bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Proteome of Preretinal Tissue in Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy
Authors: Miller Charles G. , Henderson Matthew , Mantopoulos Dimosthenis , Leskov Ilya , Greco Todd , Schwarzbauer Jean E. , Prenner Jonathan L.
Published: July 2021

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

Proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) is the leading cause of retinal detachment repair failure. However, the molecular pathogenesis remains incompletely understood. Determining the proteome of PVR will help to identify novel therapeutic targets.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

Preretinal tissue samples, delaminated during surgery from six PVR cases and one idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) were analyzed by mass spectrometry. Tandem mass spectra were extracted using the UniProt database, generating a list of 896 proteins, which were subjected to pathway set and fold-change (ERM vs PVR) analyses.

RESULTS:

Two pathways were enriched in PVR: extracellular matrix (ECM) organization and extracellular structure organization. A fold-change analysis comparing mean total spectral counts from PVR to an ERM control identified fibronectin, the ECM glycoprotein, as the protein most significantly elevated in PVR compared to ERM.

CONCLUSION:

These data identify pathwayskey to PVR progression, including thoseinvolved in cell-mediated ECM assembly and thus tractional force generation at the cellular level.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2021;52:S5–S12.]
Systemic Immunosuppression and Risk of Endophthalmitis After Intravitreal Anti-Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Injections
Authors: Patel Samir N. , Storey Philip P. , Kim Julie S. , Obeid Anthony , Pancholy Maitri , Hsu Jason , Garg Sunir J.
Published: July 2021

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the impact of systemic immunosuppressive therapy on the rates and outcomes of endophthalmitis following intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) injections.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

A retrospective, single-center, comparative cohort study examining eyes undergoing intravitreal anti-VEGF injections from January 2016 to September 2019. Cohorts were created based on concurrent immunosuppressive therapy at time of injection.

RESULTS:

Of 270,347 anti-VEGF injections administered, 1,300 injections (0.48%) were administered while on systemic immunosuppressive therapy. The odds of endophthalmitis occurring in the immunosuppression group was 9.86 (95% confidence interval [CI], 4.0–24.3;
P
< .001) times higher than the no-immunosuppression group. Symptom onset occurred 2.51 (95% CI, 0.15–4.870;
P
= .040) days earlier in the immunosuppression cohort; visual acuity at 6 months after treatment was similar in both groups.

CONCLUSIONS:

Patients on systemic immunosuppressive medications undergoing intravitreal injections may be at increased risk for post-injection endophthalmitis and may have earlier symptom onset. However, visual outcomes were similar between the two groups.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2021;52:S17–S22.]
Selective Photocoagulation of Capillary Macroaneurysms by Navigated Focal Laser
Authors: Amoroso Francesca , Pedinielli A. , Colantuono D. , Jung C. , Capuano V. , Souied E. H. , Miere Alexandra
Published: July 2021

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the anatomical and functional outcome of selective photocoagulation of capillary macroaneurysms (CMAs) by navigated focal laser.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

Consecutive patients with solitary or secondary CMAs greater than 150 mm in diameter were included in this analysis. All patients were treated with navigated focal laser and received multimodal imaging.

RESULTS:

Seventeen eyes of 17 patients were retrospectively analyzed. Navigated laser photocoagulation of the CMAs successfully occluded 100% of the CMAs, inducing significative improvement in best-corrected visual acuity at 3 (
P
= .002) and 6 months (
P
= .001) and a decrease in central macular thickness (CMT) at 3 (
P
= .0004) and 6 months (
P
= .0004).

CONCLUSIONS:

Solitary or secondary CMAs arising from retinal capillaries are candidates for navigated laser treatment. Navigated focal treatment was able to close all CMAs in this series with an improvement in vision and CMT.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2021;52:366–373.]
IOP Elevation in Patients Treated With Fluocinolone Acetonide Insert for Chronic Noninfectious Uveitis Affecting the Posterior Segment
Authors: Singer Michael A. , Krambeer Chelsey , Paggiarino Dario
Published: July 2021

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE:

Characterize timing of intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation in patients treated with fluocinolone acetonide insert (FAi) for uveitis.

PATIENTS AND METHODS:

A post-hoc subset analysis of data from a randomized, prospective, double-masked, sham-controlled, 3-year, phase 3 clinical trial with 129 participants with noninfectious posterior uveitis randomly assigned to receive 0.18-mg fluocinolone acetonide insert or sham injection. The number of eyes with IOP of 30 mm Hg or greater at different time points were recorded.

RESULTS:

The incidence of FAi eyes that reached IOP 30 mm Hg or greater was 17.2%. The mean number of days to first IOP response was 241. IOP elevations were divided into four time periods: under 1 month (33%), 3 to 6 months (33%), 6 to 18 months (26.7%), and greater than 18 months (6.7%). Ten cases of elevated IOP were managed medically and five required surgical management. Visual field analysis revealed no significant change in mean deviation compared to patients' own, untreated eyes (
P
> .05).

CONCLUSIONS:

IOP elevations occurred in 15 out of 87 patients treated with the FAi. The onset of elevated IOP was fairly evenly distributed across the 36-month trial. Patients should be regularly evaluated for increased IOP, which can be successfully managed by traditional means.

[
Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina
. 2021;52:387–390.]
Contributions of topological polar-polar contacts to achieve better folding stability of 2D/3D HP lattice proteins: An in silico approach
Authors: Alas-Guardado Salomón J. ,   Departamento de Ciencias Naturales, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana Unidad Cuajimalpa, CDMX 05300, México. orcid.org/0000-0001-8903-8766, González-Pérez Pedro Pablo , Beltrán Hiram Isaac ,   Departamento de Matemáticas Aplicadas y Sistemas, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Cuajimalpa, CDMX 05300, México. orcid.org/0000-0001-7223-9035,   Departamento de Ciencias Básicas, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Unidad Azcapotzalco, CDMX 02200, México. orcid.org/0000-0002-1097-455X
Published: July 2021

Many of the simplistic hydrophobic-polar lattice models, such as Dill's model (called Model 1 herein), are aimed to fold structures through hydrophobic-hydrophobic interactions mimicking the well-known hydrophobic collapse present in protein structures. In this work, we studied 11 designed hydrophobic-polar sequences, S1-S8 folded in 2D-square lattice, and S9-S11 folded in 3D-cubic lattice. And to better fold these structures we have developed Model 2 as an approximation to convex function aimed to weight hydrophobic-hydrophobic but also polar-polar contacts as an augmented version of Model 1. In this partitioned approach hydrophobic-hydrophobic ponderation was tuned as α-1 and polar-polar ponderation as α. This model is centered in preserving required hydrophobic substructure, and at the same time including polar-polar interactions, otherwise absent, to reach a better folding score now also acquiring the polar-polar substructure. In all tested cases the folding trials were better achieved with Model 2, using α values of 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 depending of sequence size, even finding optimal scores not reached with Model 1. An important result is that the better folding score, required the lower α weighting. And when α values above 0.3 are employed, no matter the nature of the hydrophobic-polar sequence, banning of hydrophobic-hydrophobic contacts started, thus yielding misfolding of sequences. Therefore, the value of α to correctly fold structures is the result of a careful weighting among hydrophobic-hydrophobic and polar-polar contacts.
Matrix measures, stability and contraction theory for dynamical systems on time scales
Authors: Russo Giovanni , Wirth Fabian
Published: July 2021

This paper is concerned with the study of the stability of dynamical systems evolving on time scales. We first formalize the notion of matrix measures on time scales, prove some of their key properties and make use of this notion to study both linear and nonlinear dynamical systems on time scales. Specifically, we start with considering linear time-varying systems and, for these, we prove a time scale analogous of an upper bound due to Coppel. We make use of this upper bound to give stability and input-to-state stability conditions for linear time-varying systems. Then, we consider nonlinear time-varying dynamical systems on time scales and establish a sufficient condition for the convergence of the solutions. Finally, after linking our results to the existence of a Lyapunov function, we make use of our approach to study certain epidemic dynamics and complex networks. For the former, we give a sufficient condition on the parameters of a SIQR model on time scales ensuring that its solutions converge to the disease-free solution. For the latter, we first give a sufficient condition for pinning synchronization of complex time scale networks and then use this condition to study certain collective opinion dynamics. The theoretical results are complemented with simulations.
Health Literacy From a Pediatrician's Perspective
Authors: Sarper Nazan
Published: July 2021

Health literacy describes individual's skills to understand and use the information on health issues, compliance to the prescribed therapeutic regimen, prevention of disease and accidents, filtering the information, and making good judgments to maintain a healthy life. Low school education and fundamental education and poverty are barriers to gain health literacy. If TV broadcasts are used optimally for training in health issues, they may reach many people. The density of the active physicians, nurses and midwives, national health coverage, and training activities of the civil associations for chronic disease contribute to health literacy. Controversy exists about the benefits and risks of social media and mass media to health literacy due to information pollution. Self-diagnosis and marketing of under-the-counter drugs are problems of the digital age. Some projects aiming to improve digital health literacy skills will help people to reach reliable health-related information. Communication skills of healthcare professionals are also important.
The Role of Social Marketing in Preventing the Spread of Non-Communicable Diseases
Authors: Daoud Ines Mezghani , Meddeb Marwa
Published: July 2021

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancers have become a major health concern for most countries around the world. Different elements such as social, biological, and environmental cause the NCDs. But the only way that one can intentionally modify to avoid these diseases is the desire to reduce risk factors for physical activity, tobacco, and diet. Several prevention strategies have been launched worldwide thorough governmental programs by implementing policies/laws. However, these programs don't integrate active communicate participation and support with the social community. This chapter aims to bring out the priority of enhancing the level of public awareness of NCDs. To ensure public responsiveness, the focus of this research is to create an effective solution to prevent risky behavior. The authors focus on the construction of “Sahtek,” a social media solution developed on the fundamentals of social marketing, to better coach and promote awareness of NCDs prevention.
Uberization of Healthcare
Authors: Alvarez Lizette
Published: July 2021

Over the years, health literacy has embodied various forms to aid healthcare decisions. For technology and health literacy to merge, the author examines and discusses how the following three elements can be applied to implement a type of technology and to what audience: 1) time, 2) cost, and 3) engagement. Through focused time, cost, and engagement efforts, healthcare can be optimized without reductions to the quality of information. Due to its rapid spread, information could to be fixed accordingly. This would positively impact the decision-making process for communities and public and private sectors. Benefits outweigh risks related to the implementation of technology and health literacy. Traditional medicine is known to have difficulties adapting to change. However, the risk is too high not to explore the use of technology and health literacy.
Empowering Patients Through Digital Technologies
Authors: Trocin Cristina , Croda Enrica
Published: July 2021

Mobile health initiatives aim to give patients more medical information and to empower them over their medical treatments. However, information overload and lack of digital literacy may hinder patient empowerment. This chapter investigates opportunities and challenges of patient empowerment and mobile health. The authors analyze the different definitions used in the literature to characterize patient empowerment and mobile health, discussing implications for all the care actors involved. Although the adoption rate of mobile technologies is at its infant stage and challenges still outweigh the benefits of patient empowerment, mobile health apps can foster the progress towards patient-centered care.
Coaching for Raising Awareness Towards Research Project Planning and Management Using Grow Group Awareness Model
Authors: Hunaiti Ziad
Published: July 2021

Higher education institutions recruit talented research students from around the world as they contribute to human resources, income generation, innovation, and research outputs. Research degrees require research students to work independently, with some support from research supervisors. Students tend to face different kinds of challenges that might be beyond the role of supervisors and mentors. In addition, completion rate and empowering research students to achieve the best outcomes during their research journeys is at the heart of institutes' research agendas. Coaching can be a very powerful tool to support this talented group in higher education to help them in overcoming obstacles and/or raise performance to achieve the best outcomes during research projects timeframes. This chapter explores the use of coaching to raise awareness about research project planning and management, proposing a planning and delivery model for group coaching for raising awareness known as the grow group awareness model.
Urban Education Esports for Equity and Access
Authors: Gibson Alexander K.
Published: July 2021

This chapter dives into the real-world experiences that one educator experienced in his 14-year career teaching and mentoring students. The chapter explores using video games to connect and educate students as well as the use of varsity esports programs to drive student interactions during extracurricular activities. Through the chapter, the author will progress from the start of his career to finding new affiliations to help build a successful esports program within a high school setting. The anecdotal experiences will serve as a case study to help other educators find resources and develop a pathway to create esports opportunities in their own schools.
Player Agency, Team Responsibility, and Self-Initiated Change
Authors: Rusk Fredrik , Ståhl Matilda , Silseth Kenneth
Published: July 2021

An important aspect of what constitutes beginning gamers' learning trajectories is guidance from experienced players. However, there is little educational research on these processes within a competitive gaming scene. In this chapter, the authors analyse the mentor-apprentice relationship in a team in the multiplayer FPS CS:GO within an esports and educational context. By assuming a dialogic approach to agency and meaning making, they analyse how the team orients towards the apprentice's agency and how the apprentice responds to these orientations. The other players' orientations towards the apprentice's decisions indicate that support diminishes, and responsibility and expectations grow over time. Communication and collaboration appear to be an inherent part of functioning as a team and teaching others in the team, and all players are expected to develop agency and reach a level of independence. In the chapter, they show and discuss how this happens.
Game-Informed Cooperative Assessments and Socially Responsible Learning in Public School Math Classes
Authors: Abrams Sandra Schamroth
Published: July 2021

This chapter draws upon data from an ongoing seven-year study of game-informed and game-based learning in public high school math classes in the northeastern United States. The researcher has worked closely with the same math teacher and his students to develop and refine a cooperative testing approach piloted and integrated into in the teacher's math classes since 2017. For this study, data from students' post-cooperative assessment reflections, along with hundreds of hours of classroom observation and eight student interviews, suggest that the cooperative features inherent in videogaming and esports can support a revised approach to assessing learning, one which honors social responsibility and meaningful learning.
Scholarly Voice and Academic Identity
Authors: Rigler Jr. Kenneth L. , Anastasia Christina Maria , El-Amin Abeni , Throne Robin
Published: July 2021

This chapter presents the results of a systematic review of the current scholarship into doctoral student agency from a U.S. perspective. In past work, the authors and others have explored doctoral student and research supervisor agency from the perspective of scholar-practitioner agency within the doctoral learning community as well as the post-doctorate practice-based research agenda. This chapter focuses on a systematic analysis of the current scholarship published since 2019 that has continued to examine the aspects of doctoral student voice, agency, academic identity, and dissemination of graduate student research. Theoretical perspectives are drawn from the scholarship of situated learning theory and other theories that define how and why doctoral students are able to move from the periphery of the doctoral learning community to entrance into the scholarly academic and publishing community.
Writing Feedback Groups in International EAL Doctoral Students' Development as Scholarly Writers
Authors: Spies Tracy Griffin
Published: July 2021

For many international doctoral students, English is an additional language (EAL), and consequently, scholarly writing in English is a source of academic anxiety. Although international English as an additional language (IEAL) students often have professional experience in their field of study and have been academically successful, the shift in linguistic demand at the doctoral level is especially challenging. Learning to communicate as a member of the academic community requires the development of discipline specific knowledge, rhetorical conventions, and discourse registers which precisely communicate complex ideas in their nonnative language. Research evidence points to the importance of social support and feedback in international/EAL doctoral students' socialization into scholarly writing. This chapter outlines the implementation of a writing feedback group with four IEAL doctoral students and their developing scholarly habits of mind and academic writing skills.
Developing an Impactful Diverse Literature Course for Future Librarians
Authors: Long Alicia K.
Published: July 2021

This chapter describes the development of a course about diversity in children's literature for pre-service librarians. A discussion of the pedagogical philosophy that grounds the faculty member before designing the course is presented. With a lens of critical pedagogy, the course presents a learning environment in which students analyze their place within the power structures of society. The course's design follows a structure that takes students from reflective assignments to acquiring the tools they will need to actively diversify youth collections and programs in libraries and schools. The chapter includes suggested guidelines to develop the course's learning outcomes, materials, and tools for authentic assessment of learning. It also includes samples of assignments, resources to use in the course design, and suggestions for future research.
“To Act for a Better World”
Authors: Garrison Kasey L. , Gavigan Karen
Published: July 2021

Graphic novels are becoming more widely accepted by librarians and teachers as a mainstream literary format for students. They are also effective tools for engaging youth with challenging social issues, as the quote in the title suggests. This chapter provides an overview of ways university instructors can teach pre-service educators to use social justice graphic novels in their high school classrooms and libraries. The content in this chapter is based on findings from research conducted by the authors about social justice issues in young adult graphic novels. The chapter includes an annotated list of selective graphic novel titles based on five social justice issues (racism, immigration and displacement, LGBTQIA+ and gender, mental health, and the environment and climate change). It also provides examples of standards-based best practices for using the graphic novels with pre-service teachers and librarians, award lists, and other educational resources.
Promoting Race Talk With Elementary Preservice Teachers Through Diverse Picture Book Read Alouds
Authors: Scullin Bethany Louise
Published: July 2021

The purpose of this chapter is to provide teacher educators with considerations on how to incorporate diverse picture book read alouds into their own education courses in an effort to promote race talk with preservice teachers (PST). The chapter begins by explaining the need for children to talk about race and the resistance of many PST engaging in these important discussions. Next, an explanation is provided of why diverse picture book read alouds may be a catalyst for preservice teachers to engage in race talk. The chapter continues with a description of the developed Race Talk Read Aloud Curricular Framework which includes a Race Talk Text Set. Eight considerations explain how the curricular framework and text set were developed with the purpose of promoting race talk with PST as they read and discussed the history of racism in the US, how it applies to ourselves, and current literacy instruction in our nation's schools.
Curated Conversations
Authors: Manzone Jessica A. , Peeples Rebecca J.
Published: July 2021

The transfer of knowledge and skills to the K-12 classroom is a central objective for any teacher preparation program. This chapter highlights how the skill of developing critical conversations around diverse literature can be woven into the coursework of any teacher preparation program. Theories such as Rings of Culture, Authentic Text, and Implicit Learning anchor this chapter. This chapter provides a practical strategy for building the capacity in teacher candidates necessary to transfer the authentic application of diverse literature to promote social justice and action to the K-12 classroom. The authors articulate how the high-leverage practice of developing Curated Conversations can be used to create environments that foster student voice, student choice, and student interest in any classroom. When modeled for teacher candidates, this strategy can become internalized into their practice and promote the development of professional educators committed to social justice and action.
Using the Children's Literature Course to Promote Teacher Candidates' Cultural Competence
Authors: Landa Melissa , Rapp Erin Hogan
Published: July 2021

This chapter presents the results from a collective case study of 23 undergraduate preservice teachers enrolled in a Children's Literature course at a large Mid-Atlantic university. It explores how course instruction in and around high-quality, culturally diverse children's literature facilitated both displays of culturally competent dispositions and cultural knowledge of self and others. The chapter also describes how the preservice teachers under study applied their culturally competent dispositions as they rehearsed selecting texts, planning activities, and asking questions to their future students. The Cultural Competence for Teaching Framework provided a useful metric to evaluate participants' displays of cultural competence across the course of the semester. Within this chapter, the authors describe how they embedded cultural competence education inside the course including a description of the activities, texts, and pedagogy used.
Embedding Diverse Children's Literature Throughout a Teacher Preparation Program
Authors: Tondreau Amy , Barnes Zachary T.
Published: July 2021

This chapter explores the incorporation of diverse children's literature into a teacher preparation program, both in and beyond a required Literature for Children course. With the aim of cultivating positive reading identities for pre-service teachers, the authors focus on the process for implementing changes to build a culture of reading, so that pre-service teachers identify as life-long readers, and specifically readers who understand the importance of diverse texts. Changes to curriculum in writing, social studies, and special education methods courses are described, as is the creation of a college-wide book club. The goal of embedding children's literature in and across teacher preparation programs is for pre-service teachers to feel prepared to bring these texts into their own classrooms and to facilitate discussions on the topics that these texts raise with their students, administrative team, and parents. In order to do this, teacher educators need to provide ample opportunities for students to practice selecting, analyzing, and discussing diverse children's literature.
Moving Beyond the Textbook to Reframe Disciplinary Literacy Using Text Sets
Authors: LeJeune Marie A. , Landon-Hays Melanie
Published: July 2021

This chapter details the authors' rationale for encouraging a hybrid content-area/disciplinary literacy approach to embracing diverse literature, especially youth-oriented literature such as children's literature, young adult literature, and multimodal texts. A synthesis of research in the areas of disciplinary literacy and literature instruction is provided as well as a recommended framework for selecting diverse literature within disciplinary classrooms. Several pedagogical tools are featured where preservice teachers have opportunities to explore, practice with, apply, and design their own disciplinary assignments centered in diverse literature and disciplinary texts. Examples and perspectives from preservice teachers are shared.
Crisis Identification and Aversion Scale
Authors: Brownlee-Turgeon Jamie
Published: July 2021

This chapter describes a new instrument that measures a leader's ability to identify and avert crisis in the pre-crisis stages. There is currently no other instrument that measures leadership ability pre-crisis but rather only leadership attributes during the crisis event. Based on the conceptual model developed by Wooten and James, the measurement focuses on the first two stages of the conceptual model, signal detection and prevention and preparation. This chapter covers multiple aspects of the measurement. First, it provides the framework for the development of the crisis identification and aversion tool. Secondly, it provides an analysis of the inclusive quartiles of the three-factor measurement, which includes the competencies of participatory management, sensemaking, and resourcefulness.
Modified General Employee Well-Being Scale
Authors: Winston Bruce E.
Published: July 2021

Taylor et al. evaluated Dupuy's general employee well-being measurement instrument and pointed out two concerns: a combination of positive and negative item wording and two different measurement response methods. Taylor et al. collected new data, ran a principal component analysis, and found three of Dupuy's five reported scales. In this study, the author reworded Taylor et al.'s final 18 items so that all items were worded positively, used a common measurement response, and removed double-barreled wording, which Taylor et al. did not note. The author of this current chapter conducted two studies. The first study's analysis of the new data produced a single eight-item scale with Cronbach alpha of .96 that explained 77% of the variance. The second study used confirmatory factor analysis that showed a four-item scale with GFI = 0.98, AGFI = 0.89, RMSEA = 0.13, and Chi-square = 9.96, df = 9, p < 0.000. The four-item scale had a Cronbach alpha of 0.86.
Developing a Measurement Plan for Monitoring Diverse Friendships in the Workplace
Authors: Reynolds Janet L.
Published: July 2021

Corporations have failed to charge human resource officers with the responsibility of facilitating the unique diverse relationships needed for enriching their own workforce. Often, at best, training programs introduce intercultural sensitivity and only suggest the actual need for employee connections with diverse others. The trainers hesitate to discuss how to monitor and facilitate accountability for forming the diverse relationships that make others feel a sense of inclusion and create safe places for voices to be asserted. This chapter calls for a human resources plan for raising the awareness for engaging in the actual networking, accountability, and the building of the human relationships that enrich the vitality of the workplace. This plan sees the corporate diversity mission as a persuasive message and thus looks at how employees may become involved in the mission in different ways related to their values, their relevant impressions, and possible outcomes.
Engaging Online Learners Through Cloud-Based Collaborative E-Books
Authors: Erdoğdu Erdem , Kesim Mehmet
Published: July 2021

E-books can be harnessed for collaborative use thanks to cloud-based technologies. This enables e-books to offer effective interaction patterns. The study explores how learners can be engaged in such an environment. With the “Activetextbook” platform selected from among 30 platforms, an action study was conducted with 78 volunteer students from Anadolu University Open Education System who agreed to participate in the study. In addition to the comments and analytics obtained throughout the research period, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 learners who made at least one comment on the platform. The results revealed that the scaffolding given during the research was effective and increased the interaction and motivation of the learners. It was also observed that the training, orientation studies, and activities provided before the implementation process were effective in terms of sense of community and social presence. Based on the results, implications and suggestions for e-book platforms, instructors, and institutions are provided.
Foundations of Motivational Research and Design in Online Distance Learning
Authors: Keller John M. , Ucar Hasan , Kumtepe Alper Tolga
Published: July 2021

An effective and efficient teaching process in online distance learning requires more than just implementing a traditional course design and delivery process that typically focuses on organizing and sequencing content. These are necessary components of a well-designed course and might sometimes be sufficient for success, but only if students want to learn the content and if the course is not implemented in a way that kills their motivation. This can be a serious problem in online instruction, especially with self-instructional courses where it might be assumed that students will be motivated to succeed simply because they have enrolled in the course. Within this context, the aim of this chapter is to provide a framework and foundation for theoretical and applied papers dealing with motivation and performance in online distance learning.
Determining the Trends of Motivation Research in Distance Education
Authors: Altinpulluk Hakan
Published: July 2021

The aim of this study is to analyze 26 articles that include “motivation” in their titles and “distance education” as a topic in the Web of Science database in SSCI and ESCI indexed educational sciences journals between 2010 and 2020, and thus to determine the current situation and trends of motivation research in distance education. According to some findings, the most articles on motivation in distance education were published in 2018. Achievement was the most examined variable associated with motivation. As a theory, self-determination theory is the most widely used theory. The country with the highest number of articles is the USA, the most used research method is a quantitative method, and the most used data collection tool is a questionnaire. Lastly, some suggestions are offered to shed light on future research.
Formative Feedback in Online Distance Language Learning
Authors: Taskiran Ayse , Yazici Mujgan
Published: July 2021

Today, in open and distance learning environments, employing different technologies and methods for individual formative feedback is possible with artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence-based software can contribute to the learning processes by providing effective and immediate automated feedback (AF). This chapter highlights the importance of formative feedback in the context of distance foreign language teaching and elaborates the use of AF technology as a mean to provide effective, efficient, and attractive feedback. The effectiveness of artificial intelligence-based AF tools in increasing achievement, motivation, and self-sufficiency in English writing activities in distance foreign language learning is discussed within Keller's ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) motivation model. The potential advantages of AF tools and suggestions for their effective use in distance language teaching and learning processes are elaborated within the framework of the ARCS model.
An Optimized FPGA Architecture for Sleep Level Categorization Using Fuzzed Utilized Machine Learning Approach
Authors: J. Britto Pari , Karuthapandian Mariammal , Dhandapani Vaithiyanathan
Published: July 2021

In this chapter, an efficient FPGA architecture is proposed to categorize and analyze the sleep level. This proposed architecture is implemented using four sub parts which are namely preprocessing unit, FIR filtering, self-regulated learning, and fuzzy deduction. The EEG (electro encephalo gram) and EMG (electro myogram) are signal samples are considered for the analysis of this sleep level. The signals are initially preprocessed to remove undesired signal components. Further, a reconfigurable multichannel multiply accumulate (MAC)-based FIR filter is utilized for achieving the desired signal. Then the signal is classified based on the reference data with the use of self-regulated machine learning and fuzzy deduction schemes which involves averaging and thresholding process. Further, the signals are categorized into completely awake level, partially awake level, and sleep level using fuzzy if-then rules. The performance parameters are analyzed in terms of sensitivity, specificity, latency, area occupied, power consumption, and speed enhancement.
Multi-Criteria Decision Making With Machine Learning for Vehicle Routing Problem
Authors: Demircan Keskin Fatma
Published: July 2021

This chapter addresses vehicle routing problem with time windows (VRPTW), one of the most well-known combinatorial optimization problems with many real-world applications in the transportation sector. This chapter proposes a three-stage approach for VRPTW and presents an application of this approach to a real-life problem. The stages of the approach include clustering of customers, determining feasible routes and their criteria values for each cluster, and selecting the best routes for each cluster based on multi-criteria decision analysis. In the first stage of the proposed approach, a fuzzy c-means (FCM) clustering-based assignment algorithm is used. The second stage includes predicting travel times between nodes based on GPS data with support vector regression (SVR) and applying the proposed feasible route determination and criteria value calculation algorithm using these predictions and other inputs. In the last stage, routes are selected with the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) for each cluster.
Leveraging Emerging Technologies for Quality Management Education
Authors: Gani Abdul
Published: July 2021

India has the world's third largest higher education systems with over 50,000 higher educational institutions. However, quality concerns continue to plague the education sector in the country. The growth of management education in India has been phenomenal, with more than 2,000 B-schools, 19 IIMs, six other premier management institutions, more than 200 university management departments, registering a growth of 800% since 1991. Management education has been a leading candidate for integrating technology tools for scholarship and research. Business schools have been under constant pressure to provide students with the skills and experience needed to effectively use emerging technologies that are used by businesses to gain competitive advantage. This chapter attempts to examine the current state of management education, identify its quality concerns, highlight the need for leveraging emerging technology, illustrate the use of emerging technology in management education, and suggest a balanced technology-based action plan in imparting quality management education.
The Role of Innovation in Startup Business Financing, Performance, and Survival
Authors: Konga Yesubabu , Ramaiah Kasilingam
Published: July 2021

Startups are the new firms that drive innovation. However, they struggle due to their newness and smallness to finance their innovation, which often tends to fail. In this context, the chapter unfolds the role of innovation in startup firms' financing, performance, and survival. Contrary to conventional investments, innovation projects require heavy funds in R&D activity. The risks in innovation projects combine with the firm's information asymmetries elevate the cost of financing for the innovative startups. Equity investors such as business angels and venture capitalists mainly fund innovative startups. Founder's human capital signals also affect startup financing. Innovation positively impacts startup firm performance. Process and incremental innovations improve startup survival chances, whereas product and radical innovations reduce the same. The authors propose that innovation enhances survival if it increases market power and lessens production costs while hampering longevity if the innovative firm is burdened with the immoderate liabilities of newness and tininess.
A Quantum-Inspired Genetic Algorithm for Extractive Text Summarization
Authors: Chettah Khadidja , Draa Amer
Published: July 2021

Automatic text summarization has recently become a key instrument for reducing the huge quantity of textual data. In this paper, the authors propose a quantum-inspired genetic algorithm (QGA) for extractive single-document summarization. The QGA is used inside a totally automated system as an optimizer to search for the best combination of sentences to be put in the final summary. The presented approach is compared with 11 reference methods including supervised and unsupervised summarization techniques. They have evaluated the performances of the proposed approach on the DUC 2001 and DUC 2002 datasets using the ROUGE-1 and ROUGE-2 evaluation metrics. The obtained results show that the proposal can compete with other state-of-the-art methods. It is ranked first out of 12, outperforming all other algorithms.
How Australia deals with suicides: lessons learnt and implications for Sri Lanka
Authors: Chandrasiri Amila
Published: July 2021

No abstract available
Accreditation beyond 2024: A major challenge for Sri Lankan medical graduates
Authors: Kommalage Mahinda
Published: July 2021

No abstract available
Deciphering the Interaction between Neonatal Fc Receptor and Antibodies Using a Homogeneous Bioluminescent Immunoassay
Authors: Nath Nidhi , Godat Becky , Flemming Rod , Urh Marjeta
Published: July 2021

Long half-life of therapeutic Abs and Fc fusion proteins is crucial to their efficacy and is, in part, regulated by their interaction with neonatal Fc receptor (FcRn). However, the current methods (e.g., surface plasmon resonance and biolayer interferometry) for measurement of interaction between IgG and FcRn (IgG/FcRn) require either FcRn or IgG to be immobilized on the surface, which is known to introduce experimental artifacts and have led to conflicting data. To study IgG/FcRn interactions in solution, without a need for surface immobilization, we developed a novel (to our knowledge), solution-based homogeneous binding immunoassay based on NanoBiT luminescent protein complementation technology. We optimized the assay (NanoBiT FcRn assay) for human FcRn, mouse FcRn, rat FcRn, and cynomolgus FcRn and used them to determine the binding affinities of a panel of eight Abs. Assays could successfully capture the modulation in IgG/FcRn binding based on changes in Fc fragment of the Abs. We also looked at the individual contribution of Fc and F(ab)2 on the IgG/FcRn interaction and found that Fc is the main driver for the interaction at pH 6. Our work highlights the importance of using orthogonal methods to validate affinity data generated using biosensor platforms. Moreover, the simple add-and-read format of the NanoBiT FcRn assay is amenable for high-throughput screening during early Ab discovery phase.
Comprehensive Application of Multiple Genetic Markers in a Case of Half-Siblings With the Same Father and Different Mothers and an Avuncular Relationship
Authors: Liu Fang , Ren He , Liu Ya-Cheng , Zhang Qing-Xia
Published: July 2021

Half-sibling (HS) kinship testing is more difficult and complicated. This article describes a case where we sought to establish if three children with different mothers (one boy and two girls), shared a common father. The three children and their mother, as well as the suspected father's elder brother took part in the identification. To investigate the application of multiple genetic markers in HS kinship testing, autosomal STR, Y-STR, and X-STR was performed on blood samples from the individuals of interest C1 (female), M1 (mother of C1), C2 (male), M2 (mother of C2), C3 (female), M3 (mother of C3), and UC (elder brother of the suspected biological father). The 24 Y-STR haplotypes of C2 and UC were identical, confirming that they come from the same paternal line. Among the 27 X-STRs tested in C1 and C3, 18 of them had different paternal alleles, so C1 and C3 were excluded as half-sibling kinship.39 autosomal STR were calculated by ITO method, the HSI (or AI) of the pairs C1–C3, C2–C3, and C3–UC are <1, so HS kinship between C1 and C3, and between C2 and C3 can be excluded and avuncular kinship between C3 and UC can be excluded. The HSI (or AI) of the pairs C1–C2, C1–UC, and C2–UC are much >1, which may supports HS kinship between C1 and C2 and avuncular kinship between C1 and UC, and between C2 and UC.15 autosomal STR were calculated by discriminant function, DHS3 > DR3 between C1 and C2, and thus they could be HS. DHS3 < DR3 between C1 and C3, and between C2 and C3, so C1 and C3, and C2 and C3 may be unrelated individuals. Based on the above results, we can conclude that a HS relationship may be existed between C1 and C2. There may be a avuncular relationships between C1 and UC and between C2 and UC. HS relationships between C3 and C1 and between C3 and C2 as well as an avuncular relationship between C3 and UC were not supported by this study. The application of multiple genetic marker testing should be more regularly applied in the evaluation of HS and avuncular relationships. Increasing the number of related individuals tested when evaluating kinship relationships provides more data for better identification.
Forensic Examination of Abusive Head Trauma in Child Abuse Cases
Authors: Zhao Dong , Cao Zhe , Wang Qi
Published: July 2021

Abusive head trauma (AHT) in child abuse cases is rarely encountered in the practice of forensic examination in China, and such cases are rarely reported. The authors reviewed a large number of relevant domestic and foreign studies to differentiate between the definitions of AHT and shaken baby syndrome; determine the relationship between the two; and discuss their epidemiology, mechanism, and symptoms. In addition, the main points in forensic examination and strategies for preventing AHT are also summarized to help forensic workers and clinicians identify and prevent such injuries.
Coronavirus Disease-2019 Infection among People Living with Noncommunicable Diseases
Authors: Shrivastava Saurabh RamBihariLal , Shrivastava Prateek Saurabh
Published: July 2021

The ongoing Corona Virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) infection tends to affect all age-groups, while the development of the serious complications, including mortality has been reported among elderly people and those with pre-existing chronic illnesses. The available evidence suggests that any age group person living with any of the non-communicable diseases (NCDs) can get infected by COVID-19. Keeping the prognosis of the patients with pre-existing NCDs, it is important that the practice of smoking should be discouraged by them. In conclusion, the people living with non-communicable diseases tends to develop serious pulmonary complications secondary to the acquisition of COVID-19 infection. Thus, it is the responsibility of these people to strictly adhere to the prevention measures, while the health professionals should understand their vulnerability and provide additional care while managing them to save their lives.
Pain and Depression among Adult Outpatients with Osteoarthritis in Nigeria
Authors: Chimbo Chijioke , Oriji Sunday O. , Erohubie Paul O. , James Bawo O. , Lawani Ambrose O.
Published: July 2021

Introduction:

Arthritis is a degenerative joint disease with many forms, but osteoarthritis is most common resulting from trauma or infection to the joint or aging. Depressive disorders often go undiagnosed especially in chronic physical illnesses like osteoarthritis. Osteoarthritic pain is associated with a high risk of depressive illness. This study evaluated the prevalence of major depression and its relationship with physical pain among patients with osteoarthritis.

Methods:

This was a cross-sectional study involving 134 adult outpatients, with osteoarthritis at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. The demographic profile, subjective pain intensity, and diagnosis of major depression were obtained with a sociodemographic questionnaire, Visual Analog Pain Scale, and depressive module of Composite International Diagnostic Interview, respectively.

Results:

Thirty-seven (27.61%) and 40 (29.85%) participants had current and 12-month depressive disorder, respectively. A unit (year) increase in the illness duration was associated with a 68% increase in the likelihood of having depression (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 1.68,P= 0.044), while the presence of comorbidity was the only independent correlate of 12-month depression among the participants (aOR 0.11,P= 0.031). Subjective pain severity had no independent correlation with depressive disorder.

Conclusion:

Major depression is prevalent among patients with osteoarthritis. Clinicians should have a high index of suspicion of depressive disorder, especially in the presence of medical comorbidities and longer duration of illness.