bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Attributes of diagnostic tests to increase uptake of dual testing for syphilis and HIV in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Authors: Bristow Claire C , Lee Sung-Jae , Severe Linda , William Pape Jean , Javanbakht Marjan , Scott Comulada Warren , Klausner Jeffrey D
Published: April 2016

Introduction

Syphilis and HIV screening is highly recommended for pregnant women and those at risk for infection. We used conjoint analysis to identify factors associated with testing preferences for HIV and syphilis infection.

Methods

We recruited 298 men and women 18 years and over seeking testing or care at GHESKIO (Haitian Study Group for Kaposi’s Sarcoma and Opportunistic Infections) clinics. We created eight hypothetical dual HIV-syphilis test profiles varying across six dichotomous attributes. Participants were asked to rate each profile using Likert preference scales. An impact score was generated for each attribute by taking the difference between the preference scores for the preferred and non-preferred level of each attribute. Two-sided one-sample t-test was used to generate p values.

Results

Of 298 study participants, 61 (20.5%) were male. Of 237 females, 49 (20.7%) were pregnant. Cost (free vs. US$4; p < .0001) had the highest impact on willingness to test, followed by number of blood draws (1 vs. 2; p < .0001), blood draw method (fingerprick vs. venipuncture; p < .0001), test type (rapid vs. laboratory; p = .0005), and time-to-result (20 minutes vs. 1 week; p = .0139).

Conclusion

HIV and syphilis testing preferences for this study sample in Port-au-Prince prioritized cost, single fingerprick, laboratory-based testing and timeliness.
HIV community viral load trends in South Carolina
Authors: Chakraborty Hrishikesh , Weissman Sharon , Duffus Wayne A , Hossain Akhtar , Varma Samantapudi Ashok , Iyer Medha , Albrecht Helmut
Published: April 2016

Community viral load is an aggregate measure of HIV viral load in a particular geographic location, community, or subgroup. Community viral load provides a measure of disease burden in a community and community transmission risk. This study aims to examine community viral load trend in South Carolina and identify differences in community viral load trends between selected population subgroups using a state-wide surveillance dataset that maintains electronic records of all HIV viral load measurements reported to the state health department. Community viral load trends were examined using random mixed effects models, adjusting for age, race, gender, residence, CD4 counts, HIV risk group, and initial antiretroviral regimen during the study period, and time. The community viral load gradually decreased from 2004 to 2013 ( p < 0.0001). The number of new infections also decreased ( p = 0.0001) over time. A faster rate of decrease was seen among men compared to women ( p < 0.0001), men who have sex with men ( p = 0.0001) compared to heterosexuals, patients diagnosed in urban areas compared to that in rural areas ( p = 0.0004), and patients prescribed single-tablet regimen compared to multiple-tablet regimen ( p < 0.0001). While the state-wide community viral load decreased over time, the decline was not uniform among residence at diagnosis, HIV risk group, and single-tablet regimen versus multiple-tablet regimen subgroups. Slower declines in community viral load among females, those in rural areas, and heterosexuals suggest possible disparities in care that require further exploration. The association between using single-tablet regimen and faster community viral load decline is noteworthy.
Gay men as parents: Analysing resistant talk in South African mainstream media accounts of queer families
Authors: Lynch Ingrid , Morison Tracy
Published: April 2016

There is increasing visibility of dissident sexualities and genders in media debates about families, including resistant discourses that challenge delegitimising claims about queer families. There remains, however, a lack of research that assesses the ways in which discourses seeking to defend queer parenthood function to challenge or, at times, reinforce hetero-gendered norms. Families formed by gay men have generally received less attention, both in the media as well as academic scholarship. In this paper, we explore resistant discourses deployed in mainstream print media, attending particularly to news reports about queer fathers and their children. Through a critical thematic analysis of South African newspapers, informed by feminist discursive psychology, we identify four themes in resistant ways of talking: de-gendering parenthood, normalising queer parents, valorising queer parenting, and challenging the heteronormative gold standard. We conclude with the political implications of such resistant talk, as part of a project of transforming restrictive hetero-gendered norms.
Recurrent Mesolithic–Neolithic occupation at Sise (western Latvia) and shoreline displacement in the Baltic Sea Basin
Authors: Bērziņš Valdis , Lübke Harald , Berga Linda , Ceriņa Aija , Kalniņa Laimdota , Meadows John , Muižniece Sandra , Paegle Santa , Rudzīte Mudīte , Zagorska Ilga
Published: April 2016

A major assemblage of Mesolithic and Neolithic wooden artefacts has been recovered from the bed of the River Užava at Sise, in the coastal belt of western Latvia. New archaeological investigation has also produced wooden remains and other evidence of occupation on the riverbank. On the basis of multi-proxy environmental data and radiocarbon dating, this article offers a first attempt to place the human activity in a palaeolandscape context. The earliest evidence of human presence is provided by wooden artefacts dated to c. 10,500–9700 cal. BP, during the Ancylus Lake transgression. These remains are thought to reflect fishing activities in the shallows of the Ventspils Bay, which existed during the transgression. The regression that followed brought a return to river-valley conditions at the site, and the next recorded period of human activity, evidenced by 14C-dated antler tool finds, is associated with the beginning of the Littorina Sea transgression, culminating c. 7500 cal. BP. With the formation of a new Ventspils Bay/Lagoon, the Sise site, at or near the river mouth, would have regained its status as an advantageous fishing location. Archaeological finds indicate continued human activity c. 6000–4000 cal. BP, even though the sea level was now lower and this was no longer a river-mouth location. Such a pattern of recurrent human occupation during the early to middle Holocene, associated with repeated shifts of the shoreline, appears to be characteristic of the central region of the Baltic Sea Basin.
New information augmenting the picture of local environment at the LGM/LGT in the context of the Middle Danube region
Authors: Nerudová Zdeňka , Doláková Nela , Novák Jan
Published: April 2016

Records of occupation by humans in the period following shortly after the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM; 21 ± 2 kyr cal. BP) are still very rare in Central Europe, since it is inferred that the extreme climatic conditions caused the decolonisation of previously settled areas. Our study focuses on the reconstruction of environmental conditions in the surroundings of the open-air Palaeolithic site, Brno-Štýřice III, which falls within this period. The research concentrated on the study of malacological, pollen and anthracological samples to reconstruct the climate shortly after the LGM. 14C dating places the chronostratigraphic position of the site more precisely at the end of the LGM, more specifically into Last Glacial Termination (LGT); analysis of chipped stone industry identifies the occupation with the Epigravettian settlement. The site represents a significant example of the recurrent habitation of a microclimatically favourable microregion near a watercourse in order to utilise available sources of livelihood. The results of the pollen, anthracological and malacological analyses documented a more or less treeless character of surrounding landscape. The vegetation was mostly formed by a mixture of shrub tundra and grassy loess steppe vegetation. Open woodland with birch, willow and bird cherry occurred in relatively moist river banks and the lower slopes of hills with more favourable microclimatic conditions. Malacological collection highlights the presence of cool temperate species ( Pupilla loessica, Vallonia excentrica and Helicopsis striata). In the surroundings of the studied site, the pollen analysis provided a reconstruction of parkland forest-steppe vegetation (with lack of temperate deciduous trees) typical for a cold and dry climate. Development of both dry and moist stands near the watercourse was recorded. Anthracological analysis is in support of similar outcomes, reconstructing the presence of open woodland with dominating birch and willow in the nearby surroundings.
How scary! An analysis of visual communication concerning genetically modified organisms in Italy
Authors: Ventura Vera , Frisio Dario G. , Ferrazzi Giovanni , Siletti Elena
Published: April 2016

Several studies provide evidence of the role of written communication in influencing public perception towards genetically modified organisms, whereas visual communication has been sparsely investigated. This article aims to evaluate the exposure of the Italian population to scary genetically modified organism–related images. A set of 517 images collected through Google are classified considering fearful attributes, and an index that accounts for the scary impact of these images is built. Then, through an ordinary least-squares regression, we estimate the relationship between the Scary Impact Index and a set of variables that describes the context in which the images appear. The results reveal that the first (and most viewed) Google result images contain the most frightful contents. In addition, the agri-food sector in Italy is strongly oriented towards offering a negative representation of genetically modified organisms. Exposure to scary images could be a factor that affects the negative perception of genetically modified organisms in Italy.
Pursuing Open Regionalism for Shared Prosperity
Authors: Madhur Srinivasa
Published: April 2016

In pursuing the aspirations embedded in Vision 2050, this article identifies some key areas for individual and collective action by the Central Asian countries to pursue open regionalism and outlines the crucial elements of a regional agenda. Central Asia’s open regionalism will be a multispeed and multitrack process, prioritizing and sequencing of which will not be easy. Given the time horizon that is being considered in this article, it is important to note that not all collective actions proposed in this article are to be achieved in the immediate future, nor even over the next decade or so, but over the next three and a half decades. Within this overall framework, the article takes stock of the state of play in terms of both intraregional and interregional integration, and addresses the imperatives, opportunities, and challenges in seven broad dimensions, not necessarily in order of relative priority: connecting countries and the region; integrating trade and production; cooperating on water and energy; cooperating on capital flows; managing migration; supporting regional institutions; and balancing national and regional interests—the leadership issue.
Partners in Learning
Authors: Bialka Christa S. , Havlik Stacey A.
Published: April 2016

This study describes a service-learning partnership between a Mid-Atlantic university and two private, urban high schools by examining the perspectives of those engaged in the service experience. The purpose of this study was to explore the shared experiences of service-learning in schools from the perspectives of both university and high school participants. The key findings of this study reveal that clear and consistent responsibilities, roles, and goals are critical to developing partnerships; relationship building engenders growth of both university and high school participants; service-learning allows for practical application of course content; high school participants desire non-hierarchical relationships with university participants; and participants are able to identify similarities despite their differences. These findings highlight important aspects of the service-learning experience for both sets of participants, as well as suggest directions for course instructors to build partnerships that foster reciprocal relationships and create environments that address issues of power and privilege.
Relationships Among Substance Use, Multiple Sexual Partners, and Condomless Sex
Authors: Zhao Yunchuan (Lucy) , Kim Heejung , Peltzer Jill
Published: April 2016

Male and female students manifest different behaviors in condomless sex. This cross-sectional, exploratory, correlational study examined the differences in risk factors for condomless sex between male and female high school students, using secondary data from 4,968 sexually active males and females participating in the 2011 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey. Results in descriptive statistics and multivariate binary logistic regressions revealed that condomless sex was reported as 39.70% in general. A greater proportion of females engaged in condomless sex (23.26%) than did males (16.44%). Physical abuse by sex partners was a common reason for failure to use condoms regardless of gender. Lower condom use was found in (1) those experiencing forced sex by a partner in males, (2) female smokers, and (3) female with multiple sex partners. Thus, sexual health education should address the different risk factors and consider gender characteristics to reduce condomless sex.
When Is Buff Enough? The Effect of Body Attitudes and Narcissistic Traits on Muscle Dysmorphia
Authors: Collis Nathan , Lewis Vivienne , Crisp Dimity
Published: April 2016

The present study investigated the relationship between narcissistic personality traits, body attitudes, and muscle dysmorphia. Participants were 117 men, aged 18 to 58 years, identifying as men who currently weight train ( n = 78), former weight trainers ( n = 28), or who had never weight trained ( n = 11). Results indicated that male body attitudes were significantly associated with indications of muscle dysmorphia. Moreover, men who currently weight trained reported more positive body attitudes than former weight trainers. Specifically former weight trainers reported significantly more negative body attitudes compared with men who currently weight train if training frequency was reported as once per week or less. No significant association was found between narcissism and muscle dysmorphia. Furthermore, there were no significant differences between current and former weight trainers in levels of narcissism or muscle dysmorphia. These results highlight avenues for further investigation and the importance of understanding the complexity of body image issues in men in clinical practice.
Masculinities, Fatherhood, and Desistance From Crime
Authors: Datchi Corinne C.
Published: April 2016

Being male constitutes a risk factor for incarceration. However, research suggests gender may have an indirect effect on men’s criminal behaviors. This author presents the theory that men’s endorsement of masculinity ideologies in the context of parenting affects their level of investment in the fathering role and has an indirect impact on their involvement with criminal justice systems through its relation to fatherhood. To test this theory, the author evaluated the link between endorsement of masculinity ideologies, fatherhood, and incarceration using secondary survey data. The findings showed male inmates’ investment in fathering was associated with their incarceration rate. They also highlighted the moderating influence of fathers’ age and fathers’ relationship with mothers. Implications for fathering programs behind bars are discussed.
You Do What You See
Authors: Thomas Alvin , Caldwell Cleopatra H. , Assari Shervin , Jagers Robert J. , Flay Brian
Published: April 2016

African American boys are more likely than same-aged counterparts to live in disadvantaged neighborhoods characterized by exposure to physical violence, lower socioeconomic status, poor parent education, and acts of violence. The current study used structural equation modeling to test the associations between witnessing violence, peer and parent expectations, peer behaviors, self-efficacy to avoid violence, and violent behavior as the outcome. Results suggest that African American boys who witnessed physical violence are more likely to engage in violence themselves. Peer and parent violence expectations, peer violence, and adolescent’s self-efficacy to avoid violence mediate this. These findings suggest potential for prevention of violent behaviors through modification of norms of male African American adolescents at risk for witnessing violence in their daily life.
“It’s Simply Because We’re Black Men”
Authors: Brooms Derrick R. , Perry Armon R.
Published: April 2016

Given the recent attention to high-profile cases of unarmed Black men being killed by law enforcement officials and the subsequent #BlackLivesMatter movement, additional work is needed to more fully understand how African American men make meaning of their own personal realities and how they connect with and within the larger narrative of Black life in the United States. To contribute to this literature, the current study analyzes qualitative interview data from 25 Black men focused on their self-conceptions of race, stereotyping, and profiling. The findings reveal the men’s perceptions and experiences with racism and stereotyping, the strategies that they employ in response to being stereotyped and profiled, and their reflections on the recent killings of Black men. This research provides an opportunity to investigate how Blackmaleness—the combined impact of their racialized and gendered identities—connects and operates in the lives of Black men.
Is the CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program a Valid Measure of Hospital Performance?
Authors: Fuller Richard L. , Goldfield Norbert I. , Averill Richard F. , Hughes John S.
Published: April 2016

In October 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services began reducing Medicare payments by 1% for the bottom performing quartile of hospitals under the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP). A tight clustering of HACRP scores around the penalty threshold was observed resulting in 13.2% of hospitals being susceptible to a shift in penalty status related to single decile changes in the ranking of any one of the complication or infection measures used to compute the HACRP score. The HACRP score also was found to be significantly correlated with several hospital characteristics including hospital case mix index. This correlation was not confirmed when an alternative method of measuring hospital complication performance was used. The sensitivity of the HACRP penalties to small changes in performance and correlation of the HACRP score with hospital characteristics call into question the validity of the HACRP measure and method of risk adjustment.
Long-term Results of Chronic Achilles Tendon Ruptures Repaired With V-Y Tendon Plasty and Fascia Turndown
Authors: Guclu Berk , Basat H. Cagdas , Yildirim Tugrul , Bozduman Omer , Us Ali Kemal
Published: April 2016

Background:

This study aimed to evaluate the long-term follow-up results of V-Y tendon plasty with fascia turndown, for repairing chronic Achilles tendon ruptures.

Methods:

Seventeen patients (12 males, 5 females), who were diagnosed with chronic Achilles tendon rupture and met the inclusion criteria, were included in the study. These patients received treatment by means of V-Y tendon plasty with fascia turndown from January 1995 to December 2001. Clinical outcomes of the patients were assessed by using isokinetic strength testing, questioning the patient regarding residual discomfort, pain, or swelling and having the ability to perform heel rises and using American Orthopaedic Foot & Ankle Society’s (AOFAS’s) Ankle-Hind Foot Scale score. Mean follow-up duration was 16 years (13-18 years).

Results:

Mean time from the injury to operative treatment was 7 months. Mean operative defect of Achilles tendon in neutral position after debridement was 6 cm. During the follow-up, the mean calf atrophy was 3.4 cm. The mean 30 degrees/s plantarflex and 120 degrees/s plantarflex peak torques were 89 and 45 Nm, respectively. The mean 30 degrees/s plantarflex peak torque deficiency was 16%. The mean 120 degrees/s plantarflex peak torque deficiency was 17%. The average peak torque deficiency was 17%. The pre- and postoperative mean AOFAS Ankle-Hindfoot Scale scores were 64 and 95, respectively. No patient had a rerupture. Superficial wound infection was treated with oral antibiotic therapy in 2 patients (11%).

Conclusions:

The V-Y tendon plasty with fascia turndown for repairing chronic Achilles tendon ruptures yielded results comparable with the literature regarding clinical outcomes. This method did not require synthetic materials for augmentation and was an economic alternative compared to other repair methods.

Level of Evidence:

Level III, retrospective comparative study.
Right to Be Forgotten
Authors: Shahin Saif
Published: April 2016

This study examines U.S. and British media coverage of the “right to be forgotten” in the light of their legal approaches and public attitudes toward privacy. Algorithmic and qualitative textual analysis techniques are combined to uncover the ideologies and interests that structure the discourse and shape its outcome. The analysis reveals that U.S. media, irrespective of their perceived “liberal” or “conservative” orientation, treat users’ online privacy as subservient to the business interests of technology companies—in line with the country’s lax legal approach. The coverage is more diverse in Britain, where the legal concept of privacy is also more stringent.
Big Social Data Analytics in Journalism and Mass Communication
Authors: Guo Lei , Vargo Chris J. , Pan Zixuan , Ding Weicong , Ishwar Prakash
Published: April 2016

This article presents an empirical study that investigated and compared two “big data” text analysis methods: dictionary-based analysis, perhaps the most popular automated analysis approach in social science research, and unsupervised topic modeling (i.e., Latent Dirichlet Allocation [LDA] analysis), one of the most widely used algorithms in the field of computer science and engineering. By applying two “big data” methods to make sense of the same dataset—77 million tweets about the 2012 U.S. presidential election—the study provides a starting point for scholars to evaluate the efficacy and validity of different computer-assisted methods for conducting journalism and mass communication research, especially in the area of political communication.
“Shared” Information in the Age of Big Data
Authors: Kim Jiyoun , Brossard Dominique , Scheufele Dietram A. , Xenos Michael
Published: April 2016

Living in an age of big data, this study explores (a) how much certain online information is shared by media users and (b) what sentiments do social media users predominantly express on Twitter. Quantitative findings indicate that after the 2011 nuclear disaster at Fukushima Japan, the amount of nuclear energy–related tweets that were linked to outside information far outnumbered tweets containing no external link. Results also indicate that the predominant tone in these tweets was one of pessimism about nuclear energy.
Data and Decision Making
Authors: Maxwell Nan L. , Rotz Dana , Garcia Christina
Published: April 2016

This study examines the perceptions of data-driven decision making (DDDM) activities and culture in organizations driven by a social mission. Analysis of survey information from multiple stakeholders in each of eight social enterprises highlights the wide divergence in views of DDDM. Within an organization, managerial and nonmanagerial staff working for the organization and staff from a prominent funder all expressed different perceptions of the same organization’s DDDM activities and culture. Study findings also provide insights into how to improve an organization’s capacity to build and use performance management systems, which include building a common understanding about what activities are—or are not—being undertaken. Finally, findings provide insights about structuring research on DDDM, which indicate that information from only one respondent in an organization or only one organization might not be reliable or generalizable.
Exploring the overlap between multiple sclerosis, tumefactive demyelination and Baló’s concentric sclerosis
Authors: Hardy Todd A , Tobin W Oliver , Lucchinetti Claudia F
Published: April 2016

The availability of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has led to increasing recognition that multiple sclerosis (MS), tumefactive demyelination (TD) and Baló’s concentric sclerosis (BCS) share many overlapping features. Baló-like lesions, which exhibit limited features of BCS, may represent an intermediate between BCS and typical MS demyelination. Lesions labeled as tumefactive are typically larger, but otherwise have much in common with conventional MS lesions, and TD and BCS lesions can also overlap. In this article, we explore the similarities between typical MS, TD and BCS cases, and reflect on the potential insights that intermediate or overlapping phenotypes may contribute towards an understanding of MS immunopathogenesis, and question whether these atypical forms of demyelination should be classified as separate demyelinating diseases, as different lesional manifestations of demyelination of any cause or as part of a spectrum with conventional MS.
A prospective cohort study of vitamin D in optic neuritis recovery
Authors: Burton Jodie M , Eliasziw Misha , Trufyn Jessie , Tung Chelsia , Carter Gorden , Costello Fiona
Published: April 2016

Background:

Vitamin D sufficiency is associated with better inflammatory outcomes in multiple sclerosis (MS). We hypothesize that it is also associated with better long-term neurodegenerative measures.

Objectives:

To show that vitamin D sufficient patients (25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) > 80 nmol/L) have better optical coherence tomography (OCT) neuroaxonal measures of ganglion cell layer (GCL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness after optic neuritis.

Methods:

In this prospective cohort study, acute optic neuritis patients underwent OCT and serum 25(OH)D assessments at baseline and at month 6, with comparisons between vitamin D sufficient and insufficient patients, and men and women. Potential confounding variables were evaluated.

Results:

Of 49 enrolled, 36 had complete, analyzable data. At baseline, vitamin D insufficiency was associated with greater RNFL thickness (134.3 vs. 95.2 µm; p = 0.003) in affected eyes. At month 6, insufficient patients had greater GCL thinning (GCL inter-eye difference: 14.2 vs. 4.0 µm, p = 0.008). Men had greater RNFL and GCL thinning than women (GCL: 61.2 vs. 69.6 µm, p = 0.036).

Conclusion:

Acutely, in optic neuritis, RNFL thickness is increased with vitamin D insufficiency. Chronically, neuronal, and possibly axonal loss are associated with vitamin D insufficiency and male gender, suggesting vitamin D and female gender may confer neuroprotection in optic neuritis, and possibly, central nervous system (CNS) inflammatory disease.
Telemedicine vs. in-person delivery of intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy for patients with medically unexplained pain: A 12-month randomized, controlled trial
Authors: Chavooshi Behzad , Mohammadkhani Parvaneh , Dolatshahee Behrouz
Published: April 2016

Introduction

This study examined the effectiveness of telemedicine in providing psychotherapy to patients with medically unexplained pain (MUP) who may not have access to in-person treatment. The impact of Internet-delivered intensive short-term dynamic psychotherapy (ID-ISTDP) was investigated for MUP via video teleconferencing (Skype™).

Methods

A randomized, controlled trial of ISTDP, an evidence-based intervention for MUP, was conducted to compare delivery modalities on variations in MUP symptoms. Eighty-one participants with MUP were randomized to either ID-ISTDP ( n = 39) or in-person ISTDP ( n = 42). Outcome variables included the Numeric Pain Rating Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, Emotion Regulation Questionnaire, Mindful Attention Awareness Scale and the Quality of Life Inventory. In addition, exploratory analyses were used to examine acceptability, satisfaction and compliance in both conditions. Participants were assessed prior to intervention, immediately following the intervention, and 12 months after.

Results

In the intention-to-treat analysis, in-person ISTDP participants had significantly lower pain intensity than ID-ISTDP participants, both immediately following the intervention ( d = 0.97) and at the 12-month follow-up ( d = 0.82). Moreover, there were significant decreases in depression, anxiety and stress as well as a greater increase in emotion regulation functioning, mindfulness and quality of life observed in the in-person ISTDP group at the end of the intervention and 12 months after the treatment when compared to the ID-ISTDP group. Participants rated both treatment conditions as equally credible and satisfying.

Conclusion

ISTDP seems most effective when delivered in person in treating MUP patients with highly comorbid conditions with benefits maintained over 12 months.
Developing a measure of engagement with telehealth systems: The mHealth Technology Engagement Index
Authors: Dewar Alexis R , Bull Tyler P , Malvey Donna M , Szalma James L
Published: April 2016

Introduction

Telehealth systems and mobile health (mHealth) devices allow for the exchange of both physical and mental healthcare data, as well as information from a patient to a practitioner, or care recipient to caregiver; but there has been little research on why users are motivated to engage with telehealth systems. Given this, we sought to create a measure that satisfactorily assesses human motivation to use telehealth devices.

Methods

532 survey responses were used in an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis, which tested and retested the feasibility of this new measure. Convergent and divergent validity analyses indicated that the mHealth Technology Engagement Index (mTEI) is a unique measure of motivation.

Results

The results indicated that autonomy, competence, relatedness, goal attainment, and goal setting underpin motivation to use telehealth systems.

Discussion

The mTEI shows promise in indexing human motivation to use telehealth technologies. We also discuss the importance of developing measurement tools based on theory and how practitioners can best utilize the mTEI.
Cognitive consequences of trilingualism
Authors: Schroeder Scott R , Marian Viorica
Published: April 2016

Aims and objectives:

The objectives of the present research were to examine the cognitive consequences of trilingualism and explain them relative to the cognitive consequences of bilingualism.

Approach:

A comparison of cognitive abilities in trilinguals and bilinguals was conducted. In addition, we proposed a cognitive plasticity framework to account for cognitive differences and similarities between trilinguals and bilinguals.

Data and analysis:

Three aspects of cognition were analyzed: (1) cognitive reserve in older adults, as measured by age of onset of Alzheimer’s disease and mild cognitive impairment; (2) inhibitory control in children and younger adults, as measured by response times on behavioral Simon and flanker tasks; and (3) memory generalization in infants and toddlers, as measured by accuracy on behavioral deferred imitation tasks. Results were considered within a framework of cognitive plasticity, which took into account several factors that may affect plasticity including the age of learning a third language and the extent to which additional cognitive resources are needed to learn the third language.

Findings:

A mixed pattern of results was observed. In some cases, such as cognitive reserve in older adults, trilinguals showed larger advantages than did bilinguals. On other measures, for example inhibitory control in children and younger adults, trilinguals were found to exhibit the same advantages as bilinguals. In still other cases, such as memory generalization in infants and toddlers, trilinguals did not demonstrate the advantages seen in bilinguals.

Originality:

This study is the first comprehensive analysis of how learning a third language affects the cognitive abilities that are modified by bilingual experience, and the first to propose a cognitive plasticity framework that can explain and predict trilingual-bilingual differences.

Significance:

This research shows that the cognitive consequences of trilingualism are not simply an extension of bilingualism’s effects; rather, trilingualism has distinct consequences, with theoretical implications for our understanding of linguistic and cognitive processes and their plasticity, as well as applied-science implications for using second and third language learning in educational and rehabilitative contexts to foster successful cognitive development and aging.
A matter of degree: A justice framework for penal legitimacy
Authors: Costa João Pedro
Published: April 2016

Discussion on legitimacy has highlighted its dialogic nature. The diversity of stakeholders in the penal system implies that penal policies and practices should be justifiable both internally (to offenders) and externally (to society at large). While most studies have focused on the internal aspect of penal legitimacy – the justification of authority through offenders’ perspectives – this paper calls for attention to the external stakeholders’ demands. Consequently, it becomes relevant to envisage ways of balancing between the conflicting standpoints of offenders and society at large regarding the justifications of penal power. For this purpose, this paper builds on Sen’s justice framework, whereby the best way to enhance justice is to avoid debating utopian ideals, and aims to apply its logic to the debate on penal legitimacy. It argues that it is not feasible to envisage a ‘legitimate prison’, and therefore it is better to focus on existing or possible alternatives of penal policies and practices. Since there are better and worse uses and justifications of penal power, legitimacy becomes a matter of degree. The reconciliation of conflicting views between preferable or less preferable uses and justifications of penal authority is suggested to be possible through exploring the potential of public debate.
Penal change as penal layering: A case study of proto-prison adoption and capital punishment reduction, 1785–1822
Authors: Rubin Ashley T
Published: April 2016

Recently, scholars have increasingly criticized descriptions of significant penal change as “ruptures”—sudden breaks with past practices, often replacing old technologies with new. This article promotes an alternative understanding of penal change as the layering of new penal technologies over old technologies to describe the complicated coexistence of old and new penal technologies following significant moments of change. This study demonstrates the layering process through a case study of the first major American penal reform: proto-prisons adopted between 1785 and 1822 are often described as the first great rupture in which long-term incarceration replaced capital punishment. Using the relationship between America’s emerging proto-prisons and declining death penalty, this article illustrates the complicated coexistence of penal reforms with older technologies. While proto-prisons emerged out of revulsion with capital punishment, many states adopted proto-prisons independently of their decisions to reduce capital offenses and most states retained relatively robust death penalties. Rather than a replacement or rupture, the emergence of proto-prisons represented an additional layer of punishment that partially displaced older technologies.
Short-timing: The carceral experience of soon-to-be-released prisoners
Authors: Seim Josh
Published: April 2016

Roughly 700,000 people are released from American prisons every year, yet we know little about their ground-level experiences at or near the moment of exit. This ethnographic study fills part of the gap by examining the aspirations and corresponding actions of soon-to-be-released prisoners, “short-timers.” While previous research suggests this population wants a “successful reentry,” few have detailed such a desire beyond its obvious mismatch with life chances. I show that in addition to verbalizing lucid hopes and plans for the “straight life,” short-timers act in reference to these aspirations while incarcerated by drawing on two meager resources: family and penitentiary. Such aspirations and actions are not markers of ignorance. Instead, I argue that they signal a practical orientation in a world where staff dominate inmates. In friction with the durable forces of inmate objectification, short-timers can use future-oriented perceptions and practices to realize some degree of selfhood. Meanwhile, their custodians, who are never committed to despotic control or total mortification, impose complementary lessons in personal responsibility through the discourse of prisoner reentry. Besides spotlighting a rarely studied moment in prison, I offer a model for how prisoner subjectivity emerges as both a rejection and product of penal power.
Explaining differentiation in European Union treaties
Authors: Winzen Thomas , Schimmelfennig Frank
Published: April 2016

Since the early 1990s, European integration has become increasingly differentiated. Analysing the conditions under which member states make use of the opportunity to opt out of, or exclude other countries from, European integration, we argue that different explanations apply to treaty and accession negotiations, respectively. Threatening to block deeper integration, member states with strong national identities secure differentiations in treaty reform. In enlargement, in turn, old member states fear economic disadvantages and low administrative capacity and therefore impose differentiation on poor newcomers. Opt-outs from treaty revisions are limited to the area of core state powers, whereas they also occur in the market in the context of enlargement.
Secondary traumatic stress and empowerment among social workers working with family violence or sexual assault survivors
Authors: Choi Ga-Young
Published: April 2016

The impact of secondary traumatic stress on social workers can be profound. The study reported here examined the relationship between psychological empowerment and secondary traumatic stress among social workers who provide services to family violence or sexual assault survivors on a regular basis. The study participants ( N =154) were recruited from the National Association of Social Workers in the United States; data were collected through mail surveys. Psychological empowerment was defined as having a sense of competency, impact, self-determination, and meaning in one’s organization as the person performs work.

Findings

Social workers who demonstrated higher levels of psychological empowerment experienced lower levels of secondary traumatic stress controlling for sociodemographic variables. Among the control variables, experiencing more personal traumatic events predicted higher levels of secondary traumatic stress.

Applications

The findings imply that social service organizations can help social workers prevent or alleviate secondary traumatic stress symptoms by enhancing their psychological empowerment. Several organizational strategies can be developed to empower social workers who assist the survivors of family violence or sexual assault to prevent secondary traumatic stress or reduce its severity.
Social support and parenting stress in at-risk Portuguese families
Authors: Ayala-Nunes Lara , Nunes Cristina , Lemos Ida
Published: April 2016

Families that are at psychosocial risk live under personal and contextual circumstances that hinder their parenting skills. They frequently lack the resources necessary for addressing the challenges of parenting and encounter multiple stressful life events. Social support may help diminish the parenting stress that is experienced from living in a disadvantaged environment by enhancing coping strategies. However, previous research examining the associations between parenting stress and social support among at-risk families has been inconclusive. This study analyzed the psychosocial profile of at-risk Portuguese families, the size and composition of their social support networks and the associations between social support and parenting stress. Participants consisted of 167 parents (80% mothers) who received assistance from Child Protection Services. Measures included the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form, the Arizona Social Support Interview Schedule and a socio-demographic questionnaire.

Findings

Parenting stress levels were extremely high, with 44.51% of parents showing clinically significant levels. Emotional support was the type of support that was most closely related to parental distress, namely the network size available for providing emotional support ( r = −.27, p = .000) and satisfaction with the emotional support received ( r = −.24, p = .006).

Applications

The size of the emotional support network was significantly smaller among parents who reported clinically significant levels of parenting stress. Hence, having the opportunity to express feelings and concerns as well as engaging in social interactions during leisure time may serve as protective factors against parental stress in at-risk families. Implications of for the interventions of professionals who work with at-risk families are discussed.
Evaluating the use of lecture capture using a revealed preference approach
Authors: Elliott Caroline , Neal David
Published: April 2016

This article discusses the introduction of lecture capture technology on a large undergraduate module with diverse student cohorts. The literature has, so far, relied on surveying students to discover their use of the technology or attempted to quantify the impact of watching lecture recordings on assessment performance. Alternatively, the principal contribution of this article is an evaluation of the use of the recorded lectures using a revealed preference approach. Specifically, we identify to what extent students watched lecture recordings, rather than simply claimed to watch them, when asked to provide comments on the technology. Data indicate the number of distinct students who watched recordings, the frequency with which they watched recordings, the average length of viewings as well as the time of the day when lectures were viewed. We monitored viewings over two academic years, identifying ‘spikes’ in the number of viewings in the days before tests, as well as regularities in the viewing patterns across the 2 years. We analyse the data to assess the extent to which students used the recordings, how and when they watched the recordings. We conclude that the students value lecture recordings, making more extensive use of the recordings than has been identified in the literature, to date. Ultimately, lecture recordings are suggested to offer valuable support for students’ independent study.
Can collaborative planning go beyond locally focused notions of the “public interest”? The potential of Habermas’ concept of “generalizable interest” in pluralist and trans-scalar planning discourses
Authors: Mattila Hanna
Published: April 2016

This article approaches the concept of public interest in planning from the point of view of Patsy Healey’s collaborative planning theory on one hand and, on the other, from the perspective of Habermasian philosophy, one of the sources of inspiration for collaborative planning. In its original form, the theory of collaborative planning prioritized the ways in which local communities can communicatively define the interests they share and have an influence on the places they share under the current conditions of pluralism of ways of life. This article asks whether collaborative planning theory can also look beyond locally focused notions of the public interest and whether the theory is useful also for trans-scalar problem solving, for instance, in the multicultural metropolises where the different locally defined “public interests” often contradict with each other. This article compares Healey’s answers to this problem with ones that could be derived from Habermas’ philosophy. It argues that in order to look beyond the locally focused notions of the public interest, the theory of collaborative planning could benefit from revisiting Habermas’ concept of “generalizable interest” and especially Habermas’ positioning of this concept in his works published after The Theory of Communicative Action.
Cross-disciplinary craftsmanship: The case of child abuse work
Authors: Davidov Jonathan , Sigad Laura I , Lev-Wiesel Rachel , Eisikovits Zvi
Published: April 2016

Child abuse is a complex social problem that cannot be understood from a single disciplinary perspective. Successful intervention requires involvement of various professional groups. While such cooperation has many potential advantages, in practice, it presents challenges to effective intervention. The present study examines the lived experience of professionals in Israel engaging in cross-disciplinary intervention in child abuse. Qualitative data were collected by means of 40 in-depth interviews with professionals, including law enforcement agents, educators, mental health, and medical personnel. Two interrelated dynamics emerged: (a) responsiveness, based on immediacy, and (b) attempts to account for the intervention performed from the specific professional viewpoint of the intervening person and his/her professional belonging. A conceptual model is suggested that reframes child abuse work as an ever-emerging creative process, involving professionals’ attempts to balance the two dynamics in their daily work. Their cross-disciplinary activities are improvisational and situational, involving trial and error. Implications for practice are suggested.
Provider Screening and Counseling for Intimate Partner Violence: A Systematic Review of Practices and Influencing Factors
Authors: Alvarez Carmen , Fedock Gina , Grace Karen Trister , Campbell Jacquelyn
Published: April 2016

Background:

Primary care providers have an important role in identifying survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) and providing safety options. Routine screening rates by providers have been consistently low, indicating a need to better understand providers’ practices to ensure the translation of policy into clinical practice.

Aim:

This systematic review examines common themes regarding provider screening practices and influencing factors on these practices.

Method:

A literature search was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. The search focused on research articles which met the following criteria: (1) health-care providers as participants, (2) provider reports on screening and counseling practices for IPV, and (3) were in English or Spanish.

Results:

A total of 35 studies were included in the review. Across studies, providers commonly acknowledged the importance of IPV screening yet often used only selective screening. Influencing factors on clinic, provider, and patient levels shaped the process and outcomes of provider screening practices. Overall, a great deal of variability exists in regard to provider screening practices. This variability may be due to a lack of clear system-level guidance for these practices and a lack of research regarding best practices.

Conclusions:

These findings suggest the necessity of more facilitative, clearly defined, and perhaps mandatory strategies to fulfill policy requirements. Future research directions are outlined to assist with these goals.