bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Multidisciplinary teams for the proper management of patients with genitourinary tumors: When topics set scientific societies’ agenda
Authors: Magnani Tiziana , Bracarda Sergio , D’Angelillo Rolando M. , Artibani Walter , Barni Sandro , Beretta Giordano , Brausi Maurizio , Caffo Orazio , Corvò Renzo , Gallucci Michele , Gunelli Roberta , Mirone Vincenzo , Novara Giacomo , Pinto Carmine , Russi Elvio , Santoni Riccardo , Tomirotti Maurizio , Volpe Alessandro , Conti Giario , Valdagni Riccardo
Published: July 2018

Introduction:

The multidisciplinary management of oncologic patients is identified as the bottom line element of quality in tumor care.

Methods:

In 2015, 7 Italian scientific societies representing the specialists involved in the diagnosis and treatment of genitourinary tumors joined efforts in the Italian uro-oncologic multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) project. The aims were to promote the reorganization of genitourinary cancer care, switching to a multidisciplinary approach, reach a consensus on the core elements for the setup of MDTs in genitourinary oncology, and support health policy makers and managers in remodeling of the assistance and care of uro-oncologic patients on a national level.

Results:

The first activity was the setup of 5 working groups, given the task of exploring selected topics: general principles, organization of MDTs, minimal requirements, economic evaluation, and relations with authorities. The groups participated in the writing of a document that was approved by the scientific societies and published on their web sites. Moreover, a few items summarizing the extensive document were approved in the first MDT Consensus Conference held in Milan in December 2015.

Conclusions:

The experience of this initial phase led to the opening of the team to other professionals and societies, in line with a correct management of patients with genitourinary tumors, which need a multidisciplinary as well as a multiprofessional approach with emerging techniques and procedures, and with a new project work package on genitourinary paths of care and indicators.
Biomechanical Strength of Rotator Cuff Repairs: A Systematic Review and Meta-regression Analysis of Cadaveric Studies
Authors: Shi Brendan Y. , Diaz Miguel , Binkley Matthew , McFarland Edward G. , Srikumaran Uma
Published: July 2018

Background:

Biomechanical cadaveric studies of rotator cuff repair (RCR) have shown that transosseous equivalent and double-row anchored repairs are stronger than other repair constructs.

Purpose:

To identify technical and procedural parameters that most reliably predict biomechanical performance of RCR constructs.

Study Design:

Systematic review.

Methods:

The authors systematically searched the EMBASE and PubMed databases for biomechanical studies that measured RCR performance in cadaveric specimens. The authors performed a meta-regression on the pooled data set with study outcomes (gap formation, failure mode, and ultimate failure load) as dependent variables and procedural parameters (eg, construct type, number of suture limbs) as covariates. Stratification by covariates was performed. An alpha level of .05 was used.

Results:

Data from 40 eligible studies were included. Higher number of suture limbs correlated with higher ultimate failure load (β = 38 N per limb; 95% CI, 28 to 49 N) and less gap formation (β = −0.6 mm per limb; 95% CI, −1 to −0.2 mm). Other positive predictors of ultimate failure load were number of sutures, number of mattress stitches, and use of wide suture versus standard suture. When controlling for number of suture limbs, we found no significant differences among single-row anchored, double-row anchored, transosseous equivalent, and transosseous repairs. Higher number of suture limbs and transosseous equivalent repair both increased the probability of catastrophic construct failure.

Conclusion:

This study suggests that the number of sutures, suture limbs, and mattress stitches in a RCR construct are stronger predictors of overall strength than is construct type. There is a need to balance increased construct strength with higher risk of type 2 failure.
Classical Political Economy and the Evolution of Central Banks: Endogenous Money and the Fiscal-Military State
Authors: Vernengo Matías
Published: July 2018

The paper analyzes briefly the changing ideas on the role of money and banks from William Petty to Thomas Tooke, including the works of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, and Karl Marx. It analyzes the role of ideas in shaping the evolution of central bank regulation. Particular importance is given to the Bank of England’s inconvertibility period, from 1797 to 1821, and the ensuing debate in shaping Robert Peel’s Bank Act of 1844, which is often seen as the birth of modern central banking. The importance of the Say’s Law, and the inexistence of an alternative theory of the determination of output, is shown to play an essential role in the policy prescriptions of the so-called Bullionist authors, who won the debates that shaped central banking practices in the nineteenth century. The paper concludes with a brief analysis of what is a central bank according to the dominant (marginalist) mainstream of the profession, and what an alternative conception based on what may be termed classical-Keynesian political economy would be.

JEL Classification: B10, N20, E58
Emergent Cultures of Activism: Young People and the Building of Alliances Between Unions and Other Social Movements
Authors: Cha J. Mijin , Holgate Jane , Yon Karel
Published: July 2018

This article considers emergent cultures of activism among young people in the labor movement. The authors question whether unions should reconsider creating different forms of organization to make themselves relevant to new generations of workers. Our comparative case study research from the United States, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—where young people are engaged in “alter-activism” and unions have successfully recruited and included young workers—shows that there is potential for building alliances between trade unions and other social movements. The authors suggest that emerging cultures of activism provide unions with a way of appealing to wider and more diverse constituencies.
Doing Good Online: The Changing Relationships Between Motivations, Activity, and Retention Among Online Volunteers
Authors: Cox Joe , Oh Eun Young , Simmons Brooke , Graham Gary , Greenhill Anita , Lintott Chris , Masters Karen , Woodcock Jamie
Published: July 2018

Advances in Internet technology are making it possible for individuals to volunteer online and participate in research-based activities of nonprofit organizations. Using survey data from a representative sample of such contributors, this study investigates their motivations to volunteer for five online volunteering projects using the Volunteer Functions Inventory. We explore relationships between these six categories of motivation and actual recorded measures of both volunteer activity and retention. We also use quantile regression analysis to investigate the extent to which these motivations change at different stages in the volunteer process. Our results show that volunteers’ activity and retention tend to associate significantly and positively with the motivations of understanding and values, as well as significantly and negatively with the social and career motivations. We also find the importance of motivations changes significantly across the stages of volunteer engagement. In some cases, especially the understanding motivation, the changes observed for activity and retention are markedly different.
Analysis of the influence of magnetic stiffness on running stability in a high-speed train propelled by a superconducting linear synchronous motor
Authors: Lee Jin-Ho , Lee Chang-Young , Jo Jeong-Min , Lim Jungyoul , Choe Jaeheon , Sun Yan , Lee Kwan-Sup
Published: July 2018

There are two major obstacles that prevent a conventional train from achieving high speed: the limitation of wheel–rail adhesion and the increase of instability in the wheel–rail running dynamics. To overcome these problems, a new hybrid train model is introduced in this study. This train utilizes a superconducting linear synchronous motor (SC-LSM), instead of a traction motor, for propulsion; therefore, this train does not have the limitation of adhesion between the wheel and the rail. Using an SC-LSM also improves the stability of the train during high-speed operations. The magnetic stiffness between the train and the guideway is additionally generated by using the SC-LSM, which is favorable for the running stability at a high speed. This study focuses on the magnetic stiffness and its effect on the running stability in the proposed hybrid train model. First, the magnetic stiffness in the SC-LSM is investigated both theoretically and experimentally. Then, a train dynamic model including the magnetic stiffness is developed and the effect of magnetic stiffness on the running stability is analyzed through various simulations.
Partner meeting venue typology and sexual risk behaviors among French men who have sex with men
Authors: Al-Ajlouni Yazan A , Park Su H , Schneider John A , Goedel William C , Rhodes Hambrick H , Hickson DeMarc A , Cantor Michael N , Duncan Dustin T
Published: July 2018

Previous research has given considerable attention to venues where men who have sex with men (MSM) meet their sex partners. However, no previous study examined a vast range of sexual risk behaviors. The objective of this study was to examine the association between the types of venues for meeting sexual partners, condomless anal intercourse, engagement in group sex, and HIV and sexually transmitted infection (STI) risk among a sample of MSM. Users of a popular geosocial-networking app in Paris were provided an advertisement with text encouraging them to complete an anonymous web-based survey ( n = 580), which included questions about sex-seeking venues, condomless anal intercourse, HIV status and STI history, and sociodemographic characteristics. A log-binomial model was used to assess association between venues (i.e. public venues [gay clubs, bars, and discos], cruising venues [such as gay saunas, beaches, and parks], and internet-based venues [internet chat sites and geosocial-networking apps]), condomless anal intercourse, engagement in group sex, and HIV infection as well as infection with other STIs, after adjustment for sociodemographics. In multivariable models, attending cruising venues was associated with condomless receptive anal intercourse (adjusted relative risk [aRR] = 1.47; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.20–1.81), any kind of condomless anal intercourse (aRR = 1.34; 95% CI = 1.14–1.58), an STI (aRR = 1.50; 95% CI = 1.09–2.05), engagement in group sex (aRR = 1.42; 95% CI = 1.27–1.59), and multiple partners for both condomless insertive (aRR = 2.00; 95% CI = 1.38–2.88), and receptive (aRR = 1.70; 95% CI = 1.23–2.36) anal intercourse, STI infection (aRR = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.09–2.05) and HIV infection (aRR = 1.76; 95% CI = 1.05–2.96). No associations were found with other venue types and sexual risk behaviors, STIs, and HIV infection, except for group sex, which was associated with all venue types. Use of cruising where the primary aim is to have sex was found to be associated with risky sexual behavior. Risky behavior reduction strategies such as preexposure prophylaxis campaigns should be targeted to MSM who frequent cruising venues.
Next year in Jerusalem? ‘La nouvelle judéophobie’, neo-crypto-Judaism and the future of French Jews in Éliette Abécassis’s Alyah
Authors: Bharat Adi S.
Published: July 2018

Éliette Abécassis, one of the principal flagbearers of a nascent contemporary Jewish-French literature, has written a novel entitled Alyah, which engages in a series of reflections on the future of Jewish life in France. Among other themes, Abécassis tackles the memory of Jewish life in North Africa, especially in Morocco, the relationship between antisemitism and anti-Zionism, the affective value of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict for Jews and Muslims in France, and ‘la nouvelle judéophobie’. In this article, I read Alyah in its socio-political context in order to suggest that, while Abécassis highlights at times the potential for Jewish-Muslim solidarity, the novel ends up reproducing an oppositional, conflictual binary of Jews versus Muslims – something that Maud Mandel has termed a ‘narrative of polarisation’.
Comment peut-on être française et musulmane ? Lallab face à l’identité nationale
Authors: Mballo Ramatoulaye , Bourget Carine
Published: July 2018

Depuis 1989, les polémiques au sujet des femmes françaises musulmanes n’ont cessé de gangréner la sphère politico-médiatique alimentant ainsi de nombreux fantasmes. Ces controverses visant la communauté musulmane, notamment ses femmes, ont été un élément majeur du mandat de l’ancien président Nicolas Sarkozy, du débat sur l’identité nationale en 2009 et lors de son projet d’instaurer un ‘Islam de France’. Au cœur de ce conflit français, républicain et culturel a émergé la voix de celles qui se battent pour changer les lignes et le discours dominant prononcé à leur encontre. Lallab, association laïque militante, s’est constituée comme voix émergente et influente sur la question de l’identité de la femme musulmane et du féminisme inclusif. Cet article analyse la façon dont les membres de Lallab reconstruisent et se réapproprient le récit des femmes musulmanes et promeuvent enfin une image positive d’elles-mêmes au sein de la société française.
Military Government by Induction: American Strategic Ambiguity in the Military Government of Cuba, 1899
Authors: Askew Mark
Published: July 2018

In the wake of the Spanish American War, the United States became a world power. How consciously the USA pursued global ambitions is the subject of intense scholarly debate. This article examines US strategic policy toward Cuba in 1899 and argues that the USA prioritized stability and left US commanders to infer via a process of experimentation the true strategic direction of US policy in Cuba.
Professional secrecy and legal professional privilege
Authors: Sladič Jorg
Published: July 2018

Legal privilege and professional secrecy of attorneys relate to the right to a fair trial (Article 6 European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR)) as well as to the right to respect for private and family life (Article 8 ECHR). The reason for protecting the lawyer via fundamental rights is the protection of fundamental rights of the lawyer’s clients. All legal orders apply legal privileges and professional secrecy; however, the contents of such are not identical. Traditionally there is an important difference between common and civil law. The professional secrecy of an attorney in civil law jurisdictions is his right and at the same time his obligation based on his membership of the Bar (that is his legal profession). In common law legal privilege comprises the contents of documents issued by an attorney to the client. Professional secrecy of attorneys in civil law jurisdictions applies solely to independent lawyers; in-house lawyers are usually not allowed to benefit from rules on professional secrecy (exceptions in the Netherlands and Belgium). On the other hand, common law jurisdictions apply legal professional privilege, recognized also to in-house lawyers. Slovenian law follows the traditional civil law concept of professional secrecy and sets a limited privilege to in-house lawyers. The article then discusses Slovenian law of civil procedure and compares the position of professional secrecy in lawsuits before State’s courts and in arbitration.
Growth companies and procedural safeguards in European patent litigation
Authors: Rantasaari Krista
Published: July 2018

The unitary patent system with the establishment of the Unified Patent Court will lead to unitary patent protection covering most European Union countries. Moreover, it will lead to litigation with the same geographical reach. One potential concern related to increasing litigation is the so-called ‘patent trolls’ (non-practicing entities) that purchase patents for the purpose of portfolio building or company financing. One of the key expressed justifications of the unitary patent system was to support small- and medium-sized enterprises by securing them easier and wider access to patents. The aim of this article is to examine procedural safeguards from the perspective of the start-up and growth companies. These safeguards protect start-up and growth companies when acting as defendants. As a corollary, they weaken the enforcement mechanisms from the perspective of the plaintiff. The safeguards addressed in this article are fee shifting, preliminary injunctions, and bifurcation. As the Unified Patent Court system is still evolving, the current state of European patent litigation in key jurisdiction countries (Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands) is analysed. This article explores how these safeguards evolve in the unitary patent regime and their potential to reduce uncertainty for start-up and growth companies when acting as defendants.
Evidence-Based Practice: An Alternative to Authority-Based Practice (Revisiting Our Heritage)
Authors: Gambrill Eileen
Published: July 2018

Editor’s note: This article is reprinted from Volume 80-4 (1999) as part of the Revisiting Our Heritage series. Nearly 20 years ago, one of the earliest articles to appear in a social work journal on evidence-based practice (EBP) was presented by Eileen Gambrill. While many are familiar with Gambrill’s contributions as a pioneer of the EBP movement in social work, it is worth noting her emphasis on client voice as a vital part of EBP in advancing the field’s efficacy: “Evidence-based practice requires an atmosphere in which critical appraisal of practice-related claims flourishes, and clients are involved as informed participants. A notable feature of EBP is attention to clients’ values and expectations. Clients are involved as active participants in the decision-making processes.” As you reflect on two decades of EBP influence in research, practice, and policy, consider how successful (or not) social work has progressed in keeping the foundation of client self-determinism strong and relevant.
Police Body-Worn Cameras: Effects on Officers’ Burnout and Perceived Organizational Support
Authors: Adams Ian , Mastracci Sharon
Published: July 2018

Police departments in the United States are rapidly adopting body-worn cameras (BWCs). To date, no study has investigated the effects of BWCs on police officers themselves, despite evidence suggesting negative effects of electronic performance monitoring on employee well-being. Police officers already experience higher levels of burnout than other professions. We hypothesize that the intense surveillance of BWCs will manifest in how police officers perceive the organizational support of their departments and will increase burnout. We test these hypotheses using data from patrol officers ( n = 271) and structural equation modeling. We find BWCs increase police officer burnout, and this effect is statistically different from zero. We also find that BWCs decrease officers’ perceived organizational support, which mediates the relationship between BWCs and burnout. Greater perceived organizational support can blunt the negative effects of BWCs. Our study is the first to situate effects on officers at the center of BWC literature.
Examining the determinants of job satisfaction among tourism workers
Authors: Lillo-Bañuls Adelaida , Casado-Díaz José M , Simón Hipólito
Published: July 2018

Employees’ job satisfaction influences their commitment, affects quality and productivity and is, therefore, crucial for a labour-intensive industry such as tourism. In this article, the determinants of job satisfaction are examined in comparative terms for tourism workers versus those employed in the rest of the service sector. In contrast with previous research, the analysis is not restricted to hospitality workers, includes all types of occupations, and is based on a nationwide representative sample. The explanatory models of job satisfaction are estimated using ordered logit techniques, considering personal and household characteristics as well as objective and subjective job characteristics. The results indicate that job satisfaction is significantly lower among tourism workers and that in some cases notable differences exist between the factors influencing job satisfaction in the tourism sector compared with the rest of the service sector, which might be relevant for managers and policymakers.
Interrogating the enactment of a service-learning course in a physical education teacher education programme: Less is more?
Authors: MacPhail Ann , Sohun Rhoda
Published: July 2018

Service-learning is a community-based method of education in which students fulfil the academic goals of their courses and simultaneously contribute to the welfare of the community. The purpose of this study is to interrogate a course-embedded service-learning project in a physical education teacher education programme to provide a broader, potentially more critical view of the experience, knowledge and learning related to our effort to link service and learning. A specific focus is the extent to which the strategies employed enhanced or hindered pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) and university faculty understanding and experience of service-learning. Three main challenges arose in striving towards the delivery and experience of a meaningful, relevant and worthwhile service-learning course: the challenge of linking academic coursework with community service structured through reflective practice; creating a generous amount of designated space for faculty and PSTs’ dialogue focusing specifically on PSTs’ service-learning partnership (SLP) and weekly reflections; and discussing the appropriate proposed assessment points with PSTs and creating sufficient space and time in the course for PSTs to explore how their weekly SLP experience can most effectively contribute to completing the related assessments.
Determinants of work disability following lumbar spine decompression surgery
Authors: Wang Mo , Mittendorfer-Rutz Ellenor , Dorner Thomas E. , Pazarlis Konstantinos A. , Ropponen Annina , Svedberg Pia , Helgesson Magnus
Published: July 2018

Aims: Scientific knowledge about risk factors for work disability in terms of long-term sickness absence and disability pension following lumbar spine decompression surgery remains insufficient. This study aimed to investigate the associations between socio-demographic, work-related, and medical characteristics with subsequent long-term sickness absence (>90 days) and disability pension for individuals who underwent lumbar spine decompression surgery. Methods: A prospective cohort study of all individuals aged 19–60 years with diagnosed dorsopathies, who underwent lumbar spine decompression surgery 2008–10 in Sweden ( n=7373) was performed. Univariate and multivariate hazard ratios with 95% confidence intervals regarding long-term sickness absence and disability pension with a 3-year follow-up period were estimated by Cox proportional regression. Results: Low educational level, being a non-European immigrant and preoperative sickness absence were risk factors for both long-term sickness absence and disability pension (hazard ratios: 1.2–3.8). Female sex was a risk factor for long-term sickness absence (hazard ratios: 1.3) whereas age >44 years and being a Nordic immigrant were risk factors for disability pension (hazard ratios: 1.9–2.6). Medical factors as common mental disorders, other mental disorders, prescribed psychiatric medication and somatic comorbidity were risk factors for both long-term sickness absence and disability pension (hazard ratios: 1.2–3.4). A simultaneous lumbar fusion surgery and high preoperative pain severity were risk factors for long-term sickness absence (hazard ratios 1.2–1.8). Conclusions: To prevent long-term work disability after lumbar spine decompression surgery, specific focus is required on older and female patients, those with mental or somatic comorbidities, high levels of preoperative pain or sickness absence, with a simultaneous lumbar fusion surgery, a low educational level or a non-European immigrant background.
Is digital upskilling the next generation our ‘pipeline to prosperity’?
Authors: Davies Huw C , Eynon Rebecca
Published: July 2018

The British government is claiming digital skills will deliver economic growth to the country and social mobility to young people: its ministers call it ‘a pipeline to prosperity’. While declaring this pipeline, the government assumes the needs of the economy and young people’s needs are (or should be) synchronised. We challenge this assumption and the policy it sustains with data from questionnaires, workshops and interviews with 50 young people from communities in South Wales (including a former mining town and a deprived inner city area) about digital technology’s role in their everyday life. We use a new typography to compare the reality of their socially and economically structured lives to the governmental policy discourse that makes them responsible for their country’s future economic success. To explain these young people’s creative and transgressive use of technology, we also make an empirically grounded contribution to the ongoing theoretical debates about structure and agency.
The participation of people with dementia in the planning of their care and support: An integrative literature review
Authors: Read Sheridan T , Toye Christine , Wynaden Dianne
Published: July 2018

Background

People with dementia continue to voice concerns that health professionals are reluctant to engage with them about the planning of their care and support. Instead, their perspective is that such plans are often made by others and fail to reflect their wishes.

Objective

This review aimed to examine investigations of the participation of people living with dementia in the planning of their care and support, when they have also provided study data.

Methods

An integrative literature review was conducted to identify, critique, and synthesise relevant research findings. Eight electronic databases were searched to identify peer reviewed journal articles that met inclusion criteria. In addition, reference lists of included articles were searched, and a subject expert was consulted about any possible omissions.

Results

From the 346 articles accessed, seven met inclusion criteria for review. The quality appraisal showed that one article reported only pilot data; several more reported small sample sizes; and, in two instances, there was a lack of information about the psychometric properties of data collection tools and about recruitment and attrition rates.

Conclusions

There has been limited investigation of the participation of people with dementia in the planning of their support when they have also contributed research data. Findings provide some evidence of their participation by attending education programme, setting goals in cognitive rehabilitation therapy and contributing to advance care planning.
Transparency, Class Bias, and Redistribution: Evidence from the American States
Authors: Severson Alexander
Published: July 2018

This study employs state-level panel data between 1978 and 2000 to explore the relationship between transparency, media market penetration, class bias in voter participation, and welfare effort in the United States. I present empirical evidence that the effect of transparency—operationalized as state fiscal transparency—on state welfare effort is conditional on class bias in voter participation. Specifically, I present evidence that in states where transparency and class bias increased over time, state welfare effort significantly declined. These results are robust to the inclusion of controls for other determinants of redistribution that traditionally vary with geography such as governor partisanship, legislator ideology, citizen ideology, gross state product (GSP), and state demographic characteristics, and are robust across several alternate model specifications. My findings suggest that increased transparency does not automatically improve the condition of socioeconomically-disadvantaged citizens and that transparency may have welfare-reducing effects in societies with increasing participatory gulfs between the most and least advantaged citizens.
Imaging artifacts of Onyx and PHIL on conventional CT, cone-beam CT and MRI in an animal model
Authors: Vollherbst Dominik F , Otto Ruth , Do Thuy , Kauczor Hans U , Bendszus Martin , Sommer Christof M , Möhlenbruch Markus A
Published: July 2018

Background and purpose

A frequently reported drawback of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer-based liquid embolic agents is the production of artifacts in diagnostic imaging. New embolic agents, such as Precipitating hydrophobic injectable liquid (PHIL; MicroVention, Tustin, CA, USA), are supposed to induce significantly fewer artifacts. The purpose of this study is to assess the degree of artifacts induced by the liquid embolic agents Onyx (Medtronic Neurovascular, Irvine, CA, USA) and PHIL in conventional computed tomography (CT), cone-beam CT and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in an experimental in vivo model.

Materials and methods

In 10 pigs the rete mirabile was embolized with Onyx ( n = 5) or PHIL ( n = 5). After embolization, conventional CT, cone-beam CT and MRI were performed. The degree of artifacts was graded qualitatively (five-point scale; for CT and MRI) and quantitatively (HUs of well-defined regions of interest (ROIs); for CT only).

Results

Artifacts were significantly more severe for Onyx both in the qualitative (e.g. conventional CT: 2 versus 5 (medians); p = 0.008) and in the quantitative image analysis (e.g. cone-beam CT: standard deviation of a ROI near to the embolic agent cast, 94 HU versus 38 HU (medians); p = 0.008). Neither Onyx nor PHIL produced any apparent artifacts in MRI.

Conclusion

PHIL produces fewer artifacts than Onyx in conventional CT and cone-beam CT in an experimental in vivo model.
In vivo evaluation of the new PHIL low viscosity in a swine rete mirabile model
Authors: Samaniego Edgar A , Derdeyn Colin P , Hayakawa Minako , Hasan David , Ortega-Gutierrez Santiago
Published: July 2018

Introduction

Few liquid embolic materials are available for treatment of arteriovenous malformations. We describe the in vivo experience with the new PHIL low viscosity (LV) liquid embolic agent in a swine rete mirabile model.

Methods

Eight swine were treated. Two animals underwent embolization of a rete with PHIL LV and the contralateral rete with Squid 12 (euthanized the same day). Six animals underwent embolization of the right rete: two with balloon flow arrest (euthanized at 14 d) and four with a microcatheter alone (euthanized at 14 and 90 d). Performance characteristics of the embolic agents were evaluated. Microscopic and histological analysis of the harvested retia was performed. Macroscopic examinations and high contrast digital-based radiographs of the central nervous system were obtained.

Results

We did not experience any technical complication during embolization of each rete. Overall occlusion ability, on/off injection and ease to retrieve the microcatheter/balloon with PHIL LV were optimal. Fluoroscopic visualization of the PHIL LV cast was adequate to optimal. Average embolization time with flow arrest was 9.5 min versus 19.5 min with microcatheter plugging. Embolizations with PHIL LV required less volume and were shorter when compared to Squid 12. Subacute (14 d) and chronic (90 d) microscopic and histological analysis demonstrated minimal inflammatory changes in the perivascular tissues and permanent occlusion of the embolized vasculature.

Conclusion

In this swine rete model, the new PHIL LV embolic agent had an excellent embolization performance. Vessels embolized remained occluded up to 90 d from the procedure with minimal inflammatory changes.
Investigation on indentation rolling resistance of belt conveyor based on Hertz contact theory compared with one-dimensional Winkler foundation
Authors: Yan Lu
Published: July 2018

Based on Hertz contact theory and one-dimensional Winkler foundation combination with viscoelastic theory, the author derived theoretical formulas of indentation rolling resistance, respectively. Using the laboratorial apparatus of indentation rolling resistance, the author mainly concentrates on the error analysis about two kinds of theoretical formula which bear on indentation rolling resistance compared with experimental result. The reason why author employs Hertz contact theory to discuss indentation rolling resistance is that indentation rolling resistance is a sort of contact resistance. As a result, Hertz contact theory is generally applicable to study it. On the other hand, because conveyor belt has viscoelastic property, it is appropriate to use viscoelastic theory by the aid of three-parameter Maxwell viscoelastic model combination with one-dimensional Winkler foundation. Ultimately, this article infers that theoretical formula based on the Hertz contact is brief and clear compared with one-dimensional Winkler foundation in principle. However, it is noticeable that when the belt is at high speed, the reliability of formula based on Hertz theory has decreased obviously. This conclusion can give a beneficial reference for the energy saving of belt conveyor.
Study on evacuation simulation under crowd-diversion condition
Authors: Chiu Yung-Piao , Shiau Yan-Chyuan , Lai Yi-Hsuan
Published: July 2018

With the increasing number of domestic buildings, the importance of safety evacuation in case of fire in the buildings has been aware. Occupants in a building will crowd at exit(s) when they evacuate in disasters. The content of this study includes the following: (1) to conduct a literature review on severe stampedes in history, identifying the number of casualties, and to explore existing research on crowd evacuation; (2) to examine the applicability of software packages EXODUS and Unity for simulating occupant evacuation using them for simulations under identical conditions; and (3) to construct simulated evacuation environments using Unity and perform simulations with different combinations of occupant number, space size, exit size, and flow diverter size. The simulation results found that placing a flow diverter in front of the exit could reduce the evacuation time effectively. The best result was observed when the width of the door is close to the width of the flow diverter; it can reduce the evacuation time by about 25%. When more than 60 people were emptying through an exit below 120 cm width, the blocking happened regardless of whether a flow diverter was placed.
Effect of hospital volume on outcomes of percutaneous peripheral atherectomy – An observational analysis from National Inpatient Sample
Authors: Patel Samir V , Sonani Rajesh , Patel Palak , Patel Mihir , Bhatt Parth , Badheka Apurva
Published: July 2018

Background

Although the published literature has reported an inverse association between hospital volume and outcomes of coronary interventions, sparse data are available for percutaneous peripheral atherectomy (PPA). The aim of our study was to examine the effect of hospital volume on outcomes of PPA.

Methods

Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS) database of the year 2012, PPA with ICD-9 code of 17.56 was identified. The primary outcomes were mortality and amputation rates; secondary outcomes were peri-procedural complications, cost, and length of hospitalization and discharge disposition of the patient. Multivariate models were generated for predictors of the outcomes.

Results

We identified a total of 21,015 patients with mean age of 69.53 years, with 56% males. Higher hospital volume centers were associated with a significantly lower mortality (OR 0.42, 95% CI 0.30–0.57, p < 0.0001), amputation rates (5.34% vs. 9.32%, p < 0.0001), combined endpoint of mortality and complications (OR 0.53, 95% CI 0.49–0.58, p < 0.0001), shorter length of hospital stay (LOS) (4.86 vs. 6.79 days, p < 0.0001) and lower hospitalization cost ($23,062 vs. $30,794, p < 0.0001). Subgroup analysis for acute and chronic limb ischemia showed similar results.

Conclusion

Hospital procedure volume is an independent predictor of mortality, amputation rates, complications, LOS, and costs in patients undergoing PPA with an inverse relationship.
A workforce in jeopardy: identifying the challenges of ensuring a sustainable advanced HIV nursing workforce
Authors: Piercy Hilary , Bell Gill , Hughes Charlie , Naylor Simone , Bowman Christine
Published: July 2018

Background

HIV services in England face substantial challenges arising from financial pressures and changes to commissioning. A sustainable HIV specialist nursing workforce will be vital to enable them to respond to those challenges.

Aims

This paper examines the current workforce situation in HIV services across the country.

Methods

This mixed-method study involved semi-structured interviews with 19 key stakeholders and with 44 nurses/physicians from 21 purposively selected HIV services across England. Data were interpreted using a framework analysis approach.

Results

‘Building a career in HIV nursing’ identified problems associated with retention and recruitment. Changes in commissioning are disrupting common career routes from sexual health to HIV nursing, and a perceived lack of a clear career pathway was seen as a barrier to recruitment. ‘Developing a specialist workforce’ explored the professional development of the current workforce, which was hampered by poor access to funding or study time for advanced study and the absence of an HIV-specific advanced nursing qualification.

Conclusions

The HIV nursing workforce, which provides an increasing proportion of HIV care, is facing serious recruitment and retention challenges. A strategic approach to workforce development and training is essential to overcome systemic barriers and secure the next generation of skilled practitioners.
A case of sinus pause induced by swallowing in the setting of olanzapine and guanfacine overdose
Authors: Kolarich Andrew R , Mubarak Matthew , Wells Shannon , Campbell Christopher T , Samraj Ravi S
Published: July 2018

Olanzapine, a second-generation antipsychotic, is used in both adult and pediatric populations for schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression and has been associated with autonomic dysregulation in the setting of overdose. Guanfacine is a sympatholytic drug used in the treatment of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and has also been associated with autonomic dysfunction. We present a unique case of a 17-year-old male who overdosed on 340 mg of olanzapine and 189 mg of extended-release guanfacine with a previously unreported adverse event. Specifically, five days after ingestion, he developed a 5–8 s sinus pause every time he forcefully swallowed any beverage, suggestive of a vagal hypersensitivity reaction. The report will review the autonomic dysfunction of olanzapine and guanfacine and management of asymptomatic sinus pause in the critical care setting.
Self-assessment in Massive Open Online Courses
Authors: Ventista Ourania Maria
Published: July 2018

Massive Open Online Courses appear to have high attrition rates, involve students in peer-assessment with patriotic bias and promote education for already educated people. This paper suggests a formative assessment model which takes into consideration these issues. Specifically, this paper focuses on the assessment of open-format questions in Massive Open Online Courses. It describes the current assessment methods in Massive Open Online Courses and it argues that self-assessment should be the only way of formative assessment for the essays of xMOOCs and replace the peer-assessment.
E-learning, M-learning and D-learning: Conceptual definition and comparative analysis
Authors: Kumar Basak Sujit , Wotto Marguerite , Bélanger Paul
Published: July 2018

In the 21st century, the information and communication technology explosion increases the uses of digital devices for many purposes in the world of work and in formal and non-formal education. This study analyzes existing literature on the basis of the definition of the concepts, terminology used, differences, fundamental perspectives, benefits, disadvantages, and finally the similarities and differences of the e-learning (electronic learning), m-learning (mobile learning), and d-learning (digital learning). It reveals that e-learning and m-learning are subsets of d-learning. On the other hand, some learning tools could be considered as m-learning as well as e-learning.
The Anthropocene’s dating problem: Insights from the geosciences and the humanities
Authors: Nichols Kyle , Gogineni Bina
Published: July 2018

The Anthropocene, generally defined, is the time when human activities have a significant impact on the Earth System. However, the natural sciences, the humanities, and the social sciences have different understandings of how and when human activities affected the Earth System. Humanities and social science scholars tend to approach the Anthropocene from a wide range of moral-political concerns including differential responsibility for the change in the Earth System and social implications going forward. Geologists, on the other hand, see their work as uninfluenced by such considerations, instead concerning themselves with empirical data that might point to a ‘golden spike’ in the geologic record – the spike indicating a change in the Earth System. Thus, the natural sciences and the humanities/social sciences are incongruent in two important ways: (1) different motivations for establishing a new geologic era, and (2) different parameters for identifying it.

The Anthropocene discussions have already hinted at a paradigm shift in how to define geologic time periods. Several articles suggest a mid-20th century commencement of the Anthropocene based on stratigraphic relationships identified in concert with knowledge of human history. While some geologists in the Anthropocene Working Group have stated that the official category should be useful well beyond geology, they continue to be guided by the stratigraphic conventions of defining the epoch. However, the methods and motivations that govern stratigraphers are different from those that govern humanists and social scientists. An Anthropocene defined by stratigraphic convention would supersede many of the humanities/social science perspectives that perhaps matter more to mitigating and adapting to the effects of humans on Earth’s System. By this reasoning, the impetus for defining the Anthropocene ought to be interdisciplinary, as traditional geologic criteria for defining the temporal scale might not meet the aspirations of a broad range of Anthropocene thinkers.
How do data come to matter? Living and becoming with personal data
Authors: Lupton Deborah
Published: July 2018

Humans have become increasingly datafied with the use of digital technologies that generate information with and about their bodies and everyday lives. The onto-epistemological dimensions of human–data assemblages and their relationship to bodies and selves have yet to be thoroughly theorised. In this essay, I draw on key perspectives espoused in feminist materialism, vital materialism and the anthropology of material culture to examine the ways in which these assemblages operate as part of knowing, perceiving and sensing human bodies. I draw particularly on scholarship that employs organic metaphors and concepts of vitality, growth, making, articulation, composition and decomposition. I show how these metaphors and concepts relate to and build on each other, and how they can be applied to think through humans’ encounters with their digital data. I argue that these theoretical perspectives work to highlight the material and embodied dimensions of human–data assemblages as they grow and are enacted, articulated and incorporated into everyday lives.
“Do You Want Fries With That?”: The McDonaldization of University Education—Some Critical Reflections on Nursing Higher Education
Authors: Holmes Colin , Lindsay David
Published: July 2018

Public universities, as the predominant source of nurse education, serve an instrumental role as pressure mounts to produce large numbers of workready graduates to meet the needs of the labor market. Neoliberalism is recognized as the dominant political and economic philosophy across the globe, and new managerialist, corporatized practices, as its “organizational arms,” are ubiquitous within the higher education sector worldwide. Intersecting this agenda are dramatic developments in the way university courses are being conceived and delivered based upon the increasing integration of digital technologies. Given the radical transformations brought about by Web 2.0 technologies, it is timely to critically analyze current narratives shaping the teaching and learning agenda and their impact on the nature and quality of nursing higher education. This article draws on the “McDonaldization thesis” of George Ritzer, concepts from the work of the Italian philosopher Giorgio Agamben, Habermasian social theory, and critical pedagogy. It concludes with a short overview of possible outcomes of the new agenda, and some strategies for resistance. Although the focus is on Australia, it is relevant to other countries to the extent that they are facing similar challenges and undergoing analogous pedagogic transformations.
Up-front rituximab maintenance improves outcome in patients with follicular lymphoma: a collaborative Nordic study
Authors: Madsen C. , Clausen M. R. , Plesner T. L. , Pasanen A. , Kuismanen T. , Bentzen H. H. , Jørgensen J. M. , Sillesen I. B. , Himmelstrup B. M. , Rønnov-Jessen D. , Jensen K. R. , Pettinger A. M. , Ludvigsen M. , Leppä S. , d’Amore F. A.
Published: July 2018

Key Points

Patients who received R-chemo followed by MR had an improved 5-year PFS and OS independent of prognostic factors. A reduction of the risk of HT was observed among the MR patients of the training, but not of the validation, cohort.
Dyspnoea in patients receiving noninvasive ventilation for acute respiratory failure: prevalence, risk factors and prognostic impact
Authors: Dangers Laurence , Montlahuc Claire , Kouatchet Achille , Jaber Samir , Meziani Ferhat , Perbet Sébastien , Similowski Thomas , Resche-Rigon Matthieu , Azoulay Elie , Demoule Alexandre
Published: July 2018

Dyspnoea is a frequent and intense symptom in intubated patients, but little attention has been paid to dyspnoea during noninvasive mechanical ventilation in the intensive care unit (ICU).

The objectives of this study were to quantify the prevalence, intensity and prognostic impact of dyspnoea in patients receiving noninvasive ventilation (NIV) for acute respiratory failure (ARF) based on secondary analysis of a prospective observational cohort study in patients who received ventilatory support for ARF in 54 ICUs in France and Belgium. Dyspnoea was measured by a modified Borg scale.

Among the 426 patients included, the median (interquartile range) dyspnoea score was 4 (3–5) on admission and 3 (2–4) after the first NIV session (p=0.001). Dyspnoea intensity ≥4 after the first NIV session was associated with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment Score (odds ratio (OR) 1.12, p=0.001), respiratory rate (OR 1.03, p=0.032), anxiety (OR 1.92, p=0.006), leaks (OR 2.5, p=0.002) and arterial carbon dioxide tension (OR 0.98, p=0.025). Dyspnoea intensity ≥4 was independently associated with NIV failure (OR 2.41, p=0.001) and mortality (OR 2.11, p=0.009), but not with higher post-ICU burden and altered quality of life.

Dyspnoea is frequent and intense in patients receiving NIV for ARF and is associated with a higher risk of NIV failure and poorer outcome.