bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
On the Anatomy of the ‘Hook' Region of the Human Cochlea and How It Relates to Cochlear Implantation
Authors: Atturo Francesca , Barbara Maurizio , Rask-Andersen Helge
Published: November 2014

Background: The optimal insertion route for an electrode array in hearing preservation cochlear implantation (CI) surgery is still tentative. Both cochleostomy (CO) and round window (RW) techniques are used today. In the present study we analyzed size variations and topographic anatomy of the ‘hook' region of the human cochlea to better comprehend the Testo effects of various electric array insertion modes. Material and Methods: Size variations of the cochlear ‘hook' region were assessed in 23 human, microdissected temporal bones by measuring the distances between the oval and round windows, also outlining the spiral ligament/spiral lamina. Influence of size variations on spiral ligament position and fundamentals for different surgical approaches were evaluated in a subset of ‘small' and ‘large' cochleae performing different types of CO. In addition, the relationship between the microdissected accessory canal housing the inferior cochlear vein and the RW was analyzed. Results: The lateral vestibular wall and the cochlear ‘hook' displayed large anatomic variations that greatly influenced the size of the potential surgical area. Results showed that only very inferiorly located CO entered the scala tympani without causing trauma to the spiral ligament and spiral lamina. An inferior approach may challenge the inferior cochlear vein. Conclusion: Preoperative assessment of the distance between the round and oval windows may direct the surgeon before CI hearing-preservation surgery. CO techniques, especially in ‘small' ears, may lead to frequent damage to the inner ear structures. In those cases with substantial residual hearing, CI surgery may be better performed through a RW approach. i 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel
Time from Nephrectomy as a Prognostic Factor in Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients Receiving Targeted Therapies: Overall Results from a Large Cohort of Patients
Authors: Procopio Giuseppe , Testa Isabella , Verzoni Elena , Iacovelli Roberto , Grassi Paolo , Galli Giulia , De Braud Filippo , Saravia Diana , Salvioni Roberto
Published: November 2014

Objective: To investigate whether time from nephrectomy (Nx) to the diagnosis of metastatic disease may be an independent prognostic factor in metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC) patients treated with targeted therapies (TTs). Subjects and Methods: All patients who underwent Nx and at least 1 TT were considered. The patients were divided into two groups based on time from Nx [>1 year (Nx >1) and <1 year (Nx <1)] and a third group for cytoreductive Nx (cNx). Median overall survival (OS) represented the primary outcome. Results: A total of 297 patients met the inclusion criteria. The time from Nx was >1 year in 47%, <1 year in 26% and concomitant with the diagnosis of metastatic disease in 27% of the cases (i.e. cNx). The median OS was 40.6 months (95% CI 30.5-50.7) for the Nx >1 group, 24.3 months (95% CI 17.7-31) for the Nx <1 group and 16.2 months (95% CI 11.2-21.3) for the cNx group (p < 0.05 for all comparisons). On multivariate analysis, time from Nx resulted to be an independent prognostic factor (Nx <1 vs. cNx: HR = 0.62, 95% CI 0.42-0.90, p = 0.13; Nx >1 vs. cNx: HR = 0.43, 95% CI 0.31-0.61, p < 0.001). Conclusion: We report that time from Nx is an independent prognostic factor for OS in patients affected by mRCC treated with TTs. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel
Hypertensive Renal Injury Is Associated With Gene Variation Affecting Immune Signaling
Authors: Braun Michael C. , Herring Stacy M. , Gokul Nisha , Monita Monique , Bell Rebecca , Zhu Yaming , Gonzalez-Garay Manuel L. , Wenderfer Scott E. , Doris Peter A.
Published: November 2014

Background—

The spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) strain exists in lines that contrast strongly in susceptibility to renal injury in hypertension. These inbred lines share common ancestry, and only 13% of their genomes arise from different ancestors.

Methods and Results—

We used next gen sequencing to detect natural allelic variation in 5 genes of the immunoreceptor signaling pathway (IgH, Dok3, Src, Syk, and JunD) that arise from different ancestors in the injury-prone SHR-A3 and the resistant SHR-B2 lines. We created an intercross between these lines, and in the F2 progeny, we observed that the inheritance of haplotype blocks containing the SHR-A3 alleles of these 5 genes correlated with increased albuminuria and histological measures of renal injury. To test whether accumulated genetic variation in this pathway may create a therapeutic target in hypertensive renal injury, rats of both lines were treated with the immunosuppressant mycophenolate mofetil (MMF). MMF reduced proteinuria (albumin to creatinine ratio) from 6.6 to 1.2 mg/mg (
P
<0.001) in SHR-A3. Glomerular injury scores were reduced in MMF-treated SHR-A3 from 1.6 to 1.4 (
P
<0.002). Tubulo-interstitial injury was reduced in MMF-treated SHR-A3 from 2.62 to 2.0 (
P
=0.001). MMF treatment also reduced renal fibrosis in SHR-A3 (3.9 versus 2.0;
P
<0.001).

Conclusions—

Polygenic susceptibility to renal injury in hypertension arises in association with genetic variation in genes that participate in immune responses and is dramatically improved by reduction of immune system activity.
Variants in Striatin Gene Are Associated With Salt-Sensitive Blood Pressure in Mice and Humans
Authors: Garza Amanda E. , Rariy Chevon M. , Sun Bei , Williams Jonathan S. , Lasky-Su Jessica , Baudrand Rene , Yao Tham , Moize Burhanuddin , Hafiz Wan M. , Romero Jose R. , Adler Gail K. , Ferri Claudio , Hopkins Paul N. , Pojoga Luminita H. , Williams Gordon H.
Published: November 2014

Striatin is a novel protein that interacts with steroid receptors and modifies rapid, nongenomic activity in vitro. We tested the hypothesis that striatin would in turn affect mineralocorticoid receptor function and consequently sodium, water, and blood pressure homeostasis in an animal model. We evaluated salt sensitivity of blood pressure in novel striatin heterozygote knockout mice. Compared with wild type, striatin heterozygote exhibited a significant increase in blood pressure when sodium intake was increased from restricted (0.03%) to liberal (1.6%) sodium. Furthermore, renal expression of mineralocorticoid receptor and its genomic downstream targets serum/glucocorticoid-regulated kinase 1, and epithelial sodium channel was increased in striatin heterozygote versus wild-type mice on liberal sodium intake while the pAkt/Akt ratio, readout of mineralocorticoid receptor’s rapid, nongenomic pathway, was reduced. To determine the potential clinical relevance of these findings, we tested the association between single nucleotide polymorphic variants of striatin gene and salt sensitivity of blood pressure in 366 white hypertensive subjects. HapMap-derived tagging single nucleotide polymorphisms identified an association of rs2540923 with salt sensitivity of blood pressure (odds ratio, 6.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.7–20;
P
=0.01). These data provide the first in vivo evidence in humans and rodents that associates striatin with markers of mineralocorticoid receptor activity. The data also support the hypothesis that the rapid, nongenomic mineralocorticoid receptor pathway (mediated via striatin) has a role in modulating the interaction between salt intake and blood pressure.
Acute Exertion Elicits a H
2
O
2
-Dependent Vasodilator Mechanism in the Microvasculature of Exercise-Trained but Not Sedentary Adults
Authors: Durand Matthew J. , Dharmashankar Kodlipet , Bian Jing-Tan , Das Emon , Vidovich Mladen , Gutterman David D. , Phillips Shane A.
Published: November 2014

Brachial artery flow–mediated vasodilation in exercise-trained (ET) individuals is maintained after a single bout of heavy resistance exercise compared with sedentary individuals. The purpose of this study was to determine whether vasodilation is also maintained in the microcirculation of ET individuals. A total of 51 sedentary and ET individuals underwent gluteal subcutaneous fat biopsy before and after performing a single bout of leg press exercise. Adipose arterioles were cannulated in an organ bath, and vasodilation to acetylcholine was assessed±the endothelial nitric oxide inhibitor
l
-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester, the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin, or the hydrogen peroxide scavenger polyethylene glycol catalase. Separate vessels (isolated from the same groups) were exposed to an intraluminal pressure of 150 mm Hg for 30 minutes to mimic the pressor response, which occurs with isometric exercise. Vasodilation to acetylcholine was reduced in microvessels from sedentary subjects after either a single weight lifting session or exposure to increased intraluminal pressure, whereas microvessels from ET individuals maintained acetylcholine-mediated vasodilation. Before weight lifting, vasodilation of microvessels from ET individuals was reduced in the presence of
l
-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester and indomethacin. After weight lifting or exposure to increased intraluminal pressure, polyethylene glycol catalase significantly reduced vasodilation, whereas
l
-NG-nitroarginine methyl ester and indomethacin had no effect. These results indicate that (1) endothelium-dependent vasodilation in the microvasculature is maintained after heavy resistance exercise in ET individuals but not in sedentary subjects and that (2) high pressure alone or during weight lifting may induce a mechanistic switch in the microvasculature to favor hydrogen peroxide as the vasoactive mediator of dilation.
The Role of Private Actors in Offshore Energy: Shifting Models of Participation
Authors: Trevisanut Seline
Published: November 2014

The role of private actors in the offshore energy industry has expanded with regard to both the law-making processes and the implementation of the relevant legal framework. This article critically examines the role private actors are playing in the offshore energy sector in order to delineate some trends in the ways in which private actors act and interact at the international level. It focuses in particular on instances where there is a delegation of regulatory powers or the implementation duties from the international and supranational level to the private actors. The article ultimately strives to identify which model(s) of participation by private actors the offshore energy sector is developing.
Harnessing Offshore Wind Energy: Legal Challenges and Policy Conundrums in the European Union
Authors: Long Ronán
Published: November 2014

Contemporary trends in European offshore wind power are explored, including: the status of the industry and its future prospects for growth; eu treaty and legislative obligations; as well as regulatory and policy issues pertaining to energy and climate change objectives. Special mention is made of eu case law on national renewable energy support schemes, along with the European Directive on maritime spatial planning; focusing on the need for further eu law reform and Member State legislative action to promote the regionalisation of the sector and the establishment of a new Energy Union.
Analysis of the type material of Navicula brachysira Brébisson with the description of Brachysira sandrae, a new raphid diatom (Bacillariophyceae) from Iles Kerguelen (TAAF, sub-Antarctica, southern Indian Ocean)
Authors: Van de Vijver Bart
Published: November 2014

During a study of the freshwater diatom flora of some hot springs on the sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Islands, an unknown Brachysira species was observed. Detailed morphological analysis using both light and scanning electron microscopy observations revealed sufficient morphological differences to separate this species as Brachysira sandrae sp. nov. The new species belongs to the complex of taxa around B. brebissonii. The type material of Navicula brachysira, most likely the type of B. brebissonii, was studied to reveal its morphological ultrastructure. The new species is compared with B. brebissonii and with similar Brachysira taxa worldwide.
First record of Lucilia bufonivora Moniez, 1876 (Diptera: Calliphoridae) from North America and key to North American species of the L. bufonivora species group
Authors: TANTAWI TAREK I. , WHITWORTH TERRY
Published: November 2014

The obligate anuran myiasis blow fly Lucilia bufonivora Moniez is reported from North America for the first time. The L. bufonivora species group is defined on the basis of the aedeagus and the history and biology of the North American species (L. bufonivora, L. elongata Shannon and L. silvarum (Meigen)) are discussed. A key is provided to separate the three North American species of this group. The North American species L. thatuna Shannon, a member of the L. sericata (Meigen) species group, is also treated because it is likely a parasite of anurans and is poorly known. The male abdominal sternites, aedeagus (L. elongata only), pregonites, postgonites, bacilliform sclerites, ejaculatory sclerites, and female ovipositors and spermathecae of L. elongata and L. thatuna are illustrated for the first time.
Illustrated checklist of mileewine leafhoppers (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae:
Mileewinae) of China, with descriptions of four new species
Authors: YANG MAO-FA , MENG ZE-HONG , HE QING , DIETRICH C. H.
Published: November 2014

Four new species of Mileewini, Mileewa houhensis Yang, Meng & He, sp. nov., M. xiaofeiae Yang, Meng & He, sp. nov., M. yangi Yang, Meng & He, sp. nov. and Ujna liangae Yang, Meng & He, sp. nov. are described and illustrated. Mileewa nigricauda Yang & Li, 1999 is placed as a junior synonym of M. dorsimaculata (Melichar, 1902); three of the previously described Chinese Mileewa are transferred to the genus Ujna. These are Ujna harpa (Yang & Li, 2004) comb. nov., U. nigrimaculata (Yang & Li, 2004) comb. nov., and U. puerana (Yang & Meng, 2010) comb. nov. M. lynchi (Distant, 1918) is recorded as new for China. A checklist of Mileewini leafhoppers of China along with photograph of their dorsal habitus is provided.
The breeding behaviour, advertisement call and tadpole of Limnonectes dabanus (Anura: Dicroglossidae)
Authors: ROWLEY JODI J. L. , LE DUONG THI THUY , HOANG HUY DUC , ALTIG RONALD
Published: November 2014

Fanged frogs (Limnonectes) are a group of dicroglossid frogs from Asia that often have reversed sexual dimorphism with larger males. Limnonectes dabanus is a poorly known species of fanged frog from forested habitats in southern Vietnam and eastern Cambodia. Adult males exhibit an extreme degree of megacephaly and possess bizarre head ornamentation. L. dabanus breeds in shallow, non-flowing or very slow-flowing pools, puddles, and drainage ditches. Eggs are laid as a widely spaced array, and the larvae have a morphology typical of pond-dwelling tadpoles. Although males of the species lack vocal sacs, they produce a low-pitched (0.4–0.6 kHz), single-note advertisement call that sounds like a drop of water falling into water. Given the spacing of calling males, presence of multiple females near breeding sites, and reversed sexual dimorphism, the mating system of L. dabanus may be an example of resource-defense polygyny, and the massive head of the male is likely used in male combat.
Data Fusion Enables Better Recognition of Ceiling and Visibility Hazards in Aviation
Authors: Herzegh Paul , Wiener Gerry , Bateman Richard , Cowie James , Black Jennifer
Published: November 2014

Low cloud ceilings and poor visibility claim the lives of more general aviation (GA) pilots and passengers than any other cause of weather-related GA accidents. Experience shows that instrument-rated pilots as well as those rated only for visual flight are vulnerable to low ceiling and visibility (C&V), making total avoidance the most powerful strategy available to a GA pilot dealing with these hazards. The weather awareness needed for avoidance begins with the recognition of current conditions. This article outlines how fusion of surface, satellite, and terrain data yields a graphical analysis product that enables GA pilots, dispatchers, and weather briefers to better visualize the areal distribution of recent and current C&V conditions across the contiguous U.S. The product is available at www.aviationweather.gov/adds/cv and indicates ceilings less than 1,000 ft above ground level, visibilities less than 3 statute miles, and regions where terrain obscuration is possible. The product is also viewable in the context of interactive geographic information system data via the experimental Helicopter Emergency Medical Services Tool available at http://weather.aero/tools/desktopapps/hemstool. The authors summarize verification results and outline work toward a next-generation product that incorporates the use of model forecast data and weather camera imagery to improve information in data-sparse regions. This next-generation product is in development for initial use in Alaska.
JOYCE: Jülich Observatory for Cloud Evolution
Authors: Löhnert U. , Schween J. H. , Acquistapace C. , Ebell K. , Maahn M. , Barrera-Verdejo M. , Hirsikko A. , Bohn B. , Knaps A. , O’Connor E. , Simmer C. , Wahner A. , Crewell S.
Published: November 2014

The Jülich Observatory for Cloud Evolution (JOYCE), located at Forschungszentrum Jülich in the most western part of Germany, is a recently established platform for cloud research. The main objective of JOYCE is to provide observations, which improve our understanding of the cloudy boundary layer in a midlatitude environment. Continuous and temporally highly resolved measurements that are specifically suited to characterize the diurnal cycle of water vapor, stability, and turbulence in the lower troposphere are performed with a special focus on atmosphere–surface interaction. In addition, instruments are set up to measure the micro- and macrophysical properties of clouds in detail and how they interact with different boundary layer processes and the large-scale synoptic situation. For this, JOYCE is equipped with an array of state-of-the-art active and passive remote sensing and in situ instruments, which are briefly described in this scientific overview. As an example, a 24-h time series of the evolution of a typical cumulus cloud-topped boundary layer is analyzed with respect to stability, turbulence, and cloud properties. Additionally, we present longer-term statistics, which can be used to elucidate the diurnal cycle of water vapor, drizzle formation through autoconversion, and warm versus cold rain precipitation formation. Both case studies and long-term observations are important for improving the representation of clouds in climate and numerical weather prediction models.
Mesoscale Convective Systems and Their Synoptic-Scale Environment in Finland
Authors: Punkka Ari-Juhani , Bister Marja
Published: November 2014

The environments within which high-latitude intense and nonintense mesoscale convective systems (iMCSs and niMCSs) and smaller thunderstorm clusters (sub-MCSs) develop were studied using proximity soundings. MCS statistics covering 8 years were created by analyzing composite radar imagery. One-third of all systems were intense in Finland and the frequency of MCSs was highest in July. On average, MCSs had a duration of 10.8 h and traveled toward the northeast. Many of the linear MCSs had a southwest–northeast line orientation. Interestingly, a few MCSs were observed to travel toward the west, which is a geographically specific feature of the MCS characteristics. The midlevel lapse rate failed to distinguish the environments of the different event types from each other. However, in MCSs, CAPE and the low-level mixing ratio were higher, the deep-layer-mean wind was stronger, and the lifting condensation level (LCL) was lower than in sub-MCSs. CAPE, low-level mixing ratio, and LCL height were the best discriminators between iMCSs and niMCSs. The mean wind over deep layers distinguished the severe wind–producing events from the nonsevere events better than did the vertical equivalent potential temperature difference or the wind shear in shallow layers. No evidence was found to support the hypothesis that dry air at low- and midlevels would increase the likelihood of severe convective winds. Instead, abundant low- and midlevel moisture was present during both iMCS cases and significant wind events. These results emphasize the pronounced role of low- and midlevel moisture on the longevity and intensity of deep moist convection in low-CAPE environments.
Modeling Booklet Effects for Nonequivalent Group Designs in Large-Scale Assessment
Authors: Hecht Martin , Weirich Sebastian , Siegle Thilo , Frey Andreas
Published: November 2014

Multiple matrix designs are commonly used in large-scale assessments to distribute test items to students. These designs comprise several booklets, each containing a subset of the complete item pool. Besides reducing the test burden of individual students, using various booklets allows aligning the difficulty of the presented items to the assumed performance level of examined subgroups. While this may improve measurement precision and students’ test-taking motivation, using several booklets might influence response behavior and thus constitute a potential source of unwanted variation. To provide guidance to identify and model booklet effects, this study presents statistical models accounting for booklet effects and applies these models in a large-scale assessment setting. Three models are derived from the Rasch model employing the generalized linear mixed models framework. The models were applied to data from a national educational standards assessment study for scientific competence. A total of 1,021 items were compiled to 74 booklets distributed to a sample of 9,044 students of Grades 9 and 10. The results revealed a small but nonnegligible booklet effect. For further large-scale assessment studies, it is recommended to examine whether booklet effects occur and to adequately account for them in the subsequent analyses where necessary.
Power to the People! How far has the Power Gone to the People? A Qualitative Assessment of Decentralization Practice in Ghana
Authors: Yeboah-Assiamah Emmanuel
Published: November 2014

Decentralization is a concept well professed by political elites in Ghana yet there has been inadequate political will to transfer actual power, authority and resources to the district assemblies. Ghana’s current decentralization was introduced in 1988 with a mesmeric mantra of ‘power to the people’, and the concept is now over two and half decades old. This paper examines the extent to which local government reform through decentralization has brought about any meaningful changed relationship between central and local governments in Ghana. This work adopts a retrospective analysis of policy documents and a critical stage review of the relevant literature on the theoretical suppositions and practical experience of decentralization practice. The appointment of assembly heads in Ghana makes the relationship a principal-agent typology. Decentralization is at best a theoretical ramification but its actual practice has been just minimal. The study provides a ‘walk-the-talk’ model that requires political will to address the key challenges of decentralization in Ghana.
Iron Binding Modulates Candidacidal Properties of Salivary Histatin 5
Authors: Puri S. , Li R. , Ruszaj D. , Tati S. , Edgerton M.
Published: November 2014

Salivary protein histatin 5 (Hst 5) is fungicidal toward Candida albicans, the causative agent of oropharyngeal candidiasis. However, its activity in saliva is compromised by salivary protease-mediated degradation and interaction with salivary salts. Hst 5 has also been shown to bind various metals in saliva—namely, Zn, Cu, and Ni. Surprisingly, interactions of Hst 5 with Fe have not been studied, although iron is one of the most abundant metals present in saliva. Using circular dichroism, we show that Hst 5 can bind up to 10 equivalents of iron as measured by loss of its alpha-helical secondary structure that is normally observed for it in trifluoroethylene. A significant decrease in the candidacidal ability of Hst 5 was observed upon iron binding, with increasing iron concentrations being inversely proportional to Hst 5 killing activity. Binding assays showed that the decrease in killing was likely a result of reduced binding (10-fold reduction) of Fe–Hst 5 to C. albicans cells. Protease stability analysis showed that Fe–Hst 5 was completely resistant to trypsin digestion. In contrast, zinc binding had limited effects on Hst 5 fungicidal activity or protease susceptibility. RNA sequencing results identified changes in iron uptake genes in Hst 5–treated C. albicans cells. Our findings thus suggest that consequences of Hst 5 binding iron not only affect candidacidal ability and proteolyic stability of Hst 5, but may also contribute to a novel killing mechanism involving interference with cellular iron metabolism.
An extension of the OpenModelica compiler for using Modelica models in a discrete event simulation
Authors: Nutaro James
Published: November 2014

This article describes a new back-end and run-time system for the OpenModelica compiler. This new back-end transforms a Modelica model into a module for the adevs discrete event simulation package, thereby extending adevs to encompass complex, hybrid dynamical systems. The new run-time system that has been built within the adevs simulation package supports models with state-events and time-events and that comprise differential-algebraic systems with high index. Although the procedure for effecting this transformation is based on adevs and the Discrete Event System Specification, it can be adapted to any discrete event simulation package.
Difficult Texts: Matthew 5.43 ‘Love your enemies’: A theological reflection on the possibility of peace
Authors: Oestreicher Paul
Published: November 2014

This article is a personal reflection on the author’s journey from personal Christian pacifism to the conviction – as a political scientist – that the abolition of war is both necessary and politically possible. This is the only way for humanity to survive. Loving enemies is not only Christian discipleship but also political realism.
New directions in hospital chaplaincy: Chaplains – the Church’s embedded apologists?
Authors: Newitt Mark
Published: November 2014

Research and anecdotal evidence suggest that the relationship between healthcare chaplains and the Church is characterized by a deep sense of alienation in one direction and profound mistrust in the other. This is due, in part, to a lack of understanding about the work of chaplains. Recognizing a need for chaplains to explain their work, this article begins by describing research that investigated the support chaplains provided to bereaved parents. Contra to their poor expectations, I recount how, alongside the provision of liturgy and ritual, parents valued the chaplain’s pastoral presence. This is followed by an exploration of how, for some parents, such support could be the trigger for growing religious faith or spiritual awareness. Resonances are then drawn between the nature of support provided and descriptions of apologetics. The article concludes by arguing for greater dialogue between chaplains and the wider Church, suggesting a fruitful metaphor may be to view chaplains as embedded apologists.
Shakespeare’s Pericles and Psalm 39
Authors: Martin Jessica
Published: November 2014

Most theological attention to Shakespeare’s late plays treats their religious dimension as a marker of transcendence or otherworldliness. Here, instead, I suggest that Shakespeare is tracing the emotional stages of loss through his use of the funeral psalm 39 (with more than a hint of the Passion psalm 22) in his portrayal of Pericles’ final reconciliation. This is a conversation with a liturgical text which would have been highly audible to early modern playgoers. The parallels with these psalms have not been remarked upon before in literary criticism or in theological literature.
Functional adaptive dual control of a class of nonlinear MIMO systems
Authors: Fabri Simon G , Bugeja Marvin K
Published: November 2014

This paper proposes three novel neural network controllers for dual adaptive control of a class of functionally uncertain, nonlinear, multiple-input/multiple-output stochastic systems. Both Gaussian radial basis function and sigmoidal multilayer perceptron neural networks are considered for approximation of the unknown dynamic functions. Control and estimation are effected through optimization of a stochastic cost function which elicits the dual effects of caution and probing, resulting in control laws that take into consideration the interactions between estimation and control, leading to improved control performance. The Kalman filter is used for estimation of the weights of the radial basis function network, while the extended and unscented Kalman filter are used for the multilayer perceptron case. The performances of the three schemes are compared and evaluated through extensive Monte Carlo simulations and statistical significance tests.
Diabetes Connect
Authors: Crabtree Krysia , Sherrer Nathan , Rushton Tullia , Willig Amanda , Agne April , Shelton Tanya , Cherrington Andrea
Published: November 2014

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to explore African American men’s perceptions of how community-based, community-health worker (CHW)–delivered diabetes interventions might best be implemented.

Methods

Four 90-minute focus groups were guided by a trained moderator with a written guide to facilitate discussion on the topic of diabetes management and preferences for community-based programs. Participants were recruited from the diabetes education database at a safety-net health system in Jefferson County, AL. Two independent reviewers performed content analysis to identify major themes using an iterative, combined deductive and inductive approach.

Results

There were 25 male participants. Mean years living with diabetes was 9.6 (range, 1-20). Participants demonstrated knowledge of self-management strategies and identified various hardships including emotional and physical manifestations of diabetes, dietary restrictions, and institutional frustrations with the health system that contributed to self-management barriers. Their preferred CHW responsibilities were to educate, hold support groups, help track daily activities, and help find resources. Potential concerns included the need for confidentiality and fears of being stereotyped.

Conclusions

Participants identified critical self-management strategies but endure hardships that present barriers to daily diabetes management. Preferences for community-based programs and suggested CHW responsibilities could help to overcome many of those barriers by increasing access and providing support.
Affiliation and Control in Marital Interaction
Authors: Cundiff Jenny M. , Smith Timothy W. , Butner Jonathan , Critchfield Kenneth L. , Nealey-Moore Jill
Published: November 2014

The principle of complementarity in interpersonal theory states that an actor’s behavior tends to “pull, elicit, invite, or evoke” responses from interaction partners who are similar in affiliation (i.e., warmth vs. hostility) and opposite in control (i.e., dominance vs. submissiveness). Furthermore, complementary interactions are proposed to evoke less negative affect and promote greater relationship satisfaction. These predictions were examined in two studies of married couples. Results suggest that complementarity in affiliation describes a robust general pattern of marital interaction, but complementarity in control varies across contexts. Consistent with behavioral models of marital interaction, greater levels of affiliation and lower control by partners—not complementarity in affiliation or control—were associated with less anger and anxiety and greater relationship quality. Partners’ levels of affiliation and control combined in ways other than complementarity—mostly additively, but sometimes synergistically—to predict negative affect and relationship satisfaction.
Services Management Research
Authors: Subramony Mahesh , Pugh S. Douglas
Published: November 2014

Several streams of management research have focused on the relationship between organizations, employees, and customers within the context of services. However, this body of work lacks integration and requires an internally consistent framework encompassing critical constructs, causal mechanisms, and levels of analyses. To address these gaps, we reviewed empirical studies with service-related outcomes published in management and organizational behavior journals as well as critical summative and theoretical works within the fields of management and marketing, and constructed an integrative framework for services management theory and research. This framework incorporates constructs and relationships within (individual and unit levels) and across (multilevel and microfoundations) levels of analyses and highlights areas that are ripe for future theoretical development and empirical inquiry.
Navigating Uncharted Waters
Authors: Ellis Allison M. , Bauer Talya N. , Mansfield Layla R. , Erdogan Berrin , Truxillo Donald M. , Simon Lauren S.
Published: November 2014

Although the stress and socialization literatures have flourished over the past several decades, they have done so largely independently, and our understanding of the cost of stress to organizations in the form of newcomer turnover, lowered adjustment, and the health and well-being of newcomers is largely unknown. This review takes an explicitly newcomer-centric perspective toward the socialization process by examining newcomer experiences through the lens of popular models of work stress, including the job demands-resources model, the transactional theory of stress, and the challenge-hindrance stressor framework. In doing so, we identify individual and work-related factors that contribute to the experience of stress for newcomers and point to ways in which organizational and employee-driven inputs can assist in building and acquiring important resources needed to cope with the demands faced in a new work role. In addition, we offer a framework that incorporates individual experiences and behaviors as they relate to newcomer stress in the context of socialization. This framework delineates the newcomer stress appraisal process and describes the impact these appraisals have on the experience of stress or engagement for new employees as well as the behaviors that can be expected in reaction to those states. Through this process, our review highlights natural points for integration between stress and socialization research and identifies potential areas for future investigation that leverage understanding of work stress to expand socialization theory and practice.
The Calculation of Age
Authors: Graham Cameron
Published: November 2014

This article explores the role of calculative technologies, such as taxation, accounting and actuarial practices, in constructing ‘age’ in contemporary society. It argues that retirement income programs built on these technologies attempt to construct specific relations not just between the individual and other generations, but between the individual and herself at other stages of life. Retracing the series of Canadian attempts to secure income for the elderly over the course of the 20th century, the paper shows how calculative technologies have been used to connect responsibility for the elderly to the political rationalities of the day. This genealogy allows us to recognize how the present Canadian retirement income system, with its public and private programs addressing different subsets of the population, is contingent on neoliberal rationalities of governance. These demand the alignment of the individual with the goals of the capital markets, and seek to achieve this through a distributed agency that encourages the investment of individual savings in retirement income products. The paper argues that this distributed agency is perpetually incomplete, and that uncertainty is necessary in order that the individual be constantly remade as an investor.
Baby Boomers and the Lost Generation: On the Discursive Construction of Generations at Work
Authors: Pritchard Katrina , Whiting Rebecca
Published: November 2014

Generations, and generational categories, offer a means of organizing our understandings of age and age-related issues. Particularly within practitioner-orientated debates, differences between generations are highlighted as creating tensions which organizations must address. In contrast, we offer a critical interrogation of generations and unpack the implications of particular constructions. Specifically we examine the discursive construction of generational issues in United Kingdom online news about age at work, focusing on baby boomers and the lost generation. We highlight the discursive work involved in constructing each generation as entitled to work and how responsibility for employment issues is variously positioned. These interrelated concerns develop into a debate about consequences, as different versions of the future are constructed. In contrast to essentialized understandings, our study shows how generations and generational categories are constructed and organize understandings of age at work. We further highlight how the constructions of generational differences and tensions become enrolled to legitimate age-related differences with regard to work. Such insights are essential to further our understandings of age-related issues in contemporary organizing.
Gendered Ageism and Organizational Routines at Work: The Case of Day-Parting in Television Broadcasting
Authors: Spedale Simona , Coupland Christine , Tempest Sue
Published: November 2014

This article contributes to the study of gendered ageism in the workplace by investigating how the routine of day-parting in broadcasting participates in the social construction of an ideology of ‘youthfulness’ that contributes to inequality. Critical discourse analysis is applied to the final judgment of an Employment Tribunal court case where the British public service broadcaster, the BBC, faced accusations of discrimination on the basis of both age and gender. Three interrelated findings are highlighted. First, the ideology of youthfulness was constituted through discursive strategies of nomination and predication that relied on an inherently ageist and sexist lexical register of ‘brand refreshment and rejuvenation’. Second, the ideology of youthfulness was reproduced through a pervasive discursive strategy of combined de-agentialization, abstraction and generalization that maintained power inequality in the workplace by obscuring the agency of the more powerful organizational actors while further marginalizing the weaker ones. Third, despite evidence that the intersection of age and gender produced qualitatively different experiences for individual organizational actors, in the legitimate and authoritative version of the truth constructed in the Tribunal’s final judgment, ageism discursively prevailed over sexism as a form of oppression at work. These findings support the view that the intersection of age and gender in the workplace should be explored by taking into account different levels of analysis – individual, organizational and societal – and with sensitivity to the context. They also suggest that the notion of gendered ageism is still poorly articulated and that the lack of an appropriate vocabulary encourages the discursive dominance of ageism over sexism, making the intersection of the two more difficult to study and to address.
Colonizing the Aged Body and the Organization of Later Life
Authors: Hyde Paula , Burns Diane , Hassard John , Killett Anne
Published: November 2014

Based on fieldwork in residential homes, arrangements for the care of older people are examined with reference, primarily, to Deetz’s theory of ‘corporate colonization’. Extending this theory, it is argued that grouping such people in care homes can result in a form of social segregation, one that reflects the management of the aged body in relation to normative constructions of dependence. Focusing on the experiences of residents, the everyday effects of narratives of decline on disciplining the lives of older people are assessed, with this analysis taking recourse to the work of Foucault (1979). The result is the identification of three related concepts at work in the colonizing process of the aged body: (i) appropriation of the body – the physical and social practices involved in placing older people in care homes; (ii) separation from previous identities – how a range of new subjectivities are produced in the process of becoming a ‘resident’; and (iii) contesting colonized identities – the ways in which residents can attempt to challenge normative concepts of managed physical and mental decline. Overall the disciplining of the body is theorized not only as an adjunct to the notion of corporate colonization but also, more generally, as a prominent and powerful organizing principle of later life.
A toolbox with programs to restructure and describe dyadic data
Authors: Ledermann Thomas , Kenny David A.
Published: November 2014

When one gathers dyadic data, one is very often faced with the burdensome task of restructuring the data. For instance, the use of multiple regression analysis or structural equation modeling (SEM) requires one type of data structure, whereas multilevel modeling or multilevel SEM usually requires a different data structure. However, data are often entered in neither of these structures. In this article, we first describe the most typical dyadic data formats, what format the major data-analytic methods require, and then present a toolbox called restructure and describe dyadic data (RDDD) with programs that restructure dyadic data from one format into another. Moreover, the programs identify different types of dyadic variables and provide descriptive and inferential statistics that can be informative to dyadic researchers. The programs, written in R, provide a graphical user interface and are designed to work with minimal input information that is much less than standard restructuring procedures.
Understanding social influence theory and personal goals in e-learning
Authors: Hwang Yujong
Published: November 2014

This paper investigates important factors in shaping attitudes toward knowledge sharing by email in e-learning, based on social influence theory and self determination theory. It tests how the personal goals moderate the relationships in the model. An empirical test of the proposed model using an online survey was conducted with a sample of undergraduate college students who use email for class assignments. All social influence factors significantly influenced attitudes toward knowledge sharing by email (R2 0.63) in the high personal goal group (186 participants), but social identity did not influence the attitude (R2 0.54) in the low personal goal group (225 participants). The results will help e-learning and information systems researchers and practitioners to more fully understand the roles of social influence factors in developing and designing e-learning systems.
Research on the impact of consumer interaction behaviour on purchase intention in an SNS environment
Authors: Chang Ya Ping , Dong Xue Bing
Published: November 2014

The purpose of this study is to propose a conceptual equation model to first, investigate the relationships among consumer interaction behaviour, trust as well as purchase intention, and secondly, demonstrate the indirect effect of consumer interaction behaviour on purchase intention through consumer psychology (cognitive trust and emotional trust). A questionnaire was distributed to 331 virtual community members from the nine most frequently used SNS websites in China. These members have had interactive experience. Data were analyzed by applying the partial least squares method (PLS). The results show that interactive behaviour in the SNS environment can be described in six dimensions: interaction frequency, interestingness, decentration, responsiveness, situationality and reciprocal swap. Except for responsiveness and situationality, the other four dimensions all have positive effects on purchase intention through cognitive trust and emotional trust significantly. Responsiveness and situationality have a positive effect on the purchase intention through cognitive trust significantly, but do not have significant influence on purchase intention through emotional trust. Based on these findings, companies that aim to develop SNS website marketing strategies should find ways to conduct effective marketing campaigns based on the characteristics of interaction behaviour to enhance members’ product trust.
Strategic value of RFID for inter-firm supply chain networks
Authors: Hwang Yoon-Min , Rho Jae-Jeung
Published: November 2014

Despite the huge potential benefits of radio frequency identification (RFID) in collaborative use with transaction partners, many companies are reluctant to implement RFID with their partners and skeptical of its strategic value in inter-firm, supply chain networks. However, existing research is concentrated on the internal adoption and benefit measurement of RFID system, without careful consideration of the strategic value in an inter-organizational context at implementation stage. Hence, this study empirically identifies the reciprocal strategic value of RFID implementation in inter-firm, supply chain networks based on the resource-based theory and social capital theory. Additionally, mutual quality constructs of RFID system from an inter-organizational context are investigated as determinants of the strategic value. Empirical results have shown that supply chain visibility and agility are improved through high-level, shared information quality and inter-organizational system quality of RFID. Inter-organizational trust is enhanced by high-level, inter-organizational service quality and supply chain agility. Moreover, all strategic values of RFID (visibility, agility, and trust), when enhanced by RFID, have positive impacts on supply chain performance. This study expands the discussion scope of RFID to the implementation stage at the inter-firm level beyond the internal adoption level, improving the delay of RFID diffusion among transaction partners. Furthermore, the study describes strategic points that can be used to maximize the RFID value in supply chain networks.
Identifying Subtypes of Peer Status by Combining Popularity and Preference
Authors: van den Berg Yvonne H. M. , Burk William J. , Cillessen Antonius H. N.
Published: November 2014

The purpose of this study was to identify and validate subtypes of peer status by integrating preference and popularity into a single framework. Person-oriented analyses were performed among 3,630 children and adolescents of different cohorts in primary and secondary education. In the young age groups (Grade 3/4 to Grade 7), three clusters were found: popular-liked, average, and unpopular-disliked. In the older age group (Grade 8), four clusters were found: popular, liked, average, and unpopular-disliked. Thus, participants differentiated liked peers from popular peers at the age of 14, but not earlier. Distinct behavioral profiles were found for each subtype. Cohort-sequential analyses demonstrated high stability of cluster membership, especially among the high-status groups. Developmental implications and the importance of school transitions are discussed.