bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Michael Oakeshott and the Postulates of Individuality
Authors: Norris Andrew
Published: July 2016

Michael Oakeshott provides the best articulation of the widespread view that the moral foundations of the modern state limit it to the defense and maintenance of a system of formal rules governing individuals and non-state enterprises. While this understanding of the proper relation between individual and state has been challenged by liberals of a more Rawlsian persuasion, these criticisms have persuaded few to change their minds, as they rest upon assumptions that are plainly incompatible with the view under consideration. I argue that, rightly understood, central and attractive features of Oakeshott’s own conception of understanding, philosophy, individuality, and education lead to significantly different conclusions than those embraced by Oakeshott himself. The “morality of individuality” upon which Oakeshott rests his strict restrictions on the use of state power requires that we be open to the use of that power to guarantee that all receive the education postulated by individuality.
Ebola and Human Rights
Authors: Annas George J.
Published: July 2016

In public health practice, the concepts of health and safety are often conflated. However, protecting and promoting health is radically different from protecting and promoting safety. Since 9/11, the distinctions between health and safety have changed and are in the process of merging. In our terrorism-obsessed world, public health has been increasingly militarized and enlisted, often without protest, into the service of protecting the safety of the public and the security of the nation. But safety and security are the proper purposes of law enforcement and the military, not of public health. More importantly, using public health to combat terrorism is often counterproductive to the population's health, and undermines human rights. Using the Ebola epidemic of 2014, this Article suggests how the post-9/11 reframing of public health goals as including disaster preparedness and counterterrorism, and the new military metaphors we have adopted to describe public health, have deformed our public health agencies, and have made them less trusted by the public. In turn, these agencies are therefore less able to prevent and respond to new infectious diseases. The United States' response to Ebola gives us an opportunity to reconsider the merger of public health and public safety domestically and globally. This Article suggests that a deeper commitment to human rights, especially to the right to health, has the theoretical and practical strength to act as a countervailing force and refocus public health on the health of populations rather than on safety and national security.
Ebola Again Shows the International Health Regulations Are Broken
Authors: Ottersen Trygve , Hoffman Steven J. , Groux Gaëlle
Published: July 2016

Epidemics are among the greatest threats to humanity, and the International Health Regulations are the world's key legal instrument for addressing this threat. Since their revision in 2005, the IHR have faced two big tests: the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic and the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa. Both exposed major shortcomings of the IHR, and both offered profound lessons for the future.

The objective of this Article is twofold. First, we seek to compare the lessons learned from H1N1 and Ebola for reforming the IHR in order to test the hypothesis that they are similar. Second, we seek to examine the barriers to implementing these lessons and to identify strategies for overcoming those barriers.

We find that the lessons from H1N1 and Ebola are indeed similar, and that opportunities to act on lessons from H1N1 were woefully missed. We identify many political barriers to global collective action and implementation of lessons for the IHR. On that basis, we describe strategies to overcome these barriers, which will hopefully be deployed now to reform the IHR before the policy window following Ebola closes, and before the inevitable next epidemic comes. The emerging threat of the Zika virus underscores that we have no time to waste.
Managing Our Microbial Mark
Authors: Marciarille Ann Marie
Published: July 2016

The narrative of Ebola's arrival in the United States has been overwhelmed by our fear of a West African-style epidemic. The real story of Ebola's arrival is about our healthcare system's failure to identify, treat, and contain healthcare associated infections. Having long been willfully ignorant of the path of fatal infectious diseases through our healthcare facilities, this paper considers why our reimbursement and quality reporting systems made it easy for this to be so. West Africa's challenges in controlling Ebola resonate with our own struggles to standardize, centralize, and enforce infection control procedures in American healthcare facilities.
Robust multiobserver design for discrete uncertain nonlinear systems with time-varying delay
Authors: Ben Atia Samah , Messaoud Anis , Ben Abdennour Ridha
Published: July 2016

In this paper, a robust multiobserver is proposed for the state estimation of discrete-time uncertain nonlinear systems with time-varying delay. The designed multiobserver is based on the decoupled multimodel approach. Unlike the classically used multimodel structures, the decoupled multimodel provides a flexibility of modelling. Indeed, the partial models’ structures can be adapted to the complexity of the system in each operating regime, thus the partial models can be with different dimensions. Delay-dependent sufficient conditions for the synthesis of a robust multiobserver against norm-bounded parametric uncertainties and in the presence of measurement noise are established in terms of linear matrix inequalities. A simulation example is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the designed multiobserver.
The Individual “Costs” of Workaholism: An Analysis Based on Multisource and Prospective Data
Authors: Balducci Cristian , Avanzi Lorenzo , Fraccaroli Franco
Published: July 2016

We conducted two studies on workaholism to address three identified gaps in the literature, namely, the job-related affective experiences of workaholics, the relationship between workaholism and job demands, and the long-term mental health effects of workaholism. We also examined gender as a moderator of the relationship between workaholism and its outcomes. In Study 1 (N = 311), focused on a heterogeneous sample of workers, we found that workaholism was positively related to the experience of observer-reported, as well as self-reported, job-related negative affect and that this relationship was stronger among female workers. Furthermore, in a subsample of participants (n = 189) for whom we had available blood pressure data, we found that workaholism was positively related to systolic blood pressure. In Study 2 (N = 235), based on a sample of health-sector employees in which we adopted a full, two-wave panel design including workaholism, job demands, and mental distress, we found that the baseline levels of job demands impacted the follow-up levels of workaholism, while the reverse was not the case. We also found that the baseline levels of workaholism positively affected the levels of mental distress reported after 1 year. These results add to the existing literature on the job-related affective correlates and psychophysical costs of workaholism and shed further light on work environmental factors that may contribute to its genesis.
Sarcosine treatment for oppositional defiant disorder symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children
Authors: Tzang Ruu-Fen , Chang Yue-Cune , Tsai Guochuan E , Lane Hsien-Yuan
Published: July 2016

Methylphenidate, a stimulant that activates dopaminergic and noradrenergic function, is an important agent in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Sarcosine, a glycine transporter-1 inhibitor, may also play a role in treating ADHD by modulating the glutamatergic neurotransmission system through activating N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptors. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of sarcosine in treating children with ADHD. We conducted a six-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. The primary outcome measures were those on the Inattention, Hyperactivity/impulsivity, and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) subscales of the Swanson, Nolan, and Pelham, version IV scale. Efficacy and safety were measured bi-weekly. A total of 116 children with ADHD were enrolled. Among them, 48 (83%) of the 58 sarcosine recipients and 44 (76%) of the 58 placebo recipients returned for the first post-treatment visit. The missing data values were imputed by the last observation carry forward method. From a multiple linear regression analysis, using the generalized estimating equation approach, and an intention to treat analysis, the efficacy of sarcosine marginally surpassed that of placebo at weeks 2, 4, and 6, with p-values=0.01, 0.026, and 0.012, respectively, although only for ODD symptoms. Treatment of ADHD by sarcosine (0.03 g/kg/day) was well tolerated. Sarcosine could possibly be a novel agent for managing ODD symptoms in the context of ADHD. However, future larger-scale studies are warranted to optimize its dosage.
Prevalence and awareness of sacroiliac joint alterations on lumbar spine CT in low back pain patients younger than 40 years
Authors: Klang Eyal , Lidar Merav , Lidar Zvi , Aharoni Dvora , Eshed Iris
Published: July 2016

Background

Computed tomography (CT) examinations of the lumbar spine are commonly performed in patients aged ≤40 years due to low back pain (LBP).

Purpose

To investigate the prevalence and awareness of radiologists for the presence of structural post-inflammatory/other sacroiliac joint (SIJ) alterations on lumbar spine CTs of young patients with LBP.

Material and Methods

A total of 484 lumbar spine CT examinations (272 men, 212 women; average age, 31 years; age range, 18–40 years) of patients with LBP in which the entire SIJs were visualized were retrospectively reviewed. SIJs were scored (consensus) by two senior radiologists (study reading) for the presence of post-inflammatory structural SIJ findings or other SIJs alterations. The original reports were compared to the study reading. Fifty CT examinations were re-evaluated for reliability assessment (intra-class correlation coefficient [ICC]).

Results

A total of 150 (31%) abnormal SIJ examinations were registered (ICC: r = 0.7–0.8; P < 0.0001): suspected sacroiliitis = 50 (10.2%); definite sacroiliitis = 16 (3.3%); osteitis-condensans-ilii = 38 (7.8%); diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis = 24 (5%); degenerative changes = 22 (4.5%); accessory SIJ = 22 (4.5%); and tumor = 1. The SIJs were referenced 39 times (8.0%) in the original readings: pathological findings (n = 15); and normal SIJ (n = 24). Total diagnostic accuracy for these reports only and for the entire readings were 49% and 69%, respectively, and 13% and 1.3%, respectively, for the pathological findings.

Conclusion

Sacroiliitis and other SIJ alterations are prevalent in young individuals with LBP, albeit, the majority of these alterations are not recognized nor reported by senior radiologists thus may delay efficacious treatment.
Contested space: The contradictory political dynamics of food banking in the UK
Authors: Williams Andrew , Cloke Paul , May Jon , Goodwin Mark
Published: July 2016

This paper offers a critical reappraisal of the politics of food banking in the UK. Existing work has raised concerns about the institutionalisation of food banks, with charitable assistance apparently – even if inadvertently – undermining collectivist welfare and deflecting attention from fundamental injustices in the food system. This paper presents original ethnographic work that examines the neglected politics articulated within food banks themselves. Conceptualising food banks as potential spaces of encounter where predominantly middle-class volunteers come into contact with ‘poor others’ (Lawson and Elwood, 2013), we illustrate the ways food banks may both reinforce but also rework and generate new, ethical and political attitudes, beliefs and identities. We also draw attention to the limits of these progressive possibilities and examine the ways in which some food banks continue to operate within a set of highly restrictive, and stigmatising, welfare technologies. By highlighting the contradictory dynamics at work in food bank organisations, and among food bank volunteers and clients, we suggest the political role of food banks warrants neither uncritical celebration nor outright dismissal. Rather, food banks represent a highly ambiguous political space still in the making and open to contestation.
Cartography I
Authors: Dodge Martin
Published: July 2016

This report examines current developments in geohumanities and work on so-called ‘deep maps’, as well as considering work building on artistic practice and literary mapping traditions. I discuss developments in the history of cartography and consider the value of old maps in relation to the interests of human geographers and wider notions of popular geography. More engagement with these areas of mapping practice could help bridge the long-standing disconnect between much of contemporary human geography and more mainstream cartographic research.
Tradeoff or Winner Take All? Relationships between Job Security and Earnings in 32 Countries
Authors: Yu Wei-hsin
Published: July 2016

Whereas some researchers suggest that workers face a tradeoff between job security and earnings, others imply that low earnings and high unemployment risks tend to accompany each other. Despite the contradictory views, direct evidence on whether, holding skill levels constant, insecure jobs pay more—or less—is lacking. Equally lacking is an understanding of how the national context may condition the way in which job security is associated with earnings. Using cross-national data from the International Social Survey Programme, this study examines the association between self-reported job security and earnings. Results indicate that jobs perceived to be more secure unequivocally pay more. The positive association between job security and earnings remains even after controlling an extensive set of job and individual characteristics, including detailed occupational categories, possession of irreplaceable skills, and risk-related personality traits. Furthermore, this positive association is universal; it is found within different employment sectors and occupations, as well as for both men and women. Although workers who perceive themselves as having lower risks of job loss generally earn more, they earn especially more in countries with higher unemployment rates and greater income inequality. Within Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries, however, the earnings gap between those with secure and insecure jobs is smaller when the unemployment benefits replace a greater amount of the earnings prior to the job loss.
Living with Water in the Era of Climate Change: Lessons from the Lafitte Greenway in Post-Katrina New Orleans
Authors: Fields Billy , Thomas Jeffrey , Wagner Jacob A.
Published: July 2016

The research examines the shift from flood-resistant policies and plans to flood resilience. We use a case study of New Orleans since Hurricane Katrina to illustrate this unfolding process and the emergence of a “living with water” approach to green infrastructure. The article highlights the challenges of this shifting policy landscape through the case of the Lafitte Greenway, a green infrastructure project that transformed a three-mile corridor of underutilized public land into a linear park running through flood-prone neighborhoods. Through the experience of creating this greenway, planners in New Orleans learned valuable lessons about US disaster rebuilding policies and how to implement green infrastructure in urban neighborhoods.
Unique Characteristics of the Photoparoxysmal Response in Patients With Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis Type 2
Authors: Albert Dara V. , Yin Han , De Los Reyes Emily C. , Vidaurre Jorge
Published: July 2016

Objective:

The objective was to identify unique features of the photoparoxysmal response seen in patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 as compared to patients with a photoparoxysmal response associated with other epilepsy syndromes.

Methods:

Electroencephalograms from patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 seen at the authors’ institution in the past 10 years as well as electroencephalograms (EEGs) reported to have a photoparoxysmal response during a single year were reviewed.

Results:

A photoparoxysmal response was seen in 60% of the patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2. This was most commonly seen with low frequency intermittent photic stimulation (76%) which often occurred in a time-locked fashion (63%) and was seen on the patient’s initial EEG (78%). A unique pattern the authors called “sentinel” discharge was identified in 30% of EEGs in patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis.

Conclusions:

Photoparoxysmal responses in patients with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis type 2 have features which are distinguishing from photoparoxysmal responses seen in other epilepsies.
Evaluation of a Pharmacist and Nurse Practitioner Smoking Cessation Program
Authors: Afzal Zubair , Pogge Elizabeth , Boomershine Virginia
Published: July 2016

Purpose:

To evaluate the efficacy of a smoking cessation program led by a pharmacist and a nurse practitioner.

Methods:

During a 6-month period, patients attended 7 one-on-one face-to-face smoking cessation counseling sessions with a pharmacist and 1 to 2 one-on-one face-to-face smoking cessation counseling sessions with a nurse practitioner. The primary outcome was smoking cessation point prevalence rates at months 1, 3, and 5 post-quit date. Secondary outcomes included medication adherence rates at months 1, 3, and 5 post-quit date, nicotine dependence at baseline versus program end, and patient satisfaction.

Results:

Nine (47%) of 19 total participants completed the program. Seven of the 9 patients who completed the program were smoke-free upon study completion. Point prevalence rates at months 1, 3, and 5 post-quit date were 66%, 77%, and 77%, respectively, based on patients who completed the program. Medication adherence rates were 88.6%, 54.6%, and 75% at months 1, 3, and 5 post-quit date, respectively. Based on the Fagerstrom test, nicotine dependence decreased from baseline to the end of the study, 4.89 to 0.33 ( P < .001). Overall, participants rated the program highly.

Conclusion:

A joint pharmacist and nurse practitioner smoking cessation program can assist patients in becoming smoke-free.
Healthy Aging in the Context of Educational Disadvantage: The Role of “Ordinary Magic”
Authors: McLaughlin Sara J.
Published: July 2016

Objective: The objective of this study is to examine the correlates of healthy aging in the context of educational disadvantage and the extent to which identified correlates are shared with the wider, more educationally advantaged population. Method: Data are from the 2012 Health and Retirement Study. The analytic sample included 17,484 self-respondents ≥50 years of age. Educational disadvantage was defined as having less than a high school diploma. Using logistic regression, healthy aging was regressed on demographic, early-life, and health-related factors by educational status. Results: Among educationally disadvantaged adults, demographic characteristics (e.g., age), health practices (e.g., physical activity), and the presence of health conditions were independently correlated with healthy aging. With few exceptions, correlates of healthy aging were similar among educationally advantaged and disadvantaged adults. Discussion: Ordinary factors are associated with healthy aging among adults without a high school diploma, suggesting that healthy aging is possible for larger numbers of adults aging in the context of educational disadvantage.
Downsizing an automotive junction box based on large current-carrying printed-circuit board optimization
Authors: Lim Hansang , Jung Do-Hwan , Kwon Geono , Lee Young Jong , Park Jun Seo
Published: July 2016

An automotive junction box distributes electric power to electric systems installed in a vehicle with overcurrent protection. As a larger number of electric systems are installed, the junction box is equipped with more components, functionalities and connections. However, owing to the fuse accessibility, its installation space is so restricted that a downsized design is required for the junction box. The junction box is composed of small signal circuitry for control and monitoring, and large current-carrying circuitry for power distribution which includes many parallel traces. Because of these unique features, widely used techniques for downsizing printed-circuit boards are not applicable. Also, there is no rule for designing large current-carrying parallel traces, and it is difficult to optimize the size of the printed-circuit board for the automotive junction box. This paper presents the design rules for a printed-circuit board when downsizing a junction box. First, the layout strategy for the power distribution components is presented, which is determined by the sum of the squares of the currents flowing through connector pairs. Then, the thermal effects of parallel traces are simulated for different conditions by using thermal analysis software. Based on the results, an analytical estimation of the additional temperature rises due to parallel traces and rules for a thermally effective arrangement of the parallel traces are presented.
Design and servo control of a leak tightness machine working based on hydrostatic pressure aging method
Authors: Yalçın Barış Can , Torun Zakir , Balcilar Muhammet , Koyun Ahmet
Published: July 2016

The leakage problem, which occurs due to the high hydrostatic pressure values of the fluid inside the pipes, is a serious issue in most of the pipeline systems. Therefore, the leak tightness test is required in different standards for verification of almost every kind of pipes used in both academic researches and industrial applications. The behavior of the hydrostatic pressure parameter in the test pipe has to be as smooth as possible during the leak tightness test. The conventional control loops of the servo mechanisms used for pumping the test fluid into the test pipe are weak to provide the minimum overshoot, the rise time and the steady-state error. In this situation, hydrostatic pressure tests are not capable of giving meaningful results. In this study, a leak tightness test machine working with a servo control loop to provide the optimum hydrostatic pressure pattern is designed. The efficacy of the designed leak tightness test machine and proposed optimized servo control loop have been shown with both simulation and experimental results.
Copper content in anthropogenic sediments as a tracer for detecting smelting activities and its impact on environment during prehistoric period in Hexi Corridor, Northwest China
Authors: Yang Yishi , Dong Guanghui , Zhang Shanjia , Cui Yifu , Li Haiming , Chen Guoke , Dodson John , Chen Fahu
Published: July 2016

The Hexi Corridor of northwestern China was a principal axis of cultural interchange between eastern and western Eurasia during the prehistoric and historic epochs. Neolithic groups began dense settlements in Hexi Corridor after 4300 BP with millet crops and polychrome pottery from north China and bronze from Central Asia around 4000 BP accompanied by wheat, barley, and sheep. The impact of these activities on the environment during the late Neolithic and Bronze Age is not clearly understood. Therefore, we analyzed the Cu concentrations of samples collected within cultural layers of anthropogenic sediments from 17 Late Neolithic and Bronze Age sites located within the Hexi Corridor. The Cu content is reported in view of the archaeological and paleoclimatic research undertaken in the area. Our results enabled us to explore the variety of human impact on the environment before and after the introduction of bronze technology into Hexi Corridor. During 4300–4000 BP, Cu concentrations of the anthropogenic sediments were constrained within natural background values. However, from 4000 to 3400 BP, they increased substantially and far exceeded the natural background. The Cu concentrations then declined and remained above the natural background from 3000 to 2400 BP. Our work suggests that the introduction of copper melting technology led to human alteration of sediments’ chemical properties in their surrounding environments in Hexi Corridor since 4000 BP; its intensity was closely related to human settlement density, which was further affected by climate change and livelihood transition in the area during Bronze period.
Recent sedimentary record of storms and floods within the estuarine-inner shelf region of the East China Sea
Authors: Zhao Yifei , Zou Xinqing , Gao Jianhua , Wang Chenglong
Published: July 2016

Although extreme weather events make a strong impact in shallow marine sedimentary environments, there is still a paucity of past records for the Holocene period. Estuarine-inner shelf mud regions deposited from rivers that transport a large amount of suspended sediment represent an important archive of the Holocene. Two cores (S5-2 and JC07) retrieved from the estuarine-inner shelf regions of the East China Sea provided an opportunity to use sensitive grain size and 210Pb dating to reconstruct a history of extreme weather events in the Yangtze River basin. Here, we show that the average sedimentation rates of the two cores, S5-2 (1930–2013) and JC07 (1910–2013), were estimated to be 3.11 and 1.56 cm/yr, respectively. The results indicated that sediment supply played an important role in sedimentation of the estuarine-inner shelf mud region of the East China Sea. Sand content strongly increased in the late 1980s, a result of downstream riverbed erosion of the Yangtze River and submerged deltas. The grain size versus the standard deviation method was used to identify grain-size intervals with the highest variability along a sedimentary sequence. The Yangtze estuary mud area coarse population correlated well with historical literature on Yangtze River floods since AD 1930. Extreme storm events corresponded well with historical literature on the Zhe-Min mud region of the East China Sea. The spectral analyses of the sample core coastal population demonstrated that flood and storm events were consistent with a ~3–8 a periodic change of El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), suggesting that the flood events usually follow ENSO years in the Yangtze River. Consequently, sediment records preserved in the two cores demonstrated different sedimentary responses to Yangtze River floods and storms, which is important to recover centennial scale flood events, to infer extreme precipitation, and to understand climate change in the estuarine-inner shelf of the East China Sea. Nevertheless, more efforts are still needed to simulate paleo-flood and predict future flood events in the context of global warming.
Landscaping Teaching and Training of Urban Health as a Part of Health Professional Education in India
Authors: Zodpey Sanjay , Tiwari Ritika
Published: July 2016

Introduction

India’s urban population will be doubled from 377 million in 2011 to 915 million in 2050. Such rapid urban growth may lead to several problems by affecting the economy, environment and the society at large. These problems further affect the health vulnerability in urban areas. Thus, there exists a need for health workforce equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the urban health challenges.

Objectives

To undertake the landscaping of teaching and training of urban health as a part of health professional courses and to undertake mapping of specific training programmes related to urban health in India.

Methodology

A curriculum scan of various health professional courses in India ranging from medicine, dentistry, allied health, Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), nursing to public health was undertaken related to teaching and training of urban health. An exclusive search was also carried out for identifying urban health-specific training programmes being offered in India.

Results

As per the curriculum scan, current health professional courses being offered in India have a very little focus on urban health. It was observed that various cross-cutting issues related to urban health are not adequately addressed in the current curricula. Also the curricula of these health professional courses have not clearly spelt out the desired urban health competencies. Few institutions in India offer short-term training programmes specific to urban health issues.

Conclusion

Considering the growing urban health population, it is critical that the curricula of health professional courses comprehensively incorporate adequate content regarding urban health and related issues. Curricula should be designed on the basis of clearly spelt out urban health competencies. There is a need to design specific short-term training programmes covering various aspects of urban health. Some of the institutions offering public health programmes, especially Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme, should dwell on developing urban health track as a specialization of MPH programmes.
A Multimodal Mindfulness Training to Address Mental Health Symptoms in Providers Who Care for and Interact With Children in Relation to End-of-Life Care
Authors: O’Mahony Sean , Gerhart James , Abrams Ira , Greene Michelle , McFadden Rory , Tamizuddin Sara , Levy Mitchell M.
Published: July 2016

Aim:

Medical providers may face unique emotional challenges when confronted with the suffering of chronically ill, dying, and bereaved children. This study assessed the preliminary outcomes of participation in a group-based multimodal mindfulness training pilot designed to reduce symptoms of burnout and mental health symptoms in providers who interact with children in the context of end-of-life care.

Methods:

A total of 13 medical providers who care for children facing life-threatening illness or bereaved children participated in a 9-session multimodal mindfulness session. Mental health symptoms and burnout were assessed prior to the program, at the program midpoint, and at the conclusion of the program.

Results:

Participation in the pilot was associated with significant reductions in depressive and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms among providers ( P < .05).

Conclusion:

Mindfulness-based programs may help providers recognize and address symptoms of depression and PTSD. Additional research is needed to enhance access and uptake of programming among larger groups of participants.
Real-time teleophthalmology versus face-to-face consultation: A systematic review
Authors: Tan Irene J , Dobson Lucy P , Bartnik Stephen , Muir Josephine , Turner Angus W
Published: July 2016

Introduction

Advances in imaging capabilities and the evolution of real-time teleophthalmology have the potential to provide increased coverage to areas with limited ophthalmology services. However, there is limited research assessing the diagnostic accuracy of face-to-face teleophthalmology consultation. This systematic review aims to determine if real-time teleophthalmology provides comparable accuracy to face-to-face consultation for the diagnosis of common eye health conditions.

Methods

A search of PubMed, Embase, Medline and Cochrane databases and manual citation review was conducted on 6 February and 7 April 2016. Included studies involved real-time telemedicine in the field of ophthalmology or optometry, and assessed diagnostic accuracy against gold-standard face-to-face consultation. The revised quality assessment of diagnostic accuracy studies (QUADAS-2) tool assessed risk of bias.

Results

Twelve studies were included, with participants ranging from four to 89 years old. A broad number of conditions were assessed and include corneal and retinal pathologies, strabismus, oculoplastics and post-operative review. Quality assessment identified a high or unclear risk of bias in patient selection (75%) due to an undisclosed recruitment processes. The index test showed high risk of bias in the included studies, due to the varied interpretation and conduct of real-time teleophthalmology methods. Reference standard risk was overall low (75%), as was the risk due to flow and timing (75%).

Conclusion

In terms of diagnostic accuracy, real-time teleophthalmology was considered superior to face-to-face consultation in one study and comparable in six studies. Store-and-forward image transmission coupled with real-time videoconferencing is a suitable alternative to overcome poor internet transmission speeds.
Issue evolution and partisan polarization in a European multiparty system: Elite and mass repositioning in Denmark 1968–2011
Authors: Arndt Christoph
Published: July 2016

Issue evolution is a well-established theoretical perspective in the analysis of long-term party competition and partisanship in the US. However, this perspective has rarely been used to analyze political elite effects on partisan polarization in European multiparty systems. Consequently, I apply the issue evolution perspective to polarization in a European multiparty system. I find an emergence of cultural issues in Denmark, where mass level polarization on cultural issues followed elite level polarization. Unlike two-party systems, niche parties drive issue evolution on the elite level, which is then followed by niche partisan polarization and, finally, mainstream party adaption. The findings illustrate the mechanisms of issue evolution in a European-style multiparty system and the role of niche parties.
Development and Validation of a Small Animal Immobilizer and Positioning System for the Study of Delivery of Intracranial and Extracranial Radiotherapy Using the Gamma Knife System
Authors: Awan Musaddiq J. , Dorth Jennifer , Mani Arvind , Kim Haksoo , Zheng Yiran , Mislmani Mazen , Welford Scott , Yuan Jiankui , Wessels Barry W. , Lo Simon S. , Letterio John , Machtay Mitchell , Sloan Andrew , Sohn Jason W.
Published: July 2016

The purpose of this research is to establish a process of irradiating mice using the Gamma Knife as a versatile system for small animal irradiation and to validate accurate intracranial and extracranial dose delivery using this system. A stereotactic immobilization device was developed for small animals for the Gamma Knife head frame allowing for isocentric dose delivery. Intercranial positional reproducibility of a reference point from a primary reference animal was verified on an additional mouse. Extracranial positional reproducibility of the mouse aorta was verified using 3 mice. Accurate dose delivery was validated using film and thermoluminescent dosimeter measurements with a solid water phantom. Gamma Knife plans were developed to irradiate intracranial and extracranial targets. Mice were irradiated validating successful targeted radiation dose delivery. Intramouse positional variability of the right mandible reference point across 10 micro-computed tomography scans was 0.65 ± 0.48 mm. Intermouse positional reproducibility across 2 mice at the same reference point was 0.76 ± 0.46 mm. The accuracy of dose delivery was 0.67 ± 0.29 mm and 1.01 ± 0.43 mm in the coronal and sagittal planes, respectively. The planned dose delivered to a mouse phantom was 2 Gy at the 50% isodose with a measured thermoluminescent dosimeter dose of 2.9 ± 0.3 Gy. The phosphorylated form of member X of histone family H2A (γH2AX) staining of irradiated mouse brain and mouse aorta demonstrated adjacent tissue sparing. In conclusion, our system for preclinical studies of small animal irradiation using the Gamma Knife is able to accurately deliver intracranial and extracranial targeted focal radiation allowing for preclinical experiments studying focal radiation.
A Case of Recurrent Hepatocellular Carcinoma Acquiring Complete Remission of Target Lesion With Treatment With Traditional Chinese Medicine
Authors: Jianxin Chen , Qingxia Xu , Junhui Wang , Qinhong Zheng
Published: July 2016

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is one of the most prevalent malignancies worldwide. Although surgery is known as the most promising radical treatment, a high recurrent or metastatic rate after surgery has limited its clinical efficacy. Sorafenib, a target agent, has seemed to be the only option for metastatic HCC patients to date, but none of clinical trials showed it could prolong the overall survival (OS) of advanced HCC to 1 year. How to prolong the OS and improve cure rate of HCC patients is still beset with difficulties. This report presents a rare case of recurrent HCC patient with complete regression of target lesion with 2 years of Chinese herbal treatment. A 64-year-old Chinese man with hepatitis B virus–associated chronic hepatitis presented HCC has been clinically diagnosed tumor relapse and omentum metastasis with computed tomography and α-fetoprotein blood test 4 months after surgery. It was decided the patient would receive traditional Chinese medicine treatment because of poor prognosis. After approximately 2 years of treatment, recurrent hepatic tumor and omentum metastasis have been found in complete regression. The patient remains alive over 31 months after relapse.
Creation and Application of a Replicable Analytic Method to Determine Attitudes and Beliefs of Undergraduate Science Professors Toward the Discipline of Education
Authors: Fogelberg Katherine
Published: July 2016

Detailed here is the creation and application of a replicable method bricolage that brings together Discourse Analysis, discourse analysis, and the theory of reasoned action to examine attitudes and beliefs of university science professors toward the discipline of education. This method used a two-phase method for analysis. The first phase looked for phrases that could be defined as either an attitude or a belief based on definitions taken from the social psychology and communication studies literature. The second phase interpreted the overall data to explore the influences on the formation of the attitudes and beliefs as well as to support or refute the findings from Phase 1. The need for a replicable Discourse Analysis method is apparent in the education literature, as is a solid definition of what constitutes an attitude or a belief. The method outlined here provides good definitions for attitudes and beliefs, a method for extracting both constructs from the data, and incorporates an internal crystallization process for looking at and comparing emergent themes from both phases of analysis.
Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations: Managing transitions of care following Stroke, Guidelines Update 2016
Authors: Cameron Jill I , O’Connell Colleen , Foley Norine , Salter Katherine , Booth Rhonda , Boyle Rosemary , Cheung Donna , Cooper Nancy , Corriveau Helene , Dowlatshahi Dar , Dulude Annie , Flaherty Patti , Glasser Ev , Gubitz Gord , Hebert Debbie , Holzmann Jacquie , Hurteau Patrick , Lamy Elise , LeClaire Suzanne , McMillan Taylor , Murray Judy , Scarfone David , Smith Eric E , Shum Vivian , Taylor Kim , Taylor Trudy , Yanchula Catherine , Teasell Robert , Lindsay Patrice ,   on behalf of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Canadian Stroke Best Practice Committees
Published: July 2016

Every year, approximately 62,000 people with stroke and transient ischemic attack are treated in Canadian hospitals. For patients, families and caregivers, this can be a difficult time of adjustment. The 2016 update of the Canadian Managing Transitions of Care following Stroke guideline is a comprehensive summary of current evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations appropriate for use by clinicians who provide care to patients following stroke across a broad range of settings. The focus of these recommendations is on support, education and skills training for patients, families and caregivers; effective discharge planning; interprofessional communication; adaptation in resuming activities of daily living; and transition to long-term care for patients who are unable to return to or remain at home. Unlike other modules contained in the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations (such as acute inpatient care), many of these recommendations are based on consensus opinion, or evidence level C, highlighting the absence of conventional evidence (i.e. randomized controlled trials) in this area of stroke care. The quality of care transitions between stages and settings may have a direct impact on patient and family outcomes such as coping, readmissions and functional recovery. While many qualitative and non-controlled studies were reviewed, this gap in evidence combined with the fact that mortality from stoke is decreasing and more people are living with the effects of stroke, underscores the need to channel a portion of available research funds to recovery and adaptation following the acute phase of stroke.
Supporting Leadership Development
Authors: Huggins Kristin Shawn , Klar Hans W. , Hammonds Hattie L. , Buskey Frederick C.
Published: July 2016

In this article, we report findings from an exploratory, qualitative study in which we used a constructivist lens to examine how two high school principals endeavored to develop the personal capacities of teachers and other leaders in their schools. We collected data from semistructured interviews with the principals and three other leaders from each of their respective schools. Through our findings, we illustrate the varying degree to which each principal viewed the leaders’ existing capacities, structured their leadership learning opportunities, guided their reflections, and assessed their learning in the context of leadership practice. An important finding was that the way the principals viewed leadership development and saw other leaders as learners themselves appeared to influence the way they developed other leaders’ personal capacities.
Social Class and Prosocial Behavior
Authors: Kraus Michael W. , Callaghan Bennett
Published: July 2016

Associations between social class and prosocial behavior—defined broadly as action intended to help others—may vary as a function of contextual factors. Three studies examined how making prosocial actions public, versus private, moderates this association. In Study 1, participation in a public prosocial campaign was higher among upper than lower class individuals. In Studies 2 and 3, lower class individuals were more prosocial in a dictator game scenario in private than in public, whereas upper class individuals showed the reverse pattern. Follow-up analyses revealed the importance of reputational concerns for shaping class differences in prosociality: Specifically, higher class individuals reported that pride motivated their prosocial behavior more than lower class individuals, and this association partially accounted for class-based differences in prosociality in public versus private contexts. Together, these results suggest that unique strategies for connecting and relating to others develop based on one’s position in the class hierarchy.
Who Does (Not) Participate in Intergroup Conflict?
Authors: Thielmann Isabel , Böhm Robert
Published: July 2016

Prior research on the participation in intergroup conflict suggests that prosocial individuals are parochial cooperators who escalate intergroup conflict. However, evidence on this conjecture is currently inconclusive. We provide a critical empirical test of the link between individuals’ prosocial tendencies (operationalized via Social Value Orientation [SVO] and trait Honesty-Humility) and cooperative behavior in different intergroup conflict games (i.e., variants of the Intergroup Prisoner’s Dilemma). Contradicting the view that prosocial individuals fuel intergroup conflict, both trait dimensions were positively associated with cooperative behavior toward others in general, irrespective of others’ group membership. That is, individuals with a prosocial SVO or high levels of Honesty-Humility, respectively, refrained from harming out-group members and, if possible, even benefited them. Overall, the results imply that the cooperativeness of prosocial individuals is universal in nature, thus exceeding the in-group boundary. Prosocial individuals are hence willing to foster intergroup cooperation rather than fueling intergroup conflict.
DNA repair of myeloma plasma cells correlates with clinical outcome: the effect of the nonhomologous end-joining inhibitor SCR7
Authors: Gkotzamanidou Maria , Terpos Evangelos , Bamia Christina , Munshi Nikhil C. , Dimopoulos Meletios A. , Souliotis Vassilis L.
Published: July 2016

Key Points

Responders to melphalan therapy are characterized by slower rates of NER and DSB/R mechanisms and higher apoptotic rates. The DSB/R inhibitor SCR7 enhances cytotoxicity of melphalan against myeloma plasma cells.
Road collisions avoidance using vehicular cyber-physical systems: a taxonomy and review
Authors: Riaz Faisal , Niazi Muaz A.
Published: July 2016

Road traffic is known to have its own complex dynamics. One implication of complexity is that road traffic collisions have become an unwelcome but unavoidable part of human life. One of the major causes of collisions is the human factor. While car manufacturers have been focusing on developing feasible solutions for autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles to replace or assist human drivers, the proposed solutions have been designed only for individual vehicles. The road traffic, however, is an interaction-oriented system including complex flows. Such a system requires a complex systems approach to solving this problem as it involves considering not only pedestrians, road environment, but also road traffic which can include multiple vehicles. Recent research has demonstrated that large-scale autonomous vehicular traffic can be better modeled using a collective approach as proposed in the form of vehicular cyber-physical systems (VCPS) such as given by Li et al. (IEEE Trans Parallel Distrib Syst 23(9):1775–1789, 2012) or Work et al. (Automotive cyber physical systems in the context of human mobility. In: National workshop on high-confidence automotive cyber-physical systems, Troy, MI, 2008).  To the best of our knowledge, there is currently no comprehensive review of collision avoidance in the VCPS. In this paper, we present a comprehensive literature review of VCPS from the collision-avoidance perspective. The review includes a careful selection of articles from highly cited sources presented in the form of taxonomy. We also highlight open research problems in this domain.
Apical termination of root canal procedures—ambiguity or disambiguation?
Authors: Gutmann James L.
Published: July 2016

The issues of working length determination, its apical extent, and the position of the final root canal filling have been controversial, as differing points of view have existed between the biologically based and clinically based endodontic gurus regarding this concept for decades. Coupled with the following issues, it has become somewhat of an empirical bastion for clinicians, especially those in the limelight or who use social media to augment their clinical prowess: (1) the variable anatomy of the root apex; (2) where to terminate canal enlarging and shaping apically; (3) status of the accessory communications apically; (4) size of the apical preparation; (5) ability to debride the apical extent of the root canal and remove both bacteria and biofilm; (6) response of the periapical tissues, when both vital and necrotic, to the intracanal filling materials and techniques that may impinge on these tissues; and (7) long-term outcomes and assessments of the procedures rendered. For purposes of succinctness, the concept of working length, the apical position of instrument termination, and the position of the final filling will be addressed simultaneously in this paper.