Everyday Practice Research Articles

Dilemmas in Secondary Stroke Prevention.

Secondary stroke prevention encompasses many approaches, including antithrombotic therapy, risk factor management, and a healthy lifestyle. Recommendations are typically based on the results of randomized clinical trials that provide evidence of benefit. However, in some situations, clinicians extrapolate the results of clinical trials into everyday practice, or trials have not provided sufficient information to make treatment decisions. This review will discuss 4 scenarios: dual-antiplatelet therapy, the perils of combining antiplatelet and anticoagulation, indications for statin therapy, and therapeutic considerations for patients with paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.

From Private to Public: The Public Balcony as a Catalyst in Ankara Apartments

ABSTRACT This study explores the role of the public balcony in collective dwelling culture, focusing on how it varies and is experienced through architectural and everyday practices. It investigates the balcony’s potential to enhance the social and spatial quality of life by negotiating the relationship between privacy and publicness. These two concepts are addressed together to emphasize their interdependence and the architectural richness arising from their tension. The study draws on theories of public space to elaborate how this duality manifests in apartment design. Selected apartments built between the 1950s and 1990s in Ankara, Turkey, are analyzed through their contextual, functional, formal, and relational characteristics. Through this analysis, the public balcony is conceptualized as a distinct architectural element that contributes to originality within the apartment typology. By offering diverse design strategies, public balconies serve as intermediaries that draw urban life into residential environments, enriching the living experience of collective housing.

Explicit and implicit (automatized) knowledge of second language pronunciation: Implications for theory, research, and classroom practice

AbstractAlthough the distinction between explicit and implicit (automatized) knowledge of second or foreign language (L2) is of crucial importance to second language acquisition (SLA) theory and research, it has thus far not been directly applied to L2 pronunciation. The paper attempts to fill this gap by making an initial attempt to illustrate the relevance of this vital distinction in this area. Following the discussion of some crucial preliminary issues, the two types of knowledge are characterized and challenges involved in their measurement are considered. Subsequently, the distinction is related to theoretical accounts of how L2 pronunciation is learnt and empirical investigations into the effectiveness of different types of pronunciation instruction as well as everyday instructional classroom practices. The role of mediating factors, such as individual differences or contextual influences, is also considered.

Attitude and practice of dentists in patients taking oral antiplatelet and anticoagulant medications

PurposeIn everyday practice, dentists are confronted with the dilemma of patients on antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents who require dental procedures.The present survey aimed to exhibit Turkish dentists’ awareness and attitude towards patients using blood thinners prior to dental procedures and point out the significance of this issue.MethodsAn electronic survey was administered to dental practitioners. Demographics, career details, answerbacks to medical consultation and agents consisting of 20-questions investigating approaches to patients using antiplatelet and anticoagulant agents were recorded.Data were collected in the online platform and analyzed.ResultsA total of 500 dentists answered the survey, of which 48.2% were female and 51.8% were male. %57.8 of all respondents inaccurately marked warfarin as an antiplatelet agent. In patients who underwent coronary stent implantation,24.6% of dentists unfortunately stated that they always discontinue the actual medications before surgery. The majority of cardiology consultants interrupted the drug 5–7 days before the intervention in patients receiving antiplatelet therapy.16.6% of consultants made a decision based on international normalized ratio (INR) level of the patients using direct oral anticoagulant (DOAC).ConclusionAlthough dental procedures do not posses a high bleeding risk and can be safely performed without interruption of blood thinners, there is an overestimation of the risk of bleeding by the dentists.It’s understood that a considerable number of participants are not familiar with the blood thinners, coagulation tests and perioperative management.

Recycling or reusing? An ethnographic study of the demolition industry in Northern Italy

ABSTRACT In the transition towards circular cities, material separation and waste prevention in construction are listed as crucial measures. I investigate contemporary demolition practices in Lombardy, Northern Italy, through participant observation at demolition sites, focusing on the industry’s modus operandi regarding material disposal or circulation. Recycling seems to be the most established practice in the field, while reuse remains marginal, typically limited to cases required by historic conservation laws. Uncertainties arise in everyday practices of reuse when addressing issues such as cost, time, logistics, and adherence to energy or safety standards, highlighting context-specific issues and preferences in decision-making regarding sustainable practices.

Refusal as a praxis of teaching inclusively

ABSTRACT This paper asks how teachers can sustain themselves and inclusive learning experiences, withstanding ableist-settler colonialist-white supremacist institutions. We take up refusal as a praxis of inclusive teaching to think with everyday practices and commitments to sustain oneself in a profession marked to wear out. We follow one teacher’s enactments of refusal by thinking with three research artefacts, generated in a study on the entanglements of teaching inclusively with K-8 teachers in the United States. This inquiry turns us towards the possibility of refusal in teaching: momentary abeyance from the disciplinary regimes of whiteness and ableism, complaint as locating and revealing institutional problems and practices of exclusionary violence, and imagining life and learning from the everyday familial spaces of revolution. In attending to these minor acts of refusal in teaching inclusively, we open up possibilities for continuing to build and sustain teaching as a practice of freedom.

Урегулирование экстраординарных ситуаций без объявления чрезвычайного положения: риски нормализации и рутинизации

The article is devoted to the problem of the emergency and possible scenarios of government behavior in such conditions. Having briefly described the emergency per se, the author identifies two approaches to resolving crisis situations — declaring versus not declaring a state of emergency — and examines the problems that may arise in each of the identified cases. The use of the administrative regime of the state of emergency in fact entails the concentration of power in the hands of the executive bodies, which, bypassing complex law-making procedures with the participation of the representative bodies, establish general rules of behavior during this regime. Hence — the threat of power abuse by the executive branch, which may try to retain emergency measures as permanent ones. However, the institution of the state of emergency itself contains certain restrictions that complicate such a scenario. The situation is different with the approach to resolve crisis situations that does not involve declaring a state of emergency and focuses on the use of mechanisms within the ordinary law. At first glance, this approach seems to be more mild and safe, since it is not associated with the deformation of human rights and freedoms and the suspension of the institutions of direct and representative democracy. But, as the author demonstrates, it contains much more serious risks than the first option, the most important of which is the risk of normalizing and routinizing emergency measures and turning them into everyday legal practice.

Emotional Religiosity and Religious Happiness in Old Norse Literature and Culture

The main aim of this article is to investigate whether and how the traditional Christian theological premise that “God is Happiness” was adapted to the social and ideological norms and aesthetics of Old Norse literature and culture. This is done by studying the motif of religious awakening in a variety of Old Norse genres, including primary and secondary translations of Latin sources, translations from Old French, and indigenous genres such as Bishops’ sagas, Icelandic family sagas, and legendary sagas. The main conclusion is that religious awakening is represented in a variety of ways in the literary system as a whole: as an emotional, intellectual, and physical/sensory process, as well as a pragmatic rational decision. The differences may be due to the different intended functions and readerships of translated as opposed to indigenous texts, in Norway and Iceland. From an epistemological perspective, the article illustrates that believing had complex connotations in Old Norse culture, and could be understood as an emotional and intellectual process, as a sensory and physical experience, or as a matter of pragmatics and everyday practices, depending on the socio-cultural context.

Institutional adaptation of managerialism in Chinese higher education: A faculty-centered ethnographic analysis of everyday practices

Institutional adaptation of managerialism in Chinese higher education: A faculty-centered ethnographic analysis of everyday practices

Imagined homes, concrete houses, and bureaucratic subjects: Citizen-state encounters in Eastridge, Cape Town

Eastridge is a low-cost housing development in Cape Town constructed and managed by the Cape Town Community Housing Company, a state-owned but privately managed company. The residents of Eastridge, most of whom have been living in their houses for 23 years, were recently declared ‘unlawful occupants’ in houses they expected to be the legal owners of years ago. Through a protracted struggle to receive permanent legal title over their homes the residents of Eastridge encounter the state in ways that are destabilising and violent at the same time as being intimate and mundane. Using ethnographic and oral history data gathered from three households in Eastridge I explore the ways in which families encounter and navigate the complex network of institutions, sites, agents, and artefacts that make up the imagined ‘state’ (Wafer and Oldfield, 2015). I argue that these everyday encounters with the state produce both the specific identity of the imagined state as well as particular forms of citizen subjectivity. The aim of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the landscape of political possibility through which citizens navigate by investigating the everyday encounters between citizens and the state. This is done through an analysis of everyday practices of homemaking, family relations, and getting by from day-to-day in a context of uncertainty.

Rainbow diplomacy: LGBTQ+ rights and everyday diplomatic practice at Pride

Abstract This article explores how LGBTQ+ advocacy and involvement in local LGBTQ+ activism is enacted by diplomats and mediated by everyday practices of diplomacy. The article analyses the interconnections and disconnections between high-level foreign and diplomatic policy discourses and local enactments and positions of embassies and diplomats. In doing so, the article considers states with an expressed commitment to feminist or LGBTQ+ advocacy in foreign policy, assessing the reality of these commitments on the ground. We argue that, as with debates about the ‘pinkwashing’ or ‘rainbow washing’ of LGBTQ+ rights activism by corporations and states at LGBTQ+ Pride events, a focus on ‘rainbow diplomacy’ at Pride reveals the inconsistent and changeable application of these commitments locally and transnationally, and across time. It also reveals the precarity and vicarious nature of human rights commitments in general and of LGBTQ+ advocacy in particular. The article draws from interviews and ethnographic participant observation of British, Canadian, European Union and Swedish diplomats' engagement with Pride events and LGBTQ+ advocacy in China, Cuba, India, Russia, South Africa and Taiwan. The article demonstrates the influence of individual diplomats in shaping and enacting LGBTQ+ rights support, but emphasizes that reliance on individual agency also makes such commitments precarious and subject to change. We argue for consistent leadership and material support in order that ‘rainbow diplomacy’ can be more than a symbolic and transient engagement at Pride.

Culminating Inquiry: Defining Adolescent Literacy

This study explores the diverse conceptual frameworks surrounding adolescent literacies, emphasizing the shift from deficit-based models to student-centered, emancipatory pedagogies. By analyzing scholarly discussions and classroom practices, the research highlights the significance of multimodal literacies, culturally responsive pedagogy, and participatory learning spaces. Through a critical review of academic literature and reflections on classroom activities, the study demonstrates how new literacy frameworks empower students by recognizing their agency, cultural backgrounds, and everyday meaning-making practices. The findings underscore the transformative role of writing as a tool for self-expression, identity formation, and social engagement, advocating for pedagogical approaches that validate students’ lived experiences. Ultimately, this research argues for a reconceptualization of literacy education that fosters inclusive, dynamic, and critically engaged learning environments.

Nairobi’s batteryscape: everyday electricity storage, energy justice, and infrastructural heterogeneity in urban Africa

Abstract Renewable energy transitions, technological advances, and geopolitical disruptions have brought various forms of energy storage to the forefront of sustainability and infrastructure debates. Conversely, the socio-technical intricacies of everyday electricity storage by urban residents have received less attention in these discussions, although batteries have become an essential part of everyday life, especially in cities with heterogeneous infrastructure landscapes. In Nairobi, for example, batteries have become quotidian artefacts that form the basis of broader battery landscapes composed of different batteries and their materialities, idiosyncratic household electricity dispositifs, a broader landscape of private and public actors, and (lack of) regulation and governance. By proposing and using the notion of the batteryscape for these arrangements, this paper elaborates on the infrastructural significance of everyday household electricity storage for sustainable and just energy infrastructures. More specifically, it addresses issues of energy justice—largely, but not only, in terms of distributive injustices—and the heterogenization of individual as well as citywide electricity arrangements. Reflecting on limited state regulation and governance of domestic battery use and disposal in Nairobi, a nuanced reading of ongoing, battery-enabled energy transitions with their micro-materialities and everyday practices in African cities is called for to make pragmatic proposals for sustainability transitions, urban infrastructure planning, and the governance of both.

Endodontic implications of dental trauma: useful tips for primary dental care

Dental trauma is the fifth most common condition affecting human beings worldwide. The dental team can expect to encounter traumatic dental injuries in everyday practice. Dental trauma guidelines guide practice and should be available to the dental team faced with an acute presentation of injury in a patient of any age. The management of dental trauma and the endodontic materials available for intervention of its complications are rapidly evolving. This paper provides an important update for the primary dental care team regarding the endodontic management of dental trauma.

Navigating Antimicrobials and Combating Antimicrobial Resistance: Challenges, Impacts, and Strategies for Global Action.

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is one of the biggest problems facing the scientific and medical communities. According to WHO, this growing issue might make once-effective antibiotics obsolete and pose a substantial risk to public health. Estimates indicate that multimillion deaths were either directly or indirectly caused by AMR, making it one of the most substantial risks to public health and development in the world. The issue of AMR is primarily caused by healthcare workers' excessive and inappropriate use of antimicrobial agents. Dentists are believed to prescribe a considerable portion of all antibiotics globally. The emergence of AMR, its causes, and its effects on human health are examined in this article, with special attention to dental offices and medical facilities. It draws attention to the rising issue of antibiotic overprescription and abuse, particularly in low- and middle-income countries, where improper antibiotic use is an everyday practice around the globe. The article discusses the role of antimicrobial stewardship programs and the importance of implementing precise, evidence-based practices in preventing AMR. Since antibiotic abuse in livestock greatly accelerates the spread of resistance, the role of antibiotics in animal agriculture is also investigated. To address AMR, the paper highlights the necessity of a global, coordinated response that bolsters surveillance systems, cuts back on needless antibiotic use, and expands access to alternative treatments. Recent research has called into question the efficacy of preventive antibiotic medication in these situations. According to other researchers, it might not help avoid surgical site infections. However, other experts say disrupting deeper tissues and local mucosal defenses during an intraoral surgical operation may raise the risk of infection even when antibiotics are used.

AI may help to predict thyroid nodule malignancy based on radiomics features from [18F]FDG PET/CT

BackgroundThe number of thyroid cancer diagnoses has been increasing for several decades, with a significant part of cases being detected incidentally (thyroid incidentaloma, TI) by imaging studies performed for reasons other than thyroid disease, including PET/CT with [18F]FDG. The chacteristics of the detected TI cannot be determined solely on the basis of conventional parameters used in everyday clinical practice, such as SUVmax. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in radiomics, which is a quantitative method of analyzing radiological images based on the analysis of image texture. Textural analysis may be helpful, as it allows to characterize features invisible to the physician with the naked eye.ResultsOf the 54 patients who presented focal [18F]FDG-avid TI and had subsequent fine needle aspiration biopsy, 4 patients were excluded from the analysis due to the unavailability of the final diagnostic information. Hence, in the final analysis, data from 50 patients were used (39 females and 11 males) with a mean age of 58.5 ± 11.26. Of these 50 patients, 11 (22.0%) [18F]FDG-avid nodules were diagnosed as malignant. The performance of the XGBoost model in assessing [18F]FDG-avid TI was similar (0.846 [confidence interval, CI, 95% 0.737–0.956]) to SUVmax (0.797 [CI 95%: 0.622–0.973]; p = 0.60).ConclusionsWith an AI-based algorithm using radiomics features it is possible to detect the malignancy of thyroid nodule. However, no statistically significant differences were observed between the AI and radiomics approach, and when using a conventional measure, i.e., SUVmax.

Next-Generation Long-Acting Anti-VEGF Therapies for the Treatment of Diabetic Macular Edema

The outcomes of diabetic macular edema (DMO) treatment have improved following the introduction of intravitreal injections of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) inhibitors. However, real-world data indicate that the treatment burden associated with intravitreal injections in DMO patients leads to significant differences in outcomes between randomized clinical trials and everyday clinical practice. Long-acting intravitreal drugs and devices used in DMO may help bridge this gap by achieving optimal treatment with more feasible injection regimens. Purpose: The purpose of this chapter is to analyze new drugs and devices for the treatment of DMO, explain their mechanisms of action, summarize key research findings, and discuss potential limitations and safety profiles. The analysis covers: brolucizumab, faricimab, conbercept, KSI-301, and the port delivery system (PDS). Treatment strategies using these drugs and technologies may serve as the first step in controlling the global epidemic of diabetic eye disease. Material and Methods: A review and analysis of randomized clinical trials and clinical studies from 2014 to 2025 available in PubMed and Google Scholar. Findings: Longer-acting anti-VEGF therapies can reduce treatment burden by extending intervals between injections (up to 12–16 weeks or more). Brolucizumab and faricimab showed non-inferior visual acuity gains compared to aflibercept, with fewer injections. KSI-301 and PDS platforms also demonstrated promising safety and extended dosing intervals, although further data are needed. Research and practical limitations: Some trials remain ongoing, and long-term safety profiles require further confirmation. High treatment costs, varied patient adherence, and the logistics of regular monitoring still pose significant challenges.

Interobserver Agreement of the Eczema Area and Severity Index for Atopic Dermatitis Severity Assessment: A Real-World Evidence Study.

Background: The Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) has been suggested to show a good to excellent level of concordance. However, in everyday clinical practice, there is a perceived low level of concordance. Objective: To assess the degree of concordance in the EASI scores in a real-world clinical setting. Methods: This transversal study assesses interobserver concordance of EASI among 5 evaluators between January and October 2024. Results: For the head and neck area, unacceptable concordance was found for all the items in EASI. In the trunk area, there was acceptable concordance for the affected surface area (0.686 [95% confidence interval {CI}: 0.539-0.799]) but unacceptable concordance for the other items. For the upper and lower extremities, unacceptable concordance was observed for all items. The total EASI interclass correlation coefficient showed moderate concordance (0.754 [95% CI: 0.659-0.838]). Despite moderate concordance for the total EASI score, the median EASI range for the same patient was 13, indicating significant heterogeneity between evaluators. Discussion and Conclusion: This study highlights the variability of the EASI in the evaluation of atopic dermatitis (AD) in a real-world clinical practice setting, suggesting that patient-reported outcome measures and experiences should be given more importance as additional AD severity measures.

Invisible but palpable– gender norms in childbirth

BackgroundSwedish labour care is becoming increasingly medicalised, with rising rates of intrapartum interventions such as induction and augmentation of labour, epidural analgesia, and caesarean section. This study aimed to explore the paradox of the increasing medicalisation of childbirth despite the vast evidence of the benefits of low-intervention physiological birth.MethodsFocused ethnography was used to study woman-midwife interactions during labour and birth and the everyday practices of midwives in two Swedish labour wards. After birth, the women and midwives were interviewed. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data, and the study design and interpretation of results were informed by a social constructionist view of gender.ResultsThe analysis resulted in three themes, mirroring the pillars on which labour and birth care rests– the labour care organisation, the midwives, and the women who give birth. The organisation was hierarchical and based on traditional masculine values such as rationality, efficiency, and productivity. The midwives tried to balance the needs of the birthing women and the organisational demands of throughput. As action and technological skills are more noticeable and linked to masculinity, and thus more valued than the invisible feminine-coded emotional care work of supporting a woman in labour, the midwives became task-oriented and more focused on ‘doing’ than on ‘being’. This led to more birth interventions, less support for the birthing women, and to occupational stress and stress of conscience for the midwives. Normative expressions of femininity were observed in the birthing women, such as placing the needs of others before their own and acts of compliance, which sometimes led to unconsented interventions.ConclusionsWe suggest that societal gender norms and gender-based hierarchies in combination with modern society becoming progressively risk-laden and technology-oriented, have contributed to an increasingly medicalised and interventionist labour and birth care organisation, where physiological birth is rare. Awareness of how gender norms inform labour and birth care practice may be one way to make visible and to recognise all aspects of midwifery care, as well as help flatten hospital hierarchies, improve working conditions for midwives, promote physiological birth, and limit unnecessary and unconsented interventions for the birthing women.

The Three Spheres of Rights-Based Practice in Social Work: Respecting, Claiming, and Changing

Abstract Social work is recognized as a human rights profession. However, integrating human rights principles into everyday practice has remained a challenge. Building on previous work, this paper introduces an innovative “three spheres” framework, which recognizes three distinctive, yet interconnected spheres of rights-based practice in social work: (1) respecting rights, where social workers meet their own human rights obligations; (2) claiming rights, where social workers assist clients in accessing their rights; and (3) changing rights, where social workers influence policy changes that better protect and facilitate clients’ rights. We argue that while all of these spheres necessitate a human rights framework that regards clients as rights holders, each sphere frames and applies social workers’ rights-based practice in unique ways. The article clarifies the distinct purposes, normative sources, and social work roles in each sphere while exploring their interconnectedness.