bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Density dependence of weed seed predation by invertebrates and vertebrates in winter wheat
Authors: BARAIBAR B , DAEDLOW D , DE MOL F , GEROWITT B
Published: September 2011

BaraibarB,DaedlowD,DeMolF&GerowittB (2011). Density dependence of weed seed predation by invertebrates and vertebrates in winter wheat.Weed Research 52, 79–87.

Weed seed predation has the potential to limit weed population growth within agricultural fields. Its success depends in part on the ability of predators to detect weed patches and respond in a direct density‐dependent way to increasing weed seed densities. To test for density‐dependent responses, an experiment was conducted in north‐eastern Germany in four winter wheat fields during October 2008 and 2009. Zero, 1000, 2500 and 5000 seeds m−2ofLolium multiflorumwere applied to four adjacent 15 m × 15 m plots in each field. Seed predation was measured in 20 randomly located trays per plot that were accessible to all predators (eight per plot) or excluded vertebrates (12 per plot). Seeds were exposed in the field for 18 days. Remaining seeds were recovered from the soil and counted. In addition, 20 seed cards were randomly placed in each plot, half of them with vertebrate exclosure cages. Seeds on cards were counted every other day. Seed predators were identified. Predation rates measured by trays were low (32.7% per 18 days) and may have been caused by low densities of predators. Vertebrates responded in a direct density‐dependent way to increasing seed densities, whereas the response of invertebrates was density independent. Seed predation from seed cards confirmed the density‐dependent responses obtained using trays. Seed predators only needed a few days to detect and preferably exploit the high density plots. Weed seed patches are likely to persist in fields where invertebrates are the main predators, while they could be better controlled where granivorous rodents predominate.
Risk factors for basal cell carcinoma in a southern Brazilian population: a case–control study
Authors: Gon Airton , Minelli Lorivaldo
Published: September 2011

Background  Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most common cancer to occur in Caucasian populations, and its incidence is increasing. Despite its frequency, there is a paucity of data on risk factors for BCC in some regions.

Objectives  This study investigated the association between pigmentary characteristics, distinctive patterns of solar exposure, habits and lifestyle, and risk for BCC among patients attending a dermatology center in a region in southern Brazil.

Methods  We conducted a hospital‐based, case–control study that included 127 case patients with histologically confirmed BCC and 280 cancer‐free control subjects with other dermatologic conditions, observed between January 2006 and December 2007. The study was conducted using a questionnaire and physical examination by a dermatologist. Relative risks were estimated using exposure odds ratios generated by cross‐tabulation and logistic regression models.

Results  Risk for BCC was associated with family history of skin cancer, Fitzpatrick skin type I, and the presence of actinic keratoses, solar lentigines, leukoderma, and elastosis romboidalis nuchae. No effect was found for different patterns of solar exposure, eye, hair or skin color, exposure to non‐solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR), or lifestyle‐related habits such as sunscreen use and cigarette smoking.

Conclusions  The results of this study suggest that skin type and family history of skin cancer may be important in establishing risk for developing BCC. Additionally, the detection by clinical examination of skin markers related to UVR action is important in establishing which patients are more likely to develop BCC.
Effects of integrated genetic evaluations for Icelandic horses on predictive ability, accuracy and selection bias
Authors: Albertsdóttir E. , Árnason T. , Eriksson S. , Sigurdsson Á. , Fikse W.F.
Published: September 2011

The genetic evaluation of Icelandic horses is currently based on results from breeding field tests of riding ability and conformation. The effect of integrating competition traits and/or test status into the genetic evaluation was studied concerning estimation bias, predictive ability, accuracy, correlations between breeding values and ranking of sires. Breeding field test data included 19 954 records from horses assessed in 11 countries during 1994–2008. Competition data included 44 160 records from 7687 horses competing in Iceland and Sweden in 1998–2008. Test status was defined as attendance of horses born in Iceland at breeding field tests and/or in competition. Overall, there were trivial differences between different genetic evaluation models regarding estimation bias and predictive ability. Very strong correlations were estimated between breeding values for combined indexes of conformation, riding ability and total score from different models. Higher accuracy was achieved for most of the traits when competition traits and/or test status were added to the model. Sires ranked differently when the new traits were added to the genetic evaluation model. It was concluded that competition traits should be integrated into the genetic evaluation. Further analyses on genetic parameters for test status and its relationship with the other traits are needed for future inclusion of test status in the genetic evaluation.
Grapevine Fleck Virus Isolates Split into Two Distinct Molecular Groups
Authors: Glasa Miroslav , Predajňa Lukas , Komínek Petr
Published: September 2011

Although Grapevine fleck virus (GFkV) has a worldwide distribution, data about its molecular variability are very scarce. A genome region encoding the central part of the capsid protein gene was amplified from 36 GFkV isolates recovered from a relatively restricted area (Slovakia and the Czech Republic). The nucleotide identities between isolates ranged from 88 to 100%. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the GFkV isolates divided into two groups. Although group I comprised the majority of the isolates, the analysis of the mean nucleotide intragroup divergence showed that group I was less variable than group II. The dN : dS ratio was <1 for each group, suggesting a negative selective pressure for amino acid changes in this portion of the genome.
Effects of statins on cholestasis: Good, bad or indifferent?
Authors: Kuver Rahul
Published: September 2011

See article in J. Gastroenterol. Hepatol. 2011; 26: 1544–1551.
Managing ethically questionable parental requests: Growth suppression and manipulation of puberty
Authors: Isaacs David , Tobin Bernadette , Hamblin Julie , Slaytor Emma , Donaghue Kim C , Munns Craig , Kilham Henry A
Published: September 2011

Doctors sometimes struggle with ethically challenging requests for treatment from children's parents. For instance, we have recently had two requests by parents of children, a girl and a boy, each with a severe developmental disability, for hormonal therapy to suppress growth and puberty: the girl's parents requested, in addition, hysterectomy and mastectomy. We propose a reliable approach to assessing the ethical and legal aspects of these and other requests for ‘non‐therapeutic’ treatment of a minor who lacks the capacity to give informed consent. We argue that a doctor should first assess whether the request is one that he or she can, in conscience, accede to, and then, if it is, seek the authorisation of a court. We outline considerations relevant to the doctor's assessment of both the ethical issues and to the need for court authorisation.
Expressing ethical principles of treatment and care in a charter: What value?
Authors: Kilham Henry A
Published: September 2011

More than ever before, public institutions are expected to have accessible guidelines on what they do, both for their staff and for those served by them. With this in mind, some principles of treatment and care of sick children were drafted for the Children's Hospital at Westmead. These were centred on ethics, primarily of what was best for the child. They were neither all‐inclusive nor specific. They were labelled as a charter. They were rejected by a parent committee and met with unenthusiastic responses at meetings of hospital and ethics professionals. Reasons for this are unclear, but it is speculated that fear of the unknown and distrust of institutions may be factors. To date, the charter has not proved useful, except in provoking further discussion on how general guidelines are written, used and valued and on end‐of‐life decision‐making more generally.
Consent and public engagement in an era of expanded childhood immunisation
Authors: Leask Julie , Braunack‐Mayer Annette , Kerridge Ian
Published: September 2011

Childhood immunisation programmes have seen well‐heralded successes in disease control. An increasing number of scheduled vaccines, narrowing risk–benefit ratios and public attention to vaccine safety raise new questions about consent. We first explore the challenges that this highly dynamic environment poses for valid consent. Then, we broaden this discussion to wider public engagement by suggesting how the public – the bearers of vaccine risk and benefit – can be better involved in immunisation policy.
Too big to swallow
Authors: Sawyer Susan M
Published: September 2011

The failure of current treatment approaches to severe obesity has resulted in significant investment by the scientific community to develop new treatments for this challenging health problem. Any new treatment must be scientifically tested to determine its potential role and any innovation in healthcare can be associated with moral and ethical challenges. This reflective piece is based on the experience of running the first randomised controlled trial to compare laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding to an intensive behaviourally‐based intervention in adolescents with severe obesity during which many moral and ethical concerns were articulated by other health professionals. Five different types of responses are described (preventers, druggies, deferrers, slippery slopers and simplifiers). While raising important concerns, these responses also deflect attention from the urgent need to develop and test new treatments for the most severely obese adolescents. The stigma of obesity is posed as an underlying yet unaddressed issue.
Gynaecological issues in adolescents with disability
Authors: Grover Sonia R
Published: September 2011

Menstruation and contraception is a concern for families who have a daughter with a significant disability, either physical or developmental. Accessing information regarding options may be difficult. Maternal experiences of menses further impact on the anxiety. The onset of menses is a reminder that their daughter is at risk of sexual abuse and pregnancy. It may highlight the fact that they are at their limits of coping – without the addition of yet another problem, of managing menses. Parental and carer concern is about the practicalities of how the adolescent will manage menstruation – both the hygiene aspects of menses and also the potential pain. Additionally, information is required about the possible need for contraception and the role and importance of reproductive hormones for preventing cardiac disease and osteoporosis. Recognition that a number of other medical problems may be related to reproductive hormones – such as cyclic seizure, behavioural difficulties and osteoporosis – is important as this gives an alternative avenue for intervention. The focus of this paper will be on the gynaecological aspects of young women with significant disabilities, rather than those with mild disabilities.
Ethical issues in genetics
Authors: Wilcken Bridget
Published: September 2011

Genetic disorders are caused by abnormalities in genes and chromosomes and for the most part have implications for family members, affecting such matters as confidentiality and disclosure to third parties. Genetic testing can be not only diagnostic but also predictive, raising issues of the need for pre‐test counselling, protection of children from unwanted testing, and most importantly, the imprecision of interpretation of future risk. The rise in availability of direct‐to‐consumer testing is a fresh cause for concern, as are the new possibilities in reproductive medicine. New technologies and the falling cost of whole genome sequencing ensure that ethics will be a prominent concern for clinical genetics.
Bad, mad and sad: Rethinking the human condition in childhood with special relevance to moral development
Authors: Nunn Kenneth
Published: September 2011

Identifying the territory, between what is subject to change and what is not in human functioning, is an extremely important strategy for limiting the range in which wisdom (discretion, judgment and the management of uncertainty) must be exercised. Over the last 30 years, child and adolescent psychiatry has seen an immense shift from the ‘cannot change’ category to the ‘change category’ and an even bigger shift to the territory between changeable and unchangeable. The question of the capacity for change in humans and the more traditional notion of ‘the human condition’ are in need of re‐evaluation. The possibility that there might be elements of the human condition that are beyond good and evil is especially relevant to the psychiatric treatment of children and young people. The notion of the human condition in children and adolescents becomes problematic if an essential element of the human condition is the irreducibly unchangeable, as the essence of youth is change and the capacity to change. The notion of personality disorder, and the persistence of disturbed behaviour that the diagnosis implies, are completely out of place in childhood and adolescence. There is a telling discrepancy between the small number of mental health treatment facilities and the large number of juvenile detention facilities in Australia. The problem is that we can achieve change, and there is little political or community will to enable it to happen.
Parents know best: Or do they? Treatment refusals in paediatric oncology
Authors: Alessandri Angela J
Published: September 2011

Although treatment refusal is an infrequent occurrence in paediatric oncology, it is an important issue that threatens the ongoing therapeutic relationship between the health‐care team and families. While there are good reasons to support the decision‐making authority of parents in the medical setting, parents' rights in this respect are not absolute. Fortunately, most disagreements between clinicians and parents regarding treatment decisions for children are resolved within the health‐care team/family dyad or with the objective advice of other clinicians or clinical ethics services. The increasing appeal of ‘natural therapies’ and unsubstantiated confidence with which they are prescribed may lead to more frequent refusal of conventional, evidence‐based oncology treatment in the future. The harm principle may assist paediatric oncologists in the difficult task of determining when it is justifiable to refer a case for judicial intervention.
Role and function of a paediatric clinical ethics service: Experiences at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne
Authors: Gold Hugo , Hall Georgina , Gillam Lynn
Published: September 2011

This article explores and analyses the role and functions of a clinical ethics service in paediatrics. It is based on the experiences of developing ethics capacity at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, which has evolved since 2002 from a multidisciplinary advisory panel into Australia's first dedicated paediatric Children's Bioethics Centre, which opened in 2008. The ultimate goal is building ethics capacity and literacy across the hospital and continuing to support clinical staff managing patients and their families in ethically problematic cases. This is achieved through current case consultation, education and training, research and institutional policy, and guideline development. The experience of building a clinical ethics service has led to many changes to its structure over the years, with issues like timeliness of meeting, constitution of the group and referral and reporting structures arising as key elements of evolution. Challenges include resourcing and structure, institutional support, and family involvement in ethics consultations.
Ethics at the end of life: Who should make decisions about treatment limitation for young children with life‐threatening or life‐limiting conditions?
Authors: Gillam Lynn , Sullivan Jane
Published: September 2011

It is now ethical orthodoxy that parents should be involved in the decision‐making about their children's health care. This extends to decisions about whether to continue or to limit life‐sustaining medical treatment for a child with a life‐limiting or life‐threatening condition. What remains contested and uncertain is the extent and nature of parental involvement, especially in this emotionally charged situation. In particular, should it be the parents, who are the ultimate decision‐makers, taking final responsibility, should it be a shared decision, or should it be a medical decision that parents are simply asked to consent to?

One approach to this issue is to consider the in‐principle ethical arguments and weigh their merits. The two key principles here are parental rights and authority, and the best interests of child, and the contested issue is what to do if these appear to clash. Another approach is to consider the principles in the practical clinical context. What would be the implications and consequences of adopting the model of parents as final decision‐makers? Are parents able to carry out this role, and do they really want it? What is the effect on parents of taking this role? Answers to these questions could modify the in‐principle ethical position. In this paper, we review the empirical evidence currently available on these questions, in relation to parents of infants and young children. Overall, the literature suggests that parents do want to be involved and do not suffer adverse psychological consequences from their involvement. However, the crucial ethical implication of the evidence is that the level and nature of parental involvement in decision‐making should be negotiated with the parents in each case, because parents have a range of different views about taking final responsibility for decisions.
Science and ethics of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome controversies in Africa
Authors: Brewster David
Published: September 2011

The human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) epidemic in Africa has raised important ethical issues for both researchers and clinicians. The most notorious controversy has been related to the zidovudine (AZT) trials in Africa in the late 1990s, in which the control groups were given a placebo rather than an effective drug to prevent vertical transmission. This raised concerns in the sponsoring country about exploitation of subjects, injustice and an ethical double standard between donor countries and resource‐poor settings. However, the real double standard is between clinical practice standards in Western versus African countries, which must be addressed as part of the increasing global inequity of wealth both between countries and also within countries. There are important limitations to ethical declarations, principles and guidelines on their own without contextual ethical reasoning. The focus on research ethics with the HIV epidemic has led to a relative neglect of ethical issues in clinical practice. Although the scientific advances in HIV/AIDS have changed the ethical issues since the 1990s, there has also been progress in the bioethics of HIV/AIDS in terms of ethical review capability by local committees as well as in exposure to ethical issues by clinicians and researchers in Africa. However, serious concerns remain about the overregulation of research by bureaucratic agencies which could discourage African research on specifically African health issues. There is also a need for African academic institutions and researchers to progressively improve their research capacity with the assistance of research funders and donor agencies.
Nomadic sexualities: an in‐depth case study about unsafe sex
Authors: O’Byrne Patrick
Published: September 2011

O’BYRNE P. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 357–367  Nomadic sexualities: an in‐depth case study about unsafe sex

In an era when researchers are identifying increased rates of unsafe sex among gay and bisexual men, it is important that the practice of unsafe sex be adequately explored. While much literature is already dedicated to this topic, only recently have researchers begun to develop in‐depth understandings of the personal meanings that people ascribe to unsafe sex. This study continues such explorations by examining (i) why one self‐defined gay man engaged in unsafe sex, and (ii) how he defined unsafe sex. The findings suggest that, for this man, his sexuality is nomadic and that what he feels is unsafe sex is the outcome of his nomadic sexuality conflicting with social imperatives for sexual stratification.
Football reminiscence for men with dementia: lessons from a realistic evaluation
Authors: Tolson Debbie , Schofield Irene
Published: September 2011

Tolson D and Schofield I. Nursing Inquiry 2012; 19: 63–70 Football reminiscence for men with dementia: lessons from a realistic evaluation

A major challenge of studies of non pharmacological dementia interventions is the likely modest intervention effect size and difficulties collecting data from individuals with behavioural, psychological and communicative symptoms. The reported Realist Evaluation is built around sets of contextually comparable case studies of Football Focussed Reminiscence for men with dementia. The study aim was to evaluate benefits of football related reminiscence for individuals and family carers. Four case studies were constructed; two community groups, one nursing home groups and individual sessions within their family home. Data was collected as field notes from non‐participation observation of reminiscence sessions, notes of conversations with people with dementia, audio recorded interviews with family members, facilitators and dementia link workers. The analysis was framed around identification and extraction of data pertaining to Context‐Mechanism‐Outcome configurations within each data set, and patterns and threads were compared across the cases. An important finding was that anticipation of pleasure in tandem with a sense of continuity appeared to be important mechanisms triggering optimal benefit. The paper explores design considerations, project delivery experiences and the contribution that innovative theory driven research adds to the study of complex interventions including those with behavioural and communicative symptoms of dementia.
Idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis mimicking malignant lymphoma
Authors: van Bommel Eric F. H. , de Mol Mark , Langerak Anton W. , Westenend Pieter J.
Published: September 2011

We present a case of atypical idiopathic retroperitoneal fibrosis (iRPF) presenting as a large pelvic tumor, for which it proved difficult to exclude T‐cell malignant lymphoma. Histopathological examination of biopsy material showed collagenous tissue and fat with an exuberant and predominant T‐cell infiltrate, largely consisting of CD4+ cells expressing the IL‐2 receptor‐α chain (CD25). Focal plasma cells were negative for the immunoglobulin G4 (IgG4) isotype. T‐cell receptor gene rearrangement (TRGR) pattern showed a Gaussian distribution, in keeping with a polyclonal T‐cell population. Awareness of the sometimes exuberant and predominant T‐cell infiltrate in iRPF should lead to earlier consideration of this disorder. This is particularly the case where there is an atypically localized and/or extensive mass, for which early exclusion of monoclonality with TRGR may provide helpful. Immunohistochemical findings suggest that CD4+CD25+ cells, which are part of a naturally occurring population of regulatory T‐cells, may be involved in the pathogenesis of iRPF.
Magnetic resonance imaging is an accurate and reliable method to evaluate non‐cystic fibrosis paediatric lung disease
Authors: MONTELLA SILVIA , MAGLIONE MARCO , BRUZZESE DARIO , MOLLICA CARMINE , PIGNATA CLAUDIO , ALOJ GIUSEPPINA , MANNA ANGELO , ESPOSITO ANTONIETTA , MIRRA VIRGINIA , SANTAMARIA FRANCESCA
Published: September 2011

Background and objective:  Chest MRI is increasingly used to assess pulmonary diseases, but its utility compared with high‐resolution computed tomography (HRCT) has never been evaluated in children using specific performance outcomes. The aim of this study was to assess the accuracy and reliability of MRI compared with HRCT in children with non‐cystic fibrosis (CF) chronic lung disease.

Methods:  Fifty subjects aged 5.9–20 years, with primary ciliary dyskinesia (n = 17), primary immunodeficiency (n = 17) or recurrent pneumonia (n = 16), underwent chest HRCT and MRI. The prevalence of lung abnormalities on HRCT was evaluated, and sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and positive and negative likelihood ratios for MRI versus HRCT were calculated. MRI and HRCT scans were also assessed using a modified Helbich score.

Results:  Bronchiectasis, mucous plugging, peribronchial wall thickening, consolidation, bullae, abscesses and emphysema were detected by HRCT in 72, 68, 66, 60, 10, 8 and 8% of subjects, respectively. Sensitivity, specificity, accuracy and positive and negative likelihood ratios for MRI were good or excellent for most of the changes that were assessed. Median total Helbich scores for HRCT and MRI were 10 (range 0–20) and 10 (range 0–18), respectively. There was good‐to‐excellent agreement between the two techniques for all scores (r ≥ 0.8). A Bland–Altman plot confirmed this agreement between total scores (bias value: 0.2 ± 1.18; 95% limits of agreement of mean difference: −2.12–2.52).

Conclusions:  Chest MRI was equivalent to HRCT to determine the extent of lung disease in children with non‐CF lung disease. The findings support the use of chest MRI as an alternative to HRCT in diagnostic pathways for paediatric chronic lung disorders.
Factors associated with long‐term survival of patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer
Authors: GIROUX LEPRIEUR ETIENNE , LAVOLE ARMELLE , RUPPERT ANNE‐MARIE , GOUNANT VALéRIE , WISLEZ MARIE , CADRANEL JACQUES , MILLERON BERNARD
Published: September 2011

Background and objective:  Only a small proportion of patients with advanced non‐small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have a life expectancy greater than 2 years. The aim of this study was to identify the factors associated with long‐term survival of patients with advanced NSCLC.

Methods:  Patients who had received chemotherapy for stage IIIb or IV NSCLC that was not amenable to radiotherapy were studied retrospectively. Data were gathered prospectively from a comprehensive database. Long‐term survivors (>2 years) were compared with the other patients, with respect to clinical, biological and tumour–node–metastasis criteria.

Results:  Data for 245 consecutive patients were collected. Thirty nine patients (15.9%) survived for more than 2 years. Long‐term survivors were more likely to have had metastases at fewer sites (P = 0.008), an absence of bone metastases (P = 0.01), a performance status (PS) of 0–1 at first progression of the tumour (P = 0.002), a tumour that was controlled with first (P < 0.0001) and second‐line (P = 0.004) chemotherapy, maintenance therapy (P = 0.001), curative surgery (P < 0.0001), time to first progression of the tumour of >3 months (P < 0.0001), normal LDH levels at diagnosis (P = 0.049), and a haemoglobin concentration >110 g/L at first progression of the tumour (P = 0.02). In multivariate analysis, surgery, maintenance treatment, time to first progression of the tumour of >3 months, a PS of 0–1 at first progression, the number of chemotherapy agents received, and LDH levels, were significant predictors of long‐term survival.

Conclusions:  Assessment of these factors, and the use of maintenance therapy, when possible, may identify a population of patients with NSCLC that is likely to have a prolonged life expectancy.
A statistical model for scatter representation in stress life curves
Authors: LEHMAYR B. , STAUDACHER S.
Published: September 2011

Fatigue life reliability often is accounted for through minimal material data. To provide this information within structural calculation, experimental data from specimen testing needs to be processed with statistical methods. The results are either mean or worst case material data. However, in a robust design environment, scatter itself must be numerically available. In this paper, fatigue test results of a nickel‐based super alloy at two temperatures are taken from literature. These data are processed according to ASTM standard E739 to identify median and standard deviation, based on a stress life curve (S—N curve) in double logarithmic coordinates first proposed by Basquin. In addition, a new method for non‐constant standard deviation is applied to the dataset. The S—N curve parameters are treated with a statistical distribution to account for scatter in the material data. The basic parameter set is perturbed by Monte Carlo simulation to generate pseudo‐scatter in the life result, which can be plotted as a Wöhler field. This pseudo‐scatter is analysed and compared to the ASTM constant standard deviation regression. Statistical methods are used to show that a realistic prediction of fatigue life is feasible using the Perturbation approach. Both models represent the literature fatigue data very well, whereas the Perturbation approach provides more flexibility. It is especially recommended for black box Monte Carlo studies of structural lifing. The Perturbation approach is additionally capable of including runouts and using other life curves than such of S—N type.
Predictors of recurrence of prolapse after procedure for prolapse and haemorrhoids
Authors: Festen S. , Molthof H. , van Geloven A. A. W. , Luchters S. , Gerhards M. F.
Published: September 2011

Aim  The procedure for prolapse and haemorrhoids (PPH) is an effective surgical therapy for symptomatic haemorrhoids. Compared with haemorrhoidectomy, meta‐analysis has shown PPH to be less painful, with higher patient satisfaction and a quicker return to work, but at the cost of higher prolapse recurrence rates. This is the first report describing predictors of prolapse recurrence after PPH.

Method  A cohort of patients with symptomatic haemorrhoids, treated with PPH in our hospital between 2002 and 2009, was retrospectively analysed. Multivariate analysis was performed to identify patient‐related and perioperative predictors associated with persisting prolapse and prolapse recurrence.

Results  In total, 159 consecutively enrolled patients were analysed. Persistence and recurrence of prolapse was observed in 16% of the patients. Increased surgical experience showed a trend towards lower recurrence rates. Multivariate analysis identified female gender, long duration of PPH surgery and the absence of muscle tissue in the resected specimen as independent predictors of postoperative persistence of prolapse of haemorrhoids. The absence of prior treatment with rubber band ligation (RBL) as well as increased PPH experience at the hospital showed a trend towards a higher rate of prolapse recurrence.

Conclusion  In order to reduce recurrence of prolapse, PPH should be performed by a surgeon with adequate PPH experience, patients should be treated with RBL prior to PPH and a resection of mucosa with underlying muscle fibres should be strived for.
Octreotide for the treatment of diarrhoea in patients with ileal pouch anal anastomosis: a placebo‐controlled crossover study
Authors: Van Assche G. , Ferrante M. , Vermeire S. , Noman M. , Rans K. , Van der Biest L. , Penninckx F. , Wolthuis A. , Rutgeerts P. , D’Hoore A.
Published: September 2011

Aim  Diarrhoea with urgency is a debilitating long‐term complication of ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) after a proctocolectomy. Somatostatin analogues are used to control diarrhoea and high‐output ostomies. Hence, we designed a prospective, double‐blind, crossover trial to explore the efficacy and tolerability of octreotide to reduce diarrhoea in adult patients with IPAA.

Method  Patients were randomized to octreotide subcutaneously (SC), 500 μg three times daily (t.i.d.), or matching placebo SC for 7 days. Responders (a reduction in stool frequency of three or more stools per 24‐h period and with a reduction in stool frequency of at least 30% after 7 days of treatment compared with baseline; the primary end‐point) remained in the same group and nonresponders could cross over to the alternative treatment for 7 days. Open‐label octeotide LAR 30 mg was offered to all responders on day 14. Flexible pouchoscopy with biopsies was performed at baseline in all patients and was repeated on days 7 and 14 in patients with pouchitis.

Results  Fifteen patients (11 men, median age 52 years), all with ulcerative colitis, were randomized. Three patients were withdrawn for side effects during the blinded phase. Response was achieved by two of 12 and two of 11 patients treated with octreotide or placebo, respectively (including crossover, P = 0.9). The median stool frequency remained stable in both groups [Δoctreotide: 0 (IQR, −4 to 0), Δplacebo: −1 (IQR, −1 to 1), P = 0.45]. Octreotide had no effect on the modified pouch disease activity index (mPDAI), and pouchitis persisted in five of six subjects with pouchitis at onset. One subject received open‐label octreotide LAR.

Conclusion  Octreotide has no clear beneficial effect on the stool pattern or on pouchitis severity in patients with high stool frequency after IPAA.
WHY DO GOVERNMENTS END UP WITH DEBT? SHORT‐RUN EFFECTS MATTER
Authors: DESBONNET AUDREY , WEITZENBLUM THOMAS
Published: September 2011

This paper reconsiders the impact of public debt in an economy with heterogeneous households and incomplete markets to emphasize the short‐run effects of an increase in public debt. As compared to models that rest on steady‐state analysis, we show that the welfare gains of a public debt increase are substantially higher when transitional dynamics are accounted for. The additional debt issue allows for a temporary reduction in the income tax rate, which stimulates labor supply and generates an overshooting of the interest rate. The short‐run gains create a temptation to deviate toward higher levels of debt. Debt increases continue to generate welfare gains even when debt is considerably higher than its long‐run optimal level. (JEL E60, H60)
THE WELFARE EFFECT OF ACCESS TO CREDIT
Authors: ROJAS BREU MARIANA
Published: September 2011

I present a model in which credit and outside money can be used as means of payment in order to analyze how access to credit affects welfare when credit markets feature limited participation. Allowing more agents to use credit has an ambiguous effect on welfare because it may make consumption‐risk sharing more inefficient. I calibrate the model using U.S. data on credit‐card use and show that the increase in access to credit from 1990 to the near present has had a slightly negative impact on welfare. (JEL E51, E41)
Does Euro or Dollar Pegging Impact the Real Exchange Rate? The Case of Oil and Commodity Currencies
Authors: Coudert Virginie , Couharde Cécile , Mignon Valérie
Published: September 2011

The aim of this paper is to investigate the equilibrium exchange rates for commodity and oil currencies as well as the discrepancies of their observed exchange rates to these equilibriums. To this end, first, we estimate a long‐term relationship between the real effective exchange rate and economic fundamentals, including the commodity terms of trade. The estimation relies on panel cointegration techniques and covers annual data from 1980 to 2007. Our results show that real exchange rates co‐move with commodity prices in the long run and respond to oil price somewhat less than to commodity prices. Second, we assess the degree of misalignment of these currencies, as the gap between their observed exchange rate and the estimated equilibrium exchange rate. We show that these misalignments are not significantly related to the exchange rate regimes adopted by the countries, either pegged or floating. However, for pegged currencies, the size of misalignments significantly depends on the anchor currency, either the euro or the dollar. A comparison of misalignments of pegged commodity and oil currencies across different periods confirms these results: during periods of dollar (euro) overvaluation, currencies pegged to the dollar (euro) tend to be overvalued; the reverse being true when the dollar (euro) is undervalued. Consequently, pegged currencies are often driven away from their equilibria by wild fluctuations in the key currencies, on which they are anchored.
The Interaction of Legal and Social Norm Enforcement
Authors: KUBE SEBASTIAN , TRAXLER CHRISTIAN
Published: September 2011

Although legal sanctions are often nondeterrent, we frequently observe compliance with “mild laws.” A possible explanation is that the incentives to comply are shaped not only by legal, but also by social sanctions. This paper employs a novel experimental approach to study the link between legal and social norm enforcement. We analyze whether the two institutions are complements or substitutes. Our results show that legal sanctions partially crowd out social norm enforcement. Mild laws nevertheless give scope for a potentially large, positive welfare effect, as a higher level of compliance is achieved at lower social enforcement costs.
The Limited Power of Voting to Limit Power
Authors: GENG HONG , WEISS ARNE ROBERT , WOLFF IRENAEUS
Published: September 2011

In this paper, we experimentally approach the question of which aspects of a voting procedure are able to restrict elected candidates’ willingness to use their power in an opportunistic way. For this purpose, we rule out re‐election concerns and analyze whether the presence of a vote by itself matters for the exercise of power. We compare two kinds of electoral campaigns: self‐descriptions of personality and promises regarding prospective in‐office behavior. We find that social approval as conveyed by a vote does not suffice to induce pro‐social choices by elected candidates. On the other hand, when campaigns are promise‐based, elected candidates transfer more to their recipients than candidates selected by a random draw even though promises do not differ. This refutes explanations based on a taste for consistency or costs of lying. In contrast, the fact that the correlation between dictators’ promises and their beliefs on voter expectations is considerably strengthened in the presence of a vote offers support to a guilt‐aversion hypothesis. However, this support is qualified by the correlation between dictators’ second‐order beliefs and their choices, which is weaker than predicted. Overall, our results suggest the power of voting to limit the self‐oriented exertion of power is limited and context specific.
Cooperation Norms in Multiple‐Stage Punishment
Authors: NICKLISCH ANDREAS , WOLFF IRENAEUS
Published: September 2011

We analyze the interplay between cooperation norms and people’s punishment behavior in a social‐dilemma game with multiple punishment stages. By combining multiple punishment stages with self‐contained episodes of interaction, we are able to disentangle the effects of retaliation and norm‐related punishment. An additional treatment provides information on the norms bystanders use in judging punishment actions. Partly confirming previous findings, punishment behavior and bystanders’ opinions are guided by an absolute norm. This norm is consistent over decisions and punishment stages and requires full contributions. In the first punishment stage, our results suggest a higher personal involvement of punishers, leading to a nonlinearity defined by the punishers’ contribution. In later punishment stages, the personal‐involvement effect vanishes and retaliation kicks in. Bystanders generally apply the same criteria as punishers in all stages.
Do People Always Pay Less Than They Say? Testbed Laboratory Experiments with IV and HG Values
Authors: JACQUEMET NICOLAS , JOULE ROBERT‐VINCENT , LUCHINI STÉPHANE , SHOGREN JASON F.
Published: September 2011

Hypothetical bias is a long‐standing issue in stated preference and contingent valuation studies—people tend to overstate their preferences when they do not experience the real monetary consequences of their decision. This view, however, has been challenged by recent evidence based on the elicitation of induced values (IV) in the lab and homegrown (HG) demand function from different countries. This paper uses an experimental design to assess the extent and relevance of hypothetical bias in demand elicitation exercises for both induced (IV) and homegrown (HG) values. For testbed purpose, we use a classic second‐price auction to elicit preferences. Comparing the demand curve we elicit in both, hypothetical bias unambiguously (i) vanishes in an IV, private good context and (ii) persists in HG values elicitation context. This suggests hypothetical bias in preference elicitation appears to be driven by “preference formation” rather than “preference elicitation.” In addition, companion treatments highlight two sources of the discrepancy observed in the HG setting: the hypothetical context leads bidders to underestimate the constraints imposed by their budget limitations, whereas the real context creates pressure leading them to bid “zero” to opt out from the elicitation mechanism. As a result, there is a need for a demand elicitation procedure that helps subjects take the valuation exercise sincerely, but without putting extra pressure on them.
Style repertoire and social change in British Asian English
Authors: Sharma Devyani
Published: September 2011

This study has two goals: empirically, it accounts for variation found in the use of ethnically‐marked variants among British‐born Asians; methodologically, it assesses the variationist approach against a repertoire approach. In Part I, analysis of one Punjabi‐derived phonetic trait, examined in interview data only, suggests that younger women shift to exclusive use of the British prestige variant. Part II expands the analysis to four variables and to broader speech repertoires for four individuals. The repertoire analysis shows the conclusions in Part I to be inaccurate, and instead reveals: (1) retention of Punjabi traits by young women in the home domain; (2) two types of repertoire – flexible and fused; (3) a gendered reversal in repertoire type over time; and (4) a network diversity basis for these differences. Unlike the initial variationist analysis, the use of repertoire analysis and a new Network Diversity Index leads to the discovery of a shift among lower‐middle‐class British Asians from traditional Punjabi to urban British social structures.
The Sophisticated and the Simple: The Profitability of Contrarian Strategies from a Portfolio Manager's Perspective
Authors: Giamouridis Daniel , Montagu Chris
Published: September 2011

Valuation signals have been among the most popular between equity portfolio managers. Given the large variation of techniques and theories with regard to how value is measured, this study investigates the efficacy of alternative value measures. We consider a cross section of simple and sophisticated alternative measures and focus on comparison metrics of primary interest to equity portfolio managers. Our results show that sophisticated valuation models are superior – although not universally – relative to simple valuation models in many respects. Thus, we conclude that sophisticated models have interesting attributes and, in general, should be considered as an additional if not primary perspective on equity valuation and portfolio management.
‘Wenn ich leben soll, so sei es mit dir!’ The Relationship of Father and Son in Goethe'S Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre
Authors: Lee Charlotte
Published: September 2011

The relationship between father and son is a highly nuanced and persistent theme in Goethe's late novel Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre, but has received relatively little critical attention. Drawing on various aspects of the text, from the relationship between Wilhelm and his own son Felix, to the theme of migration from the ‘fatherland’, this essay contends that the relationship of the younger generation to the older traces a pattern of departure and return. The development in the son of an identity distinct and independent from that of the father is a preoccupation of the earlier chapters of the Wanderjahre in particular; but this process of individuation tends to be accompanied in the novel by continued, even increased, identification with the father, which may be conscious or unconscious. All the various stages of this fluctuating relationship are telescoped into a few rich, enigmatic images in the novel's closing scene, in which the threat of separation and the desire for proximity are held in suspension.

Die Vater‐Sohn‐Beziehung in Goethes spätem Roman Wilhelm Meisters Wanderjahre bildet ein vielseitiges Thema, ist aber in der Sekundärliteratur relativ selten behandelt worden. Anhand verschiedener Beispiele aus dem Text, vor allem die Beziehung zwischen Wilhelm und seinem eigenen Sohn, Felix, aber auch das Thema der Migration aus dem Vaterland, wird im Folgenden gezeigt, dass die Beziehung der jüngeren Generation zum alten von einer doppelten Bewegung geprägt ist: vom Weggang, aber auch von der Rückkehr. Die frühen Kapitel insbesondere beschäftigen sich mit der Entwicklung der persönlichen Identität des Sohnes, die sich von derjenigen des Vaters deutlich unterscheiden soll. Allerdings wird diese Individualisierung häufig von der fortgesetzten, sogar gesteigerten Identifizierung mit dem Vater begleitet, ob bewusst oder unbewusst. In der Schlussszene werden dann die vielen verschiedenen Phasen dieser schwankenden Beziehung in ein paar sinnreiche Bilder ineinandergeschoben, so dass sich die bedrohende Trennung und der Wunsch nach ewiger Innigkeit gegenüber stehen.
‘Ebenso hiess das Mädchen nicht andauernd Marie’:1 Vier (fast) unbekannte Frauenbriefe an Bertolt Brecht aus den Jahren 1916 bis 1918
Authors: Hillesheim Jürgen , Parker Stephen
Published: September 2011

In 1989 the City of Augsburg bought a bundle of papers for its Brecht Collection, which includes four letters from young Augsburg women to Brecht in the short period between 28 December 1916 and 1 May 1918. They are published here for the first time in their entirety. The letters are from Elisabeth Krause (the later Lilly Prem), Maria Rosa Amann, Paula Banholzer and an unknown author. The letters are amongst the earliest testimonies of Brecht's lively interest in girls. The documents not only provide an insight into his love affairs – including their beginnings – which already at this early stage were overlaying each other, but also into the genesis of the poem ‘Bonnie Mac Sorel freite’ in 1916. It may well have been inspired by a specific event in Brecht's relationship with Maria Rosa Amann, to whom it is dedicated. Far from being a conventional love poem, ‘Bonne Mac Sorel freite’ is, like other poems and presents which Brecht dedicated to young women, a warning about his unreliability and his intention to exchange one partner for another.

1989 kaufte die Stadt Augsburg für ihre Brechtsammlung ein Konvolut an, zu dem vier Briefe von Augsburger jungen Frauen an Brecht aus dem kurzen Zeitraum von 28. Dezember 1916 bis 1. Mai 1918 gehören. Sie werden hier erstmals komplett veröffentlicht. Die Briefe stammen von Elisabeth Krause, der späteren Lilly Prem, Maria Rosa Amann, Paula Banholzer und einer unbekannten Verfasserin und gehören zu den frühesten Zeugnissen für Brechts reges Interesse an Mädchen. Die Dokumente geben nicht nur Einblick in seine bereits frühzeitig einander überlagernden Liebesbeziehungen bzw. deren Anfänge, sondern auch in die Entstehungsgeschichte des Gedichts ‘Bonnie’ aus dem Jahr 1916. Es könnte angeregt sein durch eine konkrete Begebenheit aus Brechts Verbindung mit Maria Rosa Amann, der es auch gewidmet ist. Dabei ist das Gedicht weit davon entfernt, konventionelle Liebeslyrik zu sein. Wie andere Gedichte und Geschenke, die Brecht jungen Frauen widmete, ist ‘Bonnie Mac Sorel freite’ eher eine Mahnung vor seiner Unzuverlässigkeit und vor der Absicht, seine Partnerinnen auszutauschen.