bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Results of a Canadian study examining the prevalence and potential for developing compassion fatigue and burnout in radiation therapists
Authors: Gillies Carol , Bristow Bonnie , Gallant Francois , Osmar Kari , Lange-Mechlen Irene , Tran William Tyler 
Published: April 2014

AbstractObjectiveCaring is a fundamental tenet of healthcare. Caring ‘too much’ can result in compassion fatigue syndrome and is often linked to burnout and low morale. The objective of this study was to examine compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress (STS) and burnout by investigating the relationship between levels of compassion (compassion satisfaction) and STS and burnout. The study also aimed to identify radiation therapist (RTTs) groups who may be at risk for developing (STS) and burnout. Finally, we investigated the level of social support that RTTs receive.MethodsRTTs practicing across Canada were invited to participate in an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of: demographic information including health-related issues and occupational variables; the Professional Quality of Life Compassion Satisfaction and Fatigue Questionnaire (ProQOL-V) to assess the potential for compassion satisfaction and vulnerability for STS and burnout; and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) to examine the level and sources of social support. A two-way ANOVA was performed to test the statistical significance between varying groups within the study population. A linear regression analysis using potential co-factors was used to test correlations between compassion fatigue, compassion satisfaction and burnout and variables in age, education, years of experience and levels of caring to patients.ResultsA total of 477 survey responses were received representing a 36% response rate. Results of the regression analyses generally indicate inverse correlations between the risks associated with compassion satisfaction, burnout and STS compared with the independent study variables of age, education, years of experience and levels of caring to patients. It was observed that responses were not linear within subgroups (age groups, education classifications, years of study).ConclusionRTTs practicing in Canada have a substantial social support network and demonstrate high levels of compassion satisfaction in their daily practice. The results of the study indicate that compassion levels are inversely correlated with burnout and compassion fatigue, although some groups may be at higher risk than others. A possible risk catalyst for compassion fatigue and burnout is associated with underdeveloped managerial workplace support programmes.
Image guidance procedures in radiotherapy for prostate cancer and the influence of body mass index
Authors: Piotrowski Tomasz , Kaczmarek Krzysztof , Jodda Agata , Ryczkowski Adam , Bajon Tomasz , Rodrigues George , Yartsev Slav 
Published: April 2014

AbstractPurposeTo investigate possible optimisation of the image guidance procedure for the prostate cancer patients with respect to imaging frequency and patient body mass index (BMI).MethodsThe 6,085 setup correction shifts and BMI for 216 prostate cancer patients treated on tomotherapy units in two centres were analysed. Margins needed to account for inter-fraction target motion with daily only automatic correction and with automatic and manual corrections during one, three or five first fractions as a reference for further treatment without imaging were calculated.ResultsThe planning target volume margin calculated for the daily automatic correction only scheme was significantly lower than the margins calculated for the image guidance limited to a few initial fractions. Manual corrections after automatic fusion were more important for patients with higher BMI. On average, the patients with normal BMI had manual correction shift of 0·7 mm in anterioposterior direction, while overweight and obese patients required, correspondingly, the shifts of 1·3 and 1·4 mm.ConclusionOverweight and obese patients require daily imaging with time saving available by performing automatic kV/MV computed tomography registration only. The patients with normal BMI may be treated with imaging guidance during a few initial treatment fractions.
Quality of Life: Policy Concept and Reality
Authors: YAMAMOTO TAKU 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThis study examines the process by which the concept of quality of life has been increasing in importance as the key to ASEAN's socio-cultural integration. This study also focuses on the current trend that emphasizes subjective quality of life and clarifies that ASEAN has been moving toward including this perspective. Then, it analyzes the subjective quality of life of people in ASEAN in terms of self-assessment and the multidimensional World Health Organization Quality of Life metric by using data from the ASEAN Barometer 2009.
Environmental Consciousness of ASEAN Citizens
Authors: SASAOKA SHINYA 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThe Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries has fostered economic growth recently but in the process has encountered a number of serious problems regarding environmental destruction, such as the air and water pollution. In addition, due to rapid population growth and urbanization, there are emerging concerns about decline of the environment in those countries in the near future. One of the surveys that tries to measure the attitudes of ASEAN citizens on environmental issues is the ASEAN Barometer survey conducted in 2009. This paper aims to unfold how ASEAN citizens evaluate environmental problems and what underlie their evaluations using the aforementioned ASEAN Barometer survey. The results of analysis will mainly reveal the next three points: (1) Filipinos showed higher environmental consciousness; (2) people in a less developed country were more likely to worry about environment deterioration and showed more commitment to the environmental movement, but, at the same time, they were more reticent about their immediate ecological activities; (3) those who thought that central governments needed to commit more to environmental problems and should take greater responsibility for environmental deterioration. Those who expected regional international organizations to take more measures were more inclined to engage in environmental activities.
The Rise of Consumer–Oriented Politics in Japan? Exploring the Party–Citizen Relationship through Discourse Analysis
Authors: SAUZIER-UCHIDA EMI 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThis article analyses the discourse of three prime ministers – Koizumi, Aso, and Hatoyama – to explore how each leader identified the political self and constructed and promoted a particular relationship with the voter before the general elections. The outcome indicates the emergence of a new political communication style based on a party–citizen relationship as business–consumer. Whereas Aso's patron–client discourse pinpoints the role of the responsible and bureaucratic state in protecting Japan, the business–consumer discourse of both Koizumi and Hatoyama demonstrates the entrepreneurial leaders’ willingness to listen to individuals in order to meet their needs and expectations. We speculate that the social norms and values of the business–consumer model might have played a role in attracting a large number of unorganized voters to Koizumi in 2005 and in turn to Hatoyama in 2009.
Expressiveness and Voting Decision: New Evidence from the Korean Parliamentary Election
Authors: JOO MAN-SOO , YUN SUNGHO 
Published: April 2014

AbstractAccording to the expressive view of voting, a voter derives expressive utility from casting a vote. We present two possible sources of expressive utility: social interaction with voters having the same political preferences, and interestingness of the election. First, it has been suggested that a voter's expressive utility may increase when there are more voters having the same political preference. We extend this line of study and test the hypothesis that a voter's expressive utility increases as the number of voters having the same political preferences increases in thelocalcommunity, where interaction occurs more frequently with others than it does with others in distant communities. Second, we propose and test the other hypothesis, that voters’ expressive utility is larger when the election is more interesting. Using 2008 parliamentary election data from Korea, where the election consists of both 245 single-member districts and only one nationwide district for proportional representatives, we find supporting evidence for these two arguments: the turnout rate is significantly and positively related to the share of proportional representation votes for the largest party in each single-member district; the turnout rate is also significantly and positively related to the number of polls for single-member district election conducted by major broadcasting companies, which we use as a proxy variable for interestingness of the election.
South Asian Regional Integration – Challenges and Prospects
Authors: KARIM MOHD AMINUL 
Published: April 2014

AbstractSouth Asian regional integration is seemingly confronting many challenges. The aim of this paper is to identify those challenges and also look for prospects. Although regional integration in South Asia has adopted a kind of institutionalization, it is yet to deliver any concrete outcomes. High-politics and the not-so-conducive regional economic structures hinder any effectual culmination. However, constructivism, as a theory, is given due credence in this paper when looking for future prospects. The paper highlights the issues, and attempts to offer certain policy directions by analyzing the challenges and identifying the prospects in the on-going integration/cooperation process.
The political economy of rationing health care in England and the US: the ‘accidental logics’ of political settlements
Authors: Bevan Gwyn , Brown Lawrence D. 
Published: April 2014

AbstractThis article considers how the ‘accidental logics’ of political settlements for the English National Health Service (NHS) and the Medicare and Medicaid programmes in the United States have resulted in different institutional arrangements and different implicit social contracts for rationing, which we define to be the denial of health care that is beneficial but is deemed to be too costly. This article argues that rationing is designed into the English NHS and designed out of US Medicare; and compares rationing for the elderly in the United States and in England for acute care, care at the end of life, and chronic care.
The global burden of mental and substance use disorders: changes in estimating burden between GBD1990 and GBD2010
Authors: Baxter A. J. , Ferrari A. J. , Erskine H. E. , Charlson F. J. , Degenhardt L. , Whiteford H. A. 
Published: April 2014

Background.The main aim of this paper is to compare and contrast the methodological approaches of the new Global Burden of Disease 2010 Study (GBD 2010) with the original study conducted for 1990 (GBD 1990), in terms of calculating burden for mental and substance use disorders.Methods.We reviewed the conceptual and methodological changes to GBD burden calculations in the GBD 2010 study, compared with previous studies. We then discuss the possible implications of these changes with respect to burden estimates for mental and substance use disorders.Results.It is not possible to compare burden estimates arising from the GBD 1990 study with the most recent burden estimates. There have been important advances in the categorisation and definition of mental disorders, and the input and computation of epidemiological models for disease distribution. There have also been major changes to conceptual and social value choices aimed at addressing concerns that arose following publication of earlier GBD studies.Conclusion.Advancements to the GBD conceptual framework and method of calculating burden estimates has led to more accurate and equitable consideration of the burden for mental and substance use disorders. Proposed annual updates of GBD estimates by the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation provide an opportunity to continue to advance the evidence base that underpins the quantification of disease burden.
Hacking on decoy-state quantum key distribution system with partial phase randomization
Authors: Sun Shi-Hai , Jiang Mu-Sheng , Ma Xiang-Chun , Li Chun-Yan , Liang Lin-Mei 
Published: April 2014

AbstractQuantum key distribution (QKD) provides means for unconditional secure key transmission between two distant parties. However, in practical implementations, it suffers from quantum hacking due to device imperfections. Here we propose a hybrid measurement attack, with only linear optics, homodyne detection and single photon detection, to the widely used vacuum + weak decoy state QKD system when the phase of source is partially randomized. Our analysis shows that, in some parameter regimes, the proposed attack would result in an entanglement breaking channel but still be able to trick the legitimate users to believe they have transmitted secure keys. That is, the eavesdropper is able to steal all the key information without discovered by the users. Thus, our proposal reveals that partial phase randomization is not sufficient to guarantee the security of phase-encoding QKD systems with weak coherent states.
A Longitudinal Study of Very Young Children's Vowel Production
Authors: McGowan Rebecca W. , McGowan Richard S. , Denny Margaret , Nittrouer Susan 
Published: April 2014

Purpose
Ecologically realistic, spontaneous, adult-directed, longitudinal speech data of young children were described by acoustic analyses.

Method
The first 2 formant frequencies of vowels produced by 6 children from different American English dialect regions were analyzed from ages 18 to 48 months. The vowels were from largely conversational contexts and were classified according to dictionary pronunciation.

Results
Within-subject formant frequency variability remained relatively constant for the span of ages studied. It was often difficult to detect overall decreases in the first 2 formant frequencies between ages 30 and 48 months. A study of the movement of the corner vowels with respect to the vowel centroid showed that the shape of the vowel space remained qualitatively constant from 30 through 48 months.

Conclusions
The shape of the vowel space is established early in life. Some aspects of regional dialect were observed in some of the subjects at 42 months of age. The present study adds to the existing data on the development of vowel spaces by describing ecologically realistic speech.
Vowel Acoustics in Dysarthria: Mapping to Perception
Authors: Lansford Kaitlin L. , Liss Julie M. 
Published: April 2014

Purpose
The aim of the present report was to explore whether vowel metrics, demonstrated to distinguish dysarthric and healthy speech in a companion article (Lansford & Liss, 2014), are able to predict human perceptual performance.

Method
Vowel metrics derived from vowels embedded in phrases produced by 45 speakers with dysarthria were compared with orthographic transcriptions of these phrases collected from 120 healthy listeners. First, correlation and stepwise multiple regressions were conducted to identify acoustic metrics that had predictive value for perceptual measures. Next, discriminant function analysis misclassifications were compared with listeners' misperceptions to examine more directly the perceptual consequences of degraded vowel acoustics.

Results
Several moderate correlative relationships were found between acoustic metrics and perceptual measures, with predictive models accounting for 18%–75% of the variance in measures of intelligibility and vowel accuracy. Results of the second analysis showed that listeners better identified acoustically distinctive vowel tokens. In addition, the level of agreement between misclassified-to-misperceived vowel tokens supports some specificity of degraded acoustic profiles on the resulting percept.

Conclusion
Results provide evidence that degraded vowel acoustics have some effect on human perceptual performance, even in the presence of extravowel variables that naturally exert influence in phrase perception.
Children's Perception of Speech Produced in a Two-Talker Background
Authors: Baker Mallory , Buss Emily , Jacks Adam , Taylor Crystal , Leibold Lori J. 
Published: April 2014

Purpose
This study evaluated the degree to which children benefit from the acoustic modifications made by talkers when they produce speech in noise.

Method
A repeated measures design compared the speech perception performance of children (5–11 years) and adults in a 2-talker masker. Target speech was produced in a 2-talker background or in quiet. In Experiment 1, recognition with the 2 target sets was assessed using an adaptive spondee identification procedure. In Experiment 2, the benefit of speech produced in a 2-talker background was assessed using an open-set, monosyllabic word recognition task at a fixed signal-to-noise ratio (SNR).

Results
Children performed more poorly than adults, regardless of whether the target speech was produced in quiet or in a 2-talker background. A small improvement in the SNR required to identify spondees was observed for both children and adults using speech produced in a 2-talker background (Experiment 1). Similarly, average open-set word recognition scores were 11 percentage points higher for both age groups using speech produced in a 2-talker background compared with quiet (Experiment 2).

Conclusion
The results indicate that children can use the acoustic modifications of speech produced in a 2-talker background to improve masked speech perception, as previously demonstrated for adults.
Cultural and Demographic Factors Influencing Noise Exposure Estimates From Use of Portable Listening Devices in an Urban Environment
Authors: Fligor Brian J. , Levey Sandra , Levey Tania 
Published: April 2014

Purpose
This study examined listening levels and duration of portable listening devices (PLDs) used by people with diversity of ethnicity, education, music genre, and PLD manufacturer. The goal was to estimate participants’ PLD noise exposure and identify factors influencing user behavior.

Method
This study measured listening levels of 160 adults in 2 New York City locations: (a) a quiet college campus and (b) Union Square, a busy interchange. Participants completed a questionnaire regarding demographics and PLD use. Ordinary least squares regression was used to explore the significance of demographic and behavioral factors.

Results

Average listening level was 94.1 dBA, with 99 of 160 (61.9%) and 92 of 159 (57.5%) exceeding daily (L
A8hn
) and weekly (L
Awkn
) recommended exposure limit, respectively. African American participants listened at the highest average levels (99.8 dBA).

Conclusions
A majority of PLD users exceeded recommended exposure levels. Factors significant for higher exposure were ethnicity and age; factors not significantly associated with exposure were gender, education, location, awareness of possible association between PLD use and noise-induced hearing loss, mode of transportation, device manufacturer, and music genre. Efforts to effect behavior changes to lessen noise-induced hearing loss risk from PLD use should be sensitive to the cultural differences within the targeted population.
Intelligibility of American English Vowels and Consonants Spoken by International Students in the United States
Authors: Jin Su-Hyun , Liu Chang 
Published: April 2014

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to examine the intelligibility of English consonants and vowels produced by Chinese-native (CN), and Korean-native (KN) students enrolled in American universities.

Method
16 English-native (EN), 32 CN, and 32 KN speakers participated in this study. The intelligibility of 16 American English consonants and 16 vowels spoken by native and nonnative speakers of English was evaluated by EN listeners. All nonnative speakers also completed a survey of their language backgrounds.

Results
Although the intelligibility of consonants and diphthongs for nonnative speakers was comparable to that of native speakers, the intelligibility of monophthongs was significantly lower for CN and KN speakers than for EN speakers. Sociolinguistic factors such as the age of arrival in the United States and daily use of English, as well as a linguistic factor, difference in vowel space between native (L1) and nonnative (L2) language, partially contributed to vowel intelligibility for CN and KN groups. There was no significant correlation between the length of U.S. residency and phoneme intelligibility.

Conclusion
Results indicated that the major difficulty in phonemic production in English for Chinese and Korean speakers is with vowels rather than consonants. This might be useful for developing training methods to improve English intelligibility for foreign students in the United States.
Validating Models of Clinical Word Recognition Tests for Spanish/English Bilinguals
Authors: Shi Lu-Feng 
Published: April 2014

Purpose
Shi and Sánchez (2010) developed models to predict the optimal test language for evaluating Spanish/English (S/E) bilinguals' word recognition. The current study intended to validate their conclusions in a separate bilingual listener sample.

Method

Seventy normal-hearing S/E bilinguals varying in language profile were included. Participants were presented with English monosyllabic and Spanish bisyllabic words in quiet and in speech-spectrum noise (+6 and 0 dB SNR). Relative success on the 2 tests was indicated by the difference in
z
score for each test.

Results

The current group of participants was comparable to participants in Shi and Sánchez (2010) in regard to their language background and test performance. Previously developed models fit current data well. Age of English acquisition (AOA
E
) yielded more consistent models across test conditions than language dominance (LD). New models incorporating average proficiency rating (across domains) and relative proficiency rating (across languages) yielded best prediction.

Conclusions

Shi and Sánchez's (2010) models incorporating key linguistic variables (AOA
E
, LD, and average/relative proficiency ratings) can help clinicians predict bilingual clients' relative success in word recognition in Spanish versus English. These models are appropriate for current clinical work with S/E bilinguals in metropolitan areas similar to New York City.
Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder: A Review
Authors: Norrix Linda W. , Velenovsky David S. 
Published: April 2014

PurposeAuditory neuropathy spectrum disorder, or ANSD, can be a confusing diagnosis to physicians, clinicians, those diagnosed, and parents of children diagnosed with the condition. The purpose of this review is to provide the reader with an understanding of the disorder, the limitations in current tools to determine site(s) of lesion, and management techniques.MethodThis article is a review of what is known about ANSD. It includes descriptions of assessment tools, causes of ANSD, and patient management techniques.ConclusionsThis review is a guide to audiologists, speech-language pathologists, and early interventionists who work with individuals diagnosed with ANSD and/or their families. It highlights the need for more precise tools to describe the disorder in order to facilitate decisions about interventions and lead to better predictions of outcome.