bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reference Values for Physical Performance Measures in the Aging Working Population
Authors: Cote Mark , Kenny Anne , Dussetschleger Jeffrey , Farr Dana , Chaurasia Ashok , Cherniack Martin
Published: January 2014

Objective:

The aim of this study was to determine reference physical performance values in older aging workers.

Background:

Cross-sectional physical performance measures were collected for 736 manufacturing workers to assess effects of work and nonwork factors on age-related changes in musculoskeletal function and health.

Method:

Participants underwent surveys and physical testing that included bioelectrical impedance analysis, range-of-motion measures, exercise testing, and dynamic assessment.

Results:

Physical characteristics, such as blood pressure and body fat percentage, were comparable to published values. Dynamic and range-of-motion measurements differed from published normative results. Women had age-related decreases in cervical extension and lateral rotation. Older men had better spinal flexion than expected. Predicted age-related decline in lower-extremity strength and shoulder strength in women was not seen. Men declined in handgrip, lower-extremity strength, and knee extension strength, but not trunk strength, across age groups. There was no appreciable decline in muscle fatigue at the trunk, shoulder, and knee with aging for either gender, except for the youngest age group of women.

Conclusion:

Normative values may underestimate physical performance in “healthy” older workers, thereby underappreciating declines in less healthy older workers. Work may be preservative of function for a large group of selected individuals. A “healthy worker effect” may be greater for musculoskeletal disease and function than for heart disease and mortality.

Application:

Clinicians and researchers studying musculoskeletal function in older workers can use a more specific set of reference values.
Networking organizations to promote all students’ success: The structure and contents of networks in an educational welfare zone in South Korea and their implications
Authors: Sung Youl-Kwan , Kim Jung-Sook , Kang Mi Ok
Published: January 2014

In 2003, the South Korean national government implemented a systematic school social work program known as the Education Welfare Priority Zone Plan (EWPZP). The EWPZP was designed to enable all related educational and social agencies in a zone to serve students in need by situating schools within the communities’ welfare networks. This research project aims to examine the characteristics of educational welfare networks in a target area in Seoul, South Korea, and assess levels of inter-agency collaboration. The authors also suggest that the EWPZP project needs to institutionalize greater collaboration between schools and welfare organizations and to make networks tighter.
The Relationship Between Culture, Health Conceptions, and Health Practices
Authors: Levesque Annabel , Li Han Z.
Published: January 2014

This study investigated cultural variations in health conceptions and practices using a quasi-experimental design. A total of 60 participants, recruited from three cultural groups in Canada, were individually interviewed between the fall of 2009 and the fall of 2010. Transcribed interviews were quantified according to the importance participants ascribed to emergent themes. The data generated three intriguing findings: (a) Consistent with an interdependent self-construal or ecological self, First Nations participants were more likely to report health conceptions and practices that expand beyond the individual self to include their family, the community, and the environment when compared with Anglophones and Francophones of European ancestry; (b) First Nations participants placed more importance on maintaining their traditions and culture as a health-promoting strategy, compared with Anglophones and Francophones; and (c) some of the health conceptions identified by all three groups significantly predicted the practices they engage in to promote health. These findings suggest that culture has a noticeable impact on health conceptions, which in turn influence health practices. There are at least two important implications: (a) Health policy makers need to take into account the role culture plays in the way people conceptualize health to ensure that health policies and programs reflect the particular beliefs and needs of their target populations and (b) health-care professionals need to be aware of the diverse views of their patients to provide culturally appropriate care.
‘…There’s no substituting actual time with your child’: Understanding first-time mothers’ readiness to return to work
Authors: Vujinović Natalija
Published: January 2014

This article explores first-time mothers’ readiness to return to paid work at approximately 18 weeks postpartum. In particular, it explores how aspects of one’s workplace, home, community, baby and self shape readiness to return to work and how levels of adjustment to early motherhood relate to levels of readiness to return to work. Semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with 26 first-time mothers at approximately 18 weeks postpartum. Overall, participants demonstrated a lack of self-perceived readiness to return to work even though they demonstrated a high level of self-perceived adjustment to early motherhood. The lack of readiness to return to work was largely affected by baby and individual factors such as the baby’s developmental stage and women’s wish to spend more time with their baby. This evidence raises issues about whether 18 weeks of Parental Leave Pay is enough to ensure first-time mothers’ readiness to return to work.
An equality bargaining breakthrough: Paid domestic violence leave
Authors: Baird Marian , McFerran Ludo , Wright Ingrid
Published: January 2014

In 2010, the first clauses providing paid leave and other entitlements to victims of domestic violence were included in union negotiated enterprise agreements registered with the Australian Fair Work Commission. By mid-2013, over one hundred enterprise agreements in Australia included such a clause. Applying a model of ‘equality bargaining’, this article presents a case study of the development and negotiation of one of the first domestic violence clauses providing paid leave in the world. The analysis finds key facilitators of equality bargaining in this case were the contributions from external forces, the availability of a ‘model clause’ and the commitment of The Union’s representatives. Of lesser significance, but still apparent, was the bargaining relationship and the reputation of the parties. Contrary to the findings in other research, neither the decentralised bargaining framework nor the absence of a supportive legislative framework was an impediment to successful bargaining of the domestic violence clause in this case.
Symbolic Politics and the Regulation of Executive Compensation
Authors: Suárez Sandra L.
Published: January 2014

When politicians feel popular pressure to act, but are unwilling or unable to address the root cause of the problem, they resort to symbolic policymaking. In this paper, I examine excessive executive compensation as an issue that rose to the top of the political agenda during both the Great Depression and the Great Recession. Presidential candidates, members of Congress, the media, and the public alike blamed corporate greed for the economic downturn. In both instances, however, enacted legislation stopped short of changing the way in which executive pay was determined or placing effective, enforceable limits on it. I analyze the nature of the democratic process and contend that public policy scholars need to pay more attention to the occurrence of symbolic policies. The category of symbolic policies offers a more accurate approach to understanding the politics of executive compensation in the United States during the two crises and helps explain why, in spite of the recent legislative efforts, it continues to rise.
Non-clinical health services – what do they contribute to patient care and how can we measure their contribution?
Authors: Bain M , Ward HJT
Published: January 2014

Background and aims

Assessing the contribution of ‘support services’ to improving healthcare is challenging. Despite involving a significant part of the NHS budget, there is very little published literature on methods and approaches. This article describes the development of an integrated approach to assessing and measuring the health impact of these services.

Methods and results

An empirical approach was developed by the main provider of national support services to NHS Scotland. This involved identifying meaningful ways to describe health impact of services several steps removed from patient care, applying this to the full range of national support services provided by NHS National Services Scotland and developing relevant measurement methodologies. Through this approach it was possible to assess the relative health impact of all 63 NSS services and to use this for planning and prioritisation.

Conclusion

Assessing the contribution of support services to improving patient outcomes is a neglected area, despite the significant dependency of direct patient care services upon these services and the resource involved. The methods described in this article have potential to be used across the range of support services within the NHS to improve quality and efficiency of healthcare services.
Social Capital for College
Authors: Hill Lori Diane , Bregman Allyson , Andrade Fernando
Published: January 2014

This study examines the relationship between networks that provide high school students with “social capital for college” (SCFC) and their access to selective institutions. It also explores the link between racial disparities in access to selective colleges and the composition of students’ SCFC networks. Findings indicate that while composition of students’ SCFC networks did not vary by race, it was associated with significant differences in the selectivity of their first choice colleges. They also indicate that students in our sample who relied heavily on their peers for information related to college-going are less likely to pursue access to the most selective colleges.
What happened to and in Detroit?
Authors: McDonald John F
Published: January 2014

The paper describes the fiscal status of the city of Detroit leading up to its filing for bankruptcy on 18 July 2013. Then the economic history of metropolitan Detroit and the city of Detroit from 1950 to the present is examined in an effort to answer these questions: Why did Detroit file for bankruptcy – not some other major city? And why now and not earlier? The paper concludes that, while Detroit and several other cities in the northeastern region suffered major population and employment losses and went through a long period of urban crisis between roughly 1970 and 1990, the severity of Detroit’s problems compared with other cities did not emerge fully until the most recent decade.
Mission-Extrinsic Public Values as an Extension of Regime Values
Authors: Baehler Karen , Liu Aviva Chengcheng , Rosenbloom David H.
Published: January 2014

The academic fields of public administration and public management are diverging. Public management focuses primarily on the orthodox values of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and value for money. It views accountability from the perspective of obtaining results (outcomes) defined in terms of core mission objectives and the operations that are ancillary to their achievement, such as deploying financial, human, and other resources cost-effectively. Public administration is also interested in all of the above. However, it retains the field’s broad interest in regime values and other public values. This analysis seeks to provide a clearer conception of mission-extrinsic public values and their centrality to public administration in the United States and the People’s Republic of China.
Linking Transformational Leadership to Self-Efficacy, Extra-Role Behaviors, and Turnover Intentions in Public Agencies: The Mediating Role of Goal Clarity
Authors: Caillier James Gerard
Published: January 2014

Although transformational leadership and goal clarity have been linked separately to self-efficacy, extra-role behaviors, and turnover intentions, research has not fully considered how transformational leadership and goal clarity work together to influence these attitudes and behaviors. This article builds upon previous management and leadership theories by developing a causal model to explore exactly how transformational leadership and goal clarity collaborate to influence self-efficacy, extra-role behaviors, and turnover intentions. Moreover, the model was tested on public sector employees in the United States. The findings showed that goal clarity completely mediated the relationship between transformational leadership and both self-efficacy and extra-role behaviors. Goal clarity was also found to partially mediate the relationship between transformational leadership and turnover intentions. In addition, self-efficacy had a positive impact on extra-role behaviors and turnover intentions. The managerial and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in the article.
John Rohr’s Concept of Regime Values
Authors: Uhr John
Published: January 2014

John Rohr’s concept of “regime values” marks out a distinctive approach to regime analysis in contemporary governance. Very few commentators, however, have recovered the foundations of Rohr’s regime values in his early work as a political scientist, particularly in his largely ignored first book called Prophets Without Honor. My aim is to recover those foundations through an examination of the emergence of the type of regime analysis in that original book, which reveals much of the formative political theory shaping Rohr’s subsequent work in the United States and comparative public administration.
Planned missing designs to optimize the efficiency of latent growth parameter estimates
Authors: Rhemtulla Mijke , Jia Fan , Wu Wei , Little Todd D.
Published: January 2014

We examine the performance of planned missing (PM) designs for correlated latent growth curve models. Using simulated data from a model where latent growth curves are fitted to two constructs over five time points, we apply three kinds of planned missingness. The first is item-level planned missingness using a three-form design at each wave such that 25% of data are missing. The second is wave-level planned missingness such that each participant is missing up to two waves of data. The third combines both forms of missingness. We find that three-form missingness results in high convergence rates, little parameter estimate or standard error bias, and high efficiency relative to the complete data design for almost all parameter types. In contrast, wave missingness and the combined design result in dramatically lowered efficiency for parameters measuring individual variability in rates of change (e.g., latent slope variances and covariances), and bias in both estimates and standard errors for these same parameters. We conclude that wave missingness should not be used except with large effect sizes and very large samples.
Emotion regulation from early adolescence to emerging adulthood and middle adulthood
Authors: Zimmermann Peter , Iwanski Alexandra
Published: January 2014

Despite the growing research on emotion regulation, the empirical evidence for normative age-related emotion regulation patterns is rather divergent. From a life-span perspective, normative age changes in emotion regulation may be more salient applying the same methodological approach on a broad age range examining both growth and decline during development. In addition, emotion-specific developmental patterns might show differential developmental trends. The present study examined age differences in seven emotion regulation strategies from early adolescence (age 11) to middle adulthood (age 50) for the three emotions of sadness, fear, and anger. The results showed specific developmental changes in the use of emotion regulation strategies for each of the three emotions. In addition, results suggest age-specific increases and decreases in many emotion regulation strategies, with a general trend to increasing adaptive emotion regulation. Specifically, middle adolescence shows the smallest emotion regulation strategy repertoire. Gender differences appeared for most emotion regulation strategies. The findings suggest that the development of emotion regulation should be studied in an emotion-specific manner, as a perspective solely on general emotion regulation either under- or overestimates existing emotion-specific developmental changes.
Will they like me? Adolescents’ emotional responses to peer evaluation
Authors: Guyer Amanda E. , Caouette Justin D. , Lee Clinton C. , Ruiz Sarah K.
Published: January 2014

Relative to children and adults, adolescents are highly focused on being evaluated by peers. This increased attention to peer evaluation has implications for emotion regulation in adolescence, but little is known about the characteristics of the evaluatee and evaluator that influence emotional reactions to evaluative outcomes. The present study used a computer-based social evaluation task to examine predictors of adolescents’ emotional responses to feedback from unknown peers. Nine-to-seventeen-year-olds ( N = 36) completed the “chatroom task” and indicated the degree to which each peer would be interested in interacting with them and how good they felt after receiving acceptance and rejection feedback from peers. We examined whether adolescents’ age and gender impacted their emotional responses to being accepted or rejected by peers of different age groups (i.e., early or middle adolescence) and genders. We also tested whether expectations about peers’ interest was associated with variability in adolescents’ emotional responses to the evaluative outcome. Upon being accepted by middle adolescent male peers, females in the middle relative to early years of adolescence reported greater well-being, whereas males reported similar levels of well-being regardless of their own age. Following acceptance from middle adolescent female peers, females reported greater well-being than males. Adolescents with high expectations for being liked by peers felt better after being accepted versus rejected relative to those with low expectations. For adolescents with low expectations, acceptance and rejection were associated with similar levels of well-being. Adolescents’ emotional responses to peer evaluation are influenced by specific individual characteristics and antecedent preparation for evaluation that may serve an emotion regulatory purpose.
Endoscopic Endonasal Transpterygoid Transmaxillary Approach to the Infratemporal and Upper Parapharyngeal Tumors
Authors: Battaglia Paolo , Turri‐Zanoni Mario , Dallan Iacopo , Gallo Stefania , Sica Eleonora , Padoan Giovanni , Castelnuovo Paolo
Published: January 2014

Objectives

To describe the endoscopic transnasal approach to the infratemporal fossa (ITF) and upper parapharyngeal space (UPS) and to analyze the indications and outcomes of this surgical technique in the management of the tumors localized in this critical area.

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

Tertiary‐care referral center.

Patients and Methods

Retrospective review of patients with benign and malignant tumors arising in or extending to the ITF and UPS, treated from 2002 to 2012 at a single institute. The tumors were surgically resected using an endoscopic endonasal transpterygoid transmaxillary approach.

Results

Thirty‐seven consecutive patients with benign tumors (20 juvenile nasopharyngeal angiofibromas, 2 extracranial trigeminal Schwannomas, 2 meningiomas, 1 cavernous hemangioma) and nonmetastatic malignant tumors (2 adenoid‐cystic carcinoma, 1 mucoepidermoid carcinoma, 1 squamous cell carcinoma, 1 adenocarcinoma, 1 recurrence of chondrosarcoma, and 6 recurrences of undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type) were treated with curative intent. A gross‐total resection was achieved in 35 of 37 patients. Major complications were observed in 1 case (intraoperative internal carotid artery blowout). Postoperatively, 8 patients received some form of adjuvant treatment. Mean follow‐up was 30 months for malignancies and 60 months for benign tumors. All patients are now alive without recurrences. Stable intracranial persistence of disease was reported in 2 cases (1 meningioma and 1 adenoid‐cystic carcinoma).

Conclusion

The purely endoscopic endonasal technique may provide a minimally invasive and safe approach to radically resect selected tumors involving the ITF and UPS. Larger case series and longer follow‐up are needed to validate the reproducibility and efficacy of this technique.
Trajectories of Liberalism and Neoliberalism
Authors: Gane Nicholas
Published: January 2014

This review article of The Making of Modern Liberalism and Masters of the Universe: Hayek, Friedman, and the Birth of Neoliberal Politics centres on the different trajectories of liberal and neoliberal thought that are mapped out by these two works. It is argued that to achieve an understanding of the meeting points, continuities and discontinuities between liberalism and neoliberalism it is necessary to examine the economic and political bases of these forms of governmental reason. By doing so, it is suggested that it is possible to develop a fuller understanding of what was/is new about neoliberalism as both a political and an epistemological project.
Developing a service performance assessment system to improve service quality of academic libraries
Authors: Hossain Muhammad Jaber , Ahmed SM Zabed
Published: January 2014

This article proposes an assessment model for the evaluation and improvement of the service performance of academic libraries. It presents a Service Performance Control Matrix (SPCM), an instrument to report the level of service performance and to simultaneously provide strategic directions to sustain, improve or recover service quality. SPCM also provides a guideline for determining the order of improvement for service. The model is applied to five public university libraries in Bangladesh, using a modified version of the SERVQUAL questionnaire. This questionnaire asks students to indicate their opinions on desired, minimum, and actual service performance by the university library on a 7-point Likert scale. The results of this study indicate the applicability of the SPCM model in determining the service quality of academic libraries. With more research effort, we expect this model to be evolved as a practical solution to assessing library service performance worldwide.
Connect, communicate, collaborate and create
Authors: Hughes Ceri , Chapel Alex
Published: January 2014

As discussed in the authors’ previous article, KPMG has introduced an internal social collaboration platform called the Hub across its international network. The Hub has now been adopted by a large number of users across multiple member firms. It aims to help KPMG professionals connect, communicate, collaborate and create more effectively together. Business benefits observed include reduced time taken to collaborate on ideas, initiatives, proposals and increased speed in responding to client and market opportunities; improved access to expertise and experience around the KPMG international network, increased engagement and the ability to deliver targeted, contextual communications. The Hub also allows client service teams to benefit from these improved ways of working in highly secure, private subject areas so that client matters can be openly discussed but are accessible and visible only to those who should legitimately have access. This new way of working together requires awareness of the professional obligations of each KPMG professional in regard to data privacy and client confidentiality. This is addressed by the change management programme accompanying the Hub, which includes each user’s acceptance of the Rules of the Road, a set of behavioural guidelines to help users understand the conduct expected, which is also monitored by the central Hub team. The change management programme underpinning the implementation of the Hub is centred on the belief that a new set of organizational capabilities, rather than a toolset or technology platform, is being delivered. Helping Hub users understand the behaviours that the Hub is expected to help cultivate is an important part of that change management programme. This will remain an important tenet of the ongoing, multi-year journey of both the Hub implementation and the realization of the benefits to be delivered.
The organization of organizational knowledge
Authors: Budzak Danny
Published: January 2014

This article is a personal view of the development of data, information and knowledge management at the London Legacy Development Corporation. It describes some of the methods and approaches the Information Services team took to develop and implement information management standards and tools and techniques. It is in the form of a case study which describes some of the challenges which were faced and how these were dealt with. The article looks at the relationship between data, information and knowledge and what these mean within a working business environment.
Rethinking the purpose of community empowerment in neighbourhood regeneration: The need for policy clarity
Authors: Lawson Louise , Kearns Ade
Published: January 2014

Community empowerment is a core element of area regeneration policy in the UK. In this article we question whose purpose the policy goal of community empowerment serves by examining the policy from three ‘actor’ perspectives in a neighbourhood regeneration setting: the Housing Association, a campaign group that became a Registered Tenants Organisation and residents living in the area. Using a model of community empowerment developed, we conclude that the ‘wider community’ was not empowered by the processes but that community empowerment was used by other parties to legitimate their aims. We make three conclusions in relation to: the relevance of community empowerment alongside other objectives; policy oversight and regulation; and, the relationship between community empowerment and representative democratic structures.
Art-making as place-making following disaster
Authors: Puleo Thomas
Published: January 2014

The study investigates how the arts and humanities facilitate the recovery of places following catastrophe. It contends that personal engagements with humanistic activities enable place-making by helping to restore relations among mind, body, and environment at an individual scale while also producing forms that circulate to help reinstate place at collective scales. Evidence from research conducted in and on Haiti following its 2010 earthquake supports the argument.
The new migration-and-development pessimism
Authors: Gamlen Alan
Published: January 2014

Human geographers, and collaborators in cognate disciplines, have taken the lead in critiquing a wave of optimistic thinking about the relationship between migration and development that has emerged over the past two decades. This paper reviews and synthesizes recent human geographical and related critiques, arguing that they constitute a ‘new migration-and-development pessimism’, the main contentions of which are: (1) that the new optimism is not really new; (2) that it is partially driven by hidden political and economic agendas; and (3) that it is distorted by simplification and exaggeration.
The territorial fix
Authors: Christophers Brett
Published: January 2014

The article heeds recent calls for closer attention to the geographies of markets. Speaking primarily to a rich tradition of geographical political economy, it argues that such geographies are highly material to value and profit creation and realization. In developing this argument, the article invokes the concept of a ‘territorial fix’, whereby territory is conceptualized as a technology of market-making geared to putting in place and optimizing the conditions for capital accumulation. The article draws selectively and critically on studies of territorialized market formation and pricing in two globalized industries – pharmaceuticals and television – to formulate this argument.
Applied climatology
Authors: Tadaki Marc , Salmond Jennifer , Heron Richard Le
Published: January 2014

Applied climatology has long been a niche domain, straddling the intersection between the social and natural sciences and populated largely by geographers explicitly interested in reframing human activities around climate. As human-atmospheric relations become increasingly embedded within institutions of governance, new narratives of and for applied climatology are emerging to champion particular atmospheric objects, orientations, practices and institutions into positions of policy relevance and investment priority. This paper attempts to understand these intersecting politics of ‘climate and society’ research by situating their emergence through three lenses of inquiry. First, we explore the historical disciplinary work of ‘application’ in geographical climatology, paying particular attention to how ‘relevance’ has been understood and practised. Second, we reassemble a missed disciplinary conversation about ideology in applied geography, and link this to definitions and rationales for applied climatology. Third, we explore five recent thematic engagements in applied climatology, to generate thinking about the institutions and practices of assembling climate in new circles of ‘application’, policy and elsewhere. The ‘applications’ that climatologists choose to pursue – and the ways in which they pursue them – are deeply political questions that reproduce decision-making logics, funding rationalities, notions of expertise and problem framings. In conclusion, we argue that, rather than understanding ‘climate’ and ‘society’ as stable entities with standard (e.g. quantitative) practices or modes of association, we might instead concern ourselves with the practices of assembling human-atmospheric relations.
Mentalization-based Treatment in Groups — a Paradigm Shift or old Wine in New Skin?
Authors: Potthoff Peter , Moini-Afchari Ute
Published: January 2014

Empirical studies demonstrate good efficiency of mentalization-based treatment (MBT) as developed by Fonagy, Bateman and Target in the therapy of borderline personality disorder. The reception of these results shows two opposing positions. One argues that MBT offers a paradigm shift because it is capable of profoundly changing or even replacing group analysis. The other position expresses doubts that MBT offers anything essentially new. The authors of this article reflect on both positions and demonstrate how MBT is generally useful as part of a broadened praxeology of group analysis even extending beyond borderline-pathology. They describe their experience in out-patient groups they have conducted together, and show how typical MBT-interventions fit in with the usual repertoire of group-analysis. Different kinds of interventions are discussed with respect to different degrees of mentalization capacity. Whenever there is a partial lack or suspension of mentalization capacity, interventions in the sense of ‘MBT-informed group-analysis’ are apt to help get out of an impasse. So there is no alternative between MBT or group-analysis. The author’s plea is for MBT to be part of group-analysis.
An Exploration of the Concept of the Social Unconscious and its Application to Clinical Understanding
Authors: Parker Val
Published: January 2014

The social unconscious is an idea primarily linked to group analysis. This article argues that the unconscious is socially constructed and it is essential that we recognize the power of social forces on our psyche. While Freud’s concept of the super-ego implies the existence of a socially constructed aspect of the unconscious, I propose that if the unconscious is inherently social then the anxieties we experience and defend against are based on our need to belong rather than our fear of annihilation. Tracing these ideas through three individual case examples, I demonstrate that the cultural and societal roots of the unconscious are crucial to our understanding of the workings of individuals and of the groups to which they belong.
An Updated Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System for Critically Ill Children Enables Nursing Workload Assessment With Insight Into Potential Untoward Events
Authors: Trope Randi , Vaz Sandra , Zinger Marcia , Sagy Mayer
Published: January 2014

Background:

To introduce an updated version of the original Therapeutic Intervention Scoring System (TISS) applicable to critically ill children (TISS-C). This version was designed to assess patient acuity and nursing workload (NW) and to determine a relationship between such assessment and the incidence of adverse events.

Methods:

Reviewing previous versions of TISS, an updated TISS-C was developed. Items inapplicable to pediatric critical care were eliminated; items current to critical care were added; and items still valid were edited. The point system accounts for the wide range of care provided. Random patients from a predetermined period had TISS-C scores calculated. The TISS-C scores were also calculated on patients with documented adverse events. Baseline scores were compared with scores of patients in whom adverse events had occurred. We determined the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) NW to be the product of the TISS-C score and the patient–nurse ratio (PNR).

Results:

One hundred twenty-five random patients had a mean TISS-C of 14.6 ± 11.8. Patients with any adverse event (98) had a TISS-C of 19.9 ± 11.6 ( P < .05). Using our PICU mean PNR of 1.4 (20 patients/14 nurses), the NW for patients with more severe events was 33.6 ± 15.9.

Conclusions:

Critically ill pediatric patients are more vulnerable to experience adverse events when their derived NW values are high. It is postulated that a critical NW exists, where adverse events are more likely to occur.
Abortion and Domestic Violence
Authors: Côté Isabelle , Lapierre Simon
Published: January 2014

This article addresses women’s experiences of abortion in the context of domestic violence, more specifically the decision-making process and the influence of the perpetrators in their decision. The data were collected through semistructured individual interviews with four Canadian women, aged between 23 and 36 years at the time of the interviews. Overall, the findings suggest that the factors influencing women’s decision can be grouped into the following four categories: domestic violence, the women’s individual situation, the couple’s situation, and external constraints. Implications for policies and practice are discussed.
Synthesis and characterization of novel polyimides derived from 3,6-bis(4-aminophenoxy)pyridazine
Authors: Guan Yue , Wang Daming , Song Guangliang , Zhang Xingdi , Chen Chunhai , Zhou Hongwei , Dang Guodong , Zhao Xiaogang
Published: January 2014

Pyridazine-containing aromatic diamine monomer, 3,6-bis(4-aminophenoxy)pyridazine (APPD), was successfully synthesized by a nucleophilic substitution reaction of 3,6-dichloropyridazine with para-aminophenol. The aromatic heterocyclic diamine was employed to synthesize a series of polyimides (PIs) by polycondensation with various commercially available aromatic dianhydrides in N, N-dimethylacetamide via the conventional two-step method and further thermal imidization forming polyimides. The inherent viscosities of the resulting poly (amic acid)s were in the range of 0.47–1.51 dL g−1. Meanwhile, strong and flexible PI films were obtained, which had good thermal resistance, with the glass transition temperatures of 214–305°C and the temperature at 5% weight loss of 421–463°C under nitrogen atmosphere, as well as outstanding mechanical properties with tensile strengths of 61–102 MPa and elongations at break of 2.8–64.7%. The cutoff wavelength of the PI films were ranged in 357–413 nm.
Synthesis and properties of cross-linkable polysiloxane via incorporating benzocyclobutene
Authors: Yang Lu , Cao Ke , Huang Yawen , Chang Guanjun , Zhu Fanghua , Yang Junxiao
Published: January 2014

Benzocyclobutene (BCB), as a reactive group, was incorporated into the side chains of polysiloxane via platinum/carbon hydrosilylation reaction. The hydrosilylation reaction showed good tunability for the incorporation ratio of BCB pendant groups. Differential scanning calorimetry results revealed that upon heating the BCB-containing polysiloxanes, great exothermic reaction occurred via [4+2] cycloaddtion reaction involving vinyl and BCB. The onset decomposition temperature ( Tdonset) of the BCB-siloxane resins reaches 518°C. This high Td demonstrates an excellent thermal resistance. The high-temperature performance of the resulting polymers illustrates the power of benzocyclobutene pendant groups in the design and preparation of potential high-performance silicon resins.
Optimal control of manufacturing procedure of diffuser for ballast system
Authors: Choi Jeongju
Published: January 2014

This article proposes a method to find the optimized manufacturing procedure of ejector using differential evolution algorithm. To obtain the optimized machining conditions, the performance of ejector was analyzed based on the computer simulation, and machining condition during manufacturing was used to design the evaluation function. Based on the computer simulation and experiments results, the evaluation function for optimization and the manufacturing constraints were induced in this article. The functionality of the proposed method was verified through experiments.
The experimental analysis of shear strength of round joints
Authors: Fan Xu , Zhao Sheng-dun , Jin Cai , Xiaolan Han
Published: January 2014

Clinching technology is widely used in the automobile and furniture industries. Shearing strength is an important criterion for evaluating the quality of clinched joints. Round and rectangular clinched joints are based on the shape of the tools. In this article, the shearing strength of round joints was designed and discussed. Two methods, namely heat treatment and press-join orientation, were presented. Different rolling directions for Al6061, Al5052, and Q235 sheets were connected to investigate the shearing strength of round joints at 90° and 180°. An electric furnace was used to heat the clinched joints of the Al6061 sheets to 430 °C, 450 °C, 530 °C, and 570 °C and obtain the optimal heat treatment temperature. Results proved that press-join orientation and solid-solution treatment affect shearing strength.
Friction-stir welding of titanium/aluminum dissimilar alloys: Joint configuration design, as-welded interface characteristics and tensile properties
Authors: Zhang Zhenhua , Li Bo , Feng Xiaomei , Shen Yifu , Hu Weiye
Published: January 2014

Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy and 5A06 aluminum alloy were successfully butt-joined by friction-stir welding method utilizing a special design of butt-joint configuration. The tool-pin was bias placed toward the aluminum butt-side, accompanying with an excess plunge value of tool shoulder into the top surface of aluminum sheet. The as-welded interface characteristics, joining mechanisms and tensile properties of the modified titanium/aluminum dissimilar butt-joint were performed. Experimental results indicated that the defect-free butt-joints with good formation quality were obtainable when the rotation speed of 1200 r/min, the travel speed of 60 mm/min and the pin offset of 0.5 mm were tailored. The stir nugget zone in joints exhibited a composite-like structure of titanium-alloy particles distributed in aluminum-alloy matrix, with an obvious so-called onion-ring morphology. The energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy detections showed that no bulky intermetallic compounds were formed at the titanium/aluminum as-welded interface. The maximum tensile strength of the joint was 265 MPa, which generally reached 84.13% of that of the parent 5A06 aluminum alloy.
Femtosecond laser surface structuring of carbide tooling for modifying contact phenomena
Authors: Fatima Anis , Whitehead David J , Mativenga Paul T
Published: January 2014

The creation of textures and structures on contact surfaces is of importance for improving contact conditions for mating surfaces. Laser machining shows promise as a prospective technique in the fabrication of micro- and nanometre scale structures on difficult-to-cut materials. This study provides new information on manufacturing process operating variables for the use of femtosecond lasers in structuring the carbide tool rake face with a view to improving the tool–chip contact phenomena. Experiments were based on a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser system with a wavelength of 800 nm, pulse duration of 100 fs and repetition rate of 1 kHz. The effect of laser fluence and scanning speeds on the geometry and quality of the structures was investigated. The research draws upon the requirements for cutting tools and defines the best laser process parameters to preserve the effectiveness of the carbide material in machining. This work is important for innovative development of cutting tools, alleviating critical contact conditions on the tool–chip flow faces and reducing energy demand in machining.
Multi-body dynamics-based sensitivity analysis for a railway vehicle
Authors: Ding Guofu , He Yong , Zou Yisheng , Li Rong , Ma Xiaojia , Qin Shengfeng
Published: January 2014

A railway vehicle is a complicated mechatronic system. Its mechanical structure and connections are key influences on its performance. When a railway vehicle runs at very high speeds its dynamic performance becomes of considerable interest. Therefore, the identification of the design factors that significantly impact on the vehicle’s running behavior, such as safety, stability, comfort and reliability, is a key step towards vehicle design optimization. The optimal design of a railway vehicle is difficult to perform using existing methods due to the complexity inherent in rail/track interactions. Thus, performing a sensitivity analysis of a railway vehicle can be seen as a bridge between performance analysis and an optimal design. This paper presents a sensitivity model that can be used to analyze the performance parameters of a railway vehicle in terms of variation of its design parameters. First, the railway vehicle is described as a multi-body system that can be broken down into its component parts and then, the dynamic behavior of the system is investigated. To simplify the model, a spring/damper connection is used in the classic Hertz nonlinear elastic contact model to represent the force in the normal direction at the wheel/rail contact point. Finally, based on the adjoint variable method, the equations that constitute the sensitivity model of the railway vehicle are derived and analysis software is developed. A case study shows the reliability of the proposed approach.
Effect of exercise and gait retraining on knee adduction moment in people with knee osteoarthritis
Authors: Khalaj Nafiseh , Abu Osman Noor A , Mokhtar Abdul H , Mehdikhani Mahboobeh , Wan Abas Wan AB
Published: January 2014

The knee adduction moment represents the medial knee joint load, and greater value is associated with higher load. In people with knee osteoarthritis, it is important to apply proper treatment with the least side effects to reduce knee adduction moment and, consequently, reduce medial knee joint load. This reduction may slow the progression of knee osteoarthritis. The research team performed a literature search of electronic databases. The search keywords were as follows: knee osteoarthritis, knee adduction moment, exercise program, exercise therapy, gait retraining, gait modification and knee joint loading. In total, 12 studies were selected, according to the selection criteria. Findings from previous studies illustrated that exercise and gait retraining programs could alter knee adduction moment in people with knee osteoarthritis. These treatments are noninvasive and nonpharmacological which so far have no or few side effects, as well as being low cost. The results of this review revealed that gait retraining programs were helpful in reducing the knee adduction moment. In contrast, not all the exercise programs were beneficial in reducing knee adduction moment. Future studies are needed to indicate best clinical exercise and gait retraining programs, which are most effective in reducing knee adduction moment in people with knee osteoarthritis.
Judging a Man by the Width of His Face
Authors: Valentine Katherine A. , Li Norman P. , Penke Lars , Perrett David I.
Published: January 2014

Previous research has shown that men with higher facial width-to-height ratios (fWHRs) have higher testosterone and are more aggressive, more powerful, and more financially successful. We tested whether they are also more attractive to women in the ecologically valid mating context of speed dating. Men’s fWHR was positively associated with their perceived dominance, likelihood of being chosen for a second date, and attractiveness to women for short-term, but not long-term, relationships. Perceived dominance (by itself and through physical attractiveness) mediated the relationship between fWHR and attractiveness to women for short-term relationships. Furthermore, men’s perceptions of their own dominance showed patterns of association with mating desirability similar to those of fWHR. These results support the idea that fWHR is a physical marker of dominance. This is the first study to show that male dominance and higher fWHRs are attractive to women for short-term relationships in a controlled and interactive situation that could actually lead to mating and dating.
Racial Bias Shapes Social Reinforcement Learning
Authors: Lindström Björn , Selbing Ida , Molapour Tanaz , Olsson Andreas
Published: January 2014

Both emotional facial expressions and markers of racial-group belonging are ubiquitous signals in social interaction, but little is known about how these signals together affect future behavior through learning. To address this issue, we investigated how emotional (threatening or friendly) in-group and out-group faces reinforced behavior in a reinforcement-learning task. We asked whether reinforcement learning would be modulated by intergroup attitudes (i.e., racial bias). The results showed that individual differences in racial bias critically modulated reinforcement learning. As predicted, racial bias was associated with more efficiently learned avoidance of threatening out-group individuals. We used computational modeling analysis to quantitatively delimit the underlying processes affected by social reinforcement. These analyses showed that racial bias modulates the rate at which exposure to threatening out-group individuals is transformed into future avoidance behavior. In concert, these results shed new light on the learning processes underlying social interaction with racial-in-group and out-group individuals.
An adaptive filter–based temperature compensation technique for structural health monitoring
Authors: Wang Yishou , Gao Limin , Yuan Shenfang , Qiu Lei , Qing Xinlin
Published: January 2014

Temperature variations have significant effects on guide wave propagation and therefore increase the detection uncertainty of the guided wave–based structural health monitoring system. A novel temperature compensation technique combining an adaptive filter and optimal baseline selection is developed to enhance the robustness and effectiveness of guided wave–based damage detection. The adaptive filter is the finite length unit impulse response digital filter based on adaptive linear neuron network. This article focuses on three main issues for practically implementing the proposed method: (a) establishment of temperature compensation standard, (b) parameter design of compensation filter, and (c) determination of temperature gradient to reduce the number of selected baselines. Experiments are conducted on two stiffened composite plates to verify the proposed method for effective and robust temperature compensation under a large temperature range from −40°C to 80°C. Results show that temperature interval for baselines of low-frequency signals, such as 50 kHz, can be up to 20°C to provide good temperature compensation with the proposed method, while temperature interval for baselines of high-frequency signals, such as 450 kHz, can be up to 12°C.