bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The influence of risk and uncertainty on teachers’ responses to professional learning and development
Authors: Twyford Kaye , Le Fevre Deidre , Timperley Helen
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore how perceptions of risk influenced teachers’ sensemaking and actions during a professional learning and development (PLD) initiative where teachers were expected to change their practices.

Design/methodology/approach

A risk perception lens, focussed on uncertainty, was used to capture the on-going experiences of teachers as they participated in PLD. The PLD, delivered by one organisation, focussed on developing teacher use and understanding of formative assessment practices. Data for this three-school qualitative exploratory case study of teachers’ perceptions of risk primarily utilised qualitative interviews.

Findings

Findings identified that teachers perceived risk and experienced feelings of vulnerability as a result of their on-going assessment and evaluation of the uncertainty in the professional learning context. The perceived risk informed teachers’ responses and actions, ultimately impacting on teachers’ learning.

Practical implications

The risk perception process model developed from the findings and conceptual framework provides a tool for educators to navigate and reduce perceived risk and enhance learning in change.

Originality/value

This research advances the conceptualisation of perceived risk in PLD. It challenges the current concept of teachers’ resistance and instead considers the role of their perceptions of risk, broadening the understanding of responses to educational change.
Does the “reverse racism effect” withstand the test of police officer fatigue?
Authors: James Lois , James Stephen , Vila Bryan
Published: March 2017

Purpose

Policing faces several critical problems, the most immediate of which are arguably public perceptions of racial bias, and widely prevalent officer fatigue related to shift work and long work hours. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether the “reverse racism effect” still occurred when officers were extremely fatigued.

Design/methodology/approach

Controlled laboratory experiments were conducted during which experienced police patrol officers responded to black and white suspects in deadly force judgment and decision-making simulations on two occasions; once immediately following the last of five consecutive 10:40 hours patrol shifts (fatigued condition) and again 72 hours after completing the last shift in a cycle (rested condition).

Findings

Contrary to expectations, the authors found that officer fatigue did not significantly affect shooting behavior. Furthermore, the authors did not find a significant interaction between officer fatigue and suspect race on either reaction time to shoot or the likelihood of shooting an unarmed suspect. Thus, the reverse racism effect was observed both when officers were rested and fatigued.

Research limitations/implications

As policing agencies around the country respond to allegations of racial bias, both the public and police search for empirical evidence about whether negative perceptions are accurate about officers’ motivations in deadly encounters. The research reported here provides insight about how fatigue effects officers’ decisions to shoot black vs white suspects, and directly addresses this high profile and divisive national issue.

Originality/value

This is the first valid experimental test of the impact of fatigue on officer shooting behavior, and the interaction between police fatigue and suspect race on decisions to shoot.
Organizational commitment among sheriffs’ deputies during the shift to community-oriented policing
Authors: Perez Nicholas Michael , Bromley Max , Cochran John
Published: March 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the environment in which law enforcement officers operate is a main source of their job satisfaction, which is related to their overall work performance. In this line of research, a recent study by Johnson (2015) examined the organizational, job, and officer characteristics that may predict a police officer’s organizational commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

The current study replicates and extends the analyses performed in that study using an alternative data source to understand the influence of these measures on sheriff deputies’ organizational commitment during their organization’s shift to community-oriented policing.

Findings

Our results, while similar to those of Johnson (2015), revealed some unique findings. For example, in the current analyses, several organizational- and job- factors were significantly associated with deputies’ commitment to the sheriffs’ office. Specifically, deputies who report receiving higher supervisor feedback, higher peer cohesion, higher job variety and autonomy, and lower job-related stress were more highly committed to their law enforcement agency.

Practical implications

Key implications emerge for police administrators aspiring to influence employee organizational commitment during major agency shifts.

Originality/value

Overall, the present paper largely supports and progresses the findings of Johnson (2015) by extending them to sheriffs’ deputies, who are still largely underrepresented in policing research, and to an agency undergoing a dramatic organizational change. As such, the present study represents an important next step in understanding the factors that influence organizational commitment in law enforcement organizations.
Ethnographies of social enterprise
Authors: Mauksch Stefanie , Dey Pascal , Rowe Mike , Teasdale Simon
Published: March 2017

Purpose

As a critical and intimate form of inquiry, ethnography remains close to lived realities and equips scholars with a unique methodological angle on social phenomena. This paper aims to explore the potential gains from an increased use of ethnography in social enterprise studies.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors develop the argument through a set of dualistic themes, namely, the socio-economic dichotomy and the discourse/practice divide as predominant critical lenses through which social enterprise is currently examined, and suggest shifts from visible leaders to invisible collectives and from case study-based monologues to dialogic ethnography.

Findings

Ethnography sheds new light on at least four neglected aspects. Studying social enterprises ethnographically complicates simple reductions to socio-economic tensions, by enriching the set of differences through which practitioners make sense of their work-world. Ethnography provides a tool for unravelling how practitioners engage with discourse(s) of power, thus marking the concrete results of intervention (to some degree at least) as unplannable, and yet effective. Ethnographic examples signal the merits of moving beyond leaders towards more collective representations and in-depth accounts of (self-)development. Reflexive ethnographies demonstrate the heuristic value of accepting the self as an inevitable part of research and exemplify insights won through a thoroughly bodily and emotional commitment to sharing the life world of others.

Originality/value

The present volume collects original ethnographic research of social enterprises. The editorial develops the first consistent account of the merits of studying social enterprises ethnographically.
The triangular seed mass–leaf area relationship holds for annual plants and is determined by habitat productivity
Authors: Santini Bianca A. , Hodgson John G. , Thompson Ken , Wilson Peter J. , Band Stuart R. , Jones Glynis , Charles Mike , Bogaard Amy , Palmer Carol , Rees Mark
Published: March 2017

Plant allometries help us to understand resource allocation in plants and provide insight into how communities are structured. For woody species, a triangular allometric relationship between seed size and leaf size occurs in which all combinations are all possible, except for species with big seeds and small leaves (Cornelissen ). This relationship is thought to be a consequence of between‐habitat variation in abiotic conditions.

In this study, we tested if the triangular relationship between seed mass and leaf area holds for annual species, and if variation in soil productivity and light (measured as Ellenberg indicator values: EIVs) is driving this relationship.

We show that the triangular relationship also holds for annuals, which suggests that the allometric combinations between leaf area and seed mass are conserved across life‐forms.

The triangular relationship was driven by between habitat variation in soil productivity. This means that as soil productivity increases, plants with bigger leaves could have either big or small seeds. However, in low soil productivity habitats, plants are constrained in their options, and plants with small leaves can only have small seeds.

A lay summary is available for this article.
Encouraging Writing on the White Walls: Co‐production in Museums and the Influence of Professional Bodies
Authors: Kershaw Anne , Bridson Kerrie , Parris Melissa A.
Published: March 2017

Museums, along with other public sector organisations, have been urged to co‐produce. Co‐production may offer increased resourcing and greater effectiveness, and enhances public value through stronger relationships between government and citizens. However, co‐production, particularly that which involves collaboration with communities, is largely resisted by public sector organisations such as museums. This research examines the extent to which museums co‐produce and the role played by professional bodies in driving or inhibiting co‐production. It finds that the study of co‐production in museums reveals the influence of ‘institutional inertia’ and the limits to which professional bodies are able to ‘diffuse’ co‐production and change established professional practice.
The receding horizon of informality in WTO meetings
Authors: Lamp Nicolas
Published: March 2017

The essay starts from the observation that attempts to formalize negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO) have consistently spawned new forms of informality, such as the holding of meetings as ‘chairperson's consultations’ which do not require the adoption of an agenda, or the emergence of new types of ‘unofficial’ documents. The essay sketches the resulting layers of formality/informality and attempts to account for the survival of informality in the WTO. The most commonly offered explanation for the persistence of informality in WTO negotiations is that it serves to facilitate and disguise the exercise of power. The essay argues instead that formal and informal meetings serve essentially different functions. Informality can provide opportunities for productive interventions, alliances, and performances that are precluded in more formal settings. Gradations of formality/informality offer different avenues for WTO Members to talk to each other and to their domestic and international audiences.
Political exhaustion and the experiment of street: Boyle meets Hobbes in Occupy Madrid
Authors: Corsín Jiménez Alberto , Estalella Adolfo
Published: March 2017

This essay describes the complex negotiations around stranger sociability, public space, and democratic knowledge that shaped the meetings of popular assemblies in the wake of the Spanish 15M/Occupy movement. The work of assembling was ‘exhausting’, by which participants would mean two things. In one sense, meetings would often turn into tiresome affairs, trying the patience and resilience of participants. In another sense, attendants would describe assemblies as spaces of political ‘exhaustion’, where politics as usual was emptied out and replaced by new democratic possibilities. We offer here an account of exhaustion as an ethnographic category. We are particularly interested in the role accorded to exhaustion as a vacuum enabling the appearance of novel social and political roles. We develop our argument by drawing a provocative analogy with the early history of scientific experimentation, where the nature of an ‘assembly’ of trusted peers and its location in genteel space became constitutive of a new type of experimental knowledge. What social and epistemic figures are popular assemblies bodying forth today?
Ethics in rehearsal
Authors: Keenan Bernard , Pottage Alain
Published: March 2017

In this essay we explore a rather spare kind of meeting: a conversation between three people with minimal facilitating equipment. The stakes are high because these are meetings in which the barrister in an asylum or immigration case first meets with a client who is at risk of deportation. We focus on two dimensions of these encounters. First, we identify the aesthetic that configures and animates most asylum cases: the aesthetic of inconsistency. The meetings we observed were all about inconsistency; about working out how to respond to actual and anticipated challenges to the coherence of a refugee or migrant's personal narrative. The logic of inconsistency is so persistent and so corrosive that the exercise of anticipation – ‘rehearsal’ – is essentially open‐ended. This leads to the second dimension of our meetings. Barristers who work in this area of law develop a particular style or ethos, which allows them to accompany vulnerable clients through the rehearsal and also to make sense of their own involvement in the machinery of deportation. In these two aspects we find the basic choreographic principles of our meetings: the articulations which shape their material and affective ecology, and which inform the barrister's interpretation and performance of his or her professional role.
Tenure Security and Long‐term Investment on Tenanted Land: Evidence from Colonial Taiwan
Authors: Fan Elliott , Yeh Shu‐jen
Published: March 2017

We use farm diary data from Taiwan in the 1920s and 1930s to estimate the impacts of a state‐wide tenancy reform on tenants’ investment in the farmland and production outcome. The reform, commencing in 1922, enhanced the tenure security for the tenants by promoting written contracts that extended tenure length from 1 year to 5–6 years, and by establishing government‐sponsored organizations for dispute settlements. Our estimations rely on a difference‐in‐difference framework, where self‐cultivated farms are used as the control group. We find that the reform encouraged tenants to make investments in the irrigation and drainage system of the farms, which is expected to have long‐lasting benefits for production. The improved irrigation/drainage system led to significant efficiency gains for the farms. In contrast, the reform did not affect tenants’ usage of fertilizer much, which benefits production for only a crop season or a year.
Does personal contact with ethnic minorities affect anti‐immigrant sentiments? Evidence from a field experiment
Authors: FINSERAAS HENNING , KOTSADAM ANDREAS
Published: March 2017

This article explores the causal effect of personal contact with ethnic minorities on majority members’ views on immigration, immigrants’ work ethics, and support for lower social assistance benefits to immigrants than to natives. Exogenous variation in personal contact is obtained by randomising soldiers into different rooms during the basic training period for conscripts in the Norwegian Army's North Brigade. Based on contact theory of majority–minority relations, the study spells out why the army can be regarded as an ideal contextual setting for exposure to reduce negative views on minorities. The study finds a substantive effect of contact on views on immigrants’ work ethics, but small and insignificant effects on support for welfare dualism, as well as on views on whether immigration makes Norway a better place in which to live.
Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis: A review of guideline recommendations
Authors: Matheson Alexia , Mazza Danielle
Published: March 2017

Background

Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (VVC) is a difficult‐to‐manage condition that affects 5–8% of women of reproductive age. Current treatment regimes have high relapse rates, resulting in poor quality of life for the women affected.

Aim

To compare the quality and content of current guidelines concerned with recurrent VVC and to develop a summary of recommendations to assist in the management of women with this condition.

Methods

Relevant clinical guidelines were identified through a search of several databases (MEDLINE, SCOPUS and The Cochrane Library) and relevant websites. Five guidelines were identified. Each guideline was assessed for quality using the AGREE II instrument. Guideline recommendations were extracted, compared and contrasted.

Results

The identified guidelines were of mixed quality. This is not related to the level of evidence supporting them but is because of poor stakeholder involvement, applicability and lack of clarity concerning editorial independence. Current international guidelines for recurrent VVC are consistent in terms of their definition of the condition, diagnostic techniques and utilising induction and maintenance therapy as the treatment of choice. However, the regimen suggested by most guidelines (fluconazole weekly for six months) is not particularly effective; only 42.9% of patients are disease free after 12 months. An alternative regimen put forward by one of the guidelines cites a 77% cure rate after 12 months. Most guidelines lacked specific recommendations for the induction part of induction and maintenance treatment.

Conclusion

The current most recommended treatment of recurrent VVC is sub‐optimal. Studies performed on a larger scale are required to identify more effective treatments.
Menstrual management in developmentally delayed adolescent females
Authors: Chuah Irene , McRae Alexandra , Matthews Kim , Maguire Ann M. , Steinbeck Katharine
Published: March 2017

Background

Requests for assistance in menstrual management and menstrual suppression are a common, emotive and sometimes controversial aspect of adolescent disability care.

Aims

To review the uptake and outcomes of menstrual suppression among adolescent patients with developmental delay.

Methods

A retrospective review of the medical records of adolescent females with intellectual disability referred for menstrual management to the Paediatric and Adolescent Gynaecology Clinic, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, for the three‐year period between January 1, 2010 and January 1, 2013.

Results

Eighty adolescent patients with developmental delay were identified. A third (n = 28) of the patients were pre‐menarcheal at first review with parent/caregivers seeking anticipatory advice. Of the post‐menarcheal patients, the median age of menarche was 12 years (range 10–15 years). First and second line interventions were documented as were reasons for change where applicable. The combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) was the most frequently used therapy (67%), and 19 patients in total had a levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine system (LNG‐IUS) inserted (31%). Our study population differs from similar previously published groups in the marked absence of the use of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate or the subdermal etonogestrel releasing device.

Conclusion

As a paediatrician, it is important to address menstrual management issues and allay caregiver concerns with appropriate advice. Our study supports the use of the COCP as sound first line management in achieving menstrual suppression. The LNG‐IUS appears to be a favourable second line option. Further investigation into longer‐term outcomes and potential complications of device insertion is recommended.
The relationship between J waves and contact of lung cancer with the heart
Authors: Hayashi Hideki , Wu Qi , Horie Minoru
Published: March 2017

Background

J waves result mainly from an increased density of transient outward current (Ito). Mechanical stretch to the heart activates multiple signal transduction pathways, in which Ito may be involved. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that mechanical contact of lung cancer with the heart may manifest J waves.

Methods

We reviewed 12‐lead electrocardiograms to examine whether J waves were associated with contact of lung cancer with the heart. J waves were defied as an elevation of ≥0.1 mV at the junction between QRS complex and ST segment with either notching or slurring morphology. The locational interaction between lung cancer and the heart was determined by computed tomography image.

Results

A total of 264 patients (176 men; mean 68.5 ± 10.7 years) with lung cancer were evaluated. The prevalence of J waves was 25.4% in the total population. J waves were present in 40 of 44 (90.9%) patients with the contact. In contrast, J waves were present in 25 of 220 (11.4%) patients without the contact. The sensitivity and specificity of the contact for J waves were 90.9% and 88.6%, respectively. The odds ratio of the contact with the heart to the presence of J waves was 78 (95% confidence interval 25.7–236.4). The appearance of J waves that coincided with the development of lung cancer was observed in 12 patients.

Conclusion

The presence of J waves was associated with the contact of lung cancer with the heart.
Moral Hard‐Wiring and Moral Enhancement
Authors: Persson Ingmar , Savulescu Julian
Published: March 2017

We have argued for an urgent need for moral bioenhancement; that human moral psychology is limited in its ability to address current existential threats due to the evolutionary function of morality to maximize cooperation in small groups.

We address here Powell and Buchanan's novel objection that there is an ‘inclusivist anomaly’: humans have the capacity to care beyond in‐groups. They propose that ‘exclusivist’ (group‐based) morality is sensitive to environmental cues that historically indicated out‐group threat. When this is not present, we are inclusivist. They conclude that moral bioenhancement is unnecessary or less effective than socio‐cultural interventions.

We argue that Powell and Buchanan underestimate the hard‐wiring features of moral psychology; their appeal to adaptively plastic, conditionally expressed responses accounts for only a fragment of our moral psychology. In addition to restrictions on our altruistic concern that their account addresses – such as racism and sexism – there are ones it is ill‐suited to address: that our concern is stronger for kin and friends and for concrete individuals rather than for statistical lives; also our bias towards the near future. Hard‐wired features of our moral psychology that are not clearly restrictions in altruistic concern also include reciprocity, tit‐for‐tat, and others. Biomedical means are not the only, and maybe not the most important, means of moral enhancement. Socio‐cultural means are of great importance and there are currently no biomedical interventions for many hard‐wired features. Nevertheless research is desirable because the influence of these features is greater than our critics think.
Diagrams benefit symbolic problem‐solving
Authors: Chu Junyi , Rittle‐Johnson Bethany , Fyfe Emily R.
Published: March 2017

Background

The format of a mathematics problem often influences students’ problem‐solving performance. For example, providing diagrams in conjunction with story problems can benefit students’ understanding, choice of strategy, and accuracy on story problems. However, it remains unclear whether providing diagrams in conjunction with symbolic equations can benefit problem‐solving performance as well.

Aims

We tested the impact of diagram presence on students’ performance on algebra equation problems to determine whether diagrams increase problem‐solving success. We also examined the influence of item‐ and student‐level factors to test the robustness of the diagram effect.

Sample

We worked with 61 seventh‐grade students who had received 2 months of pre‐algebra instruction.

Method

Students participated in an experimenter‐led classroom session. Using a within‐subjects design, students solved algebra problems in two matched formats (equation and equation‐with‐diagram).

Results

The presence of diagrams increased equation‐solving accuracy and the use of informal strategies. This diagram benefit was independent of student ability and item complexity.

Conclusions

The benefits of diagrams found previously for story problems generalized to symbolic problems. The findings are consistent with cognitive models of problem‐solving and suggest that diagrams may be a useful additional representation of symbolic problems.
Trafficking and other regulatory mechanisms for organic anion transporting polypeptides and organic anion transporters that modulate cellular drug and xenobiotic influx and that are dysregulated in disease
Authors: Murray Michael , Zhou Fanfan
Published: March 2017

Organic anion transporters (OATs) and organic anion‐transporting polypeptides (OATPs), encoded by a number of solute carrier (SLC)22A and SLC organic anion (SLCO) genes, mediate the absorption and distribution of drugs and other xenobiotics. The regulation of OATs and OATPs is complex, comprising both transcriptional and post‐translational mechanisms. Plasma membrane expression is required for cellular substrate influx by OATs/OATPs. Thus, interest in post‐translational regulatory processes, including membrane targeting, endocytosis, recycling and degradation of transporter proteins, is increasing because these are critical for plasma membrane expression. After being synthesized, transporters undergo N‐glycosylation in the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus and are delivered to the plasma membrane by vesicular transport. Their expression at the cell surface is maintained by de novo synthesis and recycling, which occurs after clathrin‐ and/or caveolin‐dependent endocytosis of existing protein. Several studies have shown that phosphorylation by signalling kinases is important for the internalization and recycling processes, although the transporter protein does not appear to be directly phosphorylated. After internalization, transporters that are targeted for degradation undergo ubiquitination, most likely on intracellular loop residues. Epigenetic mechanisms, including methylation of gene regulatory regions and transcription from alternate promoters, are also significant in the regulation of certain SLC22A/SLCO genes. The membrane expression of OATs/OATPs is dysregulated in disease, which affects drug efficacy and detoxification. Several transporters are expressed in the cytoplasmic subcompartment in disease states, which suggests that membrane targeting/internalization/recycling may be impaired. This article focuses on recent developments in OAT and OATP regulation, their dysregulation in disease and the significance for drug therapy.
New insights in the development of syn‐depositional fractures in rimmed flat‐topped carbonate platforms, Neogene carbonate complexes, Sorbas Basin, SE Spain
Authors: Nooitgedacht Casimir W. , Kleipool Lucas M. , Andeweg Bernd , Reolid Jesús , Betzler Christian , Lindhorst Sebastian , Reijmer John J. G.
Published: March 2017

The formation of syn‐depositional fractures in carbonate platforms is considered an important feature in the understanding of platform evolution. This study investigates the mechanisms of fracture formation in rimmed flat‐topped carbonate platforms in the very well‐exposed Cariatiz Miocene Fringing Reef Unit, SE Spain. Fracture data were obtained using a combination of LIDAR and field mapping techniques, which proved useful in understanding general fracture trends. The morphological expression of fracture sets, preferred fracture localization, crosscutting relationships and fracture fill are characteristics that provide constraints on the timing of fracture formation and opening. Three dominant fracture populations were identified, amongst which a margin parallel and a margin perpendicular fracture set. Margin parallel fractures localize around the platform margin and form vertically extensive dikes that crosscut facies boundaries. The sedimentary fill of such fractures suggests syn‐depositional fracture formation under marine conditions. Together, fracture characteristics suggest a gravitational driver for the formation of tensile stress and the development of margin parallel fractures along the platform edge. Margin perpendicular structures form sub‐vertical dikes and fracture corridors. Margin perpendicular fractures localize on the platform slope and show two types of fracture fill, indicating marine and continental origins. Based on variations of fracture morphology along the carbonate platform, fracture localization, petrographic analysis of sedimentary fill and stable isotope analysis on sparite cements, we suggest a gravitational control on the formation of these fractures. Two mechanisms for the formation of subvertical margin perpendicular fractures are proposed: (1) principal stress rotation as a result of downslope loading. (2) Differential compaction over buried gulley systems on antecedent clinoform slopes. We suggest that the formation of sub‐vertical margin perpendicular fractures might be a systematic feature in slopes of flat‐topped carbonate platforms.
Effect of Parental Migration on the Academic Performance of Left‐behind Middle School Students in Rural China
Authors: Li Lili , Wang Lei , Nie Jingchun
Published: March 2017

China's rapid development and urbanization over the past 30 years have caused large numbers of rural residents to migrate to urban areas in search of work. This has created a generation of children who remain behind in rural areas when their parents migrate for work. Previous research has found mixed impacts of parental migration on the educational achievement of left‐behind children (LBC), perhaps because of methodological deficiencies and lack of recognition of the heterogeneity of this population of children. Our study attempts to examine the impact of six types of parental migration on the academic achievement of a rural junior high school sample. Our study uses a panel of 7148 junior high school students to implement a difference‐in‐difference analysis and finds that parental migration has a negative and significant impact on the academic achievement of junior high school students. Our study suggests that the Chinese Government should implement measures to dismantle barriers to the human capital accumulation of LBC to ensure sustainable economic growth and human capital development in China.
The role of notch tip shape and radius on deformation mechanisms of 12Cr1MoV steel under impact loading. Part 2. Influence of strain localization on fracture and numeric simulations
Authors: Panin S. V. , Maruschak P. O. , Vlasov I. V. , Moiseenko D. D. , Maksimov P. V. , Berto F. , Bishchak R. T. , Vinogradov A.
Published: March 2017

The fracture energy of 12Cr1MoV steel specimen with V‐shaped, U‐shaped and I‐shaped notches under impact loading was measured and analysed. The results were described using three common approaches to ductile‐brittle fracture: force‐based, energy‐based and strain‐based. Within the stage‐wise approach of physical mesomechanics of materials, the rate of increase/decrease of load at the stage of initiation and propagation of a macroscopic defect was evaluated, providing a good correlation with the work of fracture. The excitable cellular automata technique was applied to simulate the deformational behaviour of the specimens with different shape of notches. It was demonstrated that in the case of the blunted notch, the maximum impact toughness is facilitated by a more uniform distribution of the load along the notch, which hinders brittle fracture at lower testing temperature. For the specimen with the sharp I‐notch, the bands of localised shear are oriented normally to the loading axis, inhibiting macroscopic localisation of strain and crack propagation. For this reason, the impact toughness of the specimen with the I‐notch appeared to be higher than that of the V‐notched one. Using the fractographic analysis and the size of shear lips as a quantitative fracture parameter, a physical‐mechanistic scheme of fracture was suggested for the case of enhanced localised plasticity near the stress riser.
Degradation of low‐carbon MgO‐C refractory by high‐alumina stainless steel slags in VOD ladle slagline
Authors: Li Tianqing , Li Nan , Yan Wen , Zhang Houxing , He Zhongyang , Liu Baikuan
Published: March 2017

A new type of low‐carbon magnesia carbon refractory (LCMCR) substituting for MgO‐Cr2O3 refractory was successfully used in vacuum oxygen decarburization (VOD) ladle slagline, and the composition and microstructure of the used LCMCR were investigated. The results indicated that the decarburizing reaction (MgO‐C reaction) in the LCMCR under the VOD refining condition (high temperature, low pressure) was inhibited due to the low carbon content in the MgO‐C refractory and the dense layer formed between slag and original layer. The dense layer prevented the penetration of the external O2 into the LCMCR inside because of the lower permeability of this layer, and thus, the direct burnout of the C in the LCMCR was substantially restrained. On the other hand, the large size crystal and the ultra‐low inclusions (SiO2 and Fe2O3) content of the fused magnesia in the LCMCR made the magnesia more slag resistance, because the grain boundary in magnesia had higher slag penetration resistance and the contact area between the slag and the magnesia was reduced. The two aspects of the inhibited decarburizing reaction and the high quality magnesia synthetically contributed to the high slag resistance of the LCMCR.
Influence of infant feeding patterns over the first year of life on growth from birth to 5 years
Authors: Betoko A. , Lioret S. , Heude B. , Hankard R. , Carles S. , Forhan A. , Regnault N. , Botton J. , Charles M. A. , de Lauzon‐Guillain B. ,   on behalf of the EDEN Mother‐Child Cohort Study Group
Published: March 2017

Objectives

As early‐life feeding experiences may influence later health, we aimed to examine relations between feeding patterns over the first year of life and child's growth in the first 5 years of life.

Methods

Our analysis included 1022 children from the EDEN mother–child cohort. Three feeding patterns were previously identified, i.e. ‘Later dairy products introduction and use of ready‐prepared baby foods’ (pattern‐1), ‘Long breastfeeding, later main meal food introduction and use of home‐made foods’ (pattern‐2) and ‘Use of ready‐prepared adult foods’ (pattern‐3). Associations between the feeding patterns and growth [weight, height and body mass index {BMI}] were analysed by multivariable linear regressions. Anthropometric changes were assessed by the final value adjusted for the initial value.

Results

Even though infant feeding patterns were not related to anthropometric measurements at 1, 3 and 5 years, high scores on pattern‐1 were associated with higher 1–3 years weight and height changes. High scores on pattern‐2 were related to lower 0–1 year weight and height changes, higher 1–5 years weight and height changes but not to BMI changes, after controlling for a wide range of potential confounding variables including parental BMI. Scores on pattern‐3 were not significantly related to growth. Additional adjustment for breastfeeding duration reduced the strength of the associations between pattern‐2 and growth but not those between pattern‐1 and height growth.

Conclusion

Our findings emphasize the relevance of considering infant feeding patterns including breastfeeding duration, age of complementary foods introduction as well as type of foods used when examining effects of early infant feeding practices on later health. © 2017 World Obesity Federation
Setting and nanostructural evolution of metakaolin geopolymer
Authors: Chen Xu , Sutrisno Andre , Zhu Lingyang , Struble Leslie J.
Published: March 2017

The nanostructural evolution during formation of geopolymers and its correlation with setting have not been well understood. In this study, penetration resistance and ultrasonic wave reflection tests were conducted to measure setting, and solid‐state27AlNMRand liquid‐state29SiNMRwere used to examine nanostructural changes in a metakaolin geopolymer as a function of time. Aluminum was released rapidly during the first 10 hour after mixing and immediately condensed with silicate species in solution to form larger sized aluminosilicate oligomers, which then condensed to form large structural units. Our evidence suggests these units form near metakaolin particle surface. Smaller sized silicate ions in the sol phase then attach to these units to form a gel with a more interconnected network structure. The initial stage of this attaching process was seen to be associated with set, which in this mixture occurred at 15 hour.
Methodology for measuring fracture toughness of ceramic materials by instrumented indentation test with vickers indenter
Authors: Ma Dejun , Wang Jialiang , Sun Liang
Published: March 2017

Virtual crack closure technique and elastoplastic finite element method were employed to calculate the stress intensity factors (SIF) of ceramic materials on the tip of both half‐penny crack (HPC) and radial crack (RC) induced by Vickers indenter and the value of fracture toughness (KIC) was extracted by the design of equi‐SIF contour of HPC and RC crack front. Through dimensional theorem and regressive analysis, a functional relationship between instrumented indentation parameters, crack length of Vickers impression and fracture toughness of ceramic materials was established, thus a novel methodology has been presented for measuring fracture toughness of ceramic materials by instrumented Vickers indentation. Both numerical analysis and experiments have indicated that this methodology enjoys higher measurement precision compared with other available indentation methods. The methodology is universally suitable for HPC, RC as well as transition cracks and capable of determining fracture toughness and elastic modulus in a single indentation test. In addition, it saves the effort of measuring the diagonal length of Vickers impression in case that the impression remains unclear.
Effects of substituting nurse practitioners, physician assistants or nurses for physicians concerning healthcare for the ageing population: a systematic literature review
Authors: Lovink Marleen H. , Persoon Anke , Koopmans Raymond T.C.M. , Van Vught Anneke J.A.H. , Schoonhoven Lisette , Laurant Miranda G.H.
Published: March 2017

Aims

To evaluate the effects of substituting nurse practitioners, physician assistants or nurses for physicians in long‐term care facilities and primary healthcare for the ageing population (primary aim) and to describe what influences the implementation (secondary aim).

Background

Healthcare for the ageing population is undergoing major changes and physicians face heavy workloads. A solution to guarantee quality and contain costs might be to substitute nurse practitioners, physician assistants or nurses for physicians.

Design

A systematic literature review.

Data sources

PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, CENTRAL, Web of Science; searched January 1995–August 2015.

Review methods

Study selection, data extraction and quality appraisal were conducted independently by two reviewers. Outcomes collected: patient outcomes, care provider outcomes, process of care outcomes, resource use outcomes, costs and descriptions of the implementation. Data synthesis consisted of a narrative summary.

Results

Two studies used a randomized design and eight studies used other comparative designs. The evidence of the two randomized controlled trials showed no effect on approximately half of the outcomes and a positive effect on the other half of the outcomes. Results of eight other comparative study designs point towards the same direction. The implementation was influenced by factors on a social, organizational and individual level.

Conclusion

Physician substitution in healthcare for the ageing population may achieve at least as good patient outcomes and process of care outcomes compared with care provided by physicians. Evidence about resource use and costs is too limited to draw conclusions.
Chinese 1 strain of Toxoplasma gondii excreted–secreted antigens negatively modulate Foxp3 via inhibition of the TGFßRII/Smad2/Smad3/Smad4 pathway
Authors: Chen Jinling , Huang Caiqun , Zhu Dandan , Shen Pei , Duan Yinong , Wang Jianxin , Yang Chunzhao , Wu Liting
Published: March 2017

Toxoplasma gondii is an opportunistic intracellular parasite and is considered an important aetiological factor in the process of abortion, especially as occurs in early gestation. Chinese 1 strain of T. gondii is a dominant genotype prevalent in China. Although it is known that early foetal resorption triggered by RH strain of T. gondii is attributable to immune mechanisms rather than its direct effect in uterus, the underlying mechanism of the abortion caused by Chinese 1 strain remains unclear. This study was designed to investigate the effect of excreted–secreted antigens (ESA) of Chinese 1 strain of T. gondii on the expression of forkhead box transcription factor (Foxp3) as it pertains to early pregnancy and abortion. ESA caused a marked inhibition in the expression of Foxp3 both in vivo and in vitro. In addition, ESA negatively modulated Smad2 and Smad3 at the posttranslational level. Smad2 siRNA cooperated with ESA to further suppress the level of Foxp3. This inhibitory effect on Foxp3 expression was partially abrogated by overexpression of Smad2, Smad3 and Smad4. Additionally, ESA attenuated the expression of TGFßRII, whereas TGFßRII agonist could profoundly reversed the decreased Foxp3 triggered by ESA. Collectively, the findings suggested that ESA restricted Foxp3 expression by inhibiting TGFßRII/Smad2/Smad3/Smad4 signalling, ultimately resulting in abortion.
Assessing finasteride‐associated sexual dysfunction using theFAERSdatabase
Authors: Gupta A.K. , Carviel J. , MacLeod M.A. , Shear N.
Published: March 2017

Background

Postmarketing reports suggest that finasteride causes sexual dysfunction despite a low incidence reported in clinical trials. Therefore, the extent of risk remains unknown.

Objective

To determine whether the risk of sexual dysfunction is higher among individuals treated with finasteride compared to a baseline risk for all other drugs using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database.

Methods

A case by non‐case disproportionality approach was used whereby a reporting odds ratio (ROR) with 95% confidence interval (CI) was calculated. The National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NAMCS) was used to confirm results.

Results

A significant disproportionality in reporting of sexual dysfunction with the use of finasteride was observed whether finasteride was indicated for hair loss (ROR = 138.17, 95% CI: 133.13, 143.4), prostatic hyperplasia (ROR = 93.88, 95% CI: 84.62, 104.16) or any indication (ROR = 173.18, 95% CI: 171.08, 175.31). When these results were stratified by age, disproportionality was strongest at 31–45 years.

Conclusion

Use of finasteride has led to an increase in reports of sexual dysfunction where it is believed to be the primary suspect.
Patterns and mechanisms in instances of endosymbiont‐induced parthenogenesis
Authors: Ma W.‐J. , Schwander T.
Published: March 2017

Female‐producing parthenogenesis can be induced by endosymbionts that increase their transmission by manipulating host reproduction. Our literature survey indicates that such endosymbiont‐induced parthenogenesis is known or suspected in 124 host species from seven different arthropod taxa, withWolbachiaas the most frequent endosymbiont (in 56–75% of host species). Most host species (81%, 100 out of 124) are characterized by haplo‐diploid sex determination, but a strong ascertainment bias likely underestimates the frequency of endosymbiont‐induced parthenogenesis in hosts with other sex determination systems. In at least one taxon, hymenopterans, endosymbionts are a significant driver of transitions from sexual to parthenogenetic reproduction, with one‐third of lineages being parthenogenetic as a consequence of endosymbiont infection. Endosymbiont‐induced parthenogenesis appears to facilitate the maintenance of reproductive polymorphism: at least 50% of species comprise both sexual (uninfected) and parthenogenetic (infected) strains. These strains feature distribution differences similar to the ones documented for lineages with genetically determined parthenogenesis, with endosymbiont‐induced parthenogens occurring at higher latitudes than their sexual relatives. Finally, although gamete duplication is often considered as the main mechanism for endosymbiont‐induced parthenogenesis, it underlies parthenogenesis in only half of the host species studied thus far. We point out caveats in the methods used to test for endosymbiont‐induced parthenogenesis and suggest specific approaches that allow for firm conclusions about the involvement of endosymbionts in the origin of parthenogenesis.
The taxation of bonuses and its effect on executive compensation and risk‐taking: Evidence from the UK experience
Authors: von Ehrlich Maximilian , Radulescu Doina
Published: March 2017

This paper explores the effects of a bonus tax adopted in the UK in December 2009 on the compensation structure of executives and on risk‐taking behavior in the financial sector. Excessive bonuses are blamed for encouraging risk taking and are regarded as one of the pull factors of the financial crisis. The British government attempted to reduce bonuses and accordingly bank risk taking by means of a special tax on cash‐based bonuses. Using a comprehensive dataset on executive compensation, we show that the introduction of the bonus tax decreased the net cash bonuses awarded to directors by about 40%, accompanied, however, by a simultaneous increases in other forms of pay leaving total compensation as well as risk levels unaffected.
Development of 2‐phenylethanol plus acetic acid lures to monitor obliquebanded leafroller (Lepidoptera: Tortricidae) under mating disruption
Authors: Knight A. L. , El‐Sayed A. M. , Judd G. J. R. , Basoalto E.
Published: March 2017

We evaluated the effectiveness of 2‐phenylethanol (PET) in combination with acetic acid (AA) as a binary lure for monitoring male and female obliquebanded leafroller, Choristoneura rosaceana (Harris). Studies were conducted in apple, Malus domestica Borkhausen, orchards treated with or without sex pheromone dispensers for mating disruption (MD). Open polypropylene vials, closed membrane cups, and rubber septa loaded with AA and/or PET in varying amounts were first evaluated in a series of trapping experiments. Membrane cups loaded with 800 mg of PET were as effective as 10‐mg septa, but longer lasting, and were comparable to the open vials. A membrane cup AA lure was effective in tests, but further work is needed to increase its release rate and extend its activity. Catches of codling moth, Cydia pomonella (L.), and C. rosaceana were unaffected by combining PET with (E,E)‐8,10‐dodecadien‐1‐ol, the sex pheromone of codling moth, pear ester, (E,Z)‐2,4‐ethyl‐decadienoate and AA lures. Adding (E)‐4,8‐dimethyl‐1,3,7‐nonatriene to this blend to enhance codling moth catch significantly reduced catches of C. rosaceana. PET + AA was a more attractive binary lure than AA plus phenylacetonitrile (PAN) for C. rosaceana. The addition of PET or PAN to traps already baited with the sex pheromone of C. rosaceana significantly reduced male catches. Traps baited with PET + AA placed in blocks not treated with MD caught significantly fewer C. rosaceana than traps baited with sex pheromone. In comparison, sex pheromone‐baited traps in MD blocks caught ≤1 male moth per season which was significantly lower than total moth (>10) or female moth (≥3) catch in these blocks with PET + AA. A high proportion (>70%) of trapped females were mated in both untreated and MD‐treated orchards. Further refinement of this binary, bisexual lure using membrane cup technology may allow the establishment of action thresholds and improve management timings for C. rosaceana.