bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Xiaomi and the Promises of the Good Life? Issues of Security and Risk in the Making of the Smart Home in China
Authors: Chong Gladys Pak Lei
Published: February 2022

Informed by Foucault’s governmentality, this article examines the making of the smart home in China. Operating within the nexus of security and risk, smart homes foster a discourse of the ‘the good life’ that accelerates AI’s integration into the population’s daily life. Taking Xiaomi (a renowned smart home technology company) as a case study, I trace how commercial practices formulate issues of security and risk in three smart home products: smart door lock, home surveillance camera and virtual home assistant. Drawing on visual and discourse analyses of Xiaomi’s promotional materials, this analysis is structured around three levels of relationships: (a) trust and ontological security; (b) the practices of government and the practices of self (c) and the technologisation of Chinese society. This analysis demonstrates that Xiaomi further advances the state-driven technologisation of Chinese society, in which subjects are guided to embrace the positive dimensions of technology for self-actualisation and self-management. However, the technology that makes domestic life and the physical home more reliable, less prone to risks and more secure has at the same time further eroded social relations and trust.
Rising to the Challenge: Top Executives with R&D Background, Risk-Taking and Corporate Innovation
Authors: Li Huicong , Xiang Erwei
Published: February 2022

More than half of Chinese high-technology firms are led by top executives (chairman and CEO) with R&D background. This study investigates whether and how top executives’ R&D background affects corporate innovation outcomes using a sample of listed firms in the high-technology industries in China. We find that the R&D background of top executives is positively related to innovation outcomes. We also find evidence on the mediating effect of R&D expenditure and moderating effect of corporate risk-taking on the above relationship. Our baseline results are robust to tests that address concerns caused by potential unobservable characteristics, reverse causality and other issues. Findings of our study have important implications for firms that aim to enhance their innovation outcomes and countries regarding their research policymaking and R&D management.
Effectiveness of Supply Chain Planning in Ensuring Availability of CD/NCD Drugs in Non-Metropolitan and Rural Public Health System
Authors: Sahu Sanjib , Shyama Nagarajan , Chokshi Maulik , Mokashi Tushar , Dash Satyabhushan , Sharma Taruna , Pal Amrita , Gupta Akshata , Saxena Gautam
Published: February 2022

Several studies have reported on the shortage of drugs with the changing demographic and disease profile, especially triggered by the growing burden of lifestyle diseases. However, very few have evaluated the demand-side challenges from the objective of universalisation of healthcare. Therefore, this study was designed to evaluate the factors that have impeded access to affordable generic and essential drugs in non-metropolitan urban and rural India. The study was conducted in six states and responses were elicited from a sample of doctors, pharmacists, nurses, accredited social health activist (ASHA) workers, state officials, warehouse managers and patients across the study states. The study reveals that while the acceptance of prescribing generic drugs has improved over the last decade, the use of branded drugs has been restricted only to complex cases or where generic drug efficacy has not been established. The centralised procurement efficiencies seem to have hit a plateau in terms of assuring drug availability to the last mile, thereby impacting local purchase, especially pandemic procurement. Most states have also established dedicated corporations for drug procurement, albeit at different levels of organisational maturity as far as adherence to the processes and systems are concerned. However, supply chain phenomena like the bullwhip effect gets accentuated given the levels of our public health system. Learnings from other consumer-facing sectors with similar challenges of increased variability and uncertainty are yet to be explored for the health sector to leapfrog towards achieving improved ‘drug availability’ or ‘zero stock-out’. Standardising drug categories, regular updating of the essential drug list (EDL) reflecting the demographic and disease profile, various practices like complete digitisation, rolling forecasts, stock-keeping unit rationalisation, flexible public procurement contracts, etc., have been explored as potential solutions in this paper. Creating a dedicated team of forecasters within the procurement organisations, well adept at using analytics, could be key to real-time demand estimation, paving the way for a quarterly rolling forecast to facilitate procurement using well-designed rate contracts with suppliers that captures variability in such rolling forecasts.
Are the Poor Catching Up with the Rich in Utilising Reproductive, Maternal, New Born and Child Health Services: An Application of Delivery Channels Framework in Indian Context
Authors: Shirisha P. , Vaidyanathan Girija , Muraleedharan V. R.
Published: February 2022

The article is aimed to assess trends in wealth-related inequalities in coverage of reproductive, maternal, neonatal and child health (RMNCH) interventions using delivery channels framework in Indian context, at national level as well as at state level—Tamil Nadu (TN) and Chhattisgarh (CG)—a better off and poorer state, respectively. We used National Family Health Survey—3rd (2005–2006) and 4th (2015–2016) to study the trends and differentials of inequalities in the RMNCH coverage. We have used two summary indices—absolute inequalities using the slope index of inequality (SII) and relative inequalities using the concentration index (CIX). Culturally driven interventions had pro-poor inequalities in TN, CG and in India, but the coverage has improved significantly for the women from wealthier households recently. Environmental interventions were highly inequal in distribution, particularly for the ‘use of clean fuels’. Inequalities in the coverage of health facilities-based interventions has reduced in TN, CG and overall India, but more so in TN. The inequalities in coverage of community-based interventions have reduced over the period of ten years in TN, CG as well as at national level. Adopting RMNCH delivery channel framework could be useful for assessing and monitoring the progress of public health programmes. Policy makers can gain insights from the success of coverage of various interventions and determine specific implementation strategies to reduce inequalities in the coverage and its effectiveness.
Cyber Security: A Review of Cyber Crimes, Security Challenges and Measures to Control
Authors: Verma Aastha , Shri Charu
Published: February 2022

The proliferation of the Internet’s interconnections has led to a substantial increase in cyberattack incidents, often with devastating and grave consequences for the organizations and their associated clientele. The pandemic of COVID-19 has pushed most organizations towards digital transformation. The higher dependence of a firm on digital infrastructure makes it more vulnerable to cyber-crimes. The existing literature suggests that the most notable and frequently chosen weapons of attackers are Internet of things (IoT) attacks, phishing attack, malware attack, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack and structured query language (SQL) injection attack. In this study, an attempt has been made to generate a protection framework from these cyberattacks. In doing so, the present research has adopted a systematic stepwise process of investigation. The research method consists of four components. First, through bibliometric analysis in VOSviewer, authors identified the scope for searching the related literature published worldwide and generated visualization for comprehension. This step led to the selection of 60 research articles for further analysis. After that, each security threat’s MAXQDA software word tree was developed, representing its linkages with possible security solutions and control measures. Lastly, they adopted expert elicitation protocol through semi-structured interviews with six corporate IT experts and five academic experts. The synthesis of information gathered leads to the development of a suggestive protection framework for the organizations.
RLS Model for Forecasting Resource Fulfilment in IT and Consulting Firms: The Global Context
Authors: Karjagi Rajashekhar , Shivakalimath Sachin
Published: February 2022

Global IT and consulting firms are predominantly dependent on skilled manpower for their business. There are many skills and locations with multiple roles which may not be easily traced in the organizations where large number of employees are working in multiple locations having many skill sets. In such a situation, the resources fulfilment across the organization with diverse skill sets becomes an issue. It is an important aspect to have an efficient method to fulfil the resources appropriately without losing the revenue leakage due to delays in resource fulfilment. In that context, a Resource Location & Skill (RLS) model has been developed in the present research to provide the forecast for resource fulfilment as per the skill and location. The model forecasted about 48 employees at an average of 50% accuracy based on only five skill sets data (resource indent data at SOW [Statement of Work]/project level) from 1 May 2018 to 31 August 2018. Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) time series model in R statistical software was used for the analysis.
Between Two Fires: The Institutional and Public Constraints to Unilateral Policy Change
Authors: Thrower Sharece
Published: February 2022

Though the US presidency literature widely examines how Congress limits executive power, recent discourse argues the public is the more effective restraint. This paper develops a theory explaining when inter-institutional relations and public constraints influence the alteration of unilateral directives. Both are important for curbing substantial policy changes that likely provoke congressional and public response. Using data on when executive orders are amended and revoked between 1955 and 2013 to measure policy shifts, I find orders are less likely to be altered under presidents facing oppositional or cohesive congresses and high public disapproval. Both types of constraints are strongest for large policy changes, that is, revocations or targeting ideologically distant orders. This study advances the unilateralism literature by examining interactions between multiple constraints and degrees of policy change, while also contributing to studies of policy duration.
Diagnostic Challenges of Intra-operative Frozen Consultation for Mammary Epithelioid Myofibroblastoma
Authors: Zeng Ying , Wang Qianhui , Jiang Xin , Yao Hui , Wang Xue , Tang Xuefeng
Published: February 2022

Myofibroblastoma (MFB) of the breast is a rare benign neoplasm that exhibits several morphologic variants and presents diagnostic challenges for pathologists, especially in recognizing intra-operative frozen sections. In order to raise awareness of this tumor and avoid misdiagnosis, we describe a case of a 38-year-old female patient diagnosed as epithelioid MFB. This painless tumor was well-circumscribed, found in the left breast and was physically examined over a period of six months. Histologically, this tumor was predominantly composed of epithelioid cells, which arranged as single cells, small clusters or nests. Tumor stroma was collagenized with spindle cells, adipose and focal myxoid areas. This case was misinterpreted as invasive carcinoma in the frozen section. The immunohistochemical profile demonstrated positivity for Vimentin, desmin, SMA, calponin, CD34, ER, PR and AR, whereas pan-keratin, keratin 7, keratin 34βE12, keratin 5/6, EMA, p63 and S100 were negative. RB1 was abnormally negative, confirming the diagnosis of epithelioid MFB. Making a correct diagnosis is primarily dependent on awareness by the pathologist of this unusual variant of MFB and careful integration of clinicopathologic findings to avoid potential diagnostic pitfalls.
Intraneural Nodular Fasciitis of the Femoral Nerve with A Unique CTNNB1::USP6 Gene Fusion: Apropos of a Case and Review of Literature
Authors: Parkinson Bryce , Patton Ashley , Rogers Alan , Farhadi H. Francis , Oghumu Steve , Iwenofu O. Hans
Published: February 2022

Nodular fasciitis (NF) is a benign proliferation of fibroblasts and myofibroblasts occurring most commonly in the upper extremities that can mimic a variety of mesenchymal tumors including sarcoma. Although reported in almost all anatomic locations, only 7 cases of intraneural nodular fasciitis have been reported in English literature. The CTNNB1::USP6 gene fusion has not been previously reported in intraneural nodular fasciitis, although it has been reported in three entities including aneurysmal bone cyst, nodular fasciitis, and intravascular fasciitis. We report a case of a 29-year-old female with a 6-month history of left leg weakness, myalgia, and paresthesia of the left foot prompting a clinical diagnosis of a peripheral nerve sheath tumor. Surgical resection was performed, and histologic sections revealed a circumscribed lesion composed of banal spindle cells with variable interstitial collagen and occasional mitotic figures. By immunohistochemistry, the lesional cells were positive for smooth muscle actin, smooth muscle heavy chain myosin, p16, and H-caldesmon and negative for desmin, S-100, SOX10, HMB45, CD34, and beta-catenin. Fluorescence in Situ Hybridization for USP6 gene rearrangement was positive and consistent with the diagnosis of nodular fasciitis. Next-generation sequencing uncovered the presence of a CTNNB1::USP6 gene fusion involving CTNNB1 gene in exon 1 at the genomic position chr3:41241161 and the USP6 gene in exon 1 at the genomic position chr17:5033231. This gene fusion was confirmed by Sanger sequencing. Herein, we report a case that underscores the rare incidence of intraneural nodular fasciitis and highlights the pitfalls associated with the clinical differential diagnoses of intraneural tumors.
Retinal vascular impairment matched to the pulmonary damage in early post-COVID 19 patients
Authors: Savastano Maria Cristina , Larici Anna Rita , Crincoli Emanuele , De Filippis Alessandro , Cicchetti Giuseppe , Gambini Gloria , Savastano Alfonso , Marano Riccardo , Natale Luigi , Rizzo Stanislao
Published: February 2022

Background

Endothelium damage is a crucial element in the pathogenesis of SARS-Cov-2 infection. Most casualties in critical COVID-19 cases are due to ARDS, diffuse coagulopathy and cytokine storm. ARDS itself is a consequence of pulmonary endothelial cells damage. Damage to retinal capillary microcirculation in post-infective period has been investigated through Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA). The aim of the present study is to find a correlation between signs of retinal vascular damage and pulmonary impairment.

Methods

Patients admitted to hospital and subsequently recovered from COVID-19 infection were summoned 1 month later to undergo coherence tomography (CT) scan and OCTA examination.

Results

The study population included 87 COVID-19 patients with a mean age of 54.28 ± 14.44 years. Oxygen therapy, non-invasive and invasive mechanical ventilation were necessary in 33, 11 and 4 patients respectively to provide respiratory support during the acute course of the disease. Pulmonary involvement interested 54 patients (62.1%). Peripheral (27.6%) or diffuse (29.9%) involvement and ground glass (GG) opacities (47.1%) represented the prevalent radiological finding. A reduced RCPI FI was independently correlated with the presence of reticulation pattern in CT scan ( p = .019). Also, RNFL and GCC were thinner in patients who displayed reticulation pattern (respectively p = .025 and p = .015).

Conclusions

A reduction in RPCP-FI and RNFL and GCC thickness were independently correlated to the presence of CT reticulation pattern. This association can reflect cytokine induced remodeling in both organs as a consequence of systemic endothelial damage and inflammation.
Vector analysis of moderate to high myopic astigmatism after small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE): 12-month follow-up
Authors: Jabbarvand Mahmoud , Khodaparast Mehdi , Moravvej Zahra , Shahraki Kianoush , Ahmadi Hanie , Shahraki Kourosh , Jamali Alireza , Narooie-noori Foroozan
Published: February 2022

Purpose

To evaluate the refractive outcomes of small-incision lenticule extraction (SMILE) surgery in moderate to high myopic astigmatism

Study Design

Prospective interventional case series

Methods

This study evaluated 111 eyes of 68 patients treated with femtosecond SMILE surgery for the correction of myopia and astigmatism. Inclusion criteria were myopia of − 0.5 D or more and astigmatism between − 1.0 D and −5.0 D. Refractive and visual measurements were obtained preoperatively, 1 and 12 month(s) postoperatively. Vector analysis was used to study the astigmatic outcomes at 12-month follow-up. Comparison of results in two groups of patients with astigmatism below and over 3.00 D was performed.

Results

The preoperative mean spherical equivalent was −5.48 ± 2.17 D (range − 1.75 to − 10.00 D) and the mean cylinder was −2.02 ± 1.09 D (range − 1.00 to − 5.00 D). The mean postoperative cylinder value was −0.60 ± 0.52 D at 12-month visit. The 12-month safety and efficacy indices were 0.98 ± 0.07 and 0.97 ± 0.12, respectively. The high astigmatism group showed significantly lower safety and efficacy indices. The postoperative residual astigmatism was 0.5 D or less in 73% of the eyes. Higher amount of residual astigmatism was observed in the high astigmatism group. The angle of error was ± 5 degrees in 49% and ± 15 degrees in 87% of the eyes.

Conclusion

SMILE surgery is effective and safe method for correcting myopic astigmatism. Vector analysis indicated a tendency for the under correction of astigmatism in subjects with high astigmatism.
Art and anthropology: Twenty-five years of The Traffic in Culture
Authors: Zitzewitz Karin , Ciotti Manuela
Published: February 2022

Special issue introduction.
Legal advice privilege: The legacy of Three Rivers (No. 5) and the challenge of providing consistent protection to all client types
Authors: Stockdale Michael , Mitchell Rebecca
Published: February 2022

Legal advice privilege operates in the corporate context subject to a dominant purpose test and an agency-based control mechanism. This mechanism fails to reflect the privilege's rationale and prevents the dominant purpose test from giving corporations the same level of protection that the privilege provides to other client types. Following analysis of approaches in other common law jurisdictions, this article concludes that the optimum control mechanism for English Law is the dominant purpose test unfettered by the agency-based control mechanism and extended to encompass third parties. It is the first significant attempt to consider the merits of the agency-based control mechanism since the operation of the dominant purpose test in this context was confirmed by the Court of Appeal. It rebuts the suggestion by some academics that legal advice privilege should be restricted in the corporate context by asserting that it is by expansion of the privilege's ambit that consistency of protection across client types will be achieved.
The house cannot be full: Risk, anxiety, and the politics of collective spectatorship in a pandemic
Authors: Chatterjee Tupur
Published: February 2022

This article charts the pandemic-engendered configurations of moviegoing cultures, leisure, and collective spectatorship in the Indian subcontinent and locates it within the discourses of personal risk, public anxiety, and industrial exclusion that have historically permeated the cinema hall. The pandemic marks a significant moment in the remaking of collective spectatorship and must be contextualized within the two-decades-long transition from single screens to multiplexes already under way in the Indian exhibition landscape. Through an account of the industrial developments in film exhibition in the last year and a half of pandemic time across two catastrophic waves of Covid-19, I offer some preliminary insights into the ways in which these shifts signal towards the cultural production of a new spectatorial body amenable to novel forms of bio-surveillance and datafication of self.
We got you covered: Contextualizing industry insurance practices and the response to Covid-19
Authors: Johnson Derek
Published: February 2022

In response to Covid-19, media industries have increasingly relied upon insurance to manage risks to health and productivity loss surrounding creative labor. Analysis of contemporary trade journals reveals how the pandemic prompted new urgency around the question of who could get coverage, both by health plans protecting individual workers and cast insurance policies protecting employers. While Covid-19 risks are global in nature, the lack of universal health care exacerbated precarity in US media industries especially, where these two insurance practices overlap: medical coverage depends on the ability to work, which can depend on whether employers can insure their investment in that creative labor. Thus, struggles over insurance must be contextualized within historical discourses that made insurability legible within professional media work cultures. Ultimately, this analysis reveals how corporate media cultures calculate loss and mortality, marking some, but not all, as worthy of status, investment, or protection.
Institutional trauma across the Americas: Covid-19 as slow crisis
Authors: Robinson Laura
Published: February 2022

Building on theories of cultural trauma, this research examines institutional trauma engendered by the pandemic in relation to journalism and public health in the US and Brazil. The trauma stemming from Covid-19 marks a transformational crisis not only in terms of global public health but also collective confidence in institutions writ large. To probe these issues, this article takes advantage of a vibrant digital discussion among Americans and Brazilians hosted by three flagship newspapers in the two countries: The New York Times, Folha de S. Paulo, and O Estado de S. Paulo. The analysis reveals that both groups experience Covid-accelerated trauma that undermines Brazilians’ and Americans’ faith in foundational institutions’ ability to adequately respond to the pandemic. Comparing these interpretations of the Covid-19 crisis in the US and Brazil allows us to see how the acute health crisis triggered by the virus morphs into a form of institutional trauma, with deep implications for collective confidence in public health, journalism, and democracy.
Experimental study on carbonation behavior of seawater sea sand recycled aggregate concrete
Authors: Zhang Kaijian , Xiao Jianzhuang , Hou Yiqing , Zhang Qingtian
Published: February 2022

The carbonation behavior of seawater sea sand recycled aggregate concrete (SSRAC) was investigated in this study. Considering different added water, fine aggregates, and coarse aggregates, the specimens were divided into 12 groups for the accelerated carbonation test by 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days. Among them, river sand, sea sand, and mixed sand (the proportion of sea sand and shell sand was 4:1) were used as fine aggregates. The results show that the carbonation depths of concretes with different mixtures all increase over time. When the replacement ratio of recycled coarse aggregate (RCA) is not less than 50%, sea sand is the most suitable fine aggregate to acquire best carbonation resistance, while river sand is the worst. On the contrary, when the replacement ratio of RCA is not more than 30%, river sand is the most suitable fine aggregate, while sea sand is the worst. It can also be speculated that the most appropriate replacement ratio of RCA is 50% when sea sand is applied as fine aggregates in SSRAC. At the same time, 30% replacement ratio of RCA is appropriate when mixed sand is applied as fine aggregates in SSRAC.
Long-term behavior of CFRP plates under sustained loads
Authors: Hu Lili , Li Weijie , Feng Peng
Published: February 2022

This paper studies the long-term behavior of carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates under sustained loads. Two typical loading conditions, CFRP plate loading controlled by displacement constraints and force constraints, are studied. The first section investigates the prestress loss of the CFRP plate when it is loaded via displacement constraints, which serves as a prestressed system applied for prestressed structures. Short- and long-term measurements show that the prestress loss of CFRP is caused by material creep, temperature change, and CFRP and anchorage slippage. When the CFRP prestress level is 5.0%–12.3%, the average prestress loss after 42 days is 5.1%. The second section investigates the permanent deformation of the CFRP plate with curved anchorages caused by creep under a certain sustained load (i.e., controlled by force constraints), which serves as a suspension bar or cable applied for determinate structures. The creep strain-to-time relationship, creep rate, and residual strength were obtained. The creep strain-to-time relationship strongly depends on the stress level applied; the creep coefficient is less than 10.94% and the residual strength is greater than 80% of the initial tensile strength after 1000 h. The findings show the effectiveness and reliability of these two typical cases of CFRP plates under long-term sustained loads.
Penal Welfare or Penal Sovereignty? A Political Sociology of Recent Formalization of Chinese Community Corrections
Authors: Jiang Jize , Liu Jingwei
Published: February 2022

In this study, we address two observed gaps in existing accounts on Chinese community corrections (hereafter CCC): 1) lack of multilevel understanding of this penal institution’s local variations in a highly centralized penal regime; 2) inadequate scrutiny of political logics of, and the authoritarian state’s significance in, its recent formal introduction. Those limits may inhibit adequate understandings of state power and punishment in an authoritarian polity like China. To that end, we argue for a multilayered and hybrid conceptualization of CCC as an assemblage of penal welfare and penal sovereignty to understand CCC’s formation and function. Fracturing the holistic entity of CCC, our study challenges the approach to viewing it as a system of singular logics and unifying structure, and contrasts three modes of operational practices across localities—bureaucratic, professionalization, and technology-dominant models. Moreover, our analysis of its political functions suggests that in effect penal sovereignty subjugates penal welfare within contemporary Chinese penality. Far from heralding the full-fledged rise of Chinese penal welfare, this legal formalization represents a space created for the authoritarian state to penetrate political ideologies, and to reclaim, consolidate and exercise sovereign power through managerial penal strategies in a rapidly developing and differentiating society.
The bewitchment of our intelligence: Scepticism about other minds in anthropology
Authors: Motta Marco
Published: February 2022

This article aims at characterizing how the problem of scepticism about other minds appears in anthropology. To do so, I offer a close reading of Nils Bubandt's book, The Empty Seashell (2014), a study of witchcraft and doubt on the North Maluku Island of Halmahera. Through its deep engagement with issues revolving around scepticism, I take the book to be an example of the tendency to consider the problem of sceptical doubt about others as a problem of access to the inner thoughts and feelings of other people. By looking closely at its attempts to respond to this problem, I endeavour to shed light on the ways in which, in working the problem of scepticism out, we may be doing exactly the reverse: giving into the sceptical impulse. How does a certain way of asking questions about scepticism nourish the drive to it? I am interested in the drift towards scepticism that precisely takes the form of a claim against it. In showing that such a drift is prompted by a certain use of language, I hope to elucidate some ways in which scepticism is lived and is thus not merely an intellectual conundrum, but an ordinary human condition.
Sickle cell disease as an accelerated aging syndrome
Authors: Idris Ibrahim M , Botchwey Edward A , Hyacinth Hyacinth I
Published: February 2022

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by vaso-occlusion, hemolysis, and systemic manifestations that form the hallmark of the disease. Apart from morbidity, SCD is also associated with increased mortality and decreased quality of life. Aging is a natural phenomenon that is associated with changes at cellular, tissue, and organ levels, in addition to the loss of physical fitness, increased susceptibility to diseases, and a higher likelihood of mortality. Some of the cellular mechanisms involved in normal (or physiological) aging include abnormalities of sphingolipids (ceramides) and reduced length of the telomere. These changes have also been documented in SCD. Cellular, organs, and physical manifestations of SCD resemble an accelerated aging syndrome. Sickle erythrocytes also acquire morphological features similar to that of aged normal erythrocytes and are thus picked up early by the macrophages for destruction. Brain, kidney, heart, innate and adaptive immune system, and musculoskeletal system of patients with SCD exhibit morphological and functional changes that are ordinarily seen in the elderly in the general population. Stroke, silent cerebral infarcts, cardiomegaly, heart failure, pulmonary hypertension, nephropathy with proteinuria, osteopenia, osteoporosis, osteonecrosis, gout, and infections are exceedingly common in SCD. In this review, we have attempted to draw parallels between SCD and accelerated aging syndromes.
Harnessing Metabolomics to Advance Epilepsy Research
Authors: Eid Tore
Published: February 2022

Metabolomics is the laboratory analysis and scientific study of the metabolome—that is, the entire collection of small molecule chemicals in an organism. The metabolome represents the functional state of an organism and provides a multifaceted readout of the aggregate activity of endogenous (cellular) and exogenous (environmental) processes. In this review, we discuss how the integrative and dynamic properties of the metabolome create unique opportunities to study complex pathologies that evolve and oscillate over time, like epilepsy. We explain how the scientific progress and clinical applications of metabolomics remain hampered by biological and technical challenges, and we propose best practices to overcome these challenges so that metabolomics can be used in a rigorous and effective manner to further epilepsy research.
Surgical Retrieval of a Transected Dual-Lumen Umbilical Venous Catheter Remnant that Was Misplaced in the Aorto-Iliac Artery of a Pre-Term Neonate
Authors: Lim Chung Sim , Davis Meryl , Forman Colin
Published: February 2022

Despite rare, retrieving detached umbilical venous catheter (UVC) remnants from central vessels in neonates is challenging due to their small body habitus and vessels with high risk of vascular injury and thrombosis and often associated comorbidities. We report a challenging surgical retrieval of a UVC remnant from the aorto-iliac artery of a pre-term neonate. An attempted UVC insertion into a pre-term neonate was complicated by misplacement and detachment of a 4 cm remnant into the infra-renal abdominal aorta and left iliac artery. As the child’s legs were not critically ischemic, open surgical retrieval of the UVC remnant was performed once she stabilized and grew sufficiently. The case report concluded that the surgical intervention and timing of the retrieval of a UVC remnant should be individually tailored to each case and it is vital that decision making is undertaken within a multidisciplinary team.
Social Disconnection and Psychological Distress in Canadian Men During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Simpson Nick J. , Oliffe John L. , Rice Simon M. , Kealy David , Seidler Zac E. , Ogrodniczuk John S.
Published: February 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly challenged many men’s mental health. Efforts to control the spread of the virus have led to increasing social disconnection, fueling concerns about its long-term effects on men’s mental health, and more specifically their experience of psychological distress. Social disconnection, psychological distress, and the relationship between them have yet to be formally explored in a Canadian male sample during the COVID-19 pandemic. The present study examined whether reduced social connection among men was associated with increased anxiety and depressive symptoms (psychological distress) and whether this association was moderated by living alone. The sample consisted of 434 help-seeking Canadian men who completed standardized measures. Analyses controlled for the potentially confounding effects of age and fear of COVID-19. Findings revealed that less social connection was associated with increased psychological distress. This association was not moderated by living alone, nor was living alone directly associated with psychological distress. Younger age and fear of COVID-19 were each independently associated with psychological distress. Socially disconnected men were more likely to experience anxiety and depressive symptoms, suggesting the need for interventions focussed on men’s social connectedness, social support, and belongingness to help reduce some COVID-19-induced mental health risks.
The Aesthetics of Digit Amputation
Authors: Collar John , Smetona John , Zhang Jingwen , Deng Yanhong , Clune James
Published: February 2022

Background: The goal of surgery, when treating a patient with a traumatized hand, is to restore function. The importance of the aesthetics on a patient’s psychological well-being should also be considered. The biomechanical ideals for creating a useful hand after digit amputation have been defined; however, ideal aesthetic levels for finger amputation have not been elucidated. The purpose of this study was to determine the general population’s visual preferences for different levels of digit amputation in the hand. Methods: In all, 310 participants were surveyed to identify preferences of different levels of single digit amputations in dorsal and volar views. A normal hand was digitally manipulated to simulate various levels of digit amputation. The aesthetics of amputation at the distal interphalangeal (DIP) joint, proximal interphalangeal (PIP) joint, metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint, and ray amputation were compared to one another via rank order. Average rank for each level of amputation for a digit was determined. Results: Amputation at the DIP was favored over all other levels; however, ray amputation was the second most aesthetic, particularly in the middle and ring fingers even when compared to amputation at the PIP level. Conclusion: When presented a choice at which level to perform a completion amputation or a primary amputation of a digit, and functionality at multiple levels of amputation is equivocal, aesthetic outcomes should be considered. Amputation at the DIP joint is preferable, but ray amputation is aesthetically more pleasing than amputation at the PIP or MCP joints in the index, middle, ring, and small fingers.
Universal Meals: A Novel Program to Provide Healthful Nutrition to Diverse Communities
Authors: Barnard Neal D. , Hardcastle Natalie , Correa Lilian , Muhammad YaQutullah Ibraheem , Batavia Aarti , Rahman Vanita , Yanklowitz Rabbi Shmuly , Levin Susan , Lenthall Allison E. , andHana Kahleova Dustin Harder
Published: February 2022

Healthcare professionals recommending dietary changes to patients often find that institutional settings—businesses, universities, long-term care facilities, correctional institutions, among others—may not provide the healthful foods that healthcare professionals recommend. Moreover, such institutions encounter an increasing diversity of dietary restrictions, based on allergies, intolerances, religious mandates, or other reasons, that may be challenging to satisfy. To address these issues, experts in health, dietetics, culinary arts, religion, and ethics developed a simple set of guidelines that aim to meet the widest possible range of dietary needs. Three culinary teams then used these guidelines to create “Universal Meals”—simple recipes that were then adapted to larger production sizes for institutional use. The healthfulness of representative sets of meals drawn from these recipes was assessed using the Alternative Healthy Eating Index-2010 and found to be superior to that of a meal pattern based on National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey data.
One-pot nickel-catalyzed cross-coupling of (Het)arylammonium salts prepared in situ and organozinc reagents
Authors: Huang Yong-Mao
Published: February 2022

A nickel-catalyzed arylation of aromatic amines using arylzinc reagents with trimethylammonium salts formed in situ is developed. Compared with previous systems using ammonium salts as the starting materials and complexes of pre-prepared nickel catalysts, this reaction directly employed an N, N-dimethyl(het)arylamine as the coupling partner and commercial Ni(COD)2 /TMEDA as the catalyst, greatly simplifying the experimental procedure, decreasing the cost, and being especially suitable for scale-up production processes.
Strength and conditioning practices for the optimisation of speed and accuracy in cricket fast bowlers: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Ramachandran Akhilesh Kumar , Singh Utkarsh , Lathlean Timothy JH
Published: February 2022

The most important determinants of a cricket fast bowler's performance are bowling speed and accuracy. Even though various strength and conditioning practices (resistance, plyometric and modified-implement training) have been employed to improve these parameters, there is still ambiguity as to the effectiveness of such training programmes. This systematic review and meta-analysis examined the influence of various training interventions on fast bowling speed and accuracy. Searches were conducted across PubMed, Web of science, SPORTDiscus, Scopus and CINAHL. Inclusion criteria were studies that: were original research or conference presentations; recruited fast bowlers as participants; involved a physical training intervention; written in English; and included bowling speed or accuracy as outcome measures. Ten articles met our inclusion criteria for qualitative and eight for quantitative analysis. The quality of the studies assessed using Downs and Black checklist ranged from low to moderate with a mean ± SD of 64.5 ± 8.14%. There was a moderate and significant effect of plyometric training intervention on bowling speed (SMD = 0.75; Z = 2.98; p = 0.003). Further, a small and non-significant effect of resistance training on bowling speed was observed in our study (SMD = 0.40; Z = 1.39; p = 0.164). A small but non-significant difference was found in the ball speed post modified ball weight training intervention (SMD = 0.30; Z = 1.14; p = 0.252). The findings from our study are useful for strength and conditioning coaches in helping to design and implement fast-bowling specific training programmes for improved bowling speed.
Total, gender- and age-specific incidence rates of upper extremity nerve injuries in Finland
Authors: Wiman Kirsi , Hulkkonen Sina , Miettunen Jouko , Auvinen Juha , Karppinen Jaro , Ryhänen Jorma
Published: February 2022

The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology of nerve injuries of the upper extremity in the whole population of Finland (1998–2016). Data based on diagnosis codes were obtained from the Care Register for Health Care, including cases of median, radial, ulnar, musculocutaneous, axillary and digital nerves. Age- and gender-specific incidence rates, both crude and standardized (for the European normal population in 2011), were calculated. Our study included 13,440 patients with upper extremity nerve injury. The mean standardized annual incidence rate of any upper extremity nerve injury was 18.18 among men and 8.15 among women per 100,000 person-years over the study period. The incidence peaked among men at working age. Nerve injuries occurred most commonly in the fingers and thumb, with 5532 cases and mean standardized incidence rates per 100,000 person-years of 7.84 among men and 2.95 among women. The annual incidence did not change significantly over the study period.

Level of evidence: III
Yucatán as an Exception to Rising Criminal Violence in México
Authors: Mattiace Shannan , Ley Sandra
Published: February 2022

Yucatán state’s homicide level has remained low and steady for decades and criminal violence activity is low, even while crime rates in much of the rest of the country have increased since 2006. In this research note, we examine five main theoretical explanations for Yucatán's relative containment of violence: criminal competition, protection networks and party alternation, vertical partisan fragmentation, interagency coordination, and social cohesion among the Indigenous population. We find that in Yucatán, interagency coordination is a key explanatory variable, along with cooperation around security between Partido Revolucionario Institucional and Partido Acción Nacional governments and among federal and state authorities.
A 14-year-old Girl with Right-Sided Weakness and Speech Difficulty
Authors: Moore Caitlin , Pollard Rebecca , Press Craig A. , Hiller Matthew , Maloney John , Barry Megan , Kammeyer Ryan
Published: February 2022

We herein report a case of Childhood Primary Central Nervous System (CNS) Angiitis. This case consisted of a 14-year-old girl who presented with right-sided weakness, aphasia, and a fever. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the brain showed multifocal areas of ischemia. Magnetic Resonance Angiography of the head and neck showed narrowing and irregularities of the left middle cerebral artery and right posterior cerebral artery. Cerebrospinal Fluid studies showed a lymphocytic pleocytosis and brain biopsy revealed leptomeningeal and perivascular inflammation. The epidemiology, presenting symptoms, work-up, pathophysiology, diagnostic criteria, and treatment of Childhood Primary CNS angiitis are discussed. This case serves as a reminder that when pediatric patients present with stroke-like symptoms inflammatory etiologies including Primary CNS Angiitis must be considered and treated appropriately in a time sensitive manner.
Comparing ultrasonographic optic nerve sheath diameter to head computed tomography scan to predict intracranial pressure elevation
Authors: Sitanaya Shierly Novitawati , Kamayanti Fadhila , Nugroho Hari Adityo , Prabowo Bobi
Published: February 2022

Introduction:

Intracranial hypertension is an emergency condition that needs to be recognized as soon as possible. Lumbar puncture, the gold standard diagnostic procedure for intracranial hypertension, is contraindicated in some conditions while brain imaging procedures may be too difficult to be performed on critically ill patients. To solve this problem, this study aims to assess an alternative method to detect intracranial hypertension by measuring optic nerve sheath diameter using ocular ultrasound and optic nerve sheath diameter difference in each etiology.

Methods:

This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Emergency Department of Dr Iskak Tulungagung General Hospital. Sixty-nine patients who visited the emergency room for the first onset of intracranial pathology were included for optic nerve sheath diameter measurement by ultrasound. Subjects were divided into elevated and non-elevated intracranial pressure groups based on head computed tomography scan findings. The optic nerve sheath diameter results were compared and analyzed.

Result:

There were 29 subjects in the elevated intracranial pressure group and 40 subjects in the non-elevated intracranial pressure group. The mean of optic nerve sheath diameter in the elevated and non-elevated intracranial pressure groups was 0.63 ± 0.06 and 0.57 ± 0.06 cm, respectively ( p = 0.000). Based on receiver operating characteristics analysis, 0.58 cm was the most optimal cut-off value.

Conclusion:

Ultrasonographic optic nerve sheath diameter can be used to predict elevated intracranial pressure in suspected patients who are contraindicated to invasive intracranial pressure measurement or critically ill. There were significant differences between elevated and non-elevated intracranial pressure groups in stroke and trauma subjects.
Establishing the Socio-Economic Impact of Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy Is Fundamental to Improving Outcomes [AO Spine RECODE-DCM Research Priority Number 8]
Authors: Davies Benjamin M. , Phillips Richard , Clarke David , Furlan Julio C. , Demetriades Andreas K. , Milligan Jamie , Witiw Christopher D. , Harrop James S. , Aarabi Bizhan , Kurpad Shekar N. , Guest James D. , Wilson Jefferson R. , Kwon Brian K. , Vaccaro Alexander R. , Fehlings Michael G. , Rahimi-Movaghar Vafa , Kotter Mark R. N.
Published: February 2022

Study Design:

Literature Review (Narrative).

Objective:

To contextualize AO Spine RECODE-DCM research priority number 5: What is the socio-economic impact of DCM? (The financial impact of living with DCM to the individual, their supporters, and society as a whole).

Methods:

In this review, we introduce the methodology of health-economic investigation, including potential techniques and approaches. We summarize the current health-economic evidence within DCM, so far focused on surgical treatment. We also cover the first national estimate, in partnership with Myelopathy.org from the United Kingdom, of the cost of DCM to society. We then demonstrate the significance of this question to advancing care and outcomes in the field.

Results:

DCM is a common and often disabling condition, with a significant lack of recognition. While evidence demonstrates the cost-effectives of surgery, even among higher income countries, health inequalities exist. Further the prevalent residual disability in myelopathy, despite treatment affects both the individual and society as a whole. A report from the United Kingdom provides the first cost-estimate to their society; an annual cost of ∼£681.6 million per year, but this is likely a significant underestimate.

Conclusion:

A clear quantification of the impact of DCM is needed to raise the profile of a common and disabling condition. Current evidence suggests this is likely to be globally substantial.