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Effect of Mediterranean diet on body mass index and fatigue severity in patients with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis of clinical trials
No full textBackground: Recent studies imply that Mediterranean Diet (MeD) may play an important role in the management of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of MeD in addressing MS-related complications. Methods: A thorough search was performed in MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, EMBASE, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar, Web of Science, and the Central Cochrane Library, covering trials published until September 2023. The quantitative data were synthesized using random effect models through STATA14. Results: After analyzing 228 entries, we found five Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs) with a total of 540 participants, who had an average disease duration of 8.5 years. The combined effect size revealed a decrease in Body Mass Index (BMI) (Weighted Mean Difference [WMD] = −0.88 kg/m2; 95 % Confidence Interval [CI] = −1.68, −0.08; P = 0.030). There was also a non-significant marginal improvement in fatigue severity (WMD = −8.29; 95 % CI = −16.74, 0.16; P = 0.054). Conclusion: Adherence to MeD may improve BMI and fatigue severity in MS patients. Further RCTs are needed to confirm the current results.</p
Portable noninvasive technologies for early breast cancer detection: A systematic review
No full textBreast cancer remains a leading cause of cancer mortality worldwide, with early detection crucial for improving outcomes. This systematic review evaluates recent advances in portable non-invasive technologies for early breast cancer detection, assessing their methods, performance, and potential for clinical implementation. A comprehensive literature search was conducted across major databases for relevant studies published between 2015 and 2024. Data on technology types, detection methods, and diagnostic performance were extracted and synthesized from 41 included studies. The review examined microwave imaging, electrical impedance tomography (EIT), thermography, bioimpedance spectroscopy (BIS), and pressure sensing technologies. Microwave imaging and EIT showed the most promise, with some studies reporting sensitivities and specificities over 90 %. However, most technologies are still in early stages of development with limited large-scale clinical validation. These innovations could complement existing gold standards, potentially improving screening rates and outcomes, especially in underserved populations, whiles decreasing screening waiting times in developed countries. Further research is therefore needed to validate their clinical efficacy, address implementation challenges, and assess their impact on patient outcomes before widespread adoption can be recommended.</p
The Role of Teacher’s Knowledge in Promoting Task-Technology Fit for Early Childhoodand Inclusive Technology-Based STEM Instruction
No full textIn technology-based STEM instruction, teachers’ knowledge of how technology is being usedin the instruction is crucial to initiate meaningful learning activities, particularly in earlychildhood and inclusive education. The objective of this research is to explore the teacher’sbelief in understanding technology characteristics and their attitudes toward taskcharacteristics to introduce STEM in their classrooms. Drawing on a systematic literaturereview, which emphasized the significance of both task and technology characteristics, aqualitative study was conducted as part of the British Council Game-Based Learning forSTEM education project. 52 teachers from greater Jakarta, Indonesia were engaged in a focusgroup discussion to explore their beliefs and practices in fostering STEM instruction throughtechnology. The results show that even though the participants have a good understandingand positive attitude towards technology, they need more support in acquiring and adoptingsuitable technology for their pedagogical practices. The findings of this study have importantimplications for the design and the use of technology in early childhood and inclusiveeducation STEM instruction.</p
Pedagogical Approaches To The Green Skills Gap
No full textAs the UK economy targets net zero by 2050 demand for green skills in the workforce will grow and there will also be a risk of skills gaps and skills shortages. The role of green skills in supporting a just transition to a low carbon economy and society or ‘going green’ is well documented in the literature but there are relatively few articles which address the pedagogical approaches required to provide these skills. Likewise, there is much written in the education for sustainability (EfS) or education for sustainable development (ESD) literature which relates to required learning outcomes for students but again much less on how this can be achieved.Based on a qualitative research study into the skills required by employers in a region of the UK - Cambridgeshire and Peterborough - to support ‘going green', this paper reflects on how, in particular technical and vocational education and training in the higher education sector might respond to these needs. By mapping the 21st century skills needs of employers identified from our research with EfS/ESD theory, this paper comments on the current pedagogical approaches and curricula change needed to meet the future skills needs of a just transition to a low carbon economy and society by 2050.Recognising the skills most in demand by employers are likely to be ‘soft’ transferable skills rather than ‘hard’ technical skills there needs to be a transition from knowledge-based skills towards values- and attitudes-based skills in higher education. This paper further contributes to the literature and policymaking by highlighting the importance of upskilling and retraining the workforce across all sectors and sharing examples of pedagogical approaches which address the ways in which students think, the ways in which they practice and students’ ways of being.</p
Performance Evaluation of Artificial Neural Networks and Support Vector Regression in Tunneling-Induced Settlement Prediction Incorporating Umbrella Arch Method Characteristics
No full textAccurate settlement forecasting is essential for preventing severe structural and infrastructure damage. This paper investigates predicting tunneling-induced ground settlements using machine learning models. Empirical methods for estimating settlements are often imprecise and site-specific. Developing novel, accurate prediction methods is critical to avoid catastrophic damage. The umbrella arch method constrains deformations for initial stability before installing primary support. This study develops machine learning models to forecast settlements solely from umbrella arch parameters, disregarding soil properties. Multilayer perceptron artificial neural networks (MLP-ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) are applied. Results demonstrate machine learning outperforms empirical methods. The MLP-ANN surpasses SVR, with R2 of 0.98 and 0.92, respectively. Strong correlation is observed between umbrella arch configuration and settlements. The suggested approach effectively estimates surface displacements lacking mechanical properties. Overall, this study supports machine learning, specifically MLP-ANN, as an efficient, reliable alternative to empirical methods for predicting tunneling-induced ground settlements from umbrella arch design.</p
Postdigital Bodies: Young People’s Experiences of Algorithmic, Tech-Facilitated Body Shaming and Image-Based Sexual Abuse during and after the COVID-19 Pandemic in England.
No full textIn this paper, we draw upon a study exploring how COVID-19 and social isolation impacted young people’s (aged 13–18) experiences of online sexual and gendered risks and harms in England during nationwide lockdowns and upon their return to school. We explore the complexities, tensions and ambiguities in youth navigating algorithmised feeds on social media apps such as TikTok and content featuring idealised cis-gendered, heterosexualised feminine and masculine embodiment. Young people repeatedly witness hateful and abusive comments that are algorithmically boosted. We argue that this toxic content normalises online hate in the form of body shaming and sexual shaming, developing the concept of the postdigital to analyse the offline, affective, embodied and material dimensions of online harm, harassment and abuse. We also explore young people’s direct experiences of receiving harmful comments, including girls’ and gender and sexuality-diverse youth’s experiences of body and sexual shaming, as well as boys’ experiences of fat shaming; which, in many instances, we argue must be classified as forms of image-based abuse. Using our postdigital lens, we argue that the ways heteronormative, cis-gendered masculine and feminine embodiment are policed online shapes behaviour and norms in young people’s everyday lives, including in and around school, and that better understanding and support around these issues is urgently needed.</p
The Quantification of Diversity: Netflix, Visibility Politics and the Grammar of Transnationalism
No full textThis article argues for Netflix’ efforts to create a transnational middlebrow, highlighting especially the strategy of visibility politics as a measure to create a metrics for ‘diversity and inclusion’ in a process I call
the quantification of diversity. Hence, the article seeks to draw together themes of Netflix’ efforts in transnationalism, the platform’s efforts in
diversity and inclusion and the strategy of visibility politics, common to middlebrow television as visual signifier of marginalization, rather than narrativization. This process becomes part of a larger grammar of transnationalism to formulate a kind of transnational text specific to Netflix.
Visibility politics seeks to quantify visibly marginalised bodies on screen as a measure of ‘progress’ and is, thus, particularly relevant for a Silicon Valley company that seeks remedy social problems via mathematical solutions. This leads to a politics that produces highly visual measures of social progress, but does not offer narratives to communicate barriers to full participation. The metrics for ‘otherness’ are hardly universal, though and Netflix cannot provide such a metrics for its transnational productions. Instead, it seeks to combat ‘universal’ issues of discrimination by means of visibility politics.
The platforms’ earlier American texts tried to remedy issues of marginalization via the narrativization of barriers. To document this change, the article analyses the Netflix series One Day At A Time with the popular 2023 series Wednesday.</p
9 Dimensions for evaluating how art and creative practice stimulate societal transformations
No full textThere is an urgent need to engage with deep leverage points in sustainability transformations—fundamental myths,paradigms, and systems of meaning making—to open new collective horizons for action. Art and creative practice are uniquely suitedto help facilitate change in these deeper transformational leverage points. However, understandings of how creative practices contributeto sustainability transformations are lacking in practice and fragmented across theory and research. This lack of understanding shapeshow creative practices are evaluated and therefore funded and supported, limiting their potential for transformative impact. This paperpresents the 9 Dimensions tool, created to support reflective and evaluative dialogues about links between creative practice andsustainability transformations. It was developed in a transdisciplinary process between the potential users of this tool: researchers,creative practitioners, policy makers, and funders. It also brings disciplinary perspectives on societal change from evaluation theory,sociology, anthropology, psychology, and more in connection with each other and with sustainability transformations, opening newpossibilities for research. The framework consists of three categories of change, and nine dimensions: changing meanings (embodying,learning, and imagining); changing connections (caring, organizing, and inspiring); and changing power (co-creating, empowering,and subverting). We describe how the 9 Dimensions tool was developed, and describe each dimension and the structure of the tool.We report on an application of the 9 Dimensions tool to 20 creative practice projects across the European project Creative Practicesfor Transformational Futures (CreaTures). We discuss user reflections on the potential and challenges of the tool, and discuss insightsgained from the analysis of the 20 projects. Finally, we discuss how the 9 Dimensions can effectively act as a transdisciplinary researchagenda bringing creative practice further in contact with transformation research.</p
Animal rights and the language of human rights
No full textPublic concern for animals has increased dramatically in recent years, with a consequent rise in the uptake of vegan diets and greater animal advocacy in general. While this heightened interest in animal welfare is yet to be fully embraced by the law, it does suggest that a
significant proportion of the public wishes to see an increase in the legal protections granted to animals...</p
Hospital length of stay and associated factors in adult patients with depression in Germany: A cross-sectional study
No full textObjective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the hospital length of stay (LoS) and its associated factors among adult patients hospitalized with depression in Germany. Methods: This cross-sectional study included all adults (≥18 years) hospitalized with depression from January 2019 to December 2023 treated in 36 hospitals across Germany. The primary outcome was patients’ hospital LoS in days. The associations between age, sex, depression severity, co-diagnoses, hospital, and hospital LoS were analyzed using hierarchical multivariable linear regression models. Results: A total of 6579 patients (mean age 46.6 ± 17.7 years) with 8965 hospitalizations for depression were available. The mean hospital LoS was 35.2 days. Severe depression (+4.9 days) was associated with a longer hospital LoS, with moderate depression as the reference. Older age was positively associated with a longer hospital LoS. Vitamin D deficiency (+9 days), lipid metabolism disorders (+8 days), obesity (+8 days), sleep disorders (+7 days), and reaction to severe stress and adjustment disorders (+5 days) were also significantly associated with hospital LoS. Conclusions: In patients with depression, higher depression severity, advanced age, vitamin D deficiency, lipid metabolism disorders, obesity, sleep disorders, reactions to severe stress, and adjustment disorders were associated with a longer hospital LoS. Addressing these factors through comprehensive and integrated care strategies could help optimize hospitalization duration and improve overall patient outcomes.</p
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