bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Visual stimulation in the neonatal intensive care unit: A systematic literature review
Authors: Moran Cristiane Aparecida , Costa Victor Seabra Lima Prado , Marx Letícia Oliveira , Fernandes Costa Marcelo
Published: January 2024

We aimed to systematically categorize evidence on the types of early visual stimulation applied to preterm infants (PTIs) admitted to neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), aiming to improve visual function parameters. This study was conducted according to PRISMA and registered in PROSPERO with CRD42022333753. Last search was conducted on March 15, 2023, in four different databases. Articles written in English, Portuguese, Spanish, or Italian, and available in full text were included. Two independent authors performed study selection, data extraction, and bias risk assessment. If there was any disagreement, a third author was contacted. A total of eight studies were included. From these, 62.5% presented a low risk of bias. 100% used a multisensory intervention, which included visual stimulation. In 50%, visual intervention consisted of black and white stimulation cards placed inside the incubator for three minutes. The outcomes showed positive benefits in visual function parameters and other reported clinical benefits in breastfeeding and neuromuscular development. This review demonstrated there is still scarce literature on the effects of early visual stimulation on purely visual functional outcomes, although the existing findings are promising. Parental involvement has been generating unquestionable benefits for the binomial mother-infant and gaining greater acceptance by health professionals.
A novel shipyard performance measurement approach through an integrated Value Engineering and Risk Assessment (VENRA) framework using a hybrid MCDM tool
Authors: Baihaqi Imam , Lazakis Iraklis , Supomo Heri
Published: January 2024

As the ship manufacturer, including new building, repair, and conversion, the shipyard significantly impacts the ship’s quality and performance output. A well-planned ship design that will be built requires skilled shipbuilders who can fulfil quality, timeline, budget, safety, and environmental requirements from shipowners, rules, and regulations. Since diverse and multiple factors influence its efficiency and product output, evaluating the shipyard’s performance is critical for a more impactful and strategic advancement approach. This research aims to apply the novel integrated Value Engineering and Risk Assessment (VENRA) framework, which integrates five main elements: technical, business, external, personnel’s safety, and environment, for measuring shipyard performance. This paper demonstrates the VENRA business element in more detail and applies it to a shipyard case study. Integrated fuzzy Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) and Weighted Evaluation Technique (WET) are used to analyse the criteria’s interrelationship by determining the cause-effect group and weight ranking prioritisation. The objective grading system is developed to determine the shipyard’s performance score based on multi-resource qualitative and quantitative data. The shipyard’s case study demonstrates that ‘delivery time’ remains the most critical and influential aspect of the business elements’ performance. In addition, the top three most important factors, ‘delivery time’, ‘financial report condition’, and ‘ship manufacturing cost’, must be taken into account, as they directly influence the shipyard’s performance. Despite being a minor element, ‘innovation and human resources’ is the second most influential factor after ‘delivery time’. The case study’s results demonstrate that the framework can simultaneously identify cause-and-effect criteria groups while prioritising the most critical factors via methodologies.
Distributed fiber optic sensing for micro- and macro-crack quantification: an interfacial-fracture-energy-based model
Authors: Lin Shao-Qun , Tan Dao-Yuan , Yin Jian-Hua , Zhu Hong-Hu , Kong Yong
Published: January 2024

Clarifying the strain transfer between the host material with a crack opening displacement (COD) and the optical fiber after interfacial debonding remains a critical challenge for crack quantification. The interfacial debonding induced a triangular form strain profile around the crack due to the residual shear stresses at the interface. This study investigated the interfacial shear stress-slip relationship between the bare fiber and its coating layer through a plate splitting test. Based on that, we proposed an interfacial-fracture-energy-based analytical model to convert distributed fiber optic strains before and after interfacial debonding to CODs of micro- and macro-cracks. The accuracy of the model under a single crack was validated through plate splitting tests and the experimental data reported in the literature. Furthermore, experimental results from a four-point beam test were utilized to investigate the feasibility of the model under multiple cracks. The model, assisted by the strain superposition strategy, accurately quantified the CODs of multiple cracks before interfacial debonding but failed when interfacial debonding occurred. In addition, we proposed a simplified method based on the linear relationship between the debonded lengths and the corresponding CODs, which facilitates evaluation of the CODs after debonding.
Monitoring fatigue delamination growth in a wind turbine blade using passive thermography and acoustic emission
Authors: Samareh-Mousavi Seyed Sina , Chen Xiao , McGugan Malcolm , Semenov Sergei , Berring Peter , Branner Kim , Ludwig Niels
Published: January 2024

Damage monitoring is an essential step to understand fatigue damage growth in composite wind turbine blades and for reliable lifetime prediction. The current study is an experimental investigation of fatigue delamination induced by an intentionally embedded defect in the spar cap of a 31 m wind turbine blade. A constant cyclic flap-wise bending was applied to the blade for 320,000 cycles. Delamination growth is identified and measured by visual inspection, acoustic emission (AE), and infrared thermography of the blade surface. It was observed that the area of delaminated regions grew faster during the early cycles, then their growth rates decreased, and the interlayer cracks reached stable growth. The experiment shows fatigue delamination develops gradually in the spar cap and allows monitoring of the damage before reaching a critical stage. The ability of AE and thermography methods to detect subsurface damage is demonstrated by the identification of steady delamination growth during cyclic load. Damage localization by both methods is in good agreement with the delamination location. Most acoustic activities are spotted in the boundaries of delaminated regions, and the position of a significant number of acoustic activities with the highest energy content correlates with the location of delamination crack fronts. It is shown that the surface temperature distribution contour indicates the shape of the largest delaminated region, and the growth of the hot region area correlates with damage propagation. However, multiple delaminations through the thickness cannot be discriminated from the thermal images.
Museums Will Forget: Critical Approaches to Catalog-Centered Historical Research
Authors: Goskar Tehmina
Published: January 2024

This article shares the approaches, research and consequences of catalog-centered historical research at the Museum of Cornish Life, a result of the author’s Art Fund Headley Fellowship in 2022. It argues that museums are inherently forgetful institutions that avoid and often do not preserve their own history. If museums are to think and do things differently, particularly when employing decolonial approaches, they must start with reconstructing and understanding their own institutional and documentation ancestry. In the absence of an organized institutional archive the author turned to using critical close readings of both the historic and current collections catalogs to reconstruct patterns of curatorial preference, language, terminology, and classification use, and their impact on collections making. This research, coupled with piecing together scattered fragments from newspapers and surviving correspondence, led to the start of a major long-term effort to create a new museum knowledge base in the form of a digital archive to preserve the multiple voices and influences of the museum and its collections.
Information security for criminological ethnographers
Authors: Kindynis Theo , Fleetwood Jennifer
Published: January 2024

Information security refers to ‘the practice of defending information from unauthorised access’. Information security practices include everyday activities such as protecting your bank details, or keeping your workplace logins secure. Despite increasingly restrictive approaches to research ethics, academia continues to lag behind journalism when it comes to best practice with regards to information security. This article discusses information security as it pertains to qualitative and especially ethnographic research into crime and deviance. In doing so, the article addresses a gap in the methodological literature by drawing on lessons and real-world examples from journalism, academia and activism, in order to offer guidance for researchers seeking to maintain information security in a digital, networked social world. The article proceeds in three parts. First, the article considers what information researchers might want to protect, who they might want to protect it from and what the consequences might be if they failed to do so (an exercise known as ‘threat modelling’). The different powers, resources and capacities of, and threats posed by, state actors such as the police and intelligence agencies, as well as an array of non-state actors, are considered. Second, the article outlines some general principles of information security and how they might apply to ethnographic research into crime and deviance. Third, the article discusses a range of practical considerations when it comes to using mobile phones (cell phones), social media, passwords and encryption in the course of researching crime and deviance.
Music and Dance Training are not Uniquely Associated with Memory Skills
Authors: Sidhu Riya K. , Ritchie Kaitlin N. , Corrigall Kathleen A.
Published: January 2024

Music training is robustly associated with cognitive skills, and with tonal and verbal memory more specifically. However, it is unclear whether these associations reflect near or far transfer and/or whether they indicate pre-existing differences between those who do or do not take music lessons for long durations. Dance training may similarly rely on or train visuospatial memory abilities and produce exercise-induced benefits for working memory, but there is far less research on its associations with cognition. In Study 1, women with varying durations of formal music and dance experience completed measures of visual and auditory memory, general intelligence, demographics, and personality. Music training was associated with auditory immediate and delayed memory, as well as visual working memory, but all associations disappeared when other variables were held constant. Furthermore, dance training was not associated with any memory measure. Study 2 was similar but focused on visual memory and included both men and women. We replicated the simple association between duration of music training and visual working memory, which once again ceased to remain significant when controlling for other variables. Similarly, dance training failed to correlate with any visual memory measure despite the use of more valid visual memory tasks. Our findings suggest that memory advantages among musicians most likely result from pre-existing differences rather than near transfer and provide no evidence of transfer from dance training to visual memory.
Self-Efficacy in Patients With Hypertension and Their Perceived Usage of Patient Portals
Authors: Lim Weai Ling , Koh Yi Ling Eileen , Tan Zhi En , Tan Yu Quan , Tan Ngiap Chuan
Published: January 2024

Introduction:

Self-efficacy in individuals optimizes their hypertension management. Electronic patient portals are being increasingly used to support chronic disease management, as they raise the health literacy of patients and enable them in self-management. However, the association between the use of patient portals and self-efficacy in hypertension management remains unclear. The study aimed to determine the association between self-efficacy among patients with hypertension who are managed in primary care and their demographic characteristics and usage patterns of patient portals.

Method:

A cross-sectional survey was conducted at a public primary care clinic in urban Singapore. Multi-ethnic adult patients with hypertension were invited to participate in a self-administered electronic questionnaire. Chi-square test was performed for bivariate analysis; adjusted logistic regression models were used for factors with P value <.1.

Results:

A total of 310 patients (66.8% Chinese, 55.5% males, mean age of 63.1 years) completed the survey. Patient portal users had higher self-efficacy scores than non-users (mean score=63 vs 60, maximum = 80, P = .011). The factors associated with increased patient portal access included younger age <65 years (absolute odds ratio [AOR] = 2.634, 95%CI = 1.432-4.847; P = .002), monthly income >$5000 (AOR = 2.324, 95%CI = 1.104-4.892; P = .026), and post-secondary education level (AOR = 3.128, 95%CI = 1.675-5.839; P < .001). Most patients (93.1%) used the portal to check medical appointments but only1.3% of them used it to record home blood pressure measurements (HBPM).

Conclusions:

Patient portal usage was associated with higher self-efficacy scores in patients with hypertension. These users were younger, more educated, and earned more than the non-users, but only 1.3% of them used it for HBPM documentation.
A Micro-Level Evidence of how Investor and Manager Herding Behavior Influence the Firm Financial Performance
Authors: Shah Sayyed Sadaqat Hussain , Khan Muhammad Asif , Ahmed Masood , Meyer Daniel F. , Oláh Judit
Published: January 2024

Using the investor-herding index (IHRB) and manager-herding index (MHRB), the emergence of investors’ and managers’ herding behavior at the corporate-level and its potential impact on firm financial performance (FFP) is analyzed in the entire study. The study utilizes the micro-level data of 296 listed firms of Pakistan stock exchange (PSX) from 2013 to 2017. Empirical findings show that the investors’ and managers’ herding significantly affect FFP. The results are robust under alternative measurements of FFP. This study has a unique contribution to the literature on behavioral finance by addressing the astonishingly overlooked phenomena of firm-level biases and their potential impact on FFP. For prospective investor’s decision, the findings are significant in such way that the market index is irrelevant than the firm-level financial evidence. Explicitly, the study concludes that positive herding behavior is elucidated by the bullish trend and inverse herding behavior of investors with respective to firm value leads toward bearish trend of stock market index. The likelihood of market crash may become more stringent in circumstances once managers and investors interactively exhibit negative herding behavior. Thus, the study offers useful policy and strategy implications for the associated stakeholders to the device the policies accordingly.

JEL Code: D9, D21, D91, G11.
Coronary Cascade Connecting Right Posterior and Left Anterior Descending Arteries: A Rare Coronary Anomaly
Authors: Kumar Swasthi S. , Iliyas Mohamed , S Harikrishnan
Published: January 2024

“Coronary cascades” or “coronary arcades” are congenital inter-coronary communications allowing uni- or bi-directional blood flow seen in the absence of obstructive coronary lesions. Coronary cascades take up the role of collaterals if atherosclerotic lesions develop. We present the angiogram images of a coronary cascade connecting left anterior and right posterior descending arteries (LAD and RPDA) in the distal interventricular groove in a patient with spontaneous coronary artery dissection and near total occlusion of LAD who presented with inferior wall myocardial infarction secondary to acute thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary artery. The presence of the arcade prevented a massive inferior or anterior wall myocardial infarction in our patient.
Posterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction With Quadriceps Tendon Autograft and Concomitant Meniscal Ramp Repair
Authors: Glover Mark A. , Mason Thomas W. , Albertson Benjamin S. , Trasolini Nicholas A. , Waterman Brian R.
Published: January 2024

Background:

Quadriceps autograft, though well established for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, is underutilized in posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) reconstruction largely due to slow adoption. All-inside meniscal ramp repair and quadriceps tendon autograft PCL reconstruction have been described in isolation, but not concomitantly in a video journal.

Indications:

PCL reconstruction is indicated in grade 3 isolated tears with instability that have not improved with nonoperative management and in instances with associated injuries such as meniscal ramp tears, as observed in this 18-year-old division I football player. Graft selection is dependent upon surgeon and patient preference, with quadriceps autograft delivering a viable option with desirable long-term outcomes.

Technique Description:

A partial-thickness quadriceps tendon autograft was harvested, the remnant PCL stump was debrided, and a reamer was used to drill the all-inside tibial tunnel for traction suture passage. An accessory low anterolateral portal was utilized to drill the femoral tunnel for passage of the femoral traction stitch. Traction sutures were withdrawn, and the graft was passed into the tibia, docked into the femur, fixated with an interference screw, and tensioned over the tibial button. A medial meniscal ramp tear was also identified and repaired in all-inside fashion with a 90° SutureLasso, polydioxanone suture (PDS), and suturetape via standard arthroscopic knot tying. Following the procedure, the patient began a PCL reconstruction rehabilitation protocol with a PCL rebound brace. Due to the meniscal ramp repair, toe touch weightbearing with the knee in extension during ambulation was completed for 6 weeks. Physical therapy (PT) focused on early quadriceps and patellar mobilization as well as active-assisted range of motion exercises.

Results:

At 6 months postoperation, the patient continued to progress in PT without major concerns. A full recovery and return to sport are expected approximately 9 to 12 months after surgery, as is consistent with the standard protocol.

Discussion/Conclusion:

This study describes the treatment of chronic PCL with concomitant meniscal ramp tear in a division I athlete. Further adoption of PCL reconstruction utilizing quadriceps autograft, even in the context of concomitant ligamentous or meniscal reconstruction, such as medial meniscal ramp repair, will aid in the widespread treatment of PCL injuries.

Patient Consent Disclosure Statement:

The author(s) attests that consent has been obtained from any patient(s) appearing in this publication. If the individual may be identifiable, the author(s) has included a statement of release or other written form of approval from the patient(s) with this submission for publication.
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy as monotherapy for vesical calculi
Authors: Nagaraj Arjun , Madineni Bhavana Chowdary , Harohally Krishnareddy Nagaraj , Nagaraj Jeevan , Iqbal Tariq , Kamble Nitin Kumar , Varghese Jofin John
Published: January 2024

Background

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is a well-established non-surgical treatment of urolithiasis. ESWL as a monotherapy to treat vesical calculi is still unfamiliar among many urologists, despite its early introduction in the 1990’s. ESWL monotherapy for vesical calculi was performed in our study in a unique fashion in supine position with full bladder unlike any other previous reported studies.

Methods

We aimed this study to report our experience with ESWL as a monotherapy in treating urinary bladder stones with a unique technique. A total of 29 patients with vesical calculi were treated with ESWL monotherapy from May 2021 to January 2023 using Dornier delta lithotripter in the supine position with the full bladder without per urethral catheterisation. Patients with stone size > 2.5cm or Hounsfield units > 1200 were excluded. Stone clearance was assessed with the help of fluoroscopy and ultrasonography on a second visit on day 7 after the procedure. Patients were followed up for 3 months.

Results

The mean size of vesical calculus was 1.6 cm (SD 0.32), and the mean Hounsfield unit was 940 HU (SD 86.61). None of the study subjects required surgical intervention. The stone clearance was obtained in 93.1% after a single session. The remaining two patients (6.9%) required one more session of ESWL following which stone clearance was obtained. One patient had acute urinary retention, and five (17.2%) patients had mild haematuria.

Conclusion

ESWL monotherapy is a safe and effective treatment option for vesical calculi, with minimal or no patient discomfort, when done in supine position without routine per urethral catheterisation as described in the study. It should be considered more often by practicing urologists for vesical calculi.
MetageneCluster: a Python package for filtering conflicting signal trends in metagene plots
Authors: Carter Clayton , Saporito Aaron , Douglass Stephen M.
Published: January 2024

Background

Metagene plots provide a visualization of biological signal trends over subsections of the genome and are used to perform high-level analysis of experimental data by aggregating genome-level data to create an average profile. The generation of metagene plots is useful for summarizing the results of many sequencing-based applications. Despite their prevalence and utility, the standard metagene plot is blind to conflicting signals within data. If multiple distinct trends occur, they can interact destructively, creating a plot that does not accurately represent any of the underlying trends.

Results

We present MetageneCluster, a Python tool to generate a collection of representative metagene plots based on k-means clustering of genomic regions of interest. Clustering the data by similarity allows us to identify patterns within the features of interest. We are then able to summarize each pattern present in the data, rather than averaging across the entire feature space. We show that our method performs well when used to identify conflicting signals in real-world genome-level data.

Conclusions

Overall, MetageneCluster is a user-friendly tool for the creation of metagene plots that capture distinct patterns in underlying sequence data.
MAGICIAN: MAG simulation for investigating criteria for bioinformatic analysis
Authors: Steinke Kat , Pamp Sünje J. , Munk Patrick
Published: January 2024

Background

The possibility of recovering metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) from sequence reads allows for further insights into microbial communities and their members, possibly even analyzing such sequences with tools designed for single-isolate genomes. As result quality depends on sequence quality, performance of tools for single-isolate genomes on MAGs should be tested beforehand. Bioinformatics can be leveraged to quickly create varied synthetic test sets with known composition for this purpose.

Results

We present MAGICIAN, a flexible, user-friendly pipeline for the simulation of MAGs. MAGICIAN combines a synthetic metagenome simulator with a metagenomic assembly and binning pipeline to simulate MAGs based on user-supplied input genomes, allowing users to test performance of tools on MAGs while having a ground truth to compare results to. Using MAGICIAN, we found that even very slight (1%) changes in depth of coverage can drastically affect whether a genome can be recovered. We also demonstrate the use of simulated MAGs by evaluating the suitability of such genomes obtained with MAGICIAN’s current default pipeline for analysis with the antimicrobial resistance gene identification tool ResFinder.

Conclusions

Using MAGICIAN, it is possible to simulate MAGs which, while generally high in quality, reflect issues encountered with real-world data, thus providing realistic best-case data. Evaluating the results of ResFinder analysis of these genomes revealed a risk for plausible-looking false positives, which underlines the need for pipeline validation so that researchers are aware of the potential issues when interpreting real-world data. Furthermore, the effects of fluctuations in depth of coverage on genome recovery in our simulated “random sequencing” warrant further investigation and indicate random subsampling of reads may affect discovery of more genomes.
Supraglottic jet oxygenation and ventilation improves oxygenation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography: a randomized controlled clinical trial
Authors: Su Dan , Zhang Wei , Li Jingze , Tan Xi , Wei Huafeng , Wang Yinglin , Ji Zhonghua
Published: January 2024

Purpose

Hypoxia is one of the most frequent adverse events under deep sedation in the semiprone position. We hypothesized that supraglottic jet oxygenation and ventilation (SJOV) via Wei nasal jet tube (WNJ) can reduce the incidence of hypoxia in patients under deep sedation during endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP).

Methods

A total of 171 patients were divided into three groups: N group, supplementary oxygen via a nasopharyngeal airway (4–6 L/min); W group, supplementary oxygen via WNJ (4–6 L/min); WS group, SJOV via WNJ. The primary outcome was the incidence of adverse events, including sedation-related adverse events [SRAEs, hypoxemia (SpO2 = 75–89% lasted less than 60 s); severe hypoxemia (SpO2 < 75% at any time or SpO2 < 90% lasted more than 60 s] and subclinical respiratory depression (SpO2 = 90–95%). Other intraoperative and post-operative adverse events were also recorded as secondary outcomes.

Results

Compared with the N group, the incidence of hypoxemia and subclinical respiratory depression in the WS group was significantly lower (21% vs. 4%, P = 0.005; 27% vs. 6%, P = 0.002). Compared with Group W, the incidence of hypoxemia and subclinical respiratory depression in Group WS was also significantly less frequent (20% vs. 4%, P = 0.009; 21% vs. 6%, P = 0.014). No severe hypoxia occurred in the group WS, while four and one instances were observed in the group N and group W respectively. There were no significant differences in other adverse events among the three groups.

Conclusion

SJOV can effectively improve oxygenation during ERCP in deeply sedated semiprone patients.
The impact of diet quality on cognitive ability of Chinese older adults: evidence from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS)
Authors: Xu Ziwei , Chen Shuaizhen , Guo Min , Zhang Tianlei , Niu Xiaoxuan , Zhou Yuxin , Tan Jialong , Wang Jian
Published: January 2024

Background

Numerous studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between diet quality and cognitive performance, indicating that improving diet quality may be beneficial in preventing cognitive decline in older adults. However, few study has investigated the causal relationship between diet quality and cognitive performance. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the causal effects of diet quality on cognitive performance in Chinese adults aged 55 years and older. Particularly, we utilize the Chinese Diet Quality Index (CHEI), a dietary assessment tool tailored for Chinese populations, as a proxy for older adults’ diet quality.

Methods

Data were obtained from the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) ($$N = 2337$$

N
=
2337

, $$\ge$$
≥
55 years old) conducted in 2004 and 2006. Cognitive function was tested by a subset of items from the Telephone Interview for Cognitive Status-Modified (TICS-m). Data on dietary intake was retrieved from three consecutive 24 hour recalls by participants and its quality was assessed by the 17-items Chinese Healthy Eating Index (CHEI). An Instrumental Variable technique was used to deal with the potential endogeneity of dietary quality. The instrumental variable used in our study is the community mean of CHEI.

Results

After adjusting for socio-demographic factors (age, gender, education, per capita household income), lifestyle habits (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical activity, BMI), and chronic diseases (hypertension, diabetes), our findings revealed that improving diet quality had a significant positive effect on cognitive performance ($$P = 0.020$$

P
=
0.020

), particularly in females aged 55-65 years ($$P = 0.003$$

P
=
0.003

) and females with primary education and below ($$P < 0.001$$

P
<
0.001

).

Conclusion

Our study suggests that improving diet quality and adhering to the Dietary Guidelines for Chinese may enhance cognitive performance in Chinese adults aged 55 years and older.
Perspectives of telemedicine-based services among family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer: a qualitative study in mainland China
Authors: Guo Junchen , Xu Xianghua , Liu Chaoyi , Wang Ying , Chen Yongyi
Published: January 2024

Background

Despite being driven by a strong sense of duty and familial obligation, providing care for patients nearing the end of life poses challenges for family caregivers. Telemedicine has rapidly gained traction as a transformative approach to healthcare delivery, offering an array of benefits that could be particularly valuable in end-of-life care. However, research on the perspectives of telemedicine-based services among family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer is limited. Therefore, this study aims to explore the perspectives and preferences of telemedicine-based services among family caregivers of patients with end-of-life cancer and provide a framework for developing and executing a tailored telemedicine-based end-of-life care program that addresses the unique needs of family caregivers in mainland China.

Method

A descriptive phenomenological approach was used. Family caregivers were selected using purposive sampling at a tertiary cancer hospital. One-on-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with the participants from November to December 2022. Colaizz’s method was used to analyze the interviews.

Results

Fourteen participants participated in interviews. Three themes and ten subthemes were identified: motivation to receive telemedicine services (relief from the burden of home care; access to professional health care services), supportive care needs for telemedicine services (support for symptom management; negative emotional adjustment; death education; daily life care guidance), and functional expectations of telemedicine service platforms (ease of use; real-time online guidance and response; personalized automatic reminder; targeted matching push of health knowledge).

Conclusion

Family caregivers expressed interest in telemedicine-based services and identified various care needs before receiving telemedicine services. The findings of this study can help policymakers and healthcare providers develop more effective and culturally appropriate telemedicine-based service programs that can better support family caregivers of end-of-life cancer patients.
Definition and validation of the nursing diagnosis label “wish to die”: a research protocol
Authors: Monforte-Royo Cristina , Goni-Fuste Blanca , Crespo Iris , Pergolizzi Denise , Martin-Delgado Leandra , Fuster Pilar , Bellido-Perez Mercedes , Tomás-Sábado Joaquín , Rodríguez-Prat Andrea
Published: January 2024

Background

Euthanasia has been incorporated into the health services of seven countries. The legalisation of these practices has important repercussions for the competences of nurses, and it raises questions about their role. When a patient with advanced disease expresses a wish to die, what is expected of nurses? What are the needs of these patients, and what kind of care plan do they require? What level of autonomy might nurses have when caring for these patients? The degree of autonomy that nurses might or should have when it comes to addressing such a wish and caring for these patients has yet to be defined. Recognising the wish to die as a nursing diagnosis would be an important step towards ensuring that these patients receive adequate nursing care.

This study-protocol aims to define and validate the nursing diagnosis wish to die in patients with advanced disease, establishing its defining characteristics and related factors; to define nursing-specific interventions for this new diagnosis.

Methods

A prospective three-phase study will be carried out. Phase-A) Foundational knowledge: an umbrella review of systematic reviews will be conducted; Phase-B) Definition and validation of the diagnostic nomenclature, defining characteristics and related factors by means of an expert panel, a Delphi study and application of Fehring’s diagnostic content validation model; Phase-C) Definition of nursing-specific interventions for the new diagnosis. At least 200 academic and clinical nurses with expertise in the field of palliative care or primary health care will be recruited as participants across the three phases.

Discussion

The definition of the wish to die as a nursing diagnosis would promote greater recognition and autonomy for nurses in the care of patients who express such a wish, providing an opportunity to alleviate underlying suffering through nursing-specific interventions and drawing attention to the needs of patients with advanced disease. The new diagnosis would be an addition to nursing science and would provide a framework for providing care to people with advanced disease who express such a wish. Nurses would gain professional autonomy about identifying, exploring and responding clinically to such a wish.
Immune evasion in cell-based immunotherapy: unraveling challenges and novel strategies
Authors: Li Yan-Ruide , Halladay Tyler , Yang Lili
Published: January 2024

Cell-based immunotherapies (CBIs), notably exemplified by chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-engineered T (CAR-T) cell therapy, have emerged as groundbreaking approaches for cancer therapy. Nevertheless, akin to various other therapeutic modalities, tumor cells employ counterstrategies to manifest immune evasion, thereby circumventing the impact of CBIs. This phenomenon is facilitated by an intricately immunosuppression entrenched within the tumor microenvironment (TME). Principal mechanisms underpinning tumor immune evasion from CBIs encompass loss of antigens, downregulation of antigen presentation, activation of immune checkpoint pathways, initiation of anti-apoptotic cascades, and induction of immune dysfunction and exhaustion. In this review, we delve into the intrinsic mechanisms underlying the capacity of tumor cells to resist CBIs and proffer prospective stratagems to navigate around these challenges.
Phenotypic resistance not associated with knockdown mutations (kdr) in Anopheles albimanus exposed to deltamethrin in southern coastal Ecuador
Authors: Real-Jaramillo Sebasthian , Bustillos Juan J. , Moncayo Ana L. , Neira Marco , Fárez Leonardo , Beltrán Efraín , Ocaña-Mayorga Sofía
Published: January 2024

Background

Decrease in malaria rates (e.g. incidence and cases) in Latin America maintains this region on track to achieve the goal of elimination. During the last 5 years, three countries have been certified as malaria free. However, the region fails to achieve the goal of 40% reduction on malaria rates and an increase of cases has been reported in some countries, including Ecuador. This scenario has been associated with multiple causes, such as decrease of funding to continue anti-malarial programmes and the development of insecticide resistance of the main malaria vectors. In Ecuador, official reports indicated phenotypic resistance in Aedes aegypti and Anopheles albimanus to deltamethrin and malathion, particularly in the coastal areas of Ecuador, however, information about the mechanisms of resistance have not been yet elucidated. This study aims to evaluate phenotypic response to deltamethrin and its relationship with kdr mutations in An. albimanus from two localities with different agricultural activities in southern coastal Ecuador.

Methods

The CDC bottle assay was carried out to evaluate the phenotypic status of the mosquito’s population. Sequencing the voltage gated sodium channel gene (VGSC) sought knockdown mutations (kdr) in codons 1010, 1013 and 1014 associated with resistance.

Results

Phenotypic resistance was found in Santa Rosa (63.3%) and suspected resistance in Huaquillas (82.1%); with females presenting a higher median of knockdown rate (83.7%) than males (45.6%). No statistical differences were found between the distributions of knockdown rate for the two localities (p = 0.6048) which indicates no influence of agricultural activity. Although phenotypic resistance was confirmed, genetic analysis demonstrate that this resistance was not related with the kdr mechanism of the VGSC gene because no mutations were found in codons 1010 and 1013, while in codon 1014, 90.6% showed the susceptible sequence (TTG) and 7.3% ambiguous nucleotides (TKK and TYG).

Conclusions

These results highlighted the importance of continuous monitoring of resistance in malaria vectors in Ecuador, particularly in areas that have reported outbreaks during the last years. It is also important to elucidate the mechanism involved in the development of the resistance to PYs to propose alternative insecticides or strategies for vector control in areas where resistance is present.
Whoever wants better healthcare simply pays more: citizens' perception about voluntary private health insurance in Colombia
Authors: Patiño-Lugo Daniel Felipe , Vélez Claudia Marcela , Díaz-Hernández Diana Patricia , Salazar-Blanco Olga Francisca , González-Arango Juan Esteban , Velásquez-Correa Juan Carlos , Rodríguez-Corredor Leydi Camila , Vélez-Marín Viviana María , Velásquez-Salazar Pamela
Published: January 2024

Objectives

To explore the perceptions that Colombians have about voluntary private health insurance plans (VPHI) in the health system to identify the tensions that exist between the public and private systems.

Methods

A qualitative case study approach with 46 semi structured interviews of patients, healthcare workers, healthcare administrators, decision-makers, and citizens. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, anonymized, digitally stored, and analyzed following grounded theory guidelines.

Results

We developed a paradigmatic matrix that explores how, in a context mediated by both the commodification of health and social stratification, perceptions about the failures in the public health system related to lack of timely care, extensive administrative procedures, and the search for privileged care led to positioning VPHI as a solution to these failures. The interviewees identified three consequences of using VPHI: first, the worsening of problems of timely access to care in the public system; second, higher costs for citizens translated into double payment for technologies and services to which they are entitled; third, the widening of inequity gaps in access to health services between people with similar needs but different payment capacities.

Conclusions

These findings can help decision makers to understand citizens´ perceptions about the implications that VPHI may have in worsening equity gaps in the Colombian health system. It also shows, how VPHI is perceived as a double payment for services covered within social security plans and suggests that the perceived lack of timely access to care in the public systems and the fear that citizens have for themselves or their family members when using suboptimal healthcare are important drivers to purchase these private insurances.
Haitian women in New York City use global food plants for women’s health
Authors: Vardeman Ella T. , Kennelly Edward J. , Vandebroek Ina
Published: January 2024

Background

Despite the availability of mainstream biomedical healthcare in New York City (NYC), community-based ethnomedicine practices remain a low-cost, culturally relevant treatment for many immigrants. Previous urban ethnobotany research in NYC has established that several Caribbean communities continue using medicinal plants for women’s health after immigration. This study sought to address to what extent: (1) NYC Haitian women continue using medicinal plants for women’s health after migration; (2) their plants and the conditions treated were similar to those identified in an earlier survey with NYC immigrants from the Dominican Republic.

Methods

Through an ethnobotanical survey, 100 Haitian women living in NYC and born in Haiti were interviewed about their knowledge of medicinal plants for women’s health conditions. Reported species were purchased based on local names in NYC Haitian stores and markets, vouchered, and identified.

Results

Nearly all Haitian women (97%) reported using medicinal plants while living in Haiti. Most Haitian women continued using medicinal plants after coming to the USA (83%). The 14% decrease, although significant (z = 3.3; p = 0.001), was mainly due to logistical difficulties with sourcing plants after recent immigration. Popular medicinal plant species reported were primarily global food plants, re-emphasizing the intertwined food-medicine relationship in Caribbean diasporas. Comparison with data from NYC Dominicans identified childbirth and puerperium, gynecological infections, and vaginal cleansing as priority Haitian women’s health concerns treated with plants.

Conclusion

Our findings support the global nature of Caribbean migrant plant pharmacopeia, predominantly centered around food plants and adapted to transnational urban settings. They underscore cultural diversity, dispelling the notion of one uniform traditional knowledge system labeled “Caribbean.” The importance of preventative medicine for women’s health, particularly the regular consumption of “healthy” foods or teas highlights the role food plants play in maintaining health without seeking treatment for a particular condition. Cross-cultural comparisons with other NYC Caribbean immigrants emphasize the importance of conducting ethnobotanical surveys to ground-truth plant use in the community. Such surveys can also identify culture-specific health priorities treated with these plants. Healthcare providers can leverage these insights to formulate culturally relevant and community-tailored healthcare strategies aligned with Haitian women’s health beliefs and needs.
Genomic prediction for root and yield traits of barley under a water availability gradient: a case study comparing different spatial adjustments
Authors: Tessema Biructawit B. , Raffo Miguel A. , Guo Xiangyu , Svane Simon F. , Krusell Lene , Jensen Jens Due , Ruud Anja Karine , Malinowska Marta , Thorup-Kristensen Kristian , Jensen Just
Published: January 2024

Background

In drought periods, water use efficiency depends on the capacity of roots to extract water from deep soil. A semi-field phenotyping facility (RadiMax) was used to investigate above-ground and root traits in spring barley when grown under a water availability gradient. Above-ground traits included grain yield, grain protein concentration, grain nitrogen removal, and thousand kernel weight. Root traits were obtained through digital images measuring the root length at different depths. Two nearest-neighbor adjustments (M1 and M2) to model spatial variation were used for genetic parameter estimation and genomic prediction (GP). M1 and M2 used (co)variance structures and differed in the distance function to calculate between-neighbor correlations. M2 was the most developed adjustment, as accounted by the Euclidean distance between neighbors.

Results

The estimated heritabilities ($${\widehat{h}}^{2}$$h^2) ranged from low to medium for root and above-ground traits. The genetic coefficient of variation ($$GCV$$GCV) ranged from 3.2 to 7.0% for above-ground and 4.7 to 10.4% for root traits, indicating good breeding potential for the measured traits. The highest$$GCV$$GCVobserved for root traits revealed that significant genetic change in root development can be achieved through selection. We studied the genotype-by-water availability interaction, but no relevant interaction effects were detected. GP was assessed using leave-one-line-out (LOO) cross-validation. The predictive ability (PA) estimated as the correlation between phenotypes corrected by fixed effects and genomic estimated breeding values ranged from 0.33 to 0.49 for above-ground and 0.15 to 0.27 for root traits, and no substantial variance inflation in predicted genetic effects was observed. Significant differences in PA were observed in favor of M2.

Conclusions

The significant$$GCV$$GCVand the accurate prediction of breeding values for above-ground and root traits revealed that developing genetically superior barley lines with improved root systems is possible. In addition, we found significant spatial variation in the experiment, highlighting the relevance of correctly accounting for spatial effects in statistical models. In this sense, the proposed nearest-neighbor adjustments are flexible approaches in terms of assumptions that can be useful for semi-field or field experiments.
Assessing data analysis techniques in a high-throughput meiosis-like induction detection system
Authors: Cook Tanner M. , Biswas Eva , Dutta Somak , Aboobucker Siddique I. , Hazinia Sara , Lübberstedt Thomas
Published: January 2024

Background

Strategies to understand meiotic processes have relied on cytogenetic and mutant analysis. However, thus far in vitro meiosis induction is a bottleneck to laboratory-based plant breeding as factor(s) that switch cells in crops species from mitotic to meiotic divisions are unknown. A high-throughput system that allows researchers to screen multiple candidates for their meiotic induction role using low-cost microfluidic devices has the potential to facilitate the identification of factors with the ability to induce haploid cells that have undergone recombination (artificial gametes) in cell cultures.

Results

A data analysis pipeline and a detailed protocol are presented to screen for plant meiosis induction factors in a quantifiable and efficient manner. We assessed three data analysis techniques using spiked-in protoplast samples (simulated gametes mixed into somatic protoplast populations) of flow cytometry data. Polygonal gating, which was considered the “gold standard”, was compared to two thresholding methods using open-source analysis software. Both thresholding techniques were able to identify significant differences with low spike-in concentrations while also being comparable to polygonal gating.

Conclusion

Our study provides details to test and analyze candidate meiosis induction factors using available biological resources and open-source programs for thresholding. RFP (PE.CF594.A) and GFP (FITC.A) were the only channels required to make informed decisions on meiosis-like induction and resulted in detection of cell population changes as low as 0.3%, thus enabling this system to be scaled using microfluidic devices at low costs.