bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perceptions and factors influencing exercise interventions in elderly patients with debilitating spinal surgery and healthcare professionals: A qualitative study
Authors: Cheng Rong-Rong , Li Rui
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Older spine surgery patients have a high incidence of debilitation, which can be managed with certain exercises.

AIM

To investigate the current status and influencing factors related to the knowledge of exercise intervention among patients and professionals.

METHODS

Descriptive research methods were used to classify and summarize patients and professionals’ perceptions and factors affecting exercise interventions. Data were analysed using the Colaizzi seven-step analysis method to distill and refine themes.

RESULTS

A total of 7 themes were identified: (1) The current status of patients' exercise is unsatisfactory; (2) patients' health literacy is low, coupled with a lack of social and family support; (3) there are numerous challenges with systematic exercise interventions; (4) healthcare professionals acknowledge the importance and need for exercise interventions; (5) there's a pronounced willingness among patients to participate in exercise intervention programs; (6) healthcare professionals believe that exercise interventions are beneficial; and (7) participants offered invaluable insights and suggestions on perioperative exercise during spinal surgery.

CONCLUSION

To investigate the current status and influencing factors related to the knowledge of exercise intervention among patients and the related healthcare professionals to provide a reference for the construction of exercise management programs for these patients.
Secondary diabetes due to different etiologies: Four case reports
Authors: Song Wen-Rong , Xu Xiao-Hong , Li Jia , Yu Jia , Li Yan-Xiong
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

As research on diabetes continues to advance, more complex classifications of this disease have emerged, revealing the existence of special types of diabetes, and many of these patients are prone to misdiagnosis and underdiagnosis, leading to treatment delays and increased health care costs. The purpose of this study was to identify four causes of secondary diabetes.

CASE SUMMARY

Secondary diabetes can be caused by various factors, some of which are often overlooked. These factors include genetic defects, autoimmune disorders, and diabetes induced by tumours. This paper describes four types of secondary diabetes caused by Williams–Beuren syndrome, Prader–Willi syndrome, pituitary adenoma, and IgG4-related diseases. These cases deviate significantly from the typical progression of the disease due to their low incidence and rarity, often leading to their neglect in clinical practice. In comparison to regular diabetes patients, the four individuals described here exhibited distinct characteristics. Standard hypoglycaemic treatments failed to effectively control the disease. Subsequently, a series of examinations and follow-up history confirmed the diagnosis and underlying cause of diabetes. Upon addressing the primary condition, such as excising a pituitary adenoma, providing glucocorticoid supplementation, and implementing symptomatic treatments, all patients experienced a considerable decrease in blood glucose levels, which were subsequently maintained within a stable range. Furthermore, other accompanying symptoms improved.

CONCLUSION

Rare diseases causing secondary diabetes are often not considered in the diagnosis of diabetes. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct genetic tests, antibody detection and other appropriate diagnostic measures when necessary to facilitate early diagnosis and intervention through proactive and efficient management of the underlying condition, ultimately improving patient outcomes.
Migration of varicocele coil leading to ureteral obstruction and hydronephrosis: A case report
Authors: Alamri Abdulaziz
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Varicocele embolization, a minimally invasive treatment for symptomatic varicoceles, carries a rare risk of complications like ureteral obstruction and hydronephrosis. This case report documents such a case to raise awareness of these potential complications and showcase minimally invasive surgical management as a successful solution.

CASE SUMMARY

A 35-year-old male presented with flank pain and hematuria following varicocele embolization. Imaging confirmed left ureteral obstruction and hydronephrosis. Laparoscopic ureterolysis successfully removed the embolization coil and repaired the ureter, resolving the patient's symptoms. Follow-up at six months and two years showed sustained improvement.

CONCLUSION

Minimally invasive surgery offers an effective treatment option for rare complications like ureteral obstruction arising from varicocele embolization.
Endoscopic ultrasound features of rectal melanoma: A case report and review of literature
Authors: Xiong Zhang-E , Wei Xin-Xiang , Wang Li , Xia Chen , Li Zi-Yin , Long Chan , Peng Bo , Wang Ting
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

Rectal mucosal melanoma is a rare and highly aggressive disease. Common symptoms include anal pain, an anal mass, or bleeding. As such, the disease is usually detected on rectal examination of patients with other suspected anorectal diseases. However, due to its rarity and nonspecific symptoms, melanoma of the rectal mucosa is easily misdiagnosed.

CASE SUMMARY

This report describes the case of a 58-year-old female patient who presented with a history of blood in her stool for the prior one or two months, without any identifiable cause. During colonoscopy, a bulge of approximately 2.2 cm × 2.0 cm was identified. Subsequently, the patient underwent endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) to characterize the depth of invasion of the lesions. EUS suggested a hypoechoic mucosal mass with involvement of the submucosal layer and heterogeneity of the internal echoes. Following surgical intervention, the excised tissue samples were examined and confirmed to be rectal malignant melanoma. The patient recovered well with no evidence of recurrence during follow-up.

CONCLUSION

This case shows that colonoscopy with EUS and pathological examination can accurately diagnose rare cases of rectal mucosal melanoma.
Clinicopathological analysis of EWSR1/FUS::NFATC2 rearranged sarcoma in the left forearm: A case report
Authors: Hu Qiao-Ling , Zeng Chao
Published: May 2024

BACKGROUND

We present a case of an EWSR1/FUS::NFATC2 rearranged sarcoma in the left forearm and analyze its clinicopathological and molecular features.

CASE SUMMARY

The patient is a 23-year-old woman. Microscopically, the tumor cells were medium-sized round cells arranged in small nests. The cytoplasm was clear, nuclei were relatively uniform, chromatin was dense, nucleoli were visible, and mitotic figures were rare. Immunohistochemically, the tumor cells were positive for Vimentin, INI-1, CD99, NKX2.2, CyclinD1, friend leukaemia virus integration 1, and NKX3.1. Next-generation sequencing revealed the presence of the EWSR1-NFATC2 fusion gene. EWSR1/FUS::NFATC2 rearranged sarcomas are rare and can easily be misdiagnosed.

CONCLUSION

Clinical imaging, immunohistochemistry, and molecular pathology should be considered to confirm the diagnosis.
PERSPECTIVAS FITOSSANITÁRIAS E POTENCIALIDADE DE PRODUÇÃO DO FEIJÃO GUANDU (ANDU) CAJANUS CAJAN (L.) MILLSP (FABACEAE), PARA A REGIÃO DE FEIRA DE SANTANA-BA
Authors: Robert Dias de Oliveira Silva  , Jucelho Dantas da Cruz
Published: May 2024

As leguminosas apresentam características que viabilizam sua implantação em solos de distintas potencialidades agrícolas, por conter um forte potencial para adubação verde e seu fruto conhecido como legume contém um alto valor nutritivo para consumohumano e ração para vários grupos de animais. Considerada anual ou semi-perene, pode alcança até 3 metros e durar 3 anos, quando podada após seus ciclos, que duram de 150 a 360 dias. (João Pereira, 1985).
Pregnancy and New Motherhood in Prison
Authors: Baldwin Lucy , Abbott Laura
Published: May 2024

This ground-breaking book presents a unique focus on the intersection of pregnancy and prison in the UK. Through incorporating the authentic voices and real-life experiences of women, it offers a significant contribution to our understanding of pregnancy and new motherhood within the confines of incarceration and beyond. By providing historical context and a brief overview, the book then delves deeply, critically and poignantly into the criminal justice system’s response to pregnant and new mothers. It sheds light on the heart-wrenching tragedies of stillborn babies and the deaths of traumatised mothers in prison. Although not an easy read, this book aims to catalyse policy and practice transformations. Drawing upon extensive research and the personal stories of affected women, the authors present a series of recommendations. These proposals, if implemented, have the potential to greatly enhance the experiences of pregnant and new mothers involved with the criminal justice system.
NHS governance: the centre claims authority
Authors: Greer Scott
Published: May 2024

NHS governance is often presented as a story of markets and hierarchies or centralisation and decentralisation. This chapter argues that it is a history of steadily increasing claims to authority over the practise of healthcare, as seen in the incessant deployment of tools that might look like anything from data gathering to competition but that steadily allocate a greater formal role to the centre in planning care and its delivery.
Forgotten, neglected and a poor relation? Reflecting on the 75th anniversary of adult social care
Authors: Needham Catherine , Glasby Jon
Published: May 2024

Although NHS anniversaries have been widely celebrated, adult social care has tended not to receive the same attention. As a result, the history of adult social care is largely overlooked – and even people working in adult social care may know little about the origins and evolution of their current services and roles. Using the four analytical axes set out in the introduction to this book, we explore the different forms of governance (hierarchies, markets and networks) which co-exist within adult social care; the mixed economy of care; relationships between the centre and localities; and relationships between the state and professionals (including the position of the bulk of the workforce, who might not meet standard definitions of a ‘profession’). In each case, adult social care is very different to the NHS, making attempts to integrate care – while laudable – extremely difficult to achieve in practice.
Principles and process in the new public health settlement
Authors: Littlejohns Peter , Hunter David J. , Weale Albert , Johnson Jacqueline , Khatun Toslima
Published: May 2024

With the demise of Public Health England came the establishment of the UK Health Security Agency and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities. This new settlement poses issues of process and policy. Separating health protection and health improvement poses its own problems, given the association between poor health status and susceptibility to infection. More generally, the new bodies will have to cope with the complexity of public health evidence which is essential to scientific integrity, as well as the need for independence from politically partisan control. Political leadership will be essential, and there needs to be a ruthless focus on implementation.
A new social contract for public health
Authors: Littlejohns Peter , Hunter David J. , Weale Albert , Johnson Jacqueline , Khatun Toslima
Published: May 2024

The fundamental question at the heart of public health policy is how it can be that cost-effective measures to promote the health of the population are not more vigorously implemented. The question has become more urgent as the pressures on the NHS have increased. Behind the implementation deficit, this chapter examines the role that a dominant public philosophy of libertarianism has played. That public philosophy is plagued with a number of problems, and in its place this chapter argues for a philosophy of social individualism in which the role of government-provided public goods is central to creating the conditions for effective individual choice and fulfilment. The chapter concludes with a manifesto of practical public health measures.
Scientific Citizenship
Authors: Soneryd Linda , Sundqvist Göran
Published: May 2024

Citizenship is formally and historically connected to the nation state, though this has not always been the case (cf Athens’ city-centred democracy). In today’s understanding of democracy, however, scientific knowledge and technical expertise intersect with citizens’ ability to hold state power accountable to democratic values. Sheila Jasanoff (2017) describes how the nation state concentrates not only political power but also resources that enable investments in ‘big science’ projects. Based on these concentrations, she asks: if the demos should have a role in the technical framing and resolving of public problems, what analytical resources does STS provide to facilitate such participation? The answer to this question, as suggested by Jasanoff, is that ideas and practices around science and technology – priorities, investments, distribution channels, regulations, and so on – are co-produced with ideas about concerned citizens. Thus, STS scholars should call attention to the fact that practices of collective knowledge-making shape our very understanding of the demos to be served by democracy. As seen in Chapter 6, studies undertaken by STS scholars have focused on the relationships between modes of governing and how issues are made public and open to wider debate, how groups of the public are demarcated through the notion of invited and uninvited publics, and how the agency ascribed to invited publics tends to be circumscribed by instrumental motives. In this work, STS scholars frequently touch on one of the unresolved problems in democratic theory. This is about what properly constitutes the people. Yet, any democratic theory is based on an understanding that there is a people, a citizenry that is implicated in governing in indirect or direct ways and which can hold government accountable. Such unexplored assumptions were met in the first chapter of this book, and they were referred to as belonging to a shadow of democratic theory.
Conclusion
Authors: Stedman Gesa , Gohrisch Jana
Published: May 2024

The Conclusion draws the different strands of the book together and focuses on the most recent political developments in Britain and its turn away from ‘levelling up’. This move leaves vulnerable parts of society open to further crises which hit working-class and poorer or otherwise disadvantaged people harder than the middle classes. It dissects the type of discourse that is currently prevalent: a dystopian debate of a crumbling Britain on the one hand, whose key tenets are borne out by statistics, and a discourse cut off from the lives of many Britons in the UK in 2022 and 2023 which continues to claim that ‘global Britain’ and ‘Brexit opportunities’ are the future, in the face of a harsh lived experience playing out in hospitals, in the transport industry, on British borders, in schools and care homes.
Introduction: Steam’s Tangled Markets
Authors: Mette Thorhauge Anne
Published: May 2024

In 2018, Valve Corporation, the owner of the Steam gaming platform, made a seemingly minor feature change. It involved that game items obtained in Steam-based games could only be traded between players after a waiting period of seven days after acquisition. This feature change, often referred to as ‘the cooldown’, cost the most active Steam traders several thousands of euros due to the subsequent plunge in market prices. It was implemented as a response to rising public concern regarding the proliferation of so-called skin trading and skin gambling on shady websites. In the time leading up to the event, several critical voices had accused Valve of profiting from illegal gambling with items from the Steam platform. ESPN.com stated that Counter-Strike, one of Steam’s most lucrative game titles, had ‘spawned a wild multibillion-dollar world of online casino gambling; it’s barely regulated and open to any kid who wants in’, and the Washington State Gambling Commission stated that Valve was ‘responsible for the unregulated Counter-Strike: Global Offensive gambling that’s gone on through steam’ and ordered Valve to take immediate action. In the wake of these critiques, Valve was facing several lawsuits.
Platform Configurations in Gaming
Authors: Mette Thorhauge Anne
Published: May 2024

In this chapter, I will address the way platforms have developed in the field of digital gaming and use this historical backdrop for interrogating critically the notion of platforms. The historical development of gaming platforms can help us to question what should indeed be attributed to the platform as a computational system and what should rather be explained by the platform owner’s financial status and position within the wider market context. Traditional game consoles are, in practice, proprietary innovation platforms, in Gawer’s (2011) and Cusumano’s (2010) sense, a set of development and publishing tools and a key contact point to the gaming audience made available to complementors on certain conditions. As developer and publisher, you must contract with the platform owner to get your game title on the console, and as a gamer, you must purchase the console to be able to play your games. In this way, the gaming consoles of the 1980s and 1990s effectively inserted themselves between game publishers and the gaming audience in the same manner as contemporary platforms are said to do, and their specific design and forms of governance indicate a certain market order, that is, a particular field of incumbent and challenger (see Chapter 3). Their power is that of the traditional book publisher owning the key to a particular version of the book format, which happens to be the market standard.
Digital Health Technological Advancements and Gender Dynamics in STS
Authors: Gulati Anamika
Published: May 2024

Technological advancements are having a substantial impact on the healthcare sector, and correspondingly the workforce is becoming increasingly sophisticated. In this chapter, an overview of the digital health technological advancements will be given along with a discussion of their impacts on the human body and society, including data privacy and social rights, in the Indian context. In addition, other issues have been raised regarding the acceptance of these technologies, such as ethical concerns and a lack of knowledge about their potential effects. Further, while the role and involvement of technology has been increasing in healthcare system, a bias is still observed in the development of such systems by discrimination in the participation of women in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields and their contribution in science and technology studies (STS). The issue of gender bias is not only observed in the educational fields or industrial sectors of STEM and STS, but has penetrated deeply into the communication of science research. There are a number of goals and outcomes associated with the internationalization of medical education, including improving sensitivity to social, cultural and ethical differences as well as gaining familiarity with differences between healthcare systems. The author in this chapter discusses the issues and the extent of bias in this arena and suggests that knowledge institutions should identify their research lines according to collective goals rather than individual ones in terms of the quality of the knowledge they generate and formally communicate.
Reproduction, Kin and Climate Crisis
Authors: Roberts Celia , Lou Rasmussen Mary , Allen Louisa , Williamson Rebecca
Published: May 2024

What is it like to have a baby in climate crisis?
Engaging a range of concepts, including the Pyrocene, breath, care and embodiment, the authors explore how climate crisis is changing experiences of having children. They also raise questions about how gender and sexuality are shaped by histories of human engagements with fire. The book is underpinned by an interview-based project undertaken in 2020–2021 in South Eastern Australia. The research explored the experiences of pregnant women and their partners, pre- and post-birth, during the catastrophic bushfire season of 2019–2020 and the subsequent COVID-19 pandemic. It is also informed by interviews with experts on bushfire smoke and/or reproduction, including clinicians, architects and air quality scientists. Making an original contribution to social theory, the authors draw together ideas from feminist technoscience studies and queer theory about reproduction and kin into debates on contemporary planetary crises. They explore the diverse relations between climate crisis, kinship and reproduction; embodiment and breathing; biosensing and air quality; and Pyro-reproductive futures. The book has a distinctly Australian flavour, but is nonetheless global in its themes. The arguments apply in many ways to other climate-related disasters, such as floods and wildfires in other parts of the world.
The Muscle Trade
Authors: Gibbs Nick
Published: May 2024

The health and fitness industry has experienced a meteoric rise over the past two decades, yet its slick exterior conceals a darker side: image and performance enhancing drugs (IPEDs). Using ethnographic data from gyms, interviews, and social media platforms, this book investigates the growing use and supply of IPEDs in a UK context. Various levels of user motivation are explored, from the psychoanalytic processes of desire and bodily dissatisfaction to the instrumental and pleasurable aspects of consumption, and their relationship to social media. The gym is also critically examined as a space of deviant leisure, applying cutting edge criminological theory to build links between gym culture, masculinity, and consumption. Tracking the intricate relationship between supply and demand, The Muscle Trade then studies the local offline IPED market in the city of ‘Potsford’, before tracking the commercialization, normalization, and digitization of supply. Within this, particular attention is paid to the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram as spaces of self-representation and illicit commerce. Ultimately, this book serves as a guide to the muscle trade, its infrastructure, the various key actors, and the motivations behind chasing masculine bodily perfection.
Observing Justice
Authors: Townend Judith , Welsh Lucy
Published: May 2024

Through a socio-legal lens, this book examines how major but often under-scrutinised legal, cultural, and technological developments have affected the transparency and accountability of the criminal justice process in England and Wales.
Drawing on a wide range of empirical and evaluative studies, as well as their own research experiences, the authors explore key legal policy issues such as equality of access, remote and virtual courts, justice system data management, and the roles of public and media observers.The book offers a practical and policy-relevant discussion on the implications of recent technological changes for access to justice, individuals’ privacy and social stigmatisation, and public rights to information.
The authors contend that there has been a noticeable detachment between the legal principle of open justice and the reality for those experiencing the courts day to day. Motivated by their concerns with the design and application of open justice policy, especially in the Magistrates’ courts, the book encourages law and policy makers to take a deeper and more pragmatic look at how rules impact court users and the public’s ability to access information from courts and tribunals. As well as exposing the practical challenges, the book identifies ideological tensions arising from the realisation of open criminal justice. It offers recommendations for implementing a more nuanced and evidence-based approach to open justice that looks beyond the news media for justice system accountability. Such an approach emphasises public legal education and access to justice, as well as effective scrutiny of the criminal justice system.
Introduction: Children and Childhoods in Global Political Perspective
Authors: Beier J. Marshall , Berents Helen
Published: May 2024

Abstract and Keywords to be supplied.
The Art of Artlessness: Affective Labor and the Black Mask in Gertrude Stein's "Melanctha"
Authors: Bunce Lauren
Published: May 2024

Abstract: In Gertrude Stein's "Melanctha" affective labor simultaneously enables and masks forms of intimacy that may otherwise be considered illicit. Meanwhile, forms of embodied difference become red herrings intended to draw attention away from—while making possible—the forms of homosocial intimacy and knowledge-making that constitute unpaid, gendered labor. While the story of "Melanctha" ostensibly hinges on a young Black woman's vexed relations of care, it is also a story about modernist storytelling, drawing on and concealing the work of Blackness as it makes possible Stein's innovations in form. The narrator seems invested in portraying Melanctha as an unwittingly unreliable character, emphasizing that she lacks the knowledge, intentionality, and memory required to tell stories. That Stein can shape a narrative with apparent artlessness is significant when considering the influence of the African mask on her formal experimentation. This essay contends that affective labor is what binds artlessness, artifice, and embodied difference together in Stein's novella. While others have argued that the Black mask reveals and facilitates the expression of non-normative forms of intimacy in "Melanctha," I claim that by performing its crucial secret-keeping function, the mask—and the affective labor it represents—cannot help but reveal itself. Drawing inspiration from the works of Arlie Hochschild, Silvia Federici, and Sianne Ngai, this essay reframes affective labor as a deliberate and affirmative practice by which people employ their feelings to leverage social interactions, acquire knowledge, and navigate structures of power.
Complete four-dimensional Bell state measurement using weak cross-Kerr nonlinearity
Authors: Zeng Zhi
Published: May 2024

In this paper, we present an efficient scheme for the complete analysis of the four-dimensional Bell state of the photon system in the path degree of freedom, resorting to the weak cross-Kerr nonlinearity and linear optics. In our scheme, the measurements on two probe coherent states are used for obtaining the bit information of high-dimensional entanglement, and the linear optical elements and single-photon detectors are used for obtaining the relative phase information of high-dimensional entanglement. With these two independent processes, the 16 orthogonal four-dimensional path Bell states can be completely distinguished from each other. This simple and realizable scheme may have useful applications in the quantum information technology based on high-dimensional entanglement.
100-kHz carbon monoxide TP-PLIF imaging using ultra-narrow-linewidth burst-mode OPO
Authors: Roy Awnik , Hsu Paul S.
Published: May 2024

A 100-kHz rate two-photon planar laser-induced fluorescence (TP-PLIF) imaging of carbon monoxide (CO) is successfully demonstrated utilizing a narrow-linewidth optical parametric oscillator (OPO) generating light at ∼230.1 nm. A specially designed injection-seeded burst-mode OPO was constructed and characterized for this purpose. This OPO efficiently converts the 355-nm output of a high-energy nanosecond burst-mode laser to ∼230.1 nm following parametric splitting and mixing processes. Generation of an ultra-narrow-linewidth 230.1 nm laser pulse is crucial for effectively exciting CO via a two-photon process from the ground X1Σ+ to the B1Σ+ electronic state—enabling PLIF imaging over a large area. The experimental setup is capable of tracking high-speed flow structures of a CO/N2 mixture, showcasing detection speeds 100 times greater than those achieved with previous femtosecond laser sources. This substantial increase in repetition rate will allow time-resolved CO-TP-PLIF measurements in highly dynamic hypersonic boundary layers and detonation-driven combustion processes for revealing chemical kinetics and turbulent aerodynamics.
Narrow-linewidth exciton-polariton laser
Authors: Fabricante Bianca Rae , Król Mateusz , Wurdack Matthias , Pieczarka Maciej , Steger Mark , Snoke David W. , West Kenneth , Pfeiffer Loren N. , Truscott Andrew G. , Ostrovskaya Elena A. , Estrecho Eliezer
Published: May 2024

Exciton-polariton lasers are a promising source of coherent light for
low-energy applications due to their low-threshold operation. However,
a detailed experimental study of their spectral purity, which directly
affects their coherence properties, is still missing. Here, we present
a high-resolution spectroscopic investigation of the energy and
linewidth of an exciton-polariton laser in the single-mode regime,
which derives its coherent emission from an optically pumped and
confined exciton-polariton condensate. We report an ultra-narrow
linewidth of 56 MHz or 0.24 µeV, corresponding to a
coherence time of 5.7 ns. The narrow linewidth is consistently
achieved by using an exciton-polariton condensate with a high photonic
content confined in an optically induced trap. Contrary to previous
studies, we show that the excitonic reservoir created by the pump and
responsible for creating the trap does not strongly affect the
emission linewidth as long as the condensate is trapped and the pump
power is well above the condensation (lasing) threshold. The long
coherence time of the exciton-polariton system uncovered here opens up
opportunities for manipulating its macroscopic quantum state, which is
essential for applications in classical and quantum computing.
Three-Dimensional Modelling of Near-field Beam Profiles from Grating Couplers using Deep Neural Network
Authors: Lim Yu Dian , Tan Chuan Seng
Published: May 2024

Integrated silicon photonics (SiPh) gratings have been widely studied for the optical addressing of trapped ions. As the formfactor of ion traps reduces, the ion-trapping height decreases, and may unavoidably fall into the reactive near-field region of SiPh gratings. In this study, a deep neural network (DNN) modeling technique is developed as a rapid alternative to generate reactive near-field beam profiles of light coupled from SiPh gratings, as compared to the conventional finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) technique. The training of the optimized DNN model took 14 minutes, and the generation of beam profiles from the trained model took a few seconds. The time required for model training and beam profile generation is significantly faster than FDTD simulation, which may take up to 2–3 hours. The generated beam achieved accuracy values of up to 75%. Despite the relatively longer model training duration, it is possible to reuse the trained DNN model to generate beam profiles from gratings with several design variations. In short, this work demonstrates an alternative DNN-assisted technique to rapidly generate beam profiles in the reactive near-field region.
Generative Modelling of Three-Dimensional Beam Profiles from Grating Structure using Neural Network
Authors: Lim Yu Dian , Tan Chuan Seng
Published: May 2024

In this study, a modelling technique to generate 3D optical beam profiles of chip-to-free-space coupling from silicon photonics (SiPh) gratings is demonstrated. The deep neural network (DNN) model training, electric field (E-field) prediction, and beam profiles generation of optimized DNN took ~1 hour, which is significantly shorter than the computational time of finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) that could take up to 12 hours. The average percentage error (APE) between FDTD-simulated and DNN-generated beam profiles reaches below 20% for beam profiles located at > 30 µm above the grating. This translates to >80% accuracy for DNN-generated profiles. Note that the source of E-field prediction error from DNN-generated profiles is mainly from the fringe-like irregularities in the FDTD-simulated profiles, which has minimal impairment when designing SiPh gratings for most chip-to-free-space applications.
Depth-prior-based lidar point cloud de-noising method leveraging range-gated imaging
Authors: Xiaoquan Liu , yang zhaopeng
Published: May 2024

Light Detection And Ranging (LiDAR) has been widely adopted to modern self-driving vehicles and mobile robotics, providing 3D information of the scene and surrounding objects. However, LiDAR suffer from many kinds of noises and its noisy point clouds degrade downstream tasks. Existing LiDAR point cloud de-noising methods are time-consuming or cannot deal with the noise caused by occlusions or penetrating transparent surfaces. In this paper, we introduce a depth-prior-based LiDAR point clouds de-noising method to deal with all types of noises in LiDAR point clouds in real-time. The depth prior is derived from the fundamental principles of range-gated imaging, and divides the depth of field into three parts, which can provide effective depth signal. LiDAR point cloud is projected into a depth map and points whose depth is inconsistent with the depth prior can be regarded as noises and removed finally. In experiments, the proposed method is compared with existing de-noising methods and achieve superior performance. In addition, we also demonstrate how denoised LiDAR data influence the accuracy of vision-guided range-gated 3D imaging.
Seroprevalence and risk factors associated with bovine tuberculosis in cattle in Eastern Bhutan
Authors: Wangmo Karma , Gurung Ratna B , Choden Tshering , Letho Sangay , Pokhrel Narayan , Lungten Lungten , Zangmo Tashi , Peldon Sonam , Chedup Kinzang , Kumar Sylvia Jaya , Dorji Thinley , Tshering Sangay , Dorji Kinzang , Tenzin Tenzin
Published: May 2024

Bovine tuberculosis (bTB) is a chronic zoonotic disease affecting cattle of all age groups including wild animals. It poses a significant threat to public health and high economic losses to dairy farmers. While the disease has been eradicated from most of the developed countries through extensive surveillance, testing and culling strategy, it is endemic in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East countries. Currently, there is limited research regarding the prevalence of bTB in cattle in Bhutan. This study aimed to determine the seroprevalence of bTB in cattle in six districts of eastern Bhutan. A two-stage probability proportional to size (PPS) sampling strategy was used to determine the number of animals from which serum samples needed to be collected in each district and sub-district. All farms and cattle for sampling were randomly selected from the data in the annual livestock census of 2020. The samples were tested using bTB ELISA test kit. The seroprevalence and their 95% confidence intervals were calculated. Logistic regression models were constructed to assess the influence of various individual animal and environmental risk factors (breed, age, sex, source of animal, body condition scores of animals, respiratory system status) associated with sero-positivity in animals.

The study revealed an apparent seroprevalence of 2.57% (25/971 cattle; 95% CI:1.58–3.57), with an estimated true seroprevalence of 0.91% (95% CI: 0.0–2.81). However, none of the variables were found to be significantly associated with bTB seroprevalence in cattle.

We recommend, further sampling and employment of confirmatory testing to fully ascertain the extent of bTB in the cattle herds in eastern Bhutan for prevention and control.
Prognostic impact of suspicious extraabdominal lymph nodes on patient survival in advanced ovarian cancer
Authors: Park Kena , Kwon Ji Young , Song Jeong Min , Pyeon Seung Yeon , Lee Seon Hwa , Chung Young Shin , Lee Jong-Min
Published: May 2024

Objective

To evaluate the clinical impact of suspicious extra-abdominal lymph nodes (EALNs) identified preoperatively on CT and/or PET/CT images in advanced ovarian cancer.

Methods

A retrospective study was conducted with 122 patients diagnosed with stage III or IV ovarian cancer with preoperative CT and/or PET/CT images from 2006 to 2022. Imaging studies were evaluated for the presence, size and location of suspicious EALNs. Suspicious lymph node enlargement was defined by a cut-off ≥5mm short-axis dimension on CT and/or lesions with maximum standardized uptake values of ≥2.5 on PET/CT. This study only included patients who did not have their EALNs surgically removed.

Results

A total 109 patients met the inclusion criteria; 36 (33%) had suspicious EALNs and were categorized as “node-positive”. The median overall survival (OS) was 45.73 months for the “node-positive” and 46.50 months for the “node-negative” patients (HR 1.17, 95% CI 0.68–2.00, p = 0.579). In multivariate analysis, after adjusting for other variables selected by process of backward elimination using a significance level of p<0.20, suspicious EALNs still showed no clinical significance on OS (aHR 1.20, 95% CI 0.67–2.13, p = 0.537) as well as progression-free survival (aHR 1.43, 95% CI 0.85–2.41, p = 0.174). Old age (aHR 2.23, 95% CI 1.28–3.89, p = 0.005) and platinum resistance (aHR 1.92, 95% CI 1.10–3.36, p = 0.023) affects adversely on OS.

Conclusion

Suspicious EALNs did not worsen the prognosis of patients with advanced ovarian cancer. However, its impact on survival is not yet clarified. Further investigation is required to assess the clinical significance of suspicious EALNs on preoperative imaging studies.
Sludge degradation, nutrient removal and reduction of greenhouse gas emission by a Chironomus-Azolla wastewater treatment cascade
Authors: Hendriks Lisanne , van der Meer Tom V. , Kraak Michiel H. S. , Verdonschot Piet F. M. , Smolders Alfons J. P. , Lamers Leon P. M. , Veraart Annelies J.
Published: May 2024

Wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are a point source of nutrients, emit greenhouse gases (GHGs), and produce large volumes of excess sludge. The use of aquatic organisms may be an alternative to the technical post-treatment of WWTP effluent, as they play an important role in nutrient dynamics and carbon balance in natural ecosystems. The aim of this study was therefore to assess the performance of an experimental wastewater-treatment cascade of bioturbating macroinvertebrates and floating plants in terms of sludge degradation, nutrient removal and lowering GHG emission. To this end, a full-factorial experiment was designed, using a recirculating cascade with a WWTP sludge compartment with or without bioturbating Chironomus riparius larvae, and an effluent container with or without the floating plant Azolla filiculoides, resulting in four treatments. To calculate the nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and carbon (C) mass balance of this system, the N, P and C concentrations in the effluent, biomass production, and sludge degradation, as well as the N, P and C content of all compartments in the cascade were measured during the 26-day experiment. The presence of Chironomus led to an increased sludge degradation of 44% compared to 25% in the control, a 1.4 times decreased transport of P from the sludge and a 2.4 times increased transport of N out of the sludge, either into Chironomus biomass or into the water column. Furthermore, Chironomus activity decreased methane emissions by 92%. The presence of Azolla resulted in a 15% lower P concentration in the effluent than in the control treatment, and a CO2 uptake of 1.13 kg ha-1 day-1. These additive effects of Chironomus and Azolla resulted in an almost two times higher sludge degradation, and an almost two times lower P concentration in the effluent. This is the first study that shows that a bio-based cascade can strongly reduce GHG and P emissions simultaneously during the combined polishing of wastewater sludge and effluent, benefitting from the additive effects of the presence of both macrophytes and invertebrates. In addition to the microbial based treatment steps already employed on WWTPs, the integration of higher organisms in the treatment process expands the WWTP based ecosystem and allows for the inclusion of macroinvertebrate and macrophyte mediated processes. Applying macroinvertebrate-plant cascades may therefore be a promising tool to tackle the present and future challenges of WWTPs.
Implementation and adaptation of a hub-based psychiatric and primary care program: A qualitative descriptive analysis of The Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience (SCOPE) Mental Health program
Authors: Whitmore Carly , Emam Mona , Pariser Pauline , Bolea Blanca
Published: May 2024

Background

The Seamless Care Optimizing the Patient Experience (SCOPE)–Mental Health program is a comprehensive case management and psychiatric care initiative that supports primary care physicians in independent medical practices. This program offers a range of services that aims to enhance primary care capacity for mental health and provide accessible clinical care for patients. With its flexible hub-based approach, this program allows participating sites to tailor their implementation based on their available resources and specific needs within their community.

Objectives

The aim of this quality improvement initiative was to investigate the evolution of this collaborative mental health model, focusing on specific site adaptations, local implementation challenges, and opportunities for ongoing development and sustainability across SCOPE sites in the Greater Toronto Area.

Method

This evaluation employed a qualitative descriptive design where semi-structured interviews, guided by the Reach Effectiveness Adoption, Implementation, and Maintenance framework were conducted with staff from all 8 SCOPE-Mental Health sites. Site representatives were interviewed virtually between March and July 2023 and data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis.

Findings

The SCOPE-Mental Health model permits flexibility through specific local adaptations led by community need that leverage existing assets either at the site or within the individual community. Adoption by primary care physicians was crucial to program success and facilitated efficiency and interprofessional collaboration. Maintenance efforts included pathway refinement, and marketing and funding considerations. Challenges to program development included continuity of staff, physician compensation issues, and electronic health record interoperability. The SCOPE-Mental Health program fosters linkages among unaffiliated primary care offices, hospitals, and community-based resources to improve mental health care. Key recommendations include advocating for sustainable funding and facilitated mechanisms for psychiatric consultations.

Conclusions

This initiative offers valuable insights for healthcare organizations seeking to develop similar programs, emphasizing the need for tailored approaches and ongoing evaluation to ensure a lasting impact in underserved communities.
Dr Kristin G. Congdon: Life and legacy as an art educator
Authors: Rang Linda M.
Published: May 2024

The following article is about the life, ideas and experiences of art educator Dr Kristin Congdon. Throughout her life, she showed an interest in art, ultimately challenging institutional representations of under-represented groups, such as females, as well as people of colour. Her journey led her to study the work of folk artists. This important topic brings to light the fact that this group has been under-represented globally throughout history. She had trouble finding a university that believed folk art was important enough for her to study for her Ph.D. Ultimately, she was mentored by Dr June McFee at the University of Oregon, where she received her Ph.D. in art education, studying a theoretical approach for teaching folk art in an educational setting. The following information was collected during a phone interview with Kristin Congdon on 24 January 2023 and in an e-mail dated 24 February 2023. She is currently a professor emerita of philosophy and humanities in the Department of Art, Film and Philosophy at the University of Central Florida.
An interview with Dr Jeffrey B. Grubbs
Authors: Ong Jamie Espino
Published: May 2024

In these interview transcripts, Jamie Ong engages in an in-depth conversation with Dr Jeffrey Bryan Grubbs, delving into the personal aspects of his life. The interview explores Dr Grubbs’s experiences, challenges and pivotal moments, offering a unique glimpse into the person behind the profession. Through this exchange, the student seeks to understand the teacher's life journey and interest in theological art education. The dialogue creates a meaningful narrative of Dr Grubbs’s life and research over the years.
Unleashing real-time analytics: A comparative study of in-memory computing vs. traditional disk-based systems
Authors: Levin Semen M.
Published: May 2024

The article presents a comprehensive study evaluating the performance differences between in-memory computing (IMC) and traditional disk-based database systems, specifically focusing on Redis and PostgreSQL. Given the escalating demands for real-time data analytics across various sectors, the research delves into the comparative efficiency of these two data management paradigms in processing large datasets. Utilizing a synthetic dataset of 23.6 million records, we orchestrated a series of data manipulation tasks, including aggregation, table joins, and filtering operations, to simulate real-world data analytics scenarios. The experiment, conducted on a high-performance computing setup, revealed that Redis significantly outperformed PostgreSQL in all tested operations, showcasing the inherent advantages of IMC in terms of speed and efficiency. Data aggregation tasks saw Redis completing the process up to ten times faster than PostgreSQL. Similarly, table joining, and data filtering tasks were executed more swiftly on Redis, emphasizing IMC's potential to facilitate instantaneous data analytics. These findings underscore the pivotal role of IMC technologies like Redis in empowering organizations to harness real-time insights from big data, a critical capability in today's fast-paced business environment. The study further discusses the implications of adopting IMC over traditional systems, considering aspects such as cost, integration challenges, and the importance of skill development for IT teams. Concluding with strategic recommendations, the article advocates for a nuanced approach to incorporating IMC technologies, highlighting their transformative potential while acknowledging the need for balanced investment and operational planning.
Neurodevelopmental outcomes and occupational participation of preterm children at school age: a scoping review
Authors: Daskalou Symeon Dimitrios , Ouzouni Christina , Gerosideris Nikolaos , Karagianni Vilelmini , Katsouri Ioanna Giannoula
Published: May 2024

Preterm children may experience major challenges that affect their occupational participation and daily functioning, especially at school age. This scoping review aims to examining and synthesizing the available literature about adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes and occupational participation restrictions of preterm children born < 37 weeks of gestation. The MEDLINE, Science Direct, CINAHL databases were searched from January 2013 to December 2023, for published cohort studies that assessed the neurodevelopmental outcomes and occupational participation of school-aged preterm children, compared to full-term born peers. Out of 6631 identified articles, 13 studies met the inclusion criteria and involved 958 preterm children, aged 6-10 years old. Studies included in the current scoping review reported adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes, such as cognitive impairment, executive function and sensory processing deficits, emotional and behavioral problems, language and visual perception difficulties, as well as occupational participation restrictions, like feeding difficulties, academic challenges and peer relationship problems. Findings suggest that neurodevelopmental deficits and occupational participation restrictions, especially in extremely preterm children, not only exist in early childhood but persist during school age. Future research should focus on exploring potential differences or patterns in neurodevelopmental outcomes and occupational participation between preterm groups with different gestational age ranges.