A comparison of technicques to disimpact the fetal head on a second stage caesearean simulator

Background The rate of second stage caesarean section (CS) is rising with associated increases in maternal and neonatal morbidity, which may be related to impaction of the fetal head in the maternal pelvis. In the last 10 years, two devices have been developed to aid disimpaction and reduce these risks: the Fetal Pillow (FP) and the Tydeman Tube (TT). The aim of this study was to determine the distance of upward fetal head elevation achieved on a simulator for second stage CS using these two devices, compared to the established technique of per vaginum digital disimpaction by an assistant. Methods We measured elevation of the fetal head achieved with the two devices (TT and FP), compared to digital elevation, on a second stage Caesearean simulator (Desperate Debra ™ set at three levels of severity. Elevation was measured by both a single operator experienced with use of the TT and FP and also multiple assistants with no previous experience of using either device. All measurements were blinded Results The trained user achieved greater elevation of the fetal head at both moderate and high levels of severity with the TT (moderate: 30mm vs 12.5mm p<0.001; most severe: 25mm vs 10mm p<0.001) compared to digital elevation. The FP provided comparable elevation to digital at both settings (moderate: 10 vs 12.5mm p=0.149; severe 10 vs 10mm p=0.44). With untrained users, elevation was also significantly greater with the TT compared to digital elevation (20mm vs 10mm p<0.01). However digital disimpaction was significantly greater than the FP (10mm vs 0mm p<0.0001). Conclusion On a simulator, with trained operators, the TT provided greater fetal head elevation than digital elevation and the FP. The FP achieved similar elevation to the digital technique, especially when the user was trained in the procedure.

Drone Applications Fighting COVID-19 Pandemic—Towards Good Practices

Of the recent epidemics, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been particularly severe, not only putting our health at risk, but also negatively affecting our daily lives. As there are no developed algorithms for the use of drones in epidemiological situations, it is ideal to analyze the experience gained on drones so far and outline the effective methods for future good practice. The author relies on a method of analyzing widely available open information, such as images and videos available on the Internet, reports from drone users, announcements by drone manufacturers and the contents of newspaper articles. Furthermore, the author has relied on the results of the relevant literature, as well as previous experience as a drone user and fire commander. The study reveals numerous possibilities associated with drone usage in epidemic related situations, but previous applications are based on previous experience gained during a non-epidemic situation, without developed algorithms. Applications can be divided into different types of groups: drones can collect data for management and provide information to the public, perform general or special logistical tasks to support health care and disinfect to reduce the risk of spreading the epidemic.

The Impact of Technological Developments on Remote Working: Insights from the Polish Managers’ Perspective

“Stay at home” orders during the COVID-19 pandemic radically changed the day-to-day operations of many organizations and moved employees from offices to homes. The sudden crisis forced companies to reformulate their operations. Enabling employees to work from home has become a necessity for both business continuity and survival. The unexpected crisis has also proved to be beneficial for some aspects of economic activity. This research focuses on identifying and measuring the benefits of and barriers to remote work from an organizational perspective, as perceived by managerial staff in Poland. We investigate the factors that influence the assessment of the scale of benefits of and barriers to remote working. The study examines the impact of various factors on the benefits of and barriers to remote working, such as a company’s previous experience with remote working, the support provided to employees by the company, the monitoring of remote working effects, and the implementation of new IT tools. These results suggest that the way the company and employees are managed in a crisis, the approach of superiors to the evaluation and control of effects on work, and the adaptation of support to the real needs of employees, all play fundamental roles. The factors examined that influence the perceived benefits of or barriers to remote working from an organization’s perspective contribute to adoption theory.

Formalization of the meaning. Part 3. Formation of contexts

The previous parts of this article have attempted to begin describing an approach to building strong artificial intelli-gence based on sense of information. A model was proposed in which concepts were described through related points of view. The point of view was set as a context that changes the original description to its interpretation. It was shown that the meaningfulness of the interpretation can be judged by its adequacy to the memory of previous experience. The space of contexts is described, which defines a system of concepts that cover a certain subject area. In this part of the article, an algorithm is described that allows you to create an initial system of concepts based on the observable signs of phe-nomena, and move from it to the contexts corresponding to these concepts. For the space of contexts, a method for cre-ating concept codes is proposed, which allows concept codes to convey the system of their internal proximity, a com-parison with convolutional networks is made. Explanations of the proposed approach are considered on the example of training the visual cortex.

Self-efficacy of Employees in Educational Institutions: Determinants and Pillars

The study aims to identify the self-efficacy of workers in Libyan educational institutions. The problem of the study lies in the low self-efficacy of workers in Libyan educational institutions, which negatively affects the job performance of workers in these institutions. The study highlights the importance of highlighting the elements of self-efficacy to be used in all Libyan educational institutions. The study followed the descriptive analytical approach to describe and analyze the self-efficacy of workers in Libyan educational institutions. The study reached many results, including that self-efficacy has a prominent role in improving the job performance of workers in Libyan educational institutions. The results of the study also showed that one of the most prominent determinants of self-efficacy is the previous experience that workers can use in all the situations they face within the Libyan educational institutions. Also, the results of the study concluded that verbal persuasion can be used to highlight self-efficacy at work, and the results of the study showed that emotional influence is one of the most prominent determinants of self-efficacy, as well as previous experiences of the most prominent determinants of self-efficacy in Libyan educational institutions. The results also showed that employees and the organizational environment are among the most important pillars of self-efficacy in Libyan educational institutions. The study recommended the necessity of working to provide the employees with the opportunity to clarify their self-efficacy and work to improve the performance of Libyan educational institutions significantly.

“The End of Human Exceptionality”: The Shift of the Anthropological Dominant in Science Fiction

Based on the methodological proposals of literary anthropology, in particular on the conceptual ideas of C. Levi-Strauss (structural anthropology), J. Ortega y Gasset (“dehumanization of arts”), J.-M. Schaeffer (“the end of human exceptionality”), M. Foucault (the fall of a human being from the humanistic pedestal of culture), the article under studies emphasizes the violation of the anthropological dominant in science fiction, which is very typical of the fantasy genre. Consequently, there arise new principles of constructing personosphere of a literary text. On the example of the novel “City” (1953) by an American science fiction writer Clifford Simak, the article traces the way a human being shifts from the center of personosphere to the “outskirts” of narration, whereas its image acquires fictional parameters. This all happens due to the phenomenon of “anthropocene” (the term by G. Canavan), which implies the harmful consequences of the human reigning over the nature. In addition, the author of the article introduces the notion of “phantasoid’ – a character of the fictional world of fantasy (outlined by the narrator) that functions exceptionally in the imagination of a certain fantastic character and is somehow related to his previous experience. The novel by C. Simak outlines a gradual shift of the anthropological vector: the heterogeneous image of a human turns into a counter-image, whereby particular significance is attached to the change in the attitude towards mankind. In the text, human culture is perceived as something alien, while Simak’s image of a human being ruins the so called imagological stereotype, along with the reader’s receptive expectations. The role of the attractor in the novel is assigned to “antromorphized” and “humanized” creatures (plants, animals, objects, robots, mutants), which indicates the drastic breach with the previous genre tradition, as well as higlights a peculiar polemic connection with classical literary science fiction. This all proves the metamorphic nature of science fiction and its transition into the hyperreal dimensions of fantasy, where different artificial forms of life and mentality can peacefully coexist with each other.

On the 77th anniversary of Kostroma Region restoration (scientific discussion in the information centre of Kostroma Region administration)

The article presents the results of a round table dedicated to the 77th anniversary of the restoration of Kostroma Region (in 1920s and 30s, the region’s territories belonged to nearby major cities); the meeting took place on August 27, 2021 at the information centre of the Administration of Kostroma Region. The participants of the round table considered the historical background and achievements of Kostroma Region, tried to make a historical overview of the development of the Kostroma Region and determine its prospects. The work summarises the most significant theses of the reports heard, we focus on the most important milestones in the region development history and the milestones’ current understanding, on the assimilation of previous experience by modern scientists and public figures in solving topical problems.

The role of implicit learning and cue ambiguity on the subjective experience of affective predictions: a follow-up behavioral investigation.

People use their previous experience to predict present affective events. Since we live in ever-changing environments, affective predictions must generalize from past contexts (from which they are implicitly learned) to new, potentially ambiguous contexts. This study investigated how past (un)certain relationships influence subjective experience following new ambiguous cues, and whether past relationships can be learned implicitly. Two S1-S2 paradigms were employed as learning and test phases in two experiments. S1s were colored circles, S2s negative or neutral affective pictures. Participants (N = 121, 116) were assigned to the certain (CG) or uncertain group (UG), and they were presented with 100% (CG) or 50% (UG) S1-S2 congruency during an uninstructed (Experiment 1) or implicit (Experiment 2) learning phase. During the test phase both groups were presented with a new 75% S1-S2 paradigm, and ambiguous (Experiment 1) or unambiguous (Experiment 2) S1s. Participants were asked to rate the expected valence of upcoming S2s (expectancy ratings), or their experienced valence and arousal (valence and arousal ratings). In Experiment 1 ambiguous cues elicited less negative expectancy ratings, and less unpleasant valence ratings, independently from prior experience. In Experiment 2, participants in the CG reported more negative expectancy ratings after the S1s previously paired with negative stimuli. Overall, we found that in the presence of ambiguous cues subjective affective experience is dampened, and we confirmed that people are able to infer probabilistic relationships from the environment (and to use them later) at an implicit level.

Following the track: accuracy and reproducibility of predation assessment on artificial caterpillars

Experimental studies of biotic interactions in real field conditions are essential to understand the structure and functioning of ecological networks. The use of artificial caterpillars to mimic actual prey availability is generally seen as a standard approach to compare the activity and diversity of predators along environmental gradients. Yet, even with standardized material and procedures, biases may still affect data from multiple observers with different expertise. We used pictures of artificial caterpillars with or without various predation marks, in an online survey that was targeted for the participants of the project, to evaluate the reliability of predation marks identification made by non-scientists and by scientists with and without previous experience in predation mark identification. Pictures of artificial caterpillars displayed typical marks left by birds, mammals and arthropods, as well as non-predation marks (false positive). 357 respondents scanned 7140 pictures of these pictures. Self-declared scientists were more confident and accurate in their observations than non-scientists, but the differences in correct identifications among scientists and non-scientists were low. Self-declared scientists with previous experience were also more accurate than scientists without previous experience, while there were no differences in self-confidence among scientists with and without previous experience. Accuracy in predation mark identification did not differ among types of predators, but respondents were more keen to identify marks left by birds or mammals than arthropods. Our results have practical implications for the design of multi-observer projects relying on artificial caterpillars as a proxy to assess predation intensity, in particular in the context of citizen science.