bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Analysis of unsteady heat transfer of internal combustion engines’ exhaust valves
Authors: Cerdoun Mahfoudh , Carcasci Carlo , Ghenaiet Adel
Published: August 2017

This study is concerned with the analyses of heat transfer through an exhaust valve considering the real unsteady effects during the cycle of an internal combustion engine and to identify the factors and parameters affecting the heat transfer. The valve is segmented into several zones to facilitate incorporating the boundary conditions and evaluating the heat transfer coefficient and the adiabatic wall temperature based on the finite element method. The unsteady simulations were carried out using ANSYS-APDL for the proposed thermal model. The effect of lubricating oil and the contact resistance between guide and engine block and the thermal contact between exhaust valve and seat are included, as well as the differential displacement of both the guide and engine block walls due to high working temperature. The averaged values of heat transfer coefficient and adiabatic wall temperature used in the boundary conditions are shown to underestimate the temperature maps. The cyclic boundary conditions required more run time to reach the steady state and allowed better monitoring of the thermal process. The thermal contact resistance has the main contribution in the zone of valve-seat, whereas the resistance of oil film between the guide and stem valve is shown to affect mainly heat transfer coefficient. The obtained maps of temperature reveal the locations of maximum temperatures in the exhaust valve.
Influence of asymmetric valve strategy on large-scale and turbulent in-cylinder flows
Authors: Butcher Daniel , Spencer Adrian , Chen Rui
Published: August 2017

Phase-locked particle imaging velocimetry measurements are carried out in a direct-injected spark-ignition single-cylinder optical research engine equipped with fully variable valve timing to assess the impact of asymmetric intake valve lift strategies on the in-cylinder flow. The engine was operated under a range of asymmetric strategies, with one valve following a full lift profile, while the second intake valve is scaled as a factor of the first, expressed as % maximum valve lift. Proper orthogonal decomposition combined with a proposed methodology allows instantaneous velocity fields to be decomposed into what are nominally demonstrated as coherent and turbulent constituent velocity fields. Analysis of the coherent fields reveals the behaviour of large-scale structures within the flow, subject to cyclic variation. In the case of 40% maximum valve lift, an increase in the flow cyclic variability is observed. This is found to be as a result of a switch between a flow dominated by a counter-rotating vortex pair and a single vortex. The impact of maximum valve lift on the bulk motion is further evident by an increase in the magnitude of swirl ratio from 0.5 to −6.0 (at 75°CA). Analysis of the turbulent constituent shows how the increased valve life asymmetry leads to increased turbulence during the intake stroke by over 250%. Finally, it is shown how the ensemble turbulence statistics may be misleading as stochastic fluctuations were found to be typically 66% of the total turbulent kinetic energy calculated from the ensemble statistic in the tested conditions.
Micro(bial) management: everyday cleanliness and the divisive power of hygienic worries
Authors: Dimpfl Mike
Published: August 2017

At a major research institution in the American South, cleanliness norms are intensifying for students, housekeepers, and institutional administrators. Whether individual practice, waged labor, or institutional policy concern, daily hygiene routines often refer to invisible or otherwise absent threats to health. Broadly construed as ‘germs’, these include flu, norovirus, and Escherichia coli, as well as dirt, dust mites, allergens, and mold. Their mobilization influences students’ and housekeepers’ interpersonal relations in a range of common university spaces, revealing connections among disease, embodiment, risk, and care. At the same time, concern with germs aligns with institutional efforts to control a historically powerful cadre of workers. Connections between students’ experiences of health and disease risk and housekeeper and institutional orientation to those risks are obscure, although fundamentally constitutive of each other. Analysis of their different, but intersecting ideas about microbial hygienic risk draws together critical geographies of social reproductive labor, cultural geographies of more-than-human agency, and a recent call to elaborate a political ecology of health. Ethnographic and archival data reveal how germs retrench institutional disparities, placing the (re)production of student cleanliness practices and the working lives of housekeepers in tension. For students, germs help shore up valorized subject positions, informing regimes of self-care. For department administrators, a new employee management regime made the potential of microbial threats to student health a scientific instrument of labor control. For housekeepers, germs are particularly evocative of the demand to care for student health by managing exposure to microbial disease risk. Exploring different mobilizations of germs reveals the importance of more-than-human life to systems of and divisions between social reproductive labor regimes on campus.
Mosques as monuments: an inter-Asian perspective on monumentality and religious landscapes
Authors: Koch Natalie , Valiyev Anar , Hazmi Zaini Khairul
Published: August 2017

This article examines monumental mosques and particularly those that are built to be and function more as monuments than as places for worship. We consider the role of monumentality in religious landscapes by way of six exemplary mosques in three different world regions – Central Asia, the Arabian Peninsula, and Southeast Asia. Tracing their unique histories and the identity narratives inscribed in their built form, we stress three broader commonalities among these mosques-as-monuments: (1) each is the result of top-down, state-funded planning infused with strong nationalist or ideological symbolism, (2) each was designed to be an iconic architectural showpiece in the country’s capital city, and (3) each represents a stark contrast to other places of worship within that national or regional context. In this unique comparative study, we use an interpretive approach designed to push the research on monuments and monumentality into new directions and new empirical contexts, and specifically to ask why and with what effect some religious sites are primarily monuments and only secondarily places of worship.
Mating Goals Moderate Power’s Effect on Conspicuous Consumption Among Women
Authors: Zhao Taiyang , Jin Xiaotong , Xu Wei , Zuo Xiaomeng , Cui Hongjing
Published: August 2017

This study aimed to use evolutionary psychology to explain conspicuous consumption’s relationship with mating goals among women. We used experiments to show that power moderates conspicuous consumption’s relationship with mating goals among women through an underlying relationship with women’s social comparison tendencies. In Study 1, the participants read a passage describing a young woman wearing a coat made by a conspicuous brand (vs. an ordinary brand) who aimed to attract a desired man (vs. aiming to guard against potential competitors’ attempts to disrupt her established intimate relationship). Participants in the conspicuous-brand condition were more confident that the young woman would succeed in mate attraction and guarding than participants in the ordinary-brand condition, suggesting the participants believed the conspicuous brands facilitated mate attraction and mate guarding more than ordinary brands. Study 2 manipulated the participants’ power states and mating goals and measured participants’ social comparison tendencies and conspicuous consumption index values. In the mate-guarding condition, high-power participants showed more inclination toward conspicuous consumption than low-power participants. In the mate-attraction condition, low-power participants showed a greater inclination toward conspicuous consumption than did high-power participants. Comparison orientation also mediated power’s effect on conspicuous consumption inclination. The evolutionary psychological basis for the above findings is discussed, and suggestions are offered regarding product marketing.
University alliances in the Europe of knowledge: Positions, agendas and practices in policy processes
Authors: Vukasovic Martina , Stensaker Bjørn
Published: August 2017

Several university alliances have been established in Europe in an attempt to influence the development of policies in research and education. As such, these alliances can be seen as being new players in the increasingly complex multi-actor, multi-level governance in this policy domain. The paper compares two key university alliances in Europe; in particular, how membership differences are related to their positions in the policy arena, their policy agendas and their policy formation and lobbying practices. The study contributes to understanding of, first, the role of university alliances in European level policy processes concerning higher education and research; and, second, the implications their involvement might have for future shaping of European initiatives in the knowledge domain.
Global transformations of the state, governance and teachers’ labour: Putting Bernstein’s conceptual grammar to work
Authors: Robertson Susan L , Sorensen Tore
Published: August 2017

This paper presents and engages with Basil Bernstein’s rich conceptual grammar in order to generate a sociological account of the outcomes for teachers’ work, identity and social class, of strategic shifts in governance to the global scale. Our aim is to develop a two-way conversation between Bernstein’s conceptual grammar and how best to theorise the nature of the social regulation of teachers as a result of the dominance of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in setting the rules for pedagogic governance of teachers through its Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). We show that important functions for symbolic agents have been relocated to the economic arena away from the state, as well as being rescaled to sit within the governing ambit of the OECD. We also reflect on the prominence of constructivism in TALIS as a preferred pedagogy and the eschewing of disciplinary knowledge as the basis of expertise. We ask what this new market identity means for teacher knowledge, consciousness, identity, the division of labour, and the social base.
The transition between lit and unlit sections of road and detection of driving hazards after dark
Authors: Fotios S , Cheal C , Fox S , Uttley J
Published: August 2017

An experiment to investigate peripheral detection performance during a driver’s transition between lit and unlit sections of road was undertaken. The results suggest that when a driver moves from a lit to an unlit section of road their detection performance decreases almost immediately to that expected for the conditions of the unlit section and that there is no significant change in the subsequent 20-minute period. Tests were conducted at three luminances (0.1, 1.0 and 2.0 cd/m2): while an increase from 0.1 to 1.0 cd/m2 improved detection, a further increase to 2.0 cd/m2 did not. Lighting of two S/P ratios (0.65, 1.40) was examined at 1.0 cd/m2: this did not suggest an effect on detection performance. Taken together, these results suggest that, in the current context, visual performance reached a plateau at 1.0 cd/m2.
The Scale of Sexual Aggression in Southeast Asia: A Review
Authors: Winzer Lylla , Krahé Barbara , Guest Philip
Published: August 2017

Southeast Asia is one of the most dynamic regions in the world. It is experiencing rapid socioeconomic change that may influence the level of sexual aggression, but data on the scale of sexual aggression in the region remain sparse. The aim of the present article was to systematically review the findings of studies available in English on the prevalence of self-reported sexual aggression and victimization among women and men above the age of 12 years in the 11 countries of Southeast Asia (Brunei, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam). Based on four scientific databases, the search engine Google, Opengrey database, and reference checking, 49 studies were found on sexual victimization. Of those, 32 included only women. Self-reported perpetration was assessed by only three studies and included all-male samples. Prevalence rates varied widely across studies but showed that sexual victimization was widespread among different social groups, irrespective of sex and sexual orientation. Methodological heterogeneity, lack of representativeness of samples, imbalance of information available by country, missing information within studies, and cultural differences hampered the comparability between and within countries. There is a need for operationalizations that specifically address sexual aggression occurring after the age of consent, based on detailed behavioral descriptions of unwanted sexual experiences and allied to a qualitative approach with cultural sensitivity. Data on sexual aggression in conflict settings and in human trafficking are also limited. Recommendations for future research are presented in the discussion.
Building Capacity for Workplace Health Promotion: Findings From the Work@Health® Train-the-Trainer Program
Authors: Lang Jason , Cluff Laurie , Rineer Jennifer , Brown Darigg , Jones-Jack Nkenge
Published: August 2017

Small- and mid-sized employers are less likely to have expertise, capacity, or resources to implement workplace health promotion programs, compared with large employers. In response, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention developed the Work@Health® employer training program to determine the best way to deliver skill-based training to employers of all sizes. The core curriculum was designed to increase employers’ knowledge of the design, implementation, and evaluation of workplace health strategies. The first arm of the program was direct employer training. In this article, we describe the results of the second arm—the program’s train-the-trainer (T3) component, which was designed to prepare new certified trainers to provide core workplace health training to other employers. Of the 103 participants who began the T3 program, 87 fully completed it and delivered the Work@Health core training to 233 other employers. Key indicators of T3 participants’ knowledge and attitudes significantly improved after training. The curriculum delivered through the T3 model has the potential to increase the health promotion capacity of employers across the nation, as well as organizations that work with employers, such as health departments and business coalitions.
Efficient data possession–checking protocol with deduplication in cloud
Authors: Wei Jinxia , Niu Xinxin , Zhang Ru , Liu Jianyi , Yao Yuangang
Published: August 2017

Deduplication has been widely applied to save storage overhead in the cloud server. Data integrity verification with deduplication can not only save space of the cloud server but also ensure security of the stored data. In the existing integrity verification scheme, deduplications are implemented by the cloud server. The signatures of all data blocks are generated and sent to the cloud server. Once receiving the data blocks and signatures, the cloud server compares the received signatures with the stored signatures. If there is a signature that has the same value as some stored signature, the received signature and data block will not be stored by the cloud server. Otherwise, the cloud server stores all received signatures and data blocks. In fact, these operations bring a lot of computational costs. To solve this problem, we propose a data integrity verification scheme with deduplication. In this scheme, the deduplication is performed by the cloud users, which can avoid additional communicational and computational costs. The experiment evaluation indicates that our scheme is practical for real application scenario. We demonstrate that the proposed scheme satisfies signature unforgeability, and the malicious users cannot obtain any legitimate file from the cloud server in the form of deception.
Effect of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids Supplementation on Body Composition and Circulating Levels of Follistatin-Like 1 in Males With Coronary Artery Disease: A Randomized Double-Blind Clinical Trial
Authors: Jafari Salim Shirin , Alizadeh Shahab , Djalali Mahmoud , Nematipour Ebrahim , Hassan Javanbakht Mohammad
Published: August 2017

Adipokines are mediators of body composition and are involved in obesity-related complications such as cardiovascular disease. Omega-3 supplementation has not been studied in the setting of body composition and follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) levels in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). This study aimed to investigate the effect of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (ω-3 PUFA) supplementation on body composition indices and serum levels of FSTL1 in CAD patients. A total of 42 male (aged 45–65 years) subjects with angiographically confirmed CAD were included in this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial study. The subjects were randomly divided into omega-3 and placebo groups. During the 8-week intervention, the omega-3 group received 1,200 mg of omega-3 daily, while the placebo group received paraffin. Before and after the study, anthropometric measurements and body composition components were taken; serum FSTL1 levels were assessed by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kit. In the omega-3 group, a significant 27.6% increase in serum FSTL1 was seen after 8 weeks of intervention ( p = .001), but no significant difference in posttreatment levels of FSTL1 was observed between the two groups ( p > .05). At the end of the study, a significant decrease in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C; 94.29 ± 22.04 vs. 112.24 ± 24.5; p = .01) and high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP; 1.92 ± 0.79 vs. 3.19 ± 2.51; p = .03) concentration was detected between the two groups. Changes in fasting blood sugar, fasting insulin, body composition, and anthropometric parameters were not significant within and between the groups. Oral omega-3 might increase FSTL1 and decrease LDL-C and hs-CRP concentrations in CAD patients. However, omega-3 supplementation did not have any effect on FSTL1 levels between the groups.
Optimal management strategy for spontaneous isolated dissection of a visceral artery
Authors: Otsuka Hiroyuki , Sato Toshiki , Aoki Hiromichi , Nakagawa Yoshihide , Inokuchi Sadaki
Published: August 2017

Objectives

To describe our clinical experiences and recommend a management strategy for spontaneous isolated dissection of a visceral artery.

Methods

A retrospective study of patients from December 2005 to December 2015 was performed. Thirty-two patients had spontaneous isolated dissection of a visceral artery. Clinical features, computed tomography findings, the treatment method, and follow-up results were evaluated.

Results

There were 28 men and 4 women (mean age, 54 years). Dissection locations were the celiac artery in 10, superior mesenteric artery in 17, and celiac artery and superior mesenteric artery in 5 patients. Celiac artery stenosis existed with spontaneous isolated dissection of a visceral artery at a high rate. After diagnosis, the blood pressure of all patients was immediately controlled to a lower level. Three patients with arterial rupture and one patient with bowel infarction underwent operations for complications. Overall, the treatment of dissection involved drug therapy alone. The last follow-up computed tomography results of the true lumen residual ratio and the length of the dissected artery improved compared to the values on admission; the maximum diameter of the dissected artery did not enlarge. Eleven patients almost completely improved. No patients had any adverse event.

Conclusions

Most patients with spontaneous isolated dissection of a visceral artery can be first treated conservatively for dissection with strict blood pressure control and surveillance.
Long-term outcome and quality of life after ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm repair
Authors: Yildirim Hilin , van Lammeren Guus W , Ünlü Çagdas , van Dongen Eric P , van de Mortel Rob HW , de Vries Jean-Paul PM
Published: August 2017

Objectives

To evaluate long-term outcome and quality of life after open and endovascular repair of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms.

Methods

All consecutive ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm patients at the St. Antonius Hospital treated for ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm between January 2005 and January 2015 were included. Mortality, morbidity, and re-interventions within 30 days and during follow-up were registered. Quality of life was measured with Short Form-36 questionnaire among survivors. Additional subgroup analysis between open repair and endovascular repair was performed.

Results

A total of 192 patients with ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm were included: 76.6% (147/192) underwent open repair and 23.4% (45/192) endovascular repair. All-cause 30-day mortality rate was 31.3% (60/192), and 30-day morbidity rate was 70.3% (135/192). Median stay at the intensive care unit was two days for endovascular repair and four days for open repair ( p = 0.002). No other statistically significant differences between endovascular repair and open repair were observed. After a mean follow-up period of 62 months (range 9–126), 72.4% (76/105) of the responders had equivalent Short Form-36 scores as compared to the age-matched general Dutch population, and 84.2% (64/76) of the responders would choose surgery again if they would have a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Conclusions

Survivors of ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm have similar long-term quality of life scores compared to the age-matched general population. The majority of all survivors would choose to undergo acute abdominal aortic aneurysm repair again.
Same coach, different approach? How masters and youth athletes perceive learning opportunities in training
Authors: MacLellan Justin , Callary Bettina , Young Bradley W
Published: August 2017

While traditional, coach-directed pedagogies have dominated youth sport coaching practice, little is known about how coaches orient their approaches to facilitate adult athletes’ learning. This study explored a group of Masters athletes’ and a group of youth athletes’ perspectives of their common canoe/kayak coach’s approaches, with an aim to understand if and how the coach’s approaches differed based on the age cohort she was coaching. Four focus group interviews (two with each age cohort lasting 60–90 min) were conducted with nine youth (five male, four female; 14–15 years old) and 12 Masters athletes (six male, six female; 27–70 years old). Data were inductively analysed resulting in three higher order themes: (1) communication, exchanges, and interactions; (2) coaching on the basis of the athletes’ self-concept; (3) norms, goals, and expectations for learning within the climate. Results indicated that Masters athletes felt their coach responded well to their need for information, gave them room to make decisions, and engaged them in collaborative conversations. Youth athletes described their coach’s approaches as more directive: she made decisions for when and how they trained, provided information linearly, and maintained a climate of highly competitive expectations. Whereas coaching approaches with Masters athletes closely paralleled andragogical principles, those for youth aligned with more directed instructional methods. Findings illustrate how one coach’s approaches varied on a continuum from coach-directed (i.e. traditional pedagogical) to athlete-directed (i.e. andragogical) styles, both evident to some degree with each cohort.
Resistance and Resignation: Responses to Typecasting in British Acting
Authors: Friedman Sam , O’Brien Dave
Published: August 2017

This article draws on 38 in-depth interviews with British actors to explore the operation of typecasting. First, we argue that typecasting acts as the key mechanism through which the ‘somatic norm’ is established in British acting. It delivers an oversupply of leading roles for white, male, middle-class actors while ensuring that those who deviate somatically are restricted to largely socially caricatured roles. Second, we focus on the career trajectories of ‘othered’ actors. While they frequently experience acting roles as offensive and discriminatory, we demonstrate how most nonetheless reluctantly accept the terms of their ‘type’ in order to survive and succeed. Third, we focus on the minority who have attempted to challenge their type. Here we find that successful resistance is accomplished by carefully choosing work that subverts the somatic norm. However, the ability to exercise such choice is highly contingent on resources associated with an actor’s class origin.
‘McDonald’s Music’ Versus ‘Serious Music’: How Production and Consumption Practices Help to Reproduce Class Inequality in the Classical Music Profession
Authors: Bull Anna , Scharff Christina
Published: August 2017

This article draws on two empirical studies on contemporary engagements with classical music in the United Kingdom to shed light on the ways in which class inequalities are reproduced in practices of production and consumption. It discusses three ways in which this occurs. First, classical music was ‘naturally’ practiced and listened to in middle-class homes but this was misrecognised by musicians who labelled families as ‘musical’ rather than as ‘middle class’. Second, the practices of classical music production and consumption such as the spaces used, the dress, and the modes of listening show similarities with middle-class culture. Third, musicians made judgements of value where classical music was seen as more valuable than other genres. This was particularly visible in studying production. In data on consumption, musicians were careful about making judgements of taste but described urban genres as illegible to them, or assessed them according to the criteria that they used to judge classical music, such as complexity and emotional depth. This hierarchy of value tended to remain unspoken and uncontested. Studying production and consumption together allows these patterns to emerge more clearly.
A ‘Different Class’? Homophily and Heterophily in the Social Class Networks of Britpop
Authors: Millward Peter , Widdop Paul , Halpin Michael
Published: August 2017

Social network analysis is increasingly recognised as a useful way to explore music scenes. In this article we examine the individuals who were the cultural workforce that comprised the ‘Britpop’ music scene of the 1990s. The focus of our analysis is homophily and heterophily to determine whether the clusters of friendships and working relationships of those who were ‘best connected’ in the scene were patterned by original social class position. We find that Britpop’s ‘whole network’ is heterophilic but that its ‘sub-networks’ are more likely to be social class homophilic. The sub-networks that remain heterophilic are likely to be united by other common experiences that brought individuals in the network to the same social spaces. We suggest that our findings on Britpop might be generalised to the composition of other music scenes, cultural workforces and aggregations of young people. Our study differs from research on, first, British ‘indie music’ and social class which focuses upon the construction, representation and performance of social location rather than the relationships it might shape and second, the pioneering social network analyses of music scenes which currently lack explicit emphasis on social class.
Portraying Poverty: The Economics and Ethics of Factual Welfare Television
Authors: De Benedictis Sara , Allen Kim , Jensen Tracey
Published: August 2017

Since 2013 there has been an explosion of a new genre of factual programming on British television that centres on the everyday lives of people claiming benefits. The emergence of Factual Welfare Television (FWT) has coincided with intensifying public and political debates about poverty and the British welfare state, and has proved a deeply controversial and contested genre. While programme-makers have argued that FWT fulfils a public service mandate to inform audiences, critics have accused producers of making inaccurate, provocative and unethical television. Sociological enquiries into FWT have focused on the representations within these programmes and audience reception, arguing that these contribute to hardening anti-welfare sentiment. This article presents a complementary and urgent line of enquiry into FWT, locating it squarely within the conditions of its production by including questions of cultural labour, diversity in the workforce, and increasing competition and deregulation within broadcasting. We argue that market logics governing broadcasting discipline cultural workers and contribute to the production of reductive and stigmatising representations of social class and poverty. In doing so, we offer new insights into relationships between television production, representation and – consequently – consumption.
Laryngeal cancer
Authors: Khan Hammaad , Jolly Karan
Published: August 2017

Laryngeal cancer is the most common form of head and neck cancer in the UK. The majority of cases are in people aged 60 years and over. Early diagnosis improves long-term outcomes and requires early recognition of significant symptoms and prompt referral. This article aims to provide an overview of the presenting features, investigation, management and follow-up of laryngeal cancer.
Impact of ambient air pollution on physical activity among adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: An Ruopeng , Zhang Sheng , Ji Mengmeng , Guan Chenghua
Published: August 2017

Aims:

This study systematically reviewed literature regarding the impact of ambient air pollution on physical activity among children and adults.

Methods:

Keyword and reference search was conducted in PubMed and Web of Science to systematically identify articles meeting all of the following criteria – study designs: interventions or experiments, retrospective or prospective cohort studies, cross-sectional studies, and case-control studies; subjects: adults; exposures: specific air pollutants and overall air quality; outcomes: physical activity and sedentary behaviour; article types: peer-reviewed publications; and language: articles written in English. Meta-analysis was performed to estimate the pooled effect size of ambient PM2.5 air pollution on physical inactivity.

Results:

Seven studies met the inclusion criteria. Among them, six were conducted in the United States, and one was conducted in the United Kingdom. Six adopted a cross-sectional study design, and one used a prospective cohort design. Six had a sample size larger than 10,000. Specific air pollutants assessed included PM2.5, PM10, O3, and NOx, whereas two studies focused on overall air quality. All studies found air pollution level to be negatively associated with physical activity and positively associated with leisure-time physical inactivity. Study participants, and particularly those with respiratory disease, self-reported a reduction in outdoor activities to mitigate the detrimental impact of air pollution. Meta-analysis revealed a one unit (μg/m3) increase in ambient PM2.5 concentration to be associated with an increase in the odds of physical inactivity by 1.1% (odds ratio = 1.011; 95% confidence interval = 1.001, 1.021; p-value < .001) among US adults.

Conclusions:

Existing literature in general suggested that air pollution discouraged physical activity. Current literature predominantly adopted a cross-sectional design and focused on the United States. Future studies are warranted to implement a longitudinal study design and evaluate the impact of air pollution on physical activity in heavily polluted developing countries.
Association Between Years of Competition and Shoulder Function in Collegiate Swimmers
Authors: Dischler Jack D. , Baumer Timothy G. , Finkelstein Evan , Siegal Daniel S. , Bey Michael J.
Published: August 2017

Background:

Shoulder injuries are common among competitive swimmers, and the progression of shoulder pathology is not well understood. The objective of this study was to assess the extent to which years of competitive swim training were associated with physical properties of the supraspinatus muscle and tendon, shoulder strength, and self-reported assessments of shoulder pain and function.

Hypothesis:

Increasing years of competition will be associated with declining physical properties of the supraspinatus muscle/tendon and declining self-reported assessments of pain and function.

Study Design:

Descriptive epidemiology study.

Level of Evidence:

Level 4.

Methods:

After institutional approval, 18 collegiate female swimmers enrolled in the study. For each swimmer, supraspinatus tendon thickness was measured; tendinosis was assessed using ultrasound imaging, supraspinatus muscle shear wave velocity was assessed using shear wave elastography, isometric shoulder strength was measured using a Biodex system, and self-reported assessments of pain/function were assessed using the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC) score. All subjects were tested before the start of the collegiate swim season. Linear regression was used to assess the association between years of competition and the outcome measures.

Results:

Years of participation was positively associated with tendon thickness ( P = 0.01) and negatively associated with shear wave velocity ( P = 0.04) and WORC score ( P < 0.01). Shoulder strength was not associated with years of participation ( P > 0.39).

Conclusion:

Long-term competitive swim training is associated with declining measures of supraspinatus muscle/tendon properties and self-reported measures of pain and function. Although specific injury mechanisms are still not fully understood, these findings lend additional insight into the development of rotator cuff pathology in swimmers.

Clinical Relevance:

Lengthy swimming careers may lead to a chronic condition of reduced mechanical properties in the supraspinatus muscle and tendon, thereby increasing the likelihood of rotator cuff pathology.
Power Poseur
Authors: Cesario Joseph , Johnson David J.
Published: August 2017

Strong claims have been made that power poses can significantly improve one’s life. Starting from an evolutionary perspective, we reason that expansive poses will have no impact in more realistic situations, as in the presence of an interaction partner or when participants are aware of what the pose should accomplish. Across four dyadic studies including both commonly used outcomes and a negotiation task (which could actually have direct benefits for one’s life), we find nearly uniform null effects of holding expansive poses, despite checks confirming the success of the manipulation. For example, in two of the studies, participants watched a popular TED talk on power poses, held an expansive pose, and then completed a negotiation in the presence of a partner, as might happen in real life. We argue that researchers should stop recommending power poses as an empirically supported strategy for improving one’s life.
Effect of wearing fingers rings on the behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia: An exploratory study
Authors: Yokoi Teruo , Okamura Hitoshi , Yamamoto Tomoka , Watanabe Katsuya , Yokoi Shigeko , Atae Hitoshi , Ueda Masayuki , Kuwayama Takahiro , Sakamoto Shigekazu , Tomino Saaya , Fujii Hideo , Honda Takefumi , Morita Takayosi , Yukawa Takafumi , Harada Nobuko
Published: August 2017

Objective:

This study was conducted to examine the effects of an approach that wears finger rings on elderly females with behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Method:

The subjects were seven Japanese dementia patients living in elderly nursing homes. A single-case experimental design was adopted for the study. Each study subject was asked to put rings on her finger (from 9:00 to 19:00) for 7 days. The Neuropsychiatric Inventory, scenes of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia, interest in wearing rings, self-awareness, and overall profile were determined to assess the effect on the patients of wearing rings.

Results:

The majority of nursing care providers stated, based on their assessment, that the “irritability/lability” that was noted during the baseline period disappeared during the ring-wearing intervention period in the three patients who displayed an interest in rings. In the assessment of the self-awareness ability, these three women were aware themselves of their intellect collapsing and were capable of conjecturing their own and others’ minds. It was commonly seen that the nursing staff, even though they had not been asked to do so by the researchers, told the patients, “Mrs. XX, you look so beautiful” when they found a patient wearing rings.

Discussion/conclusion:

Individuals with low self-esteem are inclined to get angry and display aggression. In subjects with low self-esteem, anger and aggression readily arise when they are slighted by others. Self-esteem is low in those women who are aware of their own status of collapsing intellect. It is concluded that the words of conjuration, “you look so beautiful,” which the wearing of the ring per se by the patient elicited from the caregivers heightened the self-esteem and alleviated “irritability/lability” in the study subjects.
Implementing a Multidisciplinary Approach to Treating Tuberous Sclerosis Complex
Authors: Gipson Tanjala T. , Poretti Andrea
Published: August 2017

Objective:

Tuberous sclerosis complex is expressed throughout the body, resulting in a range of clinical manifestations that can be challenging to manage.

Results:

The authors report a patient who presented at age 3.5 years with several suspected seizures and was diagnosed with tuberous sclerosis complex following the discovery of numerous bilateral cortical tubers and subependymal nodules on magnetic resonance imaging. Interdisciplinary, comprehensive care was recommended; this included ongoing surveillance to monitor for the development of tuberous sclerosis complex–associated conditions. Approximately 2 years later, the patient began exhibiting aggressive and self-injurious behavior, and a subependymal giant cell astrocytoma was discovered. After everolimus was initiated, he demonstrated less aggression, had ceased self-injurious behavior, and subependymal giant cell astrocytoma growth stabilized.

Conclusions:

This case highlights the importance of a multidisciplinary approach to care in tuberous sclerosis complex, which ensures the early detection and appropriate treatment of clinical manifestations that may arise during the course of the patient’s life.
A Case of Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere Syndrome Due To a Novel Mutation in SLC52A3 Gene
Authors: Thulasi Venkatraman , Veerapandiyan Aravindhan , Pletcher Beth A. , Tong Chun M. , Ming Xue
Published: August 2017

Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome is a rare disorder characterized by motor, sensory, and cranial neuronopathies, associated with mutations in SLC52A2 and SLC52A3 genes that code for human riboflavin transporters RFVT2 and RFVT3, respectively. The authors describe the clinical course of a 6-year-old girl with Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome and a novel homozygous mutation c.1156T>C in the SLC52A3 gene, who presented at the age of 2.5 years with progressive brain stem dysfunction including ptosis, facial weakness, hearing loss, dysphagia, anarthria with bilateral vocal cord paralysis, and ataxic gait. She subsequently developed respiratory failure requiring tracheostomy and worsening dysphagia necessitating a gastrostomy. Following riboflavin supplementation, resolution of facial diplegia and ataxia, improvements in ptosis, and bulbar function including vocalization and respiration were noted. However, her sensorineural hearing loss remained unchanged. Similar to other cases of Brown-Vialetto-Van Laere syndrome, our patient responded favorably to early riboflavin supplementation with significant but not complete neurologic recovery.
A Rare Syndrome of GRID2 Deletion in 2 Siblings
Authors: Veerapandiyan Aravindhan , Enner Stephanie , Thulasi Venkatraman , Ming Xue
Published: August 2017

The Glutamate receptor, ionotropic, delta 2 gene codes for an ionotropic glutamate delta-2 receptor, which is selectively expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells, and facilitates cerebellar synapse organization and transmission. The phenotype associated with the deletion of Glutamate receptor, ionotropic, delta 2 gene in humans was initially defined in 2013. In this case report, the authors describe 2 brothers who presented with developmental delay, tonic upward gaze, nystagmus, oculomotor apraxia, hypotonia, hyperreflexia, and ataxia. They were found to have a homozygous intragenic deletion within the Glutamate receptor, ionotropic, delta 2 gene at exon 2. Our patients serve as an addition to the literature of previously reported children with this rare clinical syndrome associated with Glutamate receptor, ionotropic, delta 2 deletion.
Barriers to Performing Ergonomic Scanning Techniques for Sonographers
Authors: Scholl Cathie , Salisbury Helen
Published: August 2017

This study aimed to identify the barriers that prevent currently practicing credentialed sonographers from using industry standard ergonomic scanning techniques. A quantitative descriptive design was used with data collected through an anonymous online survey of members of the Society of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. A total of 1234 members participated in the survey. The results confirmed previous reports that a high percentage (85.5%) of sonographers scan in pain, with the shoulder most commonly affected. Four barriers to ergonomic scanning practice were identified by more than 25% of the respondents, including being too busy, patient obesity, portable exams, and patients who are unable to cooperate. Some barriers are not within the control of the sonographer, such as patient obesity and patient condition, while other barriers are within moderate control, such as scheduling and lack of equipment. The focus should be placed on correcting and improving those barriers that can be controlled, thereby reducing the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injuries in sonographers.
Dendritic cell vaccination as postremission treatment to prevent or delay relapse in acute myeloid leukemia
Authors: Anguille Sébastien , Van de Velde Ann L. , Smits Evelien L. , Van Tendeloo Viggo F. , Juliusson Gunnar , Cools Nathalie , Nijs Griet , Stein Barbara , Lion Eva , Van Driessche Ann , Vandenbosch Irma , Verlinden Anke , Gadisseur Alain P. , Schroyens Wilfried A. , Muylle Ludo , Vermeulen Katrien , Maes Marie-Berthe , Deiteren Kathleen , Malfait Ronald , Gostick Emma , Lammens Martin , Couttenye Marie M. , Jorens Philippe , Goossens Herman , Price David A. , Ladell Kristin , Oka Yoshihiro , Fujiki Fumihiro , Oji Yusuke , Sugiyama Haruo , Berneman Zwi N.
Published: August 2017

Key Points

WT1 mRNA-electroporated DCs can prevent or delay relapse in 43% of patients with AML in remission after chemotherapy. OS compares favorably with the new survival data from the Swedish Acute Leukemia Registry and correlates with molecular and WT1-specific CD8+ T-cell responses.
Appraisal of the DIERS method for calculating postural measurements: an observational study
Authors: Degenhardt Brian , Starks Zane , Bhatia Shalini , Kelley-Franklin Gwyn
Published: August 2017

Background

Surface topography is increasingly used with postural analysis. One system, DIERS formetric 4D, measures 40 defined spine shape parameters from a 6-s scan. Through system algorithms, a set of spine shape parameter values from 1 of 12 recorded images obtained during a scan becomes the DIERS-reported value (DRV) for postural assessment. The purpose of the current study was to compare DRV with a standard average value (SAV) calculated from all 12 images to determine which method is more appropriate for assessing postural change.

Methods

One mannequin and 30 human participants were scanned over 5 days. Values from each image and the DRV for 40 defined spine shape parameters were exported, and mean DRV, mean SAV, mean DRV, and within-scan variance were calculated. Absolute difference and percent change between mean DRV and mean SAV were calculated for the mannequin and humans. Inter-method reliability was calculated for humans. Within-scan variance for each parameter was tested for significant variability.

Results

For all spine shape parameters on the mannequin, absolute difference (< 0.6 mm, 0.1°, or 0.1%) and percent change (< 2.90%) between mean DRV and mean SAV for each parameter were small. Nine parameters on human participants had a large percent change (> 7%). Absolute difference between mean DRV and mean SAV for those nine parameters was small (≤ 0.87 mm or 0.61°). Absolute difference for all other parameters ranged from 0.02 to 6.98 mm for distance measurements, from 0.01 to 1.21° for angle measurements, and from 0.15 to 0.22% for percentage measurements. Inter-method reliability between DRV and SAV was excellent (0.94–1.00). For the mannequin, within-scan variance was small (< 1.62) for all parameters. For humans, within-scan variance ranged from 0.05 to 36.04 and was different from zero for all parameters (all P < 0.001).

Conclusions

The minimal variability observed in the mannequin suggested the DIERS formetric 4D instrument had high within-scan reliability. The DRV and SAV provided comparable spine shape parameter values. Because within-scan variability is not reported with the DRV, the clinical usefulness of current DRV values is limited. Establishing an estimate of variance with the SAV will allow clinicians to better identify a clinically meaningful change.
Peri-operative factors predisposing to pharyngocutaneous fistula after total laryngectomy: Analysis of a large multi-institutional patient cohort
Authors: Lebo Nicole L. , Caulley Lisa , Alsaffar Hussain , Corsten Martin J. , Johnson-Obaseki Stephanie
Published: August 2017

Background

Pharyngocutaneous fistula (PCF) is a problematic complication following total laryngectomy. Disagreement remains regarding predisposing factors. This study examines perioperative factors predicting PCF following total laryngectomy using a large multicenter data registry.

Methods

Retrospective cohort analysis was performed using patients undergoing total laryngectomy in the ACS-NSQIP database for 2006–2014. Sub-analysis was performed based on reconstruction type. Outcome of interest was PCF development within 30 days.

Results

Multivariate analysis of 971 patients was performed. Three variables showed statistical significance in predicting PCF: wound classification of 3 and 4 vs. 1–2 (OR 6.42 P < 0.0004 and OR 8.87, P < 0.0042), pre-operative transfusion of > 4 units of packed red blood cells (OR 6.28, P = 0.043), and free flap versus no flap reconstruction (OR 2.81, P = 0.008).

Conclusions

This study identifies important risk factors for development of PCF following total laryngectomy in a large, multi-institutional cohort of patients, thereby identifying a subset of patients at increased risk.