bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Understanding Multidecadal Variability in ENSO Amplitude
Authors: Russell Alexandria M. , Gnanadesikan Anand
Published: April 2014

Sea surface temperatures (SSTs) in the tropical Pacific vary as a result of the coupling between ocean and atmosphere driven largely by El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO). ENSO amplitude is known to vary on long time scales, which makes it difficult to quantify its response to climate change and constrain the physical processes that drive it. To characterize the long-period variability in ocean–atmosphere coupling strengths, a linear regression of local SST changes is applied to the 4000-yr GFDL Climate Model, version 2.1 (CM2.1) and the 500-yr GFDL CM2 with Modular Ocean Model version 4p1 (MOM4p1) at coarse resolution (CM2Mc) preindustrial control runs, while also comparing to the observationally constrained Ensemble Coupled Data Assimilation (ECDA) dataset. The models produce regression coefficients that vary widely on multidecadal time scales. These variations are strongly reflected in the long-period modulation of ocean stratification and surface precipitation. During high variance periods, when there is stronger stratification and precipitation in the central equatorial Pacific, the ocean’s surface is less responsive to zonal wind stress perturbations, while the atmosphere is more responsive to SST perturbations. The mechanisms underlying this behavior are examined through an expansion of the linear regression equation to individual temperature tendency components. Long-term changes in ENSO amplitude are due to changes in both the oceanic response to the atmosphere, which is predominantly driven by regional changes in the advective and vertical diffusive heat tendencies, and the atmospheric response to the ocean.
Atmosphere and Ocean Origins of North American Droughts*
Authors: Seager Richard , Hoerling Martin
Published: April 2014

The atmospheric and oceanic causes of North American droughts are examined using observations and ensemble climate simulations. The models indicate that oceanic forcing of annual mean precipitation variability accounts for up to 40% of total variance in northeastern Mexico, the southern Great Plains, and the Gulf Coast states but less than 10% in central and eastern Canada. Observations and models indicate robust tropical Pacific and tropical North Atlantic forcing of annual mean precipitation and soil moisture with the most heavily influenced areas being in southwestern North America and the southern Great Plains. In these regions, individual wet and dry years, droughts, and decadal variations are well reproduced in atmosphere models forced by observed SSTs. Oceanic forcing was important in causing multiyear droughts in the 1950s and at the turn of the twenty-first century, although a similar ocean configuration in the 1970s was not associated with drought owing to an overwhelming influence of internal atmospheric variability. Up to half of the soil moisture deficits during severe droughts in the southeast United States in 2000, Texas in 2011, and the central Great Plains in 2012 were related to SST forcing, although SST forcing was an insignificant factor for northern Great Plains drought in 1988. During the early twenty-first century, natural decadal swings in tropical Pacific and North Atlantic SSTs have contributed to a dry regime for the United States. Long-term changes caused by increasing trace gas concentrations are now contributing to a modest signal of soil moisture depletion, mainly over the U.S. Southwest, thereby prolonging the duration and severity of naturally occurring droughts.
Deep Meridional Overturning Circulation in the Indian Ocean and Its Relation to Indian Ocean Dipole
Authors: Wang Weiqiang , Zhu Xiuhua , Wang Chunzai , Köhl Armin
Published: April 2014

This paper uses the 42-yr German Estimating the Circulation and Climate of the Ocean (GECCO) synthesis data to analyze and examine the relationship of the Indian Ocean deep meridional overturning circulation (DMOC) with the Indian Ocean dipole mode (IOD). Contributions of various dynamical processes are assessed by decomposing the DMOC into the Ekman and geostrophic transport, the external mode, and a residual term. The first three terms successfully describe the DMOC with a marginal residual term. The following conclusions are obtained. First, the seasonal cycle of the DMOC is mainly determined by the Ekman component. The exception is during the transitional seasons (March–April and September–October) in the northern Indian Ocean Basin, where the geostrophic component dominates. Second, at the beginning phase of the IOD (May–June), the Ekman component dominates the DMOC structure; at and after the peak phase of the IOD (September–December), the DMOC structure is primarily determined by the geostrophic component in correspondence with the well-developed sea surface temperature anomalies, while the wind (and thus the Ekman component) plays a secondary role south of 10°S and contributes negatively within the zonal band of 10° on both sides of the equator. Therefore, there exists a surface to deep-ocean connection through which IOD-related surface wind and ocean temperature anomalies are transferred down to the deep ocean. Westward-propagating signals are observed even in the deep ocean, suggesting possible roles of Rossby waves in transferring the surface signal to the deep ocean.
Quantifying the Summertime Response of the Austral Jet Stream and Hadley Cell to Stratospheric Ozone and Greenhouse Gases
Authors: Gerber Edwin P. , Son Seok-Woo
Published: April 2014

The impact of anthropogenic forcing on the summertime austral circulation is assessed across three climate model datasets: the Chemistry–Climate Model Validation activity 2 and phases 3 and 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project. Changes in stratospheric ozone and greenhouse gases impact the Southern Hemisphere in this season, and a simple framework based on temperature trends in the lower polar stratosphere and upper tropical troposphere is developed to separate their effects. It suggests that shifts in the jet stream and Hadley cell are driven by changes in the upper-troposphere–lower-stratosphere temperature gradient. The mean response is comparable in the three datasets; ozone has chiefly caused the poleward shift observed in recent decades, while ozone and greenhouse gases largely offset each other in the future.

The multimodel mean perspective, however, masks considerable spread in individual models’ circulation projections. Spread resulting from differences in temperature trends is separated from differences in the circulation response to a given temperature change; both contribute equally to uncertainty in future circulation trends. Spread in temperature trends is most associated with differences in polar stratospheric temperatures, and could be narrowed by reducing uncertainty in future ozone changes. Differences in tropical temperatures are also important, and arise from both uncertainty in future emissions and differences in models’ climate sensitivity. Differences in climate sensitivity, however, only matter significantly in a high emissions future. Even if temperature trends were known, however, differences in the dynamical response to temperature changes must be addressed to substantially narrow spread in circulation projections.
Retrieval of Atmospheric and Cloud Property Anomalies and Their Trend from Temporally and Spatially Averaged Infrared Spectra Observed from Space
Authors: Kato Seiji , Rose Fred G. , Liu Xu , Wielicki Bruce A. , Mlynczak Martin G.
Published: April 2014

A surface, atmospheric, and cloud (fraction, height, optical thickness, and particle size) property anomaly retrieval from highly averaged longwave spectral radiances is simulated using 28 years of reanalysis. Instantaneous nadir-view spectral radiances observed from an instrument on a 90° inclination polar orbit are computed. Spectral radiance changes caused by surface, atmospheric, and cloud property perturbations are also computed and used for the retrieval. This study’s objectives are 1) to investigate whether or not separating clear sky from cloudy sky reduces the retrieval error and 2) to estimate the error in a trend of retrieved properties. This simulation differs from earlier studies in that annual 10° latitude zonal cloud and atmospheric property anomalies defined as the deviation from 28-yr climatological means are retrieved instead of the difference of these properties from two time periods. The root-mean-square (RMS) difference of temperature and humidity anomalies retrieved from all-sky radiance anomalies is similar to the RMS difference derived from clear-sky radiance anomalies computed by removing clouds. This indicates that the cloud property anomaly retrieval error does not affect the retrieved temperature and humidity anomalies. When retrieval errors are nearly random, the error in the trend of retrieved properties is small. Approximately 30% of 10° latitude zones meet conditions that the true temperature and water vapor amount trends are within a 95% confidence interval of retrieved trends, and that the standard deviation of retrieved anomalies σret is within 20% of the standard deviation of true anomalies σn. If σret/σn − 1 is within ±0.2, 91% of the true trends fall within the 95% confidence interval of the corresponding retrieved trend.
Pan-Arctic and Regional Sea Ice Predictability: Initialization Month Dependence
Authors: Day J. J. , Tietsche S. , Hawkins E.
Published: April 2014

Seasonal-to-interannual predictions of Arctic sea ice may be important for Arctic communities and industries alike. Previous studies have suggested that Arctic sea ice is potentially predictable but that the skill of predictions of the September extent minimum, initialized in early summer, may be low. The authors demonstrate that a melt season “predictability barrier” and two predictability reemergence mechanisms, suggested by a previous study, are robust features of five global climate models. Analysis of idealized predictions with one of these models [Hadley Centre Global Environment Model, version 1.2 (HadGEM1.2)], initialized in January, May and July, demonstrates that this predictability barrier exists in initialized forecasts as well. As a result, the skill of sea ice extent and volume forecasts are strongly start date dependent and those that are initialized in May lose skill much faster than those initialized in January or July. Thus, in an operational setting, initializing predictions of extent and volume in July has strong advantages for the prediction of the September minimum when compared to predictions initialized in May.

Furthermore, a regional analysis of sea ice predictability indicates that extent is predictable for longer in the seasonal ice zones of the North Atlantic and North Pacific than in the regions dominated by perennial ice in the central Arctic and marginal seas. In a number of the Eurasian shelf seas, which are important for Arctic shipping, only the forecasts initialized in July have continuous skill during the first summer. In contrast, predictability of ice volume persists for over 2 yr in the central Arctic but less in other regions.
Reducing Maternal Depressive Symptoms Through Promotion of Parenting in Pediatric Primary Care
Authors: Berkule Samantha B. , Cates Carolyn Brockmeyer , Dreyer Benard P. , Huberman Harris S. , Arevalo Jenny , Burtchen Nina , Weisleder Adriana , Mendelsohn Alan L.
Published: April 2014

We studied associations between 2 pediatric primary care interventions promoting parental responsiveness and maternal depressive symptoms among low-income mothers. This randomized controlled trial included 2 interventions (Video Interaction Project [VIP], Building Blocks [BB]) and a control group. VIP is a relationship-based intervention, using video-recordings of mother–child dyads to reinforce interactional strengths. BB communicates with parents via parenting newsletters, learning materials, and questionnaires. At mean (SD) child age 6.9 (1.2) months, depressive symptoms were assessed with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), parental responsiveness was assessed with StimQ-I. A total of 407 dyads were assessed. Rates of mild depressive symptoms were lower for VIP (20.6%) and BB (21.1%) than Controls (32.1%, P = .04). Moderate depressive symptoms were lower for VIP (4.0%) compared to Controls (9.7%, P = .031). Mean PHQ-9 scores differed across 3 groups ( F = 3.8, P = .02): VIP mothers scored lower than controls ( P = .02 by Tukey HSD). Parent–child interactions partially mediated VIP-associated reductions in depressive symptoms (indirect effect −.17, 95% confidence interval −.36, −.03).
Upper Endoscopy in Children
Authors: Alabd Alrazzak Baraa , Husien Tarek , Preston Deborah L. , Elitsur Yoram
Published: April 2014

Upper endoscopy (esophagogastroduodenoscopy or EGD) is an important diagnostic tool for many gastrointestinal symptoms. In recent years, the number of EGDs has increased dramatically. Unfortunately, the rate of negative (normal) EGD in children is high, approximating 50% of all procedures. To decrease the cost of EGD procedures, it is important to assess which clinical symptom would detect positive findings. This information may also be valuable in improving the referral practices of the primary care physicians for EGD. In a retrospective study, we investigated the pathological yield of the first EGD in children referred for various symptoms. Abdominal pain was the most common referral symptom and the best predictor of positive EGD, reaching an accuracy level of 79.9%. All other investigated symptoms had less than 50% accuracy. We concluded that most gastrointestinal symptoms in children have a poor predictive value for positive EGD. A cost–benefit analysis of EGD in children is needed.
Faith, fear, and free trade
Authors: McKenzie Francine
Published: April 2014

In October 2013, Canada and the EU announced the conclusion, in principle, of a comprehensive economic trade agreement (CETA). Canada's prime minister described the agreement as historic, “the biggest deal our country has ever made,” and assured Canadians there would be major economic benefits. Not all Canadians share the prime minister's confidence. Concerns about job loss, affordable health care, farm production, and national sovereignty are central to criticism of the agreement. Why has this free trade agreement, and others before it, elicited a polarized reaction, with the champions and opponents of free trade squaring off against one another? Using the history of global trade and Canadian trade policy since 1945 as a guide, this essay examines the motivations, concerns, assumptions, and meanings that animate debates over free trade in Canada. Faith and fear are central to the way people understand and respond to free trade. This essay also explains how domestic and international factors and interests have shaped free trade since 1945, and how it blends economic, political, and geopolitical considerations.
The financialisation of the social project: Embedded liberalism, neoliberalism and home ownership
Authors: Forrest Ray , Hirayama Yosuke
Published: April 2014

This paper argues that the relentless logic of commodification has served to undermine a key element of the social cement of contemporary capitalism: home ownership. In addressing this issue, the paper explores the development of the post war ‘social project’ of home ownership with particular reference to mature home ownership societies such as the USA, Japan, Britain and Australia. The paper then outlines the new fault lines and fractures which have emerged in post-crisis home ownership systems and the way in which a more vigorous, financialised private landlordism has emerged from the debris of the subprime meltdown. A key argument is that in a new and more intensified process of housing commodification, the social project promise of home ownership for a previous generation has shifted to a promise of private landlordism for current generations. In summary, the social project of Keynesian-embedded liberalism has been undermined by the economic project of neoliberalism.
Empowerment for whom? The impact of community renewal tax incentives on jobs and businesses
Authors: Smith Richard
Published: April 2014

Some postulate that spatially targeted grants and tax cuts stimulate jobs and establishment openings, and reduce closures in distressed urban neighbourhoods. The scholarly literature is mixed and mostly argues that at best these programmes have no impact and at worst raise land rents, spurring gentrification. The USA designated three rounds of Renewal Communities, Empowerment Zones or Enterprise Communities (RC/EZ/EC) to receive wage credits or grants. While others have estimated the impact of Round I EZ/ECs, this article estimates the impact of more recent rounds in Tennessee and California on job and businesses using propensity score matching. Data are presented by RC/EZ for retail, very small and minority establishments. Jobs increased in RC/EZs compared with control areas during the wage credit period. In general, establishment openings rose for small establishments but fell for retail. Closures overall fell. Future place-based initiatives should be strategic about industry mix and minority establishments.
Decentralized manufacturing management by a multi-agent optimal control method
Authors: Miranbeigi M , Moshiri B , Rahimi-Kian A
Published: April 2014

A supply chain management system is defined as communications among suppliers, plants, distribution centres, retailers and demand stimulus. These systems are large scale and multi-agent, and therefore a decentralized control method must be used. Also, demand forecasting, as a challenge in production management, can be estimated by advanced methods or modelled using demand forecasting functions. In this paper, a new decentralized receding horizon control method is used to achieve customer contentment and low-cost inventory in a complete chain of supply, manufacture, assembly, warehouse, distribution and retail units. The main novelty of the method returns to the use of both the move suppression term and the look-ahead idea to increase robustness and smoothness in a supply chain containing assembly units. Also, a Kalman filter estimator is applied to estimate states and output variables. For this purpose, a suitable model and appropriate optimal control method are developed. Finally, the efficiency is indicated regarding simulation results.
A new technique for solving continuous Sylvester-conjugate matrix equations
Authors: Song Caiqin , Feng Jun-e , Zhao Jianli
Published: April 2014

In the present paper, by using of the coefficients of the characteristic polynomial of matrix [Formula: see text] and the so-called Leverrier algorithm, the explicit solutions to the Sylvester-conjugate matrix equation [Formula: see text] (including the Lyapunov-conjugate matrix equation as special case) have been constructed. While one of the explicit solutions is stated as a polynomial of coefficient matrices of the matrix equation, one of the explicit solutions is expressed by the symmetric operator matrix, controllability matrix and observability matrix. Comparing to the existing results, there is no requirement on the coefficient matrices. At the end of this paper, one numerical example is shown to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Noncoagulating Enteral Formula Can Empty Faster From the Stomach
Authors: Kuyumcu Sena , Menne Dieter , Curcic Jelena , Goetze Oliver , Klebach Marianne , Abrahamse Evan , Hofman Zandrie , Fried Michael , Schwizer Werner , Steingoetter Andreas
Published: April 2014

Background: The gastric accumulation of enteral formulas in tube‐fed patients leads to an increased risk of vomiting and regurgitation. Gastric secretion–induced coagulation of proteins in enteral formulas might lead to gastric accumulation of solid protein particles that further increase the risk of upper digestive intolerance. This study used magnetic resonance imaging to noninvasively assess the half‐emptying time (t50) of enteral formulas differing in protein composition. Methods: Three isocaloric (450 kcal) and isovolumetric (300 mL) enteral formulas, 1 with a noncoagulating P4 protein blend and 2 with coagulating casein‐dominant protein blends, were compared in a double‐blind, randomized, 3‐way crossover study in 21 healthy volunteers. Gastric content emptying curves were fitted with the LinExp model to compute t50 and the parameter κ with κ > 1 reflecting the accumulation of gastric secretion. t50 and κ were compared between all 3 enteral formulas. The formula that emptied fastest was identified by an ordinal mixed model using the ranks of t50. Results: As indicated by values for κ > 1, all enteral formulas induced gastric secretion. No differences were detected for t50. However, the noncoagulating formula emptied fastest in 74% of all participants (P = .004). Conclusion: This study demonstrates that a noncoagulating enteral formula can empty faster from the stomach compared with coagulating formulas in a large cohort of healthy volunteers. Investigations on the efficiency of the noncoagulating P4 protein blend in patients requiring tube feeding will further elucidate its potential for reducing upper digestive intolerance during enteral nutrition. Trial NTR2979.
Erich Fromm’s Ecological Messianism
Authors: Gunderson Ryan
Published: April 2014

Revisiting Erich Fromm’s works provides a theoretical foundation for a comprehensive and normative theory of human–nature relations that contains psychical, social, economic, and ethical components. Fromm’s system of thought was rooted in understanding humanity’s effort to establish meaningful relations with the natural world and how socioeconomic systems mediate this endeavor. His normative theory maintained that society must develop a nondestructive relationship with the environment by fostering and perfecting the human potentiality of biophilia—a thorough love of living beings. He argued that biophilia will not become the prevailing character structure until society is capable of meeting three prerequisites for human flourishing: security, justice, and freedom. Because Fromm’s social–ecological and ethical insights were partially rooted in humanism and Talmudic studies, he forces environmental scholars to rethink the Judeo-Christian and humanistic traditions, two pillars of Western thought often criticized in environmental literature.
Making mediated memory work: Cuban-Americans, Miami media and the doings of diaspora memories
Authors: Lohmeier Christine , Pentzold Christian
Published: April 2014

How are mediated memories brought into being? In other words, how can we understand the ways personal and public memories are enacted in environments that have become increasingly digitally networked? Following this fundamental question for current interrogations of the entanglement of media and memory, we first develop a concept of mediated memory work. Instituting experiences and senses of the past, these time- and space-bound efforts interweave with arrangements of people and their social relations, cultural discourses, objects and media environments. Capitalizing on such an understanding of mediated memory work, the article demonstrates how and to what ends the enactment of memories can be empirically studied by using the example of the Cuban-American community in Miami. In particular, building on participant observation, in-depth interviews and media ethnography, we outline practices, cultural artefacts, communal bonds, compassionate relations and a media manifold that have been employed by different segments of a diasporic collective in shaping how the country of origin and the exile is to be remembered.
Household Composition and Maternal Depression
Authors: Piontak Joy Rayanne
Published: April 2014

The context in which women raise their children has changed significantly over the past 50 years. However, research on families has often neglected to account for the increasing diversity within household structures and its effects on mothers. Using logistic regression, this article examines the likelihood of depression among mothers and multigenerational coresidence, in the first year of the focal child’s life. This research uses data from the first three waves of the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, a national representative sample of 2,970 married, single, and cohabitating mothers. The results indicate that those living in a multigenerational household show a statistically significant difference in the likelihood of depression; however, the direction of the relationship is moderated by the duration of the coresidence and the mother’s race/ethnicity and marital status. This article also addresses implications for future research and public policy.
Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy in the Detection of Head and Neck Precancerous Lesions
Authors: Nathan Cherie‐Ann O. , Kaskas Nadine M. , Ma Xiaohui , Chaudhery Shubnum , Lian Timothy , Moore‐Medlin Tara , Shi Runhua , Mehta Vikas
Published: April 2014

Objective

This study aimed to determine the feasibility of using probe‐based confocal laser endomicroscopy (pCLE) in the diagnostic differentiation of non‐neoplastic lesions from precancerous and cancerous lesions of head and neck patients.

Study Design

Diagnostic test evaluation.

Setting

Louisiana State University Health Shreveport.

Subjects and Methods

Intravenous injection of fluorescein was given to patients with precancerous and cancerous head and neck lesions (n = 21) followed by the use of a 1.8‐mm GastroFlex probe in the oral cavity with subsequent biopsies of selected areas. Probe‐based confocal laser endomicroscopy images were compared to histologic evaluation of visualized sites using sensitivity, specificity, negative predictive value (NPV), and positive predictive value (PPV).

Results

The dorsal surface of the tongue was not well visualized. The remaining nonkeratinized subsites, including the buccal mucosa, floor of mouth, and ventral tongue, were well visualized. Diagnoses based on pCLE images correlated well with the gold standard diagnoses based on tissue histology. The overall sensitivity for diagnosis of dysplasia versus nondysplasia was 80.0% (95% confidence interval [CI], 62.0‐98.0), specificity and PPV were 100%, and the NPV was 80.0% (95% CI, 60.0‐100.0). The overall specificity, sensitivity, PPV, and NPV for pCLE diagnosis of carcinoma versus nondysplasia were 100%. The overall sensitivity for diagnosis of carcinoma versus dysplasia was 85.7% (95% CI, 73.0‐99.0), specificity and PPV were 100%, and the NPV was 80.0% (95% CI, 60.0‐100.0).

Conclusion

The pCLE is a promising method for differentiating between nondysplastic, precancerous, and cancerous lesions of the head and neck.
Levinas on the Social: Guilt and the City
Authors: Herzog Annabel
Published: April 2014

This paper focuses on Levinas’s understanding of the social as distinguished from the political. In his neo-phenomenological work, Levinas never conceptualized the difference between the political and the social, because he was more interested in the difference between the ethical and everything else. In his Talmudic Readings, however, with the help of examples or paradigms, he offers a vision of a social domain distinct from the political one. This paper concentrates on the Talmudic Readings to delineate those situations in which Levinas distinguishes such a specifically social realm. It analyzes Levinas’s understanding of the city as paradigm of liberalism’s shortcomings and elaborates on the absence of the social in Levinas’s conception of a good life.
Political Transition and Democratic Teachers: Negotiating Citizenship in the Spanish Education System
Authors: Groves Tamar
Published: April 2014

The success of Spain’s transformation from a dictatorship to a stable democracy has triggered a lively discussion about the factors which contributed to the process. The question of civic participation in Spain’s political transformation has proved highly controversial and I suggest that observing professional domains and their implications for citizen formation processes provides a new way to evaluate the civic contribution to Spain’s democratization. Spanish teachers mobilized in the 1970s around two main issues: their working conditions and pedagogical methods. This article focuses on the implications of their common struggle to articulate, construct and disseminate democratic citizenship. It shows how they contributed to free deliberation, civic involvement and citizen empowerment, aspiring to supplement the concept of citizenship with those of active participation in community organizations, knowledge of governmental procedures, critical assessment of social, political and economic structures and addressing areas of injustice.
An Italian Aristocracy in Arms: The Duke of Parma Goes to War 1635–1637
Authors: Hanlon Gregory
Published: April 2014

When the Duke of Parma, Odoardo Farnese, summoned his noble subjects to join his army with a view to joining the French alliance against Spain in 1635, he was gratified by a turnout of astonishingly high proportions. Not nearly enough of them had personal experience of modern war, and so the prince appointed military nobles from much of northern Italy to fill the cadres, alongside the French officers whose contingents on loan from Louis XIII made up a third of the infantry. Unlike Spanish nobles, Odoardo’s subjects were even willing to serve in the ranks, while waiting for their advancement. The two brief campaigns turned out to be a disaster for Odoardo and his subjects. War quickly receded from Parma’s horizon, but the experience reveals that Italy’s aristocrats had not yet consigned their weapons to display cases.
The Power of the Scribe: Delegated Writing in Modern Europe
Authors: Lyons Martyn
Published: April 2014

Although historians of modern literacy acknowledge the presence of ‘scribes’, they leave several questions unanswered: Who had recourse to ‘scribes’? For what specific purposes did delegated writing take place? Who were the ‘scribes’? What was their relationship with authors? In offering some answers, I draw on what we already know about delegated writing in nineteenth and early twentieth-century Europe, supplemented by original research on the writing of ordinary people in the First World War and in the age of mass migration. In identifying the main types of delegated writing – namely, the local notable, the family member or close colleague and the professional writer – I stress the power of the writer. Delegated writing was not a mechanical process of dictation, but a collaborative project, in which the ‘scribe’ deployed stock phrases, censored and gave advice. Calling on a ‘scribe’ inevitably implied a partial surrender of authorial autonomy. In conclusion, I outline ways in which the ‘scribe’ has made a comeback since the late twentieth century.
Patterns of diagnoses among children and young adults with life-limiting conditions: A secondary analysis of a national dataset
Authors: Fraser Lorna K , Lidstone Victoria , Miller Michael , Aldridge Jan , Norman Paul , McKinney Patricia A , Parslow Roger C
Published: April 2014

Background:

Numbers of children and young people with life-limiting conditions are rising, and increasing lifespans require young adults with life-limiting condition to transit to appropriate adult services.

Aim:

To describe the prevalence of life-limiting condition in children and young adults by age, sex, diagnostic group, ethnicity and deprivation.

Design:

A secondary analysis of the English Hospital Episode Statistics dataset was undertaken to calculate prevalence per 10,000 population.

Setting/participants:

Individuals (0–40 years) with life-limiting conditions were identified within an English Hospital Episode Statistics dataset by applying a customised coding framework of International Classification of Diseases, 10th Edition, disease codes.

Results:

There were 462,962 inpatient hospital admissions for 92,129 individual patients with a life-limiting condition. Prevalence-by-age group curve is U shaped with the highest overall prevalence in the under 1-year age group (127.3 per 10,000), decreasing until age 21–25 years (21.1 per 10,000) before rising steeply to reach 55.5 per 10,000 in the 36–40 -year age group. The distribution by diagnostic group varies by age: congenital anomalies are most prevalent in children until age 16–20 years with oncology diagnoses then becoming the most prevalent.

Conclusion:

Non-malignant diagnoses are common in children and young adults, and services that have historically focussed on oncological care will need to widen their remit to serve this population of life-limited patients. The diagnosis determining a patient’s life-limiting condition will strongly influence their palliative care service needs. Therefore, understanding the diagnostic and demographic breakdown of this population of teenagers and young adults is crucial for planning future service provision.
Ketamine infusions for treatment resistant depression: a series of 28 patients treated weekly or twice weekly in an ECT clinic
Authors: Diamond Peter R , Farmery Andrew D , Atkinson Stephanie , Haldar Jag , Williams Nicola , Cowen Phil J , Geddes John R , McShane Rupert
Published: April 2014

Background:

Ketamine has a rapid antidepressant effect in treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The effects on cognitive function of multiple ketamine infusions and of concurrent antidepressant medication on response rate and duration are not known.

Method:

Twenty-eight patients with uni- or bipolar TRD were treated over three weeks with either three or six ketamine infusions (0.5 mg/kg over 40 minutes) in the recovery room of a routine ECT clinic. Post-treatment memory assessments were conducted on day 21 (4–7 days after the final infusion). Patients were followed up for six months where possible, with severity of depression and side effects monitored throughout.

Results:

Eight (29%) patients responded of whom four remitted. Only three (11%) patients had responded within six hours after a single infusion, but in all responders, the response had developed before the third infusion. The duration of response from the final infusion was variable (median 70, range 25–168 days). Discontinuations included two (7%) because of acute adverse reactions during the infusion and five (18%) because of failure to benefit and increasing anxiety. Ketamine was not associated with memory impairment. The ECT clinic was rated suitable by patients and offered appropriate levels of monitoring.

Conclusion:

This small, open label naturalistic study shows that up to six low dose ketamine infusions can safely be given within an existing NHS clinical structure to patients who continue their antidepressants. The response rate was comparable to that found in RCTs of single doses of ketamine in antidepressant-free patients but took slightly longer to develop.
Under Which Conditions Do Early Adolescents Need Maternal Support?
Authors: Vandevivere Eva , Braet Caroline , Bosmans Guy
Published: April 2014

Maternal support is known as a protective factor during infancy, childhood, and adolescence. However, less is known about the conditions leading to support-seeking behaviors toward mothers in early adolescence. In comparison with younger children, it is assumed that the specific nature of these conditions changes with continuing cognitive maturation. To shed light on the normative development of attachment-related behaviors beyond infancy and, more specifically, on the activating conditions for support seeking, 98 early adolescents were instructed to write about a distressing situation during which they needed their mother’s support. Seven distressing conditions could be derived from the current data. Two not previously described age-relevant conditions, academic failure and social conflict, were identified. Notably, 62% of the reported conditions referred to situations Bowlby (1969/1982) originally proposed, empirically confirming the importance of these conditions in early adolescence.
Collaboration in Frontline Health Care Delivery
Authors: Bromberg Daniel E. , Henderson Alexander C.
Published: April 2014

Contracting for complex human services has presented the field of public administration with a number of difficult and enduring questions. Emergency medical services (EMS) provide an ideal arena for further investigation into this topic. We utilize a relational contracting framework to examine key questions associated with trust in the collaborative provision of EMS. The findings indicate that contract specificity, provider performance, and administrative professionalization influence trust in these relationships.
Transformative Subsistence Entrepreneurship
Authors: Sridharan Srinivas , Maltz Elliot , Viswanathan Madhubalan , Gupta Samir
Published: April 2014

There are millions of “subsistence” entrepreneurs around the world, located primarily in developing countries, engaging in micro enterprise to eke out a survival living when other labor market options become unavailable. However, the vast majority of them are trapped in a “survival and maintenance” cycle. This article focuses on a phenomenon involving a subset of subsistence entrepreneurs who do manage to thrive and grow their enterprise. We label the phenomenon “transformative subsistence entrepreneurship,” reflecting (1) significant positive change in their personal, social and economic well-being, and (2) significant positive influence on their immediate communities. Drawing on 18 in-depth qualitative interviews, we show how the phenomenon plays out and how transformative subsistence entrepreneurs carry out vital marketing activities in their local exchange contexts, rising above substantial life challenges and end up improving the economic capacities of their communities as well. We contend that the contributions of a network of such transformative subsistence entrepreneurs, each seen at a micro enterprise level of analysis, can accumulate and coalesce to emerge as the backbone of the informal economy at a macroeconomic level.
Functional Outcomes and Return to Sports After Acute Repair, Chronic Repair, and Allograft Reconstruction for Proximal Hamstring Ruptures
Authors: Rust David A. , Giveans M. Russell , Stone Rebecca M. , Samuelson Kathryn M. , Larson Christopher M.
Published: April 2014

Background:

There are limited data regarding outcomes and return to sports after surgery for acute versus chronic proximal hamstring ruptures.

Hypothesis:

Surgery for chronic proximal hamstring ruptures leads to improved outcomes and return to sports but at a lower level than with acute repair. Proximal hamstring reconstruction with an Achilles allograft for chronic ruptures is successful when direct repair is not possible.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Between 2002 and 2012, a total of 72 patients with a traumatic proximal hamstring rupture (51 acute, 21 chronic) underwent either direct tendon repair with suture anchors (n = 58) or Achilles allograft tendon reconstruction (n = 14). Results from the Single Assessment Numeric Evaluation (SANE) for activities of daily living (ADL) and sports-related activities, Short Form–12 (SF-12), visual analog scale (VAS), and a patient satisfaction questionnaire were obtained.

Results:

The mean time to surgery in the chronic group was 441.4 days versus 17.8 days in the acute group. At a mean follow-up of 45 months, patients with chronic tears had inferior sports activity scores (70.2% vs 80.3%, respectively; P = .026) and a trend for decreased ADL scores (86.5% vs 93.3%, respectively; P = .085) compared with those with acute tears. Patients with chronic tears, however, reported significant improvements postoperatively for both sports activity scores (30.3% to 70.2%; P < .01) and ADL scores (56.1% to 86.5%; P < .01). Greater than 5 to 6 cm of retraction in the chronic group was predictive of the need for allograft reconstruction ( P = .015) and resulted in ADL and sports activity scores equal to those of chronic repair ( P = .507 and P = .904, respectively). There were no significant differences between groups in SF-12, VAS, or patient satisfaction outcomes (mean, 85.2% satisfaction overall).

Conclusion:

Acute repair was superior to chronic surgery with regard to return to sports. Acute and chronic proximal hamstring repair and allograft reconstruction had favorable results for ADL. For low-demand patients or those with medical comorbidities, delayed repair or reconstruction might be considered with an expected 87% return to normal ADL. For patients who desire to return to sports, acute repair is recommended.
Morphological Characteristics of the Repaired Labrum According to Glenoid Location and Its Clinical Relevance After Arthroscopic Bankart Repair
Authors: Kim Jae-Yoon , Chung Seok Won , Kwak Joo Young
Published: April 2014

Background:

There have been no studies on the postoperative morphological characteristics of the restored labrum at different glenoid locations and its clinical relevance after arthroscopic Bankart repair with suture anchors.

Purpose:

To analyze the morphological characteristics of the restored labrum at different locations of the glenoid and their relevance to clinical outcomes as well as affecting factors and to trace the inserted suture anchors after arthroscopic Bankart repair using computed tomography arthrography (CTA).

Study Design:

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

A total of 46 patients (mean age, 26.5 ± 6.8 years) who underwent arthroscopic Bankart repair with absorbable suture anchors were enrolled in this study. Patients underwent CTA preoperatively and 6 months postoperatively as well as functional outcome evaluation preoperatively and at the last follow-up (>24 months) with the Rowe score and visual analog scale for pain. Labral height and width were measured on conventional axial CTA images at the 3-, 4-, and 5-o’clock positions twice by 2 raters. The postoperative measurements were also compared with those of the healthy anterior labrum, acquired from the same CTA examination of 32 consecutive patients (mean age, 26.5 ± 8.5 years) with superior labral lesions in the same study period. The postoperative difference in the measurements and between clock positions, and the relationship between the measurements and the clinical factors and functional outcomes, were evaluated. In addition, the locations of all suture anchors were traced on each CTA image, and outcomes according to the locations of the most inferior suture anchors were assessed.

Results:

The interobserver and intraobserver reliabilities of measurements at each location were excellent (Pearson correlation coefficient = 0.773-0.988). Of the 46 patients, 2 (4.35%) had redislocations after surgery. Postoperative labral height and width were significantly increased at all locations (all P < .001) up to a level similar to the healthy anterior labrum, with significantly larger values at the inferior location compared with the superior location (all P < .05). Patients who had a greater frequency of dislocations before surgery showed a lower postoperative labral height at the 5-o’clock position ( P = .012), and this correlated with postoperative instability and poor functional outcomes by the Rowe score ( P = .036). In most patients (41/46; 89.1%), the tips of the lowest suture anchors perforated the far cortex, and these anchors were mostly located below the 5-o’clock position (32/41; 78.0%). However, perforation of the far cortex did not affect functional outcomes.

Conclusion:

Surgeons should be cautious of restoring labral height at the inferior glenoid location for successful arthroscopic Bankart repair. In addition, attention should be given to inserting the lowest suture anchor regardless of clinical significance.
Which comes first? Unpacking the relationship between peace agreements and peacekeeping missions
Authors: Tiernay Michael
Published: April 2014

Why do combatants engaged in civil conflict sign peace agreements when they do? Does a commitment by the United Nations (UN) to send a peacekeeping mission increase the probability that combatants will sign an agreement? With regards to the relationship between peace agreements and UN peacekeeping missions, previous studies of civil war have taken one of two positions: (a) a peace agreement between combatants causes an increase in the probability that the UN will send a peacekeeping mission to the conflict; or (b) the UN’s decision to send a peacekeeping mission to a conflict causes an increase in the probability that combatants will sign a peace agreement. I contend that the UN’s decision to send peacekeepers to a conflict and the combatant’s decision to sign a peace agreement occur simultaneously. To overcome the simultaneity, I exploit exogenous variation in the UN’s willingness to send peacekeepers to conflicts in the mid-1990s, based on the experience of the UNOSOM II mission in Somalia, to identity the causal effects that UN peacekeeping has on the likelihood of combatants signing peace agreements. Not accounting for endogeneity, the data suggest that the UN’s willingness to send peacekeepers increases the probability of a peace agreement. A recursive bivariate probit model using Black Hawk Down as an instrumental variable, however, indicates that the UN’s willingness to send peacekeepers to a conflict does not increase the probability that combatants will sign an agreement. This finding suggests that combatants sign agreements for reasons related internally to the conflict, not pressure from the international community.
Secession, legitimacy and the use of child soldiers
Authors: Lasley Trace , Thyne Clayton
Published: April 2014

Child soldiers remain a stark reminder of the suffering caused by civil wars. This paper explores the long-term calculations that rebel leaders employ when deciding whether or not to use child soldiers. A norm against the use of child soldiers has been strongly stated by the international community. Given their need to attract international support to achieve their goal of state recognition, we argue that separatist rebellions are unlikely to use child soldiers because they are constrained by these norms. We test our expectation on a newly collected dataset of child soldier use from 1998 to 2008. Our analyses find considerable support that separatists are more likely to follow accepted norms and refrain from using underage troops. Consistent with previous work, we also find that child soldier use increases as the duration of the war increases, when there is a vulnerable supply of internally displaced people, as youth unemployment increases, and when rebel groups rely on illicit funds.
Biomonitoring of the genotoxic effects and oxidative potentials of commercial edible dung beetles (Onitis sp.), grasshopper (Caelifera sp.) and mole crickets (Gryllotalpa sp.) in vitro
Authors: KOC Kubra , Incekara Umit , Turkez Hasan
Published: April 2014

In this investigation, the genotoxic and oxidative effects of water soluble extracts of dung beetles, flying grasshopper and mole crickets have been assessed on cultured human blood cells. The extracts were added to the culture tubes at 12 different concentrations (0–2000 ppm). Micronucleus test was used to monitor the DNA and the chromosomal damage produced by aqueous extracts in vitro. In addition, to assess the oxidative effects, total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and total oxidant status (TOS) levels were also measured. Our results indicated that these extracts did not show genotoxic effects at the tested concentrations. However, the extracts caused dose-dependent alterations in both TAC and TOS levels. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the studied insects can be consumed safely, but it is necessary to consider the cellular damages which are likely to appear depending on oxidative stress at higher concentrations. It has also been suggested that this in vitro approach for oxidative and genotoxicity assessments may be useful to evaluate the potential health risks of edible insects.