bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The light and dark sides of social capital: Depressive symptoms among incarcerated older adults
Authors: Archuleta Adrian J , Prost Stephanie Grace , Golder Seana
Published: September 2019

Background:

Adults aged 55 or above represent a large and growing proportion of the US and international correctional populations and more physical and mental health problems than their non-incarcerated peers. Social capital represents the collective cognitive and network structure resources accessible through social relationships and may serve as a potential asset in carceral settings in the amelioration of depressive symptoms among older adults.

Method:

A sample of men drawn from a study of older adults in Kentucky prisons ( n = 91) was used to meet the following aims: (1) explore relationships among cognitive and structural facets of social capital, chronic health conditions and depressive symptoms and (2) identify the role of social capital (viz. trust) alongside chronic health conditions as a determinant of depressive symptoms. We hypothesized that each indicator of social capital would relate negatively to depressive symptoms and that trust would emerge as most strongly associated with depressive symptoms.

Results:

Bivariate correlations between depression and social capital variables related as we hypothesized. However, our hypotheses were only partially supported. Higher trust was correlated to fewer depressive symptoms ( r = .21, p < .05) revealing a lighter side of trust in the correctional milieu but was unrelated to depression when controlling for variables. An interaction term in the final model indicated a different role for trust. Factors accounted for 64% of variance in depressive symptoms among older adults in a state prison ( F(10, 80) = 14.25, p < .001). In this model, higher trust was related to depressive symptoms when included alongside additional measures of social capital, indicating that a darker side of this facet may exist within correctional settings.

Conclusion:

Many indicators of social capital (e.g., network size) demonstrated potentially protective benefits against depression, while trust revealed a more complex role related to chronic health conditions. Limited measures and the agnostic behavior of trust require attention by future researchers.
The Politics of Chinese Foreign Direct Investment in the USA
Authors: Lu Kelan (Lilly) , Biglaiser Glen
Published: September 2019

Although recently Chinese investment in the USA has grown exponentially, it has not flowed equally among the US states. Controlling for popular explanations in the foreign direct investment literature, we carry out subnational analysis to assess the determinants of Chinese investment in the USA. Using a panel dataset for all states from 2006 to 2016, we find that Chinese firms are more attracted to states where Republican governors hold office. Republican-governed states particularly attract greenfield investments from Chinese firms. However, we also find that US national security concerns and Chinese goals appear to affect investment flows in high-technology states, limiting the role of partisanship. Our results indicate that it is too soon to dismiss the importance of politics on foreign direct investment.
Oral Health Effects of Combusted and Smokeless Tobacco Products
Authors: Tomar S.L. , Hecht S.S. , Jaspers I. , Gregory R.L. , Stepanov I.
Published: September 2019

The oral cavity is usually the first part of a consumer’s body exposed to the constituents of tobacco products or their emissions. Consequently, the oral cavity is a frequent site for carcinogenic, microbial, immunologic, and clinical effects of tobacco use. This article summarizes 5 presentations on various aspects of oral health affected by combusted or noncombusted tobacco products from a recent conference, “Oral Health Effects of Tobacco Products: Science and Regulatory Policy,” sponsored by the American Association for Dental Research and the Food and Drug Administration.
Buying blue helmets: The role of foreign aid in the construction of UN peacekeeping missions
Authors: Boutton Andrew , D’Orazio Vito
Published: September 2019

While the evolving nature and proliferation of UN peacekeeping operations in the post-Cold War period is well documented, we know less about how personnel are recruited for these missions. Furthermore, recent developments have rendered existing supply-side explanations for troop contributions less convincing. The increasing demand for personnel, along with stagnant UN reimbursement rates and the rising costs of participation that began during the 1990s, mean that it is less attractive than ever for developing countries to offer their own troops to what have become increasingly ambitious operations. Yet, we see a large pool of developing countries continuing to do so. To address this puzzle, we argue that UN member states with strong preferences for establishing peacekeeping missions have begun using foreign aid as an inducement to help potential contributors overcome the collective action problem inherent in multilateral peacekeeping operations. We uncover strong empirical evidence that these ‘pivotal states’ strategically allocate foreign aid to persuade contributing states to boost their contributions, and also to ensure that these missions continue to be staffed and maintained as costs rise, particularly during the post-1999 period. We also find that states are responsive to these financial inducements: foreign aid increases both the likelihood of contributing personnel and the size of a state’s contribution. Theoretically, this article advances the scholarly understanding of international organizations and cooperation by illuminating an informal, extra-organizational strategy by which IOs can facilitate cooperation.
Deficiencies in Scientific Evidence for Medical Management of Gender Dysphoria
Authors: Hruz Paul W.
Published: September 2019

Individuals who experience a gender identity that is discordant with biological sex are increasingly presenting to physicians for assistance in alleviating associated psychological distress. In contrast to prior efforts to identify and primarily address underlying psychiatric contributors to gender dysphoria, interventions that include uncritical social affirmation, use of gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists to suppress normally timed puberty, and administration of cross-sex steroid hormones to induce desired secondary sex characteristics are now advocated by an emerging cohort of transgender medicine specialists. For patients with persistent gender dysphoria, surgery is offered to alter the appearance of breasts and genital organs. Efforts to address ethical concerns regarding this contentious treatment paradigm are dependent upon reliable evidence on immediate and long-term risks and benefits. Although strong recommendations have been made for invasive and potentially irreversible interventions, high-quality scientific data on the effects of this approach are generally lacking. Limitations of the existing transgender literature include general lack of randomized prospective trial design, small sample size, recruitment bias, short study duration, high subject dropout rates, and reliance on “expert” opinion. Existing data reveal significant intervention-associated morbidity and raise serious concern that the primary goal of suicide prevention is not achieved. In addition to substantial moral questions, adherence to established principles of evidence-based medicine necessitates a high degree of caution in accepting gender-affirming medical interventions as a preferred treatment approach. Continued consideration and rigorous investigation of alternate approaches to alleviating suffering in people with gender dysphoria are warranted.

This paper provides an overview of what is currently known about people who experience a gender identity that differs from their biological sex and the associated desire to engage the medical profession in alleviating associated discomfort and distress. The scientific evidence used to support current recommendations for affirming one’s preferred gender, halting normally timed puberty, administering cross-sex hormones, and surgically altering primary and secondary sexual traits are summarized and critically evaluated. Serious deficits in understanding the cause of this condition, the reasons for the marked increase in people presenting for medical care, together with immediate and long-term risks relative to benefit of medical intervention are exposed.
Trends in Elevated Blood Lead Levels Using 5 and 10 µg/dL Levels of Concern Among Refugee Children Resettled in Massachusetts, 1998-2015
Authors: Geltman Paul L. , Smock Laura , Cochran Jennifer
Published: September 2019

Objectives:

Refugee children are known to have a high prevalence of elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs). We sought to determine trends in EBLLs among refugee children during an 18-year period and examine relationships between descriptive characteristics and EBLLs by using 10 µg/dL and 5 µg/dL levels of concern.

Methods:

We retrospectively evaluated refugee health screening data from Massachusetts for 1998 through 2015 for refugee children aged <7 years. We performed bivariate and multivariate analyses of variables including sex, age, region of origin, anemia, intestinal parasites, tuberculosis test results, and anthropometric measurements and used both 5 µg/dL and 10 µg/dL levels of concern for EBLLs.

Results:

Of 3421 eligible refugee children, 3054 (88.2%) were tested. Using 5 µg/dL and 10 µg/dL levels of concern, 1279 (41.9%) and 241 (7.9%) children, respectively, had EBLLs. Mean BLLs declined steadily from 7.58 µg/dL in 2004 to 4.03 µg/dL in 2015. African (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 2.49; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.81-3.43), East Asian and Pacific (aOR = 1.98; 95% CI, 1.35-2.91), and South-Central Asian (aOR = 2.47; 95% CI, 1.53-4.01) regions of origin and anemia (aOR = 1.50; 95% CI, 1.14 -1.97) were significantly associated with BLLs ≥5 µg/dL.

Conclusions:

The prevalence of EBLLs among refugees compared with US-born children is high. Because EBBLs increase the risk for neurocognitive impairment in children, public health professionals, policy makers, researchers, refugee resettlement staff members, and health care providers must remain vigilant in screening for lead poisoning and educating refugees about the hazards posed to young children by lead.
Inversion of particle size distribution based on iterative non-negative Philips-Twomey algorithm
Authors: Shan Liang , Xu Liang , Cao Lixia , Hong Bo , Zhao Jun , Wang Daodang , Kong Ming
Published: September 2019

The precision of particle size distribution (PSD) is a key indicator to evaluate inversion algorithms. In the light scattering particle sizing technology, constructed on the inversion method of the traditional non-negative Philips-Twomey (NNPT) algorithm, an iterative NNPT (INNPT) algorithm was proposed in this paper, applied for the inversion of PSD. In simulations, the inversion accuracy performance of NNPT and INNPT algorithms were compared and analyzed by using different widths of PSD that conform to Johnson’s SB unimodal and bimodal functions. A small angle forward scattering method of PSD measurement system using Charge Coupled Device (CCD) as a photodetector was constructed and the national standard particles were tested. Both the results of simulations and experiments show that the inverse accuracy and stability of INNPT algorithm are superior to NNPT algorithm especially in the conditions of narrow distribution.
Mode of Work Organization in Nursing: Management Practices in Private Healthcare in India
Authors: Basu Hemantika
Published: September 2019

The article intends to look into the mode of work organization in nursing, which is constantly evolving owing to technological innovations, in the context of rising private healthcare in India and management rationales behind it. Locating the study within the framework of scientific management techniques and analyzing through lens of Weberian power structure and Marx’s concepts of work alienation and subjugation, the article contributes to understanding how in the absence of standard mode of work design, management in private healthcare recruits workers hailing from migrated ethnic communities without formal skills and qualification. The organization of work is based on subjectivities and social institutions such as race, class and ethnicities of workers. In the name of efficiency, those workers are selected who respond positively to workplace controls. Thus, while Taylorist concepts of efficiency, fragmentation and specialization of work are used to design work, they are reconceptualized and merged with informal social institutions to fulfil the management’s goals of higher accumulation in service industries.
The ongoing aftermath to the financial crisis and the Great Recession
Authors: del Cerro Santamaría Gerardo
Published: September 2019

This article discusses the consequences of the financial crisis that started in 2008 in the West, and particularly in the United States, as a manifestation of neoliberal capitalism’s multiple failures. In doing so, it focuses on the scholarly contributions of Manuel Castells and his colleagues in two important books: Aftermath: The Cultures of the Economic Crisis (2012) and Another Economy is Possible (2017). Both books are collective works led and edited by Castells. Also included in the review is a third book by Castells, Rupture: The Crisis of Liberal Democracy (2018), which can be read as a statement on some of the political consequences of the 2008 financial crisis and a report on the current crisis of liberal democracy. The contention is that Castells et al. make an important contribution to the socio-economic literature on the financial crisis, its consequences, and the interpretation of the societal changes that ensued and are key to understand our contemporary world. Such contribution, as observed in the three books under review, can be summarized as follows: (1) Castells and colleagues provide cases and examples from around the world in a broad comparative fashion, thus expanding our understanding of a crisis that was essentially a crisis of the West with ramifications in other countries but never a truly global crisis. (2) The approach of Castells and his colleagues is interdisciplinary and goes beyond purely economic arguments to include sociological, political and cultural ideas and insights that help us understand the complexity of the historical period under analysis; readers develop an awareness of the systemic character of the crisis, where all events were closely interrelated; in particular, both micro and macro processes leading to the crisis converged into a mutually dialectical and reinforcing relationship that warrants the contention by the authors that ‘economies’ are ‘cultures.’ (3) The authors in both Aftermath and Another Economy is Possible focus on the (long) aftermath of the crisis, which is still ongoing as of September 2019 around the world; in fact, one of Castells’ main points is that the financial crisis brought about irreversible societal change, ongoing and clearly visible today, as it triggered a significant restructuring of global informational capitalism. (4) The authors provide a focus on one of the reactive consequences of the crisis: alternative economic practices developing in the aftermath of the crisis, under the premise that we might be witnessing the rise of a new economic model based on new, alternative values. (5) Castells provides a discussion (in Rupture) of aspects of the contemporary political landscape a decade after the outset of the financial crisis and the Great Recession.
Challenges in the ethics review process of clinical scientific research projects in China
Authors: Wang Zhu-Heng , Zhou Guan-Hua , Sun Li-Ping , Gang Jun
Published: September 2019

Purpose

Ethics review processes have become increasingly complex. The objective of this study was to explore the challenges currently faced in ethics reviews of clinical scientific research projects in China, with the goal of standardizing the structure of medical ethics committees and better protecting the rights and interests of research participants.

Methods

We reviewed and comprehensively analyzed the available literature discussing standardized ethics reviews of clinical scientific research projects.

Results

We identified the following problems: incomplete legislation, absence of supervision, vague review criteria, limitations of ethics committee competence, inadequate ethics consciousness, and poor tracking of reviews. In this paper, we suggest strategies for the development of future ethical reviews of clinical scientific research projects.

Conclusion

To standardize the ethics review process of clinical scientific research projects in China, it is necessary to establish relevant laws and regulations and implement supervisory responsibilities. Professional training of medical ethics committees is suggested as an effective way to improve the quality of ethics reviews.
A prospective study on osmophobia in migraine versus tension-type headache in a large series of attacks
Authors: Terrin Alberto , Mainardi Federico , Lisotto Carlo , Mampreso Edoardo , Fuccaro Matteo , Maggioni Ferdinando , Zanchin Giorgio
Published: September 2019

Background

In literature, osmophobia is reported as a specific migrainous symptom with a prevalence of up to 95%. Despite the International Classification of Headache Disorders 2nd edition proposal of including osmophobia among accompanying symptoms, it was no longer mentioned in the ICHD 3rd edition.

Methods

We conducted a prospective study on 193 patients suffering from migraine without aura, migraine with aura, episodic tension-type headache or a combination of these. After a retrospective interview, each patient was asked to describe in detail osmophobia, when present, in the following four headache attacks.

Results

In all, 45.7% of migraine without aura attacks were associated with osmophobia, 67.2% of migraineurs reported osmophobia in at least a quarter of the attacks. No episodic tension-type headache attack was associated with osmophobia. It was associated with photophobia or phonophobia in 4.3% of migraine without aura attacks, and it was the only accompanying symptom in 4.7% of migraine without aura attacks. The inclusion of osmophobia in the ICHD-3 diagnostic criteria would enable a 9.0% increased diagnostic sensitivity.

Conclusion

Osmophobia is a specific clinical marker of migraine, easy to ascertain and able to disentangle the sometimes challenging differential diagnosis between migraine without aura and episodic tension-type headache. We recommend its inclusion among the diagnostic criteria for migraine as it increases sensitivity, showing absolute specificity.
Curbing Sprawl with Development-limiting Boundaries in Urban China: A Review of Literature
Authors: Yang Yizhao , Zhang Lei , Ye Yumin , Wang Zhifang
Published: September 2019

Facing the need to control urban sprawl, many Chinese cities are exploring the use of development-limiting boundaries, such as urban growth boundary (UGB) and urban development boundary (UDB), as required by the central government. Through a key word search of several databases including Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure, we identified and reviewed hundreds of articles published in academic or professional journals. Our review shows that policy processes discussed in the literature have emphasized the technical aspect with analytical sophistication. We identified three types of approach to UGB and UDB in the literature: the growth-driven, the constraint-oriented, and the hybrid. While urban theories and modeling techniques that originated from Western countries have greatly influenced the analytical process underlying some of these approaches, the UGB/UDB policy debate and explorations were also responsive to China’s unique urban and policy conditions. Despite the rich empirical content in the literature, very little research has been grounded in a scientific understanding of China’s urban development. Issues such as intergovernmental coordination, policy enforcement, and evaluation were also inadequately addressed in the existing literature. The literature’s newness may have been a major factor for these limitations. Our critique of the current literature may inspire new areas of research to generate knowledge that can inform China’s continuous policy efforts to combat urban sprawl.
Effects of Weissella cibaria CMU on Halitosis and Calculus, Plaque, and Gingivitis Indices in Beagles
Authors: Do Kyung-Hyo , Park Ho-Eun , Kang Mi-Sun , Kim Jong-Tae , Yeu Ji-Eun , Lee Wan-Kyu
Published: September 2019

Weissella (W.) cibaria strain Chonnam Medical University (CMU) has shown oral colonizing ability and inhibitory effects on the formation of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in vitro studies. The present study was conducted to analyze the effects of the W. cibaria CMU on canine oral health. Halitosis, calculus, plaque, gingivitis, and intraoral microbiota were assessed in 3 groups: control (maltodextrin), W. cibaria CMU low concentration (CMU-L, 2 × 107 colony forming unit [CFU]), and high-concentration (CMU-H, 2 × 109 CFU). Halitosis was analyzed using both organoleptic evaluation and measurement of VSCs. Intraoral microbiota were analyzed by real-time polymerase chain reaction. From week 4, the total VSC level in the CMU-H group (4.0 ± 1.30 ng/10 mL) was significantly lower than in the control group (6.3 ± 2.28 ng/10 mL). Significant reduction in methyl mercaptan in the CMU-treated groups was also observed. In addition, the plaque index in the CMU-treated groups was significantly decreased. The CMU-treated groups showed significant decreases in Fusobacterium nucleatum, Porphyromonas gingivalis, Prevotella intermedia, and Tannerella forsythia and demonstrated the colonizing ability of W. cibaria CMU in the oral cavity. We demonstrated that W. cibaria CMU suppresses halitosis, colonizes the oral cavity, and inhibits the proliferation of malodor-causing oral bacteria in beagles. According to these results, we expect that W. cibaria CMU could be a new oral hygiene solution by reducing VSC production and inhibiting the growth of oral harmful bacteria in companion animals.
Rural urbanization under Xi Jinping: From rapid community building to steady urbanization?
Authors: Meyer-Clement Elena
Published: September 2019

‘Rural community building’ is one of the most prominent policies of rural urbanization and village renovation in China. Since the nationwide implementation of this policy within the scope of the programme ‘Building a new socialist countryside’, the large-scale construction of new residential complexes has accelerated the transformation of the country’s rural landscape. However, extensive demolition and relocation have drawn increasing criticism, and the policy has become synonymous with the seizure of rural land resources by local governments. When Xi Jinping came to power, the new leadership initially appeared to abandon the policy but has eventually revived it. This article studies the implementation and evolution of the rural community building policy as a case of policy learning. The analysis of national and local policy documents and implementation practices in four provinces highlights a new framing of the policy, more intensive hierarchical controls over rural land use, and the state’s increasing reach into village governance, as well as new incentives for local governments to continue with demolition and relocation projects. These changes reveal a mode of policy learning in the context of an authoritarian regime whose goal is to improve policy implementation in the face of growing public criticism and social tension.
El Sur También Existe: Imagining futures
Authors: Coleman Diana Murtaugh
Published: September 2019

Guantánamo is infamous as a site of extra-legal detention in the wake of 9/11; more than a single site, it is part of a web of the United States’ militarization operating in the Global South. An area of the military base is now being revitalized as a new camp for climate change–related mass migration events predicted to occur throughout the Caribbean and Latin America. In February 2018, RQ Construction, LLC (Carlsbad, California) won a 23-million-dollar contract to build a “Contingency Mass Migration Complex” at Guantánamo to house migrants and personnel at the military base in a massive tent city. Though less explicitly worded, other large Department of Defense awards for work at Guantánamo point toward extensive infrastructure development as recently as March 2019. The United States’ militarized response to climate-based migration is an extension of the logic through which economic and political refugees are branded criminals or terrorists.
Drone futures
Authors: Fojas Camilla
Published: September 2019

The US–Mexico border is the subject of an expanding market of cultural productions that frame this imagined and real location as the future and ultimate site of national security. It is also a site anchored in a past, where mobile subjects are sorted and processed in ways that correspond to racialized typologies of the Old West. The culture and politics of border security are saturated with this racial history even as drone technologies promise a future of neutral “target recognition,” so objective it can be automated. Even as this region is steeped in the future of surveillance technologies displayed in border security reality TV shows and Border Security Expos, the public demands pretechnological remedies for control of mobility of people and goods in terrestrial forms through ground agents, walls, and barriers.
Novel mitochondrial haplotype of spotted-tailed quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) present on Kangaroo Island (South Australia) prior to extirpation
Authors: Grealy Alicia , McDowell Matthew , Retallick Clancy , Bunce Michael , Peacock David
Published: September 2019

Spotted-tailed quolls ( Dasyurus maculatus) – cat-sized, carnivorous marsupials – occupied Kangaroo Island (KI), South Australia, for over 50,000 years but became locally extinct following European settlement of the island in 1836. As the largest mammalian predator on KI when the Europeans colonised it, spotted-tailed quolls would have played a significant role in maintaining healthy ecosystem function. The reintroduction of spotted-tailed quolls to KI could redress some of these ecological benefits and would establish a refuge population of the species, which is considered endangered by the Australian government. However, before a reintroduction could be considered, the genetic relationship between KI’s spotted-tailed quolls and the currently recognised extant subspecies needs to be established. While subspecies are difficult to differentiate by skeletal morphology, they are genetically distinct. Here, we extracted ancient DNA from five left dentaries excavated from Kelly Hill Cave (KI) that were morphologically identified as D. maculatus. Following genetic confirmation of these identifications, we sequenced a 450-bp region of the mitochondrial D-loop to determine the subspecific genetic affiliation(s) of KI’s D. maculatus, and therefore the subspecies that may be the most appropriate candidate for reintroduction. We find that all five specimens are most closely related to the Tasmanian subspecies, but form a distinct monophyletic clade that may represent a new subspecies. Further research (including genotyping spotted-tailed quoll specimens from mainland South Australia and Western Victoria) is required before decisions are made regarding the sourcing of individuals for reintroduction to KI.
Dynamic non-local stress analysis of two collinear semi-permeable mode-I cracks in a piezoelectric medium
Authors: Liu Hai-Tao , Wu Wen-Juan , Wu Jian-Guo
Published: September 2019

This article investigates the dynamic non-local stress analysis of two collinear semi-permeable mode-I cracks in a piezoelectric medium under the harmonic waves by using the generalized Almansi theorem and the Schmidt method. Based on the Fourier transform technique, this problem is formulated into coupled dual integral equations. The dynamic stress and the dynamic electric displacement fields at the crack tips are obtained by solving the derived dual integral equations. Numerical examples are provided to show the effects of the crack length, the distance between the two collinear cracks, the lattice parameter, the electric permittivity of the air inside the crack, and the characteristics of the harmonic wave on the dynamic stress field and the dynamic electric displacement field near the crack tips. The dynamic stress and electric displacement decrease with increasing the distance between two collinear cracks and lattice parameter in a piezoelectric medium. Meanwhile, the dynamic field will impede or enhance crack propagation in piezoelectric medium depending on the circular frequency of the incident wave. Different from the classical solutions, the present solutions exhibit no stress and electric displacement singularities at the crack tips. This work is expected to be helpful for theoretical modeling of piezoelectric medium at nanoscale.
Psychometric Testing of a Value-Achievement-Cost Motivation Survey for 12th Grade Health Sciences Students for Use in Simulation-Based-Games
Authors: Glover Kevin R. , Bodzin Alec
Published: September 2019

Background. There is a gap in our understanding of the determinants of individual student variation of perceived cost longitudinally in high-effort educational activities within self-selected, context-specific academic domains using the Expectancy-Value framework. At present, an instrument to conduct such research on the motivational dynamics of students who choose to persist in high cost behaviors to achieve mastery in health sciences multi-level simulation-based-games is lacking.

Method. In this study, a 10-construct, 46-item Value-Achievement-Cost (VAC) student motivation survey was administered on two separate occasions to 44 12th grade students who had self-selected to participate in a year-long, dual enrollment, health-sciences, Career and Technical Education (CTE) program. The VAC survey was used to measure motivation associated with science in general, health sector science learning, and playing health sciences-related games.

Results. Convergent validity was established in five of the ten constructs by comparing the α coefficients of the modified 10-construct, 46-item VAC survey compared to three source instruments previously tested in dissimilar STEM student populations. Internal consistency for each of the 10 VAC survey constructs were strong with α coefficients between 0.82 and 0.90. The VAC survey exhibited reliability between the two administration timepoints with statistically significant nonparametric correlation coefficients in forty-four of the 46-items tested displaying strong monotonic relationships between 0.30 and 0.79.

Conclusion. This study has provided the psychometric evidence needed so that the VAC survey can be confidently used to assess cost-related motivational dynamics in longitudinal health science multi-level simulation-based-games. An experimental intervention correlating VAC survey measures with health-science students’ achievement in a simulation-based, multi-level game is proposed. Students’ value, achievement, and cost motivation, related to level achievement, may lead to a better understanding of which health-science game design elements encourage learners to independently persist to mastery.
Is the Proportion of Children With Disabilities in Inclusive Preschool Programs Associated With Children’s Achievement?
Authors: Rhoad-Drogalis Anna , Justice Laura M.
Published: September 2019

This study applied multilevel modeling to examine the relationship between the percentage of children with mild/moderate disabilities in classrooms and children’s language and literacy achievement over an academic year. The sample included 516 preschool children (mean age = 52.3 months, SD = 6.3) in 75 classrooms; 42% of the children had disabilities. The proportion of children with disabilities in a given classroom ranged from 7% to 92%. We found that the percentage of children with disabilities was not related to children’s spring achievement for three outcomes: language, print-concept knowledge, and alphabet knowledge. These findings and further research directions are discussed.
Radiographic and Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Symptomatic Synthetic Cartilage Implant
Authors: An Tonya W. , Cassinelli Spenser , Charlton Timothy P. , Pfeffer Glenn B. , Thordarson David B.
Published: September 2019

Background:

Synthetic Cartilage Implantation (SCI; Cartiva) is a treatment of hallux rigidus associated with mixed clinical outcomes in the United States. Patients with persistent pain typically undergo diagnostic imaging for evaluation. We aimed to characterize the radiologic findings of SCI and surrounding tissues.

Methods:

This is a retrospective review of patients treated using SCI who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for persistent pain. Metatarsophalangeal (MTP) joint spaces were compared on plain radiographs of the foot immediately postoperatively and at most recent follow-up. MRI of the foot were assessed for dimensions of the implant, bony channel, and presence of peri-implant fluid. Clinical follow-up, including Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Informational System (PROMIS) scores, satisfaction rating, and revision surgery, was collected. Eighteen cases of symptomatic SCI from 16 patients (13 females, 3 males) were included. All but 1 case involved a 10-mm implant.

Results:

Mean satisfaction rating was 2.25 (1-5 Likert scale). PROMIS scores indicated moderate physical dysfunction (41) and moderate pain interference (63). Six of 16 patients (37.5%) underwent revision surgery at average 20.9 months of follow-up. Plain radiographs over a 13.3-month interval showed joint space narrowing of 2 mm medially and 1.6 mm laterally ( P < .001). One hundred percent of cases had radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis (OA) progression. MRI studies were obtained on average 11.5 months postoperatively. The implant diameter averaged 9.7 mm, which mismatched the bony channel diameter of 11.2 mm ( P < .001). Fourteen of 18 cases had peri-implant fluid. All cases had edema in the metatarsal, proximal phalanx, and soft tissues.

Conclusion:

Radiographic loss of MTP joint space and progression of arthritis were present for all cases studied. MRI revealed bony channel widening and a smaller implant, with peri-implant fluid suggesting instability at the implant-bone interface. Persistent edema was observed in soft tissues and bone. Diagnostic imaging of SCI in symptomatic patients demonstrated concerning findings that merit further correlation with patient outcomes.

Level of Evidence:

Level IV, case series.
Subclinical bacteriuria in a mixed population of 179 middle-aged and elderly cats: a prospective cross-sectional study
Authors: Moberg Frida S , Langhorn Rebecca , Bertelsen Pernille V , Pilegaard Louise M , Sørensen Tina M , Bjørnvad Charlotte R , Damborg Peter , Kieler Ida N , Jessen Lisbeth R
Published: September 2019

Objectives

Subclinical bacteriuria (SBU) is the presence of bacteria in urine with no clinical evidence of lower urinary tract disease. The aims of this study were to investigate if being overweight and/or obesity predispose cats to SBU, to investigate previously reported risk factors and to determine the prevalence of SBU in a prospectively sampled cohort of middle-aged and elderly cats.

Methods

Cats aged ⩾6 years presenting to the University Hospital for Companion Animals in Copenhagen from 2015–2019 for causes unrelated to the lower urinary tract were eligible for enrolment. Body condition scoring was performed on a 9-point scale. Overweight was defined as a body condition score (BCS) ⩾6 and obese as a BCS ⩾8. The correlation between SBU and the variables of sex, healthy/diseased, age, BCS and comorbidities (chronic kidney disease, diabetes mellitus, hyperthyroidism, hepatic disorders and gastrointestinal disease) were analysed by binominal logistic regression.

Results

In total, 179 cats ranging from 6–20 (median 10) years of age were included. SBU was identified in 11/179 cats (6.1%). Being overweight was not a significant risk factor (overweight/obese odds ratio [OR] 0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.06–1.6, relative risk [RR] 0.3 [95% CI 0.05–1.3] vs lean; P = 0.2) and neither was obesity compared with lean and overweight cats ( P = 0.99). Female sex (OR 6.2 [95% CI 1.3–30], RR 4.7 [95% CI 1.5–12] vs male; P = 0.02) and the presence of hepatic disease (OR 7.5 [95% CI 1.4–39], RR 5.3 [95% CI 1.3–12]; P = 0.02) were significant risk factors.

Conclusions and relevance

The prevalence of SBU in cats is low, and being overweight/obese was not identified as a predisposing factor. The increased risk associated with hepatic disease has not been previously reported, and further studies are needed to confirm this finding.
Post-coup recuperation in al-Manawahly’s songs
Authors: Radwan Noha
Published: September 2019

Yasser al-Manawahly is an Egyptian musician and song writer whose debut was in the wake of the January 2011 uprising. Although many of these ‘voices of the new revolution’ have become silent since the 2013 coup, some are still actively trying to maintain the revolution’s goals. In 2014, al-Manawahly released a music video, ‘Ahy Rig’it Rima’ critiquing the coup, which went viral at a time when freedoms were severely curtailed. ‘Rima’ was followed by a long hiatus until the release of ‘Tili’t ouffa’ in 2016. Through analysing this and another video, ‘Khayyif’, released shortly after, and through interviewing al-Manawahly, this article explores the shift in the country’s political conditions and the artist’s political consciousness that underlie his move from satirizing regimes or policies to a satirical self-critique. Al-Manawahly is among millions of Egyptians who, dissatisfied with Morsi’s 2012–13 presidency, fell easy prey to the machinations of the counter-revolution. Can songs become a ‘podium’ for correcting the course of the Egyptian revolution? The article investigates al-Manawahly’s means to that end.
Modeling count data with marginalized zero-inflated distributions
Authors: Cummings Tammy H. , Hardin James W.
Published: September 2019

In this article, we present new commands for modeling count data using marginalized zero-inflated distributions. While we mainly focus on presenting new commands for estimating count data, we also present examples that illustrate some of these new commands.
Two-sample instrumental-variables regression with potentially weak instruments
Authors: Choi Jaerim , Shen Shu
Published: September 2019

We develop a command, weaktsiv, for two-sample instrumentalvariables regression models with one endogenous regressor and potentially weak instruments. weaktsiv includes the classic two-sample two-stage least-squares estimator whose inference is valid only under the assumption of strong instruments. It also includes statistical tests and confidence sets with correct size and coverage probabilities even when the instruments are weak.
Estimation of dynamic panel threshold model using Stata
Authors: Seo Myung Hwan , Kim Sueyoul , Kim Young-Joo
Published: September 2019

In this article, we develop a command, xthenreg, that implements the first-differenced generalized method of moments estimation of the dynamic panel threshold model that Seo and Shin (2016, Journal of Econometrics 195: 169–186) proposed. Furthermore, we derive the asymptotic variance formula for a kink-constrained generalized method of moments estimator of the dynamic threshold model and provide an estimation algorithm. We also propose a fast bootstrap algorithm to implement the bootstrap for the linearity test. We illustrate the use of xthenreg through a Monte Carlo simulation and an economic application.
Road condition prediction and logistics distribution path optimization algorithm based on traffic big data
Authors: Li Wenjing , Liang Shiaofang , Jiang Yinjiao , Pan Qiuxia
Published: September 2019

In view of the complex road conditions in today’s cities, the traditional prediction methods for road conditions are not so accurate, and the optimization algorithm for the logistics distribution path is not sensitive to changes in the road conditions so that its application in an actual logistics distribution system is not effective. This article proposes a road condition prediction and logistics distribution path optimization algorithm based on traffic big data. First, it analyses the characteristics of the road condition information of traffic big data. By combining the powerful feature extraction and self-learning ability of a deep belief network, it establishes a road condition prediction model based on a deep belief network and completes the model training and verification through the learning of traffic big data. Then, it combines the road condition prediction (result) information, traffic network information, and logistics distribution information to construct the time-share weighted traffic network. It then modifies the access set and pheromone variables of the ant algorithm based on the time-share traffic network to establish the road condition prediction and logistics distribution path optimization algorithm based on traffic big data. Finally, it conducts comparative experiments with other logistics distribution path optimization algorithms. The experimental results show that the proposed algorithm is superior to other logistics distribution optimization algorithms. Therefore, this algorithm is an effective method for optimizing logistics distribution.
Using a Studio-Academic Partnership to Advance Public Health Within a Pragmatic Yoga Setting
Authors: Harden Samantha M. , Steketee Abby M. , Kelliher Rachel , Mason Keala A. , Fitzwater Boyle Nicole
Published: September 2019

Objectives: To explore community-based yoga studio practitioners’ psychosocial variables, behaviors, and studio satisfaction. Methods: Concurrent mixed-methods study consisted of a survey for demographic variables and psychosocial variables of interest (e.g., mindfulness, self-compassion, physical activity participation) and interviews regarding reasons for participating at the yoga studio. Results: Participants (N = 138) were, on average, 35.58 ± 14.09 years old and predominantly female (91.3%), married (40.6%) or single (37%), Caucasian (75%), and college (25.4%) or graduate/medical school (45%) educated, with 54% meeting physical activity recommendations. On a 5-point Likert-type scale, participants reported being moderately cohesive ( Msumscore = 3.87 ± 0.62), stressed ( Msumscore = 3.2 ± 0.39), mindful ( Msumscore = 3.4 ± 0.41), and self-compassionate ( Msumscore = 3.26 ± 0.56). A rapid content analysis of interviews (n = 18), indicated that participants primarily practiced at the studio for the sense of community. Conclusions: Yoga practitioners reported positive perceptions and behaviors; however, opportunities remain for interventions to improve mental and physical health among individuals already attending a yoga studio. Through an academic-studio partnership, studio offerings may include low-dose evidence-based interventions to improve access to and uptake of a yoga practice.
Racial Stereotypes, Extended Criminalization, and Support for Breed-Specific Legislation: Experimental and Observational Evidence
Authors: Thompson Andrew J. , Pickett Justin T. , Intravia Jonathan
Published: September 2019

Scholars have long argued that behaviors and objects associated with criminally stereotyped minority groups can themselves become stereotyped and criminalized, leading to increased punitiveness. Yet, this extended criminalization hypothesis requires theoretical development and direct empirical investigation. To address this issue, we seek to test the concept of extended criminalization, which posits that behaviors associated with racial and ethnic groups accentuate and aggrandize perceived threat of minority groups through a reinforcing process. We examine the extended criminalization hypothesis in the context of breed-specific legislation (BSL). Using data from a survey-based experiment conducted with a sample of young adults from two universities ( N = 525), we test the effects of racial priming on support for laws banning pit bulls. Findings from the experimental manipulation are supplemented with observational findings using measures of racial stereotypes of pit bull owners and breeders. Respondents in the treatment and control groups did not significantly differ in their likelihood of supporting BSL, and the same was true when analyzing Whites separately. The observational findings were consistent with the experimental findings. The findings do not support the extended criminalization hypotheses. Neither racial priming nor stereotypes of pit bull owners and breeders were associated with support for BSL. We outline additional avenues for research on the extended criminalization hypothesis.
Laser Doppler Flowmetry to Differentiate Arterial From Venous Occlusion in Free Tissue Transfer
Authors: Gazyakan Emre , Kao Huang-Kai , Cheng Ming-Huei , Engel Holger
Published: September 2019

Purpose:

The differentiation of arterial versus venous occlusion in free tissue transfers has rarely been described. This study investigated changes in blood flow caused by arterial and venous occlusion and the potential for laser Doppler flowmetry to distinguish between these 2 conditions for better clinical assessment and management of free tissue transfer.

Methods:

Six patients with a mean age of 43.5 years underwent microsurgical free tissue transfer. The venous and arterial blood flow of the vessels and skin flap were monitored using laser Doppler flowmetry with high-frequency pulsed Doppler transducers for vessels and skin before, during, and after clamping the vessels for 10 minutes.

Results:

The average decreases in blood flow in the artery and vein caused by clamping were 94.4% and 93.8%, respectively. On average, arterial occlusion demonstrated a sudden drop of 67.7% and venous occlusion caused a decrease of 26.6% on laser Doppler flowmetry in free tissue skin.

Conclusion:

Using a vessel-holding probe, laser Doppler flowmetry could be used to differentiate between arterial and venous occlusion in free tissue transfer, thereby aiding decision-making for better clinical management.
Comparison of the Effects of Quality Improvement Strategies on Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV Transmission in a Public and a Private Hospital in Lesotho
Authors: Lerotholi Kelello L. M. , Rantekoa Manone , Mahlalefa Khotso G. , Hlehlisi Lerato , Amoah Aurora O.
Published: September 2019

We compared quality improvement (QI) interventions for prevention of mother-to-child transmission in a private hospital and a government hospital (GH). From November 2013 to October 2016, data were extracted retrospectively for HIV-positive mothers and HIV-exposed infants. The overall number of mother–baby pairs (MBPs) was significantly ( P < .001) higher at the GH (mean = 294, standard deviation [SD] = 180) than the private hospital (mean = 72, SD = 27). There was a significantly higher number of MBPs receiving care ( P < .001) and routine services ( P < .001) at the GH. The proportion of MBPs retained in care ( P < .001) and receiving the routine service package ( P < .001) was significantly higher at the private hospital. Overtime, indicators at the private hospital peaked significantly in year 2 and reduced moderately in the final year. The trend for the GH showed gradual but nonsignificant improvement in 2 indicators. QI showed positive results in the private hospital. If systematically applied in GHs, QI can support improved services for larger patient volumes.