bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A “Total War”? Rethinking Military Ideology in the Book of Lord Shang
Authors: Pines Yuri
Published: December 2016

TheBook of Lord Shang, commonly identified as a major work of the so-called Legalist school, is also an important, albeit much neglected treatise in the history of Chinese military thought. Beyond specific recommendations concerning both defensive and offensive warfare, the book presents a coherent view that the state should restructure its socioeconomic and cultural policies in order to turn every man into a valiant soldier. The book epitomizes the ideology of “total war” in which the differences between civilian and military affairs are blurred. The society is profoundly militarized and the army, in turn, is profoundly bureaucratized.

This article explores military thought in theBook of Lord Shangand focuses on its views of mobilization, indoctrination of soldiers, military discipline, rules of military engagement, and military command. I further deal with the question of why the book’s military ideology has been all but neglected after the end of the Han dynasty.
ʿAṭṭār’s Taḏkirat al-awliyāʾ and Jāmī’s Nafaḥāt al-uns
Authors: Aigle Denise
Published: December 2016

This article presents two famous collections of the lives of saints: ʿAṭṭār’sTaḏkirat al-awliyāʾand Jāmī’sNafaḥāt al-uns. Every collection of the lives of saints shares the common tradition of Arabic-language works. Indeed, Hujvīrī’sKašf al-maḥjūband Anṣārī’sṬabaqāt al-ṣūfiyyahensured the transition with Sufi literature written in Arabic. However, theTaḏkirat al-awliyāʾis the first truly original work in Persian. ʿAṭṭār and Jāmī sought to make known to their respective communities of belief the words and deeds of spiritual masters, but they did so in two different ways. ʿAṭṭār chose a limited corpus of saints that, in his eyes, represented the primary movements of the first centuries of Sufism. Jāmī instead favoured exhaustiveness, amassing a great number of biographies, especially on the shaykhs of the Naqshbandi order. While Jāmī conveyed the paths of saintliness in accordance with the religious orthodoxy of his order, ʿAṭṭār showed a special attachment to the ecstatic masters. TheTaḏkirat al-awliyāʾandNafaḥāt al-unsthus represent two different ways of commemorating the memory of the spiritual masters who embodied the mystical thought of Islam.
Flipping the classroom in business and education one-shot sessions
Authors: Cohen Madeline , Poggiali Jennifer , Lehner-Quam Alison , Wright Robin , West Rebecca
Published: December 2016

In response to the challenge of maximising the effectiveness of one-off information literacy (IL) sessions, library faculty at Lehman College experimented with the flipped classroom model. This research paper reports the results of a multi-semester quantitative study of the flipped classroom in business management and education one-off sessions. Researchers explored two research questions: Do students in a flipped session demonstrate greater knowledge before their session than students in a control session? and Do flipped and control students demonstrate significant, positive improvement in knowledge after their session? The researchers used pre- and post-tests to evaluate two crucial aspects of the flipped model: pre-class homework assignments and in-class active learning. A significant finding supports the usefulness of homework assignments in preparing students for these library sessions. Both education and business classes also reported high degrees of satisfaction with the flipped model. The article provides evidence that the flipped classroom, especially those using the pre-class homework assignments, can be effective for student learning in IL one-off sessions.
Virtual characterization and macroscopic material modeling of a carbon fiber-reinforced PA6 UD composite
Authors: Roesner AM , Kärger L , Henning F
Published: December 2016

Despite the increasing use of continuously fiber-reinforced composites with thermoplastic matrices in load-bearing structural applications, published research on their deformation behavior in general and their long-term behavior in particular is very limited. As a result, adequate material models to describe their time- and direction-dependent behavior on a macroscopic scale are lagging. The present study uses micromechanical representative volume element models and numerical homogenization techniques to analyze the material behavior of a carbon fiber-reinforced PA6 material as a function of load direction and time. The matrix is modeled as viscoelastic–viscoplastic. Based on the results of the representative volume element model, a homogenized macroscopic modeling approach is proposed. It is shown that the time dependency of the unidirectional composite is highly anisotropic. Plastic deformation occurs in the matrix, but may be neglected in the homogenized composite at laminate-relevant strain levels. The proposed homogenized orthotropic, nonlinear viscoelastic material model adequately captures the behavior of the heterogeneous unidirectional composite.
The more the merrier? Scoring, statistics and animal welfare in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Palle Pushpalatha , Ferreira Filipa M , Methner Axel , Buch Thorsten
Published: December 2016

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a frequently used animal model for the investigation of autoimmune processes in the central nervous system. As such, EAE is useful for modelling certain aspects of multiple sclerosis, a human autoimmune disease that leads to demyelination and axonal destruction. It is an important tool for investigating pathobiology, identifying drug targets and testing drug candidates. Even though EAE is routinely used in many laboratories and is often part of the routine assessment of knockouts and transgenes, scoring of the disease course has not become standardized in the community, with at least 83 published scoring variants. Varying scales with differing parameters are used and thus limit comparability of experiments. Incorrect use of statistical analysis tools to assess EAE data is commonplace. In experimental practice the clinical score is used not only as an experimental readout, but also as a parameter to determine animal welfare actions. Often overlooked factors such as the animal’s ability to sense its compromised motoric abilities, drastic though transient weight loss, and also the possibility of neuropathic pain, make the assessment of severity a difficult task and pose a problem for experimental refinement.
Severity assessment in rabbits after partial hepatectomy: Part II
Authors: Drude N , Pawlowsky K , Tanaka H , Fukushima K , Kögel B , Tolba R H
Published: December 2016

Although the recognition of pain, distress and discomfort has already been described in 1985 by Morton and Griffiths there is still very little known about the establishment of score sheets especially, regarding post-surgical pain and severity assessment for laboratory animals such as rabbits. In this paper we describe the estimation of severity and recovery status of 36 female New Zealand White rabbits (NZW) in a standardized liver resection model using two different adhesive treatments and one control group. Welfare was assessed at 3–4 consecutive days after surgery using a scoring system which included the following criteria: body weight, general state, clinical results, spontaneous behavior and clinical examination. Values could range from 0 to 20 where increasing values indicated increasing severity with a predefined humane endpoint for a score ≥20 points. Documented score points were almost exclusively a result of body weight loss, whereas clinical signs and general health status had no influence on the overall sum of points scored. Behavioral variation was solely observed postoperatively, within the first 24 h, with an average score ≤1. In contrast to the classification of a laparotomy as a moderate procedure in the EU Directive 2010/63 (annex VIII) the assessment herein presented showed a mild burden in all groups according to the scoring system used. The partial hepatectomy itself, as well as the adhesive treatment using either synthetic glue VIVO-107 or fibrin glue, were well tolerated.
Cohorts, ‘‘Siblings,’’ and Mentors
Authors: Cox Amanda Barrett
Published: December 2016

How can an organization help participants increase their social capital? Using data from an ethnographic study of Launch, an organization that prepares low-income students of color to attend elite boarding schools, I analyze how the organization’s structures not only generate social ties among students but also stratify those ties horizontally and vertically, thereby connecting students to a set of social contacts who occupy a range of hierarchical positions and who are able to provide access to resources that are beneficial in different contexts and at different times. I argue that organizational structures can function as tools for building—and embedding participants within—social networks with advantageous structural characteristics.
Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Sample of Ghanaian Immigrants
Authors: Pryce Daniel K. , Johnson Devon , Maguire Edward R.
Published: December 2016

Theory and research highlight the importance of procedural justice for inculcating people’s obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with legal authorities, yet questions remain about the universality of these relationships across cultures and contexts. We examine the influence of procedural justice and other factors on Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with police. The findings suggest that when police are perceived to behave in a procedurally just manner, people feel an increased obligation to obey their directives and willingness to cooperate with them. Perceived police effectiveness does not influence Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey police, but is the most dominant factor in shaping their willingness to cooperate with police. Respondents’ views of police in Ghana did not influence obligation or cooperation. The implications of the results for theory development, empirical research, and policies intended to improve police–immigrant relations are discussed.
A segmented attitude planning and controlling method for agile satellite based on Pseudospectral method
Authors: Zhao Lin , Wu Xiaowen , Liu Yuan , Hao Yong
Published: December 2016

To fulfil the high precision requirements of the manoeuvre imaging mode of an agile satellite and solve the shortcomings of existing methods, a segmented attitude planning method based on the Pseudospectral method is proposed. First, a state equation was built by integrating the attitude constraint, time window and other restrictions. Furthermore, to guarantee the accuracy and stability of objects, a segmented strategy of an attitude trajectory approaching the imaging target using a constant angular velocity was proposed. The segmented time, three-axis position and velocity were also determined. Second, taking the global performance into account, the first section of the attitude trajectory was planned by the Legendre Pseudospectral method in order to acquire the optimal state variables and control variables. The second section of the attitude trajectory was then obtained by the constant angular velocity planning method. Next, in order to track the planning trajectory efficiently, a PD controller was designed that was suitable for a segmented planning method. High precision control parameters were obtained by the optimized method. Finally, numerical simulation results show that the proposed segmented attitude planning method successfully meets the high precision requirements of the manoeuvre imaging mode, and the feasibility and effectiveness of this method is verified.
A method to estimate the heating and cooling degree-days for different climatic zones of Saudi Arabia
Authors: Indraganti Madhavi , Boussaa Djamel
Published: December 2016

Saudi Arabia’s energy consumption is increasing astronomically. Saudi Building Code prescribes a fixed base temperature of 18.3℃ to estimate the heating degree-days and cooling degree-days. Using historical meteorological data (2005–2014), this article presents the heating degree-days and cooling degree-days estimated for the representative cities in all the five inhabited climatic zones of Saudi Arabia. We used the base temperatures of 14℃, 16℃ and 18℃ for heating degree-days, and 18℃, 20℃, 22℃, 24℃ and 28℃ for cooling degree-days for Dhahran, Guriat, Jeddah, Khamis Mushait and Riyadh cities. We developed multiple regression models for heating degree-days and cooling degree-days at various base temperatures for these zones. Degree-days for other cities in similar climates with limited input data can be computed with these. Lowering of base temperature by 2 K from 18℃ reduced the heating degree-days by 33–65%. At 14℃ of base temperature, the heating requirement reduced by 60–95%. Elevating the base temperature by 2 K from 18℃ lowered the cooling degree-days by 16–38%. At 28℃ of base temperature cooling can be completely eliminated in Khamis Mushait, and reduced by 65–92% in other cities. This observation merits rethinking about use of appropriate base temperatures that properly link the outdoor environment to reduce the energy consumption.

Practical application: Using historical data, we developed regression models for predicting heating and cooling degree-days for five cities of Saudi Arabia in various climate zones without the historic data. Using these, we can estimate the changes in heating/cooling load due to the variation in base temperatures. For example, lowering base temperature by 2–4 K from 18℃ reduces the HDDs by 33–95% and elevating the base temperature by 2–4 K from 18℃ lowered the CDDs by 16–68%.
A Color-Doppler Shear-Wave-Imaging Phase-reconstruction Method Using Four Color Flow Images
Authors: Sunaguchi Naoki , Yamakoshi Yoshiki , Nakajima Takahito
Published: December 2016

This study investigates shear wave phase map reconstruction using a limited number of color flow images (CFIs) acquired with a color Doppler ultrasound imaging instrument. We propose an efficient reconstruction method to considerably reduce the number of CFIs required for reconstruction and compare this method with Fourier analysis-based color Doppler shear wave imaging. The proposed method uses a two-step phase reconstruction process, including an initial phase map derived from four CFIs using an advanced iterative algorithm of optical interferometry. The second step reduces phase artifacts in the initial phase map using an iterative correction procedure that cycles between the Fourier and inverse Fourier domains while imposing directional filtering and total variation regularization. We demonstrate the efficacy of this method using synthetic and experimental data of a breast phantom and human breast tissue. Our results show that the proposed method maintains image quality and reduces the number of CFIs required to four; previous methods have required at least 32 CFIs to achieve equivalent image quality. The proposed method is applicable to real-time shear wave elastography using a continuous shear wave produced by a mechanical vibrator.
Psilocybin produces substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer: A randomized double-blind trial
Authors: Griffiths Roland R , Johnson Matthew W , Carducci Michael A , Umbricht Annie , Richards William A , Richards Brian D , Cosimano Mary P , Klinedinst Margaret A
Published: December 2016

Cancer patients often develop chronic, clinically significant symptoms of depression and anxiety. Previous studies suggest that psilocybin may decrease depression and anxiety in cancer patients. The effects of psilocybin were studied in 51 cancer patients with life-threatening diagnoses and symptoms of depression and/or anxiety. This randomized, double-blind, cross-over trial investigated the effects of a very low (placebo-like) dose (1 or 3 mg/70 kg) vs. a high dose (22 or 30 mg/70 kg) of psilocybin administered in counterbalanced sequence with 5 weeks between sessions and a 6-month follow-up. Instructions to participants and staff minimized expectancy effects. Participants, staff, and community observers rated participant moods, attitudes, and behaviors throughout the study. High-dose psilocybin produced large decreases in clinician- and self-rated measures of depressed mood and anxiety, along with increases in quality of life, life meaning, and optimism, and decreases in death anxiety. At 6-month follow-up, these changes were sustained, with about 80% of participants continuing to show clinically significant decreases in depressed mood and anxiety. Participants attributed improvements in attitudes about life/self, mood, relationships, and spirituality to the high-dose experience, with >80% endorsing moderately or greater increased well-being/life satisfaction. Community observer ratings showed corresponding changes. Mystical-type psilocybin experience on session day mediated the effect of psilocybin dose on therapeutic outcomes.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00465595
1 year, 1000 km: The Oxford RobotCar dataset
Authors: Maddern Will , Pascoe Geoffrey , Linegar Chris , Newman Paul
Published: December 2016

We present a challenging new dataset for autonomous driving: the Oxford RobotCar Dataset. Over the period of May 2014 to December 2015 we traversed a route through central Oxford twice a week on average using the Oxford RobotCar platform, an autonomous Nissan LEAF. This resulted in over 1000 km of recorded driving with almost 20 million images collected from 6 cameras mounted to the vehicle, along with LIDAR, GPS and INS ground truth. Data was collected in all weather conditions, including heavy rain, night, direct sunlight and snow. Road and building works over the period of a year significantly changed sections of the route from the beginning to the end of data collection. By frequently traversing the same route over the period of a year we enable research investigating long-term localization and mapping for autonomous vehicles in real-world, dynamic urban environments. The full dataset is available for download at: http://robotcar-dataset.robots.ox.ac.uk
Aging Prisoners’ Views on Healthcare Services in Swiss Prisons
Authors: Galli Serena , Bretschneider Wiebke , Elger Bernice Simone , Handtke Violet , Shaw David
Published: December 2016

Objective: Due to the higher morbidity prevalent in the increasing older population, prisons are facing new challenges on a structural, ethical, and financial level. This study’s goal was to explore older prisoners’ views and experiences regarding the quality of medical services. Method: In this qualitative study, 35 semi-structured interviews were conducted with older inmates aged 50 years and above in 12 different prisons in the German-speaking (23 interviews) and the French-speaking parts (12 interviews) of Switzerland. Results: The majority of older prisoners in this sample expressed concerns about quality of treatment throughout incarceration. Topics addressed reached from quality of the entrance to routine examinations, quality of the treatment received, and delays in care and services provided. Conclusion: This study’s findings suggest that healthcare in prison is often perceived as insufficient and inadequate by older inmates.
Caudal Septoplasty for Treatment of C-Shaped Craniocaudal Deviation Using Synthetic Struts
Authors: Moina Daniel G. , Moina Gabriel , Rancati Alberto
Published: December 2016

We describe our technique using polydioxanone (PDS) foil for the correction and stabilization of caudal septal deviation. In addition, we evaluate the effectiveness of this technique in the treatment of the C-shaped craniocaudal sepal deviation. A retrospective review was conducted of 55 patients who underwent open septorhinoplasty with PDS splinting for the correction of a caudal septal deviation. The mean age was 35 years (range, 25-45 years), 38 of 55 (69%) were females and all had symptomatic nasal obstruction. Preoperatively, there were osteocartilaginous involvement and hypertrophy of the inferior turbinate at the opposite side of the septal deviation in all cases; whereas 30 (54.5%) patients had a bone spur, 20 (36.3%) had collapse of the external nasal valve due to septal deviation. Five patients complained of sinus headache that resolved after surgical correction. All patients were pleased with their functional improvement and 52 (95%) with their aesthetic results. Only 1 patient required surgical revision, which was due to the development of asymptomatic posterior septal perforation identified at follow-up endoscopy. There were no additional postoperative complications. Splinting of the septal cartilage with a PDS foil was feasible, safe, and effective for the treatment of severe caudal septal deviation. This technique emerges as an alternative to traditional cartilage grafting, especially in patients with insufficient cartilage for harvest or in patients with thin nasal dorsum in whom the use of a spreader graft can widen the nose and modify the normal nose contours, providing long-term support and stability of the septum.
Experimental study on the effect of air throttling on supersonic combustion
Authors: Tian Ye , Yang Shunhua , Xiao Baoguo , Le Jialing
Published: December 2016

The effect of air throttling on supersonic combustion was investigated by experiments in the present paper. Our results indicated that, in the non-reacting flow, a shock train could be generated in the scramjet combustor due to the increased backpressure caused by air throttling, and the wall pressure increased obviously. But when the mass flux rate of air throttling was not large enough, the shock train would oscillate with the flow. In the reacting flow, the flame stabilization was achieved in the combustor without air throttling when the equivalence ratio of kerosene was 0.2 and 0.31, but the flame was blown off when the equivalence ratio of kerosene was 0.45. On the contrary, the kerosene (equivalence ratio: 0.45) was ignited successfully in the combustor with air throttling, and it kept burning all the time in the cases with air throttling −5% (the flux of air throttling was 5% of the inflow flux) and with air throttling −14% (the flux of air throttling was 14% of the inflow flux), but the flame was blown off in the case with air throttling −1.1% after kerosene had burnt 70 ms. The flux of air throttling should be large enough to achieve flame stabilization, and the hydrogen and air throttling should both exist all the time in order to keep the flame burning steadily.
Arctic sea-ice proxies: Comparisons between biogeochemical and micropalaeontological reconstructions in a sediment archive from Arctic Canada
Authors: Pieńkowski Anna J , Gill Navpreet K , Furze Mark FA , Mugo Samuel M , Marret Fabienne , Perreaux Abbey
Published: December 2016

Boxcore 99LSSL-001 from the southwest Canadian Arctic Archipelago (68.095°N, 114.186°W), studied by multiproxy approaches (sea-ice diatom biomarker IP25, phytoplankton-based biomarker brassicasterol, biogenic silica, total organic carbon, dinoflagellate cysts = dinocysts, diatoms) and their applications (sea-ice index PBIP25, modern analogue technique (MAT) transfer functions), provides a chronologically constrained (210Pb, 137Cs, two 14C dates) palaeoenvironmental archive spanning AD 1625–1999 with which to compare and evaluate proxies frequently used in sea-ice reconstructions. Whereas diatoms are rare, PBIP25, biogenic silica and qualitative dinocyst approaches show good agreement, suggesting that palaeo sea-ice histories based on biomarker and microfossil techniques are robust in this region. These combined approaches show fluctuating long open water to marginal ice zone conditions (AD 1625–1740), followed by high-amplitude oscillations between long open water and extended spring/summer sea ice (AD 1740–1870). Greater ice cover (AD 1870–1970) precedes recent reductions in seasonal sea ice (AD 1970–1999). Dinocyst-based MAT, however, produces a low-amplitude signal lacking the nuances of other proxies, with most probable sea-ice reconstructions poorly correlating with biomarker-based histories. Explanations for this disagreement may include limited spatial coverage in the modern dinocyst distribution database for MAT and the broad environmental tolerances of polar dinocysts. Overall, PBIP25 provides the most detailed palaeo sea-ice signal, although its use in a shallow polar archipelago downcore setting poses methodological challenges. This proxy comparison demonstrates the limitations of palaeo sea-ice reconstructions and emphasizes the need for calibration studies tying modern microfossil and biogeochemical proxies to directly measured oceanographic parameters, as a springboard for robust quantitative palaeo studies.
Setting up crowd science projects
Authors: Scheliga Kaja , Friesike Sascha , Puschmann Cornelius , Fecher Benedikt
Published: December 2016

Crowd science is scientific research that is conducted with the participation of volunteers who are not professional scientists. Thanks to the Internet and online platforms, project initiators can draw on a potentially large number of volunteers. This crowd can be involved to support data-rich or labour-intensive projects that would otherwise be unfeasible. So far, research on crowd science has mainly focused on analysing individual crowd science projects. In our research, we focus on the perspective of project initiators and explore how crowd science projects are set up. Based on multiple case study research, we discuss the objectives of crowd science projects and the strategies of their initiators for accessing volunteers. We also categorise the tasks allocated to volunteers and reflect on the issue of quality assurance as well as feedback mechanisms. With this article, we contribute to a better understanding of how crowd science projects are set up and how volunteers can contribute to science. We suggest that our findings are of practical relevance for initiators of crowd science projects, for science communication as well as for informed science policy making.
Critical Thinking and Community of Inquiry within Professional Organizations in the Developing World
Authors: Elicor Peter Paul E.
Published: December 2016

In this article, I intend to underscore the importance of critical thinking in rendering invaluable positive contributions and impact within professional organizations in the developing world. I argue that critical thinking treated as a normative principle and balanced with a pragmatic orientation provides a rational framework for resolving conflicts that oftentimes ensue from the incoherence between Western-based organizational theories and the actual circumstances of a developing country. In order to optimize the benefits of critical thinking, I also argue that it should not be expected only among leaders and managers, but also and more importantly, among organizational members and associates. It is for this reason that I introduce Matthew Lipman’s Community of Inquiry as a model for cultivating critical thinking within professional environments.
Representing Joint Rule as the Murshid-i Kāmil’s Will
Authors: Trausch Tilmann
Published: December 2016

At first glance, early Safavid Iran may not be the ideal place to search for forms of consensual rule in the early modern Persianate world, as there where neither estates nor institutionalised procedures for consens-us-based decision-making. However, perhaps it is no less suitable for such considerations than any other non-European realm. As with most other contemporary or present-day rulers, the early Safavids claim for absolute power was rather convention than reality, a fact that is well reflected in present-day scientific literature. However, this is not the case for ‘rule by consensus’. Was consensus and consensus-based decision-making an issue in 16th-century Iran? If we look at the reports of the chronicles from the Safavids courtly sphere on their first ruler, Ismaʿil, we find passages that might well be read that way. Although it is somewhat difficult to imagine Ismaʿil thinking in terms of consensus or even mutual benefit, maybe he did just that. Obviously, ‘rule by consensus’ is a topic from Medieval Studies and is strongly based on the realms of medieval Europe, with no equivalents to many of the specific phenomena, procedures and theories elsewhere. While a ‘rule by consensus’ did not exist in early Safavid Iran, consensus-based decision-making did.
AnthroTools
Authors: Purzycki Benjamin Grant , Jamieson-Lane Alastair
Published: December 2016

As large-scale collaborative, cross-cultural ethnographic research becomes easier and easier to realize, certain ethnographic methods and analyses should be correspondingly more available, inviting, and accommodating. We have therefore created AnthroTools, a package for the free, open-source language R, with a variety of tools and functions suitable for both multi-factor free-list analysis and Bayesian cultural consensus modeling. Free-list data elicitation is a simple technique for ethnographic research. However, especially for cross-cultural free-list data, background preparation is considerable and often requires specific software. In addition, although current cultural consensus analysis tools offer very sophisticated analyses, they also either require specialized software or have computationally taxing methods. AnthroTools expedites these techniques, rapidly performs diagnostics, and prepares data for further analysis. In this article, we briefly discuss what this package offers cross-cultural researchers and provide basic examples of some of its functions.
Porting the political campaign: The NationBuilder platform and the global flows of political technology
Authors: McKelvey Fenwick , Piebiak Jill
Published: December 2016

Political parties rely on digital technologies to manage volunteering, fundraising, fieldwork, and data collection. They also need tools to manage web, email, and social media outreach. Increasingly, new political engagement platforms integrate these tasks into one unified system. These platforms pose important questions about the flows of political practices from campaigns to platforms and vice versa as well as across campaigns globally. NationBuilder is a critical case in their study. It is a leading non-partisan platform used in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The case of NationBuilder in Canada analyzes how political engagement platforms coordinate the global flows of politics. Through interviews, we find reciprocal influence among developers, party activists, consultants, and the NationBuilder platform. We call this process porting. It results in NationBuilder becoming a more portable global platform in tandem with becoming an imported, hybridized part of a campaign’s digital infrastructure.
Acoustics measurements of military-style supersonic beveled nozzle jets with interior corrugations
Authors: Powers Russell W , McLaughlin Dennis K
Published: December 2016

Increasingly powerful and noisy military aircraft have generated the need for research leading to the development of supersonic jet noise reduction devices. The hot, high speed supersonic jets exhausting from military aircraft during takeoff present a most challenging problem. The present study extends prior research on two methods of noise reduction. The first is the internal nozzle corrugations pioneered by Seiner et al. and the second is the beveled exit plane explored most recently by Viswanathan. A novel research idea of creating fluidic corrugations similar to the nozzle corrugations has been initiated by Penn State. To further the understanding and analysis of the fluidic corrugations, the present study focuses on the flow field and acoustic field of nozzles with two, three, and six conventional, hardwalled corrugations. The effect of the combination of the internal corrugations with a beveled nozzle is explored. The results show that significant noise reductions of over 3 dB of the mixing noise and the broadband shock-associated noise can be achieved. The combination of the beveled nozzle and the internal nozzle corrugations showed that there is less azimuthal dependence of the acoustic field than for the purely beveled nozzle. The combination nozzle was shown to reduce the noise over a wider range of polar angles and operating conditions than either the purely beveled nozzle or the purely corrugated nozzle.
How Readable Is BPH Treatment Information on the Internet? Assessing Barriers to Literacy in Prostate Health
Authors: Koo Kevin , Yap Ronald L.
Published: December 2016

Information about benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) has become increasingly accessible on the Internet. Though the ability to find such material is encouraging, its readability and impact on informing patient decision making are not known. To evaluate the readability of Internet-based information about BPH in the context of website ownership and Health on the Net certification, three search engines were queried daily for 1 month with BPH-related keywords. Website ownership data and Health on the Net certification status were verified. Three readability analyses were performed: SMOG test, Dale–Chall readability formula, and Fry readability graph. An adjusted SMOG calculation was performed to reduce overestimation from medical jargon. After a total of 270 searches, 52 websites met inclusion criteria. Mean SMOG grade was 10.6 ( SD = 1.4) and 10.2 after adjustment. Mean Dale–Chall score was 9.1 ( SD = 0.6), or Grades 13 to 15. Mean Fry graph coordinates (173 syllables, 5.1 sentences) corresponded to Grade 15. Seven sites (13%) were at or below the average adult reading level based on SMOG; none of the sites qualified based on the other tests. Readability was significantly poorer for academic versus commercial sites and for Health on the Net-certified versus noncertified sites. In conclusion, online information about BPH treatment markedly exceeds the reading comprehension of most U.S. adults. Websites maintained by academic institutions and certified by the Health on the Net standard have more difficult readability. Efforts to improve literacy with respect to urological health should target content readability independent of reliability.
Gender Policing During Childhood and the Psychological Well-Being of Young Adult Sexual Minority Men in the United States
Authors: Bauermeister José A. , Connochie Daniel , Jadwin-Cakmak Laura , Meanley Steven
Published: December 2016

Hegemonic masculinities (i.e., sets of socially accepted masculine behaviors and beliefs within a given time and culture) may affect the well-being of sexual minority men, yet quantitative relationships between these masculinities and well-being remain largely unexplored. Using data from a national cross-sectional survey of young sexual minority men ( N = 1,484; ages 18-24 years), the current study examined the relationship between parental gender policing during childhood and adolescence and subsequent substance use and psychological distress. Over one third of the sample (37.8%) reported their parent(s) or the person(s) who raised them had policed their gender, including the use of disciplinary actions. Using multivariable regression, this study examined the relationship between parental gender policing and psychological well-being and substance use, after adjusting for age, race/ethnicity, educational attainment, and current student status. Gender policing during childhood and adolescence was associated with recent substance use behaviors and psychological distress in multivariable models. A linear association between substance use behaviors and psychological distress and the number of disciplinary actions experienced during childhood and adolescence was also observed. Parents’ attempts to police their sons’ gender expression were associated with markers of distress among young sexual minority men. The relationship between parental gender policing during childhood and adolescence and distress among young sexual minority men are discussed.
Laparoscopic approach to splenic aneurysms
Authors: Małczak Piotr , Wysocki Michał , Major Piotr , Pędziwiatr Michał , Lasek Anna , Stefura Tomasz , Radkowiak Dorota , Zub-Pokrowiecka Anna , Budzyński Andrzej
Published: December 2016

Background

Splenic artery aneurysm is a rare disease with possibly mortal complications. For years, the main method of treatment was excision of aneurysm with spleen. In recent years, several methods have been developed in order to salvage the spleen such endovascular techniques and aneurysmectomy.

Objective

The aim of our study was to determine the feasibility of laparoscopic aneurysmectomy with spleen salvage in cases of splenic artery aneurysm.

Materials

Analysis of prospectively gathered data containing records of patients operated laparoscopically due to diseases of the spleen in 1998–2016 in our department. Inclusion criteria were attempted laparoscopic aneurysmectomy with intent to salvage spleen.

Results

Out of 11 patients, seven patients underwent aneurysmectomy with spleen preservation, one patient had partial-splenectomy, two patients had intra-operative splenectomies and one patient had a re-operation on post-op day 1 with splenectomy. Re-operation with splenectomy was the only recorded complication.

Conclusions

Laparoscopic aneurysmectomy of SAA may be considered as a safe treatment method, with good short- and long-term results; however, a complete evaluation requires further research on a larger study group. It allows permanent treatment of SAA with maintaining spleen function.
POST-NOAC: Portuguese observational study of intracranial hemorrhage on non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants
Authors: Marques-Matos Cláudia , Alves José Nuno , Marto João Pedro , Ribeiro Joana Afonso , Monteiro Ana , Araújo José , Silva Fernando , Grenho Fátima , Viana-Baptista Miguel , Sargento-Freitas João , Pinho João , Azevedo Elsa
Published: December 2016

Background

There is a lower reported incidence of intracranial hemorrhage with non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants compared with vitamin K antagonist. However, the functional outcome and mortality of intracranial hemorrhage patients were not assessed.

Aims

To compare the outcome of vitamin K antagonists- and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants-related intracranial hemorrhage.

Methods

We included consecutive patients with acute non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage on oral anticoagulation therapy admitted between January 2013 and June 2015 at four university hospitals. Clinical and demographic data were obtained from individual medical records. Intracranial hemorrhage was classified as intracerebral, extra-axial, or multifocal using brain computed tomography. Three-month functional outcome was assessed using the modified Rankin Scale.

Results

Among 246 patients included, 24 (9.8%) were anticoagulated with a non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants and 222 (90.2%) with a vitamin K antagonists. Non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants patients were older (81.5 vs. 76 years, p = 0.048) and had intracerebral hemorrhage more often (83.3% vs. 63.1%, p = 0.048). We detected a non-significant trend for larger intracerebral hemorrhage volumes in vitamin K antagonists patients ( p = 0.368). Survival analysis adjusted for age, CHA2DS2VASc, HAS-BLED, and anticoagulation reversal revealed that non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants did not influence three-month mortality (hazard ratio (HR) = 0.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.39–1.80, p = 0.638). Multivariable ordinal regression for three-month functional outcome did not show a significant shift of modified Rankin Scale scores in non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants patients (odds ratio (OR) 1.26, 95%CI 0.55–2.87, p = 0.585).

Conclusions

We detected no significant differences in the three-month outcome between non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants- and vitamin K antagonists-associated intracranial hemorrhage, despite unavailability of non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants-specific reversal agents.
Robust relative margin support vector machines
Authors: Song Yunyan , Zhu Wenxin , Xiao Yingyuan , Zhong Ping
Published: December 2016

Recently, a class of classifiers, called relative margin machine, has been developed. Relative margin machine has shown significant improvements over the large margin counterparts on real-world problems. In binary classification, the most widely used loss function is the hinge loss, which results in the hinge loss relative margin machine. The hinge loss relative margin machine is sensitive to outliers. In this article, we proposed to change maximizing the shortest distance used in relative margin machine into maximizing the quantile distance, the pinball loss which is related to quantiles was used in classification. The proposed method is less sensitive to noise, especially the feature noise around the decision boundary. Meanwhile, the computational complexity of the proposed method is similar to that of the relative margin machine.
Crescentic Osteotomy for Revision Hallux Interphalangeal Joint Arthrodesis
Authors: Franklin Andrew , McKee Patrick , Claessens Joris
Published: December 2016

Treatment for rigid mallet toe deformity of the hallux has commonly consisted of arthrodesis of this interphalangeal joint. However, such procedure is not without complications resulting in operative revision. We report on a case of considerable deformity of the distal phalanx of the hallux following hallux interphalangeal joint arthrodesis that underwent revision using a unique crescentic osteotomy technique.

Levels of Evidence: Level V: Case report/Technique
Effectiveness of a low-cost body weight support training device in the rehabilitation of cerebral palsy
Authors: Sharan Deepak , Rajkumar Joshua Samuel , Balakrishnan Rajarajeshwari , Kulkarni Amruta , Selvakumar Kalpana , Gampa Sivakrishna , Mohandoss Mathankumar , Ranganathan Rameshkumar
Published: December 2016

Background

Body weight supported treadmill training (BWSTT) has been proven to be effective in rehabilitation of persons with cerebral palsy (CP). However, it has still not found widespread usage, especially in industrially developing countries, due to its high cost. Treadmill training promotes a rhythmical movement of the lower extremities through motor learning, which can be enhanced by BWSTT for persons with CP. Hence, the research and development team of a tertiary level neuromusculoskeletal rehabilitation center designed a low-cost body weight support training (BWST) device. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the BWST device on gait and ambulation in persons with CP post single-event multilevel surgery (SEMLS) of the lower extremities.

Method

A randomized controlled trial was conducted in 50 persons with CP aged between 5 and 20 years, who underwent a type of SEMLS called single-event multilevel lever arm restoration and anti-spasticity surgery (SEMLARASS). They were randomly assigned to two groups: group A ( n = 25) received gait training and treadmill training with the BWST device, and group B ( n = 25) received gait training and treadmill training without the BWST device. The designed BWST device was manually operated and based on an un-weighing principle in which a vest of different sizes un-weighed 10–30% of the individual’s weight transmitted to the ground by means of adjustable counterweights fixed on a movable metallic frame which had an adjustable top lever (holding the vest) and a handle bar for the patient to hold. The entire cost for the finished BWST device was estimated around 700 USD. The study duration was 5 weeks with 1 h of intervention per day for 6 days per week. Physician Rating Scale (PRS), Dynamic Gait Index (DGI) and Functional Mobility Scale (FMS) were the primary outcome measures.

Results

Group A showed significant positive differences in the scores of PRS ( p < 0.001), DGI ( p < 0.001) and FMS ( p < 0.01) when compared with group B, 5 weeks after the intervention, and the results were maintained at a follow-up of 12 months.

Conclusion

The low-cost BWST device was found to be clinically effective in improving gait and ambulation in persons with CP following SEMLARASS.
The Health of Office-Based Workers in Kingston, Jamaica
Authors: Lindo Jascinth L. M. , LaGrenade Janet , Eldemire-Shearer Denise
Published: December 2016

The health status of Jamaican workers was evaluated as a baseline for workplace health promotion interventions. Socio-demographic, health status, and lifestyle data were collected from 1,087 employees. Blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol levels, and body mass index were measured for study participants. The most common illness reported by the study participants was migraine headaches (16.0%), followed by hypertension (13.5%) and asthma (6.1%). Based on blood pressure measurements, 34.1% were pre-hypertensive (120-139/80-89 mmHg), 13.1% had Stage 1 hypertension (140-159/90-99 mmHg), and 2.3% Stage 2 hypertension (≥160/≥100 mmHg). Furthermore, 33% were overweight, 16.7% were obese, and 10% were extremely obese. Most (55.1%) of the study participants reported excessive fast-food consumption in the last 7 days. The high rates of obesity, hypertension, and fast-food consumption reported in this study emphasized the need for focused health promotion strategies. Universality across institutions presented an excellent opportunity for national workplace health intervention programs.
Consensus guidelines for the diagnosis and management of patients with classic hairy cell leukemia
Authors: Grever Michael R. , Abdel-Wahab Omar , Andritsos Leslie A. , Banerji Versha , Barrientos Jacqueline , Blachly James S. , Call Timothy G. , Catovsky Daniel , Dearden Claire , Demeter Judit , Else Monica , Forconi Francesco , Gozzetti Alessandro , Ho Anthony D. , Johnston James B. , Jones Jeffrey , Juliusson Gunnar , Kraut Eric , Kreitman Robert J. , Larratt Loree , Lauria Francesco , Lozanski Gerard , Montserrat Emili , Parikh Sameer A. , Park Jae H. , Polliack Aaron , Quest Graeme R. , Rai Kanti R. , Ravandi Farhad , Robak Tadeusz , Saven Alan , Seymour John F. , Tadmor Tamar , Tallman Martin S. , Tam Constantine , Tiacci Enrico , Troussard Xavier , Zent Clive S. , Zenz Thorsten , Zinzani Pier Luigi , Falini Brunangelo
Published: December 2016

Hairy cell leukemia is an uncommon hematologic malignancy characterized by pancytopenia and marked susceptibility to infection. Tremendous progress in the management of patients with this disease has resulted in high response rates and improved survival, yet relapse and an appropriate approach to re-treatment present continuing areas for research. The disease and its effective treatment are associated with immunosuppression. Because more patients are being treated with alternative programs, comparison of results will require general agreement on definitions of response, relapse, and methods of determining minimal residual disease. The development of internationally accepted, reproducible criteria is of paramount importance in evaluating and comparing clinical trials to provide optimal care. Despite the success achieved in managing these patients, continued participation in available clinical trials in the first-line and particularly in the relapse setting is highly recommended. The Hairy Cell Leukemia Foundation convened an international conference to provide common definitions and structure to guide current management. There is substantial opportunity for continued research in this disease. In addition to the importance of optimizing the prevention and management of the serious risk of infection, organized evaluations of minimal residual disease and treatment at relapse offer ample opportunities for clinical research. Finally, a scholarly evaluation of quality of life in the increasing number of survivors of this now manageable chronic illness merits further study. The development of consensus guidelines for this disease offers a framework for continued enhancement of the outcome for patients.