bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Shaping the Political Environment: An Ethnography of Public Affairs Professionals at Work
Authors: Kaynak Ece , Barley Stephen R.
Published: February 2019

Relying on an ethnographic study of in-house public affairs professionals, this article sheds light on the process by which boundary-spanning occupations can shape an organization’s environment. Public affairs professionals are responsible for devising and implementing a firm’s political strategy. By focusing on their work practices both internally as they make sense of their environment and strategize, and externally, where they interface with the organization’s audiences, the authors develop a model of political influence as a boundary-spanning activity. The authors demonstrate that influence is best understood as a cyclical process in which public affairs professionals embed themselves in sociopolitical networks by building and maintaining relationships with external actors. Their embeddedness facilitates influence in three ways: First, being embedded in networks allows public affairs professionals to monitor the political environment and decide when and how to be politically active. Second, embeddedness supplies resonant frames for constructing political narratives to persuade audiences. Third, their sociopolitical networks constitute the channels through which public affairs professionals disseminate narratives that mobilize support for their position.
Characterization of digestate composting stability using fluorescence EEM spectroscopy combining with PARAFAC
Authors: Huang Jing , Han Lujia , Huang Guangqun
Published: February 2019

A laboratory scale experiment of digestate composting was carried out using a reactor system. In this study, conventional physicochemical and biological analyses were carried out and fluorescence excitation-emission matrix (EEM) spectroscopy combined with parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) was used to assess the maturity and stability during digestate composting. A four-component model was obtained and three components, i.e. fulvic-like (C1 and C3), protein-like (C2), and humic-like (C4) components, were identified. Furthermore, the ratios of each two components were calculated and the relationships with other parameters were established using Pearson correlation analysis. The results showed that the main humification process during digestate composting was the accumulation of fulvic-like substances and that secondary formation occurred at the late stage of digestate composting. Moreover, the EEM–PARAFAC technique could be used as a sensitive and efficient tool for assessing the dynamic changes of digestate composting. The ratio C4/(C1 + C3) is the most suitable indicator in evaluating the stability of digestate composting.
Insights on the Benefits and Challenges of the Skills Development Program at Kgalagadi South Subdistrict of Botswana: Beneficiaries’ Experiences
Authors: Oats Reginald , Gumbo Meshack T.
Published: February 2019

A fit-for-purpose, functional program is the vehicle that guarantees the relevance of an education system by ensuring the sustainability of the society. Failure of a program to be relevant has the potential to cause crisis in a society. This basic qualitative research study explored the experiences of the beneficiaries of a skills development program (SDP) in the rural Kgalagadi south subdistrict of Botswana with specific reference to the benefits and challenges of the program and its potential to improve their livelihoods. Twelve beneficiaries (program participants) of the SDP and their four trainers were purposively selected and interviewed. Data were also collected through observation. The findings indicated that the participants benefited from the SDP training in terms of knowledge, skills, and competencies that they had acquired. As such, they now could make good quality products. The findings also showed that the beneficiaries faced certain challenges with the SDP, especially the lack of financial muscle to sponsor their products. With the necessary improvements, the SDP promises to improve the livelihoods of those who undergo the training in the Kgalagadi south rural communities. This study sheds new insights on the benefits and challenges of the SDP, and this can help decision-makers and funders (Botswana government in particular) in the review of the program.
A Multi-Campus Pilot Feasibility Evaluation of a Bystander-Based Sexual Violence Prevention Program: Exploring the Influence of Drinking Behaviors on Bystander Behavior
Authors: Williams Joah L. , Rheingold Alyssa A. , Shealy Janet , LaRocque Robin
Published: February 2019

Researchers and policy makers are devoting considerable attention to the development and evaluation of sexual violence prevention programming for college campuses. Although several programs have been developed over the last decade, questions remain about whether programs can be effectively implemented across diverse campuses and whether individual-level factors like alcohol use moderate program effectiveness. The purpose of this pilot study was to evaluate the impact of a brief, sexual violence prevention program—The Men’s Program—on two diverse campuses. A secondary aim was to evaluate the moderating effects of heavy alcohol use on program effectiveness. Participants were 114 male college students attending a presentation of The Men’s Program on one of two campuses. Outcomes, including rape myth acceptance, bystander willingness to help, and bystander behavior, were assessed pre- and post-intervention and 1 month after completing the program. Campus-specific effects did not account for a significant amount of variance in any of these outcomes. Statistically significant reductions in rape myth acceptance ( d = .32) and increases in willingness to intervene as a bystander ( d = .40) were observed from pre-intervention to 1-month follow-up, although no significant changes in overall bystander behavior were observed. Across time, however, heavy drinking students were more likely to report engaging in bystander behaviors than non-heavy drinking students. Results suggest that programs can be easily implemented across different campuses and may do well to specifically emphasize effective intervention strategies relevant to social situations encountered by heavy drinking students.
Differences in Rape Acknowledgment and Mental Health Outcomes Across Transgender, Nonbinary, and Cisgender Bisexual Youth
Authors: Anderson RaeAnn E. , Tarasoff Lesley A. , VanKim Nicole , Flanders Corey
Published: February 2019

The purpose of this study was to document the rates of rape acknowledgment (labeling rape as rape rather than using a minimizing label) and the corresponding mental health correlates using the minority stress framework in a unique and vulnerable sample: racially diverse sexual and gender minority young adults. Participants were 245 young adults who identified their sexual orientation as under the bisexual umbrella. A total of 159 of these participants (65.2%) identified their gender identity as nonbinary. All participants completed a series of online questionnaires regarding their sexual victimization history, mental health outcomes (depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder [PTSD]), and constructs relevant to minority stress theory (level of outness, internalized bisexual negativity, connection to LGBTQ [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning] community). Rape acknowledgment was significantly greater among gender nonbinary participants (79.9%) than among trans and cisgender male participants (17.9%). Lack of rape acknowledgment was associated with increased anxiety, depression, and PTSD. Outness was significantly associated with greater rape acknowledgment. Despite the highly increased vulnerability for sexual violence among sexual and gender minorities, very little is understood about the mechanisms of this increased vulnerability or their unique needs for recovery. The results of this study strongly suggest the importance of a minority stress framework for understanding this increased vulnerability and for designing sexual violence prevention and recovery interventions for sexual and gender minority populations.
A Multisession Evaluation of Sexual Assault Prevention Education: The Unique Effects of Program Participation
Authors: Baldwin-White Adrienne , Moses Karen
Published: February 2019

One in five college women report being sexually assaulted, while men have the greatest likelihood to commit a sexual assault while attending a university. Because freshmen and sophomore college women are particularly vulnerable to victimization, it is important to provide effective sexual assault prevention education. The current study examines a multisession approach to sexual assault prevention at a southwestern university. This exploratory study assesses scores measuring knowledge of sexual assault, knowledge about healthy sexual relationships, and intent to act to prevent a sexual assault or after one has occurred, after students complete at least one of five sexual assault prevention programs (Community of Care, Consent and Respect, Step Up!, Live Well, or Frisky Business). Results demonstrated that participation in each program had unique effects and the number of programs a student participated in did not significantly affect scores. None of the programs produced significantly higher scores on all three measures. Multiple programs produced significantly higher scores on the knowledge and intervention/resources scales, but none had the same results for the healthy sexual relationships scale. Also, a student’s experiences of sexual violence significantly predicted their scores on all three measures. Because each program had different characteristics, the varying results make it difficult to identify the particular factors that led to the best results. Future research must seek to identify the particular combination of factors that produce the best outcomes in terms of changing attitudes and behavior concerning sexual assault and intent to act.
The Effect of Prosecutorial Actions on Deterrence: A County-Level Analysis
Authors: Mourtgos Scott M. , Adams Ian T.
Published: February 2019

In the current study, we examine prosecutorial decisions that affect the certainty, celerity, and severity of punishment at the county level in the state of Florida. Leveraging a unique data set, we investigate the effect of the rate at which prosecuting agencies within each county filed formal charges against offenders (certainty), the swiftness of criminal case resolution (celerity), and the rate at which cases were pled to less severe punishments (severity). We test for the effect of those covariates on aggregate county-level crime rates over a 5-year period. We find that prosecutors’ effect on the certainty and celerity of punishment was associated with lower levels of crime, whereas their effect on the severity of punishment was not. Together, these findings highlight the role of the prosecutor in shaping the general deterrent environment within a county.
Making It Home: An Intersectional Analysis of the Police Talk
Authors: Malone Gonzalez Shannon
Published: February 2019

Black mothers often are responsible for teaching their children how to respond to police violence. Through 30 in-depth interviews with black mothers from diverse social class backgrounds, I investigate how they address the gendered racial vulnerability of their children in the “police talk,” a socialization practice designed to prepare children for police encounters. I identify mothers’ primary discourse as “the making it home” framework, which encapsulates in parent–child socialization their use of double consciousness around the police. This framework marginalizes girls’ experiences in three ways: it conceptualizes boys as the primary targets of police, while constructing girls as collateral targets of police violence; it emphasizes masculine forms of violence; and it is directed almost exclusively at boys. An intersectional analysis is applied to redress the limitations of the police talk and to highlight the need for structural reforms to recognize and combat police violence against black women and girls.
Work, Social Reproduction, the Transnational Household, and Refugee Resettlement: A Canadian Case Study
Authors: Silvius Ray
Published: February 2019

This article puzzles out the relationships between displaced peoples, their families, resettlement, the household, employment, and social reproduction – the often voluntary, feminized, and un- or under-compensated labour that reproduces a family, household, or labour force. Transnational refugee households and the conditions of refugee resettlement are co-constituted. These households are: 1) physical dwellings where a family is situated; 2) sites of emotional, care, and additional work required for the reproduction of the (often transnational) family; 3) necessitating ‘material’ inputs, in the form of paid labour, social provisions, or other sources. This article uses Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) to demonstrate the tradeoffs in securing the economic and care resources required for maintaining transnational refugee households. Profiling cases of resettling refugee families in Winnipeg, Canada, the article suggests that ‘small-n’ research reveals the challenges in meeting common resettlement imperatives amid expensive housing markets and restricted access to social and economic resources.
Transgressing North–South Divide: Foxconn Production Regimes in China and the Czech Republic
Authors: Pun Ngai , Andrijasevic Rutvica , Sacchetto Devi
Published: February 2019

In Europe, as elsewhere in the global North, the label “Made in China” has become synonymous with low wages, excessive overtime, and exploitative working conditions. Conventional literature on the international division of labor reifies the North–South divide in particular with respect to class formation and labor agency. Contrasting the working conditions in China to those in Europe sets these up as opposites in their managerial practices and treatment of the workforce. This article challenges such dualism and makes visible the commonalities of contemporary global capitalism. It does so by examining Foxconn’s production regimes in China and the Czech Republic and identifying a specific set of strategies on the part of the firm that enable its global organization of production. In indicating which practices Foxconn imported from China and which are an outcome of global extended production, the article challenges the Chinese political economy literature that posits the “Chinese model” as warranted when production is globally organized.
“New Diaspora Philanthropy”? The Philanthropy of the UJA-Federation of New York Toward Israel
Authors: Shaul Bar Nissim Hanna
Published: February 2019

This article explores the ways in which new philanthropic practices and grant-making patterns changed Jewish diaspora philanthropy. Based on an in-depth exploration of the philanthropy of the UJA-Federation of New York toward Israel, the article posits the development of a new Jewish diaspora philanthropy and outlines its characteristics and expressions. Findings suggest new missions, goals, activities, and philanthropic practices in Israel and point to a shift in the extent of donor engagement in decision-making. The article offers a broader discussion on the meanings and implications for the integration of new institutional environments, in the form of new philanthropic practices, to the organizational field of Jewish philanthropy, while highlighting the dilemmas generated in the process for the Federation and for recipient organizations.
From influence to impact: The multifunctional land use in Mediterranean prehistory emerging from palynology of archaeological sites (8.0-2.8 ka BP)
Authors: Mercuri Anna Maria , Florenzano Assunta , Burjachs Francesc , Giardini Marco , Kouli Katerina , Masi Alessia , Picornell-Gelabert Llorenç , Revelles Jordi , Sadori Laura , Servera-Vives Gabriel , Torri Paola , Fyfe Ralph
Published: February 2019

Archaeobotany is used to discover details on local land uses in prehistoric settlements developed during the middle and beginning of late Holocene. Six archaeological sites from four countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, and Turkey) have pollen and charcoal records showing clear signs of the agrarian systems that had developed in the Mediterranean basin during different cultural phases, from pre-Neolithic to Recent Bronze Age. A selected list of pollen taxa and sums, including cultivated trees, other woody species, crops and annual or perennial synanthropic plants are analysed for land use reconstructions. In general, cultivation has a lower image in palynology than forestry, and past land uses became visible when oakwoods were affected by human activities. On-site palynology allows us to recognise the first influence of humans even before it can be recognised in off-site sequences, and off-site sequences can allow us to determine the area of influence of a site. Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites show similar land use dynamics implying oak exploitation, causing local deforestation, and cultivation of cereal fields in the area or around the site. Although a substantial difference makes the Neolithic influence quite distant from the Bronze Age impact, mixed systems of land exploitation emerged everywhere. Multiple land use activities exist (multifunctional landscapes) at the same time within the area of influence of a site. Since the Neolithic, people have adopted a diffuse pattern of land use involving a combination of diverse activities, using trees–crops–domesticated animals. The most recurrent combination included wood exploitation, field cultivation and animal breeding. The lesson from the past is that the multifunctional land use, combining sylvo-pastoral and crop farming mixed systems, has been widely adopted for millennia, being more sustainable than the monoculture and a promising way to develop our economy.
Constrained H∞ control for a half-car model of an active suspension system with actuator time delay by predictor feedback
Authors: Karim Afshar Keyvan , Javadi Ali
Published: February 2019

In this paper, constrained memory state-feedback H∝ control for a half-car model of an active vehicle suspension system with input time-delay in the presence of external disturbance has been investigated. Its prime goal is to improve the inherent trade-offs among power consumption, handling performance, ride quality, and suspension travel. The tire deflections and the suspension deflections are constrained by their peak response values in time domain using the generalized H2 ( GH∝) norm (energy-to-peak) performance, while the ride comfort performance of the suspension system is optimized by notion of the H∝ control (energy-to-energy) to measure the body accelerations including both the heaving and the pitching motions. Similar to the well-known prediction-based methods, the prediction vector of the system is achieved to construct the memory state-feedback controller. Using the prediction vector, sufficient conditions guaranteeing closed-loop system stability as well as disturbance attenuation are obtained as some delay-dependent linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). In addition, some LMIs are added to limit the gain of the controller. In the case of feasibility, obtained LMIs provide the stabilizing gain of the memory controller. The proposed approach is applied to a half-car model of an active suspension system considering the actuator time-delay to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Understanding Participants’ Perceptions of Access to and Satisfaction With Chronic Disease Prevention Programs
Authors: Perry Rebecca , Gard Read Jennifer , Chandler Caroline , Kish-Doto Julia , Hoerger Thomas
Published: February 2019

Despite the promise of incentive-based chronic disease prevention programs, comprehensive evidence on their accessibility among low-income populations remains limited. We adapted Aday and Andersen’s framework to examine accessibility and consumer satisfaction within the Medicaid Incentives for the Prevention of Chronic Disease (MIPCD) cross-site demonstration. MIPCD provided 10 states with 5-year grants to implement incentivized chronic disease prevention and management programs for low-income and/or disabled—Medicaid enrolled—Americans. We conducted 36 focus group discussions between July 2014 and December 2015 with Medicaid enrollees participating in the MIPCD programs. We assessed participants’ satisfaction by program type (i.e., diabetes prevention, diabetes management, hypertension reduction, smoking cessation, and weight management) related to three components: program enrollment and participation, staff courtesy, and program convenience. Based on Aday and Andersen’s framework, we conducted thematic analysis to determine similarities and differences across MIPCD programs by type. Participant feedback confirmed the importance of several features of the Aday and Andersen framework, particularly programs with easy enrollment and participation procedures, courteous and helpful staff, and those that are convenient and flexible for participants. Participants valued programming around the clock via telephone and flexible, in-person hours of operation as well as proximity of the program to reliable transportation. We observed that most participants, despite enrollment and participation barriers, perceived programs as accessible and were willing to engage and continue to participate. This finding may reflect behavior change theory’s perspective on personal readiness to change. Individuals in the preparation stage of change can effectively change health habits despite barriers they may encounter. In some cases, personal readiness to change was more impactful than consumer satisfaction at encouraging ongoing participation and perceived access to the programs. Thus, program developers may want to consider individual participant readiness to change and its impact on consumer satisfaction when designing, implementing, and evaluating behavior change initiatives.
The Impact of Work Organization, Job Stress, and Sleep on the Health Behaviors and Outcomes of U.S. Long-Haul Truck Drivers
Authors: Hege Adam , Lemke Michael K. , Apostolopoulos Yorghos , Sönmez Sevil
Published: February 2019

Background. Compared with other occupations, long-haul truck drivers (LHTD) engage in excessively unhealthy behaviors and experience disproportionately poor health outcomes. Health promotion efforts targeting LHTDs focus on improving individual-level behaviors; however, this occupation is replete with adverse work organization characteristics, high job stress, and compromised sleep health, which are hypothesized to cause poor health behaviors and outcomes among LHTDs. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the connections between work characteristics, job stress, and sleep outcomes, and health behaviors and physical and mental health outcomes among LHTDs. Method. This was a cross-sectional study, using interviewer-administered surveys with LHTDs ( n = 260). Bivariate correlation analysis was used to explore the associations among work organization, job stress, sleep health, and health behaviors and outcomes. Logistic regression analyses were used to determine whether these work organization, job stress, and sleep factors predicted health behaviors and outcomes. Results. Long work hours of more than 11 hours daily (odds ratio [OR] = 2.34) resulted in increased odds of high caffeine consumption. High job stress (OR = 0.48) and poor sleep quality (OR = 0.42) led to decreased odds for spending at least 1 hour daily for cooking/eating. Low sleep duration, less than 7 hours daily (OR = 2.55), led to increased odds of a physical health diagnosis. Both high job stress (OR = 3.58) and poor sleep quality (OR = 2.22) resulted in increased odds of a mental health diagnosis. Conclusion. Health promotion efforts targeting LHTDs need to be coupled with upstream policy, environmental, and systems-level change, especially at the governmental and trucking industry levels.
Preface: The Everyday Politics of Public Space
Authors: De Backer Mattias , Dijkema Claske , Hörschelmann Kathrin
Published: February 2019

While in the past two decades a rich literature has emerged about the politics of public space, many of these theoretical works and empirical studies consider public space interactions and behaviors against the backdrop of deliberative or representative politics. In this special issue, to which this article is the preface, we offer some reflections on how the everyday and the micro-level can be sites of political expression, leading inevitably to a critical discussion of the central assumptions regarding private/public space and its generational, gendered, classed, and “culturalized” construction. This analysis takes place with three theoretical axes in the background: Katz’s minor theory, anarchist theory on prefigurative politics, and Foucault, de Certeau, and Lefebvre’s work on power, knowledge, and place.
Vocabulary learning through listening: Comparing L2 explanations, teacher codeswitching, contrastive focus-on-form and incidental learning
Authors: Zhang Pengchong , Graham Suzanne
Published: February 2019

This study explored the teaching and learning of vocabulary through listening among 137 senior high-school learners of English as a foreign language (EFL) in China. It compared different types of Lexical Focus-on-Form delivered to four treatment groups: post-listening vocabulary explanations in the L2; codeswitched explanations; explanations providing additional crosslinguistic information (Contrastive Focus-on-Form; CFoF); and no explanations (NE). It also investigated the impact of the intervention on learners’ listening comprehension. Learners completed aural vocabulary tests at pre-, post- and delayed post-test and listening assessments at pre- and post-test. For short- and long-term vocabulary acquisition, the three groups receiving explanations significantly outperformed the NE group. Gains for the CFoF group were significantly greater than for the L2 and Codeswitching groups, for both short-term and long-term learning. For listening comprehension, only the NE group made significant improvement from the pre-test to the post-test, as well as making significantly greater pre- to post-test improvement than the CFoF and the L2 groups did. The article concludes by discussing these findings in relation to theories of vocabulary acquisition and listening comprehension, as well as their pedagogical implications.
Temporality in cosmopolitan solidarity: Archival activism and participatory documentary film as mediated witnessing of suffering at Europe’s borders
Authors: Horsti Karina
Published: February 2019

This article develops and extends the idea of cosmopolitan solidarity to temporality through a case study of archival activism and participatory film-making. It examines mediated witnessing within the Italian online audiovisual archive Archivio delle memorie migranti, which documents and archives the experiences of contemporary migrants in Italy. The moral basis of Archivio delle memorie migranti is cosmopolitan solidarity, which is usually understood as a practice that crosses spatial and communal boundaries. However, the ethics of solidarity also bridges past, present and future generations. Through the case of Archivio delle memorie migranti, this article demonstrates the significance of temporality in the theorization of cosmopolitan solidarity.
Wave-based impact localization on laminated composite plates using a coarse network of sensors
Authors: Theodosiou Theodosis C , Rekatsinas Christoforos S , Nastos Christos V , Saravanos Dimitris A
Published: February 2019

This article demonstrates a methodology for the detection of foreign object impact locations on laminated composite plates using a low number of sensors. The proposed approach exploits the wave-dominated transient response of the target structure and addresses the challenges induced by the non-uniform wave propagation due to the anisotropy of composite plates on the impact localization. Captured sensor signals are processed and their frequency content is identified. Semi-analytical wave dispersion models and time-domain spectral finite element impact models encompassing the effects of laminate anisotropy on wave dispersion characteristics are employed to extract the wave velocity from their frequency content. The method for localizing the impact site is formulated as an optimization problem and involves signal correlation from different sensors, refinement of the candidate locations, and finally accurate estimation of the impact site. Numerical and experimental validations of the developed method are presented for low-velocity impacts on glass/epoxy laminated plates.
Pilot Testing a Robot for Reducing Pain in Hospitalized Preterm Infants
Authors: Williams Nicholas , MacLean Karon , Guan Ling , Collet Jean Paul , Holsti Liisa
Published: February 2019

Optimizing neurodevelopment is a key goal of neonatal occupational therapy. In preterm infants, repeated procedural pain is associated with adverse effects on neurodevelopment long term. Calmer is a robot designed to reduce infant pain. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of Calmer on heart rate variability (HRV) during routine blood collection in preterm infants. In a randomized controlled pilot trial, 10 infants were assigned to either standard care ( n = 5, facilitated tucking [FT]) or Calmer treatment ( n = 5). HRV was recorded continuously and quantified using the area (power) of the spectrum in high and low frequency (HF: 0.15-0.40Hz/ms2; LF: 0.04-0.15 Hz/ms2) regions. Changes in HRV during three, 2-min phases (Baseline, Heel Poke, and Recovery) were compared between groups. Calmer infants had 90% greater parasympathetic activation ([PS] reduced stress) during Baseline, 82% greater PS activation during Poke, and 24% greater PS activation during Recovery than FT infants. Calmer reduced physiological preterm infant pain reactivity during blood collection.
National Patterns in Surgical Management of Syndactyly: A Review of 956 Cases
Authors: Chouairi Fouad , Mercier Michael R. , Persing J. Scott , Gabrick Kyle S. , Clune James , Alperovich Michael
Published: February 2019

Purpose: Being one of the most common congenital hand malformations, syndactyly is repaired by orthopedic, plastic, and fellowship-trained general surgeons. Limited multi-institutional outcomes analyses regarding incidence, timing, and type of repair exist. Methods: All syndactyly cases performed over a 5-year period from 2012-2016 were isolated from the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program Pediatric database. Patient demographics, surgical factors, perioperative outcomes, and risk factors were analyzed using χ2, Fisher exact, and t-test analysis. Results: A total of 956 patients who underwent syndactyly repair were identified. Most cases were simple syndactyly with nearly even case distribution among plastic and orthopedic surgeons. Most patients were men and Caucasian. Mean age at the time of surgery was 2.6 years. Most cases were performed as outpatient surgery. Patients of plastic surgeons had significantly more airway abnormalities and shorter operative times. Patients with complex syndactyly had significantly more ventilator dependence, tracheostomy, and comorbidities when compared with those with simple syndactyly. Cases with complex syndactyly also had longer operative times and a higher rate of superficial surgical site infections. Conclusions: Syndactyly repair is a safe procedure with few major or minor reconstructive complications regardless of the surgical specialty or syndactyly type. Patients with complex syndactyly have significantly more preoperative comorbidities with comparable outcomes. orthopedic surgeons have significantly longer operative times than plastic surgeons, likely due to caring for increased number of patients with complex syndactyly.
Health effects of direct triaging to physiotherapists in primary care for patients with musculoskeletal disorders: a pragmatic randomized controlled trial
Authors: Bornhöft Lena , Larsson Maria EH , Nordeman Lena , Eggertsen Robert , Thorn Jörgen
Published: February 2019

Background:

Physiotherapists and general practitioners (GPs) both act as primary assessors for patients with musculoskeletal disorders in primary care. Previous studies have shown that initial triaging to physiotherapists at primary healthcare centres has advantages regarding efficiency in the work environment and utilization of healthcare. In this study, we aimed primarily to determine whether triaging to physiotherapists affects the progression of health aspects over time differently than traditional management with initial GP assessment. The secondary aim was to determine whether triaging to physiotherapists affects patients’ attitudes of responsibility for musculoskeletal disorders.

Methods:

This was a pragmatic trial where both recruitment and treatment strategies were determined by clinical, not study-related parameters, and was initiated at three primary care centres in Sweden. Working-age patients of both sexes seeking primary care for musculoskeletal disorders and nurse assessed as suitable for triaging to physiotherapists were randomized to initial consultations with either physiotherapists or GPs. They received self-assessment questionnaires before the initial consultation and were followed up at 2, 12, 26 and 52 weeks with the same questionnaires. Outcome measures were current and mean (3 months) pain intensities, functional disability, risk for developing chronic musculoskeletal pain, health-related quality of life and attitudes of responsibility for musculoskeletal conditions. Trends over time were analysed with a regression model for repeated measurements.

Results:

The physiotherapist-triaged group showed significant improvement for health-related quality of life at 26 weeks and showed consistent but nonsignificant tendencies to greater reductions of current pain, mean pain in the latest 3 months, functional disability and risk for developing chronic pain compared with traditional management. The triage model did not consistently affect patients’ attitudes of responsibility for musculoskeletal disorders.

Conclusions:

Triaging to physiotherapists for primary assessment in primary care leads to at least as positive health effects as primary assessment by GPs and can be recommended as an alternative management pathway for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier:

NCT148611.
Emerging treatment paradigms with FLT3 inhibitors in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Short Nicholas J. , Kantarjian Hagop , Ravandi Farhad , Daver Naval
Published: February 2019

Mutations in the fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ( FLT3) gene are detected in approximately one-third of patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML). These consist of the more common FLT3-internal tandem duplication (ITD) in approximately 20–25% of AML cases, and point mutations in the tyrosine kinase domain (TKD) in approximately 5–10%. FLT3 mutations, especially FLT3-ITD, are associated with proliferative disease, increased risk of relapse, and inferior overall survival when treated with conventional regimens. However, the recent development of well tolerated and active FLT3 inhibitors has significantly improved the outcomes of this aggressive subtype of AML. The multikinase inhibitor midostaurin was approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) in April 2017 for the frontline treatment of patients with FLT3-mutated (either ITD or TKD) AML in combination with induction chemotherapy, representing the first new drug approval in AML in nearly two decades. In November 2018, the US FDA also approved the second-generation FLT3 inhibitor gilteritinib as a single agent for patients with relapsed or refractory FLT3-mutated AML. Promising phase I and II efficacy data for quizartinib is likely to lead to a third regulatory approval in relapsed/refractory AML in the near future. However, despite the significant progress made in managing FLT3-mutated AML, many questions remain regarding the best approach to integrate these inhibitors into combination regimens, and also the optimal sequencing of different FLT3 inhibitors in various clinical settings. This review comprehensively examines the FLT3 inhibitors currently in clinical development, with an emphasis on their spectra of activity against different FLT3 mutations and other kinases, clinical safety and efficacy data, and their current and future roles in the management of AML. The mechanisms of resistance to FLT3 inhibitors and potential combination strategies to overcome such resistance pathways are also discussed.
Macular cutaneous amyloidosis treated with methyl aminolevulinate and daylight photodynamic therapy: A case report
Authors: Huang Christina M , Lam Lauren , Gniadecki Robert
Published: February 2019

Primary cutaneous amyloidosis is characterized by polymerization of extracellular amyloid precursors in β-pleated sheet conformation into larger fibrillar aggregates. Observation in models of Alzheimer’s disease have noted that amyloid polymerization in the brain is blocked by reactive oxygen species. Singlet oxygen is formed in the skin during methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy. Therefore, we speculate that type II photochemical reaction is responsible for the observed therapeutic activity of methyl aminolevulinate photodynamic therapy in our patient with primary cutaneous amyloidosis. Our case is the first report demonstrating the efficacy of daylight photodynamic therapy in primary cutaneous amyloidosis. Daylight photodynamic therapy may provide a convenient and cost-effective therapeutic option in primary cutaneous amyloidosis, and its efficacy should be further confirmed in prospective trials.
Propofol sedation without endotracheal intubation is safe for endoscopic submucosal dissection in the esophagus and stomach
Authors: van de Ven SEM , Leliveld L , Klimek M , Hilkemeijer TRH , Bruno MJ , Koch AD
Published: February 2019

Background

Endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) for early esophageal and stomach cancer is usually performed under general anesthesia. However, propofol sedation without endotracheal intubation has been suggested as a viable alternative.

Objective

The objective of this study was to evaluate the safety of propofol sedation without endotracheal intubation during ESD in the upper gastrointestinal tract.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent ESD for upper gastrointestinal tumors with propofol‐remifentanil analgosedation in a tertiary referral center in the Netherlands between October 2013 and February 2018. Primary endpoints were the rates of intraprocedural endoscopy‐ and anesthesia‐related complications. Secondary endpoints were the postprocedural complication rates within 30 days and endotracheal intubation conversion rates.

Results

Of 88 patients, intraprocedural ESD‐related complications occurred in three patients (3.4%). Intraprocedural anesthesia‐related complications occurred in two patients (2.3%), one of whom required conversion to endotracheal intubation. Postprocedural ESD‐related complications occurred in 14 patients (15.9%), and minor postprocedural complications occurred in two patients (2.3%). Eighty‐two (93.2%) patients were discharged within one day after ESD. No patient was readmitted for anesthesia‐related complications.

Conclusion

Propofol‐based sedation without endotracheal intubation is safe for ESD procedures in the esophagus and stomach with low anesthesia‐related complication rates and short hospital stay.
The common-seekers: Capturing and reclaiming value in the platform metropolis
Authors: Rossi Ugo
Published: February 2019

This article offers a critical account of technology-based urban economies within cognitive-affective capitalism, particularly of their socially extractive nature and the contradictions arising from related processes of value extraction. Drawing on the work of Hardt and Negri and other theorists of ‘extractivist’ capitalism, the article explores the way in which ‘the common’ has become the oil of today’s ‘platform metropolis’. In particular, it is pointed out that the platform metropolis is illustrative of conflicting common-seeking claims involving high-tech corporations, on the one hand, and precarised workers, on the other. With evidence obtained from qualitative field research conducted with the on-call workers employed in the food delivery service, the article shows how the contradiction between capital and labour in the platform metropolis paves the way to an interstitial politics of the common that illuminates the socially produced nature of technology-based urban economies as well as the wider relationship between capital and life in our biopolitical era.
The search for a PKR code—differential regulation of protein kinase R activity by diverse RNA and protein regulators
Authors: Bou-Nader Charles , Gordon Jackson M. , Henderson Frances E. , Zhang Jinwei
Published: February 2019

The interferon-inducible protein kinase R (PKR) is a key component of host innate immunity that restricts viral replication and propagation. As one of the four eIF2α kinases that sense diverse stresses and direct the integrated stress response (ISR) crucial for cell survival and proliferation, PKR's versatile roles extend well beyond antiviral defense. Targeted by numerous host and viral regulators made of RNA and proteins, PKR is subject to multiple layers of endogenous control and external manipulation, driving its rapid evolution. These versatile regulators include not only the canonical double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) that activates the kinase activity of PKR, but also highly structured viral, host, and artificial RNAs that exert a full spectrum of effects. In this review, we discuss our deepening understanding of the allosteric mechanism that connects the regulatory and effector domains of PKR, with an emphasis on diverse structured RNA regulators in comparison to their protein counterparts. Through this analysis, we conclude that much of the mechanistic details that underlie this RNA-regulated kinase await structural and functional elucidation, upon which we can then describe a “PKR code,” a set of structural and chemical features of RNA that are both descriptive and predictive for their effects on PKR.
Diagonal Sums of Doubly Substochastic Matrices
Authors: Cao Lei , Chen Zhi , Duan Xuefeng , Koyuncu Selcuk , Li Huilan
Published: February 2019

Let $\Omega_n$ denote the convex polytope of all $n\times n$ doubly stochastic matrices, and $\omega_{n}$ denote the convex polytope of all $n\times n$ doubly substochastic matrices. For a matrix $A\in\omega_n$, define the sub-defect of $A$ to be the smallest integer $k$ such that there exists an $(n+k)\times(n+k)$ doubly stochastic matrix containing $A$ as a submatrix. Let $\omega_{n,k}$ denote the subset of $\omega_n$ which contains all doubly substochastic matrices with sub-defect $k$. For $\pi$ a permutation of symmetric group of degree $n$, the sequence of elements $a_{1\pi(1)},a_{2\pi(2)}, \ldots, a_{n\pi(n)}$ is called the diagonal of $A$ corresponding to $\pi$. Let $h(A)$ and $l(A)$ denote the maximum and minimum diagonal sums of $A\in \omega_{n,k}$, respectively. In this paper, existing results of $h$ and $l$ functions are extended from $\Omega_n$ to $\omega_{n,k}.$ In addition, an analogue of Sylvesters law of the $h$ function on $\omega_{n,k}$ is proved.
Energy advice for Traveller Communities in the context of ethnic and spatial premiums: ‘paying the price’ for other people's choices
Authors: Forster Natalie , Hodgson Philip , Bailey Cathy
Published: February 2019

Despite indications that Traveller Communities face particular vulnerabilities to fuel poverty, research on Travellers’ experiences of energy provision, consumption and advice is scant. We report on a qualitative case study evaluation of face-to-face energy advice for Traveller Communities in the north of England. The service was instrumental in building trust, facilitating access to entitlements, and increasing control over energy bills. However, the impact of the service was limited by structural and spatial constraints surrounding energy provision on the Traveller site that resulted in disproportionate fuel costs for residents.
Stimulation of non-specific immunity, gene expression, and disease resistance in Nile Tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758), by the methanolic extract of the marine macroalga, Caulerpa scalpelliformis
Authors: Yengkhom Omita , Shalini Konda Subramanian , Subramani P. A. , Michael R. Dinakaran
Published: February 2019

Aim: The objective of the present study was to test the immunostimulating potential of marine macroalga, Caulerpa scalpelliformis, in terms of non-specific immune responses, gene expression, and disease resistance of Nile tilapia, Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1758).

Materials and Methods: O. niloticus was injected intraperitoneally with three different doses of methanol extract of C. scalpelliformis (CSME) (2 mg/kg, 20 mg/kg, or 200 mg/kg body weight), or MacroGardTM (commercial immunostimulant, positive control, and 20 mg/kg body weight), or distilled water (untreated control). In one set of fish, 5 days post-injection, serum lysozyme, myeloperoxidase, and antiprotease activities were assayed. 24 h after injection, gene expression was analyzed in a separate set of fish. To another set of fish, 1 week post-administration of the products, fish were challenged with lethal dose 50 (LD50) dose of a live virulent pathogen, Aeromonas hydrophila and subsequent resistance to it was noted in terms of cumulative percent mortality.

Results: CSME increased serum lysozyme, myeloperoxidase, and antiprotease activities. There was an increase in the expression of lysozyme gene in the spleen of treated fish. Mid dose of CSME caused the minimum mortality of 10% (consequent relative percentage survival = 73) which is comparable to that of the positive control.

Conclusion: CSME is considered to have the potential to be developed into an immunostimulant for finfish aquaculture.
Dynamics of Individual Income Rank Volatility: Evidence from West Germany and the US
Authors: Chauvel Louis , Hartung Anne , Palmisano Flaviana
Published: February 2019

This paper presents a methodology for comparing income rank volatility profiles over time and across distributions. While most of the existing measures are affected by changes in marginal distributions, this paper proposes a framework based on individuals’ relative positions in the distribution that is neutral to structural changes that occur in that distribution. Applying this approach to West Germany and the US over three decades, we show that while poorer individuals in both countries are the most volatile in all periods investigated, the long-term trends of volatility at the different points of the distribution in each of these countries differ.
An empirical study on the New Keynesian wage Phillips curve: Japan and the US
Authors: Muto Ichiro , Shintani Kohei
Published: February 2019

We compare aggregate wage dynamics in Japan and the US from 1970 to 2013 from the perspective of the New Keynesian wage Phillips curve (NKWPC), derived by [Galí, Jordi. 2011a. “The Return of the Wage Phillips Curve.” Journal of the European Economic Association 9 (3): 436–461.]. We consider time variations in NKWPC’s parameters and make comparisons with micro-based evidence. Our main findings are three-fold. First, although Japan’s NKWPC has flattened over time, the slope of the NKWPC is much steeper in Japan than in the US. This suggests that nominal wage changes are less frequent in the US than in Japan. Second, inflation indexation, more prevalent in Japan in earlier periods, has recently become more important in the US although its role has declined over time in both countries. Third, our macro-level empirical results on the NKWPC are generally in line with micro-based evidence in each country, which suggests that the NKWPC provides a reasonable platform for modeling aggregate wage dynamics.