bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Co-Occurrence of Exogenous and Endogenous Cushing’s Syndromes—Dilemma in Diagnosis
Authors: Tong Chin Voon , Rajoo Subashini
Published: October 2019

Approach to patients who manifest with features of Cushing’s syndrome often begin with exclusion of exposure to excessive exogenous source of glucocorticoids (GC). Most guidelines advocate no further assessment if excessive exogenous GC use is present. We present a case of a 66-year-old lady who was noted to have typical features of Cushing’s syndrome. As she gave a very clear history of ingesting exogenous GC for a year, no further work up was undertaken. Despite cessation of GC for a year, she continued to have thin skin and easy bruising. Upon admission for hypertensive emergency, her clinician took note of her changes and investigated her for endogenous Cushing’s syndrome. Her cortisol post overnight dexamethasone suppression test was 707 nmol/l. Post low dose dexamethasone suppression test yielded a cortisol of 1133.2 nmol/l. 24 hours urine cortisol was 432.2 nmol/l. Plasma ACTH was 1.1 pmol/l, indicating an ACTH independent Cushing’s syndrome. We proceeded with Computed tomography scan (CT scan) of adrenals which revealed a right adrenal adenoma measuring 4.4 × 3.4 × 4.0 cm. Right retroperiteneoscopic adrenalectomy was done. Histopathology examination was consistent with adrenal cortical adenoma with foci of myelolipoma. Post adrenalectomy she developed hypocortisolism secondary to contralateral adrenal suppression which lasted up to the present date. Her cutaneous and musculoskeletal manifestations improved substantially. Co-occurrence of endogenous and exogenous Cushing’s syndromes is uncommon but should be considered in patients whose Cushingnoid features do not resolve after cessation of exogenous GC.
Extended-Spectrumβ-Lactamases among Enterobacteriaceae Isolated from Urinary Tract Infections in Gaza Strip, Palestine
Authors: Tayh Ghassan , Al Laham Nahed , Ben Yahia Houssem , Ben Sallem Rym , Elottol Abed Elkader , Ben Slama Karim
Published: October 2019

Background. Extended-spectrumβ-lactamase-producing organisms causing urinary tract infections are increasing in incidence and pose a major impendence to health-care facility, having limited therapeutic options. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of ESBLs in Enterobacteriaceae isolates causing urinary tract infections in Gaza strip, Palestine, and to characterizeβ-lactamase types and associated resistance genes.Methods. Eighty-five Enterobacteriaceae isolates were recovered from urinary tract infections within three months in Gaza Strip hospitals. The characterization ofβ-lactamase genes and the genetic environments of CTX-M, the identification of associated resistance genes, and the presence and characterization of integrons were tested by PCR and sequencing.Results. The occurrence rate of ESBL among tested isolates was 30 (35.3%), and among ESBL-positive isolates,blaCTX-Mwas the highest followed byblaTEM. ESBL-CTX-M-1 group was confirmed in 93.3%, and the remaining carried CTX-M-9 group. CTX-M-15, CTX-M-3, CTX-M-1, CTX-M-14, CTX-M-27, and CTX-M-37 enzymes were demonstrated among the isolates with the majority (73%) being CTX-M-15. ISEcp-1was demonstrated in 27 (90%, high incidence) of ESBL isolates. Class 1 integrons have been detected in higher rates (53.3%) in ESBL-positive isolates in comparison with non-ESBL isolates (6, 33.3%). Cassettes of integron-1 contain (aadA1,aadA2,aadA5,dfrA5,dfrA7,dfrA12, anddfrA17) genes. Theaac(6′)-Ib-crgene was demonstrated in 36.7% of ESBL-positive isolates.Conclusions. This study indicates thatblaCTX-M-15was the most prevalentβ-lactamase in this region. Our study demonstrates for the first time in Palestine the identification ofblaCTX-M-15inP. rettgeriandS. liquefaciens, alsoblaCTX-M-37inE. cloacae.The coexpression of multipleβ-lactamase genes withaac(6′)-Ib-crandqnrin the presence of ISEcp-1and integrons in individual strains will increase the dissemination of highly resistant strains. ESBL producers were more resistant than non-ESBLs producers for almost all tested antibiotics.
Scaphoid Waist Nonunion in an 8-Year-Old: A Rare Occurrence
Authors: Gause T. M. , Moran T. E. , Carr J. B. , Deal D. N.
Published: October 2019

Case. Historically, the most common pattern of pediatric scaphoid injury described is at the distal pole, which has a high rate of success with nonoperative management. Injury patterns have evolved as children are more commonly presenting with adult-type fracture patterns. We present the case of a scaphoid waist fracture in an 8-year-old male that resulted in nonunion and required surgical fixation. Conclusion. This case highlights the trend of adult pattern scaphoid fractures in the pediatric population and the utility of magnetic resonance imaging in patients who do not have complete carpal bone ossification at the time of initial radiographic evaluation.
Predictive Value of Novel Inflammation-Based Biomarkers for Pulmonary Hypertension in the Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Authors: Zuo Huanhuan , Xie Xiaochen , Peng Jiahuan , Wang Lixin , Zhu Rong
Published: October 2019

Recently, there has been an increasing interest in the potential clinical use of several inflammatory indexes, namely, neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR), platelet-to-lymphocyte ratio (PLR), and systemic-immune-inflammation index (SII). This study aimed at assessing whether these markers could be early indicators of pulmonary hypertension (PH) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). A total of 185 patients were enrolled in our retrospective study from January 2017 to January 2019. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) and area under the curve (AUC) were used to evaluate the clinical significance of these biomarkers to predict PH in patients with AECOPD. According to the diagnostic criterion for PH by Doppler echocardiography, the patients were stratified into two groups. The study group consisted of 101 patients complicated with PH, and the control group had 84 patients. The NLR, PLR, and SII values of the PH group were significantly higher than those of the AECOPD one (p<0.05). The blood biomarker levels were positively correlated with NT-proBNP levels, while they had no significant correlation with the estimated pulmonary arterial systolic pressure (PASP) other than PLR. NLR, PLR, and SII values were all associated with PH (p<0.05) in the univariate analysis, but not in the multivariate analysis. The AUC of NLR used for predicting PH was 0.701 and was higher than PLR and SII. Using 4.659 as the cut-off value of NLR, the sensitivity was 81.2%, and the specificity was 59.5%. In conclusion, these simple markers may be useful in the prediction of PH in patients with AECOPD.
Truss Structure Optimization Based on Improved Chicken Swarm Optimization Algorithm
Authors: Li Yancang , Wang Shiwen , Han Muxuan
Published: October 2019

To improve the efficiency of the structural optimization design in truss calculation, an improved chicken swarm optimization algorithm was proposed for truss structure optimization. The chicken swarm optimization is a novel swarm intelligence algorithm. In the basic chicken swarm optimization algorithm, the concept of combining chaos strategy and reverse learning strategy was introduced in the initialization to ensure the global search ability. And the inertia weighting factor and the learning factor were introduced into the chick position update process, so as to better combine the global and local search. Finally, the overall individual position of the algorithm was optimized by the differential evolution algorithm. The improved algorithm was tested by multipeak function and applied to the truss simulation experiment. The study provided a new method for the truss structure optimization.
Altered RNA Processing in Cancer Pathogenesis and Therapy
Authors: Obeng Esther A. , Stewart Connor , Abdel-Wahab Omar
Published: October 2019

Major advances in our understanding of cancer pathogenesis and therapy have come from efforts to catalog genomic alterations in cancer. A growing number of large-scale genomic studies have uncovered mutations that drive cancer by perturbing cotranscriptional and post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression. These include alterations that affect each phase of RNA processing, including splicing, transport, editing, and decay of messenger RNA. The discovery of these events illuminates a number of novel therapeutic vulnerabilities generated by aberrant RNA processing in cancer, several of which have progressed to clinical development.

Significance:

There is increased recognition that genetic alterations affecting RNA splicing and polyadenylation are common in cancer and may generate novel therapeutic opportunities. Such mutations may occur within an individual gene or in RNA processing factors themselves, thereby influencing splicing of many downstream target genes. This review discusses the biological impact of these mutations on tumorigenesis and the therapeutic approaches targeting cells bearing these mutations.
Optimizing the Technique for Invasive Fractional Flow Reserve to Assess Lesion-Specific Ischemia
Authors: Renard Brian M. , Cami Elvis , Jiddou-Patros Monica R. , Said Ahmad , Kado Herman , Trivax Justin , Berman Aaron , Gulati Akhil , Rabah Maher , Timmis Steven , Shoukfeh Mazen , Abbas Amr E. , Hanzel George , Hanson Ivan , Dixon Simon , Safian Robert D.
Published: October 2019

Background:

Invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR
INV
) is the standard technique for assessing myocardial ischemia. Pressure distortions and measurement location may influence FFR
INV
interpretation. We report a technique for performing invasive fractional flow reserve (FFR
INV
) by minimizing pressure distortions and identifying the proper location to measure FFR
INV
.

Methods:

FFR
INV
recordings were obtained prospectively during manual hyperemic pullback in 100 normal and diseased coronary arteries with single stenosis, using 4 measurements from the terminal vessel, distal-to-the-lesion, proximal vessel, and guiding catheter. FFR
INV
profiles were developed by plotting FFR
INV
values (
y
-axis) and site of measurement (
x
-axis), stratified by stenosis severity. FFR
INV
≤0.8 was considered positive for lesion-specific ischemia.

Results:

Erroneous FFR
INV
values were observed in 10% of vessels because of aortic pressure distortion and in 21% because of distal pressure drift; these were corrected by disengagement of the guiding catheter and re-equalization of distal pressure/aortic pressure, respectively. There were significant declines in FFR
INV
from the proximal to the terminal vessel in normal and stenotic coronary arteries (
P
<0.001). The rate of positive FFR
INV
was 41% when measured from the terminal vessel and 20% when measured distal-to-the-lesion (
P
<0.001); 41.5% of positive terminal measurements were reclassified to negative when measured distal-to-the-lesion. Measuring FFR
INV
20 to 30 mm distal-to-the-lesion (rather than from the terminal vessel) can reduce errors in measurement and optimize the assessment of lesion-specific ischemia.

Conclusions:

Meticulous technique (disengagement of the guiding catheter, FFR
INV
pullback) is required to avoid erroneous FFR
INV
, which occur in 31% of vessels. Even with optimal technique, FFR
INV
values are influenced by stenosis severity and the site of pressure measurement. FFR
INV
values from the terminal vessel may overestimate lesion-specific ischemia, leading to unnecessary revascularization.
A new autumn flowering Crocus (Iridaceae) from SW Turkey: C. terzioghluii

Authors: CIFTCI ALMILA , HARPKE DOERTE , EROL OSMAN
Published: October 2019

Crocus terzioghluii (Iridaceae) is described as a new species endemic to southwestern Anatolia, Turkey. It is related to Crocus babadagensis and differs from this species in having corm tunics with well-developed rings, and prominent stripes on outer segments, as well as in leaf number and flowering time. The corms and tunics of both species are illustrated. A phylogenetic tree obtained by Bayesian phylogenetic inference of the combined sequences of the nuclear rDNA ITS and ETS regions confirms the affiliation of C. terzioghluii to C. ser. Biflori and its close relationship to C. babadagensis. A microphotograph of the metaphase chromosomes (2n = 2x = 8) along with the idiogram and a leaf cross section of the new species are given.
Morphological description and DNA barcodes of adult males of Tanytarsus
heliomesonyctios Langton, 1999 (Diptera, Chironomidae) in northeast of Russia
Authors: OREL OKSANA V. , SEMENCHENKO ALEXANDER A.
Published: October 2019

An illustrated morphological description of the adult males of Tanytarsus heliomesonyctios Langton, 1999, is provided for the first time. The males were found in mountain lakes Bolshoi Darpir (Momsky District of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia)) and Momontai (Susumansky District of the Magadan Region), located in the Kolyma River basin. Females, pupae and larvae of T. heliomesonyctios was previously described from Spitsbergen, Jan Mayen (Norway) and Ellesmere Island (Arctic Canada), and considered parthenogenetic. Tanytarsus heliomesonyctios is here for the first time noted for the fauna of Russia. Comparison of DNA barcodes shows high K2P nucleotide distances (1.7%) between the sexual populations (Norway and Russia) and the parthenogenetic populations (Svalbard and Canada). In the Bayesian tree, the COI- sequences from adult males group as sister to a strongly supported clade of sequences from parthenogenetic populations. This apparently indicates a single origin of parthenogeneticity, perhaps due to extreme environmental conditions.
Understanding of European Cold Extremes, Sudden Stratospheric Warming, and Siberian Snow Accumulation in the Winter of 2017/18
Authors: Lü Zhuozhuo , Li Fei , Orsolini Yvan J. , Gao Yongqi , He Shengping
Published: October 2019

It is unclear whether the Eurasian snow plays a role in the tropospheric driving of sudden stratospheric warming (SSW). The major SSW event of February 2018 is analyzed using reanalysis datasets. Characterized by predominant planetary waves of zonal wave 2, the SSW developed into a vortex split via wave–mean flow interaction. In the following two weeks, the downward migration of zonal-mean zonal wind anomalies was accompanied by a significant transition to the negative phase of the North Atlantic Oscillation, leading to extensive cold extremes across Europe. Here, we demonstrate that anomalous Siberian snow accumulation could have played an important role in the 2018 SSW occurrence. In the 2017/18 winter, snow depths over Siberia were much higher than normal. A lead–lag correlation analysis shows that the positive fluctuating snow depth anomalies, leading to intensified “cold domes” over eastern Siberia (i.e., in a region where the climatological upward planetary waves maximize), precede enhanced wave-2 pulses of meridional heat fluxes (100 hPa) by 7–8 days. The snow–SSW linkage over 2003–19 is further investigated, and some common traits among three split events are found. These include a time lag of about one week between the maximum anomalies of snow depth and wave-2 pulses (100 hPa), high sea level pressure favored by anomalous snowpack, and a ridge anchoring over Siberia as precursor of the splits. The role of tropospheric ridges over Alaska and the Urals in the wave-2 enhancement and the role of Arctic sea ice loss in Siberian snow accumulation are also discussed.
Comparison of Wind Speed and Wave Height Trends from Twentieth-Century Models and Satellite Altimeters
Authors: Meucci Alberto , Young Ian R. , Aarnes Ole Johan , Breivik Øyvind
Published: October 2019

The trends in marine 10-m wind speed U10 and significant wave height Hs found in two century-long reanalyses are compared against a model-only integration. Reanalyses show spurious trends due to the assimilation of an increasing number of observations over time. The comparisons between model and reanalyses show that the areas where the discrepancies in U10 and Hs trends are greatest are also the areas where there is a marked increase in assimilated observations. Large differences in the yearly averages call into question the quality of the observations assimilated by the reanalyses, resulting in unreliable U10 and Hs trends before the 1950s. Four main regions of the world’s oceans are identified where the trends between model and reanalyses deviate strongly. These are the North Atlantic, the North Pacific, the Tasman Sea, and the western South Atlantic. The trends at +24-h lead time are markedly weaker and less correlated with the observation count. A 1985–2010 comparison with an extensive dataset of calibrated satellite altimeters shows contrasting results in Hs trends but similar U10 spatial trend distributions, with general agreement between model, reanalyses, and satellite altimeters on a broad increase in wind speed over the Southern Hemisphere.
Influence of Subseasonal Variability on the Diurnal Cycle of Precipitation on a Mountainous Island: The Case of New Caledonia
Authors: Specq Damien , Bellon Gilles , Peltier Alexandre , Lefèvre Jérôme , Menkes Christophe
Published: October 2019

The relationship between the large-scale intraseasonal variability, synoptic wind regimes, and the local daily variability of precipitation over the main island of New Caledonia (southwest tropical Pacific) is investigated with a focus on the austral summer wet season (November–April). The average diurnal cycle of precipitation over the island is characterized by a sharp afternoon maximum around 1600 local time, with significant differences between the windward east coast, the leeward west coast, and the mountain range. The afternoon peak is related to the afternoon sea-breeze circulation and to the diurnal cycle of convection over land. In general, its magnitude follows the same evolution as the daily mean. In agreement with past studies, a clear modulation of the Madden–Julian oscillation (MJO) on both the diurnal cycle of precipitation and the probability of occurrence of four robust wind regimes can be identified in the New Caledonia region during the wet season. From the evidence that there is a qualitative correspondence between the effects of both the MJO phases and the wind regimes on features in the diurnal cycle of precipitation, a simple model is proposed to inspect the MJO forcing mediated by wind regimes on the diurnal variability of rain. The complete decomposition of the MJO impact shows that the modulation of diurnal cycle by the MJO relies on complex interactions between the MJO and synoptic winds that involve both large-scale MJO convective anomalies and MJO-induced modification of wind patterns.
Guideline Adherence and Antibiotic Utilization by Community Pediatricians, Private Urgent Care Centers, and a Pediatric Emergency Department
Authors: Islam Shamim , Mannix Mary Kathryn , Breuer Ryan K. , Hassinger Amanda B.
Published: October 2019

Pediatric antibiotic prescriptions originate from an increasingly broad range of ambulatory settings. In this retrospective study, pharyngitis, otitis media, sinusitis, pneumonia, and upper respiratory infection cases, at 11 primary care offices, 2 independent urgent care centers (UCCs), and a pediatric emergency department in Western New York, were analyzed relative to medical society practice guidelines and antibiotic utilization. Of 2358 eligible visits across all sites, 25% were for study diagnoses, with 38% at UCC ( P < .01). Across all sites, 26% of pharyngitis cases given antibiotics did not have diagnostic evidence of bacterial infection. At primary care offices and UCCs, guideline recommended first-line agents for pharyngitis and otitis media were used in only 58% and 63% of treated cases, respectively. Overall, an estimated 9855 to 12 045 avoidable antibiotic and 8030 non-guideline antibiotic courses annually are represented by the 14 sites studied. These and other study findings highlight numerous opportunities for outpatient pediatric antibiotic stewardship.
The Nuclear Ban Treaty and the cloud over Trudeau’s ‘feminist’ foreign policy
Authors: Broadhead Lee-Anne , Howard Sean
Published: October 2019

The Canadian Liberal government of Justin Trudeau claims to be ushering in a new era of a “feminist” foreign policy. While serious steps have been taken in this direction, this paper focuses on the government’s opposition to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, a treaty that has been negotiated with a logic and language explicitly linking issues of disarmament and gender, reframing “security” as fundamentally a question not of state but of human (and environmental) security. Ignoring its own public statements that repeatedly link women with peace and security, the Trudeau government’s opposition to the Treaty exposes the hollowness of its claims.
Hiring and Training Requirements for Correctional Officers: A Statutory Analysis
Authors: Kowalski Melissa A.
Published: October 2019

U.S. state statutes provide the minimum hiring and training requirements for correctional officers (COs), but it is unclear whether COs have achieved professionalism. This article utilizes a statutory analysis to examine state hiring qualifications and training requirements for COs. The findings reveal that not all 50 have statutes outlining CO hiring and training requirements. Although some states are very specific, many provide only general standards. As such, statutes regarding CO hiring and training are far from uniform.
African Americans in Economics at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor Since the Kerner Commission Report of 1968
Authors: Betsey Charles L.
Published: October 2019

The campus of the University of Michigan experienced student unrest of the 1960s surrounding the Vietnam war and demands for racial inclusion. How the university, particularly the Department of Economics, responded in the aftermath of the Kerner Commission Report is the focus of this article. Michigan is not unique in producing few Black PhD economists over its history, having graduated 15 Black PhD economists of the more than 1,100 who have graduated from the department to date. Supreme Court decisions and a state ballot initiative halted the progress that was being made by the University to improve student and faculty diversity. Despite this, Michigan is one of only a few economics departments at majority institutions to have been home to several Black economists simultaneously. The fact that this is a notable statistic speaks to the lack of diversity of economics faculties nationwide.
An overview: multiscale simulation in understanding the radiation damage accumulation of reactor materials
Authors: Chen Dandan , He Xinfu , Chu Genshen , He Xiao , Jia Lixia , Wang Zhaoshun , Yang Wen , Hu Changjun
Published: October 2019

The reactor is an extreme environment of high temperature, high pressure, and high radiation dose. Damage accumulates in structural materials over service time. It will eventually lead to material failure, such as hardening, embrittlement, and swelling. The radiation damage accumulation is an inherent, complex, and multiscale process, which has been studied extensively with multiscale modeling and simulation methods. The rapid development of high-performance computing makes it possible to accurately operate multiscale simulation for the microstructure evolution of irradiated reactor materials. The European Union, the USA, and China have put great effort into this, and many related works have been carried out. This paper first outlines the basic application of multiscale modeling and simulation technology in understanding the effects of radiation on reactor structural materials. Then, some relevant projects carried out by the USA, the European Union, and China in recent years are summarized. Next, the paper focuses on three widely used simulation techniques at different scales: molecular dynamics, kinetic Monte Carlo, and cluster dynamics. For each method, some key developments in algorithms and computer implementations are reviewed. Finally, the comparison between them is discussed.
Lively cities made in sound: A study of the sonic sensibilities of listening and hearing in Wollongong, New South Wales
Authors: Waitt Gordon , Buchanan Ian , Duffy Michelle
Published: October 2019

This paper seeks to better understand the lively city with reference to recent analysis of sonic affects, bodily sensations and emotions. The notion of ‘hearing contacts’, as it is usually deployed in discussion of the lively city, emphasises the social interactions with other people in a rather narrow anthropocentric way. Yet, it overlooks the diversity of felt and affective dimensions of city sounds. This paper takes up this challenge by bringing Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of territory into conversation with Greimas’s semiotic square. In doing so, this paper offers a compelling theoretical framework to better understand the sonic sensibilities of listening and hearing to provide a clearer sense of how people decide to attach specific meanings to sound, and which ones they do not. The paper first reviews various theoretical approaches to sound and the city. Next, the paper turns to an ethnographic account of sound and city-centre urban life recently conducted in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia. This research seeks to better understand the ways bodily dispositions to sonic affects, materials and cultural norms helped participants territorialise the city centre, distinguishing ‘energetic buzz’, ‘dead noise’, ‘dead quiet’ and ‘quiet calm’.
Using Question & Answer Forums as a Platform for Improving Transport-Related Information for Tourists
Authors: Gal-Tzur Ayelet , Bar-Lev Shirly , Shiftan Yoram
Published: October 2019

Providing relevant, complete, and coherent information to travelers wishing to get from one destination to another is a fundamental responsibility of transport authorities. This study explored the characteristics of information desired by tourists seeking travel instructions through Question & Answer forums, particularly TripAdvisor’s city forums, with the aim of developing guidelines to improve answers.

Three categories of travel information were defined, and a scenario-based survey was conducted among 558 tourists. Based on its results, a novel multidimensional model for assessing the quality of information posted in response to questions was developed. The study yielded several main conclusions. Shorter answers of up to four information items are preferred over longer ones, and diverse information types are preferred over several of the same category. Given an accurate basic existing answer, our model suggests that information should be added only when one or more of the three information categories is not already represented.
When and How Negative News Coverage Empowers Collective Action in Minorities
Authors: Saleem Muniba , Hawkins Ian , Wojcieszak Magdalena E. , Roden Jessica
Published: October 2019

Minorities often express dissatisfaction and frustration with media depictions of their ingroup motivating them to engage in strategies that can restore a positive group identity. Based on the dual model of collective action and relying on two studies, we examined if exposure to negative news media can motivate collective action among Muslim Americans through increases in collective efficacy and group-based anger. Data from a four-wave longitudinal survey revealed that Time 1 self-reported exposure to negative news about Muslims increased Time 4 collective action intentions through increases in Time 3 efficacy, but not anger. Experimental results revealed that perceived news accuracy moderates these effects. Specifically, exposure to negative news about one’s ingroup motivates collective action when the news is perceived as biased but dampens these efforts if perceived to be accurate. These findings reveal how and under what conditions exposure to negative news coverage can lead to collective action among minorities.
The Individual Health Insurance Mandate and Veterans Health Coverage
Authors: Oh Dongjin , Berry Frances Stokes
Published: October 2019

In December 2017, Congress repealed the individual insurance mandate penalty. Given the poor health status of veterans, their higher demands for health insurance, and the substantial number of uninsured veterans, the repeal of the individual mandate should have a significant impact on the veterans. This article investigates how the repeal of the individual mandate effective in January 2019 is likely to affect the number of uninsured veterans and their enrollments in Veterans Affairs (VA) insurance. By analyzing 52,692 nonelderly veterans in Florida and California from 2008 to 2017, the findings suggest that the repeal will lead to a considerable increase in the number of uninsured veterans. Veterans who are unemployed, poor, and suffering disabilities are more likely to sign up for the VA insurance than better-off veterans. Thus, one of the important functions of veteran health care is to serve as a social safety net for vulnerable veterans. Thus, the Veterans Health Administration should establish a policy to minimize the expected negative repercussions of the repeal.
New rules of the game? Education and governmentality in Chinese migration to Poland
Authors: Kardaszewicz Krzysztof
Published: October 2019

The Chinese in Poland are an understudied but rapidly growing migrant community, undergoing a transition from an established pattern of economic chain migration to one based on investment of wealth in pursuit of a better life environment. Educational immigration by middle-class families provides insight into a broader trend of popular resistance to China's established model of governmentality. Refusing to conform to prescribed patterns of achievement and social mobility, these families exemplify a younger generation's aspirations and challenges involved in transnational mobility, which go beyond the traditional capital accumulation strategies.
The Novel as Affective Site: Uncertain work as impasse in Wait Until Spring, Bandini
Authors: Otto Birke Dorothea , Strauß Anke
Published: October 2019

In this paper we propose that reading and writing with novels contributes to the emerging field of researching affect in organization studies. Situating our argument in current research on work-related uncertainty, we take John Fante’s novel Wait Until Spring, Bandini as a ‘sensuous site’ of research to engage with the experience of feeling stuck – addressed as impasse, limbo or permanent temporariness – as a condition of contemporary work lives. While affect theoretical approaches often emphasize precognitive intensities and their transformative potential, the novel foregrounds how affective intensities stay and stick as they are entangled with powerful socio-political conventions, such as investments in the American Dream or the idea of stable employment. Such affective attachments take shape in antithetic dynamics of the not-so-static state of feeling stuck.
Habits and Routines during Transitions among Emerging Adults with Type 1 Diabetes
Authors: Hanna Kathleen M. , Hansen Jed R.
Published: October 2019

To provide insight into poorly understood diabetes self-management among emerging adults with type 1 diabetes (TID) experiencing transitions, this study described their diabetes self-management-related habits, routines, and disruptions as well as explored relationships among habits and routines. A qualitative study, guided by critical incidence technique, was conducted. Participants were asked to describe situations when they did and did not check blood glucose, administer insulin, eat meals, and exercise as planned. They were also asked to describe activities in a typical day and in association with diabetes self-management. Content analysis with a priori definitions of habits and routines was performed. Participants described diabetes self-management-related transitional disruption as forgetting and disorder. They described habits associated with checking a blood glucose, giving an insulin dose, eating a meal, and initiating exercise. They described routines in association with meals, exercise, and overall diabetes management. These findings provide information on variables to target in intervention research.
End-of-life care and place of death in adults with serious mental illness: A systematic review and narrative synthesis
Authors: Wilson Rebecca , Hepgul Nilay , Higginson Irene J , Gao Wei
Published: October 2019

Background:

People with serious mental illness have greater mortality risk than the general population. They experience health care inequalities throughout life; it is not clear if this persists to end of life.

Aim:

Assess the empirical evidence describing end-of-life care and place of death for people with serious mental illness.

Design:

A systematic review of original, peer-reviewed research, following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Data were analysed using a narrative synthesis approach.

Data sources:

Five online databases (Embase, PsycArticles, PsycINFO, Medline, PubMed) and additional sources were searched (without time restriction) for primary research reporting health care utilisation in the last year of life or place of death in adults with serious mental illness.

Results:

After full-text screening, 23 studies were included. We found studies reporting hospital admissions, emergency department care, palliative care, and general practitioner (GP) visits at end of life. We found conflicting evidence for the association between serious mental illness and end-of-life care, although different patient groups, settings and measures were used across studies. People with serious mental illness were more likely to die in care homes than the general population. There were no patterns for other places of death.

Conclusions:

The evidence was sparse and heterogeneous, demonstrating variability in patterns and reporting of health care use and with little consensus on where people with serious mental illness are likely to die. Given that people with serious mental illness have increased mortality risk, this gap in the knowledge around end-of-life care outcomes is concerning; this area of research needs further development.
Who Do You Want to Be Like? Factors Influencing Early Adolescents’ Selection of Accessible and Inaccessible Role Models
Authors: Strasser-Burke Nora , Symonds Jennifer
Published: October 2019

This study investigates the impact of accessible and inaccessible role models on early adolescents’ conceptions of their identities. Accessible role models have regular direct interactions with adolescents, while inaccessible role models like celebrities do not. This investigation was based within the context of a broader educational intervention targeting educational resilience of school students by prompting them to interact with material drawn from outstanding Irish career role models. Data were collected by interviewing 15 students and analyzing the transcripts thematically. Results revealed that adolescents mostly selected role models perceived as emotionally available, relatable, and successful, within proximal contexts. These accessible role models gave adolescents behavioral cues on overcoming difficulties and attaining success. Adolescents selected inaccessible role models to scaffold future selves, based on how the role models’ life stories connected personally to their lives. This signals how adolescents select and use different types of role models in their identity formation.
Conscience as a Regulatory Function: An Integrative Theory Put to the Test
Authors: Verkade Marion , Karsten Julie , Koenraadt Frans , Schalkwijk Frans
Published: October 2019

The subject of this study is an integrative theory of the conscience. According to this theory, conscience is operationalised as a regulatory function of one’s own behaviour and identity, resulting from an interplay of empathy, self-conscious emotions such as guilt and shame, and moral reasoning. This study aimed to evaluate conscience in an adult forensic psychiatric sample by assessing the underlying factors proposed by Schalkwijk. Offenders ( n = 48) appeared to show less affective but not less cognitive empathy, less identification with others, less personal distress in seeing others’ suffering, less shame and shame-proneness, and lower levels of moral reasoning than non-offenders ( n = 50). In coping with self-conscious emotions, offenders used the same amount of externalising coping strategies, but fewer internalising coping strategies.
Mimicked scaffolds based on coated silk woven fabric with gelatin and chitosan for soft tissue defect in oral maxillofacial area
Authors: Sangkert Supaporn , Kamolmatyakul Suttatip , Meesane Jirut
Published: October 2019

Soft tissue defects in the oral maxillofacial area are critical problems for many patients and, in some cases, patients require an operation coupled with a performance scaffold substitution. In this research, mimicked anatomical scaffolds were constructed using gelatin- and chitosan-coated woven silk fibroin fabric. The morphologies, crystals, and structures were observed and then characterized using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and differential scanning calorimetry, respectively. Physical performance was evaluated from the swelling behavior, mechanical properties, and biodegradation, while the biological performance was tested with fibroblasts and keratinocytes, after which cell proliferation, viability, and histology were evaluated. The results revealed that a coated woven silk fibroin fabric displayed a crystal structure of silk fibroin with amorphous gelatin and chitosan layers. Also, the coated fabrics contained residual water within their structure. The physical performance of the coated woven silk fibroin fabric with gelatin showed suitable swelling behavior and mechanical properties along with acceptable biodegradation for insertion at a defect site. The biological performances including cell proliferation, viability, and histology were suitable for soft tissue reconstruction at the defect sites. Finally, the results demonstrated that mimicked anatomical scaffolds based on a gelatin layer on woven silk fibroin fabric had the functionality that was promising for soft tissue construction in oral maxillofacial defect.
Economic and environmental consequences of implementing an EU model for collecting and separating wastes system in Lebanon
Authors: Maalouf Amani , Di Maria Francesco , El-Fadel Mutasem
Published: October 2019

In this study, we examine the economic and environmental significance associated with the implementation of an EU waste-separated collection scheme in a developing context – Lebanon. Two scenarios, S1 and S2, representing different intensities of source segregation were analysed. In S1, the average source segregation intensity reached 25% and 13% for the Italian test area and Lebanese test area, respectively. In S2, source segregation intensity increased to 48% and 68% for the Italian and Lebanese test areas, respectively. Passing from S1 to S2 increased collection costs significantly, up to 44% with greater increases in the Italian test area where labour cost is higher. In both areas, environmental impacts decreased with greater source segregation intensity. Savings in the climate change impact and stratospheric ozone depletion potential were lower under the Lebanese test area in comparison with the Italian test area. In contrast, savings in freshwater eutrophication and acidification impact were lower for the Italian test area. The increase in the source segregation intensity resulted in maximum savings for the depletion of abiotic resources, 74% to 77% and 79% to 80% in a developing and developed context, respectively.
Violence Against Teachers and Work Ability: A Cross-Sectional Study in Northeast Brazil
Authors: de Ceballos Albanita G. C. , Carvalho Fernando M.
Published: October 2019

This study aimed to describe teacher work ability in relation to violence against teachers and certain sociodemographic and occupational features. A cross-sectional study investigated 525 kindergarten and elementary grade school teachers from Jaboatão dos Guararapes, Northeast Brazil. Information from each teacher was collected through a self-administered questionnaire. The main outcome was teacher reports about their current and future (in 2 years’ time) physical and emotional work ability. The teachers were predominantly female, young, with heavy workloads and on low incomes. Teachers reported being victimized in the school by physical violence (22.9%), verbal violence (42.9%), theft or robbery (36.4%), aggression or threats with a firearm or a non-firearm weapon (knife, glass, etc.; 7.0%), or by some form of violence (58.4%). Teachers reported low physical (56.0%) and emotional (40.6%) current work ability. Low physical work ability was significantly associated with physical and verbal violence, theft and robbery, and some form of violence; low emotional work ability was associated with physical and verbal violence, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. Expectation of low work ability in the future was reported by 42.9% of the teachers and was associated with higher education level, and physical violence, verbal violence, theft or robbery, aggression or threat with a weapon, and some form of violence. The association between violence and work ability was modified by education level. Subsequent control of confounding in the strata of education confirmed the associations between violence and low work ability. The physical, emotional, and future work ability of teachers was low and associated with school violence, indicating the need to promote a safer work environment inside the school and in society as a whole.
Social Trust and Reciprocity Among Adolescent Girls Exposed to Interpersonal Violence
Authors: Sellnow Kyrie , Esbensen Karyn , Cisler Josh M.
Published: October 2019

Trauma research has traditionally focused on altered emotion regulation and its role in psychopathology, whereas mechanisms of social behavior remain comparatively unexplored, particularly among adolescents. It has been previously reported that adolescents with histories of interpersonal violence (IV) demonstrate disrupted social learning, and the degree to which they are impaired during social interactions requiring trustful behaviors may be associated with their levels of anxiety. In the present study, 52 adolescent females ( n = 26 control; n = 26 IV-exposed) between ages of 11 and 17 completed a multi-round adaptation of the Trust Game in which they interacted with a confederate peer run by a computer program, alternating between the roles of investor and investee. The task was designed to operationalize the social behaviors of trust and trust reciprocity, where the magnitude of the participants’ monetary investment in the confederate during the investor role represented trust while the proportion of investment returned to the confederate in the investee role represented trust reciprocity. IV-exposed and control participants did not differ in trust (i.e., as investors); however, IV-exposed participants without anxiety diagnoses demonstrated lower trust than those with anxiety diagnoses. For trust reciprocity (i.e., as investees), there were again no differences between IV-exposed participants and controls; however, IV-exposed participants with anxiety diagnoses had increased trust reciprocity compared with both other groups. Similarly, caregiver-reported anxiety symptoms were associated with trust reciprocity behaviors among the IV-exposed adolescents. Findings suggest that IV exposure and associated anxiety impacts adolescents’ trust behaviors, demonstrating potential mechanisms for maladaptive social behavior among trauma-exposed youth.
Teachers’ Union Power in a Budget Crunch: Lasting Ramifications of Differential Spending Responses to the Great Recession
Authors: Swain Walker A. , Redding Christopher
Published: October 2019

In the wake of the 2007 housing crash and subsequent economic recession, state legislatures across the country faced substantial declines in revenues, and by 2011, for the first time in more than a decade, average spending on education declined. However, states’ budgetary responses to the Great Recession were decidedly uneven, with some making lasting cuts to public education. This article uses longitudinal data on state-level educational spending, politics, demographics, economic well-being, and a unique set of union strength indicators to assess the strength of teachers’ unions as advocates for education spending by examining their role in states’ varied budgetary responses to the Great Recession. We find that states with laws prohibiting collective bargaining for teachers and states with lower union dues per teacher made substantially larger cuts to overall educational expenditures, even after controlling for time-invariant state characteristics, secular trends, and an extensive set of time-variant state-level covariates.
Switching from autopilot to the driver: A transient performance analysis
Authors: Venkita Seshan Ramanathan , Willemsen Dehlia , Alirezaei Mohsen , Nijmeijer Henk
Published: October 2019

One of the main safety concerns associated with semi-autonomous vehicles is the sharing of control between a human driver and an autonomous driving system. Even with an attentive driver, such switches in control may pose a threat to the safety of the driver and the surrounding vehicles. The aim of this study is to develop an indicator that can measure the level of safety during a driver take-over, using knowledge about the system known a priori. A model-based approach is used to analyse the system with special focus on the lateral dynamics of the vehicle. The driver and the vehicle are modelled as linear systems, and a path tracking controller is used to serve as an autonomous system. With this structure, shared control is studied as a switched system, in which the vehicle’s lateral control switches between the autonomous system and the driver. A bound on the transient dynamics that arise due to a switch is derived, using the induced [Formula: see text] norm. This bound is then used to formulate an indicator that checks if the states/outputs of interest are within acceptable limits. A comparison with simulation results has shown that the indicator successfully captures the effect of different system parameters on take-over safety, although in a slightly conservative manner. This indicator can be further developed as a tool to be used in the design and evaluation of shared-/multi-modal control systems in future vehicles.
Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon toxin produces a rapid and dose-dependent cytotoxic effect on cerebral microvascular endothelial cells in vitro
Authors: Mander Kimberley A. , Uzal Francisco A. , Williams Ruth , Finnie John W.
Published: October 2019

Clostridium perfringens type D epsilon toxin (ETX) is responsible for a severe and frequently fatal neurologic disorder in ruminant livestock. Light microscopic, immunohistochemical, and ultrastructural studies have suggested that ETX injury to the cerebral microvasculature, with subsequent severe, generalized vasogenic edema and increased intracranial pressure, is critically important in producing neurologic dysfunction. However, the effect of ETX on brain capillary endothelial cells in vitro has not been examined previously, to our knowledge. We exposed a well-characterized human blood–brain barrier cell line to increasing concentrations of ETX, and demonstrated a direct and dose-dependent endotheliotoxic effect. Our findings are concordant with the primacy of vasculocentric brain lesions in the diagnosis of acute epsilon toxin enterotoxemia in ruminant livestock.