bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Data-driven agent-based exploration of customer behavior
Authors: Bell David , Mgbemena Chidozie
Published: December 2017

Customer retention is a critical concern for mobile network operators because of the increasing competition in the mobile services sector. Such unease has driven companies to exploit data as an avenue to better understand changing customer behavior. Data-mining techniques such as clustering and classification have been widely adopted in the mobile services sector to better understand customer retention. However, the effectiveness of these techniques is debatable due to the constant change and increasing complexity of the mobile market itself. This design study proposes an application of agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) as a novel approach to understanding customer behavior through the combination of market and social factors that emerge from data. External forces at play and possible company interventions can then be added to data-derived models. A dataset provided by a mobile network operator is utilized to automate decision-tree analysis and subsequent building of agent-based models. Popular churn modeling techniques were adopted in order to automate the development of models, from decision trees, and subsequently explore possible customer churn scenarios. ABMS is used to understand the behavior of customers and detect reasons why customers churned or stayed with their respective mobile network operators. A CART decision-tree method is presented that identifies agents, selects important attributes, and uncovers customer behavior – easily identifying tenure, location, and choice of mobile devices as determinants for the churn-or-stay decision. Word of mouth between customers is also explored as a possible influence factor. Importantly, methods for automating data-driven agent-based simulation model generation will support faster exploration and experimentation – including with those determinants from a wider market or social context.
Relationship Between Personality Traits, Generativity, and Life Satisfaction in Individuals Attending University Programs for Seniors
Authors: Navarro-Prados Ana Belen , Serrate-Gonzalez Sara , Muñoz-Rodríguez Jose-Manuel , Díaz-Orueta Unai
Published: December 2017

Personality traits of older adults and their contribution to life satisfaction and generative interest were assessed. A total of 342 older participants (66% women), mean age = 67.89 years old ( SD = 6.52, range = 55–84 years old), who attended the University of the Experience in Salamanca (Spain), were evaluated. Information on sociodemographic data, perceived health and activity, personality traits, generativity, and life satisfaction was collected using self-reported questionnaires. Results confirmed a relation between personality traits, life satisfaction, and generativity. In addition, generative concern, neuroticism, extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness predicted life satisfaction at this stage. Moreover, the role of personality on generativity was confirmed. Individuals with interest and agreeableness toward others, who are organized, persistent, and motivated, are more predisposed to generativity. These results open the way to develop intervention programs that enhance positive personality traits and generative interest to improve quality of life of older people.
How Effective Are Community College Remedial Math Courses for Students With the Lowest Math Skills?
Authors: Xu Di , Dadgar Mina
Published: December 2017

Objective: This article examines the effectiveness of remediation for community college students who are identified as having the lowest skills in math. Method: We use transcript data from a state community college system and take advantage of a regression discontinuity design that compares statistically identical students who are assigned to the lowest level of the math sequence that consists of three remedial courses versus the next lowest level that consists of two courses. Results: The results suggest that for the students with the lowest preparation in math, the longest developmental sequence offers little benefit and may even reduce the likelihood of earning a degree to certificate within 4 years. Contributions: This study is one of the first attempts to compare the academic outcomes of students assigned to long sequence of developmental math education to students with similar academic skills but assigned to shorter developmental math sequence. Results from this study can therefore help inform the national effort in reforming remedial education, especially in terms of whether shortening the long remedial sequence would either benefit or harm the academic outcomes of students who are least prepared for college-level coursework.
Property and Organization Studies
Authors: Bencherki Nicolas , Bourgoin Alaric
Published: December 2017

Property is pervasive, and yet we organization scholars rarely discuss it. When we do, we think of it as a black-boxed concept to explain other phenomena, rather than studying it in its own right. This may be because organization scholars tend to limit their understanding of property to its legal definition, and emphasize control and exclusion as its defining criteria. This essay wishes to crack open the black box of property and explore the many ways in which possessive relations are established. They are achieved through work, take place as we make sense of signs, are invoked into existence in our speech acts, and travel along sociomaterial networks. Through a fictionalized account of a photographic exhibition, we show that property overflows its usual legal-economic definition. Building on the case of the photographic exhibit, we show that recognizing the diversity of property changes our rapport with organization studies as a field, by unifying its approaches to the individual-vs.-collective dilemma. We conclude by noting that if theories can make a difference, then whoever controls the assignment of property – including academics who ascribe properties to their objects of study – decides not only who has or who owns what, but also who or what that person or thing can be.
Lymphatic drainage efficiency: a new parameter of lymphatic function
Authors: Keramida Georgia , Wroe Emma , Winterman Nicola , Aplin Mark , Peters A Michael
Published: December 2017

Background

Following convection from blood capillaries, plasma proteins are transported to loco-regional lymph nodes in two stages: first, uptake into peripheral lymphatics, and second, transport to nodes.

Purpose

To introduce a new parameter of lymphatic function that quantifies stage 2 – lymphatic drainage efficiency (LDE).

Material and Methods

Percentage injected activity (IIQ) in ilio-inguinal nodes 150 min following subcutaneous foot web-space injection of Tc-99 m-nanocolloid was measured in 102 patients undergoing lymphoscintigraphy using a method in which a standard is placed by image guidance over the nodes. Percentage activity leaving the injection depot by 150 min ( k) was measured in 60/102 patients. LDE (%) = 100 × (IIQ/ k). Abnormal lymphoscintigraphy was defined qualitatively as: (i) no activity in ilio-inguinal nodes at 45 min or negligible activity at 150 min (delay); (ii) lymph diversion through skin and/or deep system; and (iii) focal tracer accumulation suggesting cellulitis.

Results

Scintigraphy was bilaterally normal in 82 limbs, unilaterally normal in 40 limbs and abnormal in 82 limbs. IIQ correlated with k in bilaterally normal (r = 0.86; n = 52), unilaterally normal (r = 0.67; n = 27), and abnormal (r = 0.82; n = 41) limbs. IIQ, k, and LDE were significantly lower in unilaterally normal (9.3 ± 5.4%, 13.8 ± 7.1%, and 65 ± 30%) compared with bilaterally normal limbs (15.4 ± 8.4% [ P > 0.0001], 18.3 ± 8.9% [ P = 0.025], and 84 ± 30% [ P = 0.01]). LDE was lower in limbs displaying skin diversion and/or delay.

Conclusion

LDE is a new quantitative index that has potential value in clinical research but requires further clinical evaluation. Abnormal quantitative indices indicate that limbs unilaterally normal on lymphoscintigraphy are not functionally normal.
New concepts of radiologic preoperative evaluation of anterior shoulder instability: on-track and off-track lesions
Authors: Gulati Aishwarya , Dessouky Riham , Wadhwa Vibhor , Sanders Drew , Chhabra Avneesh
Published: December 2017

The shoulder is the most frequently dislocated joint in the body due to a larger range of motion and a small area of articulation between the humeral and glenoid surfaces. Traumatic shoulder dislocations, especially those associated with injury to the labroligamentous or bony stabilizers of the joint, lead to further reduction of articular surface contact with resultant glenohumeral instability and recurrent shoulder dislocations. Imaging plays an increasingly important role in the preoperative evaluation of patients with traumatic shoulder instability by evaluating glenohumeral bone loss (uni- or bipolar), assessing soft tissue injuries and identifying patients at risk of postoperative recurrence. Quantification of bone loss is key to differentiate engaging vs. non-engaging Hill–Sachs lesions, while newer concepts of “on-track” vs. “off-track” lesions are being discussed that can determine the required surgical approaches. In this article, we review the preoperative imaging approaches, traditional treatments, outline the bone loss measurement strategies and review these new tracking concepts with relevant case examples.
Social Media Contributions to Strong Black Woman Ideal Endorsement and Black Women’s Mental Health
Authors: Stanton Alexis G. , Jerald Morgan C. , Ward L. Monique , Avery Lanice R.
Published: December 2017

Although research findings highlight the complex dualities of the Strong Black Woman ideal and demonstrate its effects on Black women’s mental health and well-being, there is less understanding of the role that social media may play in Black women’s negotiation of this ideal. To what extent might Black women’s engagement with race-related social media, such as the use of Black-oriented blogs and hashtags, contribute to their well-being and potentially buffer contributions of the Strong Black Woman ideal? To investigate this question, we tested 412 Black women who completed online survey measures assessing their general social media use, Black-oriented blog and hashtag use, mental health, and self-esteem. Correlational and regression analyses revealed that, as expected, both greater endorsement of the Strong Black Woman ideal and higher levels of general social media use was associated with adverse mental health and lower self-esteem. Contrary to our expectations, Black-oriented blog use was also associated with more symptoms of depression and anxiety and did not moderate effects of Strong Black Woman endorsement on well-being. Clinicians, instructors, parents, and media activists should be mindful of how the use of both traditional and race-related social media may be both liberating for, and detrimental to, Black women’s well-being.
A Conceptual Model of Foundations’ Leadership Capacity in Times of Change: Lessons From Egypt
Authors: Herrold Catherine E.
Published: December 2017

In the wake of the January 25, 2011 Egyptian uprisings, local private and community foundations responded divergently to civil society’s calls for political change. Egypt’s community foundations quickly positioned themselves as leaders of democratic political reforms, while private foundations remained focused on their pre-2011 activities in the economic development realm. To explain the foundations’ different responses to the uprisings, the article draws upon extant literature to develop a conceptual model of foundations’ capacity to lead change. It then applies the model to the Egyptian case, arguing that community foundations’ high levels of political independence and low levels of financial and civic independence facilitated their leadership efforts, while private foundations’ low levels of political and financial independence and high levels of civic independence hampered their ability to lead reform initiatives. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
Parametric study of patient-specific femoral locking plates based on a combined musculoskeletal multibody dynamics and finite element modeling
Authors: Fan Xunjian , Chen Zhenxian , Jin Zhongmin , Zhang Qida , Zhang Xuan , Peng Yinghu
Published: December 2017

A combined musculoskeletal multibody dynamics and finite element modeling was performed to investigate the effects of design parameters on the fracture-healing efficiency and the mechanical property of a patient-specific anatomically adjusted femoral locking plate. Specifically, the screw type, the thickness and material of the locking plate, the gap between two femoral fragments (fracture gap) and the distance between bone and plate (interface gap) were evaluated during a human walking. We found that the patient-specific locking plate possessed greater mechanical strength and more efficient fracture healing than the corresponding traditional plate. An optimal patient-specific femoral locking plate would consist of bicortical locking screws, Ti-6Al-4V material and 4.75-mm plate thickness with a fracture gap of 2 mm and an interface gap of 1 mm. The developed patient-specific femoral locking plate based on the patient-specific musculoskeletal mechanical environment was more beneficial to fracture rehabilitation and healing. The patient-specific design method provides an effective research platform for designing and optimizing the patient-specific femoral locking plate under realistic in vivo walking conditions, which can be extended to the design of other implants as well as to other physiological loading conditions related to various daily activities.
Symmetric Objects Become Special in Perception Because of Generic Computations in Neurons
Authors: Pramod R. T. , Arun S. P.
Published: December 2017

Symmetry is a salient visual property: It is easy to detect and influences perceptual phenomena from segmentation to recognition. Yet researchers know little about its neural basis. Using recordings from single neurons in monkey IT cortex, we asked whether symmetry—being an emergent property—induces nonlinear interactions between object parts. Remarkably, we found no such deviation: Whole-object responses were always the sum of responses to the object’s parts, regardless of symmetry. The only defining characteristic of symmetric objects was that they were more distinctive compared with asymmetric objects. This was a consequence of neurons preferring the same part across locations within an object. Just as mixing diverse paints produces a homogeneous overall color, adding heterogeneous parts within an asymmetric object renders it indistinct. In contrast, adding identical parts within a symmetric object renders it distinct. This distinctiveness systematically predicted human symmetry judgments, and it explains many previous observations about symmetry perception. Thus, symmetry becomes special in perception despite being driven by generic computations at the level of single neurons.
Protective effect of astaxanthin on acute cerebral infarction in rats
Authors: Nai Yu , Liu Hong , Bi Xizhuang , Gao Hongyu , Ren Chao
Published: December 2017

The aim of the study was to investigate the effect of astaxanthin and its possible mechanisms on acute cerebral infarction (ACI) in rat model. Male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into sham group, model group, and astaxanthin-treated groups (20, 40, and 80 mg/kg). Neurological examination, the ratio of cerebral edema, and histopathology changes were assessed. Moreover, some oxidative stress markers were obtained for biochemical analysis, and the expression of neurotrophic factors gene was detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method. The results showed that treatment with astaxanthin notably reduced neurological deficit scores and the ratio of cerebral edema compared with the model group. Meanwhile, astaxanthin increased the activity of catalase, superoxide dismutase, and glutathioneperoxidase as well as decreased the content of malondialdehyde in brain tissue. RT-PCR results showed that the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and nerve growth factor (NGF) mRNA were increased with astaxanthin treatment. The results indicated that astaxanthin could ameliorate ACI followed by suppressing oxidative stress and upregulating the expression of BDNF and NGF mRNA.
Vanillin mitigates the adverse impact of cisplatin and methotrexate on rat kidneys
Authors: Fouad AA , Al-Melhim WN
Published: December 2017

The present study investigated the probable protective effect of vanillin (VLN) against kidney injury induced by cisplatin (CSN) and methotrexate (MTX) in rats. The rats received a single injection of either CSN (7.5 mg/kg, i.p.) or MTX (20 mg/kg, i.p.). VLN treatment (150 mg/kg/day, i.p.) was started 1 day before administration of the nephrotoxic agents and continued for 7 days. Both CSN and MTX significantly increased serum creatinine, cystatin C, and neutrophil gelatinase–associated lipocalin and kidney tissue renal malondialdehyde, inducible nitric oxide synthase, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-18, nuclear factor-κB p65, cytosolic cytochrome C, and caspase-3 and significantly decreased renal total antioxidant capacity and Bcl-2/Bax ratio in rats. VLN significantly ameliorated the changes of biochemical parameters induced by CSN and MTX. VLN also significantly reduced CSN- and MTX-induced histopathological injury and the expression of Fas ligand in rat kidneys. In conclusion, VLN significantly protected against CSN- and MTX-induced kidney injury in rats by inhibiting oxidative/nitrosative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis.
Damping study of composites using wavelet analysis
Authors: Bhattacharjee Antara , Nanda BK
Published: December 2017

This study aims at estimating the damping parameters of composite beams. The composites used are glass-fiber-reinforced epoxy (GFRE), glass-fiber-reinforced polyester (GFRP), and carbon-black-filled epoxy (CBFE). The Morlet wavelet transform is used to investigate the system response analytically. A single-degree-of-freedom system under forced vibration is considered. The procedure employs a relationship between damping ratio, natural frequency, and continuous wavelet analysis of the system response. It is observed that the validity of the relationship depends on the translation factor, scaling factor, and central frequency of the Morlet wavelet. Experimental results are used to verify the wavelet analysis. The error obtained in damping ratio and natural frequency is less than 2%, which authenticates the theoretical analysis. Further, the CBFE composite gives better damping properties than the other two types of composite.
First Report of Prenatal Ascertainment of a Fetus With Homozygous Loss of the SOX10 Gene and Phenotypic Correlation by Autopsy Examination
Authors: LeBel David P , Wolff Daynna J , Batalis Nicholas I , Ellingham Tara , Matics Natalie , Patwardhan Sanjay C , Znoyko Iya Y , Schandl Cynthia A
Published: December 2017

The SOX10 gene plays a vital role in neural crest cell development and migration. Abnormalities in SOX10 are associated with Waardenburg syndrome Types II and IV, and these patients have recognizable clinical features. This case report highlights the first ever reported homozygous loss of function of the SOX10 gene in a human. This deletion is correlated using family history, prenatal ultrasound, microarray analysis of amniotic fluid, and ultimately, a medical autopsy examination to further elucidate phenotypic effects of this genetic variation. Incorporating the use of molecular pathology into the autopsy examination of fetuses with suspected congenital anomalies is vital for appropriate family counseling, and with the ability to use formalin-fixed and paraffin-embedded tissues, has become a practical approach in autopsy pathology.
Critical Performativity in the Field: Methodological Principles for Activist Ethnographers
Authors: Reedy Patrick C. , King Daniel R.
Published: December 2017

It has been proposed that engagement with activism might make critical organizational scholarship more relevant to practitioners. However, there is a lack of systematic inquiry into how such engagement might be undertaken, which this article redresses. We propose activist ethnography as a suitable methodological framework for critical organizational scholarship, drawing on organizational ethnography, militant ethnography, and participatory action research, to construct a theoretical framework which we use to analyze four ethnographic vignettes of our own experiences of research with activists. Our contribution is to (a), assess the methodological challenges and opportunities of engagement with activism, (b) give an account of our own experiences as activist ethnographers for others to learn from, and (c) propose strategies whereby the challenges of academic activism might be negotiated and the opportunities maximized.
Intraventricular Hemorrhage Due to Coagulopathy After Vitamin K Administration in a Preterm Infant With Maternal Crohn Disease
Authors: Fujioka Kazumichi , Fukushima Sachiyo , Nishida Kosuke , Iijima Kazumoto , Morioka Ichiro
Published: December 2017

Intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) is a devastating morbidity in preterm infants and can result in poor neurodevelopmental outcomes. Intraventricular hemorrhage usually occurs within 72 hours after birth; post–acute-phase IVH (>1 week after birth) is uncommon. Development of the hemostatic system in fetuses and neonates is an age-dependent evolving process, and the neonatal hemostatic system is characterized by low levels of vitamin K–dependent factors, with further reduction caused by prematurity. Importantly, a severe coagulation deficiency can be a major contributing factor of IVH. Active maternal Crohn disease (CD) during pregnancy causes malnutrition via enteral malabsorption; this may include vitamin K deficiency, resulting in fetal vitamin K deficiency. We herein describe a preterm infant who was born to a mother with CD and developed post–acute-phase IVH due to coagulopathy despite vitamin K administration.
Making Global Sociology in the Context of Neoliberal Domination: Challenges, Ideology and Possible Strategies
Authors: Sorokin Pavel
Published: December 2017

This article discusses perspectives for making global sociology, which implies open and fruitful cooperation between sociologists from different locations, as well as enhancing our discipline’s positions in the field of social sciences and in extra-academic environments. Drawing on Wacquant’s ideas, we understand neoliberalism as a globally dominant approach to social regulation, combining market-oriented mechanisms in economic transactions and restrictive control apparatus based on the cultural imperative of individual responsibility, supported by the state. Intellectually rooted in European liberal tradition and supported by neoclassical economics’ conceptual frameworks, neoliberalism has shaped three interrelated challenges for global sociology: (1) Eurocentric conceptual apparatus within the discipline, (2) domination of economics over sociology in the field of social sciences, and (3) marketisation of the academic world, promoting direct ‘profitability’, and making ‘public value’ of scientific knowledge less relevant. We argue that these three challenges generate a tendency towards negative ideological unity across a significant number of sociological communities worldwide, which tend to see neoliberalism as a multifaceted common enemy. Despite being evidence-based, this emerging global ideological unity in sociology is problematic because it lacks a strong positive project. Instead of hostile attitudes towards internal and external agents affiliated with neoliberalism, the solidarity-oriented strategies may be helpful in building a truly global sociology.
What Works Best for the Poor in Rural India
Authors: Mehta Atul , Bhattacharya Joysankar
Published: December 2017

Financial sector development serves poor directly through poverty-lending approach or financial systems approach. Robinson (2001) questions the appropriateness of poverty-lending approach for the extremely poor and supports the financial systems approach for providing a poverty alleviation toolbox to serve the poor at various levels. The present study attempts to assess the effectiveness of the two lending approaches and comments on the appropriateness of the same for the poor and the poorest of the poor in rural India using state-wise annual data from 1999–2000 to 2011–2012. We conduct a panel data analysis for a sample of 15 major Indian states and provide an empirical evidence for the effect of various poverty alleviation tools on the poor and the poorest of the poor in rural India. The study partially supports the use of tools suggested by Robinson.
A new approach to protecting ecosystems
Authors: Rodgers Christopher
Published: December 2017

The Te Awa Tupua (Whanganui River Claims Settlement) Act 2017 settled the longest-running litigation over Maori land claims in New Zealand history. The Whanganui river is New Zealand’s longest navigable river, stretching from Mount Tongariro in the North Island to the Tasman Sea. The settlement, and the 2017 Act which implements it, confers legal personality on the river system, giving it a unique legal status that recognises not only the need to protect the ecosystem it represents, but also to provide a legal forum in which to implement Maori cultural and spiritual attitudes to the relationship of land and people. It can be argued this marks a new and innovative approach to protecting the environment, focusing at the ecosystem level and incorporating spiritual values in a manner unknown in environmental law in most Western legal systems. This is not, however, the first time that an approach based on principles found in the 2017 Act has been used in a New Zealand context. This article will consider the 2017 Act and its principal objectives, and set the legislation within the very distinctive context of the legal culture within which environmental law in New Zealand sits. It highlights differences of approach from those adopted in English law to similar problems of ecosystem management, and concludes by considering whether (and what) lessons can be drawn from this innovative approach for the wider environmental governance of the natural environment.
Scottish reform of the town and country planning system; Is it too little too late for post-Brexit Scotland?
Authors: Slater Anne-Michelle
Published: December 2017

The call for planning reform is never far from politicians’ lips as a solution to economic, social environmental and other problems in all parts of the UK. A planning Bill will be considered by the Scottish Parliament in the 2017–2018 session and modest reforms to the existing system of plan creation are expected. This opinion considers the planning system in Scotland at a time of inevitable change in environmental law due to Brexit. It concludes that a clearer and more open view of what used to be known as the town and country planning system needs to be adopted. This is required not only to bring about effective change on the ground but also to address the challenges and opportunities of the United Kingdom leaving the European Union.
Bridging cultural categories of consumption through indeterminacy: A consumer culture perspective on the rise of African Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity
Authors: Appau Samuelson , Awaworyi Churchill Sefa
Published: December 2017

Postmodern discourse challenges dichotomous cultural categories such as male/female, past/present and consumer/producer; it rather venerates the complexity, fusion, and diffusion of cultural categories. This ideology suggests that indeterminate or fluid cultural categories liberate consumer culture discourse availing it to varying consumer needs. African Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity advances such a postmodernist discourse that recognizes and bridges indeterminate physical, temporal, moral, and symbolic cultural categories of consumption. This is achieved through two processes: convergence and divergence. Fluid and capable of meandering rigid cultural categories and structures, African Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity theology is attractive to a broader audience of consumers because it appeals to a wider array of consumers’ demands/desires. This article thus advances that African Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity continues to grow due its ability to fluidly adapt its postmodern theology to the variegated consumption needs and identity projects of the postcolonial African consumer.
Complex Relationships Among Masculine Norms and Health/Well-Being Outcomes: Correlation Patterns of the Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory Subscales
Authors: Gerdes Zachary T. , Levant Ronald F.
Published: December 2017

The Conformity to Masculine Norms Inventory (CMNI) is a widely used multidimensional scale. Studies using the CMNI most often report only total scale scores, which are predominantly associated with negative outcomes. Various studies since the CMNI’s inception in 2003 using subscales have reported both positive and negative outcomes. The current content analysis examined studies ( N = 17) correlating the 11 subscales with 63 criterion variables across 7 categories. Most findings were consistent with past research using total scale scores that reported negative outcomes. For example, conformity to masculine norms has been inversely related to help-seeking and positively correlated with concerning health variables, such as substance use. Nonetheless, past reliance on total scores has obscured the complexity of associations with the CMNI in that 30% of the findings in the present study reflected positive outcomes, particularly for health promotion. Subscales differed in their relationships with various outcomes: for one subscale they were predominantly positive, but six others were mostly negative. The situational and contextual implications of conformity to masculine norms and their relationships to positive and negative outcomes are discussed.
Subverting the American Paradox: Race, Redemption, and Revolution in David Walker’s Appeal
Authors: Gorup Michael
Published: December 2017

What role might the Declaration of Independence play in the struggle for racial justice in the United States? Dominant accounts suggest the Declaration’s principles have served as a wellspring for increasingly expanding rights claims, enabling progress in American history. However, critics allege that this redemptive view reinforces an exceptionalist national identity, disavows race’s constitutive role in ordering the polity, and circumscribes the scope of change. This article recovers an overlooked alternative through an analysis of David Walker’s 1829 pamphlet, Appeal to the Colored Citizens of the World. Like many abolitionists, Walker called upon the Declaration to authorize opposition to racial tyranny. However, his engagement with it was distinctively revolutionary rather than reverent: he rejected American exceptionalism but found in the nation’s central icon a radical model for contesting its fundamental injustices.
Further evidence against eye–hand coordination as a general ability
Authors: Ellison PH , Kearney PE , Sparks SA , Murphy PN , Marchant DC
Published: December 2017

A number of companies are marketing general eye–hand coordination training devices, which are purported to enhance performance on the device and in a sporting domain. An act comprising eye–hand coordination involves the complex combination of a number of distinct functions, and an investigation of what tasks share this common factor has not been completed. There is also a lack of evidence investigating the interrelationship between different tests to assess eye–hand coordination using these devices. A number of different eye–hand coordination abilities, rather than one common factor, could potentially underpin any range of tasks involving eye–hand coordination and visual stimuli. Therefore, the present study investigated the theoretical assumption upon which such eye–hand coordination training devices are based, that is, whether eye–hand coordination is a general ability. Eighty-seven currently active sportspeople (age: 18.6 ± 0.9 years; 58 males and 29 females) completed four tests of eye–hand coordination: three laboratory tasks (the Sports Vision Trainer™; Batak Pro™; and Graded Pegboard) and a field task (wall catch test). Intercorrelations between the tasks ranged from weak to strong, but the percentage of shared variance was typically low. Overall, the results do not support the existence of a common eye–hand coordination ability underpinning the performance on general eye–hand coordination training devices. Consequently, coaches and sport scientists should be aware that training on general eye–hand coordination training devices is unlikely to transfer to sporting performances. Instead, practitioners are encouraged to explore sport-specific assessment and training of eye–hand coordination.
Correlation of MRI Appearance of Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation in the Ankle with Clinical Outcome
Authors: Chan Keith W. , Ferkel Richard D. , Kern Brian , Chan Sarah S. , Applegate Gregory R.
Published: December 2017

The objective of this study was to characterize magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings and correlate with clinical results in patients who underwent autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI) of osteochondral lesions of the talus (OLT). Methods. Twenty-four grafts were evaluated at a mean 65.8 months after ACI for OLT. MRI was performed on a 1.5-T GE scanner using multiple sequences. Graft appearance was compared with preoperative MRI and evaluated for 6 criteria: defect fill, surface regularity, signal pattern, bone marrow edema, subchondral plate irregularity, and presence of cystic lesions. Clinical outcome was measured with the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) clinical outcome score. Results. Of 24 grafts, 22 (92%) demonstrated >75% defect fill. Eighteen (75%) had a mildly irregular and 6 (25%) had a moderately irregular articular surface. The signal pattern of the repair tissue was heterogenous in 23 (96%); 14 (58%) layered and 9 (38%) mottled. Fourteen grafts (58%) showed decreased amount of bone marrow edema while 4 (17%) had no change and 5 (21%) had an increase in the amount of bone marrow edema. The subchondral bone plate was abnormal in most grafts, with focal defects seen in 10, slight depression in 7, and both in 5. Seven had an increase in cystic lesions while the others had no change, decrease or no cysts seen. Mean postoperative AOFAS score was 87.5 with mean improvement of 39.4. Conclusions. At 66-month mean follow-up, MRI appearance of the ACI grafts show imaging abnormalities but demonstrate good clinical results. While MRI is an important tool in the postoperative assessment of ACI grafts, the various variations from a normal/nonoperative ankle must be interpreted with caution.
The Anzac Iliad: Early New Zealand School Journals and the development of the citizen-child in the new dominion
Authors: Perreau Maria , Kingsbury Lynette
Published: December 2017

The New Zealand School Journal was established in 1907 to provide reading material across the primary school curriculum. Linked to reforms of the school curriculum, the School Journal aimed to introduce curriculum content relevant to New Zealand children. With the outbreak of the First World War, however, the School Journal became harnessed to the war effort, becoming entrenched in civic instruction and an upsurge in imperialism. Inclusion of patriotic reading material strongly reflected notions of self-sacrifice and reinforced concepts of the dutiful citizen-child. This article explores how preparation for war, and portrayal of war, fostered a particular notion of New Zealand’s developing identity and the role that the citizen-child had to play in the new dominion. Literary integration of subjects and genres, collapses of time and location, along with juxtaposition of items within the School Journal, particularly through the use of the Anzac story, solidified this emergent New Zealand identity. The School Journal, as de facto curriculum, became complicit in the creation and maintenance of the Anzac myth as a basis for the ideal New Zealand citizen through annual commemorative issues of the School Journal, culminating with Anzac Day as a newly created national holiday in 1923.
Lung Talaromyces marneffei infection in an Indonesian papillary thyroid carcinoma patient
Authors: Darma Surya , Saleh Yusrizal Djam’an , Wibawa Tri
Published: December 2017

Talaromycosis, a disseminated and progressive infection caused by Talaromyces marneffei, is highly endemic in the tropical region of Asia. However, accumulated data show very low incidence in Indonesia. Here, we report a case of papillary thyroid carcinoma with pulmonary T. marneffei infection. Screening of T. marneffei in this immunocompromised Indonesian patient is recommended even though the reported incidence of this particular fungal infection in Indonesia is low.
A practical method of I-131 thyroid cancer therapy dose optimization using estimated effective renal clearance
Authors: Howard Brandon A , James Olga G , Perkins Jennifer M , Pagnanelli Robert A , Borges-Neto Salvador , Reiman Robert E
Published: December 2017

In thyroid cancer patients with renal impairment or other complicating factors, it is important to maximize I-131 therapy efficacy while minimizing bone marrow and lung damage. We developed a web-based calculator based on a modified Benua and Leeper method to calculate the maximum I-131 dose to reduce the risk of these toxicities, based on the effective renal clearance of I-123 as measured from two whole-body I-123 scans, performed at 0 and 24 h post-administration.
Parents’ and Child’s Concussion History as Predictors of Parental Attitudes and Knowledge of Concussion Recognition and Response
Authors: Kay Melissa C. , Register-Mihalik Johna K. , Ford Cassie B. , Williams Richelle M. , Valovich McLeod Tamara C.
Published: December 2017

Background:

Parents’ knowledge of and attitudes toward concussions are often vital factors that affect care for injured adolescent athletes. It is important to understand the role that parents’ personal experiences with concussions play with regard to current concussion knowledge and attitudes so that clinicians may tailor their educational approaches.

Purpose/Hypothesis:

The purpose of this study was to determine an association between parents’ personal experiences and their child’s experiences with concussions as well as parental concussion knowledge and attitudes. We hypothesized that parents who have personally experienced symptoms or have a child who has experienced symptoms would have better knowledge and more favorable attitudes toward concussions.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Parents of youth sport athletes (N = 234 [82 male, 144 female, 8 unreported]; mean age, 44.0 ± 6.3 years) completed a prevalidated survey for concussion knowledge (maximum score possible, 29) and attitudes (maximum score possible, 49). Higher scores indicated better knowledge and more favorable attitudes toward concussive injuries. Parents reported the frequency of concussion diagnoses and/or experiences of concussion-related symptoms and whether their child had suffered a diagnosed concussion or experienced concussion symptoms (yes/no). Spearman rank correlation and multivariable regression were used to examine the association between experience of symptom clusters (self or child) and concussion knowledge and attitudes.

Results:

Knowledge was moderate (mean, 23.3 ± 2.5 of 29), while attitudes prioritized disclosure (mean, 46.3 ± 3.7 of 49). Parents’ experience of the sleep-arousal symptom cluster was positively associated with concussion attitudes ( r = 0.22, P = .002; β = –3.301, P = .011). Parents with children who experienced sleep-arousal and vestibular-somatic symptom clusters were weakly associated with parental concussion knowledge (sleep-arousal: r = 0.15, P = .041; vestibular-somatic: r = 0.17, P = .020; β = 0.540, P = .012).

Conclusion:

Our findings suggest that parents’ personal experiences with concussion-related symptoms have little effect on parental knowledge and attitudes as a whole. However, clinicians should consider particular symptom clusters that may provide insight into targets for future concussion education. According to these findings, parents of youth sport participants would benefit from increased concussion education focusing on the types of symptoms as well as the consequences of suffering a concussion.
Crowdsourcing Terrorism: Utopia, Martyrdom and Citizenship Reimagined
Authors: Hui Jennifer Yang
Published: December 2017

The role of social media in aiding terrorist attacks worldwide has been widely discussed among counterterrorism officials and academics. Since 2014, the idea of ‘crowdsourced terrorism’, whereby the Islamic State (IS) outsourced the conduct of attacks to their followers and attempted to attract them to Syria, has been popularly used by Western policymakers. This article critically examines the phenomenon of crowdsourcing and the IS’s online appeal in the case of Indonesia. The participant–curator crowdsourcing model outlined by Laurie Philips and Daren Brabham explains the online appeal of the IS, with social media facilitating the IS’s establishment of the relationship with Internet users in faraway countries such as Indonesia and allowing them to participate in the making of the IS brand. Participatory culture therefore encourages an e-supporter’s faith in the importance of their individual contribution and social connection that transcend offline realities in areas such as citizenship. IS opinion leaders work alongside online supporters to craft the meaning of martyrdom and imagination of citizenship through social media posts about life in the Caliphate. The land of Syria is imagined simultaneously as paradise for those who take their faith seriously as well as the venue for the Islamic equivalent of Armageddon. Hijrah (jihad by emigration) to Syria and martyrdom are represented as obligatory in the quest for equalization of power and freedom from slavery of those who are against the establishment of the Caliphate. Crowdsourced imaginations of the IS have had implications in several areas of policymaking. The article will discuss the implications of online imaginaries on IS’s approaches to militancy in its operations, Indonesian decision makers’ debate to revoke the citizenship of those who had travelled to IS and for the Indonesian military in its quest for expansion of their role in counterterror operations.
Professional guideline versus product label selection for treatment with IV thrombolysis: An analysis from SITS registry
Authors: Cameron Alan C , Bogie James , Abdul-Rahim Azmil H , Ahmed Niaz , Mazya Michael , Mikulik Robert , Hacke Werner , Lees Kennedy R ,   for the Safe Implementation of Treatments in Stroke (SITS) Investigators
Published: December 2017

Introduction

Thrombolysis usage in ischaemic stroke varies across sites. Divergent advice from professional guidelines and product labels may contribute.

Patients and methods

We analysed SITS-International registry patients enrolled January 2010 through June 2016. We grouped sites into organisational tertiles by number of patients arriving ≤2.5 h and treated ≤3 h, percentage arriving ≤2.5 h and treated ≤3 h, and numbers treated ≤3 h. We assigned scores of 1–3 (lower/middle/upper) per variable and 2 for onsite thrombectomy. We classified sites as lower efficiency (summed scores 3–5), medium efficiency (6–8) or higher efficiency (9–11). Sites were also grouped by adherence with European product label and ESO guideline: ‘label adherent’ (>95% on-label), ‘guideline adherent’ (≥5% off-label, ≥95% on-guideline) or ‘guideline non-adherent’ (>5% off-guideline). We cross-tabulated site-efficiency and adherence. We estimated the potential benefit of universally selecting by ESO guidance, using onset-to-treatment time-specific numbers needed to treat for day 90 mRS 0–1.

Results

A total of 56,689 patients at 597 sites were included: 163 sites were higher efficiency, 204 medium efficiency and 230 lower efficiency. Fifty-six sites were ‘label adherent’, 204 ‘guideline adherent’ and 337 ‘guideline non-adherent’. There were strong associations between site-efficiency and adherence (P < 0.001). Almost all ‘label adherent’ sites (55, 98%) were lower efficiency. If all patients were treated by ESO guidelines, an additional 17,031 would receive alteplase, which translates into 1922 more patients with favourable three-month outcomes.

Discussion

Adherence with product labels is highest in lower efficiency sites. Closer alignment with professional guidelines would increase patients treated and favourable outcomes.

Conclusion

Product labels should be revised to allow treatment of patients ≤4.5 h from onset and aged ≥80 years.
Predicting neighborhood racial change in large US metropolitan areas, 1990–2010
Authors: Ellis Mark , Wright Richard , Fiorio Lee , Holloway Steven
Published: December 2017

Neighborhoods in US metropolitan areas experienced dramatic changes in racial composition during the 1990s and again during the 2000s. We ask to what extent does the recent period of neighborhood racial change reflect an extension of the local processes operative in the 1990s, processes characteristic of large metropolitan areas or the nation more generally, or reflect new dynamics. After classifying neighborhoods in US metropolitan areas into different types based on their racial composition and having harmonized a set of tracts to consistent boundaries, we use metropolitan-scale tract transition matrices from the 1990s to predict changes in neighborhood racial mix between 2000 and 2010. To capture scale effects, we repeat this using a set of pooled metropolitan-scale tract transition matrices and again using a national tract transition matrix. We show that the main dynamic at work across the metropolitan system is the underprediction of moderately diverse white majority tracts: i.e., in the 2000s, the rate of increase in the racial diversity of white majority tracts that transitioned from being predominantly white to moderately diverse was much higher than expected based on 1990s trends. In some metropolitan areas, shares of moderately diverse white tracts in 2010 are anticipated by their 1990s neighborhood dynamics, suggesting temporal stability and a locational specificity in these processes. Others experience a temporal rupture in these dynamics, and their moderately diverse white tract share is better anticipated by pooling transition information. The study also invites us to think about the nature of residential change currently taking place that we can capture in 2020 census data.