bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Motor Cortex Stimulation Therapy for Relief of Central Post-Stroke Pain: A Retrospective Study with Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory
Authors: Zhang Xiaolei , Zhu Hongwei , Tao Wei , Li Yongjie , Hu Yongsheng
Published: August 2018

Background: Motor cortex stimulation (MCS) has been used in the treatment of chronic neuropathic pain for more than 25 years. However, the mechanisms and outcome predictors still represent major challenges. Objectives: To investigate outcome predictors and potential mechanisms of MCS on central post-stroke pain (CPSP). Material and Methods: 16 CPSP patients were analyzed at our center. The pain intensity was assessed using a visual analog scale (VAS) before surgery and at the last follow-up. The Neuropathic Pain Symptom Inventory (NPSI) was used to assess pain intensity, analyze outcome predictors, and indicate potential mechanisms of MCS. Results: The mean VAS score before surgery (8.0 ± 0.7) was significantly higher than that of the last follow-up (5.3 ± 2.4, p < 0.001). Similarly, the mean total NPSI score before MCS (30.6 ± 12.2) was significantly reduced at the last follow-up (25.2 ± 15.1, p = 0.01). An analysis of the NPSI subscores revealed a significant association between burning pain relief and effective results (p = 0.041, Fisher’s exact test). Conclusions: Burning pain relief might predict long-term results for the therapeutic use of MCS in CPSP. The substantia gelatinosa may play an important role in the modulation of pain relief mediated by MCS.
Predictive Pre-updating and Working Memory Capacity: Evidence from Event-related Potentials
Authors: Ness Tal , Meltzer-Asscher Aya
Published: August 2018

It was recently proposed that lexical prediction in sentence context encompasses two qualitatively distinct prediction mechanisms: “pre-activation,” namely, activating representations stored in long-term memory, and “pre-updating,” namely, updating the sentence's representation, built online in working memory (WM), to include the predicted content [Lau, E. F., Holcomb, P. J., & Kuperberg, G. R. Dissociating N400 effects of prediction from association in single-word contexts. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience, 25, 484–502, 2013]. The current study sought to find evidence for pre-updating and test the influence of individual differences in WM capacity on the tendency to engage in this process. Participants read strongly and weakly constraining sentences. ERPs were measured on the predictable noun as well as on the preceding verb, where the prediction is generated. Increased P600 amplitude was observed at the verb in the strongly constraining sentences, reflecting integration of the predicted upcoming argument, thus providing evidence for pre-updating. This effect was greater for participants with higher WM capacity, indicating that the tendency to engage in pre-updating is highly affected by WM capacity. The opposite effect was observed at the noun, that is, for participants with higher WM span, a greater decrease in P600 amplitude in the strongly constraining sentences was observed, indicating that the integration of a pre-updated word was easier. We discuss these results in light of previous literature and propose a plausible architecture to account for the interplay between pre-activation and pre-updating, mediating the influence of factors such as WM capacity.
Visual Working Memory Load Disrupts Template-guided Attentional Selection during Visual Search
Authors: Berggren Nick , Eimer Martin
Published: August 2018

Mental representations of target features (attentional templates) control the selection of candidate target objects in visual search. The question where templates are maintained remains controversial. We employed the N2pc component as an electrophysiological marker of template-guided target selection to investigate whether and under which conditions templates are held in visual working memory (vWM). In two experiments, participants memorized one or four shapes (low vs. high vWM load) before either being tested on their memory or performing a visual search task. When targets were defined by one of two possible colors (e.g., red or green), target N2pcs were delayed with high vWM load. This suggests that the maintenance of multiple shapes in vWM interfered with the activation of color-specific search templates, supporting the hypothesis that these templates are held in vWM. This was the case despite participants always searching for the same two target colors. In contrast, the speed of target selection in a task where a single target color remained relevant throughout was unaffected by concurrent load, indicating that a constant search template for a single feature may be maintained outside vWM in a different store. In addition, early visual N1 components to search and memory test displays were attenuated under high load, suggesting a competition between external and internal attention. The size of this attenuation predicted individual vWM performance. These results provide new electrophysiological evidence for impairment of top–down attentional control mechanisms by high vWM load, demonstrating that vWM is involved in the guidance of attentional target selection during search.
The State as a Vehicle of Technological Change: Economic Openness, Technological Catching-up, and Indigenous Innovation in Chinese Firms
Authors: Wang Junmin
Published: August 2018

The global integration of capital and technology generates a pressing debate on how technologically backward countries can benefit fromFDI, and catch up technologically. This study identifies the mechanisms in the triangle of globalization-state-firm accounting for firms’ indigenous innovations. Specifically, I test three types of the state’s roles—the state’s infrastructure-building, partnership with the firm, and direct intervention into firm governance, combined withFDIspillovers and local firms’ absorptive capacity, in shaping local firms’ innovativeness in a national dataset of Chinese firms. I find that during Chinese firms’ initial technological take-off, the state helped enhance local firms’ indigenous innovativeness through its infrastructure-building and various partnerships with the firms. All three types of the state’s roles are found to positively modulate the firms’ absorptive capacities in affecting their innovativeness. The state’s infrastructure-building and the firm’s state ownership helped weaken the negative role of someFDI-related effects in influencing firm innovativeness.
The millipede genus Julus Linnaeus, 1758 in the Caucasus (Diplopoda: Julida: Julidae)
Authors: EVSYUKOV ALEKSANDR , GOLOVATCH SERGEI , REIP HANS S.
Published: August 2018

The genus Julus includes seven species already described from the Caucasus region: J. alexandrae Evsyukov, 2016; J. colchicus Lohmander, 1936; J. jedryczkowskii Golovatch, 1981; J. kubanus Verhoeff, 1921; J. lignaui Verhoeff, 1910; J. lindholmi Lohmander, 1936; and J. subalpinus Lohmander, 1936, as well as two new species: J. khostensis sp. n., from the Krasnodar Province, and, J. dagestanus sp. n., from the Republic of Dagestan, both in Russia. All nine species are described, illustrated and keyed, their morphological variations outlined, and distributions mapped, based on the literature data and abundant new samples. Altitudinal distribution patterns are also discussed.
Improbable Weather Extremes and Measurement Needs
Authors: Court Arnold , Salmela Henry A.
Published: August 2018

“Improbable extremes” of meteorological elements, presented here, can guide designers, manufacturers and purchasers to instruments that will be capable of measuring and recording physically possible, although highly improbable, extremes. Air temperature (T), especially a few inches above the ground, conceivably could range from −140F to 160F; dewpoint can vary from 90F down to a lowermost improbable extreme given by the relation ½T – 80. In chinook winds, temperature and dewpoint can change as rapidly as 25 deg per min. Rainfall in t minutes could amount to 2t½ inches. Wind speeds should be recordable up to 250 mph and pressures near sea level from 750 to 1060 mb, to permit measurements in hurricanes and tornadoes, where pressure might change 15 mb per sec. Atmospheric sounding devices must be able to measure temperatures and humidities within the same ranges, winds up to 300 mph, and pressure as low as 0.1 (6+log P std) of Standard Atmosphere pressure up to 133 km.
application of systems engineering to weather data systems
Authors: Perley Richmond
Published: August 2018

The primary concern of the system engineer is finding out how weather information affects the decisions made by users of this information and then determining how the required data can best be obtained and presented. In general, the measure of what is best has been the accuracy and adequacy of the information, together with its appropriateness as an input to the decision-making process and its effect on initial and continuing system costs. With this as a basis, several specific improvements in the areas of data acquisition, data processing, and data dissemination are discussed.
the USAF meteorological rocket sounding network: present and future
Authors: Giraytys James , Rippy Harold R.
Published: August 2018

Past efforts in meteorological rocket sounding systems are reviewed to show how the current USAFMRN evolved. The capability of the USAFMRN is analyzed with respect to its ability to satisfy current requirements for data. The expansion of the network is predicted, based upon stated and anticipated needs and the status of meteorological equipment under development.
photographic cloud climatology1 from ESSA III and V computer produced mosaics
Authors: Kornfield J. , Hasler A. F. , Hanson K. J. , Suomi V. E.
Published: August 2018

A simple photographic averaging technique using multiple exposures is applied to ESSA III and V computer produced mosaics. Several examples, showing the distribution of clouds, snow, ice and vegetation cover for typical half month periods are presented and discussed. Large scale cloud bands about equatorial dry regions as well as preferred storm tracks are revealed.
areal patterns of seasonal temperature anomalies in the vicinity of the Great Lakes
Authors: Kopec Richard J.
Published: August 2018

An attempt is made in this paper to identify the areal patterns of significant thermal influence exerted by the Great Lakes by use of the methods of anomalies and isanomal mapping. Empirical temperature models for the seasonal months of January, April, July and October were constructed and the mean monthly temperatures of some 500 stations within the Great Lakes Region were compared to these models. The same procedure was used for average annual temperature ranges. The resultant deviations were mapped and their patterns described and analyzed. Based on these patterns of mean deviations, the areal extent and seasonal variation of the Great Lakes' effect on vicinal temperature regimes is graphically shown, and the method of isanomal mapping is further substantiated as an effective climatological technique.
the evolution of the TIROS meteorological satellite operational system1
Authors: Rados Robert M.
Published: August 2018

TIROS I demonstrated the feasibility of obtaining and utilizing cloud cover pictures from satellites; however, the system had limitations as an operational meteorological tool. Subsequent TIROS satellites and associated launch vehicle and ground systems improved the coverage both in area and frequency, the picture content, data acquisition and processing procedures. Infrared observations and local readout were introduced. The application and dissemination of data were expanded. Research with the data has produced significant results. The developments culminated in the initiation of an operational system using the design of TIROS IX.

The evolution of the operational system is summarized in terms of coverage, orbit, launch vehicle, spacecraft control, solar illumination, camera systems, acquisition facilities, data processing, application of data and research contributions.
importance of thermistor mount configuration to meteorological rocket temperature measurements
Authors: Morrissey James F. , Carten Andrew S.
Published: August 2018

A description is given of the original rocketsonde thermistor mount, consisting of a 10-mil bead suspended between two metal posts. The difficulties encountered with this mount and the subsequent development of the superior “thin-film” mount are also described. The uncertainties associated with the use of the latter mount are outlined along with their effect on data acceptance.

A different approach to the original problem is described, which employs longer leads for dissipation of heat conducted to the bead. The uncertainty associated with the long lead is shown to be minimal. Preliminary results of a series of 10 rocket flights are presented. These results tend to confirm the advantages of the long lead mount.
on the need for standardization of instruments calibration and related terminology
Authors: Beckman John C.
Published: August 2018

Reasons are given for the need for standardization of instrument parameter definitions and of test procedures. A proposal is offered for a means of setting up such standards.
Physics–Dynamics Coupling in Weather, Climate, and Earth System Models: Challenges and Recent Progress
Authors: Gross Markus , Wan Hui , Rasch Philip J. , Caldwell Peter M. , Williamson David L. , Klocke Daniel , Jablonowski Christiane , Thatcher Diana R. , Wood Nigel , Cullen Mike , Beare Bob , Willett Martin , Lemarié Florian , Blayo Eric , Malardel Sylvie , Termonia Piet , Gassmann Almut , Lauritzen Peter H. , Johansen Hans , Zarzycki Colin M. , Sakaguchi Koichi , Leung Ruby
Published: August 2018

Numerical weather, climate, or Earth system models involve the coupling of components. At a broad level, these components can be classified as the resolved fluid dynamics, unresolved fluid dynamical aspects (i.e., those represented by physical parameterizations such as subgrid-scale mixing), and nonfluid dynamical aspects such as radiation and microphysical processes. Typically, each component is developed, at least initially, independently. Once development is mature, the components are coupled to deliver a model of the required complexity. The implementation of the coupling can have a significant impact on the model. As the error associated with each component decreases, the errors introduced by the coupling will eventually dominate. Hence, any improvement in one of the components is unlikely to improve the performance of the overall system. The challenges associated with combining the components to create a coherent model are here termed physics–dynamics coupling. The issue goes beyond the coupling between the parameterizations and the resolved fluid dynamics. This paper highlights recent progress and some of the current challenges. It focuses on three objectives: to illustrate the phenomenology of the coupling problem with references to examples in the literature, to show how the problem can be analyzed, and to create awareness of the issue across the disciplines and specializations. The topics addressed are different ways of advancing full models in time, approaches to understanding the role of the coupling and evaluation of approaches, coupling ocean and atmosphere models, thermodynamic compatibility between model components, and emerging issues such as those that arise as model resolutions increase and/or models use variable resolutions.
Governing-through-Harm and Public Goods Policing
Authors: Berg Julie , Shearing Clifford
Published: August 2018

Among scholars of law and crime and practitioners of public safety, there is a pervasive view that only the public police can or should protect the public interest. Further, the prevailing perception is that the public police predominantly governs through crime—that is, acts on harms as detrimental to the public good. We argue that governing harm through crime is not always the most effective way of producing public safety and security and that the production of public safety is not limited to public police forces. An approach of governing-through-harm that uses a variety of noncrime strategies and private security agents as participants in public safety is often more effective—and more legitimate—than the predominant governing-through-crime approach. We reflect on case studies of noncrime intervention strategies from the Global South to bolster the case for decoupling the link between the public police and public goods. A new theoretical framing needs to be pursued.
The Expanding Boundaries of Crime Control: Governing Security through Regulation
Authors: Gurinskaya Anna , Nalla Mahesh k.
Published: August 2018

The governance of crime and security has undergone major transformations in recent decades. Several important shifts in the rationale and logic of crime control have led to a growth in regulatory practices and an expansion of regulatory provisions. As a result, the scope of actors who regulate behaviors have widened as have the types of tools to facilitate the governance of crime and security also expanded. We argue that the expansion of the boundaries of crime control is facilitated through a wide variety of criminal justice and non-criminal-justice regulatory tools to tackle both social problems and crime. We suggest that the time has come for criminologists to look beyond criminology’s traditional narrow focus on criminal law and the criminal justice apparatus utilized for crime control and engage in the broader discourse of regulation and governance of crime and security.
Regulating Organized Crime
Authors: Korsell Lars
Published: August 2018

A significant percentage of organized crime exploits regulated markets by offering services and goods without complying with relevant regulations. This may include offers of “tax-free” goods such as tobacco and alcohol, or unreported employment. Although regulatory schemes may in this way create opportunities for organized crime, situational crime prevention can also be built into, or established ancillary to, regulations. This article discusses the significant opportunities for crime prevention in regulatory schemes by using situational crime prevention as an analytical tool. I show how incorporating crime prevention rules into legislation—a step customarily known as “crime proofing”—combats organized crime by using administrative measures.
Simultaneous Embeddedness in Immigrant Entrepreneurship: Global Forces Behind Chinese-Owned Nail Salons in New York City
Authors: You Tianlong , Zhou Min
Published: August 2018

This article investigates how global forces influence immigrant entrepreneurship. Research in the United States generally assumes that immigrant enterprises, especially those in the service sector of the urban economy, are largely low-end and highly localized. Our case study of Chinese-owned nail salons in New York City suggests that immigrant enterprises are predominantly transnational, shaped not only by local market conditions in the host country but also by multiple layers of socioeconomic and politico-institutional circumstances in the home country. We build on the ideas of mixed embeddedness and transnationalism to develop an analytic framework of simultaneous embeddedness that underscores the linkage between the local and the global. Using data collected from face-to-face interviews and on-site observations in New York City, as well as archival records of government policies and media reports in both the United States and China, we find that individual characteristics and home country interpersonal networks shape processes of adaptation and business formation in the host country. Moreover, the supply of business labor is influenced by three factors in China: (a) educational attainment among the younger generation, (b) job mismatch in the local labor market, and (c) economic opportunities. Finally, the Chinese government’s entrepreneurship promoting policy and relaxed control over studying abroad and tourism overseas, intertwined with U.S. immigration policy, exacerbate the problem of labor shortage for Chinese-owned nail salons in New York City.
Evaluation of cellulose pads as a method to detect cytomegalovirus DNA in neonatal urine
Authors: Kipfmueller Florian , Jungbluth Kira , Eis-Hübinger Anna M , Reber Ulrike , Holdenrieder Stefan , Gembruch Ulrich , Bartmann Peter , Mueller Andreas
Published: August 2018

Background

Several approaches exist to screen neonates for congenital cytomegalovirus infection. We here describe a new method using cellulose pads for urine collection and its evaluation in an experimental and a clinical setting.

Methods

We systematically tested the effect of storage duration of the pads after exposure to cytomegalovirus-positive urine, meconium contamination and specimen handling on the cytomegalovirus load and the detection rate. Further, the method was tested in clinical practice in a cohort of 500 neonates.

Results

Following exposure of urine pads with cytomegalovirus-positive urine, the viral load decreased after 15 min, 12 h, 24 h, and 7 days to 63.2%, 42.1%, 31.6%, and 9.3% of the baseline value. Cytomegalovirus detection rate after seven days was 100%. Contamination with meconium resulted in a comparable reduction of the viral load. The detection rate for dried urine pads after seven days was 93.3%. In clinical practice, urine collection from pads was successful in 73.6% by the first attempt and in 26.4% by the second attempt.

Conclusions

Urine collection using cellulose pads seems feasible regardless of a reduction of the cytomegalovirus load due to exposure to the pad itself or to meconium. Drying of the exposed urine pad should be avoided.
A practical microwatt-meter for electrical energy measurement in programmable devices
Authors: Al-Shorman Mohammad Y , Al-Kofahi Majd M , Al-Kofahi Osameh M
Published: August 2018

Background:

In this work, an accurate low-cost power microwatt-meter is designed, built, and tested. This microwatt-meter is found to be capable of measuring power consumption in a wide range of devices and sensors, such as nodes in wireless sensor networks, microcontrollers in Internet of Things devices, and Field Programmable Gate Arrays.

Methods:

The paper examines the usage of the microwatt-meter for the measurement of power consumption in digital devices as they execute program instructions, ranging from a low-level single step (instruction) in an assembly program to a high-level sophisticated program or system.

Results:

The results obtained showed that the microwatt-meter is highly accurate. It can measure the energy consumed by any of the devices/programs/instructions in a digital system with accuracy levels ranging between 0.5% and 2.5% (depending on the application).

Conclusion:

The accuracy of the microwatt-meter is validated using the fundamental conservation of energy law and a comparison with multimeter current measurements is presented.
Role of the Big Five Personality Traits and Motivation in Predicting Performance in Collaborative Presentations
Authors: Kelsen Brent A. , Liang Hsin-Yi
Published: August 2018

Personality traits and motivation have been identified as influential factors in language acquisition and educational achievement. In recent years, as instructors have adapted curriculums to prepare students for academic and professional pursuits, collaborative inquiry-based projects and presentations, where students work together in groups to socially construct knowledge and achieve stipulated outcomes, have become common features of tertiary learning landscapes. This study utilizes 441 English as a foreign language university students’ Big Five Inventory-44 and Collaborative Inquiry-based Project Questionnaire ratings to predict performance on their collaborative inquiry-based projects requiring presentations. Regression analysis revealed Extraversion and Project Work as predictors of Presentation Scores. Furthermore, Extraversion and Conscientiousness emerged as partial mediators between Project Work motivation and Presentation Scores. The results underscore the advantage extraverts possess in oral presentation situations while simultaneously stressing the importance of diligence and effort in inquiry-based projects. Implications and suggestions for future study are provided.
Secularism and liberalism in contemporary Argentina: Neoliberal responses, initiatives, and criticisms of Pope Francis
Authors: Semán Pablo , Viotti Nicolás , GarcÍa Somoza Mari-Sol
Published: August 2018

The role of Jorge Bergoglio as the head of the Catholic Church has provoked political positioning in Argentina, which reveals new forms of articulation between secularism and politics. While progressive sectors connected to the Kirchnerist government initially viewed Pope Francis and his theology of the people with mistrust, they currently see him as an ally in the defence of social initiatives. From the conservative perspective, the trajectory has been exactly the opposite. Although they initally saw the Pope as an ally to help undermine populism, they soon discovered serious obstacles in the way. As a response, they raised the banner of laïcité and called into question the close relationship between politics and the Catholic Church. In this context, we will analyse the reactions, initiatives, and critical arguments, which surfaced around this limited secularism in political life, the mass media, and public space. In other words, we will observe a displacement in which social conservatism is not necessarily of a Catholic fundamentalist variety, and neoliberalism launches its own secularising tradition.
Changing of Chinese psychiatrists’ attitudes toward consent process to treatment and its association with the China’s National Mental Health Law
Authors: Huang Jingjing , Shao Yang , Ma Huajian , Yang Weimin , Li Huafang
Published: August 2018

Objective

Few studies have addressed informed consent in Chinese psychiatric practice. We wished to explore psychiatrists’ attitudes toward informed consent in Shanghai after promulgation of the first national law for mental health care in China: the National Mental Health Law.

Method

A total of 398 psychiatrists were recruited from seven psychiatric hospitals in Shanghai. Their anthropometric data were collected. A confidential, self-report questionnaire addressing attitudes toward the informed consent process was completed by all participants.

Results

Most respondents would like to inform patients/guardians of the diagnosis (95.2%), treatment plan (93.5%), treatment goals and potential adverse effects of prescribed medications (94.7%), and alternative treatment plans (71.9%). In addition, 58.4% of psychiatrists thought that the informed consent process for physical restraint was difficult to follow. According to logistic regression, psychiatrists not trained to use the National Mental Health Law were more likely to have a negative attitude toward the informed consent process compared with those trained (adjusted odds ratio = 0.21; 95% confidence interval: 0.07–0.59; p = 0.003).

Conclusions

Psychiatrists trained to use the National Mental Health Law had more positive attitudes toward the informed consent process. Lack of such training could affect the attitudes of psychiatrists toward the informed consent process in China.
Contextual Determinants of Observed Negative Emotional States in Police–Community Interactions
Authors: Makin David A. , Willits Dale W. , Koslicki Wendy , Brooks Rachael , Dietrich Bryce J. , Bailey Rachel L.
Published: August 2018

Researchers universally agree that interactions between police and community members have the propensity to be emotionally charged. However, to date, there is limited research investigating situational and dynamic factors that make an interaction between a police officer and citizen more or less emotionally charged. Analyzing unedited police body-worn camera footage, associated with 287 criminal code violations, this research explores the individual, behavioral, and environmental factors that affect police officers’ and citizens’ emotional states during a police–citizen interaction. Results show clear variations at the situational, organizational, and environmental levels influencing the observed emotional state of the suspect and police officer.
Interest Rate Sensitivity of Non-banking Financial Sector in India
Authors: Ghosh Renu , Latha K. , Gupta Sunita
Published: August 2018

Executive Summary

Before financial liberalization, interest rates were administered and exhibited near-zero volatility. The easing of financial repression in the 1990s generated experiences with interest rate volatility in India. Administrative restrictions on interest rates in India have been steadily eased since 1993. This has led to increased interest rate risk for financial firms. Most research studies have almost exclusively focused on the developed countries especially the banking sector of the United States. The present study attempts to examine the interest rate risk of non-banking financial institutions in India by using the methodology of panel regression and generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH) (1, 1) model for the period from 1 April 1996 to 30 August 2014. The sample used in the study consists of all non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) listed in the S&P CNX 500 index which has continuous availability of share prices over the study period. The study also examines the impact of unanticipated changes in interest rate on stock returns of NBFCs. The Box–Jenkins methodology is applied to calculate unanticipated changes in interest rate variable, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) (24, 1, 0) model. The time series used in the present study is found to be stationary at the first logarithmic difference. Stock returns exhibit significant exposure with both market returns and interest rate changes. The interest rate sensitivity of large, medium, and small financial institutions is also found to be different. Estimation results for the variance equation in GARCH (1, 1) model suggest that the volatility for individual firm stock returns is time-variant. The ARCH and GARCH coefficients are found to be significant, providing evidence against using traditional model (ordinary least square (OLS)) that assumes time-invariant volatility. This implies that the market has a memory longer than one period and volatility is more sensitive to its own lagged values than it is to new surprises in the market. This study also investigates the possible determinants that account for cross-sectional variation in the interest rate sensitivity of NBFCs. It is found that the size of the firm is the preferred determinant that accounts for cross-sectional variation in the interest rate sensitivity of finance companies. When unanticipated changes in interest rate are used in lieu of actual interest rate changes, not much difference is observed in the significance coefficients. The only significant difference observed is in the magnitude. The impact of actual interest rate changes is more than the impact of unanticipated interest rate changes in absolute terms. This difference in the magnitude of impact arises because actual data incorporate movement in both anticipated and unanticipated components of interest rate. Hence, NBFCs managers and regulators should adopt policies and strategies to avoid the transmission of interest rate risk in their stock returns.
Racialising domestic violence: Islamophobia and the Australian forced marriage debate
Authors: Patton Chloe
Published: August 2018

Amid claims that forced marriage is rife in Australia’s minority communities, 2013 saw the introduction of criminal legislation outlawing forced marriage in Australia. Within public debate, this punitive measure came to overshadow all other modes of addressing the problem; for instance, education programmes, civil legislation and targeted domestic violence support services. This article examines print media coverage of forced marriage over the thirteen-year period leading up to the introduction of criminal legislation. Exploring a discourse that overwhelmingly understands forced marriage as a problem of Islam and multiculturalism, and that marginalises the experiences of women and service providers, the author identifies distinct conservative and liberal representations of forced marriage which racialise domestic violence. Conservatives maintain that forced marriage is empirical evidence of an impending Muslim ‘takeover’ of the West precipitated by multiculturalism. Liberals reassert the importance of western values through specific criminal legislation to temper male minority ethnic violence. The material consequence of these Orientalist framings is a narrowing of services available to women seeking to escape violence. The article seeks to understand the processes of meaning-making in which forced marriage is implicated and how the issue is situated within the domain of national political ideology, as opposed to family violence.
This can(’t) be an asset class: The world of money management, “society”, and the contested morality of farmland investments
Authors: Ouma Stefan
Published: August 2018

Drawing on several years of fieldwork-based research on and in the “farmland investment space”, this paper argues that a combined reading of debates on assets and assetization in financialized capitalism and convention theory offers novel insights into the moral struggles associated with the transformation of farmland into an “alternative asset class”. It demonstrates that central to the assetization of farmland is the globally distributed effort to bestow it with a legitimate financial worth. While many financial actors paint the picture that farmland has an absolute or intrinsic value, and that this value can be “unlocked”, the paper demonstrates that farmland only gains its financial worth through collective yet contested practices of classification, valuation and valorization. This process has internal (related to the financial industry) and external (related to “society”) dimensions. Farmland only becomes a legitimate asset class if it can be meaningfully set in relation to other asset classes, and if the underlying “assets” generate legitimate returns to investors. At the same time, the legitimation of farmland as an “asset class” has been threatened by attacks of social forces such as NGOs, as accusations of immorality (i.e. “land grabbing”) have become major reputational risks for the supertankers of the industry – institutional investors. This notwithstanding, “capital” and its supporters have worked hard to overcome these internal and external barriers. Eventually, the case presented here allows us to problematize and repoliticize the often-invisiblized morality of finance, which is as much about “value” as it is about “values”.
Evaluation of Asphalt Drainable Base Structural Performance for Flexible Airport Pavement Design
Authors: Li Qiang , Mahaffay Benjamin , Gagnon Jeffrey
Published: August 2018

In 2014, the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) completed construction of its flexible pavement test section, Construction Cycle 7 (CC7). Among the objectives of CC7 was to study the performance of an asphaltic drainable base pavement section compared with a P-209 aggregate base pavement section under full-scale airport loading. This research addresses the pre-traffic material characterization, full-scale traffic test data analysis and post-traffic test data analysis of these two pavement sections in dry conditions. This paper will discuss the preliminary results from laboratory testing and full-scale traffic tests for material properties which may be used in design and construction specifications to improve FAA pavement design software (FAARFIELD).
A Mechanical Approach to Quantify Blending of Aged Binder from Recycled Materials in New Hot Mix Asphalt Mixtures
Authors: Ashtiani Milad Zokaei , Mogawer Walaa S. , Austerman Alexander J.
Published: August 2018

In the paving industry, there is increased interest in using recycled materials like recycled asphalt shingles (RAS) and reclaimed asphalt pavements (RAP) due to the valuable asphalt binder contained within them. The major concern with using these materials is that the binder they contain is highly aged, which could lead to reduced mixture durability. Therefore, a method is needed to quantify the extent to which the aged binders from these materials blend with virgin binder when producing mixtures in order to understand better their effects on mixture performance.

In this study, a new approach to quantify the amount of blending that occurs between aged RAS and RAP binders and a virgin binder was developed. Asphalt binders were extracted and recovered from RAS and RAP stockpiles and blended with a PG64-28 virgin binder in varying proportions. The master curves of these mixtures were constructed at 20°C. Asphalt mixtures containing different proportions of the same RAS and RAP stockpiles were then designed and the dynamic moduli of the mixtures were measured to construct mixture master curves at 20°C.

The binder master curves for each blending proportion were then substituted into a locally calibrated Hirsch model to predict the mixture master curves. Comparison of the measured and predicted mixture master curves suggested that the aged binder from RAS and RAP blends with the virgin binder less than 40% and 60%, respectively. Cracking tests were also conducted to validate the proposed degrees of blending from a mixture mechanical performance point of view.
Video Analytics for Railroad Safety Research: An Artificial Intelligence Approach
Authors: Zaman Asim , Liu Xiang , Zhang Zhipeng
Published: August 2018

The volume of video data in the railroad industry has increased significantly in recent years. Surveillance cameras are situated on nearly every part of the railroad system, such as inside the cab, along the track, at grade crossings, and in stations. These camera systems are manually monitored, either live or subsequently reviewed in an archive, which requires an immense amount of human resources. To make the video analysis much less labor-intensive, this paper develops a framework for utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for the extraction of useful information from these big video datasets. This framework has been implemented based on the video data from one grade crossing in New Jersey. The AI algorithm can automatically detect unsafe trespassing of railroad tracks (called near-miss events in this paper). To date, the AI algorithm has analyzed hours of video data and correctly detected all near-misses. This pilot study indicates the promise of using AI for automated analysis of railroad video big data, thereby supporting data-driven railroad safety research. For practical use, our AI algorithm has been packaged into a computer-aided decision support tool (named AI-Grade) that outputs near-miss video clips based on user-provided raw video data. This paper and its sequent studies aim to provide the railroad industry with next-generation big data analysis methods and tools for quickly and reliably processing large volumes of video data in order to better understand human factors in railroad safety research.
Evaluating the Impact of Highway-Railway Grade Crossings on Travel Time Reliability on a Highway Network Level
Authors: Wu Zifeng , Rilett Laurence R. , Chen Yifeng
Published: August 2018

Highway-rail grade crossings (HRGCs) have a range of safety and operational impacts on highway traffic networks. This paper illustrates a methodology for evaluating travel-time reliability for the routes and networks affected by trains traveling through HRGCs. A sub-area network including three HRGCs is used as the study network, and a simulation model calibrated to local traffic conditions and signal preemption strategies using field data is used as the platform to generate travel time data for analysis. Time-dependent reliability intervals for route travel time are generated based on route travel-time means and standard deviations. OD level reliability is calculated using a generic reliability engineering approach for parallel and series systems. The route travel time reliability results can be provided as real-time traffic information to assist drivers’ route-choice decisions. The OD level reliability is a way to quantify the impact of HRGCs on highway network operation. This effort fills the gap of reliability research for HRGCs on the route and sub-area network level, and contributes to improving the efficiency of decision-making for both traffic engineers and drivers.
Effect of Anterolateral Complex Sectioning and Tenodesis on Patellar Kinematics and Patellofemoral Joint Contact Pressures
Authors: Inderhaug Eivind , Stephen Joanna M. , Williams Andy , Amis Andrew A.
Published: August 2018

Background:

Anterolateral complex injuries are becoming more recognized. While these are known to affect tibiofemoral mechanics, it is not known how they affect patellofemoral joint behavior.

Purpose:

To determine the effect of (1) sectioning the anterolateral complex and (2) performing a MacIntosh tenodesis under various conditions on patellofemoral contact mechanics and kinematics.

Study Design:

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods:

Eight fresh-frozen cadaveric knees were tested in a customized rig, with the femur fixed and tibia free to move, with optical tracking to record patellar kinematics and with thin pressure sensors to record patellofemoral contact pressures at 0°, 30°, 60°, and 90° of knee flexion. The quadriceps and iliotibial tract were loaded with 205 N throughout testing. Intact and anterolateral complex–sectioned states were tested, followed by 4 randomized tenodeses applying 20- and 80-N graft tension, each with the tibia in its neutral intact alignment or left free to rotate. Statistical analyses were undertaken with repeated measures analysis of variance, Bonferroni post hoc analysis, and paired samples t tests.

Results:

Patellar kinematics and contact pressures were not significantly altered after sectioning of the anterolateral complex (all: P > .05). Similarly, they were not significantly different from the intact knee in tenodeses performed when fixed tibial rotation was combined with 20- or 80-N graft tension (all: P > .05). However, grafts tensioned with 20 N and 80 N while the tibia was free hanging resulted in significant increases in lateral patellar tilt ( P < .05), and significantly elevated lateral peak patellofemoral pressures ( P < .05) were observed for 80 N.

Conclusion:

This work did not find that an anterolateral injury altered patellofemoral mechanics or kinematics, but adding a lateral tenodesis can elevate lateral contact pressures and induce lateral patellar tilting if the tibia is pulled into external rotation by the tenodesis. Although these in vitro changes were small and might not be relevant in a fully loaded knee, controlling the position of the tibia at graft fixation is effective in avoiding overconstraint at time zero in a lateral tenodesis.

Clinical Relevance:

Small changes in lateral patellar tilt and patellofemoral contact pressures were found at time zero with a MacIntosh tenodesis. These changes were eliminated when the tibia was held in neutral rotation at the time of graft fixation. The risk of overconstraint after a lateral tenodesis therefore seems low and in accordance with recent published reports.
Inclusion and exclusion—We and the Other. Response to Vamik Volkan’s Key-note Lecture
Authors: Mies Thomas
Published: August 2018

This response is focused on the following question: What may be the specific group analytic point of view on phenomena as the resurgence of nationalism in the western world, the so-called refugee crisis and the confrontation with Islamism and Islamist terror? The guideline of this response will be the idea of the ‘group of individuals’, which Norbert Elias characterized as his main contribution to group analytic theory. The response will emphasize the significance of the Other for the formation of personal and collective identities. It will argue that we face the Other, not only outside our own group, but also inside, and that xenophobia goes hand in hand with the denial of real differences and conflicts inside one’s own group. Finally, the history of the German nation-state is discussed as an exemplary case.
Latina/o Students in K-12 Schools: A Synthesis of Empirical Research on Factors Influencing Academic Achievement
Authors: Taggart Amanda
Published: August 2018

The purpose of this systematic review is to provide a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of the empirical evidence to date on the factors related to Latina/o student academic achievement in the country’s increasingly Latina/o K-12 schools. Factors found to be related to academic achievement outcomes (e.g., grades, test scores, high school completion, college enrollment) for Latina/o students include a combination of (1) demographic variables, (2) sociocultural variables, (3) academic experiences, (4) psychological variables, and (5) school/institutional variables. In addition, this research synthesis identified several methodological trends in the research on Latina/o student success.
Multiple Sulfatase Deficiency: A Case Series With a Novel Mutation
Authors: Hijazi Leen , Kashgari Amna , Alfadhel Majid
Published: August 2018

Multiple sulfatase deficiency is an autosomal recessive lysosomal storage disorder due to a deficiency in formylglycine-generating enzyme, which is encoded by the Sulfatase Modifying Factor 1 ( SUMF1) gene. Clinically, the disorder is variable. The most common characteristics are developmental regression, intellectual disability, ichthyosis, and periventricular white matter disease. Herein, we report 6 Saudi patients with multiple sulfatase deficiency caused by a novel homozygous missense mutation in the SUMF1 gene (NM_182760.3; c.785A>G [p.Gln262Arg]). The patients are 2 females and 4 males between 5 and 13 years of age, with an age of onset of 1 to 3 years. All patients are consanguineous and suffer from developmental regression, intellectual disability, ichthyosis, and periventricular white matter disease. This cohort differs from previous cohorts because of the absence of organomegaly and skeletal abnormalities.
Monitoring of Delay to Pharmacy Refill in Assessing Adherence to Antiretroviral Therapy
Authors: Cruz Camille Carvalho Peixoto , Mistro Sóstenes , Mendes Carlos Maurício Cardeal , Schooley Robert Turner , Badaró Roberto José da Silva
Published: August 2018

Background:

Adherence to antiretroviral (ARV) therapy remains a major challenge in HIV therapeutics.

Objective:

To assess the adherence to ARV therapy by measuring the delay in monthly refilling of ARV drugs using pharmacy records and to correlate this with HIV plasma RNA measurements and CD4+ cell count.

Method:

Records of 170 HIV-positive patients were examined to identify HIV viral load (VL)/CD4+ results and the time interval to refill ARVs at the pharmacy. The correlation between the number of days missed to refill ARVs and plasma HIV-RNA detectability/CD4+ count was performed using the Spearman’s correlation coefficient ( r).

Results:

Fewer days missed to refill ARV was positively correlated with undetectable VL and increase in CD4+ count ( r = 0.407 and 0.237, respectively). Increase in adherence was correlated with longer retention in the cohort ( r = 0.208).

Conclusion:

Monitoring the delay to pick up ARVs from the pharmacy can be an important and simple tool to identify patients requiring assessment of their adherence.
Emerging Formats
Authors: Smith Caylin , Cooke Ian
Published: August 2018

Since 2013, the UK Legal Deposit Libraries (LDLs) have actively collected, preserved and provided access to e-Journals, e-Books and archived websites acquired under the UK's Non-Print Legal Deposit Regulations. The LDLs are currently in the midst of focusing on more complex content types that have yet to be addressed. The Emerging Formats project is investigating the collection management needs of published works that are created with digital formats that have significant software and hardware dependencies. These include e-Books created as mobile apps, web-based interactive narratives and structured data. This article discusses the collection management challenges of these format types within the framework of UK Non-Print Legal Deposit.