bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Is the tourism–growth relationship asymmetric in the Cook Islands? Evidence from NARDL cointegration and causality tests
Authors: Kumar Nikeel , Kumar Ronald Ravinesh , Kumar Radika , Stauvermann Peter Josef
Published: July 2019

We examine whether tourism sector development measured by visitor arrivals per capita has asymmetric growth effects in the Cook Islands using quarterly data from 2010Q1 to 2016Q3. Asymmetric cointegration, long-run elasticities, and dynamic multipliers are estimated using the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model developed by Shin et al. Asymmetric causality testing is done using the asymmetric vector autoregression approach with insights from Hatemi-J. We identify structural breaks using the Lee and Strazicich multiple endogenous structural break unit root test. The results indicate that a 1% increase in visitor arrivals would increase gross domestic product (GDP) per capita by 0.92%, whereas a 1% decrease in visitor arrivals would decrease GDP per capita by 0.34%. The identified breaks, 2013Q2 and 2015Q3, are positive and significant in the short run only. The causality result confirms a bidirectional association, thus mutually reinforcing the asymmetric relationship between visitor arrivals and economic growth.
Self-regulated learning strategies and achievement goals among preservice physical education teachers
Authors: Liu Jiling , Xiang Ping , McBride Ron E , Chen Han
Published: July 2019

Self-regulated learning is critical to student academic success as well as healthy lifestyles. Although widely conducted among students from various disciplines, self-regulated learning research seems not to have paid much attention to preservice physical education teachers. Attempting to amend this literature gap as well as inform the current status of self-regulated learning among preservice physical education (PE) teachers, this study focused on two essential components: learning strategies and motivation. Participants included 419 preservice PE teachers from five teacher preparation programmes in the USA. They responded to two questionnaires that assessed self-regulated learning strategies use and achievement goals. Each item on the questionnaires was on a seven-point Likert scale. Results showed that this group of preservice teachers’ use of cognitive and metacognitive strategies was at a medium level. Their mastery-approach goals demonstrated a predominant effect on general cognitive strategies and elaboration. Performance-approach and performance-avoidance goals also had a positive association with general cognitive strategies and critical thinking. Based on these results, we recommend PE teacher educators integrate self-regulated learning into instructions and focus preservice teachers on endorsing mastery-oriented goals for their learning.
Elaine Scarry, Michael Haneke’s Funny Games and the Structure of Cruelty
Authors: Bourke Joanna
Published: July 2019

Haneke’s film Funny Games is a reflection on the nature of pain and representation. I argue that the film closely follows Elaine Scarry’s arguments about the structure of torture. Further, by refusing to appeal to categories of generalization such as ‘sadism’ and ‘psychopathy’, Haneke undermines the process of finding meaning in violence. Haneke positions his audiences as more than just witnesses to torture, but active participants in cruelty.
Hidden big data analytics issues in the healthcare industry
Authors: Strang Kenneth David , Sun Zhaohao
Published: July 2019

The goal of the study was to identify big data analysis issues that can impact empirical research in the healthcare industry. To accomplish that the author analyzed big data related keywords from a literature review of peer reviewed journal articles published since 2011. Topics, methods and techniques were summarized along with strengths and weaknesses. A panel of subject matter experts was interviewed to validate the intermediate results and synthesize the key problems that would likely impact researchers conducting quantitative big data analysis in healthcare studies. The systems thinking action research method was applied to identify and describe the hidden issues. The findings were similar to the extant literature but three hidden fatal issues were detected. Methodical and statistical control solutions were proposed to overcome the three fatal healthcare big data analysis issues.
Cross-border friendships and collective European identity: A longitudinal study
Authors: Prati Gabriele , Cicognani Elvira , Mazzoni Davide
Published: July 2019

Cross-border mobility has long been seen as a mechanism to promote a collective political identity; however, the results of empirical studies on young people have been inconsistent. The present work extends previous research on the effect of cross-border mobility by considering the effect of cross-border friendships drawing on the intergroup contact theory of Allport as well as the common ingroup identity model of Gaertner and Dovidio. This longitudinal study examines the role of cross-border friendships in the development of a sense of transnational political community that transcends national boundaries, i.e. the European Union. The results rely on a two-wave sample of 1294 Italian adolescents and young adults. Cross-border friendships significantly predicted identification as European, attitudes toward the European Union, political beliefs about the European Union, trust in the European Union, (negatively) political alienation, and political participation at the European level and intention to vote at the next European Parliament elections, even after including baseline levels of outcomes as well as relevant socio-demographic factors (i.e. gender, age, majority/minority status, educational qualification, parents’ education level, family income, and socioeconomic status) in the model.
Peer relationships at residential care institutions for unaccompanied refugee minors: An under-utilised resource?
Authors: Omland Guro B , Andenas Agnes
Published: July 2019

Without access to their own families, how do young, unaccompanied refugee minors re-establish their social lives in ways that facilitate a sense of togetherness in their everyday lives during resettlement? This question was approached by exploring the young persons’ creation of relational practices and the kinds of sociomaterial conditions that seemed to facilitate the evolvement of these practices, including the professional caregivers’ contributions. Interviews with 11 boys and 4 girls (aged 13–16) from Afghanistan, Somalia, Angola and Sri Lanka, as well as their professional caregivers in their country of residence, Norway, were analysed systematically by searching for, and categorizing, the variation of relational practices among the young persons. Three overarching practices are presented. First, the young persons worked to connect past, present and future contexts through collective meaning-making practices. Second, they regulated their peers’ emotions through emotional care practices. Third, they widened each other’s social networks through practices of social inclusion. Following the resettlement procedure the young persons moved from one kind of institution (care centre) to other parts of the country and to another kind of institution (group home) where the relational practices mentioned above appeared to be less prevalent. The article suggests that arranging everyday life as collective enterprises, as well as housing peers with similar cultural backgrounds, were central for the evolvement of the relational practices. As such, the article both elucidates a range of health-promoting relational practices that the young persons’ realised as a group as well as how these practices are embedded in sociomaterial conditions.
Judith N Shklar as theorist of political obligation
Authors: Scheuerman William E
Published: July 2019

The useful publication of Judith N Shklar's final undergraduate lectures at Harvard provides an opportunity to take a careful look at her reflections on political obligation, a matter always of great interest to Shklar, and one to which she devoted a great deal of energy in her final years. When read alongside her published writings and more formal scholarly presentations from the same period, we can discern three core ideas Shklar was struggling to formulate. First, she sought to defend individual moral conscience against those writers (e.g. Hannah Arendt) who have expressed skepticism about its role and typically circumscribed its political significance. Second, she targeted Michael Walzer and other communitarian models of political obligation, faulting them for obscuring fundamental differences between matters of personal loyalty and impersonal obligations to the state. Third, she highlighted the narrow confines of recent liberal accounts of political obligation, suggesting that the increasingly tired mainstream scholarly debate on the topic might be rejuvenated by exploring the complexities of political exile. Each of Shklar's observations remains pertinent to contemporary debates about political obligation and civil disobedience.
Effects of Stem and Response Order on Response Patterns in Satisfaction Ratings
Authors: Smyth Jolene D. , Israel Glenn D. , Newberry Milton G. , Hull Richard G.
Published: July 2019

Considerable research has examined the effect of response option order in ordinal bipolar questions such as satisfaction questions. However, no research we know of has examined the effect of the order of presentation of concepts in the question stem or whether stem order moderates response option order. In this article, we experimentally test the main and interaction effects of both stem and response option order for items in self-administered surveys on response distributions and answer changes in eight satisfied/dissatisfied questions. We find consistent evidence that response option order impacts answers. We also find that the order of “satisfied” or “dissatisfied” in the question stem impacts response distributions for four of our eight items but does not moderate the effect of response option order. We discuss the implications of our findings for questionnaire design and secondary data analyses.
The Biometric Assemblage: Surveillance, Experimentation, Profit, and the Measuring of Refugee Bodies
Authors: Madianou Mirca
Published: July 2019

Biometric technologies are routinely used in the response to refugee crises with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) aiming to have all refugee data from across the world in a central population registry by the end of 2019. The article analyzes biometrics, artificial intelligence (AI), and blockchain as part of a technological assemblage, which I term the biometric assemblage. The article identifies five intersecting logics that explain wider transformations within the humanitarian sector and in turn shape the biometric assemblage. The acceleration of the rate of biometric registrations in the humanitarian sector between 2002 and 2019 reveals serious concerns regarding bias, data safeguards, data-sharing practices with states and commercial companies, experimentation with untested technologies among vulnerable people, and, finally, ethics. Technological convergence amplifies risks associated with each constituent technology of the biometric assemblage. The article finally argues that the biometric assemblage accentuates asymmetries between refugees and humanitarian agencies and ultimately entrenches inequalities in a global context.
Effects of spinning conditions on structure and properties of aramid-based hollow fiber blend separation membranes
Authors: Li Hongbin , Shi Wenying , Zhang Haixia , Qin Xiaohong
Published: July 2019

The rigid-rod-like poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA), as the raw material of aramid 1414, has the characteristics of high modulus and hydrophilicity. The flat sheet poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/PPTA blend separation membranes with improved hydrophilicity and enhanced modulus have been successfully prepared using in situ polycondensation method in our previous study. In this study, PPTA/PVDF hollow fiber blend separation membranes with enhanced hydrophilicity and mechanical strength were fabricated through the dry–wet spinning technique. Monomers of PPTA were polymerized in the PVDF solution, and the polymerization system was directly used as the spinning solution to fabricate the hollow fiber blend membrane. The effects of spinning conditions including the air-gap distance; the composition of core fluid; and composition of coagulation bath on the structure and properties including the separation properties, surface hydrophilicity, and mechanical properties of PPTA/PVDF hollow fiber blend membranes were well investigated. Membrane surface and cross-sectional morphologies were observed through scanning electron microscope. The enhancements of these spinning conditions weakened the phase separation process as a result of the formation of a small pore structure. The pore size distribution, water flux, and solute rejection varied accordingly. Different spinning conditions have different effects on the mechanical and hydrophilic properties of the hollow fiber blend membranes. Compared with pure PVDF hollow fiber membrane, blend membranes fabricated under different spinning conditions exhibited enhanced surface hydrophilicity and tensile properties. Finally, the change rates of the pure water flux and the solute rejection with different spinning conditions were calculated to further analyze and compare the statistically significant effects.
“You Have to Be Part of the Process”: A Qualitative Analysis of Older African American Men’s Primary Care Communication and Participation
Authors: Mitchell Jamie , Williams Ed-Dee G. , Perry Ramona , Lobo Kavitha
Published: July 2019

The objective of the current study was to understand older African American men’s perceptions of and experiences with patient–provider communication during primary care medical visits. Fifteen African American men age 50 and older participated in individual semistructured interviews. Open-ended questions focused on their primary care therapeutic alliance, preferences for decision-making, self-efficacy, patient satisfaction, communication, and companion participation during primary care medical visits. Emergent themes included the perception of rushed and inattentive care related to low socioeconomic status, inadequate information exchange about medical testing and follow-up care, welcoming the help of highly engaged companions, and proactively preparing for medical visits. Participants’ assertiveness, confidence, and persistence with health providers regarding agenda setting for their care were most prevalent and contradict extant literature portraying African American men as less engaged or informed patients. Older African American men, particularly those with low socioeconomic status, may benefit from additional support and advocacy to consistently receive patient centered care and communication.
Assessing the ‘impact’ of a media event: An Innisian appraisal of Al Jazeera’s Palestine Papers leak
Authors: Marmura Stephen
Published: July 2019

This article considers the ‘Palestine Papers’ as both a major news story carried by Al Jazeera in 2011 and an enduring digital artefact. These leaked documents revealed that during peace talks, the Palestinian Authority offered concessions to Israel that went beyond the Palestinian national consensus, yet failed to advance the cause of statehood. While many predicted a third Palestinian uprising, the impact of this scandal appeared limited. However, by drawing upon Harold Innis’ insights concerning the time-binding versus space-binding ‘biases’ of media and institutions, a more complex picture is revealed, one unamenable to conventional understandings of media effects.
Access to seventh grade mathematics: A case study of two students with mild intellectual disability
Authors: Hord Casey , Duppstadt Marissa , Marita Samantha , Pescatrice Stephanie
Published: July 2019

In the United States, students with mild intellectual disability (MID) are expected to access the general education curriculum and some of these students are required to pass the same high-stakes exams as students without disabilities. Research supports that students with MID can demonstrate success with mathematics after receiving interventions that emphasize the strategic use of visual representations. In this qualitative case study, the researchers describe the teaching methods of a seventh grade, special education teacher who heavily emphasized visuals, such as diagrams and gestures, in her instructional approach. In her classroom, two students with MID demonstrated the ability to solve and discuss algebra problems that required use of the distributive property and to solve word problems of the same structure.
Safe approach for fixation of first metacarpal fractures: an anatomical study
Authors: Greeven Alexander P. A. , Van Groningen Jorg , Poublon Alexander , Van Lieshout Esther M. M. , Kleinrensink Gert-Jan , Verhofstad Michiel H. J.
Published: July 2019

This anatomical study defines a safe zone for percutaneous or minimally invasive fixation of first metacarpal fractures in order to avoid injury of the superficial branch of the radial nerve and the dorsal branch of the radial artery. The courses of the nerve and artery branches were marked in 20 embalmed cadaver specimens. With computer-assisted surgical anatomy mapping, a large diversity in the anatomical patterns for the nerve and a consistent pattern for the artery were found. Based on these findings, we conclude that transfixation of the first and the second metacarpals with K-wires placed in the distal 75% of both the first and second metacarpals is the safest way to avoid damages to the nerve and artery branches during fracture fixation.
Chemical Composition of the Essential Oil From Minthostachys acris Schmidt-Leb. Grown in the Peruvian Andes
Authors: Pino Jorge A. , Dueñas-Mendoza María Milagros , Solís-Quispe Leoncio
Published: July 2019

The chemical composition of the essential oil from aerial parts of Minthostachys acris Schmidt-Leb. grown in Cuzco was studied. A total of 59 volatile compounds were identified by gas-chromatography-flame ionization detector and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry in the essential oil obtained by steam distillation, of which the most prominent were pulegone (54.4%), cis-menthone (11.0%), and thymol (6.3%).
Constitutive equations for reliable projectile penetration analysis into a concrete medium
Authors: Feldgun Vladimir R , Yankelevsky David Z
Published: July 2019

This article analyzes the fundamental question of the mechanical properties representation in penetration analysis and its effect on the calculated results. Penetration analysis into a concrete target with a specified uniaxial compressive strength was carried out using different material models appearing in software libraries. These models determine the specific material equation of state and shear strength envelope related to the concrete uniaxial compressive strength. Different results were obtained for the same concrete strength. This proves that the unconfined compressive strength is not the governing parameter which determines the projectile penetration characteristics and that a large variation of results is obtained from different models. Analysis was then carried out on a case with documented constitutive properties of a concrete target that was penetrated by an instrumented projectile. The predicted penetration depth and the projectile deceleration time history were compared with the measured data, and very good correspondence was obtained. This proved that the specific properties of the penetrated medium should be incorporated in the analysis to properly predict the penetration event. The study then examined the commonly used approximation of a linearized equation of state and a linear Mohr–Coulomb model, replacing the true non-linear equations of state and the true non-linear shear strength dependence, and the linearized relationships’ effect on the analyzed results was assessed. A detailed study of the solution sensitivity to different parameters of the Mohr–Coulomb relationship then followed, and its effect on different penetration parameters (nose embedment duration, nose embedment velocity, penetration depth, peak deceleration, quasi-static deceleration) has been examined, to demonstrate how a perturbation in assumed concrete properties affects the solution of the penetration problem. The article illuminates the role of the constitutive equations on penetration analysis and the importance of the proper selection of the representative expressions and of their approximations.
Development and testing of a checklist to assess compliance with the faculty of pain medicine’s core standards for pain management services: experience in a new national tertiary pain service
Authors: Torkamani Asma M , Atherton Rachel , Dunbar Martin , McLeod Hamish J
Published: July 2019

Introduction:

The Faculty of Pain Medicine recently published the first UK-focused Core Standards for Pain Management Services (CSPMS). We present an audit checklist tool developed to map compliance to the CSPMS, which offers a practical method of auditing any pain management service against the standards.

Methods:

The checklist tool was developed and its utility was field-tested in the Scottish National Residential Pain Management Programme (SNRPMP), a newly established service offering residential service to people in Scotland.

Results:

The checklist tool developed provides an easy and practical approach to evaluating any pain service against the national standards. Its application to evaluate the SNRPMP indicates that the service meets the majority of CSPMS standards and highlights aspects of the service requiring improvement.

Conclusion:

The layout of the developed checklist tool offers an alternative format for the structuring of the national standards in possible future revisions. The audit checklist tool enables evaluation of services with a numerical score, enabling monitoring of their compliance with national standards as well as comparisons between pain services.
Organ Transplantation for Foreign Nationals in Canada: A Survey of Transplant Professionals
Authors: Greenberg Rebecca , Ballesteros-Gallego Fabián , Allard Julie , Fortin Marie-Chantal
Published: July 2019

Background:

Transplantation for foreign nationals (non-citizens and non-residents) (FNs) in Canada is a complex issue. Currently, there are no Canadian guidelines for the provision of organ transplantation for FNs, and no empirical data on this issue or on transplant professionals’ practices are available.

Objective:

This project aimed to gather empirical data on transplant professionals’ perspectives and practices regarding transplantation for FNs.

Design:

Survey research design.

Setting:

A Web-based survey of members of the Canadian Society of Transplantation (CST).

Participants:

All members of the CST were invited to participate between April and June 2016.

Measurements:

Multiple-choice questions were developed to capture participants’ attitudes toward different fictitious clinical scenarios in which an FN needed a transplant, their experiences with FNs, their attitude toward FNs in need of transplantation, their knowledge about relevant institutional and organ donation organization (ODO) policies, and their perspectives on a quota. There were two questions with a five-point Likert scale to measure respondents’ agreement with statements related to possible policy options and arguments for and against transplantation for FNs. There was one open-ended question about the content of transplant programs’ policies on transplantation for FNs.

Methods:

Descriptive statistical analysis were performed.

Results:

A total of 87 transplant professionals completed the survey. Over the 4-year period from 2012 to 2016, 47.1% of respondents dealt with at least one situation of listing or performing a transplant for an FN. Only 19.5% of respondents reported that their transplant program had a policy about transplantation for FNs and 59.7% did not know if their ODO had such a policy. When asked about policy options, 47.5% disagreed with a policy of no transplantation for FNs and 41.4% agreed with offering transplantation for FNs in some circumstances (including life-saving and non–life-saving organs). Study participants agreed that transplantation should not be offered to FNs traveling to Canada specifically for transplantation, that FNs should not be transplanted with organs not suitable for Canadian citizens and that there should not be a transplantation quota for FNs. Participants also seem to be more inclined to offer transplantation of life-saving organs, particularly for children.

Limitations:

The major limitation of this study is the low response rate of transplant professionals to this survey.

Conclusion:

This is the first study to describe Canadian transplant professionals’ perspectives on transplantation for FNs. The findings of this study will be of interest for future policy development on access to transplantation for FNs. Further studies are needed to gather various key stakeholders’ perspectives on this issue, as well as to analyze the legal and ethical issues and the economics, to develop future policies.
Percutaneous ultrasound-guided ethanol ablation for treatment of primary hyperparathyroidism in a cat
Authors: Riehl Valentina , Hartmann Antje , Rohrberg Antje , Neiger Reto
Published: July 2019

Case summary

A 9-year-old male neutered European Shorthair cat was presented owing to vomiting and mild weight loss. Clinical examination was normal, but biochemistry results showed increased concentrations of total calcium (4.05 mmol/l; reference interval [RI] 2.20–2.90 mmol/l) and ionised calcium (iCa) (2.19 mmol/l; RI 1.12–1.40 mmol/l), as well as hypophosphataemia (2.5 mg/dl; RI 3.1–7.5 mg/dl). Parathyroid hormone (PTH) concentration (>1000 pg/ml) was markedly increased, while parathyroid hormone-related protein concentration (<0.8 pmol/l) was normal. Neck ultrasound showed a large left parathyroid mass (13 × 7 × 6 mm). Under general anaesthesia and with ultrasonographic guidance, a fine-needle aspiration of the mass followed by chemical ablation with 2 ml 96% ethanol was performed. The cat was re-evaluated and iCa concentration measured 24 h, 72 h, 5 days, 4 weeks and 4 months post-ablation. Normocalcaemia was reached within 24 h, remained stable throughout the whole evaluation period and the concentration of PTH normalised 4 months later. Vomiting stopped promptly after chemical ablation and a slight change in voice, as well as a mild prolapse of the nictitating membrane, were the only side effects after the treatment but resolved some weeks later.

Relevance and novel information

To our knowledge, this is the first report of successful chemical ablation of a parathyroid mass in a cat with primary hyperparathyroidism. Chemical ablation might therefore be a possible alternative to parathyroidectomy in cats.
Is There a Trade-Off Between Maximum Jumping and Throwing Capability in the Handball Jump Throw?
Authors: McGhie David , Sandbakk Øyvind , Østerås Sindre , Ettema Gertjan
Published: July 2019

This study examined the potential trade-off in performance between maximum physical capabilities in the handball jump throw, a fundamental skill comprised of two mechanically independent tasks. Elite handball players performed jump throw actions from a force plate for each of three instructions: jump at maximum capability, throw at maximum capability, and jump and throw at maximum capability simultaneously. Jump height and throwing velocity were derived from motion capture data. When jumping and throwing at maximum capability simultaneously, no trade-off between jump height and throwing velocity was present, but rather a concurrent decline from their respective maximums. This decline could be explained by mechanical factors related to movement execution; magnitudes of directional impulses favored vertical movement for jumping and horizontal movement for throwing. However, no explanation for differences in total magnitude of impulse between instructions was evident. Due to the expertise of the participants, information processing should not be a limiting factor, leaving movement strategy as the most likely explanation for the present findings.
Roles of Configurations of Multiple Identity Domains in Adaptive and Maladaptive Functioning in Japanese Emerging Adults: Using a Culturally Relevant Index
Authors: Hihara Shogo , Ishibashi Iroha , Umemura Tomotaka , Sugimura Kazumi
Published: July 2019

This study aimed to investigate the associations between Japanese emerging adults’ identity configuration patterns across educational and interpersonal domains and various indices of adaptive (i.e., social trust and prosocial behaviors) and maladaptive functioning (i.e., internalizing, externalizing, and hikikomori symptoms). A total of 2,313 Japanese emerging adults completed the questionnaires. Based on the identity statuses assignments in the educational and interpersonal domains, we assigned participants to seven identity configurations. Individuals assigned to achievement/foreclosure in both domains scored the highest on adaptive functioning and the lowest on maladaptive functioning. Conversely, individuals assigned to diffusion in both domains scored the lowest on adaptive functioning and the highest on maladaptive functioning. This study contributes to identity research literature by including a socioculturally relevant symptoms, hikikomori, with a large sample size of Japanese emerging adults.
Long-term results of cementless total hip arthroplasty for the treatment of ankylosed hip
Authors: Dikmen Goksel , Ozden Vahit Emre , Gulagaci Fırat , Tozun I. Remzi
Published: July 2019

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to report the long-term results of total hip arthroplasty (THA) for the treatment of ankylosed hip.

Methods:

Twenty-nine consecutive THAs were performed in 26 patients. The mean age of the patients at the time of the operation was 43.3 years (range, 19–69 years). We used cementless fixation in all hips and the mean duration of follow-up was 10.1 years (range, 4.5–20 years). Radiological evaluation of components, osteolysis, radiolucent lines and loosening were assessed. The Harris Hip Score (HHS), range of motion (ROM), limb-length discrepancy and walking capacity with or without any support were used preoperatively and at final follow-up for clinical evaluation. Survivorship analysis was conducted using the Kaplan–Meier method using second revision for any reason as the endpoint.

Results:

The mean HHS was 85.6 (range, 55–98) points and mean ROM was 110.5° for flexion. The mean limb-length discrepancy improved from 4.1 cm to 1.1 cm. Positive Trendelenburg sign was recorded in 31% of the patients and 24% of patients needed any support for walking postoperatively. We observed surgical complications related to abductor arm in 25% of the patients. Radiolucency on the acetabular side was seen on one or more zones in 15 patients (16 hips). One aseptic acetabular component loosening was observed. On the femoral side, 11 patients demonstrated non-progressive radiolucent lines and osteolysis around the stem was seen in four hips but there was no aseptic stem loosening. The Kaplan–Meier survival rate considering revision for any reason as the endpoint was 81.5%, for aseptic loosening 91.3%, for a worst-case scenario of 66.4% at 10 years.

Conclusion:

Cementless fixation showed good to excellent results at 10 years. Preoperative and postoperative abductor status of the patient is critical for patient satisfaction.
Quality and Variability of Online Available Physical Therapy Protocols From Academic Orthopaedic Surgery Programs for Medial Patellofemoral Ligament Reconstruction
Authors: Lieber Adam C. , Steinhaus Michael E. , Liu Joseph N. , Hurwit Daniel , Chiaia Theresa , Strickland Sabrina M.
Published: July 2019

Background:

Unlike the literature on anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, studies on medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstruction lack evidence-based guidelines regarding postoperative rehabilitation. An effective postoperative protocol may contribute greatly to a successful outcome following MPFL reconstruction, yet the quality and variability of these published protocols remain unknown.

Purpose:

To assess the quality and variability of MPFL rehabilitation protocols publicly available on the internet and associated with US academic orthopaedic programs.

Study Design:

Systematic review.

Methods:

All available isolated MPFL reconstruction rehabilitation protocols from US academic orthopaedic programs participating in the Electronic Residency Application Service were collected and included in this review. These protocols were evaluated for inclusion of various rehabilitation components, the timing of suggested initiation of these activities, and whether the protocol used evaluation-based guidelines.

Results:

A total of 27 protocols were included. Of these, 25 (93%) recommended immediate postoperative bracing. Time to initiation of full weightbearing ranged from 2 to 8 weeks. The most common strengthening exercises endorsed were quadriceps sets (89%), straight-legged raise (85%), and leg press (81%). The most common proprioception exercises endorsed were balance board (41%), single-legged balance (41%), and TheraBand control (33%). The median time suggested to return to play was 17 weeks. No functional test appeared in the majority of the protocols. Of the 27 protocols, 20 (74%) used evaluation-based guidelines.

Conclusion:

There is substantial variability in content and timing across rehabilitation protocols following MPFL reconstruction. This lack of clear guidelines can cause confusion among patients, therapists, and surgeons, leading to suboptimal patient outcomes and making it difficult to compare outcomes across the literature.
Speech Auditory Brainstem Responses in Adult Hearing Aid Users: Effects of Aiding and Background Noise, and Prediction of Behavioral Measures
Authors: BinKhamis Ghada , Elia Forte Antonio , Reichenbach Tobias , O’Driscoll Martin , Kluk Karolina
Published: July 2019

Evaluation of patients who are unable to provide behavioral responses on standard clinical measures is challenging due to the lack of standard objective (non-behavioral) clinical audiological measures that assess the outcome of an intervention (e.g., hearing aids). Brainstem responses to short consonant-vowel stimuli (speech-auditory brainstem responses [speech-ABRs]) have been proposed as a measure of subcortical encoding of speech, speech detection, and speech-in-noise performance in individuals with normal hearing. Here, we investigated the potential application of speech-ABRs as an objective clinical outcome measure of speech detection, speech-in-noise detection and recognition, and self-reported speech understanding in 98 adults with sensorineural hearing loss. We compared aided and unaided speech-ABRs, and speech-ABRs in quiet and in noise. In addition, we evaluated whether speech-ABR F0 encoding (obtained from the complex cross-correlation with the 40 ms [da] fundamental waveform) predicted aided behavioral speech recognition in noise or aided self-reported speech understanding. Results showed that (a) aided speech-ABRs had earlier peak latencies, larger peak amplitudes, and larger F0 encoding amplitudes compared to unaided speech-ABRs; (b) the addition of background noise resulted in later F0 encoding latencies but did not have an effect on peak latencies and amplitudes or on F0 encoding amplitudes; and (c) speech-ABRs were not a significant predictor of any of the behavioral or self-report measures. These results show that speech-ABR F0 encoding is not a good predictor of speech-in-noise recognition or self-reported speech understanding with hearing aids. However, our results suggest that speech-ABRs may have potential for clinical application as an objective measure of speech detection with hearing aids.
Do Immigrants Threaten US Public Safety?
Authors: Orrenius Pia , Zavodny Madeline
Published: July 2019

Executive Summary

Opponents of immigration often claim that immigrants, particularly those who are unauthorized, are more likely than US natives to commit crimes and that they pose a threat to public safety. There is little evidence to support these claims. In fact, research overwhelmingly indicates that immigrants are less likely than similar US natives to commit violent and property crimes, and that areas with more immigrants have similar or lower rates of violent and property crimes than areas with fewer immigrants. There are relatively few studies specifically of criminal behavior among unauthorized immigrants, but the limited research suggests that these immigrants also have a lower propensity to commit crime than their native-born peers, although possibly a higher propensity than legal immigrants. Evidence about legalization programs is consistent with these findings, indicating that a legalization program reduces crime rates. Meanwhile, increased border enforcement, which reduces unauthorized immigrant inflows, has mixed effects on crime rates. A legalization program or other similar initiatives not currently under serious consideration have more potential to improve public safety and security than several other policies that have recently been proposed or implemented.
Liminality of women’s leisure in Mumbai, India
Authors: Parikh Aparna
Published: July 2019

This paper theorizes the transformative potential of women’s night-time leisure in Mumbai’s urban areas. To this end, I draw on instances from qualitative field-based research focused on Mumbai’s call centers and surrounding areas of informal urban activity. For women working night shifts in this sector, leisure activities occur with the help of informal vendors who run food stalls on streets around call centers. These times and space of leisure, I argue, disrupt capitalist and caste-based patriarchal systems. I analyze such leisure as a “limen” (cf. Lugones, 2003 ), a form of liminality that disrupts systems of production and reproduction that constitute the everyday (cf. Lefebvre, 1991 ). I elaborate on the temporal attributes of the limen to show how it goes against the grain of “efficiency” that otherwise shapes women’s routines. The fluid spatial nature of women’s night-time leisure helps rework dichotomous understandings of the public and private realm, demonstrating possibilities for intimate interactions within the public domain. The limen and intimate interactions therein often occur between food vendors and women working night shifts, revealing an intersubjective dynamic that ephemerally disrupts societal hierarchies. As such, the limen reworks and challenges existing structures, and in doing so, holds significance for envisioning a politics of change.
Comparison of Radiographic Approaches to Assess Treatment Response in Pituitary Adenomas: Is RECIST or RANO Good Enough?
Authors: Imber Brandon S , Lin Andrew L , Zhang Zhigang , Keshavamurthy Krishna Nand , Deipolyi Amy Robin , Beal Kathryn , Cohen Marc A , Tabar Viviane , DeAngelis Lisa M , Geer Eliza B , Yang T Jonathan , Young Robert J
Published: July 2019

Context

Pituitary adenomas (PA) are often irregularly shaped, particularly posttreatment. There are no standardized radiographic criteria for assessing treatment response, substantially complicating interpretation of prospective outcome data. Existing imaging frameworks for intracranial tumors assume perfectly spherical targets and may be suboptimal.

Objective

To compare a three-dimensional (3D) volumetric approach against accepted surrogate measurements to assess PA posttreatment response (PTR).

Design

Retrospective review of patients with available pre- and postradiotherapy (RT) imaging. A neuroradiologist determined tumor sizes in one dimensional (1D) per Response Evaluation in Solid Tumors (RECIST) criteria, two dimensional (2D) per Response Assessment in Neuro-Oncology (RANO) criteria, and 3D estimates assuming a perfect sphere or perfect ellipsoid. Each tumor was manually segmented for 3D volumetric measurements. The Hakon Wadell method was used to calculate sphericity.

Setting

Tertiary cancer center.

Patients or Other Participants

Patients (n = 34, median age = 50 years; 50% male) with PA and MRI scans before and after sellar RT.

Interventions

Patients received sellar RT for intact or surgically resected lesions.

Main Outcome Measure(s)

Radiographic PTR, defined as percent tumor size change.

Results

Using 3D volumetrics, mean sphericity = 0.63 pre-RT and 0.60 post-RT. With all approaches, most patients had stable disease on post-RT scan. PTR for 1D, 2D, and 3D spherical measurements were moderately well correlated with 3D volumetrics (e.g., for 1D: 0.66, P < 0.0001) and were superior to 3D ellipsoid. Intraclass correlation coefficient demonstrated moderate to good reliability for 1D, 2D, and 3D sphere (P < 0.001); 3D ellipsoid was inferior (P = 0.009). 3D volumetrics identified more potential partially responding and progressive lesions.

Conclusions

Although PAs are irregularly shaped, 1D and 2D approaches are adequately correlated with volumetric assessment.
Diagnostic accuracy of 18F flucholine PET/CT for preoperative lymph node staging in newly diagnosed prostate cancer patients; a systematic review and meta-analysis
Authors: Kim Seong-Jang , Lee Sang Woo
Published: July 2019

Objectives:

The purpose of the current study was to investiagte the diagnostic accuracy of 18F flucholine (FCH) positron emission tomography/CT (PET/CT) for pre-operative lymph node (LN) staging in newly diagnosed prostate cancer (PCa) patients using meta-analysis.

Methods:

PubMed and Embase from the earliest available date of indexing through December 31, 2018, were searched for studies evaluating the diagnostic performance of 18F FCH PET/CT for preoperative LN staging in newly diagnosed PCa. We determined the sensitivities and specificities across studies, calculated positive and negative likelihood ratios (LR + and LR-), and constructed summary receiver operating characteristic curves.

Results:

Across seven studies (627 patients), the pooled sensitivity was 0.57 [95% confidence interval (CI) (0.42–0.70)] and a pooled specificity of 0.94 [95% CI (0.89–0.97)]. Likelihood ratio (LR) syntheses gave an overall positive likelihood ratio (LR+) of 10.2 (95% CI; 5.0–21.0) and negative likelihood ratio (LR-) of 0.46 (95% CI; 0.33–0.64). The pooled diagnostic odds ratio was 22 (95% CI; 9–54).

Conclusions:

18F FCH PET/CT shows a low sensitivity and high specificity for the detection of metastatic LNs in patients with newly diagnosed PCa. Also, 18F FCH PET/CT is only useful for confirmation of LN metastasis (when positive) in PCa patients.

Advances in knowledge:

18F FCH PET/CT demonstrates low sensitivity but high specificity for diagnosis of metastatic LNs in patients with newly diagnosed PCa. Also, 18F FCH PET/CT is only useful for confirmation of LN metastasis (when positive) in PCa patients.
Ovarian reserve parameters and response to controlled ovarian stimulation in infertile patients
Authors: Siddiqui Qurat Aman , Anjum Sagheera , Zahra Fatima , Yousuf Sarim Muhammad
Published: July 2019

Objective: To determine the ovarian reserve parameters in patients presenting for IVF and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) treatment and its association with the number of follicles retrieved and number of oocyte retrieved and fertilized.

Methods: A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted at Australian Concept Infertility Medical Centre from January 2017 to August 2017. Around 120 couples presenting to infertility clinics selected for IVF and ICSI with Females (25-45) had their FSH, AMH and AFC done. After ovulation induction, its response was determined by number of follicles retrieved, quality of oocytes retrieved or fertilized and inseminated. SPSS version 20 was used for the purpose of data analysis. 

Results: The median age of the patients was 34 (29-38) years. A moderate negative correlation of age and FSH levels was observed with quality of oocytes, Number of oocyte inseminated, number of oocyte fertilized and number of follicle restored. However, a positive correlation of AMH and AFC levels were found with quality of oocytes, Number of oocyte inseminated, number of oocyte fertilized and number of follicle restored. The correlation of AMH levels with number of oocyte inseminated (rho 0.729, p-value <0.001), number of oocyte fertilized (rho 0.721, <0.001) and number of follicle restored (rho 0.723, p-value <0.001) were found strongly correlated.

Conclusion: Our study concluded that AMH and AFC have a strong correlation with number of follicles restored and number of oocytes retrieved whereas FSH and age has a weak correlation with the number of follicles restored and number of oocytes retrieved.

doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.4.753

How to cite this:Siddiqui QA, Anjum S, Zahra F, Yousuf SM. Ovarian reserve parameters and response to controlled ovarian stimulation in infertile patients. Pak J Med Sci. 2019;35(4):958-962.   doi: https://doi.org/10.12669/pjms.35.4.753

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
mTOR as a central regulator of lifespan and aging
Authors: Papadopoli David , Boulay Karine , Kazak Lawrence , Pollak Michael , Mallette Frédérick , Topisirovic Ivan , Hulea Laura
Published: July 2019

The mammalian/mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) is a key component of cellular metabolism that integrates nutrient sensing with cellular processes that fuel cell growth and proliferation. Although the involvement of the mTOR pathway in regulating life span and aging has been studied extensively in the last decade, the underpinning mechanisms remain elusive. In this review, we highlight the emerging insights that link mTOR to various processes related to aging, such as nutrient sensing, maintenance of proteostasis, autophagy, mitochondrial dysfunction, cellular senescence, and decline in stem cell function.