bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of two different battings (sheep wool versus polyester microfiber) in an outdoor jacket on the heat and moisture management and comfort sensation in the cold
Authors: Kofler Philipp , Nussbichler Marc , Veider Victoria , Khanna Iris , Heinrich Dieter , Bottoni Giuliamarta , Hasler Michael , Caven Barnaby , Bechtold Thomas , Burtscher Martin , Nachbauer Werner
Published: May 2015

Wool in outdoor clothing systems is stated to be a good temperature and humidity regulator giving the wearer a warm and dry feeling during physical activities in the cold. The objective was to compare two different battings (sheep wool “tirolwool” (TW) versus polyester microfiber (PMF)) in an outdoor jacket of a two-layer outdoor clothing system consisting of a shirt and jacket on the heat and moisture management and comfort sensation during a moderate mountain walking protocol which was followed by a cool-down phase in the cold (−5℃, 43% relative humidity). Due to its beneficial moisture management properties it was hypothesized that TW in the outermost layer would cause a higher skin and core temperature, reduce the after chill effect, increase moisture transfer, decrease moisture accumulation within the clothing system, and lead to more pleasant comfort sensations. Twelve sport students performed the simulated walking protocol (60 min, 7.7% inclination, 5 km/h) and cool-down phase (20 min) with TW and PMF in a climatic chamber. The use of TW compared to PMF was stronger moisture absorbent led to a dryer shirt ( p = 0.043) and lower humidity underneath the shirt and jacket (chest: p ≤ 0.05). Core temperature ( p = 0.017) and skin temperature drop (chest: p = 0.003) were attenuated with TW after the physical activity. Therefore, the after chill effect was reduced with TW but moisture accumulated to a higher extent in the jacket ( p = 0.001), which might lead to a longer drying rate. Correlation analysis revealed that tested underwear blended with merino wool, elastane, and polyamide might feel less scratchy in the slightly damp state than in the dry state.
Cycling in the post-socialist city: On travelling by bicycle in Sofia, Bulgaria
Authors: Barnfield Andrew , Plyushteva Anna
Published: May 2015

There are many ways of moving through a city. Cycling is one which has received considerable attention from urban scholars. Yet it has remained largely neglected within the burgeoning literature on the post-socialist urbanisms of Central and Eastern Europe. This paper uses a case study from Sofia, Bulgaria to address this gap in urban research. By exploring the practices and affordances of cycling, we offer a discussion of everyday mobility, public life and urban space in post-socialist Sofia. This case study incorporates ethnography and in-depth interviews with regular cyclists. Through a discussion of bicycling spaces and practices, this paper complicates the notion of post-socialist cities as places defined by the decline of public sensibilities.
The re-emergence of self-managed co-housing in Europe: A critical review of co-housing research
Authors: Tummers Lidewij
Published: May 2015

This article reviews a decade of co-housing studies and publications, to identify major themes and research gaps. Generally, co-housing is seen as a promising model for urban development, and most empirical case studies report active and diverse communities, creating and maintaining affordable living environments. However, numbers are small and there is as yet no quantitative evidence to substantiate the claims. Nevertheless, important lessons can be drawn from co-housing as an integrated practice to meet today’s societal and environmental challenges. Rather than its utopian ambitions, the frictions with current institutional frameworks point the way to transform these into more adequate agents of development.
Privatisation of waste collection services in response to fiscal stress in times of crisis
Authors: Zafra-Gómez José L , Plata-Díaz Ana María , Pérez-López Gemma , López-Hernández Antonio Manuel
Published: May 2015

According to the conventional theoretical framework, fiscal stress is an explanatory factor of privatisation, since the latter can provide economies of scale and cost savings, as indicated by the theory of public choice. However, urban planning theories suggest that public choice does not take into account the collective needs of those receiving public services. The present study aims to clarify two major issues. Firstly, in the presence of fiscal stress, do public managers really privatise? And secondly, does privatisation harm the public interest? To investigate these questions, we constructed and analysed a discrete-time survival model, which was applied to the period 2000–2010, to reflect the effects of the current global financial crisis on the fiscal stress–privatisation relationship with respect to urban waste collection services. The results obtained indicate that when certain aspects of financial condition worsen, the likelihood of public services being privatised increases. This was the case during the Great Recession of 2008–2010, especially when a neighbouring municipality had previously privatised its services. After privatisation, service quality did not vary significantly, and so we conclude that public choice does not prejudice the public interest.
The uneven impact of austerity on the voluntary and community sector: A tale of two cities
Authors: Jones Gerwyn , Meegan Richard , Kennett Patricia , Croft Jacqui
Published: May 2015

There has been much debate about the impact of recession and austerity on the voluntary and community sector over recent years. Using secondary data from the 2008 National Survey of Third Sector Organisations, Clifford et al. (2013), writing in this journal, have argued that voluntary sector organisations located in more deprived local authorities are likely to suffer most due to the combined effect of cuts in government funding in these areas and their greater dependency on statutory funding. This paper develops this argument by exploring the sector’s changing relationship with the state through an empirical analysis of the differential impact of recession and austerity on voluntary and community organisations involved in public service delivery in the two English core cities of Bristol and Liverpool. This paper highlights how the scale and unevenness of public spending cuts, the levels of voluntary sector dependency on statutory funding and the rising demands for the sector’s services in a period of recession and austerity are being experienced locally. It portrays a sector whose resilience is being severely tested and one that is being forced rapidly to restructure and reposition itself in an increasingly challenging funding environment.
Homelessness in a Scandinavian welfare state: The risk of shelter use in the Danish adult population
Authors: Benjaminsen Lars
Published: May 2015

This article analyses the risk of homelessness in the Danish adult population. The study is based on individual, administrative micro-data for about 4.15 million Danes who were 18 years or older on 1 January 2002. Homelessness is measured by shelter use from 2002 to 2011. Data also cover civil status, immigration background, education, employment, income, mental illness, drug and alcohol abuse, and previous imprisonment over five years prior to the measurement period. Prevalence of shelter use shows a considerable risk of homelessness amongst individuals experiencing multidimensional social exclusion. Nonetheless, even in high-risk groups such as drug abusers and people with a dual diagnosis, the majority have not used shelters. A multivariate analysis shows significantly higher use of homeless shelters amongst immigrants and individuals with low income, unemployment, low education, mental illness, drug or alcohol abuse, or a previous imprisonment. The highest risk of shelter use is associated with drug abuse, alcohol abuse, mental illness and previous imprisonment, whereas the risk associated with low income is smaller than for the psychosocial vulnerabilities. The results show that homelessness in Denmark is widely concentrated amongst individuals with complex support needs, rather than associated with wider poverty problems.
Building Identity and Community Through Research
Authors: Rude Carolyn D.
Published: May 2015

A field’s identity and sustainability depend on its research as well as on programs, practice, and infrastructure. Research and practice have a reciprocal relationship, with practice identifying research questions and researchers answering those questions to improve practice. Technical communication research also has an exploratory purpose, using the knowledge and methods of the field to explain how texts work in a variety of contexts. A gap between research and practice developed in the 1990s. Defining explicitly how the parts of our research and our practice connect to form a whole will give the field a stronger identity
Factors associated with blood pressure control among patients attending the outpatient clinic of a South African district hospital
Authors: Batubenga MM , Omole OB , Bondo MC
Published: May 2015

Objective

To determine the prevalence and factors associated with blood pressure (BP) control.

Methods

In a cross-sectional study involving 251 consecutively-sampled patients, a semi-structured questionnaire collected information on socio-demography, co-morbidities, hypertension treatments and BP control. Data analysis included descriptive statistics and logistic regression.

Results

Most participants were: on treatment for >5 years (60.6%); on three or more drugs (93.6%); treated according to guidelines (77%); and reported not missing medications in the last week (86.5%). BP control was achieved in only 31.5% and 16.7% of participants at the current and last visits, respectively. In multivariate regression analysis, a history of myocardial infarction (odd ratio [OR] = 0.41; P = 0.04) and being divorced/widowed (OR = 3.1; P = 0.01) predicted poor BP control.

Conclusion

This study confirms the prevalent sub-optimal control of BP and suggests the need for further studies to examine the relationship between marital support, critical medical events and BP control.
Drug War as Neoliberal Trojan Horse
Authors: Paley Dawn
Published: May 2015

Examination of the U.S.-backed wars on drugs in Colombia and Mexico reveals that, apart from the hegemonic discourse about narcotics control, these wars reinforce the power of transnational corporations over resource-rich areas owned and used by indigenous people, peasants, and the urban poor. Case studies in Mexico demonstrate that recent assassinations of activists and intimidation of communities that are organizing against large-scale mining must be understood within the framework of militarization justified in terms of an antinarcotics discourse. Drug war politics may thus be understood as a mechanism for promoting business-friendly policies and militarizing resource-rich areas. This politics is enshrined in the Mérida Initiative, which includes a national U.S.- style legal reform, modernization of the prison system, and the militarization and training of the federal police and other security forces, equipment transfers, and development funding designed to encourage foreign investment and further transnationalize the national economy.

El examen de la guerra contra las drogas financiada por los Estados Unidos en Colombia y México revela que, aparte del discurso hegemónico sobre el control de narcóticos, estas guerras refuerzan el poder de las corporaciones transnacionales sobre las áreas ricas en recursos que pertenecen y son utilizadas por las comunidades indígenas, los campesinos y los pobres de las zonas urbanas. Los estudios de casos en México demuestran que los re-cientes asesinatos de activistas y la intimidación de las comunidades que se están organizando en contra de la minería a gran escala deben ser entendidas dentro del marco de la militarización justificada en términos de un discurso antinarcótico. La política de la guerra contra las drogas puede, por lo tanto, entenderse como un mecanismo para promover políticas favorables a los negocios y la militarización de las áreas ricas en recursos. Esta política está consagrada en la Iniciativa de Mérida, la cual incluye una reforma jurídica nacional al estilo de los Estados Unidos, la modernización del sistema de prisiones, la militarización y entrenamiento de la policía federal y otras fuerzas de seguridad, la transferencia de equipos y fondos para desarrollar políticas que promuevan la inversión extranjera y así transnacionalizar más la economía nacional.
Learning the Brain in Introductory Psychology
Authors: McCabe Jennifer A.
Published: May 2015

The goal of this research was to determine whether there is a generation effect for learner-created keyword mnemonics and real-life examples, compared to instructor-provided materials, when learning neurophysiological terms and definitions in introductory psychology. Students participated in an individual (Study 1) or small-group (Study 2) in-class activity during which they used three strategies: generate new keyword mnemonics, generate new real-life examples, and read instructor-provided mnemonics and examples. Immediate and delayed quiz results showed that the keyword-mnemonic-generation strategy was superior for definitional quiz performance across both time points. Questionnaire data indicated that students overall felt “generating” was more helpful than “reading,” generating mnemonics was more helpful than generating examples, and a substantial portion would plan to use the mnemonic-generation strategy in the future. Results are discussed in the context of mnemonics training, specifically mnemonics-creation assignments, in the introductory-level psychology classroom and beyond.
Who Are We Studying? Sample Diversity in Teaching of Psychology Research
Authors: Richmond Aaron S. , Broussard Kristin A. , Sterns Jillian L. , Sanders Kristina K. , Shardy Justin C.
Published: May 2015

The purpose of the current study was to examine the sample diversity of empirical articles published in four premier teaching of psychology journals from 2008 to 2013. We investigated which demographic information was commonly reported and if samples were ethnically representative and whether gender was representative compared to National Department of Education data. Descriptive statistics showed that, in many cases, ethnicity was not reported in teaching of psychology journal articles. When ethnicity was reported, samples were predominantly Caucasian and not typical to that of Department of Education data. Additionally, results indicated there is an overrepresentation of female students in these samples, which is typical of psychology students. Based on the results, teaching of psychology research is accurately sampling the intended population, however, the psychology student population is not representative of the greater college student population. Accordingly, generalizations from teaching of psychology research to teaching other academic domains should be made with caution.
Embrace Chattering Students
Authors: Sandstrom Gillian M. , Rawn Catherine D.
Published: May 2015

When students chatter in class it can be disruptive, but could that chatter also have some redeeming qualities? We asked students to keep track of their social interactions in a particular class. On days when students had more social interactions than usual, they reported a greater sense of belonging, which was, in turn, related to greater class enjoyment (i.e., a within-person effect). Further, students who tended to have more social interactions than others reported a greater sense of belonging, which was, in turn, related to greater class enjoyment (i.e., a between-person effect). These results held when examining daily ratings of social interactions, belonging, and class enjoyment, and when examining overall end-of-semester ratings. Critically, higher average daily feelings of belonging mediated the effect of the number of average daily classroom interactions on students’ end-of-semester class enjoyment and marginally on grades. For educators, promoting peer-to-peer conversation may create a positive effect by which students judge the overall class experience positively.
Identification of a vertical hopping robot model via harmonic transfer functions
Authors: Uyanık İsmail , Ankaralı Mustafa M. , Cowan Noah J. , Saranlı Uluç , Morgül Ömer
Published: May 2015

A common approach to understanding and controlling robotic legged locomotion is the construction and analysis of simplified mathematical models that capture essential features of locomotor behaviours. However, the representational power of such simple mathematical models is inevitably limited due to the non-linear and complex nature of biological locomotor systems. Attempting to identify and explicitly incorporate key non-linearities into the model is challenging, increases complexity, and decreases the analytic utility of the resulting models. In this paper, we adopt a data-driven approach, with the goal of furnishing an input–output representation of a locomotor system. Our method is based on approximating the hybrid dynamics of a legged locomotion model around its limit cycle as a Linear Time Periodic (LTP) system. Perturbing inputs to the locomotor system with small chirp signals yield the input–output data necessary for the application of LTP system identification techniques, allowing us to estimate harmonic transfer functions (HTFs) associated with the local LTP approximation to the system dynamics around the limit cycle. We compare actual system responses with responses predicted by the HTF, providing evidence that data-driven system identification methods can be used to construct models for locomotor behaviours.
Adaptive neural sliding control of MEMS gyroscope with robust feedback compensator
Authors: Wu Dan , Fei Juntao
Published: May 2015

A novel robust neural sliding control using the radial basis function (RBF) neural network for a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) z-axis gyroscope is proposed in this paper. A robust feedback compensator is incorporated into the normal adaptive sliding control in order to eliminate the effect of model uncertainties and external disturbances, and improve the robustness of the whole control system. An adaptive RBF is also adopted to learn online the upper bound of external disturbances, relaxing the requirement of prior knowledge of the upper bound of model uncertainties. By using the proposed neural control, satisfactory dynamic characteristics, strong robustness with respect to external disturbances and parameter uncertainties and fast convergence of tracking errors to zero can be all obtained. In addition, the proposed adaptive neural controller can estimate the angular velocity and all the gyroscope parameters including damping and stiffness coefficients. All the adaptive laws are derived in the same Lyapunov framework, so that the stability of the closed-loop system can be guaranteed. Numerical simulations for MEMS gyroscope are implemented to verify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.
Preteen-Parent Experiences With PREP-T1 Feasibility Intervention
Authors: Hughes Patricia , Johnson Kim , Ramchandani Neesha , Quinn Diane , D’Alesandro Bianca , Streisand Randi , Sullivan-Bolyai Susan
Published: May 2015

Purpose

The purpose of this article is to report the focus group perspectives of preteens’ and parents’ experiences with a feasibility intervention entitled PREP-T1 (Preteen Re-Education with Parents–Type 1 Diabetes), an interactive education and peer mentoring intervention.

Methods

The parent and preteen focus groups were conducted by the principal investigator, coinvestigator, and note takers at 2 sites. The preteen-parent groups were conducted concurrently with a total of 11 preteens and 11 parents. Note-based qualitative content analysis was used, resulting in preteen-parent perspectives on reeducation and strategies for families to work more effectively in managing type 1 diabetes (T1DM).

Results

The findings suggest that the preteens enjoyed learning about their diabetes management from a teen educator mentor in conjunction with a human patient simulator. They reported this type of peer support would benefit other preteens with T1DM. Parents were overwhelmingly positive about their interactions with the parent educator mentor in conjunction with the psychologist and about focusing on how to better collaborate with their preteens on diabetes management decision making. Further recommendations about the timing and intervention dose were also discussed.

Conclusions

Moderated peer mentoring with technology has potential as a means for teaching preteens and their parents shared diabetes management. These data will be used to inform the PREP-T1 fully powered intervention study.
Anticipating and Resisting the Temptation to Behave Unethically
Authors: Sheldon Oliver J. , Fishbach Ayelet
Published: May 2015

Ethical dilemmas pose a self-control conflict between pursuing immediate benefits through behaving dishonestly and pursuing long-term benefits through acts of honesty. Therefore, factors that facilitate self-control for other types of goals (e.g., health and financial) should also promote ethical behavior. Across four studies, we find support for this possibility. Specifically, we find that only under conditions that facilitate conflict identification—including the consideration of several decisions simultaneously (i.e., a broad decision frame) and perceived high connectedness to the future self—does anticipating a temptation to behave dishonestly in advance promote honesty. We demonstrate these interaction patterns between conflict identification and temptation anticipation in negotiation situations (Study 1), lab tasks (Study 2), and ethical dilemmas in the workplace (Studies 3-4). We conclude that identifying a self-control conflict and anticipating a temptation are two necessary preconditions for ethical decision making.
Bridging Academic and Practitioner Interests on Interlocal Collaboration
Authors: Lee Robert E. , Hannah-Spurlock Sarah
Published: May 2015

Academic interest in local government collaboration is well documented. This article bridges that interest with practitioner preferences in a survey to a dozen experienced city and county managers in Florida on their experience in forging local government collaboration. The results showed that most formal collaboration agreements involved sharing facilities and most informal collaboration agreements involved sharing equipment. Moreover, none of these local managers felt that federal or state mandates had any impact on their agencies decision to enter into collaborative agreements and the managers did not evince a general agreement on either the process to follow to initiate or to evaluate interlocal agreements.
Future Time Perspective and End-of-Life Planning in Older Adults
Authors: Luth Elizabeth A.
Published: May 2015

This study explores the extent to which cognitive processes, specifically perceptions of one’s distance to death, are associated with informal and formal advance care planning (ACP) in a sample of older adults. Data come from the New Jersey End-of-Life (EOL) study, a survey of 305 adults aged 55–91. Binary logistic regression models evaluate the odds that someone conducted ACP. Persons who perceive remaining life span to be expansive or limited have significantly lower odds of formally planning for the EOL, relative to those in the middle category. Death anxiety and having a family confidante partially explain these associations. The association between future time perspective (FTP) and discussions is not statistically significant. Practitioners may consider individuals’ FTPs when discussing preferences for EOL medical care.
Automatic mapping of user tags to Wikipedia concepts: The case of a Q&A website – StackOverflow
Authors: Joorabchi Arash , English Michael , Mahdi Abdulhussain E.
Published: May 2015

The uncontrolled nature of user-assigned tags makes them prone to various inconsistencies caused by spelling variations, synonyms, acronyms and hyponyms. These inconsistencies in turn lead to some of the common problems associated with the use of folksonomies such as the tag explosion phenomenon. Mapping user tags to their corresponding Wikipedia articles, as well-formed concepts, offers multifaceted benefits to the process of subject metadata generation and management in a wide range of online environments. These include normalization of inconsistencies, elimination of personal tags and improvement of the interchangeability of existing subject metadata. In this article, we propose a machine learning-based method capable of automatic mapping of user tags to their equivalent Wikipedia concepts. We have demonstrated the application of the proposed method and evaluated its performance using the currently most popular computer programming Q&A website, StackOverflow.com , as our test platform. Currently, around 20 million posts in StackOverflow are annotated with about 37,000 unique user tags, from which we have chosen a subset of 1256 tags to evaluate the accuracy performance of our proposed mapping method. We have evaluated the performance of our method using the standard information retrieval measures of precision, recall and F1. Depending on the machine learning-based classification algorithm used as part of the mapping process, F1 scores as high as 99.6% were achieved.
Institutionalizing Precariousness? The Politics of Boundary Work in Legalizing Agency Work in Germany, 1949–2004
Authors: Helfen Markus
Published: May 2015

The legalizing of agency work in Germany is used as an illustrative case for exploring and theorizing how contests about regulating organizations’ labor practices are played out through the politics of boundary work. By combining the idea of inter-field relations from the theory of strategic action fields with considerations about boundary work within and between organizational fields, this paper explains the recent proliferation of agency work as the outgrowth of a long-term legalization contest. By taking a historical perspective, it illuminates how the boundary work of (former) incumbents and (new) challengers modulates institutional dynamics. Based on qualitative primary and secondary material, the findings reveal how the politics of boundary work facilitate power reversals in organizational fields by allowing defeated parties to survive in a field’s niches, to cross a field’s boundaries, and to rebuild their intervention capacity as well as by making incumbent coalitions erode over time.
Labour out of Control: The Political Economy of Capitalist and Ethical Organizations
Authors: O’Neil Mathieu
Published: May 2015

Digitally networked voluntary associations such as free software projects and Wikipedia can be distinguished from capitalist firms in two respects. First, their predominant logic is ‘ethical’. Participation is primarily motivated by self-fulfilment and validated by a community of peers, rather than by earning wages. Second, their governance is ‘modular’, understood in a design sense (decomposable blocks sharing a common interface), but also in political economy terms: participants oppose restricted ownership and control by individually socializing their works into commons. In recent years capitalist-centralized firms have increasingly engaged with ethical-modular organizations, in some cases paying wages to participants (such labour is thus both ‘alienated’ or sold, and ‘communal’, as workers freely cooperate to produce commons). This article reviews the literature dealing with the relationship of these two organizational types. It argues that the manner in which scholars approach a central characteristic of ethical-modular organizations – participants relinquish exclusive property rights over the resource they have created – leads to highly diverse interpretations. Four hypotheses are presented. A ‘panoptic’ view overlooks the abjuration of exclusive property rights, so that ethical-modular organizations can be defined as a variant of the evolution of capitalist firms into post-bureaucratic networks. ‘Skeptics’ view this abjuration as irrelevant, and ethical-modular organizations as increasing worker exploitation. In contrast, ‘activists’ celebrate the abjuration of exclusive property rights, and present ethical-modular organizations as key actors in a historical process leading to the disappearance of capitalism and hierarchy. Finally ‘reformists’ suggest that the co-optation of communal labour by firms will benefit business practices and society. The article examines the analytical focus of each hypothesis in terms of labour, loss of control by firms over workers, and societal impact. Where appropriate, it raises questions and objections. The conclusion addresses communal labour’s effective dependence on capitalist-centralized firms and suggests factors which may contribute to its emancipation.
Novel Management of Intractable Cervical Chylous Fistula with Local Application of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Injection
Authors: Wei Tao , Liu Feng , Li Zhihui , Gong Yanping , Zhu Jingqiang
Published: May 2015

Objective

Cervical chylous fistula is an uncommon complication after neck dissection, but it might lead to some serious clinical outcomes. Although most cervical chylous fistulas can heal in a few days with standard treatments, some can be intractable. In this study, we describe a new method with local application of Pseudomonas aeruginosa injection for intractable cervical chylous fistula.

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China.

Subjects and Methods

The charts of 18 patients who were treated with P aeruginosa injection (PAI) for intractable cervical chylous fistula were retrospectively reviewed.

Results

All patients were successfully treated with PAI. Mild fever (temperature, <38°C) occurred in 9 patients, moderate fever (38°C‐39°C) in 4 patients, and severe fever (>39°C) in 5 patients. All patients had mild to severe neck pain.

Conclusions

Local application of PAI is an effective method for the treatment of intractable cervical chylous fistula, of which the most common side effects are transient fever and local pain.
Electronic Cigarettes
Authors: Born Hayley , Persky Michael , Kraus Dennis H. , Peng Robert , Amin Milan R. , Branski Ryan C.
Published: May 2015

Objective

To introduce the otolaryngology community to the current state of research regarding electronic cigarettes, with special attention paid to mechanism, impact on health and addiction, and use in smoking cessation.

Data Sources

Review of Google Scholar and PubMed databases using the keywords electronic cigarettes, e‐cigs, e‐cigarettes, and vaping. In addition, information from media sources as well as news outlets was evaluated to gauge public perception of research findings.

Review Methods

Recent research and randomized controlled trials were prioritized.

Conclusions

The landscape of electronic cigarette devices is evolving, as is the research regarding their risks and benefits. Utilization is rapidly increasing. It appears that older users employ them as a smoking cessation tool compared to younger users. The data are generally inconclusive regarding the benefits of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation compared with other methods. Furthermore, the safety profile of electronic cigarettes is dynamic and difficult to fully ascertain.

Implications for Practice

Patients with a variety of otolaryngologic conditions, including cancer, may benefit from frank discussion regarding electronic cigarettes. Furthermore, increasing patient inquiries regarding these devices are likely given their increasing popularity.
Broadening the investment model
Authors: Segal Noam , Fraley R. Chris
Published: May 2015

The investment model is one of the most influential theoretical frameworks for understanding commitment in close relationships. Nonetheless, few studies have examined commitment dynamics using within-persons designs. In addition, there have been few attempts to examine potential antecedents of investment dynamics. The current research attempts to integrate the investment model with contemporary perspectives on attachment and perceived partner responsiveness by examining relationship dynamics within and between persons in a yearlong, intensive longitudinal design. We found that across levels of analysis, perceived partner responsiveness shaped investment model variables which, in turn, shaped commitment. We also found that individual differences in attachment moderated some of these dynamics, such that people who were insecurely attached were less likely than others to perceive their partner as responsive. We suggest taking a more integrationist approach to close relationship research and explore romantic relationship dynamics on the within-person level.
Testing pilocarpine drops for dry mouth in advanced cancer using n-of-1 trials: A feasibility study
Authors: Nikles Jane , Mitchell Geoffrey K , Hardy Janet , Agar Meera , Senior Hugh , Carmont Sue-Ann , Schluter Philip J , Good Phillip , Vora Rohan , Currow David
Published: May 2015

Background:

Dry mouth is a common and troublesome symptom in palliative care. Pilocarpine is a cholinergic agent that promotes salivation.

Aim:

This study aimed to test the feasibility of using n-of-1 trials to test pilocarpine drops compared to placebo, for patients of palliative care units with advanced cancer, who experienced dry mouth.

Design:

This was an N-of-1 study, in which each participant was offered three cycles of pilocarpine drops 4% (6 mg tds) (3 days) and placebo drops (3 days) in random order.

Setting/participants:

Participants were patients of specialist palliative care services with advanced cancer assessed as having a dry mouth, defined as having a score of ⩾3 on an 11-point self-rated xerostomia numerical rating scale, from any cause. Patients self-completed a diary using validated symptom and quality-of-life scores. The randomisation order was unmasked at the end of each person’s trial by a clinician independent of the trial to allow a treatment decisions for individual patients to be made.

Results:

Nine patients completed at least 1 cycle; 33 cycles of data were completed in total, comprising 438 doses of pilocarpine. Four patients completed the trial: two responded and two did not. Most withdrawals related to deteriorating condition, unacceptable toxicity, non-compliance with study procedures or withdrawal of consent. Many issues contributed to slow recruitment and high withdrawal rate.

Conclusion:

The formulation of pilocarpine drops proved unacceptable to most participants. More work is required to determine an appropriate formulation, dose and method of delivery and then a retest of pilocarpine drops for this symptom.
Palliative care and other physicians’ knowledge, attitudes and practice relating to the law on withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment: Survey results
Authors: Cartwright Colleen Maria , White Ben P , Willmott Lindy , Williams Gail , Parker Malcolm Holbrook
Published: May 2015

Background:

To effectively care for people who are terminally ill, including those without decision-making capacity, palliative care physicians must know and understand the legal standing of Advance Care Planning in their jurisdiction of practice. This includes the use of advance directives/living wills and substitute decision-makers who can legally consent to or refuse treatment if there is no valid advance directive.

Aim:

This study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical specialists most often involved in end-of-life care in relation to the law on withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment from adults without decision-making capacity.

Design/participants:

A pre-piloted survey was posted to specialists in palliative, emergency, geriatric, renal and respiratory medicine; intensive care; and medical oncology in three Australian States. Surveys were analysed using SPSS 20 and SAS 9.3.

Results:

The overall response rate was 32% (867/2702) – 52% from palliative care specialists. Palliative care specialists and geriatricians had significantly more positive attitudes towards the law ([Formula: see text]; p < 0.001) and higher levels of knowledge about the withholding/withdrawing life-sustaining treatment law ([Formula: see text]; p < 0.001) than did the other specialists, while still having critical gaps in their knowledge.

Conclusion:

A high level of knowledge of the law is essential to ensure that patients’ wishes and decisions, expressed through Advance Care Planning, are respected to the maximum extent possible within the law, thereby according with the principles and philosophy of palliative care. It is also essential to protect health professionals from legal action resulting from unauthorised provision or cessation of treatment.
Development of a cervical cancer progress prediction tool for human papillomavirus-positive Koreans: A support vector machine-based approach
Authors: Kahng Jimin , Kim Eung-Hee , Kim Hong-Gee , Lee Wonbae
Published: May 2015

Objectives

To develop a Web-based tool to draw attention to patients positive for human papillomavirus (HPV) who have a high risk of progression to cervical cancer, in order to increase compliance with follow-up examinations and facilitate good doctor–patient communication.

Methods

Records were retrospectively analysed from women who were positive for HPV on initial testing (before any treatment). Information concerning age, Papanicolaou (PAP) smear result and presence of 15 high-risk HPV genotypes was used in a support vector machine (SVM) model, to identify the patient features that maximally contributed to progression to high-risk cervical lesions.

Results

Data from 731 subjects were analysed. The maximum number of correct cancer predictions was seen when four features (PAP, HPV16, HPV52 and HPV35) were used, giving an accuracy of 74.41%. A web-based high-risk cervical lesion prediction application tool was developed using the SVM model results.

Conclusions

Use of the web-based prediction tool may help to increase patient compliance with physician advice, and may heighten awareness of the significance of regular follow-up HPV examinations for the prevention of cervical cancer, in Korean women predicted to have heightened risk of the disease.
High-mobility group box 1 protein activating nuclear factor-κB to upregulate vascular endothelial growth factor C is involved in lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic node metastasis in colon cancer
Authors: Li Yan , He Jianming , Zhong Daping , Li Jianjun , Liang Houjie
Published: May 2015

Objectives

To investigate the roles of high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1) protein in lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic node metastasis in colon cancer.

Methods

Archival tumour specimens from patients with colon cancer were analysed in this retrospective immunohistochemical study. HMGB1, vascular endothelial growth factor C (VEGF-C) and podoplanin protein levels were analysed immunohistochemically . In vitro studies using the colon cancer cell line HCT116 were also undertaken to investigate the relationship between HMGB1, VEGF-C and nuclear factor (NF)-κB.

Results

Specimens from 70 patients with colon cancer were reviewed. The presence of positive HMGB1 immunohistochemical staining significantly correlated with lymphatic microvessel density, lymph node metastasis and VEGF-C immunohistochemical staining in colon cancer specimens. The presence of positive VEGF-C immunohistochemical staining significantly correlated with lymph node metastasis. The in vitro studies demonstrated that HMGB1 upregulated VEGF-C mRNA and protein in a dose-dependent manner in HCT116 cells, and that this was mediated via NF-κB.

Conclusions

HMGB1 immunohistochemical staining was significantly associated with lymphangiogenesis and lymphatic node metastasis in colon cancer. There was evidence that HMGB1 upregulates VEGF-C by activating NF-κB in a colon cancer cell line.
The art of sight-reading: Influence of practice, playing tempo, complexity and cognitive skills on the eye–hand span in pianists
Authors: Rosemann Stephanie , Altenmüller Eckart , Fahle Manfred
Published: May 2015

Sight-reading is a skill required by musicians when they perform sheet music unknown to them. It demands sequential anticipatory eye fixation of notes immediately followed by motor execution. The distance between eye (fixation of a note) and hand position (tapping the corresponding key) is called eye-hand span (EHS). The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of practice, playing tempo and complexity of the music on the size of the EHS, as well as its relation to performance and cognitive skills (shape recognition, working memory, and mental speed). We used a sight-reading paradigm where nine pianists accompanied a pre-recorded flute voice, which also served as a time-keeper. After a practice phase, a second measurement of the EHS with same tempo and a third and fourth measurement with a different playing tempo followed. We found that the practice phase only slightly affected the EHS but that the EHS significantly changed according to playing tempo and complexity of the music. Furthermore the EHS correlated with quality of performance after practice and mental speed skills. Hence we conclude that the EHS seems to be characteristic for each musician, is developed over years of practice and is relatively independent of a short practice phase.
Formalization and separation: A systematic basis for interpreting approaches to summarizing science for climate policy
Authors: Sundqvist Göran , Bohlin Ingemar , Hermansen Erlend AT , Yearley Steven
Published: May 2015

In studies of environmental issues, the question of how to establish a productive interplay between science and policy is widely debated, especially in relation to climate change. The aim of this article is to advance this discussion and contribute to a better understanding of how science is summarized for policy purposes by bringing together two academic discussions that usually take place in parallel: the question of how to deal with formalization (structuring the procedures for assessing and summarizing research, e.g. by protocols) and separation (maintaining a boundary between science and policy in processes of synthesizing science for policy). Combining the two dimensions, we draw a diagram onto which different initiatives can be mapped. A high degree of formalization and separation are key components of the canonical image of scientific practice. Influential Science and Technology Studies analysts, however, are well known for their critiques of attempts at separation and formalization. Three examples that summarize research for policy purposes are presented and mapped onto the diagram: the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the European Union’s Science for Environment Policy initiative, and the UK Committee on Climate Change. These examples bring out salient differences concerning how formalization and separation are dealt with. Discussing the space opened up by the diagram, as well as the limitations of the attraction to its endpoints, we argue that policy analyses, including much Science and Technology Studies work, are in need of a more nuanced understanding of the two crucial dimensions of formalization and separation. Accordingly, two analytical claims are presented, concerning trajectories, how organizations represented in the diagram move over time, and mismatches, how organizations fail to handle the two dimensions well in practice.
The Hunger Games: Food poverty and politics in the UK
Authors: Livingstone Nicola
Published: May 2015

This ‘Behind the News’ intervention offers a critique of food aid provision in the UK through two distinct and yet interconnected perspectives. First, it situates the crisis of food poverty within a wider social and historic context, and second, it questions the position and response of the capitalist state to this growing crisis. The piece weaves the two perspectives together, reflecting on the current government’s struggle to recognise, accept or address the significance of this crisis.
Critical management studies and critical theory: A review
Authors: Klikauer Thomas
Published: May 2015

Critical management studies (CMS) has pervaded the field of management studies, claiming to be based on the Frankfurt School of critical theory. This paper examines that claim. It starts with a brief outline of management studies vs. CMS, and of some of CMS’s goals: micro-emancipation, the production of better managers, good management, and fairer organisations. The aim is to provide an overview of current literature, to outline critical theory’s epistemological theory, and to deliver an assessment of CMS in the light of that.
Fiscal superstructure and the deepening of labour exploitation
Authors: Bin Daniel
Published: May 2015

This article analyses the expropriation of workers’ incomes through public debt and taxation, in a fiscal system that is capable, more than of enabling a redistribution of surpluses, of deepening future labour exploitation. Based on recent Brazilian experience, the paper shows that the increase of both public debt and interest on that debt has led to increased taxation, whose burden is eventually levied on workers. Combined with a decrease in state spending on social wages, this has led to an increase in the aggregate rate of labour exploitation, revealing the exploitative character of the state fiscal superstructure.
A class analytic approach to the Gezi Park events: Challenging the ‘middle class’ myth
Authors: Can Gürcan Efe , Peker Efe
Published: May 2015

On 31 May 2013, what began as a localised demonstration against the demolition of a public park in Istanbul escalated into anti-government protests of unprecedented form and scale in Turkey’s modern history. The class configuration of the Gezi Park events occupied the forefront of discussions within and outside the Turkish left. Mainstream accounts branded the events as an uprising of ‘middle classes’ concerned almost exclusively with secularism. Drawing on a Poulantzasian/Wrightian framework, we argue that the Gezi Park events can be reduced neither to a middle-class nor a secularism-centered uprising. They represent, instead, an initiative of various wage-earning class fractions led by service-sector employees and the educated youth, which rests on socioeconomic grievances of proletarianisation under neoliberalism.
No bridge over troubled waters: The Cypriot left in government, 2008-2013
Authors: Charalambous Giorgos , Ioannou Gregoris
Published: May 2015

In 2008, leftists across Europe hailed the election of communist leader Dimitris Christofias to executive office in the Republic of Cyprus as a breakthrough, with grand prospects for progressive, leftward change. The Cypriot left in the form of AKEL seemed to be the exception in the neoliberal European political universe, offering a new hope and the potential for an alternative political course. AKEL’s rise to executive power was seen as evidence that the left could head the government in a European state, and as an example for other left parties. Five years on, during a period in which Cyprus has signed a bailout agreement with the Troika comparable to those of Greece, the right has triumphantly returned to office, some of the harshest austerity measures have been imposed by EU elites and passed by parliament, and with public opinion on the left government’s record unprecedentedly negative, the issue of communist participation in the executive is once again, rightfully back on the agenda.