bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Finger counting training enhances addition performance in kindergarteners
Authors: Poletti Céline , Krenger Marie , Létang Marie , Hennequin Brune , Thevenot Catherine
Published: September 2024

Our study on 328 five‐ to six‐year‐old kindergarteners (mainly White European living in France, 152 girls) shows that children who do not count on their fingers and undergo finger counting training exhibit drastic improvement in their addition skills from pre‐test to post‐test (i.e., accuracy from 37.3% to 77.1%) compared to a passive control group (39.6% to 47.8%) (p < .001,  = .15). This result was replicated on a much smaller scale (37 five‐ to six‐year‐olds, mainly White European, 22 girls) but in more controlled setup and was further replicated with an active control group (84 five‐ to six‐year‐olds, mainly White European, 37 girls). Therefore, we demonstrate here for the first time that training finger counting constitutes a highly effective method to improve kindergarteners' arithmetic performance.
Diagnostic testing and treatment in Japanese patients with a diagnosis code for chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy: A claims database analysis
Authors: Kuwahara Motoi , Kusunoki Susumu , Igarashi Ataru , Akiyama Satoshi , Fukushima Taku , Doi Mamoru
Published: September 2024

Objectives

Reports of real‐world data concerning chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) are limited in Japan. This study aimed to investigate the diagnostic testing and treatment performed in patients diagnosed with CIDP in Japan.

Methods

Using a Japanese commercial medical information database, we analyzed diagnostic tests, differential diseases, and treatments for patients with a diagnosis code for CIDP between April 13, 2008 and August 31, 2018.

Results

Of the 4564 patients with a diagnosis code for CIDP, 1658 patients were confirmed as newly assigned with the diagnosis code during the study period. Diagnostic tests performed before assignment of the diagnosis code for CIDP included nerve conduction studies in 48.1%, magnetic resonance imaging in 40.5%, and cerebrospinal fluid tests in 38.4%. Other diseases with codes that were assigned at the time of the CIDP diagnosis included Guillain–Barré syndrome in 8.1%, Sjögren syndrome in 4.4%, and systemic lupus erythematosus in 3.7%. Initial treatments performed after the assignment of the new diagnosis code for CIDP were intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) in 54.3%, corticosteroids (CS) in 45.4%, and plasmapheresis in 2.3%. The event‐free survival rates for predefined specific safety‐related events at 1000 d were 90.0% for any event in patients receiving IVIg monotherapy and 71.7% for any event in patients receiving CS monotherapy.

Conclusion

Diagnostic testing and treatment performed in clinical practice was shown through the analysis of real‐world data of Japanese patients with a diagnosis code for CIDP. These findings might contribute to developments in clinical practice for Japanese CIDP patients.
Structured training pathway for robotic colorectal surgery: Short‐term outcomes from five UK centres
Authors: Koc Mehmet Ali , Thomas Maria Sofia , Mavrantonis Sofoklis , Panteleimonitis Sofoklis , Harper Mick , Sanjay Chaudri , Tou Samson , Shakil Ahmed , Farooq Golam , Ahmad Mukhtar , Qureshi Tahseen , Parvaiz Amjad
Published: September 2024

Aim

The aim of this study was to assess the short‐term outcomes of robotic colorectal surgery implemented through a structured, standardized training pathway in five colorectal centres in the United Kingdom.

Method

A multicentre retrospective observational study was conducted, involving 523 consecutive patients who underwent robotic colorectal resection between 2015 and 2019. All participating centres followed the European Academy of Robotic Colorectal Surgery training pathway. Patient data, including demographics, operative details, postoperative outcomes and pathology results, were collected and analysed.

Results

The study included 447 rectal resections and 76 colonic operations. The median age of the patients was 64.7 years, with the majority of patients (70%) being men. The mean body mass index was 27.4 kg/m2, and 89.7% of the patients underwent surgery for malignancy. The overall conversion rate to open surgery was 4.2%. The median length of stay was 6 days and there was no 30‐day mortality. The readmission and reoperation rates were 8.8% and 7.3%, respectively. The anastomotic leak rate was 4.1% for rectal resections and 3.9% for colonic resections. Pathological examination showed a positive circumferential resection margin rate of 2.6%.

Conclusion

Through the implementation of a structured, standardized training pathway, the participating colorectal centres in the UK achieved safe and effective robotic colorectal surgery pathways with favourable short‐term oncological and clinical outcomes. Further studies examining long‐term and functional outcomes are needed to assess the broader impact of robotic surgery in colorectal procedures.
Detection of aberration in human behavior using shallow neural network over smartphone inertial sensors data
Authors: Sakshi  , Bhatia M. P. S. , Chakraborty Pinaki
Published: September 2024

The integration of different Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) applications has significantly enhanced the realm of security and surveillance, with Human Activity Recognition (HAR) standing out as a crucial application. The diverse sensors found in smartphones have made it convenient for monitoring applications to gather and analyze data, rendering them valuable for HAR purposes. Moreover, MEC can be employed to automate surveillance, allowing intelligent monitoring of restricted areas to identify and respond to unwanted or suspicious activities. This research develops a system using motion sensors in smartphones to identify unusual human activities. People's smartphones were employed to monitor both suspicious and regular activities. Information was collected for various actions categorized as either suspicious or regular. When a person performs a certain action, the smartphone records a series of sensory data, analyse important patterns from the basic data, and then determines what the person is doing by combining information from different sensors. To prepare the data, information from different sensors was aligned to a shared timeline. In this study, we used a sliding window approach on synchronized data to feed sequences into LSTM and CNN models. These models, which include initial layers of LSTM and CNN, automatically find important patterns in the order of human activities. We combined SVM with the features extracted by the shallow Neural Network to make a mixed model that predicts suspicious activities. Lastly, we compared LSTM, CNN, and our new shallow mixed neural network using a new real‐time dataset. The mixed model of CNN and SVM achieved an accuracy of 94.43%. Additionally, the sliding window method's effectiveness was confirmed with a 4.28% improvement in accuracy.
Localization and developmentality: Policy pragmatism in pandemic times
Authors: Lie Jon Harald Sande
Published: September 2024

Motivation

Localization is increasingly invoked in debates about how to reform international aid: to improve aid effectiveness and address ethical concerns by turning hierarchical aid relations on their head. This has proved to be easier said than done. The COVID‐19 pandemic produced logistical impediments to aid practitioners, which translated into a renewed, if temporary, interest in localization.

Purpose

The initial scope of the research engaged with the notion of partnership during COVID‐19, but almost all informants drew attention to the concept of localization. The article maps and analyses the challenges and advantages of localization, as seen from the practitioners' perspective.

Approach and methods

The article draws on 24 interviews conducted in Oslo with representatives of various Norwegian development and humanitarian non‐governmental organizations and government agencies, in addition to policy and grey literature review.

Findings

The article shows that the re‐emergence of the localization debate during COVID‐19 occurred not because of any ambition to reform aid, but as a pragmatic and temporary response to the logistical impediments caused by the pandemic. Reflections from the interviewees on the pros and cons offer more substantial insights into why localization fails to change practice, while at the same time localization enables a form of indirect governance related to accountability regimes. This is analysed as developmentality, reflecting the logic that localization takes place when recipients do as donors want, but they do so voluntarily, which suggests that localization counterintuitively may reinforce existing power structures.

Policy implications

Localization is poorly conceptualized. While a definition could be helpful in practice, one that is too rigid could undermine the diversity of actors and knowledge that localization aims to advance. At the operational level, localization requires greater flexibility and slack throughout the aid chain, especially in the audit and accountability regimes of donor and funding authorities, which permeate and uphold lopsided aid relations.
Longitudinal associations of spousal support and strain with health and well‐being: An outcome‐wide study of married older U.S. Adults
Authors: de la Rosa Pedro Antonio , Nakamura Julia , Cowden Richard G. , Kim Eric , Osorio Alfonso , VanderWeele Tyler J.
Published: September 2024

In the present study, we examined the prospective associations of both spousal support and spousal strain with a wide range of health and well‐being outcomes in married older adults. Applying the analytic template for outcome‐wide designs, three waves of longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (n = 7788, Mage = 64.2 years) were analyzed using linear regression, logistic regression, and generalized linear models. A set of models was performed for spousal support and another set of models for spousal strain (2010/2012, t1). Outcomes included 35 different aspects of physical health, health behaviors, psychological well‐being, psychological distress, and social factors (2014/2016, t2). All models adjusted for pre‐baseline levels of sociodemographic covariates and all outcomes (2006/2008, t0). Spousal support evidenced positive associations with five psychological well‐being outcomes, as well as negative associations with five psychological distress outcomes and loneliness. Conversely, spousal strain evidenced negative associations with three psychological well‐being outcomes, in addition to positive associations with three psychological distress outcomes and loneliness. The magnitude of these associations was generally small, although some effect estimates were somewhat larger. Associations of both spousal support and strain with other social and health‐related outcomes were more negligible. Both support and strain within a marital relationship have the potential to impact various aspects of psychological well‐being, psychological distress, and loneliness in the aging population.
High serum growth differentiation factor 15 is a risk factor for the occurrence of hepatocellular carcinoma in chronic hepatitis B patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs
Authors: Sometani Emi , Hikita Hayato , Murai Kazuhiro , Toyoda Hidenori , Tanaka Satoshi , Oze Tsugiko , Sung Jihyun , Shimoda Akiyoshi , Fukuoka Makoto , Shigeno Satoshi , Fukutomi Keisuke , Shirai Kumiko , Tahata Yuki , Saito Yoshinobu , Nishio Akira , Furuta Kunimaro , Kodama Takahiro , Sakamori Ryotaro , Tatsumi Tomohide , Mita Eiji , Umezawa Akihiro , Tanaka Yasuhito , Takehara Tetsuo
Published: September 2024

Aim

Patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) remain at risk for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) even with nucleos(t)ide analog therapy. We evaluated risk factors for HCC development, including serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) RNA, hepatitis B core‐related antigen level, and growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) level, a predictor of HCC development in patients with chronic hepatitis C.

Methods

We collected clinical data and stored serum from CHB patients without a history of HCC who were receiving nucleos(t)ide analog treatment for more than 1 year and whose HBV DNA level was less than 3.0 log IU/mL. We measured the serum levels of HBV RNA and GDF15.

Results

Among 242 CHB patients, 57 had detectable HBV RNA, and GDF15 was quantified in all patients. The median GDF15 level was 0.86 ng/mL. Cox proportional hazards analysis revealed that male sex and higher GDF15, FIB‐4 index, alpha‐fetoprotein and gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase were independent risk factors for HCC. The presence of HBV RNA above the lower limit of quantification was not a risk factor. When we set cutoff values based on the Youden index, the cumulative incidence of HCC was significantly higher in the male, AFP ≥3.0 ng/mL, gamma‐glutamyl transpeptidase ≥22 U/L, FIB‐4 index ≥1.93, and GDF‐15 ≥1.17 ng/mL groups. In patients with no or more than three of these five risk factors, the 10‐year HCC cumulative incidence rates were 0% and 41.0%, respectively.

Conclusions

High serum GDF15 is an independent risk factor for the occurrence of HCC in CHB patients treated with nucleos(t)ide analogs.
‘Voto Preso’: Prisoners’ enfranchisement in Chile
Authors: Marshall Pablo , Rochow Diego , Faúndez Sergio
Published: September 2024

This article analyses the enfranchisement process of the prison population in Chile. Although institutions were reluctant to grant the vote to this group for several years, in 2022, new policies allowed prisoners to suffrage for the first time. The Voto Preso movement, a set of organisations struggling for prisoners’ political participation, played a fundamental role in this transformation. However, incarcerated people's participation in constructing the movement's demands and strategies was scarce. Drawing on eleven interviews with key movement actors, the article sheds light on the main discourses by which it promoted the materialisation of Chilean prisoners’ voting rights. The article also critically scrutinises the consequences of prisoners’ limited inclusion in the Voto Preso movement. Finally, the article discusses how its analytical approach may open new avenues for studying prisoner dis/enfranchisement as a situated boundary issue.
Production and characterisation of protein isolates from Chilean granado beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)
Authors: Anih Christiana E. , Kumar Priyanka , Chen Bih‐King , Dueik Veronica , Carré David , Diosady Levente L.
Published: September 2024

Granado beans, widely cultivated in Chile, offer plant‐based proteins with functional benefits for healthier food formulations. These legumes have a 28% protein content (dry basis) with peptides called lectins that have the potential of reducing type‐II diabetes. Our lab has developed a membrane‐based method to produce protein isolates from oilseeds. This method was adapted for granado beans. The process involves alkaline extraction at pH 10, followed by ultrafiltration, diafiltration, acid precipitation at pH 4 and freeze‐drying. The resulting precipitated protein isolate contains 81% protein, comparable to other legumes. However, the acid‐soluble protein isolate (SPI) has a protein content of only 53% due to co‐recovery of high molecular weight carbohydrates. The total phenolic compound contents of the protein products were low resulting in both products having an attractive light colour with no astringent taste. The characterisation of the SPI by High‐Performance Liquid Chromatography found that it contained about 40% starch and other carbohydrates. To increase the protein content of SPI to ~90%, further purification steps to remove the carbohydrates are necessary.
Oxidation behaviors of yttrium silicate modified SiCf/SiC composites in air and water‐oxygen environments
Authors: He Fang , Cao Yejie , Liu Yongsheng , Li Jingxin , Wang Jing , Zhang Binghui , Dong Ning
Published: September 2024

SiCf/SiC composites have emerged as one of the most promising materials for aero‐engine hot‐end structures. However, their performance is limited by their susceptibility to oxidation and corrosion reactions with oxygen and water vapor. To overcome this challenge, antioxidant‐modified phases are introduced into matrices of SiCf/SiC composites which improve their water and oxygen resistance. In this study, the resistance of SiCf/SiC composites modified by yttrium silicate matrix (SiCf/SiC‐YS composites) to air at 1000–1400°C and water‐oxygen environments at 1200°C was investigated. The diffusion paths of oxygen in SiCf/SiC‐YS composites and the antioxidant behavior of the yttrium silicate matrix were discussed. Additionally, the differences in oxygen and water‐oxygen corrosion resistance of SiCf/SiC‐YS composites at the same temperature were compared. The strength retention of SiCf/SiC‐YS composites after oxidation and water‐oxygen corrosion at 1200°C were 138.6% and 108.8%, respectively. This indicates that the addition of water vapor accelerated the degradation of SiCf/SiC‐YS composites. By comparing with SiCf/SiC composites, it can be concluded that the modification of the yttrium silicate matrix considerably improved the oxidation resistance of SiCf/SiC composites.
The Story of Romantic Love and Polyamory
Authors: Milona Michael , Weindling Lauren
Published: September 2024

This article explores the relationship between romantic love and polyamory. Our central question is whether traditional norms of monogamy can be excised from romantic love so as to harmonize with polyamory's ethical dimensions (as we construe them). How one answers this question bears on another: whether ‘polyamory’ should principally be understood in terms of romantic love or instead some alternative conception(s). Our efforts to address these questions begin by briefly motivating our favored approach to romantic love, a ‘narratival’ one inspired by 1930s cultural theorist Denis de Rougemont, wherein such love is exclusive, supernatural or promising transcendence, painful, impeded, and, ultimately, fatal. We maintain that, even once exclusivity is removed as an official component, tensions with polyamory's ethical dimensions remain: romantic love's other elements rationalize acting and feeling in ways that privilege a singular beloved above others. A tempting solution is to further revise romantic love. However, we are skeptical that this leaves space for distinctively romantic love. Our tentative proposal, then, is that polyamory's ethical dimensions favor rejecting romantic love as ultimately desirable.
EphrinB2‐mediated chondrocyte autophagy induces post‐traumatic arthritis via rupture of cartilage homeostasis
Authors: Bao Zhengsheng , Wang Pinger , Li Yanan , Ding Huiqin , Wen Jingyuan , Zou Kaiao , Wang Xu , Yu Yang , Li Xuefeng , Liu Yingquan , Jin Hongting , Wu Lianguo , Ying Jun
Published: September 2024

EphrinB2, a member of the Ephrin family, has been linked to several orthopaedic conditions. Nevertheless, the correlation between ephrinB2 and post‐traumatic arthritis (PTOA) remains unclear. Human PTOA cartilage from human and mouse knee joints was systematically analysed to investigate the relationship between EphrinB2 and PTOA using SO‐FG and toluidine blue staining, micro‐CT, histomorphometry, immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, lentiviral articular injection and in situ end labeling (TUNEL) assays. EphrinB2 expression was significantly downregulated in PTOA chondrocytes. Blocking EphrinB2 increased the breakdown of cartilage matrix in mice with PTOA via reducing the process of chondrocyte autophagy. The presence of severe cartilage damage was evident, as indicated by a considerable decrease in both cartilage thickness and area, accompanied by an increase in chondrocyte death. Altogether, EphrinB2 is required for the maintenance of cartilage homeostasis in post‐traumatic arthritis, and EphrinB2 ablation is associated with accelerated chondrocyte matrix degeneration, finally causing damage to the articular cartilage.
Farrerol alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis of metabolic associated fatty liver disease by targeting PTPN1
Authors: Gao Jingwen , Cang Xiaomin , Liu Lu , Lin Jiaxi , Zhu Shiqi , Liu Lihe , Liu Xiaolin , Zhu Jinzhou , Xu Chunfang
Published: September 2024

Metabolic associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is the most common chronic liver disease worldwide, characterized by excess lipid deposition. Insulin resistance (IR) serves as a fundamental pathogenic factor in MAFLD. However, currently, there are no approved specific agents for its treatment. Farrerol, a novel compound with antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects, has garnered significant attention in recent years due to its hepatoprotective properties. Despite this, the precise underlying mechanisms of action remain unclear. In this study, a network pharmacology approach predicted protein tyrosine phosphatase non‐receptor type 1 (PTPN1) as a potential target for farrerol's action in the liver. Subsequently, the administration of farrerol improved insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance in MAFLD mice. Furthermore, farrerol alleviated lipid accumulation by binding to PTPN1 and reducing the dephosphorylation of the insulin receptor (INSR) in HepG2 cells and MAFLD mice. Thus, the phosphoinositide 3‐kinase/serine/threonine‐protein kinases (PI3K/AKT) signalling pathway was active, leading to downstream protein reduction. Overall, the study demonstrates that farrerol alleviates insulin resistance and hepatic steatosis of MAFLD by targeting PTPN1.
Endoscopic ultrasound‐guided fine needle biopsy using macroscopic on‐site evaluation technique reduces the number passes yet maintains a high diagnostic accuracy: A randomized study
Authors: Sonthalia Nikhil , Kumbar Vithal , Tewari Awanish , Roy Akash , Ghoshal Uday C , Goenka Mahesh K
Published: September 2024

Background and Aim

Although rapid on‐site cytological evaluation (ROSE) for endoscopic ultrasound (EUS)‐guided tissue acquisition (EUS‐TA) may increase diagnostic yield, it is not widely available. Macroscopic on‐site evaluation (MOSE) is an alternative modality although it is not standardized for EUS‐guided fine‐needle biopsy (FNB). We evaluated diagnostic performance of MOSE compared with conventional technique of EUS‐TA using core biopsy needle.

Methods

Consecutive patients undergoing EUS‐FNA for solid lesions were randomized to MOSE or conventional arms. The primary and secondary outcome measures were diagnostic accuracy, diagnostic yield, sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and the number of passes, respectively. The optimum parameters for macroscopic visible core (MVC, i.e., length, number) by MOSE to achieve accurate diagnosis were evaluated.

Results

Ninety‐six patients (48 conventional and 48 MOSE) were enrolled. Mean lesion size was larger in MOSE arm (32.67 ± 7.22 vs 29.31 ± 6.98 mm, P = 0.023). Diagnostic accuracy (95.8% vs 91.6%), diagnostic yield (97.9% vs 95.8%), procedure duration, and adverse events of the two methods were similar. Median number of passes with MOSE was less (2 vs 3 P = 0.000). Area under the receiver operating characteristic curve showed that with MOSE, obtaining a total MVC length of 11.5 mm had 93.3% sensitivity, and 2.5 MVC cores (each 4 mm) had 86.7% sensitivity for malignancy diagnosis.

Conclusions

EUS‐FNB with MOSE, a simple reliable technique, can achieve a high and comparable diagnostic accuracy with lesser number of passes. Obtaining longer length and greater number of MVC increase the sensitivity to diagnose malignancy with MOSE.
Cardiovascular health, measured using Life's Essential 8, is associated with reduced dementia risk among older men and women
Authors: Li Xin , Jin Yichen , Bandinelli Stefania , Ferrucci Luigi , Tanaka Toshiko , Talegawkar Sameera A.
Published: September 2024

Background

Dementia poses considerable challenges to healthy aging. Prevention and management of dementia are essential given the lack of effective treatments for this condition.

Methods

A secondary data analysis was conducted using data from 928 InCHIANTI study participants (55% female) aged 65 years and older without dementia at baseline. Cardiovascular health (CVH) was assessed by the “Life's Essential 8” (LE8) metric that included health behaviors (diet, physical activity, smoking status, sleep duration) and health factors (body mass index, blood lipid, blood glucose, blood pressure). This new LE8 metric scores from 0 to 100, with categorization including “low LE8” (0–49), indicating low CVH, “moderate LE8 (50‐79)”, indicating moderate CVH, and “high LE8 (80‐100)”, indicating high CVH. Dementia was ascertained by a combination of neuropsychological testing and clinical assessment at each follow‐up visit. Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine associations between CVH at baseline and risk of incident dementia after a median follow‐up of 14 years.

Results

Better CVH (moderate/high LE8 vs. low LE8) was inversely associated with the risk of incident dementia (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.61, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.46–0.83, p = 0.001). Compared with health factors, higher scores of the health behaviors (per 1 standard deviation [SD]), specifically weekly moderate‐to‐vigorous physical activity time (per 1 SD), were significantly associated with a lower risk of incident dementia (health behaviors: HR:0.84, CI:0.73–0.96, p = 0.01; physical activity: HR: 0.62, CI: 0.53–0.72, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

While longitudinal studies with repeated measures of CVH are needed to confirm these findings, improving CVH, measured by the LE8 metric, may be a promising dementia prevention strategy.
Uneventful days? A cautionary tale about the underestimated role of triggering events in employee silence research
Authors: Dilba Dominik , Meyer Bertolt
Published: September 2024

Employee silence research stipulates that silence requires input to share, which we posit stems from encountering workplace events. We argue that the validity of relationships between employee silence and outcomes is limited without taking preceding events into account: Employees might not encounter relevant events and therefore cannot show silence. Further, workplace events can have independent effects on the outcomes attributed to silence, potentially confounding the effects of silence and preceding events. Drawing on an existing cross‐cultural dataset (N = 8222 in 35 samples), we show that some samples include up to 60% of participants who did not encounter relevant events. Using data from a German utility company (N = 572 in 129 teams), we demonstrate that the associations between employee silence and outcomes like burnout are overestimated if effects of events are left unaccounted. Lastly, a simulation study shows that biased silence–outcome relations are generalizable whenever events have independent effects on the outcome of interest.
Psychosocial correlates of LGBTIQ+ experiences in selected African countries: Reimagining LGBTIQ+ research
Authors: Mogotsi Immaculate , Otchere Yvonne Otubea , Botchway Irene , Muthoni Yvonne , Gariseb Rodney , Ramalepe Lebogang Manthibe
Published: September 2024

This paper explores the multifaceted experiences of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, or queer (LGBTIQ+) people in selected African countries within legal, health, and educational sectors, and the broader society. It further highlights efforts that address issues around inclusion and social injustice. In the selected African countries (e.g., Ghana, Namibia, Kenya, and Uganda), LGBTIQ+ related activities are constitutionally illegal, leading to social discrimination or criminalization. Discrimination and stigma occur in various institutions which promotes homophobic sentiments, self‐harm and ostracization among LGBTIQ+ people. Notable countries like South Africa and Mozambique, have decriminalized same‐sex relationships, but these have not necessarily halted incidences of homophobia, social alienation, and discrimination that persist across the continent. In this article, queer theory and sexual minority stress theory are applied as contextual tools to explicate the everyday experiences of LGBTIQ+ people in sectors such as law, education, and health. As a contribution to the discourse on LGBTIQ+ people and research in Africa, this article further explores how discrimination, stigma, compulsive survival coping strategies, and legislation impede the overall psychosocial wellbeing of LGBTIQ+ people. Although this paper's narrative is primarily restricted to a few selected African countries, the narratives are relatable to non‐Western states with collectivist cultural orientations.
The Experiences of Patients Enrolled in Community Mental Health Centers Regarding the Illness Process: A Phenomenological Study
Authors: Salık Hava , Uslu Ömer , Şahin Merve
Published: September 2024

Aims

The aim of this study is to explore in‐depth the experiences of patients enrolled in Community Mental Health Centers regarding the illness process.

Design

This study employed interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), one of the phenomenological design approaches within qualitative research methods.

Methods

The study was conducted between 24 May 2023 and 23 December 2023, at two different Community Mental Health Centers located in the eastern and western regions of Turkey. Maximum variation sampling was employed in the selection of the sample, which consisted of 12 patients registered at the Community Mental Health Centers. Data were collected using a semi‐structured interview form. The interviews were conducted face‐to‐face and audio‐recorded. Content analysis was performed using the MAXQDA 2022 software package. The study was written following the COREQ checklist.

Findings

Based on the expressions of the patients, themes, subthemes and codes were identified. Accordingly, three themes were determined: ‘emotions felt after diagnosis’, ‘changes in life with the illness process’ and ‘coping methods with the process’.

Conclusion

This study highlights that patients from diverse geographical backgrounds, served by Community Mental Health Centers, share similar cultural and emotional experiences during their illness. These findings underscore the need for tailored interventions that address universal challenges faced by patients across different regions.

Clinical Evidence

This research emphasises the necessity of comprehensive efforts to improve societal understanding, support mechanisms and employment prospects for individuals dealing with mental health issues in Community Mental Health Centers.
The Real Effects of Zombie Lending in Europe
Authors: Tracey Belinda
Published: September 2024

‘Zombie lending’ occurs when a lender supports an otherwise insolvent borrower. Recent studies document that zombie lending has been widespread following the European sovereign debt crisis. In this paper, I develop a quantitative model to study the impact of these lending practices on firm dynamics. In the model, firm liquidations and zombie lending arise endogenously. The model provides a good match to key euro‐area firm statistics over the period 2011–14. I find that zombie lending has a substantial impact on borrowing costs, helping more low‐productivity firms to survive. This, in turn, causes a drag on aggregate output, investment and productivity.
Follicular lymphoid hyperplasia of the hard palate: An unusual and challenging diagnosis
Authors: de Freitas Kamila Ferreira , Feletti Mariana Pires , Camisasca Danielle Resende , Grão‐Velloso Tânia Regina
Published: September 2024

Background

Follicular lymphoid hyperplasia (FLH) is an uncommon benign lymphoproliferative lesion found in the oral cavity, with a particular preference for the hard palate. FLH closely resembles follicular lymphoma in both clinical and histopathological aspects, which may result in misdiagnosis and unnecessary invasive procedures for the patient.

Aim

This report describes a case of FLH in the hard palate.

Materials and Methods

Data were collected from the clinical record, and a literature review was carried out over a period of 43 years.

Results

The literature has documented 27 FLH cases. In this case, an 80‐year‐old woman had painless swelling in the hard palate extending to the soft palate. Histopathological findings suggest FLH with positive immunohistochemistry for CD20, CD10, Ki‐67, and bcl‐2. The patient received conservative treatment and close follow‐up until the lesion completely disappeared.

Conclusion

The clinical history was consistent with FLH. Diagnosis is a challenge and relies on closely correlating clinical and microscopic data. Although treatment options range from surgery to a more conservative approach, for elderly patients, the last option could be the safest and most effective.
Unification without pragmatism
Authors: Singh Keshav
Published: September 2024

Both actions and beliefs are subject to normative evaluation as rational or irrational. As such, we might expect there to be some general, unified story about what makes them rational. However, orthodox approaches suggest that the rationality of action is determined by practical considerations, while the rationality of belief is determined by properly epistemic considerations. This apparent disunity leads some, like Rinard (2019), to reject orthodox theories of the rationality of belief in favor of pragmatism. In this paper, I argue we should reject pragmatist approaches to unifying the rationality of action and belief. Instead, I argue, we should embrace a correctness‐based view of rationality, on which rationality is fundamentally about getting things correct as best we can, given our epistemic limitations. On such a view, the facts about rational action and belief are a function of the facts about correct action and belief. I contend that the apparent disunity of orthodox theories is created by the fact that action and belief have different correctness conditions. Nevertheless, on the correctness‐based view, this disunity is merely apparent. This renders pragmatism's revisionary implications for the rationality of belief unnecessary to take on in order unify it with the rationality of action.
Unravelling the role of proline in glyphosate‐mediated toxicity – tolerance mechanism or stress signal?
Authors: Nadais Pedro , Sousa Bruno , Martins Maria , Pereira Cláudia , Pereira Ana Marta , Fidalgo Fernanda , Soares Cristiano
Published: September 2024

Glyphosate (GLY), the most widely used herbicide, has been regarded as an emergent environmental contaminant due to its constant and cumulative use, with potential harm to non‐target organisms, such as crops, disrupting cells' redox balance. Therefore, plants need to fine‐tune their antioxidant (AOX) mechanisms to thrive under GLY‐contaminated environments. Proline overaccumulation is a common response in plants exposed to GLY, yet its role in GLY‐induced toxicity remains unclear. Thus, this study explores whether Pro overaccumulation in response to GLY is perceived as a downstream tolerance mechanism or an early‐warning stress signal. To investigate this, Arabidopsis thaliana T‐DNA mutant lines for Pro biosynthetic (P5CS1) and catabolic genes (ProDH) were used and screened for their GLY susceptibility. Upon seedlings' exposure to GLY (0.75 mg L−1) for 14 days, the herbicide led to reduced biomass in all genotypes, accompanied by Pro overaccumulation. Mutants with heightened Pro levels (prodh) exhibited the greatest biomass reduction, increased lipid peroxidation (LP), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) levels, accompanied by a compromised performance of the AOX system. Conversely, p5cs1–4, mutants with lower Pro levels, demonstrated an enhanced AOX system activation, not only with increased levels of glutathione (GSH) and ascorbate (AsA), but also with increased activity of both ascorbate peroxidase (APX) and catalase (CAT). These findings suggest that Pro overaccumulation under GLY exposure is associated with stress sensitivity rather than tolerance, highlighting its potential as an early‐warning signal for GLY toxicity in non‐target plants and for detecting weed resistance.
Core self‐evaluations and perceived classmate support: Independent predictors of psychological adjustment
Authors: Yudes Carolina , Chamizo‐Nieto María Teresa , Peláez‐Fernández María Angeles , Extremera Natalio
Published: September 2024

Introduction

The main aim of this research was to explore the contribution of both core self‐evaluations (CSE) and classmate support as unique predictors of positive and negative psychological adjustment among adolescents.

Methods

In a cross‐sectional study, 2,293 Spanish adolescents (Mage = 14.07) completed the Core Self‐Evaluations Scale, the Classmate Support subscale, the Satisfaction with Life Scale, the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scales and the Frequency of Suicidal Ideation Inventory. Pearson correlations among assessed variables were examined, and three hierarchical regression analyses were conducted to examine the predictive role of CSE and classmate support on life satisfaction, depressive symptomatology, and suicidal ideation.

Results

Both CSE and classmate support were positively related to life satisfaction and negatively related to depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation. Hierarchical regression analyses identified CSE and classmate support as independent predictors of both positive and negative psychological outcomes in this sample. These results indicated support for a comprehensive model involving CSE and classmate support as additive predictors of both positive and negative outcomes among adolescents.

Conclusion

These findings underscore the unique and additive role of both individual (i.e., CSE) and, to a lower degree, social factors (i.e., classmate support) to augment the prediction model of positive and negative psychological adjustment among adolescents. Practical implications are discussed, focusing on preventive programs that include strategies to increase positive self‐appraisals and create a supportive classroom climate.
The Suicide Status Form‐4 (SSF‐IV) as a potentially therapeutic suicide risk assessment tool
Authors: Oakey‐Frost Nicolas , Moscardini Emma H. , Cowan Tovah , Gerner Jessica L. , Crapanzano Kathleen A. , Jobes David A. , Tucker Raymond P.
Published: September 2024

Background

Empirically supported suicide risk assessment and conceptualization is a central aim of the Zero Suicide model. The Suicide Status Form (SSF) is the essential document and scaffolding of the Collaborative Assessment and Management of Suicidality—Brief Intervention (CAMS‐BI) and is hypothesized as an example of a psychological assessment as therapeutic intervention (PATI). However, this hypothesis has never been directly tested.

Methods

N = 57 patients deemed at risk for outpatient suicidal behavior and treated as part of an inpatient psychiatric consultation and liaison service were recruited to participate in CAMS‐BI at a Level 1 trauma center in the southeastern United States. During the CAMS‐BI process, patients were asked to rate their subjective units of distress (SUDS) at five time points throughout the intervention (k = 285).

Results

The omnibus random intercept multilevel model revealed a significant difference in pre‐ to post‐session ratings of SUDS across patients. Post hoc pairwise comparisons revealed no significant differences between SSF sections (e.g., Section A, Section B, and Section C) and relative reductions in SUDS; however, there was an observable trend toward a favorable effect of Section A of the SSF.

Conclusions

The SSF may represent an example of PATI pending replication and extension of the current results.
Winimaku ara papa wiimatjaraku and other stories
Authors: Boko Margaret Nampitjinpa , Boko Rosalyn , Stefanoff Lisa
Published: September 2024

This audio‐visual essay invites readers to enter a new intermedial archive of documentary paintings and stories by a celebrated and prolific multilingual Central Australian Aboriginal woman artist. Addressing our written text to intimate family and audiences from elsewhere, in multiple voices and modes of address, we offer an opportunity to consider the dynamics of creating, keeping and caring for memory through the affordances of digital co‐creativity. These include what we term ‘painting remix animation’, a form of what co‐author Rosalyn Boko calls mixamilani (‘mixing together’ of different elements). Guided by the artist's vibrant palette and life‐expressive practice, visitors to the article can move and rest amongst a variety of standpoints through which to attune to questions of history, memory, pictorial storytelling, love, friendship and joy. We hope that in this way, everyone can sense the world‐making powers and poetics of colour and understand how our style of slow research towards digital mixamilani creates a new kind of archive for holding paintings carefully, outside of the art commodity market.
Cool burning the collection: Museum research as a regenerative act
Authors: Andrews Jilda
Published: September 2024

Ethnographic collections, as material repositories of historical relationships, are powerful bodies of intercultural knowledge and exchange. Indigenous people have been active and influential in the building of these collections and continue today to be critical to the ongoing interpretation and engagement of such repositories. When faced with the tangled, overgrowth of values accumulated around collected objects over time, regenerative processes can offer new life. By applying a metaphorical ‘cool burn’ it is hoped that space can be created where new shoots of knowledge can emerge. This research takes the form of a digital article twinned with an exegetical reflection to extend the notion of Indigenous engagement and so consider some of the regenerative potentials of collection research when Indigenous philosophies and concepts drive research enquiry and more importantly, frame outcomes.
Wik Cha'prah – Cha tru chath: Wik blood speaks to you
Authors: Oochunyung Fiona Wirrer‐George
Published: September 2024

My work to date explores and plays with bringing the essence of relational Arnya spirituality into new spaces and forms of conveyance, depiction and articulation. I do this by revisitation, re‐call and rearticulation of ancient songline eldership Voice teaching. Recall and retrieval from stored memory files articulates the knowledge narrative. The amalgamation of the organic internal filing system, the collective of kinship knowledge offerings ongoing and the digital produces transmutative narratives. Lived experience as inherited bloodline descendent further contextualises and embeds the spirit essence of voice. The body in which I dwell in, with all its parts in function, brings into being a new song vocabulary of Arnya through multi‐modal construction and conveyance. In this process, the collective of kinship in all its parts, organic and other, remain embedded in the emergence and continuity of voice and flow.
A bird, a flock, a song, and a forest: The decline of Regent Honeyeater life
Authors: van Dooren Thom , Sadokierski Zoë , Oakey Myles , Rissanen Timo , Widin Samuel , Crates Ross
Published: September 2024

The south‐eastern corner of the Australian continent was once crisscrossed by the nomadic flight paths of the Regent Honeyeater. For hundreds of thousands of years, they winged their way up and down this vast continent. Today, however, the species is listed as critically endangered and is just clinging to existence. This multimedia essay tells the story of this decline, exploring the complex, co‐shaping, relationships between individual birds and their flocks, their songs, and their forests. While these are relationships that might be glossed as being social, cultural, and ecological (respectively), and so belonging to separate domains of life, they are in reality delicately interwoven elements of what it is to be a Regent Honeyeater; relationships that, taken together, have been integral to the emergence and ongoing life of this species. In attending to the breakdown of these relationships in our present time, this essay seeks to develop new resources for storying loss in a time of ongoing extinctions. Bringing text into conversation with images and audio, the essay works to draw the reader/viewer/listener into an encounter with an unravelling world. Ultimately, our aim has been to create an essay in which the conceptual ideas, the design, and the biology of the species described, are brought into some sort of alignment that allows them to become mutually reinforcing elements of a storied encounter. Our reflection on the process of creating this essay are provided in the accompanying exegetical commentary.
How to … do decolonial research
Authors: Sims Danica Anne , Naidu Thirusha
Published: September 2024

The imperative for decolonial research in health professions education (HPE) is rooted in a resistance to coloniality, which characterises modern medicine and HPE. Coloniality is a residual effect of colonialism, which upholds White, Western, Eurocentric knowledge systems while simultaneously marginalising diverse epistemologies. We outline the problematic nature of coloniality in HPE typified in unequal research partnerships, skewed student exchanges and poor representation of diverse authors. Decoloniality advocates for the active disruption and dismantling of colonial hierarchies to promote epistemic justice. We suggest a practical framework for applying decolonial principles in research, emphasising awareness (critical consciousness), deliberation (reflexivity) and action (transformative praxis). Practical steps for decolonial practice include interrogating research conceptualisation, sharing power and diversifying research teams, adopting participatory and reciprocal (mutually beneficial) methodologies, (re)centring marginalised voices and amplifying ‘Other’ knowledges, and disrupting hegemonic dissemination practices. By employing decolonial strategies, researchers can produce equitable, socially accountable and epistemically just scholarship, ultimately enhancing the relevance and impact of HPE research for all people globally.
Prawitz's completeness conjecture: A reassessment
Authors: Schroeder‐Heister Peter
Published: September 2024

In 1973, Dag Prawitz conjectured that the calculus of intuitionistic logic is complete with respect to his notion of validity of arguments. On the background of the recent disproof of this conjecture by Piecha, de Campos Sanz and Schroeder‐Heister, we discuss possible strategies of saving Prawitz's intentions. We argue that Prawitz's original semantics, which is based on the principal frame of all atomic systems, should be replaced with a general semantics, which also takes into account restricted frames of atomic systems. We discard the option of not considering extensions of atomic systems, but acknowledge the need to incorporate definitional atomic bases in the semantic framework. It turns out that ideas and results by Westerståhl on the Carnap categoricity of intuitionistic logic can be applied to Prawitz semantics. This implies that Prawitz semantics has a status of its own as a genuine, though incomplete, semantics of intuitionstic logic. An interesting side result is the fact that every formula satisfiable in general semantics is satisfiable in an axioms‐only frame (a frame whose atomic systems do not contain proper rules). We draw a parallel between this seemingly paradoxical result and Skolem's paradox in first‐order model theory.