bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Fault Tolerant Control of Internal Faults in Wind Turbine: Case Study of Gearbox Efficiency Decrease
Authors: Ait El Maati Younes , El Bahir Lhoussain , Faitah Khalid
Published: April 2018

This paper presents a method to control the rotor speed of wind turbines in presence of gearbox efficiency fault. This kind of faults happens due to lack of lubrication. It affects the dynamic of the principal shaft and thus the rotor speed. The principle of the fault tolerant control is to find a bloc that equalizes the dynamics of the healthy and faulty situations. The effectiveness decrease impacts on not only the dynamics but also the steady state value of the rotor speed. The last reason makes it mandatory to add an integral term on the steady state error to cancel the residual between the measured and operating point rotor speed. The convergence of the method is proven with respect to the rotor parameters and its effectiveness is evaluated through the rotor speed.
Leveraging Mobile Nodes for Preserving Node Privacy in Mobile Crowd Sensing
Authors: Chen Qinghua , Zheng Shengbao , Weng Zhengqiu
Published: April 2018

Mobile crowd sensing has been a very important paradigm for collecting sensing data from a large number of mobile nodes dispersed over a wide area. Although it provides a powerful means for sensing data collection, mobile nodes are subject to privacy leakage risks since the sensing data from a mobile node may contain sensitive information about the sensor node such as physical locations. Therefore, it is essential for mobile crowd sensing to have a privacy preserving scheme to protect the privacy of mobile nodes. A number of approaches have been proposed for preserving node privacy in mobile crowd sensing. Many of the existing approaches manipulate the sensing data so that attackers could not obtain the privacy‐sensitive data. The main drawback of these approaches is that the manipulated data have a lower utility in real‐world applications. In this paper, we propose an approach called P3 to preserve the privacy of the mobile nodes in a mobile crowd sensing system, leveraging node mobility. In essence, a mobile node determines a routing path that consists of a sequence of intermediate mobile nodes and then forwards the sensing data along the routing path. By using asymmetric encryptions, it is ensured that a malicious node is not able to determine the source nodes by tracing back along the path. With our approach, upper‐layer applications are able to access the original sensing data from mobile nodes, while the privacy of the mobile node is not compromised. Our theoretical analysis shows that the proposed approach achieves a high level of privacy preserving capability. The simulation results also show that the proposed approach incurs only modest overhead.
New Family of Iterative Methods for Solving Nonlinear Models
Authors: Ali Faisal , Aslam Waqas , Ali Kashif , Anwar Muhammad Adnan , Nadeem Akbar
Published: April 2018

We introduce a new family of iterative methods for solving mathematical models whose governing equations are nonlinear in nature. The new family gives several iterative schemes as special cases. We also give the convergence analysis of our proposed methods. In order to demonstrate the improved performance of newly developed methods, we consider some nonlinear equations along with two complex mathematical models. The graphical analysis for these models is also presented.
Novel Effector Phenotype of Tim-3+ Regulatory T Cells Leads to Enhanced Suppressive Function in Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Authors: Liu Zhuqing , McMichael Elizabeth L. , Shayan Gulidanna , Li Jing , Chen Kevin , Srivastava Raghvendra , Kane Lawrence P. , Lu Binfeng , Ferris Robert L.
Published: April 2018

Purpose: Regulatory T (Treg) cells are important suppressive cells among tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). Treg cells express the well-known immune checkpoint receptor PD-1, which is reported to mark “exhausted” Treg with lower suppressive function. T-cell immunoglobulin mucin (Tim)-3, a negative regulator of Th1 immunity, is expressed by a sizeable fraction of TIL Tregs, but the functional status of Tim-3+ Tregs remains unclear.

Experimental Design: CD4+CTLA-4+CD25high Treg cells were sorted from freshly excised head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) TIL based on Tim-3 expression. Functional and phenotypic features of these Tim-3+ and Tim-3− TIL Tregs were tested by in vitro suppression assays and multi-color flow cytometry. Gene-expression profiling and NanoString analysis of Tim-3+ TIL Treg were performed. A murine HNSCC tumor model was used to test the effect of anti-PD-1 immunotherapy on Tim-3+ Treg.

Results: Despite high PD-1 expression, Tim-3+ TIL Treg displayed a greater capacity to inhibit naïve T-cell proliferation than Tim-3− Treg. Tim-3+ Treg from human HNSCC TIL also displayed an effector-like phenotype, with more robust expression of CTLA-4, PD-1, CD39, and IFN-γ receptor. Exogenous IFN-γ treatment could partially reverse the suppressive function of Tim-3+ TIL Treg. Anti-PD-1 immunotherapy downregulated Tim-3 expression on Tregs isolated from murine HNSCC tumors, and this treatment reversed the suppressive function of HNSCC TIL Tregs.

Conclusions: Tim-3+ Treg are functionally and phenotypically distinct in HNSCC TIL, and are highly effective at inhibiting T-cell proliferation despite high PD-1 expression. IFN-γ induced by anti–PD-1 immunotherapy may be beneficial by reversing Tim-3+ Treg suppression. Clin Cancer Res; 24(18); 4529–38. ©2018 AACR.
Cross-talk between T Cells and Hematopoietic Stem Cells during Adoptive Cellular Therapy for Malignant Glioma
Authors: Wildes Tyler J. , Grippin Adam , Dyson Kyle A. , Wummer Brandon M. , Damiani David J. , Abraham Rebecca S. , Flores Catherine T. , Mitchell Duane A.
Published: April 2018

Purpose: Adoptive T-cell immunotherapy (ACT) has emerged as a viable therapeutic for peripheral and central nervous system (CNS) tumors. In peripheral cancers, optimal efficacy of ACT is reliant on dendritic cells (DCs) in the tumor microenvironment. However, the CNS is largely devoid of resident migratory DCs to function as antigen-presenting cells during immunotherapy. Herein, we demonstrate that cellular interactions between adoptively transferred tumor-reactive T cells and bone marrow–derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) lead to the generation of potent intratumoral DCs within the CNS compartment.

Experimental Design: We evaluated HSPC differentiation during ACT in vivo in glioma-bearing hosts and HSPC proliferation and differentiation in vitro using a T-cell coculture system. We utilized FACS, ELISAs, and gene expression profiling to study the phenotype and function of HSPC-derived cells ex vivo and in vivo. To demonstrate the impact of HSPC differentiation and function on antitumor efficacy, we performed survival experiments.

Results: Transfer of HSPCs with concomitant ACT led to the production of activated CD86+CD11c+MHCII+ cells consistent with DC phenotype and function within the brain tumor microenvironment. These intratumoral DCs largely supplanted abundant host myeloid-derived suppressor cells. We determined that during ACT, HSPC-derived cells in gliomas rely on T-cell–released IFNγ to differentiate into DCs, activate T cells, and reject intracranial tumors.

Conclusions: Our data support the use of HSPCs as a novel cellular therapy. Although DC vaccines induce robust immune responses in the periphery, our data demonstrate that HSPC transfer uniquely generates intratumoral DCs that potentiate T-cell responses and promote glioma rejection in situ. Clin Cancer Res; 24(16); 3955–66. ©2018 AACR.
Intraoperative Resection Guidance with Photoacoustic and Fluorescence Molecular Imaging Using an Anti–B7-H3 Antibody-Indocyanine Green Dual Contrast Agent
Authors: Wilson Katheryne E. , Bachawal Sunitha V. , Willmann Jürgen K.
Published: April 2018

Purpose: Breast cancer often requires surgical treatment including breast-conserving surgical resection. However, with current postsurgical histologic margin analysis, one quarter of breast cancer patients undergo reexcision to achieve negative margins corresponding to decreased local recurrence and better outcomes. Therefore, a method with high resolution and specificity for intraoperative margin assessment is needed.

Experimental Design: First, quantitative immunofluorescence staining of B7-H3 expression was assessed in four pathologic stages of breast cancer progression of the MMTV-PyMT transgenic murine model. Next, an antibody–dye contrast agent, B7-H3-ICG, was injected into mice prior to surgical resection of breast cancer. Anatomic ultrasound, spectroscopic photoacoustic (sPA), and fluorescence imaging were used to guide resection of mammary glands suspected of containing cancer. Resected tissues were processed for H&E staining and pathologic assessment and compared with sPA and fluorescence imaging signals.

Results: Tissue containing DCIS (46.0 ± 4.8 a.u.) or invasive carcinoma (91.7 ± 21.4 a.u.) showed significantly higher (P < 0.05) B7-H3 expression than normal and hyperplastic tissues (1.3 ± 0.8 a.u.). During image-guided surgical resection, tissue pieces assessed as normal or hyperplastic (n = 17) showed lower average sPA (3.17 ± 0.48 a.u.) and fluorescence signal [6.83E07 ± 2.00E06 (p/s)/(μW/cm²)] than DCIS and invasive carcinoma tissue (n = 63) with an average sPA signal of 23.98 ± 4.88 a.u. and an average fluorescence signal of 7.56E07 ± 1.44E06 (p/s)/(μW/cm²) with AUCs of 0.93 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.87–0.99] and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.57–0.85), respectively.

Conclusions: It was demonstrated that sPA and fluorescence molecular imaging combined with B7-H3-ICG agent can assess the disease status of tissues with high diagnostic accuracy, intraoperatively, with high resolution, sensitivity, and specificity. Clin Cancer Res; 24(15); 3572–82. ©2018 AACR.
Cystathionine γ-Lyase–Produced Hydrogen Sulfide Controls Endothelial NO Bioavailability and Blood Pressure
Authors: Szijártó István András , Markó Lajos , Filipovic Milos R. , Miljkovic Jan Lj , Tabeling Christoph , Tsvetkov Dmitry , Wang Ning , Rabelo Luiza A. , Witzenrath Martin , Diedrich André , Tank Jens , Akahoshi Noriyuki , Kamata Shotaro , Ishii Isao , Gollasch Maik
Published: April 2018

Hydrogen sulfide (H
2
S) and NO are important gasotransmitters, but how endogenous H
2
S affects the circulatory system has remained incompletely understood. Here, we show that CTH or CSE (cystathionine γ-lyase)-produced H
2
S scavenges vascular NO and controls its endogenous levels in peripheral arteries, which contribute to blood pressure regulation. Furthermore, eNOS (endothelial NO synthase) and phospho-eNOS protein levels were unaffected, but levels of nitroxyl were low in CTH-deficient arteries, demonstrating reduced direct chemical interaction between H
2
S and NO. Pretreatment of arterial rings from CTH-deficient mice with exogenous H
2
S donor rescued the endothelial vasorelaxant response and decreased tissue NO levels. Our discovery that CTH-produced H
2
S inhibits endogenous endothelial NO bioavailability and vascular tone is novel and fundamentally important for understanding how regulation of vascular tone is tailored for endogenous H
2
S to contribute to systemic blood pressure function.
Pulse Wave Velocity and Prognosis in End-Stage Kidney Disease
Authors: Tripepi Giovanni , Agharazii Mohsen , Pannier Bruno , D’Arrigo Graziella , Mallamaci Francesca , Zoccali Carmine , London Gerard
Published: April 2018

High pulse wave velocity (PWV) is a hallmark of end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) where it is considered useful for risk stratification. We investigated whether PWV adds meaningful prognostic information to 2 simple, well-validated, clinical risk scores specific to ESKD (the Annualized Rate of Occurrence scores) for predicting all-cause and cardiovascular mortality by applying state-of-the-art prognostic tests including discrimination (Harrell C-index), risk reclassification (integrated discrimination improvement), and calibration. We performed these analyses in the 2 largest ESKD cohorts with available PWV data, the Manhes-Hospital cohort in Paris (n=287 patients) and the Quebec Research Center cohort in Canada (n=246 patients). The Harrell C-index of the 2 clinical risk scores was consistently higher than that by PWV both for all-cause (Manhes cohort, 77.5% versus 73.7%; Quebec cohort, 61.5% versus 58.9%) and cardiovascular mortality (Manhes cohort, 77.9% versus 77.2%; Quebec cohort, 63.8% versus 60.3%). Furthermore, PWV provided a very modest increase in discriminatory power over and above clinical risk scores by Harrell C-index (from 0.5% to 1.8%) and in risk reclassification by Integrated Discrimination Improvement (from 0.9% to 5.1%) and actually worsened models calibration. In patients with ESKD, PWV has a prognostic power for all-cause and cardiovascular mortality inferior to that by simple clinical risk scores and only modestly improves the risk discrimination and reclassification by the same risk scores and worsens models calibration. Clinicians may better rely on available clinical risk scores rather than on PWV for risk stratification in the ESKD population.
Involvement of Neuroinflammation in the Pathogenesis of Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension
Authors: Sharma Ravindra K. , Oliveira Aline C. , Kim Seungbum , Rigatto Katya , Zubcevic Jasenka , Rathinasabapathy Anandharajan , Kumar Ashok , Lebowitz Joseph J. , Khoshbouei Habibeh , Lobaton Gilberto , Aquino Victor , Richards Elaine M. , Katovich Michael J. , Shenoy Vinayak , Raizada Mohan K.
Published: April 2018

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a devastating disease and its successful treatment remains to be accomplished despite recent advances in pharmacotherapy. It has been proposed that PH be considered as a systemic disease, rather than primarily a disease of the pulmonary vasculature. Consequently, an investigation of the intricate interplay between multiple organs such as brain, vasculature, and lung in PH could lead to the identification of new targets for its therapy. However, little is known about this interplay. This study was undertaken to examine the concept that altered autonomic–pulmonary communication is important in PH pathophysiology. Therefore, we hypothesize that activation of microglial cells in the paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus and neuroinflammation is associated with increased sympathetic drive and pulmonary pathophysiology contributing to PH. We utilized the monocrotaline rat model for PH and intracerebroventricular administration of minocycline for inhibition of microglial cells activation to investigate this hypothesis. Hemodynamic, echocardiographic, histological, immunohistochemical, and confocal microscopic techniques assessed cardiac and pulmonary function and microglial cells. Monocrotaline treatment caused cardiac and pulmonary pathophysiology associated with PH. There were also increased activated microglial cells and mRNA for proinflammatory cytokines (IL [interleukin]-1β, IL-6, and TNF [tumor necrosis factor]-α) in the paraventricular nucleus. Furthermore, increased sympathetic drive and plasma norepinephrine were observed in rats with PH. Intracerebroventricular infusion of minocycline inhibited all these parameters and significantly attenuated PH. These observations implicate a dysfunctional autonomic–lung communication in the development and progression of PH providing new therapeutic targets, such as neuroinflammation, for PH therapy.
Low Levels of Caveolin-1 Predict Symptomatic Bleeding After Thrombolytic Therapy in Patients With Acute Ischemic Stroke
Authors: Castellanos Mar , van Eendenburg Cecile , Gubern Carme , Kádár Elisabet , Huguet Gemma , Puig Josep , Sobrino Tomás , Blasco Gerard , Serena Joaquín , Sánchez Juan Manuel
Published: April 2018

Background and Purpose—

Experimental models of cerebral ischemia demonstrate that the decrease in the caveolin-1 membrane protein results in an increase in endothelial permeability. Because this phenomenon is responsible for hemorrhagic transformation (HT) after cerebral ischemia, we aimed to determine whether caveolin-1 levels may predict bleeding after recombinant tissue-type plasminogen activator (r-tPA) administration in patients with acute stroke.

Methods—

We studied 133 patients with a first hemispheric stroke treated with r-tPA within 4.5 hours of symptom onset. HT was evaluated and classified on cranial computed tomography at 24 hours and was considered as symptomatic HT (sHT) if associated with neurological deterioration. Serum caveolin-1 levels were analyzed before and at 2, 24, and 72 hours post–r-tPA administration in patients and in 40 healthy controls.

Results—

Baseline caveolin-1 levels were higher in patients than controls (0.24 [0.17–0.40] versus 0.07 [0.0–0.20] ng/mL;
P
<0.000). Twenty six (19.5%) patients had HT, which was symptomatic in 7 (5.3%). Patients with parenchymal hemorrhage-2 and sHT had lower baseline caveolin-1 levels than the rest of patients (0.08 [0.04–0.19] versus 0.26 [0.14–0.40];
P
=0.019 and 0.08 [0.02–0.17] versus 0.26 [0.13–0.41];
P
=0.019, respectively). The levels remained stable in the first 72 hours in patients with parenchymal hemorrhage-2 and sHT, whereas in the rest of patients levels decreased in this time. Caveolin-1 levels ≤0.17 ng/mL had the highest predictive capacity of sHT (86% sensitivity, 65% specificity, 99% negative predictive value, 12% positive predictive value). After adjustment for confounders, caveolin-1 levels ≤0.17 ng/mL independently predicted sHT (odds ratio, 11.6; 95% confidence interval, 11.3–102.8;
P
=0.027).

Conclusions—

Low serum levels of caveolin-1 are an independent predictor of sHT after r-tPA administration. Because of the small sample size, further research is needed to validate these data.
Child Participation: Overcoming Disparity between New Zealand’s Family Court and Out-of-court Dispute Resolution Processes
Authors: Taylor Nicola
Published: April 2018

This article considers children’s right to participate in the context of private law disputes concerning their post-separation, day-to-day care and contact arrangements. In New Zealand the approach to ascertaining children’s views has been both long-standing and systematic for contested proceedings within the Family Court (via children’s legal representatives and judicial meetings with children). However, major reform of the family justice system in 2014 shifted the emphasis to new out-of-court processes for resolving post-separation parenting arrangements. The reforms were disappointingly silent on the issue of children’s participation in the new Family Dispute Resolution services, particularly mediation. A disparity has thus arisen between opportunities for children’s engagement in New Zealand’s in-court and out-of-court dispute resolution processes. Research evidence and international developments in Australia and England and Wales are reviewed for the guidance they can offer in remedying this in New Zealand and elsewhere.
Rescue of Jews in France 1940–44: The Jesuit Contribution
Authors: Yagil Limore
Published: April 2018

Until recently, most Holocaust historians have devoted little attention to the topic of Jesuit priests who gave Jews shelter and helped them, in defiance of the orders of Vichy Government or the Germans authorities. In order to understand how it was possible for about 250,000 Jews in France, not to be deported, and to find help among the population, it is important also to take into account the activities of Jesuits providing hiding places for several hundred children and also adults. Most of them were able to obey their conscience, and disobey orders, and to act illegally in order to rescue Jews. Rescuers were not working alone, but generally they developed networks including also non-religious people. Above all, this study reveals us how much it was important to accomplish rescue in a collaborative group of rescuers: the network. This study also reveals much about the modalities of rescuing Jews in France in different regions. Most Catholic rescuers had been engaged before the war in a spiritual and theological way with anti-Nazi activities, especially in helping refugees, and in resistance to anti-Semitism and racism. It was indeed the Catholics, and especially the Jesuits and Dominicans, who raised the most attention regarding the Nazi danger, and this prepared them to act in rescuing Jews after 1940 in France.
Two new species of fungus gnats (Diptera: Mycetophilidae) from Kunashir Island, Kuril Islands
Authors: ZAITZEV ALEXANDER
Published: April 2018

Two new species of Mycetophilidae (Diptera), Clastobasis subalternans sp. n. and Phthinia kurilensis sp. n. are described from Kunashir I. (South Kuril Is.). Their relationships with other species of Clastobasis Skuse and Phthinia Winnertz are briefly discussed.
New taxa of the mite family Neopygmephoridae (Acari: Heterostigmata) from alpine New Zealand
Authors: KHAUSTOV ALEXANDER A. , MINOR MARIA A.
Published: April 2018

Two new genera and four new species of the mite family Neopygmephoridae (Acari: Pygmephoroidea) are described from the alpine zone (1600–1900 m a.s.l.) of the Central Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand: Protobakerdania Khaustov and Minor gen. nov. with the type species Pygmephorus togatus Willmann, 1942, Neobakerdania Khaustov and Minor gen. nov. with the type species Neobakerdania pilosa Khaustov and Minor sp. nov., and the species Protobakerdania diseta Khaustov and Minor sp. nov., Troxodania minuta Khaustov and Minor sp. nov., and Bakerdania alpina Khaustov and Minor sp. nov. Eight species are moved to Protobakerdania Khaustov and Minor gen. nov. from Bakerdania Sasa, 1961: P. aperta (Rack and Kaliszewski, 1985) comb. nov., P. arvorum (Jacot, 1936) comb. nov., P. arvorum nodulosa (Mahunka, 1969b) comb. nov., P. baloghi (Mahunka, 1969b) comb. nov., P. crenata (Mahunka, 1969b) comb. nov., P. pristinus (Mahunka, 1968) comb. nov., P. randae (Sevastianov and Zahida Al Douri, 1989) comb. nov., and P. togatus (Willmann, 1942) comb. nov.
Taxonomy of 'Euconnus complex'. Part XVII. Status of subgenera defined by male antennal characters: Androconnus Franz and Cladoconnus Reitter (Coleoptera, Staphylinidae, Scydmaeninae)
Authors: JAŁOSZYŃSKI PAWEŁ
Published: April 2018

Among yet unrevised subgenera of Euconnus, Androconnus and Cladoconnus were originally defined primarily on the basis of male antennal modifications. Based on examination of respective type species, both taxa are maintained as subgenera of Euconnus and redefined to include also cephalic and thoracic structures in their diagnoses.
Media Mastery: Paradoxes in College Students’ Use of Computers and Mobile Phones
Authors: Rice Ronald E. , Hagen Ingunn , Zamanzadeh Nicole
Published: April 2018

The range and capabilities of multiple new media require us to master paradoxical aspects of their uses and implications. Furthermore, those same media may also come to master us, through those paradoxes. Based on prior literature, we develop a four-component taxonomy of sites of media mastery (technology, technology-use, social contexts, and individual aspects). We apply and extend this framework to analyze summaries of focus group comments from students in a Norwegian and a U.S. university about their experiences attempting to master computers and mobile phones. From these results, we apply thematic analysis to identify five paradoxes associated with the use of these devices throughout the media mastery taxonomy as well as a tension between using media convergence or media comparison to master multiple new media.
Toward a Comparative Understanding of Foundations
Authors: Toepler Stefan
Published: April 2018

Reviewing information on philanthropic foundations in the United States, Germany, and 10 other countries, this article presents an overview assessment of the major similarities and difficulties involved in cross-national comparisons of this particular organizational form. Over the past two or three decades, foundations have experienced significant growth in many parts of the world, spurred by enabling policies devised by policymakers eager to generate private resources for public purposes. This article comparatively discusses relationships between foundations and other sectors, including the state; the purposes, approaches, and roles foundations pursue; and what makes these institutions distinctive. It concludes with some policy considerations.
Disillusionment and Suicidality: When a Developmental Necessity Becomes a Clinical Challenge
Authors: Tillman Jane G.
Published: April 2018

Both illusion and disillusion play an important role in development, fostering processes of going-on-being and separation (Winnicott 1960). The capacity to bear disillusionment is both a developmental necessity and an ongoing challenge. Disillusionment penetrates the sphere of illusion and invites the individual into an expanded encounter with shared realities. But when disillusionment becomes chronic and pervasive or is accompanied by severe psychic pain, then suicide is felt by some to be an urgent option for refusing or escaping this pain. Contextualized within a review of psychoanalytic developmental theories of disillusion, vignettes from a research study of participants who have survived a near lethal suicide attempt illuminate the phenomenon of suicide as an illusory solution to what feels like unbearable disillusionment.
Illusion as a Basic Psychic Principle: Winnicott, Freud, Oedipus, and Trump
Authors: Seligman Stephen
Published: April 2018

Illusion can be viewed as a creative engagement with the world, and as a central psychic motivation and capacity, rather than as a form of self-deception. Winnicott and other Middle Group writers have understood integrative, imaginative illusion as an essential part of healthy living and psychosocial development. As such, it emerges and presents itself in a variety of ways, in transaction with the realities that support or degrade it. In its absence, varied difficulties in living ensue. To elaborate and illustrate this conceptualization, Freud’s notion that the oedipus complex is resolved is reconsidered as a creative misreading of Sophocles’ Oedipus trilogy, one based on the plausible illusion of a civilizing psychosocial development that would serve as a protective bastion against his experience of the political chaos and violence of the first decades of twentieth-century European history. Finally, the place of illusion and disillusionment among those most disillusioned by the recent election of Donald Trump in the United States is considered in relation to the recent right-wing populist turn.
Illusionment and Disillusionment: Foundational Illusions and the Loss of a World
Authors: Margulies Alfred
Published: April 2018

One can only be disillusioned if once one lived within illusions—and so disillusionment is always after the fact ( après coup or nachträglich), as illusions come into view even as they are crumbling within. With a crisis of disillusionment—or existential disillusionment—one falls away from a coherence of meaning, revealing a system of intertwined fundamental illusions that had always been lived within and implicit, part of one’s being-in-the-world, and that now seem broken, strange, and uncanny. This way of being that one recognizes only retrospectively may be called “illusionment,” a state of being apprehended in the very process of its falling apart. That is, prior to disillusionment, there may not have been an illusion as such; rather, there was some overall effective-enough, taken-for-granted coherence, an experience of world and being that now comes into view and seems broken precisely because it no longer holds together. For example, a sense of a common “we” might be revealed to be so flawed as to have been a fiction, a fantasy, a set of pervasive, interwoven illusions that one had once naively lived within as unquestioned beliefs. Severe disillusionment, then, carries with it a sense of falling out of the once taken-for-granted world, undermining a sense of solid existential grounding. Saturating all aspects of the psyche, traumatizing disillusionments may lead to a lifelong cascade of après coup attempts to find new grounding in how to live, as one attempts to repair this world-broken-ness.
Disillusioning Gender
Authors: Schiller Britt-Marie
Published: April 2018

Illusions are not errors but erroneous beliefs motivated by wishful ideas and fantasies. To disillusion gender is to challenge the traditional Freudian construction that splits masculinity and femininity into agency versus passivity, the first with power, the second without. Disillusioning femininity as impotent frees up potency and power as generativity. Disillusioning masculinity as phallic and omnipotent opens the masculine subject to permeability and vulnerability. Illusions regarding the transgender include the idea that there are only two gender categories and the idea that gender identity is generated solely from an internal sense of self. The wish “to be seen as” or “to pass as” one gender or the other shows that social structures exceed the individual. At least for now, the disillusionment of gender with which we are left marks a tension between the internal sense of gender identity and the social structures of gender.
Increased Peripheral Blood Visfatin Concentrations May Be a Risk Marker of Coronary Artery Disease: A Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies
Authors: Yu Fuling , Li Jianwei , Huang Qilei , Cai Hongbin
Published: April 2018

A comprehensive quantitative evaluation of the relationship between peripheral blood visfatin concentrations and coronary artery disease (CAD) is lacking. This study is the first attempt to quantify this relationship via a meta-analysis of published observational studies in terms of weighted mean difference (WMD). Literature retrieval, article selection, and data extraction were conducted. Heterogeneity was inspected using both subgroup and meta-regression analyses. In total, 15 articles involving 1053 CAD cases and 714 controls were included. Overall, peripheral blood visfatin concentrations were significantly higher in CAD cases than in controls (WMD: 4.72 ng/mL; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.97-6.47; P < .001), with significant heterogeneity and publication bias. Six studies were theoretically missing based on filled funnel plot, and considering the impact of these missing studies still detected a significant overall mean difference in visfatin (WMD: 2.82 ng/mL; 95% CI: 2.22-3.58; P < .001; number of studies: 21). Subgroup and meta-regression analyses indicated age, body mass index, race, diabetes, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol were identified as possible causes of heterogeneity. In conclusion, our findings suggest that increased peripheral blood visfatin concentrations may be a risk marker of CAD.
New Public Management reforms in Europe and their effects: findings from a 20-country top executive survey
Authors: Hammerschmid Gerhard , Van de Walle Steven , Andrews Rhys , Mostafa Ahmed Mohammed Sayed
Published: April 2018

This article assesses the impact of New Public Management (NPM)-style reforms in European countries as perceived by top public sector officials. Using data from an executive survey conducted in 20 European countries, we look at the relationship between five key NPM reforms (downsizing, agencification, contracting out, customer orientation and flexible employment practices) and four dimensions of public sector performance: cost efficiency, service quality, policy coherence and coordination, and equal access to services. Structural equation modelling reveals that treating service users as customers and flexible employment are positively related to improvements on all four dimensions of performance. Contracting out and downsizing are both positively related to improved efficiency, but downsizing is also associated with worse service quality. The creation of autonomous agencies is unrelated to performance. This suggests that policy-makers seeking to modernize the public sector should prioritize managerial reforms within public organizations over structural transformations.
Skill-Based and Planned Active Play Versus Free-Play Effects on Fundamental Movement Skills in Preschoolers
Authors: Roach Lindsay , Keats Melanie
Published: April 2018

Fundamental movement skill interventions are important for promoting physical activity, but the optimal intervention model for preschool children remains unclear. We compared two 8-week interventions, a structured skill-station and a planned active play approach, to a free-play control condition on pre- and postintervention fundamental movement skills. We also collected data regarding program attendance and perceived enjoyment. We found a significant interaction effect between intervention type and time. A Tukey honest significant difference analysis supported a positive intervention effect showing a significant difference between both interventions and the free-play control condition. There was a significant between-group difference in group attendance such that mean attendance was higher for both the free-play and planned active play groups relative to the structured skill-based approach. There were no differences in attendance between free-play and planned active play groups, and there were no differences in enjoyment ratings between the two intervention groups. In sum, while both interventions led to improved fundamental movement skills, the active play approach offered several logistical advantages. Although these findings should be replicated, they can guide feasible and sustainable fundamental movement skill programs within day care settings.
When teachers become activists
Authors: Niesz Tricia
Published: April 2018

Teacher activist groups (TAGs), which are formed both locally and through online communities, appear to be a growing force in response to the more corporate-driven reform movement of recent decades. The author explains how TAGs seek to influence education policy and practice through organized collective actions, such as protests, letter-writing campaigns, and alliances with like-minded groups. In addition, TAGs promote professional learning through workshops, book clubs, and inquiry groups.
Levels in the library
Authors: Rumberger Alyson
Published: April 2018

Leveled reading, in which students select “just right” books based on their assessed reading level, has become a significant part of elementary reading instruction. However, libraries remain places where students can select books to read outside their reading levels. Based on observations of 1st-grade students, the author describes how the idea of reading levels has affected students’ perceptions of themselves as readers and what they should be reading. She argues for the preservation of spaces, like libraries, where students choose what, when, and how they read, without regard for reading levels.
Examining the Positive Cognitive Triad: A Link Between Resilience and Well-Being
Authors: Mehta Mansi H. , Grover Rachel L. , DiDonato Theresa E. , Kirkhart Matthew W.
Published: April 2018

Extant literature links higher levels of resilience to overall well-being; however, the underlying mechanisms explaining this relation are unclear. Replicating and extending the study of Mak, Ng, and Wong, the present study investigated the “positive cognitive triad” of hope, world-view, and self-esteem as a possible mediator between resilience and well-being for the first time in an American sample. Participants ( n = 198) completed online surveys of self-esteem, hope, view of the world, and resilience. Consistent with expectations, the triad was a significant mediator of the relation between resilience and well-being. These findings underscore the importance of developing interventions targeting the positive cognitive triad and examining the triad within the context of mental illness. Limitations and areas for future research are discussed.
Student Perspectives on the Common Core: The Challenge of College Readiness at Urban High Schools
Authors: Kolluri Suneal
Published: April 2018

The Common Core State Standards were designed to prepare all students for college and careers. Using theories of cultural capital and culturally relevant pedagogy, this study of 54 college-bound, inner-city high school seniors seeks to determine how students perceive their college readiness during the implementation of the new standards. While the Common Core promotes the development of higher-order thinking skills and cultural competence, students reported that their schools struggled to meet both of these goals. The findings call into question the capacity of the Common Core to prepare all students for college due to challenges of implementation.
Reasserting the Refounding
Authors: Mattingly-Jordan Sara
Published: April 2018

What is worth reasserting from the tradition begun by Refounding Public Administration? In this time of reboots and remixes in pop-culture, it may seem trite to suggest reevaluating an established scholarly paradigm. But, in the continued absence of a strong theory of Public Administration and the emergence of new challenges to administrative practice, it is worth revisiting the key concepts of the Refounding tradition to show how this successful normative theory might help solve key problems in contemporary public administration, such as incorporation of algorithmic decision making into public agencies.
Day-ahead forecasting of grid carbon intensity in support of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning plant demand response decision-making to reduce carbon emissions
Authors: Lowry Gordon
Published: April 2018

Electrical heating, ventilation and air-conditioning loads in buildings are suitable candidates for use in demand response activity. This paper demonstrates a method to support planned demand response actions intended explicitly to reduce carbon emissions. Demand response is conventionally adopted to aid the operation of electricity grids and can lead to greater efficiency; here it is planned to target times of day when electricity is generated with high carbon intensity. Operators of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning plant and occupants of conditioned spaces can plan when to arrange shutdown of plant once they can foresee the opportune time of day for carbon saving. It is shown that the carbon intensity of the mainland UK electricity grid varies markedly throughout the day, but that this tends to follow daily and weekly seasonal patterns. To enable planning of demand response, 24 h ahead forecast models of grid carbon intensity are developed that are not dependent on collecting multiple exogenous data sets. In forecasting half-hour periods of high carbon intensity either linear autoregressive or non-linear artificial neural network models can be used, but a daily seasonal autoregressive model is shown to provide a 20% improvement in carbon reduction.

Practical application: The forecast method demonstrated in the paper would enable building operators to plan demand response activity to target times of high carbon intensity on the UK electricity grid. The method would be easy to implement as the only data required are publicly available.
The difficulties of discharging hospice patients to care homes at the end of life: A focus group study
Authors: Thomas Tabitha , Clarke Gemma , Barclay Stephen
Published: April 2018

Background:

Discharge from inpatient palliative care units to long-term care can be challenging. In the United Kingdom, hospice inpatients move to a care home if they no longer require specialist palliative care and cannot be discharged home. There is evidence to suggest that patients and families find the prospect of such a move distressing.

Aim:

To investigate the issues that arise when patients are transferred from hospice to care home at the end of life, from the perspective of the hospice multidisciplinary team.

Design:

A qualitative study, using thematic analysis to formulate themes from focus group discussions with hospice staff.

Setting/participants:

Five focus groups were conducted with staff at five UK hospices. Participants included multidisciplinary team members involved in discharge decisions. All groups had representation from a senior nurse and doctor at the hospice, with group size between three and eight participants. All but one group included physiotherapists, occupational therapists and family support workers.

Results:

A major focus of group discussions concerned dilemmas around discharge. These included (1) ethical concerns (dilemmas around the decision, lack of patient autonomy and allocation of resources); (2) communication challenges; and (3) discrepancies between the ideals and realities of hospice palliative care.

Conclusion:

Hospice palliative care unit staff find discharging patients to care homes necessary, but often unsatisfactory for themselves and distressing for patients and relatives. Further research is needed to understand patients’ experiences concerning moving to care homes for end of life care, in order that interventions can be implemented to mitigate this distress.
Traumatic glioblastoma: commentary and suggested mechanism
Authors: Ohana Nissim , Benharroch Daniel , Sheinis Dimitri , Cohen Abraham
Published: April 2018

The role of head trauma in the development of glioblastoma is highly controversial and has been minimized since first put forward. This is not unexpected because skull injuries are overwhelmingly more common than glioblastoma. This paper presents a commentary based on the contributions of James Ewing, who established a major set of criteria for the recognition of an official relationship between trauma and cancer. Ewing’s criteria were very stringent. The scholars who succeeded Ewing have facilitated the characterization of traumatic brain injuries since the introduction of computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Discussions of the various criteria that have since developed are now being conducted, and those of an unnecessarily limiting nature are being highlighted. Three transcription factors associated with traumatic brain injury have been identified: p53, hypoxia-inducible factor-1α, and c-MYC. A role for these three transcription factors in the relationship between traumatic brain injury and glioblastoma is suggested; this role may support a cause-and-effect link with the subsequent development of glioblastoma.
Examining Individual Characteristics and Program Performance to Understand Two-Year Recidivism Rates Among Drug Court Participants: Comparing Graduates and Terminators
Authors: Shannon Lisa M. , Jones Afton Jackson , Newell Jennifer , Payne Connie
Published: April 2018

Drug courts strive to break the cycle of substance use and crime by providing community-based treatment and rehabilitation. The purpose of the present study was to (a) identify significantly different factors between program participants (i.e., graduates/terminators) that may affect recidivism and (b) examine these significant individual and program performance factors associated with two-year recidivism. Secondary data were examined for a stratified random sample of drug court participants ( N = 534). Examining any two-year post-program recidivism (defined as an arrest, conviction, or incarceration), over one third (37.6%) of graduates and almost all program terminators (95.3%) had two-year post-program recidivism ( p < .001). For the overall sample, age, outpatient treatment, marital status, number of times treated for a psychiatric problem in a hospital, substance use (i.e., past-30-day cocaine use and intravenous opiate use), number of positive drug tests, and receiving any sanction/therapeutic response were associated with two-year post-program recidivism. Further analyses suggested age and outpatient treatment were particularly important for program graduates. Findings provide information for early targeting of resources to drug court participants most at risk of poorer post-program outcomes by identifying factors known at program entry and indicators during program participation.
Can an Integrated System of Electroencephalography and Virtual Reality Further the Understanding of Relationships Between Attention, Meditation, Flow State, and Creativity?
Authors: Yang Xiaozhe , Cheng Pei-Yu , Lin Lin , Huang Yueh Min , Ren Youqun
Published: April 2018

The creativity of the brain is usually measured by one’s creative behavior or activity. This study explores connections between an individual’s creative behavior and his or her creative brain by asking each participant to design an open-ended virtual product in an integrated system consisting of virtual reality and brainwaves. The results show a significant correlation between the individual creativity level and the state of flow. There is a significant correlation between the state of flow and the quality of the creative product. The attention value is correlated significantly with the quality of product. The participants’ four different behaviors significantly demonstrated different attention and meditation levels. The sequential analysis shows that people with high product creativity have a higher attention value while maintaining a state of relaxation, demonstrated during the behavior of painting in the virtual reality environment. Given a limited period of time, a higher level of product creativity can be achieved through persistent implementation, concentration, and by being relaxed both physically and mentally. Implications of the study on teaching, learning, and designing a creative learning environment will be discussed.
Performance comparison of the 3D-printed and injection-molded PLA and its elastomer blend and fiber composites
Authors: Kaynak Cevdet , Varsavas S Deniz
Published: April 2018

The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of polylactide (PLA)-based materials shaped by the traditional injection molding technique versus three-dimensional (3D)-printing additive manufacturing. Comparisons were performed not only for neat PLA but also for its thermoplastic polyurethane elastomer (TPU) blend and for its E-glass fiber (GF)-reinforced composites. Performance comparison of the injection-molded and 3D-printed specimens was especially conducted to compare their mechanical properties (strength–modulus–toughness) by tensile, flexural, and fracture toughness tests. Other comparisons such as their macro-level appearances, fracture surface morphology, and thermal behavior were also performed by photographic images, scanning electron microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry, and thermogravimetric analysis. It can be concluded that the use of 3D-printing in the shaping of neat PLA and PLA/TPU blend was generally very beneficial; on the other hand, due to the differences in the orientation of the GF reinforcements, there could be certain reductions in the mechanical performance of PLA/GF and PLA/TPU/GF composite specimens.
On measuring key parameters of an electro-impulse deicing system
Authors: Du Qian , Zhu Chunling
Published: April 2018

The peak current and vibration peak acceleration are two important parameters in the electroimpulse deicing system. Available data on two parameters are sparse. An experimental setup to measure the peak current and vibration peak acceleration in the electroimpulse deicing system is presented. The measurement is performed in the icing wind tunnel. Rogowski coil’s principle on pulsed current measurement is applied in the electroimpulse deicing discharge current circuit. It is found that calculated results agree with the measured trend. A piezoelectric vibration acceleration sensor is adopted to measure the vibration peak acceleration. Test results show that when the peak current varies linearly, the vibration peak acceleration increases with the increase of discharge voltages and its variation is approximately linear. The experimental results in the electroimpulse deicing system demonstrate that the proposed measuring method is accurate and reliable.