bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Update on the Pathogenesis of COVID-19 and the Reportedly Rare Thrombotic Events Following Vaccination
Authors: Kantarcioglu Bulent , Iqbal Omer , Walenga Jeanine M. , Lewis Bruce , Lewis Joseph , Carter Charles A. , Singh Meharvan , Lievano Fabio , Tafur Alfonso , Ramacciotti Eduardo , Gerotziafas Grigoris T. , Jeske Walter , Fareed Jawed
Published: June 2021

Today the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a global health problem. After more than a year with the pandemic, although our knowledge has progressed on COVID-19, there are still many unknowns in virological, pathophysiological and immunological aspects. It is obvious that the most efficient solution to end this pandemic are safe and efficient vaccines. This manuscript summarizes the pathophysiological and thrombotic features of COVID-19 and the safety and efficacy of currently approved COVID-19 vaccines with an aim to clarify the recent concerns of thromboembolic events after COVID-19 vaccination. The influx of newer information is rapid, requiring periodic updates and objective assessment of the data on the pathogenesis of COVID-19 variants and the safety and efficacy of currently available vaccines.
Online Third Places: Supporting Well-Being Through Identifying and Managing Unintended Consequences
Authors: Parkinson Joy , Schuster Lisa , Mulcahy Rory
Published: June 2021

Unintended consequences of service are important yet infrequently examined in transformative service research. This research examines an online service community that transformed into an online third place, with consumers socializing and forming lasting relationships. Using practice-informed theory-building and an abductive reasoning approach, findings are presented from both manual and automated coding of three qualitative data sets that form the basis of a case study examining an online weight management service forum. Extending beyond current conceptualizations of the third place, this study is the first to propose a framework delineating online third place characteristics and their impact on consumers’ eudaimonic (the capacity for self-realization) and hedonic (attainment of pleasure and avoidance of pain) well-being. Findings show that in the absence of a physical or virtual servicescape, social factors including social density, equity, and personalization are key to constructing an online third place that supports well-being through building social connections and enjoyment. The new framework provides guidance for service managers to transform their online service communities into online third places to support consumer well-being and to identify and manage potential unintended consequences, for example, by ensuring segmentation of the community based on consumer groups’ shared interests and consumer empowerment through participation.
Hidden in the limelight: A feminist engagement with innovation studies
Authors: Pecis Lara , Berglund Karin
Published: June 2021

Innovation is filled with aspirations for solutions to problems, and for laying the groundwork for new technological and social breakthroughs. When a concept is so positively charged, the hopes expressed may create blindness to potential shortcomings and deadlocks. To disclose innovation blind spots, we approach innovation from a feminist viewpoint. We see innovation as a context that changes historically, and as revolution, offering alternative imaginaries of the relationship between race, gender and innovation. Our theoretical framework combines bell hooks (capitalist patriarchy and intersectionality), Mazzucato (the entrepreneurial state and the changing context of innovation) and Fraser (redistributive justice) and contributes with an understanding of innovation from the margin by unveiling its political dimensions. Hidden Figures, the 2016 biographical drama that follows three Black women working at NASA during the space race, provides the empirical setting of the paper. Our analysis contributes to emerging intersectionality research in management and organisation studies (MOS) by revealing the subject positions and dynamics of inclusion/exclusion in innovation discourses, and by proposing a radical – and more inclusive – rethinking of innovation. With this article, we aim to push the margins to the centre and invite others to discover the terrain of the margin(alised). We suggest that our feminist framework is appropriate to study other organisational phenomena, over time and across contexts, to bring forward the plurality of women’s experiences at work and in organisations.
Food insecurity in the households of children with autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disabilities in the United States: Analysis of the National Survey of Children’s Health Data 2016–2018
Authors: Karpur Arun , Vasudevan Vijay , Lello Angela , Frazier Thomas W , Shih Andy
Published: June 2021

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities experience substantial challenges in accessing needed supports. This research aimed to understand the prevalence and factors associated with food insecurity among families of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities. Utilizing the National Survey of Children’s Health (2016–2018) data, this article illustrated that the households of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities were about two times more likely to be food insecure than the households of children without disabilities. Furthermore, the households of children with autism spectrum disorder were 1.5 times more likely, and those with other disabilities were 1.3 times more likely to be food insecure than the households of children without disabilities. Implications of these findings in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.

Lay abstract

Families of children with autism spectrum disorder are more likely to experience financial strain and resulting food insecurity due to additional cost of care, disparate access to needed services, and loss of income resulting from parental job loss. Utilizing nationally representative data, this analysis indicates that the families of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities are twice as likely to experience food insecurity than families of children without disabilities after adjusting for various factors. Several factors, ranging from state-level policies such as Medicaid expansion to individual-level factors such as higher utilization of emergency room services, were associated with the higher prevalence of food insecurity in families of children with autism spectrum disorder and co-occurring intellectual disabilities. Implications of these findings on programs and policies supporting families in the COVID-19 pandemic are discussed.
The unexpected other: Challenges and strategies after acquired impairment
Authors: Solvang Per Koren , Heiaas Ida , Romsland Grace , Søberg Helene Lundgaard
Published: June 2021

People experiencing traumatic brain injury or multitrauma will often live with problems in functioning for a profound period in life. A situation of great complexity emerges involving both the experience of an impaired body and the experience of a changed social position. This article addresses the intricate relations between the altered body, personal ambitions, and social surroundings in the first 2–3 years after an injury. The conceptual framework centers around the process of change, applying concepts such as the unexpected other and biographical reconstruction. Twenty-one people of working age were interviewed two times. All interviewees had experienced traumatic brain injury or multitrauma. A thematic narrative analysis was applied. Consequences of the injury took place at a carnal level where fatigue is something completely different from becoming exhausted and where elimination of body waste takes place through practices novel to the injured person. Living with impairment also took place at the level of social interaction. Here, family relations, shame, and establishing a new identity seemed profoundly important. This article makes two novel contributions. First, it emphasizes more than previous studies do that the daily management of altered body functions is more important for independence and wellbeing. Second, the article identifies the narrative about the accident as an important issue for injured people to settle.
Evaluating privacy of individuals in medical data
Authors: Kroes Shannon KS , Janssen Mart P , Groenwold Rolf HH , van Leeuwen Matthijs
Published: June 2021

Although data protection is compulsory when personal data is shared, there is no systematic method available to evaluate to what extent each individual is at risk of a privacy breach. We use a collection of measures that quantify how much information is needed to uncover sensitive information. Combined with visualization techniques, our approach can be used to perform a detailed privacy analysis of medical data. Because privacy is evaluated per variable, these adjustments can be made while incorporating how likely it is that these variables will be exploited to uncover sensitive information in practice, as is mandatory in the European Union. Additionally, the analysis of privacy can be used to evaluate to what extent knowledge on specific variables in the data can contribute to privacy breaches, which can subsequently guide the use of anonymization techniques, such as generalization.
Stability and motion characteristics in a vibrating system with five rigid frames driven by two counter-rotating exciters
Authors: Hu Wenchao , Zhang Xueliang , Zhang Wei , Chen Weihao , Cui Shiju
Published: June 2021

A new dynamical model with five rigid frames (RFs), driven by two counter-rotating exciters, is proposed to explore the synchronization, stability, and motion characteristics of the system in this paper. The motion differential equations and the corresponding responses of the system are given firstly. Using the average method, the average torque balance equations for the two exciters are deduced. According to the relationship between the difference of the dimensionless effective output electromagnetic torques for the two motors and the coupling torques of the system, the theory condition of realizing synchronization is obtained. Based on the Hamilton’s theory, the theory condition of stability of the system is deduced. The stability and motion characteristics of the system for different resonant regions are qualitatively discussed in numeric, including the stable phase difference of the two exciters, relative phase relationships among the five rigid frames, amplitude-frequency characteristics, stability coefficients, and the effective load torque between the two exciters. Simulations are carried out to further quantitatively validate the feasibility of the above theoretical and numerical qualitative results. It is shown that in engineering the reasonable working points of the system should be selected in Region II, only in this way, can the synchronous and stable relative linear motion of the system with the zero stable phase difference in vertical direction be realized, and in this case, the vibrations of the four inner rigid frames (IRFs) in the horizontal direction are compensated with each other, and the energy is also saved due to utilizing the resonant effect. Based on the present work, some new types of vibrating coolers/dryers or vibrating screening machines can be designed.
From cities to networks: Power rules
Authors: Castells Manuel
Published: June 2021

Power relations are the source of social organization and institutions. This has been observed and theorized by the author in relation to various realms of social life, such as the formation of spatial structures and the networking of human activities around digital communication networks.
Advancing Urban Peace: Preventing Gun Violence and Healing Traumatized Youth
Authors: Corburn Jason , Boggan DeVone , Muttaqi Khaalid , Vaughn Sam , Houston James , Thibodeaux Julius , Muhammad Brian
Published: June 2021

This descriptive article highlights the inner-practices of a trauma-informed, healing-centered, urban gun violence reduction program called Advance Peace. We find that the Advance Peace model uses a unique curriculum called the Peacemaker Fellowship, that offers intensive mentorship, caring, and ‘street love’ to youth at the center of gun violence. The Advance Peace approach is one public safety model that may help young people of color heal from the traumas that contribute to gun violence while also reducing gun crime in urban neighborhoods.
The taking place of older age
Authors: Barron Amy
Published: June 2021

Representations of older age are often reductive in western societies, portrayed as a distinct period of life characterised by social disengagement and physiological decline. Through rich ethnographic accounts developed with older people from Greater Manchester UK, this paper is concerned with how the category of older age is made through representations, and the different ways people encounter and relate to it. In doing so, it disrupts reductive representations by considering how older age is lived. I respond to calls for the incorporation of more-than-representational and affective approaches into the geographic study of older age to advance research on ageing and highlight affect as a useful concept for thinking through difference. The paper is concerned with how older people are represented, with how representations differentially affect and are affected by older individuals, and with how representations of older age are performed and folded into lived accounts. More-than-representational theories offer an understanding of older age that is not pre-given or free-standing, but as something which can emerge, gather and disperse in relation with materialities as well as diffuse atmospheres, affects and emotional resonances.
Cultural Diversity in Canadian Television: The Case of CBC’s Kim’s Convenience
Authors: Yu Sherry S.
Published: June 2021

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Kim’s Convenience is the first Asian-led sitcom in Canadian broadcasting. This popular sitcom, lauded by both audiences and the television industry, joins the wave of minority-led production which started only recently in Canada, despite Canada’s pride in multiculturalism as one of its national characteristics. Emerging within Canada’s unique model of “multiculturalism within a bilingual framework,” Kim’s Convenience, with a story about a third-language Korean Canadian immigrant family, offers a critical site to understand how cultural diversity is communicated in Canadian television today. This study conducts a thematic analysis of Seasons One and Two with a special focus on interactions across cultures characterized by social categories such as ethnicity/race, gender, class, language, and sexuality.
What We Listen for
Authors: White Jordan , Gloviczki Peter Joseph
Published: June 2021

Two autoethnographic sketches investigate what we listen for across popular culture. Written by a student and a professor, respectively, we hope these autoethnographic sketches stimulate dialogue about autoethnographic collaboration as a way of knowing culture.
Using Biofeedback to Reduce Step Length Asymmetry Impairs Dynamic Balance in People Poststroke
Authors: Park Sungwoo , Liu Chang , Sánchez Natalia , Tilson Julie K. , Mulroy Sara J. , Finley James M
Published: June 2021

Background

People poststroke often walk with a spatiotemporally asymmetric gait, due in part to sensorimotor impairments in the paretic lower extremity. Although reducing asymmetry is a common objective of rehabilitation, the effects of improving symmetry on balance are yet to be determined.

Objective

We established the concurrent validity of whole-body angular momentum as a measure of balance, and we determined if reducing step length asymmetry would improve balance by decreasing whole-body angular momentum.

Methods

We performed clinical balance assessments and measured whole-body angular momentum during walking using a full-body marker set in a sample of 36 people with chronic stroke. We then used a biofeedback-based approach to modify step length asymmetry in a subset of 15 of these individuals who had marked asymmetry and we measured the resulting changes in whole-body angular momentum.

Results

When participants walked without biofeedback, whole-body angular momentum in the sagittal and frontal plane was negatively correlated with scores on the Berg Balance Scale and Functional Gait Assessment supporting the validity of whole-body angular momentum as an objective measure of dynamic balance. We also observed that when participants walked more symmetrically, their whole-body angular momentum in the sagittal plane increased rather than decreased.

Conclusions

Voluntary reductions of step length asymmetry in people poststroke resulted in reduced measures of dynamic balance. This is consistent with the idea that after stroke, individuals might have an implicit preference not to deviate from their natural asymmetry while walking because it could compromise their balance. Clinical Trials Number: NCT03916562.
Dorsoradial Capsulodesis for Stage I Trapeziometacarpal Joint Arthrosis
Authors: Koehler Logan R. , Rayan Ghazi M.
Published: June 2021

Background:

Thumb trapeziometacarpal (TM) joint arthrosis is a common cause of thumb pain, which adversely affects hand function. Early arthrosis is characterized by capsular laxity, painful pinch and grip, and physical findings of joint tenderness and laxity. Dorsoradial capsulodesis (DRC) is a surgical technique used to stabilize the TM joint and treat early-stage arthrosis. We aim to evaluate the clinical outcomes of DRC for treating trapeziometacarpal instability in early-stage disease.

Methods:

Between 2003 and 2019, 23 patients underwent DRC. Patients with stage I TM arthritis and more than 6-month postoperative follow-up were included. Pain and disability scores were calculated along with physical examination and radiographic evaluation at the final follow-up.

Results:

At mean postoperative follow-up of 43.5 months, 13 patients with a mean age of 39.1 years were examined. The mean Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand score was 5.7, and visual analog pain score was 0.5. Patients had no significant difference in strength or range of motion in the ipsilateral versus contralateral hand. Follow-up radiographs did not demonstrate arthritic changes.

Conclusions:

Dorsoradial capsulodesis is a technically simple and reasonable option for stabilizing the TM joint in patients with early-stage arthrosis. This intervention showed no midterm progression to advanced arthritis in this cohort.
Reinforcement learning for robot research: A comprehensive review and open issues
Authors: Zhang Tengteng , Mo Hongwei
Published: June 2021

Applying the learning mechanism of natural living beings to endow intelligent robots with humanoid perception and decision-making wisdom becomes an important force to promote the revolution of science and technology in robot domains. Advances in reinforcement learning (RL) over the past decades have led robotics to be highly automated and intelligent, which ensures safety operation instead of manual work and implementation of more intelligence for many challenging tasks. As an important branch of machine learning, RL can realize sequential decision-making under uncertainties through end-to-end learning and has made a series of significant breakthroughs in robot applications. In this review article, we cover RL algorithms from theoretical background to advanced learning policies in different domains, which accelerate to solving practical problems in robotics. The challenges, open issues, and our thoughts on future research directions of RL are also presented to discover new research areas with the objective to motivate new interest.
Writing for publication: Structure, form, content, and journal selection
Authors: Phillips Veronica , Barker Eleanor
Published: June 2021

This article provides an overview of writing for publication in peer-reviewed journals. While the main focus is on writing a research article, it also provides guidance on factors influencing journal selection, including journal scope, intended audience for the findings, open access requirements, and journal citation metrics. Finally, it covers the standard content of a scientific journal article, providing general advice and guidance regarding the information researchers would typically include in their published papers.
High flow nasal cannula oxygenation in COVID-19 related acute respiratory distress syndrome: a safe way to avoid endotracheal intubation?
Authors: Delbove Agathe , Foubert Ambroise , Mateos François , Guy Tiphaine , Gousseff Marie
Published: June 2021

Backgrounds:

High flow nasal cannula (HFNC) is an alternative therapy for acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This study aimed first to describe outcomes of patients suffering from COVID-19-related ARDS treated with HFNC; secondly to evaluate safety of HFNC (patients and healthcare workers) and compare patients according to respiratory outcome.

Methods:

A retrospective cohort was conducted in French general hospital intensive care unit (ICU). Patients were included if receiving HFNC for hypoxemia (saturation pulse oxygen (SpO2) <92% under oxygen ⩾6 L/min) associated with ARDS and positive SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Main clinical characteristics and outcomes are described in patients: (a) with do not intubate order (HFNC-DNIO); (b) who did not need intubation (HFNC-only); and (c) eventually intubated (HFNC-intubation). Medians are presented with (1st–3rd) interquartile range.

Results:

From 26 February to 30 June 2020, 46 patients of median age 75 (70–79) years were included. In the HFNC-DNIO group ( n = 11), partial arterial oxygen pressure (PaO2)/inhaled fraction of oxygen (FiO2) ratio median worst PaO2/FiO2 ratio was 109 (102–172) and hospital mortality was 54.5%. Except the HFNC-DNIO patients ( n = 35), 20 patients (57%) were eventually intubated (HFNC-intubation group) and 15 were only treated by HFNC (HFNC-only). HFNC-intubation patients presented higher worst respiratory rates per minute in ICU [37 (34–41) versus 33 (24–34) min, p < 0.05] and worsened ICU admission PaO2/FiO2 ratios [121 (103–169) versus 191 (162–219), p < 0.001] compared with HFNC-only patients. Hospital mortality was 35% ( n = 7/20) in HFNC-intubation group, 0% in HFNC-only group with a global mortality of these two groups of 20% ( n = 7/35). Among tests performed in healthcare workers, 1/12 PCR in symptomatic healthcare workers and 1.8% serologies in asymptomatic healthcare workers were positive. After review of each case, COVID-19 was likely to be acquired outside hospital.

Conclusions:

HFNC seems to be useful for COVID-19-related ARDS and safe for healthcare workers. ARDS severity with PaO2/FiO2 <150 associated with respiratory rate >35/min could be regarded as a predictor of intubation. The reviews of this paper are available via the supplemental material section.
Engagement in Learning Physics Through Project-Based Learning: A Case Study of Gifted Finnish Upper-Secondary-Level Students
Authors: Makkonen Taina , Tirri Kirsi , Lavonen Jari
Published: June 2021

Research on the advantages and disadvantages of project-based learning (PBL) among gifted pupils studying physics is scarce. This mixed-methods study investigates engagement, experiences, and learning outcomes among gifted Finnish upper-secondary-level students learning physics through PBL. A six-lesson PBL module on basic Newtonian mechanics was designed and implemented for a group of gifted students ( N = 38), whereas a traditional teacher-driven approach was used among a control group ( N = 38) of gifted students. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire, interviews and a physics test. According to the results, PBL met the preconditions (challenge, skill, interest) for engaging the students in learning physics. It generated interest in learning among the vast majority, but not as many found it challenging. The findings also highlight the impact of autonomy when learning through PBL. No differences in overall learning outcomes were found between the groups.
Sociotherapy in the Time of COVID-19: A Critical Position Paper on the Importance of Sociology
Authors: Cavanagh Sheila L.
Published: June 2021

This paper contends that sociotherapy, a sociologically informed approach to therapy, is a viable alternative to the diagnostic model recognized by the College of Registered Psychotherapists in Ontario (CRPO). The Psychotherapy Act (2007) along with the Regulated Health Professions Act (1991) gives the CRPO authorization to regulate the practice of psychotherapy and to control titles affiliated with the act of psychotherapy. I offer a discussion of sociotherapy and socioanalysis as clinical alternatives to the conservative and normalizing approaches endorsed by the College. I situate sociotherapy and socioanalysis in the discipline of sociology and in relation to Freudian psychoanalysis. I offer my own sociotherapeutic practice as an illustration of how the societal and the psychological, the social, and the psychic must be engaged in concert. I underscore the importance of dialogue, as opposed to diagnostics, interpretation as opposed to assessments and psychosocial contemplation as opposed to cognitive-behavioral treatment in clinical practice.
The Effectiveness and Safety of Intrathecal Fluorescein in the Management of Cerebrospinal Fluid Leaks
Authors: Jolly Karan , Gupta Keshav Kumar , Banota Abishek , Ahmed Shahzada K.
Published: June 2021

Background

Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leaks can be associated with significant morbidity such as meningitis. Surgical management has proven effective, with endoscopic approaches having become the gold standard due to success rates >90%. Inability to localise the leak site prior to surgery is associated with surgical failure. The use of intrathecal fluorescein (IF) to localise CSF fistulae sites was first demonstrated in 1960. Despite this, its use in this context is unlicensed.

Objective

Evaluate the safety and efficacy of IF use in the management of CSF leak repairs in our centre.

Methods

All patients who underwent endoscopic repair of CSF fistula by a single surgeon where IF was used between January 2010 – September 2019 at a single-centre (tertiary skull base referral unit in the United Kingdom) were retrospectively analysed. Primary outcome measures were localisation of CSF fistula with IF (efficacy) and peri-operative complications likely to be attributable to IF (safety).

Results

There were 55 patients included (60 procedures) with a positive localisation rate of 90.0% with IF. The overall peri-operative complication rate was 8.3% (n = 5). It is likely that none were related to IF use. However, three complications may be linked giving a complication rate potentially related to IF of 5.0%. There were no peri-operative mortalities.

Conclusion

Many studies have demonstrated IF to be safe at low doses (<50mg) with a high sensitivity, specificity and positive predicative value. Our results demonstrate that the use of IF in our centre is safe and effective at identifying CSF fistulae. While we have reported some complications in our cohort, these were unlikely to be directly attributable IF use. We have described no serious complications such as seizures, limb weakness or death. We believe this study adds to the growing body of evidence that IF use in the management CSF fistula repairs is safe and effective.
Ocrelizumab after natalizumab in JC-virus positive relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis patients
Authors: van Lierop ZYGJ , Toorop AA , Coerver EME , Willemse EAJ , Strijbis EMM , Kalkers NF , Moraal B , Barkhof F , Teunissen CE , Killestein J , van Kempen ZLE
Published: June 2021

Ocrelizumab is often used as an alternative therapy in natalizumab-treated MS patients at risk for progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). Our objective was to assess efficacy and safety of JC-virus positive patients switching (either directly or indirectly) from natalizumab to ocrelizumab. Forty-two patients were included from an observational cohort (median follow-up 21 months). No evidence of disease activity was found in 83% of direct switchers and 50% of indirect switchers. Two direct switchers were diagnosed with carry-over PML. Our data support a direct switch for adequate disease suppression, although carry-over PML illustrates the dilemma when choosing between a direct or indirect switch.
Reliability and validity of a computer game-based tool of upper extremity assessment for object manipulation tasks in children with cerebral palsy
Authors: Kanitkar Anuprita , Parmar Sanjay T , Szturm Tony J , Restall Gayle , Rempel Gina , Naik Nilashri , Gaonkar Neha , Sepehri Nariman , Ankolekar Bhavana
Published: June 2021

Introduction

A computer game-based upper extremity (CUE) assessment tool is developed to quantify manual dexterity of children with Cerebral Palsy (CP). The purpose of this study was to determine test-retest reliability of the CUE performance measures (success rate, movement onset time, movement error, and movement variation) and convergent validity with the Peabody Developmental Motor Scale version 2 (PDMS-2) and the Quality of Upper Extremity Skills Test (QUEST).

Methods

Thirty-five children with CP aged four to ten years were tested on two occasions two weeks apart.

Results

CUE performance measures of five chosen object manipulation tasks exhibited high to moderate intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) values. There was no significant difference in the CUE performance measures between test periods. With few exceptions, there was no significant correlation between the CUE performance measures and the PDMS-2 or the QUEST test scores.

Conclusions

The high to moderate ICC values and lack of systematic errors indicate that the CUE assessment tool has the ability to repeatedly record reliable performance measures of different object manipulation tasks. The lack of a correlation between the CUE and the PDMS-2 or QUEST scores indicates that performance measures of these assessment tools represent distinct attributes of manual dexterity.
Music, Computing, and Health: A Roadmap for the Current and Future Roles of Music Technology for Health Care and Well-Being
Authors: Agres Kat R. , Schaefer Rebecca S. , Volk Anja , van Hooren Susan , Holzapfel Andre , Dalla Bella Simone , Müller Meinard , de Witte Martina , Herremans Dorien , Ramirez Melendez Rafael , Neerincx Mark , Ruiz Sebastian , Meredith David , Dimitriadis Theo , Magee Wendy L.
Published: June 2021

The fields of music, health, and technology have seen significant interactions in recent years in developing music technology for health care and well-being. In an effort to strengthen the collaboration between the involved disciplines, the workshop “Music, Computing, and Health” was held to discuss best practices and state-of-the-art at the intersection of these areas with researchers from music psychology and neuroscience, music therapy, music information retrieval, music technology, medical technology (medtech), and robotics. Following the discussions at the workshop, this article provides an overview of the different methods of the involved disciplines and their potential contributions to developing music technology for health and well-being. Furthermore, the article summarizes the state of the art in music technology that can be applied in various health scenarios and provides a perspective on challenges and opportunities for developing music technology that (1) supports person-centered care and evidence-based treatments, and (2) contributes to developing standardized, large-scale research on music-based interventions in an interdisciplinary manner. The article provides a resource for those seeking to engage in interdisciplinary research using music-based computational methods to develop technology for health care, and aims to inspire future research directions by evaluating the state of the art with respect to the challenges facing each field.
A Prospective Study of Mental Health, Well-Being, and Substance Use During the Initial COVID-19 Pandemic Surge
Authors: Haydon Katherine C. , Salvatore Jessica E.
Published: June 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered everyday life worldwide, and some individuals may be at increased risk for pandemic-related distress. In a U.S. community sample ( N = 236, 64% female; 78% White; mean age = 30.3 years) assessed before COVID-19 and during the initial surge, we examined, prospectively, whether pandemic disruptions and a history of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) were associated with changes in depressive symptoms, stress, sleep, relationship satisfaction, and substance use over time and with concurrent anxiety and peritraumatic distress. Negative pandemic-related events were associated with significantly higher depressive symptoms and stress and lower satisfaction over time as well as higher concurrent anxiety and peritraumatic distress. ACEs were associated with more negative pandemic-related events, which, in turn, associated with higher peripandemic depressive symptoms, stress, anxiety, and peritraumatic distress. Findings underscore that COVID-19 disruptions are associated with greater distress and that childhood trauma is a key axis of differential risk.
Designing a Trifoliate Flap for Isolated Congenital Alar Rim Defect in Pediatric Patients
Authors: Li Shi-Yan , Yu Bao-Fu , Wei Shu-Yi , Yin Ning , Yao Zong-Jiang , Wei Jiao , Dai Chuan-Chang
Published: June 2021

Isolated congenital alar rim defects are extremely rare, and there has been no standard technique for the reconstruction of remarkable aesthetic deformity. Herein, we introduce a trifoliate flap for the correction of isolated congenital alar rim defects in pediatric patients. Fifteen cases undergoing nasal alar sulcus rotation flap surgery were analyzed retrospectively. This rotation flap including 3 triangles was a modified flap based on prior studies. Clinical medical notes and photographs were reviewed. Patients’ (or their parents) reported satisfactions with aesthetic outcome were also evaluated during the post-operative follow-up period. In all patients, the isolated congenital alar rim defects were successfully reconstructed. The rotation flap survived and the wound healed primarily. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 22 months (average 11 months). There were no incidents of flap loss, step-off deformities, nasal obstruction, or alar retraction. At follow-up of post-operative 3 months, pale red scars were observed in the operative area in few patients (2/15). However, these scars gradually became invisible at post-operative 6 months. All patients (or their parents) were satisfied with the aesthetic outcome of this operation. This newly designed trifoliate flap can be an alternative method for the reconstruction of isolated congenital alar rim defects in pediatric patients. The scars of this procedure can be unobvious with fine surgical suture.
Revisiting Marketing Management Teaching Pedagogy: A Study Based on the Voice of Indian Marketing Professionals
Authors: Bhattacharya Subhajit , Kumar Rohit Vishal , Chattopadhyay Subrata
Published: June 2021

Marketing management is one of the practical-oriented subjects in management education, which is very dynamic. In this changing and newly emerging business and marketing ecosystem, the challenge of marketing teaching pedagogy is increasing day by day. In marketing management teaching pedagogical research, there is a scarcity of integrated blended framework consisting of teaching technology and augmented learning exposure in supporting classroom teaching methodology. The study attempts to identify how various factors like theoretical knowledge, practical orientation, teaching technology and augmented learning can impact marketing management education’s learning outcome in the Indian context. Current research has also tried developing and examining a structured framework that may strengthen the classroom teaching environment. This article is based on empirical data of 693 marketing and sales professionals who are mostly alumni from topmost Indian B-schools. Exploratory factor analyses and structural equation modelling, and path analysis are being done to test the conceptual research model. The results of this article demonstrate how contemporary integrated classroom teaching can boost the marketing management learning outcomes with a proper blend of augmented learning exposure, out-of-class exercises and teaching technology in an Indianized way.
Head Shadow, Summation, and Squelch in Bilateral Cochlear-Implant Users With Linked Automatic Gain Controls
Authors: Bakal Taylor A. , Milvae Kristina DeRoy , Chen Chen , Goupell Matthew J.
Published: June 2021

Speech understanding in noise is poorer in bilateral cochlear-implant (BICI) users compared to normal-hearing counterparts. Independent automatic gain controls (AGCs) may contribute to this because adjusting processor gain independently can reduce interaural level differences that BICI listeners rely on for bilateral benefits. Bilaterally linked AGCs may improve bilateral benefits by increasing the magnitude of interaural level differences. The effects of linked AGCs on bilateral benefits (summation, head shadow, and squelch) were measured in nine BICI users. Speech understanding for a target talker at 0° masked by a single talker at 0°, 90°, or −90° azimuth was assessed under headphones with sentences at five target-to-masker ratios. Research processors were used to manipulate AGC type (independent or linked) and test ear (left, right, or both). Sentence recall was measured in quiet to quantify individual interaural asymmetry in functional performance. The results showed that AGC type did not significantly change performance or bilateral benefits. Interaural functional asymmetries, however, interacted with ear such that greater summation and squelch benefit occurred when there was larger functional asymmetry, and interacted with interferer location such that smaller head shadow benefit occurred when there was larger functional asymmetry. The larger benefits for those with larger asymmetry were driven by improvements from adding a better-performing ear, rather than a true binaural-hearing benefit. In summary, linked AGCs did not significantly change bilateral benefits in cases of speech-on-speech masking with a single-talker masker, but there was also no strong detriment across a range of target-to-masker ratios, within a small and diverse BICI listener population.
Israel and Turkey: Once Comrades Now Frenemies
Authors: Ceylan Tuğçe Ersoy
Published: June 2021

Turkey and Israel have been strategic partners since the 1990s. Yet, there has occurred a deep crisis between the two countries, particularly since 2009, but the beginning of the deterioration in bilateral relations dates to the early 2000s. Today both countries designate each other as opponents despite the history of a strategic partnership. What are the reasons for this radical shift in the Turkish–Israeli relations? How might the stalemate in the relations be explained? This study analyses the rupture in the bilateral relations, particularly on the recent events that paved the way for a rupture and stalemate and evaluates it via three levels of analysis laid by Kenneth Waltz. The study argues that bilateral relations have taken shape at three levels in different times and that the deterioration and amelioration of the bilateral relations hinge upon the identity and ideology of the leadership at the individual level, domestic factors at the state level, and structural factors at the systemic level. In this regard, it seeks to reveal which of the levels of analysis are in play in the determination of bilateral relations since 1948.
Patients' Preference Regarding Laser Photocoagulation or Cryoretinopexy for the Treatment of Retinal Pathology
Authors: Bakhsh Saaquib R. , Shields Ryan A. , Tahboub Mohammad A. , Capone Antonio
Published: June 2021

Purpose:

High-risk peripheral retinal pathology can be prophylactically treated with both laser photocoagulation (laser) and cryoretinopexy (cryopexy). We sought to identify a possible preference by patients toward one modality and any underlying association.

Methods:

A single-center survey was conducted of patients with peripheral retinal pathology who received both laser and cryopexy at Associated Retinal Consultants (Royal Oak, Michigan). The main outcome measure was the preferred treatment modality.

Results:

Patients reported more pain after cryopexy (46%) than laser (11%). Most patients felt it was easier to recover from laser (52%) than cryopexy (13%). Overall, patients preferred laser (60%) to cryopexy (25%), with a minority (15%) having no preference. There was a negative relationship between a patient’s likelihood of preferring cryopexy and the number of applications ( P = .009).

Conclusions:

Most patients preferred laser (60%) to cryopexy. If cryopexy is performed, minimizing the number of freezes may improve the patient’s experience and recovery.
Early use of erenumab in US real-world practice
Authors: Bogdanov Alina , Chia Victoria , Bensink Mark , Urman Robert , Fischer Lauren , Rasmussen Soeren , Szekely Christine , Kallenbach Lee
Published: June 2021

Background:

Erenumab, a monoclonal antibody (mAb) developed to block the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor, is approved for the prevention of migraine in adults. This retrospective observational study sought to describe early real-world use of erenumab.

Methods:

This study used the Practice Fusion ambulatory Electronic Health Record database, which represents approximately 6% of ambulatory care among primary care and specialist practices in the United States. Among migraine patients initiating erenumab, demographics, migraine type, comorbidities, and prior treatments were assessed during the 12-month baseline period. Treatment patterns including changes in acute and preventive medications, switches to other CGRP mAbs (fremanezumab and galcanezumab), and for erenumab, changes in dose and adherence were examined among patients with 6 months of follow-up.

Results:

Of 3,336 patients identified (85.9% female; mean age = 49.1 years), approximately 40% had documentation of chronic migraine. Common comorbidities included non-migraine headache, anxiety, depression, and hypertension. Most patients (76.3%) initiated on the 70 mg dose of erenumab. Among 1,638 patients included in the treatment pattern analysis, 53.1% used acute medications and 55.7% used other non-specific preventive migraine medications during follow-up, reductions of 9.8% and 10.2%, respectively, over the same period of time before index. Switching to fremanezumab and galcanezumab were observed in 12.2% and 13.8% of patients, respectively. The mean proportion of days covered by erenumab at 6 months was 79%. Dosage of erenumab increased (from 70 mg to 140 mg) in 13.0% and decreased (from 140 mg to 70 mg) in 24.9% of patients.

Conclusion:

This early real-world study showed high adherence among erenumab users. This combined with observed reductions in previously used acute and preventive medications are suggestive of erenumab’s benefit.
Future concepts in bronchodilation for COPD: dual-versusmonotherapy
Authors: Singh Dave , Donohue James F. , Boucot Isabelle H. , Barnes Neil C. , Compton Chris , Martinez Fernando J.
Published: June 2021

Most patients with COPD are recommended to initiate maintenance therapy with a single long-acting bronchodilator, such as a long-acting muscarinic antagonist or long-acting β2-agonist. However, many patients receiving mono-bronchodilation continue to experience high symptom burden, suggesting that patients are frequently not receiving optimal treatment. Treatment goals for COPD are often broad and not individually tailored, making initial treatment response assessments difficult. A personalised approach to initial maintenance therapy, based upon an individual's symptom burden and exacerbation risk, may be more appropriate.

An alternative approach would be to maximise bronchodilation early in the disease course of all patients with COPD. Evidence suggests that dual bronchodilation has greater and consistent efficacy for lung function and symptoms than mono-bronchodilation, whilst potentially reducing the risk of exacerbations and disease deterioration, with a similar safety profile to mono-bronchodilators. Improvements in lung function and symptoms between dual- and mono-bronchodilation have also been demonstrated in maintenance-naïve patients, who are most likely to resemble those at first presentation in a clinical setting. Despite promising results, there are several evidence gaps that need to be addressed to allow decision makers to evaluate the merits of a widespread earlier introduction of dual bronchodilation.
Comparative analysis and prediction of nucleosome positioning using integrative feature representation and machine learning algorithms
Authors: Han Guo-Sheng , Li Qi , Li Ying
Published: June 2021

Background

Nucleosome plays an important role in the process of genome expression, DNA replication, DNA repair and transcription. Therefore, the research of nucleosome positioning has invariably received extensive attention. Considering the diversity of DNA sequence representation methods, we tried to integrate multiple features to analyze its effect in the process of nucleosome positioning analysis. This process can also deepen our understanding of the theoretical analysis of nucleosome positioning.

Results

Here, we not only used frequency chaos game representation (FCGR) to construct DNA sequence features, but also integrated it with other features and adopted the principal component analysis (PCA) algorithm. Simultaneously, support vector machine (SVM), extreme learning machine (ELM), extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), multilayer perceptron (MLP) and convolutional neural networks (CNN) are used as predictors for nucleosome positioning prediction analysis, respectively. The integrated feature vector prediction quality is significantly superior to a single feature. After using principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the feature dimension, the prediction quality of H. sapiens dataset has been significantly improved.

Conclusions

Comparative analysis and prediction on H. sapiens, C. elegans, D. melanogaster and S. cerevisiae datasets, demonstrate that the application of FCGR to nucleosome positioning is feasible, and we also found that integrative feature representation would be better.