scholarly journals M. cerebralis establishment and spread: A graphical synthesis

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pouria Ramazi ◽  
Samuel Matthias Fischer ◽  
Julie Alexander ◽  
Clayton James ◽  
Andrew J. Paul ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Graphical Model ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Model Development ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Whirling Disease ◽  
Spread Model ◽  
Considerable Impact ◽  
Economic Constraints

M. cerebralis is the parasite causing whirling disease, which has dramatic ecological impacts due to its potential to cause high mortality in salmonids. The large-scale efforts, necessary to underpin an effective surveillance program, have practical and economic constraints. There is, hence, a clear need for models that can predict the parasite spread. Model development, however, often heavily depends on knowing influential variables and governing mechanisms. We have developed a graphical model for the establishment and spread of M. cerebralis by synthesizing experts’ opinion and empirical studies. First, we conducted a series of workshops with experts to identify variables believed to impact the establishment and spread of the parasite M. cerebralis and visualized their interactions via a directed acyclic graph. Then we refined the graph by incorporating empirical findings from the literature. The final graph’s nodes correspond to variables whose considerable impact on M. cerebralis establishment and spread is either supported by empirical data or confirmed by experts, and the graph’s directed edges represent direct causality or strong correlation. This graphical model facilitates communication and education of whirling disease and provides an empirically driven framework for constructing future models, especially Bayesian networks.

Bullying, School Violence, and Climate in Evolving Contexts

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Avi Astor ◽  
Rami Benbenisthty
Keyword(s):  
School Violence ◽  
School Safety ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Teacher Student ◽  
Area Of Interest ◽  
New Research

Since 2005, the bullying, school violence, and school safety literatures have expanded dramatically in content, disciplines, and empirical studies. However, with this massive expansion of research, there is also a surprising lack of theoretical and empirical direction to guide efforts on how to advance our basic science and practical applications of this growing scientific area of interest. Parallel to this surge in interest, cultural norms, media coverage, and policies to address school safety and bullying have evolved at a remarkably quick pace over the past 13 years. For example, behaviors and populations that just a decade ago were not included in the school violence, bullying, and school safety discourse are now accepted areas of inquiry. These include, for instance, cyberbullying, sexting, social media shaming, teacher–student and student–teacher bullying, sexual harassment and assault, homicide, and suicide. Populations in schools not previously explored, such as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and educators and military- and veteran-connected students, become the foci of new research, policies, and programs. As a result, all US states and most industrialized countries now have a complex quilt of new school safety and bullying legislation and policies. Large-scale research and intervention funding programs are often linked to these policies. This book suggests an empirically driven unifying model that brings together these previously distinct literatures. This book presents an ecological model of school violence, bullying, and safety in evolving contexts that integrates all we have learned in the 13 years, and suggests ways to move forward.

Epidemiology of Acute Extensor Mechanism Injuries in Collegiate-Level Athletes in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 194173812110129
Author(s):  
Kevin K. Chen ◽  
Jimmy J. Chan ◽  
William Ranson ◽  
Nicholas Debellis ◽  
Hsin-Hui Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Injury Rate ◽  
Collegiate Athletes ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extensor Mechanism ◽  
Surveillance Program ◽  
Level Of Evidence ◽  
Severe Injuries ◽  
Male Athletes ◽  
Collegiate Level

Background: Extensor mechanism injuries involving the quadriceps tendon, patella, or patellar tendon can be a devastating setback for athletes. Despite the potential severity and relative frequency with which these injuries occur, large-scale epidemiological data on collegiate-level athletes are lacking. Study Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Level of Evidence: Level 4. Methods: Knee extensor mechanism injuries across 16 sports among National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men and women during the 2004-2005 to 2013-2014 academic years were analyzed using the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP). Extensor mechanism injuries per 100,000 athlete-exposures (AEs), operative rate, annual injury and reinjury rates, in-season status (pre-/regular/postseason), and time lost were compiled and calculated. Results: A total of 11,778,265 AEs were identified and included in the study. Overall, 1,748 extensor mechanism injuries were identified, with an injury rate (IR) of 14.84 (per 100,000 AEs). N = 114 (6.5%) injuries were classified as severe injuries with a relatively higher median time loss (44 days) and operative risk (18.42%). Male athletes had higher risk of season-ending injuries in both all (3.20% vs 0.89%, P < 0.01) and severe (41.54% vs 16.33%, P < 0.01) extensor mechanism injuries. Similarly, contact injuries were more frequently season-ending injuries (4.44% vs 1.69%, P = 0.01). Women’s soccer (IR = 2.59), women’s field hockey (IR = 2.15), and women’s cross country (IR = 2.14) were the sports with the highest rate of severe extensor mechanism injuries. Conclusion: Extensor mechanism injuries in collegiate athletes represent a significant set of injuries both in terms of volume and potentially to their athletic careers. Male athletes and contact injuries appear to have a greater risk of severe injuries. Injuries defined as severe had a higher risk of operative intervention and greater amount of missed playing time. Clinical Relevance: Knowledge of the epidemiology of extensor mechanism injuries may help clinicians guide their athlete patients in sports-related injury prevention and management.

scholarly journals Comparison of Amyloid β and Tau Spread Models in Alzheimer’s Disease

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 4291-4302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hang-Rai Kim ◽  
Peter Lee ◽  
Sang Won Seo ◽  
Jee Hoon Roh ◽  
Minyoung Oh ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alzheimer’S Disease ◽  
Alzheimer's Disease ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Amyloid Β ◽  
Brain Network ◽  
Amyloid Positron Emission Tomography ◽  
Local Spread ◽  
Positron Emission ◽  
Spread Model ◽  
Graph Theoretical Approach

Abstract Tau and amyloid β (Aβ), 2 key pathogenic proteins in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), reportedly spread throughout the brain as the disease progresses. Models of how these pathogenic proteins spread from affected to unaffected areas had been proposed based on the observation that these proteins could transmit to other regions either through neural fibers (transneuronal spread model) or through extracellular space (local spread model). In this study, we modeled the spread of tau and Aβ using a graph theoretical approach based on resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. We tested whether these models predict the distribution of tau and Aβ in the brains of AD spectrum patients. To assess the models’ performance, we calculated spatial correlation between the model-predicted map and the actual map from tau and amyloid positron emission tomography. The transneuronal spread model predicted the distribution of tau and Aβ deposition with significantly higher accuracy than the local spread model. Compared with tau, the local spread model also predicted a comparable portion of Aβ deposition. These findings provide evidence of transneuronal spread of AD pathogenic proteins in a large-scale brain network and furthermore suggest different contributions of spread models for tau and Aβ in AD.

scholarly journals Supply chain resilience in a developing country context: a case study on the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes

2017 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 486-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin Tukamuhabwa ◽  
Mark Stevenson ◽  
Jerry Busby
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Developing Country ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Supply Network ◽  
Catastrophic Events ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Supply Chain Resilience

Purpose In few prior empirical studies on supply chain resilience (SCRES), the focus has been on the developed world. Yet, organisations in developing countries constitute a significant part of global supply chains and have also experienced the disastrous effects of supply chain failures. The purpose of this paper is therefore to empirically investigate SCRES in a developing country context and to show that this also provides theoretical insights into the nature of what is meant by resilience. Design/methodology/approach Using a case study approach, a supply network of 20 manufacturing firms in Uganda is analysed based on a total of 45 interviews. Findings The perceived threats to SCRES in this context are mainly small-scale, chronic disruptive events rather than discrete, large-scale catastrophic events typically emphasised in the literature. The data reveal how threats of disruption, resilience strategies and outcomes are inter-related in complex, coupled and non-linear ways. These interrelationships are explained by the political, cultural and territorial embeddedness of the supply network in a developing country. Further, this embeddedness contributes to the phenomenon of supply chain risk migration, whereby an attempt to mitigate one threat produces another threat and/or shifts the threat to another point in the supply network. Practical implications Managers should be aware, for example, of potential risk migration from one threat to another when crafting strategies to build SCRES. Equally, the potential for risk migration across the supply network means managers should look at the supply chain holistically because actors along the chain are so interconnected. Originality/value The paper goes beyond the extant literature by highlighting how SCRES is not only about responding to specific, isolated threats but about the continuous management of risk migration. It demonstrates that resilience requires both an understanding of the interconnectedness of threats, strategies and outcomes and an understanding of the embeddedness of the supply network. Finally, this study’s focus on the context of a developing country reveals that resilience should be equally concerned both with smaller in scale, chronic disruptions and with occasional, large-scale catastrophic events.

“I Will Never Know the Person Who I Could Have Become”: Perceived Changes in Self-Identity Among Adult Survivors of Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 1139-1162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scott D. Easton ◽  
Danielle M. Leone-Sheehan ◽  
Patrick J. O’Leary
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Abuse ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Adult Survivors ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Relational Self ◽  
Self Identity

Clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse (CPSA) during childhood represents a tragic betrayal of trust that inflicts damage on the survivor, the family, and the parish community. Survivors often report CPSA has a disturbing impact on their self-identity. Despite intense media coverage of clergy abuse globally in the Catholic Church (and other faith communities) over several decades, relatively few empirical studies have been conducted with survivors. Beyond clinical observations and advocacy group reports, very little is known about survivors’ perceptions of how the abuse impacted their long-term self-identity. Using data collected during the 2010 Health and Well-Being Survey, this qualitative analysis represents one of the first large-scale studies with a non-clinical sample of adult male survivors of CPSA from childhood ( N = 205). The negative effects of the sexual abuse on participants were expressed across six domains of self-identity: (a) total self, (b) psychological self, (c) relational self, (d) gendered self, (e) aspirational self, and (f) spiritual self. These findings highlight the range and depth of self-suffering inflicted by this pernicious form of sexual violence. The findings are useful for developing clinical services for survivors, shaping public and institutional policies to address clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse, and guiding future research with this population.

scholarly journals Leverage Points for Governing Agricultural Soils: A Review of Empirical Studies of European Farmers’ Decision-Making

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bartosz Bartkowski ◽  
Stephan Bartke
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Goodness Of Fit ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Symbolic Capital ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Behavioural Characteristics ◽  
Peer Orientation ◽  
Economic Constraints

What drives farmers’ decision-making? To inform effective, efficient, and legitimate governance of agricultural soils, it is important to understand the behaviour of those who manage the fields. This article contributes to the assessment and development of innovative soil governance instruments by outlining a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of farmers’ behaviour and decision-making. Our analysis synthesises empirical literature from different disciplines spanning the last four decades on various farm-level decision-making problems. Based on a conceptual framework that links objective characteristics of the farm and the farmer with behavioural characteristics, social-institutional environment, economic constraints, and decision characteristics, empirical findings from 87 European studies are presented and discussed. We point out that economic constraints and incentives are very important, but that other factors also have significant effects, in particular pro-environmental attitudes, goodness of fit, and past experience. Conversely, we find mixed results for demographic factors and symbolic capital. A number of potentially highly relevant yet understudied factors for soil governance are identified, including adoption of technologies, advisory services, bureaucratic load, risk aversion and social capital, social norms, and peer orientation. Our results emphasise the importance of a broad behavioural perspective to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and legitimacy of soil governance.

scholarly journals Technology Acceptance in Healthcare: A Systematic Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (22) ◽  
pp. 10537
Author(s):  
Adi A. AlQudah ◽  
Mostafa Al-Emran ◽  
Khaled Shaalan
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Influential Factors ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Eligibility Criteria ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Healthcare Technologies

Understanding the factors affecting the use of healthcare technologies is a crucial topic that has been extensively studied, specifically during the last decade. These factors were studied using different technology acceptance models and theories. However, a systematic review that offers extensive understanding into what affects healthcare technologies and services and covers distinctive trends in large-scale research remains lacking. Therefore, this review aims to systematically review the articles published on technology acceptance in healthcare. From a yield of 1768 studies collected, 142 empirical studies have met the eligibility criteria and were extensively analyzed. The key findings confirmed that TAM and UTAUT are the most prevailing models in explaining what affects the acceptance of various healthcare technologies through different user groups, settings, and countries. Apart from the core constructs of TAM and UTAUT, the results showed that anxiety, computer self-efficacy, innovativeness, and trust are the most influential factors affecting various healthcare technologies. The results also revealed that Taiwan and the USA are leading the research of technology acceptance in healthcare, with a remarkable increase in studies focusing on telemedicine and electronic medical records solutions. This review is believed to enhance our understanding through a number of theoretical contributions and practical implications by unveiling the full potential of technology acceptance in healthcare and opening the door for further research opportunities.

scholarly journals Ecological Impacts of Megaprojects: Species Succession and Functional Composition

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 2411
Author(s):  
Hamada E. Ali ◽  
Solveig Franziska Bucher
Keyword(s):  
Plant Species ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Invasive Plant ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Natural Vegetation ◽  
Ecological Impacts ◽  
Imperata Cylindrica ◽  
Dry Matter Content ◽  
Large Scale Disturbance ◽  
The Impact

Land-use changes have huge impacts on natural vegetation, especially megaprojects, as the vegetation layer is destroyed in the course of construction works affecting the plant community composition and functionality. This large-scale disturbance might be a gateway for the establishment of invasive plant species, which can outcompete the natural flora. In contrast, species occurring in the area before the construction are not able to re-establish. In this study, we analyzed the impact of a pipeline construction on a wetland nature reserve located in northern Egypt. Therefore, we analyzed the plant species occurrence and abundance and measured each plant species’ traits before the construction in 2017 as well as on multiple occasions up to 2 years after the construction had finished on altogether five sampling events. We found that the construction activity led to the establishment of an invasive species which previously did not occur in the area, namely, Imperata cylindrica, whereas five species (Ipomoea carnea, Pluchea dioscoridis, Polygonum equisetiforme, Tamarix nilotica, and Typha domingensis) could not re-establish after the disturbance. The functionality of ecosystems assessed via the analysis of plant functional traits (plant height, specific leaf area, and leaf dry matter content) changed within species over all sampling events and within the community showing a tendency to approximate pre-construction values. Functional dispersion and Rao’s quadratic diversity were higher after the megaproject than before. These findings are important to capture possible re-establishment and recovery of natural vegetation after construction and raise awareness to the impact of megaprojects, especially in areas which are high priority for conservation.

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