bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Role of Bicultural Stress and Perceived Context of Reception in the Expression of Aggression and Rule Breaking Behaviors Among Recent-Immigrant Hispanic Youth
Authors: Forster Myriam , Grigsby Timothy , Soto Daniel W. , Schwartz Seth J. , Unger Jennifer B.
Published: September 2014

Adolescent aggression and delinquency impede healthy adjustment in early adulthood and may have particularly serious long-term consequences for minority youth. Therefore, prevention research should examine these behaviors within a sociocultural framework among newer immigrant samples to determine whether, and how, adaptation to life in the US affects these behaviors. This study investigated the role of two sociocultural variables–bicultural stress and negative context of reception–on changes in aggression and rule breaking behaviors over two time points among recently immigrated Hispanic adolescents residing in Los Angeles (N = 136) and Miami-Dade (N = 142) counties. Linear stepwise regression models were used to assess the associations between predictors and behavioral outcomes. Bicultural stress and negative context of reception both had independent associations, above and beyond parental involvement and delinquent peer associations, with changes in aggressive and rule-breaking behavior during the first year of high school. These findings suggest that social, cultural, and interpersonal processes all influence deviant behaviors in recent-immigrant Hispanic populations. We discuss the implications of these finding for prevention and intervention research and practice. We also recommend that future research continue to examine the role of these factors over the course of adolescence and consider sociocultural influences when designing behavioral interventions for Hispanic immigrant populations
Social Security Reform and the Full-Funding Concept
Authors: Kilgour John G.
Published: September 2014

Social Security, more accurately the Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI) program, is woefully underfunded as measured by the long-term actuarial balance. Its reserves, on deposit with the U.S. Treasury Department, will be depleted in 2033, notwithstanding the fact that there is no money there. The surpluses that created them following the 1983 Amendments ended in 2010. The so-called reserves have long since been spent on other government programs and obligations. Yet the fiction endures. This article examines the origins of the full-funding standard and then analyses the real funding problems of OASDI and how they are measured. If the OASDI is seen as the pay-as-you-go system that it is, its problems would be more easily managed.
Determination of the optimal span length for a railway bridge crossed by various types of high-speed trains
Authors: Cho Jeong-Rae , Jung Kilje , Cho Keunhee , Kwark Jong-Won , Kim Young Jin , Kim Byung-Suk
Published: September 2014

This paper proposes a method that can be used during the preliminary design stage to determine the optimal span length of a railway bridge that minimizes its dynamic responses to the passage of high-speed trains. Since the designed speed for passage over a railway bridge is generally higher than the speed at which the resonance phenomenon occurs, the peak dynamic responses of the bridge are likely to occur when a train travels across a bridge. Therefore, this study suggests inertia and elastic spectra that represent the inertial force and elastic force per unit length of the bridge at the resonance condition, respectively. These spectra are defined as functions of the span length of the bridge, for which the type of train and damping ratio are fixed, and based on the relationship between the dynamic responses of two different railway bridges that was used as theoretical basis for the design diagram proposed by the European Rail Research Institute. The optimal span length of the bridge that produces the smallest responses is determined using the suggested spectra by quantitatively comparing the responses at resonance under various train loads as a function of the span length of the bridge. The proposed method is validated using numerical examples that consider the computation of the optimal span length of a simply supported single-span bridge crossed by individual KTX, HEMU and ICE 2 trains and combinations of these trains.
The “humanitarianization” of urban violence
Authors: Reid-Henry Simon , Sending Ole Jacob
Published: September 2014

This paper describes how international humanitarian organizations (IHOs) are adapting their operations to working in the urban environment. When levels of armed violence in urban areas are sufficient to trigger international humanitarian law, organizations such as the International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) may argue that they have an important contribution to make by offering a set of skills and experience gleaned in conflict and non-governed settings. This paper reflects on this humanitarian turn to the city and uses it to problematize certain assumptions within the existing understanding of “urban violence” and the nature of humanitarianism itself. What does it mean to “humanitarianize” urban violence? What is the value-added that humanitarians might bring? And in what ways might such engagements be changing the nature of the problem itself? Drawing upon a wide range of literature that sets the local structures of violence in light of wider national and international processes, we analyze the “humanitarianization” of urban violence as a cross-scalar governmental assemblage that is likely to play an increasingly important role in cities in the global South in the future.
Water and sanitation provision in eThekwini Municipality: a spatially differentiated approach
Authors: Sutherland Catherine , Hordijk Michaela , Lewis Bonang , Meyer Claudia , Buthelezi Sibongile
Published: September 2014

The rescaling of responsibilities in water governance in South Africa has enabled strong water services authorities, such as the eThekwini Water and Sanitation Unit (EWS) in eThekwini Municipality, to play a leading role in shaping water and sanitation policy in South Africa. Yet water governance in the city is complex, shaped by the interactions of multiple social, economic, political and environmental relations in a transforming, fast-growing city that still reflects the legacy of apartheid. This paper identifies and explores the four dominant water governance discourses evident at present in the municipality, namely “water as a human right”, “water as an economic good”, “the spatial differentiation of service provision” and finally, “experimental governance and incremental learning”, which frame the current approach adopted by EWS. These discourses provide the context for the reforms undertaken in water and sanitation provision post-apartheid in eThekwini Municipality.
The performance and clinical utility of cervical microscopy for the diagnosis of gonorrhoea in women in the era of the NAAT
Authors: Thorley Nicola , Radcliffe Keith
Published: September 2014

We evaluated the performance and clinical utility of cervical microscopy for diagnosing genital gonorrhoea (GC) in women, using the APTIMA Combo 2 dual GC/ Chlamydia trachomatis assay as the gold standard. Test performance was assessed overall and for patient subgroups (symptomatic, GC contacts, pelvic inflammatory disease [PID] diagnosis). It was found that 93 women had positive GC genital NAAT results; 15 had positive cervical microscopy (8 were GC contacts). In all subgroups except GC contacts, the PPV of cervical microscopy was below the nationally accepted target of 90%. Compared to APTIMA Combo 2, cervical microscopy has poor sensitivity for diagnosing GC in women (16.1% overall, 17.3% symptomatic, 25% GC contacts, 10.5% PID). GC contacts accounted for over 50% of the positive microscopy results and would have received epidemiological treatment for GC, regardless of the microscopy result. Discontinuing the routine use of cervical microscopy would improve patient flow through the sexual health clinic and resources could be utilised more effectively.
Value-Driven Attentional Capture in Adolescence
Authors: Roper Zachary J. J. , Vecera Shaun P. , Vaidya Jatin G.
Published: September 2014

Adolescence has been characterized as a period of both opportunity and vulnerability. Numerous clinical conditions, including substance-use disorders, often emerge during adolescence. These maladaptive behaviors have been linked to problems with cognitive control, yet few studies have investigated how rewards differentially modulate attentional processes in adolescents versus adults. Here, we trained adults and adolescents on a visual task to establish stimulus-reward associations. Later, we assessed learning in an extinction task in which previously rewarded stimuli periodically appeared as distractors. Both age groups initially demonstrated value-driven attentional capture; however, the effect persisted longer in adolescents than in adults. The results could not be explained by developmental differences in visual working memory. Given the importance of attentional control to daily behaviors and clinical conditions such as attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, these results reveal that cognitive control failures in adolescence may be linked to a value-based attentional-capture effect.
Mortality and years of potential life loss in systemic lupus erythematosus: a population-based cohort study
Authors: Lerang K , Gilboe I-M , Steinar Thelle D , Gran J T
Published: September 2014

Multiple sources were used to identify 325 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients within the city of Oslo during 1999–2009 who met ≥4 of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) criteria. The survival, standard mortality rate (SMR), years of potential life loss before 60 years of age (YPLL60) and causes of death of these patients were examined and compared to a matched control population. Only inception cases (127) were studied in the calculation of survival. The analysis includes underlying, immediate and contributing causes of death. The five- and 10-year survival was 95% and 90%, respectively, which was significantly reduced when compared to the general population. A total of 50 SLE patients died during the study period. Overall SMR was 3.0 (95% confidence interval (CI) 2.2–3.8) with the highest SMR found for female patients aged 16–39 years old. SLE patients had a 10 times higher rate of YPLL60 compared to the control group. YPLL emphasizes active disease and reduces the importance of cancer as a cause of death in SLE. This study demonstrates that YPLL gives additional and useful information for the prognosis of SLE, supplementing traditional methods of measuring mortality.
Validation and evaluation of damage identification using probability-based diagnostic imaging on a stiffened composite panel
Authors: Wu Zhanjun , Liu Kehai , Wang Yishou , Zheng Yuebin
Published: September 2014

Probability-based diagnostic imaging, as one of the damage identification methods using ultrasonic guided waves, has been attracting increasing attention by researchers in the community of structural health monitoring. However, the probability-based diagnostic imaging algorithm’s influencing parameters, including the selection of certain damage index and frequency, the network of sensing paths, and the size of the effective elliptical distribution area, are empirically determined. This experience dependency limits the application of the method to identify damages in real-world practices. Therefore, it is important to clarify the influences of the above-mentioned various factors on the damage identification. However, the complexity of these factors makes it almost impossible to interpret the influencing mechanisms directly. Thus, a fusion image approach of multiple frequencies is employed to eliminate the influence of different frequencies, while a histogram-based method is proposed to evaluate the reliability of the fusion result. Meanwhile, a unit weight distribution function, considering both the network of sensing paths and the size of the effective elliptical distribution area, is presented in the analysis. Then, the influencing mechanisms are studied and discussed in detail, and a methodology is proposed to optimize the network and the scaling parameter which controls the affected zone.
Outcome Benchmarks for Adaptations of Research-Supported Treatments for Adult Traumatic Stress
Authors: Rubin Allen , Parrish Danielle E. , Washburn Micki
Published: September 2014

This article provides benchmark data on within-group effect sizes from published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated the efficacy of research-supported treatments (RSTs) for adult traumatic stress. Agencies can compare these benchmarks to their treatment group effect size to inform their decisions as to whether the way they are adopting or adapting one of these RSTs is satisfactory or needs to be modified or replaced by a different intervention approach. These benchmarks also have potential utility for future implementation of research efforts about these RSTs that can assess what service provision conditions are associated with effect sizes that resemble the benchmarks provided in this study.
A Randomized Trial of Wraparound Facilitation Versus Usual Child Protection Services
Authors: Browne Dillon T. , Puente-Duran Sofia , Shlonsky Aron , Thabane Lehana , Verticchio Dominic
Published: September 2014

Objective:

To evaluate whether the addition of a wraparound facilitator to regular child protection services improved child and family functioning over 20 months.

Method:

A single blind randomized controlled trial with concealment and stratification across three sites ( N = 135 eligible families with substantiated maltreatment).

Results:

Based on 2 × 2 mixed analysis of variance and intention to treat, both groups improved in child impairments, d = −.60 [−.81, −.39], caregiver psychological distress, d = −.33 [−.52, −.13], and family resources, d = .44 [.27, .62]. No measurable benefit was associated with the intervention (e.g., child impairments, d = .14 [−.12, .52]). However, treatment fidelity analysis revealed that many components of wraparound were either missing or present in both groups.

Conclusions:

The presence of a facilitator alone did not appear to improve child or family functioning if the various components of wraparound were not adequately implemented.
The Shared Traumatic and Professional Posttraumatic Growth Inventory
Authors: Tosone Carol , Bauwens Jennifer , Glassman Marc
Published: September 2014

Purpose:

While there are established instruments offering psychometrically sound measurement of primary or secondary trauma, none capture the essence of dual exposure for mental health professionals living and working in traumatological environments.

Methods:

This study examined the experience of 244 mental health workers who lived and worked in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. An instrument, the Shared Trauma and Professional Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (STPPG), a 14-item, Likert-type scale composed of three subscales (Technique-Specific Shared Trauma, Personal Trauma, and Professional Posttraumatic Growth), was developed to understand the nature of dual trauma exposure.

Results:

The STPPG supports the reciprocal nature of shared trauma and correlates well to existing measures for posttraumatic stress, secondary trauma, shared trauma, and posttraumatic growth.

Discussion:

The STPPG suggests that personal traumatic experience can impact professional practice, and client traumatic narratives influence one’s personal trauma responses. Implications of STPPG for practice and future research are discussed.
Do Policy Messengers Matter? Majority Opinion Writers as Policy Cues in Public Agreement with Supreme Court Decisions
Authors: Boddery Scott S. , Yates Jeff
Published: September 2014

Does the identity of a majority opinion writer affect the level of agreement a Supreme Court decision receives from the public? Using a survey experiment, we manipulate majority opinion authors to investigate whether individuals are willing to agree with Supreme Court opinions authored by ideologically similar justices even though the decisions cut against their self-identified ideological policy preferences. Our study provides insight into the extent to which policy cues—represented by a political institution’s policy messenger—affect agreement with a given policy. We find that a messenger effect indeed augments the level of agreement a given Supreme Court case receives.
Assessing Ideological, Professional, and Structural Biases in Journalists’ Coverage of the 2010 BP Oil Spill
Authors: Watson Brendan R.
Published: September 2014

Previous studies based on aggregate data have not found consistent evidence that journalists’ personal beliefs and attitudes bias their coverage. This study, however, uses individual-level survey data on Gulf Coast journalists’ beliefs and attitudes toward the BP oil spill, matched with a content analysis of respondents’ stories about the disaster, and community structure data. The study examines the effect that journalists’ perceptions of professional norms and the social and economic contexts of the communities in which they work had on their attitudes toward and coverage of the crisis.
Approaching the Subject of Violence
Authors: Todd Nick , Weaver-Dunlop Gillian , Ogden Cindy
Published: September 2014

Traditional effects-based approaches to therapeutic work with men who have abused others often attempt to intervene by correcting personal deficits assumed to be causing the violence. This not only creates a hierarchical counseling relationship but also can inadvertently excuse aggressive actions. In this article, we outline a response-based alternative that emphasizes questions of choice, agency, and volition within a collaborative therapeutic relationship. Rather than impose external correction, we pay attention to details of how men describe their violent acts and position themselves as agents of those acts as we work toward supporting them in their own acts of self-correction.
Adverse Childhood Experiences in the Lives of Female Sex Offenders
Authors: Levenson Jill S. , Willis Gwenda M. , Prescott David S.
Published: September 2014

This study explored the prevalence of early trauma in a sample of U.S. female sexual offenders ( N = 47) using the Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) scale. Compared with females in the general population, sex offenders had more than three times the odds of child sexual abuse, four times the odds of verbal abuse, and more than three times the odds of emotional neglect and having an incarcerated family member. Half of the female sex offenders had been sexually abused as a child. Only 20% endorsed zero adverse childhood experiences (compared with 35% of the general female population) and 41% endorsed four or more (compared with 15% of the general female population). Higher ACE scores were associated with having younger victims. Multiple maltreatments often co-occurred in households with other types of dysfunction, suggesting that many female sex offenders were raised within a disordered social environment by adults with problems of their own who were ill-equipped to protect their daughters from harm. By enhancing our understanding of the frequency and correlates of early adverse experiences, we can better devise trauma-informed interventions that respond to the clinical needs of female sex offender clients.
Assessing Protective Factors for Sexually Violent Offending With the SAPROF
Authors: de Vries Robbé Michiel , de Vogel Vivienne , Koster Koen , Bogaerts Stefan
Published: September 2014

The Structured Assessment of Protective Factors for violence risk (SAPROF) has recently been developed as a risk assessment tool to focus solely on protective factors for (sexual) violence risk. Research on protective factors for sexual offending is very limited and most risk assessment tools for adult sexual offenders do not incorporate protective factors. The current study investigates the applicability and predictive validity of the SAPROF for forensic psychiatric patients who have sexually offended. For a sample of 83 hands-on sexual offenders, risk assessments were carried out retrospectively with the SAPROF, the Historical Clinical Risk Management–20 (HCR-20) and the Sexual Violence Risk–20 (SVR-20). Results show good interrater reliability and negative correlations between the SAPROF and both risk tools. Predictive validities of the SAPROF protective factors for reconvictions of general and sexual violence were good for short-term (1-3 year) as well as for long-term follow-up (15 year). Moreover, the SAPROF remained a statistically significant predictor of future violence and sexual violence even after controlling for the HCR-20 and the SVR-20. Implications of these findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.
Extreme-scale computing services over MPI: Experiences, observations and features proposal for next-generation message passing interface
Authors: Zounmevo Judicael A , Kimpe Dries , Ross Robert , Afsahi Ahmad
Published: September 2014

The message passing interface (MPI) is one of the most portable high-performance computing (HPC) programming models, with platform-optimized implementations typically delivered with new HPC systems. Therefore, for distributed services requiring portable, high-performance, user-level network access, MPI promises to be an attractive alternative to custom network portability layers, platform-specific methods, or portable but less performant interfaces such as BSD sockets. In this paper, we present our experiences in using MPI as a network transport for a large-scale distributed storage system. We discuss the features of MPI that facilitate adoption as well as aspects which require various workarounds. Based on use cases, we derive a wish list for both MPI implementations and the MPI forum to facilitate the adoption of MPI by large-scale persistent services. The proposals in the wish list go beyond the sole needs of distributed services; we contend that they will benefit mainstream HPC applications at extreme scales as well.
A Comparison of Vocal Mand Training Strategies for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Plavnick Joshua B. , Vitale Frances A.
Published: September 2014

Based on Skinner’s classification of verbal behavior, the mand is the first and most advantageous verbal operant to develop. Deficits in vocal mand repertoires are common in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and can lead to decreased social interaction and increased problem behavior. The present investigation compared the effects of two mand training procedures on the acquisition and mastery of vocal mands by four young children with ASD using an adapted alternating treatment design. An in vivo mand training procedure, which involved the therapist contriving an establishing operation and delivering a vocal model, was compared with a video modeling procedure wherein the therapist presented a video model prior to contriving an establishing operation. Overall, participants acquired and mastered mands assigned to the video modeling condition faster than mands assigned to the in vivo mand training condition. The results demonstrate the potential efficacy of video modeling for teaching verbal operants to children with ASD.
Predictors of the physical impact of Multiple Sclerosis following community-based, exercise trial
Authors: Kehoe M , Saunders J , Jakeman P , Coote S
Published: September 2014

Background:

Studies evaluating exercise interventions in people with multiple sclerosis (PwMS) demonstrate small to medium positive effects and large variability on a number of outcome measures. No study to date has tried to explain this variability.

Objective:

This paper presents a novel exploration of data examining the predictors of outcome for PwMS with minimal gait impairment following a randomised, controlled trial evaluating community-based exercise interventions ( N = 242).

Methods:

The primary variable was the physical component of the Multiple Sclerosis Impact Scale-29, version 2 (MSIS-29, v2) after a 10-week, controlled intervention period. Predictors were identified a priori and were measured at baseline. Multiple linear regression was conducted.

Results:

Four models are presented lower MSIS-29, v2 scores after the intervention period were best predicted by a lower baseline MSIS-29,v2, a lower baseline Modified Fatigue Impact Score (physical subscale), randomisation to an exercise intervention, a longer baseline walking distance measured by the Six Minute Walk Test and female gender. This model explained 57.4% of the variance (F (5, 211) = 59.24, p < 0.01).

Conclusion:

These results suggest that fatigue and walking distance at baseline contribute significantly to predicting MSIS-29, v29 (physical component) after intervention, and thus should be the focus of intervention and assessment. Exercise is an important contributor to minimising the physical impact of MS, and gender-specific interventions may be warranted.
Satisfaction with democracy and voter turnout
Authors: Ezrow Lawrence , Xezonakis Georgios
Published: September 2014

Numerous studies conclude that countries in which citizens express higher levels of satisfaction with democracy also tend to display higher levels of voter turnout in national elections. Yet it is difficult to draw causal inferences from this positive cross-sectional relationship, because democracies feature many historical, cultural, and institutional differences that are not easily controlled for in cross-sectional comparisons. We apply an alternative, temporal approach to this issue by asking the question: Are over-time declines (increases) in aggregate levels of satisfaction within democracies associated with increases (declines) in levels of voter turnout within these democracies? Our temporal analysis of this relationship in 12 democracies over the period 1976–2011 reveals a pattern that is the opposite of that suggested by previous cross-sectional studies: namely, we find that over-time increases in citizens’ satisfaction with democracy are associated with significant decreases in voter turnout in national elections in these countries.
Manifestos, salience and junior ministerial appointments
Authors: Greene Zachary , Jensen Christian B
Published: September 2014

We build on previous theories of junior minister allocation and coalition oversight by incorporating a novel theory of strategic changes in the issues covered in party manifestos. We argue that parties use junior ministerial appointments to oversee their coalition partners on portfolios that correspond to issues emphasized by the parties’ activists when the coalition partner’s preferences deviate from the party’s. The findings, based on a data set of more than 2800 party-portfolio dyads in 10 countries, show significant support for these expectations. We find that party leaders who successfully negotiate for junior ministers to particular portfolios are most concerned about checking ideologically contentious coalition partners in areas of concern to activists. The results also illustrate the usefulness of our dyadic approach for the study of junior minister allocation.
What do representatives produce? Work profiles of representatives
Authors: Akirav Osnat
Published: September 2014

Legislative effectiveness and legislators’ productivity are important issues in parliamentary life. The literature about legislative effectiveness and legislators’ productivity deals mainly with the characteristics of its use, while that on legislation attempts to define and measure the productivity of legislators. The main objective of this research is to develop a new productivity scale, reflecting a new way of looking at productivity. The scale includes various parameters such as private bills, parliamentary questions, motions for the agenda and one-minute speeches, which have never been explored together. As a secondary objective, we determine the characteristics shared by the most productive legislators and those shared by the least productive. We test the scale using data from the Israeli parliament (the Knesset). The findings show that while legislators have a variety of tools available to them, most do not realize the full potential of the tools. Furthermore, party size and gender explained 43.4% of the variance in the productivity level in the 14th Knesset. In the 16th Knesset, we found a similar pattern except that gender was replaced by nationality; the larger the party, the less productive the legislators associated with it. Furthermore, non-Jewish legislators were more productive than Jewish legislators.
Dynamic packaging spells the end of European charter airlines
Authors: O’Connell John F , Bouquet Aurélise
Published: September 2014

The charter airline industry is showing rapid decline in the short-haul markets, whilst in the long-haul markets it remains far more resilient. Passengers now have the ability to self-assemble their own tailor-made package of travel products such as flights, accommodation, car rental, insurance, airport parking, ground transportation and tourism amenities from an airline’s own e-commerce platform through mechanism known as dynamic packaging, which are bundled items that charter airlines offered as a holiday package. A passenger survey was conducted at the international airport in Malta, which is a key sun-and-sand tourism destination earmarked by tour operators for holiday packages for decades, which sought to analyse and measure the willingness of passengers to purchase various travel-related products from an airlines’ website. It was found that over one-third of the sampled passengers were willing to purchase additional travel-related products beyond the flight, which has damaging consequences for charter airlines.
Muslim travelers in Asia
Authors: Kim Seongseop (Sam) , Im Holly Hyunjung , King Brian EM
Published: September 2014

Although Korea’s dominant inbound tourism markets are Japan and China, Muslim tourists from Malaysia and other Asian source markets are rapidly growing and worthy of attention. In this analysis of Malaysian Muslim tourists, it is concluded that there is a more favorable destination brand positioning for Korea than for China, but that Korea lags behind Japan for all dimensions of brand image except for ‘access to Muslim culture’. Korea is positioned somewhere between China and Japan for brand awareness, association, and loyalty and also for emotion-related items. Respondents perceived China as more familiar than Korea. It was concluded that the tour planning preferences and gift-giving behaviors of Malaysian Muslim tourists differ according to their sociodemographic characteristics.
Mandarin-English bilingual vocabulary development in an English-immersion preschool: How does it compare with monolingual development?
Authors: Lin Lu-Chun , Johnson Cynthia J
Published: September 2014

Aims and objectives:

A common phenomenon in many Asian countries is parents enrolling their preschoolers in bilingual or English-immersion programs to provide a head start in learning English. A frequently raised concern is that learning English too early can hamper children’s language development. This study examined the receptive and expressive vocabularies of children in an English-immersion preschool in Taiwan and compared their receptive and expressive vocabulary skills to those of their monolingual peers.

Methodology:

Mandarin receptive and expressive vocabulary tests were individually administered to 25 bilingual Mandarin-English-speaking and 24 monolingual Mandarin-speaking 5-year-olds, while standardized English receptive and expressive vocabulary tests were given to the bilinguals only.

Data analysis:

Multivariate analysis of variance and one-sample t-tests were performed to determine whether the bilinguals showed a gap in the development of receptive and expressive vocabulary compared to Mandarin monolingual peers or to English monolingual norms. Follow-up analyses were further conducted to determine differences between the bilingual and monolingual groups on specific vocabulary items.

Findings and conclusions:

Findings corroborate previous studies that show relatively smaller receptive and expressive vocabularies in bilinguals’ L1 and L2. Follow-up analyses further suggest the circumstance-specific and distributed nature of bilingual vocabulary. Possible explanations proposed in the literature and the present study provide an insight into the nature of bilingual vocabulary development.

Originality and implications:

The present study provides a preliminary understanding of Mandarin-English vocabulary development in a group of bilingual preschoolers learning English in an English-as-a-foreign language-immersion program, a less-studied context. Insight into the nature of bilingual vocabulary development in different contexts should enable concerned parents and language educators to provide language-rich home and school environments, with exposure to a variety of words and support for learning translation equivalents.
Indoor vertical greenery system in urban tropics
Authors: Wang Chen , Er San-San , Abdul-Rahman Hamzah
Published: September 2014

The integration of vegetated architecture has evolved from gardening, aesthetic design, or artistic expression, to an indoor element named iVGS providing fashion function for the indoor environment. The aim of this study is to identify characteristics of commonly used indoor plants in tropics, and to determine the advantages and disadvantages of iVGS, criteria in selecting installation methods, layout plans for iVGS and correlation among locations, parameters, types and Pros & Cons. A questionnaire survey and three case studies including (a) Ban Guan Nursery; (b) Yeo Tang Hing Nursery and (c) Absolute Thai Garden were conducted. The three case studies determined characteristics of commonly used indoor plants and installation requirements of iVGS. The questionnaire survey found aesthetic the top benefit of iVGS but denied noise reduction as an effective function of it. The system could improve indoor air quality by filtering contaminates from different pollutants. This research denied allergy as a significant disadvantage of iVGS. High construction and maintenance cost is still the main obstacle for potential users to choose iVGS, but this paper does not cover the cost of iVGS; thus, further analysis on costing aspect for various iVGS are recommended for future research.
Study of a new mechanical variable valve actuation system: Part I—valve train design and friction modeling
Authors: Gimelli Alfredo , Muccillo Massimiliano , Pennacchia Ottavio
Published: September 2014

This article addresses the design of a new mechanical Variable Valve Actuation (VVA) system. The basic scheme consists of three main elements, which enable valve lift variation. Although VVA systems could reduce the specific fuel consumption due to an important de-throttling of the intake system, the systems can lead to higher friction losses due to the increased number of components. For this reason, a specific numerical algorithm was implemented to determine either the cam profile or the kinematic and dynamic characteristics of the entire system. In this way, it was possible to estimate the instantaneous and average power dissipated by the frictions for the actuation of each valve. These evaluated frictions will be used in Part II for the estimation of the actual improvement in terms of specific fuel consumption at part load net of the increased mechanical power dissipated when compared to a conventional valve train. A preliminary thermo-fluid dynamic analysis revealed that the proposed variable valve actuation system is unable to significantly reduce the specific fuel consumption because of the inability to carry out valve actuation strategies that reduce the pumping work. A more flexible mechanical VVA system has been thus developed, which is able to allow intake valve deactivation, as well as variation in valve lift, timing and duration. Finally, in Appendix 1, an analytical procedure aimed at the determination of the geometry of the conjugate profiles of a generic mechanism has been described with the aim of obtaining a general methodology for the design of a mechanical VVA system.
Questioning religious essentialism – Ritual change and religious instability in ancient China
Authors: Jaffe Yitzchak Y.
Published: September 2014

This paper challenges the recurring theme in archaeological research that places religions at the core of social identity. It investigates the theoretical literature that has influenced how archaeologists understand the study of religion and has subsequently reinforced this idea. It surveys the changing religious attitudes and ritual practices in ancient China during the first millennium BC to demonstrate their surprising instability. A model is presented where ritual is an ever-changing source of ideological tensions and religion is but one facet of social identity, not its basis. Consequently, religion is seen as naturally susceptible to both rapid and slow changes, driven by both inner social processes and external stimuli.
Comment on: IgA nephropathy with early kidney disease is associated with increased arterial stiffness and renin-angiotensin system activity
Authors: Mubarak Muhammed , Nasri Hamid , Rafieian-Kopaei Mahmoud
Published: September 2014

We read with great interest the article by Abdi-Ali et al. entitled “IgA nephropathy with early kidney disease is associated with increased arterial stiffness and renin–angiotensin system activity” in the recent issue of Journal of the Renin–Angiotensin–Aldosterone System. In a study on 10 normotensive IgA nephropathy (IgAN) subjects with early kidney disease and 10 gender- and blood pressure-matched healthy controls, blood pressure and arterial stiffness, expressed as pulse wave velocity and aortic augmentation index, at baseline and in response to 60 min of angiotensin II (AngII) infusion were measured. They found that IgAN patients had an increased aortic augmentation index and a trend towards increased circulating renin–angiotensin system components at baseline, compared with controls.
Relationship between polymorphism of angiotensin-converting enzyme gene insertion/deletion and risk of hepatocellular carcinoma in a Chinese Dai population
Authors: Zha Yong , Gan Ping , Liu Qin , Tan Jing
Published: September 2014

Introduction:

The angiotensin-converting enzyme gene ( ACE) is directly involved in the process of cancer cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis and angiogenesis. It also plays a vital role in inducing liver fibrosis and developing hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between ACE insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and the risk of HCC in a Chinese Dai population.

Materials and methods:

We conducted a study including 210 patients with HCC and 206 healthy controls in Yunnan Cancer Hospital between January 2012–January 2014. I/D genotypes of ACE were determined with polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes.

Results:

The ACE D allele was more frequent in the HCC cases than in the controls (51.7% vs 44.4%, p=0.036). Individuals with DD genotypes were associated with increased HCC risk compared with those with the II genotypes (odds ratio (OR), 1.911; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.081–3.379; p=0.025). However, the ACE I/D polymorphism were not significantly associated with any clinicopathological characteristics such as the tumor stage, serum alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) level, and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection.

Conclusions:

The DD genotypes of ACE I/D polymorphism might contribute to the prediction of HCC risk in a Chinese Dai population.
Discipline identity in economic history: Reflecting on an interdisciplinary community
Authors: Shanahan Martin
Published: September 2014

The article by Aileen Fyfe (this issue) raises a number of important issues about academic identity and the importance of the disciplinary community in the creation and maintenance of that identity. It also discusses some of the additional difficulties faced by interdisciplinary disciplines; lack of recognition (and thus institutional support), isolation of individual academics in ‘foreign’ communities and a general anxiety and lack of self-confidence by the practitioners in that discipline as to the worth of their field. Finally, the article hints at the dangers these difficulties pose for the sustainability of the discipline – as lack of a clear identity and an institutionally marginal existence can make developing and attracting future practitioners difficult. In Fyfe’s article, the focus was on the history of science. This article explores some of the many similarities, and differences, that exist for individuals in the field of economic history. For many economic historians, locating themselves within their discipline is still a major issue.
Procedures for clinical ethics case reflections: an example from childhood cancer care
Authors: Bartholdson Cecilia , Pergert Pernilla , Helgesson Gert
Published: September 2014

The procedures for structuring clinical ethics case reflections in a childhood cancer care setting are presented, including an eight-step model. Four notable characteristics of the procedures are: members of the inter-professional health care team, not external experts, taking a leading role in the reflections; patients or relatives not being directly involved; the model explicitly addressing values and moral principles instead of focussing exclusively on the interests of involved parties; using a case-based (inductive) rather than principle-based (deductive) method. By discusing the advantages and disadvantages of the proposed procedures, our paper aims to contribute to the literature on models and procedures for ethical analysis that can be used in clinical settings. It is suggested that our proposed procedures have some advantageous features when it comes to promoting health care staff’s learning to structure their thinking about ethical issues.
Bad apples or bad barrels? Qualitative study of negative experiences of encounters in healthcare
Authors: Wessel Maja , Lynöe Niels , Juth Niklas , Helgesson Gert
Published: September 2014

Assessments of quality in healthcare often focus on treatment outcome or patient safety, but rarely acknowledge the importance of patients’ encounters with healthcare personnel. The aim of this study was to gain an improved understanding of negative experiences of healthcare encounters by investigating experiences of the general population. A questionnaire was distributed to a randomly selected sample population of 1484 inhabitants in Stockholm County, Sweden. The material was subjected to conventional content analysis. Seventeen different types of complaint about negative encounters were identified, including unpleasant behavior, not being listened to, inadequate information, and discrimination. Two possible underlying explanations are discussed; structural factors relating to the organization and allocation of healthcare, and individual factors relating to the staff’s attitudes and professional practice. The results indicate that different strands of actions are needed to reduce patients’ negative experiences of encounters in healthcare, depending on the setting as well as on which of the two factors predominates.
Staff silence about abuse in health care: An exploratory study at a Swedish women’s clinic
Authors: Brüggemann A Jelmer , Swahnberg Katarina
Published: September 2014

Background

It has been well documented that patients can feel abused in health care and that many patients suffer from these experiences. Insight lacks into contributing factors behind such events. Silence surrounding the abuse has been suggested as a possible mechanism. The present study explores silence surrounding the abuse as a possible contributing factor. We have explored whether this silence is connected with the staff’s hierarchical position and with the staff’s own experiences as patients abused in health care.

Methods

During January 2008, a paper questionnaire was sent to all staff members at a Swedish women’s clinic. The questionnaire included questions on sociodemography and profession and multiple questions about abuse in health care. After univariate testing, a binary logistic regression model including variables concerning profession and staff’s own experiences of abuse was built.

Results

Our data show that in contrast to midwives and gynaecologists, auxiliary nurses seldom report hearing about cases of abuse in health care. Staff who themselves experienced abuse in health care as patients, so-called wounded healers, were more likely to have heard about abuse in health care during the last 12 months.

Conclusions

This study suggests that a form of silence reigns over events of abuse in health care that is not randomly distributed over staff. Professional hierarchies and staff’s own experiences of abuse as patients could be considered in the design of interventions to break the silence surrounding patients’ experiences of abuse in health care.
King’s College London Student Clinical Ethics Committee case discussion: Should a homeless, potentially suicidal man, be admitted to hospital overnight for the purpose of addressing a short-term shelter problem?
Authors: Johnston Carolyn , Baty Michael , Elnaiem Azza
Published: September 2014

Members of the Student Clinical Ethics Committee discussed the ethical issues arising in a case referred for consideration – a homeless man presenting to the emergency department of a busy London hospital with recent self-reported suicide attempts. Should he be admitted overnight in order to address a short-term shelter problem? The case study summarises the reflections of the Committee and focusses on the doctor’s duty of care and patient responsibility, benefits of admission and resource considerations.
Party Labels and Vote Choice in Judicial Elections
Authors: Burnett Craig M. , Tiede Lydia
Published: September 2014

The vast majority of states use elections to select at least some of their judges. The chief institutional variation in these contests is whether the candidates’ partisanship appears on the ballot. This article expands on the extant literature with new data to examine how providing a party label influences voters’ decisions. Using a survey experiment involving a low-visibility state appellate court, we find that affixing party labels to judicial candidates often helps our subjects select the candidate who is most aligned with their own party attachment and with their policy interests—an outcome that is especially notable for self-identified independents. We also show that the presence of party labels reduces the effect of another cue, gender. The results add context to the debate over the merits and drawbacks of partisan versus nonpartisan elections.
What Do Hispanic Students Want in a Mentor? A Model of Protégé Cultural Orientation, Mentorship Expectations, and Performance
Authors: Cox Cody B. , Yang Yan , Dicke-Bohmann Amy K.
Published: September 2014

The purpose of this study was to propose and test a model of the effects of cultural factors on Hispanic protégés’ expectations for and experiences with their mentors. Specifically, the proposed model posits that cultural orientation predicts the mentorship functions protégés desire, and the positive impact of these mentorship functions depends on whether the protégé desired them. Cultural orientation also moderates the effectiveness of mentorship behaviors. In this study of 191 Hispanic undergraduates, protégé power distance orientation predicted desiring the mentor to act as a role model and moderated the effects of the mentor acting as a role model. Collectivism predicted wanting psychosocial support from mentors and collectivists also benefited more from psychosocial support. This study provides initial evidence on the importance of cultural factors and Hispanic protégé expectations in mentoring relationships.