bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
206 Changing needs in a rehabilitation setting—fact or fiction?
Authors: Griffin E
Published: September 2023

Background

Various pathways have been developed for older persons in our region, e.g. Reablement and the Integrated Care Team for Older Persons. Do these developments impact on referrals to our rehabilitation unit? The perception is that our client base is becoming more complex. A service evaluation was completed to examine this. This has implications for the planning of resources for us and the region in line with the National Standards for Safer Better Healthcare (2012).

Methods

A retrospective chart audit was performed on all discharged physiotherapy charts for 2019, 2021 and 2022. Categories were themed for: reason for admission to acute services, transfer ability (bed to chair) preadmission, on admission to the rehabilitation unit and on discharge. Levels of assistance needed were itemised as: independent, assistance of one, assistance of two, use of a Sara Steady and use of a hoist. Discharge destination was reviewed.

Results

A total of 339 charts were reviewed. Reason for admission to acute services was consistent: acute medical reasons, stroke, hip fracture and ‘falls’. The majority of clients were independent in transfers before admission: 93% in 2019 which dropped to 81.5% in 2022. On admission to the rehabilitation ward those needing assistance of two people rose from 16.8% (2019) to 21.8% (2022). The use of a hoist rose by 6%. On discharge, those assessed as being independent dropped from 63% (2019) to 44.6% (2022). Those needing assistance of 1 increased from 21.8% (2019) to 41.1% (2022). Those requiring a hoist rose; 2% (2019) to 7.2% (2022). The majority of clients were discharged home; 75% (2019) which fell to 65% in 2022.

Conclusion

The review highlights that there is a trend towards increased levels of assistance needed for clients admitted onto, and being discharged from, the rehabilitation unit. This has workforce and environmental implications for our unit in terms of planning of resources. Further evaluation is warranted to examine ongoing trends.
Normative Data for the Alternating and Orthographic Constraint Semantic Fluency Tests in the Adult French-Quebec Population and Validation Study in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease
Authors: Macoir Joël , Hudon Carol
Published: September 2023

Verbal fluency tests, known to elicit executive functions (EFs), have proven useful in distinguishing healthy individuals from those with cognitive impairment. The present study addresses two new tests of verbal fluency that elicit EFs, namely, extradimensional alternating fluency (EAF) and extradimensional orthographic constraint semantic fluency (EOCSF). The aim of Study 1 was to provide normative data in the adult and elderly population of French Québec for the two fluency tests. The aim of Study 2 was to determine their psychometric value. The normative sample consisted of 338 healthy controls (HCs) aged 50–89 years. Multiple linear regressions were used to generate equations for calculating Z-scores. Convergent validity was established by administering the two verbal fluency tests and the Letter-Number Sequence (LNS) subtest of the WAIS-III. To assess predictive validity, the performance of 19 HCs was compared with that of 19 participants with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 19 participants with Alzheimer’s disease (AD). To determine test–retest reliability, the test was administered twice, 3 months apart, to a subsample of 20 HCs. Age and educational level were significantly related to performance in the EAF and the EOCSF. The two tests correlated significantly and positively with the LNS. The EAF and the EOCSF distinguished the performance of HCs from that of participants with MCI or AD. A test–retest analysis showed that scores on the two tests were stable over time. The norms and psychometric data for the EAF and the EOCSF will help clinicians and researchers better identify executive impairments associated with pathological conditions.
Current Weight Loss Medications: What Plastic Surgeons Should Know
Authors: Wirth Peter J , Shaffrey Ellen C , Bay Caroline , Rao Venkat K
Published: September 2023

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that over 650 million adults are obese worldwide. Recently, antidiabetic medications have rapidly become popular as weight loss medications. With the rising prevalence of obesity and the increasing demand for aesthetic procedures, it is anticipated that a growing number of patients presenting for consultation will be prescribed these medications. Therefore, it is critical for practicing plastic surgeons to understand their potential synergistic effects and safety considerations. This manuscript explores the potential benefits and considerations of antidiabetic medications in plastic surgery patients for weight loss therapy. The authors discuss the mechanisms of action, clinical efficacy, potential side effects, and relevant considerations for incorporating these medications into plastic surgery practices and medical spas.
Breast Reconstruction With Simultaneous Bilateral Lumbar Artery Perforator Flaps Improves Waistline Definition and Buttock Projection
Authors: Teotia Sumeet S , Henn Dominic , Lakatta Alexis , Steppe Cyrus , Haddock Nicholas T
Published: September 2023

Background

The lumbar artery perforator (LAP) flap is a valuable secondary option for autologous breast reconstruction when abdominal donor sites are not available.

Objectives

The aim of this study was to determine how the LAP donor site affects waistline and gluteal proportions, and whether LAP flaps may produce potential secondary benefits concerning donor site aesthetics.

Methods

A retrospective review of 50 patients who underwent bilateral breast reconstruction with LAP flaps (100 flaps) between 2018 and 2022 was performed. Patient characteristics and postoperative complications were recorded. Pre- and postoperative standardized frontal and lateral patient photographs were analyzed to identify postoperative changes in waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) to assess waistline definition and buttock projection. The patients’ individual perception of postoperative aesthetic changes to their waistline and buttocks was determined by an electronic survey.

Results

The patients had a mean age of 51 years (range, 24-63 years) and a mean BMI of 26.9 kg/m2 (range, 19.3-37.4 kg/m2). Postoperative donor site complications included seroma (n = 10), wound dehiscence (n = 5), hematoma (n = 4), and wound infection (n = 2). Flap loss rate was 2%. After reconstruction, patients were found to have a more defined waistline, indicated by a significantly decreased WHR on frontal images (mean [standard error of the mean], 0.85 [0.05] vs 0.80 [0.05], P < .005) and a more projected buttocks indicated by a significant reduction in WHR on lateral images (0.92 [0.07] vs 0.87 [0.07], P < .0001). Among the patients who responded to the survey, 73% indicated that their waistline had aesthetically improved, 6.7% felt it had not changed, and 20% felt that it had worsened. An aesthetic improvement of the buttocks was reported by 53%, 40% felt their buttocks had not changed, and 6.7% felt their buttocks appearance had worsened.

Conclusions

Bilateral LAP flap breast reconstruction leads to improved waistline definition and buttock projection, bringing patients closer to ideal aesthetic proportions. This reconstructive approach is ideal for patients who are not candidates for abdominal free flaps, but who demonstrate excess flank tissue and seek a more defined waistline and projected buttocks.

Level of Evidence: 4
Income inequality in terms of a Gini coefficient: a Kaleckian perspective
Authors: Fujita Shinya
Published: September 2023

This study presents a theoretical framework that connects functional income distribution and personal income distribution from the Kaleckian perspective and investigates the effects of changes in mark-up rate and interest rate on income inequality in terms of the Gini coefficient. The results demonstrate that a rise in the mark-up rate with weak bargaining power of workers raises the Gini coefficient irrespective of a profit-led or wage-led demand regime. The analyses also demonstrate that a decline in the interest rate negatively affects the Gini coefficient if and only if the bargaining power of workers is sufficiently strong.
Predictive metabolites for incident myocardial infarction: a two-step meta-analysis of individual patient data from six cohorts comprising 7897 individuals from the COnsortium of METabolomics Studies
Authors: Nogal Ana , Alkis Taryn , Lee Yura , Kifer Domagoj , Hu Jie , Murphy Rachel A , Huang Zhe , Wang-Sattler Rui , Kastenmüler Gabi , Linkohr Birgit , Barrios Clara , Crespo Marta , Gieger Christian , Peters Annette , Price Jackie , Rexrode Kathryn M , Yu Bing , Menni Cristina
Published: September 2023

Aims

Myocardial infarction (MI) is a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Most metabolomics studies investigating metabolites predicting MI are limited by the participant number and/or the demographic diversity. We sought to identify biomarkers of incident MI in the COnsortium of METabolomics Studies.

Methods and results

We included 7897 individuals aged on average 66 years from six intercontinental cohorts with blood metabolomic profiling (n = 1428 metabolites, of which 168 were present in at least three cohorts with over 80% prevalence) and MI information (1373 cases). We performed a two-stage individual patient data meta-analysis. We first assessed the associations between circulating metabolites and incident MI for each cohort adjusting for traditional risk factors and then performed a fixed effect inverse variance meta-analysis to pull the results together. Finally, we conducted a pathway enrichment analysis to identify potential pathways linked to MI. On meta-analysis, 56 metabolites including 21 lipids and 17 amino acids were associated with incident MI after adjusting for multiple testing (false discovery rate < 0.05), and 10 were novel. The largest increased risk was observed for the carbohydrate mannitol/sorbitol {hazard ratio [HR] [95% confidence interval (CI)] = 1.40 [1.26–1.56], P < 0.001}, whereas the largest decrease in risk was found for glutamine [HR (95% CI) = 0.74 (0.67–0.82), P < 0.001]. Moreover, the identified metabolites were significantly enriched (corrected P < 0.05) in pathways previously linked with cardiovascular diseases, including aminoacyl-tRNA biosynthesis.

Conclusions

In the most comprehensive metabolomic study of incident MI to date, 10 novel metabolites were associated with MI. Metabolite profiles might help to identify high-risk individuals before disease onset. Further research is needed to fully understand the mechanisms of action and elaborate pathway findings.
Distal-vessel fractional flow reserve by computed tomography to monitor epicardial coronary artery disease
Authors: Chen Michael , Almeida Shone O , Sayre James W , Karlsberg Ronald P , Packard René R Sevag
Published: September 2023

Aims

Coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) and fractional flow reserve by computed tomography (FFR-CT) are increasingly utilized to characterize coronary artery disease (CAD). We evaluated the feasibility of distal-vessel FFR-CT as an integrated measure of epicardial CAD that can be followed serially, assessed the CTA parameters that correlate with distal-vessel FFR-CT, and determined the combination of clinical and CTA parameters that best predict distal-vessel FFR-CT and distal-vessel FFR-CT changes.

Methods and results

Patients (n = 71) who underwent serial CTA scans at ≥2 years interval (median = 5.2 years) over a 14-year period were included in this retrospective study. Coronary arteries were analysed blindly using artificial intelligence-enabled quantitative coronary CTA. Two investigators jointly determined the anatomic location and corresponding distal-vessel FFR-CT values at CT1 and CT2. A total of 45.3% had no significant change, 27.8% an improvement, and 26.9% a worsening in distal-vessel FFR-CT at CT2. Stepwise multiple logistic regression analysis identified a four-parameter model consisting of stenosis diameter ratio, lumen volume, low density plaque volume, and age, that best predicted distal-vessel FFR-CT ≤ 0.80 with an area under the curve (AUC) = 0.820 at CT1 and AUC = 0.799 at CT2. Improvement of distal-vessel FFR-CT was captured by a decrease in high-risk plaque and increases in lumen volume and remodelling index (AUC = 0.865), whereas increases in stenosis diameter ratio, medium density calcified plaque volume, and total cholesterol presaged worsening of distal-vessel FFR-CT (AUC = 0.707).

Conclusion

Distal-vessel FFR-CT permits the integrative assessment of epicardial atherosclerotic plaque burden in a vessel-specific manner and can be followed serially to determine changes in global CAD.
Sublobar resection reduces the risk of postoperative cognitive dysfunction compared with lobectomy
Authors: Zang Nailiang , Shen Wei , Li Shiyin , Chen Liqi , Ai Qing , Huang Weimeng , Lan Lan , Liu Jun , Wang Wei , Cui Fei , Huang Jun , Shao Wenlong , Huang Xiaoyun , Xu Pingyi , He Jianxing
Published: September 2023

OBJECTIVES

Sublobar resection, including wedge resection and segmentectomy, is non-inferior to lobectomy in early-stage non-small cell lung cancer treatment. We aimed to compare the risk of postoperative cognitive dysfunction (POCD) between sublobar resection and lobectomy.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective cohort study. Patients with sublobar resection or lobectomy were divided into the sublobar group or the lobar group, respectively. Cognition was assessed before and after surgery with Montreal Cognitive Assessment and Minimum Mental State Examination tests. POCD is defined as Z score of Montreal Cognitive Assessment change ≤–1.96. Propensity score matching (PSM) was performed to make demographics well-balanced between the 2 groups.

RESULTS

A total of 335 patients were enrolled. Both the postoperative 1-day POCD rate (sublobar 5.5% vs lobar 18.2%, P < 0.001) and the postoperative 1-month POCD rate (sublobar 7.9% vs lobar 21.8%, P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the sublobar group compared with lobar group, with demographics unbalanced between the 2 groups. In the 133 demographics-matched pairs obtained by PSM, both the postoperative 1-day POCD rate (sublobar 5.3% vs lobar 17.3%, P = 0.005) and the postoperative 1-month POCD rate (sublobar 8.3% vs lobar 18.8%, P = 0.018) remained significantly lower in the sublobar group than in the lobar group. The incidences of postoperative 1-day (P = 0.109) and postoperative 1-month (P = 0.026) Minimum Mental State Examination abnormity were also lower in the sublobar group than in the lobar group but only the latter was with statistical significance after PSM.

CONCLUSIONS

Sublobar resection has an advantage over lobectomy in preventing POCD. Our findings might be a reference for selecting the most suitable type of resection for non-small-cell lung cancer patients.
Logistic regression vs. linear regression in exploring the importance of health literacy for the quality of life of patients with heart failure
Authors: Nagaty Reham M , Ahmed Mona Hassan , Seddik Amany M , Abdelaty Ahmed , Hamed Nofal Laila Mohamed
Published: September 2023

Methods

A cross sectional study was conducted among 200 heart failure patients selected from two hospitals in Alexandria governate. The HLS-EU-Q16 survey to assess HL, SF-12 health survey questionnaire to assess QoL, record review, and interviewing the patients were used to collect the required data. Linear and logistic regression models were used to explore the relation between health literacy and the QoL then comparing between the two models.

Results

Forty-six and half percent of HF patients had sufficient HL while 53.5% had insufficient HL. Patients showed low mean score of 34.16 ± 10.43 for the physical dimension of the SF-12 questionnaire (PCS-12), while the mental dimension (MCS-12) displayed good mean score of 41.87 ± 14.34. For the linear regression regarding PCS-12, HL was statistically significant and an independent predictor of PCS-12 in patients with HF, both before and after adjustment for the personal and clinical characteristics. Concerning MCS-12, we found that HL was statistically significant and an independent predictor of MCS-12 only before adjustment. While in logistic regression, considering PCS-12, analysis revealed that HL was not statistically significant predictor of the median-split dichotomized PCS-12 in both before and after adjustments for covariates. Regarding MCS-12, it was found that HL was statistically significant and an independent predictor of the median-split dichotomized MCS-12 only before adjustment for personal and clinical characteristics. The correct prediction percent in the logistic model of PCS-12 (70%) was higher than the linear model (53.5%). Similarly, the correct prediction percent in the logistic model of MCS-12 (68.5%) was higher than the linear model (57.5%).

Conclusion

It has been explained that HL is a statistically significant independent predictor of only the PCS-12 of SF-12 in the linear regression model but not for MCS-12, while it was not statistically significant predictor in the logistic models for the two dimensions of SF-12. However, each of the two models, linear regression model and logistic regression model, has its advantages and disadvantages.
What is Knowledge Management?
Authors: Hislop Donald , Bosua Rachelle , Helms Remko
Published: September 2023

This chapter considers what is meant by the term ‘knowledge management’. It explores this topic by considering the heterogeneous ways in which knowledge management is defined and in which organizational knowledge can be managed. It looks at the diverse range of factors that influence the approach to knowledge management that firms adopt. Knowledge management strategies are also discussed. The chapter concludes with examining several frameworks and taxonomies that have been developed to categorize how the management of organizational knowledge can be achieved.
Introduction to Operations Management
Authors: Jones Peter , Robinson Peter
Published: September 2023

This chapter introduces the concept of operations management. It notes the simple definition of operations management, which is the planning and organizing of the production of manufactured goods and delivery of services. Additionally, the chapter discusses the development and nature of operations management. It lists the basic issues that need to be covered in organizational design: nature of hierarchy, degree of centralization, the extent of formalization, and level of complexity. The chapter then enumerates the six organizational forms such as simple, functional, divisional, conglomerate, hybrid, and virtual. It looks into the difference between services and manufacturing. Moreover, the chapter looks into the role of an operations manager as well.
Locating, Designing, and Managing Facilities
Authors: Jones Peter , Robinson Peter
Published: September 2023

This chapter explores the process of locating, designing, and managing facilities. First, it explores how firms select locations for their facilities by referencing a number of factors such as accessibility to raw materials and energy supply. Moreover, the chapter looks into how to determine the layout depending on different process types. It notes servicescape as the physical environment of a service operation encompassing the parts of the facility used by customers. On the other hand, the chapter discusses trends in operations design and the concept of facilities management. It adds loss control wherein policies and procedures are designed to ensure the security of all of an operation’s assets.
Managing Supply Chain Relationships
Authors: Jones Peter , Robinson Peter
Published: September 2023

This chapter discusses how to manage supply chain relationships. It looks into the structure of supply chain management by referencing supply chains, procurement, and logistics. Supply chain management is regarded as the planning, design, organization, and control of the flow of information and materials along the supply chain in order to efficiently meet customer requirements. Additionally, the chapter explores the developments and trends in supply chain management such as third-party logistics or e-procurement. It also includes the types of suppliers in relation to single sourcing and multiple sourcing while explaining the types of contractual relationships with suppliers.
Managing Materials and Inventory Performance
Authors: Jones Peter , Robinson Peter
Published: September 2023

This chapter focuses on materials and inventory performance. It explores inventory management and the different types of inventory: raw materials, work in process, finished goods, cycle, buffer, anticipation, and pipeline inventories. The chapter highlights the importance of keeping an inventory, as demand is not always predictable. It then notes inventory management as the planning and controlling of inventories in order to meet the competitive priorities of the operation. In addition, the chapter explores the strategies in materials management, production planning, and control systems. It also narrates the developments in inventory management by referencing just-in-time, radio frequency identification, and electronic data interchange.
Employment relations
Authors: Williams Steve , Byford Iona
Published: September 2023

This chapter tackles the main employment relations features and trends of employment relations in the UK. It examines the basis of joint regulation as a means of governing employment relationships,. tThe extent of its decline, and its diminishing importance is also explored. It also presents the principal managerial approaches to employment relations. The last part of the chapter demonstrates that differences of interests between employers and employees continue to feature prominently in human resource management (HRM), generating problems, grievances and, sometimes, instances of conflict that managers must confront.
Management Consultancy
Authors: O’Mahoney Joe , Markham Calvert
Published: September 2023

Management Consultancy consists of four parts. The first part provides a descriptive perspective. It outlines the consulting industry and the different types of management consulting. The second part provides the practitioner perspective and looks at clients, the consulting life-cycle, consulting tools and techniques, consulting skills, and how to run a consultancy. The next part provides a critical perspective and covers critical themes in consulting and the ethics of consultancy. The last part presents the career perspective and discusses careers in consultancy.
Domestic courts as guarantors of international climate cooperation: Insights from the German Constitutional Court’s climate decision
Authors: Jahn Jannika
Published: September 2023

Domestic courts in various countries have begun to scrutinize the political branches’ responses to climate change. A central argument against court interventions pushing an individual state’s climate actions is that the individual state cannot effectively promote climate protection, and, instead, will suffer economic disadvantages in global competition. The article counters this criticism with the thesis that judicial interventions contribute to an effective realization of climate protection if they strengthen international cooperation. To substantiate the thesis, the article draws on the economic analysis of law to examine states’ decision-making rationalities for entering international agreements. It then analyzes how judicial interventions may influence these parameters, with a particular focus on the recent climate decision of the German Constitutional Court, and embeds the domestic court decisions in an emerging public relations law that closely interlinks constitutional and international climate law.
Commentary: Some water in the data desert: the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network’s capacity to guide mitigation of cancer health disparities
Authors: Winn Robert A , Tossas Katherine Y , Doubeni Chyke
Published: September 2023

Despite significant progress in cancer research and treatment, a persistent knowledge gap exists in understanding and addressing cancer care disparities, particularly among populations that are marginalized. This knowledge deficit has led to a “data divide,” where certain groups lack adequate representation in cancer-related data, hindering their access to personalized and data-driven cancer care. This divide disproportionately affects marginalized and minoritized communities such as the U.S. Black population. We explore the concept of “data deserts,” wherein entire populations, often based on race, ethnicity, gender, disability, or geography, lack comprehensive and high-quality health data. Several factors contribute to data deserts, including underrepresentation in clinical trials, poor data quality, and limited access to digital technologies, particularly in rural and lower-socioeconomic communities.The consequences of data divides and data deserts are far-reaching, impeding equitable access to precision medicine and perpetuating health disparities. To bridge this divide, we highlight the role of the Cancer Intervention and Surveillance Modeling Network (CISNET), which employs population simulation modeling to quantify cancer care disparities, particularly among the U.S. Black population. We emphasize the importance of collecting quality data from various sources to improve model accuracy. CISNET's collaborative approach, utilizing multiple independent models, offers consistent results and identifies gaps in knowledge. It demonstrates the impact of systemic racism on cancer incidence and mortality, paving the way for evidence-based policies and interventions to eliminate health disparities. We suggest the potential use of voting districts/precincts as a unit of aggregation for future CISNET modeling, enabling targeted interventions and informed policy decisions.
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans: a case report of an abdominal wall mass and review of the literature
Authors: Gorji Leva , Archer Andrew
Published: September 2023

Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans (DFSP) is a rare, slow-growing malignancy that often presents with an ambiguous clinical presentation due to its nonspecific findings. We present the case of a 41-year-old male who presented with a slow-growing mass on his abdomen that became protuberant and firm, prompting his desire to pursue excision. Upon return of histologic examination, the specimen was noted to be DFSP. DFSP is a rare cutaneous neoplasm that originates from the dermis and invades the underlying tissue creating a classic protuberant appearance. In some cases, chemotherapy and radiation may be indicated based on margins and locations. The sarcoma is notoriously complicated with early recurrence, making the disease process difficult to control. Surgeons should be familiar with this malignancy due to the indication of additional nonsurgical treatments and the necessity for long-term follow-up for surveillance of recurrence.
Impact of anti–squamous cell carcinoma antigen antibodies on serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen levels measured by chemiluminescent immunoassay and chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay
Authors: Oyabu Chinami , Sato Itsuko , Yamamoto Mari , Imanishi Takamitsu , Sendo Sho , Yano Yoshihiko
Published: September 2023

Objective

The serum squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA) level is a well-known tumor marker for squamous cell carcinoma. In this study, we examined the impact of immunoglobulin (Ig)-bound macromolecular SCCA on serum SCCA levels measured by 2 different methods.

Methods

Seventy-five serum samples with an SCCA level >5.0 ng/mL as determined by a chemiluminescent immunoassay (CLIA) were also analyzed using a chemiluminescent enzyme immunoassay (CLEIA). The levels of IgG- and IgA-type anti-SCCA antibodies, which form immunoglobulins and macromolecules, respectively, were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. An absorption test was performed to confirm the presence of anti-SCCA antibodies.

Results

The correlation coefficient between the values measured by CLEIA and CLIA was 0.768. The ratio of SCCA levels measured by CLEIA to those measured by CLIA in 14 samples with IgG-type anti-SCCA antibodies was significantly lower than that in samples without these antibodies (P < .031). Absorption tests showed that SCCA levels measured by CLIA might be falsely high in samples with IgG-type anti-SCCA antibodies, probably due to reactions with SCCA1.

Conclusion

The level of SCCA as measured by CLIA and CLEIA methods correlate well, but the presence of SCCA antibodies can affect the results of the CLIA method.
Nondeterministic and nonconcurrent computational semantics for BB+ and related logics
Authors: Logan Shay Allen
Published: September 2023

In this paper, we provide a semantics for a range of positive substructural logics, including both logics with and logics without modal connectives. The semantics is novel insofar as it is meant to explicitly capture the computational flavor of these logics, and to do so in a way that builds in both nondeterministic and nonconcurrent computational processes.
Binary neutron star populations in the Milky Way
Authors: Sgalletta Cecilia , Iorio Giuliano , Mapelli Michela , Artale M Celeste , Boco Lumen , Chattopadhyay Debatri , Lapi Andrea , Possenti Andrea , Rinaldi Stefano , Spera Mario
Published: September 2023

Galactic binary neutron stars (BNSs) are a unique laboratory to probe the evolution of BNSs and their progenitors. Here, we use a new version of the population synthesis code sevn to evolve the population of Galactic BNSs, by modelling the spin up and down of pulsars self-consistently. We analyse the merger rate $\mathcal {R}_{\rm MW}$, orbital period Porb, eccentricity e, spin period P, and spin period derivative $\dot{P}$ of the BNS population. Values of the common envelope parameter α = 1−3 and an accurate model of the Milky Way star formation history best reproduce the BNS merger rate in our Galaxy ($\mathcal {R}_{\rm MW}\approx {}30$ Myr−1). We apply radio-selection effects to our simulated BNSs and compare them to the observed population. Using a Dirichlet process Gaussian mixture method, we evaluate the four-dimensional likelihood in the $(P_{\rm orb}, e, P, \dot{P})$ space, by comparing our radio-selected simulated pulsars against Galactic BNSs. Our analysis favours an uniform initial distribution for both the magnetic field (1010−13 G) and the spin period (10−100 ms). The implementation of radio selection effects is critical to match not only the spin period and period derivative, but also the orbital period and eccentricity of Galactic BNSs. According to our fiducial model, the Square Kilometre Array will detect ∼20 new BNSs in the Milky Way.
Critical factors influencing data use and utilization in health systems: a focus on data and interoperability standards for health information exchange (HIE) in Uganda’s health care system
Authors: Bagyendera Moses , Nabende Peter , Nabukenya Josephine
Published: September 2023

Limited use and utilization of health data in Uganda’s health care system is influenced by various factors including: absence of standardized data formats, lack of data governance policies, unskilled data management human resources, limited data use culture, poor data quality, complacency, limited political will and lack of interoperability. Worse still, the existing data interoperability standards, primarily designed for developed world health systems, may not be suitable for Uganda due to differences in health information maturity levels. This paper examines the critical factors affecting data use and utilization in Uganda, specifically focusing on interoperability and data standards.

A cross-sectional design was used in this study in selected health facilities with electronic systems in Uganda. Purposive sampling was used to select sites and participants based on predetermined criteria. The study included 28 health center IVs, referral hospitals, government entities and eHealth stakeholders.

The findings highlight key factors including limited data collection and management systems, poor data quality, inadequate data analysis capacity, absence of data exchange standards, limited technology access, inadequate funding and deficiencies in data sharing and dissemination.

These factors, if addressed through data and interoperability standards, can play a pivotal role in promoting efficient and effective health care delivery and outcomes in Uganda.
Conducting Evaluability Assessments and Their Application in the Pre-primary Education Context in Tanzania
Authors: Miller Candace , Meyer Laura
Published: September 2023

As donors and implementers seek to improve the effectiveness of their programmatic funding, they are also seeking to maximize the value of their investments in evaluations and learning. This has led to an increased demand for evaluability assessments which provide a systematic approach to assessing whether program evaluation is feasible and justified and to prevent impact evaluations being prematurely attempted when a program logic is not sound or when conditions are not conducive to such evaluations. An evaluability assessment draws on the intervention’s theory of change, the intended use of the evaluation, the adequacy of the intervention design, and the availability of data to inform whether and what type of evaluation is feasible to maximize the value of conducting an evaluation. This chapter describes how to conduct an evaluability assessment and provides as an example the evaluability assessment of the Fursa kwa Watoto (FkW; Opportunities for Children) pre-primary education model.
Performance Monitoring and Performance Management Systems
Authors: Borden William , Welsh Delia
Published: September 2023

Measuring and tracking performance of social programs are core management functions that have the potential to foster both accountability for resources and continuous learning and performance improvement. This chapter explains the fundamental elements of performance monitoring for all types of social programs and how large governmental programs operationalize performance management systems that ensure they comply with their performance mandates. Large-scale programs need to engage in a multistep process to define their performance measures and targets, determine how to collect the necessary data, and put in place IT systems and processes to validate data and report on performance. The design of each step influences the behavior of actors in the system in both intentional and unintentional ways. As program managers develop and operate these systems, it is important to understand how their design affects behavioral incentives that influence performance and well as credible reporting of performance.
Effectively Scaling Up Promising Approaches
Authors: Duflo Annie , McAnnally-Linz Heidi , Rangarajan Anu
Published: September 2023

This chapter describes an approach to scale-up that focuses on delivering effective programs to increase the reach of program services. Program scale-up can occur along a number of dimensions—organizations can expand their geographic coverage, extend their time horizon, increase the number served within their existing service area, provide new services to existing clients, begin serving new groups of clients, or apply tested concepts to new problems. Similarly, programs can achieve scale by expansion or replication, and through strategic collaboration with a range of partners. This chapter lays out a framework for what types of interventions or concepts should be considered for scale-up. The chapter suggests ways to bring in measurement and research across the various stages in the process of scale-up, and discusses how to embed co-creation and ongoing learning into existing systems to enable effective scaling.
Scaling Innovations What Can Stakeholders Do?
Authors: Natarajan Gulzar , Peterson Zwane Alix
Published: September 2023

Innovation is central to meeting the challenges of economic development. The returns to innovation are high, both in an absolute sense and relative to traditional development programming. And yet too little innovation is undertaken, and that which is pursued often stops at pilot programs, experiments, and tests. A successful innovation agenda requires equal attention to scale. Identifying impactful innovations and generating evidence on them are not enough to meet recovery and rebuilding goals. This chapter considers the challenge of scaling innovation, urging a definition of innovation that includes overcoming execution challenges, market building, and actively avoiding a reductive approach to finding “what works” in development. Best practices for researchers, innovators, and funders are considered.
Behavioral Economics, Program Implementation, and Policy Design
Authors: Congdon William J. , Wright Joshua L.
Published: September 2023

Public policy increasingly draws on insights from behavioral science—research from psychology and behavioral economics about how individuals decide and act—to inform both program administration and policy design. This chapter surveys the range of the potential channels by which behavioral insights can inform questions of program design and delivery. The authors define, clarify, and characterize the distinction between applications of low-cost, choice-preserving nudges for improving program implementation, on the one hand, and the application of behavioral insights for informing program and policy design, on the other. In doing so, they provide alternative, systematic processes for identifying, evaluating, and extrapolating from behavioral interventions in either case. The chapter is illustrated with examples of applications to issues in retirement security, safety net programs, and healthcare policies.
Response-Dependent Realism
Authors: LeBar Mark
Published: September 2023

Writers on metaethics divide over two conceptions of what moral realism comes to. The first of these—the “Modest” conception—commits only to the truth-aptness of moral judgments. The second—the “Robust” conception—commits to the mind- or stance- or response-independence of such judgments. In this chapter, I take up the relationship of response-dependent (RD) metaethical theories to these two conceptions of realism. While some proponents of RD views see themselves as opponents of realism, I do not. On the Modest conception, RD views are realist. And the resources they have to respond to the challenges of the Robust conception are considerable. Moreover, a capably mounted form of RD, responsive to the motivations for Robust realism, puts pressure on the resources Robust realism has for rejecting response-dependence. If so, the theoretical distance between RD views and Robust realist views may be smaller than one might suppose.
On the Properties of Quietism and Robustness
Authors: Kramer Matthew H.
Published: September 2023

The term “quietism” is rejected by most of the moral philosophers to whose work it is often applied. The first half of this chapter, after a terse introductory section, expands on why the term “quietism” is so objectionable. Thereafter, the focus shifts to the property of robustness. Supposedly what separates moral realism as a moral doctrine from some other varieties of non-naturalistic moral realism is that the latter are robust. Such is the contention of numerous opponents of moral realism as a moral doctrine. However, when the property of robustness is invoked to distinguish between moral realism as a moral doctrine and other non-naturalistic varieties of moral realism—rather than to advert to something which they have in common—it turns out to be illusive.
Real Ethics
Authors: Blackburn Simon
Published: September 2023

In this chapter I explore the explanatory advantages of an expressivist approach to ethics, and the ways in which an expressivist view of ethics should navigate the tricky issues brought up by semantic minimalism. I argue that contemporary realisms either fail to be genuinely theories about ethics, or fail to offer any illumination when they are, and point out ways in which descendants of the sentimentalist tradition of the eighteenth century do better.
Moral Functionalism
Authors: Jackson Frank , Pettit Philip
Published: September 2023

Sometimes we go from information couched in nonmoral terms to verdicts couched in moral terms. Sometimes we move back and forth between characterizations couched in moral terms. Sometimes our opinions about how things are, expressed in moral terms, lead us to action. Moral functionalism treats this tripartite structure of input clauses, internal role clauses, and output clauses as the key to understanding moral language. This chapter explains how moral functionalism: (i) enables the use of Ramsey sentences to account for the distinctive way in which the moral supervenes on the nonmoral; (ii) helps us understand how we learn the meanings of moral terms; (iii) explains the utility of moral language, which in turn allows us to make sense of why it evolved; (iv) helps us understand what inspires the “unifiers” in ethics, the utilitarians, for example; and (v) tells us what it takes to be a moral realist.
Ethical Realism and Robust Normativity
Authors: Copp David
Published: September 2023

The chief objection to ethical realism is its purported inability to account for “robust normativity.” Ethical realism postulates facts, such as the fact that torture is wrong, which it takes to be states of affairs partly constituted by ethical properties, such as wrongness. The objection is that ethical realism, so understood, is unable to explain the “robust normativity” of these facts. This chapter explores strategies for addressing the objection, and argues that it is important to respond directly to it. The chapter argues that ethical naturalism is better positioned than non-naturalism to answer the objection. It distinguishes three relevantly different views an ethical realist might have about the normativity of ethics: “normative formalism,” “normative conceptualism,” and “normative objectualism.” Normative objectualism is the best candidate for a realist theory of normativity, but is the most vulnerable to the normativity objection.
Images of Care
Authors: Stanghellini Giovanni , Ikkos George
Published: September 2023

In this chapter we distinguish between causation, explanation, meaning, and understanding in mental health care. Greater understanding, and thus healing, is achieved when conditions of transparency make it possible for patients’ experiences of their world, that is ‘the things themselves’, to present in their true luminescence. We argue that, as concepts and theories stifle their presence, good mental health care requires images. We introduce Walter Benjamin’s concept of ‘dialectical images’. These are the products of ‘ideas’ not ‘pictures’, ‘reproductions’ or ‘symbols’. ‘Ideas are to objects like constellations to the stars’. They require a rich descriptive vocabulary and the engagement of the beholder with what he sees. We refer to Benjamin’s seminal essays on the poetry of Charles Baudelaire as illustration of the dialectical process that, in clinical practice, may help both give and find voice for the patient at the points of maximum tension in their lived experience and relationship with the clinician. ‘Where thinking comes to a standstill in a constellation saturated with tensions, there the dialectical image appears’. The aim is to reduce to the point of elimination the perceptual habit in which the patient’s everyday experiences and history may remain enveloped, and to allow their previously unimagined and even unheard-of profiles to emerge. This practice in clinical care requires courage, a sense of vocation, and materialist devotion to the patient. The result may be secular revelation.
Anna C. Brackett
Authors: Giesbert Andreas
Published: September 2023

This chapter presents the life and work of the nineteenth-century US American idealist Anna C. Brackett. As a philosopher, translator, school principal, and journalist, she was involved both practically and theoretically in the social changes of her time. Particularly concerned with the importance of education for achieving an equal standing for women in society, she applied a conception of a genderless mind in the tradition of Hegel and his disciple Rosenkranz. This practical adaption of Hegelian philosophy allowed her to deconstruct limitations based on gender but had troubling consequences when applied to the education of African-Americans and Native Americans. The article discusses both her arguments for the emancipation of women and her colonialist and paternalist concept of the education of marginalized cultures. It is argued that both consequences can be explained by a specific concept of mind (Geist) that can only be understood adequately in the context of German idealistic philosophy.
Self-paced reading
Authors: Yoshida Masaya
Published: September 2023

This contribution reviews studies that employ self-paced reading (SPR) experiments, and asks the following questions: What can online sentence processing studies which use the SPR method tell us about syntax, and how can online sentence processing experiments inform syntactic theories? This chapter tries to show that in order to investigate the mechanism of sentence processing and gain insights into syntactic theories, it is essential to formulate a theory of representation, a theory of structure building, and a linking hypothesis that maps hypothetical behavior of the structure building mechanism to experimentally observable measures.
Speed–Accuracy Trade-Off Modeling and Its Interface with Experimental Syntax
Authors: Foraker Stephani , Cunnings Ian , Martin Andrea E.
Published: September 2023

Judgements have been key to theory building in linguistics, yet judgements are inherently susceptible to a tradeoff between the speed and accuracy with which they are made. This chapter highlights insights gained by using the speed-accuracy tradeoff (SAT) technique to model this tradeoff. We focus on how SAT evidence has been instrumental in integrating sophisticated memory models into psycholinguistic theory. We describe the SAT procedure and explain how SAT modeling disentangles accuracy from time course of processing. We review SAT evidence that bears on key linguistic issues, with examples involving long-distance dependencies, garden-path sentences, and anaphora resolution. Additional areas where SAT has been informative, such as scalar implicatures, are also briefly noted. Challenges and promising future directions are discussed.
Hemodynamic Methods
Authors: Brennan Jonathan R.
Published: September 2023

Hemodynamic methods in brain imaging are techniques that measure properties of blood flow to draw inferences about how neural activity supports cognition. Applications of these tools have outlined the brain regions implicated in processing syntax. But, these results have had limited impact on syntactic theories because the relationship between grammatical knowledge and neural signals is indirect and often under-specified. Connecting these brain signals to debates in theoretical syntax requires linking hypotheses that capture how syntactic representations are processed and how such processes bear on brain signals. This chapter highlights examples which show how progress can be made when such hypotheses are made explicit and offers a framework for developing and testing these links systematically.