bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
THE INTERNALISATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES AFFECTING DWELLINGS: A REVIEW OF COURT CASES IN HONG KONG
Authors: Li Rita Yi Man
Published: June 2012

In 1960, Ronald Coase suggested that there are many methods to solve the problem of externalities apart from imposing Pigovian taxes. Internalisation is one of those noted in his classic paper, ‘The Problem of Social Cost’. This paper studies the possibility of residents receiving compensation from pollutant generators. Data collected from Hong Kong law reports over the past 20 years show that there is forty‐fold increase in number of water seepage court cases since the first case in 1994. The total amount of compensation has also increased greatly. There are, however, far fewer court cases where residents seek compensation from generators of noise and air pollution. This may reflect a combination of high transaction costs and low expected benefits from such cases.
THE CHINA MODEL: IS IT A GOLDEN FORMULA?
Authors: Schoolland Kenli
Published: June 2012

The economic crisis is an opportunity for governments to face the fact that Keynesian interventionist policies are not the path to success. However, support for such policies is being sustained by misperceptions of China's remarkable economic progress in recent years. Its success is commonly attributed to government‐led initiatives, labelled as ‘The China Model’, which divert credit away from the true source of growth: its experience of the free market. This article examines the development of the free market in China and explains why the government's recent behaviour threatens to undermine the gains of recent decades.
THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS AND SUPPLY‐SIDE ECONOMICS
Authors: Leunig Tim
Published: June 2012

The coalition has given the Liberal Democrats the opportunity to demonstrate their support for – or opposition to – supply‐side economics. The person who has done most on the supply side is Ed Davey, in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. In a remarkable legislative achievement for a Parliamentary Under Secretary in under two years in office, Davey ensured that the privatisation of Royal Mail reached the statute books, liberalised the terms and conditions for Post Office counters, and liberalised employment and retirement laws.
CONTROL RIGHTS (AND WRONGS)
Authors: Haldane Andrew G.
Published: June 2012

Disclaimer: The views expressed are not necessarily those of the Bank of England or the Financial Policy Committee.

In the 2011 Wincott Lecture, the author sets out a number of structural factors that have led banks to take on too much risk. The combination of limited liability for equity holders, tax biases that favoured debt over equity, the likelihood that banks would not be allowed to fail, and performance targets linked to short‐term equity returns meant that neither debt nor equity holders had an incentive to constrain bank risk taking. A number of solutions are offered which would better align these incentives with the public good.
COMMENT ON THE 2011 WINCOTT LECTURE, ‘CONTROL RIGHTS (AND WRONGS)’
Authors: Wolf Martin
Published: June 2012

Over a long period leading up to the current financial crisis, small banks within a small banking system were replaced by unsafe, large banks within a huge banking system. The banks have now grown so big and so dangerous that they have the capacity to wreck economies and bring down governments.
SIR WALDRON SMITHERS AND THE MUDDLE OF THE TORY MIDDLE
Authors: Farrant Andrew , Tynan Nicola
Published: June 2012

Waldron Smithers was highly critical of Attlee's post‐war Labour government and placed much weight on Hayek having dedicated The Road to Serfdom to ‘the Socialists of all parties’. Accordingly, Smithers was assiduous in combating what he saw as a dangerous turn towards middle‐way policy within his own party in the late 1940s.
WHAT ELUDES INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE? THE ECONOMICS OF GLOBAL PUBLIC GOODS
Authors: Seo S. Niggol
Published: June 2012

This paper provides an analysis of global warming policy as the provision of a global public good. Using a regional model composed of thirteen world regions, the paper shows how disparate incentives among the regions hinder a shift from a Business As Usual (BAU) policy to a Globally Optimal Policy (GOP). In the BAU scenario, there will be large variations in impacts from warming across the regions, meaning some countries have little incentive to participate in collective agreements. Under the GOP scenario, negative impacts from global warming will be significantly reduced in some regions resulting in strong incentives for these regions to press for action. The paper finds that an optimal regulation could save Europe, India, and Africa hundreds of billions of dollars per year by the end of this century, but would cause additional costs to China, Russia, Canada and the USA. Under the optimal regulatory framework, higher levels of abatement are required for developing countries, worsening the existing climate equity problem.
THE DECISIONS OF THE SHADOW MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE AND MONETARY POLICY COMMITTEE SINCE 2002: A REJOINDER
Authors: Smith David B.
Published: June 2012

Koo, Paya and Peel make some very worthwhile points regarding the operation of the SMPC. Their analysis is interesting and helpful. However, the particular structure of the SMPC and the way it operates is, to some extent, determined by practicalities but also, more importantly, by the fact that it tries to operate as a discussion forum bringing together academics, bankers and financial experts rather than simply providing opinions on what the MPC should do.
Mobilities and Mobilizations of the Urban Poor
Authors: JAFFE RIVKE , KLAUFUS CHRISTIEN , COLOMBIJN FREEK
Published: June 2012

This introduction sets out the aims of the symposium on mobilities and mobilizations of the urban poor. Exploring the physical, social and imagined movements of the poor into, within and out of cities, and addressing how these movements connect to the dynamics of urban social mobilization, it argues for an incorporation of the ‘mobility turn’ in studies of the urban poor. The introduction proposes a number of relevant themes within this approach, starting with increased attention to the interconnections between physical and imaginative movements. This is followed by a discussion of representations of mobility and mobile representations: the ways in which physical movement, place and urban poverty are represented, and the increased transnational mobility of these representations. Next, a focus on differential mobilities is used to analyze how mobility differences within or between social groups are (re)produced in local power constellations. In addition, the relation between mobilities and public–private divides is examined, especially in terms of physical and imaginative place‐making. A final emphasis is on academic mobilities, with the authors arguing for reflexive attention to the position of those who research the urban poor and the specific practices of mobility associated with this research.

Les objectifs du symposium sur les mobilités et mobilisations des populations urbaines pauvres sont exposés dans ce texte introductif. S'intéressant aux déplacements physiques, sociaux et imaginés des pauvres, vers et à l'intérieur des villes, il examine comment ces flux s'inscrivent dans les dynamiques de la mobilisation sociale urbaine et témoigne de l'intégration du ‘virage de la mobilité’ dans les études de ces populations. Cette introduction propose plusieurs thèmes relevant de cette démarche, à commencer par un souci particulier des interconnexions entre les mouvements physiques et virtuels. Puis sont étudiées les représentations de la mobilité et les représentations mobiles, c'est‐à‐dire la façon dont un déplacement physique, un lieu et la pauvreté urbaine sont représentés, ainsi que la mobilité transnationale accrue de ces représentations. Tout un volet analyse comment les différences de mobilité dans ou entre les groupes sociaux sont (re)produites dans les constellations de pouvoir locales. De plus, le lien entre les mobilités et les frontières public‐privé est examiné, notamment sous l'angle de la fabrication physique ou virtuelle de lieux. Pour finir, l'accent est mis sur la mobilité des chercheurs, les auteures défendant un intérêt critique pour le positionnement de ceux qui étudient la population urbaine pauvre et les pratiques de mobilité spécifiques associées à ces recherches.
Cross‐border Inter‐firm Networks in the European Union's Eastern Neighbourhood: Integration via Organizational Learning*
Authors: TURKINA EKATERINA , POSTNIKOV EVGENY
Published: June 2012

The European Union (EU) is seeking to generate stronger integration in the wider Europe without further enlargement by involving its immediate neighbours in various regional partnerships. What are the effects of such co‐operation across the eastern borders of the EU and what are the prospects for bringing this region's countries closer to the EU without offering them the possibility of formal EU membership? Using the tools of social network analysis and regression methods, this article investigates the effect of the EU's external governance on the previously neglected societal level by focusing on cross‐border inter‐firm networks. The findings show that the diffusion of organizational practices is occurring within these networks which have emerged as the result of EU governance efforts abroad. The article explores the causal mechanisms of this diffusion, and also identifies factors that impede or catalyze the transfer of organizational practices. It also points to the relevance of neofunctionalism in explaining integration between the EU and its eastern neighbours.
Trait‐dependent occupancy dynamics of birds in temperate forest landscapes: fine‐scale observations in a hierarchical multi‐species framework
Authors: Wells K. , O'Hara R. B. , Böhm S. M. , Gockel S. , Hemp A. , Renner S. C. , Pfeiffer S. , Böhning‐Gaese K. , Kalko E. K. V.
Published: June 2012

Silvicultural practices lead to changes in forest composition and structure and may impact species diversity from the overall regional species pool to stand‐level species occurrence. We explored to what extent fine‐scale occupancy patterns in differently managed forest stands are driven by environment and ecological traits in three regions in Germany using a multi‐species hierarchical model. We tested for the possible impact of environmental variables and ecological traits on occupancy dynamics in a joint modelling exercise while taking possible variation in coefficient estimates over years and plots into account. Bird species richness differed across regions and years, and trends in species richness across years were different in the three regions. On the species level, forest management affected occupancy of species in all regions, but only 3–5% of the total assemblage‐level variation in occurrence probability was explained by either forest type and successional stage and < 1% by forest edge. On the assemblage level, bird occurrence decreased with body mass in all regions. Species with smaller breeding ranges had lower occurrence probabilities in one region, while later spring arrival decreased occurrence probabilities in the two other regions. Spatial variation in the effect size of trait covariates such as species phylogeny and breeding strata showed that variation in patch occupancy due to fine‐scale differences in forest management is, to some extent, predictable from ecological traits. Our results show that environmental factors and ecological traits jointly predict variation in bird occupancy patterns and their response to forest management. Observations at the fine scale of forest stands, at which conservation efforts can be arranged along with forest management practices in heterogeneous environments, have been shown to provide meaningful insights despite the difficulties involved in monitoring mobile organisms such as birds at the plot level.
Ethnic differences in problem perception and perceived need for care for young children with problem behaviour
Authors: Bevaart Floor , Mieloo Cathelijne L. , Jansen Wilma , Raat Hein , Donker Marianne C. H. , Verhulst Frank C. , van Oort Floor V. A.
Published: June 2012

Background:  Problem perception and perceived need for professional care are important determinants that can contribute to ethnic differences in the use of mental health care. Therefore, we studied ethnic differences in problem perception and perceived need for professional care in the parents and teachers of 5‐ to 6‐year‐old children from the general population who were selected for having emotional and behavioural problems.

Methods:  A cross‐sectional study with data of 10,951 children from grade two of the elementary schools in the Rotterdam‐Rijnmond area, the Netherlands. Parents and teachers completed the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) as well as questions on problem perception and perceived need for care. The SDQ was used to identify children with emotional and behavioural problems. We included Dutch, Surinamese, Antillean, Moroccan and Turkish children in our sample with high (>P90) SDQ scores (N = 1,215), who were not currently receiving professional care for their problems.

Results:  Amongst children with high SDQ scores, problem perception was lower in non‐Dutch parents than in Dutch parents (49% vs. 81%, p < 0.01). These lower rates of problem perception could not be explained by differences in socioeconomic position or severity of the problems. No ethnic differences were found in parental perceived need and in problem perception and perceived need reported by teachers. Higher levels of problem perception and perceived need were reported by teachers than by parents in all ethnic groups (PP: 87% vs. 63% and PN: 48% vs. 23%).

Conclusions:  Child health professionals should be aware of ethnic variations in problem perception as low problem perception in parents of non‐Dutch children may lead to miscommunication and unmet need for professional care for the child.
The interaction of electrodermal activity and expressed emotion in predicting symptoms in recent‐onset schizophrenia
Authors: Subotnik Kenneth L. , Schell Anne M. , Chilingar Mark S. , Dawson Michael E. , Ventura Joseph , Kelly Kimberle A. , Hellemann Gerhard S. , Nuechterlein Keith H.
Published: June 2012

In the present study, expressed emotion (EE) was assessed among immediate family members of 94 recent‐onset schizophrenia patients at initial study entry point, and patients' electrodermal activity (EDA) was measured without the presence of family members at a baseline outpatient stabilization assessment. Psychiatric symptoms were also rated, both at the baseline outpatient test and at 1‐year follow‐up. Electrodermal Activity × Expressed Emotion interactions were observed at both test points. In each case, the highest levels of negative symptoms were observed among those who exhibited greater EDA and lived in a high‐EE environment. These results support the view that the combination of high family EE and sympathetic nervous system arousal confer especially high risk for poor negative symptom outcomes.
Combining the P300‐complex trial‐based Concealed Information Test and the reaction time‐based autobiographical Implicit Association Test in concealed memory detection
Authors: Hu Xiaoqing , Rosenfeld J. Peter
Published: June 2012

Despite the P300‐Concealed Information Test's validity in detecting concealed memory when it is conducted immediately after the mock crime, whether the P300‐CIT's detection efficiency is moderated by time delay remains unknown. Here, we conducted a mock crime study in which guilty participants were tested immediately after the mock crime or 1 month later. An innocent group was also tested. Assuming that the autobiographical Implicit Association Test (aIAT) and the P300‐CIT rely on nonoverlapping mechanisms for memory detection, participants were tested using both the P300‐CIT and the reaction time (RT)–based aIAT. Results suggested that the sensitivity of both tests remains even after the 1‐month delay. The indicators from the RT‐aIAT and P300‐CIT were uncorrelated, thus combining P300‐CIT and aIAT data further increased the efficiency of memory detection.
Enhanced nerve‐stimulated muscarinic and neurokinin contractions of ileum from streptozotocin guinea‐pigs
Authors: Cellini J. , Pommier R. , Porter R. , LePard K. J.
Published: June 2012

Diabetes mellitus can lead to neuropathy of enteric neurons, resulting in abnormal gut motility. These studies investigated voltage‐dependent contributions of muscarinic M3 receptor activation by acetylcholine and neurokinin NK1 receptor activation by neurokinins to nerve‐stimulated contractions of longitudinal ileal strips from STZ guinea‐pigs, a type 1 diabetic model with insulin deficiency, but mild hyperglycaemia.

Contractions to bethanechol, substance P methyl ester, and nerve stimulation were greater in diabetic as compared to control ileum.

The muscarinic M3 receptor antagonist 4‐DAMP at lower voltages and the neurokinin NK1 receptor antagonist SR140333 at higher voltages, but not the neurokinin NK1 receptor antagonist CP‐96,345, were more effective at inhibiting nerve‐stimulated immediate peak contractions and total areas of contraction of ileum from diabetic as compared to control animals. For diabetic ileum, voltage‐dependent increases in the areas of nerve‐stimulated contraction were observed in the presence of 4‐DAMP and CP‐96,345 but not SR140333.

At low voltages only, nerve‐stimulated release of acetylcholine was greater from diabetic as compared to control ileum.

Fluorescence intensity of tachykinin‐like immunoreactivity was increased in ileal myenteric ganglia from diabetic as compared to control animals.

In diabetic guinea‐pigs, stronger ileal nerve‐stimulated contractions reflected increased release of acetylcholine at lower voltages and tachykinins at higher voltages, as well as increased sensitivity of smooth muscle M3 and NK1 receptors to acetylcholine and tachykinins. Hypoinsulinaemia may be a primary contributor to intestinal motility dysfunction in type 1 diabetes mellitus.
Successful management of unruptured interstitial pregnancy in 17 consecutive cases by using laparoscopic surgery
Authors: Zuo Xulei , Shen Aiqun , Chen Meixin
Published: June 2012

Aims

To analyse the optimal laparoscopic surgical techniques for the treatment of interstitial pregnancy to minimise bleeding during the operative procedure and the safety of the subsequent pregnancy.

Methods

Advanced bipolar coagulator was used to achieve haemostasis.

Results

The mean gestational age was 55 ± 5.1 days. All 17 women with an interstitial pregnancy were successfully treated by laparoscopic surgery without any complication. No surgery was converted to laparotomy. The mean pre‐operative beta‐human chorionic gonadotropin (β‐hCG) serum concentration was 14 696 ± 11 705 mIU/mL. This value decreased to 1911 ± 1769 mIU/mL at 3‐day post‐operation. Among women who underwent laparoscopic surgery, a cornual resection was performed in 16 (94.1%) cases. One (5.8%) woman underwent a laparoscopic evacuation of the conceptus and received a local injection of 10 mg methotrexate. The volume of blood loss was <25 mL in 16 cases. However, one woman experienced a rupture at the beginning of the operation and lost 250 mL of blood. The mean hospital stay was 4.5 days. Four of the nine women who chose to retain their reproductive function had subsequent normal pregnancies, but all received an elective caesarean delivery prior to labour.

Conclusions

The laparoscopic management of women with unruptured interstitial pregnancy can frequently be performed without haemorrhage or complication using advanced bipolar coagulation. The small sample of successful subsequent pregnancies demonstrates the safety and effectiveness of this technique, but this finding should be confirmed by further investigations.
Using Activity‐Based Modeling to Simulate Urban Resource Demands at High Spatial and Temporal Resolutions
Authors: Keirstead James , Sivakumar Aruna
Published: June 2012

Urban metabolism is an important technique for understanding the relationship between cities and the wider environment. Such analyses are typically performed at the scale of the whole city using annual average data, a feature that is driven largely by restrictions in data availability. However, in order to assess the resource implications of policy interventions and to design and operate efficient urban infrastructures such as energy systems, greater spatial and temporal resolutions are required in the underlying resource demand data. As this information is rarely available, we propose that these demand profiles might be simulated using activity‐based modeling. This is a microsimulation approach that calculates the activity schedules of individuals within the city and then converts this information into resource demands. The method is demonstrated by simulating electricity and natural gas demands in London and by examining how these nontransport energy demands might change in response to a shift in commuting patterns, for example, in response to a congestion charge or similar policy. The article concludes by discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the approach, as well as highlighting future research directions. Key challenges include the simulation of in‐home activities, assessing the transferability of the complex data sets and models supporting such analyses, and determining which aspects of urban metabolism would benefit most from this technique.
Can Organized Youth Activities Protect Against Internalizing Problems Among Adolescents Living in Violent Homes?
Authors: Gardner Margo , Browning Christopher , Brooks‐Gunn Jeanne
Published: June 2012

Using longitudinal data from a subsample of Hispanic, African American, and White youth enrolled in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 1,419), we examined the effects of both parental involvement in domestic violence and youth participation in organized out‐of‐school‐time activities on internalizing symptoms during adolescence. We also examined the extent to which participation in organized activities protected youth against the internalizing consequences of domestic violence. We found that intensive participation in either afterschool programs or extracurricular activities was inversely associated with youth internalizing problems. Moreover, we found that intensive participation in afterschool programs weakened the association between parents' domestic violence and youths' internalizing problems.
Hanging Out With Which Friends? Friendship‐Level Predictors of Unstructured and Unsupervised Socializing in Adolescence
Authors: Siennick Sonja E. , Osgood D. Wayne
Published: June 2012

Companions are central to explanations of the risky nature of unstructured and unsupervised socializing, yet we know little about whom adolescents are with when hanging out. We examine predictors of how often friendship dyads hang out via multilevel analyses of longitudinal friendship‐level data on over 5,000 middle schoolers. Adolescents hang out most with their most available friends and their most generally similar friends, not with their most at‐risk or similarly at‐risk friends. These findings vary little by gender and wave. Together, the findings suggest that the risks of hanging out stem from the nature of hanging out as an activity, not the nature of adolescents' companions, and that hanging out is a context for friends' mutual reinforcement of preexisting characteristics.
Core Concepts and Key Ideas for Understanding Public Sector Organizational Networks: Using Research to Inform Scholarship and Practice
Authors: Provan Keith G. , Lemaire Robin H.
Published: June 2012

This article provides an overview of the key research findings and core concepts on the topic of organizational networks. The primary focus is on goal‐directed “whole” service delivery networks, which are prevalent in the public and nonprofit sectors. The findings and ideas presented are especially salient for helping public managers build, maintain, operate, and govern multiorganizational networks in ways that will enhance their effectiveness. Because research and theory on networks extend well beyond the boundaries of public management and administration, the authors draw on thinking from a number of fields, providing a broad understanding of public networks and network functioning. The article is intended to provide usable information on networks for both practitioners and students, as well as to suggest directions for future research for the many public management scholars who now study organizational networks.
Testing the hypothesis that psychotic illness begins when subthreshold hallucinations combine with delusional ideation
Authors: Smeets F. , Lataster T. , van Winkel R. , de Graaf R. , ten Have M. , van Os J.
Published: June 2012

Objective:  While hallucinations and delusions are often considered as a single class of ‘positive symptoms’, little is known about their dynamic cooccurrence in relation to clinical outcome in non‐help‐seeking people.

Method:  The Netherlands Mental Health and Incidence Study (NEMESIS‐1) is a longitudinal study of mental disorders (n = 7075) with three measurements over a 3‐year period. Risk factors, persistence of psychotic experiences, and clinical outcome were analyzed for groups with: i) no psychotic experiences, ii) only delusions, iii) only hallucinations, and iv) both delusions and hallucinations.

Results:  Hallucinations and delusions occurred together more often (T0, 3.5%; T1, 1.0%; T2, 0.9%) than that predicted by chance (T0, 1.0%; T1, 0.1%; T2, 0.04%). The group with both symptoms showed more ‘first‐rank’‐like delusions compared with the group with only delusions. Having both hallucinations and delusions, compared to isolated symptoms, was associated more strongly with risk factors, comorbid affective symptoms, negative symptoms, and persistence of psychotic experiences. This was not an artifact of having more symptoms in general.

Conclusion:  Experiencing both delusions and hallucinations is an indicator of greater etiological load resulting in more clinical outcome. A specific ‘hallucinatory‐delusional state’ may represent an early phase of exacerbation of aberrant attribution of salience, increasing risk for clinical outcome.
Translating neurotrophic and cellular plasticity: from pathophysiology to improved therapeutics for bipolar disorder
Authors: Soeiro‐de‐Souza M. G. , Dias V. V. , Figueira M. L. , Forlenza O. V. , Gattaz W. F. , Zarate C. A. , Machado‐Vieira R.
Published: June 2012

Soeiro‐de‐Souza MG, Dias VV, Figueira ML, Forlenza OV, Gattaz WF, Zarate Jr CA, Machado‐Vieira R. Translating neurotrophic and cellular plasticity: from pathophysiology to improved therapeutics for bipolar disorder.

Objective:  Bipolar disorder (BD) likely involves, at a molecular and cellular level, dysfunctions of critical neurotrophic, cellular plasticity and resilience pathways and neuroprotective processes. Therapeutic properties of mood stabilizers are presumed to result from a restoration of the function of these altered pathways and processes through a wide range of biochemical and molecular effects. We aimed to review the altered pathways and processes implicated in BD, such as neurotrophic factors, mitogen‐activated protein kinases, Bcl‐2, phosphoinositol signaling, intracellular calcium and glycogen synthase kinase‐3.

Methods:  We undertook a literature search of recent relevant journal articles, book chapter and reviews on neurodegeneration and neuroprotection in BD. Search words entered were ‘brain‐derived neurotrophic factor,’‘Bcl‐2,’‘mitogen‐activated protein kinases,’‘neuroprotection,’‘calcium,’‘bipolar disorder,’‘mania,’ and ‘depression.’

Results:  The most consistent and replicated findings in the pathophysiology of BD may be classified as follows: i) calcium dysregulation, ii) mitochondrial/endoplasmic reticulum dysfunction, iii) glial and neuronal death/atrophy and iv) loss of neurotrophic/plasticity effects in brain areas critically involved in mood regulation. In addition, the evidence supports that treatment with mood stabilizers; in particular, lithium restores these pathophysiological changes.

Conclusion:  Bipolar disorder is associated with impairments in neurotrophic, cellular plasticity and resilience pathways as well as in neuroprotective processes. The evidence supports that treatment with mood stabilizers, in particular lithium, restores these pathophysiological changes. Studies that attempt to prevent (intervene before the onset of the molecular and cellular changes), treat (minimize severity of these deficits over time), and rectify (reverse molecular and cellular deficits) are promising therapeutic strategies for developing improved treatments for bipolar disorder.
Lesion Border Detection in Dermoscopy Images Using Ensembles of Thresholding Methods
Authors: Emre Celebi M. , Wen Quan , Hwang Sae , Iyatomi Hitoshi , Schaefer Gerald
Published: June 2012

Background

Dermoscopy is one of the major imaging modalities used in the diagnosis of melanoma and other pigmented skin lesions. Due to the difficulty and subjectivity of human interpretation, automated analysis of dermoscopy images has become an important research area. Border detection is often the first step in this analysis. In many cases, the lesion can be roughly separated from the background skin using a thresholding method applied to the blue channel. However, no single thresholding method appears to be robust enough to successfully handle the wide variety of dermoscopy images encountered in clinical practice.

Methods

In this article, we present an automated method for detecting lesion borders in dermoscopy images using ensembles of thres holding methods.

Conclusion

Experiments on a difficult set of 90 images demonstrate that the proposed method is robust, fast, and accurate when compared to nine state‐of‐the‐art methods.
Enamel defects in permanent incisors after trauma to primary predecessors: inter‐observer agreement based on photographs
Authors: Skaare Anne B. , Maseng Aas Anne‐Lise , Wang Nina J.
Published: June 2012

Trauma to primary teeth may cause mineralization disturbances in the permanent successors.

Objective

To study the distribution and type of enamel defects in permanent incisors after trauma to primary teeth and to examine inter‐observer agreement when registrations were based on photographs.

Material and methods

Of 266 children who suffered an oral injury to primary teeth in one county of Norway in 2003, 193 were included in a follow‐up study to record enamel defects in the permanent successors 7 years later (age, 8–15 years). Clinical examination and intraoral photographs were undertaken by the principal investigator. The photographs were evaluated twice for enamel defects by three paediatric dentists. Evaluation 1: age at the time of injury, traumatized teeth and diagnoses were kept unknown to the examiners. Evaluation 2: age and trauma diagnoses were known to the examiners. Inter‐observer agreement was calculated using Cohen's kappa and chi‐square test.

Results

Of 338 successor teeth, 42% exhibited enamel defects. In neighbouring teeth (339) with non‐injured predecessors, 30% were registered with defects. The most common enamel disturbance in successors was demarcated opacities, recorded in 18% of the teeth. Enamel defects owing to a previous trauma were registered in 37% of the children in Evaluation 1, kappa 0.88–0.93 and in 21% in Evaluation 2, kappa 0.63–0.84. The examiners disagreed on a higher proportion of the children when all information on the injury was available (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

Demarcated enamel opacities were the most common defects in permanent successors. Although the inter‐examiner agreement was good, the results indicated that recordings of enamel disturbances following trauma is associated with uncertainty.
ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT SELECTION SHOULD BE GUIDED BY VALIDITY ANALYSIS NOT PROFESSIONAL PLEBISCITE: RESPONSE TO A FLAWED SURVEY
Authors: Martindale David A. , Tippins Timothy M. , Ben‐Porath Yossef S. , Wittmann Jeffrey P. , Austin William G.
Published: June 2012

In July, 2011, the Family Court Review published an article by Ackerman and Pritzl that purported to provide new data reflecting the current practices of custody evaluators. Regrettably, as a result of flawed methodology and a deficient legal analysis, the data reported, the interpretations offered, and the conclusions provided can only mislead courts, attorneys, and custody evaluators as to the present state of custody evaluation practices. This response will detail the flaws in the Ackerman and Pritzl article and explain why their conclusions should not be accepted either within the custody evaluation community or within the legal system.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

Assessment procedures and instruments used by psychologists in family law matters must be selected based upon their demonstrated reliability and validity.

As it pertains to assessment procedures and instruments, survey data that reflect frequency of use are a distraction, since the selection by test users of several of the often‐used instruments is attributable to impressive marketing, not to psychometric attributes.
Contrasting responses of hoverflies and wild bees to habitat structure and land use change in a tropical landscape (southern Yunnan, SW China)
Authors: Meng Ling‐Zeng , Martin Konrad , Liu Jing‐Xin , Burger Frank , Chen Jin
Published: June 2012

Abstract  The response of insects to monoculture plantations has mainly proceeded at the expense of natural forest areas, and is an outstanding and important issue in ecology and conservation biology, with pollination services declined around the world. In this study, species richness and distribution of hoverfly and wild bee communities were investigated in a changing tropical landscape in southern Yunnan, south‐west China by Malaise traps periodically from 2008 to 2009. Species were recorded from the traditional land use types (natural forest, grassland, shrubland and rice field fallows), and from recently established rubber plantations of different ages. Hoverflies (total 53 species) were most common in young successional stages of vegetation, including rice field fallow and shrubland. Species richness was highest in rice field fallows and lowest in forests and showed a highly significant relationship with the number of forb species and ground vegetation cover. In contrast, the highest richness of wild bees (total 44 species) was recorded from the natural forest sites, which showed a discrete bee community composition compared to the remaining habitat types. There was no significant relationship between the bee species richness and the environmental variables, including the numbers of different plant life forms, coverage of canopy and ground vegetation, successional age of vegetation and land use type. At the landscape scale, open land use systems, including young rubber plantations, are assumed to increase the species richness of hoverflies; however, this might decrease wild bee diversity. The present land use change by rubber cultivation can be expected to have negative impacts on the native wild bee communities.
De‐Oiling and Pretreatment for High‐Quality Potato Chips
Authors: Kim Taehoon , Moreira Rosana G.
Published: June 2012

A de‐oiling step using a centrifuge ensures oil content reduction and improves the quality of fried snacks. A commercial deep‐fat fryer was used to fry potato slices, untreated, blanched in hot water (85C/3.5 min) and rinsed in 3% NaCl solution (25C/5 min). A de‐oiling step (350 ± 1 and 457 ± 1 rpm) for 1 min was performed after the frying (145, 165 and 185C) and cooling (0, 15, 30, 45, 60 and 120 s) steps. Higher frying temperature, high‐centrifuge speed and short cooling time yielded potato chips with low oil uptake. In general, the blanching and soaking pretreatments decreased oil absorption compared with the untreated chips. Neither the frying temperature nor the pretreatments had a significant effect (P > 0.05) over the final texture of the potato chips. However, de‐oiling led to increased hardness of the chips fried at 145 and 165C for 0 s cooling time, and the hardness decreased as cooling time increased. Potato chips had lower lightness and redness color value when fried at 145C, and higher values when fried at 185C; yellowness (b* values) increased with increasing temperature. In general, pretreated samples were lighter (paler) than the untreated controls. A consumer test indicated that blanching and de‐oiling without cooling enhanced the texture and overall quality of the chip; soaking and de‐oiling improved the color, flavor and the overall quality; and the two pretreatments did not significantly influence the odor of the chip.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Fried snacks are a popular item in the American diet. These results are useful for an effective process design for high‐quality potato chips.
Limits to Climate Change Adaptation: Case Study of the Australian Alps
Authors: MORRISON CLARE , PICKERING CATHERINE
Published: June 2012

Climate change is occurring and not being mitigated, motivating adaptation but adaptation strategies can have biophysical, economic, technological, and social limits. We review publicly available documents to assess how successful current and proposed adaptation strategies may be for the Australian Alps, including likely limits and potential collaborations and conflicts among stakeholders. Conservation managers, the tourism industry, and local communities have implemented or are proposing a range of adaptation strategies in the region. Some stakeholder strategies complement each other (e.g. invasive species control, fire management), while others are potential sources of conflict (water and electricity for snowmaking, year‐round tourism). Economic costs and biophysical constraints are the most important limits to these adaptation strategies. These types of limits and conflicts between different stakeholders on adaptation strategies are likely to occur in other regions and demonstrate that adaptation may only provide partial and short term solutions to the challenges of climate change.
Towards a Culturally Sustainable Environmental Impact Assessment: The Protection of Ainu Cultural Heritage in the Saru River Cultural Impact Assessment, Japan
Authors: NAKAMURA NAOHIRO
Published: June 2012

Culturally sustainable environmental impact assessment (EIA) requires consideration of the impact of development on local people's cultural activities, including holding ceremonies, collecting resources, and learning skills, which are fundamental essences of Indigenous rights. While culturally sustainable EIA has become a common practice when a development project involves an Indigenous community, it is still argued that Indigenous cultural heritage is not adequately protected. This is due to the fact that Indigenous people do not always keep power in the post‐approval stage of EIA, or the lack of practical measures to minimise the impact of development projects on Indigenous cultural heritage and to enhance the possibility of reaching a consensus among stakeholders. The Cultural Impact Assessment of the Saru River Region in Japan was the first investigation of a site to preserve an ethnic minority culture, with regard to a dam construction. In the second phase of the assessment project, research staff members, some of whom are of Ainu ethnicity, suggested alternative ceremony sites and conducted experimental transplants to protect the local cultural activities. The long‐term investigation by research staff, in fact, influenced the direction of the dam construction. The developer agreed not to proceed with the construction until measures were taken to minimise the impact on cultural activities that would satisfy residents in the construction area. While still early to conclude that Indigenous participation in this assessment project has been successful, Indigenous participation has clearly enhanced the possibility of reaching a consensus. The project should be considered with other published EIA reports, in demonstrating a return from investing in EIA with Indigenous participation, with a practical means for realising Indigenous rights.
The use of drama to support reflection and understanding of the residents’ situation in dementia care: a pilot study
Authors: Bolmsjö Ingrid , Edberg Anna‐Karin , Andersson Petra Lilja
Published: June 2012

Background.  One key aspect of person‐centredness is striving to understand both the patients’ experiences and behaviours from their perspective. These aspects are precisely those that staff in dementia care highlight as causing them most difficulty because the people in their care have major problems expressing themselves. There is thus a need to develop a method to help the staff to achieve interpretation through reflection.

Aim.  The aim of this study was to explore the use of drama as a tool to support reflection among staff working in the residential care of people with dementia.

Design.  A qualitative evaluation of a programme consisting of three drama sessions with staff working in residential care (n = 10 nurse assistants).

Methods.  Data comprised observations and tape recordings of the sessions, the researchers’ reflections after each session and a focus‐group interview with the participants. The texts were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results.  The analysis showed that: (i) the exercises stimulate reflection about daily caring practice; (ii) the participants must receive extensive information about the purpose of the sessions; (iii) the research team must secure the defined frames and conditions and have practical knowledge about caring for people with dementia and (iv) the management needs to be stable, committed and supportive.

Conclusion.  Drama seems to be a valid tool to aid reflection, but several adjustments are needed concerning both the content of the sessions and the methodology. When designing a larger intervention study, it would be preferable to the sessions to be combined with staff support to effect changes in care provision resulting from their increased awareness of the residents’ situation and experience.

Implications for practice.  Our results showed that drama can be a means to enhance reflection among staff in residential care for people with dementia. Further research is however needed concerning the effects for the staff's situation and nursing care quality.
Walking on the edge: meanings of living in an ageing body and using a walker in everyday life – a phenomenological hermeneutic study
Authors: Brännström Helene , Bäckman Margit , Santamäki Fischer Regina
Published: June 2012

brännström h., bäckman m. & santamäki fischer r. (2013) Walking on the edge: meanings of living in an ageing body and using a walker in everyday life – a phenomenological hermeneutic study. International Journal of Older People Nursing 8, 116–122  doi: 10.1111/j.1748‐3743.2012.00334.x

Background.  In order to maintain one’s state of health whilst growing older, the ability to walk is essential.

Aim and objective.  The aim of this study was to illuminate the meanings of the lived experience of living in an ageing body and using a walker in daily life.

Methods.  Narrative interviews were performed with seven older persons aged 79–95 years. The transcribed text was analysed using a phenomenological hermeneutic method.

Results.  The key finding of the study was that the lived experience of living in an ageing body and using a walker in daily life was interpreted as ‘walking on the edge’ based on the themes ‘Being vulnerable and dependent’ and ‘Being confident and independent’.

Conclusions.  The results highlight the importance of reflecting on this phenomenon as a health care professional while meeting the care needs of older persons who use walkers.

Implications for practice.  Nurses need to consider the walker as a personal and valued possession of the individual and handle the walker in agreement with the older person, placing the walker close at hand with the brakes locked to give secure support.
Interactive 3D computer model of the human corneolimbal region: crypts, projections and stem cells
Authors: Molvær Rikke K. , Andreasen Arne , Heegaard Steffen , Thomsen Jesper S. , Hjortdal Jesper , Urbak Steen F. , Nielsen Kim
Published: June 2012

Purpose:  This study aims to clarify the existence of and to map the localization of different proposed stem cell niches in the corneal limbal region.

Materials and methods:  One human eye was cut into 2200 consecutive sections. Every other section was stained with haematoxylin and eosin, digitized at low and high magnification, aligned, 3D reconstructed and visualized using interactive 3D visualization software. The visualization software has interactive tools that make free rotations in all directions possible and makes it possible to create virtual sections independent of the original cutting plan. In all, one low‐magnification and 24 high‐magnification interactive 3D models were created. Immunohistochemistry against stem cell markers p63 and ΔNp63α was performed as a supplement to the 3D models.

Results:  Using the interactive 3D models, we identified three types of stem cell niches in the limbal region: limbal epithelial crypts (LECs), limbal crypts (LCs) and focal stromal projections (FSPs). In all, eight LECs, 25 LCs and 105 FSPs were identified in the limbal region. The LECs, LCs and FSPs were predominantly located in the superior limbal region with seven LECs, 19 LCs and 93 FSPs in the superior limbal region and one LEC, six LCs and 12 FSPs in the inferior limbal region. Only few LECs, LCs and FSPs were localized nasally and temporally.

Conclusion:  Interactive 3D models are a powerful tool that may help to shed more light on the existence and spatial localization of the different stem cell niches (LECs, LCs and FSPs) in the corneal limbal region.
Keratoconus in 18 pairs of twins
Authors: Tuft Stephen J. , Hassan Hala , George Sonia , Frazer David G. , Willoughby Colin E. , Liskova Petra
Published: June 2012

Purpose:  To describe the concordance of keratoconus in 18 sets of twins.

Methods:  Thirteen monozygotic (MZ) and five dizygotic (DZ) pairs of twins were identified during an investigation of familial keratoconus. We used 16 forensic microsatellite markers to confirm the zygosity of same sex twins. Patients and available relatives were examined for signs of keratoconus using corneal topography. For each pair of twins, the severity of keratoconus in each eye was graded according to the steepest keratometry value and the average difference in score between the MZ and DZ twins compared.

Results:  All of the MZ twins and four of the five DZ twins were concordant for keratoconus but with differences in age of onset and severity of disease. The subjective age of onset of keratoconus tended to be earlier in the MZ twins (16.4 years, SD 4.66) than in the DZ twins (20.3 years, SD 7.55) (p = 0.086). Additional relatives with keratoconus were identified in two (16%) of the families with MZ twins and in three (60%) of the families of DZ twins. The mean difference in severity scores was 1.4 (SD 1.73) for the MZ twins and 3.0 (SD 1.00) for the DZ twins (p = 0.035).

Conclusion:  This data provide evidence that the severity of keratoconus is more concordant in MZ than in DZ twins. The results support the currently accepted hypothesis of an important genetic contribution towards the pathogenesis of keratoconus, but suggest that there is also an environmental effect on the expression of disease.