bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis, characterization and evaluation of in vitro antimicrobial and anti-diabetic activity of berberine encapsulated in guar-acacia gum nanocomplexes
Authors: Bakshi Jyoti , Mehra Meenakshi , Grewal Sapna , Dhingra Dinesh , Kumari Santosh
Published: June 2022

In the present study, the anti-diabetic and antimicrobial properties of berberine were improved using non-ionic guar gum and ionic acacia gum as nanocarriers. Berberine loaded guar-acacia gum nanocomplexes were synthesized by employing ionic complexation method. The formulation was characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and evaluated for in vitro dissolution study, anti-diabetic activity and antimicrobial activity. The optimized berberine loaded guar-acacia gum nanocomplexes had a particle size of 290.2 nm as indicated by DLS and drug entrapment efficiency of 96.5%. Morphological analysis revealed that berberine nanocomplexes were spherical-shaped with a smooth surface and size in the range of 100–250 nm. Moreover, berberine loaded guar-acacia nanocomplexes showed good stability and controlled released property in vitro. Antimicrobial activity against bacterial strains and fungal strains demonstrated the higher antimicrobial potential of berberine loaded gum nanocomplexes than gum nanocomplexes (blank) and pure berberine as indicated by the greater zone of inhibition diameter. In vitro anti-diabetic assessment showed higher percentage inhibition of the α-amylase enzyme by berberine loaded gum nanocomplexes as compared to pure berberine and blank nanocomplexes. In conclusion, the improved biological potency of berberine upon encapsulation into gum nanocomplexes indicates that berberine loaded guar-acacia gum nanocomplexes can be used as a promising candidate against diabetes and pathogenic microorganisms in the near future.
Airway Pressure Release Ventilation for Acute Respiratory Failure Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Roshdy Ashraf , Elsayed Ahmad Samy , Saleh Ahmad Sabry
Published: June 2022

Objective: To explore the evidence surrounding the use of Airway Pressure Release Ventilation (APRV) in patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Methods: A Systematic electronic search of PUBMED, EMBASE, and the WHO COVID-19 database. We also searched the grey literature via Google and preprint servers (medRxive and research square). Eligible studies included randomised controlled trials and observational studies comparing APRV to conventional mechanical ventilation (CMV) in adults with acute hypoxemic respiratory failure due to COVID-19 and reporting at least one of the following outcomes; in-hospital mortality, ventilator free days (VFDs), ICU length of stay (LOS), changes in gas exchange parameters, and barotrauma. Two authors independently screened and selected articles for inclusion and extracted data in a pre-specified form. Results: Of 181 articles screened, seven studies (one randomised controlled trial, two cohort studies, and four before-after studies) were included comprising 354 patients. APRV was initiated at a mean of 1.2-13 days after intubation. APRV wasn’t associated with improved mortality compared to CMV (relative risk [RR], 1.20; 95% CI 0.70-2.05; I2, 61%) neither better VFDs (ratio of means [RoM], 0.80; 95% CI, 0.52-1.24; I2, 0%) nor ICU LOS (RoM, 1.10; 95% CI, 0.79-1.51; I2, 57%). Compared to CMV, APRV was associated with a 33% increase in PaO2/FiO2 ratio (RoM, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.21-1.48; I2, 29%) and a 9% decrease in PaCO2 (RoM, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.02-1.15; I2, 0%). There was no significant increased risk of barotrauma compared to CMV (RR, 1.55; 95% CI, 0.60-4.00; I2, 0%). Conclusions: In adult patients with COVID-19 requiring mechanical ventilation, APRV is associated with improved gas exchange but not mortality nor VFDs when compared with CMV. The results were limited by high uncertainty given the low quality of the available studies and limited number of patients. Adequately powered and well-designed clinical trials to define the role of APRV in COVID-19 patients are still needed. Registration: PROSPERO; CRD42021291234.
Service Labor, Freedom, and the Technique of Tipping
Authors: Ross Jacqueline , Welsh John
Published: June 2022

Tipping has been a legally recognized form of labor remuneration in the United States for many decades, but it is experiencing a resurgence outside of its usual confines in the hospitality sector. The proliferation of the practice is bound to the long-term economic shift into services, as well as the more recent expansion of the gig economy. Tipping informalizes the wage relation, incentivizes the worker in precarity, and internalizes social relations of subordination, and is thus a highly effective technique of labor subsumption particularly suitable for the idiomatic kind of social dependencies and subordination required by an increasingly ‘neo-feudal’ capitalism. Around the spread of the practice, there is an apologetic liberal discourse on freedom and ‘choice’ that emphasizes the supposed advantages of tipping for the worker subjected to it, over and above the increasingly problematic wage relation. Drawing anecdotally on a critical insider-ethnography of laboring in the restaurant industry of the Hamptons (Long Island, New York), and by enlisting a Neo-Roman concept of liberty, the article attempts a critical reappraisal of liberal claims regarding tipping as a form of remuneration in the so-called ‘service sector’. Instead, we indicate how tipping actually produces more appropriately governable worker subjectivities for capital.
Marx’s Theories and Beyond: Understanding Working-Class Solidarity in China
Authors: Pun Ngai
Published: June 2022

Derived from post-industrial society experiences, current social theorists often argue that the working class no longer plays an active role in transforming society, thereby making the issue of working-class solidarity obsolete. This paper critically revisits Marx’s theories on solidarity and re-engages the debates by intersecting macro structural analysis with micro-foundation of working-class solidarity. The article formulates the concept of working-class solidarity in two layers of analysis: the first is a macro structural approach driven by class conflict, social grievance, and economic crisis directly connected to the social transformation of the neoliberal market economy; and the second looks at micro process of cooperation and mutual support at the level of everyday practice, that is, a collective-emotional environment that creates agency and a soft solidarity base for building bonds among working-class youth. The logic of solidarity is rescued through a multiplicity of working-class youth’s behaviors discovered in school and the workplace.
Feed based trajectory addition and elimination algorithm combined with stochastic meshless modelling to simulate roughness in surface grinding
Authors: Sooraj VS , Arun CO , Jithendrakumar K , Sharma Akash
Published: June 2022

Surface grinding is observed to be an inevitable machining event in many of the functional engineering surfaces after pre-processing stages such as milling. Prediction of roughness profile after grinding on such initial surfaces, for selected operating conditions and grinding wheel specification, is always an interesting topic of investigation. Though a number of models have been reported in prior art, value additions through hybrid modelling strategies have been always contributing positively to this field of research due to the stochastic nature of abrasive interactions. Since feed rate of work piece is identified as a key grinding variable influencing the surface roughness, present paper introduces grain trajectory addition and elimination algorithm driven by feed based time scale to predict the ground surface topography. A realistic initial surface modelling is considered using meshless moving least square approximation incorporating both roughness as well as geometric deviation, expected to be imparted during pre-grinding stages. The algorithm is configured to compute two dimensional roughness parameters from the simulated surface profiles and these results are compared with experimental outcomes at various depths of grinding to validate the proposed model.
Biological and mechanical response of laser shock peening orthopaedic titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-7Nb)
Authors: Shen Xiaojun , Shukla Pratik , Nayak Sunita , Gopal Vasanth , Subramanian Prabhakaran , Sarah Benjamin Amy , Kalainathan Shivpuram
Published: June 2022

This paper focuses on the evaluation of mechanical and biological properties of laser shock peening (LSP) orthopaedic grade Ti-6Al-7Nb alloy. LSP surface treatment was conducted at laser energy of 3 to 7 J with overlaps of 33%–67%, and with a 3 mm laser spot size. Cell viability on laser shock peened surface was evaluated through in-vitro MTT assay, using osteoblast-like MG63 cells for the first-time. Residual stresses, microhardness, microstructure, sliding wear and wetting properties were investigated. Compressive residual stresses were found at various depths due to controlling the LSP parameters, compared to the as-received surface. The laser shock peened surfaces were hardened from 365HV0.05 to 405HV0.05, while the as-received surface was 320HV0.05. The average sub-grain size was refined from 14% to 36% after LSP. The wear resistance was also controllable by altering LSP parameters. The MTT results show that the cell viability on the laser shock peened surfaces was comparatively lower than that of the untreated surface after 24 h. However, after 72 h, the cell viability on modified surfaces were significantly improved. This work indicated that laser shock peened surfaces have a strong potential to decrease the pain from orthopaedic implant failures and promote the cytocompatibility between the bone and implant.
Influence of publication on university ranking: Citation, collaboration, and level of interdisciplinary research
Authors: Li Hongjun , Yin Zhijun
Published: June 2022

The rank of a university has been widely perceived as a reputation measure that is often determined based on the comprehensive overview of various factors. Among the factors, publication is imperative and carries a significant weight in almost every university ranking system around the globe. To reveal how publication may influence university ranking, we investigated the 2020 US News Best Global Universities Ranking results and analyzed different publication related criteria, including discipline coverage, publication productivity, research impact, level of interdisciplinary research, and degree of research collaboration. Shannon index and Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) index were calculated to compare universities at four levels (i.e. top50, top100, top200, and top500). Results showed that the top50 universities cover nearly all majority disciplines, at least half of which rank among the global top 10%. Top50 universities are also featured with high publication numbers, high-impact factors, and broad network for international collaboration. The top200 universities showed a relatively longer history of carrying out high level of interdisciplinary research compared to the universities belonged to the remaining category in which interdisciplinary research was mostly started less than a decade. More than two-thirds of surveyed universities with Shannon index above 2.5 and Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) above 1.5 shows that interdisciplinary research promotes the quality of publication. Universities small in size and focused on specific academic themes can earn top ranking spots based on their extraordinary academic performance, but the current ranking method results in more favor of the large comprehensive universities. In seeking for higher-ranking within the top200 category, in addition to expanding in campus size, increasing the number of academic programs, and encouraging more publications, university decision makers should value the efforts to develop leading academic disciplines, enable broad international collaborations, and promote new interdisciplinary programs.
Folic acid and neural tube defects: Discovery, debate and the need for policy change
Authors: Wald Nicholas J
Published: June 2022

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are a group of relatively common fatal or severely disabling birth defects that result in about 300,000 cases a year world-wide. The search for a cause was elusive, but in 1991 it was shown that about 8 out of 10 cases are due to a lack of vitamin B9 (folate) and are therefore preventable. This article (i) describes the challenge in finding the cause; (ii) examines the reasons for the failure of many countries to introduce folic acid fortification of staple foods such as flour and rice; (iii) shows that countries that have introduced fortification failed to do so in a fully effective way; (iv) shows how current preventive polices are confusing, inconsistent and sub-optimal; (v) shows that the proposed UK folic acid fortification policy is expected to prevent about 1 out of 10 NTD cases only; and (vi) proposes a simple, fully effective fortification policy that would prevent about 8 out of 10 NTDs and avoid the need for women to start taking folic acid supplements before pregnancy, a policy that has been shown to fail because only a small percentage of women adopt this practice.
A DCCE Approach to the Governance-growth Nexus: Global Perspective
Authors: Azimi Mohammad Naim
Published: June 2022

This study, being one of its kind by method and scope, delves into the effects of governance indicators on economic growth, using large panel datasets spanning from 2002 to 2020 for the world’s economies, income level economies, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) members, and regional level economies that include 218 countries. In the presence of cross-sectional dependence and mixed integrating orders of the predictors, the results confirm a long-run nexus between governance and economic growth in the world and other panels. Using the dynamic common correlated effects model, the results indicate that governance predictors postulate significantly positive effects on economic growth, while the critical findings highlight that the scale of governance effects on growth varies in relation to the income level of the underlying economies in the panels, implying that the larger the economy, the higher the governance effects will be. Moreover, the results of the heterogeneous panel causality test reveal significantly strong unidirectional causality that runs from governance predictors to economic growth, while little evidence is found for feedback response and interdependencies between governance predictors in most of the panels. Based on the findings, appropriate policy recommendations are discussed.
Book review: Krishna Raj (Ed.), Public Policy in India: Essays in Honour of Professor B. S. Sreekantaradhya
Authors: Veeresha Nayakara
Published: June 2022

Krishna Raj (Ed.), Public Policy in India: Essays in Honour of ProfessorB. S. Sreekantaradhya. Jaipur: Rawat Publications, 2021, 308 pp., ₹1395. ISBN: 9788131611951 (Hardback).
What does a right to repair tell us about our relationship with technology?
Authors: Manwaring Kayleen , Kearnes Matthew , Morgan Bronwen , Munro Paul , Pala Roberta , Samarakoon Shanil
Published: June 2022

This article examines the recommendations of the recent Productivity Commission Inquiry regarding the right to repair through the lens of social issues surrounding the right to repair movement. It describes the right to repair movement in Australia and globally and examines which repair practices are considered important by the Commission, and the limitations of the Commission’s preoccupation with existing repair markets. It also discusses changing notions of ownership and their effects on repair practices.
The Effect of 2D and 3D Action Video Game Interventions on Executive Functions in Male Students
Authors: Hoseini Faride Sadat , Khodadadi Masood , Khorambakht Alireza
Published: June 2022

Background

In recent years, interest in digital games has grown significantly and at the same time a range of games in 2D and 3D has been created. While 2D games cannot give depth to objects, 3D games creates spatial depth. The growth of the gaming industry has raised concerns among some psychologists. There is still much controversy about positive or negative effects of these games on cognitive performance. Executive functions are a set of cognitive abilities that play a decisive role in one’s purposeful behavior. The present study aims to investigate the effect of 2D and 3D video games on some of these functions—flexibility, inhibition, and continuous attention—in male students aged 18–26 years.

Method

Forty-five male students at Persian Gulf University participated in the study. They were matched based on intelligence score and experience of playing video games. The participants were divided into three groups of 15 (two experimental groups and one control group). Participants in the two experimental groups played 2D and 3D video games over 20 sessions. They completed the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test, continuous performance test, Stroop test, and Raven intelligence test.

Results

Data were analyzed via covariance and the results showed that playing 2D and 3D video games positively and significantly affects inhibition and playing 3D games has a significant positive effect on flexibility.

Conclusion

Based on our findings, we discuss the different effects of 2D and 3D video games, in line with the study’s theoretical framework, and give suggestions for future studies.
Touching Text: Feeling My Way Through Research-Creation
Authors: Romano Nike
Published: June 2022

This article explores how artistic research practice, as a thinking through art, generates different understandings of the world. Having come to higher education through my visual arts practice, I trace threads of thinking-making practices that, while seeded in the studio, continue to generate new connections and concepts that in/form my PhD inquiry into different ways of learning in South African Higher Education contexts. Guided by Manning’s conceptualization of research-creation as an ecology of practices operative within the interstices of making and thinking, I show how artmaking as an intuitive process nudges my thinking through-and-around concerns obliquely, attuned toward different registers and levels of intensities, cutting across normative accounts of what it means to know. Referring to two bodies of my work, sum of the parts (2010) and Evidence of Things Unseen (2014), the article shows how materiality and making conjugate new languages that give expression to the ineffable obscured in the name of Science and Fine Art. Exploring the diffractive entanglements of thinking-making practices in the “between” of writing and drawing, the article shows how writing-with, drawing-with, doodling-with, and scrawling-with activate and agitate the spaces between words and images and do inquiry differently.
Human Security Psychology: A Linking Construct for an Eclectic Discipline
Authors: Hodgetts Darrin , Hopner Veronica , Carr Stuart , Bar-Tal Daniel , Liu James H. , Saner Raymond , Yiu Lichia , Horgan John , Searle Rosalind H , Massola Gustavo , Hakim Moh A. , Marai Leo , King Pita , Moghaddam Fathali
Published: June 2022

Since its inception as a modern and evolving discipline, psychology has been concerned with issues of human security. This think piece offers an initial conceptualisation of human security as a broad security concept that encompasses a range of interrelated dimensions that have been responded to by different sub-disciplinary domains within psychology. We advance an argument for a human security psychology as a connecting focal point for general psychology that enables us to bring knowledge from across our eclectic discipline into further dialogue. This is a necessary step in understanding better the state of current thinking on the psychology of security and as a basis for informing further theory, research and practice efforts to address issues of human (in)security. This initial effort is informed by Assemblage Theory, which offers a dynamic and contextually rich perspective on people as agentive beings entangled within evolving natural and social formations that can foster or undermine their experiences of [in]security. The article is completed with a brief agenda for advancing human security psychology.
Effect of facemasks on the tear film during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Shalaby Hisham Samy , Eldesouky Marwa Ebrahim ElSebaay
Published: June 2022

Purpose

To evaluate the effect of wearing facemasks on dry eye symptoms and on the tear film while comparing surgical face masks to N95 particulate respirators.

Methods

A prospective observational study was conducted at Ain Shams University Hospitals in the period from September 2020 to January 2021. Two hundred volunteers were recruited, and the daily number of hours spent by each participant wearing a facemask was recorded. Recruits were divided into two groups: 100 volunteers were allocated to Group A to use the surgical mask, and 100 participants to Group B to use the N95 particulate respirator. The tear film parameters were assessed at baseline by answering the Ocular Surface Disease Index (OSDI) questionnaire and performing tear break-up time (TBUT), corneal fluorescein staining, and Schirmer-I test Subjects then wore a facemask for 60 min and then the tear film parameters were reassessed by repeating TBUT, corneal staining and Schirmer-I test

Results

Facemask use for 60 min significantly worsened all tear film parameters in both groups (P-value <0.0001). The deterioration was significantly larger in Group A subjects (P < 0.0001). The daily number of hours spent wearing a facemask correlated strongly with the OSDI and corneal staining. There was a strong negative correlation between the daily number of hours spent wearing a facemask and Schirmer test, and a weak negative correlation with TBUT.

Conclusions

Wearing facemasks during the COVID-19 pandemic is a risk factor for worsening tear film parameters. This deterioration is significantly greater with surgical masks than with N95 particulate respirators and increases with the duration of facemask use.
Dilemmas of an Indigenous activist anthropologist: Iban textiles and community development
Authors: Jeffrey Jehom Welyne
Published: June 2022

This article discusses several anthropological dilemmas related to the researcher’s role in community development, the scholarly responsibilities to the discipline, and the tension between activism and academic vocation. I explore these issues in the context of my research and involvement in the production of pua kumbu, a traditional Iban textile. Since 2013, I have researched Indigenous and traditional knowledge as a development tool, focusing on the pua kumbu as a central artefact which is a cultural expression of ideology around family and community but is also a product for the commercial market. It is at this juncture that I engage with the community of weavers working with the women to perform an entrepreneurial collaboration by engaging the weavers to a commercial market platform with the emphasis on the conservation of the intangible aspect of the pua kumbu.
Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Memory of Elderly People with Mild Cognitive Impairment or Alzheimer’s Disease: A Systematic Review
Authors: da Silva Eliclebysson Rodrigo , Rodrigues Menezes Italo Ramon , Brys Ivani
Published: June 2022

Background:

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is one of the most studied non-invasive neuromodulation techniques, presenting itself as a promising technique for several pathologies, such as cognitive decline.

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the effects of tDCS on the memory of elderly people with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer’s disease, in order to describe the main protocols used, and to investigate the therapeutic effectiveness of this technique.

Data Sources and Methods:

869 studies reporting controlled clinical trials were found in the databases PubMed, Web of Science, Lilacs, PsycArticles and Scielo, from which 13 met the expected requirements and were included in the final analysis.

Results:

There was a great variability in the stimulation protocols used in the studies; and methodological weaknesses were observed, such as absence of sample size calculation, and of information on effect sizes. Positive effects of tDCS were observed only in five studies, and the combination of stimulation and cognitive training did not seem to potentiate the effects of tDCS.

Conclusion:

Although tDCS can be considered a technique with important therapeutic potential, more studies are needed to understand the acute effects of tDCS on memory of elderly people and the durability of these effects over time.

Registration:

PROSPERO (CRD-42020200573)
Progressive myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein-associated demyelination mimicking leukodystrophy
Authors: Gibbons Emily , Whittam Daniel , Elhadd Kariem , Bhojak Maneesh , Rathi Nitika , Avula Shivaram , Jacob Anu , Griffiths Michael , Huda Saif
Published: June 2022

Background:

Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein antibody-associated disease (MOGAD) may be associated with relapsing disease, but clinical progression independent of relapse activity is rare.

Objectives:

To report progressive disease in a patient with MOGAD.

Methods:

A single retrospective case report.

Results:

At 4 years of age, the patient had a single episode of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis. She remained well until age 17 years but over the next 9 years developed progressive spastic quadriparesis, cognitive and bulbar dysfunction. Brain imaging showed a leukodystrophy-like pattern of white matter abnormality with contrast enhancement at different time points. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)-IgG was repeatedly positive by live cell-based assay.

Conclusion:

Secondary progression may be a rare presentation of MOG-IgG-associated disease.
Health care utilization in Alaska Native people receiving chronic disease specialty care by videoconsultation compared to propensity-matched controls
Authors: Ferucci Elizabeth D , Arnold Rabecca I , Holck Peter
Published: June 2022

Introduction

Previous studies have had mixed findings about the effects of telemedicine on health care utilization. We designed this study to assess differences in health care utilization between ever users of telemedicine for chronic disease specialty care compared to propensity-matched controls.

Methods

This observational study of usual care in the Alaska Tribal Health System evaluated telemedicine use (videoconsultation) and healthcare utilization using data from the electronic medical record between 1 January 2015 and 30 June 2019. Eligibility criteria included: age 18 and older, chronic condition diagnosis, and residing in one of four study regions. Cases had ever used telemedicine while controls had not. We used propensity score matching to achieve covariate balance between cases and controls, and then estimated the effect of telemedicine on outcomes using multivariable models. Outcomes included rates of hospitalizations, outpatient visits, and emergency department visits.

Results

Cases (ever users of telemedicine) had higher hospitalization rates (rate ratio 1.31, p < 0.01) and higher outpatient visit rates (rate ratio 1.23, p < 0.01). Cases had lower rates of emergency department visits, though non-statistically significant (rate ratio 0.87, p = 0.07). Cases were more likely than controls to have no emergency department visits per follow-up time (49% vs 36%, p < 0.01).

Discussion

We found higher rates of inpatient and outpatient health care utilization in people who had ever used telemedicine compared to propensity-matched controls, with potentially lower rates of emergency department visits. These findings contribute to the literature on telemedicine and should be considered in the context of other factors influencing telemedicine use and outcomes.
Past lesson works: SARS memory moderates the relationship between media use and protective behavior during COVID-19 pandemic in China
Authors: Li Haihong , He Xin , Hu Tian-Yi , Xie Xiaofei
Published: June 2022

COVID-19 has become one of the top global health concerns. The present research examined the relationship between media use and protective behavior. The moderating role of SARS memory was also examined. A cross-sectional study found that media use was associated with more protective behaviors (i.e. preventive behavior, and avoidant behavior). We further found that SARS memory moderated the association between media use and avoidant behavior. Moreover, the moderating role of SARS memory on the relationship between daily media use and daily protective behavior was again tested using a daily design in Study 2. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Emotionally subjective reactivity to cervical cytology pictures is modulated by expertise
Authors: de Oliveira Jacqueline Alfenas , Souza Miriam de Cássia , Cunha Laila Fernandes da , Mota Bruna Eugênia Ferreira , Rezende Mariana Trevisan , Carneiro Claudia Martins , Pereira Mirtes Garcia , Mocaiber Izabela , Souza Gabriela Guerra Leal
Published: June 2022

Our aims were to create a catalog of cytological pictures and to evaluate the valence (level of pleasantness/unpleasantness) and arousal (level of calm/excitement) of these pictures in individuals with different occupations. The sample consisted of medical and law college students and cytopathologists. Valence and arousal score for general pictures were not modulated by expertise in cytology. However, students judged the cytological pictures to be lower in valence and in arousal than the cytopathologists. The cytopathologists classified cytological pictures with lesions as lower in valence and higher in arousal than cytological pictures without lesions.
“The real ethernet”: The transnational history of global Wi-Fi connectivity
Authors: Rikitianskaia Maria
Published: June 2022

Wi-Fi is an integral and invaluable part of our media practices. Wireless networks are blended into our media environment and, in terms of infrastructural importance, have become comparable with electricity or water. This article offers a new transnational perspective on the underexplored history of IEEE 802.11 standards by focusing on the tensions between the United States and Europe in terms of development trajectories of wireless technology. The goal is to analyze the standardization of wireless networking through a transnational lens and to contribute to enhanced understanding of the global proliferation of Wi-Fi technology. Four particular aspects of the transnational development of Wi-Fi technology are discussed: the rivalry between US and European standards, the constitutive choice to focus on data transmission, radio spectrum availability, and the peculiarities of network authentication.
Digital care work at public libraries: Making Digital First possible
Authors: Kaun Anne , Forsman Michael
Published: June 2022

Claims of becoming the first, the best, and the most digitized are standard rather than outstanding in most public-facing digitalization agendas and strategy documents of countries in the Global North. These grand narratives of digitalization need translation through concrete practices by sometimes unexpected actors—in this case, librarians. This article develops the notion of digital care work based on 18 book-chapter-length essays by active librarians based at Swedish public libraries. It illustrates that librarians are central to the process of translating digitalization into reality; they have become ambassadors of digitalization not only by fostering digital skills and competences in workshops and official training sessions but also, we argue, through a specific form of digital work, namely, digital care work. This kind of gendered work, which is typically carried out alongside the official tasks and assignments of librarians, is of low prestige and often involves affective aspects, such as emotions of shame and uncertainty.
Interparental Conflict and Young Adult Romantic Relationships: A Systematic Review
Authors: Singh Shrutkirti , Thomas Elizabeth
Published: June 2022

In the last two decades, researchers have been progressively investigating the impact of interparental conflict (IPC) on young adults romantic relationships. This systematic review aimed to synthesize literature on IPC and romantic relationship outcomes among young adults and highlight mechanisms found in this link. Following the PRISMA protocol, 3232 studies were identified using Boolean searches on ProQuest, PubMed, EBSCOhost, Jstor, Cochrane, and Google Scholar, and 17 met the eligibility criteria. To be included, in addition to having IPC and romantic relationship outcomes as variables, studies had to be quantitative in design, have a mean sample age of 18–25, include only participants in romantic relationships at the time of the study, and be published in English with full text available. The review found that IPC is associated with negative conflict management, both perpetration and victimization of aggression, worse communication, negative conflict behaviors, and poor relationship quality. Other outcomes like relationship satisfaction, commitment, as well as mediator variables in the link between IPC and young adult romantic relationship outcomes, such as attitudes towards marriage and conflict attributions, yielded varied results. Several shortcomings in the methodology of the reviewed articles, such as the research sample and measures, were discovered. To deal with the impact of IPC on offspring’s romantic relationships, preventive interventions should be designed and evaluated, and more research with different variables and study designs, with more men, other ethnicities, and more representative sample frames are needed to detect crucial mediators and obtain reliable and generalizable results.
Joint timeliness and security provisioning for enhancement of dependability in Internet of Vehicle system
Authors: Jing Tao , Yu Hengyu , Wang Xiaoxuan , Gao Qinghe
Published: June 2022

The Internet of Things has emerged as a wonder-solution to numerous problems in our everyday lives, such as smart homes and intelligent transportation. As an extension of the IoTs, the Internet of Vehicles (IoVs) also requires increasingly high security and timeliness. This article proposes a vehicle-assisted batch verification (VABV) system for IoV, in which some vehicles called auxiliary authentication terminal (AAT) are selected to assist the roadside unit for Basic Safety Message (BSM) verification. As a measure to enhance the timeliness performance for system dependability, comprehensive AAT selection strategies are designed. To overcome the security weaknesses of VABV system, a Sybil detection scheme based on Extreme Learning Machine is developed. For the evaluation of VABV system, the quantified Age of Information (AoI) is used as an integrated timeliness and security indicator. The proposed AoI indicator synthesizes the effects of BSM verification, re-verification for failure of some AATs, Sybil attack, and Sybil detection scheme. As illustrated by the simulation results, by employing AoI as a performance evaluation indicator, we can better and more intuitively design an AAT optimal selection strategy based on changes in AoI. Simultaneously, the performance of the proposed Sybil detection scheme can be evaluated more intuitively and effectively under different IoV scenarios based on AoI.
Using wireless inertial measurement units for measuring hip range of motion through commonly used clinical tests
Authors: Oliva-Lozano José M , Martín-Fuentes Isabel , Muyor José M
Published: June 2022

Hamstring extensibility is a crucial component of athletic performance and spinal health. In this regard, hip range of motion analysis through standardized clinical tests has been used as a valid and reliable method for measuring hamstring extensibility. Consequently, new inertial devices have been designed for this purpose. The aims of this study were to: (i) analyze the concurrent validity of inertial sensors for measuring hamstring extensibility through the Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR) and Passive Straight Leg Raise (PSLR) tests; and (ii) analyze the test-retest reliability of inertial sensors for measuring hamstring extensibility through the ASLR and PSLR tests. A total of 18 healthy participants took part in this cross-sectional study. The hamstring extensibility was measured through the range of motion of the left and right hip in the Active Straight Leg Raise (ASLR) and Passive Straight Leg Raise (PSLR) tests. Data were collected by inertial sensors (WIMU Pro) and an ISOMED bi-level inclinometer, which was used as the reference instrument. The inertial sensors reported a standard error of the measurement (SEM) below 0.6° in all measurements. The R2 correlation and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were very close to 1 in all measurements. Regarding the reliability analysis, there were no significant differences ( p > 0.05) between test and retest measures, and the SEM were below 0.8° in both instruments. The ICC were close to 1 in all cases as well. The coefficients of variation (CV) were below 2.7% in the inertial device and 2.2% in the inclinometer. This study showed that using microtechnology through WIMU Pro may be a valid and reliable method for measuring hip range of motion during the ASLR and PSLR tests.
Evaluating mobile Health technology use among cancer caregivers in the digital era
Authors: Raj Minakshi , Gupta Vibhuti , Hoodin Flora , Clingan Caroline , Roslin Chloe , Yahng Lilian , Braun Thomas , Choi Sung Won
Published: June 2022

Introduction

Digital health technology-based interventions have the potential to support cancer caregivers in caregiving responsibilities and in managing their own health and well-being. The objective of this study was to examine the association between caregiving characteristics and different types of digital health technologies used in a national sample of caregivers of patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT).

Methods

We conducted an online, cross-sectional survey of 948 HCT caregivers.

Results

Spousal caregivers comprised nearly one-third of respondents (27.1%) with a median age of 59 years (range: 18–80 years), compared with parents (32.9%: 38 years), adult children (28.9%: 38 years), and other (11.1%; e.g. friend, other family member: 36 years). Almost two-thirds (65.4%) of all respondents reported using an app for fitness or step counting and 41.3% reported using a smartwatch. However, spousal caregivers were the least likely group to use mobile apps (0.72; P < 0.005) or smartwatches (OR = 0.46; P < 0.005) compared with parent caregivers in models adjusted for demographics and coping style. Caregiving for six months or greater was associated with the use of fewer apps compared with caregiving for less than six months in adjusted models (OR = 0.80, P < 0.005). Caregivers of patients receiving an allogeneic transplant (i.e. non-self-donor) used more apps on average than caregivers of patients receiving an autologous transplant (i.e. self-donor) in adjusted models (OR = 1.36, P < 0.005).

Conclusion

Digital health technologies reflect promising avenues for supporting cancer caregivers. While digital technologies are becoming increasingly pervasive, older caregivers remain an underserved population. Future research should integrate older adult caregivers in the co-design and development activities of technology-driven caregiver support products.
User perspectives on emotionally aligned social robots for older adults and persons living with dementia
Authors: Dosso Jill A , Bandari Ela , Malhotra Aarti , Guerra Gabriella K , Hoey Jesse , Michaud François , Prescott Tony J , Robillard Julie M
Published: June 2022

Introduction

Socially assistive robots are devices designed to aid users through social interaction and companionship. Social robotics promise to support cognitive health and aging in place for older adults with and without dementia, as well as their care partners. However, while new and more advanced social robots are entering the commercial market, there are still major barriers to their adoption, including a lack of emotional alignment between users and their robots. Affect Control Theory (ACT) is a framework that allows for the computational modeling of emotional alignment between two partners.

Methods

We conducted a Canadian online survey capturing attitudes, emotions, and perspectives surrounding pet-like robots among older adults ( n = 171), care partners ( n = 28), and persons living with dementia ( n = 7).

Results

We demonstrate the potential of ACT to model the emotional relationship between older adult users and three exemplar robots. We also capture a rich description of participants’ robot attitudes through the lens of the Technology Acceptance Model, as well as the most important ethical concerns around social robot use.

Conclusions

Findings from this work will support the development of emotionally aligned, user-centered robots for older adults, care partners, and people living with dementia.
Attributes and person types admired by Greek emerging adults: Relative prevalence, differences by gender and socio-economic status
Authors: Vleioras Georgios , Robinson Oliver
Published: June 2022

Admiration is a social emotion that has implications for behavior, such as leading to a desire to emulate the admired person. This study extends previous findings about admired attributes among emerging adults, by investigating the same topic in Greece and also exploring the relationship between admired person types and admired qualities, gender, and socio-economic status. A total of 198 participants aged 18 to 25 (mean age = 19.46 years; 50% women) provided written descriptions of five attributes that they admire in a non-fictional person. A hybrid coding scheme was used. The most prevalent categories were Drive and Determination, Care and Generativity, and Resilience and Positivity. Some prevalence differences were found by person type, gender and socio-economic status. The findings extend the understanding of admiration in new directions by supporting a high level of cross-cultural consistency in admired attributes, but also some features that are unique to the Greek context.
Development of a Prediction Model for Significant Adverse Outcome After Spine Surgery
Authors: Coia Martin , Baker Joseph F.
Published: June 2022

Study Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Objectives

Development, validation, and decision curve analysis of a novel tool (NZSpine) for modelling risk of complications within 30 days of spine surgery.

Methods

Data was gathered retrospectively from medical records of patients who underwent spine surgery at a single tertiary centre between January 2019 and December 2020 (n = 488). Postoperative adverse events were classified objectively using the Comprehensive Complication Index (CCI). The model was derived using backward stepwise logistic regression. Validation was undertaken using bootstrap resampling. Discrimination was determined by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUC). Calibration was assessed graphically. Clinical utility of the model was assessed using decision curve analysis (DCA). Performance measures were compared to an existing tool, SpineSage.

Results

Overall complication rate was 34%. Modelling showed higher age, surgical invasiveness and preoperative anemia were most strongly predictive of any complication (OR = 1.03, 1.09, 2.1 respectively, P < .001), whereas the occurrence of a major complication (CCI >26) was most strongly associated with the presence of respiratory disease (OR = 2.82, P < .001). At validation, the model showed good discrimination with an AUC of .73 (.71 - .75) and excellent calibration. SpineSage had an AUC of .71, while DCA showed the novel model had greater expected benefit at all risk thresholds.

Conclusion

NZSpine is a novel risk assessment tool for patients undergoing acute and elective spine surgery and may help inform clinicians and patients of their perioperative risk.
Career Satisfaction in Maximising Professionals of Indian IT Industry: Mediating Roles of Contrasting Responses Based on Counterfactual Reasoning
Authors: Santra Sayoni , Giri Vijai N.
Published: June 2022

This study conceptualises career maximisation and its consequences in the Indian Information Technology (IT) workforce, a globally significant non-Western talent pool. It examined how maximising tendency in career decision-making (MT-CD) mediated career satisfaction through two contrasting responses based on counterfactual reasoning―career regret (dysfunctional) and career adaptability (functional). The study comprised of two parts. In Study 1, scales for MT-CD and career regret were developed and initially validated using a 172 respondents’ dataset. In Study 2, data from 434 respondents were analysed for psychometric evaluation and further validation of scales along with determining hypothesised relationships. Two dimensions of MT-CD were identified―‘state of internal career ambiguity’ and ‘striving for career excellence’. Both attributes produced career regret (an aggregated measure of ‘corporate regrets’, ‘career choice regrets’ and ‘developmental regrets’ dimensions), decreasing career satisfaction. Only ‘striving for career excellence’ led to career adaptability, which subsequently increased career satisfaction. Altogether, career regret competed with career adaptability, supressing its positive indirect effect on maximising ITPs’ career satisfaction. This study expands the current empirical research on career maximisation into non-Western contexts, adding unique knowledge to the Indian IT workforce’s vocational literature.
Scientific Disciplines and the Admissibility of Expert Evidence in Courts
Authors: O’Brien Timothy L. , Hawkins Stephen L. , Loesch Adam
Published: June 2022

The authors examine how people interpret expert claims when they do not share experts’ technical understanding. The authors review sociological research on the cultural boundaries of science and expertise, which suggests that scientific disciplines are heuristics nonspecialists use to evaluate experts’ credibility. To test this idea, the authors examine judicial decisions about contested expert evidence in U.S. district courts ( n = 575). Multinomial logistic regression results show that judges favor evidence from natural scientists compared with social scientists, even after adjusting for other differences among experts, judges, and court cases. Judges also favor evidence from medical and health experts compared with social scientists. These results help illustrate the assumptions held by judges about the credibility of some disciplines relative to others. They also suggest that judges may rely on tacit assumptions about the merits of different areas of science, which may reflect broadly shared cultural beliefs about expertise and credibility.