Home Continent Research Articles

Health and well-being of maturing adults with classic galactosemia.

Long-term outcomes in classic galactosemia (CG) have been studied previously, but all prior studies have relied on cohorts of patients that were small in number, or heavily skewed toward children and young adults, or both. Here, we extend what is known about the health and well-being of maturing adults with CG by analyzing the results of anonymous custom surveys completed by 92 affected individuals, ages 30-78, and 38 unaffected sibling controls, ages 30-79. The median age for patients was 38.5 years and for controls was 41 years. These study participants hailed from 12 different countries predominantly representing Europe and North America. Participants reported on their general life experiences and outcomes in seven different domains including: speech/voice/language, cognition, motor function, cataracts, bone health, psychosocial well-being, and gastrointestinal health. We also queried women about ovarian function. Our results indicated a prevalence of long-term complications across all outcome domains that aligned with levels previously reported in younger cohorts. Given the sample size and age range of participants in this study, these findings strongly suggest that the adverse developmental outcomes commonly linked to CG are not progressive with age for most patients. We also tested four candidate modifiers for possible association with each of the outcomes followed, including: days of neonatal milk exposure, rigor of dietary galactose restriction in early childhood, current age, and home continent. We observed no associations that reached even nominal significance, except for the following: cataracts with neonatal milk exposure (p = 2.347e-04), cataracts with age (p = 0.018), and bone health with home continent (p = 0.03).

Brief Report: Precision Language and Deletion of the “S” Word

IntroductionIn 2021, the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC) published the IASLC Language Guide as guidance on preferred language and phrasing in oral and written communications, including presentations at conferences. This study analyzed presentations from the 2022 IASLC World Conference on Lung Cancer (WCLC) one year after implementation of the Language Guide to identify adoption rates of non-stigmatizing language and to determine correlations with presenter characteristics. MethodsWe downloaded 522 slide presentations from the IASLC WCLC 2022 conference attendee portal. We searched each presentation, including images, for discussion of tobacco use and the use of the term “smoker,” which is an indicator of stigmatizing language. We conducted internet searches to gather presenters’ stated home continent, sex, specialty, and professional degree. ResultsOf 177 presentations that discussed smoking status, 77 presenters used non-stigmatizing language, whereas 100 presenters used the stigmatizing term “smoker.” Male MDs and female PhDs and non-medicine subspecialties and advocates were more likely to use non-stigmatizing language. ConclusionsEncouragingly, only after one year post-release of the Language Guide, more than one-third of the presenters at the WCLC used non-stigmatizing language. This finding represents a step toward improving respectful and inclusive language surrounding smoking within the thoracic oncology community.

Incidence and factor analysis for the heat-related illness on the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games

IntroductionAmong the 43 venues of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (OG) and 33 venues of Paralympic Games (PG) were held, the heat island effect was highly expected to cause heat-related illnesses...

Acceptability and perception of COVID-19 vaccines among foreign medical students in China: A cross-sectional study.

Acceptability and perception of the COVID-19 vaccine among different social groups have been the subject of several studies. However, little is known about foreign medical students in Chinese universities. This study, therefore, fills the literature gap using a focus group technique to assess the acceptance and perception of the COVID-19 vaccine among foreign medical students in China. The study adopted an online cross-sectional survey method following the Chinese universities' lockdowns to collect the data between March and April 2022. A data collection questionnaire was developed, and then the link was shared with the respondents through key informants in different universities in China to obtain the data. The data collection process only included foreign medical students who were in China from May 2021 to April 2022. The authors received a total of 403 responses from the respondents. During data processing, we excluded 17 respondents since they were not in China while administering the questionnaire to enhance the data validity. The authors then coded the remaining 386 respondents for the estimation process. We finally applied the multilinear logistics regression technique to model the COVID-19 vaccine acceptance with the response or influencing factors, including the mediating factors among the foreign medical students in China. The data statistics show that 4.9% of the respondents were younger than 20 years, 91.5% were 20-40 years old, and 3.6% were older than 40 years; 36.3% of respondents were female subjects and 63.7% were male subjects. The results also show that the respondents are from six continents, including the African continent, 72.4%, Asia 17.4%, 3.1% from Europe, 2.8% from North America, 1.6% from Australia, and 2.3% from South America. The mediation analysis for the gender variable (β = 0.235, p = 0.002) suggests that gender is a significant channel in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and perception among foreign medical students in China. Also, the main analysis shows that opinion on the safety of the vaccine (β = 0.081, p = 0.043), doses of the vaccine to receive (β = 0.175, p = 0.001), vaccine safety with some side effects (β = 0.15, p = 0.000), and the possibility of acquiring COVID-19 after vaccination (β = 0.062, p = 0.040) are all positive factors influencing vaccine acceptability and perception. Also, the home continent (β = -0.062, p = 0.071) is a negative factor influencing COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and perception. Furthermore, the finding shows that fear perceptions has affected 200 (51.81%) respondents. The medical students feared that the vaccines might result in future implications such as infertility, impotence, and systemic health conditions such as cardiovascular, respiratory, or deep vein thrombosis. In addition, 186 (48.19%) students feared that the vaccines were intended to shorten life expectancy. COVID-19 vaccination acceptability and perception among medical students in China is high, most predominantly due to their knowledge of medicine composition formulation. Despite widespread acceptance by the general public and private stakeholders, we concluded that vaccination resistance remains a significant factor among medical students and trainees. The study further adds that in considering the COVID-19 vaccine, the factor of the home continent plays a significant role in vaccine hesitancy among foreign medical students. Also, knowledge, information, and education are important pillars confronting new medicine administered among medical trainees. Finally, there is a low rate of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among foreign medical students in China. The study, therefore, recommends targeted policy strategies, including sensitization, detailed public information, and education, especially for medical colleges and institutions on the COVID-19 vaccination, to achieve 100%. Furthermore, the study recommends that future researchers explore other factors influencing accurate information and education for successful COVID-19 vaccination implementation.

Home bias in international innovation systems: The emergence of dominant designs in the electric vehicle industry

The absence of a dominant design can impede the diffusion of environmental technologies. A certain degree of standardization is necessary so that firms are able to focus on process innovations that make the technology accessible to the masses. In this context, this paper studies how technological centrality and home bias in the innovation process influence the emergence of dominant designs in the mobility sector. An analysis of over 5000 electric-vehicle innovations shows that technological centrality hinders a dominant design from emerging. However, a bias in favor of innovations from the home continent mitigates this negative effect. Thus, innovations from East Asia do not consider European and U.S. innovations and vice versa. East Asian firms are different from both European and North American firms in how home bias affects the emergence of dominant designs. In East Asia, home bias has more impact on the emergence of dominant designs for central technologies than in other continents, while it has less impact for other technologies. Home bias is hence not only a firm-level mechanism, but also a helpful construct for the study of innovation systems. A lack of international standard cooperation might further influence future managerial and governmental decisions fostering developments towards cleaner technologies.

Leadership education in prosthodontics: Development and impact of the Future Leaders in Prosthodontics (FLIP) workshops

Statement of problemThe effectiveness of leadership education for prosthodontists is unknown. PurposeThe purpose of this survey study was to evaluate the self-perceived impact a 2- to 2.5-day leadership education workshop in prosthodontics had on participants' professional, leadership, and management development. Material and methodsParticipants who attended a leadership workshop for future leaders in prosthodontics (FLIP) were surveyed to assess their self-reported improvements in different leadership domains. The survey was administered to 89 participants using an online survey tool, and demographic data about participants were also collected. Results were tabulated for descriptive presentation. Where applicable, the Spearman correlation coefficients were calculated. ResultsSeventy-two individuals responded to the invitation for a response rate of 80.9%. Improvement in all 11 leadership capabilities assessed in the survey was noted by over 75% of respondents. Over 90% of respondents reported improvement in overall leadership, career management, team management, self-awareness, problem-solving, and conflict resolution. No significant (P>.13) relationships were found among demographic data such as age, sex, home continent, or primary career focus (academics or private practice). ConclusionsWithin the limitations of this survey study, participants in a leadership workshop noted improvement in a variety of leadership capabilities.

WHAT PRE-PARTICIPATION HEALTH COMPLAINTS AND ATHLETE CHARACTERISTICS PREDICT INJURY AND ILLNESS AT MAJOR ATHLETICS CHAMPIONSHIPS? COHORT STUDY AT THE BEIJING 2015 IAAF WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

BackgroundDuring the month before world championships in individual sports, about one-third of athletes are disturbed by injury complaints. Athletics athletes reporting a pre-championship gradual-onset injury complaint are known to be...

Globalization in Urology: A Bibliographical Analysis of Cross-Continent Publication between 2002 and 2012

Introduction: Asian scientists have now increasingly begun to contribute to globalization; yet it is not clear whether publishing in the field of urology is paralleled by elevated cross-continental scientific publishing. Materials and Methods: An exemplary bibliometric analysis of urologic journals from 3 different continents was conducted between 2002 and 2012. Based on the ISI Web of Knowledge Journal Citation Reports, 2 urologic journals with similar impact factors (IFs) in 2013 were selected from Europe (‘British Journal of Urology International', ‘World Journal of Urology'), Asia (‘International Journal of Urology', ‘Asian Journal of Andrology') and North America (‘Urologic Oncology-Seminars and Original Investigations', ‘Urology'). The home continent of the journal, the workplace continental affiliation of the last author, article type (clinical, experimental or review) as well as the IF were documented. Results: Most authors published their manuscripts in journals from the same continent in which they worked. However, a significant increase in cross-continental publishing was apparent from 2002 to 2012. Asians publishing in North America increased from 17% in 2002 to 35% in 2012. Europeans also increased the number of articles they published in North American journals, while publications from North American authors were shifted towards both European and Asian journals. Experimental and clinical articles showed significant increases in cross-continental publishing, while review publishing showed no significant change. The average IF for authors from all 3 continents increased from 2002 to 2012 (p < 0.001). The largest increase in the IF was found for Asian authors (0.11 per year). Conclusions: Cross-continental publication significantly increased during the period from 2002 to 2012. The impact that the Asian authors have experienced was found to be gradually impacting the North American and European colleagues.

Cystic Fibrosis. Edited by Marcus A. Mall and J. Stuart Elborn

Cystic Fibrosis. Edited by Marcus A. Mall and J. Stuart Elborn

Images de la France sous la dynastie des Qing (review)

Reviewed by: Images de la France sous la dynastie des Qing Jennifer Tsien (bio) Images de la France sous la dynastie des Qing, ed. Jin Lu Quebec: Presses de l'Université Laval, 2010. 174pp. CAN$30. ISBN 978-2-7637-9003-9. In a seminar I taught on eighteenth-century French Orientalism several years ago, a student asked, "But what did the Chinese think about the French?" In this instance, we were discussing the Jesuit missionaries' letters from China, the Lettres édifiantes et curieuses. The class had already read some Oriental tales by Enlightenment philosophers and a few excerpts from their "philosophical histories"; the students had seen portraits of French aristocrats in Turkish dress and photos of various kinds of chinoiserie. From these examples, we could only know about one perspective, directed from France towards the East. As much as I would have liked to provide examples of views that went in the opposite direction, I could think of none. At least, our ignorance of Chinese made it impossible for us to access any academic sources written in that language. While Western scholars such as Jonathan Spence, Susan Naquin, or David Porter have given us wonderfully erudite works about Chinese history or about the influence of Chinese products in Europe, to my knowledge, they have not addressed my student's not unreasonable question about the Chinese perspective on France. The present volume edited by Jin Lu addresses the very question of the Chinese point of view from the seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries through the eyes of present-day Chinese scholars. For this reason, it is an invaluable resource for students of French literature and comparative literature—or for those who happen to be interested in both French and Chinese cultures. Most articles in this collection are translated by Jin Lu from Chinese to French, with the exception of her own pieces, which are written directly in French, and Gang Song's article, which remains in the original English. We are extremely fortunate that Jin Lu is fluent in all of these languages and is familiar with the different academic systems, because she was able to produce a collection of articles that few others are equipped to do. [End Page 263] What we know of Sino-French relations in the early modern era begins with the Jesuit mission to convert the Chinese to Roman Catholicism. The mostly Italian, Portuguese, and French members of the Jesuit order arrived in China in the late 1500s, three centuries after Marco Polo's famed voyage. Matteo Ricci (aka "Li Madou") was the pioneering Jesuit who carried out the policy of assimilating into the Chinese court in order to secure the emperor's favour. Accordingly, the first section of Images de la France sous la dynastie des Qing consists of two articles devoted to the period of the Jesuit missions. The other two sections of the volume deal with the reception of specific works of French literature in China and the descriptions of France by Chinese travellers of the nineteenth century. Some oddly curious facts and several important themes emerge from this collection of articles. To start with the curious facts, it must be said that the interaction between two very different cultures, Chinese and European, sometimes produced hilarious results. For instance, Gang Song tells us in his article "The Other under a Chinese Heaven" of Matteo Ricci's great efforts to explain his homeland to the Chinese elite in terms that would impress them. He created a world map to assist in visualizing the geographical position of his home continent of Oulouba, or Europa. The map included commentary such as, "The wine is made of grape juice. All craftsmen are skilful. People understand everything regarding astronomy and physics. The customs are simple and the wu lun (five human relations) are stressed" (28). Even the main tenets of Christianity had to be adapted to Chinese tastes, to the extent that Ricci convinced scholars that this religion was just like Confucianism because it mostly consisted of "practical advice for daily life" (27). The work of Ricci and his fellows, however, did not prevent many Chinese people from believing that Jesus was a sort of witch...

Why did the Southern Gulf of California rupture so rapidly?—Oblique divergence across hot, weak lithosphere along a tectonically active margin

Rifts in the interior of continents that evolve to form large oceans typically last for 30 to 80 m.y. and longer before complete rupture of the continent and onset of sea-floor spreading. A distinct style of rifts form along the active tectonic margins of continents, and these rifts more commonly form marginal seas and terranes or continental blocks or slivers that are ruptured away from their home continent. The Gulf of California and the Baja California microplate make up one of the best examples of the latter setting and processes. In the southern Gulf of California, sea-floor spreading commenced only ~6–10 m.y. after the formation of the oblique-divergent plate boundary at ca. 12.5 Ma. Three main factors caused this rapid rupture: (1) an inherited long, narrow belt of hot, weak crust from a volcanic arc that was active immediately before formation of the oblique-divergent plate boundary and that lay between two strong batholith belts; (2) relatively rapid plate motion resulting in high strain rates; and (3) a dominant role of strike-slip faulting in the highly oblique-divergent setting that formed large pull-apart basins with rapid and focused crustal thinning in a linked en-echelon system. Accentuating factor 1 is that the formation of slab windows associated with microplate capture west of the Baja California peninsula may have further weakened the crust. These causes of rapid rupture of continental lithosphere are mostly linked to the fact that the Gulf of California developed along a long-lived tectonically active margin of a continent with a convergent or oblique-convergent setting since at least the Jurassic, but not a margin that was thickened in a major contractional orogen. This combination of causes and factors suggests that rifts that form at active margins are fundamentally different than continental interior rifts, and that these differences can produce vastly different rifting histories. The formation and northwestward motion of the Baja California microplate also show that “terranes” formed in an obliquedivergent setting can form and move long distances over relatively short geologic time intervals. INTRODUCTION The rupture of continental lithosphere is one of the most fundamental tectonic processes. Complete rupture of a continent requires the familiar progression from early rifting to extreme continental lithosphere thinning to continental breakup that forms oceanic spreading in a nascent ocean (e.g., Veevers, 1981). The development of a rift, and whether it progresses to breakup, is mainly dependent on the thermal structure, crustal thickness, and crustal strength of the lithosphere when rifting begins (e.g., Buck, 2007), as well as forces at the base of the lithosphere and far-field plate interactions (Ziegler and

Research and Capacity Building for Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases: The Need for a Different Approach

Research and Capacity Building for Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases: The Need for a Different Approach

The Impact of Seeding, Home Continent, and Hosting on FIFA World Cup Results

Every 4 years, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) organizes one of the largest sporting events in the world, the soccer (football) World Cup tournament. Successful players, teams, and national soccer federations are the recipients of significant financial returns, both directly from FIFA and indirectly through professional and endorsement contracts. The structure of this tournament is such that playing on one's own continent and being a seeded team have significant effects on World Cup success. Specifically, we estimate that the ``continental effect'' increases a team's probability of reaching the final eight by 12% points, whereas being seeded increases one's probability of making the quarterfinals by 26% points.

International advertising campaigns in fast-moving consumer goods companies originating from a SMOPEC country

A particularly interesting area of research concerns how international fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies from small and open economies that operate in turbulent markets plan successful advertising campaigns for international markets. The objective of this research was to determine how they are planned and what factors affect this planning. The theoretical part of the study reviews literature related to the internationalization of firms, international advertising campaigns, and standardization versus adaptation of international advertising. Based on the literature, a theoretical framework and propositions regarding the international campaign planning process for FMCG companies were developed. The empirical part uses the multiple-case study method to examine four FMCG companies that were founded in Finland. The empirical results show that five stages are especially important in the international campaign planning of FMCG companies. Moreover, the companies need to consider a number of factors when deciding on international adverting campaigns. The study presents a number of theoretical contributions and managerial implications. A novel finding relates to the importance of understanding the impact of the internationalization/globalization phase of the company. During internationalization often within the home continent, companies increasingly adapt advertising campaigns to different countries, whereas globalization to other continents calls for increased standardization across countries. Another interesting finding was that FMCG companies from small and open-economy (SMOPEC) countries often use innovative non-traditional campaigns to overcome the resource limitations.

Savants et sorciers. Les universités africaines francophones face à la prétendue universalité des critères de qualité

Résumé Si le processus de Bologne est porté par une tendance lourde à l’harmonisation des systèmes d’enseignement supérieur, il résulte aussi de décisions et de stratégies particulières. Le modèle classique de la coopération-compétition aide à analyser ces stratégies. Les universités ont choisi de coopérer pour donner une apparence de consistance à l’Europe de l’enseignement supérieur, ce qui les aide à intensifier leur recrutement d’étudiants venant des autres continents. Elles résistent par contre à l’idée de coopérer pour établir des critères et des procédures de certification de la qualité qui les contraindraient. Jusqu’à ce jour, la responsabilité de la qualité continue donc à appartenir aux universités qui restent maîtres des collaborations qu’elles établissent avec d’autres universités et du choix de leurs partenaires. Le passage au LMD des universités africaines pose la question de l’application des critères de qualité : les pays africains ont tout intérêt à ce que les études préparent les futurs diplômés à y travailler, les pays du Nord à ce qu’ils soient soumis à des apprentissages abstraits pouvant être utilisés dans des laboratoires du Nord.

Relative Size of Continents on World Sketch Maps

On mental maps, at all scales, there is a tendency to exaggerate the size of the home area. To see whether there was a home continent exaggeration on sketch maps of the world, we used a subset of 438 maps from a world wide study of mental maps of the world. The subsample consisted of 20 maps from each of 22 sites, selected to include locations within each continent and dispersion latitudinally and longitudinally. On each map, the areas of the continent were calculated by means of a Numonics electronic planimeter attached to a computer. We compared the proportion of the total areas devoted to each continent to the actual proportions. Thus, we determined whether each contient tended to be exaggerated or diminished in size. The home continent was generally exaggerated. In addition, two unforeseen results were that Europe is always exaggerated, and Africa always diminished in size.

Orientation of pigeons after transatlantic displacement.

During three years 231 homing pigeons were transported from northwest Ohio, U. S. A., to southern Germany, and 216 pigeons were transported from southern Germany to Ohio, a distance of 7000 to 8000 km. They were released in the foreign continent, their initial departure bearings were recorded, and recoveries were collected. For comparison, control releases were conducted within the home continent at distances of 200-300 km in the same as well as in the opposite direction. Both experienced and inexperienced birds zvere used. Normally, the circadian clocks were synchronized with the local time of the release area. The main results were as follows: . (1) At departure, the homeward orientation appeared to be as good (or poor) for the transatlantic releases as it was for the cisatlantic releases. (2) In America there was a general tendency for headings to deviate to the north of the straight line course towards home, while in Germany the birds deviated generally to the south. This was true for both American and German pigeons, indicating an influence of the release area on the deviations. (3) There were, mainly in inexperienced birds, considerable differences in initial orientation in different years. In most cases deflections of varying degrees occurred rather parallel in cisatlantic and transatlantic releases, though with opposite signs (i.e. left or right). (4) On the whole, and at either side of the ocean, the experienced birds were better oriented towards home than the first flight pigeons. (5) The deviations were, on the average, smaller from the rhumb line course towards the loft than they were from the great circle route. (6) There was only one criterion indicating an impairment in the foreign continent : The percentage of birds landing in the vicinity of the release point instead of leaving immediately was considerably higher in the foreign continent than in the home continent. (7) In most cases the distributions of the recoveries were in general accordance with those of the bearings at departure (with the exception of inexperienced American birds in Germany). The recoveries for both groups of experienced pigeons suggest fairly good homeward orientation in the foreign continent. (8) In Germany, inexperienced American pigeons were released with their circadian clocks set by three different light/dark schedules. Their bearings at departure deviated from each other in accordance with the phase-angle differences of their clocks as it would be expected on the basis of sun-compass orientation. (These results could also be explained in terms of a sun navigation hypothesis. The results with the experienced birds, however, do not support such a hypothesis.)