bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Perceived Availability of Office Shared Spaces and Workplace Sitting: Moderation by Organizational Norms and Behavioral Autonomy
Authors: Sugiyama Takemi , Hadgraft Nyssa T. , Healy Genevieve N. , Owen Neville , Dunstan David W.
Published: May 2018

A large amount of time spent sitting is a newly identified health risk. Although desk-based workers spend much of their time at work sitting, little is known about how office spaces may be related to workplace sitting time. This study examined cross-sectional associations of the perceived availability of office shared spaces with workers’ sitting time, and the potential role of workplace normative-social factors in the relationship. Participants ( N = 221) wore an activity monitor (activPAL3) and reported availability of shared spaces (for formal meetings, informal discussion, collaborative working), organizational norms, and workplace behavioral autonomy. No shared-space variables were associated with workplace sitting time. However, the perceived availability of sufficient informal discussion space was associated with lower levels of sitting among those who reported more-supportive organizational norms and greater behavioral autonomy. These findings highlight environmental, organizational, and psychosocial factors that will be important to address in future initiatives to reduce work place sitting time.
Acoustic Sources of Accent in Second Language Japanese Speech
Authors: Idemaru Kaori , Wei Peipei , Gubbins Lucy
Published: May 2018

This study reports an exploratory analysis of the acoustic characteristics of second language (L2) speech which give rise to the perception of a foreign accent. Japanese speech samples were collected from American English and Mandarin Chinese speakers ( n = 16 in each group) studying Japanese. The L2 participants and native speakers ( n = 10) provided speech samples modeling after six short sentences. Segmental (vowels and stops) and prosodic features (rhythm, tone, and fluency) were examined. Native Japanese listeners ( n = 10) rated the samples with regard to degrees of foreign accent. The analyses predicting accent ratings based on the acoustic measurements indicated that one of the prosodic features in particular, tone (defined as high and low patterns of pitch accent and intonation in this study), plays an important role in robustly predicting accent rating in L2 Japanese across the two first language (L1) backgrounds. These results were consistent with the prediction based on phonological and phonetic comparisons between Japanese and English, as well as Japanese and Mandarin Chinese. The results also revealed L1-specific predictors of perceived accent in Japanese. The findings of this study contribute to the growing literature that examines sources of perceived foreign accent.
Government fragmentation and economic growth in China’s cities
Authors: Zhang Tinglin , Sun Bindong , Cai Yinyin , Wang Rui
Published: May 2018

This study examines the effect of metropolitan government fragmentation on urban economic growth in China. Spatially decentralised governance under centralised political control plays an important role in China’s post-reform economic development, although evidence has focused on the growth-inducing effect of political completion at the provincial and cross-city levels. Our study suggests that economic growth increases with the number of urban districts only up to two districts, controlling for the potential endogeneity in the number of urban districts, the proxy of metropolitan government fragmentation. This result, while suggestive and in need of further validation, has important policy implications for the rapid urbanisation in China, where municipal administrative structure design does not seem to factor in the effects of government fragmentation on urban growth. More broadly, evidence from China’s cities contributes to the ongoing evaluation of fragmented metropolitan governance across the world.
Baby M Turns 30: The Law and Policy of Surrogate Motherhood
Authors: Feldman Eric A.
Published: May 2018

This article marks the 30th anniversary of the Supreme Court of New Jersey's Baby M decision by offering a critical analysis of surrogacy policy in the United States. Despite fundamental changes in both science and society since the case was decided, state courts and legislatures remain bitterly divided on the legality of surrogacy. In arguing for a more uniform, permissive legal posture toward surrogacy, the article addresses five central debates in the surrogacy literature.

First, should the legal system accommodate those seeking conception through surrogacy, or should it prohibit such arrangements? Second, if surrogacy is permitted, what steps can be taken to minimize the potential exploitation of women who are willing to rent their wombs for income? Third, what criteria should govern the eligibility to serve as a surrogate mother and an intended parent? Fourth, what principle(s) should serve as the basis for determining the parentage of children born through surrogacy? Fifth, is regulatory uniformity in the surrogacy realm desirable? Is it achievable?

The article concludes that courts and legislatures should accept the validity of surrogacy contracts, determine parentage according to intent, and identify transparent criteria for the eligibility of both surrogates and intended parents.
Swaps and Chains and Vouchers, Oh My!: Evaluating How Saving More Lives Impacts the Equitable Allocation of Live Donor Kidneys
Authors: Tenenbaum Evelyn M.
Published: May 2018

Live kidney donation involves a delicate balance between saving the most lives possible and maintaining a transplant system that is fair to the many thousands of patients on the transplant waiting list. Federal law and regulations require that kidney allocation be equitable, but the pressure to save patients subject to ever-lengthening waiting times for a transplant has been swinging the balance toward optimizing utility at the expense of justice.

This article traces the progression of innovations created to make optimum use of a patient's own live donors. It starts with the simplest – direct donation by family members – and ends with voucher donations, a very recent and unique innovation because the donor can donate 20 or more years before the intended recipient is expected to need a kidney. In return for the donation, the intended recipient receives a voucher that can be redeemed for a live kidney when it is needed. Other innovations that are discussed include kidney exchanges and list paired donation, which are used to facilitate donor swaps when donor/recipient pairs have incompatible blood types.

The discussion of each new innovation shows how the equity issues build on each other and how, with each new innovation, it becomes progressively harder to find an acceptable balance between utility and justice. The article culminates with an analysis of two recent allocation methods that have the potential to save many additional lives, but also affirmatively harm some patients on the deceased donor waiting list by increasing their waiting time for a life-saving kidney. The article concludes that saving additional lives does not justify harming patients on the waiting list unless that harm can be minimized. It also proposes solutions to minimize the harm so these new innovations can equitably perform their intended function of stimulating additional transplants and extending the lives of many transplant patients.
Compound control for autonomous docking to a three-axis tumbling target
Authors: Ye Dong , Lu Wei , Mu Zhongcheng
Published: May 2018

This paper investigates the coupled position and attitude control problem of an on-orbit servicing spacecraft autonomous docking to a three-axis freely tumbling target in space. A compound control law is presented to guarantee that the docking port of servicing spacecraft is always directing towards the docking port of tumbling target, which is accomplished through the combination of the coupled relative position tracking and relative attitude control. For the purpose of avoiding collision between the two spacecraft, a two-phased approach for the terminal approaching the tumbling target is proposed. Also, the compound control is composed of a nonlinear feedback control law and an integral sliding mode control law. The nonlinear feedback control law is mainly used to track the system command and the integral sliding mode control law is mainly used to deal with the external disturbances and system uncertainties to enhance the robustness of the control system. Furthermore, the control saturation problem is considered. In addition, the characteristic of integral sliding mode under the control constraint and measurement noise is also analyzed. Finally, several numerical simulations are performed to verify the effectiveness and robustness of the compound control law for autonomous docking to a three-axis freely tumbling target.
Observer-based robust H∞ control for uncertain Markovian jump systems via fuzzy Lyapunov function
Authors: Chen Jun , He Tieqing , Liu Fei
Published: May 2018

This paper investigates the problem of observer-based robust [Formula: see text] control for a class of continuous-time nonlinear Markovian jump systems (MJSs) with uncertainties, external disturbance and unavailable states that can be represented by Takagi-Sugeno (T-S) fuzzy models. Based on a mode-dependent fuzzy Lyapunov function and by introducing slack matrix variables, a sufficient condition for the existence of the state observer and observer-based robust [Formula: see text] controller for such MJSs are derived by constructing an augmented fuzzy system. Further, by means of congruent transformation in matrix and linear matrix inequality (LMI) method, the results are given in the form of LMIs that can be easily solved by using the convex optimization techniques. Moreover, we also give the result obtained via common stochastic Lyapunov function to compare with the proposed approach. Finally, a numerical example is provided to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.
A distributed control framework and delay-dependent stability analysis for large-scale networked control systems with non-ideal communication network
Authors: Bijami Ehsan , Farsangi Malihe Maghfoori
Published: May 2018

Recently, the incorporation of telecommunication technology with control systems provides the usability of remote measurement signals for the designing of networked controllers for geographically distributed large-scale systems. However, communication network introduces new difficulties such as time delays and packet dropouts to the design of networked controllers. This paper presents a new Distributed Networked Control Scheme (DNCS) and its stability analysis for stabilizing of large-scale systems with interconnected subsystems featuring both random delays and random packet dropouts in their communication links. Firstly, a general model for large scale distributed networked system consisting of subsystems is used in which the state of each subsystem has its own time varying delay and there are also delays and packet dropouts in their interconnection communication links. To compensate the influence of subsystems on each other and enhance performance and stability margin of the closed-loop system, a suitable distributed control scheme is proposed. The stability criteria are provided based on Lyapunov-Krasovskii and Linear Matrix Inequality (LMI) techniques. For this, a new type of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional and certain slack matrices are developed to conclude some LMI-based delay-dependent theorems for designing the control law, as well as the stabilizing of the DNCS. To evaluate the proposed method, three illustrative examples are provided. To indicate the efficiency of the suggested approach, a small-gain-based approach and an observer-based consensus method are applied for comparison. Simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed approach to enhance the performance of large-scale networked systems among a non-ideal communication network.
Probation and the philosophy of punishment
Authors: Canton Rob
Published: May 2018

With the important exception of critiques of rehabilitation, philosophers of punishment do not often have probation as their focus. This (relative) neglect is mutual: when probation policymakers, scholars and practitioners reflect upon their own work, practices and values, the insights of the philosophy of punishment are rarely among their chosen resources. This paper attempts to make some connections and to point to some ways in which a fuller engagement might shed a different light on some familiar questions in the philosophy of punishment and enrich thinking about the work of probation.
Men in unhappy relationships: Perceptions of couple therapy
Authors: Spiker Douglas A. , Hammer Joseph H. , Parnell Kenneth J.
Published: May 2018

Research suggests men are reluctant to seek couple therapy. Parnell and Hammer (2018) established the utility of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in explaining men’s relationship help seeking. The present study addressed gaps in their investigation by using a sample of men ( N = 206) who reported being unhappy with their romantic relationship; incorporating the key theoretical constructs of relationship satisfaction, self-stigma of seeking help, and perceived need; parsing the unique relationship of conformity to the masculine norms of self-reliance and restrictive emotionality with help-seeking perceptions; and determining whether personality (i.e., neuroticism) obviated the importance of accounting for conformity to masculine norms when seeking to understand couple help seeking. To address these important research gaps, an structural equation modeling (SEM) alternative model testing framework was used and bootstrap analyses were conducted to test for indirect effects. The results evidenced several important findings: (1) conformity to masculine norms accounted for unique variance in help-seeking perceptions beyond neuroticism, (2) self-reliance and restrictive emotionality evidenced differential direct and indirect effects on help-seeking outcomes, (3) perceived need and self-stigma accounted for the most variance in the SEM model, and (4) relationship satisfaction was not associated with attitudes but low relationship satisfaction was associated with more perceived social pressure (i.e., subjective norms) to engage in couple therapy. Our results provided further support for the use of TPB in understanding men’s relationship help seeking and highlighted several implications for how to engage men in couple therapy.
Challenges of digitization of the National Archives of Nigeria
Authors: Balogun Tolulope , Adjei Emmanuel
Published: May 2018

The purpose of the study was to examine the current state, prospects and challenges in digitizing archival collections at the National Archives of Nigeria. The research adopted a qualitative research method. The case study research strategy was considered appropriate for the study. Data was gathered through observation and interviews. Interviews were conducted with six professionals, mostly heads of departments, out of the 40 archival staff at the Department of National Archives, Ibadan. The study revealed that even though the institution claimed to have embarked on a digitization programme in 2003 and reports have been published about an ongoing digitization project, most of the collections are currently not being digitized. Respondents admitted that digitization would be highly beneficial to the institution, but issues such as lack of funding, lack of digitization policy and lack of trained personnel are the major challenges facing the digitization project. The research deals with the contextual and local nature of digitization and brings to the fore the importance of digitizing the collections of the National Archives of Nigeria. The findings and recommendations of this study should be useful to policy makers and all stakeholders including the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The role of native and non-native grammars in the comprehension of possessive pronouns
Authors: Lago Sol , Stutter Garcia Anna , Felser Claudia
Published: May 2018

Previous studies have shown that multilingual speakers are influenced by their native (L1) and non-native (L2) grammars when learning a new language. But, so far, these studies have mostly used untimed metalinguistic tasks. Here we examine whether multilinguals’ prior grammars also affect their sensitivity to morphosyntactic constraints during processing. We use speeded judgment and self-paced reading tasks to examine the comprehension of German possessive pronouns. To investigate whether native and non-native grammars differentially affect participants’ performance, we compare two groups of non-native German speakers with inverse L1–L2 distributions: a group with L1 Spanish – L2 English, and a group with L1 English – L2 Spanish. We show that the reading profiles of both groups are modulated by their L1 grammar, with L2 proficiency selectively affecting participants’ judgment accuracy but not their reading times. We propose that reading comprehension is mainly influenced by multilinguals’ native grammar, but that knowledge of an L2 grammar can further increase sensitivity to morphosyntactic violations in an additional language.
Evaluation of Selected Durability Properties of Portland Cement Concretes Containing Ground Glass Fiber as a Pozzolan
Authors: Rashidian-Dezfouli Hassan , Rao Rangaraju Prasada
Published: May 2018

Glass fibers are produced in large quantities around the world for the production of fiber glass composites and for other reinforcement applications. However, considering the stringent quality requirements a significant quantity of waste is produced in the production process that does not meet required specifications of the final product in terms of the physical properties, although the chemical composition of the glass fiber waste is identical to that of the in-spec glass fiber. At present, this waste is largely disposed of in landfills. This glass fiber waste has the same chemical composition as the good glass fiber, and is rich in silica, alumina, and calcium oxides. Considering the requirements of a typical pozzolanic material, waste glass fiber could be ground to a fine powder for use as a pozzolan. In this study, the effect of using ground glass fiber (GGF) as a pozzolan in concrete at different cement replacement levels (10, 20, and 30% by mass) on selected durability properties of mixtures over a span of two years was investigated. For this purpose, the resistance of GGF-containing mixtures against the alkali–silica reaction, sulfate attack, and drying shrinkage was evaluated and compared with two control mixtures, including a mixture with 100% Portland cement and a mixture having 25% class F fly ash. Results of this research showed that the replacement of Portland cement with GGF resulted in significant improvements in the durability properties, and the mechanical properties were comparable with those of control mixtures.
Cheaper than a goat: U.S. newspaper and television coverage of the southern Sudan conflict
Authors: Cruikshank Sally Ann
Published: May 2018

This study examined how eight U.S. news outlets framed the civil war in Sudan from 1989 through 2005. A textual analysis of 851 reports found the media framed it as a religious and ethnic conflict. Three themes also emerged: famine, slavery and oil. The general findings support previous research on how the U.S. media framed conflicts in Africa. However, contrary to other conflicts, the analysis found Sudan’s civil war received steady coverage over time.
Determination of plasma concentrations of organochlorine pesticides and polychlorinated biphenyls in pet cats and dogs
Authors: Yavuz Oguzhan , Arslan Handan Hilal , Esin Cagatay , Das Yavuz Kursad , Aksoy Abdurrahman
Published: May 2018

The aim of this study was the determination of plasma concentrations of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in cats and dogs and evaluation of their prevalence and possible effects. The concentrations of nine OCPs, such as α-hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), β-HCH, γ-HCH, hexachlorobenzene (HCB), aldrin, 2,4′-dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (2,4′-DDT), 4,4′-DDT, 2,4′-dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (2,4′-DDE) and 4,4′-DDE and 16 PCBs (PCB-28, -52, -70, -74, -81, -99, -101, -118, -138, -153, -156, -170, -180, -183, -187 and -208) were evaluated in the plasma samples of pet cats ( n = 15) and dogs ( n = 21). The concentrations of OCPs ranged from 1.12 ng g−1 lipid weight (lw) to 7.65 ng g−1 lw in cats and from 1.25 ng g−1 lw to 6.79 ng g−1 lw in dogs. In addition, mean PCB levels were 0.58–5.66 and 0.52–6.62 ng g−1 lw in cats and dogs, respectively. β-HCH, γ-HCH and PCB-138 levels were significantly higher in dogs ( p < 0.05). As far as could be determined, OCPs and PCBs were detected in the plasma samples of domestic cats and dogs in Turkey for the first time. Their concentrations were similar to those reported in earlier studies abroad. However, in contrast to other research, the levels of some OCPs were higher in dogs than in cats. It is concluded that, because of their high prevalence and potential health effects in animals and humans, OCP and PCB levels should be monitored systematically in domestic cats and dogs.
Sexual and Nonsexual Homicide in Scotland: Is There a Difference?
Authors: Skott Sara , Beauregard Eric , Darjee Rajan
Published: May 2018

While a number of previous studies have compared sexual homicides to nonlethal sexual offenses, there have been few studies comparing sexual and nonsexual homicides. This study examines whether sexual homicide offenders differ from nonsexual homicide offenders in Scotland regarding characteristics of the offender, the victim, and the homicide incident. Unlike previous studies, only homicides committed by males against females were examined. Data from a national police database were used to compare 89 male sexual homicide offenders who killed adult females with 306 male nonsexual homicide offenders who had also killed adult females using bivariate and multivariate (logistic regression) analyses. The findings revealed not only some similarities between the two groups, particularly regarding some victim variables, but also significant bivariate and multivariate differences. Sexual homicides appeared to be associated with indicators of instrumentality and sexual deviance. We conclude that sexual homicide offenders might be considered a distinct group of homicide offenders, more similar to sexual offenders than to other homicide offenders.
Poly(ether ether ketone) grafted with sulfoalkylamine as proton exchange membrane
Authors: Shao Zhi , Zhao Chengji
Published: May 2018

A series of side-chain-type sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone)s with high ion exchange capacity (IEC) values were prepared by polycondensation reaction of 4,4′-difluorobenzophenone with 2,2′-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) and bisphenol A, followed by post-grafting reaction using 1,4-butanesultone. For these obtained membranes, sulfoalkylamine functionalized poly(ether ether ketone) (SAm-PEEK)-0.8 with the highest IEC of 3.42 mequiv. g−1 displayed the highest proton conductivity of 0.11 S cm−1 at 25°C and 0.167 S cm−1 at 60°C, respectively. The morphology of these membranes was investigated by transmission electron microscope analysis. The result showed that these membranes exhibited well-connected hydrophilic channels due to their high IEC values and densely populated flexible acid side chains. Owing to their low methanol permeability and high selectivity, SAm-PEEK- x membranes are promising candidates for direct methanol fuel cell applications.
The effect of front streamline wrapping angle variation in a super-low specific speed centrifugal pump
Authors: Liang Dong , Yuqi Zhao , Houlin Liu , Cui Dai , Vladimirovich Gradov D , Yong Wang
Published: May 2018

In this research, super-low specific speed centrifugal pump ( ns = 25, Chinese units: ns = 3.6 nQ1/2/ H3/4) is studied. The effect of the front streamline wrapping angles variation (135°, 139° and 145°) of the turbine on energy performance is considered. The pressure pulsation, interior and exterior noise characteristics and the performance of the impeller are thoroughly evaluated both experimentally and numerically. The pump has been modeled by means of computational fluid dynamics code of commercial software ANSYS CFX 11.0 to estimate energy performance and pressure pulsation. Boundary element method and finite element method are used to investigate the interior and exterior noise characteristics of the centrifugal pump by varying the front sweep angle. The front sweep angle variation was found to have insignificant influence on centrifugal pump performance characteristics. However, it influences fluid hydrodynamics around the volute tongue. In addition, the decreasing of the front streamline sweep angle slightly reduces the sound pressure level for the exterior acoustics, but the radiation distribution of the acoustic field does not change. In its turn, the modified trailing edge of the blades can reduce the peak value of the superposition decreasing the pressure pulsations at the blade passing frequency and its harmonic frequencies.
Multiple slip effects on magnetic-Carreau fluid in a suspension of gyrotactic microorganisms over a slendering sheet
Authors: Raju CSK , Hoque Mohammad Mainul , Khan Najeeb Alam , Islam Minhaj , Kumar Santosh
Published: May 2018

A computational simulation of two-dimensional magnetic-Carreau fluid in a suspension of gyrotactic microorganisms past a slendering sheet with variable thickness is investigated for slenderness parameters varied in the range of –0.2 to 1.0. Owing to the noticeable implication in various engineering applications, the effects of multiple slip is considered in the present simulation along with the Soret and the Dufour effects for the heat and mass transfer controlling process. The numerical values of the velocity, temperature, concentration, and the density of the motile organisms are computed by the robust Runge–Kutta-based Newton’s scheme. The thermal and concentration boundary layer are changed with the increase in the multiple slip parameters such as velocity slip, temperature slip, concentration slip, and diffusion slip parameters. With the rise in the Carreau fluid power index parameter, the velocity field increases while it declines with the velocity slip and magnetic field parameter. The increasing values of velocity slip, Dufour number, Soret number, and magnetic parameter boost up the density of the motile organism profiles for different slenderness parameter considered in the present study. The effect of the nondimensional factors on the skin friction, local Nusselt, local Sherwood, and the density numbers of the motile organisms are discussed with the assistance of the table for three different slenderness parameters. It is found that multiple slip parameters enable to control the heat and mass transfer rate. Finally, both the qualitative and quantitative comparisons of the present results with previous study are presented in the tabular form and are found to be in excellent agreement.
An integrated decision-making framework of a heterogeneous aerial robotic swarm for cooperative tasks with minimum requirements
Authors: Jang Inmo , Shin Hyo-Sang , Tsourdos Antonios , Jeong Junho , Kim Seungkeun , Suk Jinyoung
Published: May 2018

Given a cooperative mission consisting of multiple tasks spatially distributed, an aerial robotic swarm’s decision-making issues include team formation, team-to-task assignment, agent-to-work-position assignment and trajectory optimisation with collision avoidance. The problem becomes even more complicated when involving heterogeneous agents, tasks’ minimum requirements and fair allocation. This paper formulates all the combined issues as an optimisation problem and then proposes an integrated framework that addresses the problem in a decentralised fashion. We approximate and decouple the complex original problem into three subproblems (i.e. coalition formation, position allocation and path planning), which are sequentially addressed by three different proposed modules. The coalition formation module based on game theories deals with a max-min problem, the objective of which is to partition the agents into disjoint task-specific teams in a way that balances the agents’ work resources in proportion to the task’s minimum workload requirements. For agents assigned to the same task, given reasonable assumptions, the position allocation subproblem can be efficiently addressed in terms of computational complexity. For the trajectory optimisation, we utilise a Model Predictive Control and Sequential Convex Programming algorithm, which reduces the size of the problem so that the agents can generate collision-free trajectories on a real-time basis. As a proof of concept, we implement the framework into an unmanned aerial vehicle swarm’s cooperative stand-in jamming mission scenario and show its feasibility, fault tolerance and near-optimality based on numerical experiment.
Casing wall static pressure distribution behavior in a centrifugal compressor with asymmetric inlet/outlet structures
Authors: Yang Ce , Zhang Hanzhi , Yang Dengfeng , Lao Dazhong , Yang Changmao
Published: May 2018

Asymmetric structures of the bent inlet pipes and outlet volute are typically adopted in centrifugal compressors. By using asymmetric inlet/outlet structures, the uniformity of the compressor’s internal flow field in the circumferential direction will be changed. The static pressure distribution behavior around the casing wall is significantly influenced by the coupling effect of the bent inlet pipe and outlet volute. In the present work, three compressors were numerically and experimentally investigated. One compressor had a straight inlet pipe, and the other two had bent inlet pipes. Seventy-two static pressure sensors were mounted around the casing wall to obtain the static pressure distribution at different flow rates for three rotational speeds. The results show that at high rotational speeds with large flow rate conditions, when the static pressure waves induced by the bent pipe and volute act on the same circumferential position, the casing wall static pressure will be increased at the corresponding position. Furthermore, this high static pressure will further influence the static pressure values at other circumferential positions and leads to a more nonuniform circumferential static pressure distribution. Near the design flow rate, when the high static pressure strips, which are induced by both the bent pipe and volute impact different circumferential positions, the high static pressure strip induced by the volute will be weakened. As a result, the high static pressure strip induced by the volute cannot propagate upstream into the impeller. At small flow rate under designed rotational speed, the influence of the volute tongue on the casing pressure distribution will be enhanced. At small flow rate under low rotational speed, the casing pressure distributions of the three models were almost the same because the secondary flow effect of the bent pipe diminishes as the flow rate reduces.
Modeling a satisficing judge
Authors: Engel Christoph , Gueth Werner
Published: May 2018

Decision-makers often mean to react to the behavior of others, knowing that they only imperfectly observe them. Rational choice theory posits that they should weigh false positive versus false negative choices, and assess possible outcomes and their probabilities, if necessary, attaching subjective values to them. We argue that this recommendation is not only utterly unrealistic but highly error prone. We contrast it with an approach inspired by satisficing, where the decision-maker contents herself with gauging her confidence in not making too big a mistake by adopting one course of action. We model the competing approaches, using judicial decision-making as a graphic illustration.
Contesting Instrumental Knowledge With Communicative Action: Why Kalabagh Dam (Pakistan) Remains Unbuilt
Authors: Niazi Tarique
Published: May 2018

The building of Kalabagh Dam—Pakistan’s largest hydropower development project—has been stalled for decades. This article interrogates why and how this project has been grounded for so long. It shows that the state and its administrative agencies that support dam building rest their case on “expert” knowledge, while dismissing the counterknowledge produced by the anti-dam coalition of environmentalists, nationalists, and spiritualists as “inexpert.” Consequently, the dam has become a proxy for contending knowledge claims between the dam’s supporters and anti-dam activists. Deploying Habermas’s communicative action theory that critiques expert knowledge as “instrumental rationality,” this article demonstrates that the Pakistani anti-dam movement’s communicative action played the pivotal role in stalling the dam’s building. It typologizes actors, defending and opposing the dam, and documents their knowledge claims. The article contributes to the environmental movement literature by illuminating the ways in which anti-dam activists structure communicative claims, and deploy them for the public contestation of instrumental knowledge and interests.
New versus Old Politics in Podemos: Feminization and Masculinized Party Discourse
Authors: Caravantes Paloma
Published: May 2018

Little research has explored the gender dimension of political actors who have emerged in response to the erosion of Western mainstream parties after the Great Recession. This article analyzes the case of Podemos, a party inspired by the protest movement Indignados, which has disrupted the Spanish two-party system in only two years. Through the analysis of its leadership’s discourse, I expose the constitutive friction between Podemos’ commitment to “new” alternative practices and the “feminization of politics,” and the reproduction of “old” and “masculinized” politics through a competitive rationale. I characterize this rationale with four features that underlie a dominant masculine party culture: (1) emphasis on winning and aggressive strategy, (2) adversarial style and internal confrontation, (3) hierarchy based on intellectual authority, and (4) charismatic masculine leadership. I suggest that this originates from a populist notion of empowerment and political power that relies on a patriarchal and dominant understanding of successful politics.
External beam radiotherapy for the treatment of feline salivary gland carcinoma: six new cases and a review of the literature
Authors: Blackwood Laura , Harper Aaron , Elliott James , Gramer Irina
Published: May 2018

Case series summary

Salivary gland carcinoma is uncommon in cats. We report the outcome of radiation therapy in six cases (four salivary gland adenocarcinomas, one tubulopapillary adenocarcinoma, one carcinoma). Five were treated after surgical excision of the primary tumour, but four had gross disease (primary or metastatic) at the time of starting radiotherapy. Exact progression-free interval from the start of radiotherapy in the two cats where this was known was 120 and 144 days, respectively. One cat was signed off at 766 days with no evidence of recurrence. Another cat was in remission at 202 days (when last seen by the referring practice) but subsequently developed recurrence (date uncertain). Survival time was known for three cats (55 days, 258 days and 570 days from initiation of radiotherapy, respectively). In two cases, locoregional progressive disease (PD) was confirmed, and the other presumed as the cause of death. Two cats, known to have developed PD, were alive at the time of writing (at 206 and 549 days, respectively). No cat died as a result of distant metastatic disease.

Relevance and novel information

There is a paucity of information on the treatment of salivary gland tumours. In humans, as in cats, there is no optimised standard of care for malignant tumours. It is accepted that, for surgical candidates (even with large tumours), surgery and radiotherapy is superior to radiotherapy alone. However, the benefits of postoperative radiotherapy compared with surgery alone are only clear in patients with high-risk tumours (ie, those with large and invasive primary tumours, close or incomplete margins, high histopathological grade, histological evidence of neural or vascular invasion, or positive lymph nodes). This population is analogous to the population reported here, and likely to most cats presented in practice. Thus, radiation therapy may help improve locoregional control and survival in cats.
The transmissibility of a vibration isolation system with ball-screw inerter based on complex mass
Authors: Wen Huabing , Guo Junhua , Li Yang , Liu Yue , Zhang Kun
Published: May 2018

The wide application of the ball-screw inerter for vibration isolation has made it increasingly important to precisely determine the vibration transmissibility of the isolation system. In this reported work, the transmissibility of a vibration isolation system containing an inerter was predicted by using a complex mass M* in the calculations. The reported theoretical analysis showed that in the design of the type II inerter-spring-damper and inerter-rubber vibration isolation systems, the inertance-mass ratio must be less than twice the damping ratio to achieve improved vibration isolation performance when designing the system. To validate the findings, experimental tests were conducted on the type II inerter-spring-damper and inerter-rubber vibration isolation systems with ball-screw inerter. The experimental results showed that, based on M*, the transmissibility of these two systems was close to the experimental results, which illustrated the rationale for using M*. The results of this reported study will help facilitate the parameter design and performance analysis of a vibration isolation system with an inerter.
On-Campus Social Support and Hope as Unique Predictors of Perceived Ability to Persist in College
Authors: D’Amico Guthrie Deanna , Fruiht Veronica
Published: May 2018

The psychological construct of hope, characterized by goal-directed thinking rooted in personal agency and the ability to develop pathways to achieve goals, has long been demonstrated to predict academic success. A sample of 994 undergraduates participated in this study to better understand the role of hope and on-campus social support in predicting students’ perceived ability to persist and succeed in college. Results demonstrated that on-campus support, particularly from teachers and professors, significantly predicted academic outcomes and hope. In addition, we found evidence of a support gap in which students from underrepresented ethnic minorities were far more likely to report that they had no support from educators on campus. Findings demonstrate the need for more research on the role of social support in developing hope in college students and highlight the value of encouraging meaningful relationships between students and faculty on campus.
Competing failure model for mechanical system with multiple functional failures
Authors: Liu Jingyi , Song Bifeng , Zhang Yugang
Published: May 2018

It is challenging and important to establish reliability model for mechanical systems with multiple functional performances. This article develops a model of competing failure for mechanical systems under catastrophic failure due to external shocks and multi-functional failures. Shock model is used to analyze the catastrophic failure. Functional failures are demonstrated by functional indicators which are functions of specific variables including constant variables and degradation variables. Functional failure occurs if the functional indicators are beyond a limit δ. Brownian motion with non-linear drift is used to model the process of degradation variables. Besides, there are two kinds of dependence around these failure modes. The dependence of catastrophic failure and functional failure, due to shared external shock source, is illustrated by the instantaneous increments during degradation process; the dependence between multiple functional performances themselves is modeled by copula functions. Reliability of systems is calculated based on this model. A mechanical lock system is chosen as a case to verify the validity and practicability. This model can also be applied for other mechanical systems.
Sensorless control system for assistive robotic ankle-foot
Authors: Al Kouzbary Mouaz , Abu Osman Noor Azuan , Abdul Wahab Ahmad Khairi
Published: May 2018

This article presents a novel sensorless control system of assistive robotic ankle-foot prosthesis, two estimation algorithms were developed and an analogy between them has been made. The system actuator’s motor is a permanent magnet synchronous motor, unlike other powered ankle-foot, where the brushless DC motor and DC motor were used. Utilizing the permanent magnet synchronous motor will reduce the torque ripples and increase system ability to be overloaded compared to systems which utilize the brushless DC motor. Moreover, the ability of the machine to operate in all speed range makes this machine more suitable for the application. Both estimation algorithms are built using C-code and assessed in MATLAB Simulink. The estimation algorithms are used to provide motor and powered ankle-foot’s angular speed and position. Two-level control system is used to evaluate the estimation algorithms; the control system role is to mimic biological ankle-foot performance during normal ground level walking speed. Based on the result of this article the unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is applicable for the application, as a result of the observer ability to estimate the motor load and angular position. On the other hand, extended Kalman filter (EKF) accuracy is affected by the load applied to the motor. Furthermore, the angular position is evaluated by integration of the angular speed which means integration of angular speed estimation error.
The experience of type 2 diabetes self-management in adults with intellectual disabilities and their caregivers: A review of the literature using meta-aggregative synthesis and an appraisal of rigor
Authors: Maine Andrew , Brown Michael , Dickson Adele , Truesdale Maria
Published: May 2018

People with intellectual disabilities (ID) experience significant barriers to diabetes self-management (DSM), yet there remains a paucity of research within this population. An overview of the literature on people with ID and their caregivers’ experiences of living with and self-managing type 2 diabetes is provided. Meta-aggregative methods were adopted to synthesize results, and an appraisal was reported of rigor. A total of eight studies met the inclusion criteria and four themes were extracted: (i) “Frustration over lifestyle adjustments,” (ii) “Limited understanding and inadequate educational resources,” (iii) “Limited training and knowledge in staff,” and (iv) “Potential for effective DSM with appropriate support.” Current support is inadequate to meet the needs of people with ID and their caregivers self-managing diabetes. Structured education to improve health literacy and diabetes knowledge in people with ID is required, together with training for caregivers which leads to a culture of nurturing autonomy.
Framing social conflicts in news coverage and social media: A multicountry comparative study
Authors: Ahmed Saifuddin , Cho Jaeho , Jaidka Kokil
Published: May 2018

This study attempts to understand how geopolitical proximity influences framing of social conflicts in news coverage and social media discussions. Within the context of 2013 Little India riot in Singapore, a manual content and automated linguistic analyses are conducted on 227 news articles and 4,495 tweets. A multinational comparison suggests that news media follow the traditional hypothesis of geopolitical proximity and international news coverage. However, Twitter seems less constrained by geopolitical boundaries of news making allowing citizens to bypass press censorship in an alternate information system. The reasons for framing differences across mediums and between countries are explored. Implications of these findings and limitations of the study are discussed.
Anandamide and endocannabinoid system: an attractive therapeutic approach for cardiovascular disease
Authors: Martín Giménez Virna Margarita , Noriega Sandra Edith , Kassuha Diego Enrique , Fuentes Lucía Beatriz , Manucha Walter
Published: May 2018

Cardiovascular disease is currently not adequately managed and has become one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Current therapies are inadequate in terms of preventing its progression. There are several limitations, such as poor oral bioavailability, side effects, low adherence to treatment, and high dosage frequency of formulations due to the short half-life of the active ingredients used, among others. This review aims to highlight the most relevant aspects of the relationship between the cardiovascular system and the endocannabinoid system, with special attention to the possible translational effect of the use of anandamide in cardiovascular health. The deep and detailed knowledge of this interaction, not always beneficial, and that for years has gone unnoticed, is essential for the development of new therapies. We discuss the most recent and representative results obtained in the field of basic research, referring to the aforementioned subject, emphasizing fundamentally the main role of nitric oxide, renal physiology and its deregulation in pathological processes.
Tourist and Local Resident Preferences for the Northern Yellow-Cheeked Gibbon (Nomascus annamensis) Conservation Program in the Bach Ma National Park, Central Vietnam
Authors: Thanh An Le , Markowski Janusz , Bartos Maciej , Thoai Trinh Quang , Tuan Tran Huu , Rzenca Agnieszka
Published: May 2018

Successful biodiversity conservation is closely linked to the support received from society. Therefore, a better understanding of public preferences for conservation activities facilitates successful conservation efforts. The objective of the study is to determine the preferences of tourists and local residents regarding the proposed conservation program of the northern yellow-cheeked gibbon ( Nomascus annamensis) and its economic value in the Bach Ma National Park, as well as to examine the factors that determine their willingness to pay (WTP) for the gibbon conservation. The WTP was estimated with the dichotomous choice contingent valuation method, and data were collected using face-to-face interviews with 710 participations, including 352 Vietnamese tourists and 358 local residents. The logistic regression model was applied to predict the probability of WTP for the program. A number of factors were found to be significant predictors of WTP that included bid level, visit, awareness, knowledge, distance, family size, and education. The mean WTP amount was estimated at about $US3.81/tourist and $US 2.93/household for one-time support of the gibbon conservation program. A significant difference was also found between the tourists and local residents in terms of the estimated WTP. Our findings suggest that there is a strong public support within Vietnamese society for the conservation of gibbons, which should be considered in the design of social policies for biodiversity conservation and natural resource management.