bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Magnetic Resonance Imaging for Identifying Patients With Cardiac Sarcoidosis and Preserved or Mildly Reduced Left Ventricular Function at Risk of Ventricular Arrhythmias
Authors: Crawford Thomas , Mueller Gisela , Sarsam Sinan , Prasitdumrong Hutsaya , Chaiyen Naiyanet , Gu Xiaokui , Schuller Joseph , Kron Jordana , Nour Khaled A. , Cheng Alan , Ji Sang Yong , Feinstein Shawn , Gupta Sanjaya , Ilg Karl , Sinno Mohamad , Abu-Hashish Saddam , Al-Mallah Mouaz , Sauer William H. , Ellenbogen Kenneth , Morady Fred , Bogun Frank
Published: September 2014

Background—

The purpose of this study was to assess whether delayed enhancement (DE) on MRI is associated with ventricular tachycardia (VT)/ventricular fibrillation or death in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis and left ventricular ejection fraction >35%.

Methods and Results—

Fifty-one patients with cardiac sarcoidosis and left ventricular ejection fraction >35% underwent DE-MRI. DE was assessed by visual scoring and quantified with the full-width at half-maximum method. The patients were followed for 48.0±20.2 months. Twenty-two of 51 patients (63%) had DE. Forty patients had no prior history of VT (primary prevention cohort). Among those, 3 patients developed VT and 2 patients died. DE was associated with risk of VT/ventricular fibrillation or death (
P
=0.0032 for any DE and
P
<0.0001 for right ventricular DE). The positive predictive values of the presence of any DE, multifocal DE, and right ventricular DE for death or VT/ventricular fibrillation at mean follow-up of 48 months were 22%, 48%, and 100%, respectively. Among the 11 patients with a history of VT before the MRI, 10 patients had subsequent VTs, 1 of whom died.

Conclusions—

RV DE in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis is associated with a risk of adverse events in patients with cardiac sarcoidosis and preserved ejection fraction in the absence of a prior history of VT. Patients with DE and a prior history of VT have a high VT recurrence rate. Patients without DE on MRI have a low risk of VT.
Protein Kinase G Iα Oxidation Paradoxically Underlies Blood Pressure Lowering by the Reductant Hydrogen Sulfide
Authors: Stubbert Daniel , Prysyazhna Oleksandra , Rudyk Olena , Scotcher Jenna , Burgoyne Joseph R. , Eaton Philip
Published: September 2014

Dysregulated blood pressure control leading to hypertension is prevalent and is a risk factor for several common diseases. Fully understanding blood pressure regulation offers the possibility of developing rationale therapies to alleviate hypertension and associated disease risks. Although hydrogen sulfide (H
2
S) is a well-established endogenous vasodilator, the molecular basis of its blood-pressure lowering action is incompletely understood. H
2
S-dependent vasodilation and blood pressure lowering in vivo was mediated by it catalyzing formation of an activating interprotein disulfide within protein kinase G (PKG) Iα. However, this oxidative activation of PKG Iα is counterintuitive because H
2
S is a thiol-reducing molecule that breaks disulfides, and so it is not generally anticipated to induce their formation. This apparent paradox was explained by H
2
S in the presence of molecular oxygen or hydrogen peroxide rapidly converting to polysulfides, which have oxidant properties that in turn activate PKG by inducing the disulfide. These observations are relevant in vivo because transgenic knockin mice in which the cysteine 42 redox sensor within PKG has been systemically replaced with a redox-dead serine residue are resistant to H
2
S-induced blood pressure lowering. Thus, a primary mechanism by which the reductant molecule H
2
S lowers blood pressure is mediated somewhat paradoxically by the oxidative activation of PKG.
Reconstructing the Cosmic Evolution of the Chemical Elements
Authors: Frebel Anna
Published: September 2014

The chemical elements are created in nuclear fusion processes in the hot and dense cores of stars. The energy generated through nucleosynthesis allows stars to shine for billions of years. When these stars explode as massive supernovae, the newly made elements are expelled, chemically enriching the surrounding regions. Subsequent generations of stars are formed from gas that is slightly more element-enriched than that from which previous stars formed. This chemical evolution can be traced back to its beginning soon after the Big Bang by studying the oldest and most metal-poor stars still observable in the Milky Way today. Through chemical analysis, they provide the only available tool for gaining information about the nature of the short-lived first stars and their supernova explosions more than thirteen billion years ago. These events set in motion the transformation of the pristine universe into a rich cosmos of chemically diverse planets, stars, and galaxies.
Can preference for crabs in juvenile Octopus maya be modified through early experience with alternative prey?
Authors: Portela Esther , Simões Nuno , Rosas Carlos , Mascaró Maite
Published: September 2014

Previous studies on cephalopod feeding have suggested that predetermined preference for certain prey types can be modified by exposing newly hatched individuals to visual or chemical stimuli (imprinting), or by familiarizing them to feed on prey different from those preferred (associative learning). The aim of our study was to determine whether preference to attack crabs in Octopus maya could be modified by early experience with or without food reinforcement using palaemonid shrimp, a prey octopuses consume readily, but will reject if crabs are available. We conducted experiments on the attack response of juvenile octopuses that had been either exposed to (visual and chemical stimuli for at least 48 h before and after hatching) or had fed only on palaemonids (16 days after hatching). Octopuses were then presented with crabs and palaemonids simultaneously and attacks on either prey were recorded. Control treatments, where octopuses had to choose between two similar alternatives (no choice) were included in order to discriminate between active and passive selection. Results were analysed by means of asymmetrical contingency tables. Both, octopuses that had only been exposed to stimuli from palaemonids and those that fed on shrimp, selectively attacked crabs when first presented with both alternative prey ( and , respectively; both ). These results indicate that preference for crabs in early juvenile O. maya could not be modified through experience with other prey. Because octopuses had never been in contact with crabs prior to trials, such preference was not obtained through their short life experience but could be pre-determined.
The Incomprehensible Post-Communist Privatisation
Authors: Damsa Liviu
Published: September 2014

One of the most important claims of the neoliberal policy prescriptions for Central and East European states in the early 1990s was that ‘communist’ property should be ‘privatised’. I contend that this policy prescription was based on a number of false assumptions about what ‘communist’ property was and about communist law. As a result, the post-communist process of privatisation was plagued by many unintended and negative effects. The consequence was the great enrichment of the former communist managers who were able to benefit from ‘privatisation’ at the expense of the public, in a process which was not ‘rights based’ or ‘democratic’. I argue that the reality of ‘communist property’ was totally different from that assumed by neoliberal agents and policies. The distinctiveness of communist property arrangements resided not in the absence of private property, which was tolerated under communism, but in the organisation of property as an administrative matter.
Islamic Law as a Comparable Model in Comparative Legal Research
Authors: Harasani Hamid
Published: September 2014

Increasingly, Islamic law has become the subject of comparative legal study. Further, in the applied sense, comparative legal studies’ greatest value lies in understanding our own legal systems, as well as benefiting from other legal systems by importing what we lack from them. Unlike secular legal systems, Islamic law, being religious in nature and having eschatological connotations, requires reworking the comparative legal method to take account of that. When it comes to religious laws, hermeneutics play a key role, as a religious legal system will only be receptive to foreign norms if such norms earn their place internally, following hermeneutic justification. Cultural and religious pride, as well as intellectual impartiality, decrees that a legal solution should not be preferable just because it comes from the First World. This paper will therefore formulate a methodology for comparative legal studies where religious law is one of the comparative models and there are potential suggestions of legal transplant.
Locally Working Patents and the Grant of Compulsory Licences
Authors: Manu Thaddeus
Published: September 2014

According to a well-established legislative tradition of patent law, failure to work patents while exercising any rights over the patented inventions constitutes an abuse. Consequently, several countries impose affirmative duties demanding evidence of commercial exploitation from patentees and their licensees within their territories. In view of the socio-economic significance of local working of patents, this article examines the extent to which African countries could implement national actions to ascertain mandatory requirements on the part of pharmaceutical patentees to work patented medicines locally, of which by default compulsory licensing would be justified. To that end, the author contends that African countries have the right to demand proof of local working of patents within their jurisdictions in order that the reasonable affordable requirements of the public can be met, because importation of essential medicines entails high costs and shortages and would not provide a sustainable means of protecting public health.
Checklist of Gastrotricha of the Polish Baltic Sea with the first reports of Heterolepidoderma joermungandri Kånneby, 2011, and Turbanella hyalina
Schultze, 1853
Authors: KOLICKA MAŁGORZATA , KISIELEWSKI JACEK , KOTWICKI LECH , ZAWIERUCHA KRZYSZTOF , GRZELAK KATARZYNA
Published: September 2014

Gastrotricha is a cosmopolitan phylum of aquatic and semi-terrestrial invertebrates comprising more than 800 described species. Up to now, only five taxonomic and faunistic papers have been published on the gastrotrichs of the Polish Baltic Sea and 27 taxa have been found (including three freshwater, which were found in estuaries). This article presents a complete list of brackish and estuarine Gastrotricha from the Polish Baltic Sea accompanied by localities and the first observations of gastrotrich species inhabiting the underwater macrophytes. Although the group has been studied for more than 150 years, the gastrotrich community of marine macrophytes has not been studied in any great detail. Here we provide data on gastrotrich communities living on macrophytes and also in sandy sediments. In total, nine species were found (seven from sandy sediments, two species from macrophytes). Seven of the species belong to Chaetonotida: Halichaetonotus balticus Kisielewski, 1975, H. lamellatus Kisielewski, 1975, H. schromi Kisielewski, 1975, Heterolepidoderma joermungandri Kånneby, 2011, Lepidodermella squamata (Dujardin, 1841), Xenotrichula intermedia Remane, 1934, and X. velox Remane, 1927(c). Two of species belong to Macrodasyida: Turbanella cornuta Remane, 1925, and T. hyalina Schultze, 1853. H. joermungandri and T. hyalina are new for Polish fauna. Both species correspond with the original descriptions but differ by some morphometric characters. Taxonomic, morphometric, and biogeographic remarks are provided for the new records together with differential interference contrast (DIC) microphotographs.
Japanese species of the genus Proutia Tutt, 1899 (Lepidoptera: Psychidae)
Authors: SAIGUSA TOYOHEI , SUGIMOTO MIKA
Published: September 2014

Two new species of the genus Proutia are described from Japan based on both sexes. Proutia maculatella sp. nov. is distinctive in having maculated forewing upperside. Proutia nigra, sp. nov. has unicolorous blackish brown forewing upperside and similar to the European species, P. betulina, but differs from the latter in the longer processes of the male valvae and shorter female antennae.
Redescription of Iberoiulus cavernicola Ceuca, 1967, and the relationships of the genus Iberoiulus Mauriès, 1985 (Diplopoda, Julida, Blaniulidae)
Authors: ENGHOFF HENRIK , REBOLEIRA ANA SOFIA P. S.
Published: September 2014

The Iberian blaniulid millipede Iberoiulus cavernicola Ceuca, 1967, is redescribed based on abundant new material collected in a cave in Villaluenga del Rosario, Cádiz, Spain. The relationships of the genus Iberoiulus Mauriès, 1985, to other blaniulid genera are discussed.
A new genus and two new species, one extant and one fossil, in the family
Troctopsocidae (Psocodea: ‘Psocoptera’: Troctomorpha: Amphientometae:
Electrentomoidea)
Authors: MOCKFORD EDWARD L. , ALDRETE ALFONSO N. GARCÍA
Published: September 2014

We describe a new genus, Troctopsocoides, in the family Troctopsocidae with two new species, T. erwini n. sp. (Madre de Dios, Peru) and T. gracilis n. sp., a fossil in amber from the Dominican Republic. We include a diagnosis of the family Troctopsocidae following a recent important change in its status and a key to the known genera of the family.
Haruchlora maesi, a new emerald moth genus and species from Mesoamerica (Lepidoptera, Geometridae, Geometrinae)
Authors: VIIDALEPP JAAN , LINDT AARE
Published: September 2014

A new genus and species of Neotropical emerald geometrid moths, Haruchlora Viidalepp & Lindt, gen. nov., and Haruchlora maesi Viidalepp & Lindt, sp. nov. are described. The new genus differs from all other New World Geometrinae genera in having a bifid uncus, in characters of the pregenital segments of the male abdomen, and in the male genitalia.
Description of a new genus and species, Pseudobasidissus barclayi (Coleoptera: Anthribidae), from east Madagascar
Authors: TRÝZNA MILOŠ , BAŇAŘ PETR
Published: September 2014

A new genus and species, Pseudobasidissus barclayi Trýzna & Baňař gen. nov. et sp. nov. (Anthribidae: Anthribinae: Platyrhinini), from Madagascar is described. Male and female genitalia are studied and illustrated. Colour photographs of the holotype and genitalia of both sexes are provided. Comparison is made with the similar genus Basidissus Fairmaire.
Modeling Regional-Scale Wildland Fire Emissions with the Wildland Fire Emissions Information System*
Authors: French Nancy H. F. , McKenzie Donald , Erickson Tyler , Koziol Benjamin , Billmire Michael , Endsley K. Arthur , Yager Scheinerman Naomi K. , Jenkins Liza , Miller Mary Ellen , Ottmar Roger , Prichard Susan
Published: September 2014

As carbon modeling tools become more comprehensive, spatial data are needed to improve quantitative maps of carbon emissions from fire. The Wildland Fire Emissions Information System (WFEIS) provides mapped estimates of carbon emissions from historical forest fires in the United States through a web browser. WFEIS improves access to data and provides a consistent approach to estimating emissions at landscape, regional, and continental scales. The system taps into data and tools developed by the U.S. Forest Service to describe fuels, fuel loadings, and fuel consumption and merges information from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and National Aeronautics and Space Administration on fire location and timing. Currently, WFEIS provides web access to Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) burned area for North America and U.S. fire-perimeter maps from the Monitoring Trends in Burn Severity products from the USGS, overlays them on 1-km fuel maps for the United States, and calculates fuel consumption and emissions with an open-source version of the Consume model. Mapped fuel moisture is derived from daily meteorological data from remote automated weather stations. In addition to tabular output results, WFEIS produces multiple vector and raster formats. This paper provides an overview of the WFEIS system, including the web-based system functionality and datasets used for emissions estimates. WFEIS operates on the web and is built using open-source software components that work with open international standards such as keyhole markup language (KML). Examples of emissions outputs from WFEIS are presented showing that the system provides results that vary widely across the many ecosystems of North America and are consistent with previous emissions modeling estimates and products.
Variability of Natural Dust Erosion from a Coal Pile
Authors: Mueller Stephen F. , Mallard Jonathan W. , Mao Qi , Shaw Stephanie L.
Published: September 2014

A study of fugitive dust emissions from a pile of crushed coal revealed that, in addition to dust being emitted into the atmosphere during periods of pile-management (human) activity, it is also emitted during periods without human activity. This “natural” emission in itself is not surprising given past work on wind erosion of particulate matter from aggregate piles. However, hourly downwind measurements of fine particle (PM10) mass concentrations at two sites revealed that excessive dust was present in the air even when wind speeds were below the erosion threshold estimated from nearby wind speed measurements and regulatory guidance on coal pile aerodynamic characteristics. During periods of natural emissions with higher wind speeds, downwind concentrations were strongly associated with µ2—the squared excess of 1-min maximum wind speed above the erosion threshold—consistent with previous work on wind erosion potential. However, 88% of hourly concentrations coincided with lower winds for which wind speed was not a good predictor of airborne dust levels. Evidence was found that natural low-wind PM10 concentrations varied significantly with relative humidity, air temperature, and turbulence parameters (σu and σw). Smoke from coal combustion was ruled out as a significant factor in PM10 levels, but statistical evidence along with visual observation suggests that microscale turbulent airflows, including dust devils, were a significant source of PM10 during low wind speeds over the pile. The localized behavior of the turbulence makes it very difficult to develop a strong statistical model of natural downwind concentrations on the basis of off-pile meteorological measurements.
The Representation of Atmospheric Blocking and the Associated Low-Frequency Variability in Two Seasonal Prediction Systems
Authors: Athanasiadis Panos J. , Bellucci Alessio , Hermanson Leon , Scaife Adam A. , MacLachlan Craig , Arribas Alberto , Materia Stefano , Borrelli Andrea , Gualdi Silvio
Published: September 2014

Primarily as a response to boundary forcings, certain components of the atmospheric intraseasonal variability are potentially predictable. Particularly referring to the extratropics, the current generation of seasonal forecasting systems is making advancements in predicting these components by realistically initializing many components of the climate system, using higher resolution and utilizing large ensemble sizes.

The operational seasonal prediction system of the Met Office (UKMO) and the corresponding system of the Centro Euro-Mediterraneo sui Cambiamenti Climatici (CMCC) are analyzed in terms of their representation of different aspects of extratropical low-frequency variability. The UKMO system achieves unprecedented high scores in predicting the winter mean phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO; correlation 0.62) and the Pacific–North American pattern (PNA; correlation 0.82). The CMCC system, despite its smaller ensemble size and coarser resolution, also exhibits significant skill (0.42 for NAO, 0.51 for PNA). Low-frequency variability is underrepresented in both models, particularly in the eastern North Atlantic. Consequently, their intrinsic variability patterns (sectoral EOFs) are somewhat different from the observed patterns.

Regarding the representation of wintertime Northern Hemisphere blocking, after bias correction both systems exhibit a realistic climatology of blocking frequency. In this assessment, instantaneous blocking and large-scale persistent blocking events are identified using daily geopotential height fields at 500 hPa. The blocking signature on the circulation and the dependence of blocking frequency on the NAO are also quite realistic for both systems. Finally, the Met Office system exhibits significant skill in predicting the winter mean frequency of blocking that relates to the NAO.
A World-Class City-Region? Envisioning the Nairobi of 2030
Authors: Myers Garth
Published: September 2014

A jaundiced optimism has surfaced in the past few years for a number of cities across the African continent. There is optimism for the moment in cities from Dakar to Nairobi, Cairo to Cape Town, Marrakesh to Maputo, and many urban spaces in between, due to positive economic growth and emergence of relative political stability. The optimism is jaundiced from decades of experience with previous moments of optimism overrun by economic crises and political upheaval. This article will examine this mixed outlook on the future for cities in Africa through a case study of Nairobi, and in particular its Nairobi Metro 2030 vision plan for the city and its surrounding counties. Kenya’s efforts to reimagine Nairobi as a “world-class city-region” by 2030 include ambitious yet tangible outcomes that are beginning to come to fruition—massive improvements to infrastructure, total transformation of the governance structure, and significant and substantive investments in commercial, industrial, and residential real estate. At the same time, the vision has a wandering eye, which keeps drifting back to the caution palpable among Nairobi residents stemming from severe inequalities, criminal violence, and political rivalries. Based on fieldwork and interviews from 2012 and policy analysis from 2012 to 2014, I argue that the Nairobi case is emblematic of the ambivalent era for urban visions blossoming across urban Africa as we move toward 2030.
The Impact of Vivid Messages on Reducing Energy Consumption Related to Hot Water Use
Authors: Bailey Jakki O. , Bailenson Jeremy N. , Flora June , Armel K. Carrie , Voelker David , Reeves Byron
Published: September 2014

Research suggests that vivid and personalized interventions influence proenvironmental attitudes and behaviors. Through the use of immersive virtual environment technology, people can experience vivid environmental scenarios that are personalized to the individual. An experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of vivid and/or personal messages on energy savings behavior related to hot water use. Participants experienced a virtual shower in which they received feedback (varying in vividness and/or personalization) on the amount of energy used to heat and transport the virtual water. Participants’ hot water use during hand washing in the physical world was tracked before and after treatment. Participants exposed to vivid messages used cooler water compared with not vivid messages. There was no significant effect for personal messages and no interaction effect. The results suggest that technology that leverages vividness may be effective in promoting proenvironmental behaviors.
Book Review: N. Bhaskara Rao, Good Governance: Delivering Corruption Free Public Services
Authors: Vijay Devesh
Published: September 2014

N. Bhaskara Rao, Good Governance: Delivering Corruption Free Public Services, New Delhi, SAGE Publications, 2013, £40.00.
Violent Video Games and Reciprocity
Authors: Velez John A. , Greitemeyer Tobias , Whitaker Jodi L. , Ewoldsen David R. , Bushman Brad J.
Published: September 2014

Numerous studies have shown that playing violent video games alone increases subsequent aggression. However, social game play is becoming more popular than solo game play, and research suggests cooperative game play is beneficial for players. The current studies explore the effects of cooperative game play on player’s subsequent aggressive behaviors toward video game partners (Experiment 1) and non-video game partners (Experiment 2), while providing a discussion of possible theories applicable to social video game play. Cooperative games resulted in less aggression between video game partners (Experiment 1) and between non-video game partners (Experiment 2) than did competitive or stand-alone games. Interestingly, cooperative game play and no-game play produced similar levels of aggression (Experiment 1), whereas competitive and solo game play produced similar levels of aggression (Experiment 2). These findings are consistent with the theory of bounded generalized reciprocity. Playing violent games cooperatively can offset the aggression-increasing effects of violent video games.
Group Behavioral Activation for Patients With Severe Obesity and Binge Eating Disorder
Authors: Alfonsson Sven , Parling Thomas , Ghaderi Ata
Published: September 2014

The aim of the present study was to assess whether behavioral activation (BA) is an efficacious treatment for decreasing eating disorder symptoms in patients with obesity and binge eating disorder (BED). Ninety-six patients with severe obesity and BED were randomized to either 10 sessions of group BA or wait-list control. The study was conducted at an obesity clinic in a regular hospital setting. The treatment improved some aspects of disordered eating and had a positive effect on depressive symptoms but there was no significant difference between the groups regarding binge eating and most other symptoms. Improved mood but lack of effect on binge eating suggests that dysfunctional eating (including BED) is maintained by other mechanisms than low activation and negative mood. However, future studies need to investigate whether effects of BA on binge eating might emerge later than at post-assessment, as in interpersonal psychotherapy for bulimia nervosa.
Variability of Criteria for Pasteurized Donor Human Milk Use
Authors: Hagadorn James I. , Brownell Elizabeth A. , Lussier Mary M. , Parker Margaret G. K. , Herson Victor C.
Published: September 2014

Background: Use of donor human milk (DHM) is increasing, but criteria for its use are not well defined. Materials and Methods: We conducted a 34‐question Internet‐based survey of medical directors of U.S. level 3 and level 4 neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), with the goal of describing specifics of policies developed to guide DHM use in U.S. NICUs. Respondents reported NICU characteristics and details of policies concerning DHM use. Policy‐specified criteria for DHM use, if any, were described. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were used to identify NICU characteristics associated with DHM use. Results: Respondents returned 153 (33%) surveys, with use of DHM reported by 91 (59%). Donor human milk use was more likely with more than 100 annual admissions <1500 g at birth (odds ratio [OR], 2.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.1–4.7) and with Vermont‐Oxford Network participants (OR, 4.6; 95% CI, 1.8–11.6). Among 72 NICUs reporting a written policy, criteria for providing DHM required birth weights varying from <1000 to <1800 g and/or gestational ages from <28 to <34 completed weeks, but criteria were reportedly waived in many circumstances. Policies regarding duration of DHM therapy were similarly varied. Conclusions: Criteria for initiating and continuing DHM vary widely among U.S. level 3 and level 4 NICUs. Donor human milk use is more frequent in NICUs with many very low‐birth‐weight admissions and among Vermont‐Oxford Network participants. Further research is needed to define short‐ and long‐term outcomes and cost benefits of DHM use in subgroups of NICU patients, particularly for uses other than necrotizing enterocolitis prevention.
Influence of the fuel spray angle and the injection strategy on the emissions reduction characteristics in a diesel engine
Authors: Kim Hyung Jun , Park Su Han , Lee Chang Sik
Published: September 2014

This study describes the effects of the fuel injection angle and the multiple-injection strategies on the combustion, the emissions and the performance characteristics in a common-rail diesel engine. To conduct this investigation, a single-cylinder diesel engine with four valves was used, and various injection strategies with different parameters such as the spray angle, the timing and a single injection or multiple injections were applied. The combustion pressure, the heat release rate and the emissions were measured by a combustion and exhaust emissions analyser system. An injection spray angle of 156° resulted in higher nitrogen oxide emissions than an injection spray angle of 60° did, as the time between the first injection and the second injection increased. Also multiple injections resulted in lower levels of soot and hydrocarbon emissions than a single injection did. A multiple-injection strategy with a dwell time of 20–40° crank angle before top dead centre and the first injection at 60° crank angle before top dead centre or 50° crank angle before top dead centre improved the engine power and lowered the fuel consumption compared with the results for a single injection.
Optimal matching between the suspension and the rubber bushing of the in-wheel motor system
Authors: Tan Di , Lu Chao , Ren Chuanbo
Published: September 2014

To overcome the increase in the unsprung mass and deformation of the magnet gap for in-wheel-motor-propelling systems, a novel topology scheme had been presented in previous work. In this study, an optimal matching design between the suspension and the rubber bushing is employed for the novel system to reduce the effect of the road surface roughness on the magnet gap as much as possible, on the basis of good ride quality and comfort. First, the half-vehicle model of the scheme is set up. Second, the objective function is developed using the weighting coefficient method to obtain a balanced consideration of the magnet gap deformation, the body’s pitch angle acceleration and the vertical vibration acceleration which takes the road condition, the vehicle speed and the load condition into account. The suspension’s dynamic travel, the dynamic load of the tyres, the damping parameters of the suspension, the bushing stiffness, the bushing damping and the bushing deformation are selected as the constraint conditions. Third, the design optimization for matching is carried out with the following excitation sources: the road surface roughness and the unbalanced magnetic force. Finally, a comparative analysis of the three optimization indices is performed before and after the optimization. The results show that, after optimal matching, all vibration response variables demonstrate measurable improvements. The magnet gap deformation achieves the greatest improvement, followed by the vertical vibration acceleration and the body’s pitch angle acceleration. The magnet gap deformation is improved by 42.4%, 45.4% and 44.99% under the no-load condition, the half-load condition and the full-load condition respectively, and the deformation of the rubber bushings satisfies the required design. The performance improvement is significant. The optimal matching method can be used to solve research problems involving the magnet gap deformation and the ride comfort of in-wheel-motor-driven vehicles, while at the same time offering a method for design optimization.
Traffic Congestion in the Metropolitan City of Kolkata
Authors: Chakrabartty Aparajita , Gupta Sudakshina
Published: September 2014

There has been rapid urbanisation in the cities of India which has led to an increase in demand for mobility. Public transport has not been able to satisfy the transportation needs of the population leading to rise in vehicle ownership. The huge numbers of private vehicles, heterogeneous traffic and limited road space have led to the problem of congestion on the Indian city roads. The situation is no different in Kolkata. Kolkata has a high population density. The road space in Kolkata is only 6 per cent compared to Delhi and Mumbai, which have greater road space. High demand for mobility coupled with low road space leads to high congestion on the roads of Kolkata. This article tries to measure congestion on a few arterial roads of Kolkata through a congestion/mobility index.
Why Do Local Governments Resist Contracting Out?
Authors: Garrone Paola , Marzano Riccardo
Published: September 2014

Local governments are reluctant to contract out public services. This article shows that resistance to contracting out is not at odds with efficiency. The sample includes all 135 municipalities that were distributing gas in an Italian region when a national reform ended direct delivery. Contracting out decisions have been analyzed for the subsequent 12 years through a duration model that admits time dependence and interaction with intermunicipal cooperation. It has been found that opposition to contracting out is more likely if scale and managerial efficiency have already been enhanced. Fiscal stress and the activism of citizens are shown not to play a significant role.
Health Educators and the Future
Authors: Clark Noreen M.
Published: September 2014

In just a few years a new century will dawn. This article posits that with it will come new challenges for health education. Five types of change the field is currently experiencing are discussed. It is suggested that shifts in demographics, conceptions of family, and levels of activism, are demanding new thinking. Approaches based on a new perception of health education are presented. The need for current health educators to shape the direction of change through invigorated leadership is emphasized.
A Social Cognitive View of Self-Regulated Learning About Health
Authors: Clark Noreen M. , Zimmerman Barry J.
Published: September 2014

Researchers interested in health-related learning have recently begun to study processes people use to self-regulate their health and their ability to prevent or control chronic disease. This paper represents a social cognitive view of self-regulation that involves three classes of influence on self-regulating behavior: personal, behavioral, and environmental. This triadic model assumes that people self-regulate their health through the use of self-care strategies, setting reasonable health goals, and monitoring feedback concerning the effectiveness of strategies in meeting their goals. People’s perceptions of self-efficacy are also assumed to play a major role in motivating them to self-regulate their health functioning. According to social cognitive theory, processes entailed in regulating one’s health can be taught through social modeling, supports, and feedback; gradually these external supports are withdrawn as one is able to self-regulate. This paper will analyze self-regulation processes related to controlling or preventing lung disease, specifically management of asthma and eliminating smoking. The educational implications of the triadic model of self-regulation for promoting health and related behavioral functioning will be discussed.
The new scalar politics of evaluation: An emerging governance role for evaluation
Authors: Rutkowski David , Sparks Jason
Published: September 2014

In this article we analyze how roles for evaluation are described and argued for in key texts produced and/or promoted by three influential international networks: the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness; the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Assistance Committee’s Network on Development Evaluation; and the Network of Networks for Impact Evaluation. We contend that these complex multilateral networks are working supranationally through soft power to promote: common standards of evaluation practice; a dominant model of evaluation (impact evaluation); and new evaluation roles, relationships and practices for the field of development. Moreover, we argue that this emerging complex multilateral agenda for evaluation may position evaluation and evaluators within a global governance strategy allowing greater influence to international development organizations. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of the analysis for evaluators working in the field of international development.
Dealing with complexity through actor-focused planning, monitoring and evaluation (PME)
Authors: Van Ongevalle Jan , Huyse Huib , Van Petegem Peter
Published: September 2014

This article reports on the results of a collaborative action research project (2010–12) in which 10 development organizations (nine Dutch and one Belgian), together with their southern partners, explored different actor-focused Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation (PME) approaches with the aim of dealing more effectively with complex processes of social change. A major challenge that organizations were trying to address during this action research pertained to the demonstration of observable results in complex contexts where such results are not always easy to measure or to quantify and where causal links between cause and effect cannot always be predicted. Drawing from recent literature, the article presents an analytic framework to assess the effectiveness of a PME approach in dealing with complex social change. This framework is then used to explore how actor-focused PME approaches can help international development programmes to manage complex processes of social change by stimulating processes of real-time results-based learning.
An educational programme for parents on the body image of preschool-aged boys
Authors: McCabe Marita P , Mellor David , Mealey Alex
Published: September 2014

This study was designed to increase parents’ awareness of their role in their preschool child’s body image and increase positive body image attitudes. In total, 118 parents (54 intervention, 64 control) of boys aged −3–6 years completed a two-session educational workshop. At post-test and the 3 months’ follow-up, parents in the intervention group compared to the control group reported a greater level of perceived knowledge on how they may influence their son’s body image and a greater level of body appreciation. These results indicate that educational workshops are effective in improving parents’ knowledge to improve their son’s body image.
Communicating supranational governance? The salience of EU affairs in the German Bundestag, 1991–2013
Authors: Rauh Christian
Published: September 2014

Against democratic deficits of European Union (EU) governance, recent literature emphasizes the communicative function of national parliaments. Yet, arguments from the broader EU politicization literature have been only rarely applied to public parliamentary debates. This article integrates arguments about supranational authority and partisan competition as key drivers of debates on the EU and tests respective implications by an automated text analysis that retrieves EU references in all 1,393 plenary debates of the German Bundestag during 1991–2013. A panel analysis identifies authority transfers as the strongest predictor for EU salience in the plenary. EU references furthermore increase with supranational policy output, public EU visibility, and a differentiating public opinion. With regard to partisan emphasis, mainstream and particularly governing parties push European issues in the German Bundestag.
The effect of multiple hotel brand extensions
Authors: Mahasuweerachai Patcharaporn , Qu Hailin
Published: September 2014

The purpose of this study is to develop and test a theoretical model explaining the effects of previous hotel brand extensions on customer attitudes toward new extensions, customer perceptions of core brand reputation, and loyalty. An online survey was conducted to collect data. A total of 511 responses were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The results revealed that for a hotel brand that has launched more than one extension, the performance of any previous hotel brand extensions had positive effects on a new hotel brand extension as well as the core brand. These findings contribute to the body of knowledge on brand extension, especially in hotel context. More detail findings and implication are provided in the manuscript.
Self-transcendent experience: a grounded theory study
Authors: Garcia-Romeu Albert , Himelstein Samuel P , Kaminker Jacob
Published: September 2014

Current theories in psychology conceptualize self-transcendence as a personality trait, a developmental construct, and a particular class of anomalous experience. Despite extensive research on self-transcendence, the process, outcomes, and nature of self-transcendent experience (STE) remain elusive. This study focused on the self-reported narratives of STE in 15 healthy adults. Accounts were collected in face-to-face interviews, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using grounded theory methodology. Qualitative results were recursively examined to construct a preliminary mid-range theory of STE in healthy adults. Three major theme areas emerged from interview data. These were (a) context, (b) phenomenology, and (c) aftermath of STE. Each of these major themes was further divided into distinct sub-themes, including setting, perceptual alterations, and long-term effects. The resulting interpretation of STE is discussed in light of current literature and directions for future research.
New directions in researching ethnicity in marketing and consumer behaviour
Authors: Jafari Aliakbar , Visconti Luca M.
Published: September 2014

This special commentary section proposes new directions in researching the nexus of ethnicity and well-being under three themes of (1) mobility and shifting identities in relation to place, (2) empowerment and identity performance in relation to the virtual space, and (3) religious conflicts in relation to markets and spaces of consumption. The three short essays in this collection are geared towards accelerating research on ethnicity in marketing and consumer behaviour. They problematize the very nature of ethnicity in relation to space and how ethnicity is performed in different spaces by looking at the issues of social relations, transformations and conflict. They suggest potential areas of enquiry, particularly for new (doctor of philosophy) research projects, policy-focused research grant applications, conferences/seminars/workshops and also classroom activities and teaching purposes.
Direct effects of recurrent hypoglycaemia on adrenal catecholamine release
Authors: Orban Branly O , Routh Vanessa H , Levin Barry E , Berlin Joshua R
Published: September 2014

In Type 1 and advanced Type 2 diabetes mellitus, elevation of plasma epinephrine plays a key role in normalizing plasma glucose during hypoglycaemia. However, recurrent hypoglycaemia blunts this elevation of plasma epinephrine. To determine whether recurrent hypoglycaemia affects peripheral components of the sympatho-adrenal system responsible for epinephrine release, male rats were administered subcutaneous insulin daily for 3 days. These recurrent hypoglycaemic animals showed a smaller elevation of plasma epinephrine than saline-injected controls when subjected to insulin-induced hypoglycaemia. Electrical stimulation of an adrenal branch of the splanchnic nerve in recurrent hypoglycaemic animals elicited less release of epinephrine and norepinephrine than in controls, without a change in adrenal catecholamine content. Responsiveness of isolated, perfused adrenal glands to acetylcholine and other acetylcholine receptor agonists was also unchanged. These results indicate that recurrent hypoglycaemia compromised the efficacy with which peripheral neuronal activity stimulates adrenal catecholamine release and demonstrate that peripheral components of the sympatho-adrenal system were directly affected by recurrent hypoglycaemia.
The Racial Logic of Grey’s Anatomy
Authors: Warner Kristen J.
Published: September 2014

Shonda Rhimes is one of the most successful and celebrated black female American television producers. With such hits as ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, and Scandal, Rhimes has established herself as a showrunner with a passion for women’s stories. However, as much as Rhimes is touted for her narratives of strong women, she is equally touted for recirculating a casting practice called blindcasting back into public discourse. Blindcasting, the process of not writing race into the script, is often considered a progressive step toward actors’ equality. However, the pitfalls of blindcasting as well as its larger purpose in the process of reinforcing a colorblind, post-race society need to be unearthed. The aim of this article is to unpack how blindcasting operates in Grey’s as well as in Rhimes’s politics through a discursive analysis of her self-fashioning, interviews with her cast and a close reading of her characters.
The Paradoxical Character of Live Television Sport in the Twenty-First Century
Authors: Whannel Garry
Published: September 2014

The interacting social forces that have shaped the development of the electronic media constitute complex and contrary developments. Television technology, unlike that of the cinema, took a long time to grow from a technological possibility in the 1930s to maturation in the 1970s. Mega-events such as the Olympic Games and the World Cup have both a centripetal and a centrifugal character. They suck in global attention in a vortextual fashion, and yet the spectacle is not so much local and embedded as it is dispersed around the globe. Live sport, dispersed across platforms, is part of a bifurcation of social life—people are half present and embedded, half engaged in virtual interactivity. Technology has typically developed in two directions—producing the giant screens of public viewing spaces and also of the living room, and producing the miniaturization that enables live sport on mobiles, watches, and the Google Glass. Finally, media sport is ubiquitous yet is all but invisible to many others who simply filter it out.
Treatment of painful diabetic neuropathy
Authors: Javed Saad , Petropoulos Ioannis N. , Alam Uazman , Malik Rayaz A.
Published: September 2014

Painful diabetic neuropathy (PDN) is a debilitating consequence of diabetes that may be present in as many as one in five patients with diabetes. The objective assessment of PDN is difficult, making it challenging to diagnose and assess in both clinical practice and clinical trials. No single treatment exists to prevent or reverse neuropathic changes or to provide total pain relief. Treatment of PDN is based on three major approaches: intensive glycaemic control and risk factor management, treatments based on pathogenetic mechanisms, and symptomatic pain management. Clinical guidelines recommend pain relief in PDN through the use of antidepressants such as amitriptyline and duloxetine, the γ-aminobutyric acid analogues gabapentin and pregabalin, opioids and topical agents such as capsaicin. Of these medications, duloxetine and pregabalin were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2004 and tapentadol extended release was approved in 2012 for the treatment of PDN. Proposed pathogenetic treatments include α-lipoic acid (stems reactive oxygen species formation), benfotiamine (prevents vascular damage in diabetes) and aldose-reductase inhibitors (reduces flux through the polyol pathway). There is a growing need for studies to evaluate the most potent drugs or combinations for the management of PDN to maximize pain relief and improve quality of life. A number of agents are potential candidates for future use in PDN therapy, including Nav 1.7 antagonists, N-type calcium channel blockers, NGF antibodies and angiotensin II type 2 receptor antagonists.