bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Criminal Law Regulation of Surrogacy Accessory Crime
Authors: Zhai Yidan
Published: April 2022

With the continuous improvement of artificial reproduction technology, in vitro fertilization (IVF) or embryo transfer technology has developed rapidly. At the same time, the proportion of crimes related to surrogacy is also increasing. Surrogacy has different problems in judicial practice, laws and regulations, and theory. Specifically, it can be subdivided into: due to the lack of surrogacy regulation in current laws and regulations, there are related problems centered on surrogacy behavior. On the one hand, it often encounters bottlenecks due to the lack of legal support in judicial practice; On the other hand, at the theoretical level, because surrogacy involves the exclusive rights of life, such as physical rights and reproductive rights, this practical issue is controversial and has mixed opinions, which leads to the fault phenomenon in the application of this issue at the judicial level. Based on this situation, this paper starts from the practical level, enumerates the typical cases involving criminal acts in the process of surrogacy, and regulates them with the existing criminal law norms. Secondly, refine the characteristics and elements of surrogacy behavior in the above-mentioned practical level, think about this phenomenon, and redefine the concept of surrogacy based on the current social environment. Finally, on the basis of the above concept of surrogacy, return to the level of criminal law, take the dichotomy of surrogacy regulation as the guidance, and take the surrogacy institution as the main body of crime. It jointly explores the way to solve the black industrial chain of surrogacy.
Analysis on Risk Avoidance Behaviors and Influential Factors of Epidemic Disease among Pig Farmers
Authors: Wang Lei , Yang Zi-Gang
Published: April 2022

The initial outbreak, high mortality and wide range of influence of African swine fever in China have an impact on the stable development of China’s pig market price and industry. Choosing the correct risk aversion behavior of pig farmers is the only way to promote the development of modern pig breeding industry and protect people’s livelihood. Studying the epidemic risk aversion behavior of pig farmers and its influencing factors is conducive to enhance the ability of farmers to resist risks and improve the efficiency and production level of pig breeding. Taking pig farmers in three northeastern provinces as the survey object, this paper analyzes the willingness of pig farmers to take epidemic prevention and control measures by using multivariate ordered logistic and multiple logistic models, and discusses the main factors affecting the epidemic risk avoidance behavior of pig farmers. The study found that factors such as pig breeding scale, understanding of pig insurance and epidemic prevention and control knowledge, risk preference and so on can significantly affect the willingness of pig farmers to take epidemic prevention and control measures. Education, specialization and breeding prospect judgment can significantly affect the choice of epidemic risk aversion behavior of pig farmers.
Looking Behind the Blue Cards: Understanding Contested Ethical Approaches in the Ecumenical Space
Authors: Franklin-Ross Tony
Published: April 2022

This article has been generated from observations to do with public theology being exercised in an ecumenical space: that context was the World Council of Churches Assembly in 2013. Some participants sought to create an inclusive safe space for conversation on LGBTQI+ exclusion; they wished to voice the concerns, hurts, gifts and joys of living in the hyphenated queer-Christian experience. When the topic of human sexuality arose in business sessions, Orthodox Church representatives raised ‘blue cards’ which indicated their dissent. Looking behind the ‘blue cards’ there is a mismatch of Orthodox approaches to understanding liberation theology as the basis of those seeking to engage a public theology response to sexuality in the WCC ecumenical space.
Power Dynamics and Negotiation Behaviors: How Perception of Power Balance Affects Negotiation Strategy
Authors: Fang Jessica
Published: April 2022

This study examines how power impacts parties’ negotiation behaviors. We propose a new conceptualization of power. Since power is largely a matter of perception, and symmetry lies in the eye of the beholder, the parties’ perceptions of power balance, be it symmetry or asymmetry, is highlighted. We relate perception of power balance to negotiation strategies, hypothesizing that in the case of perceived power symmetry, parties’ negotiation behaviors tend to be more competitive and combative, whereas in the case of perceived power asymmetry, the negotiation behaviors are likely to be more cooperative. To test this proposition, a comparative case study is presented.
Determinants of Market Orientation and Market Participation among Smallholder Rice Farmers in Tanzania
Authors: Mpombo Lucy , Chegere Martin J. , Osoro Otieno
Published: April 2022

The study aims to examine the factors that affect smallholder rice farmers’ market orientation tendencies, market participation decision and the extent of rice marketing. A total sample of 352 rice farming households is drawn from the National Panel Survey Data of 2014/2015. A tobit model is used to analyse the factors that influence market orientation tendencies, then a double hurdle model is used to analyze the drivers of the choice and extent of rice marketing by the smallholder rice farmer. Findings reveal that the age of the household head, education level and receiving input vouchers negatively affect market orientation while access to marketing extension services, inorganic fertilizers application, use of animal traction, use of hired-labor, land fragmentation and household wealth positively influence market orientation inclinations among smallholder farmers. Moreover, the quantity harvested and household wealth were found to positively influence both decision and extent of market participation. The age of the head, household size and access to extension services influenced the decision to participate in marketing while distance to the nearest market and market orientation influenced the extent of market participation among smallholder rice farmers in Tanzania. Widening extension services and improving infrastructure supporting marketing are called for.
Protecting Intellectual Property Rights in the Context of Electronic Learning in Educational Institutions
Authors: AbdulSadek Mohamed Sami , Al-Tourah Anas Faisal
Published: April 2022

In providing Electronic learning (hereinafter “E-learning”), educational institutions often deal with Intellectual Property Rights (hereinafter “ipr”) regulations, particularly copyright. The interaction between the E-learning and the ipr occurs in one of three possible scenarios:

1.

The case where the educational institution owns an E-learning system. This takes place either when the institution develops the system internally, or by purchasing or licensing the ipr of an already developed system.

2.

Educational institutions legitimately use protected works for educational purposes, such as illustration, criticism or analysis and are thus not required to obtain permission from the developers for such purposes, as per the laws and regulations of ipr.

3.

Educational institutions infringe ipr by copying or using protected systems and making them available to students despite the first and second options.

This paper attempts to clarify the differences between these three methods and enlighten those involved in the management of educational institutions about what is lawful and what is not, when developing or using E-learning systems.
The European Court of Human Rights’ Approach to Causes of Iranians’ Asylum Applications in the light of Non- Refoulement Principle
Authors: Salimi Turkamani Hojjat
Published: April 2022

One of the most important principles of asylum law is the principle of non- refoulement whereby a refugee should not be returned to his/her home country where his /her life or liberty would be at risk. Although this principle is not explicitly recognised in the European Convention on Human Rights (echr), the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), as oversight judicial mechanism of the convention, in its jurisprudence, with its extensive interpretation of Article 3 of the Convention, has made refugees subject to human rights protections. Some Iranians, knowing the importance of this article and the role of the Court in ensuring its observance, seek refuge in European states and eventually recourse to the Court alleging a breach of Article 3 obligations if extradited by a European state. The main question of this article is what is the court’s approach to the reasons for the Iranians’ asylum applications? Case by case study shows that religious, sexual and political reasons are the main reasons for Iranians seeking asylum and the Court has taken a low threshold for religious causes and taken an easy approach, while it has taken a strict approach to sexual and political causes with high thresholds.
Shaping the Future Elite: A Comparative Analysis of French Policy Relating to Student International Mobility from Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco until Decolonisation
Authors: Luce Olivia Holmberg
Published: April 2022

Since the middle of the nineteenth century French authorities used education as a tool and strategy to maintain and expand their influence in the north of Africa. Though the colonial histories of Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Morocco differ notably, they all contributed to a significant body of international students in France in the first half of the twentieth century. This analysis assesses statistics on student mobility alongside archive material on colonial policy, thereby exploring the relationship between the common narratives and the contesting manifestations of travelling for higher education purposes within each local context.

In doing so the study contributes to our understanding of the region’s cultural relationship with French learning. It serves to demonstrate the way in which the French authorities employed and cultivated an image of France as a centre of modern progress and how that narrative was more strongly projected in regions where French influence was most contested. It also reveals a global temporal significance of early twentieth-century student mobility.
International Migrations and Labour Market Regulation. Spanish Workers in France during the First World War
Authors: Calvo Ángel
Published: April 2022

A profound, widespread and lasting impact has made the First World War the focus of the early attention of scholars from different fields and backgrounds. Despite the sizeable efforts and progress achieved, some territory remains unexplored. One of these is the foreign workforce’s role and, particularly, the so-called ‘white’ labour force. To fill in the gaps that still exist, this research is divided into four main sections. They include structural and wartime emigration to France, the labour market regulation during the First World War, the migrations to France and its factors, and an approach to differentiation within these migrations. The research builds mainly on exceptional documentation and significant reports found in the French Archives.
“The Soul Sense of a Beautiful Thing”
Authors: Schneider Karen
Published: April 2022

Katharine Nash Rhoades, a painter, Charles Lang Freer’s assistant, and a member of the Stieglitz Circle, met Freer at Mount Kisco, New York, the country home of Asian art collectors Agnes and Eugene Meyer on June 29, 1913. Their friendship lasted until Freer’s death on September 25, 1919. Although their relationship was relatively short in duration, it was characterized by loyalty, warmth, and mutual respect. Rhoades and Freer shared the pursuit of beauty as the guiding principle in their lives. Rhoades’s paintings reveal the influence that the Japanese art in Freer’s collection had upon her work. She was instrumental in the creation of the Freer Gallery of Art as it is known today. This article, based on extensive research using primary sources, sheds new light on the relationship between Katharine Rhoades and Charles Lang Freer and the ways in which the art of Japan played a key role in their lives.
The Reception of Netsuke in the West since Japonisme
Authors: Takesue Akiko
Published: April 2022

This essay was developed while translating the article by Matsuo Tomoko, Senior Curator at the Chiba City Museum of Art which was originally published in 2001 (see Appendix). While Matsuo’s article focuses on the historiography of netsuke in Japan, this essay discusses the historical reception of this form of art in the West from the mid-nineteenth century to the turn of the twenty-first century. It is hoped that the essay and the translation together provide a critical perception on netsuke, which has rarely been discussed within the narrative of Japanese art history.
The Power of Procedure
Authors: Canfijn Imran , Fatah-Black Karwan
Published: April 2022

While contemporary observers judged Suriname’s legal system to be extremely cruel, arbitrary, and above all outrageously biased, the written record reveals that its criminal court closely adhered to procedure, weighed slave testimony and did not cast judgement outright. This article asks what place slave punishment and legal procedure had in the Suriname system of slavery, and how and why this changed over time. The Suriname legal system offers an almost continuous record of criminal trials held before its main colonial court as well as a record of its locally passed regulations. Research indicates that the court turned away from severe physical mutilation and capital punishments over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. The decline of plantocratic dominance and its overbearing use of force suggests a gradual embedding of the court system, making it a predictable institution promoting (an unequal) social cohesion. This leads us to suggest that the amelioration policies of the nineteenth century were not a transformation in the legal system resulting solely from a metropolitan intervention, but were partly a continuation of a trend in the colony itself.
From Family to Franchise? Friendship, Individualism, and the Marketization of the Colombian Youth Gang
Authors: Butti Elena
Published: April 2022

The surge of transnational illicit economies has led to important transformations in gang structures and cultures. From locally-bound, solidarity-driven institutions, gangs have morphed into globally-connected, market-driven ones. But how has this change affected the way young gang members relate to each other? This paper explores this question in the particular case of Medellín (Colombia), based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork with adolescents working at the low ends of narco-gangs. It traces the evolution of gangs from the 1970s galladas – peer groups of kids who sought to support each other – to today’s pandillas – ruthless and profit-driven groups that operate as the local franchises of larger criminal organizations. The paper argues that the co-optation of youth gangs by transnational organized crime has drastically reduced the sense of protection, inclusion, and belonging that gangs provide to their youngest members. It has also hampered the role of gangs as institutions of cultural resistance and critique.
When Teleconferencing was the Future: The 1970 ‘Medizin Interkontinental’ Transmission and West German Medicine in the Space Age
Authors: Freis David
Published: April 2022

In March 1970, the first ever medical teleconference connected U.S. aeromedical experts in Houston and San Antonio to an audience of 25,000 physicians in congress centres in West Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. As this article shows, the ‘Medizin Interkontinental’ transmission was a costly demonstration of the latest developments in satellite telecommunications and projection technology as well as a stage for space-age visions of the future of medicine in the aftermath of the moon landing. Audio-visual and space technology became, at one at the same time, the medium and the message of medical futurity. As I argue, the teleconference was an audio-visual techno-spectacle that marked the culmination of the German medical community’s infatuation with futurology at the end of the 1960s, but it was also contingent on the concrete interests of the parties involved, which included the German Medical Association, medical futurologists, nasa, the U.S. Air Force, and the Swiss pharmaceutical company Ciba. Decades before teleconferences and telemedicine entered day-to-day medicine, the convergence of new medical and media technology, changes in medical education, Cold War geopolitics, and pharmaceutical sponsorship created a brief glimpse of a technology-based future of medicine that fell apart once these constellations changed in the early 1970s.
Rohdea medogensis (Asparagaceae), a new species from southeast Tibet, China
Authors: FENG HUI ZHE , CI REN YONG ZHU , HE XUAN , HAN QING XIANG , LIN QIN WEN
Published: April 2022

Rohdea medogensis, a new species from Tibet, China, is described and illustrated. This species is similar to R. verruculosa in sharing characters of the perianth with ringed, fleshy appendage in throat and lobes abaxially with verruculose, but differs mainly by bracts 3 per flower, with several sterile bracts apically; outer bract ca. 4.5 cm long, ca. 3 mm broad; perianth globular; lobes shorter ca. 2.0 mm long, margin lacerated, apical subacut; the top of annular appendage margin lacerated, 2 mm above the top of perianth tube; stigma bend, without lobed; style conspicuous; ovary globose or subglobose, askew; berry and seed ellipsoid, askew.
Positioning structural social work in Indian context
Authors: Vareed Baiju P , Plante Carmen , Sebastian Rincy
Published: April 2022

Postmodern ideologies and human rights movements in the last quarter of the 20th century contributed to the development of a critical, radical approach in social work practice and education in North America. This ‘structural social work’ approach argues that social problems are largely the result of oppressive social structures, not individual deficiencies. Social workers are ethically obligated to change oppressive structures rather than simply helping clients to adjust to them. Structural social work, a transformative approach, can benefit Indian society. This article discusses introducing ‘structural social work’ into an Indian social work context and proposes a framework for its practice.
Afrofuturism and Womanist phenomenology as resistance, resilience, and Black joy!
Authors: Young-Scaggs Sakena
Published: April 2022

Something happens when women of Spirit gather. It is a phenomenon complexly interwoven within the culture, history, and the depth of lived experiences of individual women within collective space. The legacy of Womanist scholars made this phenomenon a reality for nearly four generations of theologians, scholars, preachers, philosophers, and social transformers who breached the academy only to find anti-Black racism, sexism, homophobia, or other institutional nihilisms that negate the complex ontological intersectional essence of Black Women. In this article, I propose the deployment of Womanist phenomenology to examine and explicate the significance and importance of the work of Womanist scholarship, the engaged praxis of Black quantum futurism, and the speculative imagination carved in visionary futures as a pathway beyond the foundation of “the house that Alice built” and the Gardens of the Womanist foremothers to constructive world-building with concern for “survival and wholeness of entire people, male and female.” I contend that taking a decidedly Womanist Futurist approach that utilizes intellectual visioning and the imagining of a remade world can lay future pathways that lead from “the house that Alice built” to forge new communities of care and liminal spaces of restoration. The approach of Womanist quantum futures simultaneously acts to dismantle and disrupt ongoing systems of oppression in the present day while forging new imagined futures and liminal spaces of joy in the now. The vision and task are hefty, what Prathia Hall called a “Sankofa Vision,” but it is the work our soul must do; it is, in the words of Katie Geneva Cannon, “the work my soul must do.”
A more global urban studies, besides empirical variation
Authors: Ren Julie
Published: April 2022

An expanded set of sites, a more differentiated set of references and linguistic diversification have been discussed as needed changes in urban studies. The critiques of the limitations of urban studies, in terms of both the scholarship and the scholars, offer important and concrete responses to expanding the scope of the field. Yet this tremendous special issue on ‘Comparative Methods for Global Urban Studies’ with 10 papers cutting across a range of sites and topics is decidedly not only about empirical variation; this is an important distinction worth drawing more attention to. The creativity expressed in these papers comes at an auspicious time in urban studies where new routes for doing urban theory are needed to move past debates about singular versus plural epistemologies of the urban. As a kind of research that demands more translation, exchange and collaboration, perhaps comparative urban research as a mode of theory-building can help to humble the chest-pounding, posturing, privilege of thinking and speaking the language of theory. The theoretical ambitions of these very different papers show how urban theory need not only be about better understanding urbanisation within the epistemological confines of late capitalism. Rather than reifying a shared grammar of urbanisation as a necessity to understand each other, they may entice scholars everywhere to develop a broader vocabulary and perhaps even learn another language.
Explaining the Determinants of Pediculosis Control and Prevention: A Qualitative Study in Southern Iran
Authors: Toghroli Razie , Hosseini Zahra , Ziapour Arash , Yari Asiyeh , Rahimi Seyyede Fateme , Mehedi Nafiul
Published: April 2022

In many regions of the world, human head lice infestations caused by Pediculus capitis are a major health concern among school-aged children. This study was carried out to explain variables influencing pediculosis prevention and control from the perspective of parents and teachers of female elementary school pupils, as well as healthcare practitioners in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Participants in this qualitative study included 23 participants, including parents and teachers of primary school girls, as well as healthcare practitioners. Purposive sampling was employed and sustained until data saturation was reached. Data was acquired through in-depth interviews and evaluated using content analysis in the form of constant comparison. To assess the quality of the outcomes, Lincoln and Guba’s criteria were used. The data were extracted into 2 primary categories, including challenges and facilitators to controlling pediculosis, each with several subcategories as follows: 1) economic-political aspects; 2) family factors; 3) social-cultural elements; 4) personal and mental issues; 5) geographical position of the investigated region; 6) school and education factors; and 7) factors related to medications and therapy. There were 2 types of facilitators: 1) informative factors and 2) social-cultural variables. According to the findings, pediculosis prevention, control, and treatment necessitate multifaceted and multi-level intervention. Some solutions must be addressed at the personal-psychological, familial, political-economic, geographical, and informational levels, as well as school-related concerns, social stigma elimination, and evaluation of cultural components of the issue at the social level.
A retrospective study analyzing indications and outcomes of mid-trimester emergency cervical cerclage in a tertiary care perinatal centre over half a decade
Authors: Kumari Pushplata , Kumar Manish , David Liji Sarah , Vijayaselvi Reeta , Yadav Bijesh , Beck Manisha Madhai
Published: April 2022

We studied the indications, success rate, perinatal outcomes and maternal complications following mid-trimester emergency cervical cerclage. All women undergoing mid-trimester emergency cerclage at our centre during 2014–2019 were included in this retrospective study.

There were 46 women in our cohort. Mean cervical length was 1.5 cm (SD ± 0.7), and 52.1% of them had bulging membranes. The mean gestational age at cerclage was 23.35 weeks (SD ± 3.341). Three were loss to follow up.

Out of 43 pregnancies (23 singletons and 20 twins) analyzed, 37/43, 86.4% had livebirths. Success rate in the singletons and twins were 91.3% and 80% respectively. Maternal complications were seen in 56.5% of patients. Composite neonatal morbidity was significantly more in the twin group (p-value 0.04).

Overall live birth rate was 86.4% with similar success rates in singleton and multiple pregnancies. Although, evidence for beneficial effect of prophylactic cerclage in multiple gestation is lacking, emergency cerclage may have a role in twin gestation.
Common and Not-So-Common Pathologic Findings of the Gastrointestinal Tract of Rhesus and Cynomolgus Macaques
Authors: Johnson Amanda L. , Keesler Rebekah I. , Lewis Anne D. , Reader J. Rachel , Laing Steven T.
Published: April 2022

Rhesus and cynomolgus macaques are the most frequently used nonhuman primate (NHP) species for biomedical research and toxicology studies of novel therapeutics. In recent years, there has been a shortage of laboratory macaques due to a variety of competing factors. This was most recently exacerbated by the surge in NHP research required to address the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-coronavirus 2 pandemic. Continued support of these important studies has required the use of more varied cohorts of macaques, including animals with different origins, increased exposure to naturally occurring pathogens, and a wider age range. Diarrhea and diseases of the gastrointestinal tract are the most frequently occurring spontaneous findings in macaques of all origins and ages. The purpose of this review is to alert pathologists and scientists involved in NHP research to these findings and their impact on animal health and study endpoints, which may otherwise confound the interpretation of data generated using macaques.
Modified Bentall procedure: A 15-year single-center clinical experience
Authors: Van Hung Dung , Pham Thanh Binh , Chau Chi Linh , Vuong Nguyen Lam
Published: April 2022

Objective

Bentall procedure is a standard technique for complete aortic root replacement but a huge challenge is postoperative bleeding. Many modifications have been proposed and the “button technique” is commonly used. With a 15-year experience, this study was to evaluate outcomes of this modified Bentall procedure.

Methods

A retrospective study was performed with all patients who underwent the Bentall procedure with a button technique between 2005 and 2020. Commercially available composite grafts were used in 38 patients and self-assembled composite graft was used in 74 patients. Safety outcome was postoperative complications and long-term outcomes included overall and reoperation-free survivals.

Results

Among 112 patients, the mean age was 46.3 years and 69.6% were men. Indications for the Bentall procedure were ascending aortic aneurysm and valve regurgitation (59.8%), aortic dissection (19.6%), Marfan syndrome (17%), and endocarditis (3.6%). Three patients (2.7%) died in hospital. During a median follow-up period of 42 months, 11 patients died and 7 patients required reoperation. Overall survival and reoperation-free survival were 86.1% and 83.4% at 5 years and 86.1% and 72.6% at 10 years, respectively.

Conclusions

The Bentall procedure with a button technique is safe and effective for aortic root replacement. Further investigations are required to improve the feasibility and effectiveness of the procedure.
Vitamin D in the news: A call for clear public health messaging during Covid-19
Authors: Heer Randeep S , Sandhu Preeti , Wenban Charlotte , Mandal Amit K J , Missouris Constantinos G
Published: April 2022

Background: The public are increasingly reliant on the internet and media to access healthcare related information during the Covid-19 pandemic. Vitamin D is essential for musculoskeletal and immune health, with daily supplementation advised by public health bodies. Several studies assessing a possible link between vitamin D and Covid-19 severity have arrived at conflicting results and news articles have been rapidly disseminating such research to the public. There has been little focus on studying the quality of information available. Aim: To identify if online search interest in vitamin D increased with pandemic burden and analyse the accuracy of public health messaging relating to vitamin D in online news articles. Methods: Online search interest data for vitamin D was correlated with pandemic burden, defined as the number of Covid-19 deaths. Online news articles discussing vitamin D and Covid-19 were analysed using qualitative coding. Results: Online search interest for vitamin D increased as pandemic burden increased ( p < 0.0001, Spearman's rank). Of the 72 articles identified, most (50%) offered a mixed opinion on the benefit of vitamin D in Covid-19. From articles making a recommendation for vitamin D supplementation, 23% of articles gave mixed messaging or advised against supplementation. 16% of articles recommended a dose which exceeded the safe limit of 4000 IU/day, risking toxicity. Conclusion: A significant number of articles provided mixed messaging or incorrectly advised supratherapeutic doses. This study highlights an opportunity for public health bodies to utilise the increased interest in vitamin D during the pandemic to raise awareness with accurate information.
Cryptography as information control
Authors: West Sarah Myers
Published: April 2022

In 1976, two researchers declared a revolution in cryptography: With the invention of public key encryption, cryptography could be used not only to share secret messages, but to secure and authenticate communications networks, and, eventually, to enable radically new kinds of social relationships facilitated by networked communication technology. This article explores a series of transformations in the meaning of cryptography in the 1960s and 1970s that led to the declaration of a revolution. Drawing on archival materials, the article considers how public key cryptography was the product of an emerging consensus among cryptographers of the importance of privacy in the wake of abuses of surveillance powers by government agencies. Shaped by a changing technological and political environment, it situates cryptography at the center of a focused effort to assert control over information in an era of sociopolitical upheaval, concluding that the invention of public key encryption both marked a change in the imaginary surrounding cryptography and offered a technical solution that foreclosed other approaches to addressing the problem of surveillance.
Introduction to the Special Issue: Bullying and Its Linkage to Other Forms of Violence
Authors: Hong Jun Sung , Espelage Dorothy L. , Ostrov Jamie M.
Published: April 2022

As studies have documented, children and adolescents who are identified as bullies, bully victims, or both are at an elevated risk of being involved in other forms of violence, for example, dating violence and sexual violence. Moreover, those who are exposed to violence (e.g., exposure to community violence) have increased odds of being involved in bullying. This special issue brings together scholars from a variety of disciplines (e.g., psychology, criminology/criminal justice, and social work) to investigate how involvement in bullying and other forms of violence are interrelated.
Anti-jerking and traction torque compensation strategy for P3 + hybrid electric vehicle during power upshift
Authors: Pan Tao , Zang Huaiquan
Published: April 2022

In this study, an anti-jerking and traction torque compensation strategy for P3 + hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) equipped with hybrid automated mechanical transmission (HAMT) during power upshift is proposed. Firstly, to investigate the power upshift characteristics, a powertrain model with three torque ports and flexible drive shaft is established. Secondly, based on the established powertrain model, a hierarchical structure optimization strategy for power upshift is developed. The optimization strategy makes full use of the fast and accurate torque response of the traction motor, aims at simultaneously suppressing the longitudinal jerk and compensating the traction torque, solves the optimal traction motor torque to improve the power upshift performance of P3 + HEV. Finally, a layer-by-layer simulation and a real vehicle test of the power upshift process from first gear to second gear are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed optimization strategy. The verification results show that the proposed strategy can realize smooth and traction torque uninterrupted power upshift process at the same time. Compared with the traditional PI controller the proposed optimization strategy can achieve smaller longitudinal jerk.
Pelvic Carcinosarcoma Showing a Diverse Histology and Hierarchical Gene Mutation with a Common POLE Mutation to Endometrial Endometroid Carcinoma: A Case Report
Authors: Kitazono Ikumi , Akahane Toshiaki , Kobayashi Yusuke , Yanazume Shintaro , Tabata Kazuhiro , Tasaki Takashi , Noguchi Hirotsugu , Kirishima Mari , Higashi Michiyo , Kobayashi Hiroaki , Tanimoto Akihide
Published: April 2022

POLE mutation-type endometrial cancer is characterized by an extremely high tumor mutation burden. Most POLE mutation-type endometrial cancers are histologically endometrioid carcinomas, and POLE mutation-type carcinosarcomas are rare among endometrial cancers. We report a case of endometrial and pelvic cancer in a 53-year-old woman who was analyzed using next-generating sequencing. The endometrial lesion harbored a p.T457del POLE mutation with an elevated tumor mutation burden and low microsatellite instability. The pelvic lesion showed divergent histological features, consisting of high-grade endometrioid carcinoma, neuroendocrine carcinoma, and chondrosarcoma. In addition to the common POLE mutation detected in the endometrial lesion, the pelvic lesion in each element showed additional gene mutations in a hierarchical manner. Therefore, it is indicated that the p.T457del POLE mutation is a pathogenic mutation and may be related to POLE mutation-induced carcinogenesis and divergent morphogenesis in endometrial cancer.
Hospital Variation and Associated Organizational Factors of Pregnancy-Related Venous Thromboembolism in China
Authors: Zhou Qiongjie , Zhao Zhekun , Xu Jinghui , Xiong Yu , Li Xiaotian
Published: April 2022

Objective

Identifying organizational factors affecting venous thromboembolism (VTE) incidence and variations between hospitals.

Methods

From a 2019 survey of VTE and live births in 113 hospitals, organizational factors: (hospital type, characteristics, live birth number), resource availability: (D-dimer, B-scan ultrasonography of lower extremity veins, computed tomographic pulmonary angiography [CTPA], and competency: [risk assessment, use of anticoagulants and patient education], data were collected and the associations, weighted by live birth number, analyzed.

Results

Of 113 hospitals in China, 770,828 live births and 526 cases of VTE (68.2 per 100,000 live births) were reported. Nine hospitals lacked B-scan ultrasonography of lower extremity veins and 22 lacked CTPA. Prevalence rates of VTE rates were higher in general hospitals (Odds ratio [OR] = 4.251, 95% CI: 3.373-5.357), hospitals with live births < 10,000 (OR = 1.650-2.193), and hospitals without B-scan ultrasonography (OR = 1.661, 95% CI: 1.096-2.518). Hospitals implementing patient education, had a lower risk of VTE (OR = 0.296-0.374), and VTE rate decreased with the annual increase in live births.

Conclusions

Improved hospital resource availability and competency, especially patient education, is vital for reducing VTE-related maternal mortality and morbidity risk.
Acute Myocardial Injury Assessed by High-Sensitive Cardiac Troponin Predicting Severe Outcomes and Death in Hospitalized Patients with COVID-19 Infection
Authors: Laouan Brem Falmata , Chaymae Miri , Rasras Hammam , Merbouh Manal , Bouazzaoui Mohammed-Amine , Bkiyar Houssam , Abda Naima , Zakaria Bazid , Ismaili Nabila , Housni Brahim , El Ouafi Noha
Published: April 2022

Background

Cardiac injury has been linked to a poor prognosis during COVID-19 disease. Nevertheless, the risk factors associated are yet to be thoroughly investigated.

Objectives

We sought to compare demographical characteristics and in-hospital outcomes in patients infected by the SARS-CoV-2 with and without cardiac injury, to further investigate the prevalence of acute cardiac injury as well as its impact on their outcomes in COVID-19-patients.

Methods

We included in a retrospective analysis, all COVID-19 patients admitted between October first and December first, 2020, at the University Hospital Center of Oujda (Morocco) who underwent a troponin assay which was systematically measured on admission. The study population was divided into two groups: cardiac-injured patients and those without cardiac injury. Clinical, biological data and in-hospital outcomes were compared between the two groups.

Results

298 confirmed COVID-19 cases were included. Our study found that compared to non-cardiac-injured, cardiac-injured patients are older, with higher possibilities of existing comorbidities including hypertension (68 [42.2%] vs 40 [29.2%], P = 0.02), diabetes (81 [50.3%] vs 53 [38.7%] P = 0.044), the need for mechanical ventilation, ICU admission and mortality. A Cox proportional hazards regression analysis shows a significantly increased risk of death among cardiac-injured COVID-19-patients as compared to non-cardiac injured. (HR, 1.620 [CI 95%: 2.562-1.024])

Conclusion

Our retrospective cohort found that old age, comorbidities, a previous history of CAD, were significantly associated with acute cardiac injury. COVID-19 patients with acute cardiac injury are at a higher risk of ICU admission, and death.
Encouraging reciprocal healthcare practice within a South African Indigenous community
Authors: Ohajunwa Chioma Ogochukwu , Mji Gubela , Chimbala-Kalenga Rosemary
Published: April 2022

This article is informed by an outcome from a doctoral study that explored spirituality and collective wellbeing within Indigenous and Western healthcare practices in an Indigenous South African community. The study context consists of four communities in rural Bomvanaland, in the Eastern Cape of South Africa. The study is qualitative, utilising an ethnographic case study approach, with n = 52 participants. A two-level thematic, analytical strategy of theoretical propositions and connecting strategy was used to analyse the data. Results reveal current tensions within the community due to the conflicted understandings and approaches to healthcare and wellbeing practices between traditional practitioners and Western healthcare professionals that exist in their context. Participant narratives indicate the need for a contextual, holistic, collaborative process to inform healthcare practices within their community.
Attracting tomorrow’s leaders: Who joins political youth organisations for material reasons?
Authors: Bolin Niklas , Backlund Anders , Jungar Ann-Cathrine
Published: April 2022

This study compares members of political youth organisations and explains variations in material incentives for enrolment using both organisation-level and individual-level factors. Empirically, it is based on a web survey of about 3,000 members of eight Swedish youth organisations. The analysis shows that young people have a complex combination of concerns, with the main dividing line being whether or not material incentives are important. At the organisational level, the prevalence of material incentives among members is positively related to the size of the mother party and whether it has government experience. Further, we find a positive association between material incentives and economic dependence on the part of the youth organisation on its mother party. At the individual level, we find that members who see the main role of the youth organisation as being to provide support for the mother party and for those politically aligned with it are more likely to have material motives for their enrolment.
Part-time adult students’ satisfaction with online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Fiorini Luke A , Borg Anna , Debono Manwel
Published: April 2022

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in many tertiary institutions switching overnight from taught to online lectures without much preparation. Studies suggest that the sudden change has impacted on students’ satisfaction with online learning in differing ways. Yet, little is known about how this change impacted specifically on adult part-time students, which is the focus of this study. Methods: Part-time adult undergraduate students responded to a mixed methods online questionnaire. Close-ended questions were analysed quantitatively in order to determine levels of satisfaction with online learning during COVID-19 as well as its correlates. Open-ended questions were analysed qualitatively in order to explore the perceived benefits and challenges associated with online learning during this period. Results: Levels of satisfaction with online learning were found to be high, especially among students who were female, those who did not have young children, had partners who worked in excess of 40 hours, were able to follow lectures from locations other than the home, and those following non-technical courses. Several benefits of online learning were identified, including time saved on commuting, the ability to study from the comfort of home and the fact that lectures could now be recorded. Challenges included those related to technology, a lack of interaction amongst students and part-time lecturers who struggled with the sudden switch to online learning. Despite this, most students indicated they would like online lectures to continue to various degrees even after it was safe to return to class. Conclusion and implications: Online lectures were generally rated positively by adult part-time students. In view of the benefits and some of the challenges associated with online learning, it is recommended that future academic programmes adopt a blended approach whilst more support is provided to those who find it challenging to follow lectures from home.
Set-level Strategic and Psychological Momentum in Best-of-three-set Professional Tennis Matches
Authors: Depken Craig A. , Gandar John M. , Shapiro Dmitry A.
Published: April 2022

We provide a theoretical and empirical analysis of strategic momentum and psychological momentum in best-of-three contests between players with unequal skills. As a theoretical benchmark, we develop a fully rational model of best-of-three contests and define psychological momentum as systematic deviation from the theoretical equilibrium. An empirical analysis of 66,262 professional tennis matches from 2002 to 2020 shows that our theoretical model closely matches first set outcomes, which is when set-level psychological momentum is absent. Overall, the empirical results show that both strategic momentum and psychological momentum contribute to the outcomes of best-of-three tennis contests.
Revisiting the Paradox of Smoking: Radioactivity in Tobacco Smoke or Suppressing the SARS-CoV-2 Receptor, Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme 2, via Aryl-Hydrocarbon Receptor Signal?
Authors: Mortazavi Seyed Alireza , Bevelacqua Joseph J , Rafiepour Payman , Ghadimi-Moghadam AbdolKarim , Saraei Pouya , Jooyan Najmeh , Mortazavi Seyedeh Hanieh , Javad Mortazavi Seyed Mohammad , Welsh James S
Published: April 2022

Despite current controversies, some reports show a paradoxical mitigating effect associated with smoking in individuals with symptomatic COVID-19 compared to the general population. To explain the potential mechanisms behind the lower number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, it has been hypothesized that cigarette smoking may reduce the odds of cytokine storm and related severe inflammatory responses through cholinergic-mediated anti-inflammatory mechanisms. Japanese scientists have recently identified a potential mechanism behind the lower numbers of COVID-19 cases amongst smokers compared to non-smokers. However, we believe that this mitigative effect may be due to the relatively high concentration of deposited energy of alpha particles emitted from naturally occurring radionuclides such as Po-210 in cigarette tobacco. Regarding COVID-19, other researchers and our team have previously addressed the anti-inflammatory and immune-modulating effects of low doses of ionizing radiation. MC-simulation using the Geant4 Monte Carlo toolkit shows that the radiation dose absorbed in a spherical cell with a radius of .9 μm for a single 5.5 MeV alpha particle is about 5.1 Gy. This energy deposition may trigger both anti-inflammatory and anti-thrombotic effects which paradoxically lower the risk of hospitalization due to COVID-19 in smokers.
Monstrosity, correctional healing, and the limits of penal abolitionism
Authors: Carrier Nicolas
Published: April 2022

Despite gaining significant cultural and academic currency, penal abolitionism remains unable to radically problematize the punishment of individuals found responsible of exceptionally disturbing acts of criminalized violence. Through an empirical examination of a recent Canadian controversy over penal governance articulated to the transfer of a “monster” to a correctional healing lodge, the article makes legible our difficulties in communicating about appropriate responses to exceptional criminalized incidents which would forgo the use of afflictive sanctions as retaliatory harms. Engaging penal abolitionism empirically, theoretically and normatively, the article notably suggests that the limits of penal abolitionism can be explicated by the fact that its critique is premised on an instrumentalist conception of penalty which neglects the communicational function of punishment.
Hysteresis in motor and language production
Authors: Lebkuecher Amy L , Schwob Natalie , Kabasa Misty , Gussow Arella E , MacDonald Maryellen C , Weiss Daniel J
Published: April 2022

Hysteresis in motor planning and syntactic priming in language planning refer to the influence of prior production history on current production behaviour. Computational efficiency accounts of action hysteresis and theoretical accounts of syntactic priming both argue that reusing an existing plan is less costly than generating a novel plan. Despite these similarities across motor and language frameworks, research on planning in these domains has largely been conducted independently. The current study adapted an existing language paradigm to mirror the incremental nature of a manual motor task to investigate the presence of parallel hysteresis effects across domains. We observed asymmetries in production choice for both the motor and language tasks that resulted from the influence of prior history. Furthermore, these hysteresis effects were more exaggerated for subordinate production forms implicating an inverse preference effect that spanned domain. Consistent with computational efficiency accounts, across both task participants exhibited reaction time savings on trials in which they reused a recent production choice. Together, these findings lend support to the broader notion that there are common production biases that span both motor and language domains.