bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Observation of Quasi-2-Day Convective Disturbances in the Equatorial Indian Ocean during DYNAMO
Authors: Yu Hungjui , Johnson Richard H. , Ciesielski Paul E. , Kuo Hung-Chi
Published: June 2018

This study examines the westward-propagating convective disturbances with quasi-2-day intervals of occurrence identified over Gan Island in the central Indian Ocean from mid- to late October 2011 during the Dynamics of the Madden–Julian Oscillation (DYNAMO) field campaign. Atmospheric sounding, satellite, and radar data are used to develop a composite of seven such disturbances. Composites and spectral analyses reveal that 1) the quasi-2-day convective events comprise westward-propagating diurnal convective disturbances with phase speeds of 10–12 m s−1 whose amplitudes are modulated on a quasi-2-day time scale on a zonal scale of ~1000 km near the longitudes of Gan; 2) the cloud life cycle of quasi-2-day convective disturbances shows a distinct pattern of tropical cloud population evolution—from shallow to deep to stratiform convection; 3) the time scales of mesoscale convective system development and boundary layer modulation play essential roles in determining the periodicity of the quasi-2-day convective events; and 4) in some of the quasi-2-day events there is evidence of counterpropagating (westward and eastward) cloud systems along the lines proposed by Yamada et al. Based on these findings, an interpretation is proposed for the mechanisms for the quasi-2-day disturbances observed during DYNAMO that combines concepts from prior studies of this phenomenon over the western Pacific and Indian Oceans.
Thermodynamics of Pyrocumulus: A Conceptual Study
Authors: Tory Kevin J. , Thurston William , Kepert Jeffrey D.
Published: June 2018

In favorable atmospheric conditions, fires can produce pyrocumulonimbus cloud (pyroCb) in the form of deep convective columns resembling conventional thunderstorms, which may be accompanied by strong inflow, dangerous downbursts, and lightning strikes that can produce dangerous changes in fire behavior. PyroCb formation conditions are not well understood and are difficult to forecast. This paper presents a theoretical study of the thermodynamics of fire plumes to better understand the influence of a range of factors on plume condensation. Plume gases are considered to be undiluted at the fire source and approach 100% dilution at the plume top (neutral buoyancy). Plume condensation height changes are considered for this full range of dilution and for a given set of factors that include environmental temperature and humidity, fire temperature, and fire-moisture-to-heat ratios. The condensation heights are calculated and plotted as saturation point (SP) curves on thermodynamic diagrams. The position and slope of the SP curves provide insight into how plume condensation is affected by the environment thermodynamics and ratios of fire heat to moisture production. Plume temperature traces from large-eddy model simulations added to the diagrams provide additional insight into plume condensation heights and plume buoyancy at condensation. SP curves added to a mixed layer lifting condensation level on standard thermodynamic diagrams can be used to identify the minimum plume condensation height and buoyancy required for deep, moist, free convection to develop, which will aid pyroCb prediction.
Laryngomalacia in Patients With Craniosynostosis
Authors: Mathews Fasil , Shaffer Amber D. , Georg Matthew W. , Ford Matthew D. , Jabbour Noel , Simons Jeffrey P.
Published: June 2018

Objective:

To characterize differences in the clinical presentation and treatment outcomes of laryngomalacia in patients with and without craniosynostosis.

Methods:

A retrospective cohort study was performed comparing all patients with concomitant laryngomalacia and craniosynostosis seen at a tertiary care children’s hospital between 2000 and 2016 with a control group of patients with isolated laryngomalacia. Thirty-two patients with craniosynostosis (59% male) and 68 control patients (56% male) were included. There were no significant differences in age of diagnosis or incidence of prematurity. Symptom presentation, disease severity, swallowing function, comorbidities, treatment modalities, and outcomes were examined using logistic regression.

Results:

Patients with craniosynostosis had increased odds of presenting with stertor (odds ratio [OR] = 3.41, P = .022), increased work of breathing (OR = 18.8, P = .007), obstructive sleep apnea (OR = 8.48, P = .003), dysphagia (OR = 3.40, P = .008), and aspiration (OR = 40.2, P < .001) and decreased odds of presenting with stridor (OR = 0.0804, P < .001) compared with controls. Patients with craniosynostosis had increased odds of severe laryngomalacia (OR = 5.00, P = .031) and other airway anomalies such as tracheomalacia (OR = 5.73, P = .004), bronchomalacia (OR = 15.5, P = .013), and subglottic stenosis (OR = 2.75, P = .028). Treatment of patients with craniosynostosis was more likely to include tracheostomy (OR = 24.8, P < .001) and gastrostomy tube (OR = 88.4, P < .001). There were no significant differences in rates of supraglottoplasty.

Conclusion:

Clinical presentations, comorbidities, and treatments of laryngomalacia are significantly different in the context of craniosynostosis.
Gestational age-specific reference intervals for 15 biochemical measurands during normal pregnancy in China
Authors: Dai Yanpeng , Liu Junjie , Yuan Enwu , Li Yushan , Wang Quanxian , Jia Liting , Wang Linkai , Su Yanhua
Published: June 2018

Aims

Physiological changes that occur during pregnancy can influence biochemical parameters. Therefore, using reference intervals based on specimens from non-pregnant women to interpret laboratory results during pregnancy may be inappropriate. This study aimed to establish the essential reference intervals for a range of analytes during pregnancy.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was performed in 13,656 healthy pregnant and 2634 non-pregnant women. Fifteen biochemical measurands relating to renal and hepatic function were analysed using an Olympus AU5400 analyzer (Olympus, Tokyo, Japan). All the laboratory results were checked for outliers using Dixon’s test. Reference intervals were established using a non-parametric method.

Results

Alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, albumin, cholinesterase, creatinine, direct bilirubin, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, total bilirubin, total bile acid and total protein showed a decrease during the whole gestational period, while alkaline phosphatase and uric acid increased. Urea nitrogen, β2-microglobulin and cystatin-C fell significantly during the first trimester and then remained relatively stable until third trimester. Reference intervals of all the measurands during normal pregnancy have been established.

Conclusions

The reference intervals established here can be adopted in other clinical laboratories after appropriate validation. We verified the importance, for some measurands, of partitioning by gestational age when establishing reference intervals during pregnancy.
An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method for relative free copper determination and generation of a paediatric reference interval
Authors: Wainwright P , Wadey D , Cook P
Published: June 2018

Background

Diagnosis of Wilson’s disease is currently performed using caeruloplasmin as a first-line screening test; however, this test has well-described limitations. Monitoring of known Wilson’s disease patients often uses 24-h urine collection; however, this is inaccurate in children. Methods for directly measuring plasma free copper have been described, but no reference interval data exist for a paediatric population.

Methods

An inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method for measuring free copper was developed and validated, using ultracentrifugation. A paediatric reference interval was generated using 85 plasma samples from children attending outpatient clinics at University Hospital Southampton.

Results

Results showed no significant contamination of copper using the ultracentrifugation technique, and validation showed the method was accurate and precise with an analytical coefficient of variation between 5 and 7% depending on the concentration of free copper.

Conclusions

We describe the use and validation of an ultrafiltration inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry method for plasma free copper with the first published paediatric reference interval. Free copper could provide much needed assistance for the monitoring of Wilson’s disease in children and also for adults.
Utilizing a Risk of Crime Measure for Recidivism Research: Moving Environmental Corrections Forward
Authors: Drawve Grant , Caplan Joel , Ostermann Michael
Published: June 2018

The current study expands recidivism research by developing a risk of crime (ROC) measure rooted in environmental criminology, reflecting the risk of criminal opportunities, and lending itself to environmental corrections. Data were collected from a city in the Northeast region of the United States. The ROC measure was constructed through risk terrain modeling and reflected a parolee-specific neighborhood ROC. Conjunctive analysis of case configurations was utilized to explore how individual characteristics interacted with the ROC measure. Results indicated a relationship between parolees residing in an elevated ROC neighborhood and the likelihood of recidivism. The results were discussed in relation to how environmental criminology could be further integrated into environmental corrections, accounting for physical and social characteristics of the backcloth.
RxLegal: A Rapid Review of Right-To-Try
Authors: Gabay Michael
Published: June 2018

Right-to-try legislation is intended to allow patients with life-threatening illnesses access to investigational medical treatments without formal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) involvement. Currently, right-to-try laws have been enacted in 40 states. Despite the increased passage of right-to-try legislation at the state level, individuals have detailed arguments both for and against these laws. Proponents state that right-to-try removes regulatory burdens and improves timely access to potentially lifesaving medications for terminally ill patients, reduces inequalities regarding access, and improves patient-provider communication and decision making. Opponents argue that right-to-try does not really guarantee access, reinforces preexisting health care inequalities, prioritizes rapid access over safety and the interests of the individual over the public, and produces concerns regarding informed consent. Despite these issues, right-to-try has recently gained traction on the federal level with both Congressional chambers passing separate bills.
Index of information and communication technology use in labour administration: its need, its pertinence and its potential use
Authors: Galazka Anna M. , Beynon Malcolm J. , Edwards Tim
Published: June 2018

This article examines the variation in the level of use of information and communication technologies by national bodies of labour administrations across 81 different countries. Extending empirical research on the state of information and communication technology use, it introduces a prototype index of country-level information and communication technology use. The index allows for the exposition of the contributions of sub-dimensions of information and communication technology use, including labour inspection, public employment services and labour dispute prevention and settlement. Graphical evidence showing sub-index and final index formulations for individual countries is given, along with graphical evidence of the country-level ranking and geographical variations of information and communication technology use (including the sub-dimensions of this use). The future potential of the prescribed approach is demonstrated by offering possible explanations behind the results on a sample of countries.
Evaluation of performance of polyamide/lead zirconate titanate composite for energy harvesters and actuators
Authors: Farhan R , Rguiti M , Eddiai A , Mazroui M , Meddad M , Courtois C
Published: June 2018

By means of experimental tools, we have studied the effect of lead zirconate titanate volume fraction introduced in polyamide-6/lead zirconate titanate composites on dielectric, piezoelectric, mechanical, and structural properties. As the first result, we found that the insertion of lead zirconate titanate particles makes the dielectric permittivity of the polyamide-6 matrix increases from 10 to 95.8. The dielectric property studies reveal that under an electrical field of 1 kV the remnant polarization is also increased from 0.17 to 0.4, this behavior is related to both the increase of volume fraction of lead zirconate titanate from 20% to 40% and the piezoelectric coefficient changes proportionally with that of volume fraction of lead zirconate titanate. Furthermore, piezoelectric activity increases with lead zirconate titanate particle size at a range where there is a lower order of magnitude. Finally, the uniform dispersion of the ceramic lead zirconate titanate particles in polyamide matrix has been confirmed by scanning electron microscopy analysis. The performances reached by polyamide-6/lead zirconate titanate composites open new horizons for energy harvesting and actuators.
The Development of Ecstasy Use Among Juvenile Offenders and Risk Factors for Predicting Heterogeneity: A Group-Based Approach
Authors: Wojciechowski Thomas W.
Published: June 2018

This study seeks to examine heterogeneity in developmental patterns of ecstasy use during adolescence and early adulthood among juvenile offenders and identify risk factors predicting development. Group-based trajectory modeling was utilized to elucidate heterogeneity in developmental patterns of ecstasy use. Multinomial logistic regression was utilized to identify covariates that affected the risk of assignment to groups elucidated in the trajectory model. A five-group model was found to best fit the ecstasy use data. Baseline measures of deviant peer association, self-control, other drug use, and race were identified as important risk factors predicting patterns of development. Risk of ecstasy use may be greatest for some juvenile offenders during critical periods of the life course and some social and personal characteristics that may elevate risk. Stability that is characteristic of self-control may be highly relevant for predicting persistent ecstasy use during adolescence and early adulthood.
The Efficacy of the Growing Pro-social Program in Reducing Anger, Shame, and Paranoia over Time in Male Prison Inmates
Authors: Brazão Nélio , Rijo Daniel , Salvador Maria do Céu , Pinto-Gouveia José
Published: June 2018

Objectives:

This randomized controlled trial aimed to assess the efficacy of a cognitive-behavioral group program, Growing Pro-Social (GPS), in reducing anger, shame, and paranoia over time in Portuguese male prison inmates.

Methods:

Participants were randomized to the GPS treatment ( n = 121) or control group ( n = 133). The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory, the Other as Shamer Scale, and the Paranoia Scale were completed at baseline, at the middle of treatment, at posttreatment, and at 12 months’ follow-up. Intervention effects were tested with latent growth curve models (LGCM).

Results:

At baseline, no significant differences between groups were found. Results from LGCM showed that condition was a significant predictor of change observed in all outcome measures over time. While treatment participants showed a significant increase in anger-control over time, controls presented a significant decrease over time in this same variable. For the remaining dimensions of anger, as well as for external shame and paranoia, while the treatment group showed a significant decrease over time, the control group showed a significant increase or no change.

Conclusions:

These results pointed out the GPS’s ability to promote significant change in cognitive and emotional relevant variables associated with antisocial behavior.
“Color Does Not Equal Consciousness”: Educators of Color Learning to Enact a Sociopolitical Consciousness
Authors: Jackson Iesha , Knight-Manuel Michelle
Published: June 2018

This study is based on an initiative for increasing college and career readiness for Black and Latino male high school students in New York City. From data that include 58 total hours of participant observations from 24 educators of color, written documentation from culturally relevant education–professional development (CRE-PD) activities, and transcripts of six group interviews, we examine these educators’ work to further their own sociopolitical consciousness in relation to increasing Black and Latino male students’ college and career readiness. We explore how secondary educators of color utilize pedagogical tools and practices in attempting to support their Black and Latino male students’ navigation of particular inequities related to college knowledge and access. Our findings highlight educators’ experiential knowledge as a pedagogical tool, approaches to preparing students for postsecondary opportunities, and missed opportunities to enact a sociopolitical consciousness. Recommendations for inservice educator PD and future research are discussed.
Flying to the Emirates: The end of British Overseas Airways Corporation’s service to Dubai and Sharjah in 1947
Authors: Stanley-Price Nicholas
Published: June 2018

During the 1930s Dubai and Sharjah in the Trucial States (now the United Arab Emirates) were regular stops on Imperial Airways’ England – India route. But in early 1947 the successor British airline British Overseas Airways Corporation discontinued service to them. The local market for air travel connecting the Gulf shaikhdoms, which were de facto British protectorates, was undermined just as the expanding oil industry most needed reliable scheduled flights. For fear of competition following its ratification of the Chicago Convention, Britain still restricted access to the airfields at Kuwait, Bahrain and Sharjah. For four years the Trucial States had no regular air service. Its wireless facilities led to the survival of the Sharjah airfield, shared by the Royal Air Force and International Aeradio Limited, a new British telecommunications company. Britain’s control over air services and their post-war disruption arguably contributed to delaying the socio-economic development of the Emirates that oil production would make possible.
Relationships Between Workplace Deviance Interacted With Gender and Marital Status: The Correspondence Analysis Approach
Authors: Chernyak-Hai Lily , Kim Se-Kang , Tziner Aharon
Published: June 2018

This exploratory study employed correspondence analysis to examine how employees’ gender and marital status might affect levels of interpersonal and organizational deviant workplace behaviors in the workplace. The subjects were 122 employees from a large electricity supplier company in Israel. Four levels of deviant behaviors relating to interpersonal and organizational deviance behaviors were generated according to their “typicality” as follows: (1) “untypical” (z-score less than −1.00), (2) “somewhat untypical” (−1.00–0), (3) “somewhat typical” (0–1.00), and (4) “typical” (larger than 1.00). We assessed the marital status categories by gender: unmarried males and females, divorced males and females, and males and females who were married. Results indicated that married men and divorced women exhibited mostly typical types of deviance. Both married and divorced men reported untypical deviance for both types of deviant behaviors. Married women only reported somewhat untypical deviance for both types of deviant behaviors. Accordingly, we suggest that psychological stressors, as well as cultural and societal expectations, may account for the obtained differences. Yet, future research is needed to shed light on underlying mechanisms.
The Conscientious Responders Scale Helps Researchers Verify the Integrity of Personality Questionnaire Data
Authors: Marjanovic Zdravko , Bajkov Lisa , MacDonald Jennifer
Published: June 2018

The Conscientious Responders Scale is a five-item embeddable validity scale that differentiates between conscientious and indiscriminate responding in personality-questionnaire data (CR & IR). This investigation presents further evidence of its validity and generalizability across two experiments. Study 1 tests its sensitivity to questionnaire length, a known cause of IR, and tries to provoke IR by manipulating psychological reactance. As expected, short questionnaires produced higher Conscientious Responders Scale scores than long questionnaires, and Conscientious Responders Scale scores were unaffected by reactance manipulations. Study 2 tests concerns that the Conscientious Responders Scale’s unusual item content could potentially irritate and baffle responders, ironically increasing rates of IR. We administered two nearly identical questionnaires: one with an embedded Conscientious Responders Scale and one without the Conscientious Responders Scale. Psychometric comparisons revealed no differences across questionnaires’ means, variances, interitem response consistencies, and Cronbach’s alphas. In sum, the Conscientious Responders Scale is highly sensitive to questionnaire length—a known correlate of IR—and can be embedded harmlessly in questionnaires without provoking IR or changing the psychometrics of other measures.
Geography of Microcephaly in the Zika Era: A Study of Newborn Distribution and Socio-environmental Indicators in Recife, Brazil, 2015-2016
Authors: Souza Ariani Impieri , de Siqueira Marília Teixeira , Ferreira Ana Laura Carneiro Gomes , de Freitas Clarice Umbelino , Bezerra Anselmo César Vasconcelos , Ribeiro Adeylson Guimarães , Nardocci Adelaide Cássia
Published: June 2018

Objectives:

We assessed sociodemographic and health care factors of mothers and newborns during a 2015-2016 outbreak of microcephaly in Recife, Brazil, and we analyzed the spatial distribution and incidence risk of newborns with microcephaly in relation to socio-environmental indicators.

Methods:

We collected data from August 2015 through May 2016 from Brazil’s Live Birth Information System and Bulletin of Microcephaly Notification, and we geocoded the data by maternal residence. We constructed thematic maps of districts, according to socio-environmental and vector indicators. We identified spatial aggregates of newborns with microcephaly by using the Bernoulli model. We performed logistic regression analyses to compare the incidence risk of microcephaly within socio-environmental indicator groups.

Results:

We geocoded 17 990 of 19 554 (92.0%) live births in Recife, of which 202 (1.1%) newborns were classified as having microcephaly, based on a head circumference of ≥2 standard deviations below the mean. Larger proportions of newborns with microcephaly (compared with newborns without microcephaly) were born to mothers who delivered in a public hospital, did not attend college, were aged ≤19, or were black or mixed race. A higher risk of microcephaly (incidence rate ratio [IRR] = 3.90; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.88-8.06) occurred in districts with the lowest (vs highest) Municipal Human Development Index (ie, an index that assesses longevity, education, and income). The risk of microcephaly was significantly higher where rates of larvae density (IRR = 2.31; 95% CI, 1.19-4.50) and larvae detection (IRR = 2.04; 95% CI, 1.05-4.00) were higher and rates of sewage system (IRR = 2.20; 95% CI, 1.16-4.18) and garbage collection (IRR = 1.96; 95% CI, 0.99-3.88) were lower. Newborns with microcephaly lived predominantly in the poorest areas and in a high-risk cluster (relative risk = 1.89, P = .01) in the north.

Conclusions:

The disproportionate incidence of microcephaly in newborns in poor areas of Recife reinforces the need for government and public health authorities to formulate policies that promote social equity and support for families and their children with microcephaly.
Models for basic warp knitted fabrics Part I: Chain stitches and their applications on marquisette and weft-inserted warp-knitted fabrics
Authors: Kurbak Arif
Published: June 2018

Chain stitches are basics structures to obtain a group of net grounds in warp knitting such as marquisette, curtain-net ground and full-width weft-inserted fabrics. These net grounds are, in turn, used as technical fabrics as well as household goods.

Modeling of warp-knitted fabrics started with some basic geometrical models and it was continued using non-uniform basis-spline (NURBS) curves and surfaces. There were discontinuities in the loop parts in the early models and the NURBS models needed some control points from some sources. In this work instead of using NURBS curves, an attempt is made to model warp-knitted fabrics using known curves and continuities in loop parts are attained as much as possible. First of all, open chain stitch is modeled. Closed chain stitch is obtained by changing some parts of open chain stitch model. Models then applied to marquisette, curtain-net ground and full-width weft-inserted warp-knitted fabrics are presented.

Models created are drawn to scale by using 3DS-Max computer graphical program. It is seen that the shapes obtained by the models are similar to those which can be observed on real samples.
The effect of dielectric barrier discharge plasma treatment on the air drag force of polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, polypropylene and polyethylene terephthalate yarns
Authors: Liu Shuai , Su Yanyu , Wu Mengya , Zhao Chunfeng , Yuan Dandan , Feng Zhihua , Liu Deqi
Published: June 2018

In this paper, atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) plasma was used to treat four kinds of chemical fiber yarns, namely polyacrylonitrile (PAN), polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), for which the air drag force, moisture regain and yarn diameter were measured. Compared with untreated samples, the air drags of treated PAN, PE, PP and PET yarns increased maximally by 10.7%, 43.0%, 40.0% and 18.9%, respectively, in the present experiments. A two-way analysis of variance and correlation analysis were performed to study the effect of plasma treatment on air drag and other properties of these four chemical fiber yarns. The combination of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and the determination of the DBD plasma component can further enhance the understanding of the difference between DBD plasma treatment processes among these four chemical fiber yarns. This study provided the experimental basis to improve the air-jet weaving efficiency of chemical fiber fabrics.
A scientist reads Job 42.3
Authors: Huggins John P.
Published: June 2018

As a scientist, I read Job 42.3 by noting that both science and theology are limited in their capacity to understand our world and the divine nature. However, wonder, a core concept within the verse, is a motivating characteristic of rational thinking that inspires and motivates humanity to discover more. Opposing conventional interpretations that Job 42.3 is a divine humiliation of humankind, this verse is read as challenging humanity to the praxis of discovery, not least through scientific endeavour.
Difficult texts: John 19.21–22
Authors: Ditmas Monica
Published: June 2018

A re-examination of John 19.21–22.
A Gamification–Motivation Design Framework for Educational Software Developers
Authors: Buckley Jim , DeWille Tabea , Exton Chris , Exton Geraldine , Murray Liam
Published: June 2018

Gamification is the use of game design elements in nongame contexts and has been shown to be effective in motivating behavior change. By seeing game elements as “motivational affordances,” and formalizing the relationship between these elements and motivational affordances, it is the position of this article that gamification can be effectively applied to improve software systems across many different application domains. The research reported here aims to formalize the relationship between game elements and motivation, toward making gamification’s use more systematic. The focus is on the development of a framework linking commonly occurring game elements with the components of a psychological motivational model known as the self-determination theory, coupled with a proposed framework of commonly occurring game elements. The goal is to inform system designers who would like to leverage gamification of the game elements they would need to employ as motivational affordances.
Optional Learning Opportunities
Authors: Seifried Eva , Eckert Christine , Spinath Birgit
Published: June 2018

The effects of offering and seizing optional learning opportunities rarely have been investigated. Thus, university instructors have no basis on which to decide whether offering optional learning opportunities to their students would be worth the effort and which students would seize and benefit from them. To target these questions, we designed a teaching−learning format in which we offered psychology undergraduates optional learning opportunities throughout the semester. We investigated the cognitive and motivational prerequisites of N=108 students who seized versus forwent the learning opportunities and compared their learning outcomes both with and without controlling for prerequisites. Concerning prerequisites, we found that students who seized the learning opportunities had a better school grade point average, whereas they did not differ from the students who did not seize the learning opportunities regarding their prior knowledge or their motivational prerequisites and outcomes. Students who seized learning opportunities had better performance outcomes, even after initial prerequisites or time spent learning were controlled for. We conclude that there is a benefit of seizing optional learning opportunities for students, and therefore, instructors should enable their students to take this chance.
Group multiple lags consensus of fractional-order nonlinear leader-following multi-agent systems via adaptive control
Authors: Zhang Yunlong , Wen Guoguang , Peng Zhaoxia , Yu Yongguang , Rahmani Ahmed
Published: June 2018

In this paper, group multiple lags consensus of fractional-order leader-following multi-agent systems with nonlinear dynamics are investigated, in which two kinds of lag consensus are considered. One is said to be outergroup lag consensus, which means that different group leaders reach lag consensus. The other one is called innergroup lag consensus, that is to say, the followers will reach lag consensus with their own group leader. Based on Mittag–Leffler stability for fractional-order systems, algebraic graph theory, a class of novel control protocols is designed and the corresponding sufficient conditions are derived to guarantee the achievement of group multiple lags consensus. Furthermore, considering parametric uncertainties, an adaptive control technology is employed to solve the group multiple lags consensus for fractional order multi-agent systems, and the corresponding adaptive control protocols and sufficient conditions are proposed. Finally, numerical simulations are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the obtained results.
Harmonic transfer functions based controllers for linear time-periodic systems
Authors: Hidir Elvan Kuzucu , Uyanik Ismail , Morgül Ömer
Published: June 2018

The analysis, identification and control of periodic systems has gained increasing interest during the last few decades due to the increased use of dynamical systems that exhibit periodic motion. The vast majority of these studies focus on the analysis and control problem for a known state-space formulation of the linear time-periodic (LTP) system. On the other hand, there are also some studies that focus on data-driven identification of LTP systems with unknown state-space formulations. However, most of these methods provide numerical estimates for the harmonic transfer functions (HTFs) of an LTP system that are extremely difficult to work with during controller design. The goal of this paper is to provide a simple controller design methodology for unknown LTP systems by utilizing so-called HTFs estimates. To this end, we first build a mathematical basis of LTP controller design for known LTP systems using the Nyquist diagrams and analytically derived HTFs. We propose a new methodology to design P-, PD- and PID-type controllers for LTP systems using Nyquist diagrams and the eigenlocus of the HTFs. Having established the HTF-based controller design procedure, we extend our methodology to unknown LTP systems by presenting a new sum-of-cosine signal-based data-driven system identification method. We show that the proposed data-driven controller design method allows estimation of the HTFs and it provides simple tools for optimizing certain time-domain performance metrics. We provide numerical examples for both known and unknown LTP system cases to illustrate the performance of the proposed controller design methodology.
A Novel Microflow Phantom Dedicated to Ultrasound Microvascular Measurements
Authors: Grand-Perret Virginie , Jacquet Jean-René , Leguerney Ingrid , Benatsou Baya , Grégoire Jean-Marc , Willoquet Georges , Bouakaz Ayache , Lassau Nathalie , Pitre-Champagnat Stephanie
Published: June 2018

Tumor microvascularization is a biomarker of response to antiangiogenic treatments and is accurately assessed by ultrasound imaging. Imaging modes used to visualize slow flows include Power Doppler imaging, dynamic contrast-enhanced ultrasonography, and more recently, microvascular Doppler. Flow phantoms are used to evaluate the performance of Doppler imaging techniques, but they do not have a steady flow and sufficiently small channels. We report a novel device for robust and stable microflow measurements and the study of the microvascularization. Based on microfluidics technology, the prototype features wall-less cylindrical channels of diameters ranging from as small as 147 up to 436 µm, cast in a soft silicone polymer and perfused via a microfluidic flow pressure controller. The device was assessed using flow rates from 49 to 146 µL/min, with less than 1% coefficient of variation over three minutes, corresponding to velocities of 6 to 142 mm/s. This enabled us to evaluate and confirm the reliability of the Superb Microvascular Imaging Doppler mode compared with the Power Doppler mode at these flow rates in the presence of vibrations mimicking physiological motion.
Managing multiple identity challenges and the origins of Israeli national television (in Arabic)
Authors: Press-Barnathan Galia
Published: June 2018

This article examines the intriguing decision of the Israeli government in the aftermath of the 1967 War to embark on a national television project that would be dominated by broadcasts in Arabic. Since actual broadcasts quickly ended up switching to Hebrew, this initial rationale has received little academic attention. Based on primary research, the article suggests that the original decision was driven by the desire of the State to address four identity challenges that it faced at the time: the challenge of delegitimation and hostile propaganda by the Arab world, the challenge of dealing with the Palestinian population in the newly occupied territories, the challenge of dealing with Israel’s Arab citizens, and the challenge of dealing with the Jewish immigrants from the Arab world. I argue that the promise of addressing these multiple challenges made the TV project very attractive, even if for a short time, thus leading to its initiation. The discussion is anchored in the literature from the field of International Relations that explores the concepts of soft power and ontological security and consequently the potential role of popular culture in shaping and managing identity challenges
Action Sports, the Olympic Games, and the Opportunities and Challenges for Gender Equity: The Cases of Surfing and Skateboarding
Authors: Wheaton Belinda , Thorpe Holly
Published: June 2018

Commentators have suggested that action sports have provided space for more progressive gendered power relations than many more traditional, institutionalized sex-segregated sports. However, as action sports become institutionalized via Olympic inclusion, what are the potential opportunities and challenges for girls and women as both athletes and industry leaders? Drawing on interviews with male and female leaders in surfing and skateboarding industries, media and cultures, and an analysis of niche media, we assess the opportunities for women as the sports prepare for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The two case studies reveal the different struggles and strategies of women in these two sporting cultures, as well as the roles played by men in supporting cultural change. This article contributes to the critical literature assessing the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) claims to provide opportunities for diverse groups of women and, more widely, the challenges in establishing effective policies to “empower” girls and women in and through sport.
Relative Success of Male Workers in the Host Country, Kuwait: Does the Channel of Migration Matter?
Authors: Shah Nasra M.
Published: June 2018

A survey of 800 South Asian males employed in skilled or unskilled jobs in Kuwait showed the channel of migration to be a highly significant factor of migrant success. About 34% moved through friends/relatives and 50% through recruitment agents. Multivariate analyses indicate that those who came through friends/relatives earned a higher salary, found the job to fit their expectation, and were happier than those who came through agents, but more of the former came on an Azad visa which may be illegal. Personal networks are likely to encourage additional future migration and are very difficult to regulate through government initiatives.
The Language Ability of U.S. Immigrants: Assimilation and Cohort Effects
Authors: Carliner Geoffrey
Published: June 2018

This article uses data from the 1980 and 1990 U.S. Censuses of Population to examine the English language skills of natives and immigrants. It finds that lack of fluency in spoken English is rare among native-born Americans, including among the teenage and adult children of recently arrived ethnic groups. The vast majority of immigrants also speak English well. However, since the 1950s fluency among new immigrants has declined by 0.3 percentage point per year, because of the shift in source countries from English speaking countries and from continental Europe to Latin America and East Asia. Each additional year of U.S. residence increases the probability of fluency by 1.1 percentage points for immigrants from non-English speaking countries. An additional year of schooling increases fluency by 5 percentage points. Overall, women are slightly more likely to be fluent than men. The large differences in English skills by region of origin seem to be more associated with geographic distance from the U.S. than with the source country's per capita income or linguistic distance from English.
Assortative Mating among Married New Legal Immigrants to the United States: Evidence from the New Immigrant Survey Pilot
Authors: Jasso Guillermina , Massey Douglas S. , Rosenzweig Mark R. , Smith James P.
Published: June 2018

This article provides a brief summary of the Pilot for the New Immigrant Survey (NIS) and presents new information, never before available, on one important aspect of immigrant behavior — assortative mating. Our intent is to provide a flavor for the kinds of questions that can be studied with this new data base and with the larger-sample full New Immigrant Survey by presenting new information on married couples who are part of immigration flows and whose characteristics are importantly shaped by immigration law. We distinguish between two types of couples, those in which one spouse is a U.S. citizen sponsor and those in which both spouses are immigrants. Our findings include the following: First, among married couples formed by a U.S. citizen sponsoring the immigration of a spouse, husbands and wives have similar levels of schooling, with the U.S. citizen slightly better educated than the immigrant spouse; however, U.S. citizen husbands and their immigrant wives have substantially higher schooling than U.S. citizen wives and their immigrant husbands (on average, two years higher). Second, unlike immigrants from other countries, Mexico-born spouses of U.S. citizens differ markedly in schooling depending on whether they are recently married, suggesting the continuing after-effects of the Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986. Third, husband-wife schooling levels are less similar among married couples in which both spouses are immigrants than among couples involving a U.S. citizen sponsor and an immigrant spouse, except when the wire is the principal in an employment category. These findings suggest that immigration laws importantly shape the characteristics of families and thus the next generation — the children of immigrants and immigrant children.
Psychological and Acculturation Correlates of Work Status among Soviet Jewish Refugees in the United States
Authors: Vinokurov Andrey , Birman Dina , Trickett Edison
Published: June 2018

The present study assesses the relationship of work status to acculturation and psychological adaptation among 206 refugees from the former Soviet Union who have resettled in the United States. These refugees lived in two different urban areas: the Washington, DC area and the Brighton Beach community in New York. Psychological adaptation was measured in terms of life satisfaction and alienation. Three categories of work status were used: unemployed, underemployed and employed in one's own field of professional expertise. In general, a linear trend was found among the three groups. Thus, refugees employed in the same field as in the former Soviet Union had been in the United States the longest and reported the highest levels of income, level of American acculturation, comfort speaking English, and life satisfaction. Those unemployed were lowest on each of these variables. Alienation was significantly lower only among those employed in the same professional field and was equally high for both the unemployed and the underemployed. City differences revealed that residents of the Washington, DC area were more likely to be working and had higher levels of education, income, life satisfaction, comfort speaking English, and behavioral acculturation to the American culture. Implications are offered for the role of work in immigrant adaptation and the importance of attending to community differences.
New Citizens — New Voters? Political Preferences and Voting Intentions of Naturalized Germans: A Case Study in Progress
Authors: Wüst Andreas M.
Published: June 2018

The third millennium witnesses the introduction of a new naturalization law in Germany. Passed by both chambers of parliament in May 1999, the law can be interpreted as a legislative change in Germany's national identity. From January 1, 2000 on, not only German ancestry but also birth on German soil will qualify for the acquisition of German citizenship. The change is remarkable, even though permanent residency of at least one parent is an additional precondition to acquire German citizenship and, in the case of dual citizenship, a final choice of one citizenship has to be made by the age of 23. The naturalization of foreigners also became easier: eight years of residency instead of the formerly required ten will enable a foreigner to become German. Still criticized by the left of the governing Social Democratic Party (SPD) and the Green Party, as well as by the opposition Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), these changes in naturalization law nevertheless are the most notable ones in twentieth century Germany.
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner: Migration from Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe to South Africa
Authors: McDonald David A. , Zinyama Lovemore , Gay John , de Vlerter Fion , Marres Robert
Published: June 2018

Although a more balanced debate about cross-border migration in South Africa is starting to take place, xenophobic stereotypes about migrants of African origin are still all too common. Allusions to a “flood of illegal aliens” who bring disease and crime to the country and who are seen to be a threat to the social and fiscal stability of South Africa are, unfortunately, still rife in the mainstream press in South Africa. This article is an attempt to challenge some of these stereotypes. Drawing on national surveys recently conducted by the Southern African Migration Project (SAMP) in Lesotho, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, it will be argued that much of the negative stereotyping around cross-border migration from these three countries in particular is unfounded. A profile of migration histories of those interviewed is followed by a discussion of peoples’ attitudes towards cross-border movement and immigration policy as well as an analysis of possible future migration trends. The article concludes with a discussion of the policy relevance of the research and makes some general policy recommendations.
Intended and Unintended Consequences of Forced Migrations: A Neglected Aspect of East Europe's Twentieth Century History
Authors: Morawska Ewa
Published: June 2018

The article examines the consequences, thus far under-investigated in transnational migration studies, of forced population movements for the societies and cultures of the sending/expelling countries. The cases considered are immense forced migrations, involving over 80 million people, across and outside Eastern Europe during the twentieth century. The discussion focuses on the consequences of these involuntary movements in the public sphere, including effects on the collective (group) self-perceptions and representations of others (non-group) and inter- and intra-group relations; on national/ethnic culture (collective memory, customs, value orientations); on domestic and international relations; and on human resources (skills, abilities) and economic growth.
Theories of International Immigration Policy — A Comparative Analysis
Authors: Meyers Eytan
Published: June 2018

Immigration policy shapes immigration patterns, which in turn have a tremendous impact on the demography, culture, economy and politics of a state. A rapidly expanding literature explores the immigration policies of individual receiving countries. But immigration policy theory is not well defined and lacks, for the most part, debates between various schools of thought on the subject. The aims of this study are to delineate the major approaches in the field of immigration control policy, to highlight the main strengths and weaknesses of each approach, and to analyze the influence of theories of comparative politics, international relations and sociology on those of immigration policy. The six approaches delineated are: Marxism, realism, liberalism, the “national identity” approach, domestic politics (partisan and interest group politics) and institutionalism. Finally, the article offers several research strategies that could serve to advance immigration policy theory.
Ethnic Differentiation: Ecological Aspects of a Multidimensional Concept
Authors: Darroch A. Gordon , Marston Wilfred G.
Published: June 2018

Cette étude présente une théorie rationnelle et un appui empirique préliminaire à une conception multidimentionnelle du statut ethnique. Pour de nombreuses raisons, surtout à cause du manque de données, le statut ethnique a été traditionnellement conçu comme une variable unidimensionnelle. La présence des données pour Toronto, toutefois, permet de mettre à l'épreuve ce concepts multidimensionnel. Il a été possible de déterminer le degré de ségrégation résidentielle (un aspect fondamental de la différentiation ethnique) pour chacune de ces cinq caractéristiques sociales — statut de l'immigrant, religion, origine, langue maternelle et lieu de naissance — supposées représenter des dimensions séparées du statut ethnique. L'analyse révèle que chacune de ces caractéristiques engendre un degré et un patron significatif de ségrégation résidentielle. De plus, on présente des faits concernant l'interrelation entre des variables ethniques choisies, qui au départ appuyaient la validité de concevoir le statut ethnique selon plus d'une dimension. On suggère des tests ultérieurs de ce concept.