bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Telehealth Videoconferencing for Children With Hemophilia and Their Families
Authors: Jacobson Kimberly , Hooke Mary C.
Published: October 2015

Telehealth is the use of electronic information and telecommunications technologies to support long-distance health care. It supports quality health care that is accessible, and time- and cost-effective. Telehealth videoconferencing may enhance the care for hemophilia patients who are experiencing a bleed by supporting real-time detailed assessment including appearance, range of motion, and ambulation in addition to the traditional phone methods of verbal description of appearance, pain, and function. The aim of this clinical project was to evaluate the feasibility of using telehealth videoconferencing in children with severe hemophilia in the home setting. Twelve patients with severe hemophilia ages 2to 18 years, who had more than 2 breakthrough bleeds in the past year, and had Internet access with a computer camera were included. The incidence of bleeding was low; however, videoconferencing was effective for 3 patients who completed 4 video appointments. Patients and staff reported that videoconferencing improved communication and satisfaction. Telehealth videoconferencing is a feasible tool for managing bleeding disorders in the home setting.
Methotrexate for the Management of Crohn’s Disease in Children
Authors: Scherkenbach Lisa A. , Stumpf Janice L.
Published: October 2015

Objective: To review the literature evaluating methotrexate as a treatment option for Crohn’s disease (CD) in pediatric patients. Data Sources: A search of PubMed electronic database (1966 to August 2015) and secondary resources was performed using the terms methotrexate, Crohn’s, and inflammatory bowel disease. Other relevant articles cited within identified articles were also utilized. Study Selection and Data Extraction: Data sources were limited to English-language studies that included children less than 18 years of age. In total, 10 clinical studies met the criteria. Data Synthesis: Awareness of the risk of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma associated with anti–tumor necrosis factor and thiopurine therapies has renewed interest in methotrexate to treat CD in children. According to data from 10 predominantly retrospective studies, children treated with oral or subcutaneous methotrexate once weekly had remission rates of 25% to 53% at 1 year. Adverse effects most often included nausea and vomiting, elevated liver function tests, headache, and hematological toxicity. The evidence to support methotrexate is limited by inconsistent study design and poorly described dosage regimens. It has been most frequently evaluated in patients with prior thiopurine exposure and has not been thoroughly evaluated as first-line therapy. Conclusions: Based on results of retrospective studies, methotrexate is useful in the treatment of pediatric CD in those who fail thiopurine therapy. Remission rates with methotrexate are similar to those for thiopurine therapy, although no studies directly compare these agents. Although preliminary results are promising, prospective studies are needed to assess the use of methotrexate as initial first-line therapy in the pediatric CD population.
Neural Mechanisms and Children’s Intellectual Development
Authors: Takeuchi Hikaru , Kawashima Ryuta
Published: October 2015

Human psychometric intelligence can predict a number of important social and academic outcomes. Substantial parts of the variances of human intelligence and the brain volume supporting those abilities are explained by environmental factors, and during childhood, human brains have higher plasticity and also 60% of variance of intelligence that is explained by environmental factors. Here, we review the representative environmental factors known to affect human intellectual development during each developmental stage. We describe what is (and what is not) being investigated to determine how these factors affect human brain development through analyses of volumetrical and cortical structures. In conclusion, environmental factors that affect children’s intellectual development lead to three patterns of brain structural change. The first is global change in the brain structure, observed more often in the earlier phase of development. The second is structural changes concentrated in the medial prefrontal and adjacent areas and medial temporal areas, which are likely to be induced by stress in many cases. The third is sporadic region-specific change, likely to be primarily caused by use-dependent plasticity of the areas that is often observed in the later phase of development. These changes may underlie the alterations in children’s intellectual development that is induced by environmental factors.
Lung Disease, Oxidative Stress, and Oxygen Requirements in Preterm Infants
Authors: Moore Tiffany A. , Schmid Kendra K. , Anderson-Berry Ann , Berger Ann M.
Published: October 2015

Background:

The role of oxidative stress remains unclear in the multifactorial pathophysiologic mechanism of lung disease in preterm infants.

Aims:

The aim of this study was to examine the associations among chronic lung disease (CLD), oxidative stress, and oxygen requirements in preterm infants.

Design:

Prospective, longitudinal, and correlational design.

Subjects:

Preterm infants born at <32 weeks’ gestation ( N = 31), median gestation of 29.0 weeks (range 24.9–31.7).

Measurements:

The diagnosis of CLD was obtained from the medical record. Oxidative stress was measured using 8-hydroxydeoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) in the cord blood at birth and urine on Days 1 and 7. Oxygen requirements were measured using fraction of inspired oxygen (FIO2) recorded in the first hour after birth/admission and the average FIO2 during the first 12 hr and 7 days after birth. Descriptive statistics are presented. Comparison analyses were performed using Kruskal–Wallis and Fisher’s exact tests.

Results:

Infants with CLD ( n = 12) had lower gestational age ( p = .04) and weight ( p = .04) at birth, more days on the ventilator ( p = .004), and longer neonatal intensive care unit stay ( p = .04) compared to infants without CLD ( n = 19). CLD was associated with lower oxidative stress levels ( p = .03) and higher oxygen requirements during the first 12 hr ( p = .025) and on Day 7 ( p = .001). Lower oxidative stress levels on Day 7 were associated with higher oxygen requirements in the first 12 hr ( p = .01) and on Day 7 ( p = .03).

Conclusion:

Our results linking CLD and higher oxygen requirements with low oxidative stress contradict previous reports. Findings identify a gap in knowledge for postresuscitation oxygen therapy in preterm infants and expose the role of oxidative stress from inflammation and intermittent hypoxia in the etiology of CLD.
Evaluation of public involvement in research: time for a major re-think?
Authors: Edelman Natalie , Barron Duncan
Published: October 2015

The way that public involvement in research has been evaluated as a complex intervention has derailed the development of an evidence base. Two alternative approaches are available for constructing and evaluating patient involvement, each of which requires us to revisit the purposes and values that underpin it in each stage of the research process.
Endothelial progenitor cells as a biological marker of peripheral artery disease
Authors: Bitterli Lukas , Afan Samuel , Bühler Stephan , DiSanto Stefano , Zwahlen Marcel , Schmidlin Kurt , Yang Zijang , Baumgartner Iris , Diehm Nicolas , Kalka Christoph
Published: October 2015

The role of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral artery disease (PAD) remains unclear. We hypothesized that EPC mobilization and function play a central role in the development of endothelial dysfunction and directly influence the degree of atherosclerotic burden in peripheral artery vessels. The number of circulating EPCs, defined as CD34+/KDR+ cells, were assessed by flow cytometry in 91 subjects classified according to a predefined sample size of 31 non-diabetic PAD patients, 30 diabetic PAD patients, and 30 healthy volunteers. Both PAD groups had undergone endovascular treatment in the past. As a functional parameter, EPC colony-forming units were determined ex vivo. Apart from a broad laboratory analysis, a series of clinical measures using the ankle–brachial index (ABI), flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) and carotid intima–media thickness (cIMT) were investigated. A significant reduction of EPC counts and proliferation indices in both PAD groups compared to healthy subjects were observed. Low EPC number and pathological findings in the clinical assessment were strongly correlated to the group allocation. Multivariate statistical analysis revealed these findings to be independent predictors of disease appearance. Linear regression analysis showed the ABI to be a predictor of circulating EPC number ( p=0.02). Moreover, the functionality of EPCs was correlated by linear regression ( p=0.017) to cIMT. The influence of diabetes mellitus on EPCs in our study has to be considered marginal in already disease-affected patients. This study demonstrated that EPCs could predict the prevalence and severity of symptomatic PAD, with ABI as the determinant of the state of EPC populations in disease-affected groups.
Coming Out of the Coffin
Authors: Owens Andrew J.
Published: October 2015

This essay investigates a significant illustration of American network television’s mediation of queer occultism during the 1960s and 1970s through sociocultural, industrial, and textual analyses of ABC’s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. During and even after its original run between June 1966 and April 1971, I argue that Dark Shadows’ (oc)cult popularity was reinforced by the series’ narrative journeys into fantastic pasts that assembled a genealogy of supernatural “otherness.” By fashioning what Scott Bravmann has called such “queer fictions of the past,” meditations on the non-normative politics and pleasures of historical discourses, Dark Shadows introduced, and even made palatable, queer occultism to mainstream broadcast audiences.
Taking Up the Vitality Message
Authors: Beausoleil Natalie , Petherick LeAnne
Published: October 2015

Currently, in Canada and elsewhere in the West, government spending, media, and health activities focus heavily on “lifestyles” and the “obesity epidemic.” In the last decade, many health and education professionals in Canada have adopted policies to improve health and fitness among youth, seeing them particularly “at risk” for engaging in unhealthy practices. Canada’s Vitality message of learning how to eat well, be active, and feel good about one’s self serves as the health promotion framework guiding our analysis of children’s constructions of health. Adults and youth readily identify with dominant health messages related to eating and being physically active but only rarely acknowledge any sense of embodiment or feeling good. Research with adults, embodiment, and health suggests that feeling good about one’s health and body is an impossible proposition as learning to care for the body is a constant and obligatory individual responsibility with limited possibilities of contentment. Health must be consistently and continuously worked at, making body-related projects a health imperative. We argue that learning how youth feel and experience health in relation to feeling good and pleasure is also imperative given the complex and contested relationships individuals have with health. Based on focus groups with 123 Grade 2 and Grade 4 students in Newfoundland, we use a feminist poststructuralist approach to examine how children understand healthy practices and messages about the ideal “healthy” body. A thematic and performance analysis combining talk, drawings, and talking about the artistic productions reveals children’s complicated relation to health and the body, where pleasure figures centrally and opens up possibilities for alternative conceptions of self and embodiment. We propose a serious investigation of children’s sense of pleasure and “having fun” as a fruitful avenue of research for critical scholars who aim to challenge dominant discourses of health and the body.
“My Life Belongs to Me”
Authors: Reale Michelle
Published: October 2015

There is an interesting dynamic whenever I, the researcher, approach a refugee to interview. Often I meet the refugee when he is in a state of shock or high agitation, as many are upon their arrival in the refugee camps. Showing some resistance to questioning can be seen as a good sign, as the refugee begins to show some discernment toward to whom he will tell his story with an understanding that he is under no obligation to do so. This is in contrast to those who are very compliant, often telling a similar tale to so many others, something that I call the “voyage story,” a narrative that speaks of the physical trials of passage, but usually none of the feelings or emotions that go with them. In the poems that follow, two refugees exemplify personal agency, though in different ways.
Impact assessment of energy-saving houses on environment in Thailand
Authors: Sopapornamorn Tanaya , Sudaprasert Kaokanya , Hirunlabh Jongjit
Published: October 2015

The main purpose of this research is to assess the impact of four types of energy-saving houses on environment in terms of CO2 emission. In the tropical climate, House 1 is designed as an integration of modified Trombe wall and roof solar collector using concrete block and concrete tiles, House 2 is normally built by concrete blocks and concrete tiles, House 3 is built as usually found in Thailand by red clay bricks and concrete tiles, and House 4 is built with lightweight autoclave concrete blocks and well-insulated roof. All house model dimensions are 1.3 × 1.3 × 2.5 m3. The collection of inventory data is associated with the construction stage, average household electricity consumption, maintenance in the using stage, and energy usage in the demolition stage. Electricity for residential consumption is based on the temperature collected through the experimental data in each house in 1 year. Subsequently, the environmental performance is assessed by Impact 2002+ life cycle impact assessment methods. The result shows that House1 has the highest score in terms of energy and environmental performance which can reduce the amount of CO2 emission contributing to global warming even from the first year of operation.
The potential role for ocrelizumab in the treatment of multiple sclerosis: current evidence and future prospects
Authors: Sorensen Per Soelberg , Blinkenberg Morten
Published: October 2015

B cells play a central role in the pathogenesis in multiple sclerosis (MS), being involved in the activation of proinflammatory T cells, secretion of proinflammatory cytokines, and production of autoantibodies directed against myelin. Hence, the usage of B-cell-depleting monoclonal antibodies as therapy for autoimmune diseases including MS lay near at hand. Rituximab was the first therapeutic B-cell-depleting chimeric monoclonal antibody to be used successfully in MS. Ocrelizumab, a second-generation humanized anti-CD20 antibody, was explored in a large phase II, randomized, placebo-controlled multicentre trial in patients with relapsing–remitting disease. Compared with placebo, two doses of ocrelizumab (600 and 2000 mg on days 1 and 15) showed a pronounced effect on disease activity seen in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as gadolinium-enhanced lesions (89% and 96% relative reduction, both p < 0.001) and also had a significant effect on relapses. In exploratory analyses, both doses of ocrelizumab had better effect on gadolinium-enhanced lesions than interferon beta-1a intramuscularly that was used as a reference arm. Adverse effects were mainly infusion-related reactions, in particular during the first infusion. Serious infections occurred at similar rates in ocrelizumab and placebo-treated patients, and no opportunistic infections were reported. However, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) has been reported in patients treated with anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies for other indications.

Other anti-CD20 monoclonal antibodies have been tested as treatments for MS, including ofatumumab that has shown beneficial results in placebo-controlled phase II trials in patients with relapsing–remitting MS. Ocrelizumab is now in phase III development for the treatment of relapsing–remitting MS, as well as primary progressive MS, and the results of ongoing clinical trials are eagerly awaited and will determine the place of ocrelizumab in the armamentarium of MS therapies.
Profits and Pragmatism
Authors: Munene Ishmael
Published: October 2015

The increased commercialization of higher education is a theme that has attracted considerable global attention. In response to changes in traditional sources of funding, many universities, public and private, have opted to source revenue from the marketplace. This article delves into the complexities of the entry into the marketplace by Kenyan and Ugandan universities. The local and international impetus for this movement in both countries and not in Tanzania are discussed, the perverseness and limits of commercialization delineated, and the positive and negative consequences of commercialization chronicled, all within the shifting global paradigm of higher education development. The Kenyan and Ugandan context cautions that ensuring a healthy mix between entry into the marketplace and the retention of the core mission of universities remains a critical challenge for governments and university administrators.
Do First Impressions Matter? Predicting Early Career Teacher Effectiveness
Authors: Atteberry Allison , Loeb Susanna , Wyckoff James
Published: October 2015

As educational policy makers seek strategies to improve the teacher workforce, the early career period represents a unique opportunity to identify struggling teachers, examine the likelihood of future improvement, and make strategic pretenure investments in development or dismissals. It is also a useful time to identify particularly promising teachers for development and focus on high-needs areas. This article asks how much teachers vary in performance improvement during their first 5 years of teaching and to what extent initial job performance predicts later performance. We find that, on average, initial performance is quite predictive of future performance, far more so than typically measured teacher characteristics. This is particularly the case in math, while predictions about future English language arts (ELA) performance based on initial ELA value added are less precise. Predictions are most powerful at the extremes. We use these predictions to explore the likelihood that personnel actions based on initial performance would lead to inappropriate distinctions between teachers who would be high or low performing in future years. We also examine the much less discussed costs of failure to distinguish performance when meaningful differences exist. The results point to the potential of policies that make use of teachers’ initial performance to inform personnel decisions.
Prenatal Diagnosis and Treatment of Fetal Goiter
Authors: Taff Christina
Published: October 2015

A case study of a fetal goiter with successful in utero treatment is presented. The incidence of fetal goiters is rare and can have poor neonatal outcomes due to tracheal and esophageal obstruction. This makes prenatal diagnosis and treatment pertinent. In this case, a solid, homogenous, hypervascular mass is seen protruding from the anterior fetal neck causing hyperextension of the cervical spine. With the use of a percutaneous umbilical cord sampling (PUBS) procedure, the diagnosis of fetal hypothyroidism was established. Successful treatment of the fetal goiter and hypothyroidism with intra-amniotic injections of synthroid prevented tracheal obstruction and the need for an ex utero intrapartum treatment (EXIT) procedure at delivery.
A novel role for von Willebrand factor in the pathogenesis of experimental cerebral malaria
Authors: O’Regan Niamh , Gegenbauer Kristina , O’Sullivan Jamie M. , Maleki Sanaz , Brophy Teresa M. , Dalton Niall , Chion Alain , Fallon Padraic G. , Grau Georges E. , Budde Ulrich , Smith Owen P. , Craig Alister G. , Preston Roger J. S. , O’Donnell James S.
Published: October 2015

Key Points

ECM is associated with an early marked increase in plasma VWF levels and accumulation of UL-VWF multimers. Following P berghei infection, VWF−/− mice survive significantly longer compared with WT controls.
Initiation of recombination suppression and PAR formation during the early stages of neo-sex chromosome differentiation in the Okinawa spiny rat, Tokudaia muenninki
Authors: Murata Chie , Kuroki Yoko , Imoto Issei , Tsukahara Masaru , Ikejiri Naoto , Kuroiwa Asato
Published: October 2015

Background

Sex chromosomes of extant eutherian species are too ancient to reveal the process that initiated sex-chromosome differentiation. By contrast, the neo-sex chromosomes generated by sex-autosome fusions of recent origin in Tokudaia muenninki are expected to be evolutionarily ‘young’, and therefore provide a good model in which to elucidate the early phases of eutherian sex chromosome evolution. Here we describe the genomic evolution of T. muenninki in neo-sex chromosome differentiation.

Results

FISH mapping of a T. muenninki male, using 50 BAC clones as probes, revealed no chromosomal rearrangements between the neo-sex chromosomes. Substitution-direction analysis disclosed that sequence evolution toward GC-richness, which positively correlates with recombination activity, occurred in the peritelomeric regions, but not middle regions of the neo-sex chromosomes. In contrast, the sequence evolution toward AT-richness was observed in those pericentromeric regions. Furthermore, we showed genetic differentiation between the pericentromeric regions as well as an accelerated rate of evolution in the neo-Y region through the detection of male-specific substitutions by gene sequencing in multiple males and females, and each neo-sex–derived BAC sequencing.

Conclusions

Our results suggest that recombination has been suppressed in the pericentromeric region of neo-sex chromosomes without chromosome rearrangement, whereas high levels of recombination activity is limited in the peritelomeric region of almost undifferentiated neo-sex chromosomes. We conclude that PAR might have been formed on the peritelomeric region of sex chromosomes as an independent event from spread of recombination suppression during the early stages of sex chromosome differentiation.
A new Xist allele driven by a constitutively active promoter is dominated by Xist locus environment and exhibits the parent-of-origin effects
Authors: Amakawa Yuko , Sakata Yuka , Hoki Yuko , Arata Satoru , Shioda Seiji , Fukagawa Tatsuo , Sasaki Hiroyuki , Sado Takashi
Published: October 2015

The dosage difference of X-linked genes between the sexes in mammals is compensated for by genetically inactivating one or the other X chromosomes in XX females. A noncoding RNA transcribed from the Xist gene at the onset of X-inactivation coats the X chromosome in cis and induces chromosome-wide heterochromatinization. Here, we report a new Xist allele (XistCAG) driven by a CAG promoter, which is known to be constitutively active in many types of cells. The paternal transmission of XistCAG resulted in the preferential inactivation of the targeted paternal X (Xp) not only in the extraembryonic, but also embryonic lineage, whereas maternal transmission ended with embryonic lethality at the early postimplantation stage with a phenotype that resembled mutant embryos carrying a maternal deficiency in Tsix, an antisense negative regulator of Xist, in both sexes. Interestingly, we found that the upregulation of XistCAG in preimplantation embryos temporarily differed depending on its parental origin: its expression started at the 4- to 8-cell stages when paternally inherited, and XistCAG was upregulated at the blastocyst stage when maternally inherited. This may indicate that the Xist locus on Xp is permissive to transcription, but not on the maternal X (Xm). We extrapolated from these findings that the maternal Xist allele may manifest a chromatin structure inaccessible by transcription factors relative to the paternal allele. This may underlay the mechanism for the maternal repression of Xist at the early cleavage stage when Tsix expression has not yet occurred on Xm.
Beneficial Long Communication in the Multiplayer Electronic Mail Game
Authors: De Jaegher Kris
Published: October 2015

In the two-player electronic mail game (EMG), as is well-known, the probability of collective action is lower the more confirmations and reconfirmations are made available to players. In the multiplayer EMG, however, we show players may coordinate on equilibria where they require only few of the available confirmations from each other to act. In this case, increasing the number of available confirmations may either create equilibria with positive probability of collective action when none existed before, or may increase the probability of collective action, if equilibria with positive probability of collective action already existed for fewer available confirmations. (JEL C70, D71, D82, D83)
Collective Dynamic Choice: The Necessity of Time Inconsistency
Authors: Jackson Matthew O. , Yariv Leeat
Published: October 2015

We study collective decisions by time-discounting individuals choosing a common consumption stream. We show that with any heterogeneity in time preferences, every Pareto efficient and non-dictatorial method of aggregating utility functions must be time-inconsistent. We also show that decisions made via non-dictatorial voting methods are intransitive.(JEL D71, D72, D91)
Nuclear Power Industry’s Risk Management and Safety Assurance on the Legal Mechanics Basis
Authors: Астафьева  , Astafeva O.
Published: October 2015

The paper is dedicated to the legal regulation of risk management and safety in the nuclear power industry. Legal regulation of risk management and safety in the nuclear power industry can significantly increase the damage compensation. It is possible to involve nuclear power industry’s enterprises in the formation of measures for the safe use of nuclear energy by an effective legal system creation. The legal system should include national and international principles regulating the nuclear energy use. This will reduce the negative impact on the environment and ensure the nuclear industry’s energy safety. The main subjects involved in the nuclear energy management and regulation are principal, manufacturer, operating organization. The principal is the developer of normative legal acts which indicate the basic institutional requirements and provide for state regulation of safety when using of nuclear energy. This regulation is achieved by such methods as licensing and certification. The manufacturers are various subjects of productive activities in the frame of the nuclear energy objects’ life cycle, and entities for these objects design, construction, and operation. Safety in the area of nuclear energy use includes mandatory and discretionary methods for regulation of relations between different actors. Methods for legal regulation of the safety level in the nuclear industry come from the condition of ecological and economic optimality, selection of appropriate principles of the law in the nuclear energy area. A tool for improvement of the effectiveness related to legal instruments in the area of nuclear energy management and use is a system of norms, rules, and standards, regulating and providing the stages of energy resources’ extraction, production and consumption in the context of atomic power facilities safe operation and subject activities strict regulation.
The Updated Approaches to Cities Territories Protection Against Waters Impacts
Authors: Новиков  , Novikov V.
Published: October 2015

Urgent problems related to preventive protection of settlements from waters’ negative effects, monitoring

of water resources, investigations, design, construction and operation of engineering protection facilities

have been presented in this paper. The issues of waterproof objects’ funding priority justification have been

considered. The addressed subject in the framework of the scientific school “Risk Management and Security

Assurance for Social-Economic and Political Systems” is devoted to the important economic task solution.
Development of Educational Resources for Health and Safety Training Course
Authors: Попова  , Popova Svyetlana
Published: October 2015

Evolution of the education system in the health and safety area in interaction with regularities and tendencies

of society progress has been considered in this paper. It has been demonstrated that the study of Health and

Safety Training Course, which is included in all bachelor degree’s educational programs, promotes the formation

of students’ knowledge about regularities related to occurrence and development of hazards, as well

as about emergencies and their possible impact on human beings’ lives and health, formation of skills which

are necessary for future practical activities related to hazard prevention, emergency recovery, people and

environment protection. Distance learning technologies’ evolution features in modern conditions have been

analyzed. The distance learning organization through various forms of studies has been considered. Distance

learning benefits have been listed. The main attention in the paper has been paid to the organization

of educational-methodological and technological support for educational process on the basis of distance

educational technologies for the Health and Safety Training Course. Educational products, as well as teaching

and learning aids, which distance learning should include, have been considered. The special focus

in the paper has been on Health and Safety Training Course teaching through distance learning technologies,

aimed at online teaching empowering through the optimal combination of integrated hardware and

software. Features of practical trainings on a range of Health and Safety Training Course’s subject matters

based on the use of interactive software technologies, which allow simulate a real situation, have been

emphasized. Possibilities of virtual games (simulations) that help to enhance teaching and consolidate students’

knowledge and skills in virtual mode have been considered.
Formation of Administrative Mechanisms for Development of Central Asia Countries’ Transit Economy in Conditions of Integration and Instability
Authors: Зоидов  , Zoidov K. , Медков  , Medkov A.
Published: October 2015

Methods related to formation of management mechanisms for development of Central Asia countries’ transit

economy in conditions of integration and instability have been considered in this paper. The transit economy

is the business system in which the receipts from the transmission of energy, energy commodities, water

resources, freight and passenger traffic through the country’s territory, as well as provision of transit services

constitute a weighty part of the revenue for authorities, businesses and population in the territory, one

of the foundations of their welfare. Development of cross-border transportation of goods and implementation

of transport and transit potential of Russia and Central Asian countries can and should become a substantial

income sources for business entities, all level budgets and population, as well as the engine for industrial

and technological upgrading, institutional and organizational evolution for the economical systems

of countries and integration associations. Market advantages and disadvantages of the main projects related

to construction and modernization of communication lines in the region have been presented, prerequisites

for creation of transport corridors’ crossing points and formation of transport and logistics centers (nodes)

in the States’ territory have been revealed. It has been shown that although the Central Asia States are

competing for the right to become such centers, their common interest is to maximize the use of all transport

and transit potential of the region that provides the transit economy stability. Emphasis has been placed

on the development of international transport corridor North — South, the conclusion of preference for the

use of its new eastern branch passing along the route Uzen (Kazakhstan) — Gorgan (Iran) through the

Turkmenistan territory has been justified.
Various Approaches to Differential Rent Category
Authors: Чернявский  , Chernyavskiy S.
Published: October 2015

In this paper it has been demonstrated that in modern economic science there is a large number of theoretical approaches, positions, and views on the differential rent category conceptualization, as well as on the methodology for determining its size and mechanisms of this rent withdrawal and distribution. The history of the classical views on the rent has been reported. It has been marked that after release of D. Worcester work “Rent Theory Revision” the extremely profitable concept of differential rent becomes more and more popular in economic circles, the rent starts to be considered as part of the profit and therefore its distribution between oil and gas companies and government becomes legitimate. In March of this year the “Drilling and Oil” journal published a paper “Arctic Oil and Gas Rents” (the authors A.V. Semenov, Yu.S. Rudenko, Yu.V. Razowski, Yu.N. Makarkin), where questions of differential rent, the interest to which has increased due to the upcoming development of Arctic fields, once again have being considered from the standpoint of super-profits. In connection therewith in this paper the author argues against the views published in the paper “Arctic Oil and Gas Rents” on the theoretical issues related to substance of differential rent, rental income classification, methods of rent size determining and options of rent withdrawal or distribution.
About New Public Management Practices in Russian Universities (on Results of Field Studies)
Authors: Ломовицкая  , Lomovitskaya V. , Хватова  , Khvatova T. , Душина  , Dushina S. , Николаенко  , Nikolaenko G.
Published: October 2015

New public management practices in prestigious universities are researched in this paper. Based on the field

study — higher-education teaching personnel (HETP) interrogation — problem areas related to university managerialism

policy have been revealed. It has been shown, that the administrative machine and control department

extension, as well as low level of professorship involvement in decision-making destroy the academic autonomy

and create a latent conflict between managers and HETP.
Management in Social and Professional Networks
Authors: Колесников  , Kolesnikov M. , Киба  , Kiba M.
Published: October 2015

The extended idea about “professional network” has been developed based on the concept of “social network”.

The main features and tasks of professional social networks have been revealed. The task of management

in social and professional networks which demanded formalization of criteria and models of their

functioning has been set. Professional social network has been represented as a graph model. Known

models of influence in social and professional networks have been considered and described in detail from

the point of view of their analytical representation. The main features of professional networks influence

on society and production have been revealed. Possibility for mass distribution of information by means

of professional social networks has been analyzed. A mechanism for network agents’ opinion formation

on the basis of authoritative opinion and a trust vector has been revealed.
ANTI-CORRUPTION EXPERT EXAMINATION OF LAWS AND REGULATIONS AND THEIR DRAFTS IN THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION AND THE KYRGYZ REPUBLIC: COMPARATIVE AND LEGAL ANALYSIS
Authors: Исламова Эльнара , Islamova Elnara
Published: October 2015

The article analyses the experience of the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic in implementation of the provisions of the UN Convention Against Corruption on the necessity to assess relevant legal documents in order to determine their conformity from the anti-corruption point of view. The article compares regulatory actions for the subject of anti-corruption expert examination, the concept of ‘laws and regulations’ as a subject of anti-corruption expert examination, powers of bodies and organizations that conduct the examination, methodology of conducting anti-corruption expert examination, response measures when corruptogenic factors are reveled. General and special methods form the basis of the research methodology: dialectic, comparative legal, analytical method and others that are used in juridical sciences. Following the results of the research, the author sets forth the conclusion that the legislation of the Russian Federation and the Kyrgyz Republic, regulating carrying out of the anti-corruption expert examination, requires improving: it is necessary to specify the subject of the anti-corruption expert examination, in the Russian Federation it is necessary to legislate the concept of a regulatory act, and in the Kyrgyz Republic, for the efficient corruption prevention, it is necessary to confer the powers to carry out the anti-corruption expert examination to State government bodies, not to scientific organizations.
CRIMINAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ILLEGAL MONEY LAUNDERING UNDER FRENCH LEGISLATION
Authors: Меньших Андрей , Menshikh Andrey
Published: October 2015

This article is dedicated to problems of criminal responsibility for money laundering under the French legislation. The author studies the French statutes on the matter and defines the actions treated as money laundering. The author notes that financial institutions’ employees are subject to more severe penalties. The author explores the development stages of the French financial system, which is historically divided into five stages. Since money laundering has become an international crime, the author refers to some examples of France’s international cooperation, as well as mentions both international and national bodies that deal with anti-money laundering. Financial bodies are under obligation to collect data on clients and sources of their funds, control clients’ operations which enables them to detect suspicious behavior.
Effect of Vitamin D or Activated Vitamin D on Circulating 1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Concentrations: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis of Randomized Controlled Trials
Authors: Zittermann Armin , Ernst Jana B , Birschmann Ingvild , Dittrich Marcus
Published: October 2015

BACKGROUND

Evidence is accumulating that circulating 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D [1,25(OH)2D] concentrations are inversely related to overall mortality.

METHODS

We searched PubMed, Embase and ISI Web of Science for randomized controlled trials with a control group receiving a placebo instead of vitamin D/activated vitamin D and performed a metaanalysis to evaluate the effect of oral vitamin D/activated vitamin D on circulating 1,25(OH)2D concentrations using a random effects model.

RESULTS

We included 52 vitamin D intervention groups (4796 individuals) and 14 intervention groups with activated vitamin D (668 individuals). Vitamin D supplements increased circulating 1,25(OH)2D by 12.2 pmol/L (95% CI, 7.8–16.5 pmol/L) and 18.8 pmol/L (95% CI, 9.2–28.4 pmol/L) if only studies with a low risk of bias in study design and reporting were considered (n = 18). There was significant heterogeneity among studies (Cohran's Q P < 0.001, I2 = 91%). The incremental effect was larger in studies using vitamin D alone compared with coadministration of calcium supplements (18.6 pmol/L; 95% CI, 12.7–24.4 pmol/L vs 4.9 pmol/L; 95% CI, −0.4 to 10.2 pmol/L; P = 0.001), and if quantification was performed with RIA vs other methods (17.1 pmol/L; 95% CI, 11.1–23.1 pmol/L vs 6.9 pmol/L; 95% CI, 1.0–12.8 pmol/L; P = 0.02). Activated vitamin D increased the mean circulating 1,25(OH)2D by 20.5 pmol/L (95% CI, 8.3–32.7 pmol/L; P = 0.04). Again, there was evidence for significant heterogeneity among studies (Cochran Q = 85.4; P < 0.001; I2 = 87%), but subgroup analysis did not identify parameters significantly influencing the increment in 1,25(OH)2D concentrations.

CONCLUSIONS

Both vitamin D and activated vitamin D significantly increase circulating 1,25(OH)2D concentrations, but in vitamin D users this increase is suppressed by calcium coadministration.
Series documentales para el estudio de la economía de los seminarios: el ejemplo de la documentación económica en el Archivo del Seminario Metropolitano San Atón de Badajoz
Authors: Vivas Moreno Agustín , Gonzaléz Lozano Francisco , Pérez Ortiz Guadalupe
Published: October 2015

Los estudios hacendísticos resultan de gran utilidad para el conocimiento de cualquier institución. A pesar de ello, cuando nos referimos a entidades religiosas estos trabajos se minimizan, siendo prácticamente inexistentes en el caso de los seminarios. Con esta investigación pretendemos iniciar un camino que, sin lugar a duda, será de gran fecundidad y dará a la luz interesantes trabajos dentro del campo económico-eclesiástico. Nosotros centraremos nuestra investigación en la documentación contable y hacendística ubicada en el fondo antiguo del Archivo del Seminario Metropolitano San Atón de Badajoz, aunque muchas de las cuestiones abordadas, especialmente las referidas al análisis de su cuadro de clasificación, pueden ser extrapoladas a otras entidades similares.
Research Supervision Management Via A Multi-Agent Framework
Authors: Jassim Omar , Mahmoud Moamin , Ahmad Mohd Sharifuddin
Published: October 2015

In this paper, we propose an agent-based framework to enhance, control and manage the research supervision process. The proposed framework consists of three phases which are Research Development Activities, Performance and Completion Measurement, and Tracking Activities. The Research Development Activities phase proposes a number of activities to develop a research. Performance and Completion Measurement phase works on measuring a student performance and expected completion date. The Tracking Activities phase presents the proposed activities to track and trigger a student’s tasks. Four actors constitute the proposed framework which are, a supervisor, a student, a system administrator and a software agent. Each actor has a role and is authorized to perform specific functions. We discuss the components of the framework as possible implementation for a general application of research supervision management.
Clinical Usefulness of Multi‐facility Microbiology Laboratory Database Analysis by WHONET
Authors: Satake Sachiko , Kaneko Singaku , Yokozawa Ikuyo , Shibasaki Mayumi , Mita Osamichi , Takase Mayumi , Miyashita Sakiko , Fujita Yoshiro , Stelling John , Tokuda Yasuharu
Published: October 2015

Clinically important issues might be addressed more comprehensively by analyzing microbiological data assembled from several institutions instead of from a single one. Microbiology laboratory databases collected from six collaborative hospitals (A–F) between 2003 and 2013 were converted into WHONET files and analyzed. Three important areas of investigation are presented in this article including early warning of the emergence of resistant bacteria, evaluation of a new susceptibility testing method, and establishment of strategies for identifying patients harboring resistant organisms. Combined databases from microbiology laboratories of a collaborative hospital network might help in developing integrated responses to prevent infection, decrease transmission, and ensure that appropriate antibiotics are selected for patients with infectious diseases.
Self-assembly hydrogen-bonded supramolecular arrays from copper(II) halogenobenzoates with nicotinamide:Structure and EPR spectra‡
Authors: Jozef Halaška , Danica Čechová , Lawson Michael K. , Růžičková Zdeňka , Jorík Vladimír , Koman Marian , Valko Marian , Kozlevčar Bojan , Moncol Ján
Published: October 2015

Nicotinamide was employed as a supramolecular reagent in the synthesis of six new copper(II) bromo-, iodo-, fluoro- and dibromobenzoate complexes. Structures of [Cu(2-Brbz)
Effect of fuel content on formation of zinc aluminate nano and micro-particles synthesised by high rate sol–gel autoignition of glycine-nitrates
Authors: Salem Shiva
Published: October 2015

The autoignition technique using glycine as fuel and related nitrate salts as an oxidiser is able to produce zinc aluminate spinel. The precursors were synthesised with lean and rich fuel at pH of 7.0 and the materials so obtained were calcined at various temperatures ranging from 600-1200°C. The autoignition process of precursors was studied by the simultaneous thermo-gravimetric and differential thermal analyses to determine the ignition mechanism. The calcined powders were characterised by X-ray diffraction, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller technique and transmission electron microscopy. The product contains nano-sized particles with an average size of approximately 20 nm. The XRD patterns showed the formation of ZnO in the powder obtained by the fuel-rich precursor and calcined at 600°C which disappears at 800°C due to solid-state reaction and proper crystallisation after heat treatment. The results presented here can be useful in manufacturing nano and micro-sized ZnAl
On the issue of growth and development within the context of tourism
Authors: Repík Ondřej
Published: October 2015

The question of growth and development is an issue much discussed by professionals as well as the wide public. These discussions are increasingly concerned with tourism, its significance for economic growth and development and its positive and negative consequences. The question of how tourism is to be coordinated in order to help achieve set priorities in the most effective way is related to this. The following text gives a summary of miscellaneous approaches to and views on this issue.
Somatic stem cell aging and malignant transformation – impact on therapeutic application
Authors: Kuniakova Marcela , Oravcova Lenka , Varchulova-Novakova Zuzana , Viglaska Diana , Danisovic Lubos
Published: October 2015

Somatic stem cells possess unique properties of self-renewal and plasticity which make them promising candidates for use in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, in addition to serving as efficient delivery vehicles in site-specific therapy. In the case of therapeutic application, it is essential to isolate and culture stem cells in vitro, to obtain them in sufficient quantities. Although long-term cultivation provides an adequate number of cells, it has been shown that this approach is associated with increased risk of transformation of cultured cells, which presents a significant biological hazard. This article reviews information about biological features and cellular events which occur during long-term cultivation of somatic stem cells, with respect to their safe utilization in potential clinical practice.
Perfect is the Enemy of Good: Going to the War on Cancer with Less Evidence than We Could Have
Authors: Franco Eduardo L.
Published: October 2015

Randomized controlled trials have been the mainstay of high-level evidence for or against cancer screening strategies. However, simple proof of reduction in cause-specific mortality is not enough for policymaking, particularly in the last 10 years. Today’s clinical and public health guidelines take into account the balance of risks to benefits from screening, costs, utilities, the political risk of inaction, the societal tolerance to risk, healthcare providers’ preferences, client choices, and other imponderables or subjective variables that cannot be captured or addressed via epidemiologic studies. This commentary uses the above perspective in discussing Miettinen’s arguments concerning the science of breast cancer screening.