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INTRODUCTION: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is often reduced in patients with urolithiasis. The objective of this study was to perform a systematic review to describe impact on HRQoL based on different modalities of treatment for small urolithiases with a diameter smaller or equal to 10 mm. METHODS: Electronic databases were searched with no language or date restrictions to identify studies which were included if they reported: adult patients (≥18 years old), renal or ureteral stone(s) confirmed on imagery, validated reporting of HRQoL, stone diameter equal or smaller than 10 mm undergoing active surveillance, medical expulsive therapy (MET), shockwave lithotripsy (SWL), or ureteroscopy (URS). RESULTS: Of 672 citations, nine articles were eligible. Five studies (all ureteral) reported HRQoL according to medical stone management. Three of them found that HRQoL in MET patients was better than in active surveillance patients and two studies found no difference in HRQoL between MET and active surveillance groups. Four studies (three ureteral, one renal) reported HRQoL according to surgical stone management. Of the ureteral stone studies, two reported better HRQoL in URS patients than in SWL patients, while one study found no difference between URS and SWL groups. In the renal stone study, SWL patients had better HRQoL than URS patients. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with urinary stones 10 mm or smaller have better HRQoL when treated with MET vs. active surveillance, when treated with SWL vs. URS for renal stones, and when treated with URS vs. SWL for ureteral stones. There is an important need for more studies on this topic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: On December 12, 2019, the United Kingdom's ruling Conservative Party called an election that put the country's 2016 "Brexit" referendum on leaving the European Union to the test. The divisive campaign and a polarized electorate culminated in large losses by opposition Labour and Liberal Democratic parties. Amid a polarized electorate, lingering questions arise as to whether the election results reflect more upon partisan ties or the respective party leaders' ability to emotionally connect with followers through their nonverbal behavior. Methods: Using a unique pre‐registered design, this study considers the emotional response to leaders of the three major U.K. political parties in the week prior to the December 2019 election by drawing upon a national sample of 546 partisan participants. We examine self‐reported happiness, affinity, anger, and distress in response to reward and affiliative smiles as well as ambiguous facial displays in short videos shown without sound featuring Conservative Party leader Boris Johnson and his opponents Jeremy Corbyn (Labour Party) and Jo Swinson (Liberal Democratic Party). Results: The findings of this pre‐registered study suggests partisan identity plays a powerful role in empathetic and counter‐empathetic responses to leader facial displays generally. Further analysis reveals a more nuanced response to the competing leaders' facial displays with followers of all three parties responding to the different smiles in distinct manners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Listening, as a general psychological capacity, is a key aspect of perception, communication and experience. However, listening researchers frequently characterize it as a neglected, misunderstood and ill-defined phenomenon. This is a significant problem because questions of listening pervade social inequalities and injustices, as this paper demonstrates in the context of UK child protection practices. Exploring concepts of listening within and beyond psychology, the paper illustrates how a lack of overall theorization can contribute to inequality and injustice within applied listening practices. To address this, the paper theorizes listening in the spirit of Whiteheadian process ontology, drawing on the work of Nancy and Bonnet. Based on this, it develops the concept of 'Cultures of Listening' (CoL), which provides a tool for the critical analysis of troubled listening practices, indicating how they can be challenged and transformed. Within CoL, listening is not a mere aspect of auditory perception or communication, but each instant of listening is considered as shaped by and expressing political, social and experiential circumstances, that is, cultures. The paper demonstrates the theoretical, critical and applied value of CoL by offering a detailed analysis of the role of listening within troubled UK child protection practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children’s sexting is presented as an emergent outcome of technology-based innovation in children’s peer-to-peer relations. We argue that it calls for creative responses that draw on adults’ and children’s understandings and views and on exchanges of these. We describe, and make the case for, intergenerational co-learning as a practice that could foster such creativity, as a pathway for children’s participation in the debate, and as a means by which media regulators, children’s service providers, and social media companies can consider and address their capabilities and responsibilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a comment which examines the significance of causal indicator models in measuring latent variable, and notes the failure of the model to be used effectively in research.

The article focuses on ideas behind formative and casual indicators including definition of the term measurement, distinction of casual indicators from formative indicators and change in meaning of latent variable if casual indicator is omitted.

The authors present climate change and antibiotic resistance as emergent biosocial phenomena—ongoing products of massively multiple interactions among human lifestyles and broader life processes. They argue that response to climate change and antibiotic resistance is often framed by two varieties of biosocial imagination. Anthropocentric imaginations privilege the question of human distinctiveness. Anthropomorphic imaginations privilege the question of whether biosocial processes can be modeled in terms of centers of moral and causal responsibility. Together, these frame the matter of response in terms of deliberate human action. The authors argue that, considered as emergent biosocial phenomena, climate change and antibiotic resistance “diffract” deliberate human action and thus limit the value of this frame by rendering the human/nonhuman and intended/nonintended distinctions that are crucial to its practical operation locally irrelevant. Alternative biosocial imaginations currently developing around climate change and antibiotic resistance that allow for “diffraction” and therefore frame response differently are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation in the life sciences calls for reflection on how sociologies separate and relate life processes and social processes. To this end we introduce the concept of the ‘biosocial event’. Some life processes and social processes have more mutual relevance than others. Some of these relationships are more negotiable than others. We show that levels of relevance and negotiability are not static but can change within existing relationships. Such changes, or biosocial events, lie at the heart of much unplanned biosocial novelty and much deliberate innovation. We illustrate and explore the concept through two examples – meningitis infection and epidemic, and the use of sonic ‘teen deterrents’ in urban settings. We then consider its value in developing sociological practice oriented to critically constructive engagement with innovation in the life sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The high-profile theatrical release of Werner Herzog's feature-length documentary film Cave of Forgotten Dreams in Spring 2011 invites reflection on the way in which paleoart is and has been engaged with at a cultural level. By Herzog's own account, the film falls on the side of poetry, rather than science. This article considers what is at stake in a "poetical" engagement with the scientific findings concerning paleoart and argues that such approaches harbor value for humanity's understanding of its own history. To this end, Herzog's work is brought into dialogue with Georges Bataille's writing on paleoart, in particular, Lascaux--a precedent of poetical engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood research has long shared a bio-political terrain with state agencies in which children figure primarily as ‘human futures’. In the 20th century bio-social dualism helped to make that terrain navigable by researchers, but, as life processes increasingly become key sites of bio-political action, bio-social dualism is becoming less useful as a navigational aid. The contribution that a view of childhood as a ‘hybrid’ phenomenon might make to developing new navigational aids is considered. A Foucaultian reading of the history of childhood bio-politics yields three ‘multiplicities’ of childhood. The assistance these can offer in navigating the contemporary biopolitics of childhood is described. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

How can critical psychological researchers and practitioners respond to current concern about children's diets? This paper argues for a methodological strategy of multiplicity that decentres prevalent concerns with carer-consumers' subjectivity. First, it discusses the notion of alienation and charts the establishment of consumer choice as a regulatory principle in England. It then explores ambiguities of choice and alienation in the life of the consumer. The different narratives of change that are embodied in a British TV programme and an ongoing debate over nutritional labelling are then explored as illustrations of how reliance on subjectivity as a focus of change processes is likely to intensify ambiguity and raise consumers' status anxiety. The paper then examines Cultural and Historical Activity Theory as a potential source of alternatives and argues instead for greater sensitivity to conflicts and coalitions within the multiplicities of “engagements” that form consumer's “perspectives.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article seeks to problematize the notions of sleep through an a-humanist account of persons. It states that it seems reasonable to doubt that a sleeping person could qualify as an agent as one's sleeping body gives little sign of being actively concerned with matters of personal identity. The account of the person as an emergent property of distributed interactions between heterogeneous elements is being argued to help social research to make sense of both sides of the awake/asleep threshold. According to the author, the role of transitional objects and effects on childhood consciousness would help ensure the continuing relevance of social sciences.

Although organizational research has made tremendous strides in the last century, recent advances in neuroscience and the imaging of functional brain activity remain underused. In fact, even the use of well-established psychophysiological measurement tools is comparatively rare. Following the lead of social cognitive neuroscience, in this review, we conceptualize organizational cognitive neuroscience as a field dedicated to exploring the processes within the brain that underlie or influence human decisions, behaviors, and interactions either (a) within organizations or (b) in response to organizational manifestations or institutions. We discuss organizational cognitive neuroscience, bringing together work that may previously have been characterized rather atomistically, and provide a brief overview of individual methods that may be of use. Subsequently, we discuss the possible convergence and integration of the different neuroimaging and psychophysiological measurement modalities. A brief review of prior work in the field shows a significant need for a more coherent and theory-driven approach to organizational cognitive neuroscience. In response, we discuss a recent example of such work, along with three hypothetical case studies that exemplify the link between organizational and psychological theory and neuroscientific methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recent years have seen advances in neuroimaging to such an extent that neuroscientists are able to directly study the frequency, location, and timing of neuronal activity to an unprecedented degree. However, marketing science has remained largely unaware of such advances and their huge potential. In fact, the application of neuroimaging to market research – what has come to be called ‘neuromarketing’ – has caused considerable controversy within neuroscience circles in recent times. This paper is an attempt to widen the scope of neuromarketing beyond commercial brand and consumer behaviour applications, to include a wider conceptualisation of marketing science. Drawing from general neuroscience and neuroeconomics, neuromarketing as a field of study is defined, and some future research directions are suggested. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Examines the structural and chemical roles of metal ions in an aminoacyl-transferase ribozyme. Arrangement of the catalytic residues of the ribozyme; Use of the lead ion (Pb[sup 2+]) and terbium ion (Tb[sup 3+]) hydrolytic cleavage assays; Catalytic properties of monovalent metals.

Examines the incorporation of blank figure into issues of social and spatial order. Appearance of blank figures in card games and dominos; Ability of blank figures to form links and coordinations within heterogeneity; Provision of possibility conditions of stasis and change in terms of motility; Implications of blank figure for the social theory.

The RNA world hypothesis implies that coded protein synthesis evolved from a set of ribozyme catalyzed acyl-transfer reactions, including those of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase ribozymes. We report here that a bifunctional ribozyme generated by directed in vitro evolution can specifically recognize an activated glutaminyl ester and aminoacylate a targeted tRNA, via a covalent aminoacyl-ribozyme intermediate. The ribozyme consists of two distinct catalytic domains; one domain recognizes the glutamine substrate and self-aminoacylates its own 5'-hydroxyl group, and the other recognizes the tRNA and transfers the aminoacyl group to the 3'-end. The interaction of these domains results in a unique pseudoknotted structure, and the ribozyme requires a change in conformation to perform the sequential aminoacylation reactions. Our result supports the idea that aminoacyl-tRNA synthetase ribozymes could have played a key role in the evolution of the genetic code and RNA-directed translation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This chapter is about a very old question that is thrown up again in discussion related to ANT. Do orders have necessary limits to what can belong to them? It is possible to read ANT as containing or demanding a moral commitment to the inclusion of the disenfranchised. It can often seem to be in the business of giving credit where credit is due, spreading recognition to even the most unexpected quarters. To sustain itself such a morality would depend on the possibility of infinite inclusion. By identifying this picture of 'belonging-by-assemblage' and its traditional counterpart 'belonging-by-banishment' and by finding both at play within ANT, the paper argues that ANT is an ethical rather than a moral enterprise, bringing the unanswered question of the nature of belonging to bear across domains, rather than approaching each domain with a 'cookie-cutter' moral formula. The disturbing 'unsecuring' of belonging that ANT involves continues within the philosophical tradition ANT trades on and contributes to in the form of an abiding controversy over the place of the natural world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents case studies of the position of children within adult institutions. Difficulties that surround children speaking for themselves; Highlights of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; Regional crisis in child protection in Great Britain; Constraints and opportunities for children as witnesses in British courtrooms.

The article focuses on the sociology of childhood, while presenting a theoretical interpretation of key sociological issues of convention, agency and ethics, for understanding childhood. Sociological theory displays a tendency to depict the social world in terms of completed 'beings'. The social, thus depicted, is a world of powers to 'finish' (such as the power granted to convention to provide for social order), and finished products (such as agents and ethical points-of-view). Immature sociology does not claim to be able to ensure unmediated representation of children. The sociology of childhood has 'matured ' itself as a sub-discipline by forging an image of children as 'beings'. This strategy was necessary for the inclusion of children in sociology in their own right, but it was only necessary because sociological theory privileges the mature and the complete over the immature and the unfinished. This privilege is far from accidental, being rooted in the conditions of possibility of the discipline.

This paper asks whether discourse analytic approaches in social psychology have yet produced methodologies adequate to the investigation of institutional 'gaze'. Institutional language has been explored to the extent that state agencies construct members of the public by speaking about them in particular ways. This has often provided insight into the co-existence and competition of incommensurable discourses. However, studies of representation in the sense of speaking for have been notably absent form social psychology. It is argued that this aspect of discourse is a vital component in the study of contemporary governmental multi-agency strategy in the area of child protection, where recent legislation and policy aims at the co-ordination of incommensurable discourses. A methodology for studying this strategy is outlined through an account of the actor network approach in science studies, accounts of the State under the post-modern condition, and analyses of sections of interviews with social workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explains the Actor Network Theory that calls for suspicion of humanistic determinations of agency through a summary of the actor network project and its limitations and discussion of the other. Description of interaction between social and nonsocial entities; Features of the Actor Network Theory; Tools of conventional sociology and psychology.

INTRODUCTION: Most robot-assisted surgery (RAS) systems in Canada are donor-funded, with constraints on implementation and access due to significant costs, among other factors. Herein, we evaluated the impact of the growing multispecialty use of RAS on urologic RAS access and outcomes in the past decade. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective review of all RAS performed by different surgical specialties in two high-volume academic hospitals between 2010 and 2019 (prior to the COVID pandemic). The assessed outcomes included the effect of increased robot access over the years on annual robotic-assisted radical prostatectomy (RARP) volumes, surgical waiting times (SWT), and pathologically positive surgical margins (PSM). Data were collected and analyzed from the robotic system and hospital databases. RESULTS: In total, six specialties (urology, gynecology, general, cardiac, thoracic, and otorhinolaryngologic surgery) were included over the study period. RAS access by specialty doubled since 2010 (from three to six). The number of active robotic surgeons tripled from seven surgeons in 2010 to 20 surgeons in 2019. Moreover, there was a significant drop in average case volume, from a peak of 40 cases in 2014 to 25 cases in 2019 (p=0.02). RARP annual case volume followed a similar pattern, reaching a maximum of 166 cases in 2014, then declining to 137 cases in 2019. The mean SWT was substantially increased from 52 days in 2014 to 73 days in 2019; however, PSM rates were not affected by the reduction in surgical volumes (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Over the last decade, RAS access by specialty has increased at two Canadian academic centers due to growing multispecialty use. As there was a fixed, single-robotic system at each of the hospital centers, there was a substantial reduction in the number of RAS performed per surgeon over time, as well as a gradual increase in the SWT. The current low number of available robots and unsustainable funding resources may hinder universal patient access to RAS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The human smile can convey both rewarding and affiliative social intent and thus has significant utility in politics, where the ability to bond with and reassure voters is vital to electoral success. We examine experimental evidence from the 2019 UK general election to investigate the influence of a politician's reward or affiliative smile on voter emotions. It was hypothesised that the winner's affiliative smile would engender positive affect across all partisan groups compared to the winner's reward smile display. Participants from a nationally representative sample were shown campaign footage containing both types of smiles from the leaders of the main competing political parties both before and after the election. Increases in happiness and affinity were revealed across all partisan groups when shown footage of the eventual winner's affiliative smile; at the same time, supporters of losing parties indicated a decrease in negative affect. Affinity has been shown to increase civic engagement. Thus, we conclude that affiliative smiles displayed by leading candidates during the campaign likely acted as a mechanism to align voter behaviour with the dominant political message. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past 6 months, the world has lost almost 950,000 lives because of the outbreak of COVID-19, with more than 31 million individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 worldwide. In response, lockdowns, and various other policies have been implemented. Unfortunately, many individuals are violating those policies and governments have been urging people to comply with the behavioral guidelines. In this paper, we argue that personality traits need to be considered to understand and encourage more effective public compliance with COVID 19 transmission mitigation behavioral guidelines. Using a sample of 8,548 individuals from Japan, we show that certain personality traits are related to the tendency to comply with COVID-19 transmission mitigation behavioral guidelines. We emphasize the importance of understanding why people respond differently to the same authority's messages and provide actionable insights for government policy makers and those who implement policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study hypothesized whether the gender group composition in traditional learning (TL) versus collaborative learning (CL) classrooms of undergraduate biology majors and nonmajors correlate with students' achievements. We measured the effect on gender and the gender-specific achievements of the TL versus CL approach in single-gender and mixed-gender classes. A significant gender gap was found in the achievements of both nonmajor and major students. Females achieved higher grades in TL and CL sections in single-gender classes; overall, academic achievements between females (F) and males (M) demonstrated a significant difference at P<.05. The effect size value between TL versus CL indicated that males benefited more than females implementing CL mixed-gender (2F+2M) in nonmajors and majors. While females in single-gender CL and TL classes performed higher than males, females performed relatively low in mix-gender CL (2F+2M). These findings indicate that gender-specific and context-specific learning pedagogies are required since they impact students' achievement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an analysis of the cognitive neuroscience of organizations as it provides a unique test bed to bridge the neuroethics of the person and the group and to focus the mutual relationship between the two. Particular focus on possible avenues in the practice of neuroethics of organizational cognitive neuroscience to facilitate changes that would benefit individuals in the workplace are also discussed.

The article reports that the concept of collaboration in medical care is a dynamic process that requires relationship building and shared decision making. Partners in a collaborative process acknowledge their shared values and interact constructively to solve problems. The collaborative process is enhanced by mutual confidence, trust, and respect. Forming a new collaborative relationship may be difficult if the individuals involved are not aware of each other's competence in practice. Collaboration brings about continuity in care that can enhance compliance and improve health care for everyone involved.

Discusses problems and challenges involved in reforming health care in South Africa. Interview with South Africa's Minister of National Health Dr. Nkosazana Zuma; Large bureaucracy; Previous government's employment policy where Afrikaners made up the majority of civil servants; Presence of many academic centers; African National Congress' (ANC) support for national health service in the country.

Reports on efforts made by the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to establish a complete record of the nature, causes, and extent of gross violations of human rights in South Africa after 1960. The case of Steve Biko, the black consciousness activist; The Medical Association of South Africa (MASA) and their reports regarding Biko's death; Submission to the TRC of MASA's three phases of development; Reactions to the submission.

Discusses the dispute over the dispensing of medicines between doctors and pharmacists in South Africa. Assertion of doctors that they have the right to dispense drugs; Assertion of pharmacists that doctors have insufficient training; Proposed plan that no medical official will be allowed to dispense or sell medicines without first undergoing a supplementary course in dispensing.

Discusses the possibility that South African medical personnel in the public sector may leave to take attractive severance packages. The growing disenchantment of medical staff with financial hardships they face in public health; Efforts by the Medical Association of South Africa to have the government consider medical professionals' pay and conditions on a different scale than other civil servants.

Reports on the arrival of Cuban doctors in South Africa, through the auspices of the South African Health Department. Doubts in local medical circles about the necessity for recruiting these doctors in the first place; Speculation regarding the Health Department's decision to recruit them, including possible political motives.

Reports on the controversy surrounding the allocation of millions of dollars by the South African Department of Health to the development of a controversial musical about AIDS awareness called `Sarafina 2,' written by playwright Mbongeni Mgema. Funds given over through abnormal channels; Confusion about the issue; Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma's accountability to Manto Tshabalala's parliamentary portfolio committee.

Reports on the dispute between the South African Witwatesrand University Council and Professor William Makgoba. Allegations against Makgoba; Stand-off between parties; Public relations damage suffered by the school; Panel set up to investigate Makgoba's actions.

Looks into the improvements in South Africa's health care delivery system following the outcome of the 1993 elections. Stress in delivering health services in various levels including primary; Implications of establishing health committees on each governmental areas of jurisdiction.

States that professor and deputy vice-chancellor Malegapuru `William' Makgoba could have submitted an inaccurate and embellished a curriculum vitae to the University of the Witwatersrand. Document handed to the University's vice-chancellor; Signature of thirteen senior academics.

Reports on the figures released by Health Minister Nkosazana Zuma, South Africa concerning health issues. Uncertainty about the future of health care.

Reports that the proposal of South Africa's Health Minister, Nkosazana Zuma to make rural medicine a specialty has been accepted by Department of Health director general Olive Shisana. Western Cape regional government's allocation of funds to provide incentives for doctors who are willing to work in rural areas; Proposal requiring doctors to spend two years in community service.

Reports on the South African government's examination of the feasibility of a national health care system. Health care delivery in South Africa; Increased workload and decreased compensation for South African physicians; Deficiencies of the existing health care system; Sources of funding.

Reports on Zimbabwe national, Richard McGown who was found guilty in Harare court of causing two deaths under anaesthesia. Use of epidural anesthetic morphine; Death of the daughter of Charles Khaminwa following the removal of appendix under epidural anesthesia administration; Life imprisonment.

Reports on the publication of a health plan by the African National Congress (ANC). Provisions under the health plan; Comments of Minister of Health Nkosazana Zuma on the health plan; Aspects of the health plan that will be subject to scrutiny; Health care inequities aggravated by apartheid.