bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Competitive intelligence in social media Twitter: iPhone 6 vs. Galaxy S5
Authors: Kim Yoosin , Dwivedi Rahul , Zhang Jie , Jeong Seung Ryul
Published: February 2016

Purpose

– The purpose of this paper is to mine competitive intelligence in social media to find the market insight by comparing consumer opinions and sales performance of a business and one of its competitors by analyzing the public social media data.

Design/methodology/approach

– An exploratory test using a multiple case study approach was used to compare two competing smartphone manufacturers. Opinion mining and sentiment analysis are conducted first, followed by further validation of results using statistical analysis. A total of 229,948 tweets mentioning the iPhone6 or the GalaxyS5 have been collected for four months following the release of the iPhone6; these have been analyzed using natural language processing, lexicon-based sentiment analysis, and purchase intention classification.

Findings

– The analysis showed that social media data contain competitive intelligence. The volume of tweets revealed a significant gap between the market leader and one follower; the purchase intention data also reflected this gap, but to a less pronounced extent. In addition, the authors assessed whether social opinion could explain the sales performance gap between the competitors, and found that the social opinion gap was similar to the shipment gap.

Research limitations/implications

– This study compared the social media opinion and the shipment gap between two rival smart phones. A business can take the consumers’ opinions toward not only its own product but also toward the product of competitors through social media analytics. Furthermore, the business can predict market sales performance and estimate the gap with competing products. As a result, decision makers can adjust the market strategy rapidly and compensate the weakness contrasting with the rivals as well.

Originality/value

– This paper’s main contribution is to demonstrat the competitive intelligence via the consumer opinion mining of social media data. Researchers, business analysts, and practitioners can adopt this method of social media analysis to achieve their objectives and to implement practical procedures for data collection, spam elimination, machine learning classification, sentiment analysis, feature categorization, and result visualization.
A method of potential customer searching from opinions of network villagers in virtual communities
Authors: Chen Tsung-Yi , Liu Yan-Chen , Chen Yuh-Min
Published: February 2016

Purpose

– Customer acquisition and retention methods are the most critical issues for any enterprise. By identifying potential customers and targeting them through marketing activities, enterprises can minimize marketing costs and maximize transaction probability. However, because market surveys are labor- and time-consuming, and data mining is ineffective for obtaining competitor data, enterprises may be unable to understand real-time changes in market trends and consumer preferences. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– This study developed a mechanism that automatically searches for potential customers in virtual communities. In addition, a common product attribute (CPA) model was developed based on the five dimensions of the theory of consumption values and a questionnaire survey was conducted to verify the corresponding relationships. Subsequently, the authors quantified and applied the relationship between the proposed CPA model and consumption values theory.

Findings

– During the experiment, functional and social values yielded more accurate predictions. Contrary to our expectations, emotional value yielded an inaccurate prediction of potential customers. The overall precision was 0.74, with a threshold of 0.5.

Research limitations/implications

– Due to each industry including the distinctive characteristics and attributes regarding its products, the methods and models were only adopted in food industry for testing effectiveness.

Practical implications

– Considering the food industry as an example, this study adopted the case study method to screen potential customers based on 400 articles from virtual communities, and combined a latent semantic analysis method with a backpropagation neural network to verify the effectiveness of the proposed method.

Originality/value

– By adopting the proposed enterprise-product profile model, enterprises can compile basic information related to their products and industry. The proposed system can be used by enterprises to identify potential customers in areas with potential for market development.
Genetic and environmental factors in vascular dementia: an update of blood brain barrier dysfunction
Authors: Srinivasan Vivek , Braidy Nady , Chan Eunice K. W. , Xu Ying‐Hua , Chan Daniel K. Y.
Published: February 2016

Vascular dementia (VaD) describes a combination of both cognitive and behavioural manifestations associated with variable brain lesions of vascular origin. While vascular risk factors have been implicated in VaD, the relationship is most evident when the factors are considered together and not individually. This review will examine the significance of the integrity of blood brain barrier (BBB) tight junction (TJ) proteins – occludin and claudins in the pathophysiology of VaD. Specifically, some of the genetic contributors to VaD, namely those responsible for the integrity of the BBB, will be reviewed in detail. Moreover, environmental factors will be considered in conjunction with these genes to examine how the interaction of environmental and genetic factors contributes to one's susceptibility to VaD.
The program structure does not reliably recover the correct population structure when sampling is uneven: subsampling and new estimators alleviate the problem
Authors: Puechmaille Sebastien J.
Published: February 2016

Inferences of population structure and more precisely the identification of genetically homogeneous groups of individuals are essential to the fields of ecology, evolutionary biology and conservation biology. Such population structure inferences are routinely investigated via the program structure implementing a Bayesian algorithm to identify groups of individuals at Hardy–Weinberg and linkage equilibrium. While the method is performing relatively well under various population models with even sampling between subpopulations, the robustness of the method to uneven sample size between subpopulations and/or hierarchical levels of population structure has not yet been tested despite being commonly encountered in empirical data sets. In this study, I used simulated and empirical microsatellite data sets to investigate the impact of uneven sample size between subpopulations and/or hierarchical levels of population structure on the detected population structure. The results demonstrated that uneven sampling often leads to wrong inferences on hierarchical structure and downward‐biased estimates of the true number of subpopulations. Distinct subpopulations with reduced sampling tended to be merged together, while at the same time, individuals from extensively sampled subpopulations were generally split, despite belonging to the same panmictic population. Four new supervised methods to detect the number of clusters were developed and tested as part of this study and were found to outperform the existing methods using both evenly and unevenly sampled data sets. Additionally, a subsampling strategy aiming to reduce sampling unevenness between subpopulations is presented and tested. These results altogether demonstrate that when sampling evenness is accounted for, the detection of the correct population structure is greatly improved.
Cost‐effectiveness of the Cardiac Component of the Focused Assessment of Sonography in Trauma Examination in Blunt Trauma
Authors: Hall M. Kennedy , Omer Talib , Moore Chris L. , Taylor R. Andrew
Published: February 2016

Background

Blunt cardiac injury severe enough to require surgical intervention (sBCI) is an exceedingly rare event occurring in approximately 1 out of every 1600 trauma patients. While performing the cardiac component of the Focused Assessment of Sonography in Trauma (cFAST) exam is effective in penetrating trauma, it is unclear whether it is of value in blunt trauma given the low prevalence of sBCI, the imperfect test characteristics of the FAST exam, and the rate of incidental pericardial effusion.

Objective

The objective was to determine through decision analysis whether performing the cFAST exam is cost‐effective in the evaluation of hypotensive and normotensive blunt trauma patients.

Methods

We created two decision analytic models using commercially available software (TreeAgePro2011) to evaluate the cost‐effectiveness of the cFAST in hypotensive (systolic blood pressure <90 mm Hg) and normotensive blunt trauma patients. Clinical probabilities were obtained from published data. Costs were estimated from Medicare reimbursement and charge data. The willingness‐to‐pay threshold was $50,000/quality‐adjusted life‐years (QALYs). Sensitivity analyses were performed over plausible ranges using available literature.

Results

In hypotensive patients, for the base case scenario of a 34‐year‐old with blunt trauma, the cFAST strategy had a cost of $42,882.70 and an effectiveness of 25.3597 QALYs, whereas the no cFAST strategy had a cost of $42,753.52 and an effectiveness of 25.3532 QALYs. The incremental cost‐effectiveness ratio (ICER) was $19,918/QALY. For normotensive patients the cFAST strategy had a cost of $18,331.03 and an effectiveness of 23.2817 QALYs, whereas the no cFAST strategy had a cost of $18,207.58 and an effectiveness of 23.2814 QALYs. The ICER was $465,867/QALY. In the sensitivity analyses, age, probability of death from sBCI with prompt treatment, and probability of sBCI were the main drivers of variability in the model outcomes.

Conclusions

The cFAST for blunt trauma is cost‐effective for hypotensive but not for normotensive patients. The ICER for hypotensive patients was more than 20 times higher than the ICER for normotensive patients. Our results suggest that performing the cFAST exam may not be an effective use of resources in normotensive blunt trauma patients.
Are mental health services getting better at responding to abuse, assault and neglect?
Authors: Read J. , Sampson M. , Critchley C.
Published: February 2016

Objective

To determine whether staff responses to abuse disclosures had improved since the introduction of a trauma policy and training programme.

Method

The files of 250 clients attending four New Zealand mental health centres were audited.

Results

There was a significant improvement, compared to an audit prior to the introduction of the policy and training, in the proportion of abuse cases included in formulations, and, to a lesser extent, in treatment plans. There was no significant improvement in the proportion referred for relevant treatment, which remained at less than 25% across abuse categories. The proportion of neglect disclosures responded to was significantly lower than for abuse cases. Fifty percent of the files in which abuse/neglect was recorded noted whether the client had been asked about previous disclosure, and 22% noted whether the client thought there was any connection between the abuse/neglect and their current problems. Less than 1% of cases were reported to legal authorities. People diagnosed with a psychotic disorder were significantly less likely to be responded to appropriately.

Conclusion

Future training may need to focus on responding well to neglect and people diagnosed with psychosis, on making treatment referrals, and on initiating discussions about reporting to authorities.
Ecological momentary assessment of working memory under conditions of simultaneous marijuana and tobacco use
Authors: Schuster Randi Melissa , Mermelstein Robin J. , Hedeker Donald
Published: February 2016

Background and aims

The neuropsychological correlates of simultaneous marijuana and tobacco use are largely unknown, which is surprising as both substances have similar neural substrates and have opposing influences on working memory (WM). This study examined the effects of marijuana alone, tobacco alone and simultaneous marijuana and tobacco use on WM.

Design

Primary aims were tested using a within‐subject design, controlling for multiple subject‐ and momentary‐level confounds via ecological momentary assessment (EMA).

Setting

Data collection occurred in the Chicago, USA area in participants' natural environments.

Participants

Participants were 287 community young adults from a larger natural history study, oversampled for ever smoking, all of whom event‐recorded at least one substance use occasion during the study week.

Measurements

Momentary tobacco, marijuana and alcohol use were recorded during multiple EMA across 1 week of data capture. WM was assessed at the end of each EMA assessment. Contextual variables that may influence WM were recorded via EMA.

Findings

There were main effects for marijuana and tobacco: WM was poorer with marijuana [odds ratio (OR) = 0.91, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.84–0.99] and better with tobacco (OR = 1.11, 95% CI = 1.04–1.18). These effects were not qualified by an interaction (OR = 1.03, 95% CI = 0.84–1.26). Alcohol also reduced WM (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.79–0.95), and the tobacco × alcohol interaction was significant (OR = 0.81, 95% CI = 0.66–0.99), indicating that the facilitative effect of tobacco disappeared with concurrent alcohol use.

Conclusions

Relative to when individuals did not use these substances, working memory decreased with acute marijuana and alcohol use and increased with acute tobacco use. However, the putative effect of marijuana on working memory and the facilitative effect of tobacco on working memory were no longer present when used simultaneously with tobacco and alcohol, respectively. Data suggest that tobacco use may compensate for working memory decrements from marijuana among young adults and highlight the importance of investigating further the negative impact of alcohol use on cognition.
Five‐year outpatient programme that provided children with continuous behavioural obesity treatment enjoyed high success rate
Authors: Danielsson Pernilla , Bohlin Anna , Bendito Ana , Svensson Annie , Klaesson Sven
Published: February 2016

Aim

Results from long‐time follow‐up of obesity treatment in early childhood are lacking. We investigate long‐term continuous behavioural childhood obesity treatment and factors of importance for treatment effect.

Method

A five‐year longitudinal retrospective controlled study of children aged five to 13 years in obesity treatment, divided into three groups depending on age at start of treatment. Outcome is presented as change in degree of obesity, body mass index standard deviation score (BMI SDS), change in weight status and decrease of ≥0.5 BMI SDS units, in relation to a age‐matched obese comparison group.

Results

In total, 220 children (46% females) were included. After five years of treatment, the decrease in BMI SDS was significant in all age groups with the largest effect in age group 4‐6 years. Compared to the comparison group (n = 369), the decline in BMI SDS was greater (p = 0.001). After five years of treatment, 48% of the patients were cured from their obesity and 72% reached a decline of 0.5 BMI SDS units. Age at start of treatment was the only factor affecting treatment efficacy.

Conclusion

The ability to reach a significant weight loss in a paediatric outpatient clinic is promising through a long‐term behavioural obesity treatment.
Fulvestrant decreases anastrozole drug concentrations when taken concurrently by patients with metastatic breast cancer treated on SWOG study S0226
Authors: Hertz Daniel L. , Barlow William E. , Kidwell Kelley M. , Albain Kathy S. , Vandenberg Ted A. , Dakhil Shaker R. , Tirumali Nagendra R. , Livingston Robert B. , Gralow Julie , Hayes Daniel F. , Hortobagyi Gabriel N. , Mehta Rita S. , Rae James M.
Published: February 2016

Aims

In the SWOG S0226 trial the combination of anastrozole plus fulvestrant (n = 349) was superior to anastrozole alone (n = 345) in hormone receptor (HR)‐positive metastatic breast cancer. Here we report a pharmacokinetic subset analysis investigating a possible drug interaction between anastrozole and fulvestrant.

Methods

Post‐menopausal patients with HR‐positive metastatic breast cancer were randomized to anastrozole with or without concurrent fulvestrant. Blood samples were collected at 2, 4, 6 and 8 months, just prior to receiving the next dose of anastrozole and fulvestrant. Drug concentrations were measured via LC/MS‐MS. Anastrozole concentration was compared in patients on anastrozole alone vs. patients on concomitant fulvestrant. Comparisons were made at each time point using parametric tests and over time using a linear mixed effects model.

Results

A total of 483 anastrozole concentration measurements were included, 224 samples from 64 patients on the anastrozole alone arm and 259 from 73 patients on the combination arm. The mean anastrozole concentration in the combination arm was significantly lower than that in the anastrozole alone arm at each sample collection time (all P < 0.01) and in the mixed effects model (an estimated difference of 9.85 ng ml‐1 (95% CI 5.69, 14.00 ng ml‐1), P < 0.001).

Conclusion

A significant pharmacokinetic drug interaction was detected, in which the addition of fulvestrant to anastrozole treatment decreased the trough anastrozole concentration. Further research is needed to verify whether this interaction affects treatment efficacy and to determine the pharmacological mechanism by which this interaction occurs.
Visual biases in judging body weight
Authors: Cornelissen Katri K. , Gledhill Lucinda J. , Cornelissen Piers L. , Tovée Martin J.
Published: February 2016

Objectives

There has been a steady rise in obesity levels in Western countries, and a contributory factor is people's failure to recognize weight gain. Two important visual perceptual biases, contraction bias and Weber's law, that have hitherto been ignored in the obesity literature could contribute to this problem. Contraction bias predicts that the weight of obese bodies will be underestimated and the degree of underestimation will increase as body mass index (BMI) increases. Weber's law predicts that change in the body size will become progressively harder to detect as their BMI increases.

Methods

In Experiment 1, 29 women participants estimated the weight of 120 women varying in their body mass. In Experiment 2, 28 women participants judged which body was the heavier in a 2‐alternative forced choice paradigm.

Results

In Experiment 1, as predicted the participants showed a progressive underestimation of overweight and obese bodies, β1 = 0.71, t = 26.96, p < .0001. For Experiment 2, there was a significant effect of the BMI of the bodies being judged on the just noticeable difference needed to discriminate between them: F(1, 196) = 89.39, p < .0001 for 3D bodies and F(1, 86.5) = 44.57, p < .0001 for digital photographs.

Conclusions

Normal visual perceptual biases influence our ability to determine body size: contraction bias and Weber's law mean that as bodies become overweight and obese, it is harder to judge their weight and detect any increase in size. These effects may therefore compromise people's ability to recognize weight gain and undertake compensatory weight control behaviours.

Statement of contribution

What is already known on this subject?

It is common knowledge that obesity levels in the West are rapidly rising and that people fail to recognize weight gain. What has not been widely recognized before is that there are sound perceptual reasons for this failure. Here, we identify two such perceptual biases.

What does this study add?

Weber's law and contraction bias compromise people's ability to recognize weight gain.

It becomes progressively harder to discriminate the size of bodies as their body mass index increases.

This compromises the ability to recognize weight gain and undertake compensatory behaviours.
Sediment partitioning, continental slopes and base‐of‐slope systems
Authors: Prather Bradford E. , O'Byrne Ciaran , Pirmez Carlos , Sylvester Zoltán
Published: February 2016

Deciphering the role slope topography plays in partitioning sediment on siliciclastic continental slope and base‐of‐slope systems helps our understanding of slope depositional processes in significant ways: (1) by validation of large‐scale depositional process models for continental margins, (2) by validation of numerical basin‐scale stratigraphic forward models used to test and deploy source‐to‐sink (S2S) concepts and (3) by creating models for setting reservoir presence and quality expectations in frontier areas poorly constrained by wells and seismic. A global database consisting of >700 km of drilled stratigraphy provide empirical rock data lacking from most S2S studies. Analysis of calibrated seismic stratigraphic units characterised using the contextual framework laid out in this paper show that both gross depositional environments (GDEs) and sand content occur across slope profiles in systematic ways. The challenge in using these observations to quantify reservoir risk and uncertainty lies with relating the observations to depositional processes that can be used to characterise frontier basins that lack calibration. Depositional process‐based understanding encoded in 3D stratigraphic forward models (SFM) can simulate both lithologies and GDEs providing broad predictions for exploration at the scale of an entire basin or slope system. Stratigraphic forward models allow the integration of S2S understanding and provide a framework for testing sediment‐partitioning hypotheses in frontier settings. Valid S2S models must balance sediment yield from the source catchments with sinks, and be consistent with basin specific observations. The proportions of GDEs across the slope provide additional validation criteria to ensure the models are plausible.
The plight of international child support enforcement
Authors: Levine Joanne
Published: February 2016

Arising from the landscape of global development and fueled by the demographics of increasing rates of mobility and divorce, the international enforcement of child support is a challenging and growing problem. Current initiatives to rectify this critical problem cut across geopolitical divides and have resulted in the creation of uniform procedures for child support enforcement that are awaiting ratification in the USA: the 2007 Hague Convention on the International Recovery of Child Support and Other Forms of Family Maintenance. In the following paper, we will trace the evolution of these efforts and extrapolate a framework for social work practice illustrated by examples drawn from a case study of a family's plight with international child support enforcement. While thousands of families are impacted by this issue, there is a gap in the social work literature about this critical issue.
Prevalence of biopsy‐proven non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease in severely obese subjects without metabolic syndrome
Authors: Qureshi K. , Abrams G. A.
Published: February 2016

Obesity is a major risk factor for non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD encompasses simple fatty liver (FL) and non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) in its spectrum. NASH can progress to liver cirrhosis and is associated with liver cancer. Not all obese subjects have insulin resistance (IR) or develop metabolic syndrome (MS). This study evaluates the prevalence of NAFLD in severely obese subjects without MS. We retrospectively reviewed 445 charts from our database of severely obese subjects with clinical suspicion of NAFLD and who were selected for laparoscopic Roux‐en‐Y gastric bypass surgery. One hundred five subjects who did not have MS, as defined by the International Diabetes Foundation, based on comprehensive pre‐operative metabolic evaluation were included. Liver biopsy specimens were evaluated for NAFLD. 24% of morbidly obese (mean body mass index [BMI] 48 kg m−2) adult subjects (mean age 38 years) who underwent bariatric surgery did not have MS. NAFLD was identified in 77 (73%) on liver biopsy, out of which 59 (56%) were labelled as FL and 18 (17%) had histological diagnosis of NASH. Age, gender, race and BMI were the same among all groups. Among NAFLD subjects, 22% did not have any additional metabolic component of MS, while 36% had low high‐density lipoprotein, 27% had hypertension, 8% had high triglycerides and 6% had hyperglycaemia. IR calculated by HOMA‐IR (Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance) and diagnosis of hyperglycaemia was statistically higher in NASH group compared to those who did not have NASH. NAFLD is highly prevalent in morbidly obese individuals who undergo bariatric surgery despite the absence of MS. Diagnosis of hyperglycaemia in such subjects suggests the presence of IR and may have underlying NASH, which is a progressive form of NAFLD.
Blastocysts derivation from somatic cell fusion with premature oocytes (prematuration somatic cell fusion)
Authors: Saadeldin Islam M. , Khoirinaya Candrani , Kim Su Jin , Moon Joon Ho , Almadaly Essam , Lee Byeong Chun
Published: February 2016

This study was undertaken to investigate the development of immature oocytes after their fusion with male somatic cells expressing red fluorescence protein (RFP). RFP‐expressing cells were fused with immature oocytes, matured in vitro and then parthenogenetically activated. Somatic nuclei showed spindle formation, 1st polar body extrusion after in vitro maturation and protruded the 2nd polar body after parthenogenetic activation. RFP was expressed in the resultant embryos; two‐cell stage and blastocysts. Chromosomal analysis showed aneuploidy in 81.82% of the resulting blastocysts while 18.18% of the resulting blastocysts were diploid. Among eight RFP‐expressing blastocysts, Xist mRNAs was detected in six while Sry mRNA was detected in only one blastocyst. We propose “prematuration somatic cell fusion” as an approach to generate embryos using somatic cells instead of spermatozoa. The current approach, if improved, would assist production of embryos for couples where the male partner is sterile, however, genetic and chromosomal analysis of the resultant embryos are required before transfer to the mothers.
Heterogeneity of chromatoid bodies in adult pluripotent stem cells of planarian Dugesia japonica
Authors: Kashima Makoto , Kumagai Nobuyoshi , Agata Kiyokazu , Shibata Norito
Published: February 2016

The robust regenerative ability of planarians is known to be dependent on adult pluripotent stem cells called neoblasts. One of the morphological features of neoblasts is cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granules (chromatoid bodies: CBs), which resemble germ granules present in germline cells in other animals. Previously, we showed by immuno‐electron microscopic analysis that DjCBC‐1, a planarian Me31B/Dhh1/DDX6 homologue, which is a component of ribonucleoprotein granules, was localized in CBs in the planarian Dugesia japonica. Also, recently it was reported using another planarian species that Y12 antibody recognizing symmetrical dimethylarginine (sDMA) specifically binds to CBs in which histone mRNA is co‐localized. Here, we showed by double immunostaining and RNA interference (RNAi) that DjCBC‐1‐containing CBs and Y12‐immunoreactive CBs are distinct structures, suggesting that CBs are composed of heterogeneous populations. We also found that the Y12‐immunoreactive CBs specifically contained a cytoplasmic type of planarian PIWI protein (DjPiwiC). We revealed by RNAi experiments that Y12‐immunoreactive CBs may have anti‐transposable element activity involving the DjPiwiC protein in the neoblasts.
Evaluation of Left and Right Atrial Function in Patients with Coronary Slow‐Flow Phenomenon Using Two‐Dimensional Speckle Tracking Echocardiography
Authors: Wang Yonghuai , Zhang Yan , Ma Chunyan , Guan Zhengyu , Liu Shuang , Zhang Weixin , Li Yuling , Yang Jun
Published: February 2016

Background

Coronary slow‐flow phenomenon (CSFP) is an angiographic diagnosis characterized by delayed coronary opacification in the absence of obstructive coronary artery disease. Currently, several investigators are focusing on ventricular function assessment in patients with CSFP; however, there is a paucity of data on their atrial function. This study was performed to evaluate left atrial (LA) and right atrial (RA) function in patients with CSFP.

Materials and Methods

Eighty‐two patients with CSFP and 55 controls without CSFP were enrolled in the study. Diagnosis of CSFP was made by thrombolysis in myocardial infarction frame count (TFC). The LA and RA global longitudinal strain and strain rate during systole (Ss, SRs), during early diastole (Se, SRe), and during late diastole (Sa, SRa) were measured using two‐dimensional speckle tracking echocardiography.

Results

In the CSFP group, LA Se and SRe decreased, while LA Sa and SRa increased, compared with the control group. RA Se and SRe were lower in patients with CSFP than in the controls.

Conclusions

LA conduit function decreased in patients with CSFP, while contractile function increased. RA conduit function also decreased in patients with CSFP.
Did rent deregulation alter tenure choice decisions in the Czech Republic?
Authors: Tsharakyan Ashot , Zemčík Petr
Published: February 2016

Our study is the first that explicitly links rent deregulation and the choice between owning and renting (the tenure choice) using household decisions over a 1‐year period. The rent deregulation process in the Czech Republic started in 2006, two years after joining the European Union. By design, the maximum regulated rent appreciation depended explicitly on real estate prices, which accelerated the pace of deregulation due to rapidly rising prices at the time. A unique dataset enables us to track the tenure choice of households from consumption surveys for subsequent years. The proportion of households that switched from renting to owning sharply increased among renters of regulated apartments. We show that this change was caused by the deregulation process. In contrast, rent deregulation makes owners and renters paying market rent less likely to change ownership status.
Responses by the brown planthopper, Nilaparvata lugens, to conspecific density on resistant and susceptible rice varieties
Authors: Horgan Finbarr G. , Naik Bhaskar S. , Iswanto Eko Hari , Almazan Maria Liberty P. , Ramal Angelee Fame , Bernal Carmencita C.
Published: February 2016

This study examines the nature of intraspecific interactions among Nilaparvata lugens (Stål) (Hemiptera: Delphacidae) planthoppers feeding on resistant and susceptible rice varieties. Planthopper nymphs produced less honeydew and gained less weight when feeding on rice variety IR62 (resistant) compared to susceptible rice varieties. A series of bioassays was conducted that varied N. lugens nymph densities on IR62 and IR22 (susceptible). Increasing nymph density facilitated feeding by conspecifics; however, intraspecific competition increased mortality of nymphs on IR62 (but rarely on IR22). Furthermore, nymph weights declined with increasing conspecific density on IR22, and the effects were weak on IR62. More female nymphs than males survived on IR62 but this was not affected by density. Nitrogenous fertilizer increased competition among N. lugens on young plants of IR22, but not on IR62. Results indicate that nymphs have a low efficiency in accessing resources when feeding on IR62, even where the plants have received fertilizer. Female‐biased survival and biomass compensation for mortality may promote population recovery after development on the resistant plant and accelerate adaptation to the resistant variety.
Comparison of transmission efficiency of various isolates of Potato virus Y among three aphid vectors
Authors: Mondal Shaonpius , Wenninger Erik J. , Hutchinson Pamela J.S. , Whitworth Jonathan L. , Shrestha Deepak , Eigenbrode Sanford D. , Bosque‐Pérez Nilsa A.
Published: February 2016

Potato virus Y (PVY) strains are transmitted by different aphid species in a non‐persistent, non‐circulative manner. Green peach aphid (GPA), Myzus persicae Sulzer, is the most efficient vector in laboratory studies, but potato aphid (PA), Macrosiphum euphorbiae Thomas (both Hemiptera: Aphididae, Macrosiphini), and bird cherry‐oat aphid (BCOA), Rhopalosiphum padi L. (Hemiptera: Aphididae, Aphidini), also contribute to PVY transmission. Studies were conducted with GPA, PA, and BCOA to assess PVY transmission efficiency for various isolates of the same strain. Treatments included three PVY strains (PVYO, PVYN:O, PVYNTN) and two isolates of each strain (Oz and NY090031 for PVYO; Alt and NY090004 for PVYN:O; N4 and NY090029 for PVYNTN), using each of three aphid species as well as a sham inoculation. Virus‐free tissue‐cultured plantlets of potato cv. Russet Burbank were used as virus source and recipient plants. Five weeks post inoculation, recipient plants were tested with quantitative DAS‐ELISA to assess infection percentage and virus titer. ELISA‐positive recipient plants were assayed with RT‐PCR to confirm presence of the expected strains. Transmission efficiency (percentage infection of plants) was highest for GPA, intermediate for BCOA, and lowest for PA. For all aphid species, transmission efficiency did not differ significantly between isolates within each strain. No correlations were found among source plant titer, infection percentage, and recipient plant titer. For both GPA and BCOA, isolates of PVYNTN were transmitted with greatest efficiency followed by isolates of PVYO and PVYN:O, which might help explain the increasing prevalence of necrotic strains in potato‐growing regions. Bird cherry‐oat aphid transmitted PVY with higher efficiency than previously reported, suggesting that this species is more important to PVY epidemiology than has been considered.
The Experience in Personal Social Systems Questionnaire (EXIS.pers): Development and Psychometric Properties
Authors: Hunger Christina , Bornhäuser Annette , Link Leoni , Geigges Julian , Voss Andreas , Weinhold Jan , Schweitzer Jochen
Published: February 2016

This study presents the theoretical background, development, and psychometric properties of the German and English versions of the Experience in Personal Social Systems Questionnaire (EXIS.pers). It assesses how the members of a personal social system experience their situation within that system. It is designed as a research tool for interventions in which only one member of the system participates (e.g., Family Constellation Seminars). The EXIS.pers was created to measure change on the individual level relating to one's own important personal social system. In Study 1, we used exploratory factor analysis (EFA) for latent variable identification of the original German EXIS.pers (n = 179). In Studies 2 and 3, we used confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to examine the dimensionality of the German (n = 634) and English (n = 310) EXIS.pers. Internal consistencies and cross‐cultural structural equivalence were assessed. EFA indicated that a four‐factor model provided best fit for the German EXIS.pers. For both the German and English EXIS.pers, CFA provided the best fit for a five‐factor bi‐level model that included a general factor (Experience In Personal Social Systems) and four dimensions (Belonging, Autonomy, Accord, Confidence). Good internal consistencies, external associations, and cross‐cultural structural equivalence were demonstrated. This study provides first evidence for the German and English EXIS.pers as an economical and reliable measure of an individual's experience within his or her personal social systems.
Fish metacommunity responses to experimental drought are determined by habitat heterogeneity and connectivity
Authors: Driver Lucas J. , Hoeinghaus David J.
Published: February 2016

Drought disturbances can have strong but variable effects on aquatic communities and little is understood about the impacts of drought, fragmentation and habitat reconnectivity on the dynamics of intermittent stream fish metacommunities.

We performed two experiments using outdoor stream mesocosms to test the effects of drought‐mediated connectivity and habitat heterogeneity on realistic stream fish assemblages at local (pool/patch) and regional (stream unit) scales under non‐drought versus drought conditions (Exp1) and under drought conditions with ‘pulse’ flow connectivity versus ‘non‐pulse’ (Exp2).

Survivorship, ‐diversity and γ‐diversity differed little at the unit level between treatments and experiments, but significant interactions between treatments and pool position were observed for species richness and abundances at the pool‐level. Specifically, drought (Exp1) and non‐pulse (Exp2) treatments had consistently higher species richness and abundances in deeper downstream pools due to downstream‐biased immigration during the onset of drought and higher residency among fishes in downstream pools. Species‐specific responses in these treatments resulted in downstream pools that were characterised by species pre‐adapted to lentic conditions (e.g. sunfishes), whereas upstream pools were characterised by smaller‐bodied top‐water and pelagic species. Non‐drought (Exp1) and pulse (Exp2) treatments showed no difference in richness or abundances among pool positions and assemblages were generally well‐mixed, indicating that connectivity (even a brief pulse) of pool refugia was important for determining local and regional assemblage structure and mediating the impacts of drought.

These experiments demonstrate that stream fish assemblages responded strongly to reduced flows and fragmentation, and that metacommunity dynamics were structured by differential emigration and immigration rates and directionality among heterogeneous and variably connected pool habitats.
Extending the Contested Spaces of the Modern Kitchen
Authors: Meah Angela
Published: February 2016

This essay seeks to broaden understandings of the domestic kitchen in the global North which consign its significance to the preparation or cooking of food, an activity assumed to be undertaken chiefly by women. Here, I take a social practice perspective, examining ‘the kitchen’ not as a monolithic physical ‘site’ (in the spatial sense) occupied primarily by women users, but as one where a range of practices cohere, reflecting multiple meanings and uses among those individuals who inhabit them. Exploring how the domestic kitchen has – over the last century – been conceptualised as a barometer of ideological dialectics, as an orchestrating concept and as the symbolic heart of the home, I reveal how this most humble of domestic spaces is both material and symbolic, figurative and substantive, rendering it a serious – but often neglected – object of academic inquiry.
Evaluating outcome of prophylaxis in haemophilia: objective and self‐reported instruments should be combined
Authors: Fischer K. , Nijdam A. , Holmström M. , Petrini P. , Ljung R. , van der Schouw Y. T. , Berntorp E.
Published: February 2016

Introduction

Routine outcome assessment of prophylaxis should use validated tools, while balancing comprehensiveness and burden. Collecting overlapping information should be avoided.

Aim

To assess correlations between different outcome assessment tools in haemophilia.

Methods

From an international cross‐sectional study, data on objective outcome (Haemophilia Joint Health Score (HJHS 2.1, range 0–124), radiological Pettersson score) and self‐reported joint bleeding, Haemophilia Activities List (HAL, range 100–0), health‐related quality of life (SF‐36, including five physical and five mental domain scores, range 100–0), and Utility (SF6D and EQ‐5D, range 1.0–0) were extracted. Spearman's correlations were calculated: ≥0.8 very strong, 0.60–0.79 strong, 0.40–0.59 moderate.

Results

Ninety patients with severe haemophilia, on prophylaxis since median age 3.4 years, were evaluated at median 25.5 years (range 16.0–37.6). Objective outcome was favourable (median HJHS 2.1 6 points, Pettersson score 9 points). Self‐reported outcome showed a median of 7 joint bleeds in 5 years, median HAL sum 96 points, high scores for physical domains of SF‐36 (median 80–95) and high Utility values (median SF6D 0.87; EQ‐5D 0.84). Physical examination (HJHS 2.1) showed strong correlation with radiological scores, moderate correlation with physical domains of the SF‐36 and Utility, but no correlation with self‐reported bleeding or limitations in activities (HAL). Bleeding was not associated with any other outcome parameter. The HAL was only correlated with the SF36 ‘Physical functioning’ domain.

Conclusion

For the evaluation of patients on early prophylaxis, information on bleeding should be complemented by objective joint assessment as well as self‐reported limitations in activities and quality of life.
Elastography of shear wave speed imaging for the evaluation of liver fibrosis: A meta‐analysis
Authors: Shan Quan‐Yuan , Liu Bao‐Xian , Tian Wen‐Shuo , Wang Wei , Zhou Lu‐Yao , Wang Yan , Xie Xiao‐Yan
Published: February 2016

Aim

A meta‐analysis was carried out to assess the accuracies of shear wave speed imaging (SWSI) in predicting significant fibrosis (stages F2–4) and cirrhosis (stage F4).

Methods

A review was performed of relevant studies published until October 2015. A bivariate binomial model was used to combine the sensitivity, specificity, and the area under the summary receiver operating characteristic (AUC), and 95% confidence intervals were derived to indicate the diagnostic accuracy of imaging modalities.

Results

In total, 10 studies with 2182 patients were included in the analysis. The sensitivity, specificity, and AUC (with 95% confidence intervals) of SWSI were: 0.84 (0.81–0.87), 0.83 (0.77–0.88), and 0.88 (0.85–0.90) for significant fibrosis, respectively; and 0.80 (0.66–0.89), 0.93 (0.88–0.96), and 0.95 (0.92–0.96) for cirrhosis, respectively. When SWSI was compared with well‐evaluated transient elastography, the AUCs for the prediction of significant fibrosis were 0.93 and 0.86, respectively. The AUCs for the prediction of cirrhosis were both 0.94.

Conclusion

Shear wave speed imaging is a trustworthy tool for staging hepatic fibrosis, with a high combination of sensitivity and specificity. Compared with transient elastography, SWSI showed better diagnostic performance for the prediction of significant fibrosis.
Indian Slavery: An Atlantic and Hemispheric Problem
Authors: Goetz Rebecca Anne
Published: February 2016

Indian slavery was ubiquitous in the Americas and in the Atlantic World. Though Indian slavery varied in its forms and in its destructiveness depending on both time and place, Indian slavery shaped the colonial world, and its deleterious effects continue into the present. The practice of Indian enslavement and the Indian slave trade bound the continents and their islands together – enslavement was constant, and a constant risk; it could affect native peoples in any place, and all the major European colonial powers participated in the Indian slave trade. This article reviews recent literature on Indian slavery in the Atlantic and hemispheric perspectives and suggests questions and problems for further research.
Physical health and well‐being: Experiences and perspectives of young adult mental health consumers
Authors: McCloughen Andrea , Foster Kim , Kerley David , Delgado Cynthia , Turnell Adrienne
Published: February 2016

Compromised physical health and raised levels of morbidity and mortality are experienced by young people (16–24 years) with mental illness, and are compounded by psychotropic medication. How this group conceives and experiences physical health is not well understood. We investigated the meanings, beliefs, and endeavours of young people that impact their physical health understandings and behaviours. The present study formed the qualitative phase of a sequential mixed‐methods study, and incorporated semistructured interviews with 12 hospitalized young people. Qualitative content analysis was used to analyse data. Participants held a holistic ideal of physical health that they did not meet. Weight change, poor sleep, and limited exercise adversely impacted their lives and self‐image. Sedentary behaviour, reduced energy, and limited health literacy compromised effective management of physical health. Young people needed structure and support to assist them in addressing their physical health needs when amotivation overwhelmed their internal resources. Nurses are well placed to help young people increase their competency for health management. Individualized information and methods to promote good physical health are required for this group in jeopardy from physical morbidity and mortality.
Clinical outcomes in outpatient respiratory syncytial virus infection in immunocompromised children
Authors: Chu Helen Y. , Chin Jennifer , Pollard Jessica , Zerr Danielle M. , Englund Janet A.
Published: February 2016

Background

Immunocompromised patients are at high risk for morbidity and mortality due to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection. Increasingly, pediatric patients with malignancy or undergoing transplantation are managed primarily as outpatients. Data regarding the clinical presentation and outcomes of RSV in the outpatient pediatric immunocompromised population are limited.

Methods

We performed a retrospective cohort study of children with hematologic malignancy or hematopoietic or solid organ transplant with laboratory‐confirmed RSV infection diagnosed as outpatients at an academic medical center between 2008 and 2013.

Results

Of 54 patients with RSV detected while outpatients, 15 (28%) were hospitalized, 7 (13%) received ribavirin, and one (2%) received intravenous immunoglobulin. One (2%) patient was critically ill, but there were no deaths due to RSV infection. Fever (P < 0·01) was associated with increased risk of hospitalization.

Conclusions

Most immunocompromised children with RSV detected while outpatients did not require hospitalization or receive antiviral treatment. Potential studies of RSV therapies should consider inclusion of patients in an ambulatory setting.