bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Comparisons of Minicard ratings with ion chromatography sugar profiles of water extracts of cotton fibers and those of Minicard sticky spot materials
Authors: Peralta Donna V , Fortier Chanel A , Zumba Jimmy , Thibodeaux Devron P , Delhom Christopher D , Rodgers James E
Published: April 2016

Specific levels of the carbohydrates melezitose and trehalulose deposited on the surface of cotton fibers are indicators of whitefly or aphid contamination. These deposits could cause stickiness problems during cotton ginning and textile processing. Cotton stickiness is highly complex, but surface carbohydrates may play the largest role in manifesting an issue. We utilized ion chromatography (IC) to identify and quantify nine sugars of interest present in the water extracts of 25 cotton samples to create sugar profiles for each sample: inositol, trehalose, glucose, fructose, trehalulose, sucrose, melezitose, raffinose and maltose. We compared the sugar profiles to the respective Minicard ratings of either NONE, LIGHT, MODERATE or HEAVY to draw correlations between the IC data and the rating. Trehalulose and melezitose in water extracts highly and positively correlate to Minicard ratings, confirming past researchers’ attribution of cotton stickiness to insect sugars. Trehalose and maltose also highly correlated, possibly due to their marker content in honeydew. Glucose and fructose moderately correlated to the ratings. IC studies of the collected Minicard sticky spot material found trehalulose and melezitose were the most prevalent sugars in HEAVY rated samples. Glucose and fructose were present in larger amounts in the MODERATE versus HEAVY rated samples. This result may indicate that the Benedict Test, which attributes these reducing sugars to stickiness, may not be sufficient for conjecturing a stickiness issue. When comparing the averages of the nine sugars present in water extracts versus those sugars contained in Minicard sticky spots, the overall distributions were very similar.
Educational Attainment and Women’s Environmental Mastery in Midlife
Authors: Stafford Mai , Deeg Dorly , Kuh Diana
Published: April 2016

Using data from 1,184 women in the MRC National Survey of Health and Development, we estimated associations between education and Ryff’s environmental mastery scale scores at age 52. Confirmatory factor analysis indicated two subscales, here termed mastery skills and mastery accomplishments. Low education was associated with higher mastery skills. This was partly explained by childhood socioeconomic position, as mastery was lower among those with fathers in the most and least advantaged occupational classes. Education was not associated with mastery accomplishments in unadjusted models. Lower ambitions for family/home were associated with higher mastery accomplishments and may have partly suppressed as an association between education and mastery accomplishments. This study highlights childhood as well as adult correlates of mastery and adds to mounting evidence that higher mastery is not universally found among those who are more educated.
Leaders and Followers in Juvenile Offending
Authors: Amemiya Jamie , Monahan Kathryn C. , Cauffman Elizabeth
Published: April 2016

This study of 179 recently incarcerated male adolescent offenders examined how leaders and followers in juvenile offending differed across offense, demographic, intraindividual, contextual, and social domains, and how leader/follower status affected the association between facility peer misbehavior and youth’s own institutional behavior over the first month of incarceration. Results indicated that leaders were older, more criminally experienced, reported higher levels of contextual risk, yet reported lower feelings of social isolation than followers. For followers, early exposure to facility peer drug sales was especially impactful on their subsequent institutional substance use, while facility peer antisocial behavior was related concurrently to all youth’s institutional antisocial behavior at each week of incarceration. Findings suggest that leaders and followers have distinct correlates and may require differential intervention, and heightened vigilance of facility peer relations is important throughout youth’s transition to juvenile incarceration.
The Past and Present of the Chinese Civil and Criminal Justice Systems
Authors: Huang Philip C. C.
Published: April 2016

This article starts with the entirety of the Chinese “justice system,” past and present, to reconsider informal justice (among the people) and formal justice (of the state), emphasizing especially the interdependence, overlap, and interaction of the civil and criminal justice systems. It then compares the justice system to the analytical framework employed by the “Rule of Law Index” of the World Justice Project (WJP), to bring out the similarities and differences between the “Sinitic legal tradition” and modern Western justice, and also the sharp contrasts between Chinese mediation and Western “alternative dispute resolution” (ADR). The purpose of the article is to demonstrate how a number of influential common assumptions are mistaken, and how the Sinitic legal tradition remains important in contemporary justice, not just of China but also the other major “East Asian civilization” countries. The purpose is to search for a path that would go beyond the either/or binary opposition between the Chinese and the Western, and the past and the present.
ICRP dose coefficients: computational development and current status
Authors: Bolch W.E. , Petoussi-Henss N. , Paquet F. , Harrison J.
Published: April 2016

Major current efforts within Committee 2 of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) involve the development of dose coefficients for inhalation and ingestion of radionuclides, and those for exposure to environmental radiation fields. These efforts build upon changes in radiation and tissue weighting factors ( Publication 103), radionuclide decay schemes ( Publication 107), computational phantoms of the adult reference male and female ( Publication 110), external dose coefficients for adult reference workers for idealised radiation fields ( Publication 116), models of radionuclide intake ( Publications 66, 100 and 130), and models of radionuclide systemic biokinetics ( Publication 130). This paper will review the overall computational framework for both internal and external dose coefficients. For internal exposures, the work entails assessment of organ self-dose and cross-dose from monoenergetic particle emissions (specific absorbed fraction), absorbed dose per nuclear transformation (S value), time-integrated activity of the radionuclide in source tissues (inhalation, ingestion, and systemic biokinetic models), and their numerical combination to yield the organ equivalent dose or effective dose per activity inhaled or ingested. Various challenges are reviewed that were not included in the development of Publication 30 dose coefficients, which were based upon much more simplified biokinetic models and computational phantoms. For external exposures, the computations entail the characterisation of environmental radionuclide distributions, the transport of radiation particles through that environment, and the tracking of energy deposition to the organs of the exposed individual. Progress towards the development of dose coefficients to members of the general public (adolescents, children, infants and fetuses) are also reviewed.
Prognostic Factors in Myoepithelial Carcinoma of the Major Salivary Glands
Authors: Xiao Christopher C. , Baker Andrew B. , White‐Gilbertson Shai J. , Day Terry A.
Published: April 2016

Objectives

(1) Identify all cases of myoepithelial carcinoma of the major salivary glands from the National Cancer Data Base (NCDB). (2) Analyze the effect of grade, stage, and regional nodal metastasis on survival in myoepithelial carcinoma of the major salivary glands.

Study Design

Retrospective review of NCDB.

Setting

Multicenter data pooled from 1998 to 2012 in the NCDB.

Methods

We identified all reported cases of myoepithelial carcinomas of the major salivary glands from the United States from 1998 to 2012 in the NCDB. Clinical parameters were then examined and analyzed for predictors of survival.

Results

A total of 473 cases of myoepithelial carcinoma were identified. Of the reported cases, 38.1% were low grade; 26.7%, intermediate grade; and 35.2%, high grade. When presenting stage was examined, 24.4% were stage I; 30.6%, stage II; 22.5%, stage III; 12.2%, stage IVa; 3.0%, stage IVb; and 4.1%, stage IVc. At presentation, 18.7% of patients had regional nodal disease, and 4.5% had distant metastases. The 3‐ and 5‐year survival rates were 73% and 64%, respectively. The presence of nodal disease significantly reduced mean survival time versus those without (64 vs 108 months, P <. 001), as did high‐grade disease compared with low grade (67 vs 114 months, P <. 001) and stage III/IV compared with stage I/II disease (61 vs 118 months, P <. 001).

Conclusions

The presence of regional nodal disease, high‐grade disease, and advanced stage are predictors of lower survival in myoepithelial carcinoma. Further studies based on types of treatment are warranted.
Dating out is intercultural
Authors: Shenhav Sharon , Campos Belinda , Goldberg Wendy A.
Published: April 2016

Romantic relationships are situated within broader cultural and family contexts, and this may be particularly salient to those in intergroup relationships. This study examined variations in young adults’ experiences with intercultural romantic relationships by ethnicity and immigrant generation. A sample of ethnically diverse young adults ( N = 628; Asian, Latino, and European background) reported on self and parent attitudes toward dating outside of one’s own culture, own current dating status, and disapproval and conflict with parents over current and past dating status. Analyses revealed three key findings. First, intercultural relationships were evenly distributed across ethnic and immigrant generation groups. Second, participants of Asian background perceived greater attitudinal discrepancies with their parents toward intercultural dating than did participants of Latino and European background and were more likely to report intercultural dating conflict with their parents than Latino participants. Third, first-generation and second-generation participants were more likely to report intercultural dating conflict with parents than third-generation participants. Altogether, the findings show the importance of (a) incorporating culture into the conceptualization of intergroup relationships, particularly for ethnic minority and recent immigrant groups, and (b) considering the family context of intercultural dating relationships. Implications for the study of intergroup romantic relationships are discussed.
“Whatever Works”
Authors: Yip Jeaney , Ainsworth Susan
Published: April 2016

Despite predictions that organized religion would decline with modernization and economic development, some forms of Christianity are thriving, particularly evangelically-oriented churches in the Southern hemisphere. However, their doctrine and strategies are not without controversy. Megachurches, Protestant churches with congregations exceeding 2000 members often embrace marketing and preach a version of ‘prosperity gospel’ where material success is taken to be proof of spiritual blessing. North American in origin, this form of religious organization has expanded throughout South East Asia. In this paper, we use a case study of a megachurch in Singapore – City Harvest Church – to explore how their involvement in marketing and the marketplace is constructed. Using a discourse analytic methodology, our findings show how the church purposefully uses the normative dichotomy between the sacred and secular to frame the meaning of their involvement in the marketplace, targeting particular types of enterprising and professionally-oriented individuals to embody their mission. Further we show how this construction reflects the pragmatism, entrepreneurial and business orientation of Singapore. Our research suggests potential for further study of the way the relationship between religion, markets and marketing are constructed, using methods that incorporate an understanding of context.
Impact of effect-site concentration of propofol on cardiac systolic function assessed by tissue Doppler imaging
Authors: Oh Chung-Sik , Lee Yungu , Kang Woon-Seok , Kim Seong-Hyop
Published: April 2016

Objective

To evaluate the relationship between effect-site concentration (CE) of propofol during total intravenous anaesthesia (TIVA) and cardiac systolic function using tissue Doppler imaging (TDI) in patients undergoing cardiovascular procedures.

Methods

Stepwise increments of CE of propofol of 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 and 4.0 µg/ml (modified Marsh model) were achieved using a target-controlled infusion device. Transthoracic echocardiographic assessments using TDI were performed for each CE of propofol and corresponding systolic myocardial velocity (s′), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR) and bispectral index (BIS) were evaluated.

Results

Data from 31 patients were analysed in this prospective study. The s′ velocity decreased with increasing propofol CE and values recorded at propofol CE 3.0 and 4.0 µg/ml were near or below 8 cm/s indicating abnormal cardiac systolic function. MAP, HR and BIS also decreased with each propofol CE increment.

Conclusion

Although the recommended dosage for propofol is up to 4.0 µg/ml, caution should be taken when using propofol concentrations above 2.0 µg/ml during TIVA in patients with underlying cardiovascular diseases.
The effect of anticancer therapy on anti-hepatitis B antibody titres in patients with haematological malignancies and solid tumours
Authors: Yilmaz Bahiddin , Erdem Dilek , Teker Fatih , Goren Ibrahim , Yildirim Beytullah , Kut Engin , Sarikaya Derya , Atay Memis H , Yucel Idris
Published: April 2016

Objective

To investigate the effect of immunosuppressive anticancer therapy on titre levels of anti-hepatitis B surface antibodies (anti-HBs) in hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) negative and anti-HBs positive patients with haematological malignancies or solid tumours.

Methods

This retrospective study reviewed the medical records of patients with haematological malignancies or solid tumours. Pretreatment HBsAg negative and anti-HBs positive patients were included in the analysis. Anti-hepatitis B core antibody status was used to evaluate vaccinated patients and those with resolved HBV infections.

Results

The medical records of 237 patients were reviewed retrospectively. The median anti-HBs titre decreased significantly after anticancer therapy compared with the pretreatment median anti-HBs titre in all patients (71 mIU/ml versus 57 mIU/ml). Anti-HBs titre decreased significantly in patients with haematological malignancies (70 mIU/m versus 37 mIU/ml) and in patients administered rituximab-based chemotherapy (67 mIU/ml versus 33 mIU/ml) following chemotherapy, whereas there was no significant change in patients with solid tumours. After chemotherapy, patients with low pretreatment anti-HBs titres (<100 mIU/ml) were more likely to become seronegative (<10 mIU/ml).

Conclusion

High levels of anti-HBs may have a protective effect against the reactivation of HBV especially in patients with haematological malignancies who received immunosuppressive anticancer therapy.
Endings and Loss in Mergers and Acquisitions: An Exploration of Group Analytic Theory
Authors: Grace Corina
Published: April 2016

This article aims to explore how group analytic and psychodynamic theory and concepts can contribute to our understanding of what is activated at a human level during mergers and acquisitions (M&As), focusing on endings and loss. It is hoped this understanding will better equip those working in the field to deliver a more ‘regenerative’ than ‘murderous’ outcome. Along with other writers ( Hirschhorn, 1990 ; Bunker and Alban, 1992 ), the author’s view is that such theory can offer unique insights into human behaviour at an unconscious level, in an organization experiencing major change. By gaining deeper insights into the inner turmoil generated by such change, people may be helped to navigate the tricky terrain of the unconscious and become better equipped to heal and move forward in their own and their organization’s development.
Deciding to Retire From the Federal Service
Authors: Lewis Gregory B. , Pitts David
Published: April 2016

The swelling wave of federal retirements heightens the importance of understanding the factors that influence retirement decisions. We examine both behavior and intentions to retire using two large data sets on federal white-collar employees aged 50 and above. Analysis of personnel records for 1979-2009 shows that several of the usual factors—in particular, age, federal experience, and pension design—have strong effects on when employees retire. Perhaps more revealing is our analysis of the 2012 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey (FEVS), which indicates that satisfaction with agency leadership and with one’s own job appear to encourage postponing retirement plans, whereas satisfaction with supervisors and with recognition received on the job do not. These relationships—especially those for pension design, satisfaction with leadership, and satisfaction with one’s job—produce interesting implications for both theory and practice.
Functional Status Predicts Awareness in Late-Onset but not in Early-Onset Alzheimer Disease
Authors: Dourado Marcia C. N. , Laks Jerson , Mograbi Daniel
Published: April 2016

This study aims to assess whether there are differences between the level of awareness in early-onset Alzheimer disease (EOAD) and late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) and to test its association with quality of life (QOL). A consecutive series of 207 people with Alzheimer disease and their caregivers were selected from an outpatient unit. There were no significant differences in awareness. In LOAD, impairment on awareness was predicted by functional level (β = .37, P < .001), self ( P = .006), and informant report of QOL ( P = .010). The predictors of unawareness in EOAD were self ( P = .002) and informant report of QOL ( P < .001). There is a specific profile of functional deficits underlying awareness in people with LOAD. Additionally, reports of EOAD QOL were more strongly related to awareness than in people with LOAD.
Co-care: Producing better health outcome through interactions between patients, care providers and information and communication technology
Authors: von Thiele Schwarz Ulrica
Published: April 2016

The demands on healthcare are shifting, from caring for patients with acute conditions managed in a single-care episode to caring for patients with chronic and often complex conditions. With this shift comes a recognition that healthcare requires an interaction between patients and care providers, and of the interdependencies between these actors for achieving a positive outcome – that the results are co-produced. This paper introduces co-care, which stresses that the role of healthcare providers is to complement people’s own resources for managing their health so that patients’ and healthcare providers’ resources combined leads to the best possible outcome. This is done using tools and artifacts such as information and communication technology that enable knowledge to be created, shaped, shared and applied across the actors. Thus, in co-care, knowledge is not attributed to a single entity but distributed between them in line with the theory of distributed cognition. To put co-care into practice, several challenges must be addressed. This includes moving from profession-centeredness to patient-centeredness and from approaching care as a transformation of input to products to viewing care as linking needs and knowledge, as well as a substantial attitude and behavior change across healthcare stakeholders.
Designing health-literate health care organization: A literature review
Authors: Palumbo Rocco
Published: April 2016

Health literacy is usually described as a silent epidemic, which is challenging the sustainability of health care systems all over the world. The scientific literature has discussed the drawbacks of marginal health literacy on the functioning of the health care organizations. In particular, limited health literacy has been associated with: poorer ability of patients to comprehend health information, deficient medication adherence, insufficient use of prevention services, higher hospitalization rates, and greater health service utilization. In most of the cases, health literacy has been understood as an individual trait, which ultimately concerns the patients’ ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to navigate the health system. Alternatively, poor attention has been paid to the health literacy of the organizations operating within the health system, that is to say “organizational health literacy”. Indeed, neither the scholars nor the practitioners have adequately addressed the role played by the health care organizations to meet the needs of patients who live with limited health literacy. To contribute in filling such a gap, this study discusses the design and the structure of health-literate health care organizations. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was performed, involving 69 articles indexed in Scopus-Elsevier, Pub-Med, and Google Scholar to point out how the health care organizations face health literacy issues and to discuss what tools are used by the health care organizations to meet the information needs of people living with limited health literacy. Health-literate health care organizations turn out to be crucial to enhance patient engagement and improve health outcomes.
Scripts for Modern Dying: The Death before Death We Have Invented, the Death before Death We Fear and Some Take Too Literally, and the Death before Death Christians Believe in
Authors: Banner Michael
Published: April 2016

Modern scripts for dying in hospice or by euthanasia are inapplicable to the dwindling of long old age, often experienced as social ‘death before death’. The article critiques the rhetoric of ‘death before death’ used of Alzheimer’s patients, and draws attention to an alternative valuation of death of self in the Christian tradition.
The Nature of Contemporary Dying: Obsessions, Distortions, Challenges
Authors: Kellehear Allan
Published: April 2016

This article makes critical observations about the popular examination of dying and its care, identifies the key challenges to modern dying, and argues for a public health approach to end-of-life care. Only by adopting a global and non-clinical perspective on the human experience of dying can we address people’s concerns where these arise—in their own homes and workplaces—and to offer alternatives to the more radical choices offered by modern medicine.
Model of the instantaneous undeformed chip thickness in micro-milling based on tooth trajectory
Authors: Lu Xiaohong , Jia Zhenyuan , Wang Furui , Li Guangjun , Si Likun , Gao Lusi
Published: April 2016

Instantaneous undeformed chip thickness is one of the key parameters in modeling of micro-milling process. Most of the existing instantaneous undeformed chip thickness models in meso-scale cutting process are based on the trochoidal trajectory of the cutting edge, which neglect the influences of cutter installation errors, cutter-holder manufacturing errors, radial runout of the spindle and so forth on the instantaneous undeformed chip thickness. This article investigates the tooth trajectory in micro-milling process. A prediction model of radial runout of cutting edge is built, with consideration of the effects of the extended length of micro-milling cutter and the spindle speed. Considering the effects of cutting-edge trochoidal trajectory, radial runout of cutting edge and the minimum cutting thickness, a novel instantaneous undeformed chip thickness model is proposed, and the phenomenon of single-tooth cutting in micro-milling process is analyzed. Comparisons of cutting forces under different chip thickness models and experimental data indicate that this new model can be used to predict cutting forces.
Analysis of Effects of precession mechanism error on polishing spot for bonnet polishing
Authors: Yang Xu , Wang Zhenzhong , Wang Chunjin , Peng Yunfeng
Published: April 2016

In this article, a research was conducted on the effects of the precession mechanism error on polishing spot, and it is helpful for optimizing the mechanism. In the research, an error model was built to analyze the error caused by gravity and polishing force on the accuracy of the mechanism, finite element analysis and MATLAB simulation were carried out based on the error model to estimate the effects, and, finally, an experiment was conducted to test the simulation result. It was found that the precession mechanism error mainly has an influence on the position of polishing spot in x and y directions. Simulation results show the position error up to −698.7 µm in y direction and −88.5 µm in z direction under free condition, while in polishing process, the error decreased 588.4 µm in y direction and 26.7 µm in z direction. The size of single polishing spot decreased 2.67%, while the size of four-step tilted polishing spot and continuous polishing spot increased 0.66% and 6.78%, respectively. Through experiment, it can be seen that the size of the polishing spot is also affected by the inflation pressure in bonnet tool, rigidity of bonnet tool, tool clamping error, and mechanism processing error.
Comparative experimental research in turning of 304 austenitic stainless steel with and without ultrasonic vibration
Authors: Xu Yingshuai , Zou Ping , He Yu , Chen Shuo , Tian Yingjian , Gao Xingjun
Published: April 2016

The aim of this paper is to present an experimental investigation of the cutting forces, surface quality, tool wear and chip shape in ultrasonic vibration assisted turning (UAT) of 304 austenitic stainless steel (ASS 304) in comparison to conventional turning (CT). This study focuses on the solution of the machining difficulties of ASS 304 and high demands for the processing quality and efficiency. The machining system of UAT is schemed out to assure the desired machining effect by utilizing ultrasonic vibration method. Meanwhile, a series of systematic experiments are performed with and without ultrasonic vibration using the designed machining system of UAT with cemented carbide coated cutting tool. The results obtained from the UAT and CT experiments demonstrate that the cutting effect of UAT is much better than that of CT. Furthermore, the results of this research indicate that the ultrasonic amplitude, cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut in UAT of ASS 304 have visible influence on the cutting forces, surface quality and tool wear. And reasonable selection of various technological variables in UAT can obtain lower cutting forces, more superior surface roughness, advantageous surface topography, slow and less tool wear, thin and smooth chips.
Challenges and key technologies in robotic cell layout design and optimization
Authors: Zhang Jiafan , Fang Xinyu
Published: April 2016

Automatic operation system with industrial robots has become more and more popular, especially with the urgent requirement from 3C (Communication, computer and consumer electronics) manufactory. A robot cell, which often involves one or more robots and accessory equipment, can be regarded as part of the larger theme of cellular manufacturing. The objective that most interests manufacturers is the investment return rate. It is largely determined by the productivity of robotic cell, and the leading time of robotic production system. Therefore, a fast and efficient method to design a robotic cell layout with the maximum throughput for a given task is undeniably a worthy research topic. This paper attempts to discuss the challenges and key technologies in the robotic cell layout optimal design. The proper selection of configuration for task, manual operation skill learning and translation, collaborative design tool-chain, optimization in cell layout and operation scheduling, optimal end-of-arm tooling design, and human–robot collaboration are included in this discussion with existing or on-going problem-solving key technologies.
Wind turbine bearing fault diagnosis based on adaptive local iterative filtering and approximate entropy
Authors: An Xueli , Pan Luoping
Published: April 2016

For the unsteady characteristics of a fault vibration signal from a wind turbine rolling bearing, a bearing fault diagnosis method based on adaptive local iterative filtering and approximate entropy is proposed. The adaptive local iterative filtering method is used to decompose original vibration signals into a finite number of stationary components. The components which comprise major fault information are selected for further analysis. The approximate entropy of the selected components is calculated as a fault feature value and input to a fault classifier. The classifier is based on the nearest neighbor algorithm. The vibration signals from a spherical roller bearing on a wind turbine in its normal state, with an outer race fault, an inner race fault and a roller fault are analyzed. The results show that the proposed method can accurately and efficiently identify the fault modes present in the rolling bearings of a wind turbine.
Online learning fuzzy vibration control of smart truss structure
Authors: Xu Rui , Li Dongxu , Jiang Jianping
Published: April 2016

This paper deals with the active vibration control of smart truss structure. First, the electro-mechanical coupled dynamic model of the smart structure is constructed. Then, the first-order ordinary differential equation of the control system is presented. After that, an online learning fuzzy control (OLFC) algorithm is proposed to control the structure vibrations. The OLFC algorithm is composed of a reward function, a Q learning algorithm, a rule base generator and a conventional fuzzy controller. The OLFC algorithm learns the rule base by interaction with the plant, and changes rule base generate policy via evaluative reward signal to realize the learning goal. The algorithm only needs little information about the plant to design the reward function. In order to prove the effectiveness of the proposed control algorithm, control responses are presented and compared with conventional fuzzy control method.
Effect of resveratrol analogue, DMU-212, on antioxidant status and apoptosis-related genes in rat model of hepatocarcinogenesis
Authors: Piotrowska H , Kujawska M , Nowicki M , Petzke E , Ignatowicz E , Krajka-Kuźniak V , Zawierucha P , Wierzchowski M , Murias M , Jodynis-Liebert J
Published: April 2016

The aim of the study was to examine whether antioxidant properties of 3,4,4′,5-tetramethoxystilbene (DMU-212) contribute to its anticarcinogenic activity and whether DMU-212 affects the expression of apoptosis-related genes. Two-stage model of hepatocarcinogenesis was used; male Wistar rats were challenged with N-nitrosodiethylamine (NDEA), 200 mg/kg body weight (b.w.), intraperitoneal, then phenobarbital (PB) in drinking water (0.05%) was administered. Simultaneously, DMU-212 was given per os at a dose 20 or 50 mg/kg b.w. two times a week for 16 weeks. DMU-212 caused a moderate decrease in hepatic thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and protein carbonyls concentration elevated in rats treated with NDEA/PB. The activity of antioxidant enzymes examined reduced by NDEA/PB treatment was not restored in rats coadministered with DMU-212. Effects of DMU-212 on messenger RNA (mRNA) expression of antioxidant enzymes in rats challenged with NDEA/PB were diversified; no changes in their protein expression were noted in any of the groups. The expression of 17,000 genes was analyzed by Affymetrix® Rat Gene 1.1 ST Array; 15 apoptosis-related genes were selected and validated by RT-q PCR. The combined treatment with NDEA/PB and DMU-212 increased the mRNA level of some genes driving mitochondria-mediated apoptosis, whereas the mRNA expression of some anti-apoptotic genes triggering receptor-mediated apoptosis was reduced. The expression of genes encoding caspases-4, -8, -9, and -12 was also increased in rats treated with DMU-212. Although antioxidant effect of DMU-212 in rats challenged with NDEA/PB was moderate, its potential anticarcinogenic properties were demonstrated as evidenced by modulation of apoptosis-related genes.
Continuous time Markov chain approaches for analyzing transtheoretical models of health behavioral change: A case study and comparison of model estimations
Authors: Ma Junsheng , Chan Wenyaw , Tilley Barbara C
Published: April 2016

Continuous time Markov chain models are frequently employed in medical research to study the disease progression but are rarely applied to the transtheoretical model, a psychosocial model widely used in the studies of health-related outcomes. The transtheoretical model often includes more than three states and conceptually allows for all possible instantaneous transitions (referred to as general continuous time Markov chain). This complicates the likelihood function because it involves calculating a matrix exponential that may not be simplified for general continuous time Markov chain models. We undertook a Bayesian approach wherein we numerically evaluated the likelihood using ordinary differential equation solvers available from the gnu scientific library. We compared our Bayesian approach with the maximum likelihood method implemented with the R package MSM. Our simulation study showed that the Bayesian approach provided more accurate point and interval estimates than the maximum likelihood method, especially in complex continuous time Markov chain models with five states. When applied to data from a four-state transtheoretical model collected from a nutrition intervention study in the next step trial, we observed results consistent with the results of the simulation study. Specifically, the two approaches provided comparable point estimates and standard errors for most parameters, but the maximum likelihood offered substantially smaller standard errors for some parameters. Comparable estimates of the standard errors are obtainable from package MSM, which works only when the model estimation algorithm converges.
How Formal Models Can Illuminate Mechanisms of Moral Judgment and Decision Making
Authors: Crockett Molly J.
Published: April 2016

The cognitive and affective processes that give rise to moral judgments and decisions have long been the focus of intense study. Here, I review recent work that has used mathematical models to formally describe how features of moral dilemmas are transformed into decisions. Formal models have traditionally been used to study perceptual and value-based learning and decision making, but until recently they had not been applied to the study of moral psychology. Using examples from recent studies, I show how formal models can provide novel and counterintuitive insights into human morality by revealing latent subcomponents of moral decisions, improving prediction of moral behavior, and bridging moral psychology and moral neuroscience.
Oxytocin and the Pharmacological Dissection of Affiliation
Authors: Bartz Jennifer A.
Published: April 2016

Popularly hailed as the “love hormone,” oxytocin has emerged as a key variable in the regulation of human social cognition and behavior. In particular, research using intranasal oxytocin to pharmacologically manipulate the availability of oxytocin shows that oxytocin augmentation can promote a wide range of affiliative processes; however, evidence also shows null and even antisocial effects. Rather than random error to be eliminated, such variability may offer clues about the mechanisms by which oxytocin modulates human sociality. Three potential mechanisms—anxiety reduction, social salience, and affiliative motivation—are discussed, along with recent work showing how the affiliative-motivation hypothesis can simultaneously account for oxytocin’s pro- and antisocial effects. Appreciating oxytocin’s nuanced social effects is important for advancing our understanding of the neuroscience and psychology of affiliation.
Recent Advances in Understanding the Reminiscence Bump
Authors: Koppel Jonathan , Rubin David C.
Published: April 2016

The reminiscence bump is the increased proportion of autobiographical memories from youth and early adulthood observed in adults over 40. It is one of the most robust findings in autobiographical-memory research. Although described as a single period from which there are more memories, a recent meta-analysis that reported the beginning and ending ages of the bump from individual studies found that different classes of cues produce distinct bumps that vary in size and temporal location. The bump obtained in response to cue words is both smaller and located earlier in the life span than the bump obtained when important memories are requested. The bump obtained in response to odor cues is even earlier. This variation in the size and temporal location of the reminiscence bump argues for theories based primarily on retrieval rather than encoding and retention, which most current theories stress. Furthermore, it points to the need to develop theories of autobiographical memory that account for this flexibility in the memories retrieved.
Settlements in the Civil Wars of Myanmar and Sri Lanka: The Success, Failure and Deception of the Peace Process
Authors: Lee Jiwon
Published: April 2016

The civil wars in Myanmar and Sri Lanka were both long-lasting ethnic conflicts. While the government of Myanmar is still fighting with several ethnic armed groups, a series of ceasefires were reached with around 25 armed groups during 1989–2009, and more after 2011. Sri Lanka also went through a period of seemingly successful peace process during 2002–2003 when the government and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) agreed to a permanent ceasefire under Norway’s mediation. However, the peace agreement soon failed and the military defeated the Tamils in 2009. Although the two wars had different outcomes—one in relatively successful ceasefires and the other in a military victory, the minorities in both countries are still under the dominance and oppression of the federal government. This paper tries to account for the difference in the settlements of the two wars as well as for the reasons why more durable peace could not be achieved in both cases. It argues that the Myanmar government used the ceasefires as its tool for state consolidation while showing no genuine commitment to a political solution. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan peace process failed because the two parties had completely different visions for a political settlement. Thus, for a peace process to be truly successful, both sides must come to an agreement on a political solution through power-sharing.
Book Review: T. Haque, Mandira Bhattacharya and Ankita Goyal. 2015. Socio-economic Impact Assessment of Bt Cotton in India
Authors: Balan Neha
Published: April 2016

T. Haque, Mandira Bhattacharya and Ankita Goyal. 2015. Socio-economic Impact Assessment of Bt Cotton in India, New Delhi: Concept Publishing Company Pvt. Ltd., pp. viii + 146. ₹500. ISBN: 978-93-5125-113-2 (HB).
Presenteeism in the elite sports workplace: The willingness to compete hurt among German elite handball and track and field athletes
Authors: Mayer Jochen , Thiel Ansgar
Published: April 2016

Playing hurt is a widespread phenomenon in elite sports that often goes along with using painkillers, disregarding medical guidelines, and hiding pain from coaches, teammates and medical staff. This paper theoretically conceptualizes the phenomenon of playing hurt as a sport-specific sickness presenteeism problem. To empirically analyse the willingness to play hurt, we refer to survey data from 723 elite German athletes, both male and female, in the sports of handball and track and field. Factor analysis, cluster analysis and binary logistic regression analysis are applied to reveal the athletes’ cognitive representation of absence legitimacy and to identify athlete groups with varying levels of willingness to compete hurt. Our results show that subtle distinctions are made between different kinds of health problems. In particular, there is a high willingness to compete despite psychosocial complaints. Cluster analysis reveals two clusters: ‘athletes conditionally willing to rest’ and ‘rest-averse and pain-trivializing athletes’. Athletes who perceive more social pressure to compete hurt, who have a higher performance level and who participate in handball, are more likely to be in the group of rest-averse and pain-trivializing athletes. The findings enhance our understanding of presenteeism and absenteeism in a highly competitive work context, and can contribute to the development of more target-group-specific health prevention programmes for athletes.
Asthma as a Comorbidity in Hospitalized Patients
Authors: Self Timothy H. , Owens Ryan E. , Mancell Jimmie , Nahata Milap C.
Published: April 2016

Asthma is a frequent comorbidity in hospitalized children and adults. Patients with a history of asthma may have no breathing complaints or abnormal chest exam findings to trigger care for this comorbidity during hospitalization. Consequently, this may lead to a potential missed opportunity to discuss asthma as a comorbidity and ongoing issue to ensure its optimal management at home. Our goal is to raise awareness that such patient encounters may represent opportunities for health care professionals to optimize asthma management. Despite focusing on the present illness and limited time availability, asthma care may be improved in a time-efficient manner in these patients.
Higher gradient expansion for linear isotropic peridynamic materials
Authors: Šilhavý M
Published: April 2016

Peridynamics is a non-local continuum mechanics that replaces the differential operator embodied by the stress term [Formula: see text] in Cauchy’s equation of motion by a non-local force functional [Formula: see text] to take into account long-range forces. The resulting equation of motion reads

[Formula: see text]

If the characteristic length [Formula: see text] of the interparticle interaction approaches 0, the operator [Formula: see text] admits an expansion in [Formula: see text] that, for a linear isotropic material, reads

[Formula: see text]

where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are the Lamé moduli of the classical elasticity, and the remaining higher-order corrections contain products of the type [Formula: see text] of even-order gradients [Formula: see text] (i.e., the collections of all partial derivatives of [Formula: see text] of order 2 s) and constant coefficients [Formula: see text] collectively forming a tensor of order 2 s. Symmetry arguments show that the terms [Formula: see text] have the form

[Formula: see text]

where [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are scalar constants. This article explicitly determines [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] in terms of the properties of the material (i.e., of the operator [Formula: see text]) in all dimensions n (typically, [Formula: see text] or [Formula: see text]).
Wave stability in isotropic temperature-rate-dependent thermoelasticity
Authors: Alharbi Amnah M , Scott Nigel H
Published: April 2016

Temperature-rate-dependent thermoelasticity is a theory of thermoelasticity in which the stress, entropy and heat flux are permitted to depend on the rate of change of temperature and the temperature gradient, as well as the usual variables of temperature and deformation gradient. This has the effect of introducing two relaxation times into the equations of thermoelasticity. Another important effect is that heat now travels at a finite speed rather than the infinite speed implied by the diffusion equation. In an isotropic temperature-rate-dependent thermoelastic material, it is found that four plane harmonic waves may propagate: two purely elastic transverse waves and two longitudinal waves that are dispersive and attenuated. All four waves are stable in the sense that their amplitude remains bounded. An alternative theory that forces heat to travel at finite speed is that of generalized thermoelasticity, in which the rate of change of heat flux also appears in the heat conduction equation, thereby introducing a relaxation time. Two different methods of combining the effects of temperature-rate-dependent thermoelasticity and generalized thermoelasticity are discussed and it is found that the transverse waves are unaltered but that one or both of the longitudinal waves become unstable.
Real-time color change monitoring of apple slices using image processing during intermittent microwave convective drying
Authors: Aghilinategh Nahid , Rafiee Shahin , Hosseinpour Soleiman , Omid Mahmoud , Mohtasebi Seyed Saeid
Published: April 2016

An intermittent microwave convective drying method combined with a real-time computer vision technique was employed to detect the effect of drying parameters on color properties of apple slices. The experiments were performed at air temperature of 40 to 80℃, air velocities of 1–2 m/s, microwave powers of 200–600 W, and pulse ratios (PRs) of 2–6. Drying rate and drying time varied from 0.014 to 0.000001 min−1 and 27 to 244 min, respectively. The normalized lightness values had ascending and descending parabolic trends with decrease in product moisture content. With descending dimensionless moisture content, redness, yellowness, color change, hue angle, and chroma were enlarged. The normalized redness values changed from −4 to 3. Models relating drying parameters with drying time, drying rate, and lightness were obtained and found to be significant ( P < 0.01). Results indicated that microwave power and PRs had more influence on lightness and color change than other parameters.
Wine Tourist Engagement With the Winescape: Scale Development and Validation
Authors: Thomas Ben , Quintal Vanessa Ann , Phau Ian
Published: April 2016

Although the winescape has been frequently referred to in wine-related research, empirical studies that conceptualize, operationalize, and test the construct remain limited. This research sets out to develop a scale to measure the supply-related winescape attributes that influence the winery experience. Adopting scale development procedure by Churchill and De Vellis, five focus groups, two expert panels, and six individual studies that involved 1,537 participants were conducted at varied wineries in diverse wine regions across two different wine countries. The resultant 20-item winescape scale comprised seven attributes, namely, setting, atmospherics, wine quality, wine value, complementary product, signage, and service staff, and was reliable and valid. Theoretically and methodologically, the winescape scale addresses a critical need for an empirical measure that encapsulates the supply-related attributes of a winery. Managerially, it offers wine producers a diagnostic tool to evaluate their winescape, guiding their positioning and service operations in the marketplace.
Music in the early years: Pathways into the social world
Authors: Ilari Beatriz
Published: April 2016

Two assumptions that underlie much research in early childhood music education are that music is a social endeavor and musical participation is beneficial to children’s overall social development. As members of cultural and social groups, young children engage with music in a multitude of ways and with different companions. This article examines young children’s musical engagement from a social perspective, integrating research from a wide range of fields and theoretical orientations. The first section brings forward a discussion on the nature of social interactions with an emphasis on three building blocks of social cognition and their relationships to musical experiences of young children. Studies on rhythmic entrainment, social identity in childhood, musical play, and the effects of formal music education on children’s social development are discussed in the next sections, along with some of the caveats of current theorizing. Implications for future research and practice in music education are woven throughout the text.