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This analysis employs a Bayesian framework to estimate the impact of a Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) intervention on the recidivism of high-risk people under community supervision. The study relies on the reanalysis of experimental datal using a Bayesian logistic regression model. In doing so, new estimates of programmatic impact were produced using weakly informative Cauchy priors and the Hamiltonian Monte Carlo method. The Bayesian analysis indicated that CBT reduced the prevalence of new charges for total, non-violent, property, and drug crimes. However, the effectiveness of the CBT program varied meaningfully depending on the participant's age. The probability of the successful reduction of drug offenses was high only for younger individuals (<26 years old), while there was an impact on property offenses only for older individuals (>26 years old). In general, the probability of the successful reduction of new charges was higher for the older group of people on probation. Generally, this study demonstrates that Bayesian analysis can complement the more commonplace Null Hypothesis Significance Test (NHST) analysis in experimental research by providing practically useful probability information. Additionally, the specific findings of the reestimation support the principles of risk-needs responsivity and risk-stratified community supervision and align with related findings, though important differences emerge. In this case, the Bayesian estimations suggest that the effect of the intervention may vary for different types of crime depending on the age of the participants. This is informative for the development of evidence-based correctional policy and effective community supervision programming.

Current sport consumer behavior research examines a fan&apos;s experience with one team relocation or expansion at a time. However, this work is limited as many fans have experienced multiple relocations and expansions, exposing them to teams at various levels of play. To better understand how this experience impacts team identification development and maintenance and advance sport consumer behavior knowledge, we interviewed 1 1 hockey fans from Belleville, Ontario, Canada, as that region has had four cases of expansion and relocation since 1981. Participants suggested three ways their experiences impacted their fandom. First, geography, distinctiveness, and childhood exposure were motives to cheer for a newly established team, while existing team allegiances were barriers. Second, fans developed different points of attachment to an amateur team versus a professional minor league team, as well as points of detachment with minor league hockey. Lastly, responding to shifts in fan identity resulted in empathy, reluctance to commit, and skepticism. Finally, we recommend that new teams entering a market once served by a former team in the same sport embrace the former team&apos;s history and traditions, lest they alienate the market&apos;s existing fans. Keywords: sport fans; hockey; social identity theory; sport consumer behavior, Sports leagues are continually expanding and relocating teams. Since the year 2000, at least 13 teams in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, Women's National Basketball [...]

Much of the American response to the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by a divergence between general public opinion and public health policy. With little attention paid to individuals incarcerated during this time, there is limited direct evidence regarding how incarcerated people perceived efforts to mediate the harms of COVID-19. Prisons operate as a microcosm of society in many ways but they also face unique public health challenges. This study examines vaccine hesitancy-and acceptance-among a sample of individuals incarcerated within adult prisons in Pennsylvania. Using administrative records as well as rich attitudinal data from a survey of the incarcerated population, this study identifies a variety of social and historical factors that are-and are not-associated with an incarcerated persons willingness to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Our findings highlight vaccination challenges unique to the carceral context and offer policy recommendations to improve trust in credible health messengers and health service provision for this often overlooked but vulnerable population.

The tokamak approach, utilizing a toroidal magnetic field configuration to confine a hot plasma, is one of the most promising designs for developing reactors that can exploit nuclear fusion to generate electrical energy1,2. To reach the goal of an economical reactor, most tokamak reactor designs3-10 simultaneously require reaching a plasma line-averaged density above an empirical limit-the so-called Greenwald density11-and attaining an energy confinement quality better than the standard high-confinement mode12,13. However, such an operating regime has never been verified in experiments. In addition, a long-standing challenge in the high-confinement mode has been the compatibility between a high-performance core and avoiding large, transient edge perturbations that can cause very high heat loads on the plasma-facing-components in tokamaks. Here we report the demonstration of stable tokamak plasmas with a line-averaged density approximately 20% above the Greenwald density and an energy confinement quality of approximately 50% better than the standard high-confinement mode, which was realized by taking advantage of the enhanced suppression of turbulent transport granted by high density-gradients in the high-poloidal-beta scenario14,15. Furthermore, our experimental results show an integration of very low edge transient perturbations with the high normalized density and confinement core. The operating regime we report supports some critical requirements in many fusion reactor designs all over the world and opens a potential avenue to an operating point for producing economically attractive fusion energy.

This study analyses the portrayal of China's strategic mineral dominance in Chinese state media, focusing on its framing of China's intent and the West's response. Through qualitative content analysis of 125 articles published between June 2022 and May 2023 by China Daily, Global Times, and Xinhua, it uncovers themes emphasising China's leadership in rare earth elements, lithium, and cobalt, alongside the nation's strategic narrative. Findings indicate China's focus on supply chain stability, high-quality industry development, and environmental regulation. The state media highlights challenges for the West in reducing reliance on China, emphasising cost and supply chain obstacles while critiquing the politicisation of strategic mineral issues. This framing reflects China's nationalistic narrative and its portrayal as a responsible global actor. The analysis offers insights into China's resource strategy and its implications for global geopolitics and resource security.

In Spring 2021, I taught Urban Anthropology entirely online. In lieu of the interviews, participant-observation, and neighborhood tours I normally would have included in the syllabus, I asked students to carry out a series of visual exercises in their local neighborhoods to document what it was like to live through the lockdown period of the pandemic. In retrospect, I have begun to think about how utilizing a multi-sensory approach to ethnography during this time might have produced even richer insights about urban life.  In this commentary, I consider how while focusing on one sense, the visual, still allowed us to create an excellent snapshot of life in Indianapolis during the lockdown, utilizing more of our senses in representing local neighborhoods would have encouraged us to think even more deeply about how cities, like all human environments, are always in flux and responding at any given moment to a wide range of pressures, constraints, and opportunities.

Sporadic outbreaks of influenza A virus (IAV) infections have been reported in pinnipeds in the United States and Europe, most commonly in harbor (Phoca vitulina) and gray (Halichoerus grypus) seals [...]

This Grounded Theory examines the in-depth dynamics of cybersecurity professionals working in financial organizations regarding stress management, risk handling, communication challenges, and perceived benefits from work. This study conducted a grounded theory approach with cybersecurity professionals through in-depth interviews to comprehensively understand these dynamics. The findings identify critical themes about emotional and psychological resilience, effective risk management strategies, overcoming communication challenges, and recognizing organizational and personal benefits from robust cybersecurity practices. The current research highlights that for better well-being and performance of cybersecurity teams, extensive support systems, proactive risk management, and communication are very important and should be embedded within organizations. By utilizing the grounded theory, this study offers a nuanced exploration of the complex and entwined factors that impact daily operations and the overall effectiveness of cybersecurity professionals, offering valuable insights for improving organizational policies and creating a supportive work environment. These findings suggest, most importantly, that robust support systems, risk assessments, clear communication protocols, and training opportunities should be developed and operationalized in financial organizations to help professionals reduce stress at work and strengthen resilience factors. Not only does this research project cover significant gaps in the literature, but it also really helps financial organizations further improve their currently existing cybersecurity strategies to better support personnel by using this framework.

Use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) often relies on the involvement of AAC service providers; however little is known about how AAC services are delivered across Canada. This study aimed to explore AAC service provision and factors influencing use of AAC from the perspectives of service providers across Canada who are involved in providing and/or supporting use of AAC systems. The 22 participants from nine (of the 10) provinces participated in online focus groups. Participants were speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, communicative disorders assistants, and a teacher. Transcripts of the audio recordings were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four themes were generated that reflect service-related factors contributing to the use of AAC in Canada: Support of Organizational Structures, Concordant Relationships and Goals, Making the Right Decisions, and Influence of Knowledge and Attitudes. These themes highlight how government systems, key stakeholders, assessment practices, and knowledge of AAC influence service provision and use of AAC. Voices from across Canada highlighted shared experiences of services providers as well as revealed variability in service delivery processes. The findings bring to attention a need for further research and development of service provision guidelines to support consistency, quality in practice, and equity in AAC services.

As concerns for reproductive rights continue to be debated across the United States, the June 24th, 2022, U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Mississippi case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization that overturned Roe v. Wade essentially upended the disciplinary foundations and ethical underpinnings of helping professions. The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) does not mandate the integration of reproductive justice content in social work education. And yet, threats to bodily autonomy burgeon across the United States prior to and after the dismantling of Roe v. Wade, affecting the populations social workers serve. The time has come to talk about, not around, reproductive justice in social work education as well as how social workers are being subverted from using their professional training and ethical commitment to clients. It is the intent of this article to explore approaches for safeguarding professional values and ethical principles during these sociopolitically tumultuous times.

OBJECTIVES: Gender-affirming hormonal therapies (GAHT) and HIV increase cardiovascular risk for transgender women (TW), yet there is a paucity of data quantifying cardiometabolic changes following GAHT initiation, particularly among TW with HIV. METHODS: The Féminas study enrolled TW from October 2016 to March 2017 in Lima, Peru. Participants reported sexual activity that was high risk for HIV acquisition or transmission. All were tested for HIV/ sexually transmitted infection and were given access to GAHT (oestradiol valerate and spironolactone), HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) or antiretroviral therapy (ART) for 12 months. Biomarker measurement was done on stored serum, whereas fasting glucose and lipids were measured in real time. RESULTS: In all, 170 TW (32 with HIV, 138 without HIV) had median age 27 years and 70% prior GAHT use. At baseline, PCSK9, sCD14, sCD163, IL-6, sTNFRI/II, CRP and EN-RAGE levels were significantly higher in TW with HIV than in TW without HIV. High-density lipoprotein and total cholesterol were lower and insulin and glucose parameters were similar. All TW with HIV started ART, but only five achieved virological suppression at any time. No TW without HIV initiated PrEP. Over 6 months, all participants initiated GAHT and had worsening insulin, glucose and HOMA-IR. Large d-dimer decreases also occurred. Similar changes occurred in TW with and without HIV. CONCLUSIONS: In this unique cohort of TW, GAHT decreased d-dimer but worsened insulin sensitivity. Because PrEP uptake and ART adherence were very low, observed effects are primarily attributed to GAHT use. Further study is needed to better understand cardiometabolic changes in TW by HIV serostatus.

Since the emergence of SARS-CoV-2 and the COVID-19 pandemic, a wide range of treatment options have been evaluated in preclinical studies and clinical trials, with several being approved for use in humans. Immunomodulatory drugs have shown success in dampening the deleterious inflammatory response seen in severe COVID-19 patients, but there remains an urgent need for development of additional therapeutic options for COVID-19 treatment. A potential drug target is the CCR5-CCL5 axis, and blocking this pathway may protect against severe disease. Here we evaluated whether OB-002, an analog of human CCL5 and a potent antagonist of CCR5, provides therapeutic benefit in SARS-CoV-2 infected Syrian hamsters. Daily treatment with OB-002 altered immune gene transcription in the lungs, and reduced pathology following infection, but did not prevent weight loss or viral replication in the lungs of infected animals, even in combination with the antiviral drug remdesivir. Our data suggest that targeting the CCR5-CCL5 pathway in SARS-CoV-2 infection in hamsters is insufficient to significantly impact disease development in this model.

BackgroundAlice in Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is a neurological condition characterized by perceptual distortions, most of which are visual in nature (metamorphopsias). Over the past decade there has been a movement in contemporary figurative painting away from strict mimesis toward depicting distortions of the painting’s subject, called disrupted realism. In certain cases the similarities between the distortions in those paintings and those characteristic of AIWS are so striking that we suspect that artists may have experienced distorted perceptions themselves and used them for creative inspiration.MethodsTo empirically test this hypothesis we interviewed 20 painters who frequently use distortions in their work, using the SIntAD, a tailor-made, semi-structured questionnaire. We then carried out a phenomenological analysis of the perceptual phenomena reported on, and compared them with those in their paintings.ResultsOf the artists interviewed, 85% reported on having experienced positive disorders of perception in general (comprising hallucinations, perceptual distortions and other perceptual phenomena), with 55% reporting on a total number of 15 metamorphopsias. Most artists had not been aware of having these distortions to their perception. Nonetheless, most did not use these specific distortions in their work, but rather different types.ConclusionSymptoms of AIWS and other positive disorders of perception are common among contemporary painters who frequently use distortions in their figurative work, although perhaps not more common than in the general population. Artists in the disrupted-realism movement tend not to mimic their own perceptual distortions in their work, although they do feel inspired to distort their work in different ways.

Purpose: Recording important healthcare consultations can benefit patients. Technological developments enable recordings by patients and health professionals, as well as real-time ‘listening’ by AI scribes. Not enough is known about whether and why patients record their consultations. Objective: To investigate people's experiences and preferences regarding consultation recording in Australia. Methods: A 21-item online survey available for all Australians aged 18+ was distributed via social media and professional networks in 2022. Items explored recording behaviour (past and planned), and reasons for recording and sharing. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively; qualitative content analysis was used to analyse open-text items. Results: A total of 486 responses were received, of which 236 responses were analysed. Of these, 26 % had openly recorded a healthcare consultation, and 15 % had recorded covertly. The majority (71 %) of participants would consider recording a visit and would like their clinic to allow this (56 %). Participants strongly opposed the idea of sharing a recording on social media (84 %). Open-text responses indicated participants valued the health professional's consent, and protecting their own privacy by not oversharing recordings. Conclusion: Recording of consultations in Australia is common, usually to enhance patients' knowledge, understanding, and participation in their care. Patients value the possibility of recording, especially when they are experiencing vulnerability. Recording can help people navigate the impacts of disability and barriers to information access. Privacy and fairness remain paramount. Innovation: This is the first survey of recording practices in Australia and is highly-relevant given recent technological developments. The findings indicate that changes in policy, law and technologies themselves are needed, to clarify parties' rights and responsibilities and to ensure the benefits of consultation recording are realised.

Experimental data from NSTX and DIII-D discharges with the snowflake (SF) divertor configurations are analyzed toward the development of the X-point radiator (XPR) concept. The XPR divertor regime was recently realized in standard divertor configurations in several tokamaks The SF divertor configuration, with an additional poloidal field null nearby the main X-point, could provide additional benefits for the XPR: a higher flux expansion inside the separatrix and an extended private flux region. This may lead to lower temperatures and higher neutral and electron densities, which are thought to be essential for XPR stability, initiation, and impurity containment. In this work, 4 MW NBI-heated H-mode NSTX discharges and 3–5 MW NBI-heated H-mode DIII-D discharges with SF-minus and SF-plus divertors, with the ion B×∇B drift toward the lower divertor, with and without D2 and CD4 seeding, were analyzed. Many experimental XPR features were found, including good or slightly degraded H-mode confinement, significant ELM size reduction, nearly complete divertor power detachment and a significant divertor radiated power loss. However, evidence of the XPR extending into the confined region was inconclusive in the NSTX tokamak, while in DIII-D, a number of discharges demonstrated a stable MARFE-like structure inside the separatrix over a wide operating space. The present analysis supports the SF divertor as a good candidate for further XPR scenario development in DIII-D and NSTX-U.

This study explores COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among prison security staff and the extent to which they trust varied sources of information about the vaccines. Cross-sectional survey data were obtained from a state-wide sample of corrections officers (COs, hereafter; n = 1208) in February 2021. Group differences, disaggregated by demographic characteristics, were examined using F-tests and t-tests. Despite the comparatively limited risk of contracting the virus, non-security staff reported they would accept a COVID-19 vaccine at no cost (74%), compared to their more vulnerable CO counterparts (49%). We observed vaccine refusal correlations between COs reported gender, age, and length of time working as a CO, but none with their self-reported race. Vaccine refusal was more prevalent among womxn officers, younger officers, and those who had spent less time working as prison security staff. Our findings also suggest that the only trusted source of information about vaccines were family members and only for officers who would refuse the vaccine; the quality of trust placed in those sources, however, was not substantially positive and did not vary greatly across CO racial groups. By highlighting characteristics of the observed gaps in COVID-19 vaccine acceptance between COs and their non-security staff coworkers, as well as between corrections officers of varied demographic backgrounds, these findings can inform the development of responsive and accepted occupational health policies for communities both inside and intrinsically linked to prisons.