bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Ancestry of ‘Equitable Treatment’ in Trade
Authors: Pinchis Mona
Published: April 2014

How the League of Nations applied the concept of ‘equitable treatment’ in fostering international economic co-operation throughout the inter-war period had practical consequences for both modern multilateral trade law and international investment law. The ‘equitable treatment’ clause constructed by a sub-Commission of the League’s Economic Committee in 1933 was later encapsulated in the non-violation nullification and impairment procedural remedy in multilateral trade law. Moreover, a number of scholars have noted that the ‘fair and equitable treatment’ (FET) clause found in the majority of international investment treaties may be connected to Article 23(e) of the Covenant of the League of Nations, emphasizing ‘equitable treatment for the commerce of other Members of the League’. In light of these connections, a historical contribution that examines the League’s understanding of ‘equitable treatment’ should resonate with scholars and policy-makers.

This article analyses the meaning and scope of the concept of ‘equitable treatment’ as it was elaborated by the League during the inter-war period. It finds that the flexible concept of ‘equitable treatment’ was a necessary ingredient in an inter-war multilateral framework that could adapt to rapidly changing economic circumstances. In addition to a brief historical background, the first part of this article explores how the concept of ‘equitable treatment’ was underlying the League’s efforts to build an ‘international community’ to promote economic co-operation, broaden policy-making perspectives, and to achieve economic stability and growth, all without imposing rigid rules upon its Members. The second part of this article examines how a sub-Commission established during the 1933 World Financial and Economic Conference directly applied the concept of ‘equitable treatment’ as a flexible tool to protect the reciprocally guaranteed benefits arising from international commercial treaties, which reinforced its ambitions for a multilateral framework for international economic ‘equilibrium.’ The third part of this article studies how the drafting of the ‘equitable treatment’ clause by the sub-Commission helped to clarify its purpose and function as a flexible remedy at the time. The final part summarizes key lessons and identifies future work.
I Feel What You Feel if I Like You: The Effect of Attractiveness on Visual Remapping of Touch
Authors: Noel Jean-Paul , Giovagnoli Giulia , Costa Marco , Serino Andrea
Published: April 2014

Observing touch being applied to another human’s face enhances tactile perception for touch being applied to one’s own face. This effect, termed the Visual Remapping of Touch (VRT), is maximal the greater the physical or conceptual similarity between observer and observed. An interesting possibility, however, is that even though the basic nature of the VRT is multisensory, a high cognitive level affinity from the observer toward the observed could modulate the VRT even in the face of decreased physical similarity. In the present study we manipulate the level of attractiveness of the avatars that participants observed being touched. By doing so, we either increased (attractive) or decreased (unattractive) the interpersonal judgment value toward the avatar, while always decreasing the physical semblance between the avatar shown and the original image. Results revealed that both for an avatar depicting oneself or a stranger, the VRT is present when touch is applied to an attractive, but not to an unattractive avatar. These findings suggest that basic multisensory effects, such as visuo-tactile interaction, are modulated by higher-level cognitive representations of the self and of others.
Revision of the acutidens group of Mago (Araneae: Salticidae: Amycinae)
Authors: PATELLO THYAGO J.C. , RUIZ GUSTAVO R.S.
Published: April 2014

Of all the amycines, the acutidens group of species of Mago is one of the most commonly collected groups throughout the Amazon. Redescriptions of M. acutidens Simon and M. longidens Simon by Galiano initially helped separating the two species, but then it became clear that we were dealing with a group of several similar species demanding revision. In order to make identification possible, we present here a revision of this newly proposed group of species, providing illustrations of the male palp and epigyne for all the recognized species. The female of M. longidens Simon is described for the first time. Besides the new records for both M. acutidens and M. longidens, we present M. jurutiensis sp. nov. and M. similis sp. nov. from Juruti, Pará, Brazil, M. delicatus sp. nov. from several localities in the Brazilian states of Amazonas and Pará, and M. balbina sp. nov. from Presidente Figueiredo, Amazonas. Maps with collecting records for all species of the group are presented.
The advertisement call of the Cape Melville Treefrog Litoria andiirrmalin (Anura: Hylidae)
Authors: HOSKIN CONRAD J.
Published: April 2014

The Cape Melville Treefrog, Litoria andiirrmalin McDonald 1997, is a hylid frog restricted to granite boulder fields and associated rainforest of the Melville Range on Cape Melville, north-eastern Australia. The species has remained poorly known because the Melville Range is rugged and remote, with limited accessibility during the summer wet season when frog activity is generally greatest. Litoria andiirrmalin is a large frog that inhabits boulder-pile habitat in the vicinity of streams. The original description had little information on breeding biology. The tadpole was not known at that time but has been described recently (Meyer et al. 2013). The call was not recorded but was described as “a rapid, gentle toc toc toc toc toc” (McDonald 1997).
Spatial Similarity and Transferability of Analog Dates for Precipitation Downscaling over France
Authors: Chardon Jeremy , Hingray Benoit , Favre Anne-Catherine , Autin Philemon , Gailhard Joël , Zin Isabella , Obled Charles
Published: April 2014

High-resolution weather scenarios generated for climate change impact studies from the output of climate models must be spatially consistent. Analog models (AMs) offer a high potential for the generation of such scenarios. For each prediction day, the scenario they provide is the weather observed for days in a historical archive that are analogous according to different predictors. When the same “analog date” is chosen for a prediction at several sites, spatial consistency is automatically satisfied. The optimal predictors and consequently the optimal analog dates, however, are expected to depend on the location for which the prediction is to be made.

In the present work, the predictor (1000- and 500-hPa geopotential heights) domain of a benchmark AM is optimized for the probabilistic daily prediction of 8981 local precipitation “stations” over France. The corresponding 8981 locally domain-optimized AMs are used to explore the spatial transferability and similarity of the optimal analog dates obtained for different locations. Whereas the similarity is very low even when the locations are close, the spatial transferability of the optimal analog dates for a given location is high. When they are used for the prediction at all other locations, the loss of prediction performance is therefore very low over large spatial domains (up to 500 km). Spatial transferability is lower in the presence of high mountains. It also depends on the parameters of the AM (e.g., its archive length, predictors, and number of analog dates used for the prediction). In the present case, AMs with higher prediction skill exhibit lower transferability.
Simulating the Role of Subtropical Stratocumulus Clouds in Driving Pacific Climate Variability
Authors: Bellomo Katinka , Clement Amy , Mauritsen Thorsten , Rädel Gaby , Stevens Bjorn
Published: April 2014

This study examines the influence of the northeast and southeast Pacific subtropical stratocumulus cloud regions on the modes of Pacific climate variability simulated by an atmospheric general circulation model (ECHAM6) coupled to a slab ocean. The sensitivity of cloud liquid water to underlying SST is changed in the radiation module of the atmospheric model to increase the strength of positive low-cloud feedback in the two regions. Enhanced low-cloud feedback increases the persistence and variance of the leading modes of climate variability at decadal and longer time scales. Additional integrations show that the southeast Pacific influences climate variability in the equatorial ENSO region, whereas the effects of the northeast Pacific remain confined to the North Pacific. The results herein suggest that a positive feedback among SST, cloud cover, and large-scale atmospheric circulation can explain decadal climate variability in the Pacific Ocean. In particular, cloud feedbacks over the subtropical stratocumulus regions set the time scale of climate variability. A proper representation of low-level cloud feedbacks in the subtropical stratocumulus regions could therefore improve the simulation of Pacific climate variability.
Decoupling of the Agulhas Leakage from the Agulhas Current
Authors: Loveday Benjamin R. , Durgadoo Jonathan V. , Reason Chris J. C. , Biastoch Arne , Penven Pierrick
Published: April 2014

The relationship between the Agulhas Current and the Agulhas leakage is not well understood. Here, this is investigated using two basin-scale and two global ocean models of incrementally increasing resolution. The response of the Agulhas Current is evaluated under a series of sensitivity experiments, in which idealized anomalies, designed to geometrically modulate zonal trade wind stress, are applied across the Indian Ocean Basin. The imposed wind stress changes exceed plus or minus two standard deviations from the annual-mean trade winds and, in the case of intensification, are partially representative of recently observed trends. The Agulhas leakage is quantified using complimentary techniques based on Lagrangian virtual floats and Eulerian passive tracer flux. As resolution increases, model behavior converges and the sensitivity of the leakage to Agulhas Current transport anomalies is reduced. In the two eddy-resolving configurations tested, the leakage is insensitive to changes in Agulhas Current transport at 32°S, though substantial eddy kinetic energy anomalies are evident. Consistent with observations, the position of the retroflection remains stable. The decoupling of Agulhas Current variability from the Agulhas leakage suggests that while correlations between the two may exist, they may not have a clear dynamical basis. It is suggested that present and future Agulhas leakage proxies should be considered in the context of potentially transient forcing regimes.
Distinguishing the Cold Conveyor Belt and Sting Jet Airstreams in an Intense Extratropical Cyclone
Authors: Martínez-Alvarado Oscar , Baker Laura H. , Gray Suzanne L. , Methven John , Plant Robert S.
Published: April 2014

Strong winds equatorward and rearward of a cyclone core have often been associated with two phenomena: the cold conveyor belt (CCB) jet and sting jets. Here, detailed observations of the mesoscale structure in this region of an intense cyclone are analyzed. The in situ and dropsonde observations were obtained during two research flights through the cyclone during the Diabatic Influences on Mesoscale Structures in Extratropical Storms (DIAMET) field campaign. A numerical weather prediction model is used to link the strong wind regions with three types of “airstreams” or coherent ensembles of trajectories: two types are identified with the CCB, hooking around the cyclone center, while the third is identified with a sting jet, descending from the cloud head to the west of the cyclone. Chemical tracer observations show for the first time that the CCB and sting jet airstreams are distinct air masses even when the associated low-level wind maxima are not spatially distinct. In the model, the CCB experiences slow latent heating through weak-resolved ascent and convection, while the sting jet experiences weak cooling associated with microphysics during its subsaturated descent. Diagnosis of mesoscale instabilities in the model shows that the CCB passes through largely stable regions, while the sting jet spends relatively long periods in locations characterized by conditional symmetric instability (CSI). The relation of CSI to the observed mesoscale structure of the bent-back front and its possible role in the cloud banding is discussed.
Regionalizing Rainfall at Very High Resolution over La Réunion Island Using a Regional Climate Model
Authors: Morel Béatrice , Pohl Benjamin , Richard Yves , Bois Benjamin , Bessafi Miloud
Published: April 2014

Regional climate models (RCMs) should be evaluated with respect to their ability to downscale large-scale climate information to the local scales, which are sometimes strongly modulated by surface conditions. This is the case for La Réunion (southwest Indian Ocean) because of its island context and its complex topography. Large-scale atmospheric configurations such as tropical cyclones (TCs) may have an amplifying effect on local rainfall patterns that only a very high-resolution RCM, forced by the large scales and resolving finescale processes, may simulate properly.

This paper documents the capability of the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF) RCM to regionalize rainfall variability at very high resolution (680 m) over La Réunion island for daily to seasonal time scales and year-to-year differences. Two contrasted wet seasons (November–April) are selected: 2000–01 (abnormally dry) and 2004–05 (abnormally wet). WRF rainfall is compared to a dense network of rain gauge records interpolated onto the WRF grid through the regression-kriging (RK) technique. RK avoids the point-to-grid comparison issue, but produces imperfect estimates due to sampling, so its quality also needs to be tested.

Seasonal rainfall amounts and contrasts produced by WRF are fairly realistic. At intraseasonal and daily time scales, differences to RK are more sizable. These differences are not easy to interpret in sectors where the rain gauge network is less dense and the quality of RK more uncertain, as over the eastern slopes of Piton de la Fournaise volcano where WRF seems to simulate more realistic rainfall than RK. Finally, the heavy rainfall associated with TC Ando on 6 January 2001, is documented. WRF shows weak disagreements with RK, indicating its capability to regionalize rainfall during extreme events.
Homophily in the Guise of Cross-Linking
Authors: Nahon Karine , Hemsley Jeff
Published: April 2014

This study examines the behavior of influential political blogs (conservative and liberal) in reference to external viral content during March 2007 and June 2009. We analyze homophily and cross-ideological (heterophily) practices. We propose a multidimensional model that employs both qualitative and quantitative methods for examining homophily behaviors by looking at three dimensions: blog-to-blog, blog-to-video, blog post-to-video. Findings show that while homophily patterns prevail, some limited occurrences of cross-ideological practices exist. The cross-linking practices may include deliberative motives, but in essence they are not created for the purposes of discourse. Instead, these cross-linking practices strengthen previously held political stances of the users who create them and negatively portray and reframe content of alternative views. This represents homophily in the guise of cross-linking.
Black Mexicans, Conjunctural Ethnicity, and Operating Identities
Authors: Smith Robert Courtney
Published: April 2014

This article draws on more than 15 years of research to analyze “Black Mexicans,” phenotypically “Mexican-looking” youth who identified as Black during adolescence, used this identity to become upwardly mobile, and then abandoned it in early adulthood. Black Mexicans are potentially iconic cases among emerging varieties of U.S. ethnic and racial life, given Mexicans’ status as a key, usually negative, case in assimilation theory. Most such theory posits that assimilation into Black, inner-city culture leads to downward mobility. To explain how and why this did not happen for Black Mexicans, I propose a sensitizing framework using the concepts of conjunctural ethnicity, emphasizing analysis of racial and ethnic identity in local, historical, and life course contexts; and operating identity, which analyzes identities in interactions and can accommodate slippage in informants’ understanding or use of ethnic and racial categories. Some Mexicans used a Black culture of mobility to become upwardly mobile in the late-1990s and early-2000s in New York, adopting a socially advantaged operating identity that helped them in ways they felt Mexicanness could not in that historical conjuncture, especially given intra-ethnic competition between teen migrants and second-generation youth. This article uses case-based ethnographic analysis and net-effects analysis to explain why and how Blackness aided upward mobility among Black and non-Black Mexicans, but was left behind in early adulthood.
Perceptions of employee voice and representation in the post-acquisition period: Comparative and longitudinal evidence from an international acquisition
Authors: Edwards Tony , Edwards Martin R
Published: April 2014

Despite the disappointing performance of international mergers and acquisitions and the widespread recognition that their success depends at least partly on how employees are managed during and after an acquisition, very few studies draw on employee accounts of how they are affected by ongoing restructuring and how much influence employees themselves have over this process. The omission is especially important because of the likely role that national institutions play in conditioning the way employees are affected by organizational change in the post-acquisition period. This article investigates employees’ perceptions of whether they experience voice and representation opportunities following an acquisition through analysis of a unique longitudinal and cross-national dataset that demonstrates national differences in this respect. Moreover, there are also national differences in how these perceptions change over time. We highlight the utility of drawing on employee accounts in longitudinal and comparative perspective, suggesting that this represents a fruitful way of breathing fresh life into the debate about convergence and divergence in HRM and employment relations.
‘Why would you want to do that?’: Defining emotional dirty work
Authors: McMurray Robert , Ward Jenna
Published: April 2014

This article considers how and why people work with difficult emotions. Extending Hughes’ typology of the physical, social and moral taints that constitute ‘dirty work’, the article explores the nature of a previously neglected and undefined concept, emotional dirt. Drawing on data from a situated ethnographic study of Samaritans, we consider how the handling of difficult and burdensome emotions, which are often written out of rational accounts of work, is outsourced to others who act as society’s agents in the containment of emotional dirt. We provide the first explicit definition of emotional dirt, and contribute an extension to the existing tripartite classification of occupational taint. Moreover, in naming emotional dirt we seek to open up a sphere of research dedicated to understanding its emergence, nature and relational effects. To this end, we demonstrate how taint emerges as a sociological consequence of the performance of emotional labour as emotional dirty work, while considering how management of the difficult, negative or out-of-place emotions of others can be framed as a positive experience such that it can be good to feel bad when handling emotional dirt.
Children and disability: Constructions, implications and change
Authors: Fawcett Barbara
Published: April 2014

In the arena of disability, disabled children and young people continue to be positioned in a variety of ways with some of these affording opportunities and others continuing to focus on deficit and constraint. Social workers occupy a pivotal position at the interface between policy and practice, and can effectively counter circular processes of disablement. In this article, a frame of reference is employed which, by incorporating key areas such as targeting and rights and social exclusion and social investment, enables the potential for further development in relation to the personalization agenda in both Australia and the United Kingdom, to be critically appraised.
The interaction of local and international child welfare agendas: A South African case
Authors: Schmid Jeanette , Patel Leila
Published: April 2014

This article assesses the interaction between international and local influences in South African child welfare practice and education between 2001 and 2010. Based on a mixed methods study, it finds that the primary mechanism for international exchange occurred through funding. Professional imperialism continued to be evidenced in the domination of Northern agendas in local curricula and the lack of critical interrogation of external practices. A disjuncture between research and practice priorities was found with some areas of intersection. The article provides insight into the local/global nexus in child welfare and recommends further investigation into more authentic and egalitarian international relationships of exchange.
“There Is Nothing Funny in This World About Rioting in Harlem”
Authors: Henderson Simon
Published: April 2014

Reactions to Bill Cosby’s comedy and his political views show the way in which many have failed to clearly distinguish between these two strands of his connection to the freedom struggle. This has been complicated by Cosby’s projection of some of his political ideals through his comedy while he chose to neglect others. The militant and radical words of Cosby in Playboy in 1969, his endorsement of civil rights causes, help for the under-privileged, and critique of systemic racism contrasted with the color-blind worldview projected by his comic creations. His more recent message of Black self-determination and community action that has links to conservative thought exists alongside repeats of The Cosby Show and the associated projection of a color-blind world symbolically led by Barack Obama. Such duality and visibility has so often made Cosby a reference point for the position of Blacks in America in the years since the civil rights movement.
From minimalist representation to excessive interpretation: Contextualizing 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Authors: Godeanu-Kenworthy Oana , Popescu-Sandu Oana
Published: April 2014

This article examines the Romanian and American reception of Cristian Mungiu’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007), arguing that the film’s representational minimalism indirectly caused an excess of interpretation across cultural contexts. This over-interpretation was possible because the film’s aesthetic minimalism encouraged viewers to decode the story through the lens of their own cultural and political predispositions. The historical and social background against which American viewers consumed this story of an illegal abortion during communism shaped its meaning (and perceptions about its political relevance), plugging an art-house Romanian film into the larger national debate over reproductive rights in the contemporary United States. Thus, in its transition from the domestic to the global marketplace, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was transformed from an act of amoral probing of Romanian individual and collective memory about communism, into a film about the controversial nature of particular individual choices within the liberal capitalist paradigm.
Schooling the gaze: Industry and nation-building in Luxembourgish landscape-writing, 1900–1940
Authors: Millim Anne-Marie
Published: April 2014

This paper investigates the role of industry in the invention of a national landscape in Luxembourg between 1900 and 1940. Luxembourg is a significant case study when it comes to the construction of national identity, because it did not gain its independence (1890) through revolution but was attributed the status of nationhood by the decision of the major European political powers. The period under investigation is also characterized by immense industrial expansion: in the course of a few decades, Luxembourg moved from being a rural state to being a major economic power. Focusing on landscape-writing addressed to a native audience, this paper examines the nexus of the economy, the arts and politics, arguing that writers integrated representations of industrial processes into the discourse of national identity in order to assert Luxembourg’s competence and ‘right to life’.
Retinal profile: a clinical indicator of severity in dengue fever in a suburban Indian environment
Authors: Malhotra Rubii , Singh Luxmi , Bundela RK , Garg Pragati , Kant Diva , Garg Ankit , Lal BB
Published: April 2014

Purpose

To study the retinal changes in subjects suffering from dengue fever and check if these changes can be taken as sufficient indicator of severity and progression of the disease.

Patients/Methods

A detailed history was recorded of 118 patients on whom ocular examination, including direct ophthalmoscopy, indirect ophthalmoscopy and coloured fundus photography, was performed.

Results

Forty-seven percent of patients were found to have posterior segment abnormalities. Retinal vein dilatation or tortuosity was the most common finding followed by changes in the optic disc (8.4% of patients) and background haemorrhage (6.7% of patients). With increasing severity of thrombocytopenia, the proportion of patients with retinal abnormalities increased. In patients with grade I thrombocytopenia, no fundal abnormality was found. In those with grade II thrombocytopenia, fundal abnormality was found in 13.63% patients, whereas in the grade III category it was 27.90%.

Conclusions

Severity of thrombocytopenia had a significant association with retinal abnormalities. Occurrence of fundus changes increases with an increase in severity of thrombocytopenia. Fundus changes were found in all patients with grade IV thrombocytopenia.
Translating the Diabetes Prevention Program into an Online Social Network
Authors: Sepah S. Cameron , Jiang Luohua , Peters Anne L.
Published: April 2014

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Prevent, an online social network-based translation of the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) lifestyle intervention, against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Diabetes Prevention and Recognition Program (DPRP) outcome standards and weight loss outcomes of other DPP translations.

Methods

Two hundred twenty participants previously diagnosed with prediabetes were recruited online and enrolled in Prevent, a DPP-based group lifestyle intervention that integrates a private online social network, weekly lessons, health coaching, and a wireless scale and pedometer. Participants underwent a core 16-week intensive lifestyle change intervention and were then offered to continue with a post-core lifestyle change maintenance intervention, with the entire intervention (core plus post-core) totaling 12 months.

Results

One hundred eighty-seven participants met inclusion criteria for the core program and achieved an average of 5.0% and 4.8% weight loss at 16 weeks and 12 months, respectively. They also had a 0.37% reduction in their A1C level at final measurement. One hundred forty-four of these same participants also met inclusion criteria for the post-core program and achieved an average of 5.4% and 5.2% weight loss at 16 weeks and 12 months, respectively, and a 0.40% reduction in A1C at final measurement.

Conclusion

Results indicate that Prevent meets CDC DPRP outcome standards for diabetes prevention programs and performs favorably to other DPP translations. Considering national initiatives to address the obesity and diabetes epidemics, online delivery platforms like Prevent offer an effective and scalable solution.
Modeling the Occupational/Career Decision-Making Processes of Intellectually Gifted Adolescents
Authors: Jung Jae Yup
Published: April 2014

This study developed and empirically tested two related models of the occupational/career decision-making processes of gifted adolescents using a competing models strategy. The two models that guided the study, which acknowledged cultural orientations, social influences from the family, occupational/career values, and characteristics of intellectually gifted adolescents, differed in the manner in which the various constructs that form part of the occupational/career decision-making processes of gifted adolescents were sequenced. To collect data, the refined version of a rigorously developed survey instrument was administered to 687 adolescents attending three academically selective high schools in the Sydney metropolitan area (Australia). Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modeling procedures. The finally accepted model suggested that, generally, the occupational/career decision-making processes of gifted adolescents incorporate a predictive role for cultural orientation and an intermediary role for motivation-related values, in the formation of attitudes toward occupations, and in turn, intentions to pursue particular occupations. Some notable aspects of the model included a strong association between the valuing of interest or enjoyment in an occupation and a need for intellectual stimulation, and a negative predictive relationship between a desire to fulfill one’s potential and occupational attitudes.
Evaluating collaborative information seeking – synthesis, suggestions, and structure
Authors: Shah Chirag
Published: April 2014

Evaluating the performance of collaborative information seeking (CIS) systems and users can be challenging, often more so than individual information-seeking environments. This can be attributed to the complex and dynamic interactions that take place among various users and systems processes in a CIS environment. While some of the aspects of a CIS system or user could be measured by typical assessment techniques from single-user information retrieval/seeking (IR/IS), one often needs to go beyond them to provide a meaningful evaluation, helping to provide not only a sense of performance, but also insights into design decisions (regarding systems) and behavioural trends (regarding users). This article first provides an overview of existing methods and techniques for evaluating CIS ( synthesis). It then extracts valuable directives and advice from the literature that inform evaluation choices ( suggestions). Finally, the article presents a framework for CIS evaluation with two major parts: system-based and user-based ( structure). The proposed framework incorporates various instruments taken from computer and social sciences literature as applicable to CIS evaluations. The lessons from the literature and the framework could serve as important starting points for designing experiments and systems, as well as evaluating system and user performances in CIS and related research areas.
The Digital Body: Telegraphy as Discourse Network
Authors: Maddalena Kate , Packer Jeremy
Published: April 2014

This article considers the use of flag telegraphy by the US Signal Corps during the Civil War as it functioned as a proto-technical medium that preceded wire telegraphy as a military communications technology. Not only was flag telegraphy a historical step towards contemporary technical media, it was also an early iteration of the digitization of communication. Our treatment ties together three main theoretical threads as a way of seeing ‘the digital’ in material communication practices: (1) Friedrich Kittler’s concept of technical media as a remediation between the 19th and 20th centuries, (2) Foucault’s docile bodies as means of reproducing culture, and (3) James Carey’s argument that the telegraph reconfigured communication. The Signal Corps is a rich historical moment in terms of media history and history of technology because it illustrates the convergence of historical exigencies at work in the war machine: mobility, secrecy, precision, and speed. Each contributes, we argue, to a digital telos that privileges digital ways of knowing and being.
The influence of knowledge-based e-commerce product recommender agents on online consumer decision-making
Authors: Huseynov Farid , Huseynov Sema Yildiz , Özkan Sevgi
Published: April 2014

Online retailers are providing a large amount of products over the Internet for potential customers. Given the opportunity of accessing vast amounts of products online, customers usually encounter difficulties to choose the right product or service for themselves. Obtaining advice from the Internet is both time consuming and most of the time unreliable. Therefore, some kind of intelligent software is needed to act on behalf of customers in such situations. Recommender agents are intelligent software providing easily accessible, high-quality recommendations for online consumers. They either track online customer behaviour implicitly or obtain information from the customer explicitly and provide the products or services in which the customer might be interested. By utilizing such systems, online retailers not only increase their sales but also assist their customers in finding the products or services they seek. This study assessed the influence of knowledge-based recommender agents on the online-consumer decision-making process. Shopping duration, purchase of desired item, effort spent in searching for the desired product and the decision quality of online consumers were assessed by exposing the participants to a knowledge-based recommender system which has been integrated into one of the online shopping systems developed in the scope of this study. Only objective measures have been utilized in this research; that is, shopping system log data has been used to measure the influence of recommender agents on the consumer decision-making process. Study findings have shown that knowledge-based recommender agents improve the consumer decision-making process by reducing the shopping duration and effort spent in searching for suitable products. Also, it was found that decision quality and the number of consumers who purchase the desired item increase with their use of such systems. The results of this study provide additional proof of the potential benefits of integrating such systems into online web stores.
IT outsourcing success in the public sector
Authors: Moon Junghoon , Choe Young Chan , Chung Miri , Jung Gu Hyun , Swar Bobby
Published: April 2014

Recent studies on IT (Information Technology) outsourcing reveal the growing trend and widely accepted management practice of IT outsourcing in the public sector. To achieve more from this practice it is essential to identify and examine the success factors. In this regard, this study conducts an empirical investigation on IT outsourcing projects for e-government. A framework is proposed and 13 IT outsourcing success factors from the private sector are identified through a literature review. The framework demonstrates the impact of four categories, organizational environment, contract/project characteristics, project management, and partnership management on IT outsourcing. A survey of IT managers responsible for managing IT outsourcing projects in Korean government organizations was conducted and 178 IT outsourcing projects for e-government initiated by 56 different government organizations were analyzed. The findings are then compared with general beliefs on IT outsourcing in the private sector. Findings and lessons from the empirical investigation of this study provide useful guidelines for IT managers in the public sector.
Vitamin D replacement therapy in patients with cardiac syndrome X
Authors: Andishmand A , Ansari Z , Soltani MH , Mirshamsi H , Raafat S
Published: April 2014

Aims:

The aim of present study was to assess whether vitamin D, with proven beneficial effects on the cardiovascular system, has any effect on angina and exercise-induced ischemia in patients with cardiac syndrome X and low serum vitamin D.

Methods:

Patients with cardiac syndrome X and low serum vitamin D3 were studied before and after treatment with an intramuscular injection of vitamin D3 (300,000 units, every other week for 2 months). We determined the angina episode (per day) and several indices of exercise capacity.

Results:

At the end of the treatment course (75±6 day), a significant increase of serum vitamin D3 occurred and was within the normal range (45±8 ng/ml) and the frequency of angina improved significantly ( p=0.003). Exercise duration and maximal work capacity increased significantly ( p<0.001). Maximal ST-segment depression (mm) decreased significantly ( p=0.001). The calculated Duck treadmill score improved significantly ( p=0.001).

Conclusions:

Our findings show that vitamin D replacement therapy in patients with cardiac syndrome X and vitamin D deficiency dramatically improves symptoms and signs of ischemia.
Haemodynamic changes with the use of neuromuscular electrical stimulation compared to intermittent pneumatic compression
Authors: Williams KJ , Moore HM , Davies AH
Published: April 2014

Introduction

Enhancement of peripheral circulation has been shown to be of benefit in many vascular disorders, and the clinical effectiveness of intermittent pneumatic compression is well established in peripheral vascular disease. This study compares the haemodynamic efficacy of a novel neuromuscular electrical stimulation device with intermittent pneumatic compression in healthy subjects.

Methods

Ten healthy volunteers (mean age 27.1 ± 3.8 years, body mass index 24.8 ± 3.6 kg/m2) were randomised into two groups, in an interventional crossover trial. Devices used were the SCD Express™ Compression System, (Covidien, Ireland) and the geko™, (Firstkind Ltd, UK). Devices were applied bilaterally, and haemodynamic measurements taken from the left leg. Changes to haemodynamic parameters (superficial femory artery and femoral vein) and laser Doppler measurements from the hand and foot were compared.

Results

Intermittent pneumatic compression caused 51% ( p = 0.002), 5% (ns) and 3% (ns) median increases in venous peak velocity, time-averaged maximum velocity and volume flow, respectively; neuromuscular electrical stimulator stimulation caused a 103%, 101% and 101% median increases in the same parameters (all p = 0.002). The benefit was lost upon deactivation. Intermittent pneumatic compression did not improve arterial haemodynamics. Neuromuscular electrical stimulator caused 11%, 84% and 75% increase in arterial parameters ( p < 0.01). Laser Doppler readings taken from the leg were increased by neuromuscular electrical stimulator ( p < 0.001), dropping after deactivation. For intermittent pneumatic compression, the readings decreased during use but increased after cessation. Hand flux signal dropped during activation of both devices, rising after cessation.

Discussion

The neuromuscular electrical stimulator device used in this study enhances venous flow and peak velocity in the legs of healthy subjects and is equal or superior to intermittent pneumatic compression. This warrants further clinical and economic evaluation for deep venous thrombosis prophylaxis and exploration of the haemodynamic effect in venous pathology. It also enhances arterial time-averaged maximum velocity and flow rate, which may prove to be of clinical use in the management of peripheral arterial disease. The effect on the microcirculation as evidenced by laser Doppler fluximetry may reflect a clinically beneficial target in microvascular disease, such as in the diabetic foot.
Physician-reported practices on continuous deep sedation until death: A descriptive and comparative study
Authors: Papavasiliou Evangelia (Evie) , Chambaere Kenneth , Deliens Luc , Brearley Sarah , Payne Sheila , Rietjens Judith , Vander Stichele Robert , Van den Block Lieve ,   on behalf of EURO IMPACT, Lieve Van den Block , Zeger De Groote , Sarah Brearley , Augusto Caraceni , Joachim Cohen , Anneke Francke , Richard Harding , Irene J Higginson , Stein Kaasa , Karen Linden , Guido Miccinesi , Bregje Onwuteaka-Philipsen , Koen Pardon , Roeline Pasman , Sophie Pautex , Sheila Payne , Luc Deliens
Published: April 2014

Background:

Research on continuous deep sedation until death has focused on estimating prevalence and describing clinical practice across care settings. However, evidence on sedation practices by physician specialty is scarce.

Aims:

To compare and contrast physician-reported practices on continuous deep sedation until death between general practitioners and medical specialists.

Design/participants:

A secondary analysis drawing upon data from a large-scale, population-based, retrospective survey among physicians in Flanders, Belgium in 2007. Symptom prevalence and characteristics of sedation (drugs used, artificial nutrition and hydration administered, intentions, and decision-making) were measured.

Results:

Response rate was 58.4%. The frequency of continuous deep sedation until death among all deaths was 11.3% for general practitioners and 18.4% for medical specialists. General practitioners reported significantly higher rates of severity and mean intensity of pain, delirium, dyspnea, and nausea in the last 24 h of life for sedated patients and a higher number of severe symptoms than medical specialists. No differences were found between groups in the drugs used, except in propofol, reported only by medical specialists (in 15.8% of all cases). Artificial nutrition and hydration was withheld or withdrawn in 97.2% of general practitioner and 36.2% of medical specialist cases. Explicit life-shortening intentions were reported by both groups (for 3%–4% of all cases). Continuous deep sedation until death was initiated without consent or request of either the patient or the family in 27.9% (medical specialists) and 4.7% (general practitioners) of the cases reported.

Conclusion:

Considerable variation, often largely deviating from professional guidelines, was observed in physician-reported performance and decision-making, highlighting the importance of providing clearer guidance on the specific needs of the context in which continuous deep sedation until death is to be performed.
Evaluation of Physicians’ Cognitive Styles
Authors: Djulbegovic Benjamin , Beckstead Jason W. , Elqayam Shira , Reljic Tea , Hozo Iztok , Kumar Ambuj , Cannon-Bowers Janis , Taylor Stephanie , Tsalatsanis Athanasios , Turner Brandon , Paidas Charles
Published: April 2014

Background. Patient outcomes critically depend on accuracy of physicians’ judgment, yet little is known about individual differences in cognitive styles that underlie physicians’ judgments. The objective of this study was to assess physicians’ individual differences in cognitive styles relative to age, experience, and degree and type of training. Methods. Physicians at different levels of training and career completed a web-based survey of 6 scales measuring individual differences in cognitive styles (maximizing v. satisficing, analytical v. intuitive reasoning, need for cognition, intolerance toward ambiguity, objectivism, and cognitive reflection). We measured psychometric properties (Cronbach’s α) of scales; relationship of age, experience, degree, and type of training; responses to scales; and accuracy on conditional inference task. Results. The study included 165 trainees and 56 attending physicians (median age 31 years; range 25–69 years). All 6 constructs showed acceptable psychometric properties. Surprisingly, we found significant negative correlation between age and satisficing ( r = −0.239; P = 0.017). Maximizing (willingness to engage in alternative search strategy) also decreased with age ( r = −0.220; P = 0.047). Number of incorrect inferences negatively correlated with satisficing ( r = −0.246; P = 0.014). Disposition to suppress intuitive responses was associated with correct responses on 3 of 4 inferential tasks. Trainees showed a tendency to engage in analytical thinking ( r = 0.265; P = 0.025), while attendings displayed inclination toward intuitive-experiential thinking ( r = 0.427; P = 0.046). However, trainees performed worse on conditional inference task. Conclusion. Physicians capable of suppressing an immediate intuitive response to questions and those scoring higher on rational thinking made fewer inferential mistakes. We found a negative correlation between age and maximizing: Physicians who were more advanced in their careers were less willing to spend time and effort in an exhaustive search for solutions. However, they appeared to have maintained their “mindware” for effective problem solving.
Avoiding Throwing out the Baby with the Bathwater
Authors: Gould Stephen , Semaan Rania W.
Published: April 2014

The recent article by Gurrieri, Previte, and Brace-Govan provides an earnest, existential challenge to both social and macromarketing in the health domain, as well as more generally. Their research deals with such serious issues as obesity, breastfeeding, and exercise. Yet, while the authors draw most impressively on theoretical thinkers and perspectives, they also misconstrue what they find and contend so one-sidedly that much of what is understood as social marketing becomes obviated and consumers are ironically situated in the hands of various food and medical interests. This commentary provides a much different reading of these issues. It critically deconstructs the authors’ view and then offers a quite divergent one that takes a more balanced, if paradoxical perspective regarding health issues. While health issues are complex, and a certain problematizing indeterminacy sometimes enters in when solutions are proposed and tried, the present critique delineates the necessary roles social and macromarketing can and indeed must play in the provision of good health for all.
Analysis of central mechanism of cognitive training on cognitive impairment after stroke: Resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study
Authors: Lin Zhi-cheng , Tao Jing , Gao Yan-lin , Yin Da-zhi , Chen A-zhen , Chen Li-dian
Published: April 2014

Objective

To investigate the central mechanism of cognitive training in patients with stroke, using resting state (RS) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Methods

Patients with stroke and executive function and memory deficit were randomized to receive computer-assisted cognitive training (treatment group; total 60 h training over 10 weeks) or no training (control group). All participants received neuropsychological assessment and RS fMRI at baseline and 10 weeks.

Results

Patients in the treatment group ( n = 16) showed increased functional connectivity (FC) of the hippocampus with the frontal lobe (right inferior, right middle, left middle, left inferior and left superior frontal gyrus) and left parietal lobe at 10 weeks compared with baseline. Patients in the control group ( n = 18) showed decreased FC of the left hippocampus–right occipital gyrus, and right hippocampus–right posterior lobe of cerebellum and left superior temporal gyrus. Significant correlations were found between improved neuropsychological scores and increased FC of the hippocampus with the frontal lobe and left parietal lobe in the treatment group only.

Conclusions

Increased RS FC of the hippocampus with the frontal and parietal lobes may be an important mechanism of cognitive recovery after stroke.