bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Decisional Processing Model: How Cognitive Processing Affects Adherence to Mammography Among African American Women
Authors: Petersen Suni , Hydeman Jennifer , Flowers Kristin
Published: October 2010

While mammography rates are increasing, timely repetition of mammography remains underutilized, particularly for low-income African American women. This study examined the decision-making process used by women during a culturally sensitive attitude change intervention designed to increase adherence to mammography guidelines. The sample included 318 low-income, urban African American women. A Solomon Four design was used to test the intervention in three public health clinics. Participants were followed for 12 months. Women used four different decisional styles (information seeking, 22%; information processing, 22%; advice following, 47%; and ruminating, 8%). Those engaging in information-seeking and information-processing decisional styles demonstrated more pro-attitudes toward mammography, greater intention to obtain a mammogram, and actual increase in mammography utilization. Furthermore, the link between intention and action was significant for those in the information-seeking decisional style but not in the other decisional styles.
Reducing a Barrier to Diabetes Education
Authors: Chasens Eileen R. , Enock Marilyn , DiNardo Monica
Published: October 2010

Purpose

Recent research suggests that hearing loss, a frequent problem for aging adults, is more prevalent in people with diabetes. Hearing impairment affects a patient’s learning. This article reviews the anatomy and physiology involved in hearing, describes common causes of hearing loss in people with diabetes, and describes how hearing loss is diagnosed and treated. Two simple tests the diabetes educator can use to screen for hearing loss are described, and interventions that improve communication with patients with difficulty hearing are explained.

Conclusions

Hearing loss can negatively affect a patient’s ability to actively participate in diabetes education. Diabetes educators have a responsibility to learn how to communicate better with their patients who have a hearing impairment. Diabetes educators are uniquely positioned to improve the health status of their patients by identifying persons who need referral for further evaluation of their hearing.
Advancing Evidence-Based Nursing Practice in a Children’s Hospital Using Competitive Awards
Authors: Kelly Katherine Patterson , Guzzetta Cathie E. , Mueller-Burke Dawn , Nelson Kimberly , DuVal Jennifer , Hinds Pamela S. , Robinson Nellie
Published: October 2010

When creating an evidence-based practice (EBP) nursing environment became an organizational mandate for the authors’ tertiary care pediatric hospital, they assessed the state of EBP at their hospital. Findings revealed inconsistent use of EBP principles by the nursing staff. Nurses routinely cited literature to inform practice guidelines and performance improvement initiatives, but they lacked skills to comprehensively search available literature and critically appraise evidence for its quality. In addition, evaluating practice changes was not universally used. To stimulate the consistent use of the full scope of EBP, we created a call for competitive awards for EBP projects. Three teams (Of eight proposals submitted) each received $5,000 to implement their projects. Teams also received comprehensive education and were assigned EBP experts to help them implement and evaluate their EBP projects. We report the steps taken to implement and evaluate this approach to stimulating nurses’ interest in and use of EBP.
The Impact of Positive Practices on Nurse Work Environments: Emerging Applications of Positive Organizational Scholarship
Authors: Calarco Margaret M.
Published: October 2010

The overall purpose of improving work environments in health care is to enhance patient care delivery and improve the retention of nurses by engaging nurses in a model of cultural change that enhances communication and collaboration and actively involves nurses in organizational and clinical decision making. This article reports the findings from a 5-year study that describes an educational intervention for nurse leaders and a unit-based educational intervention for nursing staff, based on the application of Positive Organizational Scholarship (POS) and its impact on nursing work environments.
Work Environment Characteristics of High-Quality Home Health Agencies
Authors: Tullai-McGuinness Susan , Riggs Jennifer S. , Farag Amany A.
Published: October 2010

This concurrent mixed-method study examines the nurse work environment of high-quality Medicare-certified home health agencies. High-quality ( n = 6) and low-quality ( n = 6) home health agencies were recruited using agency-level publicly reported patient outcomes. Direct care registered nurses (RNs) from each agency participated in a focus group and completed the Practice Environment Scale of the Nurse Work Index (PES-NWI). No significant differences were found in the PES-NWI results between nurses working in high- and low-quality agencies, though nurses in high-quality agencies scored higher on all subscales. Nurses working in all the high-quality agencies identified themes of adequate staffing, supportive managers, and team work. These themes were not consistently identified in low-quality agencies. Themes of supportive managers and team work are reflective of effective leadership at the manager level. Agencies struggling to improve quality of care might consider developing their managers’ leadership skills.
Measurement and Comparison of Nursing Faculty Members’ Critical Thinking Skills
Authors: Blondy Laurie C.
Published: October 2010

Nursing faculty members strive to teach students to think critically. It has long been assumed that nursing faculty members are good at critical thinking because they are expected to teach these skills to students, but this assumption has not been well supported empirically. Faculty members question their ability to think critically and are unsure of their skills. The purpose of this study was to address this assumption by measuring nursing faculty members’ critical thinking skills and compare the faculty mean score to that of a student norming group, and to the mean scores of other nursing faculty studies. Findings can be used to increase nursing faculty members’ understanding of their critical thinking skills, prompt discussion about critical thinking skills, and to help faculty members address concerns and uncertainty about the concept of critical thinking. This study also helps establish an empirical basis for future research.
Patterns and Correlates of Nutrition Among Migrant Farm-Worker Children
Authors: Kilanowski Jill F.
Published: October 2010

Past research has demonstrated a higher incidence of overweight children in migrant farm-worker (MFW) families than in the general U.S. population. This study provided descriptive data on MFWs’ acculturation, household food security, and general self-efficacy, and children’s food patterns and body mass index. Convenience samples of 60 parent–child dyads were obtained from six MFW camps in two Midwest states. Acculturation and food security were low, higher general self-efficacy was associated with low acculturation, and the majority of children did not meet their U.S. Food Guide Pyramid recommendations. It was noteworthy that 48% of the sample, including siblings (excluded from data analysis), was overweight or obese. The knowledge learned concerning the food patterns and correlates of nutrition in this descriptive phase of the DINE study will direct counseling to MFW mothers on the purchase and preparation of affordable, nutritious, and culturally acceptable foods to achieve healthy weight in their children.
The Role of Positive Cognitions in Egyptian Elders’ Relocation Adjustment
Authors: Bekhet Abir K. , Fouad Rasha , Zauszniewski Jaclene A.
Published: October 2010

Relocation is a major life event for elders and it has been found to adversely affect their adjustment. Resilience theory suggests that adverse effects can be minimized if elders have positive cognitions. In addition, research has shown that positive cognitions are related to independence and healthy, productive lifestyles in older adults. Yet no studies have determined whether the relationship between relocation and adjustment is mediated or moderated by positive cognitions. This study examined these relationships in a sample of 94 cognitively intact elders (aged 60+ years) who had relocated to retirement communities in Alexandria, Egypt. Results showed that relocation controllability had direct effects on positive cognitions and on relocation adjustment. Positive cognitions had a moderating and a partial mediating effect on the relationship between relocation controllability and relocation adjustment. These findings suggest that it is imperative to develop interventions to enhance positive thinking for elders facing the need to relocate.
Antidepressants for the treatment of depression in palliative care: systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Rayner Lauren , Price Annabel , Evans Alison , Valsraj Koravangattu , Hotopf Matthew , Higginson Irene J
Published: October 2010

Depression can exacerbate symptoms associated with life-threatening illness and increase disability and distress. In palliative care, depression occurs in a context of multiple symptoms, which complicates detection and treatment. While systematic reviews of antidepressants have been conducted in specific life-threatening diseases, no previous study has synthesized the evidence in palliative care. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of antidepressants for the treatment of depression in palliative care. MEDLINE, EMBASE, PSYCINFO and Cochrane trials registers were systematically searched to identify randomized controlled trials comparing antidepressants and placebo for the treatment of depression in palliative care. The primary outcome was efficacy assessed at three time-points. Twenty-five studies were included in the review. At each time-point antidepressants were more efficacious than placebo: 4–5 weeks odds ratio (OR) 1.93 (1.15–3.42) p = 0.001; 6–8 weeks OR 2.25 (1.38–3.67) p = 0.001; 9–18 weeks OR 2.71 (1.50–4.91) p = 0.001.

This review provides evidence that antidepressants are effective in treating depression in palliative care. Their superiority over placebo is apparent within 4–5 weeks and increases with continued use. It is probable that the effect sizes yielded in this review overestimate the efficacy of antidepressants due to biases such as selective reporting and publication. Nevertheless, the magnitude and consistency of the effect suggests genuine benefit.
Psychostimulant treatment of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder
Authors: Houlihan David J
Published: October 2010

The objective of this paper is to describe three cases of combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), largely refractory to standard medication treatment who responded well to psychostimulant treatment. Symptoms of PTSD potentially result from chronic, stress-induced dopaminergic dysfunction in the prefrontal cortex/basal ganglia system. Psychostimulants, by their relative propensity to enhance dopamine (DA) activity within these brain regions, may have particular value in targeting this dysfunction. Evidence of dopaminergic dysfunction following chronic stress is reviewed and possible mechanism of action of psychostimulants is explored. Psychostimulants appeared to be well tolerated and beneficial in the treatment of the cases of combat-related PTSD reported. General applicability of the use of psychostimulants in combat- and non-combat-related PTSD awaits further study. The potential implications of these findings in further delineating pathophysiology and treatment in PTSD deserve further exploration.
Standard Error of Measurement of 5 Health Utility Indexes across the Range of Health for Use in Estimating Reliability and Responsiveness
Authors: Palta Mari , Chen Han-Yang , Kaplan Robert M. , Feeny David , Cherepanov Dasha , Fryback Dennis G.
Published: October 2010

Background. Standard errors of measurement (SEMs) of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) indexes are not well characterized. SEM is needed to estimate responsiveness statistics, and is a component of reliability. Purpose. To estimate the SEM of 5 HRQoL indexes. Design. The National Health Measurement Study (NHMS) was a population-based survey. The Clinical Outcomes and Measurement of Health Study (COMHS) provided repeated measures. Subjects. A total of 3844 randomly selected adults from the noninstitutionalized population aged 35 to 89 y in the contiguous United States and 265 cataract patients. Measurements. The SF6-36v2™, QWB-SA, EQ-5D, HUI2, and HUI3 were included. An item-response theory approach captured joint variation in indexes into a composite construct of health (theta). The authors estimated 1) the test-retest standard deviation (SEM-TR) from COMHS, 2) the structural standard deviation (SEM-S) around theta from NHMS, and 3) reliability coefficients. Results. SEM-TR was 0.068 (SF-6D), 0.087 (QWB-SA), 0.093 (EQ-5D), 0.100 (HUI2), and 0.134 (HUI3), whereas SEM-S was 0.071, 0.094, 0.084, 0.074, and 0.117, respectively. These yield reliability coefficients 0.66 (COMHS) and 0.71 (NHMS) for SF-6D, 0.59 and 0.64 for QWB-SA, 0.61 and 0.70 for EQ-5D, 0.64 and 0.80 for HUI2, and 0.75 and 0.77 for HUI3, respectively. The SEM varied across levels of health, especially for HUI2, HUI3, and EQ-5D, and was influenced by ceiling effects. Limitations. Repeated measures were 5 mo apart, and estimated theta contained measurement error. Conclusions. The 2 types of SEM are similar and substantial for all the indexes and vary across health.
The global rural: Gentrification and linked migration in the rural USA
Authors: Nelson Lise , Nelson Peter B.
Published: October 2010

This article explores the possibility that US rural amenity destinations are affected by ‘linked migration’ streams similar to ones connecting the fate of high-wage professionals and low-wage immigrants in global cities. To date, the possibility of such a linkage has not been considered in the vast literature on migration and social transformation in rural America, a literature that has treated the arrival of these two groups (high-wage professionals and low-wage immigrants) in rural spaces as separate processes. We explore the possibility that these two groups, in a particular set of US rural amenity communities, are structurally linked. We focus on the theoretical implications of documenting such linkages, arguing that the presence of linked migration dynamics in rural areas would transform scholarly debates on: (1) Latino immigrants in the rural USA; (2) amenity migration and rural gentrification, not only in the USA but in a range of postindustrial economies; and (3) theories of globalization and mobility, as well as the place of the rural in globalization dynamics.
Geographies of markets: Materials, morals and monsters in motion
Authors: Berndt Christian , Boeckler Marc
Published: October 2010

Approaching processes of capitalist market exchange from a cultural economic perspective, we identify three strands of research that are all part of a widespread ‘pragmatic turn’ in the study of economic activities: (1) the conceptualization of markets as heterogeneous arrangements of people, things and sociotechnical devices; (2) the insight that multiple frames of reference are mobilized in everyday market activities in addition to instrumental rationality; and (3) approaches that combine an interest in the performance of diversity and difference in concrete market contexts with an attention to mobility in network capitalism.
Plantar Enthesopathy
Authors: Wearing Scott C. , Smeathers James E. , Urry Stephen R. , Sullivan Patrick M. , Yates Bede , Dubois Philip
Published: October 2010

Background

The enthesis of the plantar fascia is thought to play an important role in stress dissipation. However, the potential link between entheseal thickening characteristic of enthesopathy and the stress-dissipating properties of the intervening plantar fat pad have not been investigated.

Purpose

This study was conducted to identify whether plantar fat pad mechanics explain variance in the thickness of the fascial enthesis in individuals with and without plantar enthesopathy.

Study Design

Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods

The study population consisted of 9 patients with unilateral plantar enthesopathy and 9 asymptomatic, individually matched controls. The thickness of the enthesis of the symptomatic, asymptomatic, and a matched control limb was acquired using high-resolution ultrasound. The compressive strain of the plantar fat pad during walking was estimated from dynamic lateral radiographs acquired with a multifunction fluoroscopy unit. Peak compressive stress was simultaneously acquired via a pressure platform. Principal viscoelastic parameters were estimated from subsequent stress-strain curves.

Results

The symptomatic fascial enthesis (6.7 ± 2.0 mm) was significantly thicker than the asymptomatic enthesis (4.2 ± 0.4 mm), which in turn was thicker than the enthesis (3.3 ± 0.4 mm) of control limbs (P < .05). There was no significant difference in the mean thickness, peak stress, peak strain, or secant modulus of the plantar fat pad between limbs. However, the energy dissipated by the fat pad during loading and unloading was significantly lower in the symptomatic limb (0.55 ± 0.17) when compared with asymptomatic (0.69 ± 0.13) and control (0.70 ± 0.09) limbs (P < .05). The sonographic thickness of the enthesis was correlated with the energy dissipation ratio of the plantar fat pad (r = .72, P < .05), but only in the symptomatic limb.

Conclusion

The energy-dissipating properties of the plantar fat pad are associated with the sonograpic appearance of the enthesis in symptomatic limbs, providing a previously unidentified link between the mechanical behavior of the plantar fat pad and enthesopathy.
Capacity planning for electronic waste management facilities under uncertainty: multi-objective multi-time-step model development
Authors: Poonam Khanijo Ahluwalia  , Nema Arvind K.
Published: October 2010

Selection of optimum locations for locating new facilities and decision regarding capacities at the proposed facilities is a major concern for municipal authorities/managers. The decision as to whether a single facility is preferred over multiple facilities of smaller capacities would vary with varying priorities to cost and associated risks such as environmental or health risk or risk perceived by the society. Currently management of waste streams such as that of computer waste is being done using rudimentary practices and is flourishing as an unorganized sector, mainly as backyard workshops in many cities of developing nations such as India. Uncertainty in the quantification of computer waste generation is another major concern due to the informal setup of present computer waste management scenario. Hence, there is a need to simultaneously address uncertainty in waste generation quantities while analyzing the tradeoffs between cost and associated risks. The present study aimed to address the above-mentioned issues in a multi-time-step, multi-objective decision-support model, which can address multiple objectives of cost, environmental risk, socially perceived risk and health risk, while selecting the optimum configuration of existing and proposed facilities (location and capacities).
The new Waste Law: Challenging opportunity for future landfill operation in Indonesia
Authors: Meidiana Christia , Gamse Thomas
Published: October 2010

The Waste Law No. 18/2008 Article 22 and 44 require the local governments to run environmentally sound landfill. Due to the widespread poor quality of waste management in Indonesia, this study aimed to identify the current situation by evaluating three selected landfills based on the ideal conditions of landfill practices, which are used to appraise the capability of local governments to adapt to the law. The results indicated that the local governments have problems of insufficient budget, inadequate equipment, uncollected waste and unplanned future landfill locations. All of the selected landfills were partially controlled landfills with open dumping practices predominating. In such inferior conditions the implementation of sanitary landfill is not necessarily appropriate. The controlled landfill is a more appropriate solution as it offers lower investment and operational costs, makes the selection of a new landfill site unnecessary and can operate with a minimum standard of infrastructure and equipment. The sustainability of future landfill capacity can be maintained by utilizing the old landfill as a profit-oriented landfill by implementing a landfill gas management or a clean development mechanism project. A collection fee system using the pay-as-you-throw principle could increase the waste income thereby financing municipal solid waste management.
Methods for Collecting Postschool Outcomes Data on Young Adults With Disabilities: A Literature Synthesis
Authors: Alverson Charlotte Y. , Naranjo Jason M. , Yamamoto Scott , Unruh Deanne K.
Published: October 2010

The current U.S. federal mandate for educational accountability requires state departments of education to collect data on the postschool employment and postsecondary school and/or training enrollment of young adults with disabilities. To examine how these data have been collected, we conducted a literature synthesis of follow-up and follow-along studies to answer four critical questions: (a) What data collection methods were used? (b) What were the sample characteristics? (c) What variables were examined? (d) What postschool outcomes were identified? We report the answers to these questions, discuss the limitations of our synthesis, outline implications for stakeholders, and make recommendations for state researchers collecting postschool outcomes data and for education professionals using these data to improve secondary transition programs for students with disabilities.
A Typology of Disability Harassment in Secondary Schools
Authors: Holzbauer Jerome J. , Conrad Clifton F.
Published: October 2010

The purpose of this exploratory study of disability harassment was to develop a typology of disability harassment experiences anchored in the perspectives of students with disabilities who have experienced harassment in urban, suburban, and exurban-rural schools. Based on focus group interviews with four groups of young people with various disabilities and two groups of parents of students with disabilities, the authors identified six major types of disability harassment and placed them on a continuum from least assertive to most aggressive. For each of the six types, signature behaviors were identified as was their respective frequency. Based on their findings, the authors propose several practical strategies for secondary schools (Grades 6—12) aimed at helping to address the multiple faces of this formidable challenge.
Psychosocial Interventions for the Prevention of Depression in Older Adults: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Forsman Anna K. , Schierenbeck Isabell , Wahlbeck Kristian
Published: October 2010

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions for the prevention of depression in older people. Method: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prospective controlled trials. Results: Thirty studies were included. Overall, psychosocial interventions had a small but statistically significant effect on depressive symptoms (17 trials, standardized mean difference = -0.17, 95% CI = -0.31 to -0.03). In comparison with no-intervention controls, social activities were effective in reducing depressive symptoms, but results should be interpreted with caution due to the small number of trials. No statistically significant effect on depressive symptoms was found for physical exercise, skill training, reminiscence, or for multicomponent interventions.

Discussion: Psychosocial interventions have a small but statistically significant effect in reducing depressive symptoms among older adults. The current evidence base for psychosocial interventions for primary prevention of depression in older people is weak, and further trials warranted especially for the most promising type of interventions evaluated, that is, social activities.
Older Adults’ Inpatient and Emergency Department Utilization for Ambulatory-Care-Sensitive Conditions: Relationship With Alcohol Consumption
Authors: Merrick Elizabeth S. Levy , Hodgkin Dominic , Garnick Deborah W. , Horgan Constance M. , Panas Lee , Ryan Marian , Blow Frederic C. , Saitz Richard
Published: October 2010

Objective: This study examined the relationship between drinking that exceeds guideline-recommended limits and acute-care utilization for ambulatory-care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) by older Medicare beneficiaries. Method: This secondary data analysis used the 2001-2006 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (unweighted n = 5,570 community dwelling, past-year drinkers, 65 years and older). Self-reported alcohol consumption (categorized as within guidelines, exceeding monthly but not daily limits, or heavy episodic) and covariates were used to predict ACSC hospitalization, emergency department visit not resulting in admission, and emergency department visit that did result in admission. Results: Heavy episodic drinking was significantly associated with higher likelihood of an ACSC emergency department visit not resulting in admission (adjusted odds ratio = 1.91, 95% CI: 1.11-3.30; p < .05). Drinking pattern was not significant for other ACSC measures. Discussion: Results partially support the hypothesis that excessive drinking may be related to ACSC acute-care utilization among older adults, suggesting increased risk of lower quality outpatient care.
Geochemical and radiochronological evidence of North Sea storm surges in salt marsh cores from The Wash embayment (UK)
Authors: Tsompanoglou Konstantinos , Croudace Ian W. , Birch Heather , Collins Michael
Published: October 2010

The accumulation history of intertidal silty salt marsh sediments, from the northern shore of The Wash embayment (eastern UK), has been investigated along two cores, using a multiproxy approach involving visual logging, grain size measurements, as well as determination of particulate elements concentrations and 137Cs, 210Pb activities. The cores were collected in the high marsh area; one core was collected on the marsh platform, whilst the other was collected 5 m from the edge of a creek. Grain size distribution reveals two distinct silty sand layers within the lower parts of both cores. One of these is thought to represent the well-documented 1953 storm surge catastrophic event. A second silty sand horizon, found in the core located closer to the creek, is interpreted as being a later storm surge deposit produced in 1978. The redox states of both cores are similar and oxic conditions throughout are inferred from geochemical variations. The absence of a redox interface along the sediment column implies regular oxygen penetration during tidal cycles, thereby limiting the post-depositional mobility of 137Cs and 210Pb. The Caesium-137 distributions, in both of the cores, show a broad hump shape; these activities are interpreted as being largely affected by marine inputs from Sellafield. 210Pb dating is used as an independent chronometer that confirms 137Cs dating. Following the 1978 storm event, the mean accumulation rates, considering 137Cs and 210Pb radionuclide data and the discrete coarse-grained marker horizons, are 0.75 ± 0.09 g/cm2 per yr (nominally 1.00 ± 0.11 cm/yr) close to the creek edge and 0.46 ± 0.04 g/cm 2 per yr (nominally 0.74 ± 0.10 cm/yr) on the marsh platform. Storm erosion is followed by moderately high accumulation rates.
Student attitudes towards doping in sport: Shifting from repression to tolerance?
Authors: Vangrunderbeek Hans , Tolleneer Jan
Published: October 2010

In the debate on the use of illegal substances for performance enhancing aims, commonly referred to as doping, perceptions and interpretations of doping by significant outsiders has received little attention compared to media attention for doping in elite sports. Therefore, this study focuses on opinions on doping in elite sports by students in human movement studies covering a period from 1998–1999 to 2005–2006 ( N = 555). Three research questions were examined: 1) how much attention do students pay to the issue of doping in elite sports; 2) what are the students’ opinions; and 3) which arguments do students use to substantiate these opinions? A four-level model was developed to categorize the ethical arguments according to who or what is at stake: the individual athlete ( the self), the athlete’s opponents and social environment ( the other), the sport and its fair play essence ( the play) and the spectator sport and its social role ( the display). Over the years studied students seem to have developed a more diffuse ethical attitude on the doping issue. A shift from the zero tolerance principle towards a more lenient attitude towards doping in elite sports is observed and discussed.
Transcending the borders of Irish identity? Narratives of northern nationalist footballers in Northern Ireland
Authors: McGee Darragh , Bairner Alan
Published: October 2010

In light of a growing trend by which Northern Irish-born footballers opt to pledge their sporting allegiance to the Republic of Ireland, the issue of player eligibility has become the subject of much public and political debate across the island of Ireland. In seeking to shed light on this controversial topic, this article examines the myriad factors which are negotiated by northern nationalist footballers when faced with the choice of which ‘nation’ to which they belong. Based on extracts from a series of interviews with northern nationalist players, the study situates their lived experiences within the broader socio-political landscape of Northern Ireland, highlighting a range of factors from the perceived culpability of the Irish Football Association (IFA) to sporting pragmatism on the part of the players. The research is theoretically grounded in the writings of Norbert Elias and Pierre Bourdieu, in particular by utilizing their respective interpretations of the socio-psychological concept of habitus in an attempt to understand the interplay between the relatively superficial and potentially temporary nature of sporting identity and a more deeply ingrained sense of national or political identification.
‘Sectarianism’ and Scottish football: Critical reflections on dominant discourse and press commentary
Authors: Kelly John
Published: October 2010

This article provides a critical discourse analysis of Scottish newspaper reports relating to football and ‘sectarianism’ in Scotland. It claims that there is a powerful and longstanding ideological ‘framing’ of sectarianism in sections of the Scottish press that is latently power-laden. This discourse attempts to construct and reaffirm a unified non-sectarian core identity that ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ Scots (should) share in opposition to a set of sectarian ‘others’. The various connotations attached to sectarian and sectarianism, together with their use in particular ways that reflect an ideological hegemony, are illustrated. Much of the press treatment of sectarianism is shown to lack sensitivity to the historical, hierarchical and relational aspects of religious, political and ethnic identities in Scotland.
The Perceptions of Caregivers Toward Physical Activity and Health in Youth with Congenital Heart Disease
Authors: Moola Fiona , Fusco Caroline , Kirsh Joel A.
Published: October 2010

Medical advances have reduced mortality in youth with congenital heart disease (CHD). Although physical activity is associated with enhanced quality of life, most patients are inactive. By addressing medical and psychological barriers, previous literature has reproduced discourses of individualism which position cardiac youth as personally responsible for physical inactivity. Few sociological investigations have sought to address the influence of social barriers to physical activity, and the insights of caregivers are absent from the literature. In this study, caregiver perceptions toward physical activity for youth with CHD were investigated at a Canadian hospital. Media representations, school liability, and parental overprotection construct cardiac youth as “at risk” during physical activity, and position their health precariously. Indeed, from the perspective of hospital staff, the findings indicate the centrality of sociological factors to the physical activity experiences of youth with CHD, and the importance of attending to the contextual barriers that constrain their health and physical activity.
Paradox in Treatment Seeking: An Experience From Rural Sri Lanka
Authors: Weerasinghe Manuj C. , Fernando Dulitha N.
Published: October 2010

Sri Lanka has had a pluralist health care system for centuries, in which Western biomedicine coexists with the Ayurveda system. However, recent studies suggest a declining trend in the use of the Ayurveda system. This study provides insights into the reasons for the low utilization of the Ayurveda system at present. The study findings reveal that low utilization of the Ayurveda system can be attributed to several factors, including the quick effect of Western medicines, the perception of being accustomed to Western medicines, a lack of competent Ayurveda practitioners, the high cost and low quality of Ayurveda medicines, and the rapidly changing lifestyles of villagers. However, for certain conditions such as fractures, snakebite, and paralysis, the majority of the Sri Lankan population still uses Ayurveda treatment. In conclusion, we suggest that health authorities should take into account these changes for future health planning in Sri Lanka.
Maternal Identity Negotiations Among Low-Income Women With Symptoms of Postpartum Depression
Authors: Abrams Laura S. , Curran Laura
Published: October 2010

In this study, we used a constructivist grounded theory approach to explore maternal identity negotiations among low-income ethnic minority mothers with postpartum depression (PPD) symptoms. Nineteen mothers were recruited from Women, Infant, and Children clinics located in two coastal cities in the United States to participate in in-depth interviews. Constant comparative analysis revealed that mothers experienced their PPD symptoms and poverty as evidence of maternal failure, but also drew on discourses of maternal self-sacrifice, engagement with their children, and pleasure in mothering to construct a positive sense of self. To negotiate these conflicting versions of self, mothers positively appraised their own mothering in relation to stigmatized “others” and framed their depression as a foreign entity, one that stood outside of a core, authentic sense of self. Through our consideration of the intersecting contexts of poverty and postpartum depressive symptoms, this article adds to the literature on PPD and mothering.
A Comparison of Picture and Video Prompts to Teach Daily Living Skills to Individuals With Autism
Authors: Van Laarhoven Toni , Kraus Erika , Karpman Keri , Nizzi Rosemary , Valentino Joe
Published: October 2010

This study was conducted to compare the effectiveness of video prompting and picture prompting when used as antecedents for teaching daily living skills to two adolescents with autism. Participants were taught two different skills, and the effects of the instructional conditions were compared and evaluated using an adapted alternating-treatments design. The results can be interpreted to conclude that video prompting was slightly more effective in terms of independent correct responding, fewer external prompts for task completion, and fewer prompts to use instructional materials. In addition, when efficiency scores were calculated by considering the ratio of each participant’s growth (from pretest to posttest) to the measured “cost” of minutes required to create instructional materials, video prompting was considerably more efficient than picture prompting.
Interferon-β is a key regulator of proinflammatory events in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
Authors: Galligan CL , Pennell LM , Murooka TT , Baig E , Majchrzak-Kita B , Rahbar R , Fish EN
Published: October 2010

Background: Interferon (IFN)-β is an effective therapy for relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, yet its mechanism of action remains ill-defined.

Objectives: Our objective was to characterize the role of IFN-β in immune regulation in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE).

Methods: IFN-β +/+ and IFN-β—/— mice were immunized with myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein peptide in the presence or absence of IFN-β, to induce EAE. Disease pathogenesis was monitored in the context of incidence, time of onset, clinical score, and immune cell activation in the brains, spleens and lymph nodes of affected mice.

Results: Compared with IFN-β+/+ mice, IFN-β—/ — mice exhibited an earlier onset and a more rapid progression of EAE, increased numbers of CD11b+ leukocytes infiltrating affected brains and an increased percentage of Th17 cells in the central nervous system and draining lymph nodes. IFN-β treatment delayed disease onset and reduced disease severity. Ex vivo experiments revealed that the lack of IFN-β results in enhanced generation of autoreactive T cells, a likely consequence of the absence of IFN-β-regulated events in both the CD4+ T cells and antigen-presenting dendritic cells. Gene expression analysis of IFN-β-treated bone marrow macrophages (CD11b +) identified modulation of genes affecting T cell proliferation and Th17 differentiation.

Conclusions: We conclude that IFN-β acts to suppress the generation of autoimmune-inducing Th17 cells during the development of disease as well as modulating pro-inflammatory mediators.
Increasing incidence of multiple sclerosis in women in Northern Finland
Authors: Krökki O , Bloigu R , Reunanen M , Remes AM
Published: October 2010

Background: The geographical distribution of multiple sclerosis (MS) means that prevalence rates increase with latitude north or south of the equator. Temporally, a tendency for increased incidences of MS has been observed over the past two decades.

Objectives: Since epidemiological studies of MS in areas close to the Arctic Circle are rare, we evaluated the incidence and prevalence of MS in Northern Ostrobothnia by means of a retrospective cohort study covering the period 1992–2007.

Methods: Patients with a definite clinical diagnosis of MS based on the Poser criteria and the early McDonald criteria of 2001 were identified in the region of Northern Ostrobothnia (population 386,972) and the incidence was calculated at 1-year time intervals, both overall and by gender.

Results: The overall prevalence was 103/100,000 (95% CI, 93–113), with a female/male ratio of 2.17. The mean overall incidence was 6.3/100,000 (95% CI, 5.2–7.2). The incidence shows a tendency to increase over the 16-year period due to a pronounced rise in the female incidence.

Conclusions: Our results show a high prevalence of MS in Northern Ostrobothnia and a disproportional increase in the female MS incidence. These recent epidemiological features may be associated with environmental risk factors such as a vitamin D deficit, low life-long UV radiation and the high-latitude geographical location.
The impact of the lunar cycle on the incidence of trauma
Authors: Stomp Wouter , ten Duis Henk-Jan , Nijsten Maarten WN
Published: October 2010

Over thousands of years it has been thought that the moon influences human behaviour and the world around us. We reviewed the literature for evidence of a relation of the lunar cycle with the incidence of trauma. We searched Pubmed for studies relating the moon and its phases to trauma. Nine studies were found, of which one suggested an inverse relation of full moon with the incidence of trauma. The lunar cycle might influence trauma incidence, but if any real effect exists, it is certainly small. Moreover such an effect does not require paranormal explanations.
A modified toxicity probability interval method for dose-finding trials
Authors: Yuan Ji  , Ping Liu  , Yisheng Li  , Nebiyou Bekele B.
Published: October 2010

Background Building on earlier work, the toxicity probability interval (TPI) method, we present a modified TPI (mTPI) design that is calibration-free for phase I trials. Purpose Our goal is to improve the trial conduct and provide more effective designs while maintaining the simplicity of the original TPI design.

Methods Like the TPI method, the mTPI consists of a practical dose-finding scheme guided by the posterior inference for a simple Bayesian model. However, the new method proposes improved dose-finding decision rules based on a new statistic, the unit probability mass (UPM). For a given interval and a probability distribution, the UPM is defined as the ratio of the probability mass of the interval to the length of the interval.

Results The improvement through the use of the UPM for dose finding is threefold: (1) the mTPI method appears to be safer than the TPI method in that it puts fewer patients on toxic doses; (2) the mTPI method eliminates the need for calibrating two key parameters, which is required in the TPI method and is a known difficult issue; and (3) the mTPI method corresponds to the Bayes rule under a decision theoretic framework and possesses additional desirable large- and small-sample properties.

Limitation The proposed method is applicable to dose-finding trials with a binary toxicity endpoint.

Conclusion The new method mTPI is essentially calibration free and exhibits improved performance over the TPI method. These features make the mTPI a desirable choice for the design of practical trials. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 653—663. http://ctj.sagepub.com
Gender indexing in publications of clinical trials: 1991-2008
Authors: Drye Lea T , Meinert Jill L , Meinert Curtis L
Published: October 2010

Background In 1993 Congress passed the NIH Revitalization Act, which instructed the Director of the NIH to ensure that phase III clinical trials are ‘designed and carried out in a manner sufficient to provide for a valid analysis of whether the variables being studied in the trial affect females or members of minority groups, as the case may be, differently than other subjects in the trial.’

Purpose The purpose of this article is to track the PubMed indexing of gender in clinical trial publications since 1991 with a view toward assessing the impact of the legislation on the number of gender specific trials.

Methods We searched PubMed for full-length publications from years 1991 to 2008 of research on humans indexed as publication type ‘clinical trial’, ‘randomized clinical trial’ and multicenter randomized trial (‘multicenter study’ AND ‘randomized clinical trial’), and counted the number of trials indexed as male-only, female-only, male and female, and gender unknown in PubMed.

Results The majority of trial publications were indexed in PubMed as including both genders. The proportion of publications indexed as including both genders has increased while the number of publications not indexed with respect to gender and the number of publications indexed as male-only have decreased. In 2005, approximately 13% of NIH expenditures were for female specific or related research compared to 6% for male specific or related research.

Limitations The proportion of clinical trial publications that were indexed in PubMed as including females began to increase before the legislation so it is difficult to conclude that changes in the number of female-only or male-only trials are due to the legislation. PubMed listings do not include gender enrollment, so female and male enrollment totals could not be compared.

Conclusions The NIH policy should be rewritten to be made gender neutral to bring it in line with the principle of justice as embodied in the Belmont Report. Clinical Trials 2010; 7: 677—685. http://ctj.sagepub.com
A Critique of the Content and Viewpoint Neutrality Principle in Modern Free Speech Doctrine
Authors: Mills Eckert Lynn
Published: October 2010

The article traces and problematizes the ascendancy of content-neutrality and the emergence of viewpoint neutrality as the core of free speech doctrine. Content neutrality prohibits government from regulating speech not just on the basis of a category of speech (like racist speech) but also on the basis of regulating a specific viewpoint within that category (racist speech directed at African-Americans but not whites). The article scrutinizes the Supreme Court’s decision in Brandenburg v. Ohio (1969) where the majority opinion equated the discriminatory expression of the Ku Klux Klan to communist speech without deliberating about the different conceptual issues raised by the racial dimensions of the case. This ahistorical and acontextual approach to free speech conflates Klan speech (a species of hate speech) with communist speech (purely dissident speech), ignoring crucial analytical concerns about oppression, inequality, and power. As a result, contrary to the connotations of the content-neutrality principle, the doctrine is non-neutral in application.
Hidden in Plain View: Legal Geography from a Visual Perspective
Authors: Braverman Irus
Published: October 2010

Law, with a capital “L” at least, is not particularly fond of hiding itself. In order to be effective, law must be asserted in the world; it must be acknowledged; and, most importantly, it must be visually seen. Why, then, would law hide itself in space? And, perhaps more importantly, how would it do so? And why would such hidden places of law be of importance to us? This paper explores the dual project of seeing and concealing within the context of legal geography. It examines how law sees the physical landscape and how it is seen from a spatial perspective. It also asks who does the legal seeing, who and what are being seen by law, and then who and what are rendered invisible in these geolegal sites. In addition, it considers how law’s particular way of seeing landscape translates into the making of this space. Finally, and interrelated to all the above, it shows how both the visibility and, perhaps more importantly, the invisibility of law in space are strongly aligned with arrangements of power. The article presents two examples of visible invisibles: first, tree landscapes in Israel/Palestine and the properties of seeing the natural landscape through human and nonhuman inspection, and through aerial photos in particular; and second, border crossings and the properties of seeing in motion through the physical design of the border, and through sensor machines in particular.
Impossible Translation: Beyond the Legal Body in Two South Asian Family Courts
Authors: Basu Srimati
Published: October 2010

The legal realm translates between litigants’ plain-language claims and efficient solutions. In postcolonial courtrooms, there are also some literal translations between vernaculars and formal legal English. Other translations, less literally, involve putting violence and violation into the language of compromise. Through an ethnographic analysis of two Family Courts in Kolkata and Dhaka where litigants directly present their cases to judges, this article argues that the postcolonial (sexed) body is constructed through such translations, while signifying an excess that cannot be captured by legal categories. Sexual consummation and sexual violence appear particularly resistant to seamless translation, and evoke other registers of compensation.
Felix Cohen and the Spanish Origin of Indian Rights
Authors: Boyer Patricio
Published: October 2010

In this essay, I examine the influence of colonial Latin American jurisprudence on New Deal lawyer and expert on federal Indian law, Felix Cohen. I will do so by outlining the major sixteenth-century debates about indigenous rights upon which Cohen capitalizes, as well as the manner in which Spanish thinkers like Francisco de Vitoria and Bartolomé de las Casas weave in and out of his writings. The case of Felix Cohen suggests to us that in order to understand complex phenomena like federal Indian policy we must cast our nets wide, following intellectual trajectories into unexpected corners of the past.