Search

Since Norwegian compulsory education increasingly recognises Sámi rights and the Sámi as an Indigenous people, the question of how we can provide inclusive education for Sámi pupils by recognising Sámi culture in teaching remains. I argue in this literary research, that inclusive education, both as a concept and as a practice in school, stems from a pathological field, targeting individual needs, and therefore misses the target when educating pupils with an Indigenous cultural belonging. Inclusion as a concept centres on practices such as fellowship, participation, equal access, quality, equity and justice, but its legacy is anchored in individual needs, influencing how we think about inclusion and implementing inclusive measures. This way of thinking still guides the national strategy for inclusive education but will not be sufficient for Sámi pupils, since they, as a group, are not disabled. So-called inclusive measures will rather enhance the integration of Sámi pupils into the Norwegian framework of schooling defined by the majority's expectations for fellowship, participation and so forth. While Indigenous inclusion takes integrative measures which uphold the status quo, thus dependent on a majority perspective, indigenising has an Indigenous baseline. I argue that non-Sámi society needs to re-contextualise itself towards the Sámi society if we want an education for all. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to explore how liturgical celebration can serve as a transformative response to the contemporary ecological crisis and its consequences. This is inextricably bound to the importance of addressing the pastoral needs of individuals who are hurting due to their interactions or lack thereof with the cosmos and the erosion of their relationship with nature in a technocratic consumerist society. Ritual, as a vehicle for personal and communal transformation, takes on heightened significance in a world wounded by ecological devastation. Rituals, often deeply embedded in cultural, religious, or personal practices, indeed have the capacity to facilitate personal transformation. They provide a framework for individuals to navigate life transitions, foster a sense of belonging, and connect with the overarching narrative. However, in an ecologically wounded world, where environmental degradation, climate change, and biodiversity loss are pressing concerns, the ramifications of ritual take on added significance and complexity. This paper seeks to address the urgency of the need to respond to this multifaceted crisis by paying attention to the pastoral needs of the individual and the community at large by redressing the real meaning of worship and reflecting on how, within a Christian tradition, this reconfiguration of worship can be provocative enough to instil change. However, this endeavour is not without inherent challenges and enduring questions. The pervasive influence of a technocratic worldview poses a significant threat not only to our relationship with the earth but also to the very essence of ritual itself. Can the liturgical experience, reaching its climax in the Eucharistic celebration, be truly a catalyst in asserting a proper relationship of humanity on various levels, which are concentric and, thus, dependant on each other, with humanity itself, with the cosmos, and with God? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is a growing network of interconnected devices used in transportation, finance, public services, healthcare, smart cities, surveillance, and agriculture. IoT devices are increasingly integrated into mobile assets like trains, cars, and airplanes. Among the IoT components, wearable sensors are expected to reach three billion by 2050, becoming more common in smart environments like buildings, campuses, and healthcare facilities. A notable IoT application is the smart campus for educational purposes. Timely notifications are essential in critical scenarios. IoT devices gather and relay important information in real time to individuals with special needs via mobile applications and connected devices, aiding health-monitoring and decision-making. Ensuring IoT connectivity with end users requires long-range communication, low power consumption, and cost-effectiveness. The LPWAN is a promising technology for meeting these needs, offering a low cost, long range, and minimal power use. Despite their potential, mobile IoT and LPWANs in healthcare, especially for emergency response systems, have not received adequate research attention. Our study evaluated an LPWAN-based emergency response system for visually impaired individuals on the Hazara University campus in Mansehra, Pakistan. Experiments showed that the LPWAN technology is reliable, with 98% reliability, and suitable for implementing emergency response systems in smart campus environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to eliminate the current deficiency in the use of music in the field of special education, to increase musical activities in special education, and to present an accreditation model proposal to increase the skills of institutions, educators, and students. The research was designed with a grounded theory study pattern, one of the qualitative research methods. Data for the research were collected examining the necessary documents, and through semi-structured interviews with experts in both the field of special education and music. As a result of the interviews, it was concluded that music was used as both a goal and a tool in the education of individuals receiving special education and that different skills were developed through rhythm, melody, and lyrics. It has been revealed that individuals' body coordination skills are improved through the rhythm in music, self-care skills are improved through melodies and lyrics, and behavioral disorders are corrected through rhythm, melodies, and lyrics. All these results led to the emergence of an accreditation model proposal to develop and rehabilitate individuals receiving special education through music. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's fast paced, attention-demanding society, executive functions and attentional resources are often taxed. Individuals need ways to sustain and restore these resources. We first review the concepts of attention and restoration, as instantiated in Attention Restoration Theory (ART). ART emphasizes the role of nature in restoring attention. We then discuss the essentials of experiments on the causal influences of nature. Next, we expand the concept of ART to include modern, designed environments. We outline a wider perspective termed attentional ecology, in which attention behavior is viewed within a larger system involving the human and their interactions with environmental demands over time. When the ecology is optimal, mental functioning can be a positive "flow" that is productive, sustainable for the individual, and sometimes creative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Treatment cessation due to a dry retina has not been systematically addressed in diabetic macular edema (DME). In three out of four patients receiving 6 mg of brolucizumab in the KITE study, treatment was terminated after the study ended. Methods: The KITE study was a double-masked, multicenter, active-controlled, randomized trial (NCT 03481660) in DME patients. Per protocol, patients received five loading injections of Brolucizumab at 6-week intervals, with the option to adjust to 8 weeks in case of disease activity or to extend in the second year to a maximum of 16 weeks in the absence of retinal fluid. Results: After two years, one patient required eight weekly injections, while three patients reached a maximal treatment interval of 16 weeks. The severity of diabetic retinopathy improved in all patients with no dye leakage according to fluorescein angiography (FA) and no retinal fluid according to OCT in three patients. Treatment was paused in these three patients for >36 months, while the fourth patient required continuous treatment at 5-week intervals after switching to other licensed anti-VEGF agents. Conclusions: The adoption of treatment according to individual needs, including considering treatment cessation, may contribute to improved treatment adherence in many patients and be more frequently possible than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Definition: With the rise of individualism as a social trend and the wide use of the Internet and social media, today's customers increasingly want to design and build unique products that fit their individual preferences and needs. Mass individualization is defined as a manufacturing paradigm that aims to produce individualized products cost-effectively. This paradigm differs from the previous paradigms in which the manufacturing company designed and manufactured the products, and the customer chose a product. In the mass individualization paradigm, the customers will be actively involved in product design, and the manufacturer will produce a unique product for each customer at a reasonable cost and of reliable quality. Due to the need for smooth communication and interactions between the buyer and the factory, new factories for individualized products will be located near potential buyers, which will have a significant impact on local economies. This entry explores the relationship between mass individualization and other emerging manufacturing paradigms and concepts in the Industry 4.0/5.0 era, and discusses how smart factories can improve manufacturing efficiency and facilitate the realization of the mass individualization paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines gifted students' (ages 13–16) groupwork on a rich task in mathematics. This study was conducted in Norway, which has an inclusive education system that does not allow fixed-ability grouping. The purpose of this study was to better understand how to cultivate mathematical learning opportunities for gifted learners in inclusive education systems. The analysis was conducted from a multimodal perspective, in which students' coordination of speech, gestures, and artifact use was viewed as part of their learning process. The findings contribute to discussions on gifted students as a heterogeneous group. Moreover, our analysis illustrates how giftedness can be invisible, leading to unrealized potential and low achievement. We suggest that more attention be paid to teaching by adapting to gifted students' individual needs, particularly if the intention is to provide high-quality learning opportunities for gifted students in inclusive settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IoT (Internet of Things)-enabled products are increasingly used by consumers and continuously propagate in daily life. Billions of networked objects not only increase the complexity of development but also raise user interaction and adaptation to individual needs. The more non-expert users are involved in decision making, interaction, and adaptation processes, the more user-centric IoT design is crucial, particularly when the number of elderly users is steadily increasing. In this paper, we study the capabilities of adopting IoT products through user-informed adaptation in a major IoT application domain, home healthcare. We review evidence from established practice in the field on how users can be supported when aiming to adapt medical IoT (M-IoT) home applications to their needs. We examine the empirically grounded use of IoT sensors and actuators, as well as the adaptation process users adopt when using an IoT application in a personalized environment. Our analysis (technological evidence) reveals various IoT devices that have already been applied in M-IoT adaptation settings to effectively support users. Our analysis reveals that only few empirically sound findings exist on how users actually perceive interactive adaptation features and redesign M-IoT applications. Based on the analysis of these empirically grounded findings, we suggest the development of a domain-specific user-centric adaptation feature. Specifically, we exemplify a tangible adaptation device for user-informed M-IoT application in home healthcare. It has been developed prototypically and tested in an environment for personalized home healthcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To the authors' knowledge, currently, there is no review covering the different technologies applied to opening manual doors. Therefore, this review presents a summary of the various technologies available on the market as well as those under research and development for opening manual doors. Four subtopics—doorknob accessories, wheelchair-mounted door-opening accessories, door-opening robots, and door-opening drones—were used to group the various technologies for manually opening doors. It is evident that opening doors is a difficult process, and there are different ways to solve this problem in terms of the technology used and the cost of the end product. The search for an affordable assistive technology for opening manual doors is ongoing. This work is an attempt to provide wheelchair users and their healthcare providers with a one-stop source for door-opening technologies. At least one of these door-opening solutions could prove beneficial to the elderly and some wheelchair users for increased independence. The ideal option would depend on an individual's needs and capabilities, and occupational therapists could assess and recommend the right solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital afterlife is becoming increasingly possible due to advancements in VR, deepfake, and AI technologies. The use of computational photography for mourning and commemoration has been re-integrated into practices of remembrance, farewell, continuity, and disengagement. Two case studies, the Shoah Foundation's Dimensions in Testimony and the TV production Meeting You, are analyzed to explore these new possibilities. We show how photography's new affordances enable interaction while maintaining its essence as a representation of reality and argue that this socio-technological transformation habituates contemporary practices of mourning and commemoration, adjusting images to serve the individual needs and interests of the bereaved and the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The commitment to leave no one behind is at the core of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, with special attention given to people in vulnerable situations. The present study aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of professionals who have attended to vulnerable people in a community setting. Descriptive qualitative research was conducted using qualitative content analysis of interviews with fifteen Portuguese professionals from one community-based association, who were selected via purposive sampling. Data analysis revealed nine subcategories, which were grouped into three major categories, namely: (1) meanings of human vulnerability; (2) barriers to vulnerability mitigation; and (3) approaches to addressing vulnerability. Vulnerability manifests as a discrepancy between an individual's needs and the available resources. With the accelerated pace of globalization and the exponential rise in complexity of systems and people's needs, vulnerability is gaining visibility, but this only emphasizes the urgent need to find customized cultural, political, and institutional responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Individuals with special needs (IWSN) are susceptible to oral conditions such as caries and periodontal disease. In order to improve oral health of IWSN, it is important to improve the oral health literacy (OHL) of caregivers, as they play an important role in the daily hygiene and personal care of these people. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the OHL in caregivers of IWSN in special schools (informal caregivers) and social institutions for people with disabilities (professional caregivers) in Jakarta, Indonesia. Methods: The study was conducted with a cross-sectional and descriptive analytic design with a cluster sampling method of 400 informal and professional caregivers. The study utilized the validated Health Literacy Dentistry-Indonesian Version (HeLD-ID) questionnaire to measure OHL. Quantitative data was analyzed using non-parametric Kruskal Wallis and Mann Whitney tests (significant level p < 0.05). Results: The median total OHL score of respondents was 3.14 (0.24–4) for informal caregivers and 3.21 (0–4) for professional caregivers. The OHL score of the two populations showed significant differences in the domains of receptivity (p = 0.036), understanding (p = 0.030), and economic barriers (p = 0.022). Significant differences in OHL scores were also noted among caregivers according to their sociodemographic characteristics, such as level of education, and number of IWSN handled. Conclusion: Informal and professional caregivers in this study showed good level of OHL. To elucidate the relationship between caregiver's level of OHL with IWSN, further study is necessary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article seeks to integrate the "Indian swami" with the "global guru" and reflects upon why Vivekananda's teaching was conveyed so differently to different audiences. It argues that Vivekananda's distinctive form of "counter-preaching" had its roots in Adhikari-bheda, a tradition that seeks to tailor spiritual instruction to the needs and capacities of individual aspirants. I will show how he applied this technique to larger audiences because he believed that "truth" had a relative dimension that had to account for cultural difference. I investigate how instruction in Hindu "man-making" and spiritual democracy in India was matched by lessons designed to counter "muscular Christianity" in Euro-America. Vivekananda wanted both to reinforce a vision of eastern wisdom and counter western (and at times Indian) prejudices, whilst also attempting to shift entrenched but fallacious generalizations in each arena. In working within this seeming contradiction, I will show how his nationalism and universalism were inextricable, and also tied to his innovative formulations of Advaita Vedanta, karma yoga, and especially "practical Vedanta". I will conclude by explaining how his methods generally sought to pull his audiences away from extremes. The kaleidoscopic qualities of his teachings, I will suggest, explain why his legacy has been so variously deployed by both the right and left in contemporary Indian political culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: The work can be applied to commodities, equities, e-commerce, and social networking platforms to detect anomalies in each user's account to provide timely notification and thus reduce losses. For bulk commodity, stock, and e-commerce platforms, it is necessary to detect anomalous behavior for the security of users and platforms. Anomaly-detection methods currently used on these platforms train a model for each user since different users have different habits. However, the model cannot be trained adequately due to insufficient individual user behavior data. In this study, to utilize information between users and avoid underfitting, we propose a contrastive learning framework to train a complete global model (GM) for anomaly detection in a trading platform. By confusing the data between different users to generate negative samples, the model can learn the differences between users by contrastive learning. To reduce the need for individual user behavior data, this framework uses a GM instead of a model for each user to learn similarities between users. Experiments on four datasets show that models trained using our framework achieve better area-under-the-curve (AUC) scores than do the original models, proving that contrastive learning and GM are useful for anomaly detection in trading platforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Computers are promising tools for providing educational experiences that meet individual learning needs. However, delivering this promise in practice is challenging, particularly when automated feedback is essential and the learning extends beyond using traditional methods such as writing and solving mathematics problems. We hypothesize that interactive knowledge representations can be deployed to address this challenge. Knowledge representations differ markedly from concept maps. Where the latter uses nodes (concepts) and arcs (links between concepts), a knowledge representation is based on an ontology that facilitates automated reasoning. By adjusting this reasoning towards interacting with learners for the benefit of learning, a new class of educational instruments emerges. In this contribution, we present three projects that use an interactive knowledge representation as their foundation. DynaLearn supports learners in acquiring system thinking skills. Minds-On helps learners to deepen their understanding of phenomena while performing experiments. Interactive Concept Cartoons engage learners in a science-based discussion about controversial topics. Each of these approaches has been developed iteratively in collaboration with teachers and tested in real classrooms, resulting in a suite of lessons available online. Evaluation studies involving pre-/post-tests and action-log data show that learners are easily capable of working with these educational instruments and that the instruments thus enable a semi-automated approach to constructive learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prism adaptation (PA) is a well-known and widely used technique for rehabilitating unilateral spatial neglect and studying sensory–motor plasticity. However, there is conflicting evidence in the literature regarding its effectiveness which may arise from differences in the type of prisms used, clinical characteristics of the patients, and the procedure used in training. Individual differences may play a role in PA effectiveness in rehabilitating neglect, affecting both its development and its effects. Field-dependent/independent cognitive style is a pervasive characteristic of individual functioning, affecting how environmental information is processed. Here, we tested the hypothesis that cognitive style plays a role in PA efficacy by submitting to a protocol of prism adaptation to 38 health participants, who were classified as field-dependent (FD, N = 19) or field-independent (FI, N = 19), by using the Embedded Figure Test. Results show that during the exposure phase, FI individuals needed a lesser number of pointing movements to reduce the deviation error than FD individuals. However, there are no differences in the extinction of sensory–motor and cognitive after-effects. These results suggest that prismatic adaptation is affected by individuals' cognitive style since FI individuals will need fewer trials to reach adaptation and this could explain why using this rehabilitation technique with a unique, standard protocol is not always effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Cucurbita has been mentioned as a good source of carotenoids, including β-carotene, which is a precursor of vitamin A. However, the variability observed for the genus denotes the individual need to invest in the species. An experiment was carried out with the aim of evaluating the content of total carotenoids and β-carotene in C. maxima germplasm. Treatments consisted of 23 accessions and two commercial cultivars of C. maxima. The content of total carotenoids, β-carotene, and the pulp color of the accessions were evaluated. Clustering was performed, and the components of genotypic variance, mean heritability, and accuracy were calculated. The grouping led to the formation of four groups where the total carotenoid content influenced the formation the most. There was no difference in color parameters. High variability was observed for total carotenoids in the studied genotypes (22.28 µg/g to 49.58 µg/g) and β-carotene (7.81 µg/g to 13.75 µg/g). Accessions CMAX-09, CMAX-10, CMAX-12, CMAX-13, and CMAX-14 showed the highest levels of total carotenoids and β-carotene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Therapeutic drug monitoring is recommended for the use of vancomycin, but a recent widely publicized US medical society consensus statement has changed the suggested optimal method(s) of dose adjustment. Specifically, 24 h area under the curve (AUC24)-based monitoring is has been recommended for vancomycin in preference to monitoring of trough concentrations. One reason cited for this change is the claim that AUC24 is a superior correlate to efficacy than trough (Cmin). Evidence from a number of retrospective analyses have been critically reviewed and determined to have weaknesses. This narrative review focuses on the experimental studies performed in vivo in animal models of infection and in vitro to determine the extent to which these data may provide a compelling distinction between pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamics (PKPD) parameters that may translate to clinical use in therapeutic drug monitoring. Animal in vivo studies have been presented at conferences, but no original peer reviewed studies could be found that compare various PKPD parameters. These conference proceeding findings were supportive but unconvincing, even though they were favorably presented subsequently in review articles and clinical practice guidelines. In vitro data are somewhat conflicting, but the range of concentrations may play a role in the discrepancies found. It has been suggested that MIC may be assumed to have a value of 1 mg/L; however, it can be demonstrated that this assumption may lead to considerable discrepancy from results with an actual MIC value. The AUC24 parameter has been weighed against the percentage of time above the MIC (%T > MIC) as a comparative PKPD parameter, yet this may be an inappropriate comparison for vancomycin since all clinically useful dosing provides 100% T > MIC. Regardless, there is a distinction between clinical TDM parameters and PKPD parameters, so, in practice, the change to AUC24:MIC based on animal experiments and in vitro evidence for vancomycin may be premature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Start temporal landmark is the beginning of a period of time. Previous research has established that individuals have the need for arousal at the start temporal landmarks but less research has focused on individual differences and the relationship between self and others (independent vs. interdependent). This research examines the influence of individuals' self-construal on the relationship between start temporal landmarks and arousal product preference. Three experiments with 1136 participants were recruited from a university, community, and online store in Southern China. The data were analyzed by Cochran–Mantel–Haenszel on SPSS 26.0 software program. The results showed that self-construal influenced the effect of start temporal landmarks on arousal product preference. Specifically, compared with ordinary temporal landmarks, individuals with interdependent self-construal prefer high arousal products under start temporal landmarks, whereas those with independent self-construal show no significantly different preference for high or low arousal products under the start temporal landmarks. Furthermore, psychological resources play a mediating role. This research extends the theoretical research on self-construal in the field of temporal landmarks and arousal. It also has important practical implications for improving the sales of high arousal products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Providing a cost-efficient feeding strategy for cell expansion processes remains a challenging task due to, among other factors, donor variability. The current method to use a fixed medium replacement strategy for all cell batches results often in either over- or underfeeding these cells. In order to take into account the individual needs of the cells, a model predictive controller was developed in this work. Reference experiments were performed by expanding human periosteum derived progenitor cells (hPDCs) in tissue flasks to acquire reference data. With these data, a time-variant prediction model was identified to describe the relation between the accumulated medium replaced as the control input and the accumulated lactate produced as the process output. Several forecast methods to predict the cell growth process were designed using multiple collected datasets by applying transfer function models or machine learning. The first controller experiment was performed using the accumulated lactate values from the reference experiment as a static target function over time, resulting in over- or underfeeding the cells. The second controller experiment used a time-adaptive target function by combining reference data as well as current measured real-time data, without over- or underfeeding the cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing use of power converters connected to the grid motivates their study in power electronics courses and the prototype development in the degree final project (DFP). However, the practical realization of using state-of-the-art components and conversion techniques is complex due to the numerous multidisciplinary aspects that students must consider in its design and development and the workload associated with the DFP. An example of this is that, unlike a conventional power factor correction (PFC) design, the individual dedication of students to complete the design and validation of modern bridgeless PFC stages exceeds the number of credits of the DFP. The reason for this is that it includes system modeling, becoming familiar with the devices used, discrete selection, circuit design, control development, and programming, to build the converter and verify the operation of the complete system. To reinforce the individual skills needed for the DFP and reduce this time, a novel strategy is proposed. It allows the student to focus their efforts on integrating the individual skills achieved in the degree at the appropriate competence level during the modeling and construction of the power converter while carrying out part of the tasks out of the lab, if necessary, as was the case during the pandemic restrictions. For this, the rapid prototyping technique is introduced to speed up the overall design and speed up the tuning of digital controllers. This manuscript presents a teaching experience in which students build digitally controlled power converters using Texas Instruments microcontroller boards and PLECS®. The example of a bridgeless totem-pole power factor corrector is shown. Although it began to develop and was motivated due to the restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic, the experience has been verified and is maintained over time, successfully consolidating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Early repolarization pattern (ERP) has recently been shown to be related with an increased risk of ventricular arrhythmias in susceptible individuals. Materials and Methods: We studied the ERP-associated ECG changes, with potential clinical relevance, in 220 young (age 22.1 ± 1.6 years), healthy, male subjects using 12-lead ECG recordings. A total of 38 subjects (17.3%) fulfilled the diagnostic criteria for ERP, and a total of 90 ECG characteristics were compared between the groups of subjects with and without ERP. Results: None of the ECGs were pathological, and 22 ECG parameters differed significantly (p < 0.05) between the subjects with and without ERP. Among them, the P wave-related parameters (e.g., average P wave duration: 101.5 ± 9.2 ms vs. 106.8 ± 9.9 ms, p = 0.004) and the presence of fragmented QRS complexes (67.6% vs. 92.1%, p = 0.002) revealed a potential propensity for atrial and ventricular arrhythmogenesis. The time-domain parameters of repolarization, those not corrected for QRS duration, showed shorter values (e.g., Tpeak-Tend interval: 70.9 ± 8.1 ms vs. 67.8 ± 8.0 ms, p = 0.036), reflecting the accelerated repolarization. Conclusions: Certain ECG characteristics seem to be more associated with ERP. The clinical significance of this finding at the individual level needs further prospective investigations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 2021 marks the 100th anniversary of the momentous discovery of insulin. Through years of research and discovery, insulin has evolved from poorly defined crude extracts of animal pancreas to recombinant human insulin and analogues that can be prescribed and administered with high accuracy and efficacy. However, there are still many challenges ahead in clinical settings, particularly with respect to maintaining optimal glycemic control whilst minimizing the treatment-related side effects of hypoglycemia and weight gain. In this review, the chronology of the development of rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, and long-acting insulin analogues, as well as mixtures and concentrated formulations that offer the potential to meet this challenge, are summarized. In addition, we also summarize the latest advancements in insulin delivery methods, along with advancement to clinical trials. This review provides insights on the development of insulin treatment for diabetes mellitus that may be useful for clinicians in meeting the needs of their individual patients. However, it is important to note that as of now, none of the new technologies mentioned have superseded the existing method of subcutaneous administration of insulin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Integrated processes for design and fabrication have guided mass customization of architectural systems and components. Providing affordable and accessible housing, a vital segment of the building industry, is a multifaceted process that witnessed various manifestations towards individualization over the past few decades. Design flexibility in housing systems is becoming a crucial aspect, informed by consumers' lifestyles, demographic patterns, and lifecycles change at a rapid pace. As the housing market demands more personalized, efficient, and agile strategies, prefabricated building systems have always presented a viable alternative for flexibility and customization, following a rise of interest in the last decade focused on new modes of digitized design and production. This paper presents an overview and appraisal of various practices to implement customization in the housing industry, with specific focus on empowering a systemic approach. We then propose an open framework that could accommodate emergent design technologies and production protocols, with the aim of taking advantage of advanced research efforts, and coupled with current industry application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The simultaneous surges in the research on socially assistive robotics and that on computer vision can be seen as a result of the shifting and increasing necessities of our global population, especially towards social care with the expanding population in need of socially assistive robotics. The merging of these fields creates demand for more complex and autonomous solutions, often struggling with the lack of contextual understanding of tasks that semantic analysis can provide and hardware limitations. Solving those issues can provide more comfortable and safer environments for the individuals in most need. This work aimed to understand the current scope of science in the merging fields of computer vision and semantic analysis in lightweight models for robotic assistance. Therefore, we present a systematic review of visual semantics works concerned with assistive robotics. Furthermore, we discuss the trends and possible research gaps in those fields. We detail our research protocol, present the state of the art and future trends, and answer five pertinent research questions. Out of 459 articles, 22 works matching the defined scope were selected, rated in 8 quality criteria relevant to our search, and discussed in depth. Our results point to an emerging field of research with challenging gaps to be explored by the academic community. Data on database study collection, year of publishing, and the discussion of methods and datasets are displayed. We observe that the current methods regarding visual semantic analysis show two main trends. At first, there is an abstraction of contextual data to enable an automated understanding of tasks. We also observed a clearer formalization of model compaction metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermal energy is an essential and useful resource to humans in modern society. However, a consequence of using heat carelessly is burns. Burn injuries have various causes, such as exposure to flame, radiation, electrical, and chemical sources. In this study, we reviewed the history of burn wound care while focusing on the basic principles of burn management. Through this review, we highlight the need for careful monitoring and customization when treating burn victims at each step of wound care, as their individual needs may differ. We also propose that future research should focus on nanotechnology-based skin grafts, as this is a promising area for further improvement in wound care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accountability refers to the need of individuals or organizations to account for their activities, accept responsibility, and disclose results in a transparent manner. Nowadays, the pervasivity of digital systems is making increasingly critical security, reliability, and trustworthiness of such services. When a service is delivered by involving different (eventually conflicting) parties, accountability could be achieved by including in digital transactions a trusted third party (TTP). Blockchain decentralizes trust, thus avoiding to rely on a single TTP. However, to deal with accountability in concrete solutions, the issue of securely integrating digital identity and Blockchain should be solved. The paper describes the results of a three-year research project merging academic and industrial expertise, to design and implement a Blockchain-based platform for service accountability integrating eIDAS-compliant Public Digital Identity. The platform has been used in several real-life contexts made available by industrial project partners, which demonstrated the effectiveness and novelty of the solution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, more-and-more cyber-security training is emerging as an essential process for the lifelong personnel education in organizations, especially for those which operate critical infrastructures. This is due to security breaches on popular services that become publicly known and raise people's security awareness. Except from large organizations, small-to-medium enterprises and individuals need to keep their knowledge on the related topics up-to-date as a means to protect their business operation or to obtain professional skills. Therefore, the potential target-group may range from simple users, who require basic knowledge on the current threat landscape and how to operate the related defense mechanisms, to security experts, who require hands-on experience in responding to security incidents. This high diversity makes training and certification quite a challenging task. This study combines pedagogical practices and cyber-security modelling in an attempt to support dynamically adaptive training procedures. The training programme is initially tailored to the trainee's needs, promoting the continuous adaptation to his/her performance afterwards. As the trainee accomplishes the basic evaluation tasks, the assessment starts involving more advanced features that demand a higher level of understanding. The overall method is integrated in a modern cyber-ranges platform, and a pilot training programme for smart shipping employees is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Youth with special healthcare needs (YSHCN) require medical support for disease management and equally require that providers be responsive to their ever-changing and sometimes unique psychosocial and developmental needs. This paper reviews the fundamentals of adolescent consultation reminding the reader that YSHCN are, after all, still youth with the same basic needs as their healthy peers. Beyond the basics, consultations with this population are characterized by complexities which are best managed by providers who can nimbly adjust their clinical stance. In non-urgent clinical scenarios, clinicians can adopt a coaching stance which we introduce and expand upon in this paper. Characterized by the five elements of non-judgment, curiosity, empathy, openness, and flexibility, the coaching stance can be adopted without specific training. We demonstrate its application using TGROW (Topic, Goal, Reality, Options and Wrap Up), a coaching framework that holds promise for use in clinical settings. Consultants may consider incorporating the coaching stance and TGROW into their practice repertoire, as both may be particularly helpful when consulting with adolescents with chronic illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the new premium models of intraocular lenses for presbyopia correction use diffractive optics in their optical design. The presence of multiple foci and the difference of the diffractive efficiency for different wavelengths have a great impact in the lens optical performance. In this context, there is a limited information available for clinicians to understand the optical principles that differentiate each design and their potential influence on clinical outcomes. Optical bench studies with polychromatic light are necessary to solve this limitation. In this work, a custom made optical bench was employed to assess with polychromatic light the through the focus optical quality of three different IOL designs: trifocal, EDOF effect; and enhanced monofocal. By using different and complimentary approaches: images of the USAF test, axial PSFs and TF-MTFs, each design revealed its intrinsic features, which were not previously reported for these IOLs models in a comparative way. It was found that the chromatic aberration plays a very important role in the performance of each IOL. Our results could help clinicians to understand the optical principle of each lens and also provide useful information for choosing the lens that best suits the needs of the individual patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Work motivation plays a vital role in the development of organizations, as it increases employee productivity and effectiveness. To expand insights into individuals' work motivation, the authors investigated the influence of individuals' competence, autonomy, and social relatedness on their work motivation. Additionally, the country-level moderating factors of those individual-level associations were examined. Hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) was used to analyze data from 32,614 individuals from 25 countries, obtained from the World Values Survey (WVS). Findings showed that autonomy and social relatedness positively impacted work motivation, while competence negatively influenced work motivation. Moreover, the individual-level associations were moderated by the country-level religious affiliation, political participation, humane orientation, and in-group collectivism. Contributions, practical implications, and directions for further research were then discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recurrent economic and financial crises expose the state, enterprises, and households to a range of financial risks and negative financial consequences. As a result, governments are seeking the most efficient measures of legal regulation and other measures ensuring financial security in order to address financial insecurity. The financial security can be considered from a variety of perspectives, and this research proposes that microeconomic and macroeconomic indicators be taken into account when assessing the financial security situation. The results of this research confirmed that legal regulation has a significant positive impact on financial security in OECD countries during the analysis period. Based on the results of the study, it can be argued that legal regulation, including anti-corruption measures, must be an essential part of the financial security strategies being developed. The studies carried out provide a platform for further research, which will allow identification of regulatory measures that would most effectively contribute to financial security needs in individual OECD countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a genetic blistering skin condition for which no cure exists. Symptom alleviation and quality of life are therefore central to EB care. This study aimed to gain insight into EB patient needs and benefits from current clinical care. Two questionnaires were administered cross-sectionally to adult EB patients at the Dutch expertise centre for blistering diseases. Patient needs and benefits were analyzed using the patient benefit index survey (PBI-S). Ancillary data were compiled pertaining to self-reported EB severity, pain and pruritus, as well as current and previous treatments. In total, 104 participants were included (response rate 69.8%). Sixty-eight participants comprised the analyzed cohort (n = 36 omitted from analysis). The needs given the highest importance were to get better skin quickly (64.7%) and to be healed of all skin alterations (61.8%). A positive correlation between pain and EB severity and the importance of most needs was observed. Minimal clinically important differences within the PBI-S, relating to reported benefits from clinical care, were reported by 60.3% of the cohort. This study highlights a discrepancy between patient needs and feasible treatment outcomes. Utilizing the PBI-S in conjunction with well-established multidisciplinary care may catalyze the process of tailoring treatments to the needs of individual patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The seat comfort of automobiles is one of the significant factors for determining the driver's fatigue, emotional experience, and individual space (which captures their individuality, rather than just a means of transportation in modern society). Conventional automobile seats could not provide seating comfort suitable for all drivers, in the form of seats that fit each driver's body type and the difficulty of meeting individual needs. This study proposes self-shape adjustable (the SSA seats) seats that improve the sitting comfort, safety, and secure the stability, by adjusting shape fit to the driver's body type. The SSA seats transforms the seat itself, in a way that improves the distribution of contact pressure and reduces sitting fatigue, with the pneumatic system. The transformed seats provide better sitting comfort and safety than the conventional automobile seat, by providing a seat shape suitable for the body shape of all users. It was verified that the SSA seats, proposed in this paper, have a uniform and improved pressure distribution, compared to the conventional seat, in various sitting postures; the contact area between the seat and user is enlarged, and the pressure concentrated on the ischial bone is lowered. In addition, it was proven (through user evaluation) that quantitative evaluation verification was the same as qualitative evaluation results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the strategic nature of the energy sector, legal solutions to protect cross-border electricity and gas connections will be of particular importance. The author realizes that at the present stage of development, the cross-border impact may also be manifested by generating units (e.g., wind farms) or even end users themselves. The lack of harmonized regulations in this area may not only lead to limitations in the physical supply of electricity and gas, but also affect future investment decisions regarding, for example, new generation capacities. In a broader aspect, it will delay, and in the extreme case prevent, the achievement of the objectives resulting from the EU energy policy, in particular integration within the single energy market. In this article, the author identifies devices and entities responsible for energy infrastructure that should be classified as necessary for the functioning of the single energy market. The research includes the analysis and evaluation of regulations governing cybersecurity in the energy sector, taking into account the interdependencies within, intersectoral and cross-border. In addition, the author refers to the need to introduce individual legal solutions regarding the protection of energy infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Entrepreneurial universities are a significant element of entrepreneurial ecosystems and aspire to foster entrepreneurial initiative through their "third mission". However, while entrepreneurial ecosystems are scrutinized using a contextual approach to detect differences and similarities and how they affect entrepreneurship, little is known about how entrepreneurial universities impact entrepreneurial initiatives in general, considering multiple environments. Drawing on entrepreneurial university and entrepreneurial ecosystem theories, a conceptual framework is proposed that aims to explain the effect of the entrepreneurial university on an entrepreneurial initiative through its three "missions", using an entrepreneurial ecosystem taxonomy. Based on individual data from the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, this entrepreneurial initiative analyzed 18 European countries in 2017. The results do not generally support the importance of entrepreneurial universities to entrepreneurial initiative. The relevance of entrepreneurial universities increases in more fragile entrepreneurial ecosystems since individuals need support over multiple dimensions. Conversely, the entrepreneurial universities that are embedded in stronger entrepreneurial ecosystems lose relevance and negatively affect the entrepreneurial initiative. Therefore, the value of entrepreneurial universities is reduced when individuals receive greater support from other dimensions. The variations across both groups suggest that the concept of entrepreneurial universities is not a contemporaneous phenomenon; however, their effect is progressively revealed by the maturity of each university's mission. This perspective substantially changes the understanding of entrepreneurial universities as a thwartwise strategy, suggesting that the universities' impact is expanded as their missions gradually evolve. Overall, the study contributes to an understanding of the implications for universities that blindly follow entrepreneurship, neglecting the exogenous environment, namely, the entrepreneurial ecosystem and individual drive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hysterectomy is the most common treatment option in women with uterine fibroids, providing definitive relief from the associated burdensome symptoms. As with all surgical interventions, hysterectomy is associated with risk of complications, short-term morbidities, and mortality, all of which have been described previously. However, information on the potential long-term risks of hysterectomy is only recently becoming available. A systematic literature review was performed to identify studies published between 2005 and December 2020 evaluating the long-term impact of hysterectomy on patient outcomes. A total of 29 relevant studies were identified. A review of the articles showed that hysterectomy may increase the risk of cardiovascular events, certain cancers, the need for further surgery, early ovarian failure and menopause, depression, and other outcomes. It is important to acknowledge that the available studies examine possible associations and hypotheses rather than causality, and there is a need to establish higher quality studies to truly evaluate the long-term consequences of hysterectomy. However, it is of value to consider these findings when discussing the benefits and risks of all treatment options with patients with uterine fibroids to allow for preference-based choices to be made in a shared decision-making process. This is key to ensuring that patients receive the treatment that best meets their individual needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Dairy cows managed on pasture may need to walk several kilometres to reach the milking parlour to be milked and, thus, may spend an extended time away from the paddock without access to pasture. While cows have a diverse behavioural repertoire, at a minimum they must graze, ruminate and lie down; therefore, time spent away from the paddock will affect how these behavioural needs are met. We investigated how walking distance to the milking parlour and total time spent away from the paddock affected daily grazing, ruminating and lying behaviours of dairy cattle managed in three groups. The devices automatically monitored cow behaviour and the time spent walking and waiting outside the paddock. We showed that cows spent more time grazing and less time ruminating on days with longer walking distances, which may, in part, be due to greater energy expenditure resultant of walking. When cows spent more time away from the paddock, they had a reduced lying time, and the cows in one of the groups produced less milk. Thus, limiting the walking distance and time spent away from the paddock are two factors that could provide greater opportunities for cows to engage in daily behavioural patterns that meet individual needs. In pasture-based systems, cows may spend several hours away from the paddock and may also walk several kilometres to meet daily milking requirements; this could lead cows to experience time constraints for grazing, ruminating and lying time in the paddock. This study investigated how walking distance and time spent away from the paddock affected daily behavioural patterns (i.e., grazing, ruminating and lying time) and milk yield. Dairy cows were managed in three rotationally grazed groups (n = 29 cows each) on the same farm and milked twice daily. A triaxial ear tag accelerometer on each cow recorded daily duration of grazing and ruminating, and a leg-based accelerometer recorded the daily lying time, for 13 days. GPS collars on four cows per group recorded the daily walking distance and total time away from the paddock for the group. A mixed repeated measures model tested how time off-paddock and walking distance affected the daily behavioural patterns; age, breed, milk yield and maximum ambient temperature were used as covariates with group as the observational unit. A second similar model tested how these factors affected milk yield. Walking distance and time spent away from the paddock were not correlated. When daily walking distance increased (to a maximum of 4 km/d), cows spent more time grazing and less time ruminating, but lying time was not affected. This result may, in part, be related to the greater energy expenditure demands for walking longer distances and milk production. When time away from the paddock increased (to a maximum of 4 h/d), cows spent less time lying, but grazing and ruminating times were not affected. Milk yield was not affected by walking distance, but one of the groups experienced a lower milk yield when time away from the paddock was increased. This result suggests that, for some cows, lying times may be shorter when experiencing a longer time away from the paddock, which may also affect milk yield. Overall, this study indicates that paddock behaviours are associated with walking distance to the milking parlour and time spent away from the paddock. Efforts to reduce walking distance and time spent away from the paddock are likely to provide cows with greater opportunity to engage in daily behaviours in the paddock that meet their needs and maintain their milk yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Customized pharmaceutical products aim to comply with the individual needs of a patient to enhance the treatment outcome. The current pharmaceutical production paradigm is, however, dominated by mass production, where the pharmaceutical products embrace a one-size-fits-all design with a low possibility of treatment optimization to patient needs. This production paradigm is not designed or intended for customized pharmaceutical products and operating this production context for customized pharmaceutical products is argued to be cost-inefficient. To address this challenge of inefficient production of customized pharmaceutical products, this study proposes an approach to modular pharmaceutical product design. As a mass customization strategy, product modularization enables serving customers with customized products cost-efficiently. The proposed modular pharmaceutical products integrate three product design requirements originating from patient needs: a scalable dose strength, a flexible target release profile, and a scalable treatment size. An approach to assess the value of these product designs is presented, by means of proposing three benefit metrics complying with respective design requirements and a cost metric assessing the cost of producing these modular pharmaceutical product designs. Results suggest that pharmaceutical product modularization can, by keeping the number of produced components low, substantially increase the external product variety and, hence, enhance the treatment outcome of patients. Furthermore, results indicate that the achieved benefit for the patient through product modularization increases beyond additional costs arising during production. However, a careful modularization must be performed to optimize the tradeoff between the increased benefit and cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical compounding enables the preparation of unlicensed medicine to meet specific patient needs that do not have a licensed medicine available on the market. It must be performed in the best possible circumstance by certified pharmacists using validated standard operating procedures to obtain the highest quality medicinal product. The various spinning techniques provide drug delivery systems easily adapted to individual patient's needs among the emerging technologies. The primary purpose of the present work was to introduce the prototype of a contact drawing device for the compounding of drug delivery systems for individual in-patient needs. The preliminary experiments resulted in oriented fibers of micrometer diameter range. The device can be placed in controlled conditions and could provide drug-loaded fibrous sheets for further treatments assuring the individual patient's medicine need of the required quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regarding oral/dental care and attendance, special needs individuals depend on their caregivers' commitment. The purpose of this retrospective data analysis of adults who received dental general anesthesia (DGA) in Innsbruck, Austria, was a breakdown of demographic parameters (including the mode of accommodation/care), medical diagnoses (comprising intellectual/physical disablement (IPD) or psychiatric (anxiety) disorders (PDs)), and dental therapy performed under DGA. The sample was composed of 233 consecutive adults who underwent DGA from January 2015 to June 2019. Data were analyzed with descriptive and comparative statistics. In total, 133 (57.1%) subjects were male and 100 (42.9%) female; 176 (75.5%) had IPD and 57 (24.5%) PDs; 168 (72.1%) were living at private and 65 (27.9%) at nursing homes. Median age (IQR) was 35.6 (25.7–47.2) years. In the total sample, 5 (2–9) teeth were restored and 2 (0.5–6.5) teeth were extracted. Individuals with PDs had more teeth restored (p = 0.01) and extracted (p < 0.001) than individuals with IPD. Private home residents had more teeth restored (p < 0.001) but less teeth extracted (p = 0.003) than nursing home residents. Special needs individuals' oral health backlog should be tackled in private and institutional care modalities alike. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The available floor space is an important welfare factor for cull sows during transportation. Sows of modern genetics reach a size and weight far exceeding those of fattening pigs. In most countries, there are no binding, consistent regulations for the maximum loading densities, especially for sows during road transportation. As a first step towards such recommendations, the physical floor space requirement (static space) of 100 sows of a current breed, while standing and lying down, were determined using contrast-based planimetry. An average sow covered about 0.42–0.47 m2 (standing postures) up to 0.53–0.63 m2 (lying postures). The largest measured area was 0.72 m2 for a sow lying in the belly-chest position. We detected a significant dependency of the covered floor area and the live weight, which supports the common practice to derive space requirements and recommendations based on live weight. Also, our results suggest that especially heavy sows, under currently usual loading densities, are at risk of having insufficient floor space requirements during transport. The results cannot be used to define the space required by a sow to carry out movements or sustain the individual need for distance (social/dynamic space) but provide data on the static space covered by sows of current breeds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Charcot–Marie–Tooth (CMT) disease encompasses a group of rare disorders that are characterized by similar clinical manifestations and a high genetic heterogeneity. Such excessive diversity presents many problems. Firstly, it makes a proper genetic diagnosis much more difficult and, even when using the most advanced tools, does not guarantee that the cause of the disease will be revealed. Secondly, the molecular mechanisms underlying the observed symptoms are extremely diverse and are probably different for most of the disease subtypes. Finally, there is no possibility of finding one efficient cure for all, or even the majority of CMT diseases. Every subtype of CMT needs an individual approach backed up by its own research field. Thus, it is little surprise that our knowledge of CMT disease as a whole is selective and therapeutic approaches are limited. There is an urgent need to develop new CMT models to fill the gaps. In this review, we discuss the advantages and disadvantages of yeast as a model system in which to study CMT diseases. We show how this single-cell organism may be used to discriminate between pathogenic variants, to uncover the mechanism of pathogenesis, and to discover new therapies for CMT disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As pharmacogenomic (PGx) use in healthcare increases, a better understanding of patient needs will be necessary to guide PGx result delivery. The Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative (CPMC) is a prospective study investigating the utility of personalized medicine. Participants received online genetic risk reports for 27 potentially actionable complex diseases and 7 drug–gene pairs and could request free, telephone-based genetic counseling (GC). To explore the needs of individuals receiving PGx results, we conducted a retrospective qualitative review of inquiries from CPMC participants who requested counseling from March 2009 to February 2017. Eighty out of 690 (12%) total GC inquiries were focused on the discussion of PGx results, and six salient themes emerged: "general help", "issues with drugs", "relevant disease experience", "what do I do now?", "sharing results", and "other drugs". The number of reported medications with a corresponding PGx result and participant engagement were significantly associated with PGx GC requests (p < 0.01 and p < 0.02, respectively). Our work illustrates a range of questions raised by study participants receiving PGx test results, most of which were addressed by a genetic counselor with few requiring referrals to prescribing providers or pharmacists. These results further support a role for genetic counselors in the team-based approach to optimal PGx result delivery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, with the development of depth cameras and scene detection algorithms, a wide variety of electronic travel aids for visually impaired people have been proposed. However, it is still challenging to convey scene information to visually impaired people efficiently. In this paper, we propose three different auditory-based interaction methods, i.e., depth image sonification, obstacle sonification as well as path sonification, which convey raw depth images, obstacle information and path information respectively to visually impaired people. Three sonification methods are compared comprehensively through a field experiment attended by twelve visually impaired participants. The results show that the sonification of high-level scene information, such as the direction of pathway, is easier to learn and adapt, and is more suitable for point-to-point navigation. In contrast, through the sonification of low-level scene information, such as raw depth images, visually impaired people can understand the surrounding environment more comprehensively. Furthermore, there is no interaction method that is best suited for all participants in the experiment, and visually impaired individuals need a period of time to find the most suitable interaction method. Our findings highlight the features and the differences of three scene detection algorithms and the corresponding sonification methods. The results provide insights into the design of electronic travel aids, and the conclusions can also be applied in other fields, such as the sound feedback of virtual reality applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AMiCUS is a human–robot interface that enables tetraplegics to control an assistive robotic arm in real-time using only head motion, allowing them to perform simple manipulation tasks independently. The interface may be used as a standalone system or to provide direct control as part of a semi-autonomous system. Within this work, we present our new gesture-free prototype AMiCUS 2.0, which has been designed with special attention to accessibility and ergonomics. As such, AMiCUS 2.0 addresses the needs of tetraplegics with additional impairments that may come along with multiple sclerosis. In an experimental setup, both AMiCUS 1.0 and 2.0 are compared with each other, showing higher accessibility and usability for AMiCUS 2.0. Moreover, in an activity of daily living, a proof-of-concept is provided that an individual with progressed multiple sclerosis is able to operate the robotic arm in a temporal and functional scope, as would be necessary to perform direct control tasks for use in a commercial semi-autonomous system. The results indicate that AMiCUS 2.0 makes an important step towards closing the gaps of assistive technology, being accessible to those who rely on such technology the most. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between trait impulsivity, risk-taking, and decision-making performance. We recruited 20 healthy participants who performed the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) and the Balloon Analog Risk Task (BART) to measure decision-making and risk-taking. The impulsivity was measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale. Resting-state neural activity was recorded to explore whether brain oscillatory rhythms provide important information about the dispositional trait of impulsivity. We found a significant correlation between the ability to develop a successful strategy and the propensity to take more risks in the first trials of the BART. Risk-taking was negatively correlated with cognitive impulsivity in participants who were unable to develop a successful strategy. Neither risk-taking nor decision-making was correlated with cortical asymmetry. In a more exploratory approach, the group was sub-divided in function of participants' performances at the IGT. We found that the group who developed a successful strategy at the IGT was more prone to risk, whereas the group who failed showed a greater cognitive impulsivity. These results emphasize the need for individuals to explore their environment to develop a successful strategy in uncertain situations, which may not be possible without taking risks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Self-identity is one of the fundamental needs of an individual. The most significant period of a person's self-identity development is adolescence. The aim of this empirical study was to examine self-identity development among indigenous adolescents from the subarctic region of Russia. We identified specific features of personal identity among Nenets adolescents as compared to Russian adolescents. We also identified the dynamics of self-identity components among Nenets girls and boys during the transition period from the age of 12–13 to 14–15 years, and discovered characteristic features of self-identity among Nenets girls and boys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Medical nutrition therapy in critically ill patients remains challenging, not only because of the pronounced stress response with a higher risk for complications, but also due to their heterogeneity evolving from different phases of illness. The present review aims to address current knowledge and guidelines in order to summarize how they can be best implemented into daily clinical practice. Further studies are urgently needed to answer such important questions as best timing, route, dose, and composition of medical nutrition therapy for critically ill patients and to determine how to assess and to adapt to patients' individual needs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]