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In sheep undergoing general anaesthesia does inclusion of medetomidine result in hypoxaemia?
No full textHypoxaemia develops in healthy adult female non-pregnant sheep following intravenous medetomidine administration as part of a general anaesthetic protocol. The quality of the evidence is weak; there are four experimental studies; three cross-over studies (Raekallio et al., 1998; Celly et al., 1999a; Raisis et al, 2021) and one study which was run in parallel with primary orthopaedic research (Kästner et al., 2001). All four studies varied as to their anaesthetic and ventilatory management of the sheep. Although the evidence shows that hypoxaemia occurs following the intravenous administration of medetomidine in sheep in the peri-anaesthetic period, the severity and clinical consequences of this hypoxaemia are difficult to determine. This is due to the variation in protocols between the studies. The evidence suggests that when intravenous medetomidine is administered to healthy adult female non-pregnant sheep hypoxaemia (partial pressure of arterial oxygen [PaO2] < 80 mmHg/10 kPa when breathing room air or a statistically significant fall in PaO2 from baseline when breathing oxygen enriched gases) develops. The drug’s effects on PaO2 are minimised by anaesthetic techniques such as the administration of supplemental oxygen, tracheal intubation, and adequate monitoring. Therefore, intravenous medetomidine could be used cautiously alongside appropriate anaesthetic management in healthy adult female non-pregnant sheep undergoing research procedures. However, medetomidine is not licensed in food-producing animals in the UK and adherence to relevant legislation in the country of use is advised.<br/
Generational shifts and changing identities of Chinese women accountants outside public accounting
No full textThis paper explores generational shifts in the professional identities of Chinese women accountants outside public accounting, focusing on how these shifts relate to changing gender and accounting norms within China’s evolving social, cultural and economic context. Through thirty in-depth interviews and generational theory, the findings suggest that older generations, beneficiaries of workplace access under communism, tend to ignore or adapt to gendered norms in the workplace, follow informal seniority and hierarchy rules, and embrace a “hard worker” identity. Conversely, younger generations, shaped by the one-child policy and participation in a global profession, appear to recognize and resist gender-related norms, view seniority rules as “redundant and bureaucratic”, and prioritize work-life balance. The study also reveals intergenerational dynamics, highlighting the ongoing struggles between women accountants’ social gender roles and professional identity. These insights offer a nuanced understanding of women in accounting, addressing gender in professional accounting settings in China and beyond
Limited effects of a 6-month training period on repeated sprint performance, blood lactate and jump performance in competitive swimmers
No full textPurpose: This study prospectively monitored changes in repeated sprint swimming performance (SSP), blood lactate ([La]) concentration, and countermovement jump (CMJ) performance during a 6-month training period with traditionally periodized endurance training in competitive swimmers.Methods: Twenty well-trained sprint and middle-distance swimmers (mean±SD, age=18 ± 2 years, body mass = 69.6±8.0 kg, height=179±6.1 cm) underwent body composition assessment and completed a 7×50 m repeated sprint test, with measurements of [La] and CMJ, before (October, preparation period) and after (April, early-competition period) a 6-month training period using traditional periodization.Results: There were no significant improvements in swimming velocity, CMJ height, or changes in [La] from October to April, with considerable individual variation. However, there was a small but significant increase in fat-free mass (mean difference±SD: 0.9±2.2 kg), albeit with a small effect size, and no changes in body fat or body mass. Significant and expected decreases in performance (swimming and CMJ) across the reps of the 7×50 m repeated sprint tests were observed, accompanied by increases in [La], all with large effect sizes, but there was no evidence that training affected these results (no significant interactions).Conclusion: A 6-month training period with traditionally periodized endurance training failed to significantly improve repeated SSP, [La] response, or CMJ height in trained swimmers across the two training phases
Mapping the global landscape of task shifting and sharing: trends, geographic disparities, and terminology from 1970 to 2022
No full textIntroduction: Task shifting and sharing (TS/S) are strategies for redistributing healthcare services among providers, popular in settings facing workforce crunches. A comprehensive mapping of global TS/S research remains lacking despite widespread implementation. Theory: We apply bibliographic techniques to map where TS/S has been prioritised, revealing patterns that inform implementation science and future strategies. Methods: We searched five databases, Medline, CINAHL Plus, Elsevier, Global Health, and Google Scholar, in October 2022 to analyse 2,072 articles (found between 1970 and 2022), based on relevance to TS/S and geographical representation. We extracted data on countries where studies were conducted, the terminology describing TS/S, and the study’s focus. Results: TS/S research concentrates on African and South Asian countries, led by South Africa (n = 201), India (n = 130), Uganda (n = 109), Kenya (n = 106), and Malawi (n = 86). Publications increased dramatically after 2006–2008, coinciding with key WHO reports. ‘Task shifting’ was the predominant descriptor (66.0%), followed by ‘task sharing’ (24.0%), ‘task delegation’ (6.0%), and ‘task shifting and sharing’. HIV (n = 450) and depression (n = 375) were the most studied conditions, while 42.5% of articles focused on broader systems and policy issues rather than specific diseases. Discussion: Geographic disparities, language inconsistencies, and disease-specific applications suggest the need for targeted implementation in underrepresented regions, terminology standardisation, and expanded applications. Addressing these can optimise implementation strategies, enhancing outcomes
Entropy and Expertise: Assessing Changes in Pathologists' Language Over Time using the UK Liver EQA Scheme
No full textExternal Quality Assessment (EQA) schemes are an important quality assurance tool and aim to ensure consistency among histopathologists. In this study, we use Shannon entropy as a novel metric to evaluate linguistic variability in the UK Liver Pathology EQA scheme. Analysing free-text responses by participants over a decade, we aimed to quantify language trends in morphological assessments and clinicopathological diagnoses. Accounting for an increasing word count and when pathologists joined the scheme, our findings reveal a significant increase in entropy of morphological assessments over time, indicating growing linguistic diversity that may reflect the increasing complexity of liver pathology. Entropy of clinicopathological diagnosis over the same period did not provide clear evidence for convergent diagnostic language. High entropy corresponded to cases which elicited more diverse responses or could be considered more challenging, highlighting the utility of this method to identify potential areas for targeted education. We demonstrate entropy as a novel tool to analyse pathologist language and enhance quality assurance in the evolving pathology landscape. Keywords: entropy; language, EQA scheme, liver pathology<br/
The insight-inference loop:Efficient text classification via natural language inference and threshold-tuning
Get PDFModern computational text classification methods have brought social scientists tantalizingly close to the goal of unlocking vast insights buried in text data—from centuries of historical documents to streams of social media posts. Yet three barriers still stand in the way: the tedious labor of manual text annotation, the technical complexity that keeps these tools out of reach for many researchers, and, perhaps most critically, the challenge of bridging the gap between sophisticated algorithms and the deep theoretical understanding social scientists have already developed about human interactions, social structures, and institutions. To counter these limitations, we propose an approach to large-scale text analysis that requires substantially less human-labeled data, and no machine learning expertise, and efficiently integrates the social scientist into critical steps in the workflow. This approach, which allows the detection of statements in text, relies on large language models pre-trained for natural language inference, and a “few-shot” threshold-tuning algorithm rooted in active learning principles. We describe and showcase our approach by analyzing tweets collected during the 2020 U.S. presidential election campaign, and benchmark it against various computational approaches across three datasets
Pontus:A memory-efficient and high-accuracy approach for persistence-based item lookup in high-velocity data streams
Get PDFIn today's web-scale, data-driven environments, real-time detection of persistent items that consistently recur over time is essential for maintaining system integrity, reliability, and security. Persistent items often signal critical anomalies, such as stealthy DDoS and botnet attacks in web infrastructures. Although various methods exist for identifying such items as well as for determining their frequency, they require recording every item for processing, which is impractical at very high data rates achieved by modern data streams. In this paper, we introduce Pontus, a novel approach that uses an approximate data structure (sketch) specifically designed for the efficient and accurate detection of persistent items. Our method not only achieves fast and precise lookup but is also flexible, allowing for minor modifications to accommodate other types of persistence-based item detection tasks, such as detecting persistent items with low frequency. We rigorously validate our approach through formal methods, offering detailed proofs of time/space complexity and error bounds to demonstrate its theoretical soundness. Our extensive trace-driven evaluations across various persistence-based tasks further demonstrate Pontus's effectiveness in significantly improving detection accuracy and enhancing processing speed compared to existing approaches. We implement Pontus in an experimental platform with industry-grade Intel Tofino switches and demonstrate the practical feasibility of our approach in a real-world memory-constrained environment
Impact assessment as agenda-setting:Procedural politicking and the mobilization of bias in the European Union’s Audiovisual Media Services Directive
Get PDFThough often framed as a technocratic tool, impact assessment is a core element of the political agenda-setting process. In this article, we show that decisions about what is subject to legislative debate are made during impact assessment; specifically, during the drafting of the assessment report. Using a social process tracing methodology, we analyze the removal from the agenda of provisions for stronger alcohol advertising rules during the revision of the EU's Audiovisual Media Services Directive. We identify and test three possible explanations for this non-decision, drawing on material not previously in the public domain, and exploring how procedural politicking in the context of the EU's Better Regulation agenda shapes the drafting process. Concluding that the non-decision on alcohol advertising regulation was most likely prompted by combined political pressure from within and outwith the Commission, we argue for greater attention to impact assessment as a tool for mobilizing bias and agenda-setting
From near and far:On the role of distance in changing professional services
Get PDFIn this editorial, we consider how technology, globalization, and organizational changes have led to professional services being delivered increasingly at a distance. We argue that the impacts of these changes are felt at individual, organizational, and institutional field levels. Impacts include changes in professional career trajectories, collegiality and collaboration, and altered client–professional relations. These developments generate new challenges for governance and organizing across borders. While existing research is often optimistic about what these changes mean for professionals and consumers, some scholars raise concerns about their impact on professional–client interactions, trust, and service quality. In addition to examining these areas, we suggest opportunities for future research that can further our understanding of the implications of these changes for the provision and organization of professional services.</p
The Rovuma Transform Margin: Locating East Africa's transform continent-ocean transition
Get PDFUnderstanding the nature and location of paleo-plate boundaries is fundamental to building accurate plate tectonic reconstructions, understanding continental breakup processes, and predicting natural resource distributions. Here, we use seismic reflection data and three gravity modeling techniques to reveal the location of the East African continent-ocean transform margin, a first-order tectonic feature of the Earth. We find the “Rovuma Transform Margin” is situated along the Rovuma Basin (RB) between Mozambique and Tanzania. The margin displays a rapid transition between continent and ocean, with up to 29 km of crustal thinning occurring over as little as 17 km, indicating Moho slopes across the necking zone of up to 83°. The Rovuma Transform Margin strikes NNW-SSE, ∼parallel to the onshore basement outcrop along the RB, and deviates from the Davie Fracture Zone at 13°S. Beneath the Rovuma Delta, the Rovuma Transform Margin and continent-ocean transition may pass onshore, a result of post-breakup oceanward growth of the Rovuma sedimentary delta over the margin. The Jurassic age of the oldest RB sediments indicates the transform margin developed as a new structure during Gondwana breakup, indicating structural reactivation played a minor role in this major transform's development. The Rovuma Transform Margin played a key role in Gondwana dispersal and its newly constrained position supports an origin for Madagascar within the Tanzania Coastal Basin, indicating a “tight-fit” reconstruction of Gondwana fragments prior to the Jurassic. These findings have important implications for our understanding of transform fault development and evolution, plate tectonics, and supercontinent breakup processes
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