bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Internalized Heterosexism and Substance Use: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Huynh Kiet D. , Murgo Michael A. J. , Lee Debbiesiu L.
Published: May 2022

Sexual minority individuals report greater rates of substance use compared to their heterosexual counterparts. Internalized heterosexism (IH) is one critical factor underlying this disparity. There has been a proliferation of studies examining IH as a correlate of substance use; however, results of these studies have been mixed. The purpose of the current multilevel meta-analysis was to explain these mixed findings by identifying factors that moderate the overall relationship between IH and substance use. Results from the analysis of 49 studies (209 effect sizes and 162,674 participants) demonstrated a positive overall relationship between IH and substance use ( r = .065). This relationship was significantly moderated by sexual orientation, gender, and type of substance. Increased IH was linked to increased use of heroin ( r = .173), cocaine ( r = .135), tobacco ( r = .100), and alcohol ( r = .070). Implications for research, practice, and policy are discussed.
Quantifying Workload and Stress in Intensive Care Unit Nurses: Preliminary Evaluation Using Continuous Eye-Tracking
Authors: Ahmadi Nima , Sasangohar Farzan , Yang Jing , Yu Denny , Danesh Valerie , Klahn Steven , Masud Faisal
Published: May 2022

Objective

(1) To assess mental workloads of intensive care unit (ICU) nurses in 12-hour working shifts (days and nights) using eye movement data; (2) to explore the impact of stress on the ocular metrics of nurses performing patient care in the ICU.

Background

Prior studies have employed workload scoring systems or accelerometer data to assess ICU nurses’ workload. This is the first naturalistic attempt to explore nurses’ mental workload using eye movement data.

Methods

Tobii Pro Glasses 2 eye-tracking and Empatica E4 devices were used to collect eye movement and physiological data from 15 nurses during 12-hour shifts (252 observation hours). We used mixed-effect models and an ordinal regression model with a random effect to analyze the changes in eye movement metrics during high stress episodes.

Results

While the cadence and characteristics of nurse workload can vary between day shift and night shift, no significant difference in eye movement values was detected. However, eye movement metrics showed that the initial handoff period of nursing shifts has a higher mental workload compared with other times. Analysis of ocular metrics showed that stress is positively associated with an increase in number of eye fixations and gaze entropy, but negatively correlated with the duration of saccades and pupil diameter.

Conclusion

Eye-tracking technology can be used to assess the temporal variation of stress and associated changes with mental workload in the ICU environment. A real-time system could be developed for monitoring stress and workload for intervention development.
Child protection social workers facing the Covid-19 challenge
Authors: Calcaterra Valentina , Landi Camilla
Published: May 2022

The Covid-19 pandemic forced social workers to rethink how they perform their functions. This process was particularly challenging for child protection social workers, who had to understand how to continue to support families and children despite social distancing rules and the suspension of some activities. Three online focus groups were conducted with 18 child protection social workers to explore the Italian child protection social workers’ functions during the Covid-19 pandemic. This study presents the reflections shared by these social workers on their experiences and the new awareness they acquired while performing their work in support of families during the pandemic.
Improving the damage tolerance of Si3N4 by forming laminate composites with refractory metals
Authors: Mitchell David J , Mecholsky John J
Published: May 2022

The objective of this research was to demonstrate that the damage tolerance of Si3N4 could be significantly improved by forming laminate composites with refractory metals, providing materials that undergo graceful failure, rather than the fast-fracture mechanism exhibited by monolithic Si3N4. A damage tolerant Si3N4 could be used as a ring material in an all-ceramic bearing, decreasing the chance for catastrophic failure if the ring is stressed in tension during operation. The technical approach formed a laminate composite material using alternating Si3N4-metallic layers, with both outer layers being Si3N4 to take advantage of its greater wear resistance, chemical stability, and thermal stability. The metallic layers are designed to arrest any cracks in the outer layers, thus producing a toughened Si3N4 and avoiding the catastrophic failure behavior exhibited by monolithic ceramics. The laminate composites were fabricated using a combination of tape-casting Si3N4 and metals from slurries, as well as metal foils, followed by hot pressing at 1500°C. The metallic materials employed were chromium, titanium, and tantalum. Analysis confirmed that the interfaces were well formed, and the laminates with chromium and titanium formed intermetallic compounds more readily than the composites with tantalum. The Si3N4-Ta laminates demonstrated crack deflection and bridging behavior during failure and flexural strength of 800–900 MPa. The hardness and elastic modulus of Si3N4-Ta laminates measured by nanoindentation were similar to those reported in literature. The hardness across the interface of the Si3N4-Ta composite varied according to the composition of the interface, which displayed a profile indicative of a diffusion bond.
Controlled Delivery of Illegal Drug Parcels in Scotland: Does Policing Practice Align With a Public Health Approach Focused on Drug-Related Harm?
Authors: Morales-Gómez Ana , McVie Susan , Pantoja Fernando
Published: May 2022

An increase in the flow of drugs into the UK via international postal systems poses challenges for law enforcement. ‘Controlled delivery’ can be used to disrupt supply networks and secure intelligence for prosecution; however, critics argue that law enforcement should instead focus on reducing drug-related harm. In Scotland, national drugs strategy adopts a public health approach but it is unclear whether this extends to policing practice. Therefore, this paper examines whether controlled delivery of drug parcels aligns with a public health policing approach. We find evidence of alignment in terms of potential harm to individual users, particularly in relation to legal highs, but not in terms of drug-related harms within the communities to which parcels were destined. We argue that further investigation is required in order to assess the extent to which political intent and policing practice in Scotland align around the principles of harm reduction and public health.
Analysis of Verticality Perception in Older Adults With and Without Acute Stroke in Half-Lying Versus Sitting Positions
Authors: Agostini Lívia S. , Rodrigues Priscila S. M. , Bazan Rodrigo , de Oliveira Baggio Jussara A. , de Souza Luciane A. P. S. , Luvizutto Gustavo J.
Published: May 2022

Currently, there is no research consensus regarding the influence of body position on verticality perception in acute stroke. In this study, we aimed to compare the influence of half-lying and sitting positions on measurements of the subjective visual vertical (SVV) and the subjective haptic vertical (SHV) of individuals in the acute stroke phase. In this cross-sectional study, we compared these positional experiences in two groups of participants: adults in the acute stroke phase and elderly individuals without stroke. Independent variables were stroke versus no-stroke groups, in half-lying versus sitting positions. Analyzed variables of related interest were cognition (Mini-Mental State Examination or MMSE), stroke severity (National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale or NIHSS), and trunk control (Trunk Impairment Scale or TIS). Dependent variables were visual and haptic verticality, as evaluated by SVV and SHV. There were observed differences in absolute SVV in sitting position between groups ( p = 0.021), absolute SVV in half-lying position between groups ( p = 0.033), absolute SHV in sitting position between groups ( p = 0.003), absolute SHV in half-lying position between groups ( p = 0.002), and constant SVV in half-lying position between groups ( p = 0.007). In the stroke group there was a higher coefficient of variation of SVV and SHV in the half-lying position compared to sitting position. In the sitting position, we observed a very strong correlation between the TIS and absolute SHV ( p = 0.008). We concluded that individuals in the acute phase of stroke had greater misperceptions of visual and haptic verticality than older adults without strokes and that individuals in the acute phase of stroke showed less variability in visual and haptic vertical perception in the sitting position than in the half-lying position. By implication, we should encourage the sitting position in the acute stroke phase and develop early strategies to increase the verticality perception.
Contextual Interference Effects on Approach Motivation When Learning Timing Tasks: A Frontal Electroencephalography (EEG) Alpha Asymmetry Study in Older Adults
Authors: Beik Meysam , Taheri Hamidreza , Kakhki Alireza Saberi , Ghoshuni Majid , Fazeli Davoud
Published: May 2022

In this study, we aimed to explore the effects of contextual interference on motivational regulation, as measured by EEG (frontal alpha asymmetry), in older adults. Participants practiced a sequenced timing task in random, algorithmic, or blocked schedules in both similar and dissimilar task difficulty conditions, with task difficulty defined by absolute timing goals (in ms) that were either close to each other (1350, 1500, 1650) or far from each other (1050, 1500, 1950), respectively. We assessed older participants’ timing accuracy in these conditions, during acquisition and delayed retention learning, using the frontal alpha asymmetry index, recorded during practice, to measure motivation. On the accuracy measure in delayed retention, the algorithm practice schedule (in both similar and dissimilar conditions) was associated with significantly more accurate performance than random and blocked practice schedules. Also during delayed retention and in both task difficulty conditions, performance was better with a random schedule than a blocked schedule. On the EEG motivational measure, frontal alpha asymmetry was more often higher as practice progressed in the algorithm practice condition than in other practice conditions. However, in the random practice schedule, in late, versus early, acquisition, motivational regulation was higher. The blocked groups showed decreased motivation as practice progressed. We interpreted these findings to be in accordance with the challenge point framework and with OPTIMAL motor learning theory and valence hypothesis.
Effect of Teaching Method on Exercise Execution in Adolescents’ Use of Outdoor Fitness Equipment
Authors: Gutiérrez-Santiago Alfonso , Paramés-González Adrián , Prieto-Lage Iván
Published: May 2022

The use of outdoor fitness equipment (OFE) is an effective strategy to promote physical activity. The equipment normally includes information panels with phrases and images describing appropriate exercises. However, as using this equipment inappropriately is a potential problem, it is important to find an optimal unsupervised instruction method for correct exercise execution. Our objective in this study was to determine which of several exercise prescription methods, without direct professional supervision, might best instruct adolescents to correctly engage in upper limb motor execution on outdoor flexion-extension equipment. A total of 54 adolescents from a middle socioeconomic level in northwest Spain participated in this descriptive and quasi-experimental study. We randomly assigned members of this convenience sample into three groups who received either video instruction, instruction via images or written panel instructions. We used observational methodology in videographic analysis to evaluate the mistakes participants made in motor execution with each instructional method. We utilized different analytic techniques from observational methodology: statistical analyses (means, standard deviation, confidence intervals, ANOVA, etc.) and detecting T-Patterns with Theme and polar coordinate analysis using HOISAN. Participants who relied on video instructions committed fewer errors than those who relied on panel instructions. The video method prevented loss of information that occurred when instructional images were used. We suggest including a QR code on outdoor fitness equipment in open-air parks to permit users to download an explanatory video to their mobile phones.
Chebyshev apodized fiber Bragg gratings
Authors: Sun Nai-Hsiang , Tsai Min-Yu , Liau Jiun-Jie , Chiang Jung-Sheng
Published: May 2022

In this paper, a new apodized fiber Bragg grating (FBG) structure, the Chebyshev apodization, is proposed. The Chebyshev polynomial distribution has been widely used for the optimal design of antennas and filters, but it has not been used for designing FBGs. Unlike the function of traditional Gaussian-apodized FBGs, the Chebyshev polynomial is a discrete function. We demonstrate a new methodology for designing Chebyshev-apodized FBGs: the grating region is divided by discrete n sections with uniform gratings, while the index change is used to express the Chebyshev polynomial. We analyze the Chebyshev-apodized FBGs by using coupled mode theory and the piecewise-uniform approach. The reflection spectrum and the dispersion of Chebyshev-apodized FBGs are calculated and compared with those of Gaussian FBGs. Moreover, a sidelobe suppression level (SSL), a parameter of the Chebyshev polynomial, along with the maximum ac-index change of FBGs are analyzed. Assume that the grating length is 20mm, SSL is 100 dB, the section number is 40, and the maximum ac-index change is 2 × 10−4. The reflection spectrum of Chebyshev apodized FBGs shows flattened sidelobes with an absolute SSL of −95.9 dB (corresponding to SSL=100 dB). The simulation results reveal that at the same full width at half maximum, the Chebyshev FBGs have lower sidelobe suppression than the Gaussian FBGs, but their dispersion is similar. We demonstrate the potential of using Chebyshev-apodized FBGs in optical filters, dispersion compensators, and sensors; Chebyshev apodization can be applied in the design of periodic dielectric waveguides.
Scaling down the Earth’s history: Visual materials for popular education by Nérée Boubée (1806–1862)
Authors: Figueirôa Silvia F de M
Published: May 2022

Spatial and temporal scales are essential components of geological sciences; both are almost always imbricated in complex ways, challenging geoscientific knowledge among nonspecialists and students. The present paper focuses on the efforts made by the French naturalist Simon-Suzanne Nérée Boubée (1806–62) regarding popular education on geology. Though Boubée is poorly known nowadays, he experienced some prestige during his lifetime. He worked as an independent teacher, offering private as well as free public courses. Boubée, as a nineteenth-century science popularizer, repeatedly insisted on his disposition for “spreading science for all.” He extensively published books and journals on geology, all aimed at popularizing geological scientific knowledge, considered to be of paramount relevance. This paper analyzes three visual examples extracted from his works: the Tableau Mnémonique des Terrains Primitifs, destiné au géologue voyageur, avec son explication (1831), the Tableau de l’État du Globe à ses différents âges (1832), and the Tableau figuratif de la structure minérale du globe, ou résumé synoptique du Cours de géognosie de M. N. Boubée (1839), supplemented with images from the travel guide Deux Promenades au Mont Doré (1834). Our goal is to understand Boubée’s efforts to synthesize information, scaling down geologic time and space into foldable materials that made geological knowledge cognitively and materially accessible to laypeople.
Absolving God’s Laws: Thomas Hobbes’s Scriptural Strategies
Authors: McQueen Alison
Published: May 2022

Thomas Hobbes tells us that he wrote Leviathan to “absolve the divine laws” of the charge that they justify rebellion. This article interprets the argumentative strategy of the second half of Leviathan in light of this intention. Over the course of his three major political works, Hobbes develops a convergent argument to absolve God’s laws. This strategy of judicial rhetoric relies on using multiple independent claims in the hope that one’s audience finds at least one of them persuasive. This was a risky strategy for Hobbes that angered his critics. The strategy also reveals something about what sort of philosopher Hobbes was and how we ought to approach his work.
Using Party Games to Help Students Understand Models of Psycholinguistics
Authors: Santelmann Lynn
Published: May 2022

Introduction

Psycholinguistics presents a challenge to teaching and learning because of the many abstract models in the field. Language-related games provide a vehicle for students to ground and demonstrate their understanding of these models.

Statement of the problem

Models in psycholinguistics are challenging to teach and learn because they represent mental phenomena that have no physical counterpart.

Literature Review

Research on the teaching of models in other fields demonstrates that students have difficulty with models even when they represent physical phenomena. Little research has examined the teaching of cognitive models such as those in psycholinguistics.

Objective

This article demonstrates how using party games and board games is an active-learning approach that helps students ground their understanding of models in a concrete experience of producing and understanding language. Students learn through analyzing and reflecting on game play.

Teaching Implications

Using games helps make abstract models concrete and is a motivating tool. Written assignments using games clearly demonstrate students’ understanding of models.

Conclusion

Many popular party/board games have a language focus. These can easily be incorporated into existing courses to promote understanding of models in the field.
Dynamic event-triggered tracking control for a class of p-normal switched stochastic nonlinear systems
Authors: Yuan Manman , Zhai Junyong , Ye Hui
Published: May 2022

This paper investigates the event-triggered tracking issue for p-normal switched stochastic nonlinear systems. Unlike the existing event-triggered schemes, an event-triggering mechanism is proposed with a dynamic gain. Then, a new adaptive event-triggered controller (ETC) is designed via output feedback. The presented control scheme can render that all signals of the closed-loop system are bounded almost surely. Moreover, the Zeno phenomenon is excluded. Three examples are provided to verify the efficiency of the presented strategy.
Membership in employers’ associations and collective bargaining coverage in Germany
Authors: Jirjahn Uwe
Published: May 2022

While there is a strong overlap between membership in employers’ associations and collective bargaining coverage, the overlap is far from being perfect. Using unique firm-level data from Germany, this study estimates the determinants of the membership in employers’ associations and the coverage by industry-level or firm-level agreements. The analysis particularly focuses on the various constellations of membership and collective bargaining status. The results show that firm-level worker representation, foreign ownership, work organization, firm size, age and East–West differences are important determinants. Altogether, the analysis demonstrates that a more differentiated picture of industrial relations can be obtained by considering both membership in employers’ associations and collective bargaining coverage.
Robots and unions: The moderating effect of organized labour on technological unemployment
Authors: Haapanala Henri , Marx Ive , Parolin Zachary
Published: May 2022

This study analyses the moderating effect of union density on industrial employment and unemployment in advanced economies facing exposure to industrial robots. Applying random effects within-between regression models to a pseudo-panel of observations from 27 European countries and the United States over 1998–2019, the study finds that higher union density is associated with a greater decline in industry-sector employment for younger workers and workers with lower secondary education when robot exposure increases. It is also found that the unemployment rate declines more strongly in countries with low union density when robot exposure increases. These findings suggest that exposure to industrial robots promotes labour market dualization in strongly unionized countries, whereas workers with tertiary education and labour market tenure are the main beneficiaries from technological change.
Pressed to overwork to exhaustion? The role of psychological detachment and exhaustion in the context of teleworking
Authors: Lazauskaitė-Zabielskė Jurgita , Urbanavičiūtė Ieva , Žiedelis Arūnas
Published: May 2022

This study aims to longitudinally investigate the undesirable effect of overwork climate and its underlying mechanism in the context of telework. Teleworkers have been known for intensive working and even overwork. Moreover, although some empirical evidence shows the adverse effects of overwork climate, its longitudinal effects and mechanism have been underexplored thus far. Consequently, this study expected overwork climate to be related to lower levels of psychological detachment that eventually leads to higher exhaustion, with this effect being more profound among full-time teleworkers. The authors base their analyses on a two-wave study with four-month time intervals, with a sample of 375 teleworkers. The results show that an overwork climate led to exhaustion four months later due to impaired ability to detach from work. Notably, this effect was more substantial among those teleworkers who worked from home full-time.
Opening Act: Neocolonial Urban Education Reform and the Detroit Public Schools
Authors: Suárez Bianca Ayanna
Published: May 2022

Background/Context:

Urban educational systems have garnered focused examination as bastions of educational inequity, particularly along race and class cleavages. These systems are often cited as inefficient bureaucratic institutions plagued by financial mismanagement and political corruption that produce dismal achievement outcomes. Contemporary educational research demonstrates that neoliberal education reforms exacerbate racialized inequity, but we are less clear on the terms of this racialized inequity.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:

This article explores how we may deepen our conception of ghettoization, as espoused by Jean Anyon and others, and expand what is termed the social context of education to include a broader colonial history of the underdevelopment and control of educational institutions. This article examines the 1999 state-legislated intervention of the Detroit Public Schools (DPS) district, also known as Michigan Public Act 10. The reform transformed the district’s governance structure, which dissolved local elected control over the school system and centralized educative power in the city’s mayor and state governor. The key research question animating this analysis centers understanding the political economic impetus and effects of this educational reform. Engaging an internal colonial analytical framework, this article is a theory-driven analysis of the underlying dynamics that made the state-legislated reform possible. This analysis of the Detroit reform motivates a critical engagement of the colonial logics that have shaped the ontological position of colonial subjects, while conducting research that examines neoliberal urban education reform.
Connection, Antiblackness, and Positive Relationships That (Re)Humanize Black Boys’ Experience of School
Authors: Warren Chezare A. , Andrews Dorinda J. Carter , Flennaugh Terry K.
Published: May 2022

Background/Context:

Black people continue to be popularly imagined as lacking humanity and, as such, are often the disproportionate subjects of unceasing race-gender terror and state violence. A vast body of scholarship has documented the failure of schools to adequately serve Black youth in general, and Black boys and men in particular. There is compelling evidence, however, that consistently humanizing interactions with adults in school lead to positive relationships that in turn may protect against Black boys’ experience of school as fundamentally dehumanizing.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:

This study examined the significance of positive relationships between Black boys and adults in school as they move(d) across the P–16 education pipeline. The study is guided by the following primary research question: How do young Black men and boys describe and understand their interpersonal relationships with adults in P–16 schools?

Research Design:

A descriptive phenomenological approach was used to understand how 28 Black boys and young men discuss and describe the characteristics of relationships with adults in their school or university. Seven video- and audio-recorded focus groups were conducted. Data analysis occurred in three phases. Video clips from focus groups were analyzed in the first phase of data analysis. During the second phase of our data analysis, researchers employed critical race theory as a key analytic perspective to interpret the data for what they revealed about the ways anti-Black racism and white supremacy structured schooling experiences. The third phase of analysis centered on coding the entire data set, regardless of grade band, for three specific types of interactions: disciplinary/behavioral, social/relational, and academic.

Findings/Results:

Key findings from the study center on (a) these participants’ keen awareness of the ways their words/behavior/actions are generally misread and misunderstood in U.S. society and (b) the significance of educators’ race-gender perceptions of them in building positive relationships that establish and sustain authentic human connections.

Conclusions/Recommendations:

Human connection emerges over time and differentiates what our participants ultimately perceived as “good”/positive relationships from “bad”/negative relationships with educators. Recognition of the residual consequences of U.S. chattel slavery for the ways we see, know, and understand Black people and Black children is essential to cultivating positive relationships with Black boys. Although “bad” relationships are characterized by interactions reflecting racial misandry that Black boys come to expect as a normal, ordinary feature of their schooling experience, positive relationships are evidenced through consistently humanizing interpersonal interactions with adults that actively counter harmful racial scripts.
What Does It Take to Lead: The Hidden Curriculum of Qualifications for Service on Public Boards of Higher Education
Authors: Rall Raquel M. , Dominguez Valeria , Garcia Anaisabelle
Published: May 2022

Background/Context:

U.S. higher education governing boards have received enhanced public attention over the last decade in response to national media coverage and emerging governance scholarship. Despite the rise of attention on this topic and the maintained influence of board decisions, governing boards remain one of the least understood aspects of higher education.

Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study:

The qualifications required for board member service in higher education are a particularly understudied aspect of boards. Given the limited knowledge of board qualifications, our study aimed to understand what (if any) were the known requirements for service on U.S. public boards of higher education.

Setting:

A total of 95 public board bylaws representing at least one institution from each state were examined for any mention of the requirements or qualifications for the trusteeship. Both standalone institutional boards and system boards were investigated to account for the diversity of board types. Altogether, the bylaws of 95 boards that govern 842 public institutions in the nation were reviewed.

Research Design:

The study used qualitative document and content analysis methods to examine board bylaws.

Findings:

We found that very few boards have any defined (and publicized) requirements for public trusteeship in higher education. We evaluate the findings using a Critical Race Theory and hidden curriculum framework of analysis and discuss the implicit and explicit messages of the board bylaws. This study brings to the forefront that there are either hidden, ambiguous, or little to no requisites for arguably one of the most influential roles in higher education. The lack of transparency in this area may help perpetuate inequity in board representation.

Conclusion/Recommendations:

If institutions desire to enhance transparency and accountability, it is crucial to elucidate standard practices for filling board seats (including qualifications for board service, who gets to decide on these qualifications, and the ramifications of these practices on equitable board member representation). Boards, governors, and other influential decision-makers should contemplate establishing and sharing requirements for board service so that (a) boards enter into this position with a better understanding of what is required of them, and (b) there are more explicit guidelines to support why and how some groups are overrepresented on the board while others have been historically excluded.
Technical tips in non-robotic endoscopic mitral valve surgery: How to approach and expose the mitral valve
Authors: Tabata Minoru , Nakamura Ryota , Tatsuki Suguru
Published: May 2022

The non-robotic endoscopic mitral valve surgery is performed via a right mini-thoracotomy without the use of rib spreader or robotic assistance. Although it has several advantages over the direct vision minimally invasive and robotic approaches, operating in very limited working space without robotic assistance is technically demanding. In the first place, it is impossible to perform non-robotic endoscopic mitral valve surgery safely and efficiently without knowing how to approach and expose the mitral valve in very limited working space without robotic assistance. This manuscript introduces detailed technical tips for efficient approach and uncompromised exposure of the mitral valve in non-robotic endoscopic mitral valve surgery, including separate bicaval cannulation, decentralized positioning of the instruments, controlling the direction of traction sutures and appropriate use of retractors.
Touchscreen device size suitable for non-visual icon search by blind users
Authors: Asakura Rei , Watanabe Tetsuya
Published: May 2022

Blind smartphone users are on the rise and they need to know which device is easiest for them to use. To explore the optimal touchscreen size for devices used by the blind, we conducted an experiment in which 15 blind participants searched for target icons with four touchscreen devices ranging in size from 4 to 7.9 inches. We analyzed the search time, search strategies, and subjective evaluations and found that the 4.7-inch screen device produced the shortest search time and obtained the highest subjective rating among the four devices. These findings are consistent with those in a previous study with sighted participants. One interesting difference is that the blind participants in this study found the icons about 20% to 40% faster than the sighted participants. Another important finding is that the search strategy had a larger effect than the screen size on the search time. These findings are useful for blind people and their supporters at the stage of obtaining new smartphones and learning how to use them.
The emergence of team entrepreneurial passion from team helping: An affective events theory perspective
Authors: Zhu Xiumei , Yang Shan , Kromidha Endrit
Published: May 2022

Research has acknowledged the outcomes of entrepreneurial passion, but little is known in regard to how it occurs. In this article, we shift the focus to the team level and investigate the emergence of team entrepreneurial passion (TEP) from the team helping perspective. Drawing on affective events theory (AET), we examine how team help-seeking and -giving facilitate TEP. Team-level analyses were performed on data drawn from 487 members of 112 new venture teams in an accelerator for high-technology firms in China. Our findings show that team help-seeking and -giving are in a direct relationship with TEP; we highlight how the interaction between these two aspects is positively associated with TEP. This article extends the study of TEP to team helping and treats the latter in relation to its two separate but related aspects of seeking and giving. Further, our focus moves from singular effects to an interactive perspective on the antecedents of TEP.
New strategy of using double-network hydrogel extravascular stent for preventing venous graft restenosis after coronary artery bypass grafting
Authors: Dai Longsheng , Yu Wenyuan , Yu Yang
Published: May 2022

Objective

Effective therapies for the prevention of vein graft failure, which frequently occurs in coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) due to intimal hyperplasia (IH), are still lacking. Here, we investigated the effects of the perivenous application of double-network hydrogel on vein grafts in carotid artery bypass grafting in a rabbit model.

Methods

Healthy New Zealand white rabbits were randomized into the following groups: no graft, graft, or graft + Double-network hydrogel external stent (DNHES). The rabbits’ carotid artery was bypassed via the jugular vein. Double-network hydrogel external stent was wrapped around the jugular graft after the anastomoses were completed. Blood flow parameters and tissue histology of the vein grafts were evaluated.

Results

Compared with the untreated vein grafts at 12 weeks after the surgery, the DNHES significantly improved graft flow, attenuated intimal and medial thickening, reduced the anti-proliferating cell nuclear antigen proliferation index of the vein grafts, decreased the mRNA and protein expression of Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) and Transforming Growth Factor-β (TGF-β), and increased the mRNA and protein expression of endothelial Nitric Oxide Synthase (eNOS).

Conclusion

The perivenous application of DNHES exerts beneficial effects on vein grafts, reduces the inflammatory response in carotid artery bypass grafting in a rabbit model, and appears to be a safe and promising strategy to prevent vein graft failure.
Will the Levelling Up White Paper (LUWP) drive reform of national innovation policy and practice?
Authors: Marlow David
Published: May 2022

The Levelling Up White Paper (LUWP) is intended to drive local economic growth and development, particularly in left-behind places. It proposes policies and investments in innovation infrastructure and services as an explicit mission and key component of the LU reform agenda. This paper, however, suggests that, without systemic behaviour and culture change in national innovation institutes and their funders, the LUWP will produce few if any results of game-changing significance. Based on a project to explore how a Research Council and one of its core funded institutes should improve local impact and prepare for the LUWP, the paper explores practical changes that need to be considered to make LUWP place-based innovation ambitions a reality. It discusses the structures and processes that national institutes and programmes might need to transition from interventions that have local impacts incidentally by accident of where they are taking place, to purposeful place-based growth and development. It then suggests the capabilities required to deliver this well – which has major implications for innovation funders. The LUWP’s good intentions for more impactful place-based innovation requires new tools and techniques, experimentation and learning-by-doing, and proper resourcing – robustly tested and evaluated by Local Economy research and practitioner communities.
Cultural Considerations for Patient and Community Education in Global Health: A Qualitative Study in Lesotho
Authors: Kulesa John , Crawford Lexi , Ferrer Kathleen , Thahane Lineo , Sanders Jill , Ottolini Mary , Chua Ian
Published: May 2022

Background: In global health, international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) frequently hire, train, and partner with host-country clinicians who manage public outreach and patient care. Purpose and Research Design: We conducted a general interpretivist study of Basotho clinicians hired by NGOs and academic affiliates in Lesotho to identify cultural barriers and facilitators to community and patient education. Data Collection and Analysis: We conducted 13 interviews involving 16 participants (one physician, one nutritionist, 14 nurses). Using an inductive and iterative approach, we analyzed interview transcripts through the lens of social cognitive theory and identified 15 themes. Results: Major findings highlighted: 1) patient and community learners may view Basotho clinicians as authority figures; 2) family and community power dynamics affect healthcare access for vulnerable patient groups; and 3) village leaders may refuse community education when excluded from problem-solving and early planning. Conclusions: Although local clinicians and community members may identify with the same cultural group, clinicians can encounter cultural barriers to patient and community education.
Testing for anosmia and ageusia in patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Kentab Osama Y , Ibrahim Ahmad A Al , Soliman Khaled R , Alanazi Marzooqah , Alsunaid Ahmed , Ababtain Abdalmohsen , Alresseeni Abdulaziz I , Algarni Abdulaziz , Aljohani Khlalid , Aljahany Muna
Published: May 2022

Objective

This study investigated the role of objective olfactory dysfunction (OD) and gustatory dysfunction (GD) testing among patients with suspected coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who presented with respiratory symptoms.

Methods

A prospective, blinded, observational study was conducted in the emergency units of two tertiary hospitals. Participants were asked to identify scents in the pocket smell test (PST) and flavors in four different solutions in the gustatory dysfunction test (GDT). We assessed the level of agreement between objective findings and self-reported symptoms. We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of chemosensory dysfunction for diagnosing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.

Results

Of 250 participants, 74 (29.6%) were SARS-CoV-2-positive. There was slight agreement between self-reported symptoms and objective findings (kappa = 0.13 and 0.10 for OD and GD, respectively). OD assessed by the PST was independently associated with COVID-19 (adjusted odds ratio = 1.89, 95% confidence interval, 1.04–3.46). This association was stronger when OD was combined with objective GD, cough, and fever (adjusted odds ratio = 7.33, 95% confidence interval, 1.17–45.84).

Conclusions

Neither the PST nor GDT alone are useful screening tools for COVID-19. However, a diagnostic scale based on objective OD, GD, fever, and cough may help triage patients with suspected COVID-19.
Luseogliflozin inhibits high glucose-induced TGF-β2 expression in mouse cardiomyocytes by suppressing NHE-1 activity
Authors: Osaka Naoya , Mori Yusaku , Terasaki Michishige , Hiromura Munenori , Saito Tomomi , Yashima Hironori , Shiraga Yoshie , Kawakami Raichi , Ohara Makoto , Fukui Tomoyasu , Yamagishi Sho-ichi
Published: May 2022

Objective

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors exhibit cardioprotective properties in patients with diabetes. However, SGLT2 is not expressed in the heart, and the underlying molecular mechanisms are not fully understood. We investigated whether the SGLT2 inhibitor luseogliflozin exerts beneficial effects on high glucose-exposed cardiomyocytes via the suppression of sodium-hydrogen exchanger-1 (NHE-1) activity.

Methods

Mouse cardiomyocytes were incubated under normal or high glucose conditions with vehicle, luseogliflozin, or the NHE-1 inhibitor cariporide. NHE-1 activity and gene expression were evaluated by the SNARF assay and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis, respectively. Six-week-old male db/db mice were treated with vehicle or luseogliflozin for 6 weeks, and the hearts were collected for histological, RT-PCR, and western blot analyses.

Results

High glucose increased NHE-1 activity and transforming growth factor (Tgf)-β 2 mRNA levels in cardiomyocytes, both of which were inhibited by luseogliflozin or cariporide, whereas their combination showed no additive suppression of Tgf-β2 mRNA levels. Luseogliflozin attenuated cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis in db/db mice in association with decreased mRNA and protein levels of TGF-β2.

Conclusions

Luseogliflozin may suppress cardiac hypertrophy in diabetes by reducing Tgf-β2 expression in cardiomyocytes via the suppression of NHE-1 activity.
The trickle-down of political and economic control: On the organizational suppression of environmental scientists in government science
Authors: Saikkonen Sampsa , Väliverronen Esa
Published: May 2022

In many countries, attempts to suppress scientists as public experts have become more prevalent. In democratic countries, environmental scientists have been a particular focus of control. This article looks at structures and mechanisms of suppression of government researchers. It is based on a qualitative analysis of ten in-depth interviews with environmental researchers being employed or engaged in government science. The analysis is influenced by a power-theoretical perspective on the suppression of science. By analyzing the interviewees’ accounts, it scrutinizes the different ways in which political and economic control can trickle down in research organizations such as state research institutes and come to affect individual researchers. The focus is especially on the interlinking of political and economic influence of external actors with different forms and practices of control at the organizational level. Three forms of such trickle-down are identified and discussed: internalization of political and economic control, external influencing and bureaucratic control, and economic/interest group influence in research organizations. We argue that these forms of control function as a filtering layer of suppression between political and economic control and individual scientists out of the public eye regarding government science.
Gillian Hart in Beijing: Negotiating capitalist models at the World Bank–China nexus
Authors: Meulbroek Chris
Published: May 2022

Recent formulations of state capitalism tend to present it as a distinct system, anchored in China, in opposition to a neoliberal model represented by the United States and its global armatures. As an alternative to this binarism, this paper argues for Gillian Hart's relational-comparative approach to the geographies of the new state capitalism. It outlines three of Hart's theoretical-methodological principles—multiple trajectories, conjunctural analysis, and articulation—and demonstrates how they can be used to analyze the interrelations between “statist” and “liberal” development trajectories, through an empirical account of conjunctural struggles in and between China and the World Bank during the Tiananmen Square crisis. It argues that Tiananmen was an inflection point in the relation between the development trajectories of the Chinese state and the World Bank, where conflicts over the continuity of economic reform were simultaneously struggles over the boundaries of the state. Examining these institutions conjuncturally shows that China's “state capitalism” is not an opposite of the Bank's liberal model, but has been, in part, produced through power-laden contests over the meaning and materiality of state and market in multiple arenas.
Permafrost, thermal conditions and vegetation patterns since the mid-20th century: A remote sensing approach applied to Jotunheimen, Norway
Authors: Hallang Helen , Los Sietse O , Hiemstra John F
Published: May 2022

Northern high-alpine regions are currently experiencing rapid warming, which often results in the degradation of sub-surface permafrost and the upslope advancement of vegetation. The present study combines remotely sensed MODIS Land Surface Temperatures (LSTs) and the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) with observed air temperatures to model the thermal and vegetational dynamics in NE Jotunheimen (Norway) for the period 1957–2019. An altitudinal transect on the north-facing slope of Galdhøpiggen was used for ground truthing. Results indicate a substantial warming trend since the late 1950s, accompanied by increased NDVI. The spatial and temporal patterns of observed change were not uniform. Winter surface temperatures increased most rapidly, by 2.4–2.8°C at mid- and low altitudes (600–1500 m a.s.l.). The highest increases in NDVI (by ∼0.1) were detected during the growing season (April–September) and over the mid-range altitudes (1050–1500 m a.s.l.), that is, above the tree line on Galdhøpiggen. We attribute this to increased shrubification at these altitudes. Our results confirm that the surface temperatures near the previously estimated lower altitudinal limit of permafrost (∼1450 m a.s.l.) have continued to increase during the past decade, likely facilitating further permafrost degradation. Finally, we demonstrate that mapping remotely sensed mean growing season LSTs below 0°C can be used to identify areas suitable for continuous sub-surface permafrost, and mean June–September LSTs above 7°C can detect areas suitable for tree ( Betula pubescens) growth in NE Jotunheimen.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Activity Time Use and Timing Behavior in Switzerland
Authors: Mesaric Raphael , Mondal Aupal , Asmussen Katie , Molloy Joseph , Bhat Chandra R. , Axhausen Kay W.
Published: May 2022

This paper analyzes the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on activity time use and timing behavior in Switzerland. The evaluation is based on mobility tracking data collected in Switzerland during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has affected how people spend their time and schedule their activities throughout the day, subsequently creating new activity patterns. Because of the rare occurrences of pandemics in the recent past, little is known about their implications on the behavioral choices of affected people. This paper analyzes these implications by applying a multiple discrete-continuous choice model on mobility tracking data from Switzerland. The applied model is consistent with the results of the descriptive analysis and shows that the different stages of the pandemic drove changes in the activity patterns. During the lockdown, an increase in home activities comes along with decreases in the other activity types. With progressive relaxation of the measures in the following phases, the trends slowly return to the initial state before the pandemic. In addition, it can be seen that the impact of main drivers such as age, gender, household size, income and weather on time use and activity scheduling varies between phases, activity types, and time of day.