bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On estimating the effective nonlinearity of structural modes using approximate modal shapes
Authors: Silva Clodoaldo J , Daqaq Mohammed F
Published: May 2013

We investigate the validity and accuracy of using assumed modes methods to estimate the effective nonlinearities of vibration modes. For this purpose, a problem concerning the nonlinear response of a linearly tapered cantilever beam is considered. Since, in the selected example, the linear eigenvalue problem cannot be solved analytically for the exact mode shapes, an approximate set is required to discretize the partial differential equation governing the beam's motion. To approximate the mode shapes, three methods are utilized: (i) a crude approach, which directly utilizes the linear mode shapes of a regular (untapered) cantilever beam; (ii) a finite-element approach wherein the mode shapes are obtained in ANSYS, then fitted into orthonormal polynomial curves while minimizing the least square error in the modal frequencies; and (iii) a Rayleigh–Ritz approach which utilizes a set of orthonormal trial basis functions to construct the mode shapes as a linear combination of the trial functions used. Upon discretization, the modal frequencies, the geometric and inertia nonlinearity coefficients, as well as the effective nonlinearities of the first three vibration modes are compared for eight beams with different tapering. It is shown that, even when the modal frequencies are well-approximated using the three methods, a large discrepancy is observed among the estimates of the inertia, geometric and, thereby, effective nonlinearities of the structural modes. In fact, when using the modal frequencies as a convergence measure for assumed modes methods, inaccurate, and sometimes, erroneous predictions of the effective nonlinearities can be obtained. As a result, this paper recommends that a stricter measure based on the convergence of the nonlinear coefficients be implemented for discretizing a nonlinear system using approximate mode shapes.
Antimicrobial polyphenols from small tropical fruits, tea and spice oilseeds
Authors: Aman Sahar , Naim Asma , Siddiqi Rahmanullah , Naz Shahina
Published: May 2013

The polyphenolic fractions of fruits: Terminalia catappa, Carissa carandas, Ziziphus nummularia; spice oilseeds: thymol, mustard, fenugreek and poppy seeds; and herb: green and black teas were analyzed for their total phenolics, flavonoids and antimicrobial potential. All fractions from fruits, except anthocyanin of C. carandas, displayed substantial antibacterial activity in accordance to their phenolic contents, the difference in activity being quite significant ( p < 0.05), highest for T. catappa (minimum inhibitory concentration, MIC: 7.8−1000 µg/mL) and lowest for C. carandas (MIC: 62.5−1000 µg/mL). With few exceptions, both green and black teas’ fractions inhibited the tested strains, however, green tea fractions (MIC: 15.63−125 µg/mL) were more active than black (MIC: 31.25−1000 µg/mL) and neutral were more active than their corresponding acidic fractions. Oil fractions of all oilseeds were found to be more active than their polyphenolic fractions, their antibacterial action decreased in the order thymol > mustard > fenugreek > poppy seeds ( p < 0.05). Though the fruits used for the study are underutilized and have been emphasized for processed products, they may potentially be important to fight against pathogenic bacteria in view of their MICs. The teas and oilseeds, though a small part of total food intake, are more functional and active against the tested bacterial species and may find potential applications in therapeutics and food preservation.
Mindfulness Training as an Adjunct to Evidence-Based Treatment for ADHD Within Families
Authors: Cassone Andrew R.
Published: May 2013

Objective: Individuals with ADHD face significant neurodevelopmental hurdles with inattention and/or hyperactive/impulsive behavior through their life span. Mindfulness training may be one self-regulatory method for strengthening attentional processes (orienting, alerting, and executive attention). This review’s goals are to (a) argue for the use of mindfulness training as an adjunct to evidence-based treatment for ADHD and (b) call for improving psychosocial intervention for ADHD within families by integrating mindfulness training with behavioral parent training. Method: EBSCOhost was utilized to search 29 psychology-related research databases through Athabasca University. Results: Mindfulness training should be incorporated into current treatment guidelines as a psychosocial option for families with ADHD. Conclusion: Preliminary findings suggest significant improvements in attentional processes, and prominent mindfulness-based approaches have been successfully adapted for ADHD.
Increasing Conversational Interactions Between Verbal High School Students With Autism and Their Peers Without Disabilities
Authors: Hughes Carolyn , Bernstein Rebekah T. , Kaplan Lauren M. , Reilly Caitlin M. , Brigham Nicolette L. , Cosgriff Joseph C. , Boykin Michaela P.
Published: May 2013

Self-prompted communication books were used in combination with conversational peer orientation to increase conversational interactions of verbal high school students with autism or autistic-like behavior with their peers without disabilities. Previous investigators have used communication books only with students with autism or intellectual disability with limited or no verbal or reading skills. The six high school participants in this study could read and were verbal. We sought to determine whether the communication books would be accepted by peers without disabilities in general education classrooms or whether the books would stigmatize the students with disabilities. Finally, we assessed the effects of having a peer with a learning disability as the teacher of conversational interaction skills. We interpreted our results to conclude that the communication book package was associated with increased conversational interactions for all participants with their general education peers and that communication books were viewed positively by conversational partners.
What Does It Mean to Be Pragmatic? Pragmatic Methods, Measures, and Models to Facilitate Research Translation
Authors: Glasgow Russell E.
Published: May 2013

Background. One of the reasons for the slow and uncertain translation of research into practice is likely due to the emphasis in science on explanatory models and efficacy designs rather than more pragmatic approaches. Methods. Following a brief definition of what constitutes a pragmatic approach, I provide examples of pragmatic methods, measures, and models and how they have been applied. Results. Descriptions are provided of pragmatic trials and related designs, practical measures including patient-reported items for the electronic health record, and the Evidence Integration Triangle and RE-AIM practical models, each of which can help increase the relevance of research to policy makers, practitioners, and patients/consumers. Conclusions. By focusing on the perspective of stakeholders and the context for application of scientific findings, pragmatic approaches can accelerate the integration of research, policy, and practice. Progress has been made, especially in pragmatic trials but even more opportunities remain.
Signaling devotion to work over family undermines the motherhood penalty
Authors: Aranda Beatriz , Glick Peter
Published: May 2013

Women experience workplace penalties when they become mothers, whereas men who become fathers are not penalized. We explored whether a working mother’s self-professed devotion to work over family would undermine the “motherhood penalty.” Male and female business students evaluated an applicant for an industrial engineering job. The applicant was always described as married, with 2 children. Depending on random assignment, the candidate was male or female, and expressed devotion to work or to family. Family-devoted mothers experienced strong hiring discrimination (with lower ratings than all other candidates), but work-devoted mothers escaped the motherhood penalty and were rated as highly as work-devoted fathers. We discuss the advantages and drawback to expressing work devotion to escape the motherhood penalty.
Excess healthcare costs of a large waterborne outbreak in Finland
Authors: Huovinen Elisa , Laine Janne , Virtanen Mikko J. , Snellman Marja , Hujanen Timo , Kiiskinen Urpo , Kujansuu Eila , Lumio Jukka , Ruutu Petri , Kuusi Markku
Published: May 2013

Background: The economic effects of waterborne outbreaks have rarely been reported. A large waterborne outbreak occurred in the town of Nokia in Finland in 2007 with half of the population in the contaminated area suffering from gastroenteritis. We studied the healthcare costs of this outbreak. Methods: Healthcare costs were studied using register data from the Nokia Health Care Centre, data collected in the regional university hospital, and data from laboratory register on stool samples. Results: Total excess healthcare costs were EUR 354,496, which is approximately EUR 10 per resident of Nokia. There were 2052 excess visits because of gastroenteritis in Nokia Health Care Centre, 403 excess episodes in the university hospital, and altogether over 2000 excess stool samples due to the outbreak. Care in the Nokia Health Care Centre accounted for 44% and care in the university hospital for 42% of the excess healthcare costs while stool samples accounted for only 10%. Conclusions: Despite the high morbidity, the total cost was low because most patients had a relatively mild illness. The situation would have been worse if the microbes involved had been more hazardous or if the financial situation of the community had been worse. Prevention of waterborne outbreaks is important, as there is a risk of severe short- and long-term health effects and substantial health-economic costs.
Measuring users’ internet skills: A review of past assessments and a look toward the future
Authors: Litt Eden
Published: May 2013

As the abilities to navigate and communicate using the internet increasingly play an important role in our social and professional lives, scholars must stay attuned to what such internet skills entail and how everyday users differ when it comes to such abilities. This article reviews the last decade of literature on measurements of everyday users’ basic internet skills, organizing how scholars have defined and measured the construct, and then systematically presenting what these past assessments tell us about internet skills and their relationship to other factors. Building on this foundation, the review concludes with a research agenda to advance this line of work, including a call for more valid and nuanced measures that capture the added layers of sophistication and sociability needed for today’s internet use.
‘Curry Tales’: The production of ‘race’ and ethnicity in the cultural industries
Authors: Saha Anamik
Published: May 2013

Within popular culture in the West, stereotypical representations of ‘race’ still persist. This is particularly troubling when we find that it is racialized minorities themselves behind such representations. The aim of this article is to explore how the conditions of the cultural industries steer the work of minority cultural producers in directions that can undermine the radical potential of the counter-narratives of difference. The article begins with a discussion on the politics of representation where I argue for integrating a sociological approach into cultural studies of diasporic popular culture that pays closer attention to the process of symbol creation. The remainder of the article uses a study of a British South Asian theatre company to show how the increasingly commercialized cultures of production that characterize the sector had a troubling impact on the way a play exploring postcolonial feminisms was marketed and presented to the public.
Political deliberation and the challenge of bounded rationality
Authors: Smith Andrew F
Published: May 2013

Many proponents of deliberative democracy expect reasonable citizens to engage in rational argumentation. However, this expectation runs up against findings by behavioral economists and social psychologists revealing the extent to which normal cognitive functions are influenced by bounded rationality. Individuals regularly utilize an array of biases in the process of making decisions, which inhibits our argumentative capacities by adversely affecting our ability and willingness to be self-critical and to give due consideration to others’ interests. Although these biases cannot be overcome, I draw on scientifically corroborated insights offered by Adam Smith to show that they can be kept in check if certain affective and cognitive capacities are cultivated. Smith provides a compelling account of how to foster sympathetic, impartial, and projective role-taking in the process of interacting with others, which can greatly enhance our capacity and willingness to critically assess our own interests and fairly consider those of others.
The concept of constituent power
Authors: Loughlin Martin
Published: May 2013

This article examines the meaning and significance of the concept of constituent power in constitutional thought by showing how it acts as a boundary concept with respect to three types of legal thought: normativism, decisionism and relationalism. The concept can be fully appreciated, it suggests, only by adopting a relationalist method. This relationalist method permits us to deal with the paradoxical aspects of constitutional founding creatively and to grasp how constituent power, as the generative aspect of the political power relationship, works not only at founding moments but also within the dynamics of constitutional development. Relationalism realizes this ambition by exposing the tension between unity and hierarchy in constitutional foundation and the tension between the people-as-one and the people-as-the governed in the course of constitutional development. It contends, contrary to normativist claims, that constituent power remains a central concept of constitutional thought.
A Scholar-Practitioner Case Approach
Authors: Scully-Russ Ellen , Lehner Rachelle , Shuck Brad
Published: May 2013

The Problem

Though there is growing interest in the nature of scholarly practice in Human Resource Development (HRD) there is little understanding of how the everyday activities of HRD practitioners are mediated by HRD theories and research.

The Solution

This preface provides the framework for this special issue on HRD scholar-practitioners. Each article in this issue, with the exception of the final article by Lombardozzi, presents a real-world case on how HRD scholar-practitioners used HRD theory and research to navigate an intractable problem in their practice. This issue explores the wide and varying ways in which scholar-practitioners approach their work, how research and theory were both applied and extended in practice, and the implications for HRD theory, research, and practice.

The Stakeholders

HRD scholars, researchers, and practitioners who are members of the Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD), as well managers, educators, and higher education administrators who have a stake in effective organizations may gain insight into the nature of HRD scholarly practice and the role of the HRD scholar-practitioner.
How Do Transplant Surgeons Accomplish Optimal Portal Venous Flow During Living-Donor Liver Transplantation? Noninvasive Measurement of Indocyanine Green Elimination Rate
Authors: Hori Tomohide , Ogura Yasuhiro , Yagi Shintaro , Iida Taku , Taniguchi Kentaro , Moghazy Walid M. El , Hedaya Mohammed Saied , Segawa Hajime , Ogawa Kohei , Kogure Takayuki , Uemoto Shinji
Published: May 2013

Background. Balancing donor safety and graft volume is difficult. We previously reported that intentional modulation of portal venous pressure (PVP) during living-donor liver transplantation (LDLT) is crucial to overcoming problems with small-for-size grafts; however, detailed studies of portal venous flow (PVF) and a reliable parameter are still required. Patients and Methods. The elimination rate ( k) of indocyanine green (ICG) was measured in 49 adult LDLT recipients. PVP was controlled during LDLT, with a target of <20 mm Hg. ICG reflects hepatocyte volume and effective PVF. The kICG value is divided by the graft weight to calculate PVF. Recipients were divided into 2 groups: those with severe and/or fatal complications within 1 month after LDLT and those without. Results. Survival rates and postoperative profiles were significantly different between the 2 groups. Univariate analysis showed significant differences in ABO blood group, final PVP, final kICG, and the final kICG/graft weight value; however, multivariate analysis showed that only the kICG/graft weight value was significant. The cutoff level for the final kICG/graft weight value for predicting successful LDLT was 3.1175 × 10−4/g. Conclusion. Accurate evaluation and monitoring of optimal PVF during LDLT should overcome the use of small-for-size grafts and improve donor safety and recipient outcomes.
The association of diabetes complications with physical activity in a representative sample of older adults in the United States
Authors: Janevic Mary R , McLaughlin Sara J , Connell Cathleen M
Published: May 2013

Objective

Most adults with diabetes do not engage in the level of physical activity recommended for optimal disease management. Diabetes complications are not generally considered a clinical contraindication to exercise. No prior national studies have examined the associations of these complications with physical activity.

Methods

Data are from the 2003 Diabetes Supplement to the nationally representative US Health and Retirement Study ( n = 1811; age >50 years). Multiple logistic regression was used to examine the association between diabetes complications and the odds of meeting physical activity guidelines.

Results

Forty-three percent of the sample met physical activity guidelines. Adjusting for sociodemographic variables, retinopathy (odds ratios (OR) OR = 0.54, 95% confidence intervals (CI) = 0.36–0.81), nephropathy (OR = 0.70, 95% CI = 0.50–0.99), neuropathy (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.59–0.95), and heart disease (OR = 0.69, 95% CI = 0.51–0.94) were all independently associated with reduced odds of meeting guidelines. A borderline significant association was observed for stroke.

Discussion

Adults with diabetes with complications of the eyes, kidneys, or nerves and those with heart disease are less likely to meet physical activity guidelines compared to those without these complications. These individuals may require additional support from health professionals to achieve recommended amounts of physical activity. More studies are needed to clarify the barriers and benefits to engaging in physical activity in the presence of diabetes complications.
Prophylaxis of hepatitis B infection in solid organ transplant recipients
Authors: John Savio , Andersson Karin L. , Kotton Camille N. , Hertl Martin , Markmann James F. , Cosimi A. Benedict , Chung Raymond T.
Published: May 2013

Rates of transmission of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection from organ donors with HBV markers to recipients along with reactivation of HBV during immunosuppression following transplantation have fallen significantly with the advent of hepatitis B immune globulin (HBIg) and effective antiviral therapy. Although the availability of potent antiviral agents and HBIg has highly impacted the survival rate of HBV-infected patients after transplantation, the high cost associated with this practice represents a major financial burden. The availability of potent antivirals with high genetic barrier to resistance and minimal side effects have made it possible to recommend an HBIg-free prophylactic regimen in selected patients with low viral burden prior to transplant. Significant developments over the last two decades in the understanding and treatment of HBV infection necessitate a re-appraisal of the guidelines for prophylaxis of HBV infection in solid organ transplant recipients.
Clinical experience with intravenous zoledronic acid in the treatment of male osteoporosis: evidence and opinions
Authors: Ruza Ieva , Mirfakhraee Sasan , Orwoll Eric , Gruntmanis Ugis
Published: May 2013

Osteoporosis frequently remains underrecognized and undertreated in men. Most osteoporosis-related fractures could be prevented if men at risk would be diagnosed, treated, and remained compliant with therapy. Bisphosphonates, the mainstay of osteoporosis treatment, are potent antiresorptive agents that inhibit osteoclast activity, suppress in vivo markers of bone turnover, increase bone mineral density, decrease fractures, and likely improve survival in men with osteoporosis. The focus of the article is on intravenous zoledronic acid, which may be a preferable alternative to oral bisphosphonate therapy in patients with cognitive dysfunction, the inability to sit upright, polypharmacy, significant gastrointestinal pathology or suspected medication noncompliance. Zoledronic acid is approved in the United States (US) and European Union (EU) as an annual 5 mg intravenous infusion to treat osteoporosis in men. The zoledronic acid 4 mg intravenous dose has been studied in the prevention of bone loss associated with androgen deprivation therapy. This article reviews the evidence for zoledronic acid, currently the most potent bisphosphonate available for clinical use, and its therapeutic effects in the treatment of men with osteoporosis.
Safety of antiobesity drugs
Authors: Cheung Bernard Man Yung , Cheung Tommy Tsang , Samaranayake Nithushi Rajitha
Published: May 2013

Obesity is a major health problem worldwide. Although diet and physical activity are crucial in the management of obesity, the long-term success rate is low. Therefore antiobesity drugs are of great interest, especially when lifestyle modification has failed. As obesity is not an immediate life-threatening disease, these drugs are required to be safe. Antiobesity drugs that have been developed so far have limited efficacies and considerable adverse effects affecting tolerability and safety. Therefore, most antiobesity drugs have been withdrawn. Fenfluramine and dexfenfluramine were withdrawn because of the potential damage to heart valves. Sibutramine was associated with an increase in major adverse cardiovascular events in the Sibutramine Cardiovascular Outcomes (SCOUT) trial and it was withdrawn from the market in 2010. Rimonabant was withdrawn because of significant psychiatric adverse effects. Orlistat was approved in Europe and the United States for long-term treatment of obesity, but many patients cannot tolerate its gastrointestinal side effects. Phentermine and diethylpropion can only be used for less than 12 weeks because the long-term safety of these drugs is unknown. Ephedrine and caffeine are natural substances but the effects on weight reduction are modest. As a result there is a huge unmet need for effective and safe antiobesity drugs. Recently lorcaserin and topiramate plus phentermine have been approved for the treatment of obesity but long-term safety data are lacking.
Missing subjects
Authors: Katz Cindi
Published: May 2013

This commentary engages with Kevin Cox’s (2013) “Notes on a Brief Encounter: Critical Realism, Historical Materialism and Human Geography.” Identifying a trajectory in historical geographical materialism that focused on the material social practices of everyday life fully attuned to the social relations of production and social reproduction of space, place, and nature, I argue that Marxist geography was perhaps less in need of the methodological corrective that Cox suggests critical realism offered. The rich empirical research associated with this strand of history in our field kept the ricochet between abstract and concrete in dialectical tension, exposing and examining some of the material social practices through which new structures are created, which is at the heart of what Cox wants to understand. Finally, I note a persistent silence. At the same time as the engagements between critical realism and historical geographical materialism were taking place in the 1980s—crystallized for some around the locality debates—feminist geographers were producing work that offered a different perspective on the `elaboration of new structures of social relations,' which Cox finds so resonant in critical realism. This scholarship was largely occluded in the debates between critical realism and historical geographic materialism, as it is again in the present piece, but it offers some powerful resolutions of—or productive struggles with—the contradictions of structure and agency, necessity and contingency, pluralizing and totalizing, or abstract and concrete that can haunt and confound those working in a critical realist or narrowly class-focused Marxist tradition.
‘… the point is to change it’
Authors: Pratt Andy C
Published: May 2013

This paper picks up themes discussed in Cox’s (2013) ‘Notes on a brief encounter: critical realism, historical materialism and human geography’. I argue that perhaps the encounter was more complex than Cox allows. At core Cox underplays, or marginalises, the discussion of causality and dismisses the significance of ontology stressing instead epistemology. The paper makes a case for another reading of the debate, one that has continuing significance.
Public geography and the politics of circulation
Authors: Beer David
Published: May 2013

New media are increasingly seen to provide opportunities for geographers and social researchers to develop a more public profile. In response to Kitchin et al. (2013), this article explores the implications of using such platforms for communicating research findings and ideas. This response explores the underlying developments in new media that appear to have shaped the experiences described in Kitchin et al.’s article. Here it is argued that the ‘politics of circulation’ that defines new media (Beer, 2013) generated both the positive outcomes and the anxieties and problems that Kitchin et al. outlined in their article. Based upon this observation, this piece suggests that in order for academic researchers to make the most of the communicative potential of new media, they might need to also work towards a detailed understanding of the politics of data circulations to which their ideas will be exposed. Alongside this, the article suggests that we will need to prepare ourselves as our research takes on a life of its own.
Whose geography? Which publics?
Authors: Crampton Jeremy W , Bowen Jay , Cockayne Daniel , Cook Brittany , Nost Eric , Shade Lindsay , Sharp Laura , Jacobsen Malene
Published: May 2013

In this response, the members of a professional development graduate seminar at the University of Kentucky reflect on key implications and questions which arose from our reading of the Kitchin et al. (2013) paper. We found the paper very relevant to our situation as potential entrants to the academic labor market, and to practices of knowledge production and dissemination that we already face. We highlight the following three inter-related points: (1) The IrelandAfterNAMA (IAN) blog can be placed into a wider context of new (spatial) media developments; (2) the conception of “public geography” implied here is too narrow, focusing not on public participation, but on public reception of content, viewpoints and data. Thus we ask “which publics are being invoked?”; (3) the production and consumption of knowledge. We ask “whose geography?” We do not offer final answers to these questions, but rather pose them as an invitation to further dialogue.
Blogs as ‘minimal’ politics
Authors: Davies Andrew
Published: May 2013

Following Kitchin et al.’s (2013) paper, this response focuses on what it means to be ‘minimally’ political. In the first instance, this involves an elaboration of Olivier Marchart’s concept of ‘minimal politics’ and discussing it in relation to the wider debate between agonistic and deliberative understandings of the political. After this discussion of some of the theoretical underpinning of Kitchin et al.’s paper, the response then moves on to discuss what the consequences of this position are for the realities of blogs as political spaces. The response ends by calling for increased interrogation of what it is that blogs do ‘differently’ to other, more traditional, political spaces.
Social media and the academy
Authors: Graham Mark
Published: May 2013

Academia and the networks of knowledge and information that it is embedded in are changing. This response highlights three areas of concern within the coming-togethers of social media and geography. First, although blogs can create the fissures in media/social constellations, they more often than not form an integral part of those very mediascapes. Second, while social media may have allowed for some changing gatekeepers, it remains that the creation and dissemination of information are highly socially and spatially uneven. Finally, we are able to critically reflect on how much change we have actually seen in knowledge flows out of academia and whether we are truly seeing new forms and enactions of public geographies. The paper ultimately argues that while new channels and digital mediations of information might allow us to reach different publics, it remains that our digitally mediated work is far from being public.
Public geographies through social media
Authors: Kitchin Rob , Linehan Denis , O’Callaghan Cian , Lawton Philip
Published: May 2013

In this paper, we argue that new social media produces new forms of public geography and digital praxis in which the relationship between reader and writer is radically altered and which enables geographers to engage in timely conversation and debate with the public on unfolding issues, and provides new avenues to connect with older forms of broadcast media. Social media can strengthen geographers engagement with the existing fourth estate and forge new relationships with an emerging fifth estate – dynamic, responsive and empowered publics. We illustrate such potentials by drawing on our own experiences of contributing to IrelandAfterNAMA, a collective blog that provides critical analysis of the present crisis in Ireland which has established a regular readership and has led to significant media work (over 500 newspaper articles and radio and television interviews). Such public geography projects are not without their challenges and pitfalls, not least because they alter and challenge the ways in which academics work, communicate and are assessed. Nevertheless, we believe that at the very least their quotidian practices enact what Macgilchrist and Bőhmig (2012: 97) term ‘minimal politics’, creating ‘tiny fissures in the mediascape’ that inform and engage with wider publics in ways that academic articles rarely do and work to challenge hegemonic formations.
Academics’ diverse online public communications
Authors: Pickerill Jenny
Published: May 2013

The main argument in this article that academics should engage with blogging but should do so mindful of its problems – is valid and an important one. However, we also need to place blogging in its historical context of work on Internet activism and public geographies and relate it to the current rising trend for geographers to employ other social media such as Twitter. While I support and encourage the use of social media, and the public and policy engagement it facilitates, it also pushes geographers to become more like journalists – a move we should approach critically and with caution.
Institutional Barriers to Diversity Change Work in Higher Education
Authors: Elliott Craig M. , Stransky Olivia , Negron Ricardo , Bowlby Melinda , Lickiss Jessica , Dutt Diksha , Dasgupta Nandini , Barbosa Peter
Published: May 2013

While the concepts related to diversity and inclusion are commonly found as part of universities’ mission and vision, implementing these concepts into practice can present a challenge. This study identified discrepancies between concepts and practice of diversity and inclusion at a multidisciplinary health sciences university. The results indicated that participants experienced inclusion along a range of engagement. Hispanic/Latino students, faculty, and staff as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer students and staff experienced disparaging behavior on a regular basis at the University, which contributed to fear. The results demonstrate barriers to the inclusion efforts and indicate that the university must bridge the gap between diversity concepts and practice.
Beneficiaries of Social Initiatives of Indic Faith-Based Organizations
Authors: Pandya Samta P.
Published: May 2013

This article is based on a study of a sample of 966 beneficiaries of selected social initiatives across nine Indic Faith-Based Organizations (IFBOs) in India. Findings revealed that IFBO beneficiary profiles resemble the general public welfare user in terms of financial/economic status. Service experiences entailed duration, type, influence of faith in terms of teachings, vision–mission familiarity, and personnel contact. In general, there was a fairly sustained duration of service obtained and sacredness/faith permeated into varied aspects of service provision. The main beneficiary self-implication was functional need fulfillment. Some transcendental aspects and faith cohesiveness also entered the picture. Perceived implications for society were in terms of contribution to social growth and development, spreading the organizational message, and demonstration of social innovations guided by organizational ideology. Some contentions on perceived differentials vis-à-vis other social initiatives were that the teacher/members of the order and faith marked the difference.
Development of Perception of Child Maltreatment Scale
Authors: Fakunmoju Sunday B. , Bammeke Funmi O.
Published: May 2013

This article presents reliability and validity analyses of the Perception of Child Maltreatment Scale (PCMS). The scale comprised 34 items that measure abusive behaviors related to emotional/psychological abuse (10 items), sexual abuse (6 items), child neglect (6 items), child labor (7 items), and physical abuse (5 items). Analysis was based on a convenience sample of 317 participants in Nigeria. Exploratory factor analysis with promax rotation was used to determine construct validity of its five-factor structure (subscales). The overall internal consistency of the PCMS was .95; subscales of Emotional/Psychological Abuse (.93) and Sexual Abuse (.91) were high, whereas those of Child Neglect (.89), Child Labor (.86), and Physical Abuse (.84) were good. Cutoff scores were computed categorizing scores into low/weak, medium/moderate, and high/strong perceptions of child maltreatment. Strengths and limitations as well as practical applications and implications of the scale for research were discussed.
Costs and outcome for serious hand and arm injuries during the first year after trauma – a prospective study
Authors: Rosberg Hans-Eric , Carlsson Katarina Steen , Cederlund Ragnhild I , Ramel Eva , Dahlin Lars B
Published: May 2013

Background

To study costs and outcome for serious hand and arm injuries during the first year after the trauma.

Methods

In patients with a Hand Injury Severity Score (HISS) > 50, DASH and EQ-5D scores as well as factors related to costs within the health care sector, costs due to lost production and total costs were evaluated. Cox-regression analysis stratifying for mechanism of injury was used to analyse return to work.

Results

The majority of the 45 included patients (median 42 years 16–64) were men with severe (n = 9) or major (n = 36) injuries with different type of injuries (amputations n = 13; complex injuries n = 18; major nerve injuries/full house n = 13; burn injury n = 1). DASH and EQ-5D decreased and increased, respectively, significantly over time during one year. Total costs (+34%) and costs of lost production were highest for persons injured at work. Factors associated with higher health care costs were age >50 years (+52%), injury at work (+40%) and partial labour market activity (+66%). Costs of lost production had a significant role in total costs of injury. Patients with major injuries had longer duration of sick leave. Patients with severe injuries were more likely to return to work [(RR 3.76 (95% CI 1.38-10.22) from Cox regression, controlling for age, gender and presence of nerve injury].

Conclusions

Despite the fact that work environments have constantly improved over the last decades, we found that hand injuries at work were most costly both in terms of health care and costs of lost production, although the severity, i.e. HISS, did not differ from injuries occurring at home or during leisure.
Optimization and validation of mitochondria-based functional assay as a useful tool to identify BH3-like molecules selectively targeting anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 proteins
Authors: Long Jianting , Liu Liu , Nikolovska-Coleska Zaneta , Shangary Sanjeev , Yi Han , Wang Shenming , Wang Shaomeng
Published: May 2013

Background

Mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization (MOMP) is a crucial step leading to apoptotic destruction of cancer cells. Bcl-2 family proteins delicately regulate mitochondrial outer membrane integrity through protein-protein interactions, which makes the mitochondrion an ideal cell-free system for screening molecules targeting the Bcl-2 anti-apoptotic proteins. But assay conditions need to be optimized for more reliable results. In this study, we aimed at establishing a reliable functional assay using mitochondria isolated from breast cancer cells to decipher the mode of action of BH3 peptides derived from BH3-only proteins. In this study, high ionic strength buffer was adopted during the initiation of MOMP. Mitochondria isolated from human breast cancer cell lines with distinct expression patterns of Bcl-2 anti-apoptotic proteins were permeabilized by different BH3 peptides alone or in combination, with or without the presence of recombinant anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family proteins. Cytochrome C and Smac/Diablo were tested in both supernatants and mitochondrial pellets by Western blotting.

Results

Sufficient ionic strength was required for optimal release of Cytochrome C. Bad and Noxa BH3 peptides exhibited their bona fide antagonistic effects against Bcl-2/Bcl-xL and Mcl-1 proteins, respectively, whereas Bim BH3 peptide antagonized all three anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 members. Bad and Noxa peptides synergized with each other in the induction of MOMP when mitochondria were dually protected by both Bcl-2/Bcl-xL and Mcl-1.

Conclusions

This method based on MOMP is a useful screening tool for identifying BH3 mimetics with selective toxicity against breast cancer cell mitochondria protected by the three major Bcl-2 anti-apoptotic proteins.
Genome-scale metabolic network guided engineering of Streptomyces tsukubaensis for FK506 production improvement
Authors: Huang Di , Li Shanshan , Xia Menglei , Wen Jianping , Jia Xiaoqiang
Published: May 2013

Background

FK506 is an important immunosuppressant, which can be produced by Streptomyces tsukubaensis. However, the production capacity of the strain is very low. Hereby, a computational guided engineering approach was proposed in order to improve the intracellular precursor and cofactor availability of FK506 in S. tsukubaensis.

Results

First, a genome-scale metabolic model of S. tsukubaensis was constructed based on its annotated genome and biochemical information. Subsequently, several potential genetic targets (knockout or overexpression) that guaranteed an improved yield of FK506 were identified by the recently developed methodology. To validate the model predictions, each target gene was manipulated in the parent strain D852, respectively. All the engineered strains showed a higher FK506 production, compared with D852. Furthermore, the combined effect of the genetic modifications was evaluated. Results showed that the strain HT-ΔGDH-DAZ with gdhA-deletion and dahp-, accA2-, zwf2-overexpression enhanced FK506 concentration up to 398.9 mg/L, compared with 143.5 mg/L of the parent strain D852. Finally, fed-batch fermentations of HT-ΔGDH-DAZ were carried out, which led to the FK506 production of 435.9 mg/L, 1.47-fold higher than the parent strain D852 (158.7 mg/L).

Conclusions

Results confirmed that the promising targets led to an increase in FK506 titer. The present work is the first attempt to engineer the primary precursor pathways to improve FK506 production in S. tsukubaensis with genome-scale metabolic network guided metabolic engineering. The relationship between model prediction and experimental results demonstrates the rationality and validity of this approach for target identification. This strategy can also be applied to the improvement of other important secondary metabolites.
Thermodiffusion effects on magneto-nanofluid flow over a stretching sheet
Authors: Awad Faiz G , Sibanda Precious , Khidir Ahmed A
Published: May 2013

We study the effect of thermophoresis on boundary layer magneto-nanofluid flow over a stretching sheet. The model includes the effects of Brownian motion and cross-diffusion effects. The governing partial differential equations are transformed to a system of ordinary differential equations and solved numerically using a spectral linearisation method. The effects of the magnetic influence number, the Prandtl number, Lewis number, the Brownian motion parameter, thermophoresis parameter, the modified Dufour parameter and the Dufour-solutal Lewis number on the fluid properties as well as on the heat, regular and nano mass transfer coefficients are determined and shown graphically.
The clinical relevance of axillary reverse mapping (ARM): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial
Authors: Klompenhouwer Elisabeth G , Gobardhan Paul D , Beek Martinus A , Voogd Adri C , Luiten Ernest JT
Published: May 2013

Background

Axillary lymph node dissection (ALND) in patients with breast cancer has the potential to induce side-effects, including upper-limb lymphedema. Axillary reverse mapping (ARM) is a technique that enables discrimination of the lymphatic drainage of the breast from that of the upper limb in the axillary lymph node (LN) basin. If lymphedema is caused by removing these lymphatics and nodes in the upper limb, the possibility of identifying these lymphatics would enable surgeons to preserve them. The aim of this study is to determine the clinical relevance of selective axillary LN and lymphatic preservation by means of ARM. To minimize the risk of overlooking tumor-positive ARM nodes and the associated risk of undertreatment, we will only include patients with a tumor-positive sentinel lymph node (SLN). Patients who are candidates for ALND because of a proven positive axillary LN at clinical examination can be included in a registration study.

Methods/design

The study will enroll 280 patients diagnosed with SLN biopsy-proven metastasis of invasive breast cancer with an indication for a completion ALND. Patients will be randomized to undergo standard ALND or an ALND in which the ARM nodes and their corresponding lymphatics will be left in situ. Primary outcome is the presence of axillary surgery-related lymphedema at 6, 12, and 24 months post-operatively, measured by the water-displacement method. Secondary outcome measures include pain, paresthesia, numbness, and loss of shoulder mobility, quality of life, and axillary recurrence risk.

Discussion

The benefit of ALND in patients with a positive SLN is a subject of debate. For many patients, an ALND will remain the treatment of choice. This multicenter randomized trial will provide evidence of whether or not axillary LN preservation by means of ARM decreases the side-effects of an ALND. Enrolment of patients will start in April 2013 in five breast-cancer centers in the Netherlands, and is expected to conclude by April 2016.

Trial registration

TC3698
Drug-eluting stents or coronary artery bypass grafting for unprotected left main coronary artery disease: a meta-analysis of four randomized trials and seventeen observational studies
Authors: Li Qing , Zhang Zhi , Yin Rui-Xing
Published: May 2013

Background

The clinical application of drug-eluting stents (DES) or coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) for unprotected left main coronary artery disease (ULMCAD) is still controversial. The purpose of this meta-analysis was to compare the safety and efficacy between DES and CABG for ULMCAD.

Methods

Databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library were systematically searched.

Results

Twenty-one studies with 8,413 patients were included in this meta-analysis. The risk was lower in DES than in CABG groups at the early outcomes of death (risk ratio (RR): 0.49, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.30–0.78), cerebrovascular events (RR: 0.19, 95% CI: 0.08–0.45) and composite endpoint (RR: 0.53, 95% CI: 0.40–0.70); death after 2 years (RR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.66–0.99), 4 years (RR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.53–0.90), 5 years (OR: 0.76, 95% CI: 0.61–0.95) and their total effect (RR: 0.79, 95% CI: 0.71–0.87); composite endpoint 1 year (RR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.58–0.83), 4 years (RR: 0.69, 95% CI: 0.53–0.88), 5 years (RR: 0.74, 95% CI: 0.59–0.92) and their total effect (RR: 0.78, 95% CI: 0.71–0.85). There were no significant differences in the risk for the early outcomes of myocardial infarction (RR: 0.97, 95% CI: 0.68–1.38), death 1 year (OR: 0.81, 95% CI: 0.57–1.15) and 3 years (OR: 0.85, 95% CI: 0.69–1.04), composite endpoint of 2 years (RR: 0.88, 95% CI: 0.72–1.09) and 3 years (RR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.73–1.04). Nonetheless, there was a lower risk for revascularization associated with CABG from 1 to 5 years and their total effect (RR: 3.77, 95% CI: 3.35–4.26). There was no difference in death, myocardial infarction, cerebrovascular events or revascularization at 1 year between RCT and observational groups.

Conclusions

Our meta-analysis indicates that DES has higher safety but higher revascularization than CABG in patients with ULMCAD in the 5 years after intervention.