Public discourse narratives: from 'Secret Aid Worker' discontent to shifting power in humanitarian systems.

Public discourse is rich in meaning, reflecting consensus, dissent, and change. Yet, very little public discourse on the humanitarian sector has been authored by aid workers themselves. We conducted a thematic analysis of the 'Secret Aid Worker' (SAW) series, published in The Guardian newspaper between 2015 and 2018, the only corpus of data on humanitarian life experiences publicly accessible through mainstream media.

Ephemeral stream water contributions to United States drainage networks.

Ephemeral streams flow only in direct response to precipitation and are ubiquitous landscape features. However, little is known about their influence on downstream rivers. Here, we modeled ephemeral stream water contributions to the contiguous United States network of more than 20 million rivers, lakes, and reservoirs, finding that ephemeral streams contribute, on average, 55% of the discharge exported from regional river systems, as defined by the United States Geological Survey.

A thematic analysis of disinformation in gender-affirming healthcare bans in the United States.

Context: Bans on gender-affirming care (GAC) for transgender and gender-expansive (TGE) people are grounded in scientific disinformation and have been challenged in American courts.

Methods: Five legal filings by state officials in defense of GAC restriction from initial litigation were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Themes and subthemes of disinformation were identified after review and analysis of these filings.

Brain injury, medical progress, and the disability paradox: Towards an Americans with Abilities Act.

It is helpful to think about the needs of patients with moderate to severe brain injury through the lens of disability law. However, there are limitations to current disability law that contribute to ongoing segregation and marginalization of individuals with severe brain injury. Indeed, one of the paradoxes of American jurisprudence is that more clear constitutional protections accrue to those who have definitively immutable conditions.

A comprehensive dataset of U.S. federal laws (1789-2022).

U.S. federal laws figure importantly in many research projects in political science, law, sociology, economics, and other disciplines.

Inappropriate Prescribing to Older Patients by Nurse Practitioners and Primary Care Physicians.

Background: Many U.S. states have legislated to allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to independently prescribe drugs.

Subject and Family Perspectives from the Central Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation Trial for Traumatic Brain Injury: Part II.

This is the second paper in a two-part series describing subject and family perspectives from the CENTURY-S (CENtral Thalamic Deep Brain Stimulation for the Treatment of Traumatic Brain InjURY-Safety) first-in-human invasive neurological device trial to achieve cognitive restoration in moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (msTBI). To participate, subjects were independently assessed to formally establish decision-making capacity to provide voluntary informed consent. Here, we report on post-operative interviews conducted after a successful trial of thalamic stimulation.

The microbial biodiversity at the archeological site of Tel Megiddo (Israel).

Introduction: The ancient city of Tel Megiddo in the Jezreel Valley (Israel), which lasted from the Neolithic to the Iron Age, has been continuously excavated since 1903 and is now recognized as a World Heritage Site. The site features multiple ruins in various areas, including temples and stables, alongside modern constructions, and public access is allowed in designated areas. The site has been studied extensively since the last century; however, its microbiome has never been studied.

Baseball and Bioethics Revisited: The Pitch Clock and Age Discrimination in a Timeless Pastime.

In this essay, the author reflects on a decade's old essay on baseball and bioethics inspired by a conversation with the late David Thomasma. In a reprise of his earlier paper, Fins worries that modernity has come to baseball with the advent of the pitch clock and that this innovation brings age discrimination to a timeless pastime.

Factors Associated With Visual Impairment Among Adults With a History of Criminal Justice Involvement.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of and factors associated with visual impairment among adults with a history of criminal justice involvement (CJI). This retrospective, cross-sectional study reviewed adult respondents from the 2015-2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health. We analyzed sociodemographic and health characteristics to determine factors associated with visual impairment among adults with and without a history of CJI.

Stakeholder-driven development and implementation of CRICIT: an app to support high-quality data capture and protocol monitoring for outpatient clinical trials with vulnerable populations.

Introduction: Choosing an appropriate electronic data capture system (EDC) is a critical decision for all randomized controlled trials (RCT). In this paper, we document our process for developing and implementing an EDC for a multisite RCT evaluating the efficacy and implementation of an enhanced primary care model for individuals with opioid use disorder who are returning to the community from incarceration.

Methods: Informed by the Knowledge-to-Action conceptual framework and user-centered design principles, we used Claris Filemaker software to design and implement CRICIT, a novel EDC that could meet the varied needs of the many stakeholders involved in our study.

Combating Scientific Disinformation on Gender-Affirming Care.

Scientific disinformation is false and misleading information that is used intentionally by legal and political actors to sway public opinion and oppose facts. In recent years, disinformation has become a tool for authorities to limit gender-affirming health care (GAC) for transgender and gender-expansive youth who experience gender dysphoria. Existing modes of expert intervention in health policy may not be sufficient to match the pace of these quickly unfolding health care bans.

Development of the Palliative Care Law and Policy GPS to Assess National Policies in Palliative Care.

State policy-making to address disparities in access to and quality of palliative care is increasing. Yet, there is no mechanism to systematically assess palliative care policies nationally. We describe the development of the Palliative Care Law and Policy GPS by the Center to Advance Palliative Care and the Yale Solomon Center for Health Law and Policy.

A Descriptive Analysis of Access to Assistive Technology in Children With Acquired Brain Injury: The Right to Assistive Devices.

Objective: Pediatric clinicians caring for children with acquired brain injury have noted that many individuals requiring assistive technology (AT) go unserved or face delays until devices are obtained, with potential adverse implications for recovery and development. In this article we map the pathways by which AT is prescribed and assess delays and barriers to access.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective chart review of patients with moderate to severe brain injury admitted to Blythedale Children's Hospital over a 2-year period using a database drawn from the medical record.

Response to substance use during hospitalization: A survey study of current and ideal policies and practices.

People may use nonprescribed substances during an acute hospitalization. Hospital policies and responses can be stigmatizing, involve law enforcement, and lead to worse patient outcomes, including patient-directed discharge. In the United States, there is currently little data on hospital policies that address the use of substances during hospitalization.

Revisiting two dogmas of conservation science.

Conservation science is a morally motivated field, with implicit and explicit values built into its practice. As such, conservationists must engage with conservation ethics to interrogate underlying values. We examine cutting-edge ecological science and contemporary ethics to revisit two conservation norms that have become dogmatic in the field: ecological collectives, but not individual animals, are valuable and anthropomorphism should be staunchly avoided.