bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Career Commitment in STEM
Authors: Cai Huiru , Ocampo Anna Carmella G. , Restubog Simon Lloyd D. , Kiazad Kohyar , Deen Catherine Midel , Li Min
Published: March 2017

In this article, we draw insights from the employee–organization framework to test a model linking offered inducements and expected contributions to career commitment through organizational commitment. Data were collected from 396 full-time chemists and laboratory specialists who work in a large health-care organization in China. Results revealed that organizational commitment mediated the relationships between employee–organization framework (i.e., offered inducements and expected contributions) and career commitment. Moderated mediation analyses further revealed that the conditional indirect effects of offered inducements in predicting career commitment via organizational commitment were stronger for high as opposed to low expected contributions. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Assessing the Utilization of Total Ankle Replacement in the United States
Authors: Reddy Sudheer , Koenig Lane , Demiralp Berna , Nguyen Jennifer T. , Zhang Qian
Published: March 2017

Background:

Total ankle arthroplasty (TAR) has been shown to be a cost-effective procedure relative to conservative management and ankle arthrodesis. Although its use has grown considerably over the last 2 decades, it is less common than arthrodesis. The purpose of this investigation was to analyze the cost and utilization of TAR across hospitals.

Methods:

Our analytical sample consisted of Medicare claims data from 2011 and 2012 for Inpatient Prospective Payment System hospitals. Outcome variables of interest were the likelihood of a hospital performing TAR, the volume of TAR cases, TAR hospital costs, and hospital profit margins. Data from the 2010 Cost Report and Medicare inpatient claims were utilized to compute average margins for TAR cases and overall hospital margins. TAR cost was calculated based on the all payer cost-to-charge ratio for each hospital in the Cost Report. Nationwide Inpatient Sample data were used to generate descriptive statistics on all TAR patients across payers.

Results:

Medicare participants accounted for 47.5% of the overall population of TAR patients. Average implant cost was $13 034, accounting for approximately 70% of the total all-payer cost. Approximately, one-third of hospitals were profitable with respect to primary TAR. Profitable hospitals had lower total costs and higher payments leading to a difference in profit of approximately $11 000 from TAR surgeries between profitable and nonprofitable hospitals. No difference was noted with respect to length of stay or number of cases performed between profitable and nonprofitable hospitals. TAR surgeries were more likely to take place in large and major teaching hospitals. Among hospitals performing at least 1 TAR, the margin on TAR cases was positively associated with the total number of TARs performed by a hospital.

Conclusion:

There is an overall significant financial burden associated with performing TAR with many health systems failing to demonstrate profitability despite its increased utilization. While additional factors such as improved patient outcomes may be driving utilization of TAR, financial barriers may exist that can affect utilization of TAR across health systems.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, comparative study
The dietary fiber profile of fruit peels and functionality modifications induced by high hydrostatic pressure treatments
Authors: Tejada-Ortigoza Viridiana , García-Amezquita Luis Eduardo , Serna-Saldívar Sergio O , Welti-Chanes Jorge
Published: March 2017

The effect of high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) and temperature on composition of non-conventional dietary fiber (DF) sources and functional properties were evaluated. Mango, orange, or prickly pear peels were processed at 600 MPa during 10 min at 22 ℃ and 55 ℃. Total (TDF), soluble (SDF), and insoluble (IDF) dietary fiber, water/oil holding, and retention capacity, solubility, swelling capacity, and bulk density were assayed. An increment in the SDF content was observed due to the effect of pressure with the greatest changes noticed in mango peel, increasing from 37.4% (control) to 45.7% (SDF/TDF) in the HHP-treated (55 ℃) sample. Constant values of TDF after the treatments suggest a conversion of IDF to SDF in mango (38.9%–40.5% dw) and orange (49.0%–50.8% dw) peels. The highest fiber solubility values were observed for mango peel ranging between 80.3% and 83.9%, but the highest increase, from 55.1% to 62.3%, due to treatment was displayed in orange peel processed at 22 ℃. A relationship between DF modifications induced by HHP treatment and changes in the functional properties of the materials was established. Application of HHP opens up the opportunity to modify non-conventional sources of DF and to obtain novel functional properties for different food applications.
Do Men in Prison Have Nothing to Lose but Their Manhood? Masculinities of Prisoners and Officers in a Ukrainian Correctional Colony
Authors: Symkovych Anton
Published: March 2017

The article sets out to show how power and identity intertwine. Its close look at Ukrainian prison culture complements a recent string of studies in the “West” by demonstrating the nuanced role of violence and masculinity in men’s prisons. Whereas much of the extant literature links prison violence to a hypermasculine culture, this article, based on a semiethnographic study in Ukraine, details how a masculine-centered, hierarchical prisoner structure curtails violence. Even so, prisoners are forced to exercise masculine agility, as their provisional manliness determines their place in the hierarchy and thus, by extension, their quality of life. I explore how prisoners and officers construct, prove, and maintain their masculine identities in a milieu of rigid structures and limited resources. I demonstrate how masculine models and discourses are diverse, dynamic, and contested and argue that men as agents tap into them to frame flexible identities to suit their needs.
Roadmap to a Comprehensive Clinical Data Warehouse for Precision Medicine Applications in Oncology
Authors: Foran David J , Chen Wenjin , Chu Huiqi , Sadimin Evita , Loh Doreen , Riedlinger Gregory , Goodell Lauri A , Ganesan Shridar , Hirshfield Kim , Rodriguez Lorna , DiPaola Robert S
Published: March 2017

Leading institutions throughout the country have established Precision Medicine programs to support personalized treatment of patients. A cornerstone for these programs is the establishment of enterprise-wide Clinical Data Warehouses. Working shoulder-to-shoulder, a team of physicians, systems biologists, engineers, and scientists at Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey have designed, developed, and implemented the Warehouse with information originating from data sources, including Electronic Medical Records, Clinical Trial Management Systems, Tumor Registries, Biospecimen Repositories, Radiology and Pathology archives, and Next Generation Sequencing services. Innovative solutions were implemented to detect and extract unstructured clinical information that was embedded in paper/text documents, including synoptic pathology reports. Supporting important precision medicine use cases, the growing Warehouse enables physicians to systematically mine and review the molecular, genomic, image-based, and correlated clinical information of patient tumors individually or as part of large cohorts to identify changes and patterns that may influence treatment decisions and potential outcomes.
Topiramate Extended-Release Options: A Focus on Efficacy and Safety in Epilepsy and Comorbidities
Authors: Wang Yuchen , Wagner Mary L , Kaufman Kenneth R , Maletsky Kristin , Sivaraaman Kartik , Mani Ram
Published: March 2017

Topiramate (TPM) is effective for multiple seizure types and epilepsy syndromes in children and adults. Topiramate has adverse effects (including cognitive, depression, renal stones), but many of these are low incidence when started at a low dose and slowly titrated to 100 to 200 mg/day. Also, TPM has proven benefit for migraine, obesity, eating disorders, and alcohol use disorders, which can be comorbid in patients with epilepsy and may also be effective in subpopulations within specific psychiatric diagnoses. Recently approved extended-release formulations of TPM (Trokendi and Qudexy in the United States) have reliable data supporting their safety and efficacy for patients with epilepsy. They have potential for more rapid titration within 1 month to 200 mg/day and have better patient retention than TPM immediate-release, but there are no robust double-blind randomized controlled trials comparing the different formulations. We expect the once per day extended-release formulations to improve medication adherence compared with the twice per day formulations. This has significant potential to improve outcomes in epilepsy and the other TPM-responsive disorders.
Investigation on the fluid–structure interaction effect of an aerostatic spindle and the influence of structural dimensions on its performance
Authors: Lu Lihua , Gao Qiang , Chen Wanqun , Liu Liang , Wang Guanglin
Published: March 2017

The performances of aerostatic spindle are highly affected by the fluid–structure interaction between air film and solid structure. This paper proposes a comprehensive two-way fluid–structure interaction model to analyze the fluid–structure interaction effect of an aerostatic spindle. The structure deformation induced by air film pressure is considered to predict the actual performance of aerostatic spindle. Furthermore, to provide theoretical basis for the structure parameters design, the influence of structural dimensions (such as the thickness of thrust plate) on its performance is investigated, and optimal structural parameters are acquired. The stiffness of aerostatic spindle with varying thrust plate thickness is tested to verify the reliability of simulation results.
Seasonality of Tourism in Wales: A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Koenig Nicole , Bischoff Eberhard E.
Published: March 2017

This paper examines the seasonal pattern for different types of domestic tourism demand in the UK during 1994–2000. The focus is on Wales, a region with a particularly pronounced tourism seasonality. The characteristics of the Welsh seasonal pattern are identified and compared with other UK regions, notably Scotland. An overview of various different methods for quantifying these seasonal variations is presented. Various scalar measures are used to evaluate the inequality of the distribution of tourism trips within a year. The stability of seasonal patterns between the years is also examined and more complex methodologies, such as Seasonal Decomposition, are applied in order to assess in detail the differences in the seasonal behaviour of demand among the UK home nations. On the basis of the analysis, policy implications for tackling the seasonality problem are discussed.
Examining the Market Structure of the German and UK Tour Operating Industries through an Analysis of Package Holiday Prices
Authors: Aguiló Eugeni , Alegre Joaquín , Sard Maria
Published: March 2017

This paper offers new empirical evidence that can be used to analyse the structure of the market in which tour operators compete. The authors examine the prices of package holidays to the Balearic Islands, one of the Mediterranean's leading tourist destinations, offered by a sample of German and UK tour operators. The hedonic price method is used, expressing package holiday prices in terms of the characteristics of the packages. The model also incorporates information that facilitates assessment of certain aspects of the market: in particular, the market power of various tour operators and the influence of agreements with hotel chains. The paper concludes that tour operators' strategies and price structures are characteristic of an oligopolistic market.
Incentives of International and Local Hotel Chains to Invest in Environmental Quality
Authors: Calveras Aleix
Published: March 2017

This paper examines the extent to which the incentive of hotel chains to invest in environmental quality is dependent on whether they are locally or internationally well established. The author shows that there are two factors which give an international chain less incentive than a local chain to invest in the maintenance of the local environment: the ‘public good’ characteristic of environmental quality and the fact that the nature of the environment is a key factor in a destination's international competitive advantage.
Measuring the Return on Investment of Destination Welcome Centres: The Case of Florida
Authors: Pitegoff Barry E. , Smith Ginger
Published: March 2017

US state destination boards have traditionally operated welcome centres – viewed as cost centres – at key vehicular entrance points to their states. In fact, if travel parties modify trips in the state as a result of their welcome centre experience so as to make an incremental economic contribution to the state, then what has been perceived as a cost centre may actually be a profit centre for the state. Using return on investment (ROI) analysis or accountability research, this study outlines the methodology of VISIT FLORIDA, the private–public partnership serving as the official tourism board for the State of Florida. The partnership was developed to analyse the impact of Florida's welcome centres and to identify whether or not they resulted in a positive cash flow for the state. The study includes strategic marketing questions which allow VISIT FLORIDA to make management decisions to improve further the impact of its welcome centres.
A ‘Quick and Dirty’ Travel Cost Model
Authors: Stoeckl Natalie
Published: March 2017

This paper describes a series of Monte-Carlo simulations that investigate the accuracy of welfare estimates generated from the travel cost model (TCM). The simulations indicate that in some cases the TCM can generate reasonably accurate welfare estimates – even when researchers are unable to determine the correct price of all recreational inputs or the correct way to allocate the joint costs of multiple-site visitors. This means that in some circumstances researchers may be able to estimate a visitation equation simply, using an implied price of distance equal to one and then scaling final estimates for a range of different ‘plausible’ prices. These final estimates are neither better nor worse than other estimates, but they are considerably simpler to generate, thus saving time that can then be devoted to the many other problems attending TCM implementation.
The effects of power and stretch yoga on affect and salivary cortisol in women
Authors: Sullivan Molly , Carberry Amanda , Evans Elizabeth S , Hall Eric E , Nepocatych Svetlana
Published: March 2017

Yoga practice is known to improve well-being and decrease stress. However, acute yoga is understudied. This study investigated the effects of two different types of yoga on affect and salivary cortisol levels in college women. Thirty-three women aged 18–30 years each completed 1-hour sessions of power yoga and stretch yoga. Measures of affect and salivary cortisol were assessed before, during, and after each session. Participants perceived power yoga to be more pleasurable and energizing. Salivary cortisol significantly decreased after both yoga sessions. Thus, even one session of yoga may be effective in improving affect and decreasing stress in college women.
Predictors of perceived vulnerability to cancer diagnoses among adult Black males
Authors: Atakere Darlingtina K , Baker Tamara A
Published: March 2017

As much as the significance of age, education, masculinity, illness attitude, and self-esteem to preventive health have been reported, much less is known on how these factors predict perceived vulnerability to cancer diagnosis. This study aimed to determine the association between identified demographic, health, and social factors and perceived vulnerability to cancer diagnosis among adult Black males. Data reveal that incidences of cancer among Black men are contingent upon a myriad of psychological, social, and behavioral factors that are not exclusive but rather coexisting determinants of health.
Neighbourhood built environment and walking behaviours: Evidence from the rural American South
Authors: Li Chuo , Chi Guangqing , Jackson Robert
Published: March 2017

This study examines the perceived neighbourhood characteristics and environmental barriers in association with two different types of walking – recreational and destination – in the context of a rural town in Mississippi. A cross-sectional survey was used to assess residents’ walking behaviours, perceived neighbourhood characteristics and perceived environmental barriers to walking in three types of neighbourhoods: traditional, early conventional suburban and late conventional suburban. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance and regression analyses identified environmental factors correlated with walking. A total of 362 surveys were completed and returned by random adult members of the households contacted, for a 38.5% response rate. Perceived aesthetics are significantly associated with more frequent recreational and destination walking in this rural town. Higher perceived accessibility are associated with more frequent destination walking, and greater perceived social environment barriers to walking are associated with sedentary behaviour in the rural population studied. Of all factors related to a neighbourhood’s built environment, the most important factor in promoting walking in rural towns is aesthetics. The relationships among accessibility, social environment and walking underscore the importance of community planning in incorporating mixed land uses, providing a connected pedestrian infrastructure and facilitating targeted social interventions to encourage more walking.
Evolving one-dimensional transient jet modeling by integrating jet breakup physics
Authors: Neal Nicholas , Rothamer David
Published: March 2017

High-speed optical measurements of unsteady liquid fuel jets under engine-like conditions have shown that the initial penetration of the jets does not follow the behavior predicted by previously introduced one-dimensional jet models based on gas-jet principles. The experimental data indicate that the transient jet penetration velocity is initially controlled by the jet exit velocity, transitioning to gas-jet like mixing-dominated penetration further downstream. This behavior is consistent with the common description of high-pressure fuel jets as containing a liquid core surrounded by entrained gas and fuel droplets. In this paper, a new one-dimensional modeling methodology is introduced that couples the transport equations for the evolution of the liquid core of the jet and the surrounding sheath of droplets resulting from breakup. This allows for the penetration of the jet to be initially governed by the liquid core, which is relatively unaffected by the ambient gas, transitioning to spray penetration dominated by the entrained ambient gas. The model also provides a defined jet centerline velocity, which allows for the shape of the radial profiles of fuel velocity and fuel volume fraction to be solved for directly, without the need for a steady-jet assumption, as was used in previous one-dimensional models. This change removes the need for a constant momentum flux assumption, improving the transient nature of the model. The results of the model are validated against the aforementioned optical transient jet measurements. The model and all associated experimental data have been made available for use at rothamer.erc.wisc.edu/dlp .
Carving “turns” and unsettling the ground under our feet (and skis): A reading of Sun Peaks Resort as a settler colonial moral terrain
Authors: Cooke Lisa
Published: March 2017

In this article, I take the recent mobilities and moralities “turns” in tourism studies to an autoethnographic contemplation of a site most dominantly known as Sun Peaks Resort in British Columbia, Canada. In so doing, I examine what the intersections of mobilities and moralities do on this settler colonial terrain. By thinking with mobilities for the moral structures they anchor in place, the ground under settler colonial feet (and skis) is unsettled. The result is that conversations about Indigenous-settler land relations become a shared responsibility to a practice of decolonization that is grounded, sustained, and meaningful.
(Re)constructing the Canadian border: Anti-mobilities and tourism
Authors: Torabian Pooneh , Mair Heather
Published: March 2017

Drawing from an analysis of Canadian travel security and border policies, which is grounded in a critical mobilities approach, the article sheds light on the normalization and moralization of travel and tourism policies in the post-9/11 era as well as the implications thereof. In particular, the article aims to problematize the ways (tourism) mobility is constructed in contemporary Canadian policies and programmes (as deeply influenced by American policies); consider the implications of these constructions, most notably in terms of what we refer to as ‘anti-mobilities in tourism’; illuminate the implications of this particular moralization of Canadian border, travel, and security practices for travellers; and locate opportunities for tourism scholars to utilize a critical mobilities framework to continue to interrogate the normalization and moralization of particular travel policies more broadly.
Distribution of intestate estates in non-traditional families
Authors: O’Sullivan Kathryn
Published: March 2017

The rules governing the distribution of an intestate estate applied pursuant to s. 46 of the Administration of Estates Act 1925 as amended by s. 1 of the Inheritance and Trustee’s Powers Act 2014 ensure very generous provision for surviving spouses in England and Wales. However, notwithstanding the merits of such provision, the extent to which the regime strikes an appropriate balance in distributing such an estate, in particular between the surviving spouse and a deceased’s children from a former relationship, if present, appears somewhat dubious. The first part of this paper briefly positions the intestacy regime adopted in England and Wales in an international context, placing a special emphasis on the protection afforded to the interests of a deceased’s children from a former relationship in a number of different jurisdictions. The next part critiques the arguments recently advanced by the Law Commission for England and Wales against reform in this area and argues that such reform is, in fact, warranted. On this basis, the final part presents a novel proposal for consideration.
Piercing of the corporate veil for evasion of tort obligations
Authors: Lo Stefan HC
Published: March 2017

This article analyses the common law doctrine of piercing of the corporate veil in the context of tort liabilities of a company. It is generally accepted that the veil piercing doctrine can be applied where a company is used to evade existing legal obligations but not where a company is used to avoid future legal obligations. In the tort context, the prevailing view is that it is permissible to establish a company to carry on activities to enable the controllers of the company to escape personal tort liabilities arising from the activities. However, it is argued in this article that such a situation potentially involves the use (misuse) of a company to evade existing tort obligations and that there is greater scope than traditionally understood for piercing of the corporate veil to impose a company’s tort liabilities on its controllers.
Learning Psychology and Becoming Psychologists: Developing Professional Identity through Group Experiential Learning
Authors: Falgares Giorgio , Venza Gaetano , Guarnaccia Cinzia
Published: March 2017

In this paper, we describe the advantages of an experiential training group, specifically conceived for psychology students, in which the goal was to activate reflection on the internalized social representations of professional identity. Our study showed the results of a pre-post comparison of a one-group intervention. It was aimed to demonstrate that group experiential learning is particularly useful in changing the basis of social representations and may contribute to the construction of a realistic image of both the profession and the professional identity. The research involved 88 students enrolled in a graduate program in clinical psychology. Before and after the experiential groups, students were asked to write a text starting from the prompt “becoming a psychologist.” These 176 texts provided the data used for this study. We carried out a text analysis using automatized software that provided hierarchical classification and factorial analysis of correspondences. The changes in the students’ representations of psychologists underline how participation in group experiential learning has allowed students to build a more realistic, less stereotypical and idealized vision of their future profession and created greater awareness of the limits of a training program based solely on the acquisition of theoretical notions. The data suggest the possibility of usefully practicing such learning activities in order to help students to reflect on their professional representations.
Educating through exemplars: Alternative paths to virtue
Authors: Croce Michel , Silvia Vaccarezza Maria
Published: March 2017

This article confronts Zagzebski’s exemplarism with the intertwined debates over the conditions of exemplarity and the unity–disunity of the virtues, to show the advantages of a pluralistic exemplar-based approach to character education. This pluralistic exemplar-based approach to character education is based on a prima facie disunitarist perspective in moral theory, which amounts to admitting both exemplarity in all respects and single-virtue exemplarity. First, we account for the advantages of pluralistic exemplar-based approach to character education, and we show how two figures in recent Italian history (Giorgio Perlasca and Gino Bartali) satisfy Blum’s definitions of ‘moral hero’ and ‘moral saint’. Then we offer a comparative analysis of the effectiveness of heroes and saints with respect to character education, according to four criteria derived from our pluralistic exemplar-based approach to character education: admirability, virtuousness, transparency, and imitability. Finally, we conclude that both unitarist and disunitarist exemplars are fundamental to character education; this is because of the hero’s superiority to the saint with respect to imitability, a fundamental feature of the exemplar for character education.
Skin microvascular function in patients with type 1 diabetes: An observational study from the onset of diabetes
Authors: Santesson Pia , Lins Per-Eric , Kalani Majid , Adamson Ulf , Lelic Isak , von Wendt Gunvor , Fagrell Bengt , Jörneskog Gun
Published: March 2017

Background:

The development of disturbances in skin microcirculation in type 1 diabetes is not well characterised. We assessed skin microcirculation longitudinally from the onset of diabetes up to 29 years of duration to investigate when such disturbances start.

Material and methods:

Seventeen adult patients with type 1 diabetes participated. Skin microvascular function in digit IV of the left hand was investigated by laser Doppler fluxmetry (LDF, arbitrary units [AU]). LDF was carried out at rest and following one-min arterial occlusion. Time to peak LDF (s) and percentage increase of LDF (post-occlusive reactive hyperaemia, PRH%) were determined. Retinopathy was assessed from fundus photographs or ophthalmoscopic recordings.

Results:

Skin microvascular function remained normal during the first five years. Compared with baseline and a non-diabetic reference group, time to peak LDF was prolonged after 7–9 years of diabetes ( p < 0.01). PRH% was lower than in the reference group after 7–9 years ( p < 0.01), and lower than baseline after 24–29 years of diabetes ( p < 0.05). All but one patient developed retinopathy and the first signs were found after 10 years of diabetes.

Conclusions:

Functional disturbances in total skin microcirculation were observed after seven years in patients with type 1 diabetes and preceded diabetic complications such as retinopathy.
Retrospective Analysis of Nonepileptic Patients With Isolated Epileptiform Discharges Treated With Anticonvulsants
Authors: Swatzyna Ronald J. , Tarnow Jay D. , Proler Meyer L. , Roark Alexandra J. , MacInerney Erin K. , Kozlowski Gerald P.
Published: March 2017

Many antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) have been tested on nonepileptic patients with a variety of diagnoses. The Food and Drug Administration has only approved certain AEDs for a small number of psychiatric conditions. There are few studies of nonepileptic patients that recommend an empirical trial of AEDs when isolated epileptiform discharges (IEDs) are identified in the electroencephalogram (EEG). However, no trials have been published. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the outcome of treating nonepileptic patients with AEDs when IEDs are present. Refractory cases were reviewed from a multidisciplinary practice whose EEG readings contained IEDs and were subsequently medicated with anticonvulsants by the clinic’s psychiatrist. The psychiatrist’s progress notes were assessed to determine the impact of adding anticonvulsants based on parent reports, teacher reports, and clinical observation. The final sample was composed of 76 refractory cases. Of the 76 patients treated with anticonvulsants, the majority were found to be improved in follow-up progress notes: 65 improved (85.53%), 6 unchanged (7.89%), and 5 more severe (6.58%). These observational findings suggest that further studies will be needed to show that IEDs may predict positive treatment outcome to anticonvulsant medication and act as a step toward an evidence-based treatment. Also, EEG screening may prove to be useful for refractory cases regardless of age, gender, or diagnosis.
Heightened Background Cortical Synchrony in Patients With Epilepsy: EEG Phase Synchrony Analysis During Awake and Sleep Stages Using Novel Ensemble Measure
Authors: Nayak Chetan S. , Mariyappa N. , Majumdar Kaushik K. , Prasad Pradeep D. , Ravi G. S. , Nagappa M. , Kandavel Thennarasu , Taly Arun B. , Sinha Sanjib
Published: March 2017

Introduction. Excessive cortical synchrony within neural ensembles has been implicated as an important mechanism driving epileptiform activity. The current study measures and compares background electroencephalographic (EEG) phase synchronization in patients having various types of epilepsies and healthy controls during awake and sleep stages. Methods. A total of 120 patients with epilepsy (PWE) subdivided into 3 groups (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy [JME], temporal lobe epilepsy [TLE], and extra-temporal lobe epilepsy [Ex-TLE]; n = 40 in each group) and 40 healthy controls were subjected to overnight polysomnography. EEG phase synchronization (SI) between the 8 EEG channels was assessed for delta, theta, alpha, sigma, and high beta frequency bands using ensemble measure on 10-second representative time windows and compared between patients and controls and also between awake and sleep stages. Mean ± SD of SI was compared using 2-way analysis of variance followed by pairwise comparison ( P ≤ .05). Results. In both delta and theta bands, the SI was significantly higher in patients with JME, TLE, and Ex-TLE compared with controls, whereas in alpha, sigma, and high beta bands, SI was comparable between the groups. On comparison of SI between sleep stages, delta band: progressive increase in SI from wake ⇒ N1 ⇒ N2 ⇒ N3, whereas REM (rapid eye movement) was comparable to wake; theta band: decreased SI during N2 and increase during N3; alpha band: SI was highest in wake and lower in N1, N2, N3, and REM; and sigma and high beta bands: progressive increase in SI from wake ⇒ N1 ⇒ N2 ⇒ N3; however, sigma band showed lower SI during REM. Conclusion. This study found an increased background cortical synchronization in PWE compared with healthy controls in delta and theta bands during wake and sleep. This background hypersynchrony may be an important property of epileptogenic brain circuitry in PWE, which enables them to effortlessly generate a paroxysmal EEG depolarization shift.
Assessment on Occurrences of Depression and Anxiety and Associated Risk Factors in the Infertile Chinese Men
Authors: Yang Bin , Zhang Jianchao , Qi Yuxia , Wang Pu , Jiang Ronghuan , Li Hongjun
Published: March 2017

The prevalence of depression and anxiety in the Chinese male population with infertility is still uncertain. The prevalence of depression, anxiety, and a combination of both psychological symptoms was 20.8%, 7.8%, and 15.4%, respectively in 771 infertile Chinese men in the current study by the Mental Health Inventory–5 and the State–Trait Anxiety Inventory–Short Form questionnaires. Differences in demographics (age, education, and income) had no noticeable impact on the development of psychological symptoms. Clinical factors such as concomitant disorders (varicocele, epididymal cyst, and erectile dysfunction) were identified as risk factors associated with depressive symptoms ( OR = 1.47; 95% CI [1.14, 1.90]; p < .001) and both depressive and anxiety symptoms ( OR = 1.56; 95% CI [1.17, 2.08]; p < .001). An infertility duration over 2 years was associated with a high risk of anxiety symptoms ( OR = 3.94; 95% CI [1.20, 12.93], p < .02). Other clinical conditions such as type of treatment and quality of sperm were not significant risk factors for psychological symptoms. This study provides evidence that Chinese men of reproductive age who suffer from infertility are vulnerable to psychological distress.
The Use of Soft Tissue Expanders Prior to Total Ankle Arthroplasty
Authors: Save Ameya V. , Wiznia Daniel H. , Wang Mike , Kim Chang-Yeon , Reach John S.
Published: March 2017

Soft tissue coverage and tension-free closure can often be challenging in patients with ankle arthropathy being considered for total ankle arthroplasty. We present 2 patients with severe posttraumatic ankle arthropathy who underwent placement of a soft tissue expander to assist with soft tissue coverage prior to total ankle arthroplasty.

Levels of Evidence: Level IV
Internal carotid artery agenesis: A case report and review of literature
Authors: Li Shuo , Hooda Kusum , Gupta Nishant , Kumar Yogesh
Published: March 2017

Congenital agenesis of the internal carotid artery is a very rare anomaly. Intracranial circulation in the involved internal carotid artery territory is maintained by collateral circulation from the contralateral internal carotid artery through the anterior communicating artery and from the vertebrobasilar system through the posterior communicating artery. Usually, patients with internal carotid artery agenesis are asymptomatic due to collateral circulation, but they may present with headache, seizures, or transient ischemic attack. Aneurysms have also been reported to be associated with this entity. Computed tomography angiography, magnetic resonance angiography, and digital subtraction angiography are commonly used modalities to make the diagnosis. Unenhanced skull base computed tomography will show the absence of carotid canal, thus differentiating from carotid hypoplasia. We report on a case of right internal carotid artery agenesis with discussion of embryogenesis, clinical presentation, and imaging findings.
A Five-Steps Methodology to Design Communication Formats That Can Contribute to Behavior Change
Authors: Grothmann Torsten , Leitner Markus , Glas Natalie , Prutsch Andrea
Published: March 2017

Communication measures can raise protective behavior regarding climate change, natural hazards, and other health risks. For being effective in such communication, we designed a five-steps methodology and applied it to health-protective behavior during heat extremes in Austria. The five steps are as follows: (1) target group selection, a multicriteria assessment (MCA) to identify the most important target group(s)—this led to the identification of mobile health care nurses as our primary target group; (2) target group analysis by interviews to identify drivers of and barriers to protective behavior—for the mobile health care nurses, the drivers were their climate change perceptions, control beliefs, perceptions of role models, and extent of thinking about heat and health, and the barriers were fatalism and work stress; (3) development of target group specific communication formats addressing the identified drivers and barriers—for the nurses, we designed a workshop format, animated videos, and two print formats; (4) pretest of formats in focus groups—these revealed our formats were effective in increasing heat risk awareness, competence, and protective behavior among the nurses; (5) improvement of formats based on pretest results—for example, we modified the workshop format to become a venue for mutual learning. These five steps can be applied to other projects where awareness, competence, or behavior shall be increased by means of communication.
What the Future Holds
Authors: Bay-Cheng Laina Y. , Zucker Alyssa N.
Published: March 2017

Hallmarks of emerging adulthood include exploring and envisioning one’s future. However, how one sees the future may vary by social location, particularly at the intersection of gender and socioeconomic status (SES). We compared the perceived importance and likelihood of various future goals across three groups of women aged 18–22: 160 affluent undergraduates, 177 low-SES undergraduates, and 147 low-SES nonstudents. Participants from all three samples were largely optimistic about their futures and ranked the following goals as very important to them: their sense of subjectivity (e.g., independence, self-acceptance, fulfillment); having good relationships with one’s children; and being physically healthy. Affluent and low-SES undergraduates ranked peer-related affiliation highly, while low-SES nonstudents prioritized financial goals. While the priorities and optimism of young women in each sample overlap in some ways, they also reflect distinctions among the groups’ privilege and prospects.
Aligning Skills with Jobs
Authors: Chenoy Dilip
Published: March 2017

India has a young population; 47 per cent of the population is below the age of 24. Over 12.8 million people enter the workforce every year. Only about 10 per cent of the workforce has received some form of either formal or informal training. The training capacity in 2008 was 3.1 million per year. Despite the training capacity and the number of entrants to the workforce, a large number of employers faced difficulty while filling entry-level vacancies. Studies brought out the fact that only about one-third of those completing courses from a variety of educational and training institutes were employable. To address various issues in the skill development space and to involve the employers in the skill sector, in 2008, the Government of India announced the setting up of National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) as a public–private partnership (PPP). This article brings out the impact of the efforts made by the NSDC to project skill gaps, identify job roles and get employers to lead the process of identifying skill gaps, creating standards for job roles, increasing the skill training capacity and aligning trainings with jobs. The article highlights the work done by Sector Skill Councils (SSCs) and the roll-out of the National Skill Certification and Monetary Reward Scheme (known as STAR), as well as the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), with a view to encourage youth to take up skill programmes that are aligned to specific job roles. This article also reviews the recent initiatives and some of the challenges, and the way forward to aligning skills with jobs.
Anterior Microsurgical Approach to Ventral Lower Cervical Spine Meningiomas
Authors: Fraioli Mario F. , Marciani Maria G. , Umana Giuseppe E. , Fraioli Bernardo
Published: March 2017

Ventral lower cervical spinal meningiomas with posterior displacement of the spinal cord are rare and anterior approach has been rarely reported in the literature. The authors present their experience about eight patients operated through anterior microsurgical approach. Exposure of meningiomas was achieved through one or two corpectomies, according to meningioma extension. Tumour removal was performed thanks to the aid of a dedicated ultrasonic aspirator, and intraoperative evoked potentials were employed. Particular care was taken with the materials adopted for reconstruction of the anterior dural plane, to avoid postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak. Vertebral fusion and stabilization were achieved by tantalum cage or titanium graft in case of one or two corpectomies respectively; anterior titanium plate fixed with screws was applied in all patients. Extent of tumour removal was related to the presence of a conserved arachnoidal plane between the tumour and the spinal cord: total removal was achieved in 2 patients, while gross total removal in the other six ones. Postoperative neurological outcome, which was favourable in all patients, was related mostly to preoperative neurologic status. No recurrence after total removal and no remnant growth after gross total removal occurred during an average follow-up period of 6, 7 years.
A multiple regression method for estimating Li in tourmaline from electron microprobe analyses
Authors: Pesquera A. , Gil-Crespo P. P. , Torres-Ruiz F. , Torres-Ruiz J. , Roda-Robles E.
Published: March 2017

Lithium cannot be determined by electron microprobe, but it may be an essential component in tourmalinesupergroup minerals. Therefore, its estimation is important for structural formula calculation and nomenclature. In this paper, we present a method to estimate Li content in tourmaline from microprobe data based on a multiple linear-regression model, which is not reliant on a particular normalization scheme. The results derived from this model are reasonably accurate, particularly for low-Mg tourmalines (<2 wt.% MgO) with Li2O contents higher than ∼0.3 wt.%. Furthermore, it provides a better fitness compared with estimations of Li assuming that Li fills any cation deficiency at the Y site.
The early semantics of the neologism BREXIT: a lexicogrammatical approach
Authors: Fontaine Lise
Published: March 2017

The aim of this paper is to examine the nominality of the neologism BREXIT using a corpus-informed lexicogrammatical approach. The term BREXIT, coined in 2012, used initially in print and social media in the UK is now internationally wide-spread. BREXIT is a blend of British + exit, which expresses the meaning of’Britain exiting from the EU’. Although ‘Brexit’ clearly expresses an event (motion) meaning, as a nominalization, it also expresses nominal meaning. In systemic functional linguistics (SFL), nominalization is much broader than lexical derivation and is treated as a means of conceptualising and encoding experience. In this paper the development of BREXIT is explored using a corpus of 1,641,903 words including 2,435 instances of BREXIT from its first use in May 2012 to the UK general election in 2015. Capturing the development of this term from its initial use allows some insight into the intended meanings of the speaker due to the glosses provided. These appositional expressions are combined with the collocations found in the corpus. The results show that while the meanings identifiable in the corpus are entirely nominal in use, the term encodes complex meanings of event-oriented meanings and of hypotheticality. In examining the nominal status of BREXIT, I show that not all nominalizations are instances of grammatical metaphor.
Depositional sequence characterization based on seismic variational mode decomposition
Authors: Li Fangyu , Zhang Bo , Zhai Rui , Zhou Huailai , Marfurt Kurt J.
Published: March 2017

Subtle variations in otherwise similar seismic data can be highlighted in specific spectral components. Our goal is to highlight repetitive sequence boundaries to help define the depositional environment, which in turn provides an interpretation framework. Variational mode decomposition (VMD) is a novel data-driven signal decomposition method that provides several useful features compared with the commonly used time-frequency analysis. Rather than using predefined spectral bands, the VMD method adaptively decomposes a signal into an ensemble of band-limited intrinsic mode functions, each with its own center frequency. Because it is data adaptive, modes can vary rapidly between neighboring traces. We address this shortcoming of previous work by constructing a laterally consistent VMD method that preserves lateral continuity, facilitating the extraction of subtle depositional patterns. We validate the accuracy of our method using a synthetic depositional cycle example, and then we apply it to identify seismic sequence stratigraphy boundaries for a survey acquired in the Dutch sector, North Sea.
Confronting African Histories of Technology
Authors: Serlin David
Published: March 2017

In this conversation, historians Breckenridge and Hecht discuss the status of African histories of technology since decolonization. Academic interest in African technology, as well as technologies and infrastructures with significant connections to Africa, began to decline in the mid-1980s and with some exceptions was long confined to anthropology and archaeology. Historians of technology are now returning to the study of African technological infrastructures and users. By paying attention to the specificity of industrial production, to material and political infrastructures, and to gaps and dependencies, Breckenridge and Hecht suggest possible directions for contemporary and future African histories of technology.
The Scientific Revolution That Wasn't
Authors: Bell Alice
Published: March 2017

This is one of those tales of a scientific revolution that never quite came to pass. Science, the movement's would-be revolutionaries argued, had lost its way. It had become too hierarchical and too focused on the whims of senior staff and their cronies. Humanity had allowed its collective scientific energies to be applied to war and environmental destruction, rather than to the public good. In the shadow of the still-blazing light of the atomic bomb, and with increasing concern over chemical and biological weapons as well as an emerging environmental crisis, science needed to take a long, hard look at itself. Elitist and stuffy, science had let itself fester. The time had come to imagine a new way of doing science.
Visual Detection of Cesium Ions in Domestic Water Supply or Seawater using a Nano-optode
Authors: Akamatsu Masaaki , Komatsu Hirokazu , Matsuda Atsuki , Mori Taizo , Nakanishi Waka , Sakai Hideki , Hill Jonathan P , Ariga Katsuhiko
Published: March 2017

Cesium, in particular radioactive Cs 137 is currently a significant environmental problem in Japan following the incident at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant caused by the Great East Japan earthquake. Although radioscopes and gamma ray cameras have been developing to visualize radioactive species or contamination, it is not necessarily a simple matter to locate sources of contamination under high levels of background radiation. However, supramolecular approaches for environmental sensing of analyses are useful in the design of high-resolution molecular sensors. Here, we have developed an optical imaging technique for cesium ions involving an optode system in environmental water. An optode membrane was prepared incorporating a calix[6]arene derivative, which showed excellent selectivity toward cesium ions in aqueous solutions, even in water supplied for domestic use or seawater. Furthermore, this membrane was fabricated using nanoparticles with a diameter of ca. 100 nm. The nano-optode also gave an excellent response to cesium ions. Therefore, this optode provides a higher spatial resolution than existing radioscopes and gamma ray cameras under high level radioactive environments.