bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Culture and Cultural Policy in Radhakamal Mukerjee and Indian Sociology: Text in Context
Authors: Chaudhuri Maitrayee
Published: August 2024

This article focuses on culture and cultural policy for it is a theme present in Radhakamal Mukerjee’s (RKM) writings and is a persistent presence in Indian sociology. Perhaps no other time is more appropriate than now to revisit the debates on cultural policy than in a context defined by cultural majoritarianism. One attempts here a synoptic account of RKM’s approach to culture and also suggests pointers as to how we ought to read the contradictory impulses. In this contested space, three trends are discernible in the ways that cultural policy has been visualised. The first is an overt location of unity in the Great Hindu tradition. The second is in an idea of composite culture, synthesis and pluralism, and the third is politically a more Left-inspired cultural policy responding to ‘the national norms of democracy, secularism and socialism’.
Unveiling the Impact of Interpersonal Interactions on Brand Love: Insights from a Dual-Path Framework
Authors: Li Jing , Ma Forest , Shao Xiaolong , Zhang Xingyi
Published: August 2024

The question of how to build meaningful relationships between customers and service brands has received considerable attention. Yet the academic literature has largely focused on customer–employee (C-E) relationships; less is known about interactions between customers themselves, especially in shaping brand love. Building on social exchange theory and social identity theory, this study explores brand love formation through a dual-path framework: C-E interaction and customer–customer (C-C) interaction. Data from a sample of 311 respondents were processed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. This analysis, which centers on the theme park context, specifies the underlying mechanisms of C-E and C-C interaction paths that lead to brand love. This study explores both C-E and C-C interactions simultaneously and enlarges the body of knowledge on customer experience management. The findings also provide implications for tourism organizations and destinations.
Gig Workers and Managing App-Based Surveillance
Authors: Mitson Renee , Lee Eugene , Anderson Jonathan
Published: August 2024

Based on interviews with app-based gig workers, this study uses Ganesh’s managing surveillance framework to explore relentless visibility and sousveillance (e.g., resistance, activism) to understand how app-based gig workers are being watched, watch others, and experience the economics and authoritative powers of gig work. Findings demonstrate how the intentionally designed technological aspects of mobile app-based gig work and the features of algorithmic management contribute to an ecosystem wherein gig workers are relentlessly observed by their gig parent organizations, how that is perceived by gig workers, and how this creates distrust, resistance and counter-surveillance towards the organization over time. As a result, gig workers begin to conduct their own surveillance, and simultaneously make attempts to surveil the gig parent organizations, and watch those who are watching them. As such, this study proposes a sousveillance spectrum wherein initially compliant gig workers may document surveillance and over time selectively ignore the organization’s rules, both to make the most of an ambiguous employment structure and also to shirk the oversight of the parent organization. Practically, this study provides insight as to how gig workers experience surveillance, how they make efforts to regain power through their own surveillance, and activism, and how the technological aspects of app-based gig work impact casual employment.
Evaluation Policy Study of the Second Round of the Taiwan Teacher Preparation Program Evaluation
Authors: Chang Liu Tze
Published: August 2024

This study focuses on the second round of Taiwanese teacher preparation program (TPP) evaluation (2012–2017) to analyze how evaluation policy shapes TPPs. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 stakeholders, which included professors, administrators, researchers, and staff involved in TPP evaluation. First, the findings revealed that neoliberalism influences evaluation policy and restricts the diversity of TPP development. Second, different evaluation approaches may be used to bring more inclusiveness and flexibility to evaluation standards. Third, evaluation plays an important role in TPP development, and a professional organization responsible for evaluation should be established in Taiwan in the future. To conclude, it is significant for TPP evaluation policy to consider policy ideology, evaluation standards, and program diversity to aid in improving the quality of teacher education not only in Taiwan but also internationally.
Atrial thrombus after total anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair
Authors: Ebuoka Noriyoshi , Asai Hidetsugu , Kimura Sachiko , Tachibana Tsuyoshi
Published: August 2024

A 6-year-old boy had previously undergone total anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair and postoperative pulmonary vein stenosis release. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed blood stasis caused by a collision between the inflow from the pulmonary veins and the outflow from the left atrial appendage. A surgical specimen revealed evidence of advanced thrombus attachment. Infra-cardiac total anomalous pulmonary venous connection with an antler appearance may be a risk factor for thrombus formation in the left atrial appendage and for postoperative pulmonary venous stenosis due to blood flow collision in the left atrium after total anomalous pulmonary venous connection repair.
Eco-coloniality and the violent environmentalism of the UK–France border
Authors: Davies Thom , Yemane Tesfalem H , Turner Joe , Mayblin Lucy , Isakjee Arshad
Published: August 2024

This article examines the eco-coloniality of the UK–France border by tracing the transformation of the notorious Calais “jungle” refugee camp into a nature reserve. We empirically investigate the ecological politics of the Calais borderzone, arguing that the environment plays a crucial role in both enacting and obscuring border violence. Based on long-term research at this site, we explore how the environment does political work by excluding, harming, and erasing the presence of racialized migrants from the shores of the English Channel. Taking a critical postcolonial approach, we argue that environmental ideas that were once forged during empire—including the imperial origins of environmentalism—continue to shape the marginalization of racialized groups today. By deepening our understanding of what counts as border violence and tracing the colonial genealogy of violent environmentalism, this article develops the concept of ‘eco-coloniality’. This builds upon burgeoning research at the intersection of border studies and political ecology, which has explored the co-option of ‘nature’ into violent border practices, and the deepening links between eco-fascism and exclusionary migration regimes. At a time of heightened environmental disruption, we emphasize the importance of unearthing the roots that connect contemporary politics with the perennial legacies of colonialism. Ultimately, we suggest that the protection of the environment, both at the border and during empire, has been used as a pretense for dispossessing racialized groups.
Challenges of Inculturation for More Effective Evangelization in Igboland
Authors: Okeke Johnson I
Published: August 2024

The type of Christianity introduced by Roman Catholic missionaries and missionaries of Anglican denominations created insufficiencies inherent in inculturation resulting in a failure of native clergy to accept inculturation as a phenomenon. This has the effect of complicating the complex inculturation of the gospel in Igboland and Africa in broader sense. This development had over the years prevented Igbo converts from benefitting from the comprehensive message of the gospel, prompting most Igbo converts to resort to traditional practices when faced with life challenges or vicissitudes. Consequently, conflicts have arisen as churches attempted to win more converts that fully comprehend the gospel, and not just converts who see the religion as the extension of a foreign or imposed culture. Documented and observational data collection methods were chosen for the purpose of research in this article. The methodology of the theory of sociological changes was used in the course of data analysis.
Mother-Child Conflict, Child Social Skills, and Depression Symptoms: Modeling State- and Trait-Level Effects From Mid-Childhood to Mid-Adolescence
Authors: Trang Justin C. , Strand Paul S.
Published: August 2024

The present study investigated child depression symptoms, social skills, and mother-child conflict from mid-childhood to mid-adolescence. Bidirectional effects involving all three constructs were anticipated, as were differential effects for child gender. Participants included 893 families from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD). Data were from assessments at three developmental time points: grade 5, grade 6, and age 15 years (grade 9). Analyses involved the application of a cross-lagged panel model (CLPM) and a random intercept cross-lagged panel model (RI-CLPM), the latter of which decomposes state- and trait-level variance. The RI-CLPM yielded superior model fit and fewer significant state-level (situational) associations. Stronger trait-level effects were observed for boys and stronger state-level effects for girls, although no cross-lagged associations were significant. Results align with a growing body of research revealing low or no situational dependence between child social skills development, emotional adjustment, and family relationship quality.
A multi-task learning prediction model for the endpoint of converter steelmaking based on genetic algorithm optimised
Authors: Liu Xuan , Xu Anjun , Gu Maoqiang , Wang Huixian
Published: August 2024

The temperature and composition of molten steel are important indicators that affect its quality, and a high-precision endpoint prediction model is needed for intelligent smelting using converters. This study addresses the current neglect of the correlation between objectives (temperature and composition) and the need to improve the accuracy of objective prediction. Thus, the potential relationship between molten steel temperature and carbon content is analysed through the metallurgical mechanism and energy balance. A multi-task neural network learning model based on a genetic algorithm, which is used to optimise the weights of loss functions for each task in a multi-task prediction model, is proposed for the high-accuracy simultaneous prediction of the endpoint carbon content and temperature of molten steel in a converter. The model was validated using actual production data from a steel plant. The results showed that within carbon content and temperature error ranges of [−0.02%, 0.02%] and [−15°C, 15°C], respectively, the carbon content–temperature double-hit rate of the model before and after using the genetic algorithm optimised increased by a maximum of 22.5% (W (0.71,0.29) and W (0.6,0.4)). Compared with the hit rates of single-objective prediction models (genetic algorithm–back propagation neural network, case-based reasoning, and multiple linear regression), within the same error ranges, the hit rate of the proposed model is better by 6.2%, 17.5%, and 7.5%, respectively. This indicates that the developed model simultaneously predicts the endpoint carbon content and temperature of molten steel in a converter with high accuracy, providing a reference for the accurate prediction of converter endpoints.
Exploring Subjective Mental Health Change in Older Adults after Experiencing an Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR) -Based Natural Environment
Authors: Kim Jong In , Kim Gukbin
Published: August 2024

The study explored subjective mental health change in adults aged 60 to 100 by experiencing immersive virtual reality (IVR)-based on the natural environment. It investigated changes in thinking, behaviour, and emotions from a socioecological perspective. The study conducted quantitative surveys of 540 older adults via IVR who lived in 20 longevity villages in South Korea from Dec. 2022 to Nov. 2023. It also paralleled a qualitative study with 38 of the 540. Study results predicting subjective mental health changes after experiencing IVR in those over 70 showed the highest gladness and happiness. In over 70 compared with 60 to 69 ages, the study found that relieving stress and depression, gladness and happiness, and relaxing the mind have about two-fold subjective mental health changes after experiencing IVR. The study suggests that it can be utilized to promote subjective mental health through the experience of an IVR-based natural environment for older adults.
Impacts of Peer Support on Coping and Cortisol Levels for Women Affected by Domestic Violence and Coercive Control
Authors: Letourneau Nicole , McManus Carrie , Novick Jason , Silverstone Andrea
Published: August 2024

Purpose

Gendered domestic violence and coercive control are prevalent public heath concerns in Canada with dire consequences for survivors. Peer support groups may address and reduce negative impacts of domestic violence and coercive control on women's stress, coping, safety, and alliances with social support network members, the focus of this study.

Methods

A one-group, pre-test/post-test quasi-experimental study was undertaken to evaluate the effectiveness of Growth Circle, a 14-week peer support program offered at an agency serving women affected by domestic violence in a major western Canadian city. Through convenience sampling, women 18 years and older who experienced domestic violence were recruited and provided data on stress, coping, safety-related empowerment, and social support/alliances. Thirty-five participants provided all pre-test and post-test data, with a subsample of 14 providing repeated hair samples. Hair was employed to determine stress hormone (cortisol) levels.

Results

A significant reduction in self-reported levels of perceived stress and stress hormone levels following completion of the Growth Circle program was revealed. Participants also reported a significant increase in safety-related empowerment, and supportive alliances with group members.

Conclusions

The Growth Circle peer support program was demonstrated to be effective. Further implementation and research into the Growth Circle program across Canada is recommended.
Insights into dielectric and thermal properties of polystyrene-zinc oxide nanocomposites: A multifaceted characterization approach
Authors: Rahimli A , Huseynova A , Musayeva N , Alekperov R , Jafarov M
Published: August 2024

In this study, zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO) were successfully incorporated into polystyrene (PS) using a combination of solution mixing and hot-pressing methods, yielding a range of PS/ZnO nanocomposites. Characterization using X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), impedance spectroscopy (IS), Raman spectroscopy (RS), thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) revealed distinct features. XRD analysis of nanocomposites showed both weak and high-intensity peaks at different scattering angles (2θ = 8°–11° and 20°–22°), indicating amorphous phases PS phases with varying sizes of nanoparticles. It has been proved that the addition of higher amounts of ZnO leads to the disappearance of the maximum of weak intensity in the studied substance (PS/10%ZnO), which is due to the formation of microcrystalline regions that lead to the formation of sharp maxima with high intensity. It was determined that the increase in the concentration of ZnO up tp 5 % volume content enhances the dielectric permeability (ε) and polarization capacity of polystyrene. It is believed that, depending on the ZnO concentration, the increased dielectric permeability and polarizability are attributed to phases with different charge densities at the boundaries between the ZnO nanoparticles and the matrix, which promotes additional polarization and contributes to the overall enhanced permittivity. This formation of interfacial boundaries is evident from the stepwise shape of the thermogravimetric (TG) curve with increasing ZnO content. The introduction of ZnO nanoparticles into PS results in the formation of new phases, altering the intensity and position of peaks observed at frequencies of 376 cm⁻1 and 485 cm⁻1 in the Raman scattering spectrum, partially shifting towards higher frequencies.
Youth With Specific Learning Disorders: Attitudes and Clinical Decision-Making Among Mental Health Trainees
Authors: Freeman Nola , Ebener Deborah J. , Cryderman Jacob , Boyd Maegan H.
Published: August 2024

Individuals with disabilities often face discrimination due to negative attitudes from others around them. This is true for youth with specific learning disorders (SLD), whose experiences of discrimination can increase the risk for developing mental health concerns. The current study explored whether the presence of an SLD comorbid with mental health concerns and attitudes toward SLD may have an association with clinical decision-making in counselor trainees. The study additionally investigated the role of contact and experience in attitudes and decision-making patterns. Seventy graduate students enrolled in mental health-related programs at a public university in the southern United States participated in the survey study. Findings showed that SLD had an association with clinical decision-making, with counselor trainees rating a vignette depicting a youth with SLD as having more severe mental health concerns than a vignette without an SLD.
Vital encounters: Violence, multiple (in)securities and the reproduction of ordinary life in Colombia
Authors: Dávila María Ximena
Published: August 2024

This article examines the relationship between violence, (in)security, and the reproduction of ordinary life, focusing on the significance of mundane survival practices and their connection to the emergence of scenarios of collective action and politicization. Based on the experiences of women from the Colombian Caribbean region, this article explores how ordinary interactions aimed at satisfying individual and urgent needs end up having community-level consequences and amplifying women’s political subjectivity. These interactions, I argue, can be conceptualized as vital encounters – seemingly uneventful encounters with the potential of transcending the short-lived temporality in which they exist, becoming crucial spatial-temporal instances for collective security-making. Conceptually, vital encounters contribute to a nuanced understanding of the manifold dimensions of (in)security that collide and converge in contexts with different manifestations of chronic violence. As such, vital encounters engender a sense of security that transcends crisis-centric paradigms, which tend to gravitate towards a warlike logic that sees security as the neutralization of a military enemy or the protection from armed violence.
Station Area Planning and Resilient Urban Transformation: Insights from Siliguri Through Stakeholders’ Perspectives
Authors: Banerjee Iman , Saha Apala
Published: August 2024

The present research seeks to outline a common ground between the notions of urban aesthetics and inclusive planning by taking Siliguri Town station and its adjacent market as the cases. This article attempts to redirect the study of urban geography of Siliguri city away from macro-level analysis of space, which sometimes generates crude generalized discussions about the spatial development of urban landscapes, on the side of a more vigorous contemplation and critical consideration on the scope of micro-level planning alternatives for the city. Toward this objective, the research methodology is grounded on the analysis of historical databases, intensive field observation, and qualitative interviews. Through ten in-depth semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders including local body representatives, railway officials, planners, investors, as well as civil society organizations in Siliguri City, this study seeks to emphasize the factors that stakeholders in the city consider to be essential for the micro-scale development of Siliguri Town station neighborhood and its long-term effects on a number of actors. Findings from the interviews indicate that Siliguri Town station and its neighboring markets, such as Mahabirsthan and Hawkers’ Corner, are continuously growing as the places of urban contestation and struggle. To critically address these contestations, the research argues for the resurgence of Siliguri Town station neighborhood as the key urban territorial form for collaboration among central, state, and local government authorities as well as private players. The principal outcomes of this research, therefore, are expected to provide some micro-level planning alternatives, which can pave the path for an inclusive and planned production of urban space around Siliguri Town railway station, representing the heart of Siliguri city.
Revisiting “Resistance to Change”: Recognizing the Tenuous Nature of a Taken-for-Granted Construct
Authors: Cable Mara S. , Bartunek Jean M.
Published: August 2024

The title of Coch and French’s influential article “Overcoming Resistance to Change” gave the term “resistance” a negative meaning and connotation that has been subsequently fostered by ongoing scholarship and practice regarding organizational change. In this article, we describe the understanding of resistance originally developed by Kurt Lewin, which had very different connotations for the term, and how Lewin's understanding was lost after his death. By reflecting on two publications by one of the authors that were based on an interpretive approach to organizational change and that did not need the term resistance, we show it is possible to interpret change agent initiatives and change recipient responses without using that label. Thus, we demonstrate how taking a revisionist history approach to a particular taken-for-granted construct salient to organizational change research can show how tenuous that construct actually is.
Bringing My Selves to Work: A Revisionist History of an Academic Career
Authors: Maitlis Sally
Published: August 2024

In this essay, I revisit a choice I made early in my career to develop and segment different facets of myself: my work as a professor of organizational behavior and my deep interest in the theory and practice of counselling psychology and psychotherapy. While these may appear relatively compatible, I experienced them as very different worlds and lived in them quite separately, afraid my engagement in one might infect or disrupt that in the other. Despite such efforts to keep my worlds apart, however, I found myself inadvertently integrating them—in my research, my teaching, and to some extent in my emerging clinical practice. Yet I held back from fully owning or sharing my growing commitment to counselling psychology. In this revisionist reflection, I consider some of the consequences of this set of choices and what might have been different had I made others.
Back to the Future: What We’d Change in “Social Identity Theory and the Organization” (Academy of Management Review, 1989, 14, 20–39)
Authors: Ashforth Blake E. , Mael Fred A.
Published: August 2024

We are both surprised by and proud of the impact our article has had on the study of organizational identification. But if we had the opportunity of a do-over—with the benefit of 35 years’ hindsight—we would focus proportionately: (a) less on how identification occurs and more on why it matters (because “why” helps explain the process of organizing along with key drivers and outcomes); (b) less on cognition and more on affect and internalization (because they are also central to the experience of identification); (c) less on the organization and more on other targets of identification (because they often matter even more); and (d) less on Social Identity Theory and more on other identity perspectives (because they would expand our tools for understanding identification). We also reflect on how a so-called “classic” article can both enable and constrain scholarly inquiry and on the promise of revisiting history.
Mechanical Problem Solving in Goffin’s Cockatoos—Towards Modeling Complex Behavior
Authors: Baum Manuel , Rössler Theresa , Osuna-Mascaró Antonio J. , Auersperg Alice , Brock Oliver
Published: August 2024

Goffin’s cockatoos ( Cacatua goffiniana) can solve a diverse set of mechanical problems, such as tool use, tool manufacture, and mechanical puzzles. However, the proximate mechanisms underlying this adaptive behavior are largely unknown. Similarly, engineering artificial agents that can as flexibly solve such mechanical puzzles is still a substantial challenge in areas such as robotics. This article is an interdisciplinary approach to study mechanical problem solving which we hope is relevant to both fields. The behavior we are studying results from the interaction between a complex environment (the lockbox) and different processes that govern the animals’ behavior. We therefore jointly analyze the parrots’ (1) engagement, (2) sensorimotor skill learning, and (3) action selection. We find that none of these aspects could solely explain the animals’ behavioral adaptation and that a plausible model of proximate mechanisms must jointly address these aspects. We accompany this analysis with a discussion of methods to identify such mechanisms. At the same time, we argue, it is implausible to identify a detailed model from the limited behavioral data of just a few studies. Instead, we advocate for an incremental approach to model building in which one first establishes constraints on proximate mechanisms before specific, detailed models are formulated. To illustrate this idea, we apply it to the data presented here. We argue that as the field attempts to find mechanistic explanations for increasingly complex behaviors, such alternative modeling approaches will be necessary.
Dyadic Perspectives on Predictors of Marital Satisfaction in Heterosexual Japanese Couples
Authors: Kurosawa Tai
Published: August 2024

Predictions of marital satisfaction can be used to address individual well-being and family problems. This study investigated the factors predicting marital satisfaction from a dyadic perspective. Relational support, relationship-focused coping, and internal stressors were independent variables. I conducted a cross-sectional postal survey in 2019. In all, 89 heterosexual Japanese couples were analyzed. The results indicated that higher relational support and lower internal stressors predicted higher marital satisfaction for the respondent but not for the partner. These findings indicate the “closed” nature of relational support and internal stressors. Moreover, the frequency of the active engagement of the mother predicted higher marital satisfaction of the father. The positive effects of relational support and the adverse effects of internal stressors affected marital satisfaction at an intradyadic level. This study also demonstrated the need to develop partners’ coping skills, especially in terms of active engagement.
Exploratory Literature Review on Shared Leadership to Aid Collaboration and Function Allocation in Human-Autonomy Teams
Authors: More Anirudh , Lau Nathan Ka Ching
Published: August 2024

This research explores the potential of shared leadership as a complementary approach to function allocation within Human-Autonomy Teams (HATs), particularly in large, multi-agent contexts. Through a literature review of shared leadership in all-human organizational contexts, conducted using three databases, Web of Science, Engineering Village, and Google Scholar, the article identifies and outlines two mechanisms in shared leadership—decentralization and mutual influence—that appear promising for improving team processes and outcomes in HATs. This research underscores the need for developing frameworks or engineering guidance incorporating these mechanisms to enhance adaptability and performance in complex and dynamic environments.
Non-linear Association of CAR with all-Cause and Cardiovascular Mortality in Coronary Heart Disease: A Retrospective Cohort Study from NHANES
Authors: Ye Ming , Yu Guangzan , Han Fusheng , He Hua
Published: August 2024

Objective

To investigate the relationship between C-reactive protein and albumin ratios (CAR) and all-cause and cardiovascular disease(CVD)-specific mortality in individuals with coronary heart disease(CHD).

Methods

The data from 1895 patients were extracted from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) database from 1999–2010. We used weighted COX regression analyses to explore the association between CAR, all-cause, and CVD-specific mortality. Restricted cubic spline(RCS) regression models and threshold effects analysis were used to analyze nonlinear relationships. Subgroup analyses were also performed to explore these relationships further.

Results

During a mean follow-up of 115.78 months, 61.48% of deaths occurred, and 21.85% were due to CVD. After adjusting for potential confounders, each 1-unit increase in CAR was associated with a 65% increase in all-cause mortality and a 67% increase in CVD-specific mortality. The RCS model revealed a non-linear association between CAR and the risk of all-cause mortality and CVD-specific mortality in CHD patients (all non-linear P < 0.001). Threshold effects analysis identified inflection points in regression models of all-cause mortality (0.04, P < 0.001) and CVD-specific mortality (0.05, P = 0.0024). The interaction tests found sex, smoking and diabetes influenced the association between CAR and all-cause mortality and sex, smoking and HF influenced its association with CVD-specific mortality (all P < 0.05).

Conclusion

There was a nonlinear association between CAR and all-cause mortality and CVD mortality in patients with CHD, with a higher hazard ratio before the inflection point. Sex, smoking, diabetes, and HF might have an effect on the associations between CAR and death risks.
Ultrasound-guided modified dynamic needle tip positioning technique for distal radial artery catheterization: A randomized controlled trial
Authors: Liang Yupeng , Liu Peizhong , Wei Chao , Li Wenjin , Li Chuangpeng , Lai Tianwei , Peng Se , Xu Jiamin , Zhang Hezhen , Li Pusheng , Li Shaohui
Published: August 2024

Introduction:

The distal radial artery presents a particular challenge for puncture and catheterization due to its diminutive size, tortuous path, and tendency to spasm, increasing the risk of procedural failure and injury. Ultrasound guidance improves success rates and reduces risk in radial artery catheterization. This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of a refined dynamic needle tip positioning technique for distal radial artery access.

Methods:

One hundred twelve patients were randomized to either the modified dynamic needle tip positioning technique (MDNTP) or palpation guidance groups (palpation group), each with 56 participants. The primary outcomes were the success rate of the initial puncture and overall puncture success rate, while secondary outcomes included procedural time and complications such as puncture site hematoma and radial artery occlusion within 24 h.

Results:

The MDNTP group exhibited superior initial puncture success (71.43% vs 46.43%, p < 0.05) and fewer puncture attempts (median 1 (1, 2) vs 2 (1, 4), p < 0.05), resulting in a higher overall puncture success rate (98.21% vs 87.50%, p = 0.028). Notably, sheath insertion times were significantly shorter (17 (12, 21) s vs 57 (32, 100) s, p = 0.001) and the Sheath insertion success rate was higher (96.43% vs 82.14%, p = 0.015) in the MDNTP group. Furthermore, the incidence of puncture site hematomas was reduced (5.36% vs 19.64%, p = 0.022), although puncture time was longer (60 (28, 116) s vs 40 (15, 79) s, p = 0.033). Despite these differences, total procedural time and the incidence of radial artery occlusion at 24 h postoperatively were comparable between the two groups.

Conclusion:

The MDNTP technique boosts the success of distal radial artery puncture and catheterization, reducing the risk of complications associated with the procedure.
Automated Lung and Colon Cancer Classification Using Histopathological Images
Authors: Ji Jie , Li Jirui , Zhang Weifeng , Geng Yiqun , Dong Yuejiao , Huang Jiexiong , Hong Liangli
Published: August 2024

Cancer is the leading cause of mortality in the world. And among all cancers lung and colon cancers are 2 of the most common causes of death and morbidity. The aim of this study was to develop an automated lung and colon cancer classification system using histopathological images. An automated lung and colon classification system was developed using histopathological images from the LC25000 dataset. The algorithm development included data splitting, deep neural network model selection, on the fly image augmentation, training and validation. The core of the algorithm was a Swin Transform V2 model, and 5-fold cross validation was used to evaluate model performance. The model performance was evaluated using Accuracy, Kappa, confusion matrix, precision, recall, and F1. Extensive experiments were conducted to compare the performances of different neural networks including both mainstream convolutional neural networks and vision transformers. The Swin Transform V2 model achieved a 1 (100%) on all metrics, which is the first single model to obtain perfect results on this dataset. The Swin Transformer V2 model has the potential to be used to assist pathologists in classifying lung and colon cancers using histopathology images.
Behavior change techniques to increase physical activity among older adults living in long-term care facilities: A systematic review
Authors: Shi Ying , Xie Tingting , Xie Xiyan , Shao Lu , Lao Aidi , Zhang June
Published: August 2024

Despite the health benefits of physical activity, many older adults living in long-term care facilities lead sedentary lifestyles and do not meet minimum physical activity recommendations. Determining the behavior change techniques (BCTs) used in physical activity interventions can help us understand the underlying mechanisms by which behavioral change is achieved. The purpose of this systematic review was to identify and evaluate BCTs in physical activity interventions for the elderly residents. Six electronic databases were searched and 15 eligible studies were retained. Nine promising BCTs associated with physical activity promotion among elderly residents were identified: credible source, social support (unspecified), goal setting (outcome), goal setting (behavior), demonstration of the behavior, instruction on how to perform a behavior, self-monitoring of behavior, self-monitoring of outcome(s) of behavior, and adding objects to the environment. Future research is encouraged to select and tailor these BCTs to the specific needs and preferences of the target population.
Cyber toy stories: The broken promises and broken parts of interactive sex toys
Authors: Osipova Ekat , Badieijaryani Azadeh , Spiel Katta
Published: August 2024

Interactive sex toys shape how we understand sexual intimacies and pleasures on an individual and societal scale. Yet analytical and critical research on actual devices is scant. To help address this, we conducted an in-depth Feminist Content Analysis of interactive products offered by one Dutch manufacturer, including text and video material that discusses and presents those products. Applying the theoretical lens of technosexual scripts, we show how one of the largest industry stakeholders engages in promising a utopian sex-future, while upholding and re-inscribing normative scripts for how sexual encounters with others and oneself can be technologically mediated. Our analysis illustrates the far-reaching consequences of skewed (and unkept) promises of safety, health and optimization, which implicates technologists as well as marketing strategists.
Online sex workers’ absence from gig economy discourse: The politics of seeing in the neoliberal sexual agenda
Authors: West Josie Rachel
Published: August 2024

The invisibility of online sex workers in gig economy discourse over the last decade taps into the historic absence of women from public spheres of debate. Despite this erasure, ‘camgirls’ are the original gig economy workers, with online sexual markets dating back to 1980s. By adapting feminist analysis of the male gaze, I offer workerist inquiry into the politics of seeing. This draws much needed attention to the experience of both women and ideological power in class composition analysis. To account for the absence of women from gig economy research and definitions, the focus of this article is on the gendered and feminised dynamics of invisibility. Specificity of the top-down function of ideology offers more detailed theoretical understanding of the political tensions between invisibility and visibility in the sex industry. This shifts the methods of workers’ inquiry to a more level focus on both top-down and bottom-up dynamics of class struggle. I argue the neoliberal sexual agenda controls a politics of seeing with three dominant gazes: the carceral gaze, the paternal gaze and the algorithmic gaze. Where the gaze is directed has a significant impact on the {un}freedom and {in}visibility of neoliberal subjects in the sex industry. However, class composition analysis from-below exposes a radical politics of visibility and freedom. Sex workers struggle tirelessly to be seen and creatively recentre the value of pleasure in the human experience. These struggles are critical given the United Kingdom’s current drive towards criminalisation. FOSTA-SESTA and the Online Safety Act 2023 will continue to make sexual services difficult to market and sell safely online. This has violent consequences for the lives and freedoms of this extremely marginalised population.
Woman, Life, Freedom: Revolting space invaders in Iran
Authors: Alami Fariman Mahsa , Hakiminejad Ahmadreza
Published: August 2024

The death of the 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman, Jina (Mahsa) Amini, on 16 September 2022 while in the custody of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s notorious morality police, led to nationwide mobilisations in Iran. Women were at the forefront of these protests, leading a movement that emphasised opposition to the production of space and place as gendered by the state apparatuses of the Iranian regime. This article argues that the state systematically and institutionally unmarks the female body in public space in order to make it as invisible as possible. In marking 20 years since the publication of Space Invaders by Nirmal Puwar, the concepts of invisibility, outsiderness, being ‘out of place’ and ‘space invaders’ are revisited in this article, within the political geographies of Iran. Furthering the concept, we also pair together ‘space invaders’ with the acts of invading space as political acts of intervention. Shedding light on the bodies ‘out of place’ within the Woman, Life, Freedom protests in Iran, we discuss how this mobilisation created a new generation of ‘space invaders’ who no longer negotiate with those in power, but exercise their right to choose what to wear when occupying public spaces. Through protest, activism, performances and other mundane acts of everyday resistance, we show how space invaders negate the authority of the state apparatuses, defying conventions and boundaries, and create new codes for a politically and culturally constructed version of ‘woman’ in Iran.
Does the Dual Representation System of Player Agents in International Football Benefit Players? An Economic Analysis
Authors: Rockerbie Duane W.
Published: August 2024

It is common in international football for the same agent to be paid both commission fees by the purchasing club for negotiating a player salary and a transfer fee. This dual representation creates a potential conflict of interest for the agent. The agent may not negotiate the highest salary for the player if a higher salary reduces the likelihood of a successful transfer by lowering the resources available for the transfer fee. We construct a gamble model of the transfer process and simulate the ex-ante agent commissions rates, expected player salary, transfer fee and club profit under the assumption of dual representation where the buying club pays all agent commissions. The assumption that the quality of the agent increases with the commission rate is essential to the model. Both the player and the club are better off when the club pays both commissions, however the agent is worse off.
Exosomes in Renal Cell Cancer: Diagnostic and Therapeutic Nanovehicles
Authors: Boussios Stergios , Ovsepian Saak V.
Published: August 2024

Early diagnosis is crucial for enhancing the survival rate of renal cell cancer patients, and exosomes present potential advantages in this area. Their small size, high mobility, and lipid bilayer structure enable exosomes to cross biological membranes easily, protecting the bioactive cargo within from degradation. Exosomes significantly influence the invasion and metastasis of RCC, and they also contribute to tumor drug resistance and immune evasion.
Investigating market trends and access implications for adalimumab following the loss of patent exclusivity: Lessons learned from biosimilar uptake in the U.S. biologic market
Authors: Visingardi Joseph , Sherwood Bryan
Published: August 2024

Biologics, including adalimumab, are some of the most expensive medications in the United States. This study set out to predict the changes in pricing and access to adalimumab after losing patent exclusivity by investigating market trends for other biosimilars that have lost exclusivity. Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Medicare spending data from 2017 to 2021 was utilized to investigate market trends for several branded biologics and their biosimilars. Changes in cost per unit, total beneficiaries on the brand and change in total beneficiaries on brand or biosimilar were analyzed. Over this time frame with no competitor, branded adalimumab had a 72% cost per unit increase and 23% increase in total beneficiaries. Branded infliximab with competitors had a 53% cost reduction, 26% reduction of beneficiaries on the branded medication and a 1% decrease in beneficiaries on any form of infliximab, branded or biosimilar. Likewise, most other medications investigated showed a reduction in cost per unit and number of beneficiaries on the brand with a mixed trend in overall beneficiaries on any form of the medication. These trends indicate that biologics losing exclusivity, such as adalimumab, lead to a cost decrease with a loss in market share as expected. However, it is unknown if accessibility and affordability of these medications is changing as a corresponding increase in total beneficiaries on any form of the medication is not seen as might be expected with lower cost alternatives entering the market.
Stroke Measures Analysis of pRognostic Testing—Mortality nomogram predicts long-term mortality after ischemic stroke
Authors: Kim Tae Jung , Lee Ji Sung , Oh Mi Sun , Kim Ji-Woo , Park Soo-Hyun , Yu Kyung-Ho , Lee Byung-Chul , Yoon Byung-Woo , Ko Sang-Bae
Published: August 2024

Background:

Predicting long-term mortality is essential for understanding prognosis and guiding treatment decisions in patients with ischemic stroke. Therefore, this study aimed to develop and validate the method for predicting 1- and 5-year mortality after ischemic stroke.

Methods:

We used data from the linked dataset comprising the administrative claims database of the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service and the Clinical Research Center for Stroke registry data for patients with acute stroke within 7 days of onset. The outcome was all-cause mortality following ischemic stroke. Clinical variables linked to long-term mortality following ischemic stroke were determined. A nomogram was constructed based on the Cox’s regression analysis. The performance of the risk prediction model was evaluated using the Harrell’s C-index.

Results:

This study included 42,207 ischemic stroke patients, with a mean age of 66.6 years and 59.2% being male. The patients were randomly divided into training (n = 29,916) and validation (n = 12,291) groups. Variables correlated with long-term mortality in patients with ischemic stroke, including age, sex, body mass index, stroke severity, stroke mechanisms, onset-to-door time, pre-stroke dependency, history of stroke, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, coronary artery disease, chronic kidney disease, cancer, smoking, fasting glucose level, previous statin therapy, thrombolytic therapy, such as intravenous thrombolysis and endovascular recanalization therapy, medications, and discharge modified Rankin Scale were identified as predictors. We developed a predictive system named Stroke Measures Analysis of pRognostic Testing—Mortality (SMART-M) by constructing a nomogram using the identified features. The C-statistics of the nomogram in the developing and validation groups were 0.806 (95% confidence interval (CI), 0.802–0.812) and 0.803 (95% CI, 0.795–0.811), respectively.

Conclusion:

The SMART-M method demonstrated good performance in predicting long-term mortality in ischemic stroke patients. This method may help physicians and family members understand the long-term outcomes and guide the appropriate decision-making process.
Rebounds in football: A systematic investigation of characteristics of goals scored after rebounded balls in English Premier League seasons 2012/2013 to 2018/2019
Authors: Litwitz Kevin , Memmert Daniel , Wunderlich Fabian
Published: August 2024

The literature on systematic aspects of goal scoring in football is rich, while little is known about random influences. This study focuses on an unsystematic element of goal scoring, namely rebounds, where a shot that bounces back from another player or the goal creates contested opportunities. Aspects including causes, match situation, player positioning and pitch zones were investigated for 554 rebound goals from seven seasons (2012/2013–2018/2019) of the English Premier League. Rebounds were predominantly caused by short distance and defensive errors, with goalkeepers playing a crucial role. Interestingly, the superiority of home teams and stronger teams to score significantly more goals than away teams and weaker teams can also be observed for rebound goals. Rebound goals are particularly prevalent in zones close to the goal, more prevalent after corners than non-rebound goals and associated with a high number of players in the penalty box. Overall, high similarities exist between rebound and non-rebound goals, while differences in match situations and spatial patterns suggest unique characteristics of rebound goals. These results are in line with the notion of systematicity and randomness concurrently contributing to success in football. More research appears useful to further disentangle the influence of both factors.