bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Group sequential adaptive designs in series of time-to-event randomised trials in rare diseases: A simulation study
Authors: Bayar Mohamed Amine , Le Teuff Gwénaël , Koenig Franz , Le Deley Marie-Cécile , Michiels Stefan
Published: July 2019

In rare diseases, fully powered large trials may not be doable in a reasonable time frame even with international collaborations. In a previous work, we proposed an approach based on a series of smaller parallel group two-arm randomised controlled trials (RCT) performed over a long research horizon. Within the series of trials, the treatment selected after each trial becomes the control treatment of the next one. We concluded that running more trials with smaller sample sizes and relaxed α-levels leads in the long term and under reasonable assumptions to larger survival benefits with a moderate increase of risk as compared to traditional designs based on larger but fewer trials designed to meet stringent evidence criteria. We now extend this quantitative framework with more ‘flexible’ designs including interim analyses for futility and/or efficacy, and three-arm adaptive designs with treatment selection at interim. In the simulation study, we considered different disease severities, accrual rates, and hypotheses of how treatments improve over time. For each design, we estimated the long-term survival benefit as the relative difference in hazard rates between the end and the start of the research horizon, and the risk defined as the probability of selecting at the end of the research horizon a treatment inferior to the initial control. We assessed the impact of the α-level and the choice of the stopping rule on the operating characteristics. We also compared the performance of series based on two- vs. three-arm trials. We show that relaxing α-levels within the limit of 0.1 is associated with larger survival gains and moderate increase of risk which remains within acceptable ranges. Including an interim analysis with a futility rule is associated with an additional survival gain and a better risk control as compared to series with no interim analysis, when the α-level is below or equal to 0.1, whereas the benefit of including an interim analysis is rather small for higher α-levels. Including an interim analysis for efficacy yields almost no additional gain. Series based on three-arm trials are associated with a systematic improvement in terms of survival gain and risk control as compared to series of two-arm trials.
Technological Changes in Agriculture and Information Technology: Centrality and Citation Analyses of South Korean Agricultural Patent Data
Authors: Lim Dong-Geon , Jung Jin Hwa
Published: July 2019

This study analyses recent changes in the agricultural technology trends at the current pace of its convergence with information technology (IT) using South Korean agricultural patent data from 2000 to 2015. This article focuses on the structural changes in agricultural technology in terms of patent applications by specific technology sector between the two periods: Period 1 (2000–2007) and Period 2 (2008–2015). Accordingly, we performed centrality analysis to measure the importance of each agricultural technology based on International Patent Classification (IPC) sub-classes. We also conducted citation analysis to identify whether the proportion of backward and forward citations of agricultural patents had significantly changed between the two periods. The results of the centrality analysis suggest that, whereas food technology was the most important technology sector in agriculture during both the periods, agricultural production technology experienced a considerable increase in its share in agriculture in Period 2. The results of the citation analysis confirm a substantial degree of interconnectivity between agricultural technology and non-agricultural technologies.
Paradoxical Autonomy in Japan’s Platform Economy
Authors: Shibata Saori
Published: July 2019

Crowdsourcing firms, their client firms and the government in Japan have advocated that crowd work provides opportunities for workers to enjoy autonomous working practices, enabling subpopulations such as women and the elderly who would otherwise be excluded from the labour market to find employment. This is far from the case. Instead, crowdsourcing is perhaps better considered a means, enabled by technological advances, by which to flexibilise the labour market. We have been witnessing a shift in the forms of domination and control imposed on labour from a direct, physical and onsite type of control to an indirect mechanism of domination that has rendered workers less visible while suppressing wages. This further implies that the paradoxical autonomy of crowd work is embedded in contemporary antagonism in Japanese employment relations.
Book review: Stephen R. Davis, The ANC’s War Against Apartheid: Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Liberation of South Africa
Authors: Limb Peter
Published: July 2019

Stephen R. Davis, The ANC’s War Against Apartheid: Umkhonto we Sizwe and the Liberation of South Africa. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2018, pp. 268, $35.00, Index, ISBN: 9780253032294.
Development and Psychometric Properties of the Sussex-Oxford Compassion Scales (SOCS)
Authors: Gu Jenny , Baer Ruth , Cavanagh Kate , Kuyken Willem , Strauss Clara
Published: July 2019

Compassion has received increasing societal and scientific interest in recent years. The science of compassion requires a tool that can offer valid and reliable measurement of the construct to allow examination of its causes, correlates, and consequences. The current studies developed and examined the psychometric properties of new self-report measures of compassion for others and for the self, the 20-item Sussex-Oxford Compassion for Others Scale (SOCS-O) and 20-item Sussex-Oxford Compassion for the Self Scale (SOCS-S). These were based on the theoretically and empirically supported definition of compassion as comprising five dimensions: (a) recognizing suffering, (b) understanding the universality of suffering, (c) feeling for the person suffering, (d) tolerating uncomfortable feelings, and (e) motivation to act/acting to alleviate suffering. Findings support the five-factor structure for both the SOCS-O and SOCS-S. Scores on both scales showed adequate internal consistency, interpretability, floor/ceiling effects, and convergent and discriminant validity.
Primary Care and Food Bank Collaboration to Address Food Insecurity: A Pilot Randomized Trial
Authors: Ferrer Robert L , Neira Luz-Myriam , De Leon Garcia Gualberto L , Cuellar Kristin , Rodriguez Jasmine
Published: July 2019

Food insecurity is common in the United States and linked to poor control of conditions influenced by diet. We conducted a pilot randomized trial to test whether a novel partnership between a primary care practice and a municipal food bank would improve control of type 2 diabetes among patients with food insecurity. Participants received food bank produce delivered twice monthly to the practice site, brief teaching from a food bank dietitian, and home-based education from a community health worker. After 6 months, glycosylated hemoglobin decreased (absolute change) by 3.1% in the intervention group vs 1.7% in the control group ( P = .012). Scores on Starting the Conversation–Diet, a brief dietary measure, improved in the intervention group by 2.47 on a 14-point scale ( P < .001). Body mass indexes (BMIs) were unchanged. In this early-stage study, onsite collaboration between primary care and a regional food bank generated clinically meaningful reductions in HbA1c and improvements in diet.
Testing the effect of consumer-model racial congruency on consumer behavior
Authors: Forbes-Bell Shakaila , Bardey Aurore C , Fagan Patrick
Published: July 2019

Black, Asian, and Minority Ethnic (BAME) models continue to be underrepresented in advertising within the fashion and beauty industry. The present research project aims to evaluate the impact of same-raced model adverts on consumer behavior as well as testing consumer-model racial congruence with a specific focus on Black models and consumers, the latter of whom feel especially underrepresented in advertising campaigns. Two studies were conducted. In Study 1, 120 female participants (38 Black, 82 Caucasian) viewed 28 perfume advertisements featuring 14 Black and 14 Caucasian models. Participants rated their likelihood of purchasing the perfume and how much money they would be willing to spend. In Study 2, 99 female participants (34 Black, 65 Caucasian) made the same ratings in Study 1, but this time they rated images fragrances without any models present. Participants were divided into three conditions: (1) participants who received no priming, (2) participants were primed with images of Black models, and (3) participants were primed with images of Caucasian models. Both studies highlighted that Black participants showed an increased intention of buying as well as a willingness to spend a higher amount of money when the product advertised is accompanied by images of Black models. Consumer-model racial congruence was not supported for Caucasian participants. This article highlights a participant-model racial congruence for Black participants and underlines the positive impact of inclusive fashion on BAME consumers.
Use of an aerial reconnaissance model during the movement of oversized loads
Authors: Drozd Jan , Neubauer Jiří
Published: July 2019

The paper sets out the results of an experiment carried out using the Virtual Battle Space 2 simulator to verify the applicability of an autonomous unmanned aerial system (UAS) reconnaissance model when moving oversized loads. The model is originally implemented within a decision-support system under military conditions. The aim of the experiment is to verify the possibilities of using the model for civilian needs. The basic output of the experiment presented in the paper is confirmation that the autonomous UAS reconnaissance model can be applied in the actual transportation of oversized loads: the experiment confirms the author’s hypothesis. Based on the result of the experiment it is possible to state that a slightly modified UAS model can significantly influence the execution phase of the oversized load movement in a positive way. It shows that the use of the model reduces the time of the movement and avoids unexpected interferences.
Hunter-gatherer land management in the human break from ecological sustainability
Authors: Feeney John
Published: July 2019

Evidence that human societies built on agricultural subsistence have been inherently ecologically unsustainable highlights the value in exploring whether any pre-agricultural subsistence approaches were ecologically sustainable or nearly so. The land management practices of some hunter-gatherer societies have been portrayed as sustainable, even beneficial. Research suggests such practices may fruitfully inform contemporary land management. As a human subsistence foundation, however, they may not have been ecologically sustainable. Figuring centrally in the late Pleistocene shift from immediate-return to delayed-return hunting and gathering, they enabled population growth, helped make possible the development of agriculture, and appear to have caused early environmental degradation. Consistent with this argument is research locating the origins of the Anthropocene near the Pleistocene–Holocene boundary, as societies were taking greater control of food production. It appears then that immediate-return hunting and gathering, which involved little or no land management, was the human lifeway most closely approaching ecological sustainability. Wider recognition of this idea would assist in understanding and addressing today’s ecological challenges.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) in Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI)
Authors: Minkara Anas , O’Connor Michaela , Westermann Robert W. , Rosneck James T. , Lynch Thomas Sean
Published: July 2019

Objectives:

Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) is an NIH-funded computerized adaptive test (CAT) developed to effectively assess patient outcomes in multiple domains, including physical function (PF), pain severity, and quality of life while minimizing patient burden. The purpose of this study is to validate PROMIS in patients undergoing hip arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement (FAI), including test-retest reliability and correlation with validated hip outcome measures.

Methods:

Patients undergoing elective hip arthroscopy for FAI were consecutively enrolled at a major academic center. Patients with chronic comorbidities, bilateral FAI with a staged approach, and lack of postoperative follow-up were excluded. Eligible patients completed the modified Hip Harris Score (mHHS), Hip Outcome Score Activities of Daily Living (HOS-ADL), International Hip Outcome Tool (iHOT-12), and PROMIS including PF, pain interference, and activity satisfaction. Questionnaires were completed preoperatively, two, and six weeks postoperatively. Ceiling effects were determined to be present if greater than 15% of patients scored the highest possible score on one of the patient reported outcome measurement tools in this study. The correlation of preoperative values with postoperative function were assessed utilizing the Pearson coefficient. Normality was evaluated using the Shapiro-Wilk test. Dependent sample t-tests were utilized to compare means in test-retest reliability.

Results:

There were 38 patients with a mean age of 29.3 ± 8.9 years (54% female) identified for the study. PROMIS demonstrated excellent correlation with HOS-ADL (Pearson coefficient of 0.81, Figure 1), as well as mHHS (0.80) and iHOT-12 (0.73). Patients with higher PROMIS-pain interference and pain intensity scores demonstrated a negative linear correlation with mHHS (r=-0.86, p<0.05), HOS-ADL (r=-0.71, p<0.05), and iHOT-12 (-0.71, p<0.01). PROMIS scores exhibited significant responsiveness to hip arthroscopy. Patients with higher activity satisfaction demonstrated excellent-good correlation with mHHS scores (r=0.66, p<0.05) and HOS-ADL (0.66, p<0.05). PROMIS also demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability with no variability in scores, including PF (55.5 ± 8.6 vs. 54.2 ± 10.5, p=0.74). No floor or ceiling effects were exhibited by PROMIS including the physical function, pain interference, pain intensity, social participation, and role satisfaction domain scores.

Conclusion:

PROMIS is a valid and efficient PRO in hip arthroscopy for FAI demonstrating excellent test-retest reliability and correlation with established hip outcome measures. No floor or ceiling effects were demonstrated by PROMIS. Subdomains also exhibit excellent prognostic ability in the clinical setting.
Predictors of Failure After Surgical Treatment of Femoroacetabular Impingement: Results of a Multicenter Prospective Cohort of 621 Hips
Authors: Nepple Jeffrey J. , Bedi Asheesh , Zaltz Ira , Larson Christopher M. , Sucato Daniel J. , Beaule Paul , Kim Young-Jo ,   ANCHOR Group, Clohisy John C.
Published: July 2019

Objectives:

Surgical treatment of femoroacetabular impingement attempts to improve patients’ symptoms through treatment of intra-articular labrochondral pathology and correction of underlying bony deformity. The purpose of the current study was to determine independent predictors of failure after surgical treatment of femoroacetabular impingement in a large prospective multicenter cohort study.

Methods:

A prospective cohort study of the surgical treatment of FAI was performed. A total of 760 hips undergoing primary surgical treatment of FAI were enrolled across seven surgeons. Patient characteristics, baseline patient reported outcomes (PROs), imaging findings, intraoperative pathology, and surgical treatments were prospectively recorded. A total of 621 hips (81.6%) with minimum one year follow-up were included in the current study (mean 4.3 years). The mHHS was assessed relative to the minimally clinically important difference (MCID, 8 points) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS, 74 points). Univariate analyses were performed to identify factors significantly associated with failure. Multivariate logistic regression was performed to identify independent predictors of failure.

Results:

A total of 621 hips undergoing surgical treatment of FAI were assessed at a mean 4.2 years postoperatively. This cohort had a mean age of 29.8 and included 56.8% females. Multivariate logistic regression identified independent predictors of each failure definition. Failure A (THA) was independently associated with increasing age, acetabular microfracture (both p<0.001), and femoral head chondroplasty (p=0.02). Failure B (THA or revision surgery) was independently associated only with lower preoperative mHHS (p<0.001) (p=0.01). A lower failure C (clinical failure) was independently associated with participation in competitive athletics (p=0.01), BMI (p<0.001), and male gender (p<0.001).

Conclusion:

This large multicenter cohort demonstrates the outcomes of FAI treatment at a mean of 4.3 years postoperative. Rates of THA and revision surgery were 4.0% and 6.9%. An additional 14.8% of patients demonstrates clinical failure based on patient-reported outcomes.
Variations in Blood Supply from Proximal to Distal in the Ulnar Collateral Ligament of the Elbow: A Qualitative Descriptive Cadaveric Study
Authors: Buckley Patrick S. , Morris Elizabeth R. , Robbins Colin , Kemler Bryson , Frangiamore Salvatore Joseph , Ciccotti Michael G. , Huard Johnny , LaPrade Robert F. , Hackett Thomas R.
Published: July 2019

Objectives:

The vascular supply of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) is unknown. Previous studies have reported varying success in return to play rates after non-operative management of partial UCL tears and suggest a varying healing capacity as possibly related to UCL injury location. The purpose of this study was to analyze the macroscopic vascular anatomy of the ulnar collateral ligament of the elbow.

Methods:

Eighteen, fresh-frozen, male cadaveric elbows from nine donors were sharply dissected 15 cm proximal to the medial epicondyle. Sixty mL of India Ink was injected through the brachial artery of each elbow. Arms were then frozen at -10°C, radial side down in 15-20° of elbow flexion. A bandsaw was used to section the frozen elbows into 5 mm coronal or sagittal sections. Sections were cleared for visualization using the modified Spalteholz technique. Images of specimens were taken and the qualitative description of the UCL vascularity was undertaken.

Results:

We consistently found a dense blood supply to the proximal UCL, while the distal UCL was hypovascular. We observed a possible osseous contribution to the proximal UCL from the medial epicondyle in addition to an artery from the flexor/pronator musculature that consistently appeared to provide vascularity to the proximal UCL. The degree of vascular penetration moving from proximal to distal in the UCL ranged from 39-68% of the overall UCL length, with a 49% average length of vascular penetration of the UCL.

Conclusion:

Our study found a difference in the vascular supply of the ulnar collateral ligament. The proximal UCL was well vascularized, while the distal UCL was hypovascular. This difference in vascular supply may be a factor in the differential healing capacities of the UCL based on the location of injury. An improved understanding of the macroscopic vascular supply of the UCL may aid in the clinical management of partial UCL tears and suggest an indication for treatments with respect to location of UCL injuries.
Time Required to Achieve Clinically Significant Outcomes After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair
Authors: Manderle Brandon J. , Gowd Anirudh K. , Liu Joseph , Beletsky Alexander , Bush-Joseph Charles A. , Cole Brian J. , Forsythe Brian , Nicholson Gregory P. , Verma Nikhil N.
Published: July 2019

Objectives:

To define the time-dependent nature of the minimally clinically important difference (MCID), substantial clinical benefit (SCB), and patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (RCR).

Methods:

A prospectively maintained institutional registry was queried for all patients undergoing arthroscopic RCR from 2014-2017 with completed pre-operative, 6 month, 1 and 2 year patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) surveys. MCID, SCB and PASS were calculated for the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Score (ASES) using anchor-based methodology with receiver operating curve/area under curve analysis. Time to MCID, SCB and PASS was calculated using Kaplan-Meier analysis. A Cox multivariate regression model was used to calculate hazard ratios with respect to preoperative factors and intraoperative pathology.

Results:

95 patients were included. Average age was 56.9 ± 9.5 years, average BMI was 30.8 ± 7.0 kg/m2. Mean symptom duration was 8.5 ± 7.8 months. Established MCID, SCB, PASS for the ASES were 11.1, 17.5, and 86.7 respectively. A total of 94.8% achieved MCID, 84.4% achieved SCB, and 54.6% achieved thresholds for PASS. Median achievement of MCID, SCB, and PASS occurred at 161, 166, and 347 days, respectively. Older patients had an increased likelihood of achieving MCID and SCB (HR: 1.036, 95% CI: 1.009, 1.064, p=0.009 and HR: 1.026, 95% CI: 1.000, 1.051, p=0.045, respectively). Lower preoperative score increased the likelihood of achieving SCB (HR: 0.976, 95% CI: 0.964, 0.989, p<0.001). Sustaining a dominant sided injury reduced the likelihood of achieving PASS (HR: 0.692, 95% CI: 0.513, 0.932, p=0.015).

Conclusion:

This study established the timeline to reach MCID, SCB and PASS in patients undergoing primary arthroscopic RCR. 80% of patients can expect to achieve MCID and SCB within one year, while 50% achieve PASS at this time point. Future studies should account for this trend in improvement when determining appropriate follow-up. [Figure: see text][Table: see text]
Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, Corticobasal Degeneration, and Multiple System Atrophy
Authors: Greene Paul
Published: July 2019

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

Patients who have parkinsonian features, especially without tremor, that are not responsive to levodopa, usually have one of these three major neurodegenerative disorders rather than Parkinson disease: progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), multiple system atrophy (MSA), or corticobasal degeneration (CBD). Each of these disorders eventually develops signs and symptoms that distinguish it from idiopathic Parkinson disease, but these may not be present at disease onset. Although these conditions are not generally treatable, it is still important to correctly diagnose the condition as soon as possible.

RECENT FINDINGS

In recent years, it has been increasingly recognized that the symptoms of these diseases do not accurately predict the pathology, and the pathology does not accurately predict the clinical syndrome. Despite this, interest has grown in treating these diseases by targeting misfolded tau (in the case of PSP and CBD) and misfolded α-synuclein (in the case of MSA).

Knowledge of the characteristic signs and symptoms of PSP, MSA, and CBD are essential in diagnosing and managing patients who have atypical parkinsonian syndromes.
Ataxia
Authors: Kuo Sheng-Han
Published: July 2019

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This article reviews the symptoms, laboratory and neuroimaging diagnostic tests, genetics, and management of cerebellar ataxia.

RECENT FINDINGS

Recent advances in genetics have led to the identification of novel genetic causes for ataxia and a more comprehensive understanding of the biological pathways critical for normal cerebellar function. When these molecular pathways become dysfunctional, patients develop cerebellar ataxia. In addition, several ongoing clinical trials for Friedreich ataxia and spinocerebellar ataxia will likely result in novel symptomatic and disease-modifying therapies for ataxia. Antisense oligonucleotides for spinocerebellar ataxias associated with CAG repeat expansions might be a promising therapeutic strategy.

Cerebellar ataxias include heterogeneous disorders affecting cerebellar function, leading to ataxic symptoms. Step-by-step diagnostic workups with genetic investigations are likely to reveal the underlying causes of ataxia. Some disease-specific therapies for ataxia exist, such as vitamin E for ataxia with vitamin E deficiency and thiamine for Wernicke encephalopathy, highlighting the importance of recognizing these forms of ataxia. Finally, genetic diagnosis for patients with ataxia will accelerate clinical trials for disease-modifying therapy and will have prognostic value and implications for family planning for these patients.
Psychogenic (Functional) Movement Disorders
Authors: Thenganatt Mary Ann , Jankovic Joseph
Published: July 2019

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

This article reviews a practical approach to psychogenic movement disorders to help neurologists identify and manage this complex group of disorders.

RECENT FINDINGS

Psychogenic movement disorders, also referred to as functional movement disorders, describe a group of disorders that includes tremor, dystonia, myoclonus, parkinsonism, speech and gait disturbances, and other movement disorders that are incongruent with patterns of pathophysiologic (organic) disease. The diagnosis is based on positive clinical features that include variability, inconsistency, suggestibility, distractibility, suppressibility, and other supporting information. While psychogenic movement disorders are often associated with psychological and physical stressors, the underlying pathophysiology is not fully understood. Although insight-oriented behavioral and pharmacologic therapies are helpful, a multidisciplinary approach led by a neurologist, but also including psychiatrists and physical, occupational, and speech therapists, is needed for optimal outcomes.

The diagnosis of psychogenic movement disorders is based on clinical features identified on neurologic examination, and neurophysiologic and imaging studies can provide supporting information.
The Rise of Portobelo and the Transformation of the Spanish American Slave Trade, 1640s–1730s: Transimperial Connections and Intra-American Shipping
Authors: García-Montón Alejandro
Published: July 2019

This article analyzes the rise of Portobelo as the most important center of the Spanish American slave trade from the 1660s to the 1730s. Portobelo's emergence was one of the most striking results of the structural transformation that the slave trade to Spanish America underwent between the 1640s and the 1650s. In these years, intra-American transimperial shipping displaced direct slave voyages from Africa to the Spanish Caribbean. By focusing on the elements that underpinned Portobelo's emergence, this essay shows how shifting transimperial connections affected the making and unmaking of the intraimperial circuits that supplied slaves to Spanish America. This approach reveals the inner workings, evolving links, and disputed hierarchies that interlocked port towns with inland cities and also structured the African diaspora in Spanish America and the emergence of a black Pacific.
The Climate of Conflict: Politico-environmental Press Coverage and the Eruption of the Mexican Revolution, 1907–1911
Authors: Wolfe Mikael D.
Published: July 2019

This article combines the insights of historical climatology and analysis of press coverage to reexamine the agrarian origins of the Mexican Revolution from 1907 to 1911. Using a collection of hundreds of articles from dozens of newspapers, contemporary meteorological and agricultural bulletins, government correspondence, secondary works, and recent historical climatological data, I argue that environmental dynamics and political processes were intertwined in the four years preceding the revolution. Specifically, I contend that politico-environmental press coverage of drought and frost based on incomplete or misleading regional climatic information strongly influenced the government's relief measures and thereby exacerbated the acute economic and political crises that led to the ouster of the dictator Porfirio Díaz. By analyzing these understudied climate-society dynamics surrounding the Mexican Revolution, the article's aim is to expand understanding of the significance of these dynamics as well as to incorporate the Mexican case into the global historiography on climate and rebellion.
Ports of Transnational Labor Organizing: Anarchism along the Peruvian-Chilean Littoral, 1916–1928
Authors: Savala Joshua
Published: July 2019

This article centers cross-border solidarity in the post–War of the Pacific (1879–83) context in Peru and Chile. I examine the ways in which some maritime and port workers in these countries in the early twentieth century created bonds of solidarity despite the reigning nationalism of the day. The article analyzes labor struggles and the move toward industrial organizing in Mollendo, Peru; Chilean Industrial Workers of the World efforts at creating links with Peruvian workers; and police repression after a 1925 strike in Mollendo. I combine an in-depth view of local organizing with the transnational political moves and connections forged by maritime and port workers. They lived and organized in their own ports while also forming bonds with other working-class people in the shared space of the Pacific littoral. Their organizing locally and transnationally challenged the chauvinistic nationalism of the era.
Jean-Baptiste Say on Free Trade
Authors: Numa Guy
Published: July 2019

Jean-Baptiste Say is generally portrayed as an unrelenting champion of laissez faire who believed commercial activity promoted economic well-being. However, I develop a more nuanced portrait of Say’s thinking by showing that he did not believe that free trade was an unmitigated good. He thus identified several exceptions to free international trade that justified government intervention in the form of restrictions on imports and public subsidies to domestic industries. Going beyond Adam Smith’s arguments for protective tariffs, Say maintained that government could play a role to protect infant industries, insisting on the fact that protectionism could only be gradually and carefully removed. Drawing upon Say’s published writings and archival sources, I show that Say developed original views on domestic and international trade, several of which were distinct from those of Smith. Overall, Say’s analysis of free trade sheds greater light on his conception of the role of government in a market economy. It illustrates under what conditions the government should intervene in order to achieve both economic efficiency and social justice.
Articulating Double Binds
Authors: Diedrich Lisa
Published: July 2019

I return to Patricia J. Williams’s essay “On Being the Object of Property” (1988) and her work more generally to explore how she imagines justice alchemically through the articulation of a rhetoricity of rights and of vulnerability. Put another way, I read Williams’s work as providing an early model for doing critical race and legal studies with critical disability studies. Although Williams does not use the term disability in her early work, I argue that her preoccupation with thinking vulnerability and rights together indicates an attempt to account for forms of disablement, including racism, in and across the spaces and performances of the law, academia, and medicine. I explore the condition of being rhetorically disabled in different institutional situations and show how certain practices—of relation, pedagogy, and care— can interfere with this condition, creating passageways between rights and needs, reason and unreason, and race and disability. I draw on both the content and formal and methodological innovation of Williams’s work on race and rights in order to explore the conjunctures and disjunctures—or what I call a structural and structuring double bind—between a rhetoricity of rights and a rhetoricity of vulnerability. I argue that the double bind as disorientation device helps us to generate transcultural analysis and create new forms of relation, pedagogy, and care.
Asia
Authors: Tanaka Stefan
Published: July 2019

This essay operates from a challenge that is evident in Miyoshi’s life and career, a humility of our knowledge system and the quest to exceed it. I suggest that Asia is trapped within a historical framing (as the Orient) that prevents people and places within Asia from extracting themselves from that condition of being. The problem lies within the conflation of Asia as a relational condition and the places of Asia, which adds materiality to the idea. History and the nation have been the media and form through which this problem has emerged and how many have tried to extract themselves. This circularity, I argue, reiterates what Alfred North Whitehead calls a “fallacy of misplaced concreteness.”
Physical Activity Is Higher in Patients with Left Ventricular Assist Device Compared with Chronic Heart Failure
Authors: MORENO-SUAREZ IGNACIO , LIEW SYLVIA , DEMBO LAWRENCE G. , LARBALESTIER ROBERT , MAIORANA ANDREW
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Left ventricular assist devices (LVAD) are associated with an increased aerobic capacity in patients with chronic heart failure (CHF). However, studies evaluating the impact of LVAD implantation on physical activity (PA) are lacking. The aim of this study was to compare daily PA levels in participants with LVAD with well-matched CHF participants.

Methods

Sixteen participants with an LVAD (age, 59.1 ± 10.8 yr) were case-matched to 16 participants with advanced CHF (age, 58.3 ± 8.7 yr), who were listed or being considered for cardiac transplantation. Participants underwent a cardiopulmonary exercise test to determine peak oxygen consumption (V˙O2 peak). Physical activity was monitored continuously for seven consecutive days with an Actiheart monitor.

Results

V˙O2 peak in the CHF group (12.3 ± 3.5 mL·kg−1·min−1) was not significantly different to the LVAD group before LVAD implantation (10.4 ± 2.1 mL·kg−1·min−1), but was lower than in the LVAD group after implantation (15.8 ± 4.3 mL·kg−1·min−1; P < 0.05). Physical activity was higher in the LVAD (19.7 ± 6.4 kJ·kg−1·d−1) compared with the CHF group (11.6 ± 6.9 kJ·kg−1·d−1; P = 0.001). The LVAD participants spent more time performing moderate-intensity PA than their CHF counterparts (median, 26 min·d−1; interquartile range, 24–40 min·d−1 vs median, 12 min·d−1; interquartile range, 9–16 min·d−1; P < 0.001). Physical activity was correlated with V˙O2 peak (r = 0.582; P = 0.001) across participants in the CHF and LVAD groups.

Conclusions

Higher levels of PA were observed in participants with LVAD compared with patients with advanced CHF. This may be due to a higher V˙O2 peak, resulting in an improved capacity to perform activities of daily living with less symptoms.
A Dual-Accelerometer System for Detecting Human Movement in a Free-living Environment
Authors: NARAYANAN ANANTHA , STEWART TOM , MACKAY LISA
Published: July 2019

Purpose

Accurate measurement of various human movement behaviors is essential in developing 24-h movement profiles. A dual-accelerometer system recently showed promising results for accurately classifying a broad range of behaviors in a controlled laboratory environment. As a progressive step, the aim of this study is to validate the same dual-accelerometer system in semi free-living conditions in children and adults. The efficacy of several placement sites (e.g., wrist, thigh, back) was evaluated for comparison.

Methods

Thirty participants (15 children) wore three Axivity AX3 accelerometers alongside an automated clip camera (clipped to the lapel) that recorded video of their free-living environment (ground truth criterion measure of physical activity). Participants were encouraged to complete a range of daily-living activities within a 2-h timeframe. A random forest machine-learning classifier was trained using features generated from the raw accelerometer data. Three different placement combinations were examined (thigh–back, thigh–wrist, back–wrist), and their performance was evaluated using leave-one-out cross-validation for the child and adult samples separately.

Results

Machine learning models developed using the thigh–back accelerometer combination performed the best in distinguishing seven distinct activity classes with an overall accuracy of 95.6% in the adult sample, and eight activity classes with an overall accuracy of 92.0% in the child sample. There was a drop in accuracy (at least 11.0%) when other placement combinations were evaluated.

Conclusions

This validation study demonstrated that a dual-accelerometer system previously validated in a laboratory setting also performs well in semi free-living conditions. Although these results are promising and progressive, further work is needed to expand the scope of this measurement system to detect other components of behavior (e.g., activity intensity and sleep) that are related to health.
Copyright and Generic Entry in Book Publishing
Authors: Reimers Imke
Published: July 2019

Taking works off copyright promotes their availability, but it also allows generic entry to dissipate producer surplus. This paper examines the effect of a copyright on the availability and price of books when incentives to create new works are not affected. Evaluating the welfare impact of the 1998 Copyright Term Extension Act, I find that a copyright significantly limits the availability of works, leading to a decrease in consumer surplus, which is significantly larger than any increases in profits to copyright holders. Without changing incentives to create new content, the copyright extension was economically inefficient. (JEL L11, L17, L82, O34)
Relative Price Dispersion: Evidence and Theory
Authors: Kaplan Greg , Menzio Guido , Rudanko Leena , Trachter Nicholas
Published: July 2019

Relative price dispersion refers to persistent differences in the price that different retailers set for one particular good relative to the price they set for other goods. Relative price dispersion accounts for 30 percent of the overall variance of prices at which the same good is sold during the same week and in the same market. Relative price dispersion can be rationalized as the consequence of a pricing strategy used by sellers to discriminate between high-valuation buyers who need to make all of their purchases in one store, and low-valuation buyers who are able to purchase different items in different stores. (JEL D83, L11, L21, L81)
Cadet-Branch Matching in a Kelso-Crawford Economy
Authors: Jagadeesan Ravi
Published: July 2019

Sönmez (2013) and Sönmez and Switzer (2013) used matching theory with unilaterally substitutable priorities to propose mechanisms to match cadets to military branches. This paper shows that, alternatively, the Sönmez and Sönmez–Switzer mechanisms can be constructed as descending salary adjustment processes in Kelso-Crawford (1982) economies in which cadets are (grossly) substitutable. The lengths of service contracts serve as (inverse) salaries. The underlying substitutability explains the unilateral substitutability of the priorities utilized by Sönmez and Sönmez-Switzer. (JEL C78, D82, D86, J31, J45)
Augmented Advising
Authors: Lema Joseph , Agrusa Jerome
Published: July 2019

Augmenting academic advising in the era of smart cognitive computing technologies creates new dynamics of engagement that can help academic advising evolve toward a learning-centered paradigm. We examined the self-directed learning readiness of students selected through demographic variables. The results indicate that differences in employment experience, length of employment, and grade point average (GPA) are statistically significant with regard to self-directed learning readiness scores. Preparing learners for self-directed processes can augment student development when purposefully positioned in a learning-centered approach with continuity across mobile, cloud, and cognitive technology–based learning platforms and in components of academic advising processes.
Validating Faculty Advising Through Assessment
Authors: Yonker Julie E. , Hebreard Dana , Cawley Brian D.
Published: July 2019

Faculty members take on the role of primary advisors on many small campuses. Many report feeling underprepared for the advising role. Assessment of academic advising can raise the awareness and perceived importance of advising and provide helpful feedback for practitioners. We developed a 14-item online advising assessment used to evaluate four important domains of advising: academic advice, advisor availability, advisor as personable and interested, and advising about vocation. We used this assessment to evaluate advisors who participated in an advising workshop designed to enhance their relational and conceptual advising skills. Student evaluations of advisors before and after the workshop showed significant positive differences. We recommend this assessment for advising improvement and as a means of evaluating workshop efficacy.
Major Adjustment: Undergraduates' Transition Experiences When Leaving Selective Degree Programs
Authors: Halasz Helen Mulhern , Bloom Jennifer L.
Published: July 2019

More than 80% of college students switch degree programs, and students in selective majors, such as business and nursing, often face complex processes with serious implications when leaving such selective degree programs. Therefore, using qualitative, exploratory research, we sought to understand the resources, including support, situation, strategies, and self, that students in selective majors use when transitioning to new degree programs. We also examined the resources students identified as most valuable and the factors most influential in their decision to persist at their current institutions. The findings can provide academic advisors with valuable insight about ways to best support students as they transition out of selective majors.
BÖTE Bölümlerine 2017 Yılında Yerleşen Öğrencilerin Tercihlerini Etkileyen Faktörler
Authors: UZ BİLGİN Çiğdem , KAVUK KALENDER Melike , YILMAZ M. Betül , ORHAN Feza , ERDEM Mukaddes , YILDIRIM Soner
Published: July 2019

2017 ÖSYS sonuçlarına göre Türkiye’deki Bilgisayar ve Öğretim
Teknolojileri Eğitimi (BÖTE) bölümlerinin yedisine hiç öğrenci yerleşmemiş,
38’ine ise dokuz ve/veya daha az sayıda öğrenci yerleşmiştir. Bu bölümlerden
sadece dördü kontenjanını tam doldururken, %
22’si ise kapasitesinin % 20 - % 60 arasını doldurmuşlardır. Bu durumu
etkileyen unsurları ortaya çıkarmak üzere, yerleşen öğrencilerin BÖTE
bölümlerini tercihlerini etkileyen sebeplerin belirlenmesi gerektiği
düşünülmüştür. Bu doğrultuda bu araştırmada, kontenjanını tam dolduran ile % 20 - % 60 bandında dolduran BÖTE’lerdeki öğrencilerin tercihlerinde
üniversite ve bölümlerle ilgili özelliklerin etkisi incelenmiştir. Araştırmada,
kontenjanını %20 ve üstü oranlarda
doldurmuş 12 farklı BÖTE bölümündeki 290 öğrenciden tarama yöntemi
ile veri toplanmıştır. Bu amaçla geliştirilen iki ölçeğin faktör yapıları
belirlenmiş, geçerlik ve güvenirlik çalışması yapılmıştır. Üniversite ile ilgili özelliklerin tercihlere etkisi ölçeği 14
madde ve dört boyuttan (tavsiye, konum, olanaklar, nam), Bölüm ile ilgili özelliklerin tercihlere etkisi ölçeği ise 9 madde
ve iki boyuttan (nitelik, tavsiye) oluşmaktadır. Yapılan analizler üniversitenin sunduğu olanaklar ve bölümün niteliği boyutlarının tercih
belirlemede etkisinin kontenjanı tam dolduran BÖTE’ler lehine; üniversitenin konumu boyutunun ise
kontenjanını tam doldurmayan BÖTE’ler lehine istatistiksel olarak anlamlı fark
yarattığını göstermiştir. Öğrencilerin tercih nedenlerine ilişkin görüşlerinin puan
ortalamaları; üniversitenin bütününe yönelik özellikler açısından 6 üzerinden
3.63, bölüm özellikleri açısından ise 2.72 olarak hesaplanmıştır.
Risk Assessment of Tractor-Related Hazards Based on Accident Cases
Authors: Kim Byounggap , Lim Seongyoon , Shin Seung-Yeoub , Yum Sunghyun , Kim Yu-Yong , Yun Namkyu , Yu Seokcheol
Published: July 2019

Abstract.

Annually, tractor accidents are estimated to account for more than 100 deaths in South Korea. Periodic accident surveys have served as an essential means for the National Institute of Agricultural Sciences (NAS) to develop strategies to prevent tractor accidents. In this study, hazards leading to accidents were identified, and their risks were assessed based on survey results to establish a more effective accident prevention strategy. Risk assessment for hazards proceeded as follows: hazard identification, frequency estimation, number of equivalent fatalities (NEF) estimation, and finally risk evaluation. Hazards were identified by analyzing 588 accident cases from NAS surveys and performing an expert review of the analysis results by implementing a Delphi survey. The frequency and NEF of each hazard were estimated by multiplying its probabilities and the statistical results of the NAS surveys. Each hazard was plotted in a frequency-NEF (FN) diagram and evaluated according to its position. Fifty-four hazards were identified, and their frequencies and NEF values were estimated. The risk evaluation results, based on the FN diagram, revealed that no hazard was located in the “unacceptable” area, and two hazards (carelessness and not looking ahead carefully) were in the “as low as reasonably practicable” area. Thus, it is critical to mitigate the effects of these two hazards. With the risk assessment method used in this study, personnel who are engaged in the prevention of tractor accidents, such as policymakers, extension specialists, and researchers, can quantitatively predict how many cases or fatalities can be reduced by eliminating a certain hazard. Keywords: Equivalent fatality, Frequency estimation, Hazard identification, Risk assessment, Tractor accident.
Pakistan's Evolving Relations with Saudi Arabia: Emerging Dynamics and Challenges
Authors: Siddiqi Rashid Ahmed
Published: July 2019

Historically, based on shared values of culture and religion, Pakistan's relations with Saudi Arabia have become increasingly complex over time. This has occurred in the backdrop of important geopolitical and economic shifts in the region, leading to a new dynamic equilibrium in the Pak-Saudi bilateral ties. Strong relations with Riyadh have become a crucial element of Pakistan's overall foreign policy, given the latter's intermittent economic support by the former, which underscores the significance of the Kingdom; however, deepening Indo-Saudi ties can also not be overlooked or underestimated. This paper gives an overview of ever-evolving Pak-Saudi ties, while taking into consideration current dynamics of the Kingdom's role in the Middle East and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries as well as in the South Asian region.
Pontos e Contrapontos da Educação Inclusiva nas Escolas Públicas do Município de Siriri/Sergipe / Counterpoints Points and the Inclusive Education in Public Schools of the Municipality Siriri/Sergipe
Authors: Santos Denivaldo Dos , Miguel Joelson Rodrigues
Published: July 2019

Esta pesquisa, Pontos e Contrapontos da Educação Inclusiva nas Escolas Públicas do município de Siriri/Sergipe, têm por objetivo conhecer a percepção de alunos numa perspectiva de inclusão dos mesmos na escola regular. Trata-se de uma investigação de campo, exploratória, qualitativa, com 09 Alunos com deficiência. O Instrumento de coleta de dados foi entrevista estruturada com 08 (oito) questões. Conclui-se que a educação inclusiva é competência de todos, a pesquisa realizada nas escolas do município demonstrou que os alunos têm uma percepção positiva do processo de inclusão adotado na escola. Todos acreditam apreenderem e desenvolverem habilidades e competências. Sua percepção é de que possuem.  Concluiu-se que, é necessária uma maior divulgação à comunidade sobre a educação inclusiva, como um instrumento que confere às pessoas com deficiência, maior autonomia, como forma de evitar-se a evasão deste público durante o curso das aulas.