bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Diagnostic Accuracy of Serum Cystatin C for the Evaluation of Renal Dysfunction in Diabetic Patients: A Meta‐Analysis
Authors: Yang Shi‐kun , Liu Jun , Zhang Xian‐ming , Hu Chun , Zhang Wei , Sun Lin , Zhang Hao 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThis study aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of serum cystatin C for renal dysfunction in diabetic patients. Eligible trials were searched from multiple databases, the data were extracted into a 2 × 2 table after the quality assessment of included articles. The pooled sensitivity, specificity and other parameters of accuracy of cystatin C were analyzed using Stata version 12.0. Seventeen studies involving 2173 patients were included. The pooled sensitivity and specificity of serum cystatin C for the diagnosis of renal dysfunction were 0.88 (95% CI: 0.83–0.91) and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.82–0.91), respectively. The positive likelihood ratio was 6.69 (95% CI: 4.83–9.26), negative likelihood ratio was 0.14 (95% CI: 0.10–0.20) and diagnostic odds ratio (DOR) was 46.57 (95% CI: 27.76–78.13). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.94. Analysis of the 12 studies that investigated serum creatinine indicated that serum cystatin C was more accurate than serum creatinine for the diagnosis of renal dysfunction. Our results indicate that serum cystatin C is an effective index in diagnosing renal dysfunction comparing serum creatinine, serum cystatin C is more sensitivity for evaluation of renal function in diabetic patients.
Land ownership, agriculture, and household nutrition: a case study of north Indian villages
Authors: Pritchard Bill , Rammohan Anu , Sekher Madhushree 
Published: December 2016

AbstractIn the rural global South, it is increasingly the case that the relationship between landholding status and household nutrition is intermediated by complex associations between intervening variables. These include changes to agricultural practices, the dynamics of how decisions about food are prioritised within household budgets, the gendering of household power relations, the breadth of non‐farm livelihood portfolios, and the effect of landholding status on access to social welfare schemes. This article demonstrates this complexity using a mixed‐methods assessment of livelihoods and nutritional status in two north Indian villages. The study finds that in these villages the role of land for household nutrition is expressed through significantly greater milk consumption by landholding households, but insignificant differences in the consumption of most other major food items. Landholding households' greater consumption of milk is hinged to an ability to grow fodder in between cropping cycles, and manage these activities via prevailing agricultural gender norms in which women and girls are charged with responsibilities for livestock husbandry. In the context where milk provides a crucial source of protein for the mainly vegetarian diets in these villages, landholder households' greater access to milk represents a vital aspect of the local patterning of food and nutrition security. This finding underscores how greater complexity and diversity in the rural social landscapes of the global South are creating increasingly intricate, locally distinctive configurations of food and nutrition (in)security. Such local nuance cannot be readily observed within research traditions that rely on large‐scale national datasets. Mixed‐methods geographical research in the tradition of livelihoods analysis gives important voice to these considerations.
Is late really better than never? The farmer welfare effects of pineapple adoption in Ghana
Authors: Harou Aurélie P. , Walker Thomas F. , Barrett Christopher B. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractExport agriculture offers potentially high returns to smallholder farmers in developing countries, but also carries substantial market risk. In this article we examine the intertemporal welfare impact of the timing of a farmer's entry into the export pineapple market in southern Ghana. We examine whether farmers who never cultivated pineapple are better or worse off than farmers who decided to adopt pineapple earlier or later relative to their peers and experienced a significant adverse market shock several years prior to our endline survey. We use a two‐stage least squares model to estimate the causal effect of duration of pineapple farming on farmer welfare. Consistent with economic theory, we find that earlier adoption of the new crop brings greater welfare gains than does later uptake. But we find that the gains to later uptake of pineapple—just before the market shock—are small in magnitude, just 0.1 standard deviations of a comprehensive asset index, indicating that the gains to adoption may be precarious and depend on the context, in particular on the severity of prospective market shocks.
Quota prices as indicators of comparative advantage in supply‐managed industries
Authors: Rajsic Predrag , Fox Glenn 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe Canadian dairy, egg, broiler, and turkey industries operate under supply management, a policy regime that sets product prices and allocates production among provinces and ultimately among farms through quotas. The Canadian Farm Products Agencies Act requires that comparative advantage be used to guide the allocation of new quota when increases in consumer demand necessitate increased production. This requirement, however, has not been met in practice. We develop a proposal by Meilke to use quota prices as measures of comparative advantage. We evaluate the quota price approach and other proposed methods, from a Hayekian and Coasean market process perspective. We conclude that quota prices offer an economically justifiable indicator of provincial comparative advantage. We develop an individual‐level general equilibrium model of quota exchange to illustrate the informational content of quota prices as indicators of comparative advantage. We also discuss potential practical challenges of using quota prices as indicators of comparative advantage.
Time processing impairments in preschoolers at risk of developing difficulties in mathematics
Authors: Tobia Valentina , Rinaldi Luca , Marzocchi Gian Marco 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe occurrence of time processing problems in individuals with Development Dyscalculia (DD) has favored the view of a general magnitude system devoted to both numerical and temporal information. Yet, this scenario has been partially challenged by studies indicating that time difficulties can be attributed to poor calculation or counting skills, which can support reasoning on time in school‐aged children and adults. Here, we tackle this debate by exploring the performance of young children before they fully develop the symbolic number system. Preschoolers at risk of developing DD were compared with typically developing children in a series of tasks investigating time processing and in their ‘sense of time’, evaluated by parents and teachers. Results yielded a poorer performance in time reproduction of 5‐second intervals and in time discrimination, as well as a weaker ‘sense of time’, in children at risk of DD. These findings provide evidence of a common magnitude system that would be responsible for deficits in both numerical and temporal domains, already at early stages of life.
Interrelationship between Mini‐Mental State Examination scores and biochemical parameters in patients with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease
Authors: Vasantharekha Ramasamy , Priyanka Hannah P. , Swarnalingam Thangavel , Srinivasan Avathvadi Venkatesan , ThyagaRajan Srinivasan 
Published: December 2016

AimThe aim of the present study was to provide first‐hand information about the prevalence of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer's disease (AD) in Tamil Nadu, a southern state in India, and examine if there exists a relationship between cognitive functions and biochemical parameters in these patients.MethodsSurveys were collected from adults, older men and women (n = 3126) from different regions of Tamil Nadu, which were followed up after 12 months for 1337 participants. Mini‐Mental State Examination (MMSE) scores, lipid profile, and liver function tests were carried out in the elderly, MCI and AD patients. Based on the MMSE scores, the elderly population was classified into old control (28.97 ± 1.49;n = 1868), MCI (19.58 ± 1.17;n = 734) and AD (7.18 ± 1.38;n = 304) groups. Peripheral blood samples were collected after overnight fast from both male and female volunteers (n = 40 per group) who were categorized as young adult control, old control, MCI and AD.ResultsAD patients showed lower MMSE scores compared with the young adults, old and MCI groups, and MMSE further decreased at follow‐up examination a year later. In the serum of AD patients, high‐density lipoprotein, alkaline phosphatase activity and bilirubin levels were lower, whereas low‐density lipoprotein, total cholesterol and triglycerides levels were higher. MMSE was positively correlated with high‐density lipoprotein, and negatively correlated with other lipid parameters in AD.ConclusionsHypercholesterolemia is a risk factor for AD that might result in neurotoxicity and cognitive impairment. Dysfunction of lipoprotein and heme metabolism might also provide additional targets for AD diagnosis.Geriatr Gerontol Int 2017; 17: 1737–1745.
Secular changes in physical growth and obesity among southwestern American Indian children over four decades
Authors: Vijayakumar P. , Wheelock K. M. , Kobes S. , Nelson R. G. , Hanson R. L. , Knowler W. C. , Sinha M. 
Published: December 2016

SummaryBackground and ObjectivesMost studies describing childhood obesity in the United States are based on cross‐sectional surveys and do not include substantial numbers of American Indians (AI). Secular trends in height and weight reflect general health status. This study describes weight trends and transitions among AI children over a 43‐year period.MethodsAnthropometric data were obtained from a prospective study conducted in a southwestern US AI population (1965 through 2007). For cross‐sectional analysis, 12 377 observations were available from 6529 children across four birth cohorts (1955–1964, 1965–1974, 1975–1984, 1985–1994). Participants were stratified into three age groups: pre‐ (5–9 years), early (10–13) and late (14–17) adolescence. Longitudinal analyses included 1737 children with one exam in each age group.ResultsIn early and late adolescence, weight increased across birth cohorts. Prevalence of obesity among pre‐adolescents was 17.5% (95% CI, 15.1%–19.9%) in the 1955–1964 cohort and 33.7% (95% CI, 30.1%–36.4%) in the 1985–1994 cohort. 74% of children overweight in pre‐adolescence in the 1985–1994 cohort became obese by late adolescence; in the 1955–1964 cohort, only 43% made this transition.ConclusionsThis study describes the rising prevalence of childhood obesity. Children obese in pre‐adolescence remained obese in late adolescence, stressing the need for early intervention.
Dual roles of the N‐terminal coiled‐coil domain of an Aplysia sec7 protein: homodimer formation and nuclear export
Authors: Jun Yong‐Woo , Lee Seung‐Hee , Shim Jaehoon , Lee Jin‐A , Lim Chae‐Seok , Kaang Bong‐Kiun , Jang Deok‐Jin 
Published: December 2016

AbstractCytohesin family proteins act as guanine nucleotide exchange factors (GEFs) for the ADP‐ribosylation factor family of small GTP‐binding proteins. Aplysia Sec7 (ApSec7), a member of the cytohesin family in Aplysia, plays key roles in neurite outgrowth in Aplysia neurons. Although ApSec7 has a conserved coiled‐coil (CC) domain, its role was not clear. In this study, we found that the CC domain of ApSec7 and ARNO/cytohesin 2 are involved in homodimer formation, leading to efficient plasma membrane targeting of ApSec7 and ARNO/cytohesin 2 in HEK293T cells. Therefore, deletion of the CC domain of ApSec7 and ARNO/cytohesin 2 may result in a loss of dimerization and reduce plasma membrane localization. In addition, the CC domains of ApSec7 and ARNO/cytohesin 2 have partially or fully CRM1‐dependent nuclear export signals, respectively. Taken together, our results suggest that the CC domain of cytohesin family proteins, including ApSec7 and ARNO/cytohesin 2, has dual roles in intracellular targeting: increased plasma membrane targeting through homodimer formation and nuclear exclusion through either a CRM1‐dependent or a CRM1‐independent pathway.
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Cranial joint histology in the mallard duck (Anas platyrhynchos): new insights on avian cranial kinesis
Authors: Bailleul Alida M. , Witmer Lawrence M. , Holliday Casey M. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractThe evolution of avian cranial kinesis is a phenomenon in part responsible for the remarkable diversity of avian feeding adaptations observable today. Although osteological, developmental and behavioral features of the feeding system are frequently studied, comparatively little is known about cranial joint skeletal tissue composition and morphology from a microscopic perspective. These data are key to understanding the developmental, biomechanical and evolutionary underpinnings of kinesis. Therefore, here we investigated joint microstructure in juvenile and adult mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos; Anseriformes). Ducks belong to a diverse clade of galloanseriform birds, have derived adaptations for herbivory and kinesis, and are model organisms in developmental biology. Thus, new insights into their cranial functional morphology will refine our understanding of avian cranial evolution. A total of five specimens (two ducklings and three adults) were histologically sampled, and two additional specimens (a duckling and an adult) were subjected to micro‐computed tomographic scanning. Five intracranial joints were sampled: the jaw joint (quadrate‐articular); otic joint (quadrate‐squamosal); palatobasal joint (parasphenoid‐pterygoid); the mandibular symphysis (dentary‐dentary); and the craniofacial hinge (a complex flexion zone involving four different pairs of skeletal elements). In both the ducklings and adults, the jaw, otic and palatobasal joints are all synovial, with a synovial cavity and articular cartilage on each surface (i.e. bichondral joints) ensheathed in a fibrous capsule. The craniofacial hinge begins as an ensemble of patent sutures in the duckling, but in the adult it becomes more complex: laterally it is synovial; whereas medially, it is synostosed by a bridge of chondroid bone. We hypothesize that it is chondroid bone that provides some of the flexible properties of this joint. The heavily innervated mandibular symphysis is already fused in the ducklings and remains as such in the adult. The results of this study will serve as reference for documenting avian cranial kinesis from a microanatomical perspective. The formation of: (i) secondary articular cartilage on the membrane bones of extant birds; and (ii) their unique ability to form movable synovial joints within two or more membrane bones (i.e. within their dermatocranium) might have played a role in the origin and evolution of modern avian cranial kinesis during dinosaur evolution.
Lapse‐and‐Reentry in Variable Annuities
Authors: Moenig Thorsten , Zhu Nan 
Published: December 2016

AbstractSection 1035 of the current U.S. tax code allows policyholders to exchange their variable annuity policy for a similar product while maintaining tax‐deferred status. When the variable annuity contains a long‐term guarantee, this “lapse‐and‐reentry” strategy allows the policyholder to potentially increase the value of the embedded guarantee. We show that for a return‐of‐premium death benefit guarantee this is frequently optimal, which has severe repercussions for pricing. We analyze various policy features that may help mitigate the incentive to lapse and compare them regarding the insurer's average expense payments and their posttax utility to the policyholder. We find that a ratchet‐type guarantee and a state‐dependent fee structure best mitigate the lapse‐and‐reentry problem, outperforming the typical surrender schedule. Further, when accounting for proper tax treatment, the policyholder prefers a variable annuity with either of these three policy features over a comparable stock investment.
Cost analysis of the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in West Africa
Authors: Isanaka Sheila , Menzies Nicolas A. , Sayyad Jessica , Ayoola Mudasiru , Grais Rebecca F. , Doyon Stéphane 
Published: December 2016

AbstractWe present an updated cost analysis to provide new estimates of the cost of providing community‐based treatment for severe acute malnutrition, including expenditure shares for major cost categories. We calculated total and per child costs from a provider perspective. We categorized costs into three main activities (outpatient treatment, inpatient treatment, and management/administration) and four cost categories within each activity (personnel; therapeutic food; medical supplies; and infrastructure and logistical support). For each category, total costs were calculated by multiplying input quantities expended in the Médecins Sans Frontières nutrition program in Niger during a 12‐month study period by 2015 input prices. All children received outpatient treatment, with 43% also receiving inpatient treatment. In this large, well‐established program, the average cost per child treated was €148.86, with outpatient and inpatient treatment costs of €75.50 and €134.57 per child, respectively. Therapeutic food (44%, €32.98 per child) and personnel (35%, €26.70 per child) dominated outpatient costs, while personnel (56%, €75.47 per child) dominated in the cost of inpatient care. Sensitivity analyses suggested lowering prices of medical treatments, and therapeutic food had limited effect on total costs per child, while increasing program size and decreasing use of expatriate staff support reduced total costs per child substantially. Updated estimates of severe acute malnutrition treatment cost are substantially lower than previously published values, and important cost savings may be possible with increases in coverage/program size and integration into national health programs. These updated estimates can be used to suggest approaches to improve efficiency and inform national‐level resource allocation.
Dietary patterns in Liberian refugees in Buduburam, Ghana
Authors: Ross Wilhelmenia L. , Gallego‐Pérez Daniel F. , Lartey Anna , Sandow Adam , Pérez‐Escamilla Rafael , Hromi‐Fiedler Amber 
Published: December 2016

AbstractPrevious research suggests that acculturation (i.e., exposure and assimilation to local culture) is associated with changes in dietary patterns among immigrants. This study investigates this association in a refugee population using time in refugee settlement as a proxy for acculturation. A cross‐sectional survey was conducted among a systematic sample to (a) identify dietary patterns in Liberian refugees and Ghanaians living in or near a refugee settlement, (b) compare adherence to these dietary patterns between groups, and (c) investigate the association between acculturation and dietary patterns in Liberian refugees. Participants were Liberian and Ghanaian women with young children living in the Buduburam refugee settlement or Awutu in Ghana (n = 480; 50% Liberian; mean age 28, SD 6.3, range 16–48 years). Time in settlement was assessed by self‐report; food consumption was assessed by food frequency questionnaire. Principal component analysis was used to identify dietary patterns; a generalized linear model was used to test the association of interest. Three distinct dietary patterns emerged: Healthy, Sweets, and Fats. Ghanaians were more adherent to the Healthy pattern than Liberians (p < 0.05). Liberians were more adherent to the Sweets and Fats patterns than Ghanaians (p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in dietary pattern adherence among the Liberians based on time in settlement. Ghanaians living in Awutu were more adherent to the Healthy pattern than Ghanaians who lived in settlement (p < 0.05). Differences in dietary patterns were observed between Liberian refugees and Ghanaians. These differences were not associated with acculturation and may be related to the food environment in the settlement.
The heterophoria of 3–5 year old children as a function of viewing distance and target type
Authors: Troyer Mary E. , Sreenivasan Vidhyapriya , Peper T. J. , Candy T. Rowan 
Published: December 2016

AbstractPurposeHeterophoria is the misalignment of the eyes in monocular viewing and represents the accuracy of vergence driven by all classical cues except disparity. It is challenging to assess restless children using clinical cover tests, and phoria in early childhood is poorly understood. Here we used eye tracking to assess phoria as a function of viewing distance and target in adults and young children, with comparison to clinical cover tests.MethodsPurkinje image tracking (MCS PowerRefractor) was used to record eye alignment in adults (19–28 years, N = 24) and typically developing children (3–5 years, N = 24). Objective unilateral and alternating cover tests were performed using an infrared filter while participants viewed a pseudo‐randomised sequence of Lea symbols (0.18 logMAR; Snellen: 20/30 or 6/9) and animated cartoon movies at distances of 40 cm, 1 m, and 6 m. For the unilateral cover test, a 10 s binocular period preceded and followed 30 s of occlusion of the right eye. For the alternating cover test, a 10 s binocular period preceded and followed alternate covering of right and left eyes for 3‐s each. Phoria was derived from the difference in weighted average binocular and monocular alignment. A masked prism‐neutralised clinical cover test was performed for each of the conditions for comparison.ResultsCloser viewing distance resulted in greater exophoria for both children and adults (p < 0.001). Phorias were similar for adults and children for each viewing distance and target, with mean differences of less than 2 prism dioptres (pd). Overall, the average PowerRefractor phorias (pooled across protocols) for adults were 1.3, 2.3 and 3.8 pd exophoria and for children were 0.1 pd esophoria, 0.94 and 3.8 pd exophoria for the 6 m, 1 m and 40 cm distances respectively. The corresponding clinical cover test values were 0.7, 1.9, and 4.1 pd exophoria for adults and 0, 1.5 and 3.3 pd exophoria for the children. Refractive states were also similar (≤0.5 D difference) for viewing the Lea symbols or movie for any protocol tested.ConclusionsPhoria estimation can be challenging for a pre‐school child. These data suggest that by 3–5 years of age objective eye‐tracking measures in a typically developing group are adult‐like at the range of distances tested, and that use of an animated movie produces similar average results to a small optotype (0.18 logMAR; Snellen 20/30 or 6/9).
Intuition, Foundationalism and Explanation – a Response to Mounce
Authors: Knott Hugh A. 
Published: December 2016

AbstractWittgenstein's scant remarks on the roots of language in instinctive behaviour have been both difficult to interpret and controversial, not least because they may seem to incline towards forms of explanation that elsewhere he eschewed. Nevertheless, they are of importance in philosophy, not least because they bear upon age‐old questions of foundationalism and concept‐formation. In a recent Discussion Note in this journal (Mounce, Philosophical Investigations, 2016, 39: 385–390), H. O. Mounce is not only attracted by but also champions such explanation – though he finds Wittgenstein's own “explanations” inadequate in important respects, as evidenced in his misguided criticisms of Moore in On Certainty and in his behaviouristic remarks on the roots of the “cause and effect” language‐game. In this response, I try to identify the philosophical roots of this attraction and the points at which Mounce's account departs from the elucidatory and non‐explanatory path established by Wittgenstein.