bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
One Self per Customer? From Disunified Agency to Disunified Self
Authors: Lumsden David , Ulatowski Joseph 
Published: September 2017

AbstractThe notion of an agent and the notion of a self are connected, for agency is one role played by the self. Millgram argues for a disunity thesis of agency on the basis of extreme incommensurability across some major life events. We propose a similar negative thesis about the self, that it is composed of relatively independent threads reflecting the different roles and different mind‐sets of the person's life. Our understanding of those threads is based on theories of the narrative construction of the self. Our disunity thesis is that there need be no overarching narrative that unifies those narrative threads. To explain how the threads hang together to produce coherent action, we make these positive claims: (1) control normally switches smoothly and unconsciously between threads as circumstances require, (2) within one thread there is likely to be acknowledgment of other threads, (3) some situations require a temporary blending of threads, and (4) some plans and policies reach across different threads and contribute to some coordination among them. Our account of a self provides an account of agency that has merits in comparison to Millgram's. Our narrative approach allows explanations of actions beyond rational deliberation.
Kant, Oppression, and the Possibility of Nonculpable Failures to Respect Oneself
Authors: Holberg Erica A. 
Published: September 2017

AbstractI argue that Kant's ethical framework cannot countenance a certain kind of failure to respect oneself that can occur within oppressive social contexts. Kant's assumption that any person, qua rational being, has guaranteed epistemic access to the moral law as the standard of good action and the capacity to act upon this standard makes autonomy an achievement within the individual agent's power, but this is contrary to a feminist understanding of autonomy as a relational achievement that can be thwarted by the systematic attack on autonomy that occurs within oppressive social conditions. Insofar as Kant's negative duty of self‐respect is unable to accommodate the ways immersion in oppressive social environments can warp an individual's understanding of what she is owed and capable of as a moral agent, it perpetuates the cruelty of unjust social systems in the guise of respecting individual autonomy. I conclude by considering Carol Hay's argument that those who are oppressed have an obligation to themselves to resist their own oppression, in order to explore how this limitation in how Kant conceives of the duty to respect the self may reach expression in contemporary ethical theory inspired by Kant.
Metastatic spine tumor surgery: does perioperative blood transfusion influence postoperative complications?
Authors: Zaw Aye Sandar , Kantharajanna Shashidhar B. , Maharajan Karthikeyan , Tan Barry , Saparamadu Amarasinghe A. , Kumar Naresh 
Published: September 2017

BACKGROUNDThe question of independent association between allogeneic blood transfusion (ABT) and postoperative complications in cancer surgeries has been controversial and remains so. In metastatic spine tumor surgery (MSTS), previous studies investigated the influence of ABT on survival, but not on postoperative complications. We aimed to evaluate the influence of perioperative ABT on postoperative complications and infections in patients undergoing MSTS.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSThis retrospective study included 247 patients who underwent MSTS at a single tertiary institution between 2005 and 2014. The outcome measures were postoperative complications and infections within 30 days after MSTS. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed to assess influence of blood transfusion on the outcomes after adjusting for potential confounders.RESULTSOf 247 patients, 133 (54%) received ABT with overall median (range) of 2 (0‐10) units. The adjusted odds of developing any postoperative complication was 2.27 times higher in patients with transfusion (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.17‐4.38; p = 0.01) and 1.24 times higher odds per every unit increase in blood transfusion (95% CI, 1.05‐1.46; p < 0.01). Exposure to blood transfusion also increased the odds of having overall postoperative infections (odds ratio, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.15‐11.11; p = 0.02) and there were 1.24 times higher odds per every unit increase in transfusion (95% CI, 1.01‐1.54; p = 0.04).CONCLUSIONSThis study adds evidence to the literature implicating ABT to be influential on postoperative complications and infections in patients undergoing MSTS. Appropriate blood management measures should, therefore, be given a crucial place in the care of these patients so as to reduce any putative effect of blood transfusion.
Pathogen inactivation of Dengue virus in red blood cells using amustaline and glutathione
Authors: Aubry Maite , Laughhunn Andrew , Santa Maria Felicia , Lanteri Marion C. , Stassinopoulos Adonis , Musso Didier 
Published: September 2017

BACKGROUNDDengue virus (DENV) is an arbovirus primarily transmitted through mosquito bite; however, DENV transfusion‐transmitted infections (TTIs) have been reported and asymptomatic DENV RNA–positive blood donors have been identified in endemic countries. DENV is considered a high‐risk pathogen for blood safety. One of the mitigation strategies to prevent arbovirus TTIs is pathogen inactivation. In this study we demonstrate that the amustaline and glutathione (S‐303/GSH) treatment previously found effective against Zika virus in red blood cells (RBCs) is also effective in inactivating DENV.STUDY DESIGN AND METHODSRed blood cells were spiked with high levels of DENV. Viral RNA loads and infectious titers were measured in the untreated control and before and after pathogen inactivation treatment of RBC samples. DENV infectivity was also assessed over five successive cell culture passages to detect any potential residual replicative virus.RESULTSThe mean ± SD DENV titer in RBCs before inactivation was 6.61 ± 0.19 log 50% tissue culture infectious dose (TCID50)/mL and the mean viral RNA load was 8.42 log genome equivalents/mL. No replicative DENV was detected either immediately after completion of treatment using S‐303/GSH or after cell culture passages.CONCLUSIONTreatment using S‐303/GSH inactivated high levels of DENV in RBCs to the limit of detection. In combination with previous studies showing the effective inactivation of DENV in plasma and platelets using the licensed amotosalen/UVA system, this study demonstrates that high levels of DENV can be inactivated in all blood components.
Transparency in non‐tariff measures: An international comparison
Authors: Ing Lili Yan , Cadot Olivier , Walz Janine 
Published: September 2017

AbstractWe construct an index of non‐tariff measures (NTM) transparency based on notifications to the WTO under the sanitary and phytosanitary and technical barriers to trade agreements, the existence of a trade portal giving ready access to trade‐relevant regulations, the existence of NTM data collected under the MAST classification, and the results of an experiment conducted between 2015 and 2016 where we asked for specific regulations concerning the import of a particular product on behalf of a private company. The resulting country ranking shows that OECD countries are, by and large, the most transparent, but also shows that ASEAN countries score well compared to other developing countries.
Accelerated epithelialization and improved wound healing metrics in porcine full‐thickness wounds transplanted with full‐thickness skin micrografts
Authors: Rettinger Christina L. , Fletcher John L. , Carlsson Anders H. , Chan Rodney K. 
Published: September 2017

AbstractSplit‐thickness skin grafting (STSG) is the current gold standard for treatment of extensive burn and traumatic skin injuries. However, STSG is limited by donor‐site morbidity and availability, and often leads to scarring and wound contracture. Furthermore, these thin grafts lack dermal elements such as nerves and adnexa which are important in recapitulating normal skin function. Methods of fractional skin replacement either as minced STSGs or microscopic skin tissue columns have been proposed, though these techniques have not been fully characterized and lack evidence of regenerated adnexal structures. Here, we describe an alternative method of fractional skin replacement using full‐thickness skin micrografts containing deep dermal components and intact adnexa. Full‐thickness wounds measuring 3 cm in diameter and 2 cm apart were created on adult female Yorkshire swine. Full‐thickness skin tissue columns (FTSTCs) 1.5 mm in diameter with intact adnexa and subcutaneous tissue were obtained using a suction‐assisted device. Explant culture was initiated to demonstrate the capacity of FTSTCs to act as reservoirs of viable and proliferative epidermal and dermal cells. FTSTCs were applied directly to excisional wounds at three different expansion ratios (1:16, 1:40, 1:100) in fibrin sealant. Biopsies were collected at defined time points postwounding and processed for histology and immunohistochemistry. Wounds grafted with FTSTCs showed enhanced reepithelialization and epidermal differentiation over untreated control wounds in a dosage dependent manner. Adnexal structures such as hair follicles and sweat glands were only evident in FTSTC‐treated wounds. Furthermore, whereas ungrafted wounds were marked by extensive infiltration of α‐Smooth Muscle Actin+ (α‐SMA+) myofibroblasts at POD 60, α‐SMA expression was sparse and largely limited to perivascular cells in FTSTC‐treated wounds. The number of Ki67+ cells was also greatly reduced in FTSTC‐treated wounds. Transplantation of FTSTCs containing intact adnexa improved wound healing parameters in porcine full‐thickness wounds and may have implications for the treatment of large, traumatic wounds.
MORTGAGE LENDING AND FINANCIAL STABILITY IN ASIA
Authors: MORGAN PETER J. , ZHANG YAN 
Published: September 2017

We estimated the effect of the share of mortgage lending by individual banks (together with some control variables) on two measures of financial stability — the bank Z-score and the non-performing loan ratio — for a sample of 397 banks in 19 emerging Asian economies for the period 2003–2014 from the Bankscope database. We find evidence that an increased share of mortgage lending is positive for financial stability, specifically by lowering the probability of default by financial institutions and reducing the non-performing loan ratio, at least in non-crisis periods, for levels of mortgage shares up to 23–65%. For higher levels of mortgage lending shares, there is some evidence that the impact on financial stability turns negative. We also find that the share of mortgage lending can be a useful measure of both financial development and financial inclusion. This finding most likely reflects the effect of a higher share of mortgage lending in diversifying the mix of banks’ assets and thereby reducing overall risk. However, if the share of mortgage lending is too high, then the diversification effect diminishes. Therefore, the challenge is to balance the expected improvement in financial stability due to asset diversification against negative impacts that might result from easier lending standards or too rapid increases in mortgage lending that could trigger a bubble in the housing market. This highlights the need for prudent monetary policy and macroprudential policy measures to forestall the development of such bubbles.
Classification of Real Imbalanced Cardiovascular Data Using Feature Selection and Sampling Methods: A Case Study with Neural Networks and Logistic Regression
Authors: Bektas Jale , Ibrikci Turgay , Ozcan Ismail Turkay 
Published: September 2017

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is very common among the major types of cardiovascular diseases, and there are several studies created with different features including data that is collected from patients for timely diagnosis of CAD.In this study, a dataset with 21 features have been used, and a risk score prediction system has been proposed. The patients were divided into four groups. To determine the effective features of CAD dataset; t-test and Relief-f methods on Logistic Regression Analysis (LRA); Relief-f on Neural Network (NN) feature selection methods were utilized.Sampling methods were used to improve imbalanced form of 4-classed dataset, and the effects of sampling methods were evaluated. Using NN with oversampling and Relief-f feature selection method; the results before the preprocess operations were detected as follows; 72.3% accuracy; after the operations, 84.1% accuracy were achieved with 0.84 sensitivity 0.94 specificity. These statistics obtained from the experiment, by detailed analysis, are the best ones for the CAD data set in this study.Using the feature selection and the sampling methods with the NN substantially improve the prediction accuracy as well as the other metrics. This suggests that these preprocessing methods and the NN may be used together to construct for prediction of the 4-classed imbalanced medical datasets.
Hardness of Approximation for Strip Packing
Authors: Adamaszek Anna , Kociumaka Tomasz , Pilipczuk Marcin , Pilipczuk Michał 
Published: September 2017

Strip packing is a classical packing problem, where the goal is to pack a set of rectangular objects into a strip of a given width, while minimizing the total height of the packing. The problem has multiple applications, for example, in scheduling and stock-cutting, and has been studied extensively.
When the dimensions of the objects are allowed to be exponential in the total input size, it is known that the problem cannot be approximated within a factor better than 3/2, unless P= NP. However, there was no corresponding lower bound for polynomially bounded input data. In fact, Nadiradze and Wiese [SODA 2016] have recently proposed a (1.4 + ϵ)-approximation algorithm for this variant, thus showing that strip packing with polynomially bounded data can be approximated better than when exponentially large values are allowed in the input. Their result has subsequently been improved to a (4/3 + ϵ)-approximation by two independent research groups [FSTTCS 2016, WALCOM 2017]. This raises a question whether strip packing with polynomially bounded input data admits a quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme, as is the case for related two-dimensional packing problems like maximum independent set of rectangles or two-dimensional knapsack.

In this article, we answer this question in negative by proving that it is NP-hard to approximate strip packing within a factor better than 12/11, even when restricted to polynomially bounded input data. In particular, this shows that the strip packing problem admits no quasi-polynomial time approximation scheme, unless NP} ⊑ DTIME(2
polylog (n)
).
Pannier
Authors: Li Cheng , Shilane Philip , Douglis Fred , Wallace Grant 
Published: September 2017

Classic caching algorithms leverage recency, access count, and/or other properties of cached blocks at per-block granularity. However, for media such as flash which have performance and wear penalties for small overwrites, implementing cache policies at a larger granularity is beneficial. Recent research has focused on buffering small blocks and writing in large granularities, sometimes called containers, but it has not explored the ramifications and best strategies for caching compound blocks consisting of logically distinct, but physically co-located, blocks. Containers may have highly diverse blocks, with mixtures of frequently accessed, infrequently accessed, and invalidated blocks.
We propose and evaluate Pannier, a flash cache layer that provides high performance while extending flash lifespan. Pannier uses three main techniques: (1) leveraging block access counts to manage cache containers, (2) incorporating block liveness as a property to improve flash cache space efficiency, and (3) designing a multi-step feedback controller to ensure a flash cache reaches its desired lifespan while maintaining performance. Our evaluation shows that Pannier improves flash cache performance and extends lifespan beyond previous per-block and container-aware caching policies. More fundamentally, our investigation highlights the importance of creating new policies for caching compound blocks in flash.
Temporary Suppression of Cardiac Ganglionated Plexi Leads to Long‐Term Suppression of Atrial Fibrillation: Evidence of Early Autonomic Intervention to Break the Vicious Cycle of “AF Begets AF”
Authors: Lo Li‐Wei , Chang Hung‐Yu , Scherlag Benjamin J. , Lin Yenn‐Jiang , Chou Yu‐Hui , Lin Wei‐Lun , Chen Shih‐Ann , Po Sunny S. 
Published: September 2017

Background

Botulinum toxin (
BTX
), temporarily suppressing cholinergic transmission (<3 weeks), has been reported to suppress atrial fibrillation (
AF
) for ≥1 year. We aimed to investigate the mechanism underlying long‐term suppression of
AF
caused by injecting
BTX
into major atrial ganglionated plexi (GPs).

Methods and Results

Bilateral thoracotomies in anesthetized dogs allowed programmed stimulation at 4 pulmonary veins, biatrial appendages, and the superior vena cava to determine the effective refractory period (
ERP
) in the first operation. Group 1 (n=10) received
BTX
injection into all
GP
s; group 2 (n=7) received no injection. Groups 1 and 2 received rapid atrial pacing (800 bpm) 6 days a week. Group 3 (n=7) did not undergo thoracotomy or rapid atrial pacing to serve as controls for histological studies. A second operation and the same measurements were made 3 months later. During the first operation in group 1,
ERP
s of 4 pulmonary veins, but not biatrial appendages or superior vena cava, increased immediately after
BTX
injection.
AF
burdens increased significantly from the fifth week after the first operation in group 2 but not in group 1. In the second operation,
ERP
s remained unchanged compared with
ERP
s before
BTX
injection in group 1, whereas
ERP
s shortened significantly at all sites except the superior vena cava in group 2. There was no difference of autonomic nerve density between group 1 and group 3. The
GP
choline acetyltransferase (+) and atrial tyrosine hydroxylase (+) nerve densities were higher in group 2 than in group 1 and group 3.

Conclusions

Temporary suppression of major atrial
GPs
by
BTX
prevents autonomic remodeling and provides long‐term suppression of
AF
, indicating the critical role of
GPs
in
AF
progression.
Further Insights in the Most Common
SCN5A
Mutation Causing Overlapping Phenotype of Long QT Syndrome, Brugada Syndrome, and Conduction Defect
Authors: Veltmann Christian , Barajas‐Martinez Hector , Wolpert Christian , Borggrefe Martin , Schimpf Rainer , Pfeiffer Ryan , Cáceres Gabriel , Burashnikov Elena , Antzelevitch Charles , Hu Dan 
Published: September 2017

Background

Phenotypic overlap of type 3 long
QT
syndrome (
LQT
3), Brugada syndrome (BrS), cardiac conduction disease (
CCD
), and sinus node dysfunction (
SND
) is observed with

SCN
5A

mutations.

SCN
5A

‐E1784K is the most common mutation associated with BrS and
LQTS
3. The present study examines the genotype–phenotype relationship in a large family carrying

SCN
5A

‐E1784K and

SCN
5A

‐H558R polymorphism.

Methods and Results

Clinical work‐up, follow‐up, and genetic analysis were performed in 35 family members. Seventeen were

SCN
5A

‐E1784K positive. They also displayed
QT
c prolongation, and either BrS,
CCD
, or both. One carrier exhibited
SND
. The presence of

SCN
5A

‐H558R did not significantly alter the phenotype of

SCN
5A

‐E1784K carriers. Fourteen

SCN
5A

‐E1784K patients underwent implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator (
ICD
) implantation; 4 developed
VF
and received appropriate
ICD
shocks after 8±3 months of follow‐up. One patient without
ICD
also developed
VF
after 6.7 years. These 5 cases carried both

SCN
5A

‐E1784K and

SCN
5A

‐H558R. Functional characterization was achieved by expressing

SCN
5A

variants in
TSA
201 cells. Peak (I
Na,P
) or late (I
Na,L
) sodium currents were recorded using whole‐cell patch‐clamp techniques. Co‐expression of

SCN
5A

‐E1784K and

SCN
5A

‐
WT
reduced I
Na,P
to 70.03% of
WT
, shifted steady‐state inactivation by −11.03 mV, and increased I
Na,L
from 0.14% to 1.86% of I
Na,P
. Similar changes were observed when

SCN
5A

‐E1784K was co‐expressed with

SCN
5A

‐H558R.

Conclusions

We demonstrate a strong genotype‐phenotype correlation with complete penetrance for BrS,
LQTS
, or
CCD
in the largest family harboring

SCN
5A

‐E1784K mutation described so far. Phenotype of
LQTS
is present during all decades of life, whereas
CCD
develops with increasing age. Phenotypic overlap may explain the high event rate in carriers.
Extracardial Vasculopathy After Kawasaki Disease: A Long‐Term Follow‐up Study
Authors: Dietz Sanne M. , Tacke Carline E. , de Groot Eric , Kuipers Irene M. , Hutten Barbara A. , Kuijpers Taco W. , ten Berge Maartje , Biezeveld Maarten H. , Bruijn Martijn , Delemarre Luçan C. , Dolman Koert M. , Filippini Luc H.P.M. , Hendriks Tom , Maingay‐Visser Dianne A.P.G.F. , Noordzij Jeroen G. , Nuboer Roos , Plötz Frans B. , Rozendaal Lieke , ten Tusscher Gavin W. , Starreveld Sander , Verhoeven Jennifer J. , Weggelaar Nielske M. , Weijer Olivier , de Winter Peter 
Published: September 2017

Background

Kawasaki disease (
KD
) is a pediatric vasculitis with coronary artery aneurysm (
CAA
) as a major complication. Controversy exists about cardiovascular risk later in life. The aim of our study was to evaluate whether
KD
patients are at increased risk, as assessed by carotid intima‐media thickness (
cIMT
).

Methods and Results

We measured
cIMT
over 15 years by B‐mode ultrasonography in
KD
patients during follow‐up and in unaffected controls (mostly siblings). A multilevel, repeated‐measures, linear mixed‐effects model was used to evaluate the association between
KD
and
cIMT
. A total of 319 patients with 528 measurements were compared with 150 controls. In
KD
patients, the mean
cIMT
was increased compared with controls (0.375 mm [95%
CI
0.372–0.378 mm] versus 0.363 mm [95%
CI
0.358–0.368 mm];
P
<0.001). Furthermore, mean
cIMT
of
CAA
‐negative patients was 0.373 mm (
P
<0.01 compared with controls), of patients with small–medium
CAA
was 0.374 mm (
P
<0.05 compared with controls), and of patients with giant
CAA
was 0.381 mm (
P
<0.01 compared with controls). Compared with controls,
CAA
‐negative participants started with an increased
cIMT
(+0.0193±0.0053 mm,
P
<0.001) but showed slower progression (−0.0014±0.0006 mm/year,
P
=0.012). Patients with giant
CAA
showed a trend toward increased
cIMT
progression (0.0013±0.0007 mm/year,
P
=0.058).

Conclusions

We observed a positive correlation between
cIMT
and
KD
severity of coronary arteritis at the acute stage. Although initially increased, the
cIMT
in
CAA
‐negative patients normalized at a later age. In contrast, patients with a history of
KD
complicated by giant
CAA
showed a trend toward persistently increased
cIMT
. These patients may need cardiovascular counseling and follow‐up beyond the heart.