bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Fuzzy Crew Rostering Model Based on Crew Preferences and Seniorities considering Training Courses: A Robust Optimization Approach
Authors: Shafipour-Omrani Bahareh , Rashidi Komijan Alireza , Sadjadi Seyed Jafar , Khalili-Damghani Kaveh , Ghezavati Vahidreza
Published: August 2022

Crew scheduling problem is divided into crew pairing problem (CPP) and crew rostering problem (CRP). In this paper, a rostering model is presented to assign crew to pairings in such a way that total weighted preference is maximized. Crew members declare which parings they wish to be assigned and which ones are undesirable for them. A score is calculated in the objective function if a crew member is assigned to his/her preferred pairing, and a penalty is considered if he/she is assigned to an undesirable pairing. Moreover, crew seniorities are considered in calculating total preference. In addition, the model considers standard rules and regulations as well as crew attendance at the required training courses. The model is formulated in such a way that inconsistent crew members are not assigned to a flight. Due to the uncertainty in determining of the seniority weight, this parameter is considered as fuzzy. At the end, the robust counterpart of the nominal model is developed due to the uncertainty of time away from the base (TAFB). In this research, the issue of inconsistent crew in rostering problem is considered for the first time. Moreover, a new scoring mechanism is introduced to calculate desirable and undesirable assignments in the objective function. The proposed CRP is solved using the genetic algorithm (GA), and its performance is verified in comparison with GAMS in some test problems. On average, the optimality gap in GA is only 0.5 percent. Finally, the proposed model is examined with real-world data from Air India Airline. In comparison with the previous research studies, the suggested model (scoring mechanism) reduced the number of undesirable rosters by 61.59%.
Human Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stem Cell‐Derived Conditioned Medium Promotes Human Endometrial Cell Proliferation through Wnt/β‐Catenin Signaling
Authors: Wei Xiaoning , Liu Feiran , Zhang Sichen , Xu Xinyu , Li Jin , Wang Qingyu , Cai Jianping , Wang Shaowei
Published: August 2022

Purpose. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and their derivant are among the promising treatments for intrauterine adhesion (IUA); they have been reported to repair the endometrial injury by proliferating endometrial cells. However, the signal pathways involved are not clear. This study investigated the role of human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cell‐derived conditioned medium (hUCMSC‐CM) in relieving IUA to find out whether Wnt/β‐catenin signaling was involved, and if so, to determine the possible ligands. Methods. After endometrial epithelial cells (EECs) were treated with hUCMSC‐CM, their proliferation and migration were measured by the CCK8 assay and the scratch assay. The activation of Wnt/β‐catenin signaling was measured by Western blots, fluorescent staining, and T‐cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF) luciferase. A Wnt inhibitor (XAV393) was used to inhibit the proliferation effect of hUCMSC‐CM in EECs. Wnt5a expression in hUCMSC was measured by Western blots and fluorescent staining, and Wnt5a in hUCMSC‐CM was detected by enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), to further clarify the mechanism. Results. As shown by the CCK8 assay, hUCMSC‐CM promoted proliferation and migration of EECs. The expression of β‐catenin, c‐myc, and cyclin D1 increased in EECs after being treated with hUCMSC‐CM. Moreover, hUCMSC‐CM was found to promote β‐catenin delivery into nuclei by Western blot and fluorescent staining; meanwhile, the inhibitor (XAV393) could restrain this process and inhibit the effect of hUCMSC‐CM on EEC proliferation. Wnt5a was detected in hUCMSCs and hUCMSC‐CM, which might be a potential therapeutic target. Conclusion. This study demonstrated that hUCMSC‐CM promoted human endometrial cell proliferation through Wnt/β‐catenin signaling, and Wnt5a might be a potential activator. This would be one of the activating signal pathways in the MSC‐related treatment of IUA.
Correlation between Insulin Resistance and Microalbuminuria Creatinine Ratio in Postmenopausal Women
Authors: Na Han , Wang Rong , Zheng Hai-Long , Chen Xiao-Pan , Zheng Lin-Yang
Published: August 2022

Objective. To study the relationship between insulin resistance and urinary microalbumin creatinine ratio in postmenopausal women. Methods. The selected research group comprised 104 postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes who were admitted to the Department of Endocrinology in the green card center at the First Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University between 2017 and 2019 inclusive. Ninety-eight postmenopausal women with the normal blood glucose metabolism hospitalized in the same period were used as the control group. The age, body mass index, systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), heart rate, fasting blood glucose, fasting insulin (FINS), glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), and urinary albumin-creatinine ratio (UACR) were analyzed. The insulin resistance index (HOMR-IR) was calculated, and the correlation between IR and UACR was analyzed. Results. Levels of HOMA-IR, SBP, HbA1c, HDL-C, LDL-C, TC, TG, FPG, FINS, and UACR in the study group were higher than those in the control group, and a significant difference was found between the groups (

P
<
0.05

). The level of DBP in the study group was lower than that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (

P
<
0.05

). Pearson correlation analysis showed that UACR was positively correlated with HOMA-IR and HbA1c (r = 0.254, r = 0.565,

P
<
0.01

). Multiple linear stepwise regression analysis further showed that HOMA-IR and age were positively correlated with UACR (

P
<
0.05

). Conclusion. There is a correlation between IR and UACR in postmenopausal women. IR is an independent risk factor for UACR.
BCG-Induced Tumor Immunity Requires Tumor-Intrinsic CIITA Independent of MHC-II
Authors: Redelman-Sidi Gil , Binyamin Anna , Antonelli Anthony C. , Catalano Will , Bean James , Al-Ahmadie Hikmat , Jungbluth Achim A. , Glickman Michael S.
Published: August 2022

For decades, BCG immunotherapy has been the standard of care for non–muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Despite this clinical experience, the mechanism by which BCG stimulates tumor-eliminating immunity is unclear, and there is still a need for more accurate prediction of clinical outcomes in advance of treatment initiation. We have shown that BCG stimulates tumor-specific T-cell immunity that requires tumor cell expression of the IFNγ receptor (IFNGR); however, the downstream components of IFNGR signaling responsible for responsiveness to BCG are unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the IFNγ-driven, tumor cell intrinsic expression of the class II transactivator CIITA is required for activation of a tumor-specific CD4 T-cell response and BCG-induced tumor immunity. Despite the established role for CIITA in controlling MHC-II antigen presentation machinery, the requirement for CIITA is independent of MHC-II and associated genes. Rather, we find that CIITA is required for a broader tumor-intrinsic transcriptional program linked to critical pathways of tumor immunity via mechanisms that remain to be determined. Tumor cell intrinsic expression of CIITA is not required for a response to immunotherapy targeting programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1), suggesting that different modalities of immunotherapy for bladder cancer could be employed based on tumor-intrinsic characteristics.
Postoperative Antibiotics and Time to Reach Discharge Criteria after Appendectomy for Complex Appendicitis
Authors: van den Boom Anne Loes , de Wijkerslooth Elisabeth M.L. , Giesen Louis J.X. , van Rossem Charles C. , Toorenvliet Boudewijn R. , Wijnhoven Bas P.L.
Published: August 2022

Introduction: Postoperative antibiotic treatment is indicated for 3–5 days following appendectomy for complex appendicitis. However, meeting discharge criteria may allow for safe discontinuation of antibiotics and discharge. This study assessed the association between time to reach discharge criteria and duration of postoperative antibiotic use and length of stay. Methods: This is a multicenter retrospective cohort study including patients who underwent appendectomy for complex appendicitis and received postoperative antibiotics for >24 h. Main outcome measures were time to reach discharge criteria, duration of postoperative antibiotic use, length of hospital stay, and postoperative infectious complications. Discharge criteria were defined as absence of fever (temperature ≤38°C) for 24 h, ability to tolerate oral intake, and pain controlled by oral analgesics. Results: Between May 2014 and January 2015, 124 patients were included. Time to reach discharge criteria was 2 days (interquartile range [IQR] 1–3). Patients received postoperative antibiotics and were in hospital for a median of 5 (IQR 3–5) and 5 (IQR 4–6) days, respectively. Infectious complications occurred in 12% and did not differ between patients reaching discharge criteria before or after 2 postoperative days. Discussion: Discharge criteria were met by a median of 2 days after appendectomy for complex appendicitis. This suggests that postoperative antibiotics duration and thereby hospital stay can be reduced. In daily practice, prescribed antibiotics are not reduced in total days given. Prospective studies that evaluate limited postoperative antibiotic use, based on these criteria, are necessary.
Dietro la maschera. Verità in semiotica
Authors: Lancioni Tarcisio
Published: August 2022

L’articolo propone una riflessione, condotta con gli strumenti della semiotica, sulla verità e sui suoi travisamenti (maschere, segreti), attraverso l’analisi di un racconto: Doppio sogno (Traumnovelle, 1926) di Arthur Schnitzler. Dopo un excursus su alcune concezioni della verità, derivate sia dal discorso filosofico che dalla prassi quotidiana, l’analisi testuale è volta a mostrare come i processi discorsivi, quali sono messi in scena dal racconto, presentano un ampio intreccio di pratiche “veritative” diverse, quali la constatazione, la confessione, l’inchiesta, la messa alla prova, lo smascheramento, la simulazione e la dissimulazione. Pratiche che sono a loro volta correlate a concezioni e valorizzazioni diverse della verità. Infine, l’articolo si concentra sul ruolo della “maschera”, nei processi di tematizzazione e di attorializzazione, come mezzo di nascondimento e rivelazione.
Contrato de veridicção: operações e percursos
Authors: Barros Diana Luz Pessoa de
Published: August 2022

O ponto de partida deste artigo é o do contrato de veridicção, proposto por Greimas. O enunciador do discurso escolhe um regime de veridicção e um fazer parecer verdadeiro, para fazer seu enunciatário crer. O enunciatário, que tem papel fundamental nesse contrato, interpreta a mensagem e nela acredita ou não. O objetivo é mostrar que esses contratos passam por operações e estabelecem diferentes percursos veridictórios. As operações de asserção, negação e implicação determinam quatro percursos entre os metatermos do quadrado da veridicção - verdade, falsidade, mentira e segredo: 1) falsidade → mentira → verdade; 2) verdade → segredo → falsidade; 3) falsidade → segredo → verdade; 4) verdade → mentira → falsidade. Esses percursos caracterizam diferentes contratos de veridiccão e diferentes tipos de discursos: o percurso 1 é o das fake news; o 2, o das falsas revisões da História e da ciência e dos discursos conspiratórios; o 3, o dos discursos humorísticos e poéticos, em geral; o 4, o dos discursos poéticos “fundadores”. No Brasil, os dois primeiros percursos, em que a aparência seleciona, na implicação, a essência, são muito usados nos discursos da extrema direita; os percursos 3 e 4, em que a essência seleciona a aparência, caracterizam os da esquerda.
O falso como vírus: uma epidemiologia semiótica
Authors: Leone Massimo
Published: August 2022

O “falso” é um elemento central nas ciências naturais, nas ciências sociais e nas humanidades. Também é fundamental na sociedade, na economia, na política e no direito. Em última análise, é a principal força por trás da criatividade e fantasia dos artistas. Muitos estudos e investigações foram dedicados ao falso. No entanto, as novas tecnologias de comunicação digital estão mudando drasticamente o cenário. Alguns dos fenômenos mais perturbadores das sociedades modernas, da “pós-verdade” (post-truth) às notícias falsas (fake news), das teorias da conspiração ao “falso profundo” (deep fake), originam-se na encruzilhada entre as invenções tradicionais e os novos simulacros. Abordagens convencionais para verdade e falsidade, autenticidade e simulação, fato e ficção são cada vez mais insuficientes para lidar com os novos híbridos da comunicação digital. Uma sinergia sem precedentes entre as ciências naturais e sociais, acadêmicos e partes interessadas da sociedade, pesquisadores e artistas é necessária para avaliar o papel mutável da falsificação nas sociedades contemporâneas. O artigo propõe um novo quadro de epidemiologia semiótica da cultura para o estudo do falso nas sociedades digitais contemporâneas.
Leviticus 25’s History of Inspiring Freedom as a Moral Challenge to Literary-Historical Interpretation
Authors: Watts James W.
Published: August 2022

Though Leviticus 25’s description of the Jubilee sounds unrealistically utopian to many biblical scholars, the Jubilee ideal has stimulated many movements for freedom and economic reform in the last 500 years. It most famously motivated enslaved people to resist and abolitionists to challenge the institution of slavery. Today it continues to inspire reform movements for land redistribution and fair housing, for sovereign debt relief, and for developing environmentally sustainable economies. The contrast between scholarly assessments of the chapter’s meaning in its literary and ancient historical contexts and its proven power to inspire movements for freedom that were unimaginable to its writers poses a moral challenge to the conventional methods of biblical scholarship. This article describes the Jubilee’s ideological context in four historical settings: in Israel’s ancient Middle Eastern political economy, in the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century movement to abolish slavery, in contemporary movements for economic reform, and in modern biblical studies to explore how biblical scholars can credibly account for the chapter’s historical and contemporary power to inspire mass freedom movements in their descriptions of the meaning of Leviticus 25.
The Jews as “Children of the Devil” (John 8:44) in Nazi Children’s Literature
Authors: Elkins Kathleen Gallagher
Published: August 2022

Biblical interpreters have long wrestled with the vicious anti-Jewish rhetoric of John’s gospel including, mostly famously, when Jesus calls Jews “children of the devil” (8:44). Post-Shoah, the anti-Jewish rhetoric of John’s gospel is even more horrifying. This article seeks to highlight the use of John 8:44 and other anti-Jewish rhetoric from John’s gospel in children’s literature from Nazi Germany. The children’s books under consideration show a progression from advocating for forced displacement of the Jews to advocating for murder. Seeing the intensification and advancement of this rhetoric, even in something seemingly harmless like children’s literature, is a warning to biblical scholars who may try to downplay or overlook the hateful language of John’s gospel.
In Search of a New Paradigm: Judean Literature as a Crucible of Appropriations from Multiple Imperial and Native Temple Cultures in Hellenistic Times
Authors: Honigman Sylvie
Published: August 2022

In Judaism and Hellenism, Hengel described Judean society and literature as torn between absorption and rejection of Hellenism. Following the publication of that work the idea of a clear-cut dichotomy between several social circles and their assorted literary productions remained hugely popular, although the identification of the sides in conflict varied between scholars, with “hellenization” being located either within or without (and against) the temple. This article offers an historiographic survey before proposing a new paradigm inspired by the New Empire Studies. At its core, it identifies the Jerusalem temple as a lively site of learning, whose literati selectively appropriated ideas, literary forms, and technologies not only from the Greek, imperial culture(s) but also from neighboring temple cultures (Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and Phoenician), in a bid to keep their ancestral traditions relevant as they made sense of the ever-changing world that they lived in. Everything was adapted, or subverted and hybridized.
Labialization of Word-Final Nasals in Yucatecan Spanish and Yucatec Maya: Language Contact, Prosodic Prominence Marking, and Local Identity
Authors: Uth Melanie
Published: August 2022

This paper provides a comparative analysis of word-final nasals in Yucatecan Spanish and Yucatec Maya based on speech data from Quintana Roo (Mexico). In Yucatecan Spanish, a nasal is often pronounced as [m] if placed at the end of a word (e.g., Yucatá[m] instead of Yucatá[n]). Since this phenomenon is widespread on the Yucatán Peninsula, but largely unknown in other Spanish-speaking regions, it is often linked to the influence of the indigenous language Yucatec Maya. Our Spanish dataset differs from our Yucatec Mayan one in that the labialization rate significantly increases with the length of the subsequent pause in the former, but not in the latter. Thus, even if the feature was originally transferred from Yucatec Maya to Spanish, it seems that it has taken on a life of its own in Yucatecan Spanish, determined by its function as a marker of prosodic prominence.
Gender Agreement in Correntino Spanish
Authors: Pinta Justin
Published: August 2022

This article provides qualitative and quantitative analyses of variable gender agreement in Correntino Spanish, the variety of Spanish spoken by both Spanish-Guarani bilinguals and Correntino Spanish monolinguals in the province of Corrientes, Argentina. Drawing on data collected from fieldwork in the province, it will be shown that this variation is conditioned by distance effects and modifier class. Synchronic gender agreement variation in Correntino Spanish is attributed to diachronic source language agentivity effects (Van Coetsem, 1988) given the lack of gender inflection in Guarani. This phenomenon would be unsurprising as a contact effect if found synchronically only in bilinguals; however, its occurrence in monolinguals sets it aside as a rare instance of variable gender agreement in monolingual Spanish. This loosening of gender agreement mirrors the development of gender in Argentine Guarani (Cerno, 2010), and these phenomena taken together shed light on the malleability of gender systems under situations of intense language contact. Together they provide a valuable example of mutual contact-induced changes in gender systems.
A Historical Morphology of Western Karaim: The Two Pluperfect Tenses in Diachronic and Areal Perspective
Authors: Németh Michał
Published: August 2022

This article is a continuation of the analysis of the Karaim -p edi- past tense presented, for the first time in scholarly literature, in Németh (2015). In the latter paper, this verbal category was described on the basis of a few South-Western Karaim examples, only, and was termed plusquamperfectum
ii. In this paper the description of its semantic scope has been refined based on an analysis of recently discovered North- and South-Western Karaim examples as well as on a further evaluation of Turkic (including Eastern Karaim) data. Importantly, it is argued that the practice of (also) expressing habitual events by means of this verbal category (which is quite an unusual feature in the Turkic linguistic world) is a consequence of contact-linguistic factors, namely the influence of the Polish language, in which Western Karaims were (and still are) proficient. Finally, to obtain a complete picture of its evolution the -p edi- pluperfect is placed in the broader context of the Karaim past tense system. Following Németh (2015) and Németh (2019), this paper is the third in a series of articles introducing previously undocumented grammatical categories of Western Karaim.
Refining a Shugenja Elite
Authors: Clements Frank W.
Published: August 2022

In this article I investigate the reform of Haguro Shugendō undertaken by thebettō(Chief Administrator) Kakujun in concert with the eliteshugenjahouseholds of Tōge during the Kasei (1804–1829) era. I argue that this collaboration demonstrates the centrality of the household to early modern Shugendō and the importance of relationships between those households and powerful institutions such thebettō. Household, status, and both bureaucratized and document-based patron-client relationships—institutions that permeated early modern Japanese society—are crucial for understanding Shugendō. In this light,shugenjacommunities such as Tōge simultaneously displayed the characteristics of both a warrior retainer corps and a socially stratified, self-governing rural village. Kakujun reorganized Haguro’s administrative and social structures, clarifying and documenting its social hierarchy to an unprecedented degree. In the process, established households had their traditional privileges guaranteed or even expanded, resulting in a mutually beneficial relationship between thebettōand local elites.
Local Knowledge for a Prince: A Maqāma on the Miracles of Water
Authors: Pomerantz Maurice A.
Published: August 2022

This article discusses the Maqāma Miyāhiyya (A Maqāma on the Waters) of al-Ḥasan b. Abī Muḥammad al-Ṣafadī as an example of a work that offers geographical knowledge about well-known places to a courtly circle of recipients. The maqāma is found in al-Ṣafadī’s collection of thirty maqāmāt, the Maqāmāt Ǧalāliyya, which was dedicated to the famed ruler of Hama, al-Malik al-Muʾayyad Abū l-Fidāʾ (672/1273–732/1332). The Maqāma Miyāhiyya discusses the rivers of the Mamluk domains in quantitative terms (a comparison of their weights) and then juxtaposes this section with a long poem in raǧaz meter describing the magical properties of springs, lakes, and rivers in Mamluk territory. As such, it represents the way al-Ṣafadī employed local geographical knowledge that he gained through his experience as an administrator in courtly contexts.
A Strange Affliction from Abroad: The Ottoman Chief Imperial Physician Ḥayātīzāde’s Treatise on the Polish Plait (Plica Polonica)
Authors: Yıldız Sara Nur
Published: August 2022

Plica polonica was an early modern disease construct affecting the scalp and hair. Initially associated with Polish populations, the affliction spread throughout southern Europe, as the Ottoman chief imperial physician Ḥayātīzāde’s (d. 1103/1691) treatise on plica polonica indicates. Through a close reading of Ḥayātīzāde’s treatise, this paper explores how the Ottomans responded to a changing disease landscape shaped by the movement of people through warfare and enslavement. It argues that textual medical knowledge circulating in the Mediterranean region was modified according to local sociopolitical and cultural concerns. Ḥayātīzāde recast new Latin medical knowledge not just linguistically but also culturally to fit an Ottoman courtly context. The Ottoman court served as a locus not only for the dissemination of new medical knowledge; it was also a permeable contact zone populated by physicians and translators associated with trans-Danubian political elites. Ḥayātīzāde’s treatise was the product of entangled Ottoman Turkish and Latin learning and knowledge practices shaped in a world of transimperial agents.
The Association between Balanced Time Perspective, Personality Traits, Subjective Well-Being, and Distress during the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: Mioni Giovanna , Cellini Nicola , Romola Michela , Bruno Francesco
Published: August 2022

The present study examines whether time perspectives (i.e., Past Negative, Past Positive, Present Hedonistic, Present Fatalistic and Future), Deviation from the Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP), and personality traits (i.e., extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience) are good candidates to explain subjective well-being and psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using an online survey, we recruited 1483 participants during the Italian mandatory lockdown. Multiple regressions analysis showed that time perspectives strongly predicted subjective well-being, depression, and stress. Participants highly oriented on Past Positive and Future had higher subjective well-being, while participants highly oriented on Past Negative and Present Fatalistic had lower subjective well-being. Regarding DBTP, participants who greatly deviated from the optimal temporal balance reported lower well-being and were more distressed. Regarding the impact of personality traits, extraversion and neuroticism were the factors that better explained subjective well-being, level of stress, and depression, whereas higher levels of openness were associated with lower levels of depression. Finally, DBTP was a significant moderator in the relationships of extraversion and neuroticism with subjective well-being. Implications for time-perspective theory and practical contributions of the study are discussed.
A fossil flat wasp (Hymenoptera: Bethylidae) from the early Eocene Green River Formation suggests past cosmopolitan distribution of the genus Eupsenella Westwood, 1874
Authors: BRAZIDEC MANUEL , PERRICHOT VINCENT
Published: August 2022

A flat wasp specimen attributed to the genus Eupsenella Westwood, 1874 is described and figured from the early Eocene compressions of the Green River Formation. This fossil is the first known outside of the Old World for this genus and documents its wide distribution during the Paleogene, while it is currently confined to Australia and New Zealand. As for several other hymenopteran genera, we assume that this regression is linked to abiotic factors, i.e., the Cenozoic climate cooling, rather than to biotic factors.
The Presence of Colorectal Hepatic Metastases Does Not Preclude Pulmonary Metastasectomy
Authors: Patel Nilesh A. , Keenan R.J. , Medich D.S. , Woo Y. , Celebrezze J. , Santucci T. , Maley R. , Landreneau R.L. , Roh M.S.
Published: August 2022

Hepatic metastases due to colorectal carcinoma have often been felt to preclude pulmonary metastasectomy. With the recent advances in surgical options, should patients with both liver and lung metastases be considered for surgical resection? The current study reviews the impact of such aggressive management on disease-free and overall survival (OS). The clinical course of 63 patients presenting with colorectal metastasis to the lung alone (group 1, n = 45) or combined hepatic and lung metastases (group 2, n = 18) were reviewed. All patients underwent complete resection of their lung metastases. Surgical control of hepatic tumor burden was achieved by tumor ablation, intra-arterial therapy, and/or resection. All patients in group 1 and group 2 were available for a mean follow-up of 27 and 24 months, respectively. The presence of hepatic metastases, the resectability of hepatic tumor burden, and the disease-free interval after pulmonary metastasectomy did not significantly influence survival. These findings demonstrate that aggressive surgical management of pulmonary metastases in the presence of liver metastases offers a similar benefit as compared to patients with pulmonary metastases alone. Therefore, hepatic metastatic disease does not preclude an attempt at pulmonary metastasectomy if hepatic metastases can be resected or remains responsive to therapy. Such an approach achieves comparable OS and mean survival when compared to pulmonary metastasectomy alone.
The familiar strange of sociological fiction
Authors: Watson Ash
Published: August 2022

Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude makes the magical and strange feel familiar, and short stories from Fiction @ The Sociological Review inversely make the familiar feel strange. I consider this ability to make the familiar strange as a key part of having a sociological sense of the world: as an ability to disturb what seems fixed and settled in society, and unmake any given set of social relations as the only and natural way of life. I conceptualise the crafting of this sense in fiction as a process of distillation. When writing sociological fiction, we distil our disciplinary attunement – strip down, concentrate and refine the many concepts and findings of our work – to craft scenes which unsettle ‘common sense’.
Deep Brain Stimulation Impact on Voice and Speech Quality in Parkinson's Disease: A Systematic Review
Authors: Baudouin Robin , Lechien Jérôme R. , Carpentier Louise , Gurruchaga Jean‐Marc , Lisan Quentin , Hans Stéphane
Published: August 2022

Objective

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has considerable efficacy for the motor dysfunction of idiopathic Parkinson's disease (PD) on patient quality of life. However, the benefit of DBS on voice and speech quality remains controversial. We carried out a systematic review to understand the influence of DBS on parkinsonian dysphonia and dysarthria.

Data Sources

A PubMed/MEDLINE and Cochrane systematic review was carried out following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) and Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome, Timing, and Setting (PICOTS) statements.

Review Methods

Three investigators screened studies published in the literature from inception to May 2022. The following data were retrieved: age, demographic, sex, disease duration, DBS duration, DBS location, speech, and voice quality measurements.

Results

From the 180 studies identified, 44 publications met the inclusion criteria, accounting for 866 patients. Twenty‐nine studies focused on voice/speech quality in subthalamic DBS patients, and 6 included patients with stimulation of pallidal, thalamic, and zona incerta regions. Most studies (4/6) reported a deterioration of the vocal parameters on subjective voice quality evaluation. For speech, the findings were more contrasted. There was an important heterogeneity between studies regarding the voice and speech quality outcomes used to evaluate the impact of DBS on voice/speech quality.

Conclusion

The impact of DBS on voice and speech quality significantly varies between studies. The stimulated anatomical region may have a significant role since the stimulation of the pallidal area was mainly associated with voice quality improvement, in contrast with other regions. Future controlled studies comparing all region stimulation are needed to get reliable findings.

Level of Evidence

Level III: evidence from evidence summaries developed from systematic reviews
Obstructive Sleep Apnea and Sensorineural Hearing Loss: A Systematic Review and Meta‐analysis
Authors: Kasemsuk Navarat , Chayopasakul Veeruth , Banhiran Wish , Prakairungthong Sarun , Rungmanee Sarin , Suvarnsit Kanokrat , Atipas Suvajana , Keskool Phawin
Published: August 2022

Objectives

To evaluate the associations between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and sensorineural hearing loss (SNHL) and the effects of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy on SNHL.

Data Sources

Ovid Medline, Embase, and Scopus databases.

Review Methods

A systematic search was done for studies investigating relationships between OSA and SNHL in adults, with manual searches for additional references. The final update was done on December 22, 2021. The Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Nonrandomized Studies was applied for quality assessments.

Results

The 20 included studies had a total of 34,442 participants (66% male; mean age, 46.6 years). The OSA group had a significantly worse mean hearing threshold level (HTL) than the control group for midfrequency ranges (500, 1000, 2000 Hz; mean difference, 4.00 dB; 95% CI, 2.40‐5.61) and high‐frequency ranges (4000, 8000 Hz; mean difference, 6.24 dB; 95% CI, 2.99‐9.49). An association between OSA and SNHL was found. When compared with controls, patients with OSA had an odds ratio of 1.52 (95% CI, 1.12‐2.06) for midfrequency hearing impairment and 1.19 (95% CI, 1.05‐1.34) for high‐frequency hearing impairment. However, we did not find significant improvements in midfrequency HTL after CPAP therapy.

Conclusions

HTL was significantly poorer among participants with OSA (especially in severe cases) than non‐OSA controls. Studies on patients with OSA with SNHL treated with CPAP did not show significant improvements in midfrequency HTL. Further studies are warranted on these issues.
Optimal sampling allocation for outcome-dependent designs in cluster-correlated data settings
Authors: Rivera-Rodriguez Claudia , Haneuse Sebastien , Sauer Sara
Published: August 2022

In clinical and public health studies, it is often the case that some variables relevant to the analysis are too difficult or costly to measure for all individuals in the population of interest. Rather, a subsample of these individuals must be identified for additional data collection. A sampling scheme that incorporates readily-available information for the entire target population at the design stage can increase the statistical efficiency of the intended analysis. While there is no universally optimal sampling design, under certain principles and restrictions, a well-designed and efficient sampling strategy can be implemented. In two-phase designs, efficiency can be gained by stratifying on the outcome and/or auxiliary information that is known at phase I. Additional gains in efficiency can be obtained by determining the optimal allocation of the sample sizes across the strata, which depends on the quantity that is being estimated. In this paper, the inference is concerned with one or multiple regression parameter(s) where the study units are naturally clustered and, thus, exhibit correlation in outcomes. We propose several allocation strategies within the framework of two-phase designs for the estimation of the regression parameter(s) obtained from weighted generalized estimating equations. The proposed methods extend existing theory to address the objective of the estimating regression parameters in cluster-correlated data settings by minimizing the asymptotic variance of the estimator subject to a fixed sample size. Through a comprehensive simulation study, we show that the proposed allocation schemes have the potential to yield substantial efficiency gains over alternative strategies.
Using Twins to Assess What Might Have Been: The Co-twin Control Design
Authors: van Dijk Wilhelmina , Norris Cynthia U. , Hart Sara A.
Published: August 2022

Randomized control trials are considered the pinnacle for causal inference. In many cases, however, randomization of participants in social work research studies is not feasible or ethical. This paper introduces the co-twin control design study as an alternative quasi-experimental design to provide evidence of causal mechanisms when randomization is not possible. This method maximizes the genetic and environmental sameness between twins who are discordant on an “exposure” to provide strong counterfactuals as approximations of causal effects. We describe how the co-twin control design can be used to infer causality and in what type of situations the design might be useful for social work researchers. Finally, we give advantages and limitations to the design, list a set of Twin Registries with data available after application, and provide an example code for data analysis.
Pharmacist-Driven Methicillin-Resistant S. aureus Polymerase Chain Reaction Testing for Pneumonia
Authors: Marinucci Victoria , Louzon Patricia R. , Carr Amy L. , Hayes Jillian , Lopez-Ruiz Arnaldo , Sniffen Jason
Published: August 2022

Background:

Nasal colonization with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be detected using nasal swab polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay and is associated with clinical MRSA infection. The MRSA nasal PCR has a rapid turnaround time and a negative predictive value for MRSA pneumonia of >98%; however, data are limited in critically ill patients.

Objective:

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact of a pharmacist-driven algorithm, utilizing MRSA PCR nasal screening on duration of anti-MRSA therapy in patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with suspected pneumonia.

Methods:

A single-center pre/post study was conducted in 4 ICUs at a large tertiary care community hospital. Adult patients admitted to the ICU initiated on vancomycin or linezolid for pneumonia managed using a pharmacist-driven MRSA PCR algorithm were included in the algorithm cohort. A historical cohort with standard management was matched 1:1 by age, type of pneumonia, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II) score. The primary outcome was duration of anti-MRSA therapy. Secondary outcomes included MRSA rates, number of vancomycin levels, new onset of acute kidney injury (AKI), ICU length of stay (LOS), hospital LOS, and mortality.

Results:

Of the 245 patients screened, 50 patients met inclusion criteria for the algorithm cohort and were matched to 50 patients in the historical cohort. The duration of anti-MRSA therapy was significantly lower compared with the historical cohort (47 vs 95 hours; P < 0.001). Secondary outcomes were similar between groups for MRSA rates, new onset of AKI, LOS, and mortality. There were less vancomycin levels ordered in the algorithm cohort (2 vs 3, P = 0.026).

Conclusions:

A pharmacist-driven MRSA PCR algorithm significantly reduced anti-MRSA duration of therapy in critically ill patients with pneumonia. Future studies should validate these results in critically ill populations and in settings where MRSA pneumonia is more prevalent.
Survival Prediction in Home Hospice Care Patients with Lung Cancer Based on LASSO Algorithm
Authors: Zeng Yicheng , Cao Weihua , Wu Chaofen , Wang Muqing , Xie Yanchun , Chen Wenxia , Hu Xi , Zhou Yanna , Jing Xubin , Cai Xianbin
Published: August 2022

Purpose

The aim of the present study was to develop a nomogram for prognostic prediction of patients with lung cancer in hospice.

Methods

The data was collected from 1106 lung cancer patients in hospice between January 2008 and December 2018. The data were split into a training set, which was used to identify the most important prognostic factors by the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) and to build the nomogram, while the testing set was used to validate the nomogram. The performance of the nomogram was assessed by c-index, calibration curve and the decision curve analysis (DCA).

Results

A total of 1106 patients, including 835 (75%) from the training set and 271 (25%) from testing set, were retrospectively analyzed in this study. Using the LASSO regression, 5 most important prognostic predictors that included sex, Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS), quality-of-life (QOL), edema and anorexia, were selected out of 28 variables. Validated c-indexes of training set at 15, 30, and 90 days were .778 [.737-.818], .776 [.743-.809], and .751 [.713-.790], respectively. Similarly, the validated c-indexes of testing set at 15, 30, and 90 days were .789 [.714-.864], .748 [.685-.811], and .757 [.691-.823], respectively. The nomogram-predicted survival was well calibrated, as the predicted probabilities were close to the expected probabilities. Moreover, the DCA curve showed that nomogram received superior standardized net benefit at a broad threshold.

Conclusions

The study built a non-lab nomogram with important predictor to analyze the clinical parameters using LASSO. It may be a useful tool to allow clinicians to easily estimate the prognosis of the patients with lung cancer in hospice.
‘Pack your patience’: US air travel discourse in Summer 2022
Authors: Negra Diane
Published: August 2022

The calamitous performance of airlines and airports in Summer 2022 has transformed a season that was widely touted for the post-pandemic return to travel, into a showcase of the new norms of customer abandonment in 21st-century capitalism. This essay explores the quietest approach by mass media to the abysmal conditions of air travel as sloganized by the phrase ‘pack your patience’, arguing it should be understood as part of a broader turn towards the shifting of affective burden to customers in a period of sharply diminished service.
An experimental investigation on the thermal and mechanical characterization of boron/flax/PLA sustainable composite
Authors: Avci Ali , Eker Aysegul Akdogan , Bodur Mehmet Safa , Candan Zeki
Published: August 2022

The current study deals with the effect of boron compounds, zinc borate (ZB), borax: boric acid combines (BxBc), and ulexite which are used to improve fire resistance, on the thermal, microstructural, and mechanical properties of the flax/PLA biocomposites. For this purpose, the mechanical properties of the biocomposites were determined by tensile, impact, and three-point bending tests. Thermogravimetric analysis and the UL-94 burn test were conducted to determine the thermal properties of composites, such as thermal stability and flammability. Thermo-mechanical properties and viscoelastic characteristics of biocomposites were determined by the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis method. Test results showed that ulexite addition could significantly reduce the burning rate by 80%. However, although mechanical properties were adversely affected by the incorporation of boron compounds resulting in a drop of up to 20%, it is believed that boron compound-filled flax/PLA composites have mechanical and thermal properties that can be considered as an alternative material, especially for the automotive industry.
Higher education expansion in Kazakhstan and regime stability
Authors: Tokbolat Seiilkhan
Published: August 2022

This research will analyze the ideological policy of the political regime of Kazakhstan in the field of higher education, which was supposed to find answers to the research question: why the Kazakhstan government is promoting the expansion of higher education. Thus, through the analysis of educational documents in the higher education system, an attempt will be made to identify the motives of the political regime in promoting the expansion of higher education in Kazakhstan. The study claims that the government of Kazakhstan promotes the expansion of higher education to maintain the regime stability. The Kazakhstan government's motives for promoting the expansion of higher education are based on taking control of a large number of school graduates by admitting them to Higher education institutions. In this way, these students will be socialized into the state’s dominant ideology. Thus, the study will use the Gramscian approach, which will allow us to understand the political purpose of the Kazakh government in expanding higher education. An analysis of official state documents and curricula of higher educational institutions shows that the entire content of youth upbringing programs and compulsory academic disciplines aims to form moral and loyal citizens.
The role of development models in Japan’s and Korea’s relations with Central Asia: Discourses and practices
Authors: Murashkin Nikolay , Varpahovskis Eriks
Published: August 2022

This article examines the policies of development cooperation promoted by Japan and Korea in Central Asia, focussing on the roles of discourses treating Japan and Korea as potential non-Western models for the region’s development and modernisation in their relations with Central Asian states. We trace the evolution of relevant developmental approaches made by Japan and Korea, analysing discourses and practices of sharing experiences, as well as the key drivers behind those shifts, and we seek to locate these changes in the larger context of regional political economy and international relations. Furthermore, the article seeks to address the ideational and normative aspects of Japanese and Korean development cooperation in Central Asia. We conclude with a recap comparison of Japan’s and Korea’s sharing of development experiences.
Nomogram predicts atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting
Authors: Gong Jingshuai , Wei Yangyan , Zhang Qian , Tang Jiwen , Chang Qing
Published: August 2022

Objective

Using the nomogram to intuitively predict atrial fibrillation after coronary artery bypass grafting. Identify high-risk patients with atrial fibrillation and provide preoperative protective therapy.

Methods

A total of 397 patients that underwent coronary artery bypass grafting were consecutively enrolled. Independent predictors of patients were analyzed by multivariate logistic regression. Two nomograms were constructed to predict postoperative atrial fibrillation.

Results

The incidence of postoperative atrial fibrillation in this study was 29% (115/397). Multivariate Logistic showed that Age, Operative Time > 4 h, Left Atrial Diameter > 40 mm, Mean Arterial Pressure, Body Mass Index > 23 kg/m2, Insulins, and Statins were independently associated with atrial fibrillation after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting. The nomogram of postoperative atrial fibrillation in patients was constructed using total predictor variables (AUC = 0.727, 95% CI 0.673–0.781). The model was internally validated (AUC = 0.701) by K-fold Cross-validation resampling (K = 5, Times = 400). To make an early intervention, the intraoperative information of the patients was excluded. Only 6 variables before surgery were used to establish the brief nomogram to predict postoperative atrial fibrillation (AUC = 0.707, 95% CI 0.651–0.764). The brief model was internally validated (AUC = 0.683) by resampling with K-fold Cross-validation resampling.

Conclusions

These two nomograms could be used to predict patients at high risk for atrial fibrillation after isolated coronary artery bypass grafting.
Assessing the quality of evidence on safety: specifications for application and suggestions for adaptions of the GRADE-criteria in the context of preparing a list of potentially inappropriate medications for older adults
Authors: Mathes Tim , Mann Nina-Kristin , Thürmann Petra , Sönnichsen Andreas , Pieper Dawid
Published: August 2022

Background

Systematic reviews that synthesize safety outcomes pose challenges (e.g. rare events), which raise questions for grading the strength of the body of evidence. This is maybe one reason why in many potentially inappropriate medication (PIM) lists the recommendations are not based on formalized systems for assessing the quality of the body of evidence such as GRADE.

In this contribution, we describe specifications and suggest adaptions of the GRADE system for grading the quality of evidence on safety outcomes, which were developed in the context of preparing a PIM-list, namely PRISCUS.

Methods

We systematically assessed each of the five GRADE domains for rating-down (study limitations, imprecision, inconsistency, indirectness, publication bias) and the criteria for rating-up, considering if special considerations or revisions of the original approach were indicated. The result was gathered in a written document and discussed in a group-meeting of five members with various background until consensus. Subsequently, we performed a proof-of-concept application using a convenience sample of systematic reviews and applied the approach to systematic reviews on 19 different clinical questions.

Results

We describe specifications and suggest adaptions for the criteria “study limitations”, imprecision, “publication bias” and “rating-up for large effect”. In addition, we suggest a new criterion to account for data from subgroup-analyses. The proof-of-concept application did not reveal a need for further revision and thus we used the approach for the systematic reviews that were prepared for the PRISCUS-list.

We assessed 51 outcomes. Each of the proposed adaptions was applied. There were neither an excessive number of low and very low ratings, nor an excessive number of high ratings, but the different methodological quality of the safety outcomes appeared to be well reflected.

Conclusion

The suggestions appear to have the potential to overcome some of the challenges when grading the methodological quality of harms and thus may be helpful for producers of evidence syntheses considering safety.