bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A Mirza’s Demands for Women, Cot and Cattle
Authors: Bedamatta Urmishree
Published: March 2016

This article examines a multilingual folk theatrical performance called Mughal Tamsa. This polyglot theatrical form is considered the predecessor of the modern jatra (a stage performance with light and sound accompaniments) in Odisha and it was a popular form of entertainment in the medieval period. The central character of this performance is a Mughal mirza (prince) who is notorious among his subjects for his misrule and also for his unlawful demands for chhokri (women), bakri (cattle) and chhappar khat aur masuri (cot and other luxury goods). However, his servants thwart his ambitions with a playful and subversive interlinguality. How the various socio-cultural and historical trends may have given rise to the form and content of the Tamsa has been discussed in this article. This article argues that the Tamsa was a natural embodiment of the encounter of languages and cultures.
The Experience of Cancer in American Indians Living in Oklahoma
Authors: Craft Melissa , Patchell Beverly , Friedman Jack , Stephens Lancer , Dwyer Kathy
Published: March 2016

Many cancers in American Indians (AIs) are not diagnosed early leading to effects on physical, social, and emotional well-being or quality of life (QOL). Little research has been done on QOL of AIs in Oklahoma. This study examined the experience of living with cancer of AIs in Oklahoma to gain greater understanding of QOL issues and provide a basis for interventions to improve QOL. Twenty AIs diagnosed with cancer and receiving care in Oklahoma participated in this pilot study through semistructured interviews. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Themes identified included circles of support, finding meaning in the experience, and facing personal challenges such as health care–related issues, including mental health needs and fragmented care. The findings from this pilot study provide insights into the cancer experience of AIs in Oklahoma and demonstrate that care navigation and social support are important aspects to address in intervention development.
Improving Transition Support for Juvenile Offenders With Disabilities Through a Collaborative Approach
Authors: Ochoa Theresa A.
Published: March 2016

Collaboration between special educators and transition coordinators is important to lower recidivism rates among juvenile offenders with disabilities. This column provides best practice transition guidelines and urges special education teachers, special education coordinators, and transition coordinators in juvenile correctional facilities to communicate among themselves and other professionals to collaborate during the transition period from the community to confinement and when juveniles with disabilities reenter the community.
Estimating design effort using parametric models: A case study at Pratt & Whitney Canada
Authors: Salam Adil , Bhuiyan Nadia
Published: March 2016

Aerospace is very important to the Canadian economy, with over 80,000 employees and generating over $20 billion dollars in revenue. However, this industry like many others is facing many challenges. One of them is the difficulty in being able to estimate design effort required in a design project, which impacts not only resource requirements and lead-time but also the final cost. This article presents the findings of a case study conducted for Pratt & Whitney Canada, recognized as a global leader in the design and manufacturing of aircraft engines. The study models parametric cost estimation relationships to estimate the design effort of integrated blade-rotor low-pressure compressor fans. Several effort drivers are selected to model the relationship. Comparative analyses of three types of models are conducted. The model with the best accuracy and significance in design estimation is retained.
Development and Implementation of a Child Welfare Workforce Strategy to Build a Trauma-Informed System of Support for Foster Care
Authors: Kerns Suzanne E. U. , Pullmann Michael D. , Negrete Andrea , Uomoto Jacqueline A. , Berliner Lucy , Shogren Dae , Silverman Ellen , Putnam Barbara
Published: March 2016

Effective strategies that increase the extent to which child welfare professionals engage in trauma-informed case planning are needed. This study evaluated two approaches to increase trauma symptom identification and use of screening results to inform case planning. The first study evaluated the impact of training on trauma-informed screening tools for 44 child welfare professionals who screen all children upon placement into foster care. The second study evaluated a two-stage approach to training child welfare workers on case planning for children’s mental health. Participants included (a) 71 newly hired child welfare professionals who received a 3-hr training and (b) 55 child welfare professionals who participated in a full-day training. Results from the first study indicate that training effectively increased knowledge and skills in administering screening tools, though there was variability in comfort with screening. In the second study, participants self-reported significant gains in their competency in identifying mental health needs (including traumatic stress) and linking children with evidence-based services. These findings provide preliminary evidence for the viability of this approach to increase the extent to which child welfare professionals are trauma informed, aware of symptoms, and able to link children and youth with effective services designed to meet their specific needs.
Stress-driven solution to rate-independent elasto-plasticity with damage at small strains and its computer implementation
Authors: Roubíček Tomáš , Valdman Jan
Published: March 2016

Quasistatic rate-independent damage combined with linearized plasticity with hardening at small strains is investigated. Fractional-step time discretization is devised with the purpose of obtaining a numerically efficient scheme, possibly converging to a physically relevant stress-driven solution, which however is to be verified a posteriori using a suitable integrated variant of the maximum-dissipation principle. Gradient theories both for damage and for plasticity are considered to make the scheme numerically stable with guaranteed convergence within the class of weak solutions. After finite-element approximation, this scheme is computationally implemented and illustrative 2-dimensional simulations are performed.
Evaluation of two raw diets vs a commercial cooked diet on feline growth
Authors: Hamper Beth A , Bartges Joseph W , Kirk Claudia A
Published: March 2016

Objectives

The objective of this study was to determine if two raw feline diets were nutritionally adequate for kittens.

Methods

Twenty-four 9-week-old kittens underwent an Association of American Feed Control Officials’ (AAFCO) 10 week growth feeding trial with two raw diet groups and one cooked diet group (eight kittens in each). Morphometric measurements (weight, height and length), complete blood counts, serum chemistry, whole blood taurine and fecal cultures were evaluated.

Results

Overall, the growth parameters were similar for all diet groups, indicating the two raw diets used in this study supported feline growth, within the limitations of an AAFCO growth feeding trial. Kittens fed the raw diets had lower albumin ( P = 0.010) and higher globulin ( P = 0.04) levels than the kittens fed the cooked diet. These lower albumin levels were not clinically significant, as all groups were still within normal age reference intervals. A red cell microcytosis ( P = 0.001) was noted in the combination raw diet group. Increases in fecal Clostridium perfringens were noted in all groups, along with positive fecal Salmonella serovar Heidelberg and Clostridium difficile toxin in the combination raw diet group.

Conclusions and relevance

The majority of the parameters for feline growth were similar among all groups, indicating the two raw diets studied passed an AAFCO growth trial. In theory, it is possible to pass an AAFCO growth trial but still have nutrient deficiencies in the long term due to liver and fat storage depots. Some of the raw feeders had elevated globulin and microcytosis, likely associated with known enteropathogenic exposure. Disease risks to both pets and owners are obvious. Additional research in this area is needed to investigate the impact of raw diets on the health of domestic cats.
Decontamination of carpet exposed to Microsporum canis hairs and spores
Authors: Moriello Karen A
Published: March 2016

Objectives

The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of vacuuming and three carpet cleaning methods for the removal of Microsporum canis spores and hairs from experimentally contaminated carpets.

Methods

Sterile Berber carpeting was artificially contaminated with naturally infective M canis hairs and spores. Carpet swatches were vacuumed for 10 s, 30 s and 60 s, and then cultured. Three carpet cleaning methods were evaluated on area rugs experimentally contaminated with infective material: a beater brush carpet shampooing, beater brush carpet shampooing post-disinfectant application and hot water extraction. Home cleaning products labeled as having efficacy against Trichophyton species were used in addition to 1% potassium peroxymonosulfate. Carpets were cultured at 24 h, 48 h and 7 days after cleaning. Good efficacy was no detectable spores at post-cleaning culture.

Results

All pretreatment carpet samples were culture positive for M canis (>300 colony-forming units [cfu]/site). Vacuuming did not decontaminate carpets but did remove intact hairs. Spores were not detected by wipe samples after two washings with an upright beater brush carpet shampooer or pretreatment with a disinfectant prior to carpet shampooing. Carpets cleaned with one hot water extraction technique had a decrease from 300 cfu/site to a mean of 5.5 cfu/site at 24 and 48 h post-cleaning and 2 cfu/site at day 7. The use of disinfectants was associated with odor, even when dry, and permanent discoloration. Hot water extraction cleaning was associated with the fastest drying time and no discoloration.

Conclusions and relevance

Carpets exposed to M canis can be disinfected via carpet shampooing or hot water extraction cleaning. Vacuuming of carpets is recommended to remove infective hairs. For homes, exposed carpeting can be decontaminated by routine washing with a carpet shampooer (twice) or hot water extraction. Use of pretreatment with a disinfectant is recommended when a high level of overall decontamination is needed in an animal facility with necessary carpeted surfaces (eg, entryway carpet mats).
Forget unlearning? How an empirically unwarranted concept from psychology was imported to flourish in management and organisation studies
Authors: Howells John , Scholderer Joachim
Published: March 2016

We provide a critique of the development in organisation studies of the idea of ‘unlearning’ as allegedly imported from the psychology literature by Hedberg and understood to mean the manageable discard of knowledge precedent to and aiding later learning. We re-review the psychology literature and in contrast to Hedberg, find that this definition of unlearning is not empirically warranted. We re-examine a selection of highly cited articles in the organisational literature that claim to have conducted empirical research into the Hedberg model of unlearning. We find none provide evidence of its existence. Typically, under the label ‘unlearning’ evidence is provided of a conventional process of theory-change, the setting aside (not deletion) of an established understanding in favour of new understanding when presented with perceived new facts. In all cases that we examine, clear alternative and less problematic concepts should provide a better conceptual framework for the research, such as learning, theory-change, discard of practice and extinction. It follows that the unlearning literature is not in fact the independent, scholarly and scientific literature that many of its adherents believe it to be. We recommend that for concepts allegedly imported from other disciplines more frequent commissioning of cross-disciplinary reviews may encourage the critical works so obviously lacking in the unlearning literature.
Nothing left to learn: Translation and the Groundhog Day of bureaucracy
Authors: Izak Michal
Published: March 2016

Beyond the existing theorizing of translation as a creative disruption in both occupational and semantic terms, this study explores it critically in the experiential framework of professional translators and as a meaning-making process. Acknowledging the role of translation in creating dialogic and radical climates for learning, the article proposes to explore the other side of this relationship by studying how the limiting of space for translation delimits the possibilities for meaning-creation, thus precluding dialogue. In addition to this general point, it ponders the specific aporia of organizationally embedded adversity of translation in the occupational context (apparently) devoted to semantic labour, namely that of translator’s work. It demonstrates that the rigidity of meaning-making and the inexorableness of partaking in the uncanny déjà vu are the reflections of specific organizational (bureaucratic) frame and posits that they may be used as experiential and semantic heuristics for better understanding learning and non-learning in organizations.
Barriers and facilitators of obesity management in families of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders
Authors: Bourassa Katelynn A , McKibbin Christine L , Hartung Cynthia M , Bartholomew Kay L , Lee Aaron A , Stevens Anne E , Buxton Yvette , Slosser Andrea E , Andren Katherine A Kitchen
Published: March 2016

While youth with emotional and behavioral disorders experience increased rates of obesity, few obesity interventions exist that are tailored to their needs. Qualitative methods were employed to elucidate obesity management practices in this population. In all, 56 participants (i.e. 21 youths with emotional and behavioral disorders, 20 caregivers of youth with emotional and behavioral disorders, and 15 mental health providers) were recruited from community mental health centers. Participants completed a demographic form and semi-structured interview regarding obesity-related behaviors. Barriers (e.g. psychiatric symptoms) and facilitators (e.g. social support) to obesity management were identified. These results highlight preferred intervention components for this unique population.
Sociocultural experiences, body image, and indoor tanning among young adult women
Authors: Stapleton Jerod L , Manne Sharon L , Greene Kathryn , Darabos Katie , Carpenter Amanda , Hudson Shawna V , Coups Elliot J
Published: March 2016

The purpose of this survey study was to evaluate a model of body image influences on indoor tanning behavior. Participants were 823 young adult women recruited from a probability-based web panel in the United States. Consistent with our hypothesized model, tanning-related sociocultural experiences were indirectly associated with lifetime indoor tanning use and intentions to tan as mediated through tan surveillance and tan dissatisfaction. Findings suggest the need for targeting body image constructs as mechanisms of behavior change in indoor tanning behavioral interventions.
Associating Liver Partition and Portal Vein Ligation for Primary Hepatobiliary Malignancies and Non-Colorectal Liver Metastases
Authors: Björnsson B. , Sparrelid E. , Hasselgren K. , Gasslander T. , Isaksson B. , Sandström P.
Published: March 2016

Background and Aims:

Associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy may increase the possibility of radical resection in the case of liver malignancy. Concerns have been raised about the high morbidity and mortality associated with the procedure, particularly when applied for diagnoses other than colorectal liver metastases. The aim of this study was to analyze the initial experience with associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy in cases of non-colorectal liver metastases and primary hepatobiliary malignancies in Scandinavia.

Materials and Methods:

A retrospective analysis of all associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy procedures performed at two Swedish university hospitals for non-colorectal liver metastases and primary hepatobiliary malignancies was performed. The primary focus was on the safety of the procedure.

Results and Conclusion:

Ten patients were included: four had hepatocellular cancer, three had intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, one had a Klatskin tumor, one had ocular melanoma metastasis, and one had a metastasis from a Wilms’ tumor. All patients completed both operations, and the highest grade of complication (according to the Clavien-Dindo classification) was 3A, which was observed in one patient. No 90-day mortality was observed. Radical resection (R0) was achieved in nine patients, while the resection was R2 in one patient. The low morbidity and mortality observed in this cohort compared with those of earlier reports on associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy for diagnoses other than colorectal liver metastases may be related to the selection of patients with limited comorbidity. In addition, procedures other than associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy had been avoided in most of the patients. In conclusion, associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy can be applied to primary hepatobiliary malignancies and non-colorectal liver metastases with acceptable rates of morbidity and mortality.
Surgical Management of Renal Cell Cancer Liver Metastases
Authors: Pikoulis E. , Margonis G. A. , Antoniou E.
Published: March 2016

Background and Aims:

There is an increasing trend toward performing liver resections in the setting of metastatic disease. Renal cell cancer liver metastases are associated with poor survival. The indications for and the short- and long-term outcomes of liver resection for renal cell cancer liver metastases remain not well defined.

Material and Methods:

A focused, structured literature review on PubMed, EMBASE, and Google Scholar was performed to identify primary research articles, on short- and long-term outcomes and prognostic factors of patients undergoing liver resection for renal cell cancer liver metastases. Only studies with a sample size equal or larger than 10 patients were included.

Results and Conclusion:

A total of 10 studies met inclusion criteria. Median overall survival ranged between 16 and 142 months. Major morbidity was rare while 30-day postoperative mortality was less than 5%. A disease-free interval of more than 2 years from nephrectomy to evidence of liver metastases and a radical, microscopically negative surgical resection (R0) were the most consistent prognostic factors that, in turn, could be used as potential selection criteria to identify patients who can benefit the most from liver-directed surgery. Liver surgery for renal cell cancer liver metastases can be performed with low mortality, acceptable morbidity, and promising survival benefit in carefully selected patients. Studies that can assess the impact of modern, targeted regimens in the preoperative setting and liver-directed surgery and in turn shape new selection criteria are warranted.
Amended Classification of the Open Abdomen
Authors: Björck M. , Kirkpatrick A. W. , Cheatham M. , Kaplan M. , Leppäniemi A. , De Waele J. J.
Published: March 2016

Background:

In 2009, a classification system for the open abdomen was introduced. The aim of such a classification is to aid the (1) description of the patient’s clinical course; (2) standardization of clinical guidelines for guiding open abdomen management; and (3) facilitation of comparisons between studies and heterogeneous patient populations, thus serving as an aid in clinical research.

Methods:

As part of the revision of the definitions and clinical guidelines performed by the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome, this 2009 classification system was amended following a review of experiences in teaching and research and published as part of updated consensus statements and clinical practice guidelines in 2013. Among 29 articles citing the 2009 classification system, nine were cohort studies. They were reviewed as part of the classification revision process. A total of 542 patients (mean: 60, range: 9–160) had been classified. Two problems with the previous classification system were identified: the definition of enteroatmospheric fistulae, and that an enteroatmospheric fistula was graded less severe than a frozen abdomen.

Results:

The following amended classification was proposed: Grade 1, without adherence between bowel and abdominal wall or fixity of the abdominal wall (lateralization), subdivided as follows: 1A, clean; 1B, contaminated; and 1C, with enteric leak. An enteric leak controlled by closure, exteriorization into a stoma, or a permanent enterocutaneous fistula is considered clean. Grade 2, developing fixation, subdivided as follows: 2A, clean; 2B, contaminated; and 2C, with enteric leak. Grade 3, frozen abdomen, subdivided as follows: 3A clean and 3B contaminated. Grade 4, an established enteroatmospheric fistula, is defined as a permanent enteric leak into the open abdomen, associated with granulation tissue.

Conclusions:

The authors believe that, with these changes, the requirements on a functional and dynamic classification system, useful in both research and training, will be fulfilled. We encourage future investigators to apply the system and report on its merits and constraints.
‘Gain with no pain’: Anabolic-androgenic steroids trafficking in the UK
Authors: Antonopoulos Georgios A. , Hall Alexandra
Published: March 2016

Anabolic-androgenic steroids are performance and image enhancing drugs (PIED) that can improve endurance and athletic performance, reduce body fat and stimulate muscle growth. The use of steroids has been studied extensively in the medical and psychological literature, as well as in the sociology of sport, health and masculinity. From the late 2000s, the worldwide trade in steroids increased significantly. However, trafficking in steroids remains a largely under-researched criminological phenomenon with a few notable exceptions. Currently in the UK there are only small and fragmented pieces of information available relating to steroids trafficking in autobiographical accounts of professional criminals. Drawing on original empirical data, the purpose of this article is to provide an account of the social organization of the steroids trafficking business in the UK. The trade in steroids is decentralized, highly flexible with no hierarchies, and open to anyone willing to either order the merchandise online or travel to producing countries and obtain steroids in bulk from legitimate manufacturers. The patterns of trafficking of this specific type of substance are patently conditioned by its embeddedness in the gym/bodybuilding scene and this greatly affects relations between actors in the business. In the steroids market, one typically encounters a multitude of individuals likely to drift between legality and illegality, online and offline, use and supply.
Beyond Surveillance
Authors: Calfano Brian Robert , Kruse Aaron
Published: March 2016

Affective Intelligence Theory (AIT) posits that individuals, when feeling anxious, abandon dispositions and activate their surveillance system to attend to available political information about the focus of their anxiety. However, it is not clear whether, and to what degree, people exercise discernment about the reliability of the information they seek and find—especially when partisan cues and related information are not available in the information environment. We use this article to extend understanding of anxiety’s effect on assessing information reliability about an issue outside the standard partisan framework. Our assessment is based on a lab experiment where 330 non-student subjects were randomly assigned exposure to television ads referencing an impending nuclear terror threat to the United States. The ads included varying degrees of production vividness and either a positively or negatively framed message about the government’s ability to respond to the threat. Results show that the negative and vivid threat ads—when mediated by a subject’s relative level of anxiety—substantially raise the probability of surveying information related to the nuclear threat. However, the anxiety mediator has no effect on subjects checking the reliability of the surveyed information. These findings broaden our understanding of media ad effects by providing greater nuance on the motive for information use and anxiety’s mediating role.
The Relative Value of Growth in Math Fact Skills Across Late Elementary and Middle School
Authors: Nelson Peter M. , Parker David C. , Zaslofsky Anne F.
Published: March 2016

The purpose of the current study was to evaluate the importance of growth in math fact skills within the context of overall math proficiency. Data for 1,493 elementary and middle school students were included for analysis. Regression models were fit to examine the relative value of math fact fluency growth, prior state test performance, and a fall administration of a computer adaptive test for predicting performance on a year-end state math test. Across all grades, the largest effect sizes were observed for student performance on the fall computer adaptive assessment (β = .43–.56). Fact fluency growth accounted for unique variance in each regression model, with the largest effect size observed for students in Grade 4 (β = .20) and the smallest effect sizes observed for students in Grades 7 and 8 (β = .11). Results provide insight into the potential role of math fact fluency across late elementary and middle school. In particular, the observed results indicate that math facts may retain predictive value for math proficiency despite their absence from the formal curriculum in later grades.
Complicated Skin and Skin Structure Infection After Erysipelas
Authors: Wollina Uwe , Langner Dana , Heinig Birgit , Schönlebe Jacqueline , Nowak Andreas
Published: March 2016

Erysipelas are common soft tissue infections responding to first-line antibiosis. Because of factors of related to responsible bacteria and host, complications can occur that need extensive surgery in addition to intensified drug therapy. We report on a 65-year-old woman with leg ulcer who developed an absceding and necrotizing panniculitis of the affected leg complicating erysipelas. Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa were identified. Debridement and surgical removal of inflamed subcutaneous adipose tissue was decisive to interrupt the process. Wound bed preparation was realized by vacuum-assisted closure. Final wound closure was done by split-skin mesh graft. Complicated skin and skin structure infections need a combined approach of intensified antibiosis and surgery to save life.
Efficacy of a New Heparan Sulfate Mimetic Dressing in the Healing of Foot and Lower Extremity Ulcerations in Type 2 Diabetes
Authors: Papanas Nikolaos , Demetzos Costas , Pippa Natassa , Maltezos Efstratios , Tentolouris Nicholas
Published: March 2016

A novel heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan mimetic product for local application to promote wound healing (CACIPLIQ) has recently become available. It is a biophysical therapeutic product comprising a polysaccharide as an innovative biomaterial to accomplish mechanical tissue engineering and skin regeneration in the site of ulceration. We present a series of 12 patients with type 2 diabetes (4 men and 8 women; age 53-87 years; diabetes duration 8-25 years) having chronic resistance to therapy for foot and lower extremity ulcerations. CACIPLIQ was locally applied twice per week after careful debridement. Complete ulcer healing was accomplished in all patients after a mean treatment duration of 4.92 months (range = 2-12 months). The product was very well tolerated. In conclusion, these results, although preliminary, are encouraging and suggest adequate efficacy and safety of the new product in difficult-to-heal foot and lower extremity ulcerations in type 2 diabetes.
The rating of high-performing principals’ performance on their leadership dimensions by senior administrators, middle managers and classroom teachers
Authors: Hutton Disraeli Montgomery
Published: March 2016

The purpose of the study was to determine if there was a difference in the ratings among senior administrators/managers, middle managers and classroom teachers of the four dimensions of leadership performance related to high-performing principals in the Jamaican public school system. The study showed that there were differences in how senior managers, middle managers and classroom teachers rated the dimensions of leadership, and philosophy and abilities; but there were similarities in how middle managers and classroom teachers rated both dimensions. For the dimensions of students support and community support and relationships, there were differences in the ratings between senior managers and middle managers and between middle managers and classroom teachers; but there were similarities between senior managers and classroom teachers. The study confirmed the existence of both bureaucratic and professional structures to leadership, as well as the loosely coupled relationship and a distributed leadership system. The power relationship was also evident. The implication for leadership in schools is that all constituents must work closer with each other to form a collaborative network with high-performing principals in order to enhance the effectiveness of principal leadership performance.
Punishment, citizenship and identity: An Introduction
Authors: Bosworth Mary , Hasselberg Ines , Turnbull Sarah
Published: March 2016

This collection of articles addresses the interconnections between punishment, citizenship and identity. As immigration and crime control measures have intersected, prisons in a number of countries have ended up housing a growing population of foreign-national offenders and immigration detainees. It is somewhat surprising that criminologists have traditionally spent so little time exploring the relationship between the prison and national identity. With notable exceptions, scholars almost universally treat the prison as an institution bounded by and within the nation-state. This special issue seeks to disrupt that convention of prison studies and criminology more broadly. Focusing on the incarceration of foreign-nationals in diverse contexts, the contributions to this issue collectively argue that the prison is a projection of national sovereignty and an expression of state power. It is also a concrete space where global inequalities play out. When considered through the lens of citizenship, our understanding of imprisonment shifts to include other geographical sites both within the nation-state and elsewhere, the prison’s intersections with other legal frameworks, and enduring matters of race, gender and class. The contributions capture these dimensions by weaving together policy analysis and first-hand narratives from around the world.
Afatinib in the first-line treatment of epidermal-growth-factor-receptor mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer: a review of the clinical evidence
Authors: Ke E-E , Wu Yi-Long
Published: March 2016

First-line afatinib significantly improved progression-free survival, patient-reported outcomes, and quality of life compared with chemotherapy regimens in patients with advanced epidermal-growth-factor-receptor ( EGFR) mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer, based on results of the LUX-Lung 3 and LUX-Lung 6 trials. When the analysis of these trials was restricted to patients with common EGFR mutations only (exon 19 deletions and L858R), the advantage over chemotherapy was even more pronounced. A significant overall survival advantage was firstly demonstrated versus chemotherapy in patients with non-small cell lung cancer-harboring EGFR exon 19 deletion (del19) mutations. First-line afatinib was also effective in patients with certain uncommon EGFR mutation and patients with central nervous system metastasis. So far, these data are not sufficient to conclude that afatinib is better than first-generation EGFR inhibitors. In addition, the toxicity profile of afatinib was somewhat worse than that observed with either erlotinib or gefitinib. In the absence of direct comparisons, for each patient the choice among the available EGFR inhibitors should take into account all the clinically relevant endpoints, including disease control, survival prolongation, tolerability, and quality of life.
Convexity Bias and Perspective Cues in the Reverse-Perspective Illusion
Authors: Dobias Joshua J. , Papathomas Thomas V. , Vlajnic Vanja M.
Published: March 2016

The present experiment was designed to examine the roles of painted linear perspective cues, and the convexity bias that are known to influence human observers’ perception of three-dimensional (3D) objects and scenes. Reverse-perspective stimuli were used to elicit a depth-inversion illusion, in which far points on the stimulus appear to be closer than near points and vice versa, with a 2 (Type of stimulus) × 2 (Fixation mark position) design. To study perspective, two types of stimuli were used: a version with painted linear perspective cues and a version with blank (unpainted) surfaces. To examine the role of convexity, two locations were used for the fixation mark: either in a locally convex or a locally concave part of each stimulus (painted and unpainted versions). Results indicated that the reverse-perspective illusion was stronger when the stimulus contained strong perspective cues and when observers fixated a locally concave region within the scene.
The Bouba-Kiki Phenomenon Tested via Schematic Drawings of Facial Expressions: Further Validation of the Internal Simulation Hypothesis
Authors: Karthikeyan Sethu , Rammairone Bianca , Ramachandra Vijayachandra
Published: March 2016

Sound-shape associations involving consistent matching of nonsense words such as ‘bouba’ and ‘kiki’ with curved and angular shapes, respectively, have been replicated in several studies. The purpose of the current study was to examine the robustness of previously noted sound-shape associations when shape variations (angular and curvy) are embedded in schematic expressions of emotions (sad and happy). Results revealed consistent matching tendencies based on sound-emotion expression mapping irrespective of the particular shape of the expressions. We suggest that internally simulating the facial expressions/oral gestures may have played a significant role in driving the matching preferences.
Impact of social media on opinion polarization in varying times
Authors: Lee Francis L.F.
Published: March 2016

Some scholars have argued that the rise of digital media and a “high-choice media environment” have facilitated selective exposure and led to opinion polarization among the public. Others, in contrast, argued that digital media facilitate incidental exposure to news, connections with weak ties, and the building of heterogeneous networks. This article contends that the polarizing influence of digital media is not always materialized. Rather, the immediate political context matters, and polarization effects of digital media are particularly likely to arise in times of heightened political conflicts. This article analyzes survey data derived before and during the recent Umbrella Movement in Hong Kong. The results show that political communication via social media was significantly related to extremity of political attitudes only during, but not before, the Umbrella Movement. The polarization influence is applicable to both people with and without a clear political orientation. Interpersonal discussion and news exposure also had polarizing effects on public opinion during the Umbrella Movement, suggesting that polarization effect is not unique to social media when the political context itself is polarizing.
Entrapped in one’s blind spot: Perceptions of bias in others and preparation for deliberation
Authors: Yan Wenjie , Abril Eulàlia P. , Kyoung Kyurim , Jing Gang
Published: March 2016

Taking different views into account is considered a virtue of democratic citizens. However, disagreement is often a barrier to deliberation. One reason is that individuals tend to impute biases to their adversaries and, on this basis, prepare for deliberation in less than optimal ways. Two experiments were conducted with results that supported this proposition. Specifically, encountering an incongruent opinion from another person led people to infer more bias in that person’s reasoning and consequently, to be less willing to engage in subsequent discussion with that person, and to be less inclined of using deliberative strategies if they found themselves in the discussion. Furthermore, these deliberative choices were directly predicted by individuals’ expectancy of their discussion partner’s likely deliberativeness based on their perceptions of bias in the partner’s reasoning. Together, the evidence suggests the operation of a cognitive bias blind spot that is likely to undermine individuals’ preparation for deliberative engagement.
Adult children’s characteristics and intergenerational financial transfers in urban China
Authors: Zhu Haiyan
Published: March 2016

Financial transfers between adult children and their elderly parents should be viewed as part of larger family dynamics that can also involve siblings. This is particularly likely to be the case in China, where there has been a traditional emphasis on financial support within the extended family. Using data from the 1999 ‘Study of Family Life in Urban China’ and fixed effects models, this study examines how the characteristics of adult children and their adult siblings are associated with financial transfers between them and their elderly parents. Particular attention is given to sibling differences with regard to factors such as gender, birth order, education and financial situation. The findings revealed that in urban China the traditional gender pattern is changing, in that daughters, rather than sons, now provide more financial support to their parents. However, parents still tend to give more financial assistance to sons. Children with more education (i.e., those who received more parental investment) provided greater financial support to their parents, to repay this earlier investment. Furthermore, elderly parents redistributed resources within the extended family by receiving more financial transfers from financially better-off children and giving more financial transfers to financially worse-off children. These findings suggest that the Chinese family serves as a financial buffer, with intergenerational transfers operating as a micro-level welfare system.
Possession, operation, and governance as three conceptual dimensions of town and township enterprises: An analysis going back to the classical social sciences (Part II)
Authors: Qu Jingdong
Published: March 2016

Through a review of the representative sociological studies on the ownership of town and township enterprises, this article uses the three classical theoretical concepts of possession, operation, and governance to analyze the formative and the operational mechanisms of town and township enterprises. In terms of possession, these enterprises compromise different elements of public, common, and private ownership. In terms of operation, they utilize land contracts, enterprise contracts, and the financial responsibility system in the institutional context of the two-track regime. In terms of governance, they fuse different mechanisms of institutions, knowledge, and other dimensions together and free up traditional familial, kinship linkage, and customary resources for practical reform and creativity. As they occupy a key position in the social process of multiple elements and moments, town and township enterprises not only provide opportunities for institutional innovation, but they also embody the institutional spirit of the reform period, which combines tradition, regime, and new market mechanisms. Enterprises also foster an enriched process of social development. This framework, which goes back to classical social science theories, may stimulate reflection on other phenomena of organizational and institutional change that are associated with social and economic reform.
What explains electoral responses to the ‘Great Recession’ in Europe?
Authors: Whiteley Paul
Published: March 2016

The ‘Great Recession’ in Europe started in early 2008 and was the greatest economic crisis facing the continent since the Great Depression of the 1930s. It produced a largescale loss of support for many incumbent parties. The purpose of this paper is to explain responses to the crisis among European electorates with the assistance of three rival models of electoral choice. The first is the cleavages model associated with Rokkan and Lipset which highlights the importance of social groups as the sources of electoral support. The second is the spatial model of party competition which focuses on the ideological distance between voters and parties in relation to divisive issues in society. The third is the valence model which argues that voters will support parties that deliver policies over which there is widespread agreement about what should be done. The paper models electoral support for incumbent parties using data from the European Social Surveys of 2006, conducted prior to the recession, and again in 2012 some four years into the crisis. The results show that all three models are relevant for understanding mass political responses to the crisis. It is also apparent that an ideological shift to the right occurred in electoral support between the two periods and this happened among both the voters and also the incumbent parties in Europe.
Social Contingency and Advising Accountability
Authors: Lin Shinyi
Published: March 2016

The issue of teaching and learning accountability has been discussed for years. This study focuses specifically on advising accountability of management education to explore how faculty advisors communicate with their student advisees using instant messaging (IM) to enhance advising presence primarily based on Tetlock’s social contingency model. The dependent relationships between advisor and advisee are considered a cohort, and their collaboration as a community of practice. Of the 254 graduate students in the college of management, the result reveals that their perception of advising accountability has been casually explained by the antecedents, that is, self-efficacy, advising presence, epistemic engagement, advisor credibility, and their flow experience toward using IM to communicate with their thesis advisors. The research finding validates intervening factors between students’ perception of IM self-efficacy and advising accountability of thesis advisors. The findings, regardless of the limited generalization, provide prescriptive implications that educational practitioners can use to evaluate related issues of advising accountability.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and Utilization of Preventive Health Care Services
Authors: Eno Victor , Mehalingam Senthilkumar , Nathaniel Thomas I.
Published: March 2016

We examined how (a) health insurance coverage, and (b) familiarity with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA)’s or ObamaCare mandate of cost-free access to preventive health services, affect the use of preventive services by residents of a minority community. It was based on primary data collected from a survey conducted during March to April 2012 among a sample of self-identified African American adults in Tallahassee-Leon County area of northwest Florida. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 22 was used for running frequency analysis on the data set and multivariable regression modeling. The results showed that of 524 respondents, 382 (73%) had health insurance while 142 (27%) lacked insurance. Majority of insured respondents, 332 (87%), used preventive health services. However, the remaining 13% of respondents did not use preventive services because they were unfamiliar with the ACA provision of free access to preventive services for insured people. Regression analysis showed a high (91.04%) probability that, among the insured, the use of preventive health services depended on the person’s age, income, and education. For uninsured residents, the lack of health insurance was the key reason for non-use of preventive health services, while among the insured, lack of knowledge about the ACA benefit of free access contributed to non-use of preventive services. Expansion of Medicaid eligibility can increase insurance coverage rates among African Americans and other minority populations. Health promotion and awareness campaigns about the law’s benefits by local and state health departments can enhance the use of preventive services.
Health Professions Education
Authors: Johnson Katherine J.
Published: March 2016

Community colleges have long been recognized as essential collaborators in the training of frontline health care professionals. More recently, growing policy and programmatic interest has led to an increased emphasis on integrating health professions training at community colleges into the broader continuum of public health education, and creating viable professional pathways for students entering the field at all levels of the continuum. This study examined the specific role of community colleges in preparing graduates for the “health navigator professions” including community health workers, health care navigators, health insurance navigators, and similar professions. A national online survey was used to examine the current practices of community colleges regarding training for these professions, and perspectives on the Health Navigator curricular framework developed by the Framing the Future Task Force of the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health. Data were collected from approximately 260 community college leaders engaged in health professions education. Results suggest a preference for flexible, credit-granting associate-degree programs that are heavily embedded in the community, and that integrate core community health, health care workforce, and health insurance needs. Respondents preferred applied associate degree programs as well as associate degree program designed for transfer. They also expressed interest in academic certificate program and online programs. Strategies for establishing sustainable community-based workforce partnerships and aligning with the state policy context for community health worker training are also discussed.
Public Health Program Articulation in New Mexico
Authors: Forster-Cox Sue , Corran Rebecca , Collins Amy C. , Gallegos Leticia , Rao Satya
Published: March 2016

The relationship between universities and community colleges has grown and changed dramatically since the significant rise in the number of community colleges in the United States in the 1970s. New Mexico State University (NMSU) and Doña Ana Community College (DACC), which is also part of NMSU, are uniquely partnered to address the needs of students and residents of southern New Mexico. DACC offers an Associate of Applied Science in Public Health (AAS in PH), while NMSU offers a Bachelor of Public Health (BPH). To date, two articulation agreements have been established, over a 10-year period, to provide structure for how and which AAS in Public Health courses would transfer to the BPH degree program and satisfy requirements at NMSU, in general, and the BPH degree, specifically. Information is provided to explain how these articulation agreements evolved, the key principles and components of the articulation agreements, outcomes, and lessons learned. This articulation agreement process has proven beneficial for students, faculty, and the public health profession overall; it has specifically helped develop and sustain an “educated citizenry” as well as a well-qualified public health workforce in our predominantly rural and border state in keeping with the Institute of Medicine recommendations. This collaborative effort provides a framework for other colleges and universities located in similar underserved communities.