Afterword

I completed the manuscript for this book during the COVID-19 pandemic of Spring 2020. I happened to have been in Italy, where people spent almost three months in unusually restrictive “lockdown.” Connected with the outside through digital publications and social media, Italy and the world responded to the pandemic not only with recognition and empathy regarding the unfolding tragedy but also with pervasive and inventive humor. Immediately after rules for “social distancing” were promulgated, an Italian cartoon appeared in which a man and a woman are chatting each other up while an official kneels between them measuring the distance. When handshakes and hugs were discouraged, comic videos popped up on YouTube with individuals touching elbows or shoes in dance-like choreography; indeed, YouTube became loaded with hilarious skits, send-ups, and funny talk-show bits related to the pandemic. My old roommate from college, who kept an e-mailing list for social and political jokes, used it for the pandemic almost every day. Comedy, of course, cannot remove sickness and death, as Berowne acknowledges, but it can help us endure, and, even more, it can provide the shift in perspective that allows us to engage with something in a new way, to reimagine it, just as a joke can alter the momentum and possibilities of a casual conversation or a committee meeting. Shifting into the comic moment requires us to put our political, social, economic, religious, or other differences aside. We just might come back from it having changed our attitudes, and we might find ourselves, later, in the wake of the moment of comic enchantment, thinking more deeply still about matters....

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Optometrists Regarding Low Vision Services in Saudi Arabia

Purpose: To address the human resources challenge for the provision of low vision services in Saudi Arabia, this study sought to investigate the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of optometrists in Saudi Arabia regarding low vision services. The knowledge and attitudes to low vision services can influence the provision of low vision services by optometrists. Methods: A prospective cross-sectional survey of optometrists practicing in Saudi Arabia was undertaken using an online questionnaire designed to elicit the opinions of respondents. The online questionnaire was sent out to optometrists on the official mailing list of registered optometrists and those on the mailing list of the Saudi Society of Optometry. Results: Only 26.5% of the respondents correctly indicated the correct designation of low vision in terms of visual acuity. Although 95.8% indicated that optical low vision devices could help people with low vision, 81.6% reported that low vision devices were expensive, and 42.9% felt low vision practice was not profitable. Only 10.4% of respondents provide low vision services in their practice. Insufficient training in low vision care was the main barrier militating against the provision of low vision services. Conclusion: The pertinent finding in this study is that about a quarter of the respondents could correctly designate low vision in terms of visual acuity using the World Health Organization (WHO) definition. The study concluded that there was poor knowledge, attitudes, and practices of optometrists in Saudi Arabia regarding low vision, which has implications for the provision of low vision services by optometrists.

SIGecom job market candidate profiles 2022

This is the seventh annual collection of profiles of the junior faculty job market candidates of the SIGecom community. The twenty four candidates for 2022 are listed alphabetically and indexed by research areas that define the interests of the community. The candidates can be contacted individually or via the moderated mailing list [email protected].

Synchronous development in open-source projects: A higher-level perspective

Mailing lists are a major communication channel for supporting developer coordination in open-source software projects. In a recent study, researchers explored temporal relationships (e.g., synchronization) between developer activities on source code and on the mailing list, relying on simple heuristics of developer collaboration (e.g., co-editing files) and developer communication (e.g., sending e-mails to the mailing list). We propose two methods for studying synchronization between collaboration and communication activities from a higher-level perspective, which captures the complex activities and views of developers more precisely than the rather technical perspective of previous work. On the one hand, we explore developer collaboration at the level of features (not files), which are higher-level concepts of the domain and not mere technical artifacts. On the other hand, we lift the view of developer communication from a message-based model, which treats each e-mail individually, to a conversation-based model, which is semantically richer due to grouping e-mails that represent conceptually related discussions. By means of an empirical study, we investigate whether the different abstraction levels affect the observed relationship between commit activity and e-mail communication using state-of-the-art time-series analysis. For this purpose, we analyze a combined history of 40 years of data for three highly active and widely deployed open-source projects: QEMU, BusyBox, and OpenSSL. Overall, we found evidence that a higher-level view on the coordination of developers leads to identifying a stronger statistical dependence between the technical activities of developers than a less abstract and rather technical view.

Self-Care Strategies and Job Satisfaction in Pediatricians: What We Can Do to Prevent Burnout—Results of a Nationwide Survey

Introduction: Working in the clinical field can be a demanding experience. While reports indicate escalating burnout rates among physicians, further investigation about what physicians can do to prevent burnout is necessary. Our objective was to assess self-care levels among pediatricians and the correlation with job satisfaction in order to subsequently identify protective factors.Methods: In this nationwide, cross-sectional study, a web-based survey was distributed to all Austrian pediatricians via a mailing list of the Austrian Society of Pediatrics. Self-care was measured with a modified Professional Self-Care Scale (PSCS), which consisted of nine items on a four-point Likert scale (from 1, “totally disagree,” to 4, “totally agree”). Additional items addressed job satisfaction, peer support, and access to professional coaching.Results: The survey was distributed to 1,450 mailing list contacts, a total of 309 Austrian pediatricians completed the survey (21%). “Family” (M = 3.3) and “Friends” (M = 3.1) were the most highly rated self-care strategies. We found significant differences between pediatricians under 35 years and those aged 50 years and above (z = −4.21, p < 0.001). Peer support appeared to impact job satisfaction substantially. We found differences between pediatricians who frequently talk to colleagues about difficult situations, those who sometimes do so, and those who never do (p < 0.001), with a linear trend indicating increased job satisfaction with more frequent peer support (p < 0.001).Conclusions: Among all self-care strategies, a stable network of family and friends was highest rated, followed by balanced nutrition. Younger, male pediatricians working in hospital showed to be a vulnerable group with regard to overall self-care. Moreover, higher self-care values were found among those pediatricians who reported to receive peer support on a regular basis. We suggest combined organizational and individual interventions to promote pediatricians' well-being. Organizations should provide the possibility to select a well-balanced diet as well as space and time to consume food and cultivate a work environment that enables communication among peers and facilitates professional coaching. On the personal level, we want to encourage pediatricians to talk to trusted colleagues in challenging clinical situations and to consider working with a professional coach.

Current practice in Transvenous Lead Extraction in Latin-American: Latin-American Heart Rhythm Association Survey

Background: Transvenous lead extraction (TLE) is standard of care for the management of patients with cardiac implantable electronic device infection or lead related complications. Currently, objective data on TLE in Latin America is lacking. Objective: To describe the current practice standards in Latin American centers performing TLE. Methods: An online survey was sent through the mailing list of the Latin American Heart Rhythm Association (LAHRS). Online reminders were sent through the mailing list; duplicate answers were discarded. The survey was available for one month, after which no more answers were accepted. Results: A total of 48 answers were received, from 44 different institutions (39.6% from Colombia, 27,1% from Brazil), with most respondents (83%) being electrophysiologists. Twenty-nine institutions (66%) performed less than 10 lead extractions/year, with 7 (15%) institutions not performing lead extraction. Although most institutions in which lead extraction is performed reported using several tools, mechanical rotating sheaths were cited as the main tool (73%), 13.5% reported the use of mechanical extraction sheaths and only 13.5% reporting the use of laser sheaths. Management of infected leads was performed according to current guidelines. Conclusion: This survey is the first attempt to provide information on TLE procedures in Latin America and could provide useful information for future prospective registries. According to our results, the number of centers performing high volume lead extraction in Latin America is smaller than that reported in other continents, with most interventions performed using mechanical tools. Future prospective registries assessing acute and long-term success are needed.

Challenges and opportunities identified for lymphoedema services in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, lymphoedema staff adapted services, providing care remotely, and worked in other NHS sectors. The impact on services and staff must be understood in order to safeguard patient care and foster workforce resilience. Aims: To evaluate the experiences of clinical and non-clinical lymphoedema staff in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: An anonymous online survey, based on scoping work, was sent out via the Welsh lymphoedema services mailing list. Findings: 71% (68/96) of eligible lymphoedema staff completed the survey. More than half supported lymphoedema services (40/68) with the remaining staff deployed elsewhere. Overall, staff and services felt prepared for new ways of working. Concerns about others and the future burden on services when life returned to normal were reported. Opportunities identified included education initiatives and virtual services. Conclusion: Lymphoedema services were well prepared to deliver virtually, enable effective care and share knowledge. Co-ordinated efforts to uphold patient advocacy will support virtual services to meet their needs.

An Essential, Hyperconnected, Local Geometric Morphism that is not Locally Connected

Thomas Streicher asked on the category theory mailing list whether every essential, hyperconnected, local geometric morphism is automatically locally connected. We show that this is not the case, by providing a counterexample.

Utilization of the Sharing Antimicrobial Reports for Pediatric Stewardship (SHARPS) Collaborative electronic mailing list (listserv) by healthcare professionals

Optimizing pediatric antimicrobial stewardship is challenging. In this retrospective study, we evaluated 515 original e-mails to 482 members of the Sharing Antimicrobial Reports for Pediatric Stewardship (SHARPS) Collaborative electronic mailing list ([email protected]). The plurality of threads discussed clinical practice guidelines, and pharmacists were most likely to initiate and respond. Representation was geographically diverse within and outside the United States.