bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the failures of naturalism
Authors: Buras Todd
Published: August 2014

This article examines philosophical naturalism—the chief rival to theism in the modern world—with contemporary apologetic concerns in view. The second section introduces the central claims of naturalism and the main arguments offered on its behalf. The third section surveys the challenges naturalism faces in accounting for two key features of human nature. The final section outlines the significance of these challenges in the context of an inference to the best explanation for theism.
Physical phenomena occurring in the process of physical–mechanical degumming of fiber from flax straw
Authors: Konczewicz Wanda
Published: August 2014

The study presents physical phenomena that occur in the physical–mechanical process of degumming of fiber from flax straw. Moreover, the effect of liquid flow through the straw has been determined by analysis of the mass exchange (motion) according to the principles of fluid mechanics.

It was shown that conditions of the degumming process, especially the temperature, have a significant effect on acceleration of the mass exchange.

The analyses of the results indicated that the developed model laboratory device allowed for evaluation of the mechanism of mass exchange by slow laminar liquid flow. The evaluation of the degumming process with convective mass motion at a higher speed of liquid flow was based on model tests of hydrodynamic washing of three types of gels: fruit pectin, animal gelatin and starch from linen fabrics. It was shown that temperature is a decisive factor affecting the washing out of gels. Better washing out was achieved by using diffusive penetration of water into the gel structure at the initial phase of the process. Using the dynamic washing out of the gels with a water stream of high flow speed (at the m/s range) shortened considerably the washing time.
Electrospinning of polymethyl methacrylate nanofibers: optimization of processing parameters using the Taguchi design of experiments
Authors: Mohammad Khanlou Hossein , Chin Ang Bee , Talebian Sepehr , Muhammad Afifi Amalina , Andriyana Andri
Published: August 2014

The effects of polymer concentration and electrospinning parameters on the diameter of electrospun polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) fibers were experimentally investigated. It was also studied how the controlled factors would affect the output with the intention of finding the optimal electrospinning settings in order to obtain the smallest PMMA fiber diameter. Subsequently the solution feed rate, needle gauge diameter, supply voltage, polymer concentration and tip-to-collector distance were considered as the control factors. To achieve these aims, Taguchi’s mixed-level parameter design (L18) was employed for the experimental design. Optimal electrospinning conditions were determined using the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio that was calculated from the electrospun PMMA fiber diameter according to “the-smaller-the-better” approach. Accordingly, the smallest fiber diameter observed was 228 (±76) nm and it was yielded at 15 wt% polymer concentration, 20 kV of supply voltage, 1 ml/h feed rate, 15 cm tip-to-distance and 19 needle gauge. Moreover, the S/N ratio response showed that the polymer concentration was the most effective parameter on determination of fiber diameter followed by feed rate, tip-to distance, needle gauge and voltage, respectively. The Taguchi design of experiments method has been found to be an effective approach to statistically optimize the critical parameters used in electrospinning so as to effectively tailor the resulting electrospun fiber diameters and morphology.
The effect of physical factors on the process of physical-mechanical degumming of flax fibers
Authors: Konczewicz Wanda , Wojtysiak Jan
Published: August 2014

This paper presents results of studies on a new physical-mechanical method of degumming of flax fibers in order to determine optimal parameters of the process for obtaining high-quality fiber.

The study was carried out on an experimental device where lengthwise and crosswise flow of the liquid through a straw batch was applied and where the following process parameters were controlled: temperature, flow velocity, and time of the process. The pH was maintained at a stable neutral level. The degumming process was evaluated by measurement of the mass loss of the straw during the process, by physical-chemical tests of the process liquid, by metrological and chemical tests of the obtained fiber, and by statistical analysis of the results.

The results of the study, compared with the results of traditional warm water retting, indicate that by proper selection of physical factors of the process, it can be intensified resulting in obtaining high-quality fiber, superior to the fiber obtained in the traditional retting technique.
The ex-ante impact of conflict over infrastructure settings on residential property values: The case of Paris’s suburban zones
Authors: Torre Andre , Pham Vu Hai , Simon Arnaud
Published: August 2014

The presence of nearby public facilities has an impact on real-estate values; for this reason, the market may reasonably anticipate that public infrastructure projects will affect house prices. But undesirable and semi-desirable facility location choices may be contested by nearby residents, as they are a source of negative externalities or expectations. In Paris’s suburban zones, opposition to these infrastructures is frequent, and the official announcement of a project does not automatically mean it will be implemented. Through three case studies, we explore the way in which the expectation mechanism is affected by legal conflicts driven by nearby residents. We suppose that expectations depend on the probability that a given project will be realised. The variation is captured by a hedonic model. As conflicts amplify or reduce the certainty of the new facility’s arrival, market perceptions of the infrastructure vary.
Constitutional Struggle and Indigenous Resistance in Latin America
Authors: Fisher Eloy
Published: August 2014

While inequality in Latin America has decreased, being poor and being of indigenous descent are still interchangeable. Uneven progress and policy dereliction with respect to indigenous groups have their consequences: increasingly organized indigenous movements in Latin America struggle today to reclaim and provide new spaces of citizenship around notions of local governance of natural resources and self-determination under harsh social realities. As globalization flattens production and consumption beyond the purview of the traditional nation-state, excluded groups like the indigenous peoples of Latin America have quickly assumed a position of political prominence. Indigenous movements fill the vacuum left by urban groups that today marginally participate in reaping the rewards of higher, commodity-driven growth. In Latin America, indigenous demands have turned into calls for constitutional reform against the interests of governments that wish to develop valuable mineral resources in indigenous regions. However, these indigenous movements are at a crossroads: while instrumental, their situation in political alliances is precarious as governments resort to capital-intensive strategies for the development of resources under their care.

Si bien la desigualdad en América Latina ha disminuido, ser pobre y ser de ascendencia indígena aún son intercambiables. Progreso desigual y negligencia en el cumplimiento de políticas con respecto a los grupos indígenas tienen sus consecuencias: los movimientos indígenas cada vez más organizados de América Latina luchan hoy para reclamar y ofrecer nuevos espacios de la ciudadanía acerca de las nociones de gobernabilidad local de los recursos naturales y de la autodeterminación en virtud de las realidades sociales difíciles. Dado que la globalización aplana la producción y el consumo más allá del ámbito de competencia del Estado-nación tradicional, los grupos excluidos, como los pueblos indígenas de América Latina, han asumido rápidamente una posición de prominencia política. Los movimientos indígenas llenan el vacío dejado por los grupos urbanos que hoy participan marginalmente en recoger las recompensas del superior crecimiento del producto impulsado. En América Latina, las demandas indígenas se han convertido en reclamaciones para la reforma constitucional en contra de los intereses de los gobiernos que deseen desarrollar recursos minerales valiosos en las regiones indígenas. Sin embargo, estos movimientos indígenas se encuentran en una encrucijada: si bien instrumental, su situación en las alianzas políticas es precaria ya que los gobiernos recurren a estrategias de uso intensivo de capital para el desarrollo de los recursos bajo su cuidado.
Between the Paternalistic and the Neoliberal State
Authors: Vélez-Torres Irene , Varela Daniel
Published: August 2014

The sugarcane agro-industry and large-scale mining have generated a profound change in traditional economic practices in the upper Cauca of Colombia to the detriment of the small-scale farmers and miners of the local Afro-descendant population. This has been accompanied by a consolidation of the centralized state since the neoliberal opening and a weakening of the old regional state supported by the paternalistic structure of the agricultural elites. Participative research with two community organizations with regard to the dispute over access to land and environmental assets reveals that the communities and their social organizations have responded to their racialized impoverishment by mobilization and the creation of alliances not only as a means of resistance but also as a strategy for the construction of their own alternative life plans.

La agroindustria de caña de azúcar y la minería a gran escala han generado un cambio profundo en las prácticas económicas tradicionales en el Cauca Alto de Colombia, en de-trimento los agricultores y los mineros de pequeña escala de la población afrodescendiente locales. Esto ha sido acompañado por una consolidación del Estado centralizado desde la apertura neoliberal y un debilitamiento del viejo Estado regional apoyado por la estructura paternalista de las elites agrícolas. La investigación participativa con dos organizaciones de la comunidad con respecto a la disputa sobre el acceso a la tierra y los bienes medioambientales revela que las comunidades y sus organizaciones sociales han respondido a su empobrecimiento racializado por la movilización y la creación de alianzas, no sólo como medio de resistencia, pero también como una estrategia para la construcción de sus propios proyectos de vida alternativos.
How to Promote Bedside Placement of the Postpyloric Feeding Tube
Authors: Tiancha Huang , Jiyong Jing , Min Yan
Published: August 2014

Background: The optimal method of achieving fast, safe, and accurate postpyloric tube placement at the bedside remains controversial. This study investigated whether facilitating techniques of bedside placement would improve the rate of successful placement of postpyloric tubes when compared with the standard technique and whether strategies should be confined to adult or pediatric patients. Methods: We searched electronic databases for eligible literatures that compared different methods of postpyloric tube placement, evaluating the successful rate of postpyloric tube placement. Two reviewers reviewed the quality of the studies and performed data extraction independently. Pairwise and network meta‐analyses were performed to integrate the efficacy. Results: Fourteen clinical trials involving 753 patients were included. Pairwise meta‐analyses demonstrated that prokinetic agents (odds ratio [OR], 2.263; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.140–4.490; P = .02) were associated with a higher success rate as compared with the standard technique, and gastric air insufflation was associated with a higher success rate as compared with prokinetic agents (OR, 3.462; 95% CI, 1.63–7.346; P = .001) in adult patients. In network analyses, prokinetic agents and gastric air insufflation were also consistently associated with a higher success rate in adult patients. Trend analyses of rank probabilities revealed gastric air insufflation had the cumulative probability of being the most efficacious strategy (78%), especially in adult patients (88%). Conclusions: Gastric air insufflation seems to be clinically better for promoting bedside placement of postpyloric feeding tubes in adults. Clinicians should no longer use prokinetic agents in pediatric patients or patients without impaired motility.
Upon Opening the Black Box and Finding It Full
Authors: Steen Marc
Published: August 2014

Contemporary design practices, such as participatory design (PD), human-centered design (HCD), and codesign, have inherent ethical qualities, which often remain implicit and unexamined. Three design projects in the high-tech industry were studied using three ethical traditions as lenses. Virtue ethics helped to understand cooperation, curiosity, creativity, and empowerment as virtues that people in PD need to cultivate, so that they can engage, for example, in mutual learning and collaborative prototyping. Ethics of alterity (Levinas and Derrida) helped to understand human-centered design as a fragile encounter between project team members and prospective users, and foregrounds the ethics in these encounters: our tendencies to “grasp the other” and to “program invention.” And pragmatist ethics (Dewey) helped to understand codesign as a process of joint inquiry and imagination, involving the organization of iterative processes of problem setting and solution finding, with moral qualities. When we open the “black boxes” of design practices, we find them filled with ethics. Moreover, it is proposed that design practitioners need to make explicit their practices’ inherent ethical qualities and that they can do that by embracing reflexivity.
Overcoming the Digital Divide in Developing Countries
Authors: Ohemeng Frank Louis Kwaku , Ofosu-Adarkwa Kwaku
Published: August 2014

The emergence of information communication technologies (ICTs) in developing countries has been hailed as a major step toward a solution to the problem of the underdevelopment of many of them. Obstacles such as corruption, delays in service delivery, lack of public sector accountability, and so on can many believe be overcome with ICT: particularly, the Internet and cell or mobile phones. Consequently, governments in these countries continue to expend a lot of their meager resources on ensuring the effective development and use of ICTs. In spite of this, a major problem that these countries face is what has been described as the digital divide. The purpose of this article is, therefore, to examine the government’s attempt to address this problem including how the problem has been defined, the steps that are being taken to heal it, the implied challenges, if any, facing the government, and how it can address these challenges.
Foreign Aid and Development in Sino-African Relations
Authors: Ubi Efem N.
Published: August 2014

Recently, some emerging economies are beginning to challenge the existing international development architecture by doling out huge amounts of aid, both in cash and kind to countries in Africa, thereby playing a prominent role in the development of Africa. Amongst these new donors, China tops the list. There is great optimism about the potential benefits of China–Africa aid co-operation despite the doubts expressed by “Sino-skeptics or sinophobes.” This trust stems from two points: first, it is because China, which shares history of oppression and underdevelopment with Africa, deemed itself in a better position to be of veritable assistance to Africa, and second, Africa has plenty of lessons to draw from China’s development experiences. It is important that Africa must use the events of the past to shape the future, that is, draw lessons from its past history and experiences with the West and at the same time emulate the Chinese experiences in growth, development, poverty reduction strategy, etc. However, for China’s aid to guarantee Africa’s development, it is not only advisable for Africa to maximize and build on the complementarities across the different sectors (trade, investment, aid, etc.), which this relations offer, but that African government must develop good policies, adequate institutional framework and regulations when strategizing for development and engaging with China, as this will enable Africa to benefit in an all round way. The paper concludes, it is only when these factors are taken into consideration that Africa will be on the path to development.
Responding to the call: Human security INGOs and countries with a history of civil war
Authors: Murdie Amanda , Webeck Sean
Published: August 2014

When are human security international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) involved in countries with a history of civil war? Though the literature mentions the necessity of these actors in war-torn countries, not much is known about the factors which make INGO involvement more or less likely in countries with a history of civil war. We develop a theory that highlights the role of INGO safety and country salience in encouraging INGO involvement. Looking at the involvement of both development and human rights INGOs in countries with a history of civil war, we find support for our overall argument.
Calling All Stakeholders
Authors: Vaughn Lisa M. , Lohmueller MaryAnn
Published: August 2014

Group-level assessment (GLA) is a qualitative and participatory large group method in which timely and valid data are collaboratively generated and interactively evaluated with relevant stakeholders leading to the development of participant-driven data and relevant action plans. This method is useful across a wide range of evaluation purposes in many environments. GLA involves bringing a large group of participants together to build a common database through the co-identification of relevant needs, judgments, and priorities. The GLA process proceeds through the following seven steps: climate setting, generating, appreciating, reflecting, understanding, selecting, and action. This article describes the methodological development and process of conducting a GLA and its various applications across the evaluation spectrum. We highlight several exemplars where GLA was used in order to demonstrate the particular nuances of working with different sizes and types of groups and to elaborate on our learnings from the wide applicability of the method.
Evaluating Response Shift in Training Evaluation
Authors: Piwowar Valentina , Thiel Felicitas
Published: August 2014

Background:

Response shift (RS) can threaten the internal validity of pre–post designs. As RS may indicate a redefinition of the target construct, its occurrence in training evaluation is rather likely. The most common approach to deal with RS is to implement a retrospective pretest (then-test) instead of the traditional pre-test. In health psychology, an adapted measurement invariance approach (MIad) was developed as an alternative technique to study RS. Results produced by identifying RS with the two approaches were rarely studied simultaneously or within an experimental framework.

Objectives:

To study RS in two different treatment conditions and compare results produced by both techniques in identifying various types of RS. We further studied validity aspects of the then-test.

Research Design:

We evaluated RS by applying the then-test procedure (TP) and the measurement invariance apporach MIad within an experimental design: Participants either attended a short-term or a long-term classroom management training program.

Subjects:

Participants were 146 student teachers in their first year of master’s study.

Measures:

Pre (before training), post, and then self-ratings (after training) on classroom management knowledge were administered.

Results:

Results indicated that the two approaches do not yield the same results. The MIad identified more and also group-specific RS as opposed to the findings of the TP, which found less and only little evidence for group-specific RS.

Conclusions:

Further research is needed to study the usability and validity of the respective approaches. In particular, the usability of the then-test seems to be challenged.
Blue sky thinking meets green field usability: Can mobile internet software engineering bridge the rural divide?
Authors: Morgan Andrew , Dix Alan , Phillips Mike , House Chris
Published: August 2014

Mobile applications (apps) are becoming more commonplace as mobile phones and tablets begin to replace traditional desktop devices. Software developers are usually located in areas where good connectivity is the norm, but large numbers of users are located in other areas where 3 G connectivity is at best poor or non-existent. This results in app development which is unsuitable for many areas of the world and, as well as being a problem in rural areas of the UK, has ramifications for mobile app use in third world countries where fixed broadband services are largely absent. Drawing on experiences of users on the margins of connectivity, this paper discusses difficulties of mobile internet access in Wales and recommends changes to app development methodology to maximise bandwidth in areas of limited network coverage.
Local Enterprise Partnerships and the low-carbon economy: Front runners, uncertainty and divergence
Authors: Britton Jessica , Woodman Bridget
Published: August 2014

Continued growth of the low-carbon economy during the recent economic downturn has driven increased focus on the role of this sector in re-establishing the dynamism of the UK economy. At the same time, local economic governance has undergone a rapid phase of reorganisation with the development of Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). This article examines the approach of LEPs to the low-carbon economy, drawing on documentary analysis and interviews with LEPs and other local economic development actors. It reviews the extent to which LEPs are prioritising low-carbon growth and concludes that, whilst some areas are embedding green growth, progress is highly variable due to uncertainties regarding the national decarbonisation agenda and the lack of an explicit requirement from Government. A lack of consensus regarding what constitutes green growth and a focus by LEPs on large-scale low-carbon projects may be limiting progress in areas, such as energy efficiency, that may deliver multiple economic, environmental and social objectives. Conflicting themes of centralisation and decentralisation are also evident in the low-carbon policy landscape, highlighting a need for greater dialogue between the central and local scale to explore the diversity of local low-carbon economy pathways.
Development of a Microsimulation of Melanoma Mortality for Evaluating the Effectiveness of Population-Based Skin Cancer Screening
Authors: Eisemann Nora , Waldmann Annika , Garbe Claus , Katalinic Alexander
Published: August 2014

Background. A nationwide skin cancer screening (SCS) was implemented in Germany in 2008. It aims at improving early detection of melanoma in order to reduce melanoma mortality. While the idea of early detection is compelling, demonstrating the effectiveness of melanoma screening is crucial. Since it is not feasible to conduct epidemiological studies to investigate the impact of factors such as screening interval or targeted age groups, we developed a microsimulation model that is able to predict melanoma mortality in Germany under several SCS conditions. Methods. Using German cancer registry data, population data, and other published data on melanoma progression and screening participation, we developed a stochastic microsimulation model. With this model, 10,000 populations of 100,000 persons and their melanoma-related life histories were simulated separately for women and for men and calibrated to observed melanoma incidence. In a second step, life histories of melanoma were changed by an SCS. Results. Compared with a nonscreening scenario (age-standardized mortality rate: 1.6 and 2.9 per 100,000 for women and men), a biennial SCS of the 35- to 85-year-old population with a participation probability of 20% for each screening-eligible individual and a test sensitivity of 80% reduced mortality by up to 0.7 and 1.4 deaths per 100,000 person-years for women and men, respectively, corresponding to a relative reduction of melanoma mortality by 45% in women and men. Conclusions. We developed a microsimulation model of melanoma mortality that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of population-based skin cancer screening. The simulation provided plausible melanoma mortality predictions and is a tool for comparing different SCS scenarios. However, it does not provide estimates on total costs of SCS.
Cognitive Biases and Heuristics in Medical Decision Making
Authors: Blumenthal-Barby J. S. , Krieger Heather
Published: August 2014

Background. The role of cognitive biases and heuristics in medical decision making is of growing interest. The purpose of this study was to determine whether studies on cognitive biases and heuristics in medical decision making are based on actual or hypothetical decisions and are conducted with populations that are representative of those who typically make the medical decision; to categorize the types of cognitive biases and heuristics found and whether they are found in patients or in medical personnel; and to critically review the studies based on standard methodological quality criteria. Method. Data sources were original, peer-reviewed, empirical studies on cognitive biases and heuristics in medical decision making found in Ovid Medline, PsycINFO, and the CINAHL databases published in 1980–2013. Predefined exclusion criteria were used to identify 213 studies. During data extraction, information was collected on type of bias or heuristic studied, respondent population, decision type, study type (actual or hypothetical), study method, and study conclusion. Results. Of the 213 studies analyzed, 164 (77%) were based on hypothetical vignettes, and 175 (82%) were conducted with representative populations. Nineteen types of cognitive biases and heuristics were found. Only 34% of studies ( n = 73) investigated medical personnel, and 68% ( n = 145) confirmed the presence of a bias or heuristic. Each methodological quality criterion was satisfied by more than 50% of the studies, except for sample size and validated instruments/questions. Limitations are that existing terms were used to inform search terms, and study inclusion criteria focused strictly on decision making. Conclusions. Most of the studies on biases and heuristics in medical decision making are based on hypothetical vignettes, raising concerns about applicability of these findings to actual decision making. Biases and heuristics have been underinvestigated in medical personnel compared with patients.
Societal Preferences for Distributive Justice in the Allocation of Health Care Resources
Authors: Skedgel Chris , Wailoo Allan , Akehurst Ron
Published: August 2014

Economic theory suggests that resources should be allocated in a way that produces the greatest outputs, on the grounds that maximizing output allows for a redistribution that could benefit everyone. In health care, this is known as QALY (quality-adjusted life-year) maximization. This justification for QALY maximization may not hold, though, as it is difficult to reallocate health. Therefore, the allocation of health care should be seen as a matter of distributive justice as well as efficiency. A discrete choice experiment was undertaken to test consistency with the principles of QALY maximization and to quantify the willingness to trade life-year gains for distributive justice. An empirical ethics process was used to identify attributes that appeared relevant and ethically justified: patient age, severity (decomposed into initial quality and life expectancy), final health state, duration of benefit, and distributional concerns. Only 3% of respondents maximized QALYs with every choice, but scenarios with larger aggregate QALY gains were chosen more often and a majority of respondents maximized QALYs in a majority of their choices. However, respondents also appeared willing to prioritize smaller gains to preferred groups over larger gains to less preferred groups. Marginal analyses found a statistically significant preference for younger patients and a wider distribution of gains, as well as an aversion to patients with the shortest life expectancy or a poor final health state. These results support the existence of an equity-efficiency tradeoff and suggest that well-being could be enhanced by giving priority to programs that best satisfy societal preferences. Societal preferences could be incorporated through the use of explicit equity weights, although more research is required before such weights can be used in priority setting.
An Integrative Model of Consumers’ Reluctance to Buy Foreign Products
Authors: García-de-Frutos Nieves , Ortega-Egea José Manuel
Published: August 2014

This paper delves into the role of social and environmental country images—along with other relevant product-country influencing factors—in consumers’ reluctance to buy foreign products. Two integrative research models are proposed and tested on Spanish consumers’ reluctance to buy Chinese apparel products. In doing so, the authors draw on and seek to advance theory and knowledge on country-of-origin (COO) effects and anti-consumption. The findings reveal the importance of social and environmental, as well as political-economic issues, in measuring (China’s) foreign country image. Yet, a disaggregated analysis discovered differential effects of the three country image factors examined, that is, as factors indirectly influencing reluctance to buy. The findings are also supportive of the importance of three additional COO influence mechanisms—cognitive (foreign product judgments), affective (country animosity) and normative influences (consumer ethnocentrism)—for consumers’ reluctance to buy foreign products. Implications of the study for research, policy, and practice are discussed.
The effect of directing attention on melodic dictation testing
Authors: Paney Andrew S
Published: August 2014

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of guiding students through remembering and understanding a melody on their melodic dictation scores. Two matched groups of university music students ( N = 64) took a dictation, but those in the treatment group received instructions directing their attention for the purpose of aiding their memory and understanding.

In every comparison (rhythm, pitch, and overall score), the control group scored higher than the treatment group. Results suggest that instructions guiding students through the memory and understanding phases may not be helpful to students. Early dictation instruction that focuses attention on important aspects of a melody without requiring a full transcription, however, may help to build students’ melodic memory and understanding.
Maltreatment and Delinquency in China
Authors: Gao Yunjiao , Wong Dennis S. W. , Yu Yanping
Published: August 2014

Using a sample of 1,163 adolescents from four middle schools in China, this study explores the intervening process of how adolescent maltreatment is related to delinquency within the framework of general strain theory (GST) by comparing two models. The first model is Agnew’s integrated model of GST, which examines the mediating effects of social control, delinquent peer affiliation, state anger, and depression on the relationship between maltreatment and delinquency. Based on this model, with the intent to further explore the mediating effects of state anger and depression and to investigate whether their effects on delinquency can be demonstrated more through delinquent peer affiliation and social control, an extended model (Model 2) is proposed by the authors. The second model relates state anger to delinquent peer affiliation and state depression to social control. By comparing the fit indices and the significance of the hypothesized paths of the two models, the study found that the extended model can better reflect the mechanism of how maltreatment contributes to delinquency, whereas the original integrated GST model only receives partial support because of its failure to find the mediating effects of state negative emotions.
Are Chinese Workers Paid the Correct Wages? Measuring Wage Underpayment in the Chinese Industrial Sector, 2005-2010
Authors: Xu Zhun , Chen Ying , Li Minqi
Published: August 2014

This paper examines the labor compensations of the Chinese industrial sector for the period 2005-2010. We find that both the state owned enterprises and the non-domestic enterprises pay more than the living wage. But the domestic private enterprises pay substantially less than the living wage. We also find that all types of Chinese industrial enterprises pay the workers with wages that are substantially less than their marginal product of labor.
Time, Space, and Text in the Elementary School Digital Writing Classroom
Authors: Mills Kathy A. , Exley Beryl
Published: August 2014

Theorists of multiliteracies, social semiotics, and the New Literacy Studies have drawn attention to the potential changing nature of writing and literacy in the context of networked communications. This article reports findings from a design-based research project in Year 4 classrooms (students aged 8.5-10 years) in a low socioeconomic status school. A new writing program taught students how to design multimodal and digital texts across a range of genres and text types, such as web pages, online comics, video documentaries, and blogs. The authors use Bernstein’s theory of the pedagogic device to theorize the pedagogic struggles and resolutions in remaking English through the specialization of time, space, and text. The changes created an ideological struggle as new writing practices were adapted from broader societal fields to meet the instructional and regulative discourses of a conventional writing curriculum.
Histological study on hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum following low lead exposure during prenatal and postnatal brain development in rats
Authors: Barkur Rajashekar Rao , Bairy Laxminarayana K
Published: August 2014

Neuropsychological studies in children who are exposed to lead during their early brain development have shown to develop behavioural and cognitive deficit. The aim of the present study was to assess the cellular damage in hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum of rat pups exposed to lead during different periods of early brain development. Five groups of rat pups were investigated. (a) Control group ( n = 8) (mothers of these rats were given normal drinking water throughout gestation and lactation), (b) pregestation lead-exposed group ( n = 8) (mothers of these rats were exposed to 0.2% lead acetate in the drinking water for one month before conception), (c) gestation lead-exposed group ( n = 8) (exposed to 0.2% lead acetate in the drinking water through the mother throughout gestation [gestation day 01 to day 21]), (d) lactation lead-exposed group ( n = 8) (exposed to 0.2% lead acetate in the drinking water through the mother throughout lactation [postnatal day 01 to day 21]) and (e) gestation and lactation lead-exposed group ( n = 8) (exposed to 0.2% lead acetate throughout gestation and lactation). On postnatal day 30, rat pups of all the groups were killed. Numbers of surviving neurons in the hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum regions were counted using cresyl violet staining technique. Histological data indicate that lead exposure caused significant damage to neurons of hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum regions in all lead-exposed groups except lactation lead-exposed group. The extent of damage to neurons of hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum regions in lactation lead-exposed group was comparable to gestation and lactation groups even though the duration of lead exposure was much less in lactation lead-exposed group. To conclude, the postnatal period of brain development seems to be more vulnerable to lead neurotoxicity compared to prenatal period of brain development.
Osteoblastic cell response to spark plasma-sintered zirconia/titanium cermets
Authors: Fernandez-Garcia Elisa , Guillem-Marti Jordi , Gutierrez-Gonzalez Carlos F , Fernandez Adolfo , Ginebra Maria-Pau , Lopez-Esteban Sonia
Published: August 2014

Ceramic/metal composites, cermets, arise from the idea to combine the dissimilar properties in the pure materials. This work aims to study the biocompatibility of new micro-nanostructured 3 Y-TZP/Ti materials with 25, 50 and 75 vol.% Ti, which have been successfully obtained by spark slasma sintering technology, as well as to correlate their surface properties (roughness, wettability and chemical composition) with the osteoblastic cell response. All samples had isotropic and slightly waved microstructure, with sub-micrometric average roughness. Composites with 75 vol.% Ti had the highest surface hydrophilicity. Surface chemical composition of the cermets correlated well with the relative amounts used for their fabrication. A cell viability rate over 80% dismissed any cytotoxicity risk due to manufacturing. Cell adhesion and early differentiation were significantly enhanced on materials containing the nanostructured 3 Y-TZP phase. Proliferation and differentiation of SaOS-2 were significantly improved in their late-stage on the composite with 75 vol.% Ti that, from the osseointegration standpoint, is presented as an excellent biomaterial for bone replacement. Thus, spark plasma sintering is consolidated as a suitable technology for manufacturing nanostructured biomaterials with enhanced bioactivity.
Evaluating Patients’ Understanding of Printed Warfarin Medication Information
Authors: Schwartz Lauren , Mazzola Nissa , Hoffman Robert S. , Howland Mary Ann , Mercurio-Zappala Maria , Nelson Lewis S.
Published: August 2014

Objective:

Warfarin is a high-risk medication whose safe use may be greatly improved by patient education. This study evaluate evaluated patients’ understanding of warfarin instructions, medication management, the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) warfarin medication guide content, and patient information recommendations.

Methods:

Interviews conducted at 2 hospital-based outpatient primary care sites with patients initiated on warfarin therapy within the last year.

Results:

Interviews were conducted with 49 patients. Seventy percent were between 36 and 64 years old and reported taking between 1 and 18 different medications daily. Many (76%) received information about warfarin when first prescribed to them, 65% written and 60% verbal (answers reflect more than one response). Patients found content in the medication guide difficult to understand; 18% were unable to identify information about diet and 21% were unable to locate information about when to call their provider. Analysis showed that 19% had trouble with numeracy issues related to warfarin. Patients’ suggestions of ways to convey warfarin information included more graphics, in-person counseling, and multilingual translations.

Conclusion:

This study demonstrates gaps in patients’ understanding of warfarin therapy. Relying solely on the information in the FDA medication guide is insufficient to guarantee adequate understanding. Utilizing the suggestions from patients’ feedback on other ways to deliver information should help future patients with different learning abilities and styles.
A cost–benefit framework for assessing advanced manufacturing technology development: A case study
Authors: Jones MB , Webb PF , Summers MD , Baguley P , Valerdi R
Published: August 2014

Development of new advanced manufacturing technology for the aerospace industry is critical to enhance the manufacture and assembly of aerospace products. This article presents, verifies and validates a cost–benefit forecasting framework for the initial stages of advanced manufacturing technology development. The framework improves the decision-making process of which potential advanced manufacturing technologies to select and develop from concept to full-scale demonstration. Cost is the first element and is capable of forecasting the advanced manufacturing technology development effort in person-hours and cost of hardware using two parametric cost models. Benefit is the second element and forecasts the advanced manufacturing technology tangible and intangible performance. The proposed framework plots these quantified cost–benefit parameters to present development value advice for a diverse range of advanced manufacturing technologies. A detailed case study evaluating a total of 23 novel aerospace advanced manufacturing technologies verifies the capability and high accuracy of the framework within a large aerospace manufacturing organisation. Further validation is provided by quantifying the responses from 10 advanced manufacturing technology development experts, after utilising the methodology within an industrial setting. The case study demonstrates that quantifying the cost-benefit parameters provides the ability to select advanced manufacturing technologies that generate the best value to a business.
Achieving quasi constant machining strip width in five-axis frontal grinding with toroidal tools
Authors: He Ying , Chen Zhi-Tong
Published: August 2014

Five-axis frontal grinding has an advantage in finish machining of freeform surface due to high surface accuracy and material removal rate. This article focuses on achieving nearly constant machining strip width with toroidal cutter. To begin with, the initial tool path is generated to realize the maximum machining strip width with fixed yaw angle at each cut contact point and then the verges of machined area convergent to the effective machined area after modifying tool posture. The experimental test shows that the proposed method can obtain quasi constant machining strip width.
Measurement of vertical geometry variations in railway turnouts exposed to different operating conditions
Authors: Jönsson Jens , Arasteh Khouy Iman , Lundberg Jan , Rantatalo Matti , Nissen Arne
Published: August 2014

Turnouts are critical units in a railway system; they perform the switching procedure that allows trains to change between routes. Monitoring the track geometry of a turnout is necessary for maintenance planning and design optimisation. Monitoring is usually done by track recording cars, however, to isolate the ageing and dynamic behaviour of the track it is also necessary to study the unstressed track geometry of the turnouts. Such measurements can be used to develop degradation models to optimise maintenance and design, thereby increasing availability and reducing life cycle cost. This paper introduces a new method to measure the vertical position of the track geometry over time during non-operational conditions (unstressed) to show track degradation. The new method includes a smart system that uses relative measurement reference points to create a better accuracy and lower costs compared with fixed reference points. It evaluates various types of measurement equipment and uses levelling equipment to measure the unstressed vertical geometry of 13 turnouts located on Swedish railway lines, with three follow-up measurements over a year and a half. The turnouts were categorised into four groups: based on their accumulated capacity in million gross tonnes (MGT) and whether they were on a straight or curved main track. Surprisingly, the first three measurements showed the geometry of turnouts on the straight main track to have a vertical elevation tendency towards the mid-section, whereas the turnouts on the curved main track had a general vertical downwards bend tendency towards the mid-section. The results also showed that a higher capacity in MGT has a greater influence on track geometry changes over time.
Middle-Holocene alluvial forests and associated fluvial environments: A multi-proxy reconstruction from the lower Scheldt, N Belgium
Authors: Deforce Koen , Storme Annelies , Bastiaens Jan , Debruyne Sofie , Denys Luc , Ervynck Anton , Meylemans Erwin , Stieperaere Herman , Van Neer Wim , Crombé Philippe
Published: August 2014

Analyses of pollen, plant macrofossils (seeds, fruits, wood and mosses), molluscs, diatoms and vertebrate (mainly fish) remains allowed a detailed reconstruction of a middle-Holocene alluvial forest and its associated hydrological conditions. The use of multiple proxies resulted in a taxonomically more detailed and environmentally more comprehensive understanding of terrestrial as well as aquatic habitats. The results demonstrate possible biases in palaeoecological reconstructions of alluvial and estuarine environments drawn from single proxies. Many locally occurring woody taxa were underrepresented or remained undetected by pollen analyses. Seeds and fruits also proved to be inadequate to detect several locally important taxa, such as Ulmus and Hedera helix. Apparently brackish conditions inferred from diatoms, pollen and other microfossils conflicted strikingly with the evidence from molluscs, fish bones and botanical macroremains which suggest a freshwater environment. Brackish sediment (and the microfossil indicators) is likely to have been deposited during spring tides or storm surges, when estuarine waters penetrated more inland than usual. Despite the reworking and deposition of estuarine and saltmarsh sediment well above the tidal node at such events, local salinity levels largely remained unaffected.
Peatlands in eastern Australia? Sedimentology and age structure of Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) in the Southern Highlands and Blue Mountains of NSW, Australia
Authors: Fryirs Kirstie , Freidman Benjamin , Williams Rory , Jacobsen Geraldine
Published: August 2014

Temperate Highland Peat Swamps on Sandstone (THPSS) are a form of topogenous mire found on the plateau areas of eastern Australia. They are well recognised for their ecological value, but our understanding of their geomorphic structure, function and evolution remains limited. Across 19 sites, the valley fills of THPSS comprise sequences of mineral-rich sand and loam deposits. Basal sand and gravel sediments have low organic content and low carbon to nitrogen (C:N) ratios (a measure of peat formation) and are dated between 15.3 and 9 kyr cal. BP, with outliers back to 44 kyr cal. BP. These units reflect mineral-sediment trapping and accumulation on the valley floor. The transition to ‘swamp’ conditions through paludification occurred between 15.2 and 10.3 kyr cal. BP in some systems, and between 7.6 and 1.4 kyr cal. BP in other, adjacent valleys. These ‘swamp’ sediments comprise a package of units, progressing upward from fine cohesive sands, through assemblages of alternating organic sands to surface organic fines. These beds vary in texture from loams to sands and have a range of organic matter content (from 7.6% to 79.9%) and C:N ratios (from 15 to 58). The surface organic fines at 0 and 100 cm depth range in age from 13.1 to 0.7 kyr cal. BP. The composition and age structure of the valley fill suggest a mix of allogenic and autogenic controls are responsible for the formation of these swamps, but a regional model of THPSS evolution is emerging. Given these ‘peatlands’ have formed under a climate that experiences significant inter-annual variability in rainfall, conditions for peat formation are localised and not directly equivalent to those documented internationally.