bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Impact of active coping, religion and acceptance on quality of life of patients with breast cancer in the department of radiotherapy, UCH, Ibadan
Authors: Elumelu Theresa N , Asuzu Chioma C , Akin-Odanye Elizabeth O
Published: August 2014

Background

A breast cancer diagnosis as well as the treatment that follows has considerable consequences on women’s physical functioning, psychological health and overall well-being, resulting in significant interference with patients’ quality of life (QoL).

Purpose

The study seeks to assess the impact of active coping, religion and acceptance on the QoL of patients with breast cancer.

Participants

This study, which is descriptive in nature, assessed the QoL and coping mechanism of 110 patients with breast cancer receiving treatment at the radiotherapy clinic in the University College Hospital (UCH). The patients had an age range of 25–75, an average age of 46.82 and an SD of 10.55. Male patients were 4 (3.60%), while 106 (96.40%) were female. Currently married participants were 84 (76.40%), while 26 (23.60%) were not.

Methods

Data was collected using the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B) V.4 QoL questionnaire and Carver's Brief Cope questionnaire.

Results

Analysis of data showed that significant differences were found between participants who used active coping, religious coping and acceptance more than those who did not in the overall QoL (p<0.05) as well as in some of the QoL dimensions.

Conclusions

Significant differences exist in the QoL of patients with breast cancer based on the coping style they adopt. Patients with breast cancer should be helped to adopt coping styles that would enhance their QoL.
Astrophysical S-factor of the radiative proton capture on 14C at low energies
Authors: Dubovichenko Sergey , Burtebaev Nasurlla , Dzhazairov-Kakhramanov Albert , Alimov Dilshod
Published: August 2014

The phase shift analysis for position location of the [Formula: see text] resonance at 1.5 MeV was carried out on the basis of the known experimental measurements of the excitation functions of the p14 C elastic scattering at four angles from 90° to 165° and more than 100 energy values in the range from 600–800 keV to 2200–2400 keV. Also, the possibility to describe the available experimental data on the astrophysical S-factor for the proton capture reaction on 14 C to the ground state (GS) of 15 N at astrophysical energies was considered in the frame of modified potential cluster model (MPCM).
Study of rotating high energy systems with the differential HBT method
Authors: Csernai L. P. , Velle S.
Published: August 2014

Peripheral heavy-ion reactions at ultra relativistic energies have large angular momentum that can be studied via two particle correlations using the Differential Hanbury Brown and Twiss method. In the present work, we analyze the possibilities and sensitivity of the method in rotating, few source systems. Analytic results provide insight in the advantages of this method.
Analysis of the Wave Localization in a Disordered Periodic Bridge with Pile–Soil–Water–Structure Coupling
Authors: Zhang Rui , Fu Qing-Xu , Lu Jian-Fei
Published: August 2014

In this study, the wave localization in a disordered periodic bridge (DPB) with the pile–soil–water–structure (PSWS) coupling is investigated For simplicity, each span of the bridge is assumed to be composed of a pile foundation, a pier, two composite beams and three linking springs. To determine the compliances of the pile foundations, the pile–soil–water (PSW) interaction is simulated by the boundary element method (BEM). In terms of the compliances of the piles and the transfer matrices of the piers and beams, the transfer matrices of the spans of the periodic bridge are derived, by which the wave transfer matrices of the spans are obtained. Using Wolf's algorithm and the wave transfer matrices obtained, the localization factor characterizing the wave localization in the DPB is determined. With the proposed model, the effect of the beam-length disorder on wave localization is examined. Moreover, based on the wave transfer matrix method, the wave mode of a DPB segment and the wave conversion and power flow in the DPB segment are investigated. Numerical results show that due to the energy transmission from the superstructure of the bridge to the half-space soil via the pile foundations, the power flow associated with a complexband wave along the open DPB is usually nonzero and the power flow of a pseudo passband wave along the spans of the open DPB is no longer a constant.
Mechanical properties and connectivity evaluation of a conductive coated piezoceramic/polymer composite
Authors: Fuzari Gilberto de Campos , Sakamoto Walter Katsumi
Published: August 2014

In the present work, piezoelectric composite films made of Polyaniline (PAni) coated Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT) particles immersed into polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) matrix were characterized by mechanical tests, and the connectivity of the composite sample was determined using dielectric measurements and applying the Poon–Shin model. The composite was considered a binary system with coated PZT particles as one phase and the polymer matrix the other one. To support the result obtained from theoretical analysis, scanning electron microscopy of the composites were done. It was observed a decrease up to 85% on the mechanical resistance when the ceramic volume fraction increases from 0% to 40%. Furthermore, the composite film no longer can be considered with 0–3 connectivity when the ceramic content is 30 vol.% or over.
Building the Nation’s Cyber Security Workforce
Authors: Goodman S. E.
Published: August 2014

This article presents a view of the necessary size and composition of the US national cyber security workforce, and considers some of the contributions that the government-designated Centers of Academic Excellence (CAE) might make to it. Over the last dozen years about 200 million taxpayer dollars have gone into funding many of these CAEs, with millions explicitly targeted to help them build capacity. The most visible intended output has been in the form of around 125 Scholarship for Service (SFS) students per year going mostly into the workforce of the federal government. Surely the output capacity of these 181 colleges and universities is greater than that, and should be helping to protect the rest of US citizens and taxpayers. We take a need-based look at what the nation’s workforce should look like, and then consider some possibilities of what the CAE schools could be doing to help to close the gaps between that perceived need and the supply and demand.
Efficient Power Gating of SIMD Accelerators Through Dynamic Selective Devectorization in an HW/SW Codesigned Environment
Authors: Kumar Rakesh , Martínez Alejandro , González Antonio
Published: August 2014

Leakage energy is a growing concern in current and future microprocessors. Functional units of microprocessors are responsible for a major fraction of this energy. Therefore, reducing functional unit leakage has received much attention in recent years. Power gating is one of the most widely used techniques to minimize leakage energy. Power gating turns off the functional units during the idle periods to reduce the leakage. Therefore, the amount of leakage energy savings is directly proportional to the idle time duration. This article focuses on increasing the idle interval for the higher SIMD lanes. The applications are profiled dynamically, in a hardware/software codesigned environment, to find the higher SIMD lanes' usage pattern. If the higher lanes need to be turned on for small time periods, the corresponding portion of the code is devectorized to keep the higher lanes off. The devectorized code is executed on the lowest SIMD lane. Our experimental results show that the average energy savings of the proposed mechanism are 15%, 12%, and 71% greater than power gating for SPECFP2006, Physicsbench, and Eigen benchmark suites, respectively. Moreover, the slowdown caused by devectorization is negligible.
Temporal Specifications with Accumulative Values
Authors: Boker Udi , Chatterjee Krishnendu , Henzinger Thomas A. , Kupferman Orna
Published: August 2014

Recently, there has been an effort to add quantitative objectives to formal verification and synthesis. We introduce and investigate the extension of temporal logics with quantitative atomic assertions.

At the heart of quantitative objectives lies the accumulation of values along a computation. It is often the accumulated sum, as with energy objectives, or the accumulated average, as with mean-payoff objectives. We investigate the extension of temporal logics with the
prefix-accumulation assertions
Sum(
v
) ≥
c
and Avg(
v
) ≥
c
, where
v
is a numeric (or Boolean) variable of the system,
c
is a constant rational number, and Sum(
v
) and Avg(
v
) denote the accumulated sum and average of the values of
v
from the beginning of the computation up to the current point in time. We also allow the
path-accumulation assertions
LimInfAvg(
v
)≥
c
and LimSupAvg(
v
)≥
c
, referring to the average value along an entire infinite computation.

We study the border of decidability for such quantitative extensions of various temporal logics. In particular, we show that extending the fragment of CTL that has only the EX, EF, AX, and AG temporal modalities with both prefix-accumulation assertions, or extending LTL with both path-accumulation assertions, results in temporal logics whose model-checking problem is decidable. Moreover, the prefix-accumulation assertions may be generalized with “controlled accumulation,” allowing, for example, to specify constraints on the average waiting time between a request and a grant. On the negative side, we show that this branching-time logic is, in a sense, the maximal logic with one or both of the prefix-accumulation assertions that permits a decidable model-checking procedure. Extending a temporal logic that has the EG or EU modalities, such as CTL or LTL, makes the problem undecidable.
Graphical Modeling Tools for Systems Biology
Authors: Gostner Roswitha , Baldacci Bianca , Morine Melissa J. , Priami Corrado
Published: August 2014

Modeling biological systems to understand their mechanistic behavior is an important activity in molecular systems biology. Mathematical modeling typically requires deep mathematical or computing knowledge, and this limits the spread of modeling tools among biologists. Graphical modeling languages have been introduced to minimize this limit. Here, we survey the main graphical formalisms (supported by software tools) available to model biological systems with a primary focus on their usability, within the framework of modeling reaction pathways with two-dimensional (2D) (possibly nested) compartments. Considering the main characteristics of the surveyed formalisms, we synthesise a new proposal (Style) and report the results of an online survey conducted among biologists to assess usability of available graphical formalisms. We consider this proposal a guideline developed from what we learned in the survey, which can inform development of graphical formalisms to model reaction pathways in 2D space.
Spurious routes in public BGP data
Authors: Luckie Matthew
Published: August 2014

Researchers depend on public BGP data to understand the structure and evolution of the AS topology, as well as the operational security and resiliency of BGP. BGP data is provided voluntarily by network operators who establish BGP sessions with route collectors that record this data. In this paper, we show how trivial it is for a single vantage point (VP) to introduce thousands of spurious routes into the collection by providing examples of five VPs that did so. We explore the impact these misbehaving VPs had on AS relationship inference, showing these misbehaving VPs introduced thousands of AS links that did not exist, and caused relationship inferences for links that did exist to be corrupted.

We evaluate methods to automatically identify misbehaving VPs, although we find the result unsatisfying because the limitations of real-world BGP practices and AS relationship inference algorithms produce signatures similar to those created by misbehaving VPs. The most recent misbehaving VP we discovered added thousands of spurious routes for nine consecutive months until 8 November 2012. This misbehaving VP barely impacts (0.1%) our validation of our AS relationship inferences, but this number may be misleading since most of our validation data relies on BGP and RPSL which validates only existing links, rather than asserting the non-existence of links. We have only a few assertions of non-existent routes, all received via our public-facing website that allows operators to provide validation data through our interactive feedback mechanism. We only discovered this misbehavior because two independent operators corrected some inferences, and we noticed that the spurious routes all came from the same VP. This event highlights the limitations of even the best available topology data, and provides additional evidence that comprehensive ground truth validation from operators is essential to scientific research on Internet topology.
Workshop on internet economics (WIE2013) report
Authors: claffy kc , Clark David D.
Published: August 2014

On December 12-13 2013, CAIDA and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) hosted the (invitation-only) 4th interdisciplinary Workshop on Internet Economics (WIE) at the University of California's San Diego Supercomputer Center. This workshop series provides a forum for researchers, commercial Internet facilities and service providers, technologists, economists, theorists, policy makers, and other stakeholders to inform current and emerging regulatory and policy debates. The theme for this year's workshop was the economic health of the Internet ecosystem, including emphasis on the cost of and revenue sources to support content delivery, the quality of user experience, economic and policy influences on and effects of emerging specialized services, and the role of data in evaluating ecosystem health. This report describes the discussions and presents relevant open research questions identified by participants. Slides presented at the workshop and a copy of this final report are available at http://www.caida.org/workshops/wie/1312/.
HTTP2 explained
Authors: Stenberg Daniel
Published: August 2014

A detailed description explaining the background and problems with current HTTP that has lead to the development of the next generation HTTP protocol: HTTP 2. It also describes and elaborates around the new protocol design and functionality, including some implementation specifics and a few words about the future.
Aligning IT for future business value
Authors: Rahrovani Yasser , Kermanshah Ali , Pinsonneault Alain
Published: August 2014

IS research has predominately studied the alignment of existing IT applications with current strategies. This provides an assessment of the current business value of IT. However, given IT investments are long-term and given that contemporary firms evolve in highly dynamic environments, it is also important to consider the alignment of IT applications that are under development. These applications affect the future business value of IT. This paper rethinks the notion of alignment to include IT applications in development. It conceptualizes the notion of IT project portfolio alignment and develops and tests a model that measures portfolio alignment in a bottom-up process based on individual IT projects. Several formulation methods are proposed and compared.
Recent Oral Contraceptive Use by Formulation and Breast Cancer Risk among Women 20 to 49 Years of Age
Authors: Beaber Elisabeth F. , Buist Diana S.M. , Barlow William E. , Malone Kathleen E. , Reed Susan D. , Li Christopher I.
Published: August 2014

Previous studies of oral contraceptives and breast cancer indicate that recent use slightly increases risk, but most studies relied on self-reported use and did not examine contemporary oral contraceptive formulations. This nested case–control study was among female enrollees in a large U.S. integrated health care delivery system. Cases were 1,102 women ages 20 to 49 years diagnosed with invasive breast cancer from 1990 to 2009. Controls were randomly sampled from enrollment records (n = 21,952) and matched to cases on age, year, enrollment length, and medical chart availability. Detailed oral contraceptive use information was ascertained from electronic pharmacy records and analyzed using conditional logistic regression, ORs, and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Recent oral contraceptive use (within the prior year) was associated with an increased breast cancer risk (OR, 1.5; 95% CI, 1.3–1.9) relative to never or former OC use. The association was stronger for estrogen receptor–positive (ER+; OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.3–2.1) than estrogen receptor–negative (ER−) disease (OR, 1.2, 95% CI, 0.8–1.8), although not statistically significantly different (P = 0.15). Recent use of oral contraceptives involving high-dose estrogen (OR, 2.7; 95% CI, 1.1–6.2), ethynodiol diacetate (OR, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.4–4.7), or triphasic dosing with an average of 0.75 mg of norethindrone (OR, 3.1; 95% CI, 1.9–5.1; Pheterogeneity compared with using other oral contraceptives = 0.004) was associated with particularly elevated risks, whereas other types, including low-dose estrogen oral contraceptives, were not (OR, 1.0; 95% CI, 0.6–1.7). Our results suggest that recent use of contemporary oral contraceptives is associated with an increased breast cancer risk, which may vary by formulation. If confirmed, consideration of the breast cancer risk associated with different oral contraceptive types could impact discussions weighing recognized health benefits and potential risks. Cancer Res; 74(15); 4078–89. ©2014 AACR.
Validation and Structural Characterization of the LEDGF/p75–MLL Interface as a New Target for the Treatment of MLL-Dependent Leukemia
Authors: Čermáková Kateřina , Tesina Petr , Demeulemeester Jonas , El Ashkar Sara , Méreau Hélène , Schwaller Juerg , Řezáčová Pavlína , Veverka Vaclav , De Rijck Jan
Published: August 2014

Mixed lineage leukemia (MLL) fusion–driven acute leukemias represent a genetically distinct subset of leukemias with poor prognosis. MLL forms a ternary complex with the lens epithelium–derived growth factor (LEDGF/p75) and MENIN. LEDGF/p75, a chromatin reader recognizing H3K36me3 marks, contributes to the association of the MLL multiprotein complex to chromatin. Formation of this complex is critical for the development of MLL leukemia. Available X-ray data represent only a partial structure of the LEDGF/p75–MLL–MENIN complex. Using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, we identified an additional LEDGF/p75–MLL interface, which overlaps with the binding site of known LEDGF/p75 interactors—HIV-1 integrase, PogZ, and JPO2. Binding of these proteins or MLL to LEDGF/p75 is mutually exclusive. The resolved structure, as well as mutational analysis, shows that the interaction is primarily sustained via two aromatic residues of MLL (F148 and F151). Colony-forming assays in MLL–AF9+ leukemic cells expressing MLL interaction-defective LEDGF/p75 mutants revealed that this interaction is essential for transformation. Finally, we show that the clonogenic growth of primary murine MLL-AF9–expressing leukemic blasts is selectively impaired upon overexpression of a LEDGF/p75-binding cyclic peptide CP65, originally developed to inhibit the LEDGF/p75–HIV-1 integrase interaction. The newly defined protein–protein interface therefore represents a new target for the development of therapeutics against LEDGF/p75–dependent MLL fusion–driven leukemic disorders. Cancer Res; 74(18); 5139–51. ©2014 AACR.
Piperlongumine Chemosensitizes Tumor Cells through Interaction with Cysteine 179 of IκBα Kinase, Leading to Suppression of NF-κB–Regulated Gene Products
Authors: Han Jia Gang , Gupta Subash C. , Prasad Sahdeo , Aggarwal Bharat B.
Published: August 2014

Recently, two different reports appeared in prominent journals suggesting a mechanism by which piperlongumine, a pyridine alkaloid, mediates anticancer effects. In the current report, we describe another novel mechanism by which this alkaloid mediates its anticancer effects. We found that piperlongumine blocked NF-κB activated by TNFα and various other cancer promoters. This downregulation was accompanied by inhibition of phosphorylation and degradation of IκBα. Further investigation revealed that this pyridine alkaloid directly interacts with IκBα kinase (IKK) and inhibits its activity. Inhibition of IKK occurred through interaction with its cysteine 179 as the mutation of this residue to alanine abolished the activity of piperlongumine. Inhibition in NF-κB activity downregulated the expression of proteins involved in cell survival (Bcl-2, Bcl-xL, c-IAP-1, c-IAP-2, survivin), proliferation (c-Myc, cyclin D1), inflammation (COX-2, IL6), and invasion (ICAM-1, -9, CXCR-4, VEGF). Overall, our results reveal a novel mechanism by which piperlongumine can exhibit antitumor activity through downmodulation of proinflammatory pathway. Mol Cancer Ther; 13(10); 2422–35. ©2014 AACR.
Genetic and Environmental Influences on the Prospective Correlation Between Systemic Inflammation and Coronary Heart Disease Death in Male Twins
Authors: Wu Sheng-Hui , Neale Michael C. , Acton Anthony J. , Considine Robert V. , Krasnow Ruth E. , Reed Terry , Dai Jun
Published: August 2014

Objective—

Because of lack of evidence, we aimed to examine to what degree low-grade systemic inflammation and coronary heart disease (CHD) death shared common genetic and environmental substrates.

Approach and Results—

From the 41-year prospective National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Twin Study, we included 950 middle-aged male twins at baseline (1969–1973). Low-grade systemic inflammation was measured with plasma levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and C-reactive protein. Univariate and bivariate structural equation models were used, adjusted for a risk score for CHD death. The score-adjusted heritability was 19% for IL-6, 27% for C-reactive protein, and 22% for CHD death. The positive phenotypic correlation of IL-6 with CHD death (
r
adjusted
=0.27; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.08–0.43) was driven by additive genetic factors (contribution [relative contribution], 0.30 [111%]) but attenuated by unique environment (–0.03 [–11%]). The genetic correlation between IL-6 and CHD death was 0.74 (95% CI, 0.21–1.00), whereas the unique environmental correlation was –0.05 (95% CI, –0.35 to 0.25). The proportion of genetic variance for CHD death shared with that for IL-6 was 74%. The phenotypic correlation of C-reactive protein with CHD death (
r
adjusted
=0.10; 95% CI, –0.02 to 0.22) was explained by additive genetic factors (0.20 [149%]) but was attenuated by the unique environment (–0.09 [–49%]). The genetic correlation of C-reactive protein with CHD death was 0.63 (95% CI, –0.07 to 1.00), whereas the unique environmental correlation was –0.07 (95% CI, –0.29 to 0.17).

Conclusions—

Low-grade systemic inflammation, measured by IL-6, and long-term CHD death share moderate genetic substrates that augment both traits.
Variation in Restarting Antithrombotic Drugs at Hospital Discharge After Intracerebral Hemorrhage
Authors: Pasquini Marta , Charidimou Andreas , van Asch Charlotte J.J. , Baharoglu Merih I. , Samarasekera Neshika , Werring David J. , Klijn Catharina J.M. , Roos Yvo B. , Al-Shahi Salman Rustam , Cordonnier Charlotte
Published: August 2014

Background and Purpose—

Whether intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) survivors should restart antithrombotic drugs is unknown. We analyzed the frequency of restarting antithrombotic drugs in ICH survivors who had taken prophylactic antithrombotic drugs in atrial fibrillation or after thromboembolic disease in 5 cohorts and explored factors associated with doing so.

Methods—

We compared the characteristics and proportions of patients taking antithrombotic drugs at ICH onset and discharge in 4 hospital-based cohorts (Lille, France, n=542; Utrecht, The Netherlands, n=389; multicenter Clinical Relevance of Microbleeds in Stroke-2 (CROMIS-2) ICH, United Kingdom, n=667; and Amsterdam, The Netherlands, n=403) and 1 community-based study (Lothian, Scotland, n=137), using bivariate analyses. We sought characteristics associated with restarting using bivariate and multivariable logistic regression analyses.

Results—

A total of 942 (44%) patients with ICH took antithrombotic drugs at hospital admission (no difference between cohorts). Antithrombotic drugs were restarted in 96 (20%) of the 469 survivors who had taken antithrombotic drugs for secondary prevention or atrial fibrillation, but this proportion differed when stratified by the cohort of origin (Lille, 18%; Utrecht, 45%; Lothian, 15%; CROMIS-2 ICH, 11%; Amsterdam, 20%;
P
<0.001) and by type of antithrombotic drug pre-ICH (14% in patients with previous antiplatelet drugs versus 26% in patients with previous vitamin K antagonists and 41% in patients with both drugs;
P
<0.001). We did not find other consistent, independent associations with restarting antithrombotic drugs.

Conclusions—

The variation in clinical practice and lack of consistent associations with restarting antithrombotic drugs after ICH reflect current knowledge and support the need for randomized controlled trials to resolve this dilemma.
The Syntax of Monsters
Authors: Shklovsky Kirill , Sudo Yasutada
Published: August 2014

We present novel data showing that indexicals, first and second person pronouns in particular, occurring in a certain kind of attitude report in Uyghur are interpreted with respect to the reported context (indexical shifting). While previous authors report similar shifted interpretations of indexicals in languages such as Amharic and Zazaki, we observe a unique feature of Uyghur indexical shifting: it is sensitive to structural positions of the indexical item, and as a consequence can be partial. We account for the structural sensitivity of Uyghur indexical shifting with a context-shifting operator (or monster) that is syntactically independent from the embedding attitude predicate.
Nonlocal Trigger-Target Relations
Authors: Walker Rachel
Published: August 2014

This article argues that an approach to unbounded harmony that enforces restrictions only over adjacent elements undergenerates for patterns with nonlocal trigger-target relations. Such patterns may occur even in cases where assimilation propagates locally, as found in Baiyina Oroqen and Mọ̀bà Yorùbá. However, a harmony im(perative that is not restricted to adjacent elements is capable of producing these systems, in which a trigger may be related to both adjacent and nonadjacent targets. The appropriate one-to-many relational structure is compatible with Optimality Theory, where well-formedness is evaluated over the entire candidate at once, but it is not consistent with a local iterative spreading rule or an approach using a local spreading constraint, lacking additional constraints on nonlocal dependencies. This study thus identifies a previously unrecognized advantage of analyzing harmony within Optimality Theory, and it signals the necessity for any theory of harmony to handle nonlocal trigger-target relations.
A Mother’s Influence: Mothers Naming Children in the Hebrew Bible
Authors: Bridge Edward J.
Published: August 2014

When parents are narrated in the Hebrew Bible as actively naming their children, mothers naming children occurs more frequently than fathers naming children. When this phenomenon is combined with those biblical texts that indicate women as having influence over the religious leanings or language spoken by their children, it suggests that the authors of the Hebrew Bible texts recognized that women had significant standing and influence in the ancient Israelite household.
Legenden der Jeremia-Exegese (I): Das eschatologische Schema im alexandrinischen Jeremiabuch
Authors: Stipp Hermann-Josef
Published: August 2014

The article examines the widely accepted theory that the Alexandrian edition of the book of Jeremiah, as represented by the Septuagint, is structured in line with the so-called “tripartite eschatological pattern”, a way of organizing prophetical books in three major sections: first, oracles of doom for Israel; second, oracles of doom for the nations; and third, oracles of salvation for Israel. The scrutiny concludes that the theory fails to give proper consideration to the preponderance of prophecies and descriptions of doom in part three of the Greek Jeremiah, chaps. 33-52 (Hebrew 26-45 + 52). Moreover, if indeed a redactor had wished to subject the book to the eschatological pattern, the material would have afforded him opportunities to arrange it in ways much more amenable to the pattern. Therefore, the theory should be abandoned. More probably, chaps. 26-45 + 46-49 + 50-51 in the Hebrew serve to illustrate the doom announced first on Judah, then on the foreign nations, and finally on Babylon in Jer 25:15-29.
“We Woke Up and Everything Had Gone to Qadhafi”
Authors: Carlisle Jessica
Published: August 2014

Since the 2011 revolution claimants in Libya have been lobbying to demand reinstatement of property confiscated from their families by Qadhafi under Law 4/1978. During this campaign they have forcefully argued that they have been impoverished and sidelined as victims of corruption. In particular, they highlight how their property enriched and empowered the Qadhafi regime’s corrupt elites as it was redistributed as a form of state controlled ‘rent’. However, in making this argument they have tried to limit retrospective evaluations of property rights to the Qadhafi period, preventing investigation of their own families’ accumulation of property under the Italian occupation or the monarchy. Property claimants’ preferred solution is for the democratically elected government to enforce property restitution and to allocate state funds for compensation and for housing construction. The prospects for this are not good. In post-revolutionary Libya powerful militia have made land and property grabs, and other post-revolutionary elites are accused of engaging in corruption, in a continuing threat to property claimants’ future political and economic status.
­­­Hoya papaschonii (Apocynaceae: Asclepiadoideae), a new species from southern Thailand with a peculiar corona
Authors: Rodda Michele , Ercole Enrico
Published: August 2014

The new Hoya species, here described and fully illustrated, is an epiphytic shrub with white-cream coloured flowers superficially similar to those of Hoya telosmoides. Its gynostegial corona includes five staminal and five interstaminal lobes, the latter never before observed in Hoya. The placement of the new species within Hoya was confirmed by a phylogenetic analysis based on nuclear ribosomal ITS and 5’-ETS regions, and chloroplast psbA-trnH and trnT-trnL intergenic spacers. It belongs to a group of species including Hoya multiflora and Hoya praetorii, characterised together with H. papaschonii by non-climbing habit, thin leaves lacking basal colleters, and short-lived peduncles.
Improvement in oxidation behaviour of steel by B4C–TiB2–TiC–Ni coating
Authors: Rafiei M. , Shamanian M. , Salehi M. , Motallebzadeh A.
Published: August 2014

In this study, B4C–TiB2–TiC–Ni coating was thermally sprayed on the surface of 4130 steel substrate by high velocity oxyfuel (HVOF) torch. Before the HVOF process, the B4C–TiB2–TiC–Ni powder was prepared by mechanical alloying (MA). In order to study the oxidation behaviour of the coating and 4130 steel, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was done. The structural evolution of the samples was investigated by X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The microstructure and elemental analysis of the samples were studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS). The coating showed higher oxidation resistance in comparison with the 4130 steel at high temperatures. It was also found that the dissolution of oxygen in the coating was the rate determining process of the coating oxidation, creating the quasi-cubic kinetic rate.
Cultivation and detection of endophytic aerobic methanotrophs isolated from Sphagnum species as a perspective for environmental biotechnology
Authors: Stępniewska Zofia , Kuźniar Agnieszka
Published: August 2014

Enriched cultures of microorganisms are an essential step in the production of inoculum of these organisms for biotechnology and bioengineering. The potential application of methanotrophic microorganisms for removal of methane produced from landfills and coal mines as well as biodegradation of toxic compounds has been widely studied. Therefore, searching for new sources of methanotrophs can contribute to increasing the possibilities of biotechnology and bioengineering.

Enrichment cultures of endophytic methanotrophs from Sphagnum sp. were initiated in NMS medium, a most widely used medium for cultivation of methanotrophic bacteria from various environments proposed in 1970 by Whittenbury. Incubation was carried out at 10, 20, 30, and 37°C with vigorous shaking on a shaker (180 rpm). The source of carbon and energy for endophytes were methane at the concentration range between 1-20%.

It appeared that the consortium of endophytic bacteria grew only at the temperature of 20 and 30°C. During the culture of endophytes, the measurements of gas concentration showed a steady loss of methane and oxygen, as well as accumulation of carbon dioxide as a CH4 oxidation product.

The use of FISH has made characterization of endophytic consortia possible. It turned out that the population of endophytes consists of type I and II methanotrophs as well as associated non-methanotrophic bacteria.

Furthermore, we determined the potential of the examined bacteria for methane oxidation, which ranged up to 4,7 μMCH4 per ml of the population of endophytes per day.
Prenatal exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and autistic symptoms in young children: another red herring?
Authors: Petersen Irene , Evans Stephen , Nazareth Irwin
Published: August 2014

In this issue, El Marroun et al suggest an association between prenatal selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) exposure and autistic traits in children, as well as an association with prenatal depressive symptoms. However, SSRIs may be mere markers of severity of underlying illnesses and it may be premature to reach such conclusions about effects of treatment. Studies like this raise concerns as this may fuel further anxiety and guilt among women who are faced with depression in pregnancy and possibly leave some women without treatment.
Too similar, too different: the paradoxical dualism of psychiatric stigma
Authors: Gergel Tania Louise
Published: August 2014

Challenges to psychiatric stigma fall between a rock and a hard place. Decreasing one prejudice may inadvertently increase another. Emphasising similarities between mental illness and ‘ordinary’ experience to escape the fear-related prejudices associated with the imagined ‘otherness’ of persons with mental illness risks conclusions that mental illness indicates moral weakness and the loss of any benefits of a medical model. An emphasis on illness and difference from normal experience risks a response of fear of the alien. Thus, a ‘likeness-based’ and ‘unlikeness-based’ conception of psychiatric stigma can lead to prejudices stemming from paradoxically opposing assumptions about mental illness. This may create a troubling impasse for anti-stigma campaigns.
The demonisation of psychiatrists in fiction (and why real psychiatrists might want to do something about it)
Authors: Hopson Jacqueline
Published: August 2014

To encourage psychiatric practitioners to be aware of and to work to counteract the representations of the profession as evil manipulators in fiction, film and popular culture. A wide-ranging number of representative sources portraying psychiatrists are explored. It is demonstrated that psychiatry is overwhelmingly presented in a damagingly negative light.
Local Institutions and the Dynamics of Community Sorting
Authors: Robbett Andrea
Published: August 2014

This paper studies the dynamics by which populations with heterogeneous preferences for public good provision sort themselves into communities. I conduct laboratory experiments to consider which institutions best facilitate efficient self-organization when residents can move freely between locations. I find that institutions requiring all residents of a community to pay equal taxes enable subjects to sort into stable, homogeneous communities. Though sorted, residents often fail to attain the provision level best suited for them. When residents can vote for local tax policies with ballots, along with their feet, each community converges to the most efficient outcome for its population. (JEL C73, D72, H21, H41, H71, H73)
Corporate Incentives and Nuclear Safety
Authors: Hausman Catherine
Published: August 2014

Following electricity market restructuring, approximately half of all commercial US nuclear power reactors were sold by price-regulated public utilities to independent power producers. At the time of the sales, some policymakers raised concerns that these corporations would ignore safety. Others claimed that the sales would bring improved reactor management, with positive effects on safety. Using data on various safety measures and a difference-in-differences estimation strategy, I find that safety improved following ownership transfers and the removal of price regulations. Generation increased, and this does not appear to have come at the cost of public safety. (JEL D24, L51, L94, L98, Q42, Q48)
The Incentive Effects of Marginal Tax Rates: Evidence from the Interwar Era
Authors: Romer Christina D. , Romer David H.
Published: August 2014

This paper uses the interwar United States as a laboratory for investigating the incentive effects of marginal income tax rates. We examine the impact of the large changes in rates in this period on taxable income using time-series/cross-section analysis of data by small slices of the income distribution. We find that the effect operated in the expected direction but was economically small, and that it is precisely estimated and highly robust. We also find suggestive time-series evidence of a positive impact of marginal rate cuts on business formation, but no evidence of an important effect on other indicators of investment. (JEL D31, H24, H31, M13, N42)
Case Report: Solitary mastocytoma treated successfully with topical tacrolimus
Authors: Sukesh M. S. , Dandale Ameet , Dhurat Rachita , Sarkate Ankur , Ghate Smita
Published: August 2014

Solitary mastocytoma, a rare dermatological entity accounts for 10-15% of cutaneous mastocytosis. We report a rare case of solitary mastocytoma presenting at birth, treated successfully with topical tacrolimus. Along with reassurance and strict avoidance of triggering factors, no recurrence was reported within the one year follow-up period.
Latent Growth Modeling for Information Systems: Theoretical Extensions and Practical Applications
Authors: Zheng Zhiqiang (Eric) , Pavlou Paul A. , Gu Bin
Published: August 2014

This paper presents and extends Latent Growth Modeling (LGM) as a complementary method for analyzing longitudinal data, modeling the process of change over time, testing time-centric hypotheses, and building longitudinal theories. We first describe the basic tenets of LGM and offer guidelines for applying LGM to Information Systems (IS) research, specifically how to pose research questions that focus on change over time and how to implement LGM models to test time-centric hypotheses. Second and more important, we theoretically extend LGM by proposing a model validation criterion, namely “d-separation,” to evaluate why and when LGM works and test its fundamental properties and assumptions. Our d-separation criterion does not rely on any distributional assumptions of the data; it is grounded in the fundamental assumption of the theory of conditional independence. Third, we conduct extensive simulations to examine a multitude of factors that affect LGM performance. Finally, as a practical application, we apply LGM to model the relationship between word-of-mouth communication (online product reviews) and book sales over time with longitudinal 26-week data from Amazon. The paper concludes by discussing the implications of LGM for helping IS researchers develop and test longitudinal theories.
Forward-Looking MD&A Disclosures and the Information Environment
Authors: Muslu Volkan , Radhakrishnan Suresh , Subramanyam K. R. , Lim Dongkuk
Published: August 2014

We use computer-intensive techniques to study the informational properties of forward-looking disclosures in the management discussion and analysis (MD&A) sections of 10-K filings made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We find that firms make more forward-looking MD&A disclosures when their stock prices have lower informational efficiency, i.e., when their stock prices poorly reflect future earnings information. The greater levels of forward-looking MD&A disclosures help improve yet are unable to completely mitigate the lower informational efficiency of stock prices for such firms. These findings are stronger for operations-related forward-looking disclosures, disclosures that are made prior to 2000, and disclosures made by loss firms.

Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2014.1921 .

This paper was accepted by Mary Barth, accounting.
Projection: A Unified Approach to Semi-Infinite Linear Programs and Duality in Convex Programming
Authors: Basu Amitabh , Martin Kipp , Ryan Christopher Thomas
Published: August 2014

Fourier-Motzkin elimination is a projection algorithm for solving finite linear programs. We extend Fourier-Motzkin elimination to semi-infinite linear programs, which are linear programs with finitely many variables and infinitely many constraints. Applying projection leads to new characterizations of important properties for primal-dual pairs of semi-infinite programs such as zero duality gap, feasibility, boundedness, and solvability. Extending the Fourier-Motzkin elimination procedure to semi-infinite linear programs yields a new classification of variables that is used to determine the existence of duality gaps. In particular, the existence of what the authors term dirty variables can lead to duality gaps. Our approach has interesting applications in finite-dimensional convex optimization. For example, sufficient conditions for a zero duality gap, such as the Slater constraint qualification, are reduced to guaranteeing that there are no dirty variables. This leads to completely new proofs of such sufficient conditions for zero duality.
Developing a core outcome set for hip fracture trials
Authors: Haywood K. L. , Griffin X. L. , Achten J. , Costa M. L.
Published: August 2014

The lack of a consensus for core health outcomes that should be reported in clinical research has hampered study design and evidence synthesis. We report a United Kingdom consensus for a core outcome set (COS) for clinical trials of patients with a hip fracture.

We adopted a modified nominal group technique to derive consensus on 1) which outcome domains should be measured, and 2) methods of assessment. Participants reflected a diversity of perspectives and experience. They received an evidence synthesis and postal questionnaire in advance of the consensus meeting, and ranked the importance of candidate domains and the relevance and suitability of short-listed measures. During the meeting, pre-meeting source data and questionnaire responses were summarised, followed by facilitated discussion and a final plenary session. A COS was determined using a closed voting system: a 70% consensus was required.

Consensus supported a five-domain COS: mortality, pain, activities of daily living, mobility, and health-related quality of life (HRQL). Single-item measures of mortality and mobility (indoor/outdoor walking status) and a generic multi-item measure of HRQL - the EuroQoL EQ-5D - were recommended. These measures should be included as a minimum in all hip fracture trials. Other outcome measures should be added depending on the particular interventions being studied.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014; 96-B:1016–23.
CT scan-evaluated outcome of pulsed electromagnetic fields in the treatment of acute scaphoid fractures
Authors: Hannemann P. F. W. , van Wezenbeek M. R. , Kolkman K. A. , Twiss E. L. L. , Berghmans C. H. J. , Dirven P. A. M. G. M. , Brink P. R. G. , Poeze M.
Published: August 2014

We hypothesised that the use of pulsed electromagnetic field (PEMF) bone growth stimulation in acute scaphoid fractures would significantly shorten the time to union and reduce the number of nonunions in a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled multicentre trial. A total of 102 patients (78 male, 24 female; mean age 35 years (18 to 77)) from five different medical centres with a unilateral undisplaced acute scaphoid fracture were randomly allocated to PEMF (n = 51) or placebo (n = 51) and assessed with regard to functional and radiological outcomes (multiplanar reconstructed CT scans) at 6, 9, 12, 24 and 52 weeks. The overall time to clinical and radiological healing did not differ significantly between the active PEMF group and the placebo group. We concluded that the addition of PEMF bone growth stimulation to the conservative treatment of acute scaphoid fractures does not accelerate bone healing.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014; 96-B:1070–6.
Posterior spinal fusion for adolescent idiopathic thoracolumbar/lumbar scoliosis
Authors: Roberts S. B. , Tsirikos A. I. , Subramanian A. S.
Published: August 2014

Clinical, radiological, and Scoliosis Research Society-22 questionnaire data were reviewed pre-operatively and two years post-operatively for patients with thoracolumbar/lumbar adolescent idiopathic scoliosis treated by posterior spinal fusion using a unilateral convex segmental pedicle screw technique. A total of 72 patients were included (67 female, 5 male; mean age at surgery 16.7 years (13 to 23)) and divided into groups: group 1 included 53 patients who underwent fusion between the vertebrae at the limit of the curve (proximal and distal end vertebrae); group 2 included 19 patients who underwent extension of the fusion distally beyond the caudal end vertebra.

A mean scoliosis correction of 80% (45% to 100%) was achieved. The mean post-operative lowest instrumented vertebra angle, apical vertebra translation and trunk shift were less than in previous studies. A total of five pre-operative radiological parameters differed significantly between the groups and correlated with the extension of the fusion distally: the size of the thoracolumbar/lumbar curve, the lowest instrumented vertebra angle, apical vertebra translation, the Cobb angle on lumbar convex bending and the size of the compensatory thoracic curve. Regression analysis allowed an equation incorporating these parameters to be developed which had a positive predictive value of 81% in determining whether the lowest instrumented vertebra should be at the caudal end vertebra or one or two levels more distal. There were no differences in the Scoliosis Research Society-22 outcome scores between the two groups (p = 0.17).

In conclusion, thoracolumbar/lumbar curves in patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis may be effectively treated by posterior spinal fusion using a unilateral segmental pedicle screw technique. Five radiological parameters correlate with the need for distal extension of the fusion, and an equation incorporating these parameters reliably informs selection of the lowest instrumented vertebra.

Cite this article: Bone Joint J 2014;96-B:1082–9.