bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Optimal combination of biomarkers for time-dependent receiver operating characteristic estimation and related problems
Authors: Guan Zhong , Qin Jing
Published: November 2014

The receiver operating characteristic curve is commonly used for assessing diagnostic test accuracy and for discriminatory ability of a medical diagnostic test in distinguishing between diseases and non-diseased individuals. With the advance of technology, many genetic variables and biomarker variables are easily collected. The most challenging problem is how to combine clinical, genetic, and biomarker variables together to predict disease status. If one is interested in predicting t-year survival, however, the status of “case” (death) and “control” (survival) at the given t-year is unknown for those individuals who were censored before t-year. To conduct a receiver operating characteristic analysis, one has to impute those ambiguous statuses. In this paper, we study a maximum pseudo likelihood method to estimate the underlying parameters and baseline distribution functions. The proposed approach produces more efficient and smoother estimate of the optimal time-dependent receiver operating characteristic curve and more stable estimation of the prediction rule for the t-year survivors. More importantly, the proposal is equipped with a goodness-of-fit test for the model assumption based on the bootstrap method. Two real medical data sets are used for illustration.
Local welfare systems in Europe and the economic crisis
Authors: Andreotti Alberta , Mingione Enzo
Published: November 2014

The tendency towards the diffusion of more localised welfare provision is part of the wider post-industrial transformation and challenges the citizenship protection system that developed during the Fordist age. It is assumed that local welfare provision is more efficient and less expensive than centralised national welfare programmes. In this article we argue first that the process of transformation and localisation of welfare is driven by two different (sometimes opposing) forces: (1) the necessity to identify effective ways of responding to the need for social support which is increasingly individualised, fragmented and heterogeneous, and therefore to expand ‘active’ social policies; and (2) the necessity to keep under control (and more often reducing) national public spending. Second, we argue that a more integrated welfare system (involving the third sector, voluntary organisations and private providers) and one which is more locally differentiated poses a series of problems in terms of social and territorial inequalities. We then identify some conditions that can help to keep inequalities under control. In the conclusion we will see how the crisis is exacerbating these tendencies.
The Role of Leader Boundary Activities in Enhancing Interdisciplinary Team Effectiveness
Authors: Benoliel Pascale , Somech Anit
Published: November 2014

This study examined how leaders’ internal and external activities mediate the relationship of functional heterogeneity and interteam goal interdependence to team effectiveness (in-role performance and innovation) in interdisciplinary teams. The results of the structural equation model from a sample of 92 interdisciplinary teams indicate that leaders’ internal activities fully mediate the relationship of team functional heterogeneity and interteam goal interdependence to team in-role performance. The leaders’ external activities were found to fully mediate the relationship of interteam goal interdependence to team innovation. We discuss the implications of these findings for both theory and practice.
Comparison of the Educational Needs of Neonatologists and Neonatal Nurses Regarding Palliative Care in Taiwan
Authors: Lee Min-Chun , Chen Yong-Chuan , Chen Chao-Huei , Lu Frank Leigh , Hsiao Chien-Chou , Peng Niang-Huei
Published: November 2014

Background:

Education and training are very critical to development of high-quality neonatal palliative care. However, little investigation has been done into Taiwanese neonatal clinicians’ educational needs regarding neonatal palliative care.

Purposes:

The purposes of this study were to characterize and identify neonatal clinicians’ educational needs regarding neonatal palliative care.

Methods:

A cross-sectional descriptive surveyed method via a self administered questionnaire was used in this research. Thirty neonatologists were recruited by a convenience sampling and 30 nurses were recruited by a randomized sampling.

Results:

Out of sixty neonatal clinicians’ survey, few had received the education in neonatal palliative care. Most reported minimal training in, experience with, and knowledge of neonatal palliative care. For neonatologists, two of twelve most strongly-felt educational needs were “discussing palliative care and ethical decision-making with parents” (70%) and “informing parents the poor progress in neonates” (63.3%). In contrast, neonatal nurses wanted more training regarding pain control (50%). Communication skills, including the discussing poor prognosis, bad news, and code status and talking with neonates about end-of-life care, were the educational need most commonly felt by both neonatologists and nurses.

Conclusions:

Survey data from neonatologists and neonatal nurses in Taiwan indicate a need for further training on a range of neonatal palliative care competencies.
Underrecognition and Undertreatment of Pain and Behavioral Symptoms in End-Stage Dementia
Authors: Brecher David B. , West Tasheba L.
Published: November 2014

End-stage dementia, a terminal condition, is associated with a high prevalence of physical pain and behavioral symptoms. As these patients often have a decreased ability to express their symptoms, they are often underrecognized and undertreated. This article proposes opportunities to improve patient care. The article underscores the role of assessment scales to optimize behavioral management for patients with dementia and discusses the value of pain management to improve behavioral symptoms. Additionally, a collaborative interdisciplinary team, including palliative medicine, pharmacy services, and spiritual support can optimize patient care and develop a plan of care.
Toward a View of Complementarity
Authors: Liedong Tahiru Azaaviele , Ghobadian Abby , Rajwani Tazeeb , O’Regan Nicholas
Published: November 2014

The extant literature argues that nonmarket strategies can establish, sustain, or enhance a firm’s competitive advantage. Less clear is how and why effective nonmarket strategies influence a firm’s competitiveness. Moreover, the extant literature tends to examine the two building blocks of nonmarket strategy—corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate political activity (CPA)—separately. In this article, we extend trust to the nonmarket environment. We analyze how CSR and CPA complement each other to create strong trust between firms and the polity, and how they consequently influence government policy. We show the mediating role of trust in policy influence, and argue that CSR and CPA should be aligned for the successful influence of salient government policy.
Swim or Sink Together
Authors: Schaeffner Mélanie , Huettermann Hendrik , Gebert Diether , Boerner Sabine , Kearney Eric , Song Lynda Jiwen
Published: November 2014

This article investigates collective team identification and team member alignment (i.e., the existence of short- and long-term team goals and team-based reward structures) as moderators of the association between task and relationship conflicts. Being indicators of cooperative goal interdependence in teams, both moderators are hypothesized to mitigate the positive association between the two conflict types. Findings from 88 development teams confirm the moderating effect for collective team identification, but not for team member alignment. Moreover, the moderating role of collective team identification is found to be dependent on the level of task conflict: It is more effective in decoupling task and relationship conflicts at medium as compared with high or low levels of task conflict.
Pharmacotherapy Update on the Use of Vasopressors and Inotropes in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Jentzer Jacob C. , Coons James C. , Link Christopher B. , Schmidhofer Mark
Published: November 2014

This paper summarizes the pharmacologic properties of vasoactive medications used in the treatment of shock, including the inotropes and vasopressors. The clinical application of these therapies is discussed and recent studies describing their use and associated outcomes are also reported. Comprehension of hemodynamic principles and adrenergic and non-adrenergic receptor mechanisms are salient to the appropriate therapeutic utility of vasoactive medications for shock. Vasoactive medications can be classified based on their direct effects on vascular tone (vasoconstriction or vasodilation) and on the heart (presence or absence of positive inotropic effects). This classification highlights key similarities and differences with respect to pharmacology and hemodynamic effects. Vasopressors include pure vasoconstrictors (phenylephrine and vasopressin) and inoconstrictors (dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine). Each of these medications acts as vasopressors to increase mean arterial pressure by augmenting vascular tone. Inotropes include inodilators (dobutamine and milrinone) and the aforementioned inoconstrictors. These medications act as inotropes by enhancing cardiac output through enhanced contractility. The inodilators also reduce afterload from systemic vasodilation. The relative hemodynamic effect of each agent varies depending on the dose administered, but is particularly apparent with dopamine. Recent large-scale clinical trials have evaluated vasopressors and determined that norepinephrine may be preferred as a first-line therapy for a broad range of shock states, most notably septic shock. Consequently, careful selection of vasoactive medications based on desired pharmacologic effects that are matched to the patient's underlying pathophysiology of shock may optimize hemodynamics while reducing the potential for adverse effects.
Substantive and Procedural Tolerance
Authors: Reese Laura A. , Zalewski Matthew
Published: November 2014

Interest in relationships between the local dimensions of political ideology, behavior, and culture has increased in recent years. Tolerance can be understood to have two dimensions: (1) substantive, meaning the types of diversity in a community and resident relationships within that diversity; and (2) procedural, relating to how tolerance is operationalized by researchers. This research addresses both the substantive and procedural aspects of tolerance in three communities using a nested methodology, including case studies, interviews with local officials, and citizen surveys. It concludes that cities with greater diversity are not consistently more tolerant, and much depends on the definition of tolerance employed. There is no magic or necessary connection between a diverse and tolerant citizenry. Local history colors how diversity and tolerance interact; development patterns that separate residents by race, ethnicity, or income appear to leave legacies that are difficult to overcome.
Whose Politics? Reflections on Clarence Stone’s Regime Politics
Authors: Jones-Correa Michael , Wong Diane
Published: November 2014

Stone’s retrospective article holds to the view of his earlier work that a city’s fundamental capacity to confront existential challenges is made possible only by the engagement of elite actors with the resources for sustained politics. In this article, we set out to illustrate ways in which actors marginal to regime politics—neighborhood organizations, nonprofits, labor movements, and immigrant groups—can offer examples of sustained politics that provide alternate agendas for city politics by looking at three different policy arenas in three different cities: housing in New York, labor rights in Los Angeles, and education in Detroit.
Urban Regime Theory and the Problem of Change
Authors: Rast Joel
Published: November 2014

The 25th anniversary of the publication of Clarence Stone’s Regime Politics presents an opportunity to consider ways of moving forward theoretically in a world that has begun to look much different from postwar Atlanta. In recent years, Stone has turned his attention from stability to change in urban governing arrangements, proposing American political development (APD) as a promising theoretical approach. While broadly in agreement with Stone about the advantages of APD for the study of urban political change, I identify some potential problems with his efforts to combine APD and regime analysis. In particular, I suggest that Stone more fully embrace APD’s emphasis on friction and disorder as a driver of change in governing arrangements and that the role of institutions, in addition to informal arrangements, be considered more directly in arguments about how change occurs.
Regime Politics in Geography
Authors: Hankins Katherine B.
Published: November 2014

At the current conjuncture of neoliberal urbanism, when more than 20 years have passed since scholars identified the retrenchment of the federal state from urban affairs and the shift from urban govern ment to urban govern ance, those of us engaged in questions of urban politics have much yet to learn about the power relations in American cities. At the same time, we must recognize those key concepts and frameworks that have shaped our ability to understand both the processes involved in urban politics and the expressions of those processes, as they are manifest in concrete places and often, literally, in places made of concrete. The urban regime, as explained by Clarence Stone a quarter century ago in Regime Politics, is one such concept, as illustrated in a very compelling empirical investigation, that has shaped the lexicon of how we understand cities. Stone’s contribution came along at a time when geographers were grappling with understanding the local and the global and their relationship to capitalism. Geographers engaged regime theory in fits and starts with other conceptual innovations in the field, including the regulation approach, flat ontologies, and relational sense of place. If we apply these three conceptual innovations to the regime approach, as I argue we should, then we get a much more robust conceptual tool to understand the contemporary urban political landscape.
Etiological Risk Factors for Sibling Incest
Authors: Griffee Karen , Swindell Sam , O’Keefe Stephen L. , Stroebel Sandra S. , Beard Keith W. , Kuo Shih-Ya , Stroupe Walter
Published: November 2014

Retrospective data from 1,821 women and 1,064 men with one or more siblings, provided anonymously using a computer-assisted self-interview, were used to identify risk factors for sibling incest (SI); 137 were participants in SI. In order of decreasing predictive power, the risk factors identified by the multiple logistic regression analysis included ever having shared a bed for sleeping with a sibling, parent–child incest (PCI), family nudity, low levels of maternal affection, and ever having shared a tub bath with a sibling. The results were consistent with the idea that SI in many families was the cumulative result of four types of parental behaviors: (a) factors that lower external barriers to sexual behavior (e.g., permitting co-sleeping or co-bathing of sibling dyads), (b) factors that encourage nudity of children within the nuclear family and permit children to see the parent’s genitals, (c) factors that lead to the siblings relying on one another for affection (e.g., diminished maternal affection), and (d) factors that eroticize young children (e.g., child sexual abuse [CSA] by a parent). Thirty-eight of the 137 SI participants were participants in coerced sibling incest (CSI). In order of decreasing predictive power, risk factors for CSI identified by multiple logistic regression analysis included ever having shared a bed for sleeping with a brother, PCI, witnessing parental physical fighting, and family nudity. SI was more likely to have been reported as CSI if the sibling had touched the reporting sibling’s genitals, and less likely to have been reported as CSI if the siblings had shared a bed.
Income Inequality and Homicide in the United States
Authors: Roberts Aki , Willits Dale
Published: November 2014

Choices of inequality measure and homicide type may account for mixed findings on the income inequality–homicide link. We aim to acquaint criminologists with several income inequality measures beyond the familiar Gini index and apply the different measures to general and specific homicide rates, noting the practical effect of these choices on results. The income inequality measures differ in their fidelity to relative deprivation ideas, but still correlated highly with each other in data from 208 large U.S. cities. Multivariate analysis also found that all measures of income inequality had significant and positive associations with both overall and specific homicide rates.
A Replication of “The Political Determinants of Federal Expenditure at the State Level” (Public Choice, 2005)
Authors: Douglas Stratford , Reed W. Robert
Published: November 2014

This article replicates and analyzes a study by Hoover and Pecorino (H&P) on federal spending in US states. H&P followed on pathbreaking research by Atlas et al. in which evidence was claimed in favor of the “small state effect”; namely, that since every state is represented by two senators, small states have a disproportionate influence on federal spending relative to their population size. Using H&P’s data, we both replicate their results and demonstrate strong support for the small-state effect when we formally test their predictions. The contribution of this study is that we demonstrate that this empirical support vanishes when we (i) employ cluster robust standard errors rather than conventional ordinary least squares (OLS) standard errors and (ii) include a variable for population growth as suggested in a recent study by Larcinese, Rizzo, and Testa. We conclude that there is insufficient evidence to support the hypothesis of a “small-state effect.”
Analyzing the Effectiveness of State Regulatory Review
Authors: Sobel Russell S. , Dove John A.
Published: November 2014

This article provides a systematic empirical study of how differences in regulatory review processes across the fifty US states affect the level of regulation. We examine whether rules for regulatory review matter in terms of lowering the overall level of regulation in states. Our findings suggest that sunset provisions are the most effective means of reducing state regulatory levels. Requirements for reviewing the fiscal impacts of new regulations on state government budgets and to present lower-cost alternatives for achieving the same policy goals also appear to be somewhat effective. There is limited evidence that a regulatory review process within the state legislative branch or an independent agency reduces new regulations.
Assessment of 8-Methosypsoralen, Lomefloxacin, Sparfloxacin, and Pirfenidone phototoxicity in Long-Evans Rats
Authors: Adachi Tamiko , Satou Yuko , Satou Hiroko , Shibata Hiroshi , Miwa Satoko , Iwase Yumiko , Yamamoto Toshinobu , Nishida Atsuyuki , Masutomi Naoya
Published: November 2014

Phototoxicity has a strong impact on drug development. Although several animal models have been developed to quantitatively assess human risks, none have been validated for standardized use. In this study, we validated an in vivo phototoxicity model using Long-Evans (LE) rats treated with 4 well-known phototoxic drugs, namely 8-methoxypsoralen, lomefloxacin, sparfloxacin, and pirfenidone. Daily macroscopic observations of skin and eyes, ophthalmological examinations 4 days after dosing, and blood sampling for toxicokinetics (TKs) were performed after exposure of treated animals to ultraviolet, and dose-dependent eye and/or skin reactions were noted for all compounds. Margins of safety were calculated when possible and correlated well with known relative phototoxicity of the 4 compounds. We conclude that the present in vivo phototoxicity assay using LE rats with TK analysis can be used to quantitatively predict the risk of pharmaceutical phototoxicity in humans.
Law Enforcement Officer Safety and Wellness
Authors: Mumford Elizabeth A. , Taylor Bruce G. , Kubu Bruce
Published: November 2014

Officers in law enforcement agencies (LEAs) experience long-term health morbidity and mortality at rates exceeding other occupations and the general population. The purpose of this study was to pilot a survey of officer safety and wellness to demonstrate feasibility, assess the need for further research, and lay the groundwork for policies and additional support for officer wellbeing. A random sample of 184 officers from 11 participating LEAs responded to a survey regarding physical activity patterns, job characteristics, substance use, critical incidents, job-related stress, personal health, and health-care usage. Officers reported physical health outcomes at rates similar to the general population but screened positive for elevated rates of posttraumatic stress disorder, common mental disorders, and alcohol misuse. These data support the need for research at the regional and national levels to inform LEA policies and programs.
Late-onset multiple sclerosis presenting with cognitive dysfunction and severe cortical/infratentorial atrophy
Authors: Calabrese Massimiliano , Gajofatto Alberto , Gobbin Francesca , Turri Giulia , Richelli Silvia , Matinella Angela , Oliboni Eugenio Simone , Benedetti Maria Donata , Monaco Salvatore
Published: November 2014

Objective:

Although cognitive dysfunction is a relevant aspect of multiple sclerosis (MS) from the earliest disease phase, cognitive onset is unusual thus jeopardizing early and accurate diagnosis. Here we describe 12 patients presenting with cognitive dysfunction as primary manifestation of MS with either mild or no impairment in non-cognitive neurological domains.

Methods:

Twelve patients with cognitive onset who were subsequently diagnosed with MS (CI-MS) were included in this retrospective study. Twelve cognitively normal MS patients (CN-MS), 12 healthy controls and four patients having progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) served as the reference population.

Results:

Ten CI-MS patients had progressive clinical course and all patients had late disease onset (median age = 49 years; range = 40–58 years). Among cognitive functions, frontal domains were the most involved. Compared to CN-MS and healthy controls, significant cortical and infratentorial atrophy characterized CI-MS patients. Selective atrophy of midbrain tegmentum with relative sparing of pons, known as “The Hummingbird sign,” was observed in eight CI-MS and in three PSP patients.

Discussion:

Our observation suggests that MS diagnosis should be taken into consideration in case of cognitive dysfunction, particularly when associated with slowly progressive disease course and severe cortical, cerebellar and brainstem atrophy even in the absence of other major neurological symptoms and signs.
Impact of anger on the health-related quality of life of multiple sclerosis patients
Authors: Labiano-Fontcuberta Andrés , Mitchell Alex J , Moreno-García Sara , Puertas-Martín Verónica , Benito-León Julián
Published: November 2014

Background:

There is evidence of the presence of a disturbed pattern of anger in multiple sclerosis (MS). Emotion changes, including anger, are thought to influence health-related quality of life (HRQoL). However, although deleterious consequences of anger on physical health have been well reported, there are no studies that have analysed the effects of anger on the HRQoL in patients with MS. Our purpose was to assess the extent to which anger impacts on the HRQoL of a cohort of MS patients.

Methods:

One hundred and fifty-seven consecutive MS patients were enrolled in the study. Participants were administered affective trait measures (Beck Depression Inventory, Beck Anxiety Inventory) and anger measures (the Spanish adapted version of the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-2). HRQoL was quantified using the Functional Assessment of MS.

Results:

Linear regression analyses revealed that even after controlling for socio-demographic and clinical variables, higher levels of anger expression-in (tendency to handle anger by keeping it inside) independently predicted worse overall HRQoL of MS patients (β = −0.15, p = 0.04). We further found that this relationship was moderated by gender, showing that anger expression-in is a more influential predictor of the HRQoL in women with MS.

Conclusion:

The present study provides evidence that anger negatively affects the HRQoL of MS patients. Our results may have implications for those involved in treating emotional complications of MS and especially regarding psychotherapeutic interventions to improve HRQoL of MS patients.
Peginterferon beta-1a in multiple sclerosis: 2-year results from ADVANCE
Authors: Kieseier Bernd C , Arnold Douglas L , Balcer Laura J , Boyko Alexey A , Pelletier Jean , Liu Shifang , Zhu Ying , Seddighzadeh Ali , Hung Serena , Deykin Aaron , Sheikh Sarah I , Calabresi Peter A
Published: November 2014

Objective:

To evaluate the efficacy and safety of subcutaneous peginterferon beta-1a over 2 years in patients with relapsing–remitting multiple sclerosis in the ADVANCE study.

Methods:

Patients were randomized to placebo or 125 µg peginterferon beta-1a every 2 or 4 weeks. For Year 2 (Y2), patients originally randomized to placebo were re-randomized to peginterferon beta-1a every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks. Patients randomized to peginterferon beta-1a in Year 1 (Y1) remained on the same dosing regimen in Y2.

Results:

Compared with Y1, annualized relapse rate (ARR) was further reduced in Y2 with every 2 week dosing (Y1: 0.230 [95% CI 0.183–0.291], Y2: 0.178 [0.136–0.233]) and maintained with every 4 week dosing (Y1: 0.286 [0.231–0.355], Y2: 0.291 [0.231–0.368]). Patients starting peginterferon beta-1a from Y1 displayed improved efficacy versus patients initially assigned placebo, with reductions in ARR (every 2 weeks: 37%, p<0.0001; every 4 weeks: 17%, p=0.0906), risk of relapse (every 2 weeks: 39%, p<0.0001; every 4 weeks: 19%, p=0.0465), 12-week disability progression (every 2 weeks: 33%, p=0.0257; every 4 weeks: 25%, p=0.0960), and 24-week disability progression (every 2 weeks: 41%, p=0.0137; every 4 weeks: 9%, p=0.6243). Over 2 years, greater reductions were observed with every 2 week versus every 4 week dosing for all endpoints and peginterferon beta-1a was well tolerated.

Conclusions:

Peginterferon beta-1a efficacy is maintained beyond 1 year, with greater effects observed with every 2 week versus every 4 week dosing, and a similar safety profile to Y1. Clinicaltrials.gov Registration Number: NCT00906399.
Exercise training for health-related quality of life in peripheral artery disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Parmenter Belinda J , Dieberg Gudrun , Phipps Glenn , Smart Neil A
Published: November 2014

We sought to quantify whether health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is improved through exercise training in people with peripheral artery disease (PAD) and to clarify which prescriptions were optimal for improving HRQoL when compared to usual care. We conducted a systematic search (PubMed, CINAHL, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials; 1966 – 31 August 2014). We only included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) of exercise training versus usual medical care in persons with PAD that included the Walking Impairment Questionnaire (WIQ) and Short-Form Health Survey component summary scores as outcomes. Of 15 RCTs, 1257 participants were studied: 543 participated in supervised exercise, with only 61 undertaking resistance training and 316 unsupervised exercise. When compared to controls, participants who completed any form of exercise training significantly improved their WIQ speed [mean difference (MD) 9.60 (95% CI 6.98 to 12.23, p<0.00001)]; WIQ distance [MD 7.41 (95% CI 4.49 to 10.33, p<0.00001)] and WIQ stair-climbing [MD 5.07 (95% CI 3.16 to 6.99, p<0.00001)]. Walking also significantly improved the Short-Form Physical Component Summary (SF-PCS) score when compared to controls [MD 1.24 (95% CI 0.48 to 2.01, p=0.001)], but not the Mental Component Summary (SF-MCS) score [MD –0.55 (95% CI –1.27 to 0.18, p=0.14)]. Exercise training improves the SF-PCS dimension, as well as perceived walking distance, speed and stair-climbing as measured by the WIQ, but not the SF-MCS score. Future studies should aim to blind assessors of such subjective measures, and study alternative modes and prescriptions of exercise alternative to walking.
Social Return on Investment: Valuing health outcomes or promoting economic values?
Authors: Leck Chris , Upton Dominic , Evans Nick
Published: November 2014

Interventions and activities that influence health are often concerned with intangible outcomes that are difficult to value despite their potential significance. Social Return on Investment is an evaluation framework that explores all aspects of change and expresses these in comparable terms. It combines qualitative narratives and quantitative measurements with a financial approach to enable outcomes that can otherwise be overlooked or undervalued to be incorporated appropriately. This article presents Social Return on Investment as an effective tool for supporting the development of a holistic appreciation of how interventions impact on the health and well-being of individuals, communities and societies.
A common-sense model of injury perceptions
Authors: Shiloh Shoshana , Heruti Irit , Leichtentritt Ronit
Published: November 2014

The aim of this study was to clarify the difference between perceptions of injury and illness. A qualitative study using semi-structured interviews was conducted with 38 individuals who had been injured in the past, 8 medical psychologists, 62 graduate psychology students, and 19 health professionals treating injured patients. Data were analyzed by modified analytic induction and constant comparison methods. Common-sense perceptions of injury overlapped with some perceptions of illness, and 4 new themes were elicited. It was concluded that there are themes unique to injury perceptions that should be recognized in research as well as in clinical interventions.
Infrastructure turned suprastructure: Unpredictable materialities and visions of a Nigerian nation
Authors: Trovalla Ulrika , Trovalla Eric
Published: November 2014

There are signs hidden in the infrastructure. In the Nigerian city of Jos, the unpredictable availability of power, fuel, water, etc. becomes a vehicle of meaning. In many settings across the globe, infrastructure is often made invisible, and the centre stage that it takes in everyday life remains unrecognized. In Jos, however, as in many African cities, the constant need to predict its flows contradicts the prefix infra (below); rather than being hidden beneath the realm of experience it is brought to the surface as a puzzle to be figured out. These explorations in turn come to reveal matters beyond the infrastructure itself. Just as diviners infer the state of the world from the stones they have thrown, reading significance out of the seeming randomness of matter, the infrastructure turns intricate questions into tangible clues. It becomes a suprastructure – a divination tool giving clues about the past, present and future of the Nigerian nation.
Second language vocabulary learning through extensive reading with audio support: How do frequency and distribution of occurrence affect learning?
Authors: Webb Stuart , Chang Anna C-S
Published: November 2014

This study investigated (1) the extent of vocabulary learning through reading and listening to 10 graded readers, and (2) the relationship between vocabulary gain and the frequency and distribution of occurrence of 100 target words in the graded readers. The experimental design expanded on earlier studies that have typically examined incidental vocabulary learning from individual texts. Sixty-one Taiwanese participants studied English as a foreign language (EFL) in an extensive reading program or in a more traditional approach structured around a global English course book. A pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest were administered to all participants. The results indicated that vocabulary gains through reading and listening to multiple texts were high. Relative gains were 44.06% after reading the 10 graded readers and 36.66% three months later. The relationships between vocabulary learning and frequency and distribution of occurrence were found to be non-significant, indicating that frequency was perhaps one of many factors that affected learning.
Oral health among preschool children with autism spectrum disorders: A case-control study
Authors: Du Rennan Y , Yiu Cynthia KY , King Nigel M , Wong Virginia CN , McGrath Colman PJ
Published: November 2014

Aim:

To assess and compare the oral health status of preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorders.

Methods:

A random sample of 347 preschool children with autism spectrum disorder was recruited from 19 Special Child Care Centres in Hong Kong. An age- and gender-matched sample was recruited from mainstream preschools as the control group. Dental caries status, gingival health status, tooth wear, malocclusion, dental trauma and oral mucosal health were assessed and compared between the two groups.

Results:

It was feasible to conduct a comprehensive oral health screening among 74.1% (257) of the children with autism spectrum disorder. The mean age was 59 ± 10 months (range from 32 to 77 months), of whom 84.4% were males. Children with autism spectrum disorder had better gingival health than children without autism spectrum disorder (mean plaque score and gingival score p < 0.001). Children with autism spectrum disorder had less caries experiences than children without autism spectrum disorder (mean decayed, missing and filled surfaces and decayed surfaces, p < 0.05). Children with and without autism spectrum disorder had similar prevalence of tooth wear, malocclusion, dental trauma experience and oral mucosal lesions ( p > 0.05).

Conclusion:

Differences in oral health status exist among preschool children with and without autism spectrum disorder. Preschool children with autism spectrum disorder exhibited lower caries experiences and better gingival health than children without autism spectrum disorder.
Social engagement with parents in 11-month-old siblings at high and low genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Campbell Susan B , Leezenbaum Nina B , Mahoney Amanda S , Day Taylor N , Schmidt Emily N
Published: November 2014

Infant siblings of children with an autism spectrum disorder are at heightened genetic risk to develop autism spectrum disorder. We observed high risk ( n = 35) and low risk ( n = 27) infants at 11 months during free play with a parent. Children were assessed for autism spectrum disorder in toddlerhood. High-risk infants with a later diagnosis ( n = 10) were less socially engaged with their parents than were low-risk infants. Parent behavior during play did not vary by group. Within the high-risk group, ratings of social reciprocity at 11 months predicted Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule severity scores at follow-up, suggesting that systematic observations of parent–infant play may be a useful addition to early assessments of emerging autism spectrum disorder.
Effectiveness of a fundamental motor skill intervention for 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study
Authors: Bremer Emily , Balogh Robert , Lloyd Meghann
Published: November 2014

A wait-list control experimental design was employed to investigate the effectiveness of a fundamental motor skill intervention at improving the motor skills, adaptive behavior, and social skills of 4-year-old children with autism spectrum disorder (experimental n = 5, control n = 4); the impact of intervention intensity was also explored. The experimental group significantly improved their object manipulation and overall motor scores from pre- to post-intervention. The wait-list control design revealed no group-by-time interactions; however, with the groups combined time was a significant factor for all motor variables. There were no significant changes in adaptive behavior and social skills. These preliminary findings suggest that a fundamental motor skill intervention may benefit young children with autism spectrum disorder. Future research with larger samples is warranted.
Application of jet propellant-8 to premixed charge ignition combustion in a single-cylinder diesel engine
Authors: Park Youngsoo , Bae Choongsik , Mounaïm-Rousselle Christine , Foucher Fabrice
Published: November 2014

The aviation fuel, jet propellant-8, was applied to premixed charge ignition combustion as well as conventional combustion in a single-cylinder diesel engine and was compared with diesel fuel. The engine performance and emissions were tested with and without exhaust gas recirculation under two operating conditions. The liquid- and vapor-phase penetration of diesel fuel and jet propellant-8 were also compared by Mie-scattering and Schlieren method under evaporating conditions using a constant-volume chamber. It was observed that jet propellant-8 exhibited slightly longer vapor-phase penetration and evidently shorter liquid-phase penetration compared with diesel fuel due to the lower distillation temperature and density of jet propellant-8. However, despite the faster evaporation rate of jet propellant-8, it was found that the ignition delay with jet propellant-8 was 2–3 crank angle degrees longer than that with diesel fuel due to its lower cetane number. This result was consistent for all operating conditions and combustion regimes. Jet propellant-8 also showed lower nitrogen oxides (NOx) and smoke emissions for both combustion regimes under the low-load condition because of locally leaner air–fuel mixture caused by longer ignition delay, higher volatility, and lower aromatic contents. As the engine load increased, jet propellant-8 emitted more NOx under conventional combustion regime due to the more vigorous premixed burn phase compared with diesel fuel. With exhaust gas recirculation, jet propellant-8 showed an improved trade-off relationship between NOx and smoke emissions for both combustion regimes due to its better evaporation characteristics and lower aromatic contents. Premixed charge ignition combustion with jet propellant-8 emitted lower smoke than conventional combustion with jet propellant-8 under near-zero NOx level.
Good for business, good without reservation? Veblen’s critique of business enterprise and pecuniary culture
Authors: Smart Barry
Published: November 2014

Thorstein Veblen’s work undoubtedly has a place within the field of institutional economics but he has been a relatively marginal figure within the discipline of sociology. If Veblen is discussed at all within contemporary sociology, it is almost without exception in relation to his first major work The Theory of the Leisure Class and his principal contribution to our understanding of modern social life is considered to flow from observations on consumer conduct and associated practices and predispositions. While The Theory of the Leisure Class is a significant work, it by no means exhausts the contemporary relevance of Veblen’s oeuvre. It is argued in this article that in a series of subsequent interconnected studies which embed economic matters in their social and political context, Veblen proceeded to develop a powerful critical analysis of business enterprise and pecuniary culture, one that bears comparison with aspects of Karl Marx’s work. Veblen’s early twentieth-century critical political economy, his references to social and economic dilemmas and tensions as well as his identification of the potential scope for change or ‘reconstruction’ arising from substantial conflicts of interest between ‘the established order of business’ preoccupied with maximising profit and ‘the underlying population who work for a living’ are of considerable contemporary significance, as is his recognition that what is good for business is not good without reservation, not necessarily good for the community or ‘the common man’.
Raymond Boudon, a classical sociologist
Authors: Bulle Nathalie , Morin Jean-Michel
Published: November 2014

This homage to the prominent French sociologist Raymond Boudon (1934–2013), one of the most notable scholars of our day, who can be said to stand within the classical tradition of sociology in emphasising individual social action, along with the rationality of action and choice, gives a comprehensive representation of his work and achievements.
n-Culturals, the next cross-cultural challenge
Authors: Pekerti Andre A , Moeller Miriam , Thomas David C , Napier Nancy K
Published: November 2014

This article advances current conceptualizations of multicultural identities by identifying constituent elements of multicultural identity as knowledge, identification, internalization, and commitment. This new conceptualization is labeled n- Culturalism and posits that there are individuals who operate at the intersection of multiple cultures by maintaining salience of their multiple cultural identities. We illustrate that n-Culturals are assets to organizations because they are creative synthesizers that are able to facilitate organizational goals and can also serve as models for others who are struggling in a multicultural environment. This article provides some solutions to managing multicultural challenges in organizations, such as conflicting values and identities. It also offers solutions on how individuals and organizations can leverage their identities in relation to the multiculturalism continuum to achieve desired workplace outcomes. Further, we introduce the multicultural mentor modeling program for organizations, which, if implemented, can help struggling multiculturals to address challenges in their social cognition and to develop appropriate and effective behaviors in and outside of the workplace.
Two Cholesky-log-GARCH models for multivariate volatilities
Authors: Pedeli Xanthi , Fokianos Konstantinos , Pourahmadi Mohsen
Published: November 2014

Parsimonious estimation of high-dimensional covariance matrices is of fundamental importance in multivariate statistics. Typical examples occur in finance, where the instantaneous dependence among several asset returns should be taken into account. Multivariate GARCH processes have been established as a standard approach for modelling such data. However, the majority of GARCH-type models are either based on strong assumptions that may not be realistic or require restrictions that are often too hard to be satisfied in practice. We consider two alternative decompositions of time-varying covariance matrices [Formula: see text]. The first is based on the modified Cholesky decomposition of the covariance matrices and second relies on the hyperspherical parametrization of the standard Cholesky factor of their correlation matrices [Formula: see text]. Then, we combine each Cholesky factor with the log-GARCH models for the corresponding time–varying volatilities and use a quasi maximum likelihood approach to estimate the parameters. Using log-GARCH models is quite natural for achieving the positive definiteness of [Formula: see text] and this is a novelty of this work. Application of the proposed methodologies to two real financial datasets reveals their usefulness in terms of parsimony, ease of implementation and stresses the choice of the appropriate models using familiar data-driven processes such as various forms of the exploratory data analysis and regression.
Healing words: A study of poetry interventions in dementia care
Authors: Swinnen Aagje M.C.
Published: November 2014

The personhood movement in dementia research has established the theoretical foundation for implementing cultural arts interventions in care practices. The underlying assumption is that professionals from the visual and the performance arts are well equipped to see the person behind the condition and to focus on possibilities for meaningful relationships in the here and now. This article focuses on poetry interventions as one example of cultural arts interventions. The use of poetry might seem counterintuitive, given that people with dementia lose their language abilities and that poetry is regarded to be the most complex literary form. I will argue that expanding on existing research on poetry interventions from a health and science perspective with a humanities approach will help illuminate how poetry works to enhance the exchange with people with dementia. Drawing on participant observations of poetry interventions by Gary Glazner (Alzheimer’s Poetry Project, USA) at the New York Memory Center, I will frame poetry interventions as a specific form of oral poetry in which people with dementia are positioned as cocreators of embodied texts and directly benefit from the power of the spoken word.
Non-representational landscapes and the performative affective forces of habit: from ‘Live’ to ‘Blank’
Authors: Dewsbury J.D.
Published: November 2014

This article examines the relationship between landscapes and the performative materialities of habit in relation to non-representational theory. Materially, landscapes already pre-occupy us insofar as the material world is seen to afford action that is already thought practical intelligence: from how you tacitly know how much clearance to give your step as you walk onto the pavement, to learning to drive a car without needing to concentrate too hard on precisely what it is that you are doing. Where the human is already established in phenomenological thought, habit gives us an ontology whereby this is not the assumed starting point. Material affordances only address half the matter, given that the occupation of being in a landscape is now seen to be much more explicitly constitutive of what it means to be human in the first place. This article, then, addresses the new directions for cultural geography present in recent work on habit within the work of Gilles Deleuze and Félix Ravaisson. It does this by considering this interface between, on the one hand, the biological rewiring of bodies re-engineered in the lived and habit spaces of immediate occupation of landscaped activity and, on the other hand, that of cultural preoccupations disposing subjective formations in situ within landscapes. In this, it makes use of a workshop event from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded network Living in a Material World and the context of training at the British Army Ministry of Defence (MoD) site at Mynydd Epynt, Wales.
Exploratory Factor Analysis
Authors: Reio Thomas G. , Shuck Brad
Published: November 2014

The Problem

Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) serves many useful purposes in human resource development (HRD) research. The most frequent applications of EFA among researchers consists of reducing relatively large sets of variables into more manageable ones, developing and refining a new instrument’s scales, and exploring relations among variables to build theory. Because researchers face a number of decisions when conducting EFA that can involve some subjectivity (e.g., factor extraction method, rotation), poor analytic decisions regarding how the EFA should be conducted (e.g., number of factors to extract) can produce misleading findings to the detriment of these efforts, especially theory building.

The Solution

Steps must be taken to improve the quality of the decision making associated with conducting EFAs if sound theory building and research related to this statistical method is to continue. Higher quality EFAs facilitate higher quality theory building and research.

The Stakeholders

HRD theorists, researchers, and scholar-practitioners are the intended audience of this article. In particular, those interested in refining measures and theory building would benefit most from being exposed to best EFA decision-making practices.