bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A new MEMS gyroscope drift suppression method for the low‐cost untwisting spin platform
Authors: Wang Decheng , Lin Hui
Published: December 2016

The microelectromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscope provides a new method to design a low‐cost untwisting spin platform to be used in a single‐axis, stable strap‐down inertial navigation system. However, the MEMS gyroscope's drift reduces the effectiveness of the closed‐loop feedback control. Thus, a new method of drift suppression is proposed in this paper based on phase space reconstruction in order to improve the platform's performance. The feasibility of the MEMS gyroscope's drift suppression is analyzed using linear decomposition based on phase space. The system drift is estimated by phase space reconstruction. The optimal embedding dimension is found through a grid search. The number of dimensions for dimension reduction analysis is selected according to the minimum eigenvalue. The mapping from the high‐dimensional phase space onto the low‐dimensional phase space is obtained by minimizing the variance. A Kalman filter is used to compensate the residual sequence further. The proposed method is applied to an untwisting spin platform based on the MEMS gyroscope L3G4200D. The experimental results show that it can reduce the platform drift rate effectively.
Deciphering long‐term records of natural variability and human impact as recorded in lake sediments: a palaeolimnological puzzle
Authors: Mills Keely , Schillereff Daniel , Saulnier‐Talbot Émilie , Gell Peter , Anderson N. John , Arnaud Fabien , Dong Xuhui , Jones Matthew , McGowan Suzanne , Massaferro Julieta , Moorhouse Heather , Perez Liseth , Ryves David B.
Published: December 2016

Global aquatic ecosystems are under increasing threat from anthropogenic activity, as well as being exposed to past (and projected) climate change, however, the nature of how climate and human impacts are recorded in lake sediments is often ambiguous. Natural and anthropogenic drivers can force a similar response in lake systems, yet the ability to attribute what change recorded in lake sediments is natural, from that which is anthropogenic, is increasingly important for understanding how lake systems have, and will continue to function when subjected to multiple stressors; an issue that is particularly acute when considering management options for aquatic ecosystems. The duration and timing of human impacts on lake systems varies geographically, with some regions of the world (such as Africa and South America) having a longer legacy of human impact than others (e.g., New Zealand). A wide array of techniques (biological, chemical, physical and statistical) is available to palaeolimnologists to allow the deciphering of complex sedimentary records. Lake sediments are an important archive of how drivers have changed through time, and how these impacts manifest in lake systems. With a paucity of ‘real‐time’ data pre‐dating human impact, palaeolimnological archives offer the only insight into both natural variability (i.e., that driven by climate and intrinsic lake processes) and the impact of people. While there is a need to acknowledge complexity, and temporal and spatial variability when deciphering change from sediment archives, a palaeolimnological approach is a powerful tool for better understanding and managing global aquatic resources. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1195. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1195

This article is categorized under:

Water and Life > Stresses and Pressures on Ecosystems

Science of Water > Water and Environmental Change

Water and Life > Methods
First-dose and steady-state pharmacokinetics of orally administered crizotinib in children with solid tumors: a report on ADVL0912 from the Children’s Oncology Group Phase 1/Pilot Consortium
Authors: Balis Frank M. , Thompson Patrick A. , Mosse Yael P. , Blaney Susan M. , Minard Charles G. , Weigel Brenda J. , Fox Elizabeth
Published: December 2016

Purpose

Characterize the pharmacokinetics of oral crizotinib in children with cancer.

Methods

Sixty-four children with solid tumors or anaplastic large-cell lymphoma (ALCL) enrolled on a phase 1/2 trial of the ALK, MET and ROS1 inhibitor, crizotinib, had pharmacokinetic sampling after the first dose (n = 15) or at steady state (n = 49). Dose levels studied were 100, 130, 165, 215, 280 and 365 mg/m2/dose administered twice daily. Two capsule and two oral liquid formulations were used over the course of the trial. Crizotinib was quantified with a validated HPLC/tandem mass spectrometry method with a lower limit of detection of 0.2 ng/mL. Pharmacokinetic parameters were derived using non-compartmental analysis.

Results

Time to peak plasma concentration was 4 h. At 280 mg/m2 (MTD), mean (±SD) steady-state peak plasma concentration was 717 ± 201 ng/mL, and steady-state trough plasma concentration was 480 ± 176 ng/mL. At steady state, AUC0–τ
was proportional to dose over the dose range of 215–365 mg/m2/dose. Apparent clearance of crizotinib was 731 ± 241 mL/min/m2. Steady-state AUC0–τ
at 280 mg/m2/dose was 2.5-fold higher than the AUC0–∞
in adults receiving 250 mg (~140 mg/m2). Age, sex and drug formulation do not account for the inter-subject variability in AUC0–τ
at steady state. The accumulation index was 4.9, and the half-life estimated from the accumulation index was 36 h.

Conclusions

The pharmacokinetics of oral crizotinib in children is similar to that in adults. Steady-state trough-free crizotinib concentrations in plasma at the MTD exceed inhibitory concentrations of crizotinib in ALCL cell lines.

ClinicalTrials.gov identifier

NCT00939770.
Model of Silicon Refining During Tapping: Removal of Ca, Al, and Other Selected Element Groups
Authors: Olsen Jan Erik , Kero Ida T. , Engh Thorvald A. , Tranell Gabriella
Published: December 2016

A mathematical model for industrial refining of silicon alloys has been developed for the so-called oxidative ladle refining process. It is a lumped (zero-dimensional) model, based on the mass balances of metal, slag, and gas in the ladle, developed to operate with relatively short computational times for the sake of industrial relevance. The model accounts for a semi-continuous process which includes both the tapping and post-tapping refining stages. It predicts the concentrations of Ca, Al, and trace elements, most notably the alkaline metals, alkaline earth metal, and rare earth metals. The predictive power of the model depends on the quality of the model coefficients, the kinetic coefficient, τ, and the equilibrium partition coefficient, L for a given element. A sensitivity analysis indicates that the model results are most sensitive to L. The model has been compared to industrial measurement data and found to be able to qualitatively, and to some extent quantitatively, predict the data. The model is very well suited for alkaline and alkaline earth metals which respond relatively fast to the refining process. The model is less well suited for elements such as the lanthanides and Al, which are refined more slowly. A major challenge for the prediction of the behavior of the rare earth metals is that reliable thermodynamic data for true equilibrium conditions relevant to the industrial process is not typically available in literature.
Development and Characterization of DOPEPEG2000 Coated Oleic Acid Liposomes Encapsulating Anticancer Drugs
Authors: Eh Suk Vicit Rizal , Misran Misni
Published: December 2016

Liposomes have been widely investigated as drug carriers for a broad range of anticancer drugs. However, their application as a drug delivery system may be challenging due to low encapsulation of active ingredient and poor stability which leads to uncontrolled delivery of bioactive ingredients. The present study aims at incorporating 1,2‐dioleoyl‐sn‐glycero‐3‐phosphoethanolamide‐N‐[methoxy(polyethylene glycol)‐2000 (DOPEPEG2000) into oleic acid (OA) liposomes in order to prolong the lifetime in blood circulation. The pH transition curve of oleic was obtained by titration of sodium oleate solution with 0.05 mol dm−3 HCl to determine the region where liposomes were abundantly present. The critical vesicle concentration (CVC) was then determined by surface tension measurements. Dry lipid liposomes were hydrated with phosphate buffer at just over twice the CVC value. Optical polarizing microscopy (OPM) showed the presence of liposomes while transmission electron microscopy (TEM) confirmed that the liposomes prepared were spherical in shape and less than 200 nm in size. The incorporation of DOPEPEG2000 into the oleic acid liposomes reduced the average particle size and zeta potential to mimic the red blood cells. The encapsulation efficiency of various anticancer drugs was more than 60% while more than 20% of the drugs were released after 24 h. The results suggest that DOPEPEG2000: oleic acid at a molar ratio of 1:50 fulfilled the requirements for intravenous drug delivery.
Effectiveness of one-to-one peer support for patients with severe mental illness – a randomised controlled trial
Authors: Mahlke C.I. , Priebe S. , Heumann K. , Daubmann A. , Wegscheider K. , Bock T.
Published: December 2016

Background

One-to-one peer support is a resource-oriented approach for patients with severe mental illness. Existing trials provided inconsistent results and commonly have methodological shortcomings, such as poor training and role definition of peer supporters, small sample sizes, and lack of blinded outcome assessments.

Methods

This is a randomised controlled trial comparing one-to-one peer support with treatment as usual. Eligible were patients with severe mental illnesses: psychosis, major depression, bipolar disorder or borderline personality disorder of more than two years’ duration. A total of 216 patients were recruited through in- and out-patient services from four hospitals in Hamburg, Germany, with 114 allocated to the intervention group and 102 to the control group. The intervention was one-to-one peer support, delivered by trained peers and according to a defined role specification, in addition to treatment as usual over the course of six months, as compared to treatment as usual alone. Primary outcome was self-efficacy measured on the General Self-Efficacy Scale at six-month follow-up. Secondary outcomes included quality of life, social functioning, and hospitalisations.

Results

Patients in the intervention group had significantly higher scores of self-efficacy at the six-month follow-up. There were no statistically significant differences on secondary outcomes in the intention to treat analyses.

Conclusions

The findings suggest that one-to-one peer support delivered by trained peer supporters can improve self-efficacy of patients with severe mental disorders over a one-year period. One-to-one peer support may be regarded as an effective intervention. Future research should explore the impact of improved self-efficacy on clinical and social outcomes.
The European Union between Intergovernmentalism and ‘Shared and Responsible Sovereignty’: The Haptic Potential of EMU’s Institutional Architecture (The Government and Opposition/Leonard Schapiro Lecture, 2016)
Authors: Piattoni Simona
Published: December 2016

The article starts from a critique of the widespread assumption that intergovernmentalism is not only the more practical but also the more democratic way of handling the current European crises – and particularly the euro crisis – to argue for the need to rethink the working and the definition of democracy in the current heightened interconnectedness of political organization. It suggests that perceiving European citizens as being separated into distinct state communities stands in the way of a full appreciation of the externalities, hence of the reciprocal responsibilities, that they owe each other and turns apparently democratic decisions into potential acts of domination, as theorized by both Pettit (1997) and Bohman (2006). It suggests that we should embrace a more encompassing and dialogical notion of democracy which translates Pallasmaa’s (2012) notion of hapticity from the field of physical architecture to that of institutional architecture. It concludes by suggesting that there are already institutional architectures in the EU which lend themselves to a haptic declension, for example the European Semester.
Distribution of Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections Determined From Washington State’s Annual Reporting Validation Program, 2009–2013
Authors: Lempp Jason M. , Cummings M. Jeanne , Birnbaum David W.
Published: December 2016

Healthcare-associated infection reporting validation is essential because this information is increasingly used in public healthcare quality assurances and care reimbursement. Washington State’s validation of central line-associated bloodstream infection reporting applies credible quality sciences methods to ensure that hospital reporting accuracy is maintained. This paper details findings and costs from our experience.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2017;38:489–492
Unit-Specific Rates of Hand Hygiene Opportunities in an Acute-Care Hospital
Authors: Han Angela , Conway Laurie J. , Moore Christine , McCreight Liz , Ragan Kelsey , So Jannice , Borgundvaag Emily , Larocque Mike , Coleman Brenda L. , McGeer Allison ,   the MSH Infection Control and Hand Hygiene Observer Teams
Published: December 2016

OBJECTIVE

To explore the frequency of hand hygiene opportunities (HHOs) in multiple units of an acute-care hospital.

DESIGN

Prospective observational study.

SETTING

The adult intensive care unit (ICU), medical and surgical step-down units, medical and surgical units, and the postpartum mother–baby unit (MBU) of an academic acute-care hospital during May–August 2013, May–July 2014, and June–August 2015.

PARTICIPANTS

Healthcare workers (HCWs).

METHODS

HHOs were recorded using direct observation in 1-hour intervals following Public Health Ontario guidelines. The frequency and distribution of HHOs per patient hour were determined for each unit according to time of day, indication, and profession.

RESULTS

In total, 3,422 HHOs were identified during 586 hours of observation. The mean numbers of HHOs per patient hour in the ICU were similar to those in the medical and surgical step-down units during the day and night, which were higher than the rates observed in medical and surgical units and the MBU. The rate of HHOs during the night significantly decreased compared with day (P<.0001). HHOs before an aseptic procedure comprised 13% of HHOs in the ICU compared with 4%–9% in other units. Nurses contributed >92% of HHOs on medical and surgical units, compared to 67% of HHOs on the MBU.

CONCLUSIONS

Assessment of hand hygiene compliance using product utilization data requires knowledge of the appropriate opportunities for hand hygiene. We have provided a detailed characterization of these estimates across a wide range of inpatient settings as well as an examination of temporal variations in HHOs.

Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol2017;38:411–416
Variation of enstrophy production and strain rotation relation in a turbulent boundary layer
Authors: Bechlars P. , Sandberg R. D.
Published: December 2016

The production of enstrophy is strongly coupled to the vortex stretching process that is of inherent importance to the cascading process, one of the driving processes of turbulence in a flow. In this work the enstrophy production mechanism is investigated to identify its variation in the wall-normal direction for the case of a turbulent boundary layer. Production is decomposed into its core quantities including the ratio of the principal strains and the alignment of vorticity with the eigenvectors of the strain rate tensor. The strong variations of these quantities with the wall distance are presented and explained. A self-similar shape of the probability distribution of the enstrophy production is found for regions above the buffer layer. Based on these findings we propose a modification to an existing vortex stretch model that accounts for the wall-normal variation in enstrophy production in a boundary layer. A characteristic decomposition is applied on the turbulence field that allows for the study of the individual production mechanisms of the separate structure types. This analysis reveals a potential backscatter mechanism that transfers kinetic energy from smaller scales towards larger ones, for a structure type described as unstable vortices.
Segregation in dissolving binary-component sessile droplets
Authors: Dietrich Erik , Rump Maaike , Lv Pengyu , Kooij E. Stefan , Zandvliet Harold J. W. , Lohse Detlef
Published: December 2016

The dissolution of a single droplet, containing a mixture of oils, in water is experimentally studied. The oils in the droplet varied in terms of their solubility in water and their hydrophobicity. We demonstrate that the polarity of the droplet constituents strongly influences the dissolution dynamics. A binary-component droplet, containing two polar components (one soluble the other insoluble) exhibits a retarded dissolution as compared to a droplet containing only the soluble component. We argue that in this case the mixture in the droplet can be assumed homogeneous, leading to a smaller effective contact area of the soluble liquid in the droplet with the bulk water, and thus delayed dissolution. On the other hand, it is shown that this is not the case when a polar, soluble component is mixed with an insoluble non-polar component, in which case segregation between the different liquids inside the droplet occurs, leading to Marangoni flows and superspreading of the droplet. The segregation is confirmed by volumetric measurements and by the use of a solvatochromic dye in combination with confocal microscopy, which clearly showed that during dissolution local concentration differences inside the droplet developed.
Helical propulsion in shear-thinning fluids
Authors: Gómez Saúl , Godínez Francisco A. , Lauga Eric , Zenit Roberto
Published: December 2016

Swimming micro-organisms often have to propel themselves in complex non-Newtonian fluids. We carry out experiments with self-propelling helical swimmers driven by an externally rotating magnetic field in shear-thinning inelastic fluids. Similarly to swimming in a Newtonian fluid, we obtain for each fluid a locomotion speed that scales linearly with the rotation frequency of the swimmer, but with a prefactor that depends on the power index of the fluid. The fluid is seen to always increase the swimming speed of the helix, up to 50 % faster, and thus the strongest of such type reported to date. The maximum relative increase is for a fluid power index of approximately 0.6. Using simple scalings, we argue that the speed increase is not due directly to the local decrease of the flow viscosity around the helical filament, but hypothesise instead that it originates from confinement-like effect due to viscosity stratification around the swimmer.
Wave energy absorption by a floating air bag
Authors: Kurniawan A. , Chaplin J. R. , Greaves D. M. , Hann M.
Published: December 2016

A floating air bag, ballasted in water, expands and contracts as it heaves under wave action. Connecting the bag to a secondary volume via a turbine transforms the bag into a device capable of generating useful energy from the waves. Small-scale measurements of the device reveal some interesting properties, which are successfully predicted numerically. Owing to its compressibility, the device can have a heave resonance period longer than that of a rigid device of the same shape and size, without any phase control. Furthermore, varying the amount of air in the bag is found to change its shape and hence its dynamic response, while varying the turbine damping or the air volume ratio changes the dynamic response without changing the shape.
Applicability of Taylor’s hypothesis in rough- and smooth-wall boundary layers
Authors: Squire D. T. , Hutchins N. , Morrill-Winter C. , Schultz M. P. , Klewicki J. C. , Marusic I.
Published: December 2016

The spatial structure of smooth- and rough-wall boundary layers is examined spectrally at approximately matched friction Reynolds number ($\unicode[STIX]{x1D6FF}^{+}\approx 12\,000$). For each wall condition, temporal and true spatial descriptions of the same flow are available from hot-wire anemometry and high-spatial-range particle image velocimetry, respectively. The results show that over the resolved flow domain, which is limited to a streamwise length of twice the boundary layer thickness, true spatial spectra of smooth-wall streamwise and wall-normal velocity fluctuations agree, to within experimental uncertainty, with those obtained from time series using Taylor’s frozen turbulence hypothesis (Proc. R. Soc. Lond. A, vol. 164, 1938, pp. 476–490). The same applies for the streamwise velocity spectra on rough walls. For the wall-normal velocity spectra, however, clear differences are observed between the true spatial and temporally convected spectra. For the rough-wall spectra, a correction is derived to enable accurate prediction of wall-normal velocity length scales from measurements of their time scales, and the implications of this correction are considered. Potential violations to Taylor’s hypothesis in flows above perturbed walls may help to explain conflicting conclusions in the literature regarding the effect of near-wall modifications on outer-region flow. In this regard, all true spatial and corrected spectra presented here indicate structural similarity in the outer region of smooth- and rough-wall flows, providing evidence for Townsend’s wall-similarity hypothesis (The Structure of Turbulent Shear Flow, vol. 1, 1956).
Liquid rope coiling: a synoptic view
Authors: Ribe Neil M.
Published: December 2016

In liquid rope coiling, a slender jet of viscous fluid falling onto a rigid surface builds a rotating corkscrew-like structure. Here, I use a numerical continuation method to construct a complete regime diagram for liquid rope coiling. I first consider the onset of coiling, and show that a suitable onset criterion is that the radius $a_{1}$ of the rope itself be just equal to the radius $R$ of the coil. Numerical calculation of the critical surface $a_{1}=R$ in the space of the dimensionless fall height $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}_{H}$, flow rate $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}_{Q}$ and nozzle diameter $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}_{d}$ shows that the surface has four distinct asymptotic limits corresponding to a viscous (V) mode, a gravitational (G) mode and two inertial modes (I1, I2) which are distinguished by how much the tail of the jet is stretched by gravity. Exact expressions for the onset frequencies in each of these four modes are determined. Finally, the regime diagram is constructed in the form of contour plots of the dimensionless coiling frequency as a function of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}_{H}$ and $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}_{Q}$ for several values of $\unicode[STIX]{x1D6F1}_{d}$. The diagram exhibits a total of six modes: V, G, I1, I2, a multivalued inertio-gravitational (IG) mode and a third inertial mode I3 with viscosity-dominated stretching of the tail. The regime diagram permits prediction of the coiling frequency for given values of the fall height, flow rate, viscosity and nozzle diameter, and should therefore be useful in practical applications ranging from non-woven textile production to 3D printing.
Climate and surface mass balance of Mocho Glacier, Chilean Lake District, 40°S
Authors: SCHAEFER MARIUS , RODRIGUEZ JOSE LUIS , SCHEITER MATTHIAS , CASASSA GINO
Published: December 2016

We present climate data, direct surface mass balance (SMB) observations and model results for Mocho Glacier in the Chilean Lake District. Mean annual temperature on a nunatak of Mocho Glacier at an elevation of ~2000 m was +2.6°C in 2006–15 and mean annual precipitation in Puerto Fuy (13 km from the glacier, at an elevation of 600 m) was 4000 mm for the same period. High interannual variations in the SMB of Mocho Glacier were observed. A simple SMB model is able to reproduce the observed annual variations in SMB, but fails to predict the steep observed mass-balance gradient. The average of the measured annual glacier mass balances in the four hydrological years 2009/10–2012/13 was −0.90 m w.e. a−1and the average modelled annual glacier mass balance 2006/07–2014/15 was −1.05 m w.e. a−1. The observed distributed ablation shows a clear altitudinal dependency, while accumulation is determined by patterns of snow drift as well. These patterns are only poorly represented in the model and have to be included in order to be able to reproduce a realistic SMB map of the glacier.
The Taoist Spirit of Haier: The Metaphor of Sea Based on the Symbolism of Water
Authors: Li Peter Ping , Zhou Steven Shijin , Zhou Abby Jingzi
Published: December 2016

It is unusual for any speech to maintain strong influence over the general strategies of an organization and the behavior of its employees over time. ‘Haier Is a Sea’, presented by Zhang Ruimin, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Haier, more than twenty years ago, is an exception. This commentary identifies the core features of sea as a metaphor, explores the philosophical roots of this metaphor, and discusses the implications.
A Daoist Reflection on Sea-Like Leadership and Enlightened Thinking
Authors: Xing Yijun
Published: December 2016

As he gazed on the sea, Confucius sighed: ‘The passage of time is like the flow of water, which goes on day and night’. In later generations, the image of ‘water’ was found everywhere in Chinese literature, and most works used the metaphor first expressed by Confucius (Xing & Liu, 2015). However, Lao Zi's understanding differed from Confucius's, as he was more concerned with the virtues of water than its image. He believed that ‘the highest virtue is like that of water. Water benefits everything in the world without contending’.
Haier Is a Sea (Zhang Ruimin's letter in 1994)
Authors: Zhang Ying
Published: December 2016

In his letter, Zhang Ruimin symbolized Haier as a sea to signify the firm's openness and boundlessness. Using the metaphor of ‘Haier Is a Sea’, Zhang illustrated a number of cohesive, collaborative relationships between Haier employees and nature and the environment as well as the importance of an evolving corporate culture in a rapidly changing world. This letter was addressed to Haier employees, but it was also framed as a ‘communiqué to the public’ to explain who Haier was and what the company represented. This letter has been, and will likely continue to be, a model for inspiring Haier employees to believe that anything is possible.
AN EMBODIED READING OF EPIPHANIES IN AELIUS ARISTIDES’SACRED TALES
Authors: Tagliabue Aldo
Published: December 2016

This article focuses on theSacred Tales(henceforthST), Aelius Aristides’ first-person account of his terrible diseases and subsequent healing brought about by Asclepius, and sheds new light on this text with the help of the notion of embodiment. In recent decades theSThas received a great deal of attention: scholars have offered two main readings of this work, oscillating between the poles of religion and rhetoric. Some have read theSTas an aretalogy while others have emphasised the rhetorical aims of this text and its connection with Second Sophistic literature.
MYSTIC RIVER: AUSONIUS'MOSELLAAS AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL REVELATION
Authors: Hernández Lobato Jesús
Published: December 2016

Ausonius'Mosellais probably the most remarkable, studied and beloved poem of late antiquity. This essay aims to examine it from a new perspective, by reinterpreting it as a complex and many-layered depiction of asui generisepiphanic experience, ultimately triggered by an unmediated encounter with nature. This sudden ‘revelation’, be it real or merely an artful literary device, did not only provide Ausonius with a deeper insight into the world around him, but also raised many epistemological issues on the limits of human knowledge and the (in)ability of language to convey reality. Both aspects—the poetical rendering of a non-discursive quasi-mystical experience and the epistemological and philosophical reflections it brings about—pervade the whole of the poem and are absolutely central to an in-depth understanding of its veryraison d’être.
IN HER OWN WORDS: THE SEMANTICS OF FEMALE AUTHORSHIP IN ANCIENT GREECE, FROM SAPPHO TO NOSSIS
Authors: Hauser Emily
Published: December 2016

What we call things is important—it reveals what we think about the world. What we call ourselves, however, is even more important. It reveals ideas and assumptions about identity, gender, community. It helps us to see where we fit in in society; what we understand our purpose, our role to be; the kinds of activities we undertake. In a history where women have been largely barred from higher-paying, traditionally male occupations, the way in which women in particular use terminology to lay claim to skills and expertise in counterpoint to a generally male-dominant culture speaks volumes about the ways in which women see themselves and their relationship to their work. As Erica Jong puts it in her feminist essay,The Artist as Housewife, ‘naming is a form of self-creation’.
When Public Reason Fails Us: Convergence Discourse as Blood Oath
Authors: KOGELMANN BRIAN , STICH STEPHEN G. W.
Published: December 2016

Public officials in John Rawls's well-ordered society face an assurance problem. They prefer to act in accordance with the political conception of justice, but only if they are assured that others will. On Paul Weithman's influential interpretation, Rawls attempts to solve this problem by claiming that public reason is an assurance mechanism. There are several problems with Rawls's solution: Public reason talk is too cheap to facilitate assurance, it is difficult to know when particular utterances express public reasons, and the requirements of public reason conflict with the fact of reasonable pluralism. We argue that convergence discourse—not public reason—solves the assurance problem by being a costly signal that indicates commitment to the political conception. This solution has none of Rawls's problems and has an interesting corollary: As diversity increases in society, so too does society's ability to solve the assurance problem. In short, the more diversity the better.
Aid as a Tool against Insurgency: Evidence from Contested and Controlled Territory in Afghanistan
Authors: SEXTON RENARD
Published: December 2016

Findings in political science, economics, and security studies suggest that during civil war aid can be used to help establish control of contested areas and reduce insurgent violence by winning the “hearts and minds” of the population. These accounts typically ignore the strategic implications of aid distribution by progovernment forces, namely that rebel groups should resist the implementation of aid projects that would undermine their position. Using a new dataset of fine-grained and geolocated violence incidents in Afghanistan and random variation in the administration of some U.S. counterinsurgency aid, I show that insurgents strategically respond to counterinsurgency aid in contested districts by resisting through violent means. The results indicate that civilian aid only reduces insurgent violence when distributed in districts already controlled by progovernment forces; when allocated to contested districts civilian aid in fact causes a significant increase in insurgent violence. The results also indicate that the effect of counterinsurgency aid on violence varies by project type, and can be overwhelmed by macrolevel strategic changes in the conflict.
Tongue-Tied: Rawls, Political Philosophy and Metalinguistic Awareness
Authors: PELED YAEL , BONOTTI MATTEO
Published: December 2016

Is our moral cognition “colored” by the language(s) that we speak? Despite the centrality of language to political life and agency, limited attempts have been made thus far in contemporary political philosophy to consider this possibility. We therefore set out to explore the possible influence of linguistic relativity effects on political thinking in linguistically diverse societies. We begin by introducing the facts and fallacies of the “linguistic relativity” principle, and explore the various ways in which they “color,” often covertly, current normative debates. To illustrate this, we focus on two key Rawlsian concepts: the original position and public reason. We then move to consider the resulting epistemic challenges and opportunities facing contemporary multilingual democratic societies in an age of increased mobility, arguing for the consequent imperative of developing political metalinguistic awareness and political extelligence among political scientists, political philosophers, and political actors alike in an irreducibly complex linguistic world.
The Poor Man's Machiavelli: Saul Alinsky and the Morality of Power
Authors: PHULWANI VIJAY
Published: December 2016

This article presents Saul Alinsky's theory of community organizing as a democratic alternative to political realism's fixation on the coercive authority of the state and the ethical problems of statesmanship. Alinsky shows how the organizer can be used as a paradigmatic political actor in developing an approach to political ethics that treats power and self-interest as ethical concepts on which to construct a radical vision of democratic politics. His “morality of power” consists of learning how to use relational power and thick self-interest to develop democratic forms of deliberation and action. In contrast to the aim of the statesman, the organizer's goal is not simply to acquire power and learn how to wield it: An organizer helps the powerless learn how to use and think about power for themselves. Organizing is realist, pedagogical, and democratic, and Alinsky's ability to hold these ideas together makes him an important theorist of democratic agency in undemocratic times.
Do Politicians Use Policy to Make Politics? The Case of Public-Sector Labor Laws
Authors: ANZIA SARAH F. , MOE TERRY M.
Published: December 2016

Schattschneider's insight that “policies make politics” has played an influential role in the modern study of political institutions and public policy. Yet if policies do indeed make politics, rational politicians have opportunities to use policies to structure future politics to their own advantage—and this strategic dimension has gone almost entirely unexplored. Do politicians actually use policies to make politics? Under what conditions? In this article, we develop a theoretical argument about what can be expected from strategic politicians, and we carry out an empirical analysis on a policy development that is particularly instructive: the adoption of public-sector collective bargaining laws by the states during the 1960s, 1970s, and early 1980s—laws that fueled the rise of public-sector unions, and “made politics” to the advantage of Democrats over Republicans.
Are Supreme Court Nominations a Move-the-Median Game?
Authors: CAMERON CHARLES M. , KASTELLEC JONATHAN P.
Published: December 2016

We conduct a theoretical and empirical re-evaluation of move-the-median (MTM) models of Supreme Court nominations—the one theory of appointment politics that connects presidential selection and senatorial confirmation decisions. We develop a theoretical framework that encompasses the major extant models, formalizing the tradeoff between concerns about the location of the new median justice versus concerns about the ideology of the nominee herself. We then use advances in measurement and scaling to place presidents, senators, justices, and nominees on the same scale, allowing us to test predictions that hold across all model variants. We find very little support for MTM theory. Senators have been much more accommodating of the president’s nominees than MTM theory would suggest—many have been confirmed when the theory predicted they should have been rejected. These errors have been consequential: presidents have selected many nominees who are much more extreme than MTM theory would predict. These results raise serious questions about the adequacy of MTM theory for explaining confirmation politics and have important implications for assessing the ideological composition of the Court.
Population structure and aspects of the reproductive biology of the blackmouth catshark, Galeus melastomus Rafinesque, 1810 (Chondrichthyes: Scyliorhinidae) caught accidentally off the Greek coasts
Authors: Metochis Christoforos Panicos , Carmona-Antoñanzas Greta , Kousteni Vasiliki , Damalas Dimitrios , Megalofonou Persefoni
Published: December 2016

The population composition and aspects of the reproductive biology of 452 blackmouth catsharks, Galeus melastomus were investigated. The sharks were incidentally caught off the North-Western Aegean, the Eastern Corinthian and Northern Euboean Gulfs by commercial bottom trawlers and longlines at depths between 200 and 500 m. The overall sex ratio (1:1.1 females:males) was not different from the theoretical unit (1:1). No differences in the sex ratios were detected among seasons, areas or depth strata. Significant differences in the population structure regarding different maturity stage proportions at different seasons, fishing areas and depths, were observed. The sampled population mainly consisted of immature catsharks (77%), predominantly trawled off the NW Aegean and Corinthian Gulf during winter and autumn. Fifteen per cent of the samples, mainly captured in spring and summer off the N Euboean Gulf, were mature. Eight per cent of the specimens was found to be maturing. Higher frequencies of heavier female individuals were observed. Based on the maturation ogives and the total lengths (TL) for each sex, using logistic regression which presented sex-related differences, male Galeus melastomus achieved maturity at 433.6 mm while females at 483.5 mm. The number of egg capsules in the oviducts spanned from 1–12 per female with sizes varying from 38 × 14 mm to 55 × 20 mm. This is the first study investigating the demography and aspects of Galeus melastomus reproduction in the Eastern Mediterranean.
Clinical risk factors, bacterial aetiology, and outcome of urinary tract infection in children hospitalized with diarrhoea in Bangladesh
Authors: DAS R. , AHMED T. , SAHA H. , SHAHRIN L. , AFROZE F. , SHAHID A. S. M. S. B. , SHAHUNJA K. M. , BARDHAN P. K. , CHISTI M. J.
Published: December 2016

Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in children aged <5 years with diarrhoea, but little is known about risk factors, aetiology and outcome of such children. We aimed to evaluate these knowledge gaps of UTI in children aged <5 years with diarrhoea. We enrolled all children aged <5 years with diarrhoea admitted to Dhaka Hospital of the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, between May 2011 and April 2013, who had history of fever (⩾38 °C) and obtained a urine sample for culture. Diarrhoea with UTI (confirmed by culture) constituted cases (n= 26) and those without UTI constituted controls (n= 78). Threefold controls were randomly selected. The case-fatality rate was comparable in cases and controls (4%vs. 1%,P= 0·439).Escherichia coli(69%) andKlebsiella(15%) were the most commonly isolated pathogens. Persistent diarrhoea, pneumonia and prior antibiotics use were identified as risk factors for UTI in logistic regression analysis (P< 0·05 for all). Thus, children with diarrhoea presenting with persistent diarrhoea, pneumonia, and prior antibiotic use should be investigated for UTI for their prompt management that may reduce morbidity.
Two levels of specialization in bacteraemicEscherichia colistrains revealed by their comparison with commensal strains
Authors: CLERMONT O. , COUFFIGNAL C. , BLANCO J. , MENTRÉ F. , PICARD B. , DENAMUR E. ,   the COLIVILLE and COLIBAFI groups
Published: December 2016

Bacteraemia caused byEscherichia coliare particularly frequent and severe, contrasting with the commensal character of the strains found in the digestive tract. A better understanding of the relationships between strains of both origins is needed to unravel the pathogenesis of this disease. Two hundred and forty-three commensal strains were compared to 243 bacteraemic strains isolated from adult hosts matched in terms of gender and age, and from similar location and epoch. Phylogenetic grouping, O-type determination, virulence factor content and antibiotic resistance were compared. Compared to commensal strains, the bacteraemic strains were characterized by a higher proportion of B2, C and D phylogroups, and a lower proportion of A, E and F phylogroups. They also had a lower proportion of the B2 subgroup IV (STc141), a higher proportion of virulence factors, and a higher frequency of antibiotic resistance. These differences were more marked for the bacteraemic strains of urinary tract origin with the presence of specific clones, whereas the bacteraemic strains of digestive origin remained non-significantly different from the commensal strains, except for their antibiotic resistance. Thus, two levels of specialization from commensal strains were demonstrated in the bacteraemic strains: resistance to antibiotics in all cases, and virulence for those of urinary tract origin.
Impact of national policies on the microbial aetiology of surgical site infections in acute NHS hospitals in England: analysis of trends between 2000 and 2013 using multi-centre prospective cohort data
Authors: ELGOHARI S. , WILSON J. , SAEI A. , SHERIDAN E. A. , LAMAGNI T.
Published: December 2016

Our study aimed to evaluate changes in the epidemiology of pathogens causing surgical site infections (SSIs) in England between 2000 and 2013 in the context of intensified national interventions to reduce healthcare-associated infections introduced since 2006. National prospective surveillance data on target surgical procedures were used for this study. Data on causative organism were available for 72% of inpatient-detected SSIs meeting the standard case definitions for superficial, deep and organ-space infections (9767/13 531) which were analysed for trends. A multivariable logistic linear mixed model with hospital random effects was fitted to evaluate trends by pathogen. Staphylococcus aureus was the predominant cause of SSI between 2000 (41%) and 2009 (24%), decreasing from 2006 onwards reaching 16% in 2013. Data for 2005–2013 showed that the odds of SSI caused by S. aureus decreased significantly by 14% per year [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 0·86, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0·83–0·89] driven by significant decreases in methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) (aOR 0·71, 95% CI 0·68–0·75). However a small significant increase in methicillin-sensitive S. aureus was identified (aOR 1·06, 95% CI 1·02–1·10). Enterobacteriaceae were stable during 2000–2007 (12% of cases overall), increasing from 2008 (18%) onwards, being present in 25% of cases in 2013; the model supported these increasing trends during 2007–2013 (aOR 1·12, 95% CI 1·07–1·18). The decreasing trends in S. aureus SSIs from 2006 and the increases in Enterobacteriaceae SSIs from 2008 may be related to intensified national efforts targeted at reducing MRSA bacteraemia combined with changes in antibiotic use aimed at controlling C. difficile infections.
Up the Value Chain: Transition from Law Librarian to Research Analyst
Authors: Marshall Helen , Taylor Kelly
Published: December 2016

This paper is based on a parallel session at the BIALL Conference 2016 which was given by Helen Marshall and Kelly Taylor from Pinsent Masons. Pinsent Masons has a ground-breaking team of research analysts providing the firm with in-depth sector and market analysis. This innovative approach has benefits for Pinsent Masons and also for the research team. These include increased visibility within the firm and developing a role as a trusted adviser to the business. The team are drawn from a variety of backgrounds, including experienced law librarians. In this article, Kelly and Helen, who are both from a law librarian background, will explain Pinsents' unique approach to business and sector insight. The article covers how the team adds value to the firm and charts the development of our existing skillsets to meet this new challenge. The article also includes some practical insight into approaching business research and how to overcome common obstacles, notably the challenge in expanding our output from traditional legal research to more business and commercially aware pieces.
Lines of Demarcation: Causation, Design-Based Inference, and Historical Research
Authors: Kocher Matthew A. , Monteiro Nuno P.
Published: December 2016

Qualitative historical knowledge is essential for validating natural experiments. Specifically, the validity of a natural experiment depends on the historical processes of treatment assignment and administration, including broader macro-historical dynamics. But if validating a natural experiment requires trust in the ability of qualitative evidence to establish the causal processes through which the data were generated, there is no good reason for natural experiments to be considered epistemically superior to historical research. To the contrary, the epistemic status of natural experiments is on a par with that of the historical research on which their validation depends. They are two modes of social-scientific explanation, each with its own pros and cons; neither is privileged. We illustrate this argument by re-examining an important recent contribution to the literature on violent conflict: Ferwerda and Miller’s 2014 natural experiment estimating the causal effect of the German decision to devolve authority to the Vichy French government on violent resistance during World War II.
Visualizing War? Towards a Visual Analysis of Videogames and Social Media
Authors: Robinson Nick , Schulzke Marcus
Published: December 2016

Political scientists are increasingly engaged with the importance of the “visual turn,” asking questions about how we understand what we see and the social and political consequences of that seeing. One of the greatest challenges facing researchers is developing methods that can help us understand visual politics. Much of the literature has fallen into the familiar qualitative versus quantitative methodological binary, with a strong bias in favor of the former, and has consequently been unable to realize the advantages of mixed-methods research. We advance the study of visual politics as well as the literature on bridging the quantitative versus qualitative divide by showing that it is possible to generate quantitative data that is rooted in, and amenable to, qualitative research on visual phenomena. Our approach to conducting mixed-methods research is an alternative to the more common strategy of seeing various research methods as an assortment of tools, as it is directed at developing an organic relationship between qualitative and quantitative methods. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this strategy for research on visual politics by discussing our own efforts to create a dataset for quantifying visual signifiers of militarism.
The ‘Tribal Politics’ of Field Research: A Reflection on Power and Partiality in 21st-Century Warzones
Authors: Malejacq Romain , Mukhopadhyay Dipali
Published: December 2016

Can fieldwork still be done in today’s most violent warzones? We contend that long-held methodological principles about power and impartiality do not hold in today’s conflict-ridden environments. Research of this kind can still be pursued, but only if the scholar’s place is reconceived as one of limited power and unavoidable partiality. We argue that those still able to do fieldwork in sites of increasing danger do so by virtue of building their own ‘tribes,’ forming and joining different social micro-systems to collect data and, in some cases, survive. Field research must, therefore, be recognized as its own form of foreign intervention. In considering the future of political science research in the most challenging war-torn settings, we examine the risks and opportunities that accompany ‘tribal politics’ of this kind and underline the importance of reflecting on our own positionality in the process of knowledge production.