More Than Just a Buzzword—Mapping the Evolution of Research on Cancel Culture in Social Sciences

Morphometric and stereological data are presented showing that the average thickness of the glandular epithelium (including secretory and basal cells together with intercellular spaces) of the seminal vesicle of the guinea pig increased significantly after oestradiol administration when compared with castrated controls. The increase in thickness was accompanied by a significant increase in the volume density of intercellular spaces. There were significant decreases in volume, surface and numerical densities of the secretory cell nuclei with respect to the glandular epithelium. The increase in the volume and surface densities of the secretory cell nuclei with respect to the average secretory cell was due to the significant increase in the average volume of the secretory cell. The increase in the mean volume of secretory cells was the result of a significant increase in the average cytoplasmic volume. In comparison with castrated controls, the structural data of cytoplasmic organelles also showed significant increases in total volume and surface area of granular endoplasmic reticulum per average secretory cell following oestradiol administration. This was accompanied by a significant increase in the total volume of Golgi cisternae per cell. The increase in the cytoplasmic volume of secretory cells after oestradiol treatment may be the result of an increase in number of organelles responsible for protein synthesis. The present study has provided quantitative evidence that the secretory function of the seminal vesicle of castrated guinea pigs may have been stimulated after oestradiol administration, which cannot be easily detected in a qualitative manner.

Aim: This study aimed to investigate the changes in maxillary sinus volume, pharyngeal airway volume, and hyoid bone position in patients treated with Rapid Maxillary Expansion (RME) and Alternate Rapid Maxillary Expansion and Constriction (AltRaMEC) – Facemask therapy and compare between the groups. Materials and Methods: The records of 15 patients between the age group of 8-14 years with Class I and Class III malocclusion were collected, and the patients were assigned into two groups. The first group comprised of 8patients (4 girls and 4 boys) who were treated with Rapid Maxillary Expansion. The second group comprised 7 patients (5 boys and 2 girls) treated with expansion devices using Alt-RaMEC protocol followed by maxillary protraction using a facemask. Pre and post-treatment CBCT scans were obtained and analyzed for changes in the pharyngeal airway, maxillary sinus volume, and hyoid bone position. The maxillary sinus volume was calculated in 3 dimensions by measuring the craniocaudal height, anteroposterior depth, and mediolateral width. Measurements were taken before and after the procedure to compare the groups and between the groups. The data were analyzed using Paired t-test and an Independent t-test. Results: In the RME group, a significant increase in the total maxillary sinus volume (mean difference = 520±576.57mm3), especially in the craniocaudal height, was seen, but no changes were noted in the pharyngeal airway and hyoid position. The AltRAMEC group showed a statistically significant increase in the maxillary sinus volume (anteroposteriorly) and nasopharyngeal volume with a p-value <0.005. Comparing the maxillary sinus volume changes in RME and AltRAMEC groups showed a statistically significant increase in the volume of the maxillary sinuses in both groups, significantly higher in the RME group. Conclusion: RME and AltRAMEC protocol followed by facemask therapy caused a significant increase in the maxillary sinus volume, while no changes were noted in the nasopharynx, oropharynx, hypopharynx, and hyoid bone position. While comparing the treatment effects between the groups, RME showed a greater increase in maxillary sinus volume (p < 0.05), specifically in the anteroposterior dimension. Since there are no changes in airway volume and hyoid position with the skeletal expansion protocols, there will be no difference in nasal resistance to airflow.

Contributors

To estimate the numbers and volumes of bronchiolar epithelial cells during lung maturation, we examined rabbits at three time points, 30 days gestation and 4 and 17 weeks postnatal age. Morphometric measures (mean caliper diameter, surface area, and volume) of nonciliated and ciliated bronchiolar cell nuclei, using computer modeling from serial sections, showed a significant decrease in nuclear size for both cell types and a significant increase in cell volume for the nonciliated bronchiolar cell during lung maturation. A shape coefficient (beta) proved to be the most efficient estimator of the number of cells per unit volume when it was used with estimates of the number of nuclei per unit area and the volumetric density of nuclei. Two-dimensional estimates of bronchiolar epithelial cell abundance (the number of nuclei per unit length or area) significantly underestimated the percentage of nonciliated bronchiolar cells as compared to three-dimensional estimates for rabbits 17 weeks of age. We have shown an inverse relationship between nonciliated and ciliated bronchiolar cell abundance during lung maturation. Nonciliated cells decreased while ciliated cells increased. We have confirmed that cytodifferentiation of the nonciliated bronchiolar cell occurs within the first 4 weeks of postnatal development. The volume of the nonciliated bronchiolar cell increased about twofold during development. Because of the concomitant decrease in nuclear volume, the cytoplasm of the cell showed an even greater increase in volume. Within the cytoplasm of the nonciliated bronchiolar cell, glycogen significantly decreased, and agranular endoplasmic reticulum (AER) and mitochondria significantly increased in volume during development. The biosynthesis of AER closely correlated with pharmacological studies of xenobiotic metabolism during rabbit lung maturation.

The main aim of this study is to examine how the droplet formation in microfluidic T-junctions is influenced by the cross-section and aspect ratio of the microchannels. Several studies focusing on droplet formation in microfluidic devices have investigated the effect of geometry on droplet generation in terms of the ratio between the width of the main channel and the width of the side arm of the T-junction. However, the contribution of the aspect ratio and thus that of the cross-section on the mechanism of break up has not been examined thoroughly with most of the existing work performed in the squeezing regime. Two different microchannel geometries of varying aspect ratios are employed in an attempt to quantify the effect of the ratio between the width of the main channel and the height of the channel on droplet formation. As both height and width of microchannels affect the area on which shear stress acts deforming the dispersed phase fluid thread up to the limit of detaching a droplet, it is postulated that geometry and specifically cross-section of the main channel contribute on the droplet break-up mechanisms and should not be neglected. The above hypothesis is examined in detail, comparing the volume of generated microdroplets at constant flowrate ratios and superficial velocities of continuous phase in two microchannel systems of two different aspect ratios operating at dripping regime. High-speed imaging has been utilised to visualise and measure droplets formed at different flowrates corresponding to constant superficial velocities. Comparing volumes of generated droplets in the two geometries of area ratio near 1.5, a significant increase in volume is reported for the larger aspect ratio utilised, at all superficial velocities tested. As both superficial velocity of continuous phase and flowrate ratio are fixed, superficial velocity of dispersed phase varies. However this variation is not considered to be large enough to justify the significant increase in the droplet volume. Therefore it can be concluded that droplet generation is influenced by the aspect ratio and thus the cross-section of the main channel and its effect should not be depreciated. The paper will present supporting evidence in detail and a comparison of the findings with the existing theories which are mainly focused on the squeezing regime.

Effect of nasal surgery on the nasal cavity as determined by acoustic rhinometry

The relationship between social sciences and natural sciences in the natural resource area is explored. Five barriers to joint involvement of the social and natural sciences include the weakness of the social sciences, a perceived illegitimacy of the social sciences, the punishments associated with interdisciplinary research, the lack of disciplinary support structures, and conflicts over power and control. Progress toward bringing research together in these two clusters of disciplines might be enhanced by institutional and administrative support to develop specific research structures for interdisciplinary natural resource related research; the physical, social, and organizational integration necessary to improve the image of interdisciplinary research and to increase rewards for individual scientists; and efforts to improve the science by specific funding for interdisciplinary natural resource research.

IntroductionPrevious randomized trials failed to demonstrate a decrease in mortality of patients with acute lung injury treated by exogenous surfactant. The aim of this prospective randomized study was to evaluate the effects of exogenous porcine-derived surfactant on pulmonary reaeration and lung tissue in patients with acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome (ALI/ARDS).MethodsTwenty patients with ALI/ARDS were studied (10 treated by surfactant and 10 controls) in whom a spiral thoracic computed tomography scan was acquired before (baseline), 39 hours and 7 days after the first surfactant administration. In the surfactant group, 3 doses of porcine-derived lung surfactant (200 mg/kg/dose) were instilled in both lungs at 0, 12 and 36 hours. Each instillation was followed by recruitment maneuvers. Gas and tissue volumes were measured separately in poorly/nonaerated and normally aerated lung areas before and seven days after the first surfactant administration. Surfactant-induced lung reaeration was defined as an increase in gas volume in poorly/non-aerated lung areas between day seven and baseline compared to the control group.ResultsAt day seven, surfactant induced a significant increase in volume of gas in poorly/non-aerated lung areas (320 ± 125 ml versus 135 ± 161 ml in controls, P = 0.01) and a significant increase in volume of tissue in normally aerated lung areas (189 ± 179 ml versus -15 ± 105 ml in controls, P < 0.01). PaO2/FiO2 ratio was not different between the surfactant treated group and control group after surfactant replacement.ConclusionsIntratracheal surfactant replacement induces a significant and prolonged lung reaeration. It also induces a significant increase in lung tissue in normally aerated lung areas, whose mechanisms remain to be elucidated.Trial registrationNCT00742482.

Worker honeybees (Apis mellifera) were reared in social isolation in complete darkness to assess the effects of experience on growth of the neuropil of the mushroom bodies (MBs) during adult life. Comparison of the volume of the MBs of 1-day-old and 7-day-old bees showed that a significant increase in volume in the MB neuropil occurred during the first week of life in bees reared under these highly deprived conditions. All regions of the MB neuropil experienced a significant increase in volume with the exception of the basal ring. Measurement of titers of juvenile hormone JH) in a subset of bees indicated that, as in previous studies, these rearing conditions induced in some bees the endocrine state of high JH associated with foraging, but there was no correlation between JH titer and volume of MB neuropil. Treatment of another subset of dark-reared bees with the JH analog, methoprene, also had no effect of the growth of the MB neuropil. These results demonstrate that there is a phase of MB neuropil growth early in the adult life of bees that occurs independent of light or any form of social interaction. Together with previous findings showing that an increase in MB neuropil volume begins around the time that orientation flights occur and then continues throughout the phase of life devoted to foraging, these results suggest that growth of the MB neuropil in adult bees may have both experience-expectant and experience-dependent components.

Context: The quantity and quality of publications by an institution is an indicator of its contribution towards the development of science. Aims: To examine the volume and visibility of publications by the anesthesia department of King Fahd Hospital of the University (KFHU), Dammam, Saudi Arabia, in the last 30 years. Settings and Design: Publications by members of the anesthesia department in the last three decades were retrieved from the databases of PubMed and Scopus. Materials and Methods: For each article retrieved, the journal and time of publication, the type of the article and the authors were analyzed. The visibility of KFHU publications in leading anesthesia journals is related to the number of citations each article received. Since websites publish only citation reports for the years 1999 to 2011, we analyzed visibility for the years 1998 to 2008. The visibility was compared to the general Saudi anesthesia publications and those of some other Arab countries. It was also related to global indices. Statistical Analysis Used: Two visibility indices were used in the present study. The first relates the average citations per articles in the years following publication to the average global citations per anesthesia articles. The second relates the average citations per article in the 3 years following publication to the impact of the journal of publication. The h-index was used as a measure of both volume and visibility. Results: Anesthesiologists from KFHU published 151 documents in the years 1983-2013, with a marked increase in the last 6 years. The articles published from the year 1998-2008 received citations similar to the journals where it was published with visibility index of one. The average citations per article were 11.75 which are close to the global anesthesia citations per article (12.2). Conclusions: KFHU anesthesia publications have increased recently. Its impact and visibility are similar to global indices.

Argentinas patterns of publication in the humanities and social sciences were studied for the period 2003---2012, using the Scopus database and distinguishing the geographic realm of the research. The results indicate that topics of national scope have grown and gained international visibility. They can be broadly characterized as having Spanish as the language of publication, and a marked preference for single authorship; in contrast, the publication of global topics, not geographically limited, characteristically have English as the language of divulgation, and institutional collaboration is stronger and more consolidated. Citation is apparently not determined only by the geographic realm of research, but also by language of publication, co-authorship, and the profiles of the journals where published. These results could contribute to constructive reflection upon publishing policy. The existence of a community of journals that tolerates biased patterns may make researchers echo and perpetuate poor practices, constructing or adapting the channels of communication. Such results also prove useful as a point of reference when evaluation criteria are elaborated by scientific committees, as unsupervised promotion and evaluation patterns could become based on local or overly subjective precepts, disregarding the disciplinary practices of the international scientific community.

PurposeThis study aims to establish an idea on visibility and growth of research publications of select Library and Information Science (LIS) open access journals indexed in Scopus database during the period 2001-2015.Design/methodology/approachThe study covers its scope to the research publications published during the period 2001-2015. All retrieved data were analyzed using bibliometric methods. The data of the select journals were searched in Scopus database using the name of the journal as search term in source of the database.FindingsThe results of the study reveal that visibility of LIS research articles in country based, university/ institution based, types of document based, authors based and citation based is significant. Authors from 83 countries and 990 universities/ institutions across the world have published their research in such LIS open access journals. The American and European countries are the leaders among all contributing countries and “Article” is the most popular types of documents with 61.37 per cent publications. The citation impact of publications shows an average 8.08 citations per publication.Originality/valueThe study raises concern on the global visibility of LIS research publications. Authors from underdeveloped countries do not prefer to publish their publications in open channel. Also government and other research bodies of these countries do not give proper weightage to the publications in open access journals. So, the study intends to assess the visibility of LIS research publications and their growth pattern.

Disinformation prevention has become a critical field of research, significantly catalyzed by the COVID-19 "infodemic". This study provides a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to map the intellectual structure and evolution of this rapidly expanding field. We analyzed 2,124 articles published from 2014 to 2024, retrieved from the Scopus database. Publication trends, subject distribution, and keyword co-occurrence were analyzed using VOSviewer to identify thematic clusters and temporal shifts. Publication output was negligible until a major inflection point in 2020, surging to a peak of 506 articles in 2022 and rebounding to a new high of 515 in 2024 after a 2023 dip. The field is dominated by three core disciplines: Social Sciences (24.40%), Medicine (24.20%), and Computer Science (10.21%). VOSviewer network analysis revealed two dominant, interconnected thematic clusters: a "Public Health and Vaccine Behavior" cluster (centered on covid, health, and vaccine hesitancy) and a "Media and Disinformation" cluster (centered on medium and fake news). Temporal overlay analysis confirmed the field's evolution from older topics (platforms like twitter) to the central crisis (covid) and finally to emerging, solution-oriented topics (media literacy). The findings conclude that disinformation research, forged in a public health crisis, rests on an interdisciplinary foundation of medicine, social science, and technology. The field is demonstrably maturing, showing a sophisticated scholarly pivot from reactive strategies (fact checking) toward proactive, cognitive interventions such as media literacy to build long-term societal resilience.

Imagining a Place for Sustainability Management: An Early Career Call for Action

Introduction: The evidence-based medicine (EBM) was introduced in the 1990s, paving the way for the new approaches to science methodology and research evidence that changed medicine-related practices. Following the EBM, social sciences ranging from education to public governance and policymaking entered a new stage of knowledge production and dissemination. Each evidence-based social science field produces its own evidence and evidence synthesis laying the foundation for efficient social practices. Pilot searches failed to bring complex and complete evidence-based methodology for social sciences. Purpose: This scoping review aims to identify the scope of the evidence-based social sciences and practices as an emerging field. Method: The review adhered to the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews, and the PPC framework. The eligibility criteria include problem (population), concept, context, language, time period, types of sources, geographical location, databases, areas of research. The searches to identify relevant publications entail searches in the Scopus database. The studies were identified and selected by screening titles, abstracts and full texts, totalling 35 documents. Results: The results cover search and selection outcomes; a bibliometric analysis, the breakdown of the publications among the four thematic clusters; the findings relating to evidence-based medicine and practice methodology applicable to social sciences; the analysis of the research area of evidence-based social sciences and practices; the social science practices by sectors. Much of the EBM methodology was directly borrowed by social sciences. Though, the major controversy was found in the hierarchy and levels of evidence as social sciences are subject to human choices. Randomized controlled trials and systematic reviews were analysed in the context of social sciences. The most elaborated and fast developing evidence-based areas in social sciences contained evidence-based education and evidence-based policymaking, with systems of governmental agencies and institutions introducing these evidence-based practices. Сonclusion. The review attained the objective and gave answers to the research questions. Only few studies were published to comprehensively address the emerging field of evidence-based social sciences and practices. Fragmentated sub-fields are covered unevenly, with many mythological divergences and disputed issues, including the quality of evidence, their weight and hierarchy, types of research.