bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Opioids in Remote Ischemic Preconditioning-Induced Cardioprotection
Authors: Randhawa Puneet Kaur , Jaggi Amteshwar Singh
Published: July 2016

Remote ischemic preconditioning (RIPC) is an intriguing process whereby transient regional ischemia and reperfusion episodes to remote tissues including skeletal, renal, mesenteric provide protection to the heart against sustained ischemia–reperfusion-induced injury. Clinically, this technique has been used in patients undergoing various surgical interventions including coronary artery bypass graft surgery, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, percutaneous coronary intervention, and heart valve surgery. The endogenous opioid system is extensively expressed in the brain to modulate pain sensation. Besides the role of opioids in relieving pain, numerous researchers have found their critical involvement in evoking cardioprotective effects. Endogenous opioids including endorphins, enkephalins, and dynorphins are released during RIPC and are critically involved in mediating RIPC-induced cardioprotective effects. It has been suggested that during RIPC, the endogenous opioids may be released into the systemic circulation and may travel via bloodstream that act on the myocardial opioid receptors to induce cardioprotection. The present review describes the potential role of opioids in mediating RIPC-induced cardioprotection.
Negotiating the Popular, the Sacred and the Political
Authors: Winter Emily
Published: July 2016

The engagement of young people of religious faith with global injustice has been little explored in studies either of youth religiosity or youth political participation. The recently established youth initiatives of Christian Aid and Tearfund—two of the UK’s most widely recognized Christian non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—offer a way to explore this, alongside the SPEAK Network, a grassroots Christian student and youth movement that campaigns on social justice issues. Analyzing the blog posts of these three initiatives, this article will focus particularly upon the ways in which Tearfund Rhythms, the Christian Aid Collective and SPEAK use popular culture, categorizing their various uses as either innovation, appropriation, resistance or reclamation. It will then explain the groups’ differing emphases by considering their varying relationships with their members and their different religious positioning, before critically assessing what it means for young adults to ‘do’ religion and politics online.
The patient’s perspective: How to create awareness for improving access to care and treatment of MS patients?
Authors: Vermersch Patrick , Faller Andreas , Czarnota-Szałkowska Dominika , Meesen Bianca , Thalheim Christoph
Published: July 2016

Background:

There is currently no known cure for multiple sclerosis (MS). Four stakeholders play a major role in MS: healthcare professionals, regulators, payers and patients.

Objective:

In Europe, patients are represented by the European Multiple Sclerosis Platform (EMSP), which aims to improve MS management and patients’ quality of life.

Results:

The EMSP has recently shown that there are major disparities in Europe in terms of access to care and treatment. Implementing the Code of Good Practice and a standardised MS nurse training may be useful in harmonising MS management across Europe. Additionally, the burden for novel therapeutic options to be approved by regulatory agencies has to decrease in order to provide faster access of treatment to patients. Data collection (e.g. national registers) also appears crucial to help research and shape the most effective policy in each country. Finally, people with MS should get appropriate (financial) support in order to complete their studies and find a job, as their active participation in society requires proper access to education and employment. Moreover, as they are the ones affected by MS, they seem to be best placed to represent themselves and their needs and should be consulted more often during decision-making processes by policy makers, regulators and payers.
The payer’s perspective: What is the burden of MS and how should the patient’s perspective be integrated in health technology assessment conducted for taking decisions on access to care and treatment?
Authors: Gold Ralf , Toumi Mondher , Meesen Bianca , Fogarty Emer
Published: July 2016

Background:

In Europe, there exists considerable variability in access to care and treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS).

Objectives:

To improve this situation, we identified key issues payers should take into account when making decisions on access to care and treatment for MS. We also give an overview of the different dimensions determining total MS burden and discuss why it is key to integrate the patient’s perspective in estimating this burden.

Results:

The total burden of MS relates to three dimensions: clinical, humanistic and economic. Although the clinical burden is extensively studied, crucial information is still missing about MS pathophysiology, how MS-related symptoms will develop during the disease course and which patients will progress more rapidly. With regard to the humanistic burden, information on patient-reported quality of life systematically collected in clinical trials for registration purposes is still scarce. Early engagement between pharmaceutical companies, the European Medicines Agency and health technology agencies to prospectively identify key evidence needs for the regulatory and reimbursement processes is required as a first step towards more equal access to care and treatment in MS in Europe. Patients’ expectations regarding treatment outcomes should be better researched and integrated into decision-making and patients should be counselled in this process.
Cyclic testing and parametric analyses of the fabricated steel frames infilled with autoclaved aerated concrete panels
Authors: Zhenggang Cao , Peng Du , Feng Fan , Ming Fang
Published: July 2016

The influence of autoclaved aerated concrete panels on the mechanical properties of fabricated steel frames was experimentally investigated. Two fabricated steel frame specimens, which were with and without autoclaved aerated concrete panels, respectively, were tested under reversed cyclic loads. They were 1/2-scale, two-storey, and single-bay steel frames that were assembled by bolted beam-height adjustable steel beam-to-column connections. The effect of autoclaved aerated concrete panel dimensions on the mechanical behavior of infilled frames was also parametrically analyzed with the proposed numerical models which were verified on the basis of experimental data. The results indicate that the fabricated steel frames, assembled by beam-height adjustable connections, could behave in a ductile manner with sufficient stiffness and strength under cyclic loads; compared with bare steel frames, autoclaved aerated concrete panels could postpone the failure of structures and increase their initial stiffness, peak load, and energy dissipation capacity; moreover, the geometric details of autoclaved aerated concrete panels could significantly change the mechanical properties of infilled steel frames.
Form-finding analysis for a new type of cable–strut tensile structures generated by semi-regular tensegrity
Authors: Lu JinYu , Dong Xiao , Zhao XiLei , Wu XiaoLong , Shu GanPing
Published: July 2016

A tensegrity structure is a type of self-balancing tensile structure, which consists of tension cables surrounding compression struts. Based on the geometry and topology of the classic half-octahedron tensegrity, this article presents a form-finding analysis of semi-regular tensegrity units using singular value decomposition of the equilibrium matrix. We propose the design formulas for the unit geometric transformation, obtain its internal self-stress modes and inextensional mechanism modes, and verify its geometric stability. Then, we devise a design method and compute the overall feasible self-stress of a tensegrity torus. A novel cable–strut tensile structural system is generated through combining a tensegrity torus and a Levy-type cable dome. Finally, a physical model is constructed to verify the feasibility of this structural system. This work enriches existing forms of tensegrity structures and contributes to further practical applications of tensegrity systems.
Book review: Wendy Harcourt, W. and Nelson, I.L., editors. 2015: Practising Feminist Political Ecologies: Moving beyond the ‘Green Economy’
Authors: Caretta Martina Angela
Published: July 2016

Wendy Harcourt, W. and Nelson, I.L., editors. 2015: Practising Feminist Political Ecologies: Moving beyond the ‘Green Economy’. London: Zed Books. 326 pp. £65 (hardback). ISBN: 9781783600885
Book review: Nunan, Fiona. 2015: Understanding Poverty and the Environment: Analytics Frameworks and Approaches
Authors: Mullenite Joshua
Published: July 2016

Nunan, Fiona. 2015: Understanding Poverty and the Environment: Analytical Frameworks and Approaches. Abingdon and New York: Routledge. xiv + 206 pp. US$145 ISBN 978–0-415–707565 (hardback), US$62.95 978–0-415–707596 (paperback).
Hemodynamic correlates of transient cognitive impairment after transient ischemic attack and minor stroke: A transcranial Doppler study
Authors: Mazzucco Sara , Li Linxin , Tuna Maria A , Pendlebury Sarah T , Wharton Rose , Rothwell Peter M ,   on behalf of the Oxford Vascular Study
Published: July 2016

Background and aims

Transient cognitive impairment (TCI) on the Mini Mental State Evaluation score is common after transient ischemic attack/minor stroke and might identify patients at increased risk of dementia. We aimed to replicate TCI using the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), compare it with persistent Mild Cognitive Impairment (PMCI), and to determine whether global cerebral hemodynamic changes could explain transient impairment.

Methods

Consecutive patients with transient ischemic attack/minor stroke (NIHSS ≤ 3) were assessed with the MoCA and transcranial Doppler ultrasound acutely and at 1 month. We compared patients with TCI (baseline MoCA < 26 with ≥ 2 points increase at 1 month), PMCI (MoCA < 26 with < 2 points increase), and no cognitive impairment (NCI; MoCA ≥ 26).

Results

Of 326 patients, 46 (14.1%) had PMCI, 98 (30.1%) TCI, and 182 (55.8%) NCI. At baseline, TCI patients had higher systolic blood pressure (150.95 ± 21.52 vs 144.86 ± 22.44 mmHg, p = 0.02) and lower cerebral blood flow velocities, particularly end-diastolic velocity (30.16 ± 9.63 vs 35.02 ± 9.01 cm/s, p < 0.001) and mean flow velocity (48.95 ± 12.72 vs 54 ± 12.46 cm/s, p = 0.001) than those with NCI, but similar clinical and hemodynamic profiles to those with PMCI. Systolic BP fell between baseline and 1 month (mean reduction = 14.01 ± 21.26 mmHg) and end-diastolic velocity and mean flow velocity increased (mean increase = + 2.42 ± 6.41 and 1.89 ± 8.77 cm/s, respectively), but these changes did not differ between patients with TCI, PMCI, and NCI.

Conclusions

TCI is detectable with the MoCA after transient ischemic attack and minor stroke and has similar clinical and hemodynamic profile to PMCI. However, TCI does not appear to be due to exaggerated acute reversible global hemodynamic changes.
Detection of anti-infliximab antibodies is impacted by antibody titer, infliximab level and IgG4 antibodies: a systematic comparison of three different assays
Authors: Afonso Joana , Lopes Susana , Gonçalves Raquel , Caldeira Paulo , Lago Paula , Tavares de Sousa Helena , Ramos Jaime , Gonçalves Ana Rita , Ministro Paula , Rosa Isadora , Vieira Ana Isabel , Coelho Rosa , Tavares Patrícia , Soares João , Sousa Ana Lúcia , Carvalho Diana , Sousa Paula , da Silva João Pereira , Meira Tânia , Silva Ferreira Filipa , Dias Cláudia Camila , Chowers Yehuda , Ben-Horin Shomron , Magro Fernando ,   on behalf Portuguese IBD Study Group (GEDII)
Published: July 2016

Background:

There is scant information on the accuracy of different assays used to measure anti-infliximab antibodies (ADAs), especially in the presence of detectable infliximab (IFX). We thus aimed to evaluate and compare three different assays for the detection of IFX and ADAs and to clarify the impact of the presence of circulating IFX on the accuracy of the ADA assays.

Methods:

Blood samples from 79 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients treated with infliximab were assessed for IFX levels and ADAs using three different assays: an in-house assay and two commercial kits, Immundiagnostik and Theradiag. Sera samples with ADAs and undetectable levels of IFX were spiked with exogenous IFX and analyzed for ADAs.

Results:

The three assays showed 81–96% agreement for the measured IFX level. However, the in-house assay and Immundiagnostik assays detected ADAs in 34 out of 79 samples, whereas Theradiag only detected ADAs in 24 samples. Samples negative for ADAs with Theradiag, but ADA-positive in both the in-house and Immundiagnostik assays, were positive for IFX or IgG4 ADAs. In spiking experiments, a low concentration of exogenous IFX (5 µg/ml) hampered ADA detection with Theradiag in sera samples with ADA levels of between 3 and 10 µg/ml. In the Immundiagnostik assay detection interference was only observed at concentrations of exogenous IFX higher than 30 µg/ml. However, in samples with high levels of ADAs (>25 µg/ml) interference was only observed at IFX concentrations higher than 100 µg/ml in all three assays. Binary (IFX/ADA) stratification of the results showed that IFX+/ADA- and IFX-/ADAs+ were less influenced by the assay results than the double-positive (IFX+/ADAs+) and double-negative (IFX-/ADAs-) combination.

Conclusions:

All three methodologies are equally suitable for measuring IFX levels. However, erroneous therapeutic decisions may occur when patients show double-negative (IFX-/ADAs-) or double-positive (IFX+/ADAs+) status, since agreement between assays is significantly lower in these circumstances.
Patient satisfaction after mini-incision brachioplasty
Authors: El-Sabbagh Ahmed Hassan
Published: July 2016

Brachioplasty is a common procedure performed by plastic surgeons, with type II brachioplasty being the most regularly performed procedure in the clinic. This study evaluates patient satisfaction after mini-incision brachioplasty using a five-question survey. We administered the survey to 26 patients six months after they had undergone mini-incision brachioplasty to correct type II deformity. Most of the patients considered the improvement by surgery acceptable (53.8%), while 84.6% reported a decrease of at least two clothing sizes post-surgery. More than half (57.7%) were satisfied with body symmetry following surgery, while 69.2% accepted the resultant scar. However, only 30.8% would recommend this type of operation without reservations. The results of this study indicate that adequate patient education prior to mini-incision brachioplasty is key to optimal patient satisfaction.
The contribution of Service-Learning programs to the promotion of civic engagement and political participation: A critical evaluation
Authors: Burth Hans-Peter
Published: July 2016

Service-Learning programs at school and at university level are commonly considered as reliable instruments to increase civic engagement. In the last years, within Service-Learning Research a new paradigm arose understanding itself as non-foundational and critical. This study differentiates this critical perspective by offering a secondary analysis of available evaluations of Service Learning in the empirical and normative dimension. The analysis reveals that the empirical impact of Service-Learning instruments on political participation is not as distinct and clear as commonly expected. Evaluation results are often inconsistent and make general positive statements difficult. The normative evaluation shows that one has to avoid Service-Learning programs generating depoliticized participation and to impede tendencies to misuse Service-Learning programs as a mere substitute of governmental social policy. All things considered turning Service Learning into an effective means to promote participation, the existing programs have to be improved.
The Effects of Perceived Threat, Political Orientation, and Framing on Public Reactions to Punitive Immigration Law Enforcement Practices
Authors: Woods Joshua , Marciniak Agnieszka
Published: July 2016

This study explores variation in people’s reactions to a punitive immigration law enforcement practice. Using a vignette-styled framing-effects experiment, we examined whether reactions to the practice depend, in part, on who receives its consequences. More than 500 undergraduates from a large Mid-Atlantic university read a brief vignette about an immigrant motorist who is stopped by a police officer for a broken taillight violation and then detained for failing to document his legal immigration status. We manipulated three characteristics of the motorist in the vignette, including his nationality (Mexico/Canada), occupation (factory worker/software engineer), and documentation status (documented/undocumented). When we framed the motorist as an unauthorized immigrant, the subjects were more likely to condone the officer’s intrusive actions. We also found that the subjects’ political orientation and immigrant threat perceptions were powerful predictors of their normative reactions to the vignette.
Assessment of the Fetal Heart During Routine Obstetrical Screening, a Standardized Method
Authors: Scott Ted , Jones Judy , Swan Hans
Published: July 2016

Assessment of the fetal heart during routine obstetrical screening remains a challenge for sonographers and physicians. Reliance on still images and nonstandard methods of acquiring images and assessing the fetal heart contribute to the relatively low rate of identification of congenital heart disease (CHD). A standardized assessment of the fetal heart using two cine-loop sweeps has been shown to address some of these challenges. Image acquisition using two cine-loop sweeps combined with a standardized five-step assessment is proposed to address the limitations of the nonstandard approach in place at most screening centers today.
flowVS: channel-specific variance stabilization in flow cytometry
Authors: Azad Ariful , Rajwa Bartek , Pothen Alex
Published: July 2016

Background

Comparing phenotypes of heterogeneous cell populations from multiple biological conditions is at the heart of scientific discovery based on flow cytometry (FC). When the biological signal is measured by the average expression of a biomarker, standard statistical methods require that variance be approximately stabilized in populations to be compared. Since the mean and variance of a cell population are often correlated in fluorescence-based FC measurements, a preprocessing step is needed to stabilize the within-population variances.

Results

We present a variance-stabilization algorithm, called flowVS, that removes the mean-variance correlations from cell populations identified in each fluorescence channel. flowVS transforms each channel from all samples of a data set by the inverse hyperbolic sine (asinh) transformation. For each channel, the parameters of the transformation are optimally selected by Bartlett’s likelihood-ratio test so that the populations attain homogeneous variances. The optimum parameters are then used to transform the corresponding channels in every sample. flowVS is therefore an explicit variance-stabilization method that stabilizes within-population variances in each channel by evaluating the homoskedasticity of clusters with a likelihood-ratio test.

With two publicly available datasets, we show that flowVS removes the mean-variance dependence from raw FC data and makes the within-population variance relatively homogeneous. We demonstrate that alternative transformation techniques such as flowTrans, flowScape, logicle, and FCSTrans might not stabilize variance. Besides flow cytometry, flowVS can also be applied to stabilize variance in microarray data. With a publicly available data set we demonstrate that flowVS performs as well as the VSN software, a state-of-the-art approach developed for microarrays.

Conclusions

The homogeneity of variance in cell populations across FC samples is desirable when extracting features uniformly and comparing cell populations with different levels of marker expressions. The newly developed flowVS algorithm solves the variance-stabilization problem in FC and microarrays by optimally transforming data with the help of Bartlett’s likelihood-ratio test. On two publicly available FC datasets, flowVS stabilizes within-population variances more evenly than the available transformation and normalization techniques. flowVS-based variance stabilization can help in performing comparison and alignment of phenotypically identical cell populations across different samples. flowVS and the datasets used in this paper are publicly available in Bioconductor.
Integrated information for integrated care in the general practice setting in Italy: using social network analysis to go beyond the diagnosis of frailty in the elderly
Authors: Franchini Michela , Pieroni Stefania , Fortunato Loredana , Knezevic Tamara , Liebman Michael , Molinaro Sabrina
Published: July 2016

Background

Frailty has been defined in different ways and several diagnostic tools exist, but most of them are not applicable in routine primary care. Nonetheless, general practitioners (GPs) have a natural advantage in identifying frailty, due to their continued access to patients, patient‐centered approach and training. GPs have also an advantage in conducting population‐based evaluation as consequence of their role of gatekeepers of the health care system. This paper aims to identify those socio‐demographic and clinical profiles and the relative information sources that, from the GPs’ perspective, act as frailty markers, not solely as a diagnosis of state but as the ability to identify a patient's trajectory, over time, through the aging process.

Methods

This study was performed as a survey within a population aged 75 and over, attending 148 GPs in Italy. A total of 23,996 patients were classified by GPs in distinct frailty status, without the use of a specific evaluation tool, but only referring to general indications. Co‐morbidity was objectively assessed by a record‐linkage with previous hospitalizations, in order to assess the occurrence of previous illnesses that could be associated with the likelihood of being identified as frails or at risk. The methodological approach is based on social network analysis (SNA), suited to explore relational aspects of complex phenomena.

Results

Our findings reveal that GPs are able to perform low cost population‐based evaluation, by exploiting the advantages of their approach to patients, combined with the information derived from their daily practice and from other sources currently available.

Conclusion

We believe that informative integration among different sources of available data can provide a comprehensive picture of the health state of patients in a shorter time and at lower cost. The identification of limited patient trajectories based on these observations can enable the development of critical biomarkers/diagnostics and prognostic indicators that will enhance patient care and potentially reduce inappropriate healthcare use. We also believe that network analysis is an extremely flexible research tool and a rich theoretical paradigm, and it may be used in the healthcare planning.
Reflection and transmission coefficients of a thin bed
Authors: Yang Chun , Wang Yun , Wang Yanghua
Published: July 2016

The study of thin-bed seismic response is an important part in lithologic and methane reservoir modeling, critical for predicting their physical attributes and/or elastic parameters. The complex propagator matrix for the exact reflections and transmissions of thin beds limits their application in thin-bed inversion. Therefore, approximation formulas with a high accuracy and a relatively simple form are needed for thin-bed seismic analysis and inversion. We have derived thin-bed reflection and transmission coefficients, defined in terms of displacements, and approximated them to be in a quasi-Zoeppritz matrix form under the assumption that the middle layer has a very thin thickness. We have verified the approximation accuracy through numerical calculation and concluded that the errors in PP-wave reflection coefficients [Formula: see text] are generally smaller than 10% when the thin-bed thicknesses are smaller than one-eighth of the PP-wavelength. The PS-wave reflection coefficients [Formula: see text] have lower approximation accuracy than [Formula: see text] for the same ratios of thicknesses to their respective wavelengths, and the [Formula: see text] approximation is not acceptable for incident angles approaching the critical angles (when they exist) except in the case of extremely strong impedance difference. Errors in phase for the [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] approximation are less than 10% for the cases of thicknesses less than one-tenth of the wavelengths. As expected, a thinner middle layer and a weaker impedance difference would result in higher approximation accuracy.
What Is the Real Rate of Surgical Site Infection?
Authors: Taylor Jolyn S. , Marten Claire A. , Potts Kimberly A. , Cloutier Lynn M. , Cain Katherine E. , Fenton Shauna L. , Tatum Tara N. , James Deepthi A. , Myers Keith N. , Hubbs Cheryl A. , Burzawa Jennifer K. , Vachhani Shital , Nick Alpa M. , Meyer Larissa A. , Graviss Linda S. , Ware Kathy M. , Park Anne K. , Aloia Thomas A. , Bodurka Diane C. , Levenback Charles F. , Schmeler Kathleen M.
Published: July 2016

Purpose:

Surgical site infections (SSIs) are associated with patient morbidity and increased health care costs. Although several national organizations including the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC), the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (NSQIP), and the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) monitor SSI, there is no standard reporting methodology.

Methods:

We queried the UHC, NSQIP, and NHSN databases from July 2012 to June 2014 for SSI after gynecologic surgery at our institution. Each organization uses different definitions and inclusion and exclusion criteria for SSI. The rate of SSI was also obtained from chart review from April 1 to June 30, 2014. SSI was classified as superficial, deep, or organ space infection. The rates reported by the agencies were compared with the rates obtained by chart review using Fisher’s exact test.

Results:

Overall SSI rates for the databases were as follows: UHC, 1.5%; NSQIP, 8.8%; and NHSN, 2.8% (P < .001). The individual databases had wide variation in the rate of deep infection (UHC, 0.7%; NSQIP, 4.7%; NHSN, 1.3%; P < .001) and organ space infection (UHC, 0.4%; NSQIP, 4.4%; NHSN, 1.4%; P < .001). In agreement with the variation in reporting methodology, only 19 cases (24.4%) were included in more than one database and only one case was included in all three databases (1.3%).

Conclusion:

There is discordance among national reporting agencies tracking SSI. Adopting standardized metrics across agencies could improve consistency and accuracy in assessing SSI rates.
Strategic Information Acquisition and Transmission
Authors: Argenziano Rossella , Severinov Sergei , Squintani Francesco
Published: July 2016

This paper explores the implications of costly information acquisition in a strategic communication setting. We show that equilibrium decisions based on a biased expert's advice may be more precise than when information is directly acquired by the decision maker, even if the expert is not more efficient than the decision maker at acquiring information. This result bears important implications for organization design. Communication by an expert to a decision maker may often outperform delegation of the decision-making authority to the expert, as well as centralization by the decision maker of both information acquisition and decision-making authority. (JEL C72, D23, D82, D83)
Just Enough or All: Selling a Firm
Authors: Ekmekci Mehmet , Kos Nenad , Vohra Rakesh
Published: July 2016

We consider the problem of selling a firm to a single buyer. The buyer privately knows post-sale cash flows and the benefits of control. Unlike the case where buyer's private information is one-dimensional, the optimal mechanism is a menu of tuples of cash-equity mixtures. When the seller wants to screen finely with respect to the private benefits, he makes an offer for the smallest fraction of the company that facilitates the transfer of control. When he wants to screen finely with respect to cash flows, he makes an offer for all the shares of the company. (JEL D21, D82, G32, G34)
The Utilitarian Relevance of the Aggregation Theorem
Authors: Fleurbaey Marc , Mongin Philippe
Published: July 2016

Harsanyi (1955) invested his Aggregation Theorem and Impartial Observer Theorem with utilitarian sense, but Sen (1986) described them as “representation theorems” with little ethical import. This critical view has never been subjected to full analytical scrutiny. The formal argument we provide here supports the utilitarian relevance of the Aggregation Theorem. Following a hint made by Sen himself, we posit an exogeneous utilitarian ordering that evaluates riskless options by the sum of individual utilities, and we show that any social observer who obeys the conditions of the Aggregation Theorem evaluates social states in terms of a weighted variant of this utilitarian sum. (JEL D63, D71)
Either or Both Competition: A “Two-Sided” Theory of Advertising with Overlapping Viewerships
Authors: Ambrus Attila , Calvano Emilio , Reisinger Markus
Published: July 2016

In media markets, consumers spread their attention to several outlets, increasingly so as consumption migrates online. The traditional framework for competition among media outlets rules out this behavior by assumption. We propose a new model that allows consumers to choose multiple outlets and use it to study the effects on advertising levels and the impact of entry and mergers. We identify novel forces which reflect outlets' incentives to control the composition of their customer base. We link consumer preferences and advertising technologies to market outcomes. The model can explain several empirical regularities that are difficult to reconcile with existing models. (JEL D42, D43, L12, L13, L82, L86, M37)
Comparative Risk Aversion in the Presence of Ambiguity
Authors: Guetlein Marie-Charlotte
Published: July 2016

This paper suggests a characterization of increases in risk aversion within the smooth ambiguity model by Klibanoff, Marinacci, and Mukerji (2005). I show that an increase in risk aversion is qualitatively different from that under expected utility, due to the incomplete separation between risk and ambiguity attitude. The analysis clarifies how ambiguity perception and attitude depend on risk aversion. (JEL D81)
SNPsplit: Allele-specific splitting of alignments between genomes with known SNP genotypes
Authors: Krueger Felix , Andrews Simon R.
Published: July 2016

Sequencing reads overlapping polymorphic sites in diploid mammalian genomes may be assigned to one allele or the other. This holds the potential to detect gene expression, chromatin modifications, DNA methylation or nuclear interactions in an allele-specific fashion. SNPsplit is an allele-specific alignment sorter designed to read files in SAM/BAM format and determine the allelic origin of reads or read-pairs that cover known single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) positions. For this to work libraries must have been aligned to a genome in which all known SNP positions were masked with the ambiguity base 'N' and aligned using a suitable mapping program such as Bowtie2, TopHat, STAR, HISAT2, HiCUP or Bismark. SNPsplit also provides an automated solution to generate N-masked reference genomes for hybrid mouse strains based on the variant call information provided by the Mouse Genomes Project. The unique ability of SNPsplit to work with various different kinds of sequencing data including RNA-Seq, ChIP-Seq, Bisulfite-Seq or Hi-C opens new avenues for the integrative exploration of allele-specific data.
On the group invertibility of operators
Authors: Deng Chunyuan
Published: July 2016

The main topic of this paper is the group invertibility of operators in Hilbert spaces. Conditions for the existence of the group inverses of products of two operators and the group invertibility of anti-triangular block operator matrices are studied. The equivalent conditions related to the reverse order law for the group inverses of operators are obtained.
Analysis of left ventricular hypertrophy predictors in women with different levels of obesity
Authors: Postoeva Anna Viktorovna , Dvoryashina Irina Vladimirovna , Bakhtina Zoya Enverovna , Eliseeva Irina Vladimirovna
Published: July 2016

Introduction. Previous studies have shown that patients with obesity had left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) in 27–69,4% cases along with normal geometry of left ventricle (LV).Aim. To investigate new possible clinical and hormonal predictors of LVH in women with obesity of different degrees.Materials and methods. We conducted trans-sectional study in women with obesity, we performed clinical examination and echocardiography with calculation of mass of myocardium of LV (MMLV), indexed MMLV (IMMLV) to body surface area and relative wall thickness (RWT). LVH was diagnosed at IMMLV≥95 g/m2, increase of RWT when RWT≥0.42. Blood levels of fasting insulin, leptin and adiponectin were investigated. Differences between groups were assessed with Student’s t-test for independent samples, U-criterion of Mann-Whitney and Chi-square test (χ2). Correlation was estimated with Spearman's coefficient (rs). Multiple and logistic regression analyses were performed for detection of predictors. Statistics were performed with SPSS (version 13.0), differences were significant at level p0.05.Results. We assessed the results in 113 women (age 44.34±11.18 years, body mass index 35.0±5.3 kg/m2). Total 67 women were diagnosed with LVH (59.3%), 56.5% among them had arterial hypertension (AH). Increase of RWT was revealed in 25 participants (22.1%), 80% of them had arterial hypertension (AH). Levels of fasting leptin, insulin and adiponectin did not differ in groups of women with or without LVH, with or without increase of RWT. In multiple regression age (β=1.67, p=0,005), body mass (BM) (β=2.63, p=0.004) and mean blood pressure (BP) (β=1.07, p=0.009) were independent predictors of MMLV increase; age (β=0.83, p=0.006) and mean BP (β=0.56 p=0.007) – predictors of IMMLV increase. In logistic regression age (odds ratio (OR)=1.058, p=0.036) and BM (OR=1.065, p=0.05) were independent predictors of LVH; presence of AH (OR=4.011, p=0.05) and level of adiponectin (OR=2.618, p=0.048) – predictors of RWT increase.Conclusions. Women with obesity with or without AH had LVH in 59.3% cases. Age and BM were independent positive predictors of LVH, presence of AH and adiponectin – independent positive predictors of increase of RWT of LV.
Perivascular adipose tissue: role in the pathogenesis of obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular pathology.
Authors: Romantsova Tat'yana Ivanovna , Ovsyannikovna Ariadna Vasil'evna
Published: July 2016

Perivascular adipose tissue is a part of blood vessel wall, regulating endovascular homeostasis, endothelial and smooth muscle cells functioning. Under physiological conditions, perivascular tissue provides beneficial anticontractile effect, though undergoes structural and functional changes in obesity, atherosclerosis and diabetes mellitus type2.Collected data suggest the possible key role of perivascular adipose tissue in the pathogenesis of these diseases. Perivascular tissue has been determined as an independent cardiovascular risk factor, regardless of visceral obesity. General mechanisms include a local low-grade inflammation, oxidative stress, tissue renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system activation, paracrine and metabolic alterations. Properties of perivascular adipose tissue depend on the certain type of adipocytes it contains. Brown adipocytes are well known for their metabolic preferences, however it has been shown recently that brown perivascular tissue can contribute to dyslipidemia under some conditions.  The aim of this review is to discuss the current literature understanding of perivascular adipose tissue specifics, changes in its activity, secretory and genetic profilein a course of the most common non-infectious diseases development, as well as molecular mechanisms of its functioning. We also discuss perspectives of target interventions using metabolic pathways and genes of perivascular tissue, for the effective prevention of obesity, diabetes mellitus type2 and cardiovascular diseases.
Effects of Early Therapeutic Administration of Interleukin-1β on Survival Rate and Bone Marrow Hemopoiesis of Irradiated Mice
Authors: Grebenyuk Alexander , Zatsepin Victor , Aksenova Natalia , Timoshevsky Alexander
Published: July 2016

The study was aimed at the experimental assessment of the efficacy of recombinant interleukin-1β in the early therapy of haemopoiesis disorders caused by X-ray irradiation. The efficacy of the product was based on the 30-day survival rate and average life expectancy of dead animals. Endogenous and exogenous colony-formations were studied to reveal possible mechanisms of therapeutic effects of interleukin-1β on the bone marrow. The early administration (10–15 min after exposure to radiation) of recombinant interleukin-1β in a dose of 50 μg/kg increased the survival rate and prevented the post-irradiation decrease in the number of endogenous and exogenous CFU-S9 in irradiated mice.
Refusal of Treatment by Mentally Competent Patient: The Choice of Doctor-Patient Relationship Models
Authors: Beliaev Andrei M.
Published: July 2016

Introduction: In modern medicine professional relationship between the clinician and the patient is patient-centered. Patients become actively involved in the treatment decision making process and are encouraged to express their health-related preferences. Some patients may, however, refuse a favorable risk/benefit ratio treatment. This manuscript presents three cases of refusal of treatment by mentally competent surgical patients and discusses differences in their management. Conclusion: To achieve the best medical outcome for patients who possess the Actual Understanding test of mental competence clinicians use the deliberate model of medical professional relationship. For patients demonstrating the Understanding test of mental competence and wishing to utilize their health-related preferences physicians are obliged to deploy the interpretive model of doctor-patient relationship. In mentally competent patients with an illness-induced acute psychological regression the interpretive model of doctor-patient relationship as an initial strategy and cognitive behavior therapy can be useful in modifying treatment rejecting behavior and improving medical outcome.
The role of governance systems and rules in wind energy development: evidence from Minnesota and Texas
Authors: Fremeth Adam , Marcus Alfred A.
Published: July 2016

Wind energy presents significant opportunity to provide a series of public goods. Drawing on the ideas of J.Q. Wilson and E. Ostrom, we compare options to overcome the obstacles that stand in the way of deploying wind energy in two US states, Texas and Minnesota. Texas outperformed Minnesota in deploying wind energy technology despite Minnesota's ample wind and other natural advantages. To explain this gap in performance, we argue that Texas outperformed Minnesota because of a more fitting governance system and rules for determining (i) boundaries, (ii) cost and benefit allocation, (iii) conflict resolution, and (iv) rule revision. Our approach sheds an alternative yet overlooked lens upon the topic of wind energy development by focusing on how the concentration of power and authority in the hands of a few dominant public and private elites can lead to the successful deployment of a complex renewable technology under some circumstances.
Preliminary paleoecological reconstruction of long-term relationship between human and environment in the northern part of Danube-along Plain, Hungary
Authors: Kustár Rozália , Molnár Dávid , Sümegi Pál , Törőcsik Tünde , Sávai Szilvia
Published: July 2016

The peat bog at Ócsa is located at the northern part of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves at the transitional zone of two landscapes with different morphological characters. At the boundary of the Danube-Tisa Interfluves and the Danube-along Plain a marshland sequence can be found from Hajós to Ócsa. We extended our research to the Ócsa peat bog to complete the environmental historical investigations in the examined area, as well.

The bog is located in a former pool formed by the Danube River in which aeolian sand and thick lake sediment deposited from the Late Pleistocene. The initial oligotrophic lake became mesotrophic, therefore thick carbonate sediment deposited. Afterwards, as a consequence of the Neolithic human occupations, the natural development of the lake changed drastically and the lake choked up. The pollen and quartermalacological analysis of the area support the mentioned geological processes.
Črvenka loess-paleosol sequence revisited: local and regional Quaternary biogeographical inferences of the southern Carpathian Basin
Authors: Sümegi Pál , Marković Slobodan B. , Molnár Dávid , Sávai Szilvia , Náfrádi Katalin , Szelepcsényi Zoltán , Novák Zsolt
Published: July 2016

Studies of Quaternary malacological assemblages from the loess-paleosol section of Črvenka (Vojvodina region, Serbia) provided the opportunity to examine the paleobiogeographic dynamics of the southern part of the Carpathian Basin.

The results of quantitative-statistical, paleoecological and paleobiogeographical analyses performed on 9185 specimens of 38 mollusc species from six stratigraphic units showed that the study area was a transition area between the refuge areas in the Carpathian Basin during the Pleistocene.
Geostatistical study of spatial correlations of lead and zinc concentration in urban reservoir. Study case Czerniakowskie Lake, Warsaw, Poland
Authors: Fabijańczyk Piotr , Zawadzki Jarosław , Wojtkowska Małgorzata
Published: July 2016

The article presents detailed geostatistical analysis of spatial distribution of lead and zinc concentration in water, suspension and bottom sediments of large, urban lake exposed to intensive anthropogenic pressure within a large city. Systematic chemical measurements were performed at eleven cross-sections located along Czerniakowskie Lake, the largest lake in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. During the summer, the lake is used as a public bathing area, therefore, to better evaluate human impacts, field measurements were carried out in high-use seasons. It was found that the spatial distributions of aqueous lead and zinc differ during the summer and autumn. In summer several Pb and Zn hot-spots were observed, while during autumn spatial distributions of Pb and Zn were rather homogenous throughout the entire lake. Large seasonal differences in spatial distributions of Pb and Zn were found in bottom sediments. Autumn concentrations of both heavy metals were ten times higher in comparison with summer values.

Clear cross-correlations of Pb and Zn concentrations in water, suspension and bottom sediments suggest that both Pb and Zn came to Czerniakowskie Lake from the same source.
Investigating and Modeling the Effect of Laser Intensity and Nonlinear Regime of the Fiber on the Optical Link
Authors: Bhatnagar Kavita , Gupta S. C.
Published: July 2016

Understanding the nonlinear characteristics of the optical link is essential to exploit it effectively. Even though various expensive experimental investigations have been conducted in the literature, this paper presents a simulation model to understand the nonlinear relationship that exists between the laser intensity, the nonlinear regime of the fiber and the error probability. Firstly, an analysis model is introduced to observe the numerical relevance between the aforesaid parameters. The analysis results are graphically portrayed to determine the relevance effectively. Secondly, an optical-neural model is adopted based on the feed-forward neural network architecture to relate the parameters mathematically, without hard technical constraints. The model is experimented for the fair estimation of the required laser intensity, which achieves the least desired error probability, when the nonlinear regime of the fiber is known.
Research on Transmission Performance of Different Modulation Formats Based on Re-modulation WDM-PON
Authors: Li Li , Feng He
Published: July 2016

Dispersion and nonlinear effects will increase the effect on the system when the optical information transmits in high speed and long distance. The new optical modulation technology can reduce the attenuation caused by transmission procedure. In this paper, OptiSystem and Matlab were combined to set a model by comparing the dispersion tolerance and nonlinear effect of different code modulation formats. After that, the better performance code of IRZ (Inverse Return-to-Zero) and DQPSK (Differential Quadrature Phase Shifted Keying) will be used to study their properties in 10Gbit/s re-modulation WDM-PON access model. The DQPSK was used in downlink, IRZ modulation was used in uplink adopts the IRZ modulation was used in 10 Gbit/s re-modulation WDM passive optical network access model uplink on the basis of the above method. A simulation analysis is also made between the different duty ratios of the DQPSK and IRZ. Compared with the NRZ type, the IRZ has a better anti-dispersion property, channel crosstalk suppression ability and higher spectrum efficiency although it costs 3 dB powers. At the same time, it simplifies the structure of the ONU on the premise of not increasing the power and the cost. So, it fits the large capacity requirements between user stations and the central office in the future.
Oscillation of impulsive conformable fractional differential equations
Authors: Tariboon Jessada , Ntouyas Sotiris K.
Published: July 2016

In this paper, we investigate oscillation results for the solutions of impulsive conformable fractional differential equations of the form

t
k

D
α

p

t

t
k

D
α

x

t

+
r

t

x

t

+
q

t

x

t

=
0
,

t
≥

t
0

,

t
≠

t
k

,

x

t
k
+

=

a
k

x
(

t
k
−

)
,

t
k

D
α

x

t
k
+

=

b

k

t

k
−
1

D
α

x
(

t
k
−

)
,

k
=
1
,
2
,
…
.

$$\left\{ \begin{array}{l}
{t_k}{D^\alpha }\left( {p\left( t \right)\left[ {{t_k}{D^\alpha }x\left( t \right) + r\left( t \right)x\left( t \right)} \right]} \right) + q\left( t \right)x\left( t \right) = 0,\quad t \ge {t_0},\;t \ne {t_k},\\
x\left( {t_k^ + } \right) = {a_k}x(t_k^ - ),\quad {t_k}{D^\alpha }x\left( {t_k^ + } \right) = {b_{k\;{t_{k - 1}}}}{D^\alpha }x(t_k^ - ),\quad \;k = 1,2, \ldots.
\end{array} \right.$$

Some new oscillation results are obtained by using the equivalence transformation and the associated Riccati techniques.
Dynamics of doubly stochastic quadratic operators on a finite-dimensional simplex
Authors: Abdulghafor Rawad , Shahidi Farruh , Zeki Akram , Turaev Sherzod
Published: July 2016

The present paper focuses on the dynamics of doubly stochastic quadratic operators (d.s.q.o) on a finite-dimensional simplex. We prove that if a d.s.q.o. has no periodic points then the trajectory of any initial point inside the simplex is convergent. We show that if d.s.q.o. is not a permutation then it has no periodic points on the interior of the two dimensional (2D) simplex. We also show that this property fails in higher dimensions. In addition, the paper also discusses the dynamics classifications of extreme points of d.s.q.o. on two dimensional simplex. As such, we provide some examples of d.s.q.o. which has a property that the trajectory of any initial point tends to the center of the simplex. We also provide and example of d.s.q.o. that has infinitely many fixed points and has infinitely many invariant curves. We therefore came-up with a number of evidences. Finally, we classify the dynamics of extreme points of d.s.q.o. on 2D simplex.