bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Prospective multi‐centre study of adjustable single‐incision mini‐sling (Ajust®) in the management of stress urinary incontinence in women: 1‐year follow‐up study
Authors: Abdel‐Fattah Mohamed , Agur Wael , Abdel‐All Mohamed , Guerrero Karen , Allam Mohamed , Mackintosh Alison , Mostafa Alyaa , Yousef Mohamed
Published: September 2011

Study Type – Therapy (individual cohort)

Level of Evidence 2b

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?

A number of SIMS have been introduced into clinical practice in 2006 and has been so far shown to be inferior to standard mid urethral‐slings. Adjustable SIMS (Ajust) have been recently introduced into clinical practice however with little evidence on its safety and efficacy in surgical treatment of female SUI.

SIMS‐Ajust® is associated with low rates of postoperative pain and peri‐operative morbidity and is both feasible and acceptable under local anaesthesia. The patient reported success rate at 1‐year is 80%.

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether an adjustable single‐incision mini‐sling (SIMS, Ajust®) is safe and effective in the management of female stress urinary incontinence (SUI) at 12 months follow‐up.

To determine whether it is feasible to be performed under local anesthesia (LA).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The present study is a multicentre prospective cohort study in which 90 female patients underwent SIMS‐Ajust® using a standardized insertion technique.

The last 45 women were offered the procedure under LA.

All patients completed their 12‐month follow‐up.

RESULTS

The patient‐reported success rate, using Patient Global Impression of Improvement (PGI‐I), was 80% at 12 months follow‐up and a further 6% (n= 5) reported themselves to be ‘improved’.

In all, 32/45 (71%) patients agreed to undergo the procedure under LA while one patient required conversion to general anaesthetic.

There was no organ damage or requirement for blood transfusion.

Significantly lower rates of blood loss (P= 0.025) and postoperative voiding difficulties (P= 0.026) were seen in the LA group.

The re‐operation rate for SUI was 6% at 12 months.

CONCLUSIONS

SIMS (Ajust) appears to be a safe procedure, which is feasible under LA.

SIMS (Ajust) have an 80% patient‐reported success rate at 12 months follow‐up.
Prognostic significance of preoperative kidney volume for predicting renal function in renal cell carcinoma patients receiving a radical or partial nephrectomy
Authors: Jeon Hwang Gyun , Gong In Hyuck , Hwang Jin Ho , Choi Don Kyung , Lee Seung Ryeol , Park Dong Soo
Published: September 2011

Study Type – Prognosis (case series)

Level of Evidence 4

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add?

At present, many studies have been executed to identify predictors for chronic kidney disease or renal insufficiency after radical nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy. We examined whether preoperative kidney volume is a predictor for renal function after radical or partial nephrectomies in RCC patients. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report on the relationship between preoperative kidney volume and changes in renal function in RCC patients who underwent radical nephrectomy or partial nephrectomy performed by one surgeon.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether preoperative kidney volume is a prognostic factor for predicting the postoperative glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We included 133 patients who underwent radical (n= 83) or partial (n= 50) nephrectomy for RCC.

Kidney parenchymal volume was measured using personal computer‐based software and GFR was estimated before and after surgery at 6 and 12 months.

We evaluated the change in kidney volume after radical and partial nephrectomy and used regression analysis to identify predictors of lower post‐surgical GFR at 12 months.

RESULTS

The mean volume of the normal side kidney for the radical nephrectomy group increased from 142.4 mL to 166.0 mL (17.2%) and 171.5 mL (21.2%) after surgery at 6 and 12 months, respectively.

In the partial nephrectomy group, the volume of the normal side kidney increased from 127.2 mL to 138.8 mL (9.1%) and 140.6 mL (10.9%) after surgery at 6 and 12 months, respectively.

The volume of the operated side kidney decreased from 128.5 mL to 102.3 mL (20.1%) and 101.8 (20.6%) after surgery at 6 and 12 months, respectively.

In the radical nephrectomy group, older age (P < 0.001), preoperative volume of the normal kidney (P= 0.022) and preoperative GFR for the normal side kidney (P= 0.045) were significant predictors of lower post‐surgical GFR at 12 months.

In the partial nephrectomy group, older age (P= 0.001) and preoperative volume for both kidneys (P= 0.037) were significant predictors of lower post‐surgical GFR at 12 months.

CONCLUSION

Preoperative kidney volume is an independent predictor of GFR in RCC patients who underwent radical or partial nephrectomy.
Impaired fasting glucose, ancestry and waist‐to‐height ratio: main predictors of incident diagnosed diabetes in the Canary Islands
Authors: Cabrera de León A. , Domínguez Coello S. , Almeida González D. , Brito Díaz B. , del Castillo Rodríguez J. C. , González Hernández A. , Aguirre‐Jaime A. , del Cristo Rodríguez Pérez M.
Published: September 2011

Diabet. Med. 29, 399–403 (2012)

Aims  To estimate the incidence rate and risk factors for diabetes in the Canary Islands.

Methods  A total of 5521 adults without diabetes were followed for a median of 3.5 years. Incident cases of diabetes were self‐declared and validated in medical records. The following factors were assessed by Cox regression to estimate the hazard ratios for diabetes: impaired fasting glucose (5.6 mmol/l ≤ fasting glucose ≤ 6.9 mmol/l), BMI, waist‐to‐height ratio (≥ 0.55), insulin resistance (defined as triglycerides/HDL cholesterol ≥ 3), familial antecedents of diabetes, Canarian ancestry, smoking, alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle, Mediterranean diet, social class and the metabolic syndrome.

Results  The incidence rate was 7.5/103 person‐years (95% CI 6.4–8.8). The greatest risks were obtained for impaired fasting glucose (hazard ratio 2.6; 95% CI 1.8–3.8), Canarian ancestry (hazard ratio 1.9; 95% CI 1.0–3.4), waist‐to‐height ratio (hazard ratio 1.7; 95% CI 1.1–2.5), insulin resistance (hazard ratio 1.5; 95% CI 1.0–2.2) and paternal history of diabetes (hazard ratio 1.5; 95% CI 1.0–2.3). The metabolic syndrome (hazard ratio 1.9; 95% CI 1.3–2.8) and BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 (hazard ratio 1.7; 95% CI 1.0–2.7) were significant only when their effects were not adjusted for impaired fasting glucose and waist‐to‐height ratio, respectively.

Conclusions  The incidence of diabetes in the Canary Islands is 1.5‐fold higher than that in continental Spain and 1.7‐fold higher than in the UK. The main predictors of diabetes were impaired fasting glucose, Canarian ancestry, waist‐to‐height ratio and insulin resistance. The metabolic syndrome predicted diabetes only when its effect was not adjusted for impaired fasting glucose. In individuals with Canarian ancestry, genetic susceptibility studies may be advisable. In order to propose preventive strategies, impaired fasting glucose, waist‐to‐height ratio and triglyceride/HDL cholesterol should be used to identify subjects with an increased risk of developing diabetes.
Self‐harm and attempted suicide among therapeutic community admissions
Authors: DARKE SHANE , CAMPBELL GABRIELLE , POPPLE GARTH
Published: September 2011

Introduction and Aims. The study aimed to determine the histories of self‐harm and attempted suicide among therapeutic community entrants by primary presenting substance problem, and to determine predictors of these behaviours.

Design and Methods. One hundred and eighty‐eight consecutive new treatment admissions to We Help Ourselves drug‐free treatment services were administered a structured interview.

Results. Lifetime histories of self‐harm were reported by 34% (9% within the preceding year), and 20% had done so on multiple occasions. Just over one‐third reported a lifetime history of attempted suicide (15% within the preceding year), and 17% reported multiple attempts. There were no significant bivariate associations between primary drug and either behaviour. Multivariate analyses indicated that the alcohol and opioid groups were significantly more likely than the cannabis group to have a history of self‐harm, but did not differ from each other or the psychostimulant group. Other independent correlates of self‐harm were female gender, lifetime PTSD diagnosis, younger age at first intoxication and a history of attempted suicide. In multivariate analyses, the alcohol and opioid groups were significantly less likely than the cannabis group to have a history of attempted suicide, but did not differ from each other or the psychostimulant group. Other significant correlates of attempted suicide were female gender and a history of self‐harm.

Discussion and Conclusions. Both self‐harm and suicide attempts were highly prevalent, and strongly associated with each other. Moreover, there were few differences between primary drug problems. All entrants should be screened for these behaviours, and appropriate responses implemented.[Darke S, Campbell G, Popple G. Self‐harm and attempted suicide among therapeutic community admissions. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:523–528]
Psychological Ownership: How Having Control Matters
Authors: Liu Jun , Wang Hui , Hui Chun , Lee Cynthia
Published: September 2011

abstract

The study builds a cross‐level work process control‐based model of psychological ownership in a Chinese context. We operationalize individual‐level control as participative decision‐making and unit‐level control as the self‐managing team climate. We further theorize how the value orientation of employees to power differentials moderates the mediating effects of psychological ownership on the relationship between the two levels of control and employee outcomes. We found that the positive effects of control experiences on some outcomes are mediated by psychological ownership. Additionally, power distance moderates the mediating role of psychological ownership. Our results suggest that, in order to cultivate the positive effects of perceived control on employee contributions, managers should pay attention to employees high in power distance since these individuals are reluctant to exercise control. Training or encouraging these individuals to participate in decision making may help them cultivate the positive feelings of psychological ownership.
A combined biochemical screen and TILLING approach identifies mutations in Sorghum bicolor L. Moench resulting in acyanogenic forage production
Authors: Blomstedt Cecilia K. , Gleadow Roslyn M. , O’Donnell Natalie , Naur Peter , Jensen Kenneth , Laursen Tomas , Olsen Carl Erik , Stuart Peter , Hamill John D. , Møller Birger Lindberg , Neale Alan D.
Published: September 2011

Cyanogenic glucosides are present in several crop plants and can pose a significant problem for human and animal consumption, because of their ability to release toxic hydrogen cyanide. Sorghum bicolor L. contains the cyanogenic glucoside dhurrin. A qualitative biochemical screen of the M2 population derived from EMS treatment of sorghum seeds, followed by the reverse genetic technique of Targeted Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING), was employed to identify mutants with altered hydrogen cyanide potential (HCNp). Characterization of these plants identified mutations affecting the function or expression of dhurrin biosynthesis enzymes, and the ability of plants to catabolise dhurrin. The main focus in this study is on acyanogenic or low cyanide releasing lines that contain mutations in CYP79A1, the cytochrome P450 enzyme catalysing the first committed step in dhurrin synthesis. Molecular modelling supports the measured effects on CYP79A1 activity in the mutant lines. Plants harbouring a P414L mutation in CYP79A1 are acyanogenic when homozygous for this mutation and are phenotypically normal, except for slightly slower growth at early seedling stage. Detailed biochemical analyses demonstrate that the enzyme is present in wild‐type amounts but is catalytically inactive. Additional mutants capable of producing dhurrin at normal levels in young seedlings but with negligible leaf dhurrin levels in mature plants were also identified. No mutations were detected in the coding sequence of dhurrin biosynthetic genes in this second group of mutants, which are as tall or taller, and leafier than nonmutated lines. These sorghum mutants with reduced or negligible dhurrin content may be ideally suited for forage production.
On the Relation between Politics and Time
Authors: Tregenza Ian
Published: September 2011

This article makes the case that politics, understood as a particular kind of public action, presupposes a notion of time marked by the three temporal states of past, present, and future. Political deliberation and judgment are future‐oriented activities that, more or less explicitly, draw on the past for guidance. Aristotle's discussion of deliberative rhetoric in the Art of Rhetoric, which recognizes the inherent contingency of political decision making, is the classic treatment of the topic and is given some attention. Throughout western political theory this view of politics has been contested, most notably by figures such as Plato and Marx, whose respective attempts to transcend the contingency and unpredictability of politics, it will be argued, is connected to the endeavour to overcome the imperfections and conflicts bound up with the temporal order itself. Finally, the article examines two modern expressions of the desire to transcend politics in a timeless world of pure model building or universal morality. The first of these can be found in much contemporary neo‐classical economic theory, and the second in the a‐political politics of the international human rights movement.
Refereeing academic articles in the information age
Authors: Hartley James
Published: September 2011

The new technology (such as ScholarOne) used for submitting papers to academic journals (such as this one) increases the possibilities for gathering, analysing and presenting summary data on stages in the refereeing process. Such data can be used to clarify the roles played by editors and publishers as well as referees—roles less widely discussed in the previous literature. I conclude, after a review of related issues, that refereeing should be “open” in this information age—i.e. correspondence between editors, referees and authors should be open and available, and not private. Some of the issues involved in achieving this are outlined and discussed.
Statecraft and the Assessment of National Political Leaders: The Case of New Labour and Tony Blair
Authors: Buller Jim , James Toby S.
Published: September 2011

This article makes the case for employing the statecraft approach (associated with the late Jim Bulpitt) to assess political leadership in Britain. Rather than ‘importing’ methodologies from the US, as some scholars have done, statecraft is preferred in the UK context for two main reasons. First, statecraft is concerned with the motives and behaviour of leadership cliques, and as a result, it is more appropriate for the collective leadership style that is a characteristic of parliamentary systems such as that in Britain. Second, statecraft goes some way towards incorporating a sense of structural context into our evaluation of leadership performance. This need to take into account the broader institutional constraints facing chief executives is something that an increasing number of academics in this area have been calling for. The utility of the approach is illustrated through a case study of the Blair administration.
MODELLING TIME SERIES DATA OF MONETARY AGGREGATES USINGI(2) ANDI(1) COINTEGRATION ANALYSIS
Authors: Kurita Takamitsu
Published: September 2011

The objective of this paper is to consider methodology for modelling time series data of monetary aggregates such as monetary base and broad money. A brief review is made with regard to the likelihood‐based cointegration analysis ofI(2) (integrated of order 2) data andI(2)‐to‐I(1) transformations. The paper then investigates procedures for econometric modelling of monetary aggregates, which are in general deemed to beI(2) variables analogous to price indices. It is shown thatI(2)‐to‐I(1) transformations centering on a money multiplier play an important role in the modelling procedures. Finally, the study presents an empirical illustration of the proposed methodology using monetary aggregate data from Japan.
A NOTE ON SELECTION EFFECTS OF THE HAND RULE
Authors: Baumann Florian , Friehe Tim
Published: September 2011

The famous Hand rule weighs the burden of precaution against the reduction in expected harm. The burden may be type‐specific, implying different standards of care for different injurer types. We show that this fact may be exploited by principals in their search for minimized individual costs. Principals may hire agents with high cost of care‐taking although other agents are available. This is shown in a unilateral‐care setting either with perfect or with asymmetric information. We therefore highlight a neglected downside of the negligence rule.
Characterizing and Comparing the Friendships of Anxious‐Solitary and Unsociable Preadolescents
Authors: Ladd Gary W. , Kochenderfer‐Ladd Becky , Eggum Natalie D. , Kochel Karen P. , McConnell Erin M.
Published: September 2011

Friendships matter for withdrawn youth because the consequences of peer isolation are severe. From a normative sample of 2,437 fifth graders (1,245 females; M age = 10.25), a subset (n = 1,364; 638 female) was classified into 3 groups (anxious‐solitary, unsociable, comparison) and followed across a school year. Findings indicated that it was more common for unsociable than anxious‐solitary children to have friends, be stably friended, and participate in multiple friendships. For withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn children, peer rejection predicted friendlessness, but this relation was strongest for anxious‐solitary children. The friends of unsociable youth were more accepted by peers than those of anxious‐solitary youth. The premise that friendship inhibits peer victimization was substantiated for withdrawn as well as nonwithdrawn youth.
Newborn Irritability Moderates the Association Between Infant Attachment Security and Toddler Exploration and Sociability
Authors: Stupica Brandi , Sherman Laura J. , Cassidy Jude
Published: September 2011

This longitudinal investigation of 84 infants examined whether the effect of 12‐month attachment on 18‐ and 24‐month exploration and sociability with unfamiliar adults varied as a function of newborn irritability. As expected, results revealed an interaction between attachment (secure vs. insecure) and irritability (highly irritable vs. moderately irritable) in predicting both exploration and sociability with unfamiliar adults. For exploration, results supported a dual‐risk model; that is, toddlers who had been both highly irritable and insecurely attached were less exploratory than other toddlers. For sociability, results supported the differential‐susceptibility hypothesis; that is, highly irritable infants, compared to moderately irritable infants, were both less sociable as toddlers when they had been insecurely attached and more sociable when they had been securely attached.
MOST‐FIT: Support Techniques for Inspection and Life Cycle Optimization in Building Asset Management
Authors: Hegazy Tarek , Elhakeem Ahmed , Singh Ahluwalia Shipra , Attalla Mohamed
Published: September 2011

Abstract:  Among the various asset management functions that support capital renewal decisions, both inspection and fund‐allocation are very challenging in terms of time, cost, and technology. To support these functions, this article introduces two unique techniques that can be implemented, individually or combined, into any asset management system: (1) Focused‐Inspection Technique (FIT); and (2) Multiple Optimization and Segmentation Technique (MOST). FIT improves inspection by incorporating an analysis of reactive‐maintenance data to predict components’ conditions, thus saving the time and cost of indiscriminate inspections. The MOST technique, on the other hand, has a unique formulation for large‐scale optimization involving thousands of assets simultaneously, thus maximizes the return of renewal dollars. The article provides a description of the MOST‐FIT techniques and discusses their implementation in a prototype system that suits a large school board in North America. The proposed techniques are innovative and help organizations with large building assets improve the overall condition of their inventory with highest return on the limited renewal budget.
Older or Wealthier? The Impact of Age Adjustment on Wealth Inequality*
Authors: Almås Ingvild , Mogstad Magne
Published: September 2011

Differences in individual wealth holdings are widely viewed as a driving force of economic inequality. However, as this finding relies on cross‐sectional data, a concern is that older is confused with wealthier. We propose a new method to adjust for age effects in cross‐sections, which eliminates wealth inequality due to age, yet preserves inequality arising from other factors. Using a new cross‐country comparable database, we examine the impact of age adjustments on wealth inequality across countries and over time. We find that the most widely used method yields a substantially different picture of age‐adjusted wealth inequality than our method.
Contesting Compassion
Authors: Vitellone Nicole
Published: September 2011

This paper investigates the political possibilities and limitations of compassion. My aim is to consider how and under what conditions compassion is elicited and whether such emotions can institute social transformation. Whilst compassion is understood to be located in political and cultural contexts, this paper investigates the extent to which compassion shapes those contexts in terms of political imaginaries. Drawing on the work of Bourdieu I consider the ways that compassion positions people in relations with ‘sufferers’ affectively, including shaping perceptions and understandings of causes and effects. To illustrate this I examine visual representations of drug use, one from a Barnardo's child poverty advertising campaign and the other a photo-ethnography of drug suffering. Focusing on the imagery of the syringe as a moving device I show how the object reworks the affect of compassion in ways that require critique and contestation.
(Un)becoming Women: Indian Factory Women's Counternarratives of Gender
Authors: Lal Jayati
Published: September 2011

This paper portrays the life stories of five factory workers in Delhi whose life trajectories run counter to normative femininity. As daughters and wives, they are neglected, abandoned or rejected by their families; they live alone, with their parents past the age that is their natal right, with siblings, or with families and men who are not related to them. I explore the circulation of their counternarratives and how their gender transgressions go public through ordinary forms of talk, such as gossip and rumor. I argue that their move out of the normative is not produced by, but produces, their gender politics; that their agency emerges cognitively from the telling of their stories in tandem with their interlocutors' credulity and uptake; and that the site of gender politics for working class Indian women lies in the informal subaltern publics that are formed by the circulation of their stories. Contrary to the notion of a stable unitary subject that precedes the political, these women's counternarratives demonstrate the subject-in-process as a political effect. Their alterity does not exist outside the heteronormative gender order but demarcates the boundaries of its historicity, hinting at both the internal contradictions of existing gender relations and their future possibilities.
Metaphor, Social Capital and Sociological Imaginaries
Authors: Devadason Ranji
Published: September 2011

This paper considers the conceptual value of social capital, given its contested empirical and theoretical purchase. It addresses how the use of the metaphor of capital to represent sociable and normative aspects of everyday life affects our sociological imaginations. The rhetorical force of metaphor inheres in its creative capacity to transform understanding and bring about enriched apprehension of the social world. Moreover, in social science writing it is considered invaluable to processes of knowledge transfer and engagement with different audiences, thereby enhancing the impact of social research. Yet its capacity to inspire the imagination underpins both its usefulness and its limitations. Using a empirical example, this paper illustrates how metaphor can curtail as well as enrich understanding in research. I begin by examining how metaphor ‘works’ in acts of communication, in general, before addressing – secondly – how social capital is applied analytically to the specific empirical field of ethnic social ties. This example illustrates how certain avenues of enquiry are effectively ‘closed down’ by accentuating the salience of social ties to the relative neglect of the political opportunities, institutions and resources within which they are situated. The third part of the paper considers what the metaphor of social capital achieves and precludes in our sociological imaginations.
How to handle missing data in regression models using information criteria*
Authors: Kuiper Rebecca M. , Hoijtink Herbert
Published: September 2011

An important application of multiple regression is predictor selection. When there are no missing values in the data, information criteria can be used to select predictors. For example, one could apply the small‐sample‐size corrected version of the Akaike information criterion (AIC), the (AICC). In this article, we discuss how information criteria should be calculated when the dependent variable and/or the predictors contain missing values. Therewith, we extensively discuss and evaluate three models that can be employed to deal with the missing data, that is, to predict the missing values. The most complex model, that is, the model with all available predictors, outperforms the other models. These results also apply to more general hypotheses than predictor selection and also to structural equation modeling (SEM) models.
Generalized information criterion
Authors: Taniguchi Masanobu , Hirukawa Junichi
Published: September 2011

In this article, we propose a generalized Akaike's information criterion (AIC) (GAIC), which includes the usual AIC as a special case, for general class of stochastic models (i.e. i.i.d., non‐i.i.d., time series models etc.). Then we derive the asymptotic distribution of selected order by GAIC, and show that is inconsistent, i.e. (true order). This is the problem of selection by completely specified models. In practice, it is natural to suppose that the true model g would be incompletely specified by uncertain prior information, and be contiguous to a fundamental parametric model with dim θ0 = p0. One plausible parametric description for g is , h = (h1,…,hK − p0)′ where n is the sample size, and the true order is K. Under this setting, we derive the asymptotic distribution of . Then it is shown that GAIC has admissible properties for perturbation of models with order of , where the length ‖h‖ is large. This observation seems important. Also numerical studies will be given to confirm the results.
Legitimate Peripheral Participation and Language Learning: Two Quichua Learners in a Transnational Community
Authors: Back Michele
Published: September 2011

Using data from a multisited ethnography of Ecuadorian transnational musicians, I applied Lave and Wenger's (1991) concept of legitimate peripheral participation and Jacoby and Ochs's (1995) notion of co‐construction to examine two musicians’ attempts to learn Quichua, an Ecuadorian indigenous language. Through an analysis aided by constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2006), I found that co‐constructed notions of language beliefs, ethnic identity, and community perspectives led to perceptions of these individuals as legitimate or nonlegitimate learners of Quichua. These co‐constructions played a role in a successful acquisition of Quichua for one individual, for whom Quichua was a heritage language, and a failure to succeed by the other. The results of this article enrich discussions on maintenance of threatened languages and add to the ongoing debate in second language acquisition on the importance of cognitive/individual versus social/external factors in language learning.
GOVERNMENT, OPENNESS AND FINANCE: PAST AND PRESENT*
Authors: DEMETRIADES PANICOS O. , ROUSSEAU PETER L.
Published: September 2011

We explore the role of government in the nexus of finance and trade starting from the earliest days of organized finance in England and then broadening the analysis to 84 countries from 1960 to 2004. For 18th century England, we find that government expenditures and international trade did have a positive effect on financial development when measured as the value of private loans issued at the Bank of England. For the wider panel of countries with more recent data, we find that government expenditures and trade have positive effects on financial development for countries that are in the mid‐ranges of economic development as measured by their per capita incomes, but have little effect in poor countries and strongly negative effects for the wealthiest ones.
Do Teachers Matter? Measuring the Variation in Teacher Effectiveness in England*
Authors: Slater Helen , Davies Neil M. , Burgess Simon
Published: September 2011

Using a unique primary dataset for the UK, we estimate the effect of individual teachers on student outcomes, and the variability in teacher quality. This links 7,305 pupils to the individual teachers who taught them, in each of their compulsory subjects in the high‐stakes exams at age 16. We use point‐in‐time fixed effects and prior attainment to control for pupil heterogeneity. We find considerable variability in teacher effectiveness, a little higher than the estimates found in the few US studies. We also corroborate recent findings that observed teachers’ characteristics explain very little of the differences in estimated teacher effectiveness.
Human action recognition using an ensemble of body‐part detectors
Authors: Chakraborty Bhaskar , Bagdanov Andrew D. , Gonzàlez Jordi , Roca Xavier
Published: September 2011

This paper describes an approach to human action recognition based on a probabilistic optimization model of body parts using hidden Markov model (HMM). Our method is able to distinguish between similar actions by only considering the body parts having major contribution to the actions, for example, legs for walking, jogging and running; arms for boxing, waving and clapping. We apply HMMs to model the stochastic movement of the body parts for action recognition. The HMM construction uses an ensemble of body‐part detectors, followed by grouping of part detections, to perform human identification. Three example‐based body‐part detectors are trained to detect three components of the human body: the head, legs and arms. These detectors cope with viewpoint changes and self‐occlusions through the use of ten sub‐classifiers that detect body parts over a specific range of viewpoints. Each sub‐classifier is a support vector machine trained on features selected for the discriminative power for each particular part/viewpoint combination. Grouping of these detections is performed using a simple geometric constraint model that yields a viewpoint‐invariant human detector. We test our approach on three publicly available action datasets: the KTH dataset, Weizmann dataset and HumanEva dataset. Our results illustrate that with a simple and compact representation we can achieve robust recognition of human actions comparable to the most complex, state‐of‐the‐art methods.
The Minimum Economic Dividend for Joining a Currency Union
Authors: Ca’Zorzi Michele , Zampolli Fabrizio , Santis Roberto A. De
Published: September 2011

A two-country model is developed to show how the optimality of a currency union depends on whether it brings an economic dividend in terms of potential growth and the Balassa-Samuelson (BS) effect (the steady appreciation of the real exchange rate due to cross-country differences in intersectoral productivity gaps). The model shows that such dividend needs to be larger, the higher the BS effect, the smaller the size of the economy, the larger the cross-country difference in the standard deviation of the supply shocks, the smaller their correlation and the larger the standard deviation of real exchange rate shocks. We calibrate the model to quantify such dividend as a function of plausible ranges of the parameter values. The results suggest that both the BS effect and the size of real exchange rate shocks play a key role in evaluating the optimality of accessing the currency union.
From contact angle titration to chemical force microscopy: a new route to assess the pH‐dependent character of the stratum corneum
Authors: Wagner Matthieu , Mavon Alain , Haidara Hamidou , Vallat Marie‐France , Duplan Hélène , Roucoules Vincent
Published: September 2011

Synopsis

Despite of its complex multicomponent organization and its compact architecture, the Stratum corneum (SC) is not completely impermeable to substances directly applied on the skin surface. A huge number of works have been dedicated to the understanding of the mechanisms involved in substance permeation by exploring deeper layers than the SC itself. Surprisingly, there is a poor interest in studies relating to interactions which may occur in the near‐surface region (i.e. approximately 1 nm depth) of the SC. In this work, equilibrium proton‐transfer reactions have been used as probes to define in a fundamental point of view the nature of the SC interactions with its environment. Such titration curves are investigated on ‘in vitro’ SC (isolated SC from abdominal skin tissue) and on ‘in vivo’ volar forearm (a sebum poor area). The results are discussed in term of work of adhesion and surface pKa values. Because SC can ‘reconstruct’ under heating, influence of the temperature on titration curves is investigated and the role of the different components is discussed. Different sigmoidal transitions were observed. Two common pKa values (pKa1 = 4 and pKa2 = 11.5) were clearly identified in both cases and associated to an acid–base character. By playing with the temperature of ‘in vitro’ SC, the ‘accessibility’ of polar functions was increased, thus refining the results by revealing an amphoteric character with an acid‐to‐base transition at pH 3.5 and two acid transitions at pH = 6.5 and pH = 11.5. Adhesion forces between an Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) tip and a single isolated corneocyte through buffered liquid media were also investigated to better understand the role of the individual corneocytes.
Semantic access in number processing investigated with Japanese Kanji and Kana numerals
Authors: SAKUMA NAOTO , GORYO KEN , KIMURA EIJI
Published: September 2011

In number processing, semantic representations are efficiently activated. These representations frequently affect task performance, as demonstrated by semantic effects such as the distance effect (longer reaction times to closer numerical pairs in comparison tasks). The objective of this study was to investigate whether efficient semantic access is a distinctive feature of number processing using the Japanese language. Japanese was chosen to investigate possible effects of ideographic processing and word frequency: Kanji numerals in Japanese are ideograms and are used frequently, while Kana numerals are phonograms and are used infrequently. The results confirmed a distance effect in the numerical and physical matching tasks with both Arabic and Kanji numerals regardless of notation or task (Experiment 1). However, the effect was not observed with the Kana pairs (Experiment 2), thereby suggesting that semantic access is not always efficient in number processing. The results can be explained coherently within a general framework of word recognition by assuming that both the type of character and the word frequency play a critical role in determining the efficiency of semantic access.
Individual differences of visual imagery ability in the benefit of a survival judgment task
Authors: NOUCHI RUI
Published: September 2011

This study investigated whether or not visual imagery ability affected the benefit of a survival judgment task. Based on the median split of their VVIQ score, 92 undergraduate students were classified as either high imagers (n = 46) or low imagers (n = 46). In the survival task, participants were requested to judge whether an item presented in the form of two Chinese characters was necessary or not in a survival situation. In the image judgment task, participants were requested to judge whether an item presented in the form of two Chinese characters arouses mental images or not. Participants were presented 18 concrete nouns at 4 s intervals in each condition. In both the survival judgment and the image judgment tasks, high imagers recalled more words than low imagers did. This result showed that imagery ability influenced the benefit of the survival judgment task. These results were discussed from the functional perspective of memory. Finally, we proposed the combination hypothesis, which combined elaboration and functional perspectives to explain the benefit of the survival judgment task.
The effect of goal activation on the evaluation of hybrid products1
Authors: KIM MOON‐YONG , HYUN YONG J. , PARK SEHOON
Published: September 2011

A hybrid product (i.e. a multifinal means) is connected with goals relevant to the key functionalities best served by the product categories constituting the product. Given that single‐ or multiple‐category inference for a hybrid product can be elicited in individuals, we propose that single‐ (vs. multiple‐) category inference can lead to a relatively higher preference for the hybrid product if only one of the key focal goals that the hybrid product can satisfy is activated. We also explore whether the evaluation of a hybrid product in single‐category inference will reflect valuation and/or devaluation effects if only one of multiple key focal goals attached to the hybrid product is active.
Autobiographical memories of specific social events for older and younger adults: Context dependency of the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire on recollection of 1970 and 2005 Japan World Expositions1
Authors: SHIMIZU HIROYUKI , ANDERSON DAVID , TAKAHASHI MASANOBU
Published: September 2011

To clarify the characteristics of autobiographical memories of personally experienced social events, we examined visitors' long‐term memories of the 1970 Japan World Exposition Osaka (Expo 1970) for 47 older adults and of Expo 2005 Aichi Japan (Expo 2005) for 42 older and 40 younger adults using the Memory Characteristics Questionnaire (MCQ). The factor structure of the MCQ was compared with that of a previous study on long‐term memories of the graduation ceremonies of junior high‐school students, which employed the MCQ and itself was used as a comparative data set (N = 1183). Thus, the long‐term memory characteristics of four independent groups were considered for comparative analysis: Expo 1970‐Older, Expo 2005‐Older, Expo 2005‐Younger, and Graduation‐Younger. The mean scores for each of eight MCQ factors were calculated in each of the four groups. Significant differences of scores between the four independent groups were found on several factors of the MCQ. Based on these data, some issues of the context dependency of MCQ including the influence of retention interval, participant age, and the nature of experience are discussed.
The effect of aging on the memory enhancement of the survival judgment task
Authors: NOUCHI RUI
Published: September 2011

This study investigated whether or not aging affected the benefit of a survival judgment task. Sixteen young adults and 16 older adults participated in this experiment. In the survival task, participants were requested to judge whether a word was necessary or not in a survival situation. In the self‐referent judgment task, participants were requested to judge how easily the word brings to mind an important personal experience. Participants in each condition were presented 18 concrete nouns at 4‐s intervals. Our results showed that even though the survival judgment task enhanced the memory performance in both the young adults and the older adults, the young adults outperformed the older adults in the survival and self‐referent judgment tasks.
Distribution and spatial genetic structure of European wildcat in France
Authors: Say L. , Devillard S. , Léger F. , Pontier D. , Ruette S.
Published: September 2011

Given the problem of hybridization with domestic cats, there is a growing need to identify populations of the European wildcat Felis silvestris silvestris in order to protect the genetic integrity of this subspecies. In this paper, we use known locations of observations of wildcats or recovered carcasses to reassess the distribution of the wildcat in France and, in cases where carcasses were collected, we use both phenotypic and molecular genetic analyses to distinguish wildcats from hybrids with domestic cats. Spatially explicit multivariate analysis of wildcat' genotypes was then performed to define genetic units. Our study confirms the presence of wildcats in a large area of c. 155 000 km2, suggestive of a range of expansion, and divided into two clearly distinct and unconnected areas – the Pyrenees and the north‐eastern part of France. However, European wildcat populations may be decreasing in the French Pyrenees, whereas the north‐eastern part represents the main area (MA) of wildcat presence. This extension does not appear to be primarily due to hybrids, as both wildcats and hybrids were located throughout the MA. In addition, we found that genetic diversity of wildcats in the MA is remarkably high, suggesting that French populations are not threatened by a lack of genetic diversity. Furthermore, wildcats of the MA are structured into two genetically distinct populations that are contiguous and probably extend into Germany to form the largest area of wildcat presence in Europe and an area of major interest for their conservation. Our study calls for localized examination of the feasibility and usefulness of wildlife corridors to enhance connectivity between the different populations, thereby allowing sufficient levels of immigration and gene flow within the regional meta‐population to ensure the long‐term viability of these populations.
Combining information from multiple sources for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorders for toddlers and young preschoolers from 12 to 47 months of age
Authors: Kim So Hyun , Lord Catherine
Published: September 2011

Background:  Purpose of this study was to systematically examine combined use of the Autism Diagnostic Interview‐Revised (ADI‐R) and Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) for children under age 4 using newly developed and revised diagnostic algorithms.

Methods:  Single and combined use of the ADI‐R and ADOS algorithms were compared to clinical best estimate diagnoses for 435 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), 113 children with nonspectrum disorders, and 47 children with typical development from 12 to 47 months of age. Sequential strategies to reach a diagnostic decision by prioritizing administrations of instruments were also evaluated.

Results:  Well‐balanced sensitivities and specificities above 80% were obtained for ASD diagnoses using both instruments. Specificities significantly improved when both instruments were used compared to one. Scores that can be used to systematically prioritize administrations of instruments were identified.

Conclusions:  The ADI‐R and ADOS make independent, additive contributions to more accurate diagnostic decisions for clinicians evaluating toddlers and young preschoolers with ASD. Sequential assessment strategies using the scores identified may be appropriate for some children.
The moderating effect of physical activity on cardiovascular reactivity following single fat feedings
Authors: Faulk Kathryn E. , Bartholomew John B.
Published: September 2011

This experiment examined the effects of consuming a high‐fat meal on cardiovascular reactivity and the ability of exercise to act as a moderator between dietary fat consumption and cardiovascular reactivity. Forty healthy, college‐age students were randomly assigned to one of four experimental groups: (1) low‐fat meal, no exercise; (2) low‐fat meal, postprandial exercise; (3) high‐fat meal, no exercise; and (4) high‐fat meal, postprandial exercise. To induce stress, all participants performed a public speaking task, while heart rate and blood pressure reactivity were measured. Multilevel analyses revealed that consuming a high‐fat meal led to heightened mean arterial pressure reactivity. Acute high‐intensity exercise resulted in attenuated heart rate and mean arterial pressure reactivity. The results of this study offer insight into how diet and exercise may influence cardiovascular reactivity, which is a key determinant of cardiovascular disease.
Does expert trust and factual knowledge shape individual's perception of science?
Authors: Costa‐Font Montserrat , Gil José M.
Published: September 2011

Explaining how individuals form their risks and benefit perceptions with regard to new technologies is a key issue in order to understand how new information disseminates. This paper examines the effect of knowledge, social values and trust in experts as shaping perceptions of risks and benefits of new technologies. Given that individual's perceptions of a technology is affected by unobserved heterogeneity, we use a methodology to disentangle the effect of a joint estimation of risks and benefit perceptions, namely seemingly unrelated probit, and we draw upon evidence from a representative survey carried out in Spain. Our findings suggest that factual knowledge and trust in experts increase perceptions of benefit of new technology developments and jointly reduce the perceptions of risk. Furthermore, reliance on traditional social values only appears to affect perceptions of benefits but does not influence risk perceptions.
Intimate circuits: modernity, migration and marriage among post‐Soviet women in Turkey
Authors: BLOCH ALEXIA
Published: September 2011

The study of migration too often ignores the ways that labour migrants' emotional entanglements and complicated personal relationships factor into their experiences of being people on the move. In examining post‐Soviet migrant women's relationships with Turkish men and the ways these are regulated in Turkey, in this article I consider how intimate practices of marriage and performances of ‘love’ have emerged as key aspects of transnational mobility. These intimate practices both enable long‐term transnational circuits between post‐Soviet homelands and Turkey, and attest to the way global capitalism is redefining personal lives.
Structural changes in the 2003–2009 global hyperlink network
Authors: PARK HAN WOO , BARNETT GEORGE A. , CHUNG CHUNG JOO
Published: September 2011

In this study, we examined the structure of the international hyperlink network as a global communication system at two different points in time (2003 and 2009). Research was carried out on the web‐based network linking country code top‐level domains (ccTLDs) that represent countries, using hyperlink connectivity by the means of network analysis. The results indicate that the 2009 international hyperlink network was completely interconnected. G7 countries and Spain were at the centre of the network. At the periphery were poorer countries from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. In addition, several regional clusters based on geography, language and culture emerged. A comparison of the 2003 and 2009 results showed that the level of centralization and diversification among semi‐peripheral countries increased. We discuss the results from the perspective of world‐systems theory. We propose methodological procedures to overcome potential bias in international hyperlink data.