bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Real-Time Automated Quality Control of Hourly Rain Gauge Data Based on Multiple Sensors in MRMS System
Authors: Qi Youcun , Martinaitis Steven , Zhang Jian , Cocks Stephen
Published: April 2016

Automated rain gauge networks provide direct measurements of precipitation and have been used for numerous applications, such as generating regional and national precipitation maps, calibrating remote sensing quantitative precipitation estimation (QPE), and validating hydrological and meteorological model predictions. However, automated gauge observations are prone to be affected by a variety of error sources and require a careful quality-control (QC) procedure. Many previous gauge QC techniques were based on spatiotemporal checks within the gauge network itself, and their effectiveness can be dependent on gauge densities and precipitation regimes. The current study takes advantage of the multisensor data sources in the Multi-Radar Multi-Sensor (MRMS) system and develops an automated and computationally efficient gauge QC scheme based on the consistency of hourly gauge and radar QPE observations. Radar and gauge error characteristics related to radar sampling geometry, precipitation regimes, and freezing-level height is utilized within this scheme. This QC scheme is evaluated by testing its capability to identify suspect gauges and comparing the ability to quality-controlled gauges through statistical and spatial comparisons of gauge-influenced gridded QPE products. Spatial analysis of the gridded QPE products in MRMS resulted in a more physical spatial QPE distribution using quality-controlled gauges versus the same product created with non-quality-controlled gauge data.
The Impact of Quadratic Nonlinear Relations between Soil Moisture Products on Uncertainty Estimates from Triple Collocation Analysis and Two Quadratic Extensions
Authors: Zwieback Simon , Su Chun-Hsu , Gruber Alexander , Dorigo Wouter A. , Wagner Wolfgang
Published: April 2016

The error characterization of soil moisture products, for example, obtained from microwave remote sensing data, is a key requirement for using these products in applications like numerical weather prediction. The error variance and root-mean-square error are among the most popular metrics: they can be estimated consistently for three datasets using triple collocation (TC) without assuming any dataset to be free of errors. This technique can account for additive and multiplicative biases; that is, it assumes that the three products are linearly related. However, its susceptibility to nonlinear relations (e.g., due to sensor saturation and scale mismatch) has not been addressed. Here, a simulation study investigates the impact of quadratic relations on the TC error estimates [also when the products are first rescaled using the nonlinear cumulative distribution function (CDF) matching technique] and on those by two novel methods. These methods—based on error-in-variables regression and probabilistic factor analysis—extend standard TC by also accounting for nonlinear relations using quadratic polynomials. The relative differences between the error estimates of the ASCAT remotely sensed product by the quadratic and the linear methods are predominantly smaller than 10% in a case study based on remotely sensed, reanalysis, and in situ measured soil moisture over the contiguous United States. Exceptions with larger discrepancies indicate that nonlinear relations can pose a challenge to traditional TC analyses, as the simulations show they can introduce biases of either sign. In such cases, the use of nonlinear methods may complement traditional approaches for the error characterization of soil moisture products.
“One cannot doubt the potential effect of these fatwas on modern Muslim society.”1 Online Accusations of Disbelief and Apostasy: The Internet as an Arena for Sunni and Shia Muslim Conflicts
Authors: Larsson Göran
Published: April 2016

This article focuses on a number of fatwas published on the Sunni website Islamqa that, among many things, present negative understandings of Shia Islam. Before discussing the content of the fatwas, I offer a brief reconsideration of the major lines of conflict that divide Sunni and Shia Muslims both in history and at the present day. I then argue that, although contemporary tensions and hatred between different Muslim individuals and groups can potentially be supported by stereotypical presentations of Shia Muslims on the Internet, in order for an individual or a group to turn to violence, a socio-political context is required that is conducive to violent interpretations of religious views. The fatwas considered here do not contain much that is new, and more or less repeat old theological positions. However, in the context of the current crises in Iraq and Syria, old tensions and conflicts between Sunni and Shia Muslims have gained momentum, making it obvious that theological differences are being used to dehumanize the Other and to legitimate violence against the religious Other.
Restricting Access to Health Care to Immigrants in Barcelona
Authors: Castano Jenny , Ospina Jesús E. , Caylà Joan A. , Greer Scott L.
Published: April 2016

Austerity policies implemented in Spain in response to the ongoing economic crisis may have detrimental consequences for the health of immigrant populations and for public health in general. A mixed-methods study by the Public Health Agency of Barcelona and the University of Michigan indicates that the Real Decreto-ley 16/2012 (RDL) threatens the health of individuals and the population, especially in the case of infectious diseases. The study sought to determine the percentage of foreign-born persons with an infectious disease who had an Individual Health Card (IHC) prior to the RDL and to determine whether foreign-born persons with an infectious disease in Barcelona encountered problems accessing health care after the RDL. Results indicate that immigrants used the IHC to seek medical attention for infectious diseases and chronic conditions. Results also show that 66% of respondents, including 54% of unemployed respondents, 3% of respondents working without contracts, and those in informal employment (9%), may be at risk of losing at least part of their health coverage. Universal health care access in Spain has been crucial for the control of communicable diseases among immigrant populations. Reducing access to a significant percentage of the total population may have deleterious effects on public health.
Turning Points and the Future of Life-Course Criminology
Authors: Sampson Robert J. , Laub John H.
Published: April 2016

In 1986, the National Research Council published a two-volume report, Criminal Careers and “ Career Criminals.” This work generated fierce debates central to the field of criminology and pitted some of the biggest names in the business against one another. In this paper, we consider the last 30 years and ask whether the report was an intellectual turning point. Our answer is that while the report did change the methodological direction of criminology, it lacked a theoretical explanation of the dynamics of crime. After the report was published, several efforts attempted to fill this breach. We reflect on the role that the Criminal Careers report played in our own work, from the time of the report’s release to the development and assessment of what is now known as the age-graded theory of informal social control and the broader field of “life-course criminology.”
Modeling Long-term Criminal Careers
Authors: Bushway Shawn D. , Tahamont Sarah
Published: April 2016

The challenge for criminologists interested in studying change after the criminal career volume was fairly clear—create models that could capture the obvious heterogeneity that existed across the population, describe changes in offending over age, and capture the apparent intermittency in the data in offending frequency for individuals. In our review, we find that the current most commonly used models have, in fact, done a good job of capturing heterogeneity and describing changes in latent rates with age. However, there has been little apparent attention paid to the issue of intermittency, despite the prominence of the issue in the original criminal careers volume. This had led to an overall vision of change in the literature that has “smoothed out” or flattened the actual paths described in this research. In the example provided in this article, using administrative data from New York, we show that there appear to be uneven periods of time between arrests even for people with fixed number of arrests in a short period of time, an observation that echoes back to the original volume. We conclude with new ideas for more fully studying dynamic change and a warning about models that confuse and confound involvement in the criminal justice system and offending itself.
The Criminal Career Concept
Authors: Sullivan Christopher J. , Piquero Alex R.
Published: April 2016

Since its introduction in the 1970s, the concept of the “criminal career” has had a substantial impact on the field of criminology. This special issue took a comprehensive look at the idea of criminal careers and the research that has emerged from it. In particular, it started with the origins and intellectual history of the 1986 “Criminal Careers and Career Criminals” report and its objectives and then considered the influence of that work on aspects of criminological theory, research methods and design, data analysis, and policy and practice. This concluding paper offers a brief summation of these essays and the scholarship on which they are based. In doing so, this forward-looking review offers a comment on the past, present, and future of research on criminal careers to underscore its contribution to the discipline, mark any areas where opportunities may have been missed, and present an agenda for the next generation of research.
A troubled continuity: Agencies and path dependence in interwar Swedish railway policy
Authors: Eriksson Martin
Published: April 2016

This article deals with the abortive attempt by the Swedish Socialisation Commission to reform the Swedish State Railways (SJ) after World War I. It is argued that the decisive opposition to this proposal from SJ and the Swedish Federation of Industries may be related to the fact that railway policy in Sweden, as in many other countries, included a number of conditions that predisposed these agencies to established policy and budgets. In this regard, the article demonstrates how existing railway policy constrained the involved actors to such an extent that they persisted with the established arrangements, even if that decision implied a continued inability to deal with the financial imbalances that gradually undermined the railway sector.
Ideology and Threat Perceptions: American Public Opinion toward China and Iran
Authors: Mirilovic Nikola , Kim Myunghee
Published: April 2016

What determines threat perceptions in the context of potential interstate conflict? We argue that such perceptions are to an important extent driven by domestic political cleavages and ideological differences. The ideology effects are often surprising and are more complex than the conventional wisdom would indicate. We specify the conditions under which conservatives may favor the economic rise of rising powers. Concern about budget deficits affects not only domestic political preferences but also threat perceptions. Finally, civil libertarianism in certain contexts can lead to isolationist preferences. We test these claims using the 2012 American National Election Studies data about the perceptions of American citizens of the economic and military rise of China, and of potential American responses to Iran’s nuclear program.
Exceptions and the actually existing practice of planning: Beirut (Lebanon) as case study
Authors: Fawaz Mona
Published: April 2016

Taking the provision of building permits as an entry point to its analysis, the paper documents the widespread practice of issuing ‘exceptions’ on which planning agencies in Beirut (Lebanon) frequently rely in their management of urban developments. The paper analyses ‘exceptions’ as a variable set of policy departures that take numerous forms (e.g. tolerance, concession, incentive), temporalities (before/after building), justifications (e.g. for political/social or developmental reasons), and materialise in different legal statuses (e.g. within the framework of the law/as temporary, extra-legal measures). It furthermore unravels a grammar that structures the allocation of specific forms of exceptions to particular social groups and urban spaces. The paper argues that although they are typically described as aberrations, exceptions cannot amount to the lack of the planning. Exceptions are rather a planning strategy that introduces a margin of manoeuver for planning authorities, without conceding radical changes in the structure organising access to the city. Furthermore, like other planning interventions, exceptions to building permit procedures perform to define, and consolidate, and/or reconfigure the entitlement of various social groups to dwell in the city but also to take part in its government, materialising hence in the reorganisation of urban territories and sovereignty arrangements. Ultimately, an invisible zoning dictated by these exceptions restructures the city in the variegated geography of centre, periphery, slum, camp, political territory, and others, and classifies urban dwellers into tolerated populations, political constituencies, outsiders, etc. The paper is based on the analysis of over 200 building permits in five areas of the city and more than 1000 decisions taken by public planning agencies.
Predicting Binge Drinking in College Students
Authors: Chen Yixin , Feeley Thomas Hugh
Published: April 2016

We proposed a conceptual model to predict binge-drinking behavior among college students, based on the theory of planned behavior and the stress-coping hypothesis. A two-wave online survey was conducted with predictors and drinking behavior measured separately over 2 weeks' time. In the Wave 1 survey, 279 students at a public university in the United States answered questions assessing key predictors and individual characteristics. In the Wave 2 survey, 179 participants returned and reported their drinking behavior over 2 weeks' time. After conducting a negative binomial regression, we found that more favorable attitude toward drinking and less perceived control of drinking at Wave 1 were associated with more binge drinking at Wave 2; subjective norm at Wave 1 was not a significant predictor of binge drinking at Wave 2; students with higher stress at Wave 1 engaged in more binge drinking at Wave 2, but those with higher loneliness did not. Implications of findings are discussed.
The Technical Communicator as Advocate
Authors: Jones Natasha N.
Published: April 2016

This article argues for the need for a social justice approach to technical communication research and pedagogy. Given previous calls by scholars in technical and professional communication (TPC) for an attention to diversity, inclusion, and equality, the author examines the place and purpose of social justice in TPC and provides useful approaches for promoting a more genuine and critical interrogation of how work in TPC impacts the human experience.
The KISS Principle in Survey Design
Authors: Alwin Duane F. , Beattie Brett A.
Published: April 2016

Writings on the optimal length for survey questions are characterized by a variety of perspectives and very little empirical evidence. Where evidence exists, support seems to favor lengthy questions in some cases and shorter ones in others. However, on the basis of theories of the survey response process, the use of an excessive number of words may get in the way of the respondent’s comprehension of the information requested, and because of the cognitive burden of longer questions, there may be increased measurement errors. Results are reported from a study of reliability estimates for 426 (exactly replicated) survey questions in face-to-face interviews in six large-scale panel surveys conducted by the University of Michigan’s Survey Research Center. The findings suggest that, at least with respect to some types of survey questions, there are declining levels of reliability for questions with greater numbers of words and provide further support for the advice given to survey researchers that questions should be as short as possible, within constraints defined by survey objectives. Findings reinforce conclusions of previous studies that verbiage in survey questions—either in the question text or in the introduction to the question—has negative consequences for the quality of measurement, thus supporting the KISS principle (“keep it simple, stupid”) concerning simplicity and parsimony.
Viewing Our Aged Selves
Authors: Rittenour Christine E. , Cohen Elizabeth L.
Published: April 2016

This experiment tests the effect of an old-age progression simulation on young adults’ ( N = 139) reported aging anxiety and perceptions about older adults as a social group. College students were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: self-aged simulation, stranger-aged simulation, or a control group. Compared with the control group, groups exposed to an age progression experienced more negative affect, and individuals in the self-aged condition reported greater aging anxiety. In accordance with stereotype activation theorizing, the self-age simulation group also perceived older adults as less competent and expressed more pity and less envy for older adults. Compared to the stranger-aged group, participants who observed their own age progression were also the more likely to deny the authenticity of their transformed image . These findings highlight potential negative social and psychological consequences of using age simulations to affect positive health outcomes, and they shed light on how virtual experiences can affect stereotyping of older adults.
‘Naked Swimmers’: Chinese women journalists’ experience of media commercialization
Authors: Wang Haiyan
Published: April 2016

In accordance with the global trend of women’s employment in journalism, China has witnessed an unprecedented increase in women’s participation in the news profession over the last two decades. However, while accounting for more than 40% of the labor force in journalism, women still tend to occupy roles with lower pay and less power. Against this background, this article tries to provide an insight into the obstacles in the path of the success of women journalists in Chinese media. Through in-depth interviews with the journalists, three major constraining mechanisms are identified: women-unfriendly job contracts and salary systems, weak women’s associations and trade unions, and the prevalence of a sexist newsroom culture.
Multimodality imaging assessment for Thoraflex hybrid total arch replacement
Authors: Wong Randolph HL , Ho Jacky YK , Underwood Malcolm J
Published: April 2016

Conventionally, aortic pathologies involving the ascending, arch, and descending thoracic aorta are treated by a staged operation. The Thoraflex device is a composite 4-branched graft with a distal endovascular stent, which allows one-stage treatment of these pathologies. We describe our multimodality hybrid approach for total arch replacement using the Thoraflex device with the adjunct of intraoperative 3-dimensional transesophageal echocardiography, Endo-EYE endoscopy, and on-table aortography in a hybrid operating room. These multimodality assessments can ascertain adequate sealing of a distal aortic tear and proper opening of the endograft, and provide on-table functional assessment of false lumen hemodynamics. Early results are promising.
Unusual presentation of total anomalous systemic venous connection
Authors: Vaidyanathan Swaminathan , Kothandam Sivakumar , Kumar Rajesh , Pradhan Priya M , Agarwal Ravi
Published: April 2016

A 9-year-old girl who presented with dyspnea on exertion was diagnosed with total anomalous systemic venous connection to the left atrium (both venae cavae), no left superior vena cava, and a moderate-sized atrial septal defect with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension and ectopic atrial rhythm. She underwent septation of the common atrium using autologous pericardium, thereby rerouting the superior vena cava, inferior vena cava, and coronary sinus to the right atrium. Her postoperative course was uneventful. This case is reported for its rarity of presentation with severe pulmonary arterial hypertension and ectopic atrial rhythm.
Decentralization and economic growth reconsidered: The role of regional authority
Authors: Filippetti Andrea , Sacchi Agnese
Published: April 2016

Most of the empirical analysis explores the relationship between fiscal decentralization and economic growth within an institutional void. This paper investigates the connection between fiscal decentralization and economic growth in different institutional settings in 21 OECD countries over the period 1970–2010. We find that the pro-growth effects of fiscal decentralization depend critically on the authority of sub-national governments: tax decentralization leads to higher (lower) rates of economic growth when coupled with high (low) administrative and political decentralization. Tax decentralization is more conducive for growth if sub-national taxes accrue mostly from autonomous revenues such as property taxes. Overall, this provides evidence of institutional complementarities at work among decentralization dimensions leading to relevant insights for policy implications.
Appropriate Child Participation and the Risks of Spiritual Abuse
Authors: Segura-April Desiree
Published: April 2016

How can churches empower children-at-risk as ‘vulnerable agents of God’s mission,’ while also protecting them from potential risks for manipulation, exploitation, or spiritual abuse? What is ‘appropriate participation’? What types of manipulation, exploitation, or spiritual abuse might occur in this participation? This essay seeks to define ‘appropriate participation’ in the church and mission, drawing substantially from Hart’s ladder of participation to analyze the participation of children-at-risk as agents of mission. With this as a foundation, spiritual abuse is defined, and a discussion of how this might happen within the realm of child participation in the ministry of the church and mission is presented. Finally, it presents principles and guidelines that the church should consider as they seek to protect children and youth from potential abuse during the process of participating in God’s mission.
Patient education programme on immunotherapy in multiple sclerosis (PEPIMS): a controlled rater-blinded study
Authors: Köpke S , Kasper J , Flachenecker P , Meißner H , Brandt A , Hauptmann B , Bender G , Backhus I , Rahn AC , Pöttgen J , Vettorazzi E , Heesen C
Published: April 2016

Objective:

To investigate the effectiveness of a multi-component evidence-based education programme on disease modifying therapies in multiple sclerosis.

Design:

Controlled trial with two consecutive patient cohorts and a gap of two months between cohorts.

Setting:

Three neurological rehabilitation centres.

Subjects:

Patients with multiple sclerosis within rehabilitation.

Interventions:

Control group (CG) participants were recruited and received standard information. Two months later, intervention group (IG) participants were recruited and received a six-hour nurse-led interactive group education programme consisting of two parts and a comprehensive information brochure.

Main measures:

Primary endpoint was “informed choice”, comprising of adequate risk knowledge in combination with congruency between attitude towards immunotherapy and actual immunotherapy uptake. Further outcomes comprised risk knowledge, decision autonomy, anxiety and depression, self-efficacy, and fatigue.

Results:

A total of 156 patients were included (IG=75, CG=81). The intervention led to significantly more participants with informed choice (IG: 47% vs. CG: 23%, P=0.004). The rate of persons with adequate risk knowledge was significantly higher in the IG two weeks after the intervention (IG: 54% vs. CG: 31%, P=0.007), but not after six months (IG: 48% vs. CG: 31%, P=0.058). No significant differences were shown for positive attitude towards disease modifying therapy (IG: 62% vs. CG: 71%, P=0.29) and for disease modifying therapy status after six months (IG: 61.5% vs CG: 68.6%, P=0.39). Also no differences were found for autonomy preferences and decisional conflict after six months.

Conclusion:

Delivering evidence-based information on multiple sclerosis disease modifying therapies within a rehabilitation setting led to a marked increase of informed choices.
Oxytocin and emotion processing
Authors: Di Simplicio Martina , Harmer Catherine J
Published: April 2016

Since the observation that oxytocin has key effects on social decision making, research on this exciting neuropeptide has doubled in volume: hundreds of studies have pursued the promise of a specific oxytocin action on high-level cognition and social function with wide potential translational implications (from autism to social anxiety to dementia). Here we review the evidence on whether the complex behavioural effects observed in humans after exogenous oxytocin administration build on changes in basic emotional information processing, in particular emotional facial expressions recognition, and attention and memory for emotionally-valenced stimuli.

We observe that recent studies confirm a facilitatory effect of oxytocin to more accurate emotion processing, irrespective of emotion type. However, it remains unclear whether this action precedes, is independent of or even secondary to the neuropeptide promoting a greater salience of social stimuli. Overall, this growing research area has shown that oxytocin produces behavioural and neurofunctional outcomes that are highly dependent on the experimental context and on individual differences (gender, personality, life experiences). This poses an exciting challenge for future experimental medicine designs to address and unpack complex interactions between individual and context characteristic, which is needed for the development of more precise clinical applications.
Inhabiting grey space and unravelling bodily outlines
Authors: Bickis Heidi
Published: April 2016

This paper examines the competing ‘languages’ of line in Julie Mehretu’s series, Grey Area (2007–9) and elaborates on the implications these lines have for theories of space, bodies and, in particular, the relationship between the two. Grey Area explores what Mehretu describes as a grey and in-between space. The series is composed of seven large abstract canvases covered in an assortment of gestural tracings and neatly traced rational lines (e.g. architectural lines). The juxtaposition of these competing linely narratives not only creates a grey space visually, but compels viewers to stretch their bodies across the canvases and between the lined layers thus, facilitating a brief inhabitance of grey space. Building from this analysis, the paper reflects on the relevance of the lines and the stretching they elicit for examining the complexities of contemporary modes of inhabitation that often extend across multiple geographical sites and temporal modes. Thus, engaging with Mehretu’s lined abstractions draws attention to the importance of space in the production of bodily boundaries, what I call geographical and temporal bodily outlines. In addition to contributing to body-space theories, the paper also demonstrates the valuable insights gained by attending to the unique social-aesthetic analyses of visual art and artists.
Leveraging Limits for Contract Professionals
Authors: Osnowitz Debra , Henson Kevin D.
Published: April 2016

How do contract professionals seek to control their working time? Here, the authors identify boundary work strategies through which contractors—both shift workers and project workers—maintain distinctions from employees with standard jobs. Drawing from interviews with contractors in three occupations, the authors identify sources of leverage for control of working time in payment systems, outsider status, and occupational networks. These structures allow contractors to reinforce boundaries between contract and standard employment and resist the overtime and overwork associated with standard jobs. Boundary work between contingent workers and employees may therefore generate inequalities of control, with implications for workers, managers, and organizations.
Conventional and Advanced Imaging of Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma
Authors: Tisnado Jamie , Young Robert , Peck Kyung K. , Haque Sofia
Published: April 2016

Diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma is the most common brainstem tumor in pediatric patients. This tumor remains one of the most deadly pediatric brain tumors. The diagnosis primarily relies on clinical symptoms and imaging findings. Conventional MRI provides a noninvasive accurate method of diagnosis of these tumors. Advanced MRI techniques are becoming more widely used and studied as additional noninvasive methods to assist clinicians in initial diagnosis and staging, monitoring disease, as well as in surgical and radiation planning. This article will provide an overview of DIPG and describe the typical imaging findings with a focus on advanced imaging techniques.
Whole-Body Vibration Results in Short-Term Improvement in the Gait of Children With Idiopathic Toe Walking
Authors: Williams Cylie M. , Michalitsis Joanne , Murphy Anna T. , Rawicki Barry , Haines Terry P.
Published: April 2016

This study aimed to determine the impact of multiple doses of whole-body vibration on heel strike, spatial and temporal gait parameters, and ankle range of motion of children with idiopathic toe walking. Whole-body vibration was applied for 5 sets of 1 minute vibration/1 minute rest. Gait measures were collected pre intervention, 1, 5, 10, and 20 minutes postintervention with the GaitRite® electronic walkway. Ankle range of motion was measured preintervention, immediately postintervention, and 20 minutes postintervention. The mean (SD) age of the 15 children (n = 10 males) was 5.93 (1.83) years. An immediate increase in heel contact ( P = .041) and ankle range of motion ( P = .001 and P = .016) was observed. These changes were unsustained 20 minutes postvibration ( P > .05). The gait improvement from whole-body vibration could potentially be due to a rapid increase in ankle range of motion or a neuromodulation response.
Comorbid Medical Conditions in Friedreich Ataxia
Authors: Shinnick Julianna E. , Schadt Kimberly , Strawser Cassandra , Wilcox Nicholas , Perlman Susan L. , Wilmot George R. , Gomez Christopher M. , Mathews Katherine D. , Yoon Grace , Zesiewicz Theresa , Hoyle Chad , Subramony S. H. , Yiu Eppie M. , Delatycki Martin B. , Brocht Alicia F. , Farmer Jennifer M. , Lynch David R.
Published: April 2016

Friedreich ataxia is a progressive degenerative disease with neurologic and cardiac involvement. This study characterizes comorbid medical conditions in a large cohort of patients with Friedreich ataxia. Patient diagnoses were collected in a large natural history study of 641 subjects. Prevalence of diagnoses in the cohort with Friedreich ataxia was compared with prevalence in the population without Friedreich ataxia. Ten patients (1.6%) had inflammatory bowel disease, 3.5 times more common in this cohort of individuals with Friedreich ataxia than in the general population. Four subjects were growth hormone deficient, reflecting a prevalence in Friedreich ataxia that is 28 times greater than the general population. The present study identifies specific diagnoses not traditionally associated with Friedreich ataxia that are found at higher frequency in this disease. These associations could represent coincidence, shared genetic background, or potentially interactive disease mechanisms with Friedreich ataxia.
One Step, Two Step, Network Step? Complementary Perspectives on Communication Flows in Twittered Citizen Protests
Authors: Hilbert Martin , Vásquez Javier , Halpern Daniel , Valenzuela Sebastián , Arriagada Eduardo
Published: April 2016

The article analyzes the nature of communication flows during social conflicts via the digital platform Twitter. We gathered over 150,000 tweets from citizen protests for nine environmental social movements in Chile and used a mixed methods approach to show that long-standing paradigms for social mobilization and participation are neither replicated nor replaced but reshaped. In digital platforms, long-standing communication theories, like the 1955 two-step flow model, are still valid, while direct one-step flows and more complex network flows are also present. For example, we show that it is no contradiction that social media participants mainly refer to intermediating amplifiers of communicated messages (39% of the mentions from participants go through this two-step communication flow), while at the same time, traditional media outlets and official protest voices receive 80–90% of their mentions directly through a direct one-step flow from the same participants. While nonintuitive at first sight, Bayes’s theorem allows to detangle the different perspectives on the arising communication channel. We identify the strategic importance of a group of amplifying intermediaries in local positions of the networks, who coexist with specialized voices and professional media outlets at the center of the global network. We also show that direct personalized messages represent merely 20% of the total communication. This shows that the fine-grained digital footprint from social media enables us to go beyond simplistic views of a single all-encompassing step flow model for social communication. The resulting research agenda builds on long-standing theories with a new set of tools.
A Case Study of Microfinance and Community Development Banks in Brazil
Authors: Hudon Marek , Meyer Camille
Published: April 2016

Inclusive financial sectors are essential to poverty alleviation. While microcredit can be governed as a private good, self-managed civil society organizations propose an alternative way of managing financial services. Brazil’s Community Development Banks (CDBs) are growing and dynamic manifestations of these nonprofit organizations. Based on field research in Brazil, this article uses Elinor Ostrom’s design principles of successful self-governing common-pool resource organizations to analyze CDBs’ microcredit system. Our results suggest that private goods could be altered when they are governed by community self-managed enterprises. They become hybrid goods as they mix the characteristics of private and common goods. This change is facilitated by specific organizational arrangements such as self-governance that emerge from grassroots dynamics and the creation of collective-choice arenas. These arrangements help strengthen the inclusion properties of nonprofit microcredit services.
Statistical methods for body mass index: A selective review
Authors: Yu Keming , Liu Xi , Alhamzawi Rahim , Becker Frauke , Lord Joanne
Published: April 2016

Obesity rates have been increasing over recent decades, causing significant concern among policy makers. Excess body fat, commonly measured by body mass index, is a major risk factor for several common disorders including diabetes and cardiovascular disease, placing a substantial burden on health care systems. To guide effective public health action, we need to understand the complex system of intercorrelated influences on body mass index. This paper, based on all eligible articles searched from Global health, Medline and Web of Science databases, reviews both classical and modern statistical methods for body mass index analysis. We give a description of each of these methods, exploring the classification, links and differences between them and the reasons for choosing one over the others in different settings. We aim to provide a key resource and statistical library for researchers in public health and medicine to deal with obesity and body mass index data analysis.
Are Malaysian Children Achieving Dietary Guideline Recommendations?
Authors: Koo Hui Chin , Poh Bee Koon , Lee Shoo Thien , Chong Kar Hau , Bragt Marjolijn C. E. , Abd Talib Ruzita ,   on behalf of the SEANUTS Malaysia Study Group
Published: April 2016

A large body of epidemiological data has demonstrated that diet quality follows a sociodemographic gradient. Little is known, however, about food group intake patterns among Malaysian children. This study aimed to assess consumption pattern of 7 food groups, including cereals/grains, legumes, fruits, vegetables, fish, meat/poultry, and milk/dairy products, among children 7 to 12 years of age. A total of 1773 children who participated in SEANUTS Malaysia and who completed the Food Frequency Questionnaire were included in this study. A greater proportion of children aged 10 to 12 years have an inadequate intake of cereals/grains, meat/poultry, legumes, and milk/dairy products compared with children 7 to 9 years old. With the exception of meat/poultry, food consumption of Malaysian children did not meet Malaysian Dietary Guidelines recommendations for the other 6 food groups, irrespective of sociodemographic backgrounds. Efforts are needed to promote healthy and balanced dietary habits, particularly for foods that fall short of recommended intake level.
A Journey Toward Cultural Competence
Authors: Nilson Caroline
Published: April 2016

This article highlights the personal journey of reflective development that a non-Aboriginal White researcher and health professional underwent to be “fully positioned” in the everyday lives of a rural Australian Aboriginal community in Western Australia. The article explains the researcher’s personal development in areas important to building respect, building relationships, and ensuring reciprocity while undertaking Aboriginal research. The researcher reports on the reflective evaluation of her worldview. Understanding that judgment is a natural tendency, the researcher used reflexivity as a tool to examine and contextualize her judgments, presumptions, and preconceptions, which positioned her to be open to differing viewpoints and actively explore alternate perspectives. The researcher explores her evolutionary understanding that cultural competence is not a destination but a continual journey, and she details her knowledge development regarding the Aboriginal research paradigm, which requires that all the learning, sharing, and growth taking place is reciprocal and engages all parties actively.
High-speed impact and mechanical strength of ZrO2/polycarbonate nanocomposite
Authors: Rostamiyan Yasser , Ferasat Amir
Published: April 2016

This study empirically investigates the mechanical strength and high-speed impact resistance of polycarbonate matrix reinforced with different amounts of nano-ZrO2. In order to enhance the mechanical strength of polycarbonate, especially the impact resistance, the nanoparticles were added to polycarbonate matrix as filler with the ratios of 1, 2, 3 and 5% of the composite’s total weight. Transmission electron microscope was utilized for the observation of microscopic structure of the composites, and it revealed an exceptional homogeneous mixture of ZrO2 particles in the polycarbonate matrix. From the results of the tests, it was figured out that adding 1–3 wt% of nano-ZrO2 into polycarbonate remarkably increased the impact resistance of the composite. The results also showed that adding 1 and 2 wt% of nano-ZrO2 to polycarbonate had the most desirable effects on the enhancement of tensile, bending and buckling strength; however, the composites with 3 wt% of nano-ZrO2 had the greatest Izod impact and high-velocity impact resistance. Finally for the impact tests, it was revealed that adding large amounts of nano-ZrO2 (more than 3 wt%) would decrease the mechanical strength of ZrO2/polycarbonate nanocomposite specimens; thus, the fracture occurred, while less energy was absorbed compared with the neat polymer.
Gerrymandering in comparative perspective
Authors: Martínez i Coma Ferran , Lago Ignacio
Published: April 2016

Using data from the Electoral Integrity Project, we measure the level of gerrymandering according to country expert surveys in Lower House elections in 54 democracies from the second half of 2012 until the first half of 2015. We show that majoritarian systems are more prone to gerrymandering than mixed-member and above all in Proportional Representation (PR) systems. When majoritarian systems are employed in large countries, gerrymandering is exacerbated. Per capita GDP and the age of electoral systems do not significantly affect gerrymandering.
Party nationalization and the translation of votes into seats under single-member plurality electoral rules
Authors: Golosov Grigorii V.
Published: April 2016

This study uses empirical evidence from a nearly comprehensive set of electoral democracies that use single-member plurality systems or mixed electoral systems with single-member plurality components in order to establish empirically the impact of territorial patterns of electoral support upon vote-to-seat conversion. The analysis, employing individual parties as units of analysis and multiple linear regression with cluster-robust standard errors as its main methodological tool, confirms the hypothesis that single-member plurality rules give a representational bonus to parties with low levels of nationalization. This effect is contingent upon absolute and relative party size, so that very large parties, and particularly frontrunners in party competition, receive an advantage irrespective of their nationalization. Mixed electoral rules further facilitate their advantage, while the gains of very small parties tend to be enhanced by large assembly size. These findings contribute to a better understanding of the dynamics of party system development under Duvergerian conditions.
The cultural logic of digital intermediaries
Authors: Lobato Ramon
Published: April 2016

How has YouTube evolved as a cultural and commercial infrastructure? What institutional forms has it produced? The present article takes up these questions through a discussion of multichannel networks (MCNs) and their role within the digital video system. MCNs are a new breed of intermediary firm that link entrepreneurial YouTubers with the advertising, marketing and screen production industries. This article considers the functions of MCNs vis-à-vis the existing constellation of screen industry professions, including talent agents, managers and media buyers, who perform similar functions offline. Combining structural analysis of the MCN industry with an assessment of its cultural impacts, I show how Google’s decision to open the YouTube back-end to third-party intermediaries is subtly changing the digital video ecology.
When and how groups utilize dissenting newcomer knowledge: Newcomers’ future prospects condition the effect of language-based identity strategies
Authors: Kane Aimée A. , Rink Floor
Published: April 2016

Two experiments suggest that newcomers’ structural role (permanent vs. temporary appointment) in the groups they enter conditions the extent to which their use of language-based identity strategies (integrating vs. differentiating) influences groups’ willingness to accept them and utilize their dissenting task knowledge. For newcomers with permanent future prospects, the use of integrating pronouns leads to greater acceptance than the use of differentiating pronouns, and newcomer acceptance is in turn a key mediator of groups’ willingness to utilize their knowledge. For newcomers with temporary future prospects, however, the use of integrating pronouns (vs. differentiating pronouns) does not positively influence their acceptance, nor does newcomer acceptance determine the willingness of groups to utilize their knowledge. The theory supported by these studies advances group socialization literature by elucidating when and how groups are receptive to dissenting newcomers.
The impact of design ventilation rates on the indoor air quality in residential buildings: An Italian case study
Authors: Moschetti Roberta , Carlucci Salvatore
Published: April 2016

The paper investigates the effects on building indoor air quality (IAQ) resulting from the choice of different design ventilation rates. A reference residential building was analysed by means of the multizone modelling software CONTAM, by monitoring the concentration of two pollutants: occupant-generated carbon dioxide (CO2) and total volatile organic compounds (TVOC) from indoor sources. A demand-controlled ventilation strategy based on building occupancy was implemented and users' presence schedules were defined. Specifically, the evolution of indoor pollutant concentrations was investigated when the design ventilation rates, recommended by two IAQ-related standards (the Italian UNI 10339 and the European EN 15251), were implemented through a mechanical ventilation system. Different results regarding the IAQ level were achieved accordingly to the dissimilar ventilation rates. After a statistical analysis on the distributions of CO2 and TVOC concentrations, EN 15251 outcomes showed overall better results of the analysed statistical metrics, i.e. prevalence, sensitivity and accuracy. Indeed, the EN 15251 design airflows led to indoor conditions that were more often classified either in the correct air quality class or in a higher class. Finally, a better alignment between the national and European IAQ standards is recommended, especially in terms of airflows, air quality classes and pollutant limit values.
The cadence of climate: Heritage proxies and social change
Authors: Samuels Kathryn Lafrenz
Published: April 2016

With the current and coming climate crisis, archaeologists are questioning how best to contribute to multidisciplinary climate change knowledge. In this respect, much work is being undertaken within multidisciplinary conversations on adaptation and resilience. However, less attention has been paid to the other side of the climate change equation: mitigation. Furthermore, less emphasis has been placed on the translation of archaeological research to public understandings of climate change. Cultural heritage offers an analytical tool for bridging archaeological knowledge to the specific socio-political and ethical challenges facing communities today under global climate change. I suggest that cultural heritage can act as a “proxy” for transferring the archaeological record into the lived experiences of climate change for individuals and public actors. Moreover, in supporting experiences of change, cultural heritage also builds capacity for mobilizing social change, and therefore is well-suited to advocacy work seeking climate mitigation.
How things act: An archaeology of materials in political life
Authors: Bauer Andrew M , Kosiba Steve
Published: April 2016

This paper develops a theoretical perspective on how archaeologists might examine the actions of things—objects and materials—in long-term historical processes and political practices. In recent years, anthropological theories pertaining to materiality and new materialisms have challenged traditional philosophical perspectives on things, attributing a degree of social agency to materials, places, and objects that had been previously labeled inert or passive. We critically engage these theories and suggest that they might better account for the social acts and political roles of things by applying a holistic archaeological perspective attuned to how materials and human values converge to produce political action, particularly through their incorporation into specific historical processes that we term “entrainment.” We present recent archaeological and environmental data from South India to demonstrate how researchers might see political action less as an ontological property of a conscious goal-oriented agent or a broad assemblage of things, and more as a potentiality that emerges in politically-inflected and contingent associations of people, organisms, and things.