bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Alcohol Use, Employment, and Arrest: Making Sense of a Convoluted Relationship
Authors: Chrusciel Margaret M.
Published: May 2020

The relationships between alcohol use, employment, and arrest are complexed and nuanced. This study examines the possibility of interactions between drinking and employment to evaluate whether the effects of alcohol use and/or employment on offending are contingent upon the other. Data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY97) are analyzed using multilevel logistic regressions to examine the possibility of interactions between alcohol use and employment in their impact on offending. Both drinking in general and binge drinking increase the odds of arrest. In contrast, employment reduces the likelihood of arrest. Results from analyses of potential interactions indicate alcohol use and employment interact in their effects on crime. Alcohol use and employment appear to interact such that the effect of alcohol use on arrest depends on how frequently a person works, and the protective effect of employment depends on how often a person consumes alcohol.
Podcast Advocacy Field Report
Authors: Mayer Julia L.
Published: May 2020

As a psychologist during the current political climate, I felt a sense of responsibility to learn more about social justice issues, and to support my clients in their efforts to try to remain optimistic. My colleague and I launched our podcast in the fall of 2018, and we have been interviewing people who work or volunteer for good causes and putting out episodes joyfully each week since then. As a result, we have learned about many dedicated, caring people and the concerns to which they have dedicated themselves.
Rural Perinatal Loss: A Needs Assessment
Authors: Domogalla Julie S. , McCord Janet , Morse Rebecca
Published: May 2020

The purpose of this research was to ascertain the availability and depth of services of bereavement care for mothers who live rurally. The specific focus is on those who experienced early losses including pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal, and young children who were born with fetal anomalies or neonatal disease that resulted in death. The convenience (nonprobability) sample originated from a population of mothers who lived in rural east central Minnesota. Participants were interviewed in a 60-minute interval. All data were coded confidential. Common themes, incidence of resources, or lack of bereavement resources for the participants’ lived experiences were considered using a descriptive phenomenological approach. Our appreciation of the continuing bond between mother and child compels us to believe that there is an ethical obligation to reduce and remove these barriers and inequalities in bereavement support services for those who live rurally and have experienced perinatal and infant loss. Results of this study indicate the need for further study and establishment of bereavement resources in rural outreach for perinatal and early childhood loss.
Societas Liturgica, Durham 2019
Authors: Land Julie Marie
Published: May 2020

This piece will offer a brief reflection on the Societas Liturgica 2019 Congress in Durham, UK.
Housing and Honouring the Saints: English Medieval Architecture and the Cult of Relics
Authors: Maddison John
Published: May 2020

This article considers the architecture of English medieval churches and how it was affected by its function as a setting for the cult of saints. It looks at the impression which the patrons of medieval buildings were hoping to make on the minds and spirits of those who visited them. It is not concerned so much with the functional planning issues surrounding access, security, and the management of pilgrims as it is with the symbolic content of those larger spaces within which the shrine and its immediate surroundings are contained and visually celebrated. Plans, forms, and decoration carrying specific associations with prestigious buildings in Rome are considered in relation to some early medieval buildings. The new work at Canterbury, following the fire of 1174, created a new and influential architectural language adopted by other cathedrals in which aspects of the saint could be signaled by architectural detail and decoration. The article ends with the thirteenth-century Chapel of the Nine Altars at Durham as a setting for the shrine of Cuthbert.
Between Anamnesis and Praise: The Origin of Oblation in Syro-Byzantine Anaphoras
Authors: Parenti Stefano
Published: May 2020

In the Byzantine anaphoras of Basil and John Chrysostom, at the transition from the anamnesis to the epiclesis, one finds a formula of offering the eucharistic gifts. This formula is absent from the anaphoras of the Antiochian tradition, from which the two Byzantine anaphoras derive. This article clarifies that the formula is neither an offertory formula nor a sacrificial formula, as some authors have attempted to sustain. Its origins are to be found in the custom of dedicating objects, buildings, and boats. Every gift is a restitution to God of what has already been given by him, including the offering of the bread and wine for the Eucharist. This formula of offering the eucharistic gifts was imposed simultaneously upon the two Byzantine anaphoras sometime before the end of the fifth century.
Community interactions and sanitation use by the urban poor: Survey evidence from India’s slums
Authors: Lee YuJung Julia , Radcliff Tiffany
Published: May 2020

While the current scholarship on open defecation overwhelmingly focuses on increasing access to sanitation facilities as the solution, millions of people around the world still practise open defecation despite having latrines. This is especially problematic in urban slums where people are more vulnerable to sanitation-related diseases compared with rural areas because of their high population density. We explore why latrines are not being used even when they are available to slum dwellers by identifying social interactions that serve as information channels that promote public latrine use. Using an original survey in New Delhi, we find that slum dwellers who frequently interact with slum leaders, more so than other community leaders, are more likely to use nearby public latrines regularly. A survey of slum leaders finds that their role in fixing and maintaining public latrines and informing others of these acts as well as educating people on hygiene encourage public latrine use.
Conceptualising and measuring the location of work: Work location as a probability space
Authors: Shearmur Richard
Published: May 2020

There is currently considerable interest in workers performing tasks from a variety of workplaces, such as co-working spaces, transport-networks and cafés. However, it remains difficult to ascertain the extent to which this workplace mobility is altering urban economic geography, since most analyses of the location of economic activity in cities are based upon census-type data that assume a unique place of work for each worker. In this paper I propose a framework that extends the concept of place of work: work is probabilistically assigned to different types of workplace according to the proportion of work time spent in each. The limitations of census data are discussed and illustrated, after which the framework is operationalised in an exploratory survey. Census data suggest a modest increase in workplace mobility, with most work still taking place either at home or in a fixed workplace. The paper’s principal contribution is to explain these data’s limitations and show how work location can be operationalised as a probability space.
Utility of anthropometric indicators in predicting osteoporosis in ambulant community dwelling rural postmenopausal women from southern India
Authors: Sridharan Kalyani , Cherian Kripa E , Kurian Mathews E , Asha Hesarghatta S , Paul Thomas V , Kapoor Nitin
Published: May 2020

Osteoporosis is characterised by low bone mineral density (BMD) and is a significant public health problem in India. This cross-sectional study was done to assess the relationship between various anthropometric measures and BMD in 308 rural dwelling South Indian postmenopausal women. Anthropometric variables such as weight, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC) and neck circumference (NC) were measured. BMD was assessed by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) scan at the lumbar spine (LS) and femoral neck (NOF). The mean age ± SD of study participants was 60.7 ± 7.8 years. All anthropometric variables showed positive correlation with BMD at NOF and LS ( P < 0.05). Weight showed the best correlation (r = 0.482 for NOF and 0.412 for LS; P < 0.001). On multivariate logistic regression, age and weight remained significant for predicting femoral neck osteoporosis while weight and WC were the best predictors for LS osteoporosis. These anthropometric measures may serve as surrogate markers for osteoporosis and thus be used to screen postmenopausal women for referral to a centre with fewer limited resources.
“Gather Your People”: Learning to Listen Intergenerationally in Settler-Indigenous Politics
Authors: Beausoleil Emily
Published: May 2020

Decolonization requires critical attention to settler logics that reinforce settler-colonialism, yet settler communities, as a rule, operate without a collective sense of identity and history. This article, provoked by Māori protocols of encounter, explores the necessity of developing a sense of collective identity as precursor to meeting in settler-Indigenous politics. It argues that the ability, desire, and experience of being unmarked as a social group—apparent in paradigmatic approaches to engaging social difference in settler communities—is at the heart of the particularity of settler group identity and also stands at the heart of countless failures to meet in settler-Indigenous politics. This essay thus seeks to mark the particular ground of this unmarkedness of settler identity in Western philosophies that set being unmarked as both ontology and ideal; the dominance of settler communities in places of settlement; and the willful forgetting of the colonial histories brought about by such dominance.
The Relationship of Public Service Motivation to Job Satisfaction and Job Performance of Emergency Medical Services Professionals
Authors: Stefurak Tres , Morgan Ron , Johnson R. Burke
Published: May 2020

Public service motivation (PSM) are motivational factors that are unique in professions that serve the public. This study examined PSM’s relationship to self-reported job satisfaction and job performance in a unique sample of emergency medical services professionals, in which little research on the PSM construct has been undertaken. The PSM factors that emerged in this study did not mirror the traditional four-factor structure. The public interest and self-sacrifice factors formed a single public service factor, and a small number of compassion factors loaded on a second factor, with the policy-making factor being fully replicated. All three factors were significantly related to job satisfaction, and none were related to job performance, while controlling for the influence of demographic and contextual factors. All of these contextual factors were significantly related to job performance, except for the length of time in the emergency medical services (EMS) field, but not job satisfaction.
The Role of Fines and Fees on Probation Outcomes
Authors: Ruhland Ebony , Holmes Bryan , Petkus Amber
Published: May 2020

Individuals on probation are commonly assessed fines and fees. These monetary sanctions serve different purposes. Fines are primarily used for more punitive purposes, whereas fees are often used to recover the costs of services provided. Regardless of ability to pay, monetary sanction payments are often required as a probation condition. Nonpayment therefore can result in violations and potentially revocations. However, little is known about how fines and fees operate specifically within probation. This current study explored legal and extralegal factors that influence the total amount of fines and fees assessed in individual cases, as well as the influence of fines and fees on probation revocations. The implications of the findings concentrate on ways to improve probation policies as well as probation officer’s practices as they relate to the collection and enforcement of monetary sanctions.
Academic Achievement and the Implications for Prison Program Effectiveness and Reentry
Authors: Silver Ian A. , Cochran Joshua C. , Motz Ryan T. , Nedelec Joseph L.
Published: May 2020

The current study examines how academic achievement—measured as verbal and math performance—is associated with prison programming and reentry. We assess how academic achievement might be directly associated with recidivism and whether this occurs indirectly by moderating the effectiveness of in-prison programs. Using a statewide subsample of incarcerated individuals ( N = 13,536), the results illustrated that academic achievement directly and indirectly affected the likelihood of recidivism. Lower academic achievement was associated with a higher likelihood of recidivism immediately upon reentry, but was also linked to greater effectiveness of prison programs aimed at reducing recidivism. The reduction in the likelihood of reincarceration associated with program participation was greater for individuals with lower academic achievement compared with those with higher academic achievement. The results underscore how individual differences can lead to heterogeneous outcomes and emphasize the need to target those individuals most likely to struggle with the practical barriers of reentry.
Social Support, Self-Efficacy, and Psychological Wellbeing of Adults with Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Al-Dwaikat Tariq N. , Rababah Jehad A. , Al-Hammouri Mohammed Munther , Chlebowy Diane Orr
Published: May 2020

Social support improves self-efficacy, which in turns enhances self-management that lead to better psychological outcomes of persons with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between social support and psychological outcomes of adults with T2D. A cross-sectional design was used to recruit a sample of 339 participants from a diabetes clinic. The participants responded to a series of questionnaires on demographics, social support dimensions, and self-management; self-efficacy; and psychological outcomes. The function and quality of social support were positively associated with self-efficacy. Self-efficacy was significantly associated with both self-management and psychological outcomes. In addition, self-efficacy demonstrated successful mediation role in the relationship between social support and psychological outcomes of T2D, however, self-management failed to mediate this relationship. The quality and functionality of social support are distinctive variables that should be recognized to promote social support interventions to reduce or prevent T2D-related psychological outcomes.
Corporate Affirmations of Self-Identity and Mutual Self-Help: Transmedia Rhetorics of Marvel Rising
Authors: Stevens J. Richard , St. John Burton
Published: May 2020

In 2018, Disney launched a Marvel Rising transmedia campaign introducing a line of female superhero dolls and supporting media narratives across Disney XD, Marvel Comics, and Hasbro toys. Utilizing textual and industry analysis, we find that the concentration of ownership and the need to attract a new clientele resulted in a “commercialized feminism” text, one that thematically supports Disney’s prosocial messaging agenda, linking its products to what it perceives as the preferred social identity for its audience. As such, this work has implications for deeper understandings of how corporations can use transmedia rhetoric to mentor children, especially young women, toward confidence and self-empowerment while also allowing the corporation to maximize marketplace revenues.
Surgical excision of an epicardial ventricular hydatid cyst
Authors: Kumar Ashok , Ballal Paritosh , Nagamani Alur Chikkabasavaiah , Sheriff Sadiq Ahmed
Published: May 2020

Isolated cardiac hydatid cyst is a rare entity. It warrants early surgical repair because cyst rupture is potentially fatal. We report the case of a 32-year-old lady with an epicardial ventricular hydatid cyst, which was managed successfully by complete cyst excision.
Salt: Fragments from the History of a Medium
Authors: Young Liam Cole
Published: May 2020

This essay explores histories of common salt, sodium chloride, using concepts and methods from media theory. It contributes to research on media and environment and the general ‘material turn’ taken across the Humanities. I conceive of salt as what Peters calls an ‘elemental’ medium so as to show, first, the imbrication of naturally-occurring substances in the operations and supply chains of digital culture. Second, the many lives salt has lived materially, in techniques of survival and exchange, and metaphorically, in cultural expression, complicate conventional understandings of media. In showing how salt performs three functions, processing, storage, and transfer, which Kittler ascribed to technical and symbolic media, I argue for a more expansive use of ‘mediation’ as a bridge concept that speaks to matters of nature and culture, Arts and Science, and to account for deep histories of extraction and economy that shape digital culture and global supply chains.
Rendering settler sovereign landscapes: Race and property in the Empire State
Authors: Palmer Meredith Alberta
Published: May 2020

This article examines the politics of race, indigeneity, and landscape in US American enactments of property. Its substance is the homelands of the Haudenosaunee, now territorialized as upstate New York. The 2005 US Supreme Court case City of Sherrill v. Oneida Indian Nation denied the Oneida of the Haudenosaunee the right to expand their sovereignty onto former reservation lands through the purchase of land title. In this article, I follow the genesis of the term “non-Indian character” of an area, first written in the Sherrill decision. In tracing the genealogy of this term, I examine the racial tenets embedded in US land survey tools and discourse of property-making after the Revolutionary War. I then discuss how efforts of the Holland Land Company, New York state agents, and yeoman settlers rendered settler sovereign landscapes through acts of Haudenosaunee dispossession and concepts of Indian inferiority. As Indigenous people continue to challenge US legal concepts of property today, the settler state has reauthorized this framing of Native American sovereignty that is bounded and may only recede territorially. I consider how racist understandings of Indian inferiority maintain land as property, to show how US sovereignty rests territorially on anti-indigenous concepts of race and place.
A retrospective analysis of risk factors associated with catheter-related thrombosis: a single-center study
Authors: Zhou Xuezhen , Lin Xi , Shen Runnan , Qu Yingying , Mo Chunling , Li Yan , Chen Qinchang , Wu Guitao , Chen Zhenhong , Huang Kai
Published: May 2020

Background:

Catheter-related thrombosis may lead to catheter infections and failure, further deep venous thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. Recognizing the risk factors for catheter-related thrombosis is extremely important to inform the development of catheter care guidelines.

Methods:

Data were collected from a total of 1,532 patients who had undergone venous catheterization, including indwelling catheterization from 19 March 2019 to 30 March 2019 in the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital. The factors for which data were to be collected included the patients’ physical characteristics, catheter-related factors, and catheter care-related factors. Logistic regression analysis, the chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, and the t-test were used to analyze the data.

Results:

Of the 1,532 patients studied, 28 developed intraductal thrombi, and of the factors analyzed, malignancy, a catheterization history, a history of thrombophilia, surgery during the week before catheterization, the catheterization duration, and anticoagulant therapy were significant risk factors associated with catheter-related thrombosis (all p < 0.05). There were no significant associations between the catheter brand, the number of lumens, the insertion direction, or the factors associated with catheter care and catheter-related thrombosis (all p > 0.05).

Conclusion:

Our study incorporated clear and systematic risk factors associated with catheter-related thrombosis. Malignancy, history of thrombophilia, history of catheterization, surgery during the week before catheterization, and catheterization duration were associated with increased risks of catheter-related thrombosis. Prophylactic anticoagulation was effective for preventing and treating catheter-related thrombosis.
ATP sensitive potassium (KATP) channel inhibition: A promising new drug target for migraine
Authors: Christensen Sarah L , Munro Gordon , Petersen Steffen , Shabir Anmool , Jansen-Olesen Inger , Kristensen David M , Olesen Jes
Published: May 2020

Background

Recently, the adenosine triphosphate (ATP) sensitive potassium channel opener levcromakalim was shown to induce migraine attacks with a far higher incidence than any previous provoking agent such as calcitonin gene-related peptide. Here, we show efficacy of ATP sensitive potassium channel inhibitors in two validated rodent models of migraine.

Methods

In female spontaneous trigeminal allodynic rats, the sensitivity of the frontal region of the head was tested by an electronic von Frey filament device. In mice, cutaneous hypersensitivity was induced by repeated glyceryl trinitrate or levcromakalim injections over nine days, as measured with von Frey filaments in the hindpaw. Release of calcitonin gene-related peptide from dura mater and trigeminal ganglion was studied ex vivo.

Results

The ATP sensitive potassium channel inhibitor glibenclamide attenuated the spontaneous cephalic hypersensitivity in spontaneous trigeminal allodynic rats and glyceryl trinitrate-induced hypersensitivity of the hindpaw in mice. It also inhibited CGRP release from dura mater and the trigeminal ganglion isolated from spontaneous trigeminal allodynic rats. The hypersensitivity was also diminished by the structurally different ATP sensitive potassium channel inhibitor gliquidone. Mice injected with the ATP sensitive potassium channel opener levcromakalim developed a progressive hypersensitivity that was completely blocked by glibenclamide, confirming target engagement.

Conclusion

The results suggest that ATP sensitive potassium channel inhibitors could be novel and highly effective drugs in the treatment of migraine.
Use of construction and demolition solid wastes for basket gabion filling
Authors: Paschoalin Filho João Alexandre , Camelo Diego Gonçalves , de Carvalho David , Guerner Dias António José , Marcondes Versolatto Brenno Augusto
Published: May 2020

Construction and demolition wastes have been studied by technical means aiming at the development of management tools to reduce their environmental impacts. Among these, recycling can be highlighted. This paper aims at the technical assessment of basket gabions filled with construction and demolition solid waste. Gabions are usually used for retaining walls construction, and these are commonly filled with rocks. Retaining walls are essential for earthfill slopes stabilization, and they must have proper characteristics of strength. However, depending on the slope height or the technical responsibility of the retaining wall, alternative materials with proper characteristics could be used to fill the gabions. The use of recycled material for gabion filling could reduce environmental impacts and costs caused by retaining wall construction. So, basket gabion cells were filled with construction solid waste and basaltic rocks, both crushed into coarse granulometry aiming to compare technical characteristics among them. The performed laboratory tests showed that the horizontal and vertical displacements determined for gabion filled with wastes were near to those obtained for gabions filled with basaltic rocks for a retaining wall of 5 m and up. In conclusion, it can be drawn that basket gabions filled with construction and demolition waste may be a technical alternative for civil construction, reducing environmental impacts and raw material consumption for retaining wall execution.
Experiences of Clients in Three Types of Methadone Maintenance Therapy in an Atlantic Canadian City: A Qualitative Study
Authors: MacNeill Lillian , Brunelle Caroline , Skelding Brittany , DiTommaso Enrico
Published: May 2020

Background

Methadone maintenance therapy remains the most common form of substitution therapy for opioid use disorder in Canada. Effectiveness of methadone maintenance therapy has been established, but recently newer treatment delivery models have emerged. Differences across these treatment models have not been examined.

Purpose

This descriptive qualitative study used semi-structured interviews to assess client experiences in three methadone maintenance therapy treatment delivery models: (a) comprehensive programs, (b) low-threshold/high-tolerance programs, and (c) fee-for-service programs.

Methods

A total of 32 participants were recruited from methadone maintenance therapy clinics in an Atlantic Canadian city and grouped into three models of care ( na = 9, nb = 11, nc = 12). Content analysis was performed on interview data to assess the frequency of relevant themes in the data.

Results

Participants from all groups stressed the importance of supportive staff and having access to some form of counselling. However, low-threshold/high-tolerance and fee-for-service clients voiced a need for more formal counselling and programming at their clinics. Methadone was reported as the most helpful aspect of the methadone maintenance therapy programs; however, participants also expressed negative views about the substance.

Conclusions

These findings have important implications for the development and implementation of methadone maintenance therapy, specifically pertaining to further integration of addiction and mental health services.
Characterisation of the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of a radiopaque polyethylene
Authors: Zaribaf Fedra P , Gill Harinderjit S , Pegg Elise C
Published: May 2020

Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene has a low X-ray attenuation, hence, the performance of the polyethylene implants used for joint replacements cannot be directly investigated using X-ray-based imaging techniques. In this study, the X-ray attenuation of polyethylene was increased by diffusing an FDA-approved oil-based contrast agent (Lipiodol ultra fluid) into the surface of the samples, and the suitability of this novel radiopaque ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene for clinical applications was examined. Different levels of radiopacity were created by controlling the diffusion parameters, and the level of radiopacity was quantified from computed tomography scans and reported in Hounsfield units. The physical, chemical and tensile properties of the radiopaque ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene were examined and compared to untreated and thermally treated controls. The results of this study confirmed that for the samples treated at 115°C or less the diffusion of the contrast agent did not significantly alter the crystallinity ( p = 0.7) or melting point ( p = 0.4) of the polyethylene. Concomitantly, the tensile properties were not significantly different from the control samples ( p > 0.05 for all properties). In conclusion, the radiopaque ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene treated for less than 18 h at a temperature of 115°C or below is a promising candidate for joint replacement applications as it can be identified in a standard X-ray while retaining the tensile properties of clinically used radiolucent ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene.
Multidisciplinary co-design optimization of the structure and control systems for large cable shovel considering cross-disciplinary interaction
Authors: Song Xueguan , Zhang Tianci , Yuan Yongliang , Wang Xiaobang , Sun Wei
Published: May 2020

Large cable shovel is a complex mechatronic system used for primary production in the open pit mine. For such structure-control highly coupled system, the conventional sequential design strategy (structure design followed by the control optimization in sequence) cannot manage this interaction adequately and explicitly. In addition, the large cable shovel consists of large number of sub-systems and/or disciplines, which also poses challenges to the global optimal design for large cable shovel. To enhance large cable shovel’s performance, an integrated design optimization strategy combining the structure-control simultaneous design (co-design) and the multidisciplinary design optimization is established in this study to perform the global optimization for the large cable shovel. In this proposed multidisciplinary co-design, the point-to-point trajectory planning method is extended to achieve the simultaneous optimization of the structure and control system. Besides the structure and control, the dynamics/vibration and energy consumption are taken into account in this multidisciplinary co-design. The objectives are to minimize the energy consumption per volume of ore and to minimize the excavating time. By comparing the multidisciplinary co-design and the conventional sequential design, it is found that the multidisciplinary co-design can not only make large cable shovel’s structure more compact with relatively small vibration, but also generate more flexible control speeds by making the best of the power motors.
A novel class of generalized parallel manipulators with high rotational capability
Authors: Tian Chunxu , Zhang Dan , Liu Jian
Published: May 2020

A conventional parallel manipulator is characterized by connecting one moving platform with two or more serial kinematic limbs. Since each limb is independently supporting one moving platform, the moving platform must be a rigid body with several kinematic pairs fixed on it. However, for generalized parallel manipulators with articulated moving platforms, the moving platforms are not limited to rigid bodies but including serial kinematic chains or internal kinematic joints. The introduction of articulated moving platforms allows for improving the kinematic performance of generalized parallel manipulators, especially for rotational capability. On account of the structural characteristics of the moving platforms, it also poses a significant challenge in the construction of the structures of manipulators. This research raises a new method for the type synthesis of generalized parallel manipulators with novel articulated moving platforms. The proposed method introduces a striking shortcut for the limb structure analysis of mechanisms with high rotational capability. In this paper, a class of generalized parallel manipulator with different degrees of freedom from 3 to 6 are constructed by using the constraint synthesis method, and several examples are provided to demonstrate the feasibility of the advocated method. At last, the 3T3R generalized parallel manipulator is taken as an example to analyze the inverse kinematics, and the evaluation of the workspace is conducted to verify the rotational capacity.
Fluvial activity in major river basins of the eastern United States during the Holocene
Authors: Lombardi Ray , Davis Lisa , Stinchcomb Gary E , Munoz Samuel E , Stewart Lance , Therrell Matthew D
Published: May 2020

In the eastern United States, existing paleo-reconstructions in fluvial environments consist primarily of site-specific investigations of climate and human impacts on riverine processes. This paper presents the first meta-analysis of fluvial reconstructions focused on regional watersheds of the eastern United States, including the Lower Mississippi, Tennessee, South Atlantic–Gulf Coast, Ohio, Mid-Atlantic, and New England regional watersheds. Chronologies of fluvial activity (i.e. alluvial deposition) and stability (i.e. landscape stability) were developed by synthesizing data from existing, published, and site-specific fluvial reconstruction studies conducted across the eastern United States. Overall, regional watersheds show variable patterns of synchronicity across watersheds and did not demonstrate cyclic behavior through the Holocene. During the last millennium, only the Lower Mississippi and Ohio regional watersheds exhibit high rates of fluvial activity active during the ‘Medieval Climate Anomaly’ (650–1050 yr BP), while nearly all other regional watersheds in the eastern United States were active during the ‘Little Ice Age’ (100–500 yr BP). These findings imply that fluvial activity may be more spatially restricted during warmer/drier climatic conditions than during cooler/wetter periods. We find an increase in fluvial activity during the era of Euro-American colonization (400 yr BP to present) in the southeastern United States but not the northeastern United States, implying a heterogeneous response of fluvial systems to human activities in the eastern United States related to climatic, cultural, and/or physiographic variability. These new insights gained from fluvial chronologies in the eastern United States demonstrate the utility of regionally synthesized paleo-records to understand large-scale climate variation effect on rivers.
Task content routinisation, technological change and labour turnover: Evidence from China
Authors: Yuhong Du , Xiahai Wei
Published: May 2020

This article addresses the unresolved question of whether recent technological change causes job instability in a non-western context. China is now the world’s largest user of industrial robots. A Lewis turning point has been predicted, involving a transition from a plentiful supply of rural low-cost workers to a labour shortage economy in which rising labour costs drive labour-technology substitution. The routine-biased technological change hypothesis suggests that technology-induced routinisation in job task content has a profound impact on employment structure. This study captures the extent of routinisation of jobs in the transitional context of China and examines the incidence and impact of routinisation on labour turnover in the labour market. Using rotating panel data from the China Labour-force Dynamics Survey 2012, 2014 and 2016, this study, based on individual information with regard to flexibility in work schedules and degree of autonomy in workload and task content on the job, follows a recently developed measure to construct a routine intensity index and indicates a division into three routine intensity groups. The empirical findings show that the probability of job mobility is significantly increased with the magnitude of routine task intensity, suggesting that the process of technology-induced routinisation is strongly associated with labour turnover.

JEL Codes: J63, J20
Telesimulation for COVID-19 Ventilator Management Training With Social-Distancing Restrictions During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Authors: Naik Neel , Finkelstein Robert Alan , Howell Joy , Rajwani Kapil , Ching Kevin
Published: May 2020

Background. In early 2020, the novel coronavirus pandemic forced communities around the globe to shut down and isolate. Routine graduate medical education activities have also been suspended as resident and fellow physicians-in-training have been re-deployed to support critical patient care services.

Innovation. We developed a two-part hybrid telesimulation model to teach COVID-19 ventilator management strategies while physically separating a group of learners and an instructor from one another. Learners consisted of non-ICU health care providers with limited experience in ventilator management being redeployed to manage ICU level COVID-19 infected patients. In the first week, the video tutorial has been viewed over 500 times and we have facilitated 14 telesimulation sessions, including 48 participants comprised of hospitalists, emergency medicine physicians and physician assistants, pediatric residents, nurses, and a nurse educator.

Conclusion. We believe that the combination of a video tutorial followed by an interactive telesimulation was successful in providing timely education during a coronavirus pandemic. Furthermore, it reinforced the value and flexibility in which simulation education could continue conveniently for learners despite significant restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic. Research is needed to assess the efficacy of this hybrid intervention in preparing healthcare workers and to determine if the knowledge is successfully transferred to the clinical setting.
Stochastic micromechanics-based investigations for the damage healing of unsaturated concrete using electrochemical deposition method
Authors: Chen Q , Zhu HH , Ju JW , Li HX , Jiang ZW , Yan ZG
Published: May 2020

The (micro-) cracks or (micro-) voids will lead to the damage of concrete material. A stochastic micromechanical framework is proposed to investigate the damage healing of the unsaturated concrete with the electrochemical deposition method. Stochastic micromechanical representations are presented based on the material’s random microstructures. Differential scheme-based multilevel homogenization procedures are proposed to quantitatively predict the effective properties of the repaired concrete. The probability density functions are obtained for the material’s effective properties with an efficient stochastic simulation framework, which is composed of the univariate approximation for the multivariate function, Newton interpolations and Monte Carlo simulations. Numerical examples are employed to verify the proposed stochastic micromechanical framework, which indicates that the presented framework is computationally efficient and capable of describing the electrochemical deposition method healing process for the unsaturated concrete considering the material’s inherent randomness. Finally, the influences of the saturation degrees and the equivalent aspect ratios on the probabilistic behavior of the repaired concrete are discussed on the basis of the proposed models.
Emergent Warfarin Reversal With Fixed-Dose 4-Factor Prothrombin Complex Concentrate
Authors: Jansma Brianna , Montgomery Josephine , Dietrich Scott , Mixon Mark A. , Peksa Gary D. , Faine Brett
Published: May 2020

Background:

Four-factor prothrombin complex concentrate (4FPCC) is used for emergent warfarin reversal, but dosing remains controversial. Following approval, further studies have evaluated a variety of fixed-dose regimens. The studies utilized lower doses as compared with package insert dosing and provided data in regard to efficacy, safety, and cost savings. Further data are needed, however, to determine which fixed-dose regimen provides optimal efficacy and safety for emergent warfarin reversal.

Objectives:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy, safety, and cost-savings of a fixed-dose 4FPCC protocol.

Methods:

This multicentered, retrospective chart review of adult patients requiring 4FPCC for emergent warfarin reversal utilized a fixed-dose regimen of 1500 units. The 2 primary outcomes were the proportion of patients who achieved a post-4FPCC international normalized ratio (INR) of ≤1.5 and ≤2. Secondary outcomes included thrombotic events within 7 days of 4FPCC administration and survival to discharge. A cost analysis was also performed to identify potential cost savings.

Results:

Of the 64 patients included, 44 (68.8%) achieved a post-4FPCC INR ≤1.5, and 61 (95.3%) achieved a post-4FPCC INR ≤2.0. No thrombotic events were reported; 55 (85.9%) patients survived to hospital discharge. More than $1000 was saved per patient via utilization of the fixed-dose protocol.

Conclusion and Relevance:

A fixed-dose of 1500 units of 4FPCC successfully achieved a target INR of ≤1.5 in the majority of patients and resulted in no thrombotic events. This study adds to the data evaluating alternative 4FPCC dosing regimens in comparison to package insert recommended dosing.
An Assessment of Normal Tibiofibular Anatomy on Lateral Fluoroscopy
Authors: Cogan Charles , Liu Tiffany , Toogood Paul
Published: May 2020

Background:

Intraoperative identification of syndesmotic malreduction during ankle fracture fixation can be challenging. Prior studies describe the normal tibiofibular relationship on anteroposterior and mortise views to aid assessment, but the normal anatomic variation on the lateral view has not been well defined. The aim of this study was to describe the normal anatomy of the lateral radiographic view of the ankle, focusing on the relative position of the fibula and tibial plafond.

Methods:

We retrospectively identified consecutive adults undergoing ankle fracture open reduction internal fixation in 2011-2018. Two independent observers assessed the tibiofibular relationship on perfect lateral images of the uninjured side. Measurements were made in pixels, converted into millimeters using published parameters, and averaged for analysis. Reliability was calculated using Pearson correlation coefficients.

Results:

Of 751 cases of adult ankle fracture fixation identified, 50 patients had perfect lateral images of the contralateral side. In 11 patients (22%), the posterior border of the fibula intersected precisely at the posterior edge of the tibial plafond. Ten patients (20%) had anterior intersections, whereas 29 (58%) had posterior intersections. The intersection was within ±2 mm of the plafond edge in 27 patients (54%). Intrarater reliability was 0.86 and 0.93. Interrater reliability was 0.88.

Conclusion:

In most ankles, the posterior border of the fibula intersects the posterior extent of the tibial plafond within 2 mm. If more than 2 mm away, one should query malreduction, especially if anterior. This method of intraoperative assessment may decrease the occurrence of syndesmotic malreduction.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, comparative series.
Developing Cross-Cultural Short Scales Using Ant Colony Optimization
Authors: Olaru Gabriel , Danner Daniel
Published: May 2020

This article demonstrates how the metaheuristic item selection algorithm ant colony optimization (ACO) can be used to develop short scales for cross-cultural surveys. Traditional item selection approaches typically select items based on expert-guided assessment of item-level information in the full scale, such as factor loadings or item correlations with relevant outcomes. ACO is an optimization procedure that instead selects items based on the properties of the resulting short models, such as model fit and reliability. Using a sample of 5,567 respondents from five countries, we selected a 15-item short form of the Big Five Inventory–2 with the goal of optimizing model fit and measurement invariance in exploratory structural equation modeling, as well as reliability, construct coverage, and criterion-related validity of the scale. We compared the psychometric properties of the new short scale with the Big Five Inventory–2 extra-short form developed with a traditional approach. Whereas both short scales maintained the construct coverage and criterion-related validity of the full scale, the ACO short scale achieved better model fit and measurement invariance across countries than the Big Five Inventory–2 extra-short form. As such, ACO can be a useful tool to identify items for cross-cultural comparisons of personality.
Participatory Representation in a Non-Western Context: The Case of Homeowner Associations in Beijing
Authors: Guan Ting , Liu Tao
Published: May 2020

This article examines the concept and practices of “participatory representation” in the Chinese context, a subset of substantive representation that emphasizes “authenticity” and participatory engagement in solving neighborhood problems. Through examining Chinese homeowner associations (HOAs), we explain how representation operates at the neighborhood level in a grassroots organizational context without a Western style of democracy, identifying the determinants and capacities of participatory representation. By proposing a model of representational capacity and using logistic regression analysis, we find that four factors have an impact on the quality of participatory representation: (1) homeowner attributes (i.e., gender, occupation, and length of residence), (2) problem-solving effectiveness of representative organizations, (3) transparent and open elections, and (4) level of homeowner participation. We further suggest that in a transitional society like China, these representative organizations, namely, HOAs, act as important training grounds for democratic skills, through which participatory citizen engagement is being learned and cultivated. This study contributes to contemporary accounts of participatory representation by identifying the informal representation patterns within HOAs and their potential to foster civic participation and social democracy in China in the coming decades.
Motor atypicalities in infancy are associated with general developmental level at 2 years, but not autistic symptoms
Authors: Achermann Sheila , Nyström Pär , Bölte Sven , Falck-Ytter Terje
Published: May 2020

Atypical motor development has frequently been reported in infants at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder. However, no previous study has used detailed motion capture technology to compare infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder and infant siblings with no familial history of autism spectrum disorder. We investigated reaching movements during an interceptive action task in 10-month-old infants using kinematic data with high spatiotemporal resolution. The results indicated that several measures were different in infants at elevated likelihood. However, longitudinal analyses revealed that while specific infant motor measures (e.g. number of movement units) were related to broad measures of general developmental level in toddlerhood, the associations with later autism spectrum disorder symptomatology were not significant. These findings confirm that some aspects of motor functioning are atypical in infants at elevated likelihood for autism spectrum disorder, but provide no support for the view that these issues are specifically linked to autism spectrum disorder symptoms, but may rather reflect neurodevelopment more generally.

Lay abstract

Atypicalities in motor functioning are often observed in later born infant siblings of children with autism spectrum disorder. The goal of our study was to investigate motor functioning in infants with and without familial history of autism spectrum disorder. Specifically, we investigated how infants catch a ball that is rolling toward them following a non-straight path, a task that requires both efficient planning and execution. Their performance was measured using detailed three-dimensional motion capture technology. We found that several early motor functioning measures were different in infants with an older autistic sibling compared to controls. However, these early motor measures were not related to autistic symptoms at the age of 2 years. Instead, we found that some of the early motor measures were related to their subsequent non-social, general development. The findings of our study help us understand motor functioning early in life and how motor functioning is related to other aspects of development.