bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of Methoxychlor and Its Metabolite Hydroxychlor on Human Placental 3β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase 1 and Aromatase in JEG-3 Cells
Authors: Liu Shiwen , Mao Baiping , Bai Yanfang , Liu Jianpeng , Li Huitao , Li Xiaoheng , Lian Qingquan , Ge Ren-Shan
Published: January 2016

Progesterone and estradiol produced by the human placenta are critical for maintenance of pregnancy and fetal development. In the human placenta, 3β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (HSD3B1) is responsible for the formation of progesterone from pregnenolone and aromatase (CYP19A1) for the production of estradiol from androgen. Insecticide methoxychlor (MXC) and its metabolite hydroxychlor (HPTE) may disrupt the activities of these 2 enzymes. In this study, we investigated the effects of MXC and HPTE on steroid production in human placental JEG-3 cells and on HSD3B1 and CYP19A1 activities. MXC and HPTE inhibited progesterone and estradiol production in JEG-3 cells. MXC and HPTE were potent HSD3B1 inhibitors with the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) values of 2.339 ± 0.096 and 1.918 ± 0.078 μmol/l, respectively. MXC had no inhibition on CYP19A1 at 100 μmol/l, while HPTE was a weak inhibitor with IC50 of 97.16 ± 0.10 μmol/l. When pregnenolone was used to determine the inhibitory mode, MXC and HPTE were found to be competitive inhibitors of HSD3B1. When cofactor NAD+ was used, MXC and HPTE were the noncompetitive inhibitors of HSD3B1. When testosterone was used, HPTE was a mixed inhibitor of CYP19A1. In conclusion, MXC and HPTE are potent inhibitors of human HSD3B1, and HPTE is a weak CYP19A1 inhibitor.
A French Approach to Test Fetuses with Ultrasound Abnormalities Using a Customized Microarray as First-Tier Genetic Test
Authors: Malan Valérie , Lapierre Jean-Michel , Egloff Matthieu , Goidin Didier , Beaujard Marie-Paule , Maurin Marie-Laure , Attié-Bitach Tania , Bessières Bettina , Bernard Jean-Pierre , Roth Philippe , Stirnemann Julien , Salomon Laurent , Romana Serge , Vekemans Michel , Ville Yves , Turleau Catherine
Published: January 2016

Cytogenetic microarray analysis is now the first-tier genetic test used in a postnatal clinical setting to explore genomic imbalances in individuals with developmental disability and/or birth defects. However, in a prenatal setting, this technique is not widely implemented, largely because the clinical impact of some copy number variants (CNVs) remains difficult to assess. This limitation is especially true in France where termination of pregnancy for medical reasons may be performed at any stage of gestation. During a period of 15 months, we investigated 382 fetuses presenting with ultrasound anomalies, using a customized microarray designed to avoid the detection of CNVs raising challenges for genetic counseling. After excluding common aneuploidies, 20/374 (5.3%) fetuses had a pathogenic CNV, among which 12/374 (3.2%) could have been detected by karyotyping, whereas 8/374 (2.1%) were cryptic. Within these 374 cases, 300 were ongoing pregnancies at the time of array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) testing. For these pregnancies, we detected 18/300 (6%) pathogenic CNVs, among which 6/300 (2%) were cryptic. Using this approach, only 2/300 (0.6%) of the detected CNVs raised difficulties for genetic counseling. This study confirms the added value of this strategy in a prenatal clinical setting to minimize ethical issues for genetic counseling while enhancing the detection of genomic imbalances.
Pharmacological Characterization of the αvβ6 Integrin Binding and Internalization Kinetics of the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus Derived Peptide A20FMDV2
Authors: Slack Robert J. , Hafeji Maryam , Rogers Rebecca , Ludbrook Steve B. , Marshall John F. , Flint David J. , Pyne Susan , Denyer Jane C.
Published: January 2016

A20FMDV2 is a peptide derived from the foot-and-mouth disease virus with a high affinity and selectivity for the alpha-v beta-6 (αvβ6) arginyl-glycinyl-aspartic acid (RGD)-binding integrin. It has been shown to be an informative tool ligand in pre-clinical imaging studies for selective labelling of the αvβ6 integrin in a number of disease models. In a radioligand binding assay using a radiolabelled form of the peptide ([3H]A20FMDV2), its high affinity (KD: 0.22 nmol/l) and selectivity (at least 85-fold) for αvβ6 over the other members of the RGD integrin family was confirmed. [3H]A20FMDV2 αvβ6 binding could be fully reversed only in the presence of EDTA, whereas a partial reversal was observed in the presence of excess concentrations of an RGD-mimetic small molecule (SC-68448) or unlabelled A20FMDV2. Using flow cytometry on bronchial epithelial cells, the ligand-induced internalization of αvβ6 by A20FMDV2 and latency-associated peptide-1 was shown to be fast (t1/2: 1.5 and 3.1 min, respectively), concentration-dependent (EC50: values 1.1 and 3.6 nmol/l, respectively) and was followed by a moderately slow return of integrin to the surface. The results of the radioligand binding studies suggest that the binding of A20FMDV2 to the RGD-binding site on αvβ6 is required to maintain its engagement with the hypothesised A20FMDV2 synergy site on the integrin. In addition, there is evidence from flow cytometric studies that the RGD-ligand engagement of αvβ6 post-internalization plays a role in delaying recycling of the integrin to the cell surface. This mechanism may act as a homeostatic control of membrane αvβ6 following RGD ligand engagement.
Relaxin in Obstructive Sleep Apnea: Relationship with Blood Pressure and Inflammatory Mediators
Authors: Bonanno Anna , Riccobono Loredana , Bonsignore Maria Rosaria , Lo Bue Anna , Salvaggio Adriana , Insalaco Giuseppe , Marrone Oreste
Published: January 2016

Background: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is associated with nocturnal intermittent hypoxia, which may be responsible for increased circulating levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and inflammatory mediators, such as metalloproteinases (MMPs), and which contributes to the pathogenesis of systemic hypertension. Why some OSA patients remain normotensive is poorly understood. Relaxin-2, a pregnancy hormone, may sometimes circulate in men and could increase in hypoxic conditions. It exerts a vasodilatory activity and can modulate the release of molecules, such as MMPs and VEGF. Objectives: The objective of this study was to explore if circulating relaxin-2 in male OSA subjects may be related to OSA severity, to circulating levels of MMPs, of their inhibitors (tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases; TIMPs), and of VEGF, and if it may protect from hypertension. Patients andMethods: Fifty untreated male subjects with suspected OSA were recruited. After nocturnal polysomnography, a morning venous blood sample was withdrawn. Then, 24-hour ambulatory blood pressure (BP) monitoring was performed. Results: The respiratory disturbance index in the sample was 30.4 [interquartile range (IQR) 15.6-55.2]. Relaxin-2 was detectable in 20 subjects. These subjects did not differ in OSA severity or diurnal and nocturnal BP from subjects with undetectable relaxin-2, but they showed lower TIMP-1 (126.8 ± 29.1 vs. 156.9 ± 41.7 pg/ml, respectively; p = 0.007) and a marginally higher MMP-9/TIMP-1 molar ratio [0.58 (IQR 0.23-1.35) vs. 0.25 (IQR 0.15-0.56); p = 0.052]. Conclusions: Relaxin-2 in male subjects was not related to OSA severity, but it was associated with lower TIMP-1. As it was often undetectable, even when BP values were normal, it is unlikely that it plays a role as a major factor protecting from hypertension in OSA.
Factor XIII A-Subunit V34L Variant Affects Thrombus Cross-Linking in a Murine Model of Thrombosis
Authors: Duval Cédric , Ali Majid , Chaudhry Waleed W. , Ridger Victoria C. , Ariëns Robert A.S. , Philippou Helen
Published: January 2016

Objective—

Factor XIII (FXIII) cross-links fibrin upon activation by thrombin. Activation involves cleavage at residue 37 by thrombin, releasing an activation peptide. A common polymorphism (valine to leucine variant at residue 34, V34L), located in the activation peptide, has been associated with increased activation rates and paradoxically a protective effect in cardiovascular disease. There is, currently, no data available on the effects of V34L from in vivo models of thrombosis. We examined the effect of FXIII V34L on clot formation and cross-linking in vivo.

Approach and Results—

We generated a panel of full-length recombinant human FXIII-A
2
variants with amino acid substitutions in the activation peptide to investigate the effect of these variants on activation rate, and we used wild-type, V34L, and alanine to glycine variant at residue 33 variants to study the effects of varying FXIII activation rate on thrombus formation in a murine model of FeCl
3
injury. FXIII activation assay showed that residues 29, 30, 33, and 34 play a critical role in thrombin interaction. Full-length recombinant human FXIII-A
2
V34L has significant effects on clot formation, structure, and lysis in vitro, using turbidity assay. This variant influenced fibrin cross-linking but not size of the thrombus in vivo.

Conclusions—

Mutations in the activation peptide of full-length recombinant FXIII regulate activation rates by thrombin, and V34L influences in vivo thrombus formation by increased cross-linking of the clot.
What German Responsibility Means
Authors: Maull Hanns W.
Published: January 2016

“Responsibility” has long been a key political concept in German foreign policy since 1949. It reflects the shadow cast by Germany over Europe during the first half of the last century, and therefore implies a determination to pursue, at home and abroad, policies that are diametrically opposed to those pursued by Berlin under Emperor Wilhelm ii and Nazi Germany. In today’s context, German foreign policy “responsibility” has to deal with the breakdown of the pan-European order of Paris. The article argues that Berlin against this background should assume a leadership role within the osce along three major lines: new initiatives to launch co-operative security policies; long-term energy co-operation; and co-operative efforts to enhance the very fragile foundations of governance throughout Eastern Europe.
Eastern Wind, Northern Sky
Authors: Wagner Malene
Published: January 2016

Among countries like Germany, France and England, Denmark took part in the ‘japanomania’ that swept the West in the second half of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Key figures in promoting Japanese art were art historian Karl Madsen and artist and museum director Pietro Krohn. Both played a significant role in trying to establish Denmark in the field of Japanese art on a par with serious international art collectors and connoisseurs. Their connections to Justus Brinckmann in Hamburg and Siegfried Bing in Paris enabled them to put on exhibitions that would introduce to a Danish audience a, so far, relatively unknown and ‘exotic’ art and culture. Often perceived in the West as expressing an innate understanding of nature, Japanese art became a source of inspiration for Danish artists and designers, such as Arnold Krog, who would create a synthesis between the Nordic and Japanese in his porcelain works.
Japonisme and the Birth of Cinema
Authors: Miyao Daisuke
Published: January 2016

In this essay, I examine the connection between Japonisme and the films of the Lumière brothers. Lumière films have been considered to be “actuality films” or documentary. By focusing on Japonisme that is observed in these films, I locate them in a broader field of media interactions among such cultural products as painting and photography. One of my focuses is on the conflict and negotiation between the camera eye and the physicality of the human eyes and hands that can be witnessed in Lumière films. Moreover, considering the questions posed in Marxist, subaltern, and postcolonial theory about the relationship between center and periphery in formations of modernity, this essay attempts to reveal the process of conflict and negotiation encountered by France and Japan during the period of emerging cinema as a new global visual medium.
Typification of names in the genus Anaphyllum (Araceae)
Authors: M Sivadasan , V Abdul Jaleel , Boyce Peter C , Alfarhan Ahmed H , El-Sheikh Mohamed A , Al-Obaid Sami M
Published: January 2016

The little-known and small genus Anaphyllum (Araceae), represented by only two species endemic to India, namely A. beddomei and A. wightii, has remained without correctly designated types. Their syntypes are recognized and the names are here typified. The correct bibliographic reference to the protologue of A. wightii is provided for the first time.
Simulating the QBO in an Atmospheric General Circulation Model: Sensitivity to Resolved and Parameterized Forcing
Authors: Anstey James A. , Scinocca John F. , Keller Martin
Published: January 2016

The quasi-biennial oscillation (QBO) of tropical stratospheric zonal winds is simulated in an atmospheric general circulation model and its sensitivity to model parameters is explored. Vertical resolution in the lower tropical stratosphere finer than ≈1 km and sufficiently strong forcing by parameterized nonorographic gravity wave drag are both required for the model to exhibit a QBO-like oscillation. Coarser vertical resolution yields oscillations that are seasonally synchronized and driven mainly by gravity wave drag. As vertical resolution increases, wave forcing in the tropical lower stratosphere increases and seasonal synchronization is disrupted, allowing quasi-biennial periodicity to emerge. Seasonal synchronization could result from the form of wave dissipation assumed in the gravity wave parameterization, which allows downward influence by semiannual oscillation (SAO) winds, whereas dissipation of resolved waves is consistent with radiative damping and no downward influence. Parameterized wave drag is nevertheless required to generate a realistic QBO, effectively acting to amplify the relatively weaker mean-flow forcing by resolved waves.
The East Australian Current and Property Transport at 27°S from 2012 to 2013
Authors: Sloyan Bernadette M. , Ridgway Ken R. , Cowley Rebecca
Published: January 2016

The East Australian Current (EAC) is the complex and highly energetic poleward western boundary current of the South Pacific Ocean. A full-depth current meter and property (temperature and salinity) mooring array was deployed from the continental shelf to the abyssal waters off Brisbane Australia (27°S) for 18 months from April 2012 to August 2013. The EAC mooring array is an essential component of the Australian Integrated Marine Observing System (IMOS). During this period the EAC was coherent with an eddy kinetic to mean kinetic energy ratio of less than 1. The 18-month, mean, poleward-only mass transport above 2000 m is 22.1 ± 7.5 Sverdrups (Sv; 1 Sv ≡ 106 m3 s−1). The mean, poleward-only heat transport and flow-weighted temperature above 2000 m are −1.35 ± 0.42 PW and 15.33°C, respectively. A difference in the poleward-only and net poleward mass and heat transports above 2000 m of 6.3 Sv and 0.24 PW reflects the presence of an equatorward EAC retroflection at the eastern (offshore) end of the mooring array. A complex empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis of the along-slope velocity anomalies finds that the first two modes explain 72.1% of the velocity variance. Mode 1 is dominant at periods of approximately 60 days, and mode 2 is dominant at periods of 120 days. These dominant periods agree with previous studies in the Tasman Sea south of 27°S and suggest that variability of the EAC in the Tasman Sea may be linked to variability north of 27°S.
The role of Japan’s civil society organizations and the deteriorating relationship between Japan and South Korea
Authors: Chun Ja-hyun
Published: January 2016

In recent years, the process of reconciliation between South Korea and Japan has been going backwards, at both governmental and societal levels. Previous studies, including those from historical, realist, and domestic perspectives, have attributed this to government-level actions only. This study, however, treats civil society as an active agent and scrutinizes evolving South Korea–Japan relations through the prism of cooperation/conflict between Japan’s civil society and its government. Cases involving forced sex slaves and history textbooks will be used to examine how Japan’s civil society affects policies on postwar issues, or to discover the reasons for their limited influence. Because such structural factors as the Japanese government’s control over civil society and civil society’s restricted influence on government cannot be changed rapidly, this study recommends that civil society organizations in each country form a transnational civil society as an alternative way to create solidarity and give meaning to Japanese civil society’s past efforts at reconciliation.
Explaining sexual exploitation and abuse in peacekeeping missions
Authors: Karim Sabrina , Beardsley Kyle
Published: January 2016

Sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA) is an endemic problem in UN peacekeeping missions. It is not only a gross human rights violation, but also threatens to challenge the legitimacy of the peacekeeping mission and undermines the promotion of gender equality in host countries. We examine if the composition of peacekeeping forces along two dimensions – the proportion of women and the records of gender (in)equality in the contributing countries – helps explain variation in SEA allegations. Analysis of mission-level information from 2009 to 2013 indicates that including higher proportions of both female peacekeepers and personnel from countries with better records of gender equality is associated with lower levels of SEA allegations reported against military contingents. We conclude that substantial reductions in SEA perpetrated by peacekeepers requires cultivation of a value for gender equality among all peacekeepers – improving the representation of women may help but still stops short of addressing the root of the problem.
Disassembling the City: A Historical and an Epistemological View on the Agency of Cities
Authors: De Munck Bert
Published: January 2016

Current ideas about the “agency” of cities are dominated by economists and economic geographers who point to agglomeration economies and the clustering of institutions, if not to “creative classes” and a tolerant and diverse cultural climate. In this article, such views will be historized and denaturalized. It will be examined how “urban agency” was fabricated in the late medieval and early modern period, stressing the role of political philosophy and epistemology. First, focusing on guilds and artisanal economic actors, I will describe the coemergence of specific types of skills and knowledge and the urban as a community and body politic. Subsequently, I will argue that the city as an “assemblage” transformed drastically during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, showing that the transformations concerning both the political and economic identity of guild-based artisans and the city as a specific political community were contingent on specific attitudes and practices related to matter and materiality.
Individual Responses to a Barefoot Running Program
Authors: Tam Nicholas , Tucker Ross , Astephen Wilson Janie L.
Published: January 2016

Background:

Barefoot running is of popular interest because of its alleged benefits for runners, including reduced injury risk and increased economy of running. There is a dearth in understanding whether all runners can gain the proposed benefits of barefoot running and how barefoot running may affect long-term injury risk.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

The purpose of this study was to determine whether runners can achieve the proposed favorable kinematic changes and reduction in loading rate after a progressive training program that included barefoot running. It was hypothesized that not all individuals would experience a decrease in initial loading rate facilitated by increased ankle plantar flexion after a progressive barefoot running program; it was further hypothesized that relationships exist between changes in initial loading rate and sagittal ankle angle.

Study Design:

Descriptive laboratory study.

Methods:

A total of 26 habitually shod runners completed an 8-week, progressively introduced barefoot running program. Pre- and postintervention barefoot and shod kinematics, electromyography, and ground-reaction force data of the lower limb were collected. Ankle and knee kinematics and kinetics, initial loading rates, spatiotemporal variables, muscle activity during preactivation, and ground contact were assessed in both conditions before and after the intervention. Individual responses were analyzed by separating runners into nonresponders, negative responders, and positive responders based on no change, increase, and decrease in barefoot initial loading rate, respectively.

Results:

No biomechanical changes were found in the group after the intervention. However, condition differences did persist during both preactivation and ground contact. The positive-responder group had greater plantar flexion, increased biceps femoris and gluteus medius preactivation, and decreased rectus femoris muscle activity between testing periods. The negative responders landed in greater barefoot dorsiflexion after the intervention, and the nonresponders did not change. An overall change in ankle flexion angle was associated with a change in initial loading rate ( r2 = 0.345, P = .002) in the barefoot but not shod condition.

Conclusion:

Eight weeks of progressive barefoot running did not change overall group biomechanics, but subgroups of responders (25% of the entire group) were identified who had specific changes that reduced the initial loading rate. It appears that changes in initial loading rate are explained by changes in ankle flexion angle at initial ground contact.

Clinical Relevance:

Uninstructed barefoot running training does not reduce initial loading rate in all runners transitioning from shod to barefoot conditions. Some factors have been identified that may assist sports medicine professionals in the evaluation and management of runners at risk of injury. Conscious instruction to runners may be required for them to acquire habitual barefoot running characteristics and to reduce risk of injury.
Assessment of Noninvasive Regional Brain Oximetry in Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome and Reversible Cerebral Vasoconstriction Syndrome
Authors: Chung David Y. , Claassen Jan , Agarwal Sachin , Schmidt J. Michael , Mayer Stephan A.
Published: January 2016

Background:

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) leads to small- and large-vessel circulatory dysfunction. While aggressive lowering of elevated blood pressure is the usual treatment for PRES, excessive blood pressure reduction may lead to ischemia or infarction, particularly when PRES is accompanied by reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome (RCVS). Regional cerebral oximetry using near-infrared spectroscopy is a noninvasive modality that is commonly used intraoperatively and in intensive care settings to monitor regional cerebral oxygenation (rSO2) and may be useful in guiding treatment in select cases of PRES and RCVS.

Results:

We report a case of a patient with PRES complicated by infarction and RCVS where the optimal blood pressure management was unclear. A decision was made to decrease blood pressure which resulted in an improved neurological examination and increase in rSO2 from 40% to 55% in at-risk brain. Infarcted brain as determined by diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography perfusion imaging showed no change in rSO2 during the same time period. Furthermore, there was a qualitative change in the rSO2–mean arterial pressure (MAP) relationship, suggesting an alteration in cerebrovascular autoregulation as a result of lowering blood pressure.

Conclusions:

Regional cerebral oximetry can provide valuable diagnostic feedback in complicated cases of PRES and RCVS.
Beyond Sex: Likelihood and Predictors of Effective and Ineffective Intervention in Intimate Partner Violence in Bystanders Perceiving an Emergency
Authors: Chabot Heather Frasier , Gray Melissa L. , Makande Tariro B. , Hoyt Robert L.
Published: January 2016

Within the framework of the bystander model of intervention, we examined specific correlates and the likelihood of effective and ineffective intervention strategies of bystanders to an instance of intimate partner violence (IPV) identified as an emergency. We measured psychological variables associated with general prosocial behavior (including sex, instrumentality, expressiveness, empathy, personal distress, dispositional anger, and perceived barriers) as influential predictors in four IPV intervention behaviors (i.e., calling 911, talking to the victim, talking to the perpetrator, and physically interacting with the perpetrator). One hundred seventeen college community members completed preintervention measures, watched a film clip of IPV which they identified as an emergency, reported their likelihood of becoming involved and utilizing intervention behaviors, and identified perceived barriers to intervention. Participants were more likely to indicate using effective over ineffective intervention tactics. Lower perceived barriers to intervention predicted greater intervention likelihood. Hierarchical regression indicated that men and individuals higher in anger and instrumental traits were more likely to report that they would engage in riskier ineffective forms of intervention. Implications regarding bystander training and associations to intervention in related forms of violence including sexual assault are discussed.
Energy-aware integration of process planning and scheduling of advanced machining workshop
Authors: Zhang Chaoyang , Jiang Pingyu , Zhang Lei , Gu Peihua
Published: January 2016

Increasing energy consumption of manufacturing industry demands novel approaches to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction. Most of the previous research efforts in this area focused more on analyzing manufacturing energy consumption of a process or that of a machine tool with less concern on the system level of advanced machining workshop, especially a flexible manufacturing system. In this article, a new energy-saving approach of flexible manufacturing system is put forward based on energy evaluation model for integration of process planning and scheduling problem in flexible manufacturing system (flexible manufacturing system-integration of process planning and scheduling). First, complying with feature precedence and other technological requirements, flexible manufacturing system -integration of process planning and scheduling is mapped as an asymmetric traveling salesman problem of which operations are provinces and candidate operations are cities belonging to different provinces. To evaluate the performance of each solution of the asymmetric traveling salesman problem, energy consumption evaluation criteria for flexible manufacturing system-integration of process planning and scheduling are established and three energy efficiency indicators are also provided to perform further analysis on manufacturing energy consumption, that is, part energy efficiency, machine tool energy efficiency and feasible solution energy efficiency. Then, a mutation-combined ant colony optimization algorithm is proposed to solve the flexible manufacturing system-integration of process planning and scheduling which combined roulette and mutation selection methods to pick out the next candidate operation. The pheromone trails associated with edges are released by the so-far-best ant or the iteration-best ant probabilistically to both keep the search directed and avoid converging to the local best. Finally, a case study of flexible manufacturing system in advanced machining workshop is employed to demonstrate the feasibility and applicability of this approach in three different scenarios and compared with the “process planning then scheduling” approach; energy consumption obtained by the proposed method drops 10.7%.
Occurrence and impact of domestic violence and abuse in gay and bisexual men: A cross sectional survey
Authors: Bacchus LJ , Buller AM , Ferrari G , Peters TJ , Devries K , Sethi G , White J , Hester M , Feder GS
Published: January 2016

Summary

This cross-sectional survey measured adult experience and perpetration of negative and potentially abusive behaviours with partners and its associations with mental and sexual health problems, drug and alcohol abuse in gay and bisexual men attending a UK sexual health service. Of 532 men, 33.9% (95% CI: 29.4-37.9) experienced and 16.3% (95% CI: 13.0-19.8) reported carrying out negative behaviour. Ever being frightened of a partner (aOR 2.5; 95% CI: 2.0–3.1) and having to ask a partner’s permission (aOR 2.7; 95% CI: 1.6–4.7) were associated with increased odds of being anxious. There were increased odds of cannabis use in the last 12 months amongst men who reported ever being physically hurt (aOR 2.4; 95% CI: 1.7–3.6). Being frightened (aOR 2.2; 95% CI: 1.5–3.2), being physically hurt (aOR 2.3; 95% CI: 1.4–3.8), being forced to have sex (aOR 2.5; 95% CI: 1.3–4.9) and experiencing negative behaviour in the last 12 months (aOR 1.7; 95% CI: 1.2–2.5) were associated with increased odds of using a Class A drugs in the last 12 months. Sexual health practitioners should be trained with regards to the risk indicators associated with domestic violence and abuse, how to ask about domestic violence and abuse and refer to support.
A study on the effect of digital literacy on information use behavior
Authors: Noh Younghee
Published: January 2016

The latest evaluation indicators of digital literacy are applied to college students to evaluate their level of digital literacy. Evaluation areas applied in this study are roughly classified into technical literacy, bit literacy, and virtual community literacy, and each of these has five sub-groups. This paper attempts to analyze the level of effect of these categories and sub-groups on information use behavior. This study used a survey, as did much of the previous research. College students from five different colleges were targeted, with 221 surveys out of 250 returned, a return rate of 88.4%. As to results, bit literacy influences information use behavior most, followed by virtual community literacy and technical literacy in that order. Bit literacy is related to the ability to use information including information search, information discernment, editing information, processing information, and utilizing information, and these items appear to have influenced information use behavior most. Examination of these detailed items shows that the ability to process information has the most significant effect on information use behavior followed by information discernment, information editing, community analysis, document editing, and use of tools and ability to create cyber culture in that order. The literacy indicators with the lowest effect on information use behavior were the ability to communicate, form self-identity, information search, and form relationships in that order.
Expanding Music Listening Experience Through Drawing
Authors: Han Yo-Jung
Published: January 2016

Drawing while listening to music provides an opportunity for students to imagine and associate, leading to holistic listening experience. The personal qualitative listening experience triggered by music can be revealed in their drawings. In the process of representing of the listening experience through drawing, students can also increase their understanding of music. This article shares (a) the purposes of drawing activities, (b) the types of drawing responses, and (c) the representational characteristics shown in students’ drawings.
Current Trends in Communication Graduate Degrees
Authors: Quesenberry Keith A. , Coolsen Michael K. , Wilkerson Kristen
Published: January 2016

A survey of 61 master’s degree advertising programs reveals significant trends in program titles, curriculum design, course delivery, and students served. The results provide insight for current and planned master’s degree programs as research predicts a continued increase in demand for master’s education over the next decade. Survey results are compared against overall education trends such as the growth of non-traditional students, increase in online education delivery, and the increase of for-profit universities.
Frame Decoupling for Organizational Change
Authors: Meyer Michelle Annette , Cross Jennifer E. , Byrne Zinta S.
Published: January 2016

Using qualitative research in one organization that undertook green building, we examine the processes that occur to foster support for a new initiative among people with diverse values and perceptions. We found that framing was particularly important, but framing contests occurred due to variation in how individuals cognitively connected different frames together. To overcome these contests, the organization used an interactive process we define as “frame decoupling” through which the frames were identified, separated, and prioritized before new language or frame was selected for the collective organizational goal. We develop the concept “Frame Decoupling” to describe how variations in cognitive diagnostic framing by stakeholders within an organization contribute to framing contests and how these contests can be resolved through interactive processes that effectively decouple various preexisting frames. Frame decoupling is an additional frame alignment strategy that social movements and organizations can use to motivate support and action for organizational goals.
Integrating theory-based evaluation and process tracing in the evaluation of civil society gender budget initiatives
Authors: Bamanyaki Patricia A. , Holvoet Nathalie
Published: January 2016

Over the last two decades, gender-responsive budgeting has gained prominence as an effective tool for governments to fulfil gender commitments and the realisation of women’s rights. To date, however, limited empirical evidence exists of the impact and effectiveness of gender budget initiatives. This article proposes and demonstrates the integration of theory-based evaluation and process tracing to examine the effects of local-level civil society-led gender-responsive budgeting on maternal health service delivery in Kabale District, rural Uganda. It involves four steps: explicating the programme theory linking the gender budget initiative to the intended outcome; theorising the underlying causal mechanism; making case-specific predictions of observable manifestations of the mechanism; and testing the empirical evidence using Bayesian logic to make causal inferences about the effects of the civil society gender budget initiative on maternal health service delivery. This approach strengthens our confidence in the inferences made about causality and the effects of gender budget initiatives.
Visible through an Audible Voice
Authors: Trondalen Gro
Published: January 2016

This article describes a music therapy process with a 14-year-old girl I will call Sara, who had ceased talking for some years. Sara was an in-patient at a Centre for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. During nine months of individual music therapy, Sara presented herself through improvised music and eventually an audible voice. In this article I argue that what I term relating experiences through music has contributed to strengthening Sara's ‘self-in-relation’ and given her space for increased autonomy. This allowed Sara to perceive herself in new ways, which led to a more permanent sense of her identity.
What an I Doing Here?
Authors: O'Neill Nicky , Pavlicevic Mercédès
Published: January 2016

This paper draws upon a dissertation for a Master of Music Therapy undertaken at the Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Centre, London. Music therapy is not currently an established part of bone marrow transplantation (BMT) care for paediatric patients in Britain and consequently little research has emerged in this area of clinical work in the UK. This study explores the psychosocial needs of children and their families during BMT, and demonstrates how music-centred co-improvisatory music therapy can address these needs. It is written from the point of view of the therapist.

Drawing from interviews with patients, families and staff who have experience of music therapy within the area of BMT, and clinical vignettes from the first author's music therapy practice1, this paper highlights four areas of psychosocial needs that music therapy can address: a sense of agency, pleasure, cultural identity and normality. Each of these is discussed in relation to both the child and the family.

The study suggests that the use of a music-centred, co-improvisatory approach to music therapy appears to be especially flexible in meeting and supporting the variety of psychosocial needs experienced by both children undergoing a bone marrow transplantation and their families.
The Whole is Greater Than the Sum of its Parts: Experiences of Co-Working as Music Therapists
Authors: Fearn Mary-Clare , O'Connor Rebecca
Published: January 2016

This paper describes the experiences of two music therapists who have been working together for ten years and the benefits of this partnership. It shows how working practices and therapeutic processes have evolved over a decade. It demonstrates that working as a team over this length of time resulted in significant improvements to the therapy given to children with special needs aged between 2 and 18 and also to the support offered to their parents.

The various topics covered include the development of a co-therapy assessment procedure, group psychodynamic music therapy for children with special needs, sessions for children and their parents, the significance of counter-transference and the importance of supervision.
European Perspective Interview Series 2
Authors: Sutton Julie
Published: January 2016

This second set of interviews follows on from the previous issue. It focuses on further exploring some aspects of music therapy in the UK and in other countries that were raised in the last interview. In this case, we are concentrating on Finland, the host country for the 2004 European Congress. Two Finnish music therapists are interviewed: Jaakko Erkkilä and Esa Ala-Ruona. Jaakko runs the music therapy masters training course at the University of Jyväskylä and he is Vice President of the European Confederation of Music Therapy. Esa trains music therapists and also works within the area of psychiatry as a clinician, supervisor and researcher. He is the chairperson of the Finnish Society for Music Therapy. The UK perspective is given by Judith Nockolds, the Chair of the Association of Professional Music Therapists. Judith works as a clinician with children, young people and adults with a wide range of needs. She is also involved in training and has a private supervision practice.
Exploring the Link between Music Therapy and Sensory Integration: An Individual Case Study
Authors: Hooper Jeff , McManus Angela , McIntyre Alison
Published: January 2016

The paper begins by introducing Joan – the subject of the case study. A description of Joan's music therapy gives a glimpse of a session in which the primary focus is on how Joan responds to various physical challenges. The paper examines the therapeutic significance of this response by looking at sensory integration, sensory integrative dysfunction and Sensory Integration (SI) theory.

The paper considers the link between music therapy and sensory integration before concluding with a description and evaluation of a multi-disciplinary programme developed to meet Joan's sensory needs.
Woman to Woman
Authors: Arnason Carolyn
Published: January 2016

The phrase “woman to woman” implies that relationships between women have particular qualities and levels of understanding that value the female perspective (Gilbert & Scher 1999). This case study describes my experience as a female music therapist and pianist working for four years with Sarah (pseudonym), a physically challenged, intelligent woman who is non-verbal. Salient aspects of the improvisational music therapy sessions were use of self as music therapist, building a collaborative relationship, working with subtle and non-verbal responses, interpretive flexibility and musical transparency. There were also dimensions of the therapeutic process that enlarged the musical relationship such as silence, “being heard and seen”, comradeship, mutuality, being in connection, ambiguity, vulnerability and inner resources. The psychology of women literature focuses on gender and its influence on women's development in regards to race, sexual orientation, socioeconomic standing, age and able-bodiedness. The analysis of 103 one-hour sessions was informed by the feminist and psychology of women perspectives of growing into relationship, movement in therapy and the power to empower (Hadley & Edwards 2004; Jordan 1997; Lawrence & Maguire 1997; Miller & Stiver 1997; Rolvsjord 2004).
The Infant's Mother: Facilitating an Experience of Infant-Directed Singing with the Mother in Mind
Authors: O'Gorman Shannon
Published: January 2016

Infants admitted to the acute care context (within Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Units) are subject to continuous and intensive medical, nursing and allied health care. Within this context, the role of the mother is altered and parent-infant attachment is potentially compromised. This article focuses on the application of infant-directed singing (improvised vocalising in response to the infant's cues) as a means of supporting the mother's desire to interact with her infant. Specifically, it is suggested that Bowlby's four interrelated therapeutic tasks provide the therapist with a framework for supporting the mother in infant-directed singing and that, in turn, this impacts upon the infant's experience of its environment (understood via Winnicott's description of the ‘facilitating environment’ and the functions of the ‘good-enough mother’). As such, the therapist provides ‘reliable’ and ‘helpful’ care to the mother, who in turn provides a similar quality of care to her infant. A theoretical understanding of this process underlines the significance of the mirror-role in both parent-infant interaction and therapeutic process.
The Problem of Pleasure in Music Therapy
Authors: Stige Brynjulf
Published: January 2016

This article explores ideas around the potential value of pleasure within music therapy processes. It sets out to review and develop theory through the use of an abductive approach whereby texts are related to clinical experience and empirical material. As an initial context for the exploration, the music therapy literature is searched for reflections on pleasure. The question of whether pleasure is worth pursuing is addressed through a brief exploration of some relevant texts in Western philosophy and psychology. These literature reviews suggest that there is need for more exploratory and reflective work on pleasure within music therapy. As a contribution to this, material from a qualitative research interview with a client is presented. This material is seen in relation to relevant theories on music, mood and emotion, and implications for music therapy theory and practice are then examined.
Playing at the Boundaries
Authors: Cobbett Steve
Published: January 2016

This paper describes an integrative approach to working therapeutically with individual children who have emotional and behavioural difficulties which combines music therapy with other creative therapies (particularly play therapy and dramatherapy). The development of this way of working in response to spontaneous interactions initiated by children is described, as are its underlying person-centred principles. The advantages of, and potential objections to, such an approach are considered. A case study is used to illustrate the approach.
Improvised Stories in Music Therapy with a Child Experiencing Abuse
Authors: Thompson Stephanie
Published: January 2016

Music therapy is a useful intervention for children who have experienced sexual abuse. It can offer them opportunities to express their current difficulties, to tell their story musically and metaphorically, and to receive support and care from an appropriately trained and boundaried adult. This article describes the Journey of a ten-year-old boy in psychodynamically-oriented music therapy, focusing on his use of stories as a means of exploring issues within the therapeutic process, as well as reflecting on his experience of abuse.
The Religious Dimensions of Popular Music and Their Implications for Music Therapy
Authors: Aigen Kenneth
Published: January 2016

This article uses as its foundation contemporary research in the area of religious studies which claims that significant numbers of people in the Western world have a relationship to certain forms of rhythmically-based popular music that has acquired a religious dimension. This can be seen as a consequence both of the decline of formal religious involvement and of the fact that most forms of contemporary popular music derive from music that had as its primary function the inducement of trance states used for religious purposes. After reviewing the historical, theoretical, and developmental foundations of this argument, the author draws implications for contemporary music therapy practice.
Reflections on Music Therapy and Arts in Health
Authors: Moss Hilary
Published: January 2016

This article is a structured reflection on the author's experiences of both music therapy and arts and health work within healthcare services and an exploration of the relationship between these two distinct but related practices. It offers examples of various models of using music in healthcare settings, presents definitions of both music therapy and arts and health, and finally explores three key issues that arise when arts and health practice and music therapy meet in healthcare settings. The aim is to raise questions and encourage music therapists to reflect on how they can best interact with arts and health practitioners in their workplaces as well as how they can most effectively define their own work.
Songwriting via Skype
Authors: Baker Felicity , Krout Robert
Published: January 2016

The provision of therapy to clients online is gaining strong recognition as effective in medicine, psychiatry, and other allied health fields. However, music therapists are yet to engage with this therapy context. Working with an adolescent with Asperger's Syndrome, we trialled an online songwriting intervention via videoconferencing software (in this case Skype Ltd) and compared the adolescent's participation with participation in a face-to-face context. A microanalysis of video footage combined with interview reflections from the treating therapist and adolescent were analysed to build a picture of engagement and skills in social interaction. Our investigation showed that the adolescent was highly engaged in the Skype session, offered more eye contact, was more creative in his lyric creations and was more confident to offer disagreeing statements. Further trials using online approaches are needed to ensure that music therapy approaches are aligning with practices occurring in other health disciplines and that therapy services can be accessed by those unable to attend music therapy clinics.
In Search of a Theory
Authors: Wetherick Donald
Published: January 2016

This paper is a version of a talk originally given at the 3rd International Symposium of Nordoff Robbins Music Therapists in 2006. It is a personal account of my own development as a music therapist over more than 15 years working with children and adults. It describes how I became interested in psychodynamic music therapy and how my understanding of the relationship between music therapy and psychodynamic theory has changed over that time.

The paper also relates my own ideas to those of other music therapy writers over the past 15 years, in particular Ansdell (1995), Pavlicevic (1996) and Streeter (1999). It is not intended as a full critique of these writers, and moreover some other relevant texts (e.g. Aigen 2005 and Malloch and Trevarthen 2009) are not referred to in depth. It does, however, present a preliminary model of the possible relationships between improvisational music therapy in general (as practised in the UK) and psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and in particular the relationship between musical interaction in music therapy and psychodynamic theory.