bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Human-Animal Work
Authors: Hannah David R. , Robertson Kirsten
Published: June 2016

Millions of people around the world are engaged in work that is substantially focused on non-human animals, with enormous economic impacts on companies, industries, and even nations. However, little is known about how the presence of animals affects human beings at work and, therefore, we do not know how to modify or extend our theories of management to better understand this understudied domain.
A generalised damage model for masonry under compression
Authors: Zahra Tatheer , Dhanasekar Manicka
Published: June 2016

A generalised model based on damage mechanics for predicting the response of masonry subjected to compression is presented. The model accounts for the behaviour of the constituents of the masonry, viz., the units, the mortar and the unit–mortar interfaces; in this paper, the unit–mortar interfaces and the mortar layers have been treated as a homogenised continuum. The principles of damage mechanics coupled with limiting damage surfaces have been used to simulate the behaviour of the masonry constituents. The novelty is the use of a non-linear, progressively stiffening stress–strain curve to simulate the viscoelastic behaviour of the homogenised mortar–interface (for conventional masonry) or dry surface–interface (for dry-stack masonry) layers until a threshold strain is reached. Beyond the threshold strain, their behaviour is assumed to have changed to progressive softening common for concrete like materials. The damage model for compression and tension due to progressive stiffening and softening criteria respectively have been formulated for the masonry constituents. The parameters which characterise the tensile and compressive behaviours, the volumetric change and the damage behaviour of the masonry constituents have been calibrated using some available experimental data in the literature. The model is shown to predict the average compressive strength and stress–strain behaviour of the masonry prisms appropriately. The model is capable of capturing the behaviour including appropriate stiffness degradation and post peak softening that are comparable to the experimental predictions reported in the literature for various types of masonry.
Output-feedback control of linear time-varying and nonlinear systems using the forward propagating Riccati equation
Authors: Prach Anna , Tekinalp Ozan , Bernstein Dennis S
Published: June 2016

For output-feedback control of linear time-varying (LTV) and nonlinear systems, this paper focuses on control based on the forward propagating Riccati equation (FPRE). FPRE control uses dual difference (or differential) Riccati equations that are solved forward in time. Unlike the standard regulator Riccati equation, which propagates backward in time, forward propagation facilitates output-feedback control of both LTV and nonlinear systems expressed in terms of a state-dependent coefficient (SDC). To investigate the strengths and weaknesses of this approach, this paper considers several nonlinear systems under full-state-feedback and output-feedback control. The internal model principle is used to follow and reject step, ramp, and harmonic commands and disturbances. The Mathieu equation, Van der Pol oscillator, rotational-translational actuator, and ball and beam are considered. All examples are considered in discrete time in order to remove the effect of integration accuracy. The performance of FPRE is investigated numerically by considering the effect of state and control weightings, the initial conditions of the difference Riccati equations, the domain of attraction, and the choice of SDC.
Improving Heart Failure Outcomes in Ambulatory and Community Care: A Scoping Study
Authors: Jensen Lorraine , Troster Sarah M. , Cai Kimberly , Shack Avram , Chang Ying-Ju Ruby , Wang Dorothy , Kim Ji Soo , Turial Diva , Bierman Arlene S.
Published: June 2016

Despite a large body of literature testing interventions to improve heart failure care, care is often suboptimal. This scoping study assesses organizational interventions to improve heart failure outcomes in ambulatory settings. Fifty-two studies and systematic reviews assessing multicomponent, self-management support, and eHealth interventions were included. Studies dating from the 1990s demonstrated that multicomponent interventions could reduce hospitalizations, readmissions, mortality, and costs and improve quality of life. Self-management support appeared more effective when included in multicomponent interventions. The independent contribution of eHealth interventions remains unclear. No studies addressed management of comorbidities, geriatric syndromes, frailty, or end of life care. Few studies addressed risk stratification or vulnerable populations. Limited reporting about intervention components, implementation methods, and fidelity presents challenges in adapting this literature to scale interventions. The use of standardized reporting guidelines and study designs that produce more contextual evidence would better enable application of this work in health system redesign.
Effects of Editorial Media Bias Perception and Media Trust on the Use of Traditional, Citizen, and Social Media News
Authors: Ardèvol-Abreu Alberto , Gil de Zúñiga Homero
Published: June 2016

Citizens’ levels of mistrust toward the media, as well as their perception of media bias, have increased in past years in most Western democracies. This study explores how these negative observations on journalism may influence their use of traditional, citizen, and social media for news. Drawing on two-wave U.S. panel data, results suggest that media trust and perceived bias relate to media consumption differently. Trust in social and citizen media positively predicts use of news via social media, but has no effect on traditional or citizen news use. By contrast, perceived media bias is associated with decreased news use overall.
Young, Shifting, and Black
Authors: Scott Karla D.
Published: June 2016

This is the story of a Black woman Baby Boomer who, inspired by the 1969 song Young, Gifted and Black, experienced cultural border crossings early in life. It includes reflections from Black women of the Hip Hop Generation who, decades later, also pursued the “world waiting” for them promised in that song. In our lived experiences across generations, we found strategic language use is part of the “gift” and critical to crossings. We also discovered identity implications as we “shift” across borders into predominantly White environments and back into our Black communities where language is perceived as a marker of racial solidarity. Black feminist thought is used to examine the implications of a communicative practice that has been done for so long and so well it appears effortless. But we know it is not—for both generations, there are benefits, yes, but also detriments, frustration, and fatigue.
Perceived Insider Status and Job Design Predict Job Attitudes and Work Performance of Restaurant Employees
Authors: Raub Steffen P.
Published: June 2016

In this article, the role of perceived insider status (PIS) as a predictor of attitudinal and behavioral work outcomes and the role of core job characteristics as moderators of this relationship has been investigated. Data from 203 employees of a casual restaurant chain in Singapore provide support for the central hypotheses. The results suggest that objective employment characteristics (full-time vs. part-time and permanent vs. seasonal) predict PIS even when controlling for organizational tenure. Moreover, PIS predicts job satisfaction, turnover intention, in-role job performance, as well as voice behavior and personal initiative. In addition to having significant main effects, enriched core job characteristics also moderate most of the relationships between PIS and the various outcomes. The article concludes with a discussion of some important implications of these findings for research and for managerial practice in the hospitality industry.
Transduction of hematopoietic stem cells to stimulate RNA interference against feline infectious peritonitis
Authors: Anis Eman A , Dhar Madhu , Legendre Alfred M , Wilkes Rebecca P
Published: June 2016

Objectives

The goals of the study were: (1) to develop and evaluate non-replicating lentivirus vectors coding for feline coronavirus (FCoV)-specific micro (mi)RNA as a potential antiviral therapy for feline infectious peritonitis (FIP); (2) to assess the feasibility of transducing hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) with ex vivo introduction of the miRNA-expressing lentivirus vector; and (3) to assess the ability of the expressed miRNA to inhibit FCoV replication in HSCs in vitro.

Methods

HSCs were obtained from feline bone marrow and replicated in vitro. Three lentiviruses were constructed, each expressing a different anti-FCoV miRNA. HSCs were stably transduced with the miRNA-expressing lentivirus vector that produced the most effective viral inhibition in a feline cell line. The effectiveness of the transduction and the expression of anti-FCoV miRNA were tested by infecting the HSCs with two different strains of FCoV. The inhibition of coronavirus replication was determined by relative quantification of the inhibition of intracellular viral genomic RNA synthesis using real-time, reverse-transcription PCR. The assessment of virus replication inhibition was determined via titration of extracellular virus using the TCID50 assay.

Results

Inhibition of FCoV was most significant in feline cells expressing miRNA-L2 that targeted the viral leader sequence, 48 h postinfection. miRNA-L2 expression in stably transduced HSCs resulted in 90% and 92% reductions in FIPV WSU 79-1146 genomic RNA synthesis and extracellular virus production, respectively, as well as 74% and 80% reduction in FECV WSU 79-1683 genomic RNA synthesis and extracellular virus production, respectively, as compared with an infected negative control sample producing non-targeting miRNA.

Conclusions and relevance

These preliminary results show that genetic modification of HSCs for constitutive production of anti-coronavirus miRNA will reduce FCoV replication.
Intersectional institutions
Authors: Krook Mona Lena , Nugent Mary K
Published: June 2016

The political representation of women and ethnic minorities has received growing attention among political parties around the world. Focusing on the British case, we map data and debates concerning the selection of female and minority candidates, highlighting the simultaneous and interactive role of gender and race in shaping citizens’ opportunities to stand for and win election. Utilizing data from the Labour Party, our analysis illustrates the implications of distinct strategies to include members of politically marginalized groups—as well as provides evidence for the potential of “tandem quotas” to result in positive outcomes for minority women. Taken together, these findings suggest the need for stronger measures on the part of Labour to encourage the selection of minority candidates; a shift from “single-axis” to “multiple-axis” thinking when devising strategies to enhance group representation; and rejection of a “zero-sum” mentality regarding the nomination of female and minority candidates.
Problem-solving skills and perceived stress among undergraduate students: The moderating role of hardiness
Authors: Abdollahi Abbas , Abu Talib Mansor , Carlbring Per , Harvey Richard , Yaacob Siti Nor , Ismail Zanariah
Published: June 2016

This study was designed to examine the relationships between problem-solving skills, hardiness, and perceived stress and to test the moderating role of hardiness in the relationship between problem-solving skills and perceived stress among 500 undergraduates from Malaysian public universities. The analyses showed that undergraduates with poor problem-solving confidence, external personal control of emotion, and approach–avoidance style were more likely to report perceived stress. Hardiness moderated the relationships between problem-solving skills and perceived stress. These findings reinforce the importance of moderating role of hardiness as an influencing factor that explains how problem-solving skills affect perceived stress among undergraduates.
The value of picture-book reading-based collaborative output activities for vocabulary retention
Authors: Sun Chia-Ho
Published: June 2016

This study investigated the effects of three instructional modes: picture-book reading-only (PRO), picture-book reading plus vocabulary instruction (PRVI), and picture-book reading plus reading-based collaborative output activity (PRCOA) on young adult EFL (English as a foreign language) learners’ vocabulary acquisition and retention. Eighty Taiwanese university students with low to intermediate level English proficiency from three English reading classes participated in each of the three modes once during three weekly 100-minute sessions. Vocabulary knowledge was tested through two post-tests using a modified Vocabulary Knowledge Scale: immediately after each instructional mode to measure students’ vocabulary acquisition, and one month later to measure their word retention. The results showed that the PRVI mode was the most helpful for immediate word learning. However, the PRCOA mode was the most effective for word retention, and most conducive to bettering students’ productive knowledge in both acquisition and retention. This study suggests that explicit learning from vocabulary instruction that directs students’ attention to the words to be learned did not guarantee greater vocabulary gains than incidental learning where new words can be learned as by-products of classroom collaborative output activities. Without trying to memorize words, students learned vocabulary through mental investment in group discussions and generative activities, leading to their mastery of productive word knowledge.
The effects of an early motor skill intervention on motor skills, levels of physical activity, and socialization in young children with autism spectrum disorder: A pilot study
Authors: Ketcheson Leah , Hauck Janet , Ulrich Dale
Published: June 2016

Despite evidence suggesting one of the earliest indicators of an eventual autism spectrum disorder diagnoses is an early motor delay, there remain very few interventions targeting motor behavior as the primary outcome for young children with autism spectrum disorder. The aim of this pilot study was to measure the efficacy of an intensive motor skill intervention on motor skills (Test of Gross Motor Development-2), physical activity (accelerometers), and socialization (Playground Observation of Peer Engagement) in young children with autism spectrum disorder. A total of 20 children with autism spectrum disorder aged 4–6 years participated. The experimental group ( n = 11) participated in an 8-week intervention consisting of motor skill instruction for 4 h/day, 5 days/week. The control group ( n = 9) did not receive the intervention. A repeated-measures analysis of covariance revealed statistically significant differences between groups in all three motor outcomes, locomotor ( F(1, 14) = 10.07, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.42), object control ( F(1, 14) = 12.90, p < 0.001, partial η2 = 0.48), and gross quotient ( F(1, 14) = 15.61, p < 0.01, partial η2 = 0.53). Findings shed light on the importance of including motor programming as part of the early intervention services delivered to young children with autism spectrum disorder.
‘Shouldn’t Tom Daley be a bottom?’: Homosexual stereotyping online
Authors: Brennan Joseph
Published: June 2016

This article uses British diver and homosexual celebrity Tom Daley as a case study to examine instances of homosexual stereotyping on LGBT internet forum the DataLounge. Through textual analysis, I consider the anonymous discourse relating to Daley in terms of its representational implications. Of interest is how Daley is constructed through this discourse and what such constructions have to tell us about views on homosexuality and a particular well-known homosexual subject. I argue that Daley is objectified and aligned with certain stereotypes within this dedicated homosexual forum via the anonymous comments made about his profession, his body and mannerisms, and his personal life. I nominate certain ‘themes’ to make sense of this discourse, namely: the ‘dancer body’, the bottom, the slut, and the daddy’s boy. In addition to offering insight into how a particular homosexual celebrity is constructed through discourse by his own community, these themes also point to the pressures gay men feel to conform to ‘ideals’, and the consequences of nonconformity, of being a ‘failed representation’ (also known as a ‘stereotype’).
Strategies to improve effectiveness of physical activity coaching systems: Development of personas for providing tailored feedback
Authors: Achterkamp Reinoud , Dekker-Van Weering Marit GH , Evering Richard MH , Tabak Monique , Timmerman Josien G , Hermens Hermie J , Vollenbroek-Hutten Miriam MR
Published: June 2016

Mobile physical activity interventions can be improved by incorporating behavioural change theories. Relations between self-efficacy, stage of change, and physical activity are investigated, enabling development of feedback strategies that can be used to improve their effectiveness. A total of 325 healthy control participants and 82 patients wore an activity monitor. Participants completed a self-efficacy or stage of change questionnaire. Results show that higher self-efficacy is related to higher activity levels. Patients are less active than healthy controls and show a larger drop in physical activity over the day. Patients in the maintenance stage of change are more active than patients in lower stages of change, but show an equally large drop in level of physical activity. Findings suggest that coaching should at least be tailored to level of self-efficacy, stage of change, and physical activity pattern. Tailored coaching strategies are developed, which suggest that increasing self-efficacy of users is most important. Guidelines are provided.
A randomized controlled pilot study of CBT-I Coach: Feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact of a mobile phone application for patients in cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia
Authors: Koffel Erin , Kuhn Eric , Petsoulis Napoleon , Erbes Christopher R , Anders Samantha , Hoffman Julia E , Ruzek Josef I , Polusny Melissa A
Published: June 2016

There has been growing interest in utilizing mobile phone applications (apps) to enhance traditional psychotherapy. Previous research has suggested that apps may facilitate patients’ completion of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) tasks and potentially increase adherence. This randomized clinical trial pilot study ( n = 18) sought to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and potential impact on adherence and sleep outcomes related to CBT-I Coach use. All participants were engaged in CBT-I, with one group receiving the app as a supplement and one non-app group. We found that patients consistently used the app as intended, particularly the sleep diary and reminder functions. They reported that it was highly acceptable to use. Importantly, the app did not compromise or undermine benefits of cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia and patients in both groups had significantly improved sleep outcomes following treatment.
Mediated recognition: The role of Facebook in identity and social formations of Filipino transnationals in Indian cities
Authors: Lorenzana Jozon A
Published: June 2016

Examining emergent appropriations of new media technologies and platforms provides an opportunity to rethink their roles in identity and social formations. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation with Filipino transnationals in Indian cities, I look at the role of social networking site Facebook in their everyday life. Ethnographic data reveal that their practices of sharing achievements and affirming connections on Facebook relate to their need for recognition that is defined by their particular context of migration. The term “mediated recognition” is proposed to account for the ways new and traditional media facilitate recognition by providing a platform for self-presentation and affirmation from social networks. Mediated recognition also highlights how media provide symbolic resources that are harnessed by Filipino transnationals in constituting their identities and social relations. The article demonstrates how mediated recognition can be a framework to analyze a key moment in the process of identity and social formations.
A life-course and multifactorial approach to Alzheimer’s disease: Implications for research, clinical assessment and intervention practices
Authors: Van der Linden Martial , Juillerat Van der Linden Anne-Claude
Published: June 2016

According to the dominant biomedical view, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) has a precise, necessary and unifying neurobiological cause, which distinguishes it from other neurodegenerative diseases and normal ageing. However, different types of evidence specifically lead to questioning the foundations of this essentialist and category-based approach to AD. It seems more and more evident that AD represents a heterogeneous state, determined by multiple factors and mechanisms that interact and intervene throughout life. This other way of conceiving AD not only requires a change of research objectives, but also a profound modification of clinical assessment and intervention practices. It also appeals to follow the path of prevention.
Giving Psychology Away: Implementation of Wikipedia Editing in an Introductory Human Development Course
Authors: Shane-Simpson Christina , Che Elizabeth , Brooks Patricia J.
Published: June 2016

To test the feasibility of Wikipedia editing in large undergraduate psychology classrooms, we engaged groups of students in a large introductory-level Human Development course ( N = 110) in editing Wikipedia articles to improve psychology-related content. Students attended in-class workshops and received online support to develop skills. They demonstrated considerable engagement with the assignment, averaging 14.5 posts to Wikipedia over a span of 50 days. Most connected Wikipedia editing with other course materials and reported benefits of peer-evaluating classmates’ work. Most reported beneficial interactions with Wikipedians in the public domain, who flagged and/or reverted edits of dubious quality, while correcting errors. Students demonstrated improvements in information literacy and Wikipedia knowledge, with gains in locating and evaluating the quality of source materials.
Algo-Ritmo
Authors: Dixon-Román Ezekiel
Published: June 2016

What happens when more-than-human digital acts tell us something about ourselves? This article examines the ways in which the algorithms of data analytics function in relation to other ontologies and assemblages and how they are shaping and forming our lives. Beginning by critically questioning the ontology of data, data are argued to be an assemblage that is materially and discursively produced from a multiplicity of apparatuses including sociopolitical relations of power and “difference.” The concept of algo-ritmo—that is, the repetition of data with alterity—is introduced as a way of understanding how the performative acts of the “soft(ware) thinking” of algorithms function. As the Spanish word for algorithm, algo-ritmo also situates the performative acts of algorithms as part of the relational and connected sociopolitical relations of racializing assemblages. Concluding remarks discuss both ethical implications and considerations for digital social inquiry.
Post-Face
Authors: Lather Patti
Published: June 2016

Re-emphasizing our agenda for this special issue as marking the shift from epistemological to ontological concerns in social science inquiry, Patti Lather locates it in challenging the orthodoxies of both positivist and critical approaches to the calculative, computational thinking and the limits of reason. With a focus on an escape from psychometrics in education research, she grounds her remarks in the context of the wider terrain of the possibilities of quantification for cultural studies and (post)critical inquiry.
Contemplating the Participatory Turn in Rhetorical Criticism
Authors: Middleton Michael K. , Senda-Cook Samantha , Hess Aaron , Endres Danielle
Published: June 2016

This essay concludes the special issue on the intersections between qualitative and rhetorical inquiry by responding to each of the essays. We highlight the productive tensions between rhetorical and qualitative inquiry, examine the benefits that qualitative inquiry brings to rhetorical fieldwork while also revealing how rhetorical inquiry can contribute to qualitative inquiry. We ultimately argue that rhetorical fieldwork is form of transdisciplinary research that resists replicating rhetorical and qualitative research by subsuming one approach under the other and instead creates a new form of hybrid research that adopts and adapts both research lineages.
Reirradiation of Pediatric Tumors Using Hypofractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy
Authors: Gultekin Melis , Cengiz Mustafa , Sezen Duygu , Zorlu Faruk , Yildiz Ferah , Yazici Gozde , Hurmuz Pervin , Ozyigit Gokhan , Akyol Fadil , Gurkaynak Murat
Published: June 2016

Background:

This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy for reirradiation of recurrent pediatric tumors.

Methods and Materials:

The study included 23 pediatric patients who were reirradiated using hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy in the radiation oncology department between January 2008 and November 2013. In total, 33 tumors were treated—27 (82%) cranial and 6 (18%) extracranial. Hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy was administered due to recurrent disease in 31 (94%) tumors and residual disease in 2 (6%) tumors. The median total dose was 25 Gy (range: 15-40 Gy), and the median follow-up was 20 months (range: 2-68 months).

Results:

The 1-year and 2-year local control rates in the entire study population were 42% and 31%, respectively. The median local control time was 11 months (range: 0-54 months) following hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy. The patients with tumor response after hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy had significantly longer local control than the patients with post-hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy tumor progression (21 vs 3 months, P < .001). Tumor volume <1.58 cm3 was correlated (not significantly) with better local control (23 vs 7 months, P = .064).

Conclusion:

Reirradiation of pediatric tumors using hypofractionated stereotactic radiotherapy is a safe and effective therapeutic approach. This treatment modality should be considered as a treatment option in selected pediatric patients.
Consumption of Fresh Yellow Onion Ameliorates Hyperglycemia and Insulin Resistance in Breast Cancer Patients During Doxorubicin-Based Chemotherapy: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial
Authors: Jafarpour-Sadegh Farnaz , Montazeri Vahid , Adili Ali , Esfehani Ali , Rashidi Mohammad-Reza , Pirouzpanah Saeed
Published: June 2016

Purpose. Doxorubicin has been found to be associated with insulin resistance in animal models. Onion, a so-called functional food, is noted to affect the insulin signaling pathway of diabetes in vitro. To our knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the effects of consuming fresh yellow onions on insulin-related indices compared with a low–onion-containing diet among breast cancer (BC) patients treated with doxorubicin. Methods. This parallel-design, randomized, triple-blind, controlled clinical trial was conducted on 56 eligible BC patients (aged 30-63 years), diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. Following their second cycle of chemotherapy, subjects were assigned in a stratified-random allocation to receive body mass index–dependent 100 to 160 g/d of onion as high onion group (HO; n = 28) or 30 to 40 g/d small onions in low onion group (LO; n = 28) for 8 weeks intervention. Participants, care givers, and those who assessed laboratory analyses were blinded to the assignments (IRCT Registry No.: IRCT2012103111335N1). Results. The compliance level of participants in the analysis was as high as 87.85%. A total of 23 available cases was analyzed in each group. The daily use of HO resulted in a significant decrease in serum fasting blood glucose and insulin levels in comparison with LO, over the period of study ( P < .001). Posttreatment with HO showed a significant decrease in homeostasis model of assessment-insulin resistance relative to changes in the LO group ( P < .05). A comparison of the changes that occurred throughout pre- and postdose treatments indicated improved quantitative insulin sensitivity check index ( P < .05) and controls on C-peptide in the HO group ( P < .05). Conclusions. The present study demonstrated the effectiveness of onion to ameliorate hyperglycemia and insulin resistance in BC during doxorubicin-based chemotherapy.
“Being and Becoming” a Researcher
Authors: Nye Adele , Clark Jennifer
Published: June 2016

This article discusses the processes and outcomes of inviting a group of undergraduate students to inhabit and then reflect upon peripheral learning spaces in university through a “publishing with students” exercise during an Undergraduate Research Summer School. The students engaged in conversation, discussion, reflection, and writing related to their experiences of realizing that they could become researchers. The emergent collegial dialogues crossed and intertwined traditional pathways and signposts for usual academic progression, reaffirming the value of creating alternative and irregular opportunities where transformative learning can occur.
Preservice Teachers’ Perspective Transformations as Social Change Agents
Authors: Woodrow Kelli , Caruana Vicki
Published: June 2016

In this article, we investigate whether, and in what ways, the learning experiences in a capstone course in reflective teaching impact the perspective transformations (PT) of preservice teachers toward a diverse K-12 student population and the plans of preservice teachers to take future action as change agents. Using an adaptation of the Learning Activities Survey as a measure of PT and as a way to identify those learning experiences that may contribute to such transformations as well as textual analysis of participants’ reflective writing, we connect personal transformation and local and limited agency. Developing significant praxis may require additional learning experiences and time. Transformative learning theory is presented as a possible frame for developing meaningful learning experiences that impact a change in perspective of preservice teachers in their preparation programs.
The Case of Educational Peacebuilding Inside the United Nations Universities
Authors: Kester Kevin
Published: June 2016

This article examines higher education for peace inside the United Nations (UN). It offers an overview and synthesis of core concepts, organizing frameworks and theoretical premises in the field of peace and conflict studies (PACS) higher education and in the UN universities in particular, as the field aspires toward transformative learning and social justice. The article then critically analyzes the ways in which the field might perpetuate structural and cultural violence and offers implications for the UN universities. In these critiques, I call for further inquiry into the taken-for-granted assumptions of the field and suggest greater criticality along with enhanced empathy and hope for PACS education in the 21st century.
Patient-Reported Convalescence and Quality of Life Recovery
Authors: Li Amy Y. , Filson Christopher P. , Hollingsworth John M. , He Chang , Weizer Alon Z. , Hollenbeck Brent K. , Gilbert Scott M. , Hafez Khaled S. , Lee Cheryl T. , Dunn Rodney L. , Montgomery Jeffrey S.
Published: June 2016

Background. Robotic-assisted radical cystectomy (RARC) is gaining traction as a surgical approach, but there are limited data on patient-reported outcomes for this technique compared to open radical cystectomy (ORC). Objective. To compare health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and short-term convalescence among bladder cancer patients who underwent ORC and RARC. Methods. Review of a single-institution bladder cancer database was conducted. Baseline and postoperative HRQoL was evaluated using the Bladder Cancer Index (BCI) for 324 patients who had ORC (n = 267) or RARC (n = 57) between 2008 and 2012. The BCI assesses function and bother in urinary, bowel, and sexual domains. Among 87 distinct patients (ORC n = 67, RARC n = 20), we also evaluated short-term postoperative convalescence using the Convalescence and Recovery Evaluation (CARE) questionnaire. Our primary outcomes were HRQoL within 12 months and short-term convalescence within 6 weeks following cystectomy. We fit generalized estimating equation regression models to estimate longitudinal changes in BCI scores within domains, and CARE domain score differences were tested with Wilcoxon rank-sum tests. Results. Clinical characteristics and baseline BCI/CARE scores were similar between the 2 groups (all P > .05). Within 1 year after surgery, recovery of HRQoL across all BCI domains was comparable, with scores nearly returning to baseline at 1 year for all patients. CARE scores at 4 weeks revealed that patients treated with ORC had better pain (29.1 vs 20.0, P = .02) domain scores compared to RARC. These differences abated by week 6. Conclusions. HRQoL recovery and short-term convalescence were similar in this cohort following ORC and RARC.
The Loss of Boystown and Transition to Online Sex Work: Strategies and Barriers to Increase Safety Among Men Sex Workers and Clients of Men
Authors: Argento Elena , Taylor Matthew , Jollimore Jody , Taylor Chrissy , Jennex James , Krusi Andrea , Shannon Kate
Published: June 2016

Men sex workers in Vancouver have largely transitioned from street to online solicitation coinciding with losing “Boystown,” the main outdoor sex work stroll for men. This article explores strategies and barriers to increase safety among men and trans sex workers and clients of men in Vancouver, Canada. Qualitative interviews were conducted (2012-2013) with 61 self-identifed men who currently buy and/or sell sex in a community-based research project known as CHAPS (Community Health Assessment of Men Who Purchase and Sell Sex). Drawing on a socioecological framework, thematic analysis of interview transcripts was conducted utilizing ATLAS.ti 7 software among men (39 workers; 8 buyers). Narratives indicate that gentrification and urban planning led to social isolation and loss of social support networks among men in the sex industry. Concurrently, the restructuring of sex work to online increased workers’ safety and control. Narratives reveal how the Internet can provide greater opportunities to negotiate terms of sex work and enhanced screening using webcams, reducing risks of violence, stigma, and police harassment for both workers and clients compared with the street. This study highlights how losing Boystown led to a loss of community and solidarity: key protective measures for sex workers. Online solicitation increased workers’ capacity to screen prospective clients and prevent violence. Recent legal reforms in Canada to further criminalize sex work raise significant concern for human rights and health of individuals in the sex industry, and point to the critical need to include voices of men and trans sex workers and buyers in policy discussions.
Ovarian cancer patients’ and their family members’ perspectives on novel vaccine and virotherapy trials
Authors: Radecki Breitkopf Carmen , Ridgeway Jennifer L , Asiedu Gladys B , Carroll Katherine , Tenney Meaghan , Jatoi Aminah
Published: June 2016

Background/aims:

Some of the most promising avenues of cancer clinical investigation center on immunotherapeutic approaches. These approaches have provided notable gains in cancer therapeutics with recent Food and Drug Administration approvals of agents of this class in several types of cancers, although gains for ovarian cancer lag behind. This study examined perceptions of therapeutic trials including immunotherapy and virotherapy among ovarian cancer patients and their family members.

Methods:

A total of 72 semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 33 patients and 39 family members at two National Cancer Institute–designated comprehensive cancer centers. Eligible patients were diagnosed with epithelial ovarian, primary peritoneal, or fallopian tube carcinoma and had experience with clinical trial conversations; family members were nominated by patients and interviewed separately. Applied thematic analysis was used to understand and interpret the data.

Results:

More participants were aware of vaccine trials than virus trials, although more than half had heard of at least one of them. Initial reactions to vaccine trials were generally favorable. For many, childhood experience with vaccines lent a familiar frame of reference. Virus trials elicited more negative initial reactions, including the use of adjectives such as “scary” and “dreadful.” Viruses seemed contagious or difficult to control. Increased receptivity to these trials occurred in the context of limited therapeutic options and cancer recurrence. Most participants, including those not immediately drawn to these types of trials, indicated openness to learning more.

Conclusion:

Although vaccine and viral trials are both immunologically based therapeutic approaches, patients who are offered these trials may perceive their potential benefit and safety quite differently. There is a need to consider terminology, solicit and address “gut reactions,” and provide information that enables patients and their family members to better understand the science behind these trials.
Law, Scale, Anti-zooming, and Corporate Short-termism
Authors: Moncrieff Lilian
Published: June 2016

This article uses “Contact,” an art installation by Olafur Eliasson, and “anti-zoom,” an essay by Bruno Latour to reimagine the problem of corporate short-termism. It investigates what it means to propose, under the gaze of law, that directors and investors look to the “long-term” when pursuing corporate purposes. The article contests that it is possible to zoom, as if using a telescopic lens, between the demands of different time frames. It is only after an extended amount of “contact” that one is able to plot the relation of the short to the long term and make sense of it, a finding that problematizes the corporate self-governance of time. A way forward is imagined that makes the thesis of anti-zoom fit for renovating corporate law.
Are parents identifying positive aspects to parenting their child with an intellectual disability or are they just coping? A qualitative exploration
Authors: Beighton Carole , Wills Jane
Published: June 2016

Although acknowledging the stress of raising their child with intellectual disabilities, parents also report that their child has brought about many positive changes in themselves and family. This study reports what parents perceive to be a positive aspect of parenting their child, as currently what constitutes a ‘positive’ is unclear. Seven key themes were identified; an increased sense of personal strength and confidence, changed priorities, greater appreciation of life, pleasure in the child’s accomplishments, increased faith/spirituality, more meaningful relationships and the positive effect that the child has on the wider community. Interpretive examination of the themes reveals that the positive aspects identified consist mostly of meaning-focused coping strategies. These enable parents to adapt successfully to the stressful experiences of raising their child and therefore could be amenable to meaning-focused therapeutic interventions for parents with newly diagnosed children or for those unable to identify any positive aspects of parenting their child.
Native American football coaches’ experience of a motivational climate collaboration with sport psychology researchers
Authors: Claunch Joseph L , Fry Mary D
Published: June 2016

This study explored the effects of a motivational climate collaboration based on Achievement Goal Perspective Theory and a caring framework between a Native American collegiate football coaching staff and sport psychology researchers. Observations conducted during the implementation of the motivational climate collaboration revealed that three of the eight coaches were less caring and more ego-involving in their coaching style. These three coaches were selected to participate in interviews at the end of the season to explore their experiences of the collaboration. Analysis of interviews revealed the following themes: (a) previous experiences in ego-involving climates; (b) tension in moving from theory to practice; (c) connecting theory to practice; and (d) transformations in coaching philosophies. This study highlights how a theory-based motivational climate collaboration between coaches and sport psychology researchers had a transformative effect for three coaches.
Cutting the Gordian Knot of Communication Research
Authors: McDougall Roderick
Published: June 2016

This article argues that the perceived deficiencies of Communication Research are not due to derivative research, but result from the inappropriate application of paradigmatic thinking to the field. Instead, I advance the view that paradigmatic incommensurability should not be thought of as disciplinary ships passing in the night, but rather a bustling port where disparate ideas and theories meet and propagate. Beginning with a brief discussion of Kuhn and paradigms, I use the sub-field of Framing as a synecdoche for Communication Research to exemplify the utility that stems from theoretical cross-pollination. In conclusion, embracing perspectives from competing communicative traditions is an invaluable basis for solving real world problems, and a legitimate praxis through which Communication Research can return something of value to society.
Whither culture? On the predominance of cognitivism in media and communication studies
Authors: Álvares Cláudia
Published: June 2016

This article seeks to historically contextualise the various cognitivist models used in communication studies, namely that of media effects, focusing on the external contingencies that have influenced the predominance of the information processing paradigm. Indeed, the heavy reliance on research methods in the field of communication pays tribute to the legacy of cognitivism, because most methods used in cross-cultural and comparative studies tend to confine cultural phenomena to static predefined categories. It is argued that cognitivist communication models cannot ultimately be separated from an ideological view of human agency as prone to passive reception and susceptible to persuasion and manipulation. Understanding these ideological underpinnings implies being attentive to Foucault’s interrogation of transcendental universalism through a Kantian-inspired exploration of the conditions for the possibility of experience and a Nietzschian-inspired genealogy that emphasises knowledge as produced and maintained by technologies of power.
How ‘sustainable’ is development communication research?
Authors: Servaes Jan
Published: June 2016

This article argues that a focus on sustainability will allow us to engage the complexity that communication research for development and social change routinely encounters. We start with a brief historical overview, move to the need for sustainability as an organizing principle, then to a consideration of some theoretical and methodological approaches to sustainability, and finally to conclusions concerning the state of the field.
Not so multicultural prison: Polish prisoners in a transitional prison system
Authors: Martynowicz Agnieszka
Published: June 2016

The aim of this article is to examine how a group of Polish male prisoners negotiate daily life in prison custody in Northern Ireland. In a jurisdiction emerging from years of armed conflict, the prison system is currently undergoing structural changes to bring it in line with other systems providing peacetime custody. Alongside that reform, another transition is evident, that of a rapidly increasing diversity of the prison population. Unlike elsewhere in the UK, the number of foreign national prisoners in Northern Ireland began increasing only in the last decade. Analysing the ways in which Polish prisoners negotiate relationships with other prisoners and staff, the article concludes that many live in a prison within prison, with a high wall of communication barriers around them, suspended before their entry into custody and the ever-looming moment of deportation. The prison system, largely unprepared to deal with more diverse populations, facilitates their existence in ‘mono-cultural boxes’ in the meantime.
Trajectories and identities of foreign national women: Rethinking prison through the lens of gender and citizenship
Authors: Matos Raquel
Published: June 2016

In Portugal, the proportion of foreign nationals among women inmates rose significantly in the first decade of the 21st Century. This increase draws attention to the need for understanding foreign women’s pathways and their identity (re)construction while in custody. Those were the aims of the research project presented in this article, which comprised in-depth interviews with 41 foreign national women in prison. Results show several migratory paths before custody, where gender plays a crucial role. In the experience of imprisonment, citizenship seems to be essential as it can be an obstacle for accessing the outside or the explanation for an expulsion sentence. At the same time, nationality and ethnicity play an important role as organizers of social relations in prison. In light of these results, it is suggested that prison should be rethought from a lens of gender and citizenship.
Using compliance with probation supervision as an interim outcome measure in evaluating a probation initiative
Authors: Sorsby Angela , Shapland Joanna , Robinson Gwen
Published: June 2016

This article addresses the issues involved in using compliance with probation supervision as an interim outcome measure in evaluation research. We address the complex nature of compliance and what it implies. Like much research on probation and criminal justice more generally, it was not possible to use random assignment to treatment and comparison groups in the case study we address, which evaluated the SEED training programme. We therefore compare two different data analysis methods to adjust for prior underlying differences between groups, namely regression adjustment of treatment covariates that are related to the outcome measure in the sample data and regression adjustment using propensity scores derived from a wide range of baseline variables. The propensity score method allows for control of a wider range of baseline variables, including those which do not differ significantly between the two groups.
Attitudes and solutions toward intimate partner violence: Immigrant Nigerian women speak
Authors: Kalunta-Crumpton Anita
Published: June 2016

In response to the incidents of intimate partner murders of immigrant Nigerian women in the USA in recent years, a sample of immigrant Nigerian women in Houston were invited in 2013 to engage in focus group discussions of ways to tackle intimate partner violence (IPV) in the immigrant Nigerian community. Findings reveal a fundamental relationship between patriarchal ideologies and the views of immigrant women from Nigeria. Immigrant Nigerian women are likely to interpret IPV and perceive solutions to it in patriarchal ideologies and practices held in their country of origin – an approach that endorses and reinforces IPV. Based on these findings, this article recognizes the need to make patriarchy salient in studies of IPV among immigrant communities from Africa. Further, the article recognizes the absence of adequate knowledge of IPV against immigrant Nigerian women and other immigrant African women, so that IPV risk and preventive factors for these immigrant groups may not be captured sufficiently in policy and practice.