Is there no “I” in team? Potential bias in key informant interviews when asking individuals to represent a collective perspective

This paper sought to understand the extent to which, and how individuals use personal or collective language when asked to articulate sense of place from a collective perspective. Understanding a collective sense of place could illuminate place-based connections in natural resource industries, where it is as groups or as institutions that organizations interact with the environment rather than as individuals. While there are well known methods for collecting information about sense of place at the individual level, there is a gap in understanding the best method to collect information at a collective level. We examined the use of key-informant interviews as a method to understand collective sense of place. In Bocas del Toro, Panama, ecotourism and environmentally based organizations are becoming more prolific due to abundant natural resources, making it an interesting case study for understanding sense of place from an organizational perspective. The use of personal and collective language is examined though in-depth semi-structured interviews from 15 environmentally-oriented organizations with a total of 17 interviews. This study specifically examined whether and how key informants, when prompted to speak for their organization, spoke collectively, reflecting a collective perspective versus their own. Methods included both quantitative analysis of personal versus collective language use frequency, and qualitative examinations of how individuals used personal versus collective language. Our results indicated no difference in the frequency with which individuals use personal versus collective language. We found that how individuals situated their perspectives into an organization reflects a complex personal and collective point of view reflecting five themes of personal versus collective language use: 1) sole personal perspective, 2) sole collective perspective, 3) distinction between collective and personal perspective; 4) organization perspective with insertion of “I think”; and 5) personal and collective perspective about organization and greater community. Our research identifies a previously undiscussed potential bias of key informant interviews. These findings have implications for how researchers approach collecting information beyond the individual level.

Rehabilitative management of pelvic fractures needs to be further optimized

We read with interest the review by Piccione et al. into the rehabilitative management of patients with pelvic fracture (PF). This review adds to our knowledge about the significance and indispensability of early multidisciplinary intervention in PF. From our perspective, however, potential bias might be caused by several unanswered questions. The uncertain methodological process and the unclear definition could misguide the rehabilitation strategies while still in dispute. Therefore, further high-quality studies should be conducted to optimize the multidisciplinary rehabilitation of patients with PF.

Comparison of Different Approaches to Operationalize Fried’s Phenotypic Frailty in the NuAge Cohort

Many operationalization approaches were proposed to identify frailty in older adults. The common use of Fried’s original criteria or other cut-offs based on cohort distribution may not apply in every cohort leading to potential bias in the identification of frail individuals. We thus aimed to apply different Fried’s phenotypic frailty operationalization approaches in the Quebec NuAge cohort of generally healthy community-dwelling older adults (n=1,753; aged 67-84 years), and longitudinally compare prevalence, incidence and predictive strength on outcomes, such as functional autonomy, falls, hospitalization and mortality. Significant variability in prevalence, classification agreement and predictive strengths were observed between approaches, notably using different types of distribution cut-offs, variables, or ways to handle missing data. This strategy helped us to prioritize a specific Fried’s phenotypic frailty operationalization in NuAge, which could then be used in secondary research projects aiming to study determinants of Fried’s phenotypic frailty and its role in health outcomes.

Mass Estimation of Galaxy Clusters with Deep Learning II. Cosmic Microwave Background Cluster Lensing

We present a new application of deep learning to reconstruct the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature maps from images of the microwave sky and to use these reconstructed maps to estimate the masses of galaxy clusters. We use a feed-forward deep-learning network, mResUNet, for both steps of the analysis. The first deep-learning model, mResUNet-I, is trained to reconstruct foreground and noise-suppressed CMB maps from a set of simulated images of the microwave sky that include signals from the CMB, astrophysical foregrounds like dusty and radio galaxies, instrumental noise as well as the cluster’s own thermal Sunyaev–Zel’dovich signal. The second deep-learning model, mResUNet-II, is trained to estimate cluster masses from the gravitational-lensing signature in the reconstructed foreground and noise-suppressed CMB maps. For SPTpol-like noise levels, the trained mResUNet-II model recovers the mass for 104 galaxy cluster samples with a 1σ uncertainty Δ M 200 c est / M 200 c est = 0.108 and 0.016 for input cluster mass M 200 c true = 10 14 M ⊙ and 8 × 1014 M ⊙, respectively. We also test for potential bias on recovered masses, finding that for a set of 105 clusters the estimator recovers M 200 c est = 2.02 × 10 14 M ⊙ , consistent with the input at 1% level. The 2σ upper limit on potential bias is at 3.5% level.

Minimum wages, youth employment and spatial spillovers: New evidence for Spain

The effect of minimum wages increases on youth employment level has been extensively analysed, but recent contributions have highlighted the potential bias in these studies due to neglected spatial autocorrelation in the considered relationship. This paper contributes to this scarce literature by providing novel evidence for a country with very low interregional mobility. The aim is to see if the bias of neglecting spatial dependence acts in a similar direction than in the few studies for the United States and if this bias explains the low elasticity of youth employment to minimum wages in Spain compared to the international literature. Our results show the relevance of spatial spillovers in the Spanish regional labour markets, but after correcting for the bias, we do not find a significant negative elasticity of youth employment to minimum wages, with the only exception of those between 16 and 19 years old.

Prevalence of Persistent Olfactory Disorders in Patients With COVID-19: A Psychophysical Case-Control Study With 1-Year Follow-up

The purpose of this multicenter case-control study was to evaluate a group of patients at least 1 year after coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) with Sniffin’ Sticks tests and to compare the results with a control population to quantify the potential bias introduced by the underlying prevalence of olfactory dysfunction (OD) in the general population. The study included 170 cases and 170 controls. In the COVID-19 group, 26.5% of cases had OD (anosmia in 4.7%, hyposmia in 21.8%) versus 3.5% in the control group (6 cases of hyposmia). The TDI score (threshold, discrimination, and identification) in the COVID-19 group was significantly lower than in the control group (32.5 [interquartile range, 29-36.5] vs 36.75 [34-39.5], P < .001). The prevalence of OD was significantly higher in the COVID-19 group, confirming that this result is not due to the underlying prevalence of OD in the general population.

Can Aquatic Invertebrates within Public Aquaria Fit the Five Domain Welfare Model?

Welfare within zoos and aquariums has come under increasing scrutiny due to the change in public opinion of animals in captivity. It is vital that as an industry mechanisms and frameworks are in place to determine welfare of animals within our care. Due to potential bias in current welfare models toward terrestrial vertebrates, it is important to determine whether they can be utilised in differing environments such as aquariums. Using the most recent five domain model (Mellor, 2017) the possible application within public aquaria is discussed, considering each domain in respect to aquatic invertebrates, an often-neglected group of organisms when considering welfare in aquaria. This review highlights the additional considerations needed when applying the five domain model to this diverse group of organisms. Furthermore, the identification of gaps within the current literature is discussed in respect to whether the full five domain model can be currently be applied at this time.

Effects of Confounding Bias in COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Test-Negative Designs Due to Correlated Influenza and COVID-19 Vaccination Behaviors

Background: The test-negative design is commonly used to estimate influenza and COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness (VE). In these studies, correlated COVID-19 and influenza vaccine behaviors may introduce a confounding bias where controls are included with the other vaccine-preventable acute respiratory illness (ARI). We quantified the impact of this bias on VE estimates in studies where this bias is not addressed. Methods: We simulated study populations under varying vaccination probabilities, COVID-19 VE, influenza VE, and proportions of controls included with the other vaccine-preventable ARI. Mean bias was calculated as the difference between true and estimated VE. Absolute mean bias in VE estimates was classified as low (<10%), moderate (10% to <20%), and high (≥20%). Results: Where vaccination probabilities are positively correlated, COVID-19 and influenza VE test-negative studies with influenza and SARS-CoV-2 ARI controls, respectively, underestimate VE. For COVID-19 VE studies, mean bias was low for all scenarios where influenza represented ≤50% of controls. For influenza VE studies, mean bias was low for all scenarios where SARS-CoV-2 represented ≤10% of controls. Although bias was driven by the conditional probability of vaccination, low VE of the vaccine of interest and high VE of the confounding vaccine increase its magnitude. Conclusions: Where a low percentage of controls are included with the other vaccine-preventable ARI, bias in COVID-19 and influenza VE estimates is low. However, influenza VE estimates are likely more susceptible to bias. Researchers should consider potential bias and its implications in their respective study settings to make informed methodological decisions in test-negative VE studies.

Synthesis of TiO2 Photoelectrode Nanostructures for Sensing and Removing Textile Compounds Rhodamine B

The study of the sensing and removal of Rhodamine B (RhB) textile compounds is the photoelectrocatalytic system applications development. RhB was used as a model to study the performance of TiO2 (NTiO2) photoelectrode nanostructures as environmentally friendly sensors. The synthesis of NTiO2 was carried out on the surface of the Titanium electrode by applying a potential bias of 25.0 V. The NTiO2 formed on the surface of the Titanium electrode (NTiO2/Ti) was characterized using SEM, XRD, FTIR, and Cyclic Voltammetry (CV). The formation of NTiO2 is characterized by the formation of a honeycomb-like tube on the Ti electrode surface. In addition, it is strengthened by diffractogram peaks at 2ϴ = 25 o and 48 o and IR absorption at wavenumbers of 3441.01 cm-1 (-OH groups) and 1629.85 cm-1 (Ti-O group). As for the results of sensing RhB using CV, it is known that RhB is oxidized on the surface of NTiO2/Ti with a value of Ea = 1.54 V. The oxidation process that occurs is controlled by the diffusion rate. Based on the results of photoelectrocatalytic RhB removal for 60 minutes, it was shown that using 0.10 M NaCl support electrolyte effectively increased the RhB removal rate. The decrease in RhB concentration during the photoelectrocatalytic removal process was 74.21%.

Potential bias of preoperative intravitreal anti-VEGF injection for complications of proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Purpose Intravitreal anti-VEGF injection (IVI) is administered before vitrectomy to assist management of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR)-related complications. In the clinical setting, retinal surgeons determine the use of preoperative IVI based on individual criteria. In this study, we investigated factors related to the potential bias of retinal surgeons in using IVI prior to vitrectomy for PDR-related complications, and evaluated the real-world outcomes of surgeon-determined preoperative IVI. Methods Medical records of 409 eyes of 409 patients who underwent 25-gauge vitrectomy for PDR complications at seven Japanese centers (22 surgeons) were retrospectively reviewed. Ocular factors, demographic and general clinical factors, surgical procedures, and postoperative complications were compared between IVI group (patients who received preoperative IVI; 87 eyes, 21.3%) and non-IVI group (patients who did not receive preoperative IVI; 322 eyes, 78.7%). In addition, baseline HbA1c in IVI group and non-IVI group was compared between eyes with and without postoperative complications. Results At baseline, IVI group was younger (P<0.001), had shorter duration of diabetes treatment (P = 0.045), and higher frequencies of neovascular glaucoma [NVG] (P<0.001) and tractional retinal detachment [TRD] (P<0.001) compared to non-IVI group. Although IVI group had higher frequencies of intraoperative retinal break and tamponade procedure, there were no significant differences in postoperative complications and additional treatments between two groups. Baseline HbA1c levels were also not correlated with postoperative complications of VH, NVG, and RD both in IVI group and non-IVI group. Logistic regression analysis identified age (P<0.001, odds ratio [OR] 0.95), presence of NVG (P<0.001, OR 20.2), and presence of TRD (P = 0.0014, OR 2.44) as preoperative factors in favor of IVI. Conclusions In this multicenter real-world clinical study, younger age and presence of NVG and TRD were identified as potential biases in using IVI before vitrectomy for PDR complications. Eyes that received preoperative IVI had more intraoperative retinal breaks requiring tamponade than eyes not receiving IVI, but postoperative outcome was not different between the two groups.