bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Allogenic Natural Killer Cell Immunotherapy Combined with Irreversible Electroporation for Stage IV Hepatocellular Carcinoma: Survival Outcome
Authors: Alnaggar Mohammed , Lin Mao , Mesmar Adnan , Liang Shuzhen , Qaid Ammar , Xu Kecheng , Chen Jibing , Niu Lizhi , Yin Zhinan
Published: August 2018

Background/Aims: We evaluated the clinical effectiveness of irreversible electroporation (IRE) in combination with immunotherapy using allogenic natural killer cells (NK) for stage IV hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Methods: The study involved 40 patients with stage IV HCC who were divided equally into two groups: 1) simple IRE; and 2) IRE plus allogenic NK cells (IRE-NK); we mainly assessed the overall survival (OS). Results: The effect of the IRE-NK treatment was synergistic, i.e., not only did it enhance immune function, it also decreased alpha-fetoprotein expression and showed significantly good clinical effectiveness. At the median 7.6-month follow-up (range, 3.8–12.1 months), median OS was higher in the IRE-NK group (10.1 months) than in the IRE group (8.9 months, P = 0.0078). Conclusion: IRE combined with allogeneic NK cell immunotherapy significantly increases the median OS of patients with stage IV HCC.
Dihydroartemisinin Increases the Sensitivity of Photodynamic Therapy Via NF-κB/HIF-1α/VEGF Pathway in Esophageal Cancer Cell in vitro and in vivo
Authors: Li Yanjing , Sui Hong , Jiang Cailing , Li Shumin , Han Yu , Huang Peng , Du Xiaoxue , Du Jingwen , Bai Yuxian
Published: August 2018

Background/Aims: Although photodynamic therapy (PDT) can relieve esophageal obstruction and prolong survival time of patients with esophageal cancer, it can induce nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activation in many cancers, which plays a negative role in PDT. Dihydroartemisinin (DHA), the most potent artemisinin derivative, can enhance the effect of PDT on esophageal cancer cells. However, the mechanism is still unclear. Methods: We generated stable cell lines expressing the super-repressor form of the NF-κB inhibitor IκBα and cell lines with lentivirus vector-mediated silencing of the HIF-1α gene. Esophageal xenograft tumors were created by subcutaneous injection of Eca109 cells into BALB/c nude mice. Four treatment groups were analyzed: a control group, photosensitizer alone group, light alone group, and PDT group. NF-κB expression was detected by an electrophoretic mobility shift assay, hypoxia-inducible factor α (HIF-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) by real-time PCR, NF-κB, HIF-1α, and VEGF protein by western blot, and Ki-67, HIF-1α, VEGF, and NF-κB protein by immunohistochemistry. Results: PDT increased NF-κB activity and the gene expression of HIF-1α and VEGF in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, the DHA groups, particularly the combined DHA and PDT treatment group, abolished the effect. The combined treatment significantly inhibited tumor growth in vitro and in vivo. NF-κB activity and HIF-1α expression were also reduced in the stable IκBα expression group, whereas the former showed no change in HIF-1α-silenced cells. Conclusion: DHA might increase the sensitivity of esophageal cancer cells to PDT by inhibiting the NF-κB/HIF-1α/VEGF pathway.
U-Pb dating, Lu-Hf isotope systematics and chemistry of zircon from the Morro do Polvilho meta-trachydacite: constraints on sources of magmatism and on the depositional age of the São Roque Group
Authors: Henrique-Pinto Renato , Janasi Valdecir De Assis , Campanha Ginaldo Ademar da Cruz
Published: August 2018

We present new in situ geochronological data of controversial silicic metavolcanic rocks from the lower terrigenous-metavolcanic sequence of the São Roque Group, Ribeira Belt, confirming that they are older than the rocks of higher-metamorphic grade sequences of the Serra do Itaberaba Group. The age of the Polvilho meta-trachydacite was established at 1760 ± 17 Ma, furthermore the results suggest that the bi-modal volcanism of the Boturuna Formation has parent melts from an old (Archean to Paleoproterozoic) continental crust that was melted in a within-plate environment. Trace-element chemistry of zircon, suggests similarities with high-temperature melts (T Zrsat = 900–915ºC) similar to A-type granites (high negative EuN/EuN* and moderate positive CeN/CeN*) from continental sources under reducing conditions.
Alienating the Familiar with CGI: A Recipe for Making a Full CGI Art House Animated Feature
Authors: Charisse Paul , Counsell Alex
Published: August 2018

This paper is an exploration of the processes used and ideas behind an animated full CGI feature film project that attempts to reach blockbuster production values, while retaining Art House sensibilities. It examines methods used to achieve these production values in an academic production environment and ways costs can be minimized while high quality levels are retained. It also examines the film’s status as an Art House project, by comparing its narrative design and use of symbolism to existing works of Art House cinema.
CASTING: Site-Specific Projection Mapping Installation
Authors: Kang Yiyun
Published: August 2018

This paper investigates CASTING, Yiyun Kang’s site-specific projection mapping installation at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, U.K., and the acquisition of the piece by the V&A in the following year. It identifies how CASTING developed distinctive properties in the field of projected moving-image installation artworks and how these novel characteristics were reflected in the acquisition by the V&A.
Entropy and FatFinger: Challenging the Compulsiveness of Code with Programmatic Anti-Styles
Authors: Temkin Daniel
Published: August 2018

Coding, the translating of human intent into logical steps, reinforces a compulsive way of thinking, as described in Joseph Weitzenbaum’s “Science and the Compulsive Programmer” (1976). Two projects by the author, Entropy (2010) and FatFinger (2017), challenge this by encouraging gestural approaches to code. In the Entropy programming language, data becomes slightly more approximate each time it is used, drifting from its original values, forcing programmers to be less precise. FatFinger, a Javascript dialect, allows the programmer to misspell code and interprets it as the closest runnable variation, strategically guessing at the programmer’s intent.
Significant Geographies
Authors: Laachir Karima , Marzagora Sara , Orsini Francesca
Published: August 2018

One of the problems with current theories of world literature is that the term “world” is insufficiently probed and theorized. As a category, “world” is too generic and suggests a continuity and seamlessness that are both deceptive and self-fulfilling. Easy invocations of “world” and “global” (novel, literary marketplace) replicate the blindspots that Sanjay Krishnan identified when he called the global an instituted perspective, with macro-theories drawing unproblematically on theories of globalization elaborated in the social sciences. Instead, in our comparative project Multilingual Locals and Significant Geographies we argue that to theorize world literature taking on board the complexities, layers and multiplicity of “literatures in the world” (as S. Shankar prefers to call it), we need a richer spatial imagination of the “world.” Here we propose the notion of “significant geographies” as the conceptual, imaginative, and real geographies that texts, authors, and language communities inhabit, produce, and reach out to.
Comparison of Clinical Presentation and Surgical Outcomes Between Recurrent Acute Rhinosinusitis and Chronic Rhinosinusitis
Authors: Sohn Hyun Gi , Park Seung Jin , Ryu In Sun , Lim Hyun Woo , Song Yong Jin , Yeo Nam-Kyung
Published: August 2018

Introduction:

The authors assessed clinical presentations and anatomic variants among patients with recurrent acute rhinosinusitis (RARS), chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) without nasal polyps (CRSsNP), and CRS with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). Additionally, differences in the postoperative improvement of each category were evaluated.

Methods:

The authors performed an analysis of 304 patients who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery. They were divided into groups with RARS, CRSsNP, and CRSwNP. Patients had to complete the Sino-Nasal Outcome Test (SNOT-20) on surgery 1 day before and 6 months after surgery. Patient demographics and comorbidities were reviewed. We reviewed all patients’ computed tomographic findings to analyze anatomic variants.

Results:

No significant differences were found among the average preoperative SNOT-20 scores of the 3 groups. Patients with RARS were significantly more likely to show agger nasi cells, Haller cells, and septal deviation on computed tomography. Those with CRSwNP had significantly smaller mean infundibular widths. All groups showed significantly improved SNOT-20 scores postoperatively.

Conclusion:

The different anatomic variants found among patients with RARS, CRSsNP, and CRSwNP can facilitate surgical prognostic evaluation.
Quantification of urinary sodium concentrations in term infants
Authors: Cullis Paul S , Cull Frith , Bruce Gordon , Johnston Allan , Patel Hetal , Jackson Lesley , Galloway Peter , Walker Gregor
Published: August 2018

Background

Infants with gastrointestinal conditions and poor weight gain are administered sodium supplementation based on urinary sodium concentrations. However, the reference range of urinary electrolytes is unknown. The aim of this study was to ascertain the normal values of urinary electrolytes in healthy, term infants. Secondary aims were to establish the relationship between urinary electrolytes with weight velocity and feeding practices.

Methods

Healthy, term (≥37 weeks’ gestation) infants were recruited. Parental questionnaires were completed before discharge and at six weeks. Electrolytes were quantified from a urine sample at six weeks. t-Tests and Mann-Whitney U tests were conducted for parametric and non-parametric electrolytes, respectively.

Results

A total of 200 infants were recruited before discharge. Twenty-nine follow-up questionnaires and urine samples were returned (nine female; mean gestational age 39 + 6 weeks [SD 9.9 days]; mean birthweight 3350 g [SD 483 g]; 17 breastfed, nine formula and three mixed; mean change in Z score for weight –0.914 [SD 0.814]). Majority (25/29) of infants had urinary sodium <20 mmo/L. Change in Z score for weight was similar between infants with sodium <20 mmol/L and >20 mmol/L ( P = 0.78). All exclusively breastfed infants had sodium <20 mmol/L, however, not statistically dissimilar to formula-fed infants ( P = 0.27).

Conclusion

Most term infants in this study had urinary sodium values <20 mmol/L with no identified relationship to weight velocity. Lower concentrations of sodium could be not quantified reliably because of the limitations of the analytical method that were used. More evidence is required to identify candidates for sodium supplementation.
Specialized psychotherapies for adults with borderline personality disorder: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Oud Matthijs , Arntz Arnoud , Hermens Marleen LM , Verhoef Rogier , Kendall Tim
Published: August 2018

Objective:

Borderline personality disorder affects up to 2% of the population and is associated with poor functioning, low quality of life and increased mortality. Psychotherapy is the treatment of choice, but it is unclear whether specialized psychotherapies (dialectical behavior therapy, mentalization-based treatment, transference-focused therapy and schema therapy) are more effective than non-specialized approaches (e.g. protocolized psychological treatment, general psychiatric management). The aim of this systematic review is to investigate the effectiveness of these psychotherapies.

Methods:

PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, EMBASE and CENTRAL were searched from inception to November 2017. Included randomized controlled trials were assessed on risk of bias and outcomes were meta-analyzed. Confidence in the results was assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation method. The review has been reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

Results:

A total of 20 studies with 1375 participants were included. Specialized psychotherapies, when compared to treatment as usual or community treatment by experts, were associated with a medium effect based on moderate quality evidence on overall borderline personality disorder severity (standardized mean difference = –0.59 [95% confidence interval: –0.90, –0.28]), and dialectical behavior therapy, when compared to treatment as usual, with a small to medium effect on self-injury (standardized mean difference = –0.40 [95% confidence interval: –0.66, –0.13]). Other effect estimates were often inconclusive, mostly due to imprecision.

Conclusion:

There is moderate quality evidence that specialized psychotherapies are effective in reducing overall borderline personality disorder severity. However, further research should identify which patient groups profit most of the specialized therapies.
Family Functioning in Pediatric Primary Care Patients
Authors: Van Fossen Catherine A. , Pratt Keeley J. , Murray Robert , Skelton Joseph A.
Published: August 2018

Introduction. The purpose of this study was to pilot a brief measure of family functioning (Family Assessment Device–General Functioning [FAD_GF]) with caregivers of children aged 2 to 18 years, seen for routine pediatric primary care visits. Methods. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the FAD_GF in a pediatric primary care sample of 400 families. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to validate the FAD_GF using R, and WLSMV was used to estimate missing variables. Results. The FAD_GF was found to be reliable with this sample, α = .90. The model fit was χ2(54) = 56.44, P = .38, with root mean square error of approximation = .01 and comparative fit index = .99. The 12 items were significantly predicted by family functioning, and family functioning explained more than 20% of the variance in the items, R2 > .25. Overall, 12.6% (n = 46) of families were identified as having clinically impaired family functioning. Discussion. The FAD_GF provides clinicians the ability to make evidence-informed decisions regarding referrals to family therapists.
Missed Opportunities to Address Pregnancy Prevention With Young Men in Primary Care
Authors: Wheeler Noah J. , Pilgrim Nanlesta , Jennings Jacky M. , Sanders Renata , Page Kathleen R. , Loosier Penny S. , Dittus Patricia J. , Marcell Arik V.
Published: August 2018

Young men (aged 15-24 years) have pregnancy prevention needs, yet little is known about whether they perceive they learn about pregnancy prevention in primary care. A sample of 190 young men seen in primary care in one city from April 2014 to September 2016 were assessed on perceived learning about pregnancy prevention, background and visit characteristics, pregnancy prevention care receipt, and contraception needs at last sex. The majority of participants were non-Hispanic black (92%), aged 15 to 19 years (54%), seen for a physical examination (52%), and established patients (87%). Few participants perceived they learned about pregnancy prevention (32%), regardless of sexual activity (33% among sexually active participants, 26% among never sexually active). Poisson regression models determined that perceived learning about pregnancy prevention was independently associated with young men’s pregnancy prevention care receipt and contraception needs at last sex. Findings highlight the need to improve providers’ delivery of pregnancy prevention services to young men.
The Effects of Sample Size on the Estimation of Regression Mixture Models
Authors: Jaki Thomas , Kim Minjung , Lamont Andrea , George Melissa , Chang Chi , Feaster Daniel , Van Horn M. Lee
Published: August 2018

Regression mixture models are a statistical approach used for estimating heterogeneity in effects. This study investigates the impact of sample size on regression mixture’s ability to produce “stable” results. Monte Carlo simulations and analysis of resamples from an application data set were used to illustrate the types of problems that may occur with small samples in real data sets. The results suggest that (a) when class separation is low, very large sample sizes may be needed to obtain stable results; (b) it may often be necessary to consider a preponderance of evidence in latent class enumeration; (c) regression mixtures with ordinal outcomes result in even more instability; and (d) with small samples, it is possible to obtain spurious results without any clear indication of there being a problem.
Automation Expectation Mismatch: Incorrect Prediction Despite Eyes on Threat and Hands on Wheel
Authors: Victor Trent W. , Tivesten Emma , Gustavsson Pär , Johansson Joel , Sangberg Fredrik , Ljung Aust Mikael
Published: August 2018

Objective:

The aim of this study was to understand how to secure driver supervision engagement and conflict intervention performance while using highly reliable (but not perfect) automation.

Background:

Securing driver engagement—by mitigating irony of automation (i.e., the better the automation, the less attention drivers will pay to traffic and the system, and the less capable they will be to resume control) and by communicating system limitations to avoid mental model misconceptions—is a major challenge in the human factors literature.

Method:

One hundred six drivers participated in three test-track experiments in which we studied driver intervention response to conflicts after driving highly reliable but supervised automation. After 30 min, a conflict occurred wherein the lead vehicle cut out of lane to reveal a conflict object in the form of either a stationary car or a garbage bag.

Results:

Supervision reminders effectively maintained drivers’ eyes on path and hands on wheel. However, neither these reminders nor explicit instructions on system limitations and supervision responsibilities prevented 28% (21/76) of drivers from crashing with their eyes on the conflict object (car or bag).

Conclusion:

The results uncover the important role of expectation mismatches, showing that a key component of driver engagement is cognitive (understanding the need for action), rather than purely visual (looking at the threat), or having hands on wheel.

Application:

Automation needs to be designed either so that it does not rely on the driver or so that the driver unmistakably understands that it is an assistance system that needs an active driver to lead and share control.
“As Natural as the Air Around Us”: On the Origin and Development of the Concept of Structural Violence in Health Research
Authors: De Maio Fernando , Ansell David
Published: August 2018

This article examines the concept of “structural violence.” Originating in the work of Johan Galtung in 1969 and popularized by Paul Farmer, structural violence is increasingly invoked in health literature. It is a complex concept – rich in its explanatory potential but vague in its operational definition and arguably limited in its theoretical precision. Its potential lies in the focus it gives to the deep structural roots of health inequities; in contrast to the more passive term “social determinants of health,” structural violence explicitly identifies social, economic, and political systems as the causes of the causes of poor health. It is also evocative in its framing of health inequities as an act of violence. Yet the formulation of structure used in this literature is largely atheoretical and, by extension, apolitical. Development of the concept hinges on clarifying the precise aspects of structure it points to (perhaps through using the concept in conjunction with larger theoretical frameworks) as well as improving operational definitions to enable its use in quantitative social epidemiology. We argue that the concept of structural violence can provide a useful lens for understanding health inequities, but its full potential is only realized when combined with larger theoretical frameworks.
Experimental analysis of the response of fiber Bragg grating sensors under non-uniform strain field in a twill woven composite
Authors: Kharshiduzzaman M , Gianneo A , Bernasconi A
Published: August 2018

Fiber Bragg grating optical sensors are nowadays widely employed for strain measurement for structural health monitoring and in experimental mechanics. Compared to other techniques, i.e. electrical strain gauges, fiber Bragg grating offer immunity to electromagnetic interference and allow for long transmission lead lines. Moreover, thanks to multiplexing interrogation, several sensors can be photo-imprinted into a single fiber core allowing for strain evaluation at multiple locations simultaneously. They have high adaptability to composite materials, particularly because it is possible to be embedded into laminates without affecting their strength and stiffness. Fiber Bragg grating strain measurements are based on the detection of the wavelength shift of their peak reflected spectrum. However, subjected to strain gradients, the spectral response of fiber Bragg grating sensors may be distorted and the sharp peak may not be retained. In this work, the response of fiber Bragg grating sensors having different grating lengths and bonded to the surface of a carbon fiber-reinforced twill woven laminate was analyzed. The analysis combined transfer matrix (T-matrix) with digital image correlation methods. Digital image correlation technique was used to capture the non-uniform strain fields in the woven composites and measured strains were employed in T-Matrix algorithm to simulate fiber Bragg grating response. Using this approach, the effect of the length of the fiber Bragg grating on the strain measurement is assessed and results discussed. Moreover, it is shown that T-matrix formulation combined with a non-contact strain field measurement technique, as DIC, is an appropriate technique to simulate the behavior of fiber Bragg grating bonded to composite materials of complex microstructure.
Worcester Lads Learn Trades
Authors: Jameson Albert J.
Published: August 2018

Industry was loath to believe, until convinced by its own eyes, that school and shop could be successfully combined. City and commonwealth are partners in maintaining the institution here described.
Health Teaching in Newton
Authors: Roy Calista
Published: August 2018

A dozen years of intelligent, persistent effort along health lines in the schools of Newton have yielded amazing results. Underweight children numbered 25 per cent in 1919. Now they constitute only three per cent.
Education Guidance for Wage Earners
Authors: Ford James
Published: August 2018

A workingmen's school in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has changed to a clearing house of information for adults seeking educational opportunities.
Truancy Reduced in Providence
Authors: Redding W. F.
Published: August 2018

The causes of delinquency are early discovered and treated. Last year only twenty truancy cases in a school population of about 58,000 were brought into court.
What a College Education is Supposed to Do
Authors: Park J. Edgar
Published: August 2018

“A college does not attempt to produce lumber for immediate use in industry; it produces trees with a future of many-sided usefulness…. It produces some failures. It should be judged by its whole product.”
Books that are Being Talked About
Authors: Rugg Winnifred King
Published: August 2018

This article seeks to help the busy professional man or woman to select from the yearly flood of new literature a few titles which have challenged special attention.
Making the Library a Real Asset
Authors: Weaver David A.
Published: August 2018

A library may be well equipped and still be only a liability to a school. This article tells how libraries can aid learning.
Assemblies in Small High Schools
Authors: Johnston Alice Stone
Published: August 2018

Concrete suggestions are offered in this article for rendering the get-together of the school both interesting and valuable.
We Revolutionized Our Schools
Authors: Chapman J. L.
Published: August 2018

Something needed to be done—and local educational leaders found out what that something was and did it.
The High School Guidance Program
Authors: Brewer John M.
Published: August 2018

… What are its essentials?
An Experiment in Age Grouping
Authors: Helms G. P.
Published: August 2018

Wide disparities existed in a rural community created by resettlement. Eight major problems were encountered
Regimental Training
Authors: Rich Frank M.
Published: August 2018

“People's minds and characters develop only by what each one does for himself.”
Two-Way Reading
Authors: Champlin Carroll D.
Published: August 2018

Successful reading involves “a constructive give and take between the mind of the reader and the message of the writer.”
Dictionaries Don't Just Happen
Authors: Thompson Everett E.
Published: August 2018

The lexicographer has many problems, some of which — by invitation — a member of the craft has depicted here.
Do you Delegate Responsibility?
Authors: McNary C. W.
Published: August 2018

What to do and what to delegate — that's the question here answered for the principal or other executive.
The Canine Assault
Authors: Dunn James A.
Published: August 2018

Beware of reading this article if you ever hope to be comfortable again in using sarcasm!
Widening Children's Interests
Authors: Schnorrenberg Kathryn R.
Published: August 2018

The author found a way to “plant” a whole set of interests not there before.
War-Time Projects in One School
Authors: Bella Andrew
Published: August 2018

Students of Greenwich High School contribute in many ways to the nation's war effort.
Humanizing the gut microbiota of mice: Opportunities and challenges
Authors: Lundberg Randi
Published: August 2018

Mouse colonized with human fecal microbiota is an interesting model concept with pros and cons like any other model system. The concept provides an ecologically relevant context to study food component and drug metabolism, and is an invaluable tool for phenotype transfer studies to prove the role of the gut microbiota in health and disease. The major drawbacks are the difficulties with transferring certain components of the human microbiota to the recipient mice, and immunological abnormalities observed in these mice. There seem to be unexplored opportunities for trying to reduce these limitations, but careful evaluation of pros, cons and possible alternatives is still necessary.
Concurrent Criterion Validity of a Test of Usual Gait Speed in Older Adults
Authors: Higueras-Fresnillo S. , de la Cámara M. A. , Esteban-Cornejo I. , Rodríguez-Artalejo F. , Martinez-Gomez D.
Published: August 2018

Usual gait speed has been shown to have very good reliability and convincing predictive validity for evaluating older adults’ gait skills, but its criterion validity is unknown. We examined the criterion validity of the 8-feet (i.e., 2.44 meters) test in a laboratory environment to assess usual gait speed by comparing its results with the Intelligent Device for Energy Expenditure and Activity (IDEEA) monitor. Participants were 200 well-functioning community-dwelling adults aged 65 and older (113 women; 87 men; mean [M] age = 71.8, standard deviation [ SD] = 5.6 years). Participants wore the IDEEA monitor for 48 consecutive hours, and we used the participants’ average usual gait speed for the analysis. The Spearman correlation of usual gait speed using both the 8-feet test and IDEEA monitor was moderate and statistically significant (ρ = .364, p < .001). The mean difference between both methods was 0.20 ( SD = 0.27) meters/second, and the corresponding limits of agreement were 0.73 and −0.33 meters/second. There was a small systematic bias when the difference between the two methods was correlated with usual gait speed as measured by the IDEEA (ρ = −.20, p = .011). The perfect agreement (weighted kappa) of both instruments for classifying usual gait speed into tertiles, quartiles, and quintiles was 48.3% ( k = 0.17), 30.9% ( k = 0.23), and 25.4% ( k = 0.29), respectively. Our results indicate that the 8-feet test showed moderate criterion-related validity for evaluating and assessing usual gait speed test in older adults.
Local ‘formulas of peace’: Religious diversity and state-interfaith governance in Germany
Authors: Körs Anna , Nagel Alexander-Kenneth
Published: August 2018

Religious pluralization in line with participatory policy approaches has led to a new field of cooperative governance of religious diversity. This article explores the collaboration between state and (inter-) religious actors in two metropolitan regions in Germany, namely Hamburg and Rhine-Ruhr. Drawing upon qualitative fieldwork, this article provides a systematic analysis of discursive and structural measures of state-interfaith governance in the two regions. It clearly shows that state-interfaith governance gains in importance and is practiced in various forms depending on the contextual setting. Based on this, comparative case analysis shows that state-interfaith governance in Germany is characterized by (1) a prominent role of the established churches; (2) a potential of accommodating religious diversity which is, however, restricted by a narrow orientation of the world-religion model and the predominant focus on Islam; and (3) takes place in a complex multi level setting which calls for further investigation.
Pratiques religieuses et production de l’espace public en migration : comparaison entre deux champs migratoires
Authors: Odgers Ortiz Olga , Calderón Bony Frida , Timera Mahamet
Published: August 2018

By observing the presence of what we consider a ‘religious tool’ – a set of expressions convened to stimulate a territorialization of religious practices – we present religious practices identified as a base of spatial production in public space, in migratory contexts. By comparing the Mexico–United States migratory field (with Catholic migrants in Los Angeles) and that of Senegal–France (with Muslim migrants of Soninké origin in Paris), we show the similarities and differences that religious practice produce in terms of spatial anchoring in the public space. We conclude that dissimilarities are mainly a consequence of a differential management of religion – in its relation to ethnicity – in the public space within host societies, and are scarcely related to the specificities of Catholicism and Islam.
The Victory of Jesus in Barth’s Conception of Eternity
Authors: Hoon Lee Sang
Published: August 2018

Karl Barth has developed the Boethian concept of eternity as simultaneity by placing the person of Jesus Christ at the center of God’s eternity. Even though it is a momentous achievement, Barth’s conception still stands in need of clarification or modification, for otherwise it might impugn the victory of Jesus Christ unwittingly, since it logically entails a problematic notion of the simultaneity of Jesus’ past, present, and future. It follows that his past of death is never gone but simultaneously present in the divine eternal Now. To avoid this problematic ambivalence, I will suggest that even in God’s eternity there must be the indicator of God’s Now, the flowing “now” from the past to the future. And yet, my suggestion will not depart from the concept of simultaneity in God’s omniscience.
Appreciating Faith and Culture in an Age of Scientific Reasoning: On Constructive-Critical Realism
Authors: Losch Andreas
Published: August 2018

Given its societal influence today, science is often thought to be more than just a technical approach to establish empirical observations that work. Although interpretations may vary, what generally is at stake since Galilei is the question of truth, of revealing the way the world we live in really is. Are science and theology hence dealing with the same question? Are they competing on the same territory or can they complement each other? The idea of critical realism assumes a fruitful relation and even parallelism between the two. It needs to be modified to constructive-critical realism to give the domain of culture its due weight in the concert of disciplines. This is important for theology as a cultural discipline.
Assessing the effects of a parenting education program on parental ability to use positive behavior control strategies
Authors: Ogidan Rotimi , Ofoha Dorothy
Published: August 2018

A parenting education program delivered to a sample of parents of young children aged 3–12 years who often used negative behavior control strategies to discipline their children was evaluated for effectiveness using a quasi-experimental design. Parents ( n = 150) who received parenting education program intervention program for 8 weeks (weekly 2 hr session) were compared with parents ( n = 150) who did not go through the program. The program’s effectiveness was evaluated with regard to changes in parental disciplinary behavior through observation of parent–child interactions during home visits. Data were collected across three time periods using home observation checklist. Significant improvements in parenting skills were observed as many parents were seen using verbal praise and other positive strategies in dealing with their children; a feat that was lacking before to intervention. The analysis of covariance revealed a significant treatment effect on parenting behavior F(2, 248) = 23.39, p < .05, with the intervention parents demonstrating greater ability to use positive behavior control strategies than did the comparison parents. The magnitude of the effect size was medium (partial η² = .072). This effect persisted over a 12-week follow-up period. These findings indicated that the parenting education program could be effective in helping parents improve their parenting skills and support the parents in creating a safe and supportive home environment that prevent children’s exposure to physical abuse.
Cannabis Use in an English Community
Authors: Taylor Stuart , Beckett Wilson Helen , Barrett Giles , Jamieson Janet , Grindrod Lauren
Published: August 2018

Cannabis occupies an ambiguous social, cultural, economic, and legal position, meaning that the way communities construct, interact with, and interpret drug markets is a complicated and uncertain process. This article seeks to explain these ambiguities by investigating the place of cannabis use in a UK borough, drawing on qualitative empirical data collated from a sample ( N = 68) of practitioners, local residents, cannabis users, and their families. In doing so, the article employs the concept of liminality (whereby individuals and spaces occupy a position at both ends of a threshold) to explore how community behaviors and norms relate to issues of space, harm, and drug policy. The article contextualizes the position of cannabis use within the fieldwork site, exploring a series of competing contradictions that divided participants between the rhetoric and reality of drug prohibition. Drug prohibition suggests cannabis use to be dangerous, which prompted concern. However, the lived reality of prohibition for residents sat in stark juxtaposition: The drug was used commonly and publicly, was effectively decriminalized, and its use (reluctantly) accommodated. This malaise placed residents within what is described here as the liminality of drug prohibition, in which notions of the licit and illicit became blurred and whereby the illegality of cannabis augmented anxieties yet simultaneously proved a barrier to addressing them. In conclusion, the current study provides further evidence of prohibitionist drug policy proliferating rather than mitigating drug-related harms.
The brief Experiences in Close Relationships Scale - Revised Child version (ECR-RC): Factor structure and invariance across middle childhood and early adolescence
Authors: Marci Tatiana , Moscardino Ughetta , Altoè Gianmarco
Published: August 2018

The recently developed short form of the Experiences in Close Relationships Scale-Revised Child version (ECR-RC) is a promising tool to assess anxious and avoidant attachment in children and adolescents. Yet, evidence concerning its validity in middle childhood is limited. This study aimed to test the psychometric properties of the 12-item ECR-RC for both mother and father forms in a sample of 448 Italian children (50.2% girls) aged between 8 and 13 years. The scale was adapted by changing the response format to make it more understandable for young children. Psychometric proprieties of the brief ECR-RC were investigated by testing its factor structure and internal consistency, invariance across middle childhood and early adolescence, and concurrent and convergent validity. A series of confirmatory factor analyses provided support for the two-factor structure (i.e., anxiety and avoidance) of the ECR-RC, and multi-group confirmatory factor analyses supported its invariance across middle childhood and early adolescence. Older children reported significantly higher latent mean values in avoidant attachment to both parents compared to their younger counterparts. Furthermore, the questionnaire showed evidence of concurrent and convergent validity. Our results indicate that the 12-item version of the ECR-RC is a psychometrically robust instrument to assess avoidance and anxiety toward mother and father among Italian children and early adolescents.
Performing a Myth to Make a Market: The construction of the ‘magical world’ of Santa
Authors: Palo Teea , Mason Katy , Roscoe Philip
Published: August 2018

If you believe in Santa, do not read this paper. Through an in-depth, qualitative, empirical study, we follow the Santa myth to a remote northern location in Lapland, Finland where, for one month a year, multiple actors come together to create a tourist market offering: the chance to visit Santa in his ‘magical world’. We explore how the myth is transformed into reality through performative, organisational speech acts, whereby felicitous conditions for the performance of visits to Santa are embedded in a complex socio-material network. We develop the performative turn (Gond et al., 2016) in organisational studies by introducing a new category of speech act, ‘translocution’, a compendium of imagining, discussing, proposing, negotiating and contracting that transforms the myth into a model of an imaginary-real world. Through translocutionary acts, actors calculate, organise the socio-material networks of the market, and manage the considerable uncertainty inherent in its operation. Details of the myth become market facts, while commercial constructs fade into the imaginary. The result, when felicitous conditions are achieved, is a ‘Merry Christmas’ of magical, performative power.
La Apatrida and TPS: Counter-Hegemonic News and Reclaiming Dignity in Haitian National Newspapers
Authors: Roberts Shearon
Published: August 2018

This study examined the news coverage of two immigration stories involving Haitian migrants that made international headlines. Those two news stories were (a) the deportation of Dominicans of Haitian descent and (b) the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for displaced Haitians residing in the United States after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. This study sampled 198 Haitian newspaper articles over the 6-month period that both stories made global headlines in 2015 and then in 2017. The two Haitian national newspapers Le Nouvelliste, the country’s paper of record, and Le Nacional, the country’s newest daily, affirmed the rights and dignity of people of Haitian origin displaced by policy attributed as xenophobic and racist. Haitian newspapers described Haitian migrant families as being equally Dominican, regardless of their status, and in the United States, as being lawful migrants with rights under TPS. Haitian newspapers varied in their coverage of the governments of the two countries, being more critical of the administration of President Donald Trump, but more nuanced in their coverage of the Dominican Republic’s government.
Cardioplegia practice in paediatric cardiac surgery: a UK & Ireland survey
Authors: Drury Nigel E. , Horsburgh Angela , Bi Rehana , Willetts Robert G. , Jones Timothy J.
Published: August 2018

Introduction:

Many techniques are available for cardioplegic arrest in children, but there is a lack of late phase clinical trials to guide practice. We surveyed paediatric cardiac surgeons and perfusionists to establish current practice and willingness to change within a clinical trial.

Methods:

An online survey was sent to all consultant paediatric cardiac surgeons and chief perfusionists in paediatric centres in the UK and Ireland. Information was sought on cardioplegia type, composition, temperature, topical cooling, dosing for induction and maintenance, interval between doses, whether practice changed with patient age or complexity and whether respondents would be willing and able to use different cardioplegia solutions within a randomised trial.

Results:

Responses were obtained from 32 (78.0%) surgeons and 12 (100%) perfusionists. Twenty-seven (84.4%) surgeons use blood cardioplegia in infants, with St. Thomas’ Harefield preparation the most popular (19, 59.4%), used routinely in eight (66.7%) centres. Twenty-two (68.8%) administer at 4-6°C, 18 (56.3%) use topical cooling, 18 (56.3%) give 30 ml/kg induction and 15 ml/kg maintenance, with 23 (71.9%) re-dosing every 20-25 minutes. Thirty (93.8%) surgeons were open to randomising patients in a trial, with del Nido (29, 90.6%) the most popular.

Conclusions:

This survey demonstrates heterogeneity in cardioplegia practice. Whilst most surgeons use blood cardioplegia, there is variation in type, temperature, topical cooling, dosing and intervals. Combined with a lack of evidence from late phase trials, our findings support the presence of clinical equipoise. Surgeons are willing to change practice, suggesting that a pragmatic, multi-centre, randomised, controlled trial of cardioplegia in children is feasible.
Lactobacillus plantarum IS-10506 probiotic administration increases amlodipine absorption in a rabbit model
Authors: Saputri Febrina A. , Kang Devinna , Kusuma Arif S. W. , Rusdiana Taofik , Hasanah Aliya N. , Mutakin  , Surono Ingrid S. , Koyama Hiroshi , Abdulah Rizky
Published: August 2018

Objective

Probiotics are beneficial in human health. In this study, we investigated the effect of probiotics on absorption of amlodipine, a dihydropyridine calcium antagonist used in the treatment of angina and hypertension, in a rabbit model.

Methods

Lactobacillus plantarum IS-10506 probiotic was administered for 14 days to male New Zealand rabbits. Blood samples were collected before and after probiotic supplementation. Amlodipine (10 mg) was then administered to all groups. Blood samples from a marginal vein were withdrawn at 5, 15, 30, 60, and 120 minutes to determine amlodipine concentrations in rabbit plasma.

Results

Amlodipine concentrations in the L. plantarum IS-10506 group were 4.95 ± 1.22, 8.71 ± 0.69, and 12.48 ± 2.53 ng/ml, and those in the control group were 1.69 ± 0.31, 3.89 ± 1.23, and 7.17 ± 1.85 ng/ml at 30, 60, and 120 minutes, respectively after administration of amlodipine. Amlodipine concentrations in the L. plantarum IS-10506 group were significantly higher than those in the control group at 30, 60, and 120 minutes after amlodipine administration.

Conclusion

Our results suggested that supplementation of L. plantarum IS-10506 significantly increases amlodipine plasma concentrations in rabbits.
Relationship between vasomotor symptoms and metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women
Authors: Sayan Sena , Pekin Tanju , Yıldızhan Begüm
Published: August 2018

Objective

This study was performed to compare the vasomotor symptoms and bone mineral density of postmenopausal women with and without metabolic syndrome.

Methods

We performed a cross-sectional study of 200 postmenopausal women attending routine health check-ups at Marmara Faculty of Medicine Pendik Training and Research Hospital from June 2015 to December 2015. The vasomotor symptoms scored were hot flashes and night sweats. Metabolic syndrome was defined using the consensus criteria of the International Diabetes Federation and the American Heart Association/National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Results

Women with vasomotor symptoms had no metabolic syndrome and were younger than those without vasomotor symptoms. There was no significant difference in vasomotor symptoms between patients with osteopenia in the femoral neck, total femur, and spine and patients with normal bone mineral density. The vasomotor symptoms were similar between smokers and nonsmokers.

Conclusion

The presence of metabolic symptoms is inversely associated with metabolic syndrome in postmenopausal women. Lipid abnormalities and a high body mass index may be important metabolic components associated with these symptoms. No relationship is present between vasomotor symptoms and the bone mineral density of the spine, femoral neck, and total femur.
Young People Under Youth Justice Supervision With Varying Child Protection Histories: An Analysis of Group Differences
Authors: Malvaso Catia G. , Delfabbro Paul H. , Day Andrew , Nobes Gavin
Published: August 2018

There is now convincing evidence that childhood maltreatment is associated with youth offending; however, relatively little is known about the characteristics and needs of those who are involved in both the child protection and youth justice systems, and the extent to which these might differ according to level of child protection involvement. This study reports the characteristics and needs of 2,045 young people who were under supervision in secure custody or detention in South Australia between 1995 and 2012 according to the level of exposure to the child protection system in an Australian jurisdiction. Five groups of young offenders were compared: (a) no known child protection notifications or substantiated experience of abuse and/or neglect, (b) notifications only, (c) substantiated notifications, (d) notifications or substantiations and subsequent placement in out-of-home care (OHC), and (e) placement in OHC only. The results indicate that young people who have a history of child protection system involvement have significantly greater and more complex needs than those who have no child protection experience. It is concluded that different service responses may be required to meet the diverse needs of these groups of young people under youth justice supervision.
Analysis of Rear-End Conflicts in Urban Networks using Bayesian Networks
Authors: Stylianou Katerina , Dimitriou Loukas
Published: August 2018

Crash analysis and modeling studies have provided insightful information on crash-contributing factors and the methodologies utilized provide evidence that they could also be beneficial for conflict analysis, as traffic conflict data share similar traits with crash data. In this study, a Bayesian network (BN) is estimated to comprehensively analyze rear-end conflict likelihood in an urban network, using disaggregate vehicle-by-vehicle data and the time-to-collision indicator to identify conflicts. The variables imported in the BN include (i) individual driver characteristics (e.g., speed); (ii) traffic operational characteristics (e.g., volume); and (iii) general characteristics (e.g., weather conditions). The inference analyses of the BN conducted to quantify the contributions of the variables affecting rear-end conflict likelihood in the urban network showed that rear-end conflict likelihood could be increased when the involved vehicles are of a different type, when the speed of the following vehicle is higher than the speed of the leading vehicle, when the individual speed is high when the individual headway is small, with a higher coefficient of variation of speed values, when the type of intersection nearest to the measuring point was a priority intersection, when the carriageway was of dual design, and when it was rainy. It was also shown that rear-end conflict likelihood increases during congestion and free-flow traffic. The findings of this study could be further developed to provide a good understanding of contributing factors to possible crashes in the urban network.