bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Keeping the Faith
Authors: Greenhill Hannum Gillian
Published: October 2023

In many cultures, women are the “keepers of the faith,” despite the fact that masculine pronouns are often used to identify deity or deities in most of the world’s major religions. In addition, many foundational leaders of these faiths were male—Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Muhammed, and Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha). This double issue of Religion and the Arts seeks to explore the ways in which contemporary artists who identify as women or are non-binary or third gender engage with spirituality, both in the context of different faith traditions and as unaffiliated spiritual seekers. The essays include: Scholarly explorations of contemporary artists’ engagement with religion and/or spirituality in the context of cultural roots; faith, religion and/or spirituality as a source of inspiration in art making for women artists, inclusive of trans and gender non-conforming people; relationships between religious traditions and gender fluidity as explored by contemporary artists; consideration of how women and gender non-conforming artists around the world are grappling with religiosity in their cultures and personal artistic practices; and the role of contemporary art made by women and/or gender-fluid artists in encouraging dialogue around religious belief.
Diné Decolonization
Authors: Hawley Elizabeth S.
Published: October 2023

In 2019, Diné artist Bean (Jolene) Nenibah Yazzie and their partner, poet and Tribal health advocate Hannabah Blue (also Diné), decided to get married. Desiring a traditional Diné ceremony, they sought a medicine person who would conduct a marriage ceremony. They struggled to find one, instead experiencing the homophobic and misogynistic ramifications of settler colonialism that continue to echo in their community. As in many Indigenous cultures, pre-invasion Diné customs considered women to be powerful leaders and protectors of their communities, and these customs simultaneously accepted and even celebrated gender variance beyond the cisgender male-female binary. But with colonization came the imposition of reductive gender roles drained of both respect for women and recognition of non-binary identities.
On the Threshold of Different Realms
Authors: Ho Louis
Published: October 2023

The motif of the mortal-spectral threshold runs through the practice of Singapore-based artist, Zarina Muhammad. Born Malay-Muslim, she identifies as a queer animist: her body of work is oriented around notions of the interstitial spaces that exist between the living and the otherworldly in Southeast Asian traditions, incorporating elements of ritual, magic, and the supernatural, poised in the discursive space between animist belief and monotheistic orthodoxy. It is the concept of spectrality, as an organizing metaphor, that provides the primary framework within which her installations and moving images are deciphered. Here, the ghostly and incorporeal are as much synonyms for the sphere of the spiritual and paranormal, as they are analogies for the socially other-ed and systematically marginalized, excluded by dominant ideologies and systems. In the context of the heteronormative, technocratic order and orthodox Islamic lifeworld of twenty-first century Singapore, Zarina’s intersecting identities as a queer, Malay-Muslim woman are read as apparitions of alterity, haunting the margins of hegemonic structures. The liminal site of the threshold signifies the spectral realms invoked in her work, and ultimately serves to metaphorize broader socio-cultural realities.
‘Flipping Job’
Authors: Ellington Scott A.
Published: October 2023

Interpretations of Job have traditionally focused on the question of theodicy and, because the book offers no clear response to the problems of God’s justice in the face of innocent suffering, suggested explanations have ranged widely and lack scholarly consensus. This article explores the suggestion that the book’s focus is not on God’s justice, but rather on the failure of the Friends as they accuse and victimize rather than support and encourage an innocent sufferer. This study will consider the significance of friendship, the role of the Satan, offering right and wrong speech, the representational nature of Job’s suffering, and the model presented to the community of faith by the Friends’ failed speech and negative example.
The Dangers of Pentecostal Practice
Authors: Kamenicky Michael Austin
Published: October 2023

This article reevaluates the formative power of speaking in tongues through dialogue with Lauren Winner’s The Dangers of Christian Practice. It uses Winner’s notion of ‘characteristic damage’, her idea that the characteristic good of a practice can be damaged in unique ways, to engage previous scholarly accounts that have argued for the formative and deformative potential of glossolalia and xenolalia. By juxtaposing these accounts with one another, in light of Winner’s framework, this article seeks to enrich the theological perspective on tongues. Ultimately, its examination of these conflicting accounts yields a constructive synthesis that posits entanglement as the characteristic good of speaking in tongues, both as glossolalia and xenolalia. This final synthesis enables an account of God’s gifts that is honest about both the goodness of the gift and the brokenness of the recipient.
Letter to a Young Pentecostal Scholar
Authors: Green Chris E.W.
Published: October 2023

This letter urges younger scholars in the Azusa Street tradition to take seriously their calling to the church, providing a critical description of Pentecostal theological education and offering a vision of a promising future. In agreement with Cheryl Bridges Johns, the letter argues that Pentecostal seminaries, colleges, and universities not only should exist, they can deliver a recognizably Pentecostal theological education, training ministers to do their sacred work in ways faithful to the distinctive spirituality of the Azusa Street tradition.
African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation
Authors: Bowens Lisa M.
Published: October 2023

African American Readings of Paul: Reception, Resistance, and Transformation is the first monograph devoted to investigating a historical trajectory of how African Americans have understood the apostle Paul and utilized his work in their own writings. The central question the book explores is how African Americans interpreted Paul and the Pauline epistles from the 1700s to the mid-twentieth century. Readers will find analyses of primary texts that include petitions, sermons, essays, and autobiographies. The book also examines conversion narratives from the formerly enslaved and their use of Paul to describe these supernatural encounters. The research included in the book involves a three-layered nexus of historical, theological, and biblical inquiry.
The Dialectics of Place and Pastoral Practice
Authors: Cotterill Aden
Published: October 2023

This paper examines theologically how the concept of place – particularly the dialectics of place – might shape pastoral ministry of the church. It firstly surveys a body of literature that argues that the church and its pastors ought to be committed to emplacement, a politics of inhabitation (Inge; Rumsey; Berry; Kemmis; Hauerwas; Quash; Williams). Secondly, it engages other interlocutors (O’Donovan; Lacoste; Nausner; Friedman; Gill) to demonstrate that this sound emphasis on emplacement of church ministers nevertheless risks neglecting the dialectics of place: staying and leaving, roots and routes, are also crucial elements of place. Finally, the essay offers its own contribution to the literature by proposing how the concept of the dialectics of place might be better accounted for in ministry through an emphasis on pilgrimage in the pastorate that does not neglect emplacement.
Does the Anglican Communion have a Promise? A Response to The Promise of Anglicanism by Heaney and Sachs
Authors: Lin Khee-Vun
Published: October 2023

The Promise of Anglicanism by Heaney and Sachs reframes Anglicanism from the perspective of mission, offering a positive and hopeful portrayal of an Anglican Communion presently riven by conflict. However, upon scrutiny, its notions of ‘catholicity from below’, its perception of ‘mission’, and its proposed ‘community of practice’ embody an understanding of individuality that can hinder the cultivation of the common good and subsequently, further impair the pursuit of genuine Christian fellowship within the Communion. Furthermore, these premises would contribute to the Communion’s present shift towards pluralism. The antidote then, is argued to be intentional corporate reasoning which can only come about through the tightening of current practices of conciliarity within the Communion.
Texturen der Zukunft
Authors: Strohmaier Paul
Published: October 2023

This article focuses on the relation between early-modern discourses on the interpretation of dreams, esp. prophetic dreams, and the novel. Rabelais’ Tiers livre, Sorel’s Histoire comique de Francion and Grimmelshausen’s Simplicissimus Teutsch all betray a detailed awareness of this type of prognostic knowledge, on whose epistemological claims, however, they launch severe, often comical attacks. Instead, they implicitly advocate for a different conception of the future, whose inherent unpredictability finds itself at odds with the idea of knowing it in advance (pro-gnosis). At the same time, this new temporality constitutes a chief characteristic of the genre of the novel itself.
Swindling in the Shop
Authors: Kadir Hatib Abdul
Published: October 2023

This research illustrates the crafty practices of deceit employed by Butonese farmers and their ethnic Chinese employers in Maluku. These acts of deception reveal the continuing mistrust between these ethnically different groups within their economically interdependent hierarchical relationships. People deceive each other, but they still build interdependent, hierarchical relationships despite these deceptions. This deceit does not operate in the form of a political-resistance movement but pragmatically, as a game, in order to receive additional income. It is based on Butonese dissatisfaction with their ethnic Chinese patrons and the issue of surplus values. Farmers struggle with the value of their commodities’ surplus, employees over their labour, and ethnic Chinese traders over their money. However, while this dissatisfaction is not publicly expressed, everybody knows, or tahu sama tahu. The problems faced by these farmer-trader-local ethnic group relationships are mostly built on the basis of ‘an open secret’ of deception and bribery that stems from the long, deep history of social relations between the local Malukans, the migrant Butonese, and the Chinese traders.
Reconnecting with the Urban Vernacular through Post-New Order Visual Art
Authors: Jurriëns Edwin
Published: October 2023

Indonesia’s urbanization and economic development projects during the New Order established regimes of visuality that ignored aspects of everyday urban life. Contemporary Indonesian artists attempt to share untold histories and stories of everyday life from the urban past or give expression to the social and creative challenges and opportunities of the urban present. This article focuses on multimedia artist Maryanto and new media art collective Ruang MES 56. Maryanto’s use of allegory and his notion of art as a ‘space of exception’ constitute thoughtful ways of engaging with the transformations of people’s urban environments and identities. MES 56’s work utilizes the critical and humorous potential of the ludic to deal with the new urban realities and possibilities under democratic reform. I argue that artistic exception does not exclude but in some ways strengthens, and in other ways contradicts, reconnection with the everyday realities of Indonesian urban life.
Diversity assessment and listing of birds in Mt. Santo Tomas Forest Reserve in Tuba, Benguet Northern Philippines
Authors: Alfonso Gerry M.
Published: October 2023

The study identified, listed, and determined birds’ eco classes, conservation status, relative abundance, and endemism while quantifying and comparing species diversity, richness, evenness, and community composition among agricultural areas, pine and mossy forests in Mt. Santo Tomas Forest Reserve in Tuba, Benguet, Northern Philippines. Forty-one species of birds under twenty-five families were listed and identified within the agricultural lands, mossy, and pine forests. Twenty-two bird species are endemic (53.66%) or only found in the Philippines, indicating high endemism in the forest reserve. Of the endemic bird species, two are classified as vulnerable and threatened. Incidentally, ranks 6 and 7 of the ten must-see bird species in the Philippines were also found in the mossy Reserve Forest. The two are the scale feathered malkoha, and the forest spotted kingfisher. Although there were significant differences in species diversity, richness, and evenness among the agricultural areas, pine, and mossy forests, all values are considered high. The high endemism and diversity of birds, their species richness, evenness, and abundance are indicators that Mount Santo Tomas Forest Reserve’s vegetation is still diverse and stable. Therefore, we recommend that the Mount Santo Tomas Forest Reserve Management Council, led by the DENR and Local Government units of Tuba Benguet to continue implementing adequate protection and conservation measures and management strategies.
Chinese Shipbuilding amid Historical Changes: An Overview
Authors: Zhang Xin
Published: October 2023

The most significant advance in recent years in the study of Chinese technology is the realization of China’s own achievements in producing and improving technology in a global context. Not only did the realization allow us to move away from the Western-centric narrative that pitted Chinese technology against Western science, but it also brought us to discover the Chinese people’s own identity in technological development. Because of this advance, we are now able to focus our attention on subjects such as technology’s meaning to the average person rather than the perception Chinese intellectuals had of Western science. As a contribution to that effort, this article will provide a synopsis of the history of Chinese shipbuilding from the country’s early civilization to the end of the eighteenth century. I will survey the development of Chinese shipbuilding technology as it reacted to opportunity and challenge over an historical stretch of time. I will suggest that the history of Chinese shipbuilding was marked not only by the Chinese shipbuilders’ ability to take advantage of every opportunity provided by the changes to enhance technology but also by their tenacity in the face of government restrictions on maritime activities. The combination of the two defines the history of Chinese shipbuilding.
Chinese Environmental History: A Manifesto
Authors: Halsey Stephen R.
Published: October 2023

This article argues that scholars should see environmental history not as a specialized subfield but as a research paradigm useful to all students of modern China. It first presents an expanded definition of an “historical actor” and encourages scholars to integrate a range of organic and inorganic Others into their cast of characters. The article then addresses the subject of the environment and time, proposing alternative ways of periodizing Chinese history, linked to the idea of the Anthropocene. In the final section the discussion turns to the problem of space, focusing on the ways that Qing history has reshaped our understanding of the relationship between the natural world, center and periphery, and state formation. Setting aside both declensionist and triumphalist narratives about China’s past, this article suggests that the methods, concepts, and research agenda of environmental history can enrich the work of all students of Chinese history regardless of specialization.
The Infrastructure of Science Making in Early Modern China
Authors: Zhang Qiong
Published: October 2023

In the early modern era China witnessed an explosive growth in discourse regarding things known as bowu. In some ways resembling the study of natural history in Europe, it was oriented toward the strange and exotic. A renowned bowu master, Xie Zhaozhe left behind prolific writings on the subject, recording not only the natural historical knowledge he amassed but also how he produced that knowledge. Using Xie as an empirical case, this article proposes a model for an “infrastructure of science making” with which to conceptualize early modern Chinese science as a situated knowledge. It explores the profiles of Xie’s book learning, of his real-world encounters with natural phenomena through praxis, and of his collaboration and exchange with other members of his discursive community. An in-depth examination of these parameters in his knowledge infrastructure raises some salient points for understanding the broader trends in natural studies in early modern China and the wider early modern world.
A Case for the Two-Dimensional: Balinese Dance, Colonial Shadows, and Feeling Otherwise with Zavé Martohardjono
Authors: Storti Anna M. Moncada
Published: October 2023

This article encounters the shadows of coloniality from the vantage point of the two-dimensional. Spotlighting the queer and trans dance of interdisciplinary artist Zavé Martohardjono, the author traces the connections between diasporic gesture, cultural erasure, and land in the context of a shifting Indonesian governance, arguing that the distinct register of the two-dimensional—the flat space of virtual mediums like Zoom—allows the past to touch the present, and enables the viewer to unwind from colonialism’s grip on bodily movement. In doing so, the article observes the dance between dimensionality and embodiment, and the colonial shadows that linger in between, in order to forward new ways of anti-colonial feeling and being within the colonial present.
Practising Diversity in Education: In Dialogue with Dōgen and bell hooks
Authors: Robbiano Chiara
Published: October 2023

This essay argues that diversity needs to be practised. Drawing insights from two thinkers who saw themselves as educators, Dōgen and bell hooks, I single out three steps towards practising diversity in a learning community. I make two concrete recommendations for each step. Step One involves trying to understand the other in their own terms, by becoming informed about the frameworks that play a role in their experience. Step Two guides us to listen to every unique other and receive their story, in such a way as to put them, instead of ourselves, in the centre of our attention. In Step Three, we engage in dialogues that do not consist in a series of monologues but of calls and responses, in which we practise to respond to each other in an attuned way, and to take responsibility for co-transforming each other and our shared world.
Grass Stage as a Method: (Un)Doing Cultural Studies in China
Authors: Gullotta Diego , Lin Lili
Published: October 2023

The article argues that the practice of the grassroots theatre group Grass Stage provides an inspiring method for (un)doing Cultural Studies in China, in view of the challenges brought by the institutionalisation of mainland Chinese Cultural Studies and its theoretical impasse. This method, we argue, includes four key aspects: firstly, it positions itself from the margins, developing a critical relation with the centre; secondly, it transforms the urban space dominated by the state and the market into public and political space; thirdly, it uses the body as a point to connect the individual and society; lastly, it places the audience at the centre of the social construction of meaning through post-performance dialogue. The method proposed is a metaphor, in S. Hall’s terms, for developing possible counter-hegemonic elements, which open up the horizons of the possible. It offers a way to dislocate culture through reflections on the powers currently operating in Chinese society.
The Protest Movement in Lebanon and the Potential for Change
Authors: Khatib Dania Koleilat
Published: October 2023

On 17 November 2019, mass protests erupted in Lebanon with demonstrators expressing a general discontent with the system and the political elite. Despite the general discontent, the traditional elite secured the majority of parliamentary seats. A 2019 survey by Arab Barometer indicated that 9 out of 10 Lebanese believe their political elite is corrupt (Arab Barometer 2019). Another survey published in 2021 showed that 9 out of 10 Lebanese are dissatisfied with the current sectarian political system (Arab Barometer 2021). Yet, the traditional parties won most of the parliamentary seats and the hirak (protest movement) candidates only won 13 seats, ironically, 1 in 10 of the total seats in the parliament. These results give rise to the question of why the elections did not reflect the general change in public opinion. The paper analyses the hirak – the social movement that was born out of the 17 November protests – and the protestors’ attempt to become a political force in the national elections in the light of the current system.
Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things: on Teaching about Revolution in the Modern Middle East
Authors: Amin Nareman
Published: October 2023

This is a reflection on teaching an undergraduate seminar about social movements and revolutions in the modern Middle East in a Western university and the challenges and questions that arose throughout the semester. My empathetic and hardworking students at the University of Pennsylvania, many of whom had personal ties to the Middle East, passionately debated about theory and history and engaged profoundly with modern case studies of contentious politics in the region. Their arguments and attitudes were colored by their own activism and their sometimes romanticized views of social movements and social change. The course focused on concepts, but emotions ran high, as we read meso- and micro-level accounts about the experiences of people on the ground, especially during the Arab Spring. These accounts made us question the lifespan of a movement and whether the terms we debated throughout the semester made any difference in the long run.
Ornebius exserolimbus Wang & Ma, sp. nov., a new species of Ornebius (Orthoptera: Mogoplistidae; Mogoplistinae) from China
Authors: WANG NING , CHE ZHI-YONG , MA LI-BIN
Published: October 2023

The Mogoplistidae genus Ornebius contains eight species groups and 124 species worldwide, with 14 species recorded from China. Here, we find a new species belonging to the species group alii Bhowmik, 1970 from Yunnan Province, China. The new species, Ornebius exserolimbus sp. nov., is distinct by bearing a protrusion on the anterior margin of the pronotum. This feature was first discovered in scale crickets and it might be related to some special locomotion function of crickets. Besides describing and illustrating the new species, we provide keys for Chinese Ornebius species in this article.
A Probabilistic Prediction of Rogue Waves from a WAVEWATCH III Model for the Northeast Pacific
Authors: Cicon Leah , Gemmrich Johannes , Pouliot Benoit , Bernier Natacha
Published: October 2023

Rogue waves are stochastic, individual ocean surface waves that are disproportionately large compared to the background sea state. They present considerable risk to mariners and offshore structures especially when encountered in large seas. Current rogue wave forecasts are based on nonlinear processes quantified by the Benjamin Feir index (BFI). However, there is increasing evidence that the BFI has limited predictive power in the real ocean and that rogue waves are largely generated by bandwidth-controlled linear superposition. Recent studies have shown that the bandwidth parameter crest–trough correlation r shows the highest univariate correlation with rogue wave probability. We corroborate this result and demonstrate that r has the highest predictive power for rogue wave probability from the analysis of open ocean and coastal buoys in the northeast Pacific. This work further demonstrates that crest–trough correlation can be forecast by a regional WAVEWATCH III wave model with moderate accuracy. This result leads to the proposal of a novel empirical rogue wave risk assessment probability forecast based on r. Semilogarithmic fits between r and rogue wave probability were applied to generate the rogue wave probability forecast. A sample rogue wave probability forecast is presented for a large storm 21–22 October 2021.

Significance Statement

Rogue waves pose a considerable threat to ships and offshore structures. The rare and unexpected nature of rogue wave makes predicting them an ongoing and challenging goal. Recent work based on an extensive dataset of waves has suggested that the wave parameter called the crest–trough correlation shows the highest correlation with rogue wave probability. Our work demonstrates that crest–trough correlation can be reasonably well forecast by standard wave models. This suggests that current operational wave models can support rogue wave prediction models based on crest–trough correlation for improved rogue wave risk evaluation.
Left with a Sisyphean task – the experiences of nurse practitioners with treating non-suicidal self-injury in the emergency department: a descriptive qualitative study
Authors: Roed Kickan , Brauner Cecilie Rostrup , Yigzaw Senayt , Midtgaard Julie
Published: October 2023

Background

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is a prevalent phenomenon in somatic emergency departments, where nurses are the most consistent group of healthcare professionals who treat people with NSSI, which means they may affect the NSSI trajectory and help-seeking in the future. The objective of this study was to describe the experiences of nurse practitioners with treatment of people presenting with NSSI in the emergency department.

Methods

Individual, semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with seventeen purposefully recruited nurse practitioners from three emergency departments in the Capital Region of Denmark. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive content analysis, as described by Graneheim and Lundman.

Results

The analysis resulted in the formulation of three categories and 10 subcategories describing how nurse practitioners feel confident and competent in treating physical injuries due to NSSI but at the same time insecure about how to provide adequate care and engage in conversations about NSSI and mental wellbeing with people with NSSI. An overarching theme, ‘Left with a Sisyphean task’, reflects the nurses’ feeling of being handed the responsibility for performing a laborious, never-ending, and futile task.

Conclusion

The findings indicate that nurse practitioners feel confident and competent in treating physical injuries due to NSSI but insecure about how to provide adequate care. Therefore, there is a need for training and guidelines.
Patient factors associated with conveyance decision-making by Emergency Medical Services professionals in patients with a syncope: a cross-sectional factorial survey design
Authors: Ort B. Bastiaan A. , uit het Broek Lucia G. , de Bruin Harm , Akkermans Reinier P. , Goosselink Ben , Vermeulen Hester , Ebben Remco H.A. , Vloet Lilian C.M. , Berben Sivera A.A.
Published: October 2023

Background

The clinical decision-making of non-conveyance is perceived as complex and difficult by emergency medical services (EMS) professionals. Patients with a transient loss of consciousness (TLOC) based on syncope constitute a significant part of the non-conveyance population. Risk stratification is the basis of the clinical decision-making process by EMS professionals. This risk stratification is based on various patient factors. This study aimed to explore patient factors significantly associated with conveyance decision-making by EMS professionals in patients with a TLOC based on syncope.

Methods

A cross-sectional vignette study with a factorial survey design was conducted. Patient factors were derived from the “National Protocol Ambulance Care”, and all possible combinations of these factors and underlying categories were combined, resulting in 256 unique vignettes (2*4*4*4*2 = 256). Patient factors presented either low-risk or high-risk factors for adverse events. Data were collected through an online questionnaire, in which participants received a random sample of 15 vignettes. For each vignette, the respondent indicated whether the patient would need to be conveyed to the emergency department or not. A multilevel logistic regression analysis with stepwise backward elimination was performed to analyse factors significantly associated with conveyance decision-making. In the logistic model, we modelled the probability of non-conveyance.

Results

110 respondents were included, with 1646 vignettes being assessed. Mean age 45.5 (SD 9.3), male gender 63.6%, and years of experience 13.2 (SD 8.9). Multilevel analysis showed two patient factors contributing significantly to conveyance decision-making: ‘red flags’ and ‘prehospital electrocardiogram (ECG)’. Of these patient factors, three underlying categories were significantly associated with non-conveyance: ‘sudden cardiac death < 40 years of age in family history’ (OR 0.33, 95% CI 0.22–0.50; p < 0.001), ‘cardiovascular abnormalities, pulmonary embolism or pulmonary hypertension in the medical history’ (OR 0.62, 95% CI 0.43–0.91; p = 0.01), and ‘abnormal prehospital ECG’ (OR 0.54, 95% CI 0.41–0.72; p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Sudden cardiac death < 40 years of age in family history, medical history, and abnormal ECG are significantly negatively associated with non-conveyance decision-making by EMS professionals in patients with a TLOC based on syncope. Low-risk factors do not play a significant role in conveyance decision-making.
Large common bile duct stones in high-risk elderly patients: Immediate endoscopic stone removal or elective stone removal? A single-center retrospective study
Authors: Meng Ke , Zhang Da-ya , Chen De-xin , Liu Wen-jing , Fang Kai-xuan , Chen Shengxin , Wu Lang , Li Ming-yang
Published: October 2023

Background and objective

For high-risk elderly patients with chronic diseases, endoscopic stone removal for large common bile duct stones is associated with a high risk of adverse events and incomplete stone removal. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the treatment strategy of short-term biliary plastic stent placement followed by elective endoscopic stone removal is more effective and safer than immediate endoscopic stone removal.

Methods

The data of 262 high-risk elderly patients who received endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) for large common bile duct (CBD) stones from 2017 to 2022 were retrospectively analyzed. The patients were divided into group A (immediate stone removal) and group B (stent drainage + elective stone removal). The baseline data of the 2 groups were matched 1:1 by propensity score matching. The stone clearance rate, ERCP procedure time, total hospital stay, and procedure-related adverse events were compared between the matched groups. In group B, stone size before and after stent placement, hospital stay, procedure time and adverse events of two ERCPs were compared.

Results

A total of 57 pairs of patients were successfully matched between the 2 groups. The stone clearance rate in group B was higher than that in group A (89.5% vs. 75.3, P = 0.049). The total hospital stay in group B was longer than that in group A (11.86 ± 3.912 d vs. 19.14 ± 3.176 d, P<0.001). The total adverse event rate in group A was higher than that in group B (29.8% vs. 12.3%, P = 0.005). The incidence of cholangitis/cholecystitis after ERCP was significantly higher in group A than in group B (7.0% vs. 0.9% P = 0.029). There was no significant difference in the incidence of post-ERCP pancreatitis, bleeding, pneumonia, and cardio-cerebrovascular events between the 2 groups. There were no perforation cases in either group. After plastic biliary stent placement in group B, the stone size was significantly smaller than before stent placement (1.59 ± 0.544 cm vs. 1.95 ± 0.543 cm, P < 0.001), and there was no significant difference in the total adverse event incidence between the two ERCP procedures (18.8% vs. 10.9%, P = 0.214).

Conclusion

For high-risk elderly patients with large CBD stones, the treatment strategy involving temporary placement of plastic stent and elective endoscopic stone removal is safer and more effective than immediate stone removal.
Study of some potential biomarkers in Egyptian hepatitis C virus patients in relation to liver disease progression and HCC
Authors: Baraka Kholoud , Abozahra Rania R. , Badr Eman , Abdelhamid Sarah M.
Published: October 2023

Background

Egypt has the greatest prevalence of hepatitis C worldwide according to the WHO reports, accounting for 13% of the global HCV infections. HCV is a substantial precursor for fibrosis, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma. This study aimed to investigate the potential relevance of some cytokines, miR-122 and miR-221 for the diagnosis of liver disease progression associated to HCV infection.

Methods

One hundred and twenty blood samples were collected from patients with chronic liver disease, HCC, and healthy individuals. Total bilirubin, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, platelet count, albumin, and creatinine were measured. Serum level of selected cytokines was conducted by ELISA. Serum miRNA expression was detected by RT-PCR.

Results

IL-2R was higher among HCC patients and the mean concentration of both TNF-αRII and IL-6R was higher among cirrhotic patients. The expression of miRNA-122 showed a little fold decrease in all studied groups; the highest level was observed in HCC patients. The expression of miRNA-221 showed a significant fold increase in HCC and cirrhotic groups.

Conclusions

This study revealed that there is no difference in liver disease progression in patients regarding sex and age. Routine liver function tests performed poorly in terms of early diagnosis of liver disease progression; however, serum total bilirubin gave somewhat useful guide for discrimination between fibrotic, cirrhotic and HCC cases. IL-2R showed a significant consistent increase in its level with disease progression. The miR-221 serum level showed significant fold increase with liver disease progression. Therefore, making miR-221 a potential non-invasive biomarker for liver disease progression in the diagnostic setting is recommended.
Modified Naples prognostic score for evaluating the prognosis of patients with obstructive colorectal cancer
Authors: Gu Junnan , Deng Shenghe , Jiang Zhenxing , Mao Fuwei , Xue Yifan , Qin Le , Shi Jianguo , Yang Jia , Li Huili , Yu Jie , Liu Ke , Wu Ke , Cao Yinghao , Cai Kailin
Published: October 2023

Background

Inflammatory, immune, and nutritional status are key factors in obstructive colorectal cancer (OCRC). This study aims to investigate the value of modified Naples prognostic score (M-NPS) in evaluating OCRC prognosis.

Methods

A total of 196 OCRC patients were retrospectively analyzed to construct M-NPS based on serum albumin (ALB), total cholesterol (CHOL), neutrophil:lymphocyte ratio (NLR), and lymphocyte:monocyte ratio (LMR), and then they were divided into three groups. The Kaplan–Meier (KM) method and Cox proportional hazard regression analysis were performed for overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS) of OCRC patients.

Results

Patients with high M-NPS had worse OS and DFS (P = 0.0001, P = 0.0011). Multivariate COX analysis showed that M-NPS was an independent prognostic factor for OCRC patients. Patients in the M-NPS 2 group had significantly worse OS (hazard ratio [HR] = 4.930 (95% confidence interval [95% CI], 2.217–10.964), P < 0.001) and DFS (HR = 3.508 (95% CI, 1.691–7.277), P < 0.001) than those in the 0 group.

Conclusion

M-NPS was an independent prognostic factor for OCRC patients; it might provide a potential reference for immunonutritional intervention in patients with obstruction.
Crisis and acute mental health care for people who have been given a diagnosis of a ‘personality disorder’: a systematic review
Authors: Maconick Lucy , Ikhtabi Sarah , Broeckelmann Eva , Pitman Alexandra , Barnicot Kirsten , Billings Jo , Osborn David , Johnson Sonia
Published: October 2023

Background

People who have been given a diagnosis of a ‘personality disorder’ need access to good quality mental healthcare when in crisis, but the evidence underpinning crisis services for this group is limited. We synthesised quantitative studies reporting outcomes for people with a ‘personality disorder’ diagnosis using crisis and acute mental health services.

Methods

We searched OVID Medline, PsycInfo, PsycExtra, Web of Science, HMIC, CINAHL Plus, Clinical Trials and Cochrane CENTRAL for randomised controlled trials (RCTs) and observational studies that reported at least one clinical or social outcome following use of crisis and acute care for people given a ‘personality disorder’ diagnosis. We performed a narrative synthesis of evidence for each model of care found.

Results

We screened 16,953 records resulting in 35 studies included in the review. Studies were published between 1987–2022 and conducted in 13 countries. Six studies were RCTs, the remainder were non randomised controlled studies or cohort studies reporting change over time. Studies were found reporting outcomes for crisis teams, acute hospital admission, acute day units, brief admission, crisis-focused psychotherapies in a number of settings, Mother and Baby units, an early intervention service and joint crisis planning. The evidence for all models of care except brief admission and outpatient-based psychotherapies was assessed as low or very low certainty.

Conclusion

The literature found was sparse and of low quality. There were no high-quality studies that investigated outcomes following use of crisis team or hospital admission for this group. Studies investigating crisis-focused psychological interventions showed potentially promising results.
Internet addiction and associated factors among undergraduate students of Jimma University; Jimma, South West Ethiopia, institutional based cross-sectional study
Authors: Amano Abdulkarim , Ahmed Gutema , Nigussie Kabtamu , Asfaw Henock , Fekadu Gelana , Hiko Ahmed , Abdeta Tilahun , Soboka Matiwos
Published: October 2023

Background

Internet addiction affects cognitive function, has a harmful impact on students’ academic performance, and increases their risk of experiencing psychological crises.

Objectives

Examining the prevalence of internet addiction and its contributing factors among regular undergraduate students at Jimma University in south-west Ethiopia.

Methods

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted among study participants between August 1 and August 30, 2021. A total of 772 Participants were involved in the study using a multistage random sampling technique. Data was collected using pretested and structured questionnaires with self-administered techniques. The Young Internet Addiction Test (YIAT) was used to measure internet addiction. The data was entered into the computer using Epi Data version 4.6, and then it was exported to the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 for analysis. The association between each independent variable and the outcome variable was examined using bivariate analysis. Variables with a p-value of less than 0.25 in bivariate analysis were included in the multivariate logistic regression model to determine how each independent variable affected the outcome variable.

Result

The prevalence of internet addiction among study participants was 53.6% (95% Confidence Interval (CI)) (49.99%, 57.15%). Findings from multivariate logistic regression analysis suggested a variety of related factors had significant associations with internet addiction. Being dissatisfied with a major study, having a cumulative grade point average of a promoted grade report, using the internet for entertainment, using the internet for Facebook, using the internet for telegram, depression, social anxiety, and poor social support.

Conclusion

This study revealed a comparatively high frequency of internet addiction among study participants. Internet addiction has been linked to psychosocial, academic, and purpose-related aspects of internet use. As a result, incorporating stakeholders’ efforts to improve the identified variables would be a helpful start toward lowering this high incidence.
Effect of non-surgical periodontal treatment on cytokines/adipocytokines levels among periodontitis patients with or without obesity: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Zhang Yuwei , Jia Ru , Zhang Yifei , Sun Xuefei , Mei Yukun , Zou Rui , Niu Lin , Dong Shaojie
Published: October 2023

Background

The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the effects of non-surgical periodontal therapy (NSPT) on inflammatory-related cytokines/adipocytokines in periodontitis patients with or without obesity.

Methods

We followed the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses statement and registered the study (CRD42022375331) in the Prospective International Register of Systematic Reviews. We screened randomized-controlled trials and controlled clinical trials from six databases up to December 2022. Quality assessment was performed with RoB-2 and ROBINS-I tools for randomized trials and non-randomized trials, respectively. Meta-analysis was carried out using a random-effect model.

Results

We included seventeen references in the systematic analysis, and sixteen in the meta-analysis. Baseline results of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, including serum interleukin (IL)-6, serum and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, serum C-reactive protein (CRP)/hs-CRP, and serum and GCF resistin, were higher in obesity subjects than in normal weight subjects. The effect of NSPT with respect to levels of cytokines/adipocytokines, including IL-6, TNF-a, CRP/hs-CRP, resistin, adiponectin, leptin and retinol binding protein 4 (RBP4), were then analyzed in the systematic and meta-analysis. After three months of NSPT, serum (MD = -0.54, CI = -0.62 – -0.46), and GCF (MD = -2.70, CI = -4.77 – -0.63) levels of IL-6, along with the serum RBP4 (MD = -0.39, CI = -0.68–0.10) decreased in periodontitis individuals with obesity. NSPT also improved GCF adiponectin levels after three months (MD = 2.37, CI = 0.29 – 4.45) in periodontitis individuals without obesity.

Conclusions

Obese status altered the baseline levels of cytokines/adipocytokines (serum IL-6, serum and GCF TNF-a, serum CRP/hs-CRP, and serum and GCF resistin). Then NSPT can shift the levels of specific pro-inflammatory mediators and anti-inflammatory mediators in biological fluids, both in obesity and non-obesity individuals. NSPT can reduce serum and GCF IL-6 levels together with serum RBP4 level in individuals with obesity after 3 months, besides, there is no sufficient evidence to prove that obese patients have a statistically significant decrease in the levels of other cytokines compared to patients with normal weight. NSPT can also increase GCF adiponectin level in normal weight individuals after 3 months. Our findings imply the potential ideal follow-up intervals and sensitive biomarkers for clinical bioanalysis in personalized decision-making of effect of NSPT due to patients’ BMI value.
The effect of psychological contract on turnover intention among nurses: a meta-analytic review
Authors: Lu Xianying , Yang Jing , Bai Dingxi , Cai Mingjin , Wang Wei , He Jiali , Gong Xiaoyan , Hou Chaoming , Gao Jing
Published: October 2023

Background

The turnover intention (TI) of nurses is common, posing a threat to modern healthcare organizations. Psychological contract (PC) is a predictor of TI, affecting significantly nurse’s TI. However, the extent of the association between PC and nurse’s TI is unknown. We performed a meta-analysis to quantitatively analyze the relationship between PC and nurse’s TI.

Methods

We searched nine electronic databases from inception to July 2023. Observational studies were included using a retrieval strategy related to PC and TI. Meta-analyses of common effect and random effect models were performed using R software with Spearman or Pearson correlation coefficients. Meta-regression, subgroup analysis, publication bias, and sensitivity analysis were also carried out .

Results

Eighteen studies including 8,908 nurses were identified. Based on various PC-related perspectives, 16 studies explored nurses’ TI in terms of the content and three-dimensional structure of PC. Of these, 9 studies reported the negative direction of the correlation between PC and TI (r ranged from − 0.20 to -0.45), whereas 7 studies reported the positive direction of the correlation between PC and TI (r ranged from 0.32 to 0.50). The PC total and its dimensions were found to have moderately significant associations with TI, with the exception of the PCE and PCE-I. Additional, 2 studies reported the relationship between the outcome of PC and TI, the PCF, PCB, and PCV were powerful predictors of nurses’ TI. Meta-regression and subgroup analysis found that only nurses working in specialized departments might be the source of heterogeneity.

Conclusions

To our knowledge, this was the first meta-analysis to quantitatively examine the relationship between PC and TI among nurses. The findings reaffirmed the necessity for healthcare administrators and the medical profession to valued nurse’ good interpersonal, social support, humanistic environment, and meet nurses’ psychological and spiritual needs in addition to their material demands. Moderators of the connection between PC and TI, based on meta-regression and subgroup analyses, should be carefully explored as they may aid in identifying nurses’ TI. Additional, longitudinal research, as well as mixed research, should be conducted to more comprehensively explore the relationship between PC and TI.
From a learning opportunity to a conscious multidimensional change: a metasynthesis of transcultural learning experiences among nursing students
Authors: Leyva-Moral Juan M. , Tosun Betül , Gómez-Ibáñez Rebeca , Navarrete Laura , Yava Ayla , Aguayo-González Mariela , Dirgar Ezgi , Checa-Jiménez Caterina , Bernabeu-Tamayo M. Dolors
Published: October 2023

Background

Several educational activities in nursing schools worldwide have been implemented to promote transcultural nursing and cultural competence. Despite the diversity of their experiences and outcomes, the available evidence has not been systematically reviewed and reinterpreted. This study aimed to review and reinterpret all rigorous qualitative evidence available, providing an opportunity to understand how students learn transcultural nursing and assisting faculties, researchers, managers, and practitioners in designing new interventions to improve transcultural training.

Methods

A meta-synthesis was conducted to review and integrate qualitative studies of these phenomena. English, Spanish and Portuguese articles were searched in Pubmed and Scopus databases. Only peer-reviewed journals in which qualitative approaches were used were included. Quality was assessed using the CASP qualitative version checklist. The metasynthesis technique proposed by Noblit and Hare was used to analyse the data.

Results

Twenty-nine studies were included in the analysis. Most studies used phenomenological approaches that were conducted in Australia and the United States of America, with international internships being the most popular learning method. The data revealed one central theme, “From learning opportunity to conscious multidimensional change,” and six subthemes. The transcultural nursing learning experience is not a simple or linear process. Instead, it appears to be a complex process formed by the interaction between a) self-awareness, b) reflective thinking, c) Cultural Encounters, d) cultural skills, e) Cultural Desire, and f) Cultural Knowledge.

Conclusions

Transcultural nursing learning is a multifaceted process that arises from specific learning opportunities. This process is still to evolving. Therefore, specific educational strategies should be implemented to encourage attitudinal change and promote reflective thinking.