bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Natural resource rent, financial globalization, and environmental degradation: Evidence from a resource rich country
Authors: Akadiri Seyi Saint , Olasehinde-Willams Godwin , Haouas Ilham , Lawal Gold Olamide , Fatigun Ayodeji Samson , Sadiq-Bamgbopa Yetunde
Published: March 2023

This paper examines the role of financial globalization and natural resource rents on carbon emissions in the case of Nigeria from 1970 to 2020 using Breitung-Candelin Spectral Granger-causality and wavelet coherence analysis. The spectral analysis decomposes variability in a time series into its periodic components, which is preferable for series that are short-spanned, nonlinear, or are characterized by seasonal and economic episodes, while the wavelet coherence analysis could produce localized decompositions both in time and frequency domains. Using these techniques, we find a one-way causal effect running from financial globalization and natural resource rents to carbon emissions within the specified scale and time. Financial globalization and natural resource rents are useful for predicting environmental degradation in Nigeria. Thus, policymakers should factor in financial globalization and natural resource rent when formulating environmental policies to mitigate climate change effect for the immediate and future generations. Financial penetration should be channeled toward green investment. The deposit money banks should provide and prioritize credit only to firms and individuals that consider investing in modern and clean technologies, while the policy on exploration and exploitation of natural resources should review to attract foreign investors that would improve the existing technologies or bring in energy-efficient and energy-saving ones.
Why is one study technique superior to another?
Authors: Trafimow David
Published: March 2023

Reviewers on manuscripts or grant proposals often react positively if authors use in-favor study techniques and negatively if authors use not-in-favor study techniques. A tacit assumption is that the in-favor technique is superior to alternate techniques. However, study techniques for theory testing depend on auxiliary assumptions that connect nonobservational terms in theories with observational terms in empirical hypotheses. Therefore, the extent to which a technique is useful depends on the theory and empirical hypothesis under investigation. A technique might be useful from one theoretical perspective and not useful from another theoretical perspective. Or a technique might successfully connect to one empirical hypothesis but not another. The present work threshes out some of the relevant philosophical issues.
Households’ Willingness to Pay for Community-Based Health Insurance in the Southwest Region of Bangladesh
Authors: Alam Md. Tanzeer , Mamun Tasnim Murad , Akter Rozina
Published: March 2023

In Bangladesh, especially the informal sector workers are deprived of proper healthcare owing to high cost and lack of security like health insurance. The study aims to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) of the informal sector workers for premium-based health insurance on the basis of data collected from 210 households, where double bounded dichotomous choice (DBDC) model was applied. The study estimates that this working-class people are willing to pay a monthly premium of on average around BDT (Bangladeshi Taka) 315 (USD 3.66) in response to enjoy the facilities of health insurance scheme for a household comprising up to four family members. Moreover, the per household estimated average monthly optimum tariff rate of almost BDT 300 (USD 3.54) and monthly mean social optimum tariff rate of about BDT 100 (USD 1.18) indicate the assurance of socially desirable welfare for all of the market participants. By charging this tariff, approximately 97 percent of the people would enjoy access to community-based health insurance, in addition to generating revenue that is around 1.13 times the project’s cost. Even by charging this monthly mean social optimum tariff, approximately 97 percent of the households would enjoy the access to community-based health insurance; the generating revenue through that tariff rate is around 1.13 times of the probable cost for high service package health scheme. In order to alleviate the burden of the out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for this vulnerable community, the study advises policymakers to initiate health insurance scheme by maintaining effective supervision over market dynamics and fixing the best fit premium rate.
Macroeconomic Risk, Uncertainty and Financial Market Development: Emerging Markets Perspective
Authors: Abaidoo Rexford , Agyapong Elvis Kwame
Published: March 2023

The study examines the effect of macroeconomic instability on financial market development among economies in the sub-region of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using a sample of 31 countries from 1996 to 2019. The study focuses on how composite macroeconomic risk index and uncertainty associated with key macroeconomic variables influence the pace of development of financial markets in the sub-region. Empirical estimates and analyses in this regard were performed using the two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation technique. Results from the empirical estimates suggest that macroeconomic risk, inflation volatility and output growth volatility impede the development of financial markets among economies in the sub-region, holding all else constant. Further results show that improved governance and institutional quality may not be enough to assuage the negative impact of heightened macroeconomic risk and uncertainty on financial market development. Political instability, in contrast, is found to worsen the negative influence of macroeconomic risk and uncertainty on financial market development among economies in the SSA sub-region.
A Process Model of Career Decision-Making and Adaptation Under Uncertainty: Expanding the Dual-Process Theory of Career Decision-Making
Authors: Xu Hui , Flores Lisa Y.
Published: March 2023

The dual-process theory of career decision-making (DTC; Xu, 2021a ; 2021b ) resulted from a synthesized and critical reflection of career decision-making and related models in the contemporary psychosocial context of career development. The DTC features persistent decision uncertainty as a salient condition of contemporary career decision-making, and its theoretical framework and predictive model establish DTC’s conceptual and empirical foundation, respectively. However, the DTC and the career decision-making literature in general still lack a process-oriented prescriptive model that foregrounds decision uncertainty. Consequently, the extant literature fails to prescribe key decision-making components and procedures under decision uncertainty. Thus, drawing on the DTC, decision-making science, and existing models of career decision-making, we propose a four-stage process model, which involves four interlinked macro stages and micro steps within each stage. The model also involves five propositions to explain and predict the effects of important personal and environmental factors on the process and outcomes of each stage. We describe the DTC process model and use a case example to illustrate how the model can be applied in practice. Together, the DTC’s theoretical framework, predictive model, and process-oriented prescriptive model constitute a comprehensive theory regarding dynamic career decision-making and adaption in an uncertain world and offer diverse research and practical implications.
Sustainability Communication in Hotels: The Role of Cognitive Linguistics
Authors: Bernard Shaniel , Rahman Imran , Douglas Alecia
Published: March 2023

Efficiently communicating sustainability initiatives is critical to generating positive attitudes and pro-environmental behavior in hotel consumers. However, research on the combined effect of various message factors to improve environmental message persuasiveness is scant. To fill this gap, two studies were conducted with a sample of onsite and online hotel guests to offer new insights into the combined effect of language design elements that identify connectives and prepositional phrases with message content as essential grounding components of persuasion. Our results demonstrate the effectiveness of restriction-based language design on booking intention through nuanced mechanisms involving perceived environmental performance, perceived greenwashing, and environmental concern. This study contributes to the growing literature on sustainability marketing by examining the design and integration of linguistic tools that hospitality managers can use in their sustainability communication campaigns. Additional practical and theoretical implications are provided.
A Walk in the Park With Robodog: Navigating Around Pedestrians Using a Spot Robot as a “Guide Dog”
Authors: Due Brian L.
Published: March 2023

This article explores how visually impaired people (VIP) navigate around (a) stationary people and (b) moving people, when guided by the Boston Dynamics’ robotic “dog” and its human operator. By focusing on the micro-spatial dimensions of human mobility while being guided by a mobile robot, the paper argues that the VIP+robodog+operator is in situ emerging as a socio-material assemblage in which agency, perception, and trust gets distributed and that this distribution enables the accomplishment of navigation. The article is based on ethnomethodology and multimodal conversation analysis (EMCA) and a video ethnographic methodology. It contributes to studies in perception, agency, human–robot interaction, space and culture, and distributed co-operative action in socio-material settings.
The digital commons, cosmolocalism, and open cooperativism: The cases of P2P Lab and Tzoumakers
Authors: Papadimitropoulos Vangelis
Published: March 2023

The digital commons support novel organizational models such as cosmolocalism and open cooperativism that seek to challenge the capitalist mode of production. They set out to establish a counter-hegemony vis-à-vis the current hegemony of neoliberalism. The paper engages in the debate between Marinus Ossewaarde, Wessel Reijers and Vasilis Kostakis over the emancipatory potential of the digital commons by reviewing the P2P Lab and Tzoumakers as illustrative cases of cosmolocalism and open cooperativism. The paper shows that the P2P Lab and Tzoumakers exhibit core features of cosmolocalism and prefigure a sketch of open cooperativism. For the digital commons in general and P2P Lab/Tzoumakers in particular to contribute to the counter-hegemony of open cooperativism, it is necessary to link to a chain of equivalence criss-crossing the commons, ethical market entities and a partner state via cross-sectoral value propositions, inclusive governance, and economic models, innovative law policies and open sustainability standards, all aiming to force capitalism adjust to a commons-oriented post-capitalist transition.
Choroid plexus volume is enlarged in clinically isolated syndrome patients with optic neuritis
Authors: Klistorner Samuel , Van der Walt Anneke , Barnett Michael H , Butzkueven Helmut , Kolbe Scott , Parratt John , Yiannikas Con , Klistorner Alexander
Published: March 2023

Objectives:

We investigated choroid plexus (CP) volume in patients presenting with optic neuritis (ON) as a clinically isolated syndrome (CIS), compared to a cohort with established relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) and healthy controls (HCs).

Methods:

Three-dimensional (3D) T1, T2-FLAIR and diffusion-weighted sequences were acquired from 44 ON CIS patients at baseline, 1, 3, 6 and 12 months after the onset of ON. Fifty RRMS patients and 50 HCs were also included for comparison.

Results:

CP volumes was larger in both ON CIS and RRMS groups compared to HCs, but not significantly different between ON CIS and RRMS patients (analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) adjusted for multiple comparisons). Twenty-three ON CIS patients who converted to clinically definite MS (MS) demonstrated CP volume similar to RRMS patients, but significantly larger compared to HCs. In this sub-group, CP volume was not associated with the severity of optic nerve inflammation or long-term axonal loss, not with brain lesion load. A transient increase of CP volume was observed following an occurrence of new MS lesions on brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

Interpretation:

Enlarged CP can be observed very early in a disease. It transiently reacts to acute inflammation, but not associated with the degree of tissue destruction.
Past and present: Sir Ian Hill (1904–1982). A vignette
Authors: Verghese Abraham
Published: March 2023

Sir Ian Hill, who passed away in 1982, was a former President of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. His was an illustrious career, including a brief stint as Dean of the medical school in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The author, a current Fellow of the College describes a brief, yet life-changing encounter with Sir Ian as a student in Ethiopia.
A facile approach to fabricate room temperature intrinsic self-healing fabrics
Authors: Shuib Raa Khimi , Mohd Nizam Nuraina Hanim , Abd Aziz Azniwati
Published: March 2023

Self-healing fabrics have garnered a lot of attention due to their recovering functionality upon damage. This work describes a facile technique for developing a novel self-healing coating with the goal of producing autonomous intrinsic self-healing fabrics that can recover from damage at room temperature without the use of external stimuli. The coating was developed using natural rubber latex (NRL) and consisted of a dynamic reversible metal thiolate ionic network. The formation of the reversible ionic network was assessed by Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV-vis), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and zeta potential analysis. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) images revealed that the coating impregnated the fibres of the fabric and improved their structural integrity. The morphology of the punctured area revealed that intermolecular diffusion had occurred during the recovery and the sample had completely healed. The results also showed that the tensile strength, tear strength and puncture strength of the fabric achieved 100% healing efficiency when the damaged fabrics were brought into contact with each other and allowed to be healed at room temperature. This technology is expected to open up a new avenue in the textile industry.
Keto Is Not Just for Kids: A Randomized Trial of a Modified Atkins Diet for Adolescents and Adults With Anti-Seizure Medication-Resistant Epilepsy
Authors: Cervenka Mackenzie C.
Published: March 2023

[Box: see text]
Partial Heart Transplantation in Adult Cardiac Surgery
Authors: Sherard Curry , Bisbee Cora , Konsek Haley , Kang Lillian , Turek Joseph W. , Rajab Taufiek K.
Published: March 2023

Many young adults require heart valve replacements. Current options for valve replacement in adults include mechanical valves, bioprosthetic valves, or the Ross procedure. Of these, mechanical and bioprosthetic valves are the most common options, although mechanical valve usage predominates in younger adults due to durability, while bioprosthetic valve usage predominates in older adults. Partial heart transplantation is a new method of valvular replacement that can deliver durable and self-repairing valves and allow adult patients freedom from anticoagulation therapy. This procedure involves transplantation of donor heart valves only, permitting expanded utilization of donor hearts as compared with orthotopic heart transplantation. In this review, we discuss the potential benefits of this procedure in adults who elect against the anticoagulation regimen required of mechanical valve replacements, although it has not yet been clinically established. Partial heart transplantation is a promising new therapy for the treatment of pediatric valvular dysfunction. This is a novel technique in the adult population with potential utility for valve replacement in young patients for whom anticoagulation therapy is problematic, such as women who wish to become pregnant, patients with bleeding disorders, and patients with active lifestyles.
Urgent Combination of Robotic and MIDCAB Coronary Revascularization in a Morbidly Obese Patient
Authors: Torregrossa Gianluca , Sicouri Serge , Hosseinian Leila , Sutter Francis , Folesani Gianluca , Ramlawi Basel , Dokollari Aleksander
Published: March 2023

In this article, we focus on the important role of robot-assisted coronary surgery by reporting the successful case of a morbidly obese male (body mass index = 58 kg/m2) who presented to our center with severe coronary disease. A 54-year-old morbidly obese male presented with acute chest pain and was diagnosed with coronary artery disease. The culprit lesion was the left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. A percutaneous coronary intervention angiography attempted in a university hospital was not successful. Our heart team chose a hybrid robot-assisted revascularization (HCR) strategy based on the patient’s body size. The patient underwent left internal thoracic mammary artery to LAD bypass with uneventful postoperative recovery. Robotic HCR is a valuable strategy in morbidly obese patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting.
Developing the use of explicitation techniques in team games as a pedagogical tool for coaching practice
Authors: Hunter Alice Rebecca , Morgan Kevin , Harris Kerry , Santos Sofia , Mouchet Alain
Published: March 2023

Previous research has examined the use of phenomenological interviews post-performance with the aim of gaining subjective knowledge of the lived experience of players. However, to date, explicitation techniques have not been used within actual coaching sessions to enable the coach to gain greater insight into players’ decision-making experiences. The aim of the study was to develop the use of explicitation techniques as a pedagogical tool within coaching sessions. As the coach, I (the first author) was one of the participants in the study. I recruited five Korfball players (M = 2, F = 3, aged between 21 and 26 years) as participants to develop my use of explicitation techniques with. The study used an Action Research (AR) approach and data collection methods included audio recordings of the explicitation techniques, fieldnotes, analytic memos and focus groups. Thematic data analysis was used to identify trends and patterns and make sense of the multiple sources of data. The findings were focused on the pedagogical strategies and adaptations used to develop the use of the explicitation techniques in coaching practice. These revealed that facilitating an evocative state through questioning requires practice and experience but is beneficial for coaching practice to understand players’ lived experiences. The approach enabled me to gain greater insight into the players’ reactive decision-making processes and a better understanding of what they were seeing and feeling in decision-making moments. It is anticipated that in turn, this will enable myself and other coaches to design and facilitate better coaching sessions.
Queen Sono: Netflix Original as postfeminist South African spy thriller
Authors: Bradfield Shelley-Jean
Published: March 2023

This article explores Netflix’s changing business strategies to diversify its catalogues, examining the practices of ‘direct commissioning’ and genre adaptation. The case study of Queen Sono, the first Netflix African Original, reveals how the spy thriller conventions are leveraged to attract a Western audience even as the series is adapted to the African context. Although Queen is portrayed as a female spy with clear moral impulses, I argue that her agency is constrained by the male-dominated spy thriller conventions and the transnational postfeminist sensibility of the series which Netflix paradoxically needs to utilise to attract both African and transnational subscribers.
‘Joking aside’ The power of rejections in humour
Authors: Söderlund Hanna
Published: March 2023

Response is an effective tool for exercising power in humour, since it can make a person seem funny. In the same way, the lack of response can make a person seem unfunny. In this article I argue that failed jokes make a female skiing pundit on TV seem humourless and that this is due to the other interlocutors refraining from giving adequate responses. The material is from a sports programme about cross-country skiing on Swedish Television. The aim of the case study is to find out how power is exercised discursively in humour that fails and to discuss possible implications the rejections may have on notions of gender. The theoretical framework used is a feminist post-structuralist discourse analysis in combination with an analysis of internal and external control mechanisms. The discursive practice of repeated rejections of the female pundit may have consequences for her possibilities in seeming humorous.
Pulmonary sarcoidosis complicated by rheumatoid arthritis in a patient presenting with progressive fibrosing interstitial lung disease and treated with nintedanib: a case report and literature review
Authors: Suzuki Ayana , Kamio Koichiro , Takeno Mitsuhiro , Terasaki Yasuhiro , Taniuchi Namiko , Sato Junpei , Nishijima Nobuhiko , Saito Yoshinobu , Seike Masahiro , Gemma Akihiko , Azuma Arata
Published: March 2023

Sarcoidosis is a multisystem disease with an unknown etiology and is characterized by the formation of noncaseating granulomas in the affected organs. We present the case of a 69-year-old male Japanese patient with bilateral hilar lymphadenopathy on chest radiographs for more than 10 years, left without further investigation. The patient reported no clinical symptoms. Chest computed tomography revealed ground-glass opacities and reticular shadows in both lungs, along with bilateral hilar and mediastinal lymphadenopathy. Lymphocytosis was observed in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. Pathological examination of transbronchial lung biopsy revealed noncaseating, epithelioid granulomas congruous with sarcoidosis, together with other findings. There were no abnormalities on electrocardiogram, echocardiogram, and ophthalmic examination.

For progressive dyspnea on exertion, systemic corticosteroid therapy with oral prednisolone (25 mg/day) was initiated in 2017 and gradually tapered. Despite this intervention, the decline in forced vital capacity (FVC) was accelerated. Three years later, the patient noticed swelling in his right wrist. Further investigation revealed elevated anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide antibodies and absence of noncaseating epithelioid granuloma on surgical biopsy, leading to the diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Thereafter, the anti-fibrotic agent nintedanib was initiated, because interstitial lung disease (ILD) was considered to have converted into a progressive fibrosing phenotype (PF-ILD) with overlapping RA-associated lung involvement. With treatment, the progression of decline in FVC was slowed, although home oxygen therapy was introduced.
Exertional Heat Illness: Adoption of Policies and Influencing Contextual Factors as Reported by Athletic Administrators
Authors: Scarneo-Miller Samantha E. , Adams William M. , Coleman Kelly A. , Lopez Rebecca M.
Published: March 2023

Background:

Little is known about the adoption by athletic administrators (AAs) of exertional heat illness (EHI) policies, and the corresponding facilitators and barriers of such policies within high school athletics. This study describes the adoption of comprehensive EHI policies by high school AAs and explores factors influencing EHI policy adoption.

Hypothesis:

We hypothesized that <50% of AAs would report adoption of an EHI policy, and that the most common facilitator would be access to an athletic trainer (AT), whereas the most common barrier would be financial limitations.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional.

Level of Evidence:

Level 4.

Methods:

A total of 466 AAs (82.4% male; age, 48 ± 9 years) completed a validated online survey to assess EHI prevention and treatment policy adoption (11 components), as well as facilitators and barriers to policy implementation. Access to athletic training services was ascertained by matching the participants’ zip codes with the Athletic Training Locations and Services Project. Policy adoption, facilitators, and barriers data are presented as summary statistics (proportions, interquartile range (IQR)). A Welch t test evaluated the association between access to athletic training services and EHI policy adoption.

Results:

Of the AAs surveyed, 77.9% (n = 363) reported adopting a written EHI policy. The median of EHI policy components adopted was 5 (IQR = 1,7), with only 5.6% (n = 26) of AAs reporting adoption of all policy components. AAs who had access to an AT ( P = 0.04) were more likely to adopt a greater number of EHI-related policies, compared with those without access to an AT. An AT employed at the school was the most frequently reported facilitator (36.9%).

Conclusion:

Most AAs reported having written EHI policy components, and access to an AT resulted in a more comprehensive policy.

Clinical Relevance:

Employment of an AT within high school athletics may serve as a vital component in facilitating the adoption of comprehensive EHI policies.
The potential of ketamine for posttraumatic stress disorder: a review of clinical evidence
Authors: Ragnhildstveit Anya , Roscoe Jeremy , Bass Lisa C. , Averill Christopher L. , Abdallah Chadi G. , Averill Lynnette A.
Published: March 2023

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a devastating condition, for which there are few pharmacological agents, often with a delayed onset of action and poor efficacy. Trauma-focused psychotherapies are further limited by few trained providers and low patient engagement. This frequently results in disease chronicity as well as psychiatric and medical comorbidity, with considerable negative impact on quality of life. As such, off-label interventions are commonly used for PTSD, particularly in chronic refractory cases. Ketamine, an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NDMA) receptor antagonist, has recently been indicated for major depression, exhibiting rapid and robust antidepressant effects. It also shows transdiagnostic potential for an array of psychiatric disorders. Here, we synthesize clinical evidence on ketamine in PTSD, spanning case reports, chart reviews, open-label studies, and randomized trials. Overall, there is high heterogeneity in clinical presentation and pharmacological approach, yet encouraging signals of therapeutic safety, efficacy, and durability. Avenues for future research are discussed.
Physical activities pre- and post-COVID-19 vaccination and its implementations: A narrative review
Authors: AL-Mhanna Sameer Badri , Wan Ghazali Wan Syaheedah , Maqsood Afsheen , Mohamed Mahaneem , Ahmed Naseer , Afolabi Hafeez Abiola , Mutalub Yahkub Babatunde , Heboyan Artak , Zafar Muhammad Sohail
Published: March 2023

Coronavirus disease 2019 is a severe communicable pulmonary medical problem that has been a challenging disease for everyone in the globe, but vaccines development and administration against this severe acute respiratory syndrome-inducing disease (coronavirus disease 2019) are currently yielding fabulous results. The mean duration of the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic for this study spanned from 2020 until 2022. These manifestations are accompanied by symptoms of respiratory tract illnesses such as non-productive cough, sore throat, and nasal discharge. Relevant reviews on coronavirus disease 2019 manifestations and outcomes, consisting mainly of the infections/outbreaks, experimental information, and pre- and post-serovaccination details that occurred, were described. After a typical vaccination course, the study aims to summarize and understand more about the effectiveness of exercise on the pre-and post-coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination and its implementations. Physical activity is an immunological function adjuvant to decrease communicable disease risk and enhance immunity post-viral infection vaccination. Moderate-intensity resistance exercisesession directly before getting the influenza vaccine decreases vaccine responses in older adults, such as redness, pain, or inflammation at the injection spot or other adverse consequences compared to the inactive circumstance. However, it was reported that exercise after a shot is generally safe as long as vaccinated people feel well enough. Though exercise before or after vaccination has no negative impact on the protection afforded by the vaccine, people can exercise immediately after receiving the vaccine, as any changes in blood flow will not affect the vaccine’s response. One episode of light-to-moderate-intensifying exercise after vaccination may improve the antibody reactions to influenza or the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine. Vaccination administered pre- and post-regular exercise is an effective approach for boosting antibody responses due to its immunostimulant effects. Future research should investigate how different vaccine antibodies respond to low, moderate, and high physical activity levels.
An artificially intelligent, natural language processing chatbot designed to promote COVID-19 vaccination: A proof-of-concept pilot study
Authors: Zhou Shuo , Silvasstar Joshva , Clark Christopher , Salyers Adam J , Chavez Catia , Bull Sheana S
Published: March 2023

Objective

Our goal is to establish the feasibility of using an artificially intelligent chatbot in diverse healthcare settings to promote COVID-19 vaccination.

Methods

We designed an artificially intelligent chatbot deployed via short message services and web-based platforms. Guided by communication theories, we developed persuasive messages to respond to users’ COVID-19-related questions and encourage vaccination. We implemented the system in healthcare settings in the U.S. between April 2021 and March 2022 and logged the number of users, topics discussed, and information on system accuracy in matching responses to user intents. We regularly reviewed queries and reclassified responses to better match responses to query intents as COVID-19 events evolved.

Results

A total of 2479 users engaged with the system, exchanging 3994 COVID-19 relevant messages. The most popular queries to the system were about boosters and where to get a vaccine. The system's accuracy rate in matching responses to user queries ranged from 54% to 91.1%. Accuracy lagged when new information related to COVID emerged, such as that related to the Delta variant. Accuracy increased when we added new content to the system.

Conclusions

It is feasible and potentially valuable to create chatbot systems using AI to facilitate access to current, accurate, complete, and persuasive information on infectious diseases. Such a system can be adapted to use with patients and populations needing detailed information and motivation to act in support of their health.
The utility of phonocardiograms in real-time remote cardiac auscultation using an internet-connected electronic stethoscope: Open-label randomized controlled pilot trial
Authors: Hirosawa Takanobu , Ito Takahiro , Harada Yukinori , Ikenoya Kohei , Yokose Masashi , Shimizu Taro
Published: March 2023

Background

We have shown classical cardiac auscultation was superior to remote auscultation. We developed a phonocardiogram system to visualize sounds in remote auscultation.

Objective

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of phonocardiograms on the diagnostic accuracy in remote auscultation using a cardiology patient simulator.

Methods

In this open-label randomized controlled pilot trial, we randomly assigned physicians to the real-time remote auscultation group (control group) or the real-time remote auscultation with the phonocardiogram group (intervention group). Participants attended a training session in which they auscultated 15 sounds with the correct classification. After that, participants attended a test session where they had to classify 10 sounds. The control group auscultated the sounds remotely using an electronic stethoscope, an online medical program and a 4-K TV speaker without watching the TV screen. The intervention group performed auscultation like the control group but watched the phonocardiogram on the TV screen. The primary and secondary outcomes were the total test scores and each sound score, respectively.

Results

A total of 24 participants were included. The total test score in the intervention group (80/120, 66.7%) was higher than that in the control group (66/120, 55.0%), although the difference was statistically insignificant ( P = .06). The correct answer rates of each sound were not different. Valvular/irregular rhythm sounds were not misclassified as normal sounds in the intervention group.

Conclusions

Using a phonocardiogram improved the total correct answer rate by more than 10% in remote auscultation, although statistically insignificant. The phonocardiogram could help physicians screen valvular/irregular rhythm sounds from normal sounds.

Trial registration

UMIN-CTR UMIN000045271; https://upload.umin.ac.jp/cgi-open-bin/ctr/ctr_view.cgi?recptno=R000051710
Islamophobia: Causes and countermeasures
Authors: Rashid Muhammad Imran , Iqbal Muhammad Mehran , Tanvir Muhammad
Published: March 2023

A cliché arises when Islam is claimed to be the source of a succession of terrorist attacks. As a result, several states have been concerned about and distrustful of Muslims—Islamophobia. Islamophobia is linked to unfavorable stereotypes about Muslims and Islam, which leads to the formation of anti-Islam sentiment. Prejudice stems from the belief that Islam is a lesser faith that poses a challenge to society's prevailing ideals. Because of its dichotomous function, the media has become the focus of attention in the instance of Islamophobia. It has become the source of the symptoms of Islamophobia. As a human civilization that relies on revenue to survive, Muslim communities have witnessed Islamophobia wreaking havoc on their businesses, overall economy, and resources. Islamophobia is a global issue associated with unfavorable attitudes and biases toward Muslims and Islam; it requires proper knowledge, good reporting, and appropriate representation at the international level.
A 20-20 Culture Communication Template Tool for Multinational Management
Authors: Bharadwaj Apoorva
Published: March 2023

The article deals with intercultural business communication challenges that complicate discourses in multinational organizations. The article explores the cultural incompatibility problems with their corresponding cultural dimensions extracted from the seminal theories of intercultural management to identify training needs for multinational managers. The fulcrum of this work rests on the salient value orientations that lead to communication collapses when managers from different countries fail to accomplish optimal cultural attunement in their narratives and script their conversations with ethnocentric biases. To counter these debilitating stressful intercultural conversations, the author presents an innovative training solution of a “20-20 culture-communication template tool” for coaching managers for effective production of ethno-relative dialogues across diverse geo-cultural economies. This culture tool uses a 20-point culture questionnaire format with the complementary application apparatus of 20 culture sensitivity programs that organizations can undertake for a quick tutoring of multinational managers for forging successful intercultural coalitions in plural work spaces.
A Qualitative Inquiry of Women's Perspective of Antenatal Education Services in Oman
Authors: AlDughaishi Maha Y. K. , Matua Gerald Amandu , Seshan Vidya
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Antenatal care (ANC) provides an opportunity for systematic assessment and follow-up of pregnant women to ensure positive outcomes for mother and foetus. Pregnant women should be offered evidence-based information with support to enable them to make informed decisions.

Objective

To identify the gap between the current practices and the recommended guidelines for antenatal education services in Oman.

Methods

A qualitative inquiry was implemented through semistructured in-depth interviews guided by open-ended questions and probes. A purposive non-probability sampling technique was used to select 13 pregnant women who had completed 30 weeks of gestation. The women were selected from 9 antenatal healthcare facilities among them: 7 primary health centers, one polyclinic and one, tertiary hospital.

Results

Antenatal education focused on four thematic areas of safe pregnancy; safe labor and birth; postpartum care; and new-born care. Regarding antenatal education for safe pregnancy, the findings indicate that most healthcare workers provided pregnant women adequate information to promote healthy dietary habits; cope with pregnancy symptoms; recognize and manage medical conditions, and to adhere to dietary supplements and medication. In addition, the findings revealed that the healthcare team did not provide the required antenatal education to meet the pregnant women's needs to ensure they had safe labor and birth, postpartum care, and new-born care.

Conclusion

This study is the first of its kind in Oman to provide baseline data regarding the current antenatal education services from the perspective of pregnant women. These findings will help in developing strategies to improve maternal and neonatal outcomes in the country.
Development and Validation of the Soft Skills Questionnaire for Nurses
Authors: Aridi Mona , Ahmad Manal , Ghach Wissam , Charifeh Samiha , Alwan Nisreen
Published: March 2023

Introduction

Skills challenge has been given great attention for its impact on employees’ performance. Various approaches have been put forward to design professional development programs that help in preparing nurses to work in the field and ongoing training programs to keep them up to each new method and technique at the interpersonal improvement level.

Objective

To develop and validate a questionnaire that tests the communication and management skills, emotional intelligence, and confidentiality of nurses in Lebanon.

Methods

The questionnaire, consisting of 25 statements, was generated and developed by experts in the field of nursing, soft skills, and questionnaire development. The items of the questionnaire were assessed using face, content, and construct validity and data validation was examined through psychometric properties at the final stage of the validation. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed through Cronbach alpha ([Formula: see text]). Further analyses were carried out to decide on the number of factors to be extracted using Oblimin Rotation method. All statistical tests were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS 20.0).

Results

Nineteen items of the 25-item scale had an I-CVI of 1.00 and the remaining six items had an I-CVI of 0.87. The S-CVI/UA was 0.76 and the S-CVI/Ave was 0.97, which meant that the items were good for the underlying construct. For the psychometric measures, the results were quite accepted and satisfactory. The Kaiser–Meyer–Oklin measure of sampling adequacy and the significance for the Bartlett's test for the whole questionnaire were quite acceptable with 0.680 and 0.000, respectively. Furthermore, the Cronbach alpha ( α) value was 0.824 indicating a high internal consistency between the items of the questionnaire. While obtaining exploratory factor analysis for each section, results showed that Oblimin Rotation method should be applied to the last section in which three items were eliminated to maintain a simple factor structure.

Conclusion

This study shows that the 25-item Soft Skills Questionnaire is a valid and reliable tool for evaluating the level of communication of nurses, their emotional intelligence, confidentiality, and management.
Making development legible to capital: The promise and limits of ‘innovative’ debt financing for the Sustainable Development Goals in Indonesia
Authors: Yunita Abbie , Biermann Frank , Kim Rakhyun E , Vijge Marjanneke J
Published: March 2023

Aligning private finance with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promises to close the multi-trillion-dollar SDG ‘financing gap’ while unlocking trillions more in market opportunities. This article explores the processes mobilised for this alignment in Indonesia, an emerging country exemplified as a site where such opportunities are profuse. We do so through assessing modalities of planning, prototyping and building project pipelines designed to facilitate market development for green and SDG bonds. As these types of bonds are supposedly used only to finance socially and environmentally beneficial projects, they are placed at the forefront of innovations to align financial returns with sustainable development outcomes. To make sense of what these forms of innovative finance do, we weave scholarship on the financialisation of development and on (shifting) governance practices surrounding the development project, together with empirical material gathered from SDG finance events, document analysis and semi-structured interviews. We argue that the processes shaping market development for green and SDG bonds functionally iterate upon and extend an open-ended project of making development legible to capital: to see and act on the SDGs as an investable proposition. This legibility rests upon and engenders standard(ising) techniques to define what counts as ‘green’ and ‘sustainable’ in ways that (in)visibilise impacts, promising – albeit speculatively – the realisation of social, environmental and financial goals. Here, the SDGs provide the institutional locus to enliven this promise, erasing the unevenness of finance-oriented development and legitimising capitalist modes of ‘seeing’ and ‘doing’ development around this promissory imaginary.
A Precipitant Less Appreciated: A Glance at Cases of Tuberculosis Manifesting with Guillain Barre Syndrome
Authors: Porey Camelia , Jaiswal Binaya Kumar
Published: March 2023

Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is an immune triggered inflammatory polyneuropathy precipitated by various triggers by means of cross reactivity and molecular mimicry. Tuberculosis (TB) of any organ, although may produce features of peripheral neuropathy, has rarely been associated with GBS. We describe a middle-aged female patient in whom pulmonary TB manifested with GBS primarily without any prominent constitutional symptoms and review the literature to strengthen our viewpoint in this regard. The treatment with immunomodulators is beneficial with good outcome and thus early diagnosis and intervention is suggested.
Recurrent post-operative endophthalmitis caused by Sphingomonas paucimobilis despite vitrectomy – a case and review of the literature
Authors: Tran Luke , Hayes Rylan , Apel Andrew , Moloney Thomas P
Published: March 2023

Over the past 20 years, scattered reports have emerged about a low virulence, gram negative bacillus, Sphingomonas paucimobilis, causing unpredictable clinical presentations of endophthalmitis. Previous reports have characterised the organism as being resistant to aggressive treatment and prone to recurrence up to several months later, with few warning signs of any residual infection. We report a case of a 75 year-old male who returned 10 days after a left eye cataract surgery with an atypical, indolent endophthalmitis. He was treated with broad-spectrum intravitreal antibiotics and vitrectomy, and despite initial improvement, the patient suffered a recurrence after 2 weeks, necessitating successive rounds of intravitreal antibiotics. While our patient was able to achieve an excellent final visual acuity of 6/9, there are several cases in the literature reporting similar cases with much worse visual outcomes. Further research is required to elucidate early warning signs that may indicate a recurrence of S. paucimobilis infection, and the underlying mechanism by which it is resistant to standard endophthalmitis therapy. Alongside this case, we review and summarise the literature on postoperative endophthalmitis involving this organism.
scEvoNet: a gradient boosting-based method for prediction of cell state evolution
Authors: Kotov Aleksandr , Zinovyev Andrei , Monsoro-Burq Anne-Helene
Published: March 2023

Background

Exploring the function or the developmental history of cells in various organisms provides insights into a given cell type's core molecular characteristics and putative evolutionary mechanisms. Numerous computational methods now exist for analyzing single-cell data and identifying cell states. These methods mostly rely on the expression of genes considered as markers for a given cell state. Yet, there is a lack of scRNA-seq computational tools to study the evolution of cell states, particularly how cell states change their molecular profiles. This can include novel gene activation or the novel deployment of programs already existing in other cell types, known as co-option.

Results

Here we present scEvoNet, a Python tool for predicting cell type evolution in cross-species or cancer-related scRNA-seq datasets. ScEvoNet builds the confusion matrix of cell states and a bipartite network connecting genes and cell states. It allows a user to obtain a set of genes shared by the characteristic signature of two cell states even between distantly-related datasets. These genes can be used as indicators of either evolutionary divergence or co-option occurring during organism or tumor evolution. Our results on cancer and developmental datasets indicate that scEvoNet is a helpful tool for the initial screening of such genes as well as for measuring cell state similarities.

Conclusion

The scEvoNet package is implemented in Python and is freely available from https://github.com/monsoro/scEvoNet. Utilizing this framework and exploring the continuum of transcriptome states between developmental stages and species will help explain cell state dynamics.
Explaining the burden of psychosocial factors on the worsening symptoms of MS: a qualitative study of patients' experiences
Authors: Pourhaji Fahimeh , Peyman Nooshin , Taraghdar Mousa Mahdizadeh , Jamali Jamshid , Tehrani Hadi
Published: March 2023

Background

This study was conducted with the aim of identifying the burden of psychosocial factors on the worsening symptoms of multiple sclerosis.

Methods

This as conducted with a qualitative approach and conventional content analysis among patients with Multiple sclerosis in Mashhad. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with patients with Multiple sclerosis. Twenty-one patients with Multiple sclerosis were selected through purposive sampling and snowball sampling. The data were analyzed using Graneheim and Lundman method. Guba and Lincoln's criteria were used for evaluating research transferability. The data collection and management was performed by using the MAXQADA 10 software.

Results

In explanation of the psychosocial factors of patients with Multiple sclerosis, one category (psychosocial tensions) and three subcategories of stress (physical symptoms, emotional symptoms, and behavioral symptoms), agitation (family disorder, treatment-related concerns, and social relationship concerns), and stigmatization (social stigma and internalized stigma) were extracted.

Conclusion

The results of this study show that patients with Multiple sclerosis are faced with concerns such as stress, agitation, and fear of stigma, and need support and understanding from the family and community to overcome these concerns. Society must base its health policies on addressing the challenges faced by patients.

Accordingly, the authors argue that health policies, and consequently, healthcare systems, need to address patients’ ongoing challenges as a priority in caring for patients with Multiple sclerosis.