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How does schooling affect inequality in students’ academic skills? Studies comparing children’s trajectories during summers and school years provide a provocative way of addressing this question, but the most persuasive seasonal studies (1) focus primarily on skill gaps between social categories (e.g., social class, race/ethnicity), which constitute only a small fraction of overall skill inequality, and (2) are restricted to early grades, making it difficult to know whether the patterns extend into later grades. In this study, we use seasonal comparisons to examine the possibilities that schooling exacerbates, reduces, or reproduces overall skill inequality in math, reading, language use, and science with recent national data on U.S. public school students spanning numerous grade levels from the Northwest Evaluation Association. Our results suggest that schooling has a compensatory effect on inequality in reading, language, and science skills but not math skills. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of our findings, possible reasons why the math findings differ from those of other subjects, and discrepant seasonal patterns across national data sets.

In this essay, we try to present a case for having a general privacy offence. Privacy is about much more than voyeurism involving sexual exploitation. The recent offence of upskirting is too narrow to protect the broader set of privacy interests that exist in plural societies. Current technology means it is all too easy for the masses not only to spy, but to keep digital records of information that belongs to others including their images, voices and correspondence. We shall try to demonstrate that private acts and information that are revealed in an ephemeral sense in a public place should not be put in permanent form and a fortiori should not be published online or in hardcopy. It will be argued that publishing such information without consent or lawful justification is sufficiently harmful to justify making it a crime. It shall be submitted that while human rights law, data protection law and tort law recognise the wrongful harm in privacy violations, the protection offered by these bodies of laws is limited, because they rely on expensive civil litigation that is out of the reach of most. Billionaires can pay for nondisclosure agreements to keep misconduct (such as bullying and sexual harassment) out of the news, but many people with genuine privacy claims cannot afford to seek compensation.

Outflow cannula occlusion is an infrequent complication occurring among recipients of continuous flow left ventricular assist devices. Hereby, we present a case of a 66-year-old man with a HeartMate 3 left ventricular assist device that presented 18 months after implantation and during his admission, evidence of poor left ventricular unloading and forward flow uncovered intrinsic and extrinsic outflow cannula obstruction. The patient’s course was complicated by cardiogenic shock, diffuse alveolar hemorrhage and multiorgan failure. Post-mortem examination suggested foreign body reaction as a potential contributor of outflow graft obstruction at the level of the bend relief.

This article studies how receiving a bonus changes consumers’ demand for auto loans and their risk of future delinquency. Unlike traditional consumer products, auto loans have a long-term impact on consumers’ financial state because of the monthly payment obligation. Using a large consumer panel data set of credit and employment information, the authors find that receiving a bonus increases auto loan demand by 21%. These loans, however, are associated with higher risk, as the delinquency rate increases by 18.5%–31.4% depending on different measures. In contrast, an increase in consumers’ base salary will increase their demand for auto loans but not their delinquency. By comparing consumers with bonuses with those without bonuses, the authors find that bonus payments lead to both demand expansion and demand shifting on auto loans. The empirical findings help shed light on how consumers make financial decisions and have important implications for financial institutions on when demand for auto loans and the associated risk arise.

In this article, it is argued that the mental element for gross negligence manslaughter requires subjective fault. It is argued that the negligent conduct is evaluated objectively but does not mean a person cannot be subjectively aware of the fact that he or she is engaging in such conduct. Wilful negligence is not contradictory, because the noun refers to the conduct while the adjective refers to the fault of the wrongdoer. It is submitted the ancient authorities strongly support the theory of that grossness in negligence required subjective fault—and was not referring to the noun.

Individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI) usually develop neurogenic detrusor overactivity (NDO), resulting in bladder urgency and incontinence, and reduced quality of life. Electrical stimulation of the genital nerves (GNS) can inhibit uncontrolled bladder contractions in individuals with SCI. An automated closed-loop bladder neuromodulation system currently does not exist but could improve this approach. We have developed a custom algorithm to identify bladder contractions and trigger stimulation from bladder pressure data without need for abdominal pressure measurement. The goal of this pilot study was to test the feasibility of automated closed-loop GNS using our custom algorithm to identify and inhibit reflex bladder contractions in real time. Experiments were conducted in a single session in a urodynamics laboratory in four individuals with SCI and NDO. Each participant completed standard cystometrograms without and with GNS. Our custom algorithm monitored bladder vesical pressure and controlled when GNS was turned on and off. The custom algorithm detected bladder contractions in real time, successfully inhibiting a total of 56 contractions across all four subjects. There were eight false positives, six of those occurring in one subject. It took approximately 4.0 ± 2.6 s for the algorithm to detect the onset of a bladder contraction and trigger stimulation. The algorithm maintained stimulation for approximately 3.5 ± 1.7 s, which was enough to inhibit activity and relieve feelings of urgency. Automated closed-loop stimulation was well-tolerated and subjects reported that algorithm decisions generally matched with their perceptions of bladder activity. The custom algorithm automatically, successfully identified bladder contractions to trigger stimulation to inhibit bladder contractions acutely. Closed-loop neuromodulation using our custom algorithm is feasible, but further testing is needed refine this approach for use in a home environment.

Objective: To evaluate the associations between proxy measures of socioeconomic status (SES) and usage of cochlear implants. Study Design: Retrospective case series. Methods: Usage outcomes were measured among patients with a cochlear implant and data logging at a tertiary care children’s hospital between 2002 and 2017. Time per day with cochlear implant turned on, coil off, and listening to speech in noise and speech in quiet were extracted from audiology records, averaging right and left ear usage for those with bilateral implants. Associations between cochlear implant usage and demographic factors such as insurance type and median household income for zip code were assessed. Results: There were 142 total patients; 74 had bilateral usage data. Mean on air time was 10.76 hours (SD: 4.4). Those with private insurance had 1.2 hour more on air time/day ( P = .047) and 0.9 hour more quiet time/day ( P = .011) compared to those with public insurance. Younger age at last visit was associated with increased speech in quiet ( B = −.08; 95% CI: −0.12-[−0.05], P Conclusions: Lack of private insurance and older age at implantation decreased access to binaural hearing for children and young adults with cochlear implants.

Scholars agree that the early childhood years are highly consequential for later educational outcomes, but we know little about the impact of early childhood socioeconomic conditions at the societal level. This study contributes to the literature by bringing to comparative sociology the proposition that variations in the social structures into which children are born have lasting impacts on their educational outcomes as they progress through secondary education. Drawing on theories of welfare regimes and social stratification, we analyze nation-level data on socioeconomic conditions from the early 2000s via the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and educational performance data from the 2015 Programme for International Student Assessment ( N = 35). In line with our hypotheses, societal inequalities and disadvantages present when children are young are associated with negative achievement outcomes 15 years later and policies that guarantee people basic securities are more consistently associated with positive achievement outcomes than are broad measures of social spending. We conclude by highlighting the value of our approach and suggesting directions for future research on cross-national variations in achievement as a product of socioeconomic conditions during early childhood.

Circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have mandated a change to standard management of infantile spasms. On April 6, 2020, the Child Neurology Society issued an online statement of immediate recommendations to streamline diagnosis and treatment of infantile spasms with utilization of telemedicine, outpatient studies, and selection of first-line oral therapies as initial treatment. The rationale for the recommendations and specific guidance including follow-up assessment are provided in this manuscript. These recommendations are indicated as enduring if intended to outlast the pandemic, and limited if intended only for the pandemic health care crisis but may be applicable to future disruptions of health care delivery.

Mucormycosis is a rare and severe invasive fungal infection caused by ubiquitous fungi of the order Mucorales. Infection often occurs in immunocompromised hosts and includes cutaneous, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, rhinocerebral, and disseminated forms of disease. Although the clinical characteristics of mucormycosis are well established, infection can be difficult to diagnose antemortem, resulting in frequent postmortem diagnoses. Despite this, the gross appearance of mucormycosis at autopsy has not been well described. In the present report we illustrate the gross and histologic findings in four autopsy cases of mucormycosis, including one case of pulmonary disease and three cases of disseminated mucormycosis with cerebral, pulmonary, hepatic, renal, and gastrointestinal involvement. In all cases autopsy examination demonstrated characteristic hemorrhagic infarcts with a targetoid appearance in the affected organs. These findings are secondary to fungal angioinvasion with subsequent thrombosis and tissue necrosis. Mucormycosis should be suspected at autopsy when these characteristic infarcts are identified within the proper clinical context, and a high suspicion for atypical infections should be maintained postmortem in immunosuppressed patients.

In this article, I shall try to outline some grounds for resisting enacting new treason-type offences. It shall be argued that an offence of treason based on the wrongness of ‘betrayal’ would add nothing extra to the protection that is already provided for in a plethora of terrorism offences that cover preparation, inchoate acts concerning terrorism as well as consummated terrorism attacks. I shall try to demonstrate that what supplies the normative case for criminalisation in these sorts of cases is culpability plus harm, not betrayal in itself. Betrayal is a minor aggravating feature that can be dealt with by sentencing judges. I also argue that there is no evidence that the sentences available in our terrorism legislation are not ample to deal with those who go abroad to fight in armed conflicts involving British forces. Finally, it is argued that while the common law offence of outraging public decency might plug gaps where returning Islamic State of Iraq and Syria brides make outrageous comments, it should be used only as a last resort when the speech involves hate speech of a serous kind.

This study examined the complexity of the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System both in terms of the overall number of factors needed to model the entire battery and the complexity of the number of factors needed to model individual tests. The correlations between tests from the Delis–Kaplan Executive Function System standardization sample were modeled with varying numbers of factors. Simulations of test scores were also done that varied the number of factors used to generate the data and considered criteria for factor retention based on eigenvalues, fit indices, and generalization to new data. The results show seven-factor solutions based on generalization of fixed weights to validation samples provided best estimates. Modification indices produced three seven-factor solutions with comparable model fit but markedly different factor loadings. These results are consistent with process overlap theory, which suggest that complex tests are determined my many distinct executive processes. Given uncertainty of factor-analytic solutions, interpretation of the meaning of test scores should be based on evidence that is external to the test items, such as their sensitivity to clinical conditions. Overly simplistic interpretations of executive test performance based on factor-analytic results are not warranted. This is consistent with the cognitive processing approach of the test authors.

In reward-based crowdfunding, creators of entrepreneurial projects solicit capital from potential consumers to reach a funding goal and offer future products/services in return. The authors examine consumers’ contribution patterns using a novel data set of 28,591 projects collected at 30-minute resolution from Kickstarter. Extending prior research that assumes that economic considerations (e.g., project quality, campaign success likelihood) drive backers’ decisions, the authors provide the cleanest field evidence so far that consumers also have prosocial motives to help creators reach their funding goals. They find that projects collect funding faster right before (vs. right after) meeting their funding goals because consumers not only are more likely to fund projects but also contribute greater amounts of money prior to goal attainment. This effect is amplified when the nature of a project tends to evoke consumers’ prosocial motivation and when a project’s creator is a single person. These results suggest that consumers’ prosocial motives not only play a role in reward-based crowdfunding but also can outweigh the opposing effects of economic factors including rational herding and certainty about campaign success.

The American Sociological Association has produced a wide range of reports and materials addressing curricular best practices. Collectively, those materials are an invaluable resource for guiding revisions of the sociology major, but they do not address processes for implementing such revisions. In this conversation piece, we describe the steps by which our department implemented a thorough curricular redesign—a process nearing completion after five years of formal discussions, and with roots reaching back even farther. We organize our discussion around three areas of effort that comprised our process: charting a course, bringing colleagues along, and institutionalizing outcomes. We highlight important milestones, challenges, and successes that we encountered along the way and provide recommendations based on our experiences for colleagues in other departments interested in undertaking their own redesign.

When theorizing differences in action between structurally unequal groups, sociologists often disagree over the roles that structure, culture, and resources play. It is not uncommon for debates to arise in which structural explanations for unequal outcomes are pitted against cultural ones, with the former pointing to group resource disparities and the latter emphasizing differences in how groups think and do things. In this article, we develop a theoretical approach that conceptualizes culture as an element of social structure and draws on Sewell’s multiplicity of structures and Bourdieu’s habitus to theorize group differences in action as structural. This approach, we argue, advances a structural sociology of stratification that helps counter the tendency for U.S. individualism to promote interpretations of group differences/disparities as having individual-level rather than structural-level sources.

Near-field gesture (NFG) is an input method that involves in-air gesticulation. Increasingly, system designers must decide whether to employ it or a more traditional method such as touch-or mouse-based input. Existing comparisons of NFG-, touch-, and mouse-based input had several noteworthy limitations. The present experiment compared NFG-, touch-, and mouse-based input in such a way as to avoid the limitations that were present in existing comparisons. The results indicated that NFG-based input led to a) worse user productivity, b) lower general comfort, c) lower preference ratings, and d) lower usability ratings than touch-and mouse-based input. These results suggest that designers must carefully weigh whether the benefits associated with NFG-based input, e.g., interacting with the system without physical contact, outweigh its costs. Further, they suggest future research such as investigating ways to reduce the fatigue associated with NFG-based input.

Kawasaki disease is an acute vasculitis of unknown etiology that usually occurs in children less than five years old. Coronary artery aneurysm due to arteritis is the most common cardiac complication. Chronic aneurysms are associated with an increased risk of developing luminal thrombosis and ischemic myocardial injury. We present a case of an 18-year-old male with a history of Kawasaki disease complicated by chronic giant aneurysms of the right and left coronary arteries. Serial echocardiographic studies and treadmill electrocardiogram stress tests as recent as 1.5 years before death revealed excellent cardiac function by clinical criteria. The decedent sustained a witnessed collapse after ingesting 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and ethanol. He was pronounced dead in the emergency department after unsuccessful resuscitative efforts. Autopsy revealed large aneurysms of the three main epicardial coronary arteries with extensive foci of severe stenosis by intimal fibrosis and organizing thrombus. Microscopic examination revealed multifocal severe myocyte hypertrophy. There were remote microinfarcts in the anterior and posterior aspects of the left ventricle and a recent, healing microinfarct in the posterior aspect of the left ventricle. Toxicology examination of postmortem femoral blood revealed MDMA, ethanol, and amiodarone. This case illustrates the residual, lasting effects of cardiac disease due to Kawasaki disease and a potential complication in the setting of use of an illicit stimulant, MDMA, an amphetamine derivative that produces sympathetic activation and cardiovascular effects including tachycardia, vasoconstriction, dysrhythmias, and coronary artery spasm. Kawasaki disease-related abnormalities of the heart likely resulted in a lower threshold for developing a fatal cardiac dysrhythmia under the circumstance of stimulant use.

In this paper I try to outline the implications of the decision in R v Jogee for practice. I try to explain what the substantive law now requires and how that should be implemented in practice. I argue that particular care needs to be taken so that the profession properly understand and implement the substantive law as recognised in R v. Jogee. I shall try to explain the conceptual distinction between a fundamentally different act and a supervening act. A supervening act cancels out an earlier act, but a fundamentally different act does not necessarily involve a cancelling out. Intentional g.b.h. is a supervening act when the accessory only intended the perpetrator to perpetrate an act resulting in a.b.h. The g.b.h. should cancel out the a.b.h. since the perpetrator has departed from the plan and perpetrated a different act to what was originally intended by the parties. Thus, it is not possible to reconcile the Supreme Court’s obsequiousness towards the supervening act rule with its finding that manslaughter can be an alternative to murder for accessories when the perpetrator has inflicted g.b.h. resulting in V’s death, if the accessory intended a.b.h. be inflicted upon V. Additionally, manslaughter is not a lesser included offence to murder and thus such a conviction should not be available where P perpetrates a murder not intended by the accessory; instead, the accessory should be charged with the inchoate offence for attempting to encourage the lesser crime. It shall also be argued that conditional intention is only an issue in certain factual scenarios such as where it is not certain which crime will be perpetrated or where a crime is intended upon some contingency arising. Intention is intention whether it depends on a condition or not. Finally, it will be argued the spontaneous outbreak of multi-handed violence cases will pose great challenges as far as proof of intentional encouragement is concerned, but that can be overcome simply by charging such cases under sections 44 or 45 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.

To what extent, and why, do social science undergraduates experience anxiety about taking statistics courses? Despite holding assumptions of rampant statistics anxiety among students, sociologists have conducted few empirical studies of this issue. We extend the literature by analyzing data from a survey of sociology, social work, and criminal justice students enrolled in seven sections of our department’s Social Statistics with Computer Applications course in the winter 2018 semester. Two thirds of respondents are anxious or very anxious about taking the course. They experience statistics anxiety primarily due to their lack of confidence in their ability to succeed in the course and their more general test-taking anxiety. This article offers a framework for instructors of social statistics courses to measure student anxiety and to address it in class in a way that aims to alleviate anxiety among the anxious while not alienating those who are comfortable in the course.

The Asian race represents one of the fastest growing racial groups in the United States that have unique health-care issues and barriers to services. Despite being the second largest racial group among medical students, Asians represent a markedly smaller proportion of leadership. Greater inclusion may facilitate Asian-related curriculum content development, community-engaged research, and increased services for Asian communities. This article explores Southeast and East Asian American (AA) medical students’ perceptions of and challenges toward pursuing academic medicine careers. We collected quantitative and qualitative data among 138 participants. Factors that increased trainees’ interests include collaboration with others, teaching and research opportunities, and influential role models/mentors. Interventions identified to overcome perceived challenges include exposure to senior-level race-concordant role models and mentors, enhancement of communication skills, and informed career discussions between parents and trainees. Such interventions may engage more AA trainees into academia and facilitate their growth as leaders.

This was a prospective, repeat-treatment, open-label study (NCT01251380) of abobotulinumtoxinA for the management of lower limb spasticity in children who had completed a double-blind study. Children (2-17 years) received injections into the gastrocnemius-soleus complex, and other distal and proximal muscles as required (maximum total dose per injection cycle: 30 U/kg or 1000U). A total of 216 of the 241 double-blind patients entered the extension study and 207 received ≥1 open label injection into the gastrocnemius-soleus; 17-24% of patients also had injections into the hamstrings. The most frequent adverse events were related to common childhood infections and the most frequent treatment-related adverse event was injection site pain (n = 10). There was no evidence of a cumulative effect on adverse events. Sustained significant clinical improvements in muscle tone (Modified Ashworth Scale), spasticity (Tardieu Scale), overall clinical benefit (Physicians Global Assessment), and goal attainment (Goal Attainment Scale) were also observed across treatment cycles.

Predicting team skill decay can support decisions intended to counter erosion of U.S. industrial base essential design skills. Despite the large extant research investigating both individual and team skill acquisition, there is no comprehensive model of skill decay involving intact teams (Day et al., 2013). We conducted a literature review and identified retention interval, initial skill level, task, environment, and team as the critical factors in determining team skill decay. Sub-factors for each critical variable were also specified. A model incorporating each factor is proposed, and in a related research effort (Trani et al., 2017), initial results of applying the model to industry-wide skill decay prediction is presented. Being able to predict and estimate team skill decay supports long-term planning and assessment in all types of industry—from military systems relevant to the industrial base to specific fields such as aviation and healthcare.