bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Investigation of the Intentional Communication and Symbolic Play Skills of Children With Down Syndrome and Cerebral Palsy in Malaysia
Authors: Joginder Singh Susheel , Iacono Teresa , Gray Kylie M.
Published: December 2014

Children with Down syndrome (DS) and cerebral palsy (CP) are at risk of remaining pre-symbolic in their communication and play for prolonged periods. The aim of this study was to explore the early communication and play of children with DS and with CP who communicated at the pre-symbolic stage, and to determine the association between these skills. This study was conducted in Malaysia. Twelve children with DS and 12 with CP who met the criterion of demonstrating pre-symbolic communication were observed during interaction with their mothers and siblings, and the interactions were coded for the children’s communicative behaviors and play. The children were observed to communicate using pre-symbolic modalities most accessible to them. The children with DS demonstrated more communicative behaviors (intentional communicative acts and pre-intentional communicative acts) compared with children with CP. Participants produced little or no symbolic play, showing a preference for functional play instead. The symbolic play of the children with DS was negatively associated with their pre-symbolic intentional communicative acts, suggesting that both skills need to be targeted in intervention aimed at transitioning them to symbolic communication. The physical limitations of children with CP limited their demonstration of communicative behaviors and play.
Deep Transverse Metatarsal Ligament and Static Stability of Lesser Metatarsophalangeal Joints
Authors: Wang Bibo , Guss Andrew , Chalayon Ornusa , Bachus Kent N. , Barg Alexej , Saltzman Charles L.
Published: December 2014

Background:

The static support that guides motion around the lesser metatarsophalangeal joints (MTPJs) is complex. Biomechanical studies revealed important roles of both the plantar plane and collateral ligaments. Since part of the plantar plate is attached to the deep transverse metatarsal ligament (DTML), we hypothesized that the transection of the DTML in the intermetatarsal space may substantially reduce the MTPJ stability.

Methods:

The second, third, and fourth MTPJ stabilities of 6 fresh-frozen human cadaveric foot specimens were measured under load control. Both dorsiflexion and dorsal subluxation conditions were tested. After the intact condition was assessed, the DTML was sequentially transected such that each MTPJ had a unilateral and then a bilateral DTML transection. Stiffness data were calculated using the loading range in each test condition. Paired Student t tests were performed to test for statistical significance ( P value less than .05).

Results:

In intact specimens, the mean stiffness with dorsiflexion of the second, third, and fourth toes was 0.52 ± 0.15 N/deg. When the DTML was operatively transected on one side, the dorsiflexion stiffness significantly decreased 17.3% to an average of 0.43 ± 1.00 N/deg ( P < .001). Subsequent transection of the DTML on the other side of each joint resulted in a further significant decrease of 5.8% to an average of 0.40 ± 0.08 N/deg ( P < .001). The mean stiffness with dorsal subluxation of the intact second, third, and fourth toes was 3.55 ± 0.66 N/mm. When the DTML was operatively transected on one side, the dorsal subluxation stiffness significantly decreased 16.1% to an average of 2.98 ± 0.64 N/mm ( P < .001). Subsequent transection of the DTML on the other side of each joint resulted in a further significance decrease of 7.6% to an average of 2.71 ± 0.48 N/mm ( P = .016).

Conclusion:

The DTML has a significant role in maintaining lesser MTPJ ligament stability. Both unilateral and bilateral DTML transections caused substantial instability of the lesser MTPJ.

Clinical Relevance:

The DTML is part of the natural static restraint to dorsiflexion or dorsal subluxation of the lesser MTPJ. Operative transection, injury, or degeneration of this ligament may predispose the adjacent MTPJ to instability.
Readability and Visuals in Medical Research Information Forms for Children and Adolescents
Authors: Grootens-Wiegers Petronella , De Vries Martine C. , Vossen Tessa E. , Van den Broek Jos M.
Published: December 2014

Children are often-overlooked receivers of medical information, and little research addresses their information needs. However, young children are capable of understanding medical concepts, and they express the desire to be informed. This study addresses the quality of medical research information forms for children in the Netherlands, by assessing text readability and the role of visuals. Children’s reading books, nonfiction books, and textbooks were used as comparison. Seven focus groups were conducted to identify children’s preferences and needs for text and supporting visuals. We argue that the use of visuals is a powerful, but neglected, tool to improve medical information for minors.
Long-Term Efficacy of Methylphenidate Immediate-Release for the Treatment of Childhood ADHD
Authors: Maia Carlos Renato Moreira , Cortese Samuele , Caye Arthur , Deakin Thomas Kuhn , Polanczyk Guilherme Vanoni , Polanczyk Carísi Anne , Rohde Luis Augusto Paim
Published: December 2014

Objective: To evaluate the long-term effects of methylphenidate imediate-release (MPH-IR), and to confirm the efficacy established in previous meta-analyses of short-term studies. Method: Published and unpublished studies in which participants were treated with MPH-IR for 12 weeks or more were searched. Pooled effect sizes from these studies were computed with the DerSimonian and Laird random-effect model. Meta-regression analysis was conducted to estimate covariates associated with treatment effects. Results: Seven studies were included. Pooled parents ratings for inattention and hyperactivity/impulsivity resulted in standardized mean difference (SMD) = 0.96 (95% confidence interval [CI] = [0.60, 1.32]) and SMD = 1.12 (95% CI = [0.85, 1.39]), respectively; pooled teachers ratings showed SMD = 0.98 (95% CI = [0.09, 1.86]) for inattention and SMD = 1.25 (95% CI = [0.7, 1.81]) for hyperactivity/impulsivity. No evidence of association of any covariates with treatment effect was detected in the meta-regression. Conclusion: MPH-IR is efficacious for childhood ADHD for periods longer than 12 weeks.
Using Community Insight to Understand Physical Activity Adoption in Overweight and Obese African American and Hispanic Women
Authors: Mama Scherezade K. , McCurdy Sheryl A. , Evans Alexandra E. , Thompson Deborah I. , Diamond Pamela M. , Lee Rebecca E.
Published: December 2014

Ecologic models suggest that multiple levels of influencing factors are important for determining physical activity participation and include individual, social, and environmental factors. The purpose of this qualitative study was to use an ecologic framework to gain a deeper understanding of the underlying behavioral mechanisms that influence physical activity adoption among ethnic minority women. Eighteen African American and Hispanic women completed a 1-hour in-depth interview. Verbatim interview transcripts were analyzed for emergent themes using a constant comparison approach. Women were middle-aged (age M = 43.9 ± 7.3 years), obese (body mass index M = 35.0 ± 8.9 kg/m2), and of high socioeconomic status (88.9% completed some college or more, 41.2% reported income >$82,600/year). Participants discussed individual factors, including the need for confidence, motivation and time, and emphasized the importance of environmental factors, including their physical neighborhood environments and safety of and accessibility to physical activity resources. Women talked about caretaking for others and social support and how these influenced physical activity behavior. The findings from this study highlight the multilevel, interactive complexities that influence physical activity, emphasizing the need for a more sophisticated, ecologic approach for increasing physical activity adoption and maintenance among ethnic minority women. Community insight gleaned from this study may be used to better understand determinants of physical activity and develop multilevel solutions and programs guided by an ecologic framework to increase physical activity in ethnic minority women.
Exploring the Dimensions of Public Attitudes Toward the Police
Authors: Solomon Zhao Jihong , Ren Ling
Published: December 2014

Public attitudes toward the police (PATP) have become a key area of policing research. Even a cursory review of the literature shows that few studies pay attention to the development of theoretical constructs concerning outcome variable(s)—PATP. The purpose of this study is to advance our knowledge of the psychometric properties of PATP. More specifically, drawing upon Easton’s theory of public support, we examine the discriminant validity of diffuse PATP and specific PATP and explore whether there is a neighborhood-conditioning effect in the response to items tapping into the concept of PATP. We use the two waves of telephone surveys collected in Houston, Texas in 2010 and 2012, which include responses from more than 2,500 residents. Confirmatory factor analysis is utilized to conduct the psychometric analysis, as it is an appropriate approach to testing theory-driven factor structures for the attitude-based constructs. The initial results were validated and then replicated. The results lend support for a two-factor model of PATP, where neighborhood is identified as a key moderator. Three important observations concerning measures of PATP are highlighted.
Self-report distortions of puffing topography in daily smokers
Authors: Pulcu Erdem
Published: December 2014

Under-reporting tobacco consumption is common, although there is lack of evidence whether under-reporting is associated with health risk perception. In this study, smoking topography from 110 smokers was recorded over 24 hours, aiming to capture a representative average of smoking behaviour. Participants significantly under-reported the duration of secondary exposure, and there was a significant interaction between self-report distortion type and risk perception. Analysis showed that smokers under-reporting puff number declared perceiving significantly less susceptibility to acquiring airway diseases, which is correlating significantly with the level of under-reporting. The present findings may suggest that under-reporting smoking behaviour has psychological functions beyond achieving social desirability.
Asexuality in China’s sexual revolution: Asexual marriage as coping strategy
Authors: Wong Day
Published: December 2014

This article introduces a multi-faceted approach to the study of asexuality that takes seriously the diverse terrain whence asexuality emerges and takes shape in China today. Intense globalization has facilitated connections between Chinese asexuals and their counterparts in other countries. The surge of dating agencies and websites for asexual marriage in China calls for attention to asexuals’ imaginings of a happy life that reflect not so much a globalized asexual discourse as the cultural resources that are available in China. Notions such as platonic love, celibacy, the DINK (double income, no kids) family and the big family help Chinese asexuals rewrite marriage and family scripts to accommodate their preferences. Yet, the pursuit of a happy marriage, as well as the exploration of asexual identity, are governed by a medical regime that regulates the (a)sexual lives of Chinese individuals.
Engaging Islamic sexual ethics: Intimacy, pleasure and sacrality
Authors: Hoel Nina
Published: December 2014

This article explores the topic of Islamic sexual ethics through two distinct but interrelated epistemological modes. First, I briefly engage Islamic sexual ethics through the lens of Islamic feminism, which challenges dominant patriarchal imaginaries in order to facilitate liberatory and egalitarian readings. Second, drawing on qualitative research, this article presents a selection of South African Muslim women’s narratives on sexual intimacy, pleasure and sacrality. The main themes to be explored in this empirical section are the notion of sex as sacred and as deeply connected to both human and divine relationalities, the integration of religious piety with sexual interaction, as well as the ethical ideals of consensual and reciprocal sexual praxis. By highlighting women’s conceptualizations, negotiations and contestations of religious discourses on sexuality, this article illustrates the various ways in which Islamic sexual ethics is an indeterminate field, discursively produced and distinctively embodied in the South African context.
Analyzing the effects of group members’ characteristics: A guide to the group actor–partner interdependence model
Authors: Garcia Randi L. , Meagher Benjamin R. , Kenny David A.
Published: December 2014

Members enter groups with different characteristics, for example, gender and ethnicity, and the Group Actor–Partner Interdependence Model (GAPIM) systematically tests several different effects of group composition for a given characteristic. By finding submodels of these effects, the GAPIM allows for empirically testing many theoretically meaningful models of differences within groups. Among the models that can be tested are models of diversity, relational demography, group norms, and contrast. This paper describes the four different steps of a GAPIM analysis and illustrates its application with two datasets. The first is an experimental dataset where gender composition is manipulated by presenting individuals with pictures of group members with whom they presumably would interact. The second dataset is a national sample of churchgoers who are members of different congregations, in which the effects of both a categorical and a continuous composition variable on a member-level outcome are assessed. SPSS and R syntax used for running the GAPIM is provided for each of these examples.
Incorporating neuroendocrine methods into intergroup relations research
Authors: Page-Gould Elizabeth , Akinola Modupe
Published: December 2014

Intergroup researchers have the opportunity to access to a wide variety of methods to help deepen theoretical insights about intergroup relations. In this paper, we focus on neuroendocrine measures, as these physiological measures offer some advantages over traditional measures used in intergroup research, are noninvasive, and are relatively easy to incorporate into existing intergroup paradigms. We begin by discussing the major neuroendocrine systems in the body and their measurable biological products, emphasizing systems that have conceptual relevance to intergroup relations. We then describe how to collect, store, and quantify neuroendocrine measures. Altogether, this paper serves as a primer for intergroup researchers interested in adding neuroendocrine measures to their methodological toolkits to enrich the study of intergroup relations.
Symmetric and complementary fit based on prototypical attributes of soccer teams
Authors: Zepp Christian , Kleinert Jens
Published: December 2014

Research suggests that symmetry and complementarity are able to predict fit between an individual and a group. To date, fit has been described using knowledge, abilities, skills, values, personality, and the congruence between needs and their satisfaction. The aim of this study was to describe and analyze person–group fit based on the symmetric and complementary fit of prototypical attributes. Furthermore, we analyzed the mediating effects between symmetric and complementary fit as independent variables and the ability to perform, and well-being as dependent variables. The sample consisted of N = 20 soccer teams with a total of N = 294 athletes (age M = 23.6 years, SD = 4.4). Results demonstrated that symmetric and complementary fit are two distinct though correlated constructs. Moreover, identification is able to mediate the relation between symmetric fit and well-being as well as the relation between symmetric fit and an individual’s ability to perform.
Effort–reward imbalance in the school setting: Associations with somatic pain and self-rated health
Authors: Låftman Sara Brolin , Modin Bitte , Östberg Viveca , Hoven Hanno , Plenty Stephanie
Published: December 2014

Aims: According to the workplace theory of effort–reward imbalance (ERI), individuals who perceive a lack of reciprocity between their effort spent at work and the rewards received in turn are at an increased risk of stress-related ill-health. It is also assumed that being overcommitted to work is linked to an increased risk of stress-related ill-health. This study applies the effort–reward imbalance model to the school setting. It aims to analyse the associations that effort–reward imbalance and overcommitment share with somatic pain and self-rated health among adolescents. Methods: Data are from the School Stress and Support Study (TriSSS), involving students in grades 8 and 9 (ages 14–16 years) in two schools in Stockholm, Sweden, during 2010 ( n=403). Information on effort–reward imbalance and health outcomes was gathered from self-report questionnaires. An adjusted short version of ERI was used. Factor analysis showed that extrinsic effort, reward and overcommitment constitute three distinct dimensions. The designed measures demonstrated sound psychometric properties both for the full sample and for subgroups. Ordered logistic regressions were conducted. Results: The analyses showed that low reward and higher overcommitment were associated with greater somatic pain and poorer self-rated health. Furthermore, effort–reward imbalance was linked with an elevated risk of somatic pain and poorer self-rated health. Conclusions: Students are more likely to experience stress-related ill-health when they perceive an imbalance between their effort and rewards. In addition, high overcommitment is associated with an increased risk of ill-health among students.
With a little help from my friends: An analysis of the role of social support in digital inequalities
Authors: Courtois Cédric , Verdegem Pieter
Published: December 2014

This article reports an empirical study on the composition and socio-economic background of social support networks and their moderating role in explaining digital inequalities. It conceptually draws upon and empirically reaffirms Van Dijk’s multiple access model, acknowledging motivational, material, skill and usage divides, while focussing on the under-researched issue of social support as indispensible source of social learning. Besides a small group of self-reliants, the results indicate a pattern of relatively socially disadvantaged domestic support receivers, characterized by lower digital resources. A second social support pattern points to a relatively socially advantaged non-domestic support receivers (i.e. friends/colleagues), high in digital resources. Drawing upon the concept of homophily in social networks, the results indicate a link between offline and online exclusion, perpetuating digital inequalities.
Improvements in thermal efficiency of premixed diesel combustion with optimization of combustion-related parameters and fuel volatilities
Authors: Ogawa Hideyuki , Xiong Qian , Obe Tatsunori , Sakane Yuhei , Shibata Gen
Published: December 2014

The influence of combustion-related parameters and fuel volatility on the premixed diesel combustion was experimentally investigated in a modern direct injection diesel engine, and the evaporation process of the fuel spray in the combustion chamber was analyzed with computational fluid dynamics simulation. By optimizing the fuel injection timing and the intake oxygen content, ultralow NOx and smokeless premixed diesel combustion with high thermal efficiency and acceptable levels of CO and total hydrocarbon emissions is possible with both diesel fuel and normal heptane. The optimum fuel injection timing for the indicated thermal efficiency is obtained when the fuel spray does not enter the squish area, maintaining the 50% heat release crank angle at around top dead center. The indicated thermal efficiencies reach the maximum at around 12% intake oxygen concentration. The indicated thermal efficiency in the premixed diesel combustion with normal heptane is slightly higher than with diesel fuel and is very similar to the conventional diesel combustion in a wide indicated mean effective pressure range of below 0.8 MPa. The indicated thermal efficiency decreases when advancing injection timings mainly due to the deterioration in the combustion efficiency when the fuel is injected to the outside of the piston cavity. The degree of decrease in the indicated thermal efficiency with advancing injection timings is more significant with diesel fuel than with normal heptane due to the wall wetting.
The impact of a magnesium zirconate thermal barrier coating on homogeneous charge compression ignition operational variability and the formation of combustion chamber deposits
Authors: Hoffman Mark A , Lawler Benjamin J , Güralp Orgun A , Najt Paul M , Filipi Zoran S
Published: December 2014

The accumulation and burn-off of combustion chamber deposits create uncontrolled shifting of the homogeneous charge compression ignition operability range. This combustion chamber deposit–created operational variability places increased control burden on a multi-mode engine. However, the operational variability can be mitigated by manipulating combustion chamber deposit accumulation. A magnesium zirconate thermal barrier coating was applied to the piston of a homogeneous charge compression ignition engine in an effort to reduce combustion chamber deposit accumulation through elevated piston surface temperatures. While reduced combustion chamber deposit thicknesses were observed on the magnesium zirconate piston periphery, combustion chamber deposit accumulation in the bowl region increased relative to aluminum piston operation. Additionally, combustion chamber deposit thicknesses on the aluminum cylinder head were reduced during operation with the magnesium zirconate coated piston. Chamber-wide alterations to combustion chamber deposit accumulation taken together with the increased burn duration and hydrocarbon emissions measured during operation with the magnesium zirconate piston indicate significant interaction between the directly injected fuel spray and thermal barrier coating porosity. The porosity and surface roughness of the magnesium zirconate thermal barrier coating are speculated to create fuel pooling/absorption within the piston bowl, increasing combustion chamber deposit accumulation in the bowl and leaning the remaining fuel–air charge. The charge leaning lengthens the magnesium zirconate burn duration and reduces cylinder head combustion chamber deposit accumulation. Furthermore, hydrocarbon emissions were increased during magnesium zirconate operation due to late desorption and subsequent incomplete burning of fuel from piston bowl and the presence of incombustibly lean areas in the remaining cylinder charge.
Context-specific graphical models for discrete longitudinal data
Authors: Edwards David , Ankinakatte Smitha
Published: December 2014

Ron et al. (1998) introduced a rich family of models for discrete longitudinal data called acyclic probabilistic finite automata. These may be represented as directed graphs that embody context-specific conditional independence relations. Here, the approach is developed from a statistical perspective. It is shown here that likelihood ratio tests may be constructed using standard contingency table methods, a model selection procedure that minimizes a penalized likelihood criterion is described, and a way to extend the models to incorporate covariates is proposed. The methods are applied to a small-scale dataset. Finally, it is shown that the models generalize certain subclasses of conventional undirected and directed graphical models.
The Politics of Need: Examining Governors' Decisions to Oppose the “Obamacare” Medicaid Expansion
Authors: Barrilleaux Charles , Rainey Carlisle
Published: December 2014

This article explains governors' decisions to support or oppose Medicaid expansions offered under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. We theorize that governors' decisions to oppose the funding should depend on both political demands and the level of need in the state, though politics and need are often in tension. We find that governors' partisanship and the composition of the legislature have substantively meaningful effects on governors' decisions, but the level of need in the state exerts little effect on governors' decisions. This suggests that for high profile, highly politicized issues such as the Affordable Care Act, political considerations outweigh the needs of citizens and state economic conditions in gubernatorial decision making.
Rapid Diffusion and Policy Reform: The Adoption and Modification of Three Strikes Laws
Authors: Karch Andrew , Cravens Matthew
Published: December 2014

Despite many important recent advances in the study of policy diffusion, this research has devoted limited attention to what happens after the adoption decision. This article attempts to fill this gap in diffusion research by examining the adoption and subsequent modification of “Three Strikes and You're Out” laws in the American states. Its analysis suggests that distinct political forces affected state-level outcomes at these two stages of the policymaking process. The rapid spread of Three Strikes laws in the 1990s seems to have occurred because states with more conservative leanings and higher proportions of African-American residents gravitated to a salient and visible policy. In contrast, the modification of Three Strikes laws appears to have been encouraged by financial necessity and shifting ideological environments but hindered by the mobilization of stakeholders with an interest in preserving the status quo, including private prison operators and prison officer unions. The contrast illustrates the usefulness of treating policy diffusion as a multistage process, and the stakeholder mobilization results provide empirical support for recent theorizing about policy feedback effects.
Playing with Trauma
Authors: Smethurst Toby , Craps Stef
Published: December 2014

Just as books and films about traumatic events have become part of Western popular culture, so the theme of trauma and its accompanying tropes have been seeping into video games over the last two decades. In spite of the discernible trauma trend within video games, however, and the potential they exhibit for representing trauma in new ways, they have received very little critical notice from trauma theorists. In this article, we argue that a trauma-theoretical study of games has much to offer our understanding of the ways that trauma can be represented, in addition to giving game studies scholars further insight into how games manage to elicit such strong emotions and difficult ethical quandaries in players. We demonstrate this by performing a close reading of one recent and much-discussed game, The Walking Dead: Season One, analyzing how it incorporates psychological trauma in terms of inter(re)activity, empathy, and complicity.
Searching for Pigeons in the Belfry: The Inquest, the Abolition of the Deodand and the Rise of the Family
Authors: Kirton-Darling Edward
Published: December 2014

This article explores the abolition in 1846 of the deodand – the object or animal declared responsible for death by an inquest jury – and its relationship with the family of the deceased. Drawing on the work of Jacques Donzelot, it argues that the deodand brought contingency into the heart of law, and that its replacement with a legal right to compensation for dependents was a move to rationalize the investigation of death. This rationalization had consequences; limiting the place of the unruly community, centering and regulated the family, and disconnecting the inquest from the material of death.
Stop the bleeding or weather the storm? crisis solution marketing and the ideological use of metaphor in online financial reporting of the stock market crash of 2008 at the New York Stock Exchange
Authors: O’Mara-Shimek Michael , Guillén-Parra Manuel , Ortega-Larrea Ana
Published: December 2014

Introducing the concept of Crisis Solution Marketing (CSM), this research explores how metaphor pre-packages information, proposing “solutions” to “problems” they discursively construct in the media. These conceptual frameworks are capable of influencing how readers perceive and interpret news events, ultimately influencing their behavior as consumers and the financial decisions they make. This article explores the relationship between editorial positioning and ideology in financial news and the types or ontologies of metaphors used to describe the nature of the stock market via reporting on the stock market crash of 2008 in online news media. Results indicate a statistically significant preference for The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, liberally positioned newspapers, for animate-biological metaphors which promote understanding of the stock market in terms of a living being that must be ‘nurtured’ through intervention as opposed to being ‘left alone’, which is more consistent with laissez-faire approaches to economic crisis scenarios.
Alternative calendars and memory work in Serbia: Anti-war activism after Milošević
Authors: Fridman Orli
Published: December 2014

This article analyzes the continuation of anti-war groups and activists in Serbia who were in opposition to wars in the 1990s and, in the decade after October 2000, are still in struggle. Activism often analyzed as part of the “Dealing with the Past Projects” is here analyzed in the context of social memory studies contributing to the understanding of current memory work and memory activism in Serbia. Drawing on Eviatar Zerubavel’s analysis of calendars as sites of social organization of national memory, this text looks at the emergence of alternative calendars as formed and created by anti-war and human rights activists. By analyzing the emerging alternative civic calendar in Serbia, I discuss memory activism as related to the commemoration of the Siege of Sarajevo and the Omarska concentration camp. I then extend my analysis on what I see as the most apparent and significant day on the emerging civic alternative calendar: 10 July annual commemoration of the victims of Srebrenica taking place for the last two decades at the heart of Belgrade’s city center, Republic Square.
Botulinum toxin in the management of blepharospasm: current evidence and recent developments
Authors: Hellman Amy , Torres-Russotto Diego
Published: December 2014

Blepharospasm is a focal (although usually bilateral) dystonia of the orbicularis oculi muscles, producing excessive eye closure. This produces significant disability through functional blindness. Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNT) have become the treatment of choice for blepharospasm; the impressive response rate and the tolerable safety profile have been proven through multiple clinical studies. There are currently four BoNT approved in the United States for different indications - we review the data on blepharospasm for each of these drugs. Currently, incobotulinumtoxinA and onabotulinumtoxinA have the most evidence of benefit for patients with blepharospasm. Current evidence, recent development and future directions are discussed.
Impact of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Multidimensional Hand Hygiene Approach, over 8 years, in 11 cities of Turkey
Authors: Leblebicioglu Hakan , Koksal Iftihar , Rosenthal Victor D. , Akan Özay Arıkan , Özgültekin Asu , Kendirli Tanil , Erben Nurettin , Yalcin Ata Nevzat , Ulusoy Sercan , Sirmatel Fatma , Ozdemir Davut , Alp Emine , Yıldızdaş Dinçer , Esen Saban , Ulger Fatma , Dilek Ahmet , Yilmaz Hava , Yýlmaz Gürdal , Kaya Selçuk , Ulusoy Hülya , Tulunay Melek , Oral Mehmet , Ünal Necmettin , Turan Güldem , Akgün Nur , İnan Asuman , Ince Erdal , Karbuz Adem , Çiftçi Ergin , Taşyapar Nevin , Güneş Melek , Ozgunes Ilhan , Usluer Gaye , Turhan Ozge , Gunay Nurgul , Gumus Eylul , Dursun Oguz , Arda Bilgin , Bacakoglu Feza , Cengiz Mustafa , Yilmaz Leyla , Geyik Mehmet Faruk , Şahin Ahmet , Erdogan Selvi , Kılıc Aysegul Ulu , Horoz Ozden Ozgur
Published: December 2014

Aims:

To evaluate the effectiveness of the International Nosocomial Infection Control Consortium (INICC) Multidimensional Hand Hygiene Approach in Turkey and analyse predictors of poor hand hygiene compliance.

Design:

An observational, prospective, interventional, before-and-after study was conducted from August 2003 to August 2011 in 12 intensive care units (ICU) of 12 hospitals in 11 cities. The study was divided into a baseline and a follow-up period and included random 30-minute observations for hand hygiene compliance in ICU. The hand hygiene approach included administrative support, supplies availability, education and training, reminders in the workplace, process surveillance, and performance feedback.

Results:

We observed 21,145 opportunities for hand hygiene. Overall hand hygiene compliance increased from 28.8% to 91% (95% CI 87.6–93.0, p 0.0001). Multivariate and univariate analyses showed that several variables were significantly associated with poor hand hygiene compliance: males vs. females (39% vs. 48%; 95% CI 0.79–0.84, p 0.0001), ancillary staff vs. physicians (35% vs. 46%, 95% CI 0.73–0.78, p 0.0001), and adult vs. pediatric ICUs (42% vs. 74%, 95% CI 0.54–0.60, p 0.0001).

Conclusions:

Adherence to hand hygiene was significantly increased with the INICC Hand Hygiene Approach. Specific programmes should be directed to improve hand hygiene in variables found to be predictors of poor hand hygiene compliance.
The effect of a quality improvement programme reducing blood culture contamination on the detection of bloodstream infection in an emergency department
Authors: Robertson Paul , Russell Andrew , Inverarity Donald J
Published: December 2014

Background:

Contaminated blood cultures (BC) generate avoidable costs and prolong hospital stays. To measure our hospital’s performance against the recommended standard of <3% BC contamination, we performed a prospective study.

Methods:

We prospectively determined the frequency of contaminated and genuinely positive BC hospital-wide over seven months.

Results:

Overall, 73 of 1,829 blood cultures reviewed were contaminated (4.0%). However, distribution of contamination was not uniform. Finding a consistently higher incidence of contamination (11.7%) in our emergency department (ED) than elsewhere in the hospital (2.5%), we adopted a collaborative quality improvement strategy targeted to the ED. A combination of education, modified BC packs and regular feedback of BC results was associated with a significant reduction in contamination (7.4%, p=0.01) over the next six months. Our data suggests that contaminated BC were more likely to have been taken during regular day time hours (odds ratio (OR) 2.7, p=0.012), rather than overnight and were not associated with influxes of new junior medical staff. We found no evidence that the incidence of true bloodstream infection (12.8%) diagnosed by our ED was adversely affected by our intervention (10.7%, p=0.35).

Conclusions:

Using a simple and inexpensive collaborative intervention we reduced BC contamination without adversely affecting the detection of genuine BSI
Telling Women That Men Desire Women With Bodies Larger Than the Thin-Ideal Improves Women’s Body Satisfaction
Authors: Meltzer Andrea L. , McNulty James K.
Published: December 2014

One source of women’s body dissatisfaction appears to be the media’s suggestion that men desire extremely thin women. Thus, three independent experiments examined whether reversing this suggestion would improve women’s weight satisfaction. In all three studies, women viewed images of female models with bodies larger than the thin-ideal. Women who were randomly assigned to be told that men found those models attractive experienced increased weight satisfaction compared to women who were not given any information (Studies 1 and 2) and women who were told that men preferred ultra-thin women (Study 2). Study 3 (a) provided evidence for the theoretical mechanism—internalization of the thin-ideal—and (b) revealed that telling women that other women find larger models attractive does not yield similar benefits. These findings extend the tripartite influence model by demonstrating that women’s beliefs about men’s body preferences are an important moderator of the association between media influence and women’s body satisfaction.
Continuity of medication management and continuity of care: Conceptual and operational considerations
Authors: Beadles Christopher A , Voils Corrine I , Crowley Matthew J , Farley Joel F , Maciejewski Matthew L
Published: December 2014

Objective:

Continuity of care is considered foundational to high-quality care. Traditional continuity of care constructs may adequately characterize care quality in general populations, but may merit reconceptualization for patients with multiple chronic conditions. Specifically, interactions between multiple chronic condition patients and providers involve complex medication management; therefore care continuity measurement may be more relevant if focused on the provider subset who prescribes essential medications for chronic conditions—a construct we call continuity of medication management. Our objective was to explore conceptual distinctions between continuity of medication management and continuity of care, survey existing evidence in this area, and discuss implications of our findings for future research and intervention development.

Methods:

In this topical review, we discuss conceptual distinctions between continuity of medication management and continuity of care, review the limited continuity of medication management–related empirical evidence, and discuss implications for future research and interventions.

Results:

Continuity of medication management represents a potential conceptual and measurement advance by reflecting interpersonal continuity and management continuity, and may provide a means of identifying patients at high-risk of adverse events. Empirical evidence also establishes support for continuity of medication management as a meaningful measure of care continuity. Finally, continuity of medication management may also be a potential target for future intervention to improve care delivery among multiple chronic condition patients.

Conclusion:

If continuity of medication management is validated in diverse populations, correlated with patient outcomes, and responsive to change, then it may be an important target for improving the health and health care of multiple chronic condition patients.
Maoism, a Recalcitrant Citizenry and Counterinsurgency Measures in India
Authors: Chakrabarty Bidyut
Published: December 2014

India has unfriendly neighbours and yet there is hardly a significant external threat since the 1999 Kargil war involving Pakistan. What is dubbed as the biggest internal security threat to India is the left-wing-extremist movement that has spread to the majority of the Indian provinces in recent years. Also identified as the Maoist insurgency, it has ideologically inspired a large section of India’s tribal population who, so far, remain left out from the mainstream politics. This is not merely a law-and-order problem, as was usually construed by the major security agencies in the past, but an outcome of the India’s planned development strategies which failed to bring about uniform economic growth cutting across regions. Left-wing extremism is thus a contextual response to historical wrongs that the Indian state has committed by being indifferent to the poverty-stricken masses around the country. This is now recognized by the policy makers in India, who seem to have evolved an appropriate strategy by seeking to fulfil, on a priority basis, the basic human requirements of the disempowered sections of the population. The article thus argues that the threat to India’s internal security is far more complex and cannot thus be addressed meaningfully by coercion alone; it requires a well thought out pro-people socio-economic programme, which needs to be applied regardless of class, clan and creed.
Family history of breast and ovarian cancer and triple negative subtype in hispanic/latina women
Authors: Anderson Kristin , Thompson Patricia A , Wertheim Betsy C , Martin Lorena , Komenaka Ian K , Bondy Melissa , Daneri-Navarro Adrian , Meza-Montenegro Maria Mercedes , Gutierrez-Millan Luis Enrique , Brewster Abenaa , Madlensky Lisa , Tobias Malaika , Natarajan Loki , Martínez María Elena
Published: December 2014

Familial breast and ovarian cancer prevalence was assessed among 1150 women of Mexican descent enrolled in a case-only, binational breast cancer study. Logistic regression was conducted to compare odds of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) to non-TNBC according to family history of breast and breast or ovarian cancer among 914 of these women.

Prevalence of breast cancer family history in a first- and first- or second-degree relative was 13.1% and 24.1%, respectively; that for breast or ovarian cancer in a first-degree relative was 14.9%. After adjustment for age and country of residence, women with a first-degree relative with breast cancer were more likely to be diagnosed with TNBC than non-TNBC (OR=1.98; 95% CI, 1.26–3.11). The odds of TNBC compared to non-TNBC were 1.93 (95% CI, 1.26–2.97) for women with a first-degree relative with breast or ovarian cancer. There were non-significant stronger associations between family history and TNBC among women diagnosed at age <50 compared to ≥50 years for breast cancer in a first-degree relative (P-interaction = 0.14) and a first- or second-degree relative (P-interaction = 0.07).

Findings suggest that familial breast cancers are associated with triple negative subtype, possibly related to BRCA mutations in Hispanic/Latina women, which are strongly associated with TNBC. Family history is an important tool to identify Hispanic/Latina women who may be at increased risk of TNBC, and could benefit from prevention and early detection strategies.
A review of sleep deprivation studies evaluating the brain transcriptome
Authors: Elliott Alisa S , Huber Jason D , O’Callaghan James P , Rosen Charles L , Miller Diane B
Published: December 2014

Epidemiological studies show a positive association between adequate sleep and good health. Further, disrupted sleep may increase the risk for CNS diseases, such as stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. However, there has been limited progress in determining how sleep is linked to brain health or how sleep disruption may increase susceptibility to brain insult and disease. Animal studies can aid in understanding these links. In reviewing the animal literature related to the effects of sleep disruption on the brain, we found most of the work was directed toward investigating and characterizing the role of various brain areas or structures in initiating and regulating sleep. In contrast, limited effort has been directed towards understanding how sleep disruption alters the brain’s health or susceptibility to insult. We also note many current studies have determined the changes in the brain following compromised sleep by examining, for example, the brain transcriptome or to a more limited extent the proteome. However, these studies have utilized almost exclusively total sleep deprivation (e.g., 24 out of 24 hours) paradigms or single short periods of limited acute sleep deprivation (e.g., 3 out of 24 hours). While such strategies are beneficial in understanding how sleep is controlled, they may not have much translational value for determining links between sleep and brain health or for determining how sleep disruption may increase brain susceptibility to insult. Surprisingly, few studies have determined how the duration and recurrence of sleep deprivation influence the effects seen after sleep deprivation. Our aim in this review was to identify relevant rodent studies from 1980 through 2012 and analyze those that use varying durations of sleep deprivation or restriction in their effort to evaluate the effects of sleep deprivation on the brain transcriptome and to a more limited extent the proteome. We examined how differences in the duration of sleep deprivation affect gene and protein expression to better understand the full consequences of repeated sleep disruption on the brain. Future research needs to consider and emphasize how the type and extent of the sleep deprivation exposure impacts the conclusions reached concerning the influence of sleep disruption on the brain.

We identified relevant studies between 1980 and 2012 by searching the electronic databases of PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), and Web of Science using the terms “sleep” AND “disrupt”, “deprivation”, “restrict”, “fragment”, “loss”, “disturb”, “disorder”, “dysfunction”, “brain”, “cortex”, striatum”, hypothalamus”, “hippocampus”, “gene”, “protein”, “genomics”, “proteomics”, “polymerase chain reaction”, “pcr”, “microarray”, “molecular”, “rodent” “rat”, “rats”, “mouse”, “mice”. All searches were limited to rodent studies in English and the reference lists of retrieved articles were searched for additional pertinent studies.
Diesel biodegradation capacities of indigenous bacterial species isolated from diesel contaminated soil
Authors: Palanisamy Nandhini , Ramya Jayaprakash , Kumar Srilakshman , Vasanthi NS , Chandran Preethy , Khan Sudheer
Published: December 2014

Petroleum based products are the major source of energy for industries and daily life. Leaks and accidental spills occur regularly during the exploration, production, refining, transport, and storage of petroleum and petroleum products. In the present study we isolated the bacteria from diesel contaminated soil and screened them for diesel biodegradation capacity. One monoculture isolate identified by 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis to be Acinetobacter baumannii was further studied for diesel oil biodegradation. The effects of various culture parameters (pH, temperature, NaCl concentrations, initial hydrocarbon concentration, initial inoculum size, role of chemical surfactant, and role of carbon and nitrogen sources) on biodegradation of diesel oil were evaluated. Optimal diesel oil biodegradation by A. baumanii occurred at initial pH 7, 35°C and initial hydrocarbon concentration at 4%. The biodegradation products under optimal cultural conditions were analyzed by GC-MS. The present study suggests that A. baumannii can be used for effective degradation of diesel oil from industrial effluents contaminated with diesel oil.
Enantioselective Synthesis of (+)-N-(Desmethyl)dysibetaine CPb
Authors: Tanaka Kento , Sakai Michihiro , Takamizawa Satoshi , Oikawa Masato
Published: December 2014

The synthetic efforts to dysibetaine CPb, isolated from Micronesian marine sponge, amenable to analog synthesis are reported. Cyclopropane was constructed by a sulfonium ylide-mediated reaction and enantioselective desymmetrization was performed by methanolysis mediated by a quinine derivative. (+)-N-(Desmethyl)dysibetaine CPb was finally synthesized in 0.37% yield in total 14 steps. This is the first synthesis of the dysibetaine CPb analog.