bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prestin as an Otologic Biomarker of Cisplatin Ototoxicity in a Guinea Pig Model
Authors: Naples James , Cox Robert , Bonaiuto Gregory , Parham Kourosh
Published: November 2017

Objective

To evaluate (1) whether changes in serum prestin aid in early detection of cisplatin ototoxicity, (2) the role of diltiazem as an otoprotectant, and (3) whether prestin levels are sensitive to effects of diltiazem.

Study Design

Experimental animal study.

Setting

Translational research laboratory.

Subjects

Twenty female guinea pigs.

Methods

Two groups of 10 guinea pigs were used. The relationship between serum prestin levels and auditory brainstem response (ABR) thresholds was compared between the groups. All animals had baseline blood draws and ABR thresholds recorded prior to cisplatin administration. Intraperitoneal cisplatin bolus (8 mg/kg) was administered followed by 5 consecutive days of intratympanic (IT) diltiazem (2 mg/kg) or sham IT‐saline injection. Serum prestin levels and ABR thresholds were measured at days 1, 2, 3, 7, and 14 postcisplatin.

Results

In sham, IT‐saline–treated animals, mean prestin levels were elevated above baseline on days 1 to 7. The prestin levels were significantly elevated from baseline on day 1 (P <. 001), while significant ABR threshold elevations did not occur until day 2 (P =. 028) for click‐evoked ABRs and day 3 (P =. 041) for tones. In diltiazem‐treated animals, prestin levels were not elevated above baseline but ABR thresholds were elevated on days 1 to 3. However, the thresholds returned toward baseline on days 7 and 14.

Conclusion

Changes in serum prestin levels were detectable prior to shifts in ABR thresholds in a guinea pig cisplatin ototoxicity model. These changes did not occur in diltiazem‐treated animals. Prestin may serve as a biomarker of cochlear injury that is sensitive to therapeutic interventions in cisplatin ototoxicity.
Withdrawal, attachment security, and recovery from conflict in couple relationships
Authors: Prager Karen J. , Poucher Jesse , Shirvani Forouz K. , Parsons Julie A. , Allam Zoheb
Published: November 2017

This study used 115 cohabiting couple partners’ 21-day diaries, with which they reported each evening on their moods and their relationships, to test hypotheses about connections between withdrawal following conflict, attachment insecurity, and affective recovery from conflict (i.e., post-conflict relationship satisfaction, positive and negative mood, and intimacy). Individuals reported on their own and their partners’ post-conflict withdrawals. Results indicated that individuals who withdrew following conflicts, or whose partners withdrew, experienced worse post-conflict affective recoveries, particularly if they intended to punish their partners by withdrawing. Conversely, withdrawing from a punitive partner buffered the individual from some aftereffects of conflict. Support for our hypothesis that anxious attachment would exacerbate effects of withdrawing on recovery was unexpectedly weak. Conclusions address the negative and punishing impact of post-conflict withdrawing on couple partners’ affective recoveries and associations between anxious attachment and post-conflict recovery.
Comparison of fall prediction by the Hessisch Oldendorf Fall Risk Scale and the Fall Risk Scale by Huhn in neurological rehabilitation: an observational study
Authors: Hermann Olena , Schmidt Simone B , Boltzmann Melanie , Rollnik Jens D
Published: November 2017

Objective:

To calculate scale performance of the newly developed Hessisch Oldendorf Fall Risk Scale (HOSS) for classifying fallers and non-fallers in comparison with the Risk of Falling Scale by Huhn (FSH), a frequently used assessment tool.

Design:

A prospective observational trail was conducted.

Setting:

The study was performed in a large specialized neurological rehabilitation facility.

Subjects:

The study population ( n = 690) included neurological and neurosurgery patients during neurological rehabilitation with varying levels of disability. Around the half of the study patients were independent and dependent in the activities of daily living (ADL), respectively.

Interventions:

Fall risk of each patient was assessed by HOSS and FSH within the first seven days after admission.

Main measures:

Event of fall during rehabilitation was compared with HOSS and FSH scores as well as the according fall risk. Scale performance including sensitivity and specificity was calculated for both scales.

Results:

A total of 107 (15.5%) patients experienced at least one fall. In general, fallers were characterized by an older age, a prolonged length of stay, and a lower Barthel Index (higher dependence in the ADL) on admission than non-fallers. The verification of fall prediction for both scales showed a sensitivity of 83% and a specificity of 64% for the HOSS scale, and a sensitivity of 98% with a specificity of 12% for the FSH scale, respectively.

Conclusion:

The HOSS shows an adequate sensitivity, a higher specificity and therefore a better scale performance than the FSH. Thus, the HOSS might be superior to existing assessments.
GAT3 selective substrate l-isoserine upregulates GAT3 expression and increases functional recovery after a focal ischemic stroke in mice
Authors: Lie Maria EK , Gowing Emma K , Johansen Nina B , Dalby Nils Ole , Thiesen Louise , Wellendorph Petrine , Clarkson Andrew N
Published: November 2017

Ischemic stroke triggers an elevation in tonic GABA inhibition that impairs the ability of the brain to form new structural and functional cortical circuits required for recovery. This stroke-induced increase in tonic inhibition is caused by impaired GABA uptake via the glial GABA transporter GAT3, highlighting GAT3 as a novel target in stroke recovery. Using a photothrombotic stroke mouse model, we show that GAT3 protein levels are decreased in peri-infarct tissue from 6 h to 42 days post-stroke. Prior studies have shown that GAT substrates can increase GAT surface expression. Therefore, we aimed to assess whether the GAT3 substrate, L-isoserine, could increase post-stroke functional recovery. L-Isoserine (38 µM or 380 µM) administered directly into the infarct from day 5 to 32 post-stroke, significantly increased motor performance in the grid-walking and cylinder tasks in a concentration-dependent manner, without affecting infarct volumes. Additionally, L-isoserine induced a lasting increase in GAT3 expression in peri-infarct regions accompanied by a small decrease in GFAP expression. This study is the first to show that a GAT3 substrate can increase GAT3 expression and functional recovery after focal ischemic stroke following a delayed long-term treatment. We propose that enhancing GAT3-mediated uptake dampens tonic inhibition and promotes functional recovery after stroke.
Neonatal and Juvenile Ocular Development in Sprague-Dawley Rats: A Histomorphological and Immunohistochemical Study
Authors: Vrolyk Vanessa , Haruna Julius , Benoit-Biancamano Marie-Odile
Published: November 2017

As in many altricial species, rats are born with fused eyelids and markedly underdeveloped eyes. While the normal histology of the eyes of mature rats is known, the histomorphological changes occurring during postnatal eye development in this species remain incompletely characterized. This study was conducted to describe the postnatal development of ocular structures in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats during the first month of age using histology and immunohistochemistry (IHC). Both eyes were collected from 51 SD rats at 13 time points between postnatal day (PND)1 and PND30. Histologic examination of hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections was performed, as well as IHC for cleaved-caspase-3 and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) to evaluate apoptosis, and IHC for Ki-67 and phospho-histone-H3 to evaluate cell proliferation. Extensive ocular tissue remodeling occurred prior to the eyelid opening around PND14 and reflected the interplay between apoptosis and cell proliferation. Apoptosis was particularly remarkable in the maturing subcapsular anterior epithelium of the lens, the inner nuclear and ganglion cell layers of the developing retina, and the Harderian gland, and was involved in the regression of the hyaloid vasculature. Nuclear degradation in the newly formed secondary lens fibers was noteworthy after birth and was associated with TUNEL-positive nuclear remnants lining the lens organelle-free zone. Cell proliferation was marked in the developing retina, cornea, iris, ciliary body and Harderian gland. The rat eye reached histomorphological maturity at PND21 after a rapid phase of morphological changes characterized by the coexistence of cell death and proliferation.
Machine learning, social learning and the governance of self-driving cars
Authors: Stilgoe Jack
Published: November 2017

Self-driving cars, a quintessentially ‘smart’ technology, are not born smart. The algorithms that control their movements are learning as the technology emerges. Self-driving cars represent a high-stakes test of the powers of machine learning, as well as a test case for social learning in technology governance. Society is learning about the technology while the technology learns about society. Understanding and governing the politics of this technology means asking ‘Who is learning, what are they learning and how are they learning?’ Focusing on the successes and failures of social learning around the much-publicized crash of a Tesla Model S in 2016, I argue that trajectories and rhetorics of machine learning in transport pose a substantial governance challenge. ‘Self-driving’ or ‘autonomous’ cars are misnamed. As with other technologies, they are shaped by assumptions about social needs, solvable problems, and economic opportunities. Governing these technologies in the public interest means improving social learning by constructively engaging with the contingencies of machine learning.
Reconstructing an Early Modern Irish Economic Community
Authors: McGrath Bríd
Published: November 2017

Tax assessments provide unique information about the individual and relative wealth of early modern individuals and communities, but few such sources exist for early modern Ireland, so the survival of a tax assessment for the most prosperous inhabitants of Clonmel in 1642 is a unique source for the study of the town’s economic community in that year. An analysis of the tax paid by these men and women provides not merely unrivalled information about their personal wealth but also about the relative prosperity of different occupation groups, including merchants, craftsmen and women, the most important sectors of the local economy and settlement patterns in one early modern Irish town.
Linguistic Origins of Gender Equality and Women’s Rights
Authors: Liu Amy H. , Shair-Rosenfield Sarah , Vance Lindsey R. , Csata Zsombor
Published: November 2017

In this article, we examine how the language spoken in a country can affect individual attitudes about gender equality and subsequently the level of legal rights afforded to women. This is because the feature of a language—specifically whether it requires speakers to make gender distinctions—can perpetuate popular attitudes and beliefs about gender inequality. To test this argument, we first identify a correlation between the gender distinction of a language and individual gender-based attitudes among World Values Survey respondents. We then isolate the causal mechanism using an experiment involving bilingual Romanian–Hungarian speakers in Transylvania, Romania. Finally, we examine one observable implication of our argument: the effects of gender distinction of official state languages on women’s rights at the national level. Our results confirm the importance of the gender distinction of language on support for gender equality and women’s rights.
The influence of skin-core residual stress and cooling rate on the impact response of carbon fibre/polyphenylenesulphide
Authors: McCallum Stuart , Tsukada Takuhei , Takeda Nobuo
Published: November 2017

This study investigates the influence of macroscale skin-core residual stress and cooling rate on the impact response of aerospace grade carbon fibre/polyphenylenesulphide (CF/PPS). Numerical simulations are developed which analyse the thermal shrinkage and residual stress development of unidirectional (UD) lay-up configurations. Macroscale skin-core residual stresses are then incorporated into low-velocity impact simulations based on an orthotropic elastic material model. Interlaminar delamination is modelled using a bilinear cohesive traction–separation law, and intralaminar failure is modelled using the Chang–Chang strength-based failure criterion. The simulation results are compared with the results of drop tower impact tests showing qualitative agreement in terms of maximum impact force and delamination. The results of this work highlight the importance of cooling rate on the interlaminar delamination and intralaminar failure of CF/PPS.
Science and Politics in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association
Authors: Superfine Benjamin Michael , Umpstead Regina R. , Mayrowetz David , Lenhoff Sarah Winchell , Pogodzinski Ben
Published: November 2017

In March 2017, the Supreme Court decided Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association and upheld the constitutionality of agency fees for nonunion teachers. We examine how Friedrichs reflects a host of issues grouped around a patchwork of ideological commitments regarding teachers unions and public-sector unions more generally, partisan politics, and empirically oriented claims about the impact of teachers unions on students’ educational opportunities. We particularly argue that the case reflects a tension between judicial, scientific, and democratic decision-making, and that courts and reformers should be sensitive to this tension as they consider similar cases moving forward.
Mathematical modeling and linearized analysis of the jet-pipe hydraulic amplifier applied to a servovalve
Authors: Li Yuesong
Published: November 2017

The accurate mathematical model of the jet-pipe hydraulic amplifier, which is the pilot control stage of a jet-pipe servovalve, is very necessary to analyze and control the performance of a jet-pipe servovalve. In this paper, based on the hydraulic bridge’s flow balance equations, an improved nonlinear explicit model with the absorption effect is developed. The linearized model and valve coefficients are derived from the nonlinear improve model. To test and verify the improved models, the pressure and flow characteristic model of jet-pipe hydraulic amplifier are verified by the experiment. The results show that the model is approximate to the experimental data. In addition, the influence of structural parameters on performance of jet-pipe hydraulic amplifier is analyzed by simulation.
Biomarker combinations for diagnosis and prognosis in multicenter studies: Principles and methods
Authors: Meisner Allison , Parikh Chirag R , Kerr Kathleen F
Published: November 2017

Many investigators are interested in combining biomarkers to predict a binary outcome or detect underlying disease. This endeavor is complicated by the fact that many biomarker studies involve data from multiple centers. Depending upon the relationship between center, the biomarkers, and the target of prediction, care must be taken when constructing and evaluating combinations of biomarkers. We introduce a taxonomy to describe the role of center and consider how a biomarker combination should be constructed and evaluated. We show that ignoring center, which is frequently done by clinical researchers, is often not appropriate. The limited statistical literature proposes using random intercept logistic regression models, an approach that we demonstrate is generally inadequate and may be misleading. We instead propose using fixed intercept logistic regression, which appropriately accounts for center without relying on untenable assumptions. After constructing the biomarker combination, we recommend using performance measures that account for the multicenter nature of the data, namely the center-adjusted area under the receiver operating characteristic curve. We apply these methods to data from a multicenter study of acute kidney injury after cardiac surgery. Appropriately accounting for center, both in construction and evaluation, may increase the likelihood of identifying clinically useful biomarker combinations.
Monitoring of water spectral patterns of lactobacilli development as a tool for rapid selection of probiotic candidates
Authors: Slavchev Aleksandar , Kovacs Zoltan , Koshiba Haruki , Bazar Gyorgy , Pollner Bernhard , Krastanov Albert , Tsenkova Roumiana
Published: November 2017

Nowadays a quick and inexpensive method, which allows rapid, in vivo comprehensive probiotic bacteria identification, is needed. To elucidate a new concept to evaluate probiotic bacteria, near infrared spectroscopy with aquaphotomics were applied to monitor the growth of eight Lactobacillus bulgaricus and one Lactobacillus gasseri bacteria strains. Their resistance to low pH (1.8) in the presence of pepsin and bile were measured and further used as reference data for analysis of the simultaneously acquired spectral data. The acquired spectral data in the region of 1100–1300 nm were subjected to various methods for multivariate data analyses—principal component analysis, linear discriminant analysis, soft independent modeling of class analogy, and partial least squares regression. The results showed high accuracy of bacteria strains classification according to their resistance and the potential of the tested wavelength region for rapid selection and prediction of some basic phenotypic characteristics of probiotic candidates. Results of the current study also revealed different suitability of each growth stage when using near infrared spectra for the classification of bacteria strains.
Impact of Automobile Recalls on Stock Prices: A Study in the Indian Context
Authors: Singh Jagandeep
Published: November 2017

Not so long ago, ‘product recalls’ in the Indian automobile sector were a novelty. The defective vehicles were repaired as part of the after-sales service. In the absence of a strong regulatory framework, the manufacturers were under no obligation to proactively initiate product recalls. The introduction of a voluntary code on product recalls by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) in 2012 and introduction/amendments in the existing legal regimen of the country in recent years have led companies to take more than just baby steps towards product recalls. Product recalls are a case of management failure. There is a need for gauging the impact of this failure on the stock price of the manufacturers, especially in the Indian context where the recall phenomenon is poised to gain further momentum. The event study methodology is a widely used approach to assess the impact of a particular event/announcement on the stock price. This methodology was used in the present study to gauge whether abnormal stock returns accrued to the manufacturers during 13 product recall announcements made in the Indian automobile sector between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2015. The study found that product recall announcements generated small and statistically insignificant cumulative abnormal returns (CAR) of –0.02 per cent in the (–1, +1) event window, 0.92 per cent in the (–2, +2) event window and 1.70 per cent in the (–5, +5) event window. The study found no substantial or statistically significant difference in the CAR generated during big recalls and small recalls. Furthermore, the study found little evidence that CAR generated during recalls where defective component(s) in the vehicle were repaired is positive as compared to CAR generated when such component(s) were replaced.
Separation of cell survival, growth, migration, and mesenchymal transdifferentiation effects of fibroblast secretome on tumor cells of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma
Authors: Metzler Veronika Maria , Pritz Christian , Riml Anna , Romani Angela , Tuertscher Raphaela , Steinbichler Teresa , Dejaco Daniel , Riechelmann Herbert , Dudás József
Published: November 2017

Fibroblasts play a central role in tumor invasion, recurrence, and metastasis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of tumor cell self-produced factors and paracrine fibroblast–secreted factors in comparison to indirect co-culture on cancer cell survival, growth, migration, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition using the cell lines SCC-25 and human gingival fibroblasts. Thereby, we particularly focused on the participation of the fibroblast-secreted transforming growth factor beta-1.Tumor cell self-produced factors were sufficient to ensure tumor cell survival and basic cell growth, but fibroblast-secreted paracrine factors significantly increased cell proliferation, migration, and epithelial–mesenchymal transition–related phenotype changes in tumor cells. Transforming growth factor beta-1 generated individually migrating disseminating tumor cell groups or single cells separated from the tumor cell nest, which were characterized by reduced E-cadherin expression. At the same time, transforming growth factor beta-1 inhibited tumor cell proliferation under serum-starved conditions. Neutralizing transforming growth factor beta antibody reduced the cell migration support of fibroblast-conditioned medium. Transforming growth factor beta-1 as a single factor was sufficient for generation of disseminating tumor cells from epithelial tumor cell nests, while other fibroblast paracrine factors supported tumor nest outgrowth. Different fibroblast-released factors might support tumor cell proliferation and invasion, as two separate effects.
Learning Technology Integration From a Service-Learning Project: Connecting Preservice Teachers to Real-World Problems
Authors: Jia Xiaokai , Jung Jiyoon , Ottenbreit-Leftwich Anne
Published: November 2017

Background: Stand-alone educational technology courses have long faced the challenge of connecting preservice teachers to real-world problems of using technology for teaching and learning. Although many studies investigated the benefits of service-learning in teacher education, few were conducted in stand-alone educational technology courses. Purpose: This article reported the benefits and difficulties of a service-learning project that connected preservice teachers with authentic technology integration problems in K-12 classrooms. Methodology/Approach: Fifty-four undergraduate preservice teachers participated in this descriptive case study. They were guided to reflect on their learning related to technology integration through weekly problems/concerns survey and a final reflection survey. Semistructured interviews captured the salient aspects of preservice teachers’ experiences during the service-learning project. Findings/Conclusions: Preservice teachers valued the authenticity of the service-learning project because they could (a) apply their technology integration knowledge and skills to solve real-world problems and (b) explore resources and ideas relevant to teaching content in their subject areas. Challenges faced by preservice teachers are also discussed. Implications: Service-learning can create an authentic learning experience that connects technology integration with teaching content. Project orientation and feedback for appropriate technology options are the most valuable instructor supports.
The Role of School Nurses, Challenges, and Reactions to Delegation Legislation: A Qualitative Approach
Authors: Lineberry Michelle , Whitney Elizabeth , Noland Melody
Published: November 2017

Passage of new laws, national standards regarding delegation, and the recommendation for at least one full-time nurse in every school have provided more visibility to the role of school nurses. Recent legislative amendments in Kentucky presented an opportunity to examine how the role of the school nurse is changing. Aims were to describe the (1) role of school nurses in Kentucky, (2) impact of school nurses, (3) challenges faced by school nurses, and (4) impact of budget cuts and legislation. Three focus groups were conducted. School nurses faced challenges of limited time and resources, communication barriers, and multiple documentation requirements. Nurses’ greatest impacts were their availability, recognition of psychosocial problems and health concerns, and connection with resources. Nurses had not yet encountered many changes due to new legislation that expanded delegation of diabetes-related tasks to unlicensed school personnel, but some had concerns about possible negative effects while others expressed support.
Meanings of Living in Lodgings During Senior High School
Authors: Wannebo Wenche , Devik Siri Andreassen , Uhrenfeldt Lisbeth
Published: November 2017

Studies show that senior high school students living in lodgings (away from home) when attending high school are vulnerable to stress and mental health problems. Moving away from home at the age of 15–16 is a transition that might affect adolescents’ well-being. The aim of this study is to explore the experience of living in lodgings during senior high school. In-depth interviews were conducted with 21 Norwegian lodgers of both genders between the ages of 16–18. Interviews were analyzed according to a phenomenological hermeneutical approach. Four main themes were identified: (a) striving between controlling time and being controlled by time, (b) striving between finding comfort in being alone and feeling left alone, (c) striving between being independent and being taken care of, and (d) striving between leaving and finding home. The findings illuminate many challenges experienced by lodgers. A raised awareness and preventive initiatives from school nurses are recommended.
Initial Fibular Displacement as a Predictor of Medial Clear Space Widening in Weber B Ankle Fractures
Authors: Cavanaugh Zachary S. , Gupta Simran , Sathe Vinayak M. , Geaney Lauren E.
Published: November 2017

Background:

The diagnosis of medial ankle instability in Weber B ankle fractures remains controversial. Manual stress and gravity stress radiographs as well as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are used, but there is no consensus gold standard. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between initial fibular displacement and medial clear space widening on a gravity stress radiograph as a predictor of instability.

Methods:

A retrospective review was conducted of all patients with isolated Weber B ankle fractures with both initial injury radiographs and gravity stress view from August 1, 2014, through April 1, 2016. A total of 17 patients were identified. On the mortise view of initial injury radiographs, medial clear space (MCS), superior clear space, lateral fibular displacement (LFDP), and fibular shortening (FS) were measured, and on the lateral view, anterior to posterior fibular gap (A to P FG) was measured. MCS was again measured on the gravity stress view (MCS-W). Statistical analyses identified the correlations of each displacement variable relative to MCS-W as well as the sensitivity and specificity of each parameter.

Results:

A cutoff point for MCS-W was set as less than 5.0 mm (n = 8) and 5.0 mm or more (n = 9). Strong significant correlations with MCS-W were found for A to P FG (0.84, P < .001), with a trend for LFDP (0.62, P = .008), but no significance with FS (0.38, P = .84). Linear regression analysis revealed significant ability to predict MCS-W for both LFDP ( P = .002) and A to P FG ( P = .001) but not FS. Receiver operating characteristic analysis for A to P FG using a threshold value of 1.0 mm yielded sensitivity and specificity of 100% in predicting an MCS-W of 5.0 mm or more.

Conclusion:

The initial fibular displacement was a strong predictor of MCS-W in Weber B ankle fractures. On lateral radiographs, an A to P FG greater than 1.0 mm showed a sensitivity and specificity of 100% in predicting an MCS-W of 5.0 mm or more on gravity stress view.

Level of Evidence:

Level III case series, prognostic.
Comparison of Visual Analog Pain Score Reported to Physician vs Nurse
Authors: Martin Kevin D. , Van Buren J. Preston , Wake Jeffrey , Dawson Laura
Published: November 2017

Background:

The visual analog scale (VAS) is considered a reliable and validated measure of patient-reported acute pain. Patient-reported outcome measures are becoming the standard of care throughout the orthopedic community, but interpretation and clinical applications are still under investigation. The aim of the current study was to compare preoperative patient-reported VAS scores reported at the same visit to nursing staff and the treating surgeon. Our hypothesis was that there would be no difference in the scores reported.

Methods:

This study is a retrospective cohort of 201 consecutive foot and ankle patients treated by a single surgeon. The patients were asked to rate their pain intensity by the nursing staff and then by the surgeon using a standard horizontal VAS 0 to 10, from “no pain” to the “worst pain.” Differences in reported pain values were analyzed.

Results:

The results demonstrate that patients reported higher pain scores to the surgeon in 81% of the encounters, nursing staff 8%, and equal 11%. On average, the VAS score reported to the surgeon was significantly ( P < .05) higher than that reported to the nursing staff.

Conclusion:

The current study found a statistically significant higher patient-reported pain score to the treating surgeon compared to the nursing staff. While the exact cause is unclear, the discrepant pain scores call into question the validity of the VAS, considered a fifth vital sign and standard outcome measure in an outpatient clinic setting.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, comparative study.
Student Independent Investigations for Authentic Learning
Authors: Westberg Karen L. , Leppien Jann H.
Published: November 2017

Including opportunities for students to conduct independent investigations is a mainstay of gifted education programs and services. When carefully designed and skillfully facilitated, students’ interest-based, independent study experiences result in increased intrinsic motivation, growth in 21st-century critical and creativity skills, greater self-efficacy toward research and creative productivity, and authentic learning experiences. Successful and meaningful investigations occur when teachers guide students through four stages of the independent study process: interest focusing, problem focusing, product focusing, and audience focusing. Progression through these stages leads to real-life learning experiences with lasting effects for students.
Complex Instruction: A Model for Reaching Up—and Out
Authors: Tomlinson Carol Ann
Published: November 2017

Complex Instruction is a multifaceted instructional model designed to provide highly challenging learning opportunities for students in heterogeneous classrooms. The model provides a rationale for and philosophy of creating equity of access to excellent curriculum and instruction for a broad range of learners, guidance for preparing students for successful groupwork, direction for the teacher’s role, and principles and practices for “groupworthy tasks”—assignments worthy of student investment and designed to draw on a broad range of abilities for successful task completion. This article focuses on the nature and importance of “groupworthy tasks.”
We Exist: Combating Erasure Through Creative Analytic Comix about Bisexuality
Authors: Berbary Lisbeth A. , Guzman Coco
Published: November 2017

As the voices of lesbian, gay, and transgender (LGT) individuals gain inclusion in academic spheres, bisexual experiences continue to be silenced and excluded from the discussion. In particular, systems of biphobia, monosexism, and erasure often coordinate to limit bisexual visibility and activism. This bisexual erasure translates into negative social experiences for bisexual individuals who must face a constant struggle to find belonging and acceptance. Therefore, this study used comix to bring awareness to the experiences of bisexual women as they navigated belonging and worked toward community transformation.
Implementation of clinical pharmacy services in an academic oncology practice in India
Authors: Patel Himanshu , Gurumurthy Parthasarathi
Published: November 2017

Objective

This study was conducted to investigate medication-related problems after implementation of clinical pharmacy services at a speciality oncology care setting.

Methods

It was a prospective interventional study conducted for a period of three years at a private academic oncology care setting. Paper-based medical records and medication orders were reviewed and patients and care givers were interviewed to understand the treatment plan. All the medication-related problems were identified by clinical pharmacists by performing drug therapy review. Patients were also followed up at ambulatory care and in-patient units to ensure appropriate administration of anti-cancer drugs by nurses. All the medication-related problems were discussed with the concerned clinicians and then were resolved with the interventions of clinical pharmacists. Clinical significance of these interventions were assessed and classified as “Major”, “Moderate “and “Minor”. Educational, clinical and system-based interventions were developed and implemented to minimize medication-related problems at the study site.

Results

A total of 1359 medication-related problems were identified from 2120 medication orders reviewed of 1362 patients followed during the study period. The most common medication-related problems were lack of suboptimal supportive care (17.95%), inappropriate administration of medications (14.56%), untreated indication (14.20%), wrong dosing calculations (12.21%), drug–drug interactions (11.62%) and sub-therapeutic dose (11.11%). Clinical pharmacy interventions were made to resolve all the medication-related problems. Clinical significance of majority (n = 504, 37.08%) of medication-related problems was “Moderate” followed by “Major” (n = 434, 31.93%) and “Minor” (n = 421, 30.97%).

Conclusion

The study has demonstrated the importance of clinical pharmacy services in improving quality and safe use of medicines in oncology practice. Positive feedback of clinicians on clinical pharmacy services was a reflection of acceptance of clinical pharmacy interventions by clinicians.
Clostridium difficile treatment in neutropenic patients: Clinical outcomes of metronidazole, vancomycin, combinations, and switch therapy
Authors: Tieu Jennifer D , Schmidt Sarah A , Miller Jamie L , Kupiec Katherine E , Skrepnek Grant H , Liu Connie , Smith Winter J
Published: November 2017

Background

Clostridium difficile infection treatment guidelines exist for immunocompetent patients; however, there is a paucity of data evaluating clinical outcomes and time to C. difficile-associated diarrhea resolution in neutropenic patients.

Objective

To assess clinical outcomes in neutropenic patients treated with metronidazole, oral vancomycin, the combination of metronidazole plus oral vancomycin, and switch of metronidazole to oral vancomycin.

Methods

This retrospective, observational cohort study assessed adult neutropenic inpatients with C. difficile-associated diarrhea treated with metronidazole, oral vancomycin, combination (metronidazole and oral vancomycin), or switch therapy (metronidazole to oral vancomycin). The primary outcome was time to diarrhea resolution based on treatment regimen. Secondary outcomes included C. difficile-associated diarrhea resolution of diarrhea by day 14, recurrence, and occurrence of major complications.

Results

Overall, 44 patients met full inclusion criteria (52.2% metronidazole monotherapy, 22.7% combination, and 25.0% switch therapy). Two patients on oral vancomycin monotherapy were excluded due to insufficient sample size. Overall time to C. difficile-associated diarrhea resolution was 9.1 ± 10.7 days. The Cox regression results suggested both switch and combination therapy were associated with 65.5% (p = 0.002) and 65.9% (p = 0.046) longer time to C. difficile-associated diarrhea resolution compared to metronidazole monotherapy, respectively. An increasing absolute neutrophil count was associated with an increase in C. difficile-associated diarrhea resolution (p = 0.007).

Conclusion

Switch or combination therapy was associated with a prolonged time to C. difficile-associated diarrhea resolution. The decision to use switch or combination therapy may represent a surrogate marker for more severe disease and need for therapy escalation. It is unknown if initial therapy with oral vancomycin would provide better outcomes as this could not be assessed.
Bad cops and true detectives: The horror of police and the unthinkable world
Authors: Linnemann Travis
Published: November 2017

The first season of the HBO series True Detective has drawn attention to Eugene Thacker’s horror of philosophy trilogy and his tripartite mode of thinking of the world and the subject’s relation to it. This article is an effort to read Thacker’s speculative realism into a critique of the police power. Where the police concept is vital to sustaining the Cartesian world-for-us, a world of mass-consumption and brutal privation, the limitations, failures or absence of police might also reveal horizons of disorder—primitivism, anarchism—the world-in-itself. A critical reading of True Detective and other police stories suggests that even its most violent and corrupt forms, as inseparable from security, law and order, the police power is never beyond redemption. What is rendered unthinkable then is the third ontological position—a world-without-police—as it exposes the frailties of the present social order and the challenges of thinking outside the subject.
Determinants of electronic cigarette use among Finnish adults
Authors: Ruokolainen Otto , Ollila Hanna , Karjalainen Karoliina
Published: November 2017

Background:

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use is rising in the Western world, but studies from the Nordic countries are lacking. Many countries are implementing policy changes, brought about for example by the 2014 European Tobacco Products Directive, and monitoring e-cigarette use is considered important. The aim of this article is to account for the prevalence of e-cigarette use among the Finnish adult population and to examine correlates of ever use and current use of e-cigarettes prior to some changes in the Finnish regulatory scheme.

Methods:

A population-based survey was conducted in 2014. A representative random sample ( N = 7000) of Finnish people aged 15–69 years was drawn from the Finnish Population Information System. Data were collected by self-administered anonymous online/postal questionnaire. The response rate was 50% ( n = 3485). A multinomial logistic regression model was used to estimate the association between e-cigarette use and different explanatory variables.

Results:

Of all participants, 2% were current and 12% were ever users of e-cigarettes. Younger age and current or previous tobacco use increased the odds for both current and ever use of e-cigarettes when compared with never users. Unemployment and lower education were associated with current e-cigarette use and being a student was associated with ever use of e-cigarettes.

Conclusions:

The current use of e-cigarettes in the adult population is low in Finland, having at least tried is more common. Both types of e-cigarette use are concentrated to groups considered to be more vulnerable, such as younger people and those with a lower socioeconomic position. Further monitoring of e-cigarette use is needed in view of Finland’s aim to become nicotine and tobacco free by 2030.
Maturity levels for private internal investigations
Authors: Gottschalk Petter
Published: November 2017

The purpose of private internal investigations by fraud examiners is to reconstruct the past by identifying past events and sequences of events. In this article, work by fraud examiners is studied in terms of maturity; introduce a five-stage model for investigation maturity: chaos, mess, disclosure, clarification, and investment. Based on student term papers in a financial crime class, six investigation reports are allocated to levels in the maturity model. The average score for the investigation reports is a level 3 disclosure, where the investigation is problem-oriented and often limited by the mandate. Based on the low average score, this article discusses the privatization of law enforcement, secrecy of investigation reports, lack of disclosure to the police, competence of private investigators, and limits of the investigation mandate.
Effect of legal and regulatory framework on SMEs growth in the Accra Metropolis of Ghana
Authors: Nyarku Kwamena Minta , Oduro Stephen
Published: November 2017

Entrepreneurship has been generally recognized as one of the most important dynamics leading to development. However, promoting entrepreneurship depends on an enabling business climate. The study sought to explore the effect of legal and regulatory frameworks on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) growth in Ghana. The study was quantitative and primary data comprised 382 owners who were conveniently sampled for the study. The results were analysed using structural equation model-partial least square. Bureaucracy, unstable policy climate, unfriendly customs and trade regulations, tight monetary and credit policies, corruption, and excessive tax regimes, workforce and labour regulations were found to negatively affect SMEs growth in Ghana. It is concluded that for SMEs growth to thrive, sound legal and regulatory systems are needed. The government must create relaxed credit policies that support the development of entrepreneurship by simplifying loan conditions, ease the registration processes for SMEs, lower and reform the tax systems, engineer effective price stabilization policy and create flexible customs and port regulations, while maintaining transparency and accountability among public officials in charge of SMEs regulation. The study adds to the few works conducted in sub-Saharan Africa, especially in Ghana. The new empirical insights are significant to SME and entrepreneurship development in Ghana.
Unbecoming: The aftereffects of autoethnography
Authors: Luvaas Brent
Published: November 2017

Autoethnography is a research methodology that employs conscious becoming as a strategy for producing academic knowledge. As it grows in popularity across disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, should those who employ the methodology start thinking through the consequences of such becoming for the person engaging in it? This essay draws from the author’s long-term work on street style bloggers to argue that autoethnography is a practice with risks both practical and existential, and it suggests that social scientific training should begin to take into consideration the kinds of people ethnographers have to become in order to do their work.
Emission benefits from the use of n-butanol blends in a Euro 6 diesel engine
Authors: Lapuerta Magín , Hernández Juan José , Rodríguez-Fernández José , Barba Javier , Ramos Angel , Fernández-Rodríguez David
Published: November 2017

Tests with diesel/n-butanol blends (up to 20% by volume) were carried out in a Euro 6 engine following the New European Driving Cycle in a test bench. No decrease in engine efficiency was observed when n-butanol is used and fuel consumption increased proportionally to its lower heating value. Regarding emissions, total hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide increased when n-butanol is used. On the other hand, the use of n-butanol reduces the particle emissions down to a minimum value (for around 16% of n-butanol content) and then increases particle emissions again. This was observed in both mass and particle number. This trend occurs as a consequence of the compromise between the increase in oxygen content, which inhibits soot formation, and the increase in hydrocarbon emissions, especially under cold-engine conditions, which promotes liquid nucleation. Finally, NOX emissions remained unchanged as a consequence of the compensation between larger ignition delays and shorter combustion durations.
Dialogue. Divergence. Veiled Reception. Criticism: Georg Simmel’s relationship with Émile Durkheim
Authors: Fitzi Gregor
Published: November 2017

Simmel was the only German sociologist who directly cooperated with Durkheim. After an initial impression of convergence between the sociology of social facts and the sociology of social forms, a break between the two founders of sociology became inevitable. Yet, Durkheim and Simmel went on positioning themselves against one other in the years ahead. Durkheim’s allegation of ‘individual psychologism’ induced Simmel to a veiled reception of Durkheim’s methodological approach that permitted him to refine the sociological epistemology he eventually presented in the Soziologie published in 1908. On this basis, he was able to formulate a final criticism of the sociology of social facts as a social psychology.
Justice as the sacred in language: Durkheim and Habermas on the ultimate grounds of modernity and critique
Authors: Callegaro Francesco
Published: November 2017

The article reconstructs the double movement of departure and return to Emile Durkheim’s sociology that Jürgen Habermas realized in his work in order to define the theoretical paradigm of communicative action and revive the original project of Critical Theory. It highlights, in the first part, how Habermas first used Durkheim’s The Elementary Forms of Religious Life to assign a phylogenetic function to ritual practices and explain modernity, from an evolutionist perspective, as the final result of a progressive linguistification of the sacred, having substituted the communion of minds in rites with the communication of reasons in the public sphere. After having discussed the two main objections that Habermas addressed to Durkheim at the time of The Theory of Communicative Action, the second part shows how he recently revised his rationalist framework through a new anthropological reading of The Elementary Forms, aimed at demonstrating, in the context of a more complex account of evolution, why the requirement of justice discloses, even in modernity, the active presence of the sacred in language and orientates the critical work of reason in the search of solidarity. Pointing out the new directions in which the hypothesis of a linguistification of the sacred must be seriously revised, it ends by suggesting how the question of social justice may open the path to a positive cooperation between sociology and Critical Theory.
Interview by Gregor Fitzi and Nicola Marcucci with Hans-Peter Müller on the reception of Émile Durkheim in Germany. Berlin: Humboldt University of Berlin, 25 February 2015
Authors: Fitzi Gregor , Marcucci Nicola , Müller Hans-Peter
Published: November 2017

Just after the publication of the Theory of Communicative Action in 1981, a new generation of interpreters started a different reception of Durkheim in Germany. Hans-Peter Müller, sociologist and editor of the German translation of Leçons de sociologie, reconstructs the history of the German Durkheim’s Reception and illuminates the reasons for his interest in the French sociologist. He delivers different insights into the background which permitted the post-Habermasian generation to reach a new understanding of Durkheim’s work by enlightening the scientific and political conditions from which this new sensibility emerged.