bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Intergenerational Association of Maternal Obesity and Child Peer Victimization in the United States
Authors: Li Miao , Fu Rong , Xue Hong , Wang Youfa
Published: January 2019

Drawing on the intergenerational stress proliferation theory, the courtesy stigma thesis, and the buffering ethnic culture thesis, this study examines the association between maternal obesity and child’s peer victimization and whether this association varies for white and black children. Based on longitudinal data from a nationally representative sample of mother–child pairs in the U.S. Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Supplement, negative binomial models show that maternal obesity is associated with increased frequency of peer victimization, even after controlling for family socioeconomic status, child weight status, health status, self-esteem, and demographic characteristics. The association was significant only for white children. Given the developmental significance of child peer relations and the social disparities in obesity, future studies need to explicitly test causal mechanisms underlying the association to decide whether obesity may function as a family stressor (versus an individual stressor) that contributes to the intergenerational reproduction of inequality.
Are Reading Interventions for English Language Learners Effective? A Meta-Analysis
Authors: Ludwig Caralyn , Guo Kan , Georgiou George K.
Published: January 2019

Despite concerted efforts to improve the reading skills of English language learners (ELLs), it remains unclear if the interventions they have been receiving produce any positive results. Thus, the purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine how effective reading interventions are in improving ELLs’ reading skills and what factors may influence their effectiveness. Twenty-six studies with reported outcomes for pretest and posttest were selected, and four moderators (group size, intensity of intervention, students’ risk status, and type of intervention) were coded. The results of random-effects analyses showed that the reading interventions had a large effect on ELLs’ reading accuracy ( d = 1.221) and reading fluency ( d = 0.802) and a moderate effect on reading comprehension ( d = 0.499). In addition, for real-word reading accuracy, intervention groups composed of more than five students were less effective than groups composed of two to five students, and longer intervention sessions were less effective than shorter ones. Overall, our findings suggest that reading interventions have positive effects on ELLs’ reading skills, and they should not be delayed until these students have reached a certain level of oral English proficiency.
Is All Formulaic Language Created Equal? Unpacking the Processing Advantage for Different Types of Formulaic Sequences
Authors: Carrol Gareth , Conklin Kathy
Published: January 2019

Research into recurrent, highly conventionalized “formulaic” sequences has shown a processing advantage compared to “novel” (non-formulaic) language. Studies of individual types of formulaic sequence often acknowledge the contribution of specific factors, but little work exists to compare the processing of different types of phrases with fundamentally different properties. We use eye-tracking to compare the processing of three types of formulaic phrases—idioms, binomials, and collocations—and consider whether overall frequency can explain the advantage for all three, relative to control phrases. Results show an advantage, as evidenced through shorter reading times, for all three types. While overall phrase frequency contributes much of the processing advantage, different types of phrase do show additional effects according to the specific properties that are relevant to each type: frequency, familiarity, and decomposability for idioms; predictability and semantic association for binomials; and mutual information for collocations. We discuss how the results contribute to our understanding of the representation and processing of multiword lexical units more broadly.
Having Therapeutic Conversations With Fathers Grieving the Death of a Child
Authors: Martinez Anne-Marie , Castiglione Sonia , Dupuis France , Legault Alain , Proulx Marie-Claude , Carnevale Franco
Published: January 2019

A child’s death is a traumatic life experience for parents. Health-care professionals (HCPs) have sought guidance on how to intervene with grieving parents, particularly with fathers. Having therapeutic conversations is an effective way for HCPs to support grieving fathers. In our previous study, fathers identified core beliefs that influenced their experience of grief and coping. In this article, the Illness Beliefs Model was integrated with the findings to provide a framework for interventions to create open conversations, ease fathers’ suffering, and thereby help their spouse and family suffering as well. This article will guide HCPs to engage in therapeutic conversations to support bereaved fathers.
Transmission characteristics of cylindrical frequency selective fabrics with Jerusalem-shaped units
Authors: Guan Fuwang , Li Zhaole , Zhang Chuyang , Yang Zhuli , Qiu Yiping
Published: January 2019

Two kinds of complementary cylindrical frequency selective fabrics (CFSFs) with Jerusalem-shaped units were designed, constructed and analyzed in this paper. The models were built and simplified based on the thickness and equivalent electromagnetic parameters of the base fabrics. Considering the unit number difference of the models and bending directionality, the simulation processes were separately carried out using the waveguide method in HFSS software. Based on the preparation of preliminary planar prototypes and corresponding bending molds, different CFSF samples with the same planar units and varying bending curvature were fabricated, and the transmission characteristics were measured using the transmission method to study the influences of bending effects. The measured transmission characteristics with and without the curved mold were similar, proving the use of the curved mold exerted a negligible effect on the actual measured results of samples. For the two kinds of complementary structures, the measured and simulated S21 (transmission coefficient) curves had indistinguishable differences, which justified the validity of the modeling and simulation process. Although the bending direction and curvature affected the S21 curves of aperture and patch CFSFs at varying degrees, the transmission characteristics did not show drastic fluctuation and shifting, which could be attributed to the ideal symmetry of Jerusalem-shaped units and good array characteristics.
Synthesis of a new magnetic nanocomposite hydrogel based on poly(vinyl acetate-co-maleic anhydride)/melamine for efficient dye removal
Authors: Rezazadeh Hanieh , Moghadam Peyman Najafi , Ehsanimehr Saeideh , Fareghi Amir Reza
Published: January 2019

In this work, we fabricated a novel magnetic nanocomposite hydrogel based on poly(vinyl acetate- co-maleic anhydride)/melamine. A simple one-pot method was applied to fabricate the nanocomposite, and its adsorption capacity was investigated using Congo red (CR) dye. Then, the effects of a variety of parameters such as adsorbent dosage, solution pH, initial dye concentration, and contact time on the efficiency of the adsorbent were evaluated. The optimal adsorption of CR on the adsorbent was observed at pH 5 with 10 mg adsorbent and 10 mg L−1 initial dye concentrations where the adsorption efficiency reached above 90%. The Langmuir model was applied for fitting the adsorption isotherm of CR obtained on the proposed nanocomposite hydrogel, and it was observed that the adsorption process most probably followed a pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The obtained results showed that the proposed nanocomposite adsorbent could be used in water treatment. It was characterized with different techniques including X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, vibrating sample magnetometer, and energy dispersive X-ray.
Discrete-time adaptive iterative learning control with incorporation of a priori process knowledge
Authors: Liang Hao , Lin Na , Chi Ronghu , Sun Yumei
Published: January 2019

This work explores utilization of a priori model knowledge to achieve better control performance of iterative learning control systems. Two specific discrete-time adaptive iterative learning control approaches are proposed for different control cases to exactly utilize known information in order to improve control performance. In more detail, a novel time-difference estimator based discrete-time adaptive iterative learning control system is proposed for a time-invariant parametric uncertain system, and a mixed-difference estimator based discrete-time adaptive iterative learning control is proposed for a hybrid parametric uncertain system. Both of these control methods are shown to perform well even though the initial states and the reference trajectories vary randomly along the iteration direction. We show that superior control performance can be achieved compared with the existing iteration-difference estimator based discrete-time adaptive iterative learning control systems by applying the two proposed control methods, which fully utilize known information about the model. Mathematical proof and a simulation study on a permanent magnet linear motor verify the efficiency of the proposed discrete-time adaptive iterative learning control approaches.
BLF-based asymptotic tracking control for a class of time-varying full state constrained nonlinear systems
Authors: Wang Chunxiao , Wang Fenghe , Yu Jiali
Published: January 2019

This paper presents an adaptive control based on a tan-type barrier Lyapunov function for time-varying state constrained strict-feedback nonlinear systems to achieve asymptotic output tracking. The design procedure is constructive and yields a continuous actual control law, which guarantees that asymptotic output tracking is achieved. Furthermore, we show that the time-varying full state constraints are not violated for all time and that all closed-loop signals are bounded provided that some conditions on the initial states and control parameters are satisfied. Three simulation examples are provided to illustrate the performance of the proposed control scheme. One is a comparison study simulation, another is a practical single-link robot system and the last is a three-order nonlinear system.
State tracking control of nonlinear systems using neural adaptive dynamic sliding mode
Authors: Karami-Mollaee Ali , Tirandaz Hamed , Barambones Oscar
Published: January 2019

This paper describes control issues of a general-class, single-input, unknown, nonlinear, non-affine system using dynamic sliding-mode control (DSMC). Chattering can be removed in DSMC with an integrator as a low-pass filter, placed before the input control signal of the plant. As a result, the augmented system (which contains the integrator) in DSMC has one more dimension than the actual system. Then the plant model must be completely known. To overcome this problem and to identify the plant model, an adaptive radial basis-function neural network has been employed and a robust procedure developed to train the parameters of a neural network based on Lyapunov theory. A smooth controller has been developed and some numerical simulations have been performed to verify the validity of the proposed approach. Two nonlinear systems were used for simulation: a Duffing–Holmes chaotic system and a switch reluctance motor. The advantage of the presented approach is that the system model can be considered unknown and can be in non-affine form.
Are Rural Students Receiving FAPE? A Descriptive Review of IEPs for Students With Social, Emotional, or Behavioral Needs
Authors: Hott Brittany L. , Jones Beth Ashby , Rodriguez Jacqueline , Brigham Frederick J. , Martin Amelia , Mirafuentes Minerva
Published: January 2019

Students who are eligible to receive special education and related services are entitled to a free and appropriate public education (FAPE) including the necessary emotional, behavioral, and social supports to access the general curriculum. This study explores Individualized Education Program (IEP) plans of students with disabilities who have social, emotional, or behavioral needs served in five rural independent school districts. Specifically, the study sought to investigate (a) whether the present level of academic and functional performance (PLAAFP) and annual goals demonstrated congruence and (b) whether the degree to which the IEP documents conform to both procedural and substantive requirements for development. A review of 126 IEPs suggests that although IEPs are somewhat compliant, they fail to comprehensively address student needs or align across areas, violating the spirit of Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act. Recommendations and future areas of inquiry are provided.
Head and Neck Lymphedema: Treatment Response to Single and Multiple Sessions of Advanced Pneumatic Compression Therapy
Authors: Gutierrez Carolina , Karni Ron J. , Naqvi Syed , Aldrich Melissa B. , Zhu Banghe , Morrow J. Rodney , Sevick‐Muraca Eva M. , Rasmussen John C.
Published: January 2019

Ten head and neck cancer survivors diagnosed with head and neck lymphedema (HNL) were imaged using near‐infrared fluorescence lymphatic imaging (NIRFLI) prior to and immediately after an initial advance pneumatic compression device treatment and again after 2 weeks of daily at‐home use. Images assessed the impact of pneumatic compression therapy on lymphatic drainage. Facial composite measurement scores assessed reduction/increase in external swelling, and survey results were obtained. After a single pneumatic compression treatment, NIRFLI showed enhanced lymphatic uptake and drainage in all subjects. After 2 weeks of daily treatment, areas of dermal backflow disappeared or were reduced in 6 of 8 subjects presenting with backflow. In general, reductions in facial composite measurement scores tracked with reductions in backflow and subject‐reported improvements; however, studies are needed to determine whether longer treatment durations can be impactful and whether advanced pneumatic compression can be used to ameliorate backflow characteristic of HNL.
Machine Learning to Predict Delays in Adjuvant Radiation following Surgery for Head and Neck Cancer
Authors: Shew Matthew , New Jacob , Bur Andrés M.
Published: January 2019

Objective

To apply a novel methodology with machine learning (ML) to a large national cancer registry to help identify patients who are high risk for delayed adjuvant radiation.

Study Design

Observational cohort study.

Setting

National Cancer Database (NCDB).

Subjects and Methods

A total of 76,573 patients were identified from the NCDB who had invasive head and neck cancer and underwent surgery, followed by radiation. The model was constructed from 80% of the patient data and subsequently evaluated and scored with the remaining 20%. Permutation feature importance analysis was used to understand the weighted model construction.

Results

A total of 76,573 patients met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Our ML model was able to predict whether patients would start adjuvant therapy beyond 50 days after surgery with an overall accuracy of 64.41% and a precision of 58.5%. The 2 most important variables used to build the model were treating facility and urban versus rural demographics.

Conclusion

Statistics can provide inferences within an overall system, while ML is a novel methodology that can make predictions. We can identify patients who are “high risk” for delayed radiation using information from >75,000 patient experiences, which has the potential for a direct impact on clinical care. Our inability to achieve greater accuracy is due to limitations of the data captured by the NCDB, and we need to continue to identify new variables that are correlated with delayed radiation therapy. ML will prove to be a valuable clinical tool in years to come, but its utility is limited by available data.
Algorithmic Personalization as a Mode of Individuation
Authors: Lury Celia , Day Sophie
Published: January 2019

Recognizing that many of the modern categories with which we think about people and their activities were put in place through the use of numbers, we ask how numbering practices compose contemporary sociality. Focusing on particular forms of algorithmic personalization, we describe a pathway of a-typical individuation in which repeated and recursive tracking is used to create partial orders in which individuals are always more and less than one. Algorithmic personalization describes a mode of numbering that involves forms of de- and re- aggregating, in which a variety of contexts are continually included and excluded. This pathway of a-typical individuation is important, we suggest, to a variety of domains and, more broadly, to an understanding of contemporary economies of sharing where the politics of collectivities, ownership and use are being reconfigured as a default social.
The spectacle of reconciliation: On (the) unsettling responsibilities to Indigenous peoples in the academy
Authors: Daigle Michelle
Published: January 2019

This paper places geographies of responsibility on stolen and occupied Indigenous lands in settler colonial Canada. Responsibilities to Indigenous lands and peoples are contextualized within the spectacle of reconciliation in Canada. In drawing on a range of critical analyses of reconciliation led by Indigenous scholars, I examine how the truth and reconciliation process has naturalized and fetishized Indigenous suffering and trauma while cultivating settler colonial spectacles whereby white settler Canadians engage in hollow performances of recognition and remorse. These spectacular spaces, I argue, become centered and severed from a larger terrain of settler colonial dispossession and violence that Indigenous peoples continue to resist on an everyday basis. I specifically focus on settler colonial spectacles and reconciliation mandates taking shape in Canadian postsecondary institutions. In doing so, I focus on how Canadian universities located on stolen Indigenous lands (actively supportive of the ongoing dispossession of Indigenous lands) continue to be a crucial site of settler colonial relations and a constitutive part of the settler colonial state.
Exploring Service Usage and Activity Space Evolution in a Free-Floating Carsharing Service
Authors: Wielinski Grzegorz , Trépanier Martin , Morency Catherine
Published: January 2019

This paper proposes to empirically investigate the members’ behaviors over time in a free-floating carsharing system. With a continuously evolving service in terms of service area and fleet size, member usage intensity and activity space are explored with passive data streams. Members are labeled according to their usage intensity for various periods of analysis. Results show an increase in higher usage intensity classes and a change in demographic composition of new members adopting the service over time: new members are younger and a parity between both genders is reached. Activity space investigation shows that members perform a fair share of their trips to return home and that ultra-frequency members seem to perform a substantial number of symmetric trips, meaning they are more inclined to use free-floating cars for commute-like trips. Interaction with the metro network is also investigated, with a proportion of members using free-floating carsharing to access stations. When looking at the activity space formed by members’ trip ends, users seem to constantly discover new portions of the service area. Multiple clusters of activity locations are determined for each member, with a recurrence level showing a fair amount of variability among members.
Mental Health and Happiness: Evidence From the U.S. Data
Authors: Makki Nazgol , Mohanty Madhu S.
Published: January 2019

The current study examines the role of poor mental health characterized by depression in the determination of an individual’s happiness measured by self-satisfaction and job satisfaction. Using two samples from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1979 (NLSY79) and following an ordered probit approach, the study demonstrates that, other variables held constant, an individual suffering from mental depression is likely to have lower levels of self-satisfaction and job satisfaction than those with better mental health. The significance of this variable in both self-satisfaction and job satisfaction regressions indicates that metal health status is an important covariate of an individual’s overall well-being, and should not, therefore, be omitted when estimating relevant happiness equations.

JEL Classification Codes: A12, J28, Z13
The Role of the Development Management Framework in the Implementation of Flexible Planning Tools: Insights from a Tale of a Local Planned Unit Development Project
Authors: David Nina P.
Published: January 2019

Flexibility sets planned unit developments (PUD) apart from conventional planning and zoning. Using a case study of a PUD project in Ann Arbor, Michigan, I deconstruct the impact of flexibility on the planning process. I find that flexibility emphasizes negotiated decision making in an unconducive institutional setting, results in uncertainty for all actors involved, makes public interest a moving target, and replaces bureaucratic procedures with politics. Although PUDs provide reprieve from local codes and plans, my findings highlight how important it is for municipalities to ensure that the underlying development management framework is of good quality for effective PUD implementation.
Object-Feature Binding Survives Dynamic Shifts of Spatial Attention
Authors: Dowd Emma Wu , Golomb Julie D.
Published: January 2019

Visual object perception requires integration of multiple features; spatial attention is thought to be critical to this binding. But attention is rarely static—how does dynamic attention impact object integrity? Here, we manipulated covert spatial attention and had participants (total N = 48) reproduce multiple properties (color, orientation, location) of a target item. Object-feature binding was assessed by applying probabilistic models to the joint distribution of feature errors: Feature reports for the same object could be correlated (and thus bound together) or independent. We found that splitting attention across multiple locations degrades object integrity, whereas rapid shifts of spatial attention maintain bound objects. Moreover, we document a novel attentional phenomenon, wherein participants exhibit unintentional fluctuations— lapses of spatial attention—yet nevertheless preserve object integrity at the wrong location. These findings emphasize the importance of a single focus of spatial attention for object-feature binding, even when that focus is dynamically moving across the visual field.
Perspective Taking and Self-Persuasion: Why “Putting Yourself in Their Shoes” Reduces Openness to Attitude Change
Authors: Catapano Rhia , Tormala Zakary L. , Rucker Derek D.
Published: January 2019

Counterattitudinal-argument generation is a powerful tool for opening people up to alternative views. On the basis of decades of research, it should be especially effective when people adopt the perspective of individuals who hold alternative views. In the current research, however, we found the opposite: In three preregistered experiments (total N = 2,734), we found that taking the perspective of someone who endorses a counterattitudinal view lowers receptiveness to that view and reduces attitude change following a counterattitudinal-argument-generation task. This ironic effect can be understood through value congruence: Individuals who take the opposition’s perspective generate arguments that are incongruent with their own values, which diminishes receptiveness and attitude change. Thus, trying to “put yourself in their shoes” can ultimately undermine self-persuasion. Consistent with a value-congruence account, this backfire effect is attenuated when people take the perspective of someone who holds the counterattitudinal view yet has similar overall values.
Summer monsoon–induced upwelling dominated coastal sea surface temperature variations in the northern South China Sea over the last two millennia
Authors: Lee Wing-Man , Poon Kit-Chi , Kong Deming , Sewell Roderick J , Zong Yongqiang , Zhang Yancheng , Liu Zhonghui
Published: January 2019

The South China Sea (SCS), situated to the north of the Indo-Pacific Warm Pool (IPWP), is under the strong influence of the Asian monsoon system. However, coastal sea surface temperature (SST) records from the SCS, which are of vital importance to exploring ocean-atmosphere-land interactions behind the Asian monsoon system, remain scarce. Here, we use a sediment core collected at the coast of northern SCS to investigate alkenone-SST variations over the past two millennia. On multi-centennial timescale, SST changes in our record exhibit an opposite pattern to that of Northern Hemisphere temperature and solar irradiance, for example, relatively cool SST during the Medieval Warm Period (MWP) and warm conditions during the Little Ice Age (LIA). Together with alkenone content and existing records, we suggest that the regional SST changes result from a strengthening (weakening) of wind-driven coastal upwelling, associated with variability of the Asian summer monsoon intensity during the MWP (LIA).
Palaeoenvironmental dynamics of Holocene shoreface bryoliths from the southern coast of Brazil
Authors: Tâmega Frederico Tapajós de Souza , Spotorno-Oliveira Paula , Dentzien-Dias Paula , Buchmann Francisco Sekiguchi , Vieira Leandro Manzoni , Macario Kita , Nash Merinda , Guimarães Renato Bastos , Francischini Heitor , Bassi Davide
Published: January 2019

Beds of free-living coated nodules (coralline algae, bryozoans, acervulinid foraminifera) create shallow-water carbonate biogenic benthic habitats, which are sensitive to human disturbance and slow to recover. Holocene bryoliths, ranging from sub-spheroidal, sub-discoidal to sub-ellipsoidal in shape, were found scattered in the foredunes in ca. 30-km stretch along the Hermenegildo and Concheiros do Albardão beaches on the southernmost coast of Brazil (Santa Vitória do Palmar municipality, Rio Grande do Sul State). The dominating bryozoan species forming the bryolith is Biflustra holocenica Vieira, Spotorno-Oliveira and Tâmega sp. nov. The inner bryolith arrangement, generally asymmetrical, shows multilamellar and circumrotatory growth of colonies that envelop the bivalve Ostrea puelchana. Bryozoans and subordinate corals characterize the outer bryolith surfaces. The ichnogenera Gastrochaenolites (made by the boring bivalve Lithophaga patagonica) and Caulostrepsis occur throughout the bryoliths, from the inner part up to the outer surface. The studied bryoliths, originated in a shoreface setting at ca. 7910–7620 cal. yr BP and during subsequent storm waves, were resedimented onto the foreshore and foredunes (to ca. 5700 cal. yr BP) where the bryoliths were finally fossilized.
Human-induced prehistoric soil buried in the flood plain of Svratka River, Czech Republic
Authors: Vejrostová Lenka , Lisá Lenka , Parma David , Bajer Aleš , Hajnalová Mária , Kočárová Romana , Moska Piotr , Pacina Jan
Published: January 2019

The natural setting and prehistoric human activity on Holocene floodplains in Central Europe is a compelling issue from several points of view. This environment presents an important sedimentary archive reflecting past human behaviour in interactions with climate change. Two sedimentary sections recorded in the alluvial zone of Svratka River (Moravia) with a buried soil dated to the time span between the Neolithic and Late Bronze Age, and comprising one paleo-catena, were investigated using a multiproxy approach. The buried paleo-catena presents evidence of long-term (ancient) soil development, and the use of the site for human settlement and farming ca. 4500 BC until 1000 BC. Buried soil horizons indicate (climate) stability, which according to archaeological evidence lasted for at least 3500 years, until at least 1000 BC. The architecture and the lithology of the river floodplain changes approximately 0 AD. Anthropogenic settlement activity was not detected at the site in the subsequent period, and this is very likely to be associated with increased sedimentation rates and less optimal conditions for human settlement.
Expression of vitamin D receptor in renal tissue of lupus nephritis and its association with renal injury activity
Authors: Sun J , Zhang S , Liu J S , Gui M , Zhang H
Published: January 2019

Objective

Vitamin D receptor (VDR) has potent anti-inflammatory activities. VDR gene polymorphism has been linked with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, its expression in the kidney has not been evaluated. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between VDR expression and renal pathology as well as clinical manifestations in lupus nephritis (LN).

Methods

A total of 20 renal biopsy specimens from 35 patients with LN were classified according to the International Society of Nephrology/Renal Pathology Society 2003 LN-type standards pathological type, and the activity index and chronicity index were determined. Five normal renal tissue samples were obtained from surrounding areas distal to nephronophthisis or renal tumors (>2 cm). The expression of VDR was assessed by immunohistochemistry. The relationships between VDR expression and histological injury index, proteinuria and Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) renal activity scores were analyzed.

Results

As compared to the control group, the expression of VDR in the LN group was lower ( p < 0.001) and negatively correlated with activity index (r = –0.548, p = 0.012) but not with chronicity index (r = –0.277, p = 0.236). The expression of VDR in renal tissue was also associated with SLICC renal activity scores (r = –0.470, p = 0.037).

Conclusion

The down-regulation of VDR expression in renal tissues of LN patients was negatively correlated with renal activity and injury severity.
Pictorial quiz: A 2-year-old boy with abdominal pain
Authors: Huang Hsin-Ju , Tsai Ming-Jen
Published: January 2019

A 2-year-old boy presented with abdominal pain and non-coffee-ground emesis for 1 day. He was afebrile and without decreased activity. Examination showed lower abdominal tenderness, but psoas and obturator signs were negative. Laboratory test showed mildly elevated C-reactive protein (1.321 mg/dL) without leukocytosis. An abdominal X-ray revealed a high-attenuation-calcified lesion near the right sacroiliac joint which was highly suspected as an appendicolith. Subsequent abdominal computed tomography proved an appendicitis with appendicolith inside. He underwent laparoscopic appendectomy and was discharged uneventfully 4 days later. Acute appendicitis is a commonly misdiagnosed pediatric emergency because of the atypical presentations. Appendicoliths are presented in more than half of pediatric appendicitis and are highly associated with perforation. Surgery is recommended instead of antibiotics therapy alone to manage appendicolith-related appendicitis. A careful interpretation of the plain abdominal films and keeping a high suspicion are vital to early diagnosis of this disease.
The Enigma of the Family Successor–Firm Performance Relationship: A Methodological Reflection and Reconciliation Attempt
Authors: Ahrens Jan-Philipp , Calabrò Andrea , Huybrechts Jolien , Woywode Michael
Published: January 2019

Empirical studies examining firm performance following CEO succession in family firms predominantly document inferior performance of family successors. This evidence is at odds with general theoretical literature that attests a positive effect of family involvement inside the firm. To explore this enigma, we theoretically and empirically disentangle the influence of the CEO attribute family member (i.e., the CEO is affiliated to the family) on post-succession firm performance, from other, distinct CEO attributes (e.g., CEO-related human capital). Our analysis on the individual CEO level shows that after respective controls, the family member attribute is significantly positively related to post-succession firm performance.