bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of autonomic nerves on Dickkopf-3 expression in the uterus during early pregnancy of rats
Authors: Ning Shujie , Wang Yalin , Yuan Xuejun , Wang Shuying , Huang Libo
Published: October 2015

To explore how uterine innervations affect expression of Dickkopf-3 (DKK-3) during peri-implantation, we first examined the consequence of uterine neurectomy on embryo implantation events. We observed that amputation of autonomic nerves innervating the uterus led to the failure of on-time implantation in rats. We then analyzed the effect of neurectomy on expression of DKK-3 further using immunohistochemistry and quantitative real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We observed that disconnection of autonomic nerve innervation significantly increased DKK-3 expression in the endometrium before and during invasion of the blastocyst. We also observed high levels of DKK-3 immunoreactivity in the vasculature of the uterus during peri-implantation. Thus, we speculate that DKK-3 may relate to implantation. Besides, our findings provide a new line of evidence that DKK-3 may be regulated by the autonomic nervous system.
A Paper Ceiling
Authors: Shor Eran , van de Rijt Arnout , Miltsov Alex , Kulkarni Vivek , Skiena Steven
Published: October 2015

In the early twenty-first century, women continue to receive substantially less media coverage than men, despite women’s much increased participation in public life. Media scholars argue that actors in news organizations skew news coverage in favor of men and male-related topics. However, no previous study has systematically examined whether such media bias exists beyond gender ratio imbalances in coverage that merely mirror societal-level structural and occupational gender inequalities. Using novel longitudinal data, we empirically isolate media-level factors and examine their effects on women’s coverage rates in hundreds of newspapers. We find that societal-level inequalities are the dominant determinants of continued gender differences in coverage. The media focuses nearly exclusively on the highest strata of occupational and social hierarchies, in which women’s representation has remained poor. We also find that women receive greater exposure in newspaper sections led by female editors, as well as in newspapers whose editorial boards have higher female representation. However, these differences appear to be mostly correlational, as women’s coverage rates do not noticeably improve when male editors are replaced by female editors in a given newspaper.
Influence of Input Hardware and Work Surface Angle on Upper Limb Posture in a Hybrid Computer Workstation
Authors: Kingston David C. , Riddell Maureen F. , McKinnon Colin D. , Gallagher Kaitlin M. , Callaghan Jack P.
Published: October 2015

Objective:

We evaluated the effect of work surface angle and input hardware on upper-limb posture when using a hybrid computer workstation.

Background:

Offices use sit-stand and/or tablet workstations to increase worker mobility. These workstations may have negative effects on upper-limb joints by increasing time spent in non-neutral postures, but a hybrid standing workstation may improve working postures.

Method:

Fourteen participants completed office tasks in four workstation configurations: a horizontal or sloped 15° working surface with computer or tablet hardware. Three-dimensional right upper-limb postures were recorded during three tasks: reading, form filling, and writing e-mails. Amplitude probability distribution functions determined the median and range of upper-limb postures.

Results:

The sloped-surface tablet workstation decreased wrist ulnar deviation by 5° when compared to the horizontal-surface computer when reading. When using computer input devices (keyboard and mouse), the shoulder, elbow, and wrist were closest to neutral joint postures when working on a horizontal work surface. The elbow was 23° and 15° more extended, whereas the wrist was 6° less ulnar deviated, when reading compared to typing forms or e-mails.

Conclusion:

We recommend that the horizontal-surface computer configuration be used for typing and the sloped-surface tablet configuration be used for intermittent reading tasks in this hybrid workstation.

Application:

Offices with mobile employees could use this workstation for alternating their upper-extremity postures; however, other aspects of the device need further investigation.
Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management
Authors: Cummings Stephen , Bridgman Todd , Brown Kenneth G
Published: October 2015

Kurt Lewin’s ‘changing as three steps’ (unfreezing → changing → refreezing) is regarded by many as the classic or fundamental approach to managing change. Lewin has been criticized by scholars for over-simplifying the change process and has been defended by others against such charges. However, what has remained unquestioned is the model’s foundational significance. It is sometimes traced (if it is traced at all) to the first article ever published in Human Relations. Based on a comparison of what Lewin wrote about changing as three steps with how this is presented in later works, we argue that he never developed such a model and it took form after his death. We investigate how and why ‘changing as three steps’ came to be understood as the foundation of the fledgling subfield of change management and to influence change theory and practice to this day, and how questioning this supposed foundation can encourage innovation.
Beyond choice: ‘Thick’ volunteering and the case of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Authors: O’Toole Michelle , Grey Chris
Published: October 2015

This article problematizes the dominant assumption in the literature on volunteer work that it is undertaken primarily as a matter of individual choice. Using findings from a qualitative study of volunteers at the not-for-profit organization, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, it is shown that volunteering exists within a dense web of social relations, especially familial and communal relations, so that volunteering is recursively constituted by structure and agency. The concept of ‘thick volunteering’ is developed to denote how in some cases these social relations, especially when the work involved is dangerous, may make volunteering especially significant.
Are the Effects of Minimum Wage Increases Always Small? A Reanalysis of Sabia, Burkhauser, and Hansen
Authors: Hoffman Saul D.
Published: October 2015

In a 2012 article, Sabia, Burkhauser, and Hansen reported very large negative effects of the 2004 to 2006 increase in the New York State minimum wage on the employment of young, less-educated workers. Hoffman reexamines their estimates using data from the full Current Population Survey (CPS), rather than the smaller CPS-MORG files they used, and finds no evidence of a negative employment impact. The full CPS, which is the source of U.S. official labor market statistics, is certainly the more appropriate and reliable data source. Furthermore, when Hoffman repeats the analysis using three states and the District of Columbia, which also had a substantial increase in the state minimum wage in the same time period, he finds evidence of a small positive employment effect. Together, the two findings are consistent with other, more recent research that reports very weak or zero employment effects of the minimum wage.
Investigating the robustness of the agricultural supply chain based on colored Petri nets
Authors: Chen Wen chong , Li Jing , Wen Dan ping
Published: October 2015

Increased complexity and decentralized operations of farmers in China add to the management and control difficulties of the agricultural supply chain (ASC). Using a supply chain simulation is an effective way to investigate the robustness of the supply chain while considering uncertainties in the environment. This study proposed colored Petri nets to model the ASC with uncertainty risks, and the simulation model was able to give directions regarding the maximization of system performance by running different simulation experiments. Then, robust metric models were set up in regard to the delivery time and quantity of the supply chain. The entire system performance was analyzed through using these metric models. Finally, robust optimal strategies were investigated in order to maintain the robustness of the ASC by selecting a suitable partner quantity.
Amman as social auditor
Authors: Maunaguru Sidharthan
Published: October 2015

Between 1983 and 2009, thousands of Tamils displaced from Sri Lanka settled in countries such as the United Kingdom (UK). A prominent practice among diasporic Tamils in the UK has been to establish Hindu temples. These temples are sites for the collection and transmission of funds to Tamils in Sri Lanka for the purpose of charity. In 2005, the UK Charity Commission filed complaints against a few such temples alleging the misappropriation of funds. Such allegations were met with forceful denial by the concerned temple trust leaders. I examine one temple charity trust leader’s mode of address to the UK government from which it becomes evident that (i) the official charges of financial misappropriation were understood by him as charges of moral corruption, indicating a vulnerability to aiding terrorism. He felt the necessity to redress such charges with an openness to external investigation, but also (ii) felt it important to insist that the UK government understand the gift-giving idiom within which the temple’s charity work was located such that any charges of moral corruption had to take into account the goddess deity, the Amman, in whose capacity the temples were collecting charity and who ensured that funds were not misused. She was literally the auditor of funds, and (iii) at the same time, there was an acknowledgement by the wider immigrant community that changing times and motivations for the giving of charity may have made the deity vulnerable to moral corruption.
An Exploration of Deception Detection: Are Groups More Effective Than Individuals?
Authors: McHaney Roger , George Joey F. , Gupta Manjul
Published: October 2015

Deception is a pervasive problem often found in human behavior. This study investigates why past deception studies have found groups perform no better than individuals in detection using time-interaction-performance theory which suggests teams are not immediately effective. Only after establishing relational links is their potential reached. Established groups spend less time building relational links and instead focus on task-oriented activities more effectively. We sought to determine whether groups with prior history of interaction outperform individuals in deception detection. First, participants were randomly assigned to an individual or ad hoc group role. Later, additional preexisting work groups were recruited. Participants were instructed to identify deception in online video interviews. The experiment tested theoretical explanations regarding cohesion, interaction, and satisfaction as components of relational links and relationships to deception detection. Results indicated that groups which exhibited higher levels of relational links, that is, established groups, were more accurate in deception detection than ad hoc groups.
Discovering Economic History in Footnotes
Authors: Ma Debin , Yuan Weipeng
Published: October 2015

The account books of the Tong Taisheng 统泰升 grocery store in Ningjin county of northern China in 1800–1850 constitute the most complete and integrated surviving archive of a family business in premodern China. They contain unusually detailed and high-quality statistics on exchange rates, commodity prices, and so on. Utilized once in the 1950s, the archive had been left largely untouched until our recent, almost accidental rediscovery. This article introduces this unique set of materials and traces the personal history of the original owner and donor. The story of this archive encapsulates the history of modern China and how the preservation and interpretation of evidence and records of Chinese economic statistics were profoundly impacted by the development of political ideology in modern and contemporary China. We briefly discuss the historiographical and epistemological implications of our findings for the current Great Divergence debate.
History and philosophy of geography III
Authors: Powell Richard C.
Published: October 2015

Using ideas on the pedagogy of geographical thought from John Henry Newman and Neil Smith as inspiration, this progress report discusses recent work in the history and philosophy of geography. In doing so, it identifies a series of emergent themes including concerns for canonicity, biography, institutional history and enchantment. A tension in current work between historical geographies of geographical knowledge that are attuned to sites, institutions and materiality and a resurgent history of geographical concepts is discussed. In concluding, it is argued that historians of geography need to engage with related developments in intellectual history about materiality and spatial approaches.
The Diagnostic and Therapeutic Impact of Point-of-Care Ultrasonography in the Intensive Care Unit
Authors: Bernier-Jean Amélie , Albert Martin , Shiloh Ariel L. , Eisen Lewis A. , Williamson David , Beaulieu Yanick
Published: October 2015

Purpose:

In light of point-of-care ultrasonography’s (POCUS) recent rise in popularity, assessment of its impact on diagnosis and treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) is of key importance.

Methods:

Ultrasound examinations were collected through an ultrasound reporting software in 6 multidisciplinary ICU units from 3 university hospitals in Canada and the United States. This database included a self-reporting questionnaire to assess the impact of the ultrasound findings on diagnosis and treatment. We retrieved the results of these questionnaires and analyzed them in relation to which organs were assessed during the ultrasound examination.

Results:

One thousand two hundred and fifteen ultrasound studies were performed on 968 patients. Intensivists considered the image quality of cardiac ultrasound to be adequate in 94.7% compared to 99.7% for general ultrasound ( P < .001). The median duration of a cardiac examination was 10 (interquartile range [IQR] 10) minutes compared to 5 (IQR 8) minutes for a general examination ( P < .001). Overall, ultrasound findings led to a change in diagnosis in 302 studies (24.9%) and to a change in management in 534 studies (44.0%). A change in diagnosis or management was reported more frequently for cardiac ultrasound than for general ultrasound (108 [37.1%] vs 127 [16.5%], P < .001) and (170 [58.4%] vs 270 [35.1%], P < .001). Assessment of the inferior vena cava for fluid status emerged as the critical care ultrasound application associated with the greatest impact on management.

Conclusion:

Point-of-care ultrasonography has the potential to optimize care of the critically ill patients when added to the clinical armamentarium of the intensive care physician.
Developing young athletes: The role of private sport schools in the Norwegian sport system
Authors: Kristiansen Elsa , Houlihan Barrie
Published: October 2015

The aim of the paper is to analyse the increasingly prominent role of private sports schools in the development of elite athletes in Norway. The context for the analysis is the apparent paradox between the emergence of a network of sports schools, the most successful of which are private and require that parents pay a fee, and the social democratic values of Norway. Data were collected through a series of interviews with 35 respondents from nine stakeholder groups, including athletes, coaches, parents and sport school managers. The research describes an elite sport system that is successful in producing medal-winning athletes, but which is organisationally fragmented, uncoordinated and under-funded with regard to youth talent identification and development and susceptible to tensions between key actors. The primary analytical framework is Kingdon’s multiple streams framework augmented by path dependency theory. The findings include, a picture of an elite youth sport development system in which multiple and overlapping problems have received, at best, only partial policy solutions some of which, such as the growth of private sports schools, have emerged by default. When focusing attention on the relationship between structure and agency in the policy process it is argued that the government, through its inaction, has allowed sports schools the policy space to expand. The consequence is that the government has, whether deliberately or not, enabled the strengthening of a commercial elite youth sport development system, while still preserving its egalitarian and non-interventionist credentials.
Emotion response and regulation to “happy” and “sad” music stimuli: Partial synchronization of subjective and physiological responses
Authors: White Elizabeth L. , Rickard Nikki S.
Published: October 2015

Music has been demonstrated to induce strong emotional responses in listeners, but listeners’ capacity to regulate this response has not yet been experimentally examined. In this study, 32 participants ( Mage = 20.22 years, SD = 2.45; 72% female) listened to short music excerpts (four “happy” and four “sad” pieces) with instructions to “feel” or to “regulate” (specifically, “reduce” sadness or “strengthen” happiness) the emotional response to the music. Self-reported “sadness” and “happiness” ratings and physiological responses (skin conductance and heart rate) were recorded at baseline and continuously across all conditions. Under the “feel” instruction, both “happy” and “sad” music resulted in an increase in self-reported emotion ratings, and a decline in skin conductance and heart rate. These responses were effectively regulated for both “happy” and “sad” music across all measures except heart rate response. These findings partially support the prediction that music would induce coherent changes across self-reported and physiological measures during both emotion induction and emotion regulation.
Community Palliative Care Nurses’ Challenges and Coping Strategies on Delivering Home-Based Pediatric Palliative Care
Authors: Chong LeeAi , Abdullah Adina
Published: October 2015

Objective:

The aim of this study was to explore the experience of community palliative care nurses providing home care to children.

Method:

A qualitative study was conducted at the 3 community palliative care provider organizations in greater Kuala Lumpur from August to October 2014. Data were collected with semistructured interviews with 16 nurses who have provided care to children and was analyzed using thematic analysis. Two categories were identified: (1) challenges nurses faced and (2) coping strategies. The themes identified from the categories are (1) communication challenges, (2) inadequate training and knowledge, (3) personal suffering, (4) challenges of the system, (5) intrapersonal coping skills, (6) interpersonal coping strategies, and (7) systemic supports.

Conclusions:

These results reinforces the need for integration of pediatric palliative care teaching and communication skills training into all undergraduate health care programs. Provider organizational support to meet the specific needs of the nurses in the community can help retain them in their role. It will also be important to develop standards for current and new palliative care services to ensure delivery of quality pediatric palliative care.
Therapeutic Potential and Critical Analysis of the PCSK9 Monoclonal Antibodies Evolocumab and Alirocumab
Authors: White C. Michael
Published: October 2015

Objective: To review the mechanism of action for PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies and critically evaluate the therapeutic potential of evolocumab and alirocumab in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Data Sources: Ovid MEDLINE search from 1980 to August 2015 using the terms PCSK9, evolocumab, and alirocumab with forward and backward citation tracking. Study Selection and Data Extraction: English-language trials and studies assessing the mechanism, efficacy, or safety of PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies were included. Data Synthesis: PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies have a potent ability to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) by almost 50% in controlled trials: −47.49% (95% CI = −69.6% to −25.4%). They have an acceptable safety profile with no significant elevations in Creatine Kinase (CK) (odds ratio [OR] = 0.72; 95% CI = 0.54 to 0.96) or serious adverse events (OR = 1.01; 95% CI = 0.87 to 1.18), and preliminary evidence suggests reductions in myocardial infarction (OR = 0.49; 95% CI = 0.26 to 0.93). Although it is effective in several familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) patient types, it does not work in homozygous patients with dual allele LDL receptor negative polymorphisms or those who are homozygous for autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia. Conclusions: Although not preferred over statins because of limited clinical trial evidence of cardiovascular event reductions, dosing convenience, and expense, PCSK9 monoclonal antibodies will have a prominent role to play in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia, especially in patients needing large LDL reductions, including patients with many types of FH.
Anxiety prior to breast biopsy: Relationships with length of time from breast biopsy recommendation to biopsy procedure and psychosocial factors
Authors: Hayes Balmadrid Melissa A , Shelby Rebecca A , Wren Anava A , Miller Lauren S , Yoon Sora C , Baker Jay A , Wildermann Liz A , Soo Mary Scott
Published: October 2015

This study investigated how time from breast biopsy recommendation to biopsy procedure affected pre-biopsy anxiety ( N = 140 women), and whether the relationship between wait time and anxiety was affected by psychosocial factors (chronic life stress, traumatic events, social support). Analyses showed a significant interaction between wait time and chronic life stress. Increased time from biopsy recommendation was associated with greater anxiety in women with low levels of life stress. Women with high levels of life stress experienced increased anxiety regardless of wait time. These results suggest that women may benefit from shorter wait times and receiving strategies for managing anxiety.
Measuring group work dynamics and its relation with L2 learners’ task motivation and language production
Authors: Poupore Glen
Published: October 2015

While learners of a second language (L2) are increasingly interacting in small groups as part of a communicative methodological paradigm, very few studies have investigated the social dynamics that occur in such groups. The aim of this study is to introduce a group work dynamic measuring instrument and to investigate the relationship between group work dynamic (GWD), or the social climate existing within a group, and learners’ state-level motivational responses and amount of language produced in interactive tasks. The context for the classroom-based study was a speaking-skills course consisting of a small group of 10 Korean English learners of intermediate to high intermediate proficiency level enrolled in a Korean university TESOL certificate program. The data were based on 15 different tasks that were part of the course and two work groups for each task for a total of 30 groups. Instruments of data collection consisted of audio-video recordings, transcription of all verbal and nonverbal language produced in the tasks, the GWD measurement instrument, and post-task motivation questionnaires. Results from correlational analysis showed a significant relationship between GWD and task motivation and between GWD and language production. Nonverbal-related behaviors, furthermore, were found to be particularly influential in shaping GWD and were significantly associated with learners’ task motivation, especially in the form of greater task enjoyment and sense of success. The study’s findings therefore add support to socio-contextual perspectives in L2 motivation and applied linguistics that emphasize the critical role of social and group factors on motivation and language development and imply a need for educators to focus on creating positive group dynamics in their classrooms.
Investigation of particulate matter performances in relation to chalk selection in classroom environment
Authors: Goel Sangita , Patidar Rajesh , Baxi Krushnakant , Thakur Rajendra Singh
Published: October 2015

This study aims to understand dust generation in classroom indoor for different chalk varieties and their potential doses to receptors in correlation with their physicochemical properties. Two representative chalks of extruded calcium carbonate and moulded gypsum type (total four) were used for writing on ceramic and wooden boards. Chalks were characterized using analytical techniques. Investigation of Particulate Matter (PM): PM2.5, PM10 and Total Suspended Particulate (TSP) concentrations in classroom air generated during the writing and wiping with chalk and board system was done. Dust collected beneath the board was analyzed for particle size distribution. Calcium carbonate made dustless chalks generate less PM during writing and wiping. They are quick settling and non-interacting with receptors, and deliver better utilization of material as compared to gypsum chalks. Physicochemical properties of the chalk constituents were invoked to explain the dust generation and its impact on the user. Surprisingly, dustless chalk made from Gypsum cannot be called really as dustless because of more PM emissions. The age-specific average potential dose for both PM10 and PM2.5 is higher for gypsum chalk as compared to the calcium carbonate chalks. The highest dose was estimated for the children in the age group of 6–11 years.
Influence of energy demand response actions on thermal comfort and energy cost in electrically heated residential houses
Authors: Alimohammadisagvand Behrang , Alam Sadaf , Ali Mubbashir , Degefa Merkebu , Jokisalo Juha , Sirén Kai
Published: October 2015

This study has two aims to investigate the energy demand response (DR) actions on thermal comfort and energy cost in detached residential houses (1960, 2010 and passive) in a cold climate. The first one is to find out the acceptable range of indoor air and operative temperatures complying with the recommended thermal comfort categories in accordance with the EN 15251 standard. The second one is to minimize the energy cost of electric heating system by means of the DR control strategy, without sacrificing thermal comfort of the occupants. This research was carried out with the validated dynamic building simulation tool IDA Indoor Climate and Energy. Three different control strategies were studied: A) a strategy based on real-time hourly electricity price, B) new DR control strategy based on previous hourly electricity prices and C) new predictive DR control strategy based on future hourly electricity prices. The results show that the lowest acceptable indoor air and operative temperatures can be reduced to 19.4℃ and 19.6℃, respectively. The maximum annual saving in total energy cost is about 10% by using the control algorithm C.
Provincializing empathy: Humanitarian sentiment and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
Authors: Weiss Erica
Published: October 2015

This article considers the role of the humanitarian sentiment empathy in peace initiatives in the Israeli-Palestine conflict. Recently, a sustained critique of humanitarianism has emerged. While many of these accounts focus on the ethical effects of specific manifestations of humanitarian governance, there is a significant strain criticizing the inherent logical structure of humanitarian empathy, and questioning the innate ability of the humanitarian tradition to understand ethical questions politically. This critique does not resonate with my fieldwork experiences with Jewish Israeli conscientious objectors, who are explicitly inspired by empathetic experiences with Palestinians, and interpret these experiences politically. Thus, following Dipesh Chakrabarty’s example, I suggest that provincializing the humanitarian tradition is a more productive anthropological stance than critique, because it similarly allows us to criticize universal claims and abuses of power, while not subscribing to determinism, and not repudiating our interlocutors’ core ethical beliefs.
Land, fertility rites and the veneration of female saints: Exploring body rituals at the Tomb of Mary in Jerusalem
Authors: Stadler Nurit
Published: October 2015

This article explores the connections between rituals, embodiment, and territorial claims by taking stock of Christian Orthodox rites at the Tomb of Mary in Jerusalem. As part of a comprehensive ethnography of this shrine, I have examined a wide array of body-based female practices that revolve around Mary's tomb. By rejuvenating embodied practices that are associated with fertility, parturition and maternity, devotees enlist the grotto’s womb-like interior as a platform for kissing, touching, crawling, bending, and other physical acts of devotion that make for a powerful body-based experience. As demonstrated herein, the mimetic journey of a fetus/pilgrim through this womb-tomb expanse elicits a sense of rebirth, which is analogous to reclaiming the land and establishing a “motherly” alternative to the masculine and bellicose disposition in Israel/Palestine.
Three-dimensional spray–flow interaction in a spark-ignition direct-injection engine
Authors: Chen Hao , Lillo Peter M , Sick Volker
Published: October 2015

Large efforts are currently being made toward improving internal combustion engine efficiency without degrading overall performance. To this end, advanced combustion strategies that require in-cylinder fuel/air mixtures to be prepared with unprecedented care and exactness are being implemented. Spray-guided stratified-charge operation is an example of one such strategy that offers high efficiency under light-load operation but requires precise fuel injector and combustion chamber design to ensure robust engine performance. Understanding the mixture formation processes aids in the success of such strategies and is therefore an important goal for internal combustion engine research. Direct visualization via optical diagnostics remains one of the most powerful tools for gaining insight into in-cylinder mixing processes, such as liquid fuel spray atomization. Although substantial efforts have been made over the last few decades to develop and implement liquid fuel spray diagnostics in the challenging in-cylinder environment, such techniques have been almost exclusively two-dimensional or too complex to be used regularly in design practices. Only now are practical, commercially available three-dimensional visualization technologies beginning to mature to a level for which they can be adapted to perform in-cylinder diagnostics. In this study, the three-dimensional fuel spray structure and its variations are visualized by a single plenoptic camera in an optically accessible spark-ignition direct-injection engine. The engine is operated under a variety of conditions relevant to conventional homogeneous-charge and spray-guided stratified-charge engine strategies. The spray and flow field interaction under different bulk flow conditions as well as engine speeds are clearly discernable in the instantaneous three-dimensional spray images, establishing the imaging technique as a viable and unique new tool for complex three-dimensional engine in-cylinder processes research.
Organizational learning with forgetting: Reconsidering the exploration–exploitation tradeoff
Authors: Miller Kent D , Martignoni Dirk
Published: October 2015

Prior exploration–exploitation models of organizational learning generally neglect forgetting. This study models organizational learning with forgetting and derives some novel implications. Most noteworthy, our findings point out limits to the contention that promoting rapid learning undermines long-run knowledge. Slower learning is not always better. When agents are subject to forgetting, raising the rate of interpersonal learning often enhances the diversity of beliefs within an organization, as well as the number and range of aspects of the environment that organizational members come to know. The rate of learning that maximizes organizational knowledge or diversity varies with the rate of forgetting. Organizations need not sacrifice diversity as they gain knowledge. Analyses of our model indicate that knowledge and diversity are positively correlated across organizations. Implications of forgetting redirect theorists, empirical researchers, and managers toward alternatives to some conclusions from prior exploration–exploitation modeling studies.
Curculigo orchioides Gaertn Effectively Ameliorates the Uro- and Nephrotoxicities Induced by Cyclophosphamide Administration in Experimental Animals
Authors: Murali Vishnu Priya , Kuttan Girija
Published: October 2015

Background. Curculigo orchioides Gaertn is an ancient medicinal plant (Family: Amaryllidaceae), well known for its immunomodulatory and rejuvenating effects. Cyclophosphamide (CPA) is an alkylating agent widely used for treating a variety of human malignancies, but associated with different toxicities too. Our previous reports regarding the hemoprotective and hepatoprotective effects of the plant against CPA toxicities provide the background for the present study, which is designed to analyze the ameliorative effect of the methanolic extract of C orchioides on the urotoxicity and nephrotoxicity induced by CPA. Methods. CPA was administered to male Swiss albino mice at a single dose of 1.5 mmol/kg body weight to induce urotoxicity after 5 days of prophylactic treatment with C orchioides extract (20 mg/kg body weight). Mesna (2-mercaptoethanesulfonate) was used as a control drug. Serum, tissue, and urine levels of kidney function markers and antioxidant levels were checked along with the serum cytokine levels. Results. The plant extract was found to be effective in ameliorating the urotoxic and nephrotoxic side effects of CPA. Upregulation of serum interferon-γ and interleukin-2 levels were observed with C orchioides treatment, which was decreased by CPA administration. Besides these, serum tumor necrosis factor-α level was also downregulated by C orchioides treatment. Conclusion. Curculigo orchioides was found to be effective against the CPA-induced bladder and renal toxicities by its antioxidant capability and also by regulating the pro-inflammatory cytokine levels.
Video-based measurement for transverse vibrations of moving catenaries in mine hoist using mean shift tracking
Authors: Yao Jiannan , Xiao Xingming , Chang Hao
Published: October 2015

This work proposed a non-contact video-based measurement for transverse displacements of hoisting catenaries in mine hoist using mean shift tracking. Hoisting catenaries are typically moving cables making it impossible to use traditional methods. To obtain the transverse displacements of an arbitrary point in the hoisting catenary, a guide line that was perpendicular to the hoisting catenaries was inserted in the sequential images. Through tracking the dynamic intersection area by mean shift algorithm and then recording the location of the tracker, the transverse vibration displacements of the selected point in the hoisting catenary can be easily obtained. A theoretical model of transverse vibration of a catenary was established, and model validation was then conducted confirming the reasonability and applicability of the proposed method. Eventually, a laboratory experiment was also conducted and then confirmed the accuracy of the proposed method. This work is perfectly suitable for the measurement of moving cable vibration.
Learning through entertainment: The effects of Bollywood movies on the job-seeking behavior of South Asian female
Authors: Rasul Azmat , Raney Arthur A
Published: October 2015

This study examined the relationship between exposure to Bollywood movies and job-seeking behavior of South Asian females. Using survey data collected from 132 female participants, we explored the effects of exposure to Bollywood movies on job search self-efficacy, enjoyment and job-seeking behavior of South Asian females living in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, India, and Pakistan. We also applied a structural equation model to examine the role of enjoyment and job search self-efficacy in mediating the relationship between frequency of exposure to Bollywood movies and job-seeking behavior. Results indicated that exposure to Bollywood movies was positively related to enjoyment and job-seeking behavior of the female viewers of Bollywood movies. We also found a significant relationship between job search self-efficacy and job-seeking behavior. Our study offers a significant insight into the role of entertainment narratives in influencing the behavior of South Asian female audiences that hitherto remained a neglected group in media effects research.
Health economic modeling of the potential cost saving effects of Neurally Adjusted Ventilator Assist
Authors: Hjelmgren Jonas , Bruce Wirta Sara , Huetson Pernilla , Myrén Karl-Johan , Göthberg Sylvia
Published: October 2015

Objectives:

Asynchrony between patient and ventilator breaths is associated with increased duration of mechanical ventilation (MV). Neurally Adjusted Ventilatory Assist (NAVA) controls MV through an esophageal reading of diaphragm electrical activity via a nasogastric tube mounted with electrode rings. NAVA has been shown to decrease asynchrony in comparison to pressure support ventilation (PSV). The objective of this study was to conduct a health economic evaluation of NAVA compared with PSV.

Methods:

We developed a model based on an indirect link between improved synchrony with NAVA versus PSV and fewer days spent on MV in synchronous patients. Unit costs for MV were obtained from the Swedish intensive care unit register, and used in the model along with NAVA-specific costs. The importance of each parameter (proportion of asynchronous patients, costs, and average MV duration) for the overall results was evaluated through sensitivity analyses.

Results:

Base case results showed that 21% of patients ventilated with NAVA were asynchronous versus 52% of patients receiving PSV. This equals an absolute difference of 31% and an average of 1.7 days less on MV and a total cost saving of US$7886 (including NAVA catheter costs). A breakeven analysis suggested that NAVA was cost effective compared with PSV given an absolute difference in the proportion of asynchronous patients greater than 2.5% (49.5% versus 52% asynchronous patients with NAVA and PSV, respectively). The base case results were stable to changes in parameters, such as difference in asynchrony, duration of ventilation and daily intensive care unit costs.

Conclusion:

This study showed economically favorable results for NAVA versus PSV. Our results show that only a minor decrease in the proportion of asynchronous patients with NAVA is needed for investments to pay off and generate savings. Future studies need to confirm this result by directly relating improved synchrony to the number of days on MV.
Pharmacological treatment of spondyloarthritis: exploring the effectiveness of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs and biological therapies
Authors: Caso Francesco , Costa Luisa , Del Puente Antonio , Di Minno Matteo Nicola Dario , Lupoli Gelsy , Scarpa Raffaele , Peluso Rosario
Published: October 2015

Spondyloarthritis represents a heterogeneous group of articular inflammatory diseases that share common genetic, clinical and radiological features. The therapy target of spondyloarthritis relies mainly in improving patients’ quality of life, controlling articular inflammation, preventing the structural joints damage and preserving the functional abilities, autonomy and social participation of patients. Among these, traditional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs have been demonstrated to be effective in the management of peripheral arthritis; moreover, in the last decade, biological therapies have improved the approach to spondyloarthritis. In patients with axial spondyloarthritis, tumor necrosis factor α inhibitors are currently the only effective therapy in patients for whom conventional therapy with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has failed. The aim of this review is to summarize the current experience and evidence about the pharmacological approach in spondyloarthritis patients.
Does Preference for Abstract Patterns Relate to Information Processing and Perceived Duration?
Authors: Palumbo Letizia , Ogden Ruth , Makin Alexis D J , Bertamini Marco
Published: October 2015

Repetitive prestimulation, in the form of click trains, is known to alter a wide range of cognitive and perceptual judgments. To date, no research has explored whether click trains also influence subjective preferences. This is plausible because preference is related to perceptual fluency and clicks may increase fluency, or, because preference is related to arousal and clicks may increase arousal. In Experiment 1, participants heard a click train, white noise, or silence through headphones and then saw an abstract symmetrical pattern on the screen for 0.5, 1, or 1.5 s. They rated the pattern on a 7-point scale. Click trains had no effect on preference ratings, although patterns that lasted longer were preferred. In Experiment 2, we again presented a click train, silence, or white noise but included both symmetrical and random patterns. Participants made both a duration and a preference judgment on every trial. Auditory click trains increased perceived duration, and symmetrical patterns were perceived as lasting longer than random patterns. Again there was no effect of auditory click trains on preference, and again patterns that were presented for longer were preferred. We conclude that click trains alter perceptual and cognitive processes, but not preferences. This helps clarify the nature of the click train effect and shows which predictions implicit in the existing literature are supported.
Vulval symptoms after the menopause – Not all atrophy!
Authors: Lewis Fiona M
Published: October 2015

Vulval and vaginal symptoms are common after the menopause and are frequently assumed to be due to the normal physiological changes that occur at this time. However, there are several important dermatoses that can occur in this patient group which need accurate diagnosis and appropriate management. This review discusses the clinical features and basic management of some of the common vulval problems occurring after the menopause.
From Territorial to Temporal Ambitions: The Politics of Time and Imagination in Massive Multiplayer Online Forecasting Games
Authors: Avi Brooks Lonny J. , Meneses Ché V. , Keyser Barbara
Published: October 2015

In 2010, the online forecasting game Urgent Evoke, produced by Jane McGonigal, former Director of Gaming at the Institute for the Future and the World Bank Institute, elicited praise by gaming critics as a model for “serious gaming.” The game promised to show how players could think about long-term solutions to urgent social problems like hunger, poverty, conflict, and climate change using the African continent as its test bed. Players imagined future temporal outcomes through remixing media. In a qualitative analysis of actual game play during the real-time introduction of the game for teaching organizational communication, Evoke became a platform for student inquiry for questioning its underlying design as an expansion of territorial and temporal conquest. Evoke served as a springboard for building a literacy of critical time among students in accessing stakeholder power to determine the future. Students challenged, created, and followed the cultural capital of promissory visions in circulation. The curriculum design for using serious and forecasting games like Evoke must account for the conceptual development of what Sarah Sharma calls critical time or chronopolitics, a hidden politics of time that shapes our approaches to cultures, organizations, and innovation. By placing spatial and temporal dynamics center stage, we investigated how serious games produce a chronopolitics of time differentiating among people by class and ethnicity. Alternative Reality Games offer the potential for building a literacy of critical forecasting time to understand the practices for anticipating the future as temporal networks of power, different and uneven.
Histories of Hating
Authors: Shepherd Tamara , Harvey Alison , Jordan Tim , Srauy Sam , Miltner Kate
Published: October 2015

This roundtable discussion presents a dialogue between digital culture scholars on the seemingly increased presence of hating and hate speech online. Revolving primarily around the recent #GamerGate campaign of intensely misogynistic discourse aimed at women in video games, the discussion suggests that the current moment for hate online needs to be situated historically. From the perspective of intersecting cultural histories of hate speech, discrimination, and networked communication, we interrogate the ontological specificity of online hating before going on to explore potential responses to the harmful consequences of hateful speech. Finally, a research agenda for furthering the historical understandings of contemporary online hating is suggested in order to address the urgent need for scholarly interventions into the exclusionary cultures of networked media.
From Cognitive Science to Dementia Assessment
Authors: Logie Robert H. , Parra Mario A. , Della Sala Sergio
Published: October 2015

Alzheimer’s disease is a degenerative disease of the brain that impairs mental skills and abilities and undermines independent living. It is estimated to affect over 44 million people worldwide, and 5.3 million people in the United States at an estimated cost of US$226 billion. The numbers of people affected are expected to increase dramatically over the next few decades along with increased life expectancy, and costs are expected to be over US$1 trillion by 2050. There is currently no cure, and accurate diagnosis in primary care is hampered by a lack of widely available, reliable, and specific forms of assessment. Accurate diagnosis is essential to avoid inappropriate and expensive clinical follow-up, to evaluate new treatments when these become available, to avoid underestimating or overestimating prevalence of the disease, and to inform policy priorities on resource allocation for health care and for research. We argue that the cognitive and behavioral sciences offer an important route to developing widely available, inexpensive, reliable, and specific assessment tools for the disease.
Simple Practice Doesn’t Always Make Perfect
Authors: Booth Julie L. , McGinn Kelly M. , Young Laura K. , Barbieri Christina
Published: October 2015

Findings from the fields of cognitive science and cognitive development propose a variety of evidence-based principles for improving learning. One such recommendation is that instead of having students practice solving long strings of problems on their own after a lesson, worked-out examples of problem solutions should be incorporated into practice sessions in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) classrooms. Research in scientific laboratories and real-world classrooms has also identified a number of methods for utilizing worked examples in lessons, including fading the examples; prompting self-explanation of the examples, including incorrect examples; and providing opportunities for students to compare multiple examples. Each of these methods has been shown to lend itself well to particular types of learning goals. Implications for education policy are discussed, including rethinking the ways in which STEM textbooks are constructed, finding ways to support educators in recognizing and implementing effective cognitive science–based pedagogical techniques, and changing the climate in classrooms to include the perception of errors as a functional part of the learning process.