Response Measures Research Articles

Development of a functional outcome measure for riboflavin transporter deficiency.

Riboflavin transporter deficiency (RTD) is a progressive inherited neuropathy of childhood onset, characterised clinically by pontobulbar palsy, sensory ataxia, sensorineural deafness, muscle weakness, optic atrophy and respiratory failure. A robust and responsive functional outcome measure is essential for future clinical trials of disease-modifying therapies including genetic therapies. The Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease Pediatric Scale (CMTPedS) is a well-validated outcome measure for CMT and related neuropathies, and might have utility for measuring disease progression in individuals with RTD. However, the CMTPedS requires modifications to account for phenotypic differences between children with CMT and RTD. The aim of this study was to develop a functional outcome measure based on the CMTPedS for specific use in individuals with RTD. The CMTPedS data collected over the last 10 years in individuals with RTD attending the Peripheral Neuropathy Management Clinic at the Children's Hospital at Westmead (Sydney, Australia) were reviewed to evaluate each item within the CMTPedS. A literature review of articles published until September 2021 for functional outcome measures generated an item pool for pilot testing. The results of this pilot testing, alongside analysis of existing CMTPedS item scores in the RTD cohort, informed the modification of the CMTPedS. CMTPedS data were reviewed for eight individuals over the past 10 years. Two items were identified as requiring modification or removal and additional items of proximal strength and function needed to be considered. Six studies were identified in the literature review, and five items were selected for pilot testing. 'Shoulder internal rotation' and the '30-s sit to stand test' were added as proximal measures of strength and function. The composite balance item comprising nine tasks in the CMTPedS showed a ceiling effect and was replaced with the single 'Feet apart on a line eyes open' balance item. 'Pinprick sensation' was removed due to a floor effect. This study provides preliminary evidence that the Riboflavin Transporter Deficiency Pediatric Scale (RTDPedS) is a functional outcome measure covering strength, upper and lower limb function, balance and mobility for individuals with RTD to assess disease severity and progression in clinical trials and cohort studies.

Theoretical foundations of hot spots policing and crime mapping features

The study is devoted to one of the ways to solve the problem of reducing the crime rate in the region due to the concentration of police forces and means in correctly defined places of criminal activity. The purpose of the study is to determine the content of the concept of police activity in places where criminal activity is concentrated in “hot spots” and examine the features of crime mapping. The key methods used are system and structural analysis, dogmatic analysis, synthesis method, modelling method, and structural-functional and formal-logical methods. It is determined that the problems of criminal activity, for the most part, are concentrated in a small number of places of an administrative- territorial unit, which continue to be dangerous for a long time in the absence of police intervention. It is proved that different types of “hot spots” require the development of individual police countermeasures, and the analysis of “hot spots” should be based on a logical and systematic approach and depends on understanding the theory of the origin of different types of analysed criminal offences and choosing the way to display the results. A reservation is made that arbitrary analysis by an analyst, or the use of only software algorithms is excluded because they can lead to a subjective perception of a “hot spot”, which may not turn out to be an accumulation of criminal activity. It is proved that the analysis of “hot spots” , in addition to simply identifying places with high crime rates, is crucial for solving problems in these places and choosing the most effective police response measures. The practical value of the proposed study is to generalise and adapt international developments to improve the theoretical and practical foundations for improving the efficiency of criminal analysis units of the National Police of Ukraine in the field of visualisation of information about criminal activity, introducing international experience in crime mapping into the practical activities of criminal analysis units of the National Police of Ukraine

Heat production during exercise in pregnancy: discerning the contribution of total body weight.

Studies have reported enhanced thermoregulatory function as pregnancy progresses; however, it is unclear if differences in thermoregulation are attributed to weight gain or other physiological changes. This study aimed to determine if total body weight will influence thermoregulation (heat production (Hprod)), heart rate, and perceptual measurements in response to weight-bearing exercise during early to late pregnancy. A cross-sectional design of healthy pregnant women at different pregnancy time points (early, T1; middle, T2; late, T3) performed a 7-stage weight-bearing incremental exercise protocol. Measurements of Hprod, HR, and RPE were examined. Two experimental groups were studied: (1) weight matched and (2) non-weight matched, in T1, T2, and T3. During exercise, equivalent Hprod at T1 (326 ± 88kJ), T2 (330 ± 43kJ), and T3 (352 ± 52kJ) (p = 0.504); HR (p = 0.830); and RPE (p = 0.195) were observed in the WM group at each time point. In the NWM group, Hprod (from stages 1-6 of the exercise) increased across pregnancy time points, T1 (291 ± 76kJ) to T2 (347 ± 41kJ) and T3 (385 ± 47kJ) (p < 0.001). HR increased from T1 to T3 in the warm-up to stage 6 (p = 0.009). RPE did not change as pregnancy time point progressed (p = 0.309). Total body weight, irrespective of pregnancy time point, modulates Hprod and HR during exercise. Therefore, accounting for total body weight is crucial when comparing thermoregulatory function during exercise across pregnancy.

Abstract A083: Personalized targeted circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and T-cell responses after combined neoantigen vaccine and immune checkpoint blockade in ovarian cancer

Abstract A083: Personalized targeted circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) and T-cell responses after combined neoantigen vaccine and immune checkpoint blockade in ovarian cancer

Abstract B012: Transcriptomic insights reveal role of BCL2 proteins in replication checkpoint inhibitor response

Abstract B012: Transcriptomic insights reveal role of BCL2 proteins in replication checkpoint inhibitor response

Business Power and the Geoeconomic Turn in the Single European Market

AbstractBuilding on the existing literature on business power that has evolved against the background of a liberal economic world order, this article develops a novel analytical framework to capture business strategies in an altered, geoeconomic context. It addresses the research question whether and how business power has been affected by the more recent turn of European policy‐makers to adopt geoeconomic measures in response to external geopoliticising pressures. The relevance of these categories for analysis is illustrated by discussing recent cases of business lobbying on the EU's geoeconomic agenda, as well as business responses to the sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. These illustrative examples show that whilst most business actors have adapted their strategies, there are also cases where business actors adhere to and defend the status quo. The article prepares the ground for further research on the understudied consequences of the geoeconomic turn for business power.

Stress and mental health: The role of emotional schemas and psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19

Stress has been associated with mental health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, stress responses were identified as an important factor affecting mental health. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain unclear. Following a process-based approach, emotional schemas and psychological flexibility seem to be promising processes for understanding these impacts. The present study aims to evaluate the role of two potential processes – emotional schemas and psychological flexibility – in the relationship between stress responses and (positive and negative) mental health. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 583 individuals from the Portuguese population (M age = 44.8, 64.3% females). They completed measures of stress responses, emotional schemas, psychological flexibility, positive and negative mental health. The results demonstrated that emotional schemas and psychological flexibility significantly mediate the relationship between stress responses and mental health. Our findings highlight the importance of attending to emotional schemas and psychological flexibility within stressful contexts. Furthermore, it stresses the need to develop individualised intervention programs that target emotional schemas and psychological flexibility to promote and protect mental health, ultimately decreasing symptoms and increasing well-being.

The Relationships Between Stressors, Emotion and Sport Performance of Adolescents

This article analyzes the stressors and the emotions which influence adolescents’ sport performance. Then a relationship model of stressors, emotion and sport performance was established. The weighting values between the factors in the model were determined through a questionnaire. The results show that the effect of stressors on sport performance is reflected through emotional responses. The degree of influence of each emotional factor on sports performance was, in descending order, concentration, sense of achievement, confidence, and anxiety. Finally, some measures of response to improve sport performance are proposed.

Rapid pre-typhoon safety inspection system for improving construction site resilience

Coastal cities are vulnerable to typhoon disasters due to their unique geographical location. Although significant progress has been made in the safety early warning system for construction sites, there are few studies on site safety management under typhoon disasters. Moreover, traditional manual methods of on-site emergency management are lagging behind and rigid, making it difficult to respond quickly to safety inspections manually. This study aims to automatically identify safety hazards and provide effective response measures during typhoon warnings, ultimately enhancing the safety of construction sites. Therefore, based on the MATLAB platform, this study developed a rapid safety inspection system (RSS-Typh) for the construction site during the typhoon warning period. In addition, the standard operating procedures (SOP) related to the system are formulated to assist the comprehensive safety inspection of the site before the typhoon and improve the inspection efficiency. The specific operation can be divided into three steps: 1.Using a combination of drones and handheld laser scanners to complete the complete construction site data acquisition in less than 2 h, and complete the modeling and refinement of the point cloud model in 5 h; 2.Using the developed hidden danger detection algorithm based on automatic point cloud to effectively identify the deformation-related hidden dangers at the construction site; 3.Use the designed automatic query security countermeasure GUI system to make rapid rectification. This study assists site managers in swiftly implementing effective safety management on construction sites, elevating the safety level of the site before typhoon. Furthermore, it serves to advance the automation of safety management in construction sites, promoting further developments in this field.

Survey of the Effects of Law 21 on Students and Staff in Faculties of Education in Québec

A working group of the Observatoire sur la Formation à la Diversité et l’Équité conducted a survey of the impacts of Law 21, the Act respecting the Laicity of the State, during its first year of application on faculties and departments of education across Québec. Although the law is not supposed to affect universities or student teachers, since they are not employees of the Centres de services scolaires or school boards, findings from among the 972 survey respondents (students and staff in Québec faculties of education) associate Law 21 with negative and discriminatory treatment of student teachers during teaching internships, more polarized and conflictual interactions in university classrooms, and negative effects on the well-being, as well as academic and professional achievement, of students. The survey shows that discriminatory situations or effects related to Law 21, as reported by respondents, disproportionally affect those who are undergraduate students, identify as female, are immigrants or of immigrant background, have a first language other than French, and belong to a visible or religious minority. It also indicates that Québec universities have adopted specific measures in response to Law 21 to try to prevent such discriminatory experiences, but some of these have had stigmatizing or exclusionary effects.

The Early Subcortical Response at the Fundamental Frequency of Speech Is Temporally Separated from Later Cortical Contributions.

Most parts of speech are voiced, exhibiting a degree of periodicity with a fundamental frequency and many higher harmonics. Some neural populations respond to this temporal fine structure, in particular at the fundamental frequency. This frequency-following response to speech consists of both subcortical and cortical contributions and can be measured through EEG as well as through magnetoencephalography (MEG), although both differ in the aspects of neural activity that they capture: EEG is sensitive to both radial and tangential sources as well as to deep sources, whereas MEG is more restrained to the measurement of tangential and superficial neural activity. EEG responses to continuous speech have shown an early subcortical contribution, at a latency of around 9 msec, in agreement with MEG measurements in response to short speech tokens, whereas MEG responses to continuous speech have not yet revealed such an early component. Here, we analyze MEG responses to long segments of continuous speech. We find an early subcortical response at latencies of 4-11 msec, followed by later right-lateralized cortical activities at delays of 20-58 msec as well as potential subcortical activities. Our results show that the early subcortical component of the FFR to continuous speech can be measured from MEG in populations of participants and that its latency agrees with that measured with EEG. They furthermore show that the early subcortical component is temporally well separated from later cortical contributions, enabling an independent assessment of both components toward further aspects of speech processing.

Implementation of lockdown, quarantine, and isolation measures in the context of COVID-19 among internally displaced persons in Burkina Faso: a qualitative study

BackgroundThe triple political, security, and health crisis in Burkina Faso has impacted the lives of Burkinabè people, resulting in massive internal displacement. These internally displaced persons (IDPs) are very vulnerable to epidemic diseases, which was exacerbated by the recent COVID-19 pandemic., The implementation of public health measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 represented a major concern among IDPs. The objective of this study was to document knowledge, difficulties, adjustments, and challenges faced by IDPs and humanitarian authorities/actors during implementation of lockdown, quarantine, and isolation measures in response to COVID-19.MethodsThe study was conducted in Burkina Faso, in the north-central region Kaya, a commune which hosts the largest number of IDPs in the country. Qualitative research using semi-structured interviews collected discursive data from 18 authorities and/or humanitarian actors and 29 IDPs in June 2021. The transcribed interviews were coded with N’vivo 11 software and analyzed thematically.ResultsAlthough respondents had a good knowledge of lockdown, isolation, and quarantine measures, the difference between these three concepts was not easily understood by either authorities/humanitarian actors or IDPs. Communication was one of the biggest challenges for humanitarian actors. The difficulties encountered by IDPs were economic (lack of financial resources), infrastructural (limited housing), and socio-cultural in the application of lockdown, isolation, and quarantine measures. As for adjustment measures, the health authorities developed a strategy for isolation and quarantine for the management of positive and suspected cases. The IDPs mentioned their commitment to compliance and awareness of lockdown measures as the main adjustment.ConclusionAlthough there were no known cases of COVID-19 among the IDPs at the time of the study, tailored response plans were developed to facilitate the application of these measures in emergencies. The involvement of IDPs in the communication and sensitization process was necessary to facilitate their adherence to these different measures.

Machining efficiency and geometrical accuracy on micro-EDM drilling of titanium alloy

ABSTRACT In the current study, micro-electric discharge drilling (µEDD) is conducted on a titanium grade 2 alloy using a tungsten carbide (WC) tool electrode of 496 µm diameter. Capacitance, voltage, and feed rate are selected as machining variables to conduct the experiments based on the full factorial experimental design method. Overcut, material removal rate (MRR), circularity, and hole taper are considered as performance measures. Furthermore, overall evaluation criteria (OEC) is utilized for multiple-objective optimization by allotting varying and equal weight percentages to each response measure. The results of OECs are compared with a revolutionary heuristic multi-objective genetic algorithm (MOGA), resulting in a similar optimal parametric combination and close response measures are obtained. Micrographic investigation demonstrates that at lower capacitance and voltage levels, there is less burr formation, recast layer, and circularity error. Moreover, FESEM and EDS analyses are employed to investigate the machined surface topology and elemental composition respectively.

3-dimensional bone shape and knee osteoarthritis: What have we learned?

The concept that multiple joint tissues are involved in the osteoarthritis (OA) disease process is now widely accepted. There have been significant and important insights over the past two decades in the understanding of bone as a tissue undergoing pathological changes in OA. The specific bony changes of osteophyte growth and “bone attrition” associated with OA have been recognized for many years with several semi-quantitative radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) grading systems designed to capture the magnitude of these changes. Over the past decade, there has been significant and important progress in the quantitative measurement of these changes. Manual methods for measuring bone area from 3D MR images have been improved with automation which offers both superior precision and a more responsive measurement that has been applied in several DMOAD randomized controlled trials. Measurement of true 3D bone shape, as opposed to simple geometric measures such as curvature and length, depends on automated methods of segmentation. In this field, important developments have taken place in the statistical parameterization of shape and the construction of OA vs non-OA shape metrics. Work has demonstrated that bone shape may provide an indication of OA status, may predict future OA onset, and is associated with clinical markers of OA such as pain, function and total joint replacement (TKR). Thus, bone shape may be a useful imaging biomarker for OA.

IMPROVING THE EVALUATION AND PREDICTION OF PREVENTION AND TREATMENT EFFICIENCY DURING PUBLIC HEALTH EMERGENCIES BY USING THE SBM-BPNN ALGORITHM

Crisis response is the key to reducing the impact and damage of public health emergencies. Previous studies only focused on specific measures for emergency response, but the effectiveness of these measures has seldom been discussed. How about the effective of the crisis response on public health emergencies? What will happen to the effectiveness of crisis response after the transformation of public health emergency measures? To address these questions, a novel research framework was constructed by combining slacks-based measure (SBM) and back propagation neural network (BPNN) algorithms. At Stage I, an efficiency evaluation was conducted on SBM with undesirable outputs to evaluate the prevention and treatment efficiency during public health emergencies, and stochastic frontier analysis was performed to mitigate the influence of environmental factors and statistical noise. At Stage II, the adjusted efficiency was predicted with the BPNN model. The decision-making units were effectively improved by incorporating slack variables, thus enabling the prediction and optimization of optimal cases given the epidemic resources. An empirical analysis of the response of 43 G20 member countries to the COVID-19 pandemic showed that the novel framework could evaluate prevention and treatment efficiency across regions and predict the efficiency and optimal case outputs following shifts in epidemic preventive measures. After evaluation, the mean squared error of the BPNN efficiency prediction model was only 0.0014, whereas that of the BPNN optimal output prediction model was 0.126. Therefore, this novel framework is suitable for evaluating and predicting the effectiveness of crisis response on public health emergencies, which provides necessary assistance for crisis decision-making by the government and emergency management organizations., Keywords: Public health emergencies, COVID-19 pandemic, Crisis response efficiency, Evaluation, Prediction.

Biologics in Focus: A Comprehensive Review of the Current Biological Therapies for Ulcerative Colitis in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Background: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a relapsing–remitting inflammatory condition that has an increasing incidence across the world, including in the Middle East. Biological monoclonal antibody drugs (biologics) have been shown to be advantageous in treating UC. We undertook a review of the currently available biological and small-molecule therapies, with a particular emphasis on those currently licensed in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Methods: We conducted a literature search for studies on biological therapies using the PubMed, MEDLINE, and Embase databases using a list of keywords that were generated following referral to existing treatment guidelines for UC. Papers looking at biological and small-molecule treatments for UC in adult populations were included. Pediatric, pregnancy, and cost-effectiveness studies were excluded. Results and Discussion: There are currently three classes of biologics (anti-tumor necrosis factors (anti-TNFs), anti-integrins, and anti-interleukins) and one class of small-molecule therapy (Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitor) licensed for UC treatment in the UAE. Within the anti-TNF class, three medications have been approved: infliximab, adalimumab, and golimumab. For JAK inhibitors, there are two: tofacitinib and upadacitinib. There is only one licensed medication in the remaining classes: vedolizumab (anti-integrin) and ustekinumab (anti-interleukin). The length of studies varied from 6–8 weeks for induction studies and 52 weeks for maintenance studies. The studies demonstrated increased efficacy in these medications compared to placebos when clinical response, clinical remission, and other secondary measures such as mucosal healing were assessed following the induction and maintenance phases. Biosimilars of infliximab and adalimumab are also available for treating UC, and their safety and efficacy were compared to their biologic originators. Conclusions: The introduction of biologics has been proven to be beneficial for the treatment of UC. This review summarizes the efficacy and safety of each biological class in the treatment of the disease; however, biological drug registries and further studies are required to offer more insight into the comparative efficacy and safety of these agents.

Experience Sharing in Participating in the Environmental Safety Consultation Program—Tainan Hospital, Ministry of Health and Welfare

&lt;p&gt;本文分享財團法人醫院評鑑暨醫療品質策進會推動「環境安全諮詢計畫」，由兩位國內專家輔導委員及一位國外ACHSI輔導委員以緊急應變計畫、建築與設備、管理機制三大方面進入輔導過程，本文大致分享以國內醫療機構面臨機構建築設備老舊維護困難，在既有建築物空間規劃設計上，防災及疏散因應措施相較薄弱，如何以合宜的因應措施及編列合理改善預算，提升環境安全及災害應變能力，保障人員安全與健康，維持醫療正常營運及財產損害控管。&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This manuscript shares the experience of participating in the &amp;ldquo;Environmental Safety Consultation Program&amp;rdquo; promoted by the Joint Commission of Taiwan. The program was guided by two domestic expert advisors and one international advisor from the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards International, focusing on three major aspects: emergency response plans, architecture and facilities, and management mechanisms. This manuscript broadly discusses how healthcare institutions in Taiwan, facing challenges with the maintenance of outdated buildings and facilities, and weak disaster prevention and evacuation measures due to existing architectural and spatial planning, can implement suitable response measures and allocate reasonable budgets for improvements. The goals are to enhance environmental safety and disaster response capabilities, ensure the safety and health of personnel, maintain normal medical operations, and manage property damage.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/p&gt;

The contributions of acoustic and non-acoustic factors to spatial release from masking

The ability to identify speech at worse signal-to-noise ratios when the maskers are spatially separated compared to when they are colocated is called spatial release from masking (SRM) and is thought to be a combination of monaural and binaural advantages arising from spatially separating the target from the maskers. Also, a host of other cognitive skills including attention, working memory, and executive function that support listeners’ ability to segregate, track and attend to a “target” signal while tuning out other unwanted signals contributes to understanding speech better in complex environments. Previous research with young normal hearing listeners from our lab indicated that SRM was predicted by an individual’s ability to use binaural cues (ITD thresholds), switch attention between two streams of information (trail making test) and ability to suppress irrelevant information (flanker task). Here, we present data from older listeners with varying hearing abilities on acoustic (envITD sensitivity) and non-acoustic tasks measuring attention (auditory and visual single and dual task), processing (trail making task), executive control (flanker task) and speech in noise tests (spatial release from masking using coordinate Response Measure sentences). The relationship between these acoustic and non-acoustic factors to speech understanding in complex listening environments will be discussed.

Exploring sexual harassment prevalence and risk factors among social workers in Mainland China

ABSTRACT This study investigates the prevalence and risk factors of sexual harassment among Chinese social workers. 38.2% of surveyed social workers experienced sexual harassment. Ordinal logistic regression showed that social workers who tended to rationalise sexual harassment were at a higher risk of being victims. Social workers in organisations that were more tolerant of sexual harassment were more likely to have such incidents. We also found that social workers who knew the anti-sexual harassment policy in the organisation reported more incidents. This study highlights the importance of integration of social workers’ individual efforts and organisational measures in response to sexual harassment.

행정안전부의 감염병 재난 업무연속성을 위한 코로나19 대응정책의 주요 기능 분석

The purpose of this study is to provide the guidelines on securing the Continuity of Operation in case of large-scale epidemics, by analyzing measures on disaster responses. At first, we divided whole period into three phases, which are the early, the middle and the end of phase, through finding the turning points on the COVID-19’s spreads, and classified their major response measures. And then, we reclassified the essential roles and the responsibilities in Korea disaster management system, with comparing the SPRP. As results, the essential measures on epidemic responses of Korea disaster management system, were classified into the operation of disaster management headquaters, the management of the isolated, the supports to local governments and the publics for living stability subsidy and the vaccinations. The major roles were classified as follows; the disaster managements(A), the management of the isolated(B,C/B,C,D,I), the supports to the local governments and the publics(F,H/C,F,H), and the Vaccinations(I,J). The result of this study could be expected to be used for establishing the guidelines of MOIS.