bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Single‐center implementation of endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) in the colorectum: Low recurrence rate after intention‐to‐treat ESD
Authors: Wagner Andrej , Neureiter Daniel , Kiesslich Tobias , Wolkersdörfer Gernot W. , Pleininger Thomas , Mayr Christian , Dienhart Christiane , Yahagi Naohisa , Oyama Tsuneo , Berr Frieder
Published: December 2017

Background and Aim

Colorectal endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) shows higher R0 resection and lower local recurrence rates than endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) in Japan. In Europe, independent learning of ESD in the colorectum is feasible, but yet to be analyzed for curative resection and recurrence rates.

Methods

After experimental training under supervision by Japanese experts (T.O., N.Y.), three endoscopists independently carried out 83 ESD procedures intention‐to‐treat for lesions in the entire colorectum of 67 patients in a prospective registry (November 2009 to June 2016).

Results

ESD was feasible in 80 (96%) colorectal neoplasias (mean diameter 33.6 [± 1.8] mm), and three more required conversion to piecemeal EMR. The lesions were adenomas in 66% with low‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia (LGIN), 29% with high‐grade intraepithelial neoplasia, and 5% with carcinomas (G2, pT1). ESD had to be facilitated by the final use of snaring (hybrid‐ESD, n = 45), especially in the initial learning period. En‐bloc resection rate was 85%. Complications were microperforations (7%, conducive to one hemicolectomy), and delayed bleeding (1%) without mortality or long‐term morbidity. Residual adenomas with LGIN (5%) after hybrid‐ESD did not recur after endoscopic ablation. All malignant neoplasias (34%) were curatively resected without recurrence after a mean follow up of 19.5 (± 3.2) months.

Conclusions

During independent ESD learning in the colorectum, ESD intention‐to‐treat showed a low recurrence rate after appropriate training, and hybrid‐ESD showed acceptable complication and recurrence rates, justifying hybrid‐ESD as a strategy for self‐completion and rescue.
Ritual and Recovery: Traditions in Disaster Ritualizing
Authors: Danbolt Lars Johan , Stifoss‐Hanssen Hans
Published: December 2017

The aim of this article is partly to analyze and discuss the ritual traditions in the Norwegian context, called disaster services, which consists in ritualizing as a response to accidents and disasters. Furthermore, we find it relevant to understand these traditions in relation to two aspects of recovery: personal and social recovery. From a practical theological perspective, the new traditions are interesting for the understanding of how the churches work in situations where people have stressful experiences, and for developing an understanding of contemporary religion.
A Voice Crying out from the Wound—with or without Words: On Trauma, Speech, and Silence1
Authors: Welz Claudia
Published: December 2017

Drawing on memory and trauma studies, psychotherapeutic research, and Holocaust testimonies (in particular those of Wiesel, Semprun, Kulka, and Appelfeld), this article explores the role of speech and silence in the process of working through severe trauma. That which seems “incommunicable” will be considered in regard to the limits of linguistic representation and the problems of communication caused by the interlocutors’ avoidance of the past. How can one ensure that recounting traumatic memories does not become an extra risk rather than a remedy?
Association between global functioning at first schizophrenia diagnosis and treatment resistance
Authors: Horsdal Henriette T. , Wimberley Theresa , Köhler‐Forsberg Ole , Baandrup Lone , Gasse Christiane
Published: December 2017

Aim

Several factors such as age, gender, urbanicity and clinical treatment setting have been associated with treatment‐resistant schizophrenia (TRS). We examined the association between the Global Assessment of Functioning (social Functioning [GAF‐F]) score at first schizophrenia diagnosis and TRS and explored whether level of functioning could partially explain the known associations.

Methods

A nationwide population‐based cohort study among individuals, who had a GAF‐F score at first schizophrenia diagnosis. We used adjusted Cox regression analysis to calculate hazard ratios (HRs).

Results

Among 3252 individuals, severe functional impairment (GAF‐F ≤ 30) was associated with TRS within 2 years after diagnosis (adjusted HR = 1.38 [95% confidence interval: 1.03‐1.87). GAF‐F had virtually no impact on the associations between investigated known risk factors and TRS.

Conclusions

GAF‐F was independently associated with TRS. Consideration of a global functioning score may help clinicians to detect treatment resistance earlier among individuals with schizophrenia.
The Graduating European Dentist—Domain I: Professionalism
Authors: McLoughlin J. , Zijlstra‐Shaw S. , Davies J. R. , Field J. C.
Published: December 2017

This position paper outlines the areas of competence and learning outcomes of “The Graduating European Dentist” that specifically relate to Professionalism. Professionalism is a commitment to a set of values, behaviours and relationships, which underpin the trust that the public hold in dental care professionals. Shortcomings within this domain are often responsible for patient dissatisfaction, concern and complaint—and emphasis is placed on the importance of embedding these values from an early stage within the curriculum.
The Graduating European Dentist: Contemporaneous Methods of Teaching, Learning and Assessment in Dental Undergraduate Education
Authors: Field J. C. , Walmsley A. D. , Paganelli C. , McLoughlin J. , Szep S. , Kavadella A. , Manzanares Cespedes M. C. , Davies J. R. , DeLap E. , Levy G. , Gallagher J. , Roger‐Leroi V. , Cowpe J. G.
Published: December 2017

It is often the case that good teachers just “intuitively” know how to teach. Whilst that may be true, there is now a greater need to understand the various processes that underpin both the ways in which a curriculum is delivered, and the way in which the students engage with learning; curricula need to be designed to meet the changing needs of our new graduates, providing new, and robust learning opportunities, and be communicated effectively to both staff and students. The aim of this document is to draw together robust and contemporaneous methods of teaching, learning and assessment that help to overcome some of the more traditional barriers within dental undergraduate programmes. The methods have been chosen to map specifically to The Graduating European Dentist, and should be considered in parallel with the benchmarking process that educators and institutions employ locally.
European Academy of Neurology and European Stroke Organization consensus statement and practical guidance for pre‐hospital management of stroke
Authors: Kobayashi A. , Czlonkowska A. , Ford G. A. , Fonseca A. C. , Luijckx G. J. , Korv J. , de la Ossa N. Pérez , Price C. , Russell D. , Tsiskaridze A. , Messmer‐Wullen M. , De Keyser J.
Published: December 2017

Background and purpose

The reduction of delay between onset and hospital arrival and adequate pre‐hospital care of persons with acute stroke are important for improving the chances of a favourable outcome. The objective is to recommend evidence‐based practices for the management of patients with suspected stroke in the pre‐hospital setting.

Methods

The GRADE (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation) methodology was used to define the key clinical questions. An expert panel then reviewed the literature, established the quality of the evidence, and made recommendations.

Results

Despite very low quality of evidence educational campaigns to increase the awareness of immediately calling emergency medical services are strongly recommended. Moderate quality evidence was found to support strong recommendations for the training of emergency medical personnel in recognizing the symptoms of a stroke and in implementation of a pre‐hospital ‘code stroke’ including highest priority dispatch, pre‐hospital notification and rapid transfer to the closest ‘stroke‐ready’ centre. Insufficient evidence was found to recommend a pre‐hospital stroke scale to predict large vessel occlusion. Despite the very low quality of evidence, restoring normoxia in patients with hypoxia is recommended, and blood pressure lowering drugs and treating hyperglycaemia with insulin should be avoided. There is insufficient evidence to recommend the routine use of mobile stroke units delivering intravenous thrombolysis at the scene. Because only feasibility studies have been reported, no recommendations can be provided for pre‐hospital telemedicine during ambulance transport.

Conclusions

These guidelines inform on the contemporary approach to patients with suspected stroke in the pre‐hospital setting. Further studies, preferably randomized controlled trials, are required to examine the impact of particular interventions on quality parameters and outcome.
The Privatized Meaning of Wartime Deployments: Examining the Narratives of Norwegian Military Spouses
Authors: Gustavsen Elin
Published: December 2017

This study examines the narratives of eight female spouses of Norwegian veterans of the war in Afghanistan. The narratives are approached as rich cultural texts that arise in the interface between their individual experiences and the sociocultural milieu. The analysis focuses on the use of “normalization” and “agency” as narrative resources used by the women to organize experience and transform it into meaning. In their accounts, the deployment was not framed as a negative and interruptive event. Nor was it connected to a national narrative of collective meaning. Instead, the spouses conveyed a normalized interpretation in which the meaning of their husbands’ deployment was constructed in close reference to the personal realm of family life. This article argues that the experience of contemporary warfare has become a marginalized and unsettled experience in Norwegian society. In the absence of a settled repertoire of cultural scripts to portray the experience of having a spouse deployed abroad, the Norwegian military spouses used a privatized framework to interpret their wartime experience.
Texting Amor: Emerging Intimacies in Textually Mediated Romance Among Tzotzil Mayan Youth
Authors: de León Lourdes
Published: December 2017

Cell phones are vehicles for creating and transforming sociality in peer networks (Coleman 2010; Wallis 2010). In the last decade, increased access to cell phones has radically changed courtship practices among Mayan youth of Zinacantán, Chiapas, and México as young couples now text clandestine romantic relationships, unmediated by elders. Since there is essentially no vocabulary for romantic love in Mayan Tzotzil, couples now rely on Spanish expressions gleaned from the media and other sources and have created a genre of romantic texting. The current study analyzes the textual microprocesses of dialogical construction of romance from a database of ten thousand WhatsApp text messages. Both microlevel practices and macrolevel forces are considered in shaping new landscapes of love, showing how texting affords new technological, linguistic, and literacy skills that are significantly changing repertoires of identity (Kroskrity 1993, 2000) and new expressions of agency and affect among Mayan youth. [Youth, cell phones, romance, love, digital communication, literacy, Mayan]
Sold Below Value? Why Takeover Offers Can Have Negative Premiums
Authors: Weitzel Utz , Kling Gerhard
Published: December 2017

Many studies have acknowledged the existence of negative offer premiums where the initial bid undercuts the target's preannouncement market price. However, this phenomenon has not been explained. Negative premiums occur frequently and are no measurement error. We demonstrate theoretically and empirically that “hidden earnouts,” where target shareholders participate in the bidder's share of joint synergies, and corrections of overvaluation explain negative premiums. We find that target shareholders profit from the consummation of a takeover even if the announced offer has a negative premium. Our theory generalizes to low positive premiums with predictive power for the bottom 25% of all premiums.
Frequency of going outdoors and health‐related quality of life among older adults: Examining the moderating role of living alone and employment status
Authors: Harada Kazuhiro , Masumoto Kouhei , Katagiri Keiko , Fukuzawa Ai , Chogahara Makoto , Kondo Narihiko , Okada Shuichi
Published: December 2017

Aim

Going outdoors more frequently is beneficial for maintaining and improving health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) among older adults. However, individual differences can alter the effects of going outdoors. The present study aimed to examine whether relationships between going outdoors and HRQOL were moderated by living alone and employment status.

Methods

The present study was a secondary analysis of 14‐month prospective data (n = 613). Variables used in this study were baseline data on the frequency of going outdoors, HRQOL (physical and mental component summary scores assessed using the Japanese version of the Medical Outcomes study Short Form 8‐Item Health Survey), living alone, employment status, potential confounders (sex, age, educational level and instrumental activities of daily living) and follow‐up data on HRQOL.

Results

Mixed models showed that the interaction term of going outdoors and currently living alone on both the physical and mental component summary and that of going outdoors and current employment status on the mental component were significant. Stratified analyses showed that going outdoors more frequently predicted the physical and mental component summary among those who lived with others, and the mental component summary among those who were unemployed.

Conclusions

These results show that the influence of going outdoors on HRQOL was moderated by living alone and employment status. Going outdoors more frequently might be important for the maintenance of HRQOL, especially among unemployed older adults living with others. Geriatr Gerontol Int 2018; 18: 640–647.
Book history, print, and the Middle East
Authors: Schwartz Kathryn A.
Published: December 2017

This article describes how the study of Middle Eastern book history arose from scholarship on the history of the book, a multifaceted line of inquiry which developed around the early modern European experience of print. I argue that these origins influenced Middle Eastern book history insofar as it took the topic of printing as its main focus. However, an unevenness characterized this focus since European printing became commonplace from the early sixteenth century onwards, whereas printing in the Middle East took off during the nineteenth century. The 400 years that separated these phenomena marked the rise of modern Europe, which print was considered to have helped advance. These years were also interpreted as representing the decline of the Islamicate world until it modernized along a Western model, including its widespread adoption of print. Focusing largely on scholarship written in English, I summarize the effects that such thinking has had in shaping Middle Eastern book history, and then conclude with my sense of the state of current research.
Recent transitions in genetic diversity and structure in the endangered semi‐natural grassland butterfly, Melitaea protomedia, in Japan
Authors: Nakahama Naoyuki , Isagi Yuji
Published: December 2017

The monitoring of genetic characters and definition of effective conservation units are important for conservation of endangered semi‐natural grassland species.

Using molecular markers, we elucidated the recent transitions in genetic diversity for the endangered grassland butterfly Melitaea protomedia (Lepidoptera; Nymphalidae) in Japan. First, we examined changes in genetic diversity and structure from the 1980s to the 2010s from archival and contemporary DNA samples using eight microsatellite markers. Second, we estimated the genetic structure based on 1374 bp of mitochondrial COI gene from contemporary samples. We also defined the conservation units of M. protomedia based on the above analysis.

The genetic diversity of M. protomedia has significantly declined from the 1980s to the 2010s. Although genetic differentiation was very strong among populations in c. 2010, there was only weak genetic structure in c. 1990. In addition, the number of haplotypes based on mitochondrial DNA is now very low due to recent declines.

These findings suggest that effective conservation units for critically endangered species should be determined based on historic (i.e. prior to population declines) as well as contemporary genetic diversity and differentiation, because genetic structure may have changed over time. Genetic analysis of archival DNA is useful to obtain historic genetic information.
Community pharmacist-led clinical services: physician's understanding, perceptions and readiness to collaborate in a Midwestern state in the United States†
Authors: Gordon Cameron , Unni Elizabeth , Montuoro Jaime , Ogborn Diane B
Published: December 2017

Objectives

Many pharmacists are actively enhancing their role in the delivery of health care by offering a variety of pharmacist-led clinical services. The delivery of these services within community pharmacies can contribute to overcoming the cost and accessibility challenges currently facing U.S. health care, especially when pharmacist–physician collaborative efforts are utilized. The study purpose was to identify general and family practice physicians’ awareness of pharmacists’ delivery of clinical services, uncover their perceived barriers to collaboration with community pharmacists, and collect their input on how to overcome such barriers in order to better understand how pharmacist-led clinical services can be integrated, improved and more widely utilized as a healthcare delivery mechanism.

Methods

Semi-structured interviews were performed at the physicians’ place of practice to assess (1) family practice and internal medicine physicians’ knowledge of pharmacists’ education, clinical training, and role in the healthcare team; (2) their perceptions and barriers towards pharmacist-delivered clinical services and physician–pharmacist collaboration; and (3) their recommendations to improve physician–pharmacist collaboration. The data were analysed qualitatively to identify and categorize themes.

Key findings

Thirteen physicians were interviewed. While nearly all physicians were aware of pharmacists’ level of education, most were not aware of the level of clinical training pharmacists receive. Only half of the physicians were able to provide a definition or example of collaborative practice agreements, although most recognized value and benefit when the definition and examples were provided to them. The commonly perceived barriers for collaboration were concern over loss of communication, hesitancy to relinquish control and lack of confidence in pharmacists’ clinical judgement.

Conclusion

The study results emphasize the need to develop strategies to improve collaborative relationships between physicians and pharmacists. To encourage collaboration, pharmacists must take a proactive approach to increasing awareness of their clinical knowledge and training, the benefits and value of collaborative practice and the opportunities for it.
Moving in the Spirit: Called to Transforming Discipleship: Reflections from the Vantage Points of the Marginalized People
Authors: Manchala Deenabandhu
Published: December 2017

“Mission from the margins” is neither a mere perspectival approach nor an option but an inevitable way of being church in God's mission. Likewise, the marginalized people are neither a broad category of people on the fringes of the society nor mere objects of charity and victims of circumstances. They are prophets and pathfinders indicting the world for its injustice through their lives of suffering and striving for its transformation through their struggles. As signs of hope testifying to the movement of the Spirit amidst despair and death, they help us to see God's mission not as a mere religious activity but as a spirituality of resistance and transformation for the sake of life and God's world. Reclaiming discipleship from the vantage of the marginalized, therefore, offers an opportunity for the churches to rediscover themselves afresh from being mere communities of believers and power structures to networks of partners for God's justice, participating in the larger struggles for the transformation of the world. As the gospels tell us, Jesus did not commission his disciples to call people to a belief system but to a covenantal relationship through a vocation of striving for the realization of God's reign. Such a sense of vocation is possible only when there is a radical change in Christian self‐understanding. It involves, first, interrogating and reimagining the ways in which churches affirm and practise their faith; second, leaving aside their captivity to certain belief systems and turning toward Jesus of Nazareth to teach the way – to be active partners with God rather than being passive believers; third, appropriating discipleship beyond the language and sphere of transformation of persons; and fourth, learning from and being enriched by the visions and resources of the marginalized in living out the call to be one in God's mission of transformation of the world.
“Theology of Presence” in African Christianity: A Transforming Missiological Factor for Women in Contemporary Pentecostal Churches in Africa
Authors: Lugazia Faith K.
Published: December 2017

Following the independence of many African countries, Christianity has been gaining freedom through indigenizing the church. Christian churches in Africa are self‐indigenizing, self‐innovating, and self‐criticizing their practices and theologies. However, women in African churches remain in an uncomfortable zone. African, biblical, and missionary cultures have been named as sources of discrimination of women in the church. This paper deploys a “theology of presence” to claim that contemporary Pentecostal Christianity (CPC) in Africa, with some continuity in African worldview and biblical cultures, has touched upon and answered women's complex and challenging questions that for a long time have been denied by Christian missionaries. The paper shows how theology of presence, in the “witnessing” and “healing” practised by CPC, has been transforming the missiological factor for women. The paper suggests learning from other models for transformation than policies and gender mainstreaming tools, since these have had little impact. The paper recommends research on hermeneutical reading of the Bible and providing more innovative skills to help women break the silence of being violated.
“Go Near and Join Thyself to This Chariot…”: African Pneumatic Movements and Transformational Discipleship
Authors: Asamoah‐Gyadu J. Kwabena
Published: December 2017

Christian religious innovation has been ongoing in Africa since the early 20th century. It started with indigenous charismatic prophets calling on people to turn over their old deities and submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ. The ministries of these itinerant prophets led to mass conversions culminating in the formation of what became known as the African independent/instituted/initiated churches (AICs). For the best part of the 20th century the AICs defined what counted as Christian in an African indigenous sense. The argument of this article is that the acronym AICs has, since the closing decades of the 20th century, acquired a much broader meaning to include the new Pentecostal/charismatic movements and churches that have burgeoned across the continent. Their trademarks include youthful urban‐centred congregations, media‐driven ministries, and the preaching of a gospel of prosperity. The contributions of both the classical AICs and the contemporary Pentecostals to African Christianity have been phenomenal. As Christian churches, however, we ought to evaluate them not just in terms of numerical or sociological impact, but most especially in terms of transformational discipleship. There is much to celebrate in transformational discipleship as far as the ministries of these African Reformation movements are concerned, but there as yet remain areas of concern that need to be dealt with for the optimization of Christian impact in Africa.
Genetic composition of a population of natural common bream Abramis brama × roach Rutilus rutilus hybrids and their morphological characteristics in comparison with parent species
Authors: Konopiński M. K. , Amirowicz A.
Published: December 2017

Common bream Abramis brama, roach Rutilus rutilus and their hybrids were collected in the Dobczyce Reservoir in southern Poland in 2006–2013 to study whether it is better for a hybrid individual to resemble and compete with one of its parents, or to minimize competition by having a distinctive phenotype. All hybrids were F1 crosses and originated predominantly (93·2%) from matings between female A. brama and male R. rutilus parents. In morphometric analyses, a newly defined coefficient, L3 = 2·5 (body mass) (LS × body depth)−1, which enables forms with similar length–depth proportions but different length–mass relationships to be distinguished was used. Morphometric and meristic characteristics of the hybrids were intermediate in comparison with the parental species, with small but significant deviation towards R. rutilus in longitudinal body dimensions (trunk and tail length) and towards A. brama in body cross‐sectional shape (body depth and L3 coefficient). This may result in a more R. rutilus like propulsion in hybrids and a more A. brama like ability to manoeuvre.
National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges Passes a Set of Practice Reform Resolutions
Authors: Sickmund Melissa
Published: December 2017

The National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) recently passed resolutions and policy statements on how to improve the lives of youth and families involved with juvenile or family courts. These resolutions address the needs of homeless youth and their families, juvenile probation and adolescent development, and the need for independent oversight of youth confinement facilities.
Black Racial Stereotypes and Victim Blaming: Implications for Media Coverage and Criminal Proceedings in Cases of Police Violence against Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Authors: Dukes Kristin Nicole , Gaither Sarah E.
Published: December 2017

Posthumous stereotypical media portrayals of Michael Brown and other racial and ethnic minority victims of police violence have sparked questions about the influence of racial stereotypes on public opinions about their deaths and criminal proceedings for their killers. However, few studies have empirically investigated how the specific type of information released about a victim impacts opinions surrounding such incidents. Participants (N = 453) read about an altercation that resulted in a shooting death where the race of the victim and shooter (Black vs. White) was randomly assigned. Participants learned either negative, Black male stereotypic or positive, Black male counterstereotypic information about the victim. Next, participants appraised levels of fault and blame, sympathy and empathy for the victim and shooter, and indictment recommendations for the shooter. Findings suggest that the type of information released about a victim can significantly sway attitudes toward the victim and the shooter. Implications for media portrayals of racial/ethnic minority victims of police violence and its impact on criminal sentencing are discussed.
Do panelists memorize products when performing descriptive analysis on few products?
Authors: Lestringant Pauline , Delarue Julien , Heymann Hildegarde
Published: December 2017

Few studies have investigated the impact of the number of samples on the descriptive analysis (DA) process and results. One may hypothesize that when training on and evaluating small product sets, panelists memorize the products instead of actually evaluating the samples based on their perceptions of the attributes. In this study, we tested whether products were recognized during the training and evaluation phases of separate ketchup and lemonade panels. After performing a full DA task, panelists did a recognition test, in which they were asked to estimate the number of products they evaluated and which ones they recognized from a larger sample set. Panelists did not realize how many different samples they tasted, neither during training nor evaluation. Yet, they were able to recognize samples they had previously tasted in DA. Similarities among products led to mistakes. However, samples that were very different from others were not better recognized.

Practical applications

This study is a first attempt at evaluating the extent of product recognition in a realistic descriptive analysis context. The goal of sensory profiles is to measure human perception of products, which can be biased by memory effects. Since memorization may depend on the number of products panelists are trained on, we tested a “worst case scenario” with only four products during the training phase. This is relevant to many situations in which small sample sizes occur: a 2 x 2 experimental design, few innovative products present on the market, or limited number of prototypes available.
Literature—Technology—Media: Towards a new technography
Authors: Purdon James
Published: December 2017

The recent medial turn in the humanities has brought with it an increasing focus on systems, devices, protocols, and other aspects of the technological mediation of culture. This article considers the two most prominent instances of technological inquiry—media archaeology and the theory of cultural techniques—in order to show how literary studies can learn from and contribute to the ongoing re‐evaluation of the relationship between technology and culture. On the basis of a philological argument tracing the emergence of the concept of “technology” in classical rhetoric and its transformation during the first Industrial Revolution, the article develops a critique of the Enlightenment distinction between technology and discursivity and calls for a new “technographic” understanding of the dialectic between the two.
The Myth of Universality: The UNESCO “Philosophers’ Committee” and the Making of Human Rights
Authors: Goodale Mark
Published: December 2017

This article reexamines one of the most enduring questions in the history of human rights: the question of human rights universality. By the end of the first decade after the end of the Cold War, debates around the legitimacy and origins of human rights took on new urgency, as human rights emerged as an increasingly influential rubric in international law, transnational development policy, social activism, and ethical discourse. At stake in these debates was the fundamental status of human rights. Based in part on new archival research, this article offers an alternative interpretation of the rediscovery by scholars in the late 1990s of a 1947 UNESCO survey that purported to demonstrate the universality of human rights through empirical evidence. The article argues that this contested intellectual history reflects the enduring importance of the “myth of universality”—a key cultural narrative that we continue to use to find meaning across the long, dark night of history.
New Wine into Old Wineskins? Regime Diffusion by the Powerful from International Trade into Cyberspace
Authors: Yoo In Tae
Published: December 2017

Conflicts and competition among different norms in cyberspace are increasing, especially among powerful states, such as the United States, the European Union, Russia, China, and Brazil, and most notably among democratic and nondemocratic countries. Unlike the current literature, which tends to concentrate on either international power distribution among states or domestic preference formation within them, this study argues that the norms of liberal international trade, especially the free flow of goods and services, have been most influential in shaping trade regimes within cyberspace. To diffuse their preferred norms, powerful states often use a grafting tactic, in which well‐established norms, such as those of liberal trade relations, are adopted as new norms in an emerging area, such as cyberspace. This case study of the Trans‐Pacific Partnership agreement, one of the first mega‐regional trade agreements to explicitly include provisions related to the digital economy, demonstrates that the United States has utilized multiple multilateral venues to pursue its national interests and traces why and how only certain norms in international trade are grafted into cyberspace.
When Increased Turnout Matters: Simulating the Partisan Impact of Full Turnout in Senate and Gubernatorial Elections
Authors: Burmila Edward M. , Birkhead Nathaniel A.
Published: December 2017

What if everyone voted? There is consensus that increased turnout generally, but not always, benefits Democrats, but recent evidence suggests that it is unlikely to change election outcomes considering the paucity of close races. For the first time, we examine this question using gubernatorial races along with Senate races from 2008 and 2010, estimating the behavior of nonvoters based on individual‐level data from known voters. We find that the substantive effect of full turnout is understated, particularly in close gubernatorial races. As these races determine partisan control of executive branches, we demonstrate that full turnout would result in more politically meaningful changes than suggested in previous research focusing only on Senate or presidential elections. While the empirical consequences of increased turnout are well understood, our findings suggest that the substantive effects continue to be understated.

Related Articles

Stockemer, Daniel, and
Stephanie Parent. 2014. “.” Politics & Policy 42 (): 221‐245. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12067/abstract

Southwell, Priscilla. 2011. “.” Politics & Policy 39 (): 979‐996. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1747-1346.2011.00330.x/abstract

Stockemer, Daniel. 2013. “.” Politics & Policy 41 (): 189‐212. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/polp.12012/abstract
How Add‐on Pricing Interacts with Distribution Contracts
Authors: Geng Xianjun , Tan Yinliang (Ricky) , Wei Lai
Published: December 2017

With the rise of the Internet economy, an increasing number of firms are offering their core products through online platforms, but retail add‐ons directly to consumers. Meanwhile, many online platforms have also started adopting the agency (model) contract, where the upstream firms decide the retail prices of products while the downstream platforms take a predetermined cut from each sale. This study examines the interaction between an upstream firm's add‐on strategy and a downstream online platform's distribution contract choice. We find that such a firm prefers bundling the add‐on and the core product together under the wholesale contract, but prefers retailing the add‐on separately under the agency contract. Our research thus is the first to suggest that the distribution contract can critically affect a firm's choice between add‐on pricing and bundling. On the platform side, we show that a higher commission rate does not always result in a higher profit for the platform under the agency contract. We further identify two conditions under which the platform prefers the agency contract over the wholesale contract: The commission rate for the platform cannot be too low, and the market potential of the add‐on cannot be too large. For the overall channel, we show that the interaction between add‐on pricing and distribution contracts leads to sub‐optimal channel performance. That said, it is possible for both the firm and the platform to obtain higher profits under the agency contract than under the wholesale contract. Finally, we also demonstrate the robustness of our findings under several alternative model specifications.
What factors determine the subsidiary mode of overseas R&D by developing‐country MNEs? Empirical evidence from Chinese subsidiaries abroad
Authors: Wang Yanyu , Xie Wei , Li Jizhen , Liu Chenxi
Published: December 2017

This study examines the determinants of the subsidiary modes of overseas research and development (R&D) by Chinese multinational enterprises (MNEs). Based on resource‐based view and absorptive capabilities, we propose that financial resources and technological resources have different effects on the selection of overseas R&D subsidiary modes, which are competence‐exploiting mode or competence‐creating mode. This is supported by the empirical results in this paper using data from a survey of 40 Chinese overseas R&D subsidiaries. The results demonstrate that the parent firms with richer financial resources and more R&D expenses prefer the competence‐exploiting mode, while the parent firms with more R&D personnel favor the competence‐creating mode. Additionally, this study finds that firms matching our mode choice model tend to enjoy a higher level of innovative performance.
Can we rely on the soil seed bank for restoring xeric sandy calcareous grasslands?
Authors: Godefroid Sandrine , Le Pajolec Sarah , Hechelski Marie , Van Rossum Fabienne
Published: December 2017

In western Europe, xeric sandy calcareous grasslands have been reduced to a few small and isolated fragments, as a result of sand quarrying and abandonment of agro‐pastoral practices leading to tree encroachment. The restoration of dry grasslands usually consists of reopening the land by cutting trees and removing the litter or the topsoil, relying on seed rain and soil seed bank for recolonization. We investigated whether the soil seed bank of degraded sandy grasslands can be a suitable tool in the restoration of typical sandy grassland communities. We examined the soil seed bank and the vegetation composition in a total of 20 plots of extant and recently restored sandy grasslands (Sedo‐Cerastion) in southern Belgium. Seed density ranged from 611 to 38,808 seeds/m2. Dry grassland species accounted for 42% of the soil seed bank in extant grasslands but dropped to 17% for restored sites, which were dominated by species from artificial pioneer habitats. Only a small number of the 122 species recorded in the vegetation germinated from the soil seed bank samples. Most of these were common species with large ecological amplitude (e.g., Arenaria serpyllifolia, Poa annua, and Rumex acetosella), already present in the site. The typical sandy grassland specialists (e.g., Cardaminopsis arenosa, Dianthus deltoides, Helichrysum arenarium, and Petrorhagia prolifera) were missing from the seed bank, except when present in the vegetation. Therefore, a successful restoration of degraded sandy grasslands based on local seed banks is unlikely. Additional management actions, such as active seed sowing of target species, may be necessary.
A meta‐analysis of the indirect impact of foreign direct investment in old and new EU member states: Understanding productivity spillovers
Authors: Bruno Randolph Luca , Cipollina Maria
Published: December 2017

In this paper, we summarise, combine and explain recent findings from firm‐level empirical literature focusing on the indirect impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on economic performance, measured as productivity, in the Enlarged Europe. We have reviewed 52 quantitative studies, released between 2000 and 2015 and codified 1,133 estimates. We run a regression of regressions which measures the strength of the FDI–productivity relationship. Taking advantage of large number of high‐quality studies on FDI and its role in explaining the growth in firms’ productivity in Europe, we adopt recent meta‐regression analysis methods—funnel asymmetry and precision estimate tests and precision‐effect estimate with standard errors—to explain the heterogeneous impact of FDI. This paper assesses the country‐specific impact of FDI on firms’ performance, after taking publication selection bias, econometric modelling and the individual studies’ characteristics fully into account. Our results show that on average FDI has a positive indirect impact on productivity. The impact is especially significant in selected European countries, and we interpret this as a sign of better absorptive capacities in those countries.
Evaluation of efficacy of repeated decontamination and sterilization of single‐incision laparoscopic surgery ports intended for 1‐time use
Authors: Petrovsky Brian , Monnet Eric
Published: December 2017

Objective

To determine the efficacy of repeated decontamination and sterilization of a disposable port intended for 1‐time use during single‐incision laparoscopy.

Study Design

Experimental; prospective, controlled design.

Methods

Six single‐access ports used 4 times and 6 single‐access ports used 8 times to perform various clean, minimally invasive surgeries were evaluated. Ports were decontaminated in an enzymatic cleaner (dilution, 3:100) and cleaned with a scrub brush for 5 minutes. The ports were then sterilized with hydrogen peroxide vapor for 50 minutes using a standard protocol at a concentration of 6 mg/L, followed by a vapor diffusion phase. Samples taken from the foam, insufflating tubing, and rigid cannula portion of each port were collected with aseptic technique for aerobic–anaerobic cultures. Port material samples were set up on a tryptic soy agar plate with 5% sheep blood, a MacConkey agar plate, and a Columbia agar plate with 5% sheep blood (CAP). Anaerobic isolate cultures were set up on Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) blood agar and CAP.

Results

None of the ports used 4 times had positive bacteriologic culture. Two of the ports used 8 times had a light growth of bacteria. The first positive sample cultured Staphylococcus spp. and Micrococcus spp. The second positive sample cultured Staphylococcus epidermidis. The positive cultures were obtained from the foam component in an enriched broth.

Conclusion

Single‐incision ports could be used safely 4 times and pose a low risk of infection to the patient under conditions of this study.
Biosorption of nickel ions from aqueous solutions by natural and modified peanut husks: equilibrium and kinetics
Authors: Burevska Katerina Atkovska , Memedi Hamdije , Lisichkov Kiril , Kuvendziev Stefan , Marinkovski Mirko , Ruseska Gordana , Grozdanov Anita
Published: December 2017

The toxicity and non‐biodegradation of heavy metals, as well as their tendency to accumulate in the soils, water resources and the living organisms, makes them the significant environmental pollutants. Therefore, the reduction and elimination of heavy metal ions from aqueous systems is very important from the ecological, nutritional and environmental reasons. The aim of this study is to investigate whether the natural peanut husks, an agricultural waste, and their chemically modified form are capable to remove Ni(II) ions from aqueous solutions using batch method and to compare their efficiency. The effects of the mass of the natural peanut husks and the initial pH of the solution were studied to find the optimal conditions for maximal removal of Ni(II) ions. MATLAB/Curve Fitting Toolbox was implemented to determine the adequate adsorption isotherm as well as to optimise the equilibrium state of the investigated systems.
In vitro invasion capacity of Salmonella Typhimurium DT9 isolates sourced from humans and layer hen environments
Authors: McWhorter A. R. , Phan G. , Hocking H. , Chousalkar K. K.
Published: December 2017

In Australia, Salmonella Typhimurium definitive type 9 is frequently isolated during foodborne outbreaks of salmonellosis. Multiple‐locus variable number tandem repeat analysis (MLVA) trace back investigations frequently identify isolate distribution patterns that may be epidemiologically linked to disease outbreaks. In this study, the in vitro virulence potential of S. Typhimurium DT9 isolates possessing different MLVA patterns (03 15 07 11 550, 03 24 11 10 523, 03 15 08 11 550 and 03 14 08 11 550) isolated from either humans or layer hens was assessed using a human colon carcinoma cell line. Four strains per MLVA from each host for a total of 32 isolates were included in these experiments. Bacteria were grown to stationary phase and added to cells at a multiplicity of infection of 100. Across all isolates, mean percent recovery ranged from 7.1 ± 1.1 to 33.3 ± 7.1%. The layer hen isolate, KC900 (MLVA profile 03 15 08 11 550), exhibited the greatest invasion with a mean percent recovery of 33.3 ± 7.1%. Overall, layer hen isolates of S. Typhimurium DT9 had significantly higher invasion into Caco2 cells than human isolates (p = .0021). RAPD and enterobacterial repetitive intergenic consensus genomic fingerprinting was also performed. Irrespective of source, the SalmonellaDT9 isolates included in this study exhibited similar fingerprint patterns.
Optimizing the Tribological Behavior of Hybrid Copper Surface Composites Using Statistical and Machine Learning Techniques
Authors: Thankachan Titus , Soorya Prakash K. , Kamarthin Mujiburrahman
Published: December 2017

Copper-based surface composite dispersed with varying fractions of hybrid reinforcement was fabricated through friction stir processing (FSP). Hybrid reinforcement particles were prepared from aluminum nitride (AIN) and boron nitride (BN) particles of equal weight proportion. Based on design of experiments, wear characteristics of the developed copper surface composites were estimated using pin-on-disk tribometer. Experimental parameters include volumetric fraction of hybrid reinforcement particles (5, 10, and 15 vol %), load (10, 20, 30 N), sliding velocity (1, 1.5, and 2 m/s), and sliding distance (500, 1000, and 1500 m). Microstructural characterization demonstrated uniform dispersion of hybrid reinforcement particles onto the copper surface along with good bonding. Hardness of the developed surface composites increased with respect to increase in hybrid particle dispersion when compared with copper substrate while a reduction in density values was revealed. Analysis on wear rate values proved that wear rate decreased with increase in hybrid particle dispersion and increased with increase in load, sliding velocity, and distance. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) specified load as the most significant factor over wear rate values followed by volume fractions of particle dispersion, sliding velocity, and distance. Regression model constructed was found efficient in predicting wear rate values. Analysis of worn out surfaces through scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed the transition of severe to mild wear with respect to increase in hybrid reinforcement particle dispersion. A feed forward back propagation algorithm-based artificial neural network (ANN) model with topology 4-7-1 was developed to predict wear rate of copper surface composites based on its control factors.
Experimental and Numerical Investigation of Sweeping Jet Film Cooling
Authors: Hossain Mohammad A. , Prenter Robin , Lundgreen Ryan K. , Ameri Ali , Gregory James W. , Bons Jeffrey P.
Published: December 2017

A companion experimental and numerical study was conducted for the performance of a row of five sweeping jet (SJ) film cooling holes consisting of conventional curved fluidic oscillators with an aspect ratio (AR) of unity and a hole spacing of P/D = 8.5. Adiabatic film effectiveness (η), thermal field (θ), convective heat transfer coefficient (h), and discharge coefficient (CD) were measured at two different freestream turbulence levels (Tu = 0.4% and 10.1%) and four blowing ratios (M = 0.98, 1.97, 2.94, and 3.96) at a density ratio of 1.04 and hole Reynolds number of ReD = 2800. Adiabatic film effectiveness and thermal field data were also acquired for a baseline 777-shaped hole. The SJ film cooling hole showed significant improvement in cooling effectiveness in the lateral direction due to the sweeping action of the fluidic oscillator. An unsteady Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes (URANS) simulation was performed to evaluate the flow field at the exit of the hole. Time-resolved flow fields revealed two alternating streamwise vortices at all blowing ratios. The sense of rotation of these alternating vortices is opposite to the traditional counter-rotating vortex pair (CRVP) found in a “jet in crossflow” and serves to spread the film coolant laterally.