The Social Appraisal of Techno-Experiments: Whirlpools and Mosaics of Smart Urbanism

Technology-driven experiments—techno-experiments—have become a central mode of spatial intervention in a paradigm of smart growth. They are often considered a manifestation of a techno-managerial approach to governance, built upon the increasing influence of IT corporations on urban politics. Yet, there is little evidence indicating how these interests articulate techno-experiments and shape their legacies over the long run. This paper questions the varied politics of techno-experiments by comparing four projects in Stockholm and Amsterdam: two smart energy grid pilots and two online community-based platforms. Mobilizing the notion of the “social appraisal of technology,” it argues that techno-experiments can take different forms depending on how the role of digital technology is defined and negotiated by actors throughout the process of experimentation. The paper empirically shows that experiments can evolve in two main ways, defined as “whirlpools” and “mosaics.” As whirlpools, they upscale self-referentially; as mosaics, they instead extend into a set of scattered spin-offs. The key factors producing such outcomes, these cases show, are the form of partnership established at the outset of techno-experiments, and the ability of research funding and governmental agencies to steer projects as they develop

The value of winning: endorsement returns in individual sports

Using the results of 1068 different golf, tennis, and track and field (in particular: running) events, this paper examines the relation between athlete performance and stock returns of firms endorsed by athletes. We find that a tournament victory is associated with significant and positive market-adjusted stock returns for the endorsed clothing brand. Regression analysis reveals that winning is associated with a more positive price reaction than finishing as runner-up. In addition, we find that returns after a victory are significantly higher for endorsed clothing brands than for equipment brands. We did not detect return differences between superstars and regular athletes, nor between frequently endorsed brands and less commonly endorsed brands

The Star Formation Threshold in NGC 6822

We investigate the star formation threshold in NGC 6822, a nearby Local Group dwarf galaxy, on sub-kpc scales using high-resolution, wide-field, deep HI, Halpha and optical data. In a study of the HI velocity profiles we identify a cool and warm neutral component in the Interstellar Medium of NGC 6822. We show that the velocity dispersion of the cool component (~4 km/s) when used with a Toomre-Q criterion gives an optimal description of ongoing star formation in NGC 6822, superior to that using the more conventional dispersion value of 6 km/s. However, a simple constant surface density criterion for star formation gives an equally superior description. We also investigate the two-dimensional distribution of Q and the star formation threshold and find that these results also hold locally. The range in gas density in NGC 6822 is much larger than the range in critical density, and we argue that the conditions for star formation in NGC 6822 are fully driven by this density criterion. Star formation is local, and in NGC 6822 global rotational or shear parameters are apparently not important.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal. Version with high-resolution figures available at http://www.mso.anu.edu.au/~edeblok/papers/6822_paper2.ps.g

Characterization of immune response to neurofilament light in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

PMCID: PMC3856490This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.PMCID: PMC385649

Process evaluation of a tailored intervention to Reduce Inappropriate psychotropic Drug use in nursing home residents with dementia

BACKGROUND: Research suggests that collaborative and tailored approaches with external expertise are important to process implementations. We therefore performed a process evaluation of an intervention using participatory action research, tailored information provision, and external coaching to reduce inappropriate psychotropic drug use among nursing home residents with dementia. The process evaluation was conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial assessing the utility of this approach. METHODS: We used Leontjevas’ model of process evaluation to guide data collection and analysis, focusing on the relevance and feasibility, extent of performance, and barriers and facilitators to implementation. Data on the relevance and feasibility and on the extent of performance were collected using a questionnaire targeting internal project leaders at nursing homes and our external coaches. Implementation barriers and facilitators were identified by individual semi-structured interviews. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was used to structure and describe the identified barriers and facilitators. RESULTS: The intervention was viewed positively, but it was also considered time consuming due to the involvement of many people and designing a tailored action and implementation plan was viewed as complex. The extent of performance differed between nursing homes. Delays in implementation and suboptimal execution of actions may have reduced effectiveness of the RID intervention in some nursing homes. Barriers to implementation were reorganizations, staff turnover, communication issues, unclear expectations, and perceived time pressures. Implementation also depended on the involvement and skills of key stakeholders, and organizations’ readiness to change. Although external coaches stimulated implementation, their additional value was rated variably across organizations. CONCLUSIONS: Barriers to implementation occurred on several levels and some barriers appear to be inherent to the nursing home environment and could be points of leverage of future implementation trajectories. This underlines the importance of assessing and supporting organizations in their readiness to change. Sensitivity analyses, taking into account the week in which nursing homes started with implementation and the degree to which actions were implemented as intended, will be appropriate in the effect analyses of the trial. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12877-021-02357-w

Influence of dialysate temperature on creatinine peritoneal clearance in peritoneal dialysis patients: a randomized trial

Background: Patients on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (PD) are encouraged to warm dialysate to 37 \ub0C before peritoneal infusion; main international PD guidelines do not provide specific recommendation, and patients generally warm dialysate batches partially or do not warm them at all. Warming of dialysate is a time-consuming procedure, not free from potential risks (i.e. degradation of glucose), and should be justified by a clear clinical benefit. Methods: We designed a single blind randomized controlled trial where 18 stable PD patients were randomized to receive a peritoneal equilibration test either with dialysate at a controlled temperature of 37 \ub0C (intervention group) or with dialysate warmed with conventional methods (control group). Primary end-point was a higher peritoneal creatinine clearance in patients in the intervention group. Results: Patients in the intervention group did not show a significantly higher peritoneal creatinine clearance when compared to the control group (6.38 \ub1 0.52 ml/min vs 5.65 \ub1 0.37 ml/min, p = 0.2682). Similar results were obtained for urea peritoneal clearance, mass transfer area coefficient of creatinine and urea. There were no significant differences in total abdominal discomfort questionnaire score, blood pressure and body temperature between the two groups. Conclusions: Using peritoneal dialysate at different temperatures without causing significant side effects to patients appears feasible. We report a lack of benefit of warming peritoneal dialysate to 37 \ub0C on peritoneal clearances; future PD guidelines should not reinforce this recommendation. Trial registration: NCT04302649, ClinicalTrials.gov; date of registration 10/3/2020 (retrospectively registered)

Transforming growth factor-β1 regulates chemokine and complement production by human proximal tubular epithelial cells

Transforming growth factor-γ1 regulates chemokine and complement production by human proximal tubular epithelial cells. Previously it has been demonstrated that human proximal tubular epithelial cells (PTEC) are able to produce chemokines (such as IL-8 and MCP-1) and complement components (such as C2, C3, C4 and factor H), and that production of these proteins is regulated by pro-inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin-1α (IL-1α), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ). Since TGF-γ is also expressed in the renal interstitium during inflammation, we investigated the effect of TGF-γ on the production of chemokines and complement components by PTEC in culture. Transforming growth factor-γ1 up-regulated IL-8 production by an average of 4.11 ± 1.0-fold. macrophage chemoattractant phagocyte (MCP-1) production, on the other hand, was down-regulated by TGF-γ1 by an average of 2.2 ± 0.7-fold. The production of C3 and C4 was also down-regulated after incubation with TGF-γ1 (1.9 ± 0.3- and 3.0 ± 1.2-fold, respectively). All effects were dose- and time-dependent and were found to be specific for TGF-γ1, as assessed by inhibition of the effect with a neutralizing antibody against TGF-γ1. These data, together with the knowledge that TGF-γ, chemokines and complement components play a role in several types of renal disease, suggest that TGF-γ is involved in the regulation of local expression of chemokines and complement components by tubular cells

The construction of a conceptual framework explaining the relation between barriers to change of management of neuropsychiatric symptoms in nursing homes:a qualitative study using focus groups

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