bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Effect of Child Sexual Abuse on Social Functioning in Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorders
Authors: López-Mongay Daniel , Ahuir Maribel , Crosas Josep Mª , Navarro J. Blas , Monreal José Antonio , Obiols Jordi E. , Palao Diego
Published: June 2018

The objective of this study was to explore social functioning in schizophrenic patients who have suffered child sexual abuse (CSA) in comparison with those who have not suffered from it in a Spanish sample of 50 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The Quality of Life (QOL) Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ-SF), and the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) were administered in this study. We found a CSA prevalence of 22% in our sample. Results showed that QOL global scores reduced by 9.34% at a statistically significant level ( p = .037) in sexually abused patients in comparison with those who did not report experiencing sexual abuse. Regression analysis in the QOL scales showed no differences in intrapsychic foundation scores or in the social relations scale. Scores in the instrumental role scale were reduced by 4.42 points in patients with CSA ( p = .009). Neither neuroticism nor extraversion results differ between the trauma group and those who did not suffer trauma. Clinical implications of these results are discussed.
Polyvictimization and the Associations Between Poor Self-Perceived Health, Dissatisfaction With Life, and Sexual Dysfunction Among Women in Estonia
Authors: Lippus Hedda , Laanpere Made , Part Kai , Ringmets Inge , Karro Helle
Published: June 2018

The severe impact of different forms of violence on health has been demonstrated in a substantial number of studies. At the same time, it has been acknowledged that different forms of violence tend to co-occur, such that many survivors of violence have been exposed to more than one violent event and/or more than one form of violence. Despite mounting evidence concerning the associations between polyvictimization and health, there are still important gaps in this knowledge concerning adult female population’s sexual health, including both physical and mental aspects associated with it. The aim of this study was to evaluate the exposure to emotional, physical, and sexual violence among women and associations with poor self-perceived health, dissatisfaction with life, stress, and worry due to sex life and sexual dysfunction. The term polyvictimization is used in this article to express the exposure to more than one form of violence. We used data from a cross-sectional study carried out in Estonia in 2014 among women aged 16 to 44 years. Responses of 2,333 women were analyzed for this article. Of all the respondents, 27.9% were polyvictimized. Women who had been exposed to all three forms of violence had, after adjusting for confounding factors, the highest risk of reporting poor self-perceived health, limited daily activities due to chronic health problems, feelings of depression, dissatisfaction with life, stress, and worry due to sex life and sexual dysfunction. The results of this study demonstrate that exposure to violence is associated with poorer health outcomes and that the association is stronger among those who have been polyvictimized.
Metrics to select design tasks in experimental creativity research
Authors: Sosa Ricardo
Published: June 2018

This paper demonstrates the need for systematic approaches to assess design tasks for experimental studies of idea generation and conceptual design. We first examine a collection of 160 design tasks used in the literature revealing a high variance of task characteristics. Variance across studies is captured by analysing operating variables including task elaboration, task orientation, task selection, participants and time allocated for ideation. Four metrics are then proposed to assist researchers to objectively characterise design tasks. These metrics help identify the semantic and lexical dimensions of problem statements, evaluate precedent ideas and assess task wording. The value of this approach is demonstrated by applying the metrics to a subset of design tasks showing their usefulness to assess the design task objectively as part of the wider experimental design process. Armed with these metrics, researchers can tune both the task and the wider experiment to best match the purposes and the operating variables of their studies. The paper concludes by formulating concrete recommendations to assist in the selection of design tasks using these metrics.
Wear behavior of differently cryogenically treated AISI H13 steel against cold work steel
Authors: Katoch Sanjeev , Sehgal Rakesh , Singh Vishal
Published: June 2018

The effect of different cryogenic treatments on the wear behavior of chromium base die steel under dry condition has been examined at five levels of sliding velocity and normal loads. Parameters chosen for cryogenic treatment cycles are subjected to soaking duration of 6, 21, and 36 h at soaking temperatures of −154 ℃ and −184 ℃. Soaking period of 21 h shows higher wear resistance, whereas 36 h treatment shows the reduction in wear resistance. Worn out surface and wear debris exhibit that mechanisms responsible for wear of samples are rupturing of martensitic matrix and delaminating.
Performance and CO2 mitigation analysis of a solar greenhouse dryer for coconut drying
Authors: Ayyappan S
Published: June 2018

A natural convection solar greenhouse dryer with biomass back-up heater was developed and tested for its performance during summer and winter months under the meteorological conditions of Pollachi, India, using coconuts as drying material. The dryer maintained the temperature between 33°C and 60°C during summer, 26°C and 43°C during winter periods. The biomass heater maintained the temperature inside the dryer between 35°C and 45°C during night. The coconuts were dried from an initial moisture content of 53% to a final moisture content of around 7% in 54 h in summer and 74 h in winter in the solar-biomass hybrid dryer compared to 153 h during summer and 247 h during winter in open sun drying. The thermal efficiency of the solar-biomass hybrid dryer was found to be 24% and 21%, respectively, during summer and winter time. The embodied energy of the dryer is found to be 18,302 kWh and the CO2 emission was 1518 kg per year. The net CO2 mitigation is 678 tonnes and the total carbon credit earned is $18,645. The payback period of the drier was found to be 3.3 years.
Cost-Effective Adjustments to Nursing Home Staffing to Improve Quality
Authors: Bowblis John R. , Roberts Amy Restorick
Published: June 2018

Health care providers face fixed reimbursement rates from government sources and need to carefully adjust staffing to achieve the highest quality within a given cost structure. With data from the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (1999-2015), this study holistically examined how staffing levels affect two publicly reported measures of quality in the nursing home industry, the number of deficiency citations and the deficiency score. While higher staffing consistently yielded better quality, the largest quality improvements resulted from increasing administrative registered nurses and social service staffing. After adjusting for wages, the most cost-effective investment for improving overall deficiency outcomes was increasing social services. Deficiencies related to quality of care were improved most by increasing administrative nursing and social service staff. Quality of life deficiencies were improved most by increasing social service and activities staff. Approaches to improve quality through staffing adjustments should target specific types of staff to maximize return on investment.
Multiple Imputation for Missing Values in Homicide Incident Data: An Evaluation Using Unique Test Data
Authors: Roberts John M. , Roberts Aki , Wadsworth Tim
Published: June 2018

Incident-level homicide datasets such as the Supplementary Homicide Reports (SHR) commonly exhibit missing data. We evaluated multiple imputation methods (that produce multiple completed datasets, across which imputed values may vary) via unique data that included actual values, from police agency incident reports, of seemingly missing SHR data. This permitted evaluation under a real, not assumed or simulated, missing data mechanism. We compared analytic results based on multiply imputed and actual data; multiple imputation rather successfully recovered victim–offender relationship distributions and regression coefficients that hold in the actual data. Results are encouraging for users of multiple imputation, though it is still important to minimize the extent of missing information in SHR and similar data.
The Implementation and Feasibility of the Supporting Physical Activity in the Childcare Environment (SPACE) Intervention: A Process Evaluation
Authors: Driediger Molly , Vanderloo Leigh M. , Burke Shauna M. , Irwin Jennifer D. , Gaston Anca , Timmons Brian W. , Johnson Andrew M. , Tucker Patricia
Published: June 2018

This study describes the process evaluation of the Supporting Physical Activity in the Childcare Environment (SPACE) intervention, consisting of educator physical activity training, provision of portable play equipment, and a modified outdoor schedule (i.e., 4 × 30-minute periods). Educators ( N = 49) from 11 childcare centers in London, Ontario, Canada, delivered the 8-week intervention to 200 preschoolers ( Mage = 3.38 years). Workshop attendance was documented while adherence to the outdoor schedule and number and timing of outdoor sessions offered (i.e., dose) were recorded in a daily log. Questionnaire-based program evaluation ( n = 41) and in-person group interviews ( n = 7) were completed postintervention to assess educator perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to implementation (i.e., context), the feasibility and perceived effectiveness of the intervention, educator and preschooler enjoyment, communication among researchers and childcare personnel, and the future implementation of the intervention. Descriptive statistics were calculated, and responses to open-ended questions were inductively coded. Educator workshop attendance was 96%, and 88% of classrooms adhered to the four daily outdoor periods. Educators delivered 90% of the scheduled outdoor sessions, and 87% of these met the 30-minute criteria. Educators expressed that the increase in number of transitions made the outdoor playtimes challenging to implement, yet rated the feasibility of the training and equipment as high. Educators perceived the intervention to be both enjoyable and effective at increasing preschoolers’ physical activity. They indicated effective communication and revealed that they intended to continue to use their physical activity knowledge and to offer the play equipment once the intervention had concluded. These findings demonstrate that the SPACE intervention is viable in center-based childcare.
Assessing the Fairness and Effectiveness of Bicycle Stops in Tampa
Authors: Mitchell Ojmarrh , Ridgeway Greg
Published: June 2018

This research investigates the fairness and effectiveness of making a large number of bicycle stops as a proactive policing strategy designed to reduce unsafe riding and crime in Tampa, Florida. Public concern about the fairness and effectiveness of this tactic was magnified by a 2015 newspaper article that noted racial disparities in bicycle stops by the Tampa Police Department (TPD). Our analyses found that there are large racial disparities in bicycle stops, which cannot be explained by differences in ridership as measured by our benchmark, bicycle crashes with injury. The observed racial disparities in bicycle stops appear to be attributable to TPD’s crime control efforts, though we cannot rule out some racial bias. Given that crime control was a motivating factor for TPD’s use of bicycle stops, we assessed the effect of bicycle stops on crime using a natural experiment. We found that bicycle stops did not have a meaningful effect on crime.
“I’ve learned to just go with the flow”: Family caregivers’ strategies for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia
Authors: Polenick Courtney A , Struble Laura M , Stanislawski Barbara , Turnwald Molly , Broderick Brianna , Gitlin Laura N , Kales Helen C
Published: June 2018

Background and objectives

Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are highly prevalent, stressful, and challenging to manage. Caregivers’ approaches for handling these behaviors have implications for both care partners’ well-being. Yet the specific strategies that caregivers use in their daily management of behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia are relatively unknown. This study used in-depth focus group data to examine family caregivers’ strategies for managing behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia.

Design

As part of a larger study (NINR R01NR014200), four focus groups were conducted with a total of 26 family caregivers of older adults with dementia. Caregivers were asked to describe the strategies they use to manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. Data from audio-recorded sessions were transcribed, coded to identify relevant concepts, and reduced to determine major categories.

Results

Caregivers managed behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia through (1) modifying interactions within the care dyad (e.g., simplifying communication); (2) modifying the care environment (e.g., using written prompts); (3) activity engagement; (4) humor; (5) self-care; and (6) social support.

Conclusion

Family caregivers manage behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia using strategies to minimize stress and address the needs of both care partners. Caregivers’ own accounts of these approaches reveal a window into their everyday management of difficult behaviors. The present findings generate key information for routine clinical care and targeted interventions to promote caregiver well-being.
Exploring Leaders’ Discriminatory, Passive-Aggressive Behavior Toward Protected Class Employees using Diversity Intelligence
Authors: Hughes Claretha , Brown Lucy M.
Published: June 2018

The Problem

As there is diversity in many workplaces, diversity intelligence (DQ) needs to be integrated alongside intellectual, emotional, and cultural intelligences to be effective. DQ requires leaders to have knowledge to understand protected class employees and the legal mandates and executive orders established to protect those employees from discriminatory practices at work. Irrespective of the billions of dollars invested in diversity or antidiscriminatory practices training, many protected class workers remain underutilized or marginalized due to leaders’ unfamiliarity with these groups of workers and/or incompetence to harness their talents to achieve organizational goals. DQ deficiencies trigger some leaders to apply passive-aggressive behaviors as a coping mechanism. These passive-aggressive behaviors can lead to a toxic and hostile work environment as evidenced through high attrition, unrealized productivity, feelings of frustration, fear, disappointment, resentment, among other adverse responses from both leaders and employees.

The Solution

To efficiently and effectively integrate protected class employees to contribute at their optimum levels, leaders need to possess DQ. Leaders in this study need to be educated or reeducated so that they understand who protected class employees are in the workplace.

The Stakeholders

Implications for human resource development professionals and researchers are offered. Opportunities for workplace leaders and protected class employees are presented.
The Diversity Intelligent Servant Leader: Developing Leaders to Meet the Needs of a Diverse Workforce
Authors: Sims Cynthia M.
Published: June 2018

The Problem

The ability of organizations to realize diversity remains problematic. To meet the needs of the modern workforce, new diversity and leadership approaches are required.

The Solution

Diversity intelligence, a promising new human resource development (HRD) tool, leads to enhanced inclusion and equitable treatment in the workplace. Several propositions herein advance that diversity intelligence is an antecedent to the compassionate love servant leadership model. The author describes the potential value diversity intelligent servant leaders provide to society, organizations, leaders, and especially employees with protected class status. This article addresses the implications of the propositions to theory and explores the intersection of servant leadership and diversity and inclusion research streams, practice describes how organizations and HRD professionals can benefit from and implement these arguments, and social impact discusses the benefits society can accrue when all organizational members are engaged, productive and valued.

The Stakeholders

This article benefits organizations, leaders, employees, and HRD professionals as well as leadership and diversity and inclusion scholars and practitioners.
Relationships, Training, and Formal Agreements Between Needle and Syringe Programs and Police
Authors: Strike Carol , Watson Tara Marie
Published: June 2018

Needle and syringe programs (NSPs) are key public health and HIV prevention programs. We sought to compare over time the quality of relationships between NSPs and police, and implementation of best practices. We conducted cross-sectional surveys in 2008 ( n = 32) and 2015 ( n = 28) with NSP managers in Ontario, Canada. Participants were recruited via e-mail to complete an online survey. Over the period studied, self-reported quality of NSP–police relationships did not change—roughly two thirds of NSP managers reported a positive/mostly positive relationship. In 2015, higher proportions of programs offered training to police about the following: the purpose and goals of NSPs (48% vs. 41% in 2008), NSP effectiveness (55% vs. 34%), the health and social concerns of people who use drugs (52% vs. 40%), and needlestick injury prevention (44% vs. 31%). Few managers reported formal conflict resolution procedures with the police (22% in 2015, 9% in 2008). Our findings show that NSP–police relationships did not deteriorate during a time when such programs fell into disfavor with the federal government. More research is needed to understand if and when formal versus informal agreements with police serve the needs of NSPs.
Perspectives From a First-Generation College Student: Reflections on the Value of Mentoring Relationships
Authors: Ortega Kristen E.
Published: June 2018

In this Career Development commentary, the author highlights the value of tailored mentoring and experiential learning from the perspective of a first-generation college student. University faculty and practitioners in diverse settings have the opportunity to mentor emerging public health professionals but may not have experience mentoring first-generation college students. We hope that this commentary encourages our readers to reflect on mentoring strategies, opportunities, and benefits for first-generation college students.
Lessons Learned From a Multisite Evaluation of Geriatric and Extended Care Programs
Authors: Adjognon Omonyêlé L. , Sullivan Jennifer L. , Hendricks Ann , VanDeusen Lukas Carol
Published: June 2018

With the increased use of multisite evaluation and implementation studies in health care, our team of evaluators reflects on our evaluation of a large-scale multiyear geriatric and extended care program implementation. We share lessons from conducting multiple rounds of data collection, analyses, and reporting. We also identify some key factors that can facilitate or hinder multisite evaluation efforts involving programs with different models of implementation. This article strives to improve the quality of large-scale evaluations of health programs implementation. Knowledge gained from this complex evaluation will inform public health programs funders, implementers, and key program staff to better plan for, engage in, and benefit from effective complex evaluations to promote health in diverse settings.
Friends Forever: Sitcom Celebrity and Its Afterlives
Authors: Leppert Alice
Published: June 2018

Following work by John Ellis and John Langer, scholars often define television stardom against film stardom, a dichotomy that depends on a view of television as lesser than film, and which impedes our understanding of television stardom. Taking Friends as a case study, this article argues that situation comedies freeze stars in time, limiting their abilities to work both outside their character type and as they age, while offering limitless possibilities for the circulation of the star in a media culture characterized by self-referentiality and intertextuality. While previous scholarship on stardom might suggest that this failure to transcend character makes television stardom less valuable, in the television economy, the character is more valuable than the actor who plays her. Following Derek Kompare’s argument that the rerun is the quintessential television form, stardom gained from a Nielsen-dominating sitcom with an ever-present afterlife may be the most valuable form of television stardom.
Friends Reconsidered: Cultural Politics, Intergenerationality, and Afterlives
Authors: Cobb Shelley , Ewen Neil , Hamad Hannah
Published: June 2018

With the passing in 2014 of the twentieth anniversary of its debut episode, the iconic millennial sitcom Friends retains a rare cultural currency and remains a crucial reference point for understanding the concerns of Generation X. This special issue, therefore, interrogates the contemporary and historical significance of Friends as a popular sitcom that reflected and obfuscated American fin de siècle anxieties at the time, and considers the lasting resonance of its cultural afterlife. Its abiding impact as millennial cultural touchstone can be seen in its persistent ability to find new generations of viewers and its manifest influence on myriad extratextual phenomena.
Readability of Prostate Cancer Information Online: A Cross-Sectional Study
Authors: Basch Corey H. , Ethan Danna , MacLean Sarah A. , Fera Joseph , Garcia Phillip , Basch Charles E.
Published: June 2018

Reading and understanding health information, both components of health literacy, can influence patient decisions related to disease management. Older adults, the population of males at greatest risk for prostate cancer, may have compromised capacity to understand and use health information. The purpose of this study was to determine the readability of prostate cancer materials on the Internet using five recommended readability tests. Using a cleared Internet browser, a search was conducted for “prostate cancer.” The URLs of the first 100 websites in English were recorded to create the sample. The readability scores for each website were determined using an online, recommended service. This service generates five commonly recommended readability tests. All five tests revealed that the majority of websites had difficult readability. There were no significant differences identified between websites with .org, .gov, or .edu extension versus those with .com, .net, or other extension. It is apparent that the Internet is used often as a resource for health-related information. This study demonstrates that the large majority of information available on the Internet about prostate cancer will not be readable for many individuals.
A volume-surface integral approach for direct current resistivity problems with topography
Authors: Ren Zhengyong , Chen Huang , Tang Jingtian , Zhou Feng
Published: June 2018

We have developed an accurate volume-surface integral formula for 3D direct current (DC) resistivity forward modeling with heterogeneous conductivities and arbitrary homogeneous topography. First, a volume-surface integral formula is derived from its elliptic boundary value problem in terms of an artificial analytical function defined over the full space. That leads to a volume integral accounting for underground anomalous regions and a surface integral over the surface topography. Then, tetrahedral grids are used to discretize the volume anomalous bodies and triangular grids are adopted to approximate the complicated surface topography. The use of unstructured grids enables our volume-surface integral formula to deal with realistic earth models with complex geometries and conductivity distributions. Furthermore, linear shape functions are assumed in the tetrahedral and triangular elements to obtain the final system of linear equations. In the final system matrix, singularity-free analytical expressions are developed for entries arising from volume integrals over tetrahedral elements and Gaussian quadrature formulas are used to calculate surface integrals over triangular elements. To guarantee the accuracy of the final numerical solutions, direct solvers are used. At the end, three synthetic models are used to verify our newly developed volume-surface integral formula by comparison with published analytical solutions and finite-element solutions. Due to its high accuracy, solutions of our volume-surface integral approach can act as an efficient benchmark tool for other numerical solutions for complicated DC models with arbitrary homogeneous topographies.
Automatic fault interpretation with optimal surface voting
Authors: Wu Xinming , Fomel Sergey
Published: June 2018

Numerous types of fault attributes have been proposed to detect faults by measuring reflection continuities or discontinuities. However, these attributes can be sensitive to other seismic discontinuities, such as noise and stratigraphic features. In addition, fault features within a fault attribute image often cannot be continuously tracked. We have developed an optimal surface-voting method to enhance a fault attribute image so that the noisy features (unrelated to faults) are suppressed whereas the fault features become cleaner and more continuous. In this method, we first automatically pick seed points from the input attribute image and use these seeds as control points to compute optimal surface patches that pass through the control points and follow globally maximum fault attribute values. Then, we consider all the computed surfaces as voters and define voting scores for each voter by using fault attribute values that are smoothed along the surface voter. We further collect voting scores of all the voters to compute a voting score map as a new fault attribute image, in which fault features (with high scores) are much cleaner, sharper, and more continuous than those in the input attribute image. With the optimal surface voters, we can also accurately estimate fault orientations (strikes and dips) by computing weighted averages of the surface voter orientations. From a voting score map with clean and continuous fault features, fault surfaces can be extracted by tacking the fault features along the estimated fault orientations. The computational cost of the method depends on the number of seed points, not the size of the seismic volume, which makes the method highly efficient. With an four-core computer, our parallel implementation can process more than 1000 seeds in 1 s to compute the corresponding optimal voting surfaces and a final voting score map.
Fracture pattern of the Lower Paleozoic sedimentary cover in the Lublin Basin of southeastern Poland derived from seismic attribute analysis and structural restoration
Authors: Kufrasa Mateusz , Słonka Łukasz , Krzywiec Piotr , Dzwinel Krzysztof , Zacharski Jarosław
Published: June 2018

We have characterized Late Devonian fracture systems in the northeastern part of the Lublin Basin in Poland using two independent approaches: (1) seismic data conditioning and volumetric attribute analysis and (2) structural restoration, geomechanical modeling, and fracture modeling. The study area was subjected to reverse faulting in the basement and fault-related folding at the end of Devonian. These late Devonian structures were not overprinted by later deformation events. We have applied a set of structurally oriented filters and seismic attributes aimed at highlighting discontinuities to reduce the seismic noise and improved the fracture visibility on structural steering volume. The main faults cutting intra-Neoproterozoic and intra-Ordovician horizons are principal east–west-striking reverse faults and minor northwest–southeast-oriented normal faults. Based on analysis of the seismic-scale faults, we have carried out fracture modeling for strike-slip and compressional stress fields, with a northwest–southeast-oriented axis of maximum compression. We have correlated tentative strikes for tensile, shear, and closing-mode fractures for both stress regimes, with fault-likelihood attribute maps. The observed fracture system can have developed in the strike-slip stress regime, although cracks generated due to gas overpressure, or of pre-Devonian age, are not excluded. The final fracture model may be extrapolated into Silurian strata, but the results should be perceived as a general approximation of structural trends due to significant differences in mechanical properties of Silurian shales and underlying Ordovician carbonates. Improved model calibration could be achieved after inspection of scanner image logs. We believe that understanding the fracture distribution within the gas-bearing Silurian strata may contribute to effective planning and performing of hydraulic fracturing because part of these fracture planes may be reopened and provide new conduits for fluid flow.
What Will We Expect From Novel Therapies to Esophageal and Gastric Malignancies?
Authors: De Mello Ramon Andrade , Castelo-Branco Luis , Castelo-Branco Pedro , Pozza Daniel Humberto , Vermeulen Louis , Palacio Sofia , Salzberg Matthew , Lockhart A. Craig
Published: June 2018

Esophageal cancer and gastric cancer are aggressive diseases for which treatment approaches are facing a new era. Some molecular pathways, such as VEGF, EGFR, fibroblast growth factor receptor, PIK3CA, and PARP-1, have been studied, and novel targeted drugs are presumed to be developed in the near future. From The Cancer Genome Atlas report, 80% of Epstein-Barr virus tumors and 42% of tumors with microsatellite instability have PIK3CA mutations, suggesting that this pathway could be reevaluated as a possible target for new systemic treatment of gastric cancer. Notably, higher PARP-1 expression can be found in gastric cancer, which might be related to more advanced disease and worse prognosis. In addition, PD-L1 expression, high microsatellite instability, and mismatch repair deficiency can be found in gastric cancer, thus suggesting that immunotherapy may also play a role in those patients. We discuss trends related to the potential of novel therapies for patients with esophageal and gastric cancers in the near future.
Preventing Treatment-Related Functional Decline: Strategies to Maximize Resilience
Authors: Shahrokni Armin , Alexander Koshy , Wildes Tanya M. , Puts Martine T. E.
Published: June 2018

The majority of patients with cancer are older adults. A comprehensive geriatric assessment (CGA) will help the clinical team identify underlying medical and functional status issues that can affect cancer treatment delivery, cancer prognosis, and treatment tolerability. The CGA, as well as more abbreviated assessments and geriatric screening tools, can aid in the treatment decision-making process through improved individualized prediction of mortality, toxicity of cancer therapy, and postoperative complications and can also help clinicians develop an integrated care plan for the older adult with cancer. In this article, we will review the latest evidence with regard to the use of CGA in oncology. In addition, we will describe the benefits of conducting a CGA and the types of interventions that can be taken by the interprofessional team to improve the treatment outcomes and well-being of older adults.
Value and Cost of Myeloma Therapy—We Can Afford It
Authors: Fonseca Rafael , Hinkel Jennifer
Published: June 2018

A national conversation regarding the price and affordability of drugs exists, where concern for value and benefits of medications is challenged by the increasing price of both injectable and oral medications, including the cost of care of myeloma. At the same time, we have seen unprecedented improvements in the overall survival of patients with myeloma, mostly because of the availability of these new drugs. Here, we present data to assert that these medications and associated expenses are of direct benefit to patients and society. The entrepreneurial reward for drug development in the United States has fueled vigorous drug development efforts that have culminated in the approval of 11 new drugs for the treatment of myeloma by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) since 1999. These patented drugs are available to patients in the United States usually at a higher price than in the rest of the world. Nevertheless, the majority of patients, via direct copay assistance or through indirect support via third parties, have access to these drugs irrespective of their socioeconomic status. One of the major regulatory hurdles that prevents access to these drugs is the legal impossibility that pharmaceutical companies have in directly supporting copay assistance for patients with government-funded health care. Moreover, assessments of value should include formal pharmacoeconomic analyses performed by experts. Interference with market forces and coercive action, such as price controls, or exercising eminent domain in the quest for cheaper medications will stymie innovation and rob us of the cures of the future.
Biology and Systemic Treatment of Advanced Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Tumors
Authors: Raj Nitya , Fazio Nicola , Strosberg Jonathan
Published: June 2018

In recent years, there have been important scientific advances in the biologic characterization of neuroendocrine neoplasms and in their treatment. This review will describe these scientific advances, the evolving systemic treatment approaches, and important topics to be addressed in future research.
Combination Immunotherapy Development in Melanoma
Authors: Eggermont Alexander M. M. , Crittenden Marka , Wargo Jennifer
Published: June 2018

Melanoma has been the most important cancer to drive immunotherapy development of solid tumors. Since 2010, immunotherapy has been revolutionized by the concept of breaking tolerance. It represents a major paradigm shift and marks the beginning of a new era. The impact of the first immune checkpoint inhibitors, anti–CTLA-4 and anti–PD-1/anti–PD-L1, is unprecedented. In 7 years, it transformed advanced-stage melanoma into a curable disease in over 50% of patients. Another major step has been the development of the combination of BRAF inhibitors plus MEK inhibitors in the treatment of BRAF-mutant melanomas. For the treatment of advanced disease, approvals were obtained for the immune checkpoint inhibitors ipilimumab (2011), nivolumab (2014), pembrolizumab (2014), the combination ipilimumab plus nivolumab (2015), and the oncolytic virus vaccine laherparepvec (2015). The combination dabrafenib plus trametinib for BRAF-mutant melanoma was approved in 2014, with similar success for other BRAF plus MEK inhibitor combinations. Because of its unique therapeutic index (high efficacy and low toxicity) anti–PD-1 agents (nivolumab and pembrolizumab) have now been placed at the center of practically all combination therapy development strategies in melanoma. Anti–PD-1 agents are the central molecule for combinations with a great variety of other immunotherapeutics such as immune checkpoint inhibitors, agonists, IDO inhibitors, macrophage polarizing agents, monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, targeted agents, chemotherapeutics, radiation therapy, and even microbiome modulators.
Progress Through Collaboration: An ASCO and U.S. Food and Drug Administration Workshop to Improve the Evidence Base for Treating Older Adults With Cancer
Authors: Singh Harpreet , Hurria Arti , Klepin Heidi D.
Published: June 2018

Older adults represent the majority of patients diagnosed with cancer, yet the evidence base used to guide therapy for this growing segment of the population is limited compared with data available for younger adults. Information is particularly limited for adults commonly seen in practice, including those over age 75 and those with comorbidity or frailty. Efforts have been underway to raise awareness of this substantial gap in evidence and identify strategies to build an evidence base for older adults. Recently, the ASCO and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration convened a public workshop to address this issue. There is a need for innovative trial design to test the efficacy and tolerability of therapies among generalizable older adult populations. Incorporation of endpoints such as functional independence and quality of life as well as investigation of geriatric assessment–based treatment allocation strategies will be needed to individualize care planning. Strategies to increase trial enrollment need to be emphasized, including modernizing eligibility criteria, addressing patient and provider barriers to clinical trial enrollment, and consideration of incentives for patients, providers, and sponsors. Finally, investigation of real-world data and incorporation of patient-reported outcomes into the drug-development process may provide opportunities to build evidence related to treatment benefit and tolerance with an emphasis on the patient experience among older adults in diverse treatment settings.
Are Global Breast Cancer Incidence and Mortality Patterns Related to Country-Specific Economic Development and Prevention Strategies?
Authors: Bellanger Martine , Zeinomar Nur , Tehranifar Parisa , Terry Mary Beth
Published: June 2018

Purpose

There remains considerable international variation in breast cancer incidence and mortality, but a comprehensive examination of rates by country level economic, development and cancer prevention policies is lacking.

Materials and Methods

We compared GLOBOCAN 2012 age-specific breast cancer incidence and mortality rates for 177 countries by using development and policy data available from the WHO Global Cancer Country Profiles data base. We classified each country on the basis of gross national income per capita from the World Development Indicators data base, as follows: low-income country (LIC), lower-middle–income country (LMIC), upper-middle–income country (UMIC), and high-income country (HIC).

Results

There were 1,651,326 breast cancer cases and 516,868 breast cancer deaths estimated in 2012. Approximately three quarters of all breast cancer cases and 60% of the breast cancer deaths were in women from HICs and UMICs. Age and country-level income explained approximately 60% of the international variation in breast cancer incidence and mortality in women of all ages (adjusted R2 = 58% and 60%, respectively). Economic development indicators additionally increased the overall variation in incidence and mortality by approximately 5%. In women younger than age 50 years, country-level income explained 68% of incidence and 59% of mortality; economic development indicators additionally increased this percentage by approximately 4%. Country-level cancer prevention policy indicators contributed little to explanation of the overall variation in incidence and mortality after analysis accounted for age and country-level income; however, an overall resource summary index of greater economic development and cancer prevention policies was related to lower mortality within each major income level.

Conclusion

Although breast cancer incidence increases with higher income levels in all ages, women in the poorest countries bear a relatively higher burden of breast cancer mortality, particularly women younger than age 50 years.
Phineas Finn, the Statistics of Character, and the Sensorium of Liberal Personhood
Authors: Womble David A. P.
Published: June 2018

This essay argues that the Victorian novel recast the cognitive deficiencies associated with the mass as necessary traits for inhabiting a statistically rendered public sphere. In order to attribute personhood to an influx of potentially asocial bodies that fell short of the cognitive standards of liberal citizenship, statistical sciences around the time of the 1867 Reform Act reversed the usual priority given to the individual over the collective, redefining the self as a compilation of demographic and social information. When Anthony Trollope's 1867 Phineas Finn performs this constitution of character through collectivity, it disrupts both the interiorized mental procedures of Millian liberalism and our own critical practice of reading characters as metaphysically more than the cultural information of which they are composed. By unleashing statistical sciences into the dimension of character, Trollope supplants older models of social cohesion built around autonomous individuals who form collectives through sympathy and provides a matrix for transforming Enlightenment assumptions about what characters are and how to read them. The impulsivity and mental discontinuity associated with newly enfranchised Irish populations—the very modes of thought and feeling Enlightenment theories of sociality had classified as disruptive to sympathetic economy—prove key to internalizing and embodying statistical abstractions. The unruly affective signature of the masses long designated as liberalism's human surplus is thus rendered integral to the structure of opinion and decision.
An interview with Elly Tanaka
Authors: Brown Katherine
Published: June 2018

Elly Tanaka is a senior scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology in Vienna, Austria. Her lab's research uses the axolotl – which possesses impressive regenerative capacity – to understand the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying limb and spinal cord regeneration. We met Elly in her office in Vienna on the occasion of the recent SY-Stem symposium (see Meeting Review by Porrello and Kirkeby in this issue) to talk about what drew her to regeneration research and the axolotl, the challenges of working in this field, and how she and her colleagues at the Vienna BioCenter are trying to support the new generation of stem cell researchers.
From Physical Properties of Transportation Flows to Demand Estimation: An Optimization Approach
Authors: Bertsimas Dimitris , Yan Julia
Published: June 2018

Efficient management of transportation systems requires accurate trip demand data. It is sometimes possible to track anonymized users through their commutes, accomplished through previous studies on smart cards, license plates, and mobile phones. However, frequently the main public transit data sources are in aggregated forms such as entry and exit counts, and one must recover the original demand from these aggregated counts. Such problems are generally underspecified. To address this, we present an optimization framework to recover origin–destination matrices under minimal assumptions, incorporating reasonable physical constraints such as flow conservation, smoothness, and symmetry. The proposed method is evaluated and shows strong (∼5%–10%) improvement in R2 over the maximum entropy method on a variety of real-world data sets from Boston, New York City, and San Francisco, comprising tens to hundreds of stations.
Development of tri-component antibacterial hybrid fibres for potential use in wound care
Authors: Masood Rashid , Hussain Tanveer , Miraftab Mohsen , Ali Raza Zulfiqar , Ullah Azeem , Areeb Tanzeel , Umar Muhammad , Riaz Rabia
Published: June 2018

Objective:

Tri-component antibacterial psyllium-alginate-chitosan fibres were developed and their properties were studied with reference to their application in health-care.

Method:

Psyllium was co-extruded with sodium alginate as a carrier into a coagulation bath containing calcium chloride and hydrolysed chitosan. Different concentrations of the hydrolysed chitosan were used and an in vitro assessment of antibacterial activity of the produced fibres was carried out against the known pathogens of Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli. The effect of hydrolysed chitosan bath composition on physical and mechanical properties of produced fibres was also examined.

Results:

Chitosan-containing fibres demonstrated a 70–130% thicker dry diameter than the control fibre (F1). The linear density of the fibre increased from 6.8 to 10 tex as the chitosan concentration increased from 10g/l to 30g/l (fibre type F1 to F4). With the addition of hydrolysed chitosan, distilled water absorption was increased while the saline and solution-A (0.83% w/v NaCl and 0.03% w/v CaCl2) absorption decreased. The percentage strain of hybrid fibres was lower than the control fibre due to the inclusion of hydrolysed chitosan. At lower viscosities of the hydrolysed chitosan bath, the fibres were much stiffer due to better penetration of the hydrolysed chitosan. Similarly, at lower viscosities, the tenacities of the hybrid fibres were higher than the control fibre. The hydrolysed chitosan-treated fibres were more effective against Staphylococcus aureus than the Escherichia coli, and the antibacterial activity increased with the decrease in viscosity of the hydrolysed chitosan bath.

Conclusion:

We developed novel PAC fibres. Antibacterial testing showed that hydrolysed chitosan was more effective against Gram-positive bacteria than Gram-negative bacteria.
"ASSESSMENT OF THE TRACE LEVELS OF LEAD (II) USING SOLID PHASE EXTRACTION AND FLAME ATOMIC ABSORPTION SPECTROMETRY"
Authors: Saber Tehrani Mohammad , Mohammadhosseini Majid
Published: June 2018

An efficient procedure for pre-concentration, separation and determination of the trace amounts of lead (II) ions in water samples has been established. The analyte is adsorbed on the surface of C18 silica membrane disk modified with APDC, quantitatively, while other interfering ions pass through the disk to drain. The sorbed Pb2+ ions are then stripped by appropriate eluting agents followed by monitoring of the eluates by flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The effects of sample pH, amount of the modifier, stripping agent types, sample flow-rates, and potential interfering ions were also investigated. The described method involves a pre-concentration factor of about 200. The detection limit of the procedure is 0.93 ng.mL-1. The method was employed for isolation and determination of lead in different water samples.
STRATEGI PENYELESAIAN TINDAK KEKERASAN SEKSUAL TERHADAP PEREMPUAN DAN ANAK MELALUI RUU KEKERASAN SEKSUAL
Authors: Purwanti Ani , Zalianti Marzelina
Published: June 2018

Pelanggaran hak asasi manusia terjadi pada semua subyek hukum termasuk perempuan dan anak dimana kelompaok ini merupakan subyek yang rentan  khususnya kekerasan seksual, hal ini terlihat dari semakin meningkatnya kasus dan beragam jenis kekerasan yang terjadi.  Penanganan terhadap masalah kekerasan terhadap perempuan dan anak selama ini menggunakan Undang-Undang yang ada yaitu Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Pidana, UU No 23 Tahun 2004 tentang Pelananggulangan Kekerasan Dalam Rumah Tangga dan UU No 35 Tahun 2014 Tentang Perlindungan Anak, saat ini dianggap tidak cukup mampu mengatasi meningkatnya kasus yang terjadi, khususnya jenis kekerasan seksual yang semakin beragam.         Jenis kekerasan yang tidak terakomodir dalam regulasi yang ada dan menjadi obyek dalam RUU Kekerasan Seksual adalah pelecehan seksual; eksploitasi seksual; pemaksaan kontrasepsi;  pemaksaan aborsi;  perkosaan;   pemaksaan perkawinan;  pemaksaan pelacuran;  perbudakan seksual; dan  penyiksaan seksual.          Ruang lingkup pengaturan mengenai penghapusan kekerasan seksual meliputi pencegahan, penanganan, perlindungan dan pemulihan bagi korban, serta penindakan pelaku. Penghapusan kekerasan seksual yang diatur dalam RUU ini adalah elaborasi dari kewajiban negara dalam mengurangi dan mpenegakan hokum persoalan yang terkait dengan kekerasan seksual yang sering dialami oleh perempuan dan anak. Dalam implementasinya, selain dengan Aparat Penegak Hukum negara wajib melibatkan keluarga, komunitas, organisasi masyarakat,lembaga pers dan korporasi.