Search

This research intends to investigate the impact of employee age and innovative work climate on the relationship between supportive supervisory roles and employee acts of voluntarism. Using a large cross-sectional survey of the Australian Public Service we find that the influence of supportive supervisors on employees’ acts of voluntarism and extra role behaviors at work is higher amongst younger employees. This indicates that younger employees are more likely to engage in acts of voluntarism as a result of supportive supervisory roles. Findings also indicate that innovative work climate accentuates the relationship between supportive supervisory behaviors and acts of voluntarism. Employees who experience high levels of innovative work climate and high levels of support from supervisors tend to display higher levels of voluntarism and extra role behaviors at work. These findings have several theoretical and practical implications.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a frontrunner in digitalising government services, demonstrating the successful implementation of National Digital Identity (NDI) systems. Unlike many developing nations with varying levels of success with electronic ID systems due to legal, socio-cultural, and ethical concerns, the UAE has seamlessly integrated digital identities into various sectors, including security, transportation, and more, through initiatives like UAE Pass. This study draws on the UAE’s functional digital ID systems, such as those utilised in the Dubai Smart City project, to highlight the potential efficiencies and productivity gains in public services while addressing the associated risks of cybersecurity and privacy. This paper provides a comprehensive understanding of the UAE’s NDI and its impact on the nation’s digital transformation agenda, offering a thorough analysis of the effectiveness and challenges of NDIs, explicitly focusing on the UAE’s approach.

Background Transcatheter edge‐to‐edge repair (TEER) of mitral regurgitation is less invasive than surgery but has greater 5‐year mortality and reintervention risks, and leads to smaller improvements in physical functioning. The study objective was to quantify patient preferences for risk–benefit trade‐offs associated with TEER and surgery. Methods and Results A discrete choice experiment survey was administered to patients with mitral regurgitation. Attributes included procedure type; 30‐day mortality risk; 5‐year mortality risk and physical functioning for 5 years; number of hospitalizations in the next 5 years; and risk of additional surgery in the next 5 years. A mixed‐logit regression model was fit to estimate preference weights. Two hundred one individuals completed the survey: 63% were female and mean age was 74 years. On average, respondents preferred TEER over surgery. To undergo a less invasive procedure (ie, TEER), respondents would accept up to a 13.3% (95% CI, 8.7%–18.5%) increase in reintervention risk above a baseline of 10%, 4.6 (95% CI, 3.1–6.2) more hospitalizations above a baseline of 1, a 10.7% (95% CI, 6.5%–14.5%) increase in 5‐year mortality risk above a baseline of 20%, or more limited physical functioning representing nearly 1 New York Heart Association class (0.7 [95% CI, 0.4–1.1]) over 5 years. Conclusions Patients in general preferred TEER over surgery. When holding constant all other factors, a functional improvement from New York Heart Association class III to class I maintained over 5 years would be needed, on average, for patients to prefer surgery over TEER.

Abstract Detection of colorectal polyps through colonoscopy is an essential practice in prevention of colorectal cancers. However, the method itself is labor intensive and is subject to human error. With the advent of deep learning-based methodologies, and specifically convolutional neural networks, an opportunity to improve upon the prognosis of potential patients suffering with colorectal cancer has appeared with automated detection and segmentation of polyps. Polyp segmentation is subject to a number of problems such as model overfitting and generalization, poor definition of boundary pixels, as well as the model’s ability to capture the practical range in textures, sizes, and colors. In an effort to address these challenges, we propose a dual encoder–decoder solution named Polyp Segmentation Network (PSNet). Both the dual encoder and decoder were developed by the comprehensive combination of a variety of deep learning modules, including the PS encoder, transformer encoder, PS decoder, enhanced dilated transformer decoder, partial decoder, and merge module. PSNet outperforms state-of-the-art results through an extensive comparative study against 5 existing polyp datasets with respect to both mDice and mIoU at 0.863 and 0.797, respectively. With our new modified polyp dataset we obtain an mDice and mIoU of 0.941 and 0.897 respectively.

Objective This study aims to explore young people's perspectives of emerging technologies and health systems research in an adolescent health community of practice. Methods The context of this integrated knowledge translation study is the Wellbeing Health & Youth Centre of Research Excellence in Adolescent Health. A theory-building, non-systematic review was conducted to examine the concepts and interrelationships of emerging technologies associated with digital innovation and health systems. This typology informed the design of an online workshop with young people to explore their views, concerns, and ideas about health systems research. Results A digital innovation typology was identified to differentiate and explain emerging technology concepts and interrelationships that can be applied to the health systems context. Aligned with this typology, youth perspectives about digital health challenges and opportunities were identified to support future research, policy, and practice. Conclusion The integrated findings from this study can assist the navigation of complex emerging technologies, and the negotiation of equitable health systems research, between youth and adult stakeholders. Further, with these typology-related resources, mutual learning and the public involvement of young people in health systems research and priority setting agendas can be supported.

Abstract Monitoring postrelease establishment and movement of animals is important in evaluating conservation translocations. We translocated 39 wild pine martens Martes martes (19 females, 20 males) from Scotland to Wales. We released them into forested areas with no conspecifics in 2015, followed by a second release in 2016, alongside the previously released animals. We used radio‐tracking to describe postrelease movement and habitat selection. Six martens (15%) were not re‐encountered during the tracking period, of which four undertook long‐distance dispersal. For the remaining individuals, we characterized two phases of movement, “exploration” followed by “settlement,” that differed between releases. In the first release, martens remained in exploration phase for a mean of 14.5 days (SE = 3.9 days) and settled at a mean distance of 8.7 km (SE = 1.8 km) from release sites, whereas martens released in year two, alongside resident conspecifics, traveled away from release sites at a faster rate, settling sooner, at a mean of 6.6 days (SE = 1.8 days), but further, at a mean distance of 14.0 km (SE = 1.7 km) from release sites. Animals released in year one did not exhibit habitat preferences overall but within forests they favored recently felled areas, whereas animals released in year two showed strong selection for forested habitat but did not discriminate between forest types. The presence of conspecifics appeared influential for settlement and site fidelity of translocated martens and was associated with more rapid but more distant dispersal of the later cohort. Releases of animals in close proximity appeared to promote site fidelity and rapid establishment of ranges in the recipient environment.

Following Lorenz’s work using analogue pairs for establishing 10-to-14-day predictability limits for synoptic weather regimes, predictability limits for the Rex block, the long-wave wintertime ridge over the eastern Pacific Ocean and the western United States, have been estimated. This was accomplished by using mid-latitude geopotential height reanalysis data over a period of 38 years, 1979–2016, and associated 90-day winters (DJF). The metric used to define analogue pairs is the RMS difference assessed for the hemispheric 850, 500, and 200 hPa geopotential height fields. The resultant set of analogue pairs was used to estimate predictability with respect to both a single latitude circle (40° N) that passes through the Rex Block and for a multi-latitude swath (20–80° N). Our methods showed a range of results, by choice of Fourier component wavenumbers 2 through 8. These results indicate system predictability for low wavenumber components to exceed the 10–14-day limit imposed by Lorenz’ results. The results to 21 days, the maximum predictability limit value allowed by our method, do not preclude the possibility of a greater range of system predictability past 21 days. The unique aspect of this work is determination of predictability limits as a function of geopotential wave structure found through Fourier decomposition.

Teams of mobile robots can be employed in many outdoor applications, such as precision agriculture, search and rescue, and industrial inspection, allowing an efficient and robust exploration of large areas and enhancing the operators’ situational awareness. In this context, this paper describes an active and decentralized framework for the collaborative 3D mapping of large outdoor areas using a team of mobile ground robots under limited communication range and bandwidth. A real-time method is proposed that allows the sharing and registration of individual local maps, obtained from 3D LiDAR measurements, to build a global representation of the environment. A conditional peer-to-peer communication strategy is used to share information over long-range and short-range distances while considering the bandwidth constraints. Results from both real-world and simulated experiments, executed in an actual solar power plant and in its digital twin representation, demonstrate the reliability and efficiency of the proposed decentralized framework for such large outdoor operations.

Abstract Immune thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP) is a rare complication associated with vaccines targeting various diseases, including influenza, measles‐mumps‐rubella, hepatitis B, and diphtheria‐tetanus‐pertussis. We report 2 cases of ITP in healthy 20‐year‐old and 21‐year‐old women presenting to Emory University in Atlanta, GA, 2 days after the second dose and 11 days after the first dose (respectively) of the Pfizer‐BioNTech messenger RNA severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 vaccine. Both patients recovered quickly. With more than a billion doses of coronavirus disease 2019 vaccines safely administered worldwide as of May 2021, discussions with patients should put into perspective the low risks of vaccination against the enormous societal benefit of the coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine.

In dictionary learning-based inversion, the dictionary and coefficients are learnt adaptively from the image during the inversion process; this is a shallow approach since one layer of the dictionary is learnt. This is the first work which proposes to adaptively learn multiple layers of dictionaries during inversion. This results in our deep dictionary learning-based inversion formulation. Experiments have been carried out on denoising, super-resolution, and reconstruction. For each problem, our proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art.

Introduction Initially described in a sports context in ice hockey in 1985, the relative age effect (RAE) refers to the performance advantages of youth born in the first quarter of the birth year when trying-out for select, age-restricted sports. The competitive advantage bestowed to the relatively older athlete in their age band is the result of the older athlete being more physically and emotionally mature. These more mature players will likely go on to be exposed to better coaching, competition, teammates and facilities in their respective sport.Objectives Our study sought to characterise the ubiquity of this effect by examining the birth distribution of some of the world’s most elite athletes, Olympians.Methods We extended the exploration of the RAE beyond specific sports by examining the birth quarter of over 44 000 Olympic athlete’s birthdates, born between 1964 and 1996. Our hypothesis was that the RAE would be prominent in both Olympic athletes as a whole and in selected subcategories of athletes.Results and Conclusion The fractions of births in the first versus the fourth quarter were significantly different (p

Livestock radiated out from domestication centres to most regions of the world, gradually adapting to diverse environments, from very hot to sub-zero temperatures and from wet and humid conditions to deserts. The climate is changing; generally global temperature is increasing, although there are also more extreme cold periods, storms, and higher solar radiation. These changes impact livestock welfare and productivity. This review describes advances in the methodology for studying livestock genomes and the impact of the environment on animal production, giving examples of discoveries made. Sequencing livestock genomes has facilitated genome-wide association studies to localize genes controlling many traits, and population genetics has identified genomic regions under selection or introgressed from one breed into another to improve production or facilitate adaptation. Landscape genomics, which combines global positioning and genomics, has identified genomic features that enable animals to adapt to local environments. Combining the advances in genomics and methods for predicting changes in climate is generating an explosion of data which calls for innovations in the way big data sets are treated. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are now being used to study the interactions between the genome and the environment to identify historic effects on the genome and to model future scenarios.

Given prior evidence that an affected woman conveys a higher risk of ovarian cancer to her sister than to her mother, we hypothesized that there exists an X-linked variant evidenced by transmission to a woman from her paternal grandmother via her father. We ascertained 3,499 grandmother/granddaughter pairs from the Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute observing 892 informative pairs with 157 affected granddaughters. We performed germline X-chromosome exome sequencing on 186 women with ovarian cancer from the registry. The rate of cancers was 28.4% in paternal grandmother/granddaughter pairs and 13.9% in maternal pairs consistent with an X-linked dominant model (Chi-square test X2 = 0.02, p = 0.89) and inconsistent with an autosomal dominant model (X2 = 20.4, p

OBJECTIVE:We aimed to investigate the prognostic impact of duration of first-line chemotherapy administration in patients with epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). METHODS:Chemotherapy records were abstracted from the electronic medical record. Patients with on-time completion (105 days) were compared to patients finishing early (4 weeks. For 222 women with stage IIIC/IV, stage-stratified estimates of progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS) were compared. A delay sub-study was performed with outliers removed. Each week of delay was correlated with the change in PFS and OS to identify time points associated with change in outcome. RESULTS:Most women had on-time completion of chemotherapy (23.6%) or a treatment delay of ≤4 weeks (21.8%); 21.6% of women experienced a delay longer than 4 weeks. R0 resection at initial debulking (OR = 1.99, 95%CI: 1.18-3.36, p = 0.010) and RECIST complete response (OR = 4.88, 95%CI: 2.47-10.63, p1 month delay had decreased median survival of 18.1 months (14.7-24.9 months), while women with short intervals survived 35.0 months (95%CI: 21.8-49.8 months). Short-term delays lead to progressively decreasing OS. This was significantly different from the on-schedule survival estimate after 6 weeks of delay. CONCLUSIONS:On-time completion of chemotherapy correlates with increased survival and higher complete response rates. Increasing delays in chemotherapy completion were associated with decreased survival.

We recently reported evidence that a strong, BRCA-independent locus on the X-chromosome may contribute to ovarian cancer predisposition in families ascertained from the Familial Ovarian Cancer Registry (Buffalo, NY, USA). While it has been estimated that approximately 20% of all ovarian cancer cases are hereditary, it is possible that a significant proportion of cases previously believed to be sporadic may, in fact, be X-linked. Such X-linked disease has a distinct pattern; it implies that a father will necessarily pass a risk allele to each of his daughters, increasing the prevalence of cancers clustered within a family. X-chromosome inactivation further influences the expression of X-linked alleles and may represent a novel target for screening and therapy. Herein, we review the current literature regarding X-linked ovarian cancer and interpret allele transmission-based models to characterize X-linked ovarian cancer and develop a framework for clinical and epidemiological familial ascertainment to inform the design of future studies.

This paper presents automated laser ablation strategies to improve the temperature distribution across the surface of inhomogeneous Ni-Fe-Cr-NiO electrical heating elements during joule heating. A number of iterative closed-loop laser control algorithms have been developed and analyzed in order to assess their impact on the efficacy of the heating element, in terms of homogeneous temperature control, and on the implications for automated fabrication of inhomogeneous metal oxide films. Analysis shows that the use of the leading method, i.e., use of a temperature-dependent variable-power approach with memory of previous processes, showed a 68% reduction in the standard deviation of the temperature distribution of the heating element and a greater uniformity of temperature profile as compared to existing manual methods of processing.

Category: Ankle Arthritis Introduction/Purpose: Ankle arthrodesis is the most common treatment for tibiotalar joint arthritis in the US. Anterior plate fixation has become increasingly popular over the last 10 years. Purported benefits include improved stability, sparing the fibula, and ease of conversion to ankle replacement in the future if indicated. Previous reports on anterior plate fixation for ankle arthrodesis have been relatively small series, and none have utilized CT scanning for definitive confirmation of fusion. Plain films alone have been shown to be inadequate and misleading in identifying successful arthrodesis. The purpose and importance of this study is to definitively quantitate and assess true fusion rates of anterior plating for ankle arthrodesis based on CT scans and to evaluate a larger series of patients for functional outcomes and complications. Methods: This study is a retrospective chart review (with prospectively collected data) of all patients who have undergone anterior ankle fusion with plate fixation at a single center by 5 foot/ankle fellowship trained physicians over the last 7 years. Inclusion criteria included patients ≥ 18 years of age, isolated ankle (primary and revision) fusions, and non-neuropathic etiology. If CT scanning had not already occurred at least 4 months after surgery, this was performed to determine the fusion mass percentage. All CT scans were read by an independent musculoskeletal radiologist and quantitated within 25% ranges. The primary outcome measure was fusion defined as osseous bridging of 50% or more of the tibiotalar joint of the ankle. Secondary outcome measures included AOFAS score, FFI, subjective satisfaction, and complications. A comparison to a similar cohort that underwent crossed-screw fixation for ankle fusion during the same time frame was also performed. Results: 158 patients were identified that had undergone anterior ankle fusion with plate fixation (3 different implant manufacturers) since 2009. CT scans, at least 3 months postoperatively, were obtained for 91 patients. The union rate defined as ≥50% osseous bridging on CT, was noted to be 85%. A similar cohort of patients treated during the same time period with cross- screws alone demonstrated a union rate of 78% (40/51). For the anterior plating group, 5 tibial stress fractures occurred above the plate and 2 required revision fixation. Anterior wound complications were rare, and none required re-operation for wound dehiscence or deep infection. 75% of the patients reported good/excellent outcomes (subjectively). Median FFI and AOFAS scores were 78 and 71, respectively. Conclusion: Anterior ankle plating for arthrodesis is an increasingly popular technique. Although biomechanically more stable than crossed-screw fixation, there are no large published reports on the rate of fusion based on CT scan. This large single-center multi-surgeon series demonstrates an 85% fusion rate based on quantitated CT studies. This was higher than a similar cohort treated by the same physicians with the crossed-screw technique. After plating, stress fractures are not rare (5 reported here) and attention to lower profile or anterolateral plate configuration may be considered.

Background: This study was carried out to determine the extent and characteristics of bedside ultrasound teaching in medical schools across Canada. Methods: A cross-sectional, survey-based study was used to assess undergraduate bedside ultrasound education in the 17 accredited medical schools in Canada. The survey, consisting of 19 questions was pilot-tested, web-based, and completed over a period of seven months in 2014. Results: Approximately half of the 13 responding medical schools had integrated bedside ultrasound teaching into their undergraduate curriculum. The most common trends in undergraduate ultrasound teaching related to duration (1-5 hours/year in 50% of schools), format (practical and theoretical in 67% of schools), and logistics (1:4 instructor to student ratio in 67% of schools). The majority of responding vice-deans indicated that bedside ultrasound education should be integrated into the medical school curriculum (77%), and cited a lack of ultrasound machines and infrastructure as barriers to integration. Conclusions: This study documents the current characteristics of undergraduate ultrasound education in Canada.

The poliovirus vaccine field is moving towards novel vaccination strategies. Withdrawal of the Oral Poliovirus Vaccine and implementation of the conventional Inactivated Poliovirus Vaccine (cIPV) is imminent. Moreover, replacement of the virulent poliovirus strains currently used for cIPV with attenuated strains is preferred. We generated Cold-Adapted Viral Attenuation (CAVA) poliovirus strains by serial passage at low temperature and subsequent genetic engineering, which contain the capsid sequences of cIPV strains combined with a set of mutations identified during cold-adaptation. These viruses displayed a highly temperature sensitive phenotype with no signs of productive infection at 37°C as visualized by electron microscopy. Furthermore, decreases in infectious titers, viral RNA, and protein levels were measured during infection at 37°C, suggesting a block in the viral replication cycle at RNA replication, protein translation, or earlier. However, at 30°C, they could be propagated to high titers (9.4-9.9 Log10TCID50/ml) on the PER.C6 cell culture platform. We identified 14 mutations in the IRES and non-structural regions, which in combination induced the temperature sensitive phenotype, also when transferred to the genomes of other wild-type and attenuated polioviruses. The temperature sensitivity translated to complete absence of neurovirulence in CD155 transgenic mice. Attenuation was also confirmed after extended in vitro passage at small scale using conditions (MOI, cell density, temperature) anticipated for vaccine production. The inability of CAVA strains to replicate at 37°C makes reversion to a neurovirulent phenotype in vivo highly unlikely, therefore, these strains can be considered safe for the manufacture of IPV. The CAVA strains were immunogenic in the Wistar rat potency model for cIPV, inducing high neutralizing antibody titers in a dose-dependent manner in response to D-antigen doses used for cIPV. In combination with the highly productive PER.C6 cell culture platform, the stably attenuated CAVA strains may serve as an attractive low-cost and (bio)safe option for the production of a novel next generation IPV.

A common terminology for the external morphological characters of centipedes (Chilopoda) is proposed. Terms are selected from the alternatives used in the English literature, preferring those most frequently used or those that have been introduced explicitly. A total of 330 terms are defined and illustrated, and another ca 500 alternatives are listed.

The present paper provides a review of the composition, distribution and habitat preferences of the scolopendromorph centipedes of Tunisia. Five (sub-)genera and 8 (sub-)species have hitherto been reported from the country, of which two are of uncertain status. After a study of significant amount of new material collected in the period 2003-2008, 6 species, namely Scolopendra canidens Newport, 1844, S. morsitans Linnaeus, 1758, Cormocephalus gervaisianus (C.L. Koch, 1841), Otostigmus spinicaudus (Newport, 1844), Cryptops punicus Silvestri, 1896 and C. trisulcatus Brölemann, 1902, were found in the country. New illustrations and, where appropriate, brief descriptions of the species are given, along with an identification key for the Tunisian scolopendromorphs. Cryptops anomalans Newport 1844, Scolopendra oraniensis Lucas, 1846 and S. cingulata Latreille, 1829 are excluded from the country’s list since all previous records are most likely based on misidentifications. Cryptops trisulcatus and C. punicus are recorded for the first time from Tunisia and Libya, respectively. The taxonomic position of C. punicus is discussed and the species is transferred from the subgenus Trigonocryptops to Cryptops. Scolopendra morsitans scopoliana is synonymised under S. morsitans. S. canidens, O. spinicaudus and C. punicus are well adapted to arid and semidesert biotopes and have much wider ranges compared to the other three species which are restricted to the northern, more humid parts of the country. S. canidens is the only myriapod in Tunisia found in a pure sandy desert.

Questions over the clinical significance of cannabis withdrawal have hindered its inclusion as a discrete cannabis induced psychiatric condition in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM IV). This study aims to quantify functional impairment to normal daily activities from cannabis withdrawal, and looks at the factors predicting functional impairment. In addition the study tests the influence of functional impairment from cannabis withdrawal on cannabis use during and after an abstinence attempt.A volunteer sample of 49 non-treatment seeking cannabis users who met DSM-IV criteria for dependence provided daily withdrawal-related functional impairment scores during a one-week baseline phase and two weeks of monitored abstinence from cannabis with a one month follow up. Functional impairment from withdrawal symptoms was strongly associated with symptom severity (p=0.0001). Participants with more severe cannabis dependence before the abstinence attempt reported greater functional impairment from cannabis withdrawal (p=0.03). Relapse to cannabis use during the abstinence period was associated with greater functional impairment from a subset of withdrawal symptoms in high dependence users. Higher levels of functional impairment during the abstinence attempt predicted higher levels of cannabis use at one month follow up (p=0.001).Cannabis withdrawal is clinically significant because it is associated with functional impairment to normal daily activities, as well as relapse to cannabis use. Sample size in the relapse group was small and the use of a non-treatment seeking population requires findings to be replicated in clinical samples. Tailoring treatments to target withdrawal symptoms contributing to functional impairment during a quit attempt may improve treatment outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Urinary mercury concentrations are used in research exploring mercury exposure. Some theorists have proposed that autism is caused by mercury toxicity. We set out to test whether mercury concentrations in the urine of children with autism were significantly increased or decreased compared to controls or siblings. METHODS: Blinded cohort analyses were carried out on the urine of 56 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) compared to their siblings (n = 42) and a control sample of children without ASD in mainstream (n = 121) and special schools (n = 34). RESULTS: There were no statistically significant differences in creatinine levels, in uncorrected urinary mercury levels or in levels of mercury corrected for creatinine, whether or not the analysis is controlled for age, gender and amalgam fillings. CONCLUSIONS: This study lends no support for the hypothesis of differences in urinary mercury excretion in children with autism compared to other groups. Some of the results, however, do suggest further research in the area may be warranted to replicate this in a larger group and with clear measurement of potential confounding factors.

In this article the author addresses the history of reliability and validity in qualitative research as this method of inquiry has progressed through various paradigms. The importance of the concepts of reliability and validity in research findings is traced from the traditional era, where there was only a modest distinction between qualitative and quantitative researchers involving their definitions of research reliability and validity, through the current era, where some researchers question the need to be restricted in their research by attempting to control for or account for the reliability and validity of their research findings. The author rejects a strict need for reliability and validity as traditionally defined in quantitative research and outlines a less restrictive approach to ensuring reliability and validity in qualitative research.