bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
“Just tell me in a simple way”: A qualitative study on opportunities to improve the transition from acute hospital care to home from the perspectives of patients with traumatic brain injury, families, and providers
Authors: Oyesanya Tolu O , Loflin Callan , Harris Gabrielle , Bettger Janet Prvu
Published: January 2021

Objective:

The purpose of this study was to identify areas to improve the transition from acute hospital care to home for patients with traumatic brain injury and their families.

Design:

Qualitative, descriptive.

Setting:

Level I trauma centered located in the Southeastern United States.

Subjects:

A total of 36 participants (12 patients with traumatic brain injury, 8 family caregivers, 16 providers).

Main Measures:

We conducted 55 semi-structured interviews with participants and used conventional content analysis to analyze the data.

Results:

Findings showed patients, families, and providers recommend three areas for improvement in the transition home from acute hospital care, described in three themes. Theme 1 was “improving patient and family education,” with the following sub-themes: (a) TBI-related information and (b) discharge preparation. Theme 2 was “additional provider guidance,” with the following sub-themes: (a) communication about patient’s recovery timeline and (b) recovery roadmap development. Theme 3 was “increasing systems-level support,” with the following sub-themes: (a) scheduling follow-up appointments, (b) using a patient navigator, (c) creating a provider follow-up structure, (d) linking pre-discharge care with post-discharge resources, and (e) addressing social issues.

Conclusions:

These findings delineate multiple areas where patients and families need additional support and education during the transition from acute hospital care to home in ways that are currently not being addressed. Findings may be used to improve education and support from providers and health systems given to patients with traumatic brain injury and families and to inform development and testing of transitional care interventions from acute hospital care to home.
Metabolic underpinnings of activated and deactivated cortical areas in human brain
Authors: Koush Yury , de Graaf Robin A , Kupers Ron , Dricot Laurence , Ptito Maurice , Behar Kevin L , Rothman Douglas L , Hyder Fahmeed
Published: January 2021

Neuroimaging with functional MRI (fMRI) identifies activated and deactivated brain regions in task-based paradigms. These patterns of (de)activation are altered in diseases, motivating research to understand their underlying biochemical/biophysical mechanisms. Essentially, it remains unknown how aerobic metabolism of glucose to lactate (aerobic glycolysis) and excitatory-inhibitory balance of glutamatergic and GABAergic neuronal activities vary in these areas. In healthy volunteers, we investigated metabolic distinctions of activating visual cortex (VC, a task-positive area) using a visual task and deactivating posterior cingulate cortex (PCC, a task-negative area) using a cognitive task. We used fMRI-guided J-edited functional MRS (fMRS) to measure lactate, glutamate plus glutamine (Glx) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA), as indicators of aerobic glycolysis and excitatory-inhibitory balance, respectively. Both lactate and Glx increased upon activating VC, but did not change upon deactivating PCC. Basal GABA was negatively correlated with BOLD responses in both brain areas, but during functional tasks GABA decreased in VC upon activation and GABA increased in PCC upon deactivation, suggesting BOLD responses in relation to baseline are impacted oppositely by task-induced inhibition. In summary, opposite relations between BOLD response and GABAergic inhibition, and increases in aerobic glycolysis and glutamatergic activity distinguish the BOLD response in (de)activated areas.
Comparing the Performance of Statistical Adjustment Methods by Recovering the Experimental Benchmark from the REFLUX Trial
Authors: Keele Luke , O’Neill Stephen , Grieve Richard
Published: January 2021

Much evidence in comparative effectiveness research is based on observational studies. Researchers who conduct observational studies typically assume that there are no unobservable differences between the treatment groups under comparison. Treatment effectiveness is estimated after adjusting for observed differences between comparison groups. However, estimates of treatment effectiveness may be biased because of misspecification of the statistical model. That is, if the method of treatment effect estimation imposes unduly strong functional form assumptions, treatment effect estimates may be inaccurate, leading to inappropriate recommendations about treatment decisions. We compare the performance of a wide variety of treatment effect estimation methods for the average treatment effect. We do so within the context of the REFLUX study from the United Kingdom. In REFLUX, participants were enrolled in either an randomized controlled trial (RCT) or an observational study arm. In the RCT, patients were randomly assigned to either surgery or medical management. In the patient preference arm, participants selected to either have surgery or medical management. We attempt to recover the treatment effect estimate from the RCT using the data from the patient preference arms of the study. We vary the method of treatment effect estimation and record which methods are successful and which are not. We apply more than 20 different methods, including standard regression models as well as advanced machine learning methods. We find that simple propensity score matching methods provide the least accurate estimates versus the RCT benchmark. We find variation in performance across the other methods, with some, but not all recovering the experimental benchmark. We conclude that future studies should use multiple methods of estimation to fully represent uncertainty according to the choice of estimation approach.
Assessment of optic nerve vascularity in healthy eyes using superb microvascular imaging: a preliminary study
Authors: Batur Abdussamet , Alpaslan Muhammed , Özkaçmaz Sercan , Sedat Durmaz M
Published: January 2021

Background

Changes in optic nerve vascularity are observed in many diseases. Superb microvascular imaging (SMI) has the potential to become the method of choice for detecting microvasculature in the optic nerves.

Purpose

To evaluate optic nerve vascularity in healthy individuals through power Doppler sonography (PDUS) and SMI.

Material and Methods

Twenty-seven healthy patients with 54 eyes were prospectively evaluated. The duration of the examination for optic nerve vascularity lasted until the posterior ciliary artery blood supply was observed in PDUS and SMI. The visibility of vascularity, as well as the ratio of the vascular structures to the optic nerves (vascular index [VI]), was evaluated.

Results

Fifty-four eyes were evaluated from a total of 27 patients (mean age = 49.0 ± 19.42 years). The VI value for the right optic nerve was 29.58 ± 4.00 while for the left optic nerve, it was 31.21 ± 3.52. Vascularity was clearly observed in both eyes (n = 54) in all 27 cases in the evaluation performed with the SMI technique. However, with the power Doppler examination, vascular flow was not observed in 14 right eyes and in 10 left eyes within the specified timeframe.

Conclusion

The results indicate that imaging of vascular structures can be done faster and better with SMI than PDUS examination. The normal VI values may provide important information about the blood supply of the optic nerve, which is of relevance in orbital pathologies and many systemic conditions.
Four cases of heterotopia of an intrauterine device embedded in the bladder muscular layer causing cystolithiasis: case report and review of the literature
Authors: Wan Li , Wang Yong , Xiao Chuan , Li Xin , Cao Jingzhao , Wang Shubin , Wei Xupan , Liu Xiangyu
Published: January 2021

Family planning is a basic national policy in China. An intrauterine device (IUD) is an important method of achieving family planning owing to its high safety, low cost, and convenient use. The indwelling birth control ring has no obvious adverse effects on the sexual life of women after the operation, and the process is reversible. This ring can be removed for women who want to have children again. There are approximately 100 million women with IUDs worldwide, with approximately 80 million in China. This finding accounts for approximately 40% of women of childbearing age in China. Although an IUD is safe, the invasive operation inevitably leads to complications, such as pelvic infection, abnormal menstruation, and damage to adjacent organs. Among them, ectopic bladder stone formation is a rare complication, but several related cases have been reported. We report four cases of heterotopia of an IUD and cystolithiasis, with diagnosis based on the medical history, clinical manifestations, imaging, and cystoscopic findings. The four patients with ectopic IUDs were treated with cystoscopy combined with laparoscopy (or hysteroscopy). We describe the process of diagnosis and treatment of our patients, and the related literature on an ectopic IUD is reviewed.
Solitary tibial lesion as the initial presentation of Langerhans cell histiocytosis: report of two cases and literature review
Authors: Lin Chih-Yang , Lee Chia-Che , Wu Kuan-Wen , Yuan Chang-Tsu , Kuo Ken-Nan , Wang Ting-Ming
Published: January 2021

The various presentations of osseous Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) make it difficult to distinguish from other bone diseases. In addition, there is no universally accepted protocol for managing osseous LCH for single non-central nervous system-risk lesions. Here, the rare cases of two paediatric patients, aged 1 and 2 years, who presented with a solitary tibial lesion at time of LCH diagnosis, are reported. One patient progressed to multiple lesions after curettage of the original lesion. Subsequently, both patients received preventive chemotherapy using the Taiwan Paediatric Oncology Group (TPOG) revised protocol for treating low risk patients with LCH, namely, TPOG LCH2002-LR. After receiving this treatment, which included a schedule of prednisolone and vincristine for 6 weeks, followed by prednisolone, vincristine and 6-mercaptopurine for a further 48 weeks, both patients are free from recurrence or progression.
Development and validation of a novel score to predict dialysis inadequacy in continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis patients
Authors: Qin Aiya , Liu Xiang , Ainiwaer Mailudan , Wang Sirui , Tang Yi , Qin Wei
Published: January 2021

Objective

Adequate dialysis is of great importance for continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) patients. This study aimed to develop and validate an easily applicable quantitative dialysis adequacy risk scoring system in CAPD patients based on laboratory parameters from a single blood draw.

Methods

A total of 634 CAPD patients from four study centers were enrolled in this study (345 and 289 patients in development and validation groups, respectively). A risk score model for inadequate dialysis was developed based on multivariate regression analysis, which was validated by the area under the receiver operator curve and calibrated by a calibration curve.

Results

Seven independent predictors for inadequate dialysis were identified in the development group (male sex, hypoalbuminemia, anemia, being overweight, hyperuricemia, estimated glomerular filtration rate <4.7 mL/min/1.73 m2, and serum creatinine >800 μmol/L). A risk prediction score model was established and validated in the development and validation groups. Further analysis indicated that this model is suitable for CAPD patients with a wide range of clinical manifestations.

Conclusion

An easily applicable novel risk scoring system was established to detect inadequate dialysis in CAPD patients.
A case–control study of human immunodeficiency virus-negative patients with cryptococcemia and cryptococcal meningitis in a Chinese tertiary care hospital during 10 years
Authors: Liang Liling , Liang Zhixin , She Danyang , Chen Liang’an
Published: January 2021

Objective

This study aimed to characterize patients with cryptococcemia and compare the clinical features of cryptococcemia and cryptococcal meningitis.

Methods

This was a retrospective, case–control study. We retrospectively identified blood cultures with Cryptococcus spp. growth. Controls were hospitalized patients who suffered from cryptococcal meningitis, but did not experience cryptococcemia. Controls and cases were matched by admission date, age, sex, and body weight. Clinical information was analyzed by two independent reviewers.

Results

Eight patients with cryptococcemia and eight patients with cryptococcal meningitis were included. They were all negative for human immunodeficiency virus. The most common underlying disease was primary nephrotic syndrome. All patients presented with fever. The incidence of headache, nausea/vomiting, seizures, and cough/expectoration was significantly lower in patients with cryptococcemia than in those with cryptococcal meningitis. All clinical strains of Cryptococcus, except for one, were sensitive to fluconazole, voriconazole, itraconazole, amphotericin B, and flucytosine in vitro. The rate of receiving an amphotericin B-containing regimen was significantly higher in patients with cryptococcal meningitis than in those with cryptococcemia. In-hospital mortality was significantly higher in cryptococcemia cases compared with cryptococcal meningitis cases.

Conclusion

Cryptococcemia is an unusual infection characterized by a high mortality. Cryptococcemia requires early identification and prompt antifungal therapy.
Evaluation of titanium release from titanium alloy implants in patients with spinal instrumentation
Authors: Ulusaloğlu Armağan Can , Atici Teoman , Ermutlu Cenk , Akesen Selcan
Published: January 2021

Objective

This study was performed to investigate the baseline serum titanium levels in patients with short-segment titanium alloy posterior instrumentation and to assess patient-, implant-, and surgery-related factors that might affect the serum titanium level.

Method

Two groups of patients were included in the study. The study group comprised 39 patients who had undergone short-segment posterior instrumentation from January 2013 to June 2016. The control group comprised 11 randomly selected patients who presented to the outpatient clinic with no history of orthopedic surgery. The serum titanium levels and inter-group differences were analyzed.

Results

The mean serum titanium level was significantly higher in the study group than in the control group. No significant difference was observed between patients with different etiologies, implants used for fusion, numbers of instrumented segments, or postoperative durations.

Conclusion

The serum titanium levels of patients with posterior lumbar spinal instrumentation are significantly higher than those of the normal population even after achievement of solid fusion. These levels are not affected by the use of transverse connectors, the use of cages, the operated segments, or the duration of implants.
Extraction of a bullet floating in the pulmonary artery after a gunshot wound
Authors: Caushi Fatmir , Skenduli Ilir , Mezini Arian , Rulli Francesco
Published: January 2021

Background

Patients with thoracic trauma caused by gunshots face a high risk of death, and medical staff often encounter technical difficulties in resolving these cases. Most gunshot wounds result in an entrance and exit wound. In cases with no exit wound, missiles are seen in other areas with screening radiographs. The bullet may migrate depending on gravity, coughing, swallowing, blood flow, or local erosion.

Case presentation

We present the case of a teenager who was hospitalized in critical condition owing to a left hemithorax injury caused by an improvised explosive device. The patient underwent two surgeries: an anterior left thoracotomy during which a hole in the myocardium was sutured, and after radiography, anterolateral right thoracotomy was performed, in which a deformed projectile was found at the level of the intermediate right pulmonary artery.

Conclusions

This case highlights the crucial importance of repeated imaging to assess the possibility of projectile migration within the cardiovascular system in similar cases of penetrating injury. Immediate surgery was necessary and very important for the survival of our patient, despite the difficulties presented by this complicated case.
A case of reversible splenial lesion syndrome secondary to Fanconi syndrome with white matter swelling as the main manifestation
Authors: Han Jingzhe , Wang Yaye , Wu Yue , Zhang Jinru , Song Xueqin , Ji Guang
Published: January 2021

Reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES) is a rare clinical imaging syndrome that is characterized by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of reversible abnormal signals in the splenium of the corpus callosum (SCC). There are a variety of pathogenic causes, including infection, metabolic disturbances, and antiepileptic drug use. Moreover, the disease is clinically rare and easily misdiagnosed. Here, we report a unique case of a 32-year-old man with Fanconi syndrome who had an intensified signal in the SCC and diffuse white matter swelling on MRI. We believe this to be the first adult case of RESLES as a manifestation of Fanconi syndrome, which further expands the disease spectrum leading to RESLES. The imaging features of this case included extensive lesions, symmetrical diffuse restricted signals, and reversibility. The identification of these features improves our understanding of the imaging characteristics of RESLES, thus enabling clinicians to better understand this disease, correctly establish its diagnosis, and improve its prognosis in this kind of patient.
Peritoneal well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma associated with infertility in a 37-year-old woman
Authors: Pang Bo , Hu Cong , Liu Qian , Yu Jinyu , Wei Zhentong , Yu Xiaowei
Published: January 2021

Well-differentiated papillary mesothelioma (WDPM) is an uncommon mesothelial tumor. The lesions may be single or multiple and usually behave in a benign or indolent fashion, sometimes persisting for many years. In the present case, a 37-year-old woman had experienced primary infertility for 12 years, and a diagnostic laparoscopy was performed. Approximately 200 mL of dark red, free fluid in the pelvis and more than 10 yellow-white nodules on the surface of the right round ligament, sacrum ligament, right fallopian tube, and both sides of the uterus were found. A lesionectomy was performed and immunohistochemical markers indicated WDPM with adenomatoid tumor. The patient was monitored by computed tomography and serum CA125 (cancer antigen 125) levels for 49 months with no recurrence. WDPM and adenomatoid tumor are both benign tumors of mesothelial origin. Because of the lack of effective radical treatment, regular follow-up is sufficient. However, the effects of estrogen and progesterone on WDPM and adenomatoid tumors during ovulation or pregnancy remains unclear. Although WDPM is not life threatening, a strategy to fulfill the fertility requirements of women with this condition is a new challenge for infertility doctors.
Efficacy of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy for pediatric lumbar disc herniation and degeneration on magnetic resonance imaging: case series and literature review
Authors: Lin Ruei-Hong , Chen Hung-Chieh , Pan Hung-Chuan , Chen Hsien-Te , Chang Chien-Chun , Tzeng Chung-Yuh , Chen Tse-Yu , Tsou Hsi-Kai
Published: January 2021

Objective

Pediatric lumbar disc herniation (LDH), although uncommon, causes significant pain, discomfort, and sometimes disability. We examined the efficacy of percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) for pediatric LDH and the degree of lumbar disc degeneration at 1 year after PELD.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed the data of pediatric patients with LDH who underwent PELD from December 2007 to July 2018. The patients’ symptoms, physical examination findings, clinical images, visual analog scale (VAS) scores, Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), and perioperative results (blood loss, length of hospital stay, and complications) were obtained from the medical records. Lumbar disc degeneration was graded using the modified Pfirrmann grading system at the 1-year postoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) examination.

Results

Six boys and four girls who underwent PELD were evaluated. The patients’ mean age was 15.6 years (range, 13–17 years). The mean VAS score for low back pain, mean VAS score for lower limb pain, and mean ODI preoperatively and 1 year postoperatively were 6.2 and 0.3, 6.9 and 0.5, and 20 and 0.1, respectively. MRI showed significant disc degeneration after PELD.

Conclusions

Treating pediatric LDH with PELD is safe and effective. It relieves pain and reduces disability. However, lumbar disc degeneration still occurs.
The materiality of precarity: Gender, race and energy infrastructure in urban South Africa
Authors: Phillips Jon , Petrova Saska
Published: January 2021

Analysis of precarity has offered a critique of labour market experiences and politically induced conditions of work, housing, migration, or essential services. This paper develops an infrastructural politics of precarity by analysing energy as a critical sphere of social and ecological reproduction. We employ precarity to understand how gendered and racialised vulnerability to energy deprivation is induced through political processes. In turn, analysis of energy illustrates socio-material processes of precarity, produced and contested through infrastructure. Our argument is developed through scalar analysis of energy precarity in urban South Africa, a country that complicates a North-South framing of debates on both precarity and energy. We demonstrate how energy precarity can be reproduced or destabilised through: social and material relations of housing, tenure, labour and infrastructure; the formation of gendered and racialized energy subjects; and resistance and everyday practices. We conclude that analysis of infrastructure provides insights on how precarity is contested as a shared condition and on the prospect of systemic change through struggles over distribution and production.
Perioperative anaphylaxis: A five-year review in a tertiary paediatric hospital
Authors: Toh Theresa SW , Foo Sze Y , Loh Wenyin , Chong Kok W , EN Goh Anne , Hee Hwan I , Goh Si H
Published: January 2021

Making a diagnosis of perioperative anaphylaxis and identifying culprit drugs are diagnostic challenges. The aim of this study is to describe the perioperative presentation of anaphylaxis and results of patients who underwent allergy evaluation. This is a retrospective review of perioperative anaphylaxis of severity Grade 2 and above based on the Australian and New Zealand Anaesthetic Allergy Group criteria from 2015 to 2019 in a tertiary paediatric hospital. Data collected were demographics, clinical features, investigations and management. Of the 35,361 cases of paediatric anaesthesia, there were 15 cases of perioperative anaphylaxis, giving an incidence of four in 10,000. The median age was seven years (interquartile range four–15 years) with a male predominance of 86.7% (13/15). The severity of anaphylaxis was Grade 2 in 33.3% (5/15) and Grade 3 in 66.7% (10/15). The commonest presenting feature was hypotension (13/15, 86.7%) while the earliest symptom was respiratory change (9/15, 60.0%). Dynamic tryptase was raised in 75% (6/8) of the patients with adequate tryptase samples. Eight patients (53.3%) completed allergy testing, of whom five patients (62.5%) had IgE-mediated anaphylaxis with skin test positive to cefazolin ( n = 3), atracurium ( n = 1) and rocuronium ( n = 1). Three patients (25.0%) had non–IgE-mediated reactions with negative skin tests. Although only half the patients completed allergy evaluation, a culprit drug could be identified in 62.5%, with antibiotics being the commonest. This emphasises the need for appropriate evaluation in cases of suspected perioperative anaphylaxis.
Health technology assessment for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine: A position statement of the International Headache Society
Authors: Diener Hans Christoph , Ashina Messoud , Durand-Zaleski Isabelle , Kurth Tobias , Lantéri-Minet Michel , Lipton Richard B , Ollendorf Daniel A , Pozo-Rosich Patricia , Tassorelli Cristina , Terwindt Gisela
Published: January 2021

The Clinical Trials Subcommittee of the International Headache Society presents the first Health Technology Assessment for the Acute Treatment of Migraine Attacks and Prevention of Migraine. Health technology assessments are systematic evaluations of the properties, effects, and consequences of healthcare technologies; this position statement is designed to inform decision makers about access to and reimbursement for medications and devices for the acute and preventive treatment of migraine. This position statement extends beyond the already available guidelines on randomized controlled trials for migraine to incorporate real-world evidence and a synthetic approach for considering multiple data sources and modelling methods when assessing the value of migraine treatments.
Reconciliation in Australia: The academic library empowering the Indigenous community
Authors: Mamtora Jayshree , Ovaska Claire , Mathiesen Bronwyn
Published: January 2021

This article discusses the role of the academic library in contributing to the reconciliation process in Australia through the lens of James Cook University. Reconciliation in this context is defined as the process to bring together Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian peoples to overcome the gap that exists between them. Two of James Cook University’s campuses are located in North Queensland, an area with a high Indigenous population. It has in place a Reconciliation Action Plan and Statement of Strategic Intent, which provide a clear statement supporting its Indigenous students and staff. This article focuses on the participation of James Cook University Library and Information Service in the university’s reconciliation goals through four broad areas of interest: procurement, engagement, staffing, and information literacy training. Of particular note is the naming of the Townsville Campus library – the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library – in recognition of Mabo’s connection with James Cook University, marking the significance of the role this Indigenous man played in Australia’s history.
“Why Cant 2 Brothers”? World War I and Britain’s Deceased Brother’s Widow Act of 1921
Authors: Durbach Nadja
Published: January 2021

In 1921, Britain legalized marriage between a widow and her deceased husband’s brother. The Deceased Brother’s Widow Act was not, however, an addendum to the 1907 Deceased Wife’s Sister Act. It was passed in the aftermath of World War I to address administrative problems regarding war widows’ pensions. Its significance lies in its role as a microcosm of a range of postwar debates around sex discrimination, women’s access to state welfare, sexual morality, the family, and the declining birthrate, which provoked the British government to reinforce a family model predicated on a male breadwinner and his dependent wife and children.
Association of Child Maltreatment and Deployment-related Traumatic Experiences with Mental Disorders in Active Duty Service Members and Veterans of the Canadian Armed Forces: Association de la Maltraitance des Enfants et des Expériences Traumatisantes Liées au Déploiement Avec les Troubles Mentaux Chez les Membres du Service Actif et Les Anciens Combattants des Forces Armées Canadiennes
Authors: Afifi Tracie O. , Sareen Jitender , Taillieu Tamara , Stewart-Tufescu Ashley , Mota Natalie , Bolton Shay-Lee , Asmundson Gordon J. G. , Enns Murray W. , Ports Katie A. , Jetly Rakesh
Published: January 2021

Objective:

Mental health among military personnel is an important public health priority. It is known that military personnel experience a high prevalence of child maltreatment and deployment-related traumatic events (DRTEs) and both are related to mental health outcomes. However, few, if any, studies have examined the cumulative and interactive effects of child maltreatment and DRTEs on mental health disorders in a sample of active duty service members and military veterans.

Methods:

Data were from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Members and Veterans Mental Health Follow-up Survey collected in 2018 ( N = 2,941, response rate = 68.7%), a 16-year follow-up survey of CAF Regular Force members interviewed in 2002. Five types of child maltreatment and 10 types of DTREs were assessed for impact on mental health. Mental disorders included past 12-month generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social phobia, and major depressive episode (MDE). Past 12-month symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were also examined.

Results:

The prevalence of any exposure to child maltreatment and DRTEs was 62.5% and 68.6%, respectively. All types of child maltreatment were associated with increased odds of past 12-month PTSD symptoms and mental disorders with the exception of physical abuse and GAD as well as childhood exposure to intimate partner violence and panic disorder. Cumulative effects of having experienced both child maltreatment and DRTEs increased the odds of past 12-month PTSD symptoms, GAD, social phobia, and MDE. No interaction effects were significant.

Conclusions:

The prevalence of a child maltreatment history is high among active Canadian military and veterans. As well, child maltreatment may increase the likelihood of mental disorders across the life span. This may be especially true for individuals who also experience DRTEs. Understanding these relationships may provide insight into developing effective interventions for military personnel and veteran mental health outcomes.
An Evaluation of Dementia Dialogues®: A Program for Informal and Formal Caregivers in North and South Carolina
Authors: Byers Megan D. , Resciniti Nicholas V. , Ureña Stephanie , Leith Katherine , Brown Monique J. , Lampe Nik M. , Friedman Daniela B.
Published: January 2021

In 2019, the University of South Carolina’s Office for the Study of Aging (OSA) remodeled the curriculum for the nationally registered Dementia Dialogues® program that delivers high-quality education to formal and informal caregivers of persons who exhibit signs and symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). This study evaluated new knowledge acquired and program satisfaction by North and South Carolina program participants ( N = 235) after completing updated modules. Pre/post module survey data were analyzed using means and percentiles, McNemar’s test, and paired t tests. Results demonstrated significant positive increases in caregiver knowledge attainment, with differences in overall knowledge change in specific modules among caregivers and noncaregivers ( p < .0001–<.05). Dementia Dialogues® may serve as a useful tool in providing important information that increases caregiver knowledge of persons living with ADRD. Further research is recommended to examine how knowledge improvement translates into caregiving practices.
Influencing household-level waste-sorting and composting behaviour: What works? A systematic review (1995–2020) of waste management interventions
Authors: Sewak Aarti , Kim Jeawon , Rundle-Thiele Sharyn , Deshpande Sameer
Published: January 2021

Decentralized waste sorting and composting can divert almost two-thirds of household waste from landfill. However, national rates of composting and recycling remain low in many parts of the globe. This review critically evaluates the design and efficacy of behaviour-change interventions to influence households to sort and compost organic waste. The systematic literature search yielded 3595 titles and abstracts which were reviewed and resulted in 14 unique interventions. The social marketing benchmark criteria are utilized to critically examine the design of these interventions. Synthesized results indicate a need for customized interventions that are co-designed with users and tailored to address their specific needs and challenges. Interventions with four or more social marketing elements produced positive behavioural outcomes, albeit with varying impact. This review highlights gaps in the design of waste management interventions and provides suggestions for future practices.
Diurnal Rhythm Robustness in Individuals With PTSD and Insomnia and The Association With Sleep
Authors: Mascaro Luis , Phillips Andrew J. K. , Clark Jacob W. , Straus Laura D. , Drummond Sean P. A.
Published: January 2021

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and insomnia are characterized by sleep disturbances and daytime functional impairments. Actigraphy metrics can quantify diurnal rhythms via interdaily stability, intradaily variability, relative amplitude, and sleep regularity. Here, we (a) compared diurnal rhythms in PTSD, insomnia, and healthy control samples using linear mixed modeling; (b) compared inter-individual variability of diurnal rhythms between groups using variance ratio tests; and (c) examined correlations between diurnal rhythms and sleep measures within the clinical samples. Participants ( N = 98) wore wrist-activity monitors for one week and completed the Insomnia Severity Index and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Both clinical samples displayed significantly lower interdaily stability, relative amplitude, and sleep regularity compared with controls. Individuals with PTSD and insomnia did not differ on mean diurnal rhythm metrics. Both clinical samples showed more inter-individual variability in relative amplitude compared with controls, and the individuals with PTSD were distinguished from those with insomnia by greater inter-individual variability in interdaily stability and relative amplitude. Relative amplitude in the clinical samples was positively correlated with objective sleep efficiency and total sleep time. This is the first study to compare individuals with PTSD and insomnia on measures of diurnal rhythms, revealing those with PTSD and insomnia to have less robust and more variable diurnal rhythms compared with controls. Individuals with PTSD differed from those with insomnia in inter-individual variability of diurnal rest-activity stability and amplitude, highlighting this population as particularly heterogenous. Diurnal rhythm robustness might be considered an intervention target in insomnia and PTSD populations.
City Light or Star Bright: A Review of Urban Light Pollution, Impacts, and Planning Implications
Authors: Pothukuchi Kameshwari
Published: January 2021

Light pollution (LP) is a growing scourge in metropolitan areas yet is largely ignored by planners. It has negative impacts on the health of humans and of wildlife and threatens views of the night sky. This article reviews adverse impacts in multiple categories, highlights mitigation strategies, and makes the case for more engagement in planning scholarship and practice especially in the United States. Defining LP and balancing competing values in its mitigation are political acts, challenged by, among other things, lack of public awareness, the primacy of energy efficiency among factors in decision-making, and the association of more light with greater security.
Félida, doubled personality, and the ‘normal state’ in late 19th-century French psychology
Authors: Hajek Kim M.
Published: January 2021

The case of Félida X and her ‘doubled personality’ served in the last quarter of the 19th century as a proving ground for a distinctively French form of psychology that bore the stamp of physiology, including the comparative term normal state. Debates around Félida’s case provided the occasion for reflection about how that term and its opposites could take their places in the emerging discursive field of psychopathology. This article centres its analysis on Eugène Azam’s 1876–77 study of Félida, and the ways his framing of the case was adopted or critiqued by subsequent researchers. Azam initially deployed the label normal state in a routine manner, in contrast to his use of condition seconde to designate Félida’s other state; this pairing served, I argue, to anchor the scientific legitimacy of Félida’s extraordinary psychological manifestations. Unpacking the conceptual associations of Azam’s use of normal state, we find it marked as qualitatively distinct, temporally fixed, and most of all individualized; this without becoming normative. It was only through responses to and criticism of Azam’s study that there emerged a more generalized sense of normality against which pathological (hysteric) subjects’ comportment could be contrasted. Félida’s case itself constitutes a highly individualized reconfiguration of the concept of a normal state, while the subsequent framing of doubled mental states provides a valuable vantage point from which to consider the articulations between the language of emerging French psychology and its evolving subjects of enquiry.
Kinematics analysis and performance testing of 6-RR-

RP

-RR parallel platform with offset RR-hinges based on Denavit-Hartenberg parameter method
Authors: Zhang Yang , Han Ha-si-ao-qi-er , Xu Zhen-bang , Han Chun-yang , Yu Yang , Mao A-long , Wu Qing-wen
Published: January 2021

A six degrees-of-freedom parallel platform in a 6-RR-RP-RR configuration with high accuracy, high stiffness and a large working stroke is studied for application to the sub-mirror adjustment system of a large-aperture telescope. To meet the performance requirements, the parallel platform adopts a self-centering and well-designed offset universal hinge. The two hinge axes of the offset hinge do not intersect but have a specific offset in space, which makes the kinematics more complex than that with a common universal hinge. Therefore, to solve this complex kinematics problem, this paper innovatively introduces the Denavit–Hartenberg (D-H) parameter method that is used for series mechanisms. The method has a simple modeling process, strong applicability and continuity, providing a new tool for the analysis and application of the parallel mechanisms. A kinematics model of the parallel platform can be constructed and solved using a numerical iteration method. The accuracy of the numerical kinematics solution is verified using a co-simulation method. This paper analyses the passive derivative motion and the leg length error is compensated. Finally, test studies of the motion resolution, the repetitive positioning accuracy, the motion stroke, the static stiffness of the legs, and the static stiffness and dynamic stiffness of the entire machine were also carried out to verify the platform’s performance.
Dynamic characteristics and research on the dual-drive feed mechanism
Authors: Lu Hong , Liu Qi , Zhang Xinbao , Yu Jingui , Dou Haoyu , Zhang Yongquan , Duan Meng
Published: January 2021

The dual-drive feed mechanism (DDFM) based on the drive at the center of gravity (DCG) principle has been widely adopted in computer numerical control (CNC) machines and industrial robots that require high precision and high stability. The friction force affected by feed rates and moving parts positions can change the contact stiffness of kinematic joints, which can further impact on dynamic characteristics of the DDFM and cause dual axes difference. Considering the contact stiffness of kinematic joints, this paper adopts the lumped parameter method to establish the general dynamic model of the DDFM. The equivalent axial stiffness of kinematic joint and feed system transmission stiffness are all derived regarding the influence of feed rates and moving parts positions. The dynamic experiments on the DDFM with different feed rates and moving parts positions are carried out to verify the proposed model. The results suggest that in the motion stage, the DDFM’s natural frequency is greater than that in the static stage, and behaves differently in different feed rates and moving parts positions. The axial contact stiffness value of the ball-screw and nut B can reach 0 when the feed rate increases. When the moving parts are in the middle position of the crossbeam, the DDFM is the most stable and the dynamic performance is the best.
Band gap optimization of one-dimension elastic waveguides using spatial Fourier plane wave expansion coefficients
Authors: Lima Vinícius D , Villani Luis GG , Camino Juan F , Arruda José RF
Published: January 2021

Periodic elastic waveguides, such as rods, beams, and shafts, exhibit frequency bands where wave reflections at impedance discontinuities cause strong wave attenuation by Bragg scattering. Such frequency bands are known as stop bands or band gaps. This work presents a shape optimization technique for one-dimensional periodic structures. The proposed approach, which aims to maximize the width of the first band gap, uses as tuning parameters the spatial Fourier coefficients that describe the shape of the cell cross-section variation along its length. Since the optimization problem is formulated in terms of Fourier coefficients, it can be directly applied to the Plane Wave Expansion (PWE) method, commonly used to obtain the dispersion diagrams, which indicate the presence of band gaps. The proposed technique is used to optimize the shape of a straight bar with both solid and hollow circular cross-sections. First, the optimization is performed using the elementary rod, the Euler-Bernoulli and Timoshenko beam, and the shaft theoretical models in an independent way. Then, the optimization is conducted to obtain a complete band gap in the dispersion diagrams, which includes the three wave types, i.e., longitudinal, bending, and torsional. All numerical results provided feasible shapes that generate wide stop bands in the dispersion diagrams. The proposed technique can be extended to two- and three-dimensional periodic frame structures, and can also be adapted for different classes of cost functions.
Measuring the educational value of comic books from the school librarians’ perspective: A region-wide quantitative study in Taiwan
Authors: Lo Patrick , Lyu Ya-Pin , Chen Joyce Chao-chen , Lu Jui-Lien , Stark Andrew J.
Published: January 2021

Comic books and their characters are an integral part of popular culture. However, comic books, as educational material, still remain controversial in certain education systems, as this medium is regarded by some as sheer entertainment – thereby hindering students’ motivation to seek out other more formal, text-based literature to read. For this study, a region-wide questionnaire survey was sent out to explore school librarians’ perceptions and attitudes towards the educational value of comic books in Taiwan. A total of 789 responses were collected for this questionnaire survey study. The regression model was used to identify the causal relationship between different genres of comic books and students’ voluntary reading and learning incentives in the context of the school library. Findings from this study suggest that comic books (1) carry the potential to attract more students to visit the school library after class, (2) facilitate students’ reading comprehension skills and (3) foster students’ interest in voluntary reading. Because of this medium’s visual-based and serialised narrative approach to storytelling, findings of this study also suggest that comic books could function as a reading motivational tool, particularly useful in helping their students learn about the subjects of History and Science.
Faith Communities as a Social Immune System: Recommendations for COVID-19 Response and Recovery
Authors: Gunderson Gary , Cutts Teresa
Published: January 2021

This article describes how faith communities often function like an organic social immune system during times of crisis, particularly our current COVID-19 pandemic. We share the strengths of faith communities pertaining to healthcare and public health, as well as name the religious health assets with which faith communities and other health partnerships have to work. These religious health assets have helped the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as well as World Health Organization (WHO) and the National Academies of Science (NAS), imagine substantive and sustained partnerships in diverse contexts across many presenting conditions. We share how COVID-19 has affected these faith assets and offer a case study in how the Leading Causes of Life (LCL) and Positive Deviance (PD) frameworks have been implemented in faith partnerships to impact health and racial disparities in the past and now, during the pandemic. We offer recommendations on how the CDC might frame a comprehensive recovery strategy, including faith-based assets in an appropriate and sustained manner to move us towards health and well-being, focusing on leadership capacity of both faith and health domains. Finally, we suggest what not to do as part of a COVID-19 response and recovery in these partnerships.
Analysis of quasistatic squeeze behavior of magnetorheological fluid from the microstructure variations
Authors: Luo Qi , Wang Yongqing , Liu Haibo , Wang Junpeng , Li Yapeng , Li Te
Published: January 2021

Magnetorheological fluid is a novel functional material, of which quasistatic squeeze behavior needs to be quantitatively controlled in industrial applications. Since the quasistatic squeeze behavior has a close relation with microstructure variations, thus it is modeled from a microscopic approach. By analyzing compression of single chains, aggregation from single chains to BCT structure and compression of BCT structure, the initial stress [Formula: see text], yield stress [Formula: see text], yield strain [Formula: see text], and stress in post-yield stage [Formula: see text] are respectively modeled. It is found that they have an exponential dependence on magnetic field strength H and particle volume concentration [Formula: see text], including [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], and [Formula: see text], etc. By comparing predicted results with measured results, the micro-macro stress model on quasistatic squeeze behavior is well validated. This model can be used to design, manufacture, and control industrial magnetorheological devices.
Magnetic circuit design and optimisation of magnetorheological mount with tapered channel under the flow mode
Authors: Deng Zhaoxue , Cai Qiang , YunQiang Li , Wei HanBing , Yang Qinghua , Dong Shaojiang
Published: January 2021

In order to relieve saturation of magnetic flux density in magnetic circuit, the flow mode magnetorheological mount with tapered channel is designed. The influence of geometrical parameters of the damping channel on magnetic flux density and pressure drop is analysed. The key parameters have strong nonlinear relationship with magnetic field strength and pressure drop. Then, the parametric modelling of magnetic circuit structure was carried out using ANSYS software as the analysis system. The mount optimisation analysis model was built based on ISIGHT software. The optimisation results showed that the designed magnetorheological mount improved the saturation point of magnetic flux density of the damping channel, and the resulting pressure drop had good controllability.
Squatting at Bethlehem: A Response to Stoesz’s Human Service Cartels
Authors: Epstein William M.
Published: January 2021

Stoesz’s essay is largely an institutional critique of social work—attentive to the field’s choices as though they were autonomous of the society. The analysis is broadened to acknowledge the systemic underpinnings of social work’s institutional presence. Reference is made to contemporary and historical events.