bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Description and Validation of a Novel Score (Flow Index) as a Clinical Indicator of the Level of Respiratory Support to Children on High Flow Nasal Cannula
Authors: Tripathi Sandeep , Mcgarvey Jeremy S. , Shaikh Nadia , Meixsell Logan J.
Published: June 2021

This study's objective was to describe and validate flow index (flow rate × FiO2/weight) as a method to report the degree of respiratory support by high flow nasal cannula (HFNC) in children. We conducted a retrospective chart review of children managed with HFNC from January 1, 2015 to December 31, 2019. Variables included in the flow index (weight, fraction of inspired oxygen [FiO2], flow rate) and outcomes (hospital and intensive care unit [ICU] length of stay [LOS], escalation to the ICU) were extracted from medical records. Max flow index was defined by the earliest timestamp when patients FiO2 × flow rate was maximum. Step-wise regression was used to determine the relationship between outcome (LOS and escalation to ICU) and flow index. Fifteen hundred thirty-seven patients met the study criteria. The median first and maximum flow indexes of the population were 24.1 and 38.1. Both first and maximum flow indexes showed a significant correlation with the LOS (r = 0.25 and 0.31, p < 0.001). Correlation for the index was stronger than that of the variables used to calculate them and remained significant after controlling for age, race, sex, and diagnoses. Mild, moderate, and severe categories of first and max flow index were derived using quartiles, and they showed significant age and diagnosis independent association with LOS. Patients with first flow index >20 and maximum flow index >59.5 had increased odds ratio of escalation to ICU (odds ratio: 2.39 and 8.08). The first flow index had a negative association with rapid response activation. Flow index is a valid measure for assessing the degree of respiratory support for children on HFNC.
A Case of Influenza Virus-Induced Acute Cerebellitis Treated with Steroid Pulse Therapy
Authors: Hirota Yukiho , Minamikawa Shogo , Ishida Yusuke , Maruyama Azusa , Nakagishi Yasuo
Published: June 2021

Acute cerebellitis (AC) is characterized by acute onset cerebellar ataxia brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) abnormalities of the cerebellum. The most common cause of AC is viral infection, and some patients with AC experience neurological sequelae. AC associated with influenza virus is extremely rare, and its prognosis and treatment are unknown. We present the case of a 2-year-old boy with influenza virus-induced AC who was treated with pulse steroid therapy. The patient presented with fever, anorexia, vomiting, malaise, altered consciousness, truncal ataxia, dysmetria, and dysarthria. He was diagnosed with influenza using a nasopharyngeal antigen test. Brain MRI showed hyperintense T2 and diffusion-weighted signal abnormalities in the cerebellar white matter and dentate nuclei bilaterally. The patient was treated with two courses of pulse methylprednisolone therapy and recovered completely in 2 months after the onset. The prognosis of AC is poorer than that of acute cerebellar ataxia, which shows similar symptoms to AC with normal brain MRI. The type of virus might also be associated with the prognosis of AC. Literature review showed that one of the five cases (including the present case, 20%) reported with influenza-associated AC was noted to have neurological sequelae, which might be more severe than those of varicella-zoster-related AC. Given that the pathogenesis of AC is assumed to be immune-mediated, pulse methylprednisolone therapy might be a good option for the treatment of influenza virus-induced AC.
The Impact of Haemophilus Influenzae and Streptococcus Pneumoniae Vaccination in Bacterial Meningitis in a Pediatric Referral Hospital in Mexico
Authors: Macias Parra Mercedes , Medina-Vera Isabel , Arias De la Garza Eduardo , Rodriguez Weber Miguel A. , León-Lara Ximena
Published: June 2021

Objective This study aimed to compare the epidemiology of bacterial meningitis (BM) before and after vaccination, and identify possible risk factors associated with mortality.

Methods The medical and microbiologic records of children (1 month–18 years) with a discharge diagnosis of BM in a third level children's hospital in Mexico from 1990 to 2018 were reviewed. The epidemiology, pathogens, and outcomes were compared before and after introducing Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines to the Mexican immunization schedule. Risk factors associated with mortality were determined.

Results In the 28-year period, 226 cases with BM were included 55.8% (1990–1999), 27.4% (2000–2008), and 16.8% (2009–2018) (p = 0.0001). The most frequent pathogen was Hib, documented in 39% of cases. There was a reduction in neurological complications after introducing the Hib conjugate vaccine (59 vs. 39%; p = 0.003) and sequelae after the Streptococcus pneumoniae conjugate vaccine (43 vs. 35%; p = 0.05). Independent risk factors associated with mortality were coma (odds ratio [OR]: 15 [2.9–78]), intracerebral bleeding (OR: 3.5 [1.4–12]), and pneumococcal meningitis (OR: 9.4 [2.2–39]).

Conclusion Since the introduction of Hib and pneumococcal conjugate vaccines to the national immunization schedule, there was a reduction in BM cases, mainly associated with the Hib vaccine, with the consequent reduction of neurological complications and sequelae.
A Case Report of Mycetoma and Cranial Osteomyelitis by Nocardia nova
Authors: Vilardouro Ana Sofia , Ferreira João , Alpalhão Miguel , Neves Marco , Marques José Gonçalo , Filipe Paulo
Published: June 2021

Mycetoma is a chronic, localized, slowly progressive, granulomatous infection of the skin that may progress to subcutaneous tissue, muscle and bone. It is an infrequent manifestation of Nocardia infection that predominantly occurs on the lower extremities.

A previously healthy, 17-year-old boy presented to us with a 3-month history of scalp abscesses. On physical examination he had numerous, large left parietal and occipital inflammatory nodules on the scalp covered by alopecic skin and several sinuses discharging a purulent and serosanguinous material. He underwent a CT-scan and an MRI of the skull that revealed signs of cranial osteomyelitis and epidural empyema. Polymerase chain reaction assay of the purulent exudate was performed and identified Nocardia nova. The patient was discharged from the hospital after 8 weeks of antibiotherapy with meropenem and TMP-SMX with clinical, laboratorial and imaging improvement. He completed 12 months of outpatient oral therapy with TMP-SMX, after which cranial CT-scan showed a significant reduction of soft tissue thickening and bone reconstitution, with no relapses after stopping the treatment.

The best antibiotic regimen and length of treatment are not established for the management of nocardiosis. This is an unusual and severe presentation of infection by Nocardia nova with extent to the bone and epidural space, with full recovery under standard antibiotic therapy. This case shows that a good outcome may be achieved with prolonged antimicrobial treatment in an immunocompetent patient.
A Curious Case of Progressive Respiratory Failure Due to Anterior Spinal Cord Infarction in an Adolescent Boy: A Case Report and Review of the Literature
Authors: Putzeys Caroline Chinchilla , Batra Mansi , Maertens Paul , Sharma Kamal
Published: June 2021

Clinical features of cervical spontaneous spinal cord infarctions (SSCIs) remain poorly described in the literature. The goal of this article was to improve recognition of cervical SSCI, a rare but life-threatening condition. We presented a 15-year-old adolescent male patient who developed neck pain with weakness and numbness in all four limbs half an hour after returning from a hike in the late afternoon. The next morning, he was brought to the emergency room due to persistent weakness, vomiting, and progressive respiratory distress. He was promptly intubated for airway protection. Pupils were 2 mm, sluggishly reactive, and all four extremities were flaccid. He was found to have anterior spinal cord syndrome. Light touch (brush) was normal down to the posterior aspect of shoulders. Cervical magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed increased T2/short-tau inversion recovery and decreased T1 signal of the anterior spinal cord from C3 to C7. Four days later, MRI of the spinal cord showed restricted diffusion of anterior spinal cord consistent with radicular artery territory infarction. The work-ups for infection, thrombosis, and cardioembolism were all negative. Three months later, he still had incomplete Brown-Séquard's syndrome, as position sense was preserved. There was in addition bilateral loss of pain and temperature sensations below the clavicles. MRI showed cervical myelomalacia most severe between C3 and C5. Furthermore, MRI showed changes in C3–C4 intervertebral disc, consistent with a fibrocartilaginous embolism via retrograde arterial route into the anterior spinal artery. This article demonstrates the importance of recognizing subtle clinical clues leading to cervical SSCI diagnosis.
Periodicals in Chile during the Government of Salvador Allende and the Dictatorship
Authors: Zamorano Díaz César
Published: June 2021

Periodicals have been a significant part of Chile’s cultural history. Groups and networks of writers, intellectuals, and artists have orbited around literary and cultural periodicals with the aim of disseminating cultural and aesthetic projects. The study of periodicals addresses dialogues that have moved from the specificities of their disciplinary practice to political and social contexts. Reconstructing the trajectory of periodicals allows for the articulation of a dialogue with the voices that congregate in them to propose, question, and harbor specific currents capable of intervening in the configuration of the disciplines, the theoretical and cultural guidelines that determine an era. Dialogues that at certain junctures can transcend this resonance and expand considerably.

The history of Chile as read through cultural and literary periodicals reveals the concerns that the cultural and artistic debate promoted during two distinct periods: during the Unidad Popular project, led by the government of Salvador Allende (1970–1973), and its interruption with the coup d’état that initiated one of the bloodiest and most extensive dictatorships in Latin America (1973–1990). These concerns were articulated within a decisive collaboration of artists and writers during the Unidad Popular and altered under the persecution and rupture with the state during the dictatorship. In these two moments the journals opened debates and proposed and discussed ideas from a specific historical time, along with problematizing the exercise of their intellectual practice and reflecting on the disciplinary limits that sustain them. The analysis of the trajectory of periodicals in the cultural history of Chile recognizes the social, political, and cultural transformations of these two moments in the history of Chile.
Corruption and Business Ethics
Authors: Koven Steven G. , Perez Abby
Published: June 2021

Corruption remains a way of life for many cultures and subcultures, an ethos that is often consistent with the goal of corporate profit maximization. Corruption may yield benefits at the personal or individual firm level, but at the societal level corruption is detrimental to aggregate growth, individual effort, and faith in institutions. Corruption, as defined by the Oxford English Dictionary, is dishonest or fraudulent conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. Corruption exists on a continuum that can range from rampant to minimal. Rampant corruption exists when entire organizations willingly and knowingly promote actions that are injurious to workers, consumers, or society as a whole. Egregious examples include knowingly producing and selling harmful products or ignoring conditions that impair the health and safety of workers. At the other extreme, minimal corruption can include petty violations such as stealing a small amount of office supplies for personal use.

Moral, ethical, and legal guides have evolved over time in efforts to ameliorate the most obvious and egregious forms of corruption. These guides are supported by perspectives of philosophy such as utilitarianism, deontology, virtue ethics, intuition, and ethical relativism. Each of these perspectives represent an important and qualitatively different lens in which to assess ethical behavior. While some philosophical viewpoints emphasize the categorical nature of right or wrong action, others emphasize context, net benefits of actions, or individual virtue reflected in individual actions, and perspectives that are systematically reviewed. Philosophical influences are viewed as highly relevant to an understanding of modern-day corruption. Business ethics is also influenced by various competitive and complementary models that compete for influence. While the market model of business ethics has long endured, alternative perspectives of business ethics such as the stakeholder model of corporate social responsibility and the sustainability model have recently arisen in popular discourse and are explored. These alternative models seek to replace or supplement the market model and advocate for a greater recognition of environmental responsibilities as well as responsibilities to a broad array of stakeholders in society such as workers and consumers. Alternative models move beyond the narrow perspective of profit maximization and consider ethical implications of business decisions in terms of their effects on others in society as well as future generations. Various philosophical perspectives of ethics are examined, as well as how these perspectives can be applied to attain a more complete understanding of the concept of corruption.
A Researcher’s Toolkit for Observational Methods
Authors: Pratt Michael G. , Sala Gabriel R.
Published: June 2021

Central to all empirical research—in particular, inductive qualitative field research—observations can provide core insights to work practices, the physical or material elements of organizations, and the integrity of research informants. Yet management research has devoted less attention to observations than it has to other methods. Hence, providing resources and guidance to current and aspiring researchers as to what constitutes observations and how to tackle key questions that must be addressed in designing and implementing observations is key.

Observing, as pertains to research, can be defined as a method that involves using one’s senses, guided by one’s attention, to gather information on, for example, (a) what people are doing (acts, activities, events); (b) where they are doing it (location); and (c) what they are doing it with (objects), over a period of time. Once researchers have determined they want to engage in observation, they have to make several decisions. First, they have to figure out whether observation is a good fit with their study and research question(s). If so, various other choices must be made with regard to degree of revelation, degree of immersion, time in the field, and how to be present in the research context, and still more choices follow. Researchers need to decide when to start (and stop) observing as well as how to observe, record, and report their findings. The article provides a decision-tree model of observational methods to guide researchers through these various choices.
The Independent Media of New Zealand
Authors: Kenix Linda Jean
Published: June 2021

New Zealand has high global measures for press freedom, democracy, and wealth. Historically, if a country has had strong index rankings for press freedom, democracy, and wealth, they also have a robust independent media system. However, that has not been the case in New Zealand where the independent media is lacking, despite the fact the country ranks extremely highly for press freedom, democracy, and wealth. The lack of a robust independent media in New Zealand may be due to five unique reasons: the small size of the country, the reliance on international news, a wariness toward the entire media landscape, the reserved culture of New Zealand, and the flood of content online.
Economic Crisis and Public Administration
Authors: Cepiku Denita , Giordano Filippo
Published: June 2021

The last global financial and economic crisis started in 2007–2008; it had serious effects on public sectors of OECD countries and was still affecting some of them when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Different streams of literature contribute to understanding the public management and governance challenges emerging from economic crises: the public administration literature on cutback management of the late 1970s and 1980s, the contemporary literature on managing austerity, and the more generic management literature on organizational decline.

Although public administrations are reacting to the same global crisis, they are expected to adopt a variety of approaches when designing policy and managerial responses, including strategic approaches, across-the-board approaches (cheese-slicing or piecemeal incremental shifts), or rhetoric and inertia, avoiding real change and manipulating discursive frames. A strategic approach is based on systematic, selective, or targeted measures, and it includes different reactions to the crisis, such as a directive, hollow, or communitarian approach.

In light of the different approaches available to public administrations for addressing an economic crisis, attention turns to the factors that determine such a choice. Public administrations’ responses to austerity are shaped by external and internal determinants. The external drivers make the crisis faced by each public administration longer or more severe and shape the way public managers react. External forces include economic and social features of the environment in which the public administration operates as well as national austerity policies. According to the literature, the harsher the fiscal stress, the more likely it is that targeted cuts will be adopted, instead of an across-the-board approach that doesn’t take into account the different levels of efficiency of public administrations or the strategic priority of different policy areas.

Internal forces influencing crisis management approaches are financial and fiscal dimensions, such as financial autonomy (reliance on central government for revenue), spending autonomy and flexibility, degree of fiscal stress, and financial vulnerability. All these forces influence a proactive response to the crisis. Another key factor is leadership: the literature is excessively focused on incentives faced by political leaders, and few studies examine the role of administrative leadership.

Finally, the crisis management approach matters in terms of impact; the literature developed after the 1970s and 2007–2008 global economic crises all agrees on this. Such a link, however, is difficult to assess.

Strategic and longer-term approaches seem to favor the strengthening of trust, resilience, and avoidance of electoral costs, whereas shorter-term changes lower employee morale, create recruitment and retention problems, cause loss of managerial expertise, cause distraction from the core purpose of the service, and increase costs.
Rational Choice Perspectives on Bureaucracy
Authors: Bertelli Anthony M. , Palma Nicola
Published: June 2021

Formal models of bureaucracy have attracted significant attention as a systematic body of theory in the past decades. Scholars in this tradition examine institutions and organizations, uncovering incentives that can explain and help to design governance. Scholars in the rational choice tradition study the relationship between politicians and bureaucrats as an incomplete contracting problem between a political principal and a bureaucratic agent. When elected representatives delegate policymaking authority to an administrative agency, they face hidden action problems when the agency takes unobservable actions, and hidden information problems when there are things about agency policy preferences that representatives cannot easily learn. A wide variety of bureaucratic policymaking problems can be modeled as variations on these information problems. Formal theorists have considered resources and discretionary authority as variables that can be optimized to mitigate agency problems, and the models have both positive and normative implications.
The Agenda-Setting Process and Crises: Toward a Conceptual Framework
Authors: Resodihardjo Sandra L.
Published: June 2021

An agenda is a list of issues being discussed and sometimes decided upon. This discussion can take place in society (the public agenda), in media outlets (the media agenda), and in government institutions (the political agenda). The number of issues that can be discussed in these fora is limited and thus not every issue will get onto the agenda. Actors will therefore try to put some issues on the agenda while blocking others. Not all issues, however, have the same weight. Some issues (such as the economy) are of such a magnitude that they can bump other issues off the agenda.

This ability to push issues from the agenda is also attributed to crises. After all, an event with such an impact on society will surely affect what is being discussed. Reality, however, is more complex, starting with the fact that society may not perceive an event to be a crisis even though it has a huge impact on those directly affected. And even if society defines the event as a crisis, which aspect(s) of the crisis will be put on the agenda? Will the focus be on, for instance, preventative measures, or the fact that some parts of the population were more affected by the crisis than others?

By combining several strands of literature (most notably the agenda-setting, media, and framing literature), it is possible to discern five elements that need to be included in a conceptual framework if one wants to explain how crises affect the agenda-setting process. These five elements are (a) agenda interaction, (b) windows of opportunity, (c) entrepreneurs, (d) venue shopping, and (e) framing and problem definition. Agenda interaction refers to the interaction between and within the three types of agendas: the public, the media, and the political agendas. If political actors are, for example, able to define the event as minor and this definition is accepted by the public and the media, the issue will drop from all agendas. Windows of opportunity are moments in time when issues can be pushed onto the agenda and may even lead to policy change. Crises are one way to open these windows. A person who is trying to use that window to get a problem or solution on the agenda (and sometimes succeeding) is an entrepreneur. Other actions entrepreneurs can use include venue shopping—strategically selecting (and trying to access) those decision making arenas that seem to be a good bet when one tries to win a debate. To get access to these venues, however, entrepreneurs need to ensure that they frame the problem in such a way that a venue will decide that the issue falls under its jurisdiction. Framing also plays a role in whether an event becomes defined as a crisis, which type of window will open, and which particular aspect of the crisis will make it onto the agenda.
Thailand: Camouflaged Khakistocracy in Civil–Military Relations
Authors: Chambers Paul W.
Published: June 2021

The history of civil–military relations in Thailand has paralleled the gradual post-1980 primacy of monarchical power over the country. Until 1932, the monarchy ruled absolute across Siam (Thailand). From 1932 until 1980, the military held more clout than the monarchy (though the palace slowly increased its influence after 1957). Since 1980, monarchy and military have dominated the country with the military as junior partner. The two form a khakistocracy: the military’s uniform color of khaki combined with the aristocracy (monarchy). Though there have been brief instances of elected civilian governments, all were overthrown by the military. In fact, Thailand likely holds the record for the highest number of military putsches in the world. Since the death of King Bhumipol Adulyadej in 2016, the clout of the armed forces has become more centralized under his successor and son King Maha Vajiralongkorn. At the same time, post-2019 Prime Minister (and post-2014 junta leader) General Prayuth Chanocha has sought to entrench military power across Thailand. As a result, in 2021, the monarchy and military continue to enhance authoritarian rule as a khakistocracy camouflaged behind the guise of a charade form of democracy. Civil–military relations represent exclusively a partnership between the monarch and the armed forces.
Myanmar: Civil–Military Relations in a Tutelary Regime
Authors: Bünte Marco
Published: June 2021

Myanmar has had one of the longest ruling military regimes in the world. Ruling directly or indirectly for more than five decades, Myanmar’s armed forces have been able to permeate the country’s main political institutions, its economy, and its society. Myanmar is a highly revealing case study for examining the trajectory of civil–military relations over the past seven decades. Myanmar ended direct military rule only in 2011 after the military had become the most powerful institution in society, weakened the political party opposition severely, coopted several ethnic armed groups, and built up a business empire that allowed it to remain financially independent. The new tutelary regime—established in 2011 after proclaiming a roadmap to “discipline flourishing democracy” in 2003, promulgating a new constitution in 2008, and holding (heavily scripted) elections in 2010—allowed a degree of power-sharing between elected civilian politicians and the military for a decade. Although policymaking in economic, financial, and social arenas was transferred to the elected government, the military remained in firm control of external and internal security and continued to be completely autonomous in the management of its own affairs. As a veto power, the military was also able to protect its prerogatives from a position of strength. Despite this dominant position in the government, civil–military relations were hostile and led to a coup in February 2021. The military felt increasingly threatened and humiliated as civilians destroyed the guardrails it had put in place to protect its core interests within the tutelary regime. The military also felt increasingly alienated as the party the military had established repeatedly failed to perform in the elections.
The U.S. Civil–Military Relations Gap and the Erosion of Historical Democratic Norms
Authors: Ulrich Marybeth P.
Published: June 2021

The gap between the American people and the United States military is growing, with implications for the preservation of democratic institutions. The gap has contributed to the erosion of democratic norms by negatively affecting perceptions of citizenship obligations and weakening the attachment to national institutions. Ironically, a feature of the gap is the rise of a “warrior caste” of men and women who self-select to join the all-volunteer force (AVF), leaving the remaining 99.5% of citizens to think that national defense is a concern for “other people.” With only 1 in 200 Americans directly involved in military service, the wars that the AVF serves in do not directly affect most Americans or their elected representatives. This indifference has led to perpetual wars with poor oversight, eroding the democratic norm of citizen oversight of and participation in the nation’s wars. The civil–military gap can be mitigated with a comprehensive expansion of programs that offer opportunities for military and national service, the adoption of more robust civic education in civilian and military education systems, and fostering a culture of defense among the citizenry.
Job Insecurity
Authors: De Cuyper Nele , De Witte Hans
Published: June 2021

Job insecurity has been high on the policy and research agenda since the 1980s: there has always been cause for concern about job loss, though those causes may vary across context and time. Job insecurity is particularly prevalent among employees with a more precarious profile, in particular employees in blue-collar positions or on temporary contracts, and among employees in jobs of lower quality. Job insecurity has typically been advanced as a stressor and a cause for imbalance in the employment relationship, which has led to the hypothesis that job insecurity induces strain (e.g., poorer health and well-being), poorer attitudes vis-à-vis the job and the organization (e.g., poorer organizational commitment), and poorer performance. This hypothesis has found overall support. In addition, job insecurity also threatens one’s identity, and this has been related to more conservative social attitudes and behaviors, for example, in terms of voting intentions and behavior. Finally, job insecurity affects outcomes beyond the current job and the organization: it affects other stakeholders, for example, labor unions and families, and it has scarring effects in the long term. Studies have also attempted to identify moderators that could buffer the relationship between job insecurity and outcomes; these mostly concern personal, job, and organizational resources. Other studies have sought to explain differences between countries in terms of both structural features and cultural values.
Ideological Polarization and Social Psychology
Authors: Eibach Richard
Published: June 2021

Ideology is a recurrent feature of human societies. Ideologies provide people with frameworks to evaluate the relative legitimacy of different approaches to social order. Such ideologies often involve an opposition between right-leaning ideologies, which tend to justify and maintain the traditional order, and left-leaning ideologies, which advocate for systemic reforms to reduce hierarchies. Social psychological investigations of ideology explore the root motivations and moral foundations of people’s attraction to left versus right ideologies. In particular, such work focuses on understanding the motivational dynamics of ideologies that justify the status quo, promote authoritarian control, and rationalize social dominance hierarchies. Social psychological research also investigates information-processing biases that increase the polarization between left and right. These insights can be applied to bridge divides within ideologically polarized communities.
Person–Environment Fit From an Organizational Psychology Perspective
Authors: Sekiguchi Tomoki , Yang Yunyue
Published: June 2021

Person–environment (PE) fit is broadly defined as the degree of congruence or match between a person and environment. It is relevant to various theoretical foundations, including the interactionist theory of behavior, the attraction–selection–attrition (ASA) theory, and the theory of work adjustment (TWA). PE fit is a complex and multidimensional construct that has different forms and dimensions, including person–vocation (PV) fit, person–organization (PO) fit, person–group (PG) fit, person–person (PP) fit, and person–job (PJ) fit. Accumulated research evidence shows that PE fit has separate and interactive effects on employee outcomes in terms of attitudes (e.g., satisfaction and commitment), well-being (e.g., stress and burnout), and work-related performance (e.g., task performance and organizational citizenship behavior). PE fit is inherently dynamic, and the level of PE fit changes over time when characteristics of the person and environment change. The change in PE fit also influences changes in work-related affect and behaviors. When employees perceive PE misfit, they tend to engage in change-oriented activities in order to reduce the pain of misfit or achieve a better fit. Finally, various organizational practices such as recruitment, selection, socialization, and training and development play important roles in determining the degree of PE fit.
Intergroup Behavior
Authors: Levy Aharon , Dovidio John F.
Published: June 2021

Intergroup behavior involves the feelings, perceptions, beliefs, and actions that groups and their members have toward another group and its members. It frequently involves various forms of bias, such as prejudice (negative feelings and evaluations), stereotypes (beliefs about groups and their members), and discrimination (unfair treatment). However, intergroup bias does not necessarily require overtly negative orientations toward another group. Such bias may reflect favorable attitudes toward members of one’s own group (the ingroup) and preferential treatment of them, rather than hostility or ill-treatment of other groups (outgroups). Intergroup behavior can also be positive, representing cooperation (conduct and exchange that benefits both the ingroup and the outgroup) or prosocial behavior (actions that improve the welfare of another group and its members). The nature of intergroup behavior is determined by psychological processes associated with social categorization, by the identification and motivations of group members, and by the consequent relationship between groups. These processes apply to almost any type of group, including but not limited to work teams, divisions within an organization, companies, sport clubs, ethnic groups, countries, religions, and races. Understanding the psychological dynamics of intergroup relations can guide the development of interventions to achieve stable, constructive, and mutually beneficial exchanges between groups and their members.
Cognitive Development in Chimpanzees
Authors: Matsuzawa Tetsuro
Published: June 2021

Cognitive development in chimpanzees has been illuminated through fieldwork and laboratory studies. Their life history reveals the importance of the mother–infant relationship. Females give birth at 5-year intervals on average, and the infants cling to their mothers in the first 3 months. Each chimpanzee community has its own unique cultural traditions, for example in tool use. How tools are used is passed across generations through social learning, in a process called education by master-apprenticeship. Laboratory studies in the early 21st century examined chimpanzees’ learning abilities even at the fetal stage. Chimpanzee and human cognition appear similar in both physical and social domains, and they follow the same developmental stages. However, there is a fundamental difference in the levels of complexity of hierarchical structure. Chimpanzees do not show the recursive and infinite levels that characterize human cognition. Chimpanzees are good at memorizing things at a glance but less skilled at representing things through imagination. The cognitive trade-off between working memory and language may explain the essential difference in cognitive development in the two species.
Neural Plasticity in Amblyopia
Authors: Thompson Benjamin
Published: June 2021

Early in life, the brain has a substantial capacity for change, often referred to as neuroplasticity. Disrupted visual input to the brain during an early “critical” or “sensitive period” of heightened neuroplasticity induces structural and functional changes within neural systems and causes amblyopia, a sensory disorder associated with abnormal development of the brain areas involved in perception. Amblyopia impairs a broad range of visual, multisensory, and motor functions, and recovery from amblyopia requires a substantial change in visual information processing within the brain. Therefore, not only is amblyopia caused by an interaction between visual experience and heightened neuroplasticity, recovery from amblyopia also requires significant neuroplastic change within the brain. A number of evidence-based treatments are available for young children with amblyopia whose brains are still rapidly developing and have a correspondingly high level of neuroplasticity. However, adults with amblyopia are often left untreated because of the idea that the adult brain no longer has sufficient neuroplasticity to relearn how to process visual information. In the early 21st century, it became clear that this idea was not correct. A number of interventions that can enhance neuroplasticity in the mature visual cortex have been identified using animal models of amblyopia and are now being translated into human studies. Other promising techniques for enhancing visual cortex neuroplasticity have emerged from studies of adult humans with amblyopia. Examples of interventions that may improve vision in adult amblyopia include refractive correction, patching of the amblyopic eye (reverse patching), monocular and binocular perceptual learning, noninvasive brain stimulation, systemic drugs, and exercise. The next important stage of research within this field will be to conduct fully controlled randomized clinical trials to assess which, if any, of these interventions can be translated into a mainstream treatment for amblyopia in adulthood.
Evolution, Biology, and Aggression
Authors: Krupp D.B.
Published: June 2021

There are numerous complementary approaches to the biology of aggression, ranging from genetic to cognitive research. Arguably, the most successful of them have been guided by hypotheses derived from evolutionary theory. In contrast to the view that human aggression is symptomatic of psychological impairment, social disorganization, or both, evolution-minded hypotheses typically begin from the premise that aggression has been designed by natural selection to serve one or more adaptive functions, and that the mechanisms involved can be sensitive to cues of reproductive consequences in the social environment. Specifically, anatomical, physiological, and psychological adaptations for aggression are expected to evolve when they help individuals secure resources and matings for themselves and for their genealogical kin. From a theoretical perspective, contexts of predation, sexual competition, and sexual conflict are especially likely to foment aggression. A considerable body of research on aggression in nonhuman animals reinforces the adaptationist position, and central findings of this viewpoint—such as differential risk of violence according to sex and kinship—are closely mirrored in humans. Although many features of human aggression are likely the result of adaptations designed to yield these very features, others are more plausibly understood as byproducts of adaptations designed for different purposes. In either case, evolutionary approaches can help to identify the mechanisms underlying aggression and thereby provide ways to reduce its impact.
Auditory Attention
Authors: Beaman C. Philip
Published: June 2021

The modern world is noisy. Streets are cacophonies of traffic noise; homes and workplaces are replete with bleeping timers, announcements, and alarms. Everywhere there is the sound of human speech—from the casual chatter of strangers and the unwanted intrusion from electronic devices through to the conversations with friends and loved ones one may actually wish to hear. Unlike vision, it is not possible simply to “close our ears” and shut out the auditory world and nor, in many cases, is it desirable. On the one hand, soft background music or environmental sounds, such as birdsong or the noise of waves against the beach, is often comfortingly pleasurable or reassuring. On the other, alarms are usually auditory for a reason. Nevertheless, people somehow have to identify, from among the babble that surrounds them, the sounds and speech of interest and importance and to follow the thread of a chosen speaker in a crowded auditory environment. Additionally, irrelevant or unwanted chatter or other background noise should not hinder concentration on matters of greater interest or importance—students should ideally be able to study effectively despite noisy classrooms or university halls while still being open to the possibility of important interruptions from elsewhere. The scientific study of auditory attention has been driven by such practical problems: how people somehow manage to select the most interesting or most relevant speaker from the competing auditory demands made by the speech of others or isolate the music of the band from the chatter of the nightclub. In parallel, the causes of auditory distraction—and how to try to avoid it where necessary—have also been subject to scrutiny. A complete theory of auditory attention must account for the mechanisms by which selective attention is achieved, the causes of auditory distraction, and the reasons why individuals might differ in their ability in both cases.
Major Theories in Social Psychology
Authors: Fiedler Klaus , Salmen Karolin
Published: June 2021

A synopsis of major theories of social psychology is provided with reference to three major domains of social-psychological inquiry: attitudes and attitude change, motivation regulation, and group behavior. Despite the heterogeneity of research topics, there is considerable overlap in the basic theoretical principles across all three domains. Typical theories that constitute the common ground of social psychology rely on rules of good Gestalt consistency, on psychodynamic principles, but also on behaviorist learning models and on semantic-representation and information-transition models borrowed from cognitive science. Prototypical examples that illustrate the structure and the spirit of theories in social psychology are dissonance theory, construal-level, regulatory focus, and social identity theory. A more elaborate taxonomy of pertinent theories is provided in the first table in this article.
Humanitarian Work and Organizational Psychology
Authors: Carr Stuart C.
Published: June 2021

Humanitarian simply means putting people first. Humanitarian work and organizational psychology puts people first in at least two major ways. One is by enabling humanitarian workers and organizations (like aid charities, for instance) to become more effective in what they do. The other is by aiming to help make working conditions, regardless of sector or type of work, humanitarian.

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the International Labor Organization (ILO) associated the world of work with a range of inhumane and unsustainable working conditions. A ‘new normal’ for working conditions was insecure, precarious work, working poverty, and income inequality. Viewed through this lens, the COVID-19 virus became a disruptor, with the potential to either set back or dramatically advance the preexisting 2016–2030 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs had been focusing, and subsequently refocused minds even more, on “eradicating poverty in all its forms,” everywhere. A focal point within humanitarian work and organizational psychology is that any eradication of poverty, post COVID-19, must include not simply a return to 2019-style economic slavery-like conditions but unfettered access to sustainable livelihood.

Humanitarian work and organizational psychology arguably contributes toward advancing the SDGs, and putting people first, in at least four main ways. Using the metaphor of a house, first its foundations are ethical (serving empowerment rather than power), historical (in humanitarian work and human services like employee assistance programs), conceptual (replacing the idea of “job” with sustainable livelihood), and political (advancing new diplomacies for bending political will to humanitarian evidence and ethics). Second, its levels are systemic, spanning individual (e.g., selecting for humanitarian values), organizational (e.g., helping food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic, providing startup training for business entrepreneurs in low-income neighborhoods), and societal (advocating for humanitarian interventions like wage subsidies and other forms of social protection). Third, its spaces traverse poverty lines; minimum, living, and maximum wages; formal and informal sectors; and transitions and transformations among unemployment, underemployment, and decent work. Fourth, its vistas include promoting livelihood security for all by balancing automation with social protection like universal basic income (UBI), and organizational social responsibility (protecting the biosphere). In these ways we may also sustain our own livelihoods, as humanitarian work and organizational psychologists.
Central European Psychiatry: World War I and the Interwar Period
Authors: Freis David
Published: June 2021

During World War I, soldiers from all warring countries suffered from mental disorders caused by the strains and shocks of modern warfare. Military psychiatrists in Germany and the Austro-Hungarian Empire were initially overwhelmed by the unexpected numbers of psychiatric patients, and they soon engaged in fierce debates about the etiology and therapy of “war neuroses.” After early therapeutic approaches relying on rest and occupational therapy had failed to yield the necessary results, psychiatry faced increasing pressure by the state and the military. After 1916, the etiological debate coalesced around the diagnosis of “war hysteria,” and psychiatric treatment of war neurotics became dominated by so-called active therapies, which promised to return patients to the frontline or the war industry as quickly and efficiently as possible. War psychiatry became characterized by an unprecedented rationalization of medical treatment, which subordinated the goals of medicine to the needs of the military and the wartime economy. Brutal treatment methods and struggles over pensions led to conflicts between patients and doctors that continued after the war ended.
Anxiety Disorders in Children and Young People
Authors: Creswell Cathy , Walters Sasha , Halldorsson Brynjar , Lawrence Peter J.
Published: June 2021

Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders among children and young people, affecting an estimated 6.5% of children and young people worldwide. Childhood anxiety disorders often persist into adulthood if left untreated and are associated with a significant emotional and financial cost to individuals, their families, and wider society. Models of the development and maintenance of childhood anxiety disorders have underpinned prevention and treatment approaches, and cognitive behavioral treatments have good evidence for their efficacy. Ongoing challenges for the field include the need to improve outcomes for those that do not benefit from current prevention and treatment, and to increase access to those who could benefit.
Communication in Organizations
Authors: Bisel Ryan S. , Rush Katherine Ann
Published: June 2021

Communication serves a constitutive force in making organizations what they are. While communication can be viewed as merely occurring “within” the organization, communication itself is essential to the creation and maintenance of organizations. Modern research in organizational communication explores this constitutive force of communication as well as the ways downward, upward, and lateral communication patterns determine positive and negative outcomes for both organizations and their members. Supportive, adaptive, and ethical downward communication from organizational leadership enhances members’ productivity and satisfaction while reducing turnover. In addition, candid upward communication from members to management is crucial for detecting and correcting troubles while they remain small and resolvable. Lateral communication through which members make sense of organizational events is key to understanding members’ perceptions, decisions, and behaviors. Finally, new information communication technologies both enable distributed work but also create new and troubling issues for modern work life.