bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Healthy Workplaces: The Effects of Nature Contact at Work on Employee Stress and Health
Authors: Largo-Wight Erin , Chen W. William , Dodd Virginia , Weiler Robert
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

Cultivating healthy workplaces is a critical aspect of comprehensive worksite health promotion. The influence of healthy workplace exposures on employee health outcomes warrants research attention. To date, it is unknown if nature contact in the workplace is related to employee stress and health. This study was designed to examine the effects of nature contact experienced at work on employee stress and health.

Methods.

Office staff at a southeastern university ( n=503, 30% response rate) participated in the cross-sectional study. We used a 16-item workplace environment questionnaire, the Nature Contact Questionnaire, to comprehensively measure, for the first time, nature contact at work. The Perceived Stress Questionnaire and 13 established health and behavioral items assessed the dependent variables, general perceived stress, stress-related health behaviors, and stress-related health outcomes.

Results.

There was a significant, negative association between nature contact and stress and nature contact and general health complaints. The results indicate that as workday nature contact increased, perceived stress and generalized health complaints decreased.

Conclusions.

The findings suggest that nature contact is a healthy workplace exposure. Increasing nature contact at work may offer a simple population-based approach to enhance workplace health promotion efforts. Future researchers should test the efficacy of nature-contact workplace stress interventions.
Effects of a Television Drama about Environmental Exposure to Toxic Substances
Authors: Kennedy May G. , Turf Elizabeth Eustis , Wilson-Genderson Maureen , Wells Kristen , Huang Grace C. , Beck Vicki
Published: January 2017

Objective.

This study assessed short-term outcomes of viewing an episode of a prime-time television drama in which a child developed cancer after environmental exposure to an illegal pesticide. The study explored the effects among viewers of feeling transported into a narrative world.

Methods.

Respondents ( n=2,139) to a post-episode Internet panel survey were asked if they had seen the show and asked questions about their demographic information, their frequency of viewing the television show, the degree to which they had felt transported into a narrative world created by the drama, and their knowledge and beliefs about the health effects of environmental exposure. Conversations with key informants from federal agencies and advocacy groups were also held.

Results.

Episode viewing and narrative transportation were positively associated with knowledge of toxic exposure effects, and transported viewers reported being more likely to report an unusually high number of cancer cases to authorities. The show also appeared to have prompted a clarification of federal pesticide-testing policy.

Conclusions.

Entertainment Education is a promising strategy for disseminating key points of information about environmental health.
Improved Outcomes Found after Implementing a Systematic Evaluation and Program Improvement Process for Tuberculosis
Authors: Cass Anne , Shaw Tambi , Ehman Melissa , Young Jan , Flood Jennifer , Royce Sarah
Published: January 2017

California's state and local tuberculosis (TB) programs collaborated to develop the Tuberculosis Indicators Project (TIP), a program evaluation and improvement process. In TIP, local and state staff review data, identify program gaps, implement plans to improve local TB program performance, and evaluate outcomes. After 10 years of project implementation, indicator performance changes and patient outcomes were measured. Eighty-seven percent of participating programs showed a performance increase in targeted indicators after three years compared with 57% of comparison groups. Statistically significant performance change was more common in the intervention local health departments (LHDs) than in comparison groups. The most notable performance changes were in the contact investigation and case management indicators. These results indicate that this systematic evaluation and program improvement project was associated with improved LHD TB control performance and may be useful to inform improvement projects in other public health programs.
Receipt and Use of Free Condoms among U.S. Men Who Have Sex with Men
Authors: Khosropour Christine , Sullivan Patrick S.
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

Despite large public investments in condom distribution programs for HIV prevention among men who have sex with men (MSM), few evaluations have documented the reach of condom distribution programs or whether free condoms distributed to MSM are actually used. Among MSM recruited from social networking and dating websites, we examined the proportion who reported acquiring and using free condoms, and associations between select characteristics and reported acquisition and use of free condoms.

Methods.

We used baseline data from a prospective, online cohort of U.S. MSM. Participants reported acquiring free condoms in the 12 months before interview and, for those who acquired condoms and had anal intercourse, use of the free condoms they acquired. We used multivariable log binomial regression models to describe factors associated with self-reported acquisition and use of condoms.

Results.

Of the 2,893 men in the analytic sample, 1,701 (59%) reported acquiring free condoms in the past year. Acquisition of free condoms was higher for men who were younger, more educated, recently tested for HIV, and had higher numbers of sex partners. Seventy-three percent of men who acquired free condoms reported using them; use was higher for men who were black, had been recently tested for HIV, and reported greater numbers of sex partners.

Conclusions.

Most MSM in our online sample reported receiving free condoms, and most who acquired free condoms reported using them. These data suggest that condom distribution programs have reasonable reach and utility as part of a comprehensive package of HIV prevention interventions for U.S. MSM.
Improvements in Timeliness Resulting from Implementation of Electronic Laboratory Reporting and an Electronic Disease Surveillance System
Authors: Samoff Erika , Fangman Mary T. , Fleischauer Aaron T. , Waller Anna E. , MacDonald Pia D.M.
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

Electronic laboratory reporting (ELR) reduces the time between communicable disease diagnosis and case reporting to local health departments (LHDs). However, it also imposes burdens on public health agencies, such as increases in the number of unique and duplicate case reports. We assessed how ELR affects the timeliness and accuracy of case report processing within public health agencies.

Methods.

Using data from May–August 2010 and January–March 2012, we assessed timeliness by calculating the time between receiving a case at the LHD and reporting the case to the state (first stage of reporting) and between submitting the report to the state and submitting it to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (second stage of reporting). We assessed accuracy by calculating the proportion of cases returned to the LHD for changes or additional information. We compared timeliness and accuracy for ELR and non-ELR cases.

Results.

ELR was associated with decreases in case processing time (median = 40 days for ELR cases vs. 52 days for non-ELR cases in 2010; median = 20 days for ELR cases vs. 25 days for non-ELR cases in 2012; both p<0.001). ELR also allowed time to reduce the backlog of unreported cases. Finally, ELR was associated with higher case reporting accuracy (in 2010, 2% of ELR case reports vs. 8% of non-ELR case reports were returned; in 2012, 2% of ELR case reports vs. 6% of non-ELR case reports were returned; both p<0.001).

Conclusion.

The overall impact of increased ELR is more efficient case processing at both local and state levels.
Challenges to Implementing Communicable Disease Surveillance in New York City Evacuation Shelters after Hurricane Sandy, November 2012
Authors: Ridpath Alison D. , Bregman Brooke , Jones Lucretia , Reddy Vasudha , Waechter HaeNa , Balter Sharon
Published: January 2017

Hurricane Sandy hit New York City (NYC) on October 29, 2012. Before and after the storm, 73 temporary evacuation shelters were established. The total census of these shelters peaked at approximately 6,800 individuals. Concern about the spread of communicable diseases in shelters prompted the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) to rapidly develop a surveillance system to report communicable diseases and emergency department transports from shelters. We describe the implementation of this system. Establishing effective surveillance in temporary shelters was challenging and required in-person visits by DOHMH staff to ensure reporting. After system establishment, surveillance data were used to identify some potential disease clusters. For the future, we recommend pre-event planning for disease surveillance.
Disparities in Life Expectancy of Pacific Northwest American Indians and Alaska Natives: Analysis of Linkage-Corrected Life Tables
Authors: Dankovchik Jenine , Hoopes Megan J. , Warren-Mears Victoria , Knaster Elizabeth
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

American Indians and Alaska Natives (AI/ANs) experience a high burden of mortality and other disparities compared with the general population. Life tables are an important population health indicator; however, federal agencies have not produced life tables for AI/ANs, largely due to racial misclassification on death certificates. Our objective was to correct this misclassification and create life tables for AI/ANs who resided in the Pacific Northwest region of the U.S., making comparisons with the general population.

Methods.

To correct racial misclassification, we conducted probabilistic record linkages between death certificates from three Northwest states—Idaho, Oregon, and Washington State—issued during 2008–2010, and AI/AN patient registration records. We calculated mortality rates and generated period life tables for AI/ANs and non-Hispanic white (NHW) Americans.

Results.

Overall life expectancy at birth for Northwest AI/ANs was 72.8 years, which was 6.9 years lower than that of NHW Americans. Male AI/ANs had a lower life expectancy (70.9 years) than female AI/ANs (74.6 years). The disparity in life expectancy between AI/ANs and their NHW counterparts was higher for females (with AI/ANs living 7.3 years fewer than NHW females) than for males (with AI/ANs living 6.7 years fewer than NHW males). The greatest disparity in mortality rates was seen among young adults.

Conclusion.

Data linkage with a registry of known AI/ANs allowed us to generate accurate life tables that had not previously been available for this population and revealed disparities in both life expectancy at birth and survival across the life span. These results represent an important tool to help AI/AN communities as they monitor their health and promote efforts to eliminate health disparities.
Patient-Physician Language Concordance and Use of Preventive Care Services among Limited English Profcient Latinos and Asians
Authors: Jih Jane , Vittinghoff Eric , Fernandez Alicia
Published: January 2017

Objectives.

Patient-physician language concordance among limited English proficient (LEP) patients is associated with better outcomes for specific clinical conditions. Whether or not language concordance contributes to use of specific preventive care services is unclear.

Methods.

We pooled data from the 2007 and 2009 California Health Interview Surveys to examine mammography, colorectal cancer (CRC) screening, and influenza vaccination use among self-identified LEP Latino and Asian (i.e., Chinese, Korean, and Vietnamese) immigrants. We defined language concordance by respondents reporting that their physician spoke their non-English language. Analyses were completed in 2013–2014.

Results.

Language concordance did not appear to facilitate mammography use among Latinas (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.02, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.72, 1.45). Among Asian women, we could not definitively exclude a negative association of language concordance with mammography (AOR=0.55, 95% CI 0.27, 1.09). Patient-physician language concordance was associated with lower odds of CRC screening among Asians but not Latinos (Asian AOR=0.50, 95% CI 0.29, 0.86; Latino AOR=0.85, 95% CI 0.56, 1.28). Influenza vaccination did not differ by physician language use among either Latinos or Asians.

Conclusions.

Patient-physician language concordance was not associated with higher use of mammography, CRC screening, or influenza vaccination. Language concordance was negatively associated with CRC screening among Asians for reasons that require further research. Future research should isolate the impact of language concordance on the use of preventive care services from health system factors.
A Medicare-Associated Spike in U.S. Cancer Rates at Age 65, 2000–2010
Authors: Boscoe Francis P. , Pradhan Eva
Published: January 2017

Age 65 represents a transition point where most U.S. residents begin Medicare coverage. We examined whether or not delays in medical care near this age extend to cancer diagnosis. We calculated single-year-of-age cancer incidence rates by site and stage for the most common cancer sites (i.e., prostate, female breast, lung, and colorectal) for the 2000–2010 period using data from the SEER 18 registries, and we used Poisson regression to identify a possible age-65 effect. The analysis was repeated on comparable Canadian data. Cancer rates at age 65 were found to be as much as 15% above expected in the U.S. data, with the age-65 effect strongly associated with site- and stage-specific survival. A smaller association was seen in the Canadian data. We found strong evidence that diagnosis of less severe cancers spikes at age 65. Delay of medical care prior to this age has complex policy implications.
Changes in Caries Experience, Untreated Caries, Sealant Prevalence, and Preventive Behavior among Third-Graders in New York State, 2002–2004 and 2009–2012
Authors: Kumar Jayanth V. , Tavares Vinicius , Kandhari Priyanka , Moss Mark , Jolaoso I. Adeyemi
Published: January 2017

Objective.

This study assessed changes in caries experience, untreated caries, sealant prevalence, and preventive behavior among third-grade children in New York State to monitor progress toward state health objectives.

Methods.

We analyzed children's data from the 2002–2004 ( n=10,865) and 2009–2012 ( n=6,758) New York State Oral Health Survey. We calculated differences in weighted percentages and 95% confidence intervals for caries experience, untreated caries, sealant prevalence, and preventive behavior. We used logistic regression procedures to assess the independent effects and interaction terms on dental caries experience.

Results.

The percentage of children with dental caries and untreated caries decreased from 54.1% and 33.0% in 2002–2004 to 45.2% and 23.6% in 2009–2012, respectively. While this decrease was not uniform across income subgroups, the prevalence of sealants, a key measure of the use of preventive services, increased significantly from 16.7% to 36.0% among lower-income children.

Conclusions.

Measurable improvement in reducing dental caries prevalence among third-grade children has been made in New York State, but this improvement was not uniform across subgroups. Specifically, disease prevalence among lower-income children remained high, underscoring the need to strengthen existing programs and identify additional policy and programmatic interventions.
Change in Population Characteristics and Teen Birth Rates in 77 Community Areas: Chicago, Illinois, 1999–2009
Authors: Gunaratne Shauna , Masinter Lisa , Kolak Marynia , Feinglass Joe
Published: January 2017

Objective.

We analyzed community area differences in teen births in Chicago, Illinois, from 1999 to 2009. We analyzed the association between changes in teen birth rates and concurrent measures of community area socioeconomic and demographic change.

Methods.

Mean annual changes in teen birth rates in 77 Chicago community areas were correlated with concurrent census-based population changes during the decade. Census measures included changes in race/ethnicity, adult high school dropouts, poverty or higher-income households, crowded housing, unemployment, English proficiency, foreign-born residents, or residents who moved in the last five years. We included non-collinear census measures with a p<0.1 bivariate association with change in teen births in a stepwise multiple linear regression model.

Results.

Teen birth rates in Chicago fell faster than the overall birth rates, from 85 births per 1,000 teens in 1999 to 57 births per 1,000 teens in 2009. There were strong positive associations between increases in the percentage of residents who were black and Hispanic, poor, without a high school diploma, and living in crowded housing, and a negative association with an increase in higher-income households. Population changes in poverty, Hispanic population, and high school dropouts were the only significant measures in the final model, explaining almost half of the variance in teen birth rate changes.

Conclusion.

The study provides a model of census-based measures that can be used to evaluate predicted vs. observed rates of change in teen births across communities, offering the potential to more appropriately prioritize public health resources for preventing unintended teen pregnancy.
Correlates of Concurrent Sexual Partnerships among Young, Rural African American Men
Authors: Kogan Steven M. , Cho Junhan , Barnum Stacey C. , Brown Geoffrey L.
Published: January 2017

Objective.

We investigated the social, behavioral, and psychological factors associated with concurrent (i.e., overlapping in time) sexual partnerships among rural African American young men with a primary female partner.

Methods.

We recruited 505 men in rural areas of southern Georgia from January 2012 to August 2013 using respondent-driven sampling; 361 reported having a primary female partner and participating only in heterosexual sexual activity. Men provided data on their demographic characteristics and HIV-related risk behaviors, as well as social, behavioral, and psychological risk factors.

Results.

Of the 361 men with a primary female partner, 164 (45.4%) reported concurrent sexual partners during the past three months. Among the 164 men with a concurrent sexual partner, 144 (92.9%) reported inconsistent condom use with their primary partners, and 68 (41.5%) reported using condoms inconsistently with their concurrent partners. Having concurrent sexual partnerships was associated with inconsistent condom use, substance use before sex, and self-reported sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Bivariate correlates of concurrent sexual partnerships included incarceration, substance use, early onset of sexual activity, impulsive decision-making, and masculinity attitudes (i.e., men's adherence to culturally defined standards for male behavior). In a multivariate model, both masculinity ideology and impulsive decision-making independently predicted concurrent sexual partnerships independent of other risk factors.

Conclusion.

Masculinity attitudes and impulsive decision-making are independent predictors of concurrent sexual partnerships among rural African American men and, consequently, the spread of HIV and other STIs. Developing programs that target masculinity attitudes and self-regulatory skills may help to reduce concurrent sexual partnerships.
Design, implementation, and evaluation of an XG-PON module for the ns-3 network simulator
Authors: Arokkiam Jerome A , Alvarez Pedro , Wu Xiuchao , Brown Kenneth N , Sreenan Cormac J , Ruffini Marco , Marchetti Nicola , Doyle Linda , Payne David
Published: January 2017

10-gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (XG-PON), one of the latest standards of optical access networks, is regarded as one of the key technologies for future Internet access networks. This paper presents the design and evaluation of our XG-PON module for the ns-3 network simulator. This module is designed and implemented with the aim to provide a standards-compliant, configurable, and extensible module that can simulate XG-PON with reasonable speed and support a wide range of research topics. These include analyzing and improving the performance of XG-PON, studying the interactions between XG-PON and the upper-layer protocols, and investigating its integration with various wireless networks. In this paper, we discuss its design principles, describe the implementation details, and present an extensive evaluation on both functionality and performance.
Analysis of Global Positioning System-based attacks and a novel Global Positioning System spoofing detection/mitigation algorithm for unmanned aerial vehicle simulation
Authors: Javaid Ahmad Y , Jahan Farha , Sun Weiqing
Published: January 2017

Simulation test beds serve as a cost-effective and safe way to evaluate the system performance of various real world systems. With the rising concerns in the security of sensitive and critical systems, such as unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), a software simulation test bed is clearly the best choice given that the environment and various system components are modeled correctly. This becomes critical given the recently developed autonomous aerial vehicles. We therefore evaluate several available simulation test beds and use the most promising test bed to analyze the impact of Global Positioning System (GPS)-related attacks on navigation of UAVs. We also introduce a novel technique for GPS spoofing, attack detection, and mitigation. This paper presents GPS spoofing and GPS jamming attacks with their anatomy, design, and impact evaluation on navigation as well as a novel GPS spoofing mitigation and detection technique for UAVs, using UAVSim: an open source simulation test bed.
Making valuable mothers in Finland: Assessing parenthood in publicly provided maternity healthcare
Authors: Homanen Riikka
Published: January 2017

This article discusses the e/valuation of motherhood in the assessment practices of maternity healthcare provided by the welfare state. It argues that while middle-class women can position themselves more easily than working-class women as neoliberal, reflexive and self-responsible client-consumers, and can have their family values reflected back to them by maternity nurses, there is also room for values and subjects of value beyond the dominant symbolic of parenthood. The study draws on ethnographic material from four clinics in Finland. Assessment encounters are considered as sites where mothers-to-be are e/valuated on the basis of classificatory struggle. The analysis shows that in concert with the emphasis of Nordic policy on social equality, a recently introduced standardised numerical risk assessment enables moral judgements on the basis of seemingly class-neutral, scientific, statistics-based knowledge. The nurses integrate this risk assessment into more intuitive, practice-oriented and experience-based assessments of problems. Maternal subjects emerge during these practices that might not always fit into the scales of normality in risk assessment, and that fail to perform respectability and responsibility. However, they are not simply blamed for their own shortcomings, but rather practical solutions are sought in teams, and a variety of values may be recognised or at least tolerated.
Exploring the stable practices of everyday life: A multi-day time-diary approach
Authors: van Tienoven Theun Pieter , Glorieux Ignace , Minnen Joeri
Published: January 2017

Everyday life is neither the result of mundane, common-sense, habitual human behaviour as theorized by the agency-centred approach of methodological individualism nor the sheer result of the conformation to temporal norms of the structural approach of social holism. In fact, everyday life is marked by a rhythmic, temporal structure that is brought into effect by the modality of repetitive action. In this article, a praxeological approach is used to conceptualize everyday life as a social structure in terms of its underlying stable practices. Multi-day time-diary data and optimal matching with clustering techniques show empirically that everyday life consists of stable practices that vary in function of temporal and social demands, in function of handling coordination of practice, and in function of embedding these practices in collectively shared temporal orders.
Encountering the animal: Temple Grandin, slaughterhouses and the possibilities of a differential ontology
Authors: Todd Rohan , Hynes Maria
Published: January 2017

In its consideration of the so-called animal question, sociology faces a new opportunity to productively examine some of its fundamental disciplinary assumptions. This article argues that the problem of the violence of our relationship to animals draws attention to the question of how the animal is encountered at the level of ontology. Through the work of Temple Grandin, a highly influential figure in slaughterhouse design, the authors examine the dominant model of encountering the animal, and offer an opening to an alternative ontological frame. The authors read Gilles Deleuze’s notion of ‘transcendental empiricism’ through Erin Manning and Brian Massumi’s work on neuroatypical modes of perception, in order to argue for an encounter with the animal that remains open to the sensate and emergent dimensions of experience. This, they argue, prevents the premature closure of the problem of ‘the animal’ to which a moral framework sometimes falls prey, keeping it open as a vital problem for thought. In doing so, the authors aim to move beyond the inclusive gesture that would welcome the animal into the social, as though there were something accidental and non-essential about its exclusion from the social in the first place.
Queer activism in Taiwan: An emergent rainbow coalition from the assemblage perspective
Authors: Lee Po-Han
Published: January 2017

A social movement for sexual and gender minorities (the Movement) emerged in Taiwan around the 1990s after the abolition of martial law in 1987. This article, drawing on Deleuze’s assemblage theory, looks at how activists negotiate and compete over constructing the discourses of sexual rights and citizenship in a context of democratic transition. With the recent ‘Renaissance’ of conservatism, which combines Confucianism and Christianity, the Movement has been thus de- and reterritorialised in response, and such a process has brought to the fore a rainbow coalition – a larger composition of assemblage rather than simply a descriptor. Gaining greater leverage and influence on society, the coalition, based on the pursuit of self-determination and self-liberation, has inversely provided soil for a cosmopolitan identity of Taiwaneseness to grow.
Giving account of the voice-of-encounter: Anecdotes from the Occupy movement
Authors: Vallee Mickey
Published: January 2017

This article proposes a new sociological conception of voice as a voice-of-encounter and is grounded in anecdotes from the 2011 Occupy movement. Voice has occupied a place in sociological analysis insofar as it designates a space for collective representation, a capacity for collective resistance, and a strategy for collective action. But this article argues for the adoption of a new sociological conception of voice by theorizing a voice-of-encounter, broadly defined as a place-making capacity that spontaneously constructs inclusive and exclusive edges with pervious commitments to a predetermined form. The article uses, as an instrumental case study, personal encounters with the Occupy protest movement in 2011, for the purpose of elucidating voice’s affective distributions of edges in the context of new decentralized and social media based resistances. Methodologically, the article relies on inclusive and exclusive ‘encounters’ between the author and a local Occupy configuration out of which a social critique of voice is constructed. The purpose is not so much to offer a new theorization of the Occupy movement than to use the Occupy movement as an example of the effect decentralization is having on ‘giving voice’ in social movements. Thus, while voice, in the sociological literature, has been theorized as the capacity to give voice to an issue as well as to a collective and heretofore underrepresented minority, a capacity for ‘giving account of oneself’, this article takes a contrary yet complementary approach, claiming that a voice-of-encounter focuses on an orientation to possibilities of encounter across subjects rather than to the expression of any one specific subjectivity.
Are men getting more emotional? Critical sociological perspectives on men, masculinities and emotions
Authors: de Boise Sam , Hearn Jeff
Published: January 2017

Sociological research, influenced by feminist and other critical perspectives, has noted how men’s emotional inexpressiveness was influenced, and supported, by patriarchal privilege. Such approaches have argued that ‘inexpression’ needs to be broken down in order to build gender equality and improve men’s own wellbeing. Emerging research has, however, challenged the argument that men are ‘emotionally inexpressive’ on two main premises: that, as a result of feminist critiques, many men now practise ‘softer’ or ‘more emotional’ forms of masculinity; second, that emotions always influence social action and so need to be better incorporated into sociological accounts of men’s behaviour. Yet these approaches entail some conceptual confusion as to what emotions are, how they link to social action and whether men’s emotions are inherently transformative for gender relations. This article first details how emotions and masculinity have been theorized in feminist-inspired approaches. It outlines recent work on emotions, men and masculinities before arguing for an understanding of emotions that engages with both physiologically grounded and postconstructionist debates. It finally suggests incorporating a material-discursive approach to men’s emotions, through feminist work on affect, which is attentive to the political dimensions of ‘increasing emotionality’ in order to contribute to a developing field of sociological research.
Use of Micellar Systems as Vehicles for Hercosett and Hydrogen Peroxide Finishing of Wool Fabrics
Authors: de la Maza A. , Parra J. L. , Leal J. Sánchez , Comelles F.
Published: January 2017

The use of micellar systems as vehicles for applying Hercosett resin and hydrogen peroxide on virgin wool has been investigated. For this purpose phase diagrams of micellar solutions with Hercosett resin and nucleophilic reagent were produced to determine the corresponding areas of monophasic solubility. The shrink resistance conferred to treated wool and the damage produced in the physico-chemical properties of keratin fibers have also been investigated.
Stabilization of Cotton Fibers during Mechanical Cutting
Authors: Hon David N.-S.
Published: January 2017

The mechanical stress energy used to process cotton in a cutter is sufficient to induce homolytic scission of C2 and C3 bonds and chain scission of C1—O—C4 glycosidic bonds, i.e., to reduce the degree of polymerization (DP), of cellulose molecules. The formation of carbon and alkoxy mechanoradicals at these locations was identified by an electron spin resonance study. The incorporation of nonylated phenol phosphite, hindered amine, and milled wood lignins of red oak and white oak was effective in inhibiting the reduction of the DP of cellulose. In addition, the incorporation of an alkylary phosphite mixture, hindered phenol, ditridecyl thiodipropionate and dialutyl thiodipropionate, milled wood lignin of loblolly pine and white oak, and lignosulfonate of spruce and red oak was useful in inhibiting the oxidative ageing of cut cotton fiber. Of the stabilizers used, only milled wood lignin of red oak was the most effective in preventing loss of the DP of cellulose during mechanical cutting and oxidative ageing. Termination of primary mechanoradicals at C2 and C3 by stabilizers appeared to eliminate secondary reactions that led to a subsequent decrease in the DP. Termination of alkoxy and carbon radicals at C4 and C1 positions appeared to eliminate oxidative degradation.
Analysis of Wool Lipids Using Thin-Layer Chromatography with Flame Ionization Detection
Authors: Leaver Ian H. , Lewis David M. , Westmoreland David J.
Published: January 2017

This paper examines the usefulness of thin-layer chromatography (TLC), coupled with an automated quantitative detection system based on flame ionization detection (FID), for the qualitative and quantitative determination of lipids in wool. The latroscan TLC-FID system has been used to determine the composition of the solvent soluble material (internal lipids) isolated from wool after Soxhlet extraction with a chloroform/methanol azeotrope, and to investigate whether scouring treatments affect the composition of the internal lipids. Changes in the composition of wool grease that occur as a result of exposure to sunlight (behind glass) and during weathering in the fleece are also examined.
Effect of Relative Humidity on the Pilling of Wool Knitwear
Authors: Naylor G. R. S.
Published: January 2017

A study has been made of the effect of relative humidity on the pilling performance of wool knitwear. Reducing the relative humidity from 80% to 11% gives a five-fold reduction in peak pilling of samples using the Atlas random tumble pilling tester. The tester itself has been found to alter the regain of samples with a consequent change in the pilling properties of samples, depending on the duration of the test and the use or not of a compressed air injection into the test sample.
Churn and change along commercial strips: Spatial analysis of patterns in remodelling activity and landscapes of local business
Authors: Minner Jennifer S , Shi Xiao
Published: January 2017

Commercial strips are common within metropolitan regions throughout the world and particularly within Canada and the USA. Planners have identified these linear clusters of commercial land use as a form of auto-oriented sprawl on the one hand, and as fertile ground for local independent businesses on the other. Despite the rapid churn of businesses in a number of gentrifying central cities, few studies have examined the distribution or cumulative impacts of commercial remodelling or its relationship to larger scale urban transformations. In this research, we demonstrate methods used to identify spatial patterns in central city remodelling activity. Getis Ord Gi*, also known as hot spot analysis, is used to identify clusters of reinvestment activity associated with locally owned restaurant and retail businesses. Associations with differences in urban form are observed, including clustering of independently owned restaurant and retail businesses along areas of commercial strips with smaller lots. Theories on the location of clusters in older buildings are also tested, with mixed results. In addition, we use a Redevelopment Impact Index to capture the degree of external modification to commercial buildings and the nature of changes in building usage. Point density analysis is used to identify areas where commercial remodels are likely to add up to entertainment and leisure zones. The results of statistical tests show some association between proximity to the restaurant and retail clusters and new, mixed use development. Thus, we illustrate methods of examining emerging landscapes of local restaurant and retail business and their relationship to larger scales of redevelopment. This methodology has applications in the study of incubation and retention of local businesses, land use planning and redevelopment along commercial strips, and gentrification studies.
Re-framing the creative city: Fragile friendships and affective art spaces in Darwin, Australia
Authors: Lobo Michele
Published: January 2017

Australia has one of the most urbanised and diverse populations in the world, but there is little research that explores fleeting friendships between marginalised/racialised ethnic minority and indigenous populations. In contrast to metropolitan cities in white settler societies that have been the focus of much research, this paper focuses on the small, tropical city of Darwin in Northern Australia. This is a city that is at the centre of public debates on indigenous wellbeing, migrant integration and asylum seeker policies, with social welfare programmes that provide little opportunities for hopeful encounters among indigenous peoples and ethnic minority newcomers in surface spaces. I argue, however, that ‘grass root’ forms of creativity in an ‘underground’ car park bring their affective worlds together through a shared passion for art. The paper draws on gentle methodologies including participatory visual methods to privilege non-Western ways of inhabiting place. Through a ‘quiet politics’ and affective engagement with spacetimes both proximate and distant, the paper shows that it is possible to invoke different futures and crystallise experimental publics in the diverse city. The paper responds to a call to push the boundaries of urban research on social difference through geographies of friendship that are yet to engage with multisensory bodies, emotion, affect and art.
The female character in Indian moving images
Authors: Mukherjee Sujata
Published: January 2017

Our popular Hindi filmic genres are influenced by the Gram Narratives of Indian culture-namely, the two great epics-th Ramayana and the Mahabharata and also, to some extent, our foil traditions, mythologies, Parsi theatre, and the Vedas. Th contemporary intermingling of cultures in the era of globalisatioi has however laid the foundation for a new interpretation of the socia situation. It is in this framework that this paper tries to deconstruc the erstwhile orientations towards gender, sexuality, modernity, am so on, all associated with the portrayal of the female character ii Indian moving images. It is argued that the current global scenarii is such that no culture can claim to be entirely original. A bricolag of ideas have created a postmodern situation that has been reflecte in our tastes, preferences, outlooks, languages, essential concept like truth, race, gender, God, life, and death-and most importantly in our moving images.
Child Labour in the sports goods industry : Findings from a survey in selected bastis of Jalandhar
Authors: Goyal Pratibha
Published: January 2017

Primary data collected from selected bastís of Jalandhar showed that 9.6% of the total labour engaged in the stitching of inflatable balls was child labour. The working hours for these children was far in excess of the statutory limit as provided under the Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act, 1986. Moreover, as the work of ball stitching is outsourced by contractors and done in the household, children engaged in this activity are not covered by the health and safety benefits that factory workers are entitled to.

The children work to augment family income. Also, one of the factors at the root of child labour in Jalandhar is the perception that the education imparted in schools does not make one fit for jobs, so the sooner the children learn job-related skills, the better it is for them. Vocational education, if provided, would facilitate both education and skill training. Another measure could be to bring household labour under the scope of the law, so that children can not be put to work
Development and social transformation-Role of the voluntary sector
Authors: Dabhi Jimmy
Published: January 2017

NGOs have a crucial role to play in facilitating people's movements and grassroots organisations, to ensure that governance is accountable and that people actively participate in decision-making processes. Only if they can articulate their demands and organise for collective action will the poor and excluded have a voice; hence NGOs need to be geared to mobilisation and collective assertion of rights and demands by poor and marginalised groups and communities. The NGO sector, along with people's organisations and movements need to influence State policies for allocation of adequate resources to human development priorities, people friendly markets and pro poor growth.
Gender and discrimination-A review of the issues
Authors: Shafeeq Nikhat Yasmin
Published: January 2017

Women play a key role in the socio-economic development of a country. Yet, they are discriminated against in almost every walk of life, right from the very earliest stages. Female foeticide and infanticide are a denial of the right to life itself, females are discriminated against in the spheres of health and nutrition (which makes them more susceptible to mortality and contributes to unbalanced male-female ratios), as well as in the spheres of education, employment and wages, and that of political representation. Society's attitudes towards women is shown also by the violence perpetuated against them, both by their husbands and outside the home. Still, there are signs of hope, in the form of steps and measures to improve the situation of women, and more generally, in the rising levels of consciousness of women's concerns.
Popular culture in Doordarshan
Authors: Chakrabarty Ranajit , Sengupta Mugdha
Published: January 2017

Television was initiated in India to promote education and information and as a means of development communication. It was inspired by Italian television, the educational programmes of West European countries, and, at a later stage, the success of Mexico's ‘Televisa’, a private commercial network producing popular melodramatic series with a view to promoting family planning, adult literacy, health and sanitation. In the initial phase, the target audiences of Indian television were the poor, the illiterate, and the deprived masses, but in course of time, that agenda got eroded. The television industry underwent a massive transformation, from a tiny monopolised government controlled propagandists establishment to a highly market-centric, investment-oriented one feeding on advertising revenues. This meant that television programme genres originated from its popularity rating by an ‘audience’ that represented the Indian consumer market. In order to promote programmes of substance, Doordarshan began to broadcast quality programming, but most of it catered to the intellectual appetite of a section of the urban and semi-urban elite and middle class, leaving the poor and the illiterate, mainly residing in the rural areas, untouched. Moreover, under the new State policy of privatisation and globalisation, all the early objectives lost fundamental relevance.
Women's resistance-A review of literature
Authors: Aggarwal Surabhi
Published: January 2017

In a social structure marked by domination and subordination, the issue of power and resistance gains importance: the dominants exercise power to control the subordinates, and the latter offer resistance to the forces of domination and control. The issue of resistance offered by women, the subordinate gender, against the patriarchal domination of men, did not get due importance till recently. There are two aspects-the collective aspects of protest and revolt as compared to the individual character of ‘resistance’. This paper looks at the issues and makes out a case for sifting through ethnographic data to study the resistance strategies offered by women in the context of their everyday lives.
NGOs in three North Indian States-Evaluation of NGOs working in the areas of nutritional and health status of women and children
Authors: Tikku Nirmal
Published: January 2017

The research reported upon here examines the functioning of NGOs and their role in combating nutritional and health problems prevalent among children, adolescents and women in three states of Northern India i.e., Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. The NGOs also dealt with other related areas to supplement and complement their main focus on health and nutrition. However, not many of them were involved in tackling endemic and emerging diseases like jaundice, TB, malaria, dengue and HIV/AIDS/STD. These should be given more emphasis. It was found also that there is no proper mechanism for obtaining and analysing information on health and nutritional services provided by voluntary organisations. Each State should have district-wise data-base on nutritional and health services provided by NGOs. Lack of coordination / support from govt. departments, and inadequacy / untimely release of budgets were among the other problems cited.
Maternal mortality in India : Policy strands from an analysis of secondary data
Authors: Mitra Siddhartha
Published: January 2017

Secondary State-level data for India show that neither ‘female literacy’ or ‘percentage of births attended by qualified medical professional’ is a significant determinant of maternal mortality when both are included in the regression analysis. However, when one variable is dropped, the other is significant. Moreover, the coefficient of correlation between the two is positive and more than 0.8. If female literacy positively determines ‘percentage of births attended by medical professionals’ then one can conclude that the latter is more a demand constrained phenomenon rather than a supply constrained one. Indeed it would be a great coincidence if the supply of qualified medical professionals is found to be greater in regions where female literacy is higher, since health continues to be a predominantly public subject, especially in rural areas. Two policy implications can follow: a strategy to increase female literacy so as to reduce maternal mortality, or public action to promote deliveries attended by qualified medical personnel.
Trafficking in persons: Facts and facets
Authors: Mallick Anupriyo
Published: January 2017

In recent years, the issue of trafficking of women and young girls has been of growing concern for the national and international community. The business of trafficking is the third largest and the most profitable organised crime. The common targets of such exploitation are girls from poor families, living in rural or semi urban areas, where the traffickers trap them either with the lure of ‘jobs’ or marry them with little or no dowry and then sell them to madams and brothel owners in red light areas. This paper deals with the extent and magnitude of the problem of trafficking, focusing on such aspects as modus operandi, the Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, and the role of NGOs in the prevention and protection of trafficking.
A critical pedagogy of hope in times of despair: Teaching against global capitalism and the new imperialism
Authors: Farahmandpur Ramin
Published: January 2017

The author starts his argument by looking into the globalised capitalist set up that disallows all the voices of opposition. His argument stems from the present political scenario in the United States, its continuous imperial aggression, its rhetoric of war, its neoliberal expansion that negate the crisis experienced in the educational domain. In order to provide a better understanding of this crisis in the United States, the author looks at the political and social developments happening on a global scale which serves as a mirror to look into the educational crisis in the North American context. In a situation where the social sector is witnessing a continuous neglect there is still hope as indicated by emerging voices of protest worldwide. He sums up this crisis as an ideological question that needs to be dealt not as a fragmented problem of the education discourse but calls for a holistic perspective to find a teaching pedagogy that engenders hope and humanity for future citizens.