bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Motorized Mobility Scooters: The Use of Training/Intervention and Technology for Improving Driving Skills in Aging Adults - A Mini-Review
Authors: Toosizadeh Nima , Bunting Matthew , Howe Carol , Mohler Jane , Sprinkle Jonathan , Najafi Bijan
Published: June 2014

Background: Motorized mobility scooters (MMS) have become the most acceptable powered assistive device for those with impaired mobility, who have sufficient upper body strength and dexterity, and postural stability. Although several benefits have been attributed to MMS usage, there are likewise risks of use, including injuries and even deaths. Objective: The aim of the current review was to summarize results from clinical studies regarding the enhancement of MMS driver safety with a primary focus on improving driving skills/performance using clinical approaches. We addressed three main objectives: (1) to identify and summarize any available evidence (strong, moderate, or weak evidence based on the quality of studies) regarding improved driving skills/performance following training/intervention; (2) to identify types of driving skills/performance that might be improved by training/intervention, and (3) to identify the use of technology in improving MMS performance or training procedure. Methods: Articles were searched for in the following medical and engineering electronic databases: PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, ClinicalTrials.gov, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ERIC, EI Compendix, IEEE Explore, and REHABDATA. Inclusion criteria included: aging adults or those with ambulatory problems, intervention or targeted training, and clinical trial. Outcomes included: MMS skills/performance. Results: Six articles met the inclusion criteria and are analyzed in this review. Four of the six articles contained training approaches for MMS drivers including skill trainings using real MMS inside and outside (i.e. in the community) and in a 3D virtual environment. The other two studies contain infrastructural assessments (i.e. the minimum space required for safe maneuverability of MMS users) and additional mobility assistance tools to improve maneuverability and to enhance driving performance. Conclusions: Results from the current review showed improved driving skills/performance by training, infrastructural assessments, and incorporating mobility assistance tools. MMS driving skills that can be improved through driver training include: weaving, negotiating with and avoiding pedestrian interference, simultaneous reading of signs and obstacle avoidance in path, level driving, forward and reverse driving, figure 8s, turning in place, crossing left slope, maneuvering down a 2-inch curb, and driving up and down inclines. However, several limitations exist in the available literature regarding evidence of improved driving skills/performance following training/intervention, such as small sample sizes, lack of control groups and statistical analysis.
Can We Predict the High-Risk Patient?
Authors: Benitez Jose-Manuel , Louis Edouard
Published: June 2014

Background: While therapeutic strategies able to change the natural history of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are being developed, factors predicting aggressive disease are needed to be able to choose the appropriate therapeutic strategy for the individual patient based on the risk/benefit ratio. The aim of this review is to focus on the tools assisting the clinician in routine practice regarding the prediction of disease evolution. Methods: A literature review was performed, which was mainly based on PubMed search, using the following terms: Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, genetics, serology, biomarkers, endoscopy, C-reactive protein, faecal calprotectin, disease evolution and complications. Results: For the prediction of disease evolution, clinical characteristics, particularly disease location and behaviour, are probably currently the most useful. In addition, a series of biomarkers, including genetic, serological and inflammatory markers, as well as characteristics of endoscopic lesions may have an added value. Conclusions: Simple clinical, biological and endoscopic tools may help the clinician in predicting disease evolution in IBD. However, these tools are still insufficient, and prospective evaluation of new genetic and biological markers are needed.
Loss of Response to Anti-Tumor Necrosis Factors: What Is the Next Step?
Authors: Ben-Horin Shomron
Published: June 2014

The management of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) presenting with loss of response (LOR) to anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) biologics is an increasingly encountered challenge for clinicians caring for these patients. Clinical decisions are complicated by the lack of consistent terminology and diagnostic criteria to define LOR, the myriad of causes that may give rise to symptoms mimicking LOR, and the multiplicity of possible medical interventions. Choosing the best next step is dependent first on accurate identification of the etiology of symptoms and specifically on ascertaining that IBD activity is responsible for the flares. At this point, some patients with mild symptoms may improve without any intervention, so watchful waiting should be borne in mind for these cases, at least for a limited period of time. Otherwise, dose intensification or a switch to another anti-TNF should be contemplated, and the decision may be aided by results of drug/anti-drug antibody levels. A switch to another biologic with a different mode of action should also be considered, as well as less well evidence-based options, which may nevertheless benefit some difficult patients. These include the addition of an immunomodulator to reverse immunogenicity and restore clinical response, retreatment with a previously failed anti-TNF and other experimental interventions. Before any of these is contemplated, the patient's adherence to anti-TNF therapy should be verified as it may contribute to LOR in up to 20% of patients.
Are Maintenance Strategies Underused in Crohn's Disease?
Authors: Rampton David
Published: June 2014

A key aim in the management of Crohn's disease is to maintain disease remission, whether this has been achieved by medical or surgical treatment. The reasons for doing this are to maintain quality of life, to avoid steroid dependence and to maintain mucosal healing with a view to preventing relapse, hospital admission and surgery, and improving disease natural history. Options for remission maintenance include smoking cessation, thiopurines, methotrexate, anti-TNF-α drugs and surgery. Evidence suggests that in some places now, and in most places in the past, too few patients are/were appropriately treated when in remission, and, in many instances, treatment regimens are/were insufficiently tailored to the patient's individual phenotype, prognosis and/or genotype.
Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Neoplasia in Children
Authors: Rufo Paul A.
Published: June 2014

Advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease have led to the widespread use of increasingly potent immunosuppressive therapies. This has greatly benefited the majority of patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and has resulted in improved overall clinical outcomes and quality of life. However, a growing body of data now indicates that long-term use of these agents may at the same time place patients at risk for a number of adverse effects, including colorectal and skin cancer, as well as lymphoma. Children and adolescents may be at particular cumulative risk for the development of these malignancies as a result of their young age at diagnosis, often increased disease extent and severity, and greater lifetime exposure to immunosuppressive agents. More recent epidemiologic studies are now identifying specific genetic and treatment-related factors that may place patients at increased risk for the development of IBD-related cancer. Improved understanding of these risk factors should contribute to a more rational approach to the pharmacologic management of children and young adults with IBD. Similarly, clinicians will be better able to counsel patients about the risks and benefits associated with specific therapies and develop improved monitoring guidelines to reduce the incidence of these rare but often severe oncologic complications.
Trends in Encephalitis-Associated Deaths in the United States, 1999-2008
Authors: Tack Danielle M. , Holman Robert C. , Folkema Arianne M. , Mehal Jason M. , Blanton Jesse D. , Sejvar James J.
Published: June 2014

Background: While encephalitis may be caused by numerous infectious, immune and toxic processes, the etiology often remains unknown. Methods: We analyzed multiple cause-of-death mortality data during 1999-2008 for the USA, using the 10th revision of International Classification of Diseases codes for encephalitis, listed anywhere on the death record, including ‘specified' and ‘unspecified' encephalitis. Annual and average annual age-adjusted and age-specific death rates were calculated. Results: For 1999-2008, 12,526 encephalitis-associated deaths were reported with 68.5% as unspecified encephalitis. The average annual age-adjusted encephalitis-associated death rate was 4.3 per 1 million persons, 1.3 for specified and 2.9 for unspecified encephalitis. Annual encephalitis-associated death rates had a significant downward trend (p < 0.01). The most common specified encephalitis deaths were herpesviral encephalitis (36.7%), Toxoplasma meningoencephalitis (27.8%) and Listeria meningitis/meningoencephaltis (6.8%). HIV was colisted with 15.0% of encephalitis-associated deaths, 58.4% of these with a specified code. Conclusion: Encephalitis-associated death rates decreased during 1999-2008, and herpesvirus was the most commonly identified infectious agent associated with encephalitis deaths. The high proportion of unspecified encephalitis deaths highlights the continued challenge of laboratory confirmation for causes of encephalitis and the importance of monitoring trends to assess the impact of new diagnostics and guide potential interventions.
Depression and All-Cause Mortality in Hemodialysis Patients
Authors: Fan Li , Sarnak Mark J. , Tighiouart Hocine , Drew David A. , Kantor Amy L. , Lou Kristina V. , Shaffi Kamran , Scott Tammy M. , Weiner Daniel E.
Published: June 2014

Background: There are limited data regarding the relationship between depression and mortality in hemodialysis (HD) patients. Methods: Among 323 patients receiving maintenance HD, depression symptoms were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale, with a score of ≥16 consistent with depression. Adjusted Cox proportional-hazards models with additional analyses incorporating antidepressant medication use were used to evaluate the association between depression and mortality. Baseline CES-D scores were used for the primary analyses, while secondary time-dependent analyses incorporated subsequent CES-D results. Results: The mean age was 62.9 ± 16.5 years, 46% of the subjects were women and 22% were African-American. The mean baseline CES-D score was 10.7± 8.3, and 83 (26%) participants had CES-D scores ≥16. During a median (25th, 75th) follow-up of 25 (13, 43) months, 154 participants died. After adjusting for age, sex, race, primary cause of kidney failure, dialysis vintage and access, baseline depression was associated with an increased risk of all-cause mortality (HR 1.51 and 95% CI 1.06-2.17). This attenuated with further adjustment for cardiovascular disease, smoking, Kt/V, serum albumin, log C-reactive protein and use of antidepressants (HR 1.21 and 95% CI 0.82-1.80). When evaluating time-dependent CES-D, depression remained associated with increased mortality risk in the fully adjusted model (HR 1.44 and 95% CI 1.00-2.06). Conclusions: Greater symptoms of depression are associated with an increased risk of mortality in HD patients, particularly when accounting for the most proximate assessment. This relationship was attenuated with adjustment for comorbid conditions, suggesting a complex relationship between clinical characteristics and depression symptoms. Future studies should evaluate whether treatment for depression impacts mortality among HD patients.
Adverse prognosis of incidentally detected ambulatory atrial fibrillation
Authors: Martinez Carlos , Katholing Anja , Freedman Saul Benedict
Published: June 2014

It was the aim of this study to determine prognosis of incidentally detected ambulatory atrial fibrillation (IA-AF) and its response to antithrombotic therapy. We performed a cohort study of 5,555 patients with IA-AF (mean age 70.9 ± 10.1, 38.4% female) and 24,705 age- and gender-matched controls without AF followed three years using UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. We measured incidence rates of stroke, all-cause mortality, myocardial infarction, major bleeding, and effect of antithrombotic therapy. Patients with IA-AF had mean CHA2DS2VASc score 2.5 ± 1.5, 73% with score ≥2. The stroke incidence rate (IR) was 19.4 (95% confidence interval 17.1 – 21.9)/1,000 person-years vs 8.4 (7.7 – 9.1) in controls (p<0.001), mortality 40.1 (36.8 – 43.6)/1,000 person-years vs 20.9 (19.8 – 22.0) in controls (p<0.001), and myocardial infarction 9.0 (7.5 – 10.8)/1,000 person-years vs 6.5 (5.9 – 7.2) in controls (p<0.001). IRs of all endpoints increased with age. Oral anticoagulant ± antiplatelet therapy received by 51.0% in year following IA-AF was associated with adjusted hazard ratio (HR) of 0.35 (0.17 – 0.71) for stroke, and 0.56 (0.36 – 0.85) for death compared to no therapy, while antiplatelet treatment was associated with a non-significant reduction of HR: 0.81 (0.51 – 1.29) for stroke, and 0.80 (0.55 – 1.15) for death, though both carried a similar small non-significant adjusted excess IR of major bleeding. In conclusion, asymptomatic AF detected incidentally is associated with a significant adverse effect on stroke and death, with reduction in both associated with oral anticoagulant but not antiplatelet treatment. This provides justification to assess cost-effectiveness of community screening to detect unknown AF.
Complications of Catheter Ablation of Ventricular Tachycardia
Authors: Peichl Petr , Wichterle Dan , Pavlu Ludek , Cihak Robert , Aldhoon Bashar , Kautzner Josef
Published: June 2014

Background—

Catheter ablation has become an established treatment modality for a broad spectrum of ventricular tachycardias (VTs). We analyzed incidence and predictors of major complications of VT ablation procedures in a high-volume expert center.

Methods and Results—

We evaluated 548 consecutive patients who underwent 722 ablation procedures, 473 (65.5%) for structural heart disease VT in the period 2006 to 2012. There were 45 (6.2%) major complications observed in 44 patients. Access site vascular complications were the most frequent (3.6%). Three patients (0.4%) had cardiac tamponade/hemopericardium, and 5 patients (0.7%) had a thromboembolic event. No procedural deaths occurred. Procedures for structural heart disease VT versus idiopathic VT had a significantly higher complication rate (8.0% versus 2.8%;
P
=0.006). Similarly, patients with electrical storm (10.1% versus 5.3%;
P
=0.04) and nonelective procedures (8.4% versus 3.5%;
P
=0.007) were at higher risk of complications. On multivariate analysis, age >70 years (
P
=0.01), serum creatinine >115 μmol/L (
P
=0.0003), and individual operator (
P
=0.0001) were the only independent predictors of complications. Overall 30-day mortality in the structural heart disease VT group reached 5.0% (patients) and 3.6% (procedures). Death was associated with early recurrence of VT/ventricular fibrillation (
P
=0.003) and ablation for electrical storm (
P
=0.02).

Conclusions—

Complication rates for VT ablation are significantly lower in idiopathic VT or in elective procedures. Independent predictors of complications include age, renal insufficiency, and individual operator. Postprocedural mortality is predicted by early recurrence of VT/ventricular fibrillation and ablation for electrical storm.
Increased Expression of Angiotensin II Type 2 Receptors in the Solitary–Vagal Complex Blunts Renovascular Hypertension
Authors: Blanch Graziela Torres , Freiria-Oliveira André Henrique , Speretta Guilherme Fleury Fina , Carrera Eduardo J. , Li Hongwei , Speth Robert C. , Colombari Eduardo , Sumners Colin , Colombari Débora S.A.
Published: June 2014

Angiotensin II increases and decreases arterial pressure by acting at angiotensin type 1 and type 2 receptors, respectively. Renovascular hypertensive rats exhibit a high level of activity of the peripheral and central renin–angiotensin system. Therefore, in the present study, we evaluated the effect of increasing the expression of angiotensin type 2 receptors in the solitary–vagal complex (nucleus of the solitary tract/dorsal motor nucleus of the vagus), a key brain stem region for cardiovascular regulation, on the development of renovascular hypertension. Holtzman normotensive rats were implanted with a silver clip around the left renal artery to induce 2-kidney 1-clip renovascular hypertension. Three weeks later, rats were microinjected in the solitary–vagal complex with either an adenoassociated virus to increase the expression of angiotensin type 2 receptors or with a control vector. We observed that increasing angiotensin type 2 receptor expression in the solitary–vagal complex attenuated the development of renovascular hypertension and also reversed the impairment of the baroreflex and the increase in the low-frequency component of systolic blood pressure observed in renovascular hypertensive rats. Furthermore, an observed decrease in mRNA levels of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 in the solitary–vagal complex of renovascular hypertensive rats was restored to control levels after viral-mediated increases in angiotensin type 2 receptors at this site. Collectively, these data demonstrate specific and beneficial effects of angiotensin type 2 receptors via the brain of hypertensive rats and suggest that central angiotensin type 2 receptors may be a potential target for therapeutics in renovascular hypertension.
Role of Nitric Oxide Synthase Uncoupling at Rostral Ventrolateral Medulla in Redox-Sensitive Hypertension Associated With Metabolic Syndrome
Authors: Wu Kay L.H. , Chao Yung-Mei , Tsay Shiow-Jen , Chen Chen Hsiu , Chan Samuel H.H. , Dovinova Ima , Chan Julie Y.H.
Published: June 2014

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is rapidly becoming prevalent worldwide, is long known to be associated with hypertension and recently with oxidative stress. Of note is that oxidative stress in the rostral ventrolateral medulla (RVLM), where sympathetic premotor neurons reside, contributes to sympathoexcitation and hypertension. This study sought to identify the source of tissue oxidative stress in RVLM and their roles in neural mechanism of hypertension associated with MetS. Adult normotensive rats subjected to a high-fructose diet for 8 weeks developed metabolic traits of MetS, alongside increases in sympathetic vasomotor activity and blood pressure. In RVLM of these MetS rats, the tissue level of reactive oxygen species was increased, nitric oxide (NO) was decreased, and mitochondrial electron transport capacity was reduced. Whereas the protein expression of neuronal NO synthase (nNOS) or protein inhibitor of nNOS was increased, the ratio of nNOS dimer/monomer was significantly decreased. Oral intake of pioglitazone or intracisternal infusion of tempol or coenzyme Q
10
significantly abrogated all those molecular events in high-fructose diet–fed rats and ameliorated sympathoexcitation and hypertension. Gene silencing of protein inhibitor of nNOS mRNA in RVLM using lentivirus carrying small hairpin RNA inhibited protein inhibitor of nNOS expression, increased the ratio of nNOS dimer/monomer, restored NO content, and alleviated oxidative stress in RVLM of high-fructose diet–fed rats, alongside significantly reduced sympathoexcitation and hypertension. These results suggest that redox-sensitive and protein inhibitor of nNOS–mediated nNOS uncoupling is engaged in a vicious cycle that sustains the production of reactive oxygen species in RVLM, resulting in sympathoexcitation and hypertension associated with MetS.
Adolescents Adapt More Slowly than Adults to Varying Reward Contingencies
Authors: Javadi Amir Homayoun , Schmidt Dirk H. K. , Smolka Michael N.
Published: June 2014

It has been suggested that adolescents process rewards differently from adults, both cognitively and affectively. In an fMRI study we recorded brain BOLD activity of adolescents (age range = 14–15 years) and adults (age range = 20–39 years) to investigate the developmental changes in reward processing and decision-making. In a probabilistic reversal learning task, adolescents and adults adapted to changes in reward contingencies. We used a reinforcement learning model with an adaptive learning rate for each trial to model the adolescents' and adults' behavior. Results showed that adolescents possessed a shallower slope in the sigmoid curve governing the relation between expected value (the value of the expected feedback, +1 and −1 representing rewarding and punishing feedback, respectively) and probability of stay (selecting the same option as in the previous trial). Trial-by-trial change in expected values after being correct or wrong was significantly different between adolescents and adults. These values were closer to certainty for adults. Additionally, absolute value of model-derived prediction error for adolescents was significantly higher after a correct response but a punishing feedback. At the neural level, BOLD correlates of learning rate, expected value, and prediction error did not significantly differ between adolescents and adults. Nor did we see group differences in the prediction error-related BOLD signal for different trial types. Our results indicate that adults seem to behaviorally integrate punishing feedback better than adolescents in their estimation of the current state of the contingencies. On the basis of these results, we argue that adolescents made decisions with less certainty when compared with adults and speculate that adolescents acquired a less accurate knowledge of their current state, that is, of being correct or wrong.
Counting Pentecostals Worldwide
Authors: Johnson Todd M.
Published: June 2014

Demographics on national, regional, and global Pentecostalism provide an essential backdrop to almost every kind of quantitative or qualitative study done on other aspects of Pentecostalism. This article outlines both the history and the research findings related to the subject of defining, categorizing, and counting Pentecostals. Subjects covered include early attempts to count Pentecostals, the development of taxonomies of different types of Pentecostals and Charismatics, and statistical estimates of Pentecostals and Charismatics by type.
November 4th, 1878 in the Life of Titu Maiorescu
Authors: Miroiu Andrei
Published: June 2014

This article uses the history of daily life to highlight the larger connections between interlocking networks of cultural and political power and bourgeois mentalities and mores in late nineteenth-century Romania. Focusing on the figure of Titu Maiorescu, a reformer of education, language, and literature, as well as a conservative politician, it illuminates “how things were done” in a society still trapped between agrarian realities and Westernizing impulses.
State Induced Theft
Authors: Popescu Delia
Published: June 2014

In this article I argue that one of the main tools that allowed the Romanian communist state to control oppositional activities, far better than many of its Eastern European neighbors, was the transformation of political opponents into petty criminals and felons. I contend that in the two decades that preceded 1989, communist Romania witnessed a pragmatic shift from hard rule (based on simply imprisoning political opponents under the category of “political detainees”) to subversive criminalization. The main operative tool for the subversive criminalization of so-called political offenses was Law 18/1968 (subtitledLaw regarding the control of the provenance of goods that have not been acquired through legal means). I argue that Law 18 was the result of two interconnected political drives. The first drive was the desire of the Ceauşescu regime to gain favor with the West by perpetuating the rhetoric launched as a result of the general amnesty for political detainees in 1964, under the Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej administration. The second drive was the political imperative of the Ceauşescu regime to suppress political opposition. My argument is that this transformative shift was accomplished through the development of what I call amechanism of state induced theftbacked by the deployment of a subversive legal instrument of criminalization, which was Law 18/1969. This paper analyzes the role, essence, and implications of Law 18 while supporting a theory of a strategic shift in communist policy.
From Liberalism to Democracy
Authors: Miru György
Published: June 2014

This study aims to present the political thinking of the well-known Central European politician Lajos Kossuth, focusing particularly on his understanding of the principles and values underlying the emergence and functioning of a modern political community. His publications, manuscripts, speeches, private correspondence, and other writings on a confederative framework in the region are analyzed in this study in order to better frame his conception of freedom, nation, and democratic attitudes, and his consistent support for the principle of national independence.
A new species of Munidopsis Whiteaves, 1874 (Crustacea: Anomura: Galatheoidea: Munidopsidae) from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea
Authors: VÁZQUEZ-BADER ANA ROSA , GRACIA ADOLFO , LEMAITRE RAFAEL
Published: June 2014

A new species of squat lobster, Munidopsis shulerae sp. nov., from the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean, is fully described and illustrated. This new species is named in honor of the late Barbara Shuler Mayo (1945–1988), who first recognized this new taxon in her 1974 unpublished doctoral dissertation, but never formalized it. This new species is placed in the Anoplonotus group based on the presence of simple, narrow rostrum, spineless eyes, fused sternites 3 and 4, well-marked carapace regions, unarmed pleonal tergites, and smooth dactyls of pereopods 2–4. Among western Atlantic congeners, M. shulerae sp. nov. is most similar to M. polita (Smith, 1883), from which it can be distinguished by the straight shape of the rostrum with a tuberculate dorsal carina extending to the epigastric region, coarse ornamentation of the carapace, and a conspicuous submarginal protuberance on each side of the carapace between the antennal and ocular peduncles.
Eutrichosomellini (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae) from India, with description of two new genera
Authors: HAYAT MOHAMMAD
Published: June 2014

Two new genera and four new species of the aphelinid tribe Eutrichosomellini (Chalcidoidea: Aphelinidae: Aphelininae) are described from India. These are Umairia Hayat gen. nov., Zubairia Hayat gen. nov., U. laiba Hayat sp. nov., U. zeera Hayat sp. nov., Z. mirifica Hayat sp. nov., and Eutrichosomella veenakumariae Hayat sp. nov. Two of the species, U. laiba and E. veenakumariae, are reared respectively from the eggs of Papilio polytes L. (Lepidoptera) and cockroach oothecae (Blattodea). Keys to the genera of the tribe Eutrichosomellini, and to the Indian species of Eutrichosomella Girault are given.
Why Leading Consumer Product Companies Develop Proactive Chemical Management Strategies
Authors: Scruggs Caroline E. , Van Buren Harry J.
Published: June 2014

Scholars have studied the various pressures that companies face related to socially responsible behavior when stakeholders know the particular social issues under consideration. Many have examined social responsibility in the context of environmental responsibility and the general approaches companies take regarding environmental management. The issue of currently unregulated, but potentially hazardous, chemicals in consumer products is not well understood by the general public, but a number of proactive consumer product companies have voluntarily adopted strategies to minimize use of such chemicals. These companies are exceeding regulatory requirements by restricting from their products chemicals that could harm human or environmental health, despite the fact that these actions are costly. They do not usually advertise the details of their strategies to end consumers. This article uses interviews with senior environmental directors of 20 multinational consumer product companies to investigate why these companies engage in voluntary chemicals management. The authors conclude that the most significant reasons are to achieve a competitive advantage and stay ahead of regulations, manage relationships and maintain legitimacy with stakeholders, and put managerial values into practice. Many of the characteristics related to the case of chemicals management are extendable to other areas of stakeholder management in which risks to stakeholders are either unknown or poorly understood.
Translating δικαιοσύνη: A Response
Authors: Wright N. T.
Published: June 2014

A response to Richard Moore’s critique of N. T. Wright’s translation of Paul’s use of δικαιοσύνη language.
Substance Use Disorders and Treatment Utilization among MDMA Users: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions
Authors: Niv Noosha , Warda Umme S. , Grella Christine E. , Moore Alison A. , Sarkisyan Diana , Karno Mitchell P.
Published: June 2014

The study examined the prevalence and correlates of substance use disorders and treatment utilization among lifetime MDMA users. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from the 2001–2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC), a nationally representative survey of adults in the United States. Lifetime MDMA use was assessed, and MDMA users (n = 562) were compared to a matched sample of non-MDMA users. Substance use diagnoses were made using the AUDADIS – DSM-IV, and data on treatment utilization were collected. MDMA use was significantly related to lifetime and past-year substance use disorders as well as treatment utilization in bivariate analyses. Multivariate analysis, however, showed that MDMA use was not related to lifetime substance use diagnosis or to treatment utilization. MDMA use still had the strongest association with past-year substance use disorders. Screening for substance use disorders and nicotine dependence may be warranted among adults who report lifetime MDMA use to help identify treatment needs and provide proper referrals.
Projecting Adolescent Prevention and Treatment Need: A Novel Application Utilizing the Communities That Care Data in the State of Kansas
Authors: Minugh P. Allison , Lomuto Nicoletta , Janke Susan
Published: June 2014

This study projects substance abuse and dependence prevalence rates based on the number of early problem behaviors (tobacco, alcohol and marijuana use, and arrests prior to age 15) reported by youth who have taken part in eleven administrations of the annual Kansas Communities That Care survey following a model developed by McGue and Iacono (2005). The probability of males and females developing a substance abuse or dependence disorder at age 17 and 20 was assigned to each respondent. Projections were mapped to show county and statewide dispersions for planning purposes. Projected numbers were much higher than expected. In addition to young adult treatment need, the implications for prevention service planning became readily apparent. The findings highlight missed opportunities for indicated prevention and early intervention services and are further discussed in the context of how early intervention might alleviate demand on the treatment system as adolescents progress into young adulthood.
Assessing stability of body weight in the brushtail possum (Trichosurus vulpecula)
Authors: Cameron Kristie E , Bizo Lewis A , Starkey Nicola J
Published: June 2014

When conducting controlled laboratory studies with non-traditional laboratory animals it is important that methods for determining body weight stability are reliable. This helps ensure the health and welfare of animals when they are maintained during periods of free feeding or food restriction. This study compared different methods for determining body weight stability in six common brushtail possums ( Trichosurus vulpecula) maintained on a free-feeding diet under laboratory conditions. A criterion of five consecutive weighings with less than ±2.5% change across days and no more than two consecutive days of weight loss or weight gain was judged to be the most suitable criteria for determining stability. It is important to study non-traditional animals, especially endangered or pest species, under controlled laboratory conditions and to have robust methods for establishing body weight stability.
Maternal and neonatal complications of macrosomia
Authors: Elie Nkwabong
Published: June 2014

This case control study, aimed at identifying complications of macrosomia, was conducted in two major hospitals of Yaoundé, Cameroon over a 6-month period from 1 October 2012. Maternity records were compared of births weighing ≥4000 g with those weighing between 3000 g and 3500 g. The main outcome variables were mode of delivery, low genital lacerations, Apgar score, birth injuries, postpartum haemorrhage and early neonatal death. Data were analysed using SPSS 18.0. Chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test and t-test were used for comparison. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Maternal complications observed were poor uterine contractions during labour, second-degree perineal tears, Caesarean section, instrumental delivery and postpartum haemorrhage. Neonatal complications were birth injuries, poor 5-minute Apgar score and early neonatal death. In our setting, macrosomia is associated with increased maternal and neonatal complications.
Functional Partitioning and Possible Limits on Variability
Authors: D’Arcy Alexandra
Published: June 2014

English adjective comparison presents a textbook case for variation analysis, exhibiting robust variation between synthetic ( angrier/ angriest) and analytic ( more/most angry) forms. However, our understanding of this alternation relies largely on evidence from written genres; very little is known about adjective comparison in speech, particularly in the vernacular. Since it is likely that analytic comparison gained traction via analogy with French, the shortage of spoken evidence proves a critical gap in our knowledge. This article examines comparison strategies in a large corpus of spoken New Zealand English (NZE), and compares the results with those from another colonial variety, Canadian English. Consistent with reports elsewhere, synthetic comparison is the preferred overall strategy. However, the analysis reveals a system that is partitioned: comparison is not particularly variable in these materials, either synchronically or diachronically. Individual adjectives tend to pattern either synthetically or analytically, raising questions about an across-the-board functional overlap between comparative forms. This article explores a number of explanations (e.g., variation is register-specific or variety-specific, or may be visible only in extremely large corpora), and ultimately suggests that in contrast to the situation found in written and expository genres more generally, variation is limited in vernacular speech.
Assessment of creep constitutive properties from three-point bending creep test with miniaturized specimens
Authors: Zhuang Fa-Kun , Tu Shan-Tung , Zhou Guo-Yan , Wang Qiong-Qi
Published: June 2014

Three-point bending creep tests using miniaturized specimen are proposed to assess creep constitutive properties of materials. Based on Norton’s creep law, the analytical model for the three-point bending specimen is given. Through the analytical model, creep parameters can be obtained by regressing the bending test data. Maximum stress approach and reference stress approach are used to convert bending test data to equivalent uniaxial tensile test data. In order to verify these approaches, both three-point bending and uniaxial creep tests of 23CrMoNiWV88 steel are performed. The results show that the derived creep parameters from the bending test data are in reasonable agreement with those obtained from conventional uniaxial creep tests. The equivalent uniaxial creep data converted using reference stress approach are more reasonable than that using maximum stress approach. It has also been found that the large deformation may have a significant influence on the conversion relationship. The results are only accurate at relatively low load levels during testing.
The Value of Numbers in Economic Rewards
Authors: Kanayet Frank J. , Opfer John E. , Cunningham William A.
Published: June 2014

Previous work has identified a distributed network of neural systems involved in appraising the value of rewards, such as when winning $100 versus $1. These studies, however, confounded monetary value and the number used to represent it, which leads to the possibility that some elements in the network may be specialized for processing numeric rather than monetary value. To test this hypothesis, we manipulated numeric magnitude and units to construct a range of economic rewards for simple decisions (e.g., 1¢, $1, 100¢, $100). Consistent with previous research in numerical cognition, results showed that blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) activity in intraparietal sulcus was correlated with changes in numeric magnitude, independent of monetary value, whereas activity in orbitofrontal cortex was correlated with monetary value, independent of numeric magnitude. Finally, region-of-interest analyses revealed that the BOLD response to numeric magnitude, but not monetary value, described a compressive function. Together, these findings highlight the importance of numerical cognition for understanding how the brain processes monetary rewards.
National Conversations About the Costs of U.S. Health Care
Authors: Foster Caroline , Tanner Andrea H. , Kim Sei-Hill , Kim Soo Yun
Published: June 2014

This study evaluated 531 newspaper articles and television transcripts to examine how the U.S. media presented the issue of rising health care costs from 1993 to 2010. The prominence of health care coverage, the expert sources, and the presentation of the causes of rising health care costs were assessed. Results suggest that the president influenced health care news coverage, while expert sources quoted in the reports influenced how the causes of rising health care cost were presented. Findings contribute to the growing body of academic literature on agenda building theory and provide insights for health care reform advocates interested in maximizing their media advocacy efforts.
Tax Base Erosion and Inequity from Michigan’s Assessment Growth Limit
Authors: Hodge Timothy R. , Skidmore Mark , Sands Gary , McMillen Daniel
Published: June 2014

We examine the degree to which Michigan’s property value assessment growth cap has eroded the tax base and created substantial differences in effective tax rates among residential properties within the City of Detroit. While the analysis focuses on a specific city with significant tax base erosion challenges, it is relevant to other cities in Michigan and across the nation, particularly in states that impose assessment growth limits. Using quantile regression techniques, we examine how an assessment growth cap alters effective tax rate distributions within and across property value groups. Results show that the cap creates a wide range of effective tax rates across properties of similar value (horizontal inequity) and similar tax payments for properties of differing values (vertical inequity).
A Reply to “A Replication of “Millionaire Migration and State Taxation of Top Incomes
Authors: Young Cristobal , Varner Charles
Published: June 2014

This response discusses the findings and criticisms in Cohen, Lai, and Steindel (CLS). Despite the skeptical tone of their article, the CLS analysis confirms our core conclusion of a small (or very small) migration effect of the millionaire tax. The range of estimates reported by CLS, including the wrong-signed estimates they find, scarcely reaches beyond the 95 percent confidence interval originally reported by Young and Varner. The critical modeling choice made by CLS is to exclude the observed in-migration of millionaires in the years following the tax increase. Even this leaves small migration effects, with an implied revenue cost that is a small fraction of the additional revenues generated by the millionaire tax.
Misalignment and Its Influence on Integration Quality in Multichannel Services
Authors: Banerjee Madhumita
Published: June 2014

As service organizations increasingly use physical and virtual channels for customer contact, a seamless customer experience within and across channels reflects the integration quality of multichannel services. This study investigates the factors affecting integration quality and their impact on multichannel design and management. The study was undertaken as a qualitative, multimethod, multisite, case research with a consumer bank, its customers and its technology partner firms. The research findings identify forms of misalignment occurring between organizational perception and design of a multichannel system and customer expectations of a multichannel service experience. Such misalignment not only negatively impact integration quality but also make customers susceptible to terminating the relationship with the service provider. The study also identifies that integration quality does not result from the lone actions of a single entity, such as the organization. The interplay of actions between the organization, its wider institutional environment, and its customers collectively influence integration quality. From a managerial perspective, the study identifies aspects of multichannel process design and management for positive integration quality.
Using instruments for tactical assessment in physical education and extra-curricular sports
Authors: Arias-Estero José , Castejón Francisco
Published: June 2014

The aim was to analyse the features concerning the applicational purpose and strategy of the most common instruments used to assess game tactics both in Physical Education (PE) and in extra-curricular sport contexts. The review focused on two instruments: the Game Performance Assessment Instrument (GPAI) and the Team Sport Assessment Procedure (TSAP). The results showed that the two instruments were both mainly applied at the final stage of Junior School and the initial stage of Secondary School. The GPAI was used chiefly in PE (90.91%), through hetero-assessment (90.91%), observation of videos (90.91%), and at the beginning and the end of the teaching and learning process (54.54%). The TSAP was more likely than the GPAI to be used in youth sports (40%), through peer-assessment (60%), live (real time) assessment (60%), and at the end of the teaching–learning process (80%). Despite the possibilities provided by their excellent design, the present review shows that neither instrument has been used very frequently, according to the analysed variables.
Three-dimensional braiding of continuous regenerated cellulose fibres
Authors: Huber Tim , Kuckhoff Britta , Gries Thomas , Veit Dieter , Pang Shusheng , Graupner Nina , Müssig Jörg , Staiger Mark P
Published: June 2014

A growing interest in biocomposites leads to the extension of commonly used three-dimensional braiding processes for composite preforming to cellulose-based fibres. A rayon fibre (Cordenka™) is processed on an Institut für Textiltechnik 3D rotary braiding machine, generally used for the processing of stronger and stiffer glass and carbon fibres. A rectangular profile was produced from 32 yarns and the braiding angle of the yarn was analysed. Analysis of the fibre tensile properties during the different processing steps revealed only a minor reduction in fibre strain. The fibre strength and Young’s modulus were unaffected by the braiding process showing that 3D rotary braiding can be extended to biobased fibres without any required changes.
Two Mind-Altering Curriculums
Authors: Ergas Oren
Published: June 2014

Findings from neuroscience and psychological research reveal that the mind’s default state is wandering bearing directly on our well-being. These findings raise difficult questions as to the premises underlying the curriculum rendered as a “mind-altering device” (Eisner, 1993). This article analyzes the direction of causality between “ thinking” and “mind” underlying educational theory and practice. The analysis yields two complementary curriculum strands: (1) the first concerns a common conception of the curriculum as training the student in how to think. Its direction of causality thus works from thinking to mind as it handles the mind’s deliberate thinking. (2) the second, reverses the first strand’s direction of causality suggesting working from mind to thinking to handle the mind as wanderer. Its defining curriculum question shifts the axis from how to think to whether to think. This curriculum applies mind-altering pedagogies grounded in “contemplative practice” (e.g., mindfulness, yoga, and tai chi).
Conflicts in schools, conflict management styles and the role of the school leader
Authors: Saiti Anna
Published: June 2014

Conflict may occur in any organization (and hence school) and, for schools, conflict management style is a joint activity and the degree of its effectiveness determines the type of impact of conflict on school performance. This empirical study investigates the potential sources of conflict in Greek primary schools, determine appropriate approaches for the handling of conflicts and offers recommendations, based on the findings, for a more creative conflict management style in order to enhance school performance. Anonymous questionnaires were distributed to primary school educators in two Greek regions, one of which was the metropolitan area of Athens, resulting in a sample of 414 completed questionnaires. The results showed that school conflicts often arise in the school and that when school conflicts did occur they were mainly attributed to both interpersonal and organizational reasons. Moreover, the results showed that there is a greater likelihood for these conflicts to arise in urban schools than in other regions. This study supports the view that integration, collaboration and coherence are the key factors for cultivating a constructive conflict management strategy and enhancing better school performance.
Ecology without Scale: Unthinking the World Zoom
Authors: Tong Chris
Published: June 2014

‘Scale’ is a nest of complications: it is a highly contested term in a range of disciplines, from geography to ecology, from philosophy to science and technology studies. The heart of the problem is the dispute over its ontological status and topological properties. ‘Scale’ is often assumed to be an ordered totality that one can navigate by zooming in and out, as in Powers of Ten and Google Earth. Such modes of visualization not only give form to a planetary consciousness, but also enable surveillance and warfare in what the author calls ‘the age of the world zoom’. Whereas some geographers have called for the rejection of scalar thinking altogether, he demonstrates how object-oriented ontology (OOO) and actor-network theory (ANT) can offer new insights into conceptualizing the interrelations of entities without falling into the traditional pitfalls of ‘scale’. These approaches lay the groundwork for ‘ecology without scale’, or thinking about interconnectedness beyond scalar notions.