bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Effect of Selenium Supplementation on Lipid Profile: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Authors: Hasani Motahareh , Djalalinia Shirin , Sharifi Farshad , Varmaghani Mehdi , Zarei Maryam , Abdar Mohammad , Asayesh Hamid , Noroozi Mehdi , Kasaeian Amir , Gorabi Armita , Qorbani Mostafa 
Published: October 2018

AbstractSelenium is an essential mineral that plays a key role in plenty of major metabolic processes. A growing body of literature has shown that selenium deficiency leads to an increase in plasma TC and TG levels. This study explores the effect of selenium supplementation on serum level of lipid profile [total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL)]. We systematically searched PubMed/MEDLINE, ISI/WOS, and Scopus (from their commencements to Jan 2016) to identify the papers investigating the association between the intake of selenium and lipid profile. Data extracted from the relevant studies were screened. The pooled standardized mean difference was estimated using the random or fixed effects model. Heterogeneity among the studies was assessed using Q-test. Of the potentially relevant articles screened, 11 articles including 1221 participants were included in this meta-analysis. Results of meta-analysis showed that intake of selenium resulted in a statistically significant improvement in TC, [(SMD): –0.13, 95% CI: (–0.24, –0.02)], TG [(SMD): –0.19, 95% CI: (–0.38, –0.01)] and VLDL [(SMD): –0.34, 95% CI: (–0.63, –0.05)]. The selenium supplementation did not significantly improve lipid profile such as LDL [(SMD): –0.08, 95% CI: (–0.036, 0.19)], HDL [(SMD): 0.01, 95% CI: (–0.164, 0.18)], HDL/TC ratio [(SMD): 0.025, 95% CI: (–0.11, 0.16)], non-HDL-C [(SMD): 0.018, 95% CI: (–0.13, 0.16)]. This meta-analysis suggests that the effect of selenium supplementation on the serum levels of TG and VLDL is marginally significant. However, the supplementation has no effect on other serum lipids. Moreover, the study shows that the effect of selenium supplementation on lipid profile is negative.
ADAMTS13 Gene Mutations Influence ADAMTS13 Conformation and Disease Age-Onset in the French Cohort of Upshaw–Schulman Syndrome
Authors: Joly Bérangère , Boisseau Pierre , Roose Elien , Stepanian Alain , Biebuyck Nathalie , Hogan Julien , Provot François , Delmas Yahsou , Garrec Céline , Vanhoorelbeke Karen , Coppo Paul , Veyradier Agnès ,   on behalf of the French Reference Center for Thrombotic Microangiopathies
Published: October 2018

Background Congenital thrombotic thrombocytopaenic purpura (TTP) or Upshaw–Schulman syndrome (USS) is a rare, life-threatening, inherited thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). USS is mostly due to bi-allelic recessive sequence variations of the a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 repeats, member 13 (ADAMTS13) gene inducing a severe ADAMTS13 deficiency (activity < 10 IU/dL). In healthy individuals, ADAMTS13 circulates in a folded conformation where CUB domains interact with the spacer domain. The spacer–CUB interaction is abrogated when ADAMTS13 is conformationally activated.
Objective This article evaluates the influence of ADAMTS13 sequence variations on both clinical/biological phenotype and ADAMTS13 conformation in USS.
Patients and Methods All USS patients from the French registry for TMAs (1 January 2000 to 1 June 2017) were investigated for ADAMTS13 genotype, phenotype (activity, antigen and autoantibodies) and conformation. Clinical records were analysed (inaugural acute TTP and follow-up). Child-onset USS was compared with adult-onset USS.
Results Fifty-six USS patients from 51 families (34 child-onset and 22 adult-onset cases) were enrolled. Child-onset USS was characterized by a large panel of ADAMTS13 sequence variations (n = 43), spread all over ADAMTS13 gene and not correlated with either clinical features or plasmatic ADAMTS13 parameters. In contrast, adult-onset USS, consisting exclusively in pregnancy-induced TTP, included a smaller and distinct panel of ADAMTS13 sequence variations (n = 20) because of one mutation (p.Arg1060Trp) present in 82% of patients. ADAMTS13 conformation was studied in 16 USS patients (5 child-onset and 11 adult-onset USS, encompassing 16 distinct ADAMTS13 sequence variations) whose ADAMTS13 antigen levels were detectable: 14 of 16 patients (87.5%) exhibited abnormalities of ADAMTS13 conformation.
Conclusion In USS, age-onset defines two entities and ADAMTS13 sequence variations modify ADAMTS13 conformation.
Assessing writing ability in a foreign language at secondary school
Authors: Iwashita Noriko , Spence-Brown Robyn 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
Foreign language programs in schools have a strong focus on the development of communicative language ability and, increasingly,
assessment tasks are designed to capture communicative abilities required for real-world situations. In communicative test tasks,
sociolinguistic and discourse components, which are beyond grammatical accuracy, target the abilities required to produce
integrated texts that fulfil their communicative purposes. However, the majority of the work on assessment of communicative
abilities has been carried out in the context of academic English, and less is known about the abilities of secondary students in
foreign language teaching situations.
This study examines the outcomes of an integrated writing task designed as part of formal year 12 assessment in Japanese as a
second language. It seeks to elucidate the features which differentiate students at higher and lower levels of competence, and,
through a focus on content and how it is presented, it demonstrates how these aspects of competence can be observed in responses
to the task. The study contributes to our understanding of the nature of communicative abilities and their assessment in a
secondary education context, and it also sheds light on aspects of competence which might benefit from more targeted teaching in
such settings.
A pragma-dialectical perspective on obstacles to shared decision-making
Authors: Pilgram Roosmaryn , Snoeck Henkemans Francisca 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
Shared medical decision-making has been analyzed as a particular kind of argumentative discussion. In the pragma-dialectical
argumentation theory, different types of conditions and rules are formulated for the ideal of a reasonable argumentative
discussion. In this paper, we shall first show how making use of the distinctions made in the pragma-dialectical theory between
different types of conditions for reasonable discussion can help to give a more systematic account of the obstacles that need to
be overcome for shared decision-making to be successful. Next, by referring to the rules for critical discussion, we shall provide
a more detailed explanation than can be found in the literature on health communication of why certain types of conduct of the
participants in the medical encounter can be analyzed as obstacles to the goal of shared decision-making.
Saying “Yes” and “No” to requests
Authors: El-Dakhs Dina Abdel Salam 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
The current study adopts a variational pragmatic approach to compare the dialogic sequence of the directive speech act of request
and its reaction of consent versus refusal in Egyptian and Saudi Arabic. To this end, 413 Egyptian and Saudi undergraduate
students completed a Discourse Completion Task (DCT). Data analysis indicated more differences between Egyptian and Saudi Arabic
in request consent strategies than refusal strategies. Among the noted differences in consent strategies were Egyptians’ stronger
preference for direct strategies and elaborate responses than Saudis who displayed more varied combination patterns and exhibited
stronger gender differences. In refusal strategies, however, a general similarity between Egyptians and Saudis was obvious at the
level of strategies, combination patterns and the influence of social factors.
What difference does it make?
Authors: Hessel Gianna , Vanderplank Robert 
Published: October 2018

AbstractDirect effects of participation in study abroad on linguistic proficiency have been notoriously difficult to differentiate from mere participant, time and study effects. This study examines English proficiency gains among 136 advanced-level German university students who applied for an ERASMUS exchange and either studied at a British university or continued to study at home. Participants completed C-tests of English language proficiency and comprehensive questionnaires at baseline, after three and nine months. After the first three months, those studying abroad had made significantly higher proficiency gains than the ERASMUS applicants who continued to study at home. During the subsequent six months, linguistic progress among the study abroad participants slowed and between-group differences were no longer significant. The results further substantiate hypotheses on significant linguistic benefits of participation in study abroad for advanced L2 learners, while also highlighting the need to facilitate sustained linguistic progress among exchange students, particularly during more extended stays.
Acquisition, study abroad and individual differences
Authors: Linford Bret , Zahler Sara , Whatley Melissa 
Published: October 2018

AbstractThe current study examines the combined effect of type and quantity of contact with the target language on the second language development of a variable structure, ‘subject pronoun expression’ in L2 Spanish. A written contextualized task and a language contact questionnaire were given to 26 second language learners of Spanish before and after a six-week study abroad in Valencia, Spain. Their selection of overt and null subject pronouns was compared to native speakers from the study abroad region as well as to learners and native speakers in previous research in a US university context. Results suggest that learners with higher rates of self-reported contact with native speakers while abroad approximate the Valencian native speaker norms more at the end of study abroad than those who report fewer contact hours. However, differences between the groups at the beginning of study abroad indicate that characteristics other than contact hours also differentiate the two learner groups.
Audio descriptive guides in art museums
Authors: Soler Gallego Silvia 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
Audio description is increasingly used by museums to improve access to their collections by visually impaired visitors. However, research in this field is still very limited. This paper aims to report on a descriptive study of artwork audio description as a modality of intersemiotic translation from images into words. A corpus comprising audio descriptive guides from art museums in the United Kingdom and the United States was compiled and analyzed following a corpus-based methodology. Existing audio descriptions of art museum exhibits were shown to comply with existing guidelines regarding the type of visual information conveyed, the level of detail offered, and the point of view used. These results are discussed in relation to the communication context to contribute to the discussion of current practices and their implications for visually impaired people’s access to visual art.
Interpreting services in the Western Cape Legislature
Authors: Lesch Harold , Grové Karen 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
This article investigates the standard of interpreting services in the Western Cape Provincial Legislature/Parliament to examine the
concept of quality in interpreting. This study includes interviews and open-ended discussions with language practitioners,
interpreters, and members of parliament. By means of a questionnaire, interpreters provided feedback on their training, working
conditions, and their work experience, while the standard of the interpreting service was assessed by users of interpreting
services who rated the service on eleven different levels. These different levels were derived from previous studies to connect the
literature with the outcomes of the collected data. The article concludes that there is much room for improvement of the
interpreting service currently provided at the provincial legislature. Furthermore, the study revealed a lack of understanding and
awareness of what interpreting entails and the value of an interpreting service.
Consequences of the conflation of xiao and filial piety in English
Authors: St. André James 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
This article examines the development over time of the English expression “filial piety” in order to document how, at least partly
in response to pressure from an equivalence that is established with the Chinese term xiao (孝) in the seventeenth
century, the term takes on new and increasingly negative connotations in English. As an important concept in Chinese philosophy,
xiao occurs in many important early texts, including the Confucian Analects and, although
the way the term is interpreted varies over time, remains central to many debates about Chinese culture right to this day. As the
link between filial piety and xiao strengthens through the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, “filial piety”
thus unsurprisingly becomes identified as one of a small group of key terms that were increasingly thought to explain all
differences between the British and the Chinese. This article examines how the term “filial piety” evolves from a
natural and universal impulse due to its connection with Christianity, with China initially
as a particularly good example of this universal from whom everyone can learn, through various increasingly negative shifts due to
the perceived conflict between filial piety and romantic love, as well as its increasing association with the Chinese, who by the
end of the nineteenth century were seen as held back by the extreme nature of their practices. Today, filial piety as a term is
seen as mainly or entirely local and specific to China, and by extension, something potentially holding it back from
modernity.
The historical development of jiao 教 in Chinese and its impact on the concept of ‘religion’ in English
scholarship
Authors: Chen I-Hsin 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
This article contends that the traditional Chinese concept of jiao (teaching) has, through translation, greatly influenced the
conceptual development of ‘religion’ in English-language scholarship. The article first demonstrates how the historical
development of jiao in Chinese reveals numerous previously neglected patterns of Chinese spirituality. Using Friedrich
Schleiermacher’s and Max Müller’s viewpoints, the article suggests the significance of translation in redefining a concept via the
particularity of foreign culture. It then examines how James Legge, Jan Jakob Maria de Groot, William Edward Soothill, Bertrand
Russell, and Ernest Richard Hughes and K. Hughes redefine religion in their translations of jiao. Highlighting jiao and religion
as fluid categories via scholars’ translations and debates, my article challenges simplistic assumptions about Western supremacy
in Sino-Western acculturation. It affirms the traditions and translations of jiao as powerful agents for shaping and enriching the
meanings and phenomena of religion in the globalizing dynamics of human cultural interactions.
Designing for robustness: surprise, agility and improvisation in policy design
Authors: Howlett Michael , Capano Giliberto , Ramesh M 
Published: October 2018

ABSTRACTHow best to deal with uncertainty and surprise in policy-making is an issue which has troubled policy studies for some time. Studies of policy uncertainty and policy failure have emphasized the need to create policies able to be improvised upon in the face of an uncertain future, meaning there is a need to design and adopt policies featuring agility, and flexibility in their components and processes. Such policies require redundant resources and capabilities and this need is in strong opposition to ideas about design which equate better designs with efficiency, implying the allocation of only the minimum amount of resources possible, and which also often emphasize routinization and the replication of standard operating procedures and programme elements in order to ensure consistency in programme delivery. While these latter designs may be appropriate in stable circumstances or where competition can provide a degree of system-level resilience, this is not true for many public sector activities where government is the sole provider of particular goods and where services and future scenarios are unknown, contested or unpredictable. As studies of crisis management and other similar situations have emphasized, in these instances robustness is needed and can be planned for. This article examines the concepts of surprise, agility and improvisation and their linkages to robustness in order to both clarify terminology and outline the organizational and managerial features of policies and policy-making which prevent, and facilitate, flexible adaptation in both policy content and processes.
Action always involves attention
Authors: Wu Wayne 
Published: October 2018

AbstractJennings and Nanay (this journal, 2016) argue against my claim that action entails attention by providing putative counterexamples to the claim that action entails a Many–Many Problem. This reply demonstrates that they have misunderstood the central notion of a pure reflex on which my argument depends. A simplified form of the argument from pure reflex to the Many–Many Problem as a necessary feature of agency is given, and putative counterexamples of action without attention are addressed. Attention is present in every action. In passing, the reply discusses how we should assess intuitive claims about attention and mental processing, with emphasis on learning and the automatization of attention in its development as a skill.
Bayesian estimation of a semiparametric recurrent event model with applications to the penetrance estimation of multiple primary cancers in Li-Fraumeni syndrome
Authors: Shin Seung Jun , Li Jialu , Ning Jing , Bojadzieva Jasmina , Strong Louise C , Wang Wenyi 
Published: October 2018

Summary
A common phenomenon in cancer syndromes is for an individual to have multiple primary cancers (MPC) at different sites during his/her lifetime. Patients with Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a rare pediatric cancer syndrome mainly caused by germline TP53 mutations, are known to have a higher probability of developing a second primary cancer than those with other cancer syndromes. In this context, it is desirable to model the development of MPC to enable better clinical management of LFS. Here, we propose a Bayesian recurrent event model based on a non-homogeneous Poisson process in order to obtain penetrance estimates for MPC related to LFS. We employed a familywise likelihood that facilitates using genetic information inherited through the family pedigree and properly adjusted for the ascertainment bias that was inevitable in studies of rare diseases by using an inverse probability weighting scheme. We applied the proposed method to data on LFS, using a family cohort collected through pediatric sarcoma patients at MD Anderson Cancer Center from 1944 to 1982. Both internal and external validation studies showed that the proposed model provides reliable penetrance estimates for MPC in LFS, which, to the best of our knowledge, have not been reported in the LFS literature.
Metric Properties of Parabolic Ample Bundles
Authors: Biswas Indranil , Pingali Vamsi Pritham 
Published: October 2018

AbstractWe introduce a notion of admissible Hermitian metrics on parabolic bundles and define positivity properties for the same. We develop Chern–Weil theory for parabolic bundles and prove that our metric notions coincide with the already existing algebro-geometric versions of parabolic Chern classes. We also formulate a Griffiths conjecture in the parabolic setting and prove some results that provide evidence in its favor for certain kinds of parabolic bundles. For these kinds of parabolic structures, we prove that the conjecture holds on Riemann surfaces. We also prove that a Berndtsson-type result holds and that there are metrics on stable bundles over surfaces whose Schur forms are positive.
Government Debt Management: The Long and the Short of It
Authors: Faraglia Elisa , Marcet Albert , Oikonomou Rigas , Scott Andrew 
Published: October 2018

Abstract
Standard optimal Debt Management (DM) models prescribe a dominant role for long bonds and advocate against issuing short bonds. They require very large positions in order to complete markets and assume each period that governments repurchase all outstanding bonds and reissue (r/r) new ones. These features of DM are inconsistent with U.S. data. We introduce incomplete markets via small transaction costs which serves to make optimal DM more closely resemble the data : r/r are negligible, short bond issuance substantial and persistent and short and long bonds positively co-vary. Intuitively, long bonds help smooth taxes over states and short bonds over time. Solving incomplete market models with multiple assets is challenging so a further contribution of this article is introducing a novel computational method to find global solutions.
European consensus-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of rare paediatric vasculitides – the SHARE initiative
Authors: de Graeff Nienke , Groot Noortje , Brogan Paul , Ozen Seza , Avcin Tadej , Bader-Meunier Brigitte , Dolezalova Pavla , Feldman Brian M , Kone-Paut Isabelle , Lahdenne Pekka , Marks Stephen D , McCann Liza , Pilkington Clarissa , Ravelli Angelo , van Royen Annet , Uziel Yosef , Vastert Bas , Wulffraat Nico , Kamphuis Sylvia , Beresford Michael W 
Published: October 2018

AbstractObjectivesThe European initiative Single Hub and Access point for paediatric Rheumatology in Europe (SHARE) aimed to optimize care for children with rheumatic diseases. Systemic vasculitides are very rare in children. Consequently, despite recent advances, paediatric-specific information is sparse. The lack of evidence-based recommendations is an important, unmet need. This study aimed to provide recommendations for diagnosing and treating children with rare forms of childhood systemic vasculitis.MethodsRecommendations were developed by a consensus process in accordance with the European League Against Rheumatism standard operating procedures. A systematic literature review informed the recommendations, which were devised and evaluated by a panel of experts via an online survey, and two consensus meetings using nominal group technique. Recommendations were accepted when ⩾ 80% of experts agreed.ResultsNinety-three relevant articles were found, and 78 recommendations were accepted in the two consensus meetings. General, cross-cutting recommendations and disease-specific statements regarding the diagnosis and treatment of childhood-onset PAN, granulomatosis with polyangiitis, microscopic polyangiitis, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and Takayasu arteritis are provided.ConclusionThese Single Hub and Access point for paediatric Rheumatology in Europe recommendations were formulated through an evidence-based consensus process to support uniform, high-quality standard of care for children with rare forms of paediatric systemic vasculitis.