bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Genetic Predisposition to High Blood Pressure and Lifestyle Factors
Authors: Pazoki Raha , Dehghan Abbas , Evangelou Evangelos , Warren Helen , Gao He , Caulfield Mark , Elliott Paul , Tzoulaki Ioanna
Published: December 2017

Background:

High blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), the leading cause of mortality worldwide. Both heritable and lifestyle risk factors contribute to elevated BP levels. We aimed to investigate the extent to which lifestyle factors could offset the effect of an adverse BP genetic profile and its effect on CVD risk.

Methods:

We constructed a genetic risk score for high BP by using 314 published BP loci in 277 005 individuals without previous CVD from the UK Biobank study, a prospective cohort of individuals aged 40 to 69 years, with a median of 6.11 years of follow-up. We scored participants according to their lifestyle factors including body mass index, healthy diet, sedentary lifestyle, alcohol consumption, smoking, and urinary sodium excretion levels measured at recruitment. We examined the association between tertiles of genetic risk and tertiles of lifestyle score with BP levels and incident CVD by using linear regression and Cox regression models, respectively.

Results:

Healthy lifestyle score was strongly associated with BP (P<10–320) for systolic and diastolic BP and CVD events regardless of the underlying BP genetic risk. Participants with a favorable in comparison with an unfavorable lifestyle (bottom versus top tertile lifestyle score) had 4.9, 4.3, and 4.1 mm Hg lower systolic BP in low, middle, and high genetic risk groups, respectively (Pfor interaction=0.0006). Similarly, favorable in comparison with unfavorable lifestyle showed 30%, 33%, and 31% lower risk of CVD among participants in low, middle, and high genetic risk groups, respectively (Pfor interaction=0.99).

Conclusions:

Our data further support population-wide efforts to lower BP in the population via lifestyle modification. The advantages and disadvantages of disclosing genetic predisposition to high BP for risk stratification needs careful evaluation.
Attended Versus Unattended Blood Pressure Measurement in a Real Life Setting
Authors: Bauer Frederic , Seibert Felix S. , Rohn Benjamin , Bauer Klaus A.R. , Rolshoven Eckart , Babel Nina , Westhoff Timm H.
Published: December 2017

The debate on the generalizability of the SPRINT (Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial) findings raised considerable interest in the technique of unattended office blood pressure (BP) measurement. It remains elusive, however, whether unattended BP measurement yields lower values than conventional measurements in a real world setting with subjects consulting their personal general practitioner in a familiar office. We performed a cross-sectional study in 158 patients in 4 general practitioners’ offices and compared conventional auscultatory office BP to unattended automated office BP in 107 subjects (group 1) and unattended to attended automated office BP in another 51 subjects (group 2). Unattended BP was calculated as the mean of 3 automated measurements performed in a separate room after 5 minutes of rest. Additionally, patients documented home BP for 7 days after the consultation. Mean auscultatory office, unattended office and home BP were 144.6/81.0, 144.1/79.9, and 135.5/78.3 mm Hg in group 1; unattended and attended automated office BP were 134.2/80.6 and 135.7/80.6 mm Hg in group 2. Systolic attended and unattended office BP values were significantly higher than home BP (
P
<0.001,
P
<0.01, respectively). Attended and unattended office BP, however, did neither show a significant difference in group 1 nor in group 2 (
P
>0.05 each). Bland–Altman analysis revealed a bias of 0.5 mm Hg systolic and 1.1 mm Hg diastolic in group 1 and −1.5 mm Hg systolic and 0 mm Hg diastolic in group 2. In conclusion, the present findings show that unattended and attended office BP measurements achieve comparable results, if measurements take place at a familiar general practitioner’s office.
Epicurus’ Varietas and ἡ κινητικὴ ἡδονή
Authors: Liebersohn Yosef Z.
Published: December 2017

According to Epicurus’ view which locates the summit of pleasure in the absence of all pain, once pain has been removed pleasure cannot be increased, but it can be embellished. This article has two main aims. Firstly I shall deal with this embellishment, namely the pleasure beyond the absence of pain (thevarietas), and discuss its exact place within the Epicurean theory of pleasures; I argue thatvarietaspertains only to pleasures concerning the body. Secondly, and on the basis of my findings concerning the Epicureanvarietas, I shall offer a redefinition of the concept of kinetic pleasures and argue that the pair natural-unnatural is the axis by which the kinetic pleasures are to be divided into pleasures concerning the body and pleasures concerning the soul respectively. I shall end by referring to a well disputed question concerning the Epicurean way of living, namely the question: “was Epicurus an ascetic?”.
The interactional ventriloquization of written records in the service of authority
Authors: Van De Mieroop Dorien , Carranza Isolda E.
Published: December 2017

In this article, we analyze three cases in which subordinates’ oral claims are refuted by superiors who draw on written documents of which the subordinates are the (in)direct authors. In this ventriloquization process (Cooren, 2012), the superiors construct these written documents as facts, which have institutionalized the evidential status of the claims. In particular, we use courtroom data and data from performance appraisal interviews in a medical organization. This comparison revealed that the latter allowed for a more flexible handling of written documents, while the former displayed a much more rigid structure in which the ‘incorporation’ of written records immediately entailed a number of interactionally non-negotiable implications. Overall, it became clear that by drawing on the different ontological status of written records, superiors subject subordinate participants to their authority, as such constituting the organization in the name of which they are acting and which reflexively entitles them to act in this way.
A diatom voucher flora from selected southeast rivers (USA)
Authors: BISHOP IAN W. , ESPOSITO RHEA M. , TYREE MEREDITH , SPAULDING SARAH A.
Published: December 2017

This flora is intended to serve as an image voucher for samples analyzed for the U.S. Geological Survey Southeast Stream Quality Assessment (SESQA). The SESQA study included measurement of watershed and water quality parameters to determine the factors that have the greatest potential to alter biotic condition. Algal samples were collected at 108 sites in 2014, from streams representing gradients in chemical and physical alteration across the southeast region. More than 375 taxa were identified during analysis for species composition and abundance. This manuscript documents the flora with light micrographs of specimens representative of their morphologic range. We define “voucher flora” as images of specimens and the names applied to those specimens for a given project. Taxonomic vouchers from federal programs have generally not been made public, yet they are a salient element of a well-documented species dataset, particularly for long-term studies. This study is part of a broader effort to improve and encourage taxonomic consistency in federal, state and local programs by accessible identification resources and inter-lab comparisons
Two new species of Besleria (Gesneriaceae) from the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia
Authors: CORTÉS-CEBALLOS OLGA LORENA , GIRALDO-RODRÍGUEZ ANDRÉS , TORRES-GONZALEZ ALBA MARINA
Published: December 2017

Besleria physaloides and B. silverstoneana, two new species of Gesneriaceae from the department of Valle del Cauca, Colombia, are here described and illustrated. These two new species are similar in their vegetative morphology. However, there are differences in pubescence type and reproductive structure, especially sepals, petals, and gynoecium, between these and the other species of the genus. The two species are sympatric and grow along forest borders. The pollen morphology of the new species is also described in this study
Revision of the genus Afrosmicronyx Hustache (Coleoptera, Curculionidae, Curculioninae)
Authors: HARAN JULIEN , PERRIN HÉLÈNE
Published: December 2017

The species of the Afrotropical genus Afrosmicronyx Hustache (Curculionidae, Curculioninae, Smicronychini), biocontrol agents of parasitic plants in crops (Striga, Orobanchaceae), are revised. Ten species are recognized, two of them described as new (A. mirei Haran, sp. n. and A. madagascariensis Haran, sp. n.). A key to the species with photographs of the habitus and male genitalia of type specimens is provided.
Taxonomy of Rufocumbre gen. nov., a new Moncini skipper genus (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae: Hesperiinae)
Authors: DOLIBAINA DIEGO RODRIGO , MIELKE OLAF HERMANN HENDRIK , CASAGRANDE MIRNA MARTINS
Published: December 2017

Rufocumbre gen. nov. (type species: Rufocumbre celioi sp. nov.), a new genus of Neotropical skippers belonging to the tribe Moncini is described to include five species known only from Brazil. Four new species are described: Rufocumbre celioi sp. nov. from the states of Minas Gerais, Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul; Rufocumbre emeryi sp. nov. from the states of Mato Grosso, Distrito Federal, Goiás and Minas Gerais; Rufocumbre schneideri sp. nov. from the states of Tocantins, Distrito Federal, Minas Gerais and Paraná; and Rufocumbre lucasi sp. nov. from the states of Bahia and Minas Gerais. The taxon Cumbre belli eberti Evans, 1955 is transferred to the new genus and elevated to the species level, Rufocumbre eberti (comb. nov., stat. nov.). Adults, male androconia and genitalia of both sexes are illustrated for all species.
Taxonomic notes and a new species of Episcepsis Butler, 1877 (Lepidoptera, Erebidae, Arctiinae, Arctiini, Ctenuchina)
Authors: PINHEIRO LÍVIA R. , JUNIOR ELIAS C. ARAUJO
Published: December 2017

Taxonomic notes and the description of a new species of Episcepsis are provided. The synonymization of Episcepsis aelia Schaus, 1889, from Mexico, under E. venata Butler, 1877, from the Brazilian Amazons, is revised. Genital morphology of males and females has shown the validity of E. aelia revis. stat. Additionally, the discovery of specimens from the Brazilian Atlantic Forest externally indistinguishable from both E. venata and E. aelia has led to the description of E. atlantica sp. nov. Finally, the following new combinations in Episcepsis are proposed: E. fumata (Rothschild), comb. nov., and E. coeruleocephala (Rothschild), comb. nov.
Whither the 100th Meridian? The Once and Future Physical and Human Geography of America’s Arid–Humid Divide. Part II: The Meridian Moves East
Authors: Seager Richard , Feldman Jamie , Lis Nathan , Ting Mingfang , Williams Alton P. , Nakamura Jennifer , Liu Haibo , Henderson Naomi
Published: December 2017

The 100th meridian bisects the Great Plains of the United States and effectively divides the continent into more arid western and less arid eastern halves and is well expressed in terms of vegetation, land hydrology, crops, and the farm economy. Here, it is considered how this arid–humid divide will change in intensity and location during the current century under rising greenhouse gases. It is first shown that state-of-the-art climate models from phase 5 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project generally underestimate the degree of aridity of the United States and simulate an arid–humid divide that is too diffuse. These biases are traced to excessive precipitation and evapotranspiration and inadequate blocking of eastward moisture flux by the Pacific coastal ranges and Rockies. Bias-corrected future projections are developed that modify observationally based measures of aridity by the model-projected fractional changes in aridity. Aridity increases across the United States, and the aridity gradient weakens. The main contributor to the changes is rising potential evapotranspiration, while changes in precipitation working alone increase aridity across the southern and decrease across the northern United States. The “effective 100th meridian” moves to the east as the century progresses. In the current farm economy, farm size and percent of county under rangelands increase and percent of cropland under corn decreases as aridity increases. Statistical relations between these quantities and the bias-corrected aridity projections suggest that, all else being equal (which it will not be), adjustment to changing environmental conditions would cause farm size and rangeland area to increase across the plains and percent of cropland under corn to decrease in the northern plains as the century advances.
A New Direction in the Atmospheric Pollutant Dispersion inside the Planetary Boundary Layer
Authors: Moreira Davidson , Moret Marcelo
Published: December 2017

In this study, an analytical solution for the steady-state fractional advection–diffusion equation was obtained to simulate the atmospheric dispersion of pollutants in a vertically inhomogeneous planetary boundary layer. The authors propose a method that uses the modified generalized integral Laplace transform technique to solve the transformed problem with a fractional derivative, resulting in a more general solution. The model results were compared with the fractional Gaussian model and demonstrate that, when considering an experimental dataset under moderately unstable conditions, fractional-derivative models perform better than traditional integer-order models.
Comments on “Revisiting the Relationship between Eyewall Contraction and Intensification”
Authors: Kieu Chanh Q. , Zhang Da-Lin
Published: December 2017

This comment presents some concerns with the study of Stern et al. and their misinterpretation of the contraction of the radius of the maximum wind (RMW) in tropical cyclones. It is shown that their geometrical RMW contraction model provides little dynamical understanding of the RMW contraction during tropical cyclone intensification, and it differs fundamentally from the RMW contraction model of Willoughby et al. that was derived from the directional derivative concept. Moreover, it is demonstrated that Stern et al. were mistaken in commenting on the derivation of the governing equation for the RMW contraction in Kieu.
Reply to “Comments on ‘Revisiting the Relationship between Eyewall Contraction and Intensification’”
Authors: Stern Daniel P. , Vigh Jonathan L. , Nolan David S. , Zhang Fuqing
Published: December 2017

In their comment, Kieu and Zhang critique the recent study of Stern et al. that examined the contraction of the radius of maximum wind (RMW) and its relationship to tropical cyclone intensification. Stern et al. derived a diagnostic expression for the rate of contraction and used this to show that while RMW contraction begins and accelerates as a result of an increasing negative radial gradient of tangential wind tendency inward of the RMW, contraction slows down and eventually ceases as a result of the increasing sharpness of the wind profile around the RMW during intensification. Kieu and Zhang claim that this kinematic framework does not yield useful understanding, that Stern et al. are mistaken in their favorable comparison of this framework to earlier work by Willoughby et al., and that Stern et al. are mistaken in their conclusion that an equation for the contraction of the RMW derived by Kieu is erroneous. This reply demonstrates that each of these claims by Kieu and Zhang is incorrect.
Impact of South Pacific Subtropical Dipole Mode on the Equatorial Pacific
Authors: Zheng Jian , Wang Faming , Alexander Michael A. , Wang Mengyang
Published: December 2017

Previous studies have indicated that a sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTA) dipole in the subtropical South Pacific (SPSD), which peaks in austral summer (January–March), is dominated by thermodynamic processes. Observational analyses and numerical experiments were used to investigate the influence of SPSD mode on the equatorial Pacific. The model is an atmospheric general circulation model coupled to a reduced-gravity ocean model. An SPSD-like SSTA was imposed on 1 March, after which the model was free to evolve until the end of the year. The coupled model response showed that warm SSTAs extend toward the equator with northwesterly wind anomalies and then grow to El Niño–like anomalies by the end of the year. SPSD forcing weakens southeasterly trade winds and propagates warm SSTAs toward the equator through wind–evaporation–SST (WES) feedback. Meanwhile, relaxation of trade winds in the eastern equatorial Pacific depresses the thermocline and upwelling. Eastward anomalous currents near the equator cause warm horizontal advection in the central Pacific. Further experiments showed that thermodynamic coupling mainly acts on but is not essential for SSTA propagation, either from the subtropics to the equator or westward along the equator, while oceanic dynamic coupling alone also appears to be able to initiate anomalies on the equator and plays a critical role in SSTA growth in the tropical Pacific. This is consistent with observational analyses, which indicated that influence of WES feedback on SSTA propagation associated with the SPSD is limited. Finally, the warm pole close to the equator plays the dominant role in inducing the El Niño–like anomalies.
Relationships of Rainy Season Precipitation and Temperature to Climate Indices in California: Long-Term Variability and Extreme Events
Authors: Liu Yi-Chin , Di Pingkuan , Chen Shu-Hua , DaMassa John
Published: December 2017

To better understand the change in California’s climate over the past century, the long-term variability and extreme events of precipitation as well as minimum, mean, and maximum temperatures during the rainy season (from November to March) are investigated using observations. Their relationships to 28 rainy season average climate indices with and without time lags are also studied. The precipitation variability is found to be highly correlated with the tropical/Northern Hemisphere pattern (TNH) index at zero time lag with the highest correlation in Northern California and the Sierra and the correlation decreasing southward. This is an important finding because there have been no conclusive studies on the dominant climate modes that modulate precipitation variability in Northern California. It is found that the TNH modulates California precipitation variability through the development of a positive (negative) height anomaly and its associated low-level moisture fluxes over the northeast Pacific Ocean during the positive (negative) TNH phase. Temperature fields, especially minimum temperature, are found to be primarily modulated by the east Pacific/North Pacific pattern, Pacific decadal oscillation, North Pacific pattern, and Pacific–North American pattern at zero time lag via changes in the lower-tropospheric temperature advections. Regression analysis suggests a combination of important climate indices would improve predictability for precipitation and minimum temperature statewide and subregionally compared to the use of a single climate index. While California’s precipitation currently is primarily projected by ENSO, this study suggests that using the combination of the TNH and ENSO indices results in better predictability than using ENSO indices only.
A Study of Low-Frequency, Wind-Driven, Coastal-Trapped Waves along the Southeast Coast of Australia
Authors: Liao Fanglou , Wang Xiao Hua
Published: December 2017

Coastal-trapped waves (CTWs) along the southeast coast of Australia were investigated based on a frictional, wind-driven long-wave theory. It was found that low-frequency sea level anomalies (SLAs) were continuously propagating from the south coast up along the east coast as CTWs, mainly forced by the alongshore wind stress. Three main subinertial peaks existed in the spectral characteristics of the SLAs, with periods of 14.2, 10.2, and 7.8 days, respectively. Power spectral density distributions of the peaks showed that the CTW amplitudes varied significantly along the southeast coast. For idealized linear and exponential shelves, a theoretical analysis indicated that the fundamental factor influencing the eigenvector of mode 1, and therefore the CTW amplitude, was the offshore water depth. This theoretical work was well supported by eight sensitivity cases. Four additional cases were conducted, and time-averaged energy fluxes were calculated to identify the energy source of the CTWs in the Australian Coastal Experiment (ACE) region. It was shown that both the local wind stress and the wind stress in Bass Strait contributed to the CTWs in the ACE region, with the latter playing a more important role. The remaining CTW energy came from remote forcing farther west of Bass Strait. The energy flux calculation also showed that the CTW energy flux was almost constant along the investigated coast because of the balance between frictional dissipation and the energy gain from the alongshore wind stress; the significant variations in the power spectral density (PSD) of the subinertial peaks were mainly due to the variations in the modal eigenvectors caused by the shelf geometry.
Impact Assessment of Assimilating NASA’s RapidScat Surface Wind Retrievals in the NOAA Global Data Assimilation System
Authors: Liu Ling , Garrett Kevin , Maddy Eric S. , Boukabara Sid-Ahmed
Published: December 2017

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) RapidScat scatterometer on board the International Space Station (ISS) provides observations of surface winds that can be assimilated into numerical weather prediction (NWP) forecast models. In this study, the authors assess the data quality of the RapidScat Level 2B surface wind vector retrievals and the impact of those observations on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Global Forecast System (GFS). The RapidScat is found to provide quality measurements of surface wind speed and direction in nonprecipitating conditions and to provide observations that add both information and robustness to the global satellite observing system used in NWP models. The authors find that with an assumed uncertainty in wind speed of around 2 m s−1, the RapidScat has neutral impact on the short-range forecast of surface wind vectors in the tropics but improves both the analysis and background field of surface wind vectors. However, the deployment of RapidScat on the ISS presents some challenges for use of these wind vector observations in operational NWP, including frequent maneuvers of the spacecraft that could alter instrument performance.
Successes, Challenges, and Future Directions for an Urban Full Service Community Schools Initiative
Authors: Anderson Jeffrey Alvin , Chen Ming-E , Min Mina , Watkins Lara L.
Published: December 2017

After receiving a multiyear federal grant, an urban school district and community agency that focused on family literacy implemented a comprehensive school reform initiative called Providence Full Service Community Schools (PFSCS). A host of community partners collaborated to develop the PFSCS model with the broad goal of strategically connecting teachers, families, afterschool programming, and community services, as a method for improving the well-being of students in participating schools and their families. This article compares findings from a baseline and 4-year follow-up study of the PFSCS, documenting changes in stakeholder perceptions about the project. In the follow-up study, respondents noted increased family engagement and improved climate in PFSCS schools, along with more school–community partnerships. Findings also suggested stakeholder perceptions had changed regarding the extent to which the PFSCS was expected to improve academic achievement. Specifically, although some stakeholders were disappointed that a direct link between the PFSCS and improved test scores had not been found, findings also indicated that overall, the community continued to value the work and desired to see the program expand.
Bridging the Charter School Accountability Divide: Defining a Role for Nonprofit Charter School Boards
Authors: Ford Michael R. , Ihrke Douglas M.
Published: December 2017

In this article, we use originally collected survey data to determine how nonprofit charter school board members in the states of Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota define accountability. We find that charter board members generally define accountability downward toward student achievement and staff performance, inward toward board performance, or upward toward authorizer compliance. We use the results of the survey to make a series of public policy recommendations to help charter school boards look outward in their accountability orientation as a means of addressing the calls for increased public accountability for the charter school sector. The results add practical value to policy discussions regarding charter school accountability and theoretical value to scholars studying public and nonprofit governance reforms.
A “Feel-Good” Future: Hopes and Class Identities Among Martial Arts Students in China
Authors: Dong Xuan
Published: December 2017

This article examines how a group of martial arts students in China make sense of their futures and how their hopes toward a “feel-good” future reveal and affect their perceived class identities. Twelve months of ethnographic fieldwork was conducted in Dengfeng, a county-level city in central China. Dengfeng was home to 48 registered martial arts schools and more than 70,000 full-time students in 2012. By uncovering the hopes, aspirations, and perceived class identities of people in martial arts schools, this article argues that the process of class-making for these martial arts students results in constantly reorienting their hopes. These hopes often reflect social comparisons with familiar others like parents, friends, and acquaintances.
Time and Other Considerations in Mediation Design
Authors: Cain Meghan K. , Zhang Zhiyong , Bergeman C. S.
Published: December 2017

This article serves as a practical guide to mediation design and analysis by evaluating the ability of mediation models to detect a significant mediation effect using limited data. The cross-sectional mediation model, which has been shown to be biased when the mediation is happening over time, is compared with longitudinal mediation models: sequential, dynamic, and cross-lagged panel. These longitudinal mediation models take time into account but bring many problems of their own, such as choosing measurement intervals and number of measurement occasions. Furthermore, researchers with limited resources often cannot collect enough data to fit an appropriate longitudinal mediation model. These issues were addressed using simulations comparing four mediation models each using the same amount of data but with differing numbers of people and time points. The data were generated using multilevel mediation models, with varying data characteristics that may be incorrectly specified in the analysis models. Models were evaluated using power and Type I error rates in detecting a significant indirect path. Multilevel longitudinal mediation analysis performed well in every condition, even in the misspecified conditions. Of the analyses that used limited data, sequential mediation had the best performance; therefore, it offers a viable second choice when resources are limited. Finally, each of these models were demonstrated in an empirical analysis.
Memory and the realization of the nothingness: On a letter from Vittorio Sereni to Giuseppe Ungaretti
Authors: Giannini Stefano
Published: December 2017

Ungaretti’s problematic relationship with his city of birth sheds light on the interplay between memory and oblivion in his poetry and prose. The shuttling back and forth between these poles marks the nature of his unfulfilled desire to recreate a lost Alexandrian atmosphere. Language opacity in Ungaretti is coupled with his attempts to represent a city—as he writes—that is suffocated by the sun and whose hidden ancient port is submerged by the sea depths. Blinding light and the darkness of the deep waters make the understanding of Ungaretti’s Alexandria a delicate process. In a letter to his friend Ungaretti, Sereni writes that he is preparing a poem but he is blocked at the stage where Ungaretti’s poetry comes into play. Is Sereni referring to a specific poem? The block persisted and is never explicitly resolved by Sereni. I argue that Ungaretti’s presence in Sereni’s poems is to be understood as a long process of reflection that comes to fruition only in Sereni’s late poems of “Stella variabile.” Sereni reconsiders the themes of light and of the city in his own poetry, but he realizes that those images are drowned in the recognition of the unalterable human limitations.
Influence of Training on First-Year Nursing Department Students’ Attitudes on Death and Caring for Dying Patients: A Single-Group Pretest–Posttest Experimental Study
Authors: Cerit Birgül
Published: December 2017

The study examined the influence of training on first-year nursing department students’ attitudes on death and caring for dying patients. Utilizing the experimental model, the study sample consisted of 81 first-year students attending the nursing department of a university. Death Attitude Profile-Revised and Frommelt Attitude toward Care of the Dying Scale were used for data collection. Data analysis included means, standard deviation, and t test for related samples. Student attitudes toward death were measured as 146.43 (16.741) and 152.75 (15.132) for pre- and posttraining, respectively. Student attitudes toward caring for dying patients were established to be 103.02 (7.655) during pretraining period and 111.02 (10.359) at posttraining period. The difference between pre- and posttests for mean attitudes toward death and caring for the dying patient was statistically significant. Study results determined that training was effective in forming positive student attitudes toward death and caring for dying patients.
The Social Life of Bitcoin
Authors: Dodd Nigel
Published: December 2017

This paper challenges the notion that Bitcoin is ‘trust-free’ money by highlighting the social practices, organizational structures and utopian ambitions that sustain it. At the paper's heart is the paradox that if Bitcoin succeeds in its own terms as an ideology, it will fail in practical terms as a form of money. The main reason for this is that the new currency is premised on the idea of money as a ‘thing’ that must be abstracted from social life in order for it to be protected from manipulation by bank intermediaries and political authorities. The image is of a fully mechanized currency that operates over and above social life. In practice, however, the currency has generated a thriving community around its political ideals, relies on a high degree of social organization in order to be produced, has a discernible social structure, and is characterized by asymmetries of wealth and power that are not dissimilar from the mainstream financial system. Unwittingly, then, Bitcoin serves as a powerful demonstration of the relational character of money.
Feasibility of multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy thermoset-based strain sensors for sensing in structural applications
Authors: Alexander Jamel H , Schneider Judy , Myers Zack
Published: December 2017

Embedded sensors are being explored to non-intrusively monitor the loading experienced by a part either during the manufacturing process or in subsequent service. With the advancement of additive manufacturing techniques, it may be possible to print sensors directly into a part fabricated from metals, polymers, or composites. There is even more benefit if the sensor is also an integral part of the assembly. Single-walled carbon nanotubes and multi-walled carbon nanotubes are used to improve the stiffness and strength of polymeric resins. But they also offer an additional benefit of reversible piezo-resistive behavior. The objective of this study was to explore the fidelity of a signal extracted from nanocomposite samples of multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy resin under uniaxial loading, as a function of increasing content of multi-walled carbon nanotube. Data obtained from the multi-walled carbon nanotube networks formed correlated with the strain as a function of the mechanical loading. The gauge factors calculated for the multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy samples ranged from 2.651 to 5.064 as compared to the metallic strain gauge factor of 2.125 used to calibrate the samples. Under repeated mechanical loading, the initial zero-strain condition was recovered within 5 min after unloading. In samples with 5 wt% of multi-walled carbon nanotubes, the electrical conductivity and gauge factor plateaued. Furthermore, increases in the w/w% of multi-walled carbon nanotube resulted in degradation of the mechanical properties of the multi-walled carbon nanotube/epoxy resin.
Presepsin: A potential biomarker of PJI? A comparative analysis with known and new infection biomarkers
Authors: Marazzi Monica Gioia , Randelli Filippo , Brioschi Marco , Drago Lorenzo , Romanò Carlo Luca , Banfi Giuseppe , Massaccesi Luca , Crapanzano Calogero , Morelli Franca , Corsi Romanelli Massimiliano Marco , Galliera Emanuela
Published: December 2017

There is still no “gold standard” for the diagnosis and prognosis of post-operative periprosthetic joint infection (PJI). Among serum biomarkers, an emerging molecule is presepsin, the soluble fraction of CD14, recently described in other settings as a powerful diagnostic tool to detect sepsis at different degrees of severity.

The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic and prognostic value of presepsin in PJI. A total of 30 patients with PJI and 30 patients without PJI were enrolled. Presepsin, C-reactive protein (CRP), serum interleukin (IL)-6, triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 (TREM-1), CCL2, matrix metalloproteinase 9 (MMP-9), CD163, osteopontin (OPN), and toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) were measured at different times after surgery. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves and area under the curve (AUC) were analyzed for each biomarker.

Presepsin showed greater diagnostic value than CRP and IL-6; CD163, TREM-1, and MMP-9 had very low diagnostic potential. Presepsin, OPN, CCL2, suPAR, and TLR2 all decreased significantly with increasing time of recovery after surgery in PJI patients. Presepsin can be considered a useful tool for the diagnosis and clinical monitoring of PJI and can be backed by a panel of new inflammatory markers involved in monocyte-/macrophage-mediated inflammatory responses, such as OPN, CCL2, TLR2, and suPAR.
Effect of sizing on interfacial adhesion property of glass fiber-reinforced polyurethane composites
Authors: Guo Xiaoye , Lu Yonggen , Sun Ying , Wang Jing , Li Hong , Yang Changling
Published: December 2017

This research was undertaken to investigate the influence of the sizing components, principally coupling agents and film formers, of glass fiber on the interface of reinforced polyurethane composites. The contents of film-forming agents and coupling agents were, respectively, checked by acetone extraction and heat treatment. The categories and chemical structures of the film-forming agents, which mainly exist in the extracting solutions, were investigated by nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The coupling agents, which mainly existed on the extracted glass fiber surfaces, were analyzed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Then, the interfacial adhesion properties between glass fibers of untreated, extracted and heat-treated and polyurethane resin were measured with micro-droplet test. The results show that the interfacial shear strength of the glass fiber-reinforced polyurethane composite mainly depends on the coupling agents, in which the N-containing groups play a dominant role. The film formers also take some effects, in which the hydroxyl groups have the greatest contribution.
Negotiating the Lack of Intimacy in Assisted Living: Resident Desires, Barriers, and Strategies
Authors: Bender Alexis A. , Burgess Elisabeth O. , Barmon Christina
Published: December 2017

Despite continuity in the desire for sex and partnership, many older adults experience a lack of intimacy in late life. The use of assisted living is a complicating factor for understanding issues of partnership, sex, and intimacy for older adults. Using in-depth interviews with 23 assisted living residents and grounded theory methods, we examined how residents negotiate a lack of intimacy in assisted living. The process of negotiation entailed three factors: desire, barriers, and strategies. Although some residents continued to desire intimacy, there was a marked absence of dating or intimacy in our study sites. Findings highlight unique barriers to acting on desire and the strategies residents used as aligning actions between desire and barriers. This research expands previous studies of sexuality and older adults by examining the complex ways in which they balanced desire and barriers through the use of strategies within the assisted living environment.
Medical Care Avoidance Among Older Adults
Authors: Leyva Bryan , Taber Jennifer M. , Trivedi Amal N.
Published: December 2017

Objective: To examine factors and reasons associated with medical care avoidance among older adults in the United States. Method: Analysis of data on 2,155 adults aged 65 and older, who completed the 2008 Health Information National Trends Survey. Results: Nearly one fourth of older adults reported medical care avoidance ( n = 449; weighted % = 22.5%). Of these, more than one third reported doing so because of feeling uncomfortable when their body is examined (34.5%) or fearing a serious illness (35.9%) and with fewer reporting avoiding care because it made them think of dying (14.3%). Likelihood of avoidance was higher among those with worse self-reported health status, severe psychological distress, lower health self-efficacy, lower confidence in obtaining health information, lower trust in doctors, less patient-centered communication, lower perceived health care quality, and those who were current smokers. Qualitative reasons for avoidance corroborated quantitative results. Conclusion: Avoidance by older adults appears to be largely associated with evaluations of the quality of care and provider communication.
Flame retardance of modified graphene to pure cotton fabric
Authors: Liu Hong , Du Yang , Yang Guohai , Zhu Guoqing , Gao Yunji , Ding Wei
Published: December 2017

Phosphorus- and nitrogen-doped graphene oxides are conveniently obtained by the modification of as-prepared graphene oxide and characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, and ultraviolet–visible spectra. The combustion performances of pure cotton fabric, respectively, enriched with graphene oxide, phosphorus-doped graphene oxide, and nitrogen-doped graphene oxides, are tested and evaluated. The results show that phosphorus-doped graphene oxide acts as the most promising flame retardant, which can effectively reduce the burning rate and heat release rate of the combustion process, with excellent smoke suppression effect. Based on the relevant parameters obtained from the experimental results of phosphorus-doped graphene oxide, Simtec simulation is operated to demonstrate vertical combustion of thin fabric before and after flame-retardant treatment, and the results are consistent with the trend of the experimental results and suggest a magnifying effect of phosphorus-doped graphene oxide.
Gratifications on Social Networking Sites: The Role of Secondary School Students’ Individual Differences in Loneliness
Authors: López Cristina , Hartmann Patrick , Apaolaza Vanessa
Published: December 2017

Social networking sites, such as Myspace and Facebook, have become popular online communities with large teenage user populations who engage in social media to interact, play, explore, and learn. Research based on uses and gratifications theory has revealed that among the gratifications on social media most sought specifically by adolescents between 12 and 18 years old are meeting new people, satisfying teenagers’ need to belong, and being entertained. Previous research also points to possible differences in the perception of gratifications among users of different media, depending on their level of loneliness. The current study examines whether associations between loneliness and gratifications obtained by adolescent social media users vary across different levels of loneliness. We conducted a survey among 344 Spanish secondary school students with an online profile on the Spanish friend-networking site Tuenti. Mixture modeling identified three classes of students with different levels of loneliness and distinct relationships between loneliness and gratifications for each class. This study contributes to more specific knowledge of the relationship between use of a friend-networking site by lonely teenagers and gratifications obtained and provides implications for the development of coping strategies for students of this age who suffer from loneliness. Further implications of findings for personalized educational computing and group management in on- and offline classrooms are discussed.
Development of an Innovative Dual-Coded Multimedia Application to Improve Reading Comprehension of Students With Imagery Deficit
Authors: Wang Ling , Li Jiang
Published: December 2017

This study describes the development of an innovative multimedia application and examines teacher perceptions of its usefulness in assisting students with imagery deficit to visualize the reading comprehension. Students with good reading skills can easily create mental representations from oral or written language, and their sensory system quickly brings parts to whole through imagery. Students with deficiency may have trouble creating images due to their sensory information from imagery is slow and dull, and they often get stuck on parts and pieces. Those unable to image what they read usually cannot understand and remember what they read, which is consistent with the referential connection between the verbal and visual symbolic systems according to the Dual-Coding Theory. This application helps students to develop the capacity to build mental images sentence by sentence. The students engage a touch screen to draw a picture associated with the meaning of each sentence. With the sentences hidden or pictures shuffled, they select and describe each picture in sequence to retell the story. Pictures can be saved to analyze students’ learning outcomes and needs. Teacher perceptions indicate their willingness to integrate this application into reading instruction to help improve reading comprehension of students with imagery deficit.
Beyond Competence
Authors: George Reena , Narayanan Kumar
Published: December 2017

A sense of failure and guilt can often be associated with the death of a patient. Using the Serenity Prayer as a framework, we present autobiographical narratives describing encounters that happened in Vellore, India over a hundred years apart. Powerlessness in the face of death, we suggest, is not the same as ignorance or incompetence. It could well be the breakthrough to a deeper wisdom and lasting empowerment.
Nanosized strontium substituted hydroxyapatite prepared from egg shell for enhanced biological properties
Authors: Geng Zhen , Cheng You , Ma Lili , Li Zhaoyang , Cui Zhenduo , Zhu Shengli , Liang Yanqin , Liu Yunde , Bao Huijing , Li Xue , Yang Xianjin
Published: December 2017

The fabrication and application of bioactive hydroxyapatite has always been a research hot spot in the fields of orthopaedics. Now it is common to use calcium (Ca) salt as Ca2+ source to synthesise hydroxyapatite. And egg shell could be another promising raw material as Ca2+ source, which is not only economical but also biogenic. In this study, egg shell (ES)-hydroxyapatite was prepared by using egg shells via hydrothermal method. Furthermore, ES-Sr hydroxyapatite was synthesized by incorporation of bioactive element strontium (Sr2+) into ES-hydroxyapatite. The in vitro experiment showed that compared with hydroxyapatite, ES-hydroxyapatite showed better biological performances, which could be attributed to the trace elements in egg shell, such as magnesium (Mg). And the incorporation of Sr2+ could further enhance the bioactivity. These results indicated that apatite with high biological activity, which had great application prospects in orthopedics, could be produced by egg shells and the incorporation of Sr2+.
Intimate Partner Aggression and Marital Satisfaction: A Cross-Lagged Panel Analysis
Authors: Hammett Julia F. , Lavner Justin A. , Karney Benjamin R. , Bradbury Thomas N.
Published: December 2017

Intimate partner aggression is common in dissatisfied relationships, yet it remains unclear whether intimate partner aggression is a correlate of relationship satisfaction, whether it predicts or follows from relationship satisfaction over time, or whether longitudinal associations are in fact bidirectional in nature. The present study evaluates these perspectives by examining self-reports of aggressive behaviors in relation to corresponding self-reports of relationship satisfaction among a sample of 431 low-income, ethnically diverse (76% Hispanic, 12% African American, 12% Caucasian) newlywed couples. Using a cross-lagged panel analysis, we examined associations between aggression and satisfaction across four time points, spaced by 9-month intervals, during the first 2.5 years of marriage. Cross-sectionally, less satisfied couples reported higher levels of intimate partner aggression. Longitudinally, aggression was a more consistent predictor of satisfaction than vice versa, though neither pathway was particularly robust: Intimate partner aggression was a significant predictor of relationship satisfaction at 4 of the 12 tested lags, whereas relationship satisfaction was a significant predictor of intimate partner aggression at only one of 12 lags. Because all effects were relatively weak and inconsistent, more specificity is needed to clarify circumstances under which aggression does and does not predict satisfaction, including whether the predictive power of the aggression-to-satisfaction association varies based on the severity of aggression or other individual (e.g., personality) or external (e.g., stress and environmental context) factors. Together, results indicate that dissatisfied couples are more likely to engage in intimate partner aggression, but being dissatisfied is unlikely to increase the level of aggression a couple engages in over time.
Experimental and numerical studies on Aeolian tone from D-shaped cylinder
Authors: Yamagata T , Saito N , Fujisawa N
Published: December 2017

Aeolian tone generated from a D-shaped cylinder in a stream was studied experimentally and numerically for various width-to-height ratios of the cross-sectional shape. The sound pressure level and unsteady fluid forces were measured experimentally for a circular cylinder and D-shaped cylinders with width-to-height ratios of 0.5, 1, and 1.5. The experimental results revealed that the Aeolian tone and lift fluctuation of the D-shaped cylinders were smaller than those of the circular cylinder. Flow structures around the circular and D-shaped cylinders were investigated by using large eddy simulation to understand the mechanism of the reduction of Aeolian tone from the D-shaped cylinders. The numerical results indicated that the D-shaped cylinder with a width-to-height ratio of 0.5 showed similar velocity fluctuations with the circular cylinder, but the shortening of the streamwise length resulted in a reduction of the sound pressure level. Moreover, the velocity fluctuations in the wake decreased in the D-shaped cylinders with width-to-height ratios of 1 and 1.5, resulting from suppression of the vortex shedding near the cylinder.