bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Earnings Mobility of First and “1.5” Generation Mexican-Origin Women and Men: A Comparison with U.S.-Born Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Whites
Authors: Allensworth Elaine M.
Published: June 2018

This study addresses the following questions: Are Mexican immigrants closing the earnings gap with greater time in the United States, compared to U.S.-born Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites? What factors are most important in determining their earnings? How are earnings determinants different for women versus men, and those who came to the United States as children, versus those who came as adults and those born in the United States? Data is drawn from the 1990 PUMS U.S. Population Census for Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, Michigan, New Mexico, and Texas and includes only individuals ages 25–35. Determinants of education and hours of paid work are also analyzed as important means to higher incomes. With greater time in the United States, male immigrants achieve average earnings comparable to U.S.-born Mexican Americans, but not to non-Hispanic whites, controlling for human capital variables. With greater time in the United States, female immigrants approach the number of hours of paid work of U.S.-born women, but not the earnings received per hour. Gains in earnings associated with age, time in the United States, and English proficiency differ by gender, reflecting structural differences in the labor market. Immigrants who came to the United States as children show little difference in earnings, controlling for human capital, from U.S.-born Mexican Americans, while differing greatly from first generation immigrants who came as adults.
Socialism, Unification Policy and the Rise of Racism in Eastern Germany
Authors: Ireland Patrick R.
Published: June 2018

Ethnic conflict has become a major challenge facing unified Germany. While anti-immigrant violence has been virulent across the country, it has been especially conspicuous and upsetting in former East Germany, where foreigners had barely exceeded one percent of the total population before unification. Arguments emphasizing economic, socioeconomic and group-identity factors have appeared to explain the rise in intolerance. Here, however, I argue for consideration of the largely ignored effects of public policies. Examining how policy choices and implementation in eastern Germany before, during, and since unification have affected ethnic relations provides lessons about the origins of racism and ways to combat it.
Neo-Isolationism, Balanced-Budget Conservatism, and the Fiscal Impacts of Immigrants
Authors: Huber Gregory A. , Espenshade Thomas J.
Published: June 2018

A rise in neo-isolationism in the United States has given encouragement to a new fiscal politics of immigration. Growing anti-immigrant sentiment has coalesced with forces of fiscal conservatism to make immigrants an easy target of budget cuts. Limits on legal alien access to social welfare programs that are contained in the 1996 welfare and immigration reform acts seem motivated not so much by a guiding philosophy of what it means to be a member of American society as by a desire to shrink the size of the federal government and to produce a balanced budget. Even more than in the past, the consequence of a shrinking welfare state is to metamorphose legal immigrants from public charges to windfall gains for the federal treasury.
Language Skill Definition: A Study of Legalized Aliens
Authors: Chiswick Barry R. , Miller Paul W.
Published: June 2018

The robustness of the model for the acquisition of destination language skills is studied using the Legalized Population Survey (LPS) of aliens who received amnesty under the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act. The English language proficiency variables include self-assessed overall speaking skills (the census question), speaking and reading skills in specific situations, perceptions as to whether language skills limit job opportunities, and measures of speaking and reading proficiency at work. The model is found to be robust across definitions of proficiency. Proficiency increases with exposure, efficiency and economic incentives for English language acquisition. The panel feature of the data is used to analyze changes in proficiency over time.
Migrant Female Domestic Workers: Debating the Economic, Social and Political Impacts in Singapore
Authors: Yeoh Brenda S.A. , Huang Shirlena , Gonzalez Joaquin
Published: June 2018

As a small labor-short city-state with over 100,000 migrant domestic workers mainly from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka and amounting to one foreign maid to every eight households, Singapore provides a case study of a country where foreign maids are seen as an economic necessity but not without important social consequences and political ramifications. Beginning with a brief examination of state policy on transnational labor migration relating to female domestic workers, this article goes on to explore the debates within public discourse as well as private accounts on the impact of foreign maids on a range of issues, including female participation in the workforce; the social reproduction of everyday life including the delegation of the domestic burden and the upbringing of the young; the presence of “enclaves” of foreign nationals in public space; and bilateral relations between host and sending countries. It concludes that the transnational labor migration is a multifaceted phenomenon with important repercussions on all spheres of life, hence requiring dynamic policy intervention on the part of the authorities concerned.
A Comparative Assessment of Public Opinion toward Immigrants and Immigration Policies
Authors: Simon Rita J. , Lynch James P.
Published: June 2018

This article is part of a larger study of public attitudes toward immigration in seven countries that historically and currently have had different policies and practices vis-a-vis immigration. The countries involved are Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Japan and the United States. The time frame for which most of the public opinion data will be reported is from 1970 through 1995. The data have been collected from national surveys that were conducted in each of the countries.
Gender Differences in Determinants of Temporary Labor Migration in China: A Multilevel Analysis
Authors: Yang Xiushi , Guo Fei
Published: June 2018

Data from a 1988 migration survey in Hubei province are used to examine gender differences in the determinants of temporary labor migration from a multi-level perspective. We find that community level factors play a key role in temporary labor migration; models omitting community-level variables are poor in predicting temporary labor migration. Significant gender differences exist in determinants of temporary labor migration. For men, temporary labor migration is mainly a response to community level factors; individual or household characteristics have little predictive power. For women, by contrast, temporary labor migration is predominantly determined by individual characteristics; community level factors are not as important.
Relaxed and connected: Insights into the emotional–motivational constituents of musical pleasure
Authors: Saarikallio Suvi H. , Maksimainen Johanna P. , Randall William. M.
Published: June 2018

Music is a source of daily pleasure, and positive emotional experiences and rewarding functions of music have been actively studied. Yet, knowledge about the interrelatedness of emotional and motivational constituents of musical pleasure is sparse. This study explored the characteristic emotional contents of music-induced pleasure, their relation to motivations for music and whether the underlying dimensionality of these aspects was specific to music (in comparison to the visual domain). Data were collected through an online questionnaire ( N = 464), measuring evoked emotions and motivational pleasure types that the respondents related to a musical piece or a visual object inducing pleasure in their daily life. Exploratory factor analyses indicated six-factor models for evoked emotions and three-factor models for pleasure types and regression analyses about their interrelatedness suggested an underlying two-dimensional conceptualization: On one hand, musical pleasure stems from music-induced sensations of relaxation, power, and passion. On the other hand, musical pleasure centers on the feeling of kinship relating to social values and mental contemplation. Minor domain-specificity of this constitution of pleasure in comparison to the visual domain was observed. Overall, the study provides novel perspectives for understanding the complex emotional–motivational features directing individuals’ daily engagement with music listening.
Critical plane–based multiaxial fatigue life prediction of turbine disk alloys by refining normal stress sensitivity
Authors: Xu Shen , Zhu Shun-Peng , Hao Yong-Zhen , Liao Ding
Published: June 2018

For engineering components subjected to complex multiaxial loadings, critical plane approaches like Fatemi–Socie criterion have been commonly utilized for life prediction of these components. Within the Fatemi–Socie criterion, the normal stress sensitivity parameter k is usually fitted from additional experimental data, which introduces inconvenience for practice especially under limited testing data conditions. In this regard, a simple critical plane–based damage parameter is put forward with no additional material constants, which attempts to provide a robust method for multiaxial fatigue analysis of turbine disk alloys. Using experimental datasets of TC4 and GH4169 alloys under different loadings, the proposed model provides better correlations with fatigue life of the two alloys than the models of Smith–Watson–Topper and Wang–Brown.
An Intra-articular Steroid Injection at 6 Weeks Postoperatively for Shoulder Stiffness After Arthroscopic Rotator Cuff Repair Does Not Affect Repair Integrity
Authors: Kim In-Bo , Jung Dong Wook
Published: June 2018

Background:

Shoulder stiffness is a common complication after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair. However, there is no consensus on the treatment of stiffness after repair. Although one treatment option is an intra-articular steroid injection, it may negatively affect repair integrity, and there is a paucity of literature regarding the timing of intra-articular injections for stiffness after repair and its effect on repair integrity.

Purpose:

To compare repair integrity and clinical outcomes after an intra-articular steroid injection administered at 6 weeks and 12 weeks postoperatively for shoulder stiffness after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

Patients who developed stiffness after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair were given a series of 3 intra-articular steroid injections every 4 weeks from 6 (6-week group) and 12 weeks (12-week group) postoperatively. The control group had rotator cuff tears but neither stiffness nor injections. Shoulder range of motion (ROM), the Korean Shoulder Scoring System (KSS) score, and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) shoulder score were assessed preoperatively with a minimum of 2-year follow-up. Repair integrity was assessed using magnetic resonance imaging at 6 months postoperatively.

Results:

Seventy-four of 209 patients (35.4%) who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair developed stiffness. There were no significant differences in retear rates among the 6-week (5.7%, 2/35 patients), 12-week (10.3%, 4/39 patients), and control groups (14.1%, 19/135 patients) ( P = .374). Both the 6- and 12-week groups showed significant improvement in ROM (both P < .001), KSS scores (both P < .001), and UCLA scores (both P < .001) at the final follow-up. The 6-week group showed significantly better ROM ( P < .001), KSS scores ( P < .001), and UCLA scores ( P < .001) than the 12-week group at 3 months postoperatively. However, both the 6- and 12-week groups showed significantly lower KSS (81.3 ± 12.0 [ P = .004] and 83.4 ± 8.6 [ P = .035], respectively) and UCLA (29.3 ± 4.6 [ P = .006] and 30.0 ± 3.3 [ P = .042], respectively) scores than the control group (90.4 ± 13.6 and 32.3 ± 4.7, respectively) at the last follow-up.

Conclusion:

An intra-articular steroid injection administered at 6 weeks postoperatively for shoulder stiffness after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair may be effective for reducing patients’ pain and improving shoulder ROM at 3 months postoperatively without compromising repair integrity.
“A Lightbulb Moment”: Using the Theory of Planned Behavior to Explore the Challenges and Opportunities for Early Engagement of Australian Men Who Use Violence in Their Relationships
Authors: Forsdike Kirsty , Tarzia Laura , Flood Michael , Vlais Rodney , Hegarty Kelsey
Published: June 2018

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common complex social and public health problem. Interventions for IPV male perpetrators are an essential component of an early and effective response. Yet little is known about how to engage men in interventions for help-seeking. Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), we explored men’s perceptions of seeking help for an unhealthy relationship and how they could be supported to recognize their behavior and undertake change at an early stage. We recruited 23 men who were currently attending a men’s behavior change program in Australia to take part in focus groups. These were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. The TPB concepts of behavioral beliefs, perceived control, and subjective norms were found throughout the data. Behavioral beliefs covered four subthemes: self-awareness, self-reflection and agency, the influence of others to change, and needing the right message in the right place. Perceived control was connected to these men’s understandings of what it means to be a man. Subjective norms were rarely raised, but there was some indication that men’s perceptions of societal norms about men as violent influenced a perceived lack of agency to change behavior. Our findings highlight the complexity of, and challenges in, engaging men who may use violence before they reach crisis point and justice intervenes. Despite this, participating men could find acceptable an appropriately developed and easy-to-access intervention that enhances recognition of behaviors and provides links to supports. Health professionals or researchers developing early interventions targeting these men need to take the engagement challenges into account.
The contribution of higher education-based technology start-up incubators to the co-production of knowledge, innovation and growth
Authors: Buckley Anthony Paul , Davis Stephen
Published: June 2018

Start-up incubators are one of a number of micropolicy interventions used by states to support their technology entrepreneurs. Since 2000, the number of incubators in the United States has almost trebled while that in Europe has more than doubled. This article outlines the challenges involved in attempting to evaluate the contribution of the higher education technology start-up incubator process. It advocates theory-based evaluation (TBE) methodology as a possible solution for effective evaluation (and policy learning) in complex research settings such as this, where a study is unable, for myriad reasons, to meet the stringent requirements of experimental research design. TBE delivers findings on the contribution of the multiple factors influencing a result, thus showing whether the incubation process made a contribution to an observed result and in what way. An exploratory case study is used in this article to illustrate how the proposed TBE approach could work.
A novel method to design pressure compensator for variable displacement axial piston pump
Authors: Mondal Nitesh , Saha Rana , Mookherjee Saikat , Sanyal Dipankar
Published: June 2018

An innovative design procedure has been formulated by developing a mathematical model for the pressure compensator of an axial piston pump. The compensator provides energy saving by making the pump variable displacement type depending on the system load, thereby providing energy saving by better resource management. The procedure involves simple static design steps to ensure a balanced swiveling torque on the swash plate for specified cut-in and cut-off pressure limits. Adopting the basic pump model from the earlier works, the dynamic model of the pump has been updated by including the compensator dynamics. A design sensitivity analysis through dynamic simulation has been performed that corroborates the need of the design through torque balancing. Also, through dynamic simulation, tolerances of some critical dimensions have been identified. The pressure compensator model has been validated against experimental result obtained from a reference pump.
Evaluation of diagnostic accuracy in free-response detection-localization tasks using ROC tools
Authors: Bandos Andriy I , Obuchowski Nancy A
Published: June 2018

Diagnostic systems designed to detect possibly multiple lesions per patient (e.g. multiple polyps during CT colonoscopy) are often evaluated in “free-response” studies that allow for diagnostic responses unconstrained in their number and locations. Analysis of free-response studies requires extensions of the traditional receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis, which are termed free-response ROC (FROC) methodology. Despite substantial developments in this area, FROC tools and approaches are much more cumbersome than traditional ROC methods. Alternative approaches that use well-known ROC tools (e.g. ROI-ROC) require defining and physically delineating regions of interest (ROI) and combine FROC data within ROIs. We propose an approach that allows analyzing FROC data using conventional ROC tools without delineating the actual ROIs or reducing data. The design parameters of FROC study are used to make FROC data analyzable using ROC tools and to calibrate the corresponding FROC and ROC curves on both conceptual and numerical levels. Differences in the performance indices of the nonparametric FROC and the new approach are shown to be asymptotically negligible and typically rather small in practice. Data from a large multi-reader study of colon cancer detection are used to illustrate the new approach.
Prospective Validation of a Risk Prediction Model to Identify High-Risk Patients for Medication Errors at Hospital Admission
Authors: Ebbens Marieke M. , Laar Sylvia A. van , Wesselink Elsbeth J. , Gombert-Handoko Kim B. , van den Bemt Patricia M. L. A.
Published: June 2018

Background: Pharmacy-led medication reconciliation in elective surgery patients is often performed at the preoperative screening (POS). Because of the time lag between POS and admission, changes in medication may lead to medication errors at admission (MEAs). In a previous study, a risk prediction model for MEA was developed. Objective: To validate this risk prediction model to identify patients at risk for MEAs in a university hospital setting. Methods: The risk prediction model was derived from a cohort of a Dutch general hospital and validated within a comparable cohort from a Dutch University Medical Centre. MEAs were assessed by comparing the POS medication list with the reconciled medication list at hospital admission. This was considered the gold standard. For every patient, a risk score using the risk prediction model was calculated and compared with the gold standard. The risk prediction model was assessed with receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis. Results: Of 368 included patients, 167 (45.4%) had at least 1 MEA. ROC analysis revealed significant differences in the area under the curve of 0.535 ( P = 0.26; validation cohort) versus 0.752 ( P < 0.0001; derivation cohort). The sensitivity in this validating cohort was 66%, with a specificity of 40%. Conclusion and Relevance: The risk prediction model developed in a general hospital population is not suitable to identify patients at risk for MEA in a university hospital population. However, number of medications is a common risk factor in both patient populations and should, thus, form the basis of an adapted risk prediction model.
A Culturally Responsive Equity-Based Bill of Rights for Gifted Students of Color
Authors: Ford Donna Y. , Dickson Kenneth T. , Davis Joy Lawson , Scott Michelle Trotman , Grantham Tarek C.
Published: June 2018

This Bill of Rights for Gifted Students of Color was envisioned with the singular goal of effecting change based on equity and cultural responsiveness. The eight sections focus on fundamental issues representing removing barriers. Gifted students of color must have their gifts and talents recognized, affirmed, and developed as districts endeavor to recruit and retain them in gifted education.
Political leadership as statecraft? Aligning theory with praxis in conversation with British party leaders
Authors: James Toby S
Published: June 2018

How should prime ministerial and party leadership be understood and assessed? One leading approach posits that we should assess them in terms of whether they achieve statecraft, that is, winning and maintain office in government. This article supplements and then assesses that theory by drawing from Pawson and Tilley’s concept of the realistic interview, in which practitioners are deployed as co-researchers to assess and revise theory. Unprecedented interviews with British party leaders were therefore undertaken. The article provides new empirical support for the framework because many of the key generative mechanisms identified within the neo-statecraft model were present in an analysis of the interviews. The interviews also allowed the limitations of the model to be demarcated. Statecraft focuses purely on cunning leadership where the aim is to maximise power and influence. This approach differs from leadership by conscience where the aim is to achieve normative goals.
Taking note: a kaleidoscopic view on two, or three, modes of fieldnoting
Authors: Flora Janne , Andersen Astrid Oberborbeck
Published: June 2018

In this article we examine what can be captured, recorded, remembered, and shared through different note-taking modalities. The case narrated is one of a simultaneous fieldwork experience carried out as part of a larger interdisciplinary project in Greenland. It reveals how the same situation is recorded differently in our respective notebooks; and that the way we write fieldnotes is not just determined by the anthropologists, but also by the field. We present three kinds of fieldnotes from the same day, produced partly by writing/not writing in notebooks, and by using handheld GPS devices that map activities related to hunting and travel. We suggest that our fieldnotes may best be understood as fragments, details and contexts. Although our fieldnotes may add up an entirety, they cannot represent a complete whole. Together, these fragments are mosaic configurations rather than complete or coherent sets of registered events and situations that come together kaleidoscopically.
Comparative Profiling of MicroRNAs Reveals the Underlying Toxicological Mechanism in Mice Testis Following Carbon Ion Radiation
Authors: He Yuxuan , Zhang Yong , Li Hongyan , Zhang Hong , Li Zongshuai , Xiao Longfei , Hu Junjie , Ma Youji , Zhang Quanwei , Zhao Xingxu
Published: June 2018

This study investigated the toxicity of heavy ion radiation to mice testis by microRNA (miRNA) sequencing and bioinformatics analyses. Testicular indices and histology were measured following enterocoelia irradiation with a 2 Gy carbon ion beam, with the testes exhibiting the most serious injuries at 4 weeks after carbon ion radiation (CIR) exposure. Illumina sequencing technology was used to sequence small RNA libraries of the control and irradiated groups at 4 weeks after CIR. Gene Ontology and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway analyses implicated differential miRNAs in the regulation of target genes involved in metabolism, development, and reproduction. Here, 8 miRNAs, including miR-34c-5p, miR-138, and 6 let-7 miRNA family members previously reported in testis after radiation, were analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) to validate miRNA sequencing data. The differentially expressed miRNAs described here provided a novel perspective for the role of miRNAs in testis toxicity following CIR.
In Vivo CT Analysis of Physiological Fibular Motion at the Level of the Ankle Syndesmosis During Plantigrade Weightbearing
Authors: Hoogervorst Paul , Working Zachary M. , El Naga Ashraf N. , Marmor Meir
Published: June 2018

Background. It is clear that motion at the syndesmosis occurs due to ranging of the ankle joint, but the influence of weightbearing with the foot in the plantigrade position is unclear. In vivo computed tomographic (CT) evaluation of the syndesmosis has not been previously described. The purpose of this study is to quantify physiological fibular motion at the level of the ankle syndesmosis in both weightbearing and nonweightbearing conditions with the foot in the plantigrade position. Methods. CT images were obtained from 9 normal healthy subjects using a weightbearing CT imaging system. The subjects were positioned in a nonweightbearing and weightbearing state with their foot in the plantigrade position. Fibular translation and rotation were measured from the axial CT images using previously validated techniques. Results. Both the average lateral and anteroposterior translation of the fibula between weightbearing and nonweightbearing states was minimal (0.3 mm and 0.2 mm, respectively). The largest difference in translation observed in either direction was 0.9 mm. An average of 0.5° was found for rotational differences of the fibula between weightbearing and nonweightbearing. Neither of the translational and rotational parameters reached statistical significance. Conclusion. In vivo CT analysis of the distal tibiofibular joint with an intact syndesmosis did not reveal statistically significant physiological motion between weightbearing and nonweightbearing conditions with the foot in plantigrade position. Our findings suggest that weightbearing accounts for little motion at the syndesmosis and supports further investigation into the role of early protected weightbearing after syndesmosis fixation.

Levels of Evidence: Level III: Case-control study
Plant Functional Traits and Species Selection in Tropical Forest Restoration
Authors: Charles Lachlan S.
Published: June 2018

Restoration practitioners are faced with many decisions when restoring tropical forests in abandoned pastures. One of the most important decisions is selecting combinations of species to plant that can mitigate the many barriers seedlings face to maximize seedling establishment and growth. To aid in species selection, there is an increasing shift in using plant functional traits, yet there is still progress to be made in understanding how traits respond to barriers present during the early stages of seedling establishment. Here, I present an example of a trait–barrier relationship from our recent publication in the Journal of Applied Ecology and discuss how using functional traits can help develop tailored combinations of species for specific site conditions.
Should micturating cystourethrogram be routinely performed for paediatric pyeloplasty patients?
Authors: Sim Siam Wee , Li Fay Xiangzhen , Oo Mon Mon , Narasimhan Kannan Laksmi , Jacobsen Anette Sundfor , Yap Te-Lu
Published: June 2018

Objective:

Micturating cystourethrogram (MCUG) has traditionally been recommended as part of the preoperative evaluation of all cases of hydronephrosis. Several studies have shown that the majority of cases with pelviureteric junction obstruction (PUJO) and concomitant vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) were of low-grade and generally resolved spontaneously. We therefore retrospectively evaluated the need for routine MCUG in all cases of PUJO.

Methods:

We conducted a retrospective review of clinical records of all patients who underwent pyeloplasty in our institution between 2003 and 2015. Data collected included patient demographics, clinical presentation, radiological procedures performed, operative details as well as postoperative outcomes.

Results:

A total of 119 patients underwent pyeloplasty for PUJO during this study period. MCUG was performed in 88 patients (74%), of whom eight patients had VUR. All eight patients had unilateral PUJO and two patients had bilateral VUR. Only two patients had high-grade VUR (grade 4). These two patients also had hydroureter detected on ultrasound scan (US). All patients with VUR had spontaneous resolution of reflux. While comparing outcomes for patients with and without VUR, there was no statistically significant difference in terms of the need for redo surgery and improvement in differential renal function post-pyeloplasty.

Conclusion:

The outcome of pyeloplasty appears to be independent of the presence of concomitant VUR. Therefore, we conclude that MCUG does not need to be performed routinely for all PUJO patients. However, patients with history of recurrent urinary tract infection or findings of hydroureter on US should still be investigated with MCUG.
Family Matters: Claiming Rights across the US-Mexico Migratory System
Authors: Hagan Jacqueline Maria , Martinez-Schuldt Ricardo , Peavey Alyssa , Weissman Deborah M.
Published: June 2018

The Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952 (INA) created an immigration system favoring the immigration of spouses, children, and parents of US citizens, thereby establishing family unity as the cornerstone of US immigration policy. Despite this historical emphasis on family unity, backlogs and limited visas for non-immediate relatives of US citizens and legal permanent residents, the militarization of the US-Mexico border, punitive measures for those who enter without inspection, such as the forced separation of children from their parents at the US border, and an aggressive policy of deportation have made it more difficult for members of Mexican binational families to unify.

How do members of Mexican binational families manage the hardships that result from US immigration policies that prolong and force family separation? Immigrants and return migrants alike may not be aware of their rights and the legal remedies that exist to enforce them. Structural barriers such as poverty, legal status, fear of deportation, lack of proficiency in English, and lack of familiarity with government bureaucracies no doubt prevent many migrants in the United States and return migrants in Mexico from coming forward to request legal assistance and relief in the courts.

Despite these barriers, when it comes to family matters, members of some Mexican binational families can and do assert their rights. In this article, we analyze an administrative database of the Department of Legal Protection of the Mexican consular network that documents migrant legal claims resulting from family separation, along with findings from 21 interviews with consular staff and community organizations in three consular jurisdictions — El Paso, Raleigh, and San Francisco — to investigate the sociolegal processes of claims. Our investigation centers on the mediating role the Mexican state — via its consular network — has developed to assist binational families as they attempt to assert their rights and resolve child support and child custody problems resulting from prolonged and forced family separation. We find that the resolution of binational family claims in part depends on the institutional infrastructure that has developed at local, state, and federal levels, along with the commitment and capacity of the receiving and sending states and the binational structures they establish. These binational structures transcend the limitations of national legal systems to achieve and implement family rights and obligations across borders.
A prospective study on the changes and clinical significance of pre-operative and post-operative circulating tumor cells in resectable gastric cancer
Authors: Zhang Qiyue , Shan Fei , Li Ziyu , Gao Jing , Li Yilin , Shen Lin , Ji Jiafu , Lu Ming
Published: June 2018

Background

Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) have been suggested as potential prognostic indicators for multiple tumors, including gastric cancer; however, pre- and post-operative CTC changes in resectable gastric cancer and possible correlations to post-operative recurrence have not been evaluated.

Methods

Subjects (n = 93) with resectable gastric cancer were prospectively reviewed from July 2013 to December 2014 at Peking University Cancer Hospital. The proportion of CTCs were evaluated before (n = 93) and after (n = 63) radical operation using a standardized CellSearch system.

Results

CTCs ≥ 1 were measured in the pre-operative blood of 31 (33.3%) patients and in the post-operative blood of 21 patients (33.3%). Patients with relatively poor clinicopathological features had more pre- and post-operative CTCs. The 3-year disease-free survival (DFS) rate for patients with CTCs ≥ 5/7.5 ml was significantly lower than for patients with CTCs < 5/7.5 ml (40.0% vs 66.4%, p < 0.001 for pre-surgery; 25.0% vs 62.2%, p < 0.001 for post-surgery). Patients with CTCs ≥ 5/7.5 ml in post-operative blood had significantly shorter mean DFS (1.28 vs 31.6 months; p = 0.002) and overall survival (OS; 10.0 vs 34.9 months; p = 0.001) than other patients. Among the 10 patients with hematogenous recurrence, 3 had post-operative CTCs ≥ 2/7.5 ml and had early recurrence (DFS 1.1, 1.1, 1.4 months). Moreover, DFS for the seven patients was 20.2, 11.9, 20.0, 6.0, 15.5, 25.9, 30.0 months, respectively. DFS for the three patients with increased CTCs after surgery was shorter than for patients with mildly increased, stable, or decreased CTCs.

Conclusions

Pre- and post-operative CTCs are promising prognostic markers for resectable gastric cancer. Our study further suggests that increased post-operative CTCs may be correlated with hematogenous recurrence.

Trial registration (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT01848015). Registered 7 May 2013. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01848015
HS6ST1 Insufficiency Causes Self-Limited Delayed Puberty in Contrast With Other GnRH Deficiency Genes
Authors: Howard Sasha R , Oleari Roberto , Poliandri Ariel , Chantzara Vasiliki , Fantin Alessandro , Ruiz-Babot Gerard , Metherell Louise A , Cabrera Claudia P , Barnes Michael R , Wehkalampi Karoliina , Guasti Leonardo , Ruhrberg Christiana , Cariboni Anna , Dunkel Leo
Published: June 2018

Context

Self-limited delayed puberty (DP) segregates in an autosomal-dominant pattern, but the genetic basis is largely unknown. Although DP is sometimes seen in relatives of patients with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism (HH), mutations in genes known to cause HH that segregate with the trait of familial self-limited DP have not yet been identified.

Objective

To assess the contribution of mutations in genes known to cause HH to the phenotype of self-limited DP.

Design, Patients, and Setting

We performed whole-exome sequencing in 67 probands and 93 relatives from a large cohort of familial self-limited DP, validated the pathogenicity of the identified gene variant in vitro, and examined the tissue expression and functional requirement of the mouse homolog in vivo.

Results

A potentially pathogenic gene variant segregating with DP was identified in 1 of 28 known HH genes examined. This pathogenic variant occurred in HS6ST1 in one pedigree and segregated with the trait in the six affected members with heterozygous transmission (P = 3.01 × 10−5). Biochemical analysis showed that this mutation reduced sulfotransferase activity in vitro. Hs6st1 mRNA was expressed in peripubertal wild-type mouse hypothalamus. GnRH neuron counts were similar in Hs6st1+/− and Hs6st1+/+ mice, but vaginal opening was delayed in Hs6st1+/− mice despite normal postnatal growth.

Conclusions

We have linked a deleterious mutation in HS6ST1 to familial self-limited DP and show that heterozygous Hs6st1 loss causes DP in mice. In this study, the observed overlap in potentially pathogenic mutations contributing to the phenotypes of self-limited DP and HH was limited to this one gene.
Oxandrolone Treatment Results in an Increased Risk of Gonadarche in Prepubertal Boys With Klinefelter Syndrome
Authors: Davis Shanlee M , Lahlou Najiba , Cox-Martin Matthew , Kowal Karen , Zeitler Philip S , Ross Judith L
Published: June 2018

Context

Klinefelter syndrome (KS) is a common genetic condition in which males have an extra X chromosome. KS is associated with testosterone deficiency, neurodevelopmental delays, and cardiometabolic disorders. There has been recent interest in prepubertal androgen treatment; however, the effects on puberty and gonadal function are unknown.

Objective

To compare onset of puberty and testicular function in prepubertal boys treated with 2 years of oxandrolone (Ox) vs placebo (Pl).

Design

Double-blind, randomized, controlled trial.

Setting

Single tertiary care referral center.

Participants

Eighty prepubertal boys with KS; mean age: 8.0 ± 2.2 years (range: 4 to 12).

Interventions

Ox 0.05 mg/kg vs identical-appearing Pl capsule given for 2 years.

Outcome Measures

Onset of gonadarche (testicular volume ≥4 mL) and onset of pubarche (Tanner 2 pubic hair); change in testicular hormone concentrations.

Results

Ox-treated group had 20.5 times higher odds of reaching gonadarche (OR 95% CI: 6.5, 77.8) and 28.1 times higher odds of reaching pubarche (OR 95% CI: 8.8, 110.4) during the 2-year study period after adjusting for baseline age. Gonadarche and pubarche both occurred at a younger age in the Ox group (gonadarche: 9.8 ± 1.5 vs 12.1 ± 1.0 years, P < 0.001; pubarche: 10.2 ± 1.1 vs 11.6 ± 1.3 years, P = 0.02). Serum concentrations of testicular hormones and gonadotropins were not different between groups.

Conclusions

Two years of Ox treatment in prepubertal boys with KS results in an increased risk of early gonadarche, on average 2 years earlier than in Pl-treated boys. Ox did not affect serum concentrations of testicular hormones.
Thinking “Diaspora” with Stuart Hall
Authors: Sharpe Jenny
Published: June 2018

This article revisits Stuart Hall’s writing on “diaspora” to highlight its potential for future work on the topic. Although Hall has been faulted for excluding modern Africa, his historical and geographic approach to black cultural identities introduces the possibility for an inclusion. Since his “diaspora aesthetics” is based on black British films, photography, and visual art, this reassessment of his work concludes with a consideration of the Beninese artist Romuald Hazoumè’s La Bouche du Roi. This room-size multimedia slave ship installation brings a history of transatlantic slavery together with that of colonialism and globalization to make a statement about African identities, both in the past and in the present. Hazoumè’s artwork provides a visualization of Hall’s mobile model of “diaspora,” with its shifting perspectives, geographically dispersed centers, and unsynchronized temporalities.
Interspecies Affection and Military Aims
Authors: Cherkaev Xenia , Tipikina Elena
Published: June 2018

The image of totalitarianism is central to liberal ideology as the nefarious antithesis of free market exchange: the inevitable outcome of planned economies, which control their subjects’ lives down to the most intimate detail. Against this image of complete state control, the multispecies ethnography of early Soviet institutions gives us a fortuitous edge to ask how centrally planned economies structure the lives of those actors whose biosocial demands can be neither stamped out nor befuddled by propaganda. In this article we examine the institutions of the Stalinist state that could have created the totalitarian service dog: institutions that planned the distribution, raising, and breeding of family dogs for military service. Our narrative begins with a recently discovered genealogical document, issued to a German Shepherd bred by plan and born during the World War II Leningrad Blockade. Reading this document together with service-dog manuals, Soviet physiological studies, archival military documents, and autobiographical narratives, we unravel the history of Leningrad’s early Soviet military-service dog husbandry program. This program, we argue, relied on a particular distinction of public and private: at once stimulating affectionate interspecies bonds between dogs and their handlers and sequestering those relationships from the image of rational, scientifically objective interspecies communication. This reduction of human-dog relations to those criteria that could be scientifically studied and centrally planned yielded tangible results: it allowed the State’s dog husbandry program to create apparently unified groups of dogs and dog handlers and to successfully mobilize these groups for new military tasks, like mine detection, during World War II.
Deep Time and Disaster
Authors: Hansen Christine
Published: June 2018

In the late summer of 2009, a massive firestorm swept through more than one million acres of dense bush in the southeast corner of Australia, killing 173 people and leaving more than 7,000 homeless. In the aftermath of the disaster, commentators almost universally described the blaze as “unprecedented.” This essay examines that claim in the light of contextualizing environmental histories and finds that although such firestorms are rare, they are far from unprecedented; they are in fact a necessary part of the cycle of regeneration in certain types of eucalypt forest. The idea that a never-before-witnessed event is unprecedented calls into question the shallow temporal frames through which deep time environmental phenomena are understood in Australian settler culture and offers an insight into often unnoticed ways in which contemporary society struggles with the colonial legacy. This struggle sits next to the ambition of land management authorities to adopt traditional Indigenous mosaic-patterned cool-burning techniques as part of a fire mitigation strategy, without directly addressing the colonial history inscribed on the land they are commissioned to manage.
Confessing Anthropocene
Authors: Skrimshire Stefan
Published: June 2018

What is the best way to communicate with far future human (and/or posthuman) societies? This sounds like a question for science fiction, but I ask it in the context of a pressing issue in environmental ethics: the (very) long-term disposal of high-level spent radioactive fuel. To date, the moral justification for burying the waste underground has hinged on the technical possibilities of communicating a message of warning to people living ten thousand years in the future. I argue that the problem with this approach is not only that it insufficiently acknowledges the inevitable failure of the message (though I also consider this); additionally, it serves to mask deeper ethical reflection on the legacy of human life to the deep future. To remedy this, I consider what it would mean to think about deep-future communication as an act of confession. What are the advantages of this category, ethically and politically, over that of warning or instruction? I draw upon the classic theological and philosophical exploration of the confession in that of Saint Augustine and subsequently in Derrida’s mimicking of him, in the light of which I consider the ethics of confession and witness as being haunted by the legacy of one’s actions into deep time. Notwithstanding its critical reception among certain philosophers, a confessing tone may become increasingly pertinent to activists, artists, and faith communities making sense of humanity’s ethical commitments in deep time.
Τι λύσεις προτείνουν τα νήπια για τα περιβαλλοντικά προβλήματα: η περίπτωση της σπατάλης της ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας
Authors: Ηλιοπούλου Ιφιγένεια
Published: June 2018

Το θέμα της ενέργειας και της χρήσης της αποτελεί ένα υψίστης σημασίας σύγχρονο ζήτημα με κοινωνικές, περιβαλλοντικές και οικονομικές επιπτώσεις. Η σχολική εκπαίδευση οφείλει να διαδραματίσει καθοριστικό ρόλο στην επίτευξη της εξοικονόμησης της ενέργειας με στόχο τη βιωσιμότητα των σύγχρονων κοινωνιών. Στόχος της παρούσας έρευνας ήταν να ανιχνεύσει τις σκέψεις μαθητών νηπιαγωγείου, υπό τη μορφή αντιλήψεων και νοητικών μοντέλων, σχετικά με τους συλλογικούς και τους προσωπικούς τρόπους εξοικονόμησης της ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας και ταυτόχρονα, να διερευνήσει την πιθανή σχέση ανάμεσα στους συλλογικούς και προσωπικούς τρόπους εξοικονόμησης που οι συγκεκριμένοι μαθητές προτείνουν. Στην έρευνα συμμετείχαν 27 μαθητές (6 ετών) από δύο δημόσια νηπιαγωγεία του νομού Μαγνησίας. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων, σχεδίων και ατομικών συνεντεύξεων με τη βοήθεια εποπτικού υλικού, δείχνει ότι στη σκέψη των μαθητών του δείγματος κυριάρχησαν δύο βασικά νοητικά μοντέλα: το ένα μοντέλο αφορά σε συγκεκριμένες και άμεσες ενέργειες, όπως το σβήσιμο της τηλεόρασης όταν δεν βλέπει κάποιος και το άλλο μοντέλο αφορά σε γενικότερες προληπτικές ενέργειες, οι οποίες μακροχρόνια συμβάλουν στην εξοικονόμηση της ηλεκτρικής ενέργειας. Επιπλέον, φαίνεται από τα αποτελέσματα ότι τα δύο αυτά είδη σκέψης αλληλοσυνδέονται. Τέλος, στην παρούσα εργασία συζητιούνται σημαντικές επιπτώσεις και προτάσεις για τη διδακτική πρακτική.
Unraveling endometriosis-associated ovarian carcinomas using integrative proteomics
Authors: Leung Felix , Bernardini Marcus Q. , Liang Kun , Batruch Ihor , Rouzbahman Marjan , Diamandis Eleftherios P. , Kulasingam Vathany
Published: June 2018

Background: To elucidate potential markers of endometriosis and endometriosis-associated endometrioid and clear cell ovarian carcinomas using mass spectrometry-based proteomics.

Methods: A total of 21 fresh, frozen tissues from patients diagnosed with clear cell carcinoma, endometrioid carcinoma, endometriosis and benign endometrium were subjected to an in-depth liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry analysis on the Q-Exactive Plus. Protein identification and quantification were performed using MaxQuant, while downstream analyses were performed using Perseus and various bioinformatics databases.

Results: Approximately 9000 proteins were identified in total, representing the first in-depth proteomic investigation of endometriosis and its associated cancers. This proteomic data was shown to be biologically sound, with minimal variation within patient cohorts and recapitulation of known markers. While moderate concordance with genomic data was observed, it was shown that such data are limited in their abilities to represent tumours on the protein level and to distinguish tumours from their benign precursors.

Conclusions: The proteomic data suggests that distinct markers may differentiate endometrioid and clear cell carcinoma from endometriosis. These markers may be indicators of pathobiology but will need to be further investigated. Ultimately, this dataset may serve as a basis to unravel the underlying biology of the endometrioid and clear cell cancers with respect to their endometriotic origins.
Sex/gender differences in cognition, neurophysiology, and neuroanatomy
Authors: Jäncke Lutz
Published: June 2018

In this mini-review, I summarize and interpret the current status of sex/gender differences in terms of brain anatomy, brain function, behavior, and cognition. Based on this review and the reported findings, I conclude that most of these sex/gender differences are not large enough to support the assumption of sexual dimorphism in terms of brain anatomy, brain function, cognition, and behavior. Instead, I suggest that many brain and cognitive features are modulated by environment, culture, and practice (and several other influences). These influences interact with the menstrual cycle, the general hormone level, and current gender stereotypes in a way that has not yet been fully understood.
The Use of Case-Technologies in Educational Space of the University
Authors: Спирина Мария , Spirina Mariya , Спирина Валентина , Spirina Valentina
Published: June 2018

The case-technology in the educational space provide the formation of professional competences of future bachelors. The purpose of using the case method is instilling interest in a particular discipline in the University, adequate assessment by students of their limits, reduction of psychological stress experienced in the classroom, enhancing the quality of knowledge, establishing a special confidential relationship of the teacher and the student. The article presents the technology of using case method in the University.