bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Hospice Services for Complicated Grief and Depression: Results from a National Survey
Authors: Ghesquiere Angela R. , Aldridge Melissa D. , Johnson‐Hürzeler Rosemary , Kaplan Daniel , Bruce Martha L. , Bradley Elizabeth
Published: October 2015

Objectives

To describe the prevalence of screening for complicated grief (CG) and depression in hospice and access to bereavement therapy and to examine whether screening and access to therapy varied according to hospice organizational characteristics or staff training and involvement.

Design

Cross‐sectional national survey conducted from 2008 to 2009.

Setting

United States.

Participants

Hospices (N = 591).

Measurements

Whether hospices screened for depression or CG at the time of death or provided access to bereavement therapy (individual or group). Organizational characteristics included region, chain status, ownership, and patient volume. Staffing‐related variables included training length and meeting attendance requirements.

Results

Fifty‐five percent of hospices provided screening for CG and depression and access to bereavement therapy, 13% provided screening but not access to bereavement therapy, 24% provided access to bereavement therapy but not screening, and 8% neither screened nor provided access to bereavement therapy. Hospices with 100 patients per day or more were significantly more likely to provide screening and access to bereavement therapy.

Conclusion

Hospices appear to have high capacity to provide screening for CG and depression and to deliver group and individual therapy, but data are needed on whether screeners are evidence based and whether therapy addresses CG or depression specifically. Future work could build upon existing infrastructure to ensure use of well‐validated screeners and evidence‐based therapies.
A Survey of International Legal Instruments to Examine Their Effectiveness in Improving Global Health and in Realizing Health Rights
Authors: Wilson Arthur , Daar Abdallah S.
Published: October 2015

In this paper we review selected international legal instruments, the effect, if any, that they have had on global health, and how these instruments might have contributed to the realization of health rights. We consider a number of instruments from the international health law field as well as two from the field of international environmental law.1 The latter two, in addition to the considerable link between health and climate/environment, are considered with the purpose of drawing more generalized lessons about what contributes to the success or failure of an international legal instrument; the lessons are then applied to our analysis of the health law instruments that are the primary focus of our paper.
Transparent Vessels?: What Organ Donors Should Be Allowed to Know about Their Recipients
Authors: Dees Richard H.
Published: October 2015

After a long search, Jonathan has finally found someone willing to donate a kidney to him and thereby free him from dialysis. Meredith is Jonathan's second cousin, and she considers herself a generous person, so although she barely knows Jonathan, she is willing to help. However, as Meredith learns more about the donation process, she begins to ask questions about Jonathan: “Is he HIV positive? I heard he got it using drugs. Has he been in jail? He's already had one live donor, so what happened to the first kidney? Did he forget to take his drugs or something?” The transplant center must, then, decide if Meredith is, in fact, entitled to answers to these kinds of questions. According to the Consensus Statement on the Live Organ Donor, “It is incumbent on the transplant center to provide full and accurate disclosure to potential donors of all pertinent information regarding risk and benefit to the donor and recipient.” But whether answers to the Meredith's questions count as “pertinent information regarding the risk and benefit” is the issue at hand.
The Barnes Case: Taking Difficult Futility Cases Public
Authors: Mickelsen Ruth A. , Bernstein Daniel S. , Marshall Mary Faith , Miles Steven H.
Published: October 2015

The recent Minnesota case of In re Emergency Guardianship of Albert Barnes illustrates an emerging class of cases where a dispute between a family proxy and a hospital over “medical futility” requires legal resolution. The case was further complicated by the patient’s spouse who fraudulently claimed to be the patient’s designated health care proxy and who misrepresented the patient’s previously expressed treatment preferences. Barnes demonstrates the degree of significant administrative and institutional support to the health care team, ethics consultants, and futility committees that is required when a futility dispute escalates to the need for judicial resolution. An institutional futility policy, especially one that is endorsed by other regional medical centers and organizations, is an important foundation for a hospital that seeks judicial support in a dispute over medical futility in end of life care.
Beyond Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness: Rethinking Best Practices
Authors: Bernstein Jennifer A.
Published: October 2015

It has now been 10 years since the framework for public health legal preparedness was put forth as a model to meet new public health challenges in the 21st century. Public health legal preparedness is defined as the “attainment by a public health system of specified legal of standards essential to the preparedness of the public health system.” The framework has continued to develop over time and four core elements have emerged to make up the basis for public health legal preparedness. The four core elements are: (1) laws and legal authorities; (2) competency in using laws effectively and wisely; (3) coordination of legally based interventions across jurisdictions and sectors; and (4) information on public health laws and best practices.
Federal Legal Preparedness Tools for Facilitating Medical Countermeasure Use during Public Health Emergencies
Authors: Courtney Brooke , Sherman Susan , Penn Matthew
Published: October 2015

Law can greatly facilitate responses to public health emergencies, including naturally-occurring infectious disease outbreaks and intentional or accidental exposures to chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear (CBRN) agents. At the federal level, the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), as the lead for federal public health and medical responses to public health emergencies and incidents, has a range of authorities to support federal, state, tribal, local, and territorial responses. For example, under the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, the Secretary may provide temporary assistance to States to meet health emergency needs or deploy medicine and supplies from the Strategic National Stockpile. The Secretary also may determine that a disease or disorder presents a public health emergency, which may be the first step in triggering other critical legal authorities for response.

Since the 2001 anthrax attacks, one focus of public health preparedness has been on developing, distributing, and rapidly dispensing medical countermeasures (MCMs) for CBRN emergencies and pandemics.
Are Changes to the Common Rule Necessary to Address Evolving Areas of Research?
Authors: Hoffmann Diane E. , Fortenberry J. Dennis , Ravel Jacques
Published: October 2015

The proposed changes to the Common Rule, described in the recent Advanced Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM), come more than 20 years after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services adopted the Rule in 1991. Since that time, human subjects research has changed in significant ways. Not only has the volume of clinical research grown dramatically, this research is now regularly conducted at multiple collaborative sites that are often outside of the United States. Research takes place not only in academic medical centers, but also at outpatient clinics, community hospitals, and other nontraditional venues. In addition, technological advances, such as sophisticated computer software programs, the Internet, social media, new research methods, and mobile applications have exponentially increased the volume of data available and the possibilities for accessing, analyzing, and sharing that data.
Understanding Pharmaceutical Research Manipulation in the Context of Accounting Manipulation
Authors: Brown Abigail
Published: October 2015

Good decision-making requires reliable information. In medicine, relevant information comes from clinical trials and other forms of scientific research. In business, one source is in corporate annual financial statements. As for-profit, publicly traded companies whose business is discovering, manufacturing, and marketing drugs, pharmaceutical companies sit at the nexus of these two fields. Determining the safety and efficacy of a pharmaceutical product and determining the profitability of a complex enterprise are similarly difficult tasks: each is fraught with deeply ambiguous information that requires sophisticated judgment to interpret reasonably.
Drug Firms, the Codification of Diagnostic Categories, and Bias in Clinical Guidelines
Authors: Cosgrove Lisa , Wheeler Emily E.
Published: October 2015

The profession of medicine is predicated upon an ethical mandate: first do no harm. However, critics charge that the medical profession’s culture and its public health mission are being undermined by the pharmaceutical industry’s wide-ranging influence. In this article, we analyze how drug firms influence psychiatric taxonomy and treatment guidelines such that these resources may serve commercial rather than public health interests. Moving beyond a conflict-ofinterest model, we use the conceptual and normative framework of institutional corruption to examine how organized psychiatry’s dependence on drug firms has distorted science. We suggest that academic-industry relationships have led to the corruption of the evidence base upon which accurate diagnosis and sound treatment depend. We describe the current dependency corruption and argue that transparency alone is not a solution — and sometimes even produces iatrogenic effects. Furthermore, we argue that the corruption of the evidence base for diagnostic and practice guidelines renders obsolete the traditional informed consent process, and we offer suggestions for reforming this process.
Approval and Withdrawal of New Antibiotics and other Antiinfectives in the U.S., 1980–2009
Authors: Outterson Kevin , Powers John H. , Seoane-Vazquez Enrique , Rodriguez-Monguio Rosa , Kesselheim Aaron S.
Published: October 2015

Antibiotic use triggers evolutionary and ecological responses from bacteria, leading to antibiotic resistance and harmful patient outcomes. Two complementary strategies support long-term antibiotic effectiveness: conservation of existing therapies and production of novel antibiotics. Conservation encompasses infection control, antibiotic stewardship, and other public health interventions to prevent infection, which reduce antibiotic demand. Production of new antibiotics allows physicians to replace existing drugs rendered less effective by resistance.

In recent years, physicians and policymakers have raised concerns about the pipeline for new antibiotics, pointing to a decline in the number of antibiotics approved since the 1980s. This trend has been attributed to high research and development costs, low reimbursement for antibiotics, and regulatory standards for review and approval. Professional societies and researchers around the world have called for renewed emphasis on antimicrobial stewardship, while also supporting antibiotic research and development through grants, changes to intellectual property laws to extend market exclusivity periods, and modification of premarket testing regulations to reduce antibiotic development time and expenses.
Epigenetic Exceptionalism
Authors: Rothstein Mark A.
Published: October 2015

Emerging fields of science often create new challenges for ethics and law. In assessing the broader societal implications of scientific discoveries, a reasonable analytical starting point is determining how the discoveries compare with existing science. If the new field is substantially similar to an established one, then the ethical and legal analyses are likely to be comparable. On the other hand, if the new scientific developments are extraordinary in kind or degree, then a new analytical framework and new approaches to ethics and law may be necessary.
Nonbinding Legal Instruments in Governance for Global Health: Lessons from the Global AIDS Reporting Mechanism
Authors: Taylor Allyn , Alfvén Tobias , Hougendobler Daniel , Buse Kent
Published: October 2015

In recent debates surrounding World Health Organization (WHO) reform, international lawmaking has received unprecedented attention as a future priority function of the Organization. Although WHO's constitutional lawmaking authority was historically neglected and even resisted by WHO and its Member States until the adoption of its first treaty a decade ago, the widespread consensus in favor of a central role for lawmaking in visions of a reformed WHO reflects the crystallization of contemporary approaches to global health governance. Today it is widely recognized that the trends toward globalization that have restricted the capacity of sovereign states to protect health through unilateral action alone have made innovative mechanisms to promote global cooperation and coordination, including international lawmaking, an essential component of governance of public health.
Care Coordination and the Expansion of Nursing Scopes of Practice
Authors: Yang Y. Tony , Meiners Mark R.
Published: October 2015

Recent developments in the health care industry have precipitated a new wave of interest in expanding the scope of practice for nursing. This is because the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), broadly designed to increase access to health insurance, will inevitably result in increased demand for primary care providers. And with compensation for primary care physicians already lagging far behind that of specialists, the role of nurse practitioners is once again receiving increased attention as a viable means by which to ease the pressure for access to health care.

But the economics of this trade-off are controversial. On one hand, it sets primary care physicians at odds with specialists; namely, if the ultimate goal is to “bend the cost curve downward,” should specialist compensation be reduced in order to increase spending on primary care?
When is an Abortion Not an Abortion?
Authors: Mutcherson Kimberly
Published: October 2015

In her article, “Selective Reduction: ‘A Soft Cover for Hard Choices’ or Another Name for Abortion?,” Radhika Rao explores the dense thicket of contradictions and conflicts related to abortion and selective reduction. Selective reduction is one name for a procedure performed to terminate one or more fetuses in a multi-fetal pregnancy in order to increase the chances that the other fetuses and the pregnant woman will emerge from the pregnancy healthy. Though Rao, in keeping with some authorities, uses the terminology selective reduction in her piece, others prefer the term multi- fetal pregnancy reduction (MFPR) as more reflective of the procedure’s goals and practice. Competing monikers for the same procedure speaks to the importance of naming when discussing the termination of fetal life. It is also a sign of the array of legal, ethical, and medical conundrums surrounding practices that end or alter the course of a pregnancy.
Non-Invasive Testing, Non-Invasive Counseling
Authors: Rebouché Rachel
Published: October 2015

A regulatory moment for prenatal health care is here. An increasing amount of legislative attention has concentrated on the decisions pregnant women make after prenatal testing. The impetus for this legislation is a new non-invasive prenatal genetic test (NIPT). From the beginning of pregnancy, cell-free fetal DNA travels across the placental lining into the mother’s bloodstream, increasing in quantity as the pregnancy progresses. Laboratories can now analyze that DNA for chromosomal abnormalities and for fetal sex at 10 weeks of gestation. NIPT, which relies on a sample of the pregnant woman’s blood, is painless, occurs early in pregnancy, and is available for clinical and commercial use. In 2013, major health insurance plans began to cover NIPT for certain populations of women, such as women over 35 years old. And private companies have started marketing prenatal testing kits directly to consumers, who return a blood sample from the prospective mother to a company laboratory.
The Global Innovation Model for Antibiotics Needs Reinvention
Authors: Balasegaram Manica , Clift Charles , Røttingen John-Arne
Published: October 2015

The dangers presented by antibiotic resistance (ABR) have now established themselves as a global health security issue. From an international policy perspective, three key pillars have been established: responsible access, conservation, and innovation. These pillars are intrinsically linked, meaning that any attempt to address one must take into account the implications for the other two.

An urgent need exists to address the innovation failure in ABR. In the field of anti-bacterials, the pipeline remains anemic in terms of therapeutics with novel mechanisms of action, new drug classes and strategies involving radically different, innovative approaches. The key reasons for this failure have already been well established. The slow development of new antibiotics is the result of a poor and uncertain commercial market and scientific challenges in research and development (R&D).
Lessons Learned Preparing Volunteer Midwives for Service in Haiti: After the Earthquake
Authors: O'Malley Floyd Barbara
Published: October 2015

Introduction

Midwives for Haiti is an organization that focuses on the education and training of skilled birth attendants in Haiti, a country with a high rate of maternal and infant mortality and where only 26% of births are attended by skilled health workers. Following the 2010 earthquake, Midwives for Haiti received requests to expand services and numerous professional midwives answered the call to volunteer. This author was one of those volunteers. The purpose of the study was: 1) to develop a description of the program's strengths and its deficits in order to determine if there was a need to improve the preparation of volunteers prior to service and 2) to make recommendations aimed at strengthening the volunteers' contributions to the education of Haiti and auxiliary midwives.

Methods

Three distinct but closely related questionnaires were developed to survey Haitian students, staff midwives, and volunteers who served with Midwives for Haiti. Questions were designed to elicit information about how well the volunteers were prepared for their experience, the effectiveness of translation services, and suggestions for improving the preparation of volunteers and strengthening the education program.

Results

Analysis of the surveys of volunteers, staff, midwives, and the Haitian students generated several common themes. The 3 groups agreed that the volunteers made an effective contribution to the program of education and that the volunteer midwives need more preparation prior to serving in Haiti. The 3 groups also agreed on the need for better translators and recommended more structure to the education program.

Discussion

The results of this study are significant to international health care organizations that use volunteer health care professionals to provide services. The results support a growing body of knowledge that international health aid organizations may use to strengthen the preparation, support, and effectiveness of volunteer health providers.
Group Prenatal Care: Model Fidelity and Outcomes
Authors: Novick Gina , Reid Allecia E. , Lewis Jessica , Kershaw Trace , Rising Sharon S. , Ickovics Jeannette R.
Published: October 2015

Purpose

To study the association of process and content fidelity to the CenteringPregnancy model with perinatal outcomes. We examined 2 types of fidelity: process fidelity reflected how facilitative leaders were and how involved participants were in each session, and content fidelity reflected whether recommended content was discussed in each group session.

Hypotheses

We hypothesized that participants in CenteringPregnancy groups with higher fidelity to facilitative group process and to content recommendations would have a lower likelihood of preterm birth, more adequate care, and higher likelihood of initiating breastfeeding.

Significance/Background

CenteringPregnancy provides prenatal care to women in groups. In a randomized controlled trial comparing CenteringPregnancy with individual care, CenteringPregnancy reduced the likelihood of preterm birth by 33%, reduced the likelihood of inadequate care, and increased breastfeeding initiation. This model, therefore, shows promise for improving perinatal outcomes, particularly the intractable problem of preterm birth. However, there is likely variation in how the model is implemented in clinical practice, which may be associated with efficacy and, therefore, variation in outcomes.

Methods

We conducted a secondary analysis of data from the clinical trial that demonstrated improved rates of preterm birth, adequate care, and breastfeeding initiation in women receiving CenteringPregnancy care. The sample included 519 women aged 14 to 25 years receiving group prenatal care in 2 urban clinics. Fidelity was rated at each group prenatal care session by a trained researcher. Preterm birth and adequacy of care were abstracted from medical records. Participants self‐reported breastfeeding initiation 6 months postpartum.

Findings

Controlling for clinical predictors, greater process fidelity was associated with significantly lower odds of both preterm birth (B = –0.43, Wald χ2 = 8.65, P = .001) and excessive utilization of care (B = –0.29, Wald χ2 = 3.91, P = .05). Greater content fidelity was associated with lower odds of excessive utilization of care (B = –0.03, Wald χ2 = 9.31, P = .001).

Discussion

Understanding the impact of fidelity to the CenteringPregnancy model can contribute to developing a better understanding of how to implement this model to further enhance outcomes. Training in facilitative leadership for group prenatal care should include developing an awareness of the critical role that creating a participatory atmosphere may have in improving outcomes and reassurance that content suggestions are simply recommendations, not requirements.
Stock Market Volatility and Learning
Authors: ADAM KLAUS , MARCET ALBERT , NICOLINI JUAN PABLO
Published: October 2015

We show that consumption‐based asset pricing models with time‐separable preferences generate realistic amounts of stock price volatility if one allows for small deviations from rational expectations. Rational investors with subjective beliefs about price behavior optimally learn from past price observations. This imparts momentum and mean reversion into stock prices. The model quantitatively accounts for the volatility of returns, the volatility and persistence of the price‐dividend ratio, and the predictability of long‐horizon returns. It passes a formal statistical test for the overall fit of a set of moments provided one excludes the equity premium.
Compensating Financial Experts
Authors: GLODE VINCENT , LOWERY RICHARD
Published: October 2015

We propose a labor market model in which financial firms compete for a scarce supply of workers who can be employed as either bankers or traders. While hiring bankers helps create a surplus that can be split between a firm and its trading counterparties, hiring traders helps the firm appropriate a greater share of that surplus away from its counterparties. Firms bid defensively for workers bound to become traders, who then earn more than bankers. As counterparties employ more traders, the benefit of employing bankers decreases. The model sheds light on the historical evolution of compensation in finance.
Effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation on ovarian reserve of patients with diminished ovarian reserve in in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer cycles
Authors: Zheng Ying , Feng Xiaojun , Mi Hui , Yao Yi , Zhao Yu , Li Jing , Jiao Jiao , Gong Ailing , Sun Wei , Deng Xiaohui
Published: October 2015

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) on ovarian reserve in patients with diminished ovarian reserve undergoing in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer.

Material and Methods

A total of 240 patients were randomly divided into the Han's acupoint nerve stimulator TEAS treatment (TES), comforting false Han's placebo (FHP), artificial endometrial cycle treatment (AEC), and control (CON) groups.

Results

Fifty‐six patients in TES, 56 in FHP, 54 in AEC, and 60 in CON fulfilled the study, respectively. Antral follicle count and anti‐Müllerian hormone levels were increased, whereas the estradiol level, follicle‐stimulating hormone level, and follicle‐stimulating hormone/luteinizing hormone ratio were significantly decreased after treatment in the TES and AEC groups. After treatment, the number of oocytes retrieved and average number of embryos transferred were higher in the TES and AEC than in the CON and FHP groups. Clinical pregnancy rate in the TES group was markedly higher than values obtained for the other three groups.

Conclusion

TEAS and AEC treatments could improve basal endocrine levels in patients, and increase the number of oocytes retrieved and high‐quality embryos. TEAS treatment could improve the clinical pregnancy rate in patients with decreased ovarian reserve during in vitro fertilization and embryo transfer cycles.
Immunoglobulin G4‐related disease presenting as bilateral ovarian masses and mimicking advanced ovarian cancer
Authors: Maruyama Shunsuke , Sato Yukiyasu , Taga Atsuko , Emoto Ikuko , Shirase Tomoyuki , Haga Hironori
Published: October 2015

Immunoglobulin G4‐related disease (IgG4‐RD) is characterized by extensive infiltration of IgG4+ plasma cells and fibrosis in various organs. However, the involvement of the ovary in IgG4‐RD has never been reported. A 59‐year‐old woman presented with urinary retention. Magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography revealed a huge multinodular pelvic mass and common iliac/para‐aortic lymph node swelling. A laparotomy was performed under the suspicion of advanced ovarian cancer, and the pelvic mass was identified as ovary in origin. Histopathology of the excised tumor revealed massive lymphoplasmacytic infiltration (>90% were IgG4+ plasma cells), storiform fibrosis, and obliterative phlebitis; thus leading to a diagnosis of IgG4‐RD. We conclude that IgG4‐RD can present as a bilateral ovarian mass along with lymphadenopathy, therefore mimicking ovarian cancer.
Creatine and creatinine contents in different diet types for dogs – effects of source and processing
Authors: Dobenecker B. , Braun U.
Published: October 2015

The concentrations of creatine and its degradation product creatinine were determined in a variety of unprocessed as well as processed feedstuffs suitable for dogs. Unprocessed feedstuffs were categorised as single feedstuffs, bone and raw food diets (BARF), and small vertebrates, for example prey animals. Processed feedstuffs were categorised as meat/meat and bone meals, complete wet diets and complete dry diets. The feedstuffs were chosen to cover a broad range of each of the three defined processed and unprocessed feed categories available on the market without further subclustering. The creatine content of the samples was compared on a dry matter, protein and energy basis. The relation of creatine to crude protein permitted a rating of the meat quality in terms of muscle tissue. Results: We found no difference in creatine concentrations between the three categories of unprocessed feedstuffs (raw single feedstuffs, prey and BARF diets), neither on a dry matter basis nor when expressed relative to crude protein and metabolisable energy respectively. Significantly lower levels were determined in meat/meat and bone meal and commercial dry diets (e.g. 303 mg creatine/MJ ME in unprocessed vs. 6 mg/MJ ME in processed feedstuffs; p < 0.001). We conclude that in relation to ME, the exclusive use of conventionally processed diets for dogs, especially dry diets, leads to considerably lower intake of creatine which is a natural compound of the diet of this carnivorous and omnivorous species.
Statistics: more regression models
Authors: Scott M. , Flaherty D. , Currall J.
Published: October 2015

In a previous article, we tackled the question “How are we related?” for the simple case of one explanatory variable or covariate. Now we can move onto a natural extension, with still only one response variable, but more than one explanatory variable.
Who is more likely to respond to dual treatment with pegylated‐interferon and ribavirin for chronic hepatitis C? A gender‐oriented analysis
Authors: Di Marco V. , Covolo L. , Calvaruso V. , Levrero M. , Puoti M. , Suter F. , Gaeta G. B. , Ferrari C. , Raimondo G. , Fattovich G. , Santantonio T. , Alberti A. , Bruno R. , Mussini C. , Mondelli M. , Donato F. , Craxì A. ,   Multicenter Italian Group for the Study of Hepatitis C
Published: October 2015

We assessed, in real‐life practice, viral, demographic, genetic and metabolic factors influencing the sustained virologic response (SVR), with a gender‐oriented analysis, in patients with chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) treated with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. Six hundred and seventy naïve patients were treated with dual therapy and evaluated by gender and HCV genotype. Associations between baseline variables and SVR were assessed by multivariate logistic regression analysis. Among 362 genotype 1 patients, SVR was achieved in 158 patients (44%), and SVR was independently associated with age less than 50 years (OR 2.12; 95% CI 1.09–4.30; P = 0.039) and C/C genotype rs12979860 SNP (OR 2.83; 1.19–6.74; P = 0.002) in 163 females, while absence of visceral obesity (OR 2.491; 1.131–5.487; P = 0.023), HCV‐RNA lower than 400 000 IU/mL (OR 2.66; 1.273–5.558; P = 0.009) and C/C genotype rs12979860 SNP (OR 4.969; 2.401–10.283; P < 0.001) were independently associated with SVR in 199 males. Combining favourable baseline variables, the probability of obtaining SVR ranged from 27.6% to 84.2% in females, and from 14.3% to 85.7% in males. The rate of SVR was 81.1% in 175 genotype 2 patients, and 69% in 100 genotype 3 patients. Rapid virologic response was the only valid predictor of SVR regardless of other features. In conclusions, in the setting of HCV genotype 1, chronic hepatitis, combining rapid virologic response and predictive factors, which are different for females and males, allows clinicians to single out a group of patients whose likelihood of SVR exceeds 80%. For these patients, triple therapy with first‐generation protease inhibitors may be unwarranted.
The new paradigm of hepatitis C therapy: integration of oral therapies into best practices
Authors: Afdhal N. H. , Zeuzem S. , Schooley R. T. , Thomas D. L. , Ward J. W. , Litwin A. H. , Razavi H. , Castera L. , Poynard T. , Muir A. , Mehta S. H. , Dee L. , Graham C. , Church D. R. , Talal A. H. , Sulkowski M. S. , Jacobson I. M. ,   for the New Paradigm of HCV Therapy Meeting Participants
Published: October 2015

Emerging data indicate that all‐oral antiviral treatments for chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) will become a reality in the near future. In replacing interferon‐based therapies, all‐oral regimens are expected to be more tolerable, more effective, shorter in duration and simpler to administer. Coinciding with new treatment options are novel methodologies for disease screening and staging, which create the possibility of more timely care and treatment. Assessments of histologic damage typically are performed using liver biopsy, yet noninvasive assessments of histologic damage have become the norm in some European countries and are becoming more widespread in the United States. Also in place are new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiatives to simplify testing, improve provider and patient awareness and expand recommendations for HCV screening beyond risk‐based strategies. Issued in 2012, the CDC recommendations aim to increase HCV testing among those with the greatest HCV burden in the United States by recommending one‐time testing for all persons born during 1945–1965. In 2013, the United States Preventive Services Task Force adopted similar recommendations for risk‐based and birth‐cohort‐based testing. Taken together, the developments in screening, diagnosis and treatment will likely increase demand for therapy and stimulate a shift in delivery of care related to chronic HCV, with increased involvement of primary care and infectious disease specialists. Yet even in this new era of therapy, barriers to curing patients of HCV will exist. Overcoming such barriers will require novel, integrative strategies and investment of resources at local, regional and national levels.
Identification of FDA‐approved drugs that target hepatitis B virus transcription
Authors: van de Klundert M. A. A. , Zaaijer H. L. , Kootstra N. A.
Published: October 2015

In the treatment of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, polymerase inhibitors successfully suppress HBV DNA production. However, the production of viral proteins continues unhindered, which hampers viral clearance. Here, we screen for compounds that suppress HBV transcription, which would prevent viral protein production. A total of 640 FDA‐approved drugs were evaluated for their ability to inhibit HBV transcription in a transfection‐based HBV reporter assay. The assay was performed in the presence and absence of the HBV accessory protein X (HBx), which is essential for in vivo HBV RNA transcription. We observed that in the absence of HBx 47, and in the presence of HBx 24 compounds suppressed transcription by more than 20%. We selected the 24 most potent compounds in each condition for further analysis. On average, the selected compounds reduced transcription by 33.9% (range: 24.1–65.8%) in the absence of HBx expression, and 30.6% (range: 20.4–48.9%) in the presence of HBx. The two selections of 24 compounds had 12 compounds in common, resulting in a final selection of 36 compounds, which were evaluated for their capacity to suppress HBV replication in constitutively HBV‐replicating HepG2.2.15 cells. Twenty‐three of these compounds reduced HBV replication by interfering with RNA transcription. Further analysis revealed that one of the compounds, terbinafine, potently and specifically suppressed HBx‐mediated HBV RNA transcription in HepG2 cells. Inhibition of HBV protein production is a promising step towards HBV clearance. In combination with an HBV polymerase inhibitor, the added suppression of HBV RNA transcription may markedly improve antiviral treatment outcome.
The influence of boulder shape on the spatial distribution of crustose coralline algae (Corallinales, Rhodophyta)
Authors: Liversage Kiran
Published: October 2015

Studies investigating the many ecologically and economically important species in benthic boulder habitats often use artificial boulders for determining species colonization. In some cases square‐edged blocks are used that are shaped much differently than the ovoid or ‘round’ boulders often occurring naturally. Here it was tested if the shape of boulders affects the distribution across the boulder surface of crustose coralline algae (CCA), a taxon that strongly influences ecological dynamics in this habitat. The distance that CCA extends from the edge of boulders toward the centre of the underside was measured, and it was found that CCA extended further underneath boulders that were round‐shaped compared with those that were block‐shaped, probably because of light reaching further underneath round boulders. This result shows how at least one important taxon can be affected by variation in the shape of these boulders. Hypotheses being tested that use artificial substrata to model naturally occurring boulders should be carried out only in places where the artificial and naturally occurring boulders match physically.
Fine‐scale kin recognition in the absence of social familiarity in the Siberian jay, a monogamous bird species
Authors: Griesser Michael , Halvarsson Peter , Drobniak Szymon M. , Vilà Carles
Published: October 2015

Kin recognition is a critical element to kin cooperation, and in vertebrates, it is primarily based on associative learning. Recognition of socially unfamiliar kin occurs rarely, and it is reported only in vertebrate species where promiscuity prevents recognition of first‐order relatives. However, it is unknown whether the recognition of socially unfamiliar kin can evolve in monogamous species. Here, we investigate whether genetic relatedness modulates aggression among group members in Siberian jays (Perisoreus infaustus). This bird species is genetically and socially monogamous and lives in groups that are formed through the retention of offspring beyond independence, and the immigration of socially unfamiliar nonbreeders. Observations on feeders showed that genetic relatedness modulated aggression of breeders towards immigrants in a graded manner, in that they chased most intensely the immigrant group members that were genetically the least related. However, cross‐fostering experiments showed that breeders were equally tolerant towards their own and cross‐fostered young swapped as nestlings. Thus, breeders seem to use different mechanisms to recognize socially unfamiliar individuals and own offspring. As Siberian jays show a high degree of nepotism during foraging and predator encounters, inclusive fitness benefits may play a role for the evolution of fine‐scale kin recognition. More generally, our results suggest that fine‐graded kin recognition can evolve independently of social familiarity, highlighting the evolutionary importance of kin recognition for social species.
Temporal genetic analysis of the endangered tidewater goby: extinction–colonization dynamics or drift in isolation?
Authors: Kinziger Andrew P. , Hellmair Michael , McCraney W. Tyler , Jacobs David K. , Goldsmith Greg
Published: October 2015

Extinction and colonization dynamics are critical to understanding the evolution and conservation of metapopulations. However, traditional field studies of extinction–colonization are potentially fraught with detection bias and have rarely been validated. Here, we provide a comparison of molecular and field‐based approaches for assessment of the extinction–colonization dynamics of tidewater goby (Eucyclogobius newberryi) in northern California. Our analysis of temporal genetic variation across 14 northern California tidewater goby populations failed to recover genetic change expected with extinction–colonization cycles. Similarly, analysis of site occupancy data from field studies (94 sites) indicated that extinction and colonization are very infrequent for our study populations. Comparison of the approaches indicated field data were subject to imperfect detection, and falsely implied extinction–colonization cycles in several instances. For northern California populations of tidewater goby, we interpret the strong genetic differentiation between populations and high degree of within‐site temporal stability as consistent with a model of drift in the absence of migration, at least over the past 20–30 years. Our findings show that tidewater goby exhibit different population structures across their geographic range (extinction–colonization dynamics in the south vs. drift in isolation in the north). For northern populations, natural dispersal is too infrequent to be considered a viable approach for recolonizing extirpated populations, suggesting that species recovery will likely depend on artificial translocation in this region. More broadly, this work illustrates that temporal genetic analysis can be used in combination with field data to strengthen inference of extinction–colonization dynamics or as a stand‐alone tool when field data are lacking.
Rorty's Debt to Sellarsian Metaphysics
Authors: Sachs Carl B.
Published: October 2015

Rorty regards himself as furthering the project of the Enlightenment by separating Enlightenment liberalism from Enlightenment rationalism. To do so, he rejects the very need for explicit metaphysical theorizing. Yet his commitments to naturalism, nominalism, and the irreducibility of the normative come from the metaphysics of Wilfrid Sellars. Rorty's debt to Sellars is concealed by his use of Davidsonian arguments against the scheme/content distinction and the nonsemantic concept of truth. The Davidsonian arguments are used for Deweyan ends: to advance secularization and anti‐authoritarianism. However, Rorty's conflation of theology and metaphysics conceals the possibility of post‐theological metaphysics. The key distinction lies between “metaphysics” and “Metaphysics.” The former provisionally models the relations between different vocabularies; the latter continues theology by other means. Sellars shows how to do metaphysics without Metaphysics. This approach complements Rorty's prioritization of cultural politics over ontology and his vision of Enlightenment liberalism without Enlightenment rationalism.
The Roots and Achievements of the Early Proto‐Sunni Movement: A Profile and Interpretation
Authors: Kuiper Matthew J.
Published: October 2015

In recent years, the term “proto‐Sunni” has become common in scholarship on the early centuries of Islam. Drawing on categories developed by Peter Berger, this study seeks to move toward a more inclusive portrait of the early proto‐Sunni movement and a more organic understanding of the movement's success. It argues that owing to the erosion of several of the “plausibility structures” of earliest Islam, three tendencies emerged among the proto‐Sunnis between the early 8th and mid‐9th centuries C.E.: proto‐Sunnis as traditionist ῾ulamā᾽, proto‐Sunnis as pious ascetics, and proto‐Sunnis as volunteer holy warriors. The prestige acquired through their activities in these areas enabled the early proto‐Sunnis to “objectify” and “legitimize” new plausibility structures which would prove decisive to an eventual Sunni consensus.
Critical Decisions in Negotiation: A New Video Resource for Teaching Negotiation
Authors: Bordone Robert C. , Carr Chad M.
Published: October 2015

Negotiation teachers have many goals. Improving a student's skills of observation, analysis, and diagnosis, and building his or her capacity to translate theory to practice are often among the most important of these. The Critical Decisions in Negotiation video project seeks to advance these goals. The video features four sets of professionals negotiating a simulation, and then debriefing key parts of the negotiation afterward with Professor Robert Bordone to reveal the thought processes that motivated particular behavioral moves. Bordone provides commentary after each sequence to connect theory to practice. The video project is organized around three broad themes — openings and process, dealing with difficult tactics, and active listening and effective assertion. Key features include a detailed teaching note, unscripted professionals in action, and unvarnished reviews by the negotiators themselves after the fact. The method employed by the Critical Decisions in Negotiation video represents a valuable new pedagogical tool for negotiation instructors and students alike.
Individualistic and social motives for justice judgments
Authors: van Prooijen Jan‐Willem
Published: October 2015

Justice judgments are subjective by nature, and are influenced substantially by motivational processes. In the present contribution, two motives underlying justice judgments are examined: individualistic motives to evaluate solutions to social problems that benefit the self in material or immaterial ways as fair versus social motives to conceptualize justice in terms of the well‐being of others, such as a desire for equality, adherence to in‐group norms, and a concern for the collective interest. A review of relevant research reveals evidence for both motivations when people make evaluations of justice. Moreover, which motive is most dominant in the justice judgment process depends on perceptual salience: whereas individualistic motives are activated when a perceiver's own needs and goals are perceptually salient, social motives are activated when others’ needs and goals are perceptually salient. It is concluded that both individualistic and social motives contribute in predictable ways to justice judgments.
New fossil Hyaenodonta (Mammalia, Placentalia) from the Ypresian and Lutetian of France and the evolution of the Proviverrinae in southern Europe
Authors: Solé Floréal , Falconnet Jocelyn , Vidalenc Dominique
Published: October 2015

The proviverrines from the Ypresian (MP7–MP10) and Lutetian (MP11–MP14) are represented mainly by species recorded in the northern and central parts of Europe (Paris Basin, Belgian Basin, Germany, Switzerland). Here, we describe fossils from southern France: Saint‐Papoul (MP8 + 9; Aude) and Aigues‐Vives 2 (?MP13; Aude). One dentary with secant molars from Saint‐Papoul represents a new genus and species, Preregidens langebadrae. This taxon is possibly present in Avenay (France), the MP8 + 9 reference locality. One of the three dentaries discovered in Aigues‐Vives 2 belongs to the hypercarnivorous Oxyaenoides schlosseri, previously represented by only two isolated lower molars. This dentary appears to be the most derived of the proviverrines. This species is possibly present in Saint‐Martin‐de‐Londres (France), a locality that is considered to be close to the MP13 reference level. The two other dentaries from Aigues‐Vives 2 support the presence of Eurotherium theriodis and provide the first possible evidence of sexual dimorphism in a proviverrine species. A phylogenetic analysis of the proviverrines is performed to resolve the phylogenetic position of the three taxa. This identifies a close relationship between the new genus (Preregidens) and Oxyaenoides. The new fossils allow the age of Saint‐Papoul and Aigues‐Vives 2 to be refined: the first locality is considered to be close in age to Avenay (Ypresian; France), while the second one seems to be close to Egerkingen γ (Lutetian; Switzerland), which is considered to be possibly close in age to the MP13 reference level. Finally, the presence of O. schlosseri and E. theriodis in the southern part of France is compatible with the hypothesis that the mammals involved in the first intra‐Eocene turnover migrated northwards.
Conscience, Comrades, and the Cold War: The Korean War Draft Resistance Cases of Socialist Pacifists David McReynolds and Vern Davidson
Authors: Bennett Scott H.
Published: October 2015

This article examines the Korean War draft resistance cases of David McReynolds and Vern Davidson and their challenge to the Selective Service Act of 1948, which granted conscientious objection status to religious but not secular objectors. McReynolds and Davidson were active in Los Angeles socialist and pacifist youth circles. In short, this article is about comrades whose secular, socialist pacifist / radical pacifist convictions led them to dissent from and resist the Cold War and Korean War. This article contributes to the scant literature on conscientious objection and draft resistance during the Korean War. It also provides new evidence to substantiate the “long sixties” thesis that locates the origins of the sixties in the 1950s, or earlier, and argues that the fifties contained radical dissident elements, including a little‐known socialist pacifist current, that resisted the dominant culture and provided a seedbed for social and legal change in the sixties and seventies.