bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Nutrition literacy is associated with healthy-eating behaviour among college students in Taiwan
Authors: Liao Li-Ling , Lai I-Ju , Chang Li-Chun
Published: March 2019

Objective:

This study aimed to investigate the nutrition literacy status of Taiwanese college students and to assess the relationship between nutrition literacy and healthy-eating behaviours.

Design:

Cross-sectional design with convenience sampling.

Setting:

Six universities in northern, central and southern Taiwan; both national and private universities were included in each region.

Method:

A maximum of 220 students was recruited from each university with no more than 45 students from one department. Data were collected using a self-rated nutrition literacy scale and questions about frequency of practising healthy-eating behaviours and demographic information.

Results:

The mean score for self-rated nutrition literacy was 2.8 (out of 4), and the mean score for healthy-eating behaviours was 3.07 (out of 5). Results of hierarchical regression showed that nutrition literacy explained 17.2% of the total variance of healthy-eating behaviours of college students, controlling for confounding variables.

Conclusion:

The findings of this study showed that nutrition literacy among college students was not optimal, and there was a positive association between higher levels of nutrition literacy and healthier dietary behaviours. Therefore, identifying methods to increase nutrition literacy among college students is essential to promote healthy-eating behaviours.
External Human-Machine Interfaces on Automated Vehicles: Effects on Pedestrian Crossing Decisions
Authors: de Clercq Koen , Dietrich Andre , Núñez Velasco Juan Pablo , de Winter Joost , Happee Riender
Published: March 2019

Objective:

In this article, we investigated the effects of external human-machine interfaces (eHMIs) on pedestrians’ crossing intentions.

Background:

Literature suggests that the safety (i.e., not crossing when unsafe) and efficiency (i.e., crossing when safe) of pedestrians’ interactions with automated vehicles could increase if automated vehicles display their intention via an eHMI.

Methods:

Twenty-eight participants experienced an urban road environment from a pedestrian’s perspective using a head-mounted display. The behavior of approaching vehicles (yielding, nonyielding), vehicle size (small, medium, large), eHMI type (1. baseline without eHMI, 2. front brake lights, 3. Knightrider animation, 4. smiley, 5. text [WALK]), and eHMI timing (early, intermediate, late) were varied. For yielding vehicles, the eHMI changed from a nonyielding to a yielding state, and for nonyielding vehicles, the eHMI remained in its nonyielding state. Participants continuously indicated whether they felt safe to cross using a handheld button, and “feel-safe” percentages were calculated.

Results:

For yielding vehicles, the feel-safe percentages were higher for the front brake lights, Knightrider, smiley, and text, as compared with baseline. For nonyielding vehicles, the feel-safe percentages were equivalent regardless of the presence or type of eHMI, but larger vehicles yielded lower feel-safe percentages. The Text eHMI appeared to require no learning, contrary to the three other eHMIs.

Conclusion:

An eHMI increases the efficiency of pedestrian-AV interactions, and a textual display is regarded as the least ambiguous.

Application:

This research supports the development of automated vehicles that communicate with other road users.
Engaging Communities to Reach Immigrant and Minority Populations: The Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative (MINI), 2006-2017
Authors: Peterson Patricia , McNabb Paula , Maddali Sai Ramya , Heath Jennifer , Santibañez Scott
Published: March 2019

In Minneapolis–St Paul, Minnesota, factors such as cultural and linguistic diversity make it difficult for public health agencies to reach immigrant and racial/ethnic minority populations with health initiatives. Founded in 2006, the Minnesota Immunization Networking Initiative (MINI) is a community project that has provided more than 80 000 free influenza vaccinations to vulnerable populations, including immigrants and racial/ethnic minority groups. MINI administered 5910 vaccinations through 99 community-based vaccination clinics during the 2017-2018 influenza season and surveyed the clients in their own language about influenza vaccination knowledge and practices. Among those surveyed, 2545 (43.1%) were uninsured and 408 (6.9%) received a first-time influenza vaccination at the MINI clinic. A total of 2893 (49.0%) respondents heard about the clinic through their faith community. Lessons learned included the importance of building relationships with community leaders and involving them as full partners, holding clinics in community-based settings to bring vaccinations to clients, and reporting outcomes to partners.
Régler l’heure de religion : l’enseignement de la religion catholique comme dispositif administratif entre les écoles publiques italiennes et l’Église catholique
Authors: Silhol Guillaume
Published: March 2019

This article deals with Catholic religious education in Italian State schools from a political-sociology perspective. The ‘hour of religion’ works as an arrangement, not limited to classrooms, that involves practices of control across State schools and ecclesiastic administrative bodies. The school’s management of this arrangement leads to practical negotiations between teachers and personnel, related to its legitimization as a subject of ‘religious culture’. However, bureaucratic rationalization also occurs in Church dioceses, through the management of human resources and periodic checks of teachers’ ‘proofs’ of faith. Catholic religious education appears then as a case study of the informal, hybrid regulation of religion in the ‘grey areas’ of State institutions.
Spiritism as a target of ‘annihilation’ – conceptual clarification and exemplification of a rhetorical strategy
Authors: Usarski Frank
Published: March 2019

The rhetorical strategy of annihilation appears in situations of conflict between different world-views. It is the attempt of one of the parties involved to attribute an inferior status to the adversary. The technique requires the capacity of a social actor of influencing the public image of the phenomenon in question in a way that a public interest in the campaign becomes obvious. The success of this process of social construction depends on a twofold rhetorical talent of the ‘constructor’. The first faculty is to reduce the complexity of the challenging phenomenon to alleged ‘core elements’. The second one is to associate these ‘core elements’ to pre-established negative definitions so that the ‘enemy’ appears as a mere variant of a well-known unacceptable social phenomenon. In order to illustrate how and why the strategy of annihilation works, the article refers to the campaign against Spiritism driven by Brazilian authorities between 1890 and 1940.
Residential segregation and educational performance. The case of Athens
Authors: Maloutas Thomas , Spyrellis Stavros Nikiforos , Capella Antoinetta
Published: March 2019

This paper investigates the relationship among length of educational training, social origin and residential segregation in Athens using a large sample of 130,000 young individuals 15 to 27 years old, as recorded in the 2011 census. Hypotheses based on high binary correlations between the length of training and a number of variables indicating social origin and the social status of residential areas were tested with a generalised linear mixed model to determine the significance of the influence of these variables on the length of educational training. A separate analysis was conducted for each age group, roughly corresponding to education levels – upper secondary (15–18 years old), undergraduate (19–22 years) and postgraduate (23–27 years). It was assumed that at each level the range and the shape of the socially and spatially unequal access to education would be significantly different. A scenario regarding the city’s important vertical segregation was also explored. It was assumed that living on different floors in the vertically segregated apartment buildings of the city’s densely built central neighbourhoods might be significantly related to the length of educational training, even after controlling for social class/status.
Effect of Cooperative Learning Instruction and Blogs on Apprehension of Intercultural Communication
Authors: Awada Ghada , Gutiérrez-Colón Mar
Published: March 2019

This study investigated the effect of cooperative learning and blog instruction in a culturally mixed group on decreasing intercultural communication apprehension. The study was implemented in classrooms that include Lebanese and non-Lebanese participants at two universities in Lebanon. The study used a pretest–posttest experimental design, whereby five writing intact classes were randomly assigned to control and experimental conditions. One hundred two ( N = 102) university students from diverse cultural backgrounds participated in the study. The Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension survey and the interview as a qualitative method were used to elicit data to validate or reject the main assumption of the study. The analysis of the emergent themes along with the comparison between results of the pre and post of the Personal Report of Intercultural Communication Apprehension proved the effectiveness of cooperative instruction through the use of blogs in decreasing the students’ intercultural communication apprehension.
Urban Redevelopment, School Closure, and the Abstract Space of Black Schooling in Prince George’s County, Maryland, 1968-1972
Authors: Dougherty Deirdre M.
Published: March 2019

Situated within the literature on school desegregation and black suburbanization, this article uses a framework of spatial production and racial formation to understand how one all-black high school, Fairmont Heights, was produced as an educational space through policy discourses during the height of school desegregation in suburban Maryland. The article draws on faculty statements opposing school closure, federal grant applications for urban renewal funds, annual board of education reports, superintendent addresses, and school board minutes to address three questions: How did Fairmont Heights get “produced” as an unequal educational space in relation to the surrounding metropolitan area, both physically and symbolically? How did different spatial imaginaries relate to race? How did people draw on language to mobilize these imaginaries and what sort of changes were effected as a result?
A Needs-based Partial Theory of Human Injustice: Oppression, Dehumanization, Exploitation, and Systematic Inequality in Opportunities to Address Human Needs
Authors: Dover Michael A.
Published: March 2019

This article presents an original needs-based partial theory of human injustice and shows its relationship to existing theories of human need and human liberation. The theory is based on an original typology of three social structural sources of human injustice, a partial theorization of the mechanisms of human injustice, and a needs-based theorization of the nature of human injustice, as experienced by individuals. This article makes a sociological contribution to normative social theory by clarifying the relationship of human injustice to human needs, human rights, and human liberation. The theory contends that human injustice is produced when oppression, mechanistic dehumanization, and exploitation create systematic inequality in opportunities to address human needs, leading to wrongful need deprivation and the resulting serious harm. In one longer sentence, this needs-based theory of the sources, mechanisms, and nature of human injustice contends that three distinct social systemic sources—oppression, mechanistic dehumanization, and exploitation—produce unique and/or overlapping social mechanisms, which create systematic inequality in opportunities to address universal human needs in culturally specific ways, thus producing the nature of the human injustice theorized here: wrongfully unmet needs and serious harm.
Depression in Patients with Tinnitus: A Systematic Review
Authors: Salazar James W. , Meisel Karl , Smith Eric R. , Quiggle Aaron , McCoy David B. , Amans Matthew R.
Published: March 2019

Objective

Tinnitus is a condition that causes distress and impairment across cognitive, functional, and psychiatric spectra. In the psychiatric realm, tinnitus has long been associated with depression. To better characterize the co‐occurrence of depression and tinnitus, we performed a systematic review of the prevalence of depression among patients with tinnitus.

Data Sources

We comprehensively examined original studies reporting the prevalence of depression in adult populations with tinnitus, as indexed in the PubMed and Web of Science databases and published from January 2006 to August 2016.

Review Methods

All identified articles were reviewed independently by 2 researchers, with a third reviewer for adjudication. Included studies were evaluated for threats to validity across 3 domains—representativeness, response rate, and ascertainment of outcome—on a 4‐point modified Newcastle‐Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale.

Results

Twenty‐eight studies were included, representing 15 countries and 9979 patients with tinnitus. Among the included studies, the median prevalence of depression was 33%, with an interquartile range of 19% to 49% and an overall range of 6% to 84%. Studies were high quality overall, with a mean score of 3.3 (SD = 0.76), and 89% utilized a validated tool to ascertain depression.

Conclusions

We conducted one of the largest contemporary comprehensive reviews, which suggests a 33% prevalence of depression among patients with tinnitus. Our review reaffirms that a substantial proportion of patients with tinnitus have depression, and we recommend that all who treat tinnitus should screen and treat their patients for depression, if present.
Does Clearance of Positive Margins Improve Local Control in Oral Cavity Cancer? A Meta‐analysis
Authors: Bulbul Mustafa G. , Tarabichi Osama , Sethi Rosh K. , Parikh Anuraag S. , Varvares Mark A.
Published: March 2019

Objectives

To compare local recurrence‐free survival (LRFS) in early oral cavity cancer (OCC) patients with positive/close frozen section (FS) cleared with further resection (R1 to R0) or positive FS not cleared (R1) to those with negative margins on initial FS analysis (R0).

Data Sources

PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane.

Review Methods

We followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐analyses (PRISMA) for reporting in our study. Only English‐language articles that included patients with OCC and local recurrence (LR) comparisons between R0 and initially R1 to final R0 or final R1 groups were included. We requested the raw data from the corresponding authors of eligible studies and performed an individual participant data (IPD) meta‐analysis of LRFS outcomes across groups.

Results

Pooled LRFS data from 8 studies showed that patients in the R1 to R0 group had worse LRFS compared to the R0 group (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.897, P <. 001). Patients in the R1 group were also found to have worse LRFS compared to the R0 group (HR = 3.795, P <. 001). When compared to final R1 group, the initially R1 to final R0 only showed a trend toward better LRFS.

Conclusion

Margin revision of initially positive margins to “clear” based on FS guidance does not equate to an initially negative margin and does not significantly improve local control. These findings call into question the effectiveness of the current methodology of intraoperative FS in OCC resections and call for a prospective study to determine what system of resected specimen analysis best predicts completeness of resection.
What’s wrong with an epistocratic council?
Authors: Vandamme Pierre-Étienne
Published: March 2019

Epistemic justifications of democracy affirm the comparative quality of democracies’ decisions. The challenge faced by those who endorse such views is to explain why we should prefer standard democratic institutions to some sort of epistocracy or rule of the wisest. This article takes up this challenge by assessing the epistemic potential of an epistocratic council, as imagined by Jason Brennan. Members of such council would be selected through competency exams, the required competencies being defined by the whole population. The argument defended in this article is that the potential gain in instrumental rationality that such an institution could offer under certain questionable conditions would be outweighed by the increased risks of misrule and involuntary biases if such council has decision-making or veto power. In comparison with the existing literature, this argument stresses the importance of moral rightness, here defined as impartiality, in the epistemic assessment of democracy and its alternatives. The article then ends with a qualified assessment of purely epistemic justifications of democratic inclusion, which could be insufficient to reject implausible but imaginable forms of epistemically justifiable disenfranchisement.
Meta-deliberation: everyday acts of critical reflection in deliberative systems
Authors: Holdo Markus
Published: March 2019

The term ‘meta-deliberation’ refers to processes of addressing problems with the way that conversations about shared concerns – our ordinary deliberations – proceed. This article discusses the distinction between meta-deliberation and ordinary deliberation and examines three questions raised by previous arguments about meta-deliberation: (1) what kinds of communication should count as meta-deliberation, (2) does meta-deliberation always lead to reflective understanding and improvements in practices of deliberation, and (3) why would deliberative systems need meta-deliberation? Consistent with the systemic perspective on deliberation, this article suggests an inclusive view of which acts and sites may contribute to processes of meta-deliberation: it argues that meta-deliberation faces the same potential problems as ordinary deliberation, such as unequal power relations and narrow perspectives, and therefore requires careful examination; but when meta-deliberation works, it provides societies with reflective capacity, which helps them locate systemic weaknesses. The article concludes by discussing how further studies can help make meta-deliberation more inclusive in order to serve system-level critical reflection.
Who Keeps a Dream Journal? Sociodemographic and Personality Factors
Authors: Schredl Michael , Göritz Anja S.
Published: March 2019

A fascinating area of dream research is the analysis of long dream series. However, research regarding differences between long-term journalists and normal persons is lacking. The present online survey ( N = 2,492) focused on the relationship between the Big Five personality dimensions and frequency of recording dreams. As expected, dream recall frequency, nightmare frequency, and attitude towards dreams were related to the frequency of recording dreams. Unexpectedly, conscientiousness was negatively related to recording dreams—a finding that warrants further research. Similarly, the effects of education and agreeableness on recording dreams are not yet understood. Given those interindividual differences, one should be cautious in generalizing findings obtained from long dream series.
Ipsilateral atrophy of the mammillary body and fornix after thalamic stroke: evaluation by MRI
Authors: Kinoshita Fumiko , Kinoshita Toshibumi , Toyoshima Hideto , Shinohara Yuki
Published: March 2019

Background

A focal brain lesion influences the function and morphology in the connected intact regions remote from it. However, it is not well documented that thalamic stroke may induce secondary degeneration of the mammillary body (MB) or the fornix (Fx).

Purpose

To investigate transneuronal degeneration (TND) in the MB and Fx following thalamic stroke on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and to assess the time course of these findings using serial MRI after stroke.

Material and Methods

Conventional T2-weighted axial MR images were retrospectively evaluated in 24 cases of thalamic infarction or hemorrhage involving the anterior thalamic nucleus and/or mammillothalamic tract (MTT). We recorded any change in size and/or shape of the MB and Fx after the infarction and the days on which those structural changes occurred.

Results

Ipsilateral atrophy of the MB was shown in 9/20 patients (45.0%). MRI revealed MB atrophy as a small round shape in almost half of the patients and was too small to visualize in one-third of them on axial planes. Ipsilateral atrophy of the Fx was found in 2/23 patients (8.7%) and was observed as a thin lined shape on MRI. The atrophy was observed on follow-up MRI scans dated 356–1779 days (mean = 910 ± 516 days) after onset.

Conclusion

Damage to the anterior thalamic nucleus and/or MTT caused TND in the ipsilateral MB and/or Fx resulted in atrophy and asymmetry in less than half of patients studied, mostly within three years.
Comparison of neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio and platelet–lymphocyte ratio in patients with thyroiditis and papillary tumors
Authors: Ari Aziz , Gunver Feray
Published: March 2019

Objective

The neutrophil–lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet–lymphocyte ratio (PLR) have recently been introduced as prognostic markers of thyroid cancer and strong inflammatory markers. The study was performed to investigate the association of the PLR and NLR with thyroid inflammation and papillary cancer.

Methods

Patients with thyroiditis and patients with papillary carcinomas were compared with sex-, age-, and body mass index-matched healthy controls. The NLR and PLR were calculated and compared among the three groups.

Results

The NLR was significantly higher in patients with thyroiditis and non-significantly higher in patients with papillary cancer than in healthy controls. The PLR was significantly higher in both patients with thyroiditis and papillary cancer than in healthy controls. Like the NLR, the PLR was not different between patients with thyroiditis and papillary cancer. The NLR was significantly and positively associated with the PLR and white blood cell count.

Conclusion

The PLR and NLR showed similar results in both thyroid inflammation and cancer. It seems difficult to obtain clear results in separating cancer from inflammatory events using these parameters. We suggest using them as supportive parameters of thyroid papillary cancer or inflammation.
Use of Aerial LiDAR in Measuring Streetscape and Street Trees
Authors: Golombek Yaneev , Marshall Wesley E.
Published: March 2019

This paper investigates the usefulness of 3D volumetric pixels (voxels) and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) Quality Level 2 (QL2) Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data to measure features in streetscapes. As the USGS embarks on a national LiDAR database with the goal of covering the entire United States of America (U.S.) with QL2 data or better, this paper investigates uses of QL2 LiDAR for the 3D measuring of streetscapes. Tree mapping is a common use of QL2 LiDAR data, and street trees are among the most common features within urban streetscapes that transportation and urban designers assess. Traditional remote sensing techniques derive tree polygons from imagery, and traditional uses of LiDAR for tree canopy mapping is based on deriving a 2D canopy polygon with an attribute for elevation height. However, when breaking up streetscapes into 5 Ft elevation zones and calculating street–tree voxels at each elevation zone height, 3D characteristics of street trees become prevalent that completely differ from the common 2D LiDAR-derived street trees. Statistical tests in this paper display how different the 3D characteristics are from the 2D-derived LiDAR polygons, as this paper introduces a new methodology for measuring streetscape features in 3D, particularly street trees.
On the Usefulness of a Combined Mode Choice-Schedule Choice Model: Case of the Paris–Bordeaux Rail Line (France)
Authors: Chen Minghui , Souche Le Corvec Stéphanie
Published: March 2019

The high-speed rail line (HSR) Ligne à Grande Vitesse Sud Europe Atlantique (LGV SEA) was inaugurated and put into operation on July 2, 2017. Since then, a decrease has been observed in air traffic and in air service frequency on the Paris–Bordeaux route. This paper examines the competition between HSR and air transportation services and the influence of this new transport infrastructure on passenger behavior. Using discrete choice models along with data from traveler surveys, an econometric analysis of traveler demand is conducted, dealing jointly with mode choice and schedule choice between Paris and Bordeaux. Results demonstrate that the variables specifically constructed to represent the schedule delay cost are significant, with late arrival generating relatively greater costs compared with early arrival. This model also makes it possible to evaluate the quality of transport timetable proposed by the transportation operators with the help of market share prediction.
The High-hanging Fruit of the Gender Revolution: A Model of Social Reproduction and Social Change
Authors: Calnitsky David
Published: March 2019

This article proposes an abstract sociological model of stable patriarchal social relations and feminist social change. I describe a patriarchal equilibrium of gender inequality and propose an approach for thinking about how various kinds of interventions can short-circuit the system, pushing it onto a new equilibrium path. In particular, I focus on possible interventions into parental leave policy, describing their social structural and cultural ramifications as well as a range of objections to them. However, more important than the specific interventions proposed is the general model itself, which depicts reinforcing structures of patriarchal culture, gender inequality in labor markets, and gender inequality in the home—and moreover, how this model can evolve. It describes a feedback loop that can lock structures of gender inequality in place but also provides a means for considering the spaces available to both blunt the social reproduction of gender inequality and reinforce “genderless” social relations.
Doing Abstraction: Autism, Diagnosis, and Social Theory
Authors: Maynard Douglas W. , Turowetz Jason
Published: March 2019

Recent decades have witnessed a dramatic upsurge in the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). As researchers have investigated the responsible sociohistorical conditions, they have neglected how clinicians determine the diagnosis in local encounters in the first place. Articulating a position “between Foucault and Goffman,” we ask how the interaction order of the clinic articulates with larger-scale historical forces affecting the definition and distribution of ASD. First, we show how the diagnostic process has a narrative structure. Second, case data from three decades show how narrative practices accommodate to different periods in the history of the disorder, including changing diagnostic nomenclatures. Third, we show how two different forms of abstraction—Type A, which is categorical, and Type B, which is concrete and particular—inhabit the diagnostic process. Our analysis contributes to the sociology of autism, the sociology of diagnosis, the sociology of abstraction, and social theory.
Towards a Dynamic Theory of Civil Society: The Politics of Forward and Backward Infiltration
Authors: Klein Steven , Lee Cheol-Sung
Published: March 2019

This article develops a conceptual framework to theorize the processes of mutual penetration between civil society, the state, and the economy, where incumbents and challengers continuously formulate new strategies against each other. We criticize the prevailing Weberian and Tocquevillian concepts of civil society, and then, drawing on research in social movements and comparative political economy, propose a new framework: the politics of forward and backward infiltration. Under each form of infiltration, we delineate three submodes: the politics of influence, the politics of substitution, and the politics of occupation, which correspond to strategies for discursive influence, functional replacement, and institutional takeover, respectively. We challenge the exclusive focus on the politics of influence as inadequate for analyzing these processes, while highlighting the other two modes as necessary additions. Finally, we elucidate the implications of our theory of forward and backward infiltration for the study of civil society and participatory democracy more generally.
A Retrospective Analysis of Nonocclusive Mesenteric Ischemia in Medical and Surgical ICU Patients: Clinical Data on Demography, Clinical Signs, and Survival
Authors: Stahl Klaus , Busch Markus , Maschke Sabine K. , Schneider Andrea , Manns Michael P. , Fuge Jan , Wiesner Olaf , Meyer Bernhard C. , Hoeper Marius M. , Hinrichs Jan B. , David Sascha
Published: March 2019

Background:

To analyze demography, clinical signs, and survival of intensive care patients diagnosed with nonocclusive mesenteric ischemia (NOMI) and to evaluate the effect of a local intra-arterial prostaglandin therapy.

Methods:

Retrospective observational study screening 455 intensive care patients with acute arterial mesenteric perfusion disorder in a tertiary care hospital within the past 8 years. Lastly, 32 patients with NOMI were enrolled, of which 11 received local intra-arterial prostaglandin therapy. The diagnosis of NOMI was based on the clinical presentation and established biphasic computed tomography criteria. Clinical and biochemical data were obtained 24 hours before, at the time, and 24 hours after diagnosis.

Results:

Patients were 60.5 (49.3-73) years old and had multiple comorbidities. Most of them were diagnosed with septic shock requiring high doses of norepinephrine (NE: 0.382 [0.249-0.627] μg/kg/min). The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score was 18 (16-20). A decrease in oxygenation (Pao 2/Fio 2), pH, and bicarbonate and an increase in international normalized ratio, lactate, bilirubin, leucocyte count, and NE dose were early indicators of NOMI. Median SOFA score significantly increased in the last 24 hours before diagnosis of NOMI (16 vs 18, P < .0001). Overall, 28-day mortality was 75% (81% nonintervention vs 64% intervention cohort; P = .579). Median SOFA scores 24 hours after intervention increased by +5% in the nonintervention group and decreased by 5.5% in the intervention group ( P = .0059).

Conclusions:

Our data suggest that NOMI is a detrimental disease associated with progressive organ failure and a high mortality. Local intra-arterial prostaglandin application might hold promise as a rescue treatment strategy. These data encourage future randomized controlled trials are desirable.
Justificatory Fables of Ordoliberalism: Laissez-faire and the “Third Way”
Authors: Dale Gareth
Published: March 2019

This article critically examines two conceptualisations of ordoliberalism. In one, it is defined, together with neoliberalism, against 19th-century liberalism (in its social liberal and laissez-faire variants). This reading was common among ordoliberals themselves, and early neoliberals such as Friedrich von Hayek, as well as among critics, notably Michel Foucault. In another, ordoliberalism is contrasted to neoliberalism, with the latter presumed to be a species of laissez-faire economics. This reading is commonly accompanied by the supposition that ordoliberalism represents a “Third Way” between capitalism and socialism, or between laissez-faire liberalism and state planning. The main body of this contribution presents a critical analysis of both positions, by way of analysis of ordoliberal texts and a history of the discourse of laissez-faire.
The digital dilemma: Winning and losing strategies in the digital talent race
Authors: Cardenas-Navia Isabel , Fitzgerald Brian K
Published: March 2019

The emergence of a digital economy has changed companies’ business and talent model. However, the gap between supply and demand for digital skills and talent poses a serious dilemma for many companies: do they acquire tech start-ups as a talent strategy or reinvent the company as a tech firm, hire new digital talent and reskill current employees? Recent research on start-up acquisitions and a new report from the US Business–Higher Education Forum and Burning Glass Technologies reframe this dilemma by shedding new light on foundational skills for the digital economy and strategies for acquiring new talent and reskilling employees.
Polishing path generation for physical uniform coverage of the aspheric surface based on the Archimedes spiral in bonnet polishing
Authors: Zhao Qizhi , Zhang Lei , Han Yanjun , Fan Cheng
Published: March 2019

As a new polishing method, bonnet polishing is suitable for polishing the curved surface due to its advantages in flexibility and adaptability of the polishing tool. In the polishing process, the contact state between the bonnet and the curved surface always changes. The traditional polishing tool path with equal interval will inevitably lead to over-polished areas and unpolished areas. In this article, a new tool path for bonnet polishing, which is called the revised Archimedes spiral polishing path, is proposed to ensure the physical uniform coverage of the curved surface in bonnet polishing. The path generation method is based on the modified tool–workpiece contact model and the pointwise searching algorithm. To prove the effectiveness of the revised path, two aspheric workpieces were polished along the traditional Archimedes spiral polishing path and the revised path, respectively. The roughnesses of the two workpieces are 10.94 and 10 nm, and the profile tolerances are 0.4097 and 0.2037 μm, respectively. The experimental results show that the revised path achieves lower roughness and surface tolerance than the traditional Archimedes path, which indicates that the revised path can achieve uniform physical coverage on the surface.
A recent review of hybrid automotive systems in Gulf Corporation Council region
Authors: Mahroogi Faisal O , Narayan Sunny
Published: March 2019

A recent turbulence in the oil market, as well as the ever-decreasing stocks of fossil fuels, has led to growth of interest in various alternative technologies like automotive hybrid vehicles. Despite the rapid increase of markets of hybrid-electric vehicles, their scope for the Gulf Corporation Council region still needs to be explored further. Awareness about benefits of using hybrid-electric vehicles is fast spreading in the Gulf Corporation Council region and this has positive impacts both in terms of consumer satisfaction and reduction of environmental pollutants. The major aim of presented work is to explore the benefits of using hybrid vehicle technology in terms of savings in cost and reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. Emissions savings were found to be in a range of 9–13%. Fuel savings per 100 km were in a range of 8–10 L. The presented work discusses various issues related to background, features, and components of hybrid vehicles. Trends in the design, energy management, component sizing, energy costs, greenhouse emissions, fuel economy, and performance of these vehicles have been analyzed. Further conclusions and recommendations have been made about these issues keeping in focus market trends in the Gulf Corporation Council region.
Improving the performance of the condenser fan in a subway train against the effects of crosswind flow by placing barriers
Authors: Abadi Reza NB , Deymi-Dashtebayaz Mahdi , Rezazadeh Niki
Published: March 2019

In this paper, the effect of crosswind flow and barrier placement on the performance of the condenser fan in a subway train is investigated. In addition, the amount of heat transfer on the condenser tubes is also analyzed. At different velocities of the train, variations in the velocity profile and drag force are determined for various geometries including triangular, rectangular, symmetric triangular barriers, and a barrier with parallel lines outside of the fan. Navier–Stokes, energy equations, and k– ω turbulence model have been used for the numerical modeling of the turbulent and incompressible flow. The results show that due to the created vortices behind the triangular and rectangular barriers, a negative velocity on the outflow of the fan is observed. Also, the symmetric triangular barrier minimizes the rotational flow on the top of the fan, and parallel paths have the most impact on the improvement of the fan's performance due to the elimination of all rotating flows. Finally, variations in temperature on the condenser tubes in the presence of barriers that are placed in the middle gap between the holes on the top of the condenser tubes are determined. These barriers move the crosswind flow toward the condenser tubes and decrease the output air temperature of the condenser.
α-spectrum estimation for 1/f processes in noisy environments
Authors: Wang Chen , Shi Yao-Wu , Zhu Lan-Xiang , Deng Li-Fei , Shi Yi-Ran , Wang De-Min
Published: March 2019

In the past, 1/ f noise was regarded as a stochastic process that accords with Gaussian distribution. According to our studies, the output transistor 1/ f noise can be characterized more accurately as non-Gaussian α-stable distribution rather than Gaussian distribution. We define and consistently estimate the samples normalized cross-correlations of linear S αS processes and propose a samples normalized cross-correlations–based α-spectrum method effective in noisy environments. Simulation results and diodes noise spectrum estimation results exhibit good performance.
Rose Angina Questionnaire: Validation in emergency department to detect myocardial infarction in a tertiary hospital of eastern Nepal
Authors: Poudel Masum , Bhandari Rabin , Malla Gyanendra , Baral Dharanidhar , Uprety Samyog , Chaudhary Ritesh , Sharma Sanjib Kumar
Published: March 2019

Background:

Rose Angina Questionnaire (RAQ) is a useful screening questionnaire for ischemic heart disease validated in different settings; however, its diagnostic ability to predict myocardial infarction (MI) in the emergency is less clear.

Objectives:

To find out the usefulness of RAQ to predict MI in patients presenting to the emergency.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study was conducted at the BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences (BPKIHS), a teaching hospital in eastern Nepal from 1 January to 30 March 2017, after ethical clearance from the Institutional Review Committee. Informed consent was obtained from the patients for their anonymised information to be published in this study The samples were collected from 100 patients with chest pain aged 40 to 70 years presenting to the emergency. RAQ was applied and its performance to detect MI was compared with emergency and cardiologist diagnosis of MI. Sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative value were calculated along with descriptive analysis.

Results:

A total of 100 patients were analysed with the mean age of 63.78 years (SD 11.60) and male to female ratio of 1.94. RAQ detected 58 cases (63.8%) with emergency department (ED) diagnosis of MI (true positive) and identified 3 (33.3%) cases with non-MI (true negative). The true positive rate for RAQ to detect MI after cardiologist consultation was 71.6%. RAQ had a sensitivity of 84.91% (95% confidence interval (CI) 72.41% –93.25%) to detect positive troponin, 63.74% (52.99–73.56) to detect positive electrocardiogram (ECG) and 71.60% (95% CI 60.5% to 81.07%) to detect final diagnosis of MI.

Conclusion:

RAQ is a good screening tool to detect MI in the emergency that can be used in isolation or in combination with other diagnostic modalities to detect it early.
Incorporating Older Adults as “Trained Patients” to Teach Advance Care Planning to Third-Year Medical Students
Authors: Nussbaum Sarah E. , Oyola Sonia , Egan Mari , Baron Aliza , Wackman Shewanna , Williams Shellie , Benson Janice , Limaye Seema , Levine Stacie
Published: March 2019

Background:

Advance care planning (ACP) is a critical component of end-of-life (EoL) care, yet infrequently taught in medical training.

Objective:

We designed a novel curriculum that affords third-year medical students (MS3s) the opportunity to practice EoL care discussions with a trained older adult in the patient’s home.

Design:

Volunteers were instructed as trained patients (TPs) to evaluate MS3s interviewing and communication skills. The MS3s received a didactic lecture and supplemental material about ACP. Pairs of MS3s conducted ACP interviews with TPs who gave verbal and written feedback to students. Student evaluations included reflective essays and pre/postsurveys in ACP skills.

Settings and Participants:

A total of 223 US MS3s participated in the curriculum.

Results:

Qualitative analysis of reflective essays revealed 4 themes: (1) students’ personal feelings, attitudes, and observations about conducting ACP interviews; (2) observations about the process of relationship building; (3) learning about and respecting patients’ values and choices; and (4) the importance of practicing the ACP skills in medical school. Students’ confidence in skills significantly improved in all 7 domains ( P < .001): (1) introduce subject of EoL; (2) define advance directives; (3) assess values, goals, and priorities; (4) discuss prior experience with death; (5) assess expectations about treatment and hospitalization; (6) explain cardiopulmonary resuscitation and outcomes; and (7) deal with own feelings about EoL and providers’ limitations.

Conclusions:

The use of older adults as TPs in an ACP curriculum provides students an opportunity to practice skills and receive feedback in the nonmedical setting, thereby improving comfort and confidence in approaching these conversations for future patients.
Entrenchment implies that physiological and developmental processes are not organism-bound but still organism-centric
Authors: Vecchi Davide
Published: March 2019

Villalobos and Razeto-Barry argue that all living beings possess discrete bodies and that, as a consequence, embodied living beings are merely embedded in the environment surrounding them. The upshot of their analysis is that an extended conception of life is misguided. I fundamentally agree with their argument. The authors make their case by clarifying the conceptual scaffolding of the theory of autopoiesis that supposedly engenders the extended approach. I think the critical argument can be supported in a more straightforward way by showing that the biological fact of entrenchment (West-Eberhard 2003, pp. 500-503) does not imply an extension of the physical boundaries of the organism.
Nivolumab-induced hepatitis: A rare side effect of an immune check point inhibitor
Authors: Mathew Thomas Vinay , Bindal Poorva , Ann Alexander Swetha , McDonald Kymberly
Published: March 2019

Immune checkpoint inhibitors have ushered in a new era in cancer management. Nivolumab is a human immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) monoclonal antibody that selectively inhibits programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) activity by binding to the PD-1 receptor. This inhibits suppression of the T-cell activity, which can in turn cause increased killing of cancer cells. This alteration in the activity of the T cells can cause them to lose their ability to identify host cells and leads to immune-related adverse effects (irAE). Nivolumab-induced hepatotoxicity is rare and accounts for 3–6% of all irAE. We present a case of nivolumab-induced hepatitis. A woman who was treated for recurrent renal cell carcinoma presented with hepatitis. Workup for other causes was negative and the hepatitis was attributed to the administration of nivolumab. She was started on oral steroids followed which she initially improved. However, she later presented with massive upper gastrointestinal bleeding secondary to gastroduodenal ulcers and subsequently developed acute tubular necrosis and passed from the complications. Immune checkpoint inhibitors have proven to be a promising approach in the management of a wide array of neoplasms by immunomodulation. As these agents are becoming standard of therapy in the management of cancers, a heightened vigilance in the diagnosis of irAE is warranted. With heightened vigilance, early recognition can lead to decreased mortality and morbidity.
A survey of feeding practices and use of food puzzles in owners of domestic cats
Authors: Delgado Mikel , Bain Melissa J , Buffington CA Tony
Published: March 2019

Objectives

Food puzzles may provide enrichment to domestic cats. The purpose of our survey was to determine: (1) how respondents fed their cat (type[s] of food, amount and mode of delivery); (2) how many people used food puzzles to provide food for their cats; and (3) owner attitudes about food puzzles.

Methods

We conducted an online survey from January to April of 2018 to ask cat owners (n = 3192) questions related to their cat feeding practices and use of food puzzles.

Results

Most cat owners fed their cats dry food, with half of those owners offering it ad libitum. Thirty percent of participants offered food puzzles to their cats; another 18% had tried food puzzles but were no longer using them. The remaining participants had never used a food puzzle with their cat. Reasons for not using food puzzles included perceptions about the cat (eg, being too lazy), multiple pets in the home, pets fed different diets, health issues and feeding an exclusively wet food diet. Many participants did not know how to choose or introduce a food puzzle to their cat, and many non-users saw no need or benefit to their cat.

Conclusions and relevance

This survey provided information about the feeding habits of cat owners and why they do and do not use food puzzles with their cats. Because of the scarcity of empirical evidence about the effects of food puzzles on pet cat welfare, more research is needed to determine the role of food puzzles as part of an overall enrichment plan.
Low-velocity impact behavior of flexible sandwich composite with polyurethane grid sealing shear thickening fluid core
Authors: Wu Liwei , Wang Jing , Jiang Qian , Lu Zhenqian , Wang Wei , Lin Jia-Horng
Published: March 2019

In this study, a new type of flexible sandwich composite with nonwoven facesheets and core reinforced by polyurethane (PU) grid sealing shear thickening fluid (STF) has been presented. With the specific design, the STF was sealed into PU grids as the core to provide shear thickening effect against impact. Rheological property of STF with different mass ratio and PU morphology after first and second foaming were evaluated and optimized for sandwich composite preparation. Both static compression and dynamic impact tests were carried out to obtain the impact dynamic response and investigate the effects of typical parameters including STF volume, core thickness and striker height on low-velocity impact behavior. The test results showed that the optimal concentration of STF was 20 wt.%, whose critical shear rate was 100s−1. The presence of STF had a positive influence on the static compression strength and dynamic impact strength. In particular, the 70% STF volume fraction contributed to the highest compression modulus. The compression modulus was 445 MPa and 466 MPa when the sample thickness was 2 cm and 3 cm, respectively. As for dynamic impact strength with corresponding STF volume fractions, it was 4535.31 mJ for 30%, 4599.72 mJ for 50%, and 4827.46 mJ for 70%, all of which were much higher than that (2348 mJ) of control group (without STF). Regardless of whether the STF volume being 30%, 50% and 70%, the impact displacement of composite was within 10 mm, showing better impact resistance than control group (13.16 mm). Besides, this composite with special PU grid sealing, STF structure demonstrated a certain strain rate effect. The higher the impact energy, the greater the energy absorption was. Specifically, impact energy absorption rate of composite with a thickness of 3 cm was as high as 52.3% under 350 mm impact height.