bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attitudes toward Bribery
Authors: McGee Robert W.
Published: October 2014

This chapter summarizes the theoretical and empirical literature on attitudes toward bribery and then proceeds to examine the opinions of 1,483 Brazilians on the issue, using the data from the most recent World Values Survey. The study finds that although Brazilians are strongly opposed to bribe-taking in general their opposition is less than absolute in many cases. An examination of some demographic variables highlights some of these cases.
Ethics and Leadership
Authors: Hartman Nathan S. , Conklin Thomas A.
Published: October 2014

Leadership and ethics continue to be important areas of research. The devastating results of failed leadership in numerous Enron-like situations have ensured that this is the case. This chapter suggests how various leadership approaches and behaviors lead to or develop different types of employee behaviors that impact organizational outcomes. The framework reviews ethical, transformational, and servant leadership, and their relationship to self-regulatory focus. Specifically, promotion-oriented leaders tend to reflect transformational and servant-leadership behaviors and resulting organization cultures, while prevention-oriented leaders match the ethical leadership style and related organization culture. The prevention orientation is a conservative mindset guiding consistent leader and employee behavior, while the promotion orientation provides more opportunity for unique and innovative behaviors.
Examining the 21st Century Workforce Leaders' Perceptions of Ethical Leadership and Organizational Health
Authors: Petty Gregory C. , Chambers Jessica H.
Published: October 2014

This study examines the relationships between instructors' perceptions of their leaders' integrity as measured by the Perceived Leadership Integrity Scale (PLIS), and the instructional systems organizational health. The sample involved six hundred fifty (650) instructors who were surveyed online. Pearson product correlations revealed statistically significant relationships between Perceived Leader Integrity (PLI) and the composite score of the seven Organizational Health Inventory for Schools (OHI-S) dimensions. Multiple regression analysis showed the OH Index to have a strong independent effect with the factors of consideration, institutional integrity, and academic emphasis. These findings will broaden understanding of the relationship between leadership and ethics, an important link to effectively managing instructors utilizing today's technologies for classroom instruction.
Key Issues for Training the Leaders, Managers, and Planners who Join the Peacekeeping Operations and Working in Chaos Environment
Authors: Ateş Haydar
Published: October 2014

The importance of peacekeeping operations has been increasing for the last 65-70 years, especially after World War II (WWII). The main point for peacekeepers is to be ready to provent and/or solve the conflict in any part of the world. The UN, UN type peacekeeping organizations, and NGO's should be ready for these kinds of missions. The leaders, managers, and planners who join the peacemaking and peacekeeping operations must be educated and trained to be ready to work in chaos environment, ready for the mission and prepared to gain the confidence and support of the host nation. The first step is to analyze the region/country which has conflict. This chapter clarifies the important issues that must be taken care of in training peacekeeping leaders, managers, and planners. Peacekeeping leaders should have “peace-intelligence” to be effective while planning and conducting operation. This kind of leader may approach in proper way and can provide confidence of host nation and disputing parties to take the best result from the operation. One of the important parts of this issue is the lesson learned from other peacemaking and peacekeeping operations.
Fiji
Authors: Singh Hansdeep , Singh Jaspreet , Fields Marjory D.
Published: October 2014

Fiji is a very interesting case for studying the bridges between private and public spheres and social and cultural background. Despite its idyllic setting and concentration of resources, Fiji has one of the highest rates of violence against women, outside of conflict zones, in the world. The state, legal system, and society have simply failed to protect the women against different forms of violence and discrimination. The lack of parliamentary democratic process certainly has contributed to the deplorable situation. After analyzing the roots of the problem, the authors introduce comprehensive policy recommendations to help rectify the situation. The problems in Fiji are rather extreme, and there is a lot to learn for everyone about the weakness of state and institutions to perform some of their most fundamental functions.
Right to Governance and Right to Collective Bargaining
Authors: Fridrich Branislav , Mokrá Lucia
Published: October 2014

The chapter is devoted to constitutional and general legal enactment of the right to strike in the Slovak Republic. The main point comprises the existing international regulation of a right to collective governance and collective bargaining as well as the essential related freedom of association. The chapter provides a close analysis to the real accessibility of a particular right—the right to strike. The introduction provides a legal definition of the right to strike while it comes out from a normative regulation realised by the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and Law No. 2/1991 of the Coll. on Collective Bargaining. After that, the authors, in compliance with the Constitution of the Slovak Republic, exactly define limitations on the right to strike. Within the final sections, the chapter deals with constitutional guarantees of the right to strike within the regime of Art. 51 para. 1 of the Constitution of the Slovak Republic and positive obligation of the State in relation to right to strike under international conventions.
The Role of the Researcher in Making Serious Games for Health
Authors: Kato Pamela M.
Published: October 2014

There has been increasing focus on serious games for health; however, there is very little evidence for the effectiveness of these games and the existing research often lacks scientific rigor. The aim of this chapter is to demystify the process of collaborating with researchers and outline how a researcher can contribute to making more effective games and start the process of evaluating it scientifically. Researchers should be engaged BEFORE serious games for health are developed in order to place serious games for health in the best position to have a measurable impact on health outcomes. The chapter covers issues of working with researchers to agree on problems to address, applying behavioral and learning theories to solve them, and finding optimal research designs to validate the serious game. Issues of safety and ethics in health research are also given considerable attention.
Human Rights and Technology
Authors: Dueck Judith , Rempel Michael
Published: October 2014

This chapter examines eleven technology issues faced by human rights organizations. These issues are critical if they are to use technology effectively. Although solutions are not proposed, the chapter highlights topics that increasingly require research and concrete solutions in order for human rights organizations to integrate technology tools into their work. The key issues addressed are: rapid technology changes; national security, personal information, and human rights; web security; data relationships; controlled vocabulary (a common language); Semantic Web and human interactivity; search - finding the information; assumptions and ease of use; trust; open source; and social media. These issues, chosen from the human rights and technology backgrounds of the authors, provide a frontier to human rights work that may seem daunting to the newly initiated. Human interaction must remain the key element. Technology must be a servant to the human rights needs and demands.
Human Enhancing Technologies and Individual Privacy Right
Authors: Kulesza Joanna
Published: October 2014

This chapter provides a legal perspective on the application of Human Enhancing Technologies (HET), in particular on Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs), emphasizing threats they bring to individual privacy. The author discusses the geographical, political, and cultural differences in understanding the individual right to privacy, as granted by human rights treaties and customary international law, and confronts them with the threats brought about by HET. The era of globalized services rendered by transnational companies necessitates an answer to the question on the possible and desired shape of effective individual protection of human rights from the threats brought about by advancing HET. Be it biomedical or geolocalisation data, when fueled through the Big Data resources available online, individual data accompanying the HET becomes a powerful marketing tool and a significant national and international security measure. The chapter aims to identify the privacy threats brought about by the HET and proposes a business-ethics based solution.
Revolution 2.0
Authors: Khamis Sahar
Published: October 2014

This chapter analyzes the role of new media, especially Internet-based communication, in accelerating the process of political transformation and democratization in Egypt. It analyzes the Egyptian media landscape before, during and after the 2011 revolution which toppled the regime of President Hosni Mubarak. In the pre-revolutionary phase, the eclectic and paradoxical political and communication landscapes in Egypt, and the role that new media played in paving the way for the revolution, is discussed. During the 2011 revolution, the role of new media, especially social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, is highlighted in terms of the multiple roles they play as catalysts for change, avenues for civic engagement, and platforms for citizen journalism. In the post-revolutionary phase, the multiple changes and challenges exhibiting themselves after the revolution are analyzed, especially the divisiveness between different players in the Egyptian political arena and how it is reflected in the communication landscape.
ICT for Social Inclusion and Equal Opportunities
Authors: Piaggesi Danilo , Castelnovo Walter , Battistella Linamara Rizzo
Published: October 2014

In this chapter, the authors discuss a Knowledge Economy-based approach to the inclusion of Persons with Disabilities (PwD). The approach, different from the traditional assistance model, considers PwD as active and valuable members of the present Knowledge Society, to be included in the active workforce. This is discussed with reference to a specific operational case study concerning the establishment of the Center of Excellence for Technology and Innovation in Favor of Persons with Disabilities (CETI-D) conceived by Fondazione Rosselli Americas and being implemented by the State of Sao Paulo in Brazil. At the beginning of the chapter, the authors discuss the problem of the inclusion of PwD as a further aspect of the digital divide phenomenon. Then, the principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities are presented—some international best practices concerning the social inclusion of PwD are also introduced. Later, the authors discuss the CETI-D initiative, with the aim of showing how ICT can represent a powerful tool for social and economic inclusion. Finally, the authors discuss the conditions under which the experience of the CETI-D can be replicated in other countries, with a specific focus on less developed countries.
Ethics, Wearable Technology, and Higher Education
Authors: Dawkins Marcia Alesan
Published: October 2014

This chapter explores the relationship between ethics, wearable technology, and higher education through the lens of teaching with Google Glass. Beginning with an introduction to Glass and to the contemporary concept of the digital citizen, the chapter traces out a pedagogical framework aimed at preparing learners to embrace their civic duty to contribute to the virtual world responsibly. Continuing with an investigation of ethical obligations, educational concepts, and learning exercises made available by advances in HET, the chapter describes how to use Google Glass as a case study for examining the limits and possibilities of a new point-of-view angle on interactive instruction. To this end, students' project-based and experiential learning about how Glass impacts communication culture and technology, commerce, security, access, etiquette, branding, ethics, and law is described. The chapter concludes with a discussion of how technology's ethical consciousness continues to be enacted and embodied via a “collusive” point-of-view angle and third voice that shed light on the ongoing rhetorical and pedagogical processes of expression, experience, and identification in the digital age.
Friends and Rivals
Authors: Bezio Kristin M. S.
Published: October 2014

This chapter explores how through both narrative and gameplay mechanics, BioWare's 2011 digital role-playing game Dragon Age II seeks to help players redefine their understanding of ethics in terms of human emotion and interaction. These interaction-based ethics are the product of our desire to situate ourselves within a social community rather than on an abstract continuum of universal “right” and “wrong.” The ambiguity contained within the friendship-rivalry system factionalizes Hawke and his/her companions, forcing the player, as the group's leader, to ally with one of the two sides in the game's overarching conflict. This coercive mechanic produces awareness in the player of the way in which interpersonal relationships form our responses in ethical situations, and causes the player to question whether their decisions are the product of “pure” ethics, or the consequence of deliberate or unconscious submission to the ethical mores of others.
Ethics, Media, and Reasoning
Authors: Eid Mahmoud
Published: October 2014

Due to the rapidly changing norms and constant developments in technology, media and communication educators and practitioners are expected to (re)evaluate the functioning of ethics and reasoning in this field. This chapter discusses the relationship between ethics, reasoning, and the media, and the integral role of ethical reasoning education for communication and media professionals. Ethical systems and theories are discussed to inform the debate on the importance of ethics and reasoning education. Globalization and the growing interconnectivity of global media systems are presented, providing insight on how different media systems function around the world. The large impact that the media have on society necessitates the possession of rational and ethical skills; thus, the connection between reasoning and ethics is explained.
A Critique of Legal Framework Facilitating Access to Government Information in Tanzania
Authors: Ubena John
Published: October 2014

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the legal framework for access to information particularly information held by government in Tanzania. The analysis intends to establish whether the existing Right To Information (RTI) legal framework and ICT development in Tanzania facilitates universal and requisite access to government information. In order to do that, the chapter utilises a literature review to understand contemporary trends in both theory and practice. In addition, journal articles, books, reports, case law, and pieces of legislation focusing on RTI are visited to obtain deeper insights in the topic under scrutiny. The findings indicate that, despite Tanzania's efforts to embrace democracy virtues, good governance, and technology, the country lacks adequate legal framework to facilitate universal access to government information and ensure that the Right To Information (RTI) is observed in all the socio-economic contexts. To rectify this problem, there is need to enact the RTI law with clear focus of encouraging access to government information. Although two bills (the Media Service Bill [MSB] and the 2011 RTI) are currently being debated, it is not clear yet when they will become law and subsequently practiced.
Freedom, Equality and the Quality of Democracy
Authors: Barth Thorsten D.
Published: October 2014

Freedom and equality are the content, the substance and the tension in a liberal democracy of today. Freedom and equality describe the design, stability and the quality of a democracy. Especially in a Quintuple Helix Model, the quality of democracy and sustainable development are closely related, because a high-quality democracy is a prerequisite for promoting sustainability in democracies. By investigating the quality of democracy this article develops two theses: 1.) Democracy with their quality rises or falls with the expression of freedom and/or equality; 2.) Democracy generates its stability from a balanced interaction between freedom and equality. With the concept of Democratic Life this article examines these two theses: Democratic Life as newly developed concept measures the quality of democracy with providing information about the type of a democracy and an approach to measure a democracy´s democratic development for the top 20 of the Democracy Ranking (2009). The central keys of the Democratic Life concept are the ‘Index of Classification' and the ‘Democratic-Life-Index', which are formed from an ‘Index of Freedom' and an ‘Index of Equality'. By empirical examination of the research question of Democratic Life two essential questions in the modern democratic theory can be investigated: 1.) How democratic is a democracy? 2.) How much freedom and equality does a liberal democracy need? The countries analyzed for the Democratic Life concept in this article are the United States, Australia, Sweden and Germany in comparison between 1995 and 2008. This degree of democratic quality will create a lot of problems towards developing sustainability in a democracy, because in the United States there is currently a big disparity between freedom and equality.
Dignity as the Ultimate Boundary to the Freedom of Speech
Authors: Akrivopoulou Christina M.
Published: October 2014

Freedom of speech as a prerequisite of free communication, expression, and dissemination of ideas is the most fundamental pillar of any truly democratic society. Though of extreme importance, freedom of speech is not unlimited. Therefore, in the vast majority of national legal orders the legislator as well as the jurisprudence impose limits on the freedom of speech when it reflects racism or hate against the ethnic, sexual, or religious identity of a polity's citizens. These paradigms of negative speech are widely known in the international literature, as forms of “hate speech.” The chapter offers an account of this dialogue while it adopts a principal argument in favor of imposing limits in cases of “hate speech”: the harm that hate speech may cause to human dignity. This argument has been illustrated in the book of Jeremy Waldron, The Harm in Hate Speech (Harvard University Press, 2012).
The Use of Developmental Psychology in Ethics
Authors: Titus Craig Steven
Published: October 2014

This chapter argues that a developmental psychology based in a wider notion of reason and ultimate flourishing can employ both duty and virtue in the service of the common good. It identifies several important differences between cognitive structuralism and virtue-based approaches concerning the pre-empirical priority paid to either duty or virtue in moral development. It brings to light several challenges concerning the use of developmental psychology in ethics: (1) a weakness in schools of cognitive structuralism, such as that of Lawrence Kohlberg, inasmuch as they do not move beyond the theory of stages and structures that focus only on the cognitive judgment of justice and on duty; (2) a weakness in developmental virtue approaches, such as that of Martin Seligman, inasmuch as they do not employ moral content in the operative notions of virtues and values. This article concludes that a heartier notion of developmental psychology and normative ethics will need to recognize the interrelated nature of ethical acts (moral agency), ethical agents (moral character), and ethical norms (duties and law). Such an integrated approach must also attend to the input that diverse philosophical and religious presuppositions make toward understanding the place of developmental psychology in the practice of ethics.
A Paradigm Shift in Swedish Electronic Surveillance Law
Authors: Klamberg Mark
Published: October 2014

Electronic surveillance law is subject to a paradigm shift where traditional principles are reconsidered and the notion of privacy has to be reconstructed. This paradigm shift is the result of four major changes in our society with regard to: technology, perceptions of threats, interpretation of human rights and ownership over telecommunications. The above-mentioned changes have created a need to reform both the tools of electronic surveillance and domestic legislation. Surveillance that was previously kept secret with reference to National Security is now subject to public debate, including Communications Intelligence (COMINT), a sub-category of Signals Intelligence (SIGINT). This chapter covers systems of “mass surveillance,” such as data retention and COMINT, and whether these are consistent with the European Convention on Human Rights. The chapter comes to two conclusions in relation to COMINT. First, the perceived threats have changed, shifting the focus of COMINT from military threats towards non-state actors such as terrorists and criminal networks. Second, COMINT involves relatively narrow interception of the content of messages compared to its large-scale collection and storage of traffic data, which through further processing may reveal who is communicating with whom.
Military Robots and the Question of Responsibility
Authors: Royakkers Lambèr , Olsthoorn Peter
Published: October 2014

Most unmanned systems used in operations today are unarmed and mainly used for reconnaissance and mine clearing, yet the increase of the number of armed military robots is undeniable. The use of these robots raises some serious ethical questions. For instance: who can be held morally responsible in reason when a military robot is involved in an act of violence that would normally be described as a war crime? In this article, The authors critically assess the attribution of responsibility with respect to the deployment of both non-autonomous and non-learning autonomous lethal military robots. The authors will start by looking at the role of those with whom responsibility normally lies, the commanders. The authors argue that this is no different in the case of the above mentioned robots. After that, we will turn to those at the beginning and the end of the causal chain, respectively the manufacturers and designers, and the human operators who remotely control armed military robots from behind a computer screen.
The Ethics of Seeking Body Perfection, with Continual Reference to Heidi Montag
Authors: Lunceford Brett
Published: October 2014

In an increasingly visual society, beauty may seem only skin deep. This chapter considers the ethics of cosmetic surgery through the lens of posthumanism, a stance that suggests that defects of the body can be overcome through technology. Cosmetic surgery, with its reliance on prostheses and promise of reshaping the body, is, at its heart, a posthuman enterprise. Although many have engaged in cosmetic surgery, actress Heidi Montag became an exemplar of reshaping the body by undergoing ten different plastic surgery procedures in one day. Using Montag as foil, this chapter examines four ethical dimensions of cosmetic surgery: the ethics of the medical professionals who perform and advertise these procedures, the ethics of the individual making the decision, the ethics of the media structures that promote a homogenous ideal of beauty, and the ethics of those who tacitly approve of such procedures.
Systemic Reciprocal Rewards
Authors: DeAngelis David , Barber Suzanne
Published: October 2014

Online communities such as question and answer (QA) systems are growing rapidly and we increasingly rely on them for valuable information and entertainment. However, finding meaningful rewards to motivate participation from the most qualified users, or experts, presents researchers with two main challenges: identifying these users and (2) rewarding their participation. Using an interdisciplinary theoretical framework, we illustrate possibilities for identifying and motivating the most valuable contributors to online communities. We suggest that access to peer-generated content can directly motivate people to apply their own expertise, thereby generating more content. Survey data from 380 participants suggests that users strongly prefer a novel class of incentives—reciprocal systemic rewards—to traditional achievement-based rewards. Overall, this research presents important considerations for many different types of online communities, including social networking and news aggregation sites.
Designing Complex Agent Interaction Protocols Using Colored Petri Nets
Authors: Benmerzoug Djamel
Published: October 2014

This paper deals with one of the key issue in modern enterprises applications: the Agents Interaction Protocols (AiP) that are interconnecting the different parts involved in collaborative activities. The challenge here is twofold. First, we must provide a formal model that is rich enough to capture interactions characteristics. Second, we must allow designers to combine existing protocols to achieve a new specific need. The paper introduces a formal analysis framework allowing the verification of the conformance between interaction protocols. The semantics of AiP notations used in our approach and its application are described on the basis of translation rules into colored Petri net. The key feature of this framework is the ability to model and formally verify composition of AiP, where particular protocols may then be selected and composed to support a new business task. Furthermore, an agent-based architecture that supports our approach is developed. The main goal of the proposed architecture is to address and tackle AiP composition in the context of Cloud-based enterprise application.
Chinese Students' Perceptions of Using Mobile Devices for English Learning
Authors: Zou Bin , Yan Xinxin
Published: October 2014

The advance of mobile technology has turned portable, handheld devices into an integral part of students' daily life, and also paved the way for the rise of mobile assisted language learning. This study focused on how Chinese students perceive the use of using mobile devices for English practice in and out of class, in order to see whether they are interested in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) and how they construct the technology with regard to English learning. One hundred and one students from eighteen universities in mainland China participated in this study. All of them completed an anonymous questionnaire and 20 randomly selected students were interviewed. The results illuminate a strong motivation among students for learning English via mobiles, and diverse types of m-learning activities were discovered. The results also revealed that students' attitudes toward mobile learning can be impacted by their regions or more specifically their surroundings.
E-book Usability in Educational Technology Classes
Authors: Shin Sunghee
Published: October 2014

This study was designed to enrich the learning experiences of in-service and pre-service teachers in two educational technology classes by adopting e-books as the course material. Graduate students were more positive about their e-book reading experience than undergraduate students, but, surprisingly, more undergraduates (63.6%) became interested in checking out e-book readers from the school library than graduate students (51.9%). Over three-quarters of undergraduates (78.6%) responded positively about the use of e-book readers by the end of the study. Despite their appreciation of e-book features, more than half of both undergraduate and graduate students preferred print books but were willing to use e-books and e-book readers for their readings. Shortcomings of e-books were eye-strain and the limitation of e-book collections.
A Hybrid Dynamic Load Balancing Algorithm for Distributed Systems Using Genetic Algorithms
Authors: Mehta Mayuri A. , Jinwala Devesh C.
Published: October 2014

Dynamic Load Balancing (DLB) is sine qua non in modern distributed systems to ensure the efficient utilization of computing resources therein. This paper proposes a novel framework for hybrid dynamic load balancing. Its framework uses a Genetic Algorithms (GA) based supernode selection approach within. The GA-based approach is useful in choosing optimally loaded nodes as the supernodes directly from data set, thereby essentially improving the speed of load balancing process. Applying the proposed GA-based approach, this work analyzes the performance of hybrid DLB algorithm under different system states such as lightly loaded, moderately loaded, and highly loaded. The performance is measured with respect to three parameters: average response time, average round trip time, and average completion time of the users. Further, it also evaluates the performance of hybrid algorithm utilizing OnLine Transaction Processing (OLTP) benchmark and Sparse Matrix Vector Multiplication (SPMV) benchmark applications to analyze its adaptability to I/O-intensive, memory-intensive, or/and CPU-intensive applications. The experimental results show that the hybrid algorithm significantly improves the performance under different system states and under a wide range of workloads compared to traditional decentralized algorithm.
A New Spatial Transformation Scheme for Preventing Location Data Disclosure in Cloud Computing
Authors: Yoon Min , Kim Hyeong-il , Jang Miyoung , Chang Jae-Woo
Published: October 2014

Because much interest in spatial database for cloud computing has been attracted, studies on preserving location data privacy have been actively done. However, since the existing spatial transformation schemes are weak to a proximity attack, they cannot preserve the privacy of users who enjoy location-based services in the cloud computing. Therefore, a transformation scheme is required for providing a safe service to users. We, in this paper, propose a new transformation scheme based on a line symmetric transformation (LST). The proposed scheme performs both LST-based data distribution and error injection transformation for preventing a proximity attack effectively. Finally, we show from our performance analysis that the proposed scheme greatly reduces the success rate of the proximity attack while performing the spatial transformation in an efficient way.
SQL-Based Fuzzy Query Mechanism Over Encrypted Database
Authors: Liu Zheli , Li Jingwei , Li Jin , Jia Chunfu , Yang Jun , Yuan Ke
Published: October 2014

With the development of cloud computing and big data, data privacy protection has become an urgent problem to solve. Data encryption is the most effective way to protect privacy; however, it will change the data format and result in: 1. database structure and application software will be changed; 2. structured query language (SQL) operations cannot work properly, especially in SQL-based fuzzy query. As a result, it is necessary to provide an SQL-based fuzzy query mechanism over encrypted databases, including traditional databases and cloud outsourced databases. This paper establishes a secure database system using format-preserving encryption (FPE) as the underlying primitive to protect the data privacy while not change the database structure. It further proposes a new SQL-based fuzzy query mechanism supporting directly query over encrypted data, which is constructed by FPE and universal hash function (UHF). The security of the proposed mechanism is analyzed as well. In the end, it makes extensive experiments on the system to demonstrate its practical performance.
Athletic Activity and Hormone Concentrations in High School Female Athletes
Authors: Wojtys Edward M. , Jannausch Mary L. , Kreinbrink Jennifer L. , Harlow Siobán D. , Sowers MaryFran R.
Published: October 2014

Context:

Physical activity may affect the concentrations of circulating endogenous hormones in female athletes. Understanding the relationship between athletic and physical activity and circulating female hormone concentrations is critical.

Objective:

To test the hypotheses that (1) the estradiol-progesterone profile of high school adolescent girls participating in training, conditioning, and competition would differ from that of physically inactive, age-matched adolescent girls throughout a 3-month period; and (2) athletic training and conditioning would alter body composition (muscle, bone), leading to an increasingly greater lean–body-mass to fat–body-mass ratio with accompanying hormonal changes.

Design:

Cohort study.

Settings:

Laboratory and participants' homes.

Patients or Other Participants:

A total of 106 adolescent girls, ages 14–18 years, who had experienced at least 3 menstrual cycles in their lifetime.

Main Outcome Measure(s):

Participants were prospectively monitored throughout a 13-week period, with weekly physical activity assessments and 15 urine samples for estrogen, luteinizing hormone, creatinine, and progesterone concentrations. Each girl underwent body-composition measurements before and after the study period.

Results:

Seventy-four of the 98 girls (76%) who completed the study classified themselves as athletes. Body mass index, body mass, and fat measures remained stable, and 17 teenagers had no complete menstrual cycle during the observation period. Mean concentrations of log(estrogen/creatinine) were slightly greater in nonathletes who had cycles of <24 or >35 days. Mean log(progesterone/creatinine) concentrations in nonathletes were less in the first half and greater in the second half of the cycle, but the differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusions:

A moderate level of athletic or physical activity did not influence urine concentrations of estrogen, progesterone, or luteinizing hormones. However, none of the participants achieved high levels of physical activity. A significant number (17%) of girls in both activity groups were amenorrheic during the 3-month study period.
Arthroscopic Treatment of Shoulder Instability: A Systematic Review of Capsular Plication Versus Thermal Capsulorrhaphy
Authors: Rolfes Kasey
Published: October 2014

Objective:

Shoulder instability is a common disorder of the shoulder that can result in debilitating pain and decreased function. Poorly treated cases of instability result in excessive mobility, possibly leading to labral tears and degenerative arthritis. The purpose of my systematic review was to compare the effectiveness of 2 popular arthroscopic techniques used to reduce shoulder instability: capsular plication and thermal capsulorrhaphy.

Data Sources:

Articles were retrieved from PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Ovid/MEDLINE searches using the terms capsular plication, capsular shift, capsular shrinkage, shoulder capsulorrhaphy, and treatment of shoulder instability.

Study Selection:

I sought cohort studies, case reviews, and randomized controlled trials published from 2000 through March 2013 that evaluated the outcomes of the 2 surgical procedures, which resulted in a total of 12 studies.

Data Extraction:

Outcome measures were range of motion, satisfaction, and return to previous activity level.

Data Synthesis:

The overall success rates of the reviewed studies were 91% for arthroscopic capsular plication and 76.5% for thermal capsulorrhaphy.

Conclusions:

Arthroscopic capsular plication had a higher rate of success than thermal capsulorrhaphy. However, postoperative management varied more among the thermal capsulorrhaphy studies and was generally less conservative than management involving standardized capsular-plication protocols. Future authors should investigate operative techniques and postoperative management, which may help to improve thermal capsulorrhaphy outcomes.
A retrospective study of computed tomography angiography versus digital subtraction angiography in penetrating neck trauma at Groote Schuur Hospital, South Africa
Authors: Scholtz Paul , Beningfield Steve , Candy Sally
Published: October 2014

Background: Penetrating neck trauma is commonly encountered in South African trauma units, and is associated with high mortality and morbidity rates. The imaging protocol for stable patients with penetrating neck trauma remains controversial. There is only sparse data validating the use of computed tomography angiography (CTA) in the evaluation of penetrating neck trauma in South Africa.Objectives: To assess the sensitivity and specificity of CTA versus digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in detecting arterial injury and secondarily evaluate the ability of CT to assess non-arterial injury.Method: Using hospital and radiology databases, 23 patients were identified who had undergone both CTA and DSA for penetrating neck trauma. The data was retrospectively anonymised and randomised. A radiologist experienced in the interpretation of both trauma CTA and DSA re-reported all the imaging and the findings were compared and analysed.Results: Twenty-four arterial injuries were detected. The sensitivity of CTA for detecting arterial injury was 78% and the specificity 83%. The ability of CTA to delineate wound track and detect non-arterial visceral injury was also confirmed.Conclusion: CTA is an attractive initial diagnostic investigation that, along with clinical evaluation, effectively guides further investigation and intervention. It is important for the radiologist to understand the limitations of CTA and have a low threshold for DSA in equivocal cases.
Risicogedrag en het wereldwijde web - De invloed van gezin en samenleving op het online risicogedrag van adolescenten vanuit een Europees perspectief
Authors: Notten Natascha
Published: October 2014

This study explores the relation between adolescents’ risky online behavior, their parents’ internet mediation and the prevalence of internet use in a country. Using the EU Kids Online dataset, including information on 15,415 adolescents in 25 countries, this study found
that adolescents from lower educated and single-parent households are more likely to engage in risky online behavior. Furthermore, parental social internet mediation and especially rules restricting children’s internet use appear to be effective ways to reduce risk-taking by adolescents
online. Parental monitoring seems to increase when adolescents are risky online. The level of modernization of a country seems to have no effect on adolescents’ participation in risky online activities. However, in more digitalized societies, parental social mediation seems less decisive
in reducing risky behavior of adolescents online. Applying restrictions on internet use in the family home is an effective way to curb young people’s risky online behavior, regardless of a country’s level of internet diffusion.
De werking van sociaal kapitaal in het statusverwervingsproces in Nederland
Authors: Quite Wouter , Hofstra Bas , Knigge Antonie , de Schipper Niek
Published: October 2014

This study addresses the question what role social capital plays in the status attainment process of men in the Netherlands in 2000: how important is social capital in the transfer of status from one generation to the next? We derive hypotheses by integrating the social resources theory
in the classic status attainment model. To test these hypotheses we perform structural equation modeling on data from the Survey of the Social Networks of the Dutch (SSND). The most important result is that, although social capital is inherited and has a significant effect on one’s status,
it plays a minor role in the intergenerational transmission of status. A reason is that the amount of social capital depends mostly on an individual’s educational level, and less so on family background. We further find that social capital actually needs to be activated in order to be
of use and only about 30% of the men do so. Moreover, one benefits only from activating social capital if the mobilized person is of high status. Lastly, the role of the tie strength with the mobilized person is not as expected and deserves further attention together with others aspects of
the network embeddedness of social capital.
Exploiting simultaneous observational constraints on mass and absorption to estimate the global direct radiative forcing of black carbon and brown carbon
Authors: Wang X. , Heald C. L. , Ridley D. A. , Schwarz J. P. , Spackman J. R. , Perring A. E. , Coe H. , Liu D. , Clarke A. D.
Published: October 2014

Abstract. Atmospheric black carbon (BC) is a leading climate warming agent, yet uncertainties on the global direct radiative forcing (DRF) remain large. Here we expand a global model simulation (GEOS-Chem) of BC to include the absorption enhancement associated with BC coating and separately treat both the aging and physical properties of fossil-fuel and biomass-burning BC. In addition we develop a global simulation of brown carbon (BrC) from both secondary (aromatic) and primary (biomass burning and biofuel) sources. The global mean lifetime of BC in this simulation (4.4 days) is substantially lower compared to the AeroCom I model means (7.3 days), and as a result, this model captures both the mass concentrations measured in near-source airborne field campaigns (ARCTAS, EUCAARI) and surface sites within 30%, and in remote regions (HIPPO) within a factor of 2. We show that the new BC optical properties together with the inclusion of BrC reduces the model bias in absorption aerosol optical depth (AAOD) at multiple wavelengths by more than 50% at AERONET sites worldwide. However our improved model still underestimates AAOD by a factor of 1.4 to 2.8 regionally, with the largest underestimates in regions influenced by fire. Using the RRTMG model integrated with GEOS-Chem we estimate that the all-sky top-of-atmosphere DRF of BC is +0.13 Wm−2 (0.08 Wm−2 from anthropogenic sources and 0.05 Wm−2 from biomass burning). If we scale our model to match AERONET AAOD observations we estimate the DRF of BC is +0.21 Wm−2, with an additional +0.11 Wm−2 of warming from BrC. Uncertainties in size, optical properties, observations, and emissions suggest an overall uncertainty in BC DRF of −80%/+140%. Our estimates are at the lower end of the 0.2–1.0 Wm−2 range from previous studies, and substantially less than the +0.6 Wm−2 DRF estimated in the IPCC 5th Assessment Report. We suggest that the DRF of BC has previously been overestimated due to the overestimation of the BC lifetime (including the effect on the vertical profile) and the incorrect attribution of BrC absorption to BC.
Modeling ultrafine particle growth at a pine forest site influenced by anthropogenic pollution during BEACHON-RoMBAS 2011
Authors: Cui Y. Y. , Hodzic A. , Smith J. N. , Ortega J. , Brioude J. , Matsui H. , Levin E. J. T. , Turnipseed A. , Winkler P. , de Foy B.
Published: October 2014

Abstract. Formation and growth of ultrafine particles is crudely represented in chemistry-climate models, contributing to uncertainties in aerosol composition, size distribution, and aerosol effects on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) concentrations. Measurements of ultrafine particles, their precursor gases, and meteorological parameters were performed in a ponderosa pine forest in the Colorado Front Range in July–August 2011, and were analyzed to study processes leading to small particle burst events (PBEs) which were characterized by an increase in the number concentrations of ultrafine 4–30 nm diameter size particles. These measurements suggest that PBEs were associated with the arrival at the site of anthropogenic pollution plumes midday to early afternoon. During PBEs, number concentrations of 4–30 nm diameter particles typically exceeded 104 cm−3, and these elevated concentrations coincided with increased SO2 and monoterpene concentrations, and led to a factor-of-2 increase in CCN concentrations at 0.5% supersaturation. The PBEs were simulated using the regional WRF-Chem model, which was extended to account for ultrafine particle sizes starting at 1 nm in diameter, to include an empirical activation nucleation scheme in the planetary boundary layer, and to explicitly simulate the subsequent growth of Aitken particles (10–100 nm) by condensation of organic and inorganic vapors. The updated model reasonably captured measured aerosol number concentrations and size distribution during PBEs, as well as ground-level CCN concentrations. Model results suggest that sulfuric acid originating from anthropogenic SO2 triggered PBEs, and that the condensation of monoterpene oxidation products onto freshly nucleated particles contributes to their growth. The simulated growth rate of ~ 3.4 nm h−1 for 4–40 nm diameter particles was comparable to the measured average value of 2.3 nm h−1. Results also suggest that the presence of PBEs tends to modify the composition of sub-20 nm diameter particles, leading to a higher mass fraction of sulfate aerosols. Sensitivity simulations suggest that the representation of nucleation processes in the model largely influences the predicted number concentrations and thus CCN concentrations. We estimate that nucleation contributes 67% of surface CCN at 0.5% supersaturation in this pine forest environment.
Standard climate models radiation codes underestimate black carbon radiative forcing
Authors: Myhre G. , Samset B. H.
Published: October 2014

Abstract. Radiative forcing (RF) of black carbon (BC) in the atmosphere is estimated using radiative transfer codes of various complexities. Here we show that the 2-stream radiative transfer codes used most in climate models give too strong forward scattering, leading to enhanced absorption at the surface and too weak absorption by BC. Such calculations are found to underestimate RF by 10% for global mean, all sky conditions, relative to the more sophisticated multi-stream models. The underestimation occurs primarily for low surface albedo, even though BC is more efficient for absorption of solar radiation at high surface albedo.
Instrument concept of the imaging Fourier transform spectrometer GLORIA
Authors: Friedl-Vallon F. , Gulde T. , Hase F. , Kleinert A. , Kulessa T. , Maucher G. , Neubert T. , Olschewski F. , Piesch C. , Preusse P. , Rongen H. , Sartorius C. , Schneider H. , Schönfeld A. , Tan V. , Bayer N. , Blank J. , Dapp R. , Ebersoldt A. , Fischer H. , Graf F. , Guggenmoser T. , Höpfner M. , Kaufmann M. , Kretschmer E. , Latzko T. , Nordmeyer H. , Oelhaf H. , Orphal J. , Riese M. , Schardt G. , Schillings J. , Sha M. K. , Suminska-Ebersoldt O. , Ungermann J.
Published: October 2014

Abstract. The Gimballed Limb Observer for Radiance Imaging of the Atmosphere (GLORIA) is an imaging limb emission sounder operating in the thermal infrared region. It is designed to provide measurements of the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere with high spatial and high spectral resolution. The instrument consists of an imaging Fourier transform spectrometer integrated into a gimbal. The assembly can be mounted in the belly pod of the German High Altitude and Long Range research aircraft (HALO) and in instrument bays of the Russian M55 Geophysica. Measurements are made in two distinct modes: the chemistry mode emphasises chemical analysis with high spectral resolution, and the dynamics mode focuses on dynamical processes of the atmosphere with very high spatial resolution. In addition, the instrument allows tomographic analyses of air volumes. The first measurement campaigns have shown compliance with key performance and operational requirements.