bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Frequency and types of pre-analytical errors in a clinical laboratory of a specialized healthcare hospital
Authors: Tasneem Aroofa , Zubair Muhammad , Rasool Zoha , Tareen Farrukh Zia
Published: December 2023

Background & Objective: The pre-analytical phase, encompassing all preparatory steps leading to the analytical process, represents a critical stage prone to laboratory errors. An assessment of the occurrence and categories of laboratory errors, specifically within the pre-analytical phase of laboratory procedures, can guide in taking timely actions for rectifying errors responsible for damage and loss of samples. This study aimed to assess the frequency and types of pre-analytical errors within a clinical laboratory at the Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases over two years.

Methods: This research took place at the Multan Institute of Kidney Diseases. Data was extracted from the hospital laboratory records of the period from 1st January 2021 to 31st December 2022. After data compilation, a retrospective cross-sectional methodology was adopted to assess frequency and types of pre-analytical errors within a clinical laboratory. The records underwent a thorough examination to identify pre-analytical errors, which were classified according to their type and occurrence rate.

Results: Among the 254810 specimens received during the data collection period, a total of 1,722 specimens (0.67% of all collected samples) were found unsuitable for further processing. Amongst the rejected specimens, 718 (41.6%) displayed indications of hemolysis, 388 (22.5%) exhibited clotting, 217 (12.6%) had an insufficient volume and the remaining specimens fell into other miscellaneous categories such as insufficient quantity, unlabeled samples etc.

Conclusion: The overall percentage of sample rejections in the laboratory was 0.67%. This study provided valuable insights into various reasons, and causes that require improvements to enhance the efficiency and quality of laboratory processes.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.2(ICON).8963

How to cite this: Tasneem A, Zubair M, Rasool Z, Tareen FZ. Frequency and types of pre-analytical errors in a clinical laboratory of a specialized healthcare hospital. Pak J Med Sci. 2024;40(2):S70-S74. doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.40.2(ICON).8963

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Αξιολόγηση της θρέψης και της λειτουργικής ικανότητας σε ασθενείς με χρόνια νεφρική νόσο
Authors: Κυριακού Τζίλντα-Ισμήνη
Published: December 2023

Η χρόνια νεφρική νόσος (ΧΝΝ), είναι η επακόλουθη παθολογική κατάσταση της προοδευτικής και μη αναστρέψιμης καταστροφής των νεφρώνων. Η τήρηση των διατροφικών συστάσεων στους ασθενείς με χρόνια νεφρική νόσο κρίνεται απαραίτητη αφού η παρατεταμένη εξασθένηση της διατροφικής κατάστασης του οργανισμού, μπορεί να οδηγήσει σε ουραιμικό υποσιτισμό, ο οποίος χαρακτηρίζεται από τον καταβολισμό των πρωτεϊνών, την απώλεια άλιπης μάζας σώματος, τη μειωμένη λειτουργική ικανότητα, κακή ποιότητα ζωής και αυξημένη νοσηρότητα και θνησιμότητα. Κύριος σκοπός της παρούσας μελέτης είναι να εξετάσει κατά πόσο μια εξατομικευμένη συμβουλευτική παρέμβαση για τη βελτίωση των διατροφικών συνηθειών των ασθενών με χρόνια νεφρική νόσο μπορεί να βελτιώσει μακροχρόνια την ποιότητα θρέψης των ασθενών και των σχετιζόμενων με αυτή παραμέτρων όπως η λειτουργική ικανότητα και η έκβαση της νόσου. Η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή έλαβε έγκριση δεοντολογίας από την επιτροπή δεοντολογίας του τμήματος και την επιστημονική επιτροπή του ΠΓΝ Λάρισας. Πρόκειται για μία προοπτική τυχαιοποιημένη μελέτη με συμμετέχοντες ασθενείς με χρόνια νεφρική νόσο, που υπόκεινται σε εξωνεφρική κάθαρση. Η πρώτη καταγραφή των μετρήσεων περιλαμβάνει την εκτίμηση της κατάστασης θρέψης, την καταγραφή ιατρικού ιστορικού, ανθρωπομετρήσεις, βιοχημικές μετρήσεις καθώς και την αξιολόγηση της λειτουργικής ικανότητας, τα επίπεδα κόπωσης και τα επίπεδα ποιότητας ζωής των ασθενών (baseline καταγραφή). Στη συνέχεια, ακολούθησε η τυχαιοποίηση του δείγματος σε δύο ομάδες. Η πρώτη ομάδα περιλαμβάνει τους ασθενείς στους οποίους δόθηκαν διατροφικές συστάσεις για τη βελτίωση της ποιότητας διατροφής σε έντυπη μορφή μέσω ατομικών συνεδριών (Ομάδα 1) και η δεύτερη ομάδα αποτελεί την ομάδα ελέγχου όπου ακολούθησε την κλασική προσέγγιση του θεράποντα ιατρού (Ομάδα 2) περιλαμβάνοντας γενικές συμβουλές. Όλες οι μετρήσεις επαναξιολογήθηκαν στους έξι μήνες μετά την πρώτη καταγραφή και εξετάστηκε η συσχέτιση μεταξύ όλων των αξιολογούμενων παραμέτρων για τις δύο ομάδες ασθενών. Τα αποτελέσματα της μελέτης έδειξαν ότι η διατροφική παρέμβαση μπορεί να σταθεροποιήσει ή καθυστερήσει την επιδείνωση της λειτουργικής κατάστασης των ασθενών με ΧΝΝ. Επίσης, βελτιώνει την κατάσταση θρέψης των ασθενών και συμβάλλει στη βελτίωση της ποιότητας ζωής. Παράλληλα, η διατροφική συμβουλευτική παρέμβαση μπορεί να συμβάλλει στη μείωση των συμπτωμάτων κατάθλιψης και να αποτρέψει την επιδείνωση της κόπωσης. Συμπερασματικά, η παρούσα διδακτορική διατριβή παρουσιάζει σημαντικά δεδομένα στο χώρο της διατροφολογίας στη ΧΝΝ. Εν ολίγοις, φαίνεται ότι η διατροφική συμβουλευτική, η οποία έχει ως κέντρο τον ασθενή, μπορεί να αποτελέσει μία σημαντική πρακτική για την καθημερινή κλινική πράξη η οποία θα βελτιώνει την ποιότητα ζωής των ασθενών με ΧΝΝ. Τέλος, όπως αποδεικνύεται από τα αποτελέσματα της παρούσας διατριβής, η αποτελεσματικότερη προσέγγιση για τη βελτίωση της κατάστασης θρέψης και των σχετιζόμενων με αυτήν παραμέτρων, είναι η εξατομικευμένη διατροφική παρέμβαση με συμβουλευτικό χαρακτήρα.
Widening participation in medicine: A focus group evaluation of mock multiple mini-interviews for medical school applicants
Authors: Staley Alisha , Dunkerley Charlotte , Ryan Ben , Critchley Ellis , Leggett Amy , Haque Enam
Published: December 2023

Background Medical school applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds feel less confident and are less likely to be successful in their applications compared to their peers. Widening participation interventions seek to address this under-representation. This study evaluated the effectiveness of one such intervention: a mock multiple mini-interview, designed using guidelines created by the Medical Schools Council. Methods The intervention was delivered by a team of medical student volunteers called Manchester Outreach Medics. A total of 29 participants attended the session, which prioritised the recruitment of Year 12 pupils with widening participation flags. The participants completed eight interview stations, with facilitated briefing and debriefing. Participants received both verbal and written feedback throughout. Three focus groups were conducted after the intervention, and thematic analysis was applied to explore its effectiveness. Results Out of 29 participants, who consented to take part in a focus group, 28 attended. They felt that the formal nature of the intervention helped eliminate first time nerves and raised their confidence for future medical school interviews. They valued the regular feedback throughout the session as it encouraged continuous improvement. Some participants felt the intervention helped with their isolation, as they had no peers who were applying to medical school. After the session, participants believed that they could be successful in the real medical school interview. Conclusion This study established that hosting a mock multiple mini-interview session, following the Medical Schools Council guidance, had a positive impact on pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds. The intervention can be delivered both by teachers and medical student volunteers. The MMI session could be improved by factoring in time for informal debriefs with peers, allocating more time for assessors to mark the stations, and incorporating a virtual MMI station.
Innovative business models for energy retrofitting in supermarkets with the engagement of customers
Authors: Fregonese Gabriele , Boaretto Cristina , Erittu Carlo , Vicentini Giovanni , Canilli Giulia , Messervey Thomas , Barbero Cristina , Buffa Simone
Published: December 2023

The European Union aims to cut emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and to be climate neutral by 2050. In order to achieve this goal, it’s fundamental that all actors across all sectors take their part in the transition by triggering investments in renewables and energy efficiency. Supermarkets could play a key role in this process, both for the high energy consumption related to their buildings and for the particular attention they pay to corporate social responsibility, including sustainability. In this context, the Super-Heero project has aimed at providing the supermarkets with innovative tools and models to deploy energy efficiency investments to cut energy consumptions and costs and, at the same time, improving their corporate social image. Moreover, Super-Heero explores new schemes to leverage on energy efficiency projects to engage customers and increase their loyalty through specific reward schemes and dedicated communication campaigns. This paper summarizes the concepts, models and approach developed in the project.
The genome sequence of the Ochreous Pearl, Anania crocealis (Hübner, 1796)
Authors: Lees David C. ,   Natural History Museum Genome Acquisition Lab,   Darwin Tree of Life Barcoding collective,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Management, Samples and Laboratory team,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Scientific Operations: Sequencing Operations,   Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life Core Informatics team,   Tree of Life Core Informatics collective,   Darwin Tree of Life Consortium
Published: December 2023

We present a genome assembly from an individual male Anania crocealis (the Ochreous Pearl; Arthropoda; Insecta; Lepidoptera; Crambidae). The genome sequence is 624.0 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 29 chromosomal pseudomolecules, including the Z sex chromosome. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.33 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 20,293 protein coding genes.
A Grounded Theory of Resilience among Elite Musicians Who Survived Childhood Maltreatment
Authors:   , Knizek Olivia A.
Published: December 2023

While experiencing childhood maltreatment (CM) increases the risk for negative lifetime outcomes, protective factors can lessen the harmful impact of stressful experiences and contribute to one's overall resilience. Musical engagement may operate as a protective factor by facilitating creative expression, increasing feelings of mastery, and providing a sense of belonging. It may also present stressors due to the unique demands of music performance (e.g., time constraints, competitiveness, scarce career opportunities). Due to the limited current research looking at musicians that have experienced trauma, we used a constructivist grounded theory approach to understand how the experience of engaging in music education and performance as children influenced resilience among adult survivors of CM. We invited thirteen students from prestigious music performance programs to participate based on their demonstrated resilience to perform at elite levels, despite reports of severe CM. Participants reflected on their experiences with CM, music education and performance, their identities as musicians, and the concept of resilience. Our analysis of interview transcripts supported the positive influence of social support, self-efficacy, and time and space away from their primary perpetrators of CM. Participants also consistently noted challenges present within organized music education, including ineffective instructors, pressure to perform well, and music used as a form of maltreatment which hindered their abilities to cope with CM. Implications based on key findings support making trauma-informed music instruction available equitably to all children and increased awareness among professionals of instructors' influence to facilitate or impede the coping process.
Exploring Principal Burnout
Authors:   , Cunningham Tiffany
Published: December 2023

Principal workloads and demands are steadily increasing while principal health and well-being are declining, resulting in increased rates of principal turnover. Currently, principals are experiencing numerous work-related stressors that are increasing burnout. In many cases, school leaders are sacrificing their families and health to lead their schools. As school success is linked with principal leadership, principal burnout and wellness demands further discussion and investigation. Yet, there is a limited body of research that examines the lived experiences of principals who experience burnout. Consequently, this researcher conducted a phenomenological qualitative study of 12 Texas K-12 elementary and secondary public school principals in central Texas. Findings pointed out that principals experience burnout in waves. While the COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted the burnout principal experienced, political divisiveness and social media attacks intensified their burnout. Additional findings revealed that burnout can cause principals to question staying in their role and negatively affect the quality of their family relationships as well as their health. Principals coped with their burnout by being aware of their emotions, spending time doing things that brought happiness, exercising, and reverting back to their faith in God. Additionally, principals believed that having knowledgeable district leaders who are visible, trust their leadership, and offer real support could help to alleviate or mitigate principal burnout. Suggestions for ways that district leaders, principal preparation programs, and state education departments could reduce principal burnout and increase student, school, and distinct outcomes while supporting principal well-being are provided.
The Good and the Bad Sides of the Protest: Framing Abortion Rights Protests in Photojournalism
Authors:   , Díaz González Vázquez Greta
Published: December 2023

In both Mexico and the U.S., abortion rights protests have been taking place in recent years, but while Mexico is moving forward with the legalization of abortion, the U.S. is going in the opposite direction with the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Through framing, journalists select salient information, shaping audiences' understandings of social movements. The protest paradigm suggests that due to journalistic norms and routines, journalists tend to focus on disruptive acts, which can stigmatize the protest. Additionally, scholars have stated that men and women photojournalists have different approaches to covering certain topics. This cross-national research combined a content analysis of photographs in U.S. and Mexican media with in-depth interviews with photojournalists to determine if photojournalists in each country are reproducing the protest paradigm and if there are gendered differences in how they photograph abortion rights protests. The results revealed that women and men photograph differently, with women capturing more intimate photos; however, photojournalists' gendered experiences are also influenced by how protesters perceive them. Furthermore, the study suggests that photojournalists from both countries are questioning objectivity and are attempting to move away from the protest paradigm. This research provides valuable insights into visual framing theory, protest news coverage, and gendered norms in photojournalism.
Fe pública y desarrollo urbano en los primeros tiempos de la Pobra de Burón: del sello del concejo a los notarios del rey
Authors: Álvarez Castrillón José Antonio , Calleja-Puerta Miguel
Published: December 2023

El propósito del artículo es explicar los lazos entre el desarrollo de la "fides publica" y el proceso de urbanización a través del estudio de una de las más pequeñas villas medievales de la Corona de Castilla. La Pobra de Burón, situada en el límite entre Asturias y Galicia, tiene sello de concejo y notarios públicos documentados en fecha tan temprana como el tercer cuarto del siglo XIII. Este trabajo explora el desarrollo de ambas realidades como parte del proceso de imposición del poder real a través de la creación de concejos de realengo.
EL ORIGEN URBANO. LA PARTITURA DONDE SE ESCRIBE LA IDENTIDAD DE LA CIUDAD
Authors: Tomás Medina Carmen de
Published: December 2023

El desastre urbanístico producido en los últimos años en nuestras ciudades ha sido de tal envergadura que incluso les ha arrebatado su identidad. El Estado y las Comunidades Autónomas han intentado controlar los desacerbados crecimientos desarrollados mediante la aprobación de diferentes leyes e instrumentos de planeamiento. Sin embargo, lejos de conseguirlo, han contribuido aún más, a la pérdida identitaria de las ciudades, porque en ningún caso han respetado los fundamentos urbanos sobre los que se levantaron. Esta investigación tiene por objeto demostrar que la solución a los problemas urbanísticos actuales se debe consolidar a partir de un pormenorizado entendimiento de las reglas de trazado que dirigieron el origen de la ciudad. Lo que destapará el interesante descubrimiento realizado durante su estudio, la intrínseca relación existente entre la música y la ciudad. Poniendo de manifiesto que será en ella donde subyace la verdadera identidad de la ciudad.
Drogas, proibicionismo e o cuidado em liberdade: desafios à política Pública
Authors: De Oliveira Duarte Marco José , Barbosa Furtado Dayana , Tomaz Marcilea , Ribeiro da Silva Thays
Published: December 2023

Muitos dos limites e desafios em estabelecer o cuidado em saúde mental às pessoas que fazem uso prejudicial de drogas decorre, ainda, em função da hegemonia da lógica manicomial do cuidado e do proibicionismo das drogas presente no cotidiano dos serviços da Rede de Atenção Psicossocial. Neste sentido, o artigo tem por objetivo analisar o proibicionismo das drogas, no Brasil, como política pública que estrutura a história desta para o campo de atenção aos usuários de drogas, mesmo com resistências e outras políticas e iniciativas governamentais, revelando as barreiras sobre acesso e cuidado, no cotidiano dos serviços, por parte de profissionais na rede pública de saúde. Ressalta-se também que o cuidado em saúde mental e drogas dirigido às pessoas com transtornos mentais e às que fazem uso prejudicial de drogas tem sido ainda atravessado por retrocessos de ordem econômica e política que trazem consequências evidentes ao cuidado prestado à população usuária.
reatualização proibicionista das Políticas sobre Drogas no (des)governo Bolsonaro
Authors: Silva Cruz Liziane , Studart Albuquerque Cynthia
Published: December 2023

O presente artigo, resultante de pesquisa de mestrado acadêmico, objetiva analisar a relação entre o avanço do neoliberalismo autoritário e a reatualização das políticas sobre drogas, durante o governo Bolsonaro. O estudo, de natureza qualitativa, foi ancorado no materialismo histórico-dialético e utilizou as pesquisas bibliográfica e documental, além da técnica de análise de conteúdo. Identificou-se que, historicamente, as legislações brasileiras sobre drogas, embasadas no paradigma proibicionista, a partir do dispositivo “guerra às drogas”, produzem o genocídio e encarceramento da população negra. Na conjuntura de neoliberalismo autoritário e avanço do Estado penal, as políticas públicas sobre drogas sofreram atualizações que promoveram o desfinanciamento da Rede de Atenção Psicossocial (Raps); o recrudescimento da repressão e punição destinada majoritariamente ao controle social e punitivo da classe trabalhadora negra; a ampliação da perspectiva manicomial; a designação da abstinência como intervenção principal; e a facilitação nas internações involuntárias; portanto, uma reatualização proibicionista das políticas de drogas.
Breve cartografia do Instituto Municipal Nise da Silveira: o cuidado pela arte e cultura
Authors: Forain de Valentim Renata Patricia , Martins Mariah
Published: December 2023

Este artigo tem como propósito uma breve cartografia das formas de cuidado pela arte e cultura no Instituto Municipal Nise da Silveira (IMNS), mapeando, na história da ocupação de seu território pelo lúdico e pelo artístico, os avanços e retrocessos das políticas nacionais para a saúde mental. Seu objetivo é refletir sobre como o uso da arte na reinvenção existencial de sujeitos institucionalizados conseguiu se construir e se manter naquela instituição, resistindo aos ataques e desmontes dos sucessivos governos e direções, servindo como proposta de novos meios de tratamento e funcionando como um modo de resistência ao manicômio.

 

Palavras-Chave: desinstitucionalização; arte e cultura; Instituto Municipal Nise da Silveira; Reforma Psiquiátrica.
Rare case of lupus enteritis presenting as colorectum involvement: A case report and review of literature
Authors: Gan Hui , Wang Fei , Gan Yuan , Wen Li
Published: December 2023

BACKGROUND

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that can affect the gastrointestinal tract. Most cases of lupus enteritis (LE) involve the small intestine, while the involvement of the whole colon and rectum without the small intestine being affected is extremely rare.

CASE SUMMARY

A 35-year-old woman was diagnosed with colorectal LE after initially presenting with intermittent abdominal pain and vomiting for two months. She had a regular medication history for five years following the diagnosis of SLE but had been irregular in taking medications, which may have contributed to the onset of LE and led to her current hospital admission. According to the 2019 Classification criteria for SLE of the European League Against Rheumatism/American College of Rheumatology, this case scored 14. Additionally, abdominal computed tomography revealed significant wall edema of the colon and rectum, ischemia and hyperemia of the ascending colon intestinal wall, mesenteric vessel engorgement, increased mesangial fat attenuation, ascites, and bilateral ureter-hydronephrosis, all indicative of colon and rectum LE. Laboratory tests also showed lower levels of complement C3 and C4, with an antinuclear antibody titer of 1:100. Overall, it was clear that this case involved the colon and rectum without affecting the small intestine, representing a rare manifestation of SLE. The patient received treatment with 10 mg of methylprednisolone sodium succinate, 100 mL of 0.9% sodium chloride, hydroxychloroquine (100 mg), and nutrition support. After one week of methylprednisolone and hydroxychloroquine therapy, her SLE symptoms and disease activity improved significantly.

CONCLUSION

Although colorectal LE without small intestine involvement is very rare, early diagnosis and excellent management with corticosteroids prevented the need for surgical intervention. Physicians should be aware of colorectal LE without small intestine involvement as a manifestation of lupus flare.
AUTOAVALIAÇÃO COMO PROPOSTA DE AVALIAÇÃO FORMATIVA EM DISCIPLINAS DE CIÊNCIAS, TECNOLOGIAS, ENGENHARIAS E MATEMÁTICA
Authors: Dall’Alba Boeira Marcelo , Andreatta Carvalho da Costa Luciano , Kinast Éder Julio
Published: December 2023

A autoavaliação pode ser uma alternativa para promover uma avaliação formativa que indique ao estudante como está sendo desenvolvida sua aprendizagem e, ao professor, pode indicar caminhos a serem seguidos na continuidade da sua metodologia de ensino. Este trabalho teve por objetivo elaborar um modelo de criação de um questionário de autoavaliação na busca por uma alternativa de avaliação formativa. Como exemplo de utilização desse modelo foi construído e aplicado um questionário, com questões sobre prática e forma de estudo que se relacionam com as disciplinas de STEM – Ciências, Tecnologias, Engenharias e Matemática, a 34 estudantes do Ensino Médio de uma escola técnica no ano de 2022. Os dados foram utilizados para reflexões a respeito da prática docente e de estudo dos alunos. O produto educacional resultante - metodologia para a elaboração de um questionário de autoavaliação das disciplinas de STEM - está disponibilizado no repositório EDUCAPES.
Challenged thriving: a qualitative study of resilience in multiple sclerosis family carers during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: McKenna Odessa , Fakolade Afolasade , Cardwell Katherine , Pilutti Lara A.
Published: December 2023

This study investigates the lived experiences of multiple sclerosis family carers during the COVID-19 pandemic and explores the impact of the pandemic on psychological resilience processes using a socioecological framework. Following thematic analysis of interviews, two main findings emerged: first, behavioural vigilance intended to mitigate viral spread eclipsed carers’ needs and deprived them of support resources; and, second, multiple sclerosis carers harboured resilience via practices of gratitude and leveraging interpersonal relationships. Future action is needed to develop public crisis responses that integrate multiple sclerosis carers’ needs, including improved care-continuity models, the alleviation of social isolation and advancements in multifaceted wellness preservation.
Dire la guerre et son principal acteur dans l'autonarration : La représentation du moudjahid dans Dhākirat al-mā' [La Mémoire de l'eau] de Waciny Laredj et Dam al-ghazāl [Le Sang de la gazelle] de Merzak Bagtache
Authors: Abdessemed Naouel
Published: December 2023

Abstract: Cet article porte sur la représentation du moudjahid dans Dhākirat al-mā' (1997) de Waciny Laredj et Dam al-ghazāl (2002) de Merzak Bagtache. Ce travail montre comment l'autonarration mobilise le passé personnel et collectif pour mettre en scène cette figure importante dans la construction du discours national et de la mémoire collective. Loin de la gloire et de la dignité, le moudjahid dans ces récits est anéanti par le système. Chez Bagtache, le parcours du combattant est décrit à travers l'évocation du sort tragique d'une personnalité référentielle, le président Boudiaf. Chez Laredj, le héros de la guerre d'indépendance est représenté par des personnages imaginaires, qui mettent en avant le combat des citoyens que le système néglige et écarte du discours commémoratif : les femmes et les personnes humbles. Abstract: This paper is about the representation of the Mujahid in Dhākirat al-mā' (1997) by Waciny Laredj and Dam al-ghazāl (2002) by Merzak Bagtache. This work shows how autonarration mobilizes individual and collective pasts in order to produce the figure of the Mujahid, which is important in the construction of official discourses and collective memory. Far from glory and dignity, the Mujahid in these narratives is crushed by the system. In Bagtache's text, the fighter's path is described through the invocation of the tragic end of a referential personality, the president Boudiaf. In Laredj's work, the war hero is represented by imaginary characters. Their role is to showcase the fight led by citizens that the system neglects and excludes from commemorative discourses: women and humble persons.
Of Love and Music in Book 5 of Rousseau's the Confessions
Authors: Daglier Üner
Published: December 2023

Abstract: In book 5 of his historically controversial autobiography, the Confessions , Jean-Jacques Rousseau describes his involvement in a perfectly harmonious ménage à trois centered around the charming Mme. de Warens. Despite his assertions to the contrary, however, the text indicates that Rousseau harbored jealous feelings and banked on Mme. de Warens's passion for music to gain an edge over his rival, Claude Anet. But Rousseau's apparently sincere denial of jealous feelings and lost hold over Mme. de Warens's romantic imagination after Anet's sudden death might have been related to the philosophical life, which often demands and imposes solitude.
Home-Sickness, Nostalgia, and Therapeutic Narrative in Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”
Authors: Scheckel Susan
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACT:
This article examines how the disease nostalgia, or home-sickness, as understood by nineteenth-century medical science, structures one of the most famous of Poe’s tales and informs his aesthetic principles more generally. Through its subject and its form, “The Fall of the House of Usher” asks the reader to consider competing theories of mental illness and therapeutic treatment, in particular the “moral treatment,” which relied on sympathetic conversation between doctor and patient to elicit the patient’s story and engage the imagination in the process of healing. Tracking Poe’s deployment of nostalgia and therapeutic narrative in “The Fall of the House of Usher” not only extends what we know about Poe’s familiarity with contemporary medical discourse but also reveals his ambivalence regarding scientific attempts to diagnose, categorize, and cure the emotional and spiritual dis-ease that he understood so well and explored so compellingly in his tales.
A Weird Tonic for the Anthropocene: Poe’s Use of Gardenesque Landscapes as Nature Cure
Authors: Crosby Sara L.
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACT:
Poe is not generally seen as a health advocate, much less a proponent of a “nature cure” for human ailments. Even critics who acknowledge Poe as an environmental thinker tend to see only his role as a “dark” critic of human hubris. Yet, a closer look at such landscape sketches as “The Domain of Arnheim” and “Landor’s Cottage” alongside his apocalyptic tales, “The Colloquy of Monos and Una” and “The Fall of the House of Usher,” reveals an author both concerned with the pathogenic effects of human-driven environmental degradation and committed to curing it. Thoreau’s “tonic of wildness,” which calls for immersion in an illusory pure nature defined as distinct from the human, has dominated modern environmentalist thinking about the possibilities of a nature cure. Poe, by contrast, draws on a medical paradigm that proposed an osmotic continuum between human bodies, human-built environments, and nonhuman wilderness. Human health thus requires the shaping of a salubrious environment, and the proper tool in Poe’s view is the aesthetic sense, which acknowledges rather than elides the place of art in nature. What results are landscape sketches that shade from the clearly artful “gardenesque” into the “weird,” a heightened artificiality that not only resists the ravages of industrialism but also points toward a potential “supernal” existence. This paper thus proposes an alternative American environmental literary tradition that wends its way, not just through Emerson and Thoreau and their “wilderness cure,” but through Poe and his healing art of landscaping.
Jorge Luis Borges’s References to Edgar Allan Poe: An Annotated Bibliography, Section 3
Authors: Esplin Emron
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACT:
Throughout his distinguished career, Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges maintained a complex, reciprocal literary relationship with Edgar Allan Poe. Borges referred to Poe in numerous articles, prologues, stories, poems, lectures, dialogues, and interviews he wrote or participated in between the early 1920s and the mid-1980s. These items range from a limited number of articles and interviews focused specifically on Poe to brief nods to Poe’s works in pieces dedicated to other authors. As part of a three-stage effort to offer future scholars a substantial guide to documents demonstrating Borges’s long-term engagement with the US author and his works, “Jorge Luis Borges’s References to Edgar Allan Poe: An Annotated Bibliography, Section 3” directs readers to the notes Borges kept in his copies of books by and about Poe that are held in his personal libraries at the Fundación Internacional Jorge Luis Borges and at the Sala del Tesoro in the Biblioteca Nacional Argentina, both in Buenos Aires.
White Gothic and Black Detection in Edgar Allan Poe and Barbara Neely
Authors: Robinson M. Michelle
Published: December 2023

ABSTRACT: This essay argues that Barbara Neely reconfigures tropes and dramatic elements that appeared in Edgar Allan Poe's gothic and detective tales to formulate a Black, feminist, working-class detective fiction. In Blanche on the Lam (1992) and Blanche Passes Go (2000), Neely relocates the moral decay and material degeneration of aristocratic estates that Poe depicts in works like "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Black Cat" to the town of Farleigh, North Carolina. There, she reframes the gothic landscape as one designed to safeguard the power of White elites, disavow histories of Black enslavement and servitude, and imperil her protagonist, a Black domestic worker and amateur detective named Blanche White. Neely also reconceives the powers of detection Poe depicts in his Dupin mysteries from the social and economic vantage point of her working-class Black protagonist, for whom detecting is a form of agency and a means of defense against the violence that domestic workers face. In availing herself of Poe's literary materials, Neely reveals patterns of criminality that are sustained by White wealth in the US South, while underscoring the role of detection as an instrument of working-class resistance.
Measurement method of hot forging dimension based on green laser depth information
Authors: Zhang Yu-Cun , Qian Lin , Kong Tao , Li Qun
Published: December 2023

The application field of large forgings is extensive. Accurate dimensional measurement is an important factor to ensure the quality of the finished forging product when it is forged at high temperature. Therefore, this paper proposes a green laser scanning measurement method based on depth information. First, a geometric measurement model based on depth information is established by studying the relationship between green laser depth information and forging dimension. Then, based on the heat transfer theory, distribution of the temperature field around hot forgings is studied, and an error function caused by light refraction is established using a ray tracing algorithm. After that, the error function is used to modify the measurement model to obtain the accurate distance between the forging and background plane and then obtain the dimensional information of the forging. Finally, this measurement method was experimentally verified in the laboratory, and the experimental results show that the measurement error of this method meets the dimensional measurement requirements of large hot forgings.
Optical time domain reflectometry based on a self-chaotic circular-sided microcavity laser
Authors: Li Jian-Cheng , Dong Yun-Xiao , Lei Bin-Juan , Xiao Jin-Long , Yang Yue-De , Huang Yong-Zhen
Published: December 2023

A self-chaotic circular-sided square microcavity laser, with a chaos bandwidth of 12.9 GHz and a flatness of ±3dB, was applied in optical time domain reflectometry (OTDR). Using the broadband chaos laser, we demonstrated a range resolution of 4.5 mm and a 25-km detection distance experimentally. The solitary wide-bandwidth microcavity chaos laser, without the extra correlation peaks in optical feedback chaotic lasers, has shown potential advantages for correlation OTDR in practical application.
Entanglement-enabled decoherence-free transmission of two-color photons through a single mode fiber
Authors: Okawa Youhei , Fujisawa Shunsuke , Yasutake Yuhsuke , Fukatsu Susumu
Published: December 2023

We demonstrate decoherence-tolerant transmission of a Bell state through a single-mode fiber (SMF) using the photon frequency degree of freedom. To this end, a slightly non-degenerate polarization-entangled singlet, |Ψ−⟩=(|HV⟩−|VH⟩)/2, is localized at the SMF as the depolarization channel subject to random noise due to incessant fiber bending. Two-photon beats and quantum state tomography jointly verify the absence of collective decoherence, showing that |Ψ−⟩ is the sought-after one-dimensional decoherence-free subspace (DFS) pertaining to SMF. Efficient splitting and combining of photon streams in our DFS help outperform the DFS in time domain. This motivates us to attempt DFS-enabled fault-tolerant fiber transmission of biphoton qubits. Two-photon BB84 protocol is implemented in a polarization-maintaining fiber to which dephasing noise is relevant so that a two-dimensional DFS is appropriate. A low bit error rate 5.4% is achieved by encoding one-qubit information onto the biphoton state in spite of significant polarization fluctuation. Our scalable frequency-based DFS has a natural affinity for wavelength division multiplexing in fiber communication by design and as such is extensible to multi-particle entanglement.
Integrated polarization-free Bragg filters with subwavelength gratings for photonic sensing
Authors: Pimbi Daniel , Mia Md Borhan , Jaidye Nafiz , Ahmed Ishtiaque , Hasan Mehedi , Ahmed Syed Z. , Kim Sangsik
Published: December 2023

We present polarization-free Bragg filters having subwavelength gratings (SWGs) in the lateral cladding region. This Bragg design expands modal fields toward upper cladding, resulting in enhanced light interaction with sensing analytes. Two device configurations are proposed and examined, one with index-matched coupling between transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes and the other one with hybrid-mode (HM) coupling. Both configurations introduce a strong coupling between two orthogonal modes (either TE-TM or HM1-HM2) and rotate the polarization of the input wave through Bragg reflection. The arrangements of SWGs help to achieve two configurations with different orthogonal modes, while expanding modal profiles toward the upper cladding region. Our proposed SWG-assisted Bragg gratings with polarization independency eliminate the need for a polarization controller and effectively tailor the modal properties, enhancing the potential of integrated photonic sensing applications.
Frequency modulation of terahertz microcavity via strong coupling with plasmonic resonators
Authors: Xu Xitan , Lu Yao , Huang Yibo , Zhou Xu , Ma Ruobin , Xiong Hao , Li Meili , Wu Qiang , Xu Jingjun
Published: December 2023

Tunable terahertz (THz) microcavities are crucial for the compact on-chip THz devices, aiming to future cloud-based computing, and artificial-intelligence technologies. However, the solutions to effectively modulate THz microcavities remain elusive. Strong coupling has been widely demonstrated in many configurations at different ambient conditions to date and may serve as a promising tool to modulate THz microcavities. Here, we schematically design a microcavity-plasmon hybrid system, and propose an effective approach to modulating the resonant frequencies of THz microcavities by the microcavity-resonator strong coupling. In this case, we observed the strongly coupling states, where the resultant two-polariton branches exhibit an anti-crossing splitting in the frequency domain, experimentally exhibiting a ∼6.2% frequency modulation to the microcavity compared to the uncoupled case. This work provides an efficient approach to modulating chip-scale THz microcavities, thereby facilitating the development and application of compact THz integrated devices, further empowering the evolution of future information processing and intelligent computing system.
Kerr nonlinearity assisted magnetically induced transparency in cavity magnon polaritons
Authors: Xu Hong-Ping , Wang Yan , Gao Ji-Ming , Zhang Ai-Xia , Xue Ju-Kui , Yu Zi-Fa
Published: December 2023

We investigate optical transmission in cavity magnon polaritons and discover a complex multi-window magnetically induced transparency and a bistability with magnetic and optical characteristics. With the regulation of Kerr nonlinear effects and driven fields, a complex multi-window resonant transmission with fast and slow light effects appears, which includes transparency and absorption windows. The magnetically induced transparency and absorption can be explained by the destructive and constructive interference between different excitation pathways. Moreover, we demonstrate the bistability of magnons and photons with a hysteresis loop, where magnetic and optical bistabilities can induce and control each other. Our results pave a new way, to the best of our knowledge, for implementing a room-temperature multiband quantum memory.
Control of the total orbital angular momentum of light beams propagating through a turbulent medium
Authors: Xu Lingfei , Zhou Zhichao , Ma Xindi , Korotkova Olga , Wang Fei
Published: December 2023

The robustness of the orbital angular momentum (OAM) of light beams propagating in a turbulent medium, e.g., atmosphere, is critical for many applications such as OAM-based free-space optical communications and remote sensing. However, the total OAM of a beam interacting with the turbulent medium inevitably changes. Here, we demonstrate a practical algorithm to control the total OAM of a beam transmitted through a time-evolving, turbulent medium by dynamically modulating the weights of two coherently superimposed OAM modes, which served as the input beam. A cross-OAM matrix is introduced, and applied for checking whether the desired total OAM in the output plane can be achieved. Furthermore, analytical relations between the weights of two input modes and the output total OAM, as well as its modulation range, are established. As a numerical example, we study the behavior of total OAM of the two-mode beam after passing through a thermal convection occurring in an aqueous medium and suggest a possible application of our strategy.
Deep learning hybrid model for analyzing and predicting the impact of imported malaria cases from Africa on the rise of Plasmodium falciparum in China before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Kamana Eric , Zhao Jijun
Published: December 2023

Background

Plasmodium falciparum cases are rising in China due to the imported malaria cases from African countries. The main goal of this study is to examine the impact of imported malaria cases in African countries on the rise of P. falciparum cases in China before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A generalized regression model was used to investigate the association of time trends between imported malaria cases from 45 African countries and P. falciparum cases in 31 provinces of China from 2012 to 2018 before the COVID-19 pandemic and during the COVID-19 pandemic from October 2020 to May 2021. Based on the analysis, we proposed a statistical and deep learning hybrid approach to model the resurgence of malaria in China using monthly data of P. falciparum from 2004 to 2016. This study builds a hybrid model known as the ARIMA-GRU approach for modeling the P. falciparum cases in all provinces of China and the number of malaria deaths in China before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results

The analysis showed an emerging link between the rise of imported malaria cases from Africa and P. falciparum cases in many provinces of China. Many imported malaria cases from Africa were P. falciparum cases. The proposed deep learning model achieved a high prediction accuracy score on the testing dataset of 96%.

Conclusion

The study provided an analysis of the reduction of P. falciparum cases and deaths caused by imported P. falciparum cases during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the control measures regarding the limitation of international travel in China. The Chinese government has to prepare the imported malaria control measures after the normalization of international travel, to prevent the resurgence of malaria disease in China.
Inferring glaucoma status from prescriptions, diagnoses, and operations data: A Danish nationwide study
Authors: Horwitz Anna , Klemp Marc , Rovelt Jens , Horwitz Henrik , Torp-Pedersen Christian , Kolko Miriam
Published: December 2023

Purpose

To assess a new method for inferring glaucoma status using prescriptions data.

Methods

The study population comprised all individuals living in Denmark in the period 1995 to 2018 and included 6,930,571 individuals. We used information from The National Prescription Registry on claimed prescriptions as the basis for our study (N = 223,592). We inferred glaucoma status using data on claimed prescriptions, in-hospital ICD-10 diagnoses, and in-hospital glaucoma surgeries. We infer glaucoma status in three ways using the prescription pattern: glaucoma inferred by (i) the use of a first claimed prescription, (ii) the use of a second claimed prescription with a gap of at least 90 days, and (iii) the use of a third claimed prescription for glaucoma medication, again with a gap of at least 90 days between prescriptions. Furthermore, we compared the results with alternative indications for glaucoma, namely in-hospital ICD-10-diagnosed glaucoma and in-hospital glaucoma surgery.

Results

We first determined that glaucoma status could be inferred from claimed prescription data and found that a single claimed prescription was highly correlated with the more restricted composite measure of glaucoma (R2 = 0.80, p <0.0001), with a kappa coefficient of 80%. Focusing on individuals with a confirmed in-hospital glaucoma diagnosis, we found a high sensitivity of 88% using anti-glaucomatous prescriptions as a surrogate marker for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). We then derived several descriptive insights. The prevalence of glaucoma increased during the period from 1996 to 2018, while the incidence was constant. We also found a decreasing trend in the ratio of the number of people diagnosed annually in hospitals to the number of people filling prescriptions. This indicated a relative increase in the number of patients treated or managed in the secondary sector. Finally, using data on diagnoses and claimed prescriptions, we found that the proportion of total noncompliant patients, i.e., patients who do not claim their prescription at any time in the study period (two decades) was at most 11.8%. This share is calculated on the basis of diagnosed patients who did not have surgery. The results was not sensitive to the glaucoma inference rule.

Conclusion

Anti-glaucomatous medicine prescriptions can be used to infer glaucoma status, with useful implications for epidemiological research. The sensitivity is particularly high for primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG).
Mental, physical, and social well-being and quality of life in healthy young adult twin pairs discordant and concordant for body mass index
Authors: Kupila Sakris K. E. , Berntzen Bram J. , Muniandy Maheswary , Ahola Aila J. , Kaprio Jaakko , Rissanen Aila , Pietiläinen Kirsi H.
Published: December 2023

Objective

The relationship between obesity and mental health is complex and is moderated by the level of obesity, age, sex, and social and genetic factors. In the current study, we used a unique co-twin control design, with twin pairs discordant for body mass index (BMI), to control for shared genetic and environmental effects between obesity and several dimensions of mental health.

Methods

We studied 74 monozygotic (MZ) twin pairs, of whom 36 were BMI-discordant (intra-pair difference in BMI ≥ 3 kg/m2), and 77 dizygotic (DZ) twin pairs (46 BMI-discordant). We assessed subjective health, especially mental health and mental well-being (depression, anxiety, self-esteem, health-related quality of life, life satisfaction, and social well-being) through questionnaires.

Results

Heavier MZ co-twins from BMI-discordant pairs had poorer general health (58.8±3.0 vs. 72.4±3.8,P= 0.001, FDR = 0.017 on a scale from 0 to 100 where higher scores indicate more positive results), physical functioning (90.3±1.1 vs. 95.5±2.2,P= 0.024, FDR = 0.122), energy levels (55.6±3.4 vs. 66.6±3.3,P= 0.013, FDR = 0.109), and emotional well-being (65.9±3.2 vs. 75.4±2.9,P= 0.031, FDR = 0.122), as well as a tendency for depressive symptoms (8.4±1.3 vs. 5.6±0.9,P= 0.071, FDR = 0.166) compared to their leaner co-twins. Heavier DZ co-twins had poorer total physical well-being (91.6±1.9 vs. 95.6±1.0,P= 0.035, FDR = 0.356) and more depressive symptoms (4.3±0.9 vs. 2.4±0.5,P= 0.016, FDR = 0.345 on a scale from 0 to 63 where lower scores indicate fewer depressive symptoms) than their leaner co-twins. Association analyses, using all twin pairs, confirmed that higher BMI within pairs linked to general health, physical functioning and depressive symptoms. No association was found between BMI and anxiety, self-esteem, life satisfaction, or social well-being.

Conclusions

In conclusion, this study underscores the notable association between elevated BMI and physical well-being and to a lesser extent between elevated BMI and depressive symptoms, while revealing no discernible connections with anxiety, self-esteem, life satisfaction, or social well-being.