bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unraveling The Role of Oxygen and Manganese Charge Compensation During Nucleation and Crystal Growth of Li-rich Layered Li1.2Mn0.8O2 Cathode Materials
Authors: Ledwaba R. S. , Tsebesebe N. T. , Ngoepe P. E.
Published: October 2022

The electrochemical performance of Li-rich layered manganese oxide (LMO) cathodes is greatly affected by the oxygen release and irreversible transition metal (TM) migration. Such structural instabilities are the driving force behind structural reconstruction, rapid voltage decay, and capacity fade in LMR cathodes. This is due to the inability to retain a layered-layered phase during cycling hence the inability to maintain a consistent conductive ion flow (lithiums). Herein, we report for the first time, exploration of manganese and oxygen-compensated nanostructures to investigate its role in the structural morphology and microstructure. The nanostructures were studied using the molecular dynamics simulation method owing to its ability to simulate nucleation and crystal growth. According to the analysis, the simulated nanospheres yielded multi-grained and single crystalline phases for Mn and O compensation, respectively. Further analysis illustrated severe Li/O loss in the structure when the role of oxygen is neglected. Moreover, the formation of layered-layered-spinel composites is demonstrated together with the comparison of temperature-dependent diffusion coefficients. This goes to show that both oxygen and manganese play a crucial role during the cycling process of Li-rich cathode materials. These findings can provide important insights into understanding diffusion and ageing mechanisms in cathode materials during the cycling processes.
Extreme Fast Charging: Effect of Positive Electrode Material on Crosstalk
Authors: Yang Zhenzhen , Kim Minkyu , Tsai Yifen , Zapol Peter , Trask Stephen E. , Bloom Ira
Published: October 2022

Extreme fast charging (XFC) is a key requirement for the adoption of battery-based electric vehicles by the transportation sector. However, XFC has been shown to accelerate degradation, causing the capacity, life, and safety of batteries to deteriorate. We tested cells containing five positive electrode chemistries, LFP (olivine structure), LMO (spinel), LCO (layered), NMC811 (layered) and NCA (layered), using fast-charging protocols. After testing, the negative electrodes from cells containing positive electrodes crystallizing with a layered structure were found to have more lithium deposited on their surfaces. Those crystallizing with a layered structure also tended to have a larger increase in impedance than those crystallizing with a spinel or olivine structure. Characterization of the negative electrodes by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that using the concentrations of LiF and LixPOyFz as metrics, the concentration of LiF in the SEI from the cell with different positive electrodes is LFP > LMO > LCO ∼ NMC811 > NCA; and for LixPOyFz, the order is LMO > LFP > NCA > NMC811 > LCO. Clearly, the positive-electrode material was influencing the amounts of these materials formed.
The essential role of arterial pulse in venous return
Authors: LeFevre Narine M. , Sarvazyan Narine
Published: October 2022

The close proximity of arteries and veins is a well-known anatomical finding documented in the extremities of all vertebrates. However, the physiological consequences of this arrangement are rarely given proper consideration nor are they covered in the textbook list of mechanisms that aid blood flow. We hypothesized that arterial pressure pulsations can significantly increase blood flow in the adjacent valve-containing vein segments. To demonstrate the existence of this mechanism, 10- to 15-cm sections of the bovine forelimb neurovascular bundle were isolated. The proximal and distal ends of the median artery and adjacent veins were cannulated, their tributaries were tied off, and the dissected bundle was then inserted into an airtight enclosure to mimic in vivo encasement by surrounding muscle. Pulsatile pressure was subsequently applied to the arterial segment while recording venous flow. At pressure settings mimicking physiological scenarios, arterial pulsations caused a highly significant increase in venous return. The amplitude of this effect was dependent on the arterial pulsation rate, stroke volume, and pressure gradient across the vein segment.
ER-851, a Novel Selective Inhibitor of AXL, Overcomes Resistance to Antimitotic Drugs
Authors: Tsukamoto Shuntaro , Sugi Naoko Hata , Nishibata Kyoko , Nakazawa Youya , Ito Daisuke , Fukushima Sayo , Nakagawa Takayuki , Ichikawa Kenji , Kato Yu , Kakiuchi Dai , Goto Aya , Itoh-Yagi Machiko , Aota Tomoki , Inoue Satoshi , Yamane Yoshinobu , Murai Norio , Azuma Hiroshi , Nagao Satoshi , Sasai Ken , Akagi Tsuyoshi , Imai Toshio , Matsui Junji , Matsushima Tomohiro
Published: October 2022

Innate and adaptive resistance to cancer therapies, such as chemotherapies, molecularly targeted therapies, and immune-modulating therapies, is a major issue in clinical practice. Subpopulations of tumor cells expressing the receptor tyrosine kinase AXL become enriched after treatment with antimitotic drugs, causing tumor relapse. Elevated AXL expression is closely associated with drug resistance in clinical samples, suggesting that AXL plays a pivotal role in drug resistance. Although several molecules with AXL inhibitory activity have been developed, none have sufficient activity and selectivity to be clinically effective when administered in combination with a cancer therapy. Here, we report a novel small molecule, ER-851, which is a potent and highly selective AXL inhibitor. To investigate resistance mechanisms and identify driving molecules, we conducted a comprehensive gene expression analysis of chemoresistant tumor cells in mouse xenograft models of genetically engineered human lung cancer and human triple-negative breast cancer. Consistent with the effect of AXL knockdown, cotreatment of ER-851 and antimitotic drugs produced an antitumor effect and prolonged relapse-free survival in the mouse xenograft model of human triple-negative breast cancer. Importantly, when orally administered to BALB/c mice, this compound did not induce retinal toxicity, a known side effect of chronic MER inhibition. Together, these data strongly suggest that AXL is a therapeutic target for overcoming drug resistance and that ER-851 is a promising candidate therapeutic agent for use against AXL-expressing antimitotic-resistant tumors.
Cosmopolitical Spiritualities of Deep Time
Authors: Kotva Simone
Published: October 2022

This article considers J. G. Ballard’s account of deep time in The Drowned World (1962) from a religious perspective. I situate Ballard’s account of deep time in the context of Mircea Eliade’s influential work on the “Real Time” of ecstasy—a time in which humans recognize their indistinctness from the animal and undergo an experience of self-annihilation. But Eliade’s is not the only interpretation of ecstatic temporality that is relevant to Drowned World. I argue that Ballard also narrates a constructive response to deep time that issues not in self-annihilation but in communal action and group living. It is in order to parse this aspect of Ballard’s account of deep time that I turn, in the final part of the article, to consider Drowned World as an anticipation also of more recent, cosmopolitical approaches to ecstatic temporalities by theologians, anthropologists and philosophers.
A female mimic signal type in the vibrational repertoire of male Enchenopa treehoppers
Authors: Escalante Ignacio , Kellner Jerald R. , Rodríguez Rafael L. , Desjonquères Camille
Published: October 2022

Animals vary in the complexity and size of the signal repertoire used in communication. Often, these behavioural repertoires include multiple signal types for the same process, for instance, courtship. In Enchenopa treehoppers (Hemiptera: Membracidae) mate-searching males produce plant-borne vibrational advertisement signals. Receptive females then respond to males with their own signals. Here we describe an additional signal type in the repertoire of these males. We collected nymphs in Wisconsin, USA, and recorded the spontaneous signalling bouts of adult males and duetting signals of females using laser vibrometry. Two-thirds of males produced the additional signal type, which differed in temporal and spectral features from the main male advertisement signals, whilst resembling female duetting signals in placement and acoustic features. Our findings suggest that this might be a female mimic signal. Overall, our findings highlight the diversity in the behavioural repertoire that animals may use for reproduction.
Gibt es eine österreichische Psychologie?
Authors: Antonelli Mauro
Published: October 2022

This article, inspired by Rudolf Haller’s thesis of an independent, specific, and unitary Austrian tradition of scientific philosophy, develops the idea of a specific Austrian tradition of psychological research, as distinguished in its development from that in Germany. This tradition was shaped by two phenomenological trends, which were merged into unity in Prague by Carl Stumpf and Brentano’s students of the second generation. One trend traces back to Goethe and was continued in Prague by the physiologists Jan E. Purkinje and Ewald Hering, culminating in the work of Ernst Mach. The other trend was initiated by Franz Brentano and spread through his school. Stumpf was the key integrator of these two traditions, which he then partially passed on to his Berlin students and founders of Gestalt psychology. Finally, Karl Bühler’s “reimport” of the Brentanian psychological legacy into the Vienna of the First Republic is briefly illustrated.
Measuring the (In)security of Palestinian Civil Society Websites
Authors: Abrahams Alexei , Maynier Etienne
Published: October 2022

Civil society organizations (cso s) are reemerging as the central reference of the Palestinian struggle at a time when cyber threats to civil society are on the rise worldwide. We developed a web scanning tool to gather security data on websites and web servers, finding Palestinian cso s neglect even basic precautions like encrypting web traffic or keeping software updated. Why? Evidence suggests this neglect cannot easily be explained by technical or financial constraints. Widening our scan to include Israeli organizations, and non-Palestinian organizations allied with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (bds) movement, we find similar security lapses, suggesting insecurity is neither unique to Palestinian cso s nor does it necessarily decline as organizations enter into contentious politics. Our results underscore the sociotechnical nature of cybersecurity, while encouraging greater vigilance from cso s.
After the Uprising: the Intifada-Oslo Generation and Attitudes Toward the Palestinian Police
Authors: Greenwald Diana B. , Tessler Mark
Published: October 2022

Does experiencing a mass uprising during one’s formative years shape attitudes toward post-uprising institutions? Existing research on cohorts has not examined settings of ongoing statelessness. We focus on Palestinians who witnessed the First Intifada and subsequent Israeli-Palestinian negotiations during their youth-to-adulthood transition. Analyzing a pooled sample of surveys conducted between 1996 and 2000, we observe that men from this cohort – using a youth-based definition of one’s formative years – evaluated the Palestinian police more negatively than did other men, ceteris paribus. We test two, potential explanations. We find support for the proposition that men from this cohort held distinctive views about coercion and resistance that shaped their evaluations. We conclude that experiencing mass mobilization and transition during one’s formative years can influence attitudes, but additional work is needed to test for their long-term endurance. Further, a younger operationalization of one’s impressionable years may be salient in settings of insecurity.
Putting Palestinian Agency First
Authors: Pearlman Wendy
Published: October 2022

While some political science scholarship and commentary on Palestinian politics engages Palestinian society as a topic of empirical scrutiny and theoretical significance, much of it either ignores society-level actors and dynamics or regards them as superfluous. Accordingly, society factors into the political story to the degree that it absorbs Israeli policies, is manipulated by self-interested factions, or is pushed to extremism by repression or religious radicalism. This special issue pushes against these trends. This introduction begins with an illustration of the problem, using the example of protest and how, for a century, many commentaries dismiss the societal groundings of mobilization. The essay then reviews a broad interdisciplinary scholarship that offers an alternative approach and the new contribution made by each of the five research articles in this issue. As a collection, these cutting-edge works put Palestinian society front and center as the driver of the Palestinian national movement, the anchor of Palestinian politics, and a key to the Arab-Israeli conflict without which no resolution is possible.
Historical Writing in the Nineteenth-Century Ottoman Empire: Expansion, Islamization, and Nationalization (1839–1908)
Authors: Sönmez Erdem
Published: October 2022

The nineteenth century was a period of profound transformation in Ottoman historical writing, as in other avenues of Ottoman cultural, intellectual, and socio-political life. Aiming to establish a general framework for nineteenth-century Ottoman historiography, the present article traces the evolution of late Ottoman historical writing and explores the ways in which Ottoman historiographical practices changed over the century. The article first focuses on the Tanzimat period and examines the process of what can be called historiographical expansion, which took place with the emergence of a new understanding of history among the Ottomans. Then, the article considers Ottoman historiography during the Hamidian era and traces how it received a relatively Islamized and nationalized content as a result of the shift in the political context. Lastly, the article concludes with an epilogue on Ottoman/Turkish historiography after the 1908 Constitutional Revolution, which led to a decisive break from traditional patterns of historical writing.
Continuity and Change: the Missed Historical Background of the Turkish Legal Revolution
Authors: Ceyhan Muhammed
Published: October 2022

The Republic of Turkey, built on the ruins of the Ottoman Empire, has carried out, as in many other areas, a wide-ranging and radical revolution in the field of law; yet, it should be noted that this revolution was founded on the Ottoman Empire’s legacy of innovation and constituted its continuation. How this reality has been evaluated and perceived after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, however, is a matter of debate. In this article, the legal changes in the period from 1839, when the reforms began, to the end of the 1930s, when they were completed, are considered as a continuum. In this context, the article evaluates how the interaction between Islamic and state law and the Ottoman legacy have been perceived during the period of the Republic of Turkey with a focus on reform in the field of civil law.
On Bülent Ecevit and the Ottoman-Republican Contention: a Kemalist Hardliner or a Mediator?
Authors: Konuralp Emrah
Published: October 2022

Turkey’s political structure was built on what remained of the Ottoman Empire, not on its ruins. For this reason, it was unlikely that political polarization would be immune to rival attitudes towards the Ottoman past. On the one hand, following the War of Independence the Kemalist revolutionaries carefully detached the new state from the Ottoman legacy. On the other hand, their more conservative allies, the opposition group in the First Grand National Assembly, and religious power centres within society seemed discontent with the new regime’s orientation. Therefore, a positive and sometimes nostalgic approach to Ottoman history has been an important reference point for the conservatives who are more distant from Kemalism and the counter-revolutionary dissidents. This article discusses Bülent Ecevit’s position on the antagonism between Kemalist and conservative readings of Ottoman history as the third chair of the chp and the pioneer of Turkey’s Social Democratic movement.
Recitation of Poetry by a Leader as a Means to Combine History with Politics and Ideology: Erdoğan and the Promotion of the akp’s Policy Formula
Authors: Michalakopoulos Georgios
Published: October 2022

Language constitutes a powerful tool for the transmission of information and of ideology and power alike. Should this succeed, groups of people acquire an ‘identity’ and feel different from the ‘others’. Thus, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan uses poetry as a means to connect the past with the present and the future and also to promote his personal world view and that of the Justice and Development Party (akp). This method has been criticized, but seems to serve him well in terms of communicational needs. However, it is premature to evaluate the potential outcome of the new mixture between Turkishness and Islam that both the akp and Erdoğan himself promote.
A Scholar, Calligrapher, and Illuminator in Early Fourteenth-Century Cairo: The Illuminated Manuscripts of Ahmad al-Mutatabbib
Authors: Laclau Adeline
Published: October 2022

Ahmad al-Mutatabbib is one of the few copyists from the Mamluk period to whom several preserved manuscripts can be linked, i.e., five illuminated Qurʾans and a copy of Avicenna’s al-Qānūn fī’l-ṭibb. Among these manuscripts, three are dated and localized and are among the rare illuminated manuscripts of the Mamluk period that mention the name of the city in which they were produced. However, no mention is made of this artist in Mamluk literature. Consequently, I propose to study these manuscripts through the analysis of their writing and illuminations, as well as the Qurʾanic vocalization system explained in three of his Qurʾans. The aim of this article is to shed new light on the place of Ahmad al-Mutatabbib’s works in the illuminated manuscript production of Cairo in the first half of the fourteenth century and to provide new information on the formation and the career of this prolific artist of the Mamluk arts of the book.
“Angels of the Angels”: Abdüllatif Subhi Paşa’s Coins, Egypt, and History
Authors: Türker Deni̇z
Published: October 2022

This article revisits the bureaucratic career of Abdüllatif Subhi Paşa (d. 1886), the prominent Ottoman statesman and pioneering numismatist of the nineteenth century, whose much-overlooked early migratory life between Morea and Egypt shaped his contributions to the principal Tanzimat institutions. By weaving together fragmentary biographical accounts, institutional histories, and Subhi’s understudied academic work, the article also offers new historiographical approaches to nineteenth-century Ottoman antiquarianism, archaeology, and museology. The varied trajectories of Subhi’s itinerant professional life allow us to trace intellectual networks between Istanbul and Cairo, academic initiatives of a diverse cast of Ottoman high officials, changes in the scope of the translation movement, and the growing centrality of history and its writing in cultural undertakings.
“Rosetta Stone”: One or More? Examples of Multilingualism Texts and the Deciphering of Ancient Scripts
Authors: Mansour Ahmed
Published: October 2022

The decipherment of ancient languages and scripts was a challenging mission for linguists and philologists. There are successful and unsuccessful attempts to decipher ancient and famous languages, of which is the Egyptian hieroglyphs. In 1822, Champollion announced in the Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres his innovative methodology to read ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs when he could read the three scripts of the Rosetta Stone: Hieroglyphic, Demotic, and Greek. Champollion’s theory is based on finding a multi-script or multi-script text that is used as an aiding tool to read and decipher the required scripts.

Thus, this paper sheds fresh light on the role of multilingualism in decoding ancient scripts. It is worth mentioning that the “Rosetta Stone” became an equivalent term of an assistance tool to crack ancient languages and scripts, giving examples of famous texts such as the Behistun Inscription and the manuscript copy of Landa alphabet.
Dendara as a Counterpart of Heliopolis in Ptolemaic Texts
Authors: Sayed Mohamed Ragab
Published: October 2022

The relationship between the two famous cities Heliopolis and Dendara is very strong. This relationship is shown in the similar names Iwnw and Iwnt. The Ptolemaic texts give a special relationship between those two cities as they make both of them equal, considering Dendara as the Upper Egyptian female counterpart of the northern Heliopolis. The texts of Dendara Temple emphasize that Dendara of the south replaces and takes the place of Heliopolis of the north; the relationship is also mentioned in the common name of Dendara TA-n-Itmw that means ‘The Land of Atum’ who is the traditional god of Heliopolis. The aim of this paper is to examine special texts quoted from Dendara and other temples and discuss its significance. It is worth mentioning that the Egyptian language used a lot of synonyms for the idea of replacement and equals. Such as m-isw; m-ḏbAw; m-idnw.
New Dadanite Inscription from al-ʼUla: Saudi Arabia
Authors: al-Theeb Solaiman , al-Suhaibani Abdulrahman
Published: October 2022

This article deals with a Liḥyānat inscription found in the province of al-’Ula (the capital of the Kingdoms of Dadan and Liḥyān ancient time). The importance of the inscription is that it is the first written inscription with the Dadanite script that mentions a Nabataean King (ʿObodat); which is extremely important in our understanding of the chronology of the Kingdoms that were established in this region, mainly the second part of the first millennium BCE. Therefore, this inscription adds a new dimension to our understanding of the end of the Kingdom of Liḥyān.
Islam in the Chinese Religious Landscape: Secularization of Mosque Leadership in Late Imperial China, 1600–1900
Authors: Zhang Shaodan
Published: October 2022

This paper argues that in late imperial China, leaders of mosques and Muslim communities underwent a secularizing process, shifting from traditional spiritual leaders to social and political Muslim elites in the mainstream Chinese society. Instead of causing a decline of Islam, the process produced seemingly contradictory outcomes. On the one hand, Muslims came to embrace Chinese political ideology and apparatus. On the other hand, mosques and Islamic education flourished in China. Secularization in this case was a “reconfiguration” of Islam – a strategy of Muslims to incorporate themselves into the Chinese polity and society without losing their Islamic features.
Social Categorization and Local Humanitarian Help: The Limitations of Legal Categories for Refugees
Authors: Kweka Opportuna L.
Published: October 2022

The legal categorization of refugees in Tanzania has resulted in the requirement that they maintain residence in camps, and in the restriction of their movements. Refugees residing in designated camps are supposed to receive full support through humanitarian aid. However, the protracted nature of refugees’ stay in Western Tanzania has resulted in a decline of monetary and practical support, as well as donor fatigue over time. A review of the literature about humanitarian aid reveals a widely shared misconception that most humanitarian support for refugees in Tanzania generates from the global North. This false assumption is challenged by showing how refugees and their host communities take part in everyday humanitarian practices. Refugees are compelled to socially re-categorize themselves in order to access the local assistance provided by their host communities.
Actively Engaging Large Classes in Tanzanian Universities
Authors: Mwakabenga Rehema Japhet
Published: October 2022

The prevalence of large classes in African universities is the result of increasing student enrolment which does not match the teaching and learning resources that are available. Tensions for individual pedagogues emanate from excessively large classes including the constraints of inadequate resources, anonymity of students, poor participation of students and difficulties with timely continuous assessment of huge quantities of written work. University authorities appointed to leadership roles should hold themselves responsible for enhancing lecturers’ pedagogy skills to order to improve both teachers’ and students’ commitment to the learning process. Strategies to promote active engagement of students include regularly updating lecturers’ competency in producing well-organized lectures and active learning strategies, strengthening seminar discussions, designing pre-lecture activities, and devising strategies to learn students’ identities.
Modes of Renewal (Mk. 2:21-22)
Authors: Derrett J. Duncan M.
Published: October 2022

Under a deceptively simple truism lie metaphors of the Word (cf. Mk. 13:31) and the Kingdom (cf. Ahijahʼs mime at 1 Ki. 11). In Hebrew idiom ʽgarmentʼ means disposition and to change it means to change roles. The human being decays like dry skins and moth-eaten garments, to which the old creation and its creatures are compared. The Messiah provides the long awaited substitute, to which pattern believers will conform. Neither is Christ to be ʽrentʼ, nor shall he ʽpatchʼ the old civilization. Concealed Christology and realized eschatology turn Mk. 2:21-22 into a proclamation, and Lk. 5:31-39 is a faithful midrash on it. The double parable has been artfully and impressively fitted onto the Fasting saying: the messianic banquet is alluded to in all. To appeal to Is. 34:4; 40:22; 53:8; 61:10; Job. 9:8; Pss. 101:26; 102: 26-28; Mk. 14:25; Eph. 6:13-17; Jas. 5:2 and perhaps Jb. 13:28 is to tender no ʽmind candyʼ, and Rom. 13:12, 14 rightly prefigures our parables.
The Authenticity of John 4.35
Authors: Ensor Peter W.
Published: October 2022

The author examines a Johannine saying, using the criteria of authenticity for sayings of Jesus developed particularly in connection with material in the Synoptic Gospels and demonstrates by cumulative argument that John 4.35 is most probably a genuine saying of Jesus. If this conclusion is correct, the way is open for further discoveries of the same kind in the Fourth Gospel.
The Last Presidential (Re)Election in Italy
Authors: Stradella Elettra
Published: October 2022

The paper focuses on the recent reelection of Sergio Mattarella as the President of the Republic in Italy. It basically analyzes the most important issues concerning presidential election and reelection, underlining constitutional perspectives and all the controversial aspects of parliamentary procedure. Within this framework it reflects on internal and external reasons determining this result, and it investigates the role of the Parliament, as well as the impact of the stabilization of the reelection practice on future presidential elections.
Decision-making changes for patients and medical personnel in the management of acute appendicitis during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Cai Xuan , Bi Jingtao , Zheng Zhixue , Liu Yaqi
Published: October 2022

Background

Acute appendicitis is the most common cause of acute abdomen. During the pandemic, to contain the spread of COVID-19, there were some integral changes in the medical processes based on the pandemic prevention policy, especially regarding emergency surgery. This study was conducted to investigate whether this pandemic also impacted the decision-making for both patients and medical personnel along with the treatment outcomes.

Methods

Patients of age 18 years or older who were diagnosed clinically and radiologically with acute appendicitis between Jan 1, 2017, and Dec 31, 202,0 were reviewed. The data of 1991 cases were collected and used for this study. Two groups were formed, one group before and the other group after the outbreak. The gathered data included gender, age, appendiceal fecalith, outcomes of treatment, and long-term outcomes of non-operation (8 months follow-up). We also collected details of surgical cases from the above two groups. This data also included age, gender, appendiceal fecalith, fever, jaundice, length of onset before presenting to an emergency department (ED), anesthesia, surgery, white cell count, pathology, complications, and length of stay. We compared the above data respectively and analyzed the differences.

Results

Compared to the period before the outbreak, patient visits for acute appendicitis remarkably dropped (19.8%), but surgical cases showed no change (dropped by roughly 5%). There were significant differences (P < 0.05) in failure of non-operation(after the pandemic 8.31% vs. before pandemic 3.22%), interval appendectomy(after pandemic 6.29% vs. before pandemic 12.84%), recurrence(after pandemic 23.27% vs. before pandemic 14.46%), and outcomes of recurrence. There was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in anesthesia method, surgery way, and complications( before pandemic 4.15% vs. after pandemic9.89% P < 0.05) in patients who underwent the surgery. There was no statistical difference (P > 0.05) concerning age, gender, fever, jaundice, appendiceal fecalith, white cell count, and length of onset before presenting to the ED.

Conclusion

The current pandemic prevention policy is very effective, but some decision-making processes of doctor-patient have changed in the context of COVID-19 pandemic, that further influenced some treatment outcomes and might lead to a potential economic burden. It is essential to address the undue concern of everyone and optimize the treatment process.
Risk factors for sudden cardiac arrest in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Chu Chang-Hung , Shih Hong-Mo , Yu Shao-Hua , Chang Shih-Sheng , Sie Ji-Syuan , Huang Fen-Wei , Hsu Tai-Yi
Published: October 2022

Background

Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is a critical complication of acute myocardial infarction, especially ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). This study identified the risk factors for SCA in patients with STEMI before receiving catheterization.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the data of patients with STEMI and cardiac arrest who presented to a tertiary care center in Taiwan between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019. Only patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) confirmed by coronary angiography were included in this study. We collected the patients’ demographic and clinical data, such as age, sex, medical history, estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), and coronary angiographic findings. The primary outcome of this study was SCA in patients with STEMI. Continuous and nominal variables were compared using the two-sample Student's t-test and chi-squared test, respectively. The results of logistic regression were subjected to multivariate analysis with adjustment for possible confounders.

Results

A total of 920 patients with STEMI and coronary angiography–documented CAD and 108 patients with SCA who presented between January 1, 2016, and December 31, 2019, were included. The bivariate logistic regression analysis of patients’ demographic data revealed that patients with STEMI and SCA were slightly younger, were more likely to have diabetes mellitus, and had a lower eGFR than did the patients without SCA. The coronary angiographic findings indicated a higher prevalence of left main CAD and three-vessel disease in patients with SCA than in patients without SCA. Multivariate logistic regression revealed that left main CAD (odds ratio [OR]: 3.77; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.84 to 7.72), a lower eGFR (OR: 0.97; 95% CI, 0.96 to 0.98), and younger age (OR: 0.98; 95% CI, 0.96 to 0.99) were the risk factors for SCA in patients with STEMI.

Conclusions

Left main CAD, lower eGFR, and younger age are the risk factors for cardiac arrest in patients with acute myocardial infarction.
Evaluating the feasibility of the Community Score Card and subsequent contraceptive behavior in Kisumu, Kenya
Authors: Onyango Dickens Otieno , Tumlinson Katherine , Chung Stephanie , Bullington Brooke W. , Gakii Catherine , Senderowicz Leigh
Published: October 2022

Background

Women seeking family planning services from public-sector facilities in low- and middle-income countries sometimes face provider-imposed barriers to care. Social accountability is an approach that could address provider-imposed barriers by empowering communities to hold their service providers to account for service quality. Yet little is known about the feasibility and potential impact of such efforts in the context of contraceptive care. We piloted a social accountability intervention—the Community Score Card (CSC)—in three public healthcare facilities in western Kenya and use a mix of quantitative and qualitative methodologies to describe the feasibility and impact on family planning service provision.

Methods

We implemented and evaluated the CSC in a convenience sample of three public-sector facility-community dyads in Kisumu County, Kenya. Within each dyad, communities met to identify and prioritize needs, develop corresponding indicators, and used a score card to rate the quality of family planning service provision and monitor improvement. To ensure young, unmarried people had a voice in identifying the unique challenges they face, youth working groups (YWG) led all CSC activities. The feasibility and impact of CSC activities were evaluated using mystery client visits, unannounced visits, focus group discussions with YWG members and providers, repeated assessment of score card indicators, and service delivery statistics.

Results

The involvement of community health volunteers and supportive community members – as well as the willingness of some providers to consider changes to their own behaviors—were key score card facilitators. Conversely, community bias against family planning was a barrier to wider participation in score card activities and the intractability of some provider behaviors led to only small shifts in quality improvement. Service statistics did not reveal an increase in the percent of women receiving family planning services.

Conclusion

Successful and impactful implementation of the CSC in the Kenyan context requires intensive community and provider sensitization, and pandemic conditions may have muted the impact on contraceptive uptake in this small pilot effort. Further investigation is needed to understand whether the CSC – or other social accountability efforts – can result in improved contraceptive access.
Collaborative medication management for older adults after hospital discharge: a qualitative descriptive study
Authors: Pereira Filipa , Bieri Marion , del Rio Carral Maria , Martins Maria Manuela , Verloo Henk
Published: October 2022

Background

Safe medication management for older adults after hospital discharge requires a well-coordinated, interprofessional, patient-centered approach. This study aimed to describe the perceived needs for collaborative medication management for older adults taking several different medications at home after hospital discharge.

Methods

A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with older adults (n = 28), informal (n = 17), and professional caregivers (n = 13).

Results

Findings revealed four main needs: older adults and informal caregivers’ perceived needs for greater involvement in discharge planning; older adults’ perceived needs to be informed, listened to, and to be actively involved in decision-making; informal caregivers’ perceived needs for help in supporting and coordinating medication management; and older adults’ and informal and professional caregivers’ perceived needs for better communication and coordination between professional caregivers.

Conclusion

This study revealed two underutilized pathways towards improving collaborative medication management: medication follow-up involving a community healthcare professional taking an overarching responsibility and empowering older adults and their informal caregivers in medication management after hospital discharge.
Delegation of patient related tasks to allied health assistants: a time motion study
Authors: Snowdon David A , King Olivia A , Dennett Amy , Pinson Jo-Anne , Shannon Michelle M , Collyer Taya A , Davis Annette , Williams Cylie M
Published: October 2022

Background

Allied health assistants (AHAs) are support staff who complete patient and non-patient related tasks under the delegation of an allied health professional. Delegating patient related tasks to AHAs can benefit patients and allied health professionals. However, it is unclear whether the AHA workforce is utilised optimally in the provision of patient care. The purpose of this study was to determine the proportion of time AHAs spend on patient related tasks during their working day and any differences across level of AHA experience, clinical setting, and profession delegating the task.

Methods

A time motion study was conducted using a self-report, task predominance work sampling method. AHAs were recruited from four publicly-funded health organisations in Victoria, Australia. AHAs worked with dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, podiatrists, social workers, speech pathologists, psychologists, and exercise physiologists. The primary outcome was quantity of time spent by AHAs on individual task-categories. Tasks were grouped into two main categories: patient or non-patient related activities. Data were collected from July 2020 to May 2021 using an activity capture proforma specifically designed for this study. Logistic mixed-models were used to investigate the extent to which level of experience, setting, and delegating profession were associated with time spent on patient related tasks.

Results

Data from 51 AHAs showed that AHAs spent more time on patient related tasks (293 min/day, 64%) than non-patient related tasks (167 min/day, 36%). Time spent in community settings had lower odds of being delegated to patient related tasks than time in the acute hospital setting (OR 0.44, 95%CI 0.28 to 0.69, P < 0.001). Time delegated by exercise physiologists and dietitians was more likely to involve patient related tasks than time delegated by physiotherapists (exercise physiology: OR 3.77, 95% 1.90 to 7.70, P < 0.001; dietetics: OR 2.60, 95%CI 1.40 to 1.90, P = 0.003). Time delegated by other professions (e.g. podiatry, psychology) had lower odds of involving patient related tasks than physiotherapy (OR 0.37, 95%CI 0.16 to 0.85, P = 0.02).

Conclusion

AHAs may be underutilised in community settings, and by podiatrists and psychologists. These areas may be targeted to understand appropriateness of task delegation to optimise AHAs’ role in providing patient care.
Loss of NPM2 expression is a potential immunohistochemical marker for malignant peritoneal mesothelioma: a single-center study of 92 cases
Authors: Wu He-liang , Yang Zhi-ran , Su Yan-dong , Ma Ru , Du Xue-mei , Gao Ying , Li Yan
Published: October 2022

Background

Malignant peritoneal mesothelioma (MPM) is a rare malignant tumor with a high mortality rate and extremely poor prognosis. In-depth pathological analysis is essential to assess tumor biological behaviors and explore potential therapeutic targets of MPM. Nucleoplasmin 2 (NPM2) is a molecular chaperone that binds histones and may play a key role in the development and progression of tumors. This study aimed to analyze the correlation between the expression level of NPM2 and the main clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of MPM.

Methods

Ninety-two postoperative specimens from MPM patients following cytoreductive surgery were collected. Postoperative specimens were stained with immunohistochemistry. The expression level of NPM2 was quantitatively analyzed by QuPath-0.3.2 software. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to investigate the correlation between NPM2 expression and other conventional clinicopathological characteristics.

Results

Among the 92 MPM patients, there were 47 males (48.9%) and 45 females (51.1%), with a median age of 56 (range: 24–73). There were 70 (76.0%) cases with loss of NPM2 protein expression, 11 (12.0%) cases with low expression, and 11 (12.0%) cases with high expression. Univariate analysis showed that NPM2 protein expression level (negative vs. low expression vs. high expression) was negatively correlated with the following three clinicopathological factors: completeness of cytoreduction (CC) score, vascular tumor emboli, and serious adverse events (SAEs) (all P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis showed that NPM2 protein expression level (negative vs. low expression vs. high expression) was independently negatively correlated with the following two clinicopathological factors: CC score [odds ratio (OR) = 0.317, 95% CI: 0.317–0.959, P = 0.042] and vascular tumor emboli (OR = 0.092, 95% CI = 0.011–0.770, P = 0.028). Survival analysis showed that loss of NPM2 protein expression (negative vs. positive) was associated with poor prognosis of MPM.

Conclusions

Loss of NPM2 expression is a potential immunohistochemical marker for MPM.
Early embryonic lethality in complex I associated p.L104P Nubpl mutant mice
Authors: Cheng Cheng , Cleak James , Weiss Lan , Cater Heather , Stewart Michelle , Wells Sara , Columbres Rod Carlo , Shmara Alyaa , Morato Torres C. Alejandra , Zafar Faria , Schüle Birgitt , Neumann Jonathan , Hatchwell Eli , Kimonis Virginia
Published: October 2022

Background

Variants in the mitochondrial complex I assembly factor, NUBPL are associated with a rare cause of complex I deficiency mitochondrial disease. Patients affected by complex I deficiency harboring homozygous NUBPL variants typically have neurological problems including seizures, intellectual disability, and ataxia associated with cerebellar hypoplasia. Thus far only 19 cases have been reported worldwide, and no treatment is available for this rare disease.

Methods

To investigate the pathogenesis of NUBPL-associated complex I deficiency, and for translational studies, we generated a knock-in mouse harboring a patient-specific variant Nubpl c.311T>C; p. L104P reported in three families.

Results

Similar to Nubpl global knockout mice, the Nubpl p. L104P homozygous mice are lethal at embryonic day E10.5, suggesting that the Nubpl p. L104P variant is likely a hypomorph allele. Given the recent link between Parkinson’s disease and loss-of-function NUBPL variants, we also explored aging-related behaviors and immunocytochemical changes in Nubpl hemizygous mice and did not find significant behavioral and pathological changes for alpha-synuclein and oxidative stress markers .

Conclusion

Our data suggest that homozygotes with Nubpl variants, similar to the null mice, are lethal, and heterozygotes are phenotypically and neuropathologically normal. We propose that a tissue-specific knockout strategy is required to establish a mouse model of Nubpl-associated complex I deficiency disorder for future mechanistic and translational studies.
The making of pastoralisms: An account of the Gaddis and Van Gujjars in the Indian Himalaya
Authors: Srivastava Raghav
Published: October 2022

The pastoral communities of the western and central Himalayas have, for centuries, presented the modern Indian state with a problem of governance (as it has often been projected). Their existence, largely outside the domains of fixed property and capitalist production relations, has long since been problematized. Their seasonal migrations and vertical movements in space and time have enabled neither a smooth nor complete assimilation of these peoples into one of the state’s existential imperatives—the sedentarized market economy. The interventions imagined and imposed in response, have largely shaped these unbalanced relationships which, I assert, closely follow the features of James Scott’s high-modern state projects (Scott 1998, Seeing Like a State: How Certain Schemes to Improve the Human Condition Have Failed). Through this, an articulation of the tension between the Indian state and two transhumant pastoral communities—the Gaddis and the Van Gujjars—will be attempted to be juxtaposed and contrasted. I will attempt to show how the state in its various forms has used an array of legitimizing arguments and tools—morality, conservation, revenue, development and climate change—to ‘settle’ the Gaddis and Van Gujjars out of their traditional roles, into a lifestyle more conducive to measurement, surveillance and control: a ‘de-pastoralization’ of the pastoralists (Caravani, J Peasant Stud 46:1323-1346, 2019), towards the larger statal goals of assimilation, measurement and appropriation (Foucault 1995, Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison). Through this, the changing and seemingly haphazard dynamics of legitimization will be attempted to be situated in their contexts and used to characterize the contrasting situations of both these communities—while highlighting the need to complicate the role of their social and religious identities in the making of their pastoralisms.
T cell dysregulation in inflammatory diseases in ICU
Authors: Luperto Marta , Zafrani Lara
Published: October 2022

Severe inflammatory diseases, including sepsis, are characterized by an impaired host adaptive and innate immunity which results in immunosuppression, responsible for secondary infections and increased morbidity and mortality in critically ill patients. T cells are major actors of the immune system. During post-aggressive immunosuppression, lymphopenia, reduction of innate T cells, changes in T helper cell polarization and regulatory T cell increase are observed. The main mechanisms involved in T cell dysregulation are T cell apoptosis, autophagy deficiency, T cell anergy, T cell exhaustion and T cell metabolic reprogramming. In this review, we describe the alterations of T cell regulation, their mechanisms, and their association with clinical outcomes in severe inflammatory diseases, foremost of which is the sepsis.