bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Book Review: K. B. Saxena, Contemporary Practices of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: Insights from Districts
Authors: Pankaj Ashok K.
Published: February 2016

K. B. Saxena, Contemporary Practices of Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme: Insights from Districts, New Delhi, SAGE Publications, 2015, 120 pp., ₹ 995, ISBN: 9789351502715.
Book Review: P.C. Joshi, Marxism as Scientific Enterprise
Authors: Agarwal Aparna
Published: February 2016

P.C. Joshi, Marxism as Scientific Enterprise, New Delhi, Aakar Books, 2014, 223 pp., ₹ 295, ISBN-10: 9350022753, ISBN-13: 978-9350022757.
Robust attitude control design for a low-cost hexarotor micro aerial vehicle
Authors: Derawi Dafizal , Salim Nurul Dayana , Zamzuri Hairi , Abdul Rahman Mohd Azizi , Nonami Kenzo
Published: February 2016

This article proposes a new practical robust attitude state feedback controller of a low-cost hexarotor micro aerial vehicle under the effects of noise in angular velocity measurements and multiple uncertainties (called the equivalent disturbance), which consist of external time-varying wind disturbance, nonlinear dynamics, coupling and parametric uncertainties. The proposed method is designed in two simple steps. Firstly, a nominal cascade controller is designed to reduce noise in angular velocity measurements and to achieve good attitude tracking performance in nominal conditions. Then, a second-order robust compensator is integrated into the closed-loop system to reduce the effects of the equivalent disturbance. The proposed control design is a linear time-invariant controller which is easily implemented in practical applications. Compared to other advanced attitude controllers, the proposed controller incurs lower computational costs and can easily be implemented in a low-cost embedded microcontroller system. In addition, a practical computational design procedure and an intuitive online tuning method for the proposed controller are presented in this article in order to provide a complete reference to micro aerial vehicle developers. The simulation and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the robustness of the proposed controller in operation in outdoor environments, to show good steady-state and dynamic tracking performance of the closed-loop system and to prove that the tracking errors are ultimately bounded within desired limits.
Evaluating the ‘as-built’ performance of an eco-housing development in the UK
Authors: Gupta R , Kapsali M
Published: February 2016

This paper uses a socio-technical building performance evaluation approach to forensically and systematically evaluate the actual performance of two case study dwellings located in a flagship eco-housing development in the UK, during the post-construction/initial occupation stage. The 12-month study captures the ‘as-built’ performance of the building envelope (principally heat loss) and installed equipment along with remote monitoring of energy use and environmental conditions, review of the handover processes and initial experiences of the occupants in relation to the home environment. It is found that actual annual energy use and CO2 emissions of the case study dwellings exceed design predictions by factors of 1.8 and 2.5, respectively. The main reasons for this gap are complex interdependencies that occur across the performance of building fabric and energy systems, usability of controls and occupant expectations and behaviour. Underperformance of mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems and air source heat pumps results from inadequate commissioning and maintenance procedures and poor occupant control due to complex control interfaces. Furthermore, unclear user guidance and inadequate training during handover lead to poor occupant understanding of the mechanical ventilation and heat recovery systems and heat pumps, resulting in their misuse. The findings have proved that building performance evaluation processes are vital for examining operational outcomes and discovering performance-related issues that would otherwise go unreported and lead to bigger problems in future.

Practical application: The methodological approach for evaluating housing performance adopted in this study provides design and construction teams with a practical approach to diagnose workmanship issues with building fabric and any installation or commissioning issues with energy systems and services. Maintenance regime of heating and ventilation system should be clarified at the installation and commissioning stage. Maintenance contracts should be set up for unfamiliar low carbon systems such as heat pumps, MVHR. Occupants need to be trained through graduated and extended handover that involves occupants trying out systems and controls in the presence of trained housing officers, supplemented by visual home user guides (developed by the architects) offering clear guidance on the daily and seasonal operation of systems and controls. Learning from such real-world case studies, from design to early occupation, is helpful in understanding the exact causes of the performance gap and how it can be addressed.
Focusing the High-Technology Firm: How Outsourcing Affects Technological Knowledge Exploration
Authors: Hashai Niron
Published: February 2016

This study argues and shows that the extent to which high-technology firms focus efforts by outsourcing production, assembly, and logistics activities enhances the extent of technological knowledge exploration. This occurs through three modalities: (1) intensifying the effect of internal R&D efforts on exploration; (2) intensifying the effect of learning from competing partners, through R&D alliances, on exploration; and (3) intensifying the effect of learning from customers on exploration. Empirical analysis of a panel data set of Israeli high-technology firms supports the view that the combination of these three modalities is associated with greater exploration of new technological knowledge.
Suicide? (Re)Introducing the Bobby Wright Social–Political Model of African-U.S. Own-Life Taking or African High-Tech Lynching
Authors: Azibo Daudi Ajani ya
Published: February 2016

Dr. Bobby Wright underscored perdurable distal anti-African-U.S. (descendants of Africans enslaved in the United States) forces in society as the main impetus for their suicide instead of variables more proximal to the individual championed in multilevel theories. Wright’s argument is advanced as a model bearing his name. Coming again at suicide using the Wright model reveals the inadequacy of the Western conceptualization for African-United States, compels new nomenclature, and expands the gestalt of the phenomenon affording more efficacious intervention and prevention efforts.
Discrimination in Lending Markets
Authors: Harkness Sarah K.
Published: February 2016

Research documents that lenders discriminate between loan applicants in traditional and peer-to-peer lending markets, yet we lack knowledge about the mechanisms driving lenders’ behavior. I offer one possible mechanism: When lenders assess borrowers, they are implicitly guided by cultural stereotypes about the borrowers’ status. This systematically steers lenders toward funding higher status groups even when applicants have the same financial histories. In an experimental test, I examine how applicants’ demographic characteristics combine to alter lenders’ status assessments and, thereby, lenders’ decisions in an artificial peer-to-peer lending market. Participants from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk evaluated a series of loan applicants whose gender (female or male) and race (black or white) were manipulated. The results demonstrate that applicants’ gender and race significantly affect lenders’ funding decisions because they alter lenders’ status beliefs about the applicants. This study provides experimental evidence that status is a likely mechanism driving lending discrimination.
Organized Hematoma
Authors: Pang Wenhui , Hu Li , Wang Huan , Sha Yan , Ma Na , Wang Shuyi , Liu Quan , Sun Xicai , Wang Dehui
Published: February 2016

Objective

To characterize features of organized hematoma (OH) that may cause considerable diagnostic difficulties.

Study Design

Case series with chart review.

Setting

Tertiary medical center.

Subjects and Methods

Eighty‐four patients with pathologically confirmed OH over a 10‐year period were retrospectively reviewed for clinical features, imaging findings, pathologic characteristics, and treatment modalities.

Results

This study included 39 males and 45 females who presented with frequent epistaxis and nasal obstruction. There were 62 (74%) patients >40 years old (mean, 50; range, 9‐81). OH mainly originated in the maxillary sinus (n = 82) or nasal cavity (n = 2) unilaterally, and most were expansile masses (n = 73) that extended into nasal cavity (n = 71) or choanae (n = 17). Several lesions were locally aggressive and simulated a malignant process that involved the ethmoid sinus (n = 22), orbit (n = 11), pterygopalatine fossa (n = 16), infratemporal fossa (n = 9), cheek (n = 3), and hard palate (n = 3). Internal architecture on computed tomography (CT) scans showed OH with expansile remodeling of the maxillary wall (82.1%) and smooth bony destruction (70.2%), whereas T2‐weighted magnetic resonance (MR) images showed inhomogeneity with a notable hypointense peripheral rim in all lesions. CT and MR contrast‐enhanced images revealed patchy heterogeneous enhancement that could be interpreted according to histopathologic findings of hemorrhage and neovascularization. OH was successfully removed with endoscopic surgery, although 5 cases recurred.

Conclusions

OH can be successfully treated by endoscopic surgery. CT and MR examination provide characteristic findings for prediction and careful surgical planning.
Readability and Understandability of Online Vocal Cord Paralysis Materials
Authors: Balakrishnan Vini , Chandy Zachariah , Hseih Amy , Bui Thanh‐Lan , Verma Sunil P.
Published: February 2016

Objective

Patients use several online resources to learn about vocal cord paralysis (VCP). The objective of this study was to assess the readability and understandability of online VCP patient education materials (PEMs), with readability assessments and the Patient Education Materials Evaluation Tool (PEMAT), respectively. The relationship between readability and understandability was then analyzed.

Study Design and Setting

Descriptive and correlational design.

Method

Online PEMs were identified by performing a Google search with the term “vocal cord paralysis.” After scientific webpages, news articles, and information for medical professionals were excluded, 29 articles from the first 50 search results were considered. Readability analysis was performed with 6 formulas. Four individuals with different educational backgrounds conducted understandability analysis with the PEMAT. Fleiss’s Kappa interrater reliability analysis determined consistency among raters. Correlation between readability and understandability was determined with Pearson’s correlation test.

Results

The reading level of the reviewed articles ranged from grades 9 to 17. Understandability ranged from 29% to 82%. Correlation analysis demonstrated a strong negative correlation between materials’ readability and understandability (r = −0.462, P <. 05).

Conclusion

Online PEMs pertaining to VCP are written above the recommended reading levels. Overall, materials written at lower grade levels are more understandable. However, articles of identical grade levels had varying levels of understandability. The PEMAT may provide a more critical evaluation of the quality of a PEM when compared with readability formulas. Both readability and understandability should be used to evaluate PEMs.
Features of Residual Dizziness after Canalith Repositioning Procedures for Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo
Authors: Martellucci Salvatore , Pagliuca Giulio , de Vincentiis Marco , Greco Antonio , De Virgilio Armando , Nobili Benedetti Ferdinando Maria , Gallipoli Camilla , Rosato Chiara , Clemenzi Veronica , Gallo Andrea
Published: February 2016

Objectives

To assess factors related to residual dizziness (RD) in patients who underwent successful canalith repositioning procedures (CRPs) for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV).

Study Design

Prospective cohort study.

Setting

Academic center.

Subjects and Methods

Ninety‐seven consecutive patients with BPPV of the posterior semicircular canal were initially enrolled. Diagnosis was assessed according to clinical history and bedside evaluation. All patients were treated with CRPs until nystagmus disappeared. Three days after the successful treatment, presence of RD was investigated. If RD was present, patients were monitored every 3 days until the symptoms disappeared. Subjects who required ≥4 CRPs or who failed to meet the follow‐up visit were excluded. The Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) was obtained from patients at the time of diagnosis and at every subsequent visit.

Results

At the end of selection, 86 patients were included; 33 (38.36%) reported RD after successful treatment. A significant difference in the incidence of RD was observed in consideration of the age of the subjects (P =. 0003) and the DHI score at the time of diagnosis (P <. 001). A logistic regression analysis showed that the probability of RD occurrence increased with the increase of the emotional subdomain score of the DHI questionnaire.

Conclusion

RD is a common self‐limited disorder, more frequent in the elderly, which may occur after the physical treatment for BPPV. The DHI score at the time of BPPV diagnosis represents a useful tool to quantify the impact of this vestibular disorder on the quality of life and to estimate the risk of RD after CRPs.
Globalizing an Indian Borderland Environment: Aijal, Mizoram, 1890–1919
Authors: Jackson Kyle
Published: February 2016

The borderlands of India’s northeast are often seen as historically isolated, remote and inaccessible. In recent years, there has been a growing awareness that such areas were much more open than hitherto assumed. This article tracks dynamic historical change in the Lushai Hills District, or what is today the state of Mizoram. Taking the upland colonial headquarters of Aijal as its vantage point, the article looks closely at the coerced construction of a network of thoroughfares that underwrote new commercial, ecological and missionary presences in the region, and that allowed both the development and dodging of new regimes of state control and surveillance. A borderland- rather than state-centred approach reveals vibrant trans-regional trails of money and information, trade and technology, migrants and labourers, plants and animals. While colonial agents in the early twentieth century sought to congeal longstanding flows of guns and people, restrictive measures were often met with subterfuge and evasion, producing new opportunities and corridors for movement. Understanding Aijal’s position as an entrepôtof pluricultural exchange and as an intensifier of regional circulation draws attention to ranges of human experience that stretch beyond the usual state-focussed boundaries of historical inquiry. This article seeks to contribute to a growing literature that challenges the idea of northeast India’s remoteness.
Sovereignty, Integration or Bifurcation? Troubled Histories, Contentious Territories and the Political Horizons of the Long Lingering Naga Movement
Authors: Wouters Jelle J.P.
Published: February 2016

Taking the upland, tribal Nagas, and the long lingering Indo-Naga conflict, as my case, this article positions divergent contemporary political and territorial claims and counterclaims in the historical longue durée. While the initial assertion for a sovereign, independent Nagalim envisaged a political and administrative reordering of a region cut across by the colonial Indo-Burma border, over time the Naga national movement increasingly conformed to this international boundary—at least in praxis—as political attention shifted towards the integration of Naga lands within India but presently divided across multiple states. More recently, another territorial quandary emerged as the Eastern Naga People’s Organization articulated a demand for the bifurcation of present-day Nagaland, as it was enacted in 1963, through the creation of a new state to be called ‘Frontier Nagaland’. If amidst ongoing strife and uncertainty, these divergent political and territorial aspirations suggest a sinking ever more deeply into a morass of conflicting aspirations, oppositional sentiments and political disorder, this article attempts to historically situate each of these claims, as well as discusses some of their implications, inner intricacies and indeterminacies, in the upshot serving a heady cocktail of colonial legacies, borders that divide, and post-colonial political imaginations, spiked with shots of old tribal antagonisms and new alignments.
Deletion of the WNK3-SPAK kinase complex in mice improves radiographic and clinical outcomes in malignant cerebral edema after ischemic stroke
Authors: Zhao Hanshu , Nepomuceno Rachel , Gao Xin , Foley Lesley M , Wang Shaoxia , Begum Gulnaz , Zhu Wen , Pigott Victoria M , Falgoust Lindsay M , Kahle Kristopher T , Yang Sung-Sen , Lin Shih-Hua , Alper Seth L , Hitchens T Kevin , Hu Shaoshan , Zhang Zhongling , Sun Dandan
Published: February 2016

The WNK-SPAK kinase signaling pathway controls renal NaCl reabsorption and systemic blood pressure by regulating ion transporters and channels. A WNK3-SPAK complex is highly expressed in brain, but its function in this organ remains unclear. Here, we investigated the role of this kinase complex in brain edema and white matter injury after ischemic stroke. Wild-type, WNK3 knockout, and SPAK heterozygous or knockout mice underwent transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. One cohort of mice underwent magnetic resonance imaging. Ex-vivo brains three days post-ischemia were imaged by slice-selective spin-echo diffusion tensor imaging magnetic resonance imaging, after which the same brain tissues were subjected to immunofluorescence staining. A second cohort of mice underwent neurological deficit analysis up to 14 days post-transient middle cerebral artery occlusion. Relative to wild-type mice, WNK3 knockout, SPAK heterozygous, and SPAK knockout mice each exhibited a >50% reduction in infarct size and associated cerebral edema, significantly less demyelination, and improved neurological outcomes. We conclude that WNK3-SPAK signaling regulates brain swelling, gray matter injury, and demyelination after ischemic stroke, and that WNK3-SPAK inhibition has therapeutic potential for treating malignant cerebral edema in the setting of middle cerebral artery stroke.
Promoting Dignity
Authors: Buchanan David R.
Published: February 2016

The article examines the limitations of a strict scientific account of the causes of unhealthy behaviors, based on the standards promoted in evidence-based medicine, where randomized controlled trials are seen to provide the gold standard for establishing the validity of different explanations. The article critiques this account based on its disputed assumption that human free will does not exist, and thus, human autonomy and moral responsibility are an illusion. By denying human autonomy, the naturalistic paradigm also denies the possibility of human dignity. In contrast, the article describes and explains a humanistic account of human agency where human beings are characterized by the capacity to choose how to live their lives based on values that matter. Based on this humanistic framework, the article explains why dignity is an essential dimension of human health and well-being and describes key research challenges in moving the field of health promotion in a more humanistic direction. The article concludes with the recommendation to expand the goal of health promotion beyond physical fitness and to reorient the methods of research toward articulating values that matter and promoting human dignity.
Which system is better to predict prognosis of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma treated by transcatheter arterial chemoembolization as initial therapy? Comparison between CLIP and JIS in a Japanese population
Authors: Urakawa Hiroshi , Kora Shin-ichi , Mitsufuji Toshimichi , Osame Akinobu , Higahsihara Hideyuki , Yoshimitsu Kengo
Published: February 2016

Background

There has been no consensus as to which system, either the Cancer of the Liver Italian Program (CLIP) or the Japan Integrated Staging (JIS) system, is suitable to predict the prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients who underwent transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) as initial therapy.

Purpose

To retrospectively compare the usefulness of CLIP and JIS in predicting and stratifying the prognosis of HCC patients treated by TACE.

Material and Methods

Between 1995 and 2005, consecutive 728 patients with untreated HCC who underwent TACE in our institute were selected for this study. The survival rate and its prognostic factors were assessed by multivariate analysis. Patients were stratified according to the two systems, and their survival rates between the scores were compared.

Results

The mean follow-up period was 1689 days. The 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year survival rates were 83.1%, 55.1%, 34.7%, and 12.8%, respectively. Both systems stratified the prognosis of patients well, but was slightly better in CLIP as compared to in JIS. As for multivariate factor analysis, less severe Child-Pugh classification ( P < 0.001), simple tumor morphology ( P < 0.001), absence of portal vein invasion ( P < 0.001), and lower alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level ( P < 0.001) were suggested to be independent indicators for favorable survival rate. All of these independent factors were included in CLIP, whereas JIS lacked AFP level. Furthermore, the likelihood χ2-test value was higher, and the Akaike information criterion value was lower for CLIP than for JIS.

Conclusion

CLIP is more suitable than JIS for predicting prognosis of patients with HCC who would undergo TACE in a Japanese population.
‘Rhino poaching is out of control!’ Violence, race and the politics of hysteria in online conservation
Authors: Büscher Bram
Published: February 2016

The rhino-poaching crisis in South Africa, according to many concerned citizens, conservation organisations and governments, is ‘out of control’. With over 1000 rhinos poached in each of 2013, 2014 and 2015, the crisis has triggered a massive response, much of which heavily depends on online tools to raise funds and awareness. The paper analyses emotive discourses and imaginaries as part of dominant online responses to the rhino-poaching crisis and found that these are predominantly espoused by whites and show a worrying penchant towards (extreme) violence. Building on a theorisation of the links between race, nature, affect and control, the paper hypothesises that these responses reflect a ‘politics of hysteria’. This politics captures the employment of affective and emotive expressions as a way to demand control over a situation ‘out of control’ in the context of historical and contemporary South African political economies of racial inequality. And as these expressions often tend towards exaggerated or extreme violence, they become potent forms of political mobilisation and intervention. New media are a crucial ingredient of this potency, and the paper concludes that this opens up important new questions about the relations between race, nature and violence.
Ideology: A proposal for a conceptual typology
Authors: Fagerholm Andreas
Published: February 2016

The concept of ideology is increasingly popular within social science in general, and within political science in particular. With more than 30 different attributes frequently associated with the term, ‘ideology’ is, however, also highly complex and ‘overloaded with definitional baggage’ (Gerring). Building on previous efforts to present minimal definitions, the main purpose of this article is to offer a proposal for a conceptual typology of ideology. First, the previously introduced authoritative minimal definition by Gerring is discussed and somewhat expanded. Second, a number of subtypes of this general concept are identified. Third, the possible interactions between ideologies at different levels are briefly reviewed. The article thus seeks to further increase the definitional clarity and, above all, empirical utility of the concept of ideology.
“I Wouldn’t Mind Trying It. I’m in Pain the Whole Time”: Barriers to the Use of Complementary Medicines by Older Australians in Residential Aged-Care Facilities
Authors: Rayner Jo-Anne , Bauer Michael
Published: February 2016

Older people living in the community use complementary medicine (CM) to manage the symptoms of chronic illness; however, little is known about CM use by older people living in care settings. Using focus groups and individual interviews, this study explored the use of CM from the perspective of 71 residents, families, and health professionals from six residential aged-care facilities in Victoria, Australia. Residents used CM to manage pain and improve mobility, often covertly, and only with the financial assistance of their families. Facility policies and funding restrictions constrained CM use at the individual and facility level. An absence of evidence to support safety and efficacy coupled with the risk of interactions made doctors wary of CM use in older people. These findings have relevance for the large number of CM using “baby-boomers” as they move into residential aged-care.
Recycling of typical supercapacitor materials
Authors: Vermisoglou Eleni C , Giannouri Maria , Todorova Nadia , Giannakopoulou Tatiana , Lekakou Constantina , Trapalis Christos
Published: February 2016

A simple, facile and low-cost method for recycling of supercapacitor materials is proposed. This process aims to recover some fundamental components of a used supercapacitor, namely the electrolyte salt tetraethyl ammonium tetrafluoroborate (TEABF4) dissolved in an aprotic organic solvent such as acetonitrile (ACN), the carbonaceous material (activated charcoal, carbon nanotubes) purified, the current collector (aluminium foil) and the separator (paper) for further utilization. The method includes mechanical shredding of the supercapacitor in order to reduce its size, and separation of aluminium foil and paper from the carbonaceous resources containing TEABF4 by sieving. The extraction of TEABF4 from the carbonaceous material was based on its solubility in water and subsequent separation through filtering and distillation. A cyclic voltammetry curve of the recycled carbonaceous material revealed supercapacitor behaviour allowing a potential reutilization. Furthermore, as BF4− stemming from TEABF4 can be slowly hydrolysed in an aqueous environment, thus releasing F− anions, which are hazardous, we went on to their gradual trapping with calcium acetate and conversion to non-hazardous CaF2.
The Effect of Computerized System Feedback Availability During Executive Function Training
Authors: Yuviler-Gavish Nirit , Krisher Hagit
Published: February 2016

Computerized training systems offer a promising new direction in the training of executive functions, in part because they can easily be designed to offer feedback to learners. Yet, feedback is a double-edged sword, serving a positive motivational role while at the same time carrying the risk that learners may become dependent on the feedback they receive. The current research suggests that computerized training systems may take advantage of the motivational effects of feedback without the unwanted risk by making feedback available while not requiring trainees to access it. Specifically, we hypothesized that the mere availability of feedback would improve performance even if trainees never or almost never made use of it. We tested this hypothesis using a simple puzzle completion task, putting the focus on executive functions by instructing participants to complete each puzzle with a minimal number of rotations and moves. Two training sessions in which the availability of feedback was manipulated were followed by a transfer test and a visual perception test. The results show that the availability of feedback improved performance, in terms of the smaller number of excess rotations and moves performed during both the training sessions and the transfer task.
Retrospective Cyberbullying and Suicide Ideation: The Mediating Roles of Depressive Symptoms, Perceived Burdensomeness, and Thwarted Belongingness
Authors: Mitchell Sean M. , Seegan Paige L. , Roush Jared F. , Brown Sarah L. , Sustaíta Michael A. , Cukrowicz Kelly C.
Published: February 2016

Research suggests that being cyberbullied is associated with increased risk for suicide ideation; however, few studies have examined the underlying mechanisms of this relation, and fewer have examined this relation within a theory of suicide. Specifically, the interpersonal theory of suicide posits that thwarted belongingness (indicated by loneliness and a lack of reciprocal caring relationships) and perceived burdensomeness (indicated by feelings of liability and self-hatred) increase risk for suicide ideation. The current study aimed to examine depressive symptoms, thwarted belongingness, and perceived burdensomeness as mediators between intensity of being cyberbullied and suicide ideation. Participants were college students ( N = 348) who completed assessments of retrospective peer victimization, thwarted interpersonal needs (i.e., thwarted belongingness and perceived burdensomeness), and suicide ideation. The results indicated that after adjusting for sexual orientation, depressive symptoms significantly mediated the relation between intensity of being cyberbullied and suicide ideation. Furthermore, depressive symptoms and perceived burdensomeness serially mediated the relation between intensity of being cyberbullied and suicide ideation; however, thwarted belongingness was not a significant mediator. Clinical and research implications, limitations, and future directions are discussed.
The Relationship Between Disclosure and Household Donations to Nonprofit Organizations in Australia
Authors: Haski-Leventhal Debbie , Foot Christine
Published: February 2016

Based on the signaling theory and its application in nonprofit organizations, this study examines the relationship between disclosure in nonprofits and ability to attract household donations. Based on 50 random Australian nonprofits, scores were assigned for fiduciary, financial, performance, and total disclosure. A significant correlation was observed between the extent of total household donations received and a change in marketing and fundraising spend. However, there was no significant relationship identified between total household donations and disclosure. As disclosure does not seem to be rewarded by household donors, this article discusses the potential for a national educational campaign to inform donors of the increasing accessibility of this type of information, the benefits of utilizing this type of information, and how best to use it.
Effect of different surface treatments and thermocycling on shear bond strength to polyetheretherketone
Authors: Zhou Li , Qian Yuetong , Gan Kang , Liu Hong , Liu Xiuju , Niu Deli
Published: February 2016

This study was designed to evaluate the shear bond strength of an adhesive/composite system subjected to different pretreated polyetheretherketone (PEEK) surfaces using different thermocycling conditioning methods. A total of 128 specimens were equally divided into four main groups ( n = 32/group): control (no pretreatment), air abrasion, argon plasma pretreatment, and femtosecond laser groups. The surface topographies and surface roughness were observed by atomic force microscopy after different pretreatments. The specimens were bonded with SE Bond/Clearfil AP-X™. All bonded specimens were stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 h. Afterward, each group was divided into three subgroups ( n = 8/group) as follows: (a) stored in water for 56 h (37°C); (b) thermal aging for 5000 cycles (5°C/55°C); and (c) thermal aging for 10,000 cycles (5°C/55°C). The shear bond strengths were measured. Air abrasion, argon plasma pretreatment, and femtosecond laser significantly strengthened the bond of SE Bond/Clearfil AP-X™ to PEEK composite compared with that without additional pretreatment. In the same surface pretreatment, the shear bond strengths of specimens conditioned using water storage were higher than that using thermocycles (TCs). Additionally, the specimens with 5000 TC showed significantly higher shear bond strength than that with 10000 TC.
Cross-entropy-based cost-efficient 4D trajectory generation for airborne conflict resolution
Authors: Koyuncu Emre , Uzun Mevlut , Inalhan Gokhan
Published: February 2016

Considering the transformation in roles of existing air traffic management technologies, future flight operations and flight deck systems will need additional avionics and operational procedures that involve adaptive algorithms and advanced decision support tools. The main purpose of this article is to provide a theoretical framework for tactical 4D-trajectory planning and conflict resolution of an aircraft equipped with novel automation tools. The proposed 4D-trajectory-planning method uses recent algorithmic advances in both probabilistic and deterministic methods to fully benefit from both approaches. We have constructed an aircraft performance model based on Base of Aircraft Data 4 with high-level hybrid flight template automatons and low-level flight maneuver automatons. This multi-modal flight trajectory approach is utilized to generate cost-efficient local trajectory segments instead of solving complex trajectory-generation problems globally. The proposed sampling-based trajectory planning algorithm spatially explores the airspace and provides proper separation through local trajectory segments and guarantees asymptotic optimality under certain conditions. Moreover, we have integrated the cross-entropy method, which transforms the sampling problem into a stochastic optimization problem, rapidly converges on the minimum cost trajectory sequence by utilizing available flight plans, and reduces the amount of sampling. The integration of the proposed strategies lets us solve challenging, real-time in-tactical 4D-trajectory planning problems within the current and the envisioned future realm of air traffic management systems.
A comprehensive toxicity study of zinc oxide nanoparticles versus their bulk in Wistar rats
Authors: Srivastav Anurag Kumar , Kumar Mahadeo , Ansari Nasreen Ghazi , Jain Abhishek Kumar , Shankar Jai , Arjaria Nidhi , Jagdale Pankaj , Singh Dhirendra
Published: February 2016

The purpose of this study was to characterize the zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) and their bulk counterpart in suspensions and to access the impact of their acute oral toxicity at doses of 300 and 2000 mg/kg in healthy female Wistar rats. The hematological, biochemical, and urine parameters were accessed at 24 and 48 h and 14 days posttreatment. The histopathological evaluations of tissues were also performed. The distribution of zinc content in liver, kidney, spleen, plasma, and excretory materials (feces and urine) at 24 and 48 h and 14 days posttreatment were accessed after a single exposure at dose of 2000 mg/kg body weight. The elevated level of alanine amino transferase, alkaline phosphatase, lactate dehydrogenase, and creatinine were observed in ZnO-NPs at a dose of 2000 mg/kg at all time points. There was a decrease in iron levels in all the treated groups at 24 h posttreatment as compared to control groups but returned to their normal level at 14 days posttreatment. The hematological parameters red blood cells, hemoglobin, hematocrit, platelets, and haptoglobin were reduced at 48 h posttreatment at a dose of 2000 mg/kg ZnO-NPs and showed hemolytic condition. All the treated groups were comparable to control group at the end of 14 days posttreatment. The zinc concentration in the kidney, liver, plasma, feces, and urine showed a significant increase in both groups as compared to control. This study explained that ZnO-NPs produced more toxicological effect as compared to their bulk particles as evidenced through alteration in some hemato-biochemical parameters and with few histopathological lesions in liver and kidney tissues.
Evaluation of leptin, adiponectin, and ghrelin levels in patients with acne vulgaris
Authors: Ozuguz P , Kacar SD , Asik G , Ozuguz U , Karatas S
Published: February 2016

Background:

The research evaluating adipokines are very few in patients with acne vulgaris. The hypothesis that hyperinsulinemic and high glycemic index diet plays a role in the pathogenesis of acne is still controversial. In this study, we aimed to evaluate adipokines such as leptin (L), adiponectin (A), ghrelin and A levels, and A/L rates that indicate insulin resistance in nonobese patients with severe acne vulgaris.

Material and Method:

Thirty patients who are nonobese with moderate acne vulgaris, aged 18 to 25 years, and 15 age–sex compatible controls were included in our study. The acne lesions were assessed using the Global Acne Grading Scale (GAGS). All participants were evaluated for the parameters that may affect the metabolism of serum L, A, and ghrelin levels in blood, and their body mass index were calculated. The significance level was determined as p ≤ 0.05.

Results:

Of the 30 patients, 17 were women and 13 were men. The mean age was 20.60 years and the mean duration of the disease were 2.8 years. All of patients had moderate acne vulgaris (GAGS 19–30). Of the 15 controls, 11 were women and 4 were men. The mean age was 21.20 years. There were not a statistically significant difference in L, ghrelin, A levels, and A/L ratio between the two groups.

Conclusions:

Adipokines may have a role in the pathogenesis of acne vulgaris. L, A, ghrelin, and insulin resistance may not participate in the responsible mechanisms in nonobese patients with moderate acne vulgaris.
Four Problems Solved by the Probabilistic Language of Thought
Authors: Piantadosi Steven T. , Jacobs Robert A.
Published: February 2016

We argue for the advantages of the probabilistic language of thought (pLOT), a recently emerging approach to modeling human cognition. Work using this framework demonstrates how the pLOT (a) refines the debate between symbols and statistics in cognitive modeling, (b) permits theories that draw on insights from both nativist and empiricist approaches, (c) explains the origins of novel and complex computational concepts, and (d) provides a framework for abstraction that can link sensation and conception. In each of these areas, the pLOT provides a productive middle ground between historical divides in cognitive psychology, pointing to a promising way forward for the field.
Stigma-Based Solidarity
Authors: Craig Maureen A. , Richeson Jennifer A.
Published: February 2016

With growing diversity and increased media attention to inequality, it is likely that stigmatized-group members will have increased political influence on social issues affecting other stigmatized groups. When might members of different stigmatized groups see commonality in their experiences or disadvantaged status, and when might another stigmatized group be treated solely as an out-group? This article provides an overview of new and important lines of research examining how perceived discrimination may shape intergroup relations among members of different stigmatized groups. Specifically, perceived discrimination is highlighted as a potentially common experience for members of different stigmatized groups that at times elicits coalitional attitudes, but is often solely experienced as a threat to social identity and thus elicits intergroup derogation. The dimensions on which individuals are stigmatized, aspects of their discrimination experiences, and contextual factors are important for predicting whether perceiving discrimination will spur coalition or derogation. This topic is vital for understanding intergroup relations and political behavior in the 21st century.
Improving the Prediction of Risk for Anxiety Development in Temperamentally Fearful Children
Authors: Buss Kristin A. , McDoniel Meghan E.
Published: February 2016

Pediatric anxiety disorders are among the most common disorders in children and adolescents, resulting in both short-term and long-term negative consequences across social, academic, and other domains. Early fearful temperament has emerged as a strong predictor of anxiety development in childhood; however, not all fearful children become anxious. The current article summarizes theory and evidence for heterogeneity among children identified as temperamentally fearful and trajectories of risk for anxiety. The findings presented in this article reveal that identification of subgroups of fearful temperament improves prediction of who is at risk for developing anxiety problems.
Breaking the Fourth Wall of Cognitive Science
Authors: Risko Evan F. , Richardson Daniel C. , Kingstone Alan
Published: February 2016

Research in cognitive science typically places a boundary between participants and the stimuli they are asked to process. While this separation affords experimental control, it can also severely limit the generalizability of the conclusions that are drawn. Here, we review new evidence that some conclusions that have been drawn about social attention do not extend beyond the laboratory. They fundamentally misrepresent how social attention operates in natural social contexts. Critically, these difficulties have led to renewed interest in the dual function of gaze—when in authentic social situations, the eyes both collect information from the environment (an encoding function) and communicate one’s mental states to others (a signaling function)—which traditional social-attention paradigms arguably have failed to capture. We review this recent work and discuss the utility of adopting more naturalistic methods in cognitive science.
About Face
Authors: Re Daniel E. , Rule Nicholas O.
Published: February 2016

The physician’s general survey is an invaluable method for quickly assessing a patient’s overall health and demeanor. Recent studies in psychology have found that qualities of one’s face—including skin coloration and facial adiposity—are associated with one’s underlying health. Subtle variations in these features can indicate serious health problems but can be detected with the untrained eye. Here, we describe how these facial traits link to health and discuss how such cues could be incorporated into the physician’s general survey. In light of research on the barriers preventing physicians from implementing new approaches in their practice, we also consider how scans of facial cues to health could be rapidly and effortlessly integrated into a physician’s current general survey. Integrating assessments of facial cues to health into the general survey would be a simple, low-risk, and low-cost way to detect, monitor, and track possible health concerns, particularly in the burgeoning field of telemedicine.
Speak, Act, Remember
Authors: MacDonald Maryellen C.
Published: February 2016

The fields of language production and verbal memory have relatively little contact. I argue that utterance planning for language production has substantial memory maintenance demands and that utterance planning provides the maintenance and ordering processes for short-term verbal memory tasks. There has already been some movement toward this view. I discuss benefits to pursuing these links more fully.
Flashbulb Memories
Authors: Hirst William , Phelps Elizabeth A.
Published: February 2016

We review and analyze the key theories, debates, findings, and omissions of the existing literature on flashbulb memories (FBMs), including what factors affect their formation, retention, and degree of confidence. We argue that FBMs do not require special memory mechanisms and are best characterized as involving both forgetting and mnemonic distortions, despite their being associated with high levels of confidence. Factual memories for FBM-inducing events generally follow a similar pattern. Although no necessary and sufficient factors straightforwardly account for FBM retention, media attention particularly shapes memory for the events themselves. FBMs are best characterized in terms of repetitions, even of mnemonic distortions, whereas event memories evidence corrections. The bearing of this literature on social identity and traumatic memories is also discussed.
Developmental Science and Executive Function
Authors: Blair Clancy
Published: February 2016

Executive function abilities, including working memory, inhibitory control, and the flexible volitional shifting of the focus of attention, provide a foundation for reflection on experience, reasoning, and the purposeful regulation of behavior. These abilities and their underlying neurobiology, however, are inherently malleable and influenced by characteristics of individuals and contexts. Implications of this malleability for research on the development of executive function in early childhood, for the prospect that these abilities can be fostered and promoted by specific types of activities, and for issues relating to the reliable and valid measurement of executive function are considered.
Intra-Household Nutritional Dynamics
Authors: Pilla Loretta , Dantas Jaya AR
Published: February 2016

To date, research on dietary consumption and nutritional outcomes of the Maasai in Kenya have failed to explore how gender dynamics and intra-household bargaining power affect dietary decisions. This exploratory qualitative study investigates the decision-making processes regarding eating habits and health-seeking behavior within Maasai families in Kenya, and how such roles currently support or conflict with maternal and child health (MCH) program activities in the field of nutritional education and practices. The data were collected from the three group ranches in Laikipia County in Kenya and draws on six focus group discussions with a total of 24 Maasai men and 24 Maasai women. Our research has documented that the dietary and health-seeking decisions of Maasai families are influenced by complex intra- and extra-household factors. Programmatic interventions need to examine decision-making processes within the context of multi-generational family dynamics and gender hierarchies to scale up community-driven interventions to ensure sustained behavior change.
Experiences of Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: A Qualitative Study
Authors: Poh Li Wen , He Hong-Gu , Chan Wai Chi Sally , Lee Ching Siang Cindy , Lahiri Manjari , Mak Anselm , Cheung Peter P.
Published: February 2016

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic inflammatory autoimmune disease that greatly impacts one’s physical and psychosocial well-being. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and support needs of adult patients living with RA. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted, and 16 adults with RA were interviewed from October 2013 to January 2014. The transcribed data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Five themes were identified: altered physical capacity and well-being, psychological and emotional challenges, changes in social life, coping strategies, and support received and further support needs. This study provided insights into the experiences and support needs of patients with RA in Singapore. Physical and psychosocial challenges experienced by patients affected their daily and social activities. Patients’ needs for variety of support should be addressed.