Do Internet Penetration and Online Censorship Levels Affect Long-Term Repression Success in Street Protest Prevention?

The monitoring of public opinion economic&social changes ◽

10.14515/monitoring.2021.6.2023 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Vadim E. Belenkov

Keyword(s):

The Internet ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Internet Users ◽

Large N ◽

Street Protest ◽

Reported Study ◽

Internet Penetration ◽

High Level

This research paper aims at learning whether Internet penetration and online censorship affect repression against civil society organization (CSO) capacity to prevent street protest events and/or reduce protest participant numbers in the long term. Although there is a large corpus of studies on the consequences of the Internet and social media development for street protest mobilization, there is little empirical research on whether offline CSO repression works in the age of the Internet and whether this new repression impact is modified by attempts to organize online censorship. I tried to solve this problem with large-N cross-national datasets on protest participation, CSO repression and online censorship as well as on the share of Internet users from 1990 to 2018. I propose a set of hypotheses claiming that repression has a negative unconditional effect on street protest probability and protester numbers, that the Internet penetration makes repression effect less negative or more positive, and that online censorship transforms repression impact into more negative and less positive. I test these hypotheses with pooled linear and logistic regressions weighted by inverse probability of loss to follow-up. The results demonstrate that when the repression effect exists, an uncensored Internet makes the weak repression effect positive and transforms highly severe repression effects from negative to null. Online censorship at a high level of Internet use only removes the positive effect of weak repression. Acknowledgments: The reported study was funded by RFBR and EISR, project number 21-011-32120.

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Physical workload and increased frequency of musculoskeletal pain: a cohort study of employed men and women with baseline occasional pain

Occupational and Environmental Medicine ◽

10.1136/oemed-2020-107094 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. oemed-2020-107094

Author(s):

Kathryn Badarin ◽

Tomas Hemmingsson ◽

Lena Hillert ◽

Katarina Kjellberg

Keyword(s):

Survey Data ◽

Musculoskeletal Pain ◽

Leisure Time Physical Activity ◽

Physical Workload ◽

Job Exposure Matrix ◽

Men And Women ◽

Strenuous Work ◽

High Level

ObjectivesMusculoskeletal pain (MSP) is prevalent among the workforce. This study investigates the long-term association between physical workload (PWL) and increased frequency of MSP among male and female employees with pre-existing occasional MSP.MethodsThis study uses the Stockholm Public Health cohort survey data from the baseline 2006. The sample includes 5715 employees with baseline occasional MSP (no more than a few days per month). Eight PWL exposures and overall PWL were estimated using a job-exposure matrix (JEM). The JEM was assigned to occupational titles from a national register in 2006. Follow-up survey data on frequent MSP (a few or more times a week) were collected from 2010. Logistic regressions produced sex-specific ORs with 95% CIs and were adjusted for education, health conditions, psychological distress, smoking, BMI, leisure-time physical activity and decision authority.ResultsAssociations were observed between several aspects of heavy PWL and frequent MSP for men (eg, OR 1.57, 95% CI 1.13 to 2.20, among those in the highest exposure quartile compared with those in the lowest quartile for heavy lifting) and women (eg, OR 1.76, 95% CI 1.35 to 2.29, among those in the highest exposure quartile compared with those in the the lowest quartile for physically strenuous work). Small changes were observed in the OR after adjustment, but most of the ORs for PWL exposures among the men were no longer statistically significantly increased.ConclusionA high level of exposure to heavy PWL was associated with increased frequency of MSP 4 years later for men and women with baseline occasional pain.

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From Users’ Intentions to IF-THEN Rules in the Internet of Things

ACM Transactions on Information Systems ◽

10.1145/3447264 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 1-33

Author(s):

Fulvio Corno ◽

Luigi De Russis ◽

Alberto Monge Roffarello

Keyword(s):

Internet Of Things ◽

Smart Devices ◽

The Internet ◽

Short Term ◽

Real World Data ◽

Original Intention ◽

Recommendation Accuracy ◽

High Level ◽

The Internet Of Things

In the Internet of Things era, users are willing to personalize the joint behavior of their connected entities, i.e., smart devices and online service, by means of trigger-action rules such as “IF the entrance Nest security camera detects a movement, THEN blink the Philips Hue lamp in the kitchen.” Unfortunately, the spread of new supported technologies makes the number of possible combinations between triggers and actions continuously growing, thus motivating the need of assisting users in discovering new rules and functionality, e.g., through recommendation techniques. To this end, we present , a semantic Conversational Search and Recommendation (CSR) system able to suggest pertinent IF-THEN rules that can be easily deployed in different contexts starting from an abstract user’s need. By exploiting a conversational agent, the user can communicate her current personalization intention by specifying a set of functionality at a high level, e.g., to decrease the temperature of a room when she left it. Stemming from this input, implements a semantic recommendation process that takes into account ( a ) the current user’s intention , ( b ) the connected entities owned by the user, and ( c ) the user’s long-term preferences revealed by her profile. If not satisfied with the suggestions, then the user can converse with the system to provide further feedback, i.e., a short-term preference , thus allowing to provide refined recommendations that better align with the original intention. We evaluate by running different offline experiments with simulated users and real-world data. First, we test the recommendation process in different configurations, and we show that recommendation accuracy and similarity with target items increase as the interaction between the algorithm and the user proceeds. Then, we compare with other similar baseline recommender systems. Results are promising and demonstrate the effectiveness of in recommending IF-THEN rules that satisfy the current personalization intention of the user.

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How to Find Patients Who are 'Lost to Follow-up'

Bulletin of The Royal College of Surgeons of England ◽

10.1308/147363510x487795 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 92 (3) ◽

pp. 98-101 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

LC Biant ◽

VK Eswaramoorthy ◽

RE Field

Keyword(s):

Surgical Interventions ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Medical Interventions ◽

Follow Up Studies ◽

Long Term Follow Up ◽

Lost To Follow Up

Long-term surveillance of patients is necessary to ascertain the outcome of medical interventions. The rate of 'loss to follow-up' is the largest controllable variable in long-term follow-up studies. Such surveillance programmes are of particular importance to surgical interventions as differences between techniques or implants may take years to become apparent.

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Digital adherence technologies for the management of tuberculosis therapy: mapping the landscape and research priorities

BMJ Global Health ◽

10.1136/bmjgh-2018-001018 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 3 (5) ◽

pp. e001018 ◽

Cited By ~ 51

Author(s):

Ramnath Subbaraman ◽

Laura de Mondesert ◽

Angella Musiimenta ◽

Madhukar Pai ◽

Kenneth H Mayer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Treatment Outcomes ◽

Healthcare Providers ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Directly Observed Therapy ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Individualised Care ◽

Health System Efficiency ◽

Tuberculosis Therapy

Poor medication adherence may increase rates of loss to follow-up, disease relapse and drug resistance for individuals with active tuberculosis (TB). While TB programmes have historically used directly observed therapy (DOT) to address adherence, concerns have been raised about the patient burden, ethical limitations, effectiveness in improving treatment outcomes and long-term feasibility of DOT for health systems. Digital adherence technologies (DATs)—which include feature phone–based and smartphone-based technologies, digital pillboxes and ingestible sensors—may facilitate more patient-centric approaches for monitoring adherence, though available data are limited. Depending on the specific technology, DATs may help to remind patients to take their medications, facilitate digital observation of pill-taking, compile dosing histories and triage patients based on their level of adherence, which can facilitate provision of individualised care by TB programmes to patients with varied levels of risk. Research is needed to understand whether DATs are acceptable to patients and healthcare providers, accurate for measuring adherence, effective in improving treatment outcomes and impactful in improving health system efficiency. In this article, we describe the landscape of DATs that are being used in research or clinical practice by TB programmes and highlight priorities for research.

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Twenty-Year Follow-up Study Comparing Operative Versus Nonoperative Treatment of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Ruptures in High-Level Athletes

The American Journal of Sports Medicine ◽

10.1177/0363546517751683 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 46 (5) ◽

pp. 1129-1136 ◽

Cited By ~ 33

Author(s):

Daan T. van Yperen ◽

Max Reijman ◽

Eline M. van Es ◽

Sita M.A. Bierma-Zeinstra ◽

Duncan E. Meuffels

Keyword(s):

Knee Osteoarthritis ◽

Functional Outcomes ◽

Cruciate Ligament ◽

Nonoperative Treatment ◽

Pivot Shift Test ◽

Anterior Cruciate ◽

High Level ◽

Nonoperative Group

Background: An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) rupture has major consequences at midterm follow-up, with an increasing chance of developing an old knee in a young patient. The long-term (≥20 years) effects of the operative and nonoperative treatment of ACL ruptures are still unclear. Purpose: To compare the long-term treatment outcomes of operative versus nonoperative treatment of ACL ruptures in high-level athletes. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: Fifty patients with an ACL rupture were eligible for participation, and they were treated either nonoperatively (n = 25) in 1992, consisting of structured rehabilitation and lifestyle adjustments, or operatively (n = 25) between 1994 and 1996 with an arthroscopic transtibial bone–patellar tendon–bone technique. The patients in the nonoperative group were drawn from those who responded well to 3 months of nonoperative treatment, whereas the patients in the operative group were drawn from those who had persistent instability after 3 months of nonoperative treatment. Both groups were pair-matched and assessed at 10- and 20-year follow-up regarding radiological knee osteoarthritis, functional outcomes (Lysholm, International Knee Documentation Committee [IKDC], Tegner, Knee injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score), meniscal status, and knee stability (KT-1000 arthrometer, pivot-shift test, Lachman test, 1-legged hop test). Results: All 50 patients (100%) were included in the current study for follow-up. After 20 years, we found knee osteoarthritis in 80% of the operative group compared with 68% of the nonoperative group ( P = .508). There was no difference between groups regarding functional outcomes and meniscectomy performed. The median IKDC subjective score was 81.6 (interquartile range [IQR], 59.8-89.1) for the operative group and 78.2 (IQR, 61.5-92.0) for the nonoperative group ( P = .679). Regarding the IKDC objective score, 21 patients (84%) in the operative group had a normal or near normal score (A and B) compared with 5 patients (20%) in the nonoperative group ( P < .001). The pivot-shift test finding was negative in 17 patients (68%) versus 3 patients (13%) for the operative and nonoperative groups, respectively ( P < .001), and the Lachman test finding was negative in 12 patients (48%) versus 1 patient (4%), respectively ( P = .002). Conclusion: In this retrospective pair-matched follow-up study, we found that after 20-year follow-up, there was no difference in knee osteoarthritis between operative versus nonoperative treatment when treatment was allocated on the basis of a patient’s response to 3 months of nonoperative treatment. Although knee stability was better in the operative group, it did not result in better subjective and objective functional outcomes.

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New warfarin anticoagulation management model after heart valve surgery: rationale and design of a prospective, multicentre, randomised trial to compare an internet-based warfarin anticoagulation management model with the traditional warfarin management model

BMJ Open ◽

10.1136/bmjopen-2019-032949 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. e032949 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Zhihui Zhu ◽

Yuehuan Li ◽

Xu Meng ◽

Jie Han ◽

Yan Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Valve Replacement ◽

Heart Valve ◽

Anticoagulation Therapy ◽

Internet Technology ◽

Heart Valve Replacement ◽

Management Model ◽

The Internet ◽

Anticoagulation Management

IntroductionWarfarin is an effective anticoagulant and the only oral anticoagulant available for patients with mechanical heart valves. The prothrombin time and the associated international normalised ratio (INR) are routinely tested to monitor the response to anticoagulation therapy in patients. Patients who undergo mechanical heart valve replacement need lifelong anticoagulation therapy, and their INR is regularly measured to adjust the anticoagulation strength and the dose of anticoagulation drugs. Appropriate warfarin anticoagulation management can reduce patient complications, such as bleeding and thrombosis, and improve the long-term survival rate. We propose modern internet technology as a platform to build a warfarin anticoagulation follow-up system after valve replacement surgery. This system will provide doctors and patients with more standardised and safer follow-up methods as well as a method to further reduce the risk of warfarin anticoagulation-related complications and improve its therapeutic effects.Methods and analysisA prospective, multicentre, randomised, controlled trial will be conducted. A total of 700 patients who require long-term warfarin anticoagulation monitoring after heart valve replacement will be enrolled and randomly divided at a 1:1 ratio into a traditional outpatient anticoagulation management group and a group undergoing a new method of management based on the internet technology with follow-up for 1 year. Differences in the percentage of time in the therapeutic range (TTR), drug dose adjustments, bleeding/thrombosis and other related complications will be observed. The primary endpoint is the difference in the TTR between the two groups. The purpose of this study is to explore a safer and more effective mode of doctor–patient interaction and communication in the internet era. As of 13 July 2019, 534 patients had been enrolled.Ethics and disseminationThis study protocol was approved by the Ethics Committee of Beijing Anzhen Hospital, Capital Medical University. The results will be published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.Trial registration numberChiCTR1800016204.

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Prediction of loss to follow-up in long-term supportive periodontal therapy in patients with chronic periodontitis

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0192221 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. e0192221

Author(s):

Di Wu ◽

Hai Jing Yang ◽

Yan Zhang ◽

Xiu E. Li ◽

Yu Rong Jia ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Chronic Periodontitis ◽

Periodontal Therapy ◽

Loss To Follow Up ◽

Supportive Periodontal Therapy

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Use of the Internet for Long-Term Clinical Follow-Up*

Telemedicine Journal ◽

10.1089/tmj.1.1998.4.371 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 371-374 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

JOHN A. AUCAR ◽

CHARLES R. DOARN ◽

ASHOT SARGSYAN ◽

DALE A. SAMUELSON ◽

MANUS J. ODONNELL ◽

...

Keyword(s):

The Internet ◽

Use Of The Internet

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Longitudinal follow-up in acute and transient psychotic disorders and schizophrenia

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.187.3.286 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 187 (3) ◽

pp. 286-287 ◽

Cited By ~ 37

Author(s):

Frank Pillmann ◽

Andreas Marneros

Keyword(s):

Psychotic Disorders ◽

First Episode ◽

Control Group ◽

Level Of Functioning ◽

General Functioning ◽

And Gender ◽

High Level ◽

Observation Period

SummaryWe prospectively studied the long-term course of individuals with acute and transient psychotic disorders and a control group with positive schizophrenia matched for age and gender. Follow-up investigations using standardised instruments were performed at three time-points covering 7 years after the index episode or 12 years after the first episode. During follow-up, those with positive schizophrenia experienced a deterioration in their general functioning whereas those with acute and transient psychotic disorders retained their high level of functioning. At the end of the observation period, 12 out of 39 (31%) of those with acute and transient psychotic disorders were functioning well without medication compared with 0 out of 38 with positive schizophrenia.

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