bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Sibship Size and Intellectual Development: Is the Relationship Causal?
Authors: Guo Guang , VanWey Leah K.
Published: August 2023

Previous research has consistently found a negative statistical relationship between sibship size and children's intellectual development. Two explanations have been offered for this finding. The prevailing explanation is that the relationship is causal, suggesting that limiting family size would lead to more intelligent children. A second explanation maintains that the relationship is spurious—that one or more undetermined factors correlated with family size are causally related to intellectual development. Using data on children from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, we reexamine the issue using change models. These change models allow us to control for such unmeasured effects as family intellectual climate, family value system, and family genetic heritage. We begin by replicating in these data the negative statistical relationship between three cognitive measures and sibship size. We then apply the change models to siblings measured at two points in time and to repeated measures of the same individuals. By considering sibship size as an individual trait that changes over time, we control for effects that are shared across siblings and over time. When these shared effects are controlled, the negative relationship between sibship size and intellectual development disappears, casting doubt on the causal interpretation of the negative relationship conventionally found.
Rebel without A Cause Or Effect: Birth Order and Social Attitudes
Authors: Powell Brian , Freese Jeremy , Steelman Lala Carr
Published: August 2023

The enduring effects of an individual's birth order have been subject to a long and lively debate in sociology and other disciplines. Recently, in response to Sulloway's (1996) Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives, interest has increased in the possible effects of birth order on social attitudes. Using quantitative, historical data, Sulloway found that birth order is a better predictor of social attitudes than is gender, class, or race. His novel, evolutionary theory asserts the universal influence of birth order across eras and cultures. We use contemporary data to test Sulloway's contention that firstborn adults are more conservative, supportive of authority, and “tough-minded” than laterborns. Examining 24 measures of social attitudes from the General Social Survey (GSS), we find no support for these claims, either in terms of significant effects or even the direction of nonsignificant coefficients. An expanded inquiry using all (202) relevant attitudinal items on the GSS yields similar results. In our analysis, variables discounted by Sulloway—gender, race, social class, and family size—are all linked to social attitudes more strongly than is birth order. Our findings suggest that birth-order theories may be better conceptualized in terms of modest effects in limited domains and in specific societies.
The Intercohort Decline in Verbal Ability: Does it Exist?
Authors: Wilson James A. , Gove Walter R.
Published: August 2023

Has there been a long-term intercohort decline in verbal ability beginning in the early part of this century? Recent analyses by Alwin and Glenn using data from the General Social Survey (GSS) strongly support such a trend. This decline, however, is not consistent with a substantial literature on adult cognitive development. We argue that Alwin's and Glenn's analyses confuse cohort effects with aging effects, apparently because of (1) a reliance on outdated assumptions, or “side information,” regarding the relationship between age and verbal ability; (2) the treatment of the relationship between age and verbal ability as linear rather than curvilinear; and (3) the high degree of collinearity between age and cohort in the GSS data. The observed trend in the GSS data appears to be explained best by a positive relationship between age and verbal ability rather than by a decline in ability across cohorts. Because the GSS data involve a set of national probability samples conducted over a 22–year period, our analyses complement and strengthen the credibility of the literature on adult cognitive development.
Further Discussion of the Evidence for An Intercohort Decline in Education-Adjusted Vocabulary
Authors: Glenn Norval D.
Published: August 2023

In their article, Wilson and Gove do not sufficiently consider the implications of the fact that education-adjusted GSS vocabulary scores in the total U.S. adult population declined to an important extent during the period covered by the GSS data. It is improbable that this decline resulted only from period influences: The declines in scores for different age levels over time are inconsistent with the usual tendency for period influences to affect the psychological characteristics of younger persons more than those of older persons. Furthermore, the GSS data show no increases in vocabulary scores within cohorts during middle age, as should have occurred if the intercohort differences shown by the data reflected only age effects. That an intercohort decline in time spent reading has contributed to an intercohort decline in education-adjusted vocabulary scores remains a reasonable hypothesis.
Aging versus Cohort Interpretations of Intercohort Differences in Gss Vocabulary Scores
Authors: Alwin Duane F. , McCammon Ryan J.
Published: August 2023

We investigate the plausibility of aging versus cohort interpretations of cohort-linked differences in vocabulary knowledge using data from 13 GSS surveys over a 22–year period, 1974 to 1996. We argue that one way to assess the effects of aging in these surveys is to examine the diachronic data within cohorts and to assume minimal period effects. Holding cohort constant in this fashion reveals detectable effects of aging that are not likely to be due to period influences between 1974 and 1996. Aging, however, explains only a tiny portion of the variation in the data, and aging effects are of insufficient magnitude to account for the larger intercohort patterns in the GSS vocabulary test data. Even when taking into account the effects of aging, the results of a cohort analysis support the argument that unique cohort experiences make important contributions to variation in GSS vocabulary test scores, especially among cohorts educated in the post-World War II era.
Utility of Health data from Social Surveys: Is There a Gold Standard for Measuring Morbidity?
Authors: Ferraro Kenneth F. , Farmer Melissa M.
Published: August 2023

Most sociological and epidemiological studies of health status in adulthood rely on reports of morbidity from respondents to social surveys. This study compares self-reported morbidity with indicators of morbidity from physicians ‘ evaluations and examines the predictive validity of each indicator on self-assessed health and mortality in adulthood. Special attention is given to differences in the measures between white and African American adults. Adults from a large national survey received a detailed medical examination by a physician; they also were asked about the presence of 36 health conditions. Results indicate that self-reported morbidity is equal or superior to physician-evaluated morbidity in a prognostic sense. Both types of morbidity predict self-assessed health for white respondents, but physician-evaluated morbidity is not related to either self-assessed health or mortality for African American respondents.
The Architecture of Small Networks: Strong Interaction and Dynamic Organization in Small Social Systems
Authors: Smith Thomas S. , Stevens Gregory T.
Published: August 2023

A new theoretical model of social interaction, conceptualized here as a hyperstructure, provides the basis for simulation experiments designed to explore the network effects of high frequency social dynamics, or strong interactions. Based on neurophysiological discoveries of brain-behavior mechanisms at work in attachment, the theoretical model provides a nonreductionistic understanding of how biological forces constrain social interaction and yield effects that propagate beyond dyads into wider social networks. The network effects of the model are equivalent to patterns long recognized in sociological research on personal networks, showing that the model can reproduce empirically familiar and sometimes surprising bottom-up discoveries about network dynamics. Additionally, the model provides sociological theory with a straightforward computational approach to discovering how deep structural principles at work in all complex systems also yield a social architecture—specifically, how a system/subsystem architecture, first described by Herbert Simon, emerges when strong interactions partition persons into naturally occurring subsystems.
The Structuring of Organizational Populations
Authors: Barron David N.
Published: August 2023

I construct theoretical models of the founding, failure, and growth of organizations that, when combined, constitute an explanation of the process by which the number of organizations in a population (the population density) declines from a peak, while at the same time the population mass (the aggregate size of the organizations in the population) continues to increase. Empirical results from analyses of the vital rates of credit unions in New York City are generally supportive of the models. The results of computer simulations are consistent with empirically observed trajectories of density and mass for the credit union data.
Embeddedness in the Making of Financial Capital: How Social Relations and Networks Benefit Firms Seeking Financing
Authors: Uzzi Brian
Published: August 2023

I investigate how social embeddedness affects an organization's acquisition and cost of financial capital in middle-market banking—a lucrative but understudied financial sector. Using existing theory and original fieldwork, I develop a framework to explain how embeddedness can influence which firms get capital and at what cost. I then statistically examine my claims using national data on small-business lending. At the level of dyadic ties, I find that firms that embed their commercial transactions with their lender in social attachments receive lower interest rates on loans. At the network level, firms are more likely to get loans and to receive lower interest rates on loans if their network of bank ties has a mix of embedded ties and arm's-length ties. These network effects arise because embedded ties motivate network partners to share private resources, while arm's-length ties facilitate access to public information on market prices and loan opportunities so that the benefits of different types of ties are optimized within one network. I conclude with a discussion of how the value produced by a network is at a premium when it creates a bridge that links the public information of markets with the private resources of relationships.
Economic Hardship across the Life Course
Authors: Mirowsky John , Ross Catherine E.
Published: August 2023

We test two hypotheses about the relationship between age and reported difficulty paying bills or buying things the family needs, such as food, clothing, medicine, and medical care. The affluence-trajectory hypothesis follows from age-group differences in income, income per capita, and official poverty, suggesting that economic hardship declines in successively older age groups up to late middle age but then rises. The adequacy-gradient hypothesis follows from research suggesting a progressively favorable balance of resources relative to needs in successively older age groups, suggesting that economic hardship declines progressively in successively older age groups. Two U.S. surveys (1990 and 1995) find a progressive decline in economic hardship in successively older age groups consistent with the adequacy-gradient hypothesis. Most age-group differences in economic hardship appear attributable to differences in the presence of children in the home, in resources such as homeownership and medical insurance, and in behaviors such as moderation and thrift.
Income Inequality, Development, and Dependence: A Reconsideration
Authors: Alderson Arthur S. , Nielsen François
Published: August 2023

We reconsider the role of foreign investment in income inequality in light of recent critiques that question the results of quantitative cross-national research on foreign capital penetration. We analyze an unbalanced cross-national data set in which countries contribute different numbers of observations, with a maximum of 88 countries and 488 observations, dated from 1967 to 1994. Random-effects regression models that control for unmeasured country heterogeneity are used to investigate effects of foreign capital penetration on inequality (measured as the Gini coefficient) against the background of an internal-developmental model of inequality. We adapt Firebaugh's (1992, 1996) critique of the literature on the effect of foreign investment on economic growth to the study of income inequality and find that the stock of foreign direct investment has an effect on inequality that is independent of the mechanisms identified by Firebaugh. We explore Tsai's (1995) claim that the effect of foreign capital penetration is spurious and find that foreign stock has a significant positive effect on inequality net of region-specific differences. An alternative interpretation of the findings of the foreign investment/inequality literature is discussed in light of the discovery of an inverted-U shaped relationship between income inequality and foreign investment stock per capita. We conclude that thinking on the relationship between income inequality and investment dependence should be revised in light of an investment-development path relating the inflow and outflow of foreign capital to economic development.
Developing Difference: Social Organization and the Rise of the Auto Industries of South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, and Argentina
Authors: Biggart Nicole Woolsey , Guillén Mauro F.
Published: August 2023

Theories of economic development as diverse as modernization, dependency, world-system, and market reform take a “critical factor” view. Proponents of each theory argue that countries fail to develop because of an obstacle to economic growth. We argue instead that neither a critical factor nor a single path leads to economic development; viable paths vary. Economic growth depends on linking a country's historically developed patterns of social organization to the opportunities of global markets. We formulate a sociological theory of cross-national comparative advantage including not only economic factor endowments but also institutionalized patterns of authority and organization. Such patterns legitimize certain actors and certain relationships among those actors, which facilitate development success in some activities but not in others. We illustrate this approach to understanding development outcomes with a comparative analysis of the difficult rise of the automobile assembly and components industries in South Korea, Taiwan, Spain, and Argentina.
Boon Or Bane? Reassessing the Productivity of Foreign Direct Investment
Authors: Soysa Indra de , Oneal John R.
Published: August 2023

We assess the effects of foreign and domestic capital on economic growth using the latest data and better models of economic growth than those previously used. We explicitly consider the role of human capital in the process of economic development. We find no evidence that foreign direct investment harms the economic prospects of developing countries. The flow of foreign capital from 1980 to 1991 spurred growth in gross domestic product per capita, while the level of foreign stock, or “foreign penetration,” had no discernible effect. Indeed, new foreign investment was more productive dollar for dollar than was capital from domestic sources. Previous suggestions that foreign investment flows are less beneficial than domestic ones were based on a misinterpretation. Moreover, foreign direct investment stimulates investment from domestic sources. Consequently, developing countries have no reason to eschew foreign capital, as dependency theorists urge.
Power in Negotiated and Reciprocal Exchange
Authors: Molm Linda D. , Peterson Gretchen , Takahashi Nobuyuki
Published: August 2023

While classical exchange theorists excluded bargaining from the scope of their theories, most contemporary theorists have done the opposite, concentrating exclusively on negotiated exchanges with binding agreements. We analyze how the form of social exchange—negotiated or reciprocal— affects the distribution of power in exchange networks. These two forms of exchange differ in fundamental ways that affect how actors use power and the kinds of risk and uncertainty they face. We predict that these basic differences will affect the relation between the availability of alternative partners and actors’ use of power, and will produce lower power use in reciprocal exchange than in negotiated exchange. We test our predictions in a laboratory experiment. The results support the underlying logic of our theory, partially support its specific predictions, and raise new questions about the importance of the different time perspectives required by negotiated and reciprocal exchange.
Schools as Solutions, Students as Problems: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Institutional Scripts in High School Websites
Authors: Allbright Taylor N. , Dhaliwal Tasminda K. , Alonso Jacob , Bridgeforth James , Santander Monica , Kennedy Kate E.
Published: August 2023

Purpose: In this study, we used critical discourse analysis to examine what school websites convey about the expected roles of educators and students. Research Design: We analyzed 13 high school websites from a mid-sized urban district that has implemented several market-based reforms and has a centralized school choice model. We employed the concept of scripts from institutional theory to analyze what messages these websites communicate about the roles of different educational actors, how these messages relate to existing societal power dynamics, and how they relate to the school model or school demographics. Findings: For students and educators, the sites expressed that students had an important problem, while the school and educators were offered as the solution. This common framework manifested in four distinct patterns, which we describe as the savior, cultivation, assimilation, and marketplace scripts. Implications: By critically examining school websites and other semiotic materials, leaders and other stakeholders can work to “root out” potentially harmful assumptions and narratives and envision alternatives that offer empowerment and transformation.
AUKUS: When naval procurement sets grand strategy
Authors: Caverley Jonathan D.
Published: August 2023

Traditionally, a grand strategy lays out the trade-offs a state must make in pursuit of security, thereby setting all aspects of foreign policy, from trade deals to defence budgets. This essay argues that the trade-offs embodied in a deal as complex, expensive, and long-lasting as AUKUS will manifest themselves in Australia's grand strategy for decades to come. Going forward, Australia's naval procurement decisions will shape its grand strategy, rather than vice versa. The essay makes three related points. First, Australia's costly reneging on France in favour of the US is the most important aspect of the deal to date. Even if these nuclear submarines are never built (a not entirely remote possibility), this shift in investment will determine Australia's approach to the world for a generation. Second, understanding this approach requires acknowledging that arms deals, even between allies, are tough, zero-sum negotiations requiring all parties to give up something of value. Given this, the essay makes the final point that Australia, and any other country entering AUKUS in the future, will pay in autonomy as much as in dollars.
Examining the Diffusion of Innovations from a Dynamic, Differential-Effects Perspective: A Longitudinal Study on AI Adoption Among Employees
Authors: Xu Shan , Kee Kerk F. , Li Wenbo , Yamamoto Masahiro , Riggs Rachel E.
Published: August 2023

This study extends the diffusion of innovations theory by considering the threat of technology and examining the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in the workplace over time from a dynamic, differential-effects perspective. Findings from a three-wave survey study reveal an association between the threat of AI (i.e., job security concerns) and increasingly negative attitudes toward AI adoption among employees over time. Relative advantage, compatibility, and observability correlated with more positive attitudes, whereas ease of use and trialability showed no significant association. In testing the differential effects on attitudes toward AI adoption among different groups of potential adopters, we found that trialability positively influenced attitudes only among employees who held a positive attitude previously. Observability and the threat of AI, however, were more influential among employees who held a negative attitude previously. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed.
Autism and Employment: A Review of the “New Frontier” of Diversity Research
Authors: Ezerins Maira E. , Simon Lauren S. , Vogus Timothy J. , Gabriel Allison S. , Calderwood Charles , Rosen Christopher C.
Published: August 2023

Organizations are demonstrating a burgeoning interest in hiring neurodivergent employees, prompting a parallel expansion of research on autism and employment. In this review, we evaluate, critique, and integrate diffuse research and theory on autism and employment across the domains of disability studies, autism, industrial relations, management, and rehabilitation. In doing so, we illustrate how incorporating the experiences of individuals on the autism spectrum can benefit management theory. Likewise, we highlight how existing management theory can help contextualize and enrich autism research. In addition, our review highlights barriers and potential enablers that individuals on the autism spectrum encounter during varying stages of employment, while also providing insight into steps that can be taken by organizations and practitioners to improve employment outcomes for neurodivergent individuals. We conclude with an agenda for advancing research and practice that enhances the employment experiences of autistic individuals and the outcomes of the organizations that employ them.
Parents’ attachment anxiety and preoccupation with their child’s social functioning: The moderating role of social rejection and acceptance
Authors: Azani Sadka Dana , Doron Guy , Mikulincer Mario
Published: August 2023

In three studies, we examined the contribution of parents’ attachment anxiety to preoccupation with their child’s social functioning and the moderating role of social rejection and acceptance. In Study 1 ( N = 191), we assessed parents’ attachment anxiety, retrospective accounts of peer rejection at school, and obsession regarding their child’s social competence. In Study 2 ( N = 186), we asked parents to listen and reflect on a podcast about social rejection or acceptance and examined the effects of these manipulations (vs. a control condition) on parents’ worry about their child’s flaws in the social domain. In Study 3 ( N = 226), we examined the effects of the above manipulations on parents’ tendency to expect and overreact to their child’s peer rejection. Across the three studies, parents’ attachment anxiety was associated with more preoccupation with their child’s social functioning. This association was amplified among parents who reported more frequent episodes of peer rejection at school and among those who listened to a podcast about social rejection. In contrast, a podcast about social acceptance buffered the link between parents’ attachment anxiety and preoccupation with their child’s social functioning.
Effect of the number and diversity of visual stimuli on the reproduction of short time intervals
Authors: Bozorgmehr Ali , Moayedi Razieh , Sadeghi Bahman , Molaei MohammadReza , Brenner Eli
Published: August 2023

Presenting more items within a space makes the space look and feel bigger. Presenting more tones within a time interval makes the interval seem longer. Does presenting more visual items also make a time interval seem longer? Does it matter what these items are? A series of 2–4 images were presented sequentially on a screen. Participants had to press the spacebar to indicate either the interval between the first and the last item or the intervals between all items. The first and last items were red squares with onset asynchronies of 700, 900, or 1,100 ms. We found that the times between key presses were longer when additional items had different shapes and colors than when they were also red squares. With only red squares, the time may even decrease with the number of items. Whether one had to tap for all targets or only the first and the last hardly mattered.
Why is causal explanation critical in/to economic geography?
Authors: Yeung Henry Wai-chung
Published: August 2023

This intervention elaborates on why causal explanation can serve as an indispensable building block towards robust theory development in economic geography. It argues for the critical importance of causal explanation in the subfield’s intellectual development and to its wider appeal to the social sciences. First, I show how this vital importance is premised on explanations that uncover the causal mechanisms of economic events, practices and processes that make things happen in society and space. Put differently, explanation needs causal connections as its necessary condition of explanatory power and practical adequacy. Its empirical operation is grounded in contextual contingencies and place-based specificities in an economic-geographical world characterized by complexity, multiplicity and emergence. Second, I explain why causal explanation represents a necessary step towards pragmatic research in economic geography. Our socio-spatial interventions can be better developed if we have a clearer sense of why and how carefully theorized causal mechanisms interact with contingent contexts to produce specific events and outcomes in the space-economy. Framed in this double hermeneutic sense of being both vital and pragmatic, causal explanation is critical in/to economic geography.
Ensemble learning based on remote sensing data for monitoring agricultural drought in major winter wheat-producing areas of China
Authors: Wang Lunche , Zhang Yuefan , Chen Xinxin , Liu Yuting , Wang Shaoqiang , Wang Lizhe
Published: August 2023

Drought is mainly triggered by the lack of precipitation, which can lead to insufficient water supply for crops thus affecting their growth and development. Reliable drought monitoring is crucial to understanding drought risk and avoiding drought-induced crop yield losses. Based on the Stacking regression method and multiple remotely-sensed drought factors from 2001 to 2017, this study developed an ensemble learning framework for monitoring agricultural drought in major winter wheat-producing areas in China. Stacking used five machine learning algorithms, namely, extreme gradient boosting, support vector regression, extra trees, and multi-layer perceptron, as the base learners to model the relationship between remote sensing drought factors and 1-, 3-, and 6-month standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). In this study, county-level winter wheat yield records and drought maps provided by the Global SPEI database (SPEIbase) were adopted to assess the suitability of Stacking-predicted SPEI drought maps in agricultural drought monitoring. The results show that Stacking outperformed other machine learning algorithms in terms of estimation accuracy, with the highest R2 value of 0.77 and the lowest root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.47. The longer the time scale of model-predicted SPEI, the higher its correlation with detrended winter wheat yields. The comparison with the drought maps of SPEIbase shows that the Stacking-predicted drought maps successfully captured the spatial pattern and intensity change of drought events. The approach presented in the study has good applicability for agricultural drought monitoring and could be extended to the rest of the areas.
Cost Analysis of Pathways for the U.S. Shipping Fleet to Comply with the IMO 2020 Rule
Authors: Uría-Martínez Rocío , Wang Zhaojun , Leiby Paul N. , Corbett James J.
Published: August 2023

Since 2020, ocean-going vessels must comply with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) mandate to reduce the sulfur content of marine fuels (outside emission control areas) to no more than 0.5%. This paper analyzes the cost of different approaches for the U.S. fleet, which has special cost considerations because of the Jones Act, to comply with the regulation. We perform a cost analysis for a suite of options for compliance by U.S. shippers, including low-sulfur petroleum-based fuels and alternative fuels (liquefied natural gas [LNG], ammonia, methanol, and ethanol). The cost analysis compares the average annual costs (capital and fuel) out to 2050 of each compliance approach for a representative U.S. tanker and U.S. containership under alternative scenarios with regard to fuel prices, policy, and technology innovation. We also consider the sensitivity of results with respect to vessel age, interest rates, and scrubber fuel efficiency penalties. We find the least costly compliance strategies across future fuel price scenarios and vessel types. The lower-cost compliance pathways typically deliver limited improvement in CO2 emissions which makes them riskier in the context of potential more ambitious emissions targets by IMO. This paper is derived from a technical report (ORNL/SPR-2021/2088) first prepared for the U.S. Maritime Administration.
Platelet-neutrophil interactions during hemodialysis: A proposed biocompatibility approach
Authors: Stuard S. , Bonomini M. , Settefrati N. , Albertazzi A.
Published: August 2023

Platelet interaction with neutrophils may occur to a significant degree during hemodialysis (HD). We have recently shown that the enhanced neutrophil reactive oxygen species (ROS) production during the early phase of HD with cuprophan (CUP) is sustained by neutrophils which have bound plateles through P-selectin (CD62P). The evaluation of platelet-neutrophil interactions during dialysis offers the novel aspect of cell-cell interactions as a new parameter for studying the biocompatibility of dialyzer membranes. By the use of flow cytometry techniques, the present study was set up to analyze intradialytic platelet-neutrophil coaggregate formation and neutrophil ROS (hydrogen peroxide) production from 6 HD patients each dialysed with CUP, cellulose diacetate (CDA), polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), andpolya-crylonitrile (PAN) in a cross-over clinical trial. Platelet-neutrophil coaggregate formation (percentage of neutrophil cells positive for CD62P) and ROS production by neutrophils (total population; CD62P+ cells; CD62P- cells) were determined before HD and after 10’, 20’ and 40’.

CD62P+ neutrophils significantly increased during HD with CUP (10’, 20’, 40'), PMMA (20) and CDA (20'), while no change was observed with PAN. The difference between CUP and the other membranes was significant at 10’, 20’ and 40’; at 20’, PMMA vs PAN p<0.005. ROS production by total neutrophil population significantly increased with CUP (10’, 20'), PMMA (20') and CDA (20'). The increase with CUP was higher at 10’ when compared to CDA (p<0.020) or PAN (p<0.005), and at 20’ versus the other three membranes; at 20’, PMMA vs PAN p<0.005. Only neutrophils gated in neutrophil-platelet coaggregate areas (CD26P+ neutrophils) produced hydrogen peroxide. ROS production by CD62P+ neutrophils significantly increased with CUP (10’, 20'), PMMA (20') and CDA (20'). The increase with CUP was significantly (p<0.0002) higher than the other three membranes at 10’ and 20’; at 20’, PMMA vs PAN p<0.02. With each membrane, ROS production by CD62P- neutrophils showed no significant change at any time point during HD. The results of the present study indicate that interactions between platelets and neutrophils can mediate some pathophysiological abnormalities associated with hemodialysis treatment. Our data show that cellulose diacetate, a modified cellulosic membrane, exhibits a biocompatibility profile in terms of platelet-neutrophil interactions improved as compared to the parent cellulose membrane and comparable to that of some synthetic membranes. Our data also show that there is considerable variability in the biocompatibility of synthetic membranes. Though cellulosic membranes are generally considered as being less biocompatible than synthetic membranes, our results indicate that classification of membranes by biocompatibility is more complex than a simple division into cellulosic and synthetic membranes, especially with the advent of modified cellulosic membranes. (Int J Artif Organs 1998; 21:75–82)
Shear stress related hemolysis and its modelling by mechanical degradation of polymer solutions
Authors: Pohl M. , Samba O. , Wendt M.O. , Vlastos G.
Published: August 2023

Human or animal blood is normally used as a test fluid for in vitro evaluation of hemolysis by artificial organs. However, blood has some disadvantages (no transparence for visualization of the flow field, large biological variability and problems with cleaning the devices). For that reason, it would be of advantage to have a reproducibile transparent technical fluid with blood like flow characteristics and that exhibits similar shear depending destruction. We have shown that solutions of long-chaining polymer molecules are destroyed by heart valve prostheses in a similar manner as blood corpuscules. In the presented study, a direct comparison between erythrocyte destruction of bovine blood and degradation of Polyacrylamid molecules in a 300 ppm solution is given. A uniform shear field was applied to the fluid using a plate-plate geometry shear device. This device allows a variation of shear stress and shear time in the range of 15-500 N/m2 and 64–516 ms, respectively. A correlation between the index of hemolysis (ratio of free plasma hemoglobin to total hemoglobin) and the percentage viscosity decrease (derived from low shear viscosity at a shear rate of 0.01/s) was found. Thus, PAA solutions are suitable model fluids for in vitro estimation of the damaging effects of artificial devices. (Int J Artif Organs 1998; 21:107–13)
A History of Suicide Attempt Is Associated with Increased Sympathetic Activation in Bipolar Disorder: Des antécédents de tentatives de suicide dans le trouble bipolaire sont associés à une activation sympathique accrue dans le trouble bipolaire
Authors: Ortiz Abigail , Park Yunkyung , MacLean Stephane , Husain M. Ishrat , Sanches Marcos , Ravindran Arun , Mulsant Benoit H.
Published: August 2023

Objective

Suicide risk in bipolar disorder (BD) is estimated to be up to 20 times higher than in the general population. While there is a large body of evidence suggesting that increased sympathetic activation is associated with disease and death, there is a paucity of research on the role of autonomic nervous system (ANS) dysfunction in patients with BD who have attempted suicide.

Methods

Fifty-three participants with BD used a wearable device to assess the association between history of suicide attempt, current suicidal ideation, and ANS dysfunction, including measures of heart rate variability (HRV) and respiratory rate. Data were analyzed in a series of unadjusted and adjusted bivariate models of association controlling for relevant variables.

Results

A history of suicide attempts was significantly associated with an increase in respiratory rate ( p < 0.01). These results remained significant after adjusting for age, BMI, and current mood state. There was no association between current suicidal ideation and heart rate or respiratory rate. In the frequency domain, HRV parameters suggest reduced parasympathetic (i.e., vagal) activity in participants with a history of suicide attempts and in those with current suicidality, suggesting changes in sympathicovagal balance in BD.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that changes in the ANS in patients with BD and a history of suicide attempt are not restricted to pure vagally mediated HRV parameters, but rather signal a general ANS dysregulation. This ANS imbalance may be contributing to illness burden and cardiovascular disease. Further research on the relationship between ANS and suicidality in BD is needed.
Precedents to Think About Social Work in Chile in the Current Uncertain Political Scenario: Reflections From Critical Feminisms
Authors: Martínez Rubio María Paz , Díaz Bórquez Daniela , Calderón Orellana Magdalena
Published: August 2023

In this In Brief, the authors present an argument about the challenges for feminist social work in Chile, given the political transformation process occurring since 2019 in the country. Through an approach that addresses the history of social work in dialogue with important political events for Chile and their consequences for the feminist and social movements, the authors argue that—despite the progress achieved—the main challenge for feminist social work today continues to be a male privilege. This is exemplified by a critical view of two main social work development fields: social services and academia. Finally, referring to critical and feminist perspectives, the authors reflect on possibilities for change in social work practice and education, given the political uncertainty that Chile is facing, particularly after the failure of the first constitutional election.
Wear behavior and tribo-surface characteristics of nano magnesium composites
Authors: Sathish S , Anandakrishnan V , Gupta Manoj
Published: August 2023

A nano magnesium composite was synthesized with the addition of 5.6 wt.% of titanium, 3 wt.% of aluminum and 2.5 wt.% of nano boron carbide particles through the disintegrated metal deposition process. To validate the metallurgical features of the synthesized magnesium composite, the samples were exposed to X-ray diffraction study and scanning electron microscopic analysis with dispersive spectroscopy analysis. Wear behavior of the nano magnesium composite was studied through pin-on-disc dry sliding wear experiments by changing the load and sliding velocity over a sliding distance of 3000 m. Further, wear rate of the produced material was analyzed for varied wear parameters. Wear behavior of the magnesium composite revealed an adverse effect with an increased load and a positive effect with increased sliding velocity. The microscopic analysis of the worn surface and the collected debris revealed the characteristics of the wear surface of the nano magnesium composite. Adhesion, abrasion, delamination, oxidation and thermal softening were the mechanisms observed in the post-failure analysis.
Medical Negligence Litigation, Claims Handling and Risk Management
Authors: Hoyte Patrick
Published: August 2023

From the point of view of a medical defence organisation, the author discusses the British system for civil litigation in relation to health care, assessing the scale of the problem and the factors that bear on it. He outlines the place of the medical defence organisations and of health authorities within the present structure, with particular regard to claims handling and risk management.
Allelic Variants in the Warfarin-related Genes VKORC1 and CYP2C9 in a Western Saudi Population
Authors: Bagher Amina M. , Alharbi Wedyan S. , Gadi Lamees S. , Binmahfouz Lenah S. , Hareeri Rawan H
Published: August 2023

Objectives

To investigate the allele and genotype frequencies of the warfarin-related genes VKORC1 (-1639G>A), CYP2C9*2, and CYP2C9*3 among healthy Saudis.

Materials and Methods

This cross-sectional study involved 125 unrelated healthy Saudis ages 18–60 years visiting the King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) in Jeddah, Western Saudi Arabia. The Oragene™ DNA saliva collection kits were used to collect and extract DNA from saliva samples. A polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis was used to detect the mutant alleles.

Results

Over 51.4% of the Saudi participants carried one or more mutant alleles. The frequency of the VKORC1 (-1639G>A) allele in Saudi was relatively high at 54.8%. The frequencies of the CYP2C9 allele were 19.6% and 54% for the CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3 alleles, respectively, which are substantially more abundant than in other populations.

Conclusion

The observed high frequencies of VKORC1 (-1639G>A) and CYP2C9*2 and CYP2C9*3 polymorphisms suggest that genetic testing should be considered before initiating warfarin therapy to predict the optimal initial dose of warfarin and minimize warfarin-related side effects.
Political Underrepresentation Among Public Benefits Recipients: Evidence from Linked Administrative Data
Authors: Chizeck Seth , Fong Kelley , Goldstein Rebecca , White Ariel R.
Published: August 2023

People receiving government assistance have personal stakes in the political process and intimate knowledge of policy implementation. However, data limitations have made it hard to measure voting among those receiving assistance across various programs. Using linked administrative data from a large county in Pennsylvania, merged with the Pennsylvania voter file, we calculate voting rates among benefits recipients. We find that people receiving means-tested benefits (cash assistance, food assistance, health insurance, disability benefits, childcare, and housing) vote at just over half the rate of other county residents (45% compared with 84% in 2020). In the 2020 election, public benefits recipients comprised over 20% of the voting-eligible population but only 12% of voters. To the extent that benefits recipients are more supportive of generous welfare policy than nonrecipients and more familiar with administrative burdens programs impose, this underrepresentation may obscure popular preferences for social welfare provision and shape politicians’ attentiveness to program design.
Influence of natalizumab on resting-state connectivity in patients with multiple sclerosis
Authors: Corrêa Diogo G. , van Duinkerken Eelco , Farinhas João Gabriel D. , Pereira Valéria C. , Gasparetto Emerson L. , Alves-Leon Soniza V. , Lopes Fernanda Cristina R.
Published: August 2023

Background

Changes in brain connectivity occur in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), even in patients under disease-modifying therapies. Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to asses patients treated with disease-modifying therapies, such as natalizumab, can elucidate the mechanisms involved in clinical deterioration in MS.

Objectives

To evaluate differences in resting-state functional connectivity among MS patients treated with natalizumab, MS patients not treated with natalizumab, and controls.

Design

Single-center retrospective cross-sectional study.

Methods

Twenty-three MS patients being treated with natalizumab were retrospectively compared with 23 MS patients who were naïve for natalizumab, and were using first-line medications (interferon-β and/or glatiramer acetate), and 17 gender- and age-matched control subjects. The MS patient groups were also matched for time since diagnosis and hyperintense lesion volume on FLAIR. All participants underwent brain MRI using a 3 Tesla scanner. Independent component analysis and dual regression were used to identify resting-state functional connectivity using the FMRIB Software Library.

Results

In comparison to controls, the MS patients treated with natalizumab presented decreased connectivity in the left orbitofrontal cortex, in the anterior cingulate and orbitofrontal cortex network. The patients not treated with natalizumab presented increased connectivity in the secondary visual, sensorimotor, and ventral attention networks in comparison to controls. Compared to patients treated with natalizumab, the patients not using natalizumab presented increased connectivity in the left Heschl’s gyrus and in the right superior frontal gyrus in the ventral attention network.

Conclusion

Differences in brain connectivity between MS patients not treated with natalizumab, healthy controls, and patients treated with natalizumab may be secondary to suboptimal neuronal compensation due to prior less efficient treatments, or due to a compensation in response to maladaptive plasticity.
Introduction
Authors: Ellingsen Steinar , Yecies Brian
Published: August 2023

The 2022 Australian and New Zealand Communications Association (ANZCA) conference was held in November at the University of Wollongong. Over 4 days the conference showcased new directions for research focusing on fundamental changes occurring across the broad sectors of communication, journalism, digital health, and digital media. This included burgeoning research and methodological frameworks in public and health communication, civic participation, and community building. The conference focused on the specific theme of “Communicating through Chaos: Connection, Disruption, Community,” which garnered much interest within the ANZCA community. Due to the apparent wane of the pandemic, we were finally able to hold an in-person conference again after 2 years of gathering virtually amid Covid-19 lockdowns and travel and social restrictions. As such, the event attracted more than 550 participants representing 16 countries, who contributed to more than 200 conference presentations and panels.
Hearing voices among Russian patients with schizophrenia
Authors: Altman Madelaine Grace Graber , Kuzmina Svetlana Valerievna , Irkabaeva Adelina Bulatovna , Mason Daniel Philippe , Luhrmann Tanya Marie
Published: August 2023

There has been relatively little work which systematically examines whether the content of hallucinations in individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia varies by cultural context. The work that exists finds that it does. The present project explores the way auditory hallucinations, or “voices,” manifest in a Russian cultural context. A total of 28 individuals, diagnosed with schizophrenia, who reported hearing voices at the Republican Clinical Psychiatric Hospitals in Kazan, Russia, were interviewed about their experience of auditory hallucinations. The voices reported by our Russian participants did appear to have culturally specific content. Commands tended to be non-violent and focused on chores or other activities associated with daily life ( byt). Many patients also reported sensory hallucinations involving other visions, sounds, and smells which sometimes reflected Russian folklore themes. For the most part, religious themes did not appear in patients’ auditory vocal hallucinations, though nearly all patients expressed adherence to a religion. These findings support research that finds that the content, and perhaps the form, of auditory hallucinations may be shaped by local culture.