bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Systemic mycoplasmosis with dystocia and abortion in a North American bison (Bison bison) herd
Authors: Register Karen B. , Woodbury Murray R. , Davies Jennifer L. , Trujillo Jessie D. , Perez-Casal José , Burrage Patrick H. , Clark Edward G. , Windeyer M. Claire
Published: July 2013

The current study describes a fatal Mycoplasma bovis infection in a North American bison ( Bison bison) cow and her aborted fetus in a herd suffering unusual mortality associated with dystocia and abortion. Postmortem evaluation of the subject case found severe caseonecrotic bronchopneumonia, chronic fibrinous pleuritis and pulmonary sequestra, foci of caseous necrosis in the kidneys, and necrotizing endometritis and placentitis. Histologic findings in the maternal tissues include endometrial and placental necrotizing vasculitis and changes in the lung similar to those previously described for M. bovis–associated pneumonia in feedlot bison. Gross and microscopic lesions were not observed in the fetus. Maternal lung, uterus, kidney, and placenta as well as fetal lung and kidney were positive for M. bovis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) as were the Mycoplasma-like colonies cultured from these tissues. The presence of M. bovis in maternal and fetal tissues was further demonstrated using nucleic acid extracts in a pan- Mycoplasma SYBR Green PCR assay targeting the 16S-23S ribosomal RNA spacer region with post-PCR dissociation curve analysis and sequencing of the resulting amplicons. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) testing on maternal lung and uterine caruncle was strongly positive for M. bovis antigen. A variety of methods, including culture, PCR, and IHC, failed to identify other bacterial or viral pathogens in any of the tissues evaluated. These data are the first to implicate M. bovis as a cause of placentitis and abortion in bison.
Divine exchanges: Applying social exchange theory to religious behavior
Authors: Corcoran Katie E.
Published: July 2013

All social exchanges involve some degree of uncertainty, although the amount depends on the conditions of the exchange. Uncertainty may arise due to the unverifiable quality of the good exchanged or the indeterminable quality of the exchange partner (i.e., whether she is trustworthy). Social exchange theory offers several mechanisms by which uncertainty may be reduced or mitigated such as through trust, repeated exchanges, reputation, information regarding the exchanges of others, and institutions. This paper applies principles from social exchange theory to religious behavior and argues that the same mechanisms that reduce uncertainty in social exchanges also reduce uncertainty in ‘religious’ exchanges, resulting in higher levels of religious commitment. In particular, this paper proposes that having experiences believed to be supernatural, having close ties to others within one’s religious congregation, and being affiliated with a higher tension church should increase religious commitment through decreasing uncertainty. Analysis of the 1988 General Social Survey and the 2007 Baylor Religion Survey supports these hypotheses.
Multifocal Histologically Malignant Epstein–Barr Virus–Associated Smooth Muscle Tumor in a Pediatric Transplant Patient With an Indolent Course
Authors: Kazmi Syed A. Jaffar , Aizenberg Michele R. , Harper James L. , McComb Rodney D.
Published: July 2013

Epstein–Barr virus–associated smooth muscle tumors (EBV-SMTs) are rare lesions that occur in immunocompromised patients. Dural involvement appears to be less common in organ transplant recipients than in HIV patients. Due to the paucity of reported cases following organ transplantation, the natural history of these lesions is unclear. We describe an 8-year-old female who presented with adrenal, small bowel, and intracranial tumors 6 years following renal transplantation. Histopathological analysis revealed a highly cellular, mitotically active, smooth muscle neoplasm without necrosis. The tumor stained diffusely for smooth muscle actin and myosin. In situ hybridization for EBV-encoded RNA was diffusely positive. Following gross total resection, antiviral therapy, and a reduction in immunosuppression, the patient is tumor-free at 3 years follow-up. In patients with compromised immune systems, it is important to recognize this unique form of SMT because, even when there are multiple lesions, the prognosis may be excellent.
Micropapillary Variant of Embryonal Carcinoma
Authors: Xiao Guang-Qian , Chow Jonathan , Maniar Kruti P. , Unger Pamela D.
Published: July 2013

Micropapillary pattern of growth (MPG) of carcinoma is a unique morphologic pattern. It is uncommon but a predictor of poor outcome. MPG has not been described in any germ cell tumor, most notably embryonal carcinoma, which may have papillary configuration. In this study, we reviewed 25 primary testicular germ cell tumors (pure or mixed) containing embryonal carcinoma and 2 lymph node metastases with embryonal carcinoma. Five of the 25 primary cases demonstrated MPG. With available clinical information, 3/3 (100%) cases with MPG and 5/12 (42%) cases without MPG showed evidence of metastases. The 2 lymph node metastases contained predominantly MPG. At metastasis, the median tumor size in primary tumors with MPG was significantly smaller than in those without MPG. Reticulum staining was negative in the regions of MPG and positive for other coexisting non-micropapillary growth patterns in all the 6 embryonal carcinomas. In conclusion, we described MPG in embryonal carcinoma. Although limited by the number of cases, our clinicopathological correlation results raised the possible association of the presence of MPG to the high-rate metastasis of embryonal carcinoma, similar to that seen in other carcinomas with MPG. It is therefore of importance to document this variant growth pattern if present in embryonal carcinoma. We also demonstrated that reticulum is a useful negative marker for identification of MPG.
Fractional sliding mode control of MIMO nonlinear noncommensurable plants
Authors: Valério Duarte , Costa José Sá da
Published: July 2013

This paper addresses the fractional sliding mode control of MIMO nonlinear noncommensurable plants, which does not seem to have been covered until this moment in the literature on fractional sliding mode control. It includes simulation results to confirm the feasibility of the solution presented.
Two new features for condition monitoring and fault diagnosis of planetary gearboxes
Authors: Lei Yaguo , Li Naipeng , Lin Jing , He Zhengjia
Published: July 2013

Planetary gearboxes are widely used in aerospace, automotive and heavy industrial applications that require compactness and high torque-to-weight ratios. Despite these advantages, tough operation conditions under which planetary gearboxes are typically used may lead to damage on their key components, for example, gears and bearings. Because of the unique behaviors of planetary gearboxes significantly different from fixed-axis gearboxes, the diagnostic features developed and working well for fixed-axis gearboxes will degrade when applied to planetary gearboxes. Therefore, there is a demand to develop features specifically for monitoring and diagnosing planetary gearboxes. To meet this demand, this paper proposes two features, namely, accumulative amplitudes of carrier orders and energy ratio based on difference spectra. The effectiveness of the proposed features is demonstrated using the vibration data acquired from a planetary gearbox test rig. The vibration data is measured under different motor speeds and various types of faults on gears and bearings. The proposed features are also compared with those reported in the literature. The comparison results show that the proposed features are more successful than others in monitoring and diagnosing planetary gearboxes.
The construction of operational matrices of integral and fractional integral using the flatlet oblique multiwavelets
Authors: Abdi-mazraeh Somayeh , Lakestani Mehrdad , Dehghan Mehdi
Published: July 2013

The main aim of this paper is to introduce the operational matrices of integral and fractional integral using the flatlet oblique multiwavelets. The operational matrices of integral and fractional integrals for flatlet scaling functions and wavelets are presented and are utilized to reduce the solution of the Abel integral equations of the first and the second kinds to the solution of algebraic equations. The main characteristic behind our approach in using this technique is that only a small number of flatlet oblique multiwavelets is needed to obtain a satisfactory result. Illustrative examples reveal that the present method is very effective and convenient.
Approach to rotor-shaft hysteretic whirl using Krylov–Bogoliubov techniques
Authors: Sorge Francesco
Published: July 2013

The internal friction associated with the shaft hysteresis or with the possible release of some shrink-fit coupling exerts a destabilizing effect on the over-critical rotor running, but may be efficiently counteracted by other external dissipative sources or by a proper anisotropic configuration of the support stiffness. The present analysis considers a symmetric rotor-shaft system on viscous-flexible supports with different stiffness on two orthogonal planes containing the bearing axis. The internal friction of the shaft is described either by a linear hysteretic model or by a nonlinear Coulombian force contrasting the rotor motion relative to the shaft ends. The nonlinear equations of motion are solved using an averaging approach of the Krylov–Bogoliubov type, which yields the steady orbit depending on the support dissipation applied to damp the whirl motion, for various working conditions. The beneficial influence of the support stiffness anisotropy is clearly identified.
Complex period-1 motions in a periodically forced, quadratic nonlinear oscillator
Authors: Luo Albert CJ , Yu Bo
Published: July 2013

In this paper, analytical solutions for complex period-1 motions in a periodically forced, quadratic nonlinear oscillator are presented through the Fourier series solutions with finite harmonic terms, and the corresponding stability and bifurcation analyses of the corresponding period-1 motions are carried out. Many branches of complex period-1 motions in such a quadratic nonlinear oscillator are discovered and the period-1 motion patterns changes with parameters are presented. The parameter map for excitation amplitude and frequency is developed for different complex period-1 motions. For small excitation frequency, the period-1 motion becomes more complicated. For a better understanding of complex period-1 motions in such a quadratic nonlinear oscillator, trajectories and amplitude spectrums are illustrated numerically. From stability and bifurcations analysis of the period-1 motion, the analytical bifurcation trees of period-1 motions to chaos need to be further investigated.
An alternative scheme to reduce torque ripple and mechanical vibration in direct torque controlled permanent magnet synchronous motor
Authors: Sivaprakasam Arumugam , Manigandan Thathan
Published: July 2013

The direct torque control (DTC) technique of a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM) has received increasing attention due to its simplicity and robust dynamic response compared with other control techniques. The classical switching table based DTC presents large flux, torque ripples and more mechanical vibrations in the motor. Several studies have been reported in the literature on classical DTC. However, the studies that actually discuss or evaluate the classical DTC are limited. This paper proposes, an alternative DTC method/switching table for PMSM, to reduce flux and torque ripples as well as mechanical vibrations. This is achieved by a simple modification in the classical DTC structure, by eliminating the two level inverter available in the classical DTC and replacing it with a three level neutral point clamped inverter. To further improve the performance of the proposed DTC, the available 27 voltage vectors are allowed to form different groups of voltage vectors such as Large - Zero, Medium - Zero and Small - Zero. Based on these groups, a new switching table is proposed. The proposed DTC is compared with the classical DTC and existing literature from the aspects of theory analysis and computer simulations. It can be observed that the proposed technique can significantly reduce the flux, torque ripples, and mechanical vibrations and improves the quality of current waveform compared with traditional and existing methods.
The Impact of Neglect on Initial Adaptation to School
Authors: Manly Jody Todd , Lynch Michael , Oshri Assaf , Herzog Margaret , Wortel Sanne N.
Published: July 2013

This study examined the impact of child neglect during the first 4 years of life on adaptation to school during kindergarten and first grade in the context of neighborhood poverty (NP). Processes related to the development of school competencies were examined, including the mediational role of cognitive functioning and ego-resiliency (ER) in shaping children’s school outcomes. A total of 170 low-income urban children were followed prospectively for 2 years (ages 4–6). Results indicated that neglected children had significantly lower scores on kindergarten classroom behavior and first-grade academic performance than nonneglected children. Children’s cognitive performance at age 4, controlling for maternal intelligence quotient, mediated the relation between severity of neglect and children’s behavior in kindergarten as well as their academic performance in first grade. Moreover, severity of neglect was related to children’s ER at age 4. However, additional ecological adversity in the form of NP moderated the link between ER and classroom behavior, such that at lower levels of poverty, ER mediated the relation between severity of neglect and school adaptation. Conversely, when NP was extreme, the effects of ER were attenuated and ER ceased to predict behavioral performance in kindergarten. The implications of these findings for prevention and intervention are discussed.
Lab Coats or Trench Coats? Detective Sleuthing as an Alternative to Scientifically Based Research in Indigenous Educational Communities
Authors: Kaomea Julie
Published: July 2013

Amidst late 19th-century efforts to emphasize modern medicine’s transition to a more scientific approach, physicians seeking to represent themselves as scientists began wearing white laboratory coats. Today educational researchers are likewise urged to don metaphorical white coats as scientifically based research is held up as the cure-all for our “failing” schools. However, given science’s vital role in justifying and extending Western imperialism, for members of many indigenous communities, brown bodies and white coats are an uneasy fit. In answer to Linda Smith’s call for decolonizing research methodologies to remedy the distrust between indigenous peoples and scientific research, this article considers how educational research in indigenous and historically oppressed communities could be transformed by replacing the metaphor of the lab-coat-wearing scientific researcher with the trench-coat-clad detective or private eye.
Establishing the Victim–Offender Relationship of Initially Unsolved Homicides
Authors: Quinet Kenna , Nunn Samuel
Published: July 2013

This analysis examines the extent to which homicides initially reported as unknown offender in end-of-year reports, once cleared, are more likely to have been perpetrated by strangers than other cleared homicides. Using solved and unsolved homicides in Indianapolis ( N = 829), we determined victim–offender relationships in homicides reported as unsolved in year-end reports, when solved, were not significantly different from homicides reported as having a suspect in year-end reports. Indianapolis homicides were classified disproportionately as acquaintances. Findings help negate the ongoing myth that unsolved homicides are disproportionately stranger homicides. Results suggest decreased homicide clearance rates are not due to increased stranger homicides.
The Domestic Violence Fatality Review
Authors: Storer Heather L. , Lindhorst Taryn , Starr Kelly
Published: July 2013

Domestic Violence Fatality Review (DVFR) teams are a means of identifying systems’ gaps in the coordinated response to domestic violence. While the number of homicide reviews has grown, little is known about whether DVFRs facilitate change in the community-level response to domestic violence. This research evaluated whether the recommendations made by one state-level DVFR had an effect on community and organizational priorities and practices. The results indicate that the recommendations influence countywide priorities, but less was done to implement the recommendations. DVFRs have the capacity to influence community-level change agendas; however, organizations need support moving from issue prioritization to implementation.
Putting the Public Back in Public Health
Authors: Neuilly Melanie-Angela
Published: July 2013

Fatality reviews are part of the public health arsenal to mortality prevention. As such they rely on medico-legal practitioners’ participation. Yet medico-legal practice in the United States is still divided between the scientific approach of medical examiners systems and the political approach of coroners systems. I argue that this is related to the public’s reluctance to let go of its jurisdiction over death as a social fact. I posit that attempts at systematizing coroners’ inquests, as in Washington State, illustrate such resistance, yet could be conceived as a compromise between the political and the scientific, benefiting public health and the goal of fatality reviews.
Traveler Acceptance of an App-Based Mobile Tour Guide
Authors: Lai Ivan K. W.
Published: July 2013

This study aims to identify antecedents and determinants affecting travelers’ technological acceptance of an app-based mobile tour guide (AMTG). Informativeness (IF) and entertainment (EN) are amended as antecedents apart from performance expectancy (PE), effort expectancy (EE), social influence (SI), and facilitating conditions (FC) suggested by the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology model. The empirical results were obtained in a sample of 205 travelers visiting Macau. Structural equation modeling is used to evaluate the relationships among the antecedents and determinants of the proposed model. The results indicate that IF and EN have direct effects on PE and EE. All factors except EN have significant effects on the behavioral intention of a traveler to use an AMTG. The results of this study provide implications for travel app designers and service providers to formulate business strategies to encourage travelers to adopt the AMTGs.
Consumers’ Pro-Environmental Behavior and Its Determinants in the Lodging Segment
Authors: Miao Li , Wei Wei
Published: July 2013

Sustainable consumption of hospitality products and services has become an increasingly important topic of interest in both hospitality academia and practice. Inducing pro-environmental behavior (PEB) in individuals has been recognized as one of the major challenges on the path to sustainable hospitality consumption. This research examined customers’ PEB in hotel settings. Based on a survey with a sample of 537 participants representing a broad range of demographic strata, this study identified seven dimensions of PEB as manifested in hotel settings (green consumerism, recycling, reuse, conservation, reduction, curtailing, and compromise) and examined the associations of psychological determinants with the seven PEB behavioral types. The results show that hotel customers display the least PEB when compromise of personal comfort is involved. The findings further suggest that the major determinant of PEB in hotel settings is nonenvironmental concerns, such as time and effort involved in PEB. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.
Interferon beta-1b reduces black holes in a randomised trial of clinically isolated syndrome
Authors: Nagtegaal Gijsbert JA , Pohl Christoph , Wattjes Mike P , Hulst Hanneke E , Freedman Mark S , Hartung Hans-Peter , Miller David , Montalban Xavier , Kappos Ludwig , Edan Gilles , Pleimes Dirk , Beckman Karola , Stemper Brigitte , Polman Christoph H , Sandbrink Rupert , Barkhof Frederik
Published: July 2013

Background:

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is characterised by inflammatory lesions of the central nervous system. Interferon beta-1b (IFNB-1b) has been shown to improve clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) measures for patients with MS.

Objective:

To evaluate whether IFNB-1b in patients presenting with clinically isolated syndromes (CIS) prevented persisting T1 hypointensities on MRI (persistent black holes (PBHs)).

Methods:

In the placebo-controlled phase, patients ( n = 468) were initially randomised to IFNB-1b ( n = 292) or placebo ( n = 176) for two years or clinically definite MS (CDMS). In the open-label phase ( n = 418), both groups were offered IFNB-1b for up to five years. Lesions were classified as PBHs if T1 hypointensity persisted throughout the last available scan (minimum time one year).

Results:

A total of 435 patients were evaluable for analysis. The number of PBHs/patient was lower in the early rather than the delayed treatment arm during both phases (.42 vs .71, p = .0102 and .70 vs 1.17, p = .0121). Exploratory analyses identified baseline characteristics that affected rate of conversion.

Conclusions:

Although the rate of lesions that converted to PBH showed no significant differences between groups, the numbers of PBHs per patient out of new lesions was significantly lower in IFNB-1b patients compared to patients on placebo. Trial registration number: NCT00544037.
Negative work events and accommodations in employed multiple sclerosis patients
Authors: Benedict Ralph HB , Rodgers Jonathan D , Emmert Natalie , Kininger Rachel , Weinstock-Guttman Bianca
Published: July 2013

Work disability is common in multiple sclerosis (MS) and cognitive disorder discriminates disabled from employed patients. Our goal was to develop and validate an online vocational status monitoring tool measuring negative work events and use of accommodations. We enrolled 52 employed patients completing an online survey and a clinical examination including tests of motor function, cognitive abilities, and depression. The survey recorded a wide range of reported work problems. Regression models predicting negative work events, and use of accommodations, retained measures of ambulation, cognition, and depression. These data provide preliminary support for the validity of online vocational monitoring in MS.
Value chains, partnerships and development: Using case studies to refine programme theories
Authors: Vellema Sietze , Ton Giel , de Roo Nina , van Wijk Jeroen
Published: July 2013

Partnerships between companies and non-governmental organizations that aim to incorporate smallholder farmers into value chains are increasingly being promoted as a way of pursuing development goals. This article investigates two case studies of such partnerships and the outcomes they achieved in order to refine the rationale underlying such interventions. In two case studies in Uganda and Rwanda, we documented the sequences of events within such partnership interventions, their context, and the intermediate outcomes, identified as the new rules and practices that generate institutional change. By portraying both the configuration of events within a partnership intervention and the contextual factors, these case studies reveal how the interventions produced outcomes that were situated in changing contexts, such as changes in market demand, government policy or business strategy. The research approach made it possible to disentangle partnership interventions and contextual processes, and to give participants a firmer idea of the potential and limitations of value chain partnerships to achieve developmental targets.
Listening, remembering, writing: Exploring the dictogloss task
Authors: Prince Peter
Published: July 2013

The listening comprehension skill is frequently cited by both teachers and learners of a second language (L2) as perhaps the most difficult to deal with in any systematic way. One possible approach is to use the dictogloss task. This involves learners reconstructing a short text they have listened to. Originally developed to draw learners’ attention to grammatical points, dictogloss can also be used as a listening comprehension activity. Having incorporated dictogloss in a listening comprehension course for learners of English in a French university, I sought to explore its various components further. My principal aim was to improve students’ understanding and retention of spoken English input. After a presentation of the task itself, the difficulties that learners experience when trying to remember and reproduce spoken text are discussed. Three variations of the task are presented, each of which highlights different input features. Students’ written productions were collected and scored over the course of a semester, and progress was noted on all of the measures adopted. Whether such progress can be carried over into more authentic tasks remains, however, a matter for further research.
The impact of overseas training on curriculum innovation and change in English language education in Western China
Authors: Li Daguo , Edwards Viv
Published: July 2013

This article assesses the impact of a UK-based professional development programme on curriculum innovation and change in English Language Education (ELE) in Western China. Based on interviews, focus group discussions and observation of a total of 48 English teachers who had participated in an overseas professional development programme influenced by modern approaches to education and ELE, and 9 of their colleagues who had not taken part, it assesses the uptake of new approaches on teachers’ return to China. Interviews with 10 senior managers provided supplementary data. Using Diffusion of Innovations Theory as the conceptual framework, we examine those aspects of the Chinese situation that are supportive of change and those that constrain innovation. We offer evidence of innovation in classroom practice on the part of returnees and ‘reinvention’ of the innovation to ensure a better fit with local needs. The key role of course participants as opinion leaders in the diffusion of new ideas is also explored. We conclude that the selective uptake of this innovation is under way and likely to be sustained against a background of continued curriculum reform in China.
How ‘sign meaning develops’: Strategic mediation in learning to teach
Authors: Johnson Karen E , Kuerten Dellagnelo Adriana
Published: July 2013

A fundamental goal of any L2 teacher education program is to move novice teachers toward greater levels of professional expertise, both in terms of what they know and what they can do with what they know. Yet, it is less clear how the activities embedded in teacher education programs actually assist novice teachers as they move toward greater levels of expertise. Informed by a sociocultural theoretical perspective on teacher learning (Johnson, 2009) this study examines the practices of a teacher educator as she works with a team of three novice teachers of English as a second language (ESL) who are exposed to and attempt to take up and use a set of pedagogical tools designed to assist them in garnering greater levels of student participation and engagement in their L2 instruction. Specifically, this study traces how the meaning and functional uses of this set of pedagogical tools develops and the critical role that strategic mediation must play in order to assist novice teachers in becoming fluent users of these pedagogical tools in their L2 instruction.
Social capital and immunisation against the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic in Sweden
Authors: Rönnerstrand Björn
Published: July 2013

Aim: To investigate the connection between social capital indicators and immunisation. Method: The national Society Opinion & Media (SOM) survey is an annual cross-sectional postal survey. In 2009, a random sample of persons aged 16–85 was drawn from the Swedish national register and yielded a 59% participation rate. The number of respondents analysed was 2130. A multiple logistic regression model was used to investigate the connection between the explanatory variables institutional trust and generalised trust and the outcome variable immunisation intent. The analyses included sex, age, education, self-rated health, and personal and societal concern about the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. Results: For institutional trust in health care, the odds ratios for intention to vaccinate against the A(H1N1) pandemic were significantly higher in the Medium trust and High trust categories as compared to the Low trust reference category. For generalised trust, the odds ratio for vaccination intention was significantly higher in the High trust category as compared to the Low trust reference category. Conclusions: Two important social capital indicators – institutional trust in health care and generalised trust – seem to be independently associated with intention to accept vaccination against the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic. The effect holds also when controlling for plausible confounders, such as education, self-rated health, and personal and societal concern about the 2009 A(H1N1) pandemic.
Why do students differ in the value they place on pro-social activities?
Authors: Caspersz Donella , Olaru Doina
Published: July 2013

Pro-social activities are intended to benefit someone or something other than oneself. There is little known about the pro-social activities students valorize or why students differ in the value they place on different activities. The study seeks to present an understanding about both these matters. Informed by the critical theorist Jürgen Habermas we first constructed a conceptual model to analyse the desirability and feasibility of pro-social activity among our sample. Using data from an online survey with students involved and not involved in a pro-social activity, we found a significant moderator effect of this engagement. Moreover, students differed in the way they valued different activities, with the engaged group devoting time to educational pro-social activities, while the others were more attracted to alleviating hunger and poverty as pro-social activities.
Feeding the ‘organic child’: Mothering through ethical consumption
Authors: Cairns Kate , Johnston Josée , MacKendrick Norah
Published: July 2013

In this article, we examine the gendering of ethical food discourse by focusing on the ideal of the ‘organic child’. Drawing from qualitative focus groups and interviews with Canadian mothers of various class backgrounds, we find that the organic child reflects the intersecting ideals of motherhood and ethical food discourse, whereby ‘good’ mothers are those who preserve their children’s purity and protect the environment through conscientious food purchases. Women in our study express the desire to nurture the organic child, and feel responsible for protecting their children’s purity. At the same time the organic child represents a gendered burden for women, our participants negotiate the ideal in complex ways that involve managing emotions and balancing the normative expectations of motherhood with pragmatic demands. The idealized figure of the organic child not only works ideologically to reinforce gendered notions of care-work, but also works to set a classed standard for good mothering that demands significant investments of economic and cultural capital. We argue that the organic child ideal reflects neoliberal expectations about childhood and maternal social and environmental responsibility by emphasizing mothers’ individual responsibility for securing children’s futures.
Maternal consumption: A view from the past
Authors: Rose Clare
Published: July 2013

Children’s clothes are an appropriate topic for examining maternal consumption, as they are among the first items provided for infants and must be frequently replaced to accommodate growth, requiring repeated consumption decisions. For contemporary mothers, decisions about clothing may act as a way of defining their parenting practice both to their children and to adult peers, and anxieties about this role may be heightened by the characterization of commercial interests as corrupters of childhood innocence.

As Dan Cook has noted, the disjuncture between theories of consumption and the historiography of childhood is a major problem, with the origins of contemporary practices largely unexamined. Thus there is scope for examining maternal consumption in the past in order to illuminate parallels and disjunctures with contemporary practices and issues around maternal consumption. This article examines the role of mothers in providing children’s clothing in Britain from 1890–1914, in a society that was both fixated on consumption as a sign of social status and increasingly concerned about correct methods of mothering. It is framed by a review of some of the main themes and anxieties raised by contemporary studies of maternal consumption. It then examines 19th-century texts addressed to mothers to establish how maternal provision of clothing was conceptualized. These reveal a divergence between the promotion of the pleasures of consumption in dressmaking magazines such as Letts’s Illustrated Household Magazine, Madame Schild’s Shilling Dress Patterns and Myra’s Mid-Monthly Journal and Children’s Fashions and the counsels of restraint in childrearing manuals and wardrobe management guides. Texts addressing the needs of working-class families, such as school textbooks, linked clothing consumption with improving child health and rationalizing scarce resources of time and money. The extent to which consumption practices reflected these competing sources of advice is evaluated through an analysis of school group photographs. A case study of the pinafores commonly worn by young schoolgirls draws out the ways in which this garment embodied social meanings. This leads to reflections on the relevance of these findings for contemporary investigations of maternal consumption.
Showtime’s ‘female problem’: Cancer, quality and motherhood
Authors: Bradshaw Lara
Published: July 2013

Since the debut of the TV series Weeds in 2005, the cable network Showtime has developed a reputation for programming content based on the anti-heroine mother protagonist. This programming trend – which also includes The United States of Tara, Nurse Jackie and, most recently, The Big C – demonstrates the network’s success. In this way, Showtime pushes against the dominant trends of ‘quality television’s’ preference for male-centered programs ( The Sopranos, The Wire, etc.) with narratives featuring middle-aged females and the contemporary issues that they face as women and mothers.

I use theorist Diane Negra’s notion of ‘time-anxiety’ trope in postfeminist representations of women, motherhood, consumerism and time. For Negra, the ‘time-anxiety’ trope is a marketing tool based on the biological categorization of essential female experiences, which include themes of motherhood, marriage and anti-aging. Turing to trade and magazine publications, I use the term ‘female problem’ to investigate Showtime’s programming and marketing based on female mental and physical illness and its relevance to a broader, postmodern female experience. Using The Big C as a case study, I am interested in the show’s depiction of cancer as a larger cultural metaphor for the failures of motherhood and anxieties around consumerism. At the same time, the show’s investment in female experience fails to account for female bodies that differ from the white, middle-class and youthful protagonist.
‘Creepy,’ ‘freaky,’ and ‘strange’: How the ‘uncanny’ can illuminate the experience of single mothers by choice and lesbian couples who buy ‘dad’
Authors: Layne Linda L.
Published: July 2013

Ethnographic accounts of the kinship practices that emerged in the last few decades with the help of assisted reproductive technologies frequently used the concepts of ‘normalization’ and ‘naturalization’ to explain how ‘pioneers’ of these family forms dealt with their novel experiences. The normalization/naturalization framework, I argue, obscures dimensions of the experiences of single women and lesbian couples who buy ‘donor’ sperm; I use the concepts of ‘the canny,’ ‘the uncanny,’ ‘confabulation,’ and ‘poetic license’ to illuminate these dimensions. Despite, and because of, the fact that these women buy sperm in order to obviate unwanted kin ties with the biological father, the existential status of the sperm and the absent presence of the biological father generate unease. With remarkable frequency, published memoirs of these maverick moms are peppered with synonyms for ‘the uncanny’ – ‘creepy’, ‘freaky’ and ‘strange’. The practices of sexing, naming, clothing, photographing, treating as imaginary correspondents or conversation partners, and purchasing symbolically-related consumer goods and services are used, often with ‘poetic license’, not just to make the strange familiar, but also to accentuate the strangeness of their relationship with the absent presence of the biological father.
Between complexity and generalization: Addressing evaluation challenges with QCA
Authors: Befani Barbara
Published: July 2013

This article argues that Qualitative Comparative Analysis can be a useful method in case-based evaluations for two reasons: a) it is aimed at causal inference and explanation, leading to theory development; b) it is strong on external validity and generalization, allowing for theory testing and refinement. After a brief introduction to QCA, the specific type of causality handled by QCA is discussed. QCA is shown to offer improvements over Mill’s methods by handling asymmetric and multiple-conjunctural causality in addition to counterfactual reasoning. It thereby allows the explicitly separate analysis of necessity and sufficiency, recognizing the relevance of causal packages as well as single causes and of multiple causal paths leading to the same outcome (equifinality). It is argued that QCA can generalize findings to a small, medium and large number of cases.
He Said, She Said
Authors: McClurg Scott D. , Wade Michelle L. , Wright-Phillips Maja V.
Published: July 2013

This paper examines how interpersonal social networks relate to the voting behavior of men and women. We argue that underlying the gender gap in voting is related to social processes that depend on the partisan and sex composition of networks. Analysis of the 2000 American National Election Study identified two ways that sex differences are relevant to network explanations of voting behavior. First, men have more sex homophily in their networks than women. As men are more likely to be Republican than women, this leads to different discussion environments for men and women. Second, men—and not women—are more likely to share the political opinion of women discussants, but only when they are pro-Bush and the remainder of the network is also supportive. The results support a social model of voting behavior that highlights the importance of social factors (in this case sex) other than just partisan differences.
Atypical Presentation of Priapism in a Patient With Acute Iliocaval Deep Venous Thrombosis Secondary to May-Thurner Syndrome
Authors: Alhalbouni Saadi , Deem Samuel , Abu-Halimah Shadi , Sadek Betro T. , Mousa Albeir
Published: July 2013

We report on a 42-year-old male who presented with priapism, severe scrotal swelling, and left lower extremity pain and swelling. Initial management of priapism failed, and he was noted to have both cavernosal and glandular venous obstruction. Computed tomography (CT) was performed and identified extensive acute thrombosis involving the distal inferior vena cava and the left iliac veins. Pharmacomechanical thrombolysis (PMT) was started over the course of two days. At completion of thrombolysis, the culprit lesion in the left common iliac vein was treated with angioplasty and stenting. His postoperative course was uneventful, and his priapism as well as the scrotal and leg swelling improved. He was discharged home on full anticoagulation. To our knowledge, this is the first available description of this rare presentation along with a literature review of the underlying vascular etiology for priapism.
Autofluorescent Imaging in Patients With Peritoneal Carcinomatosis
Authors: von Breitenbuch Philipp , Jeiter Tonia , Schreml Stephan , Glockzin Gabriel , Agha Ayman , Piso Pompiliu , Schlitt Hans J.
Published: July 2013

Background and objectives. Autofluorescence imaging (AFI) is mainly used to detect (pre)cancerous colorectal and pulmonal lesions. This is the first report establishing the feasibility of AFI in patients with peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC). Methods. This is a prospective analysis of 10 patients undergoing conventional white-light laparoscopy (WL) and AFI for PC of different gastrointestinal tumors and 1 ovarian cancer. Before taking biopsies, suspicious peritoneal lesions were first detected by WL and then investigated by AFI. The intraoperative findings were photographed and then correlated with histological results. Results. Conventional WL and AFI evaluation was successful in all patients. A total of 38 biopsies were taken. The neoplasm detection rate under WL was 66% and increased to 86% when using AFI. The positive tumor detection rate was slightly higher in low AF lesions (83 vs 88%) and higher in tumor nodules (94%) than in flat peritoneal lesions (75%). For tumor nodules, the sensitivity was 94%, and the specificity was 100%. For flat lesions, the sensitivity was 75% and specificity 50%. Conclusions. We demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of AFI in patients with PC.
Articular Cartilage Repair
Authors: Grande Daniel A. , Schwartz John A. , Brandel Eric , Chahine Nadeen O. , Sgaglione Nicholas
Published: July 2013

This review traces the genealogy of the field of articular cartilage repair from its earliest attempts to its present day vast proliferation of research advances. Prior to the 1980s there was only sporadic efforts to regenerate articular cartilage as it was considered to be incapable of regeneration based on historical dogma. The first flurry of reports documented the use of various cell types ultimately leading to the first successful demonstration of autologous chondrocyte transplantation which was later translated to clinical use and has resulted in the revised axiom that cartilage regeneration is possible. The current field of cartilage repair is multifaceted and some of the 1980s’ vintage concepts have been revisited with state of the art technology now available. The future of the field is now poised to undertake the repair of whole cartilage surfaces beyond focal defects and an appreciation for integrated whole joint health to restore cartilage homeostasis.
Maternofetal transplacental transport of recombinant IgG antibodies lacking effector functions
Authors: Mathiesen Line , Nielsen Leif K. , Andersen Jan Terje , Grevys Algirdas , Sandlie Inger , Michaelsen Terje E. , Hedegaard Morten , Knudsen Lisbeth E. , Dziegiel Morten Hanefeld
Published: July 2013

Key Points

Retained FcRn binding of an IgG3 antibody devoid of FcgR and C1q binding, cellular cytotoxicity and complement activation. Inhibition of pathogenic polyclonal anti-D in antibody-dependent cellular toxicity by a hinge region deleted anti-D IgG3 antibody with efficient transplacental transport capacity.
Plaque vulnerability of coronary artery lesions is related to left ventricular dilatation as determined by optical coherence tomography and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging in patients with type 2 diabetes
Authors: Burgmaier Mathias , Frick Michael , Liberman Ana , Battermann Simone , Hellmich Martin , Lehmacher Walter , Jaskolka Agnes , Marx Nikolaus , Reith Sebastian
Published: July 2013

Background

Patients with type 2 diabetes are at increased risk for both, left ventricular (LV)-dilatation and myocardial infarction (MI) following the rupture of a vulnerable plaque. This study investigated the to date incompletely understood relationship between plaque vulnerability and LV-dilatation using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) in patients with type 2 diabetes and stable coronary artery disease.

Methods

CMR was performed in 58 patients with type 2 diabetes, in which 81 coronary lesions were investigated using OCT.

Results

A decreased minimal fibrous cap thickness (FCT) of coronary lesions was associated with an increase of several CMR-derived parameters including LV-end diastolic volume (LVEDV, r = 0.521, p < 0.001), LV-end diastolic diameter (r = 0.502, p < 0.001) and LV-end systolic volume (r = 0.467, p = 0.001). Similar results were obtained for mean FCT.

Furthermore, patients with dilated versus non-dilated LV differed significantly in several cardiovascular risk factors including previous MI (47.1% vs. 14.6%, p = 0.009), HDL-cholesterol (40.35 ± 5.57 mg/dl vs. 45.20 ± 10.79 mg/dl, p = 0.029) and smoking (82.4% vs. 51.2%, p = 0.027). However, minimal FCT is associated to LV-dilatation independent of previous MIs (odds ratio 0.679, p = 0.022).

Receiver-operating curve analysis demonstrated that CMR-derived LVEDV predicts plaque vulnerability with low-moderate diagnostic efficiency (area under the curve 0.699) and considerate specificity (83.3%) at the optimal cut-off value (159.0 ml).

Conclusion

These data suggest that vulnerability of coronary lesions is associated with LV-dilatation in high risk patients with type 2 diabetes. CMR may be a useful adjunct to the risk-stratification in this population. Future studies are warranted to investigate potential mechanisms linking plaque vulnerability and LV-dilatation.