bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Supply disruption in the wake of COVID-19 crisis and organisational performance: mediated by organisational productivity and customer satisfaction
Authors: Udofia Ekpenyong Ekpenyong , Adejare Bimbo Onaolapo , Olaore Gbemi Oladipo , Udofia Etete Ekpenyong
Published: January 2021

Purpose

This study aims to test the impact of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic on large firms, with regard to a supply disruption, productivity, customer satisfaction and firm performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey design and stratified sampling technique were implemented for employee selection and data gathering. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to examine the data and model fitness, while the structural equation model was used for hypotheses testing.

Findings

The pandemic triggered supply disruptions, but did not significantly impact the productivity of manufacturing firms directly. However, supply disruption positively and significantly impacted productivity. Organisational productivity had no significant impact on customer satisfaction, however, when mediating the relationship between Covid-19 and customer satisfaction, it produces a positive indirect effect. Finally, Covid-19 and supply disruption when mediated by organisational productivity both had negative significant relationships on performance.

Research limitations/implications

Having a unique model, it creates a trail for future researchers to explore further. Though customer satisfaction was expected to be affected by the pandemic, it is interesting to find out that customer satisfaction when mediated by organisational productivity was positively influenced.

Practical implications

Disruptions are inevitable, managers must balance the pursuit of customer satisfaction and productivity so that one does not erode the other. Emphasis must be channelled towards managing the productivity of the firm to maintain customer satisfaction during these uncertain times. Deliberate steps like manufacturing flexibility investments should be initiated.

Originality/value

The first study to examine Covid-19, supply disruption, customer satisfaction, organisational productivity and performance in the Nigerian manufacturing sector.
Using critical realism and abduction to navigate theory and data in operations and supply chain management research
Authors: Eriksson David , Engström Annika
Published: January 2021

Purpose

Operations and supply chain management (OSCM) is a theoretically and philosophically fragmented field. Researchers must consider how they use theory and explain empirical phenomena. This paper aims to use critical realism to introduce more coherence into this fragmented field.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper draws on existing critical realism and abduction literature and this study uses a research process from two PhD projects to investigate critical realism’s role in OSCM research. This paper uses a narrative approach to collect data over a long timeframe, capturing data not commonly used in OSCM research.

Findings

Research that struggles to bridge the gap between theory and data benefits from critical realism, which provides a philosophy and associated methods to identify a suitable theory and guide researchers when they encounter obstacles. While clear steps often outline established methods, researchers are sometimes unable to identify when their research process has reached an obstacle. This paper argues that such obstacles can be treated as “crossroads” offering new research opportunities when correctly evaluated and addressed.

Research limitations/implications

Importantly, researchers should be able to reflect upon their own research processes, enabling a better understanding of these processes and the discovery of new research directions. Researchers can use critical realism, abduction and systematic combining to bridge the divide between theory and data in OSCM.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the field’s discussion regarding the roles of critical realism and abduction, synthesizing multiple academic sources, highlighting critical realism’s importance and providing a novel means of addressing difficulties in navigating an eclectic research area. This paper offers a philosophical alternate to the field, which is often instead considered from a positivistic standpoint. The paper is valuable to researchers in the OSCM field, who can use the research to improve their selection of data and theories, as well as their understanding of their own research processes.
Does size matter? The effects of public sector organizational size’ on knowledge management processes and operational efficiency
Authors: Al Yami Mohsenah , Ajmal Mian M. , Balasubramanian Sreejith
Published: January 2021

Purpose

Firm size is an important contingency variable in macro-organizational studies. Several questions arise in relation to knowledge management and organizational size that is critical to both public and private organizations. Unfortunately, despite its significance, all or most of the studies that examined the effects of organizational size’ on knowledge management have been in the private sector. This paper aims to empirically study the effects of organizational size on the key knowledge management processes and subsequent operational efficiency derived from its implementation in the public sector.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured country-wide survey of United Arab Emirates public sector organizations was conducted. The 383 completed responses obtained were then analysed to assess the hypothesized differences in the implementation of knowledge management processes (knowledge acquisition, knowledge creation, knowledge capture, knowledge storage and retrieval, knowledge sharing, knowledge utilization) and its impact on the operational efficiency across small and medium, large and very large public sector organizations.

Findings

The results revealed that the extent of implementation of all six knowledge management processes and operational efficiency followed an inverted “V” pattern, in which, both knowledge management processes and operational efficiency was found to increase while transitioning from small and medium entities to large entities, but was found to decrease while transitioning from large to very large entities. In terms of relationships, while all knowledge management processes had a significant positive impact on the operational efficiency of the public sector, the ability to derive operational efficiency from knowledge management processes was found to be the highest for very large public sector organizations.

Practical implications

The novel findings are useful for practitioners and policymakers, especially those overseeing a country’s knowledge management initiatives to devise strategies, policies and support mechanisms to ensure public sector organizations, regardless of their size, can implement efficient and effective knowledge management processes to improve their operational efficiency.

Originality/value

The study is arguably the first comprehensive attempt to understand the impact of organizational size on knowledge management in the public sector.
The use of behavioral tests of fearfulness in chicks to distinguish between the Japanese native chicken breeds, Tosa‐Kukin and Yakido
Authors: Yoshidome Koichi , Fukano Natsuki , Ouchi Yoshimitsu , Tomonaga Shozo , Cockrem John F. , Bungo Takashi
Published: January 2021

The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in fearfulness between two Japanese native chicken breeds, Tosa‐Kukin (TOK) and Yakido (YKD). In a tonic immobility test, TOK breed chicks showed longer duration and lower induction number compared with YKD. The number of peeps in YKD in an isolation test was lower than that in TOK, whereas there were more bouts of peeping in YKD than in TOK. In a manual restraint test, YKD showed more active responses and initiated peeps and struggling earlier than TOK. The three behavioral tests all indicated that YKD are less fearful than TOK chickens. A latent structures discriminant (OPLS‐DA) analysis was used to identify behavioral parameters that contributed to the differences between the breeds. The major parameters were duration and number of inductions in the tonic immobility test and number of struggle in the manual restraint test. These results suggest that three behavioral tests can be used together to evaluate fearfulness of Japanese native breeds of chickens.
Multimodal analgesia in a Southern White Rhinoceros (Ceratotherium simum) with pentosan polysulfate, gabapentin, amantadine and phenylbutazone to manage chronic pain
Authors: Gardner BR , Rourke NL
Published: January 2021

A 38‐year‐old white rhinoceros bull (Ceratotherium simum) was treated with phenylbutazone over a period of four years for chronic osteoarthritic and neuropathic pain of the thoracic limbs. Initially the lameness was sporadic and responded well to phenylbutazone (4 mg/kg PO SID). The lameness increased in severity during the winter months. Four years after treatment was initiated, there was an increase in the severity and incidence of the lameness. Analgesia was augmented by the addition of non‐conventional analgesic drugs. Pentosan polysulfate was administered IM at 3 mg/kg once a week for two treatments and thereafter monthly when possible. Gabapentin was used at 8 mg/kg but produced ataxia and anorexia. The dose was reduced to 4‐5 mg/kg PO SID. Amantadine (3 mg/kg PO BID) was added to the multimodal analgesia and produced a significant improvement in the clinical lameness. Chronic inflammation was monitored using both automated and manual fibrinogen methods. Eventually the rhinoceros was euthanized on humane grounds when treatment was unable to produce suitable clinical relief.
Outcome measures in Haemophilia: Beyond ABR (Annualized Bleeding Rate)
Authors: Manco‐Johnson Marilyn J. , Warren Beth Boulden , Buckner Tyler W. , Funk Sharon M. , Wang Michael
Published: January 2021

Options for management of haemophilia are increasing rapidly with completely novel therapeutic approaches that cannot be compared using traditional factor assays. In addition, as prophylaxis regimens have improved, bleeding rates have decreased, and consequently, it is difficult to show an impact of novel therapies on rates of spontaneous bleeding. There is currently an urgent need for a panel of outcome measures to compare therapies that are dissimilar in many essential ways. Conventional objective outcome measures including joint physical examination and joint imaging continue to hold a central importance. Factor assays are essential for evaluation of products derived from native factor genes, but are not applicable to some extended half‐life factors or non‐factor bypassing agents. Global assays including thrombin generation and chromogenic assays of factor X activation are under investigation for their usefulness in haemophilia assessment. Bleeding rate is a conventional subjective patient‐reported outcome that, while decreasing in frequency, is indispensable as an outcome given that the primary manifestation of haemophilia is bleeding. Other patient‐reported outcomes such as pain intensity and interference, health‐related quality of life and activities and participation are increasingly important to distinguish superior outcomes in comparative trials. This review of outcome measures for haemophilia presents examples of existing outcome measures with an emphasis on their strengths and limitations.
Identifying critical risk factors and responses of river dredging projects for knowledge management within organisation
Authors: Chou Jui‐Sheng , Chiu Ying‐Chen
Published: January 2021

A river exhibits strong upstream erosion and rapid downstream accumulation. Dredging is one of the methods that is most commonly adopted by the Taiwan Water Resources Agency (WRA) to ensure the smooth flow of rivers and their ability to discharge water, protecting lives and property from flood disasters. However, dredging projects are large, involving very many stakeholders, leading to high uncertainty in the implementation of the project. The WRA also lacks relevant risk management methods and countermeasures owing to the periodical brain drain and retirement within the organisation. In order to enhance risk management for dredging engineers, river management offices across the country were visited, and knowledge and experience of dredging engineering were obtained using expert meetings and scientific methods. Work was carried out with the WRA to identify six major risk categories for dredging projects, covering 30 risks. An Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) questionnaire was developed using the Risk Breakdown Structure (RBS), and a Risk Impact/Frequency Analysis (RIFA) questionnaire was developed using the Important/Performance Analysis (IPA) method; these were answered by 69 engineers with experience in river dredging. Finally, critical risk factors are identified and ranked by combining the responses to the questionnaires and in the interviews, helping engineers with risk management in the future. Research results demonstrate that most of the engineering management experience in practice is communicated by word of mouth, with no effective and systematic method of knowledge management. Therefore, a knowledge‐based system is created, covering 170 risk events and solutions for various dredging projects, and a graphical user information system is built in a programming language, to enable the WRA to save engineering experience systematically for future exploitation.
National survey of bladder endometriosis cases in Japan
Authors: Hirata Tetsuya , Koga Kaori , Taniguchi Fuminori , Takazawa Naoko , Honda Ritsuo , Tanaka Toshiaki , Kurihara Masatoshi , Nakajima Jun , Yoshimura Kotaro , Kitade Mari , Narahara Hisashi , Kitawaki Jo , Harada Tasuku , Katabuchi Hidetaka , Horie Shigeo , Osuga Yutaka
Published: January 2021

Aim

We aimed to describe the clinical presentation, operative or medical management, and postoperative recurrence of bladder endometriosis (BE).

Methods

We conducted a national survey to investigate BE cases from 2006 to 2016 in Japan. Histologically diagnosed cases were extracted and then investigated for the following factors: age at diagnosis, body mass index, symptoms, imaging modalities, surgical therapy, hormonal therapy, follow‐up period, and postoperative recurrence.

Results

Eighty‐nine patients with pathologically benign BE were identified. Eighty patients underwent surgery, whereas nine did not. Moreover, 34 and 44 patients underwent transurethral resection (TUR) and partial cystectomy (PC), respectively. Cumulative recurrence rates were significantly higher with TUR than with PC (p < 0.05). The recurrence rate tended to be higher after laparoscopic PC (n = 24) than after open PC (n = 20), but the difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.0879). Of the nine nonsurgical patients, eight received hormonal therapy and one did not. Efficacy rates of dienogest, GnRH agonist, and OC were 85.7%, 66.7%, and 66.7%, respectively. Of five patients with BE extending to the ureter or ureteral orifices, two underwent PC and ureteroneocystostomy and one underwent total nephroureterectomy due to renal function loss.

Conclusion

To our knowledge, this is the first study to compare the postoperative recurrence of BE after TUR and PC. We found that cumulative recurrence rate is significantly lower after PC than after TUR. BE extending to the ureter or ureteral orifices is a very challenging condition. Further studies are required for the optimal management of BE.
Effect of Drug Abuse Counselling Training: Adaptation of Motivational Interviewing Strategy on Empathy, Confidence, Change Behaviour Skill and Self-Esteem among Prison Officers in Sabah
Authors: Megat Ahmad Puteri Hayati , Md Nawi Nurul Hudani , Abdul Alim Azreel Azim
Published: January 2021

The correctional officers in Sabah Prison have not received any specific training to treat drug abusers, even though they consist the highest percentages of inmates. The Adaptation of Motivational Interviewing, AMI Treatment Modules, has been used as the training module in this project. This project aims to transfer drug abuse counselling skills to 67 prison officers in Sabah. Participants were trained for 5 days with various training methods, and the instruments used were Counseling Response Questionnaires (CRQ), Confidence and Knowledge Scale (CKS), Behavior Change Counselling Index (BECCI) and Rosenberg Self-Esteem. This study uses a quasi-experimental design aimed at seeing the effectiveness of AMI's training. Result from Wilcoxon signed-ranks test showed that the mean for post-test ranks was higher than the mean pre-test ranks for empathy (z = -7.14, p .05, confidence ( z = -6.95, p .05), change behavior skill (z = -5.99, p .05) as well as self- esteem  (z = -4.98, p .05).  In other words, the study showed that the Drug Abuse Counselling Training: Adaptation of Motivational Interviewing Strategy can promote positive effects on subject’ empathy, confidence, change behavior skill and self-esteem. Therefore, the five-day workshop based on the AMI Treatment Modules can be used as a guideline for relevant authorities such as the Malaysia Prison Department for future training programmes particularly to correctional officers. In conclusion, this project has been able to enhance empathy, confidence and behavior-changing skills as well as self-esteem among prison officers in Sabah.
Physical vapor deposition of the halide perovskite CsBi2Br7
Authors: Tran Minh N. , Cleveland Iver J. , Aydil Eray S.
Published: January 2021

In cesium bismuth bromides comprising [BiBr6]3− octahedra, the octahedra behave as quantum dots and their interactions can be manipulated by tailoring their connectedness (e.g., corner-sharing, edge-sharing, or unconnected). Of the four compounds reported, CsBi2Br7, CsBiBr4, Cs3Bi2Br9, and Cs3BiBr6, there is only one publication each on CsBi2Br7 and CsBiBr4. Here, we synthesize CsBi2Br7 and attempt to synthesize CsBiBr4 using co-evaporation of CsBr and BiBr3 where the precursor fluxes are controlled precisely. The structure, composition, morphology, and optical properties of the films are characterized using x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy, Raman scattering, and optical absorption as a function of time from hours to several months. When the CsBr:BiBr3 flux ratio is 1:2, CsBi2Br7 forms but its XRD, Raman spectrum, and morphology change with time. CsBi2Br7 is ultimately unstable with respect to dissociation into Cs3Bi2Br9 and BiBr3 over a time period of weeks. Its optical absorption shows a peak at 407 nm, between that of Cs3Bi2Br9 at 435 nm and Cs3BiBr6 at 386 nm, indicating that the interactions between the [BiBr6]3− octahedra in CsBi2Br7 is between those in Cs3Bi2Br9, where the octahedra share corners, and Cs3BiBr6, where the octahedra are not connected. When the CsBr:BiBr3 flux ratio is maintained at 1:1 to form CsBiBr4, the XRD of the resulting film is consistent with a mixture of Cs3Bi2Br9 and CsBi2Br7 suggesting that CsBiBr4, if it exists and forms, is also unstable. We see remarkable fluidity and mobility of matter in the film with tens of micrometer size crystals growing or disappearing in thermodynamically frustrated films even at room temperature over a period of days to weeks.
Injectable biocompatible poly(2-oxazoline) hydrogels by strain promoted alkyne–azide cycloaddition
Authors: Park Jong-Ryul , Bolle Eleonore C. L. , Santos Cavalcanti Amanda Dos , Podevyn Annelore , Van Guyse Joachim F. R. , Forget Aurelien , Hoogenboom Richard , Dargaville Tim R.
Published: January 2021

Poly(2-alkyl-2-oxazoline) (PAOx) hydrogels are tailorable synthetic materials with demonstrated biomedical applications, thanks to their excellent biocompatibility and tunable properties. However, their use as injectable hydrogels is challenging as it requires invasive surgical procedures to insert the formed hydrogel into the body due to their nonsoluble 3D network structures. Herein, we introduce cyclooctyne and azide functional side chains to poly(2-oxazoline) copolymers to induce in situ gelation using strain promoted alkyne–azide cycloaddition. The gelation occurs rapidly, within 5 min, under physiological conditions when two polymer solutions are simply mixed. The influence of several parameters, such as temperature and different aqueous solutions, and stoichiometric ratios between the two polymers on the structural properties of the resultant hydrogels have been investigated. The gel formation within tissue samples was verified by subcutaneous injection of the polymer solution into an ex vivo model. The degradation study of the hydrogels in vitro showed that the degradation rate was highly dependent on the type of media, ranging from days to a month. This result opens up the potential uses of PAOx hydrogels in attempts to achieve optimal, injectable drug delivery systems and tissue engineering.
An investigation on noise attenuation by acoustic liner constructed by Helmholtz resonators with extended necks
Authors: Guo Jingwen , Fang Yi , Jiang Ziyan , Zhang Xin
Published: January 2021

The noise attenuation properties of an acoustic liner consisting of Helmholtz resonators with extended necks (HRENs) are investigated. An optimal liner constructed by 16 inhomogeneous HRENs is designed to be effective in sound absorption in a prescribed frequency range from 700 to 1000 Hz. Its quasi-perfect absorption capability (average absorption coefficient above 0.9) is validated by measurements and simulations. The resonance frequencies of the individual resonators in the designed liner are just located within the effective absorption bandwidth, indicating the overlapping phenomenon of absorption peaks. In addition, the liner maintains a thin thickness, about 1/25th with respect to the longest operating wavelengths. To assess the acoustic performance of the designed liner in the presence of mean flow, experimental investigations are performed in a flow tube. Results show a near flat transmission loss is attained in the target frequency range by the designed liner. Additionally, the impedance of the uniform HREN-based liner is extracted at flow condition. In all, the inhomogeneous HREN-based liner is featured by the thin thickness and the excellent wide-band noise attenuation property. These features make the designed liner an promising solution for noise attenuation in both static and flow conditions.
Sustained Passing Performance of Elite and Subelite Female Soccer Players Following a Female Match-Specific Exercise Protocol
Authors: Lyons Mikayla J. , Conlon Jennifer , Perejmibida Amy , Chivers Paola , Joyce Christopher
Published: January 2021

Purpose: This study examined the maintenance of passing performance following soccer-specific high-intensity intermittent exercise in elite (n = 9) and subelite (n = 11) Western Australian female soccer players (19.5 [2.5] y). Methods: A total of 20 participants completed the Loughborough Soccer Passing Test (LSPT) prior to, during, and following 90 minutes of a modified, female-specific, individualized exercise protocol (Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test [LIST]) to simulate 2 halves of a soccer match. Performance in the LSPT was calculated by adding “raw time” to the accumulated “penalty time” for each test. Results: Elite players recorded greater distances (t58 = 4.671, P < .001, effect size [ES] = 1.21) and higher derived VO2max values (t58 = 4.715, P < .001, ES = 1.20) for the LIST exercise protocol over the subelite players. The total performance times for each LSPT were longer in the subelites in comparison with the elites, with a very large ES difference seen in post-LIST1 (t18 = −6.64, P < .001, ES = 2.99) and post-LIST2 (t18 = −9.143, P < .001, ES = 4.12). No between-groups differences were identified for “raw time” at any time point. Hence, all reported LSPT performance differences are attributed to “penalty time.” Conclusion: These data suggest that elite players can sustain their passing performance more efficiently throughout match play that can subelite female soccer players. These findings may contribute to future talent-identification testing by helping to distinguish between elite- and subelite-level players through sustained passing performance. Coaches may also use this information to better inform best-practice training methods through modification of male soccer-specific high-intensity intermittent exercise to a female cohort.
Caffeine Ingestion Improves Performance During Fitness Tests but Does Not Alter Activity During Simulated Games in Professional Basketball Players
Authors: Raya-González Javier , Scanlan Aaron T. , Soto-Célix María , Rodríguez-Fernández Alejandro , Castillo Daniel
Published: January 2021

Purpose: To examine the effects of acute caffeine supplementation on physical performance during fitness testing and activity during simulated games in basketball players. Methods: A double-blind, counterbalanced, randomized, crossover study design was followed. A total of 14 professional male basketball players ingested a placebo (sucrose) and caffeine (6 mg·kg−1 of body mass) in liquid form prior to completing 2 separate testing sessions. Each testing session involved completion of a standardized 15-minute warm-up followed by various fitness tests including 20-m sprints, countermovement jumps, Lane Agility Drill trials, and a repeated-sprint-ability test. Following a 20-minute recovery, players completed 3 × 7-minute 5-vs-5 simulated periods of full-court basketball games, each separated by 2 minutes of recovery. Local positioning system technology was used to measure player activity during games. Players completed a side-effects questionnaire 12 to 14 hours after testing. Results: Players experienced significant (P < .05), moderate–very large (effect size = −2.19 to 0.89) improvements in 20-m sprint, countermovement jump, Lane Agility Drill, and repeated-sprint-ability performance with caffeine supplementation. However, external workloads completed during simulated games demonstrated nonsignificant, trivial–small (effect size = −0.23 to 0.12) changes between conditions. In addition, players reported greater (P < .05) insomnia and urine output after caffeine ingestion. Conclusions: Acute caffeine supplementation could be effective to improve physical performance during tests stressing fitness elements important in basketball. However, acute caffeine supplementation appears to exert no meaningful effects on the activity completed during simulated basketball games and may promote sleep disturbances and exert a diuretic effect when taken at 6 mg·kg−1 of body mass in professional players.
Athletes’ Psychological Needs and Coaches’ Interpersonal Behaviors: A Within-Person Latent Profile Analysis
Authors: Shannon Stephen , Prentice Garry , Breslin Gavin
Published: January 2021

Basic psychological needs theory is limited by variable-centered studies focused on linear relationships between perceived needs-supportive/controlling coach behaviors. Therefore, latent profile analysis was used to determine if heterogenous profiles emerged from the interactive effects of needs-supportive and -controlling coach behaviors and the subsequent association with sport-specific mental health outcomes (i.e., burnout and subjective vitality). A total of 685 athletes took part (age = 23.39 years, male = 71%), and the latent profile analysis revealed five novel, diverse profiles, labeled as “supportive-developmental,” “needs-indifferent,” “overly critical,” “harsh-controlling,” and “distant-controlling” coaches. The profiles predicted significant mental health variance (adjusted R2 = .15–.24), wherein the “supportive-developmental” profile scored most favorably on 90% of the outcomes. The largest mean differences were observed against the “harsh-controlling” (n = 5), “overly critical” (n = 3), and “distant controlling” (n = 2) profiles. Overall, latent profile analysis revealed substantial nuance in athletes’ social contexts, predicting variance in mental health. Needs-supportive interventions are needed for “overly critical,” “harsh controlling,” and “distant controlling” athlete profiles.
The Operon Encoding Hydrolytic Dehalogenation of 4-Chlorobenzoate Is Transcriptionally Regulated by the TetR-Type Repressor FcbR and Its Ligand 4-Chlorobenzoyl Coenzyme A
Authors: Cheng Minggen , Pei Dongmei , He Xiangrong , Liu Yongchuang , Zhu Pingping , Yan Xin
Published: January 2021

The bacterial hydrolytic dehalogenation of 4CBA is a special CoA-activation-type catabolic pathway that plays an important role in the biodegradation of polychlorinated biphenyls and some herbicides. With genetic and biochemical approaches, the present study identified the transcriptional repressor and its cognate effector of a 4CBA hydrolytic dehalogenation operon.
Human Cytomegalovirus UL7, miR-US5-1, and miR-UL112-3p Inactivation of FOXO3a Protects CD34
+
Hematopoietic Progenitor Cells from Apoptosis
Authors: Hancock Meaghan H. , Crawford Lindsey B. , Perez Wilma , Struthers Hillary M. , Mitchell Jennifer , Caposio Patrizia
Published: January 2021

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) causes serious disease in immunocompromised individuals and is a significant problem during transplantation. The virus can establish a latent infection in CD34
+
hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPCs) and periodically reactivate to cause disease in the absence of an intact immune system.
Descriptive study of parents’ perceptions of paediatric ward rounds
Authors: Barrington Julia , Polley Clare , van Heerden Carolyn , Gray Amy
Published: January 2021

Objectives

To explore parents’ perceptions of ward rounds in two different ward settings (medical and surgical unit) in a tertiary paediatric hospital in Australia and to understand key factors influencing them.

Design

A descriptive study was conducted based on 100 semistructured interviews across two different inpatient units: medical (n=50) and surgical (n=50). Quantitative data, obtained from closed-ended responses, were analysed using descriptive statistics. Qualitative data, obtained from open-ended responses, were analysed using inductive content analysis, facilitating a more in-depth understanding of parents’ perceptions of ward rounds and their lived experience.

Results

Parents in both medical and surgical units reported high levels of satisfaction with ward rounds, with a median parental satisfaction rating of 4 out of a possible 5 (comparative in both settings). Two major themes were identified influencing parental perceptions of ward rounds: team-family dynamics and managing uncertainties inherent to ward rounds.

Conclusion

This study demonstrates that parents highly value ward rounds, primarily for the opportunity they offer to collaborate with the clinical team and to ask questions. Parental satisfaction was high in both medical and surgical units, despite notable differences in ward round structure and function. Our study highlights key areas where small changes could empower parents and enhance their overall hospital experience.
Injury and illness epidemiology in professional Asian football: lower general incidence and burden but higher ACL and hamstring injury burden compared with Europe
Authors: Tabben Montassar , Eirale Cristiano , Singh Gurcharan , Al-Kuwari Abdulaziz , Ekstrand Jan , Chalabi Hakim , Bahr Roald , Chamari Karim
Published: January 2021

Background

While football injury and illness epidemiology surveillance at professional club level in Europe is available, epidemiological data from other continents are lacking.

Purpose

Investigating injury and illness epidemiology in professional Asian football.

Study design

Descriptive prospective study.

Methods

Professional teams from the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) league were followed prospectively for three consecutive AFC seasons (2017 through 2019, 13 teams per season, 322 team months). Time-loss injuries and illnesses in addition to individual match and training exposure were recorded using standardised digital tools in accordance with international consensus procedures.

Results

In total, 232 665 hours of exposure (88.6% training and 11.4% matches) and 1159 injuries were recorded; 496 (42.8%) occurred during matches, 610 (52.6%) during training; 32 (2.8%) were reported as ‘not applicable’ and for 21 injuries (1.8%) information was missing. Injury incidence was significantly greater during match play (19.2±8.6 injuries per 1000 hours) than training (2.8±1.4, p<0.0001), resulting in a low overall incidence of 5.1±2.2.

The injury burden for match injuries was greater than from training injuries (456±336 days per 1000 hours vs 54±34 days, p<0.0001). The two specific injuries causing the greatest burden were complete ACL ruptures (0.14 injuries (95% CI 0.9 to 0.19) and 29.8 days lost (29.1 to 30.5) per 1000 hours) and hamstring strains (0.86 injuries (0.74 to 0.99) and 17.5 days (17.0 to 18.1) lost per 1000 hours).

Reinjuries constituted 9.9% of all injuries. Index injuries caused 22.6±40.8 days of absence compared with 25.1±39 for reinjuries (p=0.62). The 175 illnesses recorded resulted in 1.4±2.9 days of time loss per team per month.

Conclusion

Professional Asian football is characterised by an overall injury incidence similar to that reported from Europe, but with a high rate of ACL ruptures and hamstring injury, warranting further investigations.
Military healthcare challenges: deployed Role 1 healthcare delivery on Operation TRENTON. A personal view
Authors: Smith Gregory Dean , Wainscot A
Published: January 2021

Op TRENTON is the UK response to support the United Nations Mission in South Sudan. This article documents a 5-month Engineering deployment after the UK Hospital had ended their mission and some of the medical challenges encountered. During this time, there were 2104 individual patient interactions recorded, with the main common illnesses being musculoskeletal injuries, gastrointestinal infection and dermatology. Given the nature of the tour, there were no battlefield-related injuries and trauma was limited to a handful of minor cases related to physical training or construction work. Recommendations for future deployments would include careful consideration of the required clinical skillsets, particularly identifying individuals who can undertake multiple secondary functions such as Primary Care Nurses, capable of patient care, ward management and Healthcare Governance.
Cardiovascular or mortality risk of controlled hypertension and importance of physical activity
Authors: Park Sehoon , Han Kyungdo , Lee Soojin , Kim Yaerim , Lee Yeonhee , Kang Min Woo , Park Sanghyun , Kim Yong Chul , Han Seung Seok , Lee Hajeong , Lee Jung Pyo , Joo Kwon Wook , Lim Chun Soo , Kim Yon Su , Kim Dong Ki
Published: January 2021

Objective

To investigate the risk of major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular events (MACCEs) and all-cause death of patients with controlled hypertension and suggest the benefits of physical activity in their prognosis.

Methods

People aged 40–69 years from the prospective UK Biobank cohort (UKB, n=220 026) and the retrospective Korean National Health Insurance Service cohort (KNHIS, n=3 593 202) were included in this observational cohort study, excluding those with previous cerebrocardiovascular diseases or hypertension without treatment. The study groups were stratified into normotension, controlled hypertension (patients with hypertension with systolic blood pressure <140 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg) and uncontrolled hypertension groups. The outcomes were MACCEs and all-cause mortality, analysed by Cox regression analysis.

Results

We included 161 405/18 844/39 777 and 3 122 890/383 828/86 484 individuals with normotension/controlled hypertension/uncontrolled hypertension state from the UKB and KNHIS cohorts, respectively. The controlled hypertension group showed significantly higher risk of MACCEs (UKB: adjusted HR 1.73 (95% CI 1.55 to 1.92); KNHIS: 1.46 (95% CI 1.43 to 1.49)) and all-cause mortality (UKB: adjusted HR 1.28 (95% CI 1.18 to 1.39); KNHIS: 1.29 (95% CI 1.26 to 1.32)) than individuals with normotension. The controlled hypertension group not involved in any moderate or moderate-to-vigorous physical activity showed high risk of adverse outcomes, which was comparable with or even higher than the risk of patients with uncontrolled hypertension who were engaged in physical activity.

Conclusions

Controlled hypertension is associated with residual risks of adverse outcomes. Clinicians may encourage physical activity for patients with controlled hypertension, not being reassured by their achieved target blood pressure values.
Features of an analytical solution in Eddington inspired Born–Infeld (EiBI) gravity
Authors: Ghosh Mithun
Published: January 2021

Recently, Harko et al. [Phys. Rev. D 88, 044032 (2013)] have derived an exact solution of the spherically symmetric field equations in EiBI gravity, describing a compact star with decreasing pressure but increasing energy density. We have explored some features of this solution by restricting the range of the parameter [Formula: see text] which satisfies four energy conditions for 10 equation of states (EOSs). Viability and deviations of these features in the light of updated observed properties of neutron stars (NS) have been explored completely. A comparison of those features with recent observations may uncover the future implication of this paper. Analysis of our results indicates that this solution may be used as an alternative EOS.
Electrospun zinc oxide nanofibers for UV sensing with quartz crystal microbalance technique
Authors: Ma Xing-Sheng , Zhang Hong-Di , Li Guo-Yi , Guo Kun , Long Yun-Ze
Published: January 2021

An ultraviolet (UV) sensor consisting of a zinc oxide (ZnO) nanofiber sensing membrane and a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) was fabricated. ZnO nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning and calcination. The morphology and structure of the nanofiber sensing membrane were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The QCM sensor based on ZnO nanofibers was found to be sensitive to 254-nm UV light in nitrogen, oxygen and air atmospheres. When the QCM sensor was placed under UV irradiation, the resonant frequency difference rapidly decreased. When the light was removed, the frequency difference recovered until reaching 0 Hz. The stability and repeatability of the proposed ZnO nanofiber-based QCM sensor were demonstrated, and the sensing mechanism was briefly discussed.
Efficient Distributed Decryption Scheme for IoT Gateway-based Applications
Authors: Peng Cong , Chen Jianhua , Vijayakumar Pandi , Kumar Neeraj , He Debiao
Published: January 2021

With the evolvement of the Internet of things (IoT), privacy and security have become the primary indicators for users to deploy IoT applications. In the gateway-based IoT architecture, gateways aggregate data collected by perception-layer devices and upload message packets to platforms, while platforms automatically push different categories of data to different applications. However, security in processes of data transmission via gateways, storage in platforms, access by applications is the major challenge for user privacy protection. To tackle this challenge, this article presents a secure IoT scheme based on a fine-grained multi-receive signcryption scheme to realize end-to-end secure transmission and data access control. To enhance the security of online application decryption keys, we design a distributed threshold decryption scheme based on secret-sharing. Moreover, from the provable security perspective, we demonstrate that the scheme can achieve the expected IND-CCA security and EUF-CMA security. After the performance analysis, evaluation results show that the computational performance is efficient and linearly subject to the number of messages and the number of receivers.
DuroNet
Authors: Hu Kaixi , Li Lin , Liu Jianquan , Sun Daniel
Published: January 2021

Urban crime is an ongoing problem in metropolitan development and attracts general concern from the international community. As an effective means of defending urban safety, crime prediction plays a crucial role in patrol force allocation and public safety. However, urban crime data is a macro result of crime patterns overlapped by various irrelevant factors that cause inhomogeneous noises—local outliers and irregular waves. These noises might obstruct the learning process of crime prediction models and result in a deviation of performance. To tackle the problem, we propose a novel paradigm of Dual-robust Enhanced Spatial-temporal Learning Network (DuroNet), an encoder-decoder architecture that possesses an adaptive robustness for reducing the effect of outliers and waves. The robustness is mainly reflected on two aspects. One is a locality enhanced module that employs local temporal context information to smooth the deviation of outliers and dynamic spatial information to assist in understanding normal points. The other is a self-attention-based pattern representation module to weaken the effect of irregular waves by learning attentive weights. Finally, extensive experiments are conducted on two real-world crime datasets before and after adding Gaussian noises. The results demonstrate the superior performance of our DuroNet over the state-of-the-art methods.
What Makes People Join Conspiracy Communities?
Authors: Phadke Shruti , Samory Mattia , Mitra Tanushree
Published: January 2021

Widespread conspiracy theories, like those motivating anti-vaccination attitudes or climate change denial, propel collective action, and bear society-wide consequences. Yet, empirical research has largely studied conspiracy theory adoption as an individual pursuit, rather than as a socially mediated process. What makes users join communities endorsing and spreading conspiracy theories? We leverage longitudinal data from 56 conspiracy communities on Reddit to compare individual and social factors determining which users join the communities. Using a quasi-experimental approach, we first identify 30K future conspiracists?(FC) and30K matched non-conspiracists?(NC). We then provide empirical evidence of the importance of social factors across six dimensions relative to the individual factors by analyzing 6 million Reddit comments and posts. Specifically, in social factors, we find that dyadic interactions with members of the conspiracy communities and marginalization outside of the conspiracy communities are the most important social precursors to conspiracy joining-even outperforming individual factor baselines. Our results offer quantitative backing to understand social processes and echo chamber effects in conspiratorial engagement, with important implications for democratic institutions and online communities.
ProtoChat
Authors: Choi Yoonseo , Monserrat Toni-Jan Keith Palma , Park Jeongeon , Shin Hyungyu , Lee Nyoungwoo , Kim Juho
Published: January 2021

Similar to a design process for designing graphical user interfaces, conversation designers often apply an iterative design process by defining a conversation flow, testing with users, reviewing user data, and improving the design. While it is possible to iterate on conversation design with existing chatbot prototyping tools, there still remain challenges in recruiting participants on-demand and collecting structured feedback on specific conversational components. These limitations hinder designers from running rapid iterations and making informed design decisions. We posit that involving a crowd in the conversation design process can address these challenges, and introduce ProtoChat, a crowd-powered chatbot design tool built to support the iterative process of conversation design. ProtoChat makes it easy to recruit crowd workers to test the current conversation within the design tool. ProtoChat's crowd-testing tool allows crowd workers to provide concrete and practical feedback and suggest improvements on specific parts of the conversation. With the data collected from crowd-testing, ProtoChat provides multiple types of visualizations to help designers analyze and revise their design. Through a three-day study with eight designers, we found that ProtoChat enabled an iterative design process for designing a chatbot. Designers improved their design by not only modifying the conversation design itself, but also adjusting the persona and getting UI design implications beyond the conversation design itself. The crowd responses were helpful for designers to explore user needs, contexts, and diverse response formats. With ProtoChat, designers can successfully collect concrete evidence from the crowd and make decisions to iteratively improve their conversation design.
My Team Will Go On
Authors: Cao Hancheng , Yang Vivian , Chen Victor , Lee Yu Jin , Stone Lydia , Diarrassouba N'godjigui Junior , Whiting Mark E. , Bernstein Michael S.
Published: January 2021

Understanding team viability --- a team's capacity for sustained and future success --- is essential for building effective teams. In this study, we aggregate features drawn from the organizational behavior literature to train a viability classification model over a dataset of 669 10-minute text conversations of online teams. We train classifiers to identify teams at the top decile (most viable teams), 50th percentile (above a median split), and bottom decile (least viable teams), then characterize the attributes of teams at each of these viability levels. We find that a lasso regression model achieves an accuracy of .74--.92 AUC ROC under different thresholds of classifying viability scores. From these models, we identify the use of exclusive language such as 'but' and 'except', and the use of second person pronouns, as the most predictive features for detecting the most viable teams, suggesting that active engagement with others' ideas is a crucial signal of a viable team. Only a small fraction of the 10-minute discussion, as little as 70 seconds, is required for predicting the viability of team interaction. This work suggests opportunities for teams to assess, track, and visualize their own viability in real time as they collaborate.
To "See" is to Stereotype
Authors: Barlas Pinar , Kyriakou Kyriakos , Guest Olivia , Kleanthous Styliani , Otterbacher Jahna
Published: January 2021

Machine-learned computer vision algorithms for tagging images are increasingly used by developers and researchers, having become popularized as easy-to-use "cognitive services." Yet these tools struggle with gender recognition, particularly when processing images of women, people of color and non-binary individuals. Socio-technical researchers have cited data bias as a key problem; training datasets often over-represent images of people and contexts that convey social stereotypes. The social psychology literature explains that people learn social stereotypes, in part, by observing others in particular roles and contexts, and can inadvertently learn to associate gender with scenes, occupations and activities. Thus, we study the extent to which image tagging algorithms mimic this phenomenon. We design a controlled experiment, to examine the interdependence between algorithmic recognition of context and the depicted person's gender. In the spirit of auditing to understand machine behaviors, we create a highly controlled dataset of people images, imposed on gender-stereotyped backgrounds. Our methodology is reproducible and our code publicly available. Evaluating five proprietary algorithms, we find that in three, gender inference is hindered when a background is introduced. Of the two that "see" both backgrounds and gender, it is the one whose output is most consistent with human stereotyping processes that is superior in recognizing gender. We discuss the accuracy--fairness trade-off, as well as the importance of auditing black boxes in better understanding this double-edged sword.