bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
A user-oriented semantic annotation approach to knowledge acquisition and conversion
Authors: Hao Tianyong , Zhu Chunshen , Mu Yuanyuan , Liu Gang
Published: April 2016

Semantic annotation on natural language texts labels the meaning of an annotated element in specific contexts, and thus is an essential procedure for domain knowledge acquisition. An extensible and coherent annotation method is crucial for knowledge engineers to reduce human efforts to keep annotations consistent. This article proposes a comprehensive semantic annotation approach supported by a user-oriented markup language named UOML to enhance annotation efficiency with the aim of building a high quality knowledge base. UOML is operable by human annotators and convertible to formal knowledge representation languages. A pattern-based annotation conversion method named PAC is further proposed for knowledge exchange by utilizing automatic pattern learning. We designed and implemented a semantic annotation platform Annotation Assistant to test the effectiveness of the approach. By applying this platform in a long-term international research project for more than three years aiming at high quality knowledge acquisition from a classical Chinese poetry corpus containing 52,621 Chinese characters, we effectively acquired 150,624 qualified annotations. Our test shows that the approach has improved operational efficiency by 56.8%, on average, compared with text-based manual annotation. By using UOML, PAC achieved a conversion error ratio of 0.2% on average, significantly improving the annotation consistency compared with baseline annotations. The results indicate the approach is feasible for practical use in knowledge acquisition and conversion.
Regional party networks and the limits of democratic norm diffusion in Southeast Asia
Authors: Tomsa Dirk
Published: April 2016

Regional party networks are an important instrument for democracy promotion organizations intent on helping build democratic party structures. The main goals of these networks are usually capacity-building and the provision of communication channels, but the affiliation with international donors also turns these networks into contested forums for the diffusion of global norms and values. This article will illustrate that these norm diffusion processes are subject to significant constraints as transnational party networks are shaped by the pre-existing norms and electoral self-interests of their constituent members. The article uses a case study of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats to argue that the diffusion of Western democratic norms through regional party networks is a multidimensional process that can be successful in building small fraternities of committed norm recipients, but faces severe limitations when it comes to transmitting these norms further on into local party organizations.
“Payback for Pearl Harbor”
Authors: Oh David C.
Published: April 2016

Immediately following news coverage of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11, 2011, anti-Japanese users attributed the disasters to karmic “payback for Pearl Harbor.” As Klein notes, social media can legitimate White supremacist discourses, “laundering” them into popular discourse. Likewise, this article argues that Facebook and Twitter were spaces that allowed the movement of White supremacist discourses into everyday culture by coding overt racism. Twitter and Facebook, however, also acted as a space in which White supremacist ideologies were challenged, yet the challenge was limited as it reified postracism. Indeed, both the “payback” posts and “pushback” responses constructed their arguments within postracial logics in order to garner support.
Thromboelastogram reduces blood use by inspecting coagulation in heart surgery
Authors: Yildirim Funda , Tuncer Barıs , Ozbakkaloglu Alper , Kurdal Adnan Taner , Ozturk Tulun , Iskesen Ihsan
Published: April 2016

Objective

Blood transfusion after coronary artery bypass surgery is carried out according to general coagulation tests and blood counts. Our aim was to determine the effects of rotational thromboelastography results on the amount of blood products used in the intraoperative and postoperative periods in coronary artery bypass patients.

Methods

Our study included 164 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass. A control group was formed from 82 patients picked from hospital records, who had elective coronary artery bypass before the introduction of rotational thromboelastography in our clinic. Blood transfusion was performed in this group according to conventional laboratory data. The study group comprised 82 patients who had elective coronary artery bypass after the introduction of rotational thromboelastography. Blood transfusion was performed in the study group according to rotational thromboelastogram results. The amounts of blood products used in the 2 groups were compared.

Results

There were statistically significant decreases in the intraoperative and postoperative amounts of packed red blood cells ( p = 0.012 and p = 0.006) and postoperative whole blood ( p = 0.013) used in the study group compared to the control group. Postoperative bleeding was also significantly reduced ( p = 0.001) in the study group.

Conclusion

Blood transfusion is an important issue after coronary artery bypass, and because of the decreased amount of blood products used, a rotational thromboelastography-based blood transfusion algorithm should be applied in patients undergoing coronary artery bypass.
Temporary epicardial pacing wire placement in totally endoscopic cardiac surgery
Authors: Yu Tao , Zhang Xiaoshen , Huang Keli
Published: April 2016

Temporary epicardial pacing wire placement is a common procedure in cardiac surgery. However, it is difficult to perform in totally endoscopic cardiac surgery. We describe a simple new technique to place temporary epicardial pacing wires quickly and safely.
Robust active sound radiation control of a piezo-laminated composite circular plate of arbitrary thickness based on the exact 3D elasticity model
Authors: Hasheminejad Seyyed M , Keshavarzpour Hemad
Published: April 2016

A multi-objective mixed [Formula: see text]2/[Formula: see text]∞ robust output feedback control synthesis with regional pole placement constraints in a linear matrix inequalities framework is adopted for active low-frequency sound radiation control of an arbitrarily thick, rigidly baffled, simply supported, multi-layered piezo-composite circular panel. The adopted control system concurrently captures the benefits of both [Formula: see text]2 transient control performance and [Formula: see text]∞ robust stability in the face of external disturbances and system uncertainties. Also, the implemented volumetric sensing/actuation configuration avoids the typical problems associated with conventional (spatially discrete) piezoelectric sensor/actuator patches, where the total volume velocity can be effectively cancelled with the main contribution being to the long wavelength acoustic power emission. The elasto-acoustic analysis is based on the spatial state-space method in the context of exact 3D elasticity theory along with the Rayleigh integral formula where Neumann’s addition theorem is incorporated in the associated Hankel transform representation to arrive at a computationally efficient expression for the nonaxisymmetric pressure field within the acoustic half-space, valid in both near and far fields. Subspace system identification of the fully coupled structure–fluid interaction problem is performed, and the truncated modes are considered as multiplicative uncertainties in synthesis of the mixed-norm controller. Numerical simulations establish the ability of the implemented volumetric sensing/actuation methodology in cooperation with the multi-objective robust active control scheme for restraining low-frequency sound radiation from a [Formula: see text]/steel/PZT4 circular piezo-laminated plate, without provoking instability of the closed-loop system. Also, superior bandwidth frequency and tracking performance in comparison to the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] controllers are observed. This work is believed to be the first such attempt to exactly model (and actively control) the 3D nonaxisymmetric acousto-elastodynamic frequency response of an arbitrarily thick, smart piezo-laminated circular plate in heavy fluid loading condition (i.e. without using any kind of far-field, low-frequency, and/or light fluid coupling approximations), with straightforward extensibility for any arbitrary through-thickness variation of distributed material properties.
Institutional proximity and the size and geography of foreign direct investment spillovers: Do European firms generate more favourable productivity spillovers in the European Union neighbourhood?
Authors: Monastiriotis Vassilis
Published: April 2016

The European Union (EU) association framework provides European businesses with an entry advantage into the associated countries by facilitating production links and encouraging institutional convergence. It is believed that this has multiple beneficial effects for the associated countries, including ones related to productivity spillovers accruing to domestic firms. However, no empirical evidence exists to show that the presence of European firms produces larger productivity spillovers in recipient economies compared to firms from other world regions. We examine this question using firm-level data covering 28 transition countries over the period 2002–2009. We estimate the intra-industry productivity effects of foreign ownership and examine how these differ across regional blocks (Central and Eastern Europe, South East Europe and European Neighbourhood Policy), by origin of investor (EU15 versus non-EU15), across geographical scales (national versus regional) and for different types of locations (capital-city regions versus the rest). Our results suggest that investments of EU origin play a distinctive role, helping raise domestic productivity in the associated countries unlike investments from outside the EU. However, this process operates in a spatially selective manner, potentially enhancing regional disparities and spatial imbalances. This assigns a particular responsibility for EU policy to devise interventions that will help redress these problems within its existing association framework.
Living with landscape fire: Landholder understandings of agency, scale and control within fiery entanglements
Authors: Edwards Amanda , Gill Nicholas
Published: April 2016

Around the world, debates over how to manage and adapt to bushfires (or wildfires) are increasingly prominent as more and different people, many of whom have little or no experience with landscape fire or land management, inhabit fire-prone environments. But bushfire events represent only the most visible aspect of complex entanglements which operate across huge temporal and spatial scales and over which humans have very limited control. In this article, we focus on how Australian landholders of settler or migrant heritage understand scalar complexities and agency and control within human/landscape fire entanglements. In view of the fact that the learning styles of landholders new to rural areas have been developed in different environments with very different challenges, we also ask whether immersion within rural, fire-prone environments influences ways of ‘knowing’ land and fire.
Factors Influencing Child Feeding Practices Related to Home Fortification With Micronutrient Powder Among Caregivers of Under-5 Children in Bangladesh
Authors: Sarma Haribondhu , Uddin Md. Fakhar , Harbour Catherine , Ahmed Tahmeed
Published: April 2016

Background:

Anemia is a major public health concern in Bangladesh, affecting about 51% of under-5 children. There are a number of strategies to overcome this micronutrient-deficiency burden, and home fortification (HF) with micronutrient powder (MNP) is one of them.

Objective:

As part of an evaluation of an HF with MNP intervention program, we conducted a qualitative study to understand the factors influencing demand, purchase, and utilization of MNP by caregivers of under-5 children.

Methods:

We purposively selected study participants from 5 subdistricts and 1 urban slum in Bangladesh where HF with Pushtikona (a brand name of MNP) program is available. Data were collected through household observations and conducting in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with caregivers, grandmothers, and fathers of under-5 children.

Results:

Our study showed that caregivers were initially cautious, using Pushtikona on a trial basis, and afterward they employed various strategies to get their children to eat food fortified with Pushtikona. Barriers to acceptance and use of Pushtikona included inappropriate initiation of complementary feeding, discouragement from influential family members as well as miscommunication, conflicting information, and irregular visits by the health workers who sell Pushtikona to caregivers. Based on these findings, we characterized the users of Pushtikona as regular, ever, irregular, and never.

Conclusion:

The evidence suggests that focusing on counseling caregivers and other family members on the importance of MNP and on age-appropriate feeding practices will be critical to the success of this intervention program as will regular visits by health workers and improved service delivery.
Combustion promotion and extinction of premixed counterflow methane/air flames by C6F12O fire suppressant
Authors: Xu Wu , Jiang Yong , Ren Xingyu
Published: April 2016

Along with the phase-out of CF3Br (Halon 1301), several agents have been proposed as halon replacements for use in suppressing fires in aircraft cargo bays. However, these potential drop-in replacements were found to have a promotion effect on the explosion of an aerosol can, which tested by the US Federal Aviation Administration. Motivated by this problem, we measured the laminar burning velocity of premixed methane/air flames with added one of these agents, C6F12O (Novec 1230), in the counterflow configuration, for fuel/air equivalence ratios of 0.63, 0.68, 0.74, and 0.82. C6F12O was added at levels up to 3.5% by volume fraction to each mixture. Numerical simulations were performed using the detailed kinetic mechanism. The predicted results were in good agreement with the experimental measurements. The burning velocity for the very lean flames ( Φ = 0.63) was increased with C6F12O added at low concentrations due to the additional heat release from C6F12O reaction, whereas for higher equivalence ratios ( Φ = 0.68–0.82), it always decreased with all added agent concentrations. The extinction stretch rates have also been measured using the counterflow technique to gain further insight into the promotion/inhibition behavior of C6F12O in ultra-lean ( Φ < 0.63) flames. The results showed that C6F12O has larger promotion effect for the ultra-lean conditions. Sensitivity analyses showed that lean flames are more sensitive to the fluorinated reactions compared to the rich. In addition, direct images of hydrocarbon flame inhibition by fluorinated ketone were provided for the first time to help interpret the experiments.
The Early Succession Stage of a Family Firm
Authors: Meier Olivier , Schier Guillaume
Published: April 2016

This article examines the early succession stage of a public family firm through a single longitudinal real-time case study conducted over a period of 10 years. We found that, at this stage, the regulation of interdependent conflicts of interest (between family and nonfamily shareholders, and between majority and minority family shareholders) is a prominent objective of the incumbent generation in the purpose of preparing both the firm and the family to facilitate succession. Moreover, we suggest that stewardship, through reciprocal altruism at the family branch level, combined with a permanent collaborative process between generations and a flexible succession “plan” explains at least partially the observed outcomes (shared vision on future ownership and control, and new family firm governance and interfamily branch relationships).
Treatment Considerations and the Role of the Clinical Pharmacist Throughout Transitions of Care for Patients With Acute Heart Failure
Authors: McNeely Elizabeth B.
Published: April 2016

Heart failure is associated with increased risk of morbidity and mortality, resulting in substantial health-care costs. Clinical pharmacists have an opportunity to reduce health-care costs and improve disease management as patients transition from inpatient to outpatient care by leading interventions to develop patient care plans, educate patients and clinicians, prevent adverse drug reactions, reconcile medications, monitor drug levels, and improve medication access and adherence. Through these methods, clinical pharmacists are able to reduce rates of hospitalization, readmission, and mortality. In addition, care by clinical pharmacists can improve dosing levels and adherence to guideline-directed therapies. A greater benefit in patient management occurs when clinical pharmacists collaborate with other members of the health-care team, emphasizing the importance of heart failure treatment by a multidisciplinary health-care team. Education is a key area in which clinical pharmacists can improve care of patients with heart failure and should not be limited to patients. Clinical pharmacists should provide education to all members of the health-care team and introduce them to new therapies that may further improve the management of heart failure. The objective of this review is to detail the numerous opportunities that clinical pharmacists have to improve the management of heart failure and reduce health-care costs as part of a multidisciplinary health-care team.
A floor to exploitation? Social economy organizations at the edge of a restructuring economy
Authors: Visser M. Anne
Published: April 2016

Despite research documenting social economy organizations (SEOs) as important labour market intermediaries in the informal economy, the impact of these organizations on employment outcomes experienced by workers engaged in these labour markets is relatively unknown. This article analyses the impact of day labour worker centres on employment outcomes experienced in the informal day labour economy of the United States. Using data from the National Day Labour Survey, findings indicate that these organizations improve working conditions for day labourers and suggest the potential for SEOs to regulate employment processes within the informal economy. However increasing the regulatory capacity of SEOs will require addressing larger political and socioeconomic contexts in which the informal economy is embedded.
Prediction of the mechanical response of canine humerus to three-point bending using subject-specific finite element modelling
Authors: Laurent Cédric P , Böhme Béatrice , Mengoni Marlène , d’Otreppe Vinciane , Balligand Marc , Ponthot Jean-Philippe
Published: April 2016

Subject-specific finite element models could improve decision making in canine long-bone fracture repair. However, it preliminary requires that finite element models predicting the mechanical response of canine long bone are proposed and validated. We present here a combined experimental–numerical approach to test the ability of subject-specific finite element models to predict the bending response of seven pairs of canine humeri directly from medical images. Our results show that bending stiffness and yield load are predicted with a mean absolute error of 10.1% (±5.2%) for the 14 samples. This study constitutes a basis for the forthcoming optimization of canine long-bone fracture repair.
Simulation and experiment of soft-tissue deformation in prostate brachytherapy
Authors: Liang Dong , Jiang Shan , Yang Zhiyong , Wang Xingji
Published: April 2016

Soft-tissue deformation is one of the major reasons for the inaccurate positioning of percutaneous needle insertion process. In this article, simulations and experiments of the needle insertion soft-tissue process are both applied to study soft-tissue deformation. A needle deflection model based on the mechanics is used to calculate the needle deflection during the interaction process. The obtained needle deflection data are applied into finite element analysis process as the system input. The uniaxial tensile strength tests, compression tests, and static indentation experiments are used to obtain the soft-tissue parameters and choose the best strain-energy function to model in the simulation. Magnetic resonance imaging is used to reconstruct the prostate, establishing both prostate three-dimensional finite element model and artificial prostate model. The needle–soft tissue interaction simulation results are compared with those of the needle insertion experiment. The displacement data of the mark point in the experiment are comparable to the simulation results. It is concluded that, using this simulation method, the surgeon can predict the deformation of the tissue and the displacement of the target in advance.
Code of Ethics Among Indian Business Firms
Authors: Mahajan Anupama , Mahajan Anukrit
Published: April 2016

With business organizations increasingly finding themselves confronted with ethical issues and dilemmas, concerns for codes of ethics have also intensified and so has the research interest in the field. This article reports the results of a cross-sectional survey that the authors carried out to assess the incidence of code of ethics among Indian business firms, examine managerial perceptions about the role of ethics as a source of ethical learning and the likely influence of codes on employees’ thinking and behaviour, and to assess surveyed mangers’ perceptions about the reasons responsible for compliance and non-compliance of codes. Based on findings of the survey, managerial implications have been spelt out and directions for future researches in the area have been provided.
Association Between Exercise Participation and Quality of Sleep and Life Among University Students in Taiwan
Authors: Chang Shih-Pei , Shih Kuo-Sen , Chi Chung-Pu , Chang Chin-Ming , Hwang Kai-Lin , Chen Yu-Hsuan
Published: April 2016

This cross-sectional survey study examined exercise, sleep quality, and quality of life (QOL) in 1230 Taiwanese university students. Compared with women, men had higher body mass index (BMI) (22.3 ± 4.1 vs 20.7 ± 3.5 kg/m2), higher exercise frequency (2.6 ± 1.7 vs 2.0 ± 1.4 d/wk), better sleep quality (global Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index 6.0 ± 2.8 vs 6.5 ± 2.7), better physical QOL (physical component summary 52.7 ± 6.2 vs 51.7 ± 6.6), and higher reporting of good self-perceived health (62.2% vs 43.3%) ( P < .01). However, gender differences were nonsignificant after multivariable adjustment. Exercise frequency, sleep quality, and QOL were significantly intercorrelated. After multivariable adjustment, self-perceived health and satisfaction with exercise participation predicted quality of sleep and QOL ( P < .01). Exercise frequency was positively correlated ( P = .012), and exercise intensity was negatively associated ( P < .001) with physical QOL. In conclusion, those who regularly exercised (at least 1 d/wk or 2.5 h/wk) had better QOL. Students with better self-perceived health or satisfaction with exercise participation also had better quality of sleep and better QOL.
International company restructuring and the effects on high-skilled employees in lead companies
Authors: Hansen Nana Wesley
Published: April 2016

International company restructuring involving knowledge intensive jobs causes increasing concern about the effect on the globalization of high-skilled employees. Drawing on case studies in four Danish-based companies, this article argues that high-skilled employees in lead companies are rarely insulated from international restructuring processes. However, effects on wage and working conditions vary dependent on the motivation for restructuring, and as companies learn to take advantage of pools of skilled employees abroad. Continued international restructuring appear to challenge the insulation of high-skilled workers over time. Further, the article shows that knowledge intensive companies increasingly apply relational global value chain governance with multidirectional consequences for wage and working conditions among the high-skilled employees.
Burden associated with smoking as a suicidal risk factor in an Australian sample of patients with psychosis
Authors: Sankaranarayanan Anoop , Castle David
Published: April 2016

Objective:

We aim to describe the burden associated with smoking as a risk factor for suicidal behaviors among patients with psychosis.

Method:

We calculated the Population Attributable Risk (PAR) associated with smoking and other known modifiable risk factors for suicidal behaviors for participants ( N=1812) who took part in the Australian Survey of High Impact Psychosis (SHIP). A combined PAR for the seven identified modifiable risk factors was calculated.

Results:

Smoking contributed to 21% of the suicidal behaviors in this sample; together, the seven factors contributed to 86% of all attempted suicide in this cohort.

Conclusions:

Smoking may exert a role either directly or indirectly. Evidence indicates that smoking is associated with psychological, biochemical and neurobiological changes that are in turn implicated in smoking. Suicidal behaviors are nevertheless complex behaviors needing multi-faceted approach.
Ameloblastic Fibrosarcoma of the mandible evolving from a prior Ameloblastic Fibroma after two years
Authors: Bertoni Franco , Del Corso Giacomo , Bacchini Patrizia , Marchetti Claudio , Tarsitano Achille
Published: April 2016

Transformation of an ameloblastic fibroma to an ameloblastic fibrosarcoma has been reported rarely in the literature. The present case report describes such evolution in a patient under long-term follow-up. The patient was first treated in 2008, and he developed the malignant counterpart of the disease 2 years later. The patient is currently under careful long-term follow-up and is free of disease. This article describes the clinical and radiographic features, histological characteristics, immunohistochemical findings, and surgical treatment of the tumor.
The KCC2 Cotransporter and Human Epilepsy
Authors: Kahle Kristopher T. , Khanna Arjun R. , Duan JingJing , Staley Kevin J. , Delpire Eric , Poduri Annapurna
Published: April 2016

The cation-Cl− cotransporter KCC2, encoded by SLC12A5, is required for the emergence and maintenance of GABAergic fast synaptic inhibition in organisms across evolution. These findings have suggested that KCC2 deficiency might play a role in the pathogenesis human epilepsy, but this has only recently been substantiated by two lines of genetic evidence. The first is the discovery of heterozygous missense polymorphisms in SLC12A5, causing decreased KCC2-dependent Cl− extrusion capacity, in an Australian family with inherited febrile seizures and in a French-Canadian cohort with severe genetic generalized epilepsy (GGE). The second is the discovery of recessive loss-of-function mutations in SLC12A5 in patients with a severe, early-onset Mendelian disease termed “epilepsy of infancy with migrating focal seizures” (EIMFS). These findings collectively support the paradigm that precisely regulated KCC2 activity is required for synaptic inhibition in humans, and that genetically encoded impairment of KCC2 function, due to effects on gene dosage, intrinsic activity, or extrinsic regulation, can influence epilepsy phenotypes in patients. Accordingly, KCC2 could be a target for a novel antiepileptic strategies that aims to restore GABA inhibition by facilitating Cl– extrusion. Such drugs could have relevance for pharmaco-resistant epilepsies and possibly other diseases characterized by synaptic hyperexcitability, such as the spectrum autism disorders.
Somos Hermanas Del Mismo Dolor (We Are Sisters of the Same Pain)
Authors: Kim Tiffany , Draucker Claire B. , Bradway Christine , Grisso Jeanne Ann , Sommers Marilyn S.
Published: April 2016

Migration across international borders places tremendous stress on immigrant families and may put women at greater risk for intimate partner violence. In this study, we used narrative analysis methods to explore how nine Mexican immigrant women in the Northeastern United States described their experiences of intimate partner sexual violence, and how these stories were embedded within narratives of transition and movement across borders. We identified three major themes: The Virgin and the Whore, The Family, and Getting Ahead. We share important implications for researchers and health and social service providers working with this population.
Team Diversity and Categorization Salience
Authors: Mayo Margarita , van Knippenberg Daan , Guillén Laura , Firfiray Shainaz
Published: April 2016

It is increasingly recognized that team diversity with respect to various social categories (e.g., gender, race) does not automatically result in the cognitive activation of these categories (i.e ., categorization salience), and that factors influencing this relationship are important for the effects of diversity. Thus, it is a methodological problem that no measurement technique is available to measure categorization salience in a way that efficiently applies to multiple dimensions of diversity in multiple combinations. Based on insights from artificial intelligence research, we propose a technique to capture the salience of different social categorizations in teams that does not prime the salience of these categories. We illustrate the importance of such measurement by showing how it may be used to distinguish among diversity-blind responses (low categorization salience), multicultural responses (positive responses to categorization salience), and intergroup-biased responses (negative responses to categorization salience) in a study of gender and race diversity and the gender by race faultline in 38 manufacturing teams comprising 239 members.
Using Economic Methods Evaluatively
Authors: King Julian
Published: April 2016

As evaluators, we are often asked to determine whether policies and programs provide value for the resources invested. Addressing that question can be a quandary, and, in some cases, evaluators question whether cost–benefit analysis is fit for this purpose. With increased interest globally in social enterprise, impact investing, and social impact bonds, the search is on to find valid, credible, useful ways to determine the impact and value of social investments. This article argues that when addressing an evaluative question about an economic problem (the merit, worth, or significance of resource use), economic analysis can enhance evaluation but is usually insufficient to fully answer the evaluative question and that a stronger approach would involve explicit evaluative reasoning, supported by judicious use of economic and other methods. An overarching theoretical framework is proposed, and implications for evaluation practice are discussed.
Estimating a treatment effect: Choosing between relative and absolute measures
Authors: Sormani Maria Pia , Bruzzi Paolo
Published: April 2016

The size of a treatment effect in clinical trials can be expressed in relative or absolute terms. Commonly used relative treatment effect measures are relative risks, odds ratios, and hazard ratios, while absolute estimate of treatment effect are absolute differences and numbers needed to treat. When making indirect comparisons of treatment effects, which is common in multiple sclerosis (MS), having now many drugs tested in independent trials, we can have different figures if we use relative or absolute measures, and a frequently asked question by clinicians is which approach should be used. In this report, we will try to define these measures, to give numerical examples of their calculation and specify their meaning and their context of use.
Jurisdiction, time, and money
Authors: Praprotnik Katrin
Published: April 2016

The present article examines the fulfillment of election pledges. More specifically, it focuses on the effect of resources (jurisdiction, time, and money) on the parties’ abilities to fulfill their promises. Based on the case of Austria (1990–2013), the analyses cover almost 1700 pledges made in the run-up to six national elections. The multivariate models show that resources have an impact on a government’s policy outcome. The chances of pledge fulfillment decrease if the Austrian Länder is involved in the policy-making process. Furthermore, while higher levels of pledge fulfillment are associated with regularly ended legislative periods, snap elections reduce the amount of fulfilled pledges. Finally, the likelihood of pledge fulfillment increases in times of stronger economic growth. Especially pledges to expand government spending are more likely to be acted upon when the economy performs well.
Party system structure and its consequences for foreign direct investment
Authors: Simmons Joel , Hicken Allen , Kollman Ken , Nooruddin Irfan
Published: April 2016

Studies of foreign direct investment’s (FDI’s) determinants focus on irreversibility as the main source of governments’ credibility problems. Here, we highlight an underexplored source of time-inconsistency dilemmas: geographic agglomeration within a country. FDI’s tendency to agglomerate creates visible inequalities in the country and generates demands for geographic income redistribution. Unchecked, such redistributive pressures can dissuade investors from entering the country altogether. Not all political systems are equally vulnerable, however. Countries with regionalized party systems are relatively unattractive to investors because regionalism increases the probability that investment returns from one region will be appropriated by the national government and used for geographic-based income redistribution. Countries with national parties, however, are less likely to engage in such behavior. Thus, we predict higher FDI inflows in countries with nationalized party systems and lower inflows in countries characterized by regional parties. Evidence from democracies between 1975 and 2007 supports our argument and its posited causal mechanisms.
Cabinet payoffs in coalition governments
Authors: Bucur Cristina
Published: April 2016

Understanding how coalition parties in multiparty governments divide office and policy payoffs is one of the greatest challenges in political science. Gamson’s Law predicts that ministries are allocated proportionally with the coalition members’ legislative seat holding. However, doubts remain about how differences in the valuation of portfolios affect their distribution. The challenge is not only to determine whether government parties receive their fair share of cabinet payoffs once the importance of individual ministerial posts is taken into consideration, but also to develop a measure of portfolio importance that takes time and context into account. This article proposes a new method of measuring portfolio salience using official records of cabinet appointments in the Fifth French Republic that list ministerial posts hierarchically. The result is a more nuanced measure of portfolio importance, which is context sensitive and varies with time. The article argues that the new measure is able to reduce artificial deviations from the one-to-one linkage of seat shares and portfolio shares and that it can travel beyond the French case.
The performance of political narratives: How Australia and Britain’s ‘fat bombs’ fizzled out
Authors: Boswell John
Published: April 2016

Although narrative has become an important concept in political analysis, the empirical focus has largely been limited to narrative as text. This article puts equal emphasis on narration as act. Drawing on tools and techniques associated with performativity, I analyse how actors perform a critical counternarrative on obesity as a policy issue across democratic settings in Australia and the United Kingdom. I show that this political narrative is watered down, muted and confused the closer it gets to formal governing institutions; this avowedly ‘cohesive narrative’ becomes fuzzy, inconsistent and overlapping, such that the ticking ‘fat bomb’ described in open public debate fizzles out before it even approaches these institutions. In concluding, I argue that these findings add considerable nuance to our understanding of how and to what effect narrative manifests in political affairs.
The lubrication analysis of the piston skirt-liner system based on design of experiment and particle swarm optimization-support vector regression
Authors: He Zhenpeng , Zhang Guichang , Hong Zhenyu
Published: April 2016

Good design for the piston skirt can improve efficiency without harming emissions, while it simultaneously reduces wear and improves the reliability of the engine. In this paper, the finite element method is applied to solve the Reynolds equation to analyze the piston skirt-liner system lubrication, and the side motion of piston skirt solved with Runge–Kutta is coupled with lubrication. Some factors that have an effect on the lubrication and dynamic characteristics are selected as variables, such as the clearance, offset distance of the piston pin, bump position, curvature, the length of piston skirt, and the ellipticity of the piston skirt. The orthogonal experimental design which includes six factors with five levels is used to analyze the dominance of these structure factors, and the effects of all the responses for the structural parameters to the friction loss are also identified, and the orthogonal samples simulated by the experiment are conducted to do the regression for the piston skirt. Some regression models are introduced to predict the friction loss, the precise comparison of all the models are compared, and the larger error appears in these prediction models, and then the particle swarm optimization-support vector regression is also used to predict the friction loss, and the results agree well with each other. All the analyses are very useful to provide guidance for the design of the piston skirt-liner during the development of the engine.
Internationalisation of higher education: Conceptualising the antecedents and outcomes of cross-cultural adaptation
Authors: Shafaei Azadeh , Razak Nordin Abd
Published: April 2016

The increase in higher education internationalisation has called for finding possible ways to understand and improve its related issues. Despite the financial, cultural, and social benefits that international students bring to host countries’ educational institutions, the challenges they encounter in a new environment are hard to deal with, especially acculturative stress and adjustment problems in a new environment. As international students are at the heart of education internationalisation, it is crucial to understand and address their adjustment issues for a sustainable education management. Therefore, this study develops a conceptual framework to portray international students’ adjustment issues in a host country from perspectives of field theory and cross-cultural adaptation theory. The proposed conceptual model not only considers factors influencing international students’ cross-cultural adaptation in a host country, but it also highlights the outcomes of such adaptation which can provide managerial implications for sustaining higher education mobility growth.
Copeptin, insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 and sitagliptin: A report from the BEta-cell function in Glucose abnormalities and Acute Myocardial Infarction study
Authors: Arnetz Lisa , Hage Camilla , Brismar Kerstin , Catrina Sergiu-Bogdan , Norhammar Anna , Lundman Pia , Wallander Märit , Ryden Lars , Mellbin Linda
Published: April 2016

Purpose:

To investigate whether sitagliptin affects copeptin and osmolality, suggesting arginine vasopressin activation and a potential for fluid retention, compared with placebo, in patients with a recent acute coronary syndrome and newly discovered type 2 diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance. A second aim was to confirm whether copeptin correlated with insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1.

Methods:

Fasting blood samples were used from the BEta-cell function in Glucose abnormalities and Acute Myocardial Infarction trial, in which patients recently hospitalized due to acute coronary syndrome and with newly detected abnormal glucose tolerance were randomized to sitagliptin 100 mg once daily ( n = 34) or placebo ( n = 37). Copeptin, osmolality and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1 were analysed at baseline and after 12 weeks.

Results:

Copeptin and osmolality were unaffected by sitagliptin. There was no correlation between copeptin and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-1.

Conclusion:

Sitagliptin therapy does not appear to be related to activation of the arginine vasopressin system.
Immune Cell–Conditioned Media Suppress Prostate Cancer PC-3 Cell Growth Correlating With Decreased Proinflammatory/Anti-inflammatory Cytokine Ratios in the Media Using 5 Selected Crude Polysaccharides
Authors: Lin Hsiao-Chien , Lin Jin-Yuarn
Published: April 2016

Five different crude polysaccharides from guava seed (GSPS), bitter buckwheat (BBPS), common buckwheat (CBPS), red Formosa lambsquarters (RFLPS), and yellow Formosa lambsquarters (YFLPS) were isolated to treat human prostate cancer PC-3 cells via direct action or tumor immunotherapy. The splenocyte- and macrophage-conditioned media (SCM and MCM) were prepared using individual selected polysaccharides, and then SCM or MCM was further collected to treat PC-3 cells. The relationship between PC-3 cell growth and Th1/Th2 cytokines in SCM as well as proinflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokine secretion profiles in MCM were delineated. The results showed that all 5 selected polysaccharides did not significantly inhibit PC-3 cell growth via direct action. However, SCM or MCM cultured in the absence or presence of 5 selected polysaccharides significantly ( P < .05) inhibited PC-3 cell growth. MCM cultured with 5 polysaccharides dose dependently enhanced their inhibitory effects on the viabilities of PC-3 cells than those cultured without polysaccharides. There was a significant ( P < .05) negative correlation between PC-3 cell viabilities and (interleukin [IL]-6 + tumor necrosis factor [TNF]-α)/IL-10 level ratios in the corresponding MCM, implying that macrophages suppress PC-3 cell growth through decreasing secretion ratios of proinflammatory/anti-inflammatory cytokines in a tumor microenvironment.
Original Research: Different imiquimod creams resulting in differential effects for imiquimod-induced psoriatic mouse models
Authors: Luo Di-Qing , Wu Hui-Hui , Zhao Yu-Kun , Liu Juan-Hua , Wang Fang
Published: April 2016

Imiquimod (IMQ)-induced mouse psoriatic model is one of the useful models displaying most of psoriatic features. To compare the modeling efficacy of different IMQ creams, we induced the psoriatic models by topically applying two different brands of IMQ 5% creams to the shaved Balb/c mice skin and assessed the results. Balb/c female mice (n = 24) 8–12 weeks of age were randomly divided into experimental groups A (Likejie), B (Aldara), and control group C (Vaseline); Likejie, Aldara, or Vaseline was topically applied to the back skin for mice in groups A, B, and C, respectively, for six consecutive days. The total psoriasis area and severity index scores of groups A, B, and C were 3.25 ± 1.56, 9.81 ± 0.84, and 0, respectively; the Baker’s scores were 2.93 ± 1.07, 6.47 ± 1.50, and 0, respectively; and the epidermis thickness was 49.79 ± 14.16, 85.62 ± 17.55, and 20.04 ± 3.68 µm, respectively. The differences between the three groups in dual were statistically significant ( P < 0.005 for the groups in dual). Aldara group showed more characteristic alterations of psoriasiform lesions than that of Likejie both macroscopically and histopathologically. The results suggested that different brands of IMQ creams may result in differential efficacy when performing the IMQ-induced psoriasis mouse models.
Development of a low-cost, reusable laparoscopic entry and emergency model
Authors: DeStephano Christopher C , La Rosa Delaney W , Lannen Amy M , Dove Jesse C , Colibaseanu Dorin T , Dinh Tri A
Published: April 2016

Although studies on simulation of rare complications have become more common in the trauma and obstetric literature, there is a paucity of studies on simulation of rare laparoscopic emergencies. High-fidelity models, virtual reality systems, and porcine labs are available; however, their cost limits wider use and repetition of skills. A low-cost, laparoscopic entry and emergency model was created using on-hand base parts. A convenience sample of obstetrics/gynecology and general surgery residents and attending surgeons completed a laparoscopic entry and emergency scenario using an innovative model in the multidisciplinary simulation center. A total of 29 gynecology, urology, and general surgery residents, fellows, and attending surgeons participated in the laparoscopic emergency simulation drill. Of the 29 participants of the laparoscopic emergency simulation drill using the model, 27 (93.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that the simulated drill approximates the stress of a vascular injury during laparoscopy and 27 (93.1%) agreed or strongly agreed that the model set up appears appropriate for approximating a retroperitoneal hematoma. The reusable, laparoscopic simulation model and emergency drill were rated favorably by participants. The model and drill have the potential to be used for multidisciplinary drills that include anesthesiologists, surgical nurses, surgical technologists, and surgeons.
Management of venous thromboembolism secondary to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome: A case report documenting the first use of a superior vena caval filter for upper limb venous thromboembolism in pregnancy, and the difficulties and complications relating to anticoagulation in antenatal and peri-partum periods
Authors: Mitchell-Jones Nicola , McEwan Michael , Johnson Mark
Published: April 2016

The management of venous thromboembolism and subsequent pulmonary embolism in pregnancy remains hugely challenging. In this case, we report the first use of a superior vena caval filter in pregnancy as an adjunct to pharmacological anticoagulation. This is the first reported use of a superior vena caval filter in pregnancy. We discuss the complexities of managing thromboembolism in pregnancy and the peri-partum period.
Accelerated rehabilitation after arthroscopic Bankart repair in professional footballers
Authors: Gibson Jo , Kerss Jim , Morgan Chris , Brownson Peter
Published: April 2016

Background

Advances in arthroscopic surgery have resulted in biomechanically stronger repairs that might allow for accelerated rehabilitation protocols and hence faster return to play. Evidence for such regimes in the shoulder, particularly in elite athletes, is lacking.

Methods

This prospective single surgeon (PB) series included 34 professional footballers undergoing an accelerated rehabilitation programme following arthroscopic soft tissue stabilization subsequent to traumatic anterior shoulder dislocation. Data were collected on time to regain elevation range, external rotation range, return to play and rate of recurrence.

Results

Mean follow-up time was 4.8 years (range 2 years to 10 years). Full range of forward elevation was regained at a mean of 5 weeks (range 3 weeks to 7 weeks) and external rotation range (in neutral) at a mean of 6 weeks (range 4 weeks to 8 weeks). Mean return to play time was 11 weeks (range 9 weeks to 14 weeks). Three players (9%) reported a recurrent episode of dislocation at a mean of 19 months.

Conclusions

An accelerated rehabilitation programme resulted in a return to play time of 11 weeks compared to previously reported times of between 5 months and 9 months in the contact sports population. A recurrence rate of 9% compares favourably to other published studies following similar surgery (5.1% to 28.6%) but which employed more conservative postoperative rehabilitation regimes.