bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Design of primer pairs for species-specific diagnosis of Leishmania (Leishmania) infantum chagasi using PCR
Authors: Silveira Neto Osvaldo José da , Duarte Sabrina Castilho , Costa Hérika Xavier da , Linhares Guido Fontgalland Coelho
Published: October 2012

The objective of this study was to design and evaluate new primers for species-specific detection of L. infantum chagasi using PCR. Two combinations of primer pairs were established with the aim of obtaining specific amplification products from the L. infantum chagasi 18S rRNA gene. The combinations of the primer pairs and the respective sizes of the PCR products, based on the U422465 GenBank reference sequence of L. infantum chagasi, were: LCS1/LCS3 (259 bp) and LCS2/LCS3 (820 bp). It was concluded that the new PCR assays optimized using the primer pairs LCS1/LCS3 and LCS2/LCS3 were effective for specific detection of L. infantum chagasi, with analytical sensitivity to detect 1 pg/µL of DNA.
New host records for Amblyomma rotundatum (Acari: Ixodidae) from Grussaí restinga, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Authors: Viana Lúcio André , Winck Gisele Regina , Almeida-Santos Marlon , Telles Felipe Bottona da Silva , Gazêta Gilberto Salles , Rocha Carlos Frederico Duarte
Published: October 2012

Amblyomma rotundatum Koch is a parthenogenetic tick usually associated with reptiles and amphibians. However, relatively few studies on occurrences of ticks in wild reptile populations in Brazil have been produced. The aim of this study was to analyze the presence of ticks associated with reptile species in the Grussaí restinga, in the municipality of São João da Barra, state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Between December 2010 and January 2011, 131 individuals belonging to nine species of reptiles of the order Squamata were sampled: the lizards Tropidurus torquatus (n = 51), Hemidactylus mabouia (n = 25), Mabuya agilis (n = 30), Mabuya macrorhyncha (n = 6), Cnemidophorus littoralis (n = 5) and Ameiva ameiva (n = 10); and the snakes Philodryas olfersii (n = 2), Oxyrhopus rhombifer (n = 1) and Micrurus corallinus (n = 1). The only tick species found to be associated with any of the reptiles sampled was A. rotundatum. One adult female was detected on one individual of the lizard A. ameiva, one nymph on one individual of the lizard T. torquatus and four nymphs on one individual of the snake P. olfersii. This study is the first record of parasitism of A. rotundatum involving the reptiles T. torquatus and P. olfersii as hosts. Our results suggest that in the Grussaí restinga habitat, A. rotundatum may use different species of reptiles to complete its life cycle.
First record of Caligus mutabilis (Copepoda: Caligidae), in sea-farmed Mycteroperca microlepis (Perciformes: Serranidae) in Brazil
Authors: Sanches Eduardo Gomes , Kerber Claudia Ehlers , Paschoal Fabiano , Luque José Luis
Published: October 2012

Sea lice (copepods) are widespread pathogens in marine teleost cultivation around the world. The sea louse Caligus mutabilis Wilson, 1905, is recorded here for the first time in sea-farmed gag grouper, Mycteroperca microlepis, in Brazil.
Metacercariae of Centrocestus formosanus (Trematoda: Heterophyidae) in Australoheros facetus (Pisces: Cichlidae) in Brazil
Authors: Pinto Hudson Alves , Melo Alan Lane de
Published: October 2012

Heterophyid metacercariae were found in the gills of Australoheros facetus (Jenyns, 1842) collected from the Pampulha reservoir, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil, between February and April 2010. The cysts were counted and used to perform experimental studies (artificial excystment and infection of mice). Fifty specimens of A. facetus were analyzed and it was found that the prevalence of infection was 100% and mean infection intensity was 134 metacercariae/fish (range: 4-2,510). Significant positive correlations were seen between total fish length and intensity of infection; between fish weight and intensity of infection, and between parasite density and fish length. Morphological analyses on metacercariae and adult parasites obtained from experimentally infected mice made it possible to identify Centrocestus formosanus (Nishigori, 1924). This is the first report of C. formosanus in A. facetus in Brazil.
Molecular detection and occurrence of 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' in dairy cattle of Southern Brazil
Authors: Girotto Aline , Zangirólamo Amanda Fonseca , Bogado Alexey Leon Gomel , Souza Arnaldo Sotero Luz e , Silva Gislaine Cristina Ferreira da , Garcia João Luis , Vilas Boas Laurival Antônio , Biondo Alexander Welker , Vidotto Odilon
Published: October 2012

Bovine hemoplasmas are bacteria found on the erythrocyte surface or free in the plasma of cattle. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the occurrence of 'Candidatus Mycoplasma haemobos' ('C. M. haemobos') in Holstein and Jersey cattle raised in Londrina and surroundings, northern region of the State of Parana, Southern Brazil. PCR testing directed to 16S rRNA gene fragment was performed to investigate the occurrence and characterize the molecular identity of 'C. M. haemobos'. A total of 264/433 (60.97%) blood samples were positive by PCR. Further alignment of 500-bp amplicons to available sequences at the GenBank database showed high identity (100%) to 'C. M. haemobos'. To the author's knowledge, this is the first molecular confirmation of the hemoplasma 'C. M. haemobos' in cattle from Brazil. Moreover, 'C. M. haemobos' was observed in high occurrence in dairy cattle, and may have significant impact in livestock production.
Dude, Where's My Job?
Authors: Michaels Walter Benn
Published: October 2012

The question of what occupy wall street wants has been a hard one to answer—despite or because of Adbuster's founding call for “one” “simple” and “uncomplicated” “demand.” This is partly because the Adbuster candidate, “Democracy without Corporatocracy,” was a little vague and partly because the many specific demands that followed it—from reinstating Glass-Steagall to reforming campaign finance to establishing an “Office of the Citizen”—didn't really capture the radical spirit of the movement. What emerged as most characteristic of OWS was something like a critique of the very idea of demands: we refuse to make any because we refuse to acknowledge that anyone has the authority to accede to them, or we will make only demands that cannot be met. But this strategy, not unlike the mechanism of occupation itself, has obvious limitations: going someplace just because you're not supposed to be there and asking for something only as long as you can't possibly get it doesn't look like a recipe for changing the world.
Finding Work: James Agee in the Office
Authors: Harris Donal
Published: October 2012

James Agee and Walker Evans'sLet Us Now Praise Famous Men(1941) might be the best-known literary product of Agee's uneven career and of Time Inc.‘s golden days at the top of periodical culture. This convergence of author, institution, and text presents a case study for two undertheorized aspects of mid-century American literary history: how the rise of American media corporations, of which Time Inc. is the most successful, provides economic patronage and massive readerships for a generation of writers raised on the tenets of literary modernism and how the “corporate voice” and collective editorial model at these institutions alter conceptions of authorial production. This essay tracks how competing definitions of writing as work—either “for oneself” or “on the clock”—emerge from the context of institutional affiliation. It then shows how the epistemological question of writing as work can be read into the “mental discipline” of Time Inc. magazines’ corporate style (referred to asTimestyle) and into the recursive elision of authorial control inFamous Men.
The Conditions for after Work: Financialization and Informalization in Posttransition South Africa
Authors: Makhulu Anne-Maria
Published: October 2012

This essay situates the problem of twenty-first-century work in the global South—specifically, in South Africa—to challenge northern theories of the crisis of work. Addressing the break between Fordism and post-Fordism peculiar to the postcolonial context, it argues that new regimes of work should be understood in relation both to longer histories of colonial resistance to proletarianization (to the racisms of the shop floor) and to colonial Fordisms, as well as to the way these two factors inform the current expansion of informal employment. What practices and forms of life emerge from the precarity of informal economies and informal settlements? How are precarious modes of life connected to and informed by the steady dematerialization of the economy through financialization?
Hannah Arendt, the Jews, and the Labor of Superfluity
Authors: Bell Dorian
Published: October 2012

Perplexity has often greeted hannah arendt's decision to place an extended historical reflection on anti-Semitism at the beginning ofThe Origins of Totalitarianism, her doleful 1951 postmortem chronicling Europe's twentieth-century descent into the abyss. Seyla Benhabib proposes that to “appreciate the unity of the work as Arendt herself intended it to be read” (64), one must begin not with part 1 (“Antisemitism”) but rather with the chapter in part 3 (“Totalitarianism”) about the extermination and concentration camps. Another of Arendt's best commentators, Margaret Canovan, observes that Arendt's arrangement is “not a very helpful one” because, among other reasons, Arendt's discussion of anti-Semitism deploys key concepts like “imperialism” whose particular meanings to Arendt are only later defined. Canovan chalks up Arendt's organizational decision to “her own initial preoccupation” with anti-Semitism, as well as to “reasons of chronology” (28-29).
On the Line: Work and Choice
Authors: Castillo Debra A.
Published: October 2012

When i was invited to participate in this special issue, it was suggested that I meditate on a long-term research project I did in collaboration with the public-health scholar María Gudelia Rangel Gómez and the demographer Armando Rosas Solís, on people working in prostitution in Tijuana, a city on the United States–Mexico border. That work began in the 1990s and continued through the middle of the last decade, producing three articles on women and two on transvestite sex workers.1Looking over the raw survey data and interview transcripts in preparation for this article impressed on me once again how these people are engaged in what Saskia Sassen calls “survival circuits” between the global South and global cities like Los Angeles and Tijuana, some of them located in the North, some not. These sex workers come from all over the Mexican Republic, migrating to Tijuana—a city both Third World and global—for reasons of economic necessity, and often their stories include low-wage labor in the United States as well as participation in the informal economy in the northern border area to supplement (or mask) their primary income. Regardless of other factors, the people we surveyed and interviewed express an understanding that to live means to work and that the work they are doing is preciselywork: not organized labor, not a career path. They know that their bodies are made marginal or invisible and their voices go unheard. At the same time, while their lives may seem unimaginably harsh to many of us, in their stories they often present themselves as rational actors, making the best choices they can from among limited options for themselves and their families.
Import/Export: Housework in an International Frame
Authors: Parvulescu Anca
Published: October 2012

A close reading of Ulrich Seidl'sImport Export(2007), a film on labor migration between eastern and western Europe, provides an international frame for revisiting the second-wave feminist debate on housework. In the last two decades, “women's work” has been outsourced transnationally on a large scale, leading to the emergence of an international private sphere inhabited by a new housewife figure. The feminist housework debate of the 1970s supplies the groundwork for a critique of autonomist neo-Marxism that foregrounds the role of language, translation, and visual gesture in the contemporary import/export of labor.
Professional Subjectivity and the Attenuation of Character in J. M. Coetzee'sLife & Times of Michael K
Authors: Babcock David
Published: October 2012

Contemporary accounts of professionalism often gloss over a crucial ambiguity. On one hand,professionalhas long denoted a privileged class position, distinguishing the trained specialist from the interchangeable wage laborer. On the other hand, it has come to convey an existential pursuit of fulfillment through one's work, which extends in principle to all workers regardless of class. This essay shows how J. M. Coetzee'sLife & Times of Michael K(1983) puts pressure on this contradictory logic by situating it in the crisis of a biopolitical state, late-apartheid South Africa. In this state, with its dual mandate of welfare and security, character is impoverished, caught between the search for professional fulfillment and the barbaric violence that conditions every economic relation in the state structure. This tension generates alternative possibilities for the portrayal of character, however, as we see in the enigmatic persona of Michael K.
On the Rentier
Authors: Robbins Bruce
Published: October 2012

In Antiquity and the Middle Ages they who received slave or serf rents or in modern times rents from shares or bonds or similar sources—these are rentiers.

—Max Weber, “Politics as a Vocation”

On a long plane ride home on 1 january 2012, i saw the movie I Don't Know How She Does It (2011), a romantic comedy in which Sarah Jessica Parker plays a harried financial executive with two small children. The central issue is a common one: the conflict between work and family. And as is commonly true when this conflict is put at the center, the movie manages to be ambivalent about work without being very critical of it. It's not quite as uncritical as Mike Nichols's film Working Girl (1988), where we root for Melanie Griffith to make her spectacular rise despite the fact that the ladder she climbs is located in “Mergers and Acquisitions,” an activity then imagined as a sort of innocent corporate matchmaking. Three decades later and in an era when Occupy Wall Street has changed any number of conversations, I would like to think that studio heads have been obliged to consider possible adverse reactions to a heroine working in a financial investment firm. At any rate, I Don't Know How She Does It throws in one brief and unconvincing scene in which the upwardly mobile female exec unveils a new financial instrument that, she claims, will protect Americans' retirement income. This is, of course, an allusion, though perhaps a misguided one, to the widespread belief that if Americans today cannot retire when they had planned, it's precisely because of highly profitable trafficking in new financial instruments by companies like Sarah Jessica Parker's. But this belief (which I share) is not alluded to more directly. The only social consequences of work that seem to register are consequences for the heroine's family life. This means the movie can offer a simple solution to the work-family dilemma (no spoiler alerts: this film is already spoiled): if you're really good at your job, an appreciative boss will stop demanding that you pretend you don't also have a family. You can fly off to meet the big investors on Monday instead of leaving right now.
The Work of Genre: Labor, Identity, and Modern Capital in Wordsworth and Verga
Authors: Luzzi Joseph
Published: October 2012

Few nineteenth-century authors were as prescient as william wordsworth and giovanni verga in grasping what karl marx referred to as capitalism's power to accelerate the “wheel of history” (64). Although neither writer speculated directly on the capitalist system, each manipulated literary form to show how the new free-market ethos affected the lives of workers and, more broadly, the relation between personal and professional identity. Wordsworth's poem “Michael” (1800) and Verga's novelI Malavoglia (The House by the Medlar Tree[1881]) explore how a traditional type of labor, shepherding in “Michael” and fishing inI Malavoglia, is transformed by the advent of modern capital. This essay considers how shifts in labor suggest a literary transformation, as elements of genre in each work—the pastoral in Wordsworth's lyric, the epic in Verga's novel—are rendered obsolete by new networks of discourse pegged to modern economic practices.
Working-Class Writing and the Use Value of the Literary
Authors: Perera Sonali
Published: October 2012

Formal preoccupations, which is to say specifically literary concerns, appear in small literatures only in a second phase, when an initial stock of literary resources has been accumulated and the first international artists find themselves in a position to challenge the aesthetic assumptions associated with realism and to exploit the revolutionary advances achieved at the Greenwich meridian.

—Pascale Casanova, The World Republic of Letters

“In our country culture has become so complex, this complexity is reflected in our literature. It takes a certain level of education to understand our novelists. The ordinary man cannot understand them …” … And she reeled off a list of authors, smiling smugly. It never occurred to her that these authors had ceased to be of any value whatsoever to their society—or was it really true that an extreme height of culture and the incomprehensible went hand in hand?

—Bessie Head, A Question of Power (first ellipsis in orig.)

ON WHAT BASIS ARE SELECT TRADITIONS OF LITERARY INTERNATIONALISM RECOGNIZED AS WORLD LITERATURE AND OTHERS DEEMED MERELY historical, relics of nostalgic Marxism or of resolved debates on aesthetics and politics? According to recent influential formulations, world literature is writing that in original or translated form circulates outside the author's country of origin. But what of traditions of literary internationalism, like those of working-class writing, that reverse and displace practical, utilitarian propositions to ask, instead, in more abstract terms, what is the use value of the literary? Bessie Head's A Question of Power poses a challenge to practical definitions. What of literary texts that have global currency but aren't of “any value whatsoever to their society”?
Obscenity and Work in Early-Eighteenth-Century British Fictions
Authors: Rosenthal Laura J.
Published: October 2012

George Lillo's playthe london merchant(1731), one of the most popular tragedies of the eighteenth century, makes the case for the respectability of men who have accumulated wealth through work. Lillo takes every opportunity to display the honor of a London merchant named Thorowgood. In the opening scene, the merchant describes how he persuaded his international colleagues to withhold a loan from Spain, leaving that country unable to attack the English fleet. Thorowgood's action, from which the merchant makes no profit, is unrelated to the plot and serves only to establish his character and patriotism. In another demonstration of his honorable nature, Thorowgood insists that his daughter should marry the man she loves without regard to his fortune or status.
The Letter of Recommendation as Strange Work
Authors: Ferguson Margaret
Published: October 2012

On the one hand, the gift presents itself as a radical Other of the commodity—and therefore also of work, insofar as the latter is understood as an investment of time and energy made in the expectation of wages or profit. On the other hand, the idea of the gift seems constantly to be drawn back under the horizon of rational exchange, and to be thus endlessly re-revealed as a secret ally of both work and the Work.

—Scott Cutler Shershow,The Work and the Gift

I have put together all these details to convince you that this recommendation of mine is something out of the common.

Quae ego omnia collegi, ut intellegeres non vulgarem esse commendationem hanc meam.

—Cicero,Epistulae ad familiares, book 13

LAST FALL I FOUND IN MY OFFICE MAILBOX AN ENVELOPE FROM A SOPHOMORE ENGLISH MAJOR WHO HAD ASKED ME DURING THE SUMMER for a last-minute letter of recommendation for a scholarship competition. The envelope contained a handwritten thank-you note—and a gift certificate for a local restaurant. I e-mailed the student to thank her and to tell her that I couldn't accept the gift certificate since the letter I had written for her was part of my job as a teacher. She insisted; I insisted. She said that several teachers had turned her down before I agreed (from a hotel in Germany) to write for her. I felt rueful, as well as grateful to her for the token of gratitude that I couldn't accept. Eventually she won the debate: I accepted the printed piece of paper and took my daughters out to a free lunch.
Against Representation: Countless Hours for a Professor
Authors: Ekotto Frieda
Published: October 2012

What work does mentoring do in the academy? to answer this question, we first have to establish what mentoring is. the university of Michigan published a detailed handbook called How to Mentor Graduate Students: A Guide for Faculty, available online. One is expected to read a guide and to perform accordingly. But this guide confronts us with the difference between theory and practice and remains silent on the issue of how much time we spend mentoring.
Peer Mentoring in the Academy
Authors: Johnson Roberta
Published: October 2012

In memory of my mentors, who were without peer: Howard T. Young, Andrew P. Debicki, and E. Inman Fox

When athena wished to advise telemachus on his quest for his long-absent father, odysseus, she slipped into the guise of mentor, the tutor in whose care Odysseus had left his son and household. Respected, wise, war-savvy Athena preferred to counsel her mentee or protégé in the form of a human male rather than as a female goddess. The Greek story suggests the matters of hierarchy, selection, approach, relationships, and gender addressed in the proliferating literature on workplace mentoring. Athena's maneuvers behind the scenes also remind us that, compared with teaching, doing research, writing, advising, serving on local and national committees, editing, applying for grants, and evaluating colleagues and manuscripts, mentoring is perhaps the least recognized and least rewarded aspect of our academic work. The related but substantially different work of advising has achieved a more formal place in academic reviews. Although journals, books, and articles devoted to mentoring attempt to codify the practice and assign it a formal place in the constellation of our working lives, mentoring continues to be elusive, difficult to define, and unevenly carried out. I argue here that this ragged, catch-as-catch-can situation is not necessarily a bad thing. Overinstitutionalization could stifle the vitality of mentoring relationships, which flourish optimally when they are spontaneous, mutual, and open-ended.
Public Stakes, Public Stories: Service Learning in Literary Studies
Authors: Schwartz Marcy
Published: October 2012

Discussions about academic work often tangle with the seemingly bifurcating demands of teaching and research. occasionally, they celebrate how the two endeavors nurture each other. These professional divisions, which George Levine a decade ago called a “combat” scenario between “two nations” (9), have not been reconciled since then. Despite that persistent tension, when I shifted my professional energies to the academy after several years of community-based social work with not-for-profit organizations serving Hispanic populations, the challenges of balancing teaching and research were not my only concerns. I also wondered how I could incorporate community service into the multiple demands of academic life. Would there be time to devote to the community? Would I find academic work in an area where I might have something to contribute beyond the campus? Aside from location and time constraints, would I find a way to integrate into my faculty identity an engagement with the wider society, or would those endeavors be relegated to a separate self, dissociated from my academic world? I anticipated that extensions of my teaching and scholarship might connect with realms outside the academy. Accepting the challenge, I patiently observed my campus and surrounding community, searching for opportunities for interaction.
Stiffness of sands through a laboratory test database
Authors: OZTOPRAK S. , BOLTON M.D.
Published: October 2012

Deformations of sandy soils around geotechnical structures generally involve strains in the range small (0·01%) to medium (0·5%). In this strain range the soil exhibits non-linear stress–strain behaviour, which should be incorporated in any deformation analysis. In order to capture the possible variability in the non-linear behaviour of various sands, a database was constructed including the secant shear modulus degradation curves of 454 tests from the literature. By obtaining a unique S-shaped curve of shear modulus degradation, a modified hyperbolic relationship was fitted. The three curve-fitting parameters are: an elastic threshold strain γe, up to which the elastic shear modulus is effectively constant at G0; a reference strain γr, defined as the shear strain at which the secant modulus has reduced to 0·5G0; and a curvature parameter a, which controls the rate of modulus reduction. The two characteristic strains γeand γrwere found to vary with sand type (i.e. uniformity coefficient), soil state (i.e. void ratio, relative density) and mean effective stress. The new empirical expression for shear modulus reduction G/G0is shown to make predictions that are accurate within a factor of 1·13 for one standard deviation of random error, as determined from 3860 data points. The initial elastic shear modulus, G0, should always be measured if possible, but a new empirical relation is shown to provide estimates within a factor of 1·6 for one standard deviation of random error, as determined from 379 tests. The new expressions for non-linear deformation are easy to apply in practice, and should be useful in the analysis of geotechnical structures under static loading.
Discrete-element study of the swelling behaviour of Na-montmorillonite
Authors: ANANDARAJAH A. , AMARASINGHE P.M.
Published: October 2012

The roles of crystalline and osmotic swelling in the overall swelling of a volume of clay are poorly understood. In this paper, the swelling behaviour is simulated using the discrete-element method (DEM). The interparticle forces include mechanical, attractive (van der Waals), and repulsive (double-layer and interlayer) forces. Except for the interlayer repulsion, rational force–displacement relations had been established in previous publications. A systematic molecular dynamic study has recently been completed to establish the interlayer force–displacement relation. These relations are synthesised into a DEM study in the present paper. Numerical experiments are conducted by first forming dry powder assemblies and then saturating them under constant volume. The changes in internal fabric and the swelling pressures developing on the walls are evaluated. It is found that particles expand and fill up the interparticle pore spaces. The predicted relation of void ratio against swelling pressure is found to be reasonably close to that experimentally measured by others in the past. The results also indicate that the crystalline swelling influences swelling pressure values only when the void ratio is smaller than a certain value.
Effects on Dentin Treated with Eluted Multi-Mineral Varnish In Vitro
Authors: Karlinsey Robert L , Mackey Allen C , Schwandt Craig S
Published: October 2012

Purpose:

The purpose of this pilot study was to assess the non-contact effects of a NaF varnish on the morphology and elemental compositions of sound and demineralized dentin in an in vitro pH cycling model.

Methods:

3 mm diameter dentin cores were extracted from bovine teeth, mounted in acrylic rods, and ground and polished. Sound and demineralized (in 10 mL unstirred 50% citric acid (pH = 1.2) for two minutes) specimens were divided into four groups (N=6) corresponding to treatments with either water (control group) or non-contact Vanish® 5% NaF White Varnish with tri-calcium phosphate (3M ESPE). For the non-contact varnish group, one 0.50 ml unit-dose was applied to acrylic rods and positioned in the same stopper as three dentin specimens. The four groups were then cycled in a regimen consisting of three rounds of one-hour treatments with each round followed by immersion in a three-minute static acid challenge (0.3% citric acid, pH = 3.8). For each one-hour treatment immersion the test groups were immersed in distilled water. The specimens were thoroughly rinsed with distilled water after each treatment and after each acid challenge. After the last challenge, specimens were rinsed with distilled water and immersed in artificial saliva (AS) overnight. All treatments, acid challenges and immersion in AS solution were performed in an incubator set at 37°C. After three days, the specimens were assessed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).

Results:

SEM and EDS results demonstrated the non-contact varnish group can provide mineralization benefits relative to the control group for both sound and demineralized dentin substrates. Depositions from mineral eluting from the varnish developed on the intertubular and intratubular regions alike, with the most prominent depositions appearing on initially demineralized dentin.

Conclusions:

In this observational study, acid-resistant mineral depositions were produced on the sound and dentin surfaces without direct application from a multi-mineral varnish containing fluoride, calcium and phosphate.
Glucocorticoid-Induced Avascular Bone Necrosis: Diagnosis and Management
Authors: Chan KL , Mok CC
Published: October 2012

Glucocorticoid use is one of the most important causes of avascular bone necrosis (AVN). The pathogenesis of glucocorticoid-induced AVN is not fully understood but postulated mechanisms include fat hypertrophy, fat emboli and intravascular coagulation that cause impedance of blood supply to the bones. Data regarding the relationship between AVN and dosage, route of administration and treatment duration of glucocorticoids are conflicting, with some studies demonstrating the cumulative dose of glucocorticoid being the most important determining factor. Early recognition of this complication is essential as the prognosis is affected by the stage of the disease. Currently, there is no consensus on whether universal screening of asymptomatic AVN should be performed for long-term glucocorticoid users. A high index of suspicion should be exhibited for bone and joint pain at typical sites. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or bone scintigraphy is more sensitive than plain radiograph for diagnosing early-stage AVN. Conservative management of AVN includes rest and reduction of weight bearing. Minimization of glucocorticoid dose or a complete withdrawal of the drug should be considered if the underlying conditions allow. The efficacy of bisphosphonates in reducing the rate of collapse of femoral head in AVN is controversial. Surgical therapy of AVN includes core decompression, osteotomy, bone grafting and joint replacement. Recent advances in the treatment of AVN include the use of tantalum rod and the development of more wear resistant bearing surface in hip arthroplasty.
Factors Associated with Lifetime HIV Testing in Texas by Race/Ethnicity
Authors: Benavides-Torres Raquel A , Wall Kristin M , Núñez Rocha Georgina Máyela , Onofre Rodríguez Dora Julia , Hopson Laura
Published: October 2012

Introduction:

In United States, roughly 1/5 of all HIV infected persons remain undiagnosed. Because HIV testing is critical to improve prevention efforts, more research is needed to understand the characteristics of individuals who get tested for HIV.

Methods:

This secondary analysis of the 2010 Texas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System used data from 9,744 respondents between 18-64 years of age to evaluate the relationship between demographic characteristics (gender, race/ethnicity, age, area of residence, education, marital status, employment status, and income), healthcare characteristics (insurance status, having a primary provider, and access to healthcare), and HIV risk behaviors with ever having received an HIV test.

Results:

Significant associations between gender, age, area of residence, marital and employment status, and HIV risk behaviors and HIV testing in a Texas population by race/ethnicity were observed.

Conclusions:

These findings have important implications for future research into racial/ethnic disparities between lifetime HIV testing, and can help guide practitioners who work with populations at risk for HIV/AIDS in Texas.
The Auditor's Approach to Subsequent Events: Insights from the Academic Literature
Authors: Chung Janne O. Y. , Cullinan Charles P. , Frank Michele , Long James H. , Mueller-Phillips Jennifer , O'Reilly Dennis M.
Published: October 2012

Approximately one-third of the PCAOB's inspection reports and several SEC enforcement releases identify deficiencies in the audit of subsequent events (SEs). Despite these issues, little research has been conducted to understand how and why these deficiencies occur. This paper integrates the psychology and behavioral accounting literatures to develop a model of the factors that influence the effectiveness of SE audit procedures. The model suggests that the effectiveness of these procedures is largely influenced by the auditor's cognitive processing mode, which is initially affected by environmental, individual, and task-specific factors. Our model provides a theoretical basis for future research into the causes of these deficiencies and suggests potential mitigating strategies that auditors can employ to improve the effectiveness of the audit of SEs. We conclude with a discussion of the implications arising from the model for professionals, standard setters, and researchers.
A Confirmatory Investigation of a Job Demands-Resources Model Using a Categorical Estimator
Authors: de Beer Leon , Rothmann Sebastiaan , Pienaar Jaco
Published: October 2012

A confirmatory investigation of a job demands-resources model was conducted with alternative methods, in a sample of 15, 633 working adults aggregated from various economic sectors. The proposed model is in line with job demands-resources theory and assumes two psychological processes at work which are collectively coined “the dual process.” The first process, the energetic, presents that job demands lead to ill-health outcomes due to burnout. The second process, the motivational, indicates that job resources lead to organizational commitment due to work engagement. Structural equation modelling analyses were implemented with a categorical estimator. Mediation analyses of each of the processes included bootstrapped indirect effects and kappa-squared values to apply qualitative labels to effect sizes. The relationship between job resources and organizational commitment was mediated by engagement with a large effect. The relationship between job demands and ill-health was mediated by burnout with a medium effect. The implications of the results for theory and practice were discussed.
Revisiting the Reliability and Validity of the Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation Scale in China
Authors: Miao Qing
Published: October 2012

The Entrepreneurial Attitude Orientation (EAO) scale is a multidimensional self-report measure of attitudes toward entrepreneurship. Few studies have tested the validity and reliability of the EAO scale in different social and cultural situations. The present study examined the generalizability of the EAO scale in a Chinese context using a two-wave survey. Exploratory factor analysis with the first wave data revealed a four-factor solution consistent with the original scale with 5 items removed. Confirmatory factor analysis of the secondary wave data verified the hypothesized model with a group of parameters and an overall satisfactory fit. The analysis indicated that the Cronbach's α of the four subscales were similar to the values reported by the developers of the scale. However, the results of the test-retest r of the four subscales were lower than the original reports. The findings generally support the generalizability of the four-dimensional model of the EAO. Further research questions are discussed.
Multidimensional Relationships between Paternalistic Leadership and Perceptions of Organizational Ethical Climates
Authors: Wu Yu-Chi , Tsai Ping Ju
Published: October 2012

This study investigated how paternalistic leadership is linked to ethical climates based on a multidimensional construct perspective. This experimental study utilized the partial least squares (PLS) techniques to analyze the data. Participants were 258 civil servants working in various public sectors in Taiwan, who were asked to rate their leaders' paternalistic leadership behaviors and their perception of the ethical climates in their organizations using the Paternalistic Leadership Scale and the Ethical Climate Questionnaire. Using the unidimensional constructs of paternalistic leadership and ethical climates, prior research showed evidence of a positive relationship; however, in the current study, multidimensional relations among these constructs may be positive or negative. The findings of this study suggested that leaders may implement specific types of paternalistic leadership to enhance the intended ethical climate in their organizations.
Correspondence and Discrepancies between Mothers' and Teachers' Ratings of Internalizing and Externalizing Psychopathology: A Study of 2- and 3-Year-Old Chinese Children
Authors: Zhang Xiao , Ke Xue , Yang Zhihui
Published: October 2012

In a sample of 2- and 3-yr.-old Chinese children ( N = 156), mothers' and teachers' ratings showed modest correspondence on boys' internalizing psychopathology but no correspondence on girls' internalizing. Mothers' and teachers' ratings also showed no correspondence on externalizing psychopathology across child's gender. Mothers' ratings were found to be significantly higher than teachers' ratings on externalizing.
Construction of a Memory Battery for Computerized Administration, Using Item-Response Theory
Authors: Ferreira Aristides I. , Almeida Leandro S. , Prieto Gerardo
Published: October 2012

In accordance with Item Response Theory, a computer memory battery with six tests was constructed for use in the Portuguese adult population. A factor analysis was conducted to assess the internal structure of the tests ( N = 547 undergraduate students). According to the literature, several confirmatory factor models were evaluated. Results showed better fit of a model with two independent latent variables corresponding to verbal and non-verbal factors, reproducing the initial battery organization. Internal consistency reliability for the six tests were α = .72 to .89. IRT analyses (Rasch and partial credit models) yielded good Infit and Outfit measures and high precision for parameter estimation. The potential utility of these memory tasks for psychological research and practice will be discussed.
Assessing the Predictive Validity of the Admission Process in a Master's Level Speech Language Pathology Program
Authors: Kjelgaard Margaret M. , Guarino A. J.
Published: October 2012

Astin's Input-Environment-Outcome (I-E-O) model served as the theoretical foundation to assess (a) undergraduate GPA, (b) undergraduate Speech Language Pathology majors, and (c, d) GRE-Q and GRE-V scores (Input) as predictors of students' graduate GPA (Environment), and graduate GPA as a predictor of PRAXIS scores (Outcome). The sample for this study was 122 students who completed the Speech-Language Pathology Program in recent academic cycles at a graduate school in the northeastern United States. The sample was representative of other programs in the country in terms of gender, undergraduate GPA, and GRE scores. Results appear to support the predictive validity of the linear combination of the input predictors of the environment variable (GPA) and of the environment variable on the outcome, i.e., PRAXIS scores.
The Influence of Sex Difference on Self-Reference Effects in a Male-Dominated Culture
Authors: Song Xuan , Shang Rui , Bi Qi , Zhang Xin , Wu Yanhong
Published: October 2012

52 secondary school students from the Chaoshan, China, area, where males are highly valued, were examined for self-reference, mother-reference, and father-reference effects. Because the father is the primary role model in Chaoshan culture, it was predicted that male participants would demonstrate a father-reference effect while females would show a mother-reference effect. The results confirmed that females showed significant self-, mother-, and father-reference effects in terms of memory performance, while males showed only a significant father-reference effect and a marginally significant self-reference effect. This study highlights the importance of researching subcultures such as the Chaoshan subculture to gain a comprehensive understanding of self-construct.
Implicit Association between Authentic Pride and Prestige Compared to Hubristic Pride and Dominance
Authors: Liu Conghui , Lu Kuan , Yu Guoliang , Chen Chuansheng
Published: October 2012

Tracy and Robins proposed that pride has authentic and hubristic facets. Cheng, Tracy, and Henrich reported these two facets were based on prestige and dominance, respectively. Nine experiments were conducted in the current study to examine the implicit associations between words related to authentic and hubristic pride and those related to prestige and dominance. Implicit language association between authentic pride and high prestige status was strong, but that between hubristic pride and high dominance status was weak, suggesting that the authentic pride words might automatically convey a strong signal of high prestige status, whereas hubristic pride words might convey a weak signal of high dominance status.
Promise of, Problems with, and Potential Refinement of the “Extremely Short Form of the CBQ”: A Comment on Sleddens, et al. (2012)
Authors: Putnam Samuel P.
Published: October 2012

The extremely short (one item, three response options) temperament scale introduced by Sleddens, Hughes, O'Connor, Beltran, Baranowski, Nicklas, et al. (2012) is a valuable contribution that can be useful for future research and applications of temperament. Requiring parents to classify children as high on Effortful Control, Negative Affectivity, or Surgency / Extraversion, however, is counter to the dimensional approach through which these temperament factors were derived. This inappropriate imposition of a typology leads to a degree of imprecision in measurement that may have substantial practical implications. It is recommended that, instead, children be rated on each of these three dimensions. Alternatively, a single-item approach should include choices between groups identified through person-based analyses.
Assessment of Reliability and Validity of the Turkish Version of Heartland Forgiveness Scale
Authors: Bugay Asli , Demir Ayhan , Delevi Raquel
Published: October 2012

The current study investigated the reliability and validity of the Turkish version of the Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS). The Turkish version of the HFS, the Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), and the Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS) were administered to 796 Turkish university students (430 women, 366 men) with a mean age of 20.6 yr. ( SD = 2.1). Internal consistency reliability was calculated and Cronbach alpha coefficients ranged between .71 and .82. Criterion validity (Pearson correlation) between the HFS and other scales ranged from −.09 to .34. Additionally, a confirmatory factor analysis was conducted to assess the fit of the standard three-factor solution of the HFS. The results suggested that the Turkish version of the HFS had adequate internal consistency, criterion validity, and reflected the standard three-factor structure, indicating that it can be reliably used to measure forgiveness among a Turkish sample.
Pathways to Depressive Symptoms in Young Adults: Examining Affective, Self-Regulatory, and Cognitive Vulnerability Factors
Authors: Arger Chris , Sánchez Orlando , Simonson Jordan , Mezulis Amy
Published: October 2012

Recent models of depression (e.g., from Hyde and colleagues) have integrated affective and cognitive vulnerability factors, positing that a temperamental factor (i.e., negative emotionality) contributes to the development of cognitive vulnerability factors, which in turn conveys risk for depressive symptoms. Recent literature suggests that effortful control may reduce the strength of the relationship between affective and cognitive factors. However, few studies have examined the different cognitive vulnerability factors (cognitive style, brooding, and stress-reactive rumination) through which negative emotionality contributes to depressive symptoms, or how effortful control may influence these paths. 315 young adults (72% women, M age = 20.7 yr., SD = 1.4) answered psychometric measures of temperament factors (negative emotionality and effortful control), and three cognitive vulnerability factors (cognitive style, brooding, stress-reactive rumination), and depressive symptoms. Two hypotheses were tested concerning mediation and moderation of the relationship between negative emotionality and depressive symptoms. Cognitive style and brooding were significant mediators of this relationship, while effortful control did not moderate relations between negative emotionality and cognitive vulnerability factors. Results support models that integrate affective and cognitive vulnerability factors predicting depressive symptoms.
Personality Traits of Turkish Handgun License Applicants
Authors: Selek Salih , Can Serdar S. , Yabanoglu Ihsan
Published: October 2012

Several theories have sought to explain the motivations for handgun possession and the relationship with personality. Perception of handguns also has cultural variations. The aim of the study is to evaluate handgun license applicants' personality profiles. 109 handgun license applicants were included in the study. Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI) scores of the applicants were recorded. Scores were compared with Turkish and American normative data for the Inventory. The study group had significantly lower subscores on novelty seeking, harm avoidance, and higher subscores on reward dependence and persistence compared to Turkish norms and significantly lower subscores on novelty seeking, reward dependence, and self-directedness compared to American norms. Results indicate that Turkish handgun license applicants' personality features are more similar to American norms.
Computer versus Paper-and-Pencil Assessment of Educational Development: A Comparison of Psychometric Features and Examinee Preferences
Authors: Boo Jaeyool , Vispoel Walter
Published: October 2012

The purposes of this study were to assess the comparability of scores obtained from computer and paper-and-pencil versions of the Iowa Tests of Educational Development and to evaluate examinees' attitudes about multiple aspects of test administration in the two modes. Findings supported the comparability of scores across administration modes with regard to scaling (means and standard deviations), internal consistency, and criterion- and construct-related validity. Overall, examinees preferred taking the computerized tests and valued many operational features of those tests. The least favorable attitudes were reported for the literary skills tests and their scrollable reading passages in particular.
Defeat and Entrapment as Predictors of Depression and Suicidal Ideation versus Hopelessness and Helplessness
Authors: Lester David
Published: October 2012

In a sample of 140 undergraduate students, measures of defeat and entrapment and of haplessness, helplessness, and hopelessness were similar in their ability to predict depression and suicidality. It was concluded that the two sets of measures may tap the same cognitive mind set.