatous hamartoma is a benign mesenchymal proliferation of unknown aetiology. Only a few cases have been documented in the published literature. This current case report describes a 57-year-old female patient who was hospitalized for an assessment of a previously radiologically-verified splenic lesion and further treatment. The patient had been surgically treated 10 years previously; a lobectomy of the superior left pulmonary lobe had been performed in order to remove a verified tumour lesion. A complete radiological examination was undertaken, which verified a spleen of a size that was within the physiological range, with a centrally-located lobular tumour lesion. Given the risk of splenic rupture, as well as the fact that the lesion’s aetiology was still undetermined, and finally the fact that differential diagnostics indicated the possibility of a metastasis, the patient was treated surgically. Laparoscopic splenectomy, in the treatment of splenic diseases, even rare ones such as this, is not a novelty. Indeed, it needs to be applied as the standard approach, with the well-known benefits that the minimalized approach offers.