bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Global Open Society: Dialogue in Communication
Authors: Mickunas Algis
Published: August 2018

Dialogue and its extension to polylogue are presented as an intersubjective basis of communication. The intersubjective aspect cannot be explained by any discipline without a contradiction, since any explanation would require intersubjective awareness. While necessary, dialogue requires a third aspect: dialogue about something, a theme, a subject matter, a problem, a point of disagreement, such that the topic sets a limit to the dialogical partners. This third aspect shifts the discussion away from subject-to-subject encounter as inadequate and moves to the subjects as partners who first are engaged in a dialogue about something. While speaking to someone about something, there is a mutual exchange of awareness and a broadening of horizons of both, with an addition of others who are co-present even if they are not empirically available. To speak to someone of physical laws is also to speak with Newton, Einstein, Planck, and others who form a polylogical field—forming an extension of the awareness of dialogical partners. The issue that arises is whether the individual can form her own position, or whether she is dominated by a historical tradition of interpretation. The dialectical debate between Habermas and Gadamer shows the problem, which is finally resolved by an extension of dialogue through education. The final and most concrete aspect of dialogical communication is present at the level of praxis as bodily activity which is equally intercorporeal. We build our world and thus our history and form a depth of intercorporeal communication of what we can do.

While the dialogical domain is the focus of this research, it also includes suggestions on critical evaluation of specific theories and mutual controversies among theorists, e.g., Habermas and Gadamer. Such controversies are necessary to show how dialogical procedures not only posit different theoretical positions but help such positions to become clearer and more articulated.
Diasporic News and Journalism
Authors: Ogunyemi Ola
Published: August 2018

Diasporic news refers to information, entertainment, and education news that is politically, economically, and socioculturally relevant to diaspora audiences. This news content is produced by diasporic news media established for and by diasporic groups. According to scholars, diasporic media plays two broad roles: an orientation role relating to information and advice to help diasporic groups adjust to the host country and a connective role relating to information about events in the homeland.

The affordability of new media technology spurred the growth of diasporic media making countless platforms available to diaspora groups to disseminate their views via the legacy media of print, radio, and television; and via the new media of Internet and social media. However, their business model is still preedominantly independent and small scale, and their printed edition is circulated mostly through alternative distribution outlets such as grocery shops, churches, restaurants, and airports.

Their practitioners subscribe broadly to the tenets of journalistic professionalism, but these are discursively reinterpreted, appropriated and contested in line with the cultural sensibilities of diaspora audiences. On their part, the diaspora audiences use them as a platform for political activism; to connect with their group members; to watch movies and listen to music. But in recent times, the home governments are using them to tap into the diaspora resources including remittances and skills transfer.
Crime, Diversity, Culture, and Cultural Defense
Authors: Rigoni Clara
Published: August 2018

Contemporary societies are culturally diverse. This diversity can be the result of different historical and social processes and might affect the uniformity and efficiency of criminal justice systems. Colonization of indigenous populations that started in the 15th century later European colonization of Africa and migration flows following the Second World War have contributed to this diversity in different ways. The growing importance acquired by culture in the criminal law domain went hand in hand with the attention received by it both in the human rights field (especially linked to minority rights) and in the field of sociological and criminological theories.

Nowadays, crimes such as female genital mutilation, forced marriages, and other behaviors grounded in “culture or tradition” form the object of several international human rights instruments and media reports. The way in which criminal justice systems deal with such cases, and more in general with cultural factors, varies greatly. Different instruments have been proposed to allow the consideration of cultural elements within criminal proceedings among which (in common law countries) is the formalization of an autonomous “cultural defense.” However, international human rights instruments, especially those protecting the rights of vulnerable subjects such as women and children, have repeatedly discouraged states to take into account “culture, religion, and tradition” as grounds for justification (see, e.g., the Istanbul Convention).

Criminal proceedings are not the only setting to deal with culture and crime. More recently, the development of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and restorative justice both within formal and informal (community) settings have given an additional option to take culture into account in the resolution of disputes (in terms of procedures used and normativities in play). Concerns exist with regard to the substantive and procedural rights of participants to these programs. However, these alternatives could represent a way to allow a certain degree of legal pluralism and facilitate access to justice for minority groups.
Public Knowledge About White-Collar Crime
Authors: Michel Cedric
Published: August 2018

A considerable body of research on societal response to white-collar and corporate crime has evidenced a hardening of public attitudes, including increased perceived seriousness of upper-class criminality and punitiveness toward its perpetrators. These findings suggest that, over time, the public has gained a better understanding of white-collar crime and its deleterious social impact. However, none of the opinion surveys included a direct measure of public knowledge. As a result, it is difficult to determine to which extent U.S. citizens are objectively informed about crimes of the powerful. In fact, only a few studies have focused exclusively on the intersection between knowledge about white-collar crime and sentiment toward it. These scholarly efforts have concluded that the American people continue to underestimate the actual financial and physical consequences of white-collar crime, which may be the result of selective reporting by the mass media and biased research foci by scholars. By choosing to focus on traditional criminal law violations, such as homicide and theft, and relegating white-collar offenses to the rank of victimless crimes, journalists and criminologists have contributed to the construction and propagation of myths about upper-world criminality. In turn, continuous adherence to these myths might lead to polarized opinions about which type of penal policy to adopt against white-collar crime.
Global Governance
Authors: Domínguez Roberto , Velázquez Flores Rafael
Published: August 2018

The goal of this article is to provide an overview of the literature on global governance, key elements for understanding its conceptualization, and a gateway to capture its multidimensionality. From this perspective, global governance is conceived as a framework of analysis or intellectual device to study the complexity of global processes involving multiple actors that interact at different levels of interest aggregation. The article is divided into four parts. The first section describes the origins, definitions, and characteristics of global governance. The second categorizes global governance based on different thematic areas where there is a confluence of governance practices, on the one hand, and the inclusion of a global level of interaction, on the other. The third discusses the different conceptual inquiries and innovations that have been developed around the term. Finally, the last part maps the different academic institutions that have focused their research on global governance and offer programs on this subject.
DDT and Pesticides
Authors: Davis Frederick Rowe
Published: August 2018

The history of DDT and pesticides in America is overshadowed by four broad myths. The first myth suggests that DDT was the first insecticide deployed widely by American farmers. The second indicates that DDT was the most toxic pesticide to wildlife and humans alike. The third myth assumes that Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring (1962) was an exposé of the problems of DDT rather than a broad indictment of American dependency on chemical insecticides. The fourth and final myth reassures Americans that the ban on DDT late in 1972 resolved the pesticide paradox in America. Over the course of the 20th century, agricultural chemists have developed insecticides from plants with phytotoxic properties (“botanical” insecticides) and a range of chemicals including heavy metals such as lead and arsenic, chlorinated hydrocarbons like DDT, and organophosphates like parathion. All of the synthetic insecticides carried profound unintended consequences for landscapes and wildlife alike. More recently, chemists have returned to nature and developed chemical analogs of the botanical insecticides, first with the synthetic pyrethroids and now with the neonicotinoids. Despite recent introduction, neonics have become widely used in agriculture and there are suspicions that these chemicals contribute to declines in bees and grassland birds.
The Sit-In Movement
Authors: Schmidt Christopher W.
Published: August 2018

One of the most significant protest campaigns of the civil rights era, the lunch counter sit-in movement began on February 1, 1960 when four young African American men sat down at the whites-only lunch counter of the Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina. Refused service, the four college students sat quietly until the store closed. They continued their protest on the following days, each day joined by more fellow students. Students in other southern cities learned what was happening and started their own demonstrations, and in just weeks, lunch counter sit-ins were taking place across the South. By the end of the spring, tens of thousands of black college and high school students, joined in some cases by sympathetic white students, had joined the sit-in movement. Several thousand went to jail for their efforts after being arrested on charges of trespass, disorderly conduct, or whatever other laws southern police officers believed they could use against the protesters.

The sit-ins arrived at a critical juncture in the modern black freedom struggle. The preceding years had brought major breakthroughs, such as the Supreme Court’s Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation ruling in 1954 and the successful Montgomery bus boycott of 1955–1956, but by 1960, activists were struggling to develop next steps. The sit-in movement energized and transformed the struggle for racial equality, moving the leading edge of the movement from the courtrooms and legislative halls to the streets and putting a new, younger generation of activists on the front lines. It gave birth to the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, one of the most important activist groups of the 1960s. It directed the nation’s attention to the problem of racial discrimination in private businesses that served the public, pressured business owners in scores of southern cities to open their lunch counters to African American customers, and set in motion a chain of events that would culminate in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which banned racial discrimination in public accommodations across the nation.
Urban Exceptionalism in the American South
Authors: Goldfield David
Published: August 2018

While colonial New Englanders gathered around town commons, settlers in the Southern colonials sprawled out on farms and plantations. The distinctions had more to do with the varying objectives of these colonial settlements and the geography of deep-flowing rivers in the South than with any philosophical predilections. The Southern colonies did indeed sprout towns, but these were places of planters’ residences, planters’ enslaved Africans, and the plantation economy, an axis that would persist through the antebellum period. Still, the aspirations of urban Southerners differed little from their Northern counterparts in the decades before the Civil War. The institution of slavery and an economy emphasizing commercial agriculture hewed the countryside close to the urban South, not only in economics, but also in politics. The devastation of the Civil War rendered the ties between city and country in the South even tighter. The South participated in the industrial revolution primarily to the extent of processing crops. Factories were often located in small towns and did not typically contribute to urbanization. City boosters aggressively sought and subsidized industrial development, but a poorly educated labor force and the scarcity of capital restricted economic development. Southern cities were more successful in legalizing the South’s culture of white supremacy through legal segregation and the memorialization of the Confederacy. But the dislocations triggered by World War II and the billions of federal dollars poured into Southern urban infrastructure and industries generated hope among civic leaders for a postwar boom. The civil rights movement after 1950, with many of its most dramatic moments focused on the South’s cities, loosened the connection between Southern city and region as cities chose development rather than the stagnation that was certain to occur without a moderation of race relations. The predicted economic bonanza occurred. Young people left the rural areas and small towns of the South for the larger cities to find work in the postindustrial economy and, for the first time in over a century, the urban South received migrants in appreciable numbers from other parts of the country and the world. The lingering impact of spatial distinctions and historical differences (particularly those related to the Civil War) linger in Southern cities, but exceptionalism is a fading characteristic.
Islam in Mughal India
Authors: Fisher Michael H.
Published: August 2018

The history of the Mughal Empire (1526–1858) reveals much of the diversity among Muslims and the complexity of Islam as variously envisioned and as practiced in India. The empire’s ruling Timurid dynasty was patrilineally Sunni; many of its original core supporters were also Sunni immigrants or descendants of immigrants from Central Asia, especially Turks and Mongols. But Mughal emperors married women from families who were Shiʿites or who either converted to Islam in India or remained Hindus; similarly, the imperial army and administration also broadened its composition to include such families. Each individual emperor developed his own religious ideology, including Sunni, Sufistic, strongly influenced by Shiʿism, and eclectically drawing upon diverse Islamic and non-Islamic Indic traditions (i.e., Hindu devotional bhakti, Zoroastrianism, Jainism). Roughly a quarter of the Mughal dynasty’s subjects were Muslim, but these also followed an array of diverse Islamic ideologies and social and religious practices (many functioning much like “castes”). Conversely, many non-Muslim officials and subjects of the dynasty adapted its Persianate patterns of culture and belief. Over the 16th and 17th centuries, the Mughal dynasty conquered most of the Indian subcontinent (except the southern tip of the peninsula), but then its empire fragmented over the 18th and early 19th centuries. Evidence for the variety of Islamic expressions within the Mughal Empire comes from many types of sources. Imperial officials, accountants, and scribes compiled Persian-language records in detail, extent, and preservation that exceeded previous states in India. Emperors, courtiers, and authors whom they patronized created sophisticated works of history and literature that described events, rituals, and values, using Persian and also Sanskrit and regional Indian languages. Additionally, various types of material evidence have survived—including architecture, paintings, coins, weapons, and clothing—that display the dynasty’s religious expressions, values, and technologies. Muslim and Christian visitors from Central and Western Asia and Europe also wrote down their observations and assessments while traveling to the imperial court or through the Empire’s provinces. The relationships between Islamic beliefs and practices and the Mughal Empire that travelers, commentators, and historians noted and evaluated varied over time.
Internment of Japanese and Japanese Latin Americans During World War II
Authors: Chew Selfa A.
Published: August 2018

The lives of Latin American Japanese were disrupted during World War II, when their civil and human rights were suspended. National security and continental defense were the main reasons given by the American countries consenting to their uprooting. More than 2,000 ethnic Japanese from Peru, Panama, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Mexico, and Nicaragua were transferred as “illegal aliens” to internment camps in the United States. Initially, US and Latin American agencies arrested and deported male ethnic Japanese, regardless of their citizenship status. During the second stage, women and children joined their relatives in the United States. Most forced migration originated in Peru. Brazil and Mexico established similar displacement programs, ordering the population of Japanese descent to leave the coastal zones, and in the case of Mexico the border areas. In both countries, ethnic Japanese were under strict monitoring and lost property, employment, and family and friend relationships, losses that affected their health and the opportunity to support themselves in many cases.

Latin American Japanese in the United States remained in camps operated by the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the army for the duration of the war and were among the last internees leaving the detention facilities, in 1946. At the conclusion of World War II, the Latin American countries that had agreed to the expulsion of ethnic Japanese limited greatly their return. Some 800 internees were deported to Japan from the United States by the closure of the camps. Those who remained in North America were allowed to leave the camps to work in a fresh produce farm in Seabrook, New Jersey, without residency or citizenship rights. In 1952, immigration restrictions for former Latin American internees were lifted. Latin American governments have not apologized for the uprooting of the ethnic Japanese, while the US government has recognized it as a mistake. In 1988, the United States offered a symbolic compensation to all surviving victims of the internment camps in the amount of $20,000. In contrast, in 1991, Latin American Japanese survivors were granted only $5,000.
Disease, Ecology, and the Environment in Colonial Mexico
Authors: Skopyk Bradley , Melville Elinor G. K.
Published: August 2018

The onset of Spanish imperial rule in Mexico in 1521 had profound consequences well beyond the political and cultural spheres. It also altered Mexico’s environment, reconstituting the region’s ecology as new fauna, flora, and microorganisms were added and as the population dynamics of native Mexican biota fluctuated in response to Old World arrivals. While the consequences of myriad interactions between native and non-native species were vast and complex, it was the decimation of indigenous persons by pathogens that was one of the first biological consequences of colonization (in fact, occurring first in 1520, one year before the fall of the Aztec state) and one of the most important. Mexican human populations were reduced by 80 to 90 percent, effecting cascading ecological consequences across the physical and biological geography of Mexico. Forests regenerated, terraced slopes degraded, and much of the Mexican landscape lost its anthropogenic aspect. Simultaneously, ungulate introductions transformed Mexican flora and likely initiated soil erosion in some regions that, when transported to fluvial environments, disrupted the flow of rivers. On the other hand, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, and other ungulates altered plant communities through selective seed dispersion. New economic pursuits such as brick making and silver mining increased demand for heat energy that, in an unprecedented manner, encouraged intensive forest usage and, probably, regional deforestation, although empirical data on historical forest cover are still lacking.

Severe climate variability, of a scale not experienced for at least five hundred years and perhaps many millennia, occurred simultaneously with colonial-induced ecological change. A significant conquest-era drought was followed by one of the coolest and wettest periods of the Holocene; a strong pluvial in the Mexican context lasted from 1540 to around 1620. Subsequent anomalies of both temperature (cold) and precipitation (either wet or dry) occurred in the 1640s and 1650s, and from the 1690s until about 1705. Together, these climate anomalies are known as the core Little Ice Age, and initiated agrarian transitions, hazardous flooding, prolonged droughts, epidemics, epizootics, and recurring agrarian crises that destabilized human health and spurred high rates of mortality. Soil degradation and suppressed forest cover are also likely outcomes of this process. Although debate abounds regarding the timing, extent, and causes of soil and water degradation, there is little doubt that extensive degradation occurred and destabilized late-colonial and early-Republic societies.
The Spanish Caribbean, 1492–1550
Authors: Altman Ida
Published: August 2018

The arrival of Christopher Columbus in the northern Caribbean with three Spanish ships in October 1492 marked the beginning of continuing European contact with the Americas. With his second voyage of 1493 permanent European occupation of the Caribbean began, with enormous consequences for the peoples and ecology of the region. Failing to encounter the wealthy trading societies that Columbus had hoped to find by reaching Asia, Europeans in the Caribbean soon realized that they would have to involve themselves directly in organizing profitable enterprises. Gold mining in the northern islands and pearl fishing in the islands off the coast of Tierra Firme (present-day Venezuela) for some years proved enormously profitable but depended on Spaniards’ ability to exploit indigenous labor on a large scale. The imposition of the Spanish encomienda system, which required indigenous communities to provide labor for mining and commercial agriculture, and the large-scale capture and transportation of Native Americans from one locale to another wrought havoc among the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean and circum-Caribbean, resulting in high mortality and flight. Spaniards in the islands soon sought to supplement indigenous labor by importing African slaves who, in the early 16th century, became a significant if not always easily controlled presence in the region.

From the earliest years the Spanish Caribbean was a complex, dynamic, and volatile region characterized by extensive interaction and conflict among diverse groups of people and by rapid economic and institutional development. Although the islands became the launching grounds for subsequent Spanish moves to the nearby mainland, throughout the 16th century and beyond they played a crucial role in sustaining Spain’s overseas empire and integrating it into the larger Atlantic system.
López Obrador in Democratic Mexico
Authors: García Magos Alejandro
Published: August 2018

Andrés Manuel López Obrador (b. 1953) is the current president of Mexico (for the period 2018–2024). He has been at the forefront of Mexican politics since 2000, having served as mayor of Mexico City between 2000 and 2005, and making three runs for the presidency in 2006, 2012, and 2018 in which he finally emerged victorious. While his detractors consider him a radical leftist in the mold of Venezuela’s late Hugo Chávez, his supporters praise him as a man of the people who fights to bridge the gap between rich and poor. Political preferences aside, the ascent of López Obrador to the presidency of Mexico needs to be understood first and foremost in the context of the country’s democratic transition. This was a protracted process that started in 1977 and concluded at some point between 1997 and 2000, right about when López arrived on the national political stage. The transition leveled the electoral arena and opened up opportunities for electoral competition that López has been able to capitalize on. Ironically, to this day he refuses to acknowledge the democratic improvements that Mexico experienced during its transition, and which allowed his political ascent in the first place.
Using Two-Sex Life Table Traits to Assess the Fruit Preference and Fitness of Bactrocera dorsalis (Diptera: Tephritidae)
Authors: Jaleel Waqar , Tao Xiaobing , Wang Desen , Lu Lihua , He Yurong
Published: August 2018

Bactrocera flies are economic pests of agricultural crops all over the world. Among Bactrocera flies, oriental fruit fly is an economically important pest of fruit crops in the world. Basic studies of Bactrocera flies are very important and helpful to the development of integrated management strategies. However, basic studies regarding behavior and age-stage, two-sex life table traits for this pest, which are vital for designing effective control methods, are currently lacking. Considering the importance of B. dorsalis, this study aimed to evaluate the fruit preference and age-stage, two-sex life table traits of B. dorsalis on guava (Psidium guajava), papaya (Carica papaya), and banana (Musa acuminata) fruits in the laboratory. In choice and no-choice tests, the number of visits and oviposition punctures made by female B. dorsalis flies were significantly higher on guava than those on papaya and banana. The life cycle from eggs to male (146.95 ± 3.43 d) and female (164.94 ± 3.85 d) adults was significantly longer on papaya than those on banana and guava. Bactrocera dorsalis females produced significantly more eggs when fed on guava (623.30 eggs female−1) than on papaya (527.80 eggs female−1) or banana (399.60 eggs female−1). Guava was the more suitable fruit for B. dorsalis, and could be used as a bait fruit to manage the B. dorsalis during the fruiting season of papaya and banana.
Witch’s Broom Disease of Lime (Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia): Identifying High-Risk Areas by Climatic Mapping
Authors: Donkersley Philip , Blanford Justine M , Queiroz Renan Batista , Silva Farley W S , Carvalho Claudine M , Al-Sadi Abdullah Mohammed , Elliot Simon L
Published: August 2018

Biological invasions of vectorborne diseases can be devastating. Bioclimatic modeling provides an opportunity to assess and predict areas at risk from complex multitrophic interactions of pathogens, highlighting areas in need of increased monitoring effort. Here, we model the distribution of an economically critical vectorborne plant pathogen ‘Candidatus Phytoplasma aurantifolia’, the etiological agent of Witches’ Broom Disease of Lime. This disease is a significant limiting factor on acid lime production (Citrus aurantifolia, Swingle) in the Middle East and threatens its production globally. We found that temperature, humidity, and the vector populations significantly determine disease distribution. Following this, we used bioclimatic modeling to predict potential novel sites of infections. The model outputs identified potential novel sites of infection in the citrus producing regions of Brazil and China. We also used our model to explore sites in Oman where the pathogen may not be infectious, and suggest nurseries be established there. Recent major turbulence in the citrus agricultural economy has highlighted the importance of this work and the need for appropriate and targeted monitoring programs to safeguard lime production.
Best Practice Recommendations for Replicating Experiments in Public Administration
Authors: Walker Richard M , Brewer Gene A , Lee M Jin , Petrovsky Nicolai , van Witteloostuijn Arjen
Published: August 2018

Replication is an important mechanism through which broad lessons for theory and practice can be drawn in the applied interdisciplinary social science field of public administration. We suggest a common replication framework for public administration that is illustrated by experimental work in the field. Drawing on knowledge from other disciplines, together with our experience in replicating several experiments on topics such as decision making, organizational rules, and government–citizen relationships, we provide an overview of the replication process. We then distill this knowledge into seven decision points that offer a clear set of best practices on how to design and implement replications in public administration. We conclude by arguing that replication should be part of the normal scientific process in public administration to help to build valid middle-range theories and provide valuable lessons to practice.
Molecular filament formation and filament–cloud interaction: Hints from Nobeyama 45 m telescope observations
Authors: Arzoumanian Doris , Shimajiri Yoshito , Inutsuka Shu-ichiro , Inoue Tsuyoshi , Tachihara Kengo
Published: August 2018

We present Nobeyama 45 m telescope C18O, 13CO, and 12CO(1–0) mapping observations towards an interstellar filament in the Taurus molecular cloud. We investigate the gas velocity structure along the filament and in its surrounding parent cloud. The filament is detected in the optically thin C18O emission as a single velocity component with a ∼1 pc long, ∼0.06 pc wide structure. The C18O emission traces dust column densities larger than ∼5 × 1021 cm−2. The line-of-sight (LOS) velocity fluctuates along the filament crest with an average amplitude of ∼0.2 km s−1. The 13CO and 12CO integrated intensity maps show spatially extended emission around the elongated filament. We identify three extended structures with LOS velocities redshifted and blueshifted with respect to the average velocity of the filament identified in C18O. Based on combined analyses of velocity-integrated channel maps and intensity variations of the optically thick 12CO spectra on and off the filament, we propose a three-dimensional structure of the cloud surrounding the filament. We further suggest a multi-interaction scenario where sheet-like extended structures interact, in space and time, with the filament and are responsible for its compression and/or disruption, playing an important role in the star formation history of the filament. We also identify, towards the same field, a very faint filament showing a velocity field compatible with the filament formation process proposed by Inoue et al. (2018, PASJ, 70, S53), where a filament is formed due to convergence of a flow of matter generated by the bending of the ambient magnetic field structure induced by an interstellar shock compression.
Use of Immersive Learning and Simulation Techniques to Teach and Research Opioid Prescribing Practices
Authors: Heirich Marissa S , Sinjary Lanja S , Ziadni Maisa S , Sacks Sandra , Buchanan Alexandra S , Mackey Sean C , Newmark Jordan L
Published: August 2018

Introduction

Unsafe opioid prescribing practices to treat acute and chronic pain continue to contribute to the opioid overdose crisis in the United States, a growing public health emergency that harms patients and their communities. Poor opioid prescribing practices stem in part from a lack of education and skills training surrounding pain and opioid management.

Methods

As part of the Clinical Pain Medicine Fellowship at Stanford University, physicians were given the opportunity to participate in a pilot program to practice opioid management in a live, simulated interaction. Twenty-seven physician trainees participated in the simulation with a live, standardized patient actor. Before beginning the simulation, participants were given a detailed patient history that included the patient’s risk for opioid abuse. They were also provided with relevant risk evaluation and mitigation (REM) tools. All simulation interactions were video-recorded and coded by two independent reviewers. A detailed coding scheme was developed before video analysis, and an inter-rater reliability score showed substantial agreement between reviewers.

Results

Contrary to expectations, many of the observed performances by trainees contained aspects of unsafe opioid prescribing, given the patient history. Many trainees did not discuss their patient’s aberrant behaviors related to opioids or the patient’s risk for opioid abuse. Marked disparities were also observed between the trainees’ active patient interactions and their written progress notes.

Discussion

This simulation addresses a pressing need to further educate, train, and provide point-of-care tools for providers prescribing opioids. We present our experience and preliminary findings.
Fast-Forward Identification of Highly Effective Artificial Small RNAs Against DifferentTomato spotted wilt virusIsolates
Authors: Carbonell Alberto , López Carmelo , Daròs José-Antonio
Published: August 2018

Artificial small RNAs (sRNAs), including artificial microRNAs (amiRNAs) and synthetic trans-acting small interfering RNAs (syn-tasiRNAs), are used to silence viral RNAs and confer antiviral resistance in plants. Here, the combined use of recent high-throughput methods for generating artificial sRNA constructs and the Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV)–Nicotiana benthamiana pathosystem allowed for the simple and rapid identification of amiRNAs with high anti-TSWV activity. A comparative analysis between the most effective amiRNA construct and a syn-tasiRNA construct including the four most effective amiRNA sequences showed that both were highly effective against two different TSWV isolates. These results highlight the usefulness of this high-throughput methodology for the fast-forward identification of artificial sRNAs with high antiviral activity prior to time-consuming generation of stably transformed plants.
Expression of the Histidine Kinase Gene Sshk Correlates with Dimethachlone Resistance in Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
Authors: Li Jinli , Zhu Fuxing , Li Jianhong
Published: August 2018

Histidine kinases (HK) are implicated in virulence, vegetative mycelial growth, and osmotic and oxidative responses in pathogenic fungi. Our previous work showed that transcriptional levels of the group III HK gene Sshk are higher in field dimethachlone-resistant isolates of Sclerotinia sclerotiorum compared with sensitive isolates. However, it is not clear whether the overexpression of Sshk is the major mechanism for resistance to dimethachlone. In this study, we constructed Sshk silencing and overexpression vectors and assessed dimethachlone resistance levels, virulence, mycelial growth, and sensitivity to osmotic stress for the Sshk-silenced and -overexpression transformants. Overexpression of Sshk resulted in resistance to dimethachlone and increased sensitivity to various stresses and to the cell-wall-perturbing agents sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Congo red (CR). Compared with the parent isolate, Sshk-silenced transformants had reduced resistance to dimethachlone, significantly higher (P < 0.05) mycelial growth and virulence, and lower sclerotium production, and were less sensitive to various exogenous stresses such as sodium chloride. Compared with the parent sensitive isolate HLJMG1, dimethachlone resistance ratios of the three overexpression transformants ∆C101, ∆C21, and ∆C10 increased 168.1-, 189.5-, and 221.2-fold, respectively. The three overexpression transformants were more sensitive to CR and SDS than their parent isolate. These findings suggest that overexpression of Sshk is a major mechanism for dimethachlone resistance in some isolates of S. sclerotiorum, and that Sshk plays an important role in maintaining the integrity of the cell wall. Our findings reveal a novel molecular mechanism for dimethachlone resistance in plant-pathogenic fungi.
Phenotypic Characterization of Genetically Distinct Phytophthora cinnamomi Isolates from Avocado
Authors: Belisle Rodger J. , McKee Brandon , Hao Wei , Crowley Margaret , Arpaia Mary Lu , Miles Timothy D. , Adaskaveg James E. , Manosalva Patricia
Published: August 2018

Phytophthora cinnamomi, the causal agent of Phytophthora root rot (PRR), is the most destructive disease of avocado worldwide. A previous study identified two genetically distinct clades of A2 mating type avocado isolates in California; however, the phenotypic variation among them was not assessed. This study described the phenotype of a subset of isolates from these groups regarding growth rate, growth temperature, virulence, and fungicide sensitivity. Isolates corresponding to the A2 clade I group exhibited higher mycelial growth rate and sensitivity to higher temperatures than other isolates. Among the fungicides tested, potassium phosphite had the highest 50% effective concentration for mycelial growth inhibition and oxathiapiprolin had the lowest. Mycelial growth rate and potassium phosphite sensitivity phenotypes correlate with specific groups of isolates, suggesting that these traits could be a group characteristic. Moreover, isolates that are more virulent in avocado and less sensitive to potassium phosphite were identified. A detached-leaf P. cinnamomi inoculation method using Nicotiana benthamiana was developed and validated, providing an alternative method for assessing the virulence of a large number of isolates. This information will help avocado PRR management and assist breeding programs for the selection of rootstocks resistant against a more diverse pathogen population.
The Impact of a National Competency-Based Medical Education Initiative in Family Medicine
Authors: Ellaway Rachel H. , Palacios Mackay Maria , Lee Sonya , Hofmeister Marianna , Malin Greg , Archibald Douglas , Lawrence Katherine , Dogba Joyce , Côté Luc , Ross Shelley
Published: August 2018

Purpose

Triple C is the Canadian competency-based medical education (CBME) initiative for family medicine. The authors report on a study exploring the impacts Triple C has had across Canada.

Method

A multi-institutional team conducted a realist study to explore the impact of Triple C implementation in different programs across Canada. Data were collected between March and June 2016 from interviews and focus groups with key medical school stakeholders. Data were analyzed using thematic and template analysis techniques.

Results

Data were acquired from 16 of the 17 Canadian medical schools from a combination of program leaders, educators, and trainees. Triple C was implemented in different ways and to different extents depending on context. Newer sites tended to have a more comprehensive implementation than established sites. Urban sites afforded different opportunities to implement Triple C from those afforded by rural sites. Although it was too early to assess its impact on the quality of graduating residents, Triple C was seen as having had a positive impact on identifying and remediating failing learners and on energizing and legitimizing the educational mission in family medicine. Negative impacts included greater costs and tensions in the relationships with other specialties. A principles-based approach to CBME offered flexibility to programs to incorporate variation in their interpretation and implementation of Triple C. Although there was a degree of normalization of practice, it was not standardized across sites or programs.

Conclusions

Triple C has been successfully implemented across Canada but in differing ways and with different impacts.
Iodide Improves Outcome After Acute Myocardial Infarction in Rats and Pigs
Authors: Morrison Michael L. , Iwata Akiko , Keyes Christopher C. , Langston Will , Insko Michael A. , Langdale Lorrie A. , Roth Mark B.
Published: August 2018

Objectives:

In this study, we tested whether iodide would reduce heart damage in rat and pig models of acute myocardial infarction as a risk analysis for a human trial.

Design:

Prospective blinded and randomized laboratory animal investigation.

Setting:

Animal research laboratories.

Subjects:

Sexually mature rats and pigs.

Interventions:

Acute myocardial infarction was induced by temporary ligation of the coronary artery followed by reperfusion. Iodide was administered orally in rats or IV in rats and pigs just prior to reperfusion.

Measurements and Main Results:

Damage was assessed by blood cardiac troponin and infarct size; heart function was determined by echocardiography. Blood peroxide scavenging activity was measured enzymatically, and blood thyroid hormone was determined using radioimmune assay. Iodide administration preserved heart function and reduced blood cardiac troponin and infarct size by approximately 45% in pigs and approximately 60% in rats. Iodide administration also increased blood peroxide scavenging activity and maintained thyroid hormone levels.

Conclusions:

Iodide administration improved the structure and function of the heart after acute myocardial infarction in rats and pigs.
Influence of Inflammation on the Pharmacokinetics of Perampanel
Authors: Yamamoto Yoshiaki , Takahashi Yukitoshi , Horino Asako , Usui Naotaka , Nishida Takuji , Imai Katsumi , Kagawa Yoshiyuki , Inoue Yushi
Published: August 2018

Background:

It is well-known that the pharmacokinetics of various drugs are influenced by inflammation. This study evaluated the relationship between C-reactive protein (CRP; an inflammation marker) and the pharmacokinetics of perampanel.

Methods:

Among 111 patients who underwent measurement of both CRP and perampanel, 23 patients had a serum CRP level exceeding 1.5 mg/dL (CRP-positive). We compared the concentration/dose ratio (CD ratio) of perampanel in these 23 patients between the times when they were CRP-positive and CRP-negative. To evaluate the effect of CRP on the CD ratio, multiple regression analysis was performed with the following covariates: CRP-positive status, body weight, and use of phenytoin, carbamazepine, or phenobarbital, and combinations of these drugs.

Results:

In 10 patients using enzyme-inducing antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), the mean CD ratio increased by 53.5% [from 1389 to 2132 (ng/mL)/(mg/kg)] when they were CRP-positive. In 13 patients without enzyme-inducing AEDs, the mean CD ratio increased by 100.8% [from 3826 ng/mL to 7683 (ng/mL)/(mg/kg)] when they were CRP-positive. By multiple regression analysis, the CRP level was a significant independent determinant of the CD ratio of perampanel. Despite a marked increase of the CD ratio, no adverse events were reported.

Conclusions:

Irrespective of concomitant administration of enzyme-inducing AEDs, the serum perampanel concentration showed a marked increase in patients with inflammation. However, this increase was not associated with central nervous system toxicity. Although it is unknown whether the concentration of free and/or bound perampanel was increased, it seems likely that dose reduction is unnecessary for elevation of the serum perampanel level in patients with inflammation.
Mineralocorticoid Receptor Antagonist Utilization in a Nationally Representative Heart Failure With Reduced Ejection Fraction Outpatient Population: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Joyner Kayla Rena , Soric Mate Michael , Boyle Jaclyn Ann , Moorman John Michael , Fredrickson Mary Elizabeth , Turosky Jodie Zlotnik , Kleven Casondra Lee
Published: August 2018

Background:

Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs) improve survival among patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF); however, studies have identified low utilization rates. No study has evaluated the prevalence and predictors of MRA prescribing in a nationally representative outpatient cohort.

Study Question:

What is the prevalence and predictors of MRA prescribing among outpatients with HFrEF in the United States?

Study Design:

A national cross-sectional secondary analysis of the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2007 to 2014 including all office visits for HFrEF in patients aged >55 years. Office visits involving patients with any history of chronic renal failure and hyperkalemia were excluded.

Measures and Outcomes:

The primary end point was the MRA prescribing rate. Multivariable logistic regression models were created to identify predictors of use.

Results:

In total, 1259 visits were eligible for inclusion, representing more than 30 million visits when weighted. MRAs were initiated or continued in 11.1% of HFrEF visits (95% confidence interval [CI] 8.8–13.8). In the full model, predictors included diabetes mellitus (OR 2.27; 95% CI 1.12–4.61), Northeast region (OR 0.20; 95% CI 0.05–0.74), and ≥4 chronic conditions (OR 0.26; 95% CI 0.10–0.71). Among symptomatic patients, predictors included non-Hispanic black patients (OR 4.55; 95% CI 1.81–11.43), patients aged 65–74 years (OR 3.38; 95% CI 1.53–7.44), and office systolic blood pressure >130 mm Hg (OR 0.31; 95% CI 0.16–0.60). Physician specialty, visit year, patient sex, and payor type were not significant predictors of MRA utilization.

Conclusions:

Although significant data support the use of MRA in HFrEF, utilization is lower than previously estimated.
A Multilevel Approach to Stakeholder Engagement in the Formulation of a Clinical Data Research Network
Authors: Boyer Alaina P. , Fair Alecia M. , Joosten Yvonne A. , Dolor Rowena J. , Williams Neely A. , Sherden Lisa , Stallings Sarah , Smoot Duane T. , Wilkins Consuelo H.
Published: August 2018

Objectives:

To ensure meaningful engagement of stakeholders (patients, clinicians, and communities) in developing the Mid-South Clinical Data Research Network (MS-CDRN), we implemented a comprehensive, multilevel approach: (1) identify barriers to involving stakeholders in governance, network design, and implementation; (2) engage stakeholders in priority setting and research topic generation; (3) develop strategies to fully integrate stakeholders in CDRN governance and oversight; and (4) solicit guidance on patient-centered tools and strategies for recruiting research participants.

Methods:

We engaged stakeholders: (1) as integral research team members; (2) on oversight and advisory committees; (3) as consultants (using Community Engagement Studios); and (4) through interviews and surveys. We recruited stakeholders from community health centers, churches, barbershops, health fairs, a volunteer registry, and a patient portal. We prioritized recruitment from populations often underrepresented in research.

Results:

During the first 18 months, we engaged 5670 stakeholders in developing the MS-CDRN. These were research team members and on governance committees (N=10), consultants (N=58), survey respondents (N=5543), and interviewees (N=59). Stakeholders identified important barriers and facilitators to engagement, developed stakeholder-informed policies, provided feedback on priority topics and research questions, and developed an intake process for data requests and interventional studies that included reviewing for appropriate patient-centeredness, patient engagement, and dissemination.

Discussion:

Multilevel stakeholder engagement is a novel systematic approach to developing a meaningful patient-centered and patient-engaged research program. This approach allows ongoing input from highly engaged stakeholders while leveraging focused input from larger, more diverse groups to enhance the patient-centeredness of research and increase relevance to broader audiences.