bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effects of antidepressant therapy on neural components of verbal working memory in depression
Authors: Sankar Anjali , Adams Tracey M , Costafreda Sergi G , Marangell Lauren B , Fu Cynthia HY
Published: August 2017

Impairments in verbal working memory are evident in major depression. Verbal working memory is comprised of the components of encoding, maintenance and retrieval. Whether the neural impairments are expressed in specific components, and how pharmacological therapy could modify the neural correlates are not well understood. We investigated the neural correlates of verbal working memory components in depression using the Sternberg task in a longitudinal magnetic resonance imaging study. Serial scans were acquired in 23 patients (mean age 39.8 years) during an acute depressive episode and following 12 weeks of pharmacological therapy with duloxetine and in 22 matched healthy controls (mean age 39.1 years) at the same time points. A significant group by time interaction was evident during the long maintenance phase, extending from the left middle frontal to the middle temporal and caudate regions, in which there was reduced activation in healthy participants at the follow -up scan but there were no changes in patients. Persistent neural engagement during the maintenance phase following treatment was revealed in major depression. The findings emphasize that impairments in verbal working memory may be initiated in the maintenance phase in major depression in order to sustain performance. Further research with larger sample size and using randomized, placebo-controlled double-blind studies are required to confirm our results.
A Model for Evaluating Mobile Device Adoption in Community Sports Organizations
Authors: Sellitto Carmine , Bingley Scott , Burgess Stephen
Published: August 2017

Few studies have been conducted into the use of mobile technologies at community-based organizations. Community sport organizations (CSOs) typically operate within a defined geographic area and rely on the primary support of volunteers. Based on the characteristics of mobile-based information services, this article proposes a model that provides a guide for CSOs to classify mobile applications through four mobile utility factors and three innovation adoption determinants (cost, skill requirements, and compatibility). The model is supported visually by the use of Microsoft Excel generated “radar graphs” to illustrate desired practical and actual performance. The contribution of the theoretical model is one of providing a vehicle for evaluating mobile technology applications by CSOs to identify the potential effectiveness of mobile devices, particularly in a preadoption scenario.
The correlation between breast cancer and urinary iodine excretion levels
Authors: Malya Fatma Umit , Kadioglu Huseyin , Hasbahceci Mustafa , Dolay Kemal , Guzel Mehmet , Ersoy Yeliz Emine
Published: August 2017

Objective

To compare urinary iodine excretion levels in patients with breast cancer and control subjects.

Methods

In this prospective pilot study, patients with breast cancer and normal controls were recruited. Age and menopausal status were recorded. Levels of serum thyroid-stimulating hormone, blood urea nitrogen and creatinine and urine iodine concentration (UIC) were measured. UIC levels were divided into three categories: low (<100 µg/l), normal (100–200 µg/l) or high (>200 µg/l).

Results

A total of 24 patients with breast cancer and 48 controls were included in the study. There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups with regard to thyroid-stimulating hormone, blood urea nitrogen or creatinine levels. When considered overall, there was no statistical difference in UIC between patients and controls. However, comparisons within each category (low, normal or high UIC) showed a significantly higher percentage of patients with breast cancer had a high UIC compared with controls.

Conclusions

A high UIC was seen in a significantly higher percentage of patients with breast cancer than controls. UIC may have a role as a marker for breast cancer screening. Further studies evaluating UIC and iodine utilization in patients with breast cancer are warranted.
Effects of human recombinant growth hormone on exercise capacity, cardiac structure, and cardiac function in patients with adult-onset growth hormone deficiency
Authors: Gonzalez S , Windram JD , Sathyapalan T , Javed Z , Clark AL , Atkin SL
Published: August 2017

Objective

Epidemiological studies suggest that adult-onset growth hormone deficiency (AGHD) might increase the risk of death from cardiovascular causes.

Methods

This was a 6-month double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, cross-over trial followed by a 6-month open-label phase. Seventeen patients with AGHD received either recombinant human growth hormone (rGH) (0.4 mg injection daily) or placebo for 12 weeks, underwent washout for 2 weeks, and were then crossed over to the alternative treatment for a further 12 weeks. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging, echocardiography, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing were performed at baseline, 12 weeks, 26 weeks, and the end of the open phase (12 months). The results were compared with those of 16 age- and sex-matched control subjects.

Results

At baseline, patients with AGHD had a significantly higher systolic blood pressure, ejection fraction, and left ventricular mass than the control group, even when corrected for body surface area. Treatment with rGH normalised the insulin-like growth factor 1 concentration without an effect on exercise capacity, cardiac structure, or cardiac function.

Conclusion

Administration of rGH therapy for 6 to 9 months failed to normalise the functional and structural cardiac differences observed in patients with AGHD when compared with a control group.
Three-dimensional morphological analysis of acromioclavicular joint in patients with and without subacromial erosion after hook plate fixation
Authors: Shen Peng-cheng , Zhu Yu , Zhang Hui , Zhu Li-fan , Weng Feng-biao , Jiang Fu-gui , Xu Neng , Ju Wen , Li Xiao-lin
Published: August 2017

Objective

To investigate the role of acromioclavicular joint morphology in the presence of subacromial erosion after hook plate fixation.

Methods

We retrospectively analyzed the clinical data of 36 patients (17 men, 19 women; mean age, 48.7 years; range, 21–76 years) treated with hook plate fixation for distal clavicular fractures (n = 20) or acromioclavicular joint dislocation (n = 16) from August 2011 to March 2013. The patients were divided into two groups: the subacromial erosion group (18 patients) and the normal group (18 patients). Differences in multiple anatomical parameters between the two groups were measured and compared.

Results

The distal clavicle–acromion angle was significantly larger in the subacromial erosion group (mean, 51.37° ± 5.59°) than in the normal group (mean, 44.20° ± 3.83°), as was the distal clavicle–coronal angle (mean, 25.44° ± 2.51° vs. 21.67° ± 4.06°, respectively). The thickness of the acromion was significantly different between men and women (9.72 ± 1.13 vs. 8.16 ± 1.89 mm, respectively).

Conclusion

The results of this study indicate that the distal clavicle–acromion angle and distal clavicle–coronal angle are closely correlated with the occurrence of subacromial erosion after hook plate fixation.
Roller pressure algometry as a new tool for assessing dynamic pressure sensitivity in migraine
Authors: Guerrero-Peral Ángel L , Ruíz Marina , Barón Johanna , Palacios-Ceña María , Arendt-Nielsen Lars , Fernández-de-las-Peñas César
Published: August 2017

Objectives

To explore the validity of the roller pressure algometer as a new tool for evaluating dynamic pressure sensitivity by assessing its association with pain features and widespread pressure pain sensitivity in migraine women, and also to determine whether dynamic pressure algometry differentiates between episodic and chronic migraine.

Methods

One hundred and twenty women with migraine (42% chronic, 58% episodic) participated. Dynamic pressure sensitivity was assessed with a set of roller pressure algometers (Aalborg University, Denmark®) consisting of 11 rollers with fixed pressure levels from 500 to 5300 g. Each roller was moved at a speed of 0.5 cm/sec over a 60 mm horizontal line covering the temporalis muscle. The dynamic pain threshold (the pressure level of the first painful roller) and pain elicited during the pain threshold (roller evoked pain) were determined. Static pressure pain thresholds were assessed over the temporalis muscle, C5/C6 joint, second metacarpal, and tibialis anterior.

Results

Side-to-side consistency between dynamic pain threshold (rs = 0.769, p < 0.001) and roller evoked pain (rs = 0.597; p < 0.001) were found. Women with chronic migraine exhibited bilateral lower dynamic pain thresholds ( p < 0.01), but similar widespread pressure pain thresholds (all, p > 0.284) than those with episodic migraine. Dynamic pain threshold was moderately positively associated with widespread pressure pain thresholds (0.358 > rs > 0.700, all p < 0.001). This association was slightly stronger in chronic migraine. Pain during dynamic pain threshold was negatively associated with widespread pressure pain thresholds (−0.336 < rs < −0.235, all p < 0.01).

Conclusions

Roller pressure algometry was valid for assessing dynamic pressure sensitivity in migraine in the trigeminal area and is consistent with widespread static pressure pain sensitivity. Roller, but not static, pressure algometry differentiated between episodic and chronic migraine. Assessing static and dynamic deep somatic tissue sensitivity may provide new opportunities for evaluating treatment outcomes.
Extrapulmonary effects of temporal exposure to cigarette smoke
Authors: Martins Thais Lourenço , Campos Keila Karine Duarte , Araújo Natália Pereira da Silva , Machado Dafne Fernandes , Bezerra Frank Silva
Published: August 2017

This study aimed to evaluate the extrapulmonary effects of exposure to cigarette smoke (CS) through the analysis of blood components and histopathological examinations of the trachea and diaphragm muscle (DM) in C57BL/6 mice. Thirty-six animals were exposed to six cigarettes per day for 5 days. The mice were divided into a control group (CG) and groups exposed to CS for 1 (CS1D), 2 (CS2D), 3 (CS3D), 4 (CS4D), and 5 (CS5D) days. The trachea, DM, and blood were collected for morphometric and biochemical analyses. In comparison with the CG, CS4D and CS5D mice showed an increased influx of inflammatory cells into the DM and trachea. Increased glycogen deposits in the tracheal tissue of CS3D mice were observed, compared with that in CG, CS1D, and CS2D mice. In the blood serum, the number of inflammatory cells and the concentration of cholesterol increased in CS1D mice, compared with the CG. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were elevated in CS5D mice, compared with those in CS3D and CS4D mice. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) levels were elevated in CS3D and CS5D mice, compared with those in the CG. Urea levels were significantly increased in CS5D mice, compared with CS1D mice. Our results showed extrapulmonary effects of short-term exposure to CS in adult mice.
The Sleep Hygiene Inventory for Pediatrics: Development and Validation of a New Measure of Sleep in a Sample of Children and Adolescents With Chronic Headache
Authors: Rabner Jonathan , Kaczynski Karen J. , Simons Laura E. , Lebel Alyssa A.
Published: August 2017

Sleep plays a pivotal role in children and adolescents with headache. Although several sleep measures exist, no developed measures target the sleep issues common in pediatric patients with headache. The Sleep Hygiene Inventory for Pediatrics (SHIP) was developed for clinical purposes to fulfill this need. The aim of this study was to validate the SHIP for potential research applications in a sample of 1078 children and adolescents (7-17 years) with a primary headache diagnosis. Measure validation included assessments of internal consistency, construct validity, and criterion validity. The SHIP demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach α = 0.84). The SHIP differentiated well between participants for whom sleep was and was not a clinical concern ( P < .001; d =1.65), and was positively correlated with anxiety, depression, and disability. These analyses suggest that the SHIP is a psychometrically strong and valid assessment of sleep habits in pediatric patients with headache.
Synthesis, thermal behavior, and kinetics of degradation of alkyl hepta cyclopentyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes/polysterene nanocomposites
Authors: Blanco Ignazio , Bottino Francesco A
Published: August 2017

The degradation of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)/polystyrene (PS) nanocomposites at different percentages of reinforcement was studied in order to verify their thermal stability in respect to the pristine PS. Analyzed compounds were prepared by in situ polymerization of styrene, in the presence of POSSs and characterized by 1H-NMR. The temperature at 5% mass loss and the activation energy of degradation, determined through kinetics literature methods, were taken into consideration in order to assess both the resistance and the kinetics of degradation. The results obtained for the synthesized polymer and composites were discussed and compared with each other and with those obtained in the past for similar alkyl-POSS/PS nanocomposites. A good improvement of the thermal stability, in respect to neat polymer, was found and showed that the presence of cyclopentyl groups at the vertices of the POSS cage led to a good interaction with the matrix. It was also drawn up a thermal stability classification among the synthesized materials and those studied in the past according to the organic nature of the substituents on the inorganic cage of the composite reinforcement.
A Solidarity Machine? Hong Kong Labour NGOs in Guangdong
Authors: Pringle Tim
Published: August 2017

Although the literature on labour NGOs (LNGOs) in China has significantly expanded, few scholars have attempted to subject the work of these organizations to a Marxist perspective. This article draws on a recently developed Marxian theoretical framework on social movements to analyse the pioneering work of Hong Kong LNGOs and their partners in the province of Guangdong, China. Over the past 15 years, the Hong Kong groups, as they are known collectively, have been ideally placed to develop specific interventions in response to migrant workers’ pursuance of wage claims and improved working conditions during a time of increased rights awareness and widespread labour shortages. While consistently careful to remain the right side of China’s restrictive laws on freedom of association and demonstrations, the Hong Kong LNGOs were able to contribute to a narrative of class-based collective solidarity that has yielded significant gains for workers.
Predictive factors of flares in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: data from a multiethnic Latin American cohort
Authors: Ugarte-Gil M F , Wojdyla D , Pastor-Asurza C A , Gamboa-Cárdenas R V , Acevedo-Vásquez E M , Catoggio L J , García M A , Bonfá E , Sato E I , Massardo L , Pascual-Ramos V , Barile L A , Reyes-Llerena G , Iglesias-Gamarra A , Molina-Restrepo J F , Chacón-Díaz R , Alarcón G S , Pons-Estel B A
Published: August 2017

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the factors predictive of flares in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients.

Methods

A case-control study nested within the Grupo Latino Americano De Estudio de Lupus (GLADEL) cohort was conducted. Flare was defined as an increase ≥4 points in the SLEDAI. Cases were defined as patients with at least one flare. Controls were selected by matching cases by length of follow-up. Demographic and clinical manifestations were systematically recorded by a common protocol. Glucocorticoid use was recorded as average daily dose of prednisone and antimalarial use as percentage of time on antimalarial and categorized as never (0%), rarely (>0–25%), occasionally (>25%–50%), commonly (˃50%–75%) and frequently (˃75%). Immunosuppressive drugs were recorded as used or not used. The association between demographic, clinical manifestations, therapy and flares was examined using univariable and multivariable conditional logistic regression models.

Results

A total of 465 cases and controls were included. Mean age at diagnosis among cases and controls was 27.5 vs 29.9 years, p = 0.003; gender and ethnic distributions were comparable among both groups and so was the baseline SLEDAI. Independent factors protective of flares identified by multivariable analysis were older age at diagnosis (OR = 0.929 per every five years, 95% CI 0.869–0.975; p = 0.004) and antimalarial use (frequently vs never, OR = 0.722, 95% CI 0.522–0.998; p = 0.049) whereas azathioprine use (OR = 1.820, 95% CI 1.309–2.531; p < 0.001) and SLEDAI post-baseline were predictive of them (OR = 1.034, 95% CI 1.005–1.064; p = 0.022).

Conclusions

In this large, longitudinal Latin American cohort, older age at diagnosis and more frequent antimalarial use were protective whereas azathioprine use and higher disease activity were predictive of flares.
Building a bridge: A case report on communicating mental-health diagnoses to patients of a culturally and linguistically diverse background
Authors: Kayrouz Rony , Senediak Christine Irene , Laube Roy
Published: August 2017

Objective:

This paper is based on a case report, describing a protocol to help practitioners communicate mental-health diagnosis to patients from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. The protocol was presented by integrating the DSM-5 Cultural Formulation Interview (CFI) and the SPIKES protocol for communicating the diagnosis of cancer, yielding a modified CFI-SPIKES protocol (i.e. S, Support; P, Perception using CFI; I, Invitation; K, Knowledge; E, Emotions). The protocol was demonstrated using a case report with a patient of a Middle-Eastern background experiencing generalised anxiety disorder.

Conclusions:

The CFI-SPIKES protocol for communicating mental-health diagnosis allows for a collaborative process, whereby the CALD patient and practitioner can address the stigma associated with communicating a mental-health diagnosis, ensuring patient engagement and informed shared decision making.
Creative Learning Through the Use of Simulation to Teach Nursing Students Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment for Alcohol and Other Drug Use in a Culturally Competent Manner
Authors: Fioravanti Marie A. , Hagle Holly , Puskar Kathy , Knapp Emily , Kane Irene , Lindsay Dawn , Terhorst Lauren , Mitchell Ann M.
Published: August 2017

Introduction: Cultural competency is an integral component in undergraduate nursing education to provide patient-centered care and addressing patients’ cultural differences. Students need to consider the prevalence of alcohol and other drug use/misuse in patients from all cultures. This project combines cultural competency education, simulation, and educating students to use screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment for alcohol and other drug use. Method: Culturally diverse simulation scenarios were developed and used in the simulation lab with students to reduce stigma surrounding other cultures while learning an evidence-based practice to screen and intervene with patients who use/misuse substances. Results: Results show students value simulation and 91% of the students felt that they were able to apply culturally competent knowledge after the simulation experience. Discussion: Cultural competency principles can be embedded in teaching the broader evidence-based practice of screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment with undergraduate students. This is a replicable teaching methodology that could be adapted in other schools of nursing.
Examining Police Officer Work Stress Using the Job Demands–Resources Model
Authors: Frank James , Lambert Eric G. , Qureshi Hanif
Published: August 2017

Policing has long been recognized as a stressful, emotionally trying, and sometimes dangerous occupation. Job stress is related to several harmful outcomes for officers, and ultimately police organizations. The present study empirically examined the applicability of the job demands–resources model to explain levels of work stress experienced by a sample of police officers in India. Survey data collected from 827 officers in the Indian state of Haryana were examined to determine the impact of five job demands and four job resources on work stress. Our findings suggest that role ambiguity, role conflict, and role overload are associated with higher levels of officer stress, whereas organizational support, formalization, and employee input in decision making are all associated with lower levels of stress. The implications of our findings for policing and the job demands–resources model are also discussed.
Carvedilol Inhibits Matrix Metalloproteinase-2 Activation in Experimental Autoimmune Myocarditis: Possibilities of Cardioprotective Application
Authors: Skrzypiec-Spring Monika , Haczkiewicz Katarzyna , Sapa Agnieszka , Piasecki Tomasz , Kwiatkowska Joanna , Ceremuga Ireneusz , Wozniak Mieczyslaw , Biczysko Wieslawa , Kobierzycki Christopher , Dziegiel Piotr , Podhorska-Okolow Marzenna , Szelag Adam
Published: August 2017

Aims:

Acute myocarditis is a potentially lethal inflammatory heart disease that frequently precedes the development of dilated cardiomyopathy and subsequent heart failure. At present, there is no effective standardized therapy for acute myocarditis, besides the optimal care of heart failure and arrhythmias in accordance with evidence-based guidelines and specific etiology-driven therapy for infectious myocarditis. Carvedilol has been shown to be cardioprotective by reducing cardiac pro-inflammatory cytokines present in oxidative stress in certain heart diseases. However, effects of carvedilol administration in acute myocarditis with its impact on matrix metalloproteinases’ (MMPs) activation have not been elucidated.

Methods and Results:

Carvedilol in 3 doses (2, 10, and 30 mg/kg) was given daily to 3 study groups of rats (n = 8) with experimental autoimmune myocarditis by gastric gavage for 3 weeks. In comparison to untreated rats (n = 8) with induced myocarditis, carvedilol significantly prevented the left ventricle enlargement and/or systolic dysfunction depending on the dose in study groups. Performed zymography showed enhanced MMP-2 activity in untreated rats, while carvedilol administration reduced alterations. This was accompanied by prevention of troponin I release and myofilaments degradation in cardiac muscle tissue. Additionally, severe inflammatory cell infiltration was detected in the nontreated group. Carvedilol in all doses tested, had no impact on severity of inflammation. The severity of inflammation did not differ between study groups and in relation to the untreated group.

Conclusions:

The protective effects of carvedilol on heart function observed in the acute phase of experimental autoimmune myocarditis seem to be associated with its ability to decrease MMP-2 activity and subsequently prevent degradation of myofilaments and release of troponin I while not related to suppression of inflammation.
Service Employee Responses to Angry Customer Complaints
Authors: Jerger Christina , Wirtz Jochen
Published: August 2017

Service employees’ emotional and behavioral responses to angry customer complaints were examined to help firms improve their service recovery performance. Role-played complaints were conducted in a field experiment set in fast-food restaurants. Actors played customers who complained in an angry fashion to service employees. Employees’ immediate emotional (i.e., expressed anger) and delayed behavioral responses (i.e., restitution offered) were observed. A follow-up scenario-based experimental study was used to retest the hypotheses and add controls to rule out potential rival explanations. In both studies, level of customer status (low vs. high; true experimental design) and strength of a restaurant’s service climate (weak vs. strong; quasi-experimental design) were manipulated. The findings confirm that employees in a weak service climate expressed more anger and were less likely to offer restitution to low- compared to high-status customers. In contrast, in a strong service climate, employee responses were less dependent on customer status and converged at a low level of anger and high probability of restitution offered. Furthermore, the consistent immediate affective and delayed behavioral responses suggest that a strong service climate is internalized by frontline employees. This study contributes to service theory by establishing a customer status main effect on both affective and conative employee responses and by confirming service climate as a boundary condition for the customer status main effect. A key implication for managers is that establishing a strong service climate is important for achieving effective service recovery in increasingly diverse societies.
“It was Necessary at the Beginning to Make This Whole Revolution”
Authors: Suwada Katarzyna
Published: August 2017

This article compares and contrasts the attitudes of Polish and Swedish fathers to individualized or gender-neutral parental leaves popularly referred to as “daddy quotas.” The comparisons of two distinctively different societies that are characterized by very different family policy systems and gender-equality policies allow the article to explore how family policies help to shape men’s attitudes to parenthood and gendered parenting roles. Polish family policy is mother oriented and only recently started to address the social citizenship rights of fathers. Polish men’s role in the family is still normatively coded in terms of male breadwinning. Whereas in Sweden, there is a long tradition of gender-neutral parental leave and a normative and institutionalized social policy tradition of encouraging fathers into greater engagement with care work. This study shows that institutional contexts, in particular parental-leave provisions, impact how men perceive their own parental roles and their own interpretations of prevailing models of masculinities.
Using Crowdsourcing to Code Open-Ended Responses
Authors: Jacobson Miriam R. , Whyte Cristina E. , Azzam Tarek
Published: August 2017

Evaluators can work with brief units of text-based data, such as open-ended survey responses, text messages, and social media postings. Online crowdsourcing is a promising method for quantifying large amounts of text-based data by engaging hundreds of people to categorize the data. To further develop and test this method, individuals were recruited through online crowdsourcing to code open-ended survey responses, using a predetermined list of thematic codes that were derived from the responses. The study compared the coding results obtained from online crowdsourcing with coding results obtained from researcher coders. Additionally, the study examined feedback from the crowdsourced coders about their experiences with the task. The results suggested that online crowdsourcing can produce comparable results to researcher coding, but that the comparability of the results may differ across codes. This method may increase the efficiency of quantifying text-based data and provide evaluators with valuable feedback on their coding schemes.
Review of Rifaximin: Latest Treatment Frontier for Irritable Bowel Syndrome Mechanism of Action and Clinical Profile
Authors: Gupta Kamesh , Ghuman Harparam Singh , Handa Shivani Vijay
Published: August 2017

Background:

Irritable bowel syndrome is classified as a functional gastrointestinal disorder with the primary symptom of abdominal pain in conjunction with bloating and bowel movement disorder. It affects up to 15% of the world’s population. Among its subtypes, the most common is diarrhoea predominant. However, the current treatment options for diarrhoea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome have had not very promising results; most, such as antispasmodics, only provide partial symptomatic relief. Treatment with antidepressants and alosetron (a 5HT3 antagonist) has shown the most promise to date. The latest drug to be approved for the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome-diarrhoea is rifaximin, which was approved in May 2015. It is a minimally absorbed antibiotic that is used to change the gut microbiota. Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth is one of the causes suggested for irritable bowel syndrome, particularly for the diarrhoea-predominant type. There are various methods for detecting bacterial overgrowth, the simplest of which is breath tests. Rifaximin has been shown to be of benefit to these patients.

Purpose:

The purpose of the study is to discuss the potential mechanism of action of rifaximin, a minimally absorbed antibiotic. In addition, we evaluate the various clinical trials undertaken to study the efficacy and safety profile of rifaximin.
Factors Affecting Adjuvant Therapy in Stage III Pancreatic Cancer—Analysis of the National Cancer Database
Authors: Krishnan Mridula , Ahmed Aabra , Walters Ryan W , Silberstein Peter T
Published: August 2017

Background:

Adjuvant therapy after curative resection is associated with survival benefit in stage III pancreatic cancer. We analyzed the factors affecting the outcome of adjuvant therapy in stage III pancreatic cancer and compared overall survival with different modalities of adjuvant treatment.

Methods:

This is a retrospective study of patients with stage III pancreatic cancer listed in the National Cancer Database (NCDB) who were diagnosed between 2004 and 2012. Patients were stratified based on adjuvant therapy they received. Unadjusted Kaplan-Meier and multivariable Cox regression analysis were performed.

Results:

We analyzed a cohort included 1731 patients who were recipients of adjuvant therapy for stage III pancreatic cancer within the limits of our database. Patients who received adjuvant chemoradiation had the longest postdiagnosis survival time, followed by patients who received adjuvant chemotherapy, and finally patients who received no adjuvant therapy. On multivariate analysis, advancing age and patients with Medicaid had worse survival, whereas Spanish origin and lower Charlson comorbidity score had better survival.

Conclusions:

Our study is the largest trial using the NCDB addressing the effects of adjuvant therapy specifically in stage III pancreatic cancer. Within the limits of our study, survival benefit with adjuvant therapy was more apparent with longer duration from date of diagnosis.
Becoming green, becoming leaders: Identity narratives in sustainability leadership development
Authors: Heizmann Helena , Liu Helena
Published: August 2017

Sustainability leadership, exercised towards ecologically sustainable practices in business and society, has emerged as an important aim of leadership development programmes. Through the multimodal discursive analysis of a sustainability leadership centre in Australia, we demonstrate how its identity narratives reproduce individualist ideals of leadership and take for granted the hyperagency of heroic individuals to single-handedly solve environmental crises. Specifically, we illustrate how the development of sustainability leaders is co-constructed through the Buddhist narrative of Prince Siddhartha via three stages: leaders first find their calling that activates their inherent capability to effect change, reach awakening through self-discovery and self-empowerment with the help of the development programme, and finally transform the world through building both successful and meaningful careers. In the light of these findings, we question whether sustainability leadership discourses glorify the self and ironically sustain our disconnection from nature in the pursuit of business success.
Unexpected additive effects of minocycline and hydroxychloroquine in models of multiple sclerosis: Prospective combination treatment for progressive disease?
Authors: Faissner Simon , Mahjoub Yasamin , Mishra Manoj , Haupeltshofer Steffen , Hahn Jennifer Nancy , Gold Ralf , Koch Marcus , Metz Luanne M , Ben-Hur Tamir , Yong V Wee
Published: August 2017

Background:

Most multiple sclerosis (MS) patients succumb to a progressive phenotype. Continued lymphocyte activity in the brain, microglia-mediated injury, iron deposition, and oxidative stress are characteristics of progressive MS.

Objective:

As minocycline and hydroxychloroquine have been shown to inhibit microglia, we evaluated their effects on other outcomes relevant for progression.

Methods:

Medications were evaluated in culture and in mice with acute and chronic experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Results:

Both medications individually reduced iron neurotoxicity and a combination effect was not observed. Hydroxyl radical scavenging activity was manifested by minocycline only. Minocycline reduced T-cell proliferation more prominently than hydroxychloroquine; an aggregate effect occurred at low but not high concentrations. B-cell proliferation was mitigated to a greater extent by hydroxychloroquine and an additive effect was not evident. In EAE, suboptimal doses of minocycline and hydroxychloroquine individually delayed onset of clinical signs, while their combination suppressed clinical manifestations until treatment was stopped. In Biozzi ABH mice, a model of progressive MS, the chronic phase was beneficially altered using the combination.

Conclusion:

While minocycline and hydroxychloroquine did not manifest additive effects in most culture assays, their combination at suboptimal doses in EAE unexpectedly exceeded their individual activity. Minocycline and hydroxychloroquine combined are candidate treatments for progressive MS.
A hot topic? Immigration on the agenda in Western Europe
Authors: Green-Pedersen Christoffer , Otjes Simon
Published: August 2017

The party politics of immigration is one of the fastest growing bodies of research within the study of West European politics. Within this literature, an underlying assumption is that immigration has become one of the most salient issues. However, this is rarely documented, let alone explained. Drawing on a new coding of party manifestos in seven West European countries, this article shows that party attention to immigration has grown in all countries since 1980 but only in Denmark has the issue become one of the most salient issues of party politics. We find that the general increase in attention reflects the rising number of immigrants and rise of radical right-wing parties. In terms of the issue becoming a top issue of party politics, a comparative analysis of the politicization of immigration in Denmark and the Netherlands shows that the interest of mainstream right-wing parties and coalition dynamics are the crucial factors.
The impact of contextual factors on party responsiveness regarding immigration issues
Authors: Vrânceanu Alina
Published: August 2017

During the last decades, the immigration phenomenon has gained increasing relevance in the European political space. This article examines to what extent the responsiveness of mainstream parties to the public opinion on immigration and to the objective migration context is affected by the party system configuration. The empirical analysis relies on data from the Comparative Manifesto Project, the European Social Survey, ParlGov database and OECD annual indicators on migration inflows, covering 17 European countries over the period 2003–2013. Based on cross-classified multilevel models, the results suggest that the presence of strong radical right parties enhances the responsiveness of mainstream parties to public preferences and the migration context.
Associations between social control, motivation, and exercise: How romantic partners influence exercise during young adulthood
Authors: Berzins Tiffany L , Gere Judith , Kelly Scout M , Updegraff John A
Published: August 2017

This study investigated whether positive and negative romantic partner social control attempts (persuasion and pressure, respectively) were related to approach-avoidance motives and exercise among young adults ( N = 98), using daily reports. Daily persuasion was linked to higher daily approach motives. At the person level, persuasion was associated with higher approach and avoidance motives in addition to more frequent, longer exercise. Pressure was associated with higher daily relationship stress, which was associated with higher daily avoidance motives. At the person level, pressure was related to less frequent, shorter exercise. Thus, romantic partners’ social control use correlates with exercise motives and behavior.
The impact of perinatal loss in maternity units: A psycholinguistic analysis of health professionals’ reactions
Authors: Gandino Gabriella , Di Fini Giulia , Bernaudo Antonella , Paltrinieri Marcello , Castiglioni Marco , Veglia Fabio
Published: August 2017

Perinatal loss has a strong emotional impact on health professionals working in maternity units. We aimed to study the impact of this experience on health professionals’ language. We analyzed the answers of 162 health professionals (physicians and non-medical staff) who described their reactions to perinatal loss. A linguistic analysis was performed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. Associations between language and burnout were studied. Words typical of a psychological shock reaction were used more by non-medical staff than by physicians. Participants who used pronouns, optimistic words, future tense verbs, and cognitive words registered lower levels of burnout. Clinical implications of the results are discussed.
Beyond the clinic? Eluding a medical diagnosis of anorexia through narrative
Authors: Shohet Merav
Published: August 2017

The persistence and recurrence of anorexia nervosa poses a clinical challenge, and provides support for critiques of oppressive and injurious facets of society inscribed on women’s bodies. This essay illustrates how a phenomenological, linguistic anthropological approach fruitfully traverses clinical and cultural perspectives by directing attention beyond the embodied experience of patients diagnosed with anorexia nervosa to those who are not clinically diagnosed. Extending a model of illness and recovery as entailing sufferers’ emplotting of past, present, and imagined future selves, I argue that women’s accounts of their experiences do not simply reflect lived reality, but actually propel health-relevant states of being by enlivening and creating these realities in the process of their telling. In indexical interaction with public and clinical discourses, narratives’ grammar, lexicon, and plot structures modify subjects’ experiences and interpretations of the events and feelings recounted. This article builds on the insight that linear narratives of “full recovery” that adopt a clinical and feminist voice can help tellers stay recovered, whereas for those “struggling to recover,” a genre of contingent, uncertain, sideshadowing narratives alternatively renders recovery an elusive and ambivalently desired object. This essay then identifies a third narrative genre, eluding a diagnosis, which combines elements of the first two genres to paradoxically keep its teller simultaneously sheltered from, and invisible to the well-meaning clutches of medical care, leaving her suffering, yet free, to starve. This focus on narrative genres illustrates the utility of linguistic analyses for discerning and interpreting distress in subclinical populations.
Predictors of positive mental health among refugees: Results from Canada’s General Social Survey
Authors: Beiser Morton , Hou Feng
Published: August 2017

Do refugees have lower levels of positive mental health than other migrants? If so, to what extent is this attributable to post-migration experiences, including discrimination? How does gender affect the relationships between post-migration experience and positive mental health? To address these questions, the current study uses data from Statistics Canada’s 2013 General Social Survey (GSS), a nationally representative household study that included 27,695 Canadians 15 years of age and older. The study compares self-reported positive mental health among 651 refugees, 309 economic immigrants, and 448 family class immigrants from 50 source countries. Immigration-related predictors of mental health were examined including sociodemographic characteristics, discrimination, acculturation variables, and experiences of reception. Separate analyses were carried out for women and men. Refugees had lower levels of positive mental health than other migrants. Affiliative feelings towards the source country jeopardized refugee, but not immigrant mental health. A sense of belonging to Canada was a significant predictor of mental health. Perceived discrimination explained refugee mental health disadvantage among men, but not women. Bridging social networks were a mental health asset, particularly for women. The implications of anti-refugee discrimination net of the effects of anti-immigrant and anti-visible minority antipathies are discussed, as well as possible reasons for gender differences in the salience of mental health predictors.
Extended Poisson–Tweedie: Properties and regression models for count data
Authors: Bonat Wagner H. , Jørgensen Bent , Kokonendji Célestin C. , Hinde John , Demétrio Clarice G. B.
Published: August 2017

We propose a new class of discrete generalized linear models based on the class of Poisson–Tweedie factorial dispersion models with variance of the form [Formula: see text], where [Formula: see text] is the mean and [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] are the dispersion and Tweedie power parameters, respectively. The models are fitted by using an estimating function approach obtained by combining the quasi-score and Pearson estimating functions for the estimation of the regression and dispersion parameters, respectively. This provides a flexible and efficient regression methodology for a comprehensive family of count models including Hermite, Neyman Type A, Pólya–Aeppli, negative binomial and Poisson-inverse Gaussian. The estimating function approach allows us to extend the Poisson–Tweedie distributions to deal with underdispersed count data by allowing negative values for the dispersion parameter [Formula: see text]. Furthermore, the Poisson–Tweedie family can automatically adapt to highly skewed count data with excessive zeros, without the need to introduce zero-inflated or hurdle components, by the simple estimation of the power parameter. Thus, the proposed models offer a unified framework to deal with under-, equi-, overdispersed, zero-inflated and heavy-tailed count data. The computational implementation of the proposed models is fast, relying only on a simple Newton scoring algorithm. Simulation studies showed that the estimating function approach provides unbiased and consistent estimators for both regression and dispersion parameters. We highlight the ability of the Poisson–Tweedie distributions to deal with count data through a consideration of dispersion, zero-inflated and heavy tail indices, and illustrate its application with four data analyses. We provide an R implementation and the datasets as supplementary materials.
Performativity, affectivity and pedagogic identities
Authors: Singh Parlo
Published: August 2017

Basil Bernstein wrote extensively about official educational knowledge, pedagogic recontextualisation and pedagogic identities. However, his theoretical oeuvre tended to focus on the textual rather than the affective aspects of policy recontextualisation. In addition, his work on the realisation of official pedagogic identity positions at the level of schooling institutions remained in an embryonic form, not fully developed. In this paper, I elaborate on the affective dimensions of policy recontextualisation by exploring institutional defences, namely teacher anxieties, produced by data-driven performativity. I draw on data from two research partnership projects undertaken with schools servicing vulnerable, high poverty communities in Australia to develop my ideas. Firstly, I explore how institutions develop defensive structures to deal with the anxieties of staff working with young children living in poverty. Secondly, I explore the affective dimensions of dealing with data-driven performativity policies by a school leadership team over the period of two research projects (2009–2016). I examine the professional anxieties induced by data performativity in the early days, and then explore how a research intervention re-circulated affects and enabled the staff to develop more ambivalent relations to data.
Gene Expression Profiling in Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms After Finite Element Rupture Risk Assessment
Authors: Erhart Philipp , Schiele Sandra , Ginsbach Philip , Grond-Ginsbach Caspar , Hakimi Maani , Böckler Dittmar , Lorenzo-Bermejo Justo , Dihlmann Susanne
Published: August 2017

Purpose: To investigate the association between local biomechanical rupture risk calculations from finite element analysis (FEA) and whole-genome profiling of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) wall to determine if AAA wall regions with highest and lowest estimated rupture risk show different gene expression patterns. Methods: Six patients (mean age 74 years; all men) scheduled for open surgery to treat asymptomatic AAAs (mean diameter 55.2±3.5 mm) were recruited for the study. Rupture risk profiles were estimated by FEA from preoperative computed tomography angiography data. During surgery, AAA wall samples of ~10 mm2 were extracted from the lowest and highest rupture risk locations identified by the FEA. Twelve samples were processed for RNA extraction and subsequent whole genome expression profiling. Expression of single genes and of predefined gene groups were compared between vessel wall areas with highest and lowest predicted rupture risk. Results: Normalized datasets comprised 15,079 gene transcripts with expression above background. In biopsies with high rupture risk, upregulation of 18 and downregulation of 18 genes was detected when compared to the low-risk counterpart. Global analysis of predefined gene groups revealed expression differences in genes associated with extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation (p<0.001), matrix metalloproteinase activity (p<0.001), and chemokine signaling (p<0.001). Conclusion: Increased expression of genes involved in degrading ECM components was present in AAA wall regions with highest biomechanical stress, supporting the thesis of mechanotransduction. More experimental studies with cooperation of multicenter vascular biobanks are necessary to understand AAA etiologies and identify further parameters of FEA model complementation.
A Comparison of Common and Novel Curriculum-Based Measurement of Reading Decision Rules to Predict Spring Performance for Students Receiving Supplemental Interventions
Authors: Van Norman Ethan R. , Parker David C.
Published: August 2017

Recent simulations suggest that trend line decision rules applied to curriculum-based measurement of reading progress monitoring data may lead to inaccurate interpretations unless data are collected for upward of 3 months. The authors of those studies did not manipulate goal line slope or account for a student’s level of initial performance when evaluating the accuracy of progress monitoring decisions. We explored how long progress needs to be monitored before ineffective interventions can be accurately identified using actual data. We calculated classification accuracy statistics to evaluate the extent to which recommendations from three common and two novel decision rules correctly predicted spring performance across six levels of duration (8, 10, . . . 18 weeks) and two goal types (normative and default spring benchmark). Comparing the median of the last three observations as well as current trend with expected performance at a given week consistently yielded higher positive agreement rates than data point or prediction-based decision rules. Decision rule performance improved as duration increased, but a point of diminishing returns was observed. Decisions based on normative goals yielded consistently higher chance-corrected agreement outcomes.