bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Ellagic acid protects against arsenic toxicity in isolated rat mitochondria possibly through the maintaining of complex II
Authors: Keshtzar E , Khodayar MJ , Javadipour M , Ghaffari MA , Bolduc DL , Rezaei M
Published: December 2015

Chronic arsenic exposure has been linked to many health problems including diabetes and cancer. In the present study, we assessed the protective effect of ellagic acid (EA) against toxicity induced by arsenic in isolated rat liver mitochondria. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential decline were assayed using dichlorofluorescein diacetate and rhodamine 123, respectively, and dehydrogenase activity obtained by 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide conversion assay. Arsenic increased ROS levels and mitochondrial dysfunction, which led to a reduction in mitochondrial total dehydrogenase activity. Mitochondria pretreated with EA exposed to arsenic at various concentrations led to a reversal of ROS production and mitochondrial damage. Our results showed that mitochondria were significantly affected when exposed to arsenic, which resulted in excessive ROS production and mitochondrial membrane disruption. Pretreatment with EA, reduced ROS amounts, mitochondrial damage, and restored total dehydrogenase activity specifically associated with mitochondrial complex II. EA protective characteristics may be accomplished particularly throughout the mitochondrial maintenance either directly by its antioxidant property or indirectly through its maintaining of complex II. These findings also suggest a potential role for EA in treating or preventing mitochondria associated disorders.
Dynamics of Pakistan’s Disintegration: The Case of East Pakistan 1947–1971
Authors: Meher Jagmohan
Published: December 2015

This article attempts to answer two questions: (a) what led to the psychological fissure of the East Pakistanis? And (b) how did the psychological fissure culminate into their physical separation? To answer the first question, the study examines six variables of perpetual antagonism between East and West Pakistan, that is, geographical absurdity, constitutional confusions and military takeover, economic disparity, language issues, political factionalism and military dynamics, and establishes that the conjuncture of all these factors (rather than the role of India or outside actors which have often been exaggerated ignoring the internal dynamics) constituted the dynamics of Pakistan’s disintegration in 1971. Then it discusses West Pakistan’s genocide against the East Pakistanis and the Indian intervention as immediate factors for Pakistan’s physical separation. The study finds that the Indian action reinforced the existing variables, accelerated the creation of Bangladesh and ended civil strife. Paradoxically, outside actors such as the United States, Soviet Union and China had only a limited impact on the sources and escalation of the East–West divide. The lessons of 1971 are relevant for the inner workings of federalism, especially with disconnected geographical boundaries.
Deconstructing ‘Emerging Powers’ and ‘Emerging Markets’: India and the United States in Global Governance
Authors: Mahrenbach Laura Carsten
Published: December 2015

Academic literature and the media offer a variety of monikers for emerging states like Brazil, India and China, most prominently, ‘emerging powers’ and ‘emerging markets’. This article argues the terms used to describe these states create assumptions about their behaviour in global governance (GG). In order to accurately assess the impact of emerging states on international institutions, it is necessary to more systematically examine their current participation in GG. Does the use of power and economic interests in GG negotiations distinguish emerging states from traditional powers, as the ‘emerging’ part of these terms suggests? And can the content of GG negotiations predict the dominance of each factor, as implied by the ‘power/market’ part? This article tackles these questions by comparing the behaviour of one emerging state (India) and one traditional power (the United States) in negotiations at the World Trade Organisation and the United Nations Security Council. The results demonstrate that, while there is clearly something distinctive about at least India’s participation in GG, focussing on power or economic interests alone is insufficient to explain that distinctiveness or its implications for relations between rising and traditional powers in GG.
Book Review: Amitav Acharya, Civilizations in Embrace—The Spread of Ideas and the Transformation of Power; India and Southeast Asia in the Classic Age
Authors: Mishra Rahul
Published: December 2015

Amitav Acharya, Civilizations in Embrace—The Spread of Ideas and the Transformation of Power; India and Southeast Asia in the Classic Age. Singapore: ISEAS Publishing, 2013, pp. Xv+88, US$ 32.90.
Book Review: Kadloor Savitri. Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: UN Engagement in Cambodia
Authors: Das Shubhamitra
Published: December 2015

Kadloor Savitri. Conflict Resolution and Peacebuilding: UN Engagement in Cambodia (New Delhi: Pentagon Press, 2014), Pp. 262, Price ₹995.
Are we committed to issues of race? Institutional integrity across intercollegiate athletics
Authors: Bimper Albert Y , Harrison Louis
Published: December 2015

The present study employs critical race theory in a critical discourse analysis of intercollegiate athletic departmental directives for high-profile National Collegiate Athletic Association member programs. Consideration of institutional integrity from critical perspectives can advance a nuanced understanding and gain further insight into the sociocultural issues and move toward eliminating inequities relevant to black student athlete stakeholders in the arena of intercollegiate athletics. The purpose of this research was to investigate the implicit function and perpetuation of contemporary racism in intercollegiate athletic organizations’ as they strategically address institutional integrity. A discussion of the findings are organized by two emergent themes: (a) Little skin in the game; and (b) Run-of-the-mill colorblindness. This paper concludes with implications for college sport and future research of intercollegiate athletics at the intersection of higher education.
Improving Self-Esteem in General Music
Authors: Culp Mara E.
Published: December 2015

Positive self-esteem helps students succeed in and outside of music classrooms. High self-esteem is associated with a positive self-image and fine musicianship. Conversely, low self-esteem is associated with a negative self-image and poorer musicianship. Because students’ self-esteem may affect their participation in music classes, the music teacher should help students improve self-esteem while simultaneously building musical skills. Music experiences should take place in a safe environment with a trained music specialist who has a positive rapport with students and integrates their interests. Activities should be developmentally appropriate and adequately challenge students, while allowing for success. Researchers have demonstrated that singing, playing instruments, experiencing a variety of musical styles, moving, building musical knowledge, and creating can help students develop musical skills and improve their self-esteem.
Maternal Intimate Partner Violence Victimization Before and During Pregnancy and Postbirth Child Welfare Contact
Authors: Parrish Jared W. , Lanier Paul , Newby-Kew Abigail , Arvidson Joshua , Shanahan Meghan
Published: December 2015

We conducted a population-based prospective cohort study to help elucidate the predictive relationship between a maternal prebirth selfreported history of intimate partner violence (IPV) and any postbirth reported allegation to Child Protective Services (CPS) by age 2. We linked data from the 2009–2010 Alaska Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System with CPS data through 2012. Among this cohort, we found that 8.0%w self-reported experiencing IPV 12 months prior or during pregnancy, and 8.0%w of the offspring experienced at least one CPS report of alleged maltreatment during the study period. The predictive relationship varied by maternal educational attainment. Among mothers with 12+ years education completed, the odds of a CPS report were 3.9 times compared to those with no IPV, while among mothers with <12 years education completed, no association was noted. These results suggest that for a subset of Alaskan families, maternal history of IPV is a strong independent predictor of future CPS contact.
Dosing strategies and optimization of targeted therapy in advanced renal cell carcinoma
Authors: Ryan Christopher W
Published: December 2015

Within the past decade, treatment options for metastatic renal cell carcinoma have expanded dramatically. Currently, seven targeted agents are approved for use in metastatic renal cell carcinoma and have superseded the use of parenteral cytokine therapy with interleukin-2 or interferon, the former standards of care for metastatic renal cell carcinoma. Targeted agents include inhibitors of the vascular endothelial growth factor pathway (i.e. sorafenib, sunitinib, pazopanib, axitinib, and bevacizumab) and inhibitors of the mammalian target of rapamycin pathway (i.e. temsirolimus and everolimus). These newer therapies have been shown to improve progression-free survival compared with previous approaches. Because most of these targeted agents are taken orally, responsibility for dose administration has shifted to patients, which might result in variable adherence. Additionally, with new treatments for metastatic renal cell carcinoma comes the challenge of selecting dosing schemes that maximize therapeutic benefit and minimize adverse events. Much of the information related to the effectiveness of dose modifications for targeted therapies in metastatic renal cell carcinoma has been gathered from clinical studies that have strict inclusion and exclusion criteria, which might not translate directly to real-world patient populations. This review discusses the impact of dose adherence on the effectiveness of targeted agents to treat metastatic renal cell carcinoma, assesses the literature regarding the effectiveness of approved dosing strategies, and provides a summary of alternative dosing strategies.
Identification of Households Prone to Income Underreporting
Authors: Kukk Merike , Staehr Karsten
Published: December 2015

Pissarides and Weber propose using data on income and food consumption for estimating the extent of income underreporting by the self-employed, a group seen to be prone to income underreporting. This paper is the first to investigate the importance of the way in which these households are identified in such analyses. Using household budget data from Estonia, different ways are used to identify households prone to income underreporting and to estimate the extent of the underreporting. The share of unreported income is estimated to be substantially larger when underreporting households are identified using their share of reported business income than when they are identified using their employment status. Further analysis combines the different identification methods and reveals that the employment status provides no information on underreporting when the share of business income is taken into account. The share of reported business income is the most informative indicator of underreporting.
The Promise and Perils of Wearable Sensors in Organizational Research
Authors: Chaffin Daniel , Heidl Ralph , Hollenbeck John R. , Howe Michael , Yu Andrew , Voorhees Clay , Calantone Roger
Published: December 2015

Rapid advances in mobile computing technology have the potential to revolutionize organizational research by facilitating new methods of data collection. The emergence of wearable electronic sensors in particular harbors the promise of making the large-scale collection of high-resolution data related to human interactions and social behavior economically viable. Popular press and practitioner-oriented research outlets have begun to tout the game-changing potential of wearable sensors for both researchers and practitioners. We systematically examine the utility of current wearable sensor technology for capturing behavioral constructs at the individual and team levels. In the process, we provide a model for performing validation work in this new domain of measurement. Our findings highlight the need for organizational researchers to take an active role in the development of wearable sensor systems to ensure that the measures derived from these devices and sensors allow us to leverage and extend the extant knowledge base. We also offer a caution regarding the potential sources of error arising from wearable sensors in behavioral research.
Establishing Causal Order in Longitudinal Studies Combining Binary and Continuous Dependent Variables
Authors: Kling Gerhard , Harvey Charles , Maclean Mairi
Published: December 2015

Longitudinal studies with a mix of binary outcomes and continuous variables are common in organizational research. Selecting the dependent variable is often difficult due to conflicting theories and contradictory empirical studies. In addition, organizational researchers are confronted with methodological challenges posed by latent variables relating to observed binary outcomes and within-subject correlation. We draw on Dueker’s qualitative vector autoregression (QVAR) and Lunn, Osorio, and Whittaker’s multivariate probit model to develop a solution to these problems in the form of a qualitative short panel vector autoregression (QSP-VAR). The QSP-VAR combines binary and continuous variables into a single vector of dependent variables, making every variable endogenous a priori. The QSP-VAR identifies causal order, reveals within-subject correlation, and accounts for latent variables. Using a Bayesian approach, the QSP-VAR provides reliable inference for short time dimension longitudinal research. This is demonstrated through analysis of the durability of elite corporate agents, social networks, and firm performance in France. We provide our OpenBUGS code to enable implementation of the QSP-VAR by other researchers.
Methodological Considerations in Evaluating Long-Term Systems Change
Authors: Koleros Andrew , Jupp Dee , Kirwan Sean , Pradhan Meeta S. , Pradhan Pushkar K. , Seddon David , Tumbahangfe Ansu
Published: December 2015

This article presents discussion and recommendations on approaches to retrospectively evaluating development interventions in the long term through a systems lens. It is based on experiences from the implementation of an 18-month study to investigate the impact of development interventions on economic and social change over a 40-year period in the Koshi Hills region of Nepal. A multi-disciplinary team used a mixed-methods approach to data collection and analysis. A theory-based analytical approach was utilized to produce narratives of plausible cause and effect and identify key drivers of change within the context of cumulative and interconnected impacts of multiple programs and factors. This article responds to increasing interest in development evaluation to look beyond intervention-specific impact to broader determinants of change to assist with intervention planning. It is the authors’ hope that this will stimulate debate and progress in the use of high quality research to inform future development work.
Assessment of low-viscosity oil performance and degradation in a heavy duty engine real-world fleet test
Authors: Macian Vicente , Tormos Bernardo , Miró Guillermo , Pérez Tomás
Published: December 2015

Low-viscosity engine oils (LVO) are considered as one of the most interesting solutions for improving fuel economy in internal combustion engines (ICE). There are different studies involving LVO and ICE, but currently limited data are available regarding “real-world” performance of LVO in a real service fleet. Included in a broadest study related with fuel consumption saving effects and performance of LVO in a real service fleet, the aim of this work is to present the results obtained in terms of comparative oil performance. So, on this test, a comparative analysis using 39 buses was performed, based on a deep and extensive oil analysis program to assess those aspects above mentioned. Two engine technologies (diesel and CNG) were considered and four different lubricants, two of them LVO and other two used as a reference baseline. The test duration comprised two oil drain intervals of 30,000 km each one, totalizing more than 2 million of kilometers accumulated. Results have shown that LVO presented an excellent performance along the oil drain interval (ODI), even improving some characteristics of the baseline oils with higher viscosity values. Results have shown that oil degradation is more dependent on engine technology, but in any case presented a penalization in terms of ODI reduction, a key indicator for end-users related with maintenance costs. In the case of CNG engines, higher oil degradation in terms of oil oxidation and nitration was observed.
Collectors on illicit collecting: Higher loyalties and other techniques of neutralization in the unlawful collecting of rare and precious orchids and antiquities
Authors: Mackenzie Simon , Yates Donna
Published: December 2015

Trafficking natural objects and trafficking cultural objects have been treated separately both in regulatory policy and in criminological discussion. The former is generally taken to be ‘wildlife crime’ while the latter has come to be considered under the auspices of a debate on ‘illicit art and antiquities’. In this article we study the narrative discourse of high-end collectors of orchids and antiquities. The illicit parts of these global trades are subject to this analytical divide between wildlife trafficking and art trafficking, and this has resulted in quite different regulatory structures for each of these markets. However, the trafficking routines, the types and levels of harm involved, and the supply–demand dynamics in the trafficking of orchids and antiquities are actually quite similar, and in this study we find those structural similarities reflected in substantial common ground in the way collectors talk about their role in each market. Collectors of rare and precious orchids and antiquities valorize their participation in markets that are known to be in quite considerable degree illicit, appealing to ‘higher loyalties’ such as preservation, appreciation of aesthetic beauty and cultural edification. These higher loyalties, along with other techniques of neutralization, deplete the force of law as a guide to appropriate action. We propose that the appeal to higher loyalties is difficult to categorize as a technique of neutralization in this study as it appears to be a motivational explanation for the collectors involved. The other classic techniques of neutralization are deflective, guilt and critique reducing narrative mechanisms, while higher loyalties drives illicit behaviour in collecting markets for orchids and antiquities in ways that go significantly beyond the normal definition of neutralization.
Rising residential energy consumption and GHG emissions in Malaysia: A case study of public low-cost housing projects in Kuala Lumpur
Authors: Zaid Suzaini M. , Graham Peter
Published: December 2015

Malaysia’s electricity consumption is increasing exponentially as it gears towards becoming a developed nation by year 2020. This paper is aimed at policy development in terms of energy efficiency and building design as Malaysia has yet to establish any mandatory energy efficiency or energy performance building code. The focus on public low-cost housing projects is important as it is administered by government agencies and provides possible streamlining of proposed energy policies for the housing sector. Presented in this paper are findings from fieldwork conducted to investigate the energy performance and green house gas (GHG) emissions from the building operation of two public low-cost housing projects in Kuala Lumpur. The baseline calculations use UNEP–SBCI’s Common Carbon Metric tool to provide project-specific calculations of energy and emissions intensity with its bottom-up approach, while presenting a national-scale projection using its top-down approach. Findings from bottom-up analysis suggest that Malaysian public low-cost housing households consume more than benchmarks set by the World Energy Council and the International Energy Agency, in terms of Building Energy Index (BEI) of kwh/m2/year. This is a reflection of the absence of building energy efficiency legislation in Malaysia, both for residential and non-residential buildings. The importance of this research lies in its focus on a developing country experiencing rapid urbanisation and climate change effects.
Prediction of the knocking combustion and NOx formation for fuel gases with different methane numbers
Authors: Holly Werner E , Lauer Thomas , Schuemie Henrik A , Murakami Shinsuke
Published: December 2015

The knocking combustion and the nitric oxide emissions are important boundary conditions with respect to a further efficiency increase in large gas engines. It was, therefore, the aim of the presented work to model the self-ignition of the end gas and the nitric oxide formation for different burn gas mixtures using detailed reaction kinetics. The investigations were based on a one-dimensional gas exchange model with an adapted, predictive combustion model. An empirical model of the cyclic variations was implemented. In contrast to previous approaches, particularly the fast burning cycles were analysed in order to predict the knocking combustion. All models were validated with measurements from a one-cylinder research engine. The comparison with test bench results showed that a good correlation with the measurements could be achieved for the engine performance, the combustion as well as for the nitric oxide formation and the knock tendency. The numerical models will further be used to optimize the combustion process.
Spatial capital as a tool for planning practice
Authors: Mace Alan
Published: December 2015

This purpose of this article is to look at the potential benefit to planning practice of engaging with spatial capital – a concept derived from the social theory of Bourdieu. Doubt is expressed about the theoretical basis for spatial capital; nevertheless, it is argued that it may have merit as a trope for planning practitioners. Spatial capital has a strong empirical basis, making it accessible to planning practice and offering a new means for interpreting and communicating the combined effects of a range of individual urban events such as the gating of communities, differing mobilities and schooling tactics. By focussing on the interplay of social positioning within place, it emphasises the joined-up nature of disadvantage and highlights the limits of environmental determinism. However, its use is not without possible drawbacks. Here, the experience of social capital is informative, as this has been appropriated by groups with quite different readings of its implications for policy.
Plagiarism Detection: A Comparison of Teaching Assistants and a Software Tool in Identifying Cheating in a Psychology Course
Authors: Seifried Eva , Lenhard Wolfgang , Spinath Birgit
Published: December 2015

Essays that are assigned as homework in large classes are prone to cheating via unauthorized collaboration. In this study, we compared the ability of a software tool based on Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) and student teaching assistants to detect plagiarism in a large group of students. To do so, we took two approaches: the first approach was in vivo; that is, we observed whether LSA and the teaching assistants could detect plagiarism during the term. The second approach was in vitro; that is, we had 14 teaching assistants and LSA evaluate, after the term had ended, a sample of N = 60 essays of which two essays were identical. Results showed that the responsible teaching assistant did not detect the duplicates during the term (in vivo) and that the majority of the teaching assistants did not notice that they had read two identical essays (in vitro). Some of them even scored the duplicates in markedly different ways. However, the duplicates were easily identified and evaluated as equally good by LSA. We conclude that using LSA can improve assessment at universities in terms of detecting plagiarism.
An Integrative Professional Theory and Practice Paper: Personal Reflections from the Journey through Clinical Pastoral Education
Authors: McLean Gillian
Published: December 2015

CPE is an experience-based approach to learning spiritual care which combines clinical care with qualified supervision, in-class education and group reflection (CASC - http://www.spiritualcare.ca/ ). Through didactic seminars, group presentations and personal reading there is opportunity for the student to acquire, apply and integrate relevant theoretical information into their practice.

Written for my CPE Specialist application, this paper describes how, through the course of advanced CPE education, I learn to utilize and integrate theory into my clinical work. Beginning with three strands – authenticity, listening and storytelling – I then discuss how the behavioural sciences and theology inform my practice. Focusing on empathy, I speak of the application of disclosure, the use of counter-transference as a diagnostic tool, and the place of therapeutic termination. Group theory, family systems theory, theological reflection, liturgical ministry, and multi-faith practices are considered.
Walking the Labyrinth: Considering Mental Health Consumer Experience, Meaning Making, and the Illumination of the Sacred in a Forensic Mental Health Setting
Authors: Heard Clark Patrick , Scott Jared , Yeo Rev'd Stephen
Published: December 2015

The purpose of this study is to explore the unique meaning and experience associated with walking a unicursal seven circuit outdoor Chartress Labyrinth and 11 circuit indoor Chartress Labyrinth for persons residing at a forensic mental health care facility. Over the past several decades labyrinths have enjoyed something of a renaissance and are often utilized by spiritual care practitioners and health care clinicians in order to support reflection, stress reduction, and the exploration of personal wellness in a sacred setting. Labyrinths are used in many settings including places of worship, hospitals, long-term care facilities, and parks. While labyrinths are becoming more prevalent, an understanding of their impact, particularly in the mental health context, is limited. This qualitative study supports a novel investigation of the meaning associated with participation in walking a labyrinth for persons residing at a forensic mental health care facility. The study design is a qualitative methodology involving transcribed interviews with 12 individuals resident at the Southwest Centre for Forensic Mental Health Care who participated in the ‘Walking the Labyrinth’ program as facilitated by spiritual care staff. A standardized interview protocol was utilized and the collected data was coded for themes. Several methods were employed to establish trustworthiness including triangulation by analyst and by theory/perspective. Member checking was also utilized in order to further validate the themes. Recommendations related to potential health care applications for labyrinths are identified. These include a focus upon the linkage between mental health care planning and labyrinth participation.
Metal coverage ratio of pipeline embolization device for treatment of unruptured aneurysms: Reality check
Authors: Jou Liang-Der , Chintalapani Gouthami , Mawad Michel E
Published: December 2015

Background and purpose

The metal coverage ratio (MCR) of a flow diverter influences the intra-aneurysmal hemodynamics; a high MCR will occlude an aneurysm early, while a low MCR may delay aneurysm occlusion. The true MCR of a pipeline embolization device (PED) could be lower due to oversize, device deformation, or aneurysm location. In this study deviation of the true MCR from the nominal MCR is assessed and whether their difference affects aneurysm occlusion rate is determined.

Methods

A total of 40 consecutive patients, each of them treated by one PED for their aneurysms at the internal carotid artery (ICA), were retrospectively analyzed. The DynaCT images of these deployed PEDs were used to determine their true dimensions and estimate three MCRs (local, mean, and nominal). These data were compared in two groups of patients who had different aneurysm outcomes at six months.

Results

The difference in the local MCR between two groups is small, but statistically significant (24.5% vs 21.6%, p = 05). The local MCR is consistently lower than the nominal MCRs (23.2% vs 30.2%, p < 0.001); however, the difference between the mean and local MCRs is small (23.9% vs 23.2%).

Conclusions

An expectation that a PED can achieve a MCR of 30% may not be reasonable. Device oversize and deformation during deployment lower the local MCR by 5–7%. A lowered MCR affects the aneurysm occlusion rate at six months.
Direct carotid-cavernous fistulas occurring during neurointerventional procedures
Authors: Ono Kenichiro , Oishi Hidenori , Tanoue Shunsuke , Hasegawa Hiroshi , Yoshida Kensaku , Yamamoto Munetaka , Arai Hajime
Published: December 2015

This study shows the frequency and types of carotid-cavernous fistula (CCF) complications that occurred during endovascular treatment. Transarterial endovascular surgeries involving the anterior circulation were performed for 1071 cases at our hospitals during four years. CCFs occurred in nine of 1071 cases (0.8%). CCF risk factors were female sex ( p = 0.032), aneurysmal location in the paraclinoid portion ( p < 0.001), and use of a distal access catheter (DAC) ( p < 0.001). There were no significant correlations between CCF risk and procedure type ( p = 0.411–1.0) and balloon use or nonuse ( p = 0.492). Eighty-nine percent (eight of nine) of the CCFs occurred at the genu of a cavernous internal carotid artery (ICA). Two cases of CCF disappeared spontaneously. The shunt was decreased by balloon expansion in one case, no additional treatment was required in one case, and five cases required transarterial fistula coil embolization. It is necessary to remember that a CCF may occur especially in aneurysmal treatment using a DAC in a female patient. The DAC and the 0.035-inch guidewire should be kept proximal to the carotid siphon and not go beyond it. When we cannot avoid navigating beyond it, we should consider using a softer DAC. In the case of a CCF caused by a DAC, it may be cured spontaneously or is treatable by transarterial coil embolization.
Successful endovascular treatment of a dissecting aneurysm of vertebral artery associated with double origin of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery
Authors: Kawabata Yasuhiro , Tsukahara Tetsuya , Fukuda Shunichi , Kawarazaki Satoru , Aoki Tomokazu
Published: December 2015

Background

Double origin of the posterior inferior cerebellar artery (DOPICA) has been rarely reported in the literature, with a reported incidence of 1.45%. In contrast, a high concurrence rate of DOPICA and vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm has been reported.

Clinical presentation

A 61-year old woman presented with vomiting and diplopia with preceding headache. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed fresh infarction of the left lateral medulla and a vertebral artery dissecting aneurysm of the left vertebral artery. The next day, she exhibited transient loss of consciousness and worsening of headache, and MRI depicted subarachnoid hemorrhage. Four-vessel digital subtraction angiography showed a posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA) arising both intracranially and extracranially from the left vertebral artery. Although the dissecting lesion involved the V3 and V4 portion, it did not involve an extracranially originating PICA. Internal trapping of the V3 and V4 portion was chosen as the extracranial channel was expected to supply the PICA territory. This procedure was safely performed.

Conclusion

Early endovascular intervention should be considered in the treatment of dissecting aneurysm of vertebral artery associated with DOPICA for patients with relatively long lesions even in unruptured cases.
Managing medically unexplained symptoms
Authors: Roberts David
Published: December 2015

Medically unexplained symptoms (MUS) are the presenting symptoms in a significant number of medical consultations in the UK. In many cases, the outcome is unsatisfactory for both the doctor and the patient. This may be partly due to the ongoing nature of the patient’s complaint and dissatisfaction due to lack of closure at the end of the consultation. The relationship between the doctor and the patient is of paramount importance, since a cure may not be possible and understanding of the patient’s condition may be limited. Good communication skills are needed to improve the effectiveness of consultations in cases where other medical interventions are of limited value. This article reviews the current understanding of MUS. Aspects of the medical consultation are analysed and strategies for patient management and future care are made.
Childhood immunisations
Authors: Ward Miss Sarah
Published: December 2015

This article is focused on the current immunisation schedule for children in the UK, it also details individual vaccines and how they work. It also covers the areas of consent, contraindications to vaccines, and special considerations. The childhood immunisation programme has made a great contribution to improving the overall health and well-being of children.
Return to Play and Performance After Jones Fracture in National Basketball Association Athletes
Authors: Begly John P. , Guss Michael , Ramme Austin J. , Karia Raj , Meislin Robert J.
Published: December 2015

Background:

Basketball players are at risk for foot injuries, including Jones fractures. It is unknown how this injury affects the future play and performance of athletes.

Hypothesis:

National Basketball Association (NBA) players who sustain Jones fractures of the base of the fifth metatarsal have high rates of return to play and do not experience a decrease in performance on return to competition when compared with preinjury and with control-matched peers.

Study Design:

Retrospective cohort study.

Level of Evidence:

Level 5.

Methods:

Data on 26 elite basketball players with Jones fractures over 19 NBA seasons (1994-1995 to 2012-2013) were obtained from injury reports, press releases, player profiles, and online public databases. Variables included age, body mass index (BMI), player position, experience, and surgical treatment. Individual season statistics pre- and postinjury were collected. Twenty-six controls were identified by matched player position, age, and performance statistics.

Results:

The mean age at the time of injury was 24.8 years, mean BMI was 24.7 kg/m2, and the mean experience prior to injury was 4.1 NBA seasons. Return to previous level of competition was achieved by 85% of athletes. There was no change in player efficiency rating (PER) when pre- and postinjury performance was compared. When compared with controls, no decline in PER measured performance was identified.

Conclusion:

The majority of NBA players sustaining a Jones fracture return to their preinjury level of competition. These elite athletes demonstrate no decrease in performance on their return to play.

Clinical Relevance:

Jones fractures are well-studied injuries in terms of etiology, diagnosis, and management. However, the effect of these injuries on future performance of athletes is unknown. Using the findings of our study, orthopaedic surgeons may be better prepared to counsel and educate elite athletes who sustain a Jones fracture.
The Banff Conferences on renal allograft pathology – the latest 2013 report
Authors: Loh Alwin Hwai-Liang
Published: December 2015

The Banff Conference diagnostic categories and their criteria for renal biopsy interpretation were created in 1991 by a group comprising nephrologists, pathologists, transplant surgeons and immunologists. These guidelines are widely used in many countries. Every two years, participants at these meetings present and discuss research findings that have added to our knowledge of allograft pathology. From the start, features of T-cell mediated rejection were established. This was followed by discovery of C4d staining in biopsy tissue and better characterisation of antibody mediated rejection. The formation of working groups to look into problematic areas has allowed better refinements to be made to the classification scheme. The latest Banff 2013 report is significant for the inclusion of a C4d-negative category under humoral rejection. Together with the realisation that endarteritis may be antibody mediated, this latest report will greatly impact how pathologists interpret the allograft biopsy.
Images in transplant dermatology
Authors: Oh Choon Chiat , Busmanis Inny , Chan Michelle Mei Fung , Kee Terence Yi-Shern , Pang Shiu Ming
Published: December 2015

Transplant recipients can develop various skin conditions throughout their lives. Of concern are skin cancers, which are best treated with early detection. We report two cases seen in the transplant dermatology clinic in Singapore General Hospital.
Visual and Auditory Components in the Perception of Asynchronous Audiovisual Speech
Authors: García-Pérez Miguel A. , Alcalá-Quintana Rocío
Published: December 2015

Research on asynchronous audiovisual speech perception manipulates experimental conditions to observe their effects on synchrony judgments. Probabilistic models establish a link between the sensory and decisional processes underlying such judgments and the observed data, via interpretable parameters that allow testing hypotheses and making inferences about how experimental manipulations affect such processes. Two models of this type have recently been proposed, one based on independent channels and the other using a Bayesian approach. Both models are fitted here to a common data set, with a subsequent analysis of the interpretation they provide about how experimental manipulations affected the processes underlying perceived synchrony. The data consist of synchrony judgments as a function of audiovisual offset in a speech stimulus, under four within-subjects manipulations of the quality of the visual component. The Bayesian model could not accommodate asymmetric data, was rejected by goodness-of-fit statistics for 8/16 observers, and was found to be nonidentifiable, which renders uninterpretable parameter estimates. The independent-channels model captured asymmetric data, was rejected for only 1/16 observers, and identified how sensory and decisional processes mediating asynchronous audiovisual speech perception are affected by manipulations that only alter the quality of the visual component of the speech signal.
The literary uses of high-dimensional space
Authors: Underwood Ted
Published: December 2015

Debates over “Big Data” shed more heat than light in the humanities, because the term ascribes new importance to statistical methods without explaining how those methods have changed. What we badly need instead is a conversation about the substantive innovations that have made statistical modeling useful for disciplines where, in the past, it truly wasn’t. These innovations are partly technical, but more fundamentally expressed in what Leo Breiman calls a new “culture” of statistical modeling. Where 20th-century methods often required humanists to squeeze our unstructured texts, sounds, or images into some special-purpose data model, new methods can handle unstructured evidence more directly by modeling it in a high-dimensional space. This opens a range of research opportunities that humanists have barely begun to discuss. To date, topic modeling has received most attention, but in the long run, supervised predictive models may be even more important. I sketch their potential by describing how Jordan Sellers and I have begun to model poetic distinction in the long 19th century—revealing an arc of gradual change much longer than received literary histories would lead us to expect.
Big Data and the danger of being precisely inaccurate
Authors: McFarland Daniel A , McFarland H Richard
Published: December 2015

Social scientists and data analysts are increasingly making use of Big Data in their analyses. These data sets are often “found data” arising from purely observational sources rather than data derived under strict rules of a statistically designed experiment. However, since these large data sets easily meet the sample size requirements of most statistical procedures, they give analysts a false sense of security as they proceed to focus on employing traditional statistical methods. We explain how most analyses performed on Big Data today lead to “precisely inaccurate” results that hide biases in the data but are easily overlooked due to the enhanced significance of the results created by the data size. Before any analyses are performed on large data sets, we recommend employing a simple data segmentation technique to control for some major components of observational data biases. These segments will help to improve the accuracy of the results.
Scaling down
Authors: Breiger Ronald L
Published: December 2015

While “scaling up” is a lively topic in network science and Big Data analysis today, my purpose in this essay is to articulate an alternative problem, that of “scaling down,” which I believe will also require increased attention in coming years. “Scaling down” is the problem of how macro-level features of Big Data affect, shape, and evoke lower-level features and processes. I identify four aspects of this problem: the extent to which findings from studies of Facebook and other Big-Data platforms apply to human behavior at the scale of church suppers and department politics where we spend much of our lives; the extent to which the mathematics of scaling might be consistent with behavioral principles, moving beyond a “universal” theory of networks to the study of variation within and between networks; and how a large social field, including its history and culture, shapes the typical representations, interactions, and strategies at local levels in a text or social network.
Structure from interaction events
Authors: de Nooy Wouter
Published: December 2015

In this contribution to the colloquium, I argue why and how I lost interest in the overall structure of social networks even though Big Data techniques are increasingly simplifying the collection, organisation, and analysis of ever larger networks. The challenge that Big Data techniques pose to the social scientist, I think, is of a different nature. Big Data on social actors mainly record events, e.g. interactions between human beings that happen at a point in time. In contrast, social network analysts tend to think in terms of social relations that exist over a timespan. The challenge, then, is to rethink our conceptions and models of social relations and social structure. I conceptualize social structure and social relations as forces. I propose modelling these forces with regression models for longitudinal interaction data.
Lost in a random forest: Using Big Data to study rare events
Authors: Bail Christopher A
Published: December 2015

Sudden, broad-scale shifts in public opinion about social problems are relatively rare. Until recently, social scientists were forced to conduct post-hoc case studies of such unusual events that ignore the broader universe of possible shifts in public opinion that do not materialize. The vast amount of data that has recently become available via social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter—as well as the mass-digitization of qualitative archives provide an unprecedented opportunity for scholars to avoid such selection on the dependent variable. Yet the sheer scale of these new data creates a new set of methodological challenges. Conventional linear models, for example, minimize the influence of rare events as “outliers”—especially within analyses of large samples. While more advanced regression models exist to analyze outliers, they suffer from an even more daunting challenge: equifinality, or the likelihood that rare events may occur via different causal pathways. I discuss a variety of possible solutions to these problems—including recent advances in fuzzy set theory and machine learning—but ultimately advocate an ecumenical approach that combines multiple techniques in iterative fashion.
Surfeit and surface
Authors: Lee Monica , Martin John Levi
Published: December 2015

“Would you like another EXTRA BIG ASS FRIES?” (Carl's Jr computer, Idiocracy)
Close encounters of the conceptual kind: Disambiguating social structure from text
Authors: Hannigan Timothy
Published: December 2015

Despite its empirical prominence, there is very little extant organizational research on Big Data. However, there is reason to believe this is changing as organizational theory scholars are beginning to embrace new methods and data sources. In this essay, I present a view that suggests there are several latent opportunities, many of which have been simmering unattended for some time. This research approach is not without its challenges, as the ontological terrain of Big Data is untested and potentially disruptive. However, we are observing a renewal of approaches to text and content analysis. By opening up the toolkit of computational linguistics methods for text analysis, Big Data may bring about fresh synthesis and reshape classic debates around social structure.
How do politicians use Facebook? An applied Social Observatory
Authors: Caton Simon , Hall Margeret , Weinhardt Christof
Published: December 2015

In the age of the digital generation, written public data is ubiquitous and acts as an outlet for today's society. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn have profoundly changed how we communicate and interact. They have enabled the establishment of and participation in digital communities as well as the representation, documentation and exploration of social behaviours, and had a disruptive effect on how we use the Internet. Such digital communications present scholars with a novel way to detect, observe, analyse and understand online communities over time. This article presents the formalization of a Social Observatory: a low latency method for the observation and measurement of social indicators within an online community. Our framework facilitates interdisciplinary research methodologies via tools for data acquisition and analysis in inductive and deductive settings. By focusing our Social Observatory on the public Facebook profiles of 187 federal German politicians we illustrate how we can analyse and measure sentiment, public opinion, and information discourse in advance of the federal elections. To this extent, we analysed 54,665 posts and 231,147 comments, creating a composite index of overall public sentiment and the underlying conceptual discussion themes. Our case study demonstrates the observation of communities at various resolutions: “zooming” in on specific subsets or communities as a whole. The results of the case study illustrate the ability to observe published sentiment and public dialogue as well as the difficulties associated with established methods within the field of sentiment analysis within short informal text.
Ontologies, methodologies, and new uses of Big Data in the social and cultural sciences
Authors: Wagner-Pacifici Robin , Mohr John W , Breiger Ronald L
Published: December 2015

In our Introduction to the Conceiving the Social with Big Data Special Issue of Big Data & Society, we survey the 18 contributions from scholars in the humanities and social sciences, and highlight several questions and themes that emerge within and across them. These emergent issues reflect the challenges, problems, and promises of working with Big Data to access and assess the social. They include puzzles about the locus and nature of human life, the nature of interpretation, the categorical constructions of individual entities and agents, the nature and relevance of contexts and temporalities, and the determinations of causality. As such, the Introduction reflects on the contributions along a series of binaries that capture the dualities and dynamisms of these themes: Life/Data; Mind/Machine; and Induction/Deduction.