bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Online Versus Paper-based Instruction: Comparing Two Strategy Training Modules for Improving Reading Comprehension
Authors: Huang Hsin-chou
Published: August 2014

This study investigates the effectiveness of online versus paper-based reading strategy instruction on EFL learners’ reading comprehension. Fifty-seven university students from two intact reading classes with comparable proficiency levels were assigned to participate in either a paper-based or an online reading instructional module. Both groups received comparable reading strategy instruction in four areas: Global (keyword list, prediction, overview, and text structure), Problem-solving (reading rate, listening, summarizing, and concept mapping), Support (dictionary, grammar book, translator, highlight, and record book), and Socio-affective (music and peer interaction) strategies. The only difference was the medium: the instruction was paper-based in one class and computer-based in the other class. After each group’s four-hour training and reading period, students’ reading comprehension was measured using a written recall and further analyzed with a weighted propositional system. Results showed that the online reading group outperformed the paper-based group on overall reading comprehension. An interview session provided insights into students’ perceptions of the online module. Findings of this study can encourage teachers to incorporate web-based reading strategy training into their curriculum.
Getting to the Source: An Instrument for Examining the Dynamics of Problematic Interactions
Authors: Cui Xia
Published: August 2014

A major challenge faced in research seeking to investigate the underlying dynamics of problematic interactions is that, when asked about the rationale underpinning what they said and did – their ‘theory of action in-use’ (Argyris and Schön, 1974, 1978, 1996) – participants are often unaware of what prompts their behaviour – or decide to hide it – so instead produce their ‘espoused theory of action’, the rationale they think ought to have been underpinning what they said and did.

Using the left-right case protocol (Argyris and Schön, 1974), researchers investigating problematic interactions, especially interactions open to different cultural interpretations, are able to identify points of dilemma in these moments when participants report thinking X, then self-censoring and actually saying Y. The question ‘What prevented you from saying X?’ allows the opening up of participants’ theory of action in-use – where they thought they were, what they thought was happening, and what they thought their options were. This access to their theory of action in-use could then be opened up and examined with the participants. This paper will present the attributes of the protocol and its rationale, and give examples of its effectiveness in the study of Chinese-Australian problematic social interactions at work.
Auditor Independence and Audit Quality
Authors: Tepalagul Nopmanee , Lin Ling
Published: August 2014

This article presents a comprehensive review of academic research pertaining to auditor independence and audit quality. This literature review is conducted based on published articles during the period 1976-2013 in nine leading journals related to auditing. We organize our review around four main threats to auditor independence, namely, (a) client importance, (b) non-audit services, (c) auditor tenure, and (d) client affiliation with audit firms. For each of the threats, we discuss findings related to the incentives, perceptions, and behaviors of the auditor and the client, as well as the effects of each threat on the actual and perceived quality of audits and financial reports. We conclude that the mixed evidence, together with recent regulatory changes, provides opportunities for future research on auditor independence and audit quality.
Thiamin Deficiency as a Cause of Persistent Hyperlactatemia in a Parenteral Nutrition–Dependent Patient
Authors: Da Silva Yong Sing , Horvat Christopher M. , Dezfulian Cameron
Published: August 2014

Background: Despite the demonstrated dangers of inadequate supplies of injectable multivitamins, periodic shortages of these crucial pharmaceuticals continue to occur in the developed world. This case report provides a recent example of the potential danger of rationing parenteral multivitamins in chronically parenteral nutrition (PN)–dependent patients in the setting of national supply shortages. Method and Results: Case report describing a chronically PN‐dependent 21‐year‐old man who presented with signs and symptoms of septic shock to a pediatric intensive care unit at a university hospital. The patient demonstrated hyperlactatemia that persisted following hemodynamic stabilization, and he was determined to be severely deficient in thiamin despite thrice‐weekly home multivitamin infusions, instead of daily due to national supply shortages. The patient's hyperlactatemia rapidly resolved following thiamine supplementation. Conclusion: Physicians must be vigilant for potentially life‐threatening nutrition deficiencies, as illustrated in this case of thiamine insufficiency, in PN‐dependent children and adults in the setting of nationwide limitations in multivitamin supply.
The network society, power and the print media in post-apartheid South Africa: the case of media contestation in Durban for environmental justice
Authors: Leonard Llewellyn
Published: August 2014

Although post-apartheid South Africa has witnessed constraints on press freedom by the ruling party, there is limited understanding of how media discourse is contested and constructed by diverse social actors. This article is interested in the extent to which various social actors in the Durban network society, such as civil society, corporations and the state, shape public information and perception in their own interests regarding environmental discourse. Empirical evidence presents viewpoints from key social actors and a local case study. The article compares the urban regional and case study analyses, and highlights the complex relationship between various social actors and the numerous avenues used to shape public information and perception. While corporations causing pollution mainly serve as barriers to civil society using the media effectively to highlight environmental injustices (e.g. through corporate media sponsorships, media intimidation), this is further complicated by limitations within civil society and media outlets to influence media discourse (e.g. limited financial/human resources, individualized leadership, media remuneration issues). Alongside these limitations, and the power of government and corporations, the influence of media discourse and perceptions regarding industrial risks are also dependent upon successful horizontal and vertical networking between civil society actors.
Reconstructivism
Authors: Pippin Robert
Published: August 2014

In this paper I express enthusiastic solidarity with Axel Honneth's inheritance and transformation of several core Hegelian ideas, and express one major disagreement. The disagreement is not so much with anything he says, as it is with what he doesn't say. It concerns his rejection of Hegel's theoretical philosophy, and so his attempt to reconstruct Hegel's practical philosophy without reliance on that theoretical philosophy. This attitude towards Hegel's Science of Logic – that it involves a “mystification” of essentially practical notions - has been typical of the Critical Theory tradition since Marx, and is disputed here. It also helps to raise the large issue of the proper understanding of the relation between theoretical and practical philosophy. The implications of ignoring the Hegelian understanding of this dependence of the latter on the former are further developed.
Organizational Learning Act as a Mediator between the Relationship of Knowledge Management and Organizational Performance
Authors: Luxmi
Published: August 2014

The study seeks to examine the correlation between organizational learning (OL), knowledge management (KM) and organizational performance (OP) and to investigate the mediating role of OL between the relationship of KM and OP. The scope of the study was service and manufacturing sector organizations in India. The sample comprised of 118 respondents drawn from eight service and manufacturing sector organizations. The results revealed that OL is said to be partially mediating the relationship between KM and OP. The findings approve the assertion of previous studies ( Liao and Wu, 2009 ). It was also found that there is a significant positive correlation between KM, OL and OP.
An Empirical Analysis of Use Motives: Implications for Segmenting Mobile Phone Consumers in Bangladesh
Authors: Shabnam Saadia , Islam Nazrul
Published: August 2014

The tremendous increase of the use of mobile phones in Bangladesh by the young users has expanded the cellular phones market that has also attracted the attention of the foreign investors. This article attempts to investigate underlying sets of consumer motives for using cellular phones in Bangladesh. A primary survey was conducted among 157 young Bangladeshi mobile phone users aged from 20 to 30 years reside in Dhaka city. Structured questionnaire was used to interview the respondents. Factor analysis was conducted to identify the factors for using cellular phones in Bangladeshi young mobile phone users. Results show that there are five important factors that are considered by the Bangladeshi young mobile phone users. The factors are concerned with value added services, social connectivity, connection with the family, obtaining information on foreign education and facing emergency situation. This study also identified five different patterns of possible segmentation of cellular phone users that is, conscious, connective, communicative, continental and contingent and constitute the basis for strategic positioning.
Organizational learning, entrepreneurial orientation, and the role of university engagement in SMEs
Authors: Dada Olufunmilola (Lola) , Fogg Helen
Published: August 2014

This article analyses the effect of entrepreneurial orientation (EO) on organizational learning (OL) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and the role of business/university engagement on the relationship between these two constructs. A cross-sectional research design, drawing upon a postal questionnaire survey, was employed to collect data from a sample of 206 UK SMEs. The results obtained from both the regression and moderated regression analyses revealed that EO positively impacts the level of OL in SMEs. In addition, business/university engagement was found to be a significant moderator in this relationship. These findings provide important academic, practitioner, and policy implications.
Failed inferior vena cava filter retrieval by conventional method: Analysis of its causes and retrieval of it by modified double-loop technique
Authors: Cho Eun , Lim Kyung Jae , Jo Jeong Hyun , Jung Gyoo-Sik , Park Byeong Ho
Published: August 2014

Objectives

To evaluate the complications of the temporary implanted inferior vena cava (IVC) filter and the feasibility of double-loop technique for removal of complicated IVC filters.

Methods

From January 2012 to December 2013, a total of 25 patients with IVC filter were referred for IVC filter retrieval. There were 20 Celect®, 3 OptEase®, and 2 Günther-Tulip® filters. All of the patients were evaluated with a pre-procedural CT scan to identify any complications. The IVC filters which had failed to be retrieved by the conventional method were evaluated, and retrieval was attempted with double loop technique.

Results

Sixteen of 25 (64%) filters had complications; IVC wall penetration ( n = 11, 44%), tilted within IVC ( n = 6, 24%), embedded struts ( n = 3, 12%), and fracture of the strut ( n = 1, 4%). The complications were overlapped in five patients. Two of them (8%) had also complained of filter-related pain. The success rate of IVC filter retrieval by double-loop technique was 14/16 (87.5%). There was no major filter retrieval-related complications.

Conclusions

The double-loop technique is a safe and feasible method for complicated IVC filter retrieval.
The Seventh World Urban Forum in Medellín: Lessons for city transformation
Authors: Turok Ivan
Published: August 2014

The city of Medellín in Columbia has transformed from the most violent city in the world 20 years ago to one of the most progressive. In this remarkable turnaround in the city’s fortunes, city institutions linked up with other spheres of government to pursue a bold vision of ‘social urbanism’, at the heart of which was a consistent commitment to social inclusion and equality. Medellín’s innovative urbanism went beyond a physical makeover to include economic development driven by a series of catalytic projects to redevelop former industrial sites and run-down buildings for a range of new uses. The ingredients of this transformation included a shared sense of purpose and ambition, mature political leadership, long-term commitment and substantial devolution of powers and responsibilities to the city authorities.
A framework for learning semantic maps from grounded natural language descriptions
Authors: Walter Matthew R. , Hemachandra Sachithra , Homberg Bianca , Tellex Stefanie , Teller Seth
Published: August 2014

This paper describes a framework that enables robots to efficiently learn human-centric models of their environment from natural language descriptions. Typical semantic mapping approaches are limited to augmenting metric maps with higher-level properties of the robot’s surroundings (e.g. place type, object locations) that can be inferred from the robot’s sensor data, but do not use this information to improve the metric map. The novelty of our algorithm lies in fusing high-level knowledge that people can uniquely provide through speech with metric information from the robot’s low-level sensor streams. Our method jointly estimates a hybrid metric, topological, and semantic representation of the environment. This semantic graph provides a common framework in which we integrate information that the user communicates (e.g. labels and spatial relations) with metric observations from low-level sensors. Our algorithm efficiently maintains a factored distribution over semantic graphs based upon the stream of natural language and low-level sensor information. We detail the means by which the framework incorporates knowledge conveyed by the user’s descriptions, including the ability to reason over expressions that reference yet unknown regions in the environment. We evaluate the algorithm’s ability to learn human-centric maps of several different environments and analyze the knowledge inferred from language and the utility of the learned maps. The results demonstrate that the incorporation of information from free-form descriptions increases the metric, topological, and semantic accuracy of the recovered environment model.
Naturally Acquired Bovine Besnoitiosis
Authors: Langenmayer M. C. , Gollnick N. S. , Majzoub-Altweck M. , Scharr J. C. , Schares G. , Hermanns W.
Published: August 2014

The pathogenesis of bovine besnoitiosis, a disease of increasing concern within Europe, is still incompletely understood. In this study, disease progression after natural infection with the causative apicomplexan Besnoitia besnoiti was monitored in histological skin sections of 5 individual female cattle over time. High-frequency skin sampling of 2 cattle with mild and 2 with severe acute, subacute, and chronic besnoitiosis, as well as from 1 animal during subclinical disease, enabled documentation from the beginning of the disease. Skin sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Giemsa, periodic acid–Schiff reaction, and anti- Besnoitia immunohistochemistry. In all 4 clinically affected animals, tachyzoite-like endozoites could be detected for the first time by immunohistochemistry, and tissue cyst evolution was monitored. Besnoitiosis-associated lesions were not detected in the animal showing the subclinical course. Because of the inconsistency of the nomenclature of Besnoitia tissue cyst layers in the literature, a new nomenclature for B. besnoiti cyst wall layers is proposed: tissue cysts consist of a hypertrophied host cell with enlarged nuclei, an intracytoplasmic parasitophorous vacuole with bradyzoites, a sometimes vacuolated inner cyst wall, and an outer cyst wall in more developed cysts. Inner and outer cyst walls can be readily distinguished by using special stains. In 1 animal, extracystic B. besnoiti zoites were immunohistochemically detected during the chronic stage. At necropsy, the 2 severely affected cows displayed large numbers of B. besnoiti cysts in a variety of tissues, including the corium of the claws, contributing mainly to the development of chronic laminitis in these 2 cases.
Post-Traumatic Victimhood and Group Analytic Therapy: Intersubjectivity, Empathic Witnessing and Otherness
Authors: Berman Avi
Published: August 2014

Victimhood is part of the field of treatment of patients with post-traumatic disorder. Recovery processes may occur only within environments that recognize the suffering the person has endured. I refer to ‘post-traumatic victimhood’ as a self-state in the sense of the concept of multiple selves. I suggest that during the post-traumatic recovery process, the victimhood self-state may be fixated as a sub-character of a person or sometimes of an entire society. From within a post-traumatic victimhood self-state a certain pattern of interpersonal behaviour emerges: claiming recognition as a victim, displacement of victimhood aggression, transforming personal suffering into domination control and suspension of concern. The group may become a healing environment for a post-traumatic patient in which he/she may feel belonging, empathic witnessing and compassion from the other participants, as well as the group conductor. Victimhood aggression in the group may be expressed as complaints and accusations against another participant, or in the form of accusing others, or a sub-group, the whole group or the conductor. Group analytic therapy may become, therefore, highly intersubjective. The emotional involvement of the conductor and the participants alike pose a therapeutic challenge. ‘Neutrality’ and ‘objectivity’ seem beyond reach. Relevant relational concepts like ‘empathic witnessing’, ‘otherness and sameness’ and their therapeutic consequences are further discussed in the article.
Technical assessment of the CLEERGAS moving grate-based process for energy generation from municipal solid waste
Authors: Lusardi Marcella R , Kohn McKenzie , Themelis Nickolas J , Castaldi Marco J
Published: August 2014

A technical analysis has been completed for a commercial-scale two-stage gasification-combustion system. The CLEERGAS (Covanta Low Emissions Energy Recovery GASification) process consists of partial combustion and gasification of as-received municipal solid waste (MSW) on a moving grate producing syngas followed by full combustion of the generated syngas in an adjoining chamber and boiler. This process has been in operation since 2009 on a modified 330-tonne day−1 waste-to-energy (WTE) line in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Material balances determined that the syngas composition is 12.8% H2 and 11.4% CO, the heating value of the gas in the gasifier section is 4098 kJ Nm−3, and an aggregate molecular formula for the waste is C6H14.5O5. The analysis of gas measurements sampled from the Tulsa unit showed that the gasification-combustion mode fully processed the MSW at an excess air input of only 20% as compared to the 80–100% typically found in conventional WTE moving grate plants. Other important attributes of the CLEERGAS gasification-combustion process are that it has operated on a commercial scale for a period of over two years with 93% availability and utilizes a moving grate technology that is currently used in hundreds of WTE plants around the world.
Linking the Market and Internal Values of Jobs
Authors: Liccione William J.
Published: August 2014

The point factor method of job evaluation is one of the most popular and enduring approaches to linking the market and internal value of jobs. Statistically, regression analysis is used to create a market line that allows the organization to predict the market value of its jobs using point scores that define the jobs’ internal values. While attention is given to the fact that the market line represents the statistically “best” option for predicting these market rates, overlooked is the fact that these predictions almost always differ from the jobs’ actual market rates. This article explores the impact of this prediction error in compensation planning. It uses data on 41 jobs to define a market line using simple regression and identify the errors associated with the line’s predicted market values. It provides methods for precisely defining the extent of this prediction error and for minimizing it. It also discusses the impact of this error on the interpretation of salary grades, and the need for policy on key compensation planning issues to minimize the negative impact of prediction error.
Global labour governance: potential and limits of an emerging perspective
Authors: Meardi Guglielmo , Marginson Paul
Published: August 2014

The article addresses the meaning and relevance of the recently emerged idea of ‘global labour governance’. Increasingly influential in policy, it has been criticized for political and theoretical reasons, including the risk of normative ideological uses. The article suggests that labour studies should nonetheless engage, theoretically and empirically, with the issue and the perspective of ‘global labour governance’. This is because of its growing political importance and for the attention it brings to still understudied issues of ‘multi-level’ dynamics, ‘networks’ and ‘reflexivity’. Systematic analysis of governance alternatives is needed. The traditions of the sociology of work and industrial relations can contribute to this analysis through their elaboration on informality, sectoral differences and collective action, as well as by problematizing the idea of ‘effectiveness’.
A case of female urogenital schistosomiasis presenting as viral warts
Authors: Samuel MI , Taylor C
Published: August 2014

Schistosomiasis is uncommon in the UK but is found in migrant populations and in those who travel to areas of endemic schistosomiasis. Apparent clinical symptoms may occur long after the patient has left an endemic area. Female urogenital schistosomiasis (arising from infection by Schistosoma haematobium, endemic in Africa and the Middle East) may show a variety of lesions in the female genital tract, some of which may be misdiagnosed as viral warts. One such case is presented here. A young woman presented with lesions on the labia minora suspected to be viral warts which had not responded to treatment with cryotherapy. Biopsy of the lesions and spun urine microscopy revealed S. haematobium eggs. The lesions resolved following treatment with praziquantel. Clinicians should also be aware of the high rate of urogenital schistosomiasis in women from endemic areas, which is associated with urogynaecological morbidity and also increases the risk of acquisition of HIV infection.
On displacement
Authors: Bertau Marie-Cécile
Published: August 2014

Assuming a performative notion of language, this contribution addresses how language functions as a symbolic means and asks for its function for the dialogical self. In accordance with a non-individualistic notion, individuals are related to each other within and by virtue of an in-between. This in-between is called “spacetime of language”: a dynamic evolving across time, perceived as linguistic forms with their chronotopology and the positionings of the performers (self as-whom to other as-whom). With respect to the linguistic forms, the specificity of language functioning is described by Bühler’s term of displacement. The effect of displacement is to generate sharedness by inducing a movement the partners follow, going beyond their actual, sensitive contact. Symbolic displacement, expanding Bühler’s notion, is particularly interesting with regard to the dialogical self: it permits the social construction of several perspectives on self, other, and reality—positions and voices informing the self’s performances.
Exploring language as the “in-between”
Authors: Bertau Marie-Cécile
Published: August 2014

My starting point is a dialogical notion of language that puts forth language activity as a dynamic process performed by subjects conceived as dialogical selves. Obviously, the language performance taking place at a specific moment is not pure momentaneity, not only unique but also well-known, it can be identified and recognized. What, then, grants the performance order and makes it non-arbitrary? To preserve the priority of the performance of language activity one has to conceive of a structuring moment other than some supra-individual system that is upstream to performance. This leads to the “in-between”: the principal assumption is that relata are constituted by an in-between, understood as a medium-generating relatedness, and thus the relata as such. Seeing language as that medium, I look at the way it functions, how it supplies forms as possibilities of generating a communicable and understandable subjectivity. Time is a key notion to this questioning.
On interlistening and the idea of dialogue
Authors: Lipari Lisbeth
Published: August 2014

Among the many analytical categories bequeathed by linguistics to the study of dialogue, some inadvertently conceal more than they reveal. In addition to instantiating such fictions as speaker and listener or langue and parole, these categories tend to privilege the study of syntax over semantics, utterance over gesture, speaking over listening, and words over everything else. Moreover, our underlying models tend to depict dialogue spatially as a series of sequential exchanges between individual subjects wherein voices are construed in terms of positions, utterances as message-objects, and time as a unidirectional linear sequence. To open up this seemingly solid spatiality, this article reckons with the polymodal, polyphonic, and polychronic aspects of human communication by introducing a concept I call interlistening: movements of dense interactional synchrony wherein listening, speaking, and thinking co-occur with rhythmically textured and cacaphonously con-fused temporality.
From within the thick of it: Human beings doing being human in languaged worlds
Authors: Shotter John
Published: August 2014

In this commentary I note that Lipari and Bertau want to assume that we live immersed in a flowing, stranded, agential reality in which no-“thing” is separate from any-“thing” else. Thus rather than being wholly in control of the unfolding processes of importance to us, we need to see ourselves as essentially living within dialogical and hermeneutical, back-and-forth relations with the others and othernesses around us. So although we may assume our understandings occur as a result of our “thoughts,” “ideas,” or “theories,” the fact is such nameable causal processes can only be seen as having been at work in people’s performances after they have been performed. Something else altogether guides us in the performance of our actions than the nameable “things” whose nature we currently seek to discover in our inquiries. Both Lipari and Bertau go a long way towards describing the nature of this “something else.”
Psychology oblivious to psychology: Some limits on our capacity for processing psychology in society
Authors: Madsen Ole Jacob
Published: August 2014

George A. Miller’s presidential address to the American Psychological Association in 1969 urged psychologists “to give psychology away” in order to solve social problems related to human health and welfare, and has since become a standard reference for calls for social responsibility. But Miller also envisioned a psychological revolution that would ultimately change humankind’s concept of itself. In the decades that followed, according to numerous historical studies, psychology’s influence was vital to the conduct of self-governing that resulted in a globalised therapeutic culture. Yet, professional psychology’s self-perception, in Norway and around the world, continues to rest on the modernist assumption of psychology being something underrepresented and external to society. I argue that the psychological revolution that Miller foresaw should lead responsible professionals to revise the ethical framework; in fact, the moral justice of “taking psychology away” should now be seriously considered.
Micro-political game playing in Lidl: A comparison of store-level employment relations
Authors: Geppert Mike , Williams Karen , Wortmann Michael
Published: August 2014

This article examines how the rules of micro-political game playing, based on the global standardization and cost leadership approach of a European ‘hard discounter’, are interpreted in practice in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Spain and the UK. We find that small store size, together with centralized authority relations and power structures, make it difficult for actors to engage effectively in coalition-building and political strategies to influence work and employment. Our comparison also reveals that the interpretation of employment-related rules of the game is country-specific. In Finland, and to some extent in Spain, national employment systems enabled employees to build more robust toolkits for playing micro-political games than in the other countries investigated.
Climate, palaeohydrology and land use change in the Central Iberian Range over the last 1.6 kyr: The La Parra Lake record
Authors: Barreiro-Lostres Fernando , Moreno Ana , Giralt Santiago , Caballero Margarita , Valero-Garcés Blas
Published: August 2014

A multiproxy study of a 7 m long sedimentary sequence from Lake La Parra (39°50.948′, 1°52′, 1014 m a.s.l.) supported by 11 14C AMS and 210Pb/137Cs dates provides a robust, high-resolution hydrological and environmental variability record for the last 1600 years of the Las Torcas sinkhole Complex in the Central Iberian Range. The succession of depositional environments in Lake La Parra sinkhole is controlled by both changes in the regional water table and by the balance between sedimentary input through ephemeral creeks and in-lake production of carbonates and organic matter. Although synergetic links with climate are likely, phases of increased sediment delivery to the lake at c. ad 500–700, c. ad 1000, ad 1450–1500, ad 1550–650 and since 1700 till recent times are driven primarily by human impact in the watershed. Prior to c. ad 300, the sinkhole was dry, then became a lake at the end of the Roman Period (ad 350) when the doline was flooded, and it has not dried out during the last 1600 years. Moderate lake levels with deposition of coarser clastic facies dominated up to the 12th century (ad 400–1200), and relatively higher levels with deposition of laminated facies during the 13th–15th centuries (ad 1200–1600). The pattern of palaeohydrological evolution at a centennial scale is roughly coherent with most Iberian lacustrine records; however, the ‘La Parra’ sequence indicates that increased humidity during Iberian–Roman times was restricted to southern Spain and the humid phases of the ‘Little Ice Age’ (‘LIA’) starting and ending earlier in the central Iberian Range compared with the Pyrenean Domain and southern Spain. This new sequence highlights the heterogeneity through space and time of the main dry and wet climatic periods at shorter scales, emphasizing the impact of latitudinal climate gradients on the Iberian Peninsula climate variability.
Rituximab in primary Sjögren's syndrome: a ten-year journey
Authors: Carubbi F , Alunno A , Cipriani P , Bartoloni E , Ciccia F , Triolo G , Gerli R , Giacomelli R
Published: August 2014

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) is an autoimmune disorder affecting exocrine glands and characterized in most cases by a rather mild clinical picture. However, a subgroup of pSS patients experience systemic extraglandular involvement leading to a worsening of disease prognosis. Current therapeutic options for the treatment of pSS are mainly empirical, often translated by other autoimmune diseases, and recent systematic reviews have highlighted the lack of evidence-based recommendations for most of the drugs commonly employed in the spectrum of extraglandular involvement. Because of the well-established role of B-lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of pSS, a B-cell targeting therapy may represent a new and intriguing therapeutic approach; in this context, growing evidence suggests that B-cell depletion by rituximab (RTX) is also effective in pSS. Of interest, besides clinical efficacy, RTX also showed biologic effects, consistently affecting the inflammation and the lymphoid organization that occur in target tissue. Moreover, the good results observed in the published trials after RTX treatment in pSS should represent the starting point to develop evidence-based guidelines for the use of biologic therapy in this disease.
Tapping into Technology
Authors: Rajan Rekha S.
Published: August 2014

In our growing digital age, young children are inevitably exposed to a variety of technology and media devices. We see 2-year olds taking “selfies” on their parents’ phones, iPads and e-readers filled with children’s books and games, and thousands of songs stored on iPods for children to listen to and sing along. The ways in which young children experience music has drastically changed during the past few years. As parents, we see our children explore and use the most advanced devices, but as teachers, we know that our classrooms may not necessarily have the resources to support music learning through these (often expensive) devices. This article examines how children are experiencing music in their digital world, and provides ideas for encouraging music listening, music making, and music watching, in ways that are appropriate for young children. All of these ideas can be implemented in home and school settings and include the use of a variety of digital media.
After the Storm
Authors: Mansfield Elizabeth , Stergiou-Kita Mary , Kirsh Bonnie , Colantonio Angela
Published: August 2014

In this study, we explored the experiences of 13 individuals who had suffered an electrical injury at work and had subsequently returned to work. In this article, we report on the social, institutional, and relational elements that workers perceived to influence return to work experiences and the provision of workplace accommodations. These elements included (a) worker resources, (b) job characteristics, (c) workplace setting, (d) injury elements, (e) workers’ compensation context, and (f) supports and advocacy provided. We conclude that the availability and provision of supportive accommodations are influenced by a multiplicity of interrelated factors including the legitimacy of resulting impairments following electrical injury, institutional structures (e.g., compensation and health care systems), the social relations of work, and broader labor market and economic contexts. Those workers who were vulnerable because of factors such as employment circumstances or labor market conditions were often poorly supported when returning to work following electrical injury.
The Use of Interpretive Description Within Kaupapa Māori Research
Authors: Brewer Karen M. , Harwood Matire L. N. , McCann Clare M. , Crengle Sue M. , Worrall Linda E.
Published: August 2014

Kaupapa Māori research (KMR) is an Indigenous research approach that is decolonizing and transformative. Interpretive description (ID) is a qualitative methodology used to generate knowledge relevant to the applied health disciplines. In this article, we discuss how we combined KMR and ID to investigate the experiences of Māori (the Indigenous peoples of New Zealand) with aphasia and their whānau (extended family). This is novel because it is the first time these two approaches have been combined. In the context of aphasia research, we discuss how they work together in theory, and the synergies that became apparent in practice. We conclude that the combination of KMR and ID enables clinicians and Māori with aphasia to learn from each other and work together, thereby generating knowledge that makes a difference for Māori with aphasia and their whānau.
Varenicline in the Treatment of Alcohol Use Disorders
Authors: Erwin Beth L. , Slaton Rachel M.
Published: August 2014

Objective: To summarize the efficacy and safety data for the use of varenicline in the treatment of alcohol use disorders. Data Sources: A literature search was conducted in PubMed, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and Cochrane Library (through May 2014). Key search terms included varenicline, alcohol, alcohol dependence, alcoholism, ethanol, and nicotinic acetylcholine receptor. Additional references were identified from literature citations. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Results were limited to clinical trials and case reports that discussed either the use of varenicline in alcohol drinking patients or adverse effects experienced with its use. Only English language studies in humans were reviewed. Data Synthesis: In all, 7 randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials and 1 open-label study were identified that evaluated the impact of varenicline on various drinking-related end points. The studies were conducted in patients dependent on alcohol (n = 4), non-alcohol-dependent patients (n = 3), and patients with a history of alcohol dependence but who had been abstinent for at least 6 months (n = 1). The majority of the studies classified their participants as heavy drinkers; however, this definition varied across studies. Most studies included smokers, but 2 trials included both smokers and nonsmokers. Conclusions: Evidence supports the use of varenicline for the reduction of alcohol craving as well as for the reduction of overall alcohol consumption in patients with alcohol use disorders. However, it is not likely to improve abstinence rates. Although most of the data were derived from patients with concurrent nicotine dependence, the effects of varenicline appear to occur independent of baseline smoking status.
Gastric Inverted Hyperplasic Polyp Composed Only of Pyloric Glands
Authors: Jung Minsun , Min Kyueng-Whan , Ryu Young-Joon
Published: August 2014

Inverted hyperplastic polyp (IHP) in stomach is a rare benign gastric polypoid lesion, characterized by downward growth of hyperplastic mucosal glands into the submucosal layer. In most previous reported cases, gastric IHP showed mixtures of fundic-type gland, pyloric-type gland, and foveolar-type epithelium. Also, a case of IHP composed of only one type of gland is extremely rare. This report describes a case of a 70-year-old man with gastric IHP, composed only of pyloric-type gland. It was removed completely by endoscopic submucosal dissection, and patient showed no recurrence over 2 years after treatment.
The Use of Multimedia as an Adjunct to the Informed Consent Process for Morton’s Neuroma Resection Surgery
Authors: Wang Calvin , Ammon Peter , Beischer Andrew D.
Published: August 2014

Background:

The purpose of this study was to assess if a computer-based multimedia education module (MEM) improved patients’ comprehension when used as an adjunct to the standard verbal consent process for Morton’s neuroma resection surgery.

Methods:

Nineteen patients (15 females and 4 males) considered candidates for Morton’s neuroma resection surgery were prospectively recruited. A standardized verbal discussion was had with each patient regarding risks and benefits of surgery, alternative treatments, and the usual postoperative course. Patient understanding was then assessed with a questionnaire. Each patient subsequently viewed the MEM and the questionnaire was repeated. Patients also rated ease of understanding and satisfaction with both methods of patient education.

Results:

Patients answered a significantly greater proportion of correct answers after viewing the MEM module (85%), compared to verbal discussion alone (61%) ( P = .002). Patients rated both the ease of understanding of the module and amount of information provided by the module as a mean of 9.3 cm on a 10 cm Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The majority of patients (76%) rated the multimedia tool as having answered their questions about surgery as well or better than the treating surgeon.

Conclusion:

An interactive multimedia educational tool was a useful adjunct to the informed consent process for patients considering Morton’s neuroma resection surgery.

Levels of Evidence:

Level II, prospective cohort study.
Three-Dimensional Analysis of Foot Motion After Uphill Walking With Mobilization With Movement Using Tape Applied to the Talocrural Joint in Women With Limited Ankle Dorsiflexion
Authors: Yoon Ji-yeon , Oh Jae-seop , An Duk-hyun
Published: August 2014

Background:

Previous studies that investigated mobilization with movement (MWM) treatment assessed only improvements in passive range of motion (ROM). No information is currently available regarding the efficacy of modified MWM by application of tape. Therefore, we investigated the effect of uphill walking with modified MWM using tape applied to the talocrural joint (uphill walking with MWM taping) in women with limited ankle dorsiflexion.

Methods:

Twelve feet of 12 women with ankle dorsiflexion < 8 degrees were studied. Passive ROM measured using a goniometer was used to select participants. Participants walked on a level walkway under 3 conditions: before exercise, after uphill walking, and after uphill walking with MWM taping. The Oxford Foot Model using 3D motion analysis system was used to examine dynamic foot kinematics, and statistical significance was determined by 1-way repeated-measures analysis of variance.

Results:

After uphill walking with MWM taping, peak hindfoot dorsiflexion relative to the tibia was significantly greater than that before exercise and after uphill walking. Furthermore, peak forefoot plantarflexion relative to the hindfoot, peak hindfoot plantarflexion relative to the tibia, and backward tilt of the tibia were greater than those before exercise.

Conclusions:

Uphill walking with MWM taping resulted in an immediate alteration in foot motion during walking, increasing hindfoot dorsiflexion in particular.

Clinical Relevance:

Further studies are needed to investigate the long-term effects of uphill walking with MWM taping and its potential use in rehabilitation training.
Effects of Alcohol Injection in Rat Sciatic Nerve as a Model for Morton’s Neuroma Treatment
Authors: Mazoch Mathew J. , Cheema Gulraiz A. , Suva Larry J. , Thomas Ruth L.
Published: August 2014

Background:

Previous studies have shown that the injection of dehydrated alcohol has been successful for the treatment of Morton’s neuroma in the foot. In this study, we determined the cellular effect of injection of alcohol into and around the sciatic nerve of rats and measured the extent of cell necrosis and/or any associated histologic or inflammatory changes.

Methods:

Twenty-two male (~375 g) Wistar rats were randomized into 2 groups each receiving alcohol injections into or around the sciatic nerve after nerve exposure under sterile technique. Group 1 rats were injected with a 0.5 ml solution of 0.5% Marcaine in the left sciatic nerve as a control group. In the right sciatic nerve a 0.5 ml solution of 4% ethanol with 0.5% Marcaine was injected. Group 2 rats received 0.5 ml of 20% ethanol with 0.5% Marcaine injected into the left sciatic nerve and 0.5 ml of 30% ethanol with 0.5% Marcaine injected into the right sciatic nerve. In each group, the rats were placed in 3 subgroups: intraneural, perineural, perimuscular injections. All rats were sacrificed and tissue harvested for histologic evaluation at day 10 post injection.

Results:

No evidence of alcohol-associated cell necrosis, apoptosis, or apparent inflammation was observed in histologic specimens of any injected nerves, perineural tissue, or muscles in controls or experimental groups regardless of concentration of ethanol injected on day 10.

Conclusion:

We concluded that alcohol injection (≤30% ethanol) into and/or around the sciatic nerve or the adjacent muscle of rats has no histologic evidence of necrosis or inflammation to the nerve or surrounding tissue. There was no observable histological change in apoptosis, or cell number, in response to the alcohol injection.

Clinical Relevance:

The lack of any measureable changes in nerve or adjacent muscle histology with ethanol injection into the rat sciatic nerve (and surrounding tissues) raises questions about the efficacy of using ethanol injections in the treatment of Morton’s neuroma in human clinical practice.
Steady-state harmonic response analysis of a stranded wire helical spring-mass system using an iterative harmonic balance method
Authors: Zhao Yu , Wang Shilong , Zhou Jie , Li Chuan , Yang Wenhan
Published: August 2014

As a cylindrical spring wound by a wire strand, the stranded wire helical spring has been widely used as key repositioning components for high-end devices. Most of these devices can be simplified as single degree-of-freedom (DOF) stranded wire helical spring-mass systems. The steady-state harmonic response analysis method is an important tool for designing a system with the nonlinear spring. The present work proposes an iterative harmonic balance method to solve for the steady-state harmonic response of the single DOF stranded wire helical spring-mass system. Taking into account the nonlinearity of the stranded wire helical spring, a nonlinear model comprising a modified Bouc-Wen equation was proposed for describing the dynamic nature of the spring-mass system. Based on the harmonic balance method and nonlinear iterative methods, the seeking for the response solution was transformed into a nonlinear optimization issue for the nonlinear spring-mass system. The present method was examined using both simulations and experiments. The results show that the proposed approach is simple yet accurate, and thus being very practical for engineering applications.
Exact solution of the time-fractional groundwater flow equation within a leaky aquifer equation
Authors: Atangana Abdon
Published: August 2014

The concern of this work was first to extend the model describing the groundwater flowing within a leaky aquifer to the scope of the fractional order derivative. We first derive the solution of the extended equation with an iteration method. We presented the stability of the method and also the uniqueness of the special solution. We further make use of the Laplace transform, the Boltzmann and the separation methods to derive the exact solution of the extended equation.
Free vibration of anti-symmetric angle-ply cylindrical shell walls using first-order shear deformation theory
Authors: Viswanathan KK , Javed Saira
Published: August 2014

In the present study, free vibration of anti-symmetric angle-ply cylindrical shell walls is investigated under first-order shear deformation theory using the spline method. Assuming the displacement components in a separable form, a system of coupled equations on three displacement and two rotational functions are obtained. A generalized eigenvalue problem is obtained using the collocation procedure and applying the spline function approximation for displacement and rotational function. The resulting eigenvalue problem is solved for the frequency parameters to get as many eigenvalues as required starting from the least. The eigenvectors are the spline coefficients from which the mode shapes can be constructed. The parametric study showed the effect of length parameter, circumferential node number, ply angles, number of lay-ups, lamination materials and different boundary conditions on the shell frequency.