bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prevalence and Determinants of Parathyroid Dysfunction in Elderly Patients on Hemodialysis
Authors: Lu Jian-rao , Yi Yang , Tian Jun , Xiong Chong-xiang , Wang Xin-hua , Hu Jing , Chen Xiu-feng
Published: March 2014

Background: The goal of this study was to investigate underlying factors of parathyroid dysfunction in elderly patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. Methods: A total of 286 patients on maintenance hemodialysis were included. Hemoglobin, serum creatinine (Scr), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), serum calcium, serum phosphorus (P), intact parathyroid hormone (iPTH), and serum albumin (Alb) were measured and analyzed both before and after dialysis. Results: A higher incidence of low iPTH level (<150 pg/l) was observed in the elderly group than that in the non-elderly group (55.8 vs. 36.7%, p < 0.05). Elderly patients had a shorter dialysis duration, lighter dry weight, lower concentrations of BUN, Scr, P, iPTH, Alb and standard protein nitrogen present rate (nPNA) compared to that of non-elderly group patients (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Low iPTH level occurs more frequently in elderly hemodialysis patients. Furthermore, age, serum P, serum Alb and nPNA were independently associated with a low iPTH level.
Postmortem Cardiovascular Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Fetuses and Children
Authors: Taylor Andrew M. , Sebire Neil J. , Ashworth Michael T. , Schievano Silvia , Scott Rosemary J. , Wade Angie , Chitty Lyn S. , Robertson Nikki , Thayyil Sudhin
Published: March 2014

Background—

Perinatal and pediatric autopsies have declined worldwide in the past decade. We compared the diagnostic accuracy of postmortem, cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging with conventional autopsy and histopathology assessment in fetuses and children.

Methods and Results—

We performed postmortem magnetic resonance imaging in 400 fetuses and children, using a 1.5-T Siemens Avanto magnetic resonance scanner before conventional autopsy. A pediatric CMR imager reported the CMR images, masked to autopsy information. The pathologists were masked to the information from CMR images. The institutional research ethics committee approved the study, and parental consent was obtained. Assuming a diagnostic accuracy of 50%, 400 cases were required for a 5% precision of estimate. Three cases were excluded from analysis, 2 with no conventional autopsy performed and 1 with insufficient CMR sequences performed. Thirty-eight CMR data sets were nondiagnostic (37 in fetuses ≤24 weeks; 1 in a fetus >24 weeks). In the remaining 359 cases, 44 cardiac abnormalities were noted at autopsy. Overall sensitivity and specificity (95% confidence interval) of CMR was 72.7% (58.2–83.7%) and 96.2% (93.5–97.8%) for detecting any cardiac pathology, with positive and negative predictive values of 72.7% (58.2–83.7%) and 96.2% (93.5–97.8%), respectively. Higher sensitivity of 92.6% (76.6–97.9%), specificity of 99.1% (97.4–99.7%), positive predictive value of 89.3% (72.8–96.3%), and negative predictive value of 99.4% (97.8–99.8%) were seen for major structural heart disease.

Conclusions—

Postmortem CMR imaging may be a useful alternative to conventional cardiac autopsy in fetuses and children for detecting cardiac abnormalities.

Clinical Trial Registration—

URL:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov
. Unique identifier: NCT01417962.
Encountering Extraordinary Worlds: The Rules of Ethnographic Engagement and the Limits of Anthropological Knowing
Authors: Kahn Joel S.
Published: March 2014

Abstract

This article explores the ways anthropology might both draw on and contribute to current debates on religion by asking how the ethnographic encounter provides a perspective from which to address “bigger” questions about the place of religion in modern lifeworlds. In particular, the article addresses situations in which the gap between anthropological “construals” of the world and those of its research subjects becomes impossible to ignore. I begin by the phenomenological strategy of “suspending disbelief.” This turns out to be problematic in the light of the postmodern/poststructuralist critique of phenomenology, which suggests that “experience,” being so tightly bound up in context, cannot be shared across cultural, linguistic, and ontological boundaries. However, to refuse to take our respondents’ claims about extraordinary experience seriously is hardly the democratizing move that anthropologists and others claim it to be. How, then, is the experiential dimension to be incorporated into ethnographic practice? Acknowledging the multiple ways in which anthropologists are bound up in an already constituted world of encounters challenges many of the received understandings of ethnography. It allows us to bring experience back into the anthropological frame by allowing us to see that experiences deemed extraordinary — “ours” as well as “theirs” — are a valid and crucial component of human existence. If “we” are part of “their” world and they are part of ours, can we really not share experiences across the ontological divide?
Cold War Correspondents and the Possibilities of Convergence: American Journalists in the Soviet Union, 1968–1979
Authors: Magnúsdóttir Rósa
Published: March 2014

This article examines the writings of six American journalists who were stationed in the Soviet Union during the crucial period of détente in 1968–1979. All of them took their role as integrated observers of Soviet society seriously and published book length accounts of their experiences in Russia. They claimed that inside knowledge of Russian history and the Russian people was important for trying to understand the possibilities for change in the Soviet Union. In the process of getting to know the Soviet Union, however, they also revealed the importance of their own cultural background and expectations. They reached the conclusion that while change was possible in the consumer sphere, Russian history and Soviet ideology stood in the way of political convergence.
A Novel Financial Market for Mitigating Hurricane Risk. Part I: Market Structure and Model Results
Authors: Wilks Daniel S. , Horowitz Kenneth A.
Published: March 2014

A novel financial market for hedging the effects of landfalling hurricanes is described and illustrated. The structure of the market is one sided and parimutuel, so that participants buy contracts pertaining to hurricane landfall locations from an exchange rather than from other market participants, and settlements for contracts associated with the landfall location are funded by purchases in all other outcomes. Contract prices are updated automatically and objectively using a recently developed adaptive control algorithm that responds to inferred aggregate probability assessments of the market participants. The market is intended to supplement insurance by providing a mechanism to shift risk for costs not covered under existing windstorm insurance. Operation of the market mechanism is illustrated in an idealized setting and in a spatially explicit historical simulation for Hurricane Charley (2004). A companion paper in this issue describes empirical validation of this market mechanism in an experimental market setting.
Impact of Nasal Surgery on Speech Resonance
Authors: Brandt Michael G. , Rotenberg Brian W. , Moore Corey C. , Bornbaum Catherine C. , Dzioba Agnieszka , Glicksman Jordan T. , Doyle Philip C.
Published: March 2014

Objectives:

The nose and paranasal sinuses contribute to speech resonance and changes to these structures may alter speech nasality. This change may influence one’s vocational and social functioning and quality of life. Our investigation explored objective and subjective changes in nasality following nasal surgery in a prospective and longitudinal fashion.

Methods:

Recordings of sustained vowel and sentence stimuli and voice-related quality of life measurements were obtained preoperatively and at 2, 4, 8, and 24 weeks postoperatively from individuals undergoing nasal and/or sinus surgery. Objective measures of fundamental frequency, jitter, shimmer, and harmonic to noise ratio (HNR) were determined. Pre- and postoperative speech samples were assessed by 15 naïve listeners.

Results:

In all, 15 subjects completed the study. Neither speakers nor listeners perceived a subjective change in nasality following surgery. No statistically significant change in microacoustic measures were identified. Although nasal sentences did not reveal differences for 3 microacoustic measures, a difference in HNR was identified.

Conclusions:

Patients undergoing nasal surgery did not exhibit subjective changes in resonance postoperatively. Aside from a difference in HNR for the nasal sentence, objective microacoustics remained unchanged. These results demonstrate the stability of oranasal resonance despite nasal surgery and provide valuable data for patient informed decision-making.
Effectiveness of a Medicolegal Lecture on Risk-Reduction Medical Record Documentation by Pediatric Residents
Authors: Otillio Jaime K. , Park Daniel B. , Hewett Kathryn M. , Losek Joseph D.
Published: March 2014

Objective. To determine the effectiveness of a medicolegal lecture on risk-reduction documentation by residents in a pediatric emergency department. Design/Methods. Pediatric residents at an academic children’s hospital were offered a 1-hour lecture on reducing medicolegal risks. Residents in attendance made up the intervention group (IG) and nonattendants were the control group (CG). The primary outcome was risk-reduction documentation (RRD) using patients with chief complaints of abdominal pain, extremity fractures, and lacerations with potential foreign body. Results. For abdominal pain patients, RRD by IG improved 6.1% compared with 15.1% for the CG. For fracture patients, RRD by IG improved 20% compared with 26.5% decrease by CG. For laceration patients, RRD by IG decreased 20.8% compared with 30.6% decrease by CG. Although none reached statistical significance, the postintervention IG rates were greater. Conclusions. We showed a trend toward improvement in the rate of risk-reduction medical record documentation.
Effectiveness of Omega-3 Polysaturated Fatty Acids (Fish Oil) Supplementation for Treating Hypertriglyceridemia in Children and Adolescents
Authors: Chahal Nita , Manlhiot Cedric , Wong Helen , McCrindle Brian W.
Published: March 2014

Limited pharmacological options are available for management pediatric hypertriglyceridemia. We examined the effectiveness of dietary fish oil supplementation as a means to reduce triglyceride levels in pediatric patients. We reviewed 111 children aged 8 to 18 years with hypertriglyceridemia (≥1.5 mmol/L) undergoing treatment in a specialized dyslipidemia clinic. At the treating cardiologist’s discretion, 60 subjects received nonprescription fish oil supplementation (500-1000 mg/d), while the remaining patients did not. Initially there were no baseline differences between groups, including the use of concomitant lipid-lowering medication. Treatment with fish oil was associated with a potential clinically relevant but non-statistically significant decrease in triglycerides and triglyceride-to-high-density lipoprotein (HDL) ratio. Fish oil had no effect on HDL-cholesterol, non-HDL-cholesterol, or total cholesterol. All associations remained unchanged when adjusted for body mass index z score, nutrition, physical activity, and screen time. Fish oil supplementation was not significantly effective in treating hypertriglyceridemia in pediatric patients.
The sociology of gender in Southern perspective
Authors: Connell Raewyn
Published: March 2014

In its founding generations, sociology was greatly concerned with gender, as part of its theorizing of the world of colonialism and empire. Sociology then focused on the global metropole, so its analysis of gender in the decades since the Women’s Liberation movement has been developed in a Northern container. This can now change, if the extraversion of sociology around the global South can be overcome. The thematics of gender analyses in the periphery highlight historical processes of the formation and disruption of gender orders, dealing with issues of violence and land. The work of a number of gender theorists and researchers from the South is discussed. The material conditions of knowledge formation in developing countries have to be recognized, as well as the differing ways intellectuals in the South handle influences from the metropole. New issues have emerged in the sociology of gender as a neoliberal world order has taken shape, producing new patterns of masculinized power as well as pathways of change for women.
Still notable: Reassessing theoretical “exceptions” in Canadian foreign policy literature
Authors: Black David R , Smith Heather A
Published: March 2014

This article revisits our 1993 field analysis of the theoretical condition of Canadian foreign policy (CFP) literature, which was in turn a response to Maureen Molot's 1990 argument that said literature had “been captured by its own preoccupations and ha[d], therefore, remained highly descriptive.” In our analysis, we found the field to be marked by promising yet exceptional and arrested theoretical openings and a lack of cumulation, broadly understood. We are struck today by the degree to which our core assessment still holds. In this article, we return to the arguments advanced in 1993 as the foundation for evaluating some key theoretical developments in the intervening years. We focus on the “critical turn” in CFP, the contributions of feminist scholars, and the rise of mainstream social science or “problem-solving” approaches, which we see as the most explicitly and self-consciously “theorized” approaches within the field. We conclude by looking afresh at the question of cumulation and reflecting on the fluidity of who and what constitutes the field today.
A study on the effects of organoclay content and compatibilizer addition on the properties of biodegradable poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposites under natural weathering
Authors: Phua Yi Jing , Lau Nyok-Sean , Sudesh Kumar , Chow Wen Shyang , Ishak ZA Mohd.
Published: March 2014

Biodegradable poly(butylene succinate)/organo-montmorillonite nanocomposites were prepared at different organo-montmorillonite loadings, using maleic anhydride-grafted poly(butylene succinate) as compatibilizer. Poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposites were exposed to outdoor natural weathering for 180 days. Weight loss and decrease in mechanical properties after weathering revealed the degradation of poly(butylene succinate). Natural weathering caused photo-oxidation on poly(butylene succinate), leading to the formation of degraded products, as manifested in Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Gel permeation chromatography showed a significant reduction in molecular weight after weathering. It was noted that poly(butylene succinate) nanocomposite exhibited lower degradability as compared to neat poly(butylene succinate), due to the enhanced barrier properties after the addition of organo-montmorillonite. However, the incorporation of maleic anhydride-grafted poly(butylene succinate) increased the degradability. Degree of crystallinity of poly(butylene succinate) reduced after weathering, as shown in differential scanning calorimetry. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed fungal and bacterial colonization on the sample surface. In addition, the isolation and identification of bacterial strain were also performed.
Connecting Societal Change to Value Differences Across Generations
Authors: Manago Adriana M.
Published: March 2014

This study tests the hypothesis that societal change from subsistence agriculture to a market economy with higher levels of formal schooling leads to an increase in individualistic values that guide human development. Values relating to adolescent development and the transition to adulthood were compared across three generations of women in 18 families in the Maya community of Zinacantán in southern Mexico. Grandmothers grew up in Zinacantán when it was a farming community; mothers grew up during the introduction of commerce in the late 1970s and 1980s; daughters are now experiencing adolescence with an opportunity to attend high school in their community. Comparisons were also conducted between 40 female and male adolescents in high school and a matched sample of 40 adolescents who discontinued school after elementary. Values were measured using eight ethnographically derived social dilemmas about adolescent relationships with parents and peers, work and family gender roles, and sexuality and partnering. One character in the dilemmas advocates for interdependent values; a second character advocates for independent values. High school adolescents were more likely to endorse characters articulating independent values than non–high school adolescents, mothers, and grandmothers. Involvement in a market economy was also associated with higher levels of independent value endorsement in the mother and grandmother generations. Results suggest that the introduction of commerce drove value changes between grandmother and mother generations, and now schooling drives change. Qualitative examples of participants’ responses also illustrate how families negotiate shifting values.
The Role of Oral Pathobionts in Dysbiosis during Periodontitis Development
Authors: Jiao Y. , Hasegawa M. , Inohara N.
Published: March 2014

An emerging concept is the tight relationship between dysbiosis (microbiota imbalance) and disease. The increase in knowledge about alterations in microbial communities that reside within the host has made a strong impact not only on dental science, but also on immunology and microbiology as well as on our understanding of several diseases. Periodontitis is a well-characterized human disease associated with dysbiosis, characterized by the accumulation of multiple bacteria that play individual and critical roles in bone loss around the teeth. Dysbiosis is largely dependent on cooperative and competitive interactions among oral microbes during the formation of the pathogenic biofilm community at gingival sites. Oral pathobionts play different and synergistic roles in periodontitis development, depending on their host-damaging and immunostimulatory activities. Host immune responses to oral pathobionts act as a double-edged sword not only by protecting the host against pathobionts, but also by promoting alveolar bone loss. Recent studies have begun to elucidate the roles of individual oral bacteria, including a new type of pathobionts that possess strong immunostimulatory activity, which is critical for alveolar bone loss. Better understanding of the roles of oral pathobionts is expected to lead to a better understanding of periodontitis disease and to the development of novel preventive and therapeutic approaches for the disease.
Disaggregating hybridity
Authors: Millar Gearoid
Published: March 2014

The term ‘hybrid’ has been widely incorporated into recent peacebuilding scholarship to describe an array of peacebuilding endeavors, including hybrid peacekeeping missions, hybrid criminal tribunals, hybrid governance, and the hybrid peace. However, while widely deployed, hybridity itself is under-theorized and variably applied by scholars. Major concerns arise, therefore, concerning the concept’s usefulness for peacebuilding theory, policy, and practice. Most problematically, while some scholars use hybridity descriptively to illustrate the mixing of international and local institutions, practices, rituals, and concepts, many today deploy hybridity prescriptively, implying that international actors can plan and administer hybridity to foster predictable social experiences in complex post-conflict states. This latter literature, therefore, assumes predictable relationships between the administration of hybrid institutions – of law, of governance, or of economics, for example – and the provision of peace-promoting local experiences of those institutions – experiences of justice, authority, empowerment, etc. This article argues that these assumptions are flawed and illustrates how a disaggregated theory of hybridity can avoid such errors. This theory distinguishes between four levels of hybridity – institutional, practical, ritual, and conceptual – characterized by their variable amenability to purposeful administration. The article illustrates how prescriptive approaches that assume direct and predictable relationships between institutions and experiences fail to recognize that concepts underpin local understandings and experiences of the world and, therefore, play a mediating role between institutions and experiences. Using examples from Sierra Leone, the article shows that while concepts are always hybrid, conceptual hybridity is inherently resistant to planned administration. As a result, internationally planned and administered hybrid institutions will not result in predictable experiences and may even result in negative or conflict-promoting experiences. The article illustrates the dangers of assuming any predictable relationships between the four levels of hybridity, and, therefore, between the administration of institutional hybrids and the predictable provision of positive local experiences.
Polyurethane damping material
Authors: Nakamura Makito , Aoki Yasutomo , Enna Genichirou , Oguro Kaoru , Wada Hiroshi
Published: March 2014

The mechanical and damping properties of thermoplastic polyurethanes (TPUs) prepared by polyether–aromatic polyester polyols were studied. Dynamic viscoelastic properties ( E′ and tan δ) were mainly investigated using a dynamical mechanical analysis. By increasing the content of the aromatic ester component of soft segment in each segmented PU, the value of tan δ increased, and the width of the peak narrowed with the same hard segment contents. It was desired that interaction between hard and soft segment in U-Fine (UF)-A and UF-B is uniform, and the degree of phase separation between hard and soft segment in UF-A and UF-B advanced in comparison with TPU-A. Tensile strength and abrasion resistance of UF-B (ester component content of polyether–ester polyol = 20.3 mol%) showed superior data compared with other commercial damping materials.
The influence of mixing order on the phase inversion and crystallization behavior of polyamide 6/maleic anhydride-g-ethylene–propylene–diene rubber/high-density polyethylene blend
Authors: Wang Wei , Dou Rui , Zhou Yan , Li Lan-peng , Yin Bo , Yang Ming-bo
Published: March 2014

In this work, the morphology and crystallization behavior of polyamide 6 (PA6)/maleic anhydride-grafted-ethylene–propylene–diene rubber (MAH- g-EPDM)/high-density polyethylene (HDPE) blends with different ratios of the components were studied. In order to study the influence of both thermodynamics and kinetic factors, the interfacial tension between various polymer pairs was taken into account and two processing methods were used. Contact angle measurements and rheological relaxation time simulation were used to calculate the interfacial tension. It was found that because of the reaction between PA6 and MAH- g-EPDM, the value of interfacial tension of PA6/MAH- g-EPDM binary blends calculated by the contact angle measurement was not correct and the real value α = 0.97 mN m−1 was calculated by rheological relaxation time simulation. The two processing methods (one-step and two-step processing methods) led to different crystallization behaviors with different morphologies of the blends.
The Chrysalis Effect
Authors: O’Boyle Ernest Hugh , Banks George Christopher , Gonzalez-Mulé Erik
Published: March 2014

The issue of a published literature not representative of the population of research is most often discussed in terms of entire studies being suppressed. However, alternative sources of publication bias are questionable research practices (QRPs) that entail post hoc alterations of hypotheses to support data or post hoc alterations of data to support hypotheses. Using general strain theory as an explanatory framework, we outline the means, motives, and opportunities for researchers to better their chances of publication independent of rigor and relevance. We then assess the frequency of QRPs in management research by tracking differences between dissertations and their resulting journal publications. Our primary finding is that from dissertation to journal article, the ratio of supported to unsupported hypotheses more than doubled (0.82 to 1.00 versus 1.94 to 1.00). The rise in predictive accuracy resulted from the dropping of statistically nonsignificant hypotheses, the addition of statistically significant hypotheses, the reversing of predicted direction of hypotheses, and alterations to data. We conclude with recommendations to help mitigate the problem of an unrepresentative literature that we label the “Chrysalis Effect.”
How do social media transform politics? The role of a podcast, ‘Naneun Ggomsuda’ in South Korea
Authors: Koo Chulmo , Chung Namho , Kim Dan J.
Published: March 2014

In December 2012 South Korea completed a presidential election that exhibited a high level of political participation through podcast-based Internet use and smartphone access. Podcasts and social media in relation to political and social participation are extremely popular in South Korea. ‘Naneun Ggomsuda’ is a podcast program which is ranked first in the world among Korean-speaking users for political participation. Drawing on DeLone and McLean’s IS success model from the theoretical lens of the belief-desire-intention (BDI) framework, we propose a research model investigating the effects of three quality dimensions (systems, content, and service) of Naneun Ggomsuda’s podcast system on participation, desire and intention. Among the quality dimensions, content quality and real-time connectivity service quality have a significant impact on political participation desire. Interestingly, podcast systems quality does not show a significant effect. The study looks at critical success factors of this podcast social media system, including system quality, social content quality, service quality and social issues, and suggests practical implications encompassing the political, social, and business aspects of this program’s influence.
The effects of elastic tubing-based resistance training compared with conventional resistance training in patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized clinical trial
Authors: Ramos Ercy Mara Cipulo , de Toledo-Arruda Alessandra Choqueta , Fosco Luciana Cristina , Bonfim Rafaela , Bertolini Giovana Navarro , Guarnier Flavia Alessandra , Cecchini Rubens , Pastre Carlos Marcelo , Langer Daniel , Gosselink Rik , Ramos Dionei
Published: March 2014

Objective:

To investigate the effects of elastic tubing training compared with conventional resistance training on the improvement of functional exercise capacity, muscle strength, fat-free mass, and systemic inflammation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Design:

A prospective, randomized, eight-week clinical trial.

Setting:

The study was conducted in a university-based, outpatient, physical therapy clinic.

Subjects:

A total of 49 patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Interventions:

Participants were randomly assigned to perform elastic tubing training or conventional resistance training three times per week for eight weeks.

Main measures:

The primary outcome measure was functional exercise capacity. The secondary outcome measures were peripheral muscle strength, health-related quality of life assessed by the Chronic Respiratory Disease Questionnaire (CRDQ), fat-free mass, and cytokine profile.

Results:

After eight weeks, the mean distance covered during six minutes increased by 73 meters (±69) in the elastic tubing group and by 42 meters (±59) in the conventional group ( p < 0.05). The muscle strength and quality of life improved in both groups ( P < 0.05), with no significant differences between the groups. There was a trend toward an improved fat-free mass in both groups ( P = 0.05). After the first and last sessions, there was an increase in interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and interleukin 10 (IL-10) in both groups, while tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) was stimulated only in the conventional training group.

Conclusion:

Elastic tubing training had a greater effect on functional exercise capacity than conventional resistance training. Both interventions were equally effective in improving muscle strength and quality of life.
Promising use of minocycline augmentation with clozapine in treatment-resistant schizophrenia
Authors: Qurashi I , Collins JD , Chaudhry IB , Husain N
Published: March 2014

Treatment-resistant schizophrenia is a major health problem in the UK with the majority of patients treated with clozapine. In up to 70% of cases there is only a partial response to clozapine with continuing refractory symptoms. We describe two cases in a UK mental health service where minocycline was found to be useful and well tolerated as an augmentation agent with clozapine in the improvement of previously resistant positive and negative symptoms.
Missed, Misused, or Mismanaged
Authors: Macy Marisa , Marks Kevin , Towle Alexander
Published: March 2014

Early detection efforts have been shown to vary greatly in practice, and there is a general lack of systematic accountability built into monitoring early detection effort impact. This article reviews current early detection practices and the drawbacks of these practices, with particular attention given to prevalent issues of mismeasurement, misuse, and mismanagement across the Child Find system under Individuals With Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). The benefits of a nationally recognized research and/or consensus-driven “baseline definition” for which children should be deemed Early Intervention (EI) or Early Childhood Special Education (ECSE) eligible are discussed. Recommendations are provided to better identify and serve young children with developmental-behavioral problems (as well as their families), and to cultivate more cohesive standards for professional practice in referring children for appropriate medical, social, and educational services.
Vulnerability and Physical, Cognitive, and Behavioral Impairment
Authors: Pavia Teresa M. , Mason Marlys J.
Published: March 2014

This article begins by considering how current models of vulnerability do not adequately capture situations arising from physical, cognitive and behavioral impairment. Using specific examples and prior studies, three dimensions – ability to remediate, duration, and stability of the underlying challenge – are suggested to enhance our understanding of situations that lead to vulnerability. As these dimensions are explored, four categories are proposed for such situations: Straightforward Resolvable, Complex Resolvable, Straightforward Unresolvable, and Complex, Dynamic Unresolvable. These categories are leveraged in the discussion of the embodied consumer to develop propositions related to the likelihood someone will experience vulnerability in a given situation. We also address how the experienced vulnerability of one person ripples outward to create secondary vulnerability in his/her social network. After using these categories to understand how various impairments may lead to vulnerability, we then focus closely on how specific physical, cognitive and behavioral impairments limit market choice and market flexibility. Normative market expectations regarding the body and its cognitive capacity present fertile ground for exploring consumer agency and how actors relate to one another in the market. Theoretical propositions, as well as broader areas of inquiry, are developed to help identify areas for future research.
Comparing HIV viral load assays and frequency of low level virological rebound in clinical practice
Authors: Briggs R , Templeton K , Fernando I
Published: March 2014

Research suggests that some low-level virological rebound results occurring for no obvious clinical cause, in patients stable on antiretroviral therapy (ART), may be a consequence of the viral load assay used. We compared the relative frequency of clinically unexplained low-level virological rebound results when using the Roche HIV Taqman version-1 (CTM v1), the Roche HIV Taqman version-2 (CTM v2) and the Abbott RealTime (Abbott RT) assays in clinical practice. In all, 247 patients from our centre who had their viral loads measured by the three different assays over a period of 3 consecutive years (each assay used for a period of 1 year each) were included in the study. Low-level virological rebound was defined as <1000 copies/ml. Over similar time periods, there was significant discrepancy between the three assays when considering the proportion of clinically unexplained low-level virological rebound results in patients stable on ART: the CTM v2 assay produced the highest percentage (93%), CTM v1 much lower (65%) and Abbott RT even less (35%). There is further research required regarding what, if any, implications this has for patients who experience clinically unexplained low-level virological rebound on the more sensitive assays.
Feature-Binding Errors After Eye Movements and Shifts of Attention
Authors: Golomb Julie D. , L’Heureux Zara E. , Kanwisher Nancy
Published: March 2014

When people move their eyes, the eye-centered (retinotopic) locations of objects must be updated to maintain world-centered (spatiotopic) stability. Here, we demonstrated that the attentional-updating process temporarily distorts the fundamental ability to bind object locations with their features. Subjects were simultaneously presented with four colors after a saccade—one in a precued spatiotopic target location—and were instructed to report the target’s color using a color wheel. Subjects’ reports were systematically shifted in color space toward the color of the distractor in the retinotopic location of the cue. Probabilistic modeling exposed both crude swapping errors and subtler feature mixing (as if the retinotopic color had blended into the spatiotopic percept). Additional experiments conducted without saccades revealed that the two types of errors stemmed from different attentional mechanisms (attention shifting vs. splitting). Feature mixing not only reflects a new perceptual phenomenon, but also provides novel insight into how attention is remapped across saccades.
Indian Automobile Companies’ Financial Efficiency Measurement: An Investigation using Super Efficiency and Factor Analysis
Authors: Ghosh Arijit , Agarwal Baishali , Bandyopadhyay Gautam , Choudhuri Kripasindhu
Published: March 2014

This article investigates the Super Efficiency of Indian Automobile Companies. Attempts are made to study the efficiency of fund utilization, both debt and equity, by relating returns to the respective stakeholders supplying the funds, as well as efficiency of working capital in generating sales using publicly available financial data of these companies. The Data Envelopment Analysis is employed to estimate the financial efficiency of each company in comparison with other companies of automobile sector with the help of different efficiency scores keeping in mind different aspect of operations. Then Super Efficiency Model is applied on most efficient companies to find out the super efficient company. The different efficiency scores thus obtained are reduced into a single most explanatory score with the help of factor analysis. Based on efficiency measurement and factor score, the companies are then sorted. This gives us clear idea regarding performance of different companies for the stipulated time horizon.
Gold Price and Capital Market Movement in India: The Toda–Yamamoto Approach
Authors: Mishra P.K.
Published: March 2014

In recent days gold has attracted the attention of common men, investors, policy makers and researchers. A hovering impression is that gold price increases whenever stock market slumps. In India such a scenario has been observed since last few years. It is with this backdrop, this article is an attempt to unveil any dynamics, if exist, between gold price and stock price movements using a sophisticated econometric tool, Toda and Yamamoto non-causality test. On the basis of the annual observations for the period 1978–1979 to 2010–2011, it has been found that both the prices have contained in themselves some information to predict each other.
Determination of Social Support Needs and Expectations of Mothers of Children With Cancer
Authors: Altay Naime , Kilicarslan Ebru , Sarı Çiğdem , Kisecik Zeynep
Published: March 2014

The aim of this study was to determine the social support needs of mothers of children with cancer and their expectations regarding nurses. The sample consisted of 88 mothers of children aged 0 to 18 years. The data were collected by a questionnaire and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) was used. The variables were investigated using visual methods (histograms and probability plots) and the Mann–Whitney U, Kolmogorov–Smirnov, Kruskal–Wallis, and Spearman tests. All the mothers stated that they needed social support but only 73.9% received it. Support was obtained mostly from families (83.0%), physicians (44.6%), nurses (38.4%), friends (30.7%), and neighbors (24.6%). Most of the social support was emotional (76.9%) and informational (49.2%). A total of 54.5% of the mothers expected social support from nurses. The mean total MSPSS score was 51.18 ± 25.30. In conclusion, all mothers felt that they needed social support, but their rate of receiving social support was lower than their needs.
Homeland Security Risk and Preparedness in Police Agencies: The Insignificance of Actual Risk Factors
Authors: Haynes Melissa R. , Giblin Matthew J.
Published: March 2014

The connection between perceived risk of homeland security incidents and homeland security preparedness has received considerable support in policing literature. From a contingency theory perspective, organizations rationally respond to risks in their external environments by taking steps to prepare for homeland security incidents. In past studies examining homeland security preparedness levels, risk has typically been measured using agency executives’ perceived likelihood of specific homeland security incidents occurring within their jurisdiction within a specified time range, and has largely ignored objective risk factors. In other disciplines, researchers and government organizations consider three dimensions when assessing risk: threat, vulnerability, and consequences. In the present study, the objective risk factors of social vulnerability, experience with past hazards, and built environment vulnerability not only fail to predict risk perceptions but are also not associated with preparedness measures. However, consistent with prior research, subjective risk perceptions remain a significant predictor of preparedness levels.
The trumpet metaphor: A narrative of a teacher’s mid-career pedagogical change from formal to informal learning practices
Authors: Abramo Joseph Michael , Austin Stephen C.
Published: March 2014

By exploring ‘the trumpet’ as a metaphor, a successful mid-career instrumental teacher and a teacher educator jointly conducted a narrative inquiry into pedagogy used with a high school composition class. In particular, they focused on the dilemmas that arose when, within this class setting, the instrumental teacher implemented informal learning practices for the first time. This teacher struggled as he shifted from the teacher-directed pedagogy he employed in concert band instrumental instruction, to the social-constructivist pedagogy he felt was required of the composition class. As he began implementing informal learning practices, this teacher questioned both the value of his identity as a classical musician and the effectiveness of social-constructivist strategies, finding dialogue and small-group problem solving to be an inefficient use of class time. Despite these struggles, or because of them, he grew as an educator. Based on these findings, it is suggested that teacher educators should consider addressing the complex challenges to identity and epistemology that initial engagement with informal learning and social-constructivism may elicit from practicing and pre-service educators.
Iterative cohort analysis and exploration
Authors: Zhang Zhiyuan , Gotz David , Perer Adam
Published: March 2014

Cohort analysis is a widely used technique for the investigation of risk factors for groups of people. It is commonly employed to gain insights about interesting subsets of a population in fields such as medicine, bioinformatics, and social science. The nature of these analyses is evolving as larger collections of data about individuals become available. Examples of emerging large-scale data sources include electronic medical record systems and social network datasets. When domain experts perform cohort analyses using such massive datasets, they typically rely on a team of technologists to help manage and process the data. This results in a slow and cumbersome analysis process in which iterative exploration is difficult. To address this challenge, we are exploring technologies designed to help domain experts work more independently and more quickly. This article describes CAVA, a platform for Cohort Analysis via Visual Analytics. We introduce three primary types of artifacts (cohorts, views, and analytics) and an architecture that connects these elements together to provide an interactive exploratory analysis environment designed for domain experts. In addition to the CAVA design, this article presents two use cases from the health-care domain and a domain-expert evaluation to demonstrate the power of our approach.
Addressing the Demand for Cultural Relevance in Intervention Design
Authors: Keller Colleen S. , Coe Kathryn , Moore Nancy
Published: March 2014

This article describes the development of a model to promote physical activity in Hispanic women that embeds a life course perspective and culture to enhance comparative effectiveness in intervention design. When working with diverse cultural groups, researchers often struggle with intervention designs and strategies to enhance cultural relevance; they do so based on the assumption that this will enhance efficacy and make interventions more sustainable. In this article, the authors discuss how the model was used in two interventions designed for younger and older Hispanic women. These interventions were guided by a life course perspective, incorporated social support, and included salient elements from the women’s culture. Three considerations underpinned the development of the model: (a) infusing concepts and values of a culture and tradition into the interventions, (b) viewing participants through a life course perspective to assess how an intervention can build on developmental transitions, and (c) determining how social support operates within two groups that, although sharing history and thus some cultural practices, diverge widely in those practices. The authors propose that by incorporating elements of this model into their interventions, researchers can increase program efficacy and effectiveness.
The correlation of radiographic outcome to functional outcome following fracture of the distal radius in elderly patients: A literature review
Authors: Reynolds Paula J
Published: March 2014

Introduction

Fractures of the distal radius are common in the elderly population. Elderly patients have been considered to be functionally low-demand, but as the population becomes more active, expectations of outcomes may be increasing. The aim of this review was to determine whether there is any correlation between radiographic and functional outcome for elderly patients following fracture of the distal radius.

Methods

Medline, PubMed, CINAHL, Embase and AMED were searched for studies including elderly patients managed conservatively or surgically following distal radius fracture, either alone or in combination with younger patients.

Results

Eleven studies were selected for review. A wide variety of outcome measures and radiological parameters were found to be used. Of the 11 studies, 6 found no correlation between functional outcome and radiological outcome.

Discussion

The literature reviewed suggests functional outcome for elderly patients following distal radius fracture is not dependant on radiological outcome. This may give therapists better insight into potential outcomes for their patients, however further studies may be required to determine the most effective therapeutic management of these patients.
For Members Only
Authors: Mendoza Saaid A. , Lane Sean P. , Amodio David M.
Published: March 2014

Although group membership has many privileges, members are expected to reciprocate those privileges. We tested whether in-group members would be punished more harshly than out-group members for marginal fairness norm violations within ultimatum game bargaining interactions. Participants considered monetary splits (of US$20) from in-group and out-group proposers, which ranged in proportion. Accepting an offer yielded the proposed payout; rejecting it caused each player to earn nothing—a punishment of the proposer at a personal cost. Participants exacted stricter costly punishment on racial in-group than out-group members for marginally unfair offers (Study 1), an effect that was replicated with college group membership and magnified among strong in-group identifiers (Study 2). Importantly, ultimatum game decisions were driven by fairness perceptions rather than proposer evaluations (Study 3), suggesting our effects reflected norm enforcement and not esteem preservation. These findings illuminate a previously unexplored process for maintaining group-based norms that may promote in-group favoritism.
Antiulcer Effect of Extract/Fractions of Eruca sativa: Attenuation of Urease Activity
Authors: Khan Haroon , Khan Murad Ali
Published: March 2014

Eruca sativa (Rocket salad) is known for its antiulcer properties in the traditional system of treatment. The present study was, therefore, designed to scrutinize its effect on urease activity in vitro. The results demonstrated marked attenuation of urease by the crude extract of various test concentrations with IC50 value of 7.77 mg/mL. On fractionation, marked change in inhibitory profile was observed. The ethyl acetate fraction was the most potent urease inhibitor with IC50 value of 4.17 mg/mL followed by the aqueous fraction with an IC50 value of 5.83 mg/mL. However, hexane did not show significant urease inhibition. In conclusion, the present study illustrated strong antagonism of urease activity and thus validated scientifically the traditional use of the plant in the treatment of ulcers.