Simple Categorization Research Articles

What is the Privatization of Policing?

AbstractThe politics of austerity have deepened market penetration across the UK policing sector, bringing into effect an array of new policing assemblages which cut across the public–private divide like never before and defy simple categorization. However, public discourse has not kept pace with this fast-changing reality, all too often reducing these assemblages into an amorphous singularity–‘privatization’–towards which one is either unambiguously for or against. This article accordingly sets out the analytical tools for developing a more nuanced discourse on the privatization of policing. It first develops a new typology of privatization across five categories: function, formulation of private sphere, trigger of privatization, regulatory influence of the state, and relationship to the ideal-type police monopoly. It then operationalizes this typology using four recent examples of privatization drawn from the UK policing sector. It lastly clarifies how this typology can be used to inform discourse on the privatization of policing.

A cobordism model for Waldhausen K‐theory

We study a categorical construction called the cobordism category, which associates to each Waldhausen category a simplicial category of cospans. We prove that this construction is homotopy equivalent to Waldhausen's $S_{\bullet}$-construction and therefore it defines a model for Waldhausen $K$-theory. As an example, we discuss this model for $A$-theory and show that the cobordism category of homotopy finite spaces has the homotopy type of Waldhausen's $A(*)$. We also review the canonical map from the cobordism category of manifolds to $A$-theory from this viewpoint.

Is there a north–south mortality divide in England or is London the outlier?

Is there a north–south mortality divide in England or is London the outlier?

Između deosmanizacije i balkanizacije: muhadžirske dionice bošnjačke historije

The past and the present are inseparable, one interprets the other. Many "long-lasting" processes go beyond local frameworks and regional borders. This also applies to the complex "Eastern question", as well as the problem of the deosmanization of the Balkans, whose political geography in the 19th and 20th centuries was exposed to radical overlaps. Wars and persecutions are important factors in the history of Balkan Muslims. In the seventies of the XIX century, they constituted half of the population in the Ottoman part of the Balkans. With war devastation, a considerable part was killed or expelled to Anadolia between 1870 and 1890. The emergent "Turkish islands" in the Balkans after 1878 were increasingly narrowed, or disappeared due to the displacement of Muslims. Multiethnic and religious color of the Balkans disturbed accounts with simple categorizations. The term "balkanization" signified, after the Balkan wars of 1912-1913, "not only the fragmentation of large and powerful political units, but became synonymous with returning tribal, backward, primitive, and barbaric." The Balkanization of "Ottoman Europe" and the violent changes in its ethnic-religious structure led to discontinuity, the erosion of history, as well as fragmentation of the minds of the remaining Muslims and their afflicted communities, the lack of knowledge of the interconnectedness of their fates. The emigration of Bosniaks and other Muslims of different ethnic and linguistic backgrounds from the Balkans to various parts of the Ottoman Empire, and then to Turkey, during the XIX and XX centuries, had a number of consequences.

Simple Categorization of Human Figure Drawings at 5 Years of Age as an Indicator of Developmental Delay

ABSTRACTPurpose: To elucidate the association between developmental stage of human figure drawing(HFD) and fine motor control, visual perception, and further investigate its potential to be used for screening developmental delay.Methods: Participants were 301 children at 5½ years of age, 176 born preterm and 125 at term, whose HFDs were categorized into six developmental stages. Motor-Free-Visual-Perception Test, Movement-ABC, Performance Intelligence Quotient (PIQ: Wechsler Scale), and the Visual-Motor Integration test were used. Fine motor functions were explored using ImageJ.Results: Age-expected HFDs were drawn by 87% of the children, while 13%, mostly preterm boys, drew immature ones. Stages of HFD were related to both PIQ and Movement-ABC. Visuomotor control and visual perception significantly explained the HFD. The sensitivity and specificity of HFD as a screening tool was moderate to good.Conclusions: HFD is influenced by visual perception and visuomotor control and can be used for screening developmental delay at preschool age.

Laughter in Stories of Crime and Tragedy: The Importance of Humor for Marginalized Populations

AbstractHumor is essential to social life, but it is often overlooked in the study of crime and other social problems. We introduce and make use of humor theory, emphasizing the theories of superiority and relief. Based on interviews with incarcerated men, we demonstrate how humor is used to criticize authorities, for self-aggrandizement, and to alleviate the pain of tragic experiences. Funny remarks and stories are often ambiguous and evade simple categorization, which may explain why humor is neglected in the study of social problems. We argue that researchers should pay more attention to humor to achieve a fuller understanding of marginalized individuals and their social worlds.

Implementing a surgeon-reported categorization of pediatric appendicitis severity.

The purpose of this study was to implement a novel surgeon-reported categorization (SRC) for pediatric appendicitis severity and determine if SRC was associated with outcomes. We conducted a retrospective review of appendectomies by 15 surgeons within a single center from January to December 2016. The SRC was defined as: simple (category 1), gangrenous or adherent (category 2A), perforation with localized abscess (category 2B), and perforation with gross contamination (category 2C). Logistic regression modeled the surgical site infections (SSI) and returns to the system. Cox proportional hazards analyses modeled the length of stay (LOS). The cohort included 697 patients (mean age 10.7years). Compliance with SRC documentation increased from 33.5 to 85.9%. Review of operative findings revealed 100% concordance with SRC. The combined morbidity (SSI and revisits) rate was 9.8%. Category 2C patients had the highest odds of SSI (odds ratio 3.37 95% confidence interval 1.07-10.59). Median LOS increased with each category (category 1 = 1d, category 2A = 2d, category 2B = 4d, category 2C = 6d). When modeling intra-abdominal abscess, SRC displayed an improved model calibration and discrimination compared to wound class. SRC implementation is feasible and provides a granular assessment of appendicitis severity and outcomes. SRC may guide future quality improvement through development of grade-specific care pathways.

El trabajo vivo: la entelequia del capital

El trabajo vivo no es una categoría económica, sino que forma parte de la actividad práctica humana que surge del fundamento mismo de la vida. Sin embargo, en el sistema de producción capitalista el trabajo vivo es convertido en la determinación esencial del capital en su proceso de valorización. Así, mientras lo activo y lo subjetivo queda transformado en una objetividad muerta para los propios productores, el capital llega a su plena perfección con ello: el plusvalor. Partiendo de un análisis ontológico de la actividad laboral encontramos que el trabajo vivo es la categoría simple sobre la que se articula el resto de categorías económicas. La perspectiva filosófica ha de permitirnos analizar, mostrar y especificar las íntimas relaciones que se establecen entre el capital y el trabajo, así como las metamorfosis y transformaciones que ha de sufrir el trabajo vivo para convertirse en entelequia del capital, es decir, el tránsito de lo vivo a lo muerto.

Association between preoperative ambulatory heart rate and postoperative myocardial injury: a retrospective cohort study

BackgroundResting heart rate is well established as a predictor of morbidity and mortality in the general population. However, the relationship between preoperative heart rate and perioperative outcomes, specifically myocardial injury, is unclear. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included patients undergoing elective major non-cardiac surgery from 2008 to 2014 at a multisite healthcare system. The exposure was ambulatory heart rate measured during the outpatient preoperative clinic visit, whereas the outcome of interest was myocardial injury (peak postoperative troponin I concentration >30 ng L−1). Covariates included patient characteristics, comorbidities, and preoperative medications. We constructed several multivariable regression models that each modelled heart rate in a different manner, including as a simple continuous variable, categories, and fractional polynomials. ResultsThe cohort included 41 140 patients, of whom 4857 (11.8%) experienced myocardial injury. Based on pre-specified heart categories thresholds, a heart rate ≥90 beats min−1 was associated with an elevated odds of myocardial injury compared with a heart rate <60 beats min−1 (adjusted odds ratio, 1.22; 95% confidence interval, 1.06–1.39; P=0.005). This result was consistent regardless of the method used for categorisation. When fractional polynomials were used to model heart rate, a ‘J-shaped’ relationship between heart rate and odds of myocardial injury was observed. ConclusionsThis cohort study found that both very high preoperative heart rates, and possibly also very low heart rates, are associated with increased risk of myocardial injury. Whether heart rate is a modifiable risk factor, or rather simply a marker of underlying cardiac pathology, needs to be determined in further research.

Spelling performance of students with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

ABSTRACT Purpose: to characterize and compare the spelling performance of students with and without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Methods: sample including 244 Brazilian students from the 3rd to the 5th year, from three public schools (189 without and 55 with the disorder). Students were assessed and classified according to the spelling errors in a word dictation. The average performance was compared per school year, condition (having Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or not) and interaction between year and condition. The performance was also compared to the results of the study by Moojen (2011), on orthographic performance in Elementary School. Results: students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disordershowed a higher average in the total number of errors, in the Phoneme/Grapheme Conversion, Simple Contextual Rules and Language Irregularities categories. In the group without Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, there was a greater reduction of errors among the school grades (3rd, 4th, 5th). In relation to the study by Moojen (2011), students with the disorder had a lower average. Conclusion: evidence showed that the presence ofAttention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorderinfluenced the spelling performance of the students evaluated.

The effects of distributed and focused attention on rapid scene categorization

ABSTRACTIt has been argued that distributed attention facilitates the rapid extraction of summary statistics that underpins rapid scene categorization. We directly examined this hypothesis by investigating whether distributed or focused attention is more compatible with the extraction of both summary statistics (Experiment 1) and semantic scene information (Experiments 2–4). Experiment 1 replicated Chong and Treisman’s (2005a) result that mean circle size judgments are more compatible with a distributed attention task than a focused attention task. Experiment 2 investigated whether this finding extends to simple scene categorization by replacing the averaging task with an animal detection task. Consistent with Experiment 1, the ability to detect the presence of an animal was more compatible with a distributed attention task than a focused attention task. Experiments 3 and 4 addressed whether distributed attention influences scene categorization tasks. When observers were asked to classify scenes based on their basic level (e.g., beach or forest; Experiment 3), there was no statistically significant difference between focused and distributed attention task conditions; however, superordinate level categorization (e.g., natural or manmade; Experiment 4) was faster when combined with a task requiring distributed attention compared to a task requiring focused attention.

Discrete topological complexity

We introduce a notion of discrete topological complexity in the setting of simplicial complexes, using only the combinatorial structure of the complex and replacing the concept of homotopy by that of contiguous simplicial maps. We study the links of this new invariant with those of simplicial category and topological complexity.

Validation of a questionnaire on health literacy among Francophones in situation of linguistic minority

This study was designed to develop and test the qualitative validity of a French questionnaire. The questionnaire explored the mechanisms by which Francophone in situation of linguistic minority mobilize their social capital and cultural assets in terms of health literacy. We used evidence derived from a previous qualitative study in which we elaborated the characteristics of social capital and cultural assets. Drawing on models of social capital and self-determination of language behaviour in Francophone in situation of linguistic minority, 21 items were developed and assessed to confirm content validity. For this purpose, cognitive interviews were conducted with 92 natural experts. These cognitive interviews tested the linguistic and content validity of the instrument. Consultations with research professionals were also conducted to increase content validity. Parsimony and simplicity were tested by application of the Flesch test. The results demonstrate that 19 questions (93%) corresponded to the general public, relatively simple, and everyday use categories. Natural experts confirmed the readability and simplicity of the questionnaire. This study addressed a lack of simple and readable questionnaire for collecting data among Francophone in situation of linguistic minority. The findings underscore the lack of evidence related to the familiar construction of health literacy among members of this population.

Phenolic compounds can delay the oxidation of polyunsaturated fatty acids and the growth of Listeria monocytogenes: structure-activity relationships.

Phenolic compounds present a potential solution to ensure food quality and safety. Indeed, they can limit oxidation reactions and bacterial growth in food products. Although their antioxidant mechanisms of action are well known, their antibacterial ones are less well understood, especially in light of their chemical structures. The aim of this study was first to quantify both aspects of a series of natural phenolic compounds and then link these activities to their chemical structure. We evaluated antioxidant activity by measuring the capacity of phenolic compounds to delay free linoleic acid oxidation caused by the action of a hydrophilic azo-radical initiator (AAPH). We evaluated antibacterial activity by measuring the growth inhibition of Listeria monocytogenes and determining the non-inhibitory and minimum inhibitory concentrations for each compound. Compounds with ortho-diphenolic structures were the best antioxidants, whereas those belonging to the simple phenol category were the best antibacterial compounds. The physico-chemical properties of the compounds influenced both activities but not in the same way. The chemical environment of the phenolic group and the presence of delocalization structures are the most important parameters for antioxidant activity, whereas the partition coefficient, logP, is one of the most important factors involved in antibacterial activity. © 2018 Society of Chemical Industry.

Oral thyroxin supplementation in infants undergoing cardiac surgery: A double-blind placebo-controlled randomized clinical trial

BackgroundDecreases in serum total thyroxin and total triiodothyronine occurs after cardiopulmonary bypass, and is reflected as poor immediate outcome. We studied effects of oral thyroxin supplementation in infants who underwent open-heart surgery. MethodsIn this prospective study, 100 patients were randomized into 2 groups: 50 in the thyroxin group (TH) and 50 in the placebo group (PL). Patients in the TH group received oral thyroxin (5 μg/kg) 12 hours before surgery and once daily for the remainder of their intensive care unit (ICU) stay. Data on intraoperative and postoperative variables were recorded. Cardiac index (CI) was measured. Perioperative serum thyroid hormone levels and serum interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α were measured. Secondary analysis was performed by dividing patients into simple and complex subcategories. ResultsResults of the primary analysis indicated a higher CI in the TH compared with the PL. In the complex category, the mean duration of mechanical ventilation was 3.85 ± 0.93 and 4.66 ± 1.55 days in the TH and PL, respectively (P = .001). Mean ICU stay was 6.79 ± 2.26 and 8.33 ± 3.09 days (P = .03), and mean hospital stay was 15.70 ± 4.77 and 18.90 ± 4.48 days (P = .01) in the TH and PL, respectively. There were no significant differences between the TH and the PL in the simple category. CI was higher in the TH at all time points (P = .004). The average therapeutic intervention scoring system scores for the first 2 days were higher in the PL in the complex category. ConclusionsOral thyroxin supplementation improves the CI and reduces the inotropic requirement. In addition, it reduces the duration of mechanical ventilation, ICU and hospital stay, and therapeutic intervention scoring system in infants after surgery for complex congenital heart defects.

Emotion recognition from facial expressions using hybrid feature descriptors

Here, a hybrid feature descriptor-based method is proposed to recognise human emotions from their facial expressions. A combination of spatial bag of features (SBoFs) with spatial scale-invariant feature transform (SBoF-SSIFT), and SBoFs with spatial speeded up robust transform are utilised to improve the ability to recognise facial expressions. For classification of emotions, K-nearest neighbour and support vector machines (SVMs) with linear, polynomial, and radial basis function kernels are applied. SBoFs descriptor generates a fixed length feature vector for all sample images irrespective of their size. Spatial SIFT and SURF features are independent of scaling, rotation, translation, projective transforms, and partly to illumination changes. A modified form of bag of features (BoFs) is employed by involving feature's spatial information for facial emotion recognition. The proposed method differs from conventional methods that are used for simple object categorisation without using spatial information. Experiments have been performed on extended Cohn–Kanade (CK+) and Japanese female facial expression (JAFFE) data sets. SBoF-SSIFT with SVM resulted in a recognition accuracy of 98.5% on CK+ and 98.3% on JAFFE data set. Images are resized through selective pre-processing, thereby retaining only the information of interest and reducing computation time.

Reparameterization of PAM50 Expression Identifies Novel Breast Tumor Dimensions and Leads to Discovery of a Genome-Wide Significant Breast Cancer Locus at 12q15.

Background: Breast tumor subtyping has failed to provide impact in susceptibility genetics. The PAM50 assay categorizes breast tumors into: Luminal A, Luminal B, HER2-enriched and Basal-like. However, tumors are often more complex than simple categorization can describe. The identification of heritable tumor characteristics has potential to decrease heterogeneity and increase power for gene finding.Methods: We used 911 sporadic breast tumors with PAM50 expression data to derive tumor dimensions using principal components (PC). Dimensions in 238 tumors from high-risk pedigrees were compared with the sporadic tumors. Proof-of-concept gene mapping, informed by tumor dimension, was performed using Shared Genomic Segment (SGS) analysis.Results: Five dimensions (PC1-5) explained the majority of the PAM50 expression variance: three captured intrinsic subtype, two were novel (PC3, PC5). All five replicated in 745 TCGA tumors. Both novel dimensions were significantly enriched in the high-risk pedigrees (intrinsic subtypes were not). SGS gene-mapping in a pedigree identified a 0.5 Mb genome-wide significant region at 12q15 This region segregated through 32 meioses to 8 breast cancer cases with extreme PC3 tumors (P = 2.6 × 10-8).Conclusions: PC analysis of PAM50 gene expression revealed multiple independent, quantitative measures of tumor diversity. These tumor dimensions show evidence for heritability and potential as powerful traits for gene mapping.Impact: Our study suggests a new approach to describe tumor expression diversity, provides new avenues for germline studies, and proposes a new breast cancer locus. Similar reparameterization of expression patterns may inform other studies attempting to model the effects of tumor heterogeneity. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 27(6); 644-52. ©2018 AACR.

Engine Inlet Guide Vane Ice Impact Fragmentation

Experimental testing and analytical modeling of ice impact and fragmentation at turbo fan engine inlet were conducted in this research. A rotor testing facility, Adverse Environment Rotor Test Stand (AERTS) Laboratory, was introduced to reproduce natural icing condition and representative ice shapes typically found on engine inlet guide vanes. A total of 42 cases from 14 different icing conditions were conducted and used for high-speed visualization of ice impact tests and model development. Ice particles were analyzed using image postprocessing techniques and correlated using statistical tools. A cut-off in size range for analysis was found necessary before applying an energy-statistical method for model development. A cut-off criterion that related to the fracture stress, strain rate, and fracture toughness was implemented and compared with existing literature. After applying size cut-off, a Rosin-Rammler distribution was fitted to obtain mass-weighted particle distribution. Cumulative distribution function (CDF) was first formulated with comparison to an existing correlation based on hailstone impact experiments. The AERTS prediction successfully matched with experimental measurements, whereas the hailstone correlation constantly overestimate the size distribution. In addition, a probabilistic distribution function (PDF) was used to categorize the postimpact size distribution. The particle cloud was segmented into three groups weighted by mass (16%, 68%, and 16%). This technique provides a simple categorization method of a complicated impact fragmentation process. Instead of simulating the fracturing physics, a group of particles with three categories of particle sizes can be used as initial condition for postimpact aerothermal simulations that can significantly simplify computational fluid dynamics modeling complexity. Overall, a total of 6.1% mean absolute deviation in predicting the mean of particle sizes was achieved for total of 42 test cases in this study.

Usage of JSTOR Database Among Research Scholars in the Faculty of Social Science, Aligarh Muslim University

&lt;p&gt;The study set out to examine the researchers’ perception towards the use JSTOR database and to explore the reasons not to use JSTOR database. The present study carried out using simple random sampling technique. The major purpose of researchers to use JSTOR was research work and article title was the most common searching techniques in simple search category. In advanced search technique field search was most common search technique followed by phrase search. Almost, all respondents found satisfied with the service of JSTOR and none was found dissatisfied/partially satisfied. On the basis of findings, it is recommended that the use of JSTOR database can be maximised, if researchers have frequent literacy programs.&lt;/p&gt;

Outlaws or Protected? DNA, Hybrids, and Biopolitics in a Finnish Wolf-Poaching Case

AbstractBy analyzing a 2015 Finnish court case on wolf poaching, we discuss how wild animals are categorized, gain legal status based on their species identification, and affect the categorization of humans either as poachers or hunters concerned about the genetic purity of the species. The court had to evaluate the reliability, accuracy, and relevance of scientific knowledge to distinguish “pure” wolves from hybrids. Dealing with complicated questions of canid species identification, the court decision took a position in the debate on what to conserve in a world which escapes simple categorizations. Hence, we interpret the case as an example ofbiopolitics, addressing the challenges and tensions of governing life by differentiating between valued and less valued, killable and threatened lifeforms, and human responsibilities towards them.