bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Relationship between nurses’ cultural competence and observance of ethical codes
Authors: Sadeghi Narges , Azizi Azim , Tapak Lili , Oshvandi Khodayar
Published: February 2022

Background

Cultural competence is considered as one of the main skills of nurses enabling them to provide nursing care for those with different cultures. One of the cases related to nurses’ cultural competence is observance of ethical codes, but it has not been investigated sufficiently in studies.

Aim

This study has been conducted to determine the relationship between nurses’ cultural competence and observance of ethical codes in practice.

Research design

This descriptive-correlational study was conducted in 2020. Sampling was done at several stages. The data were collected using questionnaires of demographic information, cultural competence, and observance of ethical codes as self-report. The questionnaires were provided to the subjects by the corresponding researcher and the data were analyzed using Pearson correlation test.

Participants and research context

This study was done with participation of 267 nurses working in four training hospitals located in northwestern Iran and 16 head nurses of selected wards.

Ethical considerations

The study was approved by Human Ethics Committee of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences. Participation was voluntary. Consent was obtained and confidentiality kept.

Findings

The results of Pearson correlation coefficient test showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between cultural competence and observance of ethical codes (r = 0.524, p = 0.001). In addition, cultural competence and observance of ethical codes by most nurses were at a moderate level.

Conclusions

The results of the present study showed a significant relationship between nurses’ cultural competence and observance of ethical codes. Therefore, it can be concluded that by strengthening the level of nurses, the level of observing ethical codes by them can be increased. Cultural competency and observance of ethical codes are important components of nursing care, and their development can improve nursing care delivery to clients through academic training, hidden curriculum and in-service education.
GO–NGO Teamwork for Strengthening Local Governance: A Review of Extant Literature in the Context of Bangladesh
Authors: Mojumder Mohammad Jahangir Hossain , Panday Pranab Kumar
Published: February 2022

Local governance has come into the centre of discourses after phenomenal shifts in functions, roles, and governing process of the central government. The increasing burden of the central government due to multidimensional challenges of modernisation and globalisation has necessitated the strengthening of local government organisations (GOs) through decentralisation of power. However, in most cases, the central government has retained the power to control local government. Factors such as central control, lack of capacity of the local government officials and lack of finances have made local government organisation of developing countries, including Bangladesh, non-functional. Therefore, many development organisations and donors have come forward with different assistances for strengthening these bodies. This article presents a review of an extant literate of GO–NGO teamwork for strengthening local government. The review finds that network among the central government, NGOs and local government could strengthen local governments in Bangladesh to effectively discharge its responsibilities.
Toddlers at Elevated Likelihood for Autism: Exploring Sensory and Language Treatment Predictors
Authors: Jatkar Alapika , Garrido Dunia , Zheng Shuting , Silverman Greyson , Elsayed Heba , Huguely Davis Paige , Lee Helen , Crais Elizabeth R. , Sideris John , Turner-Brown Lauren , Baranek Grace T. , Watson Linda R. , Grzadzinski Rebecca
Published: February 2022

Baseline child characteristics may predict treatment outcomes in children with or at elevated likelihood of developing autism (EL-ASD). Little is known about the role of child sensory and language features on treatment outcome. Participants were randomly assigned to a parent-mediated intervention or control condition. Analyses explored the relationship between baseline child sensory and language characteristics and changes in ASD symptoms over approximately 9 months. Higher baseline sensory hyporeactivity was significantly related to less improvement in social communication (SC) for the treatment group only. More baseline atypical vocalizations were significantly related to less improvement on SC across treatment and control groups. This work provides an initial framework to encourage the tailoring of interventions for EL-ASD children, suggesting sensory reactivity and atypical vocalizations may be useful behaviors to consider in treatment planning.
Effects of Emotional Intelligence Training on Symptom Severity in Patients With Depressive Disorders
Authors: Zoromba Mohamed A. , EL-Gazar Heba E. , Salah Ahmed , El-Boraie Haitham , El-Gilany Abdel-Hady , El-Monshed Ahmed Hashem
Published: February 2022

Depressive disorders affect individual’s thoughts, feelings, and social interactions. Enhancing emotional competencies of depressed individuals may alleviate their suffering. Purpose: This study aimed to compare depression severity and emotional intelligence before and after emotional intelligence training in patients with depressive disorders. Methods: A nonrandomized trial (one-group pretest–posttest) research design was applied to 69 patients purposively recruited. The patients’ sociodemographic and clinical data were collected. The Beck Depression Inventory-II and Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire-Short Form were completed before and immediately after an 8-weeks of focused weekly group training. Results: A significant improvement in the scores of well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability; total emotional intelligence scores; and total depression scores was perceived after training ( Z = 5.601, 4.398, 5.686, and 3.516; 4.943; and 2.387, respectively). Implications for Nursing Practice: As emotional intelligence can be learned; it may be a target for interventions when dealing with patients with depressive disorders by strengthening their emotional intelligence.
Foreign-Trained Physicians in the United States: A Descriptive Profile
Authors: Kaushal Neeraj , Kaestner Robert , Rigzin Tsewang
Published: February 2022

More than a quarter of physicians in the United States are international medical graduates (IMGs). This statistic, although large, does not fully capture the importance of IMGs in certain specialties and locations. We provide a comprehensive profile of IMGs documenting where and in what specialties they work and how these distributions have changed over time. Estimates show that IMGs disproportionately work in densely populated, low-income communities with sicker residents and low physician density. IMGs are overrepresented in primary care and the lowest paying specialties, and their concentration in these specialties is growing. Calculations show that U.S. medical graduates exit the workforce at 2.5 times the exit rate of IMGs suggesting that in the near future IMGs will likely provide care for an increasingly larger share of Americans.
Dynamics of Networked Framing: Automated Frame Analysis of Government Media and the Public on Weibo With Pandemic Big Data
Authors: Zhao Xinyan , Wang Xiaohui
Published: February 2022

Networked framing focuses on how the public becomes gatekeepers on social media. To unpack the dynamics of networked framing, we conducted an automated frame analysis to identify the shift of frame structures of government media ( N = 12,090) and the public ( N = 1.49 million) on Weibo during the COVID-19 pandemic. We found a moderate level of frame alignment between government media and the public, with high divergence observed during the pandemic’s initial stage. The public challenged government media frames by deploying unique frame functions and creating new frames, but their frame network was fragmented relative to that of government media, which constructed a cohesive network of frames to enhance discursive control.
Ophthalmological findings in children with unicoronal craniosynostosis
Authors: Touzé Romain , Paternoster Giovanna , Arnaud Eric , Khonsari Roman Hossein , James Syril , Bremond-Gignac Dominique , Robert Matthieu P.
Published: February 2022

Introduction

Among non-syndromic, single-suture craniosynostoses, unicoronal craniosynostosis (UCS) presents the highest rate of ophthalmic manifestations requiring a visual follow-up, due to the high risk of amblyopia. After birth or during childhood, children with UCS have a high risk to present an aniso-astigmatism and a strabismus. The aim of this study was to characterize clinical ophthalmologic findings associated with UCS in a paediatric cohort.

Methods

This retrospective study included children admitted in our unit between 2015 and 2021, with isolated UCS treated in our institution and complete ophthalmological assessment comprising visual assessment, refractive status and oculomotor examination. Children with associated craniofacial disorders were excluded.

Results

A total of 28 children met the inclusion criteria. Median age was 62 [13-192] months with a large proportion of girls (86%) and 71% of right-sided UCS. The mean best corrected visual acuity was 0.07 (±0.13) LogMAR, including 10 (36%) children with an amblyopia or history of amblyopia. Astigmatism was significantly higher on the contralateral side of the UCS than on the ipsilateral side, with a refractive cylinder error of 0.97 (±1.06) vs 0.56 (±0.68) diopters, respectively (p = 0.03). Strabismus was observed in 20 patients (71%) with a main pattern of esotropia with a vertical component. A pseudo-superior oblique palsy was found in 13 children (65%) with a median cyclodeviation of 8.7° [-5,4°-20.6°].

Conclusion

Children with UCS experience a high rate of various visual manifestations. This study highlights their need for a strict ophthalmological follow-up, in order to early diagnose and prevent visual complications.
Effects of screening for anxiety and depression in patients with ischaemic heart disease – a nationwide Danish register study
Authors: Kruse Marie , Laudicella Mauro , Olsen Kim Rose , Zwisler Ann Dorthe O. , Helmark Charlotte , Pedersen Susanne S.
Published: February 2022

Aim:

To investigate the effect of screening for anxiety and depression (AD) in patients with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) on the likelihood of receiving treatment for AD.

Methods:

We used a nationwide dataset of all Danish patients with an incident IHD diagnosis in the period 2015–2018 ( N = 80,701) of which 20,461 (25%) were exposed to screening for AD as part of cardiac rehabilitation. A binary composite indicator for the use of any AD treatment (prescriptions of AD drugs, general practitioner (GP) counselling or referral to a psychologist), was modelled as the dependent variable. The probability of receiving AD treatment was estimated using linear probability and instrumental variable regression models.

Results:

Exposure to AD screening was lower for patients with low income (change in probability −0.67, 95% CI −0.76; −0.59), low education (change in probability −0.16, 95% CI −0.20; −0.13), and a high comorbidity burden (change in probability −0.09, 95% CI −0.10; −0.07). Screened patients had a lower conditional probability of AD treatment (change in probability −0.0061, p < 0.001) than non-screened patients. The patient’s GP also had an impact on the probability of being referred for AD treatment. Using an instrumental variable approach did not affect the results.

Conclusions:

Screening for AD was subject to selection at the patient level; patients at lower risk of AD had a higher probability of being screened. Hence, extending systematic screening to cover a larger population may not achieve a noticeable increase in the uptake of AD treatment if it is not supported by appropriate measures to reduce reverse selection into screening.
Systematic Review of the Current In Vitro Experience of the Endovascular Treatment of Juxtarenal Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms by Fenestrated and Parallel Endografting
Authors: Taneva Gergana T. , Mirgolbabaee Hadi , Groot Jebbink Erik , Reijnen Michel M. P. J. , Donas Konstantinos P.
Published: February 2022

Objective:

To identify and analyze the published in vitro benchtop experiments for the assessment of endovascular techniques used for the treatment of juxtarenal abdominal aortic aneurysms (jAAAs).

Data sources:

Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science.

Review methods:

A systematic literature search was carried out throughout March 2021 following PRISMA guidelines. Two investigators independently performed title and abstract screening to reveal all benchtop testing evaluating the endovascular treatment of jAAA.

Results:

A total of 19 studies were included, 8 evaluating fenestrated (FEVAR) and 11 parallel grafts (PGs). FEVAR studies used different custom testing apparatus (n=7) or 3D-printed models (n=1) to analyze dislodgement and migration resistance, misalignment consequences and causation, and bridging stents’ radial force, flareability, fatigue, and fracture resistance. All PG studies used silicone-based models to analyze optimal oversizing, sealing length, gutter behavior, and possible reduction. Test evaluation in FEVAR in vitro testing was based on pullout force analysis (N=5), photo evaluation (n=1), fluoroscopy (n=1), X-rays (n=4), CT analysis (n=3), macro- and microscopic evaluation (n=4), water permeability (n=1), and fatigue simulator testing (n=1), while it was based on CT analysis in all PG studies adding ECG-gate in one study. The most frequently tested devices were Zenit (Cook) (n=7), Endurant (Medtronic) (n=5), and Excluder (Gore) (n=5) as main grafts, and Advanta V12 (n=14) as the bridging device.

Conclusions:

This systematic review presents a broad analysis of the current in vitro methods evaluating the endovascular treatment of jAAA. Fundamental issues have been benchtop tested in both FEVAR and PGs. The analysis of the included studies allowed to recommend an optimal testing design. In vitro testing is a potential tool to further elucidate points of attention hard to investigate in vivo to finally enhance the endovascular treatment outcomes. Future in vitro studies are needed to evaluate the in vitro performance of all indistinctively used devices in the clinical practice.
Results of a National Survey: Ongoing Barriers to APRN Practice in the United States
Authors: Schorn Mavis N. , Myers Carole , Barroso Julie , Hande Karen , Hudson Tamika , Kim Jennifer , Kleinpell Ruth
Published: February 2022

Limited information is available on the barriers to practice for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) among states with full, restricted, and reduced practice. The purpose of this study is to identify practice barriers in relationship to United States (U.S.) state practice authority, APRN type, area of practice (rural, suburban, urban), and nature of practice (outpatient, inpatient, and both). An electronic survey of a convenience sample of APRNs was conducted to assess barriers to practice. Identified barriers were examined based on state practice environment, APRN role, practice setting, and location. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis for qualitative data and descriptive analysis for quantitative data. Over 7,000 APRNs representing all 50 states participated. Themes that were identified and reported by respondents, included licensure and administrative barriers, therapy restrictions, physician signature requirements, a lack of collegiality, prescribing barriers, uneven reimbursement, physician only procedures, and telehealth issues. Barriers were identified in all states, regardless of the type of practice authority. All four APRN role types identified practice barriers, some of which were more frequent for some roles than others. Restrictions for home health approval and the requirement for a physician signature for durable medical supply orders were identified by over 40% of respondents practicing in rural areas. Barriers to APRN practice continue to restrict aspects of patient care and patient access to care, even in states with full practice authority. Continued efforts to reduce barriers to APRN practice are needed to ensure patient access to care, especially in rural areas.
The Measurement of the Surface Dose in Regular and Small Radiation Therapy Fields Using Cherenkov Imaging
Authors: Li Yi , Liu HongJun , Huang Nan , Wang Zhaolu , Zhang Chunmin
Published: February 2022

Purpose: The aim of this study is to measure the output factor (OF) and profile of surface dose in regular and small radiation therapy fields using Cherenkov imaging (CI). Methods: A medical linear accelerator (linac) was employed to generate radiation fields, including regular open photon field (ROPF), regular wedge photon field (RWPF), regular electron field (REF) and small photon field (SPF). The photon beams consisted of two filter modes including flattening filter (FF) and flattening filter free (FFF). All fields were delivered to a solid water phantom. Cherenkov light was captured using a charge-coupled device system during phantom irradiation. The OF and profile of surface dose measured by CI were compared with those determined by film measurement, ionization chamber measurement and treatment planning system calculation in order to examine the feasibility of measuring surface dose OF and profile using CI. Results: The discrepancy between surface dose OF measured by CI and that determined by other methods is less than 6% in ROPFs with size less than 10 × 10 cm2, REFs with size less than 10 × 10 cm2, and SPFs except for 1 × 1 cm2 field. In the flat profile region, the discrepancy between surface dose profile measured by CI and that determined by other methods is less than 4% in REFs and less than 3% in ROPFs, RWPFs, and SPFs except for 1 × 1 cm2 field. The discrepancy of the surface dose profile is in compliance with the recommendation by IAEA TRS 430 reports. The discrepancy between field width measured by CI and that determined by film measurement is equal to or less than 2 mm, which is within the tolerance recommend by the guidelines of linac quality assurance in regular open FF photon fields, SPFs, and REFs with cone size of 10 × 10 cm2 in area. Conclusion: CI can be used to quantitatively measure the OF and profile of surface dose. It is feasible to use CI to measure the surface dose profile and field width in regular open FF photon fields and SPFs except for 1 × 1 cm2 field.
From Honour to Bildung. Rethinking the Body in Making German Civil Society, 1750–1850
Authors: Lempa Heikki
Published: February 2022

With his concept of neuständische Gesellschaft, Reinhard Blänkner suggests that education or, rather, Bildung, becomes the practice that defines one's social status in the German lands between 1750 and 1850. I build on this argument by pursuing two separate but closely intertwined ideas: first, that Bildung stems from and, at the same time, displaces an older foundation of social status, honour; and second, that in this displacement the practices of the body played a pivotal role in shaping civil society. I start with some observations on civil society ( Zivilgesellschaft) in the middle of the 18th century. Then I examine an important civil society project centred on a set of pedagogical reforms and experiments known as the Philanthropismus during the last decades of the 18th century. The rising critique of the Philanthropismus and the development of a counter-discourse of Bildung in the first decades of the 19th century is the theme of the following section. In the last sections of the article, I delve into the proliferation of the Bildung discourse in bodily practices, especially in social dancing, in the first half of the 19th century. The article ends with some general observations on the meaning of honour, Bildung, and the body in the making of Zivilgesellschaft. This article is not a detailed study or even a set of case studies but an attempt at rethinking the understanding and conceptualization of the time-period between 1750 and 1850 in the German lands.
The experience of hospitalization in people with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: A qualitative, phenomenological study
Authors: Bakthavatsalu Barathi , Walshe Catherine , Simpson Jane
Published: February 2022

Objectives

People with advanced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are frequently hospitalized, reporting high physical, psychological and spiritual suffering. Existing research focused on discrete aspects of hospitalization, such as care or treatment, yet lacks a complete picture of the phenomenon. The aim of this study is to understand the lived experience of hospitalization in people with advanced COPD.

Methods

A qualitative, descriptive phenomenological approach was employed to study the phenomenon of hospitalization for people with advanced COPD. Unstructured interviews were conducted during hospitalization at a tertiary care hospital in India, in 2017, audio-recorded, and then transcribed. Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological analysis method guided the analysis.

Results

Fifteen people with advanced COPD participated. Emergency admissions were common because of acute breathlessness, leading to repeated hospitalizations. Hospitalization gave a sense of safety but, despite this, people preferred to avoid hospitalization. Care influenced trust in hospitalization and both shaped the experience of hospitalization. Multi-dimensional suffering was central to the experience and was described across physical, psychological and spiritual domains.

Discussion

Hospitalization was identified largely as a negative experience due to the perception of continued suffering. Integrating palliative care into the routine care of people with advanced COPD may enable improvements in care.
The use of player tracking data to analyze defensive play in professional soccer - A scoping review
Authors: Forcher Leander , Altmann Stefan , Forcher Leon , Jekauc Darko , Kempe Matthias
Published: February 2022

The analysis of tracking data in tactical game analysis is a topic of rising interest, as more detailed insights into performance structure in soccer can be obtained compared to traditional (e.g. notational) analyzes. Compared to the variety and detailed analyzes of offensive play, the number of studies analyzing the defensive play is low. However, in recent years, an increasing number of studies investigating defensive play have been published, so it seems useful to provide an overview of the current state of research in this area. Therefore, this study aims to identify the approaches that have been used to analyze the defensive play in professional soccer using player tracking data and to reveal the findings on successful defensive play. A systematic literature search of electronic databases (PubMed ( n = 604), Web of Science ( n = 593), and SPORTDiscuss ( n = 872)) was conducted according to the PRISMA extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR). Studies that were included used tracking data of professional adult male soccer and analyzed defensive play. The result is a total of 23 studies that were analyzed in detail using the standardized quality assessment checklist for systematic reviews in sports science. The synthesis of results was carried out descriptively by organizing the results into different levels of tactical play (individual level, group level, team level). All included studies were of good methodological quality. The approaches to investigate defensive play using tracking data are highly heterogeneous (e.g. analysis of defensive pressure, analysis of synchronization, behavioral analyzes, ball recoveries). Successful defensive play is characterized by high pressure at the individual level, by high inter-team and intra-team synchronization and balanced defense at the group level, and by a compact coordinated organization at the team level. By summarizing the state of research on defensive play in soccer using sophisticated analysis approaches that showcase the possibilities of tracking data, this study provides an important foundation for future research in this area.
Clinical Evaluation of a Novel Insulin Immunosensor
Authors: Aiello Eleonora M. , Pinsker Jordan E. , Vargas Eva , Teymourian Hazhir , Tehrani Farshad , Church Mei Mei , Laffel Lori M. , Doyle Francis J. , Patti Mary-Elizabeth , Wang Joseph , Dassau Eyal
Published: February 2022

Background:

The estimation of available active insulin remains a limitation of automated insulin delivery systems. Currently, insulin pumps calculate active insulin using mathematical decay curves, while quantitative measurements of insulin would explicitly provide person-specific PK insulin dynamics to assess remaining active insulin more accurately, permitting more effective glucose control.

Methods:

We performed the first clinical evaluation of an insulin immunosensor chip, providing near real-time measurements of insulin levels. In this study, we sought to determine the accuracy of the novel insulin sensor and assess its therapeutic risk and benefit by presenting a new tool developed to indicate the potential therapeutic consequences arising from inaccurate insulin measurements.

Results:

Nine adult participants with type-1 diabetes completed the study. The change from baseline in immunosensor-measured insulin levels was compared with values obtained by standard enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay (ELISA) after preprandial injection of insulin. The point-of-care quantification of insulin levels revealed similar temporal trends as those from the laboratory insulin ELISA. The results showed that 70% of the paired immunosensor-reference values were concordant, which suggests that the patient could take action safely based on insulin concentration obtained by the novel sensor.

Conclusions:

This proposed technology and preliminary feasibility evaluation show encouraging results for near real-time evaluation of insulin levels, with the potential to improve diabetes management. Real-time measurements of insulin provide person-specific insulin dynamics that could be used to make more informed decisions regarding insulin dosing, thus helping to prevent hypoglycemia and improve diabetes outcomes.
Antecedents of Political Consumerism: Modeling Online, Social Media and WhatsApp News Use Effects Through Political Expression and Political Discussion
Authors: Cheng Zicheng , Zhang Bingbing , Gil de Zúñiga Homero
Published: February 2022

According to lifestyle politics theory, social media platforms introduce new ways for people to engage in civic life. Based on the communication mediation model, prior scholarship laid out theoretical and empirical foundations for how media exposure to the news positively influences people’s political participatory behavior through supplemental communicative processes. Building on this line of research, we rely on a two-wave panel survey of U.S. adults to examine how the different online and social media communicative patterns among U.S. citizens, such as news use, political expression, and discussion, predict political consumerism behavior - the purchase decision of consumers based on political or ethical reasons. Advancing diverse causal order structural equation models, this study highlights a positive influence of news consumption, social media political expression, and political discussion in explaining political consumerism (i.e., boycotting and buycotting). Specifically, results underscore the importance of political expression and discussion mediating the relationship between online, social media and WhatsApp news use and political consumerism. Implications for future research and limitations to the study are provided in the manuscript.
Promoting Health Literacy About Cancer Screening Among Muslim Immigrants in Canada: Perspectives of Imams on the Role They Can Play in Community
Authors: Khalid Ayisha , Haque Sarika , Alvi Saad , Ferdous Mahzabin , Genereux Olivia , Chowdhury Nashit , Turin Tanvir C.
Published: February 2022

Purpose: Immigrants tend to have lower rates of cancer screening than non-immigrants in Canada. Inequity in screening rates may stem from religious factors, which religious leaders can influence. This study aimed to explore the knowledge and attitudes held by Muslim religious leaders about cancer screening, as well as the role religious leaders perceive they can play in improving cancer screening health literacy among South Asian Muslim immigrant women. Methods: We conducted interviews with 8 Muslim religious leaders in Calgary, Canada. Participants’ knowledge and attitudes were inductively summarized using descriptive analysis, while practices were deductively thematically analyzed using the Socioecological Model and the Communication for Development approaches. Results: We found participants mostly had some knowledge of cancer, but lesser knowledge of different screening tests and of low screening rates among immigrants. Participants proposed that their role as a speaker, access to facilities and community networks, and collaboration with universities and healthcare professionals could help overcome religious misinterpretations and promote cancer screening among South Asian Muslim immigrant women. Conclusion: Religious leaders were highly supportive of incorporating health messaging into faith-based messaging. Future work should focus on implementing the practices recommended in this study with South Asian Muslim immigrant women’s voices at their center.
Systemic sclerosis in Asians: Are there racial differences?
Authors: Ng Sue-Ann , Low Andrea Hsiu Ling
Published: February 2022

Systemic sclerosis is a multisystemic autoimmune disease characterized by vasculopathy and fibrosis. Racial factors exert a significant influence on the epidemiology, clinical manifestations, antibody profile, mortality and genetic factors in systemic sclerosis. In this review, we examined Asian systemic sclerosis cohorts reported in Asia and multi-racial cohort studies to evaluate the disease characteristics and outcomes of systemic sclerosis in Asians. Asian patients have distinct genetic susceptibility to systemic sclerosis, younger age of systemic sclerosis onset, higher frequency of diffuse skin involvement, different autoantibody profiles such as higher frequency of anti-Scl70 and anti-U1-RNP antibodies, and more severe clinical phenotype. There was a suggestion of poorer survival among Asians that may be contributed by more severe disease, socioeconomic factors and differences in healthcare systems. Recognizing the influence of racial differences in systemic sclerosis disease course is important as it has implications for appropriate treatment, monitoring and prognostication.
Building Capabilities for Future of Work in the Gig Economy
Authors: Balakrishnan Jeeva
Published: February 2022

Many organisations are agile in their growth plans and scale up their operations to achieve exponential growth. The most valuable asset in today’s and tomorrow’s economy is human capital, and organisations invest in reskilling and upskilling their workforce. Automation at work, combined with the global economic challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic situation has lead the workforce to lose their jobs at an accelerated pace, and the trend is expected to continue. The ongoing shift in the division of labour between humans, machines and algorithms might displace almost 85 million jobs worldwide in the next 5 years, as per the World Economic Forum (WEF). The world of work is changing with a multi-generational workforce and changing employment models with more flexibility. The location is no more a constraint to acquire capable talent. The gig economy is booming, and today’s workers prefer to adopt the gig model, and employers are increasingly preferring gig workers to the permanent workforce and preferring skills and competencies over formal qualifications. A location-independent global workforce is also emerging, and the talent becomes more fungible across all the domains. As the labour market will be highly competitive in a few years, there is a need for employers to prepare their existing workforce for future-readiness. They need to upskill them with a new set of competencies. This study describes the initiative of a larger organisation that has identified a new set of competencies and set up an Academy of Future Skills to make their workforce future ready.
Workplace Flexibility: Helping Talented Women Professionals Return to Work and Businesses Grow in an Agile Manner
Authors: Prakash Shreya , Rammohan Rashmi , Swamy Deepa
Published: February 2022

The Future of Work is a familiar concept for most of us in the business world. It comprises several trends, many of which are already upon us; and it could be argued that the one trend that will have the most impact is that of workplace flexibility. It is a beautiful convergence of many technological, social and economic advances over the last few decades and contributes to the global effort behind the development of cutting-edge technology in the areas of AR and VR. Most importantly, it gives hope of a better tomorrow where every individual has meaningful occupation, is self-sustaining and pursues balanced holistic goals.

In this article, we look at flexibility in work from the lens of various stakeholders but primarily the job seekers and job providers, and the kinds of benefits that it brings to each. We derive our data and insights from secondary sources, primary research conducted by us in the space, and insights that we have gleaned from the successful functioning of our company, FlexiBees.
Q-Methodology and Psychological Phenotyping to Design Patient-Centered Diabetes Education for Persons With Type 2 Diabetes on Insulin Therapy
Authors: Cha EunSeok , Shin Myoung Hwan , Smart Michael , Jang Hyesun , Lee Jooseon , Joung Kyong Hye , Kim Hyun Jin , Faulkner Melissa Spezia
Published: February 2022

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify the psychological phenotypes of persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D) on insulin therapy to better inform personalized diabetes education strategies to improve self-management behaviors.

Methods

Q-methodology, a research approach combining the quantitative rigor of statistical analysis with qualitative data on perception of diabetes self-management by persons with T2D on insulin therapy, was used. The Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activity measure and A1C in the past 6 months were used to further describe self-management behaviors of each P-sample, Q-sorter. Of 160 statements, 33 Q-sample statements were selected as Q-set. Then, 37 P-samples (24 men; 13 women) were recruited from a university-affiliated diabetes clinic in South Korea. Data obtained from each P-sample with a Q-set and a Q-sorting table, a forced-choice normal distribution table, were analyzed using varimax rotation.

Results

Forty-one percent of the variance was explained with 5 factors represented by 27 Q-sorters, explaining variance ranging from 5% to 17% for each factor: Factor A (n = 6): those showing self-management education need but possessing inadequate health literacy; Factor B (n = 4): those valuing lifestyle modification to control diabetes; Factor C (n = 5): those valuing antidiabetic medication to control diabetes; Factor D (n = 6): carpe diem, accepting diabetes as destiny; and Factor E (n = 6): those overestimating their competencies to control diabetes. Ten Q-sorters fell into either confounded or nonsignificant.

Conclusions

Tailoring messages and educational approaches based on patients’ psychological phenotypes are necessary to promote optimal self-management behaviors.
Assembly-free rapid differential gene expression analysis in non-model organisms using DNA-protein alignment
Authors: Shrestha Anish M.S. , B. Guiao Joyce Emlyn , R. Santiago Kyle Christian
Published: February 2022

Background

RNA-seq is being increasingly adopted for gene expression studies in a panoply of non-model organisms, with applications spanning the fields of agriculture, aquaculture, ecology, and environment. For organisms that lack a well-annotated reference genome or transcriptome, a conventional RNA-seq data analysis workflow requires constructing a de-novo transcriptome assembly and annotating it against a high-confidence protein database. The assembly serves as a reference for read mapping, and the annotation is necessary for functional analysis of genes found to be differentially expressed. However, assembly is computationally expensive. It is also prone to errors that impact expression analysis, especially since sequencing depth is typically much lower for expression studies than for transcript discovery.

Results

We propose a shortcut, in which we obtain counts for differential expression analysis by directly aligning RNA-seq reads to the high-confidence proteome that would have been otherwise used for annotation. By avoiding assembly, we drastically cut down computational costs – the running time on a typical dataset improves from the order of tens of hours to under half an hour, and the memory requirement is reduced from the order of tens of Gbytes to tens of Mbytes. We show through experiments on simulated and real data that our pipeline not only reduces computational costs, but has higher sensitivity and precision than a typical assembly-based pipeline. A Snakemake implementation of our workflow is available at: https://bitbucket.org/project_samar/samar.

Conclusions

The flip side of RNA-seq becoming accessible to even modestly resourced labs has been that the time, labor, and infrastructure cost of bioinformatics analysis has become a bottleneck. Assembly is one such resource-hungry process, and we show here that it can be avoided for quick and easy, yet more sensitive and precise, differential gene expression analysis in non-model organisms.
Comparison of mixed model based approaches for correcting for population substructure with application to extreme phenotype sampling
Authors: Onifade Maryam , Roy-Gagnon Marie-Hélène , Parent Marie-Élise , Burkett Kelly M.
Published: February 2022

Background

Mixed models are used to correct for confounding due to population stratification and hidden relatedness in genome-wide association studies. This class of models includes linear mixed models and generalized linear mixed models. Existing mixed model approaches to correct for population substructure have been previously investigated with both continuous and case-control response variables. However, they have not been investigated in the context of extreme phenotype sampling (EPS), where genetic covariates are only collected on samples having extreme response variable values. In this work, we compare the performance of existing binary trait mixed model approaches (GMMAT, LEAP and CARAT) on EPS data. Since linear mixed models are commonly used even with binary traits, we also evaluate the performance of a popular linear mixed model implementation (GEMMA).

Results

We used simulation studies to estimate the type I error rate and power of all approaches assuming a population with substructure. Our simulation results show that for a common candidate variant, both LEAP and GMMAT control the type I error rate while CARAT’s rate remains inflated. We applied all methods to a real dataset from a Québec, Canada, case-control study that is known to have population substructure. We observe similar type I error control with the analysis on the Québec dataset. For rare variants, the false positive rate remains inflated even after correction with mixed model approaches. For methods that control the type I error rate, the estimated power is comparable.

Conclusions

The methods compared in this study differ in their type I error control. Therefore, when data are from an EPS study, care should be taken to ensure that the models underlying the methodology are suitable to the sampling strategy and to the minor allele frequency of the candidate SNPs.
Twin-to-twin transfusion syndrome complicated with in utero limb ischemia of the donor twin – a case report
Authors: Majewska Agata , Brawura-Biskupski-Samaha Robert , Kozłowski Szymon , Bomba-Opoń Dorota , Szymusik Iwona , Płaza Olga , Wielgoś Mirosław
Published: February 2022

Background

In utero limb ischemia is a rare complication of the monochorionic twin pregnancies complicated with twin to twin transfusion syndrome (TTTS). The condition is more often seen in recipient twins. There are few theories of the pathogenesis including in utero venous thromboembolism, but the cause remains unclear. However, limb ischemia is thought to be unrelated with any prenatal intervention.

Case Presentation

We present a case of a monochorionic twin pregnancy complicated with TTTS admitted to the Clinic for selective fetoscopic laser photocoagulation. The invasive procedure failed due to poor visibility. In the following weeks of pregnancy, amnioreduction procedures were performed. At 28 weeks of gestation due to twin anemia-polycythemia sequence diagnosis the patient was qualified for cesarean section. Postnatally, the donor twin was diagnosed with lower right limb ischemic necrosis. The extremity was amputated 2 days later with an uncomplicated recovery. After speculations of the potential pathogeneses it was suggested that the ischemic limb occurred as a complication of the main condition – TTTS.

Conclusions

In literature, there have been no cases reported of TTTS stage I complicated with donor twin limb ischemia. The actual cause of the in utero limb ischemic necrosis in monochorionic twins remains unknown. Nevertheless, increased attention to the potential complication after failed invasive procedures or conservative treatment should be required.
The role conflict-burnout-depression link among Chinese female health care and social service providers: the moderating effect of marriage and motherhood
Authors: Zheng Guanghuai , Lyu Xinshu , Pan Li , Chen Anna
Published: February 2022

Background

Women with depression disorder outnumber men, and health care and social service providers are mostly female. Drawing on conservation of resources (COR) theory, this study aims to examine the association between role conflicts and depression among health care and social service providers, and further investigate the mediating effect of burnout, as well as the moderating effect of marital status and motherhood.

Methods

The data come from the baseline of the ‘China Social Work Longitudinal Study’ conducted in 2019, which contains 1,219 female social workers who reported work-family conflict. The five items of the scale in our model were extracted from the existing literature to ensure the construct validity of potential variables, and confirmatory factor analyses (CFAs) were also conducted to ensure the validity and reliability of the scale. Descriptive analyses and correlation analyses were performed with SPSS 24, while the path analysis was conducted using Amos 24. The moderating effects of marital status and motherhood were further tested using multiple-group analyses.

Results

Female health care and social service providers experienced a high level of depression. Work-to-family conflict (WFC), family-to-work conflict (FWC), and organizational role conflict (ORC) were significantly and positively associated with female social workers’ depression. Exhaustion and cynicism fully mediated the effects of ORC on depression and partially mediated the effects of WFC on depression. In addition, FWC had only a direct effect on depression. A multiple-group analysis further indicated that both marital status and motherhood status may have played a moderating role in the conflict-burnout-depression link and that being unmarried and having no child were risk factors for depression in female health care and social service providers.

Conclusions

Marriage and motherhood have both negative and positive effects on the depression of female health care and social service providers. This suggests that marriage and motherhood may act as a form of “family clientelism” for female health care and social service providers who marry and have children.
Effect of theory-based education on promoting a healthy lifestyle in pre-diabetic women: RCT
Authors: MohammadniaMotlagh Kolsoum , Shamsi Mohsen , Roozbahani Nasrin , Karimi Mahmood , Moradzadeh Rahmatollah
Published: February 2022

Background

Due to the fact that pre-diabetic people are at higher risk of developing diabetes, it is possible to reduce the risk by taking preventive measures. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of theory-based education on promoting a healthy lifestyle and fasting blood sugar (FBS) in pre-diabetic women.

Methods

This is a cluster‐randomized controlled trial that was performed on 71 pre-diabetic women referred to Arak Comprehensive Health Service Center. Thus, using cluster sampling method, one center was randomly assigned to the intervention group and one center to the control group. The data collection tool was a questionnaire based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and healthy lifestyle behavior that was completed before and at least 3 months after training and FBS test was performed. The experimental group received 3 training sessions of 60 to 90 min and finally the data were analyzed using statistical software.

Results

After the intervention, the mean scores of knowledge (P < 0.001), attitude (P = 0.047) and perceived behavioral control related to physical activity (P = 0.046) and dietary function (P = 0.01) increased significantly in the intervention group. In addition, fasting blood sugar in the intervention group (99.70 ± 11.06) improved significantly compared to the control group (110.94 ± 17.09) (P = 0.003).

Conclusion

Education based on the theory of planned behavior, by holding face-to-face meetings along with following up the samples after the educational intervention, can promote healthy lifestyle of pre-diabetic women. Therefore, designing and implementing similar interventions on all pre-diabetic individuals seem necessary.

Trial registration: The master's thesis in health education is approved by Arak University of Medical Sciences, Iran and is registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trial (IRCT20190304042921N1). Prospectively registered 22/07/2019,https://en.irct.ir/trial/40596.