bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycaemic control and insulin resistance: a systematic review and meta‐analysis
Authors: George P. S. , Pearson E. R. , Witham M. D.
Published: April 2012

Diabet. Med. 29, e142–e150 (2012)

Aims  To systematically review the evidence for the effect of vitamin D supplementation on glycaemia, insulin resistance, progression to diabetes and complications of diabetes.

Methods  Systematic review and meta‐analysis. We searched databases including MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Library for randomized controlled trials comparing vitamin D or analogues with placebo. We extracted data on fasting glucose, glycaemic control, insulin resistance, insulin/C‐peptide levels, micro‐ and macrovascular outcomes and progression from non‐diabetes to diabetes. Studies were assessed independently by two reviewers according to a pre‐specified protocol.

Results  Fifteen trials were included in the systematic review. Trial reporting was of moderate, variable quality. Combining all studies, no significant improvement was seen in fasting glucose, HbA1c or insulin resistance in those treated with vitamin D compared with placebo. For patients with diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance, meta‐analysis showed a small effect on fasting glucose (−0.32 mmol/l, 95% CI −0.57 to −0.07) and a small improvement in insulin resistance (standard mean difference −0.25, 95% CI −0.48 to −0.03). No effect was seen on glycated haemoglobin in patients with diabetes and no differences were seen for any outcome in patients with normal fasting glucose. Insufficient data were available to draw conclusions regarding micro‐ or macrovascular events; two trials failed to show a reduction in new cases of diabetes in patients treated with vitamin D.

Conclusions  There is currently insufficient evidence of beneficial effect to recommend vitamin D supplementation as a means of improving glycaemia or insulin resistance in patients with diabetes, normal fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance.
Reducing the social gradient in smoking: Initiatives in the United Kingdom
Authors: MURRAY RACHAEL L. , MCNEILL ANN
Published: April 2012

Issues. To describe initiatives aiming to reduce the social gradient of smoking in the UK.

Approach. A description of government initiatives to support smokers from low socioeconomic and other key groups, including National Health Service Stop Smoking Services and how they are seeking to support smokers to quit.

Key Findings. The UK is employing a number of strategies to reduce smoking prevalence and is currently top of the Tobacco Control Scale in Europe but the health gap does not yet appear to be decreasing (in relation to smoking prevalence in deprived and higher income groups). More recently, efforts have been made to target smokers in more deprived groups to draw more of these smokers into the quitting process.

Implications. While Stop Smoking Services are a key part of the UK's comprehensive tobacco control strategy and are reaching smokers from low socioeconomic groups, wider population strategies, such as ensuring all contacts with health‐care professionals include advice to stop and the prohibition of remaining channels of tobacco marketing, are required to maximise the impact on deprived smokers.

Conclusion. While smoking prevalence decreases among the general population are important, reducing smoking among disadvantaged groups is imperative to reduce health inequalities. It is too soon to say whether the new measures recently adopted in the UK will help to achieve this.[Murray RL, McNeill A. Reducing the social gradient in smoking: Initiatives in the United Kingdom. Drug Alcohol Rev 2012;31:693–697]
How Countries Become Rich and Reduce Poverty: A Review of Heterodox Explanations of Economic Development
Authors: Whitfield Lindsay
Published: April 2012

For the sake of less developed countries, it is time to adjust the discussion of international development assistance on poverty reduction. This article attempts to do so by reviewing new and old literature explaining why some countries are rich and others are poor. History has repeatedly shown that building up capabilities in manufacturing and improving the productivity of agriculture are the keys to wealth creation and long‐term sustained poverty reduction. Furthermore, industrialisation and increased agricultural productivity are interdependent processes. Discussion about ending world poverty needs to be shifted back to consideration of economic transformation and the role foreign aid can reasonably play in achieving these objectives.
Questioning the Pro‐Poor Agenda: Examining the Links between Social Protection and Poverty
Authors: Ulriksen Marianne Sandvad
Published: April 2012

This article investigates an empirical puzzle. Taking the case of Botswana, how is it that poverty is so high, when the country largely conforms to pro‐poor growth strategies? This article suggests that the minimal role of social‐security policies partly explains the relatively high poverty levels. This hypothesis is tested in a large‐N study of developing countries which shows that broad‐based and generous, rather than pro‐poor, social‐security policies impact strongly on poverty levels. The analysis further alludes to other obstacles to poverty reduction, such as economic transformation, which may be combined with a pro‐active social‐policy agenda. Thus, poverty‐alleviating strategies should be refocused to allow for a wider and more coherent role for social‐security policies.
The Socio‐Economic Determinants of HIV/AIDS Infection Rates in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe
Authors: Asiedu Christobel , Asiedu Elizabeth , Owusu Francis
Published: April 2012

Using data from the Demographic and Health Survey, this article analyses the relationship between HIV status and the socio‐economic and demographic characteristics of adults in Lesotho, Malawi, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. It constructs the risk profile of the average adult, computes the values of age, education and wealth where the estimated probability of infection assumes its highest value, and determines the percentage of adults for whom these three factors are positively correlated with that probability. It finds that in all four countries: (i) the probability of being HIV‐positive is higher for women than for men; (ii) the likelihood of infection is higher for urban than for rural residents; and (iii) there is an inverted‐U relationship between age and HIV status. Also that, unlike gender, rural/urban residence and age, the relationship between the probability of infection and wealth, education and marital status varies by country. The results provide support for country‐specific and more targeted HIV policies and programmes.
Disaster and Development Paradigms: Too Close for Comfort?
Authors: Manyena Siambabala Bernard
Published: April 2012

The familiar distinctions between the disaster and development paradigms have become increasingly blurred. Yet, conceptual and policy dilemmas continue to pose challenges for the integration of the two paradigms into a single framework. Drawing on the literature and Ethiopia's Institutional Support Project, this article argues that the increased convergence of the two constructs may be too close for comfort, thus rendering the assertion that disaster‐risk reduction can help achieve sustainable development and vice versa mere rhetoric. Unless there is a shift from focusing on the hazard event to also recognising that disasters are not politically neutral, there is a danger of being locked into the hazard paradigm, despite the different labels, titles or metaphors that may be assigned to it.
Reassembling the state in urban China 中国城市治理空间的重构
Authors: Xu 徐江 Jiang , Wang 王缉宪 James Jixian
Published: April 2012

Neoliberalism has become dominant in both thought and practice throughout much of the world since the early 1970s. In China, neoliberal ideas are growing fast, even as it festers and stagnates in capitalist economies. To capture this process, many scholars have extensively studied market politics in China, demonstrating how state functions are rearticulated downwards and outwards to allow local discretion and market formation. The result is a burly wave of urban entrepreneurialism, which becomes a key municipal strategy to enhance place‐specific, socio‐economic assets. However, such arguments neglect a counter‐trend in which the state has deterritorialised and recentralised some key functions. This paper draws on two cases in urban land administration and state planning regulation to argue that state functions are being reassembled as a new post‐crisis political instrument to reassert the functional importance of top‐down regulatory control. Economic decentralization is now counterbalanced by the rise of state strategies to control the articulation of scales through which a more centrally consolidated power can be achieved. Rather than viewing markets as taking over the state and local territorial discretion overshadowing hierarchical administration, the paper emphasises the important role of state and top‐down regulation in the current post‐crisis context under transition.

自上世纪七十年代起，新自由主义成为了领导世界的主流思想及实践方向。市场革命极大地影响了发达国家与发展中国家现行的资本累积体制。尽管新自由思想思潮在资本主义经济体系的作用愈见滞后，但却在中国发展壮大。 有鉴于此，国内外学者开展了有关中国市场机制的研究，并认为下放经济管理权与政府职能直接导致了地方权力的扩张和市场的发育。结果就是城市企业主义的出现，并广泛成为城市政府强化地方社会经济优势的主要策略。然而，该种阐述忽略了一个重要的逆反现象，就是国家的管理体制也同时在经历“去地域化”、重建上级政府治理的过程。本文以城市土地管理与政府规划管理为例，来说明通过适当收权重建国家治理能力正成为一种新的管治工具。与权力下放不同，这种逆向趋势加强了上级政府的处理层级关系的能力。本文的主要论点为：市场并未取代政府，权力下放也并不代表‘条条’管理的消失。在转型期的后经济危机时代，政府的作用与至上而下式的治理模式依然十分重要。
The politics of regional cooperation in the Greater Pearl River Delta 大珠三角区域合作的政治
Authors: Cheung 张赞贤 Peter T.Y.
Published: April 2012

This paper examines the interactions between subnational governments in influencing the Chinese national state in economic and spatial planning by focusing on two cases in south China, namely the pursuit of a new reform and development plan by Guangdong province in 2008 and Hong Kong's effort to position itself in China's 12th Five‐Year Plan (FYP). The intergovernmental dynamics inside the Greater Pearl River Delta (PRD) can be interpreted as the policy advocacy and coordination of entrepreneurial local states in a fragmented, authoritarian polity. Guangdong province actively pursued central approval of the PRD's regional plan because central support is critical not only for approving specific projects but also for steering its development direction and providing a policy tool to impose coordination plans in order to achieve better regional coordination and resource allocation inside the Delta. The province has skilfully leveraged on Hong Kong to get central approval and delegation of power over pilot measures regarding Guangdong–Hong Kong economic cooperation. Similarly, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's efforts to secure a privileged position for Hong Kong in the 12th FYP can be considered as a competitive positioning strategy in view of growing competition within the PRD and from other regions.

本文研究大珠三角地方政府间互动及中央政府在经济和空间规划的影响，并集中分析华南地区的两个案例——广东省政府于2008‐2009年间提出改革和发展规划，以及香港争取中央政府在“国民经济和社会发展第十二个五年规划纲要”对其作出重要定位。大珠三角地方政府间的互动，可以被解读为在分割的权威体制下，具有企业型行为模式的地方政府对政策的推动和协调。广东省主动寻求中央政府批准珠三角发展和改革规划纲要，并非只为争取它对几个特定政策的支持。更重要的是，广东省政府旨在利用中央的支持推动本省所订立的政策和发展方向。中央支持更成为省政府的政策工具，使其能对珠三角内部的规划进行协调部署，从而实现更佳的区域合作与资源配置。广东省策略性地与香港联手争取中央支持，推动粤港经济合作的先行先试措施以及向省政府下放权力。同样地，香港特别行政区政府亦争取中央政府在第十二个五年规划中，对香港作出有利的定位。这可被视为香港在珠三角内外竞争不断加剧的环境中, 所采取的一种策略性行动。
The integration of the city‐region of the Pearl River Delta 珠江三角洲城市区域的一体化
Authors: Ma 马向明 Xiangming
Published: April 2012

Although known as ‘the factory of the world’, the labour intensive industry in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region has lost its edge. The region is rapidly transforming itself, and the integration of the region is part of this process. Through a review of the integration progress of the city‐region of the PRD, this research note compares two attempts in regional integration made by Guangdong's provincial government, the ‘Modernization Plan for the PRD Economic Zone’ in the 1990s and the ‘Outline of the Plan for the Reform and Development of the PRD’ in 2008. It shows that, in terms of the scope and extent of regional integration, the second attempt, with the important endorsement of central government, has proposed more comprehensive measures for implementation, and these measures seem to be speeding up the integration process in the PRD.

虽然被称为“世界工厂”，劳动密集型产业在珠江三角洲已失去发展优势。珠江三角洲正处在急剧的转型过程中。区域一体化是这个转型过程之一。通过回顾珠三角城市区域的一体化进程，本文比较了广东省政府推动一体化进程的两次尝试：1990年代的“珠江三角洲经济区现代化规划”和2008年的“珠江三角洲改革发展规划纲要”。比较显示，得到中央政府背书的第二轮一体化尝试更具广度和深度，措施更综合。初步的迹象显示出这些措施正在提速珠三角区域一体化的进程。
Spontaneous trait inferences among Japanese children and adults: A developmental approach
Authors: Shimizu Yuki
Published: April 2012

Prior research has indicated that spontaneous trait inferences (STIs) occur more easily among fifth graders than among adults, although STIs generally develop only among Westerners. However, no prior studies on STI include Asian children. This study explored the development of STIs among Japanese fifth graders, seventh graders, and undergraduates. Experiments 1 and 2 used a relearning paradigm, and participants' recollections of photo‐trait pairs after being presented with congruent behaviours were compared with those after being presented with incongruent behaviours. If participants showed better recollection after being presented with congruent behaviour descriptions (saving effects), this indicated that they had made STIs from the behaviour. The results showed that STIs occur among Japanese children and adults, although their occurrence was associated with a trait valence factor. STIs occurred to a small extent from positive‐trait‐implying descriptions only among fifth and seventh graders, not undergraduates. In contrast, STIs occurred clearly from negative‐trait‐implying descriptions in all age groups. The results of Experiment 3, which used a trait‐rating task that required less storage capacity of long‐term memory, confirmed that fifth and seventh graders, as well as adults, made spontaneous inferences of specific traits implied from behavioural descriptions and not a wide positive–negative framework. The developmental model of STIs depending on trait valence and culture is discussed.
Understanding older peoples’ decisions about the use of sleeping medication: issues of control and autonomy
Authors: Venn Susan , Arber Sara
Published: April 2012

Poor sleep is known to impact on health and wellbeing in later life and has implications for the ability of older people to remain active during the day. Medical treatments for chronic poor sleep have primarily included the regular, long‐term prescribing of hypnotics, which are known to impact on older people’s health, cognitive function and quality of life. Therefore, recent policy and practice has focused on reducing such prescribing, on encouraging older people to stop taking long‐term hypnotics and on finding alternative, non‐pharmacological ways to manage poor sleep. However, little research has been undertaken to understand the perspectives of older people who choose not to seek professional help for their poor sleep, despite the potential impact of poor sleep on their health and ability to remain active. Through in‐depth interviews with 62 older men and women living in their own homes in England, this article explores the factors that deter older people from seeking professional help for their poor sleep. We argue that these are located in their perceptions of the normativity of poor sleep in later life, their beliefs about prescription sleeping medications and their desire to maintain control and autonomy over their everyday and night lives.
The Second Step of the B‐Deduction
Authors: Rauscher Frederick
Published: April 2012

This paper offers a new interpretation of Kant's puzzling claim that the B‐Deduction in the Critique of Pure Reason should be considered as having two main steps. Previous commentators have tended to agree in general on the first step as arguing for the necessity of the categories for possible experience, but disagree on what the second step is and whether Kant even needs a second step. I argue that the two parts of the B‐Deduction correspond to the two aspects of a priori cognition: necessity and universality. The bulk of the paper consists of support for the second step, the universality of the categories. I show that Kant's arguments in the second half of the B‐Deduction aim to define the scope of that universality for possible experience by considering the possibilities of divine intellectual intuition, of non‐human kinds of sensible intuition, and of apperception of the self. In these ways Kant delimits the boundaries of the applicability of the categories and excludes any other possible experience for human beings.
Analysing Performances of Sibelius's Fifth Symphony: the‘One Movement or Two’ Debate and the Plurality of the Music Object
Authors: LOWE BETHANY
Published: April 2012

The ambiguity over the number and structure of movements in Sibelius's Fifth Symphony provoked vigorous and far‐reaching discussion in British analytical writings from the 1930s onwards. But do even simple analytical decisions such as these have any impact upon those performing or listening to the work? The use of empirical methods to measure tempo choices in 43 different recordings of this piece reveals that performers do indeed participate in structural debates, affirming a model which places their contributions on an equal level with those from analytical writings and which shows the reciprocity between these modes of activity. Various performing traditions emerge from the data, including a one‐movement, a two‐movement and a ‘recapitulatory’ approach, as well as a Russian national style, some teacher‐pupil influences and some likely correlations with published writings and broader aesthetic movements, suggesting that both structural and cultural questions can productively be addressed by siting performances within the web of discourse. Finally, the pluralistic perspective arising from juxtaposing and accepting so many strongly contrasting interpretations calls into question the notion of a unitary music object, raising issues which may have implications for music analysis and beyond.
Rescaling Europe: Effects of Single European Market Regulations on Localized Networks of Governance in Land Development
Authors: TAŞAN‐KOK TUNA , KORTHALS ALTES WILLEM K.
Published: April 2012

Rescaling state responsibilities and capacities not only triggers an uneven distribution of regulatory and fiscal powers across scales but also creates complex governance relationships that result in distortions in local processes of urban development. Within this framework, this article analyses how Single European Market regulations affect urban governance capacity through their impact on localized networks of governance. This analysis is based on case studies of public and private cooperation in land development in the Netherlands. The article focuses on two regulations (state aid and public procurement) that are part of European competition policy. It also analyzes the manner in which these regulations, aimed at creating a single market at the supranational scale, had local consequences. The article concludes that local interactions are contested and distorted by the interference of the Single European Market regulations at the supranational level, which impacts local governance relations and processes.

Repositionner les échelons de responsabilités et de capacités déclenche entre ceux‐ci une répartition inégale des compétences réglementaires et fiscales, tout en créant des rapports de gouvernance complexes qui finissent par altérer les processus locaux d'aménagement urbain. Dans ce contexte, l'article analyse comment les réglementations du marché unique européen affectent la capacité de gouvernance urbaine par leur impact sur les réseaux de gouvernance implantés localement. Cette analyse exploite des études de cas sur la coopération public‐privé dans l'aménagement du territoire aux Pays‐Bas. L'article s'attache à deux réglementations (aide de l'État et marchés publics) intégrées dans la politique européenne relative à la concurrence. Il examine aussi de quelle façon ces règles ont eu des conséquences locales alors qu'elles participaient à la création d'un marché unique à l'échelon supranational. Les interactions locales sont contestées et dénaturées du fait que les réglementations supranationales du marché unique européen interfèrent dans les rapports et processus locaux de gouvernance.
Extending coverage under the Argentinian pension system: Distribution of access and prospects for universal coverage
Authors: Arza Camila
Published: April 2012

One of the main challenges facing social policy in Latin American is to guarantee social security coverage for the entire population in the presence of a large informal sector. In Argentina, a regional pioneer in terms of the development of its pension system, more than one third of those of retirement age were without benefits in 2005. Since then, considerable progress has been made in extending coverage thanks to the introduction of a programme that has reduced contribution requirements and allocated benefits to a large number of seniors previously excluded from the system. This article analyzes the impact of this process in Argentina on the level and distribution of coverage, identifies changes in socio‐demographic factors which affect inclusion/exclusion in the social security system, and discusses remaining obstacles to the provision of universal coverage in the medium and long term.
Implicit debt in public‐sector pension plans: An international comparison
Authors: Ponds Eduard , Severinson Clara , Yermo Juan
Published: April 2012

Most countries have separate pension plans for public‐sector employees. The future fiscal burden of these plans can be substantial as the government usually is the largest employer, pension promises in the public sector tend to be relatively generous, and future payments have to be paid out directly from government revenues (pay‐as‐you‐go) or by funded plans (pension funds) which tend to be underfunded. The valuation and disclosure of these promises in some countries lacks transparency, which may hide potentially huge fiscal liabilities to be passed on to future generations of workers. In order to arrive at a fair comparison between countries regarding the fiscal burden of their public‐sector pension plans, this article recommends that unfunded pension liabilities should be measured and reported according to a standard approach for reasons of fiscal transparency and better policy‐making. From a sample of Member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development, the size of the net unfunded liabilities as of the end of 2008 is estimated in fair value terms. This fiscal burden can also be interpreted as the implicit pension debt in fair value terms.
Psychometric Properties of the Portuguese Version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL‐Q)
Authors: Albuquerque Cristina P.
Published: April 2012

Background  This study analyzes the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire (QOL‐Q; Quality of Life Questionnaire Manual – 1993 Manual and 2004 Revision. 2004, IDS Publishing Company, Worthington, OH; Schalock & Keith 2004).

Method  The analysis of the factorial structure was carried out on a sample of 304 adults with intellectual disabilities, through the use of confirmatory (CFA) and exploratory (EFA) factor analysis. The relationships of the QOL‐Q with life satisfaction and self‐concept measures were determined in groups composed of respectively 72 and 78 adults with intellectual disabilities.

Results  Confirmatory factorial analysis indicated a poor adjustment of the original factor structure to the Portuguese data. EFA indicated the existence of four factors, which include 30 items, and that were also supported by CFA. The total score of the QOL‐Q revealed a reduced correlation with life satisfaction, and a moderate correlation with the self‐concept.

Conclusions  The Portuguese version of the QOL‐Q shows satisfactory psychometric properties, but also some limitations.
An all‐or‐nothing thinking turns into darkness: Relations between dichotomous thinking and personality disorders1
Authors: OSHIO ATSUSHI
Published: April 2012

Dichotomous thinking is an individual's propensity to think in terms of binary opposition. While this thinking style may be useful for quick decision‐making, some clinical psychologists have indicated that such a style is related to personality disorders. Oshio (2009) revealed that the Dichotomous Thinking Inventory (DTI) has significant positive correlations with borderline personality and narcissism. This study examines whether dichotomous thinking is associated with cluster A, B, and C personality disorders. The participants comprised 152 Japanese undergraduates (84 male and 68 female). They completed the DTI and Ten Personality Styles scale (10 PesT; Nakazawa (2006)), developed from the definitions of personality disorders in the DSM‐IV. Structural equation modeling supported the hierarchical factor structure of personality disorders. The dichotomous thinking effects “cluster” level of disorders more than other levels. The results indicated that thinking dichotomously may lead to wide‐ranging personality disorders.
Shifting Perspectives on Marginal Bodies and Spaces: Relationality, Power, and Social Difference in the Documentary Films Babilônia 2000 and Estamira
Authors: ALLEN ALICE
Published: April 2012

Urban growth following large‐scale rural migration especially in the latter half of the twentieth century has exacerbated conditions of extreme socio‐economic inequality and social tensions in Brazilian cities. Whilst the themes of segregation and exclusion often dominate discourse surrounding marginalised urban spaces, this article explores the significance of interrelatedness and interconnectivity as mechanisms for dialogue in the films Babilônia 2000 (2000) and Estamira (2004). As documentaries that counterbalance dominant trends in cultural production they also provide a useful lens through which to analyse the power dynamics at work within the filmmaking process and their relation to existing social hierarchies.
Learning about oneself through others: experiences of a group‐based patient education programme about irritable bowel syndrome
Authors: Håkanson Cecilia , Sahlberg‐Blom Eva , Ternestedt Britt‐Marie , Nyhlin Henry
Published: April 2012

Background:  People with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) often experience severe illness‐related troubles in their everyday lives. Many persons also perceive their disease‐related knowledge to be insufficient, and they feel dissatisfied with their inability to improve well‐being. Previous research about patient education and IBS has emphasized biomedical outcomes of symptoms, health‐promoting behaviours, coping and health‐related quality of life, rather than people’s experiences.

Aim:  To explore people’s experiences of participating in a multidisciplinary group‐based patient education programme about IBS and of the influence of this programme on everyday life with illness.

Methods:  Focus group interviews were performed with 31 persons after their participation in the patient education programme. Interpretive description guided the inductive analysis of data. The study was approved by the local research ethics committee.

Findings:  The analysis revealed four patterns; being part of a safe community, learning about oneself through others, understanding and controlling the body and illness as a whole, and being outside of the community. The pattern of learning about oneself through others can be described as a reciprocal activity of learning by listening to, telling and observing others. Being among similar others had created feelings among most of the focus group participants of being part of a safe community where taboo subjects related to IBS‐symptoms could be outspoken. Understanding the body and illness as a whole had enhanced their ability to interpret bodily signals and to handle trouble some situations with greater self‐confidence, and this regained their access to the social everyday world.

Conclusion:  The combination of reciprocal sharing of experiences and the provision of professional scientific knowledge during the patient education programme together contributed to a growing readiness to improve well‐being in everyday life, for most of the participating individuals. This was based on new understandings of the body and illness as a whole and of new abilities to make knowledge‐based decisions about what strategies to use in overcoming illness‐related troubles.
Effects of cattle manure on selected soil physical properties of smallholder farms on two soils of Murewa, Zimbabwe
Authors: Dunjana N. , Nyamugafata P. , Shumba A. , Nyamangara J. , Zingore S.
Published: April 2012

The effects of cattle manure and inorganic N‐fertilizer application on soil organic carbon (SOC), bulk density, macro‐aggregate stability and aggregate protected carbon were determined on clay and sandy soils of the Murewa smallholder farming area, Zimbabwe. Maize was grown in four fields termed homefields (HFs) and outfields (OFs) because of spatial variability induced by management practices and with the following fertility treatments: control (no fertility amelioration), 5, 15 and 25 t/ha cattle manure + 100 kg/ha N applied annually for seven consecutive years. The addition of cattle manure resulted in significant (P < 0.01) increases in SOC, macro‐aggregate stability and aggregate protected carbon in clay soils from at least the 5 t/ha cattle manure rate and was comparable between HFs and OFs on clay soils. Aggregate protected carbon in clay soils was significantly higher from the 15 and 25 t/ha cattle manure rates compared to the 5 t/ha cattle manure treatment. In contrast, only SOC was significantly (P < 0.05) increased with the addition of cattle manure on the sandy soils, while bulk density, macro‐aggregate stability and aggregate protected carbon were not significantly changed. Bulk density was also not significantly (P > 0.05) different on the clay soils. A significant and positive linear relationship (r2 = 0.85) was found between SOC and macro‐aggregate stability, while an r2 value of 0.82 was obtained between SOC and aggregate protected carbon on the clay soils. However, no regressions were performed on data from the sandy soils because of the lack of significant changes in soil physical properties. Application of cattle manure and inorganic N‐fertilizer significantly increased (P < 0.05) maize grain yield on both soil types. Results show that inorganic N‐fertilizer combined with cattle manure at 5–15 t/ha per yr is necessary to increase maize yields and SOC on sandy soils in Murewa, while at least 15 t/ha per yr cattle manure is required on the clay soils to improve physical properties in addition to maize yields and SOC.
Use of crop residues with alkaline slag to ameliorate soil acidity in an Ultisol
Authors: Wang L. , Butterly C. R. , Yang X. L. , Wang Y. , Herath H. M. S. K. , Jiang X.
Published: April 2012

Information regarding the interaction between liming agents and crop residues on soil acidity amelioration is limited. A laboratory incubation study was undertaken to investigate the combined application of alkaline slag (AS, the major component is CaO) and crop residues with different C/N ratios and ash alkalinity content. Incorporation of amendments was effective in reducing soil exchangeable acidity and Al saturation and increasing exchangeable base cations (P < 0.05), but the effect of AS on soil pH adjustment was reduced when added with a high amount of residue with a low C/N ratio. Initial increases in soil pH were attributed to the release of alkalinity from the combined amendments and the mineralization of organic nitrogen (N). During subsequent incubation, the soil pH decreased because of nitrification. Crop residues with a high C/N ratio increased N immobilization and reduced net nitrification, resulting in a slight pH decrease. Crop residues with a low C/N ratio resulted in a sharp decrease in soil pH when applied with low levels of AS because of stimulated soil nitrification, whereas high AS had no consistent effect on net nitrification. Hence, compared to the control (pH = 4.21), a large increase in soil pH occurred, especially when peanut straw was applied at 10 g/kg (pH = 5.16). It is suggested that crop residues with high C/N ratio and also combined with a liming agent such as AS are preferred to ameliorate soil acidity. The liming effect of AS is likely to be negated if added in combination with residues with high N contents.
Measurement Issues: Screening and diagnostic instruments for autism spectrum disorders – lessons from research and practise
Authors: Charman Tony , Gotham Katherine
Published: April 2012

Background and Scope

Significant progress has been made over the past two decades in the development of screening and diagnostic instruments for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). This article reviews this progress, including recent innovations, focussing on those instruments for which the strongest research data on validity exists, and then addresses issues arising from their use in clinical settings.

Findings

Research studies have evaluated the ability of screens to prospectively identify cases of ASD in population‐based and clinically referred samples, as well as the accuracy of diagnostic instruments to map onto ‘gold standard’ clinical best estimate diagnosis. However, extension of the findings to clinical services must be done with caution, with a full understanding that instrument properties are sample‐specific. Furthermore, we are limited by the lack of a true test for ASD which remains a behaviourally defined disorder. In addition, screening and diagnostic instruments help clinicians least in the cases where they are most in want of direction, as their accuracy will always be lower for marginal cases.

Conclusion

Instruments help clinicians to collect detailed, structured information and increase accuracy and reliability of referral for in‐depth assessment and recommendations for support, but further research is needed to refine their effective use in clinical settings.
Inequality of Opportunity in Europe
Authors: Marrero Gustavo A. , Rodríguez Juan Gabriel
Published: April 2012

Using the EU‐SILC database, we estimate and compare the Inequality of Opportunity (IO) of 23 European countries in 2005. IO is estimated as the between‐type (ex‐ante) inequality component following the parametric procedure of Ferreira and Gignoux (2011), which allows for the inclusion of the large set of circumstances in the database. We also measure the degree of correlation between IO estimates and a set of past and contemporaneous economic factors related to the degree of development, labor market performance, investment in human capital, and social protection spending.
The biopolitics of animal being and welfare: dog control and care in the UK and India
Authors: Srinivasan Krithika
Published: April 2012

The UK is widely regarded as a nation committed to animal welfare. On the other hand, the precarious lives of India’s stray dogs have attracted a considerable amount of international animal activist attention, and raised questions about the nation’s indifference to these animals. Furthermore, animal welfare practice and policy in India are significantly shaped by British law and practice, which is often considered superior. While these contrasting reputations appear reasonable, a closer inquiry reveals complexities that belie an easy relegation to ‘cruel’ and ‘kind’. Bringing together Foucauldian scholarship on power with legal and more‐than‐human geographies, this paper examines state and civil society discourse relating to the companion species, ‘dog’, an animal that is protected as a pet if in human homes, and controlled as a pest if out of place. In particular, this inquiry examines the discursive formations of dog control law and welfare practice in the UK and India to interrogate conventional understandings of dog (well)being. This analysis is then used as a foundation to conceptually develop Foucauldian work on biopower for the study of more‐than‐human relationships. The paper also draws out, from the above examination, insights connected to the political question of how humans might share physical and ethical space with animals, even those that do not enjoy the status of ‘protected’ or useful species.
The code of the street and romantic relationships: A dyadic analysis
Authors: BARR ASHLEY B. , SIMONS RONALD L. , STEWART ERIC A.
Published: April 2012

Since its publication, Elijah Anderson's (1999) Code of the Street thesis has found support in studies connecting disadvantage to the internalization of street‐oriented values and an associated lifestyle of violent/deviant behavior. This primary emphasis on deviance in public arenas has precluded researchers from examining the implications of the code of the street for less public arenas, such as intimate relationships. In an effort to understand if and how the endorsement of the street code may infiltrate such relationships, this study examines the associations between the code of the street and relationship satisfaction and commitment among young adults involved in heterosexual romantic relationships. Using a dyadic approach, the study finds that street code orientation, in general, negatively predicts satisfaction and commitment, in part due to increased relationship hostility/conflict associated with the internalization of the code. Gender differences in these associations are considered and discussed at length.
Peripheral blood cytopaenia limiting initiation of treatment in chronic hepatitis C patients otherwise eligible for antiviral therapy
Authors: Giannini Edoardo G. , Marenco Simona , Fazio Valentina , Pieri Giulia , Savarino Vincenzo , Picciotto Antonino
Published: April 2012

Background

In patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, the presence of peripheral blood cytopaenia may represent an obstacle to pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment.

Aims

To evaluate the prevalence of anaemia, neutropaenia and thrombocytopaenia potentially limiting initiation of pegylated interferon and ribavirin treatment in patients with chronic HCV infection who were otherwise eligible for antiviral therapy.

Methods

We studied 3059 consecutive anti‐HCV and HCV‐RNA positive patients referred to our centre to be evaluated for antiviral therapy from June 2002 to May 2011. The European Association for the Study of Liver HCV guidelines were applied to assess eligibility for antiviral therapy.

Results

In the study cohort, 1,521 patients (49.7%) were not eligible for treatment because of reasons different from haematological abnormalities. In the remaining 1,538 patients the overall prevalence of any peripheral blood cytopaenia potentially preventing patients from being treated with antiviral therapy was 15.1%. In particular, anaemia (haemoglobin level < 12 g/dL for women, <13 g/dL for men) was a relative contraindication to treatment in 8.9% (137/1,538) of the patients, while thrombocytopaenia (platelet count cut‐off, 90 × 109/L) and neutropaenia (absolute neutrophil count < 1.5 × 109/L) limited treatment in 6.5% (100/1358) and 3.2% (48/1358) of patients respectively. These haematological abnormalities were more prevalent in patients with older age (P < 0.004) and cirrhosis (P < 0.001).

Conclusions

The presence of peripheral blood cytopaenia may potentially limit initiation of antiviral therapy in one in every seven patients with chronic HCV infection who are otherwise eligible for treatment.
Harmonia axyridis invasions: Deducing evolutionary causes and consequences
Authors: SLOGGETT John J.
Published: April 2012

I consider evolutionary approaches to deducing factors that have made the ladybird beetle Harmonia axyridis such a successful invader, and the contribution that studies of this species in its native range can make. Work aiming to demonstrate which (pre)adaptations have made the species so successful often fails to compare these putative characters with those of other ladybirds. This has led to a tendency for “argument by design”‐type claims on characters widely shared by non‐invasive coccinellids. There is good evidence from genetic studies that evolutionary change occurred in invasive populations, contributing to their success. There is some evidence for subsequent evolutionary change after the establishment of invasive H. axyridis, primarily in the native organisms with which the ladybird interacts. I show here that there appears to have been little adaptation in H. axyridis, over about 20 generations, to the alkaloids of one North American native intraguild prey, the ladybird Coleomegilla maculata. Studies of H. axyridis in its native range are important, as they provide a snapshot of the ancestral ladybird, unobscured by subsequent evolutionary change related to its invasiveness. They provide baseline data about phenomena such as interactions with natural enemies and intraguild predation, and they also can provide pointers as to how H. axyridis might further adapt in the regions it has colonized. Harmonia axyridis represents an ideal opportunity for greater international co‐operation between scientists studying this species in its native range in Asia and scientists studying it in Europe, America and Africa, where it is an invasive exotic.
Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative: Targeting Catheter Last in Fistula First
Authors: Vassalotti Joseph A. , Jennings William C. , Beathard Gerald A. , Neumann Marianne , Caponi Susan , Fox Chester H. , Spergel Lawrence M. ,   the Fistula First Breakthrough Initiative Community Education Committee
Published: April 2012

An arteriovenous fistula (AVF) is the optimal vascular access for hemodialysis (HD), because it is associated with prolonged survival, fewer infections, lower hospitalization rates, and reduced costs. The AVF First breakthrough initiative (FFBI) has made dramatic progress, effectively promoting the increase in the national AVF prevalence since the program’s inception from 32% in May 2003 to nearly 60% in 2011. Central venous catheter (CVC) use has stabilized and recently decreased slightly for prevalent patients (treated more than 90 days), while CVC usage in the first 90 days remains unacceptably high at nearly 80%. This high prevalence of CVC utilization suggests important specific improvement goals for FFBI. In addition to the current 66% AVF goal, the initiative should include specific CVC usage target(s), based on the KDOQI goal of less than 10% in patients undergoing HD for more than 90 days, and a substantially improved initial target from the current CVC proportion. These specific CVC targets would be disseminated through the ESRD networks to individual dialysis facilities, further emphasizing CVC avoidance in the transition from advanced CKD to chronic kidney failure, while continuing to decrease CVC by prompt conversion of CVC‐based hemodialysis patients to permanent vascular access, utilizing an AVF whenever feasible.
High Prevalence of Aquagenic Wrinkling of the Palms in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and Association with Measurable Increases in Transepidermal Water Loss
Authors: Arkin Lisa M. , Flory James H. , Shin Daniel B. , Gelfand Joel M. , Treat James R. , Allen Julian , Rubenstein Ronald C. , Yan Albert C.
Published: April 2012

Abstract:  Aquagenic wrinkling of the palms (AWP) is a cutaneous phenomenon marked by the transient formation of edematous, translucent papules and plaques on the palms and fingertips within minutes of water exposure. AWP is anecdotally reported in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and several studies have recently confirmed this association. The primary aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of aquagenic wrinkling of the palms in subjects with cystic fibrosis (CF) compared to controls, and secondarily to evaluate for genotype‐phenotype correlations among CF subjects found to have AWP. Fifty‐one children with CF and 25 control children who were being treated for asthma underwent a 5‐minute hand immersion in lukewarm water. The test for AWP was positive if subjects demonstrated >30% wrinkling over the palm. Secondary analyses explored associations with genotype, pancreatic and pulmonary function, body mass index (BMI), and sweat chloride levels. Palmar transepidermal water loss (TEWL) was also measured for all subjects with and without AWP. Forty‐three of the subjects (84%) with CF demonstrated aquagenic wrinkling, in contrast to none (0%) of the controls. These results remained statistically significant when stratified for by age and race. TEWL was significantly higher in CF subjects with AWP compared to CF subjects without AWP and controls. No genotype‐phenotype correlations were detected in patients with AWP, nor were there associations of AWP with other phenotypic features of CF, although these analyses were likely underpowered. Aquagenic wrinkling of the palms is prevalent in children with CF and is associated with increased TEWL.
Sticker Charts: A Method for Improving Adherence to Treatment of Chronic Diseases in Children
Authors: Luersen Kara , Davis Scott A. , Kaplan Sebastian G. , Abel Troy D. , Winchester Woodrow W. , Feldman Steven R.
Published: April 2012

Abstract:  Poor adherence is a common problem and may be an underlying cause of poor clinical outcomes. In pediatric populations, positive reinforcement techniques such as sticker charts may increase motivation to adhere to treatment regimens. To review the use of sticker charts to improve adherence in children with chronic disease, Medline and PsycINFO searches were conducted using the key words “positive reinforcement OR behavior therapy” and “adherence OR patient compliance” and “child.” Randomized controlled retrospective cohort or single‐subject‐design studies were selected. Studies reporting adherence to the medical treatment of chronic disease in children using positive reinforcement techniques were included in the analysis. The systematic search was supplemented by identifying additional studies identified through the reference lists and authors of the initial articles found. Positive reinforcement techniques such as sticker charts increase adherence to medical treatment regimens. In several studies, this effect was maintained for months after the initial intervention. Better adherence correlated with better clinical outcomes in some, but not all, studies. Few studies examining the use of sticker charts were identified. Although single‐subject‐design studies are useful in establishing the effect of a behavioral intervention, larger randomized controlled trials would help determine the precise efficacy of sticker chart interventions. Adherence to medical treatments in children can be increased using sticker charts or other positive reinforcement techniques. This may be an effective means to encourage children with atopic dermatitis to apply their medications and improve clinical outcomes.