bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Video Recording Custodial Interrogations: Implications of Psychological Science for Policy and Practice
Authors: Lassiter G. Daniel , Lindberg Matthew J.
Published: February 2015

Many of the wrongful convictions that have been brought to light over the last decade have their roots in the interrogation phase of criminal investigations where coerced or false confessions are sometimes extracted from detained crime suspects. A “simple” solution has been advanced to correct this particular problem: video record all custodial interrogations. Certainly, such a procedural modification has the potential to improve the administration of justice; however, prudence calls for some consideration of its possible pitfalls. Toward that end, we briefly review some relevant psychological science that points to significant limitations inherent in the video-recording practice. Some limitations can be offset with proper implementation of the practice, and in these instances we provide research-based recommendations for achieving it. Other drawbacks, however, cannot be as easily rectified, and in these cases criminal justice practitioners and mental health professionals should heed the old adage, “forewarned is forearmed,” when making use of video-recorded interrogations.
Admissibility of Expert Testimony Based on the Grisso and Gudjonsson Scales in Disputed Confession Cases
Authors: Fulero Solomon M.
Published: February 2015

While Grisso's scales for the measurement of competency to waive Miranda rights were originally developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, they were published for commercial use in 1998. Similarly, the Gudjonsson scale for the measurement of interrogative suggestibility was developed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but published for commercial use in 1997. Since that time, psychologists have sought to use these scales as the basis for expert testimony in cases involving a defendant's competency to waive Miranda rights, and in cases involving a defendant's confession in which the defense is based on the argument that the defendant was suggestible and therefore may have given a false confession. Such cases are beginning to be reported, as the use of the scales becomes more common, and as they are challenged under Daubert or Frye standards of admissibility. This article looks at the emerging case law in this area.
Interviewing Immigrant Children for Suspected Child Maltreatment
Authors: Fontes Lisa Aronson
Published: February 2015

This article examines challenges posed in forensic interviews of immigrant children when there is a suspicion that these children may be victims of child abuse or neglect. Suggestions are made for interviewers regarding the interview setting, preparations, building rapport, conveying respect, narrative training, pacing the interview, and trauma symptoms that may stem from issues that are unrelated to the abuse.
Persistent Problems with the “Separation Test” in Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy
Authors: Pankratz Loren
Published: February 2015

Munchausen syndrome by proxy remains a controversial diagnosis because information is easily tainted to make the mother appear responsible for her child's symptoms. This article focuses on the “separation test,” which is often recommended on the basis of misrepresented mortality rates. Once the child has been removed, the separation test is seldom used to evaluate alternative hypotheses (falsify the diagnosis), but most often to gather evidence against the mother. The basic rules of science and clinical medicine must be followed or false positive cases will be unacceptably high. Alternatives to the separation test are recommended.
Adaptive Behavior Alcohol Spectrum and Fetal Disorders
Authors: Edwards William J. , Greenspan Stephen
Published: February 2015

Adaptive Behavior is a construct originally invented as a prong for diagnosing Mental Retardation, but it has come to also play a role in diagnosing Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD). In this paper, we: (a) describe the meaning and measurement of adaptive behavior, including the need for improved measures (b) illustrate clinical and research uses of the construct, in establishing the diagnosis and behavioral profile of people who have FASD and (c) discuss the forensic uses of adaptive behavior for people with FASD in establishing a mitigation case in criminal proceedings, including possible extension of Atkins (death penalty exemption) protection for people with organic impairments who function just as if they have mental retardation in spite of possessing IQ scores in the borderline range.
Screening, Diagnosis, and Intervention with Juvenile Offenders
Authors: Bisgard Eileen B. , Fisher Suzette , Adubato Susan , Louis Meghan
Published: February 2015

This article overviews the research regarding youth with FASD in the juvenile justice system and describes three programs in the United States in which juvenile offenders are screened for FASD, then diagnosed and provided interventions specific to their needs. Programs in Colorado and Minnesota identify youth placed on probation and a program in Ohio was within an inpatient facility for delinquent youth. Each program has raised the awareness of providers so that the needs of the youth with FASD can be met more appropriately. The goals are to help these youth function better so that they will have lower rates of recidivism and a better chance of becoming productive citizens. The large number of youth identified in these projects demonstrates the importance of increasing awareness and identification of FASD in juvenile courts.
An Arctic Judge's Journey with FASD
Authors: Jeffery Michael I.
Published: February 2015

A trial court judge knowledgeable about Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders struggles with adapting the operations of his court to the needs of FASD-affected individuals in the Alaskan Arctic. His background in learning about FASD through cases and training and the methods he has brought to the Barrow Superior Court to attempt to make the justice system more understandable and fair to persons affected by FASD are described. His frustration at not being able to evaluate the degree of impairment from FASD experienced by the affected persons in the courtroom and the appropriate accommodations needed for each person are also described.
Ethnic and Cultural Factors in Identifying Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Woods George W. , Greenspan Stephen , Agharkar Bhushan S.
Published: February 2015

A large percentage of those involved in the criminal justice system are poor and represent ethnic minorities, and many of them were born to mothers who drank during pregnancy. In this article, we review literature pertaining to physical, social, cognitive, and neurological deficits of individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD), exploring the possibility that these deficits or their outward expression may be affected by cultural and ethnic influences. For the most part, the evidence suggests that the indicators of FASD are universal across all racial and cultural groups. These indicators are, however, often obscured in individuals from certain backgrounds, due to the salience of what might be termed “cultural overshadowing.” This could be considered a form of unconscious or institutional discrimination, in that it denies criminal defendants from certain cultural backgrounds the opportunity to have courts take into account the possibility that their alleged or proven offenses were affected by serious brain-based impairments in reasoning and judgment. The law allows for consideration of these impairments in both sentencing and mitigation.
Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders and Victimization: Implications for Families, Educators, Social Services, Law Enforcement, and the Judicial System
Authors: Thiel Karen Smith , Baladerian Nora J. , Boyce Katharine R. , Cantos Olegario D. , Davis Leigh Ann , Kelly Kathryn , Mitchell Kathleen Tavenner , Stream James
Published: February 2015

Individuals with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) are vulnerable to many forms of victimization. FASD is associated with cognitive deficits and a set of behaviors that may limit an individual's ability to recognize and report victimization experiences and provide testimony in judicial proceedings. Services must be established and provided to educate and train individuals with FASD, their family members, teachers, and social service workers to prevent victimization and report victimization when it occurs. Law enforcement and the judicial system also should develop systems to protect the rights of individuals with FASD who are victimized, especially when they appear as witnesses.
A Court Team Model for Young Children in Foster Care: The Role of Prenatal Alcohol Exposure and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders
Authors: Burd Larry , Cohen Constance , Shah Rizwan , Norris Judy
Published: February 2015

Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) is common with about 80,000 women continuing to drink through all three trimesters of pregnancy each year. PAE is also associated with postnatal adversities, including abuse and neglect, which increase risk for foster care placement. Each day 700 children enter the foster care system. A diagnosis of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) also increases the risk for foster care placement. Among children diagnosed with FASD 70% are or have been in foster care. FASD prevalence rates are increased 10- to 15-fold in foster care systems. Foster care is an important opportunity to detect FASD and provide services to infants and children with FASD. FASD is the third most common identifiable cause of mental retardation in the United States. We describe a court-team-based model of care developed to improve management of children with PAE or FASD entering foster care. The programmatic objectives include: enhancing detection of PAE; screening for FASD; increased consideration of FASD as a potential issue in treatment planning with foster parents; improved entry into treatment; and increased surveillance for parents with an FASD.
Parasomnias, Violence and the Law
Authors: Weiss Kenneth J. , Watson Clarence , Markov Dimitri , Del Busto Elena , Foubister Nicole , Doghramji Karl
Published: February 2015

In this review, we trace the parallel development of scientific understanding of parasomnias and the jurisprudence of violent behavior during sleep. Before sleep physiology was studied, it was generally self-evident that sleeping persons would not be criminally responsible. Though the problem of malingering was acknowledged in early American forensic psychiatry, the defendant with sleepwalking or sleep drunkenness was treated leniently. Over the past half century, sleep physiology has been examined and there is a developing nomenclature for sleep disorders. Though there is no clear-cut correlation between violence and sleep, several parasomnias have been implicated. We discuss contemporary concepts of parasomnias and suggest how expert witnesses might apply this knowledge to the difficult matter of assessing criminal intent and responsibility.
Competence Assessment, Diverse Abilities, and a Pro Se Standard
Authors: Moore Jennifer L. , Ramsland Katherine
Published: February 2015

In June 2008 the Supreme Court of the United States addressed the implications of mental illness on a defendant's constitutional right to self-representation in the case of Indiana v. Edwards. This article examines the Court's holding in Edwards from both legal and psychological perspectives. Additionally, particular factors essential for establishing a specific standard of analysis to evaluate pro se competency are addressed.
A Pilot Study of Job Satisfaction in Massachusetts Judges
Authors: Norris Donna M. , Commons Michael Lamport , Miller Patrice M. , Adams Kathryn Marie , Gutheil Thomas G.
Published: February 2015

This pilot study examined the overall job satisfaction of Massachusetts judges, and additionally addressed these judges' views of what might serve to increase their job satisfaction. Results indicated that these judges were highly satisfied with their jobs, and that they viewed increased pay as the most important contributor to increased job satisfaction, followed by improvements in professional support staff. Various other factors, including geographic location and the availability of computer networking, were viewed by these judges as relatively unimportant.
Attorney Preparedness as Judged by Experts: An Empirical Pilot Study
Authors: Gutheil Thomas G. , Miller Patrice Marie , Commons Michael Lamport
Published: February 2015

This pilot study examines the “preparedness” of attorneys as perceived by respondent expert witnesses. Retaining and opposing counsel were rated with regard to their familiarity with the respondent's qualifications, with the respondent's published writings, and with the psychiatric and legal issues of the case in question. Respondents also addressed whether retaining and opposing counsel were sufficiently ready for deposition, direct examination at trial, and cross examination at trial. Respondents found familiarity with legal issues of the case and readiness for deposition as well as cross examination at trial to be the most salient indicia of “preparedness,” particularly when these attributes were ascribed to opposing counsel.
Effects of Funding Cutbacks in the Mental Health Field on Patient Care and Potential Liability Issues
Authors: Baker Joyce O. , Gutheil Thomas G.
Published: February 2015

Mental health funding cuts and associated reductions in training have exercised a starkly negative effect upon psychiatric patient care in recent years, as reflected in research conducted in the United States and abroad. This article conveys and discusses an illustrative case example with additional reference to appellate and institutional advocacy approaches to the problem.
Legislation Prohibiting Physicians from Asking Patients about Guns
Authors: Falls Brian
Published: February 2015

Several states have recently considered legislation that effectively prohibits physicians from asking patients about firearm ownership. In 2011, Florida passed the Privacy of Firearm Owners Act, which prevented the state's medical personnel from asking patients about gun ownership, documenting information concerning firearms in a patient's medical record, and denying care for patients who refuse to answer questions about gun ownership. This article considers the legislation's constitutionality and its implications for public health, clinical standards of care, and medical ethics.
Administrative Law Adjudications Involving Healthcare Professionals: Mental Health Expert Testimony
Authors: Meyer Donald J. , Drogin Eric Y.
Published: February 2015

Mental health experts are often needed to provide expert testimony about a respondent healthcare professional's retrospective mental state and prospective fitness for duty. This calls for the expert to parse the degree to which educational deficiency and mental illness were substantial contributing factors to any alleged past misconduct, and to offer recommendations for prospective mental health treatment and educational and supervisory remediation of any diagnosed disorders or deficiencies. Unlike adjudication of malpractice—in which the goal is to make an injured party whole by financial compensation for negligent harm—the goal of administrative agency investigation, adjudication, and peer review is to protect the public by serving as an overseer of the quality of the profession. Health care agency investigators and finders of fact require mental health experts who can discern applicable standards of care and procedure and who can offer opinions that may differ in nature substantially from those typically required in ordinary malpractice litigation.
Should Forensic Psychiatrists Conduct Psychological Testing?
Authors: Dattilio Frank M. , Sadoff Robert L. , Drogin Eric Y. , Gutheil Thomas G.
Published: February 2015

Forensic psychiatrists occasionally conduct psychological testing, for a host of reasons that may include a lack of access to psychological consultation, a lack of funding for such consultation, or a genuine belief that they are technically and legally qualified to select, administer, score, and interpret the most suitable instruments for informing a particular medicolegal opinion. This phenomenon may have several clinical, ethical, and legal ramifications, depending upon the forensic psychiatrist's level of training, the forensic issues being addressed, and the nature of the psychological tests employed. In this article, the authors distinguish between what constitute “psychological tests” as opposed to appraisals, rating scales, and inventories. Also addressed is the need for formal training and supervision, including familiarity with the mechanics of test construction and statistically determined interpretive limitations. The authors offer recommendations and provide several case vignettes that illustrate how these issues may surface in both civil and criminal law contexts. The article concludes with the caveat that psychiatrists should avoid using psychological tests without obtaining and maintaining necessary credentials.
Head, Examined: Clarence Darrow's X-Ray Vision of Criminal Responsibility
Authors: Weiss Kenneth J.
Published: February 2015

Shortly after Roentgen's discovery of X-rays and their application to human imaging, the legal profession began to use the technology in litigation. Though the use of brain imaging did not find its way into formal arguments about criminal responsibility early in its evolution, such an analysis has been sought. 19th Century attempts to connect “pathological anatomy” to behavior were mostly disappointing. In 1924, the celebrated murder trial of Leopold and Loeb in Chicago became an early example of the use of scientific testimony that included radiographic exhibits. The penalty-phase decision to spare the defendants' lives was not based on scientific arguments. Sixty years later, the trial of John Hinckley included admission of CT scans to aid psychiatric testimony. Using excerpts from the expert reports and testimony, this article examines the nature and purpose of scientific evidence pertaining to blameworthiness. The author concludes that improvements in neuroimaging will continue to force a dialog between science and the law.
The Use of Narrative and Persuasion in the Child Forensic Psychiatric Report and Testimony
Authors: Steinberg Annie , Fromm Laurentine
Published: February 2015

Narrative is a fundamental means of making sense of experience. As child forensic psychiatrists attempt to convey evidence and opinions via report writing and testimony, they need to bear in mind an obligation to ensure that their efforts are as well received as feasible under the circumstances. This article discusses how narrative can serve functions that include humanizing individuals in the courtroom, giving voice to a young child, explaining interpersonal situations, and gathering and evaluating existing data.
Training Geriatric Psychiatry Fellows in the Medicolegal Aspects of Psychiatric Consultation in the Nursing Home
Authors: Valdez Karen A. , Maust Donovan T. , Streim Joel E.
Published: February 2015

Accredited fellowship training programs in geriatric psychiatry are required to address ethical and legal issues pertaining to mental health in older adults, and to provide clinical experiences that enable trainees to develop competencies in long-term care consultation. The growing number of criminal offenders with mental illness and other disabling conditions that require long-term care, along with comprehensive federal regulations that affect mental health care in nursing homes, is creating a more urgent public health need to train psychiatrists with specific competencies in patient care, interpersonal skills and communication, and systems-based practice as they apply to medicolegal aspects of psychiatric consultation in the nursing home setting. This article reviews legal and regulatory information that is pertinent to training fellows in the care of elderly nursing home residents with mental illness or behavioral problems. It describes several aspects of the Geriatric Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program at the University of Pennsylvania that promote development of skills in geriatric psychiatry consultation in nursing homes.
Ethical and Legal Aspects of Psychosomatic Medicine
Authors: Patel Kajal R. , Weinrieb Robert M.
Published: February 2015

Psychosomatic medicine, also known as C-L (consultation and liaison) psychiatry, is a subspecialty of psychiatry that deals with the interface of psychological, ethical, social, and legal issues arising in clinical medicine. This article addresses ethical and legal aspects of practice in this area utilizing a case-review perspective.
From Nurse Ratched to Modern Forensic Mental Health Nursing
Authors: Brown Kathleen M.
Published: February 2015

Forensic mental health nurses are independent professionals who have individual professional responsibilities, but also share responsibility with medicine, hospitals, incarceration staff, and community teams. These nurses can be found in a variety of practice settings and are important members on a variety of mental health teams. Much has changed—for the better—in the evolution of the forensic mental health nurse in recent decades.
Bearing False Witness: Psychiatric Testimony in Nazi-Influenced Austria, 1928–1929
Authors: Weiss Kenneth J.
Published: February 2015

Dr. Robert Sadoff's teaching of honesty and integrity in forensic psychiatric work resonates both with current ethical principles and the ancient proscription against bearing false witness against one's fellow citizen. This article explores the misuse of psychiatric testimony in a 1928–1929 murder prosecution in Innsbruck, Austria. Amid clear undercurrents of Nazism, a Jewish youth found himself on trial for the murder of his father. Though there was no evidence that he was guilty, the expert testimony included distorted presentations of psychology and Freud's theory of the Oedipus complex. Freud and others protested the misuse of his work to convict the defendant, noting the difficulty in adapting psychoanalytic theory to legal settings. After 2 years in prison, the young man was set free, later becoming a world-renowned portrait photographer. Forensic professionals must continue to be vigilant in self-regulating the use of scientific information in legal settings.
Medication Noncompliance and Criminal Responsibility: Is the Insanity Defense Legitimate?
Authors: Torry Zachary D. , Weiss Kenneth J.
Published: February 2015

Noncompliance with medication therapy and mental health care is prevalent among the mentally ill. Its multifactorial dynamics can include aspects of the illness itself, such as anosognosia. Noncompliance with medication can increase risk of violent or other criminal behavior, but the law currently does not recognize it as a factor in determining culpability. The legal test of insanity that focuses on a “defect of reason from disease of the mind” presumes that the disease was not self-induced. Noncompliance with medication and voluntary intoxication can both be seen as self-induced incapacities, but their adjudication is often quite different. A psychotic condition may be the basis of an excuse, whereas simple intoxication is not. The distinction is not only the obvious one of acts of omission (medication noncompliance) and acts of commission (voluntary intoxication). There are other complicating factors, such as the knowledge of the effects of noncompliance, the mental state prior to the noncompliance, and the presence of any conditions that would excuse or justify it. These and other considerations render the assignment of criminal responsibility for the noncompliant psychiatric offender complex. A possible solution to this would be the application of therapeutic jurisprudence to the noncompliant mentally ill offender.
Accurate and fast-response magnetically suspended flywheel torque control
Authors: Zhou Xinxiu , Zhang Ran , Fang Jiancheng
Published: February 2015

The run-out of a magnetically suspended flywheel (MSFW) rotor invokes speed fluctuation. It is found that the fluctuation alters sinusoidally and synchronously with the rotor rotational frequency, and its amplitude is proportional to the value of the rotor speed, which is different from conventional disturbance. A real-time speed correction method is proposed in this paper to suppress the fluctuation. In addition, the general disturbances in MSFWs have been suppressed by the designed acceleration-based disturbance observer (DOB). It is worth noting that the DOB developed here does not contain a pure derivative, although it is a common problem in the realization of most DOBs. Furthermore, system transient performance is improved by the designed command feedforward controller (FFC). Finally, accurate and fast-response flywheel torque can be obtained.
When do immigrant adolescents feel personally discriminated against? Longitudinal effects of peer preference
Authors: Reitz Anne K. , Asendorpf Jens B. , Motti-Stefanidi Frosso
Published: February 2015

Despite research showing that immigrant adolescents differ in the degree to which they feel personally discriminated against, little is known about individual predictors of their perceived personal discrimination. We studied the role of a major developmental task in adolescence that is highly relevant for discrimination experiences: being liked by peers. We followed N = 532 13-year old immigrant students ( n = 294 boys) in Greek high schools over 2 years to examine longitudinal links between personal ethnic discrimination and social preference among host-national and immigrant classmates. We applied a sociometric method to asses peer preference and we assessed self-perceived preference. Cross-lagged models revealed that preference among host-national peers but not by immigrant peers predicted low personal ethnic discrimination beyond self-perceptions of preference and group ethnic discrimination. Group ethnic discrimination moderated the effect of preference among host-national peers on low personal ethnic discrimination. Peer preference, in turn, did not feed back on personal ethnic discrimination. Findings highlight the importance of being liked by host-national classmates for immigrant adolescents: it can prevent feelings of being personally discriminated against, even if they perceive their group to be discriminated against.
Making the Global Turn
Authors: Jamieson Katherine M.
Published: February 2015

Focusing on the cultural and structural contours of the global sport of golf, this analysis features the rhetorical power of U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (USLPGA) commissioners in narrativizing this “American” global tour. Selected mediated rhetoric of each of these commissioners is read within a post-title 9/11 context, attending to Winant’s notion of “new imperialism” as a process of linking gender and race in a sporting space of globalization. This post-title 9/11 reading illuminates the manner in which USLPGA leadership espouses an elite, global identity and simultaneously acts to contain the very “global” difference it claims to produce. The analysis is also instructive for thinking about the cultural and rhetorical power of commissioners in locating the USLPGA in a set of discourses about globalization, nationalism, and difference.
The Making and Proliferation of Jāti: A Historical Inquiry
Authors: Gurukkal Rajan
Published: February 2015

The article seeks to argue that the making of jāti was homologous with the opening up of deltas for agriculture, involving integration of agro-pastoral descent groups into hereditary specialists of occupational identity, and formation of stratified relations of production transcending kin labour. It emphasises that productive relations in the deltas had preconditions such as hereditary occupations, asymmetrical social relations, amenability to differential allocation of status, and the dominant presence of the Brāhman.a-s with tacitly recognized ritual supremacy, resource potential, social control, political influence and cultural pre-eminence for the emergence of jāti hierarchy. A related argument is that the emergence of hereditary occupation groups and promulgation of sāstraic norms must have been processes of mutuality and concurrence. It has been understood the context of the Jāti institution of coercive control and seigniorial jurisdiction over the labouring body was crucial. As regards proliferation of jāti-s, the argument is that it had been an ongoing process ever since jāti became the dominant paradigm of identity construction for occupational groups and service personnel claiming socio-cultural distinction on the basis of their association with the seigniorial power. Rewarded under land-tenure, the personnel in service to the king and the local chieftains became hereditary for stability of service as well as permanence of family landholding. Illustrating the historical experience of the Tamil South in general and the Kerala region in particular, the argument found feasible is that the proliferation of jāti-s happened as a land tenure based phenomenon under the three seigniorial streams represented by the king, the chieftain and the temple – brahmadēya combine, as realized in terms of the sāstraic norms.
Book Review: Parul Pandya Dhar (ed.), Indian Art History: Changing Perspectives
Authors: Mahalakshmi R.
Published: February 2015

Parul Pandya Dhar (ed.), Indian Art History: Changing Perspectives, DK Printworld and National Museum Institute, New Delhi, 2011, x + 279 pp., ₹1600/-.
The Other Side of Partition
Authors: Ghosh Partha S.
Published: February 2015

Violence, whether caused by ethno-religious conflicts or divisions of political spaces, leads to displacement, within a country or across international borders. The 1947 Partition of India resulted in a huge human exodus in search of security and was accompanied by mass massacres. This traumatic experience left marks on all spheres of life, including culture as expressed in creative efforts in the fields of literature, music, cinema, drama and painting. This article discusses some of these creative impacts. No comprehensive discussion is attempted in this limited space. Rather, the intention is to sensitise younger scholars about the vast research potential of a subject area which remains largely too particularistic and is scattered across disciplines. Hopefully, taking cues from this article, further research would be undertaken in respect of the plentiful South Asian experiences of 1947 and its aftermath.
Transnational Religious Dynamics of Syrian Christians from Kerala in Kuwait
Authors: Oommen Ginu Zacharia
Published: February 2015

This article focuses on changes in religious practices and the rise of radical religious groups among Christian Kerala immigrants to Kuwait after the First Gulf War in 1990–1. The impact of religious revivalism shows how religion has become a site for various identity-based community-centred networks among South Asian immigrants to Gulf countries. The article analyses the ways in which the church is increasingly active among Syrian Christian immigrants of Kerala in post-liberation Kuwait. Such religious groups are transnational in nature, actively linked to both home and destination countries, and the world beyond. The article focuses specifically on the growing affinity of Syrian Christian immigrants towards Pentecostalism. At the macro level, this article also investigates the interconnection between the geopolitical dynamics in the Gulf and the expansion of what appears to be ‘religious space’ in Kuwait.
Balancing Economic Growth and Ecological Sustainability in Sri Lanka
Authors: Vidyaratne Herath
Published: February 2015

This article highlights the negative effects of excessive deforestation for the purpose of new tea cultivation in Sri Lanka over the last 30 years. First, some insights are provided into wider econometric discussions in the context of global academic efforts towards better understanding of the links between environment and development. Later parts of this article focus on Sri Lanka and specific ecological issues of sustainability. The article indicates some statistically supported progress in Sri Lanka’s realisation that export promotion at all costs will have pernicious long-term environmental effects. In light of available data, it is argued that still more can and needs to be done to find an appropriate balance between economic growth and sustainable development.
Second language acquisition across modalities: Production variability in adult L2 learners of American Sign Language
Authors: Hilger Allison I , Loucks Torrey MJ , Quinto-Pozos David , Dye Matthew WG
Published: February 2015

A study was conducted to examine production variability in American Sign Language (ASL) in order to gain insight into the development of motor control in a language produced in another modality. Production variability was characterized through the spatiotemporal index (STI), which represents production stability in whole utterances and is a function of variability in effector displacement waveforms (Smith et al., 1995). Motion capture apparatus was used to acquire wrist displacement data across a set of eight target signs embedded in carrier phrases. The STI values of Deaf signers and hearing learners at three different ASL experience levels were compared to determine whether production stability varied as a function of time spent acquiring ASL. We hypothesized that lower production stability as indexed by the STI would be evident for beginning ASL learners, indicating greater production variability, with variability decreasing as ASL language experience increased. As predicted, Deaf signers showed significantly lower STI values than the hearing learners, suggesting that stability of production is indeed characteristic of increased ASL use. The linear trend across experience levels of hearing learners was not statistically significant in all spatial dimensions, indicating that improvement in production stability across relatively short time scales was weak. This novel approach to characterizing production stability in ASL utterances has relevance for the identification of sign production disorders and for assessing L2 acquisition of sign languages.
Effects of exercise therapy on walking ability in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Authors: Tanaka Ryo , Ozawa Junya , Kito Nobuhiro , Moriyama Hideki
Published: February 2015

Objective:

To examine the effect of exercise therapy on the walking ability of individuals with knee osteoarthritis.

Data sources:

Randomised clinical trials (RCTs) were identified by searching through PubMed, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature. All literature published to October 2014 were included in the search.

Review methods:

Data were collected from RCTs that compared the effects of exercise therapy on walking ability with the effects of no intervention or psychoeducational intervention in participants with knee osteoarthritis. The outcome data on the total distance walked (6-minute walk test); the amount of time spent walking (the time to walk arbitrary distances); and gait velocity were obtained and analysed. Standardized mean differences (SMDs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated.

Results:

Twenty-eight RCTs were identified. Meta-analysis provided very-low-quality evidence that exercise therapy increased the total distance walked in the 6-minute walk test, in comparison with the effects of the control interventions (SMD = 0.44, 95% CI 0.27 to 0.60). Meta-analysis also provided low- or moderate-quality evidence that the amount of time spent walking and gait velocity were improved more by exercise therapy than by the control interventions (the amount of time spent walking: SMD = −0.50, 95% CI −0.70 to −0.30; gait velocity: SMD = 1.78, 95% CI 0.98 to 2.58).

Conclusion:

In individuals with knee osteoarthritis, exercise therapy can improve the amount of time spent walking, gait velocity, and maybe the total distance walked.
‘Less ticking the boxes, more providing support’: A qualitative study on health professionals’ concerns towards the Liverpool Care of the Dying Pathway
Authors: Di Leo Silvia , Romoli Vittoria , Higginson Irene J , Bulli Francesco , Fantini Susanna , Sguazzotti Erica , Costantini Massimo
Published: February 2015

Background:

Despite being widely used, research into the effectiveness of the Liverpool Care of the Dying Pathway (LCP) and associated cases of malpractice does not match dissemination. No study exists focusing on concerns voiced by professionals.

Aim:

To explore the views of professionals who, during the hospital implementation of the Italian version of the Liverpool Care of the Dying Pathway (LCP-I), voiced or showed concerns towards it.

Design:

A qualitative study nested within the LCP-I randomized cluster trial, with semi-structured interviews analysed using thematic analysis.

Setting and participants:

Six nurses and five physicians from six out of the eight hospital wards who completed the LCP-I implementation were interviewed. Eligibility criteria were having taken part in all steps of the LCP-I Programme, voiced or somehow shown concerns, or failed to fully engage with the implementation process.

Results:

A total of 12 categories were identified, referring to four topics: the Implementation Programme, the LCP-I clinical documentation, the hospital environment and the educational and professional background of hospital healthcare staff. Issues raised by participants concerned both ‘real’ characteristics of the LCP-I and a misinterpretation of the LCP-I approach and clinical documentation. Furthermore, difficulties were reported which were not linked to the Programme but rather to end-of-life care.

Conclusion:

This study provides insights into the experience of professionals with negative opinions of or concerns with the LCP-I. A more comprehensive approach to professional training in palliative care is needed and may envisage the development of new interventions aimed at improving the quality of care throughout the illness trajectory.
Specific Cleavage of the Nucleoprotein of Fish Rhabdovirus
Authors: Zhou G.-Z. , Yi Y.-J. , Chen Z.-Y. , Zhang Q.-Y.
Published: February 2015

Siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV) is one of myriad rhabdoviruses recorded in fish. Preliminary data show that inhibition of the SCRV nucleoprotein (N) could significantly reduce the progeny virus titers in infected Epithelioma papulosum cyprinid (EPC) cells. Here, the authors propose that cleavage of the viral 47-kDa N protein is caspase-mediated based on caspase inhibition experiments, transient expression in EPC transfection, and analysis of cleavage sites. Cleavage of the SCRV N protein in culture was prevented by a pan-caspase inhibitor, z-VAD-FMK (z-Val-Ala-DL-Asp-fluoromethyl ketone). Subsequently, N was transiently expressed in EPC cells, the results of which indicated that the specific cleavage of N also occurred in the cells transfected with N-GFP plasmid. Several truncated fragments of the N gene were constructed and transiently transfected into EPC cells. Immunoblotting results indicated that D324 and D374 are the cleavage sites of N by caspases. The authors also found that z-VAD-FMK could inhibit the cytopathic effect in SCRV-infected EPC cells but not affect the production of infectious progeny, suggesting that the caspase-mediated cleavage of N protein is not required for in vitro SCRV replication. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first report on the cleavage of rhabdovirus proteins.
Can music reduce anti-dark-skin prejudice? A test of a cross-cultural musical education programme
Authors: Neto Félix , da Conceiçao Pinto Maria , Mullet Etienne
Published: February 2015

The study examined the impact of a cross-cultural musical programme on young Portuguese adolescents’ anti-dark-skin prejudice. A sample of 229 sixth-grade pupils who attended public schools in the area of Lisbon, Portugal, were presented with the Implicit Association Test (IAT) – an instrument that measures the strength with which dark-skinned faces or light-skinned faces are associated with attributes that can be considered as negative or positive, and with a test measuring explicit anti-dark-skin prejudice. Half of the pupils were subsequently exposed, at school, to a 6-month musical programme that included Cape Verdean songs and Portuguese songs. The other half was exposed to the usual programme. Measures taken at the end of the programmes showed a reduction in anti-dark-skin prejudice, either implicit or explicit, among pupils in the experimental group and no reduction among pupils in the control group. Measures taken 3 months later and 2 years later showed that the impact of the experimental programme was enduring.
Biomechanical Performance of Baseball Pitchers With a History of Ulnar Collateral Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Fleisig Glenn S. , Leddon Charles E. , Laughlin Walter A. , Ciccotti Michael G. , Mandelbaum Bert R. , Aune Kyle T. , Escamilla Rafael F. , MacLeod Toran D. , Andrews James R.
Published: February 2015

Background:

A relatively high number of active professional baseball pitchers have a history of ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction (UCLr) on their throwing elbow. Controversy exists in the literature about whether professional baseball pitchers regain optimal performance after return from UCLr. It has been suggested that pitchers may have different biomechanics after UCLr, but this has not been previously tested.

Hypothesis:

It was hypothesized that, compared with a control group without a history of UCLr, professional pitchers with a history of UCLr would have (1) significantly different throwing elbow and shoulder biomechanics; (2) a shortened stride, insufficient trunk forward tilt, and excessive shoulder horizontal adduction, characteristics associated with “holding back” or being tentative; (3) late shoulder rotation; and (4) improper shoulder abduction and trunk lateral tilt.

Study Design:

Controlled laboratory study.

Methods:

A total of 80 active minor league baseball pitchers (and their 8 Major League Baseball organizations) agreed to participate in this study. Participants included 40 pitchers with a history of UCLr and a matched control group of 40 pitchers with no history of elbow or shoulder surgery. Passive ranges of motion were measured for each pitcher’s elbows and shoulders, and then 23 reflective markers were attached to his body. The pitcher took as many warm-up pitches as desired and then threw 10 full-effort fastballs for data collection. Ball speed was recorded with a radar gun. The reflective markers were tracked with a 10-camera, 240-Hz automated motion analysis system. Eleven biomechanical parameters were computed for each pitch and then averaged for each participant. Demographic, range of motion, and biomechanical parameters were compared between the UCLr group and the control group by use of Student t tests (significance set at P < .05).

Results:

All hypotheses were rejected, as there were no differences in pitching biomechanics between the UCLr group and the control group. There were also no differences in passive range of motion between the 2 groups.

Conclusion:

Compared with a control group, active professional pitchers with a history of UCLr displayed no significant differences in shoulder and elbow passive range of motion and no significant differences in elbow and shoulder biomechanics.

Clinical Relevance:

Clinical studies have previously shown that 10% to 33% of professional pitchers do not return to their preinjury level; however, the current study showed that those pitchers who successfully return to professional baseball after UCLr pitch with biomechanics similar to that of noninjured professionals.
Financialization, Private Equity, and Employment Relations in the United States
Authors: Kalleberg Arne L.
Published: February 2015

Private equity (PE) firms are a key actor in the increasing financialization of the economy since the 1980s and have had profound effects on the nature and consequences of work. Private Equity at Work by Eileen Appelbaum and Rosemary Batt provides a timely and comprehensive overview of what PE is, how it makes money, and how it affects the companies and employees it acquires. The book also evaluates PE’s role in the American economy and outlines a variety of strategies that are needed to address its negative consequences. The authors conclude that while PE benefits its investors, it often does so at the expense of the acquired companies and their workers as they eliminate and degrade jobs.
Tetrachloroethene recovery and hazard reduction of spent powders from dry cleaning process
Authors: Petrucci Elisabetta , Scarsella Marco , De Filippis Paolo , Di Palma Luca
Published: February 2015

Dry cleaning facilities using perchloroethylene produce a solid waste consisting of spent filtering powders with a high content of residual perchloroethylene, together with dyes and non-volatile residues. Untreated spent powders, classified as hazardous waste, cannot be disposed in landfill and incineration represents the only viable alternative. In this study, together with a full characterisation of the waste, the removal and recovery of the residual perchloroethylene by means of different heat treatments was investigated. In particular, tests of distillation and stripping with air and steam were carried out, evaluating the effectiveness of the treatments by quantifying the residual perchloroethylene in the samples treated. The results obtained show that the spent filtering powders contained about 25% wt. of perchloroethylene and that the maximum perchloroethylene recovery was obtained by steam stripping; approximately 98% after only 50 minutes. However, this treatment accounted for the production of a liquid mixture containing perchloroethylene and of a solid waste that required a further washing with boiling water to decrease the residual organic content below the eligibility criteria for landfill disposal.
Piero Sraffa and the Production of Commodities by Means of Magic
Authors: Jefferies William
Published: February 2015

Piero Sraffa’s The Production of Commodities by Means of Commodities is the seminal attempt to create a physical, rather than a social, numeraire to measure the price of commodities. Sraffa’s physical numeraire is predicated on the physical identity and, therefore, direct commensurability of inputs and outputs. It is considered to be the viable alternative to Ricardo and Marx’s social numeraire that used labour time to measure the value of incommensurate inputs and outputs. Sraffa’s assumption of the identity of inputs and outputs contradicts the essential nature of the production process itself, where human activity changes one set of inputs into a different, and therefore incommensurate, set of outputs. This false premise underpins every critique of labour value theory, including from Samuelson and Steedman. Paradoxically, Sraffa’s assumptions also underpin the work of Marxists, notably Freeman and Kliman, who attempt to defend labour value theory in models where it does not apply.