bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells-conditioned medium protects mice from high-fat diet-induced obesity
Authors: Tan Hui-Lan , Guan Xiao-Hui , Hu Min , Wu Jie , Li Rong-Zhen , Wang Ling-Fang , Huang Hou-Da , Yu Zhen-Ping , Wang Xiao-Yu , Xiao Yun-Fei , Deng Ke-Yu , Xin Hong-Bo
Published: June 2021

Background

Obesity is a metabolic disorder syndrome characterized by excessive fat accumulation that is related to many diseases. Human amniotic mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) have a great potential for cell-based therapy due to their characteristics such as pluripotency, low immunogenicity, no tumorigenicity, potent paracrine effects, and no ethical concern. Recently, we observed that both hAMSCs and their conditioned medium (hAMSCs-CM) efficiently repaired skin injury, inhibited hepatocellular carcinoma, and alleviated high-fat diet (HFD)-induced diabetes. However, the effects and the underlying mechanisms of hAMSCs-CM on high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity were not explored.

Methods

The characteristics of hAMSCs were confirmed by flow cytometry, RT-PCR, and immunofluorescence. Obese mice were induced by administrating HFD for 15 weeks and simultaneously, the mice were intraperitoneally injected with hAMSCs-CM weekly to evaluate the effects of hAMSCs-CM on HFD-induced obesity. GTT and ITT assays were used to assess the effects of hAMSCs-CM on HFD-induced glucose tolerance and insulin resistance. The lipid accumulation and adipocytes hypertrophy in mouse adipose tissues were determined by histological staining, in which the alterations of blood lipid, liver, and kidney function were also examined. The role of hAMSCs-CM in energy homeostasis was monitored by examining the oxygen consumption (VO2), carbon dioxide production (VCO2), and food and water intake in mice. Furthermore, the expressions of the genes related to glucose metabolism, fatty acid β oxidation, thermogenesis, adipogenesis, and inflammation were determined by western blot analysis, RT-PCR, and immunofluorescence staining. The roles of hAMSCs-CM in adipogenesis and M1/M2 macrophage polarization were investigated with 3T3-L1 preadipocytes or RAW264.7 cells in vitro.

Results

hAMSCs-CM significantly restrained HFD-induced obesity in mice by inhibiting adipogenesis and lipogenesis, promoting energy expenditure, and reducing inflammation. The underlying mechanisms of the anti-obesity of hAMSCs-CM might be involved in inhibiting PPARγ and C/EBPα-mediated lipid synthesis and adipogenesis, promoting GLUT4-mediated glucose metabolism, elevating UCP1/PPARα/PGC1α-regulated energy expenditure, and enhancing STAT3-ARG1-mediated M2-type macrophage polarization.

Conclusion

Our studies demonstrated that hAMSCs significantly alleviated HFD-induced obesity through their paracrine effects. Obviously, our results open up an attractive therapeutic modality for the prevention and treatment of obesity and other metabolic disorders clinically.

Graphic Abstract

The cytokines, exosomes, or micro-vesicles secreted from hAMSCs significantly inhibited HFD-induced obesity in mice by inhibiting lipid production and adipogenesis, promoting energy consumption, and reducing inflammation.
Porcine small intestinal organoids as a model to explore ETEC–host interactions in the gut
Authors: Vermeire Bjarne , Gonzalez Liara M. , Jansens Robert J. J. , Cox Eric , Devriendt Bert
Published: June 2021

Small intestinal organoids, or enteroids, represent a valuable model to study host–pathogen interactions at the intestinal epithelial surface. Much research has been done on murine and human enteroids, however only a handful studies evaluated the development of enteroids in other species. Porcine enteroid cultures have been described, but little is known about their functional responses to specific pathogens or their associated virulence factors. Here, we report that porcine enteroids respond in a similar manner as in vivo gut tissues to enterotoxins derived from enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli, an enteric pathogen causing postweaning diarrhoea in piglets. Upon enterotoxin stimulation, these enteroids not only display a dysregulated electrolyte and water balance as shown by their swelling, but also secrete inflammation markers. Porcine enteroids grown as a 2D-monolayer supported the adhesion of an F4+ ETEC strain. Hence, these enteroids closely mimic in vivo intestinal epithelial responses to gut pathogens and are a promising model to study host–pathogen interactions in the pig gut. Insights obtained with this model might accelerate the design of veterinary therapeutics aimed at improving gut health.
Classroom student posture recognition based on an improved high-resolution network
Authors: Zhang Yiwen , Zhu Tao , Ning Huansheng , Liu Zhenyu
Published: June 2021

Due to the large number of students in a typical classroom and crowded seating, most features of student posture are often obscured, making it difficult to balance the accuracy in identifying student postures with computational efficiency. To solve this issue, a novel classroom student posture recognition method is proposed. First, to recognize the poses of multiple students in the classroom, we use the you-only-look-once (YOLOv3) algorithm for object detection and retrain it to detect human objects that are hunching on a table, creating the pose estimation network. Next, to improve the accuracy of the pose estimation network, we use the squeeze-and-excitation network structure that is embedded in the residual structure of high-resolution networks (HRNet). Finally, with the improved HRNet algorithm’s outputs of key human body points, we design a pose classification algorithm based on a support vector machine, to classify human poses in the classroom. Experiments show that the improved HRNet multi-person pose estimation algorithm yields the best mean average precision performance of 73.76% on the common objects in context (COCO) validation dataset. We further test the proposed algorithm on a customer dataset collected in a classroom and achieved a high recognition rate of 90.1% and good robustness.
A nonstandard finite difference scheme for the modeling and nonidentical synchronization of a novel fractional chaotic system
Authors: Baleanu Dumitru , Zibaei Sadegh , Namjoo Mehran , Jajarmi Amin
Published: June 2021

The aim of this paper is to introduce and analyze a novel fractional chaotic system including quadratic and cubic nonlinearities. We take into account the Caputo derivative for the fractional model and study the stability of the equilibrium points by the fractional Routh–Hurwitz criteria. We also utilize an efficient nonstandard finite difference (NSFD) scheme to implement the new model and investigate its chaotic behavior in both time-domain and phase-plane. According to the obtained results, we find that the new model portrays both chaotic and nonchaotic behaviors for different values of the fractional order, so that the lowest order in which the system remains chaotic is found via the numerical simulations. Afterward, a nonidentical synchronization is applied between the presented model and the fractional Volta equations using an active control technique. The numerical simulations of the master, the slave, and the error dynamics using the NSFD scheme are plotted showing that the synchronization is achieved properly, an outcome which confirms the effectiveness of the proposed active control strategy.
Fixed point results for rational contraction in function weighted dislocated quasi-metric spaces with an application
Authors: Shoaib Abdullah , Mahmood Qasim , Shahzad Aqeel , Noorani Mohd Salmi Md , Radenović Stojan
Published: June 2021

The objective of this article is to introduce function weighted L-R-complete dislocated quasi-metric spaces and to present fixed point results fulfilling generalized rational type F-contraction for a multivalued mapping in these spaces. A suitable example confirms our results. We also present an application for a generalized class of nonlinear integral equations. Our results generalize and extend the results of Karapınar et al. (IEEE Access 7:89026–89032, 2019).
Unified multivalued interpolative Reich–Rus–Ćirić-type contractions
Authors: Alansari Monairah , Ali Muhammad Usman
Published: June 2021

This article examines new multivalued interpolative Reich–Rus–Ćirić-type contraction conditions and fixed point results for multivalued maps that fulfill these conditions. Earlier defined interpolative contraction type conditions cannot be particularized to any contraction type condition. This slackness of the interpolative contraction type condition is addressed through new multivalued interpolative Reich–Rus–Ćirić-type contraction conditions.
Effects of cognitive-behavioral and psychodynamic-interpersonal treatments for eating disorders: a meta-analytic inquiry into the role of patient characteristics and change in eating disorder-specific and general psychopathology in remission
Authors: Moberg Leif Tore , Solvang Birgitte , Sæle Rannveig Grøm , Myrvang Anna Dahl
Published: June 2021

Background

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) and psychodynamic-interpersonal therapies (PIT) are two widely used and conceptually different outpatient treatments for eating disorders (EDs). To better understand how these treatments works, for whom, and under what circumstances, there is a need for knowledge about how outcomes are affected by diagnosis, comorbidity, changes in psychopathology, and study design.

Method

Reports on the effects of CBT and PIT for eating disorders were searched. Rates of remission and changes in ED specific- and general psychopathology were computed. Regression models were made to predict event rates by changes in specific- and general psychopathology, as well as ED diagnosis and study design.

Results

The remission rate of CBT for binge eating disorder was 50%, significantly higher than the effect for other diagnostic groups (anorexia = 33%, bulimia: 28%, mixed samples 30%). The number of studies found for PIT was limited. All effect sizes differed from zero (binge eating disorder = 27%, anorexia = 24%, bulimia = 18%, mixed samples = 15%), but the precision of the estimates was low, with some lower-bound confidence intervals close to zero. For CBT, change in ED specific psychopathology predicted remission only when controlling for ED diagnosis, while change in general psychopathology did not predict remission at all. The predictive value of change in psychopathology for PIT, and the potential impact of comorbid personality disorders could not be analyzed due to a lack of studies. There was no difference in effects between randomized controlled trials and observational studies.

Conclusions

CBT showed consistent remission rates for all EDs but left a substantial number of patients not in remission. Extant evidence suggest that PIT is not consistently effective in achieving remission for patients with EDs, although this finding is uncertain due to a small number of eligible studies. A group of patients with eating disorders may, however, require therapy aimed at strengthening deficits in self functions not easily ameliorable by cognitive behavioral techniques alone. Further research should be aimed at identifying treatment interventions that helps patients change behavior, while strengthening self-functions to substitute eating-disordered behavior in the long-term.
Cost-effectiveness of specialist eating disorders services for children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa: a national surveillance study
Authors: Byford Sarah , Petkova Hristina , Barrett Barbara , Ford Tamsin , Nicholls Dasha , Simic Mima , Gowers Simon , Macdonald Geraldine , Stuart Ruth , Livingstone Nuala , Kelly Grace , Kelly Jonathan , Joshi Kandarp , Smith Helen , Eisler Ivan
Published: June 2021

Background

Evidence suggests specialist eating disorders services for children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa have the potential to improve outcomes and reduce costs through reduced hospital admissions. This study aimed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of assessment and diagnosis in community-based specialist child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) compared to generic CAMHS for children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa.

Method

Observational, surveillance study of children and adolescents aged 8 to 17, in contact with community-based CAMHS in the UK or Republic of Ireland for a first episode of anorexia nervosa. Data were reported by clinicians at baseline, 6 and 12-months follow-up. Outcomes included the Children’s Global Assessment Scale (CGAS) and percentage of median expected body mass for age and sex (%mBMI). Service use data included paediatric and psychiatric inpatient admissions, outpatient and day-patient attendances. A joint distribution of incremental mean costs and effects for each group was generated using bootstrapping to explore the probability that each service is the optimal choice, subject to a range of values a decision-maker might be willing to pay for outcome improvements. Uncertainty was explored using cost-effectiveness acceptability curves.

Results

Two hundred ninety-eight children and adolescents met inclusion criteria. At 12-month follow-up, there were no significant differences in total costs or outcomes between specialist eating disorders services and generic CAMHS. However, adjustment for pre-specified baseline covariates resulted in observed differences favouring specialist services, due to significantly poorer clinical status of the specialist group at baseline. Cost-effectiveness analysis using CGAS suggests that the probability of assessment in a specialist service being cost-effective compared to generic CAMHS ranges from 90 to 50%, dependent on willingness to pay for improvements in outcome.

Conclusions

Assessment in a specialist eating disorders service for children and adolescents with anorexia nervosa may have a higher probability of being cost-effective than assessment in generic CAMHS.

Trial registration

ISRCTN12676087. Date of registration 07/01/2014.
CT based PSI blocks for osteotomies around the knee provide accurate results when intraoperative imaging is used
Authors: Savov Peter , Hold Mara , Petri Maximilian , Horstmann Hauke , von Falck Christian , Ettinger Max
Published: June 2021

Purpose

Correction osteotomies around the knee are common methods for the treatment of varus or valgus malalignment of the lower extremity. In recent years, patient specific instrumentation (PSI) guides were introduced in order to enhance the accuracy of these procedures. The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of CT based PSI guides for correction osteotomies around the knee of low volume osteotomy surgeons and to evaluate if CT based PSI blocks deliver a high degree of accuracy without using intraoperative fluoroscopy.

Methods

Two study arms with CT based PSI cutting blocks for osteotomies around the knee were conducted. Part one: A retrospective analysis of 19 osteotomies was made in order to evaluate the accuracy in the hands of a low volume surgeon on long-leg radiographs. Part two: A cadaveric study with 8 knees was performed for the purpose of analyzing the accuracy without using intraoperative fluoroscopy on pre- and postoperative CT scans. Hip-Knee-Ankle angle (HKA), lateral distal femoral angle (LDFA) and medial proximal tibial angle (MPTA) were analyzed. The mean absolute delta (∂) between the planned and postoperative parameters were calculated. The accuracy of both study arms were compared.

Results

Part one: The mean MPTA ∂, LDFA ∂ and HKA ∂ was 0.9°, 1.9° and 1.5°, respectively. Part two: The mean MPTA ∂ and LDFA ∂ was 3.5° and 2.2°, respectively. The mean ∂ of MPTA is significantly different between clinical patients with fluoroscopic control and cadaveric specimens without fluoroscopic control (P < 0.001). All surgeries were performed without complications such as a hinge fracture.

Conclusion

The clinical use of PSI guides for osteotomies around the knee in the hands of low volume surgeons is a safe procedure. The PSI guides deliver a reliable accuracy under fluoroscopic control whereas their non-use of intraoperative fluoroscopy leads to a lack of accuracy. The use of fluoroscopic control during PSI guided correction osteotomies is highly recommended.

Level of evidence

IV – Retrospective and experimental Study
Does practice of meniscus surgery change over time? A report of the 2021 ‘THE MENISCUS’ Webinar
Authors: Jacquet Christophe , Mouton Caroline , Becker Roland , Koga Hideyuki , Ollivier Matthieu , Verdonk Peter , Beaufils Philippe , Seil Romain
Published: June 2021

Purpose

The aim of this paper was to report the results presented in the session “Does practice of meniscus surgery change over time?” of the 2021 MENISCUS webinar held online on January 30th 2021.

Method

During the 2021 MENISCUS webinar, an evaluation of meniscus surgery practices was performed by analyzing: (1) The presentation of the results of a survey conducted among ESSKA members and assessing their current practices in the field of meniscus surgery, (2) Four reports by national experts analyzing the trends in Arthroscopic Partial Meniscectomy (APM) and meniscus repair procedures in their respective countries (France, Belgium, Germany and Japan).

Results

(1) ESSKA Survey: Among the 461 respondents, 75% of surgeons claimed to perform more meniscus repairs and 85% less APM than 5 years ago. In ACL-associated meniscus injuries, a majority of surgeons (60%) indicated to perform a meniscal resection in less than 25% of cases. 25% declared to perform meniscus repair in ACL-associated meniscus injuries in less than 25% of cases and 37% in more than 50% of cases. Half of the respondents repair medial or lateral root tears in less than 25% of cases. Less than 20% of respondents were not familiar with the ESSKA consensus.

(2) National trends: In France, between 2005 and 2017, the APM rate decreased by 21.4%, while the repair rate increased by 320%. In Belgium, between 2007 and 2017, the APM rate decreased by 28.6%. In Germany, between 2010 and 2017 the number of APM decreased by 30%, while the number of repair procedures increased by 55%. Finally, in Japan, between 2011 and 2016, the APM ratio (APM/meniscus procedures) decreased by 16% from 91 to 75% while the repair ratio increased from 9 to 25%.

Conclusion

The 2021 ESSKA members' survey as well as statistics from 4 specifically examined countries (Belgium, France, Germany and Japan) suggest there has been a significant shift over the last years in the surgical management of meniscal lesions towards less APM and more conservative treatments.
Collective efficacy in soccer teams: a systematic review
Authors: Alves Mylena Aparecida Rodrigues , de Souza Lencina Marcus Vinicius , Paes Mayara Juliana , Stefanello Joice Mara Facco
Published: June 2021

Collective efficacy, defined as a group’s shared belief about its conjoint capability to organize and execute courses of action, plays a pivotal role in understanding the dynamics of sports teams, since it influences what individuals choose to do as team members, how much they invest in motivational terms to perform actions, how much they work collectively, and for how long they persist despite failure. Through a systematic review, it was investigated how collective efficacy has been assessed in the context of soccer and which indicators, attributes, and psychometric properties have been contemplated in the instruments used. Following the PRISMA guidelines, 22 articles were retrieved through electronic databases (APA PsycINFO; SPORTDiscus; Science Direct; BVS; Web of Science; Scopus; PubMed; and Scielo), using as descriptors, in English, Spanish, and Portuguese, collective efficacy and soccer, combined by the Boolean operators AND and OR. The study did not delimit the initial year of publication for the searches carried out, including all articles found until January 14, 2021 (date of the last update). The following eligibility criteria were adopted: scientific articles published in journals; original studies, which specified the instrument used to assess collective efficacy and carried out with soccer athletes. Five instruments (FCEQ, CEQS, CEI, CEC, and CEQsoccer) that evaluated technical-tactical and psychological attributes associated with collective efficacy in soccer players were identified. In most studies, psychometric properties were restricted to content validity and reliability (internal consistency), and there were no suitable validation processes for the instruments used to measure collective efficacy, which can be considered a limiting factor for understanding this psychological construct in soccer modality.
Motion disrupts dynamic visual search for an orientation change
Authors: Crowe Emily M. , Howard Christina J. , Gilchrist Iain D. , Kent Christopher
Published: June 2021

Visual search in dynamic environments, for example lifeguarding or CCTV monitoring, has several fundamentally different properties to standard visual search tasks. The visual environment is constantly moving, a range of items could become targets and the task is to search for a certain event. We developed a novel task in which participants were required to search static and moving displays for an orientation change thus capturing components of visual search, multiple object tracking and change detection paradigms. In Experiment 1, we found that the addition of moving distractors slowed participants’ response time to detect an orientation changes in a moving target, showing that the motion of distractors disrupts the rapid detection of orientation changes in a moving target. In Experiment 2 we found that, in displays of both moving and static objects, response time was slower if a moving object underwent a change than if a static object did, thus demonstrating that motion of the target itself also disrupts the detection of an orientation change. Our results could have implications for training in real-world occupations where the task is to search a dynamic environment for a critical event. Moreover, we add to the literature highlighting the need to develop lab-based tasks with high experimental control from any real-world tasks researchers may wish to investigate rather than extrapolating from static visual search tasks to more dynamic environments.
The value of the patient global health assessment in polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis: a nested cohort study
Authors: Trachtman Rebecca , Issa Rula , Pan Stephanie , Wilson Karen M. , Lovell Daniel J. , Onel Karen B.
Published: June 2021

Objective

The objectives were: 1) to explore the discordance between the Patient Global Health Assessment (PtGA) scores, the Physician Global Health Assessment (PhGA) scores, and Pain scores; and 2) to explore whether the PtGA during disease remission is associated with future disease flare in pJIA.

Methods

Data from an NIH funded clinical trial (NCT00792233) evaluating flare were used (N = 137). PtGA, PhGA, and Pain scores were assessed. Flare was defined as any active arthritis. Spearman’s correlation coefficients were calculated, and multivariable logistic regression was performed.

Results

122 patients had records of flare status, of which 63 developed flare, and 42 of these patients had a visit immediately prior to flare. For study subjects with a visit immediately prior to flare, the PtGA, pain scores, and PhGA all increased at time of flare. For every unit increase in PtGA and Pain scores, there was a 9% and 23% higher odds of developing flare, respectively (p = 0.76, p = 0.40). For every unit increase in the PhGA score, there was a substantially lower odds of developing flare (p = 0.05).

Conclusion

Our results demonstrate that the PtGA and Pain scores are strongly correlated with each other and increased at the visit prior to flare, while the PhGA scores are not. Further, the PtGA and Pain score have some predictive value for flare, while the PhGA does not. These findings highlight the value of patient input in medical care and decision-making, and support the development and use of more sophisticated PROs in the care of JIA patients.
The importance of lower extremity involvement type on exercise performances, function, and quality of life in peripheral predominant forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis
Authors: Acer Kasman Sevtap , Karaahmet Özgür Zeliha , Bal Hastürk Ajda , Başaran Özge , Çelikel Acar Banu , Gezer Halise Hande , Çakcı Aytül
Published: June 2021

Background

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) can cause reduced exercise capacity, deterioration in functional activities, and poor health-related quality of life. This study aims to objectively reveal lower extremity involvement in the peripheral predominant forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis through qualitative evaluations and to determine the effects of these involvements on exercise, function, and quality of life.

Methods

Thirty-two patients with a history of peripheral arthritis and aged between 7 and 16 years participated in the study. Demographics, JIA subtype, disease duration, arthritis and deformities of the lower extremity, disease activity score, 6-min walk test (6MWT), cycling exercise test (CYC-E), childhood health assessment questionnaire (CHAQ), and pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQoL) scores were recorded. In case of clinical suspicion of arthritis, an ultrasonographic examination was performed for a definitive diagnosis. Regression analyses were performed to explore the most associated lower extremity involvement and patient characteristics for each of the dependent variables including 6MWT, CYC-E, CHAQ, and PedsQoL.

Results

Of the total number of patients, with a mean age of 12.91 (SD 2.37) years, 28.1% had knee arthritis, 15.6% foot arthritis, 12.5% hip arthritis, and 37.5% lower extremity deformity. The parameters that were most associated with CHAQ and PedsQoL were hip and knee arthritis, whereas CYC-E was found to be most associated with knee arthritis and height, and 6MWT was found to be most associated with hip arthritis, knee arthritis, and demographic characteristics.

Conclusion

This study emphasizes the importance of hip and knee arthritis, which are among the determinants of walking endurance, function, and quality of life; and knee arthritis, which is among the determinants of cycling performance in JIA with lower extremity involvement.
Total versus staged versus functional revascularization in NSTEACS patients with multivessel disease
Authors: Elkady Ahmed O. , Abdelghany Mohamed , Diab Reda , Ezz Ahmed , Elagha Abdalla A.
Published: June 2021

Background

The optimal strategy for revascularization in patients with NSTEACS who had multivessel coronary artery disease. A lack of evidence exists about the role of complete coronary revascularization by PCI in patients with non-ST segment elevation acute coronary syndrome (NSTEACS). Till now, ACC/AHA and ESC guidelines are not clear regarding the optimal strategy for revascularization in NSTEACS patients with multivessel coronary artery disease. In this setting, identification of the culprit lesion by angiography only could be challenging. The objective is to compare the hospital and short-term (6 months) outcomes of 3 different coronary revascularization strategies in NSTEACS patients with and multivessel coronary artery disease.

Results

Our study was a prospective study that included 90 patients who presented with acute chest pain and were diagnosed with NSTEACS. The patients were divided into 3 groups according to the plan of management: total revascularization group (total group), staged revascularization group (staged group), and functional revascularization group using FFR (FFR group). We studied the effect of demographic data, risk factors, and angiographic and procedural criteria on hospital and short-term outcomes. No significant statistical difference was seen among the three groups regarding the hospital outcome (in-stent thrombosis, unstable angina, and renal impairment). Also, the short-term (after 6 months) outcome regarding myocardial infarction, hospitalization, stroke, and cardiac death did not differ significantly between the three groups.

Conclusions

Considering NSTEACS patients with multivessel disease, different coronary revascularization strategies (total, staged, or FFR) are comparable regarding immediate and short-term (6 months) clinical follow-up. FFR can change the preplanned management, and less number of stents per patient is needed when FFR is utilized.
Combining Realist approaches and Normalization Process Theory to understand implementation: a systematic review
Authors: Dalkin Sonia Michelle , Hardwick Rebecca J. L. , Haighton Catherine A. , Finch Tracy L.
Published: June 2021

Background

Realist approaches and Normalization Process Theory (NPT) have both gained significant traction in implementation research over the past 10 years. The aim of this study was therefore to explore how the approaches are combined to understand problems of implementation, to determine the degree of complementarity of the two approaches and to provide practical approaches for using them together.

Methods

Systematic review of research studies combining Realist and NPT approaches. Realist methodology is concerned with understanding and explaining causation, that is, how and why policies, programmes and interventions achieve their effects. NPT is a theory of implementation that explains how practices become normalised. Databases searched (January 2020) were ASSIA, CINAHL, Health Research Premium Collection via Proquest (Family Health Database, Health & Medical Collection, Health Management Database, MEDLINE, Nursing & Allied Health Database, Psychology Database, Public Health Database) and PsycARTICLES. Studies were included if the author(s) stated they used both approaches: a scientific Realist perspective applying the principles of Pawson and Tilley’s Realist Evaluation or Pawson’s Realist Synthesis and Normalization Process Theory either solely or in addition to other theories. Two authors screened records; discrepancies were reviewed by a third screener. Data was extracted by three members of the team and a narrative synthesis was undertaken.

Results

Of 245 total records identified, 223 unique records were screened and 39 full-text papers were reviewed, identifying twelve papers for inclusion in the review. These papers represented eight different studies. Extent and methods of integration of the approaches varied. In most studies (6/8), Realist approaches were the main driver. NPT was mostly used to enhance the explanatory power of Realist analyses, informing development of elements of Contexts, Mechanisms and Outcomes (a common heuristic in realist work). Authors’ reflections on the integration of NPT and Realist approaches were limited.

Conclusions

Using Realist and NPT approaches in combination can add explanatory power for understanding the implementation of interventions and programmes. Attention to detailed reporting on methods and analytical process when combining approaches, and appraisal of theoretical and practical utility is advised for advancing knowledge of applying these approaches in research.

Systematic review registration

Not registered.
Classification of atmospheric aerosols and clouds by use of dual-polarization lidar measurements
Authors: Qi Siqi , Huang Zhongwei , Ma Xiaojun , Huang Jianping , Zhou Tian , Zhang Shuang , Dong Qingqing , Bi Jianrong , Shi Jinsen
Published: June 2021

Accurate identification of aerosols and cloud from remote sensing observations is of importance for quantitatively evaluating their radiative forcing and related impacts. Even though polarization lidar has exhibited a unique advantage of classifying atmospheric aerosols and clouds over the past several decades, polarization measurements are often achieved at one wavelength (UV or VIS) using laser remote sensing. To better identify the types of aerosols and clouds, we developed a ground-based dual-polarization lidar system that can simultaneously detect polarization measurements at wavelengths of 355 nm and 532 nm. Our results show that the volume depolarization ratios (VDRs) at 355 nm and 532 nm markedly differ for typical types of aerosols and clouds in the atmosphere. For non-spherical particles, the ratio of VDRs at 532 nm and 355 nm are 2.87 ± 1.35 for ice cloud and 1.51 ± 0.29 for dust-dominated aerosols, respectively. However, for spherical particles, the ratios are 0.43 ± 0.26 for water cloud and 0.56 ± 0.05 for air pollutants. Consequently, we proposed a simple reliable method for classifying atmospheric aerosols and clouds from polarization measurements observed by the developed lidar system. The proposed method first distinguishes clouds from aerosols using a combination of the color ratio (CR, 532 nm/355 nm) and attenuated backscattering coefficients (ABC) at 532 nm. Then, subtypes of clouds and aerosols are identified based on the ratio of VDRs at 532 nm and 355 nm. The results showed that dual-polarization lidar measurements can remarkably improve the classification of atmospheric aerosols and clouds, compared with results using a traditional method. This study illustrates that more information on atmospheric aerosols and clouds can be obtained from polarization measurements at multiple wavelengths by active remote sensing.
Photonic lanterns: a practical guide to filament tapering
Authors: Davenport John J. , Diab Momen , Deka Pranab J. , Tripathi Aashana , Madhav Kalaga , Roth Martin M.
Published: June 2021

We present a detailed method of tapering and drawing photonic lanterns using a filament glass processing system. Single-mode fibers (SMFs) were stacked inside a low refractive index, fluorine-doped capillary, which was then heated and tapered to produce a transition from single-mode to multi-mode. Fabrication parameters were considered in four categories: method of preparation and stacking of SMFs into a capillary, heat and filament dimensions of the glass processor, capillary ID, and the use of vacuum during tapering. 19- and 37- fiber lanterns were drawn, demonstrating good fusion between SMF claddings, a clear differentiation between core and cladding in the multimode (MM) section, and well-ordered arrangements between SMFs, which is controlled during the tapering process. The transmission efficiency of a 19-fiber photonic lantern, compared to an MMF with the same core diameter and NA, has a relative transmission efficiency of 1.19 dB or 67.1%. The steps and parameters provided in this paper form a framework for fabricating quality photonic lanterns.
Braving the Atlantic waves
Authors: De Raedt Thérèse
Published: June 2021

This article discusses three films that focus on migrants who departed from the Senegalese Cape Verde peninsula, braving the Atlantic in dugout boats (pirogues), in order to reach the Canary Islands. The year 2006 saw a phenomenal rise in migrants arriving undocumented at this key point of entry to Europe. Directors Idrissa Guiro, Moussa Sène Absa and Moussa Touré saw it as their mission to respond to this urgent humanitarian crisis by humanizing the all-too-common reality of failed migration. They use testimonies and autofictional narratives in order to give a voice to migrants and, in so doing, to influence public and political opinion. Guiro’s documentary film Barça ou Barzakh (2007) appears to be intended for a western audience and focuses especially on the socio-economic conditions that drive migration. Absa’s docufiction Yoolé (The Sacrifice) (2010), referring to Senegalese youth, is overtly political and targets Senegalese people as its primary audience. Touré’s fictional film La Pirogue (2012) tries to appeal to a wider national and international audience by compiling testimonies of would-be migrants and staging their attempted sea crossing. Detailed analyses of certain sequences reveal how words, images and music combine to convey the directors’ political and aesthetic goals.
Stowaway stories and mythological realism in Yuri Herrera’s Signs Preceding the End of the World and Mohsin Hamid’s Exit West
Authors: Fielder Elizabeth Rodriguez
Published: June 2021

This article examines how contemporary authors writing about migration turn to fantastic, spectral and mythical elements when writing about passages of transit. I turn to narratives written by Yuri Herrera and Mohsin Hamid and explore how these authors use mythology and magic to resist telling a ‘true’ story, creating what I call a stowaway aesthetic that hides away other stories in its narrative. By stowing away information and misrepresentation through magic, these authors create impossible stories that attend to archival silences. They enact a resistance against the ways in which the state extracts and polices narrative in the process of asylum-seeking. I argue that in the moments in which authors eschew realism, they direct the reader’s attention to the unknowable aspects of migrant lives that constitute an absent presence in the process of migration.
Music in migrant camps as a medium creating non-narrative human relationships
Authors: Labia Julien
Published: June 2021

A migrant camp is a ‘non-place’ where personal identity is put at risk. Music is a means of personal adaptation in camps, even if it means allowing little place for the real reasons for displacement of the very people shaping these new hybridizations of music. The present power of music in such a place is to create strong relationships, ‘shortcutting’ both narration and the longer time needed in order to create relationships. The kind of personal advantage it is for someone to be a musician is a topic surprisingly forgotten, obscured by theoretical habits of seeing music essentially as an expressive activity directed to an audience, or as being a communicative activity. Music has a performative power different from language, as a non-verbal art having a strong and direct relationship to the body. Musical interactions on the field give migrants the ability to balance their problematic situation of refugees, shaping a real present.
Afterword: An exhibition about hospitality. A more sensitive perception of vulnerability
Authors: Brugère Fabienne
Published: June 2021

This afterword reflects on the tension between art, politics and philosophy at the thematic core of this Special Issue, ‘Migrants and Refugees Between Aesthetics and Politics’. Brugère calls attention to a recent art exhibition – one that came out of her book with Guillaume Le Blanc, The End of Hospitality – at the Museum of the History of Immigration, in Paris, as a way to frame a conflict between two ideas of hospitality, or the broad ethical gesture to welcome others and the political right that more and more governments are unable to uphold as borders tighten around the globe. The afterword elaborates on the aims of the exhibition, namely, to show ‘a correspondence between art and philosophy on the question of hospitality’. Rather than a mere representation of discourse around migration, the artwork displays a praxis of the imagination, one in which cultural production by and about refugees brings spectators to recognize a shared sense of vulnerability and to question received ideas on migration. In this manner, contemporary art forms become an essential link in the ongoing struggle between ethics and politics.
La Mer à l’envers, Marie Darrieussecq (2019)1
Authors: Kim Annabel L.
Published: June 2021

Review of: La Mer à l’envers, Marie Darrieussecq (2019)

Paris: POL Éditeur, 250 pp.,

ISBN 978-2-81804-806-1, p/bk, €18.50
Spacemakers: Speculative design, public space and monuments
Authors: Knochel Aaron D. , Jordan Alvaro M.
Published: June 2021

Controversies in current events highlight the important role that public space and monuments may play in demonstrating community values or conversely projecting status quo articulations of inequity. With this in mind, we felt compelled to develop curricula to unpack the complex relationships between public space and place identity through the shared ownership and development of public monuments. We started a curricular project called Spacemakers to engage learners in arts-based reflections on public space, identity and social justice through the generation of proposed monuments as matters of concern. Through frameworks of history and memory, design practice and cultural geography, we articulate the unfolding of the curriculum as we consider the monument as a curricular object. This article reviews the curricular activities we developed for the Spacemakers project, their theoretical and pedagogical foundations, and the potential for making use of speculative design and critical making as powerful vehicles for reflection on public space and embodied learning.
Opening Thirdspace: Cultivating critical geographies in art teacher education
Authors: Bertling Joy G.
Published: June 2021

Pre-service teachers new to a field placement need the opportunity to orient themselves in relation to their larger teaching contexts and configure geographies that resonate with the lives of their students. Soja’s Thirdspace offers a lens through which teachers might explore place multi-dimensionally. Building upon a previous arts-based educational research study assessing the potential of arts-based inquiry for supporting pre-service teachers in exploring their teaching contexts, this study, through a second curricular iteration, focused explicitly on art pre-service teachers’ critical geographic analysis, in the form of Thirdspace. In mapping their school zones, pre-service teachers began to identify illusory impressions and conceptions of students, schools and communities and then began to deconstruct them. Such Thirdspace journeys offer space for pre-service teachers to hone their perceptions, to retrain their gazes to see their students’ physical and lived worlds in their complexity and plurality, and to re-imagine the relation between place and pedagogy.
Multipli-city, My Winnipeg and a pedagogy of the permanent circuit
Authors: Morrow Stephen
Published: June 2021

The city is a network of boulevards, thoroughfares, highways and subway systems. The city is also a site of learning, or rather the city houses sites of learning: museums, libraries, schools, theatres and cinemas, for instance. Interestingly, these sites of learning need not be physical; indeed, regarding cinema, for example, they can be websites like Amazon, Criterion Channel, Netflix, where cinephiles can stream movies from the comfort of their home, office, car, on a phone, tablet, television. It is at the intersection of these sites – the cinema and the city – that I wish to situate this article. In particular, I explore how the filmmaker Guy Maddin with My Winnipeg () finagles cinema’s essay-film genre to turn a physical space (in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada) from, in Deleuze and Guattari’s terms, striated to smooth, points to pointillism, in which event replaces essence and multipli-city replaces singular(c)ity. The city is a machine and the machine here is D+G’s assemblage. As such, the city and the citizen/creator become one, symbio[(y)tic], and the two cannot be separated without returning the city to a simpli-city and the filmmaker to a documentarian. This film amounts to an encounter that causes thinking (in Deleuzian terms) and thus learning and thus a way forward for thinking through a pedagogy of the permanent circuit.
Unsung heroes: Reconceptualizing a video game as a work of art
Authors: Davis Jessica Hoffmann
Published: June 2021

A veteran arts educator’s entrance into the heretofore unknown world of video games, from encountering the community of players to daring a first-hand experience playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Buoyed by her desire to see her actor son’s performance in the game, the author plays to the end and emerges with an understanding of the game as a work of art.
Capsaicinoids as Green Corrosion Inhibitors: Quantum Chemical and Monte Carlo Simulation Studies
Authors: Junaidi E. , Purwoko A.A. , Hadisaputra S. , Iskandar Z. , Hamdiani S.
Published: June 2021

The corrosion inhibition test of capsaicinoids extract from peppers has been previously reported using gravimetric and electrochemical analysis. Results showed that capsaicinoids have good potential as corrosion inhibitors because of their high corrosion inhibition efficiency. However, it should be noted that several types of capsaicinoids are present in the capsaicinoids extract. This variation causes previous study to be unable to identify the compounds with the most potential as corrosion inhibition. In present study, the density functional theory (DFT), ab initio and Monte Carlo simulation studies explain the problem. The quantum parameters of the four major compounds in capsaicinoids such as capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin, nordihydrocapsaicin and homocapsaicin were compared to predict the compound with the highest corrosion inhibition. The Monte Carlo simulation study was applied to study the interaction mechanism between capsaicinoids and metal surfaces. The quantum parameter has linearity with the adsorption energy of capsaicinoids on the metal surface. The most significant role in inhibiting corrosion was shown by homocapsaicin, followed by capsaicin, dihydrocapsaicin and norcapsaicin. The theoretical study is expected to bridge the gap in an experimental study in designing an effective corrosion inhibitor.
A Short Review on Raman Studies of Metal Chalcogenide Semiconductor Thin Films
Authors: Ho S.M. , Othman M.H.D. , Adam M.R. , Mohanraj K.
Published: June 2021

The productions of the thin metallic chalcogenide films are of particular interest for the wide range of fabrication of the solar cells, sensors, photodiode arrays, photoconductors. Raman spectroscopy is used to measure the scattering radiation of a matter. Basically, the spectroscopic methods can be defined as the study of the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with a matter. It can be based on the phenomenon of absorption, fluorescence, emission or scattering. The observation of peaks supported the formation of amorphous or crystalline nature of the samples. In this short review, the authors had gathered some informations about the Raman studies of recently synthesized metal chalcogenide semiconductor thin films.
Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluations of Sulfur Inserted Fluoro-Benzimidazoles
Authors: Dwivedi Parmesh Kumar , Chaturvedi Devdutt
Published: June 2021

A new series of fluorinated sulfur inserted benzimidazole analogues Za-i were synthesized and
characterized. The new compounds were screened for their antimicrobial and antioxidant potential.
The synthesized compounds were obtained by multiple step synthesis, initiating from the synthesis of
5-(difluoromethoxy)-1H-benzimidazole-2-thiol X. The compounds Ya-i prepared by reacting differently
substituted anilines with chloroacetylchloride and triethylamine in DMF. Finally, the compound X
was reacted with different derivatives of 2-chloro-N-phenylacetamide resulting in formation of titled
compounds Za-i. The synthesized compounds (Za-Zi) were characterized by spectral analysis viz.1H &
13C NMR, mass spectra, elemental analysis and IR. The in vitro antimicrobial potential against
Gram-positive (S. aureus and E. faecalis) and Gram-negative bacterial (E. coli and P.aeruginosa)
strains as well as fungi (A. niger and C. albicans) was recorded for the obtained compounds. Some of
the compounds exhibited encouraging results (in MIC) against Gram-positive and Gram-negative
bacterial strains. These studies thus suggest that the designed sulfur inserted fluoro-benzimidazoles
scaffold may serve as new promising template for further amplification as antimicrobial agents.