bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Interpretivism and Causal Explanations
Authors: Matta Corrado
Published: July 2015

This article criticizes a view about the interpretation of human action, labeled in the text as interpretivism. This view posits a sharp separation between the natural and social sciences, to the effect that the methods of the latter cannot be applied to the former. I criticize this standpoint by reconstructing a case of educational research. As I argue, the case I analyze indicates that the arguments in support of interpretivism are contradicted by what social researchers can actually achieve. I conclude that the interpretivistic claims lack support and that the general separation claim appears as problematic.
Time Spent on Child Care by Fathers in Leadership Positions: The Role of Work Hours and Flextime
Authors: Gasser Martin
Published: July 2015

The present study examines the effect of a supervisor (leadership) position on a father’s time spent on child care (child care involvement). Drawing on time use and work–family research, it adapts the “stress of higher status” hypothesis to child care involvement and explicates the underlying mechanism. The proposed moderated mediation model posits that (1) a leadership position means longer work hours, which explains the lower child care involvement, and that (2) this process depends on the possibility to choose when to start and quit work (flextime), which weakens the work–family border. A Swiss sample ( n = 2,820) of tertiary-educated, employed fathers from couple households is used to conduct the analysis. The results provide evidence for both (1) and (2), although, contrary to expectations, flextime does not mean longer work hours for leaders. The issue of child care involvement by fathers in leadership positions has wider relevance for work–family issues, because they are supervisors and thus shape work environments.
Scientific and Regulatory Policy Committee Review
Authors: Fikes James D. , Patrick Daniel J. , Francke Sabine , Frazier Kendall S. , Reindel James F. , Romeike Annette , Spaet Robert H. , Tomlinson Lindsay , Schafer Kenneth A.
Published: July 2015

In 2014, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued guidance no. 16, Guidance on the GLP Requirements for Peer Review of Histopathology. The stated purpose of the guidance document is “to provide guidance to pathologists, test facility management, study directors and quality assurance personnel on how the peer review of histopathology should be planned, managed, documented, and reported in order to meet Good Laboratory Practice (GLP) expectations and requirements.” On behalf of and in collaboration with the global societies of toxicologic pathology, the Society of Toxicologic Pathology initiated a review of OECD guidance no. 16. The objectives of this review are to provide a unified interpretation of the guidance, to recommend compliant processes for organizations to implement, and to avoid inconsistent process adaptations across the industry. This review of the guidance document is the product of a global collaboration with other societies of toxicologic pathology and provides a section-by-section international consensus view and interpretation of the OECD guidance on peer review.
Comparison of Intraoperative versus Postoperative Parathyroid Hormone Levels to Predict Hypocalcemia Earlier after Total Thyroidectomy
Authors: Lee David R. , Hinson Andrew M. , Siegel Eric R. , Steelman Susan C. , Bodenner Donald L. , Stack Brendan C.
Published: July 2015

Objective

To determine differences in the mean parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels for normocalcemic and hypocalcemic total thyroidectomy patients who were tested for PTH during the intraoperative or early postoperative period.

Data Sources

MEDLINE, the Cochrane Database, and other databases from 1960 to 2014 in the English language and specific to humans for relevant articles.

Review Methods

Studies were included if PTH was obtained within 24 hours of thyroidectomy. Studies were excluded (1) if only a hemithyroidectomy was performed, (2) if means of studied PTH values were not reported in the article, or (3) if the time of the PTH draw fell outside of defined “intraoperative” or “early postoperative” windows. PTH values were divided into 3 groups: preoperative (control group), intraoperative (ie, discharge decisions were based on PTH values drawn in the operating room), and early postoperative (ie, PTH values at 1 to 4 hours after surgery were used as a guide).

Results

The reported means of perioperative PTH levels and percentage of patients who developed hypocalcemia were collected from 14 studies. PTH evaluated at both the intraoperative and early postoperative periods was significantly lower in patients who became hypocalcemic versus patients who remained normocalcemic. There was no significant difference when PTH was measured intraoperatively or early postoperatively.

Conclusion

Intraoperative PTH has no significant disadvantage versus early postoperative PTH when used as a clinical guide for discharge after thyroidectomy.
Contradiction of Terms: Feminist Theory, Philosophy and Transdisciplinarity
Authors: Sandford Stella
Published: July 2015

This article addresses the question of the relation between disciplines and transdisciplinary practices and concepts through a discussion of the relationship between philosophy and the emblematically transdisciplinary practice of feminist theory, via a discussion of interdisciplinarity and related terms in gender studies. It argues that the tendency of philosophy to reject feminist theory, as alien to it as a discipline, is in a sense correct, to the extent that the two defining features of feminist theory – its constitutive tie to a political agenda for social change and the transdisciplinary character of many of its central concepts – are indeed at odds with, and pose a threat to, the traditional insularity of the discipline of philosophy. If feminist philosophy incorporates feminist theory, its transdisciplinary aspects thus open it up to an unavoidable contradiction. Nonetheless, I will argue, this is a contradiction that can and must be endured and made productive.
Situational and dispositional determinants of workplace victimization
Authors: Kodellas Spyridon , Fisher Bonnie S , Wilcox Pamela
Published: July 2015

Using a representative sample of 635 professional journalists working in two southern European countries, the study assesses the independent effects of routine activities, negative affectivity, and low self-control on the likelihood of physical and property victimization in the workplace. The results extend previous research by showing that the likelihood of victimization at work is determined not only by the situational characteristics of the task performed but also by the dispositional characteristics of the person in the occupational role. Specifically, negative affectivity and the situational tenets of routine activity theory were consistently related to the likelihood of both physical and property victimization at work. Low self-control, however, failed to significantly predict the likelihood of victimization among professional journalists.
Numerical optimization of soft-mold aided co-curing process of advanced grid-stiffened composite structures
Authors: Ren Mingfa , Huang Qizhong , Liu Changzhi , Li Tong
Published: July 2015

The co-curing process for advanced grid-stiffened (AGS) composite structure is a promising manufacturing process, which could reduce the manufacturing cost, augment the advantages and improve the performance of AGS composite structure. An improved method named soft-mold aided co-curing process which replaces the expansion molds by a whole rubber mold is adopted in this paper. This co-curing process is capable to co-cure a typical AGS composite structure with the manufacturer’s recommended cure cycle (MRCC). Numerical models are developed to evaluate the variation of temperature and the degree of cure in AGS composite structure during the soft-mold aided co-curing process. The simulation results were validated by experimental results obtained from embedded temperature sensors. Based on the validated modeling framework, the cycle of cure can be optimized by reducing more than half the time of MRCC while obtaining a reliable degree of cure. The shape and size effects of AGS composite structure on the distribution of temperature and degree of cure are also investigated to provide insights for the optimization of soft-mold aided co-curing process.
Home Help Service Staffs’ Descriptions of Their Role in Promoting Everyday Activities Among Older People in Sweden Who Are Dependent on Formal Care
Authors: Cederbom Sara , Thunborg Charlotta , Denison Eva , Söderlund Anne , von Heideken Wågert Petra
Published: July 2015

The study aimed to explore how home help service staff described their role in improving the abilities of older people, in particular, older women with chronic pain who are dependent on formal care, to perform everyday activities. Three focus group interviews were conducted, and a qualitative inductive thematic content analysis was used. The analysis resulted in one theme: struggling to improve the care recipients’ opportunities for independence but being inhibited by complex environmental factors. By encouraging the care recipients to perform everyday activities, the staff perceived themselves to both maintain and improve their care recipients’ independence and quality of life. An important goal for society and health care professionals is to improve older people’s abilities to “age in place” and to enable them to age independently while maintaining their quality of life. A key resource is home help service staff, and this resource should be utilized in the best possible way.
Barriers and Promoters for Enrollment to a Community-Based Tai Chi Program for Older, Low-Income, and Ethnically Diverse Adults
Authors: Manson James D. , Tamim Hala , Baker Joe
Published: July 2015

Background: Low-income, ethnically diverse, older adults may be at greater health risk owing to their lower activity levels and potential cultural barriers to physical activity (PA) programs. To explore the specific barriers and promoters to enrollment to a 16-week Tai Chi (TC) program, we interviewed 87 lower socioeconomic older adults from multiple ethnic backgrounds before the initiation of a TC program. Method: Semistructured qualitative focus group interviews were conducted with questions focused on themes of barriers and promoters to enrollment in a TC program that might or might not be culturally or gender related. Results: Important issues emerged that covered six categories. Categories included physical and mental health, time of day, socialization, program pairing, accessibility, and appropriate leadership/teacher. Conclusion: This information may have value for tailoring future PA programming in the community that could lead to improved health outcomes through better enrollment and increased participation in PA and exercise.
Coupled multi-DOF dynamic contact analysis model for the simulation of intermittent gear tooth contacts, impacts and rattling considering backlash and variable torque
Authors: Spitas C , Spitas V
Published: July 2015

Variable torque conditions in geared powertrain applications are known to lead to tooth contact loss, contact reversal, tooth impacts, rattling vibration and noise. Displacements/ deflections dominate the low-torque high-vibration responses and, besides backlash, the real-time dynamic lateral deflections of the gear bodies and the occurrence of simultaneous double-sided tooth contact influence the instantaneous mesh excitation strongly. The faster deterministic and stochastic analytical models do not consider this coupling, whereas the numerical models that do so implicitly by simulating the contact of discretised tooth surfaces/ volumes are significantly limited by the accuracy and computational overhead of their discrete meshes. To provide a both fast and accurate solution of the contact problem, especially in displacement-dominated operating conditions, this work analyses the dynamic contact of gears starting from basic principles and derives an accurate analytical model for the coupling between the compliance, contact geometry, the backlash, and the torsional and lateral displacements and deflections in the general three-dimensional multi-DOF system. This serves as a foundation for a series of dynamical simulations of a single-stage spur gear transmission under different variable-torque excitations to predict tooth contact loss and contact reversal and the basic interactions that lead to impacts and rattling vibration. This approach can be used to predict critical torque fluctuation levels, beyond which these phenomena emerge.
Numerical simulation of the internal flow of swirl atomizer under ambient pressure
Authors: Fu Qing-fei
Published: July 2015

This paper presents the simulation study of internal flow of open-end swirl injectors under steady and oscillating ambient pressures. A two-dimensional swirl axisymmetric model based on the volume of fluid method was developed to study the effect of ambient pressure on the internal flow of open-end swirl injectors. The response of injector flow to the ambient pressure oscillation was investigated by superimposing periodical oscillation of ambient pressure at the spout outlet. The results show that the variation of ambient pressure affects the liquid phase volumetric fraction within the gas–liquid shear layer. The spray angle near the wall remains constant independent of the ambient pressure. The velocity distribution on different axial sections rarely varies with ambient pressure. When the ambient pressure oscillated, the ambient pressure oscillation would cause the flow rate oscillation at the spout. The phase delay between the flow rate oscillation at spout and the ambient pressure oscillation is proportional to the oscillation frequency.
Windbreaks for railway lines: Wind tunnel experimental tests
Authors: Tomasini Gisella , Giappino Stefano , Cheli Federico , Schito Paolo
Published: July 2015

A number of tests were carried out in the Politecnico di Milano wind tunnel to study the properties of different windbreak barriers for high-speed railway lines. A possible problem with the wind tunnel testing of these devices is the need to create wide scenarios (long barriers) and achieve high Reynolds number values in order to avoid scaling problems. In this study, two experimental campaigns were performed. In the first stage, the Reynolds number sensitivity was checked through specific tests in a high-speed test section (Remax = 7 × 105): it was found that, in the presence of barriers, the rolling moment coefficient is independent of the Reynolds number. A second experimental campaign was then carried out in a low-speed test section (Remax = 1.3 × 105) where a very long scenario was reproduced (150 m at real scale): barriers of different types, heights and porosities were tested. To compare them, forces and pressures on the vehicle model as well as forces on the barrier were measured.
Hearing the silences: Adult Nigerian women’s accounts of ‘early marriages’
Authors: Callaghan Jane E M , Gambo Yaganama , Fellin Lisa C
Published: July 2015

‘Early marriage’ is a relatively common but under-researched global phenomenon, associated with poor physical and mental health and educational and occupational outcomes, particularly for young girls. In this article, we draw on qualitative interviews with six Nigerian women from Sokoto state, who were married between the ages of 8 and 15. The interviews explored young women’s experiences of the transition to marriage, being married, pregnancy and their understanding of the marital and parental role. Using interpretive phenomenological analysis, we explore women’s constrained articulations of their experiences of early marriage, as they are constituted within a social context where the identity of ‘woman’ is bound up in values and practices around marriage and motherhood. We explore the complexity of ‘hearing’ women’s experiences when their identities are bound up in culturally overdetermined ideas of femininity that function explicitly to silence and constrain the spaces in which women can speak.
Self-time: The importance of temporal experience within practice
Authors: Holmes Helen
Published: July 2015

This article explores the experiences of temporality. It argues that experience of time is a key and undervalued feature of practice; a feature that furthers understandings of how practice becomes normalised. Practice theory advocates that experiences of time are experiences of practice. This article does not wish to refute this claim, rather it aims to extend it by exploring the complexities of the relationship between practice and temporality. Drawing upon an empirical study of a hair salon and women’s hair appointment practices, this article unpicks the drivers of shared practice from the physical to the normative, to the notion that experiences of time spent engaging in practices drives their performance. Introducing the concept of self-time, it makes three main arguments. Firstly, that exploring and prioritising experiences of time (how time spent doing a practice feels) illuminates further elements of collective practice. Practices may not be what they seem and seemingly obvious outcomes, such as showering to clean the body, are also undertaken because of other subsequent intentions. Secondly, that practices and their most recognisable outcomes (showering to clean the body) legitimise the time spent engaging in them. Thirdly, and most importantly, that experiences of time are a key feature of practice and one that should not be overlooked in the drive to understand how practices become normalised and collective activities.
Improving quality of a rural CAMHS service using the Choice and Partnership Approach
Authors: Naughton Jonine , Basu Soumya , O’Dowd Frank , Carroll Matthew , Maybery Darryl
Published: July 2015

Objective:

This study outlines the service issues and adjustments associated with the implementation of Choice and Partnership Approach (CAPA) into a rural Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS).

Method:

A mixed-methods approach examined the impacts of the CAPA implementation. A qualitative review of the minutes from team and implementation group meetings illustrated themes according to 11 key CAPA components. Quantitative internal audit data illustrated waiting list times.

Results:

Findings showed that inclusive language has replaced the traditional, pathology-driven psychiatric discourse, though this has been met with mixed response from CAMHS clinicians, service users and referrers. Data also showed that a waiting list for clinician allocation has been eliminated, and the waiting time between the referral date and the first face-to-face contact has decreased from 63.9 days to 10.7 days.

Conclusion:

A modified CAPA Choice appointment system has allowed quick access without a waiting list, in line with government guidelines. A full-booking system and focussed, goal-oriented interventions has led to lower caseloads and optimum use of CAMHS clinician skillsets.
“How Would We Deserve Better?” Rural–Urban Dichotomy in Health Seeking for the Chronically Ill Elderly in China
Authors: Long Yan , Li Lydia W.
Published: July 2015

As China’s older adult population has rapidly increased, the attending increase in chronic disease poses serious concerns regarding disparities in medical care utilization for elders. Drawing on 48 semistructured interviews with elders with chronic conditions and their caregivers in China, this article analyzes two opposite patterns of health-seeking behavior in urban and rural areas. Presenting the findings as a relational model, we argue that the interplay between structures of medical care and cultural discourses about health and (un)worthiness generates different habitus as sets of practices and beliefs that facilitate or hinder elders’ and their caregivers’ decisions to engage with medical care. By demonstrating the Chinese state’s social health insurance reform’s failure to improve health-seeking behavior on the ground, our findings suggest that efforts to understand and promote health-seeking behavior need to address the intersections of structural and cultural factors.
The Factor Structure and Construct Validity of the Short Version of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory in Two Independent Samples of Nonreferred Adolescents
Authors: Fossati Andrea , Somma Antonella , Borroni Serena , Frera Fernanda , Maffei Cesare , Andershed Henrik
Published: July 2015

To assess the internal consistency, factor structure, and construct validity of the Italian translation of the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory–Short Version (YPI-S), both the YPI-S and its full version, the YPI, as well as self-reports of delinquency, aggression, and Big Five domains, were administered to two independent samples ( N = 868 and N = 881) of Italian community, nonreferred adolescents. The internal consistency of the YPI-S was adequate, and confirmatory factor analyses showed a good fit of the theoretical three-factor model of the YPI-S in both samples. Hierarchical regression models suggested the same pattern of associations with self-report measures of delinquency and aggression for the YPI-S and YPI, although the YPI was a better predictor of Big Five domains than the YPI-S. The findings support the internal consistency, factor validity, and construct validity of the YPI-S.
Rasch Validation and Cross-Validation of the Health of Nation Outcome Scales for Monitoring of Psychiatric Disability in Traumatized Refugees in Western Psychiatric Care
Authors: Palic Sabina , Kappel Michelle Lind , Makransky Guido
Published: July 2015

There are no validated measures of psychiatric disability for traumatized refugees in Western psychiatric care. This is a serious shortcoming as it precludes monitoring of global treatment outcomes in this group, as well as appropriate matching of treatment needs to the disability levels. Using Rasch analysis, we evaluated the psychometrics of the Health of Nation Outcome Scales (HoNOS) in pretreatment data of consecutive refugee patients ( N = 448) from a Danish psychiatric clinic. Then, we carried out a cross-validation of the pretreatment HoNOS model on posttreatment data from the same group. A revised 10-item HoNOS fit the Rasch model at pretreatment and also showed excellent fit within the cross-validation data. Culture, gender, and need for translation did not exert serious bias on the measure’s performance. The results establish good monitoring properties of the 10-item HoNOS as the first validated measure of psychiatric disability for traumatized refugees in Western psychiatric care.
A Longitudinal Causal Analysis of Impact Made by Collaborative Engagement and Service Receipt on Likelihood of Substantiated Re-Report
Authors: Cheng Tyrone C. , Lo Celia C.
Published: July 2015

In a temporal-ordering causal analysis, we explored impacts of parent’s receipt of services and caseworker–parent collaborative engagement on substantiated child maltreatment re-report. Our sample of 2,368 parents came from the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being. Using generalized estimating equations, we found likelihood of substantiated re-report to drop significantly in association with collaborative engagement, length of current in-home spell, and family income. In turn, parental alcohol dependence, initial substantiated sexual maltreatment, and prior in-home spells were linked to increased likelihood. Practice implications are discussed.
Safety Assessment of Dialkyl Malates as Used in Cosmetics
Authors: Becker Lillian C. , Bergfeld Wilma F. , Belsito Donald V. , Hill Ronald A. , Klaassen Curtis D. , Liebler Daniel C. , Marks James G. , Shank Ronald C. , Slaga Thomas J. , Snyder Paul W. , Andersen F. Alan
Published: July 2015

The Cosmetic Ingredient Review Expert Panel (Panel) reviewed the safety of 6 dialkyl malate compounds used in cosmetics. These ingredients function mostly as skin-conditioning agents—emollients. The Panel reviewed relevant animal and human data related to the ingredients along with a previous safety assessment of malic acid. The similar structure, properties, functions, and uses of these ingredients enabled grouping them and using the available toxicological data to assess the safety of the entire group. The Panel concluded that these dialkyl maleate compounds are safe in the present practices of use and concentration as given in this safety assessment.
Disciplinary and Legal Actions Against Dermatologists in Canada
Authors: Nasseri Eiman
Published: July 2015

Background:

Dermatologists face a litany of professional and legal risks in practice.

Objective:

To review cases of disciplinary and legal action against dermatologists in Canada.

Methods:

The Canadian Medical Protective Association, all 10 provincial medical colleges, and the Canadian Legal Information Institute were contacted to obtain data on legal or disciplinary action taken against dermatologists in their records. A literature review was performed regarding litigation against dermatologists in other countries.

Results:

Six dermatologists in Canada faced disciplinary action in the last 5 to 30 years. Seven dermatologists and 5 other specialists in Canada faced lawsuits relating to dermatology in the last 1 to 144 years. Procedures and therapy are the most frequently sources of lawsuits against dermatologists both at home and abroad.

Conclusion:

Dermatologists need to remain vigilant to avoid disciplinary action and lawsuits from their increasing and varied interactions with patients.
Resignifying the sickle cell gene: Narratives of genetic risk, impairment and repair
Authors: Berghs Maria , Dyson Simon M. , Atkin Karl
Published: July 2015

Connecting theoretical discussion with empirical qualitative work, this article examines how sickle cell became a site of public health intervention in terms of ‘racialised’ risks. Historically, sickle cell became socio-politically allied to ideas of repair, in terms of the state improving the health of a neglected ethnic minority population. Yet, we elucidate how partial improvements in care and education arose alongside preventative public health screening efforts. Using qualitative research based in the United Kingdom, we show how a focus on collective efforts of repair can lie in tension with how services and individuals understand and negotiate antenatal screening. We illustrate how screening for sickle cell disorder calls into question narrative identity, undoing paradigms in which ethnicity, disablement and genetic impairment become framed. Research participants noted that rather than ‘choices’, it is ‘risks’ and their negotiation that are a part of discourses of modernity and the new genetics. Furthermore, while biomedical paradigms are rationally and ethically (de)constructed by participants, this was never fully engaged with by professionals, contributing to overall perception of antenatal screening as disempowering and leading to disengagement.
Narrative dissidence, spoof videos and alternative memory in China
Authors: Li Henry Siling
Published: July 2015

This article explores a special type of trickster discourse, networked spoof videos and the ‘narrative dissidence’ embedded in their construction of an alternative memory in China. I start with a review of the relationship between memory and power, and the changes that the internet as a mnemonic system has brought to their configuration, before turning to memory policy in contemporary China and the challenges posed to this policy by active users on the internet. I argue that the control of memory in China is realized through the monopoly of the media and the language system. I argue that this constructive process negates the official version of memory, strips bare all falsities and pretensions, and signals an emergent model for the construction of memory and truth in China.
Jaime Garzón’s trickster discourse: His messages, social commentary, and legacy in Colombian comedy
Authors: Mora Raúl Alberto
Published: July 2015

Jaime Garzón was a comic ahead of his time. While his comedy lifespan barely covered one decade (abruptly interrupted by his untimely death), his legacy in Colombian comedy and social activism remains strong. This article, rather than discussing his death, will focus on his life as a comedian who was the quintessential Colombian trickster. Through a framework of what it means to be a trickster in the Latin American and Colombian contexts, this article analyses the social commentary present in Heriberto de la Calle, Garzón’s most celebrated alter ego. Through de la Calle, Garzón was able to raise questions about our society and confront politicians about daily issues, both becoming a voice for average Colombians and establishing a new consciousness of comedy as a tool for social accountability. A discussion on the impact of Garzón’s legacy today will complete the analysis of his comedy and trickster discourse.
Unpacking ‘women’s health’ in the context of PPPs: A return to instrumentalism in development policy and practice?
Authors: Gideon Jasmine , Porter Fenella
Published: July 2015

There has been a significant increase in funding for health programmes in development over the last two decades, partly due to the formation of public–private partnerships. This article examines the impact of public–private partnerships from the perspective of women’s health, asks whether the current culture of funding has led to an increased instrumentalism in women’s health programming and what effects this has on how women’s health is addressed at the level of practice. The article is based on research carried out with UK-based non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and its conclusions raise further challenges for improving women’s health policies and programmes in development.
Women in business leadership
Authors: Kemp Linzi J , Madsen Susan R , Davis James
Published: July 2015

This scholarly study is the first to compare business leadership in the Arab Gulf states in terms of the presence of female managers in various positions. It documents the status of women leaders—senior executives and managers—through a quantitative gender analysis of 2805 private and publicly listed companies in the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates. The study details the positions women hold within organizations and analyzes and compares these by country, business classification, company size, and ownership. The contribution to cross-cultural management is that these data on gender composition in the workforce highlight the low participation of women in business leadership as an issue. Furthermore, the study provides knowledge for cross-cultural managers about cultural attitudes toward women’s economic participation in this geographical area. The research offers helpful insights and important implications for government leaders in these countries as well as for educators, practitioners, and scholars who work to help prepare and advance women to leadership within this region.
New empirical evidence on the effect of educational tracking on social inequalities in reading achievement
Authors: Lavrijsen Jeroen , Nicaise Ides
Published: July 2015

One of the major imperatives behind the comprehensivisation of secondary education was the belief that postponing the age at which students are tracked in different educational routes would mitigate the effect of social background on educational outcomes. Comparative investigations of large-scale international student achievement tests in secondary education, such as PISA, have indeed suggested that individual test results depend less on social origin in countries that have postponed tracking age. However, a crucial pitfall in such cross-sectional studies is that many other factors influence the effect of social origin on achievement as well. In order to account for possible unobserved confounder bias, and to acknowledge the fact that part of the social origin effect already exists prior to the introduction of tracking, we apply a difference-in-differences analysis to data from PIRLS (primary education, 2006, N = 33, n = 171.486) and PISA (secondary education, 2012, N = 33, n = 235.378). Our results confirm that the introduction of tracking increases the effect of social origin on reading achievement between primary and secondary education. This lends further support to the argument that postponing the tracking age can foster social equity in educational achievement.
Licensed Professional Counselors’ Perceptions of Pastoral Counseling in the African American Community
Authors: Jackson Brian K.
Published: July 2015

This study utilized a phenomenological theory to evaluate the perceptions held by licensed professional counselors regarding pastoral counseling conducted in African American communities in the southeastern United States. The study was designed to build a deeper understanding of how licensed professional counselors conceptualized the African American pastor’s role. To evaluate those perceptions, the researcher analyzed data collected from face-to-face interviews. The findings from this qualitative data analysis study revealed that the licensed professional counselor’s perceptions of pastoral counseling are jaded by several factors that divide the two professions: lack of training, poor communications, and misconception of the level of professionalism in the church. These are just some of the results from the study. Moreover, the results of this study (a) can offer direction to pastors in selecting individual professional development goals to better prepare themselves and (b) can add perspective to the design of collaboration programs between counselors and pastors.
A comparative study on the customized design of mandibular reconstruction plates using finite element method
Authors: Al-Ahmari Abdulrahman , Nasr Emad Abouel , Moiduddin Khaja , Anwar Saqib , Kindi Mohammed Al , Kamrani Ali
Published: July 2015

Mandible defects and its deformities are serious complications and its precise reconstruction is one of the most challenging tasks in oral maxillofacial surgery. The commercially available standard mandible implants are manually bended before surgery to custom fit the patient’s jaw. A slight mismatch in the plate and bone alignment may result in the implant failure. However, with the integration of computer-aided design, rapid prototyping, and advanced imaging systems (computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging), it is possible to produce a customized mandible implant that can precisely fit the patient’s jaw. The aim of this article is to compare a new design of customized mandible implant (sinewave plate) and compare it with the commonly used straight implant design. The finite element–simulated results reveal that the commonly used straight reconstruction plates are more prone to loosening of the screws due to its higher strain concentration on the screw hole when compared to newly designed sinewave reconstruction plate. Moreover, the straight plate is more sensitive to the chewing load variations and develops almost 20% increase in the stresses when compared to sinewave plate. The study reveals that the sinewave reconstruction plate can significantly enhance the stability and safety of the mandible implant.
Resistant pasts versus mnemonic hegemony: On the power relations of collective memory
Authors: Molden Berthold
Published: July 2015

The politics of history and memory in any society are determined by the relations of forces between hegemonic master narratives, defiant counter-memories, and silent majorities whose historical experience is rarely articulated in public. Based on Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault, Ernesto Laclau, as well as postcolonial critique, this article explains historico-political processes through a specified reading of hegemony theory. Two common, though by no means unambiguous, terms are reloaded with specific definitions: politics of history as the political agency directed at the establishment of specific representations of the past, and memory cultures as the structural frameworks for these politics. This approach sheds light on the relationship between official and group-specific politics of history within defined memory cultures: the possibly conflictual interaction between those who interpret certain events, inscribe them into a historical canon and thus make them points of historical reference, and those who are the carriers, consumers, reproducers, but also challengers of this history.
Use of carbonated water in reduction of adjacent gastric activity in 456 consecutive technetium-99m myocardial perfusion imaging studies
Authors: Thomas Dustin M. , Lee Joshua S. , Charmforoush Anthony , Rubal Bernard J. , Rosenblatt Stephen A. , Butler Joshua T. , Clemenshaw Michael , Cheezum Michael K. , Slim Ahmad M.
Published: July 2015

Background:

Small, observational trials have suggested a reduction in adjacent gastric activity with ingestion of soda water in myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI). We report our findings prior to and after implementation of soda water in 467 consecutive MPI studies.

Methods:

Consecutive MPI studies performed at a high-volume facility referred for vasodilator (VD) or exercise treadmill testing (ETT) were retrospectively reviewed before and after implementation of the soda water protocol. Patients undergoing the soda water protocol received 100 ml of soda water administered 30 min prior to image acquisition and after stress. Studies were performed using a same day rest/stress protocol. Incidence of adjacent gastric activity, diaphragmatic attenuation, stress and rest perfusion defects, and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) outcomes defined as death, myocardial infarction, stroke, reevaluation for chest pain, and late revascularization (>90 days from MPI) were abstracted using International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) search.

Results:

Two hundred and eighteen studies were performed prior to implementation of the soda water protocol and 249 studies were performed with the use of soda water. Baseline demographic data were equal between the groups with the exception of more patients undergoing VD stress receiving soda water ( p < 0.001). Soda water was not associated with a decreased incidence of adjacent gastric activity with stress (54.7% versus 61.9% with no soda water, p = 0.129) or rest (68.6% versus 69.5% with no soda water, p = 0.919) imaging. Less adjacent gastric activity was observed with patients undergoing ETT who received soda water (42.5% versus 56.9% with no soda water, p = 0.031), but no difference was observed between the groups with VD stress (69.0% versus 68.1% with no soda water, p = 1.000).

Conclusion:

The use of soda water prior to technetium-99m MPI was associated with lower rates of adjacent gastric activity only in patients undergoing ETT stress but not rest or VD stress. This differs from previously published data.
When Does Gossip Promote Generosity? Indirect Reciprocity Under the Shadow of the Future
Authors: Wu Junhui , Balliet Daniel , Van Lange Paul A. M.
Published: July 2015

Reputation through gossip is a key mechanism promoting cooperation. The present research proposes that gossip promotes cooperation when one anticipates future interdependence with the gossip recipient (Hypothesis 1), that this effect is more pronounced for proself, compared to prosocial, individuals (Hypothesis 2), and explores the mediating role of reputational concern and expected indirect benefits in the relation between gossip and cooperation. Results from three studies supported these hypotheses, showing that people are more generous in response to gossip to their future interaction partner(s), compared with gossip to other(s) they would never meet or no gossip. Moreover, proselfs, compared with prosocials, showed a larger increase in generosity when they anticipated future interactions with the gossip recipient(s). The observed gossip-based generosity was primarily mediated by reputational concern rather than expected indirect benefits from future partners, and the mediation of reputational concern was more pronounced for proselfs than for prosocials.
Investigating Progression in Substance Use Initiation Using a Discrete-Time Multiple Event Process Survival Mixture (MEPSUM) Approach
Authors: Richmond-Rakerd Leah S. , Fleming Kimberly A. , Slutske Wendy S.
Published: July 2015

The order and timing of substance initiation have significant implications for later problematic patterns of use. Despite the need to study initiation from a multivariate framework, survival analytic methods typically cannot accommodate more than two substances in one model. The discrete-time multiple event process survival mixture (MEPSUM) model represents an advance by incorporating more than two outcomes and enabling establishment of latent classes within a multivariate hazard distribution. Employing a MEPSUM approach, we evaluated patterns of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis initiation in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health ( N = 18,923). We found four classes that differed in their ages and ordering of peak initiation risk. Demographics, externalizing psychopathology, and personality significantly predicted class membership. Sex differences in the association between delinquency and initiation patterns also emerged. Findings support the utility of the MEPSUM approach in elucidating developmental pathways underlying clinically relevant phenomena.
Diffusion of innovation: customer relationship management adoption in supply chain organizations
Authors: Gu Vicky Ching , Schniederjans Marc J , Cao Qing
Published: July 2015

The successful diffusion of innovations in rapidly changing supply chain technological environments is essential to support operations and supply chain management functions. In this paper we conceptualize and develop a framework for research into the diffusion of innovations in organizations pertaining to software adoption in supply chain management. Incorporating Task-Technology Fit theory with a network externalities model, we develop a novel approach in customer relations management (CRM) software adoption. An empirical study using Partial Least Squares (PLS) on data from US supply chain managers is utilized to confirm the usability of the proposed framework as well as confirming the efficacy of the proposed combined methodological approach suggested in this paper. The results also show the direct and indirect network externalities of system quality, ease of use, system reliability, and authority can moderate the CRM adoption relationship in organizations, suggesting the possibility that other moderating network externality variables may impact CRM adoption.
Multiple cell and population-level interactions with mouse embryonic stem cell heterogeneity
Authors: Cannon Danielle , Corrigan Adam M. , Miermont Agnes , McDonel Patrick , Chubb Jonathan R.
Published: July 2015

Much of development and disease concerns the generation of gene expression differences between related cells sharing similar niches. However most analyses of gene expression only assess population and time-averaged levels of steady-state transcription. The mechanisms driving differentiation are buried within snapshots of the average cell, lacking dynamic information and the diverse regulatory history experienced by individual cells. Here we use a quantitative imaging platform with large time series data sets to determine the regulation of developmental gene expression by cell cycle, lineage, motility and environment. We apply this technology to the regulation of the pluripotency gene Nanog, in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Our data reveal the diversity of cell and population-level interactions with Nanog dynamics and heterogeneity, and how this regulation responds to triggers of pluripotency. Cell cycles are highly heterogeneous and cycle time increases with Nanog reporter expression, with longer, more variable cycle times as cells approach ground state pluripotency. Nanog reporter expression is highly stable over multiple cell generations, with fluctuations within cycles confined by an attractor state. Modeling reveals an environmental component to expression stability, in addition to any cell autonomous behaviour, and we identify interactions of cell density with both cycle behaviour and Nanog. Rex1 expression dynamics showed shared and distinct regulatory effects. Overall our observations of multiple partially overlapping dynamic heterogeneities imply complex cell and environmental regulation of pluripotent cell behaviour, and suggest simple deterministic views of stem cell states are inappropriate.
Key mediators of somatic ATR signaling localize to unpaired chromosomes in spermatocytes
Authors: Fedoriw Andrew M. , Menon Debashish , Kim Yuna , Mu Weipeng , Magnuson Terry
Published: July 2015

Meiotic silencing of unpaired chromatin (MSUC) occurs during the first meiotic prophase, as chromosomes that fail to pair are sequestered into a transcriptionally-repressive nuclear domain. This phenomenon is exemplified by the heterologous sex chromosomes of male mammals, where the ATR DNA damage response kinase is critical for this silencing event. However, the mechanisms underlying the initiation of MSUC remain unknown. Here, we show that essential components of ATR signaling in somatic cells are spatially confined to unpaired chromosomes in spermatocytes, including the ATR-dependent phosphorylation of the single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) binding complex, Replication Protein A (RPA) and the checkpoint kinase, CHK1. These observations support a model where ssDNA plays a central role in the recruitment of ATR during MSUC, and a link to meiotic progression, through activation of CHK1.
Why Are There Still So Many Jobs? The History and Future of Workplace Automation
Authors: Autor David H.
Published: July 2015

In this essay, I begin by identifying the reasons that automation has not wiped out a majority of jobs over the decades and centuries. Automation does indeed substitute for labor—as it is typically intended to do. However, automation also complements labor, raises output in ways that leads to higher demand for labor, and interacts with adjustments in labor supply. Journalists and even expert commentators tend to overstate the extent of machine substitution for human labor and ignore the strong complementarities between automation and labor that increase productivity, raise earnings, and augment demand for labor. Changes in technology do alter the types of jobs available and what those jobs pay. In the last few decades, one noticeable change has been a “polarization” of the labor market, in which wage gains went disproportionately to those at the top and at the bottom of the income and skill distribution, not to those in the middle; however, I also argue, this polarization and is unlikely to continue very far into future. The final section of this paper reflects on how recent and future advances in artificial intelligence and robotics should shape our thinking about the likely trajectory of occupational change and employment growth. I argue that the interplay between machine and human comparative advantage allows computers to substitute for workers in performing routine, codifiable tasks while amplifying the comparative advantage of workers in supplying problem-solving skills, adaptability, and creativity.
Digital Architecture and Intelligent Buildings: A Suitable Approach to Proper Implementation of Sustainable Development Components in the Third Millennium
Authors: Loumer Saeid
Published: July 2015

This study was an attempt to analyze digital architecture and intelligent constructions which are aimed at actualizing the components of sustainable development. It was a descriptive-analytical desk research the results of which indicated that architecture and other sciences have to be able to address the concerns and needs of present and future generations. Digital architecture and intelligent buildings have successfully led to adequate savings in economic, social and environmental costs. They have reduced environmental pollution, climate chances, and mental problems of humans. They have also played a significant role in providing a healthy life to humans as one of the major components of sustainable development.