bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
From Meta to Micro
Authors: Mares Marie-Louise , Sivakumar Gayathri , Stephenson Laura
Published: July 2015

There are numerous media offerings targeted to young audiences that claim to have educational benefits. It is hard to overemphasize the need for evidence about which of these offerings are effective, for which populations, and for which outcomes. The current article begins by discussing the value and limitations of meta-analysis (as opposed to narrative literature reviews) as a tool for marshaling such evidence. We illustrate these points with a recent meta-analysis of the educational impact of Sesame Street international coproductions. We then present two further studies that emerged from one aspect of the findings, examining effects of educational TV narratives on children’s racial/ethnic attitudes.
Rethinking Income Inequality in Japan and China (1995–2007)
Authors: Tay Stephen
Published: July 2015

Most countries are grappling with the rising income inequality problem and many governments believe that it is important to reduce income inequality. This is because income inequality is associated with a variety of ‘negative’ outcomes (e.g., protest and low citizen well-being). This seemingly common-sense argument hinges on an untested assumption: Changes in a country’s level of income inequality affect how its citizens perceive and evaluate income inequality. This article argues that this is not theoretically plausible and shows with evidence from China and Japan from 1995 to 2007, that the income inequality of the context a person is embedded in does not systematically affect his or her perception and evaluation of income inequality. Instead, it is the individual socio-psychological factors that affect individual subjective evaluation of income inequality. Thus, while government officials in China and Japan are quick to implement policies that lower the objective dimensions of income inequality, more efforts should focus on subjective income inequality. Simply using the metric of objective income inequality indices (e.g., Gini ratio) as a measure of policy impact may blindside policy makers to the more important subjective income inequality, that is, how people perceive and evaluate everyday income inequality.
Between the Lines
Authors: Chowdhury Debasish Roy
Published: July 2015

Between the Lines: Indian Media’s China War is a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the China coverage in India’s English-language press. The study identifies different kinds of adversarial and non-adversarial frames used in reporting China and classifies them according to their frequency of appearance. It examines the rhetoric and logic employed to activate the most common frames and puts them in the perspective of the politico-cultural predispositions that shape China-related news in India. Reviewing the content of two of India’s biggest selling newspapers, The Times of India (TOI) and the Hindustan Times (HT), in a 6-month period to determine the numerical spread of these frames, the study finds a generally conflictual tone of China coverage, with the dominant frames portraying China as a rival power inimical to India’s interests that needs to be resisted. With the Indian media as an example, this study offers a glimpse of China’s soft power deficit in a region where it is seeking to cement its leadership.
The Inmate as the Nonperson
Authors: Trammell Rebecca , Rundle Mackenzie
Published: July 2015

Midwestern state inmates were interviewed to determine how they understand and interpret staff conflict. Qualitative analysis has shown that inmates describe being ignored or disregarded because of verbal and sometimes physical fights between staff members. While others show that those occupying a nonperson status are in a powerless position, inmates explain that this highlights the fact that staff members are not paying attention to them and this engenders inmate misconduct and contributes to a culture of disrespect.
Why seek international organisation approval under unipolarity? Averting issue linkage vs. appeasing Congress
Authors: Recchia Stefano
Published: July 2015

What motivates the United States, the world’s most powerful country, to seek multilateral approval from the United Nations or NATO for its military interventions? Drawing on interviews with top-level US policymakers and combining process tracing with a structured-focused comparison of several cases, this article reveals that American leaders do not value multilateral approval primarily to avert negative issue linkage, or ‘soft balancing’ in other policy domains. Instead, they are motivated by narrower concerns. Their main goal is to facilitate sustained military and financial burden sharing on the prospective intervention, in the expectation that this will assuage congressional concerns about resource costs, reducing the risk that Congress might withdraw its support once American troops are deployed. The article therefore demonstrates that (1) US policymakers worry less about issue linkage than many International Relations theorists, as policymakers are confident that overall, US power inclines other countries to bandwagon with the United States, and (2) contrary to widespread belief, executive-branch concerns about congressional opposition do significantly influence US military intervention decision-making.
Dealing With a Wicked Problem? A Dark Tale of Carnivore Management in Sweden 2007-2011
Authors: Duit Andreas , Löf Annette
Published: July 2015

In this article, we investigate whether increased participation offers a way of addressing wicked policy problems. We utilize a natural policy experiment in the form of a 2010 reform of Swedish wildlife management policy aiming to solve longstanding conflicts over predators through increased stakeholder participation in regional Wildlife Management Boards. Using a panel study design containing quantitative and qualitative data, we estimate pre- and post-reform levels of three wickedness-reducing mechanisms: legitimacy, deliberation, and conflict intensity. Despite a substantial increase in participation, we find no evidence of reduced wickedness after the reform.
Assessing Helping and Hurting Behaviors Through the Tangram Help/Hurt Task
Authors: Saleem Muniba , Anderson Craig A. , Barlett Christopher P.
Published: July 2015

Across six studies, we validated a new measure of helpful and hurtful behaviors, the Tangram Help/Hurt Task. Studies 1 to 3 provided cross-sectional correlational convergent and discriminant validity evidence for the Tangram Task using college-based and adult online samples. Study 4 revealed that previously validated empathy primes increase helpful behaviors on the Tangram Task. Studies 5 and 6 revealed that previously validated provocation manipulations increase hurtful behaviors on the Tangram Task. The effects of various experimental manipulations on the Tangram Task were similar to or larger than on other established indices of helpful and hurtful behaviors. In addition, motivation items in all studies indicate that tangram choices are indeed associated with the intent of helping and hurting. We discuss the advantages and limitations of the Tangram Help/Hurt Task relative to established measures of helpful and hurtful behaviors.
Incorporating social information to perform diverse replier recommendation in question and answer communities
Authors: Liu Yingchun , Lin Zhen , Zheng Xiaolin , Chen Deren
Published: July 2015

Social information is contextual information that has made significant contributions to intelligent information systems. However, social information has not been fully used, especially in question and answer (Q&A) systems. This study describes a contextual recommendation method in which diverse repliers are recommended for new questions using incorporated social information in Q&A communities. We have mined multiple kinds of social information by analysing social behaviours and relations found in a Q&A community and proposed an algorithm to incorporate different social information in various social contexts to perform diverse repliers’ recommendations. Recommendation diversity and social contexts have been considered and the properly used social information has been emphasized in this study. We conducted experiments using a dataset collected from the Stack Overflow website. The results demonstrate that different social information makes different contributions in promoting question answering, and incorporating social information properly could improve recommendation diversity and performance, which would then result in the promotion of satisfactory question solving.
Summary generation approaches based on semantic analysis for news documents
Authors: Kogilavani S.V. , Kanimozhiselvi C.S. , Malliga S.
Published: July 2015

With the exponential growth of the internet, a lot of online news reports are produced on the web every day. The news stream flows so rapidly that no one has the time to look at each and every item of information. In this situation, a person would naturally prefer to read updated information at certain time intervals. Document updating technique is very helpful for individuals to acquire new information or knowledge by eliminating out-of-date or redundant information. Existing summarization systems involve identifying the most relevant sentences from the text and putting them together to create a concise initial summary. In the process of identifying the important sentences, features influencing the relevance of sentences are determined. Based on these features the salience of the sentence is calculated and an initial summary is generated from highly important sentences at different compression rates. These types of initial summaries work on a batch of documents and do not consider the documents that may arrive at later time, so that corresponding summaries need to get updated. The update summarization system addresses this issue by taking into account the documents read by the user in the past and seeks to present only fresh or different information. The first step is to create an initial summary based on basic and additional features. The next step is to create an update summary based on the basic, additional and update features. In this paper, two approaches are proposed for generating initial and update summary from multiple documents about given news. The first approach performs semantic analysis by modifying the vector space model with dependency parse relations and applying latent semantic analysis on it to create a summary. The second approach applies sentence annotation based on aspects, prepositions and named entities to generate summary. Experimental results show that the proposed approaches generate better initial and update summaries compared with the existing systems.
Impacts of Migration on Marriage Arrangement: A Comparison of Turkish Families in Turkey and Western Europe
Authors: Baykara-Krumme Helen
Published: July 2015

This study addresses parental involvement in spousal choice and the impacts of migration. Individual and parental characteristics are analyzed as determinants of arranged versus couple-initiated marriages in Turkish families in Turkey and abroad. Analyses are based on the 2000 Families study “Migration Histories of Turks in Europe” and indicate a strong decline of arranged marriages over the past four decades. Arranged marriages are less frequent among migrants in Western Europe than among stayers in Turkey. The difference is largest for second-generation children. This pattern can only partly be explained by their higher educational attainment. Moreover, lower-educated parents are more involved in spousal choice, whereas parental religiosity does not make any difference. Parents strongly transmit their own marriage patterns to their children, but transmission is weaker in migration. Results suggest migration-specific intergenerational adaptation processes in times of general global social and cultural change.
A knowledge flow framework for e-government in Iran
Authors: Tajgardoon Mohammad Ghaem , Manzuri Shalmani Mohammad Taghi , Habibi Jafar
Published: July 2015

Iran’s fifth Four Year Development Plan (2011-2015) and other high level acts in recent years have paid more attention to the topic of knowledge management. This in turn has encouraged the government agencies to pay special attention to this topic for the development of their regulations and future plans. The information technology field has not been an exception to this trend, and in September 2014 an Administrative and Technical Criteria Act (ATCA) was approved for the development of an agile and effective e-government in Iran. Under Article 40 of ATCA all executive bodies of government are required to design and implement a comprehensive knowledge management system within the next 2 years. In this paper, by developing and using a four-phased methodology, a knowledge flow framework is designed for the development of Iranian e-government, based on the contents of ATCA. The proposed framework specifies a total of 30 horizontal and vertical knowledge flows in five distinct layers: inter-organization, organization, group, role, and machine. These knowledge flows occur among 14 different knowledge agents in the mentioned layers. The subjects of the knowledge packets which are transferred in these knowledge flows are developed based on the articles of ATCA. By presenting such a knowledge flow framework, the role and place of knowledge management systems of the executive bodies in support of the e-government is recognized. Also in this framework the interaction of these knowledge management systems with other knowledge management systems, knowledge agents and knowledge bases is determined.
The meaning of a high plasma free haemoglobin: retrospective review of the prevalence of haemolysis and circuit thrombosis in an adult ECMO centre over 5 years
Authors: Pan K C , McKenzie D P , Pellegrino V , Murphy D , Butt W
Published: July 2015

Aims:

In adults requiring extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), we wanted to determine; i) the frequency of elevated plasma free haemoglobin (PFHb), ii) the reasons for circuit changes and iii) whether elevated PFHb was associated with higher in-hospital mortality.

Materials and Methods:

Patients requiring ECMO between January 2010 and August 2014 were identified from a prospectively collected ECMO database. Their scanned medical records and pathology results were reviewed. Relevant patient, biochemical and circuit data were collected on an Excel spreadsheet and analysed using Stata 13 (StataCorp, College Station, TX). The patients were analysed in three groups, depending on their peak PFHb during ECMO: ‘Normal PFHb’ (<0.1 g/L), ‘Low level PFHb’ (0.1 – 0.5 g/L), ‘High level PFHb’ (>0.5 g/L).

Main Results:

There were 184 ECMO runs (56 VV, 128 VA) – 61 ‘Normal PFHb’, 99 ‘Low level PFHb’, 24 ‘High level PFHb’. Circuit thrombosis (pump, oxygenator) or haemolysis requiring exchanges were significantly more common in VV ECMO compared to VA ECMO – 23.21% (13/56) vs. 0.78% (1/128), p<0.001. Elevated PFHb was associated with a longer duration of haemofiltration (p<0.001) and ECMO support (p<0.001). In-hospital mortality rates for the ‘Normal PFHb’, ‘Low level PFHb’ and ‘High level PFHb’ groups were 16.39% (10/61), 30.30% (30/99) and 37.50% (9/24), respectively, p=0.067.

Conclusion:

Elevated PFHb values during adult ECMO were common. Severe haemolysis or thrombosis requiring circuit changes were uncommon and occurred almost exclusively on VV ECMO. There was a non-statistically significant increase in in-hospital mortality with elevated PFHb and studies of larger registry data may clarify the prognostic value of PFHb in adult patients.
Social Support Seeking and Early Adolescent Depression and Anxiety Symptoms
Authors: Vélez Clorinda E. , Krause Elizabeth D. , McKinnon Allison , Brunwasser Steven M. , Freres Derek R. , Abenavoli Rachel M. , Gillham Jane E.
Published: July 2015

This study examined how social support seeking and rumination interacted to predict depression and anxiety symptoms 6 months later in early adolescents ( N = 118; 11-14 years at baseline). We expected social support seeking would be more helpful for adolescents engaging in low rather than high levels of rumination. Adolescents self-reported on all measures at baseline, and on depression and anxiety symptoms 6 months later. Social support seeking predicted fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety at low rumination levels but was not associated with benefits as rumination increased. For depression symptoms, social support seeking predicted more symptoms at high rumination levels. Results were stronger for emotion-focused than problem-focused support seeking and for depression compared with anxiety symptoms. These findings suggest that cognitive risk factors like rumination may explain some inconsistencies in previous social support literature, and highlight the importance of a nuanced approach to studying social support seeking.
Posthospitalization Outcomes for Psychiatric Sex Offenders
Authors: Stinson Jill D. , McVay Lee Ann , Becker Judith V.
Published: July 2015

This study evaluates the effectiveness of safe offender strategies (SOS) in comparison with relapse prevention (RP) in a sample of 91 inpatient males in a secure psychiatric setting. All men evidenced a history of violent sexual offending and were diagnosed with serious psychiatric disorders and/or intellectual disabilities. Participants who received SOS ( n = 58) and RP ( n = 33) were followed from 6 to 36 months post release. SOS clients were significantly less likely to be arrested (0%) or rehospitalized (5.2%) than RP clients (9% arrested; 54.5% rehospitalized). In addition, SOS clients were more likely to transition continuously to less restrictive alternatives, with no returns to high security, in comparison with RP clients. The authors discuss implications for use of SOS, a treatment that facilitates skills development and affects global self-regulatory functioning, particularly in sex offenders with serious mental illness or intellectual impairment, in promoting community reintegration and limiting returns to psychiatric settings.
Update on the Methodological Quality of Research Published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine
Authors: Brophy Robert H. , Kluck Dylan , Marx Robert G.
Published: July 2015

Background:

In recent years, the number of articles in The American Journal of Sports Medicine (AJSM) has risen dramatically, with an increasing emphasis on evidence-based medicine in orthopaedics and sports medicine.

Hypothesis:

Despite the increase in the number of articles published in AJSM over the past decade, the methodological quality of articles in 2011-2013 has improved relative to those in 2001-2003 and 1991-1993.

Study Design:

Meta-analysis.

Methods:

All articles published in AJSM during 2011-2013 were reviewed and classified by study design. For each article, the use of pertinent methodologies, such as prospective data collection, randomization, control groups, and blinding, was recorded. The frequency of each article type and the use of evidence-based techniques were compared relative to 1991-1993 and 2001-2003 by use of Pearson χ2 testing.

Results:

The number of research articles published in AJSM more than doubled from 402 in 1991-1993 and 423 in 2001-2003 to 953 in 2011-2013. Case reports decreased from 15.2% to 10.6% to 2.1% of articles published over the study period ( P < .001). Cadaveric/human studies and meta-analysis/literature review studies increased from 5.7% to 7.1% to 12.4% ( P < .001) and from 0.2% to 0.9% to 2.3% ( P = .01), respectively. Randomized, prospective clinical trials increased from 2.7% to 5.9% to 7.4% ( P = .007). Fewer studies used retrospective compared with prospective data collection ( P < .001). More studies tested an explicit hypothesis ( P < .001) and used controls ( P < .001), randomization ( P < .001), and blinding of those assessing outcomes ( P < .001). Multi-investigator trials increased ( P < .001), as did the proportion of articles citing a funding source ( P < .001).

Conclusion:

Despite a dramatic increase in the number of published articles, the research published in AJSM shifted toward more prospective, randomized, controlled, and blinded designs during 2011-2013 compared with 2001-2003 and 1991-1993, demonstrating a continued improvement in methodological quality.
Behavior of reinforced concrete box beam with initial cracks repaired with basalt fiber-reinforced polymer sheet
Authors: Shen Dejian , Deng Shucheng , Zhang Jinyang , Wang Wei , Jiang Guoqing
Published: July 2015

Cracking is a common form of damage in reinforced concrete beams. Cracks affect the stiffness and load-carrying capacity of beams. Fiber-reinforced polymers, as an affordable and efficient composite material, are being used more extensively to repair and strengthen conventional reinforced concrete beams. Although numerous studies have been conducted to investigate the behavior of undamaged and corroded beams repaired with carbon fiber-reinforced polymers or glass fiber-reinforced polymers, research on the behavior of beams with initial flexural cracks using basalt fiber-reinforced polymers as a restoration material is still lacking. Two 60-year-old cracked beams without repair and with repair using basalt fiber-reinforced polymers were experimentally and analytically investigated. The effect of repair on the load-carrying capacity, cracking characteristics, frequency, and stiffness of the beams was analyzed. The theoretical load-carrying capacity, midspan moment–deflection relationship, and strain distribution along the basalt fiber-reinforced polymers sheet were calculated and compared with the experimental results. The theoretical and experimental results show that (1) the load-carrying capacity of the repaired beam increased at the rate of 27.2% compared with that of the beam without repair; (2) the load-carrying capacities calculated from the Chinese and American standards of specimen B1 were 3.5% and 19.4% higher than those of the test results, respectively; (3) the basalt fiber-reinforced polymers repair system had an evident confinement effect on concrete crack development; (4) the natural frequency and stiffness of the repaired beam increased at the rate of 8.0% and 16.6% compared with the beam without repair, respectively; (5) the calculated midspan moment–deflection relationship of the repaired beam with initial cracks based on Zhang’s method showed good accuracy with the test results; and (6) the strain distribution on the fiber-reinforced polymers sheet could be predicted by calculating the transition point strain and the length of the total bond development zone.
Strategic Human Resource Management of Volunteers and the Link to Hospital Patient Satisfaction
Authors: Rogers Sean E. , Jiang Kaifeng , Rogers Carmen M. , Intindola Melissa
Published: July 2015

This article uses strategic human resource management theory to consider the ways in which volunteers can potentially enhance hospital patient satisfaction. Results of a structural equation modeling analysis of multi-source data on 107 U.S. hospitals show positive associations between hospital strategy, volunteer management practices, volunteer workforce attributes, and patient satisfaction. Although no causality can be assumed, the results shed light on the volunteer–patient satisfaction relationship and have important implications for hospital leaders, volunteer administrators, and future research.
A novel adaptive control scheme with model-based error compensation for a prototype unmanned helicopter
Authors: Sheng Shouzhao , Sun Chenwu
Published: July 2015

This paper addresses the control problem of a prototype unmanned helicopter with novel configuration in the presence of parametric uncertainties and measurement noises. A novel adaptive control scheme with model-based error compensation is proposed, which can achieve satisfactory flight performance and eliminate the adverse effect of measurement noises on the convergence of adjustable parameters and the plant output. Moreover, the scheme provides a noise-free estimate of the plant output for accommodation of coupling features and parametric uncertainties. The near-ground flight test results illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed scheme. The new methodologies featured in this study are very effective control tools that can help bridge the gaps between adaptive control theory and practical applications in high-performance unmanned helicopters.
Adaptive fault-tolerant control of reentry vehicle considering actuator and sensor faults based on trajectory optimization
Authors: Ming-Zhou Gao , Guo-Ping Cai , Ying Nan
Published: July 2015

Based on the trajectory optimization, this article studies the adaptive fault-tolerant compensation control method for a reentry vehicle with external disturbances and parameter uncertainties. The sensor and actuator faults are both considered including loss of effectiveness, stuck and outage of actuator, and loss of effectiveness of sensor. First, we need to set up the reentry model for the reentry vehicle, use computational fluid dynamics to calculate the heating rate on the surface of the vehicle, divide the vehicle into several isothermal regions appropriately according to the heating rate, and establish the corresponding database for the aerodynamic characteristics. Next, based on the database accomplished, more accurate control variables and flight path can be achieved using the conjugate gradient method, and the aerodynamic heating rate on the surface of the reentry vehicle will be improved considerably. Then, based on the trajectory optimization, an adaptive fault-tolerant compensation control method is introduced to deal with the external disturbances and parameter uncertainties of the reentry vehicle system. And the Lyapunov functional is adopted to guarantee the stability of the system. At last, the effectiveness of such adaptive fault-tolerant control method has been identified by numerous simulation results.
Sub-regional Cooperation for the Development of Landlocked Peripheral Areas
Authors: Das Gurudas , Paul Ujjwal K. , Mathur Tanuj
Published: July 2015

Development of peripheries has always been a major challenge for large states. One of the drivers of the underdevelopment of the peripheries has been the traditional state-centric security perception. As a result, state-led development suffers from a built-in bias against the peripheries. Market signals emanating from the operation of the national economy are not strong enough to bring the resources of the peripheries into immediate use. This is the theoretical rationale to look beyond the framework of the national economy and the state-centric mindset while formulating the development strategy for border areas. Sub-regional cooperation like Bangladesh–China–India–Myanmar Forum for Regional Cooperation (BCIM) has the potential to promote growth in southwest China, Bangladesh, Myanmar and northeast India by way of utilising the complementarities of these regions. The mobilisation of cross-border synergies is destined to make the BCIM one of the economically vibrant zones that may develop the cross-border connectivity among the land-linked areas.
Changes in Traditions and Material Exchanges
Authors: Farooq Ayesha , Kayani Ashraf K.
Published: July 2015

Traditions have remained a significant aspect of social and cultural structure of societies. In this article, changes in traditions associated with vital events in Mohla, a rural community of Punjab, Pakistan, are analysed. Birth, death and marriage are considered vital events and have been analysed over a period of 50 years. Data is drawn from a sample survey conducted in the village. Systematic sampling technique was used for the selection of the respondents. The results show that material exchanges on vital events have declined, with the exception of marriage. Traditions associated with the birth of a son have remained consistent throughout the decades whereas an upward trend was observed in traditions associated with the birth of a daughter. Awareness through education was a significant reason for this change. Some traditions associated with marriages have declined, with the exception of mehndi, which has substantially increased in the recent past. Most traditions associated with death, particularly daswan and chaliswan, have declined over the decades. Changes in traditions around most of the vital events have occurred due to economic factors.
A comparative study of Toxoplasma gondii seroprevalence in mink using a modified agglutination test, a Western blot, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays
Authors: Gu Yi , Wang Zedong , Cai Yufeng , Li Xiaoxing , Wei Feng , Shang Limin , Li Jiping , Liu Quan
Published: July 2015

Toxoplasma gondii can infect almost all warm-blooded animals, and many serological methods have been developed to detect T. gondii infection in a variety of animal species. In the present study, the seroprevalence of T. gondii infection in farmed mink in northeast China was determined using the modified agglutination test (MAT), a Western blot (WB), and 3 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs) with protein A/G conjugate, using either of 2 recombinant dense granule antigens, GRA1 and GRA7, or Toxoplasma soluble antigens (TSA). There was no significant difference between the detection results of the GRA1-, GRA7-, and TSA-ELISAs and WB (McNemar chi-square, P > 0.05), but a significant difference was observed between MAT and WB ( P < 0.05). A near perfect agreement (97.0%) was found between the GRA7-ELISA and WB (κ = 0.83), and a substantial agreement (92.4–93.1%) was observed in the TSA- and GRA1-ELISAs (κ = 0.68–0.73). The GRA7-ELISA showed the highest sensitivity and specificity, and the lowest false-positive and negative rates, while the MAT gave both a low sensitivity and frequent false positives in comparison to the WB. Receiver operating characteristic analysis revealed the largest area under curve of 0.85 (95% confidence interval: 0.74–0.96), and the highest relative sensitivity (72.7%) and specificity (99.0%) for a cutoff value of 0.19 in the GRA7-ELISA. These results indicate that the GRA7-ELISA is suitable for detection of T. gondii infection in mink and that MAT should be used with caution.
Sustainability Standards for Palm Oil
Authors: Brandi Clara , Cabani Tobia , Hosang Christoph , Schirmbeck Sonja , Westermann Lotte , Wiese Hannah
Published: July 2015

This article investigates the integration of smallholders into voluntary certification schemes, exemplified by smallholder certification under the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil in Indonesia (RSPO). It identifies the main barriers to the adoption of standards by smallholders and the specific compliance challenge in the context of RSPO smallholder certification, thereby contributing to the growing literature on the effectiveness of voluntary sustainability standards. It discusses findings on smallholder certification, focusing on antecedent variables as potential adoption determinants at the level of smallholders, smallholder organization, and the institutional context. The empirical findings suggest that smallholders, and specifically independent smallholders, often lack both the information and the degree of organization that certification demands. The article also identifies the most important compliance challenges for independent smallholders in relation to land titles, seedlings, pesticide usage, fertilization, and documentation and outlines how smallholders can be supported so that they can be included in certification schemes.
Design of active suspension controller for train cars based on sliding mode control, uncertainty observer and neuro-fuzzy system
Authors: Nguyen Sy Dzung , Nguyen Quoc Hung
Published: July 2015

This paper focuses on building a controller for active suspension system of train cars in the case that the sprung mass and model error are uncertainty parameters. The sprung mass is always varied due to many reasons such as changing of the passengers and load or impacting of wind on the operating train while an unknown difference between the suspension model used for survey and the real suspension system also always exists. The controller is built based on an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), sliding mode control, uncertainty observer (NFSmUoC) and a magnetorheological damper (MRD) which can be seen as an actuator for applying active force. A nonlinear uncertainty observer (NUO), a sliding mode controller (SMC) together with an inverse model of the MRD are designed in order to calculate the current value by which the MRD creates the required active control force u( t). An ANFIS and measured MR-damper-dynamic-response data sets are used to identify the MRD as an inverse MRD model (ANFIS-I-MRD). Based on dynamic response of the suspension, firstly the active control force u( t) is calculated by NUO and SMC, in which the impact of the uncertainty load on the system is estimated by the NUO. The ANFIS-I-MRD is then used to estimate applied current for the MRD in order to create the calculated active control force to control vertical vibration status of the train cars. Simulation surveys are carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the proposed method.
A parametric study on reliability-based tuned-mass damper design against bridge flutter
Authors: Ubertini Filippo , Comanducci Gabriele , Laflamme Simon
Published: July 2015

We present a probabilistic methodology for designing tuned mass dampers for flutter suppression in long-span bridges. The procedure is computationally efficient and computes the probability of flutter occurrence based on a modified first-order method of reliability analysis, a reduced-order representation of the structure and a time domain formulation of aeroelastic loads. Results of a parametric investigation show that the proposed methodology is preferable to a deterministic design procedure, which relies on nominal values of mechanical and aerodynamic parameters and does not guarantee the maximum safety. Furthermore, the reliability-based approach can be effectively used in the design of multiple tuned mass damper configurations by enhancing robustness against frequency mistuning and by reducing costs associated with supplemental damping for a given safety performance level.
Associations Between Family Ratings on Experience With Care and Clinical Quality-of-Care Measures for Nursing Home Residents
Authors: Li Yue , Li Qinghua , Tang Yi
Published: July 2015

Several states are currently collecting and publicly reporting nursing home resident and/or family member ratings of experience with care in an attempt to improve person-centered care in nursing homes. Using the 2008 Maryland nursing home family survey reports and other data, this study performed both facility- and resident-level analyses, and estimated the relationships between family ratings of care and several long-term care quality measures (pressure ulcers, overall and potentially avoidable hospitalizations, and mortality) after adjustment for resident characteristics. We found that better family evaluations of overall and specific aspects of care may be associated with reduced rates of risk-adjusted measures at the facility level (range of correlation coefficients: −.01 to −.31). Associations of overall experience ratings tended to persist after further adjustment for common nursing home characteristics such as nurse staffing levels. We conclude that family ratings of nursing home care complement other types of performance measures such as risk-adjusted outcomes.
The Cost of Kelo
Authors: Miceli Thomas J.
Published: July 2015

This article examines the economic implications of the definition of public use advanced by the Supreme Court in the case of Kelo v. City of New London. In its ruling, the Court asserted that the Fifth Amendment public use requirement is satisfied if the taking in question, even if for private ends, promises enhanced jobs and tax revenues for the community. This article first reviews the law and economics of public use and then argues that the Court’s justification creates the potential for an alliance between local governments and developers that will increase the risk of overuse of eminent domain. Underlying this risk is the unobservability of landowners’ subjective values, which requires local governments to rely on market value as the basis for property taxation.
Population attributable fractions and joint effects of key risk factors for multiple sclerosis
Authors: van der Mei IAF , Lucas RM , Taylor BV , Valery PC , Dwyer T , Kilpatrick TJ , Pender MP , Williams D , Chapman C , Otahal P , Ponsonby A-L
Published: July 2015

Aim:

We examined the combined effect of having multiple key risk factors and the interactions between the key risk factors of multiple sclerosis (MS).

Methods:

We performed an incident case-control study including cases with a first clinical diagnosis of central nervous system demyelination (FCD) and population-based controls.

Results:

Compared to those without any risk factors, those with one, two, three, and four or five risk factors had increased odds of being an FCD case of 2.12 (95% confidence interval (CI), 1.11–4.03), 4.31 (95% CI, 2.24–8.31), 7.96 (95% CI, 3.84–16.49), and 21.24 (95% CI, 5.48–82.40), respectively. Only HLA-DR15 and history of infectious mononucleosis interacted significantly on the additive scale (Synergy index, 3.78; p = 0.03). The five key risk factors jointly accounted for 63.8% (95% CI, 43.9–91.4) of FCD onset. High anti-EBNA IgG was another important contributor.

Conclusions:

A high proportion of FCD onset can be explained by the currently known risk factors, with HLA-DR15, ever smoking and low cumulative sun exposure explaining most. We identified a significant interaction between HLA-DR15 and history of IM in predicting an FCD of CNS demyelination, which together with previous observations suggests that this is a true interaction.
Biotinidase deficiency mimicking neuromyelitis optica: Initially exhibiting symptoms in adulthood
Authors: Bottin Laure , Prud’hon Sabine , Guey Stéphanie , Giannesini Claire , Wolf Barry , Pindolia Kirit , Stankoff Bruno
Published: July 2015

Background:

Children with untreated biotinidase deficiency can experience variable symptoms depending on their age of presentation. Older children and adolescents can exhibit predominant neurological deficits including para- or tetraparesis and vision loss.

Methods:

We report the first case of delayed-onset biotinidase deficiency in a young adult.

Results:

A 22-year-old man presented with a disabling extensive myelopathy and bilateral optic neuropathy which mimicked the findings of a (seronegative) neuromyelitis optica. Imaging investigations were characterized by an MRI T2 hyper-intensity involving the spinal cord, the optic nerves, the fornix and the mammillar bodies, together with an increased 18F-FDG uptake on positron emission tomography. He was ultimately shown to have profound biotinidase deficiency due to a novel missense mutation and was partly improved by oral biotin therapy.

Conclusion:

This individual exemplifies the need to include biotinidase deficiency in the differential diagnosis of patients with extensive myelopathy and/or bilateral optic neuropathy and argues for newborn screening for the disorder.
Theoretical examination of behavioural feedback in the application of teledietetics to weight reduction
Authors: Chung Louisa MY , Fong Shirley SM , Law Queenie PS , Ma Ada WW , Chow Lina PY , Chung Joanne WY
Published: July 2015

Introduction

Behavioural feedback can be attained through electronic self-monitoring with teledietetics. This study examined the theoretical framework of the theory of planned behaviour, which suggests that behavioural feedback contributes to the intention to initiate and maintain weight loss.

Methods

A quasi-experiment involving adults aged 20–50 years with a body mass index greater than 23 kg/m2 was conducted. The experimental group (EG) comprised 25 participants who used electronic dietary records for self-monitoring. The control group (CG) comprised 25 participants who used paper-format dietary records for self-monitoring. Data pertaining to the theory of planned behaviour were obtained using a self-administered questionnaire. After an initial measurement, each participant’s body weight was measured again at Week 12 and at Week 24, following a 12-week observation period. Hierarchical regression analyses of planned behaviour components were conducted for each power to predict the participants’ intentions to lose 10% of their body weight. Logistic regression analysis was performed to investigate the odds ratio of intention, perceived behavioural control (PBC) and the group effect (CG vs EG) for predicting the initiation and maintenance of 10% weight loss.

Results

At Week 12, the odds ratios for intention, the PBC and the group effect were 2.154, 0.330 and 0.654, respectively, and those at Week 24 were 3.255, 0.499 and 24.592, respectively. The group effect contributed significantly to weight-loss maintenance at Week 24.

Discussion

Behavioural feedback through electronic self-monitoring improved the intention to achieve weight-loss maintenance, which may indicate the importance of behaviour reflection in weight-loss maintenance.
Embedding smart energy technology in built environments: A comparative study of four smart grid demonstration projects
Authors: Skjølsvold Tomas Moe , Ryghaug Marianne
Published: July 2015

The smart grid has become important in energy discussions. Inspired by science and technology studies (STS), this article compares four smart grid demonstration projects that engage households in Norway, where much activity has been triggered by a mandatory roll-out of smart electricity meters by 2019. We ask how local actors across different sectors interpret the potential of smart electricity meters, and how different understandings lead to diverging innovation strategies. The result is four case studies illustrating how smart grid set-ups are constructed, and how new smart technologies are socialized into pre-existing localities or not. The four case studies highlight: (1) a constellation of healthcare and the electricity industry, resulting in a focus on simplicity and welfare. (2) A merger between the construction industry and the electricity industry, exploring how passive houses, PV-systems and smart technology influence collective practices. (3) How local authorities, research and industry interpreted smart grids differently, resulting in a focus on “greening”, grid optimization and user flexibility. (4) How organizational and disciplinary conflicts led to alienation from the smart grid concept, hindering socialization. This diversity within a small country suggests that smart grids should be treated as situated technology rather than a “catch-all” silver bullet.
Are there Nonverbal Cues to Commitment? An Exploratory Study Using the Zero-Acquaintance Video Presentation Paradigm
Authors: Brown William Michael , Palameta Boris , Moore Chris
Published: July 2015

Altruism is difficult to explain evolutionarily if subtle cheaters exist in a population ( Trivers, 1971 ). A pathway to the evolutionary maintenance of cooperation is nonverbal altruist-detection. One adaptive advantage of nonverbal altruist-detection is the formation of trustworthy division of labour partnerships ( Frank, 1988 ). Three studies were designed to test a fundamental assumption behind altruistic partner preference models. In the first experiment perceivers (blind with respect to target altruism level) made assessments of video-clips depicting self-reported altruists and self-reported non-altruists. Video-clips were designed with attempts to control for attractiveness, expressiveness, role-playing ability, and verbal content. Overall perceivers rated altruists as more “helpful” than non-altruists. In a second experiment manipulating the payoffs for cooperation, perceivers (blind with respect to payoff condition and altruism level) assessed altruists who were helping others as more “concerned” and “attentive” than non-altruists. However perceivers assessed the same altruists as less “concerned” and “attentive” than non-altruists when the payoffs were for self. This finding suggests that perceivers are sensitive to nonverbal indicators of selfishness. Indeed the self-reported non-altruists were more likely than self-reported altruists to retain resources for themselves in an objective measure of cooperative tendencies (i.e. a dictator game). In a third study altruists and non-altruists' facial expressions were analyzed. The smile emerged as a consistent cue to altruism. In addition, altruists exhibited more expressions that are under involuntary control (e.g., orbicularis oculi) compared to non-altruists. Findings suggest that likelihood to cooperate is signaled nonverbally and the putative cues may be under involuntary control as predicted by Frank (1988) .
Meeting One's Twin: Perceived Social Closeness and Familiarity
Authors: Segal Nancy L. , Hershberger Scott L. , Arad Sara
Published: July 2015

Perceptions of social closeness and familiarity were assessed among 44 monozygotic (MZA) and 33 dizygotic (DZA) reunited twin pairs, and several individual twins and triplets. Significantly greater MZA than DZA closeness and familiarity were found. Closeness and familiarity ratings for co-twins exceeded those for nonbiological siblings with whom twins were raised. Correlations between perceptions of physical resemblance and social closeness and familiarity were positive and statistically significant. However, most correlations between social relatedness and contact time were non-significant. Associations between social relatedness and similarities in selected behavioral traits were also examined. The findings support various theoretical perspectives anticipating greater affiliation among close relatives than distant relatives.
The Maternal Dominance Hypothesis: Questioning Trivers and Willard
Authors: Grant Valerie J.
Published: July 2015

Thirty years ago, Trivers and Willard (1973) hypothesized that parental “condition” could be central in influencing the sex ratio of offspring, “good condition” being associated with the conception of males. However, I argue that “condition” is a distraction in this otherwise useful hypothesis, because it is merely a frequent indicator of dominance (a characteristic which often leads to priority access to resources); and that it is dominance, a biologically-based characteristic underpinned by testosterone, which is of interest. Shifting the focus from good condition to the dominance-testosterone link could help explain otherwise anomalous findings in the literature on the sex ratio. In addition, in female mammals, testosterone is hypothesized to have a role in reproductive processes such that the mother could influence or even control the sex of her offspring, conceiving whichever sex she is, at that time, and in that place, best suited to raise. Such a mechanism would confer an evolutionary advantage on those females able to make use of it.
Piaget, Pedagogy, and Evolutionary Psychology
Authors: Genovese Jeremy E. C.
Published: July 2015

Constructivist pedagogy draws on Piaget's developmental theory. Because Piaget depicted the emergence of formal reasoning skills in adolescence as part of the normal developmental pattern, many constructivists have assumed that intrinsic motivation is possible for all academic tasks. This paper argues that Piaget's concept of a formal operational stage has not been empirically verified and that the cognitive skills associated with that stage are in fact “biologically secondary abilities” ( Geary and Bjorklund, 2000 ) culturally determined abilities that are difficult to acquire. Thus, it is unreasonable to expect that intrinsic motivation will suffice for most students for most higher level academic tasks.

In addition, a case is made that educational psychology must incorporate the insights of evolutionary psychology.
Semen Displacement as a Sperm Competition Strategy in Humans
Authors: Gallup Gordon G. , Burch Rebecca L.
Published: July 2015

We examine some of the implications of the possibility that the human penis may have evolved to compete with sperm from other males by displacing rival semen from the cervical end of the vagina prior to ejaculation. The semen displacement hypothesis integrates considerable information about genital morphology and human reproductive behavior, and can be used to generate a number of interesting predictions.