bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The risk of microbial contamination associated with six different needle-free connectors
Authors: Casey Anna L , Karpanen Tarja J , Nightingale Peter , Elliott Tom SJ
Published: January 2018

Background:

needle-free connectors are widely used in clinical practice. The aim of this study was to identify any differences between microbial ingress into six different connectors (three neutral-displacement, one negative-displacement and two anti-reflux connectors).

Methods:

each connector underwent a 7-day clinical simulation involving repeated microbial contamination of the connector's injection ports with Staphylococcus aureus followed by decontamination and then saline flushes through each connector. The simulation was designed to be a surrogate marker for the potential risk of contamination in clinical practice.

Results:

increasing numbers of S. aureus were detected in the flushes over the 7 days of sampling despite adherence to a rigorous decontamination programme. Significant differences in the number of S. aureus recovered from the saline flush of some types of connectors were also detected. Two different durations (5- and 15-second) of decontamination of the injection ports with 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) wipes were also investigated. There was no significant difference between the median number of S. aureus recovered in the saline flushes following a 5-second (165.5, 95% CI=93-260) or a 15-second decontamination regimen (75, 10–190).

Conclusions:

The findings suggest that there may be differences in the risk of internal microbial contamination with different types of connectors and that even 15 seconds of decontamination may not fully eradicate microorganisms from the injection ports of some devices.
Designing and evaluating vascular access training using educational theory
Authors: Hulse Anna Louise
Published: January 2018

Clinical skills learning is commonplace for all health professionals, with many training programmes incorporating multiple modes of facilitation, aligned to clinical standards and evidence-based research. There is often variance, however, in the facilitation of training programmes across healthcare settings and disciplines, highlighting differing levels of knowledge and clinical competence and illustrating a need for standardisation of training. Evidence illustrates many different approaches to learning from the traditional ‘see one, do one, teach one’, to academic facilitation by clinical skills tutors, to in-house expert facilitation. There has been a significant change in the medical education paradigm towards a more structured work-based competency assessed approach to learning. This paper explores the theoretical aspects of clinical skills learning and leadership theory in healthcare practice, placing emphasis on interprofessional and collaborative working and learning partnerships.
Clinical nurses' attitudes towards death and caring for dying patients in China
Authors: Wang Liping , Li Chaxiang , Zhang Qiongling , Li YaJie
Published: January 2018

Objective:

To examine Chinese clinical nurses' attitudes towards death and caring for dying patients, and to examine the relationships between clinical nurses' attitudes towards death and caring for dying patients.

Methods:

A convenience sample of 770 clinical nurses from 15 hospitals in China. All participants completed the Chinese version of the Frommelt Attitude Toward Care of the Dying Scale, Form B (FATCOD-B-C), the Chinese version of the Death Attitude Profile-Revised (DAP-R-C), and a demographic questionnaire.

Results:

The mean score of the FATCOD-B-C items was 95.62 (SD = 7.45). The majority of Chinese clinical nurses were likely to provide care for the dying person's family (mean = 3.77), but did not have a positive attitude towards communication with the dying person(mean = 2.62). The majority of Chinese clinical nurses showed low scores on death avoidance (mean=1.96) and natural acceptance (mean = 1.61), and most of them viewed death as a passageway to a happy afterlife (mean = 4.33). Attitudes towards caring for dying patients were significantly negatively correlated with fear of death (r = -0.120) and positively correlated with approach acceptance (r = 0.127) and natural acceptance (r = 0.117). Factors that predicted clinical nurses' attitudes towards the care of dying patients included education level, fear of death, approach acceptance, religious beliefs, previous education on death and dying, natural acceptance, professional title, and experience with death or dying patients, which accounted for 18.7% of the variance.

Conclusion:

Nurses' personal attitudes towards death were associated with their attitudes towards the care of dying patients. Training and educational programmes for clinical nurses should take into consideration nurses' personal attitudes towards death as well as their cultural backgrounds and religious beliefs.
Fragmentation and Weakening of States: Instruments of Global Domination
Authors: Alberto Martínez Delgado
Published: January 2018

The dual role of states (utility and threat), their embodiment of the interests of the dominant social groups, the competition and belligerency between states, and their interaction with other economical and social institutions as big corporations give special relevance to the relative size of states and to the theoretical conception of states and their relationships, particularly to their fragmentation or destruction in a perspective of global domination—often under an apparently progressive invocation of the self-determination right (promoting independentism and fractional nationalism) and democracy. In this context, we underline the dominance of the oligarchic-imperial ideology, in its different variations, even over some expressions of the new postmodernist left and the double global-imperial policy of dismembering non-hegemonic states, on one hand, and weakening of the state institution, usurping some of its traditional functions (particularly those related to a direct economic role) even inside the hegemonic states.
Human Development Strategy in Small States
Authors: Tim Anderson
Published: January 2018

What are the human development opportunities and challenges for small states in a multi-polar world? An answer to this question must consider human development strategies at large, the constraints imposed by neoliberal globalism and better practice in recent times. Small states have particular vulnerabilities but may also benefit from realignments within new regional blocs. There are already a number of relevant and important “post Washington Consensus” themes and lessons from the Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS), Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA) groupings. These have much to do with redefined human development policies and less to do with extraction of natural resources. The best examples of human development come from those which are relatively resource poor but which have invested heavily in human capacity. This article considers the strategic opportunities and challenges for small states within the new forms of integration presented by an emerging multi-polar world with its new regional blocs. Best practice has come from sustained and focussed human capacity building, while the range of possible integration strategies in the new global environment could be characterised as passive integration, avoiding capture, counter-leverage and regional realignment, within and between the emerging blocs.
Vitamina D, cognición y demencia; revisión sistemática y meta-análisis: lectura crítica DARE
Authors: Megias Gamarra Ana
Published: January 2018

Resumen CRDLos autores concluyeron que las concentraciones bajas de vitamina D se asociaron a una peor función cognitiva y a un mayor riesgo de enfermedad de Alzheimer. Su conclusión debe interpretarse con precaución, ya que se basa en la evidencia de estudios observacionales con posibles factores de confusión. Se sugieren recomendaciones para futuras investigaciones.
BADALI: Una herramienta de promoción de la salud
Authors: Ropero Ana B. , Marquina Eva , Sarmiento Víctor M. , Beltrá Marta
Published: January 2018

Introducción: BADALI es una base de datos de alimentos con una web de Nutrición integrada que persigue proporcionar información nutricional sobre los alimentos presentes en el mercado, además de formación en materia de Nutrición.Material y Métodos: Los análisis y el material formativo se fundamentaron en la legislación europea vigente en materia de etiquetado nutricional, en guías alimentarias de instituciones nacionales e internacionales y en las pruebas científicas disponibles.Resultados: BADALI se lanzó el 12 de noviembre de 2016 y todo su contenido es de acceso libre a través de Internet (http://badali.umh.es). Para cada alimento se diseñó un modelo de ficha que recogiera la información principal en un solo vistazo con multitud de enlaces al resto, así como a textos explicativos o formativos. La web presenta varias opciones para localizar el alimento de interés. Se incluyeron 1003 alimentos o productos procesados de 86 marcas distintas y de 10 grupos de alimentos distintos. Los artículos formativos también se pueden acceder desde la página de inicio de la web.Conclusiones: La Base de Datos de Alimentos BADALI complementa las bases de datos y tablas de composición nutricional existentes, mejora la comprensión de los posibles beneficios nutricionales y para la salud de los alimentos, asiste al consumidor en la comprensión de la información nutricional que se proporciona de los alimentos y proporciona información basada en las pruebas científicas disponibles sobre los principios básicos de la Nutrición. BADALI es una herramienta integrada y versátil diseñada para distintos segmentos de la población.
Quebec’s Economic and Commercial Linkages with the United States, 1994–2017
Authors: Fry Earl H.
Published: January 2018

Abstract

This article examines the ebb and flow of the Quebec government’s economic and commercial relations with the United States in the period 1994–2017. The topic demonstrates the impact of three major forces on Quebec’s economic and commercial ties with the US: (1) the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) which became operational in 1994 and was fully implemented over a 15-year period; (2) the onerous security policies put in place by the US government in the decade following the horrific events of 11 September 2001; and (3) changing economic circumstances in the United States ranging from robust growth to the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s. The article also indicates that the Quebec government continues to sponsor a wide range of activities in the United States, often more elaborate and extensive than comparable activities pursued by many nation-states with representation in the US.1

1

Stéphane Paquin, ‘Quebec-U.S. Relations: The Big Picture’, American Review of Canadian Studies 46, no. 2 (2016): 149–61.
Rasgos de la «Lebensphilosophie» en el pensamiento de María Zambrano
Authors: Cruz Ayuso Cristina de la
Published: January 2018

El artículo analiza los puntos de encuentro del pensamiento de María Zambrano con la «Lebensphilosophie», concepto bajo el que se reúnen diferentes corrientes filosóficas surgidas en Alemania y Francia en el siglo XIX, y de la cual Unamuno es considerado uno de sus máximos representantes en España, conjuntamente con Ortega y Gasset. Algunos rasgos de la «Lebensphilosophie» están presentes en algunas categorías del pensamiento de María Zambrano. La primera parte de este trabajo aborda esta cuestión y se detiene, en segundo lugar, en su noción de piedad que, en su obra, queda definida como un saber de trato específico con la realidad, con lo diferente, con el misterio. La autora va descifrando el sentido de su noción de piedad a través de continuas referencias a la herencia de una dilatada cosmovisión religiosa y en su despliegue se pone de manifiesto su estrecha relación con algunas de las principales motivaciones y preocupaciones intelectuales de la «Lebensphilosophie».
La génesis de la «prueba» racional de la existencia de Dios en Xavier Zubiri a la luz de sus últimos escritos
Authors: Vargas Esteban
Published: January 2018

En este trabajo intentamos mostrar cómo Zubiri fue entendiendo y precisando su «prueba» o argumento de la existencia de Dios desde sus últimas obras. Estudiamos su prueba a través de la «vía de la religación» desde cuatro textos o cursos: El problema teologal del hombre: Dios, religión, cristianismo (1971), El despliegue del problema de Dios (1971-1973, publicado como segunda parte en El hombre y Dios), El problema teologal del hombre: El hombre y Dios (1973) e Inteligencia sentiente (1980-1983).
Una aproximación a lo trágico en Nietzsche y Unamuno
Authors: Pessis García Begoña
Published: January 2018

En el presente artículo se intenta un acercamiento a la dilucidación de lo trágico en las filosofías de Nietzsche y Unamuno, bajo la convicción de que existe una coincidencia entre ambas que va más allá del alcance nominal del nombre «tragedia». El elemento común estará dado en la experiencia del dolor humano que ambos autores reconocen como originaria; esta será entendida como una tensión contradictoria entre la exigencia de infinitud y superación continua a la que se deben y a la que aspiran los hombres trágicos y, en contraste, los límites que comporta su existencia individual y finita.
Quartic surfaces with icosahedral symmetry
Authors: Dolgachev Igor V.
Published: January 2018

We study smooth quartic surfaces in ℙ3which admit a group of projective automorphisms isomorphic to the icosahedron group.
Self deinfibulation during unassisted home delivery: a hitherto unknown dimension of female genital mutilation?
Authors: Hago Nuda Elnagi Mousa , Babarinsa Isaac A. , Shurbak Zeena Saeed Bu
Published: January 2018

The severe scarring and distortion which follows genital mutilation may make subsequent childbirth difficult or traumatic. Deinfibulation has been advocated and practiced in hospitals. We present a patient who deinfibulated herself during a successful home delivery, and presented to hospital thereafter.
Motion Capturing Emotions
Authors: Wood Karen , Cisneros Rosemary E. , Whatley Sarah
Published: January 2018

The paper explores the activities conducted as part of WhoLoDancE: Whole Body Interaction Learning for Dance Education which is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 project. In particular, we discuss the motion capture sessions that took place at Motek, Amsterdam as well as the dancers’ experience of being captured and watching themselves or others as varying visual representations through the HoloLens. HoloLens is Microsoft’s first holographic computer that you wear as you would a pair of glasses. The study embraced four dance genres: Ballet, Contemporary, Flamenco and Greek Folk dance. We are specifically interested in the kinesthetic and emotional engagement with the moving body and what new corporeal awareness may be experienced. Positioning the moving, dancing body as fundamental to technological advancements, we discuss the importance of considering the dancer’s experience in the real and virtual space. Some of the artists involved in the project have offered their experiences, which are included, and they form the basis of the discussion. In addition, we discuss the affect of immersive environments, how these environments expand reality and what effect (emotionally and otherwise) that has on the body. The research reveals insights into relationships between emotion, movement and technology and what new sensorial knowledge this evokes for the dancer.
A review of radiometric analysis on soil erosion and deposition studies in Africa
Authors: Maina Caroline W. , Sang Joseph K. , Mutua Benedict M. , Raude James M.
Published: January 2018

Soil erosion is one of the main soil degradation phenomena that threaten sustainable use of soil productivity thus affecting food security. In addition, it leads to reservoir storage capacity loss because of sedimentation. This not only affects water quantity but also water quality. Worldwide, annual loss in reservoir storage capacity due to sedimentation is 0.5 to 1%. Similarly, about 27% of land in Africa is largely degraded by erosion. As a result, there is need to minimize soil erosion and deposition through site specific estimation of soil erosion and deposition rates in the reservoirs. To achieve this, Fallout RadioNuclides (FRNs) are some of the methods in use. The most common radionuclides include; 137Cs, 210Pb and 7Be. Only few countries in Africa have exploited these FRNs. In these countries, 137Cs has been largely exploited but in some regions, it has been reported to be below minimum detection limit. Using 137Cs and 210Pb, maximum reference inventory in Africa is found to be 1450 and 2602 Bq/m2, respectively. However, there is minimal application of 7Be within the continent. Also, very little has been done in Africa to assess chronology and sedimentation rates of reservoirs using FRNs measured from sediment cores. In conclusion, a gap still exists on FRNs application in Africa in assessing soil erosion, deposition and reservoir sedimentation.
Democracy and Financial Crisis Between the Five Presidents Report and the BREXIT: In Search for a New Way?
Authors: Munin Nellie
Published: January 2018

In the aftermath of the Brexit, the EU is swinging between a vision of enhanced integration, depicted by the Five Presidents Report, and a decision by the people of one of its leading member states - the UK - to withdraw this alliance, that may be interpreted as a non-confidence vote in the enhanced integration process underlying the EU. This article assumes that non-democratic elements embodied in the measures taken to pull out of the financial crisis and stabilize EU/EMU economies may enhance non-confidence among EU/EMU citizens, serving as incentives for more member states to opt out of this alliance, inspired by the Brexit. While it might have been expected that as the peak of the crisis passed, decision makers would pay more attention to ensure the democratic nature of such measures, comparison of the regulation enacted during the emergency phase and shortly thereafter with later regulation reveals that, despite certain improvements, many non-democratic elements still characterize both the nature of the measures devised and the decision-making processes leading to them. The article suggests that the Brexit should serve as a red light, reinforcing previous criticism calling for improving the democratic nature of such measures and of the decision-making processes involved, to prevent a further drift.
Responsibility of a Juvenile for a Prohibited Act Under Polish Law
Authors: Daniluk Paweł , Mierzwińska-Lorencka Joanna
Published: January 2018

The law on juvenile delinquency proceedings creates a model of a paternalistic and welfare approach to juvenile justice, the protection and treatment of the juvenile at risk oriented allowing only a certain range, to use criminal sanctions against juvenile perpetrators of prohibited acts. The rule is that juvenile is not liable to the principles defined in the Penal Code, the Code of Petty Offences or the Fiscal Penal Code, and the law is applied to him is the Juvenile Act of 26 October 1982 which does not provide for a criminal responsibility. Special, nonpenal responsibility for juveniles applies for those between 13 and 17 years. For younger juveniles, special measures of exclusively educational and care character are possible.
The Constitutional Court of Romania and European Union Law
Authors: Călin Dragoş
Published: January 2018

The Constitutional Court of Romania has subjected the introduction of a norm of European Union law into the constitutionality control, as an interposed norm to the standard norm. On the one hand, the norm should be sufficiently clear, precise and unequivocal in itself, or its meaning should have been clearly, precisely and unequivocally established by the Court of Justice of the European Union, and on the other hand it should be circumscribed by a certain level of constitutional relevance, so that its normative content could support the possible breach of the Constitution - the only direct standard norm within the constitutionality control - by national law. However, the experience of the Constitutional Court of Romania over the eight years (2007-2014) since the EU accession, does not seem to be very convincing, irrespective of the way in which European Union law, including the case law of the CJUE has been used: as justifying or circumstantial argument, as a mere reference or in an inadequate context.
The Concept of Plea Bargaining Under the Czech Criminal Law and the Criminal Law of Other Countries Within the Region of Central Europe
Authors: Ščerba Filip
Published: January 2018

The article deals with the specific instrument used in criminal proceedings called as plea bargaining, or agreement upon the guilt and punishment (in the Czech legal regulation). This instrument is considered as one of the main measures used for acceleration of criminal proceedings and for criminal justice rationalization. Plea bargaining originally belongs to the system of criminal law in the countries belonging to the Anglo-Saxon legal order, but it has been implemented also into the legal orders of countries in Middle Europe region during last decade. Such implementation in connected with some important problems related to the different characteristics of criminal proceedings. The article solves some of these problems, primarily the collision with the basic principles of continental system of criminal law.
Reverse Payment Patent Settlements in the Pharmaceutical Sector and Competition Law – Do Lundbeck and Actavis Help to Bridge the Views Across the Atlantic Regarding the Delayed Market Entry of Cheaper, Generic Medicines?
Authors: Dutt Pawan , Kerikmäe Tanel
Published: January 2018

Competition law and Intellectual Property law are remarkably divergent in scope and thus make for uneasy bedfellows. Although they both purport to help the consumer, their effects on the common market can be strikingly different. Recent decisions in the European Union and the United States of America have brought into focus the role of reverse payment patent settlement agreements. These agreements are generally of a commercial nature, and are agreements to settle actual or potential disputes which are related to patents. The questions which are sought by the parties to mutually settle range from infringement of a patent or the validity of a patent. When such a settlement agreement between a patent holder (in this instance the originator company) and a patent challenger (being a generic company) involves a value transfer from the originator to the generic company, coupled with a provision to limit or restrict the generic company’s ability to market its own product on the market, then certain interesting areas of conflict tend to come forward. The question arises whether this is simply a case of a company paying off its competitors to stay out of its market and delay the entry of cheaper, generic medicines, and is thus purely anticompetitive and harmful to consumers? Or whether the right to settle a patent dispute within the scope of patent laws is something which is outside the domain of Competition law? The European Commission and the Federal Trade Commission have displayed similar levels of distrust towards such commercial settlement agreements, and now the United States Supreme Court has weighed in with its own opinion. It remains to be seen how this matter will develop further in the courtrooms on both sides of the Atlantic.
Evidence in International Commercial Arbitration
Authors: Malacka Michal
Published: January 2018

International commercial arbitration and national commercial arbitration are issues of international private law combined with global and local aspects. The rules of the procedure in international commercial arbitration vary around the world and are combined with the very strong influence of national law and are determinate by the place where the arbitration procedure is being preceded by the arbitrators. Obtaining evidence in commercial arbitration is also dependent on the above-mentioned aspects. The arbitrators have to know, as much as possible, all about the common law system, the civil law system’s influence and the powers and initiation possibilities they have during the arbitration procedure. The knowledge of the system and existing procedure rules allow them to produce the most important part of the arbitration, such as a perfect award.
Protection of Indigenous or Traditional Knowledge Under Intellectual Property Laws: An Examination of the Efficacy of Copyright Law, Trade Secret and SUI Generis Rights
Authors: Ogwezzy Michael C.
Published: January 2018

The article deals with the rules for a grant of interim measures in the context of EU law and its application in national judicial proceedings. It covers the key case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU related to the regime, conditions and limits of the interim measures and adds a reflection of practice of Czech courts. Article pays particular attention to the conditions for suspension ofn the application of national law measures.
The new principles in internal audit function in banks: stagnation or step forward?
Authors: Kubáňová Klára
Published: January 2018

Article reflects the recent developments in the field of internal audits within the banks (the document on the internal audit function in banks issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision in 2012). It covers the processes of the internal audits, the relations between supervisors and auditors and the main principles covering the internal audits in banks.
The final act in the deregulation of the Austrian postal market: the Postal Market Act (Postmarktgesetz-PMG)
Authors: Hofstätter Christoph
Published: January 2018

On 1 January 2011, the PMG entered into force. It implements the EC/ EU Postal Directive and finally eliminates the protected market for letters of the former incumbent “Österreichische Post Aktiengesellschaft ” (Post AG). Th is is the last step in the full liberalization of the postal service sector in Austria. The following article presents the new Act with a focus on the universal service and the closure of post offices by the Post AG.
The Libyan Uprising and the Right of Revolution in International Law
Authors: Keenan Thomas
Published: January 2018

Despite the ubiquitous coverage of the Libyan revolution throughout the last six months, very little has been said regarding the legal foundations for the rebels’ actions. Within the international legal framework, it must be asked whether the Libyan people even had a legal right in the first place to overthrow the Gaddafi regime. In fact, the existence of a right to rebel under international law is very much an unsettled matter. Among the sources of international law, a right to rebel is not enumerated in any of the principal international instruments. In truth, the only significant mention of the right is a passing but ambiguous reference in the preamble of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. A customary right of revolution is similarly absent, as many nations criminalize treason and other insurrectionary activities. Instead, if such a right exists in international law, it must derive from the well-enshrined right of self-determination. Th is right would thus constitute an additional exception to international law’s general prohibition on the use force, standing alongside self-defense and Security Council peace enforcement. Yet establishing a right of revolution would mark a significant departure from these other exemptions. In essence, the right of revolution represents an allowance for non-state actors to resort to force unilaterally for the protection of human rights. For this very reason, contemporary international law likely does not recognize a popular right to revolt. In light of international law’s fi rm restrictions on lawful uses of force, there is no evidence that the law currently acknowledges a novel exception for the individual enforcement of human rights. Th us, in the absence of a change in the law, the proper legal remedy for the Libyan people was not rebellion but rather an appeal to the international community.
Serious Human Rights Violations – Eclipse or Mere Twilight of State Immunity?
Authors: Svaček Ondřej
Published: January 2018

Presented article contributes to the extensive discussion over the mutual relationship between serious human rights violations (violation of ius cogens) and the law of state immunity. Th e structure of article derives from the argumentation presented by Germany and Italy in current dispute before the International Court of Justice. Author focuses his attention on delimitation of existing international legal framework and particularly on assessment of friction areas in German and Italian submissions. Three separate issues are analyzed: temporal, territorial and material.
Prevalence and determinants of smoking behavior among male school adolescents in Saudi Arabia
Authors: Alsubaie Ali Saad R.
Published: January 2018

Objective

Smoking and tobacco use is a growing public health problem, with often begins in adolescence. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of smoking behavior and the associated determinants among adolescents.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted using a self-administered questionnaire with 453 male adolescent students in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Descriptive and binary logistic regression analyses were performed to aggregate the findings and examine associations.

Results

The prevalence of smoking was 24.3% among adolescents. The main predictors of smoking behavior were found to be age (OR = 1.6; 95% CI: 1.3–2.0; p < 0.001), studying in private schools (OR = 1.4; 95% CI: 1.2–1.5; p < 0.001), having friends who smoke (OR = 13.9; 95% CI: 6.6–29.9; p < 0.001), smoking parent (OR = 18.1; 95% CI: 8.8–37.1; p < 0.001), perceived poor health (OR = 2.9; 95% CI: 1.9–3.9; p = 0.041) and perceived dissatisfaction with life (OR = 4.1; 95% CI: 1.33–13.3; p = 0.017). Smokers were more likely to believe that it is difficult to quit smoking (OR = 3.0; 95% CI: 1.6–5.5; p < 0.001). The top reasons for smoking were having smoker friends (78.2%), family neglect (45.5%), having smoker parents (41.8%), family problems (37.3%), enjoyment, and having smoker relatives.

Conclusion

This study concluded that a considerable proportion of adolescents are smokers. Adolescents with a smoking habit report poorer health and lower life satisfaction than non-smokers. Several personal and social factors were identified as important determinants for smoking.
Marijuana use among youths in Mississippi, United States
Authors: Aranmolate Rasaki
Published: January 2018

Background

Increased use of marijuana among youths in Mississippi, United States is of great concern to Public Health in the 21st century. This study examined the prevalence of marijuana use according to gender, race and ethnicity.

Method

The data for this study was obtained from Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) for 2015, a cross-sectional survey of the Mississippi High School Students, which examined the prevalence and trends in the use of marijuana according to gender, race and ethnicity. The trends in the percentage of students that reported the use of marijuana and its product was examined by univariate t-test statistical analysis at p < 0.05. The frequency distribution was used to determine the percentage differences in the groups.

Results

The students that ever used marijuana was 39.4% in Blacks, 39.1% in Hispanics and 31.0% in Whites. A total of 13.7% male and female (4.8%) used marijuana before 13 years of age. In addition, the students currently using marijuana include Blacks (10.9%), Hispanic (13.7%) and Whites (7.2%). Approximately 9.7% of students ever used the synthetic product, which was higher in Hispanic (18.7%) when compared to Blacks (8.8%) and Whites (9.1%).

Conclusion

The use of marijuana is significantly higher among the male youth in Mississippi than females, which is a major public health concern. Furthermore, there was higher rates of smoking marijuana in Hispanics and Blacks when compared to White youth.
Risk Assessment of Power System Transmission Network Based on Cascading Failure Chains
Authors: Sun Qiming , Shi Libao , Ni Yixin , Si Dajun
Published: January 2018

This paper aims to conduct the risk assessment of transmission network based on the search of cascading failure chains. Regarding the generalized cascading failure model with transient stability constraints, some significant improvements including the subsequent failure search strategy and the system control measures are proposed during analysis. Besides, the risk evaluation indices pertinent to the failure chains combined with the actual engineering requirements, and the failure level classification are elaborately derived and discussed. Finally, case studies are performed on a real-sized Chinese power grid to illustrate the validity of the proposed strategies and methods.
Sequences in German grammar teaching: An analysis of Dutch, Finnish, and global textbooks
Authors: Tammenga-Helmantel Marjon , Maijala Minna
Published: January 2018

This study investigates whether sequences in which grammar topics are presented in textbooks for German as a foreign language (henceforth GFL) match empirically determined, universal acquisition sequences. Moreover, it explores what patterns course books display regarding a set of grammar structures that are particularly interesting from an L1-perspective. From the literature we know that some grammar phenomena such as verb placement display a general acquisition pattern irrespective of the learners’ L1. In addition, we find L1-specific research such as studies on the acquisition of case assignment for Dutch learners of German. The current study considers a range of Dutch, Finnish, and global textbooks for young adolescent learners (13–15 years) at a beginner level to identify the sequence in which they introduce simple and complex verbal structures, tense, case, and pronouns. Across all these domains, the results display mainly similarities. When differences are found, these are often related to language-specific characteristics of the L1 and the typological distance between the L1 and L2 German, namely when Finns learn German pronouns and separable verbs. Overall, the analyzed teaching materials introduce the majority of the grammar issues in accord with the acquisition sequences but more L1-specific empirical research is necessary. We argue that analyses of grammar sequences in textbooks can be used as input for both SLA/FLA empirical research and theory development, especially concerning the teachability of grammar.
On properties of analytical approximation for discretizing 2D curves and 3D surfaces
Authors: Sekiya Fumiki , Sugimoto Akihiro
Published: January 2018

The morphological discretization is most commonly used for curve and surface discretization, which has been well studied and known to have some important properties, such as preservation of topological properties (e.g., connectivity) of an original curve or surface. To reduce its high computational cost, on the other hand, an approximation of the morphological discretization, called the analytical approximation, was introduced. In this paper, we study the properties of the analytical approximation focusing on discretization of 2D curves and 3D surfaces in the form of y = f (x) (x, y Є R) and z = f (x, y) (x, y, z Є R). We employ as a structuring element for the morphological discretization, the adjacency norm ball and use only its vertices for the analytical approximation.We show that the discretization of any curve/surface by the analytical approximation can be seen as the morphological discretization of a piecewise linear approximation of the curve/surface. The analytical approximation therefore inherits the properties of the morphological discretization even when it is not equal to the morphological discretization.
Truthmaker Theory and Naturalism
Authors: Rowe David
Published: January 2018

This paper argues that there is a heretofore unresolved tension between truthmaker-style metaphysics and a plausible version of Naturalism. At the turn of the century, George Molnar proposed fourprima facieplausible principles for a realist metaphysics in order to expose truthmaker theory’s incapacity to find truthmakers for negative truths. I marshal the current plethora of attempted solutions to the problem into a crisp trilemma. Those whosolveit claim that Molnar’s tetrad is consistent; those whodissolveit do away with the requirement that every truth needs a truthmaker; and those whoabsolveit embrace a negative ontology. I argue that one is forced to absolve the problem: all other avenues undermine the truthmaker principle itself. Absolving the problem, however, does not sit well with a version of Naturalism that most would accept. We are drawn to a simple dilemma:eitherembrace a negative ontology,orreject truthmaker-style metaphysics.
Managing heritage language development: Opportunities and challenges for Chinese, Italian and Pakistani Urdu-speaking families in the UK
Authors: Curdt-Christiansen Xiao Lan , Morgia Francesca La
Published: January 2018

Drawing on theories of family language policy and literacy environment, this inquiry explores and describes how family language policy is managed through literacy resources and literacy related activities in transnational families in the UK. A total of 66 families, each with at least one child between the age of 2 and 8, participated in this study. All children spoke English alongside their heritage/home language (HL), either Chinese, Italian, or Urdu. Data sources include: (a) a questionnaire about the children’s general background and the parents’ socio-economic and cultural capital and language practice in English and HL; (b) literacy resources and activities in both HL and English; (c) interview with parents. The results of this study show some interesting differences among Italian, Urdu and Chinese speakers, not only in their family language practices, but also in their attitudes towards mother tongue literacy and application of literacy practices in the home language. Although parental language management efforts were motivated by their aspirations to enrich their children’s language repertoires, the different degrees of variation in family language input indicate that sociocultural and socio-political realities present difficulties and constraints that prevent families from developing literacy in the home language.
Toward an Earthbound Theology
Authors: Roberts Austin J.
Published: January 2018

This article considers some metaphysical and theological implications of the Anthropocene, which is the proposed name for a new geological epoch that is characterized by massive human disturbances of the Earth system. This stratigraphic time unit concludes the Holocene epoch that offered a relatively stable climate for human civilizations to emerge and flourish. The Anthropocene therefore marks the end of such natural stabilities - both real and imagined - along with a growing awareness of the dynamic agency or subjectivity of the Earth. By magnifying nonhuman subjectivity, the new epoch is widely interpreted by scholars across a range of disciplines as unsettling modern dualistic notions of human exceptionalism. Consequently, nonhuman nature is no longer a relatively inert background for human cultural activities. Humans and nonhumans must now be seen as interrelated Earth subjects. This nonmodern perspective suggests an ecological metaphysics of intersubjectivity along the lines of Alfred North Whitehead’s philosophy of organism, which redistributes subjectivity, creativity, and transcendence throughout nature. Theology in the Anthropocene must therefore account for this nondual view of reality, which arguably implies a divine-world relation characterized by mutual immanence. The proposed earthbound theology ultimately envisions the divine as poetic exemplification of intersubjectivity.
Evaluating evaluations: What different types of metapragmatic behaviour can tell us about participants’ understandings of the moral order
Authors: Davies Bethan L.
Published: January 2018

Participant evaluations have been at the heart of recent discursive (im)politeness research, yet
despite their importance, there has been little consideration of how we identify such behaviours and
how we can substantiate their worth in an analysis. In this paper, it is proposed that we need to
distinguish between different, ordered, categories of evaluation because these provide different
levels of evidence for participants’ understandings of (im)politeness.

Using online comments from Daily Mail articles relating to the Penelope
Soto court hearings, I show that apparent agreements in the classification of linguistic behaviour as
(im)polite can mask disagreements in the underlying rationales for those judgements. It is these
rationales that provide the strongest warrant for analysts because they represent the ideological
basis behind an individual’s understanding of politeness – why people should
behave in this way. This links to Haugh’s (2013) use of ‘moral order’ and also Eelen’s (2001) key,
but underdeveloped, notion of argumentativity. The rationale behind an individual’s
judgement provides the argumentative link between metapragmatic behaviour and the social order.
Classifications and positive/negative assessments of person are only clues to this underlying
rationale, and need to be treated as such. Understanding these differences will assist analysts in
assessing the ideological weight of metapragmatic behaviour and provide better-informed
warrants for their analyses.
Numerical Investigation of a Two-Phase Nanofluid Model for Boundary Layer Flow Past a Variable Thickness Sheet
Authors: Liu Chunyan , Zheng Liancun , Lin Ping , Pan Mingyang , Liu Fawang
Published: January 2018

This paper investigates heat and mass transfer of nanofluid over a stretching sheet with variable thickness. The techniques of similarity transformation and homotopy analysis method are used to find solutions. Velocity, temperature, and concentration fields are examined with the variations of governing parameters. Local Nusselt number and Sherwood number are compared for different values of variable thickness parameter. The results show that there exists a critical value of thickness parameter β

c
(β

c
≈0.7) where the Sherwood number achieves its maximum at the critical value β

c
. For β>β

c
, the distribution of nanoparticle volume fraction decreases near the surface but exhibits an opposite trend far from the surface.
Quantified Coexpression Analysis of Central Amygdala Subpopulations
Authors: McCullough Kenneth M. , Morrison Filomene G. , Hartmann Jakob , Carlezon William A. , Ressler Kerry J.
Published: January 2018

Molecular identification and characterization of fear controlling circuitries is a promising path towards developing targeted treatments of fear-related disorders. Three-colorin situhybridization analysis was used to determine whether somatostatin (SOM,Sst), neurotensin (NTS,Nts), corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF,Crf), tachykinin 2 (TAC2,Tac2), protein kinase c-δ (PKC-δ,Prkcd), and dopamine receptor 2 (DRD2,Drd2) mRNA colocalize in male mouse amygdala neurons. Expression and colocalization was examined across capsular (CeC), lateral (CeL), and medial (CeM) compartments of the central amygdala. The greatest expression ofPrkcdandDrd2were found in CeC and CeL.Crfwas expressed primarily in CeL, whileSst-,Nts-, andTac2-expressing neurons were distributed between CeL and CeM. High levels of colocalization were identified betweenSst,Nts,Crf, andTac2within the CeL, while little colocalization was detected between any mRNAs within the CeM. These findings provide a more detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate the development and maintenance of fear and anxiety behaviors.
Electrical Stimulation Modulates High γ Activity and Human Memory Performance
Authors: Kucewicz Michal T. , Berry Brent M. , Kremen Vaclav , Miller Laura R. , Khadjevand Fatemeh , Ezzyat Youssef , Stein Joel M. , Wanda Paul , Sperling Michael R. , Gorniak Richard , Davis Kathryn A. , Jobst Barbara C. , Gross Robert E. , Lega Bradley , Stead S. Matt , Rizzuto Daniel S. , Kahana Michael J. , Worrell Gregory A.
Published: January 2018

Direct electrical stimulation of the brain has emerged as a powerful treatment for multiple neurological diseases, and as a potential technique to enhance human cognition. Despite its application in a range of brain disorders, it remains unclear how stimulation of discrete brain areas affects memory performance and the underlying electrophysiological activities. Here, we investigated the effect of direct electrical stimulation in four brain regions known to support declarative memory: hippocampus (HP), parahippocampal region (PH) neocortex, prefrontal cortex (PF), and lateral temporal cortex (TC). Intracranial EEG recordings with stimulation were collected from 22 patients during performance of verbal memory tasks. We found that high γ (62–118 Hz) activity induced by word presentation was modulated by electrical stimulation. This modulatory effect was greatest for trials with “poor” memory encoding. The high γ modulation correlated with the behavioral effect of stimulation in a given brain region: it was negative, i.e., the induced high γ activity was decreased, in the regions where stimulation decreased memory performance, and positive in the lateral TC where memory enhancement was observed. Our results suggest that the effect of electrical stimulation on high γ activity induced by word presentation may be a useful biomarker for mapping memory networks and guiding therapeutic brain stimulation.