bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Protestantism and the Devil
Authors: Webster Tom
Published: July 2016

This chapter shows that, despite changes brought about by the Reformation, Shakespeare’s contemporaries understood the devil as a real presence in their world. It explores his roles in theology, as the source of evil; in ecclesiology, as the embodiment of the corrupt Church; in spirituality, as a genuine threat to believers; in popular culture and literature, as a sensationalist and didactic figure; and in demonology, as an aide to witches and cunning folk and an intrusive figure in demonic possessions. The reciprocal influences of these fields are stressed and used to contextualize the devil’s appearances in theatrical performances promoting the Reformation and subsequently the gradual, but belated, demonisation of the theatre. The chapter closes with some application of this analysis to the treatment of the devil in early modern drama as source of explicit temptations and psychological corruption.
The Affective Life in Shakespearean England
Authors: Pollock Linda
Published: July 2016

Critiquing the amount of scholarly attention paid to the body and to intense, overwhelming feelings, this chapter examines how individuals, mainly the landed ranks, experienced and dealt with affect in daily life and relationships. While scholarship emphasizes suppression and disapproval of passion, this chapter views the management of affect as not only the repression of feelings but also as the encouragement and elicitation of them. It examines the available coping strategies for dealing with strong feelings such as anger or grief. It stresses the interconnections between affect and morality. Affect, judgment and conduct constituted a dynamic interchange in Shakespearean England. Feelings involve judgement and evaluation and are intimately connected to thoughts, norms, and culture. Finally, it points to the importance of the performative nature of affect in this period, concluding that culturally mandated or sanctioned emotions were not necessarily less authentic than spontaneous feelings.
Elizabethan Verse Libel
Authors: Bryson Alan
Published: July 2016

The scurrilous, sometimes seditious, nature of verse libel made it immensely popular in Elizabethan England, although, while also restricting it mainly to manuscript circulation. Few examples found their way into print, rendering the genre largely invisible until today. Despite this, verse libel was one of the most pervasive forms of the period, nurtured with imagination and verve by a broad range of poets. Poems were passed—and not necessarily secretively—from one person to the next, they were cast into pulpits and public places, scattered about the streets, posted on walls. Some were even sung to popular tunes, the better to humiliate their victims while also introducing the genre to the illiterate (and thus broadening the public debate contained within them beyond the elite). Libellous verse was part of everyday life decades before scholars have thought; its impact largely unknown today.
Gender, Writing Technologies, and Early Modern Epistolary Communications
Authors: Daybell James
Published: July 2016

Shakespeare’s age witnessed the extension of letter-writing skills to an increasing range of social groups, including women. The letter as a cultural form encompassed a complex range of practices and writing technologies connected to the composition, folding, sealing, delivery, reading, and afterlife of correspondence. Shakespeare depicts women across the social spectrum from queens to illiterate servants, composing, reading, or delivering letters. An understanding of early modern epistolary culture, and women’s involvement in it, is thus fundamental to interpreting the social and cultural practices embedded in Shakespearean drama. This chapter focuses on the writing technologies connected with women’s letter-writing, from the acquisition of basic literacy and skills of penmanship (in relation to the gendered nature of early modern education), through models, templates and printed epistolographies, the mechanics of composition, and personal and collaborative forms of authorship, to the material practices of writing, archiving and circulating epistles and forms of secret writing.
The Shamings of Falstaff
Authors: Weiser Brian
Published: July 2016

InMerry Wives of WindsorFalstaff tries to clandestinely meet Mistress Ford three separate times and, each time, Mistresses Ford and Page play pranks on their ardent and clueless suitor. This article argues that each incident is an adaptation of a distinct form of shaming ritual usually reserved for unruly women: Mistresses Ford and Page subject Falstaff to a cucking, a Skimmington, and the placing of horns. Drawing on work by social historians, this chapter analyses these three forms of ritual shaming to provide a richer understanding of how Shakespeare’s most English comedy relates to its surrounding social, political and cultural environment.
‘Murder’s Crimson Badge’
Authors: Kesselring K.J.
Published: July 2016

Shakespeare’s active life appears to have coincided with a temporary increase in both the homicide rate and numbers of people executed for murder in England. Drawing upon both print and manuscript sources, this chapter historicizes homicide in late sixteenth and early seventeenth-century England examining changes in murder’s incidence, legal definitions, and reporting in ‘true crime’ pamphlets. In addition to surveying the punishment of such relatively new forms of homicide as death by witchcraft and by dueling, it traces the developing distinctions between murder and manslaughter, including the new emphasis jurists placed on provocation over hotbloodedness. Highlighting novelties in a story that can seem unchanging, it argues that murder’s meanings proved particularly malleable in these years, not least in becoming clothed more completely in a rhetoric of ‘public’ interests.
Thinking with Poison
Authors: Bellany Alastair
Published: July 2016

‘Thinking with Poison’ explores the fascination of Shakespeare and his contemporaries with poison and poisoning, as a secretive and therefore especially heinous form of murder, often used by the socially weak and marginal against their natural superiors, although sometimes also employed by powerful courtiers, as in the scandalous murder of Sir Thomas Overbury. The chapter argues that talk about poison crystalized profound contemporary anxieties about order and identity, purity and pollution, class and gender, self and other, the domestic and the foreign, politics and religion, tyanny and court conspiracy, appearance and reality, the natural and the supernatural, the knowable and the occult. The chapter focuses in particular on the role of poison in anti-Catholic polemic, in depictions of court corruption, in contemporary medical and scientific debates, and in discussion of witchcraft and the occult.
Theatre, Church, and Neighbourhood in the Early Modern Blackfriars
Authors: Highley Christopher
Published: July 2016

This chapter examines the relationship between theater and church in the early modern London parish of St. Anne, Blackfriars. From the 1580s, the parish of St Anne gained notoriety for its Puritan ministers and residents. For a brief period in the 1590s, these godly forces prevented Burbage, Shakespeare, and their fellows from opening a new indoor theater in part of the old Dominican monastery. But eventually the theatre opened and a culture of performing and playgoing became a well-established part of the local life. By looking closely at the individuals involved and at the social and economic forces at play in the Blackfriars, this chapter argues that coexistence, not conflict, characterized relations between the Godly and their neighborhood playhouse in this corner of the City.
Graphic Satire and the Printed Image in Shakespeare’s London
Authors: Pierce Helen
Published: July 2016

How was the multiplied, printed image encountered in Shakespeare’s London? This chapter examines a range of genres and themes for single sheet, illustrated broadsides in an emerging, specialist print market. It discusses how such images were used to persuade and to entertain a potentially broad cross-section of society along moral, political and religious lines, and according to both topical and commercial interests. The mimetic nature of the English print in both engraved and woodcut form is highlighted, with its frequent adaptation of continental models to suit more local concerns. Consideration is also given to the survival of certain images in later seventeenth-century impressions, indicative of popularity and the common commercial practice of reprinting stock from aging plates and blocks, and the sporadic nature of censorship upon the illustrated broadside.
Catholicism and Tyranny in Shakespeare’s Warwickshire
Authors: Parry Glyn
Published: July 2016

The brief appearance of a messenger named ‘Somerville’ in The Third Part of Henry VI has been interpreted as evidence for a radically subversive Catholic Shakespeare. However, although John Somerville’s arrest for plotting to kill Queen Elizabeth, and the subsequent harassment of Warwickshire Catholic families, were part of Shakespeare’s formative experiences, this chapter uses new evidence to argue that religion formed only part of the story. It shows that Somverville’s arrest contributed to efforts by Robert Dudley earl of Leicester to destroy his rivals in Warwickshire politics through partisan manipulation of judicial processes and accusations of treason. Shakespeare’s allusion to Somerville can be read as a gesture not to Catholicism but to Warwickshire and national factional politics, rivalries over ancient possessions and family honour, and government abuse of legal procedures. Somerville’s arrest therefore resonated with depictions of murderous conflicts over inheritance, power and honour in the history plays.
History of Neuropsychology in Russia
Authors: Akhutina Tatiana V. , Melikyan Zarui A. , Mikadze Yuri V. , Mervis Joshua E. , Bisoglio Joseph , Goldberg Elkhonon
Published: July 2016

This chapter considers major milestones in the history of Russian neuropsychology by describing the main principles of Lurian neuropsychology and their applications in the study of memory and language disorders. The chapter describes Lurian typology of aphasias and explains the influence of Lurian neuropsychological principles on the further development of neuropsychology in Russia. This chapter discusses the work of Luria and Vygotsky as an integrative whole. The development of their neuropsychological theories is discussed from a handful of fundamental precepts, as well as their principal manifestations and practical applications. After a historical summary of their lives and works, the chapter introduces their theory of higher cognitive functions (HCFs) and presents its two most fundamental postulates. The chapter examines the diagnostic method known as syndrome analysis and shows its application to the aphasias and amnesias. Lastly, it describes how these principles and practices were applied to neurorehabilitation and cognitive remediation.
Audiovisual Aesthetics in Contemporary Experimental Film
Authors: Jutz Gabriele
Published: July 2016

This chapter maps the territory of the contemporary audiovisual cinematic avant-garde, which arose at the very moment of celluloid’s passage from mass use to obsolescence. It presents films that bear witness to the avant-garde’s ongoing interest in the formal organization of sound/image relationships. If one of the main concerns of sound in conventional film is to “naturalize” the image, experimental film is interested instead in ananti-naturalistic use of sound. Films without sound or even without images (which still can be called “films”), the use of audiovisual polysemy, asynchronous, or even synchronous sound, as well as the visualization of code-based music, are all means of revealing the constructed nature of the cinesonic event. The chapter examines the realm of the sound of technology itself, pointing out the creative potential ofoptically synthesized soundsas well aslive generated sounds and images, which attest to the agility of current projection performances.
The Affective Experience of Space
Authors: Schaub Mirjam
Published: July 2016

This article investigates the aesthetic conclusions that the Canadian artists Janet Cardiff and George Bures Miller draw from the basic phenomenon of listening—such as the “horizon of simultaneity” of sound and vision—in their own creation of their audio- and video-walks. It describes how their work functions as social experiments in the public sphere. The thesis is that their works “vampirize” sounds and actively assimilate them to natural acoustic tracks and traces, thus becoming affective traps for their pursuers. Cardiff and Miller lead the participants astray in their desire to actually “see” what is “only” to be heard. Thus an uncanny criminology of artificially laid traces is to be predicated on the seductiveness of the disembodied human voice as guiding narrative. Cardiff’s and Miller’s intriguing art form improvises a new way across the ravages of time by inventing new vestiges of the past.
Sculpting Image and Sound
Authors: Lund Cornelia
Published: July 2016

Digital technology increasingly has offered new possibilities of combining audio and visual elements, be it in live performances, installations, or videos. The Canadian artist and musician Herman Kolgen plays the different genres like a virtuoso, exploring overarching themes in audiovisual performances as well as audiovisual installations. This chapter offers a case study that takes Kolgen’s work as an example of artistic production that pushes its investigation of audiovisual combinations in different directions by its flexible use of analog and digital media formats. The chapter first discusses the status of Kolgen’s work in terms of categories of audiovisual production such asvisual music, live cinema, andsound art. It then focuses on an analysis of his work under three aspects: exploration of media formats, use of technology, and relation to performance and performativity. At the same time, the chapter situates Kolgen’s work in the wider context of audiovisual art.
The Law of Sports Wagering in the United States
Authors: Standen Jeffrey
Published: July 2016

The law of sports wagering in the United States reflects the exceptionalism of sports. Although limitations on gambling in general have undergone significant liberalization in recent decades, sports wagering remains subject to a complex interplay among federal and state prohibitions. This exceptionalism stems from the notion that sports contests would be ineluctably corrupted by betting, potentially giving contestants unduly large investments in the outcome, or in shaping the magnitude of the victory. Despite this continuing antipathy toward sports betting as a matter of formal legality, recent legal developments have unwittingly created a burgeoning industry in sports betting, which industry has created significant instability in the general prohibition. Specifically, the rise of daily fantasy sports contests, which can feature contests that appear remarkably similar to single-game bets on the outcome of a game, has both evidenced the domestic appetite for sports wagering, and has pushed against the boundaries set by the anti-gambling prohibitions. The legality of daily fantasy sports is highly debatable, and calls into question the very nature of a sports bet as a game of chance or skill, and whether or not fantasy play presents a substantially different set of characteristics. Whatever the legal outcome, strong arguments exist that suggest that fantasy play would not give rise to the concerns that animated the general prohibition on sports wagering.
Crime and the Global City
Authors: Mitchell Katharyne , MacFarlane Key
Published: July 2016

In recent years social scientists have been interested in the growth and transformation of global cities. These metropolises, which function as key command centers in global production networks, manifest many of the social, economic, and political tensions and inequities of neoliberal globalization. Their international appeal as sites of financial freedom and free trade frequently obscures the global city underbelly: practices of labor exploitation, racial discrimination, and migrant deferral. This chapter explores some of these global tensions, showing how they have shaped the strategies and technologies behind urban crime prevention, security, and policing. In particular, the chapter shows how certain populations perceived as risky become treated as pre-criminals: individuals in need of management and control before any criminal behavior has occurred. It is demonstrated further how the production of the pre-criminal can lead to dispossession, delay, and detention as well as to increasing gentrification and violence.
Behavior Therapy of Depression
Authors: Hubley Samuel H. , Dimidjian Sona
Published: July 2016

This article discusses the three primary contemporary behavior therapy interventions for depression: problem-solving therapy (PST), coping with depression (CWD), and behavioral activation (BA).   After providing an overview of the historical roots of behavioral treatment for depression, the article describes the theoretical foundation of each approach. It then considers the evidence base, citing clinical trials that have evaluated the efficacy and effectiveness of PST, CWD, and BA. It also examines the primary treatment strategies of each approach and concludes by suggesting directions for future research that emphasize the need to clarify mechanisms of change and to extend the scope of behavioral therapy for depression.
Reproductive Control for Men
Authors: Battin Margaret P.
Published: July 2016

Although women have many contraceptive options—gels, foams, pills, patches, rings, injections, subdermal implants, intrauterine devices, most with low failure rates and good reversibility—men have only the condom, withdrawal, and vasectomy, all with high failure rates or no guarantee of reversibility. This leaves men with unequal options for reproductive control, yet they may be held responsible for support of a child whether they wanted to reproduce or not. Five types of modern male contraception are now under development: they all raise issues of effectiveness, acceptability, and risk, but would give males far greater reproductive control. However, the common “one’s enough” assumption—that it is sufficient if either the male or the female contracepts—means that reproductive control could shift from females to males. “One’s enough” must be challenged in favor of “double coverage,” highly effective long-acting reversible contraception as routine for both parties, the nearest guarantee of female–male equality in reproductive control.
Planning, Freedom, and the Rule of Law
Authors: Wall Steve
Published: July 2016

Rule of law is widely considered to be an important element of a well-ordered society. It is an ideal of political morality that is realized to a greater or lesser extent in different legal systems. However, the rule of law is not a basic or fundamental ideal. Its normative significance is explained by its contribution to other, more fundamental, values. This chapter discusses the content of the rule of law (the institutional mechanisms and informal norms that comprise it) and the contribution that it makes to individual or personal freedom. The chapter presents an account of political freedom that relates freedom to the ability of persons to plan their lives. This planning account of freedom is just one component of a full theory of political freedom, but it is the component that best accounts for why the rule of law contributes to personal freedom.
Disciplinary Specialization and Thinking for Yourself
Authors: Millgram Elijah
Published: July 2016

Specialization in all fields of human endeavor is far more highly articulated than ever before, and today specialists neither understand one another, nor share standards for controlling the quality of argumentation. Almost any enterprise that matters overtly or tacitly requires cross-disciplinary collaboration. Understanding what one is doing is a precondition for thinking for oneself. Thus the Enlightenment’s commitment to autonomy, as expressed in thinking for oneself, is being systematically undermined. The problems of managing the transmission of information and guidance across disciplinary boundaries are in the first place problems in philosophy of logic. Freedom is valuable in the first place because one can think for oneself; thus specialization threatens our commitment to freedom. Accordingly, the continuing importance of freedom depends on advances in the philosophy of logic.
The Point of Self-Ownership
Authors: Sobel David
Published: July 2016

Traditional Libertarian Self-Ownership views suffer from the Conflation Problem—they fail to adequately distinguish serious from trivial infringements on our rights. Eric Mack has responded to this general concern. He argues that if we properly understand the point of rights, we can successfully distinguish between boundaries that it is morally crucial that we not cross from boundaries that are more flexible. This chapter argues that Mack’s proposed understanding of the point of rights—allowing people to live their own lives in their own way, uninterfered with—is ambiguous. Either we understand Mack’s notion of the point of rights in a moralized way or we do not. Either way, Mack’s view is inadequate, and thus he has not solved the general problem of distinguishing serious and trivial infringements on rights.
The Standard Model: how far can it go and how can we tell?
Authors: Butterworth J. M.
Published: July 2016

The Standard Model of particle physics encapsulates our current best understanding of physics at the smallest distances and highest energies. It incorporates quantum electrodynamics (the quantized version of Maxwell’s electromagnetism) and the weak and strong interactions, and has survived unmodified for decades, save for the inclusion of non-zero neutrino masses after the observation of neutrino oscillations in the late 1990s. It describes a vast array of data over a wide range of energy scales. I review a selection of these successes, including the remarkably successful prediction of a new scalar boson, a qualitatively new kind of object observed in 2012 at the Large Hadron Collider. New calculational techniques and experimental advances challenge the Standard Model across an ever-wider range of phenomena, now extending significantly above the electroweak symmetry breaking scale. I will outline some of the consequences of these new challenges, and briefly discuss what is still to be found.

This article is part of the themed issue ‘Unifying physics and technology in light of Maxwell's equations’.
Connectivity map of bipolar cells and photoreceptors in the mouse retina
Authors: Behrens Christian , Schubert Timm , Haverkamp Silke , Euler Thomas , Berens Philipp
Published: July 2016

Visual processing begins at the first synapse of the visual system. In the mouse retina, three different types of photoreceptors provide input to 14 bipolar cell (BC) types. Classically, most BC types are thought to contact all cones within their dendritic field; ON BCs would contact cones exclusively via so-called invaginating synapses, while OFF BCs would form basal synapses. By mining publically available electron microscopy data, we discovered interesting violations of these rules of outer retinal connectivity: ON BC type X contacted only ~20% of the cones in its dendritic field and made mostly atypical non-invaginating contacts. Types 5T, 5O and 8 also contacted fewer cones than expected. In addition, we found that rod BCs received input from cones, providing anatomical evidence that rod and cone pathways are interconnected in both directions. This suggests that the organization of the outer plexiform layer is more complex than classically thought.
Grey system based novel forecasting and portfolio mechanism on CSE
Authors: Rathnayaka R.M. Kapila Tharanga , Seneviratna D.M.K.N , Jianguo Wei
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– Because of the high volatility with unstable data patterns in the real world, the ability of forecasting price indices is notoriously embarrassing and represents a major challenge with traditional time series mechanisms; especially, most of the traditional approaches are weak to forecast future predictions in the high volatile and unbalanced frameworks under the global and local financial depressions. The purpose of this paper is to propose a new statistical approach for portfolio selection and stock market forecasting to assist investors as well as stock brokers to predict the future behaviors.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study mainly takes an attempt to understand the trends, behavioral patterns and predict the future estimations under the new proposed frame for the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Sri Lanka. The methodology of this study is carried out under the two main phases. In the first phase, constructed a new portfolio mechanism based on k-means clustering. In the second stage, proposed a nonlinear forecasting methodology based on grey mechanism for forecasting stock market indices under the high-volatile fluctuations. The autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) predictions are used as comparison mode.

Findings

– Initially, the k-mean clustering was applied to pick out the profitable sectors running under the CSE and results indicated that BFI is more significant than other 20 sectors. Second, the MAE, MAPE and MAD model comparison results clearly suggested that, the newly proposed nonlinear grey Bernoulli model (NGBM) is more appropriate than traditional ARIMA methods to forecast stock price indices under the non-stationary market conditions.

Practical implications

– Because of the flexible nonlinear modeling capability, proposed novel concepts are more suitable for applying in various areas in the field of financial, economic, military, geological and agricultural systems for pattern recognition, classification, time series forecasting, etc.

Originality/value

– For the large sample of data forecasting under the normality assumptions, the traditional time series methodologies are more suitable than grey methodologies. However, the NGBM is better both in model building and ex post testing stagers under the s-distributed data patterns with limited data forecastings.
Multivariate discrete grey model base on dummy drivers
Authors: Zhang Ke
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to solve the problem that the qualitative relative factors cannot be employed in traditional multivariate grey models.

Design/methodology/approach

– First, a new model is constructed though introducing dummy drivers. Then, the parameters estimation method and recursive function of the model are discussed. Furthermore, dummy driver setting, pre and post test methods of dummy drivers are proposed. At last, the per capita income forecasting of rural residents in Henan province of China is solved with the proposed model.

Findings

– The proposed model is the reasonable extension of original one. The accuracy of it is higher than former model. In the case study, the forecasting results of proposed model are compared with other grey forecasting models, and prove that proposed model has not only high accuracy, but also clear physical meaning.

Practical implications

– The method proposed in the paper could be used in policy effect measure, marketing forecasting, etc., when the predictor variables are influenced by some qualitative variables.

Originality/value

– It will promote the accuracy of multivariate grey forecasting model.
Seller-induced scarcity and price-leadership
Authors: Ishfaq Rafay , Raja Uzma , Rao Shashank
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the interaction between inventory availability (scarcity) and pricing levels (price-leadership (PL)), and its effect on product returns in the internet retail supply chain. Specifically, this paper investigates how supply chain managers can use inventory (seller-induced scarcity) and pricing (PL) levers to control product returns.

Design/methodology/approach

– Empirical data of sales and product returns from an internet retailer is analyzed to identify the scale of the effect that product scarcity and PL has on product returns. These factors are considered in developing a sales-return process model which is used with empirical data in a simulation study. The study evaluates changes in product returns for different policy settings related to PL and inventory levels. Findings of the simulation study are validated using statistical analysis of empirical data.

Findings

– PL and seller-induced product scarcity affect the rate of product returns; however, the scale of this effect depends on inventory and pricing decisions. The results identify an inflection boundary based on scarcity and PL levels which reverses this effect. This reversal is explained by underlying principles at play regarding buyers’ valuation of the sale and corresponding product attributes.

Practical implications

– Supply chain managers in internet retail can leverage lower inventory under the seller-induced scarcity approach to improve revenues. However, reducing inventory levels beyond a threshold is counterproductive, due to an associated increase in product returns. Similarly, setting market competitive prices (PL) can help reduce product returns. Under the seller-induced scarcity condition, this effect is reversed for inventory levels below a threshold. Retailers can implement the methodology developed in this paper to identify the inventory-price threshold that can help increase revenues while keeping the rate of product returns at a manageable level.

Originality/value

– This research extends prior work regarding the role of product scarcity and pricing on product returns and develops a deeper understanding of how these factors can be managed to control product returns in the internet retail setting.
Availability analysis of a LNG processing plant using the Markov process
Authors: Hassan Jakiul , Thodi Premkumar , Khan Faisal
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to propose a state dependent stochastic Markov model for availability analysis of process plant instead of traditional time dependent model.

Design/methodology/approach

– The traditional concepts of system performance measurement and reliability (namely, binary; two-state concepts) are observed to be inadequate to characterize performance of complex system components. Availability analysis considering an intermediate state, such as a degraded state, provides a better alternative mechanism for system performance mapping. The availability model provides a better assessment of failure and repair characteristics for equipment in the sub-system and its overall performance. In addition to availability analysis, this paper also discusses the preventive maintenance (PM) program to achieve target availability. In this model, the degraded state is considered as a PM state. Using Markov analysis the optimum maintenance interval is determined.

Findings

– Markov process provides an easier way to measure the performance of the process facility. This study also revealed that the maintenance interval has a major influence in the availability of a process facility as well as in maintaining target availability. The developed model is also applicable to the varying target availability as well as having the capability to handle even the reconfigured process systems.

Research limitations/implications

– Considering the degraded state as an operative state, a higher availability of the plant is predicted. The consideration of the degraded state of the system makes the availability estimation more realistic and acceptable. Availability quantification, target availability allocation and a PM model are exemplified in a sub-system of an liquefied natural gas facility.

Originality/value

– The unique features of the present study are; Markov modeling approach integrating availability and PM; optimum PM interval determination of stochastically degrading components based on target availability; consideration of three-state systems; and consideration of increasing failure rates.
Observing the effect of a policy: a maintenance case
Authors: Rijsdijk Chris , Tinga Tiedo
Published: July 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to show that maintenance performance is potentially better predictable from recording routines.

Design/methodology/approach

– An attempt is made to observe an effect of a policy. Maintenance cases seem exceptional because of the efficiently obtainable evidence about policy violations which potentially provides access to the counterfactual reality to be avoided by the decision maker. The approach followed in this work is to use maintenance policy compliance to observe the effect of a maintenance policy.

Findings

– Conventional maintenance scorecards are not geared to accommodate maintenance performance predictions. The proposed alternative representation of maintenance performance indicators much better accommodates maintenance performance predictions.

Research limitations/implications

– This work focuses on the operationalisation and the sampling procedure of maintenance performance indicators; the selection of a predictive model is not considered.

Practical implications

– This work demonstrates that maintenance decision makers have the possibility to observe the effects of their policy, which potentially enables them to better control their objectives. This work provides guidelines to construct performance indicators that much better accommodate maintenance performance predictions than conventional maintenance performance indicators.

Originality/value

– The approach to make the effects of maintenance policy compliance observable is an original contribution to normative decision theory. To construct a maintenance scorecard that accommodates maintenance performance predictions is an original contribution to the field of maintenance performance measurement.
Automatic extraction of geometrical characteristics hidden in ground‐penetrating radar sectional images using simultaneous perturbation artificial bee colony algorithm
Authors: Jafrasteh B. , Fathianpour N.
Published: July 2016

Ground‐penetrating radar is one of the most effective methods of detecting shallow buried objects. Ground‐penetrating radar radargram is a vertical map of the radar pulse reflections that returns from subsurface objects, and in the case of cylindrical objects, it would be a hyperbola. In order to get clear and accurate information on the presence, location, and geometry of the buried objects, the radargrams need to be interpreted. Interpretation of the results is a time‐consuming task and needs an expert with vast knowledge. Development of an automatic interpretation method of B‐scan ground‐penetrating radar images would be an effective and efficient solution to this problem. A novel automatic interpretation method of ground‐penetrating radar images, based on simultaneous perturbation artificial bee colony algorithm using tournament selection strategy, simultaneous perturbation stochastic approximation method, and new search equations, is introduced in this paper. The proposed algorithm is used to extract geometrical parameters, i.e. depth, location, and radius, of buried cylindrical objects in order to assess its accuracy. Synthetic data, simulated using GprMax2D forward modelling program, and real data, surveyed in the campus of Isfahan University of Technology, are used in the assessment. The performance of the proposed method in detecting synthetic hyperbolas is compared with that of the original artificial bee colony algorithm, genetic algorithm, and modified Hough transform. The results show superiority of the proposed algorithm, in detecting synthetic hyperbolas. Furthermore, the performance of the proposed method in estimating depth and radius of pipes in real ground‐penetrating radar images is compared with that of the modified Hough transform. The results indicate higher accuracy of the proposed method in estimating geometrical parameters of the buried cylindrical objects.
Changing my perspective: How the development of emergency medicine in Sri Lanka can inform the Australasian experience
Authors: Taylor Nicholas
Published: July 2016

When compared to an Australasian ED, the two major differences in the emergency medicine practice at Teaching Hospital Karapitiya are which patients are selected at triage and how those selected present. These differences have caused me to reflect on emergency medicine practice in Australasia and wonder if this practice is sustainable.
Familial Mediterranean fever patients homozygous for E148Q variant may have milder disease
Authors: Topaloglu Rezan , Batu Ezgi Deniz , Yıldız Çigdem , Korkmaz Emine , Özen Seza , Beşbaş Nesrin , Özaltın Fatih
Published: July 2016

Aim

Familial Mediterranean fever (FMF) results from MEFV gene mutations. E148Q is a variant of unknown significance in MEFV. We aimed to define characteristics of FMF patients homozygous for E148Q, check for other MEFV variants in a subgroup, and compare the characteristics with FMF patients carrying other mutations.

Methods

Thirty FMF patients homozygous for E148Q were reviewed. MEFV variant analysis was performed with strip assay. All MEFV exons were screened by direct DNA sequencing in 14 randomly selected E148Q/E148Q patients. E148Q was also checked in 100 healthy adolescents. We compared the characteristics of FMF patients between three groups: E148Q/E148Q (n = 30), M694V/E148Q (n = 19) and exon 10/exon 10 MEFV mutations (n = 48).

Results

Among 30 FMF patients (E148Q/E148Q), the median age at disease onset and diagnosis were 60 (12–168) and 94 (41–196) months, respectively. Fifteen (50%) patients had mild, 14 (46.7%) moderate and one (3.3%) had severe disease. Twenty‐two (73.3%) patients had complete, seven (23.3%) had incomplete response to colchicine, while only one was unresponsive. The detected MEFV variants in 14 E148Q/E148Q FMF patients were as follows: R314R (n = 9; 64.3%), E474E (n = 13; 92.9%), Q476Q (n = 13; 92.9%), D510D (n = 13; 92.9%), and P588P (n = 8; 57.1%). The E148Q allele frequency was 6.5% in healthy adolescents. When compared to FMF patients with other MEFV mutations, disease onset was later, disease was less severe and the ratio of patients responding completely to colchicine was higher in E148Q/E148Q patients.

Conclusion

Patients homozygous for E148Q and negative for other pathogenic MEFV variants may display FMF phenotype and may experience moderate/severe disease activity, although the disease may be milder when compared to FMF patients with other mutations.
Development and Testing of Shared Decision Making Interventions for Use in Emergency Care: A Research Agenda
Authors: Melnick Edward R. , Probst Marc A. , Schoenfeld Elizabeth , Collins Sean P. , Breslin Maggie , Walsh Cheryl , Kuppermann Nathan , Dunn Pat , Abella Benjamin S. , Boatright Dowin , Hess Erik P.
Published: July 2016

Decision aids are evidenced‐based tools designed to increase patient understanding of medical options and possible outcomes, facilitate conversation between patients and clinicians, and improve patient engagement. Decision aids have been used for shared decision making (SDM) interventions outside of the ED setting for more than a decade. Their use in the ED has only recently begun to be studied. This article provides background on this topic and the conclusions of the 2016 Academic Emergency Medicine consensus conference SDM in practice work group regarding “Shared Decision Making in the Emergency Department: Development of a Policy‐Relevant, Patient‐Centered Research Agenda.” The goal was to determine a prioritized research agenda for the development and testing of SDM interventions for use in emergency care that was most important to patients, clinicians, caregivers, and other key stakeholders. Using the nominal group technique, the consensus working group proposed prioritized research questions in six key domains: 1) content (i.e., clinical scenario or decision area), 2) level of evidence available, 3) tool design strategies, 4) risk communication, 5) stakeholders, and 6) outcomes.
Evidence of the effect of rural background on rural practise in Australian dental practitioners: Does gender play a role?
Authors: Godwin D , Blizzard L , Hoang H , Crocombe L
Published: July 2016

Background

People residing outside the capital cities have poorer oral health than their city counterparts. Health workforce shortages and stability issues can have negative health effects on rural populations. There has been an increasing proportion of women entering the dental practitioner workforce in Australia. This study investigated whether dental practitioners who have a rural background are more likely to work in a rural area than those who do not have a rural background; and whether the gender of dental practitioners plays a role.

Methods

A self‐administered questionnaire was sent to a sample of dental practitioners via their professional dental associations. Practice location was assigned as either ‘urban' or ‘rural' using the Australian Standard Geographical Classification – Remoteness Area categories and measured with demographic characteristics of the respondents. Prevalence ratios (PR) were estimated using Poisson regression with robust standard errors.

Results

Participants with a rural background were more than twice as likely (male PR = 2.23, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.79–6.26; female PR = 2.82, 95% CI = 1.35–5.87) to practise in a rural area than those with an urban background.

Conclusions

Dental practitioners with rural backgrounds were more than twice as likely to work in a rural practice as their urban counterparts.
Cosmopolitan Learning, Making Merit, and Reproducing Privilege in Indian Schools
Authors: Gilbertson Amanda
Published: July 2016

Amid growing calls for education to be more globally oriented, scholars have asked how best to educate for global citizenship and what truly cosmopolitan learning looks like. This article draws on ethnographic fieldwork in middle‐class Hyderabad, India to highlight the overlap between the cosmopolitan competencies promoted in schools and uppezr middle‐class cultural capital, and to question whether it is possible to legitimate and institutionalize cosmopolitanism as merit within education systems without furthering class reproduction.
The relationship between multilevel models and non‐parametric multilevel mixture models: Discrete approximation of intraclass correlation, random coefficient distributions, and residual heteroscedasticity
Authors: Rights Jason D. , Sterba Sonya K.
Published: July 2016

Multilevel data structures are common in the social sciences. Often, such nested data are analysed with multilevel models (MLMs) in which heterogeneity between clusters is modelled by continuously distributed random intercepts and/or slopes. Alternatively, the non‐parametric multilevel regression mixture model (NPMM) can accommodate the same nested data structures through discrete latent class variation. The purpose of this article is to delineate analytic relationships between NPMM and MLM parameters that are useful for understanding the indirect interpretation of the NPMM as a non‐parametric approximation of the MLM, with relaxed distributional assumptions. We define how seven standard and non‐standard MLM specifications can be indirectly approximated by particular NPMM specifications. We provide formulas showing how the NPMM can serve as an approximation of the MLM in terms of intraclass correlation, random coefficient means and (co)variances, heteroscedasticity of residuals at level 1, and heteroscedasticity of residuals at level 2. Further, we discuss how these relationships can be useful in practice. The specific relationships are illustrated with simulated graphical demonstrations, and direct and indirect interpretations of NPMM classes are contrasted. We provide an R function to aid in implementing and visualizing an indirect interpretation of NPMM classes. An empirical example is presented and future directions are discussed.
Change from paddy rice to vegetable growing changes nitrogen‐cycling microbial communities and their variation with depth in the soil
Authors: Qin H. L. , Zhang Z. X. , Lu J. , Zhu Y. J. , Webster R. , Liu X. L. , Yuan H. Z. , Hou H. J. , Chen C. L. , Wei W. X.
Published: July 2016

Changes in land use are likely to affect the abundance and functioning of microorganisms in the soil. In China many paddy fields are being converted for vegetable growing. We wished to determine how these changes affected the microbial populations in one particular region in Hunan province, where the climate is subtropical monsoon, as an example. We sampled the soil down to 1 m in several fields: three that were still growing paddy rice, three that had been converted for vegetable growing 2 years earlier and three that had been growing vegetables for 25 years. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and terminal‐restriction fragment length polymorphism (T‐RFLP) were used to determine the abundance and community composition of nxrA‐containing nitrifiers and narG‐containing denitrifiers in the soil. The abundances of these organisms depended largely on the amount of organic matter in the soil and decreased with increasing depth, as did the potential nitrification rate (PNR) and nitrate reductase activity (NRA). Enzyme activity was significantly correlated with the abundance of nitrogen‐cycling bacteria. The change from rice to vegetable growing resulted in more residual nitrate‐N in the soil, which correlated more strongly with the abundance of nxrA‐containing nitrifiers in the topsoil (0–20 cm) and narG‐containing denitrifiers in the deeper soil (80–100 cm). In general, the numbers of nitrogen‐cycling microorganisms decreased markedly with increasing depth, but were less affected by the change from rice to vegetable cultivation in the fields investigated. Our results suggest that the abundances of nitrogen‐cycling microbial communities are affected more by depth in the soil than by change of land use in these circumstances.

Highlights

The abundance and function of soil microorganisms change when paddy fields are converted to vegetable growing.

Residual nitrate‐N in the soil is affected by nitrifiers in topsoil and denitrifiers in the deeper soil.

Their abundances depend largely on the amount of organic matter in soil and decrease with increasing depth.

The genetic structures of the microorganisms depend more on depth in the soil than on change from rice to vegetable growing.
Plant diversity and root traits benefit physical properties key to soil function in grasslands
Authors: Gould Iain J. , Quinton John N. , Weigelt Alexandra , De Deyn Gerlinde B. , Bardgett Richard D.
Published: July 2016

Plant diversity loss impairs ecosystem functioning, including important effects on soil. Most studies that have explored plant diversity effects belowground, however, have largely focused on biological processes. As such, our understanding of how plant diversity impacts the soil physical environment remains limited, despite the fundamental role soil physical structure plays in ensuring soil function and ecosystem service provision. Here, in both a glasshouse and a long‐term field study, we show that high plant diversity in grassland systems increases soil aggregate stability, a vital structural property of soil, and that root traits play a major role in determining diversity effects. We also reveal that the presence of particular plant species within mixed communities affects an even wider range of soil physical processes, including hydrology and soil strength regimes. Our results indicate that alongside well‐documented effects on ecosystem functioning, plant diversity and root traits also benefit essential soil physical properties.