bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Preservation of Clinically Relevant Accessory Renal Arteries in Infrarenal AAA Patients With Adequate Proximal Landing Zones Undergoing EVAR
Authors: Abu Bakr Nizar , Torsello Giovanni , Pitoulias Georgios A. , Stavroulakis Konstantinos , Austermann Martin , Donas Konstantinos P.
Published: February 2016

Purpose: To report techniques to preserve the flow to relevant accessory renal arteries (ARA) in patients undergoing infrarenal endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR) for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) with adequate landing zones. Methods: ARAs that originate inferior to the lowest ipsilateral main renal artery, supply one-third of the renal parenchyma, and having a diameter >4 mm have significant clinical importance. Between May 2012 and January 2015, among 389 high-risk patients with infrarenal AAAs who underwent standard EVAR, 9 (2.3%) patients each presented with a coexistent clinically relevant ARA. Their perfusion was secured by placing covered stents in the target ARA, parallel and outside of the main abdominal, as chimney grafts. Evaluation of acute and chronic renal decline was based on the consensus definition of RIFLE criteria (risk, injury, failure, loss, and end-stage) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) staging system, respectively. Results: The procedure was completed successfully in all cases. In the immediate postoperative period, no acute kidney injury was observed based on the RIFLE criteria. Eight of the 9 covered stents remained patent during a mean follow-up of 13.8±6.2 months. A single covered stent occlusion was observed 30 days postoperatively with infarction of the caudal pole of the kidney. This patient developed renal function impairment based on the CKD staging system 12 months after the initial procedure. For the remaining 8 patients, improvement of one CKD stage (n=1) or no change (n=7) in the CKD stage was observed. Conclusion: In AAA patients unfit for surgical revascularization, EVAR is associated with a significant decline in renal function. For this reason, preservation of relevant coexistent ARAs using the chimney technique should be considered as an option.
Endovascular Closure of Chronic Dissection Entries in the Aortic Arch Using the Amplatzer Vascular Plug II as a Sealing Button
Authors: Falkenberg Mårten , Roos Håkan , Lepore Vincenzo , Svensson Gunnar , Zachrisson Karin , Henrikson Olof
Published: February 2016

Purpose: To present a new endovascular technique to avoid open surgical arch reconstruction in selected patients with aneurysmal dilatation due to small chronic dissection entries in the aortic arch. Technique: The true and the false lumen of the aortic arch are catheterized from the femoral arteries. An Amplatzer Vascular Plug II (AVP II) is advanced through the proximal entry from the false lumen side and deployed as a sealing button in the entry hole, with 1 disc in the true lumen and the remaining 2 discs in the false lumen. This technique was used in 4 patients with chronic dissection involving the aortic arch, three of whom had had previous surgery for acute type A aortic dissection. In 3 patients, the false lumen of the thoracic aorta was successfully obliterated, with thrombosis and aortic diameter reduction during follow-up. In 1 patient, false lumen flow persisted, and he was subsequently treated with a total arch reconstruction and frozen elephant trunk. Conclusion: Endovascular closure of small proximal dissection entries in the aortic arch with an AVP II used as a sealing button is feasible and may be an alternative to open surgical arch reconstruction in selected patients with chronic aortic dissection and secondary aneurysm expansion.
Impact of Perioperative Complications After Endovascular Therapy in Diabetic Patients With Critical Limb Ischemia due to Isolated Infrapopliteal Lesions
Authors: Okamoto Shin , Iida Osamu , Takahara Mitsuyoshi , Yamauchi Yasutaka , Hirano Keisuke , Soga Yoshimitsu , Suzuki Kenji , Uematsu Masaaki
Published: February 2016

Purpose: To investigate the thus far poorly defined impact of perioperative complications (POCs) on clinical outcomes after endovascular therapy (EVT) of diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) due to isolated infrapopliteal lesions. Methods: A multicenter registry of CLI patients was interrogated to identify 780 consecutive diabetic patients (mean age 71±10 years; 553 men) who successfully underwent balloon angioplasty for isolated infrapopliteal lesions. More than half of the population (487 patients) was on dialysis. Independent predictors (logistic regression) and prognostic impact on outcomes (Cox proportional hazards model) of POC (ie, death, myocardial infarction, stroke, pseudoaneurysm, puncture site hemorrhage/hematoma, distal emboli, vascular rupture, transfusion, dialysis, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage) were investigated. Outcomes are presented as the odds ratio (OR) and hazard ratio (HR), respectively, with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: POCs occurred in 12.3% (96/780) of the population. Multivariate modeling identified body mass index (BMI) <18.5 kg/m2 (adjusted OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.89, p=0.047) and tissue loss (adjusted OR 2.43, 95% CI 1.14 to 5.15, p=0.021) as independent predictors of POCs. In a Cox regression model adjusted for baseline clinical characteristics, the occurrence of POCs was independently associated with major adverse limb events (HR 1.87, 95% CI 1.12 to 3.13, p=0.016) but not with mortality or wound healing. In follow-up, freedom from major adverse limb events was higher in the group without POC (85.2%) than with POC (69.7%, p=0.006) at up to 3 years. Conclusion: POCs within 30 days after balloon angioplasty for infrapopliteal disease in diabetics with CLI were more likely to occur in patients with low BMI and tissue loss. POC occurrence was associated with major adverse limb events in follow-up but not with mortality or wound healing.
Screening Sonography of the Ankle/Foot to Correlate Pain and Pathology
Authors: Zale Kathryn E. , Klatt Maryanna D. , Volz Kevin R. , Kanner Christopher D. , Onate James A. , Evans Kevin D.
Published: February 2016

The objective of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between sonographic pathological findings of the ankle/foot and self-reported ankle/foot pain. Symptomatic and asymptomatic participants were recruited and evaluated using sonographic imaging of the ankle and foot bilaterally. Participants also completed the Short Form<@150>12 (SF-12, a national physical and mental health scoring system), a visual analog scale (VAS) for pain, and the Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment–Achilles (VISA-A, a scoring system for Achilles tendon abnormalities), as well as provided a health history and demographic information. Twenty-five participants were evaluated. Symptomatic participants had below average physical SF-12 scores (mean [SD], 48.3 [7.3]), while asymptomatic patients had above-average physical SF-12 scores (54.9 [4.0]). Painful right ankle and/or foot were significantly associated with SF-12 physical health ( R2 = 0.2, P < .03) and VISA-A ( R2 = 0.6, P < .001) scores. Painful left ankle/foot was associated with only VISA-A ( R2 = 0.5, P < .003). The modified D’Agostino scores for positive sonographic evidence of pathology were statistically linked to painful right ( P < .02) and left ankle/foot ( P < .04). The combination of SF-12 physical health score, palpable myofascial trigger points (MTrPs), and MTrPs sonographically visualized were statistically associated with the VAS for pain ( P < .02). In conclusion, sonography of the foot/ankle combined with self-reported data could aid in the holistic evaluation of ankle/foot pain.
Emphysematous Cholecystitis
Authors: Safwan Mishal , Penny Steven M.
Published: February 2016

Emphysematous cholecystitis (EC) is a rare but deadly variant of acute cholecystitis noted by the presence of gas in the gallbladder lumen or wall. This gas, emitted by bacteria, is thought to result from gallbladder ischemia caused by vascular compromise with subsequent bacterial invasion. The two most common bacteria responsible for EC are Clostridia perfringens and Escherichia coli. Symptoms of EC are similar, although often less overt, compared to those of acute cholecystitis (AC). Sonography and radiography are common methods of diagnosing EC, but computed tomography (CT) carries the highest diagnostic accuracy rate. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is the most common method of treating EC, although conservative therapy and hyperbaric oxygen therapy have also been effective in some cases.
Progress in the trans-Reduction and trans-Hydrometalation of Internal Alkynes. Applications to Natural Product Synthesis
Authors: Frihed Tobias Gylling , Fürstner Alois
Published: February 2016

The classical repertoire of synthetic organic chemistry is short of methods that allow triple bonds to be transformed into (E)-alkenes with high selectivity in the presence of other reducible sites. Recent advances, most notably in ruthenium-catalyzed trans-hydrogenation, trans-hydrosilylation, trans-hydrogermylation, trans-hydrostannation, and even trans-hydroboration hold the promise of filling this gap. This review illustrates the state-of-the-art in the field by summarizing applications of these emerging methodologies to natural product synthesis. A comparison of ruthenium-catalyzed and radical-induced trans-hydrostannations provides further insights into the application profile of these transformations.
Συγκριτική μελέτη παραγωγής γραπτών αφηγήσεων μέσω τεχνικών υψηλής καθοδήγησης σε μαθητές Δ΄- ΣΤ΄ δημοτικού
Authors: Xanthi Styliani
Published: February 2016

Έρευνες έχουν δείξει ότι οι μαθητές με μαθησιακές δυσκολίες αντιμετωπίζουν ιδιαίτερες δυσκολίες κατά την παραγωγή γραπτού λόγου που αφορούν το σχεδιασμό, την καταγραφή, την επανεξέταση και την επιμέλεια ενός κειμένου. Ακόμη από πολλούς μελετητές υποστηρίζεται ότι ο εκπαιδευτικός μέσα από τεχνικές καθοδήγησης της γραπτής έκφρασης, μπορεί να βοηθήσει ουσιαστικά τους μαθητές. Σκοπός της εργασίας ήταν η αξιολόγηση συγκεκριμένων δεξιοτήτων παραγωγής γραπτών αφηγήσεων, στις οποίες έχει φανεί από έρευνες ότι οι μαθητές με μαθησιακές δυσκολίες παρουσιάζουν αδυναμίες και χαμηλές επιδόσεις, και η διερεύνηση της βοήθειας που μπορεί να προσφέρουν δύο τεχνικές υψηλής καθοδήγησης. Για τον σκοπό αυτό 89 μαθητές Δημοτικού τετάρτης, πέμπτης και έκτης τάξης, 22 με υψηλή σχολική επίδοση και 67 με μαθησιακές δυσκολίες, έγραψαν ένα κείμενο με την τεχνική των εικόνων και ένα με την τεχνική ημιτελών και ανακατεμένων φράσεων. Η αξιολόγηση των κειμένων των μαθητών σε επίπεδο λέξης, πρότασης, παραγράφου, συνολικής δομής του κειμένου και περιεχομένου έδειξε ότι οι μαθητές με υψηλή σχολική επίδοση παρουσίασαν πολύ καλύτερο επίπεδο αφηγηματικής ικανότητας. Και οι δύο ομάδες των μαθητών βοηθήθηκαν περισσότερο από την τεχνική ημιτελών και ανακατεμένων φράσεων. Με βάση αυτά τα ευρήματα η εργασία πραγματεύεται τρόπους βοήθειας και πλαίσια στήριξης μέσω των οποίων οι μαθητές βοηθιούνται στην παραγωγή γραπτών αφηγήσεων.
Αειφόρο ελληνικό σχολείο
Authors: Trikaliti Aggeliki
Published: February 2016

Το Πρόγραμμα Αειφόρο Ελληνικό Σχολείο είναι ένα πρόγραμμα που προωθεί τη φιλοσοφία του αειφόρου σχολείου. Το αειφόρο σχολείο  λειτουργεί ως Κοινότητα, στοχεύοντας  να δημιουργήσει το κατάλληλο σχολικό κλίμα στο οποίο ενθαρρύνεται η ενασχόληση  όλων με τα κοινά και τη διαχείρισή τους, υπηρετείται η δημοκρατία και τα ανθρώπινα δικαιώματα, προάγεται η μάθηση, ο πολιτισμός, η αειφόρος ανάπτυξη, η υγεία και διαμορφώνονται ενεργοί και δημιουργικοί πολίτες. Το πρόγραμμα Αειφόρο Ελληνικό Σχολείο προσπαθεί να ενεργοποιήσει  μηχανισμούς μετασχηματισμού του σχολείου σε αειφόρο. Υιοθετείται η ολιστική προσέγγιση του σχολείου ως οργανισμού και για να ενθαρρυνθούν οι εκπαιδευτικοί να εμπλακούν σταδιακά σε διαδικασίες μετασχηματισμού του σχολείου τους και να   παρακολουθούν την πορεία των αλλαγών που επιφέρουν η αειφορία στο σχολείο κατανέμεται και οργανώνεται  γύρω από οκτώ πυλώνες. Οι οκτώ πυλώνες είναι: δημοκρατία και συμμετοχή, πλαίσιο μάθησης, πολιτισμός και τέχνες, κτίριο και αυλή, ενέργεια και μετακινήσεις, νερό και απορρίμματα, υγεία και διατροφή, από το τοπικό στο παγκόσμιο
Experimental research of static-impulse deformative drawing
Authors: Соловьёв Д. , Solovev D. , Киричек А. , Kirichek A. , Медведев М. , Medvedev M.
Published: February 2016

The new method of deformative strengthening of holes using combined static and impulse loading is presented. Partial replacement of static load, used in classical burnishing, by impact impulses allows decreasing energy intensity of strengthening process and expanding the technological capabilities of the method. The method allows strengthening of small diameter and long length holes. The high depth and degree of strengthening can be obtained; the surface roughness can be decreased. The experimental complex for research of static-impulse parameters of deformative drawing of holes of machine parts, which allows determining the influence of energy parameters of the process taking into account stiffness of technological system on roughness, depth and degree of strengthening of holes surfaces, is developed.
Morphological responses, sensitivity and tolerance indices of four tropical trees species to drought and waterlogging
Authors: YULIANTI YULIANTI , SUDRAJAT DEDE J.
Published: February 2016

Yulianti, Sudrajat DJ. 2016. Morphological responses, sensitivity and tolerance indices of four tropical trees species todrought and waterlogging. Biodiversitas 17: 110-115. Indonesiaâ€™s climate model predicts an increase in threat of drought andwaterlogging in several areas. However, knowledge on variations between tropical forest tree species, i.e. Anthocephalus macrophyllus,Anthocephalus cadamba, Fagraea fragrans, and Magnolia champaca to drought and waterlogging stress are still limited, though theyare relevant to future development of forest ecosystem. The objective of this research is to investigate the adaptability of four potentialtree species to drought and waterlogging stress in a controlled greenhouse. The results showed that the adaptive responses of fourtropical tree species were different, according to the results, all species were more tolerant to waterlogging than to drought stress, whichcan be observed from morphological, seedling survival, stress tolerant and stress sensitivity indices. The waterlogging resistant in fourspecies followed the order of: A. cadamba > F. fragrans > A. macrophyllus, and > M. champaca, while for the drought resistant speciesfollowed the order: A. macrophyllus > A. cadamba > F. fragrans and > M. champaca.
Cowpea Mild Mottle Virus (CpMMV) infection and its effect to performance of South Korean soybean varieties
Authors: SUTRISNO SUTRISNO , KUSWANTORO HERU
Published: February 2016

Sutrisno, Kuswantoro H. 2016. Cowpea Mild Mottle Virus (CpMMV) infection and its effect to performance of South Korean soybean varieties. Biodiversitas 17: 129-133. Cowpea Mild Mottle Virus (CpMMV) is a very detrimental disease to soybean. This virus infection can cause yield reduction up to 56%. Introduction varieties can be served as alternative material in breeding program to develop resistant variety. This study aimed to evaluate the response of introduction soybean varieties from South Korea to the CpMMV infection. Ten South Korean soybean varieties and two check Indonesian soybean varieties were grown at ILETRI from August to November 2012. CpMMV infection was carried out by natural infection using whitefly (Bemisia tabaci) transmission. The results showed that the South Korean variety of Daemang-2 had lower leave malformation level than two Indonesian varieties. Varieties of Cheongja-3, Daemang, Daehwang, Daewon, Danweon, Geomjeong-3 Geonjeongsaeol produced grain yield that equal to Anjasmoro variety. Daepung was the most resistant to CpMMV than other varieties, but having low grain yield. Daemang-2 was the most tolerantÂ to CpMMV, because it still able to produce high grain yield although showing high leaf infection. These two varieties could be used as gene sources for resistant/tolerant to CpMMV in soybean breeding program.
On a conjecture of Igusa II
Authors: Lichtin Ben
Published: February 2016

In his 1978 Tata Lecture Notes, Igusa conjectured the validity of a strong uniformity in the decay of complete
exponential sums modulo powers of a prime number and determined by a homogeneous polynomial. We prove this property
for absolutely reduced ternary forms.
Motivic height zeta functions
Authors: Chambert-Loir Antoine , Loeser François
Published: February 2016

We consider a motivic analogue of the height zeta function for integral points of equivariant partial compactifications of affine spaces. We establish its rationality and determine its largest pole.
On the formal arc space of a reductive monoid
Authors: Bouthier A. , Ngô B. C. , Sakellaridis Y.
Published: February 2016

Let $X$ be a scheme of finite type over a finite field $k$, and let ${\cal
L} X$ denote its arc space; in particular, ${\cal L} X(k)=X(k[[t]])$.
Using the theory of Grinberg, Kazhdan, and Drinfeld on the
finite-dimensionality of singularities of ${\cal L} X$ in the neighborhood
of non-degenerate arcs, we show that a canonical ``basic function'' can be
defined on the non-degenerate locus of ${\cal L} X(k)$, which corresponds
to the trace of Frobenius on the stalks of the intersection complex of any
finite-dimensional model. We then proceed to compute this function when
$X$ is an affine toric variety or an ``$L$-monoid''. Our computation
confirms the expectation that the basic function is a generating function
for a local unramified $L$-function; in particular, in the case of an
$L$-monoid we prove a conjecture formulated by the second author.
Endoscopic transfer of orbital integrals in large residual characteristic
Authors: Gordon Julia , Hales Thomas
Published: February 2016

This article constructs Shalika germs in the context of motivic integration, both for ordinary orbital integrals and $\kappa$-orbital integrals. Based on transfer principles in motivic integration and on Waldspurger's endoscopic transfer of smooth functions in characteristic zero, we deduce the endoscopic transfer of smooth functions in sufficiently large residual characteristic.
Geometric proofs of theorems of Ax-Kochen and Eršov
Authors: Denef Jan
Published: February 2016

We give an algebraic geometric proof of the Theorem of Ax and Kochen on $p$-adic diophantine equations in many variables. Unlike Ax-Kochen’s proof, ours does not use any notions from mathematical logic and is based on weak toroidalization of morphisms. We also show how this geometric approach yields new proofs of the Ax-Kochen-Er{\v{s}}ov transfer principle for local fields, and of quantifier elimination theorems of Basarab and Pas.
Felt Knowledge in Michael Kusugak’s Picture Books
Authors: Forrester Kathleen , Saltman Judith
Published: February 2016

The article considers the relationship between lived experience, emotion, and knowledge production embedded in Inuk author and storyteller Michael Kusugak’s picturebooks. Informed by the communities, cultures and landscape of Canada’s Arctic, Kusugak’s picturebooks are an interfusion of personal and collective memories, traditional Inuit stories, fiction, and contemporary narratives, rupturing the colonial tendency to appropriate and present aboriginality as static and removed from present time, whilst reinstating felt experience as foundational in an Indigenous-centred worldview. Drawing on the Indigenous feminist approach of Dian Million to knowledge as felt, we argue that Kusugak’s picturebooks perform political acts as they strategically engage with and challenge Canadian settler “truths,” reinscribing history in terms specific to the emotionality of lived experience, and reaffirming Inuit cultural identity as living and vital.
Suicide Prevention in Nêhiyawi (Cree) Comic Books
Authors: Leggatt Judith
Published: February 2016

One of the many negative effects of colonization in North America is the epidemic of suicide infecting Indigenous youth; in Canada, First Nations youth living on reserve are five to six times more likely to commit suicide than is average for the general population. This paper examines the depiction of suicide in two Nêhiyawi (Cree) comic books: Darkness Calls by Steven Keewatin Sanderson (2006) and 7 Generations: A Plains Cree Saga by David Alexander Robertson and Scott B. Henderson (2012). The formal conjunction of oral and graphic storytelling in these two works emphasizes the necessity of bringing Nêhiyawi history and tradition into the contemporary world, and the interrelation of the two genres parallels the relationships between community and individual that are inherent to health. Just as the graphic novel form interacts with oral storytelling, adding new dimensions, but not replacing it, so the strength of the individual draws from and contributes to the strength of the nation. The comic books work not only through overt anti-suicide messages but also through storytelling strategies that connect the present to ongoing traditions, graphic novels to oral storytelling, and individual autonomy to community strength.
“Everyone Here Knows a Junior”: Blackfoot Children and Their Books
Authors: Spring Erin
Published: February 2016

This column focuses on the early stages of my participatory, reader-response research with First Nations youth living on a reserve in Alberta. I am interested in the ways in which young readers reflect on their social, cultural, and place-based identities while reading culturally relevant, local fiction. I focus on the methodological design of my project, which includes reading discussion groups and the creation of place-journals. I reflect on the process of finding suitable research texts.
The “Is” in What Is Cinema? : On André Bazin and Stanley Cavell
Authors: Hilsabeck Burke
Published: February 2016

This article rereads André Bazin’s “The Ontology of the Photographic Image” and applies this rereading to Bazin’s larger project of articulating a concept of, or program for, fi lm realism. The article proceeds by employing Stanley Cavell’s The World Viewed as a heuristic device for gaining new purchase on Bazin’s writing on fi lm realism and ontology. In doing so, it argues that the “Ontology” essay does not seek to provide an account of cinematic essence but is rather open-ended and phenomenological in a way that bears remarkable and productive similarities to Cavell’s work.
Found-Footage Horror and the Frame’s Undoing
Authors: Sayad Cecilia
Published: February 2016

This article finds in the found-footage horror cycle an alternative way of understanding the relationship between horror films and reality, which is usually discussed in terms of allegory. I propose the investigation of framing, considered both figuratively (framing the film as documentary) and stylistically (the framing in handheld cameras and in static long takes), as a device that playfully destabilizes the separation between the film and the surrounding world. The article’s main case study is the Paranormal Activity franchise, but examples are drawn from a variety of films.
Franchising and Film in Japan: Transmedia Production and the Changing Roles of Film in Contemporary Japanese Media Cultures
Authors: Denison Rayna
Published: February 2016

Franchising practices in Japan are controlled by production committees that are collapsing the boundaries between media productions as Japan’s media industries work in collaboration to create large transmedia intertexts. This article examines the promotional discourses circulating around Japanese franchise fi lm releases to understand how these new franchising practices are affecting the roles and status of popular cinema in contemporary Japanese culture.
Engaging Distractions: Regulating Second-Screen Use in the Theater
Authors: Hassoun Dan
Published: February 2016

This article examines emerging industry discourses around multitasking and mobile phone use inside US movie theaters. By disciplining or encouraging certain second-screen practices, sectors of the American fi lm industry have developed contradictory strategies for governing spectators into proper forms of single- or multiscreen spectatorship. The article explores the historical appearance of these industry strategies, the competing modes of audience subjectivity they imagine, and the extent to which material audience practices correspond to them. In so doing, it also considers the tensions of regulating and conceptualizing audience attention, interactivity, and distraction in theatrical spaces.
The Other Side of the Tracks: Nontheatrical Film History, Pre-Rebellion Watts, and Felicia
Authors: Gordon Marsha , Field Allyson Nadia
Published: February 2016

Felicia (Alan Gorg, Bob Dickson, and Trevor Greenwood, 1965), a short educational film about a teenage girl living in Watts, California, chronicles a day in the life of a high school junior as she reflects on her geographical situation and life aspirations. This article considers how Felicia is particularly suited to a discussion of the ways that urban spaces, and Watts in particular, were imagined in the 1960s. It demonstrates how nontheatrical film can inform our understanding of film history and enrich discussions of documentary filmmaking, the role of student filmmakers, and other cinematic movements such as that of the LA Rebellion.
A Bibliography for Hume’s History of England : A Preliminary View
Authors: Emerson Roger I. , Spencer Mark G.
Published: February 2016

Recent years have witnessed a renewed scholarly interest in David Hume’s History of England (1754–1762), and this essay adds to that interest by analyzing the sources that Hume used in the History . Unfortunately, Hume did not provide a bibliography or guide to those sources, and no scholar has produced one since. We have been preparing a bibliography for publication and the following essay is a preliminary view of some of what it will show. It demonstrates that Hume consulted and used more varied sources, and used them in more skillful ways, than commonly has been assumed.
The Moral Sentiments in Hume’s Treatise : A Classificatory Problem
Authors: Carlson Åsa
Published: February 2016

In the Treatise , Hume writes several seemingly incompatible things about the moral sentiments, thus there is no general agreement about where they fit within his taxonomy of the perceptions. Some passages speak in favor of the view that moral sentiments are indirect passions, a few in favor of the view that they are direct passions, and yet a couple of explicit statements strongly suggest otherwise. Due to these tensions in Hume’s text, we find at least five competing characterizations in the literature: •   
Moral sentiments are calm emotions.
•   
Moral sentiments are calm direct passions.
•   
Moral sentiments are calm versions of the indirect passions of love or hatred.
•   
Moral sentiments are unique species of calm indirect passions.
•   
Moral sentiments are indirect secondary impressions.

This paper assesses each of these interpretations. When their virtues are brought together, a new interpretation of the origin of moral sentiments starts to emerge.
Hume on the Lockean Metaphysics of Secondary Qualities
Authors: Fisette Jason R.
Published: February 2016

Hume is widely read as committed to a kind of anti-realism about secondary qualities, on which secondary qualities are less real than primary qualities. I argue that Hume is not an anti-realist about secondary qualities as such, and I explain why Hume’s remarks on the primary-secondary distinction are better read as abstaining from the realist/anti-realist debate as it was understood by modern philosophers such as Locke. By contextualizing Hume’s discussion of the primary-secondary distinction in Treatise 1.4.4 as a response to a broadly Lockean understanding of the distinction, my analysis retrieves Hume’s critique of the resemblance and inseparability theses that structure Locke’s version of the distinction and establishes that Hume has epistemic reasons to reject Locke’s metaphysical conclusions about the distinction.
Personal Identity, Passions, and “The True Idea of the Human Mind”
Authors: Alanen Lilli
Published: February 2016

This paper explores some strands of the new science of man proposed in Hume’s Treatise , focusing on the role given to the passions in Hume’s account of personal identity. How is the view of the self with regard to the passions examined in Book 2 supposed to complement, as Hume suggests, that with regard to thought and imagination discussed in Book 1 (T 1.4.6.19; SBN 261)? How should the nature and object of the account there proposed be understood? While it is clear that Hume rejects a metaphysical thesis of the mind as a unitary, simple thinking substance, it is less clear whether he also gives an alternative metaphysical theory of the mind as consisting in a mere succession of discrete impressions and ideas or more modestly offers a description of what we actually observe when inspecting our idea of self. I favor the latter view and argue that Hume’s best and most interesting characterization of the mind is the political analogy of the self as a republic or commonwealth that Hume calls a “true idea of the human mind.” The mind in this metaphor is compared to a dynamic political system of changing members driven by common or shared goals and interacting in determinate ways regulated by its constitution. This system of interconnected ideas already comes with all the elements that a broader, embodied and social self presupposes. It is thus because the idea of mind or self as sketched in the Section “Of Personal Identity” in Book 1 is grounded in the passions that the examination of their nature and mechanisms in Book 2 can be seen by Hume as actually “corroborating” it.
Effects on the Mind as Objects of Reasoning: A Perspectivist Reading of the Reason–Passion Relation in Hume’s Ethics
Authors: Bohlin Henrik
Published: February 2016

Hume’s ethics is concerned not only with the metaphysical status of moral qualities but equally, if not more, with the problem of determining to what extent and under what conditions issues of moral disagreement and inquiry can be decided by rational argumentation. This paper argues that Hume’s solution to the second problem is a form of perspectivism: the rational decidability of moral issues depends on the existence of shared perspectives, or sets of assumptions and correlated dispositions to feelings, and is largely independent of the metaphysical status of moral qualities. An issue of disagreement may thus be rationally decidable among people with certain dispositions to feeling but not among others. A similar perspectivist reading is suggested for Hume’s analysis of knowledge about causes and effects.
Uncloaking Secrecy: International Human Rights Law in Terrorism Cases
Authors: Davis Jeffrey
Published: February 2016

When those swept up in counterterrorism operations try to hold governments accountable for rights violations, legal secrecy doctrines such as the “state secrets privilege” and “public interest immunity” frequently derail their efforts. This article shows the effects of legal secrecy doctrines on efforts to hold officials accountable for rights violations in counterterrorism cases. It sets out the limits imposed by international human rights law on these secrecy doctrines, and it explores how these limits are handled in US and British courts. Finally, it sets out requirements in order for legal secrecy practices to comply with international human rights law.
International Human Rights Norms in Japan
Authors: Flowers Petrice R.
Published: February 2016

Studies of state compliance with international human rights norms and law often focus on explaining variation in compliance across two or more states. This article addresses variation in compliance within one state—Japan. Studying two different issues in one country means that instead of asking “why do states comply with international norms,” this study asks “when do states comply with international norms.” The article examines two cases—the International Convention on the Status of Refugees and the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women—and argues that strength of domestic advocates, the degree of conflict between international and domestic norms, and state desire for legitimacy accounts for Japan’s adoption of and compliance with human rights agreements.
Killing by Drone: Towards Uneasy Reconciliation with the Values of a Liberal State
Authors: Farer Tom , Bernard Frederic
Published: February 2016

The occurrence of a terrorist act frequently prompts governments to enact a wide array of preventive measures, some of which grate against human rights norms. Among the most problematic is targeted killing. Developments in drone technology have made drones the principal means by which the United States kills suspected terrorists and have allowed a dramatic expansion of this lethal measure’s use. Since the killing of suspects outside a structured battlefield or within the context of an interstate war is, by its nature, a form of summary execution, it is not self-evidently reconcilable with the human right to life and therefore with the core values of a liberal state. Nevertheless, we conclude that reconciliation is at least theoretically possible if drone (or any other form of targeted) killing is restrained by a process with certain quasijudicial features in which the totality of the relevant international norms are consistently applied. The relevant norms are embedded in the law determining the legitimacy of recourse to force (what lawyers call the jus ad bellum ) and in the body of humanitarian law (essentially the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Rules), as well as in human rights law (above all, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and interpretations thereof by authoritative institutions). Without denying the existence of a number of gray areas, we attempt to illustrate the real-world implications of the normative framework we propose.
Expanding or Diluting Human Rights?: The Proliferation of United Nations Special Procedures Mandates
Authors: Freedman Rosa , Mchangama Jacob
Published: February 2016

The United Nations Special Procedures system was described by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan as “the crown jewel” of the UN Human Rights Machinery. Yet, in recent years, the system has expanded rapidly, driven by states creating new mandates frequently on topics not traditionally viewed as human rights. This article explores the connection between forms of governance and the states voting for and promoting these newer mandates. We explore states’ potential motivations for expanding the system and the impact on international human rights law. This article forms an important part of discussions about Special Procedures and rights proliferation.
Rigorous Morality: Norms, Values, and the Comparative Politics of Human Rights
Authors: Landman Todd
Published: February 2016

This article argues that there is a strong role for empirical analysis to be used to address fundamental normative questions. Using human rights as an example, the article shows that the evolution of the international regime of human rights provides a standard against which country level performance can be both judged and explained through the application of empirical approaches in comparative politics. It argues further that different kinds of human rights measures (events, standards, surveys, and official statistics) and comparative methods (large-N, small-N, and single-country studies) offer systematic ways in which to map, to explain, and to understand the variation in human rights abuse around the world. The comparative politics of human rights is a prime example of how the “is” of the world can be used to address the “ought” of international human rights theory, philosophy, and law. The example of human rights analysis in comparative politics shows a strong role for value-based and problem-based research that remains systematic in its approach while at the same time producing outputs that are of public value.
How Chinese Journalism Students View Domestic and Foreign Media: A Survey on Credibility, Censorship, and the Role of the Communist Party in Media
Authors: Weber Joseph , Fan Linjun
Published: February 2016

According to a survey conducted in the fall of 2013, most students in a cross section of Chinese journalism schools call for less censorship, put more faith in Western media than in domestic Chinese media, and do not believe journalists should join the Communist Party. The thirty-nine question survey, conducted anonymously with the help of journalism teachers at eight universities in China, comes at a time when press freedoms are being curtailed on the mainland and in Hong Kong and even as journalists resist the curbs. The results suggest that Chinese leaders may face rising pressure over time to ease their media controls.
Big Promises, Small Gains: Domestic Effects of Human Rights Treaty Ratification in the Member States of the Gulf Cooperation Council
Authors: Çali Başak , Ghanea Nazila , Jones Benjamin
Published: February 2016

In recent years, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states have been in-creasingly willing to ratify United Nations human rights instruments. This article examines the underlying rationales for these ratifications and the limited range and drivers of subsequent domestic reforms post ratification. Drawing on both a quantitative analysis of engagement with the UN treaty bodies and Charter-based mechanisms in over 120 UN reports and qualitative interviews with over sixty-five government officials, members of civil society, National Human Rights Institutions, lawyers, and judges from all six states, this article argues that in the GCC states, UN human rights treaty ratification results from a desire to increase standing in the international community. Treaty ratification has limited effects driven by international socialization and cautious leadership preferences.
Technical and scale efficiency of Tanzanian saving and credit cooperatives
Authors: Marwa Nyankomo , Aziakpono Meshach
Published: February 2016

The financial sector plays a critical role in economic growth and economic development (Beck & Levine 2004; Levine 1998). However, the impact of the financial sector on economic growth is realized if the sector is efficiently managed and well monitored. The corollary to this is that if the financial sector is not effectively monitored and regulated it may lead to economic crisis. As argued by Sufian (2011) the health of the financial sector is critical for the health of the economy at large. Given the relationship between the financial sector development and economic growth, knowledge about the efficiency of financial institutions and the underlying factors that influence efficiency is crucial. Such knowledge is necessary to provide insights for managers, regulators, policy makers and other stakeholders to formulate policies to improve the efficiency of the financial sector. Despite the importance of knowledge on health industry as articulated above, there is paucity of empirical literature on the performance of financial cooperatives in developing countries and Tanzania in particular. Thus, the objective of this paper is to empirically analyze the efficiency of Tanzanian Saving and Credit Cooperatives. Efficiency analysis was decomposed into three dimensions to explore possible sources of inefficiency. The first dimension was technical efficiency, which explored the overall effectiveness of transforming the productive inputs into desired outputs compared to the data-driven frontier of best practice. The second dimension was pure technical efficiency, which captured managerial efficiency in the intermediation process. The third dimension was scale efficiency, which explored whether firms were operating in an optimal scale of operation. The study used a sample of 103 audited financial statements during 2011. Data envelopment analysis was employed to explore the efficiency scores. The results show that average scores are 42%, 52% and 76% for technical, pure technical and scale efficiencies respectively. Since most of the inefficiencies are either technical or scale in nature, the study recommends increasing the operating scale for smaller firms. Firms operating beyond the optimal scale may need to downsize. Also the managers from technically inefficient firms should reduce the wastage of the productive resources by utilizing their inputs more efficiently.
Gender equality in the workplace: The effect of gender equality on productivity growth among the Chilean manufacturers
Authors: Wu Ruohan , Cheng Xueyu
Published: February 2016

The economic study towards gender equality has a long history. Traditionally, people believe that higher equality between female and male employees under the same business lead to more harmonious and efficient surroundings; consequently, all workers will be encouraged to contribute and promote the firm’s growth greatly. To examine this statement, this paper empirically studies the correlation between gender equality, productivity, and employment. To be specific, we study whether gender equality in the workplace can effectively promote manufacturing productivity growth, and how this growth is affected by the firms’ employees and sizes. We looked into the Chilean manufacturing firms from 2001 to 2007; the data come from National Annual Industrial Survey conducted the National Statistics Institute of Chile. In order to avoid potential endogeneity and simultaneity, we used a semi-parametric method to estimate productivity. We consider four types of employees: executives and specialized production workers, identified as high-skill employees; and administrative staff and auxiliary production workers, as low-skill employees. Our statistical analysis as well as many other literatures shows that in Chile, severe gender inequality still exists nowadays. For example, the majority of the observed employees (80%) are male. We then study gender equality through two measures at the same time: female labor-force participation rate, and gender equivalence as how the female participation rate deviates from 0.5. We conduct simultaneous regression to estimate the influence exerted on firms’ productivity by these two measures among each of the four types of employees – executives, specialized workers, administrative staff, and auxiliary workers. Our findings are mixed and very interesting. Among those small firms with less than 50 employees, higher female labor-force participation among high-skill employees significantly increases a firms’ productivity. For larger firms with more than 50 employees, only better gender equality among the low-skill employees improves productivity. Therefore, a more equalized distributed workforce between female and male workers does significantly lead to faster productivity growth, but it depends on the size of the firm and specific types of employees. Therefore indeed, we can effectively promote the growth of a firm through different gender equality policies such as balancing welfare treatment between males and females, or publicizing our efforts to the society; but we also need to count both the firm’s size and the types of employees into consideration. Our findings also provide insights into a firm’s growth pattern. High-skill employees are the leading force of small firms, while big firms consistently reply on all the ordinary-level employees.
Determinants of foreign direct investment in Ethiopia; time series evidence from 1991-2013
Authors: Bekana Dejene Mamo
Published: February 2016

The hub of this study is investigating the forces behind the foreign direct investment inflow to Ethiopian economy in the long run as well as in the short run. To this end, the researcher has reviewed theoretical explanations relating to the determinants of foreign direct investment. The investigator has also reviewed relevant empirical literature pertaining to the determinants of foreign direct investment in the context of developing and developed countries and Ethiopia in particular. The review of the literature and the context analysis has culminated with a fundamental question what are the major determinants of foreign direct investment inflows in Ethiopia in both the long run and the short run? Methodologically, the researcher adopted empirical and quantitative analysis. To this end, a time series model was developed based on the critical synthesis of theoretical and empirical literature on foreign direct investment. The model is estimated using error correction model(ECM) formulation for the period 1991 to 2013 using annual data from World Bank world development indicators report after co-integrating relationship is proved with the Dickey Fuller residual based unit root tests. The tests for stationarity before the model developed was estimated proved that the variables in the model suffer from mixed order of co-integration at levels and hence the variables were differenced so as to alleviate that problem of mixed order co-integration. The result revealed that the determinants of foreign direct investment inflow are found to be consistent in the short and long run models. The most important forces behind foreign direct investment are found to be the GDP per capital, GDP growth rate, real interest rates, inflation rate, gross capital formation, adult literacy rate, Labor force growth rate, telephone lines per 1000 people and official exchange rate. In both models, Export of goods and services, and energy consumption per capita in transport sector are found to have insignificant impact on foreign direct investment inflow to Ethiopia. The policy implication of the result is that policy makers need to put in place policies congenial to pursue economic growth, macro-economic stability, human capital formation and fixed capital formation for attraction of foreign direct investment.