bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Assimilation of Precipitation-Affected Radiances in a Cloud-Resolving WRF Ensemble Data Assimilation System
Authors: Zhang Sara Q. , Zupanski Milija , Hou Arthur Y. , Lin Xin , Cheung Samson H.
Published: September 2012

Assimilation of remotely sensed precipitation observations into numerical weather prediction models can improve precipitation forecasts and extend prediction capabilities in hydrological applications. This paper presents a new regional ensemble data assimilation system that assimilates precipitation-affected microwave radiances into the Weather Research and Forecasting Model (WRF). To meet the challenges in satellite data assimilation involving cloud and precipitation processes, hydrometeors produced by the cloud-resolving model are included as control variables and ensemble forecasts are used to estimate flow-dependent background error covariance. Two assimilation experiments have been conducted using precipitation-affected radiances from passive microwave sensors: one for a tropical storm after landfall and the other for a heavy rain event in the southeastern United States. The experiments examined the propagation of information in observed radiances via flow-dependent background error auto- and cross covariance, as well as the error statistics of observational radiance. The results show that ensemble assimilation of precipitation-affected radiances improves the quality of precipitation analyses in terms of spatial distribution and intensity in accumulated surface rainfall, as verified by independent ground-based precipitation observations.
Did the Arctic Ice Recover? Demographics of True and False Climate Facts
Authors: Hamilton Lawrence C.
Published: September 2012

Beliefs about climate change divide the U.S. public along party lines more distinctly than hot social issues. Research finds that better-educated or informed respondents are more likely to align with their parties on climate change. This information–elite polarization resembles a process of biased assimilation first described in psychological experiments. In nonexperimental settings, college graduates could be prone to biased assimilation if they more effectively acquire information that supports their beliefs. Recent national and statewide survey data show response patterns consistent with biased assimilation (and biased guessing) contributing to the correlation observed between climate beliefs and knowledge. The survey knowledge questions involve key, uncontroversial observations such as whether the area of late-summer Arctic sea ice has declined, increased, or declined and then recovered to what it was 30 years ago. Correct answers are predicted by education, and some wrong answers (e.g., more ice) have predictors that suggest lack of knowledge. Other wrong answers (e.g., ice recovered) are predicted by political and belief factors instead. Response patterns suggest causality in both directions: science information affecting climate beliefs, but also beliefs affecting the assimilation of science information.
New Insights into the Composition and Functions of the Acquired Enamel Pellicle
Authors: Siqueira W.L. , Custodio W. , McDonald E.E.
Published: September 2012

The acquired enamel pellicle (AEP) is a thin acellular film that forms on tooth surfaces upon exposure to the oral environment. It consists predominantly of salivary proteins, but also includes non-salivary-derived proteins, carbohydrates, and lipids. Since it is the interface between teeth and the oral environment, the AEP plays a key role in the maintenance of oral health by regulating processes including lubrication, demineralization, and remineralization and shaping the composition of early microbial flora adhering to tooth surfaces. Knowledge of the 3D structure of the AEP and how that correlates with its protective functions may provide insight into several oral pathological states, including caries, erosion, and periodontal disease. This review intends to update readers about the latest discoveries related to the formation, ultrastructure, composition, and functions of the AEP, as well as the future of pellicle research, with particular emphasis on the emerging role of proteomic and microscopy techniques in oral diagnosis and therapeutics.
‘Our brothers who went to the bush’: Post-identity conflict and the experience of reconciliation in Sierra Leone
Authors: Millar Gearoid
Published: September 2012

A number of distinct subfields within conflict resolution share foundational theories and emerge from similar understandings of social conflict. One of the most influential of these theories assumes that conflict environments give rise to ‘otherizing’ dynamics between competing groups. This theory assumes that conflict occurs between and further reifies identity groups. It follows from this theory that conflict resolution practice, and particularly that within the subfield of peacebuilding, must undermine dyadic ‘in-group/out-group’ conflict through processes of reconciliation and transitional justice. However, the theorized dynamic does not always pertain. In Sierra Leone the truth and reconciliation commission was tasked with fostering reconciliation between the perpetrators and victims of wartime violence. This article describes, however, how former combatants in Sierra Leone are described by many as brothers and friends, as opposed to hated members of a collective ‘other’. These findings attest to a distinct lack of ‘otherizing’ dynamics and demand a reconsideration of peacebuilding practices after what are often considered ‘new wars’ or ‘postmodern conflicts’ in sub-Saharan Africa. The article argues that some contemporary conflicts might best be considered post-identity because they are based less on national, racial, religious, or ethnic identity than on circumstance, need, and opportunity. In addition, after post-identity conflicts truth commissions may create new competing identities, such as those between victims and perpetrators. In such cases the applied conflict resolution interventions must emerge from new conflict resolution theory which can adequately understand contemporary conflict dynamics and begin to develop non-identity focused interventions.
Armed intervention and civilian victimization in intrastate conflicts
Authors: Wood Reed M , Kathman Jacob D , Gent Stephen E
Published: September 2012

Research has begun to examine the relationship between changes in the conflict environment and levels of civilian victimization. We extend this work by examining the effect of external armed intervention on the decisions of governments and insurgent organizations to victimize civilians during civil wars. We theorize that changes in the balance of power in an intrastate conflict influence combatant strategies of violence. As a conflict actor weakens relative to its adversary, it employs increasingly violent tactics toward the civilian population as a means of reshaping the strategic landscape to its benefit. The reason for this is twofold. First, declining capabilities increase resource needs at the moment that extractive capacity is in decline. Second, declining capabilities inhibit control and policing, making less violent means of defection deterrence more difficult. As both resource extraction difficulties and internal threats increase, actors’ incentives for violence against the population increase. To the extent that biased military interventions shift the balance of power between conflict actors, we argue that they alter actor incentives to victimize civilians. Specifically, intervention should reduce the level of violence employed by the supported faction and increase the level employed by the opposed faction. We test these arguments using data on civilian casualties and armed intervention in intrastate conflicts from 1989 to 2005. Our results support our expectations, suggesting that interventions shift the power balance and affect the levels of violence employed by combatants.
Old truths and new politics
Authors: Taylor Laura K , Dukalskis Alexander
Published: September 2012

This article analyzes the relationship between truth and politics by asking whether the ‘publicness’ of a truth commission – defined by whether it has public hearings, releases a public report, and names perpetrators – contributes to democratization. The article reviews scholarship relevant to the potential democratizing effects of truth commissions and derives mechanisms that help explain this relationship. Work from the transitional justice field as well as democratization and political transition more generally is considered. Using a newly-constructed Truth Commission Publicness Dataset (TCPD), the analysis finds that even after statistically controlling for initial levels of democracy, democratic trends in the years prior to a commission, level of wealth, amnesties and/or trials, the influence of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and different cutoff points for measuring democratization across a number of models, more publicness predicts higher levels of democracy years after the commission has finished its work. The more public a truth commission is, the more it will contribute to democratization. The finding that more public truth commissions are associated with higher levels of democratization indicates particular strategies that policymakers, donors, and civil society activists may take to improve prospects for democracy in a country planning a truth commission in the wake of violence and/or government abuse.
Fuzzy region competition-based auto-color-theme design for textile images
Authors: Han Yu , Zheng Dejun , Baciu George , Feng Xiangchu , Li Min
Published: September 2012

We propose a model to recolor textile images by different color themes. The model contains three phases. The first phase is to partition an input textile image into several homogeneous regions. The CIELab color mean of each region and a bias-field function are obtained from the segmentation results. The combination of the color mean values of all regions is considered as the color theme of the input image. The second phase is to retrieve the relevant color themes from a given dataset. The retrieved color themes preserve the color mood of the input image in the sense of the similarity measurement defined in the color mood space. In the third phase, we reconstruct new images with different appearances from the input image by using the retrieved color themes. The proposed method provides a powerful tool for designers to generate and search for all relevant color combinations related to a given theme. Numerical results indicate that our recolorization model performs well on complex textile design patterns.
Application of melt-blown technology in the manufacturing of a solvent vapor-sensitive, non-woven fabric composed of poly(lactic acid) loaded with multi-walled carbon nanotubes
Authors: Krucińska Izabella , Surma Beata , Chrzanowski Michał , Skrzetuska Ewa , Puchalski Michał
Published: September 2012

We evaluated a solvent vapor-sensitive, non-woven fabric made from a biodegradable, poly(lactic acid) (PLA) polymer loaded with multi-walled carbon nanotubes. The sensory properties of the fabric were obtained by optimizing the process parameters for manufacturing the melt-blown, non-woven fabric composed of 98% PLA 4060D (Nature Works) and 2% multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Nanocyl®). The diffusion of polar and non-polar solvent molecules influenced the electron flow between the separated carbon nanotubes in percolation paths built into the PLA, resulting in an increase of the resistance of the melt-blown, non-woven fabrics. The statistically significant differences between the mean values of electrical resistance before and after the influence of the tested solvent vapors were achieved for the non-woven fabrics manufactured at high air velocity and low extruder screw speed, taking the values of 30 m3/h and 20 rpm, respectively. The results obtained for the non-woven fabric manufactured in the optimal conditions show that methanol vapor response has the lowest amplitude of 15%, whereas for benzene, acetone and toluene sensitivity reaches values of 60%, 40%, and 35%, respectively. The values of the relative resistance amplitude correspond with Flory–Huggins interaction parameters κPLA\benzene < κPLA\acetone < κPLA\toluene < κPLA\methanol.
The torso cooling of vests incorporated with phase change materials: a sweat evaporation perspective
Authors: Zhao Mengmeng , Gao Chuansi , Wang Faming , Kuklane Kalev , Holmér Ingvar , Li Jun
Published: September 2012

Cooling vests incorporated with phase change materials (PCMs) add extra insulation and restrict sweat evaporation. It is still unclear how much cooling benefit they can provide. The aim of this study was to investigate the torso cooling of the PCM vests in two hot environments: hot humid (HH, 34°C, 75% relative humidity (RH)) and hot dry (HD, 34°C, 37% RH). A pre-wetted torso fabric skin was used to simulate torso sweating on a thermal manikin. Three cooling vests incorporated with three melting temperatures ( Tm) of PCMs were tested ( Tm = 21°C, Tm = 24°C and Tm = 28°C). They were worn under a military ensemble (total thermal insulation 1.60 clo; evaporative resistance 0.0516 kPaċm2/W), respectively. In a HH environment all the three cooling vests provided effective torso cooling; in a HD environment the cooling benefit was negative. In both environmental conditions, the evaporative cooling was greatly restricted by the cooling vests. The study indicated that when wearing the protective clothing with the relatively low evaporative resistance and when sweat production was high, the cooling vests were effective in a HH environment, but not in a HD environment.
Deodorant performance of titanium dioxide-added acrylic/cellulose diacetate blended fibers
Authors: Takahashi Tetsuya , Oowaki Mariko , Onohara Yukio , Yanagi Yasuo
Published: September 2012

To obtain acrylic fiber with excellent deodorant performance, the effects of titanium dioxide photocatalyst were examined. When titanium dioxide was added to acrylonitrile copolymer and wet spun, the resulting fiber displayed insufficient photocatalytic activity. The acrylonitrile copolymer was then mixed with 30 wt% cellulose diacetate and wet spun. A very finely fibrillated structure resulted, and the official moisture regain of the blend fiber doubled, from 2.03% to 4.03%. While applying ultraviolet (UV) light to these blended fibers, the dye decomposition effect of the fibers was examined. When titanium dioxide was then added, significant dye decomposition ability appeared. When the blend fiber containing cellulose diacetate was saponified by alkali, the official moisture regain increased by 2.5–2.8%, and dye decomposition ability improved. While applying UV light to these acrylic-based fibers, the deodorant ability against ammonia gas was also examined. Fibers with cellulose diacetate deodorized ammonia well within six hours. For the saponified blend fiber with 5.0 wt% titanium dioxide, the odor residual rate decreased to 3.0% within 1 hour. Clearly, the addition of diacetate and subsequent alkali saponification produced acrylic-based fiber with excellent deodorant performance.
Analysis of thermoregulation properties of PCM garments on the basis of ergonomic tests
Authors: Bartkowiak Gra ż yna , Da¸browska Anna , Marszałek Anna
Published: September 2012

Work in impermeable protective clothing leads to a significant thermal load on its user. Limited heat and moisture transport, which is an effect of using air- and moisture-impermeable coated fabrics in protective clothing, causes a significant increase of the temperature and relative humidity in the undergarment microclimate and, as a consequence, a rise of the skin and core temperature. To protect a worker from the thermal load, three types of garments with phase change materials designed to be worn under impermeable clothing have been developed and tested. The research, conducted with the participation of volunteers in a microclimatic chamber, has proved a statistically significant positive effect of the phase change materials, in the form of macrocapsules contained in the garment, on the undergarment microclimate underneath the barrier protective clothing.
Prediction of the in-plane and through-plane fluid flow behavior of woven fabrics
Authors: Turan R Befru , Okur Ayşe
Published: September 2012

The permeability property of fabric is a desired performance property of textile structure used in different areas. In this study, the relationship between in-plane and through-plane permeability behaviors and the structural properties of woven fabrics having numerous usage areas, such as clothing and technical textiles, were investigated with the help of data obtained from a group of test fabrics having different weave types and weft settings, which were produced by using the same warp and weft linear density. In the study, the pore properties were examined in two regions: inter-yarn and inter-fiber pore regions. After defining the pore properties, which were determined by the structural and geometrical properties of fabric according to different approaches, the permeability results of both in-plane and through-plane directions were predicted theoretically by using obtained pore properties in flow equations. Estimated permeability results were compared with experimental results and the suitability of methods were discussed.
Documentary Film from the Southern Cone during Exile (1970–1980)
Authors: Campo Javier
Published: September 2012

Soon after the establishment of the Southern Cone dictatorships many artists and intellectuals, mostly political activists, had to go into exile. The documentary filmmakers among them continued to work in their countries of exile producing testimonies, denunciations, and reflections with their countries of origin as a central focus. An analysis of the most important works of the period called “film from exile,” from 1973 (Augusto Pinochet’s coup against Salvador Allende in Chile) to the democratic transitions taking place in the subcontinent in the mid- and late 1980s, reveals a progression in themes from militancy through reflection on the condition of exile to the defense of human rights. The documentary films from exile recorded the diversity of resources used by the filmmakers to bear witness to the absent, a rich palette that combined staging, archival material, interviews, and reflection to produce the only traces of free cinema during this period.

Tan pronto se establecieron las dictaduras en el Cono Sur muchos artistas e intelectuales, la mayor parte activistas políticos, tuvieron que exilarse. Entre ellos, los documentalistas de documentales continuaron su labor en los países de exilio produciendo testimonios, denuncias y reflexiones con sus países de origen como enfoque principal. Un análisis de las obras mas importantes del período llamado “film desde el exilio,” de 1973 (el golpe de Augusto Pinochet en contra de Salvador Allende en Chile) a las transiciones democráticas que tomaron lugar en los fines de la década 1980, revela una progresión en los temas desde la militancia a través de reflexiones sobre las condiciones de exilio hasta la defensa de los derechos humanos. Los documentales del exilio abrevaron en la diversidad de recursos al alcance de los cineastas, una rica paleta que combinó material de archivo, entrevistas, y reflexiones para producir los únicos rasgos del cine libre durante este periodo.
Targeting the Public Purse
Authors: Dressel Björn
Published: September 2012

This article analyzes the political dynamics underlying public financial management (PFM) reforms in the Philippines during the Benigno Aquino III administration (2010–present). By inviting widespread civil society participation throughout the budget cycle and by imposing greater transparency and accountability, they mark a substantial policy change in Filipino PFM. Centering on the evolution of public finance advocacy coalitions, this article argues a new type of coalition has emerged among technocratic nongovernmental organizations, which are now able to place “policy brokers” directly in the national administration. However, institutional structures, dependence on donors, and the contestability of core beliefs behind these activities raise doubts about whether they are sustainable. These doubts in turn raise fascinating theoretical and empirical questions.
Understanding Cultural Issues in the Diabetes Self-Management Behaviors of Korean Immigrants
Authors: Cha EunSeok , Yang Kyeongra , Lee Jia , Min Jiwon , Kim Kevin H. , Dunbar Sandra B. , Jennings Bonnie Mowinski
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to explore potential factors affecting the self-management behaviors of Korean immigrants with type 2 diabetes mellitus (KIT2Ds).

Methods

A qualitative descriptive design guided this study. Semistructured interviews lasting 45 to 60 minutes were conducted with 20 KIT2Ds in the participants’ preferred language; in all cases, this was Korean. Each interview was audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed using conventional content analysis. Data analysis was performed in two steps. The data written in Korean were initially analyzed by 3 bilingual researchers. A qualitative researcher then participated in the analysis to refine the findings for presentation to an English-speaking audience while staying true to the data and preserving the nuanced Korean meanings.

Results

The mean age of the sample was 64. 5 ± 11.6 years (9 men and 11 women). The mean years of staying in the United States and age at diabetes mellitus diagnosis were 23.6 ± 9.7 years and 52.5 ± 12.3 years, respectively. Three major ideas were identified: (1) issues on treatment regimen related to medications and diet, (2) resources that helped or hindered ability to manage diabetes, and (3) the physician-patient relationship.

Conclusions

Important cultural nuances need to be addressed to better prepare KIT2Ds to manage their diabetes more effectively. A culture-specific program should extend beyond a diabetes self-management education delivered in Korean language. Rather, content and education methods need to consider acculturation effects on diabetes management behaviors.
Families United/Familias Unidas
Authors: Perez Siwik Violet , Kutob Randa M. , Ritenbaugh Cheryl , Aickin Mikel , Gordon Judith S.
Published: September 2012

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to describe the development and implementation of a new diabetes prevention intervention that combines the benefits of family support with the group office model. Intensive lifestyle modification can effectively delay the onset of type 2 diabetes, yet health providers are challenged in translating these results to their patients. The group outpatient visit model can provide a means to address prevention issues in a financially sustainable manner.

Methods

Materials from the Diabetes Prevention Program and a previously developed group office visit program were combined to create the Families United/Familias Unidas curriculum. The session content utilized a multiculturally tailored approach designed to help participants decrease portion size, decrease carbohydrate intake, increase physical activity, and increase resiliency. Adults aged 18 to 70 were recruited who had any diabetes risk factors but did not have diabetes. Eligible participants enlisted a support person, aged 14 to 70, to join them in the 6-month group office visit intervention.

Results

Twenty-nine pairs (n = 58) of primary participants plus support persons were recruited. Participants’ average age was 45; 74% were female; 56.9% identified themselves as white and 37.9% as Hispanic/Latino. Over one-third had 4 or more diabetes risk factors. Twelve family group office visits were delivered over 6 months. The attendance rate for those who attended at least one session was 72%.

Conclusions

Group office visits can provide a new sustainable model for diabetes prevention and are a natural fit for primary care physicians in collaboration with other health care professionals, such as dieticians or diabetes educators.
Strategic Momentum
Authors: Turner Scott F. , Mitchell Will , Bettis Richard A.
Published: September 2012

Research on strategic momentum considers how experience with innovation affects firms’ subsequent innovativeness. Traditionally the momentum literature has emphasized arguments for an accelerating effect of innovation experience, but recent critiques and contrasting empirical results suggest ambiguity regarding how experience with innovation affects subsequent innovative activity. In this study, we develop arguments for a more expanded view of strategic momentum, examining momentum in the form of temporal consistency of ongoing innovation. This expanded view argues that organizations have incentives for steady-state patterns of innovation in the form of temporal consistency of ongoing innovation. To explore this expanded view of momentum, we examine how experience with innovation facilitates these temporally consistent patterns of innovation, as well as how increasing organizational age may inhibit such consistency. Analyses of generational product innovation in business productivity software highlight the importance of temporal consistency for innovativeness and momentum.
The Delivery of Bad News in Organizations
Authors: Bies Robert J.
Published: September 2012

The delivery of bad news is at the center of many organizational processes. Despite the variety of organizational processes involving the delivery of bad news, there is no integrative framework that guides its study. Based on a literature review of professionals who deliver bad news as part of their occupations, this article presents a framework that conceptualizes the delivery of bad news as a process involving a variety of activities in three different, but interrelated, phases—preparation, delivery, and transition. This three-phase model is the guiding framework for the literature review. The article identifies the strategic functions served by different bad news management activities and highlights many dilemmas facing managers in the delivery of bad news. The article concludes with identifying new directions for research on the delivery of bad news in organizations.
Behavioral Agency Theory
Authors: Pepper Alexander , Gore Julie
Published: September 2012

This article describes new micro-foundations for theorizing about executive compensation, drawing on the behavioral economics literature and based on a more realistic set of behavioral assumptions than those that have typically been made by agency theorists. We call these micro-foundations “behavioral agency theory.” In contrast to the standard agency framework, which focuses on monitoring costs and incentive alignment, behavioral agency theory places agent performance at the center of the agency model, arguing that the interests of shareholders and their agents are most likely to be aligned if executives are motivated to perform to the best of their abilities. We develop a line of argument first advanced by Wiseman and Gomez-Mejia and put the case for a more general reassessment of the behavioral assumptions underpinning agency theory. A model of economic man predicated on bounded rationality is proposed, adopting Wiseman and Gomez-Mejia’s assumptions about risk preferences, but incorporating new assumptions about time discounting, inequity aversion, and the trade-off between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. We argue that behavioral agency theory provides a better framework for theorizing about executive compensation, an enhanced theory of agent behavior, and an improved platform for making recommendations about the design of executive compensation plans.
Public service broadcasting, public interest and individual rights in China
Authors: Chin Yik Chan
Published: September 2012

This article argues that China’s public service broadcasting (PSB) policy has been motivated more by the pragmatic ends of securing social stability and cohesion than by moral or humane concerns for the development of citizens. Actual PSB policy focused predominantly on a narrowly defined ‘basic cultural right’ of access to broadcast media and on social equalization between urban and rural access to broadcast networks. Other values of PSB, including high-quality programming, independence and impartiality, are still marginalized. The continuation of consensus on the authoritarian political model and the prioritization of social order and collective rights over individual political and civil rights has restricted the scope of the policy. The lack of consensus on the substance of the public interest undermines any meaningful political construction of PSB. The long-term implications of PSB policy depend on the legitimation of the discourse of individual rights and equality, and on recognition of the broadcast media’s role in independently serving the public and common good and of the state’s obligation to respect individuals as citizens having equal and unalienable rights.
Desperately seeking my wages: justice, media logic, and the politics of voice in urban China
Authors: Sun Wanning
Published: September 2012

Much has been written about the working conditions, experiences of injustice and exploitation, and the formation of the working class in the construction sector in China. However, we know very little about the role of media in the process of gaining/denying voice and visibility. Combining critiques of media forms and media practices with ethnographic insights, and in juxtaposition to the two dominant, or hegemonic, media forms – reality TV shows and media events – which embody, respectively, the market and the Party-state’s efforts to exploit the ‘media logic’, the article considers the success and failure of rural migrant construction workers’ media tactics in their struggles to claim wages owed to them. This article is concerned with the politics of voice, and explores how the processes of mediation and mediatization engaged in by all parties – the Party-state, the market, workers and the media – amplify or constrain voice.
What Can Psychoanalysis Offer Organization Studies Today? Taking Stock of Current Developments and Thinking about Future Directions
Authors: Fotaki Marianna , Long Susan , Schwartz Howard S.
Published: September 2012

The introductory paper to the Special Issue discusses psychoanalytic contributions to the study of contemporary organizations. The aim is to draw attention to psychoanalysis as a critical theory with wide explanatory power and a potential for thinking about organizational practice in new ways. It does so firstly, by reviewing the impact it had so far on illuminating group dynamics, leadership dysfunctions and the sanctioned socially institutional defences. Secondly, it contests the limited impact of psychoanalysis on mainstream organization and management theory as an unfortunate outcome since it represents arguably the most advanced and compelling conception of human subjectivity that any theoretical approach has to offer. By way of example, seven papers comprising this Special Issue are introduced. Lastly the paper outlines future developments in the psychoanalytic studies of organizations that might be about: (i) greater conceptual inclusivity and crossing the boundaries between the humanities and science; (ii) the study of affect and emotion in organizations (iii) an integration of psychoanalytical insights with social theory via psychosocial approaches and ‘systems psychoanalysis’ and (iv) linking psychoanalysis to discourses of power and the politics of life.
Organizations in a State of Darkness: Towards a Theory of Organizational Miasma
Authors: Gabriel Yiannis
Published: September 2012

This paper uses psychoanalytic ideas to develop a theory of organizational miasma, a concept that describes a contagious state of pollution – material, psychological and spiritual – that afflicts all who work in certain organizations that undergo sudden and traumatic transformations. Miasma is offered not as another organizational metaphor, a prism through which to view particular organizations. Instead, I delineate the fundamental psychodynamics of organizational miasma as a theoretical concept that accounts for and explains numerous processes in these organizations. These include a paralysis of resistance, an experience of pollution and uncleanliness, and feelings of disgust, worthlessness and corruption. Miasma may occur in organizations that undergo a sudden transformation involving the discarding and loss of many of their valued members through downsizing or retrenchment, without either separation rituals or psychological mourning. The ‘old’ organization is frequently presented as corrupt, indulgent and inefficient, contrasted to the ‘new’ organization that is entrepreneurial, dynamic and flexible. Yet, for many surviving members, the new organization is tainted by the presence of ‘murderers’, i.e. managers who have initiated a series of dismissals, and ‘corpses’, i.e. employees who have been dismissed or are about to be dismissed and ‘disappear’, once alive, now discarded. Miasma is seen as the result of a failed separation rite, one that instead of honouring loss, finitude and discontinuity in today’s organizations seeks to obliterate and repress it. In this sense, miasma represents a contemporary version of tragedy where attempts to offer cleansing end up by reinforcing it.
Organizational Turbulence, Trouble and Trauma: Theorizing the Collapse of a Mental Health Setting
Authors: Fischer Michael D.
Published: September 2012

Turbulence is usually considered a negative property of an organization’s environment. Yet turbulence is also a feature of an organization’s internal dynamics and may be useful for productivity. This article argues that interactions between the formal and informal management of trouble produce relational turbulence that may mobilize resources and collective action, or conversely lead to dysfunction and crisis. The author links relational psychoanalytic theory with social constructionist perspectives in exploring intersubjective dynamics of trouble and its repercussions of turbulence. Based on a longitudinal interorganizational ethnography, an atypical mental healthcare organization is described – a democratic therapeutic community – in which turbulence plays a central function, but in two very different ways. In a restorative mode, turbulence generates formative spaces that are creative and have a regulating function, useful for organizational productivity. Conversely, a perverse mode is destructive and may produce intractable perverse spaces, leading to organizational dysfunction, crisis and even collapse. This is theorized by extending the psychoanalytic concept of liminal, transitional space. In contrast to the notion of transitional space as a safe, protective area, the author develops a model of distinct formative and perverse spaces created by relational turbulence in organizations. In human service organizations, where the generation, trading and management of trouble are inherent in an organization’s internal dynamics, turbulence may be a valuable resource, but one that, in the perverse mode, can be immensely destructive.
‘The Return of the Primal Father’ in Postmodernity? A Lacanian Analysis of Authentic Leadership
Authors: Costas Jana , Taheri Alireza
Published: September 2012

A significant stream of research taking a psychoanalytic perspective has focused on leadership in organizations. Studies have investigated, from a Freudian perspective, leader–follower relations where the leader represents a domineering and authoritarian father figure. We contribute to this research by introducing Lacanian theory to explore the increasingly influential ‘authentic leadership’ approach. In contrast to traditional leadership, this approach advocates, in line with postmodern trends, a post-heroic, non-authoritarian and even self-effacing leader figure. In analysing academic and practitioner-oriented authentic leadership texts we ask, drawing on Lacanian insights, whether authentic leadership enables subjects to separate from the master discourse of traditional leadership through promoting something like the analyst discourse, or whether it entails the return of a phantasmagorical Freudian primal father figure, leading to heightened dependency. In so doing, we discuss the political significance of Lacanian theory in illuminating possibilities for more autonomous and emancipatory relations in organizations.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging After Arthroscopic Microfracture of Capitellar Osteochondritis Dissecans
Authors: Wulf Corey A. , Stone Rebecca M. , Giveans M. Russell , Lervick Gregory N.
Published: September 2012

Background:

Osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the capitellum affects young athletes involved in elbow load-bearing activities. Unstable lesions are best managed surgically, although debate remains regarding the optimal method. Arthroscopic treatment allows rapid recovery, but the effect on the articular surface is undetermined.

Hypothesis:

The clinical outcome after arthroscopic microfracture of stage III/IV capitellum OCD would be successful in terms of return to sport and restoration of function, and there would be some evidence of articular restoration or repair.

Study Design:

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

We reviewed records of 10 consecutive adolescent patients (age ≤18 years) with stage III or IV OCD lesions of the capitellum managed with arthroscopic microfracture. The mean age at the time of surgery was 13.9 years (range, 10.8-18.5 years); 7 patients were skeletally immature and 3 were skeletally mature. Pre- and postoperative functional assessment included active range of motion, Mayo Elbow Performance Score (MEPS), and Timmerman/Andrews elbow score. All patients underwent plain radiographic and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation at a minimum of 12 months (mean, 27 months; range, 12-49 months) and clinical evaluation at a minimum of 24 months (mean, 42 months; range, 27-54 months) after surgery.

Results:

The mean range of motion improved in both flexion (135.8°→140.7°, P = .112) and extension (20.4°→–2.2°, P = .005). The mean MEPS (70.5→97, P = .007) and Timmerman/Andrews elbow scores (116.4→193.0, P = .008) improved significantly. magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) evaluation demonstrated an improvement in overall joint congruence and the formation of a reparative articular surface in 8 of 10 (80%) patients. No reoperations or major complications were encountered. Six of 8 patients involved in competitive athletics returned to the same level of participation at an average of 5.1 months.

Conclusion:

Arthroscopic OCD fragment excision and capitellar microfracture demonstrates good to excellent functional results in short-term follow-up. Follow-up MRI suggests potential for a reparative fibrocartilaginous articular surface. Longer term follow-up is necessary to determine durability of the technique.
Failure With Continuity in Rotator Cuff Repair “Healing”
Authors: McCarron Jesse A. , Derwin Kathleen A. , Bey Michael J. , Polster Joshua M. , Schils Jean P. , Ricchetti Eric T. , Iannotti Joseph P.
Published: September 2012

Background:

Ten to seventy percent of rotator cuff repairs form a recurrent defect after surgery. The relationship between retraction of the repaired tendon and formation of a recurrent defect is not well defined.

Purpose/Hypotheses:

To measure the prevalence, timing, and magnitude of tendon retraction after rotator cuff repair and correlate these outcomes with formation of a full-thickness recurrent tendon defect on magnetic resonance imaging, as well as clinical outcomes. We hypothesized that (1) tendon retraction is a common phenomenon, although not always associated with a recurrent defect; (2) formation of a recurrent tendon defect correlates with the timing of tendon retraction; and (3) clinical outcome correlates with the magnitude of tendon retraction at 52 weeks and the formation of a recurrent tendon defect.

Study Design:

Case series; Level of evidence, 4.

Methods:

Fourteen patients underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. Tantalum markers placed within the repaired tendons were used to assess tendon retraction by computed tomography scan at 6, 12, 26, and 52 weeks after operation. Magnetic resonance imaging was performed to assess for recurrent tendon defects. Shoulder function was evaluated using the Penn score, visual analog scale (VAS) score for pain, and isometric scapular-plane abduction strength.

Results:

All rotator cuff repairs retracted away from their position of initial fixation during the first year after surgery (mean [standard deviation], 16.1 [5.3] mm; range, 5.7-23.2 mm), yet only 30% of patients formed a recurrent defect. Patients who formed a recurrent defect tended to have more tendon retraction during the first 6 weeks after surgery (9.7 [6.0] mm) than those who did not form a defect (4.1 [2.2] mm) ( P = .08), but the total magnitude of tendon retraction was not significantly different between patient groups at 52 weeks. There was no significant correlation between the magnitude of tendon retraction and the Penn score ( r = 0.01, P = .97) or normalized scapular abduction strength ( r = −0.21, P = .58). However, patients who formed a recurrent defect tended to have lower Penn scores at 52 weeks ( P = .1).

Conclusion:

Early tendon retraction, but not the total magnitude, correlates with formation of a recurrent tendon defect and worse clinical outcomes. “Failure with continuity” (tendon retraction without a recurrent defect) appears to be a common phenomenon after rotator cuff repair. These data suggest that repairs should be protected in the early postoperative period and repair strategies should endeavor to mechanically and biologically augment the repair during this critical early period.
“Treating” Prejudice
Authors: Birtel Michèle D. , Crisp Richard J.
Published: September 2012

One of the ways in which therapists treat anxiety disorders is to expose patients to a fear-evoking stimulus within a safe environment before encouraging more positive stimulus-related thoughts. In the study reported here, we adapted these psychotherapeutic principles of exposure therapy to test the hypothesis that imagining a positive encounter with a member of a stigmatized group would be more likely to promote positive perceptions when it was preceded by an imagined negative encounter. The results of three experiments targeting a range of stigmatized groups (adults with schizophrenia, gay men, and British Muslims) supported this hypothesis. Compared with purely positive interventions, interventions in which a single negative encounter was imagined just prior to imagining a positive encounter resulted in significantly reduced prejudice. Furthermore, reduced anxiety uniquely derived from the mixed-valence imagery task statistically explained enhanced intentions to engage positively with the previously stigmatized group in the future.
Adaptive vibration control of microelectromechanical systems triaxial gyroscope using radial basis function sliding mode technique
Authors: Fei Juntao , Ding Hongfei
Published: September 2012

In this article, a novel radial basis function neural network adaptive sliding mode control is developed for the tracking control of microelectromechanical systems triaxial gyroscope. The advantages of the adaptive control, neural network control and sliding mode control are combined together to implement the control task. Switching function and sliding mode controller are utilized as the input and output of the radial basis function neural network, respectively. The proposed adaptive neural sliding mode control has on-line learning ability to deal with system nonlinearities by adjusting the control parameters updated from the Lyapunov analysis. Simulation studies are investigated to verify the effectiveness of the proposed adaptive neural sliding mode control scheme.
Observer-based H∞ control for Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy systems with uncertainty and disturbance
Authors: Dang Thai-Viet , Wang Wen-June
Published: September 2012

This article is devoted to the design of a fuzzy-observer-based H∞ control for an uncertain Takagi–Sugeno fuzzy system with the existence of external disturbance and unavailable state variables. First, an augmented fuzzy model is built by integrating the system state with the output disturbance to create a new variable. Based on Lyapunov theory and linear matrix inequality tools, we derive sufficient conditions for the existence of the fuzzy-observer-based fuzzy controller guaranteeing a generalized H∞ performance level. A decoupled method is proposed in this study to transform the nonlinear matrix inequality (nonlinear matrix inequality) conditions into some LMI forms. Finally, the procedure of the fuzzy-observer-based H∞ control design is summarized and the effectiveness is demonstrated with a practical example.
Addressing bioterrorism concerns
Authors: Lindsay CD , Griffiths GD
Published: September 2012

Staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB) is of concern to military and civilian populations as a bioterrorism threat agent. It is a highly potent toxin produced by Staphylococcus aureus and is stable in storage and under aerosolisation; it is able to produce prolonged highly incapacitating illness at very low-inhaled doses and death at elevated doses. Concerns regarding SEB are compounded by the lack of effective medical countermeasures for mass treatment of affected populations. This article considers the mechanism of action of SEB, the availability of appropriate experimental models for evaluating the efficacy of candidate medical countermeasures with particular reference to the need to realistically model SEB responses in man and the availability of candidate countermeasures (with an emphasis on commercial off-the-shelf options). The proposed in vitro approaches would be in keeping with Dstl’s commitment to reduction, refinement and replacement of animal models in biomedical research, particularly in relation to identifying valid alternatives to the use of nonhuman primates in experimental studies.
The diuretic effect of urea analog dimethylthiourea in female Wistar rats
Authors: Cil O , Ertunc M , Onur R
Published: September 2012

Urea plays an important role in the urinary concentrating mechanism in the kidney by contributing greatly in the generation of hyperosmolar medulla due to the presence of urea transporters, which mediate facilitated transport of urea. In this study, we investigated the possible diuretic effect of urea analog and urea transporter inhibitor, dimethylthiourea (DMTU), in rats. Female Wistar rats were divided into two groups, group 1 (control group, n = 7) rats were injected with saline intraperitoneally (i.p.), while group 2 (DMTU group, n = 7) rats were injected with 500 mg/kg DMTU (i.p.) and an additional dose of 125 mg/kg DMTU after 8 h. DMTU administration induced an approximately three times increase in daily urine volume ( p < 0.001) and decreased urine osmolality to approximately 35% of controls ( p < 0.0001). DMTU also increased free water clearance ( p < 0.0001) without a significant change in osmolar clearance. DMTU treatment caused an increase in urea clearance ( p < 0.05) and fractional excretion of urea ( p < 0.05) with a decrease in serum urea concentration ( p < 0.001). DMTU had no effect on creatinine clearance or serum electrolytes, creatinine levels and osmolality. With these findings, we report for the first time that DMTU has a prominent diuretic effect with increased urea excretion, which may be explained by the inhibitory effect of the drug on urea transporters. Our findings suggest that DMTU may be used as a diuretic agent and also could be used as a lead compound for the development of novel diuretics.