bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Histological Evaluation of Bone Formation Adjacent to Dental Implants with a Novel Apical Chamber Design: Preliminary Data in the Rabbit Model
Authors: Meirelles Luiz , Brånemark Per‐Ingvar , Albrektsson Tomas , Feng Changyong , Johansson Carina
Published: September 2013

Background

Wound healing events after implant placement will vary according to the extent of the necrotic zone.

Purpose

The goal of the present study was to evaluate bone healing around titanium implants with a novel apical chamber design.

Materials and Methods

Titanium implants grade 4 were turned with different apex design. Control implants had a self tapping design with centric cutting grooves. Test implants exhibited eccentric cutting grooves interconnected by a hollow chamber. A total of 60 implants were installed in the femur/tibia of 10 rabbits for histological analysis.

Results

After 1 week, immature bone formation started at the cortical level of the test implants associated to scalloped contours indicative of bone resorption. Control implants failed to show new bone formation, and the space within the threads was filled mainly by red blood cells and surgical debris. Bone contact values showed no difference after 1 week, and significant higher values for test implants showed likewise after 4 weeks compared with control implants in the tibia.

Conclusion

This experimental study verifies the beneficial effect of bone formation in the chamber at the apical part of the fixture coupled to a faster bone healing to implants placed in dense bone.
Technical Accuracy of Printed Surgical Templates for Guided Implant Surgery with the coDiagnostiXTM Software
Authors: Kühl Sebastian , Payer Michael , Zitzmann Nicola Ursula , Lambrecht Jörg Thomas , Filippi Andreas
Published: September 2013

Background

Printing of templates for guided surgery represents an alternative to laboratory manufactured templates.

Purpose

To determine the technical accuracy of a virtually designed and printed surgical template for guided implant surgery based on a surface scan of a cast model using the coDiagnostiXTM software.

Materials and Methods

Cast models and the virtual planning data of nine patients receiving guided implant surgery with the coDiagnostiX software were analyzed. The original cast models were equipped with three titanium pins and scanned with a three‐dimensional scanner. The scans were uploaded in the coDiagnostiX software and the virtual surgical templates were designed including the sleeves at their original positions. After printing the surgical templates, the sleeve positions were determined by optical scanning, and deviations were calculated and compared with the virtual positions of the sleeves.

Results

The sleeves showed a mean three‐dimensional deviation of 0.22 mm (range: 0.07–0.38 mm) in the center of the sleeve top, 0.24 mm (range: 0.08–0.36 mm) in the center of the sleeve bases and a mean angular deviation of 1.5° (range: 0.4°–3.3°) compared with the virtual positions.

Conclusions

A high accuracy can be achieved using printed templates for guided implant surgery, by taking into account all sources of inaccuracies.
Influence of hyporheic zone characteristics on the structure and activity of microbial assemblages
Authors: Nogaro Geraldine , Datry Thibault , Mermillod‐Blondin Florian , Foulquier Arnaud , Montuelle Bernard
Published: September 2013

The hyporheic zone is a pivotal environment for biogeochemical processes in riverine ecosystems. However, the responses of hyporheic microbial assemblage structure and activity to environmental variables remain poorly understood.

The objective of this study was to determine the influence of hyporheic zone characteristics on microbial assemblages in three French rivers (Usses, Isère and Drôme). For each river, microbial structure (assemblage composition and abundance) and activity were measured at three sites with contrasting environmental characteristics (e.g. effective streambed porosity, oxygen and nutrient concentrations).

Firstly, we expected that the structure and activity of the hyporheic microbial assemblage would be significantly affected by the environmental characteristics of the hyporheic zone. We also expected a strong relationship between the structure and activity of hyporheic microbial communities in the Usses River, due to greater spatial heterogeneity (i.e. greater porosity differences between the studied sites) compared with the two other rivers.

Our results showed that porosity reduction, greatest in the Usses River, affected the exchanges of flows and energy through the hyporheic zone and, consequently, led to a distinct microbial assemblage composition in comparison with the two other rivers. Significant relationships between bacterial assemblage structure and activity were detected for the Usses and Drôme rivers, due to the greater spatial variability in sediment and physicochemical variables observed in these two rivers than in the Isère.

Hyporheic zone characteristics (sediment permeability, water chemistry, particulate organic matter) appear to be the key factors controlling microbial structure and activity in riverine environments. As the hyporheic zone is essential for biogeochemical processes, including those attenuating pollution, a better quantification of the influences of environmental factors controlling microbial activity is needed to understand and predict ecosystem processes in the hyporheic zone.
Complex seasonality observed amongst diverse phytoplankton viruses in the Bay of Quinte, an embayment of Lake Ontario
Authors: Rozon R. M. , Short S. M.
Published: September 2013

To initiate research on algal viruses (viruses that infect eukaryotic algae) and cyanophages (viruses that infect cyanobacteria) in the Bay of Quinte, a Lake Ontario embayment, samples of viruses free in the water (i.e. not associated with particulate material) were collected throughout 2011 with the goals of examining the diversity of phytoplankton viruses and monitoring their dynamics.

PCR and sequencing of DNA polymerase (polB) and major capsid protein (MCP) genes from algal viruses, and sheath protein genes from cyanophages, revealed diverse phytoplankton viruses in the bay. Specifically, polB sequences from the bay were most closely related to sequences from viruses that infect prasinophyte algae, MCP sequences were related to sequences from viruses that infect prasinophytes and from Mimivirus‐like viruses that infect prymnesiophytes and prasinophytes, whilst sheath protein sequences were related to sequences from the phage Ma‐LMM01 that infects M. aeruginosa.

The abundances of 10 distinct viral genes monitored using quantitative PCR ranged from exceptionally high values (e.g. 256 441 gene copies mL−1 for a putative M. aeruginosa phage) to values that were just above detection limits (e.g. a putative Prasinovirus never exceeded 20 gene copies mL−1).

Patterns of abundance included genes that were seasonally sporadic or geographically patchy, as well as some that were stable throughout the bay over the entire year. Despite the heterogeneity of viral abundance across the bay, gene abundance clustered by sampling date and geographical location.

Even for closely related viruses, seasonality and geographical distribution were distinct. By providing evidence for the complex seasonality of diverse phytoplankton viruses, this work highlighted significant gaps in knowledge of aquatic virus ecology that can be extrapolated from this one system to most aquatic environments.
Sleep and frailty syndrome in elderly residents of long‐stay institutions: A cross‐sectional study
Authors: Nóbrega Patrícia Vidal de Negreiros , Maciel Álvaro Campos Cavalcanti , de Almeida Holanda Cristina Marques , Oliveira Guerra Ricardo , Araújo John Fontenele
Published: September 2013

Aim

Aging changes sleep patterns in most elderly people. Frailty shares a number of characteristics with sleep disorders and leads to similar results. However, their relationship in residents of long‐stay institutions remains unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between sleep and frailty syndrome in residents of long‐stay institutions.

Methods

This was a cross‐sectional study of 69 institutionalized elderly in the city of João Pessoa, Brazil. The Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, actimetry and specific tests for frailty phenotype variables were used. Pearson's χ2‐test, one‐way anova and multiple linear regression were applied in statistical analysis.

Results

The sample was characterized as predominantly frail (49.3%), mainly women (62.3%), with a mean age of 77.52 years (±7.82). Frail elderly exhibited poor sleep quality, when compared with non‐frail individuals (P = 0.02). In the multiple linear regression analysis, sleep latency (R2 = 0.11, P = 0.003) and sleep quality (R2 = 0.08, P = 0.013) had an influence on frailty, especially sleep quality. No differences were found between rest–activity pattern and frailty phenotype.

Conclusion

Sleep alterations, including poor sleep quality and prolonged latency, were related to frailty in institutionalized elderly. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14: 605–612.
Serum levels of albumin‐amyloid beta complexes are decreased in Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Yamamoto Keiichi , Shimada Hiroyuki , Koh Hideo , Ataka Suzuka , Miki Takami
Published: September 2013

Aim

Decreased amyloid β (Aβ) clearance from the brain to blood might play a key role in the development of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Aβ is normally bound to and transported by albumin in blood, thus possibly maintaining constant concentration of free Aβ in the blood. We therefore hypothesized that decreased blood levels of albumin‐Aβ complexes could be associated with decreased Aβ removal from the brain to blood, resulting in Aβ accumulation in the brain.

Methods

We carried out a cross‐sectional investigation of the association between serum levels of albumin‐Aβ complexes (SLAAC) and AD prevalence in 89 patients who visited our outpatient clinic, and gave written informed consent between August 2008 and May 2012.

Results

We confirmed 45 cases of AD. Low SLAAC was associated with an increased prevalence of AD (OR 0.27; 95% CI 0.14–0.51) in a univariable logistic model and multivariable logistic models. In addition, decreased SLAAC was associated with decreased levels of Aβ42 in CSF (r = 0.38, P = 0.0221) and increased levels of p‐tau in CSF (r = −0.43, P = 0.0090), findings that have been shown to be associated with AD progression.

Conclusions

This novel method might be very useful for monitoring of the progression of AD. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2014; 14: 716–723.
Novel hepatitis B virus strain developing due to recombination between genotypes H and B strains isolated from a Japanese patient
Authors: Uchida Yoshihito , Kouyama Jun‐ichi , Naiki Kayoko , Sugawara Kayoko , Inao Mie , Nakayama Nobuaki , Mochida Satoshi
Published: September 2013

Aim

In Japan, genotypes B and C are the predominant genotypes isolated from patients with chronic hepatitis B, while genotype A predominates in patients with acute hepatitis B. Globalization, however, appears to have changed the distribution of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genotypes. Thus, the viral characteristics of HBV genotypes other than genotypes A, B and C were examined.

Methods

Screening of genotypes was performed by enzyme immunoassay and/or polymerase chain reaction INVADER method in 222 patients with HBV. The full‐length nucleotide sequences of unusual strains were compared to those in the database, followed by construction of a phylogenetic tree.

Results

Unusual HBV strains were isolated from two patients: a 27‐year‐old Japanese bisexual man with acute hepatitis B with HIV co‐infection and a 52‐year‐old Japanese man with chronic hepatitis B. The former strain was classified as genotype H, showing an overall identity of 99.8% to the Thailand strain (EU498228), while the nucleotide sequence of the latter strain showed similarity to the genotype B strains isolated in Malaysia (JQ027316) and Indonesia (JQ429079) between DR2 and DR1 in the X region, with identities of 96.9%. However, this strain was classified as genotype H by full‐length sequence analysis, and the sequence between nt2023 and nt2262 showed no similarity to that in any previously reported strains.

Conclusion

HBV strains showing recombination between genotype B and H strains were found even in chronic hepatitis patients in Japan. Globalization may yield HBV strains of possible novel genotypes containing novel nucleotide sequences in the precore/core region.
Experimental rat model for alcohol‐induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head
Authors: Okazaki Shunichiro , Nagoya Satoshi , Tateda Kenji , Katada Ryuichi , Mizuo Keisuke , Watanabe Satoshi , Yamashita Toshihiko , Matsumoto Hiroshi
Published: September 2013

Alcohol‐induced osteonecrosis of the femoral head (ONFH) is observed in alcohol abusers and patients with alcoholic fatty liver disease. It has been reported that Toll‐like receptor 4 (TLR4) signalling plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of alcoholic fatty liver disease. We previously reported a corticosteroid‐induced ONFH rat model, and suggested that TLR4 signalling contributes to the pathogenesis of ONFH. Thus, it is thought that the pathogenesis of alcohol‐induced ONFH is probably similar to that of corticosteroid‐induced ONFH. The aim of this study was to develop a new animal model for alcohol‐induced ONFH and to evaluate the relationship between the pro‐inflammatory response via TLRs and the development of ONFH in rats. Male Wistar rats were fed a Lieber–DeCarli liquid diet containing 5% ethanol (experimental group) or dextran (control group) for 1–24 weeks. Histopathological and biochemical analyses were performed. Feeding the ethanol‐containing liquid diet resulted in the development of ONFH with hepatic steatosis, hepatic dysfunction and hyperlipidaemia, whereas feeding the dextran‐containing diet did not cause ONFH. However, we could not recognize any relationship between the pro‐inflammatory response via TLR4 and the development of alcohol‐induced ONFH. Thus in this study we have developed a new rat model for alcohol‐induced ONFH based on the feeding of an ethanol liquid diet. ONFH was observed within seven days from the start of feeding with 5% ethanol‐containing liquid diet. Although this was linked to hepatic steatosis, a TLR4 association was not a feature of this model.
Inflammatory bowel disease cancer surveillance in a tertiary referral hospital: attitudes and practice
Authors: Verschuren E. C. , Ong D. E. , Kamm M. A. , Desmond P. V. , Lust M.
Published: September 2013

Background

Physician adherence to guidelines for colorectal cancer (CRC) surveillance in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is often poor. This may lead to adverse patient outcomes and excess endoscopic workload.

Aims

To assess the attitudes and practice of IBD specialists in a tertiary centre towards colonoscopic surveillance.

Methods

First, a questionnaire evaluating attitudes and approach to CRC surveillance was issued to 36 clinicians at one tertiary referral hospital. Second, a retrospective audit of IBD surveillance colonoscopy practice over a 2‐year period was performed.

Results

Questionnaire response rate was 97%. Sixty‐nine per cent of respondents were aware of, and used, Australian guidelines. Surveillance was undertaken by all clinicians in patients with extensive colitis, 83% in patients with left‐sided colitis and 51% in patients with proctitis. Seventy‐six per cent used chromoendoscopy, and 47% took 10 to 20 random biopsies. Colectomy was considered appropriate in 0% for unifocal low‐grade dysplasia, 35% for multifocal low‐grade dysplasia and 83% for high‐grade dysplasia. Sixty‐six per cent would remove elevated dysplastic lesions endoscopically. The audit identified 103 surveillance colonoscopies in 81 patients. Chromoendoscopy was used in 21% of cases, and the median number of random biopsies was 13. Sixty‐two per cent of colonoscopies were performed outside the guidelines in relation to colonoscopic frequency. Following colonoscopy, an appropriate recommendation for subsequent surveillance was documented in 40% of cases.

Conclusions

Knowledge and practice of CRC surveillance in IBD vary among specialist clinicians and often deviate from guidelines. Many clinicians perform surveillance earlier and more frequently than recommended. These findings have implications for patient outcomes and workload.
Mast cells, glia and neuroinflammation: partners in crime?
Authors: Skaper Stephen D. , Facci Laura , Giusti Pietro
Published: September 2013

Glia and microglia in particular elaborate pro‐inflammatory molecules that play key roles in central nervous system (CNS) disorders from neuropathic pain and epilepsy to neurodegenerative diseases. Microglia respond also to pro‐inflammatory signals released from other non‐neuronal cells, mainly those of immune origin such as mast cells. The latter are found in most tissues, are CNS resident, and traverse the blood–spinal cord and blood–brain barriers when barrier compromise results from CNS pathology. Growing evidence of mast cell–glia communication opens new perspectives for the development of therapies targeting neuroinflammation by differentially modulating activation of non‐neuronal cells that normally control neuronal sensitization – both peripherally and centrally. Mast cells and glia possess endogenous homeostatic mechanisms/molecules that can be up‐regulated as a result of tissue damage or stimulation of inflammatory responses. Such molecules include the N‐acylethanolamine family. One such member, N‐palmitoylethanolamine is proposed to have a key role in maintenance of cellular homeostasis in the face of external stressors provoking, for example, inflammation. N‐Palmitoylethanolamine has proven efficacious in mast‐cell‐mediated experimental models of acute and neurogenic inflammation. This review will provide an overview of recent progress relating to the pathobiology of neuroinflammation, the role of microglia, neuroimmune interactions involving mast cells and the possibility that mast cell–microglia cross‐talk contributes to the exacerbation of acute symptoms of chronic neurodegenerative disease and accelerates disease progression, as well as promoting pain transmission pathways. We will conclude by considering the therapeutic potential of treating systemic inflammation or blockade of signalling pathways from the periphery to the brain in such settings.
THE CREAM TEAM
Authors: Crainer Stuart
Published: September 2013

Arla Foods is proof that the co‐operative model is alive, well and going global.
ENTREPRENEURIAL TIME SPECIAL REPORT
Authors: Crainer Stuart
Published: September 2013

Millions of people set off on their own unique entrepreneurial journeys every year. But, what is the experience like and what are the latest trends and ideas in the entrepreneurial world?
CROWDED ROOM
Authors: Dushnitsky Gary
Published: September 2013

Gary Dushnitsky's latest research seeks to uncover the reality behind the much talked about emergence of crowdfunding as a means of funding everything from the Statue of Liberty to rock albums.
AFTER THE STORM
Authors: Jacobides Michael
Published: September 2013

After the financial crisis, have lessons been learned and are our financial institutions now more robust?Michael Jacobides is your guide to the new financial reality.
THE INSIGHT DRIVEN ORGANISATION
Authors: Di Fiore Alessandro
Published: September 2013

Seduced by analytics and big data, companies are overlooking the compelling power of qualitative judgement. Alessandro Di Fiore calls for a re‐think.
GETTING THERE
Authors: Nicholson Nigel
Published: September 2013

Nigel Nicholson argues that the corporate world is dominated by a false theory of meritocracy. The only way is up.
HALF LIFE
Authors: De Cremer David
Published: September 2013

Fast moving decisiveness is the exception, not the rule. David De Cremer explores what happens when leadership is put on hold and procrastination dominates.
MY DAY
Authors: Chapple Aimie
Published: September 2013

Aimie Chapple, Managing Director of Innovation, Accenture Management Consulting, in the UK and Ireland, opens her diary.
China's New Demographic Reality: Learning from the 2010 Census
Authors: Cai Yong
Published: September 2013

China conducted its sixth modern census in 2010, recording a total of 1.34 billion people. This article presents an overview of the early census results. The data are of reasonable quality but contain some apparent defects where adjustments may be required. The census confirms that China has entered the era of demographic modernity and depicts the vast transformation of the country's rural‐urban distribution. Life expectancy has risen by 3–4 years in the decade since the last census, while fertility remains well below replacement—probably as low as 1.5 births per woman—and the sex ratio at birth is still significantly elevated. Low fertility and falling old‐age mortality are leading to continued and rapid population aging. Several coastal provinces grew by as much as 40 percent in the last decade, while a number of inland provinces have recorded population decline. China has reached an overall urban proportion of 50 percent.
What Is Urban? Comparing a Satellite View with the Demographic and Health Surveys
Authors: Dorélien Audrey , Balk Deborah , Todd Megan
Published: September 2013

Appraisal of urbanization trends is limited by the lack of a globally consistent definition of what is meant by urban. This article seeks to identify and explain differences in the definition of “urbanness” as used in two largely distinct research communities. We compare the Global Rural–Urban Mapping Project (GRUMP), which defines urban areas based primarily on satellite imagery of nighttime lights, to the urban classification found in Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), which relies on the urban definitions of individual countries' national statistical offices. We analyze the distribution of DHS clusters falling within and outside of GRUMP urban extents and examine select characteristics of these clusters (notably, household electrification). Our results show a high degree of agreement between the two data sources on what areas are considered urban; furthermore, when used together, GRUMP and DHS data reveal urban characteristics that are not evident when one data source is used independently. GRUMP urban extents are overwhelmingly medium and large highly electrified localities. DHS clusters that are classified as non‐urban but that fall within GRUMP extents tend to be peri‐urban areas.
Fit for the future: A 10‐year strategy for the NHS and social care
Authors: Bickerstaffe Sarah
Published: September 2013

Sarah Bickerstaffe argues for a bold, 10‐year joint settlement for health and social care to enable a locally led shift towards a more integrated and preventative system capable of meeting Britain's long‐term needs.
Labour's mid‐term melancholy: Why poll position isn't everything
Authors: Curtice John
Published: September 2013

John Curtice shines a light on Labour's slowly dwindling lead in the polls and concludes that there is real cause for concern for an opposition with designs on victory in 2015.
Reviewing Britain's year of sporting triumph
Authors: Katwala Sunder
Published: September 2013

After a year of unprecedented sporting success, Sunder Katwala asks ‘so what?’ What does winning mean for the nation and the story Britons tell about themselves?
Music, Emotion, and Self‐Control: Does Listening to Uplifting Music Replenish Self‐Control Strength for Exercise?
Authors: Bray Steven R. , Oliver Jennifer P. , Graham Jeffrey D. , Martin Ginis Kathleen A.
Published: September 2013

The study investigated the effects of listening to self‐selected uplifting music on positive emotional states and self‐control. The participants (n = 72;Mage22.26 ± 5.97) performed two endurance handgrip squeezes separated by a varied set of experimental manipulations. In two conditions, participants performed a Stroop (self‐control depletion) task and then either listened to self‐selected uplifting music or rested quietly. Controls performed a reading task and then rested quietly. Listening to uplifting music evoked positive emotional states,F(2, 69) = 6.98,p = .002, partial η2 = .71; however, participants in both self‐control depletion conditions performed worse than controls on the exercise task (p ≤ .07). Findings support the strength model of self‐control but raise questions about the effects of positive emotional states on self‐control.
Dealing with Difficult Patients: Do Customer Service Initiatives Improve Patient Satisfaction at an Interdisciplinary Pain Center?
Authors: Ross Edgar L. , Goldberg Ilene , Scanlan Elizabeth , Edwards Robert R. , Jamison Robert N.
Published: September 2013

Chronic pain patients can be difficult to manage due to complicated medical and psychiatric comorbidities. This study focused on strategies designed to improve patient treatment satisfaction within a tertiary urban hospital‐based pain management center. Information was obtained of monthly patient satisfaction and Press Ganey scores in 2009 based on patient perceptions of staff and telephone access, frequency of returned phone calls, staff empathy and responsiveness, and overall patient experience with their pain treatment. Information was also obtained of the number of formal complaints made to the Patient Relations Department of the hospital. A customer service program designed to target patient's phone access, response to phone calls, improved patient experiences, and service friendliness was initiated in March 2010. Six hundred eleven patients (n = 611) were randomly surveyed 3 months after their treatment between 2009 and 2012 and rates of formal patient complaints were monitored. Thirty‐three (n = 33) staff members were encouraged to attend monthly 1.5‐hour customer service meetings and participate in specialized work teams between March 2010 and December 2012. Patient satisfaction scores rose from a low of 80.3 (average of 83.5%) in 2009 to a high of 91.2 (average 88.9%) in 2012. Annual formal complaints to Patient Relations decreased by 40.5% over 4 years (112 in 2009 to 30 in 2012). Phone abandonment rates also decreased by 20% and the center scored 12% higher than average total practice scores in patient satisfaction based on secret shopper ratings. This study demonstrates that customer service initiatives that engage staff participation and that are designed to target specific improvements in patient satisfaction can effectively change the way pain patients perceive treatment at an interdisciplinary anesthesia‐based pain center.
CEO Pay and Corporate Governance in the U.S.: Perceptions, Facts, and Challenges
Authors: Kaplan Steven N.
Published: September 2013

This article brings a broad range of statistical studies and evidence to bear on three common perceptions about the CEO compensation and governance of U.S. public companies: (1) CEOs are overpaid and their pay keeps increasing; (2) CEOs are not paid for their performance; and (3) boards do not penalize CEOs for poor performance.

While average CEO pay increased substantially during the 1990s, it has declined since then— by more than 30%—from peak levels that were reached around 2000. Moreover, when viewed relative to corporate net income or profits, CEO pay levels at S&P 500 companies are the lowest they've been in the last 20 years. And the ratio of large‐company CEO pay to firm market value is roughly similar to its level in the late 1970s, and lower than the levels that prevailed before the 1960s. What's more, in studies that begin with the late '70s, private company executives have seen their pay increase by at least as much as public companies. And when set against the compensation of other highly paid groups, today's levels of CEO pay, although somewhat above their long‐term historical average, are about the same as their average levels in the early 1990s.

At the same time, the pay of U.S. CEOs appears to be reasonably highly correlated with corporate performance. As evidence, the author cites a 2010 study reporting that, over the period 1992 to 2005, companies with CEOs in the top quintile (top 20%) of realized pay in any given year had generated stock returns that were 60% higher than the average companies in their industries over the previous three years. Conversely, companies with CEOs in the bottom quintile of realized pay underperformed their industries by almost 20% in the previous three years. And along with lower pay, the CEOs of poorly performing companies in the 2000s faced a significant increase in the likelihood of dismissal by their own boards.

When viewed together, these findings suggest that corporate boards have done a reasonably good job of overseeing CEO pay, and that factors such as technological advances and increased scale have played meaningful roles in driving the pay of both CEOs and others with top incomes—people who are assumed to have comparable skills, experience, and opportunities. If one wants to use increases in CEO pay as evidence of managerial power or “board capture,” one also has to explain why the other professional groups have experienced similar, or even higher, growth in pay. A more straightforward interpretation of the evidence reviewed in this article is that the market for talent has driven a meaningful portion of the increase in pay at the top. Consistent with this conclusion, top executive pay policies at roughly 97% of S&P 500 and Russell 3000 companies received majority shareholder support in the Dodd‐Frank mandated “Say‐on‐Pay” votes in 2011 and 2012, the first two years the measure was in force.
The Future of International Liquidity and the Role of China*
Authors: Taylor Alan M.
Published: September 2013

China has prospered from its strategy of reserve accumulation and related export surplus. But the strategy has drawbacks. Open‐ended reserve accumulation has left the the economy exposed to an eventual devaluation of the dollar, and reliance on exports has left it exposed to a downturn in rich‐world consumption. China thus has an incentive to rethink both halves of its model—to accumulate fewer reserves, on the one hand, and to run a smaller current‐account surplus on the other. Recent steps such as faster renminbi appreciation, the new Five‐Year Plan, and announced shifts in reserve strategy will move China in this direction— and other emerging economies may well follow.

This article analyzes the likely consequences of internationalization of the Chinese renminbi for the global monetary system and its possible ascension to reserve currency status. It argues that if the process proves feasible, despite the difficult hurdles along the way, the results of internationalization would be constructive, both for China and the rest of the world. If emerging‐market central banks and other reserve managers (such as sovereign wealth funds) continue overwhelmingly to favor the dollar and a small set of other developed‐market reserve currencies as a store of value, the world risks a third crisis of the global reserve system. This would be a rerun in a somewhat different guise of the well‐known paradox described by economist Robert Triffin, whereby the demand for international liquidity, when loaded onto a small set of national currencies, ends up destabilizing the system as the key reserve suppliers issue more and more assets and hence build up unsustainable debts. (Such forces, Triffin argued, were a main cause of the 1930s crisis of the gold exchange standard; and as he predicted, those forces emerged again in the 1970s to destabilize the dollar‐and goldbased Bretton Woods system.)

In today's global monetary system, the emergence of the renminbi (along with other developed‐ and emerging‐market currencies) as a potential reserve currency would expand and diversify the supply of reserve assets, enabling central banks to maintain large buffers against financial shocks while allowing the United States to stop issuing a large and growing bulk of the world's safe and liquid claims, and thus bearing the burden of an everexpanding, and ultimately questionable, debt to the rest of the world.
Discounted Cash Flow Valuation for Small Cap M&A Integration*
Authors: Hoffmann Norman
Published: September 2013

Frank Batten rose to the upper ranks of the Forbes 400 by using his Norfolk newspaper as a base to consolidate publications and then later to create a media enterprise, including cable‐TV (which was eventually sold for $1.2 billion) and The Weather Channel (sold for over $3 billion). Batten's success offers a compelling case study of the often pursued but much maligned “roll up” strategy of mergers, providing evidence that the strategy can produce superior returns for those consolidators devoted to integrating small, value‐priced acquisitions within an industry niche. The author identifies three keys to Batten's success in making the strategy work: (1) aggressive, but astute, adoption of “best practices” and enhanced processes; (2) refinement of the business model to “roll out” the launch of like entities to underserved markets; and, most important, (3) identification and pursuit of innovative business development opportunities made possible by the consolidation.

Too often, intricate discounted cash flow (DCF) analyses are used to justify disastrous valuations, such as the one that helped support Daimler's $37 billion acquisition of Chrysler. Landmark's employment of rigorous DCF analyses was valued primarily not as a guide to value, but rather as a way of assessing the economic drivers of the business, the opportunities to control costs, the rationality of forecasted growth rates, and the probability of competition and market forces affecting short‐ and longterm results. These analyses formed the basis for management's long‐term development goals. When seeking approval for a deal, however, the valuation depended on a simpler criterion: the multiple of the prior year's cash flow relative to prospective long‐term profit growth. In this regard, Batten's use of DCF was much more akin to Warren Buffett's “spontaneous” valuations, delivered “customarily within five minutes.”
Assessing core outcomes in graduates: psychometric evaluation of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit‐Nursing Knowledge and Skills Test
Authors: Long Debbie A. , Mitchell Marion L. , Young Jeanine , Rickard Claire M.
Published: September 2013

Aim

To develop and psychometrically test the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit‐Nursing Knowledge and Skills Test – a multiple‐choice test for measuring the key nursing knowledge and skills required for safe, competent practice.

Background

Intensive care graduate nurse residency or orientation programmes are key strategies in the development of safe and competent practitioners. Essential to these programmes is an evaluation of knowledge and skills. Multiple‐choice examinations provide a valuable way of evaluating broad knowledge and skills; however, there has been limited work in this area to date.

Design

Psychometric evaluation.

Methods

The instrument was administered to 79 nurses from four paediatric intensive care units in Australia and New Zealand over 18 months between 2008–2010. Internal consistency using Kuder‐Richardson 20, item analysis and construct validity using the ‘known groups’ technique were explored.

Results

Kuder‐Richardson 20 reliability estimate for the 109‐item test was 0·85. Instrument scores were significantly higher amongst nurses with postgraduate education and more years of paediatric intensive care experience. Item difficulty indices ranged from 0·08 to 1, with a mean item difficulty of 0·66. Item discrimination ranged from 0·2–0·8.

Conclusion

Testing of the instrument demonstrated encouraging psychometric properties. With additional refinement, this tool could provide educators and managers with an instrument to assist in the assessment of knowledge and skill acquisition. The instrument requires further testing in different samples of paediatric intensive care nurses to enable validation in other settings and cross‐cultural comparisons.
Sustainability: an evolutionary concept analysis. Exploring Nursing's role within the sustainability movement
Authors: McMillan Kimberly
Published: September 2013

Aim

This paper aimed to explore the evolution of the concept of sustainability to facilitate further knowledge development in the discipline of nursing.

Background

The concept of ‘sustainability’ emerged in the 1950s as a result of the environmental movement. The concept has been adapted by the discipline of management and is increasingly discussed in the context of health care. The concept remains ambiguous in the discipline of nursing, resulting in a struggle to articulate the role of nursing in the sustainability movement.

Design

Rodgers evolutionary method of concept analysis was used.

Data sources

Literature was searched from 1987–2011, including English, peer reviewed texts in the databases CINAHL and ABI/INFORM global. Two book chapters and grey literature were also included.

Review methods

References were read and analysed according to antecedents, attributes, consequences, surrogate terms and related terms.

Results

Defining antecedents, attributes and consequences highlight the complexity and diversity of the concept. Attributes include: sustainability as a condition of change, as process, as outcome, as dependent of multiple stakeholders, and as social consciousness. ‘Sustainability’ is a fragile concept highly dependent on the processes and stakeholders involved in its fruition. There is a distinct difference in the level of concept clarity between the disciplines of management and nursing.

Conclusions

The complexities associated with the concept of ‘Sustainability’ have led to its ambiguity. Nursing must, however, work to further clarify the concept to fully understand nursing's potential role in the sustainability movement.
Peer Acceptance in the School Class and Subjective Health Complaints: A Multilevel Approach
Authors: Almquist Ylva B. , Modin Bitte , Augustine Lilly
Published: September 2013

BACKGROUND

Feeling accepted by peers is important for young people's health but few studies have examined the overall degree of acceptance in school and its health consequences. The purpose of the study was to investigate whether health complaints among Swedish students can be attributed to the acceptance climate in their school class even when the health effects of their own (individual) acceptance score have been taken into account.

METHODS

The data used were from the Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children (HBSC) study for the years 2001 to 2002, 2005 to 2006, and 2009 to 2010, consisting of 13,902 5th‐, 7th‐, and 9th‐grade Swedish students nested into 742 school classes. The statistical analyses were performed by means of linear regression multilevel analysis.

RESULTS

The results indicated that the variation in subjective health complaints could be ascribed partly to the school‐class level (boys: 5.0%; girls: 13.5%). Peer acceptance at the individual level demonstrated a clear association with health: the lower the acceptance, the higher the complaint scores. For girls, but not for boys, the overall degree of peer acceptance in the school class demonstrated a contextual effect on health, net of acceptance at the student level. Interaction analyses also revealed an increasingly favorable health among poorly accepted girls as the acceptance climate in the school class declined.

CONCLUSIONS

A lower overall degree of peer acceptance in the school class is associated with poorer health among girls. However, girls who themselves feel poorly accepted are not as negatively affected health‐wise by a poor acceptance climate, as are well‐accepted girls.
How School Healthy Is Your State? A State‐by‐State Comparison of School Health Practices Related to a Healthy School Environment and Health Education
Authors: Brener Nancy D. , Wechsler Howell , McManus Tim
Published: September 2013

BACKGROUND

School Health Profiles (Profiles) results help states understand how they compare to each other on specific school health policies and practices. The purpose of this study was to develop composite measures of critical Profiles results and use them to rate each state on their overall performance.

METHODS

Using data from state Profiles surveys conducted in 2010, the authors examined 12 key practices: 6 related to a healthy school environment and 6 related to health education. States were divided into quartiles based on the percentage of schools in the state that engaged in the practice, and then rank‐ordered based on the sum of their quartile scores.

RESULTS

Whereas some states have low ranks or high ranks in both sets of practices, others have a relatively low rank in one set but a high rank in the other. States with the lowest overall sums tend to be in the west and midwest, whereas states with the highest sums tend to be in the east.

CONCLUSIONS

This study identifies states whose school health policies and practices should be emulated and other states whose policies and practices are in urgent need of improvement.
Colonization of Fusarium Wilt‐Resistant and Susceptible Watermelon Roots by a Green‐Fluorescent‐Protein‐tagged Isolate of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. niveum
Authors: Lü Guiyun , Guo Shaogui , Zhang Haiying , Geng Lihua , Martyn Raymond D. , Xu Yong
Published: September 2013

Interactions between watermelon and a green fluorescent protein (GFP)‐tagged isolate of Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. niveum race 1 (Fon‐1) were studied to determine the differences in infection and colonization of watermelon roots in cultivars resistant to and susceptible to Fusarium wilt. The roots of watermelon seedlings were inoculated with a conidial suspension of the GFP‐tagged isolate, and confocal laser scanning microscopy was used to visualize colonization, infection and disease development. The initial infection stages were similar in both the resistant and susceptible cultivars, but the resistant cultivar responded differentially after the pathogen had penetrated the root. The pathogen penetrated and colonized resistant watermelon roots, but further fungal advance appeared to be halted, and the fungus did not enter the taproot, suggesting that resistance is initiated postpenetration. However, the tertiary and secondary lateral roots of resistant watermelon also were colonized, although not as extensively as susceptible roots, and the hyphae had penetrated into the central cylinder of lateral roots forming a dense hyphal mat, which was followed by a subsequent collapse of the lateral roots. The initial infection zone for both the wilt‐susceptible and wilt‐resistant watermelon roots appeared to be the epidermal cells within the root hair zone, which the fungus penetrated directly after forming appressoria. Areas where secondary roots emerged and wounded root tissue also were penetrated preferentially.
Arthrinium phaeospermum, Phoma cladoniicola and Ulocladium consortiale, New Olive Pathogens in Italy
Authors: Lo Piccolo Sandra , Mondello Vincenzo , Giambra Selene , Conigliaro Gaetano , Torta Livio , Burruano Santella
Published: September 2013

In recent years, leaf necrosis and twig dieback in the olive crop have been detected in Sicily (Italy). In this article, we identify the predominant fungal species associated with symptomatic leaves and twigs, using morphological features and DNA sequencing of the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, as Alternaria alternata, Arthrinium phaeospermum, Phoma cladoniicola and Ulocladium consortiale. The pathogenicity of these four species was tested on olive plants cv. Biancolilla. All species were pathogenic on leaves, but only U. consortiale produced cortical lesions on twigs, thus suggesting its main role in the Olea europaea twig dieback. To our knowledge, this is the first report of A. phaeospermum, P. cladoniicola and U. consortiale as olive pathogens.
Melatonin enhances the recovery of cryopreserved shoot tips of American elm (Ulmus americana L.)
Authors: Uchendu Esther E. , Shukla Mukund R. , Reed Barbara M. , Saxena Praveen K.
Published: September 2013

Climate change and global migrations of people and goods have exposed trees to new diseases and abiotic challenges that threaten the survival of species. In vitro germplasm storage via cryopreservation is an effective tool to ensure conservation of tree species, but plant cells and tissues are exposed to multiple stresses during the cryopreservation process. The current study was designed to evaluate the potential of melatonin to improve survival through the process of cryopreservation. Shoot tips of in vitro‐grown plantlets and dormant winter buds of American elm were successfully cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen (LN) at −196°C under controlled environmental conditions following melatonin treatment and cold acclimation with either vitrification or encapsulation–vitrification protocols. Explants had optimal regrowth following cryopreservation when treated with the plant vitrification solution#2 (PVS2) for 10 min. Supplementation of both preculture and regrowth media with melatonin significantly enhanced regrowth of frozen shoots compared with the untreated control (P < 0.05). Approximately 80–100% of shoot explants grew under optimized conditions using melatonin‐enriched media. Shoot tips of dormant winter buds consistently produced nearly 100% regrowth with both techniques. The main steps of the optimized protocol are 14‐day cold‐acclimated cultures exposed to preculture medium with 0.1–0.5 μm melatonin for 24 hr, application of PVS2 for 10 min, rapid cooling in LN, rapid rewarming, removal of cryoprotectants, and recovery on a medium supplemented with 0.1–0.5 μm melatonin. Our results demonstrate the usefulness of the antioxidant melatonin for long‐term storage of naturally resistant elm germplasm.
Review of Adult Protection Reports Resulting in “No Further Action” Decisions
Authors: Campbell Martin
Published: September 2013

In Scotland, the Adult Support and Protection Act of 2007 mandates effective interagency policies and activities to prevent harm to individuals unable to safeguard their own well‐being, property, and rights because they are affected by “disability, mental disorder, illness or physical or mental infirmity.” In this paper, the author examined the high proportion of adult protection referrals that resulted in “No Further Action” (NFA) decisions (these are referrals that did not lead to a full adult protection investigation). The review involved examining police referral data from 15 areas in Scotland as well as referral reports received over a 3‐month period in one representative area. Data sources were case files, national reports, and Freedom of Information requests. Interviews conducted with key personnel were supplemented with statistical data with a view to making recommendations. Screening criteria for referral, main contributory factors in referral, and reasons for NFA decisions were analyzed. It was found that, typically, more than 40% of adult protection referrals made by the police to adult protection teams resulted in NFA decisions. Variations in the interpretation of threshold criteria were observed, and there was a perception of overreporting. The high proportion of NFA outcomes has implications for Scottish policy and practice and may offer lessons for international applications. While overreporting of cases may have implications for resources and impact on the process, the dangers of underreporting may have more detrimental implications for adults with intellectual disabilities. More robust data and recording processes are needed to determine how effectively different systems are protecting adults who are most at risk.