bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Giants of the Sands: The Giraffe and its Place in Symbolic Vocabulary in the Kingdom of Kush, Sudan
Authors: Kilroe Loretta
Published: December 2023

The image of a giraffe was added to both wheelmade and handmade pottery, faience plaques, temple walls and rock art in the Meroitic period of the Kingdom of Kush (c.570 BC–AD550), located in modern-day Sudan. However, giraffes do not appear in contemporary royal and elite art and architecture. This article explores the giraffe motif in Kush and compares this to its use earlier in Sudanese history as well as in neighbouring Egypt. The use of this motif on specific media suggests it was important in the symbolic language shared in the Middle Nile Region, but not in the elite canon, meaning it may be a window into understanding oral traditional practices of this time, that perhaps evolved and circulated over a long time period.
Historical Atlas of the Low Countries: A gis Dataset of Locality-Level Boundaries (1350–1800)
Authors: Stapel Rombert
Published: December 2023

This historical gis provides reconstructions of premodern village-level boundaries in the Low Countries, covering the present-day Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg and adjacent parts of France and Germany. While some countries have historical municipal gis maps for the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, this resource provides a detailed and contiguous historical gis for the premodern period. It also covers an area spanning several modern states, a rare undertaking. It combines modern and historical sources, including existing gis data, historical maps, and written records, focusing on the ‘smallest mappable units’ referred to as administrative areas in contemporary documents, such as parishes, lordships, or towns. This article accompanies the first tranche of the dataset for the 1500 cross-section, which can be used to link statistics for any period between 1350 and 1800. When completed, the gis dataset will cover four cross-sections: 1350, 1500, 1650, and 1800. Each cross-section will comprise an estimated 18.000 geographical units – typically around 5 to 10 km2 each. The dataset facilitates cross-temporal analysis of historical statistics while allowing users to consider the wider geographical and territorial micro and macro context of these statistics. The result will be an invaluable resource for historians, archaeologists, geographers, and social scientists alike.
Parrotfishes (Teleostei: Labridae: Scarini) of the Socotra Archipelago: Diversity and distributional biogeography, including a range extension of Scarus zufar Randall & Hoover, 1995
Authors: ZAJONZ UWE , BOGORODSKY SERGEY V. , SAEED FOUAD K.N. , AL-DEED MOTEAH S. , LAVERGNE EDOUARD
Published: December 2023

An updated account of the diversity of parrotfishes from the Socotra Archipelago is provided. Fourteen species are positively recorded based on underwater observations, photography and collections, including confirmations of three species which were previously only tentatively recorded: Scarus falcipinnis (Playfair, 1868), Scarus scaber Valenciennes, 1840 and Scarus tricolor Bleeker, 1847. The distribution of Scarus zufar Randall & Hoover, 1995, previously known only from coastal waters of southern Oman, Pakistan and Bangladesh, is extended to the Archipelago, with Abd al-Kuri Island representing the westernmost edge of its known range. Visual records of three additional species are yet to be documented. With 14–17 species the Archipelago approximates the modal richness range of 15–18 species for Arabian ecoregions. A species account, accompanied by photographs, provides distinctive characters, distribution details in the Arabian region, and general remarks for each species. The distributional biogeography of the family pertinent to the Socotra Archipelago and the Arabian region is analysed in the context of the Western Indian Ocean. Three main Arabian units are identified: A ‘Red Sea unit’ spans the combined Red Sea ecoregions and the western Gulf of Aden; a ‘Socotra unit’ covers south-eastern Arabia including the Archipelago, the eastern Gulf of Aden and southern Oman; and a ‘Gulf unit’ combines the Arabian/Persian Gulf, the Gulf of Oman, and putatively central Oman. These units form a discrete “pan-Arabian” cluster within the wider Western Indian Ocean. The ‘Socotra unit’ resembles more strongly the ‘Gulf unit’ than the ‘Red Sea unit’. Parrotfishes thus contrast overall distributional patterns of reef fishes in Arabia.
On the Pathways of Wind-Driven Coastal Upwelling: Nonlinear Momentum Flux and Baroclinic Instability
Authors: Li Dou , Ruan Xiaozhou
Published: December 2023

Wind-driven upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water is a key feature near the eastern boundaries of major ocean basins, with significant implications for the local physical environment and marine ecosystems. Despite the traditional two-dimensional description of upwelling as a passive response to surface offshore Ekman transport, recent observations have revealed spatial variability in the circulation structures across different upwelling locations. Yet, a systematic understanding of the factors governing the spatial patterns of coastal upwelling remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate that coastal upwelling pathways are influenced by two pairs of competing factors. The first competition occurs between wind forcing and eddy momentum flux, which shapes the Eulerian-mean circulation; the second competition arises between the Eulerian-mean and eddy-induced circulation. The importance of nonlinear eddy momentum flux over sloping topography can be described by the local slope Burger number, S = αN/f, where α is the topographic slope angle and N and f are the buoyancy and Coriolis frequencies. When S is small, the classic coastal upwelling structure emerges in the residual circulation, where water upwells along the sloping bottom. However, this comes with the added complexity that mesoscale eddies may drive a subduction route back into the ocean interior. As S increases, the upwelling branch is increasingly suppressed, unable to reach the surface and instead directed offshore by the eddy-induced circulation. The sensitivity of upwelling structures to variable wind stress and surface buoyancy forcing is further explored. The diagnostics may help to improve our understanding of coastal upwelling systems and yield a more physical representation of coastal upwelling in coarse-resolution numerical models.
Attenuated Total Reflection Infrared and Far-Infrared, and Raman Spectroscopy Studies of Minerals, Rocks, and Biogenic Minerals
Authors: Tsuboi Motohiro , Tamura Kohei , Kitanaka Ryosuke , Oka Hiroshi , Akao Ken-ichi , Ozaki Yukihiro
Published: December 2023

Attenuated total reflection infrared (ATR-IR, 4000–400 cm–1), ATR-far-IR (ATR-FIR, 400–50 cm–1), and Raman spectra (4000–10 cm–1) were measured for calcium carbonate, three kinds of minerals (calcite, aragonite, and quartz), two kinds of rocks (obsidian and pumice), and four kinds of biogenic minerals, i.e., coral (aragonite), Ruditapes philippinarum (aragonite), Meretrix lusoria (aragonite), and Corbicula japonica (aragonite), to investigate the polymorphism of minerals and biogenic minerals, differences in the crystal structure among aragonite and aragonite biogenic minerals, water in the minerals and biogenic minerals, Boson peaks of obsidian and pumice, very small amounts of carotenoids in the three kinds of shells, and so on. In this study, we put some emphasis on the low-frequency region of IR (FIR) and Raman spectra. ATR-FIR spectra were measured down to 50 cm–1 and Raman spectra were obtained down to 10 cm–1. Second derivative spectra were calculated for the FIR spectra. It has been found from the present study that the FIR spectra are the most powerful for exploring polymorphism and differences in the crystal structure among aragonite and aragonite biogenic minerals. A Boson peak, which is a characteristic low-frequency Raman band for amorphous materials, was observed at around 40 cm–1 in the Raman spectra of obsidian and pumice. The Boson peak of pumice is located at a lower frequency by 12 cm–1 than that of obsidian, indicating that the mean atomic volume of pumice is larger than that of obsidian. The present study has revealed that IR spectra are useful to investigate the amounts and structure of fluid and bound water. Moreover, it has also been found that Raman spectra can detect a very tiny amount of carotenoids in the shells due to the resonance Raman effect.
Psychometric Support for a Brazilian Version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport (MATS-B)
Authors: Paes Mayara Juliana , Perez Arthur Daniel , Machado Thais do Amaral , Fernandes Gabriel Jungles , McEwan Desmond , Stefanello Joice Mara Facco
Published: December 2023

In this study, we investigated psychometric support for a version of the Multidimensional Assessment of Teamwork in Sport (MATS) that would be suitable for Brazilian athletes. Four translators participated in the back-translation of this instrument from English to Portuguese, two specialists synthesized the Portuguese and English back-translation versions, and 10 experts assessed the questionnaire items and judged their content validity. To evaluate structural validity, we performed confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). We evaluated internal item reliability with a sample of 447 athletes who completed the adapted measure (the MATS-B). Finally, 202 other athletes completed both the MATS-B and a second measure of collective efficacy (CEQS-B) to provide external validity correlates. With these data, the MATS-B now provides valid and reliable data supporting its use with Brazilian athletes in an adapted assessment tool that aligns with the conceptual framework of teamwork in sports.
Prediction method of carding process production quality based on digital twin technology
Authors: Hui Han Peng , rong Li Xin , Liu Rongfang , Zhang Shijie , Yuan Chengxu
Published: December 2023

In recent years, digital twin technology has developed rapidly, which has great advantages in improving production quality and saving production costs. Therefore, it is of great significance to apply digital twin technology to the spinning field to realize the prediction of spinning production quality. This study takes the carding process in yarn manufacturing as an example. First, a prediction model framework for carding process production quality is proposed based on the digital twin modeling mechanism. Each key component’s modeling principles and methods are analyzed, and the modeling process and coupling between models are clarified. Next, the carding process production quality prediction model is established based on the proposed modeling framework and actual working conditions. Then, a set of comparative experiments on a generative adversarial network and a set of comparative experiments between different prediction models were designed. The results showed that the production quality prediction model of the carding process established according to the modeling method proposed in this paper meets the requirements of spinning production quality prediction, and the average error rate of the model was 5.7%. Finally, the modeling method and experimental results are discussed, and future research directions are considered. The paper has great significance for further research on quality prediction of yarn manufacturing, providing a reference for applying digital twin technology and promoting intelligent manufacturing in the spinning field.
The Plague in Madras: The Making of an “Immune” City
Authors: Ramesh Aditya
Published: December 2023

In 1912, the Lancet published an article titled “The City of Madras and its immunity from epidemic plague.” The Lancet’s article was part of a spate of investigations by sanitary officials, bacteriologists, and epidemiologists into the reasons as to why the city remained largely free from the plague pandemic, which hit colonial India especially hard in the latter half of the 1890s. The absent epidemic in Madras suggests new ways to understand plague in colonial India and the relationship between the etiology of epidemics and cities more broadly. Colonial officials assumed that the plague would affect Madras in a similar fashion to the deadly outbreaks in Bombay and Hong Kong. The article follows varied explanations for the absence of the plague, showing how tropical environments were hardly inherently vulnerable to disease. Rather, the disease was constituted in specific urban environments, which had implications on understanding of disease vulnerability and immunity.
Algorithmic sovereignty: Machine learning, ground truth, and the state of exception
Authors: Martin Matthew
Published: December 2023

This article examines the interplay between contemporary algorithmic security technology and the political theory of the state of exception. I argue that the exception, as both a political and a technological concept, provides a crucial way to understand the power operating through machine learning technologies used in the security apparatuses of the modern state. I highlight how algorithmic security technology, through its inherent technical properties, carries exceptions throughout its political and technological architecture. This leads me to engage with Theodor Adorno’s negative dialectics to interrogate the question of ‘ground truth’ in machine learning. I conclude that most machine learning technology asserts identity between itself and bourgeois reality – and thus inherently reinforces and reproduces the relations of domination entailed in that image of the world. However, space still exists for machine learning to operate within spaces of political non-identity, or exceptions to the bourgeois totality, and aid in liberatory politics.
Characteristics and Correlates of Perceived Physical and Psychological Health Among Family Caregivers Living With Persons With Advanced Dementia
Authors: Kim Hyejin , Engström Gabriella , Sadak Tatiana , Emami Azita
Published: December 2023

Background:

Various factors drive a care setting shift from institutional to home settings for dementia care until the latest stage of the disease, suggesting the critical role of family caregivers living with persons with dementia.

Objectives:

This study explored the characteristics and correlates of self-reported overall physical and psychological (ie, depressive symptoms and stress) health among family caregivers living with persons with dementia in Sweden.

Methods:

This cross-sectional, descriptive study used baseline data from an existing music-based intervention study of persons with dementia and their family caregivers ( N = 76). Multivariable linear regression analyses were performed.

Results:

On average, caregivers ( n = 38; mean age: 74.8 years) were slightly younger than persons with dementia ( n = 38; mean age: 78.6 years). Most caregivers were female ( n = 24; 63.2%) and spouses or partners of persons with dementia ( n = 37; 97.4%). Caregivers’ perceived relationship with their family members with dementia was the only factor associated with caregivers’ self-reported overall physical health ( b = −0.655, p = .046). This suggests caregivers’ more frequent feeling of a good relationship with the persons with dementia was linked to better self-rated physical health among family caregivers living with persons with dementia.

Conclusions:

This study highlights the importance of family caregivers’ perceived relationship with persons with dementia in the context of caregivers’ self-reported physical health. Future research is needed to explore the perceived relationship from the perspectives of persons with dementia and the determinants of caregiving dyads’ (persons with dementia and family caregivers) perceived relationship with each other.
Becoming ‘farazat’: Re-examining feminisation from a Tunis used clothes sorting factory
Authors: Grüneisl Katharina
Published: December 2023

In over 40 factories in Tunisia, female sorting workers transform container loads of imported Western used clothing into comparable value categories that are packaged for re-export or sale on the local market. The dominance of women on these factory shopfloors indicates the feminisation of sorting work, typically implying a process of devaluation of labour power. However, this article shows how feminisation has situated outcomes and meanings that are specific to a given labour process. Through an ethnographic account of a Tunis sorting factory, it argues firstly that feminisation cannot be understood separately from the particular production process of used clothes sorting, in which the heterogeneity of used commodities requires female sorters to engage in highly contingent practices of value creation. Situated knowledge is necessary to separate the valuable from the valueless, and to assemble new product categories. Second, the article holds that these hierarches of skill in the factory result in processes of gendered identity construction associated with the vernacular profession ‘farazat’ (pl. sorters). Derived from the activity of sorting, and used exclusively in its feminine form, the identity is collectively asserted to convey a sense of professional pride and authority. Despite the lack of formal recognition, this professional designation is then used to mobilise a language of ‘respect’ that positions the farazat as both ‘workers’ and ‘women’. Far from devaluation, the feminisation of sorting here opens possibilities for women to assert their indispensability to the production process and to challenge the formal bounds of factory work.
The alterations of cardiac function during venovenous artificial placenta support in fetal goats
Authors: Li Guanhua , Li Mingliang , Teng Yun , Zhang Li , Pang Chengcheng , Tan Jianfeng , Chen Jimei , Zhuang Jian , Zhou Chengbin
Published: December 2023

Introduction:

Venovenous artificial placenta (VVAP) may mimic the intrauterine environment for maintaining fetal circulation. However, changes in ventricular function in fetal goats undergoing VVAP support remain unclear.

Methods:

Pump-assisted VVAPs were established in five fetal goats for 9 h. The myocardial performance index (Tei index), cardiac output (CO), and blood biochemical parameters were measured during VVAP support.

Results:

An increasing trend of the right ventricular (RV) Tei index was seen during VVAP support ( p for trend < 0.01). The right ventricular cardiac output (RVCO) increased after the initiation of VVAP, while a significant trend of reduction was observed after 3 h ( p for trend = 0.03). During VVAP support, we observed remarkable elevations of plasma cTnI and arterial lactic acid, which were positively correlated with the RV Tei index, but not the left ventricular (LV) Tei index, LVCO, and RVCO.

Conclusions:

The RVCO increases initially while a tendency of decrease could be observed during VVAP support. Special attention should be paid to right ventricular dysfunction during VVAP support.
Why Is Outsourcing Good for Some Employees and Bad for Others? How Demands and Resources Moderate the Outcome
Authors: Hansen Gustav Egede
Published: December 2023

Research on public sector outsourcing primarily focuses on costs and quality, whereas studies investigating the consequences for personnel exposed to outsourcing are scarce. Based on increased competition and private ownership, this study hypothesizes that outsourcing negatively affects employee job engagement and burnout, with more adverse consequences when job demands are high and resources are limited. With unique survey and administrative data, the study compares outcomes for outsourced employees and public employees in similar jobs. The analysis shows that outsourced employees have significantly lower engagement and higher burnout, while further analysis shows that outsourced employees are worse off when job demands are high but equally or less affected when job demands are low. Finally, the analysis shows that outsourcing has significant, adverse consequences for less resourceful employees. The results advance our understanding of how outsourcing influences public personnel and highlights the uneven distribution of consequences across employees.
Evaluation of dissimilar TIG welded joints of novel high strength low alloy steel for automotive applications: Experiment and numerical comparative approach
Authors: Arif Waseem , Jauhar Tahir Abbas , Miran Sajjad , Ahmad Furqan , Ahmed Farooq , Kumar Himansh , Mehboob Hassan , Saxena Ashish
Published: December 2023

Modern automotive, aerospace, and manufacturing sectors use tungsten inert gas (TIG) welding widely as a critical procedure due to the weld's quality and joint efficiency. In this study, mechanical characterization of TIG-welded joints of high strength low alloy (HSLA) steel with two different grades (S1 and S2) was performed experimentally and mechanical properties were calculated in terms of hardness profile along the weldment and load-displacement curves. True stress-strain curves of base metal, heat-affected zone, and melted zones were used for calibration of the 8-node solid numerical model. The highest hardness value of 386 HV was obtained in the melted zone whereas a softening zone was observed in the heat-affected zone (HAZ) of S2 where the Vicker's microhardness value was 270 HV. During the comparison of simulation results with experimental data, it was found that the overall error was less than 5% which reflects a good accuracy of material models used for numerical modeling. A higher ultimate tensile strength was found in similar S1-S1 steel joints as compared to similar S2-S2 and dissimilar S1-S2 steel joints. Furthermore, the results of simulations revealed that the maximum von Mises stress (1050 MPa) concentrations were found in the HAZ of a similar S1-S1 welded joint, whereas the minimum von Mises stresses (880 MPa) in S2-S2 welded joint, and intermediate von Mises stresses (1010 MPa) on the side of S1 HAZ in S1-S2 dissimilar welded joint. The results of simulations and experimental study of TIG welding joints show good agreement with reasonable accuracy.
Modelling of the Explanatory Factors of the Number of COVID-19 Deaths for a Panel of Countries
Authors: Ouchen Abdessamad , Akdim Hamid
Published: December 2023

This research attempts to explain the number of COVID-19 deaths. We use in this sense non-spatial and spatial econometric modelling for 14 socio-economic and geographic variables for a panel of 112 countries. The number of hospital beds and doctors in a country has a negative impact on the number of COVID-19 deaths. The proportion of the population aged 65 and over in a country, the number of tourist arrivals and its COVID-19 infections have a positive effect on COVID-19 deaths. The number of COVID-19 deaths in a country depends on the observable characteristics of its neighbours. When the number of COVID-19 infections in neighbouring countries of a given country increases and the proportion of their populations aged 65 and over is high, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the affected country increases. There is no substantial impact of diabetes prevalence, stringency index, even temporally lagged and population density on the reduction in the number of COVID-19 deaths. This research highlights the significant impact of five explanatory variables among the 14 variables selected on the number of COVID-19 deaths. There is a spatial autocorrelation for the variables selected. The spatial models show the existence of an exogenous interaction effect.
Budget Deficit Financing and Macroeconomic Outcomes: New Evidence from a VARX Model for the Iranian Economy
Authors: Bayat Saeed , Qelich Wahhab , Amiri Hossein
Published: December 2023

The main goal of the study is to evaluate the impacts of different government deficit financing strategies on GDP growth and inflation in the oil-rich nation of Iran from 1990:1 to 2018:4. The link between the government’s budget deficit and GDP growth is examined using the Explanatory-Augmented Vector Autoregressive (VARX) model. Because of the presence of unmodelled variables in the research, the VARX model was applied. The results of the study indicate that the way that the government finances the budget deficit had a direct impact on GDP growth, such that when the Foreign Exchange Reserve Account (FERA) is for most of the financing, the budget deficit’s impact on GDP growth is positive and its severity is increasing.

Although the government’s budget deficit has a positive impact on GDP growth, it becomes less severe when most of the financing is obtained through the Selling Government-Owned Companies (SGOC), and when the sale of Debt Securities (DS) is for most of the financing, the impact of the government’s deficit on GDP growth is positive. The study concludes that there is an insignificant effect of a government’s budget deficit on inflation when most of the deficit is covered by withdrawals from the foreign exchange reserve account. However, the budget deficit has raised inflation when the two other sources of funding have gotten most of the funding. One of the study’s innovations is its investigation of the ways used to finance the government’s budget deficit in oil economies, especially Iran. The use of a VARX model to analyse the impact of the government’s budget deficit on macroeconomic indicators and the severity of that impact is another novel aspect of this research. In the Iranian economy, there is no proper statistical information available about the spending of the budget deficit (especially after 2009). This article concludes with a clear message to policymakers: if the government tends to reduce the share of oil income in financing the budget deficit, increasing the share of debt securities is the best alternative.
Paytm: Lack of a Cogent IPO Story?*
Authors: De Papiya
Published: December 2023

On 18 November 2021, Paytm, India’s leading digital payments and financial services company, went public, but its shares were listed at a surprising 9% discount from the initial price. This underperformance of Paytm’s highly anticipated ₹183 billion IPO, the largest in India, stunned the market despite the BSE Sensex index hitting an all-time high in October 2021 with a 50% increase over the previous year. While other unicorns like Zomato (thirty-eight times oversubscribed) and Nykaa (nearly eighty-two times oversubscribed) saw tremendous success in the capital market, Paytm struggled on the stock exchange. This raised questions about why a prominent brand with 3.33 billion customers could not effectively engage with stakeholders and failed to excite investors as Zomato and Nykaa did. Raghavendra Das, a communications consultant seeking to work with Paytm, assessed the company’s communication strategy and shared insights with MD and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma. The big question now is, what steps should Paytm and Sharma take next?
Preparation of Children for Deposition in the Court in POCSO Cases: Insights from Children’s Perspectives
Authors: Manohar Harshini , Sharma Eesha , Kommu John Vijay Sagar
Published: December 2023

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act (2012) is a progressive legislation enacted in accordance with the child protection policies of India, with a basic premise of gender neutrality and with due consideration to the aspects of child development in complex and difficult judiciary processes. Deposition of the child survivors is a critical part of the POCSO trial processes. It is of paramount importance to consider the developmental and mental health aspects of children and how that would influence their understanding of the judicial processes and mental health consequences during judicial proceedings. Despite the guidelines and support measures for child-friendly court procedures, the courtroom experience can be intimidating for children causing stress and in turn negative mental health impact, and preparation interventions are of immense help in this context. We present two case vignettes where court preparation interventions were used to help children to feel empowered and confident, and minimize the impact of re-traumatization experienced in recounting their abuse experiences and consequently, enabling children to provide accurate testimony in the court.
Role of Culture in Consumer Marketing: Thematic Trajectories and Theoretical Roots
Authors: Patel Jayesh , Sharma Anuj , Shukla Yupal , Das Kallol
Published: December 2023

Culture has been considered the primary motivator affecting consumers’ decisions for years. Despite the importance of consumer culture, the systematic review of literature studying consumer culture is less and remains highly fragmented. This study uses a topic modelling approach to explore the role of culture in marketing literature to propose a way forward for future researchers interested in this domain. The study helps to synthesise cultural impact in marketing with a specific focus on dominant research topics and key themes, presenting clarity to the extant knowledge base. This study offers two potential contributions to the research community. First, this study demonstrates the application of structured topic modelling as a text analytics method that helps to report the evolution and thematic structure of this rapidly expanding domain. Second, the scientometric analysis in this study maps the conceptual structure of research with interconnected research themes hidden in this domain.
Lipoprotein profiles in Miniature Schnauzer dogs with idiopathic hypertriglyceridemia and hypercortisolism
Authors: Bunn Troy , Langner Kathrin , Foster Susan , Hayward Douglas , Howard Gretta , Paltrinieri Saverio , Giordano Alessia , Rossi Gabriele
Published: December 2023

Miniature Schnauzer dogs (MSs) are predisposed to both idiopathic hypertriglyceridemia (iHTG) and hypercortisolism (HCort). To our knowledge, the lipoprotein profiles of MSs with iHTG have not been compared to those with HCort. We analyzed cholesterol and triglyceride concentrations and lipoprotein fractions in 4 groups of MSs: normotriglyceridemia (NTG) without concurrent disease (Healthy-NTG), HCort and NTG (HCort-NTG), HCort and HTG (HCort-HTG), and iHTG. Lipoprotein fractions were assessed by lipoprotein electrophoresis and compared between groups. Fifty-one plasma samples were analyzed. Twenty-five dogs had NTG (16 Healthy-NTG, 9 HCort-NTG) and 26 dogs had HTG (7 iHTG, 19 HCort-HTG). Dogs with iHTG or HCort-HTG had significantly higher cholesterol concentrations than Healthy-NTG dogs. Dogs with HCort-HTG had higher cholesterol than HCort-NTG dogs. There was a significantly higher low-density lipoprotein (LDL) percentage in iHTG and HCort-HTG dogs than HCort-NTG dogs. HCort-HTG dogs also had lower high-density lipoproteins (HDL) than HCort-NTG dogs. It was not possible to readily distinguish MSs with iHTG from MSs with HCort-HTG or Healthy-NTG using lipoprotein electrophoresis fractions. The diagnosis of iHTG remains a diagnosis by exclusion.
In-Hospital Code Status Updates: Trends Over Time and the Impact of COVID-19
Authors: Sahebi-Fakhrabad Amirreza , Kemahlioglu-Ziya Eda , Handfield Robert , Wood Stacy , Patel Mehul D. , Page Cristen P. , Chang Lydia
Published: December 2023

Objective

The primary objective was to evaluate if the percentage of patients with missing or inaccurate code status documentation at a Trauma Level 1 hospital could be reduced through daily updates. The secondary objective was to examine if patient preferences for DNR changed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

This retrospective study, spanning March 2019 to December 2022, compared the code status in ICU and ED patients drawn from two data sets. The first was based on historical electronic medical records (EHR), and the second involved daily updates of code status following patient admission.

Results

Implementing daily updates upon admission was more effective in ICUs than in the ED in reducing missing code status documentation. Around 20% of patients without a specific code status chose DNR under the new system. During COVID-19, a decrease in ICU patients choosing DNR and an increase in full code (FC) choices were observed.

Conclusion

This study highlights the importance of regular updates and discussions regarding code status to enhance patient care and resource allocation in ICU and ED settings. The COVID-19 pandemic’s influence on shifting patient preferences towards full code status underscores the need for adaptable documentation practices. Emphasizing patient education about DNR implications and benefits is key to supporting informed decisions that reflect individual health contexts and values. This approach will help balance the considerations for DNR and full code choices, especially during health care crises.
Playing on Both Sides of the Djembe: Preservice Music Teacher Development Through Facilitating Drumming at a Special Education School
Authors: van Vreden Mignon
Published: December 2023

Despite a renewed interest in music teacher education practices with real-world implications, the heterogeneity of learners is often daunting to early-career educators. There is a lack of specific and adequate coursework in undergraduate music education programs to prepare preservice music teachers (PSMTs) for teaching diverse learner populations, including learners with disabilities. Drawing on a project where PSMTs facilitated drumming sessions at a special education school, this case study explored PSMTs’ experiences of project-based service learning in a special educational setting. Five themes that emerged from the data describing PSMTs’ experiences suggest that such initiatives with learners at a special education school can foster student responsiveness and autonomy. The findings describe how integrating dialectic aspects could nurture the music-teaching skills of a PSMT. These aspects are joy and challenges, expectations and reactions, and learning to teach individually and in a group.
Motivational Career Resources and Subjective Career Success: A Test of Mediation and Moderation
Authors: Kundi Yasir Mansoor , Hollet-Haudebert Sandrine , Peterson Jonathan
Published: December 2023

Changes in the global economic environment in which careers unfold have made the development and use of various career-related resources essential for one’s career success. Drawing on the conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study unpacks the relationship between motivational career resources and subjective career success, by detailing a mediating role of job crafting and a moderating role of age. Hypotheses are tested using data gathered in two waves separated by a six-month interval. Results indicated that (a) motivational career resources were positively related to job crafting; (b) job crafting was positively related to subjective career success; (c) job crafting mediated the linkage between motivational career resources and subjective career success; and (d) age moderated the relationship between motivational career resources and job crafting. This study provides novel insights into the intervening mechanism (i.e., job crafting) that elucidates how motivational career resources relate to job crafting. Furthermore, the findings enrich the existing literature by introducing a substantive moderator (i.e., age) in the relationship between motivational career resources and job crafting.
Wages, Talent, and Demand for NCAA Sport After the Alston v. NCAA Antitrust Case
Authors: Sanders Shane D.
Published: December 2023

From the “landmark” Alston v. NCAA antitrust decision, we examine whether the legally hypothesized fan wage-repugnance effect implies procompetitive benefits in NCAA sports output markets via increased output demand from student-athlete wage restriction. In Alston v. NCAA, the Courts took this benefit as given but failed to recognize the empirically-verified relationship between league talent and fan demand. We assume a legally-hypothesized wage-repugnance line exists and present a theoretical output-demand model functionally dependent upon allocations in a wage-constrained labor-input market. Even given fan repugnance, wage restrictions do not necessarily generate procompetitive benefits. For families of model parameterizations, wage restrictions impose anticompetitive harm.
The Impact of Sensory Stimuli on Healthcare Workers and Outcomes in Trauma Rooms: A Focus Group Study
Authors: Bayramzadeh Sara , Ahmadpour Sahar
Published: December 2023

Objective:

This study investigated issues related to noise, lighting, and temperature in trauma rooms that impact patient care and staff performance.

Background:

Uncontrolled sensory stimuli can hinder healthcare delivery quality in trauma rooms. High noise and temperature levels can increase staff stress and discomfort as well as patient discomfort. Conversely, proper lighting can decrease staff stress levels and reduce burnout. Sensory overload in trauma rooms is a crucial concern, but no studies have been conducted on this issue.

Method:

Using a convenience sampling method, 65 trauma team members (e.g., surgeons, physicians, nurses) from six Level I trauma centers in the United States were recruited to participate in 20 focus groups. Focus groups were semi-structured and 1 hr long.

Results:

Staff covered issues related to communications and disruption from noise sources (e.g., equipment, conversations). Having control over lighting allows staff to change light intensity and facilitate their work during the resuscitation. A well-maintained temperature can provide patient comfort or reduce risk of hypothermia, given that patients can lose body heat rapidly due to loss of blood.

Conclusion:

Excessive sensory stimuli can result in disrupted communication, fatigue, and stress, making staff susceptible to errors. Staffs’ control over environmental conditions may lead to a more efficient, comfortable, and safer environment. Technology should be reliable and flexible to facilitate this.
Protocol for a multi-phase, multi-center, real-world, hybrid effectiveness–implementation study of a digital intervention for pediatric chronic pain co-designed with patients (Digital SPA)
Authors: de la Vega Rocío , Serrano-Ibáñez Elena R. , Ruiz-Párraga Gema T. , Palermo Tonya M. , Wicksell Rikard , Fernández-Jiménez Eduardo , Oliva Silvia , Roldán Susana , Monfort Laura , Peláez María José , Leyva Carmona Moisés , Ramírez-Maestre Carmen , López-Martínez Alicia E. , Miró Jordi , Esteve Rosa
Published: December 2023

Background

Children and adolescents with chronic pain are a vulnerable population who often lack the resources to manage their condition. Due to high personal, social, and economic consequences, proper management in its early stages is key to reducing disability. The aim of this project is to co-develop a digital intervention for pediatric chronic pain (Digital SPA) with end-users and to evaluate its effectiveness and implementation outcomes in Spain.

Methods

(Phase 1) Focus groups with patients, parents, and clinicians ( n = 5–6 each) will inform about unmet pain care needs and provide a starting point for co-designing the intervention. (Phase 2) Content creation and usability testing will be based on the results of Phase 1, and the theory-driven development will follow the latest available evidence. The intervention will use validated psychological techniques focused on improving functioning by teaching pain coping skills. (Phase 3) Hybrid effectiveness–implementation trial. Participants ( n = 195) will be adolescents aged 12–17 years old with chronic pain and one of their parents. Assessments include physical function, pain, sleep, anxiety, mood, satisfaction and adherence to the treatment, and number of visits to the emergency room. A qualitative framework analysis will be conducted with data from Phase 1. Effects of the intervention will be evaluated using linear multilevel modeling. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) and Behavioral Interventions Using Technology (BIT) frameworks will be used to evaluate implementation.

Discussion

This study is expected to produce a co-created evidence-based digital intervention for pediatric chronic pain and a roadmap for successful implementation.

Trial registration number (TRN) and date of registration

ClinicalTrials.gov (registered on 26 June 2023: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05917626 ). Contributions to the literature The implementation of digital health interventions has two major gaps: (1) adherence to treatment is suboptimal, and (2) the process of making the interventions available to the end-user in a sustainable way is often unsuccessful. In this study, we expect that assessing users’ needs and co-designing an intervention with them will improve adherence. Documenting the implementation process from the project inception and integrating the results into an implementation framework will allow for replication and extension in different contexts. This study will increase the knowledge about implementation in a vulnerable population: adolescents with chronic pain without access to in-person multidisciplinary pain care.
Feasibility and acceptability of ChatGPT generated radiology report summaries for cancer patients
Authors: Chung Eric M , Zhang Samuel C , Nguyen Anthony T , Atkins Katelyn M , Sandler Howard M , Kamrava Mitchell
Published: December 2023

Objective

Patients now have direct access to their radiology reports, which can include complex terminology and be difficult to understand. We assessed ChatGPT's ability to generate summarized MRI reports for patients with prostate cancer and evaluated physician satisfaction with the artificial intelligence (AI)-summarized report.

Methods

We used ChatGPT to summarize five full MRI reports for patients with prostate cancer performed at a single institution from 2021 to 2022. Three summarized reports were generated for each full MRI report. Full MRI and summarized reports were assessed for readability using Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FK) score. Radiation oncologists were asked to evaluate the AI-summarized reports via an anonymous questionnaire. Qualitative responses were given on a 1–5 Likert-type scale. Fifty newly diagnosed prostate cancer patient MRIs performed at a single institution were additionally assessed for physician online portal response rates.

Results

Fifteen summarized reports were generated from five full MRI reports using ChatGPT. The median FK score for the full MRI reports and summarized reports was 9.6 vs. 5.0, ( p < 0.05), respectively. Twelve radiation oncologists responded to our questionnaire. The mean [SD] ratings for summarized reports were factual correctness (4.0 [0.6], understanding 4.0 [0.7]), completeness (4.1 [0.5]), potential for harm (3.5 [0.9]), overall quality (3.4 [0.9]), and likelihood to send to patient (3.1 [1.1]). Current physician online portal response rates were 14/50 (28%) at our institution.

Conclusions

We demonstrate a novel application of ChatGPT to summarize MRI reports at a reading level appropriate for patients. Physicians were likely to be satisfied with the summarized reports with respect to factual correctness, ease of understanding, and completeness. Physicians were less likely to be satisfied with respect to potential for harm, overall quality, and likelihood to send to patients. Further research is needed to optimize ChatGPT's ability to summarize radiology reports and understand what factors influence physician trust in AI-summarized reports.
Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy Practices, Employee Commitment, Reputation as Sources of Competitive Advantage
Authors: Mai Ngoc Khuong , An Nguyen Khoa Truong , Do Thanh Tung , Phan Long Nhat
Published: December 2023

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its relationship with corporate competitive advantage (CCA) have gained a tremendous interest among the researchers and practitioners over decades, as evident by the increasing surge of studies in this domain. This study examines how five types (legal, economic, philanthropic, ethical, and environmental) of CSR affect CCA in a developing country through the mediating roles of employee commitment and corporate reputation. Data was collected by survey questionnaires from a sample of 869 participants working at service, real estate, and manufacturing firms in Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong Province, Vietnam. SmartPLS 3.0 software and the partial least squares structural equation modeling method (PLS-SEM) were applied to evaluate the research model and test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that different dimensions of CSR have positive significant effects on employee commitment, corporate reputation and competitive advantage. Besides, employee commitment and corporate reputation were found to meditate the relationship between different types of CSR and CCA. These outcomes contributed to the extension of theory in the fields of CSR and offered some suggestions for managers in implementing CSR initiatives to gain and sustain CCA.
Antecedents and Occupational Attitudinal Consequences of Meaningful Work During the COVID-19: An Investigation of Chinese Nurses
Authors: Meng Liang , Wang Xu , Du Juan , Lin Xinyue , Zhang Xiaoshuang , Lu Xiang
Published: December 2023

Given the high turnover rate of the nursing occupation, meaningful work may be the very reason why many nurses choose to stay in health care. However, it remains uncertain whether nurses’ meaningful work and the sources that contribute to meaningful work still well predict nurses’ occupational attitudes during the COVID-19. To answer these questions, applying the job demands-resources model as our overarching framework, this study examines the mediating role of meaningful work between its sources (i.e., autonomy support, and prosocial impact) and nurses’ occupational attitudes (i.e., occupational regret, and occupational turnover intention) during the COVID-19, with event strength as a moderator. A time-lagged design was adopted to collect survey data from 958 full-time Chinese nurses at three time points. The results show that during the COVID-19, perceived autonomy support and perceived social impact are still sources of nurses’ meaningful work and further affect their occupational attitudes, while the latter contributes more to meaningful work. The perceived event strength of the COVID-19 restrains the positive effect of meaningful work on nurses’ occupational attitudes. The findings of this study contribute to occupational attitude literature by revealing its antecedents and influencing factors in times of crisis.
Seinfeld on Resources: Causal Ambiguity, the Perils of Imitable Resources, and the Durability of Resource-Based Advantages
Authors: Mackey Alison , Mackey Tyson B.
Published: December 2023

Teaching the foundational aspects of strategic management, particularly applications and extensions of the resource-based view and the topic of sustained competitive advantage, can be difficult. This article explains how instructors (in strategy, marketing, entrepreneurship, and so on) can use an episode from the iconic sitcom Seinfeld to teach students how to compete with and against advantages protected by causal ambiguity while not falling prey to the temptation to focus on easy-to-copy resources when trying to build a sustained competitive advantage. This article explains how novice and seasoned instructors alike can use this episode—whether they teach the logic of the resource-based view (RBV) through the common VRIO approach or not. A few brief clips from episode entitled “The English Patient” follow George Costanza in his quest to discover how a “short, stocky, dimwitted bald man” such as himself could be (temporarily) viewed as someone attractive to the mysterious Danielle, a seemingly unattainable, articulate, well-dressed woman.