bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Does Pacifier Use in Infancy Decrease the Risk of Obesity?
Authors: Amer Ahdi , Abusamaan Mohammed , Li Xiaoming , Fischer Howard
Published: April 2017

Background. Nonnutritive sucking using a finger or pacifier is a natural reflex for infants. We hypothesized that infants may overfeed if the bottle or breast is constantly offered. Our goal was to determine whether pacifier use in early infancy is associated with lower incidence of obesity at later age. Methods. Parents of 399 infants, 9 to 15 months old, were interviewed and asked whether a pacifier was used consistently for ≥9 months. Body mass indexes at birth, 6 months, and on the day of interview were calculated. Results. In all, 204 (51%) infants used a pacifier, and 195 (49%) were nonusers. More infants in the nonuser group were either overweight—40 (21%)—or obese—32 (16%)—than in the user group—22 (11%) and 22 (11%), respectively ( P = .003). Conclusions. Pacifier use in infancy was associated with lower incidence of obesity at 9 to 15 months of age. Offering a pacifier can be protective against infantile obesity.
Formative research on a teacher accompaniment model to promote youth mental health in Haiti: Relevance to mental health task-sharing in low-resource school settings
Authors: Eustache Eddy , Gerbasi Margaret E , Severe Jennifer , Fils-Aimé J Reginald , Smith Fawzi Mary C , Raviola Giuseppe J , Darghouth Sarah , Boyd Kate , Thérosmé Tatiana , Legha Rupinder , Pierre Ermaze L , Affricot Emmeline , Alcindor Yoldie , Grelotti David J , Becker Anne E
Published: April 2017

Background:

Task-sharing with teachers to promote youth mental health is a promising but underdeveloped strategy in improving care access in low-income countries.

Aims:

To assess feasibility, acceptability and utility of the teacher accompaniment phase of a school-based Teacher- Accompagnateur Pilot Study (TAPS) in Haiti.

Methods:

We assigned student participants, aged 18–22 years ( n = 120), to teacher participants ( n = 22) within four Haitian schools; we instructed participants to arrange meetings with their assigned counterparts to discuss mental health treatment, academic skills, and/or well-being. We measured student and teacher perceived feasibility, acceptability and utility of meetings with self-report Likert-style questions. We examined overall program feasibility by the percentage of students with a documented meeting, acceptability by a composite measure of student satisfaction and utility by the percentage with identified mental health need who discussed treatment with a teacher.

Results:

Favorable ratings support feasibility, acceptability and utility of teacher- accompagnateur meetings with students. The majority of students (54%) met with a teacher. Among students with an identified mental disorder, 43.2% discussed treatment during a meeting.

Conclusion:

This accompaniment approach to mental health task-sharing with teachers provided a school-based opportunity for students with mental health need to discuss treatment and has potential relevance to other low-income settings.
High burden of mental illness and low utilization of care among school-going youth in Central Haiti: A window into the youth mental health treatment gap in a low-income country
Authors: Eustache Eddy , Gerbasi Margaret E , Smith Fawzi Mary C , Fils-Aimé J Reginald , Severe Jennifer , Raviola Giuseppe J , Legha Rupinder , Darghouth Sarah , Grelotti David J , Thérosmé Tatiana , Pierre Ermaze L , Affricot Emmeline , Alcindor Yoldie , Becker Anne E
Published: April 2017

Background:

The mental health treatment gap for youth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is substantial; strategies for redress are urgently needed to mitigate the serious health and social consequences of untreated mental illness in youth.

Aims:

To estimate the burden of major depressive episode (MDE) and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as well as utilization of care among Haitian youth in order to describe the mental health treatment gap in a LMIC setting.

Methods:

We estimated the point prevalence of MDE, PTSD, and subthreshold variants in a school-based sample of youth ( n = 120, ages 18–22 years) using a modified Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV-TR Axis I Disorders (SCID)-based interview and examined treatment utilization among those receiving one of these diagnoses. We assessed additional psychopathology with self-report measures to examine validity of study diagnostic assignments.

Results:

The combined prevalence of full-syndrome or subthreshold MDE or PTSD was high (36.7%). A large majority of affected individuals (88.6%) had accessed no mental health services in the health sector, and 36.4% had accessed no care of any kind in either the health or folk sectors in the past year.

Conclusion:

Findings demonstrate a high mental health burden among Haiti’s youth and that many youth with MDE and PTSD are not accessing mental health care.
Surnaming Children Born to Lesbian and Heterosexual Couples: Displaying Family Legitimacy to Diverse Audiences
Authors: Dempsey Deborah , Lindsay Jo
Published: April 2017

Surnaming practices are a case study of change and continuity in patrilineal conventions in families and also alert us to the challenges of negotiating familial identities in an era of family diversity. Using data from two Australian sources, 430,753 Victorian birth registrations and 43 in-depth interviews with heterosexual and lesbian parents, we explore continuity and breaks with convention in surnaming children. For married and unmarried heterosexual couples, the dominant surnaming practice was for children to take their father’s name. By contrast, several surnaming strategies were more popular among lesbian couples including: using hyphenated or double-barrelled surnames, using the birth or non-birth mother’s surname or creating a new name for the family. Despite these differences, we contend that through their surnaming decisions both lesbian and heterosexual couples are concerned with displaying the legitimacy of their parental relationships to extended family and institutional audiences. For unmarried heterosexual couples, surnames display ‘intact’ families and paternal commitment whereas for lesbian couples the legitimacy concern is the recognition of the same-sex couple as parents.
The Matter of Parents’ Stories: Urban African American Mothers’ Counter-Stories About the Common Core State Standards and Quality Teaching
Authors: Lewis Ellison Tisha
Published: April 2017

This article uses counter-storytelling to examine how four urban African American mothers understand and discuss the role of Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in their children’s education. Counter-storytelling is used as an oppositional framework to dominant stories privileged by educational systems. Findings conclude how parents posit valid critiques about CCSS and quality teaching, but reveal the absence of spaces where their voices and perspectives can be heard without marginalization. The article concludes with implications for urban education teachers, and a call of support for parents and teachers to be informed about counter-stories represented in students’ education.
Acquisition of nominal morphophonological alternations in Russian
Authors: Tomas Ekaterina , van de Vijver Ruben , Demuth Katherine , Petocz Peter
Published: April 2017

Morphophonological alternations can make target-like production of grammatical morphemes challenging due to changes in form depending on the phonological environment. This article explores the acquisition of morphophonological alternations involving the interacting patterns of vowel deletion and stress shift in Russian-speaking children (aged 4;0–7;11) using a ‘wug’ test with real and nonce words. Depending on the phonological context, participants were expected to either delete vowels (e.g. ko’mokNom,sg – kom’kaGen,sg) or preserve them (e.g. pji’lotNom,sg – pji’lotaGen,sg). The results showed that children’s sensitivity to morphophonological patterns increases with age: 4-year-olds tended to preserve underlying vowels and stress across conditions, whereas older children demonstrated growing accuracy, at least with real words. Stressed vowels were more appropriately alternated and preserved across conditions, suggesting suprasegmental effects on the acquisition of segmental alternation patterns in Russian.
Echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics in online debates
Authors: Karlsen Rune , Steen-Johnsen Kari , Wollebæk Dag , Enjolras Bernard
Published: April 2017

In this article, we take issue with the claim by Sunstein and others that online discussion takes place in echo chambers, and suggest that the dynamics of online debates could be more aptly described by the logic of ‘trench warfare’, in which opinions are reinforced through contradiction as well as confirmation. We use a unique online survey and an experimental approach to investigate and test echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics in online debates. The results show that people do indeed claim to discuss with those who hold opposite views from themselves. Furthermore, our survey experiments suggest that both confirming and contradicting arguments have similar effects on attitude reinforcement. Together, this indicates that both echo chamber and trench warfare dynamics – a situation where attitudes are reinforced through both confirmation and disconfirmation biases – characterize online debates. However, we also find that two-sided neutral arguments have weaker effects on reinforcement than one-sided confirming and contradicting arguments, suggesting that online debates could contribute to collective learning and qualification of arguments.
Urban informality as a signifier: Performing urban reordering in suburban Rio de Janeiro
Authors: Müller Frank I
Published: April 2017

Urban informality is typically ascribed to the urban poor in cities of the Global South. Drawing on Judith Butler’s concept of performativity and taking the case of Rio de Janeiro in the context of the 2016 Olympic Games, this article conceptualizes informality as a signifier and a procedural, relational category. Specifically, it shows how different class actors have employed the signifier informality (1) to legitimize the confinement of marginalized populations; (2) to justify the organized efforts of the upper middle class to protect their ‘self-enclosed’ gated communities; and (3) to warrant the formation of opposition and alliances between inhabitants, activists, and researchers on the edges of the urban order. This article offers new perspectives to better understand the relationship between informality and confinement by examining the active role that inhabitants of marginalized settlements assume in the Olympic City.
Geographies of transport III
Authors: Schwanen Tim
Published: April 2017

This third report in the series reviews recent research on the geographies of transport in Africa, Asia and Latin America to reflect on the spatialities of knowledge production and the question as to whether a post/decolonial turn is occurring in geographical scholarship on transport. A simple and heuristic classification scheme is developed and deployed to demonstrate that predominantly western worldviews, theories, concepts, methods and research practices continue to prevail in geographical scholarship on transport in the Global South. It is also shown that this hegemony is being reworked and resisted in various ways, and the report concludes with suggestions about how geographical scholarship on transport can be worlded and ultimately decolonized further.
Finite element analysis and structural design of axially uniform-loaded nut
Authors: Chun-jiang Zhao , Yong-feng Liu , Fei-tao Zhang , Zheng-yi Wang , Hai-lian Gui
Published: April 2017

Axially heavy-loaded screw pairs are widely used in rolling mill press systems and other heavy equipment. During the working process, the nut is pressed at both ends, which causes equivalent stress at the thread roots in a U-shaped distribution along the height. Thread roots at the ends tend to suffer fracture failure when the equivalent stress is too great. In this article, the finite element software ANSYS is used to establish a 3D model of screw pairs and analyse bearing characteristics. A new structure based on the results of finite element analysis, which improves U-shaped stress distribution, is proposed for the axially uniform-loaded nut, with a different strain–displacement relationship between the nut matrix and the thread teeth. Such a relationship can greatly reduce peak stress at the thread roots of the nut on both ends. Experiments are conducted on the nut using the electrometric method. Results are compared with the finite element results to directly verify the reliability of the finite element model of ordinary screw pairs and indirectly verify the reliability of the structural model of new screw pairs.
More Likely to Dropout, but What if They Don’t? Partner Violence Offenders With Alcohol Abuse Problems Completing Batterer Intervention Programs
Authors: Lila Marisol , Gracia Enrique , Catalá-Miñana Alba
Published: April 2017

There is general consensus that alcohol abuse is a risk factor to be considered in batterer intervention programs. Intimate partner violence perpetrators with alcohol abuse problems are more likely to dropout of batterer intervention programs. However, there is little research on intimate partner violence perpetrators with alcohol abuse problems completing batterer intervention programs. In this study, we analyze drop-out rates among perpetrators with alcohol abuse problems and explore whether perpetrators with alcohol abuse problems completing a batterer intervention program differ from those who do not have alcohol abuse problems in a number of outcomes. The sample was 286 males convicted for intimate partner violence against women, attending a community-based batterer intervention program. Final (i.e., recidivism) and proximal (i.e., risk of recidivism, responsibility attributions, attitudes toward violence, sexism, psychological adjustment, and social integration) intervention outcomes were analyzed. Chi-square test, binary logistic regression, and one-way ANOVA were conducted. Results confirmed higher dropout rates among perpetrators with alcohol abuse problems. Results also showed a reduction in alcohol abuse among perpetrators with alcohol abuse problems completing the batterer intervention program. Finally, results showed that, regardless of alcohol abuse problems, perpetrators who completed the batterer intervention program showed improvements in all intervention outcomes analyzed. Perpetrators both with and without alcohol abuse problems can show positive changes after completing an intervention program and, in this regard, the present study highlights the need to design more effective adherence strategies for intimate partner violence perpetrators, especially for those with alcohol abuse problems.
Adolescent Dating Violence Stability and Mutuality: A 4-Year Longitudinal Study
Authors: Fernández-González Liria , Calvete Esther , Orue Izaskun
Published: April 2017

This 4-year longitudinal study explored the stability of dating violence (DV) during adolescence and the reciprocal associations between perpetration and victimization over time. Participants were 991 high school students (52.4% females; mean age at baseline = 14.80 years) from Bizkaia (Spain), who completed a measure of DV perpetration and victimization at four measurement points spaced 1 year apart. Findings evidenced stability of teen perpetration and victimization of DV, which appears to increase in late adolescence. Moreover, longitudinal reciprocal influences were demonstrated, but in general, the cross-lagged paths from one’s partner’s aggression to one’s own perpetration and vice versa were lower than the autoregressive paths obtained from stability. The model showed an adequate fit for both females and males, although some paths were significantly higher for the females than for the males. Preventive interventions should consider these findings about stability and longitudinal reciprocal associations of DV during adolescence.
The Pivotal Role of Change Appropriation in the Implementation of Health Care Technology
Authors: Barrett Ashley K. , Stephens Keri K.
Published: April 2017

The implementation of electronic health records (EHRs) is a major transformation in health care organizations. This study uses adaptive structuration theory to build and test an organizational change appropriation model. We tested this model in a health care organization that had recently implemented an EHR system. We find that social interaction with coworkers has a negative direct effect on employees’ change attitudes, perceived change success, and perceived change communication quality. While these findings suggest that interacting with coworkers can actually increase negative perceptions of EHR implementation, the direction of these relationships is inverted when change appropriation is included in the model as a mediating variable. As health care workers adapt this particular technology system to meet their needs, they perceive the EHR implementation more positively and have more positive attitudes toward the change. Implications and future directions are also discussed.
Psychosocial and Mental Health Problems of Older People in Postearthquake Nepal
Authors: Adhikari Ramesh P. , Upadhaya Nawaraj , Paudel Sasmita , Pokhrel Ruja , Bhandari Nagendra , Cole Laura , Koirala Suraj
Published: April 2017

Objective: To identify community perceptions on psychosocial and mental health problems of older people in postearthquake situation in Nepal. Method: A qualitative methodology was adopted to explore the experience and opinions of older people, social workers, school teachers, health workers, and nongovernmental organization workers on the psychosocial and mental health problems of older people in Nepal, using key informant interviews. Results: Major local vocabulary for older peoples’ psychosocial and mental health problems were “bichalan” (variation in mood and feeling), “ekohoro” (becoming single minded), “athmabiswasko kami” (low self-esteem), and “bina karan rune” (crying without any reason). The major causes attributed to older people’s problems were physical injury, disability, family conflict, and economic problems. Forgetfulness, tiredness, loss of concentration, restlessness, and isolation were observed in older people since the 2015 earthquake. Discussion: The findings suggest that earthquake had negative impact on older people’s psychosocial well-being; however, little support or treatment options have been made available to these individuals. The tailor-made community-based psychosocial and mental health programs for older people are needed.
The Clinical Characteristics of ADHD Diagnosed in Adolescents in Comparison With Younger Children
Authors: Mahajnah Muhammad , Sharkia Rajech , Shorbaji Nadeem , Zelnik Nathanel
Published: April 2017

Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the clinical characteristics in adolescents newly diagnosed with ADHD. Method: Data of patients aged 7 to 17 years diagnosed with ADHD were collected and analyzed. The patients were divided into adolescents aged 13 to 17 years (Group I) and children aged 7 to 12 years (Group II): 592 males and 231 females. Group I consists of 450 participants, and Group II consists of 373 participants. Results: Adolescents were predominantly inattentive (63.8%); most of Group II patients had combined or hyperactive ADHD (70.8%). Learning disorders were more common in adolescents (51.2% vs. 39.7%) and treated mainly with long-acting methylphenidate (MPH), and Group II patients were treated mainly with short- and medium-acting MPH. Newly diagnosed adolescents were less likely to exhibit behavioral comorbidities. Headache and insomnia were reported more in adolescents, and stimulant rebound effect was more in younger children. Conclusion: Although the biological nature of ADHD is similar in both age groups, the primary symptomatology and associated comorbidities are prone to age-dependent changes.
Ignition, lift-off, and soot formation studies in n-dodecane split injection spray-flames
Authors: Moiz Ahmed Abdul , Cung Khanh D , Lee Seong-Young
Published: April 2017

A close-coupled double injection strategy with two 0.5-ms injections separated by a 0.5-ms dwell is implemented. Studies are performed in a constant volume pre-burn type combustion vessel over two ambient temperatures (900 and 800 K) at constant density (22.8 kg/m3) with 15% O2 by volume in the ambient. The aim of this work is to investigate the establishment and dependence of ignition delay and flame stabilization on the ambient temperature conditions especially for the main injection, and thereby investigating eventual soot production. Simultaneous schlieren and planar laser -induced fluorescence experiments as well as three-dimensional Reynolds-averaged numerical simulation computational fluid dynamic modeling with chemical kinetics in every computational fluid dynamic cell were performed. It was observed experimentally that at 900 K, the second injection is injected in a high-temperature combustion recessed ambient of the first injection whereas at 800 K it is injected in a low temperature, possibly reactive species environment. It was found from Reynolds-averaged numerical simulation modeling that combustion recession at 900 K in the present case entails rich presence of hydroxyl radical species and also the ambient of 800 K is source of reactive radicals like peroxides, leading to acceleration of main ignition. Flame stabilization of the second injection occurs closer to the injector due to short ignition delays with flame being sustained in the fuel–air premixing zone. Flame stabilization of the second injection was found to follow a premixed flame propagation mechanism. Investigation in mixture fraction and temperature space of pilot-main spray combustion revealed that the lower lift-off of main results in lower air-entrainment which causes richer ignition of main resulting in quicker and higher soot formation. The effect of the second injection in enhancing the oxidation of soot from the first injection by inducing enhanced mixing was also revealed.
An eye-tracking study on the effect of infographic structures on viewer’s comprehension and cognitive load
Authors: Majooni Azam , Masood Mona , Akhavan Amir
Published: April 2017

The basic premise of this research is investigating the effect of layout on the comprehension and cognitive load of the viewers in the information graphics. The term ‘Layout’ refers to the arrangement and organization of the visual and textual elements in a graphical design. The experiment conducted in this study is designed based on two stories and each one of these stories is presented with two different layouts. During the experiment, eye-tracking devices are applied to collect the gaze data including the eye movement data and pupil diameter fluctuation. In the research on the modification of the layouts, contents of each story are narrated using identical visual and textual elements. The analysis of eye-tracking data provides quantitative evidence concerning the change of layout in each story and its effect on the comprehension of participants and variation of their cognitive load. In conclusion, it can be claimed that the comprehension from the zigzag form of the layout was higher with a less imposed cognitive load.
Spatial-based cooperative transmission power assignment for mobile telecommunication systems
Authors: Ahmed Zinah Rafea , Subramaniam Shamala , Zukarnain Zuriati , Othman Mohamed
Published: April 2017

Transmission power allocation in modern mobile telecommunication systems is one of the most important aspects affecting overall performance. Addressing this issue has huge impact on improving state-of-the-art for mobile telecommunication systems such as Long Term Evolution—Advanced by reducing inter-cell interference. To approach global optimality, some sort of cooperation between base stations is needed to overcome many shared limitations. This article proposes cooperative transmission power assignment mechanism based on the coordinated multiple points’ concept. It provides mathematical treatment and technical development for the proposed solution. This solution works in distributed fashion which is one of the main strengths of our approach. The proposed transmission power mechanism adopts auction theory approach to allocate power level for each base station. The proposed solution has showed tremendous good performance in extensive simulation experiments.
The prognostic and risk-stratified value of neutrophil–lymphocyte count ratio in Chinese patients with community-acquired pneumonia
Authors: Yang Ting , Wan Chun , Wang Hao , Qin Jiangyue , Chen Lei , Shen Yongchun , Wen Fuqiang
Published: April 2017

Community-acquired pneumonia is a common disease associated with high mortality. This retrospective study examined whether the neutrophil–lymphocyte count ratio (NLR), already widely used as an index of inflammation, can be used to predict in-hospital mortality of adults with community-acquired pneumonia. Clinical characteristics, CURB-65 and pneumonia severity index score of pneumonia severity, NLR, serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin, and in-hospital mortality were analyzed for 318 consecutive adults with community-acquired pneumonia admitted to West China Hospital between July 2012 and December 2013. The ability of NLR and other parameters to predict in-hospital mortality was assessed using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves. Results showed that NLR increased with increasing CURB-65 ( P < 0.05) and pneumonia severity index ( P < 0.05), and NLR correlated positively with serum levels of C-reactive protein (r = 0.239, P < 0.05) and procalcitonin (r = 0.211, P < 0.05). The median value of NLR was significantly higher among patients who died in hospital (11.96) than among those who were alive at the end of hospitalization (4.19, P < 0.05). Based on a cut-off NLR of 7.12, this index predicted in-hospital mortality with a sensitivity of 82.61% and specificity of 72.20% (area under ROC curve, 0.799). Predictive power was greater for the combination of NLR and serum levels of C-reactive protein and procalcitonin. These results suggest that NLR may be useful for predicting prognosis in Chinese adults with community-acquired pneumonia, and it may work better in combination with traditional markers.
Design and performance analysis of global path planning techniques for autonomous mobile robots in grid environments
Authors: Chaari Imen , Koubaa Anis , Bennaceur Hachemi , Ammar Adel , Alajlan Maram , Youssef Habib
Published: April 2017

This article presents the results of the 2-year iroboapp research project that aims at devising path planning algorithms for large grid maps with much faster execution times while tolerating very small slacks with respect to the optimal path. We investigated both exact and heuristic methods. We contributed with the design, analysis, evaluation, implementation and experimentation of several algorithms for grid map path planning for both exact and heuristic methods. We also designed an innovative algorithm called relaxed A-star that has linear complexity with relaxed constraints, which provides near-optimal solutions with an extremely reduced execution time as compared to A-star. We evaluated the performance of the different algorithms and concluded that relaxed A-star is the best path planner as it provides a good trade-off among all the metrics, but we noticed that heuristic methods have good features that can be exploited to improve the solution of the relaxed exact method. This led us to design new hybrid algorithms that combine our relaxed A-star with heuristic methods which improve the solution quality of relaxed A-star at the cost of slightly higher execution time, while remaining much faster than A* for large-scale problems. Finally, we demonstrate how to integrate the relaxed A-star algorithm in the robot operating system as a global path planner and show that it outperforms its default path planner with an execution time 38% faster on average.
Fostering citizenship in marginalised children through participation in Community of Philosophical Inquiry
Authors: Cassidy Claire , Christie Donald , Marwick Helen , Deeney Lynn , McLean Gillian , Rogers Kirsten
Published: April 2017

Given the key drivers around citizenship education, children’s rights, voice, and participation, it is essential that all children are supported to engage in the society in which they live. This article explores how McCall’s Community of Philosophical Inquiry might offer that support to children who are potentially marginalised due to their specific needs. The article presents three case studies of children at risk of being marginalised in school settings who participated in Community of Philosophical Inquiry over a period of 10 weeks. Community of Philosophical Inquiry has features that may be conducive to the achievement of broad goals associated with children’s voice and citizenship education. The article explores the ways in which these particular children engaged with Community of Philosophical Inquiry and the impact of participation on their behaviour. The analysis of the accounts of their teachers supports the hypothesis that potentially marginalised children appear to benefit from the structure that is inherent in this form of practical philosophy.
How the definition of security risk can be made compatible with safety definitions
Authors: Amundrud Øystein , Aven Terje , Flage Roger
Published: April 2017

In safety settings, understood as situations involving the potential occurrence of unintentional events, it is common to define risk as a combination of consequences and associated probabilities or associated uncertainties. On the other hand, in security settings, understood as situations involving the potential occurrence of intentional malicious events, risk is commonly defined as the triplet asset/value, threat and vulnerability. One motivation often mentioned for the latter is that probability is considered inappropriate for intentional acts. In this article, we argue that it is unsuitable and unnecessary to define risk differently in these two settings. We show that risk, defined as the combination of future consequences and associated uncertainties, can be seen as compatible with the triplet definition of security risk. It also excludes probability from the definition of risk but explicitly includes uncertainty, which is more fundamental and present regardless of the type of events involved. The value dimension is integrated with the consequences as these are with respect to something that humans value. The purpose of the article is to contribute to a consolidation of the safety and security risk management fields at the fundamental level.
Lack of elevation in plasma levels of pro‐inflammatory cytokines in common rodent models of pulmonary arterial hypertension: questions of construct validity for human patients
Authors: Schlosser Kenny , Taha Mohamad , Deng Yupu , Jiang Baohua , McIntyre Lauralyn A , Mei Shirley HJ , Stewart Duncan J.
Published: April 2017

Translational research depends on the relevance of animal models and how well they replicate human disease. Here, we investigated plasma levels of three important pro‐inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL‐6, and MCP‐1), known to be elevated in human pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH), and systematically assessed their levels in PAH patients compared to five different rodent models of pulmonary hypertension (PH). A consistent immunoassay platform (Luminex xMAP) and source (Millipore) was used to measure all specimens. PAH patients (n = 29) exhibited significant elevations in all three cytokines (median [IQR] pg/mL; TNFα, 7.0 [4.8–11.7]; IL‐6, 9.2 [3.8–17.2]; MCP‐1, 109 [65–142]) versus healthy participants (n = 20) (median [IQR] pg/mL; TNFα, 3.0 [2.0–3.6]; IL‐6, 1.7 [0.5–7.2]; MCP‐1, 79 [49–93]. In contrast, mice with PH established after three weeks of hypoxia (n = 18) or SU5416 plus hypoxia (n = 20) showed no significant change in their plasma cytokine levels versus controls (n = 16), based on three to four independent experiments per group. Similarly, plasma cytokine levels were not elevated in rats with PH established three weeks after monocrotaline (n = 23), eight weeks after SU5416 alone (n = 10) or six to eight weeks after SU5416 plus hypoxia (n = 21) versus controls (n = 36 rats), based on three to eight independent experiments per group. Positive biologic control specimens from sepsis patients (n = 9), cecal‐ligation and puncture (CLP)‐induced septic mice (n = 6), and lipopolysaccharide‐induced septic rats (n = 4) showed robust elevations in all three cytokines. This study suggests that animal models commonly used for the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for PAH may have limited construct validity with respect to markers of systemic immune activation seen in human patients.
Novel approach to classifying patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension using cluster analysis
Authors: Parikh Kishan S. , Rao Youlan , Ahmad Tariq , Shen Kai , Felker G. Michael , Rajagopal Sudarshan
Published: April 2017

Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) patients have distinct disease courses and responses to treatment, but current diagnostic and treatment schemes provide limited insight. We aimed to see if cluster analysis could distinguish clinical phenotypes in PAH. An unbiased cluster analysis was performed on 17 baseline clinical variables of PAH patients from the FREEDOM‐M, FREEDOM‐C, and FREEDOM‐C2 randomized trials of oral treprostinil versus placebo. Participants were either treatment‐naïve (FREEDOM‐M) or on background therapy (FREEDOM‐C, FREEDOM‐C2). We tested for association of clusters with outcomes and interaction with respect to treatment. Primary outcome was 6‐minute walking distance (6MWD) change. We included 966 participants with 12‐week (FREEDOM‐M) or 16‐week (FREEDOM‐C and FREEDOM‐C2) follow‐up. Four patient clusters were identified. Compared with Clusters 1 (n = 131) and 2 (n = 496), Clusters 3 (n = 246) and 4 (n = 93) patients were older, heavier, had worse baseline functional class, 6MWD, Borg Dyspnea Index, and fewer years since PAH diagnosis. Clusters also differed by PAH etiology and background therapies, but not gender or race. Mean treatment effect of oral treprostinil differed across Clusters 1–4 increased in a monotonic fashion (Cluster 1: 10.9 m; Cluster 2: 13.0 m; Cluster 3: 25.0 m; Cluster 4: 50.9 m; interaction P value = 0.048). We identified four distinct clusters of PAH patients based on common patient characteristics. Patients who were older, diagnosed with PAH for a shorter period, and had worse baseline symptoms and exercise capacity had the greatest response to oral treprostinil treatment.
Lipoma in the femoral triangle
Authors: Weledji Elroy Patrick , Elong Felix Adolfe
Published: April 2017

The differential diagnosis of a lipoma in the femoral region will include a femoral hernia and vice-versa or both may coexist.
A guide to least-squares reverse time migration for subsalt imaging: Challenges and solutions
Authors: Zeng Chong , Dong Shuqian , Wang Bin
Published: April 2017

Least-squares reverse time migration (LSRTM) overcomes the shortcomings of conventional migration algorithms by iteratively fitting the demigrated synthetic data and the input data to refine the initial depth image toward true reflectivity. It gradually enhances the effective signals and removes the migration artifacts such as swing noise during conventional migration. When imaging the subsalt area with complex structures, many practical issues have to be considered to ensure the convergence of the inversion. We tackle those practical issues such as an unknown source wavelet, inaccurate migration velocity, and slow convergence to make LSRTM applicable to subsalt imaging in geologic complex areas such as the Gulf of Mexico. Dynamic warping is used to realign the modeled and input data to compensate for minor velocity errors in the subsalt sediments. A windowed crosscorrelation-based confidence level is used to control the quality of the residual computation. The confidence level is further used as an inverse weighting to precondition the data residual so that the convergence rates in shallow and deep images are automatically balanced. It also helps suppress the strong artifacts related to the salt boundary. The efficiency of the LSRTM is improved so that interpretable images in the area of interest can be obtained in only a few iterations. After removing the artifacts near the salt body using LSRTM, the image better represents the true geology than the outcome of conventional RTM; thus, it facilitates the interpretation. Synthetic and field data examples examine and demonstrate the effectiveness of the adaptive strategies.
Start as you mean to carry on: The emerging evidence base for the treatment of conflict-related mental health difficulties in children and adolescents
Authors: Meiser-Stedman Richard , Allen Leila R.
Published: April 2017

In this editorial, we discuss Morina and colleagues' meta-analysis of psychological therapies for youth with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression following conflict. Recent years have seen significantly more randomised controlled trial evidence addressing the needs of this population. More work is needed to understand post-traumatic depression, dissemination, timing of intervention and whether trauma-focused interventions are essential.
[5.5]-P-Spirocyclic Chiral Triaminoiminophosphorane-Catalyzed Asymmetric Hydrophosphonylation of Aldehydes and Ynones
Authors: Uraguchi Daisuke , Ito Takaki , Kimura Yuto , Nobori Yumiko , Sato Makoto , Ooi Takashi
Published: April 2017

Development of highly efficient and enantioselective hydrophosphonylations of aldehydes and ynones mediated by [5.5]-P-spirocyclic chiral triaminoiminophosphoranes as base catalysts is described. The strong basicity of the iminophosphoranes and hydrogen-bond donating ability of their conjugate acids, tetraaminophosphonium ions, are critical for the facile generation of aminophosphonium phosphites with substantial nucleophilicity as well as for the subsequent selective, yet productive, P-C bond formation by suppressing undesired side reactions. The scope and limitations of these catalytic asymmetric methodologies are also reported.
Early clinical applications for imaging at microscopic detail: microfocus computed tomography (micro-CT)
Authors: Hutchinson J Ciaran , Shelmerdine Susan C , Simcock Ian C , Sebire Neil J , Arthurs Owen J
Published: April 2017

Microfocus CT (micro-CT) has traditionally been used in industry and preclinical studies, although it may find new applicability in the routine clinical setting. It can provide high-resolution three-dimensional digital imaging data sets to the same level of detail as microscopic examination without the need for tissue dissection. Micro-CT is already enabling non-invasive detailed internal assessment of various tissue specimens, particularly in breast imaging and early gestational fetal autopsy, not previously possible from more conventional modalities such as MRI or CT. In this review, we discuss the technical aspects behind micro-CT image acquisition, how early work with small animal studies have informed our knowledge of human disease and the imaging performed so far on human tissue specimens. We conclude with potential future clinical applications of this novel and emerging technique.
Treatment with penicillin G and hydrocortisone reduces ALS-associated symptoms: a case series of three patients
Authors: Tuk Bert , Jousma Harmen , Gaillard Pieter J.
Published: April 2017

Three male Caucasian patients with ALS were admitted to the hospital due to progressive dysphagia and dysarthria.

During two 21-day courses of penicillin G and hydrocortisone, these patients’ dysphagia and dysarthria resolved. The patient’s other ALS-associated symptoms also improved, including respiratory function, coordination, walking, and muscle strength.

This is the first report of a treatment with a protocol for treating dysphagia, dysarthria, respiratory depression and other ALS-related symptoms. Furthermore, the observations are consistent with the recent hypothesis that the successful treatment of ALS symptoms with this treatment course in six patients with syphilitic ALS was not directly due to the treatment of syphilis; but that the administered penicillin G and/or hydrocortisone treated these patients’ ALS symptoms due the off-target pharmacological activity of penicillin G and/or hydrocortisone. This report therefore underscores the need to evaluate the efficacy of this treatment course in a clinical trial.
Midlife interventions are critical in prevention, delay, or improvement of Alzheimer’s disease and vascular cognitive impairment and dementia
Authors: Gandy Sam , Bartfai Tamas , Lees Graham V. , Sano Mary
Published: April 2017

The basic strategy for focusing exclusively on genetically identified targets for intervening in late life dementias was formulated 30 years ago.  Three decades and billions of dollars later, all efforts at disease-modifying interventions have failed.  Over that same period, evidence has accrued pointing to dementias as late-life clinical phenotypes that begin as midlife pathologies.  Effective prevention therefore may need to begin in midlife, in order to succeed. No current interventions are sufficiently safe to justify their use in midlife dementia prevention trials.  Observational studies could be informative in testing the proposal that amyloid imaging and APOEε4 genotype can predict those who are highly likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease and in whom higher risk interventions might be justifiable. A naturally occurring, diet-responsive cognitive decline syndrome occurs in canines that closely resembles human Alzheimer’s.  Canine cognitive dysfunction could be useful in estimating how early intervention must begin in order to succeed.  This model may also help identify and assess novel targets and strategies.  New approaches to dementia prevention are urgently required, since none of the world’s economies can sustain the costs of caring for this epidemic of brain failure that is devastating half of the over 85-year-olds globally.
Neofascism in the White House
Authors: Foster John Bellamy
Published: April 2017

Not only a new administration, but a new ideology has now taken up residence at the White House: neofascism. It resembles in certain ways the classical fascism of Italy and Germany in the 1920s and '30s, but with historically distinct features specific to the political economy and culture of the United States in the opening decades of the twenty-first century.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
Who Is Behind the Assault on Public Schools?
Authors: Ryan Howard
Published: April 2017

While the political conflicts and social ramifications of public school reform are well known, basic questions about the movement remain underexamined. Who really leads it? What are their motives? We need a deeper understanding of this movement, its drivers, and its underlying aims.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
A Teachers Union Against Itself: Organized Labor and the Crisis at City College of San Francisco
Authors: Baum Rick
Published: April 2017

How did a community college that had managed to serve and retain most of its student population and remain fiscally sound amid a recession and a budget crisis become the target of condemnation by accrediting authorities? The answer involves a disastrous collision of corporate education reform, administrative arrogance, and timid, undemocratic union leadership.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
'A New Revolutionary Subject': Marta Harnecker interviewed by Tassos Tsakiroglou
Authors: Harnecker Marta , Tsakiroglou Tassos
Published: April 2017

Although today there are some setbacks in the region, nobody can deny that there is a huge difference between the Latin America that Hugo Chávez inherited and the Latin America he left us. A new revolutionary subject has been created.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.
The Rise and Grand Fall of Sri Lanka’s Mahinda Rajapaksa
Authors: Edirisuriya Piyadasa
Published: April 2017

Mahinda Rajapaksa became the president of Sri Lanka in 2005 and ruled the country until his unexpected defeat in the presidential election of 2015. He crushed the militant and very powerful Tamil separatist group, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, by military force in 2009. Given his great power and popularity, his defeat in the 2015 election was an astonishing grand fall. This study examines the long rise of Mahinda Rajapaksa and his sudden fall.
“[We] had not the ties of blood to unite us”
Authors: Turner Beatrice
Published: April 2017

Beatrice Turner, “‘[We] had not the ties of blood to unite us’: Family Genius and Family Blood in William Godwin Jr.’s Transfusion” (pp. 457–484)

This essay recuperates Transfusion; or, the Orphans of Unwalden (1835), the posthumously published and forgotten novel of William Godwin’s only son, William Godwin Jr. It argues that Godwin Jr.’s absence from Godwin-Shelley circle scholarship is a critical oversight given the complex personal and intellectual relationship between writing and family, which, as numerous critics have noted, defines this circle of authors. Attention to Transfusion reveals a Gothic novel expressly concerned with articulating a biological idea of the family, dramatizing the fatal consequences of “porous” family arrangements that transgress the absolute boundaries erected by blood. Godwin Jr. mobilizes early-nineteenth-century proto-evolutionary discourses and biomedical theories in order to reject the viability of socially constructed or affective familial structures, reflecting cultural anxieties about how to define the family and, ultimately, the species. However, the novel’s deterministic account of family relations appears also directly to oppose the contractual family ideal that characterized both how Godwin Sr. imagined the family and, to a lesser extent, how the Godwin-Shelley family constituted itself. I argue that Transfusion speaks directly to Godwin Jr.’s “outsider” position in the family, interrogating how the Godwin-Shelley family imagines itself and its family “canon,” and opens up opportunities for significant further work on this writing family.