bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Clinical and Patient-reported Outcomes of a Zirconia Oral Implant
Authors: Spies B.C. , Balmer M. , Patzelt S.B.M. , Vach K. , Kohal R.J.
Published: August 2015

The objective of this study was to determine the clinical, radiographic, and patient-reported outcomes of a 1-piece alumina-toughened zirconia implant restored with single crowns (SCs) or 3-unit fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) after 3 y of observation. Forty patients received 53 implants, placed in a 1-stage operation with immediate temporization. Finally, 50 implants were restored with 24 SCs and 13 FDPs. To evaluate peri-implant bone loss, standardized radiographs were taken at implant insertion, at final restoration delivery, and after 1 and 3 y. Additionally, several soft tissue parameters and patient-reported outcome measures were evaluated. Linear mixed models with random intercept for each patient and patients as clusters were used to compare subgroups. Three patients did not receive a SC due to early implant loss, and 1 patient died. As a result, 36 patients with 49 implants were followed-up for 3 y, giving a cumulative survival rate of 94.2%. The average marginal bone loss amounted to 0.79 mm (SCs, 0.47 mm; FDPs, 1.07 mm; P < 0.001). After the delivery of the final prosthetic restoration, further bone loss was not statistically significant (0.09 mm; P = 0.700). Probing depth, clinical attachment level, and modified bleeding index increased significantly at the implant sites, whereas gingival recession decreased significantly. Compared with the pretreatment questionnaires, the patient-reported outcome measures showed a permanently improved perception of function, aesthetics, sense, speech and self-esteem. The survival rate of the investigated ceramic implant system seems to be comparable to reported survival rates of titanium implants when immediately restored. The recorded parameters suggest its potential for clinical utilization.
Uterine inversion after an unskilled delivery – still a concern for maternal mortality: A case report and discussion of the related medico-legal issues
Authors: Pradhan Monisha , Barwa Jyoti , Baraw Rajendra
Published: August 2015

Uterine inversion is a life-threatening medical emergency, which can result in fatal shock and sudden unexpected death during and after delivery. Most cases of uterine inversion occur due to mismanagement of the third stage of labour. We report a case of sudden death occurring post full-term vaginal delivery conducted by a traditional birth attendant (TBA) popularly known as dai. Autopsy revealed signs of haemorrhage and shock due to an inverted uterus. This emergency medical condition, though frequently fatal, can be treated if prompt action is taken by a trained and skilled obstetrician, preventing morbidity and mortality. We discuss the incidence, aetiology, symptomatology, complications and the management of uterine inversion. We also review the capability and eligibility of TBAs in handling such obstetrical emergencies, along with their culpability, if any, in such cases of negligence as per the applicable statutes.
Accessibility dynamics and location premia: Do land values follow accessibility changes?
Authors: Iacono Michael , Levinson David
Published: August 2015

The structure of transportation networks and the patterns of accessibility they give rise to are an important determinant of land prices, and hence urban spatial structure. While there is ample evidence on the cross-sectional relationship between location and land value (usually measured from the value of improved property), there is much less evidence available on the changes in this relationship over time, especially where location is represented using a disaggregate measure of urban accessibility. This paper provides evidence of this dynamic relationship using data on home sales in the Minneapolis-St Paul, MN, USA metropolitan area, coupled with disaggregate measures of urban accessibility for multiple modes, for the period from 2000 to 2005. Our investigation tracks the effects of marginal changes in accessibility over time, as opposed to static, cross-sectional relationships, by using an approach in which the unit of observation is a ‘representative house’ for each transportation analysis zone in the region. This approach allows us to control for changes in structural attributes of houses over time, while also isolating the effect of changes in accessibility levels. Results of this approach are compared with a cross-sectional model using the same variables for a single year to illustrate important differences. Empirical estimates indicate that while most of the models estimated using a cross-sectional specification yield positive and significant effects of accessibility on sale prices, these effects disappear when the models are transformed into first-difference form. We explain these findings in light of the state of maturity of urban transportation networks.
Neighbourhood ethnic composition and outcomes for low-income Latino and African American children
Authors: Galster George , Santiago Anna
Published: August 2015

The paper investigates the impact of ethnic segregation on the life chances of low-income African American and Latino children, focusing on whether it is the ethnic composition of the neighbourhood per se that matters or other, correlated aspects of the residential environment. The approach links the consequences of segregation and neighbourhood effects literatures by arguing that metropolitan segregation forces directly shape children’s intra-neighbourhood ethnic exposure and indirectly shape their exposure to non-ethnic aspects of neighbourhood. Associations between a wide range of neighbourhood characteristics and children’s health, exposure to and engaging in violence, educational and fertility outcomes are quantified using a natural experiment, thereby permitting valid causal inferences. Data analysed come from a retrospective survey of Denver (CO) Housing Authority (DHA) residents. The analysis avoids parental geographic selection bias because DHA’s assignment of households to neighbourhoods mimics a random process. Logit models stratified by ethnicity show that growing up amid concentrations of African American residents is associated with a variety of adverse outcomes for low-income Latino and (especially) African American children, though outcomes associated with concentrations of Latino residents are more mixed. Virtually all of the negative associations disappear, however, when other aspects of the residential context are controlled, and several positive ones persist. The adverse developmental consequences of ethnic segregation appear to be generated primarily in Denver by concentrating minority children in neighbourhoods with higher rates of property crime and lower occupational prestige.
Displacement and gentrification in England and Wales: A quasi-experimental approach
Authors: Freeman Lance , Cassola Adele , Cai Tiancheng
Published: August 2015

Using event history methods we examine the relationship between residential mobility and gentrification in England and Wales. While our models of residential mobility conform to the life-cycle explanations of mobility, we find little evidence of elevated mobility in gentrifying neighbourhoods. This finding is robust across a variety of specifications. We conclude by discussing possible explanations for this counter-intuitive result.
China’s Relations with the Latin American and Caribbean Countries
Authors: Harris Richard L.
Published: August 2015

The Western academic literature and media coverage of the increasing economic and political relations between the People’s Republic of China (PRC or China) and the Latin American and Caribbean countries contains biases, fears, and misinformation about those relations. Closer examination reveals that Chinese trade, investment and loans have supported the left-leaning governments in the region that are attempting to develop alternative postcapitalist societies. China’s leaders seek allies among the developing countries to join with them in creating a new multipolar and more equitable global order. The PRC has launched a new economic strategy that makes consumer demand the main engine of China’s economic development. It seeks to boost productivity, reduce the country’s growing income disparities, and pursue an environmentally sustainable path of economic development based on advanced high-value and clean manufacturing technologies and renewable sources of clean energy. The PRC’s goal of developing a new ecological civilization will provide opportunities for the Latin American and Caribbean economies to export a more diversified basket of goods to China and attract Chinese investments and loans into new areas such as renewable energy.

La literatura académica occidental y la cobertura mediática de las crecientes relaciones económicas y políticas entre la República Popular China (RPC o China) y los países de América Latina y el Caribe incluyen prejuicios, miedos, y desinformación respecto a esas relaciones. Un examen más detenido revela que el comercio, la inversión, y los préstamos chinos han apoyado los gobiernos de izquierda en la región que intentan establecer sociedades alternativas post-capitalistas. Los líderes chinos buscan aliados entre los países en vías de desarrollo para aunar esfuerzos en la creación de un nuevo orden global multipolar y más equitativo. La RPC ha lanzado una nueva estrategia económica colocando la demanda consumidora como motor principal del desarrollo económico chino. Busca impulsar la productividad, reducir las crecientes disparidades de ingresos en el país, y emprender un camino sostenible de desarrollo económico en base a tecnologías avanzadas de alto valor y de manufactura limpia junto con fuentes renovables de energía limpia. El objetivo de la RPC de promover una nueva civilización ecológica brindará oportunidades para la exportación de parte de las economías latinoamericanas y caribeñas de una canasta más diversificada de bienes a la China y de atraer inversiones y préstamos chinos en nuevas áreas como la energía renovable.
Finding a Fit or Developing It
Authors: Chen Patricia , Ellsworth Phoebe C. , Schwarz Norbert
Published: August 2015

“Passion for work” has become a widespread phrase in popular discourse. Two contradictory lay perspectives have emerged on how passion for work is attained, which we distill into the fit and develop implicit theories. Fit theorists believe that passion for work is achieved through finding the right fit with a line of work; develop theorists believe that passion is cultivated over time. Four studies examined the expectations, priorities, and outcomes that characterize these implicit theories. Our results show that these beliefs elicit different motivational patterns, but both can facilitate vocational well-being and success. This research extends implicit theory scholarship to the work domain and provides a framework that can fruitfully inform career advising, life coaching, mentorship, and employment policies.
Effects of Power on Mental Rotation and Emotion Recognition in Women
Authors: Nissan Tali , Shapira Oren , Liberman Nira
Published: August 2015

Based on construal-level theory (CLT) and its view of power as an instance of social distance, we predicted that high, relative to low power would enhance women’s mental-rotation performance and impede their emotion-recognition performance. The predicted effects of power emerged both when it was manipulated via a recall priming task (Study 1) and environmental cues (Studies 2 and 3). Studies 3 and 4 found evidence for mediation by construal level of the effect of power on emotion recognition but not on mental rotation. We discuss potential mediating mechanisms for these effects based on both the social distance/construal level and the approach/inhibition views of power. We also discuss implications for optimizing performance on mental rotation and emotion recognition in everyday life.
CEO Inside Debt and Earnings Management
Authors: Dhole Sandip , Manchiraju Hariom , Suk Inho
Published: August 2015

This study examines the impact of CEO inside debt on earnings management. Theory predicts that CEOs with higher inside debt holdings adopt less risky corporate policies and choose investment policies that result in less volatile earnings. Under such circumstances, CEOs would face weaker demand for income smoothing. Consistent with these expectations, our results reveal that CEO inside debt is negatively associated with both accrual- and real activities-based earnings management. We also find that firms with higher levels of CEO inside debt are less likely to meet or slightly beat analysts’ earnings forecasts. Furthermore, the capital market response to positive earnings surprises is greater when CEOs hold higher positions of inside debt. Overall, our findings suggest that inside debt counteracts CEOs’ incentives to smooth earnings through earnings management and investors understand the deterrence effect of inside debt on earnings management.
Birth cohort changes in Chinese college students’ loneliness and social support
Authors: Xin Sufei , Xin Ziqiang
Published: August 2015

With the dramatic recent changes in Chinese society, Chinese college students’ average levels of loneliness and social support might also have changed across their birth cohorts. The present cross-temporal meta-analysis of 56 studies ( N = 21,541) found that Chinese college students’ scores on the UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3) increased gradually from 2002 to 2011. The increasing trend in loneliness occurred among both men and women. Another similar meta-analysis of 110 studies ( N = 57,420) showed that Chinese college students’ scores on the Social Support Rating Scale decreased from 1999 to 2011, with a slightly larger shift occurring among college men. The increase in loneliness across birth cohorts among Chinese college students was associated with the decline of their perceived social support levels (especially objective social support).
Mothering Gender and Sexually Nonconforming Children in Taiwan
Authors: Brainer Amy
Published: August 2015

How do emerging and enduring conditions of motherhood in Taiwan shape mothers’ interactions with children who are gender or sexually nonconforming? Bridging research on the transformation of mothering discourses in Taiwan and globally with the small but growing body of work on LGBT family of origin relationships, this article argues that women’s experiences of raising gender and sexually nonconforming children are integrally shaped by the conditions of gender and family inequality in their own lives. These inequalities are sometimes challenged but often reinscribed by new parenting discourses and resources that have proliferated in late 20th and early 21st century Taiwan, including new forms of parental labor, accountability for child outcomes, and emerging expert voices on sexuality and parenthood. This analysis is rooted in ethnographic fieldwork and family history interviews with gender and sexually nonconforming people and with their families of origin throughout Taiwan, with emphasis on heterosexual mothers’ narratives.
Skills shortages: A brake on the British car industry?
Authors: Begley Jason , Collis Clive , Donnelly Tom
Published: August 2015

In 2012, KPMG published a report outlining the successes in the growth and development of the UK automotive industry. All augured well for the future. Tucked away at the back of the report was a warning that the industry’s progress could be hindered due to a serious lack of skilled labour at both the graduate and non-graduate levels. This paper seeks to explore the various reasons why this deficiency in skills has arisen. The seriousness of the problem has been recognised for many years, but it is only recently that it has been afforded the attention deserved. The discussion will focus on and evaluate government, employers and the education system’s roles in this and also their attempts to alleviate the problem.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: Prevalence, incidence, risk factors, and effects on survival of patients in a specialist palliative care unit: A prospective observational study
Authors: Gleeson Aoife , Larkin Philip , Walsh Cathal , O’Sullivan Niamh
Published: August 2015

Background:

Little is known about the impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in palliative care settings. To date, the clinical impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus in palliative care is unknown.

Aim:

To determine prevalence and incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation in a specialist palliative care setting, to identify risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation, to determine the eradication success rate and to determine the impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on survival.

Design:

Prospective cohort study.

Setting/participants:

Data were collected for consecutive admissions to an inpatient palliative care service. Patients were screened for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation on admission and 1 week post admission. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus eradication was attempted in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus positive patients.

Results:

Data were collected from 609 admissions for 466 individual patients. Admission screening data were available in 95.5%. Prevalence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation was 11.59% (54 patients). One week incidence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation was 1.2%. Risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation were determined using Chi-Squared test and included high Waterlow score ( p < 0.01), high palliative performance scale score ( p < 0.01), methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus status prior to admission ( p < 0.01), admission from hospital ( p < 0.05), presence of urinary catheter or percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube ( p < 0.05) and poor dietary intake ( p < 0.05). Regression analysis did not identify independent risk factors. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was eradicated in 8.1% of admissions, while 46 patients commenced on the protocol (62.2%) died before completing it. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus did not significantly impact survival but was significantly associated with having infection episodes and longer length of stay.

Conclusion:

This study identified risk factors for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus colonisation in palliative care patients. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus was eradicated in 8.1% of patients. Hence, restricting methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus screening to high-risk palliative care patients may be prudent.
Developmental Assets and Risky Sexual Behaviors Among American Indian Youth
Authors: Greene Kaylin M. , Eitle David , Eitle Tamela McNulty
Published: August 2015

This study examined the relationship between developmental assets during early and mid-adolescence and early adult sexual behaviors among American Indians using a subsample from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health ( N = 465). Grounded in an assets framework, the authors explored the protective role of personal, family, school, and community assets as well as cumulative assets for sexual behaviors including early sexual debut, number of sexual partners, and frequency of condom use. The results indicated that certain assets during early and mid-adolescence, such as self-control, family support, and school attachment, were protective for various risky sexual behaviors in early adulthood. Furthermore, cumulative assets emerged as an important predictor of sexual behaviors. These findings highlight the utility of applying a developmental assets framework to understand protective factors among American Indian youth.
Magnetic resonance imaging evaluation of residual tumors in breast cancer after neoadjuvant chemotherapy: surgical implications
Authors: Zhou Juan , Li Gongjie , Sheng Fugeng , Qiao Penggang , Zhang Hongtao , Xing Xudong
Published: August 2015

Background

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be used to guide breast cancer surgery with breast conservation for large tumors with a substantially reduced size after neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NAC).

Purpose

To evaluate the value of dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI) for measuring residual tumor size and enhancement patterns following preoperative NAC.

Material and Methods

Eighty-nine patients with breast cancer underwent breast DCE-MRI; 38 patients (39 lesions) were treated with NAC and examined for residual disease following therapy. Two patients were excluded because surgery had been performed >2 weeks after the final MR examination. Thus, we correlated the DCE-MRI results of 36 patients (37 lesions) with postoperative histopathological findings. Residual disease was confirmed by more enhancement compared to normal glandular tissue at the initial tumor site. Residual tumor size on DCE-MRI was compared with postoperative pathology findings. Tumor enhancement patterns on DCE-MRI were analyzed and correlated with pathological classification.

Results

MRI revealed 34 cases of residual tumors, with two false positives and one false negative. Pathological and MR measurements were correlated ( r = 0.793). The correlation of mass enhancement size ( r = 0.87, n = 14) with pathology and DCE-MRI was higher than for non-mass-like enhancement (NME) ( r = 0.735, n = 23). The distribution of pathologic classification was significantly different between different MRI enhancement patterns ( P = 0.006). Mass enhancement had higher cellularity than NME.

Conclusion

MRI is useful for evaluating residual carcinoma following NAC. Mass enhancement with higher cellularity after NAC can be evaluated more accurately, which is suitable for evaluating lumpectomy. However, other approaches are required for NME, which has lower cellularity.
Differentiation between borderline and benign ovarian tumors: combined analysis of MRI with tumor markers for large cystic masses (≥5 cm)
Authors: Park Sung Yoon , Oh Young Taik , Jung Dae Chul
Published: August 2015

Background

There is overlap in imaging features between borderline and benign ovarian tumors.

Purpose

To analyze diagnostic performance of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with tumor markers for differentiating borderline from benign ovarian tumor.

Material and Methods

Ninety-nine patient with MRI and surgically confirmed ovarian tumors 5 cm or larger (borderline, n = 37; benign, n = 62) were included. On MRI, tumor size, septal number (0; 1–4; 5 or more), and presence of solid portion such as papillary projection or septal thickening 0.5 cm or larger were investigated. Serum tumor markers (carbohydrate antigen 125 [CA 125] and CA 19-9) were recorded. Multivariate analysis was conducted for assessing whether combined MRI with tumor markers could differentiate borderline from benign tumor. The diagnostic performance was also analyzed.

Results

Incidence of solid portion was 67.6% (25/37) in borderline and 3.2% (2/62) in benign tumors ( P < 0.05). In all patients, without combined analysis of MRI with tumor markers, multivariate analysis revealed solid portion ( P < 0.001) and CA 125 ( P = 0.039) were significant for predicting borderline tumors. When combined analysis of MRI with CA 125 ((i) the presence of solid portion or (ii) CA 125 > 44.1 U/mL with septal number ≥5 for borderline tumor) is incorporated to multivariate analysis, it was only significant ( P = 0.001). The sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, and accuracy of combined analysis of MRI with CA 125 were 89.1%, 91.9%, 86.8%, 93.4, and 90.9%, respectively.

Conclusion

Combined analysis of MRI with CA 125 may allow better differentiation between borderline and benign ovarian tumor compared with MRI alone.
The ‘Field’ in the Age of Intervention: Power, Legitimacy, and Authority Versus the ‘Local’
Authors: Richmond Oliver P. , Kappler Stefanie , Björkdahl Annika
Published: August 2015

This article highlights the semantic and socio-political meaning of the ‘field’ as it is used in both academic research and policy practices: as a geographic and material space related to forms of intervention in International Relations (IR), and not as a disciplinary space. We argue that the notion of the ‘field’ carries colonial baggage in terms of denoting ‘backwardness’ and conflictual practices, as well as legitimising the need for intervention by peacebuilding, statebuilding, and development actors located outside the field. We also show how academic practices have tended to create a semiotic frame in which the inhabitants of the research and intervention space are kept at a distance from the researcher, and discursively stripped of their agency. Along similar lines, policy-practice has reinforced the notion of the field as being in need of intervention, making it subject to external control. This article suggests that the agency of the inhabitants of the field has to be re-cognised and de-colonised so that political legitimacy can be recovered from ‘intervention’.
The effects of long-range residual stress, elastic follow-up and applied load on creep crack incubation and material toughness
Authors: Smith David J , Shirahatti Anilkumar M
Published: August 2015

Creep crack incubation of Type 316H stainless steel at 550 °C is explored in this article. Fracture mechanics specimens, subjected to combinations of residual and applied loads and in the presence of elastic follow-up, are tested. The design of two new test rigs is described. The rigs introduce planned levels of elastic follow-up together with combined residual and applied loading conditions to the specimens. A series of high-temperature elastic–plastic and elastic–plastic–creep experiments are undertaken to compare the experimentally determined values of elastic follow-up with the theoretical values. A further series of fracture mechanics tests are performed to measure creep crack incubation and material toughness for samples subjected to constant load and for tests under combined loading with elastic follow-up. It is demonstrated that for tests subjected to the same initial reference stresses, longer incubation times are attained for elastic follow-up tests compared to constant load tests. Also, combined loading tests exhibit longer creep crack incubation times based on the same measured material toughness obtained from constant load tests. This suggests that not all the available strain energy provided by combined loading to a specimen at high temperature contributes to creep crack incubation.
Laser-evoked potential habituation and central sensitization symptoms in childhood migraine
Authors: de Tommaso Marina , Sciruicchio Vittorio , Ricci Katia , Montemurno Anna , Gentile Francesco , Vecchio Eleonora , Barbaro Maria Grazia Foschino , Simeoni Michele , Goffredo Marvita , Livrea Paolo
Published: August 2015

Objectives

Few studies have addressed central sensitization symptoms and pain processing in childhood migraine. Our aims were to examine pain sensitivity and responses, including habituation, evoked by CO2 laser stimuli (laser-evoked potentials (LEPs)) in a cohort of children with migraine compared to non-migraine controls and to determine the correlation between LEP features and signs of central sensitization.

Methods

Thirty-five patients 8–15 years of age with migraines without aura were evaluated during the inter-critical phase and were compared to 17 controls. LEPs were analyzed, and their main features were correlated with clinical symptoms including allodynia and pericranial tenderness.

Results

The laser-evoked pain threshold was lower and the N2P2 vertex complex amplitude was higher in children with migraines. Furthermore, habituation of vertex waves of LEPs clearly showed a tendency toward progressive amplitude enhancement in the migraine group. Acute allodynia and inter-critical pericranial tenderness correlated with trigeminal LEP features, particularly with the abnormal habituation pattern.

Discussion

Abnormalities of pain processing and symptoms of central sensitization appear to be characteristics of children with migraine. Reduced habituation and progressive amplification of cortical responses to laser stimuli indicate an overactive nociceptive system at the onset of migraine, and this hyperactivity may subtend allodynia and pericranial tenderness. Future prospective trials may aid in the early identification of clinical phenotypes that display a tendency to develop into the chronic form of migraine, warranting a timely therapeutic approach.
Experimental investigation of a novel connection for pultruded composites: Hybrid bolt-tooth connection
Authors: Liu Pengfei , Zhao Qilin , Zhang Dongdong , Li Fei , Gao Yifeng , Li Feng , Xu Longxing , Liu Jinchun
Published: August 2015

Due to the insufficient connection efficiency of the bolted connection of pultruded composites, a novel composite connection technique called hybrid bolt-tooth connection was proposed. The paper presents a series of experiments studying the bearing capacity and the failure mode of the hybrid bolt-tooth connection by comparing with the pure bolted connection. Furthermore, the influences of the depth, the length and the number of the teeth on the connector’s failure mode and bearing capacity were studied. The results indicate that compared with the pure bolted connection, the hybrid bolt-tooth connection has a higher connection efficiency thanks to the load sharing of the teeth. The number, the depth and the length of the teeth exhibit a significant influence on the bearing capacity and failure modes. With the increase of the number and the length of the teeth, the bearing capacity is improved effectively; the bearing capacity of the connection with shallow teeth is significantly higher than that with deep teeth. Therefore, the hybrid bolt-tooth connection is an effective jointing method and has a good application prospect.
Isobutylene–isoprene rubber/layered silicate nanocomposites prepared using latex method: Direct casting versus melt mixing after coagulation
Authors: Chao Chiz-Cheng , Lin Gwo-Geng , Tsai Hsieh-Chih , Lee Ya-Lun , Chang Po-Hsun , Cheng Wen-Tung , Hsiue Ging-Ho
Published: August 2015

In this study, polymer nanocomposites of isobutylene–isoprene rubber blended with sodium–montmorillonite were prepared using latex and co-coagulating methods and their influence on thermal, mechanical, and gas barrier if isobutylene–isoprene rubber composites were compared. The dispersion of the layered silicates in the matrix of the obtained nanocomposites was investigated using transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The transmission electron microscopy images revealed both partially exfoliated and intercalated structures for the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite nanocomposite prepared using the latex method and a purely intercalated structure for the sample prepared using the co-coagulating method. The surfactant used in the latex method played an important role in determining the interlayer distance within the silicates in the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite composites, in which the interlayer d-spacing in the silicates increased relative to that for the co-coagulating method after the curing process. The tensile and thermal properties of the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite nanocomposites improved with respect to those of the neat isobutylene–isoprene rubber. The tensile strength and decomposition temperature of the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/montmorillonite composites (5 parts per hundred resin (phr) montmorillonite blended with latex) increased by 100% and 20℃, respectively. The gas-barrier properties of the obtained composites (10 phr montmorillonite blended with latex) even increased by 60% compared with those of the neat isobutylene–isoprene rubber. For the isobutylene–isoprene rubber/clay composites prepared using the co-coagulating method, an observable improvement of the tensile properties was achieved only if the content of the blended clay was greater than 10 phr.
Experimental study on fire risk of buildings’ U-shaped exterior wall on flame propagation of insulation material on plain and plateau
Authors: Yan Weigang , Shen Yang , An Weiguang , Jiang Lin , Sun Jinhua
Published: August 2015

This study provides an understanding of the fire risk of building’s exterior wall geometry design at different altitudes. The influences of the U-shaped exterior wall geometry on upward flame spread over insulation material on plain and plateau were studied through laboratory-scale experiments. A hypothesis of pseudo chimney effect is provided. Results show that in both plain and plateau, the flame spread rate and the mass loss rate increase as the U-shaped geometry becomes deeper. The time for flame to propagate a certain distance follows an exponential decreasing trend, while it could be concluded that the upper and lower boundaries indicate the time for that of flat and enclosure geometry, respectively. Moreover, the flame spread rate is much higher in plain than in plateau. The key parameter is the upward flow induced by the air entrainment from bottom and front sides of the geometry which enhances the heat feedback.
Art-Making or Place-Making? The Relationship between Open-Air Performance Venues and Neighborhood Change
Authors: Woronkowicz Joanna
Published: August 2015

This study assesses the impact of a particular type of arts planning investment—an open-air performance venue—on a set of indicators measuring neighborhood change. Using data from the 1990 and 2000 Decennial Censuses and the 2008–2012 American Community Survey, the study analyzes relationships between the presence of an open-air performance venue and indicators of neighborhood change through a propensity score matching and a difference-in-differences model. The results show that, overall, neighborhoods with open-air performance venues are associated with expansion or growth, and less so with changes in resident composition.
Non-Violent Empowerment: Self-Help Group for Male Batterers on Recovery
Authors: Gold Dudi , Sutton Avri , Ronel Natti
Published: August 2015

This research focused on a new and unique therapy group for male batterers who were violent toward their intimate partners. The group is based on a small self-help group model, where a professional accompanies the group and serves as the facilitator of the process undergone by the group without interfering with the management of the group and its meetings. A total of seven group members were interviewed in a qualitative and phenomenological-interpretive research, which combined an outside observation by two authors with an inside observation by a professional who facilitated the group. The study focused on the method of empowerment of the group members, and it found three central themes: self-efficacy, group efficacy, and social efficacy. The research findings are explained from the new perspective of positive criminology.
Victimization and Polyvictimization of Spanish Youth Involved in Juvenile Justice
Authors: Pereda Noemí , Abad Judit , Guilera Georgina
Published: August 2015

Multiple victimization, or polyvictimization, is closely related to delinquency and crime, although few studies have studied these experiences in juvenile offenders. Therefore, the aim of this study is to present victimization rates in young offenders from a Southwestern European country. The sample consisted of 101 youth aged between 14 and 17 years, who were mainly recruited from detention centers (77.2%). From a lifetime perspective, the majority had suffered a criminal offense against the person (93.1%), exposure to community violence (95.0%), and peer victimization (86.1%). Prevalence rates for direct and indirect family violence were also high (63.4% and 43.6%). Electronic victimization reached a rate of 40.6% and sexual victimization of 15.8%. Past year experiences showed lower but similar patterns. Based on a community population criterion to define polyvictimization, 65.3% of the sample were considered lifetime polyvictims, while 41.6% were defined as past year polyvictims. Interventions to address multiple, concurrent forms of exposure to violence should be implemented in the justice system as polyvictimization has been revealed as a frequent reality in young offenders, which may result in antisocial behavior.
Emotional Decoding Abilities Do Not Influence Neuropsychiatric Disturbances in Patients With Frontotemporal Dementia
Authors: Klimkowicz-Mrowiec Aleksandra , Krzywoszanski Lukasz , Szyper-Maciejewska Aleksandra , Dziedzic Tomasz , Pera Joanna , Slowik Agnieszka
Published: August 2015

The ability to accurately recognize emotional information belongs to very important interpersonal communication skills in humans. Disturbance of emotional processing is present in behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD), and the severity of pathological behavior may be linked to misunderstanding of other people’s emotions. In our study, we examined hypothesis that patients with worse ability to decode emotions have more behavioral and psychopathological disturbances—the most challenging manifestations of dementia—than those who decode emotions better. We were not able to prove this hypothesis. The ability to decode emotions in patients with bvFTD did not influenced their behavior.
Autonomic Nervous System Dysfunction in Patients With Parkinson Disease Having Depression
Authors: Park Hyung-Eun , Kim Joong-Seok , Oh Yoon-Sang , Park In-Seok , Park Jeong-Wook , Song In-Uk , Lee Kwang-Soo
Published: August 2015

Background and Aim:

Both depression and cardiovascular autonomic dysfunctions, such as orthostatic hypotension, supine hypertension, and the absence of normal nocturnal blood pressure (BP) fall (“nondipping”), occur relatively commonly in Parkinson disease (PD); however, the relationship between depression and cardiovascular autonomic abnormalities has not been established. In this study, we sought to determine whether the cardiovascular autonomic abnormalities found in PD are associated with depression.

Methods:

Among 129 nondemented, levodopa-naive patients with mild PD, 44 had depression. Orthostatic vital signs and ambulatory 24-hour BP monitoring were recorded, and geriatric depressive scales were obtained in all patients. Associations between orthostatic hypotension, supine hypertension, nocturnal hypertension, nondipping, and depression were analyzed. The ratio of the standard deviation of 24-hour heart rate to that of systolic BP (SBP) was utilized as an index of baroreflex–cardiovagal function.

Results:

Depression was associated with orthostatic hypotension, and patients with depression had higher SBP change during orthostasis and attenuated cardiovagal dysfunction as observed during ambulatory BP monitoring. Across individuals, values for orthostatic changes in BP were correlated with values for geriatric depressive scale.

Conclusion:

Depression is associated with neurocirculatory abnormalities—especially orthostatic hypotension—in early PD. Although the association does not imply causation, this result suggests that depression in PD might be associated with functional impairment of the autonomic nervous system and its pathologic substrate.
Entrepreneurial Role-Model Exposure, Self-Efficacy, and Women’s Entrepreneurial Intentions
Authors: Austin Michelle J. , Nauta Margaret M.
Published: August 2015

We examined entrepreneurial role-model exposure (operationalized in terms of both the number of role models known and the intensity of interactions with one’s most influential role model) and self-efficacy as predictors of women’s entrepreneurial intentions. Among 620 female college students, self-efficacy and number of entrepreneurial role models were both associated with stronger entrepreneurial intentions. Among the 105 women who had at least one entrepreneurial role model, the intensity of interactions with the most influential of those role models was also associated with entrepreneurial intentions. Consistent with Social Cognitive Career Theory, self-efficacy mediated the relationships between both forms of role-model exposure and entrepreneurial intentions. Contrary to Bandura’s similarity hypothesis, the association between role-model exposure and self-efficacy was not stronger when access to female entrepreneurs was present. We discuss implications for future research and for career intervention.
Governance for health: Is the cultural ‘lone ranger’ behaviour still prevailing? Perspectives from policy-makers in Portugal
Authors: Santinha Gonçalo
Published: August 2015

Increasing attention has been paid to the significant role of governance in health policy-making. The goal is to develop health policies more responsive to local preferences and needs, in coordination with other policies, and adapted to the most suitable spatial scale. Rather than acting as isolated actors, health institutions must look at ways to strengthen collaboration in a cross-sectoral and symbiotic way with other actors. This article reports the health governance structure of Portugal, a country in which health has become a hotly contested topic due to recent pressures to reduce costs, yet claiming at the central level a whole society and government approach. Based on policy-makers' perspectives, this article explores how institutions interact in health policy-making at the national, regional and local levels. Findings suggest that health decision-making processes are still very centralised and focused within the health sector boundaries, symptomatic of a wider cultural problem.
Axial dynamic characteristic parameters identification of rolling joints in a ball screw feed drive system
Authors: Zhu Jianmin , Zhang Tongchao , Wang Jian , Li Xiaoru
Published: August 2015

The dynamic characteristic parameters of mechanical joints are difficult to determine in theoretical modeling, dynamic simulation, and servo controller design for the ball screw feed drive system. Therefore, this study proposes a novel method for identifying the axial stiffness and damping parameters of the rolling joints in an assembled ball screw feed drive system. First, the proposed method deduces the axial vibration equations of the feed drive system with a harmonic excitation force exerted on its worktable. Second, the identification model of the axial stiffness and damping parameters of the rolling joints is established on the basis of the equations. Third, the identification equations are built by measuring the distance between the screw supporting points, the frequency, and the amplitude of the harmonic excitation force, as well as the amplitude of the axial vibration velocity of the screw end section. The axial stiffness and damping parameters of the rolling joints are finally determined by solving the identification equations using the genetic algorithm. With a ball screw feed drive system as the research object, the proposed method is used to identify the rolling joints’ axial stiffness and damping parameters of the ball screw assembly, as well as the left and the right bearing groups. The experiments show that the proposed method is correct, effective, and achieves high identification accuracy.
Real-time identification of the tyre–road friction coefficient using an unscented Kalman filter and mean-square-error-weighted fusion
Authors: Chen Long , Bian Mingyuan , Luo Yugong , Li Keqiang
Published: August 2015

Vehicle active safety systems can benefit significantly from a priori knowledge of the road conditions. This paper proposes a real-time tyre–road friction estimation algorithm based on an unscented Kalman filter and mean-square-error-weighted fusion, using measurements related to the electric vehicle and in-wheel motors. Because the modules are mutually independent, the dimensionality of the matrix used in the filtering process can be reduced to shorten the computational period. The approach can also work more effectively in various conditions than those techniques which focus on a specific direction of the vehicle dynamics. First, a modified Dugoff et al. tyre model is considered to express the non-linear characteristics of the tyres. Then, to observe the longitudinal tyre forces and the lateral tyre forces, a parameter identification technique that utilizes the information from an inertial sensor and a gyroscope is introduced. An unscented Kalman filter rather than the traditional linear filter is adopted to obtain higher accuracy in the saturation region. After the relationship between the mean square error and the side-slip angle or the slip ratio is taken into account, the final identified value is set by combining the results from the longitudinal unscented Kalman filter and the lateral unscented Kalman filter in order to improve the accuracy and the robustness further. Experiments conducted on both a dry road and a slippery road verify that the method based on an unscented Kalman filter can identify different tyre–road friction levels.
Geometry and contact characteristics of torus involute gears
Authors: Liu Lei , Tan Jingwen , Fang Meijuan
Published: August 2015

Aimed at overcoming high sensitivity to machining or mounting error of line-contact conjugate surfaces, a novel torus involute gear drive is proposed which can compensate large axial misalignments and possess good meshing characteristics without lead correction. The torus involute gear is essentially a special spur gear with continuous shifting in the second order. Based on the processing principle of the torus involute gears, their mathematical models are established according to the corresponding imaginary rack cutter. In order to provide the approach to choose proper designing parameters, geometry characteristics of the torus involute gear are investigated: condition equations of tooth undercutting for a convex torus involute gear and tooth pointing for a concave torus involute gear are formulated utilizing the developed mathematical models, and the approach to checking tooth flank interference is provided. Contact characteristics of the gear set is studied through tooth contact analysis and finite element analysis. The simulated results produce useful information about tooth contact pattern, stress distribution, and transmission errors of the gear set.
Numerical investigation of unsteady natural convection heat transfer from the outer surface of helical coils
Authors: Neshat E , Hossainpour S
Published: August 2015

The main purpose of this work is a numerical study on unsteady natural convection from outer surface of helical coils. Each heat exchanger consisted of a helical coil and a shell. The helical coil was mounted in the shell vertically. The cold water was in the shell and the hot water was flowing through the coil and was cooled by unsteady natural convection. A CFD code has been used for heat exchanger simulation. The analyses have been carried out for 27 helical coils with different geometries. The effect of helical coil geometry on natural convective heat transfer is investigated. All of continuity, momentum, energy, and turbulence equations are solved for both of fluids simultaneously, so there is no need to simplifying assumptions for boundary conditions. Results are compared with previous experimental researches. Statistical analyses have been done on data points of temperature and natural convection Nusselt number. It is revealed that shell-side fluid temperature and the Nusselt number of the outer surface of coils are functions of in-tube fluid mass flow rate, geometrical parameters of helical coils, and time. A new correlation is presented for calculating the temperature changes of bath fluid. Some other fluids are used as coil and bath fluids and results show that the presented correlation for bath temperature computing have an acceptable accuracy for them.