bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Using item response theory to improve measurement in strategic management research: An application to corporate social responsibility
Authors: Carroll Robert J. , Primo David M. , Richter Brian K.
Published: October 2015

Research summary: This article uses item response theory (IRT) to advance strategic management research, focusing on an application to corporate social responsibility (CSR). IRT explicitly models firms' and individuals' observable actions in order to measure unobserved, latent characteristics. IRT models have helped researchers improve measures in numerous disciplines. To demonstrate their potential in strategic management, we show how the method improves on a key measure of corporate social responsibility and corporate social performance (CSP), the KLD Index, by creating what we term D‐SOCIAL‐KLD scores, and associated estimates of their accuracy, from the underlying data. We show, for instance, that firms such as Apple may not be as “good” as previously thought, while firms such as Walmart may perform better than typically believed. We also show that the D‐SOCIAL‐KLD measure outperforms the KLD Index and factor analysis in predicting new CSR‐related activity.

Managerial summary: Corporate social responsibility (CSR) continues to grow in importance among the press, political activists, managers, analysts, and investors, yet measurement techniques have not kept up. We show that the most common approach for measuring CSR—adding up observable traits—is fundamentally flawed, even if these traits accurately capture CSR‐related behavior. We introduce an improved measurement technique that treats these traits as test questions that are differentially weighted, so that “hard” CSR activities affect a company's score more than “easy” CSR activities. This approach produces a measure that offers a more reliable comparison of firms than standard measures. Our approach has a number of additional advantages, including differentiating firms that receive identical scores on an additive scale and accounting for how CSR-related behavior has evolved over time. Anybody who cares about CSR should consider using our measure (available at www.socialscores.org) as the basis for analyzing firms' CSR. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Photonic Crystal Hydrogel Enhanced Plasmonic Staining for Multiplexed Protein Analysis
Authors: Mu Zhongde , Zhao Xiangwei , Huang Yin , Lu Meng , Gu Zhongze
Published: October 2015

Plasmonic nanoparticles are commonly used as optical transducers in sensing applications. The optical signals resulting from the interaction of analytes and plamsonic nanoparticles are influenced by surrounding physical structures where the nanoparticles are located. This paper proposes inverse opal photonic crystal hydrogel as 3D structure to improve Raman signals from plasmonic staining. By hybridization of the plasmonic nanoparticles and photonic crystal, surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) analysis of multiplexed protein is realized. It benefits the Raman analysis by providing high‐density “hot spots” in 3D and extra enhancement of local electromagnetic field at the band edge of PhC with periodic refractive index distribution. The strong interaction of light and the hybrid 3D nanostructure offers new insights into plasmonic nanoparticle applications and biosensor design.
Novel Mn3[Co(CN)6]2@SiO2@Ag Core–Shell Nanocube: Enhanced Two‐Photon Fluorescence and Magnetic Resonance Dual‐Modal Imaging‐Guided Photothermal and Chemo‐therapy
Authors: Wang Dongdong , Guo Zhen , Zhou Jiajia , Chen Jian , Zhao Gaozheng , Chen Ruhui , He Mengni , Liu Zhenbang , Wang Haibao , Chen Qianwang
Published: October 2015

The versatile Mn3[Co(CN)6]2@SiO2@Ag core–shell NCs are prepared by a simple coprecipitation method. Ag nanoparticles with an average diameter of 12 nm deposited on the surface of Mn3[Co(CN)6]2@SiO2 through S–Ag bonding are fabricated in ethanol solution by reducing silver nitrate (AgNO3) with NaBH4. The NCs possess T1–T2 dual‐modal magnetic resonance imaging ability. The inner Prussian blue analogs (PBAs) Mn3[Co(CN)6]2 exhibit bright two‐photon fluorescence (TPF) imaging when excited at 730 nm. Moreover, the TPF imaging intensity displays 1.85‐fold enhancement after loading of Ag nanoparticles. Besides, the sample also has multicolor fluorescence imaging ability under 403, 488, and 543 nm single photon excitation. The as‐synthesized Mn3[Co(CN)6]2@SiO2@Ag NCs show a DOX loading capacity of 600 mg g−1 and exhibit an excellent ability of near‐infrared (NIR)‐responsive drug release and photothermal therapy (PTT) which is induced from the relative high absorbance in NIR region. The combined chemotherapy and PTT against cancer cells in vitro test shows high therapeutic efficiency. The multimodal treatment and imaging could lead to this material a potential multifunctional system for biomedical diagnosis and therapy.
Integrating Economics and System Dynamics Approaches for Modelling an Ecological–Economic System
Authors: Uehara Takuro , Nagase Yoko , Wakeland Wayne
Published: October 2015

This article documents trans‐disciplinary collaboration between system dynamics (SD) practitioners and economists to produce knowledge useful for studying ecological–economic systems. The article introduces a multi‐sector, ecological–economic model (EEM) of population–resource dynamics. Incorporating key concepts from economics on markets and prices, the model shows that SD models are able to represent the complex dynamics of an EEM, including out‐of‐equilibrium states and adaptation that strive to find new equilibria more realistically. The sensitivity analyses produce important implications, including the major finding that model behavior varies significantly with the degrees of price adjustment times. This finding justifies the Meadows' et al. limits to growth model, which omits an endogenous price mechanism, and also suggests that further research on non‐instantaneous price adaptation mechanisms is needed. The article encourages modellers to incorporate out‐of‐equilibrium aspects of an economic system as appropriate and highlights the potential for SD practitioners to contribute to economics, especially ecological economics. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
The perils of quasi‐likelihood information criteria
Authors: Wang Yishu , Murphy Orla , Turgeon Maxime , Wang ZhuoYu , Bhatnagar Sahir R. , Schulz Juliana , Moodie Erica E. M.
Published: October 2015

In this paper, we consider some potential pitfalls of the growing use of quasi‐likelihood‐based information criteria for longitudinal data to select a working correlation structure in a generalized estimating equation framework. In particular, we examine settings where the fully conditional mean does not equal the marginal mean as well as hypothesis testing following selection of the working correlation matrix. Our results suggest that the use of any information criterion for selection of the working correlation matrix is inappropriate when the conditional mean model assumption is violated. We also find that type I error differs from the nominal level in moderate sample sizes following selection of the form of the working correlation but improves as sample size is increased as the selection is then concentrated on a single correlation structure. Our results serve to underline the potential dangers that can arise when using information criteria to select correlation structure in routine data analysis. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Solvent‐Dependent Synthesis from Layer to Microporous Pillared‐Layer Framework for Selective Sorption of Gas Light Hydrocarbons
Authors: Jiang Zhiqiang , An Yun , Zhu Xuejun , Tian Congxue , Bai Jing , Li Yufeng
Published: October 2015

Three metal‐organic frameworks, [Zn3(bdc)3(DMA)2] (1) (H2bdc = terephthalic acid; DMA = N,N‐dimethylacetamide), [Zn3(bdc)3(DMA)(DMPU)] (2) (DMPU = 1,3‐dimethylpropyleneurea), and [Zn3(bdc)4(Hdma)2] (3) [Hdma = protonated dimethylamine (Me2NH2)] were synthesized by using different solvents. The solvents determine the framework architectures range from layer to microporous pillared‐layer framework. The microporous framework has 8‐connected bcg topology and shows selective sorption ability for gas light hydrocarbons.
Syntheses, Crystal Structures, and Properties of the Isotypic Pair [Cr(H2O)6]2[B12H12]3·15H2O and [In(H2O)6]2[B12H12]3·15H2O
Authors: Van Nguyen‐Duc , Kleeberg Fabian M. , Schleid Thomas
Published: October 2015

Single crystals of [Cr(H2O)6]2[B12H12]3·15H2O and [In(H2O)6]2[B12H12]3·15H2O were obtained by reactions of aqueous solutions of the acid (H3O)2[B12H12] with chromium(III) hydroxide and indium metal shot, respectively. The title compounds crystallize isotypically in the trigonal system with space group R$\bar{3}$c (a = 1157.62(3), c = 6730.48(9) pm for the chromium, a = 1171.71(3), c = 6740.04(9) pm for the indium compound, Z = 6). The arrangement of the quasi‐icosahedral [B12H12]2– dianions can be considered as stacking of two times nine layers with the sequence …ABCCABBCA… and the metal trications arrange in a cubic closest packed …abc… stacking sequence. The metal trications are octahedrally coordinated by six water molecules of hydration, while another fifteen H2O molecules fill up the structures as zeolitic crystal water or second‐sphere hydrating species. Between these free and the metal‐bonded water molecules, bridging hydrogen bonds are found. Furthermore, there is also evidence of hydrogen bonding between the anionic [B12H12]2– clusters and the free zeolitic water molecules according to B–Hδ–···δ+H–O interactions. Vibrational spectroscopy studies prove the presence of these hydrogen bonds and also show slight distortions of the dodecahydro‐closo‐dodecaborate anions from their ideal icosahedral symmetry (Ih). Thermal decomposition studies for the example of [Cr(H2O)6]2[B12H12]3·15H2O gave no hints for just a simple multi‐stepwise dehydration process.
Density‐dependent dispersal complicates spatial synchrony in tri‐trophic food chains
Authors: Liu Zhiguang , Zhang Fengpan , Hui Cang
Published: October 2015

Spatial synchrony can increase extinction risk and undermines metapopulation persistence. Both dispersal and biotic interactions can strongly affect spatial synchrony. Here, we explore the spatial synchrony of a tri‐trophic food chain in two patches connected by density‐dependent dispersal, namely the strategies of prey evasion (PE) and predator pursuit (PP). The dynamics of the food chain are depicted by both the Hastings–Powell model and the chemostat model, with synchrony measured by the Pearson correlation coefficient. We use the density‐independent dispersal in the system as a baseline for comparison. Results show that the density‐independent dispersal of a species in the system can promote its dynamic synchrony. Dispersal of intermediate species in the tri‐trophic food chain is the strongest synchronizer. In contrast, the density‐dependent PP and PE of intermediate species can desynchronize the system. Highly synchronized dynamics emerged when the basal species has a strong PE strategy or when the top species has a moderate PP strategy. Our results reveal the complex relationship between density‐dependent dispersal and spatial synchrony in tri‐trophic systems.
Small‐scale spatial and temporal variation in the demographic processes underlying the large‐scale decline of eiders in the Baltic Sea
Authors: Öst Markus , Ramula Satu , Lindén Andreas , Karell Patrik , Kilpi Mikael
Published: October 2015

The application of uniform conservation schemes often fails to account for small‐scale spatial variation in the drivers of population decline. Demographic comparisons of imperilled populations across locations are therefore crucial for successful conservation, but progress is hampered by lack of long‐term data from more than a single population. The recent large‐scale decline of eider ducks (Somateria mollissima) in the Baltic Sea is ideal for determining to what extent mechanisms underlying population decline can be extrapolated over larger areas. We utilized stochastic demographic methods incorporating both environmental and sampling variation to assess small‐scale spatial and temporal variation in the population dynamics of eiders at Söderskär (eastern range‐margin) and Tvärminne (core breeding area), situated 130 km apart. The stochastic growth rate models accurately predicted the observed differences in the rate of decline between sites and time periods. At Söderskär, established breeder survival had by far the greatest elasticity, whereas elasticity was more evenly distributed among vital rates at Tvärminne. Although the study sites showed the single largest difference in fecundity, stochastic life table response experiment analyses revealed that reduced adult female survival at Tvärminne mainly determined the observed difference in growth rates between sites. In contrast, reduced fecundity primarily differentiated the past population increase from the present population decline at Söderskär. Our results demonstrate that different mechanisms may be associated with population decline across adjacent geographic locations, and indicate that dispersal of first‐time breeders may be important for population dynamics. Safeguarding adult female survival and/or fecundity should be prioritized in management efforts.
Morbidity associated with anterior iliac crest bone graft harvesting in children undergoing orthopaedic surgery: A prospective review
Authors: Clarke A. , Flowers M. J. , Davies A. G. , Fernandes J. , Jones S.
Published: October 2015

Purpose

Autologous iliac crest bone grafting is an integral part of many orthopaedic surgical procedures. Several studies have documented morbidity and prolonged pain following iliac crest bone graft harvesting in adults; however, in children there is a paucity of information. The purpose of the present study was to quantify the degree of pain and morbidity associated with anterior iliac crest graft harvesting in children undergoing non-spinal orthopaedic surgery.

Methods

Patients were prospectively enrolled prior to orthopaedic surgery. A patient self-reported visual analogue score was used to record pain at specified time points following surgery. In addition, the patients were reviewed at 2 and 6 weeks, 3 months and 1 year after surgery to record any complications.

Results

Data was collected on 33 patients (34 graft sites). Only one patient (2.94 %) had a complication, namely an injury to the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve. This resolved 3 months after surgery. 89 % of patients had no pain at the iliac crest graft harvest site 3 months after surgery. The three patients who had pain at 3 months had visual analogue scores of 1.0, 1.1 and 1.3, respectively.

Conclusion

This series reveals a very low complication rate and minimal iliac crest graft harvest site pain in children undergoing non-spinal orthopaedic surgery. In addition, the pain experienced is short-lived.
Psychosocial functioning in relation to symptomatic remission: A longitudinal study of first episode schizophrenia
Authors: Jaracz K. , Górna K. , Kiejda J. , Grabowska-Fudala B. , Jaracz J. , Suwalska A. , Rybakowski J.K.
Published: October 2015

Objectives

The aims of the study were: (1) to evaluate longitudinally symptomatic remission in first-episode (FE) schizophrenia, (2) to describe symptoms, social functioning and quality of life (Qol) in relation to remission status, and (3) to determine the long-term outcome of schizophrenia and its early predictors.

Methods

Sixty-four patients were assessed 1 month after a first hospitalization (T1), 12 months (T2), 4–6 years (T3), and 7–11 years (T4) after T1. The patients were allocated to three remission groups according to their remission status over the whole observation period, e.g. stable remission (SR), unstable remission (UR) and non-remission (NR). The PANSS, Social Functioning Scale and WHOQoL were used to evaluate the patients’ psychosocial functioning levels, symptomatic and functional remissions and satisfying QoL. A good outcome was defined as meeting, simultaneously, the criteria of symptomatic and functional remissions and satisfying QoL at T4, while failure to meet all of these criteria was defined as a poor outcome.

Results

Among them, 17.2% patients were in stable remission, 57.8% in unstable remission and 25.0% were unremitted at all time points. The SR group had lower levels of psychopathological symptoms and reported better social functioning and QoL than the NR group. During the follow-up, the symptoms increased, social functioning slightly improved and QoL did not change. At T4, 53% of the sample had a poor outcome, which was independently predicted by the longer duration of untreated psychosis and a lack of satisfying QoL at T1.

Conclusions

Our results demonstrate that: (1) the long-term course in schizophrenia is heterogeneous and that three illness trajectories exist, (2) social functioning and QoL are only partially connected with symptomatic remission (3), the risk of a poor outcome may potentially be reduced by appropriate interventions at an early stage of the illness.
Dynamic occupation assessment of executive function in adolescents with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: An initial report
Authors: Chubarov E. , Sommerfeld E. , Hermesh H. , Shoval G. , Weiser M. , Zalsman G.
Published: October 2015

Objective

This study presents an initial evaluation of the psychometric properties of the Dynamic Occupation Assessment of Executive Function (DOAEF), a new tool designed to assess adolescents’ executive function (EF) in daily situations and offering two levels of mediation through the administration process.

Method

In the preliminary study, we tested 22 healthy adolescents. In the advanced stage, the instrument was administered to 105 healthy adolescents and to another 92 adolescents diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Information regarding EF was assessed by the DOAEF and Wisconsin Card Sorting Computer Version Test (WCST-CV-64).

Results

Inter-rater, test–retest and internal consistency indices were found to be satisfactory. Correlation between the DOAEF and the WCST-CV-64 scores supports the DOAEF's convergent validity. Significant differences were found between the healthy participants and the adolescents diagnosed with schizophrenia spectrum disorders, thus supporting the DOAEF's criterion validity.

Conclusion

The DOAEF may be useful in assessing the level of mediation, which patients need for the comprehension of daily situations in which EFs are required.
Correlation of anorectal electromanometry and anorectal three-dimensional ultrasound findings in patients with fecal incontinence
Authors: Betinardi Tracy Mary , Lima Doryane Maria dos Reis , Kurachi Gustavo , Bonatto Mauro Willemann , Tanaka Tomaz Massayuki , Sagae Univaldo Etsuo
Published: October 2015

Objective To show the correlation of anorectal electromanometry and three-dimensional anorectal ultrasonography in patients with fecal incontinence.

Method Prospective study involving 34 women (mean age: 55 years) with a diagnosis of fecal incontinence. The samples were submitted to three-dimensional anorectal ultrasonography/Echodefecography and anorectal electromanometry.

Results Based on anorectal electromanometry data, 70.5% of 34 patients had hypotonia at rest, 64.7% had hypotonic contraction, 52.9% had both hypotonia at rest and hypotonic contraction, and 44.1% had anismus. By three-dimensional anorectal ultrasonography, 32.3% had internal anal sphincter injury, 79.4% had external anal sphincter injures, and 26.4% had both internal and external anal sphincter injuries. In 38.2%, anismus was suggested and 50% showed rectocele. Overall, only 5.8% had normal results for anorectal electromanometry combined with three-dimensional anorectal ultrasonography. Kappa index was 0.297 and the presence of anismus through anorectal electromanometry and three-dimensional anorectal ultrasonography was compared by Student's t test application, with p < 0.0001.

Conclusion We conclude that there was a reasonable agreement in the comparison of sphincter hypotonia by anorectal manometry and sphincter injury by anorectal three-dimensional ultrasonography in a group of patients with fecal incontinence. The incidence of anismus in patients with fecal incontinence is considerable, and the therapeutic approach in these patients should be modified.
Surgical Procedure Characteristics and Risk of Sharps-Related Blood and Body Fluid Exposure
Authors: Myers Douglas J. , Lipscomb Hester J. , Epling Carol , Hunt Debra , Richardson William , Smith-Lovin Lynn , Dement John M.
Published: October 2015

OBJECTIVE

To use a unique multicomponent administrative data set assembled at a large academic teaching hospital to examine the risk of percutaneous blood and body fluid (BBF) exposures occurring in operating rooms.

DESIGN

A 10-year retrospective cohort design.

SETTING

A single large academic teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS

All surgical procedures (n=333,073) performed in 2001–2010 as well as 2,113 reported BBF exposures were analyzed.

METHODS

Crude exposure rates were calculated; Poisson regression was used to analyze risk factors and account for procedure duration. BBF exposures involving suture needles were examined separately from those involving other device types to examine possible differences in risk factors.

RESULTS

The overall rate of reported BBF exposures was 6.3 per 1,000 surgical procedures (2.9 per 1,000 surgical hours). BBF exposure rates increased with estimated patient blood loss (17.7 exposures per 1,000 procedures with 501–1,000 cc blood loss and 26.4 exposures per 1,000 procedures with >1,000 cc blood loss), number of personnel working in the surgical field during the procedure (34.4 exposures per 1,000 procedures having ≥15 personnel ever in the field), and procedure duration (14.3 exposures per 1,000 procedures lasting 4 to <6 hours, 27.1 exposures per 1,000 procedures lasting ≥6 hours). Regression results showed associations were generally stronger for suture needle–related exposures.

CONCLUSIONS

Results largely support other studies found in the literature. However, additional research should investigate differences in risk factors for BBF exposures associated with suture needles and those associated with all other device types.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;37(1):80–87
Mid-Cretaceous megaspore floras from Maryland, USA
Authors: Lupia Richard
Published: October 2015

Bulk maceration of unconsolidated Potomac Group sediments collected from 12 samples of middle–late Albian and early Cenomanian age on the Elk Neck Peninsula, Maryland, yielded 14 genera and 18 species of megaspores. The identified megaspores have affinities to both heterosporous ferns, e.g.,ArcellitesandMolaspora, and to heterosporous lycopsids, e.g.,Erlansonisporites,Minerisporites, andPaxillitriletes. Morphological variation within species is high, and most morphotypes differ from established taxa in one or more characters. Two new species—Dijkstraisporites praetextusandVerrutriletes diversus—are proposed. The composition of these middle–late Albian and early Cenomanian floras is a mixture of taxa previously recorded from Aptian and Santonian floras in North America. In addition, a fragmentary strobilus of selaginellalean affinity containing a megaspore and microspores is described.
Utilisation of Nicotine Replacement Therapy within a Hospital Pharmacist Initiated Smoking-Cessation Intervention – A Pragmatic Randomised Controlled Trial
Authors: Gupta D. , Winckel K. , Burrows J. , Ross J. , Upham J. W.
Published: October 2015

Introduction:Hospital pharmacists currently play a limited role in the management of nicotine withdrawal and smoking-cessation. They have multiple tasks and limited time; a strong evidence base is required to determine importance of including smoking-cessation interventions into their routine practice.

Aims:The aims of this study were to evaluate the effectiveness of a hospital pharmacist initiated smoking-cessation intervention (SCI) in increasing the utilisation of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) in hospitalised smokers, and in increasing quit rates post-discharge.

Methods:This study was conducted in a tertiary referral hospital using a pragmatic randomised control design. After screening, 100 inpatient smokers were enrolled and randomised by the research pharmacist (RP) to either the intervention or usual care arm (n= 50 for both arms). Smoking-cessation advice was available to all smokers during their hospital stay under the smoking management policy, which represented usual care. However, this approach is often unstructured and provided on an ad-hoc basis. Those in the intervention arm received brief SCI from the RP, who also facilitated NRT prescribing if required. Prescribing rates of NRT in the hospital and on discharge in both the groups were compared. Participants were contacted by phone three-months after enrolment to assess their seven-day point prevalence of abstinence (PPA) from smoking and use of NRT post-discharge.

Results:A significantly higher proportion of participants in the intervention arm used NRT in the hospital (82% vs. 24%,Χ2= 33.8,p< 0.001) and at discharge (68% vs. 12%,Χ2= 32.7,p< 0.0001) and significantly more participants who received SCI from the RP continued to use NRT after discharge (OR 3.1, CI 1.2 to 8.2). A similar number of participants in both the groups claimed seven-day PPA after three-months (18% usual-care vs. 15% intervention-arm, OR 0.8, CI 0.24 to 2.67).

Conclusions:Hospital pharmacist led brief SCI can enhance the utilisation of NRT in hospital and after discharge; there was no clear effect on cessation rates at three months. There is a need to explore feasible options for a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to smoking-cessation in hospital and across the continuum, which may have a greater impact on long term smoking-cessation rates.
Ownership and M&A Performance in a Transitional Economy: The Case of the Chinese Real Estate Industry
Authors: Yang Hongyan , Ru Jing , Ren Ting
Published: October 2015

In a transitional economy such as China's, when resources are unevenly distributed across different sectors, the disadvantaged sector may seek a growth path that bypasses resource constraints. We investigated this phenomenon in the context of the Chinese real estate industry. By comparing the post–merger and acquisition (M&A) performance of acquiring firms between state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately-owned enterprises (POEs), we attempted to show that POEs are better performers in the market should they be granted equitable resources, and the superior performance is strengthened by market-oriented institutional environment. We used M&A events data of publicly listed real estate firms in China from 2004 to 2012, in conjunction with firm characteristics and province-level market environment data. We found the results to be consistent with our hypotheses. In particular, compared to SOEs, privately-owned acquiring firms tend to have better post-M&A performance when both the regions of the acquirer and the target have high level of marketization. The results suggest that the private sector in China's transitional economy is potentially more efficient than the state-owned sector, as long as the market environment is favorable.
Revalidation of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale — Revised (CAMS-R) With Its Newly Developed Chinese Version (Ch-CAMS-R)
Authors: Chan Hau-Lung , Lo Lap-Yan , Lin Muriel , Thompson Nigel
Published: October 2015

Considering the strengths and weaknesses of currently available inventories measuring mindfulness for Chinese population, a need for a short and comprehensive inventory was identified. The present study therefore developed a written Chinese version of the Cognitive and Affective Mindfulness Scale — Revised (CAMS-R) that excels in its full range of conceptual coverage, employs widely accessible language, and is brief in length. The reliability and validity of the Ch-CAMS-R was examined and found to be compatible with the original version and with other inventories measuring mindfulness. Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) suggested allocation of two question items, without posing a threat to the four-factor (including attention, awareness, present-focus and acceptance) structure in both the CAMS-R and Ch-CAMS-R. In general, the present study supports that this four-factor structure is compatible with the conceptualidation of mindfulness in both United States and Hong Kong samples.
Counterbalancing, Spatial Dependence, and Peer Group Effects
Authors: Böhmelt Tobias , Ruggeri Andrea , Pilster Ulrich
Published: October 2015

Previous studies identified several domestic factors that may influence a country’s level of structural coup-proofing, i.e., counterbalancing strategies that shall prevent internal groups from seizing power via acoup d’état. We suggest that a country’s level of counterbalancing is also affected by such policies in what we term countries’ “peer groups.” When deciding the appropriate level of counterbalancing, rulers may be affected by external information flows from a “peer group” with similar structural coup-risk characteristics (institutions) or a similar coup-risk experience (coup history). Using maximum likelihood spatial lag models and data in 1976–2005, we find that leaders learn from and emulate counterbalancing in other states, but rather only through an “experiential peer group.”
Gut morphology and hepatic oxidative status of European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) juveniles fed plant feedstuffs or fishmeal-based diets supplemented with short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides and xylo-oligosaccharides
Authors: Guerreiro Inês , Couto Ana , Pérez-Jiménez Amalia , Oliva-Teles Aires , Enes Paula
Published: October 2015

The effects of short-chain fructo-oligosaccharides (scFOS) and xylo-oligosaccharides (XOS) on gut morphology and hepatic oxidative status were studied in European sea bass juveniles weighing 60 g. Fish were fed diets including fishmeal (FM diets) or plant feedstuffs (PF diets; 30 FM:70 PF) as main protein sources (control diets). Four other diets were formulated similar to the control diets but including 1 % scFOS or 1 % XOS. At the end of the trial, fish fed PF-based diets presented histomorphological alterations in the distal intestine, whereas only transient alterations were observed in the pyloric caeca. Comparatively to fish fed FM-based diets, fish fed PF diets had higher liver lipid peroxidation (LPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, and lower glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase activities. In fish fed the PF diets, prebiotic supplementation decreased SOD activity and XOS supplementation further decreased CAT activity. In fish fed the FM diets, XOS supplementation promoted a reduction of all antioxidant enzyme activities. Overall, dietary XOS and scFOS supplementation had only minor effects on gut morphology or LPO levels. However, dietary XOS reduced antioxidant enzymatic activity in both PF and FM diets, which indicate a positive effect on reduction of hepatic reactive oxygen species production.
Impact of nutritional labelling on 10-d energy intake, appetite perceptions and attitudes towards food
Authors: Carbonneau Elise , Perron Julie , Drapeau Vicky , Lamarche Benoît , Doucet Éric , Pomerleau Sonia , Provencher Véronique
Published: October 2015

The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of nutritional labelling on energy intake, appetite perceptions and attitudes towards food. During a 10-d period, seventy normal-weight (BMI<25 kg/m2) and seventy-one obese women (BMI≥30 kg/m2) were given three meals per d under ad libitum conditions. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three experimental labelling groups in which the only difference was the label posted on lunch meal entrée: (1) low-fat label, (2) energy label (energy content of the entrée and average daily needs) and (3) no label (control). Average energy intake was calculated by weighing all foods before v. after daily consumption. Hunger and fullness perceptions were rated on visual analogue scales immediately before and after each meal. Satiety efficiency was assessed through the calculation of the satiety quotient (SQ). The appreciation and perceived healthiness of the lunch entrées were rated on eight-point Likert scales. There was no difference in energy intake, SQ and attitudes towards food between the three labelling groups. Fasting hunger perception was higher in the low-fat label group compared with the two others groups (P=0·0037). No interactions between labelling groups and BMI categories were observed. In conclusion, although labelling does not seem to influence energy intake, a low-fat label may increase women’s fasting hunger perceptions compared with an energy label or no label.
Backwardness Revisited: Time, Space, and Civilization in Rural Eastern Europe
Authors: Hann Chris
Published: October 2015

Anthropology, the relativizing countercurrent to Enlightenment notions of civilization and progress, has long challenged notions of backwardness. By contrast, Marxist-Leninist regimes had no doubts about the world-historical backwardness of the largely agrarian societies in which they came to power, which they sought to transform through rapid industrialization. According to some indicators, this socialist civilizing mission was rather successful. Yet memories are mixed, and complicated by the reappearance of typical features of backwardness in the postsocialist era. This article explores changing political economies and the spatiotemporal imaginaries of elites and villagers in Hungary. Historical and theoretical insight is drawn from Ferenc Erdei (1910–1971), a left-leaning populist whose analysis of rural Hungary has more general relevance. Case materials are presented from a region of the Great Plain that in thelongue duréeexemplifies the “development of underdevelopment” on the margins of Western capitalism. Civilizational transformations were instigated from the east in the socialist decades, but their vehicle was a collectivist ideology that remained alien. The politics and economics of time now render villagers susceptible to populist imaginaries entirely different from those of Erdei.
Ottoman Infrastructures of the Saudi Hydro-State: The Technopolitics of Pilgrimage and Potable Water in the Hijaz
Authors: Low Michael Christopher
Published: October 2015

The provisioning of potable water was a microcosm of the Ottoman state's incomplete projects of technopolitical modernization on the Arab frontier. Water questions sat at the intersection between international pressures surrounding cholera, drought, Wahhabi and Bedouin disorder, and the inability of the state to impose its will on the semi-autonomous Amirate of Mecca. To be sure, Ottoman public health reforms and increased attention to water infrastructure were partly a product of the intense international attention generated by the hajj's role in the globalization of cholera. However, like other projects with more overt military and strategic implications, most notably the Hijaz telegraph and railway, the Ottoman state also saw an opportunity to harness the increasing medicalization of the hajj to serve a broader set of efforts to consolidate the empire's most vulnerable frontier provinces. Through the lens of the technopolitical frontier this essay seeks to tell a larger story about the evolution of state building and development in Arabia, one that would otherwise be obscured without reference to both its late Ottoman and Saudi histories. By viewing the evolution of hydraulic management in the Hijaz as a continuous process unfolding across the long nineteenth century, we gain a new perspective on the role that Ottoman technopolitics played in shaping the Saudi state that eventually succeeded it. We find that the quest for water security in the Hijaz, particularly in Jidda, played a critical role in setting the stage for the discovery of the Saudi Arabia's massive petroleum reserves.
Beyond Jurisdictions: Native Agency in the Making of Colonial Legal Cultures. A Review Essay
Authors: Yannakakis Yanna
Published: October 2015

Colonial law as an arena for cultural contestation and hegemonic process has displaced an older view of law as a tool of imperial domination. Rich studies based on archival work in local judicial and notarial archives in Africa and the Americas, complemented by a wide range of sources from colonial and metropolitan archives, emphasize the role of indigenous peoples in shaping legal institutions, practices, bodies of law, and ideas about justice. We now understand that colonial legal culture was forged in diverse configurations of conflict and alliance that played out in remote village tribunals and metropolitan courts of appeal. However, the tyranny of the archives persists in that the written evidence favors—in descending order—the perspective of European legal thinkers and reformers, the functionaries of intermediate institutions like the magistrates and lawyers who operated in district courts, and litigants who included European settlers and native people. In colonial courts, the voices of native litigants and witnesses tend to be highly mediated through translation and transcription.
Facing Off and Saving Face: Covert Intervention and Escalation Management in the Korean War
Authors: Carson Austin
Published: October 2015

States pursue their cooperative and competitive goals using both public and private policy tools. Yet there is a profound mismatch between the depth, variety, and importance of covert activity and what scholars of International Relations (IR) know about it. This article addresses this gap by analyzing how adversaries struggle for influence within the covert sphere, why they often retreat to it, and when they abandon it. It focuses on secrecy among adversaries intervening in local conflicts and develops a theory about secrecy's utility as a device for creating sustainable limits in war. Drawing on insights about secrecy and face-work from the sociologist Erving Goffman, I show that major powers individually and collectively conceal evidence of foreign involvement when the danger of unintended conflict escalation is acute. Doing so creates a kind of “backstage” in which adversaries can exceed limits on war without stimulating hard-to-resist pressure to escalate further. An important payoff of the theory is making sense of puzzling cases of forbearance: even though adversaries often know about their opponent's covert activity, they often abstain from publicizing it. Such “tacit collusion” arises when both sides seek to manage escalation risks even as they compete for power and refuse to capitulate. The article evaluates the theory via several nested cases of external intervention in the Korean War. Drawing on newly available materials documenting the covert air war between secretly deployed Soviet pilots and Western forces, the cases show how adversaries can successfully limit war by concealing activity from outside audiences. Beyond highlighting the promise in studying the covert realm in world politics, the article has important implications for scholarship on coercive bargaining, reputation, state uses of secrecy, and how regime type influences conflict behavior.
Inequality in Urban America
Authors: SCHMALE ANITA , SCOTT-SMITH GILES
Published: October 2015

When the English translation of Thomas Piketty's Le capital au XXIe siècle came out in the spring of 2014, it struck a raw nerve. It is rare for a weighty tome on economic theory to achieve widespread attention, but Piketty, a Parisian researcher known more for sober analysis than any Left Bank outbursts, has produced some conclusions on wealth creation and distribution that are both provocative and disturbing. His research analyses tax records spread over many decades and more than twenty countries, enabling him to study historical patterns and irregularities in the distribution of wealth. His main thesis is based on an economic formula: “The Central Contradiction of Capitalism: r > g.” In this equation, the return on capital (r) grows more rapidly than income or output (g). As a result, this drives relentlessly expanding levels of inequality, whereby “the entrepreneur inevitably tends to become a rentier, more and more dominant over those who own nothing but their labour.” There is plenty of evidence out there to support this view. Thus, a recent report from Credit Suisse:

Although the global economic environment has remained challenging, total global wealth has grown to a new record, rising by USD 20.1 trillion between mid-2013 and mid-2014, an increase of 8.3%, to reach USD 263 trillion – more than twice the USD 117 trillion recorded for the year 2000. With an 11.4% year-on-year increase, wealth creation was particularly strong in North America, where it now stands at USD 91 trillion, or 34.7% of total wealth … capital markets were a key source of wealth growth: equity market capitalization grew by 22.6% in the United States …
Cetaceans of the Moroccan coast: information from a reconstructed strandings database
Authors: Masski Hicham , De Stéphanis Renaud
Published: October 2015

Cetaceans of Morocco have been poorly studied to date, and only sporadic information comes from scientific cruises for this group. In an attempt to learn more on the occurrence, distribution and relative abundances of cetaceans in Morocco, a stranding database was reconstructed from various sources (stranding reports from state agencies and newspaper clippings). This inventory documented 205 cases of stranding between 1980 and 2009. Most of the strandings and most confirmed cases of interactions with human activity (fishing, for dolphins; collisions, for whales) were reported in the Strait of Gibraltar and adjacent areas from the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Sixteen species were identified from the stranding database, of which seven species were the most abundant. These were striped dolphins, common dolphins, bottlenose dolphins, fin whales, sei whales, sperm whales and long-finned pilot whales. The fin and sei whales were present throughout the year and stranding of common and striped dolphins were minimal between September and December. The fin, sei and sperm whales seem to be present in Moroccan waters at birth and at different stages of their life cycle. Establishing an observation network of sufficient and sustainable density in Morocco is the most likely way to collect robust data for the calculation of credible population indicators for cetaceans. Monitoring will certainly improve through better collaboration among Moroccan institutions and a greater awareness in Moroccan civil society of environmental issues.
Capability of the CANAPI algorithm to derive shrub structural parameters from satellite imagery in the Alaskan Arctic
Authors: Duchesne Rocio R. , Chopping Mark J. , Tape Ken D.
Published: October 2015

The observed greening of Arctic vegetation and the expansion of shrubs in the last few decades probably have profound implications for the tundra ecosystem, including feedbacks to climate. Uncertainty surrounding this vegetation shift and its implications calls for monitoring of vegetation structural parameters, such as fractional cover of shrubs. In this study, CANAPI, a semi-automated image interpretation algorithm that identifies and traces crowns by locating its crescent-shaped sunlit portion, was evaluated for its ability to derive structural data for tall (> 0.5 m) shrubs in the Arctic. CANAPI estimates of shrub canopy parameters were obtained from high-resolution imagery at 26 sites (250 m x 250 m each) by adjusting the algorithm's parameters and filter settings for each site, such that the number of crowns delineated by CANAPI roughly matched those observed in the high-resolution imagery. The CANAPI estimates were then compared with field measurements to evaluate the algorithm's performance. CANAPI successfully retrieved fractional cover (R2= 0.83,P< 0.001), mean crown radius (R2= 0.81,P< 0.001), and total number of shrubs (R2= 0.54,P< 0.001). CANAPI performed best in sparse vegetation where shrub canopies were distinct, while it tended to underestimate shrub cover where shrubs were clustered. The CANAPI algorithm and the regression equations presented here can be used in Arctic tundra environments to derive vegetation parameters from any sub-meter panchromatic imagery.
Polar science strategies for institute managers
Authors: Summerhayes C.P.
Published: October 2015

Managing polar research is a tremendous challenge. It covers work at sea on rough and intimidating oceans, and on land over crevassed terrain or rotten sea ice with the prospect of death or frostbite. These environments are extremely hostile and difficult to work in. Results are costly to obtain, and yet the work is of vital importance, as the polar regions are the world's freezers, critical components of the climate system, and repositories of amazing biodiversity. These regions are grossly undersampled, and relatively poorly monitored. National efforts are best carried out in an international framework, in which cooperation is essential for major breakthroughs, and the exchange and sharing of data and information and facilities is essential for ongoing monitoring of change. Under the circumstances the managers of polar research institutes must proceed with well-developed strategies. Given the growing interest of different countries in the polar regions, it would seem useful to bring together advice won through hard effort over the years in how best to develop strategies for polar scientific institute management. This discussion paper offers advice on how such strategies may best be developed.

The author has compiled this based on many years of management experience in both the ocean and polar sciences with the following institutions: the UK Natural Environment Research Council's Institute of Oceanographic Sciences Deacon Laboratory, the UK's National Oceanography Centre, UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the International Council for Science's Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research
Subgroup properties of Demushkin groups
Authors: SNOPCE ILIR , ZALESSKII PAVEL A.
Published: October 2015

We prove that a non-solvable Demushkin group satisfies the Greenberg–Stallings property, i.e., if H and K are finitely generated subgroups of a non-solvable Demushkin group G with the property that H ∩ K has finite index in both H and K, then H ∩ K has finite index in 〈H, K〉. Moreover, we prove that every finitely generated subgroup H of G has a ‘root’, that is a subgroup K of G that contains H with |K : H| finite and which contains every subgroup U of G that contains H with |U : H| finite. This allows us to show that every non-trivial finitely generated subgroup of a non-solvable Demushkin group has finite index in its commensurator.
On the small redshift limit of steady states of the spherically symmetric Einstein–Vlasov system and their stability
Authors: HADŽIĆ MAHIR , REIN GERHARD
Published: October 2015

Families of steady states of the spherically symmetric Einstein–Vlasov system are constructed, which are parametrised by the central redshift. It is shown that as the central redshift tends to zero, the states in such a family are well approximated by a steady state of the Vlasov–Poisson system, i.e., a Newtonian limit is established where the speed of light is kept constant as it should be and the limiting behavior is analysed in terms of a parameter which is tied to the physical properties of the individual solutions. This result is then used to investigate the stability properties of the relativistic steady states with small redshift parameter in the spirit of recent work by the same authors, i.e., the second variation of the ADM mass about such a steady state is shown to be positive definite on a suitable class of states.