bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Synthesis of reduced graphene oxide/aluminum nanocomposites via chemical-mechanical processes
Authors: Kim Daeyoung , Kang Heon , Bae Donghyun , Nam Seungjin , Quevedo-Lopez Manuel , Choi Hyunjoo
Published: February 2018

The present study employed a combination of solution-based synthesis and mechanical milling to develop reduced graphene oxide/aluminum composites, in order to achieve uniform dispersion of reduced graphene oxide and strong interfaces between reduced graphene oxide and aluminum. First, spherical aluminum powder was flattened via mechanical milling to afford a large specific surface area and many reaction sites for the graphene oxide. A hydrophilic surface was then created by coating the aluminum powder with polyvinyl alcohol. The polyvinyl alcohol-coated aluminum slurry was mixed with a graphene oxide suspension, thereby inducing a reaction between graphene oxide and polyvinyl alcohol via hydrogen bonding. After thermal reduction, the composite powder was further ball milled and hot-pressed at 500℃ to produce a reduced graphene oxide/aluminum composite. The dispersion of reduced graphene oxide in the composite, as well as the mechanical and thermal behaviors of the composite, improved with increased flattening and specific surface area of the starting aluminum powder.
Teaching forensic pathology to undergraduates at Zhongshan School of Medicine
Authors: Zhou Nan , Wu Qiu-ping , Su Terry , Zhao Qian-hao , Yin Kun , Zheng Da , Zheng Jing-jing , Huang Lei , Cheng Jian-ding
Published: February 2018

Producing qualified forensic pathological practitioners is a common difficulty around the world. In China, forensic pathology is one of the required major subspecialties for undergraduates majoring in forensic medicine, in contrast to forensic education in Western countries where forensic pathology is often optional. The enduring predicament is that the professional qualities and abilities of forensic students from different institutions vary due to the lack of an efficient forensic pedagogical model. The purpose of this article is to describe the new pedagogical model of forensic pathology at Zhongshan School of Medicine, Sun Yat-sen University, which is characterised by: (a) imparting a broad view of forensic pathology and basic knowledge of duties and tasks in future careers to students; (b) educating students in primary skills on legal and medical issues, as well as advanced forensic pathological techniques; (c) providing students with resources to broaden their professional minds, and opportunities to improve their professional qualities and abilities; and (d) mentoring students on occupational preparation and further forensic education. In the past few years, this model has resulted in numerous notable forensic students accomplishing achievements in forensic practice and forensic scientific research. We therefore expect this pedagogical model to establish the foundation for forensic pathological education and other subspecialties of forensic medicine in China and abroad.
Informational barriers, quality assurance and the scaling up of complementary food supply chains in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Clark Lisa F , Hobbs Jill E
Published: February 2018

This article examines how effective quality assurance mechanisms can help address three challenges facing scaling-up efforts in supply chains for complementary foods in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA): sourcing, market size and consumer trust. We use supply chain analysis to evaluate how stakeholder actions and relationships influence the dynamics of complementary food markets in SSA. We argue that effective signalling of credence attributes via credible quality assurance can contribute to the sustainability of local complementary food supply chains and once established, may contribute to the long-term affordability, accessibility and availability of these foods in SSA. The article concludes by stressing that allocating resources for establishing or further implementing regional and/or state-level quality assurance mechanisms for food safety and quality requires the coordination of stakeholder actions to address food insecurity across SSA.
LIBERALIZATION OR JUST DOLLARIZATION? Twenty‐first‐Century Economic Reform in Ecuador
Authors: Castillo Marco
Published: February 2018

In this article, I review the state of Ecuadorean economic policy in the twenty‐first century, emphasizing the impact of and national reaction to liberal economic policy in the nation, especially dollarization. While economic liberalism and dollarization had a positive effect on Ecuador's economy, these policies have faced a backlash from voters, resulting in reversion to greater governmental intervention in the economy that, liberal critics argue, is unsustainable in the long term. Advocates for economic liberalism will need to adopt more incrementalist approaches toward policy reform, remain cognizant of the centrality of Ecuador's human development aspirations, and recognize the reality of policy diffusion processes to succeed in future policy changing efforts.
Team-building Competencies, Personal Effectiveness and Job Satisfaction: The Mediating Effect of Transformational Leadership and Technology
Authors: Misra Sunil , Srivastava Kailash B. L.
Published: February 2018

The study examined the relationship of team-building competencies with personal effectiveness and job satisfaction, and the mediating role of leadership and technology. The data were collected from 307 executives using survey instruments from public and private sector banks across hierarchy. The study was carried out in a confirmatory framework to examine the causal linkage among the variables. The results showed a positive relationship between team-building competencies and outcome variables suggesting that team competencies play a vital role in determining the employee effectiveness and satisfaction. Further, the study shows the emergence of leadership style and technology as mediators in enhancing effectiveness and job satisfaction among employees. The study has implications for the management of banking sector that they need to develop team competencies, follow transformational leadership style and make use of latest information technology to facilitate higher bank performance and greater job satisfaction among employees.
Altered plasma-type gelsolin and amyloid-β in neonates with hypoxic-ischaemic encephalopathy under therapeutic hypothermia
Authors: Benavente-Fernandez Isabel , Ramos-Rodriguez Juan J , Infante-Garcia Carmen , Jimenez-Gomez Gema , Lechuga-Sancho Alfonso , Lubian-Lopez Simon , Garcia-Alloza Monica
Published: February 2018

Hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE) is a severe neonatal complication responsible for ∼23% of all neonatal deaths. Also, 30–70% of these patients will suffer lifetime disabilities, including learning impairment, epilepsy or cerebral palsy. However, biomarkers for HIE screening, or monitoring disease progression are limited. Herein, we sought to evaluate the clinical usefulness of plasma-type gelsolin (pGSN) and amyloid-beta (Aβ) 40 and 42 as prognostic biomarkers for HIE. pGSN has been previously suggested as a feasible marker in other brain injuries and amyloid-beta 40 and 42 are classically assessed in neurodegenerative diseases. However, to our knowledge, they have not been previously assessed in HIE patients. We have analyzed plasma pGSN and Aβ 40 and 42 levels in 55 newborns (16 controls, 16 mild and 23 moderate-severe HIE) at birth, during 72 h of therapeutic hypothermia, a gold-standard treatment for HIE, and 24 h after hypothermia. Aβ levels were lower in HIE patients, and pGSN levels were progressively reduced in mild and moderate-severe HIE patients. The fact that pGSN reductions could predict the severity of HIE and significantly correlated with the time to undergo hypothermia supports the prognostic value of plasmatic pGSN. Further studies are warranted to investigate the role of pGSN in neonatal HIE.
To recognize the tyranny of distance: A spatial reading of Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt
Authors: Statz Michele , Pruitt Lisa R
Published: February 2018

Distance—physical, material distance—is an obviously spatial concept, but one rarely engaged by legal or feminist geographers. We take up this oversight in relation to the 2016 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt, which adjudicated the constitutionality of a Texas law that imposed new regulations on abortion providers. Because half of the state’s abortion providers were unable to meet these regulations and thus closed, the distance that many Texas women had to travel for abortion services increased dramatically. In part because of these increases, the Supreme Court ultimately determined that the Texas laws imposed an unconstitutional “undue burden.” Bringing together case law and ethnographic data, this article traces the process by which distance is made legally “legible” in the context of reproductive injustice. In so doing, it confronts more uneasy realities of distance, including the discursive dismissal of social and literal immobility and isolation; contradictory readings of “emptiness”; and the material spatiality of distance through the nonplace-ness of rural areas. Together, these factors illuminate a more significant distance, namely the epistemic and social distance that exists between the legal performance of distance in litigation and the embodied traversal of distance by a woman seeking an abortion in Texas. Prioritizing rural distance as material, legal and gendered, our work engages and augments the nascent field of feminist legal geographies. It likewise challenges legal geographers’ insistence on urban space by uncovering the ways in which even the relative “emptiness” of distance is intimately consequential. Finally, this paper makes connections between the exercise of the abortion right and the exercise of other rights that implicate distance, most notably the right to vote. Just as abortion regulations have often had the effect of requiring women to travel farther for abortion services, voter ID laws have the effect of requiring voters to travel to a public agency in order to secure the requisite identity document. Other voting regulations and state and local voting practices may similarly impose spatial burdens on voters. We thus assert that what Whole Woman’s Health reveals about making distance legally cognizable finds ready legal application in other contexts.
Events in the affective city: Affect, attention and alignment in two ordinary urban events
Authors: Ernwein Marion , Matthey Laurent
Published: February 2018

In a representational regime, planned urban events are used by urban planners to render urban projects visible and acceptable. As a corollary of the focus of urban studies on their representational dimension and in spite of a burgeoning literature on the notion of affective urbanism, the experiential character of events remains surprisingly unexplored. This paper argues that an ordinary regime of events is mobilised by city-makers to act on the embodied, affective experience of the city and on the ways urban dwellers know and act upon the city. By analysing planned urban events in their embodied, experiential dimension, we focus on the ways in which, through the design of ephemeral material dispositives, urbanists attempt to encourage citizens to incorporate ways of knowing and acting on space and on the modalities of knowing and acting that are at play. We stage an encounter between critical event studies and Ingoldian approaches to affect and attention, examining two urban events in a Swiss canton. We show how intense encounters with urban matter are staged in an attempt to modulate affects, guide attention, and produce alignment with a specific political project, asking urban dwellers either to embody a project still in the making or to cultivate expectations regarding an already-written future.
Electromagnetic absorption behaviour of carbon helical/coiled yarn woven and knitted fabrics and their composites
Authors: Krishnasamy Jagatheesan , Ramasamy Alagirusamy , Das Apurba , Basu Ananjan
Published: February 2018

In this study, a novel carbon helical/coiled yarn was prepared for developing an electromagnetic (EM) absorbing structure in C-band region (4–8 GHz). The carbon helical yarn was fabricated in a direct twisting machine in which a stainless steel (SS) filament was used as the core and carbon yarn was used as the wrapping thread. The woven and plain knit structures were prepared using the carbon helical yarns. Subsequently, composites were prepared by film stacking method by sandwiching a helical yarn fabric between the polypropylene films. The shielding behaviour of fabrics and the composites was tested using the waveguide method. It was observed that 1/1 plain knit fabric having an optimum number of core SS filaments and helical yarn density of 50–150 turns/m showed a higher absorption coefficient of 0.91 than other fabrics. Hence, a particular proportion of helical carbon and SS content in a fabric maximizes its absorption coefficient. In the composite form, the absorption level was reduced and behaved like a metal. In addition, increase in fineness of core SS filaments also decreased the absorption behaviour of fabrics and composites. However, the overall shielding effectiveness of fabric and composite was increased for increasing the wrapping density. Compared to fabric form, composites showed larger reflective and total loss. In addition, three-point flexural strength and impact energy absorption of helical yarn composites were also investigated. The developed fabrics can be used as EM absorbing structures in domestic and military applications, whereas the composite can be used as shielding panels to the replacement of metal shield.
Electrical and optical properties of well-dispersed MWCNTs/PVA nanocomposites under different pH conditions
Authors: Farrag Emad AM , Abdel-Rahem Rami A , Ibrahim SS , Ayesh Ayman S
Published: February 2018

Series of polymer nanocomposites films consisting of pretreated multiwalled carbon nanotubes (PT-MWCNTs) and poly (vinyl alcohol) (PVA) were prepared at room temperature. The MWCNTs were initially pretreated with 1.0 M sulfuric acid (PT-MWCNTs) and then allowed to disperse in aqueous solutions at different pH values (2–14). It was found that the dispersion of the PT-MWCNTs is a pH dependent. The best PT-MWCNTs dispersion was obtained at pH = 10. Films of PT-MWCNTs/PVA, at this optimum pH-value, were then prepared by casting technique at different PT-MWCNTs weight fractions. The resulted PT-MWCNTs/PVA films were characterized through the direct visualization, Fourier transform infrared, and morphology test. Besides, current–voltage and direct current electrical conductivity for PT-MWCNTs/PVA nanocomposites at 60°C showed that the conductivity mechanism was ohmic and the percolation threshold was around 0.8 wt% PT-MWCNTs. Optical results showed that PT-MWCNTs are homogeneously distributed in the neat PVA and optical gap is significantly decreased from 4.40 to 2.96 eV.
Multiple sclerosis and HIV: a case of multiple sclerosis-immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome associated with antiretroviral therapy initiation
Authors: Anand Pria , Saylor Deanna
Published: February 2018

Studies have suggested that the incidence of multiple sclerosis (MS) in HIV-infected (HIV+) patients is lower than that of the general population. Here, we present a case of MS in an HIV+ patient with a relatively suppressed CD4 cell count who developed clinical and radiographic disease worsening in the setting of antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation. A 47-year-old HIV+ woman (CD4 cell count 216 cells/µl) presented with decreased vision in her right eye. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed optic nerve enhancement and open ring-enhancing lesions in the brain concerning for demyelinating disease. Cerebrospinal fluid was tested extensively for infection and malignancy with no abnormal findings. She received five days of intravenous methylprednisolone. Nine days later, she was restarted on ART. Three weeks later, she was readmitted with left eye vision loss and left hemiplegia (CD4 cell count 342 cells/µl). Repeat imaging showed multiple new enhancing lesions. Several cases have described severe MS relapses and unusually widespread demyelinating lesions on MRI after withdrawal of immunosuppressive drugs. We posit that the clinical and radiographic progression that occurred in our patient after initiation of ART represented an immune reconstitution response to ART. Caution may be warranted when initiating ART in HIV+ patients with suppressed CD4 cell count and active MS.
Predictors of burnout in public library employees
Authors: Salyers Michelle P. , Watkins Melanie A. , Painter Amber , Snajdr Eric A. , Gilmer Declan O. , Garabrant Jennifer M. , Henry Nancy H.
Published: February 2018

Work stress and professional burnout are recognized as concerns for public library employees, yet little research has been conducted. The purpose of the current study was to better understand burnout and the contributing factors in a state-wide sample of public library employees in Indiana. Using a web-based survey, 171 employees of public libraries reported their level of burnout (emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy; Maslach Burnout Inventory-General Survey) and potential predictors, including levels of autonomy, co-worker support, work pressure, technology attitudes, and recovery experiences. A subset of 70 completed the burnout measures twice, allowing for predictions of change over time. Most predictors were correlated with burnout cross-sectionally, except for technology attitudes. Emotional exhaustion was positively associated with work pressure, and negatively associated with autonomy, role clarity, coworker support, and recovery experiences of relaxation, mastery, and control. Similar patterns were found for cynicism and reduced efficacy. However, over a period of approximately six months, only role clarity predicted decreased burnout (emotional exhaustion) above prior levels of burnout.
Screening for cognitive impairment in SLE using the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam
Authors: Meara A , Davidson N , Steigelman H , Zhao S , Brock G , Jarjour W N , Rovin B H , Madhoun H , Parikh S , Hebert L , Ayoub I , Ardoin S P
Published: February 2018

Objective

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multisystem autoimmune disease that can affect the central nervous system in multiple ways, including causing cognitive dysfunction. Cognitive dysfunction is a common complaint of SLE patients yet diagnosis is challenging, time consuming, and costly. This study evaluated the Self-Administered Gerocognitive Exam (SAGE) as a screening test for cognitive impairment in a cohort of SLE patients.

Methods

A total of 118 SLE patients completed the SAGE. Providers completed the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI) and the Systemic Lupus International Collaborative Clinics Damage Index (SLICC-DI). SAGE scores were grouped into normal (>16) and abnormal (≤16) categories. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed.

Results

Of the 118 participants, 21(18%) scored ≤16 on the SAGE instrument. In univariate analysis, race, ethnicity, household income, and SLICC-DI scores were associated with the SAGE ( p < 0.05). In multivariable analysis, abnormal SAGE score was independently associated with higher SLICC-DI score (odds ratio (OR) = 1.44, 95% confidence intervals 1.04–1.99, p = 0.03)), Hispanic ethnicity (OR = 43.4, 95% CI 3.1–601, p = 0.005), and lower household income (OR = 11.9 for ≤$15,000 vs >$50,000, 95% CI 2.45–57, p = 0.002).

Conclusions

In SLE patients, this study demonstrates an independent relationship between neurocognitive impairment (as measured by the SAGE) and higher lupus-related damage, as measured by the SLICC-DI, and lower household income. Abnormal SAGE scores were also associated with Hispanic ethnicity. A language barrier could explain this because the SAGE instrument was conducted in English only. The SAGE was feasible to measure in the clinic setting.
Time perspectives mediate the relationship between personality traits and alcohol consumption
Authors: Loose Tianna , Robiou Du Pont Léo , Acier Didier , El-Baalbaki Ghassan
Published: February 2018

Background and aims

Personality traits are considered distal determinants of various behaviors including alcohol consumption meaning that the association between traits and behaviors is mediated by other intervening variables. Time perspectives are thought to be both stable dispositions and dependent on situational variables. They are related to personality traits but cannot be reduced to such which may suggest that they explain the relationship between traits and various behaviors. This study aimed to explore the possibility that time perspectives mediate the relationship between personality traits and alcohol consumption behaviors.

Methods

Five hundred and forty nine young adults living in France were administered online measures of Big 5 personality traits (Big Five Factor Inventory in French), time perspectives (Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory Short Form) and alcohol use (Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test). Five multiple parallel mediator models were elaborated in which personality traits led to time perspectives, which in turn led to alcohol consumption.

Results

Exclusively conscientiousness and extraversion directly predicted alcohol consumption. However, in all five models at least one time perspective mediated the relationship between each personality trait and alcohol consumption. For example, the relationship between openness and alcohol use was fully mediated by two competitive mediators: past positive and present hedonist time perspectives. The relationship between agreeableness and alcohol use was fully accounted for by two complementary mediators: past positive and future. Fifty seven percent of the direct effect between extraversion and alcohol use was accounted for three competitive mediators: future, past positive and present hedonist perspectives.

Conclusions

Time perspectives may explain entirely or in part the relationship between Big 5 personality traits and alcohol consumption behavior among young people. Intervening on the level of time perspectives rather than on that of personality traits may be a viable direction for prospective studies regarding alcohol consumption.
The informative error: A framework for the construction of individualized phenotypes
Authors: Hertel Johannes , Frenzel Stefan , König Johanna , Wittfeld Katharina , Fuellen Georg , Holtfreter Birte , Pietzner Maik , Friedrich Nele , Nauck Matthias , Völzke Henry , Kocher Thomas , Grabe Hans J
Published: February 2018

For the goal of individualized medicine, it is critical to have clinical phenotypes at hand which represent the individual pathophysiology. However, for most of the utilized phenotypes, two individuals with the same phenotype assignment may differ strongly in their underlying biological traits. In this paper, we propose a definition for individualization and a corresponding statistical operationalization, delivering thereby a statistical framework in which the usefulness of a variable in the meaningful differentiation of individuals with the same phenotype can be assessed. Based on this framework, we develop a statistical workflow to derive individualized phenotypes, demonstrating that under specific statistical constraints the prediction error of prediction scores contains information about hidden biological traits not represented in the modeled phenotype of interest, allowing thereby internal differentiation of individuals with the same assigned phenotypic manifestation. We applied our procedure to data of the population-based Study of Health in Pomerania to construct a refined definition of obesity, demonstrating the utility of the definition in prospective survival analyses. Summarizing, we propose a framework for the individualization of phenotypes aiding personalized medicine by shifting the focus in the assessment of prediction models from the model fit to the informational content of the prediction error.
Wage theft, underpayment and unpaid work in marketised social care
Authors: Macdonald Fiona , Bentham Eleanor , Malone Jenny
Published: February 2018

Marketised models of social care provision in Australia are placing pressures on service providers and driving changes in work organisation and employer practices, with potential to degrade social care jobs. While international experience of marketised social care has demonstrated the vulnerability of social care workers to wage theft and other violations of employment laws, Australia’s relatively strong industrial relations safety net might be expected to be better able to protect these low-paid workers. Nevertheless, there is emerging evidence of negative impacts on the pay and entitlements of frontline workers in the expanding community support and homecare workforce. This study investigates the paid and unpaid work time of disability support workers under Australia’s new National Disability Insurance Scheme. The research takes a novel approach combining analysis of working day diaries and qualitative interviews with employees to expose how jobs are being fragmented and work is being organised into periods of paid and unpaid time, leaving employees paid below their minimum entitlement. The article highlights the role of social care policy along with inadequate employment regulation.
Navigating Nuances of Language and Meaning: Challenges of Cross-Language Ethnography Involving Shona Speakers Living With Schizophrenia
Authors: Chidarikire Sherphard , Cross Merylin , Skinner Isabelle , Cleary Michelle
Published: February 2018

For people living with schizophrenia, their experience is personal and culturally bound. Focused ethnography enables researchers to understand people’s experiences in-context, a prerequisite to providing person-centered care. Data are gathered through observational fieldwork and in-depth interviews with cultural informants. Regardless of the culture, ethnographic research involves resolving issues of language, communication, and meaning. This article discusses the challenges faced by a bilingual, primary mental health nurse researcher when investigating the experiences of people living with schizophrenia in Zimbabwe. Bilingual understanding influenced the research questions, translation of a validated survey instrument and interview transcripts, analysis of the nuances of dialect and local idioms, and confirmation of cultural understanding. When the researcher is a bilingual cultural insider, the insights gained can be more nuanced and culturally enriched. In cross-language research, translation issues are especially challenging when it involves people with a mental illness and requires researcher experience, ethical sensitivity, and cultural awareness.
Quality of Life in a Hospice: A Validation of the Croatian Version of the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL
Authors: Golčić Marin , Dobrila-Dintinjana Renata , Golčić Goran , Pavlović-Ružić Ira , Stevanović Aleksandra , Gović-Golčić Lidija
Published: February 2018

Purpose:

Quality of life is the cornerstone of palliative care, and assessing it requires validated and standardized questionnaires. However, the majority of questionnaires are not tested in a hospice setting. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the quality of life in a hospice using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core 15 for Palliative Care (PAL) (EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL) questionnaire and validating it in Croatian language.

Methods:

The study was conducted prospectively on 151 consecutive patients who were evaluated at the admittance to the hospice and after 7 days. Along with the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL, both evaluations included the Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS) and the Palliative Performance Score (PPS) version 2. Cronbach α coefficient was used to test the reliability of multi-item scales, while construct and concurrent validity was tested using the Pearson correlation coefficients. Known-group validity was evaluated using the Student t test.

Results:

Physical functioning, pain, and emotional functioning scales all exhibited high reliability on both assessments and met the criteria of Cronbach α ≥.70, while fatigue scale met the predetermined criteria in the follow-up assessment (α = .90). Adequate validity was also displayed, with the highest correlation coefficients between the EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL and ESAS scales recorded for the corresponding items. The EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL was also able to distinguish patients with different PPS scores, exhibiting excellent clinical validity.

Conclusions:

The EORTC QLQ-C15-PAL can be used successfully in Croatian palliative care. However, inevitable issues such as low retest percentage due to short survival and low physical functioning scores need to be acknowledged in further formulations of quality of life questionnaires specific to hospice care.
Self-Reported ADHD and Adult Health in the United States
Authors: Landes Scott D. , London Andrew S.
Published: February 2018

Objective: Informed by a social determinants of health framework, we investigate the relationship between self-reported ADHD diagnosis status and adult health, and whether observed associations are attenuated by biomedical and socioeconomic factors. Method: Using 2007 National Health Interview Survey data ( N = 19,104), we present multivariate logistic regression analyses of associations between self-reported ADHD diagnosis status and five adult health outcomes. Results: ADHD diagnosis was significantly associated with higher odds of injury, physical health conditions, functional limitations, fair/poor health, and psychological distress in fully specified models (adjusted odds ratios [AORs] = 1.62-2.36). Inclusion of controls for exogenous demographic characteristics, psychiatric comorbidities and health behaviors, and adult social and economic statuses attenuated but did not eliminate observed associations between ADHD and poorer adult health. Conclusion: Research on adult health outcomes for those with ADHD should include consideration of the mechanisms by which a diagnosis of ADHD leads to cumulative social disadvantages that independently contribute to poorer health outcomes.
Childhood Tuberculosis in Nigeria: Disease Presentation and Treatment Outcomes
Authors: Ogbudebe Chidubem L , Adepoju Victor , Ekerete-Udofia Christy , Abu Ebere , Egesemba Ginika , Chukwueme Nkem , Gidado Mustapha
Published: February 2018

Objectives:

Understanding the factors that influence tuberculosis (TB) treatment outcomes in children is key to designing interventions to address them. This study aimed to determine the case category distribution of childhood TB in Nigeria and assess which clinical and demographic factors are associated with different treatment outcomes in childhood TB.

Materials and methods:

This was a retrospective cohort study involving a review of medical records of children (0-14 years) with TB in 3 states in Nigeria in 2015.

Results:

Of 724 childhood TB cases registered during the review period, 220 (30.4%) were aged 0–4 years. A high proportion of patients had pulmonary TB 420/724 (58.0%), new TB infection 713/724 (98.5%), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) coinfection 108/724 (14.7%). About 28% (n = 201) were bacteriologically diagnosed. The proportion of TB treatment success was 601/724 (83.0%). Treatment success was significantly higher in children aged 5–14 years than those 0–4 years (85.3% vs 77.7%, P = .01). Factors associated with unsuccessful outcomes in patients aged 0–4 years are male sex (adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.2), HIV-positive status (aOR: 1.2), and clinical method of diagnosis (aOR: 5.6).

Conclusions:

Efforts should be made to improve TB treatment outcomes in children by ensuring early and accurate diagnosis, focused training of health workers on childhood TB-HIV care, and effective adherence counseling of caregivers.
Application of a Causal Discovery Algorithm to the Analysis of Arthroplasty Registry Data
Authors: Cheek Camden , Zheng Huiyong , Hallstrom Brian R , Hughes Richard E
Published: February 2018

Improving the quality of care for hip arthroplasty (replacement) patients requires the systematic evaluation of clinical performance of implants and the identification of “outlier” devices that have an especially high risk of reoperation (“revision”). Postmarket surveillance of arthroplasty implants, which rests on the analysis of large patient registries, has been effective in identifying outlier implants such as the ASR metal-on-metal hip resurfacing device that was recalled. Although identifying an implant as an outlier implies a causal relationship between the implant and revision risk, traditional signal detection methods use classical biostatistical methods. The field of probabilistic graphical modeling of causal relationships has developed tools for rigorous analysis of causal relationships in observational data. The purpose of this study was to evaluate one causal discovery algorithm (PC) to determine its suitability for hip arthroplasty implant signal detection. Simulated data were generated using distributions of patient and implant characteristics, and causal discovery was performed using the TETRAD software package. Two sizes of registries were simulated: (1) a statewide registry in Michigan and (2) a nationwide registry in the United Kingdom. The results showed that the algorithm performed better for the simulation of a large national registry. The conclusion is that the causal discovery algorithm used in this study may be a useful tool for implant signal detection for large arthroplasty registries; regional registries may only be able to only detect implants that perform especially poorly.
The experiences of general practitioner partners living with distress: An interpretative phenomenological analysis
Authors: Spiers Johanna , Buszewicz Marta , Chew-Graham Carolyn A , Riley Ruth
Published: February 2018

Doctors, including general practitioners, experience higher levels of mental illness than the general population. General practitioners who are partners in their practices may face heightened stress. In total, 10 general practitioner partners living with work-related distress were interviewed, and transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Three major themes arose: (1) extreme distress, (2) conflicted doctor identity and (3) toxic versus supportive workplace relationships. Participants detailed symptoms of depression, anxiety and burnout; reported conflicted identities; and discussed the impact of bullying partnerships. We recommend that organisational interventions tackling issues such as bullying be implemented and opportunities to debrief be offered as protected time activities to general practitioner partners.
Assessing Latour: The case of the sickle cell body in history
Authors: Dyson Simon M.
Published: February 2018

The work of Bruno Latour has animated debates in sociology, anthropology and philosophy over several decades, while attracting criticisms of the ontological, epistemological and political implications of his focus on networks. This article takes a particular depth example – the case of the genetic condition of sickle cell – and, drawing upon anthropological, archaeological and sociological evidence of the sickle cell body in history, appraises early, and later, Latourian ideas. The article concludes that while methodologically useful in drawing attention to the complicated links of humans, animals and things, concerns remain about Latourian ontological claims. Limitations include an empiricist failure to account for absence; an insufficiently robust conception of emergence; an unwarranted curtailment of counterfactual human knowledge; a lack of concern for serial ‘undeserving losers’; a tendency to accord excessive freedoms to human actors; and a lack of a conception of how things may be considered as agents rather than actants.
A novel energy dissipation outrigger system with rotational inertia damper
Authors: Liu Liangkun , Tan Ping , Ma Haitao , Yan Weiming , Zhou Fulin
Published: February 2018

Rotational inertia damper, a novel damper, possessing the advantage of displacement amplification, has been employed in outrigger system for seismic mitigation. The equivalent analysis model composed by a uniform cantilever beam and an equivalent spring was proposed to simulate the rotational inertia damper outrigger system, by which the corresponding dynamic characteristic equation was derived based on numerical assembly technique. To gain the response of the damped system, finite element method and state space method have been utilized. Finally, the results show that the pseudo-undamped natural frequency ratios and system modal damping ratios are significantly influenced by stiffness parameter of the exterior column, while the mass parameter of the rotational inertia damper has little effect on them. The optimal damping ratio can be acquired for one mode, but it may be worse for the other mode in the same position equipping rotational inertia damper. Furthermore, numerical simulation results for the typical earthquake records have verified that the rotational inertia damper outrigger has excellent control performance in displacement as well as acceleration. A good agreement between damping force and equivalent force also suggests that the damping force of rotational inertia damper is predominant and the inertial force has no significant effect on the structure.
The status of early childhood education in Pakistan: Inside stories
Authors: Khan Mohammad Afzal
Published: February 2018

This article analyses the status of early childhood education in Pakistan. The education systems in place in Pakistan are mainly framed within a didactic approach to teaching and learning, which addresses certain areas of education but does not teach the child as a whole. Domains of children’s holistic development such as social, ethical, cultural, intellectual, emotional and physical well-being, and some other key academic skills, are not fully covered. In this kind of education, students are taught to follow rules without question and do as instructed, which corresponds to an autocratic view of learning. In the context of early childhood education in Pakistan, teachers occupy dominant roles, which positions them as the imparters and sources of knowledge and children as dependent and the receivers of knowledge, rather than considering them as potential, curious and powerful learners with unlimited capabilities. The literature indicates that this approach to teaching and learning does not privilege the holistic development and well-being of children. In contrast, many developed countries use research-based contemporary approaches to children’s education and development, giving children a more central role in their learning to ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop to their full potential. This kind of approach reminds teachers to view all children not as needy or deficient individuals.
Sexualisation, or the queer feminist provocations of Miley Cyrus
Authors: McNicholas Smith Kate
Published: February 2018

Miley Cyrus has increasingly occupied debates at the centre of feminist engagements with popular culture. Evoking concerns around young women and ‘sexualisation’, Cyrus emerges as a convergent signifier of sexualised media content and the girl-at-risk. As Cyrus is repeatedly invoked in these debates, she comes to function as the bad object of young femininity. Arguing, however, that Cyrus troubles the sexualisation thesis in the provocations of her creative practice, I suggest that this contested media figure exceeds the frames through which she is read. Thus, I ask: what kinds of insights might be possible if we were to transform the terms on which we approach this figure? Considering a selection of the images and performances that constitute the Cyrus archive, this article proposes a reading of Cyrus as performative provocation. Mobilising an existing sensibility of queer feminist struggle, Cyrus emerges as a disruptive, albeit contradictory, figure. Questions of privilege, limit and possibility emerge in this discussion, as well as what constitutes feminist struggle.
Feminist political analysis: Exploring strengths, hegemonies and limitations
Authors: Kantola Johanna , Lombardo Emanuela
Published: February 2018

Austerity politics, war in the Middle East and at other borders of the European Union, the rise of nationalisms, the emergence of populist parties and politicians, Islamophobia and the refugee crisis are amongst the recent developments suggesting the need for discussions about the theories and concepts that academic disciplines provide for making sense of societal, cultural and political transformations. In this article, we focus on the capacities of feminist political theories to undertake this task. By assessing different feminist approaches to political analysis that range from focusing on women and men, to analysing gender, to doing intersectionality and to adopting post-structural and new materialist approaches, we explore the contributions and the limitations of each framework. This allows us to consider where feminist theoretical debates on gender and politics currently are, to assess old and new developments and to address lacunae in the debate. Our argument is that dominant approaches in political science influence the emergence and marginalisation of particular feminist frameworks for political analysis, but also that feminist theorising of gender and politics, in striving for recognition within mainstream political science, reproduces its own hegemonies and marginalisations.
Backward glances: Feminism, nostalgia and Joan Braderman’s The Heretics (2009)
Authors: Meagher Michelle , Runyon Roxanne Loree
Published: February 2018

Although nostalgia is a much-maligned orientation to the world, feminist scholars including Heather Hillsburg (2013) and Kate Eichhorn (2015) have argued that it might be recuperated for feminist ends. This article mobilises the call to rethink nostalgia through an analysis of the feminist stories and storytelling in Joan Braderman’s 2009 film, The Heretics. A documentary about a feminist collective founded in New York City in the 1970s, The Heretics sets up a way of thinking about feminism’s past that is steeped in nostalgia. Throughout the film, Braderman maintains that the 1970s were ‘a time when everything seemed possible’. By contrast, she assesses the moment in which she makes the film as a time in which ‘fear corrodes even the young’. As feminist viewers of the film who did not (indeed by virtue of age could not) experience feminism in the 1970s, we initially read the nostalgic narrative of loss framing the film with suspicion. By drawing on feminist scholarship on nostalgia and feminist storytelling, however, we argue that nostalgia can function in what Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick (2003) would call a reparative mode that enriches the relationships that feminist scholars, activists and cultural workers bear to feminisms’ pasts.
Navigating the third wave: Contemporary UK feminist activists and ‘third-wave feminism’
Authors: Aune Kristin , Holyoak Rose
Published: February 2018

Since the start of the new millennium in the UK, a range of new feminist activities – national networks, issue-specific campaigns, local groups, festivals, magazines and blogs – have been formed by a new constituency of mostly younger women and men. These new feminist activities, which we term ‘third-wave’ feminism, have emerged in a ‘post-feminist’ context, in which feminism is considered dead or unnecessary, and where younger feminists, if represented at all, are often dismissed as insufficiently political. Representations of North American third-wave feminism are brought into play in these criticisms of the UK third wave, and insufficient attention has been paid to the distinctiveness of the UK contexts. Drawing on data from a survey of 1265 people involved in post-2000 forms of feminism and semi-structured interviews with thirty feminist activists, the article sketches out the contours of the contemporary feminist movement and its activists, activism and priorities. It attends to differences and similarities between second and third waves, and situates contemporary UK feminism in its distinctive UK context. Arguing that feminism is both alive and relevant for significant numbers of people in the UK today, the article interrogates younger feminists’ reluctance to use the term ‘third-wave feminism’ to describe themselves, attributing this reluctance to ambivalent and cynical representations of the third wave in academic literature and the popular media.
Category anxiety and the invisible white woman: Managing intersectionality at the scene of argument
Authors: Tomlinson Barbara
Published: February 2018

Feminists may overlook the way that our practices of reading and writing serve as discursive technologies of power, particularly if we fail to acknowledge the dominance of the invisible subject position of the (middle-class, heterosexual) white woman. Under such circumstances, specific seemingly neutral rhetorical strategies can serve as potent tools of dominance, infusing the reading situation with strategies of subordination that go unremarked because they are authorised by tradition and convention. I examine here the use of a specific rhetorical device in a specific context, the evocation of a comment by Judith Butler that I call The Case of the Et Cetera, as it appears in six critiques of intersectionality by European scholars and one by a North American scholar relying on the European narrative. I argue that Butler’s comment is used to deploy a pattern of rhetoric that I call managing intersectionality. This move depoliticises intersectionality by making it the property of a white managerial subject position that is treated as racially unmarked. My target is the metadiscursive regime that authorises this uninterrogated reinscription of racialised hierarchy in feminist academic argument.
The digital witness: The role of digital evidence in criminal justice responses to sexual violence
Authors: Dodge Alexa
Published: February 2018

While the low conviction rate for cases of sexual violence is often justified by the so-called ‘he-said-she-said’ nature of these cases, the increasing presence of digital evidence has begun to challenge this justification. This digital evidence can provide new opportunities for intervening in and prosecuting sexual violence. However, it may also be used against complainants or deemed still insufficient for proving guilt. Thus, while digital evidence may be challenging typical criminal justice responses to sexual violence, it may equally be utilised to buttress entrenched stereotypes and criminal justice practices that lead to complainant dissatisfaction and serve to support low conviction rates. I draw on critical feminist legal theory, feminist engagements with digital technology and sexual violence, and visual criminology to theorise the burgeoning role of the digital witness in sexual violence cases.
Beauvoirian androgyny: Reflections on the androgynous world of fraternité in The Second Sex
Authors: Burke Megan M.
Published: February 2018

This article considers Beauvoir’s gesture towards fraternité at the end of The Second Sex (1949) by focusing on her fleeting characterisation of this future as ‘an androgynous world’. Generally, either Beauvoir’s call for fraternité is dismissed as an erasure of sexual difference and is thus seen to be politically bankrupt, or fraternité is understood to realise sexual difference. This latter reading suggests that androgyny plays no role in Beauvoir’s solution to women’s oppression, while the other view often sees it as one effect of fraternité. This article takes a different position by arguing that Beauvoir affirms sexual difference and commits to an androgynous future. The article argues that androgyny is an affective mood that is constitutive of an openness in the field of possibility for living sexual difference. Consequently, androgyny plays not only a central role in fraternité, but also gestures to a future beyond dimorphic sexual difference.