bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Plane waves in the linear elastic reduced Cosserat medium with a finite axially symmetric coupling between volumetric and rotational strains
Authors: Grekova Elena F
Published: April 2015

We consider plane waves in the linear elastic reduced Cosserat continuum, a medium where point-bodies have independent rotational and translational degrees of freedom, but couple stresses are zero, since the medium does not react to the gradient of turn. We consider the case of the simplest anisotropic coupling between volumetric and vortex-rotational strain, determined by a certain constant vector n. All other tensors are isotropic. For almost all directions of wave propagation there exists a frequency band gap below a specific frequency ω0, i.e. the medium is a single negative acoustic metamaterial in a certain domain of frequencies. The longitudinal (in the sense of translations) wave, propagating along this vector, has a behaviour similar to the shear-rotational wave in the isotropic case (high dispersion in the domain close to ω0 and the band gap below it). Most of waves are mixed (neither longitudinal nor transversal), and the relation between amplitude components is frequency dependent. The wave, propagating in the direction perpendicular to n, has no forbidden band, but it is mixed (the relation of components depends on frequency). We hope that this or a similar model can be applied for understanding wave propagation in granular media.
Constitutive models for strongly curved beams in the frame of isogeometric analysis
Authors: Cazzani Antonio , Malagù Marcello , Turco Emilio , Stochino Flavio
Published: April 2015

The current development of the isogeometric approach in various fields of mechanics is explained by the high-accuracy results which can be achieved at a reduced computational cost by codes based on non-uniform rational B-splines (NURBS). In the case of strongly curved beams the simple diagonal de Saint-Venant’s constitutive model can lead to significant errors as it has been reported in the classic literature. Other models such as Winkler’s have been proposed and seem more suitable for these kinds of structures. Unfortunately several numerical codes are based on a diagonal constitutive model which neglects the coupling effect of elongation and curvature even if a highly refined geometry description can be developed by means of NURBS. The results obtained by means of numerical codes based on isogeometrical analysis for curved beams are here reported and basic choices, computational costs and numerical accuracy of the above-mentioned constitutive models are discussed, from a qualitative and quantitative point of view. This comparison, in the authors’ opinion, is necessary to avoid an excessive gap between the computational efficiency of NURBS, which are capable of very accurate geometry description, and a simplistic representation of the constitutive relations that is efficient for straight beams but not so much for curved beams whose curvature is large. The results of some selected tests are presented and discussed to highlight differences between the two approaches, showing that the small increase of computational cost of Winkler’s model is well compensated by the accuracy gain.
Processing of Dynamic Affective Information in Adults With ADHD
Authors: Schönenberg Michael , Schneidt Alexander , Wiedemann Eva , Jusyte Aiste
Published: April 2015

Objective: ADHD has been repeatedly linked to problems in social functioning. Although some theories assume that the emotion recognition deficits are explained by general attentional deficits, mounting evidence suggests that they may actually constitute a distinct impairment. However, it remains unclear whether the deficient processing affects specific emotional categories or may generalize to all basic emotions. The present study aims to investigate these questions by assessing the sensitivity to all six basic emotions in adults with ADHD. Method: The participants judged the emotion onset in animated morph clips displaying facial expressions that slowly changed from neutral to emotional. Results: ADHD participants exhibited an impaired recognition of sad and fearful facial expressions. Conclusion: The present findings indicate that ADHD is possibly associated with a specific deficit in the recognition of facial emotions signaling negative social feedback.
Economic Disruption and Childhood Obesity
Authors: Balog Joseph E.
Published: April 2015

Using and adopting Simon Szreter’s framework on how economic growth had a deleterious effect on children’s health during the Industrial Revolution, this article presents a parallel argument that economic growth, in modern times, also has disrupted the lives of our children expressed by increasing rates of childhood obesity. A comprehensive perspective is presented that describes how economic growth in postindustrial United States has distracted our nation’s attention away from a public health’s concern for the health of children and social justice. The new normal of childhood obesity represents a disconnection from the harmful reality of childhood obesity and displaces the value of childhood health too far behind adult’s pursuits of utility. To provide children a fair opportunity to health, and to help children secure their own future liberty and utility, children need to be able to achieve “just levels” of health that would ordinarily exist if remediable injustices that threaten health were reasonably addressed and eliminated.
New Approaches for Moving Upstream
Authors: Freudenberg Nicholas , Franzosa Emily , Chisholm Janice , Libman Kimberly
Published: April 2015

Growing evidence shows that unequal distribution of wealth and power across race, class, and gender produces the differences in living conditions that are “upstream” drivers of health inequalities. Health educators and other public health professionals, however, still develop interventions that focus mainly on “downstream” behavioral risks. Three factors explain the difficulty in translating this knowledge into practice. First, in their allegiance to the status quo, powerful elites often resist upstream policies and programs that redistribute wealth and power. Second, public health practice is often grounded in dominant biomedical and behavioral paradigms, and health departments also face legal and political limits on expanding their scope of activities. Finally, the evidence for the impact of upstream interventions is limited, in part because methodologies for evaluating upstream interventions are less developed. To illustrate strategies to overcome these obstacles, we profile recent campaigns in the United States to enact living wages, prevent mortgage foreclosures, and reduce exposure to air pollution. We then examine how health educators working in state and local health departments can transform their practice to contribute to campaigns that reallocate the wealth and power that shape the living conditions that determine health and health inequalities. We also consider health educators’ role in producing the evidence that can guide transformative expansion of upstream interventions to reduce health inequalities.
Preventing Unintentional Injuries in the Home Using the Health Impact Pyramid
Authors: Mack Karin A. , Liller Karen D. , Baldwin Grant , Sleet David
Published: April 2015

Injuries continue to be the leading cause of death for the first four decades of life. These injuries result from a confluence of behavioral, physical, structural, environmental, and social factors. Taken together, these illustrate the importance of taking a broad and multileveled approach to injury prevention. Using examples from fall, fire, scald, and poisoning-related injuries, this article illustrates the utility of an approach that incorporates a social–environmental perspective in identifying and selecting interventions to improve the health and safety of individuals. Injury prevention efforts to prevent home injuries benefit from multilevel modifications of behavior, public policy, laws and enforcement, the environment, consumer products and engineering standards, as demonstrated with Frieden’s Health Impact Pyramid. A greater understanding, however, is needed to explain the associations between tiers. While interventions that include modiﬁcations of the social environment are being ﬁeld-tested, much more work needs to be done in measuring social–environmental change and in evaluating these programs to disentangle what works best.
Everyone Swims
Authors: Stempski Sarah , Liu Lenna , Grow H. Mollie , Pomietto Maureen , Chung Celeste , Shumann Amy , Bennett Elizabeth
Published: April 2015

Well-known disparities exist in rates of obesity and drowning, two public health priorities. Addressing these disparities by increasing access to safe swimming and water recreation may yield benefits for both obesity and injury prevention. Everyone Swims, a community partnership, brought community health clinics and water recreation organizations together to improve policies and systems that facilitated learning to swim and access to swimming and water recreation for low-income, diverse communities. Based in King County, Washington, Everyone Swims launched with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention grant funding from 2010 to 2012. This partnership led to multiple improvements in policies and systems: higher numbers of clinics screening for swimming ability, referrals from clinics to pools, more scholarship accessibility, and expansion of special swim programs. In building partnerships between community health/public health and community recreation organizations to develop systems that address user needs in low-income and culturally diverse communities, Everyone Swims represents a promising model of a structured partnership for systems and policy change to promote health and physical activity.
The Impact of Policy, Environmental, and Educational Interventions
Authors: Gielen Andrea C. , Green Lawrence W.
Published: April 2015

Motor vehicle safety and tobacco control are among the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the number of miles traveled in the United States multiplied 10 times from the 1920s to the 1990s, the annual motor vehicle crash death rate per vehicle mile traveled decreased by 90%. Similarly, tobacco-related deaths from heart disease, stroke, and cancer were rapidly mounting over the first two thirds of the 20th century. Then, in the last third of the century, tobacco consumption decreased by more than 50%, and rates of heart disease and stroke deaths, and later cancer deaths, declined similarly. This analysis addresses the central question of what lessons can be learned from these success stories that will help public health professionals successfully tackle new and emerging health behavior problems of today and tomorrow? Surveillance, research, multilevel interventions, environmental modifications, and strong policies were key to reducing motor vehicle- and tobacco-related health problems. Generating public support and advocacy, and changing social norms also played critical roles in promoting the safer and smoke-free behaviors. Lessons learned include the need for evidence-based practices and interventions that are ecologically comprehensive with an emphasis on changing environmental determinants and capitalizing on the concept of reciprocal determinism. The analysis concludes with a description of how the PRECEDE-PROCEED planning framework can be used to apply the lessons from motor vehicle safety and tobacco control to other public health threats.
Impact of Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones
Authors: Shin Ahyoung , Surkan Pamela J. , Coutinho Anastasia J. , Suratkar Sonali R. , Campbell Rebecca K. , Rowan Megan , Sharma Sangita , Dennisuk Lauren A. , Karlsen Micaela , Gass Anthony , Gittelsohn Joel
Published: April 2015

This study assessed the impact of a youth-targeted multilevel nutrition intervention in Baltimore City. The study used a clustered randomized design in which 7 recreation centers and 21 corner stores received interventions and 7 additional recreation centers served as comparison. The 8-month intervention aimed to increase availability and selection of healthful foods through nutrition promotion and education using point-of purchase materials such as posters and flyers in stores and interactive sessions such as taste test and cooking demonstrations. Two hundred forty-two youth–caregiver dyads residing in low-income areas of Baltimore City recruited from recreation centers were surveyed at baseline using detailed instruments that contained questions about food-related psychosocial indicators (behavioral intentions, self-efficacy, outcome expectancies, and knowledge), healthful food purchasing and preparation methods, and anthropometric measures (height and weight). The Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones intervention was associated with reductions in youth body mass index percentile ( p = .04). In subgroup analyses among overweight and obese girls, body mass index for age percentile decreased significantly in girls assigned to the intervention group ( p = .03) and in girls with high exposure to the intervention ( p = .013), as opposed to those in comparison or lower exposure groups. Intervention youth significantly improved food-related outcome expectancies ( p = .02) and knowledge ( p < .001). The study results suggest that the Baltimore Healthy Eating Zones multilevel intervention had a modest impact in reducing overweight or obesity among already overweight low-income African American youth living in an environment where healthful foods are less available. Additional studies are needed to determine the relative impact of health communications and environmental interventions in this population, both alone and in combination.
Serological evidence of increased susceptibility to varicella-zoster virus reactivation or reinfection in natalizumab-treated patients with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Kohlmann Rebekka , Salmen Anke , Chan Andrew , Knabbe Cornelius , Diekmann Jürgen , Brockmeyer Norbert , Skaletz-Rorowski Adriane , Michalik Claudia , Gold Ralf , Überla Klaus
Published: April 2015

Background:

Serious adverse drug reactions of disease-modifying drugs in multiple sclerosis (MS) therapy may include enhanced susceptibility to reactivation of neurotropic herpes viruses like varicella-zoster virus (VZV) and the John Cunningham (JC) polyomavirus.

Objective:

Because symptomatic reactivation of these viruses are rare events, we determined the incidence of rises in anti-VZV IgG antibody levels as a potential marker for enhanced susceptibility to subclinical and symptomatic reactivation of neurotropic viruses.

Methods:

Anti-VZV IgG levels were measured in paired serum samples taken 6–8 months apart from natalizumab-treated MS patients, healthy blood donors and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infected patients.

Results:

The incidence of significant rises in anti-VZV IgG levels in natalizumab-treated MS patients was 4.26 per 100 person-years, which was significantly higher than in healthy blood donors. Retrospective evaluation of the available medical records of patients with rises of anti-VZV IgG levels did not reveal herpes zoster (i.e. shingles) manifestations.

Conclusions:

The increased incidence of significant rises of anti-VZV IgG levels in natalizumab-treated MS patients might indicate an association of natalizumab treatment of MS with an elevated risk of a subclinical VZV reactivation and/or reinfection events. Whether this is predictive of an increased risk of herpes zoster or even symptomatic reactivation of other neurotropic viruses remains to be determined in larger prospective studies.
A comparative optical coherence tomography study in neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder and multiple sclerosis
Authors: Outteryck Olivier , Majed Bilal , Defoort-Dhellemmes Sabine , Vermersch Patrick , Zéphir Hélène
Published: April 2015

Objectives:

The aim of this study was to find, using spectral domain-optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), retinal imaging biomarkers differentiating neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and healthy controls (HCs).

Materials and methods:

The population was composed of patients with NMOSD ( n=23) or MS ( n=110) and of HCs ( n=75). Evaluation criteria were retinal thickness/volume, visual acuity, low contrast vision acuity and Expanded Disability Status Scale score.

Results:

Considering all eyes and after statistical adjustments including the number of optic neuritis (ON) episodes, we found that NMOSD patients did not have significantly more retinal atrophy than MS patients; whereas MS non-optic neuritis (NON) eyes had thinner temporal ( p=0.032) and temporo-superior peripapillary retinal nerve fibre layer (pRNFL; p=0.011) thicknesses than NMOSD NON eyes; in addition, NMOSD NON eyes presented significant naso-inferior pRNFL ( p=0.024), temporal pRNFL ( p=0.039), macular ganglion cell complex ( p=0.004) and ganglion cell layer ( p=0.002) atrophy vs HC eyes. We identified significant correlations between visual and clinical disability and retinal thicknesses in both diseases.

Conclusion:

OCT may help to differentiate NMOSD and MS by focusing on the NON eyes (temporal pRNFL atrophy more severe in MS). Moreover, we discuss the possibility of a retinal degenerative process independent of ON in NMOSD.
The ethics of diplomatic criticism: The Responsibility to Protect, Just War Theory and Presumptive Last Resort
Authors: Pattison James
Published: April 2015

This article presents the ethical case for diplomatic criticism as a response to mass atrocities and serious external aggression. It argues, in short, that states have a moral duty to criticise the offending parties. More specifically, it argues that diplomatic criticism is often a plausible and preferable alternative to other means of addressing serious external aggression and mass atrocities (such as war, economic sanctions and other diplomatic measures). It also argues that diplomatic criticism is often preferable to doing nothing, and that even if other means are undertaken, states should engage in diplomatic criticism as well. There are two subsidiary aims of the article. The first is to reject some of the worries surrounding international hypocrisy — I aim to show that even hypocritical diplomatic criticism may be obligatory. The second is to highlight the impact on Just War Theory of considering in more detail the ethical issues raised by the alternatives to war, such as diplomatic criticism, and, more specifically, to present a new account of the last resort principle, which I call ‘Presumptive Last Resort’.
Variations in the persistence of health expenditures and the implications for the design of capitation payments in Taiwan
Authors: Ku Li-Jung Elizabeth , Chiou Meng-Jiun , Liu Li-Fan
Published: April 2015

Objectives

The National Health Insurance (NHI) system in Taiwan launched a trial capitation provider payment programme in 2011, with the capitation formula based on patients' average NHI expenditure in the previous year. This study seeks to examine the concentration and persistence of health care expenditure among the elderly, and to assess the performance of the current capitation formula in predicting future high-cost users.

Methods

This study analysed NHI expenditures for a nationally representative sample of people aged 65 years and over who took part in Taiwan's National Health Interview Survey, 2005. Expenditure concentration was assessed by the proportion of NHI expenditures attributable to four groups by expenditure percentile. Four transition probability matrixes examined changes in a person's position in the expenditure percentiles and generalized estimation equation models were estimated to identify significant predictors of a patient being in the top 10% of users.

Results

Between 2005 and 2009, the top 10% of users on average accounted for 55% of total NHI expenditures. Of the top 10% in 2005, 39% retained this position in 2006. However, expenditure persistence was the highest (77%) among the bottom 50% of users. NHI expenditure percentiles in both the baseline year and the prior year, and chronic conditions all significantly predicted future high expenditures. The model including chronic conditions performed better in predicting the top 10% of users (c-statistics increased from 0.772 to 0.904) than the model without.

Conclusions

Given the increase in predictive ability, adding chronic conditions and baseline health care use data to Taiwan's capitation payment formula would correctly identify more high users.
Personal home care workers’ role in hospital: a qualitative study
Authors: Ayalon Liat , Halevy-Levin Sara , Ben-Yizhak Zvi , Friedman Gideon
Published: April 2015

Objectives

Unlike in most high-income countries, in Israel personal (social) care of elderly patients in hospitals is provided either by relatives or friends, or, for those patients with live-in assistance at home, by their home care workers. Our aim was to understand the explicit and implicit roles of live-in carers and whether any difficulties occurred.

Methods

Interviews in the internal medicine unit of Hadassah Hospital with 17 patients, 16 relatives, 20 home care workers and 20 nurses. Data were subjected to categorical content analysis.

Results

Three major themes emerged: the development of teamwork with relatives and nurses; the varied roles of home care workers including nursing care, emotional care, and monitoring and supervision of the patient; and the conflicts and challenges associated with having a care worker related to their physical presence and the care worker’s own social needs.

Conclusions

Israel partially addresses its nursing shortage by allowing paid home care workers to take an active role in the care of hospitalized older adults. This can have both a positive and a negative impact on the role and perception of nursing.
Venous thromboembolism: Predicting recurrence and the need for extended anticoagulation
Authors: Barnes Geoffrey D , Kanthi Yogendra , Froehlich James B
Published: April 2015

Initial treatment for venous thromboembolism (VTE) includes the acute and intermediate phases, usually lasting for 3 months. The choice to extend therapy beyond the initial 3-month window involves assessing a combination of risk factors for VTE recurrence and bleeding, along with weighing patient preferences. In some cases, such as VTE provoked by a reversible surgical risk factor, the recurrence risk is sufficiently low that most patients should not receive extended therapy. In other cases, such as VTE associated with malignancy, the recurrence risk is sufficiently high that treatment should be extended beyond the initial 3 months. However, a large number of patients fall into a grey zone where the decision on extended therapy is less clear-cut. In this review, we summarize the evidence for VTE recurrence risk and the role for extended anticoagulation given a variety of patient-specific factors and laboratory results. We also review the role of VTE risk prediction tools and provide a recommended algorithm for approaching the decision of extended anticoagulation therapy. Various agents available for extended VTE therapy, including warfarin, aspirin and the direct oral anticoagulant agents, are discussed.
Approach to chemotherapy-associated thrombosis
Authors: Oppelt Peter , Betbadal Anthony , Nayak Lalitha
Published: April 2015

Treatment of cancer patients with antineoplastic agents is associated with a heightened risk of thrombotic events, both arterial and venous. In this article, we review the specific agents that are implicated and the pathophysiological processes that are known to be associated with this prothrombotic state. We conclude with current recommendations for prophylactic antithrombotic therapy in these clinical situations.
Acquisition of English number agreement: L1 Cantonese–L2 English–L3 French speakers versus L1 Cantonese–L2 English speakers
Authors: Tsang Wai Lan
Published: April 2015

Purpose:

Drawing on the notions of ‘interface’ and ‘cross-linguistic influence’ in second language acquisition (L2A), the present study addresses the possible role of French as a third language (L3) in the L2A of English number agreement with two major concerns: (1) the degree to which third language acquisition (L3A) will bring about any positive or negative influence on L2A, and (2) the way in which an L3 interacts with L2 and/or even L1 on narrow syntax or an internal interface as identified in L2A.

Design:

To address the research concerns, a comparison was made between 48 L1 Cantonese–L2 English–L3 French (CEF) participants and 46 L1 Cantonese–L2 English (CE) participants. Twenty English native controls were also recruited. All participants completed two timed tasks: a grammaticality judgement-correction task and a free writing task. After the experiment proper, the grammatical component of the Oxford placement test, consisting of 60 items, was administered to the two groups of L1 Cantonese speakers.

Data and analysis:

The following tests were run: the Wilcoxon signed ranks test, the Mann–Whitney U test, the Kruskal–Wallis one-way analysis of variance, the non-parametric x2-test and the two-sample Kolmogorov–Smirnov test.

Findings/conclusions:

While the placement test indicated comparable English levels between the two L1 Cantonese groups, the free writing task revealed certain distinctive patterns, suggesting possible influence from L3 French to L2 English among the CEF participants. In particular, the advanced L3 French participants were different from their L3 French peers and the CE participants in their free production of grammatical nominal plurals.

Originality:

The study highlights the potential of reverse cross-linguistic influence from L3 to L2 among L1 Cantonese speakers.

Significance/implications:

Possible traces of L3 French–L2 English effect were noted in affecting the CEF learners’ use of English plural morphology by ‘neutralising’ their production of missing or redundant plural ‘-s’. Typological similarities between French and English and L3 proficiency were found to play a role in such transfers.
‘She says, he says’: Does the sex of an instructor interact with the grammatical gender of targets in a perspective-taking task?
Authors: Samuel Steven , Roehr-Brackin Karen , Roberson Debi
Published: April 2015

Aims and objectives:

It has been claimed that grammatical gender can influence the perception of objects as being potentially more ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. The present study investigated effects of facilitation or interference on object selection by speakers whose L1 marks grammatical gender even when selecting objects in an L2 (English) which does not mark grammatical gender. Additionally, and in order to establish whether bilingualism itself influenced performance owing to a proposed bilingual advantage in inhibitory control, we investigated whether bilinguals would be more efficient than monolinguals at taking the allocentric perspective and switching between perspectives.

Methodology:

Participants were asked to select objects by an instructor whose biological sex (and voice) was either congruent or incongruent with the grammatical gender of the object to be selected. Two groups of 16 bilinguals each were recruited on the basis of whether their L1s marked for grammatical gender or not, and a further group of 16 monolingual English speakers were tested as a control.

Data and analysis:

Groups were compared by means of mixed-design repeated measures ANOVAs with response times for target selections as the dependent variables.

Findings:

When tested in English, bilinguals whose L1 marked grammatical gender showed no effect of gender congruency in this task, nor did bilinguals outperform monolinguals in taking the allocentric perspective or in perspective switching.

Originality:

For the first time, potential grammatical gender effects were investigated on a task where the fast and accurate processing of real male and female voices is fundamental to the efficiency of object selection performance.

Implications:

The present findings are interpreted as evidence that the effects of L1 grammatical gender on tasks performed in an L2 do not extend to tasks where the link between biological sex and grammatical gender is not made explicit.
Flexible moving track model for curve negotiation analysis of railroad vehicles with rail roll deflection
Authors: Nakajima Toshihisa , Feldmeier Christofer , Sugiyama Hiroyuki
Published: April 2015

In this investigation, a flexible track model based on the moving track approach is generalized for use in the curve negotiation analysis of multibody railroad vehicles. The track model consists of discrete rail and sleeper bodies defined underneath the wheelset, and the equations of motion are formulated along the track and rail trajectories using the general track geometry description utilized in the railroad vehicle dynamics simulation. In the vehicle curve negotiation, the outer rail is subjected to the overturning moment caused by the flange contact force, thus the rail roll deflection and its effect on the location of contact point need to be carefully considered for an accurate prediction of the wheel/rail contact forces for the flexible track model. To this end, the multi-variable look-up tables that account for the change in roll angles of both rails are introduced in this study. The multiple look-up contact tables are prepared for various assumed rail roll angles by the contact geometry analysis prior to the dynamic analysis, and then they are interpolated as a function of roll angles of both rails, the modified wheel lateral displacement that accounts for the rail lateral displacement, and the angle of attack of the wheelset. By doing so, existing railroad vehicle dynamics simulation algorithms assuming rigid rails can be extended to account for the track flexibility without significant modifications of the code.
Seeing like an archaeologist: Viveiros de Castro at Chavín de Huantar
Authors: Weismantel Mary
Published: April 2015

This article juxtaposes Viveiros de Castro’s theory of ‘perspectivism’ with carved stone monoliths from the Peruvian site of Chavín de Huantar to explore the interactions between humans, animals, and things in Pre-Columbian material culture. Using insights from new work on animal/human relations and the ethnography of shamanism and hunting, it illuminates aspects of the iconography, scale, and style of the stones that were previously opaque. Finally, it challenges archaeologists to address the limitations of perspectivism, notably its abstraction and ahistoricism, avoiding the retrogressive return to romantic primitivism that sometimes mars the ontological turn, thus transforming perspectivism into a better means of political engagement with indigenous Americans present and past.
Communicating parent community at prevention meetings in Norwegian schools
Authors: Henriksen Øystein , Hydén Lars Christer
Published: April 2015

Parental cooperation has increasingly become a key component in alcohol prevention efforts in schools. Many prevention programs actively utilize parent participation in order to strengthen the sense of community between parents, develop shared attitudes toward alcohol use, delay the beginning of alcohol use for adolescents, and limit alcohol usage by young people. Strengthening community is thus a core goal in prevention activities. This article analyses how community is developed and expressed in discussions during formal school meetings involving parents. The data used in the analysis consists of audio recordings of parent meetings in alcohol prevention programs for eighth-grade students at four separate schools in different regions of Norway. The analysis focuses on how personal pronouns are used in the conversations to signal inclusion or exclusion from the community. The article also discusses how different discursive expressions of community are used by meeting participants to position themselves as responsible parents, and the relevance of these meetings for social work.
Wargaming in higher education: Contributions and challenges
Authors: Sabin Philip
Published: April 2015

Wargames, especially on historical conflicts, do not currently play much part in the booming academic use of simulation and gaming techniques. This is despite the fact that they offer rich vehicles for active learning and interactive exploration of conflict dynamics. Constraints of time, expertise and resources do make it challenging to employ wargames in academia, but a greater problem is the stigma which wargaming attracts due to its association with childish enthusiasts and its perceived deficiencies as a modelling technique. This article builds on my many years of teaching and research experience with wargames to show how playing and designing them can benefit students and scholars alike.
Earmarks and Subcommittee Government in the U.S. Congress
Authors: Clemens Austin , Crespin Michael , Finocchiaro Charles J.
Published: April 2015

In recent years, considerable scholarly attention has focused on earmarks, the quintessential example of pork barrel politics. We assess the degree to which existing theories can explain the distribution of earmarks in the U.S. House of Representatives. First, drawing on informal interviews with individuals on Capitol Hill regarding the earmark process, we argue that assessing institutional and constituency-level factors that affect the earmark receipts of individual members requires examination at the level of the Appropriations subcommittees. Second, we demonstrate that both distributive and partisan theories of legislative organization are applicable to the distribution of earmarks. Finally, we present results indicating that contrary to the conventional wisdom, most subcommittees do not distribute pork based on electoral vulnerability. Rather, legislators’ status in the appropriations process has the most influence. These findings offer insights into the path forward as debate continues over congressionally directed spending.
Periodic Epileptiform Discharges in Children With Advanced Stages of Progressive Myoclonic Epilepsy
Authors: Isobe Natsumi , Sakai Yasunari , Kira Ryutaro , Sanefuji Masafumi , Ishizaki Yoshito , Sakata Ayumi , Sasazuki Momoko , Torio Michiko , Akamine Satoshi , Torisu Hiroyuki , Hara Toshiro
Published: April 2015

Huntington’s disease (HD) and dentatorubral-pallidoluysian atrophy (DRPLA) are monogenic forms of neurodegenerative disorders with autosomal dominant inheritance. Compared with adult-onset HD and DRPLA, children with these disorders are more severely affected and are known to manifest the devastating symptoms of progressive myoclonic epilepsy (PME) syndrome. In this report, we present a 6-year-old girl with HD from a family, and 2 siblings with DRPLA from another unrelated family. Serial neuroimaging and electroencephalography (EEG) studies showed that periodic epileptiform discharges and synchronized paroxysmal activity became prominent with their disease progression. Periodic complexes in EEG may emerge at advanced stages of childhood PME as a consequence of rapidly degenerating processes of their brain functions.
“And now for the good news…” the impact of negative and positive messages in self-management education for people with Type 2 diabetes: A qualitative study in an ethnically diverse population
Authors: Eborall Helen C , Virdee Satnam K , Patel Naina , Redwood Sabi , Greenfield Sheila M , Stone Margaret A
Published: April 2015

Objectives

To explore the impact of Diabetes Education and Self Management for Ongoing and Newly Diagnosed (DESMOND) Foundation education, particularly from interviewees' narratives regarding recall of good and bad news messages and behaviour changes.

Methods

In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample (n=19) of people who had attended education sessions as part of a randomised controlled trial in two UK sites with ethnically diverse populations. Data collection and analysis were informed by the constant comparative approach and facilitated through charting.

Results

Findings were similar in people from different ethnic backgrounds. Exploration of levels of recall of the sessions suggested that this was variable and sometimes very limited, but that interviewees had all assimilated some relevant learning. Key themes emerged relating to the way in which interviewees recalled and had been influenced by positive (good news) and negative (bad news) messages within the education sessions, including biomedical explanations. Both types of message appeared to have an important role in terms of motivation to change behaviour, but a notable observation was that none of the interviewees recalled receiving bad news messages when diagnosed.

Discussion

Our findings have highlighted the importance of providing and combining both negative and positive messages within education designed to promote self-management behaviour change.
Operation and maintenance strategies for wave energy converters
Authors: Ambühl Simon , Marquis Laurent , Kofoed Jens Peter , Dalsgaard Sørensen John
Published: April 2015

Inspection and maintenance costs are a significant contributor to the cost of energy for wave energy converters. There are different operation and maintenance strategies for wave energy converters. Maintenance can be performed after failure (corrective) or before a breakdown (preventive) occurs. Furthermore, a helicopter and boats can be used to transport equipment and personnel to the device, or the whole device can be towed to a harbour for operation and maintenance actions. This article describes, among others, a risk-based inspection and maintenance planning approach where the overall repair costs including costs due to lost electricity production are minimized. The risk-based approach is compared with an approach where only boats are used and another approach where the target is to minimize the downtime of the device. This article presents a dynamic approach for total operation and maintenance costs estimations for wave energy converter applications including real weather data and damage accumulation. Furthermore, uncertainties related with costs, structural damage accumulation, inspection accuracy and different maintenance strategies can be included. This article contains a case study where different maintenance strategies are applied for the Wavestar device, and the influences of the different parameters, for example, failure rate, inspection quality and inspection interval, are evaluated for the overall costs and the number of repairs needed during its lifetime.
Long-term clinical outcome after epineural coaptation of digital nerves
Authors: Fakin R. M. , Calcagni M. , Klein H. J. , Giovanoli P.
Published: April 2015

This study evaluates the long-term clinical outcome and complication rate after digital nerve repair in adults and aims to identify possible prognostic factors of sensory recovery. End-to-end epineural coaptation was performed under magnification. A total of 93 coapted digital nerves were clinically evaluated with a mean follow-up of 3.5 years (range 1–6 years). The mean two-point discrimination was 10.6 mm (versus 4.4 mm for the contralateral side). Cutaneous pressure threshold tested with Semmes–Weinstein monofilaments showed a mean value of 2.7 (versus 2.2 for the contralateral side). Only 2% of our patients developed painful neuromas. None of our patients recovered normal functional sensibility, however, recovery of protective sensation contributed to a high reported level of satisfaction. No correlation was observed between the sensory outcome and age, smoking, mechanism of injury, lesion to or anastomosis of a digital artery, or time of immobilization. The only identified predictor of the result was the surgeon’s level of experience. This highlights the importance of adequate training and practice in the surgical repair of smaller peripheral nerves.

Level of evidence: IV
One-stage rotational osteotomy for congenital radioulnar synostosis
Authors: Hwang J. H. , Kim H. W. , Lee D. H. , Chung J. H. , Park H.
Published: April 2015

We report the results of a one-stage rotational osteotomy of the proximal third of the ulna and distal third of the radius with segmental bone resection for treating congenital radioulnar synostosis. We retrospectively reviewed 25 patients (28 forearms) treated by operation. Patients were divided into two groups according to the method of internal fixation at the osteotomy sites. In Group 1 the ulnar osteotomy was stabilized with an intramedullary pin and in Group 2 no fixation was used. The average forearm position improved from 47° pronation before surgery, to 27° supination after surgery. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in surgical outcomes. One-stage rotational osteotomy of the proximal third of the ulna and distal third of the radius with segmental bone resection is a simple and safe treatment for patients with congenital radioulnar synostosis. Internal fixation at the osteotomy site seems to be unnecessary.

Level of Evidence: Level 4
Targeting the immune system to treat lung cancer: rationale and clinical experience
Authors: Guibert Nicolas , Delaunay Myriam , Mazières Julien
Published: April 2015

The use of immunotherapy that harnesses and enhances the innate powers of the immune system to fight cancer cells represents the most promising new cancer treatment approach since the development of the first chemotherapies and, more recently, targeted therapies. Unexpectedly, lung cancer has recently emerged as an exciting new target for immune-based therapies. Several approaches to immunotherapy for lung cancer have shown promise in early clinical trials and in late-phase development. The most advanced strategies can be split into two main categories: therapeutic vaccines and checkpoint inhibitors. At this time of great expectations, this review provides the reader with an update on the immunotherapies used to treat lung cancer with a focus on the rationale of targeting the immune system. It reports the results from recent major clinical trials, describes new toxicity profiles associated with such drugs, and particularly the role of the pulmonologists in their management. This review provides an overview of the main perspectives within this field.
A review of the efficacy and safety of extended-release topiramate in the adjunctive treatment for refractory partial-onset seizures
Authors: Chung Steve S.
Published: April 2015

Topiramate has been widely utilized worldwide as an effective medication against partial- and generalized-onset seizures. Extended-release topiramate was developed to provide patients with the convenience of once-daily dosing and potentially improved tolerability by reducing serum concentration fluctuation. USL255 is a once-daily, extended-release formulation of topiramate, which was recently approved in the USA. Compared with immediate-release topiramate taken twice daily, once-daily USL255 provides equivalent topiramate exposure with a 26% reduction in plasma fluctuations. A multinational, phase III, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in patients with refractory partial-onset seizures demonstrated that USL255 (200 mg/day) significantly improved seizure control and was well tolerated with low overall neuropsychiatric and neurocognitive adverse events.
Perceptions of barriers and facilitators in physical activity participation among women in Thiruvananthapuram City, India
Authors: Mathews Elezebeth , Lakshmi J. K. , Ravindran T. K. Sundari , Pratt Michael , Thankappan K. R.
Published: April 2015

Background:

Despite the known benefits of physical activity, very few people, especially women, are found to engage in regular physical activity. This study explored the perceptions, barriers and facilitators related to physical activity among women in Thiruvananthapuram City, India.

Methods:

Four focus group discussions were conducted among individuals between 25 and 60 years of age, in a few areas of Thiruvananthapuram City Corporation limits in Kerala, preparatory to the design of a physical activity intervention trial. An open-ended approach was used and emergent findings were analyzed and interpreted.

Results:

Women associated physical activity mostly with household activities. The majority of the women considered their activity level adequate, although they engaged in what the researchers concluded were quite low levels of activity. Commonly reported barriers were lack of time, motivation, and interest; stray dogs; narrow roads; and not being used to the culture of walking. Facilitators of activity were seeing others walking, walking in pairs, and pleasant walking routes. Walking was reported as the most feasible physical activity by women.

Conclusion:

Physical activity promotion strategies among women should address the prevailing cultural norms in the community, and involve social norming and overcoming cultural barriers. They should also target the modifiable determinants of physical activity, such as improving self-efficacy, improving knowledge on the adequacy of physical activity and its recommendations, facilitating goal-setting, and enhancing social support through peer support and group-based activities.
Limited capsular release and controlled manipulation under anaesthesia for the treatment of frozen shoulder
Authors: Bidwai Amit S , Mayne Alistair IW , Nielsen Maryke , Brownson Peter
Published: April 2015

Background

In light of recent interest in the cost-effectiveness of the treatment options available for frozen shoulder, we aimed to determine the results of limited anterior capsular release and controlled manipulation under anaesthesia (MUA) in the treatment of primary frozen shoulder in terms of patient-related outcomes measure, range of motion and re-intervention rates.

Methods

This single-surgeon series included prospectively collected data on all patients undergoing capsular release with MUA from March 2011 until June 2013, with a minimum follow-up of 6 months from the index procedure. Outcome measures included pre- and postoperative Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), range of motion and need for re-intervention.

Results

Fifty-four procedures were performed in 52 patients. Mean age 50 years (range 42 years to 59 years); male: female ratio = 11: 41. There was a highly statistically significant improvement in both pain and function modules of the OSS ( p < 0.005) and range of motion ( p < 0.005) at 6 months. The median postoperative score was 41 from a maximum of 48 points, with an average mean improvement of 24 points. Seventeen patients were diabetics. There was no significant difference in pre-operative and postoperative OSS or range of motion between the diabetic group and the non-diabetic groups. No patients required surgical re-intervention.

Conclusions

A combination of limited capsular release and MUA for the treatment of primary frozen shoulder is a safe and effective procedure resulting in marked improvement in pain, function and range of motion.
Linking Firms, Employees, and Customers
Authors: Wong IpKin Anthony
Published: April 2015

Hospitality studies often point to a need to investigate the linkage between service providers/firms, employees, and customers. Although there is a large body of literature showing that customer behaviors are shaped by the providers while employee performance and commitment are shaped by the organizations they are embedded within, most research exclusively uses data from a single level to infer social phenomena at multiple levels. This limitation creates fallacies that inhibit a complete understanding of research problems that traverse several social hierarchies. This article presents common research problems in the hospitality literature and examples of how multilevel methods could facilitate more rigorous research by controlling contextual and potentially confounding variables that exist at multiple levels. It also presents new research avenues that could advance the knowledge and theoretical development of the field. Based on examples of three scenarios delineating research problems in three major research streams, this article shows how multilevel methods could represent a leap forward to promote more rigorous and fruitful hospitality research. It further explains how multiple methods could bridge the divides between micro and macro research and between science and practice.