Hold Your Research Articles

Hold your breath! Air pollution and cognitive performance in Colombia

Air pollution is a known health hazard, and evidence of negative effects beyond the health dimension is rapidly emerging. This paper studies the effect on one non-health dimension, namely cognitive performance. It exploits exogenous variation in exposure to air pollution during secondary school exams and estimate the contemporaneous effect on students’ cognitive performance in Colombia between 2012 and 2018. The results indicate that exposure to air pollution on the day of the exam itself negatively impacts students’ performance. Using variation in wind direction as an instrument for air pollution, I find that a one standard deviation increase in air pollution reduces overall test scores by 0.05 standard deviations. For students who continue to tertiary education, there is no evidence that this distorted signal of their cognitive abilities at the secondary school exam translates into differences in college attendance, as proxied by college graduation rates.

"Hold Your Nose and Vote": Centrism and the Management of Democracy Through Changing Times

"Hold Your Nose and Vote": Centrism and the Management of Democracy Through Changing Times

Hold your fire! Influence of female legislators on gun legislation in the United States

AbstractObjectiveThis article considers the influence of female legislators on gun legislation across U.S. states. Females have behavioral differences with males and likely different exposure to gun‐related violence.MethodUsing data from 1991 to 2020, we estimate the drivers of gun legislation across U.S. states. The dependent variables are alternately the total number of gun laws enacted and 5‐year differences in gun laws.ResultsWe find that female legislators in state houses significantly increase the supply of gun laws. Female senators, on the other hand, were no different from their male counterparts. In other results, states with greater population density had more gun laws, while economic prosperity, race, and the elderly population did not generally have significant effects. Finally, when special interest aspects, involving gun ownership, mass shooting episodes, and states with single‐party control of the legislative and executive branches are considered, mass shootings and single‐party control increase laws, while gun owners have the opposite effect. These findings show significance when 5‐year differences in gun laws are used.ConclusionsOur findings suggest that when it comes to gun legislation and female legislator representation, it matters which chamber of the legislature females are elected to. Furthermore, different interest groups can significantly bear upon gun legislation.

Hold your Horses! An Uncommon Cause of Bacteremia in HCT Recipients

Abstract Background Diagnosis and management of bloodstream infections due to uncommon microorganisms in immunocompromised hosts (ICH) are challenging. Removing central venous catheters (CVC) and combination antimicrobial therapy may be necessary. Case A 2-year-old female with Mucopolysaccharidosis type I on day +125 after matched unrelated donor allogenic transplant presented with 2 days of decreased activity. Two days prior, she had completed 4 weeks of ciprofloxacin and clarithromycin for treatment of Mycobacterium cosmeticum catheter-related bacteremia (CRBSI). The CVC was removed. The patient lived in a rural area but had no direct animal exposure, except for an indoor vaccinated dog. Household contacts were healthy and immunized. The patient was febrile and tachycardic with no evidence of infection around CVL or G-tube. Laboratory results showed pancytopenia and elevated C-reactive protein Blood cultures grew diphtheroid gram-positive bacilli (GPB) and gram-positive cocci (GPC) in clusters, the later identified as S. epidermidis. The GPB could not be identified from the liquid media and was sent to an outside lab. The report was corrected to GPC after growing on solid medium culture. The patient was started on meropenem and vancomycin and the CVC was removed. The GPB was identified as Rhodococcus equi. A chest CT showed new ground glass nodules in the left lower lobe. The patient defervesced and was discharged on a 10-day course of oral linezolid for S. epidermidis, clarithromycin and levofloxacin. She completed one month of clarithromycin and levofloxacin. Chest CT at end of treatment confirmed resolution. Discussion and conclusions Rhodococcus equi is a pleomorphic gram-positive bacteria that presents as cocci in solid media and as a diphtheroid gram-positive rod in liquid media. Horses are the primary hosts, but most herbivores are fecal carriers. Transmission occurs through inhalation of dust from contaminated soil. R.equi frequently presents as pulmonary infection with cavitated nodules. Over half of ICH develop secondary bacteremia. Extrapulmonary infection secondary to dissemination of pulmonary disease can occur but isolated extrapulmonary disease is rare. R.equi can be easily dismissed as a contaminant requiring a high level of suspicion and communication with lab personnel. When isolated from an extrapulmonary location, chest imagining is essential to guide treatment. Treatment should combine two antibiotics, at least one of them with intracellular activity, with fluoroquinolones and macrolides among the preferred options. For device-related infections, removal is recommended. Treatment duration for uncomplicated infections is 10 to 14 days, but cavitary lesions require longer treatment based on the resolution of lesions

Hold Your Fingers: The Communication Ethics on WhatsApp Based on the Hadith

In recent years, the widespread dissemination of false information on social media, especially WhatsApp, has become a major concern. This calls for a comprehensive analysis, emphasizing the Hadith perspective, in the context of Covid-19 misinformation in Indonesia. This article qualitatively analyses the spread of false information through WhatsApp, from the Hadith perspective. This study collected and analyzed WhatsApp messages circulating in Indonesia from 2020 to 29 May 2022, using the Turnbackhoax website to identify false information related to COVID-19. There were 217 messages classified into various categories, such as understanding COVID-19, symptoms, government policies, services, spread, treatment, positive patient data, task force, deaths, economic, social, and religious impacts, vaccines, and masks. The findings show that WhatsApp is a social media platform that is widely used to spread false information. The findings were then analyzed using Hadith, which revealed WhatsApp communication ethics such as silence is better than communicating false information, selectively sharing information, and conducting investigations. This research is expected to contribute to understanding the method in clear standardization, namely the Hadith of the Prophet. Anyone can use this method to prevent the spread of false information through various mass communication media, not only WhatsApp. Keywords: COVID-19, misinformation, communication ethics, hadith, WhatsApp.

Hold Your Tongue

A book review of Matthew Tétreault's (2023) "Hold Your Tongue".

The Two-Digit Rule and Winter’s Formula

No abstract available. Article truncated after 150 words. I recently wondered, “How does the “Two-digit rule” for determining the adequacy of respiratory compensation for metabolic acidosis relate to Winter’s formula?” Many clinicians were taught this rule-of-thumb: the last two digits of the pH (those visible if you hold your thumb over the “7”) should provide an approximation of pCO2 (in mm Hg) in the presence of normal respiratory compensation. Although Winter’s formula is easy to remember and perform, the Two-digit rule is even easier. Winter’s formula and the Two-digit rule have both been derived empirically from clinical data (1,2). But the reason the Two-digit rule should work has never, to our knowledge, been adequately explained. We wondered how the two rules were related. We began with serum HCO3 values ranging from 4 -18 mmol/L and used them to calculate the corresponding predicted pCO2 values using Winter’s formula (3). Next, we used the Henderson-Hasselbalch equation to calculate the corresponding …

“You hold your life in your hands until you arrive in another country”: young Afghans seeking onward mobility from Greece

ABSTRACT This article considers the interplay between mobility and immobility in the everyday lives of young people on the move. It looks at the ways interactions with and categorisations by protection structures and restrictive border and migration regimes lead to diverse trajectories. The article is based on research with young men from Afghanistan mostly classified as unaccompanied minors. Some of the young men were seeking to continue their journeys from Greece and others had managed and had arrived in Norway. The young people’s trajectories were marked by uneven rhythms and multiple forms of movement and stasis with various effects on the body and the intimate. Whether they were categorised as accompanied or unaccompanied children or as adults also governed their spatiotemporal mobility and led to different, partly contradictory, temporalities. Moreover, imagination, desire, and conditions endured in the places they had left and moved through interacted and encouraged onward mobility.

Hold your breath: Observations of the endangered pygmy bluetongue (Tiliqua adelaidensis) submerged in flooded burrows

AbstractUnderstanding adaptations to extreme weather events by endangered species is critical to inform conservation decisions, particularly when their adaptations relate to artificial habitat supplementation at translocation sites. Apnoea, temporary suspension of breathing, has been observed as an anti‐predator adaptation by semi‐aquatic reptiles that dive underwater for periods of time to avoid detection. This study reports on the observations of an endangered grassland skink, the pygmy bluetongue (Tiliqua adelaidensis), remaining submerged in rain‐induced flooded artificial burrows at an experimental translocation site.

Hold your breath! How to build little tracheas in the combat against COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 research with regard to the 3Rs principle

Hold your breath! How to build little tracheas in the combat against COVID-19. SARS-CoV-2 research with regard to the 3Rs principle

I wanna hold your hand: Handholding is preferred over gentle stroking for emotion regulation.

Social touch is an important form of interpersonal emotion regulation. In recent years, the emotion regulation effects of two types of touch have been studied extensively: handholding and stroking (specifically of skin with C-tactile afferents on the forearm, i.e. C-touch). While some studies compare their effectiveness, with mixed results, no study to date has examined which type of touch is subjectively preferred. Given the potential bidirectional communication provided by handholding, we hypothesized that to regulate intense emotions, participants would prefer handholding. In four pre-registered online studies (total N = 287), participants rated handholding and stroking, presented in short videos, as emotion regulation methods. Study 1 examined touch reception preference in hypothetical situations. Study 2 replicated Study 1 while also examining touch provision preferences. Study 3 examined touch reception preferences of participants with blood/injection phobia in hypothetical injection situations. Study 4 examined types of touch participants who have recently given birth recalled receiving during childbirth and their hypothetical preferences. In all studies, participants preferred handholding over stroking; participants who have recently given birth reported receiving handholding more than stroking. This was especially evident in Studies 1-3 in emotionally intense situations. These results demonstrate that handholding is preferred over stroking as a form of emotion regulation, especially in intense situations, and support the importance of two-way sensory communication for emotion regulation via touch. We discuss the results and possible additional mechanisms, including top-down processing and cultural priming.

1,2,5,6‐Naphthalene Diimides: A Class of Promising Building Blocks for Organic Semiconductors†

Comprehensive SummaryOrganic semiconductors have drawn extensive attention due to their optoelectronic properties and wide applications in organic optoelectronics. In comparison with the popular 1,4,5,8‐naphthalene diimides (1,4,5,8‐NDIs), the angular‐shaped 1,2,5,6‐NDIs have exhibited tunable photophysical properties, self‐assembly behaviors and charge transporting properties. Due to these unique features, 1,2,5,6‐NDIs show great potential for construction of high performance π‐functional materials. In this review, we highlight the recent advances and future prospects of 1,2,5,6‐NDI‐based π‐systems in the field of organic optoelectronics, including molecular design, synthesis, structure‐property relationships as well as the applications in high performance organic field‐effect transistors, organic photovoltaics, perovskite solar cells, and so on. What is the most favorite and original chemistry developed in your research group?Chemistry of π‐functional materials by using naphthalene and azulene as the basic structural units.How do you get into this specific field? Could you please share some experiences with our readers?This comes from my previous research experience, independent thinking and academic exchange & discussion. When I was a PhD student, my research topic focused on p‐type organic semiconductors. Since I independently carried out scientific research, my research interest turned to developing more challenging n‐type organic semiconductors by using core‐expanded 1,4,5,8‐naphthalene diimides (NDIs). Later on, 1,2,5,6‐NDIs as high‐performance organic semiconductors, the topic of this review paper, entered our study perspective based on the concept of isomerism. Also, based on the concept of isomerism and academic discussion, azulene, the isomer of naphthalene with unique chemical structure and physicochemical properties, became the dominant building block for constructing novel π‐functional materials in my group.How do you supervise your students?Select a research topic with scientific significance and certain challenges, let students consult and intensively read relevant literatures and obtain research inspiration, basic knowledge, experimental skills, writing skills, etc. Encourage students to think independently, try more, and pay more attention to communication and cooperation. Fully train students to write research papers independently. The last but not the least, advocate the academic spirit of being innovative, pursuing excellence as well as rigorous scholarship.What is the most important personality for scientific research?Curiosity and perseverance.What are your hobbies?Reading and walking.If you have anything else to tell our readers, please feel free to do so.No one can imprison your mind and hold your hand to prevent you from doing research work, follow your heart to do what you like and different from others.

(untitled), and: Point by Point

(untitled), and: Point by Point Mikhail Aizenberg (bio) and J. Kates (bio) (untitled) Memory unmoored far in the past,freed, we have forgotten everything—phone numbers, passwords, addresses,and poems we once knew by heart. We remember only what we have readin a language we only partly know,in the ship's log of a sunken vesseland in a diary burned up long ago. [End Page 25] Point by Point 1 One who has stepped on a live wireor been caught up in a senseless warcan hear the sky's inaudible murmurand the hawk's claw digging into silence. 2 If only all words did not teach themselvesnot to understand where they led,and to speak in threatening voices,to a distant shot arcing down to earth. 3 Believe someone, complain to someone—to the black crow on the telephone helpline?Its own feathers are still growing out in the skyfor the sake of everything put into play. 4 Fold your arms,hold your breath.If you didn't know, this is all against the rules.Only the soaring falcon has already extendedthe curved knife blades of its wings. [End Page 26] Mikhail Aizenberg mikhail aizenberg has been writing poems since the mid 1960s. In 2003-4 he was awarded a Joseph Brodsky fellowship. A selection of his poems, Say Thank You (translated by J. Kates) was published by Zephyr Press in 2007, and another, Level with Us, by Cold Hub Press in 2011. J. Kates j. kates is a minor poet and a literary translator who lives in Fitzwilliam, New Hampshire. Copyright © 2023 Mikhail Aizenberg and J. Kates

Muscle Energy Technique Efektif pada Pasien Nyeri Musculus Upper Travezius

Neck pain radiating to the upper trapezius muscles can interfere with the patient's daily activities due to the limited range of motion of the neck, the cervical extensors and flexors become tense due to changes in cervical biomechanics and generally affect workers who require repetition of movements coupled with high work speeds. If you hold your head down for too long it will cause muscle tension or spasm in the neck area and there will be limited neck movement so that the neck is functionally disturbed. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of muscle energy techniques in neck muscle pain, spasm of the upper travezius muscles. The design of this study was experimental with a pre test-post test one group design. The research subjects met the criteria, namely neck pain myofascial trigger point of the upper trapezius muscle, men and women with moderate to severe pain intensity, willing to be respondents and no musculoskeletal disorders. This research was conducted in June-July 2018. 10 patients with upper trapezius pain (age 21-23 years) were given muscle energy techniques with minimal isometric contractions and stretching 3 times/week, isometric movements repeated 5 times and stretching on the upper trapezius for 45 second. Pain was measured with a Visual analog scale at the beginning and end of the intervention. The results of the study found a significant reduction in pain with scores (p <0.05). The conclusion of this study is that muscle energy technique is effective in reducing pain in cases of spasm of the upper travezius muscle.

Effects of sensorimotor voice training on event-related potentials to pitch-shifted auditory feedback.

The pitch perturbation technique is a validated technique that has been used for over 30 years to understand how people control their voice. This technique involves altering a person's voice pitch in real-time while they produce a vowel (commonly, a prolonged /a/ sound). Although post-task changes in the voice have been observed in several studies (e.g., a change in mean fo across the duration of the experiment), the potential for using the pitch perturbation technique as a training tool for voice pitch regulation and/or modification has not been explored. The present study examined changes in event related potentials (ERPs) and voice pitch in three groups of subjects due to altered voice auditory feedback following a brief, four-day training period. Participants in the opposing group were trained to change their voice fo in the opposite direction of a pitch perturbation stimulus. Participants in the following group were trained to change their voice fo in the same direction as the pitch perturbation stimulus. Participants in the non-varying group did not voluntarily change their pitch, but instead were asked to hold their voice constant when they heard pitch perturbations. Results showed that all three types of training affected the ERPs and the voice pitch-shift response from pre-training to post-training (i.e., "hold your voice pitch steady" task; an indicator of voice pitch regulation). Across all training tasks, the N1 and P2 components of the ERPs occurred earlier, and the P2 component of the ERPs occurred with larger amplitude post-training. The voice responses also occurred earlier but with a smaller amplitude following training. These results demonstrate that participation in pitch-shifted auditory feedback tasks even for brief periods of time can modulate the automatic tendency to compensate for alterations in voice pitch feedback and has therapeutic potential.

Hold Your Fire! Influence of Female Legislators on Gun Legislation in the Us

Hold Your Fire! Influence of Female Legislators on Gun Legislation in the Us

“Hold Your Breath and Bear Down”: Using Valsalva’s Maneuver to Explore Venous Variations in the Neck

“Hold Your Breath and Bear Down”: Using Valsalva’s Maneuver to Explore Venous Variations in the Neck

“Hold your nose and harness these men”: Sexual vulnerability in a hyper-masculine organization – A barrier or a resource?

Based on 34 in-depth interviews with women in the Israeli military, this article explores how the sexual vulnerability of women in power positions is used as both a disciplining power and a resource for agency that enables them to negotiate a hyper-masculine organizational culture. Juxtaposing theoretical insights from the CMS literature on sexuality within organizations with those arising from the Butlerian conceptualization of vulnerability, we offer an analytical framework for understanding women’s sexual vulnerability in hyper-masculine environments, not exclusively as a victimization process but also as a significant survival practice designed for coping with their organizational exclusion. Accordingly, the theoretical contribution of this article allows for a nuanced examination of subjects experiencing exclusion and devaluation as they constitute their political subjectivity in hostile work environments.

2008's mistrust vs 2020's panic: can ESG hold your institutional investors?

PurposeThe authors compare two market collapse incidents, focusing on their role as turning points for ESG considerations among investors that do not fall under the SRI class. The authors draw from the signaling theory to posit that ESG performance acts as a buffer to retain institutional shareholders under stress conditions.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collect extensive data on institutional shareholdings and corporate performance during the pandemic and the 2008 financial crisis to examine the potential of ESG to act as a downward risk hedging mechanism. The authors test whether superior ESG scores function as insurance and resilience signals that lock investors in through times of high probability of divestments.FindingsFindings indicate that ESG weighs in investment decisions during economic downturn and poor returns. The nature of this positive relationship is not static but dynamic contingent on overall risk materiality considerations.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors update regulators, firms, investors and academics on ESG, risk and crisis management. The shifting materiality and the altering impact of ESG practices is our core implication, as well as limitation, in terms of metrics, temporal evolution and interaction with institutional factors, along with portfolio alpha and safe haven potential in ESG asset classes.Originality/valueThe authors extend current literature focusing on portfolio returns and firm valuations to highlight the role of ESG in shareholder retention during poor return periods. The authors further add to existing studies by examining the shifting materiality of ESG pillars during different crisis settings.

Machine learning – coming soon to a cath lab near you? Or ‘don’t hold your breath’?

Machine learning – coming soon to a cath lab near you? Or ‘don’t hold your breath’?