bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Mapping the field of educational administration research: a journal citation network analysis
Authors: Wang Yinying , Bowers Alex J.
Published: April 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to uncover how knowledge is exchanged and disseminated in the educational administration research literature through the journal citation network.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing upon social network theory and citation network studies in other disciplines, we constructed an educational administration journal citation network by extracting all 157,372 citations from 5,359 journal articles in 30 educational administration journals from 2009 to 2013. We then performed social network analysis to visualize the network structure by journal clusters, and quantified journal prominence and interdisciplinarity by calculating Freeman indegree and betweenness, respectively. In addition to journal-to-journal citations, we examined the sources of non-journal citations by citation counts.

Findings

The results of journal prominence, interdisciplinarity, and eight journal clusters in the citation network indicate that educational administration, as a porous field, intimately interacts with the sub-fields of education (e.g., urban education and teacher education), other disciplines (e.g., economics, human resources, sociology, and psychology), and the research internationally. In addition to journals as the knowledge source (45.29%), we also found books (31.08%) and reports (14.98%) are important citation sources in the educational administration research literature. The most cited books and reports shed light on the knowledge base in the theory, research, and practice of educational administration.

Originality/value

The results of this by far the largest-scale study of educational administration journals present abundant evidence that educational administration is a porous field. This study also presents social network analysis as an alternative method to evaluate journal influence in the educational administration field.
Educational leadership effectiveness: a Rasch analysis
Authors: Sinnema Claire , Ludlow Larry , Robinson Viviane
Published: April 2016

Purpose

The purposes of this study are, firstly, to establish the psychometric properties of the ELP tool, and, secondly, to test, using a Rasch item response theory analysis, the hypothesized progression of challenge presented by the items included in the tool.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected at two time points through a survey of the educational leadership practices of school principals (n = 148) and their teachers (n = 5,425). The survey comprised seven effectiveness scales relating to school-wide dimensions of leadership, and one scale relating to the effectiveness of individual principals’ leadership. We undertook validation of the hypothesized structure of the eight ELP scales using the Rasch rating scale model.

Findings

We established constructs that underpin leadership practices that are more and less effectively performed and determined the nature of their progression from those that are relatively routine through those that are more rigorous and challenging to enact. Furthermore, a series of analyses suggest strong goodness-of-model fit, unidimensionality, and invariance across time and educator group for the eight ELP scales

Research limitations/implications

This study focused on experienced principals - future studies could usefully include school leaders who are new to their role or compare leadership patterns of higher and lower performing schools. A useful future direction would be to investigate the predictive validity of the ELP tool.

Practical implications

Originality/value

This study reveals the ELP is a useful tool both for diagnosing leadership effectiveness and, given that it is essentially stable over time, may prove useful for charting the effectiveness of leadership development interventions.
Compressive sensing for noisy solder joint imagery based on convex optimization
Authors: Zhao Huihuang , Chen Jianzhen , Xu Shibiao , Wang Ying , Qiao Zhijun
Published: April 2016

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to develop a compressive sensing (CS) algorithm for noisy solder joint imagery compression and recovery. A fast gradient-based compressive sensing (FGbCS) approach is proposed based on the convex optimization. The proposed algorithm is able to improve performance in terms of peak signal noise ratio (PSNR) and computational cost.

Design/methodology/approach

Unlike traditional CS methods, the authors first transformed a noise solder joint image to a sparse signal by a discrete cosine transform (DCT), so that the reconstruction of noisy solder joint imagery is changed to a convex optimization problem. Then, a so-called gradient-based method is utilized for solving the problem. To improve the method efficiency, the authors assume the problem to be convex with the Lipschitz gradient through the replacement of an iteration parameter by the Lipschitz constant. Moreover, a FGbCS algorithm is proposed to recover the noisy solder joint imagery under different parameters.

Findings

Experiments reveal that the proposed algorithm can achieve better results on PNSR with fewer computational costs than classical algorithms like Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP), Greedy Basis Pursuit (GBP), Subspace Pursuit (SP), Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit (CoSaMP) and Iterative Re-weighted Least Squares (IRLS). Convergence of the proposed algorithm is with a faster rate O(k*k) instead of O(1/k).

Practical implications

This paper provides a novel methodology for the CS of noisy solder joint imagery, and the proposed algorithm can also be used in other imagery compression and recovery.

Originality/value

According to the CS theory, a sparse or compressible signal can be represented by a fewer number of bases than those required by the Nyquist theorem. The new development might provide some fundamental guidelines for noisy imagery compression and recovering.
Entrepreneurship success factors: an empirical investigation in Sri Lanka
Authors: Lussier Robert N , Bandara Chamara , Marom Shaike
Published: April 2016

Purpose

To investigate small business success versus failure prediction variables in the emerging market of Sri Lanka.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey research was used to collect data in Sri Lanka with a sample size of 450 small businesses (200 failed and 250 successful) based on 10 of the 15 Lussier success versus failure prediction model variables.

Findings

The results reveal significant differences between all 10 successful and failed variables tested.

Practical implications

The findings indicate that small business owners and managers can benefit from starting their business with adequate capital, by maintaining good records with financial control, having prior business and management experience, developing a business plan, having higher levels of education, being able to staff the business, starting the business during the early stages of the product life cycle, having partners, and having marketing expertise.

Originality/value

This is the first major small business success versus failure study conducted in Sri Lanka. Results support the Lussier model’s validity in Sri Lanka, reinforcing its global validity and moving toward a theory; while demonstrating similarity to those in other economies. There is no accepted theory of success vs failure, thus this study is a foundation for further research and comparisons between developed countries and emerging markets.
Potential preventive effects of proactive therapy on sensitization in moderate to severe childhood atopic dermatitis: A randomized, investigator‐blinded, controlled study
Authors: Fukuie Tatsuki , Hirakawa Satoshi , Narita Masami , Nomura Ichiro , Matsumoto Kenji , Tokura Yoshiki , Ohya Yukihiro
Published: April 2016

Proactive therapy for atopic dermatitis (AD) effectively prevents exacerbation. However, its role in preventing subsequent sensitization to allergens has not been prospectively studied. We investigated whether proactive therapy for AD can effectively impact immunological parameters in a randomized, investigator‐blinded, parallel group study. Thirty patients aged 3 months to 7 years with moderate to severe AD who had undergone an AD educational program were allocated to a proactive treatment group or a reactive treatment group. During the disease control period, patients in the proactive group performed intermittent preventive application of topical corticosteroid for 1 year. Changes in the severity scoring, quality of life measures and immunological parameters (serum thymus and activation regulated chemokine [TARC], total immunoglobulin E [IgE] and house dust mite‐specific IgE levels) were evaluated and compared between the proactive and reactive treatment groups. Although the average topical corticosteroid ointment use per day in both groups was not significantly different, the severity and quality of life scores were significantly lower in the proactive group than in the reactive group at the final visit. In addition, compared with baseline levels, serum TARC levels remained significantly lower during proactive therapy, while house dust mite‐specific IgE levels were significantly increased only in the reactive group. The results suggest that in addition to controlling the severity of AD, intermittent preventive administration of topical corticosteroids may prevent an increase in aeroallergen‐specific IgE levels in patients with childhood AD. The use of TARC levels as a biomarker for AD remission is also supported.
Mines and signs: resource and political futures in Bangladesh
Authors: Chowdhury Nusrat Sabina
Published: April 2016

In Bangladesh in 2007‐8, speculation about an energy catastrophe thrived alongside utopic visions of democracy. Two events consolidated the despair and hope for collective national futures: a movement against possible coal mines in Phulbari in the northwest and a nationwide political emergency. They are the focus of this essay. By bringing resource crisis and political crisis together, I argue, at one level, that resource and democracy have become two exemplary sites of thinking towards the future, and, at another, that the gaps in their varied imaginations are potential sites of politics. Drawing on my ethnography of the anti‐mining protests in Phulbari, I analyse the relationship between signification and anticipation in Bangladeshi politics. In so doing, I identify those emergent political moments that challenge the anticipatory politics of the state and the energy company.
Chronicle of a disaster foretold: scientific risk assessment, public participation, and the politics of imperilment in Bristol Bay, Alaska
Authors: Hébert Karen
Published: April 2016

Like many environmental controversies today, the debate over the proposed Pebble Mine in a salmon‐producing region of Alaska centres on the development and contestation of scientific projections of risk. This paper traces the participatory public process surrounding a risk assessment of potential mining impacts to examine how forums that join expert and lay knowledge shape scenarios of future imperilment and influence environmental politics in the present. It draws on ethnographic research to analyse how risk assessments demand the delineation of spatial, social, and temporal boundaries that provoke tensions, or ‘overflows’, which reveal the constraints of existing frameworks. In the Pebble debate, the public process generated overflows that expose conflicting claims to knowledge and authority, reflecting the risk assessment's overarching, if often frustrated, effort to separate scientific and technical truths from political contestations. The paper shows how these overflows spurred generative effects, new visions that remake spatial, social, and temporal relations in the face of imperilment. It argues that despite the limitations of common consultative processes and discourses of risk, the negotiation of multiple forms of knowledge and authority in the public view can nevertheless open new spaces and social formations for the exercise of politics.
Liquid Oman: oil, water, and causality in Southern Arabia
Authors: Limbert Mandana
Published: April 2016

This paper explores how different natural resources figure in temporal imaginings. I ask: how do oil and water come to frame the relationships and chronologies of transformation and, more particularly, of causality? In order to understand visions of environmental futures, not only might we need to attend to the forms of planning, expectation, and prognosis that shape knowledge or senses of the future, but we may also consider how and why causality and significant events are associated with particular natural resources. Drawing on my previous work that explores the future orientation of oil‐depletion talk in Oman as well as textual sources and ethnography, I argue that while water has been associated with pious rule and divine presence, oil has been considered to be much more transitory and the product of human interventions and policies, interventions and policies that emerge from a fraught political history. While water seems to motivate events and cause change, serving as an indication and vehicle of God's power, oil appears less a cause of national transformation, at least in its origins.
Flood Risk Information, Actual Floods and Property Values: A Quasi‐Experimental Analysis
Authors: Rajapaksa Darshana , Wilson Clevo , Managi Shunsuke , Hoang Vincent , Lee Boon
Published: April 2016

Hedonic property price analysis tells us that property prices can be affected by natural hazards such as floods. This paper examines the impact of flood‐related variables (among other factors) on property values, and examines the effect of the release of flood risk map information on property values by comparing the impact with the effect of an actual flood incidence. An examination of the temporal variation of flood impacts on property values is also made. The study is the first of its kind where the impact of the release of flood risk map information to the public is compared with an actual flood incident. In this study, we adopt a spatial quasi‐experimental analysis using the release of flood risk maps by Brisbane City Council in Queensland, Australia, in 2009 and the actual floods of 2011. The results suggest that property buyers are more responsive to the actual incidence of floods than to the disclosure of information to the public on the risk of floods.
Gluten‐Free Precooked Rice‐Yellow Pea Pasta: Effect of Extrusion‐Cooking Conditions on Phenolic Acids Composition, Selected Properties and Microstructure
Authors: Bouasla Abdallah , Wójtowicz Agnieszka , Zidoune Mohammed Nasereddine , Olech Marta , Nowak Renata , Mitrus Marcin , Oniszczuk Anna
Published: April 2016

Rice/yellow pea flour blend (2/1 ratio) was used to produce gluten‐free precooked pasta using a single‐screw modified extrusion‐cooker TS‐45. The effect of moisture content (28%, 30%, and 32%) and screw speed (60, 80, and 100 rpm) on some quality parameters was assessed. The phenolic acids profile and selected pasta properties were tested, like pasting properties, water absorption capacity, cooking loss, texture characteristics, microstructure, and sensory overall acceptability. Results indicated that dough moisture content influenced all tested quality parameters of precooked pasta except firmness. Screw speed showed an effect only on some quality parameters. The extrusion‐cooking process at 30% of dough moisture with 80 rpm is appropriate to obtain rice‐yellow pea precooked pasta with high content of phenolics and adequate quality. These pasta products exhibited firm texture, low stickiness, and regular and compact interne structure confirmed by high score in sensory overall acceptability.
Single‐Center Experience With HeartMate II Left Ventricular Assist Device Explantation
Authors: Tchantchaleishvili Vakhtang , Cheyne Christina , Sherazi Saadia , Melvin Amber L. , Hallinan William , Chen Leway , Todd Massey Howard
Published: April 2016

In patients with continuous flow left ventricular assist devices (CF‐LVADs) myocardial recovery is uncommon. Given the heterogeneity of the population implanted and low incidence of recovery, the discovery of native left ventricular (LV) recovery and criteria for explantation of CF‐LVAD system is not clearly determined. We sought to analyze the characteristics of the patients who underwent CF‐LVAD explantation at our institution. Prospectively collected data on patients supported with CF‐LVADs were reviewed retrospectively. Patients who underwent CF‐LVAD explants were identified and their characteristics were analyzed with a focus on patient presentation and determinants of explantability. From November 2006 to June 2014, 223 patients (181 male, 42 female) underwent implantation of HeartMate II LVAD. Seven female (16.7%) and one male (0.6%) patients were explanted (P < 0.001). Mean age was 43 ± 9 years and etiology for cardiomyopathy was ischemic in three (37.5%) patients, nonischemic in four (50%) patients, and mixed in the one (12.5%) male patient of the cohort. Five (62.5%) patients presented acutely with significant hemolysis, and were found to have LV improvement as well as reduced, absent, or reversed diastolic flow velocities on echocardiography. Overall, mean lactate dehydrogenase level before explantation was 1709 ± 1168 U/L compared to the mean baseline level of 601 ± 316 U/L (P = 0.048). Mean LV ejection fraction (LVEF) improved from 17 ± 7% preimplant to 56 ± 11% pre‐explantation (P < 0.001). Median number of days on CF‐LVAD support was 870 (interquartile range, 209–975) while mean duration of follow‐up after the CF‐LVAD explantation was 276 ± 240 days. Mean LVEF dropped from 46 ± 19% postexplantation to 34 ± 10% during the most recent follow‐up (P = 0.015). At our institution, patients who underwent LVAD explants were predominantly women with nonischemic cardiomyopathy. Clinical evidence of hemolysis and echocardiographic evidence of reduced or absent diastolic flow velocities were common findings in these patients. Over time, patient's native LV function declined in the absence of LVAD (after LVAD explantation). Significant challenges remain in predicting LV recovery and identifying those individuals who have recovered myocardial function significant enough to be explanted.
Early Adolescent Affect Predicts Later Life Outcomes
Authors: Kansky Jessica , Allen Joseph P. , Diener Ed
Published: April 2016

Background

Subjective well‐being as a predictor for later behavior and health has highlighted its relationship to health, work performance, and social relationships. However, the majority of such studies neglect the developmental nature of well‐being in contributing to important changes across the transition to adulthood.

Methods

To examine the potential role of subjective well‐being as a long‐term predictor of critical life outcomes, we examined indicators of positive and negative affect at age 14 as predictors of relationship, adjustment, self‐worth, and career outcomes a decade later at ages 23 to 25, controlling for family income and gender. We utilised multi‐informant methods including reports from the target participant, close friends, and romantic partners in a demographically diverse community sample of 184 participants.

Results

Early adolescent positive affect predicted fewer relationship problems (less self‐reported and partner‐reported conflict, and greater friendship attachment as rated by close peers) and healthy adjustment to adulthood (lower levels of depression, anxiety, and loneliness). It also predicted positive work functioning (higher levels of career satisfaction and job competence) and increased self‐worth. Negative affect did not significantly predict any of these important life outcomes. In addition to predicting desirable mean levels of later outcomes, early positive affect predicted beneficial changes across time in many outcomes.

Conclusions

The findings extend early research on the beneficial outcomes of subjective well‐being by having an earlier assessment of well‐being, including informant reports in measuring a large variety of outcome variables, and by extending the findings to a lower socioeconomic group of a diverse and younger sample. The results highlight the importance of considering positive affect as an important component of subjective well‐being distinct from negative affect.
Targeting the NO/superoxide ratio in adipose tissue: relevance to obesity and diabetes management
Authors: Jankovic Aleksandra , Korac Aleksandra , Buzadzic Biljana , Stancic Ana , Otasevic Vesna , Ferdinandy Péter , Daiber Andreas , Korac Bato
Published: April 2016

Insulin sensitivity and metabolic homeostasis depend on the capacity of adipose tissue to take up and utilize excess glucose and fatty acids. The key aspects that determine the fuel‐buffering capacity of adipose tissue depend on the physiological levels of the small redox molecule, nitric oxide (NO). In addition to impairment of NO synthesis, excessive formation of the superoxide anion (О2•–) in adipose tissue may be an important interfering factor diverting the signalling of NO and other reactive oxygen and nitrogen species in obesity, resulting in metabolic dysfunction of adipose tissue over time. Besides its role in relief from superoxide burst, enhanced NO signalling may be responsible for the therapeutic benefits of different superoxide dismutase mimetics, in obesity and experimental diabetes models. This review summarizes the role of NO in adipose tissue and highlights the effects of NO/О2•– ratio ‘teetering’ as a promising pharmacological target in the metabolic syndrome.

Linked Articles

This article is part of a themed section on Redox Biology and Oxidative Stress in Health and Disease. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v174.12/issuetoc
Stop Jumping the Gun: A Call for Evidence‐Based Invasive Predator Management
Authors: Doherty Tim S. , Ritchie Euan G.
Published: April 2016

Invasive mammalian predators are major drivers of species extinctions globally. To protect native prey, lethal control is often used with the aim of reducing or exterminating invasive predator populations. The efficacy of this practice, however, is often not considered despite multiple practical and ecological factors that can limit success. Here, we summarize contemporary knowledge regarding the use and challenges of both lethal control and alternative approaches for reducing invasive predator impacts. As the prevailing management approach, we outline four key issues that can compromise the effectiveness of lethal control: release of herbivore and mesopredator populations, disruption of predator social systems, compensatory predator immigration, and ethical concerns. We then discuss the relative merits and limitations of four alternative approaches that may enhance conservation practitioner's ability to effectively manage invasive predators: top‐predator conservation or reintroduction, maintaining habitat complexity, exclusion fencing, and behavioral and evolutionary ecology. Considerable uncertainty remains regarding the effectiveness of management approaches in different environmental contexts. We propose that the deficiencies and uncertainties outlined here can be addressed through a combination of adaptive management, expert elicitation, and cost‐benefit analyses. Improved management of invasive predators requires greater consideration and assessment of the full range of management approaches available.
Latitudinal and depth gradients in marine predation pressure
Authors: Harper Elizabeth M. , Peck Lloyd S.
Published: April 2016

Aim There is a general paradigm that marine predation pressure increases towards the tropics and decreases with depth. However, data demonstrating global trends are generally lacking. Rhynchonelliform brachiopods inhabit all the oceans and often survive shell‐crushing predator attacks. We investigate shell repair in brachiopods across a range of Southern Hemisphere and tropical Northern Hemisphere latitudes and depths.

Location The Southern Hemisphere and tropical Northern Hemisphere.

Methods We analysed the frequency of shell repair in 112 bulk samples, over 70% of which showed traces of shell damage and repair.

Results The pattern of shell repair frequency (RF) was more complicated than the anticipated increase with decreasing latitude, with low levels at both polar and tropical sites but high levels at temperate latitudes. This pattern is only evident, however, in shallow water assemblages; and there is no latitudinal trend in water depths greater than 200 m, where shell RF is systematically low. There was a significant logarithmic relationship between RF and depth. Low polar repair rates reflect reduced predation pressure, directly supporting the global paradigm. Low rates in the tropics appears counter to the paradigm. However, tropical brachiopods are generally very small (micromorphic) in shallow water and below the minimum size at which damage is recorded anywhere.

Main conclusions Predation pressure decreased logarithmically with depth. At shallow depths (< 200 m) RF showed its highest levels in the mid temperate latitudes with decreasing frequency towards both the tropics and the poles. Low levels of shell repair at high latitudes are likely to be due to a lack of crushing predators, but in the tropics it is suggested that the low frequency is a result of the small size of tropical brachiopods. We hypothesize that micromorphy in this region may be an outcome of high predation pressure.
Comparison of three scoring systems for risk stratification in elderly patients wıth acute upper gastrointestinal bleeding
Authors: Kalkan Çağdaş , Soykan Irfan , Karakaya Fatih , Tüzün Ali , Gençtürk Zeynep Bıyıklı
Published: April 2016

Aim

Acute gastrointestinal bleeding is a potentially life‐threatening condition that requires rapid assessment and dynamic management. Several scoring systems are used to predict mortality and rebleeding in such cases. The aim of the present study was to compare three scoring systems for predicting short‐term mortality, rebleeding, duration of hospitalization and the need for blood transfusion in elderly patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

Methods

The present study included 335 elderly patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Pre‐ and post‐endoscopic Rockall, Glasgow–Blatchford and AIMS65 scores were calculated. The ability of these scores to predict rebleeding, mortality, duration of hospitalization and the need for blood transfusion was determined.

Results

Pre‐ (4.5) and post‐endoscopic (7.5) Rockall scores were superior to the Glasgow–Blatchford (12.5) score for predicting mortality (P = 0.006 and P = 0.015). Likewise, pre‐ (4.5) and post‐endoscopic Rockall scores were superior to the respective Glasgow–Blatchford scores for predicting rebleeding (P = 0.013 and P = 0.03). There was an association between duration of hospitalization and mortality; as the duration of hospitalization increased the mortality rate increased. In all, 94% of patients hospitalized for a mean of 5 days were alive versus 56.1% of those hospitalized for 20 days, and 20.2% of those hospitalized for 40 days.

Conclusions

In elderly patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding, the Rockall score is clinically more useful for predicting mortality and rebleeding than the Glasgow–Blatchford and AIMS65 scores; however, for predicting duration of hospitalization and the need for blood transfusion, the Glasgow–Blatchford score is superior to the Rockall and AIMS65 scores. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 575–583.
Brand Firm Performance and Tough Economic Times
Authors: Chang Yuk Ying , Young Martin
Published: April 2016

Negative income shocks may cause lower consumption and a switch in consumption from brand to non‐brand products as consumers economize on price (Larkin ). This switch can also be the result of the vigorous promotion of private label products (Lamey et al. ). However, dedicated customers and conspicuous consumption (Veblen ; Berger and Ward ) can mitigate or even neutralize these effects on brand firms. Consistent with the notion that enduring consumption by brand customers has a stronger effect, we find that compared with non‐brand firms, brand firms performed better in and recovered quicker from the difficult economic times of the late 2000s.
Natural and anthropogenic influences on the population structure of white‐tailed eagles in the Carpathian Basin and central Europe
Authors: Nemesházi Edina , Kövér Szilvia , Zachos Frank E. , Horváth Zoltán , Tihanyi Gábor , Mórocz Attila , Mikuska Tibor , Hám István , Literák Ivan , Ponnikas Suvi , Mizera Tadeusz , Szabó Krisztián
Published: April 2016

European populations of the white‐tailed eagleHaliaeetus albicillasuffered a drastic decline during the 20th century. In many countries, only a few dozen breeding pairs survived or the species disappeared completely. By today, the populations have recovered, naturally or through restocking (e.g. in Scotland or the Czech Republic). In the Carpathian Basin, which is now a stronghold in southern Europe for the species in the southern part of the distribution range with more than 500 breeding pairs, only about 50 pairs survived the bottleneck. This region provides important wintering places for individuals arriving from different regions of Eurasia. In the present study, we investigated 249 DNA samples from several European countries, using 11 microsatellites and mitochondrial control region sequences (499 bp), to answer two main questions: 1) did the Carpathian Basin population recover through local population expansion or is there a significant gene flow from more distant populations as well? 2) Does the Czech population show signs in its genetic structure of the restocking with birds of unknown origin? Our microsatellite data yielded three genetically separate lineages within Europe: northern, central and southern, the latter being present exclusively in the Carpathian Basin. Sequencing of mitochondrial DNA revealed that there is one haplotype (B12) which is not only exclusive to the Carpathian Basin but it is frequent in this population. Our results suggest that in accordance with the presumably philopatric behaviour of the species, recovery of the Carpathian Basin population was mainly local, but some of the wintering birds coming from the northern and central populations contributed to its genetic composition as well. We detected considerably higher proportions of northern birds within the Czech Republic compared to the neighbouring areas, making it likely that parents of the reintroduced birds came from northern populations.
Adaptability of a specialist predator: the effects of land use on diet diversification and breeding performance of Verreaux's eagles
Authors: Murgatroyd M. , Avery G. , Underhill L. G. , Amar A.
Published: April 2016

Specialist predators are generally negatively impacted by habitat change. Predators that inhabit transformed areas are usually forced to diversify their diet and this departure away from traditional resources can have negative consequences for fitness and demographic parameters. We consider this relationship as it applies to Verreaux's eagles Aquila verreauxii, which is typically considered to be a highly specialised predator of hyraxes (Procavia and Heterohyrax spp.). We investigate diet in relation to land cover in two adjacent areas of South Africa and explore the links between diet diversity, the percentage of hyrax consumed, and the breeding performance of eagles. We also examine these same patterns using data from other studies. We found that diet diversity was greater in the agriculturally developed Sandveld region compared to the natural Cederberg region. Proportions of the three main prey types were correlated with the proportion of agriculturally developed land around the nest site. Breeding performance was correlated with the diet, but not in the manner expected, with breeding productivity being greater in regions with large diet diversity and a small proportion of hyrax in the diet. We found similar patterns when placing our results into a broader geographical context using other dietary studies of Verreaux's eagles, suggesting our results were not unique to our study system. Thus, our results suggest that diet diversification does not necessarily impinge on breeding performance in the presence of adequate alternative prey resources. This research adds to the growing number of studies suggesting that some predators may be adaptable up to a threshold level of habitat transformation. These results have implications for predicting changes on such species by anthropogenic habitat transformation and highlight the potential for agriculturally developed areas to maintain a conservation value when habitat heterogeneity is maintained.
Prediction model for sustained hepatitis B e antigen seroconversion to peginterferon alfa‐2a in chronic hepatitis B
Authors: Zhu Huilan , Wang Changtai , Zhang Yafei , Wei Shaofeng , Li Xu , Zhang Zhenhua
Published: April 2016

Background and Aim

Clinically applicable models to predict hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)‐positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) response to peginterferon (PEG‐IFN) are scarce. This study aimed to develop simple scoring systems, based on multiple parameters, for predicting sustained HBeAg seroconversion to PEG‐IFN.

Methods

Eighty‐five treatment‐naïve patients with HBeAg‐positive CHB underwent 52‐week PEG‐IFN treatment and 24‐week follow‐up. Logistic regression analysis assessed parameters at baseline and weeks 12, 24, and 52 to predict HBeAg seroconversion at week 24 off‐treatment. The best three predictors at each time point were included in prediction models of PEG‐IFN therapy efficacy.

Results

The three most meaningful predictors were alanine aminotransferase (ALT) > 5 × ULN, HBeAg ≤ 500 S/CO, and antibody to hepatitis B core antigen (anti‐HBc) > 10.7 S/CO at baseline; HBeAg ≤ 20 S/CO, anti‐HBc > 11.7 S/CO, and HBeAg decline > 1 log10 S/CO at week 12; ALT > 2 × ULN, HBeAg ≤ 15 S/CO, and anti‐HBc > 10.4 S/CO at week 24; HBeAg ≤ 5 S/CO, anti‐HBc > 11.1 S/CO, and hepatitis B virus DNA decline > 2 log10 copies/mL at week 52. Parameters meeting optimal cutoff thresholds were scored 1 or otherwise scored 0. For total scores of 0 versus 3 at baseline and weeks 12, 24, and 52, response rates were 6.3%, 12.5%, 0%, and 0% versus 90.0%, 83.3%, 76.9%, and 86.4%, respectively.

Conclusions

We successfully established prediction models for PEG‐IFN response in HBeAg‐positive CHB.
Somatic symptoms, sleep disturbance and psychological distress among women undergoing oocyte pick‐up and in vitro fertilisation–embryo transfer
Authors: Lin Ya‐Hui , Chueh Ke‐Hsin , Lin Jia‐Ling
Published: April 2016

Aims and objectives

This study investigated the relationship between somatic symptoms, sleep disturbance and psychological distress in women who underwent oocyte pick‐up and in vitro fertilisation–embryo transfer.

Background

According to worldwide research, women receiving assisted reproductive technologies may suffer from somatic and psychological symptoms and even experience sleep disturbance. Apparently, the guilt of infecundity forces Asian women to conceal this scenario and delay the time at which they accept medical assistance and mental support.

Design

A longitudinal study.

Methods

The subjects in this study were infertile female patients who received oocyte pick‐up and in vitro fertilisation–embryo transfer therapies in a hospital in northern Taiwan. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire, including somatic symptoms, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and a five‐item brief symptom rating scale. Data were analysed using the McNemar's test, Wilcoxon Sign Rank and fully entered multiple regression with spss version 20.0 software.

Results

The mean age of 100 participants was 34·54 (SD = 3·94) years old. They experienced abdominal distention, breast engorgement, nausea, faintness, diarrhoea, sleep disturbance and psychological distress when they received in vitro fertilisation–embryo transfer; these results were apparently higher than those receiving oocyte pick‐up. In addition, sleep disturbance was the most significant factor involved in psychological distress during oocyte pick‐up and in vitro fertilisation–embryo transfer therapies. The most serious indicator of the women's psychological distress during oocyte pick‐up and in vitro fertilisation–embryo transfer treatment is anxiety.

Conclusions

Sleep disturbance was the most significant factor involved in the psychological distress of women having problems with conception.

Relevance to clinical practice

Assisted reproductive technologies nurses can assess women's psychological distress by caring for their sleep disturbance without directly exploring their mood state. Moreover, these medical personnel should understand infertile female patients’ psychological distress is mainly associated with their sleep disturbance. Developing various strategies to improve both sleep quality and psychological distress for infertile female patients should be recognised in future studies.
Possibility of less radical treatment for patients with early invasive uterine cervical cancer
Authors: Kim Miseon , Ishioka Shinichi , Endo Toshiaki , Baba Tsuyoshi , Mizuuchi Masahito , Takada Sakura , Saito Tsuyoshi
Published: April 2016

Aim

Radical trachelectomy (RT) with lymphadenectomy has become a standard treatment modality for patients with early invasive uterine cervical cancer who hope to preserve fertility. However, pregnancy after RT has high risks of preterm birth. The possibility of more conservative RT and the application of RT for patients with higher clinical stages were studied.

Methods

The medical charts and specimens of 42 patients who underwent RT and 64 patients who underwent radical hysterectomy were retrospectively studied. Tumor size, distance between the margin of the cancer and the internal orifice of the uterus (os), parametrial invasion, lymph node metastasis and prognoses were investigated.

Results

The average distances between the inner margin of the cancer and the internal os were 37 mm, 29 mm, 18.7 mm and 14 mm for patients with stage 1 A2, 1B1 (≤ 2 cm), 1B1 (> 2 cm) and 1B2, respectively. When amputation was performed 10 mm below the internal os, all 10 patients with 1 A2, 57 with 1B1 (≤ 2 cm), 19 with 1B1 (> 2 cm), and one with 1B2 had a cancer‐free margin > 10 mm. Patients with stage 1 A2 had a cancer‐free margin > 10 mm even if we amputated the cervix 20 mm below the internal os. Parametrial invasion was detected in two patients with stage 1B1.

Conclusions

A simple trachelectomy 20 mm below the internal os with pelvic lymphadenectomy might be possible for stage 1 A2 patients. The present method is best for stage 1B1 patients (≤ 2 cm). RT for stage 1B1 (>2 cm) or higher stages should be contraindicated.
Three‐dimensional saline‐infusion sonohysterography is useful for the identification of endometrial polyp
Authors: Inoue Tsuneo , Kitajima Michio , Taniguchi Ken , Masuzaki Hideaki
Published: April 2016

Aim

To determine whether three‐dimensional saline infusion sonohysterography (3D‐SISH) is useful for the detection of endometrial polyps and whether it can accurately identify the site of attachment within the uterine cavity.

Methods

Sixteen women who underwent preoperative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), 3D‐SISH and subsequent hysteroscopic resection or total hysterectomy and who were surgically diagnosed with endometrial polyps were enrolled. The rate of polyp detection and the accuracy of attachment site within the uterine cavity for each test were examined.

Results

Endometrial polyps could only be identified in 37.5% of women using MRI, but could be identified in all women using 3D‐SISH. The accuracy rate of the attachment site of endometrial polyps was 87.5% on 3D‐SISH and 18.8% (in all patients) or 50.0% (in polyp‐detected patients) on MRI, indicating a higher accuracy rate using 3D‐SISH.

Conclusion

We demonstrated that 3D‐SISH is useful for the detection and localization of endometrial polyps and is likely to become the examination method of first choice for the identification of endometrial polyps.
A Prospective, Randomized, Masked, Placebo‐Controlled Multisite Clinical Study of Grapiprant, an EP4 Prostaglandin Receptor Antagonist (PRA), in Dogs with Osteoarthritis
Authors: Rausch‐Derra L. , Huebner M. , Wofford J. , Rhodes L.
Published: April 2016

Background

This study evaluated the effectiveness and safety of grapiprant for treatment of pain in dogs with osteoarthritis (OA).

Hypothesis/Objectives

Grapiprant will relieve pain as measured by the owner's and veterinarian's evaluation of pain in dogs with OA. Another objective was evaluation of the safety of grapiprant.

Animals

Two hundred and eighty‐five client‐owned dogs with OA were enrolled and treated with grapiprant or placebo with 262 cases (N = 131 in each group) evaluable for the effectiveness analysis.

Methods

In this prospective, randomized, masked, placebo‐controlled study dogs were treated daily with grapiprant (2 mg/kg) per OS or placebo. Owners completed an evaluation using the Canine Brief Pain Inventory (CBPI) on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28. Success was defined as improvement in the CBPI. Veterinary assessments were made on screening and days 14 and 28. Safety was evaluated by physical examination, evaluation of clinical pathology results, and owner observations.

Results

Grapiprant treatment improved pain compared to placebo on day 28 (48.1 and 31.3% treatment successes respectively; P = .0315). The pain interference score (PIS) and pain severity score (PSS) improved in the grapiprant group compared to placebo (P = .0029 and 0.0022, respectively). Veterinary assessments were significantly better in the grapiprant‐treated dogs (P = .0086). Grapiprant generally was well tolerated, but a higher percentage of treated dogs (17.02%) had occasional vomiting as compared to the placebo group (6.25%).

Conclusions and Clinical Importance

Grapiprant is an effective treatment for alleviation of pain in dogs with OA, and represents a modality of treatment that may be better tolerated than current options.
An expanded nationwide view of chronic kidney disease in Aboriginal Australians
Authors: Hoy Wendy E , Mott Susan A , Mc Donald Stephen P
Published: April 2016

We summarize new knowledge that has accrued in recent years on chronic kidney disease (CKD) in Indigenous Australians. CKD refers to all stages of preterminal kidney disease, including end‐stage kidney failure (ESKF), whether or not a person receives renal replacement therapy (RRT). Recently recorded rates of ESKF, RRT, non‐dialysis CKD hospitalizations and CKD attributed deaths were, respectively, more than sixfold, eightfold, eightfold and threefold those of non‐Indigenous Australians, with age adjustment, although all except the RRT rates are still under‐enumerated. However, the nationwide average Indigenous incidence rate of RRT appears to have stabilized. The median age of Indigenous people with ESKF was about 30 years less than for non‐Indigenous people, and 84% of them received RTT, while only half of non‐Indigenous people with ESKF did so. The first‐ever (2012) nationwide health survey data showed elevated levels of CKD markers in Indigenous people at the community level. For all CKD parameters, rates among Indigenous people themselves were strikingly correlated with increasing remoteness of residence and socio‐economic disadvantage, and there was a female predominance in remote areas. The burden of renal disease in Australian Indigenous people is seriously understated by Global Burden of Disease Mortality methodology, because it employs underlying cause of death only, and because deaths of people on RRT are frequently attributed to non‐renal causes.

These data give a much expanded view of CKD in Aboriginal people. Methodologic approaches must be remedied for a full appreciation of the burden, costs and outcomes of the disease, to direct appropriate policy development.
Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis caused by systemic herpes simplex virus type 1 infection: Successful treatment with dexamethasone palmitate
Authors: Otsubo Keisuke , Fukumura Akiko , Hirayama Mariko , Morimoto Tsuyoshi , Kato Masahiko , Mochizuki Hiroyuki
Published: April 2016

Hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) is a hyperinflammatory condition resulting from an uncontrolled and ineffective immune response. Here, we report a case of HLH caused by disseminated herpes simplex virus (HSV)‐1 infection. The patient was initially treated with prednisolone and high‐dose acyclovir. Although liver enzymes, coagulation abnormalities, and inflammatory markers were remarkably improved, the platelet count remained low. Prednisolone was therefore switched to dexamethasone palmitate. Thereafter, the platelet count normalized. Inflammatory markers normalized 30 days after admission and serum HSV‐DNA became undetectable on day 41. The patient was discharged on day 91 and no developmental delay was evident at 7 months of age. These findings suggest that dexamethasone palmitate is effective for neonatal HLH.
Exchange Rate Dynamics with Foreign Reserves: Revisiting the Dornbusch Overshooting Model
Authors: Lee Jong‐Eun
Published: April 2016

The purpose of this study is to shed light on the management of foreign reserves that possibly have contradictory policy intentions and impacts, for instance, (1) to defend the domestic currency, (2) to depreciate the domestic currency. With this Möbius's strip‐like nature in mind, we extend the Dornbusch (1976) exchange rate overshooting model with the foreign reserves. Depending on financial vulnerability, the presence of foreign reserves could amplify or alleviate monetary policy shocks on the exchange rate.
A Tacit Monetary Policy of the Gulf Countries: Is There a Remittances Channel?
Authors: Termos Ali , Genc Ismail , Naufal George
Published: April 2016

The strong economic ties between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) economies and the USA are manifested in three ways: currency peg, coupling of monetary policy, and the adoption of the US dollar as the trading currency for oil. This paper examines how these dynamics result in a misalignment of the US monetary policy with the business cycles of the GCC economies. The study shows how the staggering amount of remittances outflow of the GCC economies plays a stabilizing role as a tacit monetary policy tool. Incorporating remittances in the money‐demand equation results in a more robust model than otherwise. We further find that the effect of the Federal Funds rate on money demand in these countries diminishes in significance during the period of oil boom between 2002 and 2009. However, the transmission effect of the recession periods in the USA into the demand for money in the GCC countries is not statistically significant.
Public Enterprise Privatization: A General Equilibrium Analysis
Authors: Wu Chung‐Yu , Liang Wen‐Jung , Mai Chao‐Cheng
Published: April 2016

This paper develops a general equilibrium model to examine the short‐run and long‐run optimal privatization policies. By assuming that all firms are public firms initially, the paper focuses on how the degree of product differentiation γ and the average efficiency of the industry influence the determination of the optimal privatization policy. The paper shows that privatization decreases the more efficient firms' outputs while increases the less efficient firms' outputs in the short run, and reduces all firms' outputs in the long run. The paper also shows that the larger is γ and the smaller is the number of firms, the more privatized will be the public firm in the short run. Moreover, as γ or the entry barrier fE is sufficiently small, full privatization is the best policy in the long run. On the contrary, as γ and fE are large enough, partial privatization is optimal.