Cognitive Dissonance in Technology Adoption: A Study of Smart Home Users.

This study aims to address a research gap related to the outcomes of the use of technology when the performance falls short of initial expectations, and the coping mechanisms that users may deploy in such circumstances. By adopting Cognitive Dissonance Theory, the objectives of the study are a) to examine how dissonance, caused by the negative disconfirmation of expectations, may translate into a positive outcome and b) study how negative emotions, such as anger, guilt and regret, determine the selection of the mechanism to reduce dissonance. The theorised model was tested using a cross-sectional research design and a sample of 387 smart home users.

Reflections on front-line medical work during COVID-19 and the embodiment of risk.

Drawing on the voice of a woman NHS front-line doctor during the current COVID-19 pandemic, we explore her lived experience of the embodiment of risk in the crisis. We explore her struggles and difficulties, giving her voice and mobilizing our writing to listen to these experiences, reflecting on them as a way of living our own feminist lives. Her story illustrates that the current crisis is not only a crisis of health, but a crisis for feminism.

WHO led the digital transformation of your company? A reflection of IT related challenges during the pandemic.

In this paper we reflect on a number of IT related challenges during the COVID19 pandemic, primarily from a CIO and IT professionals perspective. We consider three time periods, namely the period before the pandemic, the response to the pandemic and the period after it. For each period we discuss the key challenges that practitioners faced and outline important areas to consider for the future.

WNK-SPAK/OSR1-NCC kinase signaling pathway as a novel target for the treatment of salt-sensitive hypertension.

Hypertension is the most prevalent health condition worldwide, affecting ~1 billion people. Gordon's syndrome is a form of secondary hypertension that can arise due to a number of possible mutations in key genes that encode proteins in a pathway containing the With No Lysine [K] (WNK) and its downstream target kinases, SPS/Ste20-related proline-alanine-rich kinase (SPAK) and oxidative stress responsive kinase 1 (OSR1). This pathway regulates the activity of the thiazide-sensitive sodium chloride cotransporter (NCC), which is responsible for NaCl reabsorption in the distal nephron.

Public preferences regarding data linkage for research: a discrete choice experiment comparing Scotland and Sweden.

Background: There are increasing examples of linking data on healthcare resource use and patient outcomes from different sectors of health and social care systems. Linked data are generally anonymised, meaning in most jurisdictions there are no legal restrictions to their use in research conducted by public or private organisations. Secondary use of anonymised linked data is contentious in some jurisdictions but other jurisdictions are known for their use of linked data.

A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Knowledge of Mosquito-Borne Infections and Barriers for Protection in Hanoi, Vietnam.

Dengue is a growing problem in Hanoi, with cyclical epidemics of increasing frequency and magnitude. In June 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional survey using mixed methods to investigate how inhabitants of Hanoi perceive and respond to the risk of mosquito-borne diseases (MBD). A total of 117 participants recruited using a stratified random sampling method were interviewed in three districts of Hanoi.

How do veterinary students engage when reflecting on their development towards being veterinary surgeons?

Background: Reflection has been widely acknowledged to contribute to professional development, the ability to manage tension and enhanced resilience. However, many practitioners struggle to reflect productively due to a lack of clarity of what constitutes effective reflection.

Methods: To help develop reflective competence among future professionals, 30 veterinary students' reflective assignments were analysed by thematic text analysis.

Contextualising the 2019 E-Cigarette Health Scare: Insights from Twitter.

A health scare can be described as a campaign that attempts to alert the public of a particular substance or activity that can lead to a negative effect on health. A recent health scare to emerge relates to the health hazards associated with the use of e-cigarettes, which has caused widespread debate, which peaked towards the end of 2019. Health scares need to be studied in the context in which they occur, and one method of studying them is through social media.

Adapting Lean methods to facilitate stakeholder engagement and co-design in healthcare.

Quality improvement approaches drawn from industry can go beyond traditional concepts of value and deliver improvements in healthcare services, argue

Modulation of brain cation-Cl cotransport via the SPAK kinase inhibitor ZT-1a.

The SLC12A cation-Cl cotransporters (CCC), including NKCC1 and the KCCs, are important determinants of brain ionic homeostasis. SPAK kinase (STK39) is the CCC master regulator, which stimulates NKCC1 ionic influx and inhibits KCC-mediated efflux via phosphorylation at conserved, shared motifs. Upregulation of SPAK-dependent CCC phosphorylation has been implicated in several neurological diseases.

aPRIDIT Unsupervised Classification with Asymmetric Valuation of Variable Discriminatory Worth.

Sometimes one needs to classify individuals into groups, but there is no available grouping information due to social desirability bias in reporting behavior like unethical or dishonest intentions or unlawful actions. Assessing hard-to-detect behaviors is useful; however it is methodologically difficult because people are unlikely to self-disclose bad actions. This paper presents an unsupervised classification methodology utilizing ordinal categorical predictor variables.

Perception of tobacco use in young adults in urban India: a qualitative exploration with relevant health policy analysis.

Tobacco is one of the biggest global health concerns of this century with a significant contribution to the increasing burden of cancers, chronic diseases and associated mortality. Tobacco-related cancers are one of the commonest causes of cancer-related mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The tobacco epidemic is constantly on the rise, affecting LMICs in particular due to a lack of awareness in the population, insufficient health infrastructure and weak regulatory interventions.

How do clinicians rate patient's performance status using the ECOG performance scale? A mixed-methods exploration of variability in decision-making in oncology.

Background: Medical decisions made by oncology clinicians have serious implications, even when made collaboratively with the patient. Clinicians often use the Eastern Clinical Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status (PS) scores to help them make treatment-related decisions.

Methods: The current study explores the variability of the ECOG score when applied to 12 predetermined specially designed clinical case vignettes presented to a group of oncology clinicians ( = 72).

Combining Health and Outcomes Beyond Health in Complex Evaluations of Complex Interventions: Suggestions for Economic Evaluation.

In this journal there has been considerable discussion regarding the development of tools for valuing the multiple attributes that arise from complex interventions with benefits beyond health. Nevertheless, unlike the rigorous underpinnings of cost-utility analysis, much of this work has been taking place in fragmented research communities and without theoretical underpinnings, leading to a call for better and more comprehensive frameworks. We discuss the challenges faced by economic evaluation using as our example a "social prescribing" intervention, a novel health intervention based on the social model of health.

Working the 'wise' in speech and language therapy: Evidence-based practice, biopolitics and 'pastoral labour'.

This paper examines how power and knowledge are involved in the workings of speech and language therapy and in the work of speech and language therapists (SLTs). The paper draws on Foucault for its conceptual frame, with reference to his exposition of governmentality, biopolitics and pastoral power. Based on interviews with thirty-three SLTs in the UK, the findings show that evidence-based practice (EBP) is ever-present in speech and language therapy, despite its apparent absence; and that its power circulates in a multitude of ways.

Understanding Contextual Spillover: Using Identity Process Theory as a Lens for Analyzing Behavioral Responses to a Workplace Dietary Choice Intervention.

Spillover occurs when one environmentally sustainable behavior leads to another, often initiated by a behavior change intervention. A number of studies have investigated positive and negative spillover effects, but empirical evidence is mixed, showing evidence for both positive and negative spillover effects, and lack of spillover altogether. Environmental identity has been identified as an influential factor for spillover effects.

Genetic analysis of water loss of excised leaves associated with drought tolerance in wheat.

Background: Wheat is widely affected by drought. Low excised-leaf water loss (ELWL) has frequently been associated with improved grain yield under drought. This study dissected the genetic control of ELWL in wheat, associated physiological, morphological and anatomical leaf traits, and compared these with yield QTLs.

Resource allocation in NHS dentistry: recognition of societal preferences (RAINDROP): study protocol.

Background: Resources in any healthcare systems are scarce relative to need and therefore choices need to be made which often involve difficult decisions about the best allocation of these resources. One pragmatic and robust tool to aid resource allocation is Programme Budgeting and Marginal Analysis (PBMA), but there is mixed evidence on its uptake and effectiveness. Furthermore, there is also no evidence on the incorporation of the preferences of a large and representative sample of the general public into such a process.

A mechanism to derive more truthful willingness to accept values for renewable energy systems.

This paper examines and compares households' willingness to accept (WTA)/willingness to pay (WTP) ratio for solar power equipment on their premises through both a novel experimental approach and conventional techniques. The experimental approach was administered by using a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak method and cheap talk, with open-ended questions of WTA/WTP. The results were quite striking.

Intra-arterial mechanical thrombectomy stent retrievers and aspiration devices in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke: A systematic review and meta-analysis with trial sequential analysis.

Purpose: Intra-arterial mechanical thrombectomy combined with appropriate patient selection (image-based selection of acute ischaemic stroke patients with large artery occlusion) yields improved clinical outcomes. We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis, with trial sequential analysis to understand the benefits, risks and impact of new trials reporting in 2016 on the magnitude/certainty of the estimates for clinical effectiveness and safety of mechanical thrombectomy.

Method: Random effects' models were conducted of randomised clinical trials comparing mechanical thrombectomy (stent retriever or aspiration devices) with/without adjuvant intravenous thrombolysis with intravenous thrombolysis and other forms of best medical/supportive care in the treatment of acute ischaemic stroke.

Healthcare investment and income inequality.

This paper examines how the relative shares of public and private health expenditures impact income inequality. We study a two period overlapping generation's growth model in which longevity is determined by both private and public health expenditure and human capital is the engine of growth. Increased investment in health, reduces mortality, raises return to education and affects income inequality.

Predicting Urban Medical Services Demand in China: An Improved Grey Markov Chain Model by Taylor Approximation.

The sharp increase of the aging population has raised the pressure on the current limited medical resources in China. To better allocate resources, a more accurate prediction on medical service demand is very urgently needed. This study aims to improve the prediction on medical services demand in China.