bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Six, not two, species of Acisoma pintail dragonfly (Odonata: Libellulidae)
Authors: MENS LOTTE P. , SCHÜTTE KAI , STOKVIS FRANK R. , DIJKSTRA KLAAS-DOUWE B.
Published: May 2016

The dragonfly genus Acisoma is revised based on adult male morphology and COI sequence data. Six species are recognised, including the new species A. attenboroughi sp. nov. Diagnoses and a key to males of all species and illustrations of all relevant characters are provided. A. inflatum, A. variegatum and A. trifidum are confined to continental Africa, while A. panorpoides is restricted to Asia. A. ascalaphoides is known only from threatened littoral forest fragments on the east coast of Madagascar, while A. attenboroughi is widespread across the island. The new species honours Sir David Attenborough on his 90th birthday.
Prematurity Affects Age of Presentation of Pyloric Stenosis
Authors: Costanzo Caitlyn M. , Vinocur Charles , Berman Loren
Published: May 2016

Term infants with hypertrophic pyloric stenosis (HPS) typically present between 4 and 6 weeks. There is limited consensus, however, regarding age of presentation of premature infants. We aim to determine if there is an association between the degree of prematurity and chronological age of presentation of HPS. A total of 2988 infants who had undergone a pyloromyotomy for HPS were identified from the 2012 and 2013 NSQIP-P Participant Use Files. Two hundred seventeen infants (7.3%) were born prematurely. A greater degree of prematurity was associated with an older chronological age of presentation ( P < .0001). Prematurity was significantly associated with an increase in overall postoperative morbidity, reintubation, readmission, and postoperative length of stay. When clinicians evaluate an infant with nonbilious emesis with a history of prematurity, they should consider pyloric stenosis if the calculated postconceptional age is between 44 and 50 weeks. When counseling families of premature infants, surgeons should discuss the increased incidence of postpyloromyotomy morbidity.
Reputation and identity conflict in management consulting
Authors: Harvey William S , Morris Timothy , Müller Santos Milena
Published: May 2016

Based on a case study of a large consulting firm, this article makes two contributions to the literature on reputation and identity by examining how an organization responds when its identity is substantially misaligned with the experience and perceptions of external stakeholders that form the basis of reputational judgments. First, rather than triggering some form of identity adaptation, it outlines how other forms of identity can come into play to remediate this gap, buffering the organization’s identity from change. This shift to other individual identities is facilitated by a low organizational identity context even when the identity of the firm is coherent and strong. The second contribution concerns the conceptualization of consulting and other professional service firms. We explain how reputation and identity interact in the context of the distinctive organizational features of these firms. Notably, their loosely coupled structure and the central importance of expert knowledge claims enable individual consultants both to reinforce and supplement corporate reputation via individual identity work.
Identity, autonomy and emancipation: The agendas of the Adi-Andhra movement in South India, 1917–30
Authors: Murthy N. Chandra Bhanu
Published: May 2016

Dalits of the Telugu-speaking region of Madras Presidency struggled for liberation from socio-economic and politico-cultural deprivation by mobilising themselves under the ‘Adi-Andhra’ identity. They worked for the eradication of untouchability, achieving education, land, jobs and political representation, using modern ideas of equality and empowerment and, thus, challenged the traditional caste hierarchy. The existing literature on the subject has largely tended to represent Dalit movements as either autonomous from or integral to Congress-dominated nationalism and Hinduism. However, I would argue that to accomplish their objectives, Dalits constantly interacted with Hindu nationalists and the colonial state between 1917 and 1930. However, on a number of occasions, they expressed their dissatisfaction with both Hindu nationalist reform and colonial policies and programmes for the emancipation of Dalits. It is, therefore, essential to recognise that Dalits were neither integrated with them, nor entirely estranged from them.
An Essay on Naturalized Epistemology of African Indigenous Knowledge
Authors: Luyaluka Kiatezua Lubanzadio
Published: May 2016

The whole culture of the Black man, his religion, his cosmology, his technology, and so on possesses scientific bases. However, the epistemological bases of his science differ from those of modern Western thought. And, this difference prevents those who study Black African culture on the basis of Western epistemology to discover its scientific scope. In this article, the author develops the naturalized epistemology of the African traditional science. This epistemology teaches us that the African starts from the notion of God, to whom all reality is attributed; the Black African science is mainly a deductive science in which knowledge is of a revelatory nature. Contrary to the Western epistemology, the focus of the epistemology of the African science is the moral and spiritual conformity of the initiate to the religious norms and the praxis of the knowledge he produces. Far from being a bunch of superstitious beliefs, the African traditional religion, which is the basis of African lore, is demonstrated today, thanks to the apologetic tools developed by the Institut des Sciences Animiques, to be a scientific knowledge whose cosmology leads to the holistic “theory of everything.” This proves the natural convergence between African traditional lore and Newtonian physics.
Involvement of Microglial P2Y12 Signaling in Tongue Cancer Pain
Authors: Tamagawa T. , Shinoda M. , Honda K. , Furukawa A. , Kaji K. , Nagashima H. , Akasaka R. , Chen J. , Sessle B.J. , Yonehara Y. , Iwata K.
Published: May 2016

To elucidate if microglial P2Y12 receptor (P2Y12R) mechanisms are involved in the trigeminal spinal subnucleus caudalis (Vc; also known as the medullary dorsal horn) in intraoral cancer pain, we developed a rat model of tongue cancer pain. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells were inoculated into the tongue of rats; sham control rats received the vehicle instead. Nociceptive behavior was measured as the head-withdrawal reflex threshold (HWRT) to mechanical or heat stimulation applied to the tongue under light anesthesia. On day 14 after the SCC inoculation, activated microglia and P2Y12R expression were examined immunohistochemically in the Vc. The HWRT was also studied in SCC-inoculated rats with successive intra–cisterna magna (i.c.m.) administration of specific P2Y12R antagonist (MRS2395) or intraperitoneal administration of minocycline, a microglial activation inhibitor. Tongue cancer was histologically verified in SCC-inoculated rats, within which the HWRT to mechanical stimulation of the tongue was significantly decreased, as compared with that of vehicle-inoculated rats, although the HWRT to heat stimulation was not. Microglia was strongly activated on day 14, and the administration of MRS2395 or minocycline reversed associated nocifensive behavior and microglial activation in SCC-inoculated rats for 14 d. The activity of Vc wide dynamic range nociceptive neurons was also recorded electrophysiologically in SCC-inoculated and sham rats. Background activity and noxious mechanically evoked responses of wide dynamic range neurons were significantly increased in SCC-inoculated rats versus sham rats, and background activity and mechanically evoked responses were significantly suppressed following i.c.m. administration of MRS2395 in SCC-inoculated rats as compared with sham. The present findings suggest that SCC inoculation that produces tongue cancer results in strong activation of microglia via P2Y12 signaling in the Vc, in association with increased excitability of Vc nociceptive neurons, reflecting central sensitization and resulting in tongue mechanical allodynia.
Qualitative Study of a Solution-Focused Training Program for Taiwanese Military Instructors
Authors: Pan Peter Jen Der , Deng Liang-Yu F. , Tsia Shio-ling , Jiang Jye-Ru Karen , Wang Yu Jen
Published: May 2016

This study explored Taiwanese military instructors' perceptions of a training program using a solution-focused approach and its initial application to students with behavior problems. A total of 25 military instructors (16 men, 9 women; M age = 38.6 years, SD = 5.8) and 10 students (three men, seven women; M age = 17.5 years, SD = 0.9) participated in the study through convenience sampling. Grounded theory method was adopted for data analysis. Six prominent categories emerged from the focus group interview, weekly training notes, and the researcher's field notes, including reactions to learning solution-focused approach, strengths and weaknesses of using the solution-focused approach, identification of military instructors role function, initial responses to the techniques of the solution-focused approach, a positive attitude to deal with students' problems, and from assimilation to transformation. In addition, feedback collected from students was grouped into a seventh category. Finally, a modified pattern was developed for military instructors to use when working with students.
Confirmatory Factor Analysis of the Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale With Online Graduate Students
Authors: DeVaney Thomas A.
Published: May 2016

The Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale was examined using data from a convenience sample of 450 female and 65 male students enrolled in online, graduate-level introductory statistics courses. The mean age of the students was 33.1 ( SD = 8.2), and 58.3% had completed six or fewer online courses. The majority of students were enrolled in education or counseling degree programs. Confirmatory factor analysis using unweighted least squares estimation was used to test three proposed models, and alpha coefficients were used to examine the internal consistency. The confirmatory factor analysis results supported the six-factor structure and indicated that proper models should include correlations among the six factors or two second-order factors (anxiety and attitude). Internal consistency estimates ranged from .82 to .95 and were consistent with values reported by previous researchers. The findings suggest that, when measuring statistics anxiety of online students using Statistical Anxiety Rating Scale, researchers and instructors can use scores from the individual subscales or generate two composite scores, anxiety and attitude, instead of a total score.
Online Student Services: Current Practices and Recommendations for Implementation
Authors: Bailey Tabitha L. , Brown Abbie
Published: May 2016

Recommendations for planning and development of online student services based on a review of the literature on research conducted in a variety of college settings. Focus topics include the institutional website, help desks and information centers, student orientation, academic support, and library services.
The Effect of Type of Podcasts and Learning Styles on Language Proficiency and Confidence
Authors: Kelly Wei Qiang , Klein James D.
Published: May 2016

This study examined the effect of type of podcasts and learning styles on speaking, listening, and confidence when college used podcasts for learning Chinese. It focused on college students enrolled in a beginning-level Chinese course at a large university in the southeastern United States. Findings indicated that listening to grammar podcasts helped students to improve their speaking skills as well as their confidence. Results also revealed that visual scores had a significant negative relationship with posttest speaking scores. Implications for the use of podcasts in higher education are provided.
Examining the Effects of School-Provided E-Readers on Middle School Students’ Reading Ability
Authors: Brown H. Quincy
Published: May 2016

Nationwide, the increasing popularity of e-books is undeniable; sales of e-books increased an astounding 4,456% over a 5-year period. Researchers, Miranda, Johnson, and Rossi-Williams, determined that e-readers have a positive impact on students’ desire to read. This study attempted to determine if the use of institution issued e-readers would increase reading ability of students. The researcher used Lexile and Comprehensive Testing Program scores to determine if there was an increase in reading ability (comprehension, vocabulary, and reasoning) when students are given e-readers. Nook tablets were issued to sixth-grade students in a private school environment on a one-to-one basis. All assigned reading for the Language Arts class was accomplished using the e-readers. The scores of the treatment group were compared with scores of previous students who did not have school sponsored access to e-readers.
Improving Patient Discharge Communication
Authors: Gouge Catherine C.
Published: May 2016

Transitional care communication events—such as discharge from hospital—are complex and dynamic: impromptu questions are asked and answered, documents are discussed and signed, and health-care professionals and patients with different knowledge must work together to establish understanding. This article examines a set of patient discharge instructions that bear substantial traces of impromptu conversation in the patient discharge communication process and argues that we need to do more to account for such exchanges as a part of the complex information our documentation must coordinate and make accessible for end users.
Differential Vulnerability
Authors: Clay-Warner Jody , Bunch Jackson M. , McMahon-Howard Jennifer
Published: May 2016

It is well established that victimization is associated with increased risk of future victimization. According to state dependence arguments, this occurs because the victimization event changes either the individual or the social environment in ways that elevate risk. In contrast, the population heterogeneity perspective argues that the association between victimization events is spurious. Empirical research finds that state dependence and population heterogeneity jointly contribute to risk of repeat victimization, but research has not been able to specify the nature of the relationship between state dependence, population heterogeneity, and repeat victimization risk. Here, we propose that state dependence processes vary across levels of underlying propensity for victimization. Using propensity score matching with longitudinal data from the National Crime Victimization Survey, we find that state dependence effects operate differently depending upon one’s underlying risk of victimization and that the pattern of these effects differ for property and violent victimization.
The Politics of Strolling
Authors: Erber Pedro
Published: May 2016

The large gatherings of youths from impoverished urban peripheries in the shopping malls of São Paulo and Rio, known as rolezinhos (little strolls), in the first two months of 2014 and their disputed relation to the wave of political protests in Brazilian cities since June 2013 became the topic of heated debates among intellectuals and journalists in Brazil. Historical parallels ranging from nineteenth-century Paris to colonial Korea help situate the rolezinho phenomenon in a transnational history of urban strolling and to problematize its ambiguous politicality between ostentatious consumerism and revolutionary practice.

Durante os dois primeiros meses de 2014, jovens das periferias urbanas do Rio de Janeiro e de São Paulo formavam grandes aglomerações nos shopping centers daquelas cidades. Conhecidos como rolezinhos, esses grupos foram objeto de intenso debate entre jornalistas e intelectuais que estabeleceram uma relação entre o comportamento daqueles jovens e as manifestações de rua que varreram as cidades brasileiras desde junho de 2013. Paralelos históricos, da Paris novecentista à Coréia colonial, ajudam a situar o fenômeno do rolezinho na história transnacional do passeio. Demais, permite articular o problema da ambigüidade política entre o consumismo ostentatório e a prática revolucionária.
Mandating Disclosure of Conscience-Based Limitations on Medical Practice
Authors: Sawicki Nadia N.
Published: May 2016

Stakeholders in law, medicine, and religion are unable to reach consensus about how best to address conflicts between healthcare providers' conscientious objections to treatment and patients' rights to access medical care. Conscience laws that protect objecting providers and institutions from liability are criticized as too broad by patient advocates and as too narrow by defenders of religious freedom. This Article posits that some of the tension between these stakeholders could be mitigated by statutory recognition of a duty on the part of healthcare institutions or providers to disclose conscientiously motivated limitations on practice. While this solution would not guarantee a patient's access to treatment, referral, or information from any given provider, it would prevent some of the more egregious cases of denial of treatment—those where patients are not made aware that a legal and clinically defensible treatment option is excluded from a provider's or institution's scope of practice and so have no opportunity to seek care elsewhere.
Perception of Risk for Developing Diabetes Among Foreign-Born Spanish-Speaking US Latinos
Authors: Joiner Kevin L. , Sternberg Rosa Maria , Kennedy Christine M. , Fukuoka Yoshimi , Chen Jyu-Lin , Janson Susan L.
Published: May 2016

Purpose

The purpose of the study was to describe perception of risk for developing diabetes among foreign-born Spanish-speaking US Latinos.

Methods

Participants (N = 146), recruited at food-pantry distribution events and free clinics, were surveyed using the Risk Perception Survey for Developing Diabetes in Spanish. Type 2 diabetes risk factors measured included body mass index, physical activity, and A1C.

Results

Sample characteristics were mean (SD) age of 39.5 (9.9) years, 58% with less than a high school graduate-level education, and 65% with a family income less than $15,000/year. Prevalence of risk factors was 81% overweight or obese, 47% less than 150 minutes/week moderate/vigorous-intensity physical activity, and 12% A1C consistent with prediabetes. Of the 135 participants with complete data, 31% perceived a high/moderate risk for developing diabetes. In univariate logistic regression analyses, 9 of 18 potential variables were significant ( P < .05) predictors of perception of risk. When these 9 variables were entered into a multiple logistic regression model, 5 were significant predictors of perception of risk: history of gestational diabetes, high school graduate or above, optimistic bias, worry, and perceived personal disease risk.

Conclusions

Use of the Spanish-language translation of the Risk Perception Survey for Developing Diabetes revealed factors influencing perception of risk for developing diabetes. Results can be used to promote culturally acceptable type 2 diabetes primary prevention strategies and provide a useful comparison to other populations.
The five Cs of positive youth development in Norway
Authors: Holsen Ingrid , Geldhof John , Larsen Torill , Aardal Elisabeth
Published: May 2016

As the field of positive youth development (PYD) emerges internationally, models of PYD designed for use in the US must be extended to diverse contexts. For instance, a robust body of evidence supports Lerner and colleagues’ Five Cs Model of PYD in the US, but it remains unclear whether the Five Cs Model can validly capture positive development in other contexts. In this article we examined the Five Cs of PYD using data from 1195 upper secondary school students (ages 16 to 19) in Norway and 839 participants who took part in the 4-H Study of PYD in the United States. Despite some differences, the tests of weak and strong measurement invariance do suggest that the overarching PYD factor as well as a majority of the Cs, retain their qualitative interpretation between the two samples. We next examined correlations between the full battery of PYD items administered to the Norwegian sample and three relevant criterion measures: Anxiety and Depressive symptoms; Life Satisfaction; and Empowerment. The residual Cs tended to correlate positively with indicators of adaptive development and negatively with maladaptive outcomes. The one exception was a positive correlation between Caring and Anxiety and Depressive symptoms. These findings are discussed. Measuring the same constructs in the same way across countries is a prerequisite for studying cultural differences and similarities in development. This study thus represents a step forward in the application of PYD research among diverse youth.
Using focus groups in political science and international relations
Authors: Stanley Liam
Published: May 2016

Following widespread use in political marketing and polling, focus groups are slowly gaining recognition as a useful and legitimate method in political science. Focus groups can, however, be far more than just a secondary qualitative method to primary quantitative public opinion research: they can be used to study the micro-level process of social construction. The process in which key sub-groups collectively contest and justify the actions of elite political actors via shared values is one way to study how legitimacy is conferred. This article therefore argues that focus groups can be particularly useful for research that examines everyday narratives in world politics.
Promoting fairness in Sheffield
Authors: Dabinett Gordon , Borland Matthew , Squires Sharon , Walker Alan
Published: May 2016

In the light of growing inequalities, several urban areas in the UK established Fairness Commissions between 2010 and 2013. In one of these areas, Sheffield, there was an attempt to do something different and innovative. Sheffield on average was, and remains one of the least deprived major cities in England, but also one of the most unequal. Following the publication of the Commission’s report which included an analysis of evidence and 90 recommendations, Sheffield responded by pursuing a number of city-wide initiatives involving different stakeholders. These included monitoring progress towards a fairer city, action on the living wage, a city-wide campaign to promote Sheffield as the fairest city, and ‘Sheffield Money’ to provide support for those households facing financial exclusion. The continuation of austerity measures still creates severe challenges to the ambitions and work of the Sheffield Fairness Commission, but experiences have shown how leadership through example and the co-production of an active campaign can give articulation to a shared desire to address injustices in the city.
Municipal Professionalism: More Than Just a Job in Government?
Authors: McCabe Barbara Coyle , Reddick Christopher G. , Demir Tansu
Published: May 2016

Although professionalism remains important to the study and practice of public administration, its features have remained unclear. Whether public managers share a professional identity has yet to be empirically tested. In this article, we test a model of professional identity among public managers, using a national sample of city managers, the first profession in public administration. Both public administration in general and city management in particular lack institutional characteristics—such as mandatory programs of specialized training or a monopoly over entry into the field—that mark traditional professions such as medicine or law. Using five commonly found professional identification attributes, we test a structural equation model of professional beliefs among city managers with data from a national survey. We find evidence of city managers’ professional identity across four attributes: belief in professional associations, belief in public service, belief in self-regulation, and sense of calling. City managers’ beliefs about autonomy, however, were unrelated to other aspects of their professionalism.
The Impact of Job Characteristics on Burnout Among Chinese Correctional Workers
Authors: Jin Xiaohong , Sun Ivan Y. , Jiang Shanhe , Wang Yongchun , Wen Shufang
Published: May 2016

Job burnout has long been recognized as a common occupational hazard among correctional workers. Although past studies have investigated the effects of job-related characteristics on correctional staff burnout in Western societies, this line of research has largely been absent from the literature on community corrections in China. Using data collected from 225 community correction workers in a Chinese province, this study assessed the effects of positive and negative job characteristics on occupational burnout. Positive job characteristics included job autonomy, procedural justice, and role clarity. Negative characteristics included role conflict, job stress, and job dangerousness. As expected, role clarity tended to reduce burnout, whereas role conflict, job stress, and job dangerousness were likely to produce greater burnout among Chinese community correction workers. Male correctional officers were also subjected to a higher level of burnout than their female coworkers. Implications for future research and policy were discussed.
A thousand CEOs
Authors: MacFarlane Key
Published: May 2016

The last 20 years have witnessed a deepening of the imbrication between capital and the university. This paper seeks to map one point at which this binding occurs: in critical theory. Recently scholars in strategic management have turned to processual and relational ontologies in an attempt to reimagine the logics of profit, value, and growth. These same ontologies have appealed to critical geographers as a means of reconceiving space as unfixed. Drawing on a case study of Deleuze’s appropriation in management literature, I show how such ontologies presuppose a vitalism that necessarily reproduces and obscures the structures of exploitation.
Suicide Mortality Among Retired National Football League Players Who Played 5 or More Seasons
Authors: Lehman Everett J. , Hein Misty J. , Gersic Christine M.
Published: May 2016

Background:

There is current disagreement in the scientific literature about the relationship between playing football and suicide risk, particularly among professional players in the National Football League (NFL). While some research indicates players are at high risk of football-related concussions, which may lead to chronic traumatic encephalopathy and suicide, other research finds such a connection to be speculative and unsupported by methodologically sound research.

Purpose:

To compare the suicide mortality of a cohort of NFL players to what would be expected in the general population of the United States.

Study Design:

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods:

A cohort of 3439 NFL players with at least 5 credited playing seasons between 1959 and 1988 was assembled for statistical analysis. The vital status for this cohort was updated through 2013. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs), the ratio of observed deaths to expected deaths, and 95% CIs were computed for the cohort; 95% CIs that excluded unity were considered statistically significant. For internal comparison purposes, standardized rate ratios were calculated to compare mortality results between players stratified into speed and nonspeed position types.

Results:

Suicide among this cohort of professional football players was significantly less than would be expected in comparison with the United States population (SMR = 0.47; 95% CI, 0.24-0.82). There were no significant differences in suicide mortality between speed and nonspeed position players.

Conclusion:

There is no indication of elevated suicide risk in this cohort of professional football players with 5 or more credited seasons of play. Because of the unique nature of this cohort, these study results may not be applicable to professional football players who played fewer than 5 years or to college or high school players.
Safety and Mortality Benefits of Delivering Vitamin A Supplementation at 6 Months of Age in Sub-Saharan Africa
Authors: Kupka Roland , Nielsen Jennifer , Nyhus Dhillon Christina , Blankenship Jessica , Haskell Marjorie J. , Baker Shawn K. , Brown Kenneth H.
Published: May 2016

Background:

Vitamin A supplementation (VAS) among children 6 to 59 months of age reduces vitamin A deficiency (VAD)-related mortality. Child health days (CHDs) only reach an estimated 16.7% of children at exactly 6 months, leaving uncovered children at risk of VAD-related mortality; similarly, VAS provided at 9 months of age with measles-containing vaccine leaves infants unprotected for 3 months.

Objective:

Using data from sub-Saharan Africa, we estimated the mortality benefits and safety of providing VAS at age 6 months, compared to delivery through CHDs and at 9 months.

Methods:

We modeled VAS-preventable mortality benefits at 6 months as a function of published VAS effect sizes, intervention coverage, and proportion of infant deaths occurring between 6 and 11 months. To evaluate safety, we modeled the effect of different VAS coverage scenarios on maximum hepatic vitamin A concentrations (HVACs).

Results:

VAS linked to a 6-month visit could reduce infant mortality by an additional 1.95 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.38-2.52) and 1.63 (95% CI: 1.15-2.11) percentage points compared to VAS through CHDs and at 9 months, respectively. The HVAC models indicate that VAS at 6 months is safe even in the presence of a second VAS dose 1 month later and other food-based vitamin A control strategies.

Conclusion:

Advancing the first VAS dose to 6 months should be considered in settings where VAS is currently given first at 9 months. A 6-month VAS dose should also be considered in settings where VAS is delivered through CHDs. VAS delivery at 6 months could also serve as a platform to deliver other high-impact interventions.
A Qualitative Study of Factors Influencing Initiation and Adherence to Micronutrient Supplementation Among Women of Reproductive Age in Vietnam
Authors: Nechitilo Meredith , Nguyen Phuong , Webb-Girard Amy , Gonzalez-Casanova Ines , Martorell Reynaldo , DiGirolamo Ann , Ramakrishnan Usha
Published: May 2016

Background and objectives:

Initiation and adherence are both critical challenges for micronutrient supplementation programs, especially during the preconceptional period. This study examines factors influencing initiation of supplement use and continued adherence among women participating in PRECONCEPT, a double-blind randomized controlled trial of preconception micronutrient supplementation.

Methods:

In-depth interviews were conducted with 39 participants during different periods (prepregnancy [n = 15], pregnancy [n = 8], postpartum [n = 8], and dropouts [n = 8]). We examined participants’ knowledge about nutritional needs and micronutrient deficiencies, individual experience with nutritional supplements, and perceived benefits and side effects of supplements. Four focus groups were conducted with 24 village health workers (VHWs) to collect information on VHWs’ perceptions of factors influencing participants’ adherence and logistics of supplement distribution. Influences on initiation and adherence were examined within the Health Belief Model framework.

Results:

Primary barriers to initiation of supplement use were low perceptions of severity of nutrient deficiencies and personal susceptibility. These are associated with low knowledge and awareness around deficiencies. Perceived seriousness and susceptibility varied by nutrient: high for iron during pregnancy but low for all other micronutrient deficiencies, including iron outside pregnancy. Continued maintained adherence to an initiated regimen was influenced by the woman’s perceptions of the health benefits of, and barriers to, regular supplement use.

Conclusion:

Initiation of supplement use was influenced by perceived susceptibility and severity of nutrient deficiencies, while maintained adherence to consistent use was influenced by perceived benefits and barriers. Recognizing the influences on each stage may help improve adherence and maximize positive effects of future interventions.
UPI’s Merriman Smith may have suffered from PTSD
Authors: Lim Young Joon , Sweeney Michael S.
Published: May 2016

This article examines stress-related disorders of journalists who cover traumatic events through the lens of Merriman Smith, a UPI reporter first to report on the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Horrible dreams, chronic headaches and increased alcohol consumption plagued Smith after his Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage of Kennedy’s shooting and death in 1963.
From the Classroom to Facebook
Authors: Kousoulis Antonis A. , Kympouropoulos Stylianos P. , Pouli Dimitra K. , Economopoulos Konstantinos P. , Vardavas Constantine I.
Published: May 2016

Purpose:

The explosive rise in Internet use calls for effective ways to utilize new forms of social media to enhance school smoking prevention programs. We attempted to design and test an educational intervention for youth tobacco prevention.

Design:

Intervention design and posttest pilot implementation.

Setting:

A single high school in Athens, Greece.

Subjects:

Two hundred twenty-five students (aged 15–18 years).

Intervention:

A Facebook-integrated educational intervention in six simple steps was designed and tested during an ad hoc smoking prevention lecture to high school students in Greece in order to stimulate social mobilization in online networks.

Measures:

Number of students with an active Facebook account, percentage posting antismoking messages within a 72-hour period, number of Facebook friends reached.

Analysis:

Descriptive statistics.

Results:

Assessed 3 days after the lecture, 15.9% of students had posted a smoking-related sentence in their Facebook account, a take-home message that was spread as a note on their wall via news feed to their 20,095 cumulative Facebook friends.

Conclusion:

One smoking-related take-home message can spread virally to a large number of adolescents through their Facebook friends. This intervention provides insight into a novel way of providing health information to youth, a hard-to-reach and vulnerable population.
The effect of dimensions of transformational, transactional, and non-leadership on the job satisfaction and organizational commitment of teachers in Iran
Authors: Sayadi Yaser
Published: May 2016

It has been found that transformational and transactional leadership is positively related to the effectiveness of the leader, the subordinate’s effort, job satisfaction, and the subordinate’s organizational commitment. The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of transformational, transactional, and non-leadership on job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The population was teachers of all three levels of schooling (elementary, intermediate, and high school) in the province of Kermanshah, Iran in 2012–2013. The sample consisted of 387 teachers who were randomly selected from among 42 schools. The results seem to indicate that teachers experienced more value commitment than commitment to stay and job satisfaction. The results of the study revealed that charismatic leadership was a strong predictor of job satisfaction and value commitment, and laissez-faire leadership was a strong (negative) predictor of intent to stay.
Making sense of social justice in education
Authors: Arar Khalid Husny , Oplatka Izhar
Published: May 2016

The research aimed to understand the way in which high school principals’ perceptions of social justice (SJ) are implemented in their daily educational work. A qualitative study employed in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect the narratives of two high school principals in Israel – one Arab-Muslim and one Jewish. The interview transcripts underwent comparative holistic analysis to identify their perceptions and daily practice of SJ in their schools. Findings indicated that the principals’ perceptions of SJ were coloured by their national and cultural context, yet they needed strong conviction to integrate these perceptions in their schools, and their efforts to do so were often beset by resistance.
Asymmetric dimethylarginine and heart-type fatty acid-binding protein 3 are risk markers of cardiotoxicity in carbon monoxide poisoning cases in Zagazig university hospitals
Authors: Abass Marwa A , Arafa Manar H , EL-shal Amal S , Atteia Hebatallah H
Published: May 2016

Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is a leading cause of toxicity-related mortality and morbidity worldwide. Recent studies focused on CO-induced cardiovascular toxicity. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathophysiology of CO toxicity. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between cardiac damage biomarkers and oxidative stress biomarkers in patients with CO-induced cardiotoxicity. This study was carried out on 36 CO-poisoned patients admitted to Zagazig University Hospitals. Forty healthy individuals (age- and sex-matched) were selected as a control group. Clinical examination and electrocardiography (ECG) were performed for CO-poisoned patients. These patients have been investigated for carboxyhaemoglobin percent (COHB%) and cardiac damage biomarkers; cardiac troponin I (cTn-I), heart-type fatty acid-binding protein 3 (H-FABP3). Oxidative stress biomarkers comprising malondialdehyde (MDA), asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) have been also assessed. All biomarkers have been assessed on admission (0 h) and 6 h after treatment of CO-poisoned patients with high-flow oxygen and compared with those of the control groups. ECG findings were abnormal in 31 patients (86.11%), where sinus tachycardia was the commonest finding (58.33%). There was a statistically significant increase of COHB%, MDA, ADMA, and H-FABP3 levels, and a significant decrease of TAC level in CO-poisoned patients compared to controls with no significant changes in cTn-I. Six hours following treatment, all measured parameters were significantly improved except for cTn-I, which was significantly increased when compared with admission status (0 h). Furthermore, H-FABP3 showed a significant positive correlation with COHB%, MDA, ADMA, and a negative correlation with TAC, while cTn-I was significantly correlated with COHB% only. ADMA and MDA seem to be the strongest determinants for the prediction of H-FABP3 changes and hence cardiovascular toxicity. Thus, cardiac damage in patients with CO poisoning could be partially mediated by CO-induced oxidative stress, where H-FABP3 level was directly and strongly associated with MDA and ADMA levels.
The Great EU Debt Write-Off
Authors: Evans Anthony J. , Tse Terence , Baker Jeremy
Published: May 2016

Background. When one economic entity is both a creditor and debtor to another economic entity, a somewhat obvious and simple resolution is to cross-cancel their debts.

Aim. To give students experience of researching important data and to conduct a policy-relevant negotiation exercise.

Method. We created a classroom simulation in which students were required to research the debt positions of eight EU countries (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Spain, Britain, France, and Germany) and then conduct a negotiation exercise with the goal of reducing the total debt burdens of the countries to which they were assigned.

Results. Students discovered that a large amount of the EU debt burden can be written off by cross cancelling interlinked debt.

Conclusion. As students were the focus of the exercise, their engagement and learning outcomes were high. The result is a platform to understand and discuss EU policy decisions and the wider implications of the debt crisis.
Just the Facts? Partisan Media and the Political Conditioning of Economic Perceptions
Authors: Anson Ian G.
Published: May 2016

This paper analyzes the effects of biases in economic information on partisans’ economic perceptions. In survey experiments, I manipulate the presence of partisan cues and the direction of proattitudinal information in news stories about the American economy. Results demonstrate that although proattitudinal tone in factual economic news stories most strongly affects partisans’ economic perceptions, inclusion of partisan cues alongside proattitudinal information results in weaker shifts in economic sentiment relative to stories lacking partisan content. These findings suggest that the relatively subtle process of agenda setting in economic news may be the most effective tool used by partisan news outlets to drive polarization in citizens’ factual economic perceptions.
Disentangling Components of Flexibility via the Hexaflex Model: Development and Validation of the Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI)
Authors: Rolffs Jaci L. , Rogge Ronald D. , Wilson Kelly G.
Published: May 2016

The current study developed the 60-item Multidimensional Psychological Flexibility Inventory (MPFI)—a scale assessing the 12 dimensions of the Hexaflex model. We created an exhaustive pool of 554 items including 22 of the most widely used measures from the acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness literatures. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used in combination with item response theory and responsiveness to change analyses in 3,040 online respondents across three studies ( NStudy 1 = 372; NStudy 2 = 2,150; NStudy 3 = 518) to create the MPFI. Associations between the MPFI subscales and an array of existing measures supported its convergent and discriminant validities. The MPFI offers acceptance and commitment therapy researchers new tools for elaborating treatment effects.
The Relative State Model: Integrating Need-Based and Ability-Based Pathways to Risk-Taking
Authors: Mishra Sandeep , Barclay Pat , Sparks Adam
Published: May 2016

Who takes risks, and why? Does risk-taking in one context predict risk-taking in other contexts? We seek to address these questions by considering two non-independent pathways to risk: need-based and ability-based. The need-based pathway suggests that risk-taking is a product of competitive disadvantage consistent with risk-sensitivity theory. The ability-based pathway suggests that people engage in risk-taking when they possess abilities or traits that increase the probability of successful risk-taking, the expected value of the risky behavior itself, and/or have signaling value. We provide a conceptual model of decision-making under risk—the relative state model—that integrates both pathways and explicates how situational and embodied factors influence the estimated costs and benefits of risk-taking in different contexts. This model may help to reconcile long-standing disagreements and issues regarding the etiology of risk-taking, such as the domain-generality versus domain-specificity of risk or differential engagement in antisocial and non-antisocial risk-taking.
Scalability study of an implicit solver for coupled fluid-structure interaction problems on unstructured meshes in 3D
Authors: Kong Fande , Cai Xiao-Chuan
Published: May 2016

Fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problems are computationally very challenging. In this paper we consider the monolithic approach for solving the fully coupled FSI problem. Most existing techniques, such as multigrid methods, do not work well for the coupled system since the system consists of elliptic, parabolic and hyperbolic components all together. Other approaches based on direct solvers do not scale to large numbers of processors. In this paper, we introduce a multilevel unstructured mesh Schwarz preconditioned Newton–Krylov method for the implicitly discretized, fully coupled system of partial differential equations consisting of incompressible Navier–Stokes equations for the fluid flows and the linear elasticity equation for the structure. Several meshes are required to make the solution algorithm scalable. This includes a fine mesh to guarantee the solution accuracy, and a few isogeometric coarse meshes to speed up the convergence. Special attention is paid when constructing and partitioning the preconditioning meshes so that the communication cost is minimized when the number of processor cores is large. We show numerically that the proposed algorithm is highly scalable in terms of the number of iterations and the total compute time on a supercomputer with more than 10,000 processor cores for monolithically coupled three-dimensional FSI problems with hundreds of millions of unknowns.
A Review of Psoriasis, Therapies, and Suicide
Authors: Gooderham Melinda , Gavino-Velasco Jennifer , Clifford Cole , MacPherson Alex , Krasnoshtein Flora , Papp Kim
Published: May 2016

Many chronic medical disorders are associated with psychiatric morbidity. Yet the psychological burden of these disorders often goes unnoticed. In dermatology, psoriasis has a higher association with psychiatric illness, including depression and suicide risk, compared with many other conditions. Studies suggest that effective treatment of psoriasis results in the improvement of psychiatric morbidity, particularly depression and anxiety. New biologic treatments for psoriasis may offer help beyond clearing of the skin in these patients and may lead to a reduction of psychiatric morbidity. Although concerns have been raised regarding the potential link between interleukin-17R blockade in the treatment of psoriasis and suicide, current literature provides no evidence to support this association.
Experimental study on the efficacy of MoS2 microfluids for improved tribological performance
Authors: Kumar Ajay , Thakre Gananath D , Arya PK , Konathala LNS , Saran S , Singh Raghuvir , Jain AK
Published: May 2016

This paper reports the synthesis and tribo-performance investigation of microfluids developed using silane functionalized µ-molybdenum disulphide (µ-MoS2) particles for improved tribological performance. The functionalized µ-MoS2 particles were characterized by analytical techniques like Fourier-transform infrared, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The µ-MoS2 particles were then blended with mineral base oil in varying concentrations. The lubrication characteristics in terms of anti-friction, anti-wear, and extreme pressure properties of the µ-MoS2 particle blended microfluids were evaluated under different lubrication regimes. The results showed an excellent improvement in anti-wear, anti-friction, and extreme pressure properties. The tribo-performance of the MoS2 microfluids strongly depends on the compatibility and concentration of particles with base oils. Functionalization of the µ-MoS2 particles by trichlorooctadecylsilane allows forming stable dispersion in base oil. The MoS2 microfluids can be used as lubricants in advance tribological applications.
‘They’re a very sick group of individuals’: Correctional officers, emotions, and sex offenders
Authors: Spencer Dale , Ricciardelli Rose
Published: May 2016

In this article, we analyze the politics of emotions within the occupational culture of correctional officers by focusing attention on how sex offenders are constituted as objects of fear and disgust. We draw on in-depth semi-structured interviews with 100 Canadian men and women with experience working as correctional officers in provincial prisons (e.g. New Brunswick, Ontario, Alberta, Nunavut, Prince Edward Island) to understand how sex offenders are viewed within their occupational culture. Utilizing an interpretive hermeneutic approach, this article analyzes Canadian correctional officers’ interpretations of sex offenders. We show the effects of sex offenders’ construction as objects of fear and disgust, in terms of their identities and positionality in the general prison population, and the level of protection and services they receive while in prison.