bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Methodology to Determine Recipe Adjustments for Multispectral Composites Derived from Next-Generation Advanced Satellite Imagers
Authors: Berndt Emily , Elmer Nicholas , Schultz Lori , Molthan Andrew
Published: January 2018

The European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) began creating multispectral [i.e., red–green–blue (RGB)] composites in the early 2000s with the advent of the Meteosat-8 Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI). As new satellite sensors—for example, the Himawari-8 Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) and the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI)—become available, there is a need to adjust the EUMETSAT RGB standard thresholds (i.e., recipes) to account for differences in spectral characteristics, spectral response, and atmospheric absorption in order to maintain an interpretation consistent with legacy composites. For the purpose of comparing RGB composites derived from nonoverlapping geostationary sensors, an adjustment technique was applied to the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) to create an intermediate reference sensor (i.e., SEVIRI proxy). Brightness temperature offset values between each AHI and SEVIRI proxy band centered near 3.9, 8.6, 11.0, and 12.0 µm were determined with this technique and through line-by-line radiative transfer model simulations. The relationship between measured brightness temperature of AHI and the SEVIRI proxy was determined though linear regression similar to research by the Japan Meteorological Agency. The linear regression coefficients were utilized to determine the RGB recipe adjustments. Adjusting the RGB recipes to account for the differences in spectral characteristics results in RGB composites consistent with legacy EUMETSAT composites. The methodology was applied to an example of the Nighttime Microphysics RGB, confirming the Japan Meteorological Agency adjustments and demonstrating a simple methodology to determine recipe adjustments for RGB composites derived with next-generation sensors.
Hong Kong in the Midst of Colonialism, Collaborative and Critical Nationalism from 1925 to 1930
Authors: Shaoyang Lin
Published: January 2018

In the late 1920s, cultural nationalism in Hong Kong was imbedded in Confucianism, having been disappointed with the New Culture Movement and Chinese revolutionary nationalism.1 It also inspired British collaborative colonialism. This study attempts to explain the link between Hong Kong and the Confucius Revering Movement by analysing the essays on Hong Kong of Lu Xun (1881–1936), the father of modern Chinese literature and one of the most important revolutionary thinkers in modern China. The Confucius Revering Movement, which extended from mainland China to the Southeast Asian Chinese community and then to Hong Kong, formed a highly interrelated network of Chinese cultural nationalism associated with Confucianism. However, the movements in these three places had different cultural and political roles in keeping with their own contexts. Collaborative colonialism’s interference with the Confucius Revering Movement is one way to understand Lu Xun’s critical reading of Hong Kong. That is, Hong Kong’s Confucius Revering Movement was seen as an endeavour of the colonial authorities to co-opt Confucianism in order to deal with influences from China. This article argues that Hong Kong’s Confucius Revering Movement should be regarded as one of the main perspectives through which to understand Hong Kong’s educational, cultural and political histories from the 1920s to the late 1960s. Lu Xun enables us to see several links. The first link is the one connecting the Confucius Revering Movement in Mainland China, Hong Kong and the Chinese community in Southeast Asia. This leads to the second link, that is, Lim Boen Keng (Lin Wenqing), the leading figure of the Confucius Revering Movement in the Southeast Asian Chinese community who later became the President of Amoy University, where Lu Xun had taught before his first visit to Hong Kong. The third link is the skilful colonial administrator Sir Cecil Clementi, who came to British Malaya in February 1930 to become Governor after being the Governor of Hong Kong. We can observe a network of Chinese critical/resistant and collaborative nationalism from these links.
Exploring Adaptive Acculturation Approaches Among Undocumented Latinos: A Test of Berry’s Model
Authors: Meca Alan , Cobb Cory , Xie Dong , Schwartz Seth J. , Allen Catherine , Hunter Robyn
Published: January 2018

In the current study, we sought to (a) determine the extent to which the categories proposed within Berry’s acculturation typologies model could be empirically derived among a sample of undocumented Latino immigrants, and (b) explore which approaches would be associated with the most positive psychological functioning. A community sample of 140 self-reported undocumented Latino immigrants completed questionnaires measuring national and ethnic identity, perceived discrimination, life satisfaction, and flourishing. Latent class analysis extracted three of Berry’s acculturation approaches (separation, integration/biculturalism, and marginalization). Pairwise comparisons indicated that the bicultural approach was the most adaptive, followed by the separated approach. In addition to validating Berry’s acculturation model among undocumented Latino immigrants, the current study taps into psychology’s commitment to social justice and diversity by extending the literature on the acculturation approaches that may be most beneficial for this highly neglected population. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.
Naming the Enemy: Anti-communism in Transnational Perspective
Authors: Stone Marla , Chamedes Giuliana
Published: January 2018

In this introduction to the special issue on transnational anti-communism, Marla Stone and Giuliana Chamedes present the contours of a comparative approach to the study of anti-communism, raising issues of its origins and impact, and calling for attention to anti-communism as a discrete ideology with a defined set of beliefs and practices. The special issue of six articles, edited by Stone and Chamedes, focuses on anti-communism in the interwar period in a range of locations, including India under British rule, colonial Madagascar, Italy, France, Britain and the United States of America. The essays emphasize comparative issues regarding the emergence and consolidation of anti-communist movements and practices in the 1920s and 1930s, and they argue for the transnational and international character of interwar anti-communism, and for its profound implications for both national and global politics.
Salvage Surgery after Radiation Failure in T1/T2 Larynx Cancer: Outcomes following Total versus Conservation Surgery
Authors: Cheraghlou Shayan , Kuo Phoebe , Mehra Saral , Yarbrough Wendell G. , Judson Benjamin L.
Published: January 2018

Objective

After radiation failure for early T‐stage larynx cancer, national guidelines recommend salvage surgery. Total laryngectomy and conservation laryngeal surgery with an open or endoscopic approach are both used. Beyond single‐institution studies, there is a lack of evidence concerning the outcomes of these procedures. We aim to study whether treatment with conservation laryngeal surgery is associated with poorer outcomes than treatment with total laryngectomy as salvage surgery after radiation failure for T1/T2 larynx cancers.

Study Design

A retrospective study was conducted of adult squamous cell larynx cancer cases in the National Cancer Database diagnosed from 2004 to 2012.

Setting

Commission on Cancer cancer programs in the United States.

Methods

Demographic, facility, tumor, and survival variables were included in the analyses. Multivariate survival regressions as well as univariate Kaplan‐Meier analyses were conducted.

Results

Slightly more than 7% of patients receiving radiotherapy for T1/T2 larynx cancers later received salvage surgery. Salvage with partial laryngectomy was not associated with diminished survival as compared with total laryngectomy. However, positive surgical margins were associated with worse outcomes (hazard ratio, 1.782; P =. 001), and a larger percentage of patients receiving partial laryngectomy had positive margins than those receiving total laryngectomy. Facility characteristics were not associated with differences in salvage surgery type or outcomes.

Conclusion

In recognition of the inherent selection bias, patients who experienced recurrences after radiation for T1/T2 larynx cancer and underwent conservation salvage laryngeal surgery demonstrated clinical outcomes similar to those of patients undergoing salvage total laryngectomy. Increased rates of positive surgical margins were observed among patients undergoing salvage conservation surgery.
Preliminary investigations into the source of brick clay, Brookgreen Plantation, Georgetown County, South Carolina
Authors: Palmer David , Dillian Carolyn
Published: January 2018

Brookgreen Gardens, Georgetown County, South Carolina, includes the remains of Brookgreen Plantation and other historic rice plantations. The property contains archeological resources associated with enslaved African, African-American, and Native American people. Visitors are told that the piers and chimneys of the homes of the enslaved were made of local brick, from clay dug, processed, and fired on-site. The clay mining allegedly formed the ponds and water features still visible today. To test that assertion, the authors conducted experiments, including collecting and geochemically analyzing local clays from these water features, to better understand the brick-making practices of Brookgreen's enslaved workers. Using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, we determined that these ponds were not the source of clay used for bricks. Instead, a deposit of clay located closer to the historic rice fields, where much of the work on the plantation occurred, was geochemically consistent with the archeological bricks.
Improving Access to Delivery Care and Reducing the Equity Gap Through Voucher Program in Bangladesh: Evidence From Difference-in-Differences Analysis
Authors: Keya Kaji Tamanna , Bellows Benjamin , Rob Ubaidur , Warren Charlotte
Published: January 2018

To test a statistically significant change in delivery by medically trained providers following introduction of a demand-side financing voucher, a population-based quasi-experimental study was undertaken, with 3,300 mothers in 2010 and 3,334 mothers at follow-up in 2012 in government-implemented voucher program and control areas. Results found that voucher program was significantly associated with increased public health facility use (difference-in-differences (DID) 13.9) and significantly increased delivery complication management care (DID 13.2) at facility although a null effect was found in facility-based delivery increase. A subset analysis of the five well-functioning facilities showed that facility deliveries increased DID 5.3 percentage points. Quintile-based analysis of all facilities showed that facility delivery increased more than threefold in lower quintile households comparing to twofold in control sites. The program needs better targeting to the beneficiaries, ensuring available gynecologist–anesthetist pair and midwives, effective monitoring, and timely fund reimbursements to facilities.
What a King is this: Narmer and the Concept of the Ruler
Authors: Wilkinson Toby A. H.
Published: January 2018

Narmer, the best-attested Egyptian king from the period of state formation, reigned at a time of great social and political change, a time when the modes of self-expression and the mechanisms of rule employed by the governing elite were undergoing rapid and radical reformulation. In other words, Narmer presided over a crucial transition in the concept of the ruler. His reign displays certain features characteristic of Egypt's prehistoric past, but also some early examples of the new forms that were to distinguish pharaonic civilisation. A recognition of this dichotomy brings new insights into the meaning of Narmer's name, the artistic significance of his famous palette, and the identification of the early royal tombs at Abydos.
Assimilation and Dissimilation at Work in the Late Egyptian Verbal System: The Verb Forms Built by Means of the Auxiliary iri from the Second Part of the Nineteenth Dynasty until Early Demotic
Authors: Kruchten Jean-Marie
Published: January 2018

This article continues the author's work upon the gradual spread of the use of auxiliary iri in Egyptian. After the loss of the markers .n.- and gemination during the Eighteenth Dynasty, new marked verb forms were derived from the few unmarked Middle Egyptian verb forms which survived. These periphrastic patterns stood in complementary distribution with the simple verb forms inherited from Middle Egyptian which belonged to the same verbal category in ternary distribution (present / past / prospective), or, in the case of the ‘emphatic’ verb forms, in binary opposition (non-model / modal). Subsequently, the employment of the auxiliary iri spread by analogy to almost all the surviving suffixal verb forms.
The Statue BM EA 37891 and the Erasure of Necho its Names
Authors: Gozzoli Roberto B.
Published: January 2018

A new publication of the statue BM EA 37891, originating from Sais and to be dated to the first half of the seventh century BC, is presented. The text of the back pillar lists festivals held during the Twenty-sixth Dynasty. The erasures of the pectoral are discussed, in parallel with other statues and documents, allegedly dated to the reign of Necho II, which show effacements and recutting in the royal cartouches. One of them, Stockholm NME 78, is partially published anew. The different documents give a glimpse of the complexity of the damnatio memoriae problem.
Ein Weizen-Überweisungsauftrag Zugunsten des (Tempel)-Wirtschafters hor (Das Demotische Kalkstein-Ostrakon Leipzig Äm 4789)
Authors: Kaplony-Heckel Ursula
Published: January 2018

The limestone ostracon Leipzig ÄM 4789 belongs to a group of more than one hundred short texts on limestone ostraca in European collections, originating from an unknown temple. They differ from all short texts otherwise known in their documentary type, and in their inclusion of the name of a deity (hitherto unread), which appears in men's names. To this European group may be added thirteen similar pieces in Cairo; these limestone and potsherd ostraca entered the Egyptian Museum in 1922, from Nagc el-Mesheikh, as is recorded in the Journal d'Entrée. The goddess Mḥjt was worshipped at Nagc el-Mesheikh / Lepidotonpolis so the cursively written name of the deity of the limestone ostraca is to be deciphered as Mḥjt, and the personal names as Pȝ-hl-Mḥjt, ȝ-Mḥȝ-dj-Mḥjt, Pa-Mḥjt, Mḥjt, Mḥjt-tȝj=f-nḫtt and Ns-Mḥjt. So far, no Greek or Demotic texts are known from the site. The documentary type of letter-orders and letter-receipts of these Nagc el-Mesheikh limestone ostraca is to be found also in unpublished Abydos limestone ostraca in Oxford and in Khargeh potsherd ostraca in New York (to be published in Enchoria, in preparation), but is unknown in the rest of Upper Egypt (e.g. Thebes, Gebelein, Edfu and Elephantine). Probably all these letter-orders and letter-receipts date to the early Ptolemaic Period.
Evidence from the Baboon Catacomb in North Saqqara for a West Mediterranean Monkey Trade Route to Ptolemaic Alexandria
Authors: Goudsmit Jaap , Brandon-Jones Douglas
Published: January 2018

The Baboon Catacomb at North Saqqara occupies two levels, the Upper Galleries (±400–200 BC) with 200 niches and the Lower Gallery (±200–30 BC) with 237 niches. More macaques and fewer baboons are buried in the Lower Gallery compared with the Upper Galleries. This suggests a partial shift in primate species mummified and appears to reflect a change in trading pattern from predominantly Nile and Red Sea traffic to the olive baboons' (Papio hamadryas anubis) habitat in Sudan towards Mediterranean traffic to the barbary macaques' (Macaca sylvanus) habitat in Northwest Africa. Six demotic obituaries discovered in the Lower Gallery report that in the period around ±175 BC monkeys were imported through Alexandria. Phoenicians appear to have presented the Egyptians with increased numbers of macaques transported from the West Mediterranean to Alexandria following the defeat of Hannibal in 202 BC by the Romans. This monkey trade apparently stopped with the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC.
Precious-Metal Polychromy in Egypt in the time of Tutankhamun
Authors: Schorsch Deborah
Published: January 2018

Gold and silver appear in Egypt at least as early as the Predynastic Period, and remained thereafter in use for the manufacture of ritual and funerary objects and personal possessions. On occasion, the ancient metalworker or his patron would choose to combine them in the manufacture of an objet de vertu: a jewel, a vessel, a royal coffin. The earliest uses of gold and silver, and electrum—a naturally occuring alloy of the two—together can be described as random, as the juxtapositions appear to have no meaning in terms of relative monetary value or visual design, and to have no colouristic or symbolic associations. During the Old Kingdom there appear the first objects that use precious metals systematically for their contrasting colours, a practice that becomes more widespread in the Middle Kingdom. The greatest sophistication in the use of precious metals can be documented during the second half of the Eighteenth Dynasty, particularly in the time of Tutankhamun, when gold—including alloys that are reddish or have been intentionally coloured red—silver and electrum, were used together also to exploit their inherent colours and to evoke symbolic meaning.
Archaism and Kingship: A Late Royal Statue and its Early Dynastic Model
Authors: Baines John , Riggs Christina
Published: January 2018

Publication of British Museum EA 941, a Late Period or early Ptolemaic royal statue in travertine whose model is the Early Dynastic statue of Djoser (Cairo JE 49158) from the serdab on the north side of his Step Pyramid, or another statue of the same type. We present the British Museum statue, compare it with the Djoser statue, and argue for the former's likely dating and Saqqara provenance. Both statues are significant for their iconography of divine kingship and mortuary transfiguration.
The Geographical, Spatial, and Temporal Distribution of Predynastic and First Dynasty Basalt Vessels
Authors: Mallory-Greenough Leanne M.
Published: January 2018

A change in the basalt vessel assemblage suggests that a dramatic shift in social and political organization occurred at the end of the Predynastic Period. The movement of southern populations into the area of the north, where the basalt vessels were manufactured, is one possible explanation. This hypothesis is supported by the change in geographical distribution patterns for basalt vessels from widely dispersed during the Predynastic Period to concentrated in the tombs of the ruling class centred in Naqada, Abydos, and Saqqara. During the Predynastic Period, the distribution of basalt vessels forms a distinct cluster around Maadi, implying an origin near, if not at, the site. By the beginning of the First Dynasty, Maadi has lost its prominence in terms of basalt vessels, and fewer sites are represented by greater numbers of these artefacts. A comparison of the basalt vessel forms to the Buto-Maadi pottery assemblage also supports a northern origin. A survey of Predynastic graves yields no firm conclusions on whose burials were supplied with these artefacts.
New Light on the Egyptian Labyrinth: Evidence from a Survey at Hawara
Authors: Uytterhoeven Inge , Blom-Böer Ingrid
Published: January 2018

Hawara in the Fayum is known to be the site of the Egyptian Labyrinth. Only scanty remains are left of this temple which was part of the pyramid complex of Amenemhat III. Despite drastic interventions such as the construction of a canal and numerous scientific as well as illicit excavations, new evidence on the Labyrinth was found during a survey by the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium) in March 2000. Two Middle Kingdom sculptures that probably can be identified as statues mentioned by Lepsius in 1843 have been located in the western sector of the Labyrinth. A group statue possibly representing Amenemhat III both as a Fayum god and as a king, and a mummiform statue of the deified pharaoh fit within the sculptural programme of the temple of Amenemhat.
Magical Bricks and the Bricks of Birth
Authors: Roth Ann Macy , Roehrig Catharine H.
Published: January 2018

Four mud-bricks inscribed with spells from Chapter 151 of the Book of the Dead are often found in the burial chambers of royal and elite tombs dating from the New Kingdom. These bricks can be shown to represent the four bricks that supported women during childbirth. The use of bricks in a mortuary context is thus metaphorical, replicating the equipment of an earthly birth in order to ensure the deceased's rebirth into the other world. Such bricks may also have been used in the ‘Opening of the Mouth’ ritual, both at funerals and in temple foundation ceremonies. In connection with their role at birth, bricks also appear at the judgment a person faced after death. Like other artifacts surrounding birth in Egypt, bricks of birth had parallels in ancient Mesopotamia.
Five Enigmatic Late Roman Settlements in the Eastern Desert
Authors: Sidebotham Steven E. , Barnard Hans , Pyke Gillian
Published: January 2018

The on-going survey of the Graeco-Roman remains in the Egyptian Eastern Desert constantly reveals previously unknown sites and settlements. Most can be shown to be related to either quarries, (gold) mines or the ancient road system. Some have a less evident raison d'être. Five such enigmatic settlements, all dating from the fifth to seventh centuries AD, are presented here. They show similarities in the construction method of the structures, their general layout and the absence of surface finds other than potsherds. Remarkably small numbers of graves were found associated with the buildings and only two settlements had artificial hydraulic installations nearby. The main differences among the settlements seem to be their size, ranging from 47 to 141 structures, and differences in the relative complexity of the structures. A wide variety of possible purposes for these settlements are discussed. These include placer gold extraction centres; camps for soldiers, hunters, gatherers or charcoal burners; semi-permanent Bedouin towns and early Christian monastic settlements. The current dearth of information renders it impossible to favour any of these suggestions or even to be certain that the sites ever served the same purpose.
On Pyramid Causeways
Authors: Reader Colin
Published: January 2018

The work of the Saqqara Geophysical Survey Project has involved a close examination of the landscape of this important necropolis, prompting a reconsideration of the role landscape may have played in the selection of sites for Early Dynastic royal burials at Saqqara. In this paper, the ideas of other authors are developed to argue that our modern view of Saqqara, which tends to regard the site from the perspective of the Nile Valley, is different from that of Egyptians of the Early Dynastic Period and early Old Kingdom. Furthermore, by altering our perspective of the site, a symbolic origin for the use of causeways in pyramid architecture can be proposed.
The use of a proximal femoral nail as a hip prosthesis: A biomechanical analysis of a newly designed implant
Authors: Konya Mehmet Nuri , Korkusuz Feza , Maralcan Gokhan , Demir Teyfik , Aslan Ahmet
Published: January 2018

Complication rates of hip fractures after proximal femoral nail are not rare. In such fractures, treatment invariably comprises the extraction of proximal femoral nail and the introduction of a different hip prosthesis. To solve this problem, we aimed to develop a new implant, the modular nail prosthesis, which combines an intramedullary nail with a hip prosthesis. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of stress load distribution on the stem using finite element analysis under laboratory conditions. For this, the shortest stem of 175 mm was chosen. In addition, six proximal femoral nail–hip prosthesis combinations were produced and tested with a biomechanical test device and passed 2300-N load bearing. According to the test results, our newly developed modular nail prosthesis can be converted to hip prosthesis securely.
Normalizers for microRNA quantification in plasma of patients with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia lesions and vulvar carcinoma
Authors: Zalewski Kamil , Misiek Marcin , Kowalik Artur , Bakuła-Zalewska Elwira , Kopczyński Janusz , Zielińska Aleksandra , Bidziński Mariusz , Radziszewski Jakub , Góźdź Stanisław , Kowalewska Magdalena
Published: January 2018

The role of circulating microRNAs as a promising tool for diagnosing cancer and monitoring anticancer therapies has been widely studied in the past decades. To date, no suitable reference microRNAs for normalizing quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assays has been identified in vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia lesions and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. The purpose of this study was to select appropriate references for gene expression studies in plasma of patients with these lesions. Expression levels of six microRNAs—hsa-miR-425-5p, hsa-miR-191-5p, hsa-miR-93-5p, hsa-miR-423-5p, hsa-miR-103a-3p, and hsa-miR-16-5p—were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction in plasma samples obtained from 17 patients with vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia lesion and 27 patients with vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. The expression stability of these candidate normalizers was assayed using geNorm algorithm. hsa-miR-93-5p was revealed as the most stably expressed reference in plasma samples of both vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia lesion and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma patients. The results pointed at hsa-miR-93-5p and hsa-miR-425-5p as microRNAs that retained the greatest robustness in plasma of vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia lesion and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma patients, respectively. Our work is the first report on reference microRNA selection for quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction applications in vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia lesion and vulvar squamous cell carcinoma. The candidate microRNA stability values for the two types of lesions are provided and might serve for normalization of the future novel microRNA biomarkers in these rare entities.
Prognostic significance of urine paraquat concentrations of patients with acute paraquat poisoning on admission at the emergency department
Authors: Liu Xiaowei , Ma Tao , Liu Zhi
Published: January 2018

Objective:

To assess the prognostic significance of urine paraquat concentrations of patients with acute paraquat poisoning on admission at the emergency department.

Methods:

Patients with acute paraquat poisoning admitted to the emergency department were recruited. Survivors and non-survivors were compared with regard to urinary paraquat concentration. The urinary level predictive of mortality was assessed by receiver operating characteristic curve. Risk factors of mortality were evaluated by regression analysis.

Results:

The overall mortality rate was 70.9% over the 28-day follow-up period. There was a significant difference in the urine paraquat concentrations recorded on admission between non-surviving and surviving patients ( p = 0.022). Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis revealed that the area under the curve when applied to receiver operating characteristic of the admission urine paraquat concentrations for predicting mortality was 0.854 with a cut-off value of 34.5 µg/mL. The dose of paraquat ingested, arterial lactate, and urine concentration were independent risk factors predicting 28-day mortality. The time interval between ingestion and hemoperfusion, arterial lactate, and urine concentration of paraquat were independent risk factors predicting acute kidney injury, while the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (PaCO2) and urine concentration of paraquat were independent risk factors predicting acute lung injury.

Conclusion:

The urine concentrations of paraquat on admission at emergency department demonstrated predictive ability for the prognosis of patients with acute paraquat poisoning.
A Profile of High-Stakes Assessment Practices in Music Teacher Education
Authors: Prichard Stephanie
Published: January 2018

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe high-stakes assessment practices in the field of music teacher education. Furthermore, I sought to compare institutional capstone assessment practices with state licensure requirements. Research questions involved the status of high-stakes assessments of general, content, and pedagogical knowledge, as well as high-stakes teacher performance assessments (e.g., edTPA). Participants in this study included faculty representatives ( N = 274) from National Association of Schools of Music–accredited music teacher education programs across all 50 states. The majority of participants indicated that preservice candidates were required to pass a test of general knowledge as a gatekeeper to acceptance into the music teacher licensure program, as well as a variety of other examinations prior to graduation. More than one half of participants reported that their institution required music teacher candidates to complete a teacher performance assessment (e.g., edTPA). Alignment between state and institution requirements was varied.
STEM Interest Complexity Inventory Short Form With IRT and DIF Applications
Authors: Toker Yonca , Gültaş Mehmet
Published: January 2018

The 127-item Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics (STEM) Interest Complexity Inventory and 15-item General STEM Interests Scale, each of which were previously developed to assess interests toward increasingly complex tasks, were shortened to 37-item and 12-item measures. Item response theory analyses employed on the data of 930 students in STEM majors indicated items with higher discrimination parameters and equivalent functioning across genders. The short form (SF) supported a four-factor structure of interests toward interacting with numerical data, symbolic data, spatial data, and STEM-related ideas. Concurrent criterion–related validation was supported with relevant vocational fit criteria. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that STEM interest complexity added incremental variance over achievement motivation and test anxiety in predicting fit. Measurement invariance was demonstrated across samples from Turkey and the United States. The STEM Interest Complexity Inventory SF is a valid measure of vocational interests for research at the college level. Validities with high school and working samples are yet to be demonstrated.
Treatments and Health Outcomes of Medicare Patients With Back Pain
Authors: Mitchell Jean M. , Hadley Jack
Published: January 2018

Back pain treatments are costly and frequently involve use of procedures that may have minimal benefit on improving patients’ functional status. Two recent studies evaluated adverse outcomes (mortality and major medical complications) following receipt of spinal surgery but neither examined whether such treatments affected functional ability. Using a sample composed of Medicare patients with persistent back pain, we examined whether functional ability improved after treatment, comparing patients treated with back surgery or spinal injections to nonrecipients. We analyzed four binary variables that measure whether the ability to perform routine tasks improved. We used instrumental variables analysis to address the nonrandom selection of treatment received due to unobservable confounding. Contrary to the observational results, the instrumental variable estimates suggest that receipt of either back surgery or spinal injections does not improve back patients’ functional ability. Failure to account for selection into treatment can lead to overestimating the benefits of specific treatments.
Suppression of Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation by Selective Single-Domain Antibody for Intracellular STAT3
Authors: Singh Sunanda , Murillo Genoveva , Chen Dong , Parihar Ashutosh S , Mehta Rajendra G
Published: January 2018

Background:

The serendipitous discovery of heavy-chain antibodies devoid of light chains in camelids and the subsequent development of VHHs (variable region of camelid heavy chain) have provided a very important tool for research and possibly for therapeutics. In this study, we synthesized single-domain 15-kDa antibody SBT-100 (anti-STAT3 B VHH13) against human STAT3 (signal transducer and activator of transcription) that binds selectively to STAT3 and suppresses the function of phosphorylated STAT3 (p-STAT3).

Methods:

Single-chain VHH nanobodies were generated by immunizing camelid with humanized STAT3. Commercially available breast cancer cell lines including MDA-MB-231, MDA-MB-468, MDA-MB-453, MCF-7, and BT474 were used. Cell proliferation was determined by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The association of anti-STAT3 B VHH13 with STAT3 and p-STAT3 was determined by immunoprecipitation and Western blot analyses. The efficacy of SBT-100 on the growth of MDA-MB-231 xenografts in vivo was determined using athymic mice. Statistical significance for cell proliferation was determined using analysis of variance. If a significant difference ( P < .05) was observed, then Tukey-Kramer multiple comparison test was conducted.

Results:

SBT-100 suppressed cell proliferation of triple-negative breast cancer cells ( P < .01) as well as provided significant inhibition of tumor growth ( P < .05) in a xenograft model without any toxicity. Results are presented to show that anti-STAT3 B VHH13 selectively binds to STAT3 suggesting that the effects were mediated by inhibiting STAT3.

Conclusions:

A very large number of human malignancies and benign diseases have constitutive STAT3 activation. Therefore, the results described here suggest that anti-STAT3 B VHH13 can be developed for therapeutic intervention for cancer cells expressing STAT3 or p-STAT3.
Risky business: Reflections on critical performativity in practice
Authors: Butler Nick , Delaney Helen , Spoelstra Sverre
Published: January 2018

Critical scholars in the business school are becoming increasingly concerned about the impact of their research beyond the confines of academia. This has been articulated most prominently around the concept of ‘critical performativity’. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with critical leadership scholars, this article explores how academics engage with practitioners at the same time as they seek to maintain a critical ethos in relation to their external activities. While proponents of critical performativity tend to paint a frictionless picture of practitioner engagement—which can take the form of consulting, coaching, and leadership development—we show how critical scholars may end up compromising their academic values in corporate settings due to practitioner demands and other institutional pressures. Taken together, these pressures mean that critical scholars often need to negotiate a series of (sometimes insoluble) dilemmas in practitioner contexts. We argue that the concept of critical performativity is unable to contend meaningfully with these tensions because it replicates the myth of the ‘heroic-transformational academic’ who is single-handedly able to stimulate critical reflection among practitioners and provoke radical change in organizations. We conclude with a call for further reflection on the range of ethical dilemmas that can arise during academic–practitioner engagement.
Disclaiming national representatives
Authors: Altiparmakis Argyrios , Lorenzini Jasmine
Published: January 2018

The Eurozone crisis triggered deep political dissent in Southern Europe. As the crisis unfolded, citizens took massively to the streets in attempts to prevent austerity policies but also to call for more democracy. We analyze protest waves in four Southern European countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We argue that protest events are reactions to austerity measures when austerity is the only game in town. Hence, we test the effects of elections, the presence of new challengers, and austerity votes on protest. We use a data set of protest events based on the coding of newswires covering protest in its different forms from 2000 to 2015. We show that protest waves took place in the four countries and that they reveal widespread dissatisfaction with austerity policies. Our article contributes to the understanding of the links between protest and institutional politics during the Eurozone crisis.
From agenda setters to agenda takers? The determinants of party issue attention in times of crisis
Authors: Borghetto Enrico , Russo Federico
Published: January 2018

Question time represents one of the most relevant institutional arenas where parties compete to get their favourite issues on the parliamentary agenda. Parties select which issue to address by weighing up two commitments simultaneously: fulfilling the party mandate received by their voters at election time and responding to the current priorities of voters. This article assesses the extent to which the recent sovereign debt crisis impacted the way parties balance these two imperatives of democratic representation. Through the issue coding of around 10,000 parliamentary oral questions tabled in Italy, Portugal and Spain between 2003 and 2014, the analysis shows that the worsening of economic conditions intensified the impact of citizens’ priorities. However, there is no clear evidence of a decline in the importance of the party mandate for either the majority or opposition parties. These findings offer insights on the topic of party political representation in Southern Europe and whether it was affected by the Eurozone crisis.
Electoral incumbency advantages and the introduction of fixed parliamentary terms in the United Kingdom
Authors: Schleiter Petra , Belu Valerie
Published: January 2018

Can fixing the parliamentary term be expected to reduce electoral incumbency advantages? The United Kingdom’s 2011 Fixed-term Parliaments Act aims to prevent incumbents from scheduling early elections for political benefit. Yet, the view that flexible election timing gives incumbents an unfair advantage remains contested. The literature on opportunistic election calling—including the signalling effects of this strategy and the competence of governments that select it—lends support to both sides in the debate. This article examines how far the divergent arguments apply in the United Kingdom. Using observed outcomes and a potential outcomes approach, we investigate to what effect incumbents have used election timing. Our results suggest that governments can improve their re-election chances when they have discretion to time elections to favourable circumstances instead of facing voters at set intervals when conditions may not be advantageous. Fixed parliamentary terms are likely to reduce that incumbency advantage significantly.
Men and women’s prisons in the Portuguese press: The gender of punishment
Authors: Saavedra Luisa , Seixas Eunice C , Cameira Miguel , Silva Ana M
Published: January 2018

Since prison life is out of common people’s sight, the media have a particularly important role in legitimating or, conversely, de-legitimating public discourses and policies about punishment, incarceration and rehabilitation. In the present study, our analysis was grounded in 83 news, 55 of these about men prisons, 24 about women prisons and 4 news about public policies in general, although having specificities about men’s and women’s prisons published in a Portuguese national newspaper between 2005 and 2014. The analysis suggests that, with very few exceptions, gender is an important issue in the media construction for men's and women's prisons and male and female inmates; gender norms of masculinity and femininity are essentialized, justifying different practices of control in prison policies. Dangerous, violent, resistant and manipulative male inmates call for prison policies based on risk control and managerialism, whereas docile and reliable female inmates call for policies grounded on rehabilitation but also security. Apart from this representation, our analysis also shows that the news, in general, tends to align with a reformist approach, failing to interrogate the wider role of imprisonment in social control or to discuss its alternatives.
Good governance, political experiences, and public support for mandatory sentencing: Evidence from a progressive US state
Authors: Sundt Jody , Schwaeble Kathryn , Merritt Cullen C
Published: January 2018

A shift in public mood and declining incarceration rates in the United States signal a potential change in the politics of punishment. This research considers whether the public continues to support mandatory sentencing. The study expands upon existing knowledge by testing theoretical predictions about how instrumentalism, political beliefs, and political participation affect public support for mandatory sentences. Drawing on a state-wide survey of 1569 adults from Oregon, the study found that belief in the effectiveness of prosecutors, judges, and prisons significantly influenced support for mandatory sentencing. Although 67% of those surveyed favored judicial discretion, a firm belief that “prisons work” may limit efforts to reduce incarceration and roll back mandatory sentences.
Starting to Stop: Young Offenders’ Desistance from Crime
Authors: McMahon Gráinne , Jump Deborah
Published: January 2018

This article explores the complexities of the interplay between structural and agentic changes in 21 young offenders’ lives as they start to stop offending. The young people’s ability to desist from crime was dependent upon their engagement with a ‘hook for change’, their development of prosocial relationships and ‘knifing off’ of elements of their offending past, the extent of their identity change, and their confidence about desistance. Desistance was less likely in the absence of a ‘hook’ and where offenders were running a ‘condemnation script’. The study challenges previous research that argues that desistance from crime in adolescence is unlikely.
Closure of patent foramen ovale in “cryptogenic” stroke: Has the story come to an end?
Authors: Mas Jean-Louis , Chatellier Gilles
Published: January 2018

Contrasting with three randomized trials that failed to show any superiority of patent foramen ovale closure over antithrombotic therapy, two trials recently reported lower rates of stroke recurrence among patients assigned to patent foramen ovale closure than among those assigned to antiplatelet therapy. In addition, one of the initially negative trials concluded in favor of patent foramen ovale closure after an extended follow-up period. A better selection of patients, the use of reference treatment groups that included patients who received antiplatelet therapy alone (rather than antiplatelet drugs or oral anticoagulants, according to physician preference), and a longer follow-up of patients, may explain the divergent findings across studies. Procedural complications were reported in 1.5% to 5.9% of the patients, none of which led to permanent disability or death. Patent foramen ovale closure was associated with an increased risk of new-onset atrial fibrillation in several studies and of venous thromboembolism in one study.
Performing trauma: Commemorating 9/11 in downtown Manhattan
Authors: Poole Ross
Published: January 2018

There are two memorials at the site of the World Trade Center: the above ground Memorial Park and the below ground Memorial Museum. They embody very different conceptions of how an event such as 9/11 should be remembered. The Memorial Park was an attempt to integrate the recognition of loss into the ongoing life of the city. It fails to do this, largely because it succumbs to the temptation to let the site itself—“Ground Zero”—do the work of memory. The two pools (“voids”) are located on the footprints of the two towers. They dominate the site, inheriting the clumsy monumentality of the destroyed buildings. The underground Memorial Museum combines relics, remnants, images, and newsreels, to involve its visitors in the emotional immediacy of the events of 9/11. It presents 9/11 as a traumatic memory, one to be re-experienced but not understood, placing it outside history in a kind of perpetual present. It reinforces what Marita Sturken identified as a national sense of innocence, and it militates against the development of an historical understanding of the causes and consequences of 9/11. In the final section of this article, I reflect on ways in Ground Zero might have been designed to create a site where residents, citizens, and visitors might have come together to mourn, reflect on, and seek to understand the events of 9/11.
Risk of Acute Kidney Injury in Patients Randomized to a Restrictive Versus Liberal Approach to Red Blood Cell Transfusion in Cardiac Surgery: A Substudy Protocol of the Transfusion Requirements in Cardiac Surgery III Noninferiority Trial
Authors: Garg Amit X. , Shehata Nadine , McGuinness Shay , Whitlock Richard , Fergusson Dean , Wald Ron , Parikh Chirag , Bagshaw Sean M. , Khanykin Boris , Gregory Alex , Syed Summer , Hare Gregory M. T. , Cuerden Meaghan S. , Thorpe Kevin E. , Hall Judith , Verma Subodh , Roshanov Pavel S. , Sontrop Jessica M. , Mazer C. David.
Published: January 2018

Background:

When safe to do so, avoiding blood transfusions in cardiac surgery can avoid the risk of transfusion-related infections and other complications while protecting a scarce resource and reducing costs. This protocol describes a kidney substudy of the Transfusion Requirements in Cardiac Surgery III (TRICS-III) trial, a multinational noninferiority randomized controlled trial to determine whether the risk of major clinical outcomes in patients undergoing planned cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass is no greater with a restrictive versus liberal approach to red blood cell transfusion.

Objective:

The objective of this substudy is to determine whether the risk of acute kidney injury is no greater with a restrictive versus liberal approach to red blood cell transfusion, and whether this holds true in patients with and without preexisting chronic kidney disease.

Design and Setting:

Multinational noninferiority randomized controlled trial conducted in 73 centers in 19 countries (2014-2017).

Patients:

Patients (~4800) undergoing planned cardiac surgery with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Measurements:

The primary outcome of this substudy is perioperative acute kidney injury, defined as an acute rise in serum creatinine from the preoperative value (obtained in the 30-day period before surgery), where an acute rise is defined as ≥26.5 μmol/L in the first 48 hours after surgery or ≥50% in the first 7 days after surgery.

Methods:

We will report the absolute risk difference in acute kidney injury and the 95% confidence interval. We will repeat the primary analysis using alternative definitions of acute kidney injury, including staging definitions, and will examine effect modification by preexisting chronic kidney disease (defined as a preoperative estimated glomerular filtration rate [eGFR] <60 mL/min/1.73 m2).

Limitations:

It is not possible to blind patients or providers to the intervention; however, objective measures will be used to assess outcomes, and outcome assessors will be blinded to the intervention assignment.

Results:

Substudy results will be reported by the year 2018.

Conclusions:

This substudy will provide generalizable estimates of the risk of acute kidney injury of a restrictive versus liberal approach to red blood cell transfusion in the presence of anemia during cardiac surgery done with cardiopulmonary bypass.

Trial Registration:

www.clinicaltrials.gov ; clinical trial registration number NCT 02042898.