bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Lifecycle evaluation of medical devices: supporting or jeopardizing patient outcomes? A comparative analysis of evaluation models
Authors: Harkin Kathleen R. , Sorensen Jan , Thomas Steve 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Objectives
Lack of evidence regarding safety and effectiveness at market entry is driving the need to consider adopting a lifecycle approach to evaluating medical devices, but it is unclear what lifecycle evaluation means. This research sought to explore the tacit meanings of “lifecycle” and “lifecycle evaluation” as embodied within evaluation models/frameworks used for medical devices.

Methods
Drawing on qualitative evidence synthesis methods and using an inductive approach, novel methods were developed to identify, appraise, analyze, and synthesize lifecycle evaluation models used for medical devices. Data was extracted (including purpose; audience; characterization; outputs; timing; and type of model) from key texts for coding, categorization, and comparison, exploring embodied meaning across four broad perspectives.

Results
Fifty-two models were included in the synthesis. They demonstrated significant heterogeneity of meaning, form, scope, timing, and purpose. The “lifecycle” may represent a single stage, a series of stages, a cycle of innovation, or a system. “Lifecycle evaluation” focuses on the overarching goal of the stakeholder group, and may use a single or repeated evaluation to inform decision-making regarding the adoption of health technologies (Healthcare), resource allocation (Policymaking), investment in new product development or marketing (Trade and Industry), or market regulation (Regulation). The adoption of a lifecycle approach by regulators has resulted in the deferral of evidence generation to the post-market phase.

Conclusions
Using a “lifecycle evaluation” approach to inform reimbursement decision-making must not be allowed to further jeopardize evidence generation and patient safety by accepting inadequate evidence of safety and effectiveness for reimbursement decisions.
Unraveling the link between childhood maltreatment and depression: Insights from the role of ventral striatum and middle cingulate cortex in hedonic experience and emotion regulation
Authors: Zhou Han-yu , Zhou Lan , Zheng Tong-xuan , Ma Li-ping , Fan Ming-xia , Liu Liang , Zhao Xu-dong , Yan Chao 
Published: January 2024

AbstractChildhood maltreatment is an established risk factor for psychopathology. However, it remains unclear how childhood traumatic events relate to mental health problems and how the brain is involved. This study examined the serial mediation effect of brain morphological alterations and emotion-/reward-related functions on linking the relationship from maltreatment to depression. We recruited 156 healthy adolescents and young adults and an additional sample of 31 adolescents with major depressive disorder for assessment of childhood maltreatment, depressive symptoms, cognitive reappraisal and anticipatory/consummatory pleasure. Structural MRI data were acquired to identify maltreatment-related cortical and subcortical morphological differences. The mediation models suggested that emotional maltreatment of abuse and neglect, was respectively associated with increased gray matter volume in the ventral striatum and greater thickness in the middle cingulate cortex. These structural alterations were further related to reduced anticipatory pleasure and disrupted cognitive reappraisal, which contributed to more severe depressive symptoms among healthy individuals. The above mediating effects were not replicated in our clinical group partly due to the small sample size. Preventative interventions can target emotional and reward systems to foster resilience and reduce the likelihood of future psychiatric disorders among individuals with a history of maltreatment.
Are remote health clinics primary health care focused? Validation of the Primary Health Care Engagement (PHCE) Scale for the Australian remote primary health care setting
Authors: McCullough Kylie , Doleman Gemma , Dunham Melissa , Whitehead Lisa , Porock Davina 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Aim:
To test and validate a measure of primary health care (PHC) engagement in the Australian remote health context.

Background:
PHC principles include quality improvement, community participation and orientation of health care, patient-centred continuity of care, accessibility, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Measuring the alignment of services with the principles of PHC provides a method of evaluating the quality of care in community settings.

Methods:
A two-stage design of initial content and face validity evaluation by a panel of experts and then pilot-testing the instrument via survey methods was conducted. Twelve experts from clinical, education, management and research roles within the remote health setting evaluated each item in the original instrument. Panel members evaluated the representativeness and clarity of each item for face and content validity. Qualitative responses were also collected and included suggestions for changes to item wording. The modified tool was pilot-tested with 47 remote area nurses. Internal consistency reliability of the Australian Primary Health Care Engagement scale was evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha. Construct validity of the Australian scale was evaluated using exploratory factor analysis and principal component analysis.

Findings:
Modifications to suit the Australian context were made to 8 of the 28 original items. This modified instrument was pilot-tested with 47 complete responses. Overall, the scale showed high internal consistency reliability. The subscale constructs ‘Quality improvement’, ‘Accessibility-availability’ and ‘population orientation’ showed low levels of internal consistency reliability. However, the mean inter-item correlation was 0.31, 0.26 and 0.31, respectively, which are in the recommended range of 0.15 to 0.50 and indicate that the items are correlated and are measuring the same construct. The Australian PHCE scale is recommended as a tool for the evaluation of health services. Further testing on a larger sample may provide clarity over some items which may be open to interpretation.
Biographical continuation: recovery of stroke survivors and their family caregivers in Taiwan
Authors: Liao Zih-Yong , Haycock-Stuart Elaine , Kean Susanne 
Published: January 2024

Abstract

Aim:
To explore the experiences pertaining to long-term care services from the perspectives of dyads of stroke survivors and their family caregivers in indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

Background:
Stroke occurrence is a life-changing event associated with quality of life for stroke survivors and their families, especially those who provide primary support. Indigenous people are more likely to experience a stroke at a younger age and have a higher likelihood of hospitalisation and death due to health disparities. Few studies have investigated family dyads or indigenous populations to understand their experiences of coping with changed body-self and to contextualise their reintegration into communities post-stroke.

Methods:
Ethnographic fieldwork over nine months in 2018–2019 with indigenous, urban-based, and non-indigenous populations, resulting in 48 observations and 24 interviews with 12 dyads in three geo-administrative communities.

Findings:
The post-stroke recovery trajectory is illuminated, delineating the dyads’ life transitions from biographical disruption to biographical continuation. The trajectory is shaped by seven states involving four mindsets and three status passages. The four mindsets are sense of loss and worry, sense of interdependence, sense of independence, and wellbeing state. The status passages identified in this study are acceptance, alteration, and identification. A community-based and family-centred long-term care system, aligning with medical healthcare and community resources, underpinned each dyad’s biographical continuation by: (1) providing rehabilitation that afforded time and space for recovery adaptation; (2) acknowledging the individuality of family caregivers and helping to alleviate their multitasking; and (3) reintegrating stroke survivors into their communities. Key to determining the quality of recovery for the indigenous participants was their reintegration into their native community and regaining of identity. Therefore, integrating post-stroke care into various care contexts and incorporating indigenous-specific needs into policymaking can support dyads in adapting to their communities.
GLOBAL HYPOELLIPTICITY OF SUMS OF SQUARES ON COMPACT MANIFOLDS
Authors: Araújo Gabriel , Ferra Igor A. , Ragognette Luis F. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractWe present necessary and sufficient conditions for an operator of the type sum of squares to be globally hypoelliptic on
$T \times G$
, where T is a compact Riemannian manifold and G is a compact Lie group. These conditions involve the global hypoellipticity of a system of vector fields on G and are weaker than Hörmander’s condition, while generalizing the well known Diophantine conditions on the torus. Examples of operators satisfying these conditions in the general setting are provided.
Palliative care, COVID-19, and the suffering quotient
Authors: Pilkey Jana 
Published: January 2024

AbstractObjectivesThe COVID-19 pandemic presented many challenges for patients with palliative care needs and their care providers. During the early days of the pandemic, visitors were restricted on our palliative care units. These restrictions separated patients from their families and caregivers and led to considerable suffering for patients, families, and health-care providers. Using clinical vignettes that illustrate the suffering caused by visiting restrictions during the pandemic, the introduction of a new concept to help predict when health-care providers might be moved to advocate for their patients is introduced.MethodsWe report 3 cases of patients admitted to a palliative care unit during the COVID-19 pandemic and discuss the visiting restrictions placed on their families. In reviewing the cases, we coined a new concept, the “Suffering Quotient” (SQ), to help understand why clinical staff might be motivated to advocate for an exemption to the visiting restrictions in one situation and not another.ResultsThis paper uses 3 cases to illustrate a new concept that we have coined the Suffering Quotient. The Suffering Quotient (SQ) = Perceived Individual (or small group) Suffering/Perceived Population Suffering. This paper also explores factors that influence perceived individual suffering (the numerator) and perceived population suffering (the denominator) from the perspective of the health-care provider.Significance of resultsThe SQ provides a means of weighing perceived patient and family suffering against perceived contextual population suffering. It reflects the threshold beyond which health-care providers, or other outside observers, are moved to advocate for the patient and ultimately how far they might be prepared to go. The SQ offers a potential means of predicting observer responses when they are exposed to multiple suffering scenarios, such as those that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Deliberative ecologies: a relational critique of deliberative systems
Authors: Mendonça Ricardo Fabrino , Veloso Lucas Henrique Nigri , Magalhães Bruno Dias , Motta Filipe Mendes 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThis paper advocates a move beyond the systemic approach in the field of Deliberative Democracy. It argues that the notion ofdeliberative ecologycan deliver the necessary conceptual elements that deliberative democrats seek in deliberative systems without some of the problems they either overlook or embrace. To advocate the advantages of an ecological perspective to deliberation, the article focuses on six axes of comparison: (i) performances of actants (instead of functions of arenas and players); (ii) articulations and translations (instead of transmission); (iii) vulnerabilities (instead of pathologies and dysfunctions); (iv) practice (instead of institutionally-oriented design); (v) diverse temporalities (instead of linear temporality) and; (vi) hologram-based analysis (instead of systemic analysis). In a nutshell, the article claims that the ecological approach to deliberation has the advantage of conceptualizing an ever-changing web of relations of interdependency, which connects diverse entities that are either relevant to a public discussion or that hinder its enactment.
Solidarity in question: activation of dormant political dispositions and Latino support for Trump in 2020
Authors: Sommer Udi , Franco Idan 
Published: January 2024

AbstractExpectations about ethnic solidarity notwithstanding, Latino support for Donald Trump grew between the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections. Despite his anti-immigration positions and policies, the number of votes cast for Trump unexpectedly increased among members of the group most strongly associated with the issue of immigration. Latinos showed considerably more variance in voting behavior than what would be expected given accounts focused mainly on their ethnic solidarity. We propose a counterintuitive explanation for this trend: due to the activation of dormant political dispositions, it is the very anti-immigration attitudes characterizing Trump that account for his ascendence among Latino voters. Latinos voting for Trump did so because of his anti-immigration positions and not despite those positions. Our findings motivate a reevaluation of standard understandings of the role of minorities in American politics writ large and in American elections more specifically. Furthermore, as anti-immigration Latinos reside disproportionately more in certain swing states, we find them to be a pivotal political force in determining election outcomes, though in unexpected ways.
Who looks up to the Leviathan? Ideology, political trust, and support for restrictive state interventions in times of crisis
Authors: Casiraghi Matteo C. M. , Curini Luigi , Maggini Nicola , Nai Alessandro 
Published: January 2024

AbstractThe extent in which voters from different ideological viewpoints support state interventions to curb crises remains an outstanding conundrum, marred by conflicting evidence. In this article, we test two possible ways out from such puzzle. The role of ideology to explain support for state interventions, we argue, could be (i) conditional upon the ideological nature of the crisis itself (e.g., whether the crisis relates to conservation vs. post-materialist values), or (ii) unfolding indirectly, by moderating the role played by political trust. We present evidence from a conjoint experiment fielded in 2022 on a representative sample of 1,000 Italian citizens, in which respondents were asked whether they support specific governmental interventions to curb a crisis, described under different conditions (e.g., type of crisis, severity). Our results show that the type of crisis matters marginally – right-wing respondents were more likely to support state interventions only in the case of terrorism. More fundamentally, political trust affects the probability to support state interventions, but only for right-wing citizens.
Implicit Associations in Computer-Mediated Communication
Authors: Gill Kanvarbir S. , Lippmann Marie 
Published: January 2024

Abstract: The inclusion of skin-tone modifiers into the standard emoji set in 2015 marked a shift toward increased skin-tone representation in emoji characters. We investigated whether implicit skin-tone bias, as typically found for human faces, also exists for emojis – a topic that is becoming increasingly relevant in computer-mediated communication (CMC) as more of our communication, education, and social exchange takes place in digital spaces. We systematically adapted Harvard University’s most recent skin-tone IAT (Implicit Associations Test) to assess implicit skin-tone bias for emojis. The reliability of our novel skin-tone IAT was good (internal consistency = .87). Data from a racially and ethnically diverse sample of 248 participants revealed that, on average, participants held more positive implicit associations for light than for dark skin-tone emojis: MDscore = 0.39; SDDscore = 0.42; t(247) = 14.76, p < .001; Cohen’s d = 0.93. Participants’ own skin tone predicted the strength of skin-tone bias, R2 = .02, F(1, 247) = 5.41, p = .02. The darker the skin tone of the participants, the less likely they were to exhibit bias in favor of light skin-tone emojis (β = −.14). These results align with the patterns of skin-tone bias that are typically observed for human faces, and extend those insights to emojis that are frequently used in CMC. The results also provide the first evidence that our novel emoji skin-tone IAT can be a useful tool for assessing emoji skin-tone bias.
An Examination of Water‐Related Melt Processes in Arctic Snow on Tundra and Sea‐Ice
Authors: Pinzner Anika , Sturm Matthew , Delamere Jennifer S. , Mahoney Andrew R. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractFrom April through June in 2019 and 2022, we monitored snow melt at three sites near Utqiaġvik, Alaska. Along 200‐m lines we measured snow depth, density, stratigraphy, snow‐covered area, and spectral albedo. Site 1 (ARM) was sloped tundra drained by water tracks. Site 2 (BEO) was flat polygonal tundra. Site 3 (ICE) was on undeformed landfast sea ice. All three sites were within a 6 km radius. Despite similar pre‐melt snow distributions and weather, the melt progression differed markedly between sites. In 2019, by mid‐melt, there was 40% less snow‐covered area at ARM versus ICE, and 34% less snow‐covered area at ARM versus BEO. The 2022 melt started 2 weeks later than in 2019 and was rapid, so smaller differences in snow‐covered areas developed. In both years meltout dates varied by up to 25 days between sites, and more than 20 days within sites, with melt rates at locations only meters apart differing by up to a factor of seven. This melt diachroneity led to highly heterogeneous meltout patterns at all three sites. Our measurements and observations indicate that, in addition to reductions in snow reflective properties and wind‐driven heat advection, the fate of meltwater plays a key role in producing melt diachroneity. We identify seven snow‐water mechanisms that can enhance or inhibit melt rates, all largely controlled by the local topography and the nature of the substrate. These mechanisms are important because the most rapid changes in albedo coincide with the peak of water‐snow melt interactions.
Responses of Ecosystem Productivity to Anthropogenic Ozone and Aerosols at the 2060
Authors: Zhou Xinyi , Yue Xu , Tian Chenguang 
Published: January 2024

AbstractTerrestrial ecosystems help mitigate global warming by sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) through plant photosynthesis, the rate of which is affected by surface ozone (O3) and aerosols under simultaneous impacts of climate change and rising CO2. While the changes in anthropogenic emissions perturb atmospheric components, their consequent impacts on ecosystem productivity in the future climate remain unclear. Here, we apply a fully coupled climate‐chemistry‐vegetation model, ModelE2‐YIBs, to explore the effects of O3 and aerosols from anthropogenic emissions on global gross primary productivity (GPP) under different emission scenarios at 2060. At the present day, anthropogenic air pollutants induce a GPP loss of −1.67 Pg[C] (−4%) in boreal summer with the contributions of −2.18 Pg[C] by O3 and +0.52 Pg[C] by aerosols. At 2060, the detrimental effect of air pollutants on GPP is exacerbated to −1.85 Pg[C] under a high emissions scenario but alleviated to −0.59 Pg[C] under a low emission scenario. The mitigated GPP loss in the latter scenario is owing to the effective control of anthropogenic emissions that on average reduces surface O3 concentrations by 8.14 ppbv globally relative to 2010. Although the CO2 fertilization effect is weaker in the low emission scenario, the strong decline in air pollutants brings additional GPP gains compared to the high scenario. Regionally, such GPP amelioration is close to or even overweighs the CO2 fertilization effect in eastern China and United States, suggesting that the deep cut of anthropogenic emissions can effectively promote future ecosystem productivity over the nowadays polluted regions.
A Comprehensive Stress Drop Map From Trench to Depth in the Northern Chilean Subduction Zone
Authors: Folesky J. , Pennington C. N. , Kummerow J. , Hofman L. J. 
Published: January 2024

AbstractWe compute stress drops for earthquakes in Northern Chile recorded between 2007 and 2021. By applying two analysis techniques, (a) the spectral ratio (SR) method and (b) the spectral decomposition (SDC) method, a stress drop map for the subduction zone consisting of 51,510 stress drop values is produced. We build an extended set of empirical Green’s functions (EGF) for the SR method by systematic template matching. Outputs are used to compare with results from the SDC approach, where we apply cell‐wise obtained global EGF's to compensate for the structural heterogeneity of the subduction zone. We find a good consistency of results of the two methods. The increased spatial coverage and quantity of stress drop estimates from the SDC method facilitate a consistent stress drop mapping of the different seismotectonic domains. Albeit only small differences of median stress drop, strike‐perpendicular depth sections clearly reveal systematic variations, with earthquakes at different seismotectonic locations exhibiting distinct values. In particular, interface seismicity is characterized by the lowest observed median value, whereas upper plate earthquakes show noticeably higher stress drop values. Intermediate depth earthquakes show comparatively high average stress drop and a rather strong depth‐dependent increase of median stress drop. Additionally, we observe spatio‐temporal variability of stress drops related to the occurrence of the two megathrust earthquakes in the study region. The presented study is the first coherent large scale 3D stress drop mapping of the Northern Chilean subduction zone. It provides an important component for further detailed analysis of the physics of earthquake ruptures.
Summer and Autumn Insolation as the Pacemaker of Surface Wind and Precipitation Dynamics Over Tropical Indian Ocean During the Holocene: Insights From Paleoproductivity Records and Paleoclimate Simulations
Authors: Zhou Xinquan , Duchamp‐Alphonse Stéphanie , Bassinot Franck , Liu Chuanlian 
Published: January 2024

AbstractInsolation is the engine of monsoon and Walker circulations over the tropical Indian Ocean. Here, we present Holocene coccolith‐related net primary productivity (NPP) signals from two sediment cores retrieved in the wind‐driven coastal upwelling systems off southern India and southern Sumatra. Upwelling‐induced NPP is enhanced during summer and autumn and is a powerful tool to reconstruct atmospheric features at a seasonal scale. Our records indicate that during summer and autumn, westerly winds off southern India strengthened from the early‐Holocene (EH) to late‐Holocene (LH), while southeasterly winds off southern Sumatra strengthened from the EH to mid‐Holocene (MH) and weakened from the MH to LH. Comparisons with previous paleoclimate records and simulations, allow us to confirm such wind patterns at a regional scale and identify distinct atmospheric features associated to insolation before and after the MH. From the EH to MH, as the insolation in the Northern Hemisphere weakens during summer and strengthens during autumn, the equatorial Indian Ocean is characterized by more vigorous Walker and monsoon circulations in summer and autumn, respectively. From the MH to LH, as the insolation weakens in the Northern Hemisphere during summer and over the equator during autumn, the equatorial Indian Ocean is influenced by a general reinforcement of the Walker circulation during both seasons, a feature that we relate to a modern negative IOD‐like mode. The changes in wind result in increasing precipitation over Indonesia and India from EH to MH and over Indonesia from MH to LH as India is getting dryer.