Corrigendum: The impact of adverse childhood experiences and posttraumatic stress symptoms on chronic pain (Frontiers in Psychology, (2023), 14, (1243570), 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1243570)

In the published article, there was an error. The direction stated in Hypothesis 2 was incorrect. Instead of, “(2) Low ACEs would lead to less severe pain interference and pain intensity compared to no ACEs,” it should be “(2) Low ACEs would lead to more severe pain interference and pain intensity compared to no ACEs.” A correction has been made to The impact of adverse childhood experiences and posttraumatic stress disorder on chronic pain, Paragraph 5, Hypothesis 2. The corrected paragraph is shown below. Therefore, the present study aimed to examine the level of ACE exposure, categorized as: no ACEs, low ACEs (one to three incidents), and high ACEs (four to 10 incidents). This classification was based on previous findings suggesting that one to three ACEs may result in significantly more chronic pain compared to no ACES (Groenewald et al., 2020; Alhowaymel et al., 2023), and four or more ACEs resulted in a significant increase in risk of chronic pain and PTSS compared to low or no ACEs (Nelson et al., 2021; Alhowaymel et al., 2023). The following hypotheses were proposed: It was hypothesized that high ACEs would lead to more severe pain intensity and interference (a chronic pain profile) compared to no ACEs. Low ACEs would lead to more severe pain interference and pain intensity compared to no ACEs. PTSS would fully mediate the relationship between ACEs and pain outcomes. The authors apologize for this error and state that this does not change the scientific conclusions of the article in any way. The original article has been updated.</p

The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences and Posttraumatic Stress on Chronic Pain

Introduction: Chronic pain is a prevalent worldwide health condition. The current study aimed to extend previous research that investigated the dynamics between chronic pain, adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), and post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS).Method: Adult participants worldwide with chronic pain were recruited for this study (N = 199; 89% females). Three hypotheses were proposed: (a) a high ACEs score would result in more severe pain intensity and interference compared to no ACEs; (b) a low ACEs score would result in more severe pain intensity and interference compared to no ACEs; and (c) PTSS would fully mediate the ACEs-pain relationship.Results: Initially results indicated individuals with high ACEs reported more pain interference than those with no ACEs, although pain intensity did not differ between high and no ACEs. However, after controlling for age, socioeconomic status (SES), and pain duration, low and high ACEs were not significantly associated with pain intensity or interference compared to no ACEs. However, SES status was associated with pain intensity and interference, although not with pain interference after adding low and high ACEs to the model. Because of this the mediation exploration of PTSS was not viable.Discussion: Implications for practice, limitations and future research outcomes are outlined

Irrigation Water Productivity of Rice under Various Irrigation Schedules and Tillage Practices in Northern Guinea Savanna Region of Nigeria

The effect irrigation method and tillage on yield and irrigation water productivity of rice was conducted in split plot experiment with three replications during the dry seasons 2012 and 2013 in field conditions at the Lake Geriyo Irrigation scheme farms in Yola, Nigeria. 3 irrigation management: 3, 6 and 9 day interval with 3 tillage practices: zero, shallow and deep soil tillage were studied. Results showed that there were significant differences in paddy yield, harvest index and irrigation water productivity. 6 days interval irrigation management was placed to one group with 3 days irrigation interval on paddy yield and harvest index; higher water productivity of 3.58 and 3.51 kg ha-1 mm-1were recorded with 6 days irrigation interval in both seasons respectively. Therefore it can be recommended that 6 day interval irrigation which had better irrigation water productivity and saved up 29% irrigation water be adopted for rice cultivation under clay loam soils of guinea savanna zone of Nigeria

Morphological and physical characterization of Ngurore Vertisols for improved crop productivity in Adamawa State, Nigeria

A soil survey was carried out on the vertisols of Ngurore, Yola South Local Government Area (LGA) of Adamawa State, Nigeria to evaluate the significance of its morphological and physical properties to improve agricultural productivity. Three soil mapping units were identified in the study area designated as NVM (Ngurore Vertisols Mapping unit) 1, 2 and 3 respectively. The mapping units based on their characteristics were defined as Eutric Chromusterts, Eutric Plinthusterts and Typic Chromusterts (USDA). The Ngurore vertisols generally exhibits some characteristics unique from other vertisols elsewhere; the particle size distribution appeared to be more of sand than the usual clay and its irregular trends of distribution (average mean sand range: 44.20 – 48.20%). The soils have a moderate bulk density (1.33 – 1.35gcm-3) and good total porosity (53.60 – 55.50%) and poor soil structure. It is therefore recommended that tillage operations should be properly timed, when the soil moisture is moderate for easy land preparation using farm implements and machineries. Incorporation of organic manures will improve soil structure and other vital soil processes e.g. nutrient availability and its uptake, soil aeration, optimum moisture retention etc. Sprinkler method of irrigation discharging water at slower rates is recommended over flood irrigation during the dry season for a sustainable utilization all year round

Robotic Item Retrieval System

The Robotic Item Retrieval System is a household robot that could self-navigate in a room and retrieve items for the user. The robot is running on a wheeled base and it is equipped with an elevator platform and robotic arms for item retrieval. The robot is equipped with a surveillance camera and ultrasonic sensors for navigation and item identification. A computer graphical interface is used to control the robot. The robot will be operating wirelessly through 802.11g/n wireless network to perform bi-directional communication with the host computer GUI. Aside from manual remote control, the robot will support two automated navigation methods: line following and map generation. The line following method requires pre-placed markers on the floor to guide the robot through the room. The map generation method is more sophisticated, as it enables the robot to generate its own room map and use it for navigation later. Due to the time constraint of this project, our functional prototype may only support line following navigation. However, the map generation navigation will be implemented for the final product.&nbsp

Subaortic stenosis in the spectrum of atrioventricular septal defects Solutions may be complex and palliative

AbstractFrom July 1982 through September 1994, 19 children had operative treatment of subaortic stenosis associated with an atrioventricular septal defect. Specific diagnosis were septum primum defects in 7, Rastelli type A defects in 6, transitional defects in 4, inlet ventricular septal defect with malattached chordae in 1, and tetralogy of Fallot with Rastelli type C defect in 1. Twenty-seven operations for subaortic stenosis were performed. Surgical treatment of the outlet lesion was performed at initial atrioventricular septal defect repair in 3 children and in the remaining 16 from 1.2 to 13.1 years (mean 4.9 years, median 3.9 years) after repair. Eighteen of the 19 children had fibrous resection and myectomy for relief of obstruction. Seven children had an associated left atrioventricular valve procedure. One child received an apicoaortic conduit. Seven children (36.8%) required 8 reoperations for previously treated subaortic stenosis. Time to the second procedure was 2.8 to 7.4 years (mean 4.9 years). Follow-up is 0.4 to 14.0 years (median 5.6 years). Six-year actuarial freedom from reoperation is 66% ±15%. The angle between the plane of the outlet septum and the plane of the septal crest was measured in 10 normal hearts (86.4 ±13.7) and 10 hearts with atrioventricular septal defects (22.2 ±26.0; p <0.01). The outflow tract can be effectively shortened, widened, and the angle increased toward normal by augmenting the left side of the superior bridging leaflet and performing a fibromyectomy. Conclusion: Standard fibromyectomy for subaortic stenosis in children with atrioventricular septal defects leads to a high rate of reoperation. Leaflet augmentation and fibromyectomy may decrease the likelihood of reoperation. (J THORAC CARDIOVASC SURG 1995;110:1534-42

Torture and the UK’s “war on asylum”: medical power and the culture of disbelief

When the now ‘iconic’ images of shackled, humiliated and dehumanised detainees in the Abu Ghraib prison complex in Iraq were broadcast globally, in the mid-2000s, the relationship between medical power and torture in the “war on terror” was also thrust sharply into focus. Graphic images of coalition troops photographing and posing in front of hooded, naked prisoners forced into a “human pyramid”, and of people made to wear animal collars, indicated a regime in which degradation had a defining role. The photograph of a soldier gloating over the corpse of a man who had died as a result of torture was just one picture of a network of interrogation camps in which detention by coalition forces could be fatal. Yet if there were any expectations that the presence of medical personnel may have checked this violence, these were shattered by the fact that clinicians – in some cases at least – were integral to its practice. «It is now beyond doubt that Armed Forces physicians, psychologists, and medics were active and passive partners in the systematic neglect and abuse of war on terror prisoners», wrote Steven Miles in 2009 (Miles 2009, X). And as he continued, this involved providing interrogators «with medical information to use in setting the nature and degree of physical and psychological abuse during interrogations». It involved monitoring «interrogations to devise ways to break prisoners down or to keep them alive». It involved pathologists holding back death certificates and autopsy reports in order to minimise the number of fatalities or cover up torture-related deaths as deaths by natural causes (Ibid). Procedures including «cramped confinement, dietary manipulation, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding» were among the practices that were «at times (…) legally sanctioned due to medical supervision» in the context of the “war on terror”, according to Hoffman (2011, 1535). He continued to suggest that doctors are not just important to «modern torture methods», they are «irreplaceable». In this context, the “war on terror” is no aberration. As the revolutionary psychoanalyst and philosopher Frantz Fanon documented in 1959, for example, certain medical practitioners had an integral role in the military occupation of Algeria, and «There are, for instance, psychiatrists … known to numerous prisoners», he suggested, «who have given electric shock treatments to the accused and have questioned them during the waking phase, which is characterized by a certain confusion, a relaxation of resistance, a disappearance of the person's defences.» (Fanon 1959/1965, 138). Indeed, in his analysis of the Algerian revolution, he discussed how resistance to and struggles over the meanings of medical power were integral to the revolution itself. However, while the role of medical power in the practice of torture has been subjected to sustained critique in the context of the “war on terror”, what follows examines the relationship between medical power and torture in the context of what has been depicted – metaphorically – as another (although to some extents related) “war”: the “war” on asylum. According to the UNHCR (2017, 3), between 5 and 35 per cent of those asylum seekers who have been granted refugee status have survived torture. And focusing on the UK as a case study, this chapter examines the institutional and legal structures prohibiting torture and inhuman and degrading treatment, particularly as they apply to those subject to immigration control in this context. But further, it also examines the ideological and political conditions within which claims by those seeking asylum that they have been subjected to torture prior to arrival can be (and have been) ignored, downplayed and denied. It examines how medical expertise has frequently been undermined in the asylum process when this expertise is utilised to add weight to asylum seekers’ claims to have experienced torture. It examines how there have been attempts to narrow the definition of torture in ways which exclude people from the protections to which torture survivors are entitled. But it also explores the ways in which segments of the medical profession have been complicit in riding roughshod over existing safeguards to prevent further harm to those who have experienced torture, thus potentially compounding its effects. In particular, it examines claims that in certain contexts clinicians have administered dangerous “care” in order to ensure the removal of people from the UK, despite them claiming that they – or their family members – face serious harm and persecution on arrival as a result of this. In a historical discussion of medical involvement in torture, Giovanni Maio (2001, 1609) has noted that from its earliest incarnations one of the features of torture has been its use as an «oppressive instrument used in the preservation of power». Furthermore, whilst methods of torture have certainly «developed», and continue to do so, he argues, this «function» of torture is «especially relevant today». This chapter argues that the (mis)treatment of those in the UK who say they have been tortured, preserves and is bound up with a particular manifestation of state power: the aims, rationale and dictates of immigration control. Its claims are perhaps much more mundane than the forms of direct medical complicity in torture alluded to above. But they are nonetheless important. For it is argued that the acts of omission and commission documented in this chapter expose the tensions between the rights of certain “categories” of migrants to be afforded adequate clinical care on the one hand, and the goals and aims of immigration control itself on the other. This poses profound questions about the functions of clinical care and the ethical duties, responsibilities and obligations of clinicians, it is suggested. But as this chapter also crucially explores, this is a form of power that many within the medical profession have historically challenged, and continue to do so

Teaching Access, or Freedom of Information Law

Based on the author\u27s experience developing and administering the course and materials, this article provides an introduction and resources to teach a graduate journalism or professional law school course on access to government, commonly called freedom of information law , which may be constructed as a capstone course in law school. The appendices provide supporting material and references