Re-examining the evidence in radiation dermatitis management literature : an overview and a critical appraisal of systematic reviews

Purpose: To provide an overview and a critical appraisal of systematic reviews (SRs) of published interventions for the prevention/management of radiation dermatitis. Methods and Materials: We searched Medline, CINAHL, Embase, and the Cochrane Library. We also manually searched through individual reference lists of potentially eligible articles and a number of key journals in the topic area. Two authors screened all potential articles and included eligible SRs. Two authors critically appraised and extracted key findings from the included reviews using AMSTAR (the measurement tool for ���assessment of multiple systematic reviews���). Results: Of 1837 potential titles, 6 SRs were included. A number of interventions have been reported to be potentially beneficial for managing radiation dermatitis. Interventions evaluated in these reviews included skin care advice, steroidal/nonsteroidal topical agents, systemic therapies, modes of radiation delivery, and dressings. However, all the included SRs reported that there is insufficient evidence supporting any single effective intervention. The methodological quality of the included studies varied, and methodological shortfalls in these reviews might create biases to the overall results or recommendations for clinical practice. Conclusions: An up-to-date high-quality SR in the prevention/management of radiation dermatitis is needed to guide practice and direction for future research. We recommend that clinicians or guideline developers critically evaluate the information of SRs in their decision making.

Numerical methods for solving a two-dimensional variable-order anomalous subdiffusion equation

Anomalous subdiffusion equations have in recent years received much attention. In this paper, we consider a two-dimensional variable-order anomalous subdiffusion equation. Two numerical methods (the implicit and explicit methods) are developed to solve the equation. Their stability, convergence and solvability are investigated by the Fourier method. Moreover, the effectiveness of our theoretical analysis is demonstrated by some numerical examples. �� 2011 American Mathematical Society.

Nutritional support in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND: The efficacy of nutritional support in the management of malnutrition in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is controversial. Previous meta-analyses, based on only cross-sectional analysis at the end of intervention trials, found no evidence of improved outcomes. OBJECTIVE: The objective was to conduct a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to clarify the efficacy of nutritional support in improving intake, anthropometric measures, and grip strength in stable COPD. DESIGN: Literature databases were searched to identify RCTs comparing nutritional support with controls in stable COPD. RESULTS: Thirteen RCTs (n = 439) of nutritional support [dietary advice (1 RCT), oral nutritional supplements (ONS; 11 RCTs), and enteral tube feeding (1 RCT)] with a control comparison were identified. An analysis of the changes induced by nutritional support and those obtained only at the end of the intervention showed significantly greater increases in mean total protein and energy intakes with nutritional support of 14.8 g and 236 kcal daily. Meta-analyses also showed greater mean (��SE) improvements in favor of nutritional support for body weight (1.94 �� 0.26 kg, P < 0.001; 11 studies, n = 308) and grip strength (5.3%, P < 0.050; 4 studies, n = 156), which was not shown by ANOVA at the end of the intervention, largely because of bias associated with baseline imbalance between groups. CONCLUSION: This systematic review and meta-analysis showed that nutritional support, mainly in the form of ONS, improves total intake, anthropometric measures, and grip strength in COPD. These results contrast with the results of previous analyses that were based on only cross-sectional measures at the end of intervention trials.

Against Marginality: Arguments for a Public Criminology

Despite its accumulated theoretical and empirical heft, the discipline of criminology has had distressingly little impact on the course of public policy toward crime and criminal justice. This article addresses the sources of that troubling marginality, with special emphasis on the powerful disincentives to greater public impact that operate within the discipline itself and the research universities that mainly house it���including the pressure to publish ever more narrow research in peer-reviewed journals at the expense of efforts at synthesis and dissemination that could serve to educate a broader public. Achieving a greater voice in the world outside the discipline will require a concerted move toward a more explicitly public criminology, and seeing to it that the work of such a criminology is more reliably supported and rewarded within the universities and the profession as a whole.

Governing Prostitution: New Formations, Old Agendas

Recent governmentality literature distinguishes between government from above and government ���from below��� in an attempt to avoid ���top-down��� analyzes of state-centered government and to acknowledge the multiple and diverse ways in which the governance is achieved. By analyzing key shifts and changes in the regulation of prostitution in the UK in the last three decades, it is possible to complicate the distinction between the two modes of government. Whilst some writers highlight the ways in which government from above and below become increasingly blurred, this article argues that although the agendas and modes of government from above and below are difficult to disentangle, the effects on sex workers are not. Regulation remains rooted within coercive and punitive state-centered criminal justice responses, even though organizations ���from below��� may well be the very organizations tasked by the state with carried out those responses.

Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building

With the rising popularity of anime amongst animation students, audiences and scholars around the world, it has become increasingly important to critically analyse anime as being more than a ���limited��� form of animation, and thematically as encompassing more than super robots and pocket monsters. Frames of Anime: Culture and Image-Building charts the development of Japanese animation from its indigenous roots within a native culture, through Japan���s experience of modernity and the impact of the Second World War. This text is the result of a rigorous study that recognises the heterogeneous and polymorphous background of anime. As such, Tze-Yue has adopted an ���interdisciplinary and transnational��� (p. 7) approach to her enquiry, drawing upon face-to-face interviews, on-site visits and biographical writings of animators. Tze-Yue delineates anime from other forms of animation by linking its visual style to pre-modern Japanese art forms and demonstrating the connection it shares with an indigenous folk system of beliefs. Via the identification of traditional Japanese art forms and their visual connectedness to Japanese animation, Tze-Yue shows that the Japanese were already heavily engaged in what was destined to become anime once technology had enabled its production. Tze-Yue���s efforts to connect traditional Japanese art forms, and their artistic elements, to contemporary anime reveals that the Japanese already had a rich culture of visual storytelling that pre-dates modern animation. She identifies the Japanese form of the magic lantern at the turn of the 19th century, utsushi-e, as the pre-modern ancestor of Japanese animation, describing it as ���Edo anime��� (p. 43). Along with utsushi-e, the Edo period also saw the woodblock print, ukiyo-e, being produced for the rising middle class (p. 32). Highlighting the ���resurfacing��� of ���realist��� approaches to Japanese art in ukiyo-e, Tze-Yue demonstrates the visual connection of ukiyo-e and anime in the ���

Analysis of Rail Ends under Wheel Contact Loading

The effect of the discontinuity of the rail ends and the presence of lower modulus insulation material at the gap to the variations of stresses in the insulated rail joint (IRJ) is presented. A three-dimensional wheel ��� rail contact model in the finite element framework is used for the analysis. It is shown that the maximum stress occurs in the subsurface of the railhead when the wheel contact occurs far away from the rail end and migrates to the railhead surface as the wheel approaches the rail end; under this condition, the interface between the rail ends and the insulation material has suffered significantly increased levels of stress concentration. The ratio of the elastic modulus of the railhead and insulation material is found to alter the levels of stress concentration. Numerical result indicates that a higher elastic modulus insulating material can reduce the stress concentration in the railhead but will generate higher stresses in the insulation material, leading to earlier failure of the insulation material

Spelling instruction through Etymology : a method of developing spelling lists for older students

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether an approach to developing word lists centred on etymological roots would improve the spelling performance of older primary school students. Participants were 46 students in the last year of primary school in south-east Queensland (31 girls and 15 boys) across three classes, with two classes being assigned to control conditions. Students were evaluated pre- and post-intervention on three dependent measures: British Spelling Test Series spelling, spelling in writing and writing. The results of this intervention revealed improvements in spelling for girls but not for boys. The implications for improved teaching methods are discussed.

Bicycle safety for children and young people : an analysis of child deaths in Queensland

Bicycle riding can be a positive experience for children and young people that builds confidence, independence and promotes healthy recreation. However, these benefits are dependent upon safe bicycle riding practices. Between 1 January 2004 and 31 December 2011, 12 children and young people under the age of 18 years died in bicycle incidents in Queensland. An additional 1736 bicycle-related injuries requiring emergency department attendance are estimated to have occurred between 2008 and 2009 in Queensland for children and young people under the age of 18 years. Of the twelve bicycle-related deaths between 2004 and 2011 in Queensland, two children were aged between 5-9 years, 5 young people were 10-14 years of age and 5 young people were between 15-17 years. The two children aged 5-9 years were riding their bikes for recreation. Children aged 10-14 years were most likely to have been killed in an incident while riding to school in the morning, with teenagers aged 15-17 years most likely to be killed in incidents occurring after school and in the evening. Bicycle riders are vulnerable road users, particularly children and young people. This is due to several factors that can be grouped into: 1) developmental characteristics such as body size and proportions, perceptional and attentional issues, road safety awareness and risk taking behaviours, and 2) environmental factors such as supervision and shared road use with vehicles. This paper examines safety issues for children and young people who have died in bicycle-related incidents in Queensland, and outlines areas of focus for injury prevention practitioners.

An authorization framework using building information models

A building information model (BIM) is an electronic repository of structured, three-dimensional data that captures both the physical and dynamic functional characteristics of a facility. In addition to its more traditional function as a tool to aid design and construction, a BIM can be used throughout the life cycle of a facility, functioning as a living database that places resources contained within the building in their spatial and temporal context. Through its comprehension of spatial relationships, a BIM can meaningfully represent and integrate previously isolated control and management systems and processes, and thereby provide a more intuitive interface to users. By placing processes in a spatial context, decision-making can be improved, with positive flow-on effects for security and efficiency. In this article, we systematically analyse the authorization requirements involved in the use of BIMs. We introduce the concept of using a BIM as a graphical tool to support spatial access control configuration and management (including physical access control). We also consider authorization requirements for regulating access to the structured data that exists within a BIM as well as to external systems and data repositories that can be accessed via the BIM interface. With a view to addressing these requirements we present a survey of relevant spatiotemporal access control models, focusing on features applicable to BIMs and highlighting capability gaps. Finally, we present a conceptual authorization framework that utilizes BIMs.

Accounting Research Journal Editorial : "ARJ ��� The First 25 Years"

In this 25th year of publication of the Accounting Research Journal we pay tribute to the efforts of the dedicated Editors who have successfully guided and developed the journal since its inception in 1988. After the rapid growth in accounting and finance research in the 1970s and 1980s the absence of outlets in Asia-Pacific region to publish novel, timely and applied research became increasingly apparent. In response to this gap, ARJ���s first volume was published in 1988 by the School of Accountancy at the Queensland Institute of Technology (QIT), which became the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in the following year. The founding Editor was Myles McGregor-Lowndes and his editorship continued for three years until Scott Holmes took over as Editor in 1991. In 1992, Robert Faff joined Scott Holmes as Joint Editor, and their joint editorship continued for six years until Robert Faff took the reins as Editor in 1998. At that time Scott remained as Associate Editor and the editorial team was joined by Roger Willett as Consulting Editor and Chris Lambert as Associate Editor. This arrangement continued until 2002 when Tim Brailsford was newly appointed as Managing Editor. The editorship returned to QUT in 2008 and was taken on by Chris Ryan with our support as Co-editors. Since 2011 we have been the Joint Editors. Table 1 lists the individuals who have been involved in editing ARJ over the 25-year period and their roles...

Inclusive housing in Australia ��� a voluntary response

The lack of inclusive housing in Australia contributes to the marginalization and exclusion of people with disability and older people from family and community life. The Australian government has handed over the responsibility of increasing the supply of inclusive housing to the housing industry through an agreed national access standard and a voluntary strategy. Voluntary strategies have not been successful in other constituencies and little is known about what would work in Australia today. Findings from a research project into the voluntariness of the housing industry indicate that a reliable and consistent supply is unlikely without an equivalent increase in demand. The strategy has, however, an important role to play in the task of changing housing industry practices towards building more inclusive communities.