bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Age-Standardized Mortality of Persons on Probation, in Jail, or in State Prison and the General Population, 2001-2012
Authors: Wildeman Christopher , Goldman Alyssa W. , Wang Emily A.
Published: October 2019

Objectives:

The number of adults in the United States being held on probation—persons convicted of crimes and serving their sentence in the community rather than in a correctional facility—approached 4 million at the end of 2016 and continues to grow, yet little is known about the health and well-being of this population. We compared the standardized mortality ratios of persons on probation in the United States with persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population.

Methods:

We used administrative data from 2001-2012 from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention WONDER database and indirect standardization techniques to compare the mortality rates of persons on probation in 15 states with the mortality rates of persons in jail, persons in state prison, and the general US population. We applied the age-specific mortality rates of 3 populations (general US population, persons in jail, and persons in state prison) to the age distribution of persons on probation to estimate standardized mortality ratios.

Results:

Persons on probation died at a rate 3.42 times higher than persons in jail, 2.81 times higher than persons in state prison, and 2.10 times higher than the general US population, after standardizing the age distribution of persons on probation relative to the other 3 groups.

Conclusions:

Public health interventions should target persons on probation, who have received less attention from the public health community than persons serving sentences in jails and prisons.
“Balance-Sheet” City: Martin Wagner and the Visualization of Statistical Data
Authors: Vallye Anna
Published: October 2019

Martin Wagner (1885-1957) was a leading city planner of the Weimar Republic and chief planner for Greater Berlin from 1926 to 1933. This essay addresses the role of statistical data visualizations in early twentieth-century planning and, specifically, in Wagner’s conception of the city as a financial organism subject to managerial-governmental intervention. I argue that for Wagner modern techniques of social data calculation and representation, such as the balance sheet and the graph, became key instruments of planning by translating urban territory into an avatar of the metropolitan economy. Heuristic devices, such “paper cities” of data also had a rhetorical function, both in Germany and in the United States, Wagner’s adoptive home after 1938—serving to publicize planning expertise and frame the discipline’s intellectual and political legitimation.
Twentieth-Century China as an Object of Thought: An Introduction, Part 2 The Birth of the Century: China and the Conditions of Spatial Revolution
Authors: Hui Wang
Published: October 2019

This article situates the birth of the twentieth century within the conditions of a spatial revolution. Proceeding from the dimension of horizontal temporality, it analyses anew the problem of “origins” as well as the era’s “politics of displacement” and “politics of self-negation.” A salient phenomenon of cultural politics in the twentieth century was the horizontal movement of concepts, a formulation of how historical content from different temporal axes was transformed, within a synchronic framework, into that which can be expressed in a single discourse. Yet the political content of such discourse and concepts cannot be defined from its European origins, including ideas such as nation, sovereignty, people, class, citizen, and so on. Whenever these alien concepts are used under historical conditions totally distinct from the conditions that originally produced them, this not only leads to the birth of new consciousness, values, and movements, but it also produces a new political logic. For this reason, it would be difficult to explain the meaning of China’s twentieth century if we leave behind the perspectives internal to its revolution. This article therefore takes up the cases of Lu Xun’s “literature of resistance to despair” and Mao Zedong’s “philosophy of victory,” in which one “moves from victory to victory,” in order to once again examine twentieth-century China’s despairs and hopes, its failures and successes.
Son Preference, Eldest Son Preference, and Educational Attainment: Evidence From Chinese Families
Authors: Wang Weidong , Liu Xiaohong , Dong Yongqing , Bai Yunli , Wang Shukun , Zhang Linxiu
Published: October 2019

Gender inequality has long been an important topic of concern. This article empirically measures whether there exists son preference and eldest son preference in China, from the perspective of an individual’s educational attainment, by using the data set of China Family Panel Studies in 2010. We find that (a) sons receive more education than daughters, and that the gender education gap for rural residents is greater than that of residents from urban areas; (b) regardless of the eldest or noneldest sons, the education received by sons is significantly higher than that of daughters, and there is no significant difference between the eldest and noneldest son’s education; (c) the gender education gap narrows over time, and expands as the number of sibling increases. Finally, we explore the multiple effect mechanisms.
Marital strain trajectories over a quarter century and spouses’ loneliness: Couple-level and individual pathways
Authors: Wickrama Kandauda A. S. , Lee Tae Kyoung , O’Neal Catherine Walker
Published: October 2019

Although research suggests that stressful marital experiences may lead to feelings of loneliness in later life, little is known about the influence of marital strain over an extended period of time on loneliness in later years. Thus, in the present study, drawing from family systems and cognitive theories along with common fate and actor–partner interdependence modeling approaches, we hypothesized a hybrid model comprised of two multilevel pathways explaining the persistent influence of marital strain on loneliness, including: (a) a couple-level pathway and (b) an individual pathway involving within-spouse and between-spouse effects. Specifically, we investigated the influences of individual- and couple-level trajectories of marital strain over a period of 25 years (from 1991 to 2015) on loneliness outcomes in later years with a sample of 257 couples in enduring, long-term (over 40 years) marriages. The results mostly supported both hypothesized pathways. Consistent with the pathway involving a couple-level process, couple-level trajectories of marital strain predicted couples’ later-life loneliness as reflected by both spouses’ reports of loneliness (shared perceptions). In addition, at the individual level, each spouses’ unexplained variances (unique perception) in marital strain trajectories predicted his/her own later-life loneliness outcomes (within-spouse effect or actor effect). Findings are discussed as they relate to intervention and prevention programs focusing on the well-being of married couples in later life.
Marketing Inclusion: A Social Justice Project for Diversity Education
Authors: Grier Sonya A.
Published: October 2019

Challenges related to marketplace diversity present an opportunity to prepare students to successfully engage with diversity through innovative curricular approaches. The present research develops a semester-long course project designed to enhance students’ awareness and understanding of diversity and inclusion issues from a social justice perspective. We discuss the context of diversity issues in business schools and identify key issues affecting marketing educators. Our review of the pedagogical literature on diversity highlights the importance of a social justice orientation. Social cognitive theory is used as a conceptual framework to guide the design of a problem-based experiential project. We detail project implementation and assess evidence regarding the impact of the project. Findings suggest an experiential, problem-based class project can support students understanding of diversity from a social justice perspective. We discuss the project benefits and challenges and highlight pedagogical issues for educators who want to integrate diversity content into a broad array of marketing courses.
Effect of teriparatide on quality of life in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis: a retrospective cohort study
Authors: Yang Tiansong , Feng Chuwen , Qu Yuanyuan , Wang Qingyong , Yang Yan , Wang Bo , Sun Zhongren , Bao Shengyong
Published: October 2019

Objective

To evaluate the effect of teriparatide on life quality in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis.

Methods

Patients treated from January 2014 to December 2016 were retrospectively included. Patients were divided into two groups according the treatment received. Those in the teriparatide treatment group were followed up for 24 months, and patients in the control group received calcium supplements and vitamin D. Scores for back pain using a visual analog scale (VAS) and score of the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) and 36-item Short Form Health Survey of life quality (SF-36) were evaluated at 3, 6, 12, and 24 months and compared between the groups.

Results

In total, 126 patients were included in the teriparatide treatment group and 127 in the control group. There were no significant differences between the groups concerning body mass index, bone density, VAS back pain score, ODI, and SF-36 life quality scores at baseline. At 3, 6, 12, and 24 months’ follow-up, VAS scores were significantly lower in the treatment group than in controls; ODI and SF-36 scores were significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control group.

Conclusion

Teriparatide can significantly decrease pain and increase mobility and life quality in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis.
Computed tomography-guided biopsy of small lung nodules: diagnostic accuracy and analysis for true negatives
Authors: Liu Xing-Li , Li Wei , Yang Wei-Xin , Rui Mao-Ping , Li Zhi , Lv Liang , Yang Li-Peng
Published: October 2019

Objective

We evaluated the diagnostic accuracy of computed tomography (CT)-guided transthoracic core needle biopsy (TCNB) for small (≤20-mm) lung nodules and identified predictive factors for true negatives among benign biopsy results.

Methods

From March 2010 to June 2015, 222 patients with small lung nodules underwent CT-guided TCNB. We retrospectively analysed data regarding technical success, diagnostic accuracy, and predictors of true negatives.

Results

The technical success rate was 100%. The TCNB results of the 222 lung nodules included malignancy (n = 136), suspected malignancy (n = 8), specific benign lesion (n = 17), and nonspecific benign lesion (n = 61). The final diagnosis of 222 lung nodules included malignant (n = 160), benign (n = 60), and nondiagnostic lesions (n = 2). The sensitivity, specificity, and overall diagnostic accuracy of CT-guided TCNB for small lung nodules were 90.0%, 100%, and 92.7%, respectively. Pneumothorax and haemoptysis occurred in 23 and 41 patients, respectively. Based on the Cox regression analysis, the significant independent predictive factor for true negatives was a biopsy result of chronic inflammation with fibroplasia.

Conclusions

CT-guided TCNB offers high diagnostic accuracy for small lung nodules, and a biopsy result of chronic inflammation with fibroplasia can predict a true-negative result.
Collagenous Ultrastructure of the Torn Medial Meniscus Posterior Root: A Transmission Electron Microscopy Study
Authors: Seo Young-Jin , Kim Sung-Jae , Jung Dawoon , Kim Jeehyoung , Shin Young-Soo , Choi Seungbi , Shin Eun , Song Si Young
Published: October 2019

Background:

The collagen ultrastructure of torn medial meniscus posterior roots (MMPRs) has not been precisely defined.

Purpose:

To investigate the ultrastructure of torn MMPRs, focusing on their collagen fibers, and to compare the collagen net architecture between intact and torn MMPRs using the Collagen Meniscal Architecture (CMA) scoring system.

Study Design:

Descriptive laboratory study.

Methods:

Forty-three human meniscal specimens were obtained from 32 patients with osteoarthritis during total knee arthroplasty between January 2018 and November 2018. There were 23 specimens taken from patients with an MMPR tear and 20 taken from patients without an MMPR tear served as a control group. The presence of an MMPR tear was defined as a complete radial tear within 9 mm of the posterior root attachment. The collagen ultrastructure of the meniscal specimens was assessed with transmission electron microscopy using the CMA scoring system. Patient demographics included sex, age, and body mass index, and radiographic assessments included the Kellgren-Lawrence (K-L) grading system and the mechanical axis angle.

Results:

The median CMA score was significantly higher in torn MMPRs (5.5 [interquartile range, 3.5-6.0]) than in intact MMPRs (2.0 [interquartile range, 1.5-3.8]) ( P < .001). When the CMA scores were converted to CMA grading, 23 torn MMPRs had 1 grade I, 9 grade II, and 13 grade III menisci. In 20 intact MMPRs, there were 12 grade I, 7 grade II, and 1 grade III menisci. No significant differences in sex, age, body mass index, K-L grade, or mechanical axis angle were found between groups.

Conclusion:

This study showed that torn MMPRs had decreased numbers and disorganized courses of collagen fibers. The structural problem of torn MMPRs can negatively affect meniscal healing, function, and long-term survival after root repair.

Clinical Relevance:

These results might provide a histopathological reason for the low healing rate after MMPR repair.
Integrating Family Caregivers of People With Alzheimer’s Disease and Dementias into Clinical Appointments: Identifying Potential Best Practices
Authors: Griffin Joan M. , Riffin Catherine , Havyer Rachel D. , Biggar Virginia S. , Comer Meryl , Frangiosa Theresa L. , Bangerter Lauren R.
Published: October 2019

Family caregiver engagement in clinical encounters can promote relationship-centered care and optimize outcomes for people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD). Little is known, however, about effective ways for health care providers to engage family caregivers in clinical appointments to provide the highest quality care. We describe what caregivers of people with ADRD and people with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) consider potential best practices for engaging caregivers as partners in clinical appointments. Seven online focus groups were convened. Three groups included spousal caregivers ( n = 42), three included non-spousal caregivers ( n = 36), and one included people with MCI ( n = 15). Seven potential best practices were identified, including the following: “acknowledge caregivers’ role and assess unmet needs and capacity to care” and “communicate directly with person with ADRD yet provide opportunities for caregivers to have separate interactions with providers.” Participants outlined concrete steps for providers and health care systems to improve care delivery quality for people with ADRD.
College Students’ Cognitive Learning Outcomes in Technology-Enabled Active Learning Environments: A Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Literature
Authors: Shi Yinghui , Yang Huiyun , MacLeod Jason , Zhang Jingman , Yang Harrison Hao
Published: October 2019

Technology-enabled active learning environments (TE-ALEs) have attracted considerable research interest, particularly in higher education. However, research shows inconsistent results describing the influence of TE-ALEs toward students’ cognitive learning outcomes. This study was designed to identify high-quality empirical research examining college students’ cognitive learning outcomes and to utilize meta-analysis to determine the overall effectiveness of TE-ALEs. A systematic literature search identified 31 high-quality peer-reviewed journal articles that met the inclusion criteria. Meta-analysis showed that the calculated effect size of TE-ALEs more positively influenced students’ cognitive learning than traditional lecture-based environments. Moderator variable analysis suggested that social context, study design, and sample size were significant factors that influence the effectiveness of TE-ALE. TE-ALEs were found more effective when instructors employed individualized learning contexts as well as when bias was reduced in randomized controlled trials. TE-ALEs were also found to be more effective in small courses rather than in large courses.
Teachers’ and Students’ Support for Corporal Punishment—A Practice Outlawed by the Government of Kenya
Authors: Matofari Fredrick N.
Published: October 2019

Application of corporal punishment (CP) in Kenyan schools continues to be controversial in that CP is banned but esteemed by parents, some teachers, and even students. This investigation sought to establish and describe participants’ degrees of support for the application of CP in schools in Eldoret Municipality. Randomly selected samples of 86 teachers and 192 students were investigated for their support of CP through survey questionnaires. Data analysis was undertaken using nonparametric and descriptive statistics. Teacher support for CP was found to be undifferentiated by gender, teaching experience, and professional qualification. Teachers with less than 12 years of teaching experience were more pro-CP in attitude compared with their older colleagues. A higher ratio of male-to-female teachers is associated with a greater tendency to apply CP in the schools investigated. Differences in support for CP among students were found by gender, age, and school grade. The findings have implications for school discipline and success of the government ban.
Frenemy: A New Addition to the Bullying Circle
Authors: Wójcik Małgorzata , Flak Wojciech
Published: October 2019

Greater knowledge on the social complexities of bullying is crucial to reduce actual bullying behavior. Two main approaches have been used to study bullying: the participant role approach and the bullying circle. In this study, we explored bullying through interviewing adults who had been victims of school bullying in the past, investigating how they perceived their experiences, and how they interpreted the bullying context and their surrounding peer relations. We interviewed 20 participants (more than 18 years old), all of whom had experience of being bullied for more than 1 year. The interview data were then analyzed with a thematic analysis. We found that participants had a different definition of bullying compared with the standard definition formulated by researchers. They also confirmed the fluidity of participants’ roles and the changes in behavioral patterns toward victims, depending on the peer context. Most importantly, we revealed a new participant in the bullying circle: the frenemy, whose intervention style changes from pro-victim when alone with the victim to neutral or pro-aggressor when surrounded by members of the bullying circle. This new addition adds to our understanding of the bullying process and the relationships within the bullying circle, which may help with more effective prevention.
Situational Characteristics Uniquely Associated With Children’s Exposure to Intimate Partner Violence
Authors: Sharman Stefanie J. , Coomber Kerri , Mayshak Richelle , Curtis Ashlee , Hyder Shannon , Walker Arlene , Liknaitzky Paul , Miller Peter
Published: October 2019

Exposure to parental violence can have devastating consequences for children, including significant personal, social, and academic problems. The present study determined the situational factors that are associated with children’s exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV) incidents. To examine whether these factors were unique to child witnesses’ presence at IPV incidents, we also determined the factors that are associated with children’s exposure to family violence (FV) and other family member witnesses’ exposure to IPV incidents. Participants responded to an online panel survey investigating the role of alcohol and other drugs in family and domestic violence incidents in Australia. Nine hundred fifty-two respondents reported an IPV incident and 299 reported an FV incident; they provided details about their most recent incident. Results showed that child witnesses were more likely to be present during IPV incidents if the incident took place at home (odds ratio [OR] = 3.10), if a similar incident had occurred previously (OR = 1.66), if drugs were involved (OR = 1.60), and if a police report was made (OR = 2.61). There was some overlap with the other witness and violence combinations: The presence of a police report also predicted child witnesses’ presence at FV incidents, and a home location also predicted other family member witnesses’ presence at IPV incidents. These results enhance our understanding of the situations in which children might witness IPV incidents; future research is needed to determine whether these situational factors can be used to judge risk.
From Homo Sovieticus to Homo Economicus: The Transformation of the Human Subject in Polish Socialist Economic Thought
Authors: Porter-Szűcs Brian
Published: October 2019

Whereas both classical and neoclassical economists based their theories on a static psychology of self-maximizing rationality that facilitated the formulation of universal economic laws, Marx proposed instead an evolutionary understanding of the human psyche, opening the possibility of dynamic economic laws that mutated in accordance with changing historical contexts. By the 1920s and 1930s, some socialist economists started to drift away from this position, arguing instead that the psychology of neoclassical microeconomics could sustain a socialist macroeconomics, as long as the necessary institutions were in place. In other words, they came to believe that Homo Economicus could maintain all his or her selfish desires and acquisitive inclinations, but if economic structures were property designed and if the state enforced certain rules and regulations, then exploitation and commodification would be vanquished and the pursuit of individual well-being would lead to collective prosperity. That line of thinking was shut down within the Soviet bloc by Stalin, who insisted that socialism could only be created if Homo Economicus was transformed into Homo Sovieticus. Among economists prior to 1956, an evolutionary understanding of the human psyche was not only promoted but vigorously enforced by the state. After the fall of the Stalinists, however, a neoclassical approach regained the upper hand, and economists (not to mention politicians) in the Soviet Bloc began to lose their faith in meaningful anthropological and historical change.
Review on recent progress in synthesis of graphene–polyamide nanocomposites
Authors: Madhad Himanshu V , Vasava Dilip V
Published: October 2019

In polymer nanocomposites, graphene is possibly the most promising nanofiller. Graphene produces impressive properties for polymers at very low filler content, which makes it highly interesting in building high-performance materials compared to other classes of polymer nanocomposites. Graphene-modified polymer nanocomposites have attracted much attention in scientific literature because of the need of superior materials with desirable properties such as electrical, mechanical, thermal, flame retardant, and gas barrier. Frequent studies have been attempted to produce graphene–polyamide (G-PA) nanocomposites with novel and improved properties. Based on this review, one can identify the synthesis technique and preparation for G-PA nanocomposites, which can further be useful in numerous applications.
Study on damage behavior characteristics of asphalt binder under strain loading condition
Authors: Zhu Jian-Yong , Huang Wei-Rong
Published: October 2019

The fatigue behavior of asphalt mixture is the main reason that affects the service performance and service life of asphalt pavement. The fatigue mechanism of asphalt mixture is still unclear. In fact, the fatigue damage of asphalt mixture is mainly related to the nature of asphalt binder. Therefore, the study of the damage of asphalt binder is beneficial to reveal the fatigue failure mechanism of asphalt mixture. At present, there is no clear damage behavior method of asphalt binder. Considering that the damage behavior of asphalt binder is actually related to its rheological behavior, the shear rheological method is used to evaluate the damage behavior of asphalt binder. The complex modulus is used as the evaluation index of asphalt damage behavior. Because the strain loading mode is consistent with the actual force of the binder in the asphalt mixture. The damage behavior of asphalt binder is studied by time scanning mode under controlled-strain mode. The influence of temperature, loading frequency, and other parameters on the damage behavior of asphalt binder is analyzed. Through the data analysis, the asphalt damage curve meets Boltzmann distribution. At the same time, the characteristics of asphalt damage curve are analyzed. It is proposed that there are three inflection points and two platforms for the typical damage curve of asphalt binder. The three inflection points divide the damage behavior of asphalt into elastic deformation stage, yield stage, crack growth stage, and failure stage. The effects of temperature and loading frequency on the curve characteristics are summarized. For asphalt binder with higher stiffness, the damage curve of asphalt binder is “L” type when the strain level and loading frequency are larger. When the temperature is higher, the loading frequency is smaller, and the strain is smaller, the damage curve will gradually change to anti-“S” type or even linear.
Dysbiosis of the Gut Microbiome: A Concept Analysis
Authors: Perez Nicole B. , Dorsen Caroline , Squires Allison
Published: October 2019

Background:Gut microbes influence the development several chronic conditions marking them as targets for holistic care, prevention strategies, and potential treatments. Microbiome studies are relatively new to health research and present unfamiliar terms to clinicians and researchers. “Dysbiosis” often refers to an alteration in the gut microbiome, but conceptual clarification is rarely provided. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to refine a conceptual definition of dysbiosis based on a review of nursing literature. Method: A Rodgerian approach to concept analysis was used. CINAHL, PubMed, and Web of Science were queried using “dysbiosis” through December 2018. Each article was analyzed with regard to the antecedents, attributes, and consequences of dysbiosis. Essential elements were tabulated and compared across studies to determine recurring themes and notable outliers. Findings: Analysis revealed several important antecedences, attributes, and consequences of dysbiosis. The findings also elucidated notable gaps and highlighted the co-evolving nature of the proposed definition with advances in microbiome research. Conclusion: This article adds a proposed definition of dysbiosis, offering a contribution of conceptual clarity upon which to enhance dialogue and build research. The definition emphasizes risk factors and consequences of dysbiosis as implications for holistic nursing practice.
Validation of an anti-slip control method based on the angular acceleration of a wheel on a roller rig
Authors: Zirek Abdulkadir , Voltr Petr , Lata Michael
Published: October 2019

This study deals with the validation of an anti-slip control method that is based on the acceleration of a wheel. The method uses the angular acceleration signal and a threshold value to prevent the wheel from a severe slip. Initially, the implemented method was tested with an experimental roller rig under several wheel–roller surface conditions (half-dry, wet and greasy). Then, the validity of the control algorithm was verified using the numerical model of a full-scale roller rig that is built via the MATLAB editor, with the simulation scenarios following the experiments. The results from both experiments and simulations confirm that the acceleration-based slip regulation controller prevents the excessive wheel slip and improves the traction performance of a rail vehicle. Moreover, it is observed that the performance of the controller could be further improved by properly setting the control parameters of the acceleration-based slip regulation controller.
Visually Entrained Theta Oscillations Increase for Unexpected Events in the Infant Brain
Authors: Köster Moritz , Langeloh Miriam , Hoehl Stefanie
Published: October 2019

Infants form basic expectations about their physical and social environment, as indicated by their attention toward events that violate their expectations. Yet little is known about the neuronal processing of unexpected events in the infant brain. Here, we used rhythmic visual brain stimulation in 9-month-olds ( N = 38) to elicit oscillations of the theta (4 Hz) and the alpha (6 Hz) rhythms while presenting events with unexpected or expected outcomes. We found that visually entrained theta oscillations sharply increased for unexpected outcomes, in contrast to expected outcomes, in the scalp-recorded electroencephalogram. Visually entrained alpha oscillations did not differ between conditions. The processing of unexpected events at the theta rhythm may reflect learning processes such as the refinement of infants’ basic representations. Visual brain-stimulation techniques provide new ways to investigate the functional relevance of neuronal oscillatory dynamics in early brain development.
Causal variance decompositions for institutional comparisons in healthcare
Authors: Chen Bo , Lawson Keith A , Finelli Antonio , Saarela Olli
Published: October 2019

There is increasing interest in comparing institutions delivering healthcare in terms of disease-specific quality indicators (QIs) that capture processes or outcomes showing variations in the care provided. Such comparisons can be framed in terms of causal models, where adjusting for patient case-mix is analogous to controlling for confounding, and exposure is being treated in a given hospital, for instance. Our goal here is to help identify good QIs rather than comparing hospitals in terms of an already chosen QI, and so we focus on the presence and magnitude of overall variation in care between the hospitals rather than the pairwise differences between any two hospitals. We consider how the observed variation in care received at patient level can be decomposed into that causally explained by the hospital performance adjusting for the case-mix, the case-mix itself, and residual variation. For this purpose, we derive a three-way variance decomposition, with particular attention to its causal interpretation in terms of potential outcome variables. We propose model-based estimators for the decomposition, accommodating different link functions and either fixed or random effect models. We evaluate their performance in a simulation study and demonstrate their use in a real data application.
Socio-economic Empowerment of Women Through Micro-entrepreneurship: Evidence from Odisha, India
Authors: Senapati Asis Kumar , Ojha Kalpana
Published: October 2019

Micro, small and medium enterprises play a pivotal role in the country which can contribute to women empowerment providing them employment opportunity. It is a key force in improving the economic condition of women providing employment to highly qualified as well as less qualified women for their overall development and helps to recognize their inherent ability to be engaged in the non-agricultural sector when employment in the agricultural sector is static. The present study attempts to assess the socio-economic empowerment of women through entrepreneurship and identify several problems faced by them in managing the enterprise. A total of 100 samples were surveyed for the purpose of the study. Simple random sampling has been used to collect data from 30 registered entrepreneurs. Through snowball sampling, 70 unregistered entrepreneurs were interviewed in the area. Both quantitative and qualitative data have been collected through a structured questionnaire using direct interview method. OLS regression and ordered logistic regression models have been used to explore the determinants of empowerment. Again, different constraints the entrepreneurs confronted during initiation and current management have been explored. The key economic variables are income, expenditure and enterprise decision making that are likely to increase the economic empowerment scores. All social empowerment variables except physical mobility are likely to increase social empowerment scores. The prime constituents of obtaining high overall empowerment status are income, self-employment, participation in domestic decision-making, independently managing personal matters, credit management, leisure, unpaid work, confidence in one’s own self, and social recognition. The study found that finance is the key challenge in start-ups and running expenses of enterprises. In addition, work-life and family imbalance, and marketing are recognized as prominent, followed by lack of lucrative price and heavy workloads.
Barriers to Breast Cancer Screening and Coping Strategies in Korean American Women
Authors: Lee Mi Hwa , Schwartz Abby J.
Published: October 2019

Introduction: To develop more culturally appropriate and effective intervention strategies, this qualitative study explored Korean American women’s barriers to mammography and their coping strategies within their sociocultural context. Methodology: Semistructured individual interviews were conducted with 30 Korean American women in 2016. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data and identify themes. Results: Four themes and their associated subthemes emerged from the data: (1) barriers to accessing mammography (cost, time consuming and complicated procedure, and language barriers), (2) psychosocial concerns related to mammography (pain, discomfort and embarrassment, and exposure to radiation), (3) strategies to access mammography (identifying ways to get a cost-free mammogram and having procedure done in home country), and (4) ways to deal with psychosocial concerns (being positive and avoiding or postponing the procedures). Discussion: Health professionals should account for cultural differences including, but not limited to, patients’ concerns, access to care, and beliefs surrounding screening processes.
A metamaterial structure capable of wave attenuation and concurrent energy harvesting
Authors: Chen Jung-San , Su Wei-Jiun , Cheng Yi , Li Wei-Chang , Lin Cheng-Yen
Published: October 2019

In this study, the capability of wave attenuation as well as energy harvesting in a metamaterial beam with built-in resonators is presented. Each resonator consists of a pretensioned elastic membrane and split-ring masses. The flexural wave band characteristics, eigenmodes, and frequency response are predicted by finite element method. Experiments are conducted to verify the finite element results. The results show that, with proper resonators, vibration caused by disturbances can be conspicuously attenuated at certain frequencies. The attenuation region can be manipulated by adjusting the properties of the membrane-split-ring system. Besides, by adding piezoelectric patches to the membrane, the stored energy in the local resonator can be converted into electric power. The generated voltage output reaches a maximum at the frequency where wave is greatly attenuated. Finally, it is shown that double-layer resonators with parallel connection can generate twice as much voltage as the single-layer resonator.
Life in Neoliberal Institutions: Australian Stories
Authors: Davies Bronwyn
Published: October 2019

In this article, I examine some of the neoliberal technologies that have impacted Australian academics and their workplaces over the last three decades. My focus here is on the silencing of academics through those technologies. Neoliberalism works through entangled discourses and practices, which we academics have, in no small part, actively taken up. Recognizing the constitutive force of our naive collusion, and our own agency in the take-up and maintenance of neoliberalism, is relevant, first, to dispelling the sense of powerlessness that sucks the breath out of many in the academy, and, second, for mobilizing that agency in the development of collegial and collective practices that can contribute to the emergence of the post-neoliberal academy.
(Auto)Ethnography Underground: Some French “Fibrils” and “Scratches”
Authors: Beauchez Jérôme
Published: October 2019

This essay examines the ethnographer’s “underground” as a foundational research space lacking in light: the light provided by being fully aware of our motives and by illuminating the “lack” that leads us to look for something in others, who then become the human instruments of our research. From as early as the 1930s, the ethnographic “I” was central to how Michel Leiris viewed his engagement with research, so much so that the French writer and researcher is an often forgotten or underestimated precursor of a type of reflexivity that has placed questioning research subjects at the heart of (auto)ethnography. This essay returns to the forms taken by Leiris’s writing, viewing them as a foundational impulse for an autoethnography that takes a detour to the self via others without this simply being a return to the self.
Uniform stress state inside a non-elliptical inhomogeneity near an irregularly shaped hole in antiplane shear
Authors: Wang Xu , Schiavone Peter
Published: October 2019

Analytic continuation and conformal mapping techniques are applied to establish that the state of stress inside a non-elliptical elastic inhomogeneity can remain uniform despite the presence of a nearby irregularly shaped hole when the surrounding matrix is subjected to uniform remote antiplane shear stresses. The hole boundary is assumed to be either traction-free or subjected to antiplane line forces. Detailed numerical results are presented to demonstrate the resulting analytical solutions. Our results indicate that in maintaining a uniform stress distribution inside the inhomogeneity, it is permissible for the stresses in the matrix to exhibit either a square root singularity at sharp corners of a hole boundary or a high level of stress concentration at rounded corners of a hole.
Hospital at Home: An Overview of Literature
Authors: de Sousa Vale José , Franco Ana Isabel , Oliveira Catarina V. , Araújo Isabel , Sousa Denise
Published: October 2019

The development of new management solutions is needed to generate great changes in the health sector, especially in addressing the current collision course between growing health care demands, rising costs, and limited resources. One of these solutions is the hospital at home (HAH). This article aims to explore the existing literature, regarding possible health gains and economical outcomes in HAH programs versus traditional inpatient hospitalization. A search of literature was conducted to identify papers regarding HAH programs and their respective health and economical outcomes. The concept of HAH encompasses different levels or care schemes. Several examinations and treatments can be carried out at home. Hospital at home may optimize patient flow and relieve pressure on hospital bed availability. However, questions are raised regarding the uncertainty of the efficacy of HAH and the limited evidence on which model setting is most appropriate.
DICER1 Hotspot Mutations in Pleuropulmonary Blastoma: A Case Series From a Tertiary Center
Authors: Hurdogan O , Yilmaz I , Bay SB , Vural S , Tugcu D , Kebudi R , Gun F , Ozkan B , Bilgic B , Firat P , Yilmazbayhan D , Ozluk Y
Published: October 2019

Pleuropulmonary blastoma (PPB) is a potentially aggressive, rare childhood neoplasia. We investigated histopathological features, survival, and DICER1 hotspot mutations among PPB patients. Archive records at our institution were reviewed, covering a 20-year period. Thirteen children (6 males and 7 females) with a mean age of 30.5 (range 6–83) months were included. The tumor subtypes were type I in 6 (46%), type II in 4 (31%), and type III in 3 (23%). Only tumors with type II and type III histology showed anaplasia (4/7, 57%). Median follow-up was 28 (range 9–216) months. Three-year overall survival rate was 83.3% and 3-year progression-free survival rate was 25%. Progression was seen in 60% (3/5) of type I and 66.7% (4/6) of type II and type III cases. Two patients died of disseminated disease at 9 and 44 months. Hotspot missense mutations on DICER1 gene were detected in all 11 patients with available tumor tissue. We found an additional novel germline loss-of-function mutation (c.5436dupT; p.E1813*) in 1 case. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate hotspot missense mutations on DICER1 gene among the largest series of Turkish children with PPB.
“I’m Pleased with My Body”: Older Men’s Perceptions and Experiences of Their Aging Bodies
Authors: Hurd Laura , Mahal Raveena
Published: October 2019

To date, the body image literature has largely ignored older men, as the bulk of the research has focused on young and middle-aged women. Where studies have been conducted with older men, they have tended to only consider the perspectives of men in their 50s and 60s or to include older men as part of mixed gender or diverse age samples. Thus, little is known about how older men perceive, experience, and feel about their aging and changing bodies, even as the body is central to older men’s understanding and practice of masculinity as well as their position in age- and gender-based systems of inequality. Addressing this gap in the research, we conducted in-depth interviews with 22 community-dwelling men aged 67–90 years (average age of 77 years). Drawing upon age relations and masculinities theorizing, we asked the men about how they evaluated and felt about their appearances, health, physical abilities, and sexual functioning. Our thematic analysis revealed that the men were largely satisfied with their appearances and physical functioning, particularly their approximation to masculine ideals of youthfulness, healthiness, and independence. Whereas half of the men identified their weight as a source of body satisfaction, all of the men disparaged obesity and stereotypical older men’s enlarged stomachs in particular. That said, the men discounted appearance as an unimportant and feminized concern. In contrast, they emphasized the salience of health and body functionality, expressing concern about how changes to their physical abilities and sexual functioning had already affected, and might in the future increasingly delimit, their daily lives, and hence they preferred social and physical pursuits. We consider our findings in light of age and masculinity ideals, which collectively privilege youthful bodies and subordinate older men.
Urinary tract infection and subclinical bacteriuria in cats: A clinical update
Authors: Dorsch Roswitha , Teichmann-Knorrn Svenja , Sjetne Lund Heidi
Published: October 2019

Practical relevance:

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is an important cause of feline lower urinary tract disease (FLUTD), particularly in female cats older than 10 years of age. In addition to cats with typical clinical signs of FLUTD or upper UTI, many cats have subclinical bacteriuria, but the clinical relevance of this is currently uncertain. UTIs are one of the most important indications for antimicrobial use in veterinary medicine and contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance. Adherence to treatment guidelines and confinement to a few first-line antimicrobial agents is imperative to avoid further deterioration of the antimicrobial resistance situation. The decision to treat with antimicrobials should be based on the presence of clinical signs, and/or concurrent diseases, and the results of urine culture and susceptibility testing.

Clinical challenges:

Distinguishing between cats with bacterial cystitis, and those with idiopathic cystitis and concurrent clinical or subclinical bacteriuria, is challenging, as clinical signs and urinalysis results may be identical. Optimal treatment of subclinical bacteriuria requires clarification as there is currently no evidence that demonstrates a beneficial effect of routine treatment. Management of recurrent UTIs remains a challenge as evidence for most alternatives used for prevention in cats is mainly anecdotal, and no preventive treatment modality is currently recommended.

Evidence base:

This review draws on an extensive literature base in veterinary and human medicine, including the recently updated guidelines of the International Society for Companion Animal Infectious Diseases for the diagnosis and management of bacterial urinary tract infections in dogs and cats. Where published evidence is lacking, the authors describe their own approach; notably, for the bacteriuric cat with chronic kidney disease.
Late-Onset Dysphagia From Hardware Migration After Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion: An Unusual Cause and Review of Literature
Authors: Fryer Callum , Tan Hsern Ern , Bakmeedeniya Roshitha , Friedland Peter Leon
Published: October 2019

Post-operative dysphagia is the most common complication following anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF), with reports varying from 1% to 79%. We report a case of a 63-year-old female patient complaining of dysphagia presenting 9 years post surgery. The cause of dysphagia is often multifactorial with the true aetiology poorly understood. One potentially life-threatening cause of post-operative dysphagia is hardware migration associated with pharyngoesophageal perforation. This patient presents a unique case of a conservatively managed hardware migration with delayed onset dysphagia after 8 years of minimal symptoms. On further investigation, barium swallow identified a freely mobile screw in the oesophageal submucosa, rotating on swallowing. Retrieval of the screw was achieved transcervically with no visible perforation and resolution of dysphagia occurred 1 week post-operatively. Understanding the aetiology with early diagnosis and appropriate management of delayed hardware migration are paramount in reducing patient morbidity and potential life-threatening otolaryngologic complications.
Cognitive trajectories in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis: A longitudinal 6-year study
Authors: Damasceno Alfredo , Pimentel-Silva Luciana Ramalho , Damasceno Benito Pereira , Cendes Fernando
Published: October 2019

Background:

Information concerning longitudinal cognitive trajectories in multiple sclerosis (MS) is relatively scarce. Moreover, it is unclear which factors are associated with cognitive decline and what is the clinical impact of cognitive impairment (CI) in the long run.

Objective:

To investigate cognitive trajectories in relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS) patients, analyzing clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) predictors of cognitive decline.

Methods:

We enrolled 42 patients and 30 controls. They underwent brain MRI and clinical/neuropsychological evaluation at baseline and after 1, 2, and 6 years. We evaluated cognitive domains with principal component analysis and performed multivariable regression analyzing predictors of clinical/cognitive deterioration. We also performed repeated measures analysis to assess whether clinical progression was different according to CI at baseline.

Results:

A total of 23 (62.2%) patients deteriorated in combined cognitive domains after 6 years, most in processing speed and memory. The number of baseline impaired cognitive domains was strongly associated with 6-year cognitive ( R2 = 0.452; p < 0.001) and Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) deterioration ( R2 = 0.263; p < 0.001). Patients with baseline CI in combined domains had worse clinical progression.

Conclusion:

Isolated CI tends to become more widespread, affecting memory and processing speed alongside. The extent of baseline CI was the best predictor of both clinical and cognitive deterioration after 6 years.