bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Geographical area selection and construction of a corresponding routing grid used for in-flight management system flight trajectory optimization
Authors: Dancila Bogdan D , Botez Ruxandra M
Published: April 2016

This paper proposes a new method for selecting an ellipse-shaped geographical area and constructing a routing grid that circumscribes the contour of the designated area. The resulting grid describes the set of points used by the flight trajectory optimization algorithms to determine an aircraft’s optimal flight trajectory as a function of given particular atmospheric conditions. This method was developed with the intent of its employment in the context of Flight Management System trajectory optimization algorithms, but can be used in Air Traffic Management environments as well. The routing grid limits the trajectory’s maximal total ground distance (between the departure and destination airports), maximizes the geographical area (for a better consideration of the wind conditions) and minimizes the number of grid nodes. The novelty of the proposed method resides in the fact that it allows a distinct and independent parameterization and control of the ellipse’s total surface, and the required size of the take-off/landing procedure maneuvering areas at the departure/destination airports. The ellipse contour constructed using this method is, therefore, well adapted to the particular configuration of the trajectory for which the optimization is performed. Each design variables’ influence is presented, as well as a set of routing grids generated for trajectories corresponding to different total flight distances, and were further compared with real flight trajectory data retrieved using the website Flight Aware.
Cumulative sum control charts for monitoring geometrically inflated Poisson processes: An application to infectious disease counts data
Authors: Rakitzis Athanasios C , Castagliola Philippe , Maravelakis Petros E
Published: April 2016

In this work, we study upper-sided cumulative sum control charts that are suitable for monitoring geometrically inflated Poisson processes. We assume that a process is properly described by a two-parameter extension of the zero-inflated Poisson distribution, which can be used for modeling count data with an excessive number of zero and non-zero values. Two different upper-sided cumulative sum-type schemes are considered, both suitable for the detection of increasing shifts in the average of the process. Aspects of their statistical design are discussed and their performance is compared under various out-of-control situations. Changes in both parameters of the process are considered. Finally, the monitoring of the monthly cases of poliomyelitis in the USA is given as an illustrative example.
BLOCKYLAND
Authors: Dhatsuwan Apinya , Precharattana Monamorn
Published: April 2016

Background

BLOCKYLAND is a city building game based on the concept of cellular automata (CA), and urban cellular automata. The game has CA-like processes that invert the role of players from passive observers in other CA applications to active thinkers. The processes challenge players to apply logical thinking and decision making from the perspective of serious games. The players’ mission is to build a city by applying the provided CA rules. Two types of CA rules are provided: 1) The logical rule, whereby players apply to build the city according to the preset conditions, and 2) The optional rule, whereby they may apply to upgrade an existing building for an extra score.

Aim

This article aims to present the design and development of CA-based game, BLOCKYLAND and describe its effectiveness as an instructional tool to enhance logical thinking.

Results

Results from the mixed-method pilot study show that BLOCKYLAND enhanced players’ logical thinking after the gameplay. Additionally, from the extensive debriefing following the game, participants stated that the game aided them with transforming their game experiences into learning experiences and relating the logical thinking practice into real-life application.

Results

Conclusion. As a combination of logical thinking practices and a serious game, BLOCKYLAND has several implications for educational stakeholders; both theoretical and practical.
Untangling the Predictive Nomological Validity of Employee Engagement
Authors: Shuck Brad , Nimon Kim , Zigarmi Drea
Published: April 2016

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictive nomological validity of employee engagement using a set of three job attitudes commonly linked to employee engagement. Prior research concerned with the nomological network of employee engagement has predominantly considered bivariate relationships, thus missing the opportunity to fully understand the intricate and interrelated relationship between employee engagement and job attitudes. Scale- and subscale-level correlations were obtained from a previously published set of survey responses ( n = 1,580) to partition employee engagement variance components associated with every possible combination of the three job attitude predictor set (2 k − 1 = 7). Results suggested that across both overall measures, job satisfaction contributed the most unique variance to employee engagement, followed by job involvement and organizational commitment. Findings indicated that when applying employee engagement in both research and practice, care should be taken in scale selection across models—especially those involving like constructs. This study provides evidence of the importance for considering a construct’s nomological network within the broader management and human resource–related literature. This research not only advances the theoretical understanding and research of employee engagement but also assists practitioners in deploying precise, well-crafted measures of engagement in the field.
Pharmacotherapy of Vasospastic Angina
Authors: Harris Justin R. , Hale Genevieve M. , Dasari Tarun W. , Schwier Nicholas C.
Published: April 2016

Vasospastic angina is a diagnosis of exclusion that manifests with signs and symptoms, which overlap with obstructive coronary artery disease, most often ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction. The pharmacotherapy that is available to treat vasospastic angina can help ameliorate angina symptoms. However, the etiology of vasospastic angina is ill-defined, making targeted pharmacotherapy difficult. Most patients receive pharmacotherapy that includes calcium channel blockers and/or long-acting nitrates. This article reviews the efficacy and safety of the pharmacotherapy used to treat vasospastic angina. High-dose calcium channel blockers possess the most evidence, with respect to decreasing angina incidence, frequency, and duration. However, not all patients respond to calcium channel blockers. Nitrates and/or alpha1-adrenergic receptor antagonists can be used in patients who respond poorly to calcium channel blockers. Albeit, evidence for use of nitrates and alpha1-adrenergic receptor antagonists in vasospastic angina is not as robust as calcium channel blockers and can exacerbate adverse effects when added to calcium channel blocker therapy. Despite having a clear benefit in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease, the benefit of beta-adrenergic receptor antagonists, statins, and aspirin remains unclear. More data are needed to elucidate whether or not these agents are beneficial or harmful to patients being treated for vasospastic angina. Overall, the use of pharmacotherapy for the treatment of vasospastic angina should be guided by patient-specific factors, such as tolerability, adverse effects, drug–drug, and drug–disease interactions.
From Apes to Whistleblowers
Authors: Parks Perry , Takahashi Bruno
Published: April 2016

Scientists are being called upon to communicate more clearly, strategically, and frequently with the public. An understudied, but influential, outreach method is writing newspaper op-ed commentaries. Using speech act theory as a framework, this qualitative analysis of the objectives and strategies scientists enact when writing op-eds found that writers focus on informing, defending, and exciting about science through personal stories, accessible descriptions of research, and references to history and popular culture. This study’s application of speech act theory to empirically derived objectives expressed by scientists and enacted in a specific mode of communication helps advance science communication beyond deficit-oriented models toward styles of outreach that take the audience’s interpretive agency into account.
A beam with arbitrarily placed lateral dampers: Evolution of complex modes with damping
Authors: Chen Y , McFarland DM , Spencer BF , Bergman LA
Published: April 2016

Free vibration of a beam with multiple arbitrarily placed lateral viscous dampers is investigated to gain insight into the intrinsic dynamic features of non-proportional damped systems. In terms of virtual boundary condition method, complex modes of a damper-beam system are achieved, and the solution is also suitable for the beams that have different boundary conditions. The features of the wave numbers satisfying the frequency equation were discussed in theory. The orthogonality analysis conducted in this paper provides two orthogonality conditions for complex modes. Pseudoundamped natural frequencies, damping ratios and complex modes are surveyed via numerical study. The analysis on the evolution of complex modes shows that the increasing damping would lead to over damped modes, and the mode shape that corresponds to the small one of a pair of real-valued natural frequencies is close to the static deformation shape of a beam subjected to static forces located at the positions of the dampers. For the rest modes that would never be over damped with increasing damping, the mode shapes and corresponding psuedoundamped natural frequencies will converge to that of a beam with rolling supports located at where dampers are placed. The exact solution of free vibration of a multiple-span beam is presented in addition.
Seismic optimization design for uniform damage of reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames using consecutive modal pushover analysis
Authors: Bai Jiulin , Jin Shuangshuang , Zhang Chuan , Ou Jinping
Published: April 2016

In this study, a practical optimization procedure is developed for uniform damage design of reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames using consecutive modal pushover analysis based on the framework of performance-based earthquake engineering. Consecutive modal pushover, which can capture the higher-mode effect well, is employed to derive the inelastic seismic demands of structures subjected to considered seismic hazards. Furthermore, the optimization problems are formulated using the profile of inter-story drift ratios and component hinge rotations to redistribute the steel reinforcements from components with low damage to ones that experience high damage under the constant-cost constraint, until a state of uniform damage distribution prevails. By applying the proposed design procedure to two prototype frames with five and eight stories designed using the Chinese Seismic Design Code (GB 50011-2010), the efficiency of the method as well as the variation of steel reinforcements is demonstrated. The seismic performances of final solutions and prototype frames are compared through nonlinear dynamic analysis for scenarios of 22 ground motions matching well with the code-compliant spectrum. The results show that the proposed method allows for a significant reduction of maximum story drifts combined with more evenly distributed story drifts and component hinge rotations, indicating better seismic performance for the optimized structures.
On the use of reinforcing layers to improve the static behaviour of arches or shells with single curvature
Authors: Simoneschi Giorgia , Di Egidio Angelo , de Leo Andrea M , Contento Alessandro
Published: April 2016

A linear elastic model constituted by two interacting concentric arches is developed. The sensitivity of the behaviour of the system to its mechanical and geometrical parameters is studied to individuate the fundamental ones. The analysis is extended to the nonlinear field by means of computational finite element models. Another objective of the research is to specifically analyse the interaction between the two arches when there is a large difference in stiffness. A practical case is represented by the retrofitting of a masonry vault with a single curvature (barrel vaults) with a reinforcing concrete layer that, in several cases, resulted in the detachment of some masonry blocks. Finally, on the basis of the results of the nonlinear analyses, which qualitatively confirmed the results of the linear ones, a slightly innovative approach to the use of the reinforcing layers is proposed.
“We’re like community”: Collective identity and collective efficacy among transgender women in prisons for men
Authors: Sexton Lori , Jenness Valerie
Published: April 2016

Recognizing that prisons house diverse populations in equally diverse types of environments, we utilize a unique data set and employ two well-known sociological concepts—collective identity and collective efficacy—to examine overlapping communities in which transgender women in prisons for men are situated and experience prison life. Findings from our mixed-methods analysis reveal that despite their considerable diversity, transgender prisoners embrace a collective identity and perceive collective efficacy as transgender prisoners more so than as prisoners per se; their collective identity and perceptions of collective efficacy are predicated on social-interactional factors rather than demographic characteristics and physical features of the carceral environment; and the more time a transgender inmate spends in prison, the more likely she is to identify with a community of transgender prisoners, but the less likely she is to feel an affective commitment to the transgender prisoner community or to expect other transgender prisoners to act on her behalf in prison. This novel application of dynamics generally understood to operate in social movements and residential neighborhoods—collective identity and collective efficacy, respectively—to the transgender community in California’s prisons sheds insight into the ways in which transgender women in prisons for men experience prison life, the loyalties around which prison life is organized, and the complexities around which communities in prison are structured.
Increased vascular sympathetic modulation in mice with Mas receptor deficiency
Authors: Rabello Casali Karina , Ravizzoni Dartora Daniela , Moura Marina , Bertagnolli Mariane , Bader Michael , Haibara Andrea , Alenina Natalia , Irigoyen Maria Claudia , Santos Robson A
Published: April 2016

Introduction:

The angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)/angiotensin (Ang)-(1–7)/Mas axis could modulate the heart rate (HR) and blood pressure variabilities (BPV) which are important predictors of cardiovascular risk and provide information about the autonomic modulation of the cardiovascular system. Therefore we investigated the effect of Mas deficiency on autonomic modulation in wild type and Mas-knockout (KO) mice.

Methods:

Blood pressure was recorded at high sample rate (4000 Hz). Stationary sequences of 200–250 beats were randomly chosen. Frequency domain analysis of HR and BPV was performed with an autoregressive algorithm on the pulse interval sequences and on respective systolic sequences.

Results:

The KO group presented an increase of systolic arterial pressure (SAP; 127.26±11.20 vs 135.07±6.98 mmHg), BPV (3.54±1.54 vs 5.87±2.12 mmHg2), and low-frequency component of systolic BPV (0.12±0.11 vs 0.47±0.34 mmHg2).

Conclusions:

The deletion of Mas receptor is associated with an increase of SAP and with an increased BPV, indicating alterations in autonomic control. Increase of sympathetic vascular modulation in absence of Mas evidences the important role of Ang-(1–7)/Mas on cardiovascular regulation. Moreover, the absence of significant changes in HR and HRV can indicate an adaptation of autonomic cardiac balance. Our results suggest that the Ang-(1–7)/Mas axis seems more important in autonomic modulation of arterial pressure than HR.
Ask Not Only ‘What Can Problem-Based Learning Do For Psychology?’ But ‘What Can Psychology Do For Problem-Based Learning?’ A Review of The Relevance of Problem-Based Learning For Psychology Teaching and Research
Authors: Wiggins Sally , Chiriac Eva Hammar , Abbad Gunvor Larsson , Pauli Regina , Worrell Marcia
Published: April 2016

Problem-based learning (PBL) is an internationally recognised pedagogical approach that is implemented within a number of disciplines. The relevance and uptake of PBL in psychology has to date, however, received very limited attention. The aim of this paper is therefore to review published accounts of how PBL is being used to deliver psychology curricula in higher education and to highlight psychological research that offers practical strategies for PBL theory and practice. The paper is divided into three sections. In the first, we discuss the principles of PBL and provide examples of how it can be used within psychology curricula, alongside a consideration of its advantages and disadvantages. In the second section, we outline the results of a systematic literature review of published examples of PBL used within psychology undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Finally, in the third section, we examine some of the ways in which psychological research can provide practical guidance for PBL teaching practice. We conclude this paper with some recommendations for future research across all these areas, and call for the further development of PBL curricula in psychology higher education course provision.
Anger, Fear, and Games: The Long Event of #GamerGate
Authors: Mortensen Torill Elvira
Published: April 2016

The event known as #GamerGate (GG) emphasized the need to take the study of game culture seriously and pursue it across several platforms. It demonstrated how seemingly ephemeral media created echo chambers of anger, and how the outbursts of hypermasculine aggression exemplified by hooligans also can connect to games and play. Starting from how GG gained popular attention, this article outlines and discusses the nature of GG, the relation to the victims, the sense of victimization among the participants, and how it may have been provoked by the long-standing, general disregard of games as a culture and a cultural artifact of value. It discusses GG as a swarm using this metaphor to describe its self-organizing nature. Further comparing GG to hooligans, this article also introduces a class and marginalization aspect to understanding the event, opening up for discourses that complicates the image of game culture as mainly a culture of isolated consumption.
An intuitionistic fuzzy set–based hybrid approach to the innovative design evaluation mode for green products
Authors: Wang Ching-Hsin
Published: April 2016

As technology vigorously develops and the awareness of environmental protection rises, green industry has been gradually valued by government and consumers. Customers’ needs can be satisfied with effective resource strategies as well as innovative technology of green products. Importance–performance analysis is a method incorporating the voices of customers and resource strategies of green design into the product development as well as management performance assessment by means of “importance” and “performance.” Quality function deployment can turn the voices of customers into product development and technical requirement, in order to ensure that the product can meet customers’ satisfaction. The present companies take not only customers’ demand but also their own technical limits into account. Hence, data envelopment analysis can offer firms the priority order when they carry out their improvement in the green product design. Nevertheless, many uncertainties and semantic ambiguity appear in the process of information collection for the product design. Consequently, this study comes up with importance–performance analysis, analytical network process, quality function deployment, and data envelopment analysis, to construct an evaluation mode of innovative design for green products based on intuitionistic fuzzy sets offering enterprises a practical reference for their green product design.
Embodiment design of soft continuum robots
Authors: Kang Rongjie , Guglielmino Emanuele , Zullo Letizia , Branson David T , Godage Isuru , Caldwell Darwin G
Published: April 2016

This article presents the results of a multidisciplinary project where mechatronic engineers worked alongside biologists to develop a soft robotic arm that captures key features of octopus anatomy and neurophysiology. The concept of embodiment (the dynamic coupling between sensory-motor control, anatomy, materials and environment that allows for the animal to achieve adaptive behaviours) is used as a starting point for the design process but tempered by current engineering technologies and approaches. In this article, the embodied design requirements are first discussed from a robotic viewpoint by taking into account real-life engineering limitations; then, the motor control schemes inspired by octopus nervous system are investigated. Finally, the mechanical and control design of a prototype is presented that appropriately blends bio-inspiration and engineering limitations. Simulated and experimental results show that the developed continuum robotic arm is able to reproduce octopus-like motions for bending, reaching and grasping.
Analysis of a micro piezoelectric vibration energy harvester by nonlocal elasticity theory
Authors: Chen Hao , Jiang Shan , Dai Longxiang , Hu Hongping
Published: April 2016

A theoretical model of a micro piezoelectric energy harvester is proposed based on the nonlocal elasticity theory, which is operated in the flexural mode for scavenging ambient vibration energy. A nonlocal scale is defined as the product of internal characteristic length and a constant related to the material. The dependences of performance of the harvester upon the nonlocal scale and the scale ratio of the nonlocal scale to the external characteristic parameter are investigated in detail. Numerical results show that output power of the harvester decreases, and resonance frequency reduces gradually at first then increases rapidly when nonlocal scale increases. The results of nonlocal elasticity theory are compared with that of classic beam theory. All the results are helpful for material and structure design of the micro piezoelectric energy harvester.
Analysis of modal frequency optimization of railway vehicle car body
Authors: Sun Wenjing , Zhou Jinsong , Gong Dao , You Taiwen
Published: April 2016

High structural modal frequencies of car body are beneficial as they ensure better vibration control and enhance ride quality of railway vehicles. Modal sensitivity optimization and elastic suspension parameters used in the design of equipment beneath the chassis of the car body are proposed in order to improve the modal frequencies of car bodies under service conditions. Modal sensitivity optimization is based on sensitivity analysis theory which considers the thickness of the body frame at various positions as variables in order to achieve optimization. Equipment suspension design analyzes the influence of suspension parameters on the modal frequencies of the car body through the use of an equipment-car body coupled model. Results indicate that both methods can effectively improve the modal parameters of the car body. Modal sensitivity optimization increases vertical bending frequency from 9.70 to 10.60 Hz, while optimization of elastic suspension parameters increases the vertical bending frequency to 10.51 Hz. The suspension design can be used without alteration to the structure of the car body while ensuring better ride quality.
Canadian stroke best practice recommendations: Stroke rehabilitation practice guidelines, update 2015
Authors: Hebert Debbie , Lindsay M Patrice , McIntyre Amanda , Kirton Adam , Rumney Peter G , Bagg Stephen , Bayley Mark , Dowlatshahi Dar , Dukelow Sean , Garnhum Maridee , Glasser Ev , Halabi Mary-Lou , Kang Ester , MacKay-Lyons Marilyn , Martino Rosemary , Rochette Annie , Rowe Sarah , Salbach Nancy , Semenko Brenda , Stack Bridget , Swinton Luchie , Weber Valentine , Mayer Matthew , Verrilli Sue , DeVeber Gabrielle , Andersen John , Barlow Karen , Cassidy Caitlin , Dilenge Marie-Emmanuelle , Fehlings Darcy , Hung Ryan , Iruthayarajah Jerome , Lenz Laura , Majnemer Annette , Purtzki Jacqueline , Rafay Mubeen , Sonnenberg Lyn K. , Townley Ashleigh , Janzen Shannon , Foley Norine , Teasell Robert
Published: April 2016

Stroke rehabilitation is a progressive, dynamic, goal-orientated process aimed at enabling a person with impairment to reach their optimal physical, cognitive, emotional, communicative, social and/or functional activity level. After a stroke, patients often continue to require rehabilitation for persistent deficits related to spasticity, upper and lower extremity dysfunction, shoulder and central pain, mobility/gait, dysphagia, vision, and communication. Each year in Canada 62,000 people experience a stroke. Among stroke survivors, over 6500 individuals access in-patient stroke rehabilitation and stay a median of 30 days (inter-quartile range 19 to 45 days). The 2015 update of the Canadian Stroke Best Practice Recommendations: Stroke Rehabilitation Practice Guidelines is a comprehensive summary of current evidence-based recommendations for all members of multidisciplinary teams working in a range of settings, who provide care to patients following stroke. These recommendations have been developed to address both the organization of stroke rehabilitation within a system of care (i.e., Initial Rehabilitation Assessment; Stroke Rehabilitation Units; Stroke Rehabilitation Teams; Delivery; Outpatient and Community-Based Rehabilitation), and specific interventions and management in stroke recovery and direct clinical care (i.e., Upper Extremity Dysfunction; Lower Extremity Dysfunction; Dysphagia and Malnutrition; Visual-Perceptual Deficits; Central Pain; Communication; Life Roles). In addition, stroke happens at any age, and therefore a new section has been added to the 2015 update to highlight components of stroke rehabilitation for children who have experienced a stroke, either prenatally, as a newborn, or during childhood. All recommendations have been assigned a level of evidence which reflects the strength and quality of current research evidence available to support the recommendation. The updated Rehabilitation Clinical Practice Guidelines feature several additions that reflect new research areas and stronger evidence for already existing recommendations. It is anticipated that these guidelines will provide direction and standardization for patients, families/caregiver(s), and clinicians within Canada and internationally.
The Influence of Language Discordance Between Patient and Physician on Time-to-Thrombolysis in Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Rostanski Sara K. , Stillman Joshua , Williams Olajide , Marshall Randolph S. , Yaghi Shadi , Willey Joshua Z.
Published: April 2016

Background and purpose:

Reducing door-to-imaging (DIT) time is a major focus of acute stroke quality improvement initiatives to promote rapid thrombolysis. However, recent data suggest that the imaging-to-needle (ITN) time is a greater source of treatment delay. We hypothesized that language discordance between physician and patient would contribute to prolonged ITN time, as rapidly taking a history and confirming last known well require facile communication between physician and patient.

Methods:

This is a retrospective analysis of all patients who received tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) in our emergency department between July 2011 and December 2014. Baseline characteristics and relevant time intervals were compared between encounters where the treating neurologist and patient spoke the same language (concordant cases) and where they did not (discordant cases).

Results:

A total of 279 patients received tPA during the study period. English was the primary language for 51%, Spanish for 46%, and other languages for 3%; 59% of cases were classified as language concordant and 41% as discordant. We found no differences in median DIT (24 vs 25, P = .5), ITN time (33 vs 30, P = .3), or door-to-needle time (DTN; 58 vs 55, P = .1) between concordant and discordant groups. Similarly, among patients with the fastest and slowest ITN times, there were no differences.

Conclusion:

In a high-volume stroke center with a large proportion of Spanish speakers, language discordance was not associated with changes in DIT, ITN time, or DTN time.
Validity of Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression (CES-D) scale in a sample of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans
Authors: Quiñones Ana R , Thielke Stephen M , Clark Michael E , Phillips Kristin M , Elnitsky Christine , Andresen Elena M
Published: April 2016

Objectives:

Optimal depression screening necessitates measurement tools that are valid across varied populations and in the presence of comorbidities.

Methods:

This study assessed the test properties of two versions of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scale against psychiatric diagnoses established by the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview among a clinical sample of US Veterans deployed during Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn. Participants (N = 359) recruited from two Department of Veterans Affairs hospitals completed a clinical interview, structured diagnostic interview, and self-reported measures.

Results:

Based on diagnostic interview and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders 4th Edition criteria, 29.5% of the sample met diagnostic criteria for major depressive disorder and 26.5% met diagnostic criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder. Both Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-20 and Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-10 scales performed well and almost identically against the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview-major depressive disorder in identifying Veterans with major depressive disorder (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-20 area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curve 91%; Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-10 area under the ROC curve 90%). Overall, higher cut points for the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scales performed better in correctly identifying true positives and true negatives for major depressive disorder (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-20 cut point 18+ sensitivity 92% specificity 72%; Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression-10 cut point 10+ sensitivity 92% specificity 69%).

Conclusions:

The specificity of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression scales was poor among Veterans with co-occurring post-traumatic stress disorder (13% and 16%). Veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder who have a positive depression screen should have a more thorough assessment of mental health symptoms and comorbidities, rather than immediate diagnosis of and treatment for depression.
Psychological and Cortisol Responses to and Recovery From Exposure to a Body Image Threat
Authors: Lamarche Larkin , Gammage Kimberley L. , Kerr Gretchen , Faulkner Guy , Klentrou Panagiota
Published: April 2016

The majority of body image research has failed to measure what occurs beyond the immediate presentation of a body image threat, or after a body image threat is no longer present. This is particularly true for physiological outcomes. The present study examined psychological and cortisol responses to, and recovery from, a body composition assessment as a social-evaluative body image threat. Women ( N = 64) were randomized into either a control or threat group. Participants completed a measure of social physique anxiety and provided a sample of saliva (to assess cortisol) at baseline, and immediately following and 20 min following their condition. The threat group reported higher social physique anxiety following the threat in comparison with both baseline levels and recovery levels. Cortisol was higher immediately following the threat in comparison with baseline levels. Findings support the inclusion of a recovery time point in body image research to provide a more complete picture of the psychobiology of body image experiences.
“But What About Feminist Porn?”
Authors: Whisnant Rebecca
Published: April 2016

This article examines the work of Tristan Taormino, a prominent self-described feminist pornographer, in order to illustrate themes and commitments common among those who produce, perform in, and/or support feminist pornography. I argue that her work is burdened by thin and limited conceptions of feminism, authenticity, and sexual ethics, as well as by the profit-based exigencies of producing “feminist porn” within the mainstream pornography industry. I conclude that, if indeed feminist pornography is possible, Taormino’s work falls far short of the mark. Public Health Significance Statement: This study suggests that Taormino’s pornographic films are unlikely to have salutary effects on the sexual and relational lives of their consumers.
The Biopolitics of Catastrophe, or How to Avert the Past and Regulate the Future
Authors: Neyrat Frédéric
Published: April 2016

Catastrophes now are part of our daily lives, as though the apocalypse could hit us each morning. Yet this crazy relation to the world is a sane response to postmodern society. A new form of governance that I call the biopolitics of catastrophe has come into being in the attempt to metabolize this new relation to the world, this new sensitivity to potential disasters. Biopolitics of catastrophe has two modes: (1) an averting mode, whose goal is to avert events in advance, and (2) a regulating mode, whose function is to erase events after the fact. Grounded on this perverted temporality, this new form of governance blocks the advent of an ecopolitics that could act on the causes rather than the effects of the environmental damages that we are already suffering.
The Biopolitics of Dignity
Authors: Robcis Camille
Published: April 2016

My essay traces the genealogy of the notion of human dignity in modern French law. My goal is to explain how and why dignity has come to be associated with national belonging and public order, as evidenced by the 2010 law banning “face coverings” in public spaces or by the recent pleas to revive “national indignity” after the attacks on the offices of Charlie Hebdo. I argue that the definition of dignity circulating in French law since the 1990s is a corporatist one. Rather than promote abstract individual freedom, human rights, and democratic inclusion, this understanding of dignity (theoretically much closer to that of political Catholicism and personalism than to the Kantian or liberal understanding of dignity seen in American law) insists on the obligations that the individual has toward the community, toward the social, and, in its most recent formulations, toward France. I propose that human dignity in the French context be considered less as a value intrinsic to a person than as a project of biopolitical rule.
The Poisonous Ingenuity of Time
Authors: Meyers Todd
Published: April 2016

Drawing on ethnographic work with one family in Baltimore that began over a decade ago, I consider how time, symptom, and forms of vulnerability and precarity come to shape polypathia (comorbidity). First, I attempt to demonstrate how life with concurrent and recurring illness has a character more dense than interwoven disease etiologies or a general pattern of symptomatology. Chronic illness in its plural form offers terms of life and living that are contingent, disruptive, and dissolving—not so much situated in time as out of step with its familiar cadence. Second, I consider time through the lenses of return, loss, and repair. Ethnography, like illness, has a rhythm, and it is this shared, distorted meter that the essay follows. Life—filling up and emptying out between past and present—is precisely the object here. Chronic illness acts as a temporal threshold through which life finds new ground or is set adrift.
Politically Assisted Procreation and State Heterosexualism
Authors: Preciado Paul B.
Published: April 2016

The “marriage for all” law, passed by the French Parliament in 2013, could be thought of as a sign of social progress. But if we observe its terms from the viewpoint of contemporary relationships between biotechnologies and sexuality, we can conclude instead that the law has the potential to reinscribe and renaturalize within the juridical domain sexual and gender notions that have become obsolete. This essay looks at how homosexual marriage law in France, from which an amendment was dropped that would have allowed medically assisted procreation for nonheterosexual couples, is used as a technology to govern cells and reproductive materials in a new pharmaco-pornographic arrangement of the nation-state. Sexual reproduction does not happen between legal subjects, fathers and mothers, or in marital beds, but within cells, between bacteria; it is simply and delightfully chromosomal recombination. Molecules do not care about the conventions of social gender, marriage, or heterosexuality, yet all human procreation is politically assisted, requiring a collectivization of a body's genetic material through a more or less regulated social practice. As such, is it time to invent techniques to manage our reproductive material that surpasses the antagonism between the naturalist forms of reproduction legitimized by the nation-state and the privatization and capitalization techniques of cognitive capitalism where fluids, cells, hormones, molecules, and genes are the object of new processes of extraction, traffic, and exploitation?
Two different pathogenic mechanisms, dying-back axonal neuropathy and pancreatic senescence, are present in the YG8R mouse model of Friedreich’s ataxia
Authors: Mollá Belén , Riveiro Fátima , Bolinches-Amorós Arantxa , Muñoz-Lasso Diana C. , Palau Francesc , González-Cabo Pilar
Published: April 2016

Frataxin (FXN) deficiency causes Friedreich’s ataxia (FRDA), a multisystem disorder with neurological and non-neurological symptoms. FRDA pathophysiology combines developmental and degenerative processes of dorsal root ganglia (DRG), sensory nerves, dorsal columns and other central nervous structures. A dying-back mechanism has been proposed to explain the peripheral neuropathy and neuropathology. In addition, affected individuals have non-neuronal symptoms such as diabetes mellitus or glucose intolerance. To go further in the understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms of neuropathy and diabetes associated with the disease, we have investigated the humanized mouse YG8R model of FRDA. By biochemical and histopathological studies, we observed abnormal changes involving muscle spindles, dorsal root axons and DRG neurons, but normal findings in the posterior columns and brain, which agree with the existence of a dying-back process similar to that described in individuals with FRDA. In YG8R mice, we observed a large number of degenerated axons surrounded by a sheath exhibiting enlarged adaxonal compartments or by a thin disrupted myelin sheath. Thus, both axonal damage and defects in Schwann cells might underlie the nerve pathology. In the pancreas, we found a high proportion of senescent islets of Langerhans in YG8R mice, which decreases the β-cell number and islet mass to pathological levels, being unable to maintain normoglycemia. As a whole, these results confirm that the lack of FXN induces different pathogenic mechanisms in the nervous system and pancreas in the mouse model of FRDA: dying back of the sensory nerves, and pancreatic senescence.
Clathrin-mediated endocytosis in budding yeast at a glance
Authors: Lu Rebecca , Drubin David G. , Sun Yidi
Published: April 2016

Clathrin-mediated endocytosis is an essential cellular process that involves the concerted assembly and disassembly of many different proteins at the plasma membrane. In yeast, live-cell imaging has shown that the spatiotemporal dynamics of these proteins is highly stereotypical. Recent work has focused on determining how the timing and functions of endocytic proteins are regulated. In this Cell Science at a Glance article and accompanying poster, we review our current knowledge of the timeline of endocytic site maturation and discuss recent works focusing on how phosphorylation, ubiquitylation and lipids regulate various aspects of the process.
Skating by: low energetic costs of swimming in a batoid fish
Authors: Di Santo Valentina , Kenaley Christopher P.
Published: April 2016

We quantify the oxygen consumption rates and cost of transport (COT) of a benthic batoid fish, the little skate, Leucoraja erinacea, at three swimming speeds. We report that this species has the lowest mass-adjusted swimming metabolic rate measured for any elasmobranch; however, this species incurs much higher COT at approximately 5 times the lowest values recorded for some teleosts. In addition, because skates lack a propulsive caudal fin and could not sustain steady swimming beyond a relatively low optimum speed of 1.25 BL×s−1 (body length, defined as disc length: 5–6.5 cm), we propose that the locomotor efficiency of benthic rajiform fishes is limited to the descending portion of a single COT-speed relationship. This renders these species poorly suited for long-distance translocation and, therefore, especially vulnerable to regional-scale environmental disturbances.
Uma avaliação da adoção do BSC pelos Tribunais de Contas dos Estados.
Authors: Afonso Rodrigo Winter , Romano Marcio , Júnior Dércio Santiago da Silva , Portugal Guilherme Teixeira
Published: April 2016

No presente estudo analisou-se a utilização da metodologia do Balanced Scorecard – BSC como modelo de gestão estratégica para os Tribunais de Contas dos Estados brasileiros. Desde a sua introdução na década de 90, a metodologia do BSC espalhou-se e hoje é largamente utilizada por empresas privadas ao redor do mundo. No início dos anos 2000 a área governamental começa a vislumbraro uso do BSC como ferramenta para aprimorar a gestão e uso de seus recursos. No entanto é necessário que sejam realizadas adaptações no modelo original do BSC, que foi concebido para o setor privado, para uma melhor adequação as particularidades da área pública. O presente trabalho analisou a forma na qual os Tribunais de Contas dos Estados, que fizeram uso da metodologia do BSC,procederam com a adaptação da perspectiva financeira do modelo BSC na elaboração de seus planejamentos. Foi possível deduzir nesta pesquisa a intenção dos diversos Tribunais de Contas em melhorar sua gestão orçamentária, partindo do conhecimento de seus limites de receita, para então planejar uma melhor execução da despesa.
Análise Fatorial Confirmatória da Escala Servqual: Um Estudo com os Usuários dos Serviços de Habilitação e Veículos do DETRAN/RN
Authors: De Freitas Rêgo Thaiseany , Magalhães Correia Ana Maria , Takashi Kato Heitor , Francisco Maffezzolli Eliane Cristine
Published: April 2016

O propósito deste estudo é investigar se o uso da escala Servqual é válido e compatível para os serviços públicos, considerando as expectativas e percepções de seus usuários. A pesquisa configura-se como quantitativa e se utiliza da análise fatorial confirmatória. O instrumento de coleta foi ajustado com base na escala Servqual. Foram 242 questionários válidos. Embora o instrumento de avaliação se mostre eficiente e capaz de ser refletido pelas dimensões de garantia, empatia, confiabilidade, presteza e tangibilidade, os resultados apontam que a qualidade percebida pelos usuários dos serviços de habilitação e veículos é baixa e não atende totalmente aos seus anseios.
Substituição de recursos humanos na Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais: uma alternativa para o aumento quantitativo do efetivo operacional
Authors: Sabino Humberto Alencar , Andrade Daniela Meirelles
Published: April 2016

A Polícia Militar de Minas Gerais (PMMG) tem adotado uma postura gerencial moderna ao usar ferramentas gerenciais que direcionam para o desenvolvimento administrativo. Objetivou-se, neste trabalho, verificar a possibilidade de substituição do quadro de funcionários administrativos, composto de policiais militares, por técnico-administrativos civis. O estudo foi realizado num batalhão da PMMG localizado no Sudoeste de Minas Gerais. Foi realizado um levantamento das seções em que os técnicos administrativos não poderiam trabalhar e uma pesquisa quantitativa sobre a quantidade de policiais militares que podem ser substituídos. Na seção Discussão e Resultados, os dados foram tabulados e analisados com o objetivo de esclarecer se é vantajosa ou não a substituição dos policiais militares por técnicos administrativos civis. Concluiu-se que a substituição dos policiais que trabalham em funções administrativas por técnicos administrativos civis é vantajosa, tanto pela possibilidade de aumento do efetivo policial nas ruas, quanto pela economia financeira do Estado.
Extinção de políticas públicas. Síntese teórica sobre a fase esquecida do policy cycle
Authors: Souza Yalle Hugo de , Secchi Leonardo
Published: April 2016

A extinção de política pública é a etapa derradeira de seu ciclo ou processo, em que ela é descontinuada ou substituída. Por mais corriqueiro e relevante que seja o fenômeno, percebe-se certa escassez de estudos empíricos com base teórica sobre isso no Brasil. Este ensaio resgata a construção teórica desenvolvida na literatura sobre a extinção de políticas públicas nos Estados Unidos e na Europa. Argumenta-se que uma política pública pode ter seu fim e existem categorias de análise adequadas para entender essa questão. Este estudo apresenta conceitos, tipos, principais razões e obstáculos relacionados à extinção de políticas públicas e conclui apresentando a sistematização das diferentes contribuições teóricas já desenvolvidas na literatura mundial.
Indicadores de desempenho do Programa Minha Casa, Minha Vida: avaliação com base na satisfação dos beneficiários
Authors: Moreira Vinicius de Souza , Silveira Suely de Fátima Ramos
Published: April 2016

O propósito deste artigo é construir indicadores de desempenho a partir da percepção dos beneficiários do Programa Minha Casa, Minha Vida, com a utilização de recursos do Fundo de Arrendamento Residencial (PMCMV/FAR), do primeiro conjunto habitacional contratado e entregue no município de Viçosa, localizado na Zona da Mata do estado de Minas Gerais. O processo de avaliação seguiu cinco passos: a) resgate do desenho do Programa; b) elaboração das categorias avaliadas; c) preparação do instrumento de coleta de dados; d) pesquisa de campo; e) construção e análise dos indicadores. Verificou-se que os indicadores fornecem importantes informações sobre a realidade habitacional, o que contribui para que o PMCMV alcance seus objetivos e se aprimore.
Uma pesquisa aplicada na identidade da marca. O caso de organização pública de ensino no Brasil
Authors: Devonish Isabela Menezes da Silva , Quelhas Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves , França Sérgio , Meiriño Marcelo
Published: April 2016

Este artigo é fruto de uma pesquisa empírica realizada com o intuito de analisar os fatores que contribuem para a identidade da marca de Organização Pública de Ensino (OPE) no Brasil. A identidade de marcas propicia novo paradigma de gestão para organizações públicas, visando à atualização dos mecanismos de comunicação e a proteção da coesão organizacional. A pesquisa realiza estudo de caso em instituição pública de ensino brasileira, sendo feitas, para a consecução do objetivo, entrevistas com os gestores da organização, seguindo um roteiro estruturado. Tal método permitiu a obtenção de resultados que apontam a necessidade de adaptação dos conceitos de gestão empresarial para organizações públicas e a não existência de evidências de gestão da marca e da construção de sua identidade.