bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
New Insights into Multiyear La Niña Dynamics from the Perspective of a Near-Annual Ocean Process
Authors: Liu Fangyu , Zhang Wenjun , Jin Fei-Fei , Jiang Feng , Boucharel Julien , Hu Suqiong
Published: July 2023

El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) exhibits highly asymmetric temporal evolutions between its warm and cold phases. While El Niño events usually terminate rapidly after their mature phase and show an already established transition into the cold phase by the following summer, many La Niña events tend to persist throughout the second year and even reintensify in the ensuing winter. While many mechanisms were proposed, no consensus has been reached yet and the essential physical processes responsible for the multiyear behavior of La Niña remain to be illustrated. Here, we show that a unique ocean physical process operates during multiyear La Niña events. It is characterized by rapid double reversals of zonal ocean current anomalies in the equatorial Pacific and exhibits a fairly regular near-annual periodicity. Mixed-layer heat budget analyses reveal comparable contributions of the thermocline and zonal advective feedbacks to the SST anomaly growth in the first year of multiyear La Niña events; however, the zonal advective feedback plays a dominant role in the reintensification of La Niña events. Furthermore, the unique ocean process is identified to be closely associated with the preconditioning heat content state in the central to eastern equatorial Pacific before the first year of La Niña, which has been shown in previous studies to play an active role in setting the stage for the future reintensification of La Niña. Despite systematic underestimation, the above oceanic process can be broadly reproduced by state-of-the-art climate models, providing a potential additional source of predictability for the multiyear La Niña events.
Prevalence and Spatial Distribution of Gastroschisis in an Industrial Watershed
Authors: Minor Jacob , Wells Amy , Orminski Krysta , Thompson Stephanie N. , Annie Frank , Robinson Lindsey , Calhoun Byron C. , Haricharan Ramanathapura N.
Published: July 2023

The relationship between the congenital defect of gastroschisis and environmental toxins is poorly understood. We examined gastroschisis incidence, risk factors, and spatial association in a geographic region with known environmental pollution and hazardous waste sites. An observational study of fetal and neonatal gastroschisis diagnosed from 1/1/2006 to 12/31/2020 was conducted in a southern West Virginia (WV) tertiary care hospital. Emerging hot spot analysis and Ripley’s K-Function examined the spatial relationship between gastroschisis cases and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Federal Registry Sites (FRS). A total of 63 gastroschisis cases provided a prevalence rate of 14.6 per 10000 live births. Gastroschisis was associated with younger maternal age, decreased pre-pregnancy BMI, and increased maternal tobacco use. Relative to FRS sites, spatial clusters were identified with emerging hot spot analysis. Observed Ripley K was higher at all measured bands. Results suggest a potential geographic association between gastroschisis cases and EPA-designated hazardous waste sites.
Analysing Citizen-centric Administration in the Context of Assam with Special Reference to Assam Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Scheme
Authors: Das Phulmoni , Hazarika Robin
Published: July 2023

Citizen-centric administration is one of the significant components of good governance. Public administration in India has been trying to provide different measures for the welfare of marginalised and disadvantaged sections of the society. Tea-garden workers of Assam are significantly in a disadvantaged position since the colonial period. Low wages, poverty, illiteracy and poor socio-economic conditions of the tea-garden workers of Assam have further pushed them into a marginalised state. Therefore, the Government of Assam has adopted different welfare mechanisms for the upliftment of the tea-garden workers of the State. It is in this context that the present study tries to analyse the role of the Assam Chah Bagicha Dhan Puraskar Scheme (Tea Garden Financial Incentive Scheme) primarily aimed at financial inclusion of the tea-garden workers of Assam as a step-forward to citizen-centric administration. This article also highlights the perception and challenges of the tea-garden workers while accessing the financial inclusion measure in their respective tea estates.
The Nature and Implications of Lifestyle Transitions for Persistent Heroin Use
Authors: Morgan James , Bennett Trevor
Published: July 2023

Background

While existing research has tended to focus on specific drug user groups, the current paper explores how people who use heroin might move between such groups over time. Building on previous research that has identified types of heroin-using lifestyles, we investigate the nature and extent of lifestyle transitions from one type to another. In doing so, we examine the implications that lifestyle transitions might have for drug use as well as harm-reduction strategies and treatment.

Methods

The research was based on a sample of 51 people who use heroin interviewed for a study into persistent heroin use, 38 of whom provided data relating to transitions between heroin-using lifestyles.

Results

Participants in the study explained changes in their lifestyles through three distinct narrative themes: grabbing onto ‘hooks for change’, ‘taking an opportunity’, and ‘losing control’. The findings also show how, through case studies, the nature and implications of lifestyle transitions can be wide ranging.

Conclusion

While such explanations for change have been identified in criminological and substance use literature, they have not, to our knowledge, been used to understand changes within heroin-using careers. Further theoretical work to develop these concepts and advance understanding of persistent heroin use is encouraged, as is using these concepts to inform policy and practice.
Dry sliding wear and mechanical investigations on flyash particulates - Lapinus fibre - polyamide 66 polymer composites: Ranking analysis using hybrid Analytic Hierarchy Process-R method
Authors: Sharma Ravi Prakash , Kumar Mukesh , Kumar Ashiwani
Published: July 2023

This research work examines the physical, mechanical, thermal, thermo-mechanical, and dry sliding wear performance of hybrid waste flyash particulates (F-class; 0-20 wt% @ step of 5%) – Lapinus fibres (fixed 10 wt%) reinforced Polyamide 66 polymer composites fabricated using the twin screw extruder and injection moulding machine. This follows worn surface morphology to understand the prevailing wear mechanisms responsible for surface damage during sliding. Optimization of control parameters and identification of their order of significance in the dry sliding wear process is performed using Taguchi’s design of experiments and analysis of variance (ANOVA). Further, ranking optimization of the hybrid composite specimens based on their performance metrics is analysed using the hybrid AHP-R method. It has been observed that the hybrid composite specimens having 10 wt% flyash particulates optimize the overall performance metrics; therefore, it may be recommended to fabricate parts or components for industrial usage. It tends to have an experimental density of 1.18 g/cc, voids content of 7.11%, water absorption of 3.87%, tensile strength of 105.95 MPa, flexural strength of 144.86 MPa, Rockwell hardness of 58.12 HRM, fracture toughness of 4.11 MPa√m, Impact strength of 1.86 J, thermal conductivity of 1.08 W/mK, and specific wear rate of 1.12 × 10−3 mm3/Nm. This observation was attuned to the ranking analysis using the hybrid AHP-R method.
Quality of Individualized Education Programs for Children With Visual Impairments and Autism Spectrum Disorder
Authors: Williams Marian E. , Johnson Marie E. , Lavian Melody E. , O’Neil Sharon H. , Borchert Mark
Published: July 2023

Introduction: Children with optic nerve hypoplasia (ONH) frequently have co-occurring developmental disorders, and children with both visual impairments and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have complex educational needs. Research Question: Do the individualized education programs (IEPs) of children with visual impairment and ASD comport with national educational guidelines? Methods: Participants were 13 children enrolled in a larger longitudinal study of ONH. Children were assessed for ASD, verbal intellectual functioning, and level of visual impairment. An IEP coding manual was developed by the authors and used to compare the IEP goals, services, and accommodations to national guidelines for the education of children with visual impairment and children with ASD. Results: Key findings indicated that needs in the domains of academics, assistive technology, and orientation and mobility were addressed, but other crucial areas of development such as social skills, social-emotional and behavioral needs, and skills for independent living were commonly overlooked. Discussion: It is recommended that IEP teams pay greater attention to the complex range of needs of children with visual impairments and that national guidelines for the education of children with visual impairment and ASD be incorporated into federal special education law. Implications for Practitioners: National guidelines for the educational needs of children with visual impairments and with ASD provide important guidance for IEP teams when developing goals, services, and supports, and efforts should be made to ensure educators and parents are aware of them. Children who have both visual impairments and ASD have complex educational needs that are often not fully addressed in IEPs. In particular, social-emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs may be overlooked by IEP teams, and consistent inclusion of school psychologists or other mental health professionals on IEP teams may lead to greater attention to these areas of need.
A Throwing Knife Injury to the Neck: Management of a Unique Airway Situation
Authors: Babi Mohamad , Tarter Zachary W. , Shutt Travis , Cash Elizabeth , Jorgensen Jeffrey
Published: July 2023

Penetrating neck injuries (PNIs) can present as a simple wound or can be complicated by a disruption of the airway or associated vasculature. As such, stabilization of the vasculature and the airway is paramount. Here we present a case in which a hemodynamically stable 28-year-old female presents with a PNI involving the oropharynx and laryngopharynx.
Eating alone as psychological self-care: How the younger generation in Let’s Eat survives in neoliberal South Korea
Authors: Song Hojin
Published: July 2023

TV dramas that focus on food and eating reflect the popular trend of single culture, with a rising number of single-person households among the younger generation in South Korea. Analyzing Let’s Eat (tvN), the South Korean food drama series that specifically focus on eating scenes, this paper uses the framework of survivalism and the popular discourse of healing to examine how eating alone as a social and cultural phenomenon represents the psychological turn in neoliberalism. In its three seasons, Let’s Eat reflects how eating alone becomes a practice of endurance and resilience that encourages the younger generation to stay positive, even during an enervated state of mind, to bounce back, and to ultimately spring forward. I argue that Let’s Eat reflects how survivalism especially requires the marginalized population of women in precarious employment to reflect and grow confidence without considering the problems of structural inequality. Let’s Eat shows the younger generation’s struggle and lack of societal support, perpetuating neoliberalism’s focus on individual effort and blaming individuals for their enervation.
Theories of capitalism and coloniality in world systems analysis, the Dar es Salaam School of history and the New Indian Labour History
Authors: Plys Kristin
Published: July 2023

How might we productively synthesize Marxist and postcolonial thought in order to bring questions of race and class, and imperialism and capitalism, into the same frame of analysis? In this short comment, I show how the Dar es Salam School of anti-colonial history, along with the New Indian Labour History inspired by the Dar School, can creatively bring together theoretical frameworks of different epistemes for a productive synthesis.
Bringing life's work to market: Frontiers, framings, and frictions in marketised social reproduction
Authors: Rosenman Emily , Loomis Jessa , Cohen Dan , Baker Tom
Published: July 2023

The introduction to this theme issue discusses a series of papers examining the increasing marketisation of social reproduction and its effects on systems that sustain human and social life. This is done by examining the frontiers, framings, and frictions that arise when market systems are constructed to enable capital accumulation in the realm of social reproduction. Frontiers identify the expansion of market logic into new areas, framings explore how financial actors attempt to bring the logic of social reproduction within the purview of market competition, and frictions highlight the various tensions that generate resistance to the roll out of market logics. Through establishing these three areas, we argue that both market structures and systems of social reproduction should be understood as geographically variegated and, at times, uncertain. This variegation necessitates an understanding of marketised social reproduction as forged through complex articulations of market and non-market logics. Using cases from surrogacy to smart electricity meters, the papers in this theme issue illustrate that while these articulations may generate benefits for some individuals, households and communities, such processes of marketisation can introduce new layers of inequity and undermine the ethical relations and social commitments that sustain life—in the service of enabling accumulation.
Estimate of the wind energy needed to replace natural gas with hydrogen, and electrify heat pumps and automobiles in Massachusetts
Authors: Cimorelli Jack , Hammerstrom Brian , Niezrecki Christopher , Jin Xinfang
Published: July 2023

To meet 2050 decarbonization goals, Massachusetts will not be able to rely on carbon intensive energy sources (e.g. natural gas and gasoline) and hydrogen has been considered a replacement. To produce hydrogen without carbon emissions, renewable energy sources will be used to power electrolyzer stacks. However, renewable energy sources will also be in high demand for other energy sectors, such as automobiles and electrification. This paper estimates the amount of wind energy needed to replace natural gas with hydrogen and electrify automobiles. Comparisons are also made for a scenario in which heat pumps are used to replace natural gas. These energy sectors represent the bulk of energy consumed within Massachusetts and are of high interest to stakeholders globally. The analysis reveals the daunting amount of wind energy needed for replacement and that it is highly unlikely for hydrogen to replace natural gas in time to meet the state’s climate goals.
Cooperative control strategy for frequency regulation of wind-pumped storage system considering wind speed partition
Authors: Luo Yuanxiang , Feng Yang , Liu Cheng , Guan Ming , Cai Linshu
Published: July 2023

In order to solve the problem of system inertia reduction and frequency response degradation caused by large-scale wind power interconnection, a strategy is proposed. This strategy incorporates a joint system model composed of doubly-fed wind turbine (DFWT) and variable speed pumped storage (VSPS), utilizing a fuzzy controller to dynamically determine the virtual inertia coefficient of the wind-pumped storage system based on the frequency state of the system, and adjusts the frequency-regulation participation factor of the DFWT in real time according to the operating conditions of it. The simulation results show that the proposed strategy can not only significantly improve the frequency nadir, speed up the system frequency and each generating unit in the system to restore to steady state, but also avoid the second frequency drop (SFD) caused by the wind farm out of primary frequency regulation (PFR), and improve the stability of the system frequency.
The effect of acute urinary retention on the results of transurethral resection of the prostate
Authors: Baran Caner
Published: July 2023

Introduction:

Acute urinary retention (AUR) is one of the most severe symptoms of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). There are some studies in the literature describing the risk factors for the development of AUR in BPH patients. However, the studies that summarize the effect of AUR on Transurethral resection of Prostate (TUR-P) surgery results are limited. The aim of this study is to assess the effect of AUR on TUR-P results.

Methods:

Between 2018 and 2020, patients who underwent TUR-P for AUR or lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) were included in the study. The inclusion criteria were, men over 50 years old with a BPH diagnosis and who underwent monopolar TUR-P by a single surgeon. The exclusion criteria were; patients who had prostate cancer, multiple sclerosis, or neurogenic bladder were diagnosed or had previous lower urinary tract surgeries such as TUR-P, TUR-Bladder, Urethrotomy, had a chronic indwelling catheter, and patients who did not accept immediate TUR-P and preferred trial without catheter (TWOC) protocol. The age, PSA, prostate volume, pre- and post-operative flow rates, duration of hospitalization, and complications were recorded. Two groups were constituted for comparison such as AUR and Elective Group and p values <0.05 were considered significant.

Results:

There were 14 and 46 patients for AUR and Elective Groups respectively. The age, pre-operative prostate volume, free and total PSA values, postoperative complication rate, and re-hospitalization rate were significantly higher in the AUR-Group. However, there were no differences between groups in terms of pre-operative medication, duration of hospitalization, and post-operative uroflow maximum flow rate.

Discussion:

Patients who underwent TUR-P after AUR have a higher risk for complications and re-hospitalization. Care should be taken in these patients and patients should be warned about the risks.
Review of the global evolution of regulations on single-use plastics and lessons drawn for Canada
Authors: Ahmadi Leila , Shadbahr Jalil , Shim Gene Woojin , Hawco Michael
Published: July 2023

Plastic pollution is a global problem and many countries are strengthening their regulations to mitigate the related environmental degradation and health risks and to support the development and deployment of circular economy for various types of plastics. As Canada also develops its strategy for regulating single-use plastic as one element of the plastic pollution, aligned federal and provincial policies are essential. This study presents an analysis of existing and emerging policies to provide guidance on Canada’s future regulations. Qualitative and quantitative data regarding plastic regulations were gathered from similar countries including Australia, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the United States and relevant scientific articles. Analysis was also conducted of current Canadian regulations that both impact and guide the path for plastic regulation, international examples provided guidance for future Canadian regulations. The analysis found that there is a need for public education on the gravity of plastic pollution to gain their support; for establishing pioneering provinces or cities in plastic regulations to learn from and provide other cities with support; and to start with banning items with available alternatives, to be followed by phasing out other items that are more difficult to replace. The study also showed potential areas of improvement in impact data. The need for reliable regulatory performance data against a baseline scenario; consistency in methodology; and proper scoping to reduce the risk of displacement or exclusivity in policy were identified.
Sexual Violence-Related Stigma, Mental Health, and Treatment-Seeking: A Multimodal Assessment in a Population-Based Study of Young Adults
Authors: Mellen Emily J. , Hatzenbuehler Mark L.
Published: July 2023

Sexual violence (SV) is a stigmatized form of trauma, yet the stigma experiences of those reporting SV are often assumed rather than explicitly measured. We adapted a measure that quantified three key features of SV stigma across three levels: negative self-image (individual), disclosure concerns (interpersonal), and concerns about public attitudes (structural). We administered this measure to a population-based sample of Swedish young adults ( N = 453) who reported a history of either sexual assault (SA) or intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV). Among both groups, 89% endorsed at least one item on the stigma scale. Experiences of SV-related stigma were associated with significantly higher symptoms of generalized anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder, with greater perceived need for mental health treatment, and with more shame (measured implicitly via a reaction-time task). Experiences of stigma were negatively associated with symptoms of alcohol misuse. Results suggest that exposure to SV stigma may be a critical, but often overlooked, correlate of post-assault recovery.
Racial and Ethnic Differences in Awareness and Prevalence of Unidentified Cardiovascular Risk Factors Among Health System Employees
Authors: Makaryus Amgad N. , Rosen Stacey E. , Kang Leslie , Shaw Leslee J. , Nash Beth , Gajer Reva , Coppolino Whitney , Mieres Jennifer H.
Published: July 2023

Purpose

To evaluate awareness about cardiovascular (CVD) risk among a racially and ethnically diverse cohort of health system employees.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

Voluntary survey of health system employees during an annual CVD awareness and screening event.

Subjects

759 health system employees.

Measures

We performed initial CVD screening measurements (blood pressure, body mass index) and collected patient-reported answers to questions about their own CVD risk factors (hypertension, high cholesterol, diabetes, overweight, smoking, physical inactivity and family history of CVD) and whether or not they believed that CVD is preventable. Subjects were offered in-depth follow-up CVD screening (lipid panel, hs-CRP, hemoglobin A1c), if interested.

Analysis

Continuous measures were compared across sex and racial/ethnic subsets using a t test and analysis of variance technique. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate the employee’s willingness to undergo further comprehensive screening.

Results

African American, Hispanic, and Asian employees were younger than white employees ( P < .0001). More than one-quarter of African Americans reported a history of hypertension, a higher rate than for other subgroups ( P = .001). The rate of self-reported diabetes was highest in African American and Asian employees ( P = .001). African Americans had a 54% reduced odds of electing to pursue follow-up CVD screening (odds ratio: .46, 95% confidence interval = .24−.91, P = .025).

Conclusion

Presence of CVD risk factors and knowledge of their importance differ among racial and ethnic groups of health system employees in our cohort as does interest in pursuing follow-up screening once risk factors are identified. Development of evidence-based customization strategies by racial and ethnic group may improve understanding of and interest in CVD risk factors and advance prevention. The data from this study will inform future research and strategies for employee health promotion.
Socialist gerontology? Or gerontology during socialism? The Bulgarian case
Authors: Koleva Daniela , Petrov Ignat
Published: July 2023

This article focuses on the emergence and development of gerontology in communist Bulgaria, looking at the interplay of various circumstances: scientific and political, national and international. We ask if an apparently ideologically neutral field of knowledge such as gerontology may have had some intrinsic qualities imbued by the regimes of knowledge production under a communist regime. More specifically, we ask to what extent and in which ways the production of such specialized, putatively universal knowledge could be ideologically driven and/or politically controlled. To this end, we unpack the ideological, political, institutional, and epistemic circumstances that may have affected the emergence, the institutionalization, and the paradigm of Bulgarian gerontology. We focus in on the social actors, both individuals and organizations, and the roles they played in the process, as well as on international networking and the uses of international contacts and agendas.
Behavior takes form: Tracing the film image in scientific research
Authors: Curtis Scott
Published: July 2023

The use of motion pictures for research has a long history, of course, but beyond documenting a phenomenon and then projecting it for demonstration, scientists using this technology spent much energy figuring out how to extract information from a strip of film. Understanding film (or audiovisual) analysis is therefore necessary to grasping the relationship between an object of study, moving-image technology, and scientific evidence. This article explores one common technique within that history of film analysis: projecting a frame of the motion picture and then tracing the object of study onto paper, which was especially important for behavioral sciences such as developmental psychology or ethology. Behavior became tangible through a variety of means, but for those who relied on film for their observations, such as developmental psychologist Arnold Gesell, behavior took form at least partly through the process of tracing. Gesell's use of this technique reveals the broader functions of tracing as well as the patterns that emerge from its interplay with other inscriptions in the creation of evidence. How does behavior take form? The practice of tracing provides one answer to this larger question.
Novel design of micropump based on multi-angle paper-based capillary approach for enhanced and well-controlled flow rates
Authors: Buglie William LN , Tamrin Khairul F , Mohd Yasin Mohd F , Rahmatullah Bahbibi
Published: July 2023

Paper-capillary micropumps are advantageous as they are small in size, cost-effective, and easily disposable. However, capillary-based micropumps fabricated using the photolithography technique prevent exchanging of the pumping element. The liquid movement in paper-based micropumps is also difficult to control and manipulate as compared to non-paper-based micropumps. Therefore, in this study, the performance of a multi-angle paper-based capillary micropump that utilizes both hydrostatic and paper-capillary effects with a detachable paper matrix is presented. The design offers enhanced and controllable flow rates based on paper matrix types and platform inclination angles. In addition, the paper matrix pumping element does not involve in the analytical processes but rather only for fluid driving. Standalone operation shows a working range of flow rate comparable to some purely capillary- and hydrostatic-based micropumps reported in the literature. The proposed micropump shows that the flow rate is linearly increasing based on the types of capillary papers and platform inclination angles, giving a flow rate range of 2.3 μL/s ≤ [Formula: see text]  ≤ 2.44 µL/s.
Embodied, caring and disciplinary: A Foucauldian reading of ‘process time’ as constitutive of the biopolitical institution of the family
Authors: Foeken Elsie
Published: July 2023

‘Process time’ describes the recursive/fluid, social and embodied temporality that characterises much ‘women's work’. Though this concept has proven highly useful to feminist analyses of caring and other feminised labour, there has arguably been a tendency for authors in this area to naturalise and valorise this temporality – particularly in relation to the abstract, economic and disciplinary time of the clock. I argue that this naturalisation or valorisation of process time flattens our understanding of feminised labour, and that a feminist social theory of time must recognise the potentially disciplinary forms process time can take. As such, this paper contributes to feminist analyses of time, gender and labour by arguing that the embodied, caring and processual temporality that circulates within modern families can be understood as fundamentally disciplinary. Drawing primarily on Foucauldian theory, as well as Sharon Hays’ concept of ‘intensive mothering’, the paper argues that process time is central to the functioning of the family as a biopolitical institution, just as clock time is integral to the disciplinary mechanisms of the school, prison, barracks, etc. Specifically, it argues that the unique relations of power that circulate within the biopolitical family rely on a unique use of time: one that is intensive and oriented towards the rhythms of the physical body – that is, processual. Further, this disciplinary time is deeply and fundamentally feminine, as it operates (in its ideal form) primarily through the mother.
Immunoassay for detection of Dipylidium caninum coproantigen in dogs and cats
Authors: Elsemore David , Bezold Todd , Geng Jinming , Hanna Rita , Tyrrell Phyllis , Beall Melissa
Published: July 2023

Dipylidium caninum infections in dogs and cats are underestimated because of a lack of proglottid observations and poor recovery of parasite elements by centrifugal flotation. We developed an immunoassay that employs a pair of monoclonal antibodies to capture D. caninum–specific coproantigen in fecal extracts from dogs and cats. Real-time PCR for D. caninum DNA in perianal swabs and observation of proglottids were used as reference methods. In 6 experimentally infected dogs, parasite DNA, coproantigen, and proglottid segments were first detected at 22, 23, and 26 d post-infection, respectively. Praziquantel treatment of 3 experimentally infected dogs resulted in the elimination of both coproantigen and proglottid shedding within 1–5 d post-treatment; however, parasite DNA persisted for 14 d. Immunohistochemistry on immature and mature tapeworm segments using an antibody against the coproantigen supports the premise that the antigen is produced in mature segments. We assessed the performance of our coproantigen test in natural infections in 78 dogs from a flea-endemic area. Of the 12 antigen-positive samples, 11 were confirmed with a positive PCR test and/or proglottid observation. Finally, we evaluated a convenience sample set of 730 canine and 163 feline fecal samples obtained from a commercial diagnostic laboratory; D. caninum antigen was detected in 4.1% of the canine and 12.9% of the feline samples, whereas parasite elements were observed in only 0.028% of samples. Our coproantigen immunoassay provides a sensitive method for the detection of D. caninum infection in dogs and cats.
Lessons Learned From a Knowledge-Matching Participatory Research Approach Involving Law Students and Older Adults as Peer Researchers
Authors: Chen Ke , Lou Vivian Wei-qun
Published: July 2023

The popularity of engaging community members as peer researchers is growing. The existing participatory research involving older adults appears to suffer from two main issues. First, older adults are rarely positioned as equitable research partners. Second, a paradox may exist between capacity building and an authentic lay perspective of older adults. This article adopted a knowledge-matching participatory approach to address these two issues. Seven older adults and four law students were trained as peer researchers to work with two academic researchers on a project about financial well-being in retirement. This article documented the research process and reflected the benefits, challenges, and best practices associated with this approach by analyzing transcripts from three reflective meetings, written reflections, and field notes from all peer and academic researchers using a thematic analysis approach. Results outline the experiences and reflections of using knowledge-matching participatory research for academic researchers and peer researchers, as well as for research processes and outcomes. The advantages of extending methodological amplitude, leveraging older adults’ capacity, partnership matching, and empowerment are shown by the knowledge-matching participatory methodology. The establishment of capacity building, partnership development, and agenda flexibility are essential elements of success. We further discussed power disparity, partnership conflicts, and ethical dilemmas. Researchers and practitioners can utilize the findings, methodological approaches, and lessons learned in their studies aiming at engaging older adults in improving health and social well-being in later life.
Fearing Pain at the End of Life: A Review of Advance Directives
Authors: Luck George , Eggenberger Terry Lynn , Bautista Adriana , Peters Darian , Mellman Ross T. , Keller Kathryn B. , Jacomino Mario
Published: July 2023

Background

Patients, caregivers, and healthcare professionals often describe a “good death” as a pain-free process. However, many patients experience pain during their last weeks of life. Advance directives (ADs) are legally binding documents that allow individuals to express their wishes for end-of-life care which should include management of their pain.

Methods

An interprofessional team conducted a comprehensive analysis of ADs from all 50 states and the District of Columbia to assess the inclusion of language that reflects patients’ wishes for pain relief at the end of life.

Results

Thirty-seven (73%) of the 51 entities examined reflected the prototypical directive, containing explicit instructions for withholding or withdrawing interventions that may prolong suffering rather than options for treating pain. Of these, 12 (24%) did not include the word “pain”. Only 14 states (27%) provided clear guidance for managing pain. Unexpectantly, researchers found that 13 (25%) addressed the common fears of patients, caregivers, and healthcare teams when using opioids to relieve suffering, such as addiction, sedation, appetite, or respiratory suppression, and hastening death.

Conclusion

The majority of ADs reviewed lacked clear and comprehensive measures for addressing pain relief. This deficiency may contribute to the undertreatment of pain and amplify the anxiety felt by patients, families, and healthcare providers when making end-of-life decisions. The results highlight the need for improvements in ADs to help ensure that patients' wishes regarding pain management are adequately addressed, documented and respected.
Intergenerational Continuity of Child Maltreatment, Parenting, and Racism: Commentary on Valentino et al., (2012)
Authors: Valentino Kristin , Zhen-Duan Jenny , Padilla Jenny , Bernard Donte
Published: July 2023

Recent editorials published in Child Maltreatment bring much needed attention to racism in child maltreatment reporting and investigation. In this commentary, we extend these efforts by responding to Valentino et al., (2012) and addressing prior omissions in our race-related work by explicitly discussing the role of racism in our explanation of key study findings. Together with scholars with expertise in the impact of racism on children and families, this commentary (a) discusses theoretical models of child maltreatment and of the influence of racism on parenting and child development; (b) discusses parental responses to racism in relation to the Valentino et al., (2012) findings; and (c) highlights future research directions.
Frequency of new asymptomatic MRI lesions during attacks and follow-up of patients with NMOSD in a real-world setting
Authors: Carnero Contentti Edgar , Lopez Pablo A , Tkachuk Verónica , Vrech Carlos , Zarate María A , Correale Jorge , Deri Norma , Luetic Geraldine , Marrodan Mariano , Pagani Cassara Fátima , Tavolini Darío , Ysrraelit María Célica , Balbuena María E , Hryb Javier , Chiganer Edson , Leguizamon Felisa , Knorre Eduardo , Zanga Gisela , Pestchanker Claudia , Barboza Andrés , Nadur Débora , Cristiano Edgardo , Patrucco Liliana , Alonso Ricardo , Alonso Serena Marina , Paul Friedemann , Rojas Juan Ignacio
Published: July 2023

Background:

We aimed to assess the frequency of new asymptomatic lesions on brain and spinal imaging (magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)) and their association with subsequent relapses in a large cohort of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) patients in Argentina.

Methods:

We retrospectively reviewed 675 MRI (225 performed during an attack and 450 during the relapse-free period (performed at least 3 months from the last attack)) of NMOSD patients who had at least 2 years of clinical and MRI follow-up since disease onset. Kaplan–Meier (KM) curves were used for depicting time from remission MRI to subsequent relapse.

Results:

We included 135 NMOSD patients (64.4% were aquaporin-4-immunoglobulin G (AQP4-IgG)-positive). We found that 26 (19.26%) and 66 (48.88%) of patients experienced at least one new asymptomatic MRI lesion during both the relapse-free period and attacks, respectively. The most frequent asymptomatic MRI lesions were optic nerves followed by short-segment myelitis during the relapse-free period and attacks. KM curves did not show differences in the time taken to develop a new relapse.

Conclusion:

Our findings showed that new asymptomatic lesions are relatively frequent. However, the presence of new asymptomatic MRI lesions during the relapse-free period and at relapses was not associated with a shorter time to developing subsequent relapses.
Binary and non-binary trans students’ experiences in physical education: A systematic review
Authors: Sáenz-Macana Angélica María , Pereira-García Sofía , Gil-Quintana Javier , Devís-Devís José
Published: July 2023

The purpose of this study was to review academic papers on the experiences of binary and non-binary trans people in physical education (PE), published between January 2000 and August 2022. The selection process yielded 16 articles from Brazil, the UK, Spain, Canada, Finland, Ireland, New Zealand, and the USA. The discussion focuses on five themes for analysis: (a) school policies and control, (b) curriculum activities, (c) social environment, (d) transgendering while surviving, and (e) trans-positive experiences. The systematic review highlights the fact that heteronormativity is still present in schools and PE spaces, positioning, categorizing, and policing dissenting bodies and gender identities, which means that many trans students did not have good memories of PE classes. Many similar situations were faced by both binary and non-binary trans students, although with some notable differences. It is thus necessary to deconstruct the prevailing cis-heteronormativity during PE lessons to eradicate the discrimination that (re)produces a hostile environment for these students.
Nested Narratives: Biographical Accounts of Unlived Experience Across Three Narrative Orders
Authors: Scott Susie , Lockwood Nina
Published: July 2023

Studies of narrative identity have focused on positive formation: stories of ‘becoming’ who we are because of events that happened, people we met, and things that we said, did, or had. However, identities can also be negatively defined by things that we miss, lose, choose against, or events that never happened. Drawing on the sociology of nothing, this paper explores some ways in which biographical subjects may story their unlived lives and paths to unbecoming. We demonstrate this by analysing the same extract of data through three interpretive lenses, revealing different narrative orders: the intrapersonal, intertextual, and performative. Respectively, these refer to how nothing is narrated: self-reflexively by the experiencing subject, regarding a particular instance; as a sequence of thematically connected episodes, contextually emplotted within a general life story; and as a communicative act of telling, directed towards an imagined audience. Authors can move between these narrative orders, taking different temporal perspectives and producing ‘nested’ stories of alternative non-selves.
The unprotectables: A critical discourse analysis of older people’s portrayal in UK newspaper coverage of Covid-19
Authors: Shimoni Shir
Published: July 2023

In this article, I draw on the systematic, policy-led negligence with which older people in the United Kingdom were handled during the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, as I examine their simultaneous cultural representation across four major UK newspapers. Using content and critical discourse analysis, I demonstrate that while older people were depicted mostly through the notion of their increased risk to contract and die from the virus, this risk was consistently framed as unmanageable. I adopt a Foucauldian governmentality perspective as I argue that by framing dangers as exceeding the possibility of control and insurance, the discourse of unmanageable risk helped to dismantle the protection of older people from the virus. Moreover, I demonstrate that the unmanageable risk discourse spawned a particular kind of an older subject, one who not only is unprotectable but also invisible. I discuss how older people’s invisibility – evident in the absence of their names, voices and testimonies – operated in tandem with their unprotectability, to render them palatably disposable.
The interplay between game design and social practice
Authors: Jensen Kristian Haulund , Fynbo Lars , Hansen Nicolai Nybro
Published: July 2023

Game design’s influence on how gaming is practiced is a debated topic within video game research. Overlapping with this debate are questions of how game design and social practice each contribute to experiences of problematic gaming. In this study, we drew on focus groups and individual interviews with a total of 107 adolescents. We deployed practice theory to demonstrate how game design is an integrated part of the material configurations of everyday gaming practices. Furthermore, we will provide empirical examples of how interplays between game design and social practices can shape experiences of problematic gaming. In the analysis, we will demonstrate how adverse consequences of gaming can emerge in the clash between game design and everyday life obligations. Additionally, we will show how strategically designed monetary mechanics and patterns can be intensified or stifled by players’ socializing practices. Finally, we will address the interplay between gendered practices and game designs.
The child's right to bodily integrity and autonomy: A conceptual analysis
Authors: Pugh Jonathan
Published: July 2023

It is widely accepted that children enjoy some form of a right to bodily integrity. However, there is little agreement about the precise nature and scope of this right. This paper offers a conceptual analysis of the child's right to bodily integrity, in order to further elucidate the relationship between the child's right to bodily integrity and considerations of autonomy. Following a discussion of Leif Wenar's work on the structure and justification of rights, I first explain how the adult's right to bodily integrity can be distilled into separate elements that may plausibly be justified by different moral considerations. In particular, I claim that this analysis suggests that whilst the adult's right to bodily integrity is not wholly reducible to bodily autonomy, autonomy nonetheless remains entwined with our understanding of this right in a number of ways. On the basis of this discussion, I go on to outline three important complexities that arise when we consider the child's right to bodily integrity, before particularly focusing on the question of how third parties should determine whether or not to perform a physical interference upon a child who lacks decision-making capacity. Here, I raise some objections to Earp and Mazor's recent attempts to answer this question, before briefly defending an ‘autonomy-based interests’ account of permissible interference, an account that shares in what I take to be the spirit, if not the precise letter, of these earlier views.
Changes in Functional Outcomes After an Inpatient Rehabilitation Program for Solid-Organ Transplant Recipients
Authors: de Paiva Azevedo Matheus , Angelica de Miranda Silva Nogueira Patrícia , D’Souza Lorna , Cheung Betty , Uy Karen , Patcai John , Mathur Sunita , Janaudis-Ferreira Tania
Published: July 2023

Introduction: Outpatient exercise training has been shown to be beneficial for solid organ transplant recipients. Little is known about the effects of inpatient rehabilitation programs for recipients with a more complicated postoperative course. Research Question: This study was designed to (1) describe the changes in functional outcomes after an inpatient rehabilitation program, and (2) determine whether the changes in lower body strength and quadriceps strength are associated with changes in functional exercise capacity. Design: This was a single-arm prospective longitudinal study. The recipients participated in an inpatient rehabilitation program twice a day, 7 days a week for 3 to 4 weeks. Outcome Measures Included: 2-Minute Walking Test, Timed Up and Go, Berg Balance Scale, 30-Second Sit to Stand, biceps and quadriceps strength, Functional Independence Measure, SF-36, and Canadian Occupational Performance Measure. Results: Twenty-eight patients (54% female, mean age = 55 [11]) completed the study. Participants were mostly liver (42%) and lung recipients (35%). There were statistically significant improvements in all outcomes after the intervention. There was no relationship between changes in functional exercise capacity and quadriceps strength or lower body strength. Conclusion: An inpatient rehabilitation program may improve several functional outcomes and health-related quality of life in transplant recipients with a complicated postoperative course.
China’s digital diplomacy on Twitter: The multiple reactions to the Belt and Road Initiative
Authors: Vila Seoane Maximiliano Facundo
Published: July 2023

This article examines three aspects of China’s digital diplomacy efforts about the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) on Twitter between February 9th 2019 to January 3rd 2020. First, it explores the frequency and geographical distribution of tweets about the BRI. Second, it scrutinises the main topics discussed in such tweets. Finally, it describes the actors producing BRI content. Results show that Chinese digital diplomacy has been proactive on Twitter, driven by the posting practices of its main international broadcasting organisations and BRI partners. As such, China’s digital diplomacy is becoming more relational. However, the open nature of Twitter also paves the way to numerous counter narratives disseminated by other users critical of the BRI, namely, Western media, think tanks, academics, and citizens, who undermine the stories that China aims to convey. These criticisms expose the limits of China’s digital diplomacy and of the sensationalist reporting of its alleged direct effects on audiences.
A hybrid epidemiological model based on individual dynamics
Authors: Billong Samuel Ismaël , Kouamou Georges Edouard , Bouetou Thomas , Tagoudjeu Jacques
Published: July 2023

This article proposes a hybrid susceptible–infected–removed model which takes into consideration the spatiotemporal dynamics of the individuals. The model is based on a system of discrete stochastic diffusion equations. To build these equations, the two-dimensional diffusion equations coming from a balanced method are coupled with the human displacement probability law pattern through a discretization made by the finite volume method for complex geometries. The validation of this model is applied to COVID-19 spread. Since it is actual and the statistics are available elsewhere. The case of a developed country is used for simulation under some assumptions. Firstly to fit the chosen displacement pattern, then the accuracy of the statistics provided helps to analyze the sensitivity of the parameters of the model. The results explain the influence of the population movement on the evolution of the spread.