bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Syngnathus chihiroe, a new species of pipefish (Syngnathidae) from southern Japan
Authors: MATSUNUMA MIZUKI
Published: February 2017

A new species of pipefish, Syngnathus chihiroe sp. nov., (Syngnathidae), is described on the basis of a single specimen collected off Yakushima Island (East China Sea), southern Japan in a depth of 160–162 m. The new species is readily distinguished from all congeners by the combination of the following characters: dorsal-fin rays 38, pectoral-fin rays 17, trunk rings 18, tail rings 40, subdorsal rings 3.25 + 10.0 = 13.25, head length 8.7 in standard length, snout length 2.3 in head length and snout depth 3.7 in snout length. The new species is similar to Syngnathus schlegeli Kaup 1853, the only other northwestern Pacific Ocean congener, characterized by dorsal-fin rays 30–47, trunk rings 18–20 and tail rings 38–46. However, it differs from S. schlegeli in having a greater number of pectoral-fin rays (17 in the former vs. 11–15 in the latter), and a short deep snout (snout length 2.3 in head length and snout depth 3.7 in snout length vs. 1.6–2.0 and 5.6–11.3, respectively).
Green for God: Religion and Environmentalism by Cohort and Time
Authors: Carlisle Juliet E. , Clark April K.
Published: February 2017

Previous research demonstrates that religion plays a significant role in understanding attitudes and behavior regarding the environment. In addition, studies also demonstrate value change across cohorts and time in postmaterialist attitudes. However, limited empirical evidence exists that considers both simultaneously. The advantage of the approach relied on here is that the model can estimate “true” change in “proenvironmental” attitude levels within each religious group by cohort and period while also testing the role of compositional effects on these trends. Our analyses demonstrate that support for environmental spending is the result of period effects rather than cohort-based change. Moreover, although support for environmental spending differs among religious denominations, changes are the result of periodic shifts that are experienced by all denominations. Thus, without any unique denominational shifts in support for environmental spending, the so-called “greening” of Christianity is not supported here.
Gli ingranaggi della memoria del G8 2001 in Carlo Giuliani. Il ribelle di Genova
Authors: Lanslots Inge
Published: February 2017

Il presente contributo propone l’analisi di Carlo Giuliani. Il ribelle di Genova di Francesco Barilli e Manuel De Carli (2011), che a dieci anni di distanza rielabora la memoria degli eventi del G8 2001 tramite quella della figura di Carlo Giuliani. Carlo Giuliani. Il ribelle di Genova, edito da BeccoGiallo, vuole essere una contronarrazione alla versione ufficiale dei fatti inscrivendosi nel sottogenere del docunovel, nel senso che si presenta come una narrazione grafica che si serve delle modalità di rappresentazione tipiche del documentario e della finzione. L’analisi del docunovel partirà dalla rappresentazione della figura di Carlo Giuliani la cui morte viene descritta come un evento tragico e traumatico tipico dell’ingiustizia che caratterizza la storia italiana contemporanea, ma che poi viene collegata ad altri eventi storici altrettanto traumatici. Si metteranno in rilievo le specificità contenutistiche e le strategie narratologiche del docunovel, ma anche l’importanza del fitto apparato paratestuale che iscrive la morte di Giuliani in un contesto storico prettamente italiano. La contestualizzazione porterà anche al confronto di Carlo Giuliani. Il ribelle di Genova con altre narrazioni fumettistiche nella misura in cui tutte sembrano rifarsi alla stessa iconografia. L’analisi del docunovel farà emergere le peculiarità del discorso commemorativo evocato dalla scomparsa di Carlo Giuliani e gli eventuali effetti performativi sul lettore.
America’s Signal Crisis in Salman Rushdie’s Fury
Authors: De Loughry Treasa
Published: February 2017

This article examines how Salman Rushdie’s Fury (2001) registers a signal crisis of American hegemony through its hyperreal production of an aesthetics of excess, constituted by fragmented subjectivities, a frenetic narrative form, references to the decaying years of the Roman Empire, and irruptions of violence against women. The text’s libidinal investment of personal anguish with public discontent, or a psychopathological fury, is read through Fredric Jameson’s account of third-world allegory as a symptom of the novel’s registration of America’s hegemonic decline. The scalping of several upper-class young women in New York City by their financier boyfriends is thus further examined as an aspect of the text’s aesthetics of excess and use of allegory, which frames the violent interrelation between public discontent and private hubris. The murdered women are read as symbols of American hegemony and class under threat by turbulent financial markets, and hoarding their scalps is represented as a crude and violent attempt by their boyfriends to halt the dwindling value of America’s cultural capital and financial markets. The destabilization of class structures due to turbulent financial markets breeds a semantic confusion between real and symbolic signifiers of class status, a process facilitated by the narrator’s comparison of these women to prototypically American symbols, such as “Oscar-Barbie” statuettes and dolls. Fury’s mapping of Solanka’s cultural products, dolls and masks, from New York to the peripheral nation of Lilliput-Blefescu further actualizes the flow of American cultural and economic power to peripheral regions. This, alongside the text’s problematic characterization of gender and race, is read as evidence of Rushdie as a writer in terminal decline.
Direct observation of nanoparticle migration in epoxy based fiber reinforced composites using fluorescence microscopy
Authors: Caldwell Kyle , Berg John C
Published: February 2017

The preferential accumulation of nanoparticles at carbon fiber surfaces, induced by the addition of a thermoplastic “migrating agent” to an epoxy resin, was monitored via in situ fluorescence microscopy. (3-Glydidyloxypropyl)trimethoxysilane functionalized fluorescent silica nanoparticles (GFCSP) were synthesized by a modified Stöber method to track the spatiotemporal abundance of nanoparticles. Single carbon fibers were embedded in an uncured epoxy mixture consisting of tetraglycidyl-4,4-diaminodiphenylmethane and 4,4’-diamnodiphenyl sulfone, as well as thermoplastic migrating agent, poly(ether sulfone), and GFCSP. A heated microscope stage was used to monitor the fluorescence in the local vicinity of the fiber as the epoxy begins to cross-link and solidify upon heating. Our results show that the synthesized GFCSP accumulate at fiber surfaces only in the presence of poly(ether sulfone), as verified using scanning electron micrographs of Mode I fiber fracture surfaces.
Microclimate in two types of rat cages
Authors: HirsjäRvi P. A. , VÄLiaho T. U.
Published: February 2017

The microclimate in two types of rat cages (a Makrolon type IV with a solid floor and a stainless steel cage with a wire mesh floor (five rats per cage)) placed in the same macroenvironment was compared. The temperature, relative humidity and ammonia concentration in the cages were measured twice a day for 8 days. The cages were cleaned every 4 days. The greatest difference between the cage types was in the ammonia build-up. In Makrolon cages the ammonia concentration never reached 5 ppm, whereas in steel cages it showed a constant increase and already exceeded the threshold limit for man (25 ppm for 8 h per day) on the third day after cleaning.
Effects of xenogeneic, allogeneic and isogeneic thymus grafts on lymphocyte populations in peripheral lymphoid organs of the nude rat
Authors: Hougen H. P. , Klausen B. , Stenvang J. P. , KræMmer J. , Rygaard J.
Published: February 2017

In order to gain information about the effect of xenografted, allografted and isografted thymic tissue on peripheral lymphoid organs of immune-deficient rats, athymic nude LEW rats of ninth backcross–intercross were grafted with fetal calf and neonatal BD1X and LEW thymus. Adrenalectomy was also performed in some animals in order to obtain a possible enhancement of the immunological reconstitution. Both groups of isogeneic-thymus-grafted animals had more T helper cells than the nude controls. Furthermore, they had more densely populated paracortical areas in the inguinal lymph nodes and higher lymphocyte counts in the thoracic duct lymph. Finally, the inguinal lymph nodes contained germinal centres. Xenogeneic and allogeneic thymus transplants did not induce constant changes in the parameters observed compared with the untreated nudes. No clear difference was observed between the adrenalectomized and non-adrenalectomized thymicisografted animals. We therefore conclude that of all the experimental animals examined the isografted nude rats show by far the best response and that adrenalectomy seems unnecessary for the success of neonatal isogeneic thymus grafts. We also conclude that the isogeneic-thymus-grafted nude rat is a suitable tool for immunological reconstitution studies.
Effect of mucin on the pharmacokinetics of antibiotics in the rat
Authors: Mordenti J. J. , Shyu Wen Chyi , Nightingale C. H. , Quintiliani R.
Published: February 2017

The intramuscular pharmacokinetics of ticarcillin and amikacin in rats receiving 1 ml of 5% mucin suspension (equivalent to 250 mg/kg) administered intraperitoneally were not altered compared with the control animals. However, it is important to investigate the effect of mucin on the pharmacokinetics of antimicrobial agents in animals which are used to evaluate the efficacy of the agents.
Simple methods which maintain the barrier status of specific-pathogen-free animals during experimentation
Authors: Herbert J. , Roser B.
Published: February 2017

Several simple procedures for experimentation on specific-pathogen-free rats and mice are described which combine the technique of plastic-film-isolator containment and a laminar flow sterile environment. These permit the full range of cellular immunology experiments to be performed without compromising the microbiological barrier.
Lesions of experimentally induced Tyzzer's disease in Syrian hamsters, guineapigs, mice and rats
Authors: Waggie K. S. , Thornburg L. P. , Grove K. J. , Wagner J. E.
Published: February 2017

The relative susceptibilities of C57BL/6NCR and BALB/cANNCR mice, F344/NCR rats, 2/NCR guineapigs and CR:RGH Syrian hamsters to Bacillus piliformis infection were determined by orally inoculating 20 weanling females from each species with suspensions of B. piliformis spores. Animals from each group were sequentially necropsied over 2 week periods to document the lesions produced. No significant gross or microscopic lesions were observed in the BALB mice or the Fischer rats. Gross and microscopic lesions were observed in the livers and intestines of many guineapigs and hamsters killed 3–14 days after inoculation. A large lesion was observed in the left cardiac ventricle of one C57BL mouse 10 days after inoculation. Warthin-Starry silver-stained tissue sections revealed clusters of B. piliformis within the cytoplasm of intestinal epithelial cells, smooth muscle cells, hepatocytes and myocytes bordering foci of necrosis in the intestines, liver and heart.
Foot shape prediction using elliptical Fourier analysis
Authors: Wu Ge , Li Duan , Hu Pengpeng , Zhong Yueqi , Pan Ning
Published: February 2017

In this paper, a new method was proposed to establish the relationship between three-dimensional (3D) foot shapes and their two-dimensional (2D) foot silhouettes, through which a complete 3D foot shape can be predicted by simply inputting its two 2D silhouettes. 3D foot scans of 80 participants were randomly selected as the training set, and those of another 20 participants were used as the testing set. Elliptical Fourier analysis (EFA) and principle component analysis (PCA) were adopted to parameterize the 3D foot shapes. A linear regressive model was then developed to predict the 3D foot shape with the foot silhouettes. Experiment results indicated individual 3D foot shape can be predicted with a mean error between 1.21 and 1.27 mm, which can provide enough accuracy for the fit evaluation of footwear.
Why has mortality in England and Wales been increasing? An iterative demographic analysis
Authors: Hiam Lucinda , Dorling Danny , Harrison Dominic , McKee Martin
Published: February 2017

Objectives

To understand why mortality increased in England and Wales in 2015.

Design

Iterative demographic analysis.

Setting

England and Wales

Participants

Population of England and Wales.

Main outcome measures

Causes and ages at death contributing to life expectancy changes between 2013 and 2015.

Results

The long-term decline in age-standardised mortality in England and Wales was reversed in 2011. Although there was a small fall in mortality rates between 2013 and 2014, in 2015 we then saw one of the largest increases in deaths in the post-war period. Nonetheless, mortality in 2015 was higher than in any year since 2008. A small decline in life expectancy at birth between 2013 and 2015 was not significant but declines in life expectancy at ages over 60 were. The largest contributors to the observed changes in life expectancy were in those aged over 85 years, with dementias making the greatest contributions in both sexes. However, changes in coding practices and diagnosis of dementia demands caution in interpreting this finding.

Conclusions

The long-term decline in mortality in England and Wales has reversed, with approximately 30,000 extra deaths compared to what would be expected if the average age-specific death rates in 2006–2014 had continued. These excess deaths are largely in the older population, who are most dependent on health and social care. The major contributor, based on reported causes of death, was dementia but caution was advised in this interpretation. The role of the health and social care system is explored in an accompanying paper.
To Create a Consensus on Malnutrition Diagnostic Criteria
Authors: Cederholm Tommy , Jensen Gordon L.
Published: February 2017

During the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN) Congress in Copenhagen, Denmark (September 2016), representatives of the 4 largest global parenteral and enteral nutrition (PEN) societies from Europe (ESPEN), the United States (American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition [ASPEN]), Asia (Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition Society of Asia [PENSA]), and Latin America (Latin American Federation of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition [FELANPE]) and from national PEN societies around the world met to continue the conversation on how to diagnose malnutrition that started during the Clinical Nutrition Week, Austin, Texas (February 2016). Current thinking on diagnostic approaches was shared; ESPEN suggested a grading approach that could encompass various types of signs, symptoms, and etiologies to support diagnosis. ASPEN emphasized where the parties agree; that is, that the 3 major published approaches (ESPEN, ASPEN‐Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Subjective Global Assessment [SGA]) all propose weight loss as a key indicator for malnutrition. FELANPE suggested that the anticipated consensus approach needs to prioritize a diagnostic method that is available for everybody since resources differ globally. PENSA highlighted that body mass index varies by ethnicity/race and that sarcopenia/muscle mass evaluation is important for the diagnosis of malnutrition. A Core Working Committee of the Global Leadership Initiative on Malnutrition has been established (comprising 2 representatives each from the 4 largest PEN societies) that will lead consensus development in collaboration with a larger working group with broad global representation, using e‐mail, telephone conferences, and face‐to‐face meetings during the upcoming ASPEN and ESPEN congresses. Transparency and external input will be sought. Objectives include (1) consensus development around evidence‐based criteria for broad application, (2) promotion of global dissemination of the consensus criteria, and (3) seeking adoption by the World Health Organization and the International Classification of Diseases.
When Is Parenteral Nutrition Appropriate?
Authors: Worthington Patricia , Balint Jane , Bechtold Matthew , Bingham Angela , Chan Lingtak‐Neander , Durfee Sharon , Jevenn Andrea K. , Malone Ainsley , Mascarenhas Maria , Robinson Daniel T. , Holcombe Beverly
Published: February 2017

Parenteral nutrition (PN) represents one of the most notable achievements of modern medicine, serving as a therapeutic modality for all age groups across the healthcare continuum. PN offers a life‐sustaining option when intestinal failure prevents adequate oral or enteral nutrition. However, providing nutrients by vein is an expensive form of nutrition support, and serious adverse events can occur. In an effort to provide clinical guidance regarding PN therapy, the Board of Directors of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) convened a task force to develop consensus recommendations regarding appropriate PN use. The recommendations contained in this document aim to delineate appropriate PN use and promote clinical benefits while minimizing the risks associated with the therapy. These consensus recommendations build on previous ASPEN clinical guidelines and consensus recommendations for PN safety. They are intended to guide evidence‐based decisions regarding appropriate PN use for organizations and individual professionals, including physicians, nurses, dietitians, pharmacists, and other clinicians involved in providing PN. They not only support decisions related to initiating and managing PN but also serve as a guide for developing quality monitoring tools for PN and for identifying areas for further research. Finally, the recommendations contained within the document are also designed to inform decisions made by additional stakeholders, such as policy makers and third‐party payers, by providing current perspectives regarding the use of PN in a variety of healthcare settings.
Job Insecurity: An Integrative Review and Agenda for Future Research
Authors: Shoss Mindy K.
Published: February 2017

Job insecurity reflects a threat to the continuity and stability of employment as it is currently experienced. Job insecurity has been the focus of increasing scholarly and popular attention in light of technological, economic, and political changes over the past few decades that have left many insecure about the future of their jobs. Yet, conceptual ambiguities exist; the literature remains fragmented; and there lacks an overarching framework through which to organize and reconcile findings. The goal of this article is to offer an integrative review and conceptual framework that addresses these challenges and provides the groundwork for future research. To that end, it proposes a definition of job insecurity that differentiates it from potential antecedents, moderators, and outcomes. The article addresses antecedents and introduces a typology of mechanisms and threat foci that links antecedents to job insecurity and suggests yet unexplored predictors. Furthermore, the framework developed here considers four overarching mechanisms—stress, social exchange, job preservation motivation, and proactive coping—through which job insecurity leads to various outcomes, and it highlights potential competing tensions inherent in individuals’ responses. Finally, the framework introduces threat features, economic vulnerabilities, and psychological vulnerabilities as three overarching categories of variables that moderate reactions to job insecurity, and it identifies factors that contribute to each. In doing so, it suggests important levers through which to influence reactions to job insecurity; it helps explain variability in past research; and it provides a foundation for future work.
Being an Early-Career CMS Academic in the Context of Insecurity and ‘Excellence’: The Dialectics of Resistance and Compliance
Authors: Bristow Alexandra , Robinson Sarah , Ratle Olivier
Published: February 2017

Drawing on a dialectical approach to resistance, we conceptualise the latter as a multifaceted, pervasive and contradictory phenomenon. This enables us to examine the predicament in which early-career Critical Management Studies academics find themselves in the current times of academic insecurity and ‘excellence’, as gleaned through this group’s understandings of themselves as resisters and participants in the complex and contradictory forces constituting their field. We draw on 24 semi-structured interviews to map our participants’ accounts of themselves as resisters in terms of different approaches to tensions and contradictions between, on the one hand, the interviewees’ Critical Management Studies alignment and, on the other, the ethos of business school neoliberalism. Emerging from this analysis are three contingent and interlinked narratives of resistance and identity – diplomatic, combative and idealistic – each of which encapsulates a particular mode (negotiation, struggle, and laying one’s own path) of engaging with the relationship between Critical Management Studies and the business school ethos. The three narratives show how early-career Critical Management Studies academics not only use existing tensions, contradictions, overlaps and alliances between these positions to resist and comply with selected forces within each, but also contribute to the (re-)making of such overlaps, alliances, tensions and contradictions. Through this reworking of what it means to be both Critical Management Studies scholars and business school academics, we argue, early-career Critical Management Studies academics can be seen as active resisters and re-constituters of their complex field.
Experimental conditions of differential reactor method for resin–phenolic compound system
Authors: Kinoshita Tomohiro , Noll Kenneth E , Furuya Eiji
Published: February 2017

For the design of a fixed-bed reactor, intraparticle diffusivity of adsorbents is one of the most important parameters. However, determining this diffusivity is difficult as measuring the effects of fluid film resistance of adsorbents. Shallow-bed (differential reactor) technique is commonly used to determine intraparticle diffusivity. The conventional shallow-bed technique is based on the assumption that fluid film resistance is negligible because of high fluid velocity; hence, the fluid film mass transfer is not calculated. For an activated carbon–phenolic compound system, both intraparticle diffusivity and fluid film mass transfer coefficient were determined using a shallow-bed reactor. However, no one has confirmed the accuracy of the conventional assumption for a synthetic resin adsorbent–phenolic compound system. In general, synthetic resin adsorbents have a larger fluid film resistance than activated carbon. Therefore, this study focused on the effect of fluid film resistance based on the conventional assumption. The conventional analysis method (intraparticle diffusion controlling model) and the new analysis method (both intraparticle diffusion and fluid film mass transfer controlling model) were compared, and the results indicated that the conventional assumption, which neglects the elimination of fluid film resistance, had no effect on intraparticle diffusivity. Therefore, the conventional analysis method is useful for determining intraparticle diffusivity for a resin adsorbent–phenolic compound system.
Development of low-cost iron mixed porous pellet adsorbent by mixture design approach and its application for arsenate and arsenite adsorption from water
Authors: Te Borano , Wichitsathian Boonchai , Yossapol Chatpet , Wonglertarak Watcharapol
Published: February 2017

In this study, natural clay, iron oxide, and iron powder were combined to develop low-cost iron mixed porous pellet adsorbent for arsenate and arsenite removal from aqueous solution in batch experiments. The augmented simplex centroid mixture design was applied to obtain the optimum proportion of each constituent. Higher correlation coefficient of the models (R2 > 0.95), good distribution of residuals, and lower values of p value (<0.05) indicated that the method is suitable for determining the optimum mixture proportion. Extensive decrease of both arsenate and arsenite adsorption occurred in the alkaline condition (pH > 9). Kinetic and isotherm experimental data of both arsenate and arsenite were well described by the pseudo-second order and Sips models, respectively. The maximum adsorption capacity of arsenate and arsenite derived from Sips model were 13.33 and 19.06 mg/g, respectively. The separation and heterogeneity factors showed that both arsenate and arsenite were favorably adsorbed. Among coexisting anions, phosphate significantly showed negative effect on the adsorption of either arsenate or arsenite. The adsorbent could be effectively reused for several times after its regeneration and was considered as non-hazardous material after adsorption.
Social interactions in daily life
Authors: Bernstein Michael J. , Zawadzki Matthew J. , Juth Vanessa , Benfield Jacob A. , Smyth Joshua M.
Published: February 2017

It is well established that individuals who engage in more positive social interactions report a broad array of benefit relative to those with fewer positive social interactions. Yet less is known about how, within individuals, naturally occurring social interactions in daily life relate to momentary indicators of health (e.g., mood, psychological, and physiological stress). The current study used ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to examine these within-person relationships, as well as complementary between-person relationships, among 115 adults (75% female; Mage = 41.21). Participants completed six EMA surveys per day for 3 days to report on whether they experienced any social interactions and whether the interactions were pleasant as well as on their mood, pain, tiredness, interest, and perceived stress; they also provided a salivary cortisol sample after each EMA survey. Multilevel modeling analyses showed that individuals felt more happiness and interest, and less sadness, tiredness, and pain, during moments when they were engaged in a social interaction versus when they were not. Individuals also reported less stress during more pleasant versus less pleasant social interactions. When examining between-person effects, we found evidence that people who gave more pleasant interactions generally reported more positive outcomes. This study presents evidence for intraindividual links between social interactions and momentary health indicators in daily life.
Recommendations for the medical management of chronic venous disease: The role of Micronized Purified Flavanoid Fraction (MPFF)
Authors: Bush Ronald , Comerota Anthony , Meissner Mark , Raffetto Joseph D. , Hahn Steven R. , Freeman Katherine
Published: February 2017

Scope

A systematic review of the clinical literature concerning medical management of chronic venous disease with the venoactive therapy Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction was conducted in addition to an investigation of the hemodynamics and mechanism of chronic venous disease.

Methods

The systematic review of the literature focused on the use of Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction (diosmin) which has recently become available in the US, in the management of chronic venous disease. The primary goal was to assess the level of evidence of the role of Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction in the healing of ulcers, and secondarily on the improvement of the symptoms of chronic venous disease such as edema. An initial search of Medline, Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews and Google Scholar databases was conducted. The references of articles obtained in the primary search, including a Cochrane review of phlebotonics for venous insufficiency, were reviewed for additional studies. Studies were included if patients had a diagnosis of chronic venous disease documented with Doppler and Impedance Plethysmography. Studies excluded were those that had patients with arterial insufficiency (Ankle Brachial Index < .6), comorbidity of diabetes, obesity, rheumatological diseases, or if other causes of edema were present (congestive heart failure, renal, hepatic or lymphatic cause), or if the patient population had recent surgery or deep vein thrombosis, or had been using diuretics (in studies of edema). Other elements of the study design were to note specifically the type of compression therapy used in conjunction with Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction.

Results

The literature review yielded 250 abstracts, 65 of which met criteria for further review and 10 papers were selected for consideration in the systematic review.

Conclusion

In summary, the general level of evidence supports the recommendation that the use of medical therapy with Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction has beneficial outcomes without serious adverse events. In the United States, diosmiplex is the only available prescription formulation of Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction. It is derived from the rinds of oranges and is categorized as a medical food and not as a drug; and may be a particularly attractive therapy for many chronic venous disease patients because of its favorable safety profile. The Working Group for chronic venous disease concurs with previous guidance by the International European Society for Vascular Surgery in 2015 which recommended the use of Micronized Purified Flavonoid Fraction for the healing of venous ulcers, alone and adjunctive to compression therapy, and for the reduction in symptoms of chronic venous disease such as edema.
Hip and pelvic fracture patients with fear of falling: development and description of the “Step by Step” treatment protocol
Authors: Kampe Karin , Kohler Michaela , Albrecht Diana , Becker Clemens , Hautzinger Martin , Lindemann Ulrich , Pfeiffer Klaus
Published: February 2017

Objective:

Based on a theoretical framework and sound evidence, this article describes a rehabilitation programme for patients with fear of falling after hip and pelvic fracture.

Rationale:

Based on exercise science principles, current knowledge from fall prevention, emotion regulation, and the Health Action Process Approach we developed a theoretical framework, from which the components of the intervention were derived.

Description of the intervention:

The intervention consists of 6 components: (1) relaxation, (2) meaningful activities and mobility-based goals, (3) falls related cognitions and emotions, coping with high risk tasks and situations, (4) individual exercise programme, (5) planning and implementing exercises and activities, and (6) fall risks and hazards. The intervention comprises of 8 individual sessions during 3 to 5 weeks of inpatient rehabilitation and 4 telephone calls and 1 home visit over a 2-month post-discharge period. Each session or telephone call takes about 30-60 minutes. It is provided to geriatric hip and pelvic fracture patients with concerns about falling and no cognitive impairment. To ensure completeness of reporting, the Template for Intervention Description and Replication (TIDierR) is used.

Results:

Fifty-seven patients were assigned to the intervention group. All 46 completers met all pre-defined criteria for an intervention per protocol.

Conclusion:

The programme is feasible to administer. We have completed a randomised controlled trial, which will be submitted in due time (for trial protocol: www.isrctn.org ; ISRCTN79191813).
Self-regulation of teenaged pianists during at-home practice
Authors: Pike Pamela D.
Published: February 2017

Professional musicians employ self-regulation and deliberate practice strategies when learning music. Although self-regulation is difficult for beginners, presumably students practice deliberately as music becomes more difficult and they develop musical skills. It is not clear to what extent intermediate piano students self-regulate during learning. This study explored practice strategies used during at-home practice of nine intermediate-level teenaged piano students. Over a two-month period, piano students recorded three videos of themselves practicing. Data were triangulated from coded video, teacher interviews, and student questionnaires regarding practice habits, strategy use, and perceived challenges. Students regularly practiced under less-than-ideal circumstances and had limited attention spans, but skill level was not an indicator of self-regulation. Nine practice strategies were observed and reportedly employed. While six of the students mostly played through repertoire, three participants were motivated to deliberately use practice strategies and they attempted to self-regulate when practicing without a teacher present.
Is the Nature of Communication Relevant to the Supportiveness of Women’s Relationships With Probation and Parole Agents?
Authors: Morash Merry , Kashy Deborah A. , Smith Sandi W. , Cobbina Jennifer E.
Published: February 2017

This article reports on a study of the connection of probation and parole agents’ communication with relationship supportiveness as perceived by both women offenders and agents. For a sample of offenders and their agents, multilevel modeling was used to control for nonindependence of data for women assigned to the same agent. Consistent with communication theory, a conversational approach was positively related to measures of a supportive relationship, and an authoritarian/ conformity pattern of communication was negatively related to a supportive relationship. For low-risk offenders, attention to client-identified problems was positively related to more supportive relationships. For women with high risk for reoffending, the agents viewed themselves as less supportive if they addressed a high proportion of offender-identified needs. Findings suggest the efficacy of training to promote agents’ conversational communication and attention to offender-identified problems. Findings also suggest the need to more fully explore agents’ experience in working with very high-risk offenders.
Global capital, uneven development and national difference: Critical reflections on the specificity of accumulation in Latin America
Authors: Fitzsimons Alejandro Luis , Starosta Guido
Published: February 2017

A recent Special Issue in this journal devoted its pages to discuss the varied forms of capitalist development in different countries and regions across the globe. Specifically, the contributions offered a critical assessment of the hegemonic ‘neo-institutionalist’ approach to the study of national diversity of capitalism, with particular focus on the ‘varieties of capitalism’ approach. This article critically engages with the different alternatives to the varieties of capitalism approach that were put forward and shows that these other perspectives also fall short of providing a convincing framework to address the problematique of national or regional particularities as posed in the debate. In order to offer a more solid explanation of the phenomenon of ‘capitalist variety’, the article draws upon Marx’s fundamental insight into the determination of capital as a materialised social relation which becomes the immediate alienated subject of the organisation of the process of social life and also moves some way beyond it so as to cast fresh light on global transformation and uneven development in recent decades. More concretely, the article further submits that the specificity of the Latin American ‘variety of capitalism’ must be grounded in the constitution and dynamics of the international division of labour which results from the underlying essential unity of the production of relative surplus value on a world scale by the global total social capital. In other words, we grasp the emergence of national specificities as the immanent result of the global unfolding of the ‘law of value’.
Neuropsychiatric Symptoms in Mild Cognitive Impairment
Authors: Gallagher Damien , Fischer Corinne E. , Iaboni Andrea
Published: February 2017

Objective:

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPS) may be the first manifestation of an underlying neurocognitive disorder. We undertook a review to provide an update on the epidemiology and etiological mechanisms of NPS that occur in mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and just before the onset of MCI. We discuss common clinical presentations and the implications for diagnosis and care.

Method:

The authors conducted a selective review of the literature regarding the emergence of NPS in late life, before and after the onset of MCI. We discuss recent publications that explore the epidemiology and etiological mechanisms of NPS in the earliest clinical stages of these disorders.

Results:

NPS have been reported in 35% to 85% of adults with MCI and also occur in advance of cognitive decline. The occurrence of NPS for the first time in later life should increase suspicion for an underlying neurocognitive disorder. The presenting symptom may provide a clue regarding the etiology of the underlying disorder, and the co-occurrence of NPS may herald a more accelerated cognitive decline.

Conclusions:

NPS are prevalent in the early clinical stages of neurocognitive disorders and can serve as both useful diagnostic and prognostic indicators. Recognition of NPS as early manifestations of neurocognitive disorders will become increasingly important as we move towards preventative strategies and disease-modifying treatments that may be most effective when deployed in the earliest stages of disease.
Short Montreal Cognitive Assessment
Authors: Larner A. J.
Published: February 2017

The diagnostic accuracy of the short Montreal Cognitive Assessment (s-MoCA), a cognitive screening instrument recently derived by item response theory and computerized adaptive testing from the original MoCA, for the diagnosis of dementia and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) was assessed in 2 patient cohorts referred to a dedicated memory clinic in order to examine the validity and reproducibility of s-MoCA. Diagnosis used standard clinical diagnostic criteria for dementia and MCI as reference standard (prevalence of cognitive impairment = 0.43 and 0.46 in each cohort, respectively). There were significant differences in s-MoCA test scores for dementia, MCI, and subjective memory impairment ( P ≤ .01), and s-MoCA effect sizes (Cohen d) were medium to large (range: 0.65-1.42) for the diagnosis of dementia and MCI. Using the cut-off for s-MoCA specified in the index study, it proved highly sensitive (>0.9) for diagnosis of dementia but with poor specificity (≤0.25), with moderate sensitivity (≥0.75) and specificity (≥0.60) for diagnosis of MCI. In conclusion, in these pragmatic diagnostic test accuracy studies, s-MoCA proved acceptable and sensitive for the diagnosis of cognitive impairment in a memory clinic setting, with a performance similar to that of the original MoCA.
Pressure drop characteristics for two-phase flow of FC-72 in microchannel
Authors: Choi Yong-Seok , Lim Tae-Woo , You Sam-Sang , Kim Hwan-Seong
Published: February 2017

In this paper, an experimental study on two-phase flow pressure drop of refrigerant FC-72 is carried out in a microchannel. The microchannel has a width and depth of 0.45 and 0.2 mm respectively, and comprises 15 parallel channels with a length of 60 mm. The experiment is conducted under the condition of mass flux of 100.3–458.0 kg/m2s and heat flux of 3.2–49.0 kW/m2. This study analyzed the pressure drop characteristics for two-phase flow by using a separated flow model. To predict the frictional pressure drop, two-phase frictional multiplier obtained from experiments is compared with the existing correlations. The experimental results show that two-phase frictional multipliers rely heavily on the vapor quality. Fractional pressure drop increases as the vapor quality increases. However, the rate of increase in the high vapor quality region decreases as the vapor quality increases. Based on pressure drop characteristics obtained from the experiments, a new correlation is proposed to predict the frictional pressure drop. Two-phase multiplier is modified with the dimensionless parameters such as Reynolds number, Weber number, and Martinelli parameter. The newly developed correlation predicts the experimental results well within a mean absolute error of 8.0%.
Guiding Moral Behavior Through a Reflective Learning Practice
Authors: Hedberg Patricia R.
Published: February 2017

Reflective learning practice embedded across the business curriculum is a powerful way to equip students with intentionally formed moral habits of the mind and heart. This article explores why and how to apply reflective learning to the teaching of business ethics. To act with integrity in complicated work organizations, students need skills and practices that recognize emotional, intuitive, and social moral influences. Actively engaging in reflections designed to deepen self-awareness primes students to turn deliberately to the purpose they want to bring to their organizational lives. Moreover, by critically and openly reflecting with others, they better understand how to manage the cultural and social complexities needed to act with moral courage. Suggestions for using reflective learning practice to support moral action are offered, and I outline examples of how to add both personal and collective ethical reflection to a management course. The challenges and implications of creating a moral reflective learning practice are discussed.
A novel cubature statistically linearized Kalman filter for fractional-order nonlinear discrete-time stochastic systems
Authors: Torabi Hamed , Pariz Naser , Karimpour Ali
Published: February 2017

In this paper, the state estimation problem for fractional-order nonlinear discrete-time stochastic systems is considered. A new method for the state estimation of fractional nonlinear systems using the statistically linearized method and cubature transform is presented. The fractional extended Kalman filter suffers from two problems. Firstly, the dynamic and measurement models must be differentiable and, secondly, nonlinearity is approximated by neglecting the higher order terms in the Taylor series expansion; by the proposed method in this paper, these problems can be solved using a statistically linearized algorithm for the linearization of fractional nonlinear dynamics and cubature transform for calculating the expected values of the nonlinear functions. The effectiveness of this proposed method is demonstrated through simulation results and its superiority is shown by comparing our method with some other present methods, such as the fractional extended Kalman filter.
SDQ Dysregulation Profile and Its Relation to the Severity of Psychopathology and Psychosocial Functioning in a Sample of Children and Adolescents With ADHD
Authors: Caro-Cañizares Irene , Serrano-Drozdowskyj Elena , Pfang Bernadette , Baca-García Enrique , Carballo Juan J.
Published: February 2017

Objective: A substantial number of children and adolescents with ADHD show severe affective and behavioral dysregulation. A dysregulation profile (DP) distinguishes those participants at a higher risk of comorbidity, dysfunction, and a poorer response to treatment. It was identified as high scoring in certain subscales of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ-DP). We developed a cross-sectional study to assess the clinical utility of the SDQ-DP in ADHD. Method: Two hundred fifty clinic-referred children and adolescents with ADHD were assessed. Univariate and linear regression analyses were performed to compare those participants with high levels of SDQ-DP with those with low levels, as well as to examine the association between the SDQ-DP and clinical variables. Results: In all, 28% of ADHD participants had high levels of SDQ-DP. These participants showed higher functional impairment and clinical severity. Conclusion: The use of the SDQ-DP will enable identification of those ADHD patients at greater risk.
Cognitive impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis is associated with atrophy of the inner retinal layers
Authors: Coric Danko , Balk Lisanne J , Verrijp Merike , Eijlers Anand , Schoonheim Menno M , Killestein Joep , Uitdehaag Bernard MJ , Petzold Axel
Published: February 2017

Background:

Inner retinal layer (IRL) atrophy is a potential biomarker for neurodegeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objective:

To investigate the relationship between cognitive impairment and IRL atrophy in MS.

Methods:

Cross-sectional study design, including 217 patients and 59 healthy controls. Subjects were investigated clinically, underwent retinal optical coherence tomography (OCT) and comprehensive cognitive assessments. The association between these modalities was evaluated by regression analyses.

Results:

Of the patients, 44.2% were cognitively impaired. In the absence of multiple sclerosis–associated optic neuritis (MSON), cognitively impaired patients had a significantly lower mean peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL, Δ: 8.13 µm, p < 0.001) and mean macular ganglion cell–inner plexiform layer (mGCIPL, Δ: 11.50 µm, p < 0.001) thickness compared to cognitively preserved patients. There was a significant association between the presence of cognitive impairment and pRNFL (odds ratio (OR): 1.11, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.04–1.18, p = 0.001) and mGCIPL (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.05–1.18, p < 0.001) atrophy. This association was masked by the severe IRL atrophy seen following MSON.

Conclusion:

The strong relationship between cognitive impairment across multiple cognitive domains and atrophy of the pRNFL and mGCIPL in patients who never suffered from MSON suggests that OCT is useful in assessing central nervous system neurodegeneration in MS.
Resilience, resistance, infrapolitics and enmeshment
Authors: Bourbeau Philippe , Ryan Caitlin
Published: February 2017

A great deal has been written in the International Relations literature about the role of resilience in our social world. One of the central debates in the scholarship concerns the relationship between resilience and resistance, which several scholars consider to be one of mutual exclusivity. For many theorists, an individual or a society can either be resilient or resistant, but not both. In this article, we argue that this understanding of the resilience–resistance connection suffers from three interrelated problems: it treats resilience and resistance as binary concepts rather than processes; it presents a simplistic conception of resilient subjects as apolitical subjects; and it eschews the ‘transformability’ aspect of resilience. In a bid to resolve these issues, the article advocates for the usefulness of a relational approach to the processes of resilience and resistance, and suggests an approach that understands resilience and resistance as engaged in mutual assistance rather than mutual exclusion. The case of the Palestinian national liberation movement illustrates our set of arguments.
The nonideological component of coalition preferences
Authors: Nyhuis Dominic , Plescia Carolina
Published: February 2017

Recent research on political attitudes has emphasized that coalition preferences determine electoral choices, prompting scholars to investigate the sources of coalition preferences. While it is not surprising that coalition preferences are strongly informed by spatial considerations, several studies have drawn attention to additional nonideological factors. Relying on this insight, the present study aims to systematically investigate the nonideological or valence component of coalition preferences. In order to decompose attitudes into their principal ideological and nonideological components, we apply a Bayesian unfolding model to coalition sympathy ratings. We find that coalitions differ strongly with regard to their valence component. This surplus cannot be reconstructed as a linear combination of the coalitions’ constituent party valences and is predominantly structured by campaign valence.