bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reliability of orofacial quantitative sensory testing for pleasantness and unpleasantness
Authors: Taneja Pankaj , Krause-Hirsch Camilla , Laursen Stine , Sørensen Caroline Juul , Olausson Håkan , Svensson Peter , Baad-Hansen Lene
Published: June 2020

Background

Quantitative sensory testing protocols for perceptions of pleasantness and unpleasantness based on the German Research Network on Neuropathic Pain protocol were recently introduced. However, there are no reliability studies yet published.

Aim

To evaluate the intra-examiner (test-retest) and inter-examiner reliability for orofacial pleasantness and unpleasantness quantitative sensory testing protocols.

Methods

Sixteen healthy participants from Aarhus University (11 women and five men, mean age 24, range 21–26 years) contributed. Two examiners were trained in performing the entire quantitative sensory testing protocols for pleasantness and unpleasantness, which included the additional dynamic tactile stimulation test using a goat-hair brush. Each participant underwent examination of both protocols by each examiner (inter-examiner reliability) on day 1. They returned at least 8 days following the testing to be re-examined by one examiner (intra-examiner reliability). All testing was performed on the skin of the right mandibular mental region. The intraclass correlation (ICC) was used to determine reliability.

Results

For the protocol investigating pleasantness, the majority of parameters had good to excellent intra-examiner (11/14: Intraclass correlation 0.67–0.87) and inter-examiner (13/14: Intraclass correlation 0.62–0.96) reliabilities. Similarly, the protocol investigating unpleasantness had good to excellent intra-examiner (intraclass correlation 0.63–0.99) and inter-examiner (intraclass correlation 0.65–0.98) reliabilities for most (13/15) of the parameters.

Conclusion

Intra and inter-examiner reliabilities in the majority of quantitative sensory testing parameters (apart from the summation ratio) investigating pleasantness and unpleasantness are acceptable when assessing somatosensory function of the orofacial region. Trial registration: NA
Contribution of MnROAD Research to Improvements in Concrete Pavement Technology from 1994–2019
Authors: Burnham Thomas , Worel Benjamin , Izevbekhai Bernard
Published: June 2020

By the late 1980s several states, including Minnesota, began to wonder if American Association of State Highway Official (AASHO) based asphalt and concrete pavement designs were still valid, given the significant changes in traffic loads, materials and construction practices over time. This interest in validating current designs, as well as seeking improved and more efficient designs and materials, led to the creation of the Minnesota Road Research facility, known as MnROAD. Construction of the first phase of test sections at MnROAD took place from 1991 to 1994, and it was open to traffic loading commencing on July 15, 1994. Since 1994, three phases of pavement research have been, and continue to be, conducted at MnROAD. In its first 25 years of operation, an overwhelming amount of pavement research and development has been accomplished at MnROAD. The focus of this paper is to describe many of the more unique and significant findings that have improved concrete pavement technology not only in Minnesota, but throughout the U.S. and other parts of the world. The contributions are categorized into the following areas: design, materials, construction, rehabilitation, pavement monitoring and evaluation, and full-scale testing. In each of the areas, the significant contributions are described and relevant references are cited. The positive contributions of MnROAD toward concrete pavement knowledge and technology have been recognized, and as a result, the MnROAD facility will continue to operate successfully into the future under the National Road Research Alliance (NRRA).
Russia: Colonial, anticolonial, postcolonial Empire?
Authors: Khomyakov Maxim
Published: June 2020

This article is devoted to the discussion of Russian colonial and anti-colonial social imaginaries. It starts by delving into the definitions of colony and colonization, and proceeds to the analysis of the colonial experience of the Russian continental Empire. The internal colonization thesis is also analyzed in the context of the imperial reality. The complex Soviet experience is understood as, on the one hand, a radical break with the past, through decolonization and anti-colonialism. The author, on the other hand, agrees with those who claim that Stalinism can also be understood in terms of an internal colonialism theory. This article, however, emphasizes the metaphoric nature of the internal colonialism arguments. In conclusion, the author describes different features of Russian colonial/anti-colonial experience as aspects of what he calls the modernity of control and what he describes as the dominance of the rational mastery discourses over imaginary signification of autonomy.
Helpful and Hurtful Empathy: How the Interplay of Empathy, Shame, and Anger Predicts Responses to Hypothetical Rape Disclosures
Authors: Martingano Alison Jane
Published: June 2020

Responses to rape victims, although often helpful, can be hurtful and hinder victims’ health and recovery. Adopting a multidimensional approach to dispositional empathy, this research investigated how different subfacets of empathy predict responses to hypothetical rape victims. Before reading a sexual assault scenario, 282 participants completed measures of cognitive and emotional empathy. Participants’ subsequent emotional arousal was measured by self-report, as were their intentions to help, avoid, or blame the victim. A path model demonstrated that dispositional empathy predicted behavioral intentions toward hypothetical rape victims by altering their vulnerability to experience shame or anger. People who tended to feel personal distress were more likely to mirror rape victims’ assumed shame. Due to its antisocial nature, experiencing shame, in turn, led to hurtful behaviors such as blaming or distancing oneself from the victim. On the other hand, people who tended to feel empathic concern were more likely to feel anger on behalf of the victim following a rape disclosure. Anger is a motivating force for action and promotes helping behavior. A second study demonstrated that these results appear unique to rape disclosure, namely, participants reactions to nonsexual assault were unsuccessfully captured by this model. Understanding how empathetic arousal of shame can lead to hurtful intentions toward rape victims has important implications for future interventions: Programs that draw attention to the shame or humiliation experienced by rape victims may do more harm than good. For instance, some anti-rape campaigns portray pictures of women covering their faces. These campaigns, however well intentioned, may discourage people from helping victims because they may evoke feelings of shame in the perceiver. On the other hand, societal movements, such as the #Metoo movement, may be particularly effective by reducing the shame surrounding sexual assault and promote helpful behaviors.
Solution region synthesis methodology of planar eight-bar linkage for four specified positions of a 4R chain
Authors: Cui Guangzhen , Han Jianyou , Xiao Yanqiu , Wang Caidong
Published: June 2020

The solution region methodology for solving the problem of four-bar linkage synthesis with four specified positions was extended to solve the problem of eight-bar linkage synthesis. The processes to build solution regions for synthesizing different types of eight-bar linkages are described, and the methods of building solution regions are divided into five types. First, the synthesis equation is derived, and the curve expressed by the synthesis equation is called the solution curve. Second, the process to build the spatial solution regions from the solution curves is detailed, and a new defect identification method is developed for building the spatial feasible solution region, which is a set of linkage solutions meeting four positions and excluding defects. Finally, linkage solutions that do not meet practical engineering requirements are eliminated from the spatial feasible solution region to obtain the useful spatial solution region. The examples demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed method. The proposed synthesis methodology is simple and easy to program, and provides reference for four specified position synthesis of other multi-bar linkages.
A new electric wheel and optimization on its suspension parameters
Authors: Meng Lingsheng , Zou Yuanji , Qin Yudi , Hou Zhichao
Published: June 2020

Hub-driven technology with its many advantages has become a potential transformation technology in the automotive industry. In order to inhibit the negative effects of the in-wheel motor, a new electric wheel configuration was presented with two-stage suspensions, and optimization was conducted for the suspension parameters. With the specially introduced flexible transmission elements and motor suspension, the electric wheel is capable of achieving power transmission and vertical vibration isolation simultaneously. A quarter-vehicle model was established, and vehicle performance-related indices were defined to evaluate the applicability of the new electric wheel. An optimization problem was then constructed for suspension parameters, where constraint conditions were derived according to vehicle dynamics. The optimal solution was sought by a genetic algorithm, aiming at utilizing the full potential of the configuration. Simulations were carried out taking the optimal suspension parameters into account, and comparison was made with vehicles equipped with other electric wheel configurations in terms of these performance indices. The results show that the proposed electric wheel reduces motor vibration, and increases wheel dynamic load and vehicle body acceleration.
Effects of rotary ultrasonic bone drilling on cutting force and temperature in the human bones
Authors: Singh Ravinder Pal , Pandey Pulak Mohan , Behera Chittaranjan , Mridha Asit Ranjan
Published: June 2020

Efficacy and outcomes of osteosynthesis depend on various factors including types of injury and repair, host factors, characteristics of implant materials and type of implantation. One of the most important host factors appears to be the extent of bone damage due to the mechanical force and thermal injury which are produced at cutting site during bone drilling. The temperature above the critical temperature (47 °C) produces thermal osteonecrosis in the bones. In the present work, experimental investigations were performed to determine the effect of drilling parameters (rotational speed, feed rate and drill diameter) and techniques (conventional surgical bone drilling and rotary ultrasonic bone drilling) on cutting force and temperature generated during bone drilling. The drilling experiments were performed by a newly developed bone drilling machine on different types of human bones (femur, tibia and fibula) having different biological structure and mechanical behaviour. The bone samples were procured from male cadavers with the age of second to fourth decades. The results revealed that there was a significant difference ( p < 0.05) in cutting force and temperature rise for rotary ultrasonic bone drilling and conventional surgical bone drilling. The cutting force obtained in rotary ultrasonic bone drilling was 30%–40%, whereas temperature generated was 50%–55% lesser than conventional surgical bone drilling process for drilling in all types of bones. It was also found that the cutting force increased with increasing feed rate, drill diameter and decrease in rotational speed, whereas increasing rotational speed, drill diameter and feed rate resulted in higher heat generation during bone drilling. Both the techniques revealed that the axial cutting force and the temperature rise were significantly higher in femur and tibia compared with the fibula for all combinations of process parameters.
Evolution of late presentation to care and advanced HIV in newly HIV diagnosed subjects in the Republic of Panama: 2012–2017
Authors: Robles Maria A , Ortiz Alma Y , Zaldivar Yamitzel , Castillo Jorge , Gondola Jessica , Mewa Juan C , Moreno Ambar , Burgos Ramon , Chavarria Oris , Castillero Omar , Gonzalez Claudia , Pascale Juan M , Martínez Alexander A
Published: June 2020

Most of the information on clinical factors related to HIV infection is focused on key populations and young people. Therefore, there is little information on clinical factors related to HIV infection in older persons (>45 years old). In this study, data on CD4 lymphocyte counts were analyzed on adults who are linked to care and have their first CD4 cell count done from different regions of the Republic of Panama from 2012 to 2017. Samples were grouped according to late presentation status, region of origin in the country, year, gender, and age groups. Factors associated with late presentation to care and advanced HIV were assessed on each group by multivariable logistic regression. Late presentation to care was observed in 71.6% of the evaluated subjects, and advanced HIV in 54.5%. Late presentation was associated with males (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.3, 95% confidence interval [CI]=1.1–1.6, p = 0.03), age greater than 45 years old (AOR = 2.3 CI= 1.8–2.9, p < 0.001), and being from regions where antiretroviral clinics are not well instituted (AOR = 2.1, CI = 1.6–2.7, p < 0.001). Despite an increase in subjects linked to care with a CD4 test performed over the years, late presentation remained constant. Therefore, prevention policies must be reformulated. Promotion of routine HIV testing, accessibility among all population groups, installation of antiretroviral clinics, and implementation of programs as rapid initiation of antiretroviral therapy should be rolled out nationally.
Designing an electronic blood-borne virus risk alert to improve uptake of testing
Authors: van Schaik Paul , Lorrimer Susan , Chadwick David
Published: June 2020

The primary aim of the current study was to test the effect of the presentation design of a test alert system on healthcare workers’ (HCWs’) decision-making regarding blood-borne virus (BBV) testing. The secondary aim was to determine HCWs’ acceptance of the system. An online survey used a within-subjects research design with four design factors as independent variables. The dependent variable was clinical decision. Ten realistic descriptions of hypothetical patients were presented to participants who were asked to decide whether to request BBV testing. The effect of a pre-set course of action to request BBV testing was significant when additional information (cost-effectiveness, date of last BBV test or risk assessment) was not presented, with a 16% increase from 30 to 46% accept decisions. When risk assessment information was presented without a pre-set course of action, the effects of cost-effectiveness (27% increase) and last test date (23% decrease) were significant. The main reason for declining to test was insufficient risk. HCWs’ acceptance of the test alert system was high and resistance was low. We make recommendations from the results for the design of a subsequent real-world trial of the test alert system.
Rituximab use as induction therapy for lupus nephritis: a systematic review
Authors: Stolyar Liya , Lahita Robert G , Panush Richard S
Published: June 2020

Objective

Rituximab (RTX) has important usage in rheumatoid arthritis and vasculitis. There remains a need for more, better, and safer treatments for patients with lupus nephritis (LN). RTX has been trialed in such patients without definitive conclusions about its effectiveness. As a role for RTX has not been clearly established for LN, we carried out a systematic review and analysis.

Methods

We identified 31 studies of RTX for class I–VI LN, and assessed complete renal response (CRR) and partial renal response (PRR) using criteria including serum creatinine, proteinuria, and urinary sediment. Due to differences in the pediatric presentation of the disease, studies focusing on pediatric patients were excluded.

Results

One randomized controlled trial (RCT) showed superiority of RTX+cyclophosphamide (CYC) versus CYC alone (64% vs. 21% CRR and 19% vs. 36% PRR). Six prospective and retrospective studies utilizing RTX monotherapy found 66% CRR or PRR in all patients. Eleven studies that investigated RTX in combination with CYC or mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) also found 66% CRR or PRR in all patients. In total, the CRR for Caucasian, East Asian, and Hispanic patients were 77%, 38%, and 28%, respectively.

Conclusions

RTX appeared to benefit certain LN patients, but most studies were not randomized or properly controlled, were heterogeneous in design, subjects, and LN types, and were not comparable, and must therefore be interpreted cautiously. RTX alone may not deplete B cells sufficiently for the perturbations of LN. In addition, RTX may induce responses differently among patients of different ethnic and racial backgrounds. Furthermore, there were wide variations in the baseline characteristics of the patients, namely LN class, time course of disease, age, and prior immunosuppressive use. We suggest a prospective RCT in patients aged 18–65 years with class IV LN. Ideally, the patients would not have received prior immunosuppression and would better represent different ethnicities. The treatment groups would be RTX, RTX+belimumab, CYC, and MMF groups, with pulse-dose steroids during induction followed by maintenance steroids and MMF. The CRR and PRR would be assessed at 12 and 24 months. This or a similar study might clarify RTX’s role in the treatment of LN.
Is There Inequality in What Adolescents Can Give as Well as Receive?
Authors: Fuligni Andrew J.
Published: June 2020

Adolescents have a fundamental need to contribute to other people, social groups, and the larger society. Giving support and resources to others assists canonical developmental tasks such as autonomy and identity and is beneficial for psychological and physical health. As with the resources received by youths, inequalities along well-known social gradients likely exist in the opportunity for adolescents to make meaningful contributions to their social worlds. Greater attention to inequalities in the opportunities for adolescents to give as well as receive could reveal underappreciated but significant ways in which the development of youths from marginalized groups may be compromised.
Fortis: Restructuring Service Excellence Training in Indian Healthcare Industry
Authors: Omanwar Sunil , Chatterjee Devjani
Published: June 2020

Sam Jones joined as the learning and development manager at Fortis Healthcare Limited in August, 2014. He finds himself in a bind when he observes that the people systems were lagging and unable to cope with the rapid organizational growth; affecting the delivery of service. Substantial setback was the ambiguity of training modules creating a hurdle for service excellence. Processes were vague and complex with duplication in training modules. Forty-two training modules were there across all units but being used with different names in different units, some of which had overlapping content under different module names leading to underutilization of time, money and human resources and lacking optimization. This particular case addresses the need of managing organizational change to restructure service excellence training. The case exposes the readers to the dilemma about how to implement the change process, how to convince the employees about the change that is required and in which direction to start with?
Bio-inspired artificial pheromone system for swarm robotics applications
Authors: Na Seongin , Qiu Yiping , Turgut Ali E , Ulrich Jiří , Krajník Tomáš , Yue Shigang , Lennox Barry , Arvin Farshad
Published: June 2020

Pheromones are chemical substances released into the environment by an individual animal, which elicit stereotyped behaviours widely found across the animal kingdom. Inspired by the effective use of pheromones in social insects, pheromonal communication has been adopted to swarm robotics domain using diverse approaches such as alcohol, RFID tags and light. COSΦ is one of the light-based artificial pheromone systems which can emulate realistic pheromones and environment properties through the system. This article provides a significant improvement to the state-of-the-art by proposing a novel artificial pheromone system that simulates pheromones with environmental effects by adopting a model of spatio-temporal development of pheromone derived from a flow of fluid in nature. Using the proposed system, we investigated the collective behaviour of a robot swarm in a bio-inspired aggregation scenario, where robots aggregated on a circular pheromone cue with different environmental factors, that is, diffusion and pheromone shift. The results demonstrated the feasibility of the proposed pheromone system for use in swarm robotic applications.
Decent Work in Sub-Saharan Africa: An Application of Psychology of Working Theory in a Sample of Togolese Primary School Teachers
Authors: Atitsogbe Kokou A. , Kossi Enyonam Y. , Pari Paboussoum , Rossier Jérôme
Published: June 2020

This study examined the validity of Psychology of Working Theory (PWT) in a context of sub-Saharan Africa. A sample of 334 Togolese primary school teachers completed the French versions of the Decent Work Scale (DWS), the Togolese adapted form of the Satisfaction With Life Scale, the Job Satisfaction Scale (JSS), and several items about meaning at work and other personal and contextual variables (e.g., subjective salary conditions). The results suggest that both the DWS and the JSS are valid in this specific cultural setting. Although a person-centered variable (i.e., safe working conditions) was related to job satisfaction, only those variables that would have positive effects on workers’ family members and relatives (i.e., access to health care, adequate compensation, free time and rest, and complementary values) were related to life satisfaction. Overall, the results supported the validity of PWT. Implications for labor policy, individuals, employers, and counseling are discussed.
Operative Treatment for Ganglion Cyst of Flexor Hallucis Longus Sheath
Authors: Zhang Shu , Aiyer Amiethab , Sun Chao , Wang Zhi , Lin Dasheng , Qu Feng , Wei Fangyuan , Wang XianJun , Zhang Fengqi , Li Shuyuan , Chen Yaping , Zhang Jianzhong , Lintz François , Zhang Mingzhu
Published: June 2020

Background:

Intractable hallucal ganglion cysts (HGCs) are often a symptomatic and recurrent condition. Its connection with the ankle joint is not well understood. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between tenosynovitis of the flexor hallucis longus (FHL) tendon at the level of the ankle with formation of an HGC. In addition, we sought to analyze the outcomes of cyst excision combined with ankle capsulorrhaphy.

Methods:

Nineteen patients with HGC who underwent surgical intervention were included between June 2016 and June 2019. Eight had known recurrences. Ankle arthrography and cyst excision were performed on all patients. Clinical evaluations included the American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society (AOFAS) scores, visual analog scale (VAS), and evaluation of postoperative complications. The mean follow-up period was 16.5 ± 8.6 months.

Results:

Thirteen of the 19 HGCs (68.4%) had a connection with the FHL tendon sheath. Combined with ankle capsulorrhaphy, there was no recurrence after cyst excision. The VAS score decreased from 2.1 ± 1.5 to 0.4 ± 0.8, and AOFAS score significantly improved from 84.3 ± 8.7 to 97.4 ± 5.2 at final follow-up ( P < .001).

Conclusions:

Most of these patients had a connection between the HGC and ankle joint. Ankle arthrography appeared to be useful for diagnosis, and cyst excision combined with ankle capsulorrhaphy was an effective treatment without cyst recurrence.

Level of Evidence:

Level IV, case series.
An Outbreak Preparedness and Mitigation Approach in Home Health and Personal Home Care During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Mills William R. , Sender Susan , Reynolds Karen , Lichtefeld Joseph , Romano Nicholas , Price Melissa , Phipps Jennifer , White Leigh , Howard Shauen , Domico Rexanne
Published: June 2020

The acute respiratory disease COVID-19, caused by the novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, is a worldwide pandemic affecting millions of people. The methodology that organizations who provide home health and personal home care services are using to respond to this pandemic has not yet been characterized. In this report, we describe our approach to comprehensive outbreak suppression and report an initial case series of COVID-19 positive patients receiving home-based services. We implemented enhanced infection control procedures across our affiliates, and we communicated these protocols to our offices using multi-faceted methods. Using custom built software applications enabling us to track patient and employee cases and exposures, we leveraged current public health recommendations to identify cases and to suppress transmission. In the 100-day period between January 20, 2020 and April 30, 2020, our affiliates provided services to 67 COVID-19 positive patients (<0.3% of census). Twenty patients were referred to home health post hospitalization for COVID-19 related illness, whereas 47 were found to have COVID-19 while living in community settings. Of those who were found to have COVID-19 in the community, 17 (39%) required subsequent hospitalization. Hospitalized patients had an average age of 74.5 ± 18, and 53% were male. There were 13 deaths (76%) among those hospitalized from the community with COVID-19 related illness. A highly coordinated and frequently communicated approach to infection control, case identification and employee screening can be performed by home health and personal home care organizations. Studies that further assess risks and predictors of illness severity in home-based COVID-19 patients are needed.
The Smart Home: How Consumers Craft New Service Networks by Combining Heterogeneous Smart Domestic Products
Authors: Harvey John , Poorrezaei Mojtaba , Woodall Tony , Nica-Avram Georgiana , Smith Gavin , Ajiboye Tolu , Kholodova Karina , Zhu Kai
Published: June 2020

Service research suggests homes are becoming increasingly connected as consumers automate and personalize new forms of service provision. Yet, large-scale empirical evidence on how and why consumers automate smart domestic products (SDPs) is lacking. To address this knowledge gap, we analyze 13,905 consumer-crafted, automated combinations of SDPs, totaling 1,144,094 installations, across 253 separate service providers on the web service IFTTT.com. An exploratory network analysis examines the topology of the network and an interpretive coding exercise reveals how consumers craft different styles of human-computer interaction to cocreate value. The results reveal that the SDP network is disassortative, is imbalanced, has a long-tailed degree distribution, and that popular services have high centrality across all product category combinations. We show that popular combinations of SDPs are primarily motivated by utilitarian value-seeking enacted through a preference for automated tasks outside of conscious attention, though more individualistic combinations are slightly more likely to be hedonistically inclined. We conclude by showing how these consumer-crafted forms of service provision within domestic environments reveal design redundancy and opportunities for service innovation.
Orbital fat necrosis following a revision endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy
Authors: Galindo-Ferreiro Alicia , Torres Nieto Maria Angeles , Ali Mohammad Javed
Published: June 2020

Introduction:

This report details a case of a preseptal fat necrosis in a 55-year old female, following a revision endoscopic dacryocystorhinostomy (DCR).

Case description:

Upon initial examination, significant right eyelid swelling, tenderness, and pain in the peritrochlear area, was observed. An overlying skin edema was noted in the supero-medial portion of the right upper eyelid. This edema was palpable, firm, and tender. Orbital computed tomography revealed heterogeneous infiltration including an ill-defined margin in the preseptal regions of the clinically evident location. Marked, soft tissue edema and thickening in the inner preseptal area were demonstrated through magnetic resonance images (MRI). An excision biopsy was required as the lesion did not respond to medical treatment. A necrosis of adipose tissue surrounded by abundant foamy macrophages and inflammatory infiltrates, was exposed.

Conclusion:

This is an exceptionally rare case of orbital fat necrosis following a DCR. Four possible mechanisms for the development of fat necrosis are discussed.
Immediate aspiration of the drug infused via central venous catheter through the distally positioned central venous dialysis catheter: An experimental study
Authors: Vicka Vaidas , Vickiene Alvita , Tutkus Jonas , Stanaitis Jokubas , Bandzeviciute Rimante , Ringaitiene Donata , Vosylius Saulius , Sipylaite Jurate
Published: June 2020

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to construct an experimental model replicating blood flow within human superior vena cava and to determine the degree of the immediate aspiration of the drug introduced via central venous catheter through the distally positioned dialysis catheter.

Methods:

A model replicating superior vena cava was built, catheters were inserted into the model, placing the orifice of the central venous catheter in positions regarding the orifice of the arterial lumen in central venous dialysis catheter (from +2 to −8 cm). Methylene blue was used as a tracer, and the concentration was determined by ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy. Four different sets of samples were generated according to infusion and aspiration speeds: continuous–slow, continuous–fast, bolus–slow, and bolus–fast.

Results:

The concentration of the tracer was related to the distance between the catheter tips, representing a bimodal dependence. When the central venous catheter was placed distally to the central venous dialysis catheter, the aspiration of the tracer was minimal. When withdrawing the central venous catheter proximally, the aspiration of the tracer increased, reaching its peak at −4 cm with aspiration rates form 4.2% to 140.7%. Furthermore, the infusion speed of the tracer had more effect on the aspirated concentrations than the aspiration speed.

Conclusion:

Findings of our experimental model suggest that concentration of aspired drug is effected by the distance between the central venous catheter and central venous dialysis catheter, being lowest when the drug is infused distally to central venous dialysis catheter. Furthermore, the concentration of the tracer is directly proportional to the infusion speed and far less effected by the aspiration rate of the drug.
Short-term manual compression of hemodialysis fistula leads to a rise in cerebral oxygenation
Authors: Kovarova Lucie , Valerianova Anna , Michna Martin , Malik Jan
Published: June 2020

Background:

Decreased cerebral perfusion and oxygenation are common in hemodialysis patients. Magnitude of the arteriovenous fistula involvement in this phenomenon is not known. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect that a short-term arteriovenous fistula flow interruption has on cerebral oxygenation and to review and suggest possible explanations.

Methods:

In 19 patients, basic laboratory and clinical data were obtained and arteriovenous fistula flow volume was measured by ultrasonography. Baseline regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2) was measured by near-infrared spectroscopy. Manual pressure was then applied on the fistula, resulting in total blood flow interruption. After 1 min of manual compression, rSO2 and blood pressure values were noted again. The compression-related change in rSO2 was assessed, as well as its association with arteriovenous fistula flow volume, blood pressure, and other parameters.

Results:

Mean cerebral rSO2 increased after arteriovenous fistula compression (from 53.6% ± 11.4% to 55.6% ± 10.8%; p = 0.000001; 95% confidence interval = 1.39–2.56). The rSO2 increase was higher in patients with lower rSO2 at baseline (r = −0.46; p = 0.045).

Conclusion:

A significant rise in cerebral oxygenation was observed following the manual compression of arteriovenous fistula. Therefore, the arteriovenous fistula could have a role in impaired cerebral oxygenation in hemodialysis patients.
Cognitive performance effects of nicotine and industry affiliation: a systematic review
Authors: Pasetes Sarah V. , Ling Pamela M. , Apollonio Dorie E.
Published: June 2020

Background and aims:

Studies assessing the cognitive performance effects of nicotine show inconsistent results and tobacco industry funding has been correlated with study outcomes. We conducted a systematic review of the primary literature assessing the cognitive performance effects of nicotine and assessed potential associations between tobacco and pharmaceutical industry affiliation and reported study conclusions.

Methods:

We searched PubMed, EMBASE, PsycINFO, BIOSIS, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed journal articles published between 2009 and 2016 that: (1) were randomized controlled trials; (2) investigated the effects of nicotine on cognitive performance in a laboratory setting; (3) administered nicotine to healthy adults (18-60 years); and (4) included participants were nonsmokers or minimally deprived smokers (⩽2 hours of abstaining from smoking). Study disclosures and tobacco industry documents were reviewed to determine industry funding.

Results:

Searches yielded 3,771 abstracts; 32 studies were included in the review. The majority of studies investigated the effects of nicotine on attention (n = 22). Nicotine had a non-uniform effect on attention: studies reported positive (41%; n = 9), mixed (41%; n = 9), and no effect (18%; n = 4). The majority of study authors had received prior tobacco industry funding (59%; n = 19), however over half of tobacco-industry funded authors did not report this (53%; n = 10).

Conclusions:

Nicotine does not appear to be associated with consistent cognitive performance effects. Although no association was found between reported outcomes and tobacco or pharmaceutical industry funding, findings likely underestimate the influence of industry funding due to strict inclusion criteria and incomplete data on pharmaceutical industry funding.

Clinical trial registration:

Not applicable
Formative Process Evaluation of the “Connect” Physical Activity Feasibility Trial for Adolescents
Authors: Zarrett Nicole , Abraczinskas Michelle , Cook Brittany S , Wilson Dawn , Roberts Alex
Published: June 2020

Most interventions do not reach full implementation in real-world settings. Due to this issue, formative process evaluation during pilot programs can be especially useful to understand implementation strengths and areas for improvement so that full implementation can be reached in future iterations. This study demonstrated how a formative process evaluation of the Connect through Positive Leisure Activities for Youth (Connect) pilot informed course corrections for year 2 implementation. Connect is an intervention to promote a positive social motivational climate for physical activity (PA) in pre-existing after school programs. Connect ran 3 days a week for 8 weeks and had 2 components: a 30-minute “Get-to-Know-You” (GTKY) session and a 60-minute PA session. Formative evaluation was assessed using an observational tool and staff surveys. Changes in youth PA during program hours was assessed as a process outcome using the System for Observing Children’s Activity and Relationships during Play (SOCARP). All Connect essential elements were assessed with the observational tool including (a) social goal-oriented support; (b) collaborative, cooperative play; (c) equal treatment/access; and (d) an inclusive and engaging climate. Adequate dose was achieved on all items in all sessions. Although GTKY and PA sessions both reached high fidelity in promoting equal treatment and access, success in reaching fidelity varied for the 3 remaining essential elements. Post-intervention staff surveys indicated acceptability/adoptability of the Connect program and SOCARP observations indicated significant increases in PA from baseline to post-intervention. Changes for year 2 implementation based on the findings are discussed.
Working together to co-produce better health: The experience of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London
Authors: Marston Cicely A , Matthews Rachel , Renedo Alicia , Reed Julie E
Published: June 2020

Objectives

To improve the provision of health care, academics can be asked to collaborate with clinicians, and clinicians with patients. Generating good evidence on health care practice depends on these collaborations working well. Yet such relationships are not the norm. We examine how social science research and health care improvement practice were linked through a programme designed to broker collaborations between clinicians, academics, and patients to improve health care – the UK National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London. We discuss the successes and challenges of the collaboration and make suggestions on how to develop synergistic relationships that facilitate co-production of social science knowledge and its translation into practice.

Methods

A qualitative approach was used, including ethnographic elements and critical, reflexive dialogue between members of the two collaborating teams.

Results

Key challenges and remedies were connected with the risks associated with new ways of working. These risks included differing ideas between collaborators about the purpose, value, and expectations of research, and institutional opposition. Dialogue between collaborators did not mean absence of tensions or clashes. Risk-taking was unpopular – institutions, funders, and partners did not always support it, despite simultaneously demanding ‘innovation’ in producing research that influenced practice.

Conclusions

Our path was made smoother because we had funding to support the creation of a ‘potential space’ to experiment with different ways of working. Other factors that can enhance collaboration include a shared commitment to dialogical practice, a recognition of the legitimacy of different partners’ knowledge, a long timeframe to identify and resolve problems, the maintenance of an enabling environment for collaboration, a willingness to work iteratively and reflexively, and a shared end goal.
The storying of birth
Authors: MacLellan Jennifer
Published: June 2020

Birth narratives have been found to provide women with the most accessible and often utilised means for giving voice to their exploration of meaning in their births. The stories women tell of their birth come out of their pre- and post-experience bodies, reproducing society through the sharing of cultural meanings. I recruited a selection of 20 birth stories from a popular ‘mums’ Internet forum in the United Kingdom. Using structural and thematic analyses, I set out to explore how women tell the story of their body in childbirth. This project has contributed evidence to the discussion of women’s experiences of subjectivity in the discursive landscape of birth, while uncovering previously unacknowledged sites of resistance. The linguistic restrictions, sustained by the neoliberal control mechanisms on society and the self, act to shape the reality, feelings, and expressions of birthing women. Naming these silencing strategies, as I have done through the findings of this project, and celebrating women’s discourse on birth, as the explosion of birth stories across the Internet are doing, offer bold moves to challenge the muting status quo of women in birth. Reclaiming women’s language for birth and working to create a new vocabulary encapsulating the experiences of birthing women will also present opportunities for the issue of birth and women’s experiences of it to occupy greater political space with a confident and decisive voice.
Facebook, news media and platform dependency: The institutional impacts of news distribution on social platforms
Authors: Meese James , Hurcombe Edward
Published: June 2020

There is a growing concern around the dependency of news organisations on platforms like Facebook for audience traffic. However, scholars are still working out the extent of this dependency and how it manifests in practice. In this article, we draw on interviews with Australian news professionals and industry fieldwork to provide a nuanced account of this phenomenon. We find that news media organisations have recently started to diversify their distribution strategies and the business models associated with them in response to Facebook’s algorithm changes. While Facebook remains important, we suggest that greater attention needs to be paid to the complex relationships that news organisations have with platforms. This article ends by considering the implications of these findings for international policy discussions centred around the prospect of platform regulation.
In vitro analysis of the renin–angiotensin system and inflammatory gene transcripts in human bronchial epithelial cells after infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus
Authors: Turk Can , Turk Seyhan , Temirci Elif Sena , Malkan Umit Yavuz , Haznedaroglu İbrahim C.
Published: June 2020

Introduction:

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a recently identified coronavirus family member that triggers a respiratory disease similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV). SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2 are very similar to each other in many respects, such as structure, genetics, and pathobiology. We hypothesized that coronaviruses could affect pulmonary tissues via integration with the critical immune genes after their interaction with renin–angiotensin system (RAS) elements. The aim of the present bioinformatics study was to assess expression changes of the RAS and non-RAS genes, particularly immune response genes, in the lung epithelial cells after infection with SARS-CoV.

Methods:

Linear regression, hierarchical clustering, pathway analysis, and network analysis were performed using the E-GEOD-17400 data set.

Results:

The whole-genome expression data of the lung epithelial cells infected with SARS-CoV for 12, 24, and 48 hours were analyzed, and a total of 15 RAS family and 29 immune genes were found to be highly correlated with the exposure time to the virus in the studied groups.

Conclusion:

RAS genes are important at the initiation of the infections caused by coronavirus family members and may have a strong relationship with the exchange of immune genes in due course following the infection.
Questioning the exceptionality of the exception: Annabel Castro’s ‘Outside in: exile at home’ (2018) in Cuernavaca
Authors: Crane Nicholas Jon , Castro Annabel , Hernández Galindo Sergio
Published: June 2020

Annabel Castro’s art installation ‘Outside in: exile at home’ (2018) problematizes indefinite detention at the Hacienda de Temixco, in Morelos, Mexico, a facility which functioned as a concentration camp for Japanese immigrants and their descendants between 1942 and 1945. The Hacienda de Temixco, like other sites for indefinite detention of Japanese-descended people in the Americas, was contingent upon making detainees’ lives intelligible for security action as the embodiment of a ‘crisis’. This essay interprets Castro’s artwork and its premiere in Cuernavaca as a creative-geographical way to engage visitors around relationships between past and contemporary distinction-making processes by which particular groups of people are refigured as threats to national security. To interpret the artwork as a creative practice of geography, we (1) briefly describe the artwork’s historical context and (2) analyze its composition and exhibition in Cuernavaca at a time when activists in Mexico and the United States were articulating a sense of solidarity that exceeds exclusionary constructions of threatened national bodies.
A comparative study of mechanical, dynamic mechanical and morphological characterization of tampico and coir fibre-reinforced LLDPE processed by rotational moulding
Authors: Abhilash SS , Lenin Singaravelu D
Published: June 2020

Natural fibres find their application as a reinforcing agent for polymer composites to obtain parts with improved mechanical properties. Manufacturing of non-metallic products is incorporated with natural fibres for better strength and to reduce cost. Rotational moulding is a process used for the manufacturing of hollow plastic products, especially water tanks, plastic fuel tanks, barrels, kayaks, refrigerated panels, etc. Incorporation of natural fibres to reinforce polymers in rotational moulding process is a tedious task; since there is no control over fibre and polymer powder mixture, which is rotating bi-axially, it may lead to fibre agglomeration. The present work investigates the mouldability of linear low density polyethylene composites with tampico and coir fibre as the reinforcement agents using a bi-axial rotomoulding machine. NaOH-treated fibres with 5, 10 and 15% by weight have been added to the linear low density polyethylene matrix, and the composites were prepared by rotational moulding process. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength, impact strength and hardness have been investigated. Dynamic mechanical behaviour such as storage modulus, loss modulus and tan  δ of the different composites has been investigated with dynamic mechanical analyser. Fractured surfaces were examined qualitatively with the help of a scanning electron microscope for determining the interfacial properties and fibre adhesion between the fibres and the linear low density polyethylene matrix.
SSIS Performance Screening Guide as an Indicator of Behavior and Academics: A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Sullivan Jeremy R. , Villarreal Victor , Flores Evette , Gomez Alyssa , Warren Blaire
Published: June 2020

This article documents the results of a meta-analysis of available correlational validity evidence for the Social Skills Improvement System Performance Screening Guide (SSIS-PSG), which is a brief teacher-completed rating scale designed to be used as part of universal screening procedures. Article inclusion criteria included (a) published in English in a peer-reviewed journal, (b) administration of the PSG, and (c) provided validity evidence representative of the relationship between PSG scores and scores on related variables. Ten studies yielding 147 correlation coefficients met criteria for inclusion. Data were extracted following established procedures in validity generalization and meta-analytic research. Extracted coefficients were of the expected direction and magnitude with theoretically aligned constructs, thereby providing evidence of convergent validity (e.g., PSG Math and Reading items were most strongly correlated with academic performance and academic behavior variables, with effect sizes ranging from .708 to .740; PSG Prosocial Behavior and Motivation to Learn items were most strongly correlated with broadband externalizing/internalizing problems, with effect sizes ranging from −.706 to −.717), although Prosocial Behavior and Motivation to Learn were not as effective at discriminating among divergent constructs. These results generally support the utility of the PSG in correlating with academic and social/behavioral outcomes in the schools.