False Sense Of Security Research Articles

Emulsion-Stabilized Hydrate Slurries: An Operational Flow Assurance Reality or a False Sense of Security

Emulsion-Stabilized Hydrate Slurries: An Operational Flow Assurance Reality or a False Sense of Security

Does ECG monitoring affect resuscitation for neonates with pulseless electrical activity in the delivery room? A simulated, pilot, crossover randomised trial

ObjectiveTo evaluate whether ECG monitoring impacts resuscitative steps during simulated neonatal resuscitation in the setting of pulseless electrical activity (PEA) in the delivery room.DesignThis pilot, crossover randomised controlled trial recruited...

Pathological Complete Response after Radio Chemotherapy and Esophagectomy – false Sense of Security?

Abstract Background Esophageal cancer (EC) is associated with a high morbidity and mortality, even in a curative treatment approach. The current standard of care for curative treatment of EC consists of neoadjuvant radio chemotherapy (RCT) followed by resection. Pathological response in the resected tissue is a well-known predictor of disease-free (DFS) and overall survival (OS). Yet, even in a pathological complete response (pCR), cancer recurrence is not infrequent. Aims To analyze DFS and OS in patients with pCR after trimodal therapy and identify risk factors for recurrence. Methods We retrospectively analyzed all patients with pathological complete response after RCT and esophagectomy treated for EC between 01/2014 and 12/2021. Clinical data such as demographic data, tumor characteristics at staging and restaging and postoperative follow-up, were extracted from electronic medical records. Results Of 28 patients, 10 (35.7%) developed cancer recurrence. There were no statistically significant differences in patient or tumor characteristics between patients with or without recurrence. Recurrence occurred after a median 21 months (IQR 30). Median OS was 40.5 months (IQR 40) in patients with and 48.5 months (IQR 32) in patients without recurrence (p=0.121). Recurrence was mostly distant (n = 9, 90%). 4 (of 10, 40%) patients were then addressed in curative, 6 (60%) in palliative intention. Predictive factors for cancer recurrence were persistent tumor in endosonography and/or computed tomography during restaging. Conclusion Even in patients with pCR after RCT and esophagectomy, around one third develops cancer recurrence. A tight follow-up with special attention to distant rather than local recurrence seems beneficial. Patients with an aspect of only partial response at restaging are at higher risk for recurrence and should be monitored even closer.

False Sense of Security? A Study of Risk Compensation in the Lab and the Field

False Sense of Security? A Study of Risk Compensation in the Lab and the Field

(Invited) Thermal Stability and Thermal Energy Measurements for a Lithium-Ion Pouch Cell with Different State of Health

Lithium-ion batteries have developed into one of the most popular secondary batteries on the market today due to high voltage, long lifetime and high energy density. However, lithium-ion cells have issues related to safety. Since the development of an internal short in a lithium-ion battery at present cannot be detected [1, 2], the physical reactions of a lithium-ion battery must be managed by a robust battery design. Lithium-ion batteries used in the Norwegian maritime sector need to be approved by thermal propagation tests as verification of design [3]. During a propagation test, one or several lithium-ion cells are forced into thermal runaway either by heating, overcharge or nail penetration. The acceptance criterion is either; no spread of thermal runaway between cells in a module, or between modules. Despite these rules, several fires have been reported. Of the more well-known are the fire/gas explosion onboard the electric car ferry ‘MF Ytterøyningen’ [4] and the fire on board ‘MS Brim’ [5].A commercial 64 Ah lithium-ion pouch cell was studied by forcing thermal runaway with nail penetration, heating and overcharge to evaluate the energy release based on the abuse method. Two cells aged to 80% state of health (SoH) were also studied with accelerating rate calorimetry and nail penetration to see the effect of cell ageing on thermal stability, critical temperature, energy release and jet flame severity. These methods were combined with diagnostics and cell disassembly to relate the differences found in degradation and safety to the diagnostic data. The safety results will be highlighted in this presentation.The uncycled cells safety properties were rated by fire and mass losses. All cells caught fire, and the mass loss ranged from 38.8% for nail penetration, 55.4% for heat ramp and 72.3% for overcharge. Based on mass loss only, overcharge is the most severe abuse method. Contrary to this, energy released to the solid surroundings during thermal runaway (internal thermal energy) decreased with increasing mass loss. Mass loss could be a key feature in explaining energy release and abuse method severity, see Figure 1. As a result, an uncycled cell in a battery module may withstand the heat from a neighboring thermal runaway during overcharge but may be driven into thermal runaway by a nail penetration test.Cyclic ageing at 25 °C to 80% SoH had a minor impact on abuse severity and mass loss. However, cycled cells are found to lose more electrical energy than internal thermalenergy. Cell electrical energy loss is not directly related to a change in the cell's internal thermal energy. Thermal runaway temperature was found to decrease for a cycled cell, from 204°C to 182°C.Dependent on abuse method, a false sense of security may result from the propagation test. Possibly, a module could show no cell-to-cell propagation with the overcharge method but be driven into thermal runaway propagation by a nail penetration. A decrease in thermal stability combined with a change in internal thermal energy could be hazardous and might be an end-of-life criteria. It is of vital importance to develop diagnostic tools capable of detecting a potentially hazardous drop in thermal stability for aged lithium-ion cells.Acknowledgements: This work was part of the BattMarine project (281005), funded by the Research Council of Norway and Norwegian industry.

Access to, use of, and experiences with social alarms in home-living people with dementia: results from the LIVE@Home.Path trial.

Social alarms are considered an appropriate technology to ensure the safety and independence of older adults, but limited research has been conducted on their actual use. We, therefore, explored the access, experiences, and use of social alarms among home-bound people with dementia and their informal caregivers (dyads). From May 2019 to October 2021, the LIVE@Home.Path mixed-method intervention trial collected data from semi-quantitative questionnaires and qualitative interviews conducted among home-dwelling people with dementia and their informal caregivers in Norway. The study focused on data from the final assessment at 24 months. A total of 278 dyads were included, and 82 participants reached the final assessment. The mean age of the patients was 83 years; 74.6% were female; 50% lived alone; and 58% had their child as a caregiver. A total of 62.2% of subjects had access to a social alarm. Caregivers were more likely to answer that the device was not in use (23.6%) compared to patients (14%). Qualitative data revealed that approximately 50% of the patients were not aware of having such an alarm. Regression analyses assessed that access to a social alarm was associated with increasing age (86-97 years, p = 0.005) and living alone (p < 0.001). Compared to their caregivers, people with dementia were more likely to answer that the device gave them a false sense of security (28% vs. 9.9%), while caregivers were more likely to answer that the social alarm was of no value (31.4% vs.14.0%). The number of social alarms installed increased from 39.5% at baseline to 68% at 24 months. The frequency of unused social alarms increased from 12 months (17.7%) to 24 months (23.5%), and patients were less likely to feel safe during this period (60.8% vs. 70%). Depending on their living situation, patients and family members experienced the installed social alarm differently. There is a gap between access to and the use of social alarms. The results indicate an urgent need for better routines in municipalities with regard to the provision and follow-up of existing social alarms. To meet the users' changing needs and abilities, passive monitoring may help them adapt to declining cognitive abilities and increase their safety.Clinical Trial Registration: https://ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT04043364.

Problems of using personal protective equipment in modern conditions

The use of personal protective equipment (PPE) is one of the ways to preserve the health of employees in adverse working conditions. PPE remains one of the key tools for minimizing the impact of harmful and dangerous factors. Scientists create and use PPE to reduce accidents, serious injuries, poisoning, the likelihood of developing professionally caused, occupational diseases that often remain undetected. It is important to use PPE efficiently by employees of various industries. The effectiveness of their use in the workplace largely depends on the right choice, the employer's awareness of the risks, training in ways to check the serviceability, correct use, control. The lack of training or its insufficiency leads to inevitable mistakes in the selection and application of PPE. Unfortunately, not all existing PPE are effective enough, because they are not always of proper quality, are not individually selected, and are not able to give warning signals about the presence of danger. Employees should take into account that PPE can create: harmful and sometimes dangerous inconveniences for health; a false sense of security in case of improper use, loss of efficiency in case of incorrect storage or maintenance; complicate working conditions. The correct use of PPE depends on the behavior of the worker. It is advisable to take into account the nature of labor operations and the severity of the work performed; the protective properties of PPE, depending on the type and quality of materials used for their manufacture; product design. Competent selection of PPE, compliance with the terms of their operation can reduce professional risks. To date, specialists have developed modern "smart" PPE, as well as intelligent systems to improve the efficiency of existing PPE.

The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia: From Things of Tyranny to Troubled Treasure by Michael Hughes

Reviewed by: The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia: From Things of Tyranny to Troubled Treasure by Michael Hughes Melissa Etzler The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia: From Things of Tyranny to Troubled Treasure. By Michael Hughes. London: Routledge, 2022. Pp. 260. Hardcover $170.00. ISBN 978-0367422004. The Anarchy of Nazi Memorabilia offers an in-depth study of the symbols displayed on the badges provided to German citizens, soldiers, and veterans during WWI and through WWII. Each chapter outlines the historical and political backdrop of the period as a means to establish the functionality of a given badge. Hughes gives examples of the quintessential emblems, how, where, and by whom they were produced, in which materials and quantities, and concludes with a note on the collectors of the pieces and the current market. The text fills a gap in historical Third Reich studies since, as Hughes states, “there is a shortage of scholarly literature on the symbols and [End Page 324] ritual objects produced and deployed by the Nazi Party (NSDAP), emblems created to construct a Nazi identity and ethos” (1). In each chapter, there is a discussion of the material culture of the object, its aura, aesthetic appeal, and commercial value. In the opening chapter, “From Weimar to the Third Reich,” Hughes examines to what extent Hitler’s mass deployment of symbols contributed to his chancellorship, maintaining his hold on Germany, and isolating German Jews. Hughes often highlights the irony of the symbols and begins by identifying how the Great War Iron Cross “objectified the veteran’s bravery” and yet, with abundant wounded veterans, their “disability showed the price [they] paid for it” (15). Otto Dix and George Grosz’s paintings featuring disabled veterans wearing the Iron Cross are included to visually represent this conflict. Likewise, each subsequent chapter problematizes how these badges were used to manipulate individuals and identify outsiders. The second chapter, “The Materiality of the People’s Community,” focuses on the symbols and badges created to facilitate the Gemeinschaft or “fellowship, cooperation, and solidarity of the German community” (36), which the Nazis wanted to create. As with the Iron Cross, Hughes explores the dual meaning of various emblems. He looks at the emblem of the German Labor Front (DAF), which features a swastika encased in a cogwheel, and explains that while the emblem is meant to show how each individual member makes a valuable contribution to society, it ultimately became a “metaphor under which the rights of workers were obliterated” (38) since each individual was expected to perform at the same, unrealistically high level. The emblem later became a convenient excuse for participation in war crimes, for instance, the commandant of Auschwitz, Rudolf Höss, claimed to have been a “cog in the wheel” (39). Another moment of irony is mentioned with the badges being produced to raise funds for the NSDAP organization Strength through Joy (KdF) which funded workers’ vacations but used forced labor to create the badges. Lastly, the chapter describes an initiative that the NSDAP assumed, the Winter Relief of the German People (WHW), which dispersed badges for financial donations. Each campaign by the WHW featured a differently styled badge; thus, if a citizen did not possess the latest badge, it was obvious that they had prioritized individual needs over the common good and risked becoming an enemy of the people. The chapter “Pre-War Awards” discusses how medals such as the Cross of Honor, which was issued in 1934 and which Jewish war veterans could receive, provided Jewish veterans with a false sense of security since they assumed the medal would protect against antisemitism. The chapter also introduces key figures who accepted badges from Hitler, such as Henry Ford’s German Eagle Order badge. Regardless of the quality of these badges, they had the symbolic power to imply those accepting were sympathetic to the regime. Likewise, the next two chapters, “Medals for Babies,” which explains the role of the Mother’s Cross, given to mothers after they had birthed four or more children, and “Wartime Awards,” given initially to an elite group, but [End Page 325] eventually to children as an incentive, are about the badges’ ability to show allegiance. The chapter “Trash or...

Abstract #1400722: False Sense of Security: ACTH Stimulation Testing in Secondary Adrenal Insufficiency

In euvolemic hyponatremia, endocrinopathies such as hypothyroidism and adrenal insufficiency are possible etiologies. Secondary adrenal insufficiency (SAI) can cause hyponatremia due to impaired free water excretion. Panhypopituitarism is a possible etiology of gradual onset where gonadotropins (FSH, LH) lose production followed by TSH and ACTH. We present a case where an ACTH stimulation test misled the diagnostic workup. A 69-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital with dizziness, weakness, nausea and vomiting. MRI revealed a 1.8 cm pituitary cyst. She had history of meningioma surgery several years prior. Sodium was 121 mEq/L, serum osmolarity 250 mOsm/Kg, potassium 4.3 mEq/L, uric acid 2.3 mg/dL, urine osmolarity 466 mOsm/Kg, urine sodium 80 mEq/L, TSH 3.01 uIU/mL, Free T4 0.62 ng/dL and cortisol 3.2 ug/dL. ACTH stimulation was performed with baseline cortisol of 2.2 ug/dL, 30 minutes 13 ug/dL, and 60 minutes 20.3 ug/dL. Patient was treated as SIADH but did not improve clinically or chemically. ACTH was soon reported as undetectable with negligible gonadotropins (FSH 1.6 mIU/ml and LH 0.2 mIU/ml). Two years prior FSH was 38.7 mIU/ml, LH 13.0 mIU/ml. One year prior, FSH was 6 mIU/ml, LH 1.9 mIU/ml, and ACTH 17.3 pg/ml. Subsequently, patient was treated with steroids and rapidly improved clinically and chemically. Diagnosing SAI can be challenging. SAI can be insidious in onset and difficult to recognize despite close laboratory monitoring. In our patient, there was a sharp falloff of gonadotropins one-year prior which should have prompted further pituitary evaluation for SAI. Cortisol secretion is pulsatile and sometimes hard to interpret in this setting. Insulin tolerance testing is the gold standard but is rarely performed. ACTH 1 microgram testing has sensitivity of 83% but high dose 250 microgram is only 64%. An abnormal stimulation test has high specificity for SAI. In this case, delayed diagnosis of hypopituitarism, particularly SAI, could have disastrous consequences. False reassurance from an ACTH stimulation has to be guarded against.

Contrasting effects of two hydrogels on biomass allocation, needle loss, and root growth of Picea abies seedlings under drought

Adapted management methodologies are required to alleviate increasing and/or more frequent water stress under climate change, enabling successful tree seedling establishment after planting. Hydrogel amendments have been suggested to increase soil water holding capacity, tree seedling growth and survival. However, the effect of a non-uniform addition of hydrogels to tree planting pits as compared to homogenously admixed hydrogels in agricultural soils, as well as effects of hydrogels on woody root system establishment, have been poorly studied.Here we studied the effect of two commercial hydrogels (Polyter and Stockosorb) on the above- and belowground growth of Picea abies seedlings during a ∼ 5-weeks-long drought period. Rhizoboxes with a non-uniform distribution of nutrients and hydrogels were used to monitor root system development in a stratified soil. Biomass allocation, root morphology and root elongation rates were related to evapotranspiration rates. Proximity effects of hydrogels on root traits were determined.Total plant biomass was significantly greater if plants were grown in Polyter-amended soil (+16, 17 %) compared to the Stockosorb and control treatments, respectively. Dead needle mass was significantly greater in Stockosorb than in Polyter (+719 %) and control (+274 %). Root elongation was faster in both hydrogel treatments compared to the control during the first part of the drought period, but subsequently ceased to the order Polyter > control > Stockosorb. Root morphological changes in relation to hydrogels were limited.The better performance of Polyter-amended seedlings was related to a slow water release from the hydrogel, while Stockosorb released the additional soil water content prematurely. The latter might have imposed a “false sense of security”, and the subsequent lack of acclimation responses early in the drought resulted in an even more severe drought stress and a higher needle loss of Stockosorb-amended seedlings as compared to control. However, both hydrogels did not result in preferential growth towards or away from the hydrogel, suggesting that roots did neither sense the hydrogel-bound water nor that secondary compounds hampered root growth. A deeper root system placement and thus potential advantages for drought events at later growth stages were not encountered, asPolyter also had a strong positive effect on root growth in the fertile top soil. As hydrogel amendments may influence root system establishment and seedling vitality differently during drought, further studies are urgently needed before large scale applications to mitigate climate change effects on forest regeneration / restoration can take place.

Evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of a safety protocol to mitigate SARS-CoV-2 transmission risks when participating in full-capacity live mass events: a cross-sectional survey and interview-based study

ObjectiveInvestigate the feasibility and acceptability of a novel COVID-19 safety protocol combining professionally witnessed home-based videoed pre-event testing and a data-driven risk assessment model that was piloted at the Standon...

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It’s vital we ensure our workplaces are safe, fair and welcoming, but compulsory online training courses can fool us into a false sense of security, says Robert P Crease.

Liberating Luther: A Lutheran Theology from Latin America by Vítor Westhelle

Reviewed by: Liberating Luther: A Lutheran Theology from Latin America by Vítor Westhelle Philip Ruge-Jones Liberating Luther: A Lutheran Theology from Latin America. By Vítor Westhelle. Translated by Robert A. Butterfield. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2021. 238 pp. This collection of eleven essays by the late, great Vítor Westhelle consists of articles primarily published in Estudios Teológicos between 1978 and 1998. The translator notes that Westhelle referred to his own writing style as baroque (xiii). The reader will feel a baroque level of complexity, attention to detail, and invocation of transcendence in terms of both the style and substance of his writing. In the Foreword, his colleague Roberto Zwetsch comments that Westhelle’s “legacy will continue to disturb us, disquiet us, and make us think” (vii). He does all of this throughout the book, but I would emphasize the third gift. Westhelle’s work is demanding, not providing a simple and pat proposal, but requiring us to give significant attention to his argument, to push back, and ultimately to do some of the intellectual heavy-lifting on our own. Of the many themes in this book—pick a Lutheran theme and he addresses it in surprising ways,—I will focus on language. Language for Westhelle rarely is direct. Truth communicates through language ironically or paradoxically rather than descriptively. In an intriguing chapter on the story of Cain and Abel, Westhelle shows how language functions within the story. The only communication between Cain and Abel is Cain’s deceptive invitation that lures his brother to a deadly place. Communication always is tempted to destroy the other. So we must tell of the murderous story of communicatively destroying the other because that telling itself is a [End Page 470] shield that keeps us from enacting the violence. “Between me and the other, there is the other story that protects me from communication and does not permit me to speak the genocidal word” (78). And, again, “The beauty of the paradox is that we create the narratives that confront us with our own inviability as creatures, and in so doing, rationally but in amazement, we encounter our own irrationality” (77). This destabilizing of our own sense of security, an exposing of the “imperialism of a language that imposes power” (51), leaves us open to the alternative that we cannot construct for ourselves. What is true of language might be said of any human potential. Lutherans will not be surprised that a theologian of their brood emphasizes that God’s word threatens and destabilizes our false sense of security. But Westhelle demonstrates the error of much of our systematic attempts to enact this commitment: we never get to the place of self-recognition and the necessary confession via generalities. The problem of much Lutheran theology lies in its quick absorption of particular sins into broad universal sin (230). We want to allow the law to speak its accusing voice in generalities, but we are only truly addressed by God’s word in our particularities. Cain had to hear the very specific question about the sin he committed, “Where is your brother Abel?” This is the word that shatters him to his core and throws him upon God’s mercy and what freedom divine shelter will afford him. This, too, is true for the people of God wherever they are. Westhelle says, “hope can be named only by the voice of a people who know and narrate the history of their error, their vileness, their fall” (233). In their hopelessness regarding their own resources, the opportunity for doxology faithfully arises. Westhelle’s book participates in this charged moment of kairotic encounter. Thus his “legacy will continue to disturb us, disquiet us, and make us think” (vii). While those accustomed to graduate level bibliographies might take this on, others might better begin by reading another of his books. [End Page 471] Philip Ruge-Jones Grace Lutheran Church Eau Claire, Wisconsin Copyright © 2022 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc

Selfhood in Question: The Ontogenealogies of Bear Encounters

Abstract Recent years have witnessed an increase in bear sightings in Latvia, causing a change of tone in the country’s media outlets, regarding the return of “wild” animals. The unease around bear reappearance leads me to investigate the affective side of relations with beings that show strength and resilience in more-than-human encounters in human-inhabited spaces. These relations are characterized by the contrasting human feelings of alienation vis-à-vis their environments today and a false sense of security, resulting in disbelief to encounter beings capable of challenging human exceptionalism. In a broader sense, the unease connects to human self-constitution and the fragility of the self, fueled by the domination of substance ontologies. This article considers bears as beings “in exile,” as potential threats to human self-pronounced exceptionality, and thus, examples of experienced abject (Kristeva, Julia. Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, translated by Leon Roudiez. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982) regarding human subjectivity. The article aims to analyze the way the constitution of human selfhood is tied to the alienation of wildlife and its genealogical and biopolitical context and to question if a reconceptualization of the human/nonhuman relations via process, instead of substance ontology, is needed.

NICE’s recent guidelines on “the size of your waist” unfairly penalizes shorter people

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has just released its latest guidelines to assess and predict health risk, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension or cardiovascular disease. Their latest advice is “Keep the size of your waist to less than half of your height”. We believe this advice is flawed and will seriously and unfairly penalize shorter people and lull taller people into a false sense of security. In this short communication, we provide this evidence. We consider this a serious oversight by NICE and feel strongly that this evidence needs to be made available in the public domain.

Relaxing Mask Mandates in New Jersey

Relaxing Mask Mandates in New Jersey

“We document everything”: Interpretations of HIPAA and their impact on ASO staff charting practices in the context of HIV criminalization in the state of Georgia

Abstract&#x0D; Introduction: The growing professionalization of AIDS Service Organizations (ASO) and the criminalization of HIV nondisclosure have reshaped both ASO staff interactions with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) as well as ASO staff charting practices.&#x0D; &#x0D; Methods: Building on a recent national research project in Canada, we conducted semi-structured interviews in February-April 2017 with N=12 ASO staff in Atlanta, Georgia to investigate their charting practices in the context of HIV criminalization.&#x0D; &#x0D; Results: Our data showed no variation between professionalized and peer ASO staff in terms of charting practices, although the American participants reported being less protective about the content of their notes and less concerned about the risk their notes may pose in cases involving the criminal prosecution of an alleged HIV nondisclosure incident than was previously reported by their Canadian counterparts. In fact, we identified a false sense of security among American ASO staff stemming from their belief that the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) would protect them from having to disclose their charting notes.&#x0D; Conclusions: We suggest that training and educational opportunities for both professionalized and peer ASO staff are needed to sensitize them to the implications of record-keeping on the prosecution of HIV nondisclosure.

Learning danger: Cultural difference and the limits of trust in dangerous fieldworks

Reflecting on personal experiences from conducting fieldwork in Iraqi and Turkish Kurdistan between 2015 and 2017, the article supplements existing literature on how to navigate dangerous fieldwork by considering the limits of trust with regards to estimating safety, and the necessity of learning local definitions of danger. Trust, the article shows, may provide a false sense of security, particularly when working with revolutionary organizations, due to the socio-cultural differences in attitudes toward what qualifies as danger. Similarly, the article argues that dangers connected with uncertainty may also be better understood through analyzing people’s cultural responses. To better grasp these emic attitudes, the article advocates for taking “steps of faith,” supplemented by an ongoing reflexive process, aimed at assimilating local practices. To conclude, the article argues that an attentiveness to the skills needed to navigate a dangerous terrain, may assist in moving the field away from a scientistic “securitization of research.”

Top questions pharmacists are getting about COVID-19 tests

FDA has been warning consumers not to use several home tests, because they are not FDA-authorized or approved for distribution or use in the United States. Using one of these tests could yield false results and not only lead to an improper diagnosis, but also treatment delays, or a false sense of security. In severe cases, it could result in death, according to FDA. Faulty tests have made it difficult for patients to avoid potential harm from use of at-home COVID-19 tests.

A false sense of security

The growing literature on confidentiality in knowledge representation and reasoning sometimes may cause a false sense of security, due to lack of details about the attacker, and some misconceptions about security-related concepts. This note analyzes the vulnerabilities of some recent knowledge protection methods to increase the awareness about their actual effectiveness and their mutual differences.