bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Motherhood and the Politics of Family Decisions in Early Modern Italy
Authors: Moran Megan
Published: May 2015

This article explores the negotiations that occurred in patrician households over the fate of children in early modern Italian society. The decision between marriage and convent life for daughters could greatly impact the financial situation, political standing, and social status of these patrician families. The correspondence of the Venetian Grimani and Florentine Ricasoli and Rucellai families suggests that women used the rhetoric and status of motherhood to shape family decisions. Daughters also used maternal authority to influence their own circumstances. The formation of these female networks enabled women to negotiate authority in early modern Italy.
Reverse logistics in the construction industry
Authors: Hosseini M Reza , Rameezdeen Raufdeen , Chileshe Nicholas , Lehmann Steffen
Published: May 2015

Reverse logistics in construction refers to the movement of products and materials from salvaged buildings to a new construction site. While there is a plethora of studies looking at various aspects of the reverse logistics chain, there is no systematic review of literature on this important subject as applied to the construction industry. Therefore, the objective of this study is to integrate the fragmented body of knowledge on reverse logistics in construction, with the aim of promoting the concept among industry stakeholders and the wider construction community. Through a qualitative meta-analysis, the study synthesises the findings of previous studies and presents some actions needed by industry stakeholders to promote this concept within the real-life context. First, the trend of research and terminology related with reverse logistics is introduced. Second, it unearths the main advantages and barriers of reverse logistics in construction while providing some suggestions to harness the advantages and mitigate these barriers. Finally, it provides a future research direction based on the review.
Pursuing Equity and Justice in a Changing Climate
Authors: Schrock Greg , Bassett Ellen M. , Green Jamaal
Published: May 2015

Despite interest in the importance of social equity to sustainability, there is concern that equity is often left behind in practice relative to environmental and economic imperatives. We analyze recent climate and sustainability action plans from a sample of twenty-eight medium and large U.S. cities, finding that few made social equity a prominent goal of their plans, although there is a discernible trend in this direction. We present case studies of three cities that incorporated social equity goals, concluding that sustainability planning efforts provide strategic opportunities to pursue equity goals, especially where capacity exists among community-based actors to intervene and participate.
Methacrylated gelatin and mature adipocytes are promising components for adipose tissue engineering
Authors: Huber Birgit , Borchers Kirsten , Tovar Günter EM , Kluger Petra J
Published: May 2015

In vitro engineering of autologous fatty tissue constructs is still a major challenge for the treatment of congenital deformities, tumor resections or high-graded burns. In this study, we evaluated the suitability of photo-crosslinkable methacrylated gelatin (GM) and mature adipocytes as components for the composition of three-dimensional fatty tissue constructs. Cytocompatibility evaluations of the GM and the photoinitiator Lithium phenyl-2,4,6-trimethylbenzoylphosphinate (LAP) showed no cytotoxicity in the relevant range of concentrations. Matrix stiffness of cell-laden hydrogels was adjusted to native fatty tissue by tuning the degree of crosslinking and was shown to be comparable to that of native fatty tissue. Mature adipocytes were then cultured for 14 days within the GM resulting in a fatty tissue construct loaded with viable cells expressing cell markers perilipin A and laminin. This work demonstrates that mature adipocytes are a highly valuable cell source for the composition of fatty tissue equivalents in vitro. Photo-crosslinkable methacrylated gelatin is an excellent tissue scaffold and a promising bioink for new printing techniques due to its biocompatibility and tunable properties.
The place for synthesis
Authors: Valsiner Jaan
Published: May 2015

Vygotsky was a brilliant literary scholar whose role in psychology borrows substantially from his interests in and fascination with literature and theatre. The central question for Vygotsky’s theory was aesthetic synthesis – the emergence of generalized feelings in human life-experiences. The critical empirical example for the emergence of affective synthesis for Vygotsky was the short story by Ivan Bunin, ‘Legkoe dykhanie’. My task in this article is to analyse Vygotsky’s way of conceptualizing dialectical synthesis as a general psychological process. I demonstrate that Vygotsky succeeded in locating the empirical phenomena where such syntheses can be observed, and proceeded halfway towards creating a general model of affective synthesis. Yet he failed to complete the task due to the limitations of the analogical transfer of the notion of short circuit into the psychological realm. The problem of synthesis remains unsolved up to the present day. Possible ways of solving it require formalization of the notion of double negation that has been used in dialectical philosophies, but has not been encoded into psychology’s research methodologies.
Mediation
Authors: Daniels Harry
Published: May 2015

One of the central pillars of Vygotsky’s contribution to social science is his concept of mediation: the process through which the social and the individual mutually shape each other. His rich, complex and challenging texts focus on a nuanced notion of mediation that was not necessarily visible to those active in the command-and-control climate of the Stalinist era. The article focuses on this notion of the lack of visibility in mediation.
Lev Vygotsky as seen by someone who acted as a go-between between eastern and western Europe
Authors: Métraux Alexandre
Published: May 2015

It is one thing to deal with any aspect of Lev Vygotsky’s work from a purely scholarly standpoint. It is something quite different to deal with Vygotsky’s work from both an academic standpoint and also that of someone who is involved in East–West editorial and commercial projects. This article sheds light upon what it meant to work on Vygotsky’s theories for someone who was formally affiliated to West European academia and who also became involved more or less at the same time in various East–West publishing projects related to Vygotsky and his circle.
Vicissitudes of history in Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory
Authors: Jovanović Gordana
Published: May 2015

The aim of this article is to explore the ways and forms in which history is present, represented and used in Vygotsky’s theorizing. Given the fact that Vygotsky’s theory is usually described as a cultural-historical theory, the issue of history is necessarily implicated in the theory itself. However, there is still a gap between history as implicated in the theory and an explicit theorizing of history – both in Vygotsky’s writings and in Vygotskian scholarship. Therefore it is expected that it would be fruitful to shed light on some possible pathways that can bridge this gap. The prevailing theoretical role of history in Vygotsky’s theory is to serve as a general framework which provides tools for the development of higher psychic functions. Thus, history is recognized as a formative context of psychic life. Further, history appears in Vygotsky’s writings also as a projected better future. All these uses of history presuppose an idea of history as linear progress. But Vygotsky also argues for a stronger epistemological claim – that history is the most powerful explanatory principle. After conceptual and theoretical reflection on history, some limitations of Vygotsky’s historicizing of the history of psychic development will be pointed out and related to general epistemological problems of historicizing. Finally, Vygotsky’s cultural-historical theory, an edifice built up in the 1930s but relying on the rich philosophical and psychological legacy available up to that time, will be positioned against the pluralistic, postmodern and hermeneutic turn in contemporary social and human sciences.
Should the ‘postulate of directness’ be overcome?
Authors: Zinchenko Vladimir P.
Published: May 2015

In this article I analyse the correlation between the direct and the mediated in activity, consciousness and personality. Cultural-historical psychology, attitude theory and activity theory were solving the tasks of overcoming the ‘postulate of directness’, which led to the ‘postulate of mediation’. None of these postulates shows in its entirety the path of human psychological development and the work of human consciousness. The direct and the mediated are examined in this article as equally necessary conditions for the development of the human psyche. A lot of attention is paid to the nature of the initial, primary spontaneity of a child as an indispensable condition for mastering culture. The direct is the necessary condition for the development of culture, and the mediated is the mechanism of this development.
‘Neither class, nor party’
Authors: Maslov Kirill
Published: May 2015

The Russian intelligentsia emerged and existed in diversity due to specific political and social conditions within Russian society. The intelligentsia was (and is) more than just a class or group of educated people. The present article is an attempt to give a retrospective interpretation of the Russian intelligentsia and its transformation into the Soviet one in the 1920s, when Vygotsky also was an engaged actor in different programmes. At that time the political was as sharp and critical as the scientific, and science became an arena of radical political clashes and struggle. The contradictory historical atmosphere and the sincere wish of a new Soviet state to create a new society made it possible for young scholars to assume their positions in science very rapidly.
An algorithm for smooth trajectory planning optimization of isotropic translational parallel manipulators
Authors: Azizi Mahmood Reza , Khani Rahmatolah
Published: May 2015

This paper presents a new algorithm for smooth trajectory planning optimization of isotropic translational parallel manipulators (ITPM) that their Jacobian matrices are constant and diagonal over the whole robot workspace. The basic motivation of this work is to formulate the robot kinematic and geometric constraints in terms of optimization variables to reduce the mathematical complexity and running time of the resulting algorithm which are important issues in trajectory planning optimization. To achieve this aim, the end-effector trajectory of ITPMs in Cartesian space is defined using fifth-order B-Splines, and as a main contribution, all of the actuators limitations and robot constraints are formulated in terms of B-Spline parameters with no need of any information about the workspace geometry. Then the total required energy, total time of motion, and maximum absolute value of actuators’ jerk are defined as objective functions and non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm-II (NSGA-II) is used to solve the resulting nonlinear constrained multi-objective optimization problem. Finally, the proposed algorithm is implemented in MATLAB software for Cartesian parallel manipulator (CPM) as a case study, and the results are demonstrated and discussed. The obtained results show the significant performance of the proposed algorithm with no need to evaluate the robot’s constraints and boundaries of its workspace in each point of the end-effector trajectory.
Influences of track and rolling stock parameters on the railway load amplification factor
Authors: Sadeghi Javad , Shoja Sohrab
Published: May 2015

In conventional design methods for railway tracks, the axle load is multiplied by a term called the load amplification factor (LAF). This operation is performed to compensate for the error introduced into the design process by the assumption of static loads. This approach simplifies the design methods and provides a sufficient level of accuracy. However, the available mathematical expressions proposed for this factor have two significant limitations: they account for a limited number of influencing parameters; and they were developed based solely on the design criteria of the rail. This research aims at improving the current LAF formulation by addressing these two limitations. Mathematical expressions were developed for the correlations between the LAF and influencing parameters due to the track and rolling stock. These expressions cover the design criteria of the track's substructure components (the rail, sleeper and ballast) and include most of the track and rolling stock parameters omitted in the previously developed LAF formulations. The results obtained in this research pave the way towards a more profound understanding of the dynamic response of tracks and provide practical guidance on how to improve the current methods used in railway track analysis and design.
Autonomous celestial navigation for a deep space probe approaching a target planet based on ephemeris correction
Authors: Ma Xin , Fang Jiancheng , Ning Xiaolin , Liu Gang , Ge Shuzhi Sam
Published: May 2015

This article aims to propose an autonomous navigation method to simultaneously obtain precise position and velocity estimation of a deep space probe both with respect to Earth and with respect to the target, and estimate and correct the ephemeris uncertainty of the target that has a great influence on the navigation accuracy with respect to Earth. In this article, based on the analysis of the influences of ephemeris error on the state model, optical measurement, and the navigation accuracy, the ephemeris error is modeled. By taking the differences between the planned image and the actual image of the target as the ephemeris uncertainty measurement, the method is carried out by augmenting ephemeris uncertainty as system states, and is able to estimate and correct the ephemeris uncertainty of the target planet, and the position and velocity of the probe with respect to Earth and with respect to the target planet autonomously. The results show the influence of ephemeris error is removed from the orbital dynamics of the navigation system, and the proposed method can improve the accuracy with respect to Earth. The results demonstrate the proposed method autonomously yields superior performance with respect to Earth and with respect to the target.
Characteristics and genotype profiles of antiretroviral-naïve patients entering a Southern US HIV outpatient clinic 2009–2012
Authors: Seal Paula S , Frontini Maria , Jhita Preya K , Deichmann Paige C , Clark Rebecca A
Published: May 2015

The US city of New Orleans was ranked second in the nation for estimated HIV case rates in 2011. Opt-out testing was established at the Interim Louisiana Hospital in New Orleans in 2013. The majority of new diagnoses were referred to the HIV outpatient program. We conducted a retrospective chart review of newly referred antiretroviral-naïve patients establishing HIV care between January 2009 and June 2013 to characterise demographic and genotype profiles to assist in clinical management and needed services. Of the eligible 226 patients, 68% were men, and 88% were African American. Nearly half of the study patients were younger than 35 years of age. Forty-six percent had an initial CD4 count <200 cells/mm3, and 39% had a HIV viral load >100,000 copies/mL. The antiretroviral class with the most common major mutation was the non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) where K103N was the most common major NNRTI mutation at presentation. We observed that male patients showed more advanced disease with later presentation to care, confirming the need for earlier HIV diagnosis. When considering initial antiretroviral therapy, baseline genotype information is encouraged, particularly if considering a NNRTI-based regimen.
Vaginal douching and association with sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers in a prefecture of Yunnan Province, China
Authors: Luo Li , Xu Jun-Jie , Wang Gui-Xiang , Ding Guo-Wei , Wang Ning , Wang Hai-Bo
Published: May 2015

Summary

Vaginal douching is a common practice and has been hypothesised to increase a woman's risk for human of contracting HIV and sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Our objective was to assess the prevalence of douching and its association with STIs, genital symptoms and HIV/STI knowledge among female sex workers (FSWs). We conducted a cross-sectional study of 837 FSWs with interviews and laboratory tests for HIV/STIs in a prefecture of Yunnan Province in southern China. Vaginal douching was reported by 84% of the women. We found a higher prevalence of vaginal douching practice among FSWs of Han ethnicity, and who were single or cohabitating. Douching was also significantly more common among more educated FSWs and those with greater knowledge of HIV/STIs, and as well as in FSWs who had experienced clinical symptoms in the previous 12 months. Douching was linked to higher risks of HIV (adjusted odds ratio = 2.29; 95% confidence interval 1.01–5.23) and herpes simplex virus type 2 infections (adjusted odds ratio = 2.18; 95% confidence interval 1.46–3.24) after adjusting for confounding factors. Medical professionals and public health workers should correct women's misconception about the effectiveness of douching and discourage women from douching through educational activities. More prospective studies among FSWs are urgently required to identify the relationship between vaginal douching and HIV/STIs.
Herculano Sá de Figueiredo (1911–74): a sculptor in the Conde de Ferreira Hospital, Portugal
Authors: Gramary Adrián , Lopes Cláudia , Ribeiro João Pedro
Published: May 2015

Herculano Sá de Figueiredo’s sculptures remained anonymous inside the Conde de Ferreira Hospital of Oporto (Portugal) for over 30 years. The accidental discovery of the patient’s clinical file enabled the authors of this paper to establish the link between the man, his work and his psychiatric pathology. The artwork kept in the hospital was not previously known in academic and artistic circles. Studying and recovering Figueiredo’s work is important because a considerable part of his oeuvre was produced from 1955 to 1973, when he was a patient in the Conde de Ferreira Hospital. The models represented in his sculptures were technicians and patients at the institution.
‘At variance with the most elementary principles’: the state of British colonial lunatic asylums in 1863
Authors: Brunton Warwick
Published: May 2015

In 1863 the Colonial Office reviewed colonial hospitals and lunatic asylums in those parts of the British Empire it administered – probably the first and widest international comparative study up to that date. This article outlines the background, process and scope of the review of asylums, and considers its significance. The resulting ‘digest’ is an important source to explain how, why, when and by whom metropolitan ideas acquired official endorsement and spread throughout the British world. Using the review’s general findings and suggestions, a tool is provided for comparing inter-colonial achievements. With New Zealand as a case study, the article concludes that, relative to other influences, the digest played a limited and largely indirect part in shaping New Zealand’s mental health policy before 1876.
World citizenship and the emergence of the social psychiatry project of the World Health Organization, 1948–c.1965
Authors: Wu Harry Yi-Jui
Published: May 2015

This paper examines the relationship between ‘world citizenship’ and the new psychiatric research paradigm established by the World Health Organization in the early post-World War II period. Endorsing the humanitarian ideological concept of ‘world citizenship’, health professionals called for global rehabilitation initiatives to address the devastation after the war. The charm of world citizenship had not only provided theoretical grounds of international collaborative research into the psychopathology of psychiatric diseases, but also gave birth to the international psychiatric epidemiologic studies conducted by the World Health Organization. Themes explored in this paper include the global awareness of mental rehabilitation, the application of public health methods in psychiatry to improve mental health globally, the attempt by the WHO to conduct large-scale, cross-cultural studies relevant to mental health and the initial problems it faced.
Psychiatrists, mental health provision and ‘senile dementia’ in England, 1940s–1979
Authors: Hilton Claire
Published: May 2015

Until around 1979, ‘confused’ or mentally unwell people over 65 years of age tended to be labelled as having ‘senile dementia’. Senile dementia was usually regarded as a single, inevitably hopeless condition, despite gradually accumulating clinical and pathological evidence to the contrary. Specific psychiatric services for mental illness in older people began to emerge in the 1950s, but by 1969 there were fewer than 10 dedicated services nationally. During the 1970s, ‘old age psychiatrists’ established local services and campaigned nationally for them. By 1979, about 100 old age psychiatrists were leading multi-disciplinary teams in half the health districts in England. This paper explores the tortuous development of these new services, focusing on provision for people with dementia.
‘The meaning of the symptom in psychiatry. An overview’, by Hans W. Gruhle (1913)
Authors: Schioldann Johan , Berrios German
Published: May 2015

At the beginning of the 20th century there took place in German Psychiatry an important debate on the nature and relative importance of mental symptoms and diseases. Young psychiatrists such as Störring, Ziehen, Gaupp, Hoche, Jaspers and Gruhle challenged, from various perspectives, the nosology of established figures such as Kraepelin and Wernicke. The Classic Text is a commented translation of Gruhle’s 1913 lecture on the meaning of mental symptoms. After concluding that mental symptoms should be used as the epistemological unit of analysis in psychiatry, Gruhle rued the fact that little was yet known about their inner structure. He believed that any account of the latter should include an account of the ‘meaning’ of mental symptoms, that is, of their role in the patient’s total disease. Gruhle found Freud’s account of meaning wanting, but was himself unable to offer a viable alternative. Be that as it may, his concern remains unanswered and is as relevant today as it was in 1913.
Last deglacial and Holocene vegetation evolution and climate variability in the subalpine western Nanling Mountains in South China
Authors: Zhong Wei , Cao Jiayuan , Xue Jibin , Ouyang Jun
Published: May 2015

Pollen analysis of a 236-cm-long core at Daping Swamp, a subalpine swamp in the western Nanling Mountains, provided a history of vegetation evolution that was related to climate changes in the last 15,400 years. Generally, pollen data revealed a subtropical climate in the past 15,400 years. In the last deglacial period (15,400–10,900 cal yr BP), the study region was characterized by evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests. A marked warm and wet period from 15,400 to 13,200 cal yr BP, which was characterized by high frequencies of arboreal pollen, corresponded to the Bølling–Allerød event. Significant shrinkage of evergreen–deciduous broadleaved forests and expansion of grassland from 13,200 to 10,900 cal yr BP suggested evidently cool and dry conditions that were the reflection of the Younger Dryas event. In the early Holocene (10,900–8200 cal yr BP), the glacier boundary effect might cause less warm and humid conditions relative to the middle Holocene. From 8200 to 4600 cal yr BP, pollen data reflected a marked expansion of evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests and shrinkage of grassland, suggesting the thermal maximum that could be considered as the Holocene Optimum. From 4600 to 1500 cal yr BP, grassland exhibited expansion. Between 1500 and 600 cal yr BP, the evergreen and deciduous broadleaved forests expanded, whereas the grassland shrunk, implying a short wetter and warmer interval. After 600 cal yr BP, the grassland displayed expansion again. Broad regional correlation reflected that multiple factors including the summer monsoon, variation of sea level, ocean sea surface temperature (SST), and solar insolation may have played a role in climate changes that influenced vegetation evolution in the study area. Our results also reflected that in South China, the subalpine regions exhibited a different climate variation from that of regions with low latitude and elevation.
Evolution of a political industry with examples from Chinese history
Authors: Cao Shixiong
Published: May 2015

In explaining the development and operation of states, analysis has focused on economics (e.g. production, and the buying and selling of products) and its relationships with laws, customs, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth; however, researchers have paid less attention to the economic efficiency of the associated “political industry”. This lacuna is puzzling because politics is a form of industry that is born when a state forms, that develops as the state matures, and that flourishes as democracy and globalization become dominant. The state functions as a monopoly that reaps huge profits, and either seeks more profit through military or political intervention in the affairs of other states or uses military or political force to protect itself against such behavior by other states. A growing focus on human rights causes this industry to flourish while giving birth to new political systems that weaken autocratic politics. To reduce the costs of political affairs by increasing their efficiency, states have explored both top-down and bottom-up approaches. To understand the nature and functioning of this industry, I discuss its origins and subsequent development to provide insights into how the functioning of a state can become more effective. I provide specific Chinese examples to show how these approaches work.
Assessment and treatment of hoarding disorder
Authors: Brakoulias Vlasios , Milicevic Denise
Published: May 2015

Objectives:

To provide a brief selective review of the current literature regarding Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition Hoarding Disorder, with an emphasis on its associated risks, assessment and management approaches.

Conclusions:

Hoarding disorder is defined by clear diagnostic criteria. It can be a severe and disabling disorder that can pose significant safety risks to the individual and to others. Management is often challenging, due to the poor level of insight that people with hoarding disorder often have. Psychological approaches tend to adapt cognitive-behavioural approaches, in order to specifically target areas such as impaired decision-making and motivation. Several trials of pharmacological agents have been conducted, but the limitations of these studies call for further research.
A review of active vibration and noise suppression of plate-like structures with piezoelectric transducers
Authors: Aridogan Ugur , Basdogan Ipek
Published: May 2015

Structural vibrations are the major causes of noise problems, passenger discomforts, and mechanical failures in aerospace, automotive, and marine systems, which are mainly composed of lightweight and flexible plate-like structures. In order to reduce structural vibrations and noise radiations of lightweight structures, passive and active treatments have been used and investigated over the last three decades. Our aim of this article is to review current state-of-the-art of active vibration and noise suppression systems for plate and plate-like structures with various kinds of boundary conditions. The reviewed articles use numerical methods and experimental tools to study different aspects of controller architectures. In particular, the focus is placed on the active vibration and noise control systems utilizing piezoelectric patches as sensors and actuators since their popularity in vibration-based applications has increased significantly during the last two decades. We first classify the controllers according to their architectures, then compare their performance in vibration and noise attenuation, and finally provide suggestions for further progress. The categorization of the information regarding the controller strategies and sensor/actuator configurations for different host structures can be used by the controller designers as a starting point for their specific configuration.
New strategy for designing composite rotor blades with active flaps
Authors: Kumar Devesh , Cesnik Carlos ES
Published: May 2015

This article presents the development of a mixed-variable optimization framework for the design of composite rotor blades with active flaps in order to maximize the control authority for vibration reduction. For the studies presented in this article, the amplitude of dynamic twist at the blade tip at 4/rev flap actuation frequency is used as the objective function, and it is shown that there is a direct correlation between the amplitude of dynamic twist and the vibration reduction authority of active flaps. The optimization framework developed includes Intelligent Cross-section Generator as the cross section and mesh generator, University of Michigan/Variational Asymptotic Beam Sectional Analysis for the cross-sectional analysis, and Rotorcraft Comprehensive Analysis System for the aeroelastic analysis of active rotor blades. The optimization problem is solved using a surrogate-based approach in combination with the efficient global optimization algorithm. The optimum results with both mixed and continuous design variables are obtained for three different spanwise locations of active flap.
Education Intervention “Caregivers Like Me” for Latino Family Caregivers Improved Attitudes Toward Professional Assistance at End-of-life Care
Authors: Cruz-Oliver Dulce M. , Malmstrom Theodore K. , Fernández Natalia , Parikh Manas , García Jessica , Sanchez-Reilly Sandra
Published: May 2015

Objective:

This study explores the ability of a culturally sensitive and case-based education intervention, Caregivers Like Me, to improve knowledge and attitudes regarding end-of-life (EOL) resources among Latino caregivers.

Methods:

A multicentered, cross-sectional study of Latino communities from different geographical regions and cultural backgrounds. An educational intervention was administered to family caregivers of Latino elders using a case-based video “ telenovela” and pretest–posttest questionnaires.

Results:

Participants (N = 145) were mostly females (79%) with mean age of 56 ± 15 years. They reported active learning from intervention (91%) and high satisfaction (92%) with educational experience. Both caregiver stress self-awareness and willingness to accept professional help improved significantly from pretest to posttest.

Conclusion:

A culturally sensitive educational intervention increased Latino caregivers’ self-awareness about caregiver stress and the need to consider professional assistance for EOL care.
The Role of Severe Dementia in Nursing Home Report Cards
Authors: Konetzka R. Tamara , Brauner Daniel J. , Coca Perraillon Marcelo , Werner Rachel M.
Published: May 2015

Health care report cards are intended to improve quality, but there may be considerable heterogeneity in who benefits. In this article, we examine the intended and unintended effects of quality reporting for nursing home residents with severe dementia relative to other residents, using a difference-in-differences design to examine selected reported and unreported quality measures. Our results indicate that prior to public reporting, nursing home residents with severe dementia were at significantly higher risk of poor outcomes on most reported quality measures. After public reporting was initiated, outcomes for nursing home residents with severe dementia did not consistently improve or worsen. We see no evidence that individuals with severe dementia are being avoided by nursing homes, despite their potential negative impact on quality scores, but we do find an increase in coding of end-stage disease. Additional risk-adjustment, stratification, or additional quality measures may be warranted.
Prosthetic Imaginings and Pedagogies of Early Childhood Art
Authors: Thompson Christine Marmé
Published: May 2015

What is the process that is invoked when early childhood educators reassure themselves that it is “process not product” that counts in the art experience of young children? Is this ultimately a way of dismissing intentions we do not understand or reducing the ways that art functions for young children to a singular focus on manipulative activities? How do we define drawing events, and how do we recognize those that constitute lines of flight for the child and his or her companions? Should we understand children’s art making as a display of the child’s interiority, or is it more accurately understood as an assemblage of influences coming together in particular moments? This article offers a perspective on child art that recognizes and values the complexity of children’s lives as they come together in prosthetic spaces where art making is understood as fluid performative event, influenced more profoundly by the personal, social, and material circumstances of its making than by developmental constraints or preordained assignments or intentions.
Two cases of breast carcinoma during pregnancy and review of the literature
Authors: Pascual Oihana , Uriarte Moisés , Agustín Maria-José , Gimeno Vicente , Larrodé Itziar , Abad Maria-Reyes
Published: May 2015

Pregnancy-associated breast cancer is the most common solid tumor in pregnancy after cervical carcinoma but still has a low incidence. It has been associated with a poor prognosis; though based on a limited number of retrospective case–control studies, some authors have reported no differences from that of non-pregnant patients. There is no consensus about the treatment; it requires an interdisciplinary approach and it is necessary to balance between the benefit for the mother and risk for the fetus. Each case requires an individual decision taking into account the stage of disease, patient preferences and gestational age. Above chemotherapy, it is only recommended after the first trimester of pregnancy and anthracyclin-based schemes have the higher evidence, but taxanes are also considered as an alternative in patients who do not respond to anthracyclines or its use is contraindicated. For the time being, there is a lack of data, and clinical decisions are based on small retrospective cohorts, case–control studies and case reports. We report two cases of patients being diagnosed with breast cancer while being pregnant and treated with surgery and chemotherapy, including anthracyclines, during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. In both reported cases, childbirth was induced before the 37th week of gestation and only one presented low birth weight with no more complications. The echocardiogram monitorization showed normal cardiac function in mothers and fetus.
Risk factors for idiopathic cystitis in Norwegian cats: a matched case-control study
Authors: Lund Heidi S , Sævik Bente K , Finstad Øystein W , Grøntvedt Elin T , Vatne Terese , Eggertsdóttir Anna V
Published: May 2015

Objectives

The aim of the study was to compare a group of cats with feline idiopathic cystitis (FIC) with a group of control cats without present or previous signs of lower urinary tract disease in order to identify factors in characteristics, personality, behaviour, environment and daily life that would make them more susceptible to the disease.

Methods

The study was a matched case-control study comparing results from telephone interviews based on a standardised questionnaire. The questions were organised into six subject groups: the characteristics of the cat; the cat’s environment; the presence of other pets in the household; the cat’s feeding and drinking regime; management of the cat’s litter box; and the cat’s opportunity to perform natural behaviour.

Results

The results from the present study showed that a cat diagnosed with FIC was more likely to be overweight and to be of a nervous disposition than the control cats. In addition, several differences between cases and controls were detected at a univariable level of analysis, related to outdoor access and the cats’ perceived safety and comfort in their home environments. While not significant after multivariable analysis, these variables may still be of importance owing to potential interrelations.

Conclusions and relevance

Several significant differences between cats with FIC and control cats were revealed, and the results support the hypothesis of environmental stress as being a potential factor in the development of FIC.
Non-melanoma Skin Cancer in Canada Chapter 1: Introduction to the Guidelines
Authors: Guenther Lyn C. , Barber Kirk , Searles Gordon E. , Lynde Charles W. , Janiszewski Peter , Ashkenas John ,   For The Canadian Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Guidelines Committee
Published: May 2015

Background

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), including basal and squamous cell carcinoma, represents the most common malignancy.

Objective

The aim of this document is to provide guidance to Canadian health care practitioners on NMSC management.

Methods

After conducting a literature review, the group developed recommendations for prevention, management, and treatment of basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas, and actinic keratoses. These tumour types are considered separately in the accompanying articles. The Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation system was used to assign strength to each recommendation.

Results

This introduction describes the scope and structure of the guidelines and the methods used to develop them. The epidemiology of NMSC is reviewed, as are the pathophysiologic changes occurring with damage to the skin, which lead to the formation of actinic keratoses and invasive squamous or basal cell carcinomas.

Conclusions

This introduction describes the need for primary prevention and offers an overview of treatment options that are discussed in later chapters of the guidelines.
Numerical analysis and experimental investigation of combined erosion of cavitation and sandy water erosion
Authors: Pang Y , Liang L , Tang Y , Zhu Z
Published: May 2015

Based on the computational fluid dynamics method, simulating the actual working conditions of turbines, the internal vapor–liquid–solid flow fields (total pressure and volume fraction of vapor phase) on the test turntable surface with cavitation source holes are numerically calculated under the combined erosion of cavitation and sandy water erosion. The vapor–liquid–solid combined erosions of different materials (Q235, 45#, 40Cr, and HT200) are tested on the reconstructive rotary wear test rig. The scanning electron microscopic photos and three-dimensional morphologies of different material specimens are displayed and analyzed. The numerical results show that the high pressure on the specimen surface is mainly distributed near the cavitation hole along the direction of the water flow (counterclockwise), and it outspreads at a certain angle from the both side of the cavitation hole, and the high pressure distribution looks like fishtail shape. The vapor phase mainly exists in the vicinity of the cavitation hole, and it looks like a big long comet tail and spreads along the direction of the water flow. The combined erosion region is mainly near the cavitation hole and here there are the vapor phase and large pressure gradient, and the combined erosion is more severe than the single cavitation erosion or single sandy water erosion. The experimental results show that in the regions of much vapor phase and a little pressure gradient, the main failure mode of the plastic materials (Q235 and 45#) is sandy water erosion, and the main failure mode of the plastic material of larger hardness (40Cr) and the brittle material (HT200) is cavitation erosion. The experimental results basically coincide with the calculated results. The scanning electron microscopic photos and three-dimensional morphologies of different material specimens are consistent with the macro-erosion photos.
Development and performance evaluation of self-lubricating drill tools
Authors: Srikant RR , Ramana VSNV , Krishna P Vamsi
Published: May 2015

Drilling is one of the most commonly employed manufacturing processes for any material. However, the frequent tool changes resulting from tool wear limit the efficiency of the process. Unlike in other forms of machining, external lubrication is not very effective in drilling and, hence, the usual strategy is to supply coolants through a hole drilled in the tool, along the axis. However, cutting fluids pose several threats to the environment and workers’ health and there are stringent regulations on their usage and disposal. To address this problem, self-lubricating drill tools were prepared using high-speed steel drill bits in the present work. Channels for the flow of solid lubricant were made in the tools. Further, side channels of various angles (0°, 8°, 15°, 22°, 30°) were cut on the flutes. Solid lubricants were filled in the central supply channels and also in the side micro-channels. The performance of the fabricated self-lubricated tools was assessed while machining AISI 1040 and mild steel. The variation in drilling torque, thrust force, surface roughness and tool wear under dry, wet machining environment, and self-lubricated conditions were studied experimentally. It was observed that by employing self-lubricated drill bits there was an improvement in surface finish of the holes drilled and considerable reduction in tool wear.
Longitudinal patterns of employment and postsecondary education for adults with autism and average-range IQ
Authors: Taylor Julie Lounds , Henninger Natalie A , Mailick Marsha R
Published: May 2015

This study examined correlates of participation in postsecondary education and employment over 12 years for 73 adults with autism spectrum disorders and average-range IQ whose families were part of a larger, longitudinal study. Correlates included demographic (sex, maternal education, paternal education), behavioral (activities of daily living, maladaptive behaviors, autism symptoms), and family (size of maternal social network; maternal depressive symptoms, anxiety, and pessimism) factors. Although two-thirds of adults with autism spectrum disorder participated in competitive employment/postsecondary education during the study, fewer than 25% maintained these activities over the study period. Behavioral characteristics distinguished those who never had competitive employment/postsecondary education from those who sometimes or consistently participated in these activities. Women were considerably less likely than men to maintain employment/postsecondary education over time.
Perceived self-efficacy in parents of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Weiss Jonathan A , Tint Ami , Paquette-Smith Melissa , Lunsky Yona
Published: May 2015

Many parents of adolescents and adults with autism spectrum disorder experience difficulty accessing appropriate services for their children, and may report low levels of parent self-efficacy. In an effort to identify the factors that contribute to the difficulties these families face, this study examined the role of demographic, systemic, and clinical need variables as they relate to parents’ experience of self-efficacy. Participants included 324 parents of individuals with autism spectrum disorder, 12–25 years of age. Results suggest that parent self-efficacy is related to a number of variables and not simply a child’s clinical situation, including child age, parent immigrant status, barriers to service access, and caregiver burden. Given the crucial role that parents often play in the lives of individuals with autism spectrum disorder across the lifespan, it is important that service providers support the efforts of parents who provide and access care for their children.
The impact of a victim-focused apology on forgiveness in an intergroup context
Authors: Berndsen Mariëtte , Hornsey Matthew J. , Wohl Michael J. A.
Published: May 2015

Although it is well-established that interpersonal apologies promote forgiveness, the apology–forgiveness link at the intergroup level is more tenuous. A possible reason for this tenuous relationship is that many intergroup apologies focus on the offender group’s feelings about the transgression as opposed to the victimized group’s suffering. In this spirit, we manipulated focus of a collective apology in two experiments. Consistent with predictions, a victim-focused apology (relative to offender-focused apology) heightened perceptions of offender group remorse, perceived empathy of the offender group, and trust in the offender. In turn, perceptions of remorse, empathy, and trust uniquely increased intergroup forgiveness. Results have implications for facilitating restorative effects between groups in situations of social injustice.
Operational modal analysis and wavelet transformation for damage identification in wind turbine blades
Authors: Ulriksen Martin D , Tcherniak Dmitri , Kirkegaard Poul H , Damkilde Lars
Published: May 2015

This study demonstrates an application of a previously proposed modal and wavelet analysis-based damage identification method to a wind turbine blade. A trailing edge debonding was introduced to an SSP 34-m blade mounted on a test rig. Operational modal analysis was conducted to obtain mode shapes for undamaged and damaged states of the blade. Subsequently, the mode shapes were analyzed with one-dimensional continuous wavelet transformations for damage identification. The basic idea of the method is that structural damage will introduce local mode shape irregularities which are captured in the continuous wavelet transformation by significantly magnified transform coefficients, thus providing combined damage detection, localization, and size assessment. It was found that due to the nature of the proposed method, the value of the identification results highly depends on the number of employed measurement points. Since a limited number of measurement points were utilized in the experiments, only certain damage-sensitive modes, in which pronounced damage-induced mode shape changes occur, are applicable for valid identification of the damage.
Foundation structural health monitoring of an offshore wind turbine—a full-scale case study
Authors: Weijtjens Wout , Verbelen Tim , De Sitter Gert , Devriendt Christof
Published: May 2015

In this contribution, first, the results in the development of a structural health monitoring approach for the foundations of an offshore wind turbine based on its resonance frequencies will be presented. Key problems are the operational and environmental variability of the resonance frequencies of the turbine that potentially conceal any structural change. This article uses a (non-)linear regression model to compensate for the environmental variations. An operational case-by-case monitoring strategy is suggested to cope with the dynamic variability between different operational cases of the turbine. Real-life data obtained from an offshore turbine on a monopile foundation are used to validate the presented strategy and to demonstrate the performance of the presented approach. First, the results indicate an overall stiffening of the investigated structure.