bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Shared Lifetimes, Multigenerational Exposure, and Educational Mobility
Authors: Song Xi , Mare Robert D. 
Published: May 2019

AbstractIn this article, we report analyses of the effects of fertility and mortality trends on the mutual exposure of grandparents and grandchildren and their consequences for multigenerational processes of social mobility in the United States from 1900 to 2010. Using historical vital statistics and stable population models, we report systematic analyses of grandparent-grandchild exposures from both prospective (grandparent) and retrospective (grandchild) perspectives. We also estimate exposure levels and trends specific to education levels of grandparents and grandchildren and decompose the overall trend into the effect of changing mortality, fertility level, and fertility timing. We show that changes in mutual exposure of grandparent and grandchild generations may have contributed to an increasing association between grandparents’ and grandchildren’s educational attainments.
Prompt Electrodeposition of Ni Nanodots on Ni Foam to Construct a High-Performance Water-Splitting Electrode: Efficient, Scalable, and Recyclable
Authors: Yu Hongtao , Quan Ting , Mei Shilin , Kochovski Zdravko , Huang Wei , Meng Hong , Lu Yan 
Published: May 2019

Abstract
In past decades, Ni-based catalytic materials and electrodes have been intensively explored as low-cost hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts for water splitting. With increasing demands for Ni worldwide, simplifying the fabrication process, increasing Ni recycling, and reducing waste are tangible sustainability goals. Here, binder-free, heteroatom-free, and recyclable Ni-based bifunctional catalytic electrodes were fabricated via a one-step quick electrodeposition method. Typically, active Ni nanodot (NiND) clusters are electrodeposited on Ni foam (NF) in Ni(NO3)2 acetonitrile solution. After drying in air, NiO/NiND composites are obtained, leading to a binder-free and heteroatom-free NiO/NiNDs@NF catalytic electrode. The electrode shows high efficiency and long-term stability for catalyzing hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions at low overpotentials (10ηHER = 119 mV and 50ηOER = 360 mV) and can promote water catalysis at 1.70 V@10 mA cm−2. More importantly, the recovery of raw materials (NF and Ni(NO3)2) is quite easy because of the solubility of NiO/NiNDs composites in acid solution for recycling the electrodes. Additionally, a large-sized (S ~ 70 cm2) NiO/NiNDs@NF catalytic electrode with high durability has also been constructed. This method provides a simple and fast technology to construct high-performance, low-cost, and environmentally friendly Ni-based bifunctional electrocatalytic electrodes for water splitting.
Automated detection of basal icequakes and discrimination from surface crevassing
Authors: Hudson Thomas S. , Smith Jonathan , Brisbourne Alex M. , White Robert S. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACTIcequakes at or near the bed of a glacier have the potential to allow us to investigate the interaction of ice with the underlying till or bedrock. Understanding this interaction is important for studying basal sliding of glaciers and ice streams, a critical process in ice dynamics models used to constrain future sea-level rise projections. However, seismic observations on glaciers can be dominated by seismic energy from surface crevassing. We present a method of automatically detecting basal icequakes and discriminating them from surface crevassing, comparing this method to a commonly used spectrum-based method of detecting icequakes. We use data from Skeidararjökull, an outlet glacier of the Vatnajökull Ice Cap, South-East Iceland, to demonstrate that our method outperforms the commonly used spectrum-based method. Our method detects a higher number of basal icequakes, has a lower rate of incorrectly identifying crevassing as basal icequakes and detects an additional, spatially independent basal icequake cluster. We also show independently that the icequakes do not originate from near the glacier surface. We conclude that the method described here is more effective than currently implemented methods for detecting and discriminating basal icequakes from surface crevassing.
Using technology to scale-up training and supervision of community health workers in the psychosocial management of perinatal depression: a non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial
Authors: Rahman Atif , Akhtar Parveen , Hamdani Syed Usman , Atif Najia , Nazir Huma , Uddin Iftikhar , Nisar Anum , Huma Zille , Maselko Joanna , Sikander Siham , Zafar Shamsa 
Published: May 2019

Background.The Thinking Healthy Programme (THP) is an evidence-based psychological intervention endorsed by the World Health Organization, tailored for non-specialist health workers in low- and middle-income countries. However, training and supervision of large numbers of health workers is a major challenge for the scale-up of THP. We developed a ‘Technology-Assisted Cascaded Training and Supervision system’ (TACTS) for THP consisting of a training application and cascaded supervision delivered from a distance.Methods.A single-blind, non-inferiority, randomized controlled trial was conducted in District Swat, a post-conflict area of North Pakistan. Eighty community health workers (called Lady Health Workers or LHWs) were randomly assigned to either TACTS or conventional face-to-face training and supervision by a specialist. Competence of LHWs in delivering THP post-training was assessed by independent observers rating a therapeutic session using a standardized measure, the ‘Enhancing Assessment of Common Therapeutic factors’ (ENACT), immediately post-training and after 3 months. ENACT uses a Likert scale to score an observed interaction on 18 dimensions, with a total score of 54, and a higher score indicating greater competence.Results.Results indicated no significant differences between health workers trained using TACTS and supervised from distancev.those trained and supervised by a specialist face-to-face (mean ENACT score M = 24.97,s.d. = 5.95v.M = 27.27,s.d. = 5.60,p = 0.079, 95% CI 4.87–0.27) and at 3 months follow-up assessment (M = 44.48,s.d. = 3.97v.M = 43.63,s.d. = 6.34,p = 0.53, CI −1.88 to 3.59).Conclusions.TACTS can provide a promising tool for training and supervision of front-line workers in areas where there is a shortage of specialist trainers and supervisors.
Ethnic Violence in Africa: Destructive Legacies of Pre-Colonial States
Authors: Paine Jack 
Published: May 2019

AbstractWhat explains differential rates of ethnic violence in postcolonial Africa? I argue that ethnic groups organized as a precolonial state (PCS) exacerbated interethnic tensions in their postcolonial country. Insecure leaders in these countries traded off between inclusive coalitions that risked insider coups and excluding other ethnic groups at the possible expense of outsider rebellions. My main hypotheses posit that PCS groups should associate with coups because their historically rooted advantages often enabled accessing power at the center, whereas other ethnic groups in their countries—given strategic incentives for ethnopolitical exclusion—should fight civil wars more frequently than ethnic groups in countries without a PCS group. Analyzing originally compiled data on precolonial African states provides statistical evidence for these implications about civil wars and coups between independence and 2013 across various model specifications. Strikingly, through 1989, thirty of thirty-two ethnic group-level major civil war onsets occurred in countries with a PCS group.
LA RICOSTRUZIONE ISTITUZIONALE DELLA GERMANIA ORIENTALE
Authors: Lehmbruch Gerhard 
Published: May 2019

IntroduzioneLo sviluppo della Germania orientale comunista è stato contrassegnato da trasformazioni sociali e istituzionali per vari aspetti piò radicali di quelle avvenute in altri paesi dell'Europa orientale. Analogamente, anche l'attuale ricostruzione delle istituzioni democratiche e capitalistiche è contrassegnata da mutamenti radicali. è utile così riassumere alcune di queste caratteristiche se vogliamo mettere a confronto i processi che avvengono in Germania orientale con il resto dei paesi già appartenenti al campo del «socialismo reale».
LA RESISTIBILE ASCESA DELLA RAPPRESENTANZA POLITICA IN URSS
Authors: Cappelli Ottorino 
Published: May 2019

IntroduzioneLa caduta dei regimi comunisti in Europa nel 1989-1990 è stata in alcuni casi innescata, in altri sancita dallo svolgimento di libere elezioni. è stato l'imporsi del tema e della pratica della rappresentanza politica, unitamente all'estrema rapidità del processo, che ha spinto alcuni a parlare della transizione democratica in quest'area geopolitica come di una «rivoluzione». Per quei paesi almeno che fanno parte del bacino centro-orientale – esclusa dunque l'area balcanica – è oggi all'ordine del giorno l'obiettivo di completare l'instaurazione di istituzioni democratiche (quanto alla prospettiva di un loro rapido ed efficace consolidamento, non andrebbero invece trascurate le notevoli difficoltà che già stanno emergendo).
IL GOVERNO DIVISO NEGLI STATI UNITI
Authors: Fiorina Morris P. 
Published: May 2019

IntroduzioneNegli ultimi venticinque anni ci siamo preoccupati del «ri-allineamento elettorale». Oggi non piò. Il ri-allineamento – almeno come è stato tradizionalmente concepito – appare un concetto inutilizzabile (Ladd 1989; Silbey 1989). Abbiamo atteso il ri-allineamento dal 1964, ed ogni volta il consenso accademico annunciava: «No, non è ancora arrivato». Ma, ri-allineamento o meno, la politica americana dell'ultimo quarto di secolo si è comunque trasformata. In particolare, sembra che si sia consolidato un «modello» persistente di governo diviso. Il candidato repubblicano George Bush ha vinto con facilità nel 1988, affermandosi in quaranta stati con il 54% del voto popolare. Ma nello stesso tempo, i candidati democratici conquistarono 260 dei 435 seggi della Camera dei rappresentanti e 18 dei 33 seggi in palio del Senato, facendo sì che il Congresso rimanesse sotto il controllo dei democratici. Tale risultato elettorale diviso non ha sorpreso nessuno: tre delle otto precedenti elezioni presidenziali (1956, 1968, 1972) hanno prodotto la stessa divisione, ed altre due (1980, 1984) hanno collocato la Presidenza e il Senato su un fronte opposto a quello della Camera dei rappresentanti. Delle ultime nove elezioni presidenziali, solamente tre (1960, 1964, 1976) hanno dato ad un partito il controllo sia della Presidenza che di entrambe le camere del Congresso. Se George Bush venisse riconfermato e il controllo della Camera dei rappresentanti da parte dei democratici continuasse, allora i futuri studenti universitari del 1996 non ricorderebbero nessun periodo di governo unificato: e lo stesso interludio di Carter si perderebbe nelle foschie della loro memoria infantile.
MOVIMENTI SOCIALI E SISTEMA POLITICO: UN CONFRONTO FRA ITALIA E GERMANIA
Authors: della Portae Donatella , Rucht Dieter 
Published: May 2019

IntroduzioneLa letteratura sulle forme di protesta si è arricchita, di recente, di numerosi contributi che hanno, tra l'altro, affrontato il tema dei rapporti tra sistema politico e movimenti sociali. Ispirati da Eisinger, che aveva dimostrato una relazione curvilinea tra l'incidenza della protesta nelle città americane e l'accesso dei movimenti collettivi nelle arene politiche locali (Eisinger 1973, 28), modelli sempre piò complessi sono stati elaborati per spiegare un numero crescente di variabili. Molte ricerche hanno utilizzato il concetto distruttura delle opportunità politiche, riferendosi ad un complesso e variegato insieme di variabili (Tarrow 1983; Tarrow 1989a; Brand 1985; Kitschelt 1986; Kriesi 1989 e 1991). L'uso di questo concetto in una comparazionecross nationalpresenta, a nostro avviso, tre problemi. In primo luogo, il limitato numero di casi analizzati non permette generalizzazioni accurate. In secondo luogo, il controllo logico delle relazioni ipotizzate raramente è stato facilitato attraverso l'indicazione di variabili intervenienti tra variabili indipendenti e variabili dipendenti molto «distanti» fra loro. In terzo luogo, le analisi proposte sono state, prevalentemente, analisi statiche: riferendo le caratteristiche di un movimento a condizioni strutturali piò o meno inerti, queste analisi non sono state, cioè, in grado di spiegare i mutamenti congiunturali. In questa introduzione, proporremo alcune soluzioni a questi tre problemi, illustrando il modello esplicativo utilizzato nella nostra ricerca.
HOW DO SECOND LANGUAGE LISTENERS PERCEIVE THE COMPREHENSIBILITY OF FOREIGN-ACCENTED SPEECH?
Authors: Saito Kazuya , Tran Mai , Suzukida Yui , Sun Hui , Magne Viktoria , Ilkan Meltem 
Published: May 2019

AbstractThe current study examines how second language (L2) users differentially assess the comprehensibility (i.e., ease of understanding) of foreign-accented speech according to a range of background variables, including first language (L1) profiles, L2 proficiency, age, experience, familiarity, and metacognition. A total of 110 L2 listeners first evaluated the global comprehensibility of 50 spontaneous speech samples produced by low-, mid-, and high-proficiency Japanese speakers of English. The listeners were categorized into two subgroups according to a cluster analysis of their rating scores: lenient and strict. Results showed that while the lenient listeners appeared to rely equally on many linguistic areas of speech during their judgments, the strict listeners were strongly attuned to phonological accuracy. Analysis of the background questionnaire data revealed that more lenient listeners likely had higher levels of awareness of the importance of comprehensibility for communication (metacognition); regularly used L2 English in professional settings (experience); and had L1s more linguistically close to the target speech samples, Japanese-accented English (L1-L2 distance).
Interactions Between MPTP-Induced and Age-Related Neuronal Death in a Murine Model of Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Tatton William G. , Greenwood Carol E. , Seniuk Nadine A. , Salo Paul T. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:Abiotrophy is hypothesized to explain the onset and time course of deficits in Parkinson’s disease (PD) Abiotrophy includes: 1) exposure to agent(s) causing the death of dopaminergic nigrostriatal neurons (DNSns), 2) gradual death of DNSns with age, 3) summation of 1) and 2) until DNSn numbers fall below a threshold for detectable neurological deficits. Murine DNSn death following methyl-phenyl-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) exposure occurs according to an exponential relationship while age-related death of DNSns occurs according to a second exponential relationship. Summing the two exponential losses overestimates experimental DNSn death showing a simple abiotrophic model is not sufficient. Aged murine DNSns greatly increase their dopamine synthesis and the density of their striatal axon terminals which may explain the above threshold. Murine DNSns die gradually after MPTP exposure and L-deprenyl treatment rescues MPTP-damaged DNSns by a previously undiscovered action, altering the abiotrophic interactions and possibly explaining the slowed progression of PD found with deprenyl treatment.
Levodopa-Induced Dyskinesia: Facts and Fancy. What Does the MPTP Monkey Model Tell Us?
Authors: Bédard Paul J. , Mancilla Baltazar Gomez , Blanchette Pierre , Gagnon Céline , Di Paolo Thérèse 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:Levodopa-induced dyskinesia, one of the most frequent long-term side effects of antiparkinsonian therapy, is often attributed to denervation supersensitivity of dopamine receptors and perhaps more specifically the D-1 receptor. The available evidence based not only on clinico-pathological studies in patients but also on results of experiments performed on methyl-phenyl-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated monkeys suggests that the mechanisms may be more complex than heretofore believed. Thus it appears that no single receptor is the sole culprit, that some form of denervation supersensitivity is probably involved but not in the form of increased density of dopamine receptors. Moreover, other neurotransmitter systems must be considered such as GABA, excitatory aminoacids and peptides. The MPTP monkey model remains very useful for predicting the potential of new drugs for inducing dyskinesia. Such trials however must be performed in drug-naive animals.
Positron Emission Tomography in Parkinson’s Disease
Authors: Snow Barry J. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:Positron emission tomography (PET) allows the study of physiological and neurochemical processes which would otherwise be inaccessible, using radioactive labels on biological compounds to follow their fate in the body. By analysing changes of concentration with time we can measure blood flow, neuronal metabolism and receptor ligand interactions. In Parkinson’s disease (PD), PET has been used to examine the dopaminergic deficit and its relationship to motor performance. It has also been shown to detect asymptomatic dopaminergic lesions that have implications for the etiology of PD. In untreated PD there is increased density of D2 binding sites, while in chronically treated PD with motor fluctuations, D2 receptor density is reduced. [18F]-fluorodeoxyglucose studies of demented PD patients show a pattern of cortical metabolism similar to Alzheimer’s disease. Activation studies, which measure changes in blood flow during the performance of motor tasks, show reduced activation of medial frontal areas in PD.
Synergistic Interactions of D1- and D2-Selective Dopamine Agonists in Animal Models for Parkinson’s Disease: Sites of Action and Implications for the Pathogenesis of Dyskinesias
Authors: Robertson H.A. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:The addition of a D2 agonist such as bromocriptine to L-Dopa therapy can often improve the response of patients with Parkinson’s disease dramatically. Simultaneous activation of D1 and D2 dopamine receptors can produce a synergistic effect on locomotion in rats and primates. However, despite the importance of this addition of a D2 agonist to the D1/D2 agonist L-Dopa, little is known of the sites of action of these agents. Recent work suggests that, in addition to D1 and D2 dopamine receptor sites in the striatum (caudate-putamen), L-Dopa and D1 agonists have important effects at D1 dopamine receptors in the substantia nigra. Animal experiments suggest that D1 and D2 dopamine receptor agonists probably also affect different outflow pathways from the striatum. An understanding of these pathways and how dopamine agonists affect them gives insight into some of the clinical problems experienced in treating Parkinson’s disease (the “on-off phenomenon, for example). D1/D2 dopamine receptors also differentially affect gene expression and regulation in the striatum. An understanding of the anatomical and biochemical location of the actions of dopamine receptor agonists will be important in maximizing the beneficial effects and minimizing the side-effects of both presently-used drugs and new treatments.
Neurological Findings in HIV-infected Children: A Review of 49 Cases
Authors: Roy S. , Geoffroy G. , Lapointe N. , Michaud J. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:Many HIV-infected children have neurological involvement. We present our observations in 49 cases, 58% of which had some form of clinical neurological impairment. Most of the patients affected (71%) presented with progressive encephalopathy, characterized by developmental delay with loss of acquisitions and cognitive decline, an impaired growth curve, microcephaly and corticospinal dysfunction. CT-scan imaging shows cerebral atrophy in all cases and basal ganglia calcifications in 29%. Non-specific abnormalities are found on the EEG in two-thirds of cases and in the CSF in slightly less than half the cases. Pathological studies sometime revealed HIV encephalitis or lateral corticospinal tracts degeneration. Neurological impairment secondary to vascular events, neoplasms or opportunistic infections were rare, especially when compared with the adult HIV population.
Gliomas in Families
Authors: Ikizler Y. , van Meyel D.J. , Ramsay D.A. , Abdallah G.L. , Allaster R.M. , Macdonald D.R. , Cavenee W.K. , Cairncross J.G. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:This is a descriptive study of 19 families with glial tumors. Twelve were identified prospectively from 178 consecutive, unrelated adults and children with newly diagnosed gliomas seen at a regional cancer center between 01 Jan 89 and 31 Mar 91 (6.7%). There were 45 affected members (42 confirmed); 30 males, 15 females, ages 4 months-78 years (median, 44.5 years; mean, 38.9 years). Two families had four affected members, three families had three, and the others two. All confirmed tumors were supratentorial and all, save one, contained an astrocytic element. Three additional members of two families had other brain or neuroectodermal tumors. These families were not unusually cancer prone and did not appear to have neurofibromatosis, tuberous sclerosis, or colonic polyposis. There was no consistent pattern of inheritance.
The Role of Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Acute Transverse Myelitis
Authors: Austin Sara G. , Zee Chi-Shing , Waters Cheryl 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:Eighteen adult patients presenting with acute transverse myelitis (ATM) were evaluated using magnetic resonance imaging. Only 7 had abnormal scans showing an area of increased signal intensity within the cord solely on T2 weighted images; Tl weighted images were normal. The MRI abnormality did not correlate with the cause of the transverse myelitis, the extent of maximum neurological deficit, or the prognosis. A scan performed more than 5 days after the onset of disease was most likely to be positive. Even though the prognostic value of MRI in ATM may be limited, it remains a valuable technique for ruling out other causes of noncompressive spinal cord lesions, such as hemmorhage, vascular malformation, or tumor.
Diagnosis and Management of Spinal Epidural Abscess
Authors: Redekop Gary J. , Del Maestro Rolando F. 
Published: May 2019

ABSTRACT:Twenty-five patients with spinal epidural abscess were treated at the University of Western Ontario hospitals between July 1980 and July 1990. There were eighteen males (72%) and seven females (28%), with a median age of 60 years. Concurrent illness resulting in immunocompromise was present in 60%. Eleven presented with complete myelopathy, thirteen had limb weakness, and one had no neurological deficit. In twenty cases the abscess consisted of frankly purulent material, while in five the epidural collection consisted of chronic granulation tissue.Staphylococcus aureuswas isolated in 64% of the abscesses. Twenty-seven surgical procedures were performed on 21 patients. Ten cases occurred in the cervical spine (40%), seven in the thoracic spine (28%), three in both the cervical and thoracic spine (12%) and five in the lumbosacral spine (20%). Fourteen patients (56%) retained or recovered ambulation and there were five deaths (20%). The progression from back and radicular pain to weakness and eventual paralysis continues to be characteristic of spinal epidural infection. Morbidity and mortality remain unacceptably high because of delay in diagnosis and treatment. Magnetic resonance imaging is the radiological investigation of choice for the diagnosis of spinal epidural abscess. Prompt intervention, before the development of severe neurological deficits, can improve outcome. Immediate surgical drainage combined with antibiotics remains the treatment of choice.