bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Rise of Chinese Food in the United States
Authors: Chen Yong
Published: September 2017

The “Chinese 49’ers” who arrived in the United States a decade before the American Civil War constituted the first large wave of Asian migrants to America and transplanted the first Asian cuisine to America. Chinese food was the first ethnic cuisine to be highly commodified at the national level as a type of food primarily to be prepared and consumed away from home. At the end of the 19th century, food from China began to attract a fast-growing non-Chinese clientele of diverse ethnic backgrounds in major cities across the nation, and by 1980 Chinese food had become the most popular ethnic cuisine in the United States, aided by a renewal of Chinese immigration to America. Chinese food also has been a vital economic lifeline for Chinese Americans as one of the two main sources of employment (laundries being the other) for Chinese immigrants and families for decades. Its development, therefore, is an important chapter in American history and a central part of the Chinese American experience.

The multiple and often divergent trends in the U.S. Chinese-food industry show that it is at a crossroads today. Its future hinges on the extent to which Chinese Americans can significantly alter their position in the social and political arena and on China’s ability to transform the economic equation in its relationship with the United States.
The Long War on Drugs
Authors: Foster Anne L.
Published: September 2017

The beginning of modern war on drugs in the United States is commonly credited to President Richard Nixon, who evoked fears of crime, degenerate youth, and foreign drugs to garner support for his massive, by early 1970s standards, effort to combat drugs in the United States. Scholars now agree, however, that the essential characteristics of the “war on drugs” stretched back to the early 20th century. The first federal law to prohibit a narcotic in the United States passed in 1909 and banned the import of “smoking opium.” Although opium itself remained legal, opium prepared for smoking—a form believed to be consumed predominantly by ethnic Chinese and imported into the United States—was not. All future anti-narcotics policies drew on these foundational notions: narcotics were of foreign origin and invaded the United States. Thus, interdiction efforts at U.S. borders, and increasingly in producer countries, were an appropriate response. Narcotics consumers were presented as equally threatening, viewed as foreigners or at the margins of American society, and U.S. lawmakers therefore criminalized both drug use and drug trafficking. With drugs as well as drug users defined as foreign threats, militarization of the efforts to prohibit drugs followed. In U.S. drug policy, there is no distinction between foreign and domestic policy. They are intertwined at all levels, including the definition of the problem, the origin of many drugs, and the sites of enforcement.
The Socialist Party of America, 1900–1929
Authors: McKillen Elizabeth
Published: September 2017

One of the pervasive myths about the United States is that it has never had a socialist movement comparable to other industrialized nations. Yet in the early 20th century a vibrant Socialist Party and socialist movement flourished in the United States. Created in 1901, the Socialist Party of America unsurprisingly declared its primary goal to be the collectivization of the means of production. Yet the party’s highly decentralized and democratic structure enabled it to adapt to the needs and cultures of diverse constituencies in different regions of the country. Among those attracted to the movement in its heyday were immigrant and native-born workers and their families, tenant farmers, middle-class intellectuals, socially conscious millionaires, urban reformers, and feminists. Party platforms regularly included the reform interests of these groups as well as the long-term goal of eradicating capitalism. By 1912, the Socialist Party boasted an impressive record of electoral successes at the local, state, and national levels. U.S. Socialists could also point with pride to over three hundred English and foreign-language Socialist periodicals, some with subscription rates that rivaled those of the major urban daily newspapers.

Yet Socialists faced numerous challenges in their efforts to build a viable third-party movement in the United States. On the one hand, progressive reformers in the Democratic and Republican parties sought to coopt Socialists. On the other hand, the Socialist Party encountered challenges on the left from anarchists, syndicalists, communists, and Farmer-Labor Party activists. The Socialist Party was particularly weakened by government repression during World War I, by the postwar Red Scare, and by a communist insurgency within its ranks in the aftermath of the war. By the onset of the Great Depression, the Communist Party would displace the Socialist Party as the leading voice of radical change in the United States.
Race, Gender, and Sex Education in 20th-Century America
Authors: Shah Courtney Q.
Published: September 2017

A concerted movement to promote sex education in America emerged in the early 20th century as part of a larger public health movement that also responded to the previous century’s concerns about venereal disease, prostitution, “seduction,” and “white slavery.” Sex education, therefore, offered a way to protect people (especially privileged women) from sexual activity of all kinds—consensual and coerced. A widespread introduction into public schools did not occur until after World War I. Sex education programs in schools tended to focus on training for heterosexual marriage at a time when high school attendance spiked in urban and suburban areas. Teachers often segregated male and female students.

Beyond teaching boys about male anatomy and girls about female anatomy, reformers and educators often conveyed different messages and used different materials, depending on the race of their students. Erratic desegregation efforts during the Civil Rights movement renewed a crisis in sex education programs. Parents and administrators considered sexuality education even more dangerous in the context of a racially integrated classroom. The backlash against sex education in the schools kept pace with the backlash against integration, with each often used to bolster the other. Opponents of integration and sex education, for example, often used racial language to scare parents about what kids were learning, and with whom.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the political power of the evangelical movement in the United States attracted support for “abstinence-only” curricula that relied on scare tactics and traditional assumptions about gender and sexuality. The ever-expanding acceptance (both legal and social) of lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender identity directly challenged the conservative turn of abstinence-until-marriage sex education programs. The politics of gender, race, class, and sexual orientation have consistently shaped and limited sex education.
Humboldt in Mexico, 1803–1804
Authors: Echenberg Myron
Published: September 2017

During his breathtaking 19th-century scientific explorations of New Spain (as Mexico was known under Spanish rule), illustrious German scientific traveler Alexander von Humboldt crammed a lifetime of scientific studies into one extraordinary year: exhausting inspections of three major colonial silver mines, prodigious hikes to the summits of most of Mexico’s major volcanoes while taking scientific measurements and botanical samples, careful study of hitherto secret Spanish colonial archives in Mexico City, and visits to recently uncovered archaeological sites of pre-Hispanic cultures. Humboldt wrote voluminously about his Mexican experiences and is an indispensable source of insights into the colony of New Spain on the eve of its troubled birth as independent Mexico a decade later.
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas and the Democratization of Mexican Politics
Authors: Bruhn Kathleen
Published: September 2017

Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas never achieved his goal of becoming the first son of a Mexican president to win the presidency. But he contributed significantly to bringing about the transition from a presidency owned by the PRI for more than seventy years to a more transparent and fair system of elections. Had it not been for his independent presidential campaign in 1988, which helped inspire reforms of the electoral system that improved competitive conditions for later candidates, democratic transition would at the very least have been delayed. Without his leadership in founding the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD), Mexico would have lacked a strong Left challenge in the years of greatest economic and political reform, undermining the leverage of reformers and changing the tone and direction of efforts to attract voters. Cárdenas was, in a real sense, one of the midwives of Mexico’s democratic transition.
Digital Resources: The League of Nations and Latin America
Authors: León Fabián Herrera
Published: September 2017

Historical research on the phenomena of the multilateral interaction and transnationalization of institutional structures and norms centered on the international organisms of the interwar period, with the League of Nations as the central axis, have benefited enormously from the creation and development of several digital resources in first decades of the 21st century. One challenge for this period involves efforts to reconstruct the trajectories, collaboration, and interaction of Latin American members in relation to those international organizations, but these have been increasingly favored by these resources because of the information they concentrate or make available, and because they combat the omissions and imperceptibility to which this region has often been subjected. International histories centered on Geneva that radiate out toward Latin America could represent a new area of development for websites that specialize in consolidating such digital resources as the United Nations Office at Geneva (library and archives), the League of Nations Photo Archive, the League of Nations Search Engine (LONSEA), and the History of the League of Nations.
Ricardo Flores Magón and the Ongoing Revolution
Authors: Aguilar Kevan Antonio
Published: September 2017

The political and cultural legacy of Ricardo Flores Magón (b. San Antonio Eloxochitlán, September 16, 1873; d. U.S. Penitentiary, Leavenworth, Kansas, November 21, 1922,) has become an integral component of the histories of the Mexican Revolution, Mexicans and Chicanos in the United States, and global social revolutions. Despite being deemed by historians and the Mexican state as a “precursor” of the national revolution, Flores Magón’s political activities preceded and surpassed the accepted chronology of the Revolution (1910–1920), as well as the borders of Mexico. While historical literature on the Revolution is extensive, the global and radical implications of the event as a social revolution are often underappreciated.

Through the Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM, Mexican Liberal Party) and the newspaper Regeneración (Regeneration), Flores Magón mobilized a transnational social movement in 1906 and continued to inspire popular revolt through his writings on anarchism and revolution until his death in 1922. Many of the members of the PLM (often inaccurately referred to as ideological adherents to Flores Magón, or magonistas) continued to participate in revolutionary activity well after the organization disbanded. Even in death, Flores Magón continues to inspire revolutionary movements in Mexico, the United States, Latin America, and Europe. The history of Ricardo Flores Magón therefore intersects with various local and global histories of resistance throughout the 20th century.
Food in Contemporary Cuba
Authors: Garth Hanna
Published: September 2017

Cuban cuisine brings together the island’s histories of colonial relations with Spain and the culinary traditions of Africans, Amerindians, Chinese laborers, and those who migrated from Haiti and Jamaica. This dynamic food draws from these traditions and the island’s tropical climate to create a rich and multidimensional cuisine. Cuba’s food system is also deeply tied to Cuban national politics and international trade. Under socialism Cuba has had a fifty-year-old food-rationing system, and the majority of Cuban foods are imported. Despite these changes, Cuban household cooks work diligently to create complete meals, and they bring together the ingredients for various special occasions throughout the year.
officials, Greek, accountability of
Authors: Fröhlich Pierre
Published: September 2017

From the end of the Archaic era to the end of the Hellenistic period, all officials of Greek cities were required to render their accounts (euthynai) through procedures, which varied according to political regimes and times. Most of the time a board of controlling officials examined the accounts. This examination would take place at the end of the officials’ terms of office, but sometimes a partial examination took place during the terms. The controlling magistrates could initiate prosecutions against officials. In democracies, ordinary citizens could also sue magistrates in court.

The procedure for holding officials accountable is called euthynai (correction) in the ancient sources. Many literary texts and epigraphic sources show the importance of the practice, particularly during the Classical and the Hellenistic periods. It was one of the most important features of civic institutions. From the End of the Archaic Period onwards, the Greek cities took a series of measures to prevent abuses of power by officials: accountability was only one of these measures. In fact, in Greek political thought, tyrannical power is characterised as aneuthynos (e.g., Herodotus 3.80.3), which broadly means “not subject to legal proceedings” or “uncontrolled.”

Officials had to render their accounts (mostly logon apodidonai or tas euthynas didonai in Greek), at the end of their time in office as well as while in office. In most poleis, a separate body of magistrates was tasked with examining these accounts. At these moments, a set of procedures (which varied from city to city) enabled ordinary citizens to bring charges against officials before the courts.
salted fish products
Authors: Curtis Robert I.
Published: September 2017

The Mediterranean Sea dominated Greco-Roman society in many ways, but none more importantly than as a source of food. Early Punic settlers in the West and later Greeks and Romans, motivated by the need for long-term storage and commercial transportation of highly spoilable marine products, developed methods for salting fish that have persisted, albeit in more technically sophisticated ways, into modern times. Salted fish products took two basic forms, salt-fish (salsamentum, tarichos) and fish sauce (garum, liquamen, allec, muria). The former served as an appetite enhancer during the gustatio; the latter was the primary condiment used in food preparation and consumption. In addition, both products had perceived dietary and therapeutic value.

Ancient literary, epigraphic, papyrological, and archaeological sources show that salt-fish products were produced at family, artisanal, and industrial levels and played a significant role in long-distance trade. Greeks and especially Romans, for whom evidence is more plentiful, established processing centers at places on the Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts, including in some urban areas, that offered sources for fresh water, salt, and fish, particularly pelagic species. Extant remains of fish salteries (cetariae), especially in Spain, North Africa, and the Black Sea, display consistent patterns of vat construction, arrangement, and operation that imply a common origin for the salting process. The most active period of production of and commerce in salted fish occurred between the 1st century bce and the 3rd century ce, with some installations active into the early 6th century ce.
criminal law, Roman
Authors: Riggsby Andrew M.
Published: September 2017

“Crime” lacks a fully agreed definition across modern societies, but competing versions tend to stress notions like punishment, protection of public or collective interests, and a pervasive role for the state in proceedings. Over time the Romans used a series of different procedures (successively, trial before the assemblies, by specialized juries, or by imperial inquisitors) to try most of their offences that would be more or less recognizably criminal today. Substantively, the core of this group were offences against the state in an institutional sense (e.g., sedition, electoral malpractice, abuse of public office, forgery). Over time it also came to include an increasing number of (personal) crimes of violence. Some core modern criminal offences such as forms of theft and forgery of private documents came to be grouped in with these only at a very late date and incompletely. “Moral” offences that are treated as criminal more sporadically today (e.g., use of intoxicants, gambling, prostitution) were not criminalized. Penalties in earlier periods included fines, civic disgrace, and exile; later periods introduced finer differentiation of penalties, as well as execution. Imprisonment was not a formal penalty.

Roman criminal law had a deeper and more complicated relationship to politics than did the private, civil law. This is true both in the sense that the jurists were relatively uninterested in the criminal law, especially before the late 2nd century ce, and that known trials in the criminal courts seem to have been little governed by niceties of the law. Common-sense notions of guilt and innocence were relevant, but not legal technicalities.
Usage-Based Linguistics
Authors: Diessel Holger
Published: September 2017

Throughout the 20th century, structuralist and generative linguists have argued that the study of the language system (langue, competence) must be separated from the study of language use (parole, performance), but this view of language has been called into question by usage-based linguists who have argued that the structure and organization of a speaker’s linguistic knowledge is the product of language use or performance. On this account, language is seen as a dynamic system of fluid categories and flexible constraints that are constantly restructured and reorganized under the pressure of domain-general cognitive processes that are not only involved in the use of language but also in other cognitive phenomena such as vision and (joint) attention. The general goal of usage-based linguistics is to develop a framework for the analysis of the emergence of linguistic structure and meaning.

In order to understand the dynamics of the language system, usage-based linguists study how languages evolve, both in history and language acquisition. One aspect that plays an important role in this approach is frequency of occurrence. As frequency strengthens the representation of linguistic elements in memory, it facilitates the activation and processing of words, categories, and constructions, which in turn can have long-lasting effects on the development and organization of the linguistic system. A second aspect that has been very prominent in the usage-based study of grammar concerns the relationship between lexical and structural knowledge. Since abstract representations of linguistic structure are derived from language users’ experience with concrete linguistic tokens, grammatical patterns are generally associated with particular lexical expressions.
Bilingualism and Multilingualism from a Socio-Psychological Perspective
Authors: Bhatia Tej K.
Published: September 2017

Bilingualism/multilingualism is a natural phenomenon worldwide. Unwittingly, however, monolingualism has been used as a standard to characterize and define bilingualism/multilingualism in linguistic research. Such a conception led to a “fractional,” “irregular,” and “distorted” view of bilingualism, which is becoming rapidly outmoded in the light of multipronged, rapidly growing interdisciplinary research. This article presents a complex and holistic view of bilinguals and multilinguals on conceptual, theoretical, and pragmatic/applied grounds. In that process, it attempts to explain why bilinguals are not a mere composite of two monolinguals. If bilinguals were a clone of two monolinguals, the study of bilingualism would not merit any substantive consideration in order to come to grips with bilingualism; all one would have to do is focus on the study of a monolingual person. Interestingly, even the two bilinguals are not clones of each other, let alone bilinguals as a set of two monolinguals. This paper examines the multiple worlds of bilinguals in terms of their social life and social interaction. The intricate problem of defining and describing bilinguals is addressed; their process and end result of becoming bilinguals is explored alongside their verbal interactions and language organization in the brain. The role of social and political bilingualism is also explored as it interacts with individual bilingualism and global bilingualism (e.g., the issue of language endangerment and language death).

Other central concepts such as individuals’ bilingual language attitudes, language choices, and consequences are addressed, which set bilinguals apart from monolinguals. Language acquisition is as much an innate, biological, as social phenomenon; these two complementary dimensions receive consideration in this article along with the educational issues of school performance by bilinguals. Is bilingualism a blessing or a curse? The linguistic and cognitive consequences of individual, societal, and political bilingualism are examined.
Functional Behavioral Assessment
Authors: Alvarez Michelle , Zammitt Kimberly , Strunk Laura , Filter Kevin
Published: September 2017

A functional behavioral assessment (FBA) is a set of procedures that are used to assess and identify environmental conditions that predict and maintain behavior FBA is a means to determine the purpose of a person’s behavior and the ways in which the behavior is reinforced in the person’s environment. Underlying the functional assessment of behavior is the assumption that the way one behaves is functionally related to aspects of the environment. This relation is reliable, predictable, and observable, and can thus be assessed by an outside observer. The FBA entails the use of a series of methods to determine the variables that contextualize a behavior of interest. Contextual variables can include any aspect of the individual’s environment and are usually separated temporally between those factors that occur before a behavior and those which occur after. The latter are termed consequences and the former are typically referred to as antecedents. Usually, the behaviors under study, especially in applied settings, are called target behaviors. Temporally, these factors are conceptualized in an ABC framework: antecedent, behavior, and consequence. The behavior of interest is the target of a subsequent intervention; the intervention is informed by the FBA and utilizes the understanding of the behavior’s purpose. Antecedents are altered such that target behaviors are no longer prompted or motivated by environmental conditions, new socially acceptable behaviors are taught that can access the desired reinforcer and replace the target behavior, and reinforcers are altered to decrease access when the target behavior occurs and increase access when the replacement behavior occurs. FBAs are frequently used in schools to address problem behaviors. Problem behaviors occur with students in the school setting for many different reasons. Research has determined that the use of FBAs is useful in identifying environmental factors that predict and maintain problem behaviors. The use of FBAs in the school setting has proven to increase positive student outcomes. This article demonstrates how FBAs can be used effectively in different settings.
027Using Clinical Audit to Improve Hip Fracture Care in Ireland: The Irish Hip Fracture Database
Authors: Brent Louise , Ahern Emer , Hurson Conor , Connolly Aisling
Published: September 2017

Abtract

In 2016, 3,610 patients over the age of sixty were hospitalised with a hip fracture in Ireland. The acute hospital care costs are in excess of €45 million and growing. This doesn’t include the long term costs of rehabilitation, convalescence, community care and long term care.

The IHFD is a clinically led, web based audit of hip fracture casemix, care and outcomes. It is supported by the Irish Gerontological Society (IGS) and the Irish Institute of Trauma and Orthopaedics (IITOS) and the National Office of Clinical Audit (NOCA) provides governance and operational support for the IHFD. All sixteen eligible hospitals in the Republic of Ireland are included.

The most recent IHFD report 2015 published in 2016 is comprised of data from 2,962 hip fracture cases from 16 hospitals. The coverage of the data for 2015 was 81%. The mean length of stay was 20 days and the median length of stay was 13 days in 2015. The 2016 report will be published later this year. Preliminary data for 2016 shows the coverage has increased to 86.5%.

In the 2015 National report published in 2016 70% hip fractures were female, 83% patients were admitted from home and 48% were independently mobile, 37% fractures were intracapsular displaced, 36% of arthroplasties were cemented and 30% patients were discharged directly home. Thirty-nine percent (39%) of patients were reviewed by a geriatrician at any time during their admission. The proportion of patients being reviewed pre-operatively is 15%.

In 2017, the focus continues to be on improving data quality and increasing coverage nationally to 100% for all sites. To ensure all suspected hip fracture patients should be brought directly to the trauma operating hospital. Each hospital should establish a hip fracture working group to review and utilise the IHFD data locally to improve patient care.
RINspector: a Cytoscape app for centrality analyses and DynaMine flexibility prediction
Authors: Brysbaert Guillaume , Lorgouilloux Kevin , Vranken Wim F , Lensink Marc F
Published: September 2017

Motivation

Protein function is directly related to amino acid residue composition and the dynamics of these residues. Centrality analyses based on residue interaction networks permit to identify key residues in a protein that are important for its fold or function. Such central residues and their environment constitute suitable targets for mutagenesis experiments. Predicted flexibility and changes in flexibility upon mutation provide valuable additional information for the design of such experiments.

Results

We combined centrality analyses with DynaMine flexibility predictions in a Cytoscape app called RINspector. The app performs centrality analyses and directly visualizes the results on a graph of predicted residue flexibility. In addition, the effect of mutations on local flexibility can be calculated.

Availability and implementation

The app is publicly available in the Cytoscape app store.

Supplementary information

Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
gandalf– Graphical Astrophysics code forN-body Dynamics And Lagrangian Fluids
Authors: Hubber D. A. , Rosotti G. P. , Booth R. A.
Published: September 2017

GANDALF is a new hydrodynamics and N-body dynamics code designed for investigating planet formation, star formation and star cluster problems. GANDALF is written in c++, parallelized with both openmp and mpi and contains a python library for analysis and visualization. The code has been written with a fully object-oriented approach to easily allow user-defined implementations of physics modules or other algorithms. The code currently contains implementations of smoothed particle hydrodynamics, meshless finite-volume and collisional N-body schemes, but can easily be adapted to include additional particle schemes. We present in this paper the details of its implementation, results from the test suite, serial and parallel performance results and discuss the planned future development. The code is freely available as an open source project on the code-hosting website github at https://github.com/gandalfcode/gandalf and is available under the GPLv2 license.
The vertical structure of gaseous galaxy discs in cold dark matter haloes
Authors: Benítez-Llambay Alejandro , Navarro Julio F. , Frenk Carlos S. , Ludlow Aaron D.
Published: September 2017

We study the vertical structure of polytropic centrifugally supported gaseous discs embedded in cold dark matter (CDM) haloes. At fixed radius, R, the shape of the vertical density profile depends weakly on whether the disc is self-gravitating (SG) or non-self-gravitating (NSG). The disc ‘characteristic’ thickness, zH, set by the midplane sound speed and circular velocity, zNSG = (cs/Vc)R, in the NSG case, and by the sound speed and surface density, $z_{\rm SG} = c_{\rm s}^2/G\Sigma$, in SG discs, is smaller than zSG and zNSG. SG discs are typically Toomre unstable, NSG discs are stable. Exponential discs in CDM haloes with roughly flat circular velocity curves ‘flare’ outwards. Flares in mono abundance or coeval populations in galaxies like the Milky Way are thus not necessarily due to radial migration. For the polytropic equation of state of the Evolution and Assembly of GaLaxies and their Environments (EAGLE) simulations, discs that match observational constraints are NSG for Md < 3 × 109 M⊙ and SG at higher masses, if fully gaseous. We test these analytic results using a set of idealized smoothed particle hydrodynamic simulations and find excellent agreement. Our results clarify the role of the gravitational softening on the thickness of simulated discs, and on the onset of radial instabilities. EAGLE low-mass discs are NSG so the softening plays no role in their vertical structure. High-mass discs are expected to be SG and unstable, and may be artificially thickened and stabilized unless gravity is well resolved. Simulations with spatial resolution high enough to not compromise the vertical structure of a disc also resolve the onset of their instabilities, but the converse is not true.
Improved Method for Injecting Fungal Inoculum into Corn Ears
Authors: Anderson N. R. , Ravellette J. D. , Wise K. A.
Published: September 2017

Corn (Zea mays L.) ear rot pathogens reduce yield and grain quality annually, and research on these pathogens and their interactions with the host can require inoculation of fungal material into the ears. A new system of mechanically inoculating corn ears was designed using a hydration backpack and auto-filling vaccinator with a needle attached. The efficiency of the new system was compared to a previously established inoculation method using a manual syringe method with an 18-gauge blunt end needle attached to a 60-ml syringe, with inoculum carried in a plastic beaker. Inoculation methods were tested by comparing the time to inoculate 100 corn ears with separate conidial suspensions of Fusarium verticillioides and F. graminearum in a replicated field trial. The new mechanical inoculation system reduced inoculation time by 42% (P = 0.0015) when compared to the manual syringe and needle method. Additional benefits of the new method include reduced risk of inoculum contamination, consistent inoculum volume per ear, and increased safety for personnel doing the inoculations.

Accepted for publication 25 June 2016. Published 21 July 2016.
Wide Disagreement Between Alternative Assessments of Premorbid Physical Activity: Subjective Patient and Surrogate Reports and Objective Smartphone Data
Authors: Gluck Samuel , Summers Matthew J. , Goddard Thomas P. , Andrawos Alice , Smith Natalie C. , Lange Kylie , Iwashyna Theodore J. , Deane Adam M.
Published: September 2017

Objectives:

Surrogate-decision maker and patient self-reported estimates of the distances walked prior to acute illness are subjective and may be imprecise. It may be possible to extract objective data from a patient’s smartphone, specifically, step and global position system data, to quantify physical activity. The objectives were to 1) assess the agreement between surrogate-decision maker and patient self-reported estimates of distance and time walked prior to resting and daily step-count and 2) determine the feasibility of extracting premorbid physical activity (step and global position system) data from critically ill patients.

Design:

Prospective cohort study.

Setting:

Quaternary ICU.

Patients:

Fifty consecutively admitted adult patients who owned a smartphone, who were ambulatory at baseline, and who remained in ICU for more than 48 hours participated.

Measurments and Main Results:

There was no agreement between patients and surrogates for all premorbid walking metrics (mean bias 108% [99% lower to 8,700% higher], 83% [97% to 2,100%], and 71% [96% to 1,080%], for distance, time, and steps, respectively). Step and/or global position system data were successfully extracted from 24 of 50 phones (48%; 95% CI, 35–62%). Surrogate-decision makers, but not patient self-reported, estimates of steps taken per day correlated with smartphone data (surrogates: n = 13, ρ = 0.56, p < 0.05; patients: n = 13, ρ = 0.30, p = 0.317).

Conclusion:

There was a lack of agreement between surrogate-decision maker and patient self-reported subjective estimates of distance walked. Obtaining premorbid physical activity data from the current-generation smartphones was feasible in approximately 50% of patients.
Is the age at menopause a cause of sexual dysfunction? A Brazilian population-based study
Authors: Lett Caio , Valadares Ana L.R. , Baccaro Luiz F. , Pedro Adriana O. , Filho Jeffrey L. , Lima Marcelo , Costa-Paiva Lucia
Published: September 2017

Objectives:

The aim of the study was to evaluate the association between age at menopause and sexual dysfunction and the components of sexual function in postmenopausal women.

Methods:

In this cross-sectional population-based study, data of 540 women aged 45 to 60 years regarding the age they were when they achieved menopause and its association with sexual dysfunction (evaluated using the Short Personal Experiences Questionnaire) were obtained through interviews. We assessed the data for associations between age at menopause and sexual dysfunction and demographic, behavioral, and clinical characteristics.

Results:

Age at menopause was not associated with sexual dysfunction. Arousal (dysfunction) was the only component of sexual function that was associated with premature ovarian insufficiency (POI) and early menopause (P = 0.01). It was reported by 64.2% of women with POI (women <40 y), compared with sexual dysfunction rates of 50% and 45.6% of women aged 40 to 45 and >45 years, respectively (P = 0.04). In women with POI or early menopause, Poisson regression analysis showed that having a partner with sexual problems (prevalence ratio [PR] = 6.6; 95% CI: 3.3-13,2; P < 0.001) and dyspareunia (PR = 3.9; 95% CI: 1.8-8.2; P = 0.0005) were factors associated with arousal dysfunction. Satisfaction with the partner as a lover (PR = 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-0.7; P = 0.002) was protective against arousal dysfunction.

Conclusions:

Arousal dysfunction was associated with early ovarian failure and POI. The major factors affecting this association were having a partner with sexual problems, dyspareunia, and no satisfaction with the partner as a lover. These findings highlight the importance of evaluating partner problems and improving lubrication in these groups of women.
Restoring vaginal function in postmenopausal women with genitourinary syndrome of menopause
Authors: Kagan Risa , Rivera Eliza
Published: September 2017

Menopause practitioners are often asked to help postmenopausal women restore vaginal health and function. A common scenario is the postmenopausal woman who has been without a sexual partner for many years and is now about to resume or has already unsuccessfully attempted penetrative sexual activity. This Practice Pearl addresses the pathophysiology and effect of atrophic genital changes and offers advice on how vaginal health and comfortable sexual activity can be restored.
Association between obesity and sleep disorders in postmenopausal women
Authors: Naufel Maria Fernanda , Frange Cristina , Andersen Monica Levy , Girão Manoel João Batista Castello , Tufik Sergio , Beraldi Ribeiro Eliane , Hachul Helena
Published: September 2017

Objective:

To investigate the relationship between obesity and sleep architecture in postmenopausal women.

Methods:

One hundred seven postmenopausal women from the Ambulatory of Integrative Treatment for Female Sleep Disorders were invited by telephone to participate in this study. Fifty-three completed the study. We included women aged 50 to 70 years, and excluded women on hormone therapy or missing data. The study consisted of two meetings, including a full-night polysomnography. Menopause status was confirmed by amenorrhea for at least 1 year. Anthropometric measurements included: body mass, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio (WHR), and neck circumference. Participants were allocated into two groups according to BMI: nonobese group (BMI <30 kg/m2) and obese group (BMI ≥30 kg/m2).

Results:

The obese group had significantly (P < 0.01) increased values of BMI, neck circumference, waist circumference, and hip circumference. WHR was similar between the groups (P = 0.77). Obese participants had significantly increased values of respiratory disturbance index (16.4 vs 9.3 n°/h) and apnea-hypopnea index (14.2 vs 5.6 n°/h). Rapid eye movement sleep latency was positively correlated to body mass (r = P < 0.01), BMI (P < 0.01), and hip circumference (P = 0.01). WHR was negatively correlated to sleep efficiency (P = 0.03). The linear regression model showed that BMI (P < 0.01) and WHR (P < 0.01) were positive predictors of rapid eye movement sleep latency.

Conclusion:

In postmenopausal women, high BMI and abdominal obesity are sources of sleep disturbances, decreasing deep sleep, and sleep efficiency, while increasing the risk of obstructive sleep apnea.
Examining Root Causes of Medical Device Alarm System Failures Using Reports From Food and Drug Administration’s Medical Product Safety Network (MedSun)
Authors: Block Frank E.
Published: September 2017

This article analyzes medical device reports related to medical device alarm system performance issues by categorizing the underlying failure causes and examining alarm system misses and false alarms. When a miss or false alarm occurs, the typical causes of the failure were either device or operator related. The most typical device-related failure was an unexpected component failure, whereas the typical operator-related failure resulted from a human factor performance issue with the device. These results suggest that, by improving the quality and usability of medical devices, the number of problematic false alarms and misses may be reduced.
Endoscopic Ultrasound and Related Technologies for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pancreatic Disease - Research Gaps and Opportunities
Authors: Lee Linda S. , Andersen Dana K. , Ashida Reiko , Brugge William R. , Canto Mimi I. , Chang Kenneth J. , Chari Suresh T. , DeWitt John , Hwang Joo Ha , Khashab Mouen A. , Kim Kang , Levy Michael J. , McGrath Kevin , Park Walter G. , Singhi Aatur , Stevens Tyler , Thompson Christopher C. , Topazian Mark D. , Wallace Michael B. , Wani Sachin , Waxman Irving , Yadav Dhiraj , Singh Vikesh K.
Published: September 2017

A workshop was sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to address the research gaps and opportunities in pancreatic endoscopic ultrasound (EUS). The event occurred on July 26, 2017 in 4 sessions: (1) benign pancreatic diseases, (2) high-risk pancreatic diseases, (3) diagnostic and therapeutics, and (4) new technologies. The current state of knowledge was reviewed, with identification of numerous gaps in knowledge and research needs. Common themes included the need for large multicenter consortia of various pancreatic diseases to facilitate meaningful research of these entities; to standardize EUS features of different pancreatic disorders, the technique of sampling pancreatic lesions, and the performance of various therapeutic EUS procedures; and to identify high-risk disease early at the cellular level before macroscopic disease develops. The need for specialized tools and accessories to enable the safe and effective performance of therapeutic EUS procedures also was discussed.
Dietary Fiber Intake in Children With Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Authors: Pituch‐Zdanowska Aleksandra , Albrecht Piotr , Banasiuk Marcin , Banaszkiewicz Aleksandra
Published: September 2017

Objectives:

The aim of the study was to estimate intake of total dietary fiber, and its soluble and insoluble fractions, by children with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in comparison with healthy controls.

Methods:

This was a prospective controlled study on children with IBD. Food consumption data were collected by using the 3‐day diet record. For intake of soluble and insoluble fibers author's questionnaire was used.

Results:

The study included 50 children with IBD (80% in clinical remission) and 50 healthy controls. There were no statistically significant differences in age, weight, height, and BMI percentiles between both groups. The mean disease duration was 3.5 ± 2.5 years. The daily median dietary fiber intake in patients was 15.3 ± 4.2 g, whereas controls consumed about 14.1 ± 3.6 g/day; differences were not statistically significant. The median intake of soluble fiber in the study group was 5.0 g/day and in controls 4.7 g/day, whereas the intake of insoluble fractions was 10.2 versus 9.7 g/day, respectively. The total fiber intake significantly increased with age and it was higher among boys in each age group. The boys better achieved adequate intake recommendations (P = 0.003). Both, children with IBD and healthy controls, did not meet the adequate intake recommendations.

Conclusions:

Intake of fiber in patients with IBD and healthy controls was comparable; however, in both groups, it was lower than recommended.
Family Perspectives on Visiting the Pediatric Emergency Department for Migraine
Authors: Orr Serena Laura , O'Sullivan Liam , Zemek Roger , Ward Natalie M. , McMillan Hugh J.
Published: September 2017

Objective

The aim of this study was to explore the perspectives of families regarding their expectations and experience of visiting the emergency department (ED) for migraine.

Methods

This was a qualitative study involving the families of 25 patients aged 10 to 18 years receiving ED care for acute migraine. Following their visit, independent semistructured telephone interviews were conducted with both the patient and parent or guardian. Questions were designed to explore factors pertaining to the family's perspective regarding their visit to the ED and expectations for the ED visit.

Results

Families reported a variety of reasons for visiting the ED. The majority of participants reported that they were worried about their headaches. Families more commonly had expectations for treatment than they did for investigations. As compared with patients, parents more commonly reported specific expectations for investigations and less commonly expressed concerns about intravenous treatments. Expectations for treatment efficacy varied: whereas some parents expected complete pain relief, for others, lesser degrees of relief were considered satisfactory. The experience of treatment efficacy was related to willingness to receive the same treatment again.

Conclusions

Given that a high frequency of families endorsed that they were worried about the headache when presenting to the ED, clinicians should strive to make a diagnosis of migraine in the ED setting and to educate families about this diagnosis. Because of divergent parent and patient perspectives, health care providers should inquire about family expectations, especially in relation to expectations for investigations and concerns surrounding intravenous interventions, and ensure that both the patient's and parent's perspectives are considered when developing a management plan for pediatric migraine.
DNA Methyltransferase Inhibitors in Myeloid Cancer
Authors: Ørskov Andreas Due , Grønbæk Kirsten
Published: September 2017

DNA methyltransferase inhibitors, so-called hypomethylating agents (HMAs), are the only drugs approved for the treatment of higher-risk myelodysplastic syndromes and are widely used in this context. However, it is still unclear why some patients respond to HMAs, whereas others do not. Recent sequencing efforts have identified molecular disease entities that may be specifically sensitive to these drugs, and many attempts are being made to clarify how HMAs affect the malignant clone during treatment. Here, we review the most recent data on the clinical effects of HMAs in myeloid malignancies.
Impact of Advanced Age on Survival in Patients Undergoing Resection of Hepatocellular Carcinoma
Authors: Kaibori Masaki , Yoshii Kengo , Yokota Isao , Hasegawa Kiyoshi , Nagashima Fumio , Kubo Shoji , Kon Masanori , Izumi Namiki , Kadoya Masumi , Kudo Masatoshi , Kumada Takashi , Sakamoto Michiie , Nakashima Osamu , Matsuyama Yutaka , Takayama Tadatoshi , Kokudo Norihiro
Published: September 2017

Objective:

The impact of age on survival after hepatic resection for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has not been thoroughly examined. We reviewed the data of a nationwide follow-up survey to determine the outcomes of hepatectomy for HCC in elderly patients.

Background:

Management of malignant diseases in elderly patients has become a global clinical issue because of the increased life expectancy worldwide. Advancements in surgical techniques and perioperative management have reduced age-related contraindications for liver surgery.

Methods:

In all, 12,587 patients with HCC who underwent curative hepatic resection were included in this cohort study and classified according to age group [40–59 years (n = 2991), 60–74 years (n = 7576,), and ≥75 years (n = 2020)]. Clinicopathological features, long-term survival, and cumulative incidences of death after hepatic resection were compared among the groups. The cause-specific subdistribution hazard ratios for 3 types of death depending on age were also estimated.

Results:

Preoperative liver function tests showed that the prothrombin activity and platelet count were higher in the ≥75-year age group than in the other age groups. The overall survival was significantly lower in the elderly than younger patients. However, recurrence-free survival was almost identical among the 3 groups. The cumulative incidence of HCC-related or liver-related death was almost identical among the 3 groups; however, the cumulative incidence of other causes of death was significantly different. The 60-year subdistribution hazard ratio for other causes of death increased remarkably with increasing age.

Conclusions:

Elderly patients in this nationwide survey had significantly worse overall survival after hepatectomy than middle-aged and young patients. The cumulative incidence of other causes of death in elderly patients was significantly different from that of HCC-related or liver-related death among the 3 groups.