bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Gender Differences in Days Lost from Work Due to Illness
Authors: Vistnes Jessica Primoff
Published: June 2015

The author uses data from the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey to investigate the extent and determinants of gender differences in days lost from work due to illness. She finds that for both men and women, health status measures, such as self-reported health status and medical events, more consistently explained absenteeism than did economic factors such as wages and the presence of sick leave. The presence of young children increased women's, but not men's, probability of missing work, as well as women's number of absences for those who missed work in 1987. Among men who were absent from work in 1987, however, the presence of children in day care increased the number of days lost from work. In that regard, those men, most of whom were likely to be either single parents or married with a working wife, behaved more like mothers with young children than like other men.
The Gender Earnings Gap among College-Educated Workers
Authors: Loury Linda Datcher
Published: June 2015

The gender earnings gap among full-time workers narrowed substantially in the 1980s. Previous research has established that increases in the amount of and returns to work experience and schooling among women were primarily responsible for that trend. This paper, which uses data from the National Longitudinal Study of the High School Class of 1972 and the High School and Beyond Senior Cohort (Class of 1980), examines to what extent college schooling characteristics other than number of years, such as grades and major field, contributed to the narrowing of the gap. Changes in the estimated effects of college grades and college major, the author finds, can account for almost all of the large decline in the gender earnings gap between 1979 and 1986 among young college-educated workers. Most of this effect apparently resulted from growth in the market price of women's skills relative to men's for a given major.
The Persistence of Gender Earnings Inequality in Taiwan, 1978–1992
Authors: Zveglich Joseph E. , van der Meulen Rodgers Yana , Rodgers William M.
Published: June 2015

During the 1980s, Taiwan's industry and export mixes shifted toward higher-skill, technology-intensive products, and lower-skill, labor-intensive industries began moving abroad. Despite improvements in women's skills and educational attainment relative to men's, the mean gender earnings ratio between 1978 and 1992 remained at 65%. The authors analyze household survey data from Taiwan's Manpower Utilization Survey to examine why rapid structural change was not accompanied by a narrowing of the gender gap. The results strongly suggest that large losses experienced by women in unmeasured gender-specific factors—which could reflect the effects of labor market intermittency, growing gender differences in unobserved skills, or an increase in wage discrimination against women—offset their relative gains in education and experience. Further evidence provides no support for a widening gender gap in labor force commitment or in unobserved skills, suggesting that wage discrimination against female workers increased over time.
Public Employment Agencies and Unemployment Spells: Reconciling the Experimental and Nonexperimental Evidence
Authors: Thomas Jonathan M.
Published: June 2015

Econometric evidence strongly suggests that unemployed job-seekers who use the services of a Public Employment Agency (PEA) have longer unemployment spells than those choosing alternative search methods. Yet, in some well-designed U.S. experiments, increased use of PEA services has been associated with faster transitions into jobs. The author argues that the nonexperimental studies may be biased toward finding a positive relationship between unemployment spell duration and PEA use because they ignore the possibility that PEAs are chosen by many job-seekers only after other search methods have been tried unsuccessfully and a period of unemployment has elapsed. An analysis of U.K. survey data with information on the timing of PEA use in 1987–88 supports that hypothesis.
The Influence of Industrial Relations Factors on U.S. Foreign Direct Investment Abroad
Authors: Cooke William N.
Published: June 2015

Although managers of multinational companies have identified labor practices and regulations, access to skilled labor, and similar factors as important considerations in foreign direct investment decision-making, few studies have empirically examined the influence of industrial relations factors on foreign direct investment. Applying a transaction costs framework to U.S. Department of Commerce data published in 1992, the author examines the influence of several key industrial relations variables on U.S. foreign direct investment across nine industries and nineteen OECD-member countries. Across the countries studied, U.S. foreign direct investment was negatively affected by the presence of high levels of union penetration, centralized collective bargaining structures, stiff government restrictions on layoffs, and pervasive contract extension policies; it was positively affected by high levels of education and policies requiring works councils.
Worker Performance and Group Incentives: A Case Study
Authors: Hansen Daniel G.
Published: June 2015

The author uses monthly, individual-level data collected from two units within a large U.S. financial corporation to estimate employees' response to the introduction of a group incentive plan. The findings indicate that the incentive plan caused performance to converge to a standard: the initially least productive workers improved greatly, whereas the performance of the initially most productive workers did not change. However, the evidence suggests that the incentive plan was successful in increasing the average level of productivity across the work group.
Does a Ged Lead to More Training, Post-Secondary Education, and Military Service for School Dropouts?
Authors: Murnane Richard J. , Willett John B. , Boudett Kathryn Parker
Published: June 2015

Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for the years 1979–91, the authors investigate how school dropouts' acquisition of a General Educational Development certificate (GED) affected the probability that they would obtain training, post-secondary education, or military service. The authors use the longitudinal data to estimate prototypical training and education profiles. They find that the probability that a dropout participated in post-secondary education or non-company training was greater after GED receipt than before for both men and women. Still, less than half of GED recipients obtained post-secondary education or training by age 26.
Labor Market Effects of Hawaii'S Mandatory Employer-Provided Health Insurance
Authors: Thurston Norman K.
Published: June 2015

The author analyzes how mandatory employer provision of health insurance in Hawaii, which became law in 1974, affected workers' wages, employment, and insurance coverage. Between 1970 and 1990, the Hawaiian industries most affected by the mandate had slower wage growth than other Hawaiian industries, but more rapid wage growth than the same industries in the nation as a whole. The author speculates that the effects of unmeasured economy-wide positive demand shocks eclipsed the wage effects of the law. Hawaii's employment growth exceeded that of the country as a whole, but the percentage of Hawaiian workers employed less than 20 hours per week (and thus exempt from the law) was significantly higher than the national average. Insurance coverage for Hawaiian workers of all classes (including those exempt from the act)—and, indeed, for workers and nonworkers of all ages—significantly exceeded the national average in the early 1990s.
Job Satisfaction, Trade Unions, and Exit-Voice Revisited
Authors: Bender Keith A. , Sloane Peter J.
Published: June 2015

Many studies have found that unionized workers express less job satisfaction than nonunion workers. The “exit-voice” explanation of this phenomenon is that dissatisfied nonunion workers tend to quit, whereas dissatisfied union workers tend to remain in their jobs and express their complaints through various voice mechanisms provided by their union. Furthermore, this “voiced” dissatisfaction, animated by the hope of effecting change, is said to be distinct from “genuine” dissatisfaction. This study, the first to examine the exit-voice issue in Britain, expands on the set of independent variables used by similar North American and Australian studies. When they control for industrial relations climate, the authors find that the negative relationship between unionization and satisfaction dwindles to insignificance in many cases. They conclude that union workers' relative dissatisfaction is in most cases entirely “genuine” and stems from poor industrial relations or from unions forming where satisfaction would be low anyway.
Recent Immigrants: Unexpected Implications for Crime and Incarceration
Authors: Butcher Kristin F. , Piehl Anne Morrison
Published: June 2015

This analysis of data from the 5% 1980 and 1990 Public Use Microdata Samples shows that among 18–40-year-old men in the United States, immigrants were less likely than the native-born to be institutionalized (that is, in correctional facilities, mental hospitals, or other institutions), and much less likely to be institutionalized than native-born men with similar demographic characteristics. Furthermore, earlier immigrants were more likely to be institutionalized than were more recent immigrants. Although all immigrant cohorts appear to have assimilated toward the higher institutionalization rates of the native-born as their time in the country increased, the institutionalization rates of recent immigrants did not increase as quickly as would be predicted from the experience of earlier immigrant cohorts. These results contradict what one would predict from the literature on immigrant earnings, which suggests that more recent immigrants have worse permanent labor market characteristics than earlier immigrants.
Labor Unions and the Distribution of Wages and Employment in South Africa
Authors: Schultz T. Paul , Mwabu Germano
Published: June 2015

Few countries have higher wage inequality than South Africa, where wages of African and white workers differ by a factor of five. Using survey data collected in 1993, the authors analyze the complex effect of unions on this wage gap. Among male African workers in the bottom decile of the wage distribution, union membership was associated with wages that were 145% higher than those of comparable nonunion workers, and among those in the top decile the differential was 19%. Regression estimates also indicate that returns to observed productive characteristics of workers, such as education and experience, were larger for nonunion than union workers. If the large union relative wage effect were cut in half, the authors estimate that employment of African youth, age 16–29, would increase by two percentage points, and their labor force participation rate would also increase substantially.
Industrial Relations System Transformation
Authors: Erickson Christopher L. , Kuruvilla Sarosh
Published: June 2015

The authors use two models from biological science—the evolutionary model of gradual adaptation, and the contrasting punctuated equilibrium theory that posits occasional periods of rapid, fundamental change punctuating longer periods of stability—to define industrial relations system “transformation” and explore its implications. An industrial relations system can be said to have undergone transformation, they argue, when the network of basic assumptions and principles underlying that system, or its “deep structure,” is changed, and such change can occur either through gradual adaptation or through abrupt revolution. They apply this conceptual framework to industrial relations system changes in Sweden, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United States.
The Transition from Formal Nonunion Representation to Unionization: A Contemporary Case
Authors: Taras Daphne Gottlieb , Copping Jason
Published: June 2015

The authors examine three phases in the unionization process among Imperial Oil Limited employees in Canada who, in 1993, decided to withdraw from a long-standing nonunion employee representation plan: the conditions leading to the propensity to unionize; the transformation into a bargaining unit; and post-certification behaviors and practices. The unionization process in this case study differed from that suggested by literature based on unionization among workers without a previous history of collective representation. In the pre-campaign phase, workers experienced a significant loss of perceived power due to changes in company practices and managerial style. Elected worker delegates to the nonunion representation plan spearheaded the union campaign. The union organizing phase allowed the company multiple opportunities for redress without unionization. Subsequent union attachment was diminished by continuing loyalty to aspects of the old system.
The Emergence, Persistence, and Recent Widening of the Racial Unemployment Gap
Authors: Fairlie Robert W. , Sundstrom William A.
Published: June 2015

Census data show that the ratio of black to white unemployment rates, currently in excess of 2:1, was small or nonexistent before 1940, widened dramatically during the 1940s and 1950s, and widened again in the 1980s. The authors decompose changes in the unemployment gap over the years 1880–1990 to identify the separate contributions of changes in observable worker characteristics and shifts in labor demand. Nearly all of the widening of the gap during the 1940s and 1950s can be attributed to regional shifts of workers and declining demand in markets where black workers were concentrated. After 1970, improvements in the relative educational status of black workers would have narrowed the unemployment gap slightly, but demand shifts adverse to black workers more than canceled out these gains.
The Determinants of Hiring Older Workers: Evidence from Hong Kong
Authors: Heywood John S. , Ho Lok-Sang , Wei Xiangdong
Published: June 2015

A 1996 survey of Hong Kong establishments designed to identify hiring and employment patterns by workers' age shows that, as in the United States, many firms employed older workers but did not hire older workers. This pattern appears to reflect mainly economic forces, rather than public policy, given that no laws prohibited age discrimination or required uniform fringe benefit provision in Hong Kong. The empirical evidence from the survey is consistent with two broad hypotheses. First, workers and firms are more willing to invest in training when workers are young. Second, delayed compensation more effectively deters shirking among young workers than among older workers and is more readily accepted by young workers.
What is a Promotion?
Authors: Pergamit Michael R. , Veum Jonathan R.
Published: June 2015

Using National Longitudinal Survey of Youth data, the authors analyze the determinants and consequences of a promotion among young workers. Most events that workers called “promotions” involved no change in position or duties, but were simply an upgrade of the current position. Typically, only one person was considered for the promotion. Men were more likely to be promoted than women, and whites more likely than blacks or Hispanics. The acquisition of company training and the receipt of a prior promotion were two of the most important predictors of promotion. Consequences of promotion included increased wages, training receipt, supervisory responsibilities, and increased job satisfaction. There is little evidence that promotion had a direct impact on job attachment.
Job Tenure and Job Mobility in Britain
Authors: Booth Alison L. , Francesconi Marco , Garcia-Serrano Carlos
Published: June 2015

Using work-history data from the British Household Panel Survey, the authors examine job mobility and job tenure over the period 1915–90. British men and women held an average of five jobs over the course of their work lives, and half of all lifetime job changes occurred in the first ten years. Separation hazards were higher for more recent cohorts, implying an increase in job instability. As jobs accumulated, average tenure lengthened, but the proportion of involuntary separations increased. For both men and women, the rise in job instability was particularly marked in the lowest occupational classification. In general, job insecurity was greater for men than women.
Is a Rortian Sociology Desirable? Will It Help Us Use Words Like “Cruelty”?
Authors: Hart Randle J.
Published: June 2015

The philosophy of Richard Rorty provides a useful justification for accepting epistemological diversity in sociology. In his view, intradisciplinary debates about what constitutes sociological knowledge are irresolvable because, at root, they are cultural disputes. But Rorty’s philosophy offers more than an elaborate justification for the status quo. He also provides a compelling rationale for sociologists to write passionately. Beyond simply improving our prose, passionate language may imbue sociological research with moral relevance, at least in Rorty’s terms.
The Relationship Between Sexual Minority Stigma and Sexual Health Risk Behaviors Among HIV-Positive Older Gay and Bisexual Men
Authors: Emlet Charles A. , Fredriksen-Goldsen Karen I. , Kim Hun-Jun , Hoy-Ellis Charles
Published: June 2015

This study investigates how internalized sexual minority stigma and enacted sexual minority stigma in health care settings are associated with sexual health risk behaviors (SRBs) and the mediating role of infrequent routine health care and perceived stress among older gay and bisexual (G/B) men living with HIV disease. Survey responses from 135 sexually active older G/B men living with HIV were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression models. Results indicate that one fifth of G/B older adult men living with HIV are engaged in multiple SRBs. Internalized sexual minority stigma and enacted sexual minority stigma in health care settings are significantly associated with SRBs. The relationship between internalized sexual minority stigma and SRBs are mediated by infrequent routine health care and elevated levels of perceived stress. Improved primary and secondary prevention strategies are needed for the growing number of sexually active older G/B men.
Understanding Rural–Urban Differences in Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults in China
Authors: Li Lydia W. , Liu Jinyu , Xu Hongwei , Zhang Zhenmei
Published: June 2015

Objective: Studies have reported that rural elders in China have higher levels of depression than their urban peers. We aimed to examine the extent to which four sets of factors (socioeconomic status [SES], health care access, health status, and social support and participation) account for such rural–urban differences. Method: Cross-sectional data from the 2011 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study were analyzed. A representative sample ( N = 5,103) of older Chinese (age 60+) was included. Depressive symptoms were measured by the 10-item Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10). Multilevel linear regression was conducted. Results: Rural elders had more depressive symptoms than urban elders. When SES at the individual, household, and community level was simultaneously controlled, the rural–urban difference lost its statistical significance. Health status, social support, and social participation accounted for some, whereas health care access explained almost none, of the rural–urban difference. Discussion: Results suggest that SES is the predominant factor accounting for the rural–urban depression gap in China.
Risk Stratification in Older Patients With Acute Myocardial Infarction
Authors: Feder Shelli L. , Schulman-Green Dena , Dodson John A. , Geda Mary , Williams Kathleen , Nanna Michael G. , Allore Heather G. , Murphy Terrence E. , Tinetti Mary E. , Gill Thomas M. , Chaudhry Sarwat I.
Published: June 2015

Objective: Risk stratification models support clinical decision making in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) care. Existing models were developed using data from younger populations, potentially limiting accuracy and relevance in older adults. We describe physician-perceived risk factors, views of existing models, and preferences for future model development in older adults. Method: Qualitative study using semi-structured telephone interviews and the constant comparative method. Results: Twenty-two physicians from 14 institutions completed the interviews. Median age was 37, and median years of clinical experience was 11.5. Perceived predictors included cardiovascular, comorbid, functional, and social risk factors. Physicians viewed models as easy to use, yet neither inclusive of risk factors nor predictive of non-mortality outcomes germane to clinical decision making in older adults. Ideal models included multidimensional risk domains and operational requirements. Discussion: Physicians reported limitations of available risk models when applied to older adults with AMI. New models are needed to guide AMI treatment in this population.
Channels in the Mirror
Authors: Hammerschmidt Maik , Falk Tomas , Weijters Bert
Published: June 2015

Firms operating multiple channels as parallel routes to market face intense pressure to ensure superior customer satisfaction in their entire channel system. Relying on the structural alignment framework, the authors argue that to address this challenge, providers of concurrent channels should give priority to alignable channel attributes—attributes that have corresponding or “mirror” attributes in the other channels. These features are more salient to customers than nonalignable features and likely represent the origin of satisfaction evaluations in concurrent channel environments. Applying multigroup nested models using data from off-line and online shoppers, the authors empirically validate choice (assortment breadth and depth), charge (availability of fair prices), convenience (efficiency of the purchase process), confidence (security of transactions), and care (assurance of promised quality) as alignable channel facets. The resulting 5C model is superior to existing models in that it enables the unified capture of both off-line and online satisfaction, allowing a meaningful comparison across formats. Using alignable satisfaction facets enables managers to trace true differences in the satisfaction levels between channels. In particular, a channel’s share of investment should match its share of unexploited satisfaction potential. The 5C model also supports within-channel decisions by revealing the impact of the five facets on overall satisfaction with each format.
Stress in owned cats: behavioural changes and welfare implications
Authors: Amat Marta , Camps Tomàs , Manteca Xavier
Published: June 2015

Domestic cats are exposed to a variety of stressful stimuli, which may have a negative effect on the cats’ welfare and trigger a number of behavioural changes. Some of the stressors most commonly encountered by cats include changes in environment, inter-cat conflict, a poor human–cat relationship and the cat’s inability to perform highly motivated behaviour patterns. Stress is very likely to reduce feed intake, and stress-related anorexia may contribute to the development of potentially serious medical conditions. Stress also increases the risk of cats showing urine marking and some forms of aggression, including redirected aggression. A number of compulsive disorders such as over-grooming may also develop as a consequence of stressful environments. Some of the main strategies to prevent or reduce stress-related behavioural problems in cats are environmental enrichment, appropriate management techniques to introduce unfamiliar cats to each other and the use of the synthetic analogue of the feline facial pheromone. As the stress response in cats depends, to a large extent, on the temperament of the animal, breeding and husbandry strategies that contribute to the cat developing a well-balanced temperament are also very useful.
Elite-level issue dynamics
Authors: Lee Daniel J , Schutte Rachel A
Published: June 2015

We analyze elite-level issue dynamics of culture war issues in the US from 1971 to 2008 to compare and contrast three theories of issue change: issue evolution, conflict extension, and ideological polarization. Previous studies often conflate these perspectives by only focusing on increased partisanship as evidence of issue change. We argue that these theories differ on a key aspect of issue conflict: dimensionality, that is, the relationship between political conflict on the issue in question and conflict on other issues. We analyze changes in the dimensionality of roll call voting in the US House on the environment, women’s rights, gun control, abortion, and immigration to present a more comprehensive view of issue dynamics. Our results suggest that these perspectives need further clarification and can complement one another. In particular, considering degrees of an issue evolution is beneficial. Although most issues became more partisan as they were simply absorbed into existing partisan cleavages, which is not consistent with some descriptions of an evolution, the more prominent culture war issues, such as abortion and gun control, showed more distinctive and prominent characteristics.
Deficits in metacognitive monitoring in mathematics assessments in learners with autism spectrum disorder
Authors: Brosnan Mark , Johnson Hilary , Grawemeyer Beate , Chapman Emma , Antoniadou Konstantina , Hollinworth Melissa
Published: June 2015

Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder have been found to have deficits in metacognition that could impact upon their learning. This study explored metacognitive monitoring in 28 (23 males and 5 females) participants with autism spectrum disorder and 56 (16 males and 40 females) typically developing controls who were being educated at the same level. Participants were asked a series of mathematics questions. Based upon previous research, after each question they were asked two metacognitive questions: (1) whether they thought they had got the answer correct or not (or ‘don’t know’) and (2) whether they meant to get the answer correct or not (or ‘don’t know’). Participants with autism spectrum disorder were significantly more likely than the typically developing group to erroneously think that they had got an incorrect answer correct. Having made an error, those with autism spectrum disorder were also significantly more likely to report that they had meant to make the error. Different patterns in the types of errors made were also identified between the two groups. Deficits in metacognition were identified for the autism spectrum disorder group in the learning of mathematics. This is consistent with metacognitive research from different contexts and the implications for supporting learning in autism spectrum disorder are discussed.
Bourdieu and conscious deliberation
Authors: Mead Geoffrey
Published: June 2015

Social theorists in recent years have concerned themselves with the matter of the kind and intensity of people’s everyday reflective capacities. In this respect, Bourdieu has mostly been found wanting. This article seeks to counter this sentiment with recourse to an ‘anti-mechanistic’ reading of Bourdieu’s theory of practice. It begins by arguing that in imposing a strict delineation between consciousness and habitus, Bourdieu and his critics alike at times unwittingly conflate habitus and mechanistic habit, at once vaunting conscious deliberation and neglecting the non-habitual acts that habitus makes possible. Next it turns to the treatment, within the mechanistic reading, of the notion of the ‘social world’. The argument is that in this reading the social world is reified and rendered the mere background or setting for social practices rather than the product of those practices. Without recognition of this latter quality, the social world becomes hypostatized and exists outside of time. The secondary aim, then, is to argue for a thoroughgoing temporal relation to social reality in Bourdieu’s theory.
Falling in love with(in) Europe: European bi-national love relationships, European identification and transnational solidarity
Authors: Van Mol Christof , de Valk Helga AG , van Wissen Leo
Published: June 2015

Love is often a key factor in migration decisions. Partner relationships and union formation have also been identified as forming an intrinsic part of intra-European migration. Nevertheless, empirical research into intra-European love migration remains rather scarce. In this paper, we focus on the often neglected but substantial intra-European moves. We analyse the relationship between bi-national couple formation, identification as a European and European transnational solidarity. The analyses are based on the EUMARR survey, investigating bi-national marriages in a unified Europe, comparing European bi-national and uni-national couples. In this paper, we focus on the Netherlands ( n = 898) and compare Dutch–Dutch with Dutch–EU couples. Our findings indicate that bi-national couples are more likely to identify as European compared to uni-national couples, but this is not reflected in more solidarity to European countries in times of crisis. Implications of these findings are discussed in light of the European integration process.
Europe’s voting space and the problem of second-order elections: A transnational proposal
Authors: Bright Jonathan , Garzia Diego , Lacey Joseph , Trechsel Alexander
Published: June 2015

This article offers an empirically driven critical consideration of the idea of transnationalising Europe’s voting space, which would mean allowing European citizens to vote for a party from any member state at the European Parliament elections. We argue that such a move would reduce the second-order problem in European elections, as it would force political parties to move away from campaigning solely on national issues. We also claim that it would improve the extent to which Europeans are represented in their parliament and would be particularly welcomed by citizens currently dissatisfied with the state of their national democracy. We offer evidence to back up these claims, based on data on the political preferences of almost half a million Europeans and 274 European parties.
Changing attitudes about disability: The impact of the ‘Accessible Community’ program
Authors: Zychlinski Ester , Ben-Ezra Menachem , Raz Yaira Hamama
Published: June 2015

We examined whether participation in the ‘Accessible Community’ program (an Israeli nationwide community program), changed social work students’ attitudes towards people with disabilities. A total of 150 social work students in their first year were divided into task groups focusing on variety activities for and with people with disabilities. The students attended an academic course in community social work, and completed an ‘Attitudes towards Persons with Disability’ questionnaire (ATDP) prior and subsequent to participation; 58.67% ( N = 88) completed the questionnaire before the project, 79 also filled it in afterwards (89.7%).

Findings

Two subscales of ATDP for positive and negative items were composed in order to extrapolate more specific data. Participation in the project did not lead to any significant overall change in attitude. Yet, negative attitudes were significantly associated with previous volunteering and prior negative attitudes, while positive attitudes were significantly associated with prior positive attitudes.

Applications

It is important to identify amongst those working in the helping professions their prior attitudes toward people with disabilities in order to provide them with significant corrective experiences during their practical training.
Knowing between: generating boundary understanding through discordant situations in geographic–artistic research
Authors: Banfield Janet
Published: June 2015

The recent trend towards practice-based routes to knowledge has raised methodological questions concerning how best to research practices. Within the geography of art, the expansion over recent decades of collaborative and practice-based approaches has raised similar questions, along with concerns regarding the appropriateness of geographers not trained in art to undertake their own artistic practice within their research. This article grapples with these questions in relation to my own geographic–artistic research, through which I sought to generate boundary understanding or ‘knowing between’ different practices. I outline my own research method, which employed both qualitative interviews and practice-based research with artists, and present two case studies to highlight particular insights gained during the practice-based research, over and above those acquired through semi-structured interviews. These case studies reveal the insubstantial and fragile nature of boundaries between practices and levels of proficiency, and raise political issues for inter-disciplinary activities, problematizing in particular the role of the qualitative interview as a stand-alone method in research into practices, and recent calls for arts-based research only to be conducted by those proficient in art.
Selfies and Self-Writing
Authors: Hall Kimberly
Published: June 2015

This article explores the aesthetic genealogy of the cue card confession social media trope, where producers create a self-portrait or vlog featuring handwritten cards to relate an autobiographical narrative. Returning to Michael Foucault’s theories of self-writing as a confessional discourse of the self that creates a correspondence of ethical perception between the writer and reader by way of contemporary theorizations of the demand for authenticity and consumability in social media, I argue that the cue card confessions constitute an important mode of self-writing that uses the visual spectacle of the body and the discursive demands of confessional discourse to invoke mediated witnessing as a mode of ethical engagement.
Treatment of vertebrobasilar fusiform aneurysms with Pipeline embolization device
Authors: Ahmed Osama , Storey Christopher , Kalakoti Piyush , Deep Thakur Jai , Zhang Shihao , Nanda Anil , Guthikonda Bharat , Cuellar Hugo
Published: June 2015

Object

Treatment of complex intracranial aneurysms with Pipeline embolization device (PED) (ev3/Covidien Vascular Therapies) has gained recent popularity. One application of PEDs that is not well described in the literature is the utility and long-term safety in treatment of vertebrobasilar fusiform (VBF) aneurysms. Despite the advancements in endovascular therapy, VBF aneurysms continue to challenging pathology. The authors provide long-term follow-up of VBF aneurysms treated with PEDs.

Methods

We retrospectively reviewed four patients that were treated at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport with PEDs for VBFs from 2012 to 2014. Each patient was discussed in a multidisciplinary setting between neurosurgeons and neurointerventionalists. Each patient underwent platelet function tests to ensure responsiveness to anti-platelet agents and was treated by one neurointerventionalist (HC). All patients were placed on aspirin and Plavix and were confirmed for therapeutic response prior to discharge.

Results

Follow-up ranged from 12 to 25 months, with a mean of 14.25 months. Two cases presented with a recurrence after the initial treatment, both of which required subsequent treatment. Of the four patients treated, one patient developed hemiparesis and three died.

Conclusion

Despite reports describing successful treatment of VBF aneurysms with PEDs, delayed complications after obliteration and remodeling can occur. We describe our institutional experience of VBFs treated with PEDs. Treatment of holobasilar fusiform aneurysms may carry a worse prognosis after treatment. Further long-term follow-up will provide a better understanding of this pathology.
Outcomes of endovascular occlusion and stenting in the treatment of carotid blowout
Authors: Brinjikji Waleed , Cloft Harry J
Published: June 2015

Background and purpose

Carotid blowout is a life threatening complication of invasive head and neck cancers and their treatments. This is commonly treated with endovascular embolization and carotid stenting. Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, we report the immediate clinical results of patients receiving embolization and/or stenting for treatment of carotid blowout associated with head and neck cancer.

Materials and methods

Using the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from the period 2003–2011, we defined carotid blowout patients as those with head and neck malignancies receiving carotid stenting and/or endovascular embolization without open surgery. Outcomes studied included mortality, acute ischemic stroke, hemiplegia/paresis, and other post-operative neurologic complications. Outcomes for the endovascular embolization and carotid stenting group were compared.

Results

A total of 1218 patients underwent endovascular treatment for carotid blowout. Of these, 1080 patients (88.6%) underwent embolization procedures and 138 patients (11.4%) underwent carotid stenting. The mortality rate of endovascular embolization patients was similar to that of carotid stenting patients (8.0%, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 6.5%–9.7% versus 10.2%, 95% CI=6.0%–16.4%, p = 0.36). Stroke rate was similar between embolization patients and stenting patients (2.3%, 95% CI=1.6%–3.4% vs. 3.4%, 95% CI=1.3%–8.4%, p = 0.43). Hemiplegia rates were significantly higher rate in stenting patients compared with endovascular occlusion patients (3.8%, 95% CI=1.3%–8.4% vs. 1.4%, 95% CI=1.4%–2.4%, p = 0.05). The rate of post-operative neurologic complications was higher in stenting patients compared with embolization patients (6.5%, 95% CI=3.3%–12.1% vs. 1.4%, 95% CI=0.9%–2.4%, p < 0.0001).

Conclusions

Given the natural history of carotid blowout, carotid stenting and endovascular embolization are acceptable means of treating this disease. Endovascular embolization remains the most common treatment among patients with head and neck cancers with lower overall rates of post-operative neurologic complications, including hemiplegia/paresis and stroke.
Border theatre and security spectacles: Surveillance, mobility and reality-based television
Authors: Walsh James P.
Published: June 2015

Long central to the exercise of sovereignty and symbolic power, border surveillance and policing are not only being amplified in the name of crime control and counter-terrorism, but exist as mass-mediated sources of fascination and entertainment. Interrogating Border Security: Australia’s Front Line as an example of the emergent genre of border-based reality television, this article examines the program’s cultural meanings and political functions. Through media spectacles that construct government authorities as heroic defenders protecting the nation from an array of external threats and fearful others, the program: legitimates state agendas; addresses anxieties associated with neoliberal globalization; and enrolls citizens as co-producers of national security. Accordingly, beyond representing, the program constitutes and prefigures the ‘reality’ of border enforcement, rendering it inevitable, necessary, and desirable.
Spinal Cord Stimulation Modulates Supraspinal Centers of the Descending Antinociceptive System in Rats with Unilateral Spinal Nerve Injury
Authors: Tazawa Toshiharu , Kamiya Yoshinori , Kobayashi Ayako , Saeki Kensuke , Takiguchi Masahito , Nakahashi Yusuke , Shinbori Hironobu , Funakoshi Kengo , Goto Takahisa
Published: June 2015

Background

The descending antinociceptive system (DAS) is thought to play crucial roles in the antinociceptive effect of spinal cord stimulation (SCS), especially through its serotonergic pathway. The nucleus raphe magnus (NRM) in the rostral ventromedial medulla is a major source of serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT)] to the DAS, but the role of the dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) in the ventral periaqueductal gray matter is still unclear. Moreover, the influence of the noradrenergic pathway is largely unknown. In this study, we evaluated the involvement of these serotonergic and noradrenergic pathways in SCS-induced antinociception by behavioral analysis of spinal nerve-ligated (SNL) rats. We also investigated immunohistochemical changes in the DRN and locus coeruleus (LC), regarded as the adrenergic center of the DAS, and expression changes of synthetic enzymes of 5-HT [tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH)] and norepinephrine [dopamine β-hydroxylase (DβH)] in the spinal dorsal horn.

Results

Intrathecally administered methysergide, a 5-HT1-and 5-HT2-receptor antagonist, and idazoxan, an α2-adrenergic receptor antagonist, equally abolished the antinociceptive effect of SCS. The numbers of TPH-positive serotonergic and phosphorylated cyclic AMP response element binding protein (pCREB)-positive neurons and percentage of pCREB-positive serotonergic neurons in the DRN significantly increased after 3-h SCS. Further, the ipsilateral-tocontralateral immunoreactivity ratio of DβH increased in the LC of SNL rats and reached the level seen in naïve rats, even though the number of pCREB-positive neurons in the LC was unchanged by SNL and SCS. Moreover, 3-h SCS did not increase the expression levels of TPH and DβH in the spinal dorsal horn.

Conclusions

The serotonergic and noradrenergic pathways of the DAS are involved in the antinociceptive effect of SCS, but activation of the DRN might primarily be responsible for this effect, and the LC may have a smaller contribution. SCS does not potentiate the synthetic enzymes of 5HT and norepinephrine in the neuropathic spinal cord.
Expression quantitative trait locus analysis for translational medicine
Authors: Gibson Greg , Powell Joseph E , Marigorta Urko M
Published: June 2015

Expression quantitative trait locus analysis has emerged as an important component of efforts to understand how genetic polymorphisms influence disease risk and is poised to make contributions to translational medicine. Here we review how expression quantitative trait locus analysis is aiding the identification of which gene(s) within regions of association are causal for a disease or phenotypic trait; the narrowing down of the cell types or regulators involved in the etiology of disease; the characterization of drivers and modifiers of cancer; and our understanding of how different environments and cellular contexts can modify gene expression. We also introduce the concept of transcriptional risk scores as a means of refining estimates of individual liability to disease based on targeted profiling of the transcripts that are regulated by polymorphisms jointly associated with disease and gene expression.
Kinetics of lung tissue factor expression and procoagulant activity in bleomycin induced acute lung injury
Authors: Ma Li , Shaver Ciara M. , Grove Brandon S. , Mitchell Daphne B. , Wickersham Nancy E. , Carnahan Robert H. , Cooper Tracy L. , Brake Brittany E. , Ware Lorraine B. , Bastarache Julie A.
Published: June 2015

Background

Activation of coagulation by expression of tissue factor (TF) in the airspace is a hallmark of acute lung injury (ALI) but the timing of TF activation in relationship to increases in lung permeability and inflammation are unknown.

Methods

To test the hypothesis that TF is upregulated early in the course of acute bleomycin lung injury and precedes increased permeability and inflammation we studied the early course of bleomycin‐induced ALI in mice. Mice were treated with 0.04U intratracheal bleomycin or vehicle control and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and lung tissue were collected daily for 7 days. Whole lung TF mRNA was determined by QT‐PCR. TF protein was assessed by ELISA and immunostaining. BAL procoagulant activity was measured by BAL clot time and thrombin‐antithrombin complexes. Inflammation was assessed by BAL cell count, differentials and CXCL1/KC concentration. Lung permeability was assessed by BAL protein and lung wet to dry weight ratio.

Results

Expression of CXCL1 occurred by day 1. BAL protein and lung wet‐to‐dry weight ratio increased significantly by day 3. TF mRNA and BAL procoagulant activity peaked on day 4 while whole lung TF protein peaked on day 6. Changes in permeability and procoagulant activity preceded inflammatory cell influx which was maximal at day 6 while whole lung TF protein peaked along with inflammation.

Conclusion

These data demonstrate that cytokine upregulation is the earliest response to bleomycin administration, followed by increased lung permeability, upregulation of TF, and recruitment of inflammatory cells.
An examination of the relationship between childhood abuse, anger and violent behavior among a sample of sex offenders
Authors: Ramirez Stephanie R , Jeglic Elizabeth L , Calkins Cynthia
Published: June 2015

Background

Increasing attention has focused on the emotional dysregulation that can result from adverse childhood experiences among those who commit sexually violent crimes. While studies confirm a relationship between child maltreatment and anger the research is limited and it is unclear how anger and child maltreatment effect the use of violence during the commission of the sex crime.

Methods

This study examined the relationship between childhood maltreatment, anger and violent behavior by reviewing the records of 571 adult male offenders convicted of sexual assault or child molestation. The aims of the present study were to 1) examine differences in anger levels between those offenders who engaged in verbal or physical violence or used a weapon during the commission of their crime; 2) explore differences in anger levels for those sex offenders who experienced childhood abuse (physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) and those who were not; 3) examine whether there were differences in anger between rapists and child molesters and 4) assess whether anger either mediated or moderated the relationship between childhood abuse and the use of violence in the commission of the crime.

Results

Overall we found that sex offenders who were rated as being angrier were more likely to have used violence in the commission of their crime and were more likely to be abused as children. Further, while these relationships held for both rapists and child molesters independently, rapists were found to be angrier than child molesters. Finally, anger neither mediated nor moderated the relationship between an offender’s adverse childhood and committing a violent sex crime.

Conclusions

These results suggest that anger should be target in intervention and prevention programs with violent sex offenders.