Preliminary Questions Research Articles

Relationship Between Training Frequency and Training Session Duration on Vitality in Recreational Runners: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background: Running can improve health status from a biopsychosocial perspective. However, isolation strategies, like the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown, produce deleterious effects on both health status and sport performance. The aim of our study was to investigate recreational runners' sporting habits, subjective vitality (SV), and well-being after the COVID-19 pandemic-induced lockdown. Methods: After data filtration, 5542 recreational runners (74.5% men and 25.5% women, >18 years) were selected for further analyses. The participants answered preliminary questions regarding sporting habits and completed the validated Spanish version of the Subjective Vitality as a Dynamic Reflection of Well-Being questionnaire for assessing their SV after lockdown. Results: Subjective vitality scores did not differ between men and women, nor between age groups (p = 0.41 and p = 0.11, respectively). Subjective vitality was greater with weekly training frequency up to 5 days/week, where this enhancement plateaued, while average training session duration was positively related to SV, stabilizing at 91-120 min/session (p < 0.001 for both). Conclusions: There is a dose-response relationship between both weekly training frequency and training session duration, and mental health benefits in recreational runners. Further longitudinal studies are needed in order to determine the optimal dose-response relationship for simultaneously enhancing mental health outcomes and running performance in recreational runners, especially regarding weekly training frequency, training session duration, and exercise intensity.

Considerations on insurance recourse and the status of the consumer in motor third-party liability insurance – comments on the background of the preliminary inquiry submitted to the Court of Justice of the EU by the rajonen sad in Sofia, Bulgaria, on June 26, 2023 – ZD ‘BUL INS’ AD vs PV (Case C-387/23, BUL INS)

The article is an attempt to provide a doctrinal answer to the first question posed by the national court in the form of a preliminary question to the CJEU in the case ref. C-387/23. At the same time the text contains considerations on the essence of motor insurance, the construction of atypical recourse of the insurer, as well as, to the extent necessary, refers to the qualification of the consumer in civil and insurance law. Attention was also paid to the stature of the uniform law on the insurance contract using the example of PEICL. Reference is also made to the regulations of national law and final conclusions are made.

Sex Differences in Skeletal Muscle Pathology in Patients With Heart Failure and Reduced Ejection Fraction.

Women with heart failure and reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) have greater symptoms and a lower quality of life compared with men; however, the role of noncardiac mechanisms remains poorly resolved. We hypothesized that differences in skeletal muscle pathology between men and women with HFrEF may explain clinical heterogeneity. Muscle biopsies from both men (n=22) and women (n=16) with moderate HFrEF (New York Heart Association classes I-III) and age- and sex-matched controls (n=18 and n=16, respectively) underwent transcriptomics (RNA-sequencing), myofiber structural imaging (histology), and molecular signaling analysis (gene/protein expression), with serum inflammatory profiles analyzed (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay). Two-way ANOVA was conducted (interaction sex and condition). RNA-sequencing identified 5629 differentially expressed genes between men and women with HFrEF, with upregulated terms for catabolism and downregulated terms for mitochondria in men. mRNA expression confirmed an effect of sex (P<0.05) on proatrophic genes related to ubiquitin proteasome, autophagy, and myostatin systems (higher in all men versus all women), whereas proanabolic IGF1 expression was higher (P<0.05) in women with HFrEF only. Structurally, women compared with men with HFrEF showed a pro-oxidative phenotype, with smaller but higher numbers of type I fibers, alongside higher muscle capillarity (Pinteraction<0.05) and higher type I fiber areal density (Pinteraction<0.05). Differences in gene/protein expression of regulators of muscle phenotype were detected between sexes, including HIF1α, ESR1, VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor), and PGC1α expression (P<0.05), and for upstream circulating factors, including VEGF, IL (interleukin)-6, and IL-8 (P<0.05). Sex differences in muscle pathology in HFrEF exist, with men showing greater abnormalities compared with women related to the transcriptome, fiber phenotype, capillarity, and circulating factors. These preliminary data question whether muscle pathology is a primary mechanism contributing to greater symptoms in women with HFrEF and highlight the need for further investigation.

The Dutch Preliminary Ruling Procedure in the Light of the European Directive on Representative Actions

Abstract Dutch civil law allows courts of first and second instance to refer preliminary questions to the Supreme Court. In mass claim disputes there may be a concurrence between the safeguards of the preliminary ruling procedure and the protection provided by Directive 2020/1828 on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers. This working paper addresses several issues regarding this concurrence. These include legal certainty, the influence of non-parties, the costs and the duration. The authors come to the conclusion that the preliminary ruling procedure can be very useful in mass claim disputes, albeit that both the lower courts and the Supreme Court need to align their practice more closely with the safeguards of the Directive on a number of points. These findings may be relevant for other European jurisdictions that recently introduced a preliminary ruling procedure, or that are about to insert a preliminary ruling procedure in their civil procedural law system.

Development and Validation of the Dementia Caregiver Burden Scale: A Tool for Community-Dwelling Dementia Caregiver.

The number of patients with dementia increases rapidly in aging populations. Dementia is an irreversible disease that causes a patient to be dependent on others' care and also causes family caregivers to experience difficulties in multiple domains. In this study, a dementia caregiver's burden scale that addresses family caregivers' characteristics and caring environments was developed and validated. In-depth interviews with nine caregivers were conducted to identify the attributes of perceived burden and establish preliminary questions. Content validity was confirmed by seven experts using the item content validity index and scale content validity index/average. Construct validity, criterion-related validity, and reliability were verified using data from 205 primary caregivers of patients with dementia. Exploratory factor analysis revealed that five factors, including physical health deterioration, responsibility and role of caregiver, emotional distress, medical expense concerns, and family conflict, and 24 items explained 68.6% of the total variance. The calculated Cronbach's α for the overall scale was .96. The scale developed in this study may be used to measure the burden perceived by family caregivers of patients with dementia in the physical, emotional, social, financial, and situational domains. Also, the scale may be used to guide the development of tailored interventions that take into consideration different family caregiver and caring situation-related characteristics.

미래교육 실천을 위한 교수역량 진단도구 개발 및 타당화

This study aimed to develop a scale that could diagnose the appropriate level of teaching competency, taking into account the value of future education due to changes in the educational environment. To do this, a provisional model of the teaching competency of university faculty was derived, and two Delphi surveys were conducted to confirm the content validity of the competency groups, competencies, and sub-elements. In addition, preliminary questions were developed through the review of an expert panel, and a questionnaire survey was conducted on D University faculty, and a question goodness analysis and exploratory factor analysis were conducted based on the questionnaire responses of 336 people. As a result, a scale with 53 questions for three competency groups and seven competencies was developed. The basic competency group (S) consisted of educational philosophy and university understanding competency (5 questions) and innovative attitude competency (12 questions), the instructional competency group (U) consisted of teaching strategy competency (5 questions), class management competency (14 questions), and class improvement competency (9 questions). The shared competency group (N) consisted of teaching learning mutual cooperation competency (4 questions) and knowledge sharing practice competency (4 questions). This allows the scale to be used to diagnose instructors' teaching competencies from the perspective of future teaching, identify areas for improvement, and support instructors' insights to improve their overall teaching competencies.

Direct democracy and party behaviour in the Republic of Ireland: a campaign finance perspective

ABSTRACT Studies on the Irish referendum experience have generally accepted that political parties play a fundamental role in the direct democratic process. While this is rarely problematised, parties often campaign in referendums in order to steer them towards outcomes that are strategically beneficial. Contemporary research on Irish referendums has delved into how parties shape their campaigns to achieve these goals, but a more preliminary question is still to be addressed: to what extent do parties participate in referendum campaigns? This paper attempts to do so by examining campaign expenditure, which offers a concrete quantitative indicator for party engagement vis-à-vis referendums. Departing from theory on party behaviour and referendum instrumentalization, the article takes into account Irish regulations on campaign finance before offering a descriptive and explorative comparison of the expenditure of Irish political parties in recent referendum campaigns. Several patterns within the data are then discussed in light of potential influential factors identified in previous scholarly work. Results suggest that a referendum’s topic and its salience in the public sphere, as well as a party’s financial resources and government status, could explain party behaviour in Irish referendum campaigns, and a set of congruent hypotheses for future research are formulated in the conclusion.

대학생 학습역량 척도 타당화 연구

Objectives The purpose of this study was to establish related components and develop a scale to diagnose them in order to examine the learning capabilities of college students. Methods In order to develop a learning competency scale, previous research related to learning competency was reviewed and learning competency components were extracted into 3 cognitive, affective, and behavioral fators and 9 sub-factors. Next, preliminary questions developed based on previous research were revised and deleted through expert review, resulting in a total of 67 questions. As a result of the preliminary survey, the main survey was conducted with 66 questions, excluding one question that undermined reliability. Validity was verified by conducting exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis based on the responses of 358 college students at P University. Results As a result of exploratory factor analysis, in the cognitive factor, the explanatory amount of the three factors - metacognition, creative problem-solving ability, and comprehensive thinking ability - was 68.20%, resulting in 19 questions. In the affective factor, 13 questions were derived with an explanation amount of 64.73% with two factors, learning persistence and learning motivation. In the behavioral factor, 28 questions were derived with an explanation amount of 64.12% in three factors: learning strategy, collaboration·communication, and goal·time management. Confirmatory factor analysis was then conducted and a learning competency scale consisting of a total of 60 questions was developed. As a result of verifying reliability, Cronbach a was found to be good at .964. Conclusions The learning competency scale developed in this study will help learners understand their strengths and weaknesses in learning, and will serve as a basis for analyzing the performance of learning programs conducted at universities and feedback and improvement of the programs.

Od zasady do praktyki. Wyzwania dotyczące ogólnounijnej realizacji „prawa do bycia zapomnianym” po sprawie Google przeciwko CNIL

While scholarly attention largely gravitates towards the debate on regional versus global delisting under EU law, this paper scrutinizes the Google v CNIL ruling concerning the conditions and methods of EU-wide delisting in light of the preliminary reference questions posed. The focus lies in the intricate analysis absent from the dispositif, which leaves many complexities to the evaluation of the national data protection authorities and the courts, and, concerningly, to the solely discretion of the search engine operators. Nuanced analyses absent from the dispositif address the crucial aspects in defining the territorial scope such as the role of geo-blocking, the possible public interest variations within the EU and the regulatory cooperation frameworks, particularly in light of Google’s standard delisting procedure. Furthermore, the research highlights the concerns about the varying levels of protection for EU citizens, contrasting the delisting procedure before the search engine operator and the formal proceedings involving the data protection authorities and the courts. By exploring a significant decision by the Belgian data protection authority, the author illustrates the possibilities for regulatory cooperation to achieve a cohesive and comprehensive approach to EU-wide delisting. The author advocates for regulatory transparency in this legal area and explicit guidance from the European Data Protection Board toward ensuring that the “right to be forgotten” is applied consistently and in a manner that genuinely protects individuals’ rights across the EU.

Patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care - Development, pilot testing and validation of a survey questionnaire

Patient satisfaction is the single most important “Quality of care” indicator that gives insight into effectiveness of care provided. There is a paucity of specific validated questionnaire for assessment of patient satisfaction with perioperative anaesthesia care for Indian sub-continent. We aimed to develop and validate a questionnaire for assessment of patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care. Through a review of literature, input from expert anaesthesiologists, and patient feedback, we came up with thirty-six preliminary questions, which we then categorised into six categories: Communication, Information provided, Involvement in decision-making, Anaesthesia care provided, Continuity of care, and Addressal of perioperative discomforts. All satisfaction-related responses were graded using a 5-point Likert scale. Questions were corrected to twenty-four based on inputs from six experts. The questionnaire was then translated (forward-backwards translation) to the regional language (Tamil) and subjected to pre-pilot testing. Questions were then modified, and Pilot testing was done for statistical validation.The response rate for pilot test was 70% and we received 60 responses. 93% of patients used Tamil version. We received 50% of responses on postoperative day (POD)-1 and remaining 50% on POD-2. None of our questions showed “Floor” or “Ceiling” response needing elimination. Cronbach’s alpha was estimated as 0.697. Our survey's mean score was 87.29 ± 4.65, showing that it accurately measured patient satisfaction.Ours is thefirst validated questionnaire for assessment of patient satisfaction with anaesthesia care suitable for the Indian population. The questionnaire can further be translated into the appropriate regional languages and utilized.

Why Do So Few Preliminary Questions Come From Czechia?

Abstract Although a substantial part of the body of laws of an EU Member State is founded upon European Union law and norms, the number of preliminary questions emanating from courts in the Czech Republic appears to be disproportionately low compared to other similar EU Member States. The aim of this article is to analyse and outline possible reasons for the lack of preliminary questions coming from the Czech Republic. In her analysis, the author identifies three possible factors underpinning the issue. These factors include attitudes towards the EU and a general lack of understanding of the relevance of EU laws and norms; the role of preliminary rulings; and the perception and recognition of courts. An integral part of this analysis is a critical commentary on the shifts in how courts and tribunals are perceived within the meaning of Art. 267 TFEU. Lastly, the author offers guidance to fellow legal professionals and academics for interpreting EU norms.

노인 운동중심의 신체적 frailty 측정 도구 개발

Health-related aging affects physical, psychological, and social life. In old age, when aging progresses considerably, aging-related variables are involved in the progression of frailty in the human body. Therefore, developing an elderly exercise-centered tool to measure the appropriate frailty to prevent frailty and prevent disorders caused by aging are required. This study aimed to develop a physical 'frailty measurement scale' applying based on the kinematic exercisecentered frailty criterion to discriminate physical frailty. The subject of this study is a group of experts who have verified the measurement scale. As a purposive sampling for the application of the Delphi survey, 11 experts were composed. In the first step of the research process, the primary screen and preliminary questions were completed using physical loss, walking speed delay, Fried's frailty determination method, daily life performance ability, functional daily life performance ability, elderly physical fitness test, and TUG. In the second step, opinions were first collected to confirm the degree of convergence, agreement, and stability with the consensus of experts, and content validity was secondarily verified. The reliability was chronbach α=.954, and in a total of 17 questions, convergence was .5 or less, agreement was .75 or more, and stability was .5 or less. Content validity was satisfied except for question 2 (unintended loss of 5kg of two-year-old weight within 6 months). Finally, the measurement tool was completed by determining that question 2 was suitable by reflecting the degree of convergence, agreement, stability and content validity.

노인 운동중심의 신체적 frailty 측정 도구 개발

Health-related aging affects physical, psychological, and social life. In old age, when aging progresses considerably, aging-related variables are involved in the progression of frailty in the human body. Therefore, developing an elderly exercise-centered tool to measure the appropriate frailty to prevent frailty and prevent disorders caused by aging are required. This study aimed to develop a physical 'frailty measurement scale' applying based on the kinematic exercisecentered frailty criterion to discriminate physical frailty. The subject of this study is a group of experts who have verified the measurement scale. As a purposive sampling for the application of the Delphi survey, 11 experts were composed. In the first step of the research process, the primary screen and preliminary questions were completed using physical loss, walking speed delay, Fried's frailty determination method, daily life performance ability, functional daily life performance ability, elderly physical fitness test, and TUG. In the second step, opinions were first collected to confirm the degree of convergence, agreement, and stability with the consensus of experts, and content validity was secondarily verified. The reliability was chronbach α=.954, and in a total of 17 questions, convergence was .5 or less, agreement was .75 or more, and stability was .5 or less. Content validity was satisfied except for question 2 (unintended loss of 5kg of two-year-old weight within 6 months). Finally, the measurement tool was completed by determining that question 2 was suitable by reflecting the degree of convergence, agreement, stability and content validity.

Global research priorities for intrauterine suction and sponge tools for postpartum haemorrhage management in low-income and middle-income countries: a modified Delphi approach

IntroductionPostpartum haemorrhage (PPH) remains the leading cause of maternal mortality and morbidity globally. Innovative PPH management tools have emerged using suction and sponge tamponade but currently lack substantial evidence. Broader...

Is an EU Member State a weaker party in the context of the rules of jurisdiction in direct actions against insurers? Comments on the request for a preliminary ruling in the case Mutua Madrileña Automovilista, C-536/23

The request for a preliminary ruling in the case Mutua Madrileña Automovilista, C-536/23, puts to the ultimate test the concept of “weaker party” that underpins the …U rules of special jurisdiction in direct actions against insurers. The referring court asks whether an …U Member State, acting as a statutory subrogee to the rights of its employee injured in a road traffic accident, can rely on the rule of special jurisdiction established by Articles 11(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation for the benefit of injured parties. Against this background, first, the preliminary question is based on a premise that the …U Member State may sue the insurer “before the courts for the place where the official […] is domiciled”. This premise seems misguided. In fact, a successor in title of a directly injured party may bring the direct action before the court of their own domicile Second, it is immaterial that an …U Member State is a subject of public international law. Unless the state acts iure imperii [arg. ex Art 1(1) of the Regulation], it can rely on the rules of jurisdiction provided for in the Regulation, including the rules of special jurisdiction in matters of insurance. Third, since the rules of special jurisdiction in direct actions against insurers are established for the benefit of weaker parties, they cannot be relied on by the “professionals in the insurance sector”. To verify whether a claimant qualifies as such a professional in the insurance sector, a two-tier analysis is proposed. In the first step, an abstract and generalising assessment is carried out in order to verify whether the claimant belongs to the insurance sector or has close ties with that sector as the result of dealing (litigating or settling) regularly with the insurance claims as the inherent aspect of the commercial activity model they adopted or public mission they were entrusted with. In the second step, an additional check has to be made in order to ascertain whether the direct action brought against the insurer fits within such a general and abstract profile of the claimant or not. If the direct action does not originate in such a commercial activity or public mission, the claimant cannot be considered as a “professional in the insurance sector” in the context of the specific proceedings. In the light of the above, the contention is that an EU Member State, which, in its capacity of an employer continued to pay the remuneration to its official who became unfit for work as a result of a road traffic accident and which subrogated to the official’s rights vis-à-vis the insurer that provides the civil liability insurance for the vehicle involved in that accident, may rely on the rule of special jurisdiction set forth in Articles 11(1)(b) and 13(2) of the Brussels I bis Regulation.

The Assessment of the nature of national law provisions which set the rules for the compensation for harm caused by the death of the closest person in the light of Art. 16 of the Rome II Regulation – comments in the context of a preliminary question submitted to the Court of Justice of the EU following the decision of the

Despite the fifteen-year period of validity of the “Rome II” Regulation, its application by the courts of the Member States is still, in some respects, a source of serious controversy. It manifests itself with particular intensity in Art. 16, devoted to overriding mandatory rules. This should be attributed to two factors. The first one is the resignation from including therein a legal definition of this category of norms, in contrast to Art. 9 section 1 of the “Rome I” regulation. The other is the phenomenon of a kind of “inflation” of the concept of overriding mandatory provisions, observed in the PIL. It manifests itself in the attempts to attribute such qualification to binding rules of national law, the nature of which do not indicate a conflict of laws element inherent in them, implying the need to apply them in addition to or instead of the applicable law. The case C-86/23 pending before the CJEU, as a result of a request for a preliminary ruling submitted in the decision of the Bulgarian Supreme Court of Cassation of February 7, 2023, gives an excellent opportunity to bring up once again the issue of the proper way of understanding the concept of overriding mandatory rules in the context of Art. 16 of the Rome II Regulation, using as an example the norms applicable in Bulgarian substantive law, which regulate the principles of granting compensation for harm caused by the death of a close relative. Looking at the matter in question from the perspective of the fifteenth anniversary of the regulation’s validity, the author recommends particular caution in applying Art. 16 and, at the same time, makes an attempt to formulate a proposal of an answer to the question referred to in a preliminary ruling.

From A Preliminary Question to Any Possible Treatment of Suicidal Ideations

The present work aims to provide therapeutic tools for the treatment of suicidal ideas. However, it is necessary prior to dispensing treatment to be aware of some questions about the mode of enjoyment of the current hyper-moderate era. All possible treatment from the psychoanalysis of Lacanian orientation of subjects with suicidal ideas will be based on this warning. First, a historical reading of suicide is presented, from ancient Greek Roman times to the present day, taking as its axis the conception of suicide along with the associated causes. Second, a development on the differences between suicide and euthanasia. Finally, a reading of the time from the concept of depression. The question that guides the work is how the possible treatment of patients with suicidal ideas is based on the coordinates of the social context and the historical moment? It is obtained as a result that suicide is a consequence not only of the signifiers of an era, but of the primacy of masturbatory enjoyment. In conclusion, the therapeutic tools to moderate enjoyment in patients with suicidal ideas are based on the coordinates of a time, so they fail over time, as the techniques that were once used to treat suicides fail.

Student regulation in online learning groups

Although much research has been done on student regulation in F2F settings, more needs to be known about the concept in online learning groups. During the NLC 2024 round table, we will share findings from an exploratory study to establish the status quo in this area, and discuss the optimal conditions for students’ regulation of learning in online learning groups. The overall guiding question in this round table is: how can we foster student regulation in online learning groups within higher education? During the roundtable, the following (preliminary) questions are guiding: How can we improve the sociability of online learning environments to stimulate student regulation in online learning groups? Which techniques can we apply to enhance students’ social presence/social space in online learning groups during regulation? How can we support the 'teacher as designer' in facilitating student regulation in online learning groups? In the discussion, we use two models to indicate the level at which we focus in the conversation to arrive at a new conceptual model regarding the regulation of learning in online learning groups. We note the findings in the respective models, together with the audience, which we display as posters.

사회복지학과 전공역량 진단도구 개발 및 타당화에 대한 탐색적 연구: U대학 사례를 중심으로

The purpose of this study is to define the concept of major competencies in the Department of Social Welfare and to develop and validate a major competency measurement model. Literature analysis, department consumer satisfaction survey, major curriculum committee, and FGI were conducted to define the four competencies and the concept of the lower eight competencies. A Delphi survey (1st) was conducted on social welfare professors and field experts to validate major and sub competencies. Based on the four major competencies and the eight sub competencies of the social welfare department, a new preliminary question was developed, and a preliminary content validity test was conducted through the Delphi survey (2nd) targeting the expert panel group. In the second Delphi survey, two questions with low content validity were deleted, and a preliminary test was conducted for college students in the Department of Social Welfare to analyze the reliability and validity of the diagnostic tool. The items with the highest factor loading value were selected in order to reduce them to the final 66 questions, and a diagnostic tool to measure major competency was completed. This makes it possible to diagnose and analyze the level of major competency of students in the Department of Social Welfare. In addition, the results of this study are expected to be usefully used by the Department of Social Welfare to manage the quality of major education, such as improving the curriculum based on quantitative data.

The Unfolding Story of Judicial Dialogue in the EU: The Coercive and Persuasive Motives Behind the Participation of Belgian Highest Courts in the Preliminary Ruling Procedure

Abstract The story of national judges’ participation in the process of dialogue with the Court of Justice of the European Union (ECJ) pursuant to Article 267 TFEU is a well-known one. There have been many scholarly efforts to explain and theorize the—lack of—participation of national courts in the mechanism. Indeed, various constitutional, institutional, procedural, cultural, political, and individual factors are pointed out to explain this engagement. Yet, it may come as a surprise that still much remains unknown. The available empirical data concerning the potential causes of the national judges’—non—participation is limited to a number of EU member states and is mostly confined to lower courts judges. It is the aim of this Article to partly fill the void in the literature and to provide novel empirical data gained in the course of semi-structured interviews among judges and court référendaires of three Belgian highest courts. The interviews provide insight into the possible factors driving concerned national judges when deciding (not) to refer preliminary questions, including the role and significance of the obligation to refer which is to be found in Article 267 TFEU and the Cilfit-criteria.