bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Implementing Human Rights and the Societal Impediments to Sustainable Change in Latin America
Authors: Husain Saima
Published: April 2017

This article deals with the importance and difficulty of implementing and enforcing human rights values, standards, and norms to protect people from abuse by state institutions. The responsibility of the state in maintaining order and implementing the rule of law is acknowledged. This is then extended to one of the state agencies charged with the maintenance of public order: the police. Police compliance with human rights standards is imperative if human rights are to be protected. This article discusses what police compliance with certain rights could entail. This is followed by a look at the role of the police in society and the societal and institutional realities that impede the implementation of police human rights strategies in Latin America. The implementation of these strategies have sparked debates on the implementation of human rights, inequality, security, and the hurdles to police reform in Latin America.
Attacking Hate Speech under Article 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Authors: Keane David
Published: April 2017

The issue of racist or hate speech engages both Article 10 and Article 17 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The early admissibility decisions of the Commission, invoking Article 17 alone, or Article 10 in conjunction with Article 17, reflected a confused understanding of the relationship between the provisions. The Lehideux and Isorni vs France (1996) judgement of the European Court of Human Rights clarified that Article 17 applies only in the context of Holocaust denial and related questioning of historical facts, and as a result, racist or xenophobic speech against minorities is protected under Article 10(1) of the Convention. The article asks whether all racist speech should find protection under Article 10(1), interference being allowed only when balanced against the conditions of Article 10(2); or whether all such speech should be condemned and attacked under Article 17. The philosophical arguments and legal implications of both approaches are analysed. Finally, the desire to protect criticism of religion at the European level is explored in the context of the ‘Danish cartoons' controversy and the evolving meaning of the term ‘hate speech’.
Violence against Women: State Responsibilities in International Human Rights Law to Address Harmful ‘Masculinities’
Authors: Anderson Kirsten
Published: April 2017

Increasingly, norms of masculinity are the focus of international development programmes aimed at eliminating violence against women, as it is recognised that harmful masculinities must be ‘de-mystified’, subjected to scrutiny and ultimately reconstructed in order for violence against women to be effectively eliminated. To what extent are these developments reflected in, and to what extent can they rely on, international human rights law as imposing an obligation on states to identify and address aspects of masculinities that cause and perpetuate violence against women? This article examines the positioning and construction of masculinities within the different understandings of violence against women in international human rights law.
A Decade of Mainstreaming Human Rights in the UN: Achievements, Failures, Challenges
Authors: Oberleitner Gerd
Published: April 2017

With the UN report ‘Renewing the United Nations: A Programme for Reform’ of 1997 UN specialised agencies, funds and programmes were asked to consider human rights as a cross-cutting issue and to mainstream human rights in their respective policies, programmes and activities. A decade later, the results of mainstreaming human rights are uneven, ill explored and the whole process is still little understood. Some organisations (such as UNDP and UNICEF) record significant progress, while others – in particular international financial institutions and ‘technical’ UN agencies – still display ignorance and rejection when it comes to mainstreaming human rights. This article traces the experiences of UN specialised agencies, funds and programmes in mainstreaming human rights and records their achievements and failures as wells as the challenges ahead.
Blasphemy, Defamation of Religions and Human Rights Law
Authors: Temperman Jeroen
Published: April 2017

Blasphemy is a serious wrongdoing in all monotheistic world religions. Blasphemy prohibitions have been brought into being and enforced so as to protect the dominant religion specifically. Religions as such, however, are not protected by international human rights law. Human rights law protects and empowers people: every person has the right to freedom of religion or belief. Human rights law does not recognise a right to have one's religion or belief at all times exempted from criticism, ridicule or insult, or a right, in other words, to respect for one's religious feelings. The right to freedom of expression is not an absolute right as it carries with it special duties and responsibilities. This right can be restricted on the basis of certain grounds for limitation; however, the interest of ‘religion as such is not among those grounds. In this article it is argued that contrary to popular belief the two rights, though very much interdependent, do not in abstracto ‘clash’. Moreover, with a view toward optimally guaranteeing human rights law in actual practice, the two rights do as a rule not need to be balanced – for it is precisely when the two rights are balanced without a legal necessity to do so that human rights law is undermined. The broader intent of this article is to present a human rights-based assessment of blasphemy prohibitions and counter-defamation (of religions) initiatives. Rather than focussing on strategies to counter defamation of religions, we should concentrate on and deal with practices that actually threaten individual human rights; that is to say, we should more effectively tackle the issue of advocacy of religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence.
How to Repair the Harm after Violent Conflict in Bosnia? Results of a Population-Based Survey
Authors: Parmentier Stephan , Valiñas Marta , Weitekamp Elmar
Published: April 2017

Debates about serious human rights violations and international crimes committed in the past usually start during times of political transition, that is when societies are moving away from a non-democratic regime and the new political elites are confronted with the fundamental question on how to address the heavy burden of their dark past. This question was posed in most countries of Latin America in the 1980s, in all countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the 1990s and in several countries in Africa and Asia during the last decade. The issue of ‘dealing with the past’ or ‘transitional justice’ is most often managed by elites, national and international, and the views and expectations of the local populations are rarely taken into account. Yet population-based research can yield interesting insights into strategies and mechanisms for dealing with the crimes of the past and for reconstructing the future. In this contribution we report on the findings of a population-based research in Bosnia in 2006 that dealt with several issues of post-conflict justice. The focus is on the issue of reparation for the harm inflicted, how it is perceived by the population in Bosnia, what forms it may take, and how to feed it into policy-making at the national and the international level.
Human Rights Impact Assessments
Authors: de Beco Gauthier
Published: April 2017

In this article human rights impact assessments (HRIAs) will be discussed. After examining their background, including their history and the different kinds of human rights impact, the various purposes of HRIAs, namely compliance, policymaking, accountability and empowerment will be examined. Questions relating to the development of HRIAs will also be analysed. It will be examined whether HRIAs should be incorporated into other kinds of impact assessments and how impact on human rights can be determined. In the article, the three phases in carrying out HRIAs, namely the analytical process, the deliberative process, and the monitoring and evaluation, will be subsequently analysed, dividing them into different steps. Finally, the various actors taking part in HRIAs will be dealt with. These are policy-makers, human rights experts, civil society organisations, national human rights institutions, and affected people.
Informed Decision-Making: The Comparative Endeavours of the Strasbourg Court
Authors: Dzehtsiarou Kanstantsin , Lukashevich Vasily
Published: April 2017

The article explores the use of comparative surveys in judgments of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). It argues that the inclusion of a comparative survey serves an informational purpose that may increase the substantive legitimacy of ECtHR rulings. The article aims to provide a broad, however preliminary account of the use of comparative data by focusing on a number of pertinent doctrinal, methodological, and practical issues.
Step Forward, or Forever Hold Your Peace: Penalising Forced Marriages in the Netherlands
Authors: Kool Renée
Published: April 2017

Being confronted with the import of formerly unknown cultural practices, the European public authorities are expected to set clear public standards regarding the alleged harmful nature of such practices. The adopted solutions are often of a legal nature, using the law as a vehicle to frame certain social behaviour as socially unacceptable. One of the practices that have been subject to framing in terms of law and gender are what is commonly referred to as forced marriages. Calling upon human rights law, Europe's policy is in favour of penalization of forced marriages. However, such an appeal holds the risk of strategically misuse of human rights law for political benefit. Next to a clear risk penalisation being symbolic, diversity issues bear within a risk of xenophobia. Thus penalisation of diversity issues needs to be analysed scrupulously. This paper addresses the issue of the penalisation of forced marriages in Europe, with special attention paid to a draft law recently submitted by the Dutch government, addressing the issue which actors and factors have contributed forced marriages being put on the European and Dutch political agenda.
The Right to Freely Dispose of Natural Resources
Authors: Gilbert Jérémie
Published: April 2017

Control, ownership and exploitation of high value natural resources have often led to two types of situations: conflicts and extreme poverty. Very little legal analysis has been undertaken of the elementary issue of ownership and control of natural resources. Legally, control over natural resources is traditionally one of the attributes of State sovereignty, but under human rights law it is also a right of peoples. Despite being a key aspect of the human rights approach to self-determination affirmed in Article 1 of the two International Covenants, the right to freely dispose of natural resources has been largely absent from human rights litigation and advocacy, and has usually escaped any practical implementation. This article examines the potential offered by the affirmation of the right of peoples to freely dispose of their natural resources and calls for its revival by arguing that by being a key human rights of peoples, such a right offers some strong legal tools to ensure that States exercise their sovereignty over natural resources with some form of accountability.
Human Right to Inclusive Education
Authors: Ngwena Charles G.
Published: April 2017

Article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is a human rights milestone in the recognition of the right of disabled learners to inclusive education. This article explores domestic commitment towards the obligation of the State to provide inclusive education under Article 24 of the Convention. It uses South Africa as a case study. More specifically, the article uses the decision of the Western Cape High Court in Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability v Government of the Republic of South Africa and Another as a pivot for discussion. The case of Western Cape Forum for Intellectual Disability demonstrates State ambivalence towards inclusive education. More generally, the article highlights the persistent dangers of an embedded double discourse of inclusive education that perpetuates the historical exclusion of disabled learners through State rhetoric and praxis that are outwardly committed to inclusive education, but are inwardly exclusionary.
The Social Charter of the OAS: A Step Forward in the Enforcement of Socioeconomic Rights in the Americas?
Authors: Seatzu Francesco , de Torres Amaya Ubeda
Published: April 2017

The text of the Social Charter in the Americas was formally launched and adopted at the 42th session of the Organization of American States (OAS) on 4 June 2012, renewing the quest for reinforcing economic and social rights in the continent. The 2012 Social Charter of the OAS is accompanied by an action plan, which has not yet been adopted. As its main goal it focuses on the eradication of extreme poverty and encourages the States to take effective steps to fight discrimination and set the indivisibility of human rights in motion. Several questions arise with the adoption of this text. The need for a new tool and its ‘suitableness’ in the human rights universe of the Americas are at stake. This article will put into context and analyse the reasons for the adoption of the Social Charter, as well as its contribution to the promotion and protection of economic and social rights. The reasons for this new text, its status and its shortcomings will be studied, bearing in mind that such a soft law mechanism can be a useful tool in terms of legitimacy and can make an impact on the effective protection of human rights in the context of the Inter-American system of protection of human rights and within the work of its two main organs, the Inter-American Commission and the Court.
What Does the Right to Health Mean?
Authors: Lougarre Claire
Published: April 2017

Social rights, and the right to health in particular, are still criticised for the vagueness of their legal content. What does realising the right to health mean, and when does a State breach its obligations under human rights law? Little research has attempted to answer those questions and key actors such as judges, States, NGOs and individuals, continue to face a high degree of uncertainty. Clarification must be sought to improve the realisation of this right, but how? When human rights supervisory bodies evaluate the implementation of the right to health in their monitoring procedures, they must declare whether or not this right has been realised, and justify why. By consequence, their interpretation contributes to delineating the legal content of this right. To overcome the dearth of literature on the substance of the European Social Charter, this article will thus examine how its supervisory body, the European Committee of Social Rights, interprets the right to health in its reporting and complaints procedures.
Lessons from Iraqi Kurdistan: Self-Determination and Humanitarian Intervention against Genocide
Authors: Akhavan Payam
Published: April 2017

The repression of the Kurdish people of Iraq is nothing new. It is part of the decades-long policy of Arab colonial domination and denial of their right to self-determination by the international community. After the Iraqi military advance into Kurdistan, the intensification of the savage repression resulted in a disturbing increase in the exodus of Kurdish refugees. Suddely, the repression of Kurds by the Iraqi military was transformed from an ‘essentially internal affair’ to a situation which threatened ‘international peace and security’ and thus the legal basis for United Nations Security Council intervention was provided. Akhavan examines this international action against the repression in Iraqi Kurdistan. Humanitarian intervention against genocide, the concept of genocide and the right to self-determination and assistance are subsequently discussed.
Northern Ireland's Emergency Laws and International Human Rights
Authors: Hunt Paul , Dickson Brice
Published: April 2017

In this article, international law of human rights is used as a yardstick against which to measure the emergency provisions operating in Northern Ireland, where special trial procedures have been in place since 1973 for persons accused of terrorist offenses. In particular, the use of juries has been withdrawn, all matters of fact and law being decided instead by a single judge in the so called ‘Diplock’ courts. There are many unsatisfactory features of the emergency legislation associated with the Diplock court proceedings. Because of these features, it is probable that some defendants in the Diplock court system are not afforded the fair trial to which they are entitled under the international law of human rights. With respect to arrest, interrogation, the admissibility of confessions, the right of silence, access to family and lawyer, there is a risk that the requirements of a fair trial, as set out in Article 5 ECHR and Article 14 ICCPR, are not met. Also, the Northern Ireland's law on the use of lethal force may not comply with the European Convention's standard on protecting the right to life. The authors conclude that international human rights standards would be better protected in Northern Ireland if the European Convention on Human Rights were incorporated in domestic law. The British Government should ratify Protocol 4 to the Convention which would extend the rights guaranteed to individuals within the United Kingdom, and the first Optional Protocol to the ICCPR, thereby giving individuals an alternative mechanism for addressing violations of human rights.
Amnesty International and its Self-Imposed Limited Mandate
Authors: Baehr Peter R.
Published: April 2017

This article deals with the development of the self-imposed limited mandate of Amnesty International and the considerations which are taken into account. The organization has gradually expanded its field of attention. It is suggested in this article that, although expanded, the mandate still remains ‘limited’ and in line with the principles as envisaged when the organization was founded in 1961. An important expansion or re-interpretation of the mandate took place at the International Council meeting in 1991. The article deals with the meaning of the mandate, the criteria which have to be met, the users of the mandate, and deals with three pertinent illustrations of mandate debates: the violence clause, political non-governmental entities and homosexuality.
Strasbourg's ‘Hidden Agenda’?: The Protection of Second-Generation Migrants from Expulsion under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights
Authors: Cholewinski Ryszard
Published: April 2017

International human rights standards play a minimal role in regulating state sovereign discretion over the entry, residence and exit of non-nationals. Recent jurisprudence of the European Commission and Court of Human Rights has afforded some protection to second-generation migrants against expulsion from their country of residence if their right to respect for their private and family life is infringed under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. These interventions by the Strasbourg organs in favour of one of the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups in Western Europe today are welcome and timely, but they should be developed into clear, uniform and unambiguous legal principles. Such principles may be extracted from a number of separate opinions in the case law of the Court and the Commission revealing a normative ‘hidden agenda’ aimed at the protection of second-generation migrants. Given present restrictive nationality laws, tighter immigration controls and the racist violence directed at foreigners on the continent, this agenda must be articulated unambiguously by the Strasbourg organs if second-generation migrants are to receive the full protection of the Convention.
Definition of an Environmental Right in a Human Rights Context
Authors: Cullet Philippe
Published: April 2017

This article examines the theoretical background of a right to environment, its contents and the different ways to achieve implementation of the norm. Environmental protection is first ascertained as a universal concern which warrants consideration within a human rights context. Innovative features of the right such as the emphasis on prevention and on the principle of solidarity deriving from the internationalization of environmental problems are then examined. Further, some implementation mechanisms such as procedural rights developed at the same time in environmental and human rights instruments or the judicial appraisal of environmental protection in the context of enforceable human rights are highlighted.
Effects of dexmedetomidine versus midazolam for premedication in paediatric anaesthesia with sevoflurane: A meta-analysis
Authors: Feng Ji-Feng , Wang Xiao-Xia , Lu Yan-Yan , Pang Deng-ge , Peng Wei , Mo Jian-lan
Published: April 2017

Background

Dexmedetomidine (DEX), an α2-adrenergic receptor agonist, produces ideal sedation and early postoperative recovery for premedication in paediatric surgery, reducing preoperative anxiety and facilitating smooth induction of anaesthesia. We performed a meta-analysis to compare the effects of DEX and midazolam (MDZ) in paediatric anaesthesia with sevoflurane.

Methods

PubMed, Ovid, Web of Science, and Public Health Management Corporation were searched through December 2016 for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that compared DEX and MDZ in children undergoing sevoflurane anaesthesia. The risk ratio (RR) with 95% incidence interval (95%CI) was used for dichotomous variables.

Results

Twelve RCTs involving 422 patients in the DEX group and 448 patients in the MDZ group were included. Patients in the DEX group had a significantly lower incidence of unsatisfactory sedation (RR [95%CI] = 0.71 [0.57–0.89]), unsatisfactory parental separation (RR [95%CI] = 0.56 [0.35–0.87]), and rescue analgesia (RR [95%CI] = 0.52 [0.35–0.77]) than patients in the MDZ group. However, both groups had a similar incidence of unsatisfactory mask acceptance, emergence agitation, and postoperative nausea and vomiting.

Conclusion

Compared with MDZ, DEX is beneficial in paediatric anaesthesia with sevoflurane because of its lower incidence of unsatisfactory sedation, parental separation, and rescue analgesia.
Macro- and microstructural alterations of the subcortical structures in episodic cluster headache
Authors: Király András , Szabó Nikoletta , Párdutz Árpád , Tóth Eszter , Tajti János , Csete Gergő , Faragó Péter , Bodnár Péter , Szok Délia , Tuka Bernadett , Pálinkás Éva , Ertsey Csaba , Vécsei László , Kincses Zsigmond Tamás
Published: April 2017

Background

Previous functional and structural imaging studies have revealed that subcortical structures play a key a role in pain processing. The recurring painful episodes might trigger maladaptive plasticity or alternatively degenerative processes that might be detected by MRI as changes in size or microstructure. In the current investigation, we aimed to identify the macro- and microstructural alterations of the subcortical structures in episodic cluster headache.

Methods

High-resolution T1-weighted and diffusion-weighted MRI images with 60 gradient directions were acquired from 22 patients with cluster headache and 94 healthy controls. Surface-based segmentation analysis was used to measure the volume of the subcortical nuclei, and mean diffusion parameters (fractional anisotropy, mean, radial and axial diffusivity) were determined for these structures. In order to understand whether the size and diffusion parameters could be investigated in a headache lateralised manner, first the asymmetry of the size and diffusion parameters of the subcortical structures was analysed. Volumes and diffusion parameters were compared between groups and correlated with the cumulative number of headache days. To account for the different size of the patient and control group, a bootstrap approach was used to investigate the stability of the findings.

Results

A significant lateralisation of the size (caudate, putamen and thalamus) and the diffusion parameters of the subcortical structures were found in normal controls. In cluster headache patients, the mean fractional anisotropy of the right amygdalae, the mean axial and mean diffusivity of the right caudate nucleus and the radial diffusivity of the right pallidum were higher. The mean anisotropy of the right pallidum was lower in patients.

Conclusion

The analysis of the pathology in the subcortical structures in episodic cluster headache reveals important features of the disease, which might allow a deeper insight into the pathomechanism of the pain processing in this headache condition.
Characteristics of Intimate Partner Violence Incidents and the Environments in Which They Occur: Victim Reports to Responding Law Enforcement Officers
Authors: Campbell Andrew M. , Hicks Ralph A. , Thompson Shannon L. , Wiehe Sarah E.
Published: April 2017

The objectives of this study were to identify intimate partner violence (IPV) incidence rates, to quantify specific risks and characteristics of these incidents and the environments in which they occur, to identify how often children are present for or injured during these incidents, and to identify differences in victim reports of IPV to law enforcement officers at the scene of the incident compared with previously published reports of IPV from retropsective, anonymous surveys and domestic violence shelter interviews. Data gathered by responding law enforcement officers at the scene of the IPV incident were used to determine the prevalence of IPV incident characteristics and outcomes. Females aged 20 to 39 years, unmarried adults, and African Americans were disproportionately represented as victims of IPV in this study. IPV incidents were significantly more likely to occur on Saturdays and Sundays and during the months of May through August. Relationship durations for suspect–victim pairs were most often less than 12 months at the time of the incident. Weapon use and/or strangulation was common, occurring in 44% of all incidents. Minors (under age 18 years) were frequently present in the home during the IPV incident or a member of the household (59%). This study provides a unique perspective of IPV by utilizing data collected directly from the scene of the incident by first responders. Previously published characteristics of IPV were confirmed, but this study also brings to light new and critical information concerning this prevalent form of violence. Study findings relating to incidence, seasonality, severity, disproportionately affected populations, and child exposure are discussed.
From the Iron Curtain to the Schengen Area: Memory Cultures of Bordering Communist and Postcommunist Europe
Authors: Oates-Indruchová Libora , Mueller Wolfgang
Published: April 2017

This article is part of the special section titled From the Iron Curtain to the Schengen Area, guest edited by Wolfgang Mueller and Libora Oates-Indruchová.
The Personal and Professional Experiences of Integrative Nurse Coach Certificate Program Graduates: A Pilot Study
Authors: Frey Lindsay M. , Ratliff Judy L.
Published: April 2017

Integrative Nurse Coaching is a new practice in professional nursing. The purpose of this pilot study is to describe Integrative Nurse Coach Certificate Program graduates’ personal and professional experiences. This is a qualitative, pilot study with a convenience sample of Integrative Nurse Coach Certificate Program graduates ( n = 13). Researchers conducted semistructured interviews and identified common themes. The pilot study found four common themes from the participants’ experiences as follows: (1) development of self, (2) enriched self-care, (3) a call to action for facilitating the health care paradigm shift, and (4) incorporating Integrative Nurse Coaching into practice. The pilot study’s findings and conclusions provide insight into the potential benefits of Integrative Nurse Coaching and the importance of nurse self-care.
The action of the imagination
Authors: Chaney Sarah
Published: April 2017

Histories of dynamic psychotherapy in the late 19th century have focused on practitioners in continental Europe, and interest in psychological therapies within British asylum psychiatry has been largely overlooked. Yet Daniel Hack Tuke (1827–95) is acknowledged as one of the earliest authors to use the term ‘psycho-therapeutics’, including a chapter on the topic in his 1872 volume, Illustrations of the Influence of the Mind upon the Body in Health and Disease. But what did Tuke mean by this concept, and what impact did his ideas have on the practice of asylum psychiatry? At present, there is little consensus on this topic. Through in-depth examination of what psycho-therapeutics meant to Tuke, this article argues that late-19th-century asylum psychiatry cannot be easily separated into somatic and psychological strands. Tuke’s understanding of psycho-therapeutics was extremely broad, encompassing the entire field of medical practice (not only psychiatry). The universal force that he adopted to explain psychological therapies, ‘the Imagination’, was purported to show the power of the mind over the body, implying that techniques like hypnotism and suggestion might have an effect on any kind of symptom or illness. Acknowledging this aspect of Tuke’s work, I conclude, can help us better understand late-19th-century psychiatry – and medicine more generally – by acknowledging the lack of distinction between psychological and somatic in ‘psychological’ therapies.
Psychotherapy in historical perspective
Authors: Marks Sarah
Published: April 2017

This article will briefly explore some of the ways in which the past has been used as a means to talk about psychotherapy as a practice and as a profession, its impact on individuals and society, and the ethical debates at stake. It will show how, despite the multiple and competing claims about psychotherapy’s history and its meanings, historians themselves have, to a large degree, not attended to the intellectual and cultural development of many therapeutic approaches. This absence has the potential consequence of implying that therapies have emerged as value-free techniques, outside of a social, economic and political context. The relative neglect of psychotherapy, by contrast with the attention historians have paid to other professions, particularly psychiatry, has also underplayed its societal impact. This article will foreground some of the instances where psychotherapy has become an object of emerging historical interest, including the new research that forms the substance of this special issue of History of the Human Sciences.
Preparation and properties of highly organosoluble polyimides derived from 2,2′-disubstituted-4,4′-oxydianilines
Authors: Zhao Jing , Hu Qing-Song , Zhou Yan-Xu , Peng Ling , Shen Ying-Zhong
Published: April 2017

Four novel aromatic, symmetrical ether diamines (2,2′-bis(biphenyl)-4,4′-oxydianiline, 2,2′-bis[4′-(3″,4″,5″-trifluorophenyl)phenyl]-4,4′-oxydianiline, 2,2′-bis[4-(naphthalene-1-yl)phenyl]-4,4′-oxydianiline, and 2,2′-bis[4″-(diphenylamino)phenyl]-4,4′-oxydianiline), were successfully synthesized through four steps using p-chloronitrobenzene as a starting material. Highly organosoluble polyimides were obtained by the reaction of these diamines with 2′2 ′-bis[4′-(3″,4″,5″-trifluorophenyl)phenyl]-4,4′,5,5′-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride via a conventional two-step chemical imidization method. All the polyimides were thoroughly characterized by Fourier transform infrared, ultraviolet, fluorescence, gel permeation chromatography, and thermogravimetric analysis. The effect of the fluorine atoms directly linked to the lateral phenyl rings showed excellent dissolution and strong fluorescence. The polyimides exhibited excellent thermal stability, with decomposition temperatures (at 10% weight loss) above 530°C and glass transition temperatures in the range of 258–320°C. These outstanding combined features ensured that these polyimides could be used as memory materials for advanced microelectronic applications.
The impact of avulsion on groundwater level and peat formation in delta floodbasins during the middle-Holocene transgression in the Rhine-Meuse delta, The Netherlands
Authors: van Asselen Sanneke , Cohen Kim M , Stouthamer Esther
Published: April 2017

By redistributing water and sediment in delta plains, avulsions of river branches have major environmental impacts, notably in changing hydrological and peat-forming conditions in floodbasins. The central part of the Rhine-Meuse delta, with its extensive databases including detailed lithological data and high-resolution age control, offers a unique opportunity to study middle-Holocene avulsion impacts on floodbasin groundwater level and peat formation. Avulsion has caused local accelerations of rising groundwater tables to be superimposed on decelerating base-level rise. This is evident from comparing single-site groundwater rise for multiple floodbasins in the river-dominated part of the delta, with regionally averaged groundwater-rise reconstructions. Floodbasin type (lacustrine versus terrestrial wetland), size and openness, partly through effects on discharge dispersal, affect how strongly the floodbasin groundwater tables respond to avulsion-diverted discharge. Cross-sectional lithology repeatedly indicates a shift from high-organic wood peat to low-organic reed peat in the vicinity of the avulsed channel, resulting from changes in water-table regime and nutrient status. Avulsive impact on the floodbasin groundwater table was most pronounced during the transition from transgressive to high-stand stage (between ca. 6000 and 4000 years ago), owing to developing floodbasin compartmentalization (size reduction, confinement) resulting from repeated avulsion. By way of environmental impacts on groundwater tables and vegetation, avulsions thus affect the heterogeneity of floodbasin facies.
Overdose in young children treated with anti-reflux medications: Poisons enquiry evidence of excess 10-fold dosing errors with ranitidine
Authors: Crawford C , Anderson M , Cooper G , Jackson G , Thompson J , Vale A , Thomas SHL , Eddleston M , Bateman DN
Published: April 2017

Background:

Accidental drug overdose is a common problem in young children. We examined the influence of formulation and dose in enquiries for different gastro-oesophageal reflux disease treatments in children under 5 years to the UK’s National Poisons Information Service.

Methods:

Overdose characteristics with ranitidine, omeprazole or domperidone were compared with those of metoclopramide and the H-1 antagonist chlorphenamine, for the period 1 July 2007 to 30 June 2015.

Results:

There were a total of 1092 ranitidine, 618 domperidone and 1193 omeprazole cases; 669, 281 and 424, respectively, were single agent enquiries; of these 77% (517) of ranitidine, 52% (145) domperidone and 32% (135) omeprazole cases occurred in children <5 years. In comparison, 17% (34/424) of metoclopramide and 53% (533/1013) of chlorphenamine were <5 years; 79% (410/517) of ranitidine overdose enquiries in children <5 years were under 6 months of age, higher than domperidone (68/145, 47%; p < 0.05), omeprazole (8/135, 6%), chlorphenamine (13/553, 2%) or metoclopramide (1/34, 3%) (all p < 0.01). In children aged <6 months, 101 were 10-fold overdoses, 86 with ranitidine.

Conclusions:

Tenfold overdoses in children (<5 years) were a feature of ranitidine enquiries, likely due to the high concentration of the syrup. This has relevance to other liquid formulations used for non-licenced indications in young children. Such therapeutic errors cause significant carer anxiety and healthcare utilization. Assistance is needed from manufacturers and legislators in modifying formulation so that drugs can be safely used in young children. Education of prescribers and carers is also needed to reduce the incidence of such errors that cause significant carer anxiety and healthcare utilization.
Pregnancy-associated plasma protein-A truncation limits in antenatal screening for trisomy 18
Authors: Bestwick JP , Huttly WJ , Wald NJ
Published: April 2017

Upper and lower truncation limits are commonly applied to quantitative markers used in medical screening tests. We here examine data on 375 trisomy 18 and 522,081 unaffected singleton pregnancies, to determine if the lower truncation limit should be set below the previously specified 0.2 multiples of the median. A lower truncation limit of 0.15 would reduce the underestimation of the risk of having a trisomy 18 pregnancy in about 50% of affected pregnancies and would lead to an estimated 10 percentage point increase in the detection rate, with only a very small increase in the false-positive rate.
Pick Up Your Tools: Integrating Tools into a Sociomaterial Model of Mindful Organizing
Authors: Gärtner Christian , Huber Christian
Published: April 2017

Mindful organizing has been heralded as an important way of managing unexpected events. Prior studies have mostly taken a human-centered approach to mindful organizing. To account for the relevancy of tools in organizational practice, we draw on the notions of inscriptions and sociomateriality to examine how a computer-based tool shapes mindful organizing in a German hospital. This perspective on tools brings aspects of mindful organizing to the fore—inscribing the big picture, inscribing temporality, and inscribing accountability—that have rarely been considered so far. Interestingly, some of the tool’s shortcomings also fostered mindful organizing. The contribution of our study is to “pick up” the importance of tools and integrate their role in a model of mindful organizing. This allows discussing issues of temporality that go beyond conceptualizing time as a mere resource and the impact of accountability as it is produced in everyday work.
Pegfilgrastim-Induced Bone Pain: A Review on Incidence, Risk Factors, and Evidence-Based Management
Authors: Moore Donald C. , Pellegrino Annie E.
Published: April 2017

Objective: To review the incidence, risk factors, and management of pegfilgrastim-induced bone pain (PIBP). Data Sources: PubMed was searched from 1980 to March 31, 2017, using the terms pegfilgrastim and bone pain. Study Selection and Data Extraction: English-language, human studies and reviews assessing the incidence, risk factors, and management of PIBP were incorporated. Data Synthesis: A total of 3 randomized, prospective studies and 2 retrospective studies evaluated pharmacological management of PIBP. Naproxen compared with placebo demonstrated a reduction in the degree, incidence, and duration of bone pain secondary to pegfilgrastim. Loratadine was not effective in reducing the incidence of bone pain prophylactically, but a retrospective study evaluating dual antihistamine blockade with loratadine and famotidine demonstrated a decreased incidence in bone pain when administered before pegfilgrastim. Conclusion: Naproxen is effective at managing PIBP. Although commonly used, antihistamines have a paucity of data supporting their use. Dose reductions of pegfilgrastim and opioids may also be potential management options; however, data supporting these treatment modalities are scarce.
A nanosized rigid spherical inclusion with interfacial diffusion and sliding
Authors: Wang Xu
Published: April 2017

We examine the time-dependent deformations around a nanosized rigid spherical inclusion in an infinite elastic matrix under uniaxial tension at infinity. The elastic matrix is first endowed with separate Gurtin–Murdoch surface elasticity. Furthermore, interfacial diffusion and sliding both occur on the inclusion–matrix interface. Closed-form expressions of the time-dependent displacements and stresses in the matrix are derived by using Papkovich–Neuber displacement potentials. A concise and elegant expression of the steady-state normal stress on the surface of the inclusion is also obtained. It is seen that the displacements and stresses in the matrix evolve with two relaxation times which are reliant on three size-dependent parameters, one from surface elasticity and the other two from interfacial diffusion and sliding. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the influence of surface elasticity on the relaxation times and on the stress distribution near the inclusion. It is observed that the surface elasticity can alter the nature of the steady state normal stress on the surface of the inclusion from tension to compression. When the radius of the inclusion is not greater than the ratio of residual surface tension to remote tension, the steady state normal stress on the surface of the inclusion is always compressive. The related problem of a nanosized rigid spherical inclusion with a spring-type imperfect interface is also solved. We find that it is feasible to design a neutral spherical inclusion that does not disturb a prescribed uniform uniaxial stress field or even any uniform stress field outside the inclusion through a judicious choice of the four imperfect interface parameters.
Reward Processing Deficits During a Spatial Attention Task in Patients With ADHD: An fMRI Study
Authors: Metin Baris , Tas Zeynep C. , Çebi Merve , Büyükaslan Ayşe , Soysal Aysegül , Hatıloglu Deniz , Tarhan Nevzat
Published: April 2017

Objective: In this study, we aimed to explore how cues signaling rewards and feedbacks about rewards are processed in ADHD. Method: Inside the scanner, 16 healthy children and 19 children with ADHD completed a spatial attention paradigm where cues informed about the availability of reward and feedbacks were provided about the earned reward. Results: In ventral anterior thalamus (VA), the controls exhibited greater activation in response to reward-predicting cues, as compared with no-reward cues, whereby in the ADHD group, the reverse pattern was observed (nonreward > reward). For feedbacks; absence of rewards produced greater activation than presence in the left caudate and frontal eye field for the control group, whereas for the ADHD group, the reverse pattern was again observed (reward > nonreward). Discussion: The present findings indicate that ADHD is associated with difficulty integrating reward contingency information with the orienting and regulatory phases of attention.
Anesthetic Approach for Endoscopic Repair of Acquired Tracheoesophageal Fistula
Authors: Ghaffaripour Sina , Souki Fouad G. , Martinez-Lu Kianfa , Wakim Gisele
Published: April 2017

Tracheoesophageal fistula develops in 5 % to 15 % of patients with esophageal cancer. Metal stent placement can be used for treatment. Stent placement can result in aspiration, hemorrhage, perforation, migration, and pneumonia. Patients may present for medical attention with unanticipated worsening of the fistula and stent displacement requiring special anesthetic care. We discuss the perianesthetic management of a patient with malignant tracheoesophageal fistula and stent migration who presented for endoscopic esophageal stent replacement.
The Synergistic Role of Light-Feeding Phase Relations on Entraining Robust Circadian Rhythms in the Periphery
Authors: Bae Seul-A , Androulakis Ioannis P
Published: April 2017

The feeding and fasting cycles are strong behavioral signals that entrain biological rhythms of the periphery. The feeding rhythms synchronize the activities of the metabolic organs, such as liver, synergistically with the light/dark cycle primarily entraining the suprachiasmatic nucleus. The likely phase misalignment between the feeding rhythms and the light/dark cycles appears to induce circadian disruptions leading to multiple physiological abnormalities motivating the need to investigate the mechanisms behind joint light-feeding circadian entrainment of peripheral tissues. To address this question, we propose a semimechanistic mathematical model describing the circadian dynamics of peripheral clock genes in human hepatocyte under the control of metabolic and light rhythmic signals. The model takes the synergistically acting light/dark cycles and feeding rhythms as inputs and incorporates the activity of sirtuin 1, a cellular energy sensor and a metabolic enzyme activated by nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide. The clock gene dynamics was simulated under various light-feeding phase relations and intensities, to explore the feeding entrainment mechanism as well as the convolution of light and feeding signals in the periphery. Our model predicts that the peripheral clock genes in hepatocyte can be completely entrained to the feeding rhythms, independent of the light/dark cycle. Furthermore, it predicts that light-feeding phase relationship is a critical factor in robust circadian oscillations.
Outcomes of Surgeries Performed in Physician Offices Compared With Ambulatory Surgery Centers and Hospital Outpatient Departments in Florida
Authors: Ohsfeldt Robert L , Li Pengxiang , Schneider John E , Stojanovic Ivana , Scheibling Cara M
Published: April 2017

Background:

The proportion of outpatient surgeries performed in physician offices has been increasing over time, raising concern about the impact on outcomes.

Objective:

To use a private insurance claims database to compare 7-day and 30-day hospitalization rates following relatively complex outpatient surgical procedures across physician offices, freestanding ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), and hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs).

Methods:

A multivariable logistic regression model was used to compare the risk-adjusted probability of hospitalization among patients after any of the 88 study outpatient procedures at physician offices, ASCs, and HOPDs over 2008-2012 in Florida.

Results:

Risk-adjusted hospitalization rates were higher following procedures performed in physician offices compared with ASCs for all procedures grouped together, for most procedures grouped by type, and for many individual procedures.

Conclusions:

Hospitalizations following surgery were more likely for procedures performed in physician offices compared with ASCs, which highlights the need for ongoing research on the safety and efficacy of office-based surgery.
Haunted houses: Gender and property television after the financial crisis
Authors: Bruce Jean , Druick Zoë
Published: April 2017

This special issue includes six essays that consider the gendered dimensions of property television in the UK, Canada and the US as they have emerged since the financial crises of 2008.
Participating in the International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme: Developing international mindedness and engagement with local communities
Authors: Belal Susie
Published: April 2017

Although the rapidly expanding International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP) is a well-recognized program perceived to offer best practices in education, including developing international mindedness in students and engaging with the local communities, there is little empirical evidence to support these outcomes. This mixed methods case study investigates if and how a diverse student body in one school (School X) contributes to the achievement of the International Baccalaureate Organization’s aims, and in what ways student participation in the IBDP engages them with the diverse local community. This study concludes that engagement with the diverse local community was not perceived by participants as one of the main outcomes of offering the IBDP whereas the diversity of the school student body was perceived as an integral factor in helping students develop a wider worldview and international mindedness. Allport’s social contact theory was used as a framework to explain the impact of diversity and help to understand it in the context of the IBDP.