bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Unprecedented Protein Divergence within a T3SS Family
Authors: Madkour Azzeldin , Almessiry Bian , González-Pedrajo Bertha , Kenny Brendan
Published: April 2021

Selection pressure drives rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance mechanisms promoting searches for therapeutic targets in bacterial processes needed for virulence, not viability, which include the Type Three Secretion System (T3SS). Distinct T3SS families evolved from the flagellar export apparatus where remaining homology hinders development of anti-T3SS specific therapies. Around 15 proteins that are highly-conserved within, but not between T3SS families yet such divergence is rarely leveraged, to promote understanding, due to unknown evolutionary histories. Here we document unprecedented divergence in two ‘LEE’ T3SS family members. Interchangeability studies uncover unusual LEE biology (eg2-orfgenes) and illustrate each T3SS protein can tolerate dramatic change. Functional defects (12 proteins) and novel phenotypes enabled studies that reveal i) pathotype-specific protein functionality, ii) T3SS crosstalk with other processes, and iii) potential therapeutic targets. The work provides resources and testable predictions for further discoveries and will promote comparable studies between distinct T3SS families.
Differential heating of metal nanostructures by radio frequencies: a theoretical study
Authors: Rommelfanger Nicholas J. , Ou Zihao , Keck Carl H.C. , Hong Guosong
Published: April 2021

Nanoparticles with strong absorption of incident radio frequency (RF) or microwave irradiation are desirable for remote hyperthermia treatments. While controversy has surrounded the absorption properties of spherical metallic nanoparticles, other geometries such as prolate and oblate spheroids have not received sufficient attention for application in hyperthermia therapies. Here, we use the electrostatic approximation to calculate the relative absorption ratio of metallic nanoparticles in various biological tissues. We consider a broad parameter space, sweeping across frequencies from 1 MHz to 10 GHz, while also tuning the nanoparticle dimensions from spheres to high-aspect-ratio spheroids approximating nanowires and nanodiscs. We find that while spherical metallic nanoparticles do not offer differential heating in tissue, large absorption cross sections can be obtained from long prolate spheroids, while thin oblate spheroids offer minor potential for absorption. Our results suggest that metallic nanowires should be considered for RF- and microwave-based wireless hyperthermia treatments in many tissues going forward.
Design principles of collateral sensitivity-based dosing strategies
Authors: Aulin Linda B. S. , Liakopoulos Apostolos , van der Graaf Piet H. , Rozen Daniel E. , van Hasselt J. G. Coen
Published: April 2021

Collateral sensitivity (CS)-based antibiotic treatments, where increased resistance to one antibiotic leads to increased sensitivity to a second antibiotic, may have the potential to limit the emergence of antimicrobial resistance. However, it remains unclear how to best design CS-based treatment schedules. To address this problem, we use mathematical modelling to study the effects of pathogen- and drug-specific characteristics for different treatment designs on bacterial population dynamics and resistance evolution. We confirm that simultaneous and one-day cycling treatments could supress resistance in the presence of CS. We show that the efficacy of CS-based cycling therapies depends critically on the order of drug administration. Finally, we find that reciprocal CS is not essential to suppress resistance, a result that significantly broadens treatment options given the ubiquity of one-way CS in pathogens. Overall, our analyses identify key design principles of CS-based treatment strategies and provide guidance to develop treatment schedules to suppress resistance.
Understanding Others Requires Right Temporoparietal and Inferior Frontal Regions
Authors: Schnur Tatiana T. , Ding Junhua , Blake Margaret
Published: April 2021

The human ability to infer other people’s knowledge and beliefs, known as ‘theory of mind’, is an essential component of social interactions. Theory of mind tasks activate frontal and temporoparietal regions of cortex in fMRI studies. However, it is unknown whether these regions are critical. We examined this question using multivariate voxel-based lesion symptom mapping in 22 patients with acute right hemisphere brain damage. Studies of acute patients eliminate questions of recovery and reorganization that plague long-term studies of lesioned patients. Damage to temporoparietal and inferior frontal regions impaired thinking about others’ perspectives. This impairment held even after adjustment for overall extent of brain damage and language comprehension, memory, comprehension, and attention abilities. These results provide evidence that right temporoparietal and inferior frontal regions are necessary for the human ability to reason about the knowledge and beliefs of others.
Coagulation factors directly cleave SARS-CoV-2 spike and enhance viral entry
Authors: Kastenhuber Edward R. , Jaimes Javier A. , Johnson Jared L. , Mercadante Marisa , Muecksch Frauke , Weisblum Yiska , Bram Yaron , Schwartz Robert E. , Whittaker Gary R. , Cantley Lewis C.
Published: April 2021

Coagulopathy is a significant aspect of morbidity in COVID-19 patients. The clotting cascade is propagated by a series of proteases, including factor Xa and thrombin. While certain host proteases, including TMPRSS2 and furin, are known to be important for cleavage activation of SARS-CoV-2 spike to promote viral entry in the respiratory tract, other proteases may also contribute. Using biochemical and cell-based assays, we demonstrate that factor Xa and thrombin can also directly cleave SARS-CoV-2 spike, enhancing viral entry. A drug-repurposing screen identified a subset of protease inhibitors that promiscuously inhibited spike cleavage by both transmembrane serine proteases as well as coagulation factors. The mechanism of the protease inhibitors nafamostat and camostat may extend beyond inhibition of TMPRSS2 to coagulation-induced spike cleavage. Anticoagulation is critical in the management of COVID-19, and early intervention could provide collateral benefit by suppressing SARS-CoV-2 viral entry. We propose a model of positive feedback whereby infection-induced hypercoagulation exacerbates SARS-CoV-2 infectivity.
Density dependent interactions during growth mask the effect of interactions during flowering in pollinator-sharing annual plants
Authors: James Aubrie R. M. , Geber Monica A
Published: April 2021

Density dependent interactions are fundamental to community ecology, but studies often reduce the complex nature of species interactions. In plant ecology, interactions during vegetative growth and flowering are often considered separately, though both can affect reproductive output. Here we use communities of annual flowering plants in the genusClarkiato ask how interactions during growth and flowering contribute to density dependence in plant seed production, and if pollinator behaviors explain apparent patterns in plant interactions during flowering. We measure seed set (seed number per ovule) and total fecundity (whole-plant seed production) ofClarkiafocal plants in experimental interaction plots with the effect of pollinators experimentally removed through supplemental pollination or retained. We also observe pollinator behaviors in the plots and experimental arrays to document pollinator preference, constancy and joint attraction. During flowering, pollinators significantly changed the density dependent effects ofClarkiainteractions on seed set in 31% of species interactions, and these changes corresponded to pollinator behaviors. Total fecundity, however, did not depend on interactions betweenClarkia; instead, earlier-flowering, non-Clarkiaforbs limited total fecundity. Our study shows that interactions during vegetative growth can preclude the effect of pollinator- mediated interactions on fecundity by limiting potential reproductive output. Simultaneously studying different types of species interactions allows for understanding the contingency of ecological outcomes.
Screening of HLA-A restricted T cell epitopes of SARS-CoV-2 and induction of CD8+ T cell responses in HLA-A transgenic mice
Authors: Jin Xiaoxiao , Ding Yan , Sun Shihui , Wang Xinyi , Zhou Zining , Liu Xiaotao , Li Miaomiao , Chen Xian , Shen Anran , Wu Yandan , Liu Bicheng , Zhang Jianqiong , Li Jian , Yang Yi , Qiu Haibo , Shen Chuanlai , He Yuxian , Zhao Guangyu
Published: April 2021

While SARS-CoV-2-specific T cells have been characterized to play essential roles in host immune protection in COVID-19 patients, few researches focus on the functional validation of T cell epitopes and development of vaccines inducing specific T cell responses. In this study, 120 CD8+ T cell epitopes from E, M, N, S and RdRp proteins were validated. Among them, 110 epitopes have not been reported previously; 110, 15, 6, 14 and 12 epitopes were highly homologous with SARS-CoV, OC43, NL63, HKU1, and 229E, respectively; 4 epitopes from S protein displayed one amino acid distinct from the current variants of SARS-CoV-2. Thirty-one epitopes restricted by HLA-A2 molecule were used to generate peptide cocktail vaccines in combination with Poly(I:C), R848 or polylactic-co-glycolic acid nanoparticles, which elicited robust specific CD8+ T cell responses in wild-type and HLA-A2/DR1 transgenic mice. Seven of the 31 epitopes were found to be cross-presented by HLA-A2 and H-2K/Db molecules. Unlike previous researches, this study established a modified cell co-culture system of DC-peptide-PBL using healthy donor’s PBMCs to validate the CD8+ T cell epitope on-silicon predicted; provided a library of CD8+ T cell epitopes restricted by a series of high-frequency HLA-A allotypes which covering broad Asian populations; identified the HLA-A cross-restrictions of these CD8+ T cell epitopes using competitive binding experiments with HMy2.CIR cell lines expressing indicated HLA-A molecules; and initially confirmed the in vivo feasibility of 9 or 10-mer peptide cocktail vaccines of SARS-CoV2. These data will facilitate the development of vaccines inducing antiviral CD8+ T cell responses.
Interorganelle communication, aging, and neurodegeneration
Authors: Petkovic Maja , O'Brien Caitlin E. , Jan Yuh Nung
Published: April 2021

Our cells are comprised of billions of proteins, lipids, and other small molecules packed into their respective subcellular organelles, with the daunting task of maintaining cellular homeostasis over a lifetime. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that organelles do not act as autonomous discrete units but rather as interconnected hubs that engage in extensive communication through membrane contacts. In the last few years, our understanding of how these contacts coordinate organelle function has redefined our view of the cell. This review aims to present novel findings on the cellular interorganelle communication network and how its dysfunction may contribute to aging and neurodegeneration. The consequences of disturbed interorganellar communication are intimately linked with age-related pathologies. Given that both aging and neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by the concomitant failure of multiple cellular pathways, coordination of organelle communication and function could represent an emerging regulatory mechanism critical for long-term cellular homeostasis. We anticipate that defining the relationships between interorganelle communication, aging, and neurodegeneration will open new avenues for therapeutics.
Cloning Polymerase Chain Reaction Products: Addition of Restriction Sites to the Termini of Amplified DNA
Authors: Green Michael R. , Sambrook Joseph
Published: April 2021

To generate polymerase chain reaction (PCR) products that can be directionally cloned into a vector, different restriction sites are built into the forward and reverse primers that are used in the PCR. After PCR, the amplified product is purified, cleaved with the appropriate restriction enzymes, ligated into a vector with compatible cohesive ends, and used to transform E. coli.
Analysis of Visual Collision Avoidance inXenopusTadpoles
Authors: Khakhalin Arseny S.
Published: April 2021

In teaching, the best exam questions are those that seem simple at first but can lead to deep and nuanced conversations. Similarly, to probe brain development, we should look for behaviors that are easy to evoke and quantify, but that are demanding, malleable, and inherently variable. Visual collision avoidance is an example of such a behavior; it is ecologically relevant, robust, and easy to record, but also nuanced and shaped by the sensory history of the animal. Here we describe how to set up a visual avoidance assay and how to use it to test sensory processing and sensorimotor transformations in the vertebrate brain.
Restriction Enzymes
Authors: Green Michael R. , Sambrook Joseph
Published: April 2021

Restriction enzymes provided the foundation on which molecular cloning was built, and they remain as essential tools in current recombinant DNA technology. The three classes of restriction enzymes and their features are introduced here.
Cryo-EM structure of a thermostable bacterial nanocompartment
Authors: Wiryaman Timothy , Toor Navtej
Published: April 2021

Protein nanocompartments are widespread in bacteria and archaea, but their functions are not yet well understood. Here, the cryo-EM structure of a nanocompartment from the thermophilic bacterium Thermotoga maritima is reported at 2.0 Å resolution. The high resolution of this structure shows that interactions in the E-loop domain may be important for the thermostability of the nanocompartment assembly. Also, the channels at the fivefold axis, threefold axis and dimer interface are assessed for their ability to transport iron. Finally, an unexpected flavin ligand was identified on the exterior of the shell, indicating that this nanocompartment may also play a direct role in iron metabolism.
Structural plasticity of the selectivity filter in a nonselective ion channel
Authors: Roy Raktim N. , Hendriks Kitty , Kopec Wojciech , Abdolvand Saeid , Weiss Kevin L. , de Groot Bert L. , Lange Adam , Sun Han , Coates Leighton
Published: April 2021

The sodium potassium ion channel (NaK) is a nonselective ion channel that conducts both sodium and potassium across the cellular membrane. A new crystallographic structure of NaK reveals conformational differences in the residues that make up the selectivity filter between the four subunits that form the ion channel and the inner helix of the ion channel. The crystallographic structure also identifies a side-entry, ion-conduction pathway for Na+ permeation that is unique to NaK. NMR studies and molecular dynamics simulations confirmed the dynamical nature of the top part of the selectivity filter and the inner helix in NaK as also observed in the crystal structure. Taken together, these results indicate that the structural plasticity of the selectivity filter combined with the dynamics of the inner helix of NaK are vital for the efficient conduction of different ions through the non-selective ion channel of NaK.
Much- needed business digital transformation through big data, internet of things and blockchain capabilities: implications for strategic performance in telecommunication sector
Authors: Bhatti Anam , Malik Haider , Kamal Ahtisham Zahid , Aamir Alamzeb , Alaali Lamya Abdulrahman , Ullah Zahir
Published: April 2021

Purpose

In the field of business, digital transformation is the integration of digital technology into all areas of business, from generating to deliver value to customers. This concept is essential for sustainable growth of a company and its overall economy. Based on this fact, this authentic and informative research is conducted whose major aim is to examine the importance of digital transformation within a business through big data, the Internet of things and blockchain-based capabilities for overall strategic performance within the telecom sector in China.

Design/methodology/approach

For that aim, data quality and technology competence are considered as independent variables, strategic performance as dependent variable and big data analytics capabilities, Internet of things capabilities and blockchain capabilities routinization acted as mediators within this paper. In its data collection mechanism, an online survey was conducted in which questionnaires are randomly distributed to the telecom sector's professionals in which only 343 of them gave their valid outcomes. After collecting primary data, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM)–based statistical outcomes have been generated.

Findings

Results indicate that there is a significant relationship between data quality and strategic performance and between technological competence and strategic performance. Also, the big data analytics and Internet of Things capabilities acted as significant mediating role between both independent and dependent variables. But blockchain capabilities routinization is that variable that acts as an insignificant mediator between independent and dependent variables' relationship.

Originality/value

Overall, this study is an informative and attractive source for the Chinese government, its telecom industry, administrative body and related ones to understand the importance of such IT capabilities' implications within their operating activities for their strategic performance management. Also, related field scholars can utilize its reliable data in their research analysis. Its major limitations are (1) lack of qualitative/ mixed method of research and (2) lack of comparative analysis that may impact the acceptability factor of this paper, and this weakness can be overcome by upcoming scholars in their research.
The impact of monetary policy on income inequality: evidence from Eurozone markets
Authors: Liosi Konstantina , Spyrou Spyros
Published: April 2021

Purpose

This study examines the impact of monetary policy on income inequality in Eurozone countries for the period between 2005 and 2017.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors use regression analysis, panel vector autoregression (PVAR) analysis and impulse response functions, in order to examine the impact of monetary policy on income inequality in Eurozone countries.

Findings

This study examines the impact of monetary policy on income inequality in Eurozone countries for the period between 2005 and 2017. The results indicate that, on average, monetary policy tends to increase income inequality. A closer examination indicates that for Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands monetary policy has no impact on income inequality or a weak impact (France), while for Spain, Portugal, Greece and Italy the impact is more pronounced. PVAR analysis and impulse response functions further indicate that female income inequality responds more significantly to monetary policy.

Originality/value

In contrast to previous studies the authors estimate separate models for males, females and the total population to evaluate whether gender is an important factor. Furthermore, the authors use two proxies for monetary policy: the shadow rate (SR) and the total assets (TAs) of the central bank.
Effects of social robots on depressive symptoms in older adults: a scoping review
Authors: Araujo Bruno Sanchez de , Fantinato Marcelo , Marques Peres Sarajane , Melo Ruth Caldeira de , Batistoni Samila Sathler Tavares , Cachioni Meire , Hung Patrick C.K.
Published: April 2021

Purpose

This review scopes evidence on the use of social robots for older adults with depressive symptoms, in the scenario of smart cities, analyzing the age-related depression specificities, investigated contexts and intervention protocols' features.

Design/methodology/approach

Studies retrieved from two major databases were selected against inclusion and exclusion criteria. Studies were included if used social robots, included older adults over 60, and reported depressive symptoms measurements, with any type of research design. Papers not published in English, published as an abstract or study protocol, or not peer-reviewed were excluded.

Findings

28 relevant studies were included, in which PARO was the most used robot. Most studies included very older adults with neurocognitive disorders living in long-term care facilities. The intervention protocols were heterogeneous regarding the duration, session duration and frequency. Only 35.6% of the studies had a control group. Finally, only 32.1% of the studies showed a significant improvement in depression symptoms.

Originality/value

Despite the potential for using social robots in mental health interventions, in the scenario of smart cities, this review showed that their usefulness and effects in improving depressive symptoms in older adults have low internal and external validity. Future studies should consider factors as planning the intervention based on well-established supported therapies, characteristics and needs of the subjects, and the context in which the subjects are inserted.
Career adaptability, job crafting and subjective career success: the moderating roles of lone wolf personality and positive perfectionism
Authors: Kundi Yasir Mansoor , Hollet-Haudebert Sandrine , Peterson Jonathan
Published: April 2021

Purpose

Using career construction theory, the authors empirically examine the mechanism by which career adaptability promotes employee subjective career success (career satisfaction and career commitment) through job crafting.

Design/methodology/approach

A moderated mediation model is tested using survey data from 324 full-time business professionals in France. Hypotheses are tested using structural equation modeling (SEM).

Findings

he authors found that job crafting mediated the relationship between career adaptability and subjective career success (career satisfaction and career commitment). The positive effect of career adaptability on job crafting was greater under higher levels of lone wolf personality and positive perfectionism, as was the indirect effect of career adaptability on subjective career success via job crafting.

Research limitations/implications

data are cross-sectional in nature. Robust theoretical contentions and affective means of identifying common method variance (CMV) are addressed and evaluated.

Practical implications

High levels of career adaptability may be a useful strategy for promoting employee job crafting and subjective career success. In addition, individuals with lone wolf personality and positive perfectionism should be given opportunities to craft their jobs in the workplace.

Originality/value

This research confirms a moderated mediation model positioning job crafting as a mediator of career adaptability's effects on employee subjective career success and lone wolf and positive perfectionism as moderators of such effects. This study suggests that job crafting and career-focused personality traits are important factors that influence the relationship between career adaptability and subjective career success.
A joint imaging method of vertical seismic profiling data by generalized radon transform migration
Authors: Li Wuqun , Mao Weijian , Li Jianguo , Liang Quan , Fang Jian
Published: April 2021

The images produced by conventional vertical seismic profile imaging methods often suffer from the problems of illumination limitation and uncompleted wavefield separation. In this paper, we give a deep insight into the illumination behaviours of the upgoing primary and downgoing multiple signals and illustrate their merits and demerits in illuminating the subsurface structure around the well trajectory. Based on this, we develop an efficient joint imaging method of acoustic vertical seismic profile data based on the generalized Radon transform migration inversion theory. By analysing the interference characteristics of the primary and multiple reflections, we verify the capability of this method that can handle the joint imaging directly. The proposed method combines the advantages of primary and multiple contributions to the subsurface image without additional wavefield separation. The numerical results of synthetic data and field data demonstrate high‐quality construction of the structure in the vicinity of the borehole, also away from the well trajectory.
‘Politicide’ and the Myanmar coup
Authors: Thein‐Lemelson Seinenu M.
Published: April 2021

Can the 2021 Myanmar coup be understood as part of a broader campaign by the Burmese army to commit ‘politicide’? The recent wave of violent raids, detentions and extrajudicial killings taking place across Myanmar is part of a long‐standing pattern of systematic violence perpetrated against political groups and social movements that challenge military control and dominance. The author reviews the history of persecution directed at the National League for Democracy (NLD), the 88 Generation, All Burma Federation of Student Unions (ABFSU) and others who took part in the Burmese democracy movement. The author also reports findings from a multi‐year ethnography she conducted with a community of activists and former political prisoners. She observes that, like ethnic and religious groups, this political community possesses stable, characteristic features, which are transmitted intergenerationally. She advocates for use of the term ‘politicide’ to understand both the recent coup and the history of violence perpetrated against the NLD, 88 Generation ABSFU and other groups inside Myanmar.
The trial of Dominic Cummings: Rules and reason in the pandemic
Authors: CLARKE MORGAN
Published: April 2021

The trip by Dominic Cummings, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's then right‐hand man, to Durham in April 2020, in seeming violation of the rules of social distancing he had helped put in place, led to intense media scrutiny and public outrage. That there might be ‘One rule for them, and one for the rest of us’ became a stick to beat the government with and arguably contributed to Cummings’ eventual departure from Downing Street. This article focuses on the defence he put forward at the time. Rather than breaking the rules, he had followed them, he argued, providing a series of justifications, one of which led to widespread ridicule, the rest being largely dismissed. Rules of social distancing and the public's compliance with them have been of global concern during the coronavirus pandemic. I argue that the Cummings incident shows both the complexity of ordinary notions of what it means to follow a rule, and a tendency for that complexity to be left undiscussed in both scientific and public debate – to all our detriment.
Bridging anthropology and its archives: an analysis from the Smithsonian's National Anthropological Archives
Authors: MARSH DIANA E. , BELL JOSHUA A. , GREENE CANDACE , TURNER HANNAH
Published: April 2021

Much has been written about the need to open up archives as part of the decolonial turn and decolonizing methodologies. What does this look like in practice for anthropology? Despite increasing interest in archives and ‘the archival turn’ among anthropologists, our study at the National Anthropological Archives (NAA) found that anthropologists who use archives in their work lack familiarity with organizational principles and histories that would help them navigate and gain access to these records, as well as critique them. Beyond reporting this recent research, we posit that the disconnect between archives and anthropology is not isolated to the NAA or the US, but is pervasive in the discipline. In sharing this work, we hope to inspire other similar institutional moves and to promote archival education and scholarly engagement in anthropology and its training programmes.
Conflicting experiences of health and habitus in a poor urban neighbourhood: A Bourdieusian ethnography
Authors: Scott‐Arthur Tom , Brown Brian , Saukko Paula
Published: April 2021

An ethnographic study of health and wellbeing was undertaken in a deprived urban neighbourhood in the UK Midlands. Drawing on Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, capital and field, we discerned three different, even conflicting, ways of understanding and acting on health: (i) older adults discussed their wellbeing in relation to the local context or field, walking the dog, helping at the community centre and visiting the off licence, (ii) young professionals and students who lived in the neighbourhood were oriented towards leisure facilities, career opportunities and supermarkets outside of the neighbourhood, disdaining local facilities and (iii) community activists and carers discussed health in terms of providing for others but not themselves. Bourdieu is frequently used in medical sociology to highlight how poor people's lifestyle is constrained by their habitus; we suggest paying more attention to its both enabling and differentiating contradictions as well as the constraints it entails. Empirically and in terms of health promotion findings suggest that supposedly healthy activities, such as going to the gym, may also be a means of rejecting the local community; similarly, older people's pottering about in the neighbourhood, which is not usually recognised as a healthy activity, may enhance wellbeing in this context.
Deadly secret: situating the unknowing and knowing of the source of the Ebola epidemic in Northern Uganda
Authors: Park Sung‐Joon
Published: April 2021

This article critically examines the unknowing of the source of the Ebola epidemic in Northern Uganda, in 2000/1, by asking how this unknowing has been achieved and has shaped the disease situation. Specifically, this article follows my informants’ explanation that soldiers of the Uganda People's Defence Force had brought the disease from the Democratic Republic of the Congo to Uganda. This account is widely rejected as a rumour by scientists, who insist that the source of the epidemic remains unknown. By contrast, I suggest that following these stories, as embodied experiences of the multiple connections between war and epidemics, human and nonhuman lives, provides crucial insights into the political ecology of Ebola in the wider region – a region where, even today, conflict and Ebola outbreaks are intricately interwoven. Understanding how unknowing is achieved and shapes a disease situation directs attention to forms of silent knowing, which illuminate what preparedness means in the political ecology of Ebola.
Beyond the senses: perception, the environment, and vision impairment
Authors: Petty Karis Jade
Published: April 2021

The ‘sensory turn’ in anthropology has generated a significant literature on sensory perception and experience. Whilst much of this literature is critical of the compartmentalization of particular ‘senses’, there has been limited exploration of how anthropologists might examine sensory perception beyond ‘the senses’. Based on ethnographic fieldwork with people who have impaired vision walking the South Downs landscape in England, this article develops such an approach. It suggests that the experiences of seeing in blindness challenge the conceptualization of ‘vision’ (and ‘non‐vision’). In place of ‘vision’ (as a sense), the article explores ‘activities of seeing’ – an approach that contextualizes the visual to examine the biographically constituted and idiosyncratic nature of perception within an environment. Through an ethnography of seeing with anatomical eyes and ‘seeing in the mind's eye’, it articulates an approach that avoids associating perception with anatomy, or compartmentalizing experience into ‘senses’.
A sacred social: Christian relationalism and the re‐enchantment of the world
Authors: Itzhak Nofit
Published: April 2021

This article intervenes in an ongoing debate as to whether or not Christianity introduces individualism into the lives of its converts. Drawing on an ethnographic account of Emmanuel, a French Catholic Charismatic community, it demonstrates that, counter to the argument that in social cases where Christianity is central, individualism emerges as a prominent value, in some cases it is relationalism that shapes Christian ethical aspirations. I argue that differences observed across contexts in expressions of value and configuration of personhood may be the result of the varied manners in which divine presence is experienced and understood to inhabit the world across Christian communities. Bringing God into the centre of ethnographic analysis in accounting for these differences broadens the debate's comparative reach, while underscoring the manner in which divine agency shapes the ethical aspirations of religious persons and their orientations to social others. Considering the ethical and political implications that one's orientation to the social can have, further investigation is called for into the manner in which the divine is experienced and invoked in social and ritual life.
The development and validation of the Teachers' Self‐Efficacy Beliefs for Literacy Instruction in the 21st Century (TBLI21c) scale: a pilot study
Authors: Ciampa Katia , Gallagher Tiffany
Published: April 2021

Background

This study presents the findings of the first administration of a revised Teachers' Sense of Efficacy for Literacy Instruction (TSELI) scale that reflects the changing landscape of 21st‐century literacy instruction. Items include such aspects as reading, writing, viewing, listening, communicating using visual, audible and digital materials, vocabulary, comprehension strategies, motivation, differentiated instruction, assessment, diversity culturally responsive teaching and professional literacy learning and leadership.

Methods

The survey was reviewed by a panel of seven experts in the field of reading and literacy instruction for content, construct and face validity and then field tested with 12 graduate students to assess the clarity of item wording and instructions, appropriateness of the response scale and ease of administration. The survey was then administered to 476 teacher candidates in two countries.

Results

The survey demonstrated moderate inter‐rater reliability (0.62) and very high internal reliability (0.95). The 42 items were factor analysed, which demonstrated construct validity and provided an eight‐factor scale. Teacher candidates reported having higher self‐efficacy regarding 21st‐century competencies and lower self‐efficacy in early literacy skills.

Conclusions

The findings revealed in this paper underscore the importance of measuring pre‐service and in‐service teacher efficacy for literacy instruction as it relates to contemporary 21st‐century literacies, given that the methods and tools addressed in the Teachers' Self‐Efficacy Beliefs for Literacy Instruction in the 21st Century (TBLI21c) scale are not reflected in previous literacy self‐efficacy instruments, such as reading, writing, viewing, listening, communicating using visual, audible and digital materials, comprehension strategies, motivation, differentiated instruction, diversity, assessment and professional literacy learning and leadership. Results suggest that the TBLI21c scale could be a reliable and useful tool to measure in‐service and pre‐service teacher efficacy for literacy instruction in the 21st century.
Mental disorders, psychopharmacological treatments, and mortality in 2150 COVID‐19 Spanish inpatients
Authors: Diez‐Quevedo Crisanto , Iglesias‐González Maria , Giralt‐López Maria , Rangil Teresa , Sanagustin David , Moreira Mónica , López‐Ramentol Maite , Ibáñez‐Caparrós Ana , Lorán Maria‐Eulalia , Bustos‐Cardona Tatiana , Menéndez‐Cuiñas Inés , Mundo‐Cid Pilar , Blanco‐Presas Laura , de Pablo Joan , Cuevas‐Esteban Jorge
Published: April 2021

Objective

To determine how mental disorders and psychopharmacological treatments before and during COVID‐19 hospital admissions are related to mortality.

Methods

Subjects included in the study were all adult patients with a diagnosis of COVID‐19, confirmed clinically and by PCR, who were admitted to a tertiary university hospital in Badalona (Spain) between March 1 and November 17, 2020. Data were extracted anonymously from computerized clinical records.

Results

2,150 subjects were included, 57% males, mean age 61 years. History of mental disorders was registered in 957 (45%). Throughout admission, de novo diagnosis of mood or anxiety, stress, or adjustment disorder was made in 12% of patients without previous history. Delirium was diagnosed in 10% of cases. 1011 patients (47%) received a psychotropic prescription during admission (36% benzodiazepines, 22% antidepressants, and 21% antipsychotics). Mortality rate was 17%. Delirium during admission and history of mood disorder were independently associated with higher mortality risk (hazard ratios, 1.39 and 1.52 respectively), while previous year's treatments with anxiolytics/hypnotics and antidepressants were independently associated with lower mortality risk (hazard ratios, 0.47 and 0.43, respectively).

Conclusion

Mental symptoms are very common in patients hospitalized for COVID‐19 infection. Detecting, diagnosing, and treating them is key to determining the prognosis of the disease and functional recovery.
Effects of mammal exclusion on invertebrate communities in New Zealand
Authors: Vergara Olivia E. , Nelson Nicola , Hartley Stephen
Published: April 2021

In the absence of mammals, the fauna of islands is characterised by high endemism levels and a tendency towards gigantism, flightlessness and longevity. These characteristics have resulted in a high vulnerability to introduced animals, either directly via predation or indirectly through an alteration of food web interactions. Because invertebrates are important components of food webs and essential for many ecosystem processes, we investigated how different mammal and bird communities, present inside and outside a fenced reserve, influenced ground‐dwelling invertebrates on the mainland of New Zealand. Some significant differences in invertebrate community composition were apparent inside versus outside the fenced reserve, predominantly Ctenognathus adamsi (Carabidae) being twenty times more abundant inside the reserve, and rove beetles (Staphylinidae) being eight times more abundant outside the reserve. The introduced blackbird (Turdus merula) was observed more regularly than other predators of invertebrates outside the reserve, while native robins (Petroica longipes) were more highly detected inside the reserve. Despite differences in the vertebrate insectivore community outside the reserve (multiple mammals and introduced birds) compared to inside (mainly native birds), the resulting similarity in net predation pressure may explain the apparent similarity in abundance for most of the other 24 invertebrate taxa examined. Removal of most mammals from within fenced reserves in New Zealand may enable introduced and native birds to flourish, with flow‐on effects on the invertebrate community. We conclude that further study of trophic interactions and additional intervention, may need to be considered if invertebrate conservation is a desired outcome from fenced reserves.
Trusting me, trusting you: Creating conditions for successful pre‐registration interprofessional education in rural New Zealand workplace settings
Authors: Doolan‐Noble Fiona , Pullon Susan , Symes Ashley
Published: April 2021

There is a growing body of evidence supporting the provision of interprofessional education for pre‐registration health science students. Furthermore, there is emergent evidence supporting the provision of interprofessional opportunities in rural workplaces. The strategies used by tertiary education providers in establishing and sustaining these rural interprofessional initiatives currently remain unclear, including how to foster authentic engagement with indigenous rural communities. This short commentary seeks to provide some practical guidance on how to successfully implement and maintain rural interprofessional experiences for pre‐registration students.
Five years on: Influences on early career health professionals from a rural interprofessional pre‐registration immersion program
Authors: Pullon Susan , Garrett Susan , Garnett Amanda , Schwass Elizabeth Rose , McKinlay Eileen , Ashworth Natasha , Darlow Ben
Published: April 2021

Objective

To ascertain former students' perceptions of and influences from a final‐year pre‐registration, rurally located, clinically based, 5 week interprofessional program on their subsequent work and career in the health professions.

Design

Online survey delivered 5 years post‐program (4 years post‐graduation).

Setting

The Tairāwhiti interprofessional education program was first undertaken in 2012/2013 by students from six health professional degree programs (dentistry, dietetics, medicine, nursing, pharmacy and physiotherapy) in the Tairāwhiti region, New Zealand.

Participants

Health professionals who attended the Tairāwhiti interprofessional education program in 2012/2013 as students were invited to participate; 70 of 86 (81%) responded in 2017/2018.

Results

Five years on, most respondents (91%;64/70) were working as health professionals, with a fifth (23%;15/64) working overseas. Of those currently practising in New Zealand, 51% (24/47) were working in hospital practice and 49% (23/47) in the community, with 56% (27/48) working in metropolitan areas and 44% (21/48) in regional/rural locations. Of the 51 respondents who provided free‐text comments about perceived influences of program participation, the majority described positive influences on their clinical practice as health professionals or their subsequent career choices. Five themes emerged from the free‐text data: ‘made me a better clinician’; ‘made me consider rural/regional work’; ‘collaborating for care’; ‘choosing an area of practice to work in,’ and ‘little or no impact.’

Conclusion

This work reports positive influences on subsequent careers among respondents who had previously participated as final‐year students in a rurally located IPE program, particularly with respect to interprofessional working, rural health, and contextual and cultural influences.
Co‐designing community‐focused rural placements for collaborative practice
Authors: Hyde Sarah , Smith Brent , Lawrence Jayne , Barry Rebecca , Carey Alicia , Rogers Cathy
Published: April 2021

Aims and Context

As a University Department of Rural Health, we have identified recurrent areas of service need among vulnerable rural populations, specifically the need for allied health. Concurrently, we have also identified missed opportunities for deliberate collaborative practice in rural clinical placements. This paper provides a commentary on our work in progress as we work to leverage available opportunities to provide both service from and education for health profession students on rural clinical placements.

Approach

We developed a transdisciplinary placement model, informed by practice theory, which encompasses pre‐placement preparation, student support, host sites and clinicians, and a structured evaluation strategy. This model aims to facilitate service provision alongside of student learning about community and collaborative practice. In particular, the co‐design of the model is expected to facilitate student’s sense of social accountability and reduce stigma in working with vulnerable population groups.

Conclusion

This paper highlights the need for greater alignment between rural health education and practice, describes a placement model that is working towards this and showcases how this has been enacted in a remote community in New South Wales. More cross‐sector discussion and evaluation is needed to determine the implications of adopting this model more widely if service and learning opportunities are to be equally achieved, and to determine the ways in which training and service provision can be aligned with community need, as recommended in the recent Rural Health Commissioner Report.
Ultrasound evaluation of patients with male accessory gland inflammation: a pictorial review
Authors: La Vignera Sandro , Crafa Andrea , Condorelli Rosita A. , Barbagallo Federica , Mongioì Laura M. , Cannarella Rossella , Compagnone Michele , Aversa Antonio , Calogero Aldo E.
Published: April 2021

Male accessory gland infection/inflammation (MAGI) is a major cause of male infertility. The importance of ultrasound evaluation in these patients is highly controversial, although evidence of its relevance has increased in recent years. Ultrasound criteria are an important element for confirming the clinical diagnosis. Furthermore, they help to localize the anatomical site or sites of the inflammatory process and in assessing its extension which, in turn, have different consequences on the seminological and symptomatic aspects. This article summarizes the clinical interpretations related to ultrasound aspects in patients with MAGI and the possible effects on the seminological, microbiological, endocrinologic, urological, sexological, and internist aspects.
Reconstruction of burn scar contracture deformity of the extremities using thin thoracodorsal artery perforator free flaps
Authors: Chang Lan Sook , Kim Youn Hwan , Kim Sang Wha
Published: April 2021

Background

Severe burn scar contracture of the extremities, especially the joint areas, causes aesthetic problems and functional limitation. Release of burn scar contractures requires complete removal of the scars and resurfacing of the resulting defects. Here, we describe thoracodorsal artery perforator (TDAP) free flaps for reconstructing burn scar contractures.

Methods

Between August 2013 and July 2018, 25 patients with severe burn scar contractures of the extremities underwent reconstruction using TDAP free flaps. Twelve were men and the mean age of the patients was 38.1 years (range, 12–66 years). Five patients had upper extremity contractures and 20 had lower extremity contractures.

Results

Twenty‐one patients underwent reconstruction with a TDAP flap alone, while three received two perforator flaps, a TDAP and an anterolateral thigh flap or deep inferior epigastric artery perforator (DIEP) flap. The remaining patient received three perforator flaps, two TDAP and an anterolateral thigh flap. Fourteen patients had an improved range of motion after reconstruction. All the flaps survived except in the case of four patients who suffered partial loss of a TDAP flap. In one patient, there was partial skin graft loss at the donor site. The mean follow‐up was 17.2 months (range 6–36 months).

Conclusion

Ideal reconstruction of burn scar contracture yielding functional and aesthetic results involves complete removal of scar tissue and reconstruction. Depending on the extent of the defect, the TDAP flap, with its thin and pliable tissue and minimal donor site morbidity, may be the best option for reconstruction of burn scar contracture.