Search

BACKGROUND: Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is a curable hematologic malignancy that is more prevalent in young adults than in other age-groups. Thus, maintaining treatment intensity while minimizing acute and long-term adverse events (AEs) are priorities during treatment. Currently, the recommended chemotherapy regimens for newly diagnosed cHL include ABVD (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine) and AAVD (doxorubicin, brentuximab vedotin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine). However, the use of these regimens is limited by patient-specific factors, such as baseline cardiopulmonary function. In other treatment settings, liposomal doxorubicin has been an alternative treatment to conventional doxorubicin given the reduced cardiotoxicity with this formulation. DISCUSSION: In this novel case report, we describe the safety and efficacy of ADVD (brentuximab vedotin, pegylated liposomal doxorubicin [PLD], vinblastine, and dacarbazine), a modified AAVD regimen that replaces conventional doxorubicin with PLD, in a patient with newly diagnosed cHL and hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Our patient achieved a complete response after receiving 4 cycles of ADVD followed by consolidative radiation, and no significant AEs were noted. Of note, there were no changes in cardiac function with ongoing surveillance. CONCLUSION: ADVD was well-tolerated and efficacious in our patient with newly diagnosed cHL and congenital heart disease. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the use of PLD in place of conventional doxorubicin in this setting. Further studies are needed regarding the optimal dosing of PLD in patients with newly diagnosed cHL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The proliferation of non-fungible token (NFT)-based crypto-art platforms has transformed how creators manage, own and earn money through the creation, assets and identity of their digital works. Despite this, no studies have examined the drivers of continuous content contribution behavior (CCCB) toward NFTs. Hence, this study draws on the theory of relational bonds to examine how various relational bonds affect feelings of psychological ownership, which, in turn, affects CCCB on metaverse platforms. Design/methodology/approach: Using structural equation modeling and importance-performance matrix analysis, an online survey of 434 content creators from prominent NFT platforms empirically validated the research hypotheses. Findings: Financial, structural, and social bonds positively affect psychological ownership, which in turn encourages CCCBs. The results of the importance-performance matrix analysis reveal that male content creators prioritized virtual reputation and social enhancement, whereas female content creators prioritized personalization and monetary gains. Originality/value: We examine Web 3.0 and the NFT creators' network that characterizes the governance practices of the metaverse. Consequently, the findings facilitate a better understanding of creator economy and meta-verse commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cross-sectoral partnership was formed in 2021 in support of the recommendations in an audit on access to state-funded mental health services. In this first paper, we aimed to describe the demographic and service utilisation of adults with a mental health diagnosis in the Western Australian state-funded health system from 2005 to 2021. Inpatient, emergency department, specialised (ambulatory) community mental health service, and death records were linked in individuals aged ≥ 18 years with a mental health diagnosis in Western Australia. Altogether, 392,238 individuals with at least one mental health service contact between 1st January 2005 and 31st December 2021 were included for analysis. Females, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people, and those who lived outside major cities or in the most disadvantaged areas were more likely to access state-funded mental health services. While the number of individuals who accessed community mental health services increased over time (from 28,769 in 2005 to 50,690 in 2021), the percentage increase relative to 2005 was notably greater for emergency department attendances (127% for emergency department; 76% for community; and 63% for inpatient). Conditions that contributed to the increase for emergency department were mainly alcohol disorder, reaction to severe stress and adjustment disorders, and anxiety disorders. Sex differences were observed between conditions. The pattern of access increased for emergency department and the community plus emergency department combination. This study confirmed that the patterns of access of state-funded mental health services have changed markedly over time and the potential drivers underlying these changes warrant further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Australia, diabetes is the fastest growing chronic condition, with prevalence trebling over the past three decades. Despite reported sex differences in diabetes outcomes, disparities in management and health targets remain unclear. This population-based retrospective study used MedicineInsight primary healthcare data to investigate sex differences in diabetes prevalence, incidence, management, and achievement of health targets. Methods: Adults (aged ≥ 18 years) attending 39 general practices in Western Australia were included. Diabetes incidence and prevalence were estimated by age category. Health targets assessed included body mass index (BMI), blood pressure, blood lipids, and glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) levels. Medical management of diabetes-associated conditions was also investigated. Time-to-incident diabetes was modelled using a Weibull regression. A multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression model investigated risk-adjusted sex differences in achieving the HbA1c health target (HbA1c ≤ 7.0% (≤ 53 mmol/mol)). Results: Records of 668,891 individuals (53.4% women) were analysed. Diabetes prevalence ranged from 1.3% (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.2%-1.3%) in those aged < 50 years to 7.2% (95% CI 7.1%-7.3%) in those aged ≥ 50 years and was overall higher in men. In patients younger than 30 years, incidence was higher in women, with this reversing after the age of 50. Among patients with diabetes, BMI ≥ 35 kg/m2 was more prevalent in women, whereas current and past smoking were more common in men. Women were less likely than men to achieve lipid health targets and less likely to receive prescriptions for lipid, blood pressure, or glucose-lowering agents. Men with incident diabetes were 21% less likely than women to meet the HbA1c target. Similarly, ever recorded retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, coronary heart disease, heart failure, peripheral vascular disease and peripheral artery disease were higher in men than women. Conclusions: This research underscores variations in diabetes epidemiology and management based on sex. Tailoring diabetes management should consider the patient's sex. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While schools are rapidly trying to recruit culturally and linguistically diverse educators, community-based organizations’ immigrant educators have already developed such practices within Latino immigrant populations. This study examines the funds of knowledge of four Latino immigrant youth educators who work with Latino adolescents in a community organization. Findings revealed that youth educators’ practices drew from their own lived experiences to prepare students to be academically successful while cultivating belonging and leadership within their community. This study offers implications for drawing upon the funds of knowledge of immigrant educators who can meet the needs of immigrant youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by the writings of adolescents in a community-based organization, we utilize a critical poetic inquiry methodology to examine how they express the spatial, temporal, and relational boundaries of the pathways among adolescence, adultification, and adulthood through poetic expression. Through Anzaldúa's (1999) framework of nepantla, an in-between space that serves to interlace the past, present, reality, and imagination for adolescents, we find that students (a) navigate and identify family dynamics, (b) negotiate tensions of adultification, and (c) recognize and push against social inequities. This article illuminates how youth in under-resourced communities negotiate, imagine, and realize possibilities for their futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this conceptual paper, we offer a framework to examine how residency programmes can critically reflect upon their existence and presence as a democratic hub. As a model of teacher preparation that blends theory and university coursework with practice, residency programmes are designed to prepare and diversify the teacher workforce for a context-specific setting that calls upon universities to partner closely with local districts. We see the need for a reflective conceptualisation of residencies to offer a tool for considering how and why residencies are created. In conceptualising teacher residency programmes as democratic hubs rather than institutional programmes, we draw on the metaphor of Central Park in New York City to discuss the permeability of boundaries and accessibility to all. We centre our framework on three pillars: a) decentralising knowledge; b) historicising knowledge; and c) co-creating knowledge. This study has implications for addressing a central and longstanding problem in teacher education: the disconnect between academic coursework and fieldwork or the lack of collaboration between schools and universities often referred to as the theory-practice divide. We offer this tool to conceptualise teachers’ residencies so that teacher education can be designed to matter in practice, not only in institutions but for the public good. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes a three-year qualitative study on how youth of color in one community-based organization, Durham Community Youth, used the mentor text, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "What's your life's blueprint?" speech, as a reflective tool to transform themselves and their community. Using a critical literacy framework, the authors situate the study within the rich history of the Black community in Durham, North Carolina and examine how students' writing advocated for their communities by speaking out against oppressive forces. The article offers implications on how educators can reimagine the implementation and intentionality of mentor texts for youth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative case study is a part of a larger university–community partnership that explores adolescents' utilization of critical literacy to write, engage, and lead in their communities. For this specific study, we explore the question: How does an educational community use literacy practices and modalities to grieve through collective loss and develop solidarity with one another? Through the utilization of a critical literacy framework and a sense‐based pedagogy lens, we explore how various forms of literacy and multimodalities allowed this community to grieve and foster solidarity in a time of loss. We conducted several rounds of inductive and emotion codings to identify key themes from our data sources which included student work/publications, social media posts, organization communication, videos, focus groups, and staff interviews. Our preliminary findings show that (a) reciprocal vulnerability developed over time can produce solidarity; (b) writing can be a restorative act in collective loss; and (c) writing through grief positions students as leaders of their communities. Through this study, we provide educators and community members with potential tools for developing spaces for restorative education and supporting collective resilience through literacy practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To determine sex and age differences in the use of medications for diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors in people with diabetes in Australia. Methods: Pharmaceutical claims data of participants in the 45 and Up Study who self-reported having diabetes before 2013, were alive on 1st January 2013 and had at least one medication dispensing record between 1st January 2013 and 31st December 2019 were analysed. Annual sex and age-specific percentages of participants supplied specific medications were estimated for years 2013 to 2019. Percentages were reported for any glucose lowering medications and by drug class, any lipid modifying agents, and any blood pressure lowering medications. Results: Altogether 25,733 participants (45.2% women) with diabetes were included. The percentage of participants who were supplied with glucose lowering medications was consistently lower in women compared to men. In both sexes, the percentage of participants who were supplied with glucose lowering medications was lowest among those aged ≥75 years and this decreased over time. Similar findings were observed for lipid modifying agents and blood pressure lowering medications. The use of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors increased substantially in participants aged <75 years since it became available in 2013. However, no sex differences were observed in its use among people with hospital-recorded history of cardiovascular disease. Conclusions: Practitioners should be aware of possible sex disparities in the pharmacological treatment of diabetes and cardiovascular risk factors in people with diabetes in Australia. There is a possible time lag between reporting of research findings and uptake of sodium glucose co-transporter 2 inhibitors prescribing in individuals with diabetes and high cardiovascular risk in clinical practice, nevertheless, the result observed was consistent with the management guidelines at the time of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Platelet rich plasma (PRP) contains high concentrations of growth factors. Intuitively, these were thought to be of potential benefit in healing of chronic wounds, skin grafts and graft donor sites. This was echoed in retrospective studies and an individual case basis but had not been randomized. Methods: A systematic search was carried out by two individuals, independently, on the MEDLINE, EMBASE and COCHRANE databases, according to PRISMA guidelines. All data analysis and statistics was pooled and analysed using the Cochrane RevMan Software. Results: Split thickness grafts have been described by numerous authors, but PRP use did not offer a significant advantage in graft take in pooled results (MD 5.83, 95% CI − 0.69 to 12.25, random-effects, p = 0.08). The analysis of included randomized controlled trials has shown favourable split-thickness skin graft donor site healing in the PRP group (MD − 5.55, 95% CI − 7.40 to − 3.69, random-effects, p = < 0.00001) compared to the control group. For carpal tunnel syndrome, the pooled results showed no difference in functional scores vs steroid injections (SMD − 0.68, 95% CI − 1.47 to 0.10, randomeffects, p = 0.09) or indeed splinting groups. Conclusions: With the current body of evidence, we conclude that the use of PRP as an adjuvant therapy in skin grafts, burns, carpal tunnel surgery or scars cannot be rationalised. A potential use of PRP is in donor site management but the cost of this would be difficult to justify. Level of evidence: Not ratable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explores the holistic approaches that seven mentors use to attend to the well-being of new professionals as they transition into the classroom. We define holistic mentoring as practices that intertwine the professional with the personal, and bring together the aesthetic, intellectual, and moral in supporting beginning teachers. We call these practices the 'poetics of mentoring,' and used them as analytic lenses to theorise mentors' unique approaches to working with mentees. Data included individual semi-structured interviews, a focus group interview, and expressive artefacts that mentors created to illustrate their practice holistically. Our findings revealed how and why mentors reflected aesthetic, intellectual, and moral endeavours in their practice, and how they worked together as a community to share and critically assess one another's aesthetic, intellectual, and moral practices. By examining mentoring as a relational and holistic activity, this study emphasises meaning-making in teaching and learning to teach, making visible the often unnoticed, and rendering the intangible, tangible. In guiding discussions on teacher preparation within international contexts, this study shows that teacher preparation must attend to teacher-students holistically, and that sustaining teachers begins first with caring for teachers' well-being, so they in turn can safeguard the well-being of their students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

DNA double‐strand breaks (DSBs) are highly toxic lesions that can cause genomic instability and can be repaired by non‐homologous end‐joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR) pathways. Despite extensive studies about DSB repair pathways, the roles of each pathway during meiotic maturation in oocytes are not well understood. Here we show that oocytes selectively utilize NHEJ and HR to repair DSBs during meiotic maturation. Inhibition of NHEJ impaired the meiotic maturation of oocytes with DNA damage by activating the spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) with a concomitant increase in metaphase I (MI) arrest and DNA damage levels. In contrast, oocytes with DNA damage bypassed SAC‐mediated MI arrest despite the presence of fragmented DNA when HR was inhibited. Notably, this bypass of SAC arrest by HR inhibition was associated with a loss of centromere integrity and subsequent impairment of chromosome architecture. Our results demonstrate that, while NHEJ is critical for the meiotic maturation of oocytes with DNA damage, HR is essential to maintain centromere integrity against DNA damage during meiotic maturation, revealing distinct roles of NHEJ and HR during meiotic maturation in mouse oocytes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the proliferation of social media, researchers have begun exploring novel forms of literacy. One emerging concept is life aesthetic literacy (LAL), or the capacity to interpret and assign meaning to artistic and creative content perceptively. This study explores the impact of LAL on social media platforms. To do so, it draws on probability-proportional-to-size sampling in the Taiwan Communication Survey to investigate 1,776 social media–savvy adults and adopts structural equation modeling, path analysis, latent class analysis, and multi-group analysis to validate the proposed models. The findings show that increased exposure to and involvement with artistic material on social media platforms positively influence LAL. Furthermore, enhanced LAL extends to improved perceived self-expansion and self-concept clarity. These findings provide empirical evidence that social media use has a multifaceted impact on contemporary literacy and self-perception. The findings provide practical guidelines for platforms to cultivate LAL through tailored content and engagement strategies. • Social media enhances Life Aesthetic Literacy (LAL), aiding in self-concept clarity. • LAL positively impacts perceived self-expansion through artistic engagement. • Different media usage patterns may influence the development of LAL. • Empirical evidence supports the multifaceted impact of social media on LAL. • The study provides actionable insights for tailored content strategies on platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the influx of immigrants and refugees in Turkey and across the globe, our study aims to examine how elementary teachers in Turkey are responding to the growing needs of immigrant and refugee students. Drawing on culturally relevant pedagogical frameworks, we interviewed 21 teachers to highlight if and how they build on cultural and individual strengths to reimagine educational contexts. In our phenomenological study, we found that teachers had trouble enacting all three tenets but discussed two out of three tenets the most: a) academic achievement/student learning and b) cultural competence. This study shows how national and international policies need to support the holistic needs of immigrant and refugee students in Turkey and beyond. Our study demonstrates glimpses of hope despite the multitude of issues we uncovered. We find light, beyond a Pandora’s box, where teachers desire and want to learn more about immigrant and refugee students’ holistic needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children learn words in a social environment, facilitated in part by social cues from caregivers, such as eye‐gaze and gesture. A common assumption is that social cues convey either perceptual or social information, depending on the age of the child. In this review of research on word learning and social cues during early childhood, we propose that (1) the functions of social cues are not categorically perceptual or social, and (2) social cues support word learning in four interdependent ways: by helping children to orient attention, extract relevant information, disambiguate referents, and understand others' referential intent. We conclude with specific recommendations for theory‐building and suggest that the dynamic and complex functions of social cues need to be accounted for in any complete theory of word learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies in language contact have identified many instances of linguistic variation and grammatical innovations introduced by speakers from multi-ethnic urban neighborhoods. This study focuses on the variety of Cantonese spoken by South Asian youths in Hong Kong, specifically their production and perception of Hong Kong Cantonese tones. Our findings show that the South Asian Cantonese speakers have a smaller tonal inventory than the canonical six-tone system of standard Hong Kong Cantonese and their tonal discrimination abilities are also more impoverished relative to their ethnic Chinese peers. Further analysis shows a positive correlation between tonal discrimination accuracy and tonal realization distinctness among the South Asian speakers, but not among the ethnic Chinese. These findings suggest that South Asian Cantonese speakers might have developed a distinct tone system from their ethnic Chinese peers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study investigates the determinants of effective human and artificial intelligence (AI) relationship-building strategies for brands. It explores the antecedents and consequences of consumers' interactant satisfaction with communication and identifies ways to enhance consumer purchase intention via AI chatbot promotion. Design/methodology/approach: Microsoft Xiaoice served as the focal AI chatbot, and 331 valid samples were obtained. A two-stage structural equation modeling-artificial neural network approach was adopted to verify the proposed theoretical model. Findings: Regarding the IQ (intelligence quotient) and EQ (emotional quotient) of AI chatbots, the multi-dimensional social support model helps explain consumers' interactant satisfaction with communication, which facilitates affective attachment and purchase intention. The results also show that chatbots should emphasize emotional and esteem social support more than informational support. Practical implications: Brands should focus more on AI chatbots' emotional and empathetic responses than functional aspects when designing dialogue content for human–AI interactions. Well-designed AI chatbots can help marketers develop effective brand promotion strategies. Originality/value: This research enriches the human–AI interaction literature by adopting a multi-dimensional social support theoretical lens that can enhance the interactant satisfaction with communication, affective attachment and purchase intention of AI chatbot users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses refugee students dialogue as they interrogate stereotypes in a community-based space adolescent girls from Afghanistan, Bhutan/Nepal, and the Congo who are a part of a community-based organization (CBO) in North Carolina called Refugee Hope Partners (RHP), which works with refugee youth and families through a holistic program.

Current web accessibility guidelines ask visualization designers to support screen readers via basic non‐visual alternatives like textual descriptions and access to raw data tables. But charts do more than summarize data or reproduce tables; they afford interactive data exploration at varying levels of granularity—from fine‐grained datum‐by‐datum reading to skimming and surfacing high‐level trends. In response to the lack of comparable non‐visual affordances, we present a set of rich screen reader experiences for accessible data visualization and exploration. Through an iterative co‐design process, we identify three key design dimensions for expressive screen reader accessibility: structure, or how chart entities should be organized for a screen reader to traverse; navigation, or the structural, spatial, and targeted operations a user might perform to step through the structure; and, description, or the semantic content, composition, and verbosity of the screen reader's narration. We operationalize these dimensions to prototype screen‐reader‐accessible visualizations that cover a diverse range of chart types and combinations of our design dimensions. We evaluate a subset of these prototypes in a mixed‐methods study with 13 blind and visually impaired readers. Our findings demonstrate that these designs help users conceptualize data spatially, selectively attend to data of interest at different levels of granularity, and experience control and agency over their data analysis process. An accessible HTML version of this paper is available at: http://vis.csail.mit.edu/pubs/rich-screen-reader-vis-experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rise of social media has dramatically changed relationship building between brands and fans. Social media-based brand communities are widely embraced by firms who use them to create consumer engagement and facilitate stronger consumer-brand relationships. Despite the importance of consumer engagement, our understanding of what drives community engagement and how individuals' love for a brand can be facilitated through SMBBCs remains limited. Based on social identity theory and social capital theory, this study explores the aforementioned gap by proposing an integrated conceptual model that encompasses the individual and group-level factors contributing to the establishment of community engagement, which in turn facilitates an individual's love for a brand and ultimately leads to positive behaviours towards the brand. We conducted a survey and found that community engagement, which is driven by brand identification and social capital (relational, structural, and cognitive capital), is a key determinant facilitating an individual's love for a brand. This love subsequently affects the individual's inclination to engage in brand-related information-sharing behaviours. The results of this research can guide practitioners in designing a SMBBCs by using relationship-building activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: It is unclear which Early Warning System (EWS) score best predicts in-hospital deterioration of patients when applied in the Emergency Department (ED) or prehospital setting. Methods: This systematic review (SR) and meta-analysis assessed the predictive abilities of five commonly used EWS scores (National Early Warning Score (NEWS) and its updated version NEWS2, Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS), Rapid Acute Physiological Score (RAPS), and Cardiac Arrest Risk Triage (CART)). Outcomes of interest included admission to intensive care unit (ICU), and 3-to-30-day mortality following hospital admission. Using DerSimonian and Laird random-effects models, pooled estimates were calculated according to the EWS score cut-off points, outcomes, and study setting. Risk of bias was evaluated using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Meta-regressions investigated between-study heterogeneity. Funnel plots tested for publication bias. The SR is registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020191254). Results: Overall, 11,565 articles were identified, of which 20 were included. In the ED setting, MEWS, and NEWS at cut-off points of 3, 4, or 6 had similar pooled diagnostic odds ratios (DOR) to predict 30-day mortality, ranging from 4.05 (95% Confidence Interval (CI) 2.35–6.99) to 6.48 (95% CI 1.83–22.89), p = 0.757. MEWS at a cut-off point ≥3 had a similar DOR when predicting ICU admission (5.54 (95% CI 2.02–15.21)). MEWS ≥5 and NEWS ≥7 had DORs of 3.05 (95% CI 2.00–4.65) and 4.74 (95% CI 4.08–5.50), respectively, when predicting 30-day mortality in patients presenting with sepsis in the ED. In the prehospital setting, the EWS scores significantly predicted 3-day mortality but failed to predict 30-day mortality. Conclusion: EWS scores' predictability of clinical deterioration is improved when the score is applied to patients treated in the hospital setting. However, the high thresholds used and the failure of the scores to predict 30-day mortality make them less suited for use in the prehospital setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anxiety disorders is ranked as the most common class of mental illness disorders globally, affecting hundreds of millions of people and significantly impacting daily life. Developing reliable predictive models for anxiety treatment outcomes holds immense potential to help guide the development of personalised care, optimise resource allocation and improve patient outcomes. This research investigates whether community mental health treatment for anxiety disorder is associated with reliable changes in Kessler psychological distress scale (K10) scores and whether pre-treatment K10 scores and past health service interactions can accurately predict reliable change (improvement). The K10 assessment was administered to 46,938 public patients in a community setting within the Western Australia dataset in 2005–2022; of whom 3794 in 4067 episodes of care were reassessed at least twice for anxiety disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder, or reaction to severe stress and adjustment disorders (ICD-10 codes F40–F43). Reliable change on the K10 was calculated and used with the post-treatment score as the outcome variables. Machine learning models were developed using features from a large health service administrative linked dataset that includes the pre-treatment K10 assessment as well as community mental health episodes of care, emergency department presentations, and inpatient admissions for prediction. The classification model achieved an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.76 as well as an F1 score, precision and recall of 0.69, and the regression model achieved an R2 of 0.37 with mean absolute error of 5.58 on the test dataset. While the prediction models achieved moderate performance, they also underscore the necessity for regular patient monitoring and the collection of more clinically relevant and contextual patient data to further improve prediction of treatment outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2016, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) formally recognized the status of Hong Kong English (HKE) by adding 13 HKE words in its entries (Oxford English Dictionary [OED], n.d.-a). While this codification marks significant progress in the development of a language variety, there have been vigorous discussions within the local community about the legitimacy and representativeness of these selected words as HKE (Xu, 2019). As emphasized by Schneider (2007), acceptability and codification are both important criteria for language development. Therefore, this warrants a bottom-up approach to investigate the extent to which HKE words are accepted by the local community, so as to provide insights on how future HKE words can be better codified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the start of I A History of Data Visualization and Graphic Communication i , Friendly and Wainer cite Aristotle: "If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development." Friendly and Wainer's analysis could be bolstered by identifying and further contextualizing the role of power inherent within data visualization practices, which could inform how practitioners of data visualizations today should think about their use and abuse. Few scientists have done more to write histories of their own discipline than data visualization researchers Michael Friendly and Howard Wainer. [Extracted from the article]

Purpose: Dealing with online rumors or fake information on social media is growing in importance. Most academic research on online rumors has approached the issue from a quantitative modeling perspective. Less attention has been paid to the psychological mechanisms accounting for online rumor transmission behavior on the individual level. Drawing from the theory of stimulus–organism–response, this study aims to explore the nature of online rumors and investigate how the informational characteristics of online rumors are processed through the mediation of psychological variables to promote online rumor forwarding. Design/methodology/approach: An experimental approach to this issue was taken; the researchers investigated how the informational characteristics of online rumors and the psychological mediators promote online rumor transmission. Findings: Four information characteristics (sense-making, funniness, dreadfulness and personal relevance) and three psychological motivators (fact-finding, relationship enhancement and self-enhancement) promote online rumor-forwarding behavior. Originality/value: Because any online rumor transmitted on social media can go viral, companies may eventually encounter social media-driven crises. Thus, understanding what drives rumor-forwarding behavior can help marketers mitigate and counter online rumors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diversity across the world is changing, given the growing number of immigrant children in schools. These increases in transnational mobility have teachers struggling to reconsider their everyday practices to accommodate many more newcomers in their classrooms. The need for teachers to become more responsive to changing social conditions and student populations is gaining urgency. Purpose: Our purpose in this study is to gain insight into what the literature says about educating immigrant children through the lens of social justice in Turkey, the United States, and Hong Kong, as each context presents a distinct case of immigration. Research Design: We conduct a systematic literature review on 87 articles, selected from teaching and teacher education journals. In light of documented inequities experienced by immigrant children, we conduct our review within a framework of teaching immigrant students globally within, versus parallel to, the field of teaching for social justice. Findings: Through cross-jurisdiction inquiry, our findings reveal both examples and counterexamples of teaching for social justice, categorized into three cross-cutting themes: (a) Ways of Teaching, (b) Ways of Knowing, and (c) Ways of Seeing. Among the literature, we found a significant focus on language acquisition in the teaching of immigrant students. Another pattern was the ways in which teachers and teacher education value (or not) immigrant students' funds of knowledge by building on (or rejecting) what students and their communities bring to their learning. Finally, our review demonstrated how teacher educators and teachers encourage, challenge, and teach preservice teachers and students to work against institutional and societal structures that are oppressive for immigrant students. Conclusion: The global reality of superdiversity among immigrant students calls on teachers to be pedagogically adept to respect and support multiple ways of teaching, knowing, and seeing. Research on social justice education for immigrants needs to move beyond language acquisition/deficit as the primary lens for analysis to consider the assets that immigrants bring to classrooms. Despite the differences in the experiences of (im)migrant students in each of the national contexts, social justice must be embedded in teacher education to ensure inclusive and culturally responsive teaching for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Full-thickness macular hole (FTMH) formation following rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair may limit post-operative visual acuity and often requires a return to the operating room, but little is known about this phenomenon. Methods: This study included all patients with a FTMH that developed after RRD repair from January 1, 2015–July 31, 2020. The main outcome was the rate of FTMH formation following RRD repair as well as characteristics of FTMH following RRD repair that spontaneously close. Results: There were 470 eyes with a diagnosis of both a FTMH and a RRD during the study period. Of these, 27 (0.28%) developed a FTMH following RRD repair. The median time to FTMH diagnosis was 91 days (25th, 75th quartiles 40, 204 days). The mean minimum hole diameter was 514.5 ± 303.6 microns. There were 4 FTMHs (14.8%) that spontaneously closed without surgical intervention. The spontaneous closure was noted from 4 to 12 weeks after the initial diagnosis of the FTMH. These holes were smaller than the holes that did not close spontaneously (mean minimum diameter 161.8 ± 85.2 vs 588.7 ± 279.3 microns, p = 0.0058). Of the 27 post-operative FTMHs, there were 23 eyes (85%) that underwent surgical intervention with pars plana vitrectomy and internal limiting membrane peeling. Nineteen eyes (83%) closed with one surgery, 20 eyes (87%) ultimately closed, while 3 eyes (11.1%) did not close. Conclusions: FTMH is relatively uncommon to occur following RRD repair with a prevalence of 0.28% in our series with 87% of these holes achieving closure following surgery or spontaneously. Approximately 15% of FTMHs following RRD repair closed spontaneously and these holes were significantly smaller. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dietary saturated fat raises total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels. It is unclear whether these effects differ by the fatty acid chain lengths of saturated fats; particularly, it is unclear whether medium-chain fatty acids increase lipid levels.Objectives: We conducted a systematic review to determine the effects of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, consisting almost exclusively of medium-chain fatty acids (6:0-10:0), on blood lipids.Methods: We searched Medline and Embase through March 2020 for randomized trials with a minimum 2-week intervention period that compared MCT oil with another fat or oil. Outcomes were total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. Included studies were restricted to adults above 18 years of age. Studies conducted in populations receiving enteral or parenteral nutrition were excluded. Data were pooled using a random-effects meta-analysis.Results: Seven articles were included in the meta-analysis; LDL cholesterol and HDL cholesterol were reported in 6 studies. MCT oil intake did not affect total cholesterol (0.04 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.11 to 0.20; I2 = 33.6%), LDL cholesterol (0.02 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.13 to 0.17; I2 = 28.7%), or HDL cholesterol (-0.01 mmol/L; 95% CI, -0.10 to 0.09; I2 = 74.1%) levels, but did increase triglycerides (0.14 mmol/L; 95% CI, 0.01-0.27; I2 = 42.8%). Subgroup analyses showed that the effects of MCT oil on total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol differed based on the fatty acid profile of the control oil (Pinteraction = 0.003 and 0.008, respectively), with MCT oil increasing total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol when compared to a comparator consisting predominantly of unsaturated fatty acids, and with some evidence for reductions when compared to longer-chain SFAs.Conclusions: MCT oil does not affect total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, or HDL cholesterol levels, but does cause a small increase in triglycerides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses about the whether antiracist teaching is a downer. Topics of discussion includes antiracist teaching can be joyful as it offers students to explore their full potential. Antiracist teaching recognizes humanity of all students and dismantle oppressive structures in schools while affirming, celebrating, and advocating for all students.

Three experiments investigated adult learners' acquisition of a novel adjective. In English and other languages, meanings of some gradable adjectives are said to include an absolute standard of comparison (e.g., full means completely filled with content). However, actual usage is often imprecise, where a maximum absolute standard of comparison, strictly speaking, does not apply (e.g., a 90% full cup can be full depending on how it will be used). This creates problems for learners who acquire the absolute meaning from variable mappings between word forms and observations. We demonstrated that adult learners infer a maximum standard of comparison when they receive information about agents' intended goals that lie behind imprecise word usage. Results suggested these inferences are conditioned on the amount of visually ambiguous observations made during learning. We conclude that access to agents' intended goals allows learners to explain contextual sources of imprecision and helps the learning of a maximum absolute meaning from primarily nonabsolute observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors argue that attending to the affective dimensions of everyday life for Latino immigrant youth offers a disorientation away from the circulation of fear around immigration in the United States, and a new orientation that links together the intimate affective images and narratives of the everyday that are less oppressive and rooted in and branch out to hope and solidarity. To demonstrate the importance of the affective, the authors conducted a post‐qualitative research inquiry interested in animating lifeworlds of seven Latino immigrant youth living in the context of North Carolina. The authors used process and nonrepresentational affect theories to analyze the data, tracing the rogue intensities and surface tensions of ordinary affects across and through the different students and their writing to highlight the students' fragments of experience as Latino youth in America today. Specifically, the authors drew on Ahmed's affect theory of sticky objects and sweaty concepts as they analyzed students' words against the discourse of fear and hate. In tracing the affects that circulate around three sticky objects—immigration, families, and America—the authors witnessed and experienced the moments of tension in students' affective lives. Doing this work with narratives of first‐generation immigrants exposes the effect that embodied memories have on present‐day experiences. The authors maintain that attunement to the affective realm produces a humanizing practice of literacy research and provides counteraffects of hope, gratitude, and life that speak to the more‐than‐representational written narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the course of a year, student authors in the Juntos NC Writing Project participated in the Literary and Community Initiative to write, publish, and share their lived experiences and identities as Latinx immigrants and first‐generation high school students in North Carolina. Throughout the publication process of their collaborative bilingual book titled The Voices of Our People: Nuestras Verdades, student authors actively engaged in pursuing advocacy and activism in three ways: (1) community space as an intentional space for advocacy, (2) writing as a vehicle for collective advocacy, and (3) publishing and sharing as an opportunity for youth activism. The participants' words and actions demonstrated how youth in community organizations can use literacy practices to collectively advocate for their community and become activists who write about and vocalize immigrant youth's strengths and needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Health care providers play a pivotal role as educators on health-related matters ranging from vaccination to smoking cessation. With the rising popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), providers face a new challenge. To date, studies have identified a general lack of knowledge among providers regarding e-cigarettes and discomfort with counseling patients on e-cigarette use. This study aims to systematically explore the perspectives of different health care providers on e-cigarettes and their health implications. With a growing availability of research on the health consequences of e-cigarette use, our study also aims to assess the familiarity of our participants with this literature.Methods: From July to October 2018, a sample of attendings (n = 15), residents (n = 15), medical students (n = 33), and nursing students (n = 28) from Thomas Jefferson University participated in a freelisting interview and survey.Results: Our study found that perceptions of e-cigarettes vary across different participant groups, as evidenced by the range of responses when asked to think about e-cigarettes and their health implications. We identified gaps in knowledge among students regarding FDA regulation of e-cigarettes and found that attending physicians are less aware than junior trainees of the prevalence of use. Familiarity with evidence-based health consequences was variable and low across all groups. Finally, participants most commonly reported learning about e-cigarettes from news outlets and social media rather than professional platforms.Conclusion: This study highlights the need for curricular development in nursing and medical schools, residency training, and continuing medical education regarding e-cigarette use and their impact on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Uncertainty exists regarding the relation of body size and weight change with dementia risk. As populations continue to age and the global obesity epidemic shows no sign of waning, reliable quantification of such associations is important. We examined the relationship of body mass index, waist circumference, and annual percent weight change with risk of dementia and its subtypes by pooling data from 19 prospective cohort studies and four clinical trials using meta‐analysis. Compared with body mass index–defined lower‐normal weight (18.5‐22.4 kg/m2), the risk of all‐cause dementia was higher among underweight individuals but lower among those with upper‐normal (22.5‐24.9 kg/m2) levels. Obesity was associated with higher risk in vascular dementia. Similarly, relative to the lowest fifth of waist circumference, those in the highest fifth had nonsignificant higher vascular dementia risk. Weight loss was associated with higher all‐cause dementia risk relative to weight maintenance. Weight gain was weakly associated with higher vascular dementia risk. The relationship between body size, weight change, and dementia is complex and exhibits non‐linear associations depending on dementia subtype under scrutiny. Weight loss was associated with an elevated risk most likely due to reverse causality and/or pathophysiological changes in the brain, although the latter remains speculative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 23 food insecure undergraduate students. We interviewed participants about their experiences with hunger and food access, including how food insecurity affected their daily lives. Using holistic student development as a theoretical framework, our thematic analysis of individual student interviews produced three findings: (a) learning to work around hunger, (b) managing anxieties around food and wellness, and (c) acknowledging that food insecurity is a shared and critical issue. Our findings expand the literature on college student food insecurity, which is largely based on quantitative studies. We discuss implications for practice, policy, and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This personal perspective piece examines the researcher's positionality through the stance of humanizing research in multiethnic youth communities. Drawing on Paris and Paris and Winn's notions on humanizing research, this article reexamines positionality by revisiting two subjectivities in a three-year qualitative case study with African immigrant girls. This reexamination considers the ways in which the research and the participants participated in dialogic consciousness-raising that were personal and interconnected. Overall, this personal essay analyzes the ways in which the researcher and the participants fostered relationships while transforming their communities to reflect and act upon the world around them. In doing so, they explored the humanizing nature of what it means to "have a voice" together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study addresses how teacher candidates committed to a social-justice-oriented urban teacher residency programme articulate and reflect why they want to be teachers in high-need public schools and what they expect from teaching so as to ascertain what they expect to do. The participants of this study included 77 graduates who participated in four cohorts of an urban teacher residency programme from 2010 through 2014. Employing a qualitative case study design, we analysed 77 sets of admissions essays, which were completed as part of the residency application process. Building on our analysis of candidates' admissions essays through inductive coding, we find that candidates' reflections on why they want to be teachers in high-need public schools and what they expect to do, stem from their beliefs in their role as a teacher and their beliefs about the role of education. Such reflections are grounded in beliefs of teacher activism, pupil activism, and advocacy for pupils who have been marginalised due to systemic inequalities. The study illuminates committed teachers' reasons for entering the teaching profession so as to inform better recruitment strategies, and has implications for how initial teacher education (ITE) programme could specifically improve their professional preparation and practices to recruit and retain qualified teachers who intend to stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior academic research on non-fungible tokens (NFTs), an application of blockchain technology in the metaverse environment, has focused primarily on the market demand side (i.e., buyers), with limited attention given to the supply side (i.e., creators). To address this gap, we seek to understand creators' and buyers' perceptions of platform affordances that can aid NFT platforms in developing functions that address the needs and expectations of both parties. To do this, we draw on affordance theory and psychological contract theory and use a mixed-methods approach consisting of text mining, structural equation modeling, and importance-performance map analysis. The results show that platform affordances (transaction, aesthetics, status, and user interface affordance) facilitate the creation of psychological contracts, which in turn promotes customer loyalty. Moreover, the relationships identified differ between creators and buyers. Overall, these results point to the value of using a user-centric human–computer interaction perspective to study emerging blockchain-based systems. They can inform design principles and guidelines for NFT platforms to effectively support creator–buyer interactions, transactions, and relationships through enhanced affordances and user-centric experience. This study advances knowledge of design in the nascent NFT domain relevant to the cross-disciplinary human–computer interaction community. • Affordance theory and psychological contract theory are applied to NFT creators and buyers. • A mixed-method approach consisting of text mining, SEM and IMPA is used for analysis. • Platform affordances (transaction, aesthetics, status, and UI) facilitate psychological contract. • UI affordance has greater importance for buyers than for creators. • Transaction affordance has a stronger effect for creators than for buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we conducted a survey among a large sample of U.S. adults to assess attitudes and beliefs about the causes of homelessness, policies to address homelessness, and programs for homeless individuals. In 2016, we surveyed a national sample of 541 adults from 47 different U.S. states using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Of the total sample, 78% reported that homelessness was a problem in their communities and 60% believed homelessness would increase in the next 5 years. The majority expressed compassion for homeless individuals and endorsed structural, intrinsic, and health factors as causes of homelessness. Most participants (73%–88%) believed the federal government should dedicate more funds and policies for homeless individuals. These attitudes were substantially more likely to be reported by participants who were female, lower income, Democrat, and personally exposed to homelessness. Most Americans care about homelessness as a major problem but there are divergent perspectives on solutions to address homelessness based on gender, income level, and political affiliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess whether remission of type 2 diabetes (T2D) could be achieved with a low-energy total diet replacement (TDR) in an Australian primary care setting. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Individuals aged 20–65 years with T2D duration up to 6 years, BMI >27.0 kg/m2, and not treated with insulin were prescribed a 13-week low-energy TDR (Optifast; Nestlé Health Science) followed by 8-week structured food reintroduction and 31-week supported weight maintenance. The primary outcome was T2D remission at 12 months. RESULTS: A total of 155 participants comprised the intention-to-treat population. At 12 months, T2D remission was achieved in 86 (56%) participants, with a mean adjusted weight loss of 8.1% (95% CI 7.2–9.1). Two serious adverse events requiring hospitalization related to the study intervention were reported. CONCLUSIONS: At 12 months T2D remission was achieved for one in two Australian adults in a primary care setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• In a large (N = 75) longitudinal cohort of 3-4 year old children learning British English in the UK, we explored whether sentence processing abilities mediate the association between EF skills and receptive vocabulary knowledge. • We find evidence for a significant association between three EF skills (cognitive flexibility, working memory and inhibition) and receptive vocabulary knowledge. • However, only one of the tested sentence processing abilities (the ability to maintain multiple possible referents in mind) significantly mediated this relationship, and only for one of the tested executive functions (inhibition). • Children who are better able to inhibit incorrect responses are also better able to maintain multiple possible referents in mind while a sentence unfolds. There is a wealth of evidence demonstrating that executive function (EF) abilities are positively associated with language development during the preschool years, such that children with good executive functions also have larger vocabularies. However, why this is the case remains to be discovered. In this study, we focused on the hypothesis that sentence processing abilities mediate the association between EF skills and receptive vocabulary knowledge, in that the speed of language acquisition is at least partially dependent on a child's processing ability, which is itself dependent on executive control. We tested this hypothesis in longitudinal data from a cohort of 3- and 4-year-old children at three age points (37, 43, and 49 months). We found evidence, consistent with previous research, for a significant association between three EF skills (cognitive flexibility, working memory [as measured by the Backward Digit Span], and inhibition) and receptive vocabulary knowledge across this age range. However, only one of the tested sentence processing abilities (the ability to maintain multiple possible referents in mind) significantly mediated this relationship and only for one of the tested EFs (inhibition). The results suggest that children who are better able to inhibit incorrect responses are also better able to maintain multiple possible referents in mind while a sentence unfolds, a sophisticated sentence processing ability that may facilitate vocabulary learning from complex input. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Relatively few HIV evidence-based interventions (EBIs) among Native Americans have been developed, adapted, evaluated, and/or published in the scientific literature. An adolescent HIV EBI was adapted in three phases: (1) securing input from a Native American Advisory Board; (2) modifying the EBI to be more consistent with Native American culture; and (3) conducing a pilot with 14 Native American adolescents to examine acceptability and cultural congruence between the adapted intervention and the youth's culture based on Likert-scale ratings and a focus group. The adaptations included diverse Native American social and cultural stories that assisted with responsible decision-making skills. The adolescents consistently rated each intervention session as highly acceptable. A difference in knowledge from pre-survey ( M = 13.93, SD = 3.08) to post-survey ( M = 17.14, SD = 2.25) was statistically significant; t(13) = 4.166, p < .0005. The adapted curriculum did appear culturally responsive based on the pilot test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To compare the diabetes prevention impact and cost of several screening scenarios for diabetes prevention programs with the scenario which included an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT).Methods: We included 4864 participants of the Australian Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle study who were aged ≥40 years, did not have known diabetes at baseline, and attended the five year follow-up. The proportions of participants eligible or ineligible for diabetes prevention program were estimated for each scenario. The costs of screening and diabetes prevention programs were also estimated.Results: Screening with OGTT alone identified 21% of participants as eligible for diabetes prevention. While 3.1% of the cohort were identified as high risk and developed diabetes after five years, 1.0% of the cohort were identified as low risk and developed diabetes. The population prevention potential (i.e. sensitivity) for OGTT alone was 76.5%. Screening all Australian adults aged ≥40 years in 2015 by OGTT would have cost a total of AU$2025 million (AU$1031 million on screening and AU$994 million on prevention programs). The total costs of screening and prevention were substantially lower when AUSDRISK was used alone or in combination with a blood test. However, the population prevention potentials were also lower (ranged from 20.1% to 50.7%).Conclusions: A blood test post non-invasive risk assessment is a worthwhile step in the process of enrolling participants in a diabetes prevention program. Nevertheless, there will be ineligible individuals who proceed to diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public attitudes on homelessness can and has influenced policies and services for homeless populations. This study surveyed national public attitudes about homelessness in the 21st century and examined changes in attitudes in the past two decades. An online survey of public attitudes about homelessness was conducted with 541 U.S. adults across 47 states in November 2016 using Amazon Mechanical Turk. Survey results were compared to two public surveys conducted in 1990. Compared to previous surveys, the current sample endorsed more compassion, government support, and liberal attitudes about homelessness. The largest changes were related to increased support for homeless individuals to use public spaces for sleeping and panhandling. When asked about the demographic composition of the homeless population, the contemporary sample tended to overestimate the proportions who were young and racial/ethnic minorities, while underestimating the proportions who were married, or had mental health or substance abuse problems. Together, the findings suggest there has been an increase in compassion and liberal attitudes toward homelessness in the past two decades. Greater support for homeless individuals during an era of economic recessions and governmental homeless initiatives presents opportunities for new public health approaches to address homelessness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: First, to conduct a detailed exploration of the prospective relations between four commonly used anthropometric measures with incident diabetes and to examine their consistency across different population subgroups. Second, to compare the ability of each of the measures to predict five-year risk of diabetes.Methods: We conducted a meta-analysis of individual participant data on body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), waist-hip and waist-height ratio (WHtR) from the Obesity, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease Collaboration. Cox proportional hazard models were used to estimate the association between a one standard deviation increment in each anthropometric measure and incident diabetes. Harrell's concordance statistic was used to test the predictive accuracy of each measure for diabetes risk at five years.Results: Twenty-one studies with 154,998 participants and 9342 cases of incident diabetes were available. Each of the measures had a positive association with incident diabetes. A one standard deviation increment in each of the measures was associated with 64-80% higher diabetes risk. WC and WHtR more strongly associated with risk than BMI (ratio of hazard ratios: 0.95 [0.92,0.99] - 0.97 [0.95,0.98]) but there was no appreciable difference between the four measures in the predictive accuracy for diabetes at five years.Conclusions: Despite suggestions that abdominal measures of obesity have stronger associations with incident diabetes and better predictive accuracy than BMI, we found no overall advantage in any one measure at discriminating the risk of developing diabetes. Any of these measures would suffice to assist in primary diabetes prevention efforts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To estimate and compare the results from all randomised trials of triple combinations of anti-diabetes therapies that reported the reduction of glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c) and associated effects on body weight and hypoglycaemia.Methods: PubMed and the Cochrane Library were searched for trials with at least one study arm on triple therapy and which reported the differences in mean change in HbA1c between two study arms. These were included in a network meta-analysis.Results: Altogether, 15,182 participants from 40 trials with treatment duration of 6-12months were included. Compared with none/placebo added to dual therapy, the addition of a drug therapy from six of eight drug classes to existing dual therapy resulted in significant additional mean reductions in HbA1c from -0.56% (-6.2mmol/mol; dipeptidyl peptidase 4 inhibitors) to -0.94% (-10.3mmol/mol; thiazolidinediones). Of the six drug classes, three were associated with less favourable weight change and two were associated with more favourable weight change when compared with none/placebo added to dual therapy. Furthermore, five drug classes were associated with greater odds of hypoglycaemia. Similar results were observed in analyses of studies with a 6month treatment duration and after excluding study arms that contained insulin.Conclusions: Overall triple therapy combinations were similar in improving diabetes control although there were some differences in adverse effects. By balancing the risks and benefits of each therapy, the estimates of pairwise comparisons of triple therapies for HbA1c, body weight and hypoglycaemia provided in this study may further inform evidence based practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Caucasian populations, adult height is inversely associated with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and positively related to some cancers. However, there are few data from Asian populations and from women. We sought to determine the sex- and region-specific associations between height and cardiovascular outcomes, and deaths due to cancer, respiratory and injury in populations from the Asia-Pacific region.Methods: Thirty-nine studies from the Asia Pacific Cohort Studies Collaboration database were included. We used Cox proportional hazard regression models to estimate the associations between height and pre-specified outcomes.Results: A total of 510,800 participants with 21,623 deaths were included. Amongst men, inverse linear associations were observed between height and coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, CVD, injury and total mortality. The hazard ratios [95% confidence intervals, (CI)] for a 1-SD (= 6 cm) increment in height ranged from 0.85 (0.80-0.91) for injury to 0.97 (0.95-0.98) for total mortality. Similar trends were found between height and CHD, haemorrhagic stroke and CVD in women. A positive linear association was observed between height and cancer mortality. For each standard deviation greater height, the risk of cancer was increased by 5% (2-8%) and 9% (5-14%) in men and women, respectively. No regional difference was observed between Asian and Australasian cohorts. Adjusting for markers of education did not alter the results.Conclusions: The opposing relationships of height with CVD and cancer suggest that care is required in setting national policies on childhood nutrition lest they have unintended consequences on the incidence of major non-communicable diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Despite the rapidly increasing popularity of laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy ( LSG), there is limited data examining weight loss more than 1 year after the procedure. There have also been few studies examining baseline predictors of weight loss after LSG. We aimed to examine the percentage of excess weight loss (% EWL) in patients 2 years after LSG and identify baseline predictors of % EWL. Methods Electronic records from university hospitals were available for 292 patients who underwent LSG (205 women; mean age, 41.5 ± 11.1 years; mean weight, 126.5 ± 27.5 kg; mean BMI, 45.5 ± 7.5 kg/m2). Variables assessed for predictive effect were baseline age, sex, BMI, presence of comorbidities (diabetes, hypertension, or obstructive sleep apnea), the amount of weight loss induced by a very low-calorie diet before surgery, and the number of clinic appointments attended over the 2 years. We performed linear regression and mixed model analyses between predictor variables and % EWL at 2 years. Results Adjusted % EWL was 31% at 2 weeks, 49% at 3 months, 64% at 6 months, 70% at 9 months, 76% at 12 months, 79% at 18 months, and 79% at 2 years. Multivariate analysis showed that lower baseline BMI, absence of hypertension, and greater clinic attendance predicted better % EWL ( r2 = 0.11). Conclusion Longer-term follow-up studies of weight loss post LSG are required to assist with patient care and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The existing literature has predominantly focused on instructor social presence in videos in an asynchronous learning environment and little is known about student social presence on webcam in online learning in the context of COVID‐19. Objectives: This paper therefore contrasts students' and teachers' perspectives on student social presence on webcam in synchronous online teaching through co‐orientation analysis. Methods: Data were collected through an online questionnaire with 14 statements that measured participants' perceptions of webcam use in three constructs in social presence (i.e., emotional expression, open communication, and cohesion). 154 students and 36 teachers from two higher education institutions in Hong Kong responded to the questionnaire, and their responses were analysed using the co‐orientation model. Results and conclusion: Results reveal the perceptual gaps between teachers and students on the use of webcam to promote student social presence by showing how teachers were comparatively more positive about its impacts for learning and consistently overestimated students' preference for it. Through analysing individual constructs/items, this paper argues that using webcams in synchronous online learning could enhance student social presence only to a limited extent in that it may help improve emotional expression and open communication but not cohesion. Implications: The paper advises against the adoption of a clear‐cut policy that webcams should be either recommended or not recommended for online learning. Instead, teachers should take into account students' perspective to find out the types of activities that are apt for using webcams in online learning, and reflective tasks and oral assessments were amongst the ones considered appropriate by students in the study. Lay Description: What is currently known about the subject matter: Teacher presence through videoconferencing is important to the construction of social presence.Student presence on webcam is relatively understudied in online learning during COVID‐19.Teachers struggled to use webcams for online learning during the pandemic.Teachers and students have different concerns about using webcams for online learning that either party may not be aware of. What this paper adds: The current study contrasted teachers' and students' perceptions of student presence on webcam in online learning under COVID‐19.This is the first study using co‐orientation model as the analytical method for this area.There were perceptual differences between students and teachers on the use of webcams in which teachers were comparatively more positive about its impacts for learning and consistently overestimated students' preference for it.Using webcams in synchronous online learning could enhance social presence only to a limited extent in that it may help improve emotional expression and open communication but not cohesion. Implications of study findings for practitioners: The paper advises against the adoption of a clear‐cut policy that webcams should be either recommended or not recommended for online learning.Teachers should take into account students' perspective to find out the types of activities that are apt for using webcams in online learning, and reflective tasks and oral assessments were amongst the ones considered appropriate by students in the study.It reveals how co‐orientation model can be a useful tool for perception studies in higher education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]