bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparative study of the experience of caregiving in bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia
Authors: Grover Sandeep , Chakrabarti Subho , Aggarwal Munish , Avasthi Ajit , Kulhara Parmanand , Sharma Sunil , Khehra Nitasha
Published: August 2011

Background:

Bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia are disabling illnesses and place a considerable degree of burden on the caregivers. Many studies from India have measured the burden of care in schizophrenia and some studies have measured the burden experienced by the caregivers of bipolar affective disorder. Few studies have compared this variable in these disorders. Experience of caregiving is a broader concept that takes into consideration both the negative and positive appraisal of the caregiving. However, no study from India has compared the experience of caregiving in bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia.

Aim of the study:

To study the experience of caregiving in a group of caregivers of bipolar patients and compare the same with caregivers of patients with schizophrenia.

Method:

Seventy patients with a diagnosis of bipolar affective disorder and 70 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia were selected for the present study. Patients were assessed on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, the Young Mania Rating Scale and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale depending upon their diagnosis. They were also assessed on the Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scale. Caregivers of the patients were assessed on the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Experience of Caregiving Inventory (ECI).

Results:

The maximum ECI score was seen in the domain of handling ‘difficult behaviour’ in both the groups. Compared to caregivers of patients with bipolar affective disorder, caregivers of patients with schizophrenia had overall more positive and negative appraisal of caregiving experience while caring for their ill relatives. The difference reached significant levels for all domains but for the domains of ‘effects on family’, ‘need for back-up’ and ‘good aspect of relationship’. There were significant differences too for the total positive personal experience sub-score. There was a significant positive correlation between the negative and positive caregiving experience score for both schizophrenia and bipolar groups.

Conclusion:

The caregivers of both bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia appraise the caregiving negatively, while at the same time appraising some positive aspects of it. Caregivers of schizophrenia patients appraise caregiving more negatively than those of bipolar affective disorder patients.
Intervention Fidelity in Special and General Education Research Journals
Authors: Swanson Elizabeth , Wanzek Jeanne , Haring Christa , Ciullo Stephen , McCulley Lisa
Published: August 2011

Treatment fidelity reporting practices are described for journals that published general and special education intervention research with high impact factors from 2005 through 2009. The authors reviewed research articles, reported the proportion of intervention studies that described fidelity measurement, detailed the components of fidelity measurement reported, and determined whether the components of fidelity reported differed based on the research design, the type of intervention, or the number of intervention sessions. Results indicate that even intervention research articles in high-quality general and special education journals inconsistently report fidelity (less than 70% of the articles). Authors of single-case studies most frequently reported the collection of intervention fidelity data (81.3% of articles, compared with 67.4% of treatment-comparison study articles). Of the 67% of articles that provided information about intervention fidelity procedure, only 9.8% provided data about the quality of the treatment intervention.
What Do We Mean by “Class Politics”?
Authors: Weakliem David L. , Adams Julia
Published: August 2011

During the past thirty years in the social sciences, there has been a wide-ranging discussion of “class politics” in capitalist modernity. Several distinct threads have developed, largely in isolation from each other. The authors suggest that the various accounts implicitly rely on different definitions of class politics and propose a way to classify them. The classification is based on two questions: first, whether changes in the strength of the left depend on the working class specifically or on cross-class dynamics and, second, whether emergent class differences in politics are largely spontaneous or constructed. The authors use this classification to assess the prospects for testing the empirical implications of different accounts and point to the more general insights potentially offered by each approach.
Detecting False Positives in Multielement Designs
Authors: Bartlett Sara M. , Rapp John T. , Henrickson Marissa L.
Published: August 2011

The authors assessed the extent to which multielement designs produced false positives using continuous duration recording (CDR) and interval recording with 10-s and 1-min interval sizes. Specifically, they created 6,000 graphs with multielement designs that varied in the number of data paths, and the number of data points per data path, using a random number generator. In Experiment 1, the authors visually analyzed the graphs for the occurrence of false positives. Results indicated that graphs depicting only two sessions for each condition (e.g., a control condition plotted with multiple test conditions) produced the highest percentage of false positives for CDR and interval recording with 10-s and 1-min intervals. Conversely, graphs with four or five sessions for each condition produced the lowest percentage of false positives for each method. In Experiment 2, they applied two new rules, which were intended to decrease false positives, to each graph that depicted a false positive in Experiment 1. Results showed that application of new rules decreased false positives to less than 5% for all of the graphs except for those with two data paths and two data points per data path. Implications for brief assessments are discussed.
Deceptive Language by Innocent and Guilty Criminal Suspects
Authors: Jensen Matthew L. , Bessarabova Elena , Adame Bradley , Burgoon Judee K. , Slowik Stanley M.
Published: August 2011

This study proposed that criminal guilt interacts with dominance and interview question to affect linguistic properties during criminal interviews. A field experiment tested effects of criminal guilt, dominance, and question on linguistic properties of suspects’ responses using a 2 (criminal guilt: guilty/innocent) × 4 (question: Q1/Q2/Q3/Q4) mixed-model design with dominance as a covariate and question as a repeated factor. Analysis of linguistic properties from 37 criminal interviews indicated a hypothesized two-way interaction among dominance and guilt on immediacy and a three-way interaction among dominance, question, and guilt on complexity explored as part of the research question. Several other direct effects for dominance and question were noted. Implications, limitations, and future research directions are discussed.
The Communication of Advice on an Online Message Board for Language Assistants in France
Authors: Ruble Racheal A.
Published: August 2011

The primary goal of this study was to better understand the avenues for intercultural adaptation available to individuals living abroad. To accomplish this goal, the communication of social support on an online message board for English-speaking individuals working as language assistants in French schools on short-term contracts was examined. This study develops a deeper understanding of the structure and features of online discourse, specifically those messages considered to be “advice giving.” The present study provides a closer look to an often overlooked source of support for individuals adapting to a foreign culture and provides us with a deeper understanding of how people communicate advice to one another in an online context.
Parents’ Perceptions of Their Involvement in Their Child’s Sport Activity
Authors: Hurtel Virginie , Lacassagne Marie-Françoise
Published: August 2011

The aim of this study was twofold: (a) to examine how parents perceive their involvement in their child’s sport activity and (b) to compare these perceptions according to the stage of the child’s sport participation. Using a qualitative design, 36 French parents of young tennis players were interviewed with a semistructured format. Transcriptions were analyzed by means of the propositional analysis of discourse, which permits, through the use of linguistic indicators, taking into account semantic and syntactic features. Results indicated that parents of noncompetitive tennis players talked negatively about their own (tangible) involvement and perceived tennis as a leisure-time activity, whereas parents of competitive players considered that both mother and father supported their child (through use of “we” pronouns used in discourses) in this activity.
Measuring Academic Readiness for College
Authors: Porter Andrew C. , Polikoff Morgan S.
Published: August 2011

Recent years have seen increased attention to the high school–college transition. Students are enrolling in college in record numbers, yet they are also taking increasing numbers of remedial courses. How to measure and report on academic readiness for college is an important policy issue receiving attention from the National Assessment Governing Board, Achieve, and several states. The focus of this article is how to create a measure of academic readiness for college, either by building and validating a new assessment or validating and repurposing an existing assessment. After first describing the disjuncture between high school and college and discussing definitions and indicators of academic readiness, the authors identify four strategies that might be used to create a readiness assessment. The pros and cons of each strategy are discussed.
Where Politics Is a Blood Sport
Authors: Tandberg David A. , Anderson Christian K.
Published: August 2011

The 1991 restructuring of Massachusetts system of higher education is explained and analyzed using McLendon’s “Policy Stream Model of Decentralization Agenda Setting,” a revised Garbage Can model, which proves useful insofar as the case is placed in its historical context. Public higher education in Massachusetts has suffered as a “second class” citizen next to its prominent private counterparts and is often subject to the whims of politicians. The 1991 restructuring can be explained by public higher education’s historical relationship with Massachusetts’ state government and the political environment of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The 1991 restructuring is an intrinsically interesting historical case of governance reform given its political nature, the scope of the reform, and the possible lessons that can be gleaned from it that may inform our understanding of agenda setting for higher education governance reform and governance reform in general.
The Ineffectiveness of High School Graduation Credit Requirement Reforms
Authors: Carlson Deven , Planty Michael
Published: August 2011

Graduation credit requirement reforms were expected to have a significant impact on the American educational landscape, but scholars have concluded that these reforms have exhibited less impact than expected on a wide range of educational outcomes. Drawing on Lipsky’s theory of street-level bureaucracy, we hypothesize that graduation requirement reforms have been relatively ineffective because of inconsistent implementation and enforcement at the local level. Using data from the National Education Longitudinal Study of 1988 (NELS:88) and the Education Longitudinal Study of 2002 (ELS:2002), we assess the viability of this hypothesized explanation. On the whole, the findings are consistent with our contention that inconsistent implementation and enforcement of graduation credit requirement policies contributes to the relative ineffectiveness of these policy reforms.
The ‘good-enough society’, the ‘good-enough citizen’ and the ‘good-enough student’: Where is children’s participation agenda moving to in Brazil?
Authors: de Castro Lucia Rabello
Published: August 2011

This article discusses how the new paradigm of children’s participation rights and competence has maintained unchallenged the subjectivity considered apt to be included as an opinion giver in the polity. ‘Developmentalism’ continues to feed as a theoretical input and a practical regulation of adult–children relationships. The article, based on an empirical investigation with Brazilian children, discusses how participation views of students and school staff, premised on the ‘good-enough student’, commit participation to an unchallenged school hierarchy and non-reciprocal adult-child relationships. This single standpoint from where one envisages the educational process leads to a de-politicization of school life. Consequently, the effective inclusion of children in society, constituting an important political challenge of our time, must be faced so that children’s participation can become more real and less rhetorical.
Roots, origins and backgrounds: An analysis of their meanings in the creation of adoptive families in Sweden
Authors: Lind Judith
Published: August 2011

In international conventions as well as in the national discourses of many countries, children who do not grow up with their biogenetic parents have the right to receive information about their origin. The meaning of origin in intercountry adoption, however, is not necessarily the same as in artificial donor insemination (AID). Through an analysis of the material published by the Swedish Intercountry Adoption Authority from 1972 to 2004 and by discussing the often-drawn analogy between adoption and AID, the present article aims to investigate the varying meanings that have been ascribed to origin and the arguments that have been used in support of its importance.
Gender-Bias Primes Elicit Queen-Bee Responses Among Senior Policewomen
Authors: Derks Belle , Van Laar Colette , Ellemers Naomi , de Groot Kim
Published: August 2011

Queen bees are senior women in male-dominated organizations who have achieved success by emphasizing how they differ from other women. Although the behavior of queen bees tends to be seen as contributing to gender disparities in career outcomes, we argue that queen-bee behavior is actually a result of the gender bias and social identity threat that produce gender disparities in career outcomes. In the experiment reported here, we asked separate groups of senior policewomen to recall the presence or absence of gender bias during their careers, and we measured queen-bee responses (i.e., masculine self-descriptions, in-group distancing, and denying of discrimination). Such gender-bias priming increased queen-bee responses among policewomen with low gender identification, but policewomen with high gender identification responded with increased motivation to improve opportunities for other women. These results suggest that gender-biased work environments shape women’s behavior by stimulating women with low gender identification to dissociate with other women and to display queen-bee responses as a way to achieve individual mobility.
Comparison of linear and non-linear controllers for active steering of vehicles in evasive manoeuvres
Authors: Soudbakhsh D , Eskandarian A
Published: August 2011

This paper presents different control approaches to perform an evasive collision avoidance manoeuvre using active steering. Linear and non-linear controllers to control the combined lateral and longitudinal motion of the vehicle using predefined trajectories are compared. A proportional–derivative controller, a linear quadratic regulator (LQR), and two different sliding-mode controllers (SMC) were developed. The second SMC model includes an additional velocity error term, which augments the model with a steering actuator term. The controllers were implemented on a bicycle model and a 17 degrees-of-freedom (DOF) vehicle model. The results showed that all controllers perform similarly in controlling the trajectory of the bicycle model. However, in implementation on the non-linear full vehicle dynamics model, the LQR and SMCs provided similar position tracking, but the two SMCs performed better in minimizing the yaw (directional) error at the end of the trajectory. However, at a higher velocity, SMC2 resulted in a more stable manoeuvre than SMC1.
A likelihood-based two-part marginal model for longitudinal semicontinuous data
Authors: Su Li , Tom Brian DM , Farewell Vernon T
Published: August 2011

Two-part models are an attractive approach for analysing longitudinal semicontinuous data consisting of a mixture of true zeros and continuously distributed positive values. When the population-averaged (marginal) covariate effects are of interest, two-part models that provide straightforward interpretation of the marginal effects are desirable. Presently, the only available approaches for fitting two-part marginal models to longitudinal semicontinuous data are computationally difficult to implement. Therefore, there exists a need to develop two-part marginal models that can be easily implemented in practice. We propose a fully likelihood-based two-part marginal model that satisfies this need by using the bridge distribution for the random effect in the binary part of an underlying two-part mixed model; and its maximum likelihood estimation can be routinely implemented via standard statistical software such as the SAS NLMIXED procedure. We illustrate the usage of this new model by investigating the marginal effects of pre-specified genetic markers on physical functioning, as measured by the Health Assessment Questionnaire, in a cohort of psoriatic arthritis patients from the University of Toronto Psoriatic Arthritis Clinic. An added benefit of our proposed marginal model when compared to a two-part mixed model is the robustness in regression parameter estimation when departure from the true random effects structure occurs. This is demonstrated through simulation.
Bayesian hierarchical Poisson models with a hidden Markov structure for the detection of influenza epidemic outbreaks
Authors: Conesa D , Martínez-Beneito MA , Amorós R , López-Quílez A
Published: August 2011

Considerable effort has been devoted to the development of statistical algorithms for the automated monitoring of influenza surveillance data. In this article, we introduce a framework of models for the early detection of the onset of an influenza epidemic which is applicable to different kinds of surveillance data. In particular, the process of the observed cases is modelled via a Bayesian Hierarchical Poisson model in which the intensity parameter is a function of the incidence rate. The key point is to consider this incidence rate as a normal distribution in which both parameters (mean and variance) are modelled differently, depending on whether the system is in an epidemic or non-epidemic phase. To do so, we propose a hidden Markov model in which the transition between both phases is modelled as a function of the epidemic state of the previous week. Different options for modelling the rates are described, including the option of modelling the mean at each phase as autoregressive processes of order 0, 1 or 2. Bayesian inference is carried out to provide the probability of being in an epidemic state at any given moment. The methodology is applied to various influenza data sets. The results indicate that our methods outperform previous approaches in terms of sensitivity, specificity and timeliness.
Exploring Challenges to Telehealth Communication by Specialists in Poison Information
Authors: Rothwell Erin , Ellington Lee , Planalp Sally , Crouch Barbara
Published: August 2011

The use of the telephone for providing health care is growing. A significant amount of social meaning is derived from visual information, and the absence of visual stimuli provides unique barriers to communication and increases the risks for misunderstandings and distractions. Understanding challenges to telephone communication can provide insight into training opportunities for overcoming these difficulties and improving patient care. The purpose of this research was to explore through focus groups the challenges of phone communication perceived by specialists in poison information. General types of challenges to effective phone communication included developing new communication skills to compensate for lack of visual information, difficulty assessing caller understanding, difficulty managing caller misunderstandings, maintaining distinctive assessments for routine calls, and managing the multifaceted aspects of job stress. The desire for training to enhance telehealth and cultural competency skills was also mentioned, and these findings might provide guidance for the development of training opportunities for telehealth professionals.
Staying Safe From Hepatitis C
Authors: Harris Magdalena , Treloar Carla , Maher Lisa
Published: August 2011

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a significant global public health problem. In developed countries, 90% of new infections occur among people who inject drugs (PWID), with seroprevalence increasing rapidly among new injectors. Staying Safe is an international, qualitative, social research project, the aim of which is to draw on the experiences of long-term PWID to inform a new generation of HCV prevention strategies. The Sydney project team employed life history interviews and computer-generated timelines to elicit detailed data about unexposed participants’ ( n =13) injecting practices, circumstances, and social networks over time. The motivations and strategies that enabled participants to avoid risk situations, and which might have helped them to “stay safe,” appeared not to be directly related to harm-reduction messages or HCV avoidance. These included the ability and inclination to maintain social and structural resources, to mainly inject alone, to manage withdrawal, and to avoid injecting-related scars. These findings point to the multiple priorities that facilitate viral avoidance among PWID and the potential efficacy of nonspecific HCV harm-reduction interventions for HCV prevention.
Nerve Sheath Tumor With Degenerative Atypia and Multivacuolated Lipoblasts
Authors: Fedda Faysal A. , Tawil Ayman N. , Boulos Fouad I.
Published: August 2011

Lipoblastic nerve sheath tumor is a recently described benign soft tissue tumor consisting of lipoblasts in a neural/schwannian background. The 6 reported cases have exclusively comprised signet ring lipoblasts and showed no cellular atypia. The authors describe the first lipoblastic nerve sheath tumor to harbor multivacuolated lipoblasts and degenerative atypia, underscoring its important differential diagnosis with well-differentiated liposarcoma. The purpose of this report is to expand the morphologic spectrum of this unusual neoplasm, and reemphasize the potential of benign nonadipocytic tumors to harbor multivacuolated lipoblasts and mimic liposarcoma.
Plastering the Head with Crushed Snails to Treat Pediatric Hydrocephalus
Authors: Missori Paolo , Currà Antonio
Published: August 2011

In the Middle Ages, medical therapy for pediatric hydrocephalus was characterized by the application of drying substances to decrease the size of the heads of affected children. A poultice of crushed snails applied to the head was considered to be one of the most powerful therapies for reducing swelling caused by excessive humors. Incunabula (texts printed in Europe before 1501 CE) and Renaissance texts document the extended use of this therapy, which was considered by physicians to be effective and less dangerous than surgical treatment.
Upregulation of Inflammatory Mediators in End-Stage Renal Disease as Measured Using Biochip Array Technology
Authors: Davis Rachael , Bansal Vinod , Litinas Evangelos , Hoppensteadt Debra , Thethi Indermohan , Nelson Kelly , Fareed Jawed
Published: August 2011

Systemic vascular changes contribute to both the pathogenesis and thrombotic comorbidities of end-stage renal disease (ESRD). This study aims to profile various biomarkers and better understand their role in the pathogenesis of ESRD. Plasma samples from 49 patients with ESRD and 56 control individuals were analyzed for markers for inflammation, specifically C-reactive protein (CRP), tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL); thrombomodulin (TM); neuron-specific enolase (NSE), and thrombosis-D-dimer (DD). Compared to controls, all markers studied showed a statistically significant upregulation in patients with ESRD. These results indicate a polypathologic process in patients with ESRD, leading to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. However, the clinical significance of previously untested markers, such as TNFR1, NGAL, and NSE, still needs to be further explored. This study further validates the role of endothelial damage and endogenous thrombotic processes in ESRD as evidenced by the increased levels of TM and DD.
A Randomized Trial of Aprotinin-Free Fibrin Sealant Versus Absorbable Hemostat
Authors: Fischer Craig P. , Wood Christopher G. , Shen Jessica , Batiller Jonathan , Hart James C. , Patel Bababhai , Albala David M.
Published: August 2011

Background: This study evaluated the safety and hemostatic effectiveness of a tranexamic acid- and aprotinin-free fibrin sealant versus an absorbable hemostat in soft tissue during elective retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal surgery. Materials and Methods: This randomized, active-controlled, multicenter study enrolled patients who were undergoing elective retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal surgery and required adjunctive hemostatic measures at the target bleeding site (TBS). Patients were randomized (time = 0 minutes) to receive fibrin sealant or absorbable hemostat. The primary endpoint was the absence of bleeding at the TBS at 10 minutes. Secondary endpoints included the absence of bleeding at 4 and 7 minutes and the incidence of treatment failure (bleeding at 10 minutes or brisk bleeding requiring additional hemostatic measures), and the incidence of complications potentially related to bleeding. Adverse events were assessed. Results: Patients (N = 124) were randomized to receive fibrin sealant (n = 62) or absorbable hemostat (n = 62). A higher percentage of patients who received fibrin sealant versus absorbable hemostat achieved hemostasis within 10 minutes (95.2% vs 82.3%; 95% CI, 1.02-1.35) and also at 4 (74.2% vs 54.8%; 95% CI, 1.04-1.80) and 7 (90.3% vs 77.4%; 95% CI, 1.00-1.39) minutes. A lower incidence of treatment failure was observed for patients receiving fibrin sealant. Similar incidences of adverse events and complications potentially related to bleeding were observed. Conclusions: This tranexamic acid- and aprotinin-free fibrin sealant is safe and effective for achieving hemostasis in soft tissue during elective retroperitoneal or intra-abdominal surgery.
Characterization of In Vitro Hemostatic Peptide Effects by Thromboelastography
Authors: Peng Henry T. , Blostein Mark D. , Shek Pang N.
Published: August 2011

In this study, we validated a thromboelastography (TEG) method to evaluate the hemostatic effects of 3 peptides. The first peptide is an ideal amphipathic peptide composed of 22 leucine and lysine in a ratio of 2:1. At a very low concentration, the peptide had a procoagulant effect shown by decreases in reaction time (R) and coagulation time (K) but was impaired by a decrease in maximum amplitude (MA). At higher concentrations, the peptide had an anticoagulant effect. The α angle was minimally affected by the peptide. The second peptide is melittin derived from bee venom. Melittin showed procoagulant effects reflected by a decrease in clotting time but led to lower MA. The third peptide derived from fibrinogen γ chain promoted hemostasis only at an optimal concentration and became anticoagulant at a higher concentration. The hemostatic mechanisms of each peptide were discussed. Our study would facilitate further development of peptides for either hemorrhage control or thrombosis treatment.
Overt and Mild Subclinical Hypothyroidism Do Not Influence Mean Platelet Volume in Premenopausal Women Having Low Cardiac Risk
Authors: Torun Ayse Nur , Uzum Ayse Kubat , Aksoy Nurten
Published: August 2011

Mean platelet volume (MPV) was studied in subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) and the results are conflicting. The aim of this study is to assess how MPV is affected in overt hypothyroidism (OH) and mild SH, the 2 end points of hypothyroidism, in patients having low cardiac risk. Premenopausal women without any cardiac risk, 18 with OH, 30 with mild SH, and 37 euthyroid controls were enrolled. Overt hypothyroidism group had higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol levels than the control group ( P < .001 and P < .05, respectively). Increase in MPV was insignificant in OH group when compared with SH and control groups. No correlation was observed between MPV and metabolic and hormonal parameters. Both OH and SH did not influence MPV and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) in patients with low cardiovascular risk, but these findings need to be further evaluated in this patient group.
Rare and Unusual Bleeding Manifestations in Congenital Bleeding Disorders
Authors: Girolami Antonio , Vettore Silvia , Ruzzon Elisabetta , Marinis Giulia Berti de , Fabris Fabrizio
Published: August 2011

Epistaxis, superficial and deep hematomas, hemarthrosis, gastrointestinal bleeding, hematuria represent the most frequent hemorrhagic events in congenital coagulation disorders. Occasionally, bleeding manifestations occur in unusual sites or are peculiar. A clotting defect may alter the clinical aspect of skin conditions or infections (hemorrhagic scabies or varicella). Hemobilia may occur as a complication of transjugular liver biopsy in hemophilia or Bernard-Soulier syndrome. Hemarthrosis of small joints of feet and hands occur in patients with hemophilia treated with protease inhibitors. Intramedullary hematomas of long bones have been described in α2-plasmin inhibitor or fibrinogen deficiencies. Spleen fracture with consequent hemoperitoneum has been reported in patients with fibrinogen deficiency. Rectus muscle sheath hematoma may occur in patients with factor VII (FVII)or FX deficiency. Acute or subacute intestinal obstruction may be caused by intramural wall hematomas in hemophilia and von Willebrand (vW)-disease. Physicians should always keep in mind that a congenital hemorrhagic disorder may cause bleeding in any tissue of the body and therefore alter the normal clinical features of a given disease.
Recurrent Life-Threatening Deep Tissue Hematomas After Switching to Generic Enoxaparin: A Report and Perspective on the Approval Process for Biological Compounds
Authors: Kaffenberger Benjamin H. , Bekaii-Saab Tanios
Published: August 2011

In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed makers of biologic therapies to use the abbreviated new drug application, which does not require safety and efficacy studies. Instead this relies on proving equivalency with the original compound and demonstrating in vitro activity and similar pharmacodynamics. In the United States, a low-molecular-weight heparin, enoxaparin, was recently approved in a generic format through the abbreviated new drug application. We present a patient treated with branded enoxaparin for 4 years with no complications. After the switch to the generic enoxaparin, the patient developed 2 life-threatening hemorrhages within 4 months of the initiation of the compound. This case suggests that the FDA should follow the European Medicine Administration (EMA) guidance by tightening its approval process for generic bioequivalents and requiring studies demonstrating similar safety and efficacy as the parent compound, prior to approval of a generic biologically active compound.
Hospital Budget Implications of Substituting Dabigatran for Warfarin in an Anticoagulation Service
Authors: Atay Julie K. , Fiumara Karen , Piazza Gregory , Fanikos John , Goldhaber Samuel Z.
Published: August 2011

The aim of our study was to assess hospital budget implications of substituting dabigatran for warfarin in patients enrolled in a large anticoagulation service. The study population was identified using criteria from randomized controlled trials of dabigatran. We obtained labor costs ($483 per patient) from the hospital’s anticoagulation service budget, laboratory costs of international normalized ratio (INR) tests ($267 per patient), and wholesale costs of warfarin 5 mg tablets ($31 per patient) and dabigatran 150 mg capsules ($2464 per patient). A total of 1774 (93.5%) of 1898 patients were eligible to substitute dabigatran for warfarin. The annual projected hospital expense for anticoagulation with dabigatran was $4 371 136, attributable to drug cost alone. The annual projected cost of warfarin management was $1 385 494. This was comprised of $856 842 for labor, $473 658 for INR testing, and $54 994 for the drug cost of warfarin. Substitution will result in increased expense due to drug cost.
Assessment of Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW) in Patients With Coronary Artery Ectasia
Authors: Dogdu Orhan , Koc Fatih , Kalay Nihat , Yarlioglues Mikail , Elcik Deniz , Karayakali Metin , Ozbek Kerem , Kaya Mehmet Gungor
Published: August 2011

Objectives: Coronary artery ectasia (CAE) is characterized by an abnormal dilatation of the coronary arteries. Red cell distribution width (RDW) is a measure of heterogeneity in the size of red blood cell. In this study, we aimed to investigate RDW levels in patients with CAE. Methods: The study population included 54 patients with CAE (28 males; mean age, 59 ± 12) and 40 individuals comprising the control group who had normal coronary arteries (17 males; mean age, 56 ± 10). Admission RDW was measured as part of the automated complete blood count. Results: The RDW was significantly higher in the CAE group than the control ( P < .001). Also, high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) levels in patients with CAE were significantly higher as compared with controls ( P < .001). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that RDW and hs-CRP were higher in the CAE group compared with the control group. These results show that RDW is a reliable, simple, and inexpensive marker for patients with CAE.
The Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA)
Authors: Witt Jennifer L. , Edleson Jeffrey L.
Published: August 2011

The Minnesota Center Against Violence and Abuse (MINCAVA) was established in 1994 through an appropriation of the Minnesota Legislature. Located at the University of Minnesota, MINCAVA conducts original research, develops extensive collections of translational materials, provides higher education training on family violence prevention, and disseminates information globally. Over a dozen professional and student staff work on projects funded by federal, state, and private sources and collaborate closely with national and global advisory boards and partner agencies as well as local community-based and national advocacy organizations. The Center operates multiple project-specific and general websites that receive millions of unique visits each year from dozens of countries.
The University of Kentucky Center for Research on Violence Against Women
Authors: Jordan Carol E.
Published: August 2011

Research in the violence against women area has been undertaken for more than 30 years, but individual researchers who have made these scholarly contributions have not been advantaged by adequate attention, funding, or organizational structure within the university setting. This article offers a detailed description of a model of an interdisciplinary research center designed to provide an academic architecture within which research on intimate partner violence, sexual assault, stalking, and other forms of violence against women can flourish and advance. The article describes the impetus for creation of the University of Kentucky Center for Research on Violence Against Women, its current mission, organizational structure, financial operations, and initiatives related to research, education, and public service. Practical strategies for establishing and sustaining a center of this type are offered.
Which U.S. Cities Adopt Living Wage Ordinances? Predictors of Adoption of a New Labor Tactic, 1994-2006
Authors: Swarts Heidi , Vasi Ion Bogdan
Published: August 2011

This article investigates predictors of living wage ordinance adoption in U.S. cities. The authors build on previous research by including all cities with more than 25,000 people (1,072 cities), adding new variables to measure favorable political context, use of event history analysis (Cox regression) to analyze temporal effects in diffusion, and distinguishing between predictors of early and late adoption. General political context, city size, and municipal expenditures were significant predictors, while grievances, presence of a local ACORN chapter, union density, and form of city government were not significant. Density of nonlabor progressive associations and history of progressive activism were major predictors of policy adoption.
A Critical Review of Audiological Outcome Measures for Infants and Children
Authors: Bagatto Marlene P. , Moodie Sheila T. , Seewald Richard C. , Bartlett Doreen J. , Scollie Susan D.
Published: August 2011

Outcome evaluation is an important stage in the pediatric hearing aid fitting process, however a systematic way of evaluating outcome in the pediatric audiology population is lacking. This is in part due to the need for an evidence-based outcome evaluation guideline for infants and children with hearing loss who wear hearing aids. As part of the development of a guideline, a critical review of the existing pediatric audiology outcome evaluation tools was conducted. Subjective outcome evaluation tools that measure auditory-related behaviors in children from birth to 6 years of age were critically appraised using a published grading system (Andresen, 2000). Of the tools that exist, 12 were appraised because they met initial criteria outlined by the Network of Pediatric Audiologists of Canada as being appropriate for children birth to 6 years of age who wear hearing aids. Tools that were considered for the guideline scored high in both statistical and feasibility criteria. The subjective outcome evaluation tools that were ultimately chosen to be included in the guideline were the LittlEARS Auditory Questionnaire (Tsiakpini et al., 2004) and the Parents’ Evaluation of Aural/Oral Performance of Children (PEACH) Rating Scale (Ching & Hill, 2005b) due to the high grades they received in the critical review and their target age ranges. Following this critical review of pediatric outcome evaluation tools, the next step was for the Network Clinicians to evaluate the guideline (Moodie et al., 2011b).
Incidental vocabulary acquisition: The effects of task type, word occurrence and their combination
Authors: Laufer Batia , Rozovski-Roitblat Bella
Published: August 2011

We investigated how long-term retention of new words was affected by task type, number of word occurrences in the teaching materials and the combination of the two factors. The tasks were: reading a text with occasional Focus on Form when learners used dictionaries (T+F), or reading a text with Focus on Forms, i.e. word focused exercises (T+Fs). The words occurred 2—3, 4—5, and 6—7 times. Consequently, there were six conditions that reflected the 2 × 3 ‘task × occurrence’ combinations. Learners were exposed to 60 target words, 10 words in each condition during a 13-week course of study, and were subsequently tested on them by two unannounced tests: passive recall and passive recognition. An increase in word occurrence was found to have an effect on retention in T+Fs only. Starting with 4 occurrences, T+Fs fared better than T+F. Task type effect was superior to the effect of word occurrence in recall only (2 word exercises fared better than 6—7 occurrences in text). The value of word-focused practice was also confirmed by learners’ responses to an introspective questionnaire.
Second language idiom learning: The effects of lexical knowledge and pedagogical sequencing
Authors: Zyzik Eve
Published: August 2011

This article examines the acquisition of Spanish idioms in a classroom setting that was supplemented with explicit instruction over a 10-week period. The research design manipulated two variables: prior lexical knowledge and idiom organization. Sixty-five second language (L2) learners completed pre- and posttests that measured their ability to recognize and produce the target idioms, as well as a vocabulary test to control for lexical knowledge. Participants in the experimental groups received contextualized idiom presentation that encouraged noticing, retrieving, and generating (Nation, 2001). The results indicate significant treatment effects, although no significant advantage was found for the thematic grouping of idioms. The results also show a significant effect for prior lexical knowledge on one of the dependent variables. These findings are discussed in relation to prior studies of idiom learning from a cognitive linguistics perspective (Boers et al., 2007) as well as psycholinguistic studies that emphasize the salience of literal meanings (Cieślicka, 2006).
Using conversation analysis in the second language classroom to teach interactional competence
Authors: Barraja-Rohan Anne-Marie
Published: August 2011

This article focuses on the use of conversation analysis (CA) to help teaching interactional competence in English to adult second language learners from lower to intermediate levels. To set the context, this article gives a brief overview on the use of CA in second language research as well as considering the construct of interactional competence in second language teaching. Based on classroom research, the article demonstrates how CA applied in the second language classroom was effective initially in raising students’ awareness of both the mechanisms and norms of spoken interaction, and also eventually in helping them to become analysts of conversation and more effective conversationalists. To better understand what CA concepts needed to be taught a conversation analysis of the students’ undirected conversations was undertaken revealing interactional problems not noticed through traditional methods of investigation. It is therefore suggested that a CA-informed pedagogical approach can help to teach interactional competence or competencies, by using materials designed for that purpose.
‘We teach plastic lessons to please them’: The influence of supervision on the practice of English language student teachers in Kenya
Authors: Ochieng' Ong'ondo Charles , Borg Simon
Published: August 2011

This article analyses the process of supervision by teacher educators and its influence on English language student teachers during a practicum in Kenya. The student teachers were enrolled in a four-year Bachelor of Education course for teaching English at secondary school level. Drawing on the perspectives of teacher educators, co-operating teachers and student teachers, this analysis suggests that supervision was brief and un-coordinated and that the feedback student teachers received was mainly evaluative, directive and focused on general, rather than subject-specific pedagogy. Student teachers’ concerns during the practicum were related largely to pleasing their supervisors and obtaining a pass mark, and this limited the extent to which student teachers developed the pedagogical reasoning that is considered to be the main goal of teaching practice by both the Kenya government and current literature in the field of language teacher education (LTE). This study has implications for the conduct of teaching practice on pre-service language teacher education courses in Kenya and more generally.
The relationship between acculturation factors and symptoms of depression: A cross-sectional study with immigrants living in Athens
Authors: Gonidakis Fragiskos , Korakakis Panagiotis , Ploumpidis Dimitris , Karapavlou Dafni-Alexandra , Rogakou Efi , Madianos Michael G.
Published: August 2011

The process of acculturation observed in immigrants is part of an adjustment to the values and norms of a new society, and possibly the loss of norms of the society of origin. Acculturation has been linked to stress-related psychological disorders such as depression. The present study investigates the relationship between three acculturation domains (everyday life behaviors, wishful orientation/ nostos, and ethnic identity) and symptoms of depression in a sample of foreign immigrants living in Athens, Greece. The sample consisted of 317 immigrants who visited two non-governmental organization polyclinics. All participants were interviewed using the Immigrant Acculturation Scale (IAS) and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). The results showed that 133 (42%) out of the 317 interviewees were in a depressive state (CES-D > 15). The main finding was that high CES-D scores were related to low scores in the IAS Everyday Life and Wishful Orientation factors, while no relationship was found between depressive symptomatology and the IAS Identity factor. Short duration of stay in Greece, lack of steady job, and lack of residence permit were also related to high CES-D scores. In conclusion, adaptation to mainstream culture daily behaviors as well as the wish to integrate with individuals from the mainstream culture and settle permanently in the new country could be seen as part of an adaptive mechanism that protects the individual from experiencing depressive symptomatology.
Observer design of critical states for air path flow regulation in a variable geometry turbocharger exhaust gas recirculation diesel engine
Authors: Glenn B C , Upadhyay D , Utkin V I , Washington G N , Hopka M B
Published: August 2011

Modern automotive diesel engines rely on control strategies that must optimally manage the flows of fresh air and recirculated exhaust gas to achieve the best trade-off between torque demand and engine out emissions. An important aspect of the gas exchange regulation problem is the complex interaction between the variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) and the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve and their associated flows. Control strategies that seek to optimize these flows must either have direct flow measurements or have access to the state variables that provide information on these flows. Furthermore, while the precise control of high-pressure (HP) EGR flow is essential, minimizing its usage is desirable given the engine durability concerns related to the excessive use of HP EGR, such as EGR valve coking and sticking, plugged EGR cooler, cylinder deposits, and valve deposits, to name a few. Exhaust gas recirculation may be optimally used if information on the level of inertness or leanness (oxygen content) of the exhaust gases is available. This paper presents the systematic design of observers for state variables that facilitate the design of such an optimal gas exchange control policy, thereby eliminating the need for direct sensing of the state variables for which the observer designs are proposed.
Real-time multi-sensors measurement system with temperature effects compensation for impedance-based structural health monitoring
Authors: Baptista Fabricio G , Filho Jozue Vieira , Inman Daniel J
Published: August 2011

This article presents a simple and versatile measurement system for structural health monitoring (SHM) based on the electromechanical impedance (EMI) technique. The proposed system allows real-time data acquisition from multiple sensors and includes compensation for temperature effects, eliminating one cause of incorrect diagnoses in structural monitoring. Besides the low cost compared to conventional impedance analyzers, the hardware and the software are simple and easier to implement than other measurement systems that have been recently proposed. Tests were carried out on an aluminum beam under different temperatures and on an aluminum plate with nine PZT (lead zirconate titanate) patches. The experimental results show conclusively that the proposed methodology is efficient and feasible for real-time SHM.